the mccann clan

Hello? tap tap Is this thing still on?

2010-11-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been ages. Sigh. With the growing popularity of facebook, I'm afraid I've let the blog slide quite a bit. Lately though, call me crazy, I've started to miss having a dedicated spot for sharing some of the latest news - be it pix of the fam or my newest project! So, I'm going to give it a trial run again and see how blogging goes... and see if anyone out there cares anymore. ;-)

Meghan at 9 months

2010-04-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Meggie's getting so big!

A Rag Quilt with Love

2010-02-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

Back when I had the baby bug - pre-kids, mind you - my siblings started having sweet little babies whose lives I very much wanted to be a part of. As a military couple, we lived miles away from all of our family, and I took it as a personal mission to make sure these new little family members grew up knowing who their Aunt Janelle is, and that she adores them all very much! I decided that I was going to lovingly crochet/knit a cuddly blanket for each and every one of my nieces and nephews... a completely reasonable and special thing to do, right? Right.

Years went by and I would search pattern after pattern, score shelves for the perfect yarn and painstakingly make blanket after blanket. I even made a few for the occasional special friend whom the stork graced with a bouncing bundle of joy. I started having children myself and knew my kids could not be left out of the joy of a blankie made especially for them either... so off I went to buy more yarn.

As time went by, I'd begun to realize that perhaps I'd gotten in a little over my head... as babies kept coming, and much of my time was now spent chasing little ones of my own! But never able to bear the thought of leaving a single one of these darling children out, I've continued this tradition. Now, 10 years later, I have a total of thirteen nieces and nephews, with two more on the way!!! Never in a million years would I have guessed, when I began working on the first of these blankets, that I'd have 15 or more to make! As you can imagine, cute patterns and interesting yarns have become a bit scarce when you've made that many blankets. Oh, and boys are especially hard - no pink, no frills, no bows!! ;-)

When, most recently, it was announced to us that Collin's youngest brother Stephen, and his dear wife Paige, were having a baby boy and very first son, I knew I would have some work to do. Admittedly, I put off the project (I still have my newest niece, Shiloh, whose baby blanket is in the works) until I had a bit more time. I perused patterns and kept my eye open for a cute blue pattern of sorts, but yet... Nada. I started to worry. Until one day recently it occurred to me, I'd always wanted to make one of those trendy cool rag quilts - and hey, with my newly acquired sewing skills maybe, just maybe, that'd be an option for little baby "Pete." With a vintage train theme for his nursery, what could be sweeter than a rustic quilt in blues and reds for bouncing baby boy to play on? Angels must've been watching over me in my plight to gift a special creation to each of these babies, for I stumbled upon this tutorial for "the easiest quilt ever!" Hoorah! I could do this - I was PUMPED!! Off I sped to the fabric store in search of the perfect flannel fabric, and three stores later, I finally found it. So excited was I in this new venture that I rushed home to get busy, and within 2 days, had a completed rag quilt for my littlest nephew!

As a child I had a baby-sized quilt that I literally loved to pieces. I still have the cherished, tattered patches of fabric lovingly tucked away in Moira's closet today. So, dear Paige, it's not perfect, but I do hope you and he enjoy this quilt. I hope your sweet bundle spends lots of time playing on it, snuggling it and wearing it down until nothing but bare threads and love remain.

~~~

Below is the series of photos I took to document each step of the quilt... mostly for me, my sewing friends and the few of you that might actually be interested. A huge thanks to Connie at Green Apple Orchards for her amazing tutorial. Enjoy!

The perfect fabric: stripes, pale blue polka dot and red mottled flannel.

All the quilt "sandwiches" laid out in the pattern before seaming.

I even found a very cool variegated quilting thread in red, white and blue! Fun stuff!

The 8 strips of 6 quilt sandwich squares, before sewing together.

The back of the quilt, all sewed together...

...and the front with exposed 1" seams for cutting and fringing.

The quilt with fringe cut and ready to go in the washer and dryer!

After washing, this is what the fringe looks like all fuzzy and cuddly - it'll get softer with each wash. I also added a navy fringe and border around the outside to frame it all, and I think that was a good call.

Ta da - the finished product! I'm pretty pleased for my first quilt, and 3rd sewing project ever. It's not perfect, but I hope he loves it as much as I do. :)

Fanning the Flame

2010-02-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

This year for my birthday, I received a brand new sewing machine. It's nothing fancy, a Singer Simple (2263), that I purchased at Wal-mart for around $100 (plus a bonus 1 year subscription to Martha Stewart Living - woot!). After all, I didn't have any idea how to use the darn thing, so why was I gonna spend an exponential sum of money on the lovely, high-end Bernina that the lady at Hancock was trying to convince me that I "needed," when I was still questioning whether I was really cut out for the whole sewing thing to begin with? Despite the ridiculousness of her sales pitch, I signed up for a simple "introduction to sewing" class. The class ended up being pretty fun, once they realized in the first 30 minutes that I wasn't going to be shoved aside with my cheapo Singer in favor of the other lady with her shiny new Bernina that literally cost her as much as a luxury sedan. I managed to learn a bit about my machine and some basic sewing skills. Much to my surprise, I found that I just *might* be capable of this sewing thing that others seemed to find so easy. I was excited!

Unfortunately, time went by and I hadn't much touched the machine since the class, with all of the handbags I was furiously knitting away at and selling. I had a good thing going, selling all those custom bags, but was in definite need of a break - some "me" crafting time. Once I announced my handbag hiatus, I finally got to work on some other projects that needed my attention. First, I turned out a pair of dinosaur mittens for Ian, one triceratops and one T-Rex, complete with pointy teeth and red gaping mouth when he separates his thumb from his fingers(which he was WAY cute about). I also managed to knit about half way through a what-will-be lovely sweater for me in the most beautiful "moss" tweed you can imagine. I worked on a couple of projects for friends, a purse for Sheila's daughter and a poncho/hat set for Laura's Birthday Girl. I even bought the yarn for some cool felted slippers I've promised Collin, which will be really fun once the knitting bug bites again.

You may have learned by now, I tend to go through phases of crafting. I'll completely obsess over one medium for a while - eating, drinking and sleeping my current obsession, while hardly touching the others. So, when I finally found myself glancing longingly at my new, yet neglected, sewing machine, the embers of passion were once again fanned and I was ready to dive in!

It all started with the desire to recover the gliding rocker that would end up in Meghan's room. This chair was fairly cheap to begin with, and has mostly made it through Moira's and Ian's nursery years, but was in need of a little pick me up. So I managed to figure out how to recover all the cushions in a nice tan suede that should hopefully hold up as well as the original denim, as seen here. Then came the inspiration for a very special project for my soon-to-be born nephew, which is so special that I'll devote the entire next post to tell you about it. ;-) While working on the project for baby "Pete" (no - as far as I know, that is not going to be his name. It so happens that my co-Auntie, Suzann, on the McCann side of the family, loves nick-naming all of the not-yet-born babies until we have an actual name at the birth) I stumbled upon this tutorial by Leslie at a room somewhere. Go ahead and look... I'll wait... it's worth it, trust me.

Ooh la la! You mean, I can do that? Are you sure?! You do know I'm complete beginner, and - while, yes, fueled by the crazy that so often plagues other like-minded Crafties of my generation - I've never stitched anything that anyone would even remotely want to put on their body? Well, okay. I'll give it a go. So with great pride, I present to you, my first attempt at pillowcase dresses! Matching, or more appropriately, coordinating ones for my girls. Now, I'll have you realize that a large part of the adorableness of these is the wearers, for which I can claim very little credit, but THEY'RE PRETTY DARN CUTE, are they not?!?

First up, Darling Meggie, strutting her stuff (with the help of big Sis). These pillowcase dresses are going to be uber-cute during outings this Summer to the Botanical Gardens, when it's sweltering hot outside, and they can wear nothing but the dress (they'll make a good swim-suit cover up too!). But, for now, the brown leggings and undershirt look pretty sweet with it too.

(Okay, how can you not love this picture? Just a snippet of her constant state - tongue waggling in the air like she's vigilantly awaiting something to come and land on it.)

Here's the ever-fabulous Moira in her version of the dress, which can't be seen all that well in this picture, but you get the idea. Another great thing about these dresses is the speed in which one can be whipped up! I bought the fabric Friday afternoon and was able to complete her dress in a couple short hours that night before her Tea Party with (l to r) Kendal, Chloe, Celeste and Kaitlyn Saturday morning.

Are these girls not the cutest of cute?! Once again, Moira can sport hers with brown leggings and a pink undershirt on the colder February days, but will enjoy a more sundress-type wear this Summer. I see many more of these in all different patterns and styles in the very near future.

~~~

So there you have it. The beginning of what I expect to be a very long and beautiful relationship with my $100 Singer sewing machine... that is, until I completely loose my mind and trade my car in one day for the "needed" Bernina. ;)

Meghan's Room

2010-02-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is. Meghan's room is finally finished... for the most part, that is. I'd still like to find a good area rug for the floor, I'm waiting for her 6 month pics to hang on the wall over the changing table, and we need to stock her bookshelf, etc, but the decorating is mostly finished. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out because I love the pink and brown for her and we didn't even have to paint the walls, since they were already this tan color. It all just came together so nicely. :-) Of course, I don't think the pictures do the room justice, it's so cozy and sweet in person, but you get the idea. Come visit and we'll show you the room in real life. ;-) Enjoy!

Viewpoint from the doorway.

Her crib and the name frame I made this week. It's the first one for one of my kids, if you can believe that!! I think I'm gonna need to get on one for Moira and Ian now.

The rocking corner, complete with quilt from Aunt Dara. I love the wall stickers that match her crib set, they were a nice touch. This is the old rocking chair we've always had but I reupholstered it, so it's no longer denim, but this tan/brown suede. I love it, and am quite proud to have figured out how to do it all by myself. :)

The picture on the wall is a cross-stitch my dear friend, Leslie, made for Meghan. She's actually made a matching one for all our kids, just in different colors. Oh, and the rocking horse was a gift from our friend, Lynnea, whose father made it. I love the way it's short and squat - perfect for little ones. :)

This is the quilt from her crib set, Mia Rose. I like to hang them on the wall since they're great decoration and we don't tend to use the actual quilt much. I bought and painted the quilt hanger flowers pictured at the top too.

Here's a close-up of the "M" that a lady from my parent's church sent to us when Meghan was born. I think this is a great gift idea, and fortuitous that she chose pink and brown! It looks great in her room.

A close-up of the cross-stitched piece over the bookshelf from Leslie. I love the chunky pink feet!

A close-up of the name frame I made for over Meghan's crib. This one was a fun one to make.

Here's a "before" picture of the rocking chair, in all it's worn, denim glory. ;-)

And "after" - I really love it. Like I said, I'm quite proud to have figured out how to sew the cushions and arm rests on this thing!

PS - Click on the pictures to enlarge. :-)

Halloween!!!

2009-11-02T07:58:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite times of the year. Unfortunately, I've been busy with sick kids the last week or so, but here's my attempt at catching you up on our Halloween activities...

At the Botanical Gardens for Bootanica!

Collin's masterful pumpkin carving.

Our Jack Skellington pumpkin!

Sweet Moira as Minnie Mouse at our Fall Fun Fest at church.

Dashing Ian as a knight attempting the ring toss at Fall Fun Fest.

Drooly Meghan as the cutest little skeleton ever for the Fall Fun Fest! :)

Mommy & her adorable trick or treaters.

Daddy loves his little lovebug!

My favorite Meghan picture of the month!!

Boo-tiful! ;-)

They LOVE their little Sis!!

Meghan observing the trick or treating procedures.:)

Trick or Treating fun!

The loot! :)

Meghan *hearts* Daddy!

Happy Halloween 2009!!

Time for Pictures!

2009-10-13T15:04:00.001-07:00

Here are our studio pictures from Friday. They're Moira's and Ian's yearly and Meghan's 3 month pictures. Obviously they're under copyright laws, nor are they quality uploads, so please don't print them. They should be ready for pick-up on the 19th and then I'll get them out in the mail as soon as I can. Lovin' being a Mommy of three beautiful kids!!

(Suzann - This isn't the best picture, but Meghan LOVES the pink poodle you sent her! She plays with it and talks to it all the time, it's hilarious. It's easily her favorite thing, with the exception perhaps of her big people. Thanks!)

my birthday

2009-10-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

My birthday was last Thursday the 8th and I had a very nice day with friends and family. We went to the Botanical Gardens for a play date and to check out the scarecrows, then out to P.F. Chang's for dinner (yum!) with the family, and I even got what I wanted - a sewing machine and a class to finally learn how to use it! :) It's nothing fancy, but perfect for learning on, and I think I've got the thing figured out after the class I took last Friday night. I'm looking forward to making matching Christmas PJ pants for the family, along with various other projects. I'm sure you'll be seeing some of those here. Here are a few pictures of us at the gardens from my birthday.

My three happy kidlets

Making faces with all our friends

Moira and her best gal pals

Ian checking out the scarecrow witches

Thanks to everyone who called, e-mailed, and sent birthday wishes! Thank you notes will be going out soon! <3

September

2009-10-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

Once again, I'm woefully behind in blogging. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm now a busy Momma of 3 now? Scratch that. It IS because I'm a busy Momma of 3! I'll try to be better about it, but for now you'll just have to be content with some catch up. September has come and gone, but this is some of what has gone on.

Meghan turned three months old on the 17th! Of course, now she's coming up on 4 months, but I'll save that for another post. She has really been drooly and munching on those fingers, so we think she might've started the teething process. Earlier than the other two did, but no real cutting of teeth yet, so we'll see what happens. She's still growing, which is a blessing I probably take for granted most of the time. Here are two of her 3 month teddy pics. As you can see, she's found her hands and is my most content baby yet! :) (Click here to compare with her newborn and 1 month teddy pics and here with her 2 month teddy pictures.)

Got those hands!

Sweet face and so big!

I might've lost my mind, but I've also begun selling the hand knit purses I started making this Summer. I've been up to my eyeballs in yarn and handbags, but it's helping us get a little extra money for the holidays, so I suppose it's been good. I'm afraid I have taken over our dining room table though... ;-)

The normal state of our dining room table as of late.

Finally with a bag of my very own.

Well, I suppose that's about it. We've gotten back into the school routine and been enjoying our new classes and teachers. Everyone has stayed healthy, which is a huge blessing with a little baby in the house! We also got our yearly pictures of the big kids taken recently, along with Meghan's 3 month pictures, so be looking for that post soon. :)

Meghan's Dedication

2009-09-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby girl, Meghan Clare, was dedicated to the Lord at our church on Sunday. It was a very special time for us, and we're so thankful to God for the gift of Meghan. Here are our pictures from Sunday and the wonderful dedication printed in the bulletin so that our church family could be involved intimately.

Pastor Ronnie reading through the dedication litany (see bottom of page) with us and the congregation.

Our pastor introducing Meghan to her church family. He walked her up and down the isles, giving the congregation a chance to touch her precious toes and rub that head full of hair. It was so special.

The welcoming line at the end of the dedication.

Moira loving on her baby sister.

Pastor Ronnie welcoming the newest member of the church.

Our family of five - I love this one.

Meghan with Aunt Dara.

The happy godparents - it was such a blessing that they were able to be with us this day.

All together!

Asleep after the service, with the precious quilt made by Aunt Dara.

Our beautiful little girl.

Dara and I found the perfect little dress from Strasburg Children for this special day, and she looked precious in it!

So sweet. We love you Little One!
~~~
Dedication of Meghan Clare McCann to God's Care

Minister: We are here today to present Meghan McCann to the church for dedication and affirmation. Collin and Janelle, you hold in your arms a marvelous incarnation of love, entrusted to your care, and fully loved by God. Do you promise to bring her up in God's love?

Parents: We do.

Minister (to congregation): What do we affirm about Meghan?

Congregation: She is made in the image of God. God loves her and offers her redemption.

Minister (to Parents): Will you take the primary responsibility in teaching, loving, and training Meghan in the Christian faith?

Parents: We will!

Minister (to congregation): And will you partner with them in telling Meghan about God's love? About her wonderful Savior, Christ the Lord? Will you teach, love and encourage her as she grows?

Congregation: We will!

Minister: God be with us. We commit ourselves to love and care for Meghan.

All: We come together as a community of faith to proclaim: Thanks be to God for the blessing of Meghan!

Godspeed

2009-09-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend was both wonderful and bittersweet at the very same time. Our dear friends, Stephen & Dara, came up for one last visit before they both deploy this month. Stephen will be leaving for Qatar tomorrow and Dara soon after for Afghanistan. It's been so sweet having them close by, a mere 5 hour drive, over the last year. We're going to miss them dearly while they're deployed, which is why this one last trip was so very special. They got to meet our little Meghan for the first time, and witness her dedication to the Lord on Sunday (more on that in the next post). God is so good to have given us these truly amazing people to touch our lives so very much in the last 8 years. Please pray for the health and safety of our dear friends while they're giving up self and home to serve our country in this war.

Meghan with her godmother, Dara.

Meeting 'Uncle' Stephen & 'Aunt' Dara

Hanging out with the godfather.

Enjoying a cozy meal of Sushi and Tepanyaki at Sakura.

Yum.

Meghan with Aunt Dara and the AMAZING quilt she made for her. Such a special gift - sure to be an heirloom!

Saying good-bye.

Godspeed Dara & Stephen! You're so very loved, and will be thought of and prayed for every single day your gone. Thank you for spending your last weekend together with our family!! So much love to you both.

Catching Up...

2009-09-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ugh! I'm having the hardest time keeping up with this blogging stuff. So, here are a few picture updates from the last few weeks...

Ian started school and loves his new class and teacher.

Ian on the first day with his teacher, Ms. Lynnea.

Meghan's 2 month teddy picture.

At her appt she weighed 15 lbs, 5 oz and was 24.5 inches long. Another chubby McCann baby!

Moira started ballet class this year and looks adorable with all the little dancers in her class.

Meghan's big enough for her Bumbo now (pic taken today) - thanks Grammy Wilhite!

Shared photo book from Janelle

2009-08-26T06:25:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

First day of 1st Grade

2009-08-12T09:53:00.001-07:00

Ready to leave...

... but not before one last fashionista pose!

Leaving with daddy

So excited!

In front of her new classroom at her new school

Saying bye to Daddy

Finding her seat with her BF Celeste! :)

Moira had a great first day of school! She likes her new teacher, Mrs. Boston, and is glad that her best friend from Kindergarten made it into her new class at her new school. She's also very excited to be riding the bus home, and Mom will be too, once the route gets established. Ian starts pre-k at our church's preschool next Wednesday, with his open house Monday, so look for pictures of our little man then. We're hoping for another great year of school!

So long, Summer

2009-08-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Grammy Wilhite came to visit...

...and got to meet Meghan for the first time.

There was a bit of this. :)

One last play date with Moira's friends at the Botanical Gardens...

... in which Grammy joined us.

Ian is the proud new owner of a pair of hermit crabs.

Moira had her 1st grade open house to see her new school and meet her teacher.

The tooth fairy visited again, this time for the other wiggly tooth... notice the fairy dust she left behind?

Moira got a big girl hair cut and her ears pierced before the start of school!

And Grammy headed back to Texas right before school started.

six weeks

2009-07-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

My June Bug is 6 whole weeks old today! She's really fit in to our family so well, and we all love having a new daughter/sister. Meghan's newest trick is her full face grins! She's been smiling at us since just over 3 weeks old, but I'm finally starting to be able to catch them on camera. These still aren't great shots, but here are a few of her showing off her newest talent.

Smiling at Mama in her arms

It's the sweetest thing when Meghan smiles at her big Sister and Brother!

***

She's also growing by leaps and bounds, and is quite the chunk. Here are her newborn and one month teddy pics side-by-side for comparison. She was 9 lbs 6 oz at birth, 9 lbs when we brought her home from the hospital, and 10 lbs 8 oz at her 2 week check up!! Chubby babies are the best. :)

***

I don't know if it's that Meghan is our easiest baby yet, or if we're just comfortable as parents now, but I really can't complain about life with a newborn. She's sleeping pretty well and we've just started trying to get her on a schedule this week. Grammy Wilhite comes to visit us next week, and then school starts the week after that, so we'll be ready to get our routine down. All in all, at her best times and her worst times, we love having our little Meghan Clare around. She's a real joy to know and love - all 3 of my kiddos make my Mother's heart feel complete!

Sleeping the hours away... sweet dreams, my love.

the tooth fairy visited our house...

2009-07-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Moira lost her first tooth on Monday night after dinner, and she was SO excited. The tooth fairy brought her $2.00 for her first baby tooth, although Moira was told that she might've gotten a bit more than usual, since it was her first lost tooth. My baby's growing up!! Oh, and the one next to it is now wiggly... stay tuned! ;-)

busy, busy, busy

2009-07-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

This Summer has kept us quite busy with all sorts of fun activities, and no time to blog about them! So, I'm trying to catch up. Here are the picture albums (click on each picture) from our most recent adventures... edited a bit, so you won't be looking through our pictures all day. ;-)

Blueberry picking with Ian and his preschool friends while Moira was at Church Day Camp

Tagging along on Moira's Day Camp field trip to Old MacDonald Petting Zoo

And Moira's birthday trip to Point Mallard water park

6

2009-07-22T18:05:00.001-07:00

Can it be true? Wow. My first-born is a whole 6 years old. Gone are the days of being a baby - Moira's a bonafide little lady now! And what a sweet little lady she is. I absolutely cherish being the Mommy of such an amazing little girl, and in honor of your birthday, here are 6 reasons why I love you so.

1. Just look at you. There's no faking that sweet spirit you can so easily see shining through your eyes. I love how genuine you are, and how readily you share all of yourself with those you encounter! You're so happy and fun, and it's a true joy to be your Mommy and watch you grow into the beautiful young lady you're becoming.

Sweetly entertaining yourself at your Red Robin birthday dinner tonight!

2. Both Ian & Meghan are SO blessed to be your little brother and sister, because you're such an amazing big sis! You sincerely love your siblings, and it does this mother's heart good to see you playing and giggling with Ian one minute, then comforting and loving on Meghan the next. I hope you always keep your family first and take care of each other.

You loved your little sister from the moment you laid eyes on her... I cherish that you have such a big heart with so much love to give.

3. Since you were a little girl, you've always been my social butterfly, but I've especially enjoyed watching you mature and make some real friendships over the last year. Not only are you a wonderful, caring and fun friend, but I'm so pleased with who you've chosen to make friends with! I pray that you will always make such good decisions when choosing friends, and continue to be such a compassionate, loving and joyful friend.

Enjoying the girly sweetness of childhood friendships.

4. You're so smart! I love watching you learn. I worried over the last few years, watching you develop, that I may have passed my perfectionistic streak on to you. I'd see so much of me in you when you refused to try something new, unless you knew you could do it perfectly on the first attempt. That's why it's been such a joy to see you conquer that in school this year and embrace the learning process!! You're reading and writing, you're learning to swim, you've taken on the monkey bars at the park with no mercy, and you're always so full of curiosity and the desire to learn. Keep it up girl! It's okay to fail, as long as you pick yourself up, learn from your mistakes and keep on trying! :) I love you.

Learning to swim at the local pool this Summer... and looking cute at the same time!

5. Could you be any more of a drama queen?! Some times this gets you into trouble, yes, but mostly we love watching your imagination come to life so vividly through your play. I love seeing you take after your Daddy in this way. Like him, you're so full of life and really have a way of expressing yourself in such a unique way... I hope you'll always be such an individual and animated! Your sparkle makes me smile.

Being "attacked" by a Great White in the shark cage at the aquarium!

6. What a girly-girl you've become! I'm having so much fun with all of your girliness lately - painting toe nails, hairstyle requests, picking out your own "cute" clothes, faithfully carrying around your own little purse, and loving anything that's glittery and shines. Yet, you'll still wrestle with Daddy and play T-ball in the backyard with Ian... and why not? You can have the best of both worlds! You're such a pretty little thing, but you never forget that it's what's inside that truly counts - and you, my dear, are beautiful inside and out!!

Girling it up with glittery face paint at the Renaissance Festival.

A short video clip of the "big news" from our birthday girl today!

We pray that you'll continue to grow into the sweet-spirited young lady that you're already becoming. May you bear much fruit as you grow in the Lord, and always keep Him first in your heart. I treasure these moments while you're still my little girl, and hope that as you'll inevitably keep growing, you'll always let me be your doting Mommy. We love you with all of our hearts, and we always will.

Love, Mommy

almost four weeks

2009-07-13T12:53:00.001-07:00

Here are some of my favorites from our photo session today. I can't believe my baby is almost a month old! You've captured all of our hearts, Meghan.

Chattanooga Aquarium

2009-07-04T15:18:00.001-07:00

We went to Chattanooga on Friday, for a 4th of July weekend excursion, to explore a bit and visit the aquarium there. It turns out Chattanooga is a pretty neat city, with lots of family friendly things to do - and for a short 2 hour drive, definitely worth visiting again and again! We plan to go back and check out their super cool Children's Museum (you should've seen this thing from the road), art district, river boat tours and lots more. The aquarium was pretty neat, with some hands-on exhibits for the kids, a wide variety of river and ocean animals to study, and an IMAX theatre where we saw "Under the Sea 3D." We had a great day, and all the kids - including Miss Meghan - were very good. We heard lots of oohing and ahhing over the baby, and people stunned that we were out an about with her at two weeks. We just chuckled... life goes on, ya know? Here we are...

(Click on the picture to see our album of pics on picassa.)

two weeks old

2009-07-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Meghan is two weeks old today, and it's already hard to imagine life without her. We went to the pediatrician's office today to do another newborn screening (the state of Alabama requires two) and for a weight check, and our little girl is a whopping 10 lbs 8oz already!! She's gained over a pound in two weeks since her birth, so I can definitely rest assured that she's getting enough to eat. ;-) She still sleeping quite a bit during the day, and even at night, after a bit of restlessness around the time I'd like to be going to sleep. Of course, we'll get her on a schedule and all of the worked out (I hope!) once she's a wee bit older, so I'm not too concerned. The big kids are still loving having a baby sister, and they've been so helpful too! We've really lucked out with such great kiddos - all 3 of them! Here are a couple recent pictures for your enjoyment.

Daddy & Papa were finally able to put the big kid's swing set together during their stay.

I think Moira and Ian like their birthday present!

Here's the first picture in the "incredible shrinking teddy bear" series I'll be taking over the next 12 months with Meghan. I hope to have a cute mini-album with all the monthly pictures together by next June.

Our first family of 5 picture after church on Sunday.

For your entertainment...

2009-06-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

I call this "The different sides of a newborn, as observed by said newborn's semi-delirious, sleep-deprived parents." Having a baby again (and being married to Collin) is fun. ;-)

(Turn up your sound. Sorry it's a bit dark - it was late.)

This one is for Aunt Suzann... we finally found some baby barrettes for that mass of hair!

Well, this is just to tide you over - a more traditional update and new pictures to come soon. Enjoy your weekend!

Our Littlest Girl

2009-06-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

We finally got to meet our Meghan Clare just over 17 hours ago. She's a beautiful, BIG baby girl who has been absolutely wonderful so far. She's nursing like a champ, sleeping perfectly (for now, at least) and has a very sweet, serene disposition - although like most babies, she's happiest in Mommy and Daddy's arms. We were surprised by a full head of long, dark hair, and, while we were expecting a big baby, her almost nine and a half pounds were a bit of a shock. All said, we think she's a real stunner (although we may be biased), and we couldn't be happier right now. She's the perfect addition to our family of (now) five.

Meghan's first picture, right after birth.

In the care of the delivery nurses.

Mommy holding her baby girl for the first time.

And Daddy's turn.

The happy and healthy Mommy and baby.

And the exhausted but overjoyed parents.

Meghan meeting Grammy and Moira...

...the big sister.

Ian as a first-time big brother.

Meghan after a bath and a good night of sleep.

Her first (newborn) outfit--which won't fit for much longer!

We're praising God for a healthy, beautiful little baby girl, and we appreciate all of the prayers and love sent our way by our wonderful family and friends. Meghan and Mommy should be able to head home to join the rest of the family on Friday evening.

She's here!

2009-06-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Meghan Clare McCann was born at 5:19 this evening. She weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds, 6 ounces and 20.5 inches! Both Janelle and Meghan are doing very well, and both are healthy and happy. I (Daddy) am thrilled to finally meet my newest little girl! Moira and Ian are on the way to the hospital, along with Grammy and Papa Judisch, to have their first encounter with their little sister. Our little Meghan is a real beauty, and we'll get pictures posted as soon as we can!

At...

2009-06-17T14:36:00.001-07:00

8.5

It's time...?

2009-06-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

Dr. Callison has arrived, and Janelle is going to try pushing! Stand by!

NOTE: This post should have followed the post titled "At..." Unfortunately, it posted as earlier since I drafted it a few minutes before posting.

Now...

2009-06-17T14:14:00.003-07:00

8 and 100%--it can't be much longer now!

Oh, and...

2009-06-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

90% - 100% effaced.

She's at...

2009-06-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

7.5 cm now, and moving along quickly!

Terminal Count Entered

2009-06-17T12:56:00.001-07:00

Yes, that's my (Collin's) Space & Missile background coming through, but we're getting close to "liftoff." We're in the hospital, and Dr. Callison has been in to see Janelle and to break her water. Contractions are coming every minute or two now, and based on what I can tell, they are VERY strong. Fortunately, the nurses are working to give her some Nubain right now to take the edge off (Janelle's avoiding an epidural, as usual). Dr. Callison said she fully expects to deliver a baby within an hour or two. Janelle says she's not so sure, but I think she's just trying not to get her hopes up too much in case it takes longer. Stay tuned--we'll try to pass along information as it comes. Keep praying!

the home stretch

2009-06-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

I figured I should probably take the time to post an update again, before the baby arrives, now that we're less than a week from this little girl's estimated due date!

I had my last (39 week) OB appointment Wednesday, and every thing's looking really good - no weight gain, fundal height was 43 cm (or weeks - still measuring big), and I've reached my goal of 4 cm dilated before labor! Woot! :) My parents arrive in town on Sunday night, so if we can just wait until then, hopefully we'll be ready to have this baby. So excited... and getting a bit nervous too. Ultimately, I can't wait to meet my littlest baby girl. Here's me at 37.5 weeks.

Since school let out, we've been a frenzy of activity, trying to get the kids out of the house doing fun stuff and having play dates with friends. We joined the local Botanical Gardens and met some church friends out there for a fun (and hot!) day of water activities and pretty scenery. Looks fun, huh?

We've also gotten together with some of Moira's little girlfriends from school - there was a birthday party at the movies to see "Up," a lunch date at Chick-Fil-A, playing at the park, and story time at the library today. It's so fun to watch Moira getting bigger and interacting with her friends. So far, she's got great taste in her choice of friends! They're so cute together.

As usual, I've also managed to keep myself busy with various projects of the creative variety. Here's a look at the purse I knit for my friend Janessa's birthday, and the crocheted flower headband I made for Moira. Quick projects that are cute, fun and uber-gratifying. I think they both liked their gifts! There are more of these in the works, so there might be more to come later...

Now we're getting the house ready for Grammy & Papa's visit, and doing what we can to prepare for baby. We're all so excited to meet our little June Bug! I also just found out that the hospital we're delivering at has Wifi, so we intend to take the laptop with us and give updates here when I go into labor. Next time you hear from me here, hopefully it'll be with good news!

Last Day of Kindergarten

2009-05-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of school! It seems like just a couple months ago we were sending our little girl off for her first day of Kindergarten, and now the year is over. Moira has grown so much this year - she's reading and writing, doing great with math, she's developed even more curiosity and personality (if that is even possible), and made some wonderful little friends. She had a wonderful teacher and a great school - I'm so thankful that her first year was such a positive experience. Next year she'll be going to a new school down the road (rezoning) and I hope and pray it'll all go as smoothly as this year has. Fortunately, she'll be making the move with her best little girlfriend from her class, Celeste.

Here's the tail-end of Moira's class singing their song for the Kindergarten Performance. Moira is the 5th one in orange, from the right.

After the Kindergarten Performance yesterday - doesn't she look all grown up?

The 3 little girls from her class that she's made such good friends with this year: (left to right)Kendal, Celeste, Moira and Chloe. Aren't they adorable?

Celeste & Moira - so glad they'll be going to the same school next year!

Hugging Daddy good-bye this morning before her last day. *sniff*

This Summer should hold lots of fun for her (and all of us). We have swim lessons set up with Celeste, fun church activities to occupy us, and play dates to make with Celeste, Chloe and Kendal - along with a new baby sister to anticipate! Life is good. Thanks for celebrating our precious big girl with us! :)

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy, and very fun weekend! The kids had their joint birthday party at Jump Zone on Saturday, and enjoyed celebrating with lots of friends from school, church and even a couple of neighbors. Sunday we headed to Tennessee for the Renaissance Festival and had lots of fun there too. Here's what it all looked like in pictures (click on each picture to see the full albums)...

Moira's and Ian's joint birthday party

At the Tennessee Renaissance Festival

Whew - it was a lot to do, but a lot of fun! I feel much better having this weekend checked off the list of things to do before the baby comes though. This is Moira's last week of school and then we'll be all ready for Grammy & Papa to arrive and have this little girl finally! Can't wait!

4

2009-05-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

That's right - my little boy is four years old! It just can't be possible. I so vividly remember whiling away pregnant hours dreaming of who my little boy, my only Son, would be. And now he's 4 - out of nowhere... I swear it just happened when I wasn't looking. In honor of my little guy's birthday, here are four things about you, dear Son, that I cherish with all my heart.

1. You can smile at me and suddenly everything in the world is right again. The ear to ear grin, complete with twinkling eyes makes me melt every time! We're gonna have to keep that sparkle in your eyes and solitary dimple under wraps when you're a teen, ya know...

Ian flashed me this killer smile while at his choice birthday dinner at Applebee's...

2. You're so silly! You'll do anything to try to make us all laugh, and you have the sweetest little giggle. Your Daddy and I can't help but grin at each other when we hear you and Moira off playing together, giggling away, in all your boyhood sweetness.

...but couldn't help but turn into a silly face monster shortly thereafter! The camera WAS out after all!

3. You're really such a good little boy. I know it's tough to be "good" sometimes - having all that energy and curiosity spilling over the top - but you really do amaze me at the tender age of four, how well you listen and obey. You usually seek to please and be as helpful as you can, and I don't think we give you enough credit for that! I'm so glad God gave you such a sweet spirit and a heart of gold.

The last day of preschool with Ms. Teresa and Ms. Sheree

4. You're an adoring little brother to Moira, and I know you're going to be an incredible big brother to your little sister too! There's no place you'd rather be than with your family, spending time together. I love that you cuddle with me, unprovoked, and that I often catch you spontaneously hugging one of us. There's such a warmth about your little arms wrapping themselves around me - your lovin' is contagious!

Happy faces, happy hearts.

I pray God will continue to bless you through out your boyhood and beyond. May you grow in His spirit and love, and never forget the gift that you are to us. Some day you will be big and strong, and won't need us anymore, but I pray that you'll take with you all the love and direction that we have to give. To my dear Ian, we love you, now and always.

Love, Mommy

Obsessed much?

2009-05-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

So yes, I'm the type of crafter (and person in general) who goes through crazy spurts of productivity with a particular thing, and lately it's been knitting. I just can't seem to get enough!! I love working with fiber, being productive and creative at the same time, and being able to use or gift the finish product - it's so completely satisfying! I've been crocheting for quite some time now (about 8 years), but I've only started teaching myself to knit in the last 2 or 3, so I'm not quite as proficient in my newest love as I am in the other. I think the thing that has spurred me on lately is the prospect of getting to wrap my newest baby girl in some really cute hand knit pieces! :) So, without further ado, let me unveil my most recent accomplishments...

"Darling!" (a mock cable jumper and diaper cover) from Pipsqueak Knits by Jil Eaton. Knit in Berroco Comfort, color 9757. Size 6-12 months, for the Loaf this Fall.

This was so much fun to work on! Really love the soft, stretch fiber and I think our little girl will look lovely in this with her brown hair and blue eyes - assuming she's going to look anything like her siblings! ;-)

"Baby Bolero" from One Skein by Leigh Radford. Knit for baby #3 in Bernat Alpaca, color wheat, size newborn. Has a lovely Eyelet pattern on the center back, but I couldn't get a good shot of it. This is actually the second I've made - it's super quick (2 nights or so) and makes a sweet baby gift.

"Saartje's booties" a free pattern on ravelry.com by Saartje de Bruijn. Knit with Wildflower D.K. by Plymouth Yarn, flower buttons from Hancock Fabrics, size newborn.

I'm new to ravelry, but all I have to say is it ROCKS - definitely go check it out if you're a knitter or crocheter! I loved the double strap on this pattern, for style purposes and security, knowing how easily baby shoes tend to slip off. Can't wait to slip these pale green booties with pink flower buttons on our newborn!

"Provence Baby Cardigan" also a free pattern on ravelry.com by Classic Elite Yarns. Knit in Berroco Pure Pima (cotton), color 2241, size 9-12 months - perfect Spring cardigan for our baby.

I loved this cardigan the moment I first saw it! Something about the leaf panels shown here, worked in delicate, slick, cotton was magic to me.

It hasn't been blocked yet, but I'm really pleased with the way this turned out! I was also pleased to find such perfect buttons to match at Hancock.

I'm really proud of these! They're a version of Saartje's booties modified by yours truly, and the first piece of knitting I've made creative changes to... ever! :) Crocheted up a little flower, sewed it on with a small button for the center and viola! - a darn cute little bootee, if I do say so myself!

Knit with Patons Grace in color Rose and Snow, size newborn.

If you saw the maternity photos in my last post, these are indeed the very same booties from the pictures. I look forward to displaying a picture of our little girl wearing these next to the picture of them resting on my belly.

And, finally, here is a sneak peak of my current work in progress, which also happens to be my first cable project! I won't tell you what it's going to be just yet - but I'm really excited about this one, since it's actually for me! Knit in Patons Classic Merino Wool, color Dark Grey Mix 00225. Loving the challenge and repetition of cables. :)

***

That's all for now. Aren't you impressed that I've posted again so soon?! I hope you've enjoyed seeing these projects - even if it's only a smidge as much as I enjoyed making them and sharing them with you! :) As always, thanks for letting me ramble, and caring enough to read it all.

Maternity Photos

2009-04-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, dear readers. As promised, here are a few of my favorites from the maternity photo shoot I had with my friend Kristin, of LoveBug Photography, on Monday. She was so very sweet to offer to do these for me, and I absolutely love the way they turned out! I think most pregnant women avoid pictures of them at this stage, for fear of looking like a cow, but she did a great job making me feel comfortable and getting the most flattering pictures she could. I didn't have the opportunity to do this with my previous two pregnancies, so I'm very grateful to have these for posterity and to look back on in the coming years. A huge THANK YOU to Kristin for such a kind gift and for doing such an incredible job!

Click on the picture to see the entire album in picasa. These are copyrighted images, so please don't print them yourself - if you'd like a print, I'll be happy to have one made for you.

I just don't give a hoot...

2009-04-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

...to be perfectly honest. I'm not in the mood. I'm just plain in the blogging equivalent of writer's block - a blog fog perhaps? Maybe it's due to the many activities we've been involved in since the start of Spring? Or my ever increasing size, that brings with it a lack of energy and inability to get comfortable in any position? Whatever the case may be, it is what it is. I've even rashly considered calling it quits, but I know I'd kick myself in a couple months when the baby comes and I need an outlet for documenting all of her newness. I'll try to want to be better about blogging in the mean time, but this is fair warning that it just might not happen.

That said, I do have knitting projects finished that I'd really like to post pictures of, and some pictures from a pregnancy photo shoot I had yesterday with a friend - so be looking for those sometime this week.... I hope.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T10:30:00.001-07:00

We've had such a very busy week, with Collin's 33rd birthday, lots of Easter activities and Holy Week services... but I wanted to pop by to wish you all a very happy Easter! I'll be back to post some more from our week soon.

He is Risen!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood HOA had an Easter Egg Hunt in the park this morning, so I thought I'd share some pics. I was really impressed with it, actually. Most of the eggs were filled with candy, but some had a prize slip in them, where you could redeem them for a basket of goodies when it was all said and done. Fortunately, one prize per child, so when Moira found one and Ian didn't, one of the bigger kids who found like 5 gave Ian one of his. They had lots of fun.

On the way to the park

Hunting eggs

Hunting more eggs

After the hunt

Redeeming their prize slips for goodie baskets

Time to play afterward

Moira found a friend from school there

Back at home with their prize baskets

And playing with Ian's new popper cones

Chick-fil-a cravings

2009-03-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

I *heart* Chick-fil-a. And really our whole family does too, especially after years of living in Montana and California with not a one to be found locally. Lately though, those pregnancy cravings have kicked in and I could eat their chicken caesar cool wrap and waffles fries at any time of any day... seriously. So, when I saw this clip on my friend Jennifer's blog, I just had to repost here - enjoy! :)

baby shower & the nesting begins

2009-03-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

I feel like we've been so busy lately, with Spring Break, a baby shower, yard work, and... oh yeah. The nesting has begun. I'm 28 weeks today and officially starting my third trimester, and while I'm starting to get a wee bit uncomfortable, it's mostly manifested itself in the mindset that "there's work to do!" Not that I'm cleaning any more than usual (yet) but the fun stuff like shopping and organizing and planning! ;-) It was all kick-started, I believe, by the baby shower that our church gave us last Sunday. It was intimate and sweet, but not having been here that long, we felt so blessed to be showered by our dear church family. I'm afraid we didn't get many pictures, as our camera started flashing low battery half way through, but here's just a few from the event.

Opening gifts with Jessica, the other Mommy being showered.

The kids were mostly interested in the cake - Moira asked for 3rds!!

(Did I mention she's going through a growth-spurt right now?)

But Moira took some time away from playing with the other kids long enough to help us open some of the gifts.

Our family of 5 (with baby inside) when it was all said and done.

Oh, and the thank you notes I made this week for the shower. They're all finished and mailed, as of Thursday... so keep your eyes open for them if you were present! :)

I also had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, and I'll be going every two weeks now. Things still look good - baby is still growing. Remember at my last appointment when I measured 31 cm (which equals 31 weeks)? Well, true to form, I measured 35 cm this time! I sure hope this little 'loaf' slows down a bit at the end. At least my OB didn't mention scheduling a C-section or induction this time - she just wants to "keep an eye on it" and we might possibly get another ultrasound out of it, closer to the due date. She also mentioned that I might take this year's prize for biggest baby - ugh. As long as she's healthy... right?

So, back to the topic of nesting. We ordered a white, 6-drawer dresser/vanity for the girls' room, for the extra clothes storage space and to double as a changing table, and it came in today! Fun, fun, fun! I'm hoping to convince Collin to help me put it together this weekend, and that way I can start washing baby clothes, taking inventory and putting them all away. (It makes me giddy just thinking about it!) I've also been working on lots of baby blankets lately. One of Collin's mom's friends sent us a box of 3 pounds (yes, pounds!) of yarn, and I've slowly widdled it away to almost nothing. Here are the results:

This one, called Sweet Pea, is for our little girl. The purple is actually more purple in real-life, but it was hard to get our camera to pick up the right shade in the pics.

The big kids testing it out - they had to make sure it was right for their little Sis.

This one I made for Jessica, the other Mommy being showered on Sunday.

This one is for a friend in Colorado, Laura, that just had a baby girl.

I've also got the sweetest little jumper on needles right now, that will be perfect for the "loaf" come Fall. I'll post pics of that one once it's finished. And, we haven't been neglecting the big kids with all the baby stuff going on. We were lucky enough to be given a free twin bed and mattress set for Ian from one of the couples at our church, so all we had to buy was the bedding. Ian's starting to think he might want to switch room themes to dinosaurs soon, so I decided it would be best to get some generic (non-Mickey) bedding that would last through many themes - and I'm glad we did! It's so cute, and really perfect for him, especially with the splashes of orange (his favorite color).

Here's the new big-boy bed...

...and here's our big-boy enjoying it!

(I just want to eat him up, he's so cute!)

And finally the big news, as far as our two older kids are concerned... they're getting a big, wood swing set for their birthdays! We actually bought it yesterday, because it was on sale for $200 off the ticket price (yea!), even though their birthdays aren't until May and July. We won't be putting it together until June though, when Papa (my dad) arrives with Grammie for the baby's birth, since he has so graciously agreed to help Collin with the construction. They're excited though, and I hope they can wait 2 1/2 months until it's ready to go. Here's a sneak peak of the catalog picture (random kids and all), just in case you can't wait to see it either...

Fun, huh? I think we're almost as excited as the kids are! It really is perfect timing too, since they'll have something fun to do and help get their energy out when the newborn is here and napping all the time.

So that's what we're up to right now, thanks for checking in despite my irregularity in posting. Hopefully, you haven't all written me off as a lost cause in blogging. Have a wonderful weekend!

Spring Break in Savannah

2009-03-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

We're back now from our wonderful trip to Savannah, Georgia during Spring Break. We'd never been to Savannah before, and left feeling charmed by the city and looking forward to the next time we'll be able to visit. Here's a brief overview of our trip...

We left early Sunday morning, and took the more scenic drive through the mountains to Atlanta, and after about 8 hours, arrived at our hotel in Savannah. We settled in a bit and headed to Uncle Bubba's Oyster House on the river for a seafood dinner, which was very yummy. Collin got the oyster dinner and I got the scallop dinner (the kids ended up with the stand-by chicken fingers and grilled cheese), which were both very good. We left with full tummies and headed back to hotel to rest up for the next day.

Monday morning we headed to historic downtown and waited in line at The Lady & Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant, for those foodies out there) to get a lunch reservation time for that day. Then we bought our tickets for an "Old Savannah Trolley Tour" with on and off privileges that allowed us to get off at any of the 14 stops to explore on our own and get back on a later trolley. The tour guides were quite amusing, had a lot of history and trivia to offer about Savannah, and I think we all enjoyed taking in the sights and sounds of the city. We went back to eat at The Lady & Sons for a late lunch and tried lots of good Southern cooking from the buffet, including fried green tomatoes, crab stew, cornbread, BBQ pork sandwich, fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, collard greens, garlic cheddar biscuits (which were fabulous) and topped it all off with peach cobbler for dessert! We were stuffed!! After heading back to the hotel to let our puppy outside, we decided to go back into town and look around the City Market section a bit. About 6 blocks away from the car, we got caught in a downpour and decided perhaps we should wait until tomorrow to continue our tour. We went back to the hotel and dried off, and had a very light dinner at Bennigan's before calling it a night.

Tuesday morning, St. Patrick's Day, we woke up early and went downtown to get a parking spot for the parade later that morning. We then were able to walk through the shops at City Market and found a spot on Bull Street to watch the parade. We saw city officials, marching bands, Ireland themed floats, and lots of people in kilts playing bagpipes. Moira thoroughly enjoyed all the hoopla of the parade, but Ian thought it was all a bit too loud. I found it amusing that "the loaf" about had a fit inside the first time one of the marching bands walked by with their loud drums and horns blaring! One of the parade officials even stopped when he saw Moira and came over to give her some green beads, saying that he "couldn't pass this cutie up." :) We didn't realize that Savannah hosts the 2nd largest St. Patrick's Day celebration (after Chicago) in the world - and that 500,000 people were expected to descend on downtown that day. We saw locals and visitors alike, but most interesting were all the visitors from Ireland herself! After getting our fill of the parade, we went to Scottish pub called Molly McPherson's, of all places, as we had determined this would be the best place to get a good Irish lunch and was the most family-friendly. We got Corned Beef & Cabbage and Bangers & Mash, and Collin had the obligatory Guinness, which were all very good. We walked down to Leopold's Ice Cream afterward, but they were closed, so we headed back to the hotel to see Cailin for a bit. We then decided to make the short drive down to Tybee Island, with a quick detour to try to see Paula Deen's house, to walk the beach. The kids were itching to get in the water and swim, but it was just too cold, so they settled for splashing around in the shallow water. It was all very picturesque, and it was nice to be able to see the Atlantic again, and show it to the kids for the first time. We went back into Savannah to eat at the Mellow Mushroom for dinner, and after eating way too much pizza, we came back to the hotel and caught American Idol before calling it a night.

We left Savannah early Wednesday morning, and made it back home earlier than expected at 4pm. I got lots of knitting done in the car (pretty much started and finished a baby blanket in the car on this trip for an upcoming baby shower this weekend) and we had lots of daylight once we got home to play in the warm weather, unpack and start laundry and relax. I think all of our legs are a bit sore from all the walking we did this week, and I've decided not to make fun of the belly belts you see in the stores anymore, for supporting a preggo woman's belly!! ;-) All in all it was a wonderful trip, full of new adventures, good food, beautiful scenery and lots of quality time spent together as a family.

Click on the picture above to see the picasa album of all our Savannah trip pictures. I recommend viewing the pictures as a slideshow to get the full effect and to read all the captions.

I love the daffodils...

2009-03-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

In our experience, moving to a new area is always fun, especially during the first year. In the first year you get to experience, all 4 seasons and all the neat things that are special to that area during each season. One thing we love about Spring in San Antonio is the usual abundance of bluebonnets growing wild everywhere. It's quite common to see families pulled over on the side of the road, snapping pictures of the kids in their Sunday best amongst seas of these dainty little purple-blue flowers. For me it conjures up warm, fuzzy thoughts of family and Spring, and all their many blessings. So, when I started to notice daffodils popping up everywhere here in Huntsville, Alabama, I quickly recognized the similarity to home, and the photo opportunity that living here in the Spring would bring. It's just another way that I can take something I love from "home" and make it a part of our new home and traditions. Today after church, we stopped and took a couple pictures of the big kids in the daffodils...

Aren't they darling? And the flowers aren't bad either...

I'm struck with sentimentality as I look at these pictures of my ever-growing, ever-changing children. It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was growing them inside of me, dreaming and hoping the best for their lives, just as I am now with this precious little baby girl. Soon she'll be here, and I'll get to see her beautiful face and watch in wonder as she grows before my eyes too. It's such a blessed thing to be a Mother - one of the true gifts in life, and I'm incredibly humbled and honored to be entrusted by our Father with such precious gifts as these little ones.

And here I am, 'blooming' with motherhood today, at 25 weeks along. Only 3 short months until I get to hold my 3rd precious baby in my arms. Today I'm reminded of one of my absolute favorite scripture verses:

***

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." -Psalm 139:13&14a

Welcome Spring!

2009-03-01T11:00:00.001-08:00

Uh.... Spring?

Our view waking up this morning.

I don't think our pretty daffodils (that just bloomed this week) are gonna make it. :(

Did I mention we live in Alabama?!

Here's to hoping this is Winter's final hurrah!

anniversaries, babies and & other such things

2009-02-25T10:32:00.000-08:00

Collin and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on Monday, and I have to say how deliriously happy I am! Life is good. Nay, God is good! It's a great testament to His love for me, that He would find it fitting to create such an absolutely amazing man intended just for me! We didn't really do anything "special," in fact I spent a good chunk of the day picking a sick Moira up from school and in the Pediatrician's office to confirm strep throat was the culprit, but I just couldn't be happier with my life. I made a dinner of Beef Stroganoff and cherry cream cheese coffee cake for dessert, and enjoyed sharing it with our lovely kiddos and watching a romantic comedy once they were tucked away in bed. We plan to go out one night this weekend for a nice dinner, assuming I can line up a babysitter. Thanks Mom & Dad for funding an anniversary date night yet again!

In other news, I visited my OB this morning for a routine check up and glucose test (which tests for gestational diabetes) and all went well. My blood sugar levels were great, and my iron level was rather good, even for a non-pregnant person. (It must be all that yummy broccoli and spinach I've been eating!) I fortunately only gained another couple pounds, making the grand total 9 pounds at 24 weeks, even though my appetite has increased a bit since last month. The most shocking thing for me and my OB both was my fundal (tummy or uterine) measurement though! The average pregnant women is typically 1 cm per week of pregnancy - meaning that at 24 weeks an average measurement for me today would have been 24 cm... well, I measured 31 cm!!! Dr. Callison just looked at me with wide eyes and said "oh man, you're going to have a big baby!" So, we'll see. The good news from all this is that she stated she might like to get me in for another ultrasound toward the end to measure this not-so-little one's growth - which would be another fun opportunity to see our little girl again! The concern here is what my OB is going to say if she ends up being over 9 lbs. In fact, the nurse mentioned to me that I could just schedule a c-section since it looks like this baby is going to be big. I thanked her but said I'd rather try to do it naturally before resorting to surgery. My body has proven that it can push out an almost 9 pounder, I'm just starting to fret a teeny bit about what will happen if the bun is much larger than that. (Perhaps we should change her nickname to the loaf, instead of the bun?!) So, prayers over this developing issue would be very much appreciated!

Finally, I thought I'd take a moment to show off my newest work of art! ;-) Here is the baby blanket intended for little Nora, my dear friend Leslie's firstborn. I just finished it this last weekend, and need to get it in the mail before any more time passes! I'm just so smitten with this particular pattern, that I foresee a possible remaking of this one for our little girl. There are several other baby knitting projects in the works too, so I'll be sure to post some on those as they come along.

Well, that's about all for now. Thanks for popping by!

Valentine's Day Visit

2009-02-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

We had a great Valentine's weekend with a visit from Stephen and Dara! They came up Friday afternoon, and we mostly just spent the time enjoying our few days together, but we did go out for a yummy sushi dinner Saturday night, and were also thoroughly spoiled by our dear friends! Here are the details, in a few pictures.

Last year I received a Mickey quilt kit from a friend for Ian's new Mickey-themed room. It was so cute and I really wanted to make it, but I have not one sewing bone in my body, so I shelved the project for a while. When we moved to Alabama, I showed the kit to my sweet, sewing friend Dara, who took the project on right away for my little guy! Here she is working away at the sweet little quilt for him. Such a good friend, and "Aunt" too!

Dara finished the quilt just in time to bring it up with her this weekend. Here's my happy, little guy after being presented with such a sweet labor of love! He absolutely loves the quilt, and has slept with it every night since - I think he has a new favorite blankie! :)

Oh, and that's not all - Dara made us a beautiful throw that she crocheted all by herself for us! It's warm, cozy and the perfect colorway to help tie in the other blues in our house to the living room. Another very thoughtful labor-of-love from one crocheter to another!

We also made a trip to Babies R Us. You know we girls have to discuss all these baby plans, and the guys were good enough to come along and entertain the kids while we talked about baby bedding and such things! Oh, and there was more spoiling to be done too, as they very generously insisted on picked up the swing and diaper bag we had registered for!! I know, I know... how did we luck out with such thoughtful, caring and fun friends?! God is good.

Here's another recent belly pic (at 22 weeks) that Dara couldn't help but sneak in! ;-)

And finally, our two little love bugs. Dara wouldn't dream of "leaving Moira out" and showing up empty-handed for our little girl, so she lovingly made her the scarf you can (kinda) see around her neck - cute huh? She's worn it to school every day this week, even though it's in the low 60s today! :)

We had such a wonderful time with our friends, and continually feel the blessings God has showered us with in bringing our lives together. We've been so lucky to enjoy so many weekend visits together, that I have no idea at all what I'm going to do when Dara deploys again this Fall or when their tour in Florida is up *gasp* after that. I better start praying now... :)

Saving Spaghetti Night

2009-02-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, you have certain meals you make for dinner on a regular basis. They're usually easy, don't cost too much to make, and the family loves them, right? Well, spaghetti is one of those for us... the kid's love it, but lately it's been a bit of a drag for my man. So in my attempts to appease everyone - my bread-lovin' hubby included - I tried this new recipe last night as a side:

What? Why yes, that is homemade bread. And yes, it does taste as fabulous as it looks! Well... no, there aren't any leftovers today.

Believe it or not, the recipe made two of these giant loaves, so we spread the joy with our fine neighbors, who also happened to be dining on spaghetti last night. In the future I might cut the recipe in half, or go ahead and make the two loaves, with one intended for the freezer. All in all, I think my first attempt at bread making went rather well, if I do say so myself. Oh, and this would not have been at all possible if my sweet guy hadn't splurged for Christmas on the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer I've been coveting for the last three years. Spaghetti night lives on in the McCann household!

***

Italian Braided Bread

dough mixture

2 cups warm water
1/4 cup butter
1 Tbsp yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp salt (mix these ingredients before adding flour)
6-8 cups all-purpose flour (add 6 cups, then add additional flour until it no longer sticks to the side of the bowl)

cheesy butter coating

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Garlic salt

Directions

Add dough ingredients into mixer
Mix and add flour until flour no longer sticks to sides of bowl
Let dough rise in mixer bowl for 1 hour (I covered the bowl)
Divide risen dough into 6 "snakes"
Dip "snakes" into cheesy butter coating
Braid 3 "snakes" into a loaf and repeat with the remaining 3.
Let braided loaf rise 1 more hour (I covered again)
Bake @ 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes

Courtesy of my dear friend Diane - thanks for saving Spaghetti night! :)

1st Day of Preschool

2009-02-02T13:58:00.001-08:00

Today was Ian's very first day of preschool! I was so proud of our little guy, and how well he handled all the new stuff. There was not one tear when I dropped him off this morning, and he was all smiles when I picked him up this afternoon! I think it all might've been harder on Mom!! Today they learned about groundhogs for Groundhog Day and made "groundhog grub" (a snack mix) together, he went in the potty at school with no accidents, and he was working on tracing the letter "p" when I arrived to pick him up - all in all, I'd say quite a successful day! He couldn't wait to get on the phone with Daddy and Grammy to tell them all about his first day. I'm glad I had Bible study for a couple of hours this morning, because it's going to take some getting used to not having him around all day, every day. After Bible study I talked to my Mom on the phone - uninterrupted! - with my coffee at Starbucks, and had a free hour to browse around a baby boutique that I'd been wanting to visit.

Here's my little guy arriving at school and meeting his new teachers and friends (with a new haircut we're trying out!)

Here he is getting into the morning activity before I left - isn't he sweet?!

IT'S A...

2009-01-28T05:45:00.000-08:00

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday afternoon, and we're pretty sure we're having a little girl!! Now, I say pretty sure, because she wasn't being the most cooperative during the appointment, but our U/S Tech took a good long time with us, and felt pretty confident in her girl prediction by the time we were finished. Girls are always a bit harder to tell, since it's more obvious when you see boy parts, as opposed to the absence of something. But, Moira was right and I guess she'll get her wish to share her room with this little one!

Other than determining gender, we saw lots of little fingers and toes, a 4 chambered heart, a well developing brain, all bones and organs where and how they should be, and a little baby that's already measuring just over a week ahead of her due date! They estimate she was about 13 oz, which puts her in the 90th percentile in size already - I guess we really do make big babies, no matter what kinda weight this Mama gains! She also confirmed my theory that I have an anterior placenta (in the front) this time, which explains why I didn't feel this baby moving as early as I did with our other two. I got kudos from our OB on my slow & steady weight gain, which was the first time EVER in the history of my pregnancies, and I only added another couple of pounds to the grand total so far. We were blessed with an uplifting appointment, healthy baby & Mommy, and now I can't wait to start shopping for PINK! :o)

Here I am getting all gooped up, which Moira responded to by saying "Eww... what's all that goopy stuff?!" (Flattering picture, huh? ;o) It's hard to look cute in this situation!)

Here's our baby girl, snugly as can be inside Mommy!

***

And finally, here's a clip of the two big kids announcing their baby Sister to the world!

Family Update

2009-01-27T08:31:00.000-08:00

I realized today, while getting things ready for our big sonogram this afternoon, that SO much has happened in the last year of our lives! Last year at this time, we were starting a new year, with much hope and prayer, and a lot of apprehension and some worry too. If I could have turned the page to peek into this day in the future, I would have been filled with so much joy and thankfulness, as I am today, over what has transpired. We are so blessed!

I know I've been lacking a bit in my posting as of late, but I think now is be a great opportunity to give an update on all of us. (Warning: I'm making up for lost time, so a slightly lengthy report is to follow.) Here is what's going on with us, in bullet form for easier digestion (and writing)!

We are so thankful for Collin's job! We're still amazed when we consider the provision and love that God gave as He carried us through the last year. Not only have our needs been provided for, but our hopes and wants too! What an incredibly loving Father we have to cling to. Collin has been at his job with L3 for just over 7 months now, and he's sincerely enjoying it - it brings me so much joy to see him thriving and appreciated in his work. He has made several business trips out to Vandenberg AFB for launches and such in the last few months, and has two more planned for February and May, along with a trip to Colorado Springs in April. While he won't have his "annual review" for another week or two, he's been told by his superiors that they've been quite pleased with him and there are, foreseeably, only good things to come.

I heard from our church preschool/MDO yesterday, and they finally have an opening in their 3 year old class for Ian! We've had him on the waiting list since sometime last Fall, but a spot finally opened and we were bumped to the top of the list since we're now church members. This decision required some discussion, as we hadn't planned to enroll him until the new school year, but we've decided to go ahead now to assure his spot in the 4 year old class this Fall. For now he'll be going on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am to 1pm, and I think it'll be a good outlet for him, especially now that Moira's in school and once the newborn is here and taking up lots of Mommy's time! He seems excited, and perhaps a little nervous, but overall enthused. He'll have his first day on Monday.

Ian fell asleep in the car on the way home from Nashville last weekend - part little boy with his stuffed puppy, part big boy with his cool shades. So cute!

Moira is starting to read! While we've been working with her, and she's been learning more every day at school, we were surprised during Grammy's visit in December that she plopped down in front of us with an easy reader book, All Tutus Should Be Pink, and read the whole thing!! She was so proud of herself, as were we all, and she's been getting better and better at it since. I volunteered in her class a couple of weeks ago, and had the opportunity to take groups of three kiddos at a time to the Cafeteria to work on reading, and was pleased to find that Moira is on the upper end of her class in her ability to read. She's doing great with sounding out the words and recognizes many now without having to try. She also loves to be "quizzed" on her spelling while we drive around town in the car together. She's such a cutie, and we're enjoying her enthusiasm for school and zest for life in general. Oh, and she can't wait to be a big Sister again! ;o)

Moira has always enjoyed Carousels, so when we saw this one at Opry Mills in Nashville last weekend, we knew we wouldn't get outta there without at least one ride for the kids. Her smile always makes the money worth it!

Collin has been seeing a Chiropractor lately for some back pain that started a year or so ago, and has only gotten worse. He was in a bad car accident as a teenager, which put his back and neck all out of alignment, so it's a good thing he's finally going to get adjustments again. He spent his whole time in the military going without, and we didn't realize just how much he needed to be going - fortunately, our health insurance covers the visits aside from a co-pay. Please keep him in mind as he's having all the "kinks" worked out! When he first went in, his pelvis was tilted to the point where one leg was sitting 1.5 inches shorter than the other, and he's lost all curvature to his spine at the neck. He's been going twice a week for the last 3 weeks, and will continue to do so for another month, until they get him "fixed," at which point he'll only have to go once a month. It's actually a blessing that he finally got in to see someone, because if he'd let it go longer, he was looking at a long road of pain, future arthritis, and possible back surgery!
Since Cailin's surgery, she's seemed to be doing pretty well. I did take her back in for a check up earlier this month, and they gave her some antibiotics which knocked out a bladder infection (which is frequent among TCC patients and those with smaller bladders) but found that there's once again blood in her urine. Unfortunately, it's impossible to diagnose why without taking her back down to the Specialist in Birmingham for another ($400) ultrasound. Our vet seems to think that it's likely the cancer has returned, and even with an ultrasound to confirm that theory, there's nothing left that we can do for her. SO, we decided to forgo the diagnostic ultrasound, and hope for the best. We're thankful that she isn't in pain, and that she seems like "normal Cailin" - just as loving, playful and funny as always. Our hopes are that we'll still have lots of quality time with our sweet puppy and nothing will come of this discovery for a long, long time. Meanwhile we'll give her all the happiness and comfort we can, and continue to enjoy our time with her.
My women's Bible study group started back up yesterday, and we began Beth Moore's new study on Esther, which looks like it's going to be good. It's great to be back in this Monday routine, and while the group is a bit bigger than it was during our last study, it was wonderful to see familiar faces and I'm looking forward to getting to know all the new faces too! I've pretty much been a hermit in this pregnancy so far (which I also did in the beginning of my pregnancies with Moira and Ian, so this didn't come as a surprise), but I'm starting to come out of it now that I'm feeling better and my energy is coming back. Some of the ladies in our Sunday school class were sweet enough to invite me to a few scrapbooking crops, so I'm planning to take them up on it this time and join them at our local scrapbooking store next Friday night. I have high hopes to finish Ian's baby book (I know... I know) before this little one comes, so maybe these ladies will encourage me to that end. I was also invited to go see Bride Wars with a gal about my age from our church tonight, along with some of her girlfriends, so I'm going to try to make that after the sonogram appointment. Should be fun!
And finally, the "bun" is doing just fine, and we're all excited to see him/her this afternoon. I'm starting to feel better, although not completely over the morning sickness hurdle. I'm finally feeling the baby a bit now, and can't wait until Collin is able to feel him or her too! As of my last appointment, I'd only gained 4 pounds so far this pregnancy (which is amazing for me) so I'm hoping I'll be able to keep my total weight gain down this time around. For those of you wondering, I think we have decided to go ahead and find out the sex today. I think it'll be a good decision for our family, and as much fun as keeping it a surprise could be, I just don't know that it's what's right for us right now. So, big news to come in my next post!! Oh, and for all of you with greedy little eyes who have asked for belly pics... here are two from last Saturday! :)

I think I'm carrying pretty low and out in front, so far. (Excuse the silly look on my face - Collin always tries to make me laugh when he's taking pics of me, and I always end up looking goofy!)

Poll: Boy or Girl?

2009-01-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

So, no, this is not the update I promised at the beginning of the week. I'm still working on that one, but I have something more pressing (and possibly interesting) to talk about. If you've been following our blog, you should know that we're expecting baby #3 in about 22 weeks. You would also know that we've been thinking about NOT finding out the gender of this one until his/her birthday. Well, in the last week or two I've begun questioning myself on this semi-decision.

Being that our 20 week ultrasound is only about a week away, I'm under pressure to decide sooner rather than later. While I've liked the idea of being surprised at the birth, I'm starting to wonder if this is the best route for Collin & Janelle to take. See, in the past, my argument for finding out has always been for the "planner" in me... to be able to get the nursery ready, buy gender-specific clothing and items for baby, etc. This time around I'm actually fine with waiting for that reason, but I'm starting to wonder if it would serve Collin and me better to find out to make this pregnancy feel a bit more real. This pregnancy has just been so surreal so far. In fact, Collin's admitted that he'd rather find out, because it would help him start to bond with the baby and get used to the idea of another little life about to make his/her entrance into our world. He seems to be pretty much leaving the final decision up to me, but I can't help but feel that his feelings are hard to argue with, especially when I'm feeling a bit the same way myself.

As interesting as it is to hear how others like or dislike finding out, it really is such an individual thing, and I hesitate to go with something that might not be best for us and our little one. So, this will be a big decision for us to make over the next week... to know or not to know?

Therefore, in the spirit of our indecision, and while we're trying to figure out what to do, I thought it would be fun to take a poll and see what you all think... is it a boy or a girl? To the left sidebar, you'll find a poll where you can officially vote, but please feel free to leave a comment on your vote (or our problem of whether to find out or not) in the comments section of this post too! The poll will be open for 7 days from today, closing right before our 20 week ultrasound, when hopefully we will have made a decision by then to find out or not! Wish us luck and happy voting!! :)

Our holidays

2009-01-11T12:45:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I'm really behind on this, but here are the albums of our pictures from Christmas Eve/Christmas and New Years Eve too (click on the pics below to view the albums). We had a wonderful, quiet time at home this year and were surprised by how enjoyable it was. An update on what's been up with us lately to come this week...

Christmas Eve & Christmas

New Years Eve

A Wonderful Christmas Gift

2008-12-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough this past weekend, to be the secondary recipients of an early Christmas gift from my dad to my mom - she got to come visit us for almost a full four days!! We had so much fun, and it was such a wonderful, relaxing and joyous visit for us.

Mom and the kids by the front door with our beautiful, fresh balsam wreath (courtesy of our dear friends, Stephen & Dara).

My mom is one of those house guests that you just don't have to worry about having into your home. She's taught me, through her actions, what it means to be a gracious, helpful and pleasant person to be around, and we just can't get enough of her!

We even got some Mother-Daughter time on Saturday going Christmas shopping together for the kids! We finished all of our shopping, and didn't even mind the crowds since we had the pleasure of one another's company to enjoy. Collin took Moira and Ian to see the new movie "Bolt" while my Mom and I were out and then she treated us all to dinner at Chili's. On Sunday, she came to church with us and got to see the place we've made our Church home here, and meet some of our newest friends. After a nice dinner at home, we all made reindeer cookies together to package up for Moira's school friends and our neighbors. The kids really enjoyed the festive cookie-making time, and it was extra special to have Grammie there to help!

Moira hard at work, placing all those chocolate chip eyes in the perfect place!

Ian concentrating, almost as hard, on his little reindeer.

Showing off the cutest little reindeer cookies ever with Grammie.

Aren't they cute? (Oh, and that adorable Scotty dog shirt was a gift from Grammie while she was here too, complete with matching houndstooth print skirt and curly, red bow! [Ian got a cool Dino shirt with matching light-up hoodie, as seen above, which was equally as cute on him.] Gotta love Gymboree... and Grammies that spoil their grandkids!)

That night we all bundled up in PJs, and after a quick stop at Krispy Kreme, headed to the Botanical Gardens to see their "Galaxy of Lights" drive-through holiday light display.

Just one of the many brilliant light scenes we saw (excuse the bad picture).

We even got the added bonus of a cancelled flight for Mom on Monday night, which gave us another half day with her! She did make it home safe and sound last night, and we miss her already. Thank you, Daddy, for such a wonderful treat! We can't wait until June, when we get to see you BOTH! :)

We love you, Mom/Grammie - you're welcome any time!!

(Oh, and that would be Ian's newest picture pose!) ;o)

You Make My Heart Sing

2008-12-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

This is an e-mail I got this afternoon from Moira's kindergarten teacher, about our beautiful little girl, and I just had to share it here:

Janelle,

How, oh, how can you let her leave you daily? She is the funniest thing I have ever seen! Everyday she is just so cute! Yesterday we were talking about all the reindeer names, when I got to Vixen she said,"Oooo I like that name." and then said the same thing about Blitzen, "Ooo I like that one too." And you know how her little eyes light up when she gets excited. On Tuesday, she sat with me on the bench outside, she asked me what I wanted to talk about and then we both said what we wanted. Then another little girl came and sat with us and Moira told the girl that we had been talking about birthdays and recalled everything we said and then asked the girl "What would like to talk about?" The little girl was off in her answer, like maybe she didn't understand what Moira was saying and Moira just paused, reasoned, and went on with what she was saying. She is precious.

Have a great day!
Ms. Stover

What could warm a Mother's heart more? It seems every adult that has interaction with her becomes smitten. We're so blessed with such a precious little girl, and I'm so grateful that she spends her time at school with someone who recognizes what a gift she is!

We love you more than words can say, darling Daughter!

Thanksgiving with Family

2008-12-02T08:26:00.001-08:00

We had the pleasure of hosting Collin's whole family for Thanksgiving this year! We sure had a house-full, but it was wonderful to have his family all together for the holiday. It was the first time in our married life that we've been able to be with family for this holiday! We even had our Christmas celebration together the day after Thanksgiving (since unfortunately none of us will be together this year), with all the cousins in matching PJs, tree decorating and present exchanges. Unfortunately, as busy as I was during the whole week, I didn't get many pictures, but my SIL Suzann, got some great ones. Here are just a few of the many...

The grandparents decided to take the grandkids to the park while I was finishing up dinner, and Suzann went along and got some really cute shots. Click on the picture to see the album.

Our early Christmas, with all the cousins in matching PJs

Suzann was kind enough to take some family pictures of us on Friday. I didn't upload them all since there were a ton, but here are some of our favorites.

We hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving!!

"The Bun"

2008-11-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

Today was my first OB appointment and ultrasound of the baby! Collin and Moira were both home for Veteran's Day, so we all got to go see the baby as a family. The "bun" looks great, everything is developing how and where it should be, and he/she is measuring at 9 weeks, so just a few days bigger than our best-guess due date. Both Moira and Ian measured bigger all the way through the pregnancy (we make big babies), so this was no real surprise for us. We all enjoyed getting to see the baby, even though the kids had a hard time seeing a baby in the blob on the screen! The heart beat was strong (at about 165 beats per minute) and he/she measured at just about 1 inch long. It was so amazing to see little arms and legs (and even an ear!) with a strong heart beat, all from a tiny being only an inch in length!! So cool. Here are the "bun's" first pictures in 4-D:

I thought it would also be fun to post the video of the ultrasound, since it's a truly amazing experience, and I thought some of you would enjoy it too! I edited the video to include just the good stuff, so it's only about 3.50 minutes. At about 1 minute, you'll see the heart beat monitor on the screen, but unfortunately you can't hear the little "whoosh whoosh" of the heart beat after editing, like we can hear on the original. Then, she switches to the colored 4-D ultrasound, which is super cool. That's when the baby really takes shape and you can see all the neat little details! If you watch closely at about the 3 minute mark, you can see the baby start to move his/her little legs and arms and wiggle around a bit!! Again, absolutely incredible - it's the 3rd go around and it still blows my mind! :o) I hope you enjoy the clip, almost as much as we did!

GratiTuesday

2008-11-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

This week I'm thankful that Collin is back home after his 5 day business trip to Vandenberg AFB last week. Their mission was a success, he made it home safely, and we're all happy to have him home. I'm also very thankful for the sweet friends that we've made out here, that took it upon themselves to help me while he was out of town!

The kids and I were invited over to the house of one of our friends from church (Misty & Stephen, and their two kids Eli & Liza) on Monday night while he was gone, which was wonderful because the kids got some play time, and I didn't have to cook! Then, our friends/neighbors across the street (Jeff & Vicky, and their two kids Nathan & Joshua) brought over a huge dinner on Wednesday night for me and the kids to help out. I was so blessed by everyone's generosity and helpfulness!! Here's a picture of what we were treated to Wednesday night:

On the menu was roasted chicken with German-style red potatoes, onions and carrots, rice pilaf, rolls, an awesome salad, AND yummy fruit salad with sugar cookies for dessert!! Talk about a feast for the 3 of us - what a blessing!

Better Late Than Never?

2008-11-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's far past Halloween now, and we're well into November and all things election, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to post our pics of my sweet little ones in their holiday spirit... despite being a few days behind!

Moira wanted to make treat bags for all her classmates again this year, so she helped me make these simple tags and signed the backs of all 18 of them. She also wrote each recipients name on the front of each bag. She's such a gift-giver!

Her class had a "Harvest Day" party with a cowboy/cowgirl theme, so this is how Moira attended school Friday. We made the shirt with iron-on rhinestone letters, found the bandanna and foam hat at Michael's... and voila - a genuine Cowgirl!

Ian dressed up to, since we went to the school for her party and younger siblings were welcome to participate. What a cutie!

At the party, Moira and her friend Celeste played up to our camera with their cute ways.

On to Halloween night and getting ready to go trick or treating! Moira was a Queen (I thought she was a princess, but she sternly corrected me) and Ian was a Ninja. Thanks to Uncle Stephen & Aunt Dara for the cute treat bags - they definitely worked out well!

We had perfect weather, not to hot nor too cold, and the kid's made it around most of the neighborhood before calling it a night.

They scored lots of candy, but we took a page out of Aunt Suzann's book this year, and gave them a choice. They could keep all their candy, or trade it to the "Tooth Fairy" for a new toy. After pigging out a bit Halloween night, they both decided the next morning to opt for the toy! Bye, bye to all that candy that we really didn't want around the house anyway!! :)

The Goblin Train

2008-10-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

This post is a wee bit late, but I wanted to share pictures of our weekend adventure during Stephen and Dara's visit. We took the kids on the Goblin Train, which is an actual train ride where people were (supposed to be) dressed up for Halloween and given treats.

Unfortunately, it ended up being pretty lame, but I think the kids enjoyed it alright, so it wasn't a total loss. We had fun visiting with Stephen and Dara - so the 5 mile an hour ride in one direction for a mile, stop, and return by going backward 5 miles an hour - made it all okay. (Although I know we could've enjoyed each other's company for a whole lot less than $12 a person!!) Ah well, now we know and won't make the same mistake twice. At least we got some cute pics. As always, click on the picture below to see the entire album on picasa.

More pictures to come! Moira has a "Cowboy/Cowgirl" themed Harvest Party tomorrow afternoon at school, which Ian and I will be joining her for... and then of course, from Halloween night! :) See you then!

GratiTuesday

2008-10-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thankful for our Freedom of Speech and the Right to Vote.

I hesitate to use this blog as a forum for political debate, but I believe we as a Nation are faced with a huge decision in this upcoming election - one that will affect our children and grandchildren for years to come. If you're able, please read this post (from Thursday, October 23rd) I stumbled upon from a friend's blog. It says very clearly and concisely what I would want to say here, and since she's already said it, I won't repeat it here but suggest that you read it for yourself.

I am not Catholic, although I have many dear friends and family members (whom I cherish and admire in their Christian faith) who are, but I think the point of this video clip should hit home to all of us who proclaim themselves Christian. I admire and respect the Catholic Church for holding fast in their moral standing, and I hope you'll vote your conscience come November 4th.

1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone -- 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior... (1 Tim. 2:13 NIV)

Tate Farms

2008-10-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

We took a trip out to Tate Farms on Saturday, for a bit 'o Fall fun and pumpkin picking! We all had a blast, and were really impressed with all that there was to do and see. Next year, I think we'll go on an afternoon during the week, so it's not so crazy busy, but it sure was a lot of fun!

***

Once again, click on the picture to see the full album (with captions) of our day!

What's in a Name?

2008-10-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a big shocker for those of you who've known us through the last two pregnancies, and remember that we wouldn't even hint at name possibilities before, but we're actually going to be open about it this time! We think we've decided not to find out what this little one is going to be, until his/her birthday, so we thought we'd let people know what our name options are for a boy and a girl. Of course, it's still very earlier, and 8 months can change things a lot, but here are our top two (that we agree on) for each.

For a boy:
Declan - meaning "Full of Goodness" and "A Man of Prayer"
Liam - meaning "Valiant Protector"

For a girl:
Meghan - meaning "Pearl" or "Pure"
Ciara - pronounced Kee-ra, meaning "Saint" or "Dark"

Now we need some help with middle names. What names do you think go well with these first name options? Here are the rules. I really don't want to hear that you knew someone who knew someone in 5th grade that was a bully named Liam... keep it to yourself. We'd appreciate positive or constructive opinions only, if you feel like giving them. Otherwise, I'd love to hear your thoughts. And, as you may have noticed, we have a certain propensity toward Irish/Celtic names, so we probably won't go with Sally... sorry Moira. Okay... discuss.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is Moira's most recent depiction of our family. That's us, with me holding our new baby up - apparently the baby is going to be a girl - with Daddy holding Ian's hand, and Ian holding Moira's. Under the rainbow, near our house, of course! (I'm not sure why Daddy's got a fro.) Pretty sweet, huh?

Our Big News?

2008-10-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's right! We've got a bun in the oven!

I got the best birthday present this year... a positive pregnancy test! Collin, the kids and I are all very excited about our new baby. We just found out yesterday (so I'm only about 4 weeks along), but it was just too exciting not to tell everyone right away! My first OB appointment and sonogram will be on November 11th, so you can bet there will be a picture of the newest member of the McCann Clan then. Of course, then we'll have to wait until mid-June to meet this new little boy or girl. Ian's already said he wants a baby brother and Moira wants a baby sister (whom she thinks we should name Sally)! We'd be honored if you'd pray for a safe and healthy baby & pregnancy for us. Thanks for checking out our good news here!!

***

For those of you who are wondering, the [more to come] note in my previous post really wasn't about this big news! And, when I said "not that I know of" in the comments, that was true. We just found out, so I really didn't know at the time. Did I suspect? Well... maybe. But we couldn't do our family the dishonor of posting it here without telling them first. Besides, that's not what the "Who Am I?" post was really supposed to be about anyway. :)

GratiTuesday

2008-10-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thankful for Fall Break! Moira is out of school all week long for "Fall Break", which is a new idea to us, but I guess it's just like Spring Break, only in the Fall. However you want to look at it, I'm enjoying having our big girl home with us this week. Yesterday we went to the Botanical Gardens with some church friends, and we've been doing some fun crafts and activities around the house. Take a look at what we've been up to so far:

Ian bounding across the colors of the rainbow at the botanical gardens

Moira observing our group from her perching spot up in the 2 tiered terrace

Moira and Ian pulling up a bucket of water at the Fairy tale wishing well

Having lunch with some new friends at the gardens

(left to right: Kim, Hannah, Eli, Misty, David & Michele)

Lots of dressing-up going on. Ian can't decide whether to be a doctor, fireman or handy-man!

We made brown lunch bag puppets one afternoon. One of my favorite crafts from childhood! Here's Ian with his creepy spider and silly snake.

And Moira with her cute kitty and squeaky mouse. Notice the made-by-Moira dresses that were needed to accessorize her puppet friends!

Grammy J sent the kids special coloring books in the package with Mommy's b-day present - thanks Grammy, we love them!! :)

Bet you didn't know that the kidlets (and their Mommy) are flower stalkers! Well, here's the beauty we found flourishing on one of the rose bushes out back this weekend.

***

Lots more planned for a week of fun, including a birthday celebration tomorrow and a brunch play date with more new friends from church on Friday! We have so much to be grateful for! How about you?

Who Am I?

2008-10-03T11:40:00.001-07:00

I've been working on this post for the last few days now, if not on paper, in my head. God has gripped me... taken me by the heart and lead me in His direction over the last year, but especially the last few months. All of the sudden, I'm hearing Him just a little more clearly over the world's din that has increasingly grown fainter. Like Moses, I'm suddenly finding myself covered with His hand, only to see His back, as His glory and goodness pass over me. (ref. Exodus 33:18-23) I'm in awe over the presence of the Almighty God, Abba Father, in my life. Who am I?

I woke up yesterday, earlier than usual, the house still quiet and peaceful in the early morning hours. It wasn't until a few minutes later, that I realized the track playing in my head. I woke up with this song streaming unconsciously through my mind, like my Spirit had been in worship in the stillness of night, despite my body's slumber. It struck me how personal God is with us, that this was indeed a gift to me, to prepare me for the day ahead. Right then and there, it was God making His presence known, and inviting me to worship. Throughout the day yesterday, I'd smile as I remembered my very personal moment with my God, and my soul welled up to praise Him again.

He's broken through the darkness in my soul, shining His cleansing light, and leaving me more fulfilled through Him than I could ever have imagined. He's repurposed my life for His glory, and restored the joy of my salvation. He's taken my selfish heart, and made one that has bloomed with love anew for my dear husband. He's reformed my vision of Motherhood, to realize the sanctified mission He's entrusted me with. [more on this to come.] He's given this precious gift of children that I've too long taken for granted. He's given me peace and joy again in my calling as a Wife, Mother and Daughter of the King!

This is such a personal post for me. Something I didn't need to share here to have heard by the One whom this is for. But I'm overflowing - my cup runneth over! How could I be silent? How could I stand still instead of falling on my face to worship?!

I am yours.

"GratiTuesday"

2008-09-30T05:27:00.001-07:00

I have a dear friend back in California that's been doing something wonderful on her blog almost every Tuesday. She's reserved "GratiTuesday" for vocalizing some of the blessings in her life and her gratitude for them... the name's coming together now, right?! ;o) I think this is such a great idea, as reading her posts have really caused me to look at my life and see the blessings that I've been gifted with. It's downright infectious - and something I'd much rather pass on to all you out there, than so much of the misery and complaining we tend to pass on instead! So, I thought I might take up the torch and continue her tradition here on my blog on a somewhat normal basis. I think in the future I'll focus on one topic individually, but today I feel compelled to give thanks to my God for all of these sweet blessings, so here goes:

Collin, my beloved. A man that knows my heart and every expression's meaning. One who loves, protects and provides for me and our children, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. A man created to be my other half!
My precious children, Moira and Ian. Wow - words can't begin to express the blessing that they've been to me, and how thankful I am that God's entrusted their precious little lives with us. I only hope God will bless my efforts to Mother them and train them up in Him, knowing that we've dedicated them to Him.
My family. God took such care of me from the beginning in choosing my Mother, Father and Siblings, knowing exactly what I'd need to grow up strong in the Lord. And now, He's given me such a precious gift in group of incredible in-laws that I honestly lucked out with!
My friends. This is such a rich blessing - icing on the cake, if you will. The Lord has brought friends into my life that have nurtured, encouraged, supported and loved me as I am. He knows our need for fellowship (He created us that way, after all) and He's seen fit to place such incredible people in my life for me to grow with. I'm thankful daily for this.
Our home. God has truly shown himself as Jehovah Jireh (meaning "The Lord will Provide") to us over this last year. I hope to never again take for granted His provision and promise to meet our needs. Not only has He met our needs, He's given us a beautiful home that we hardly deserve... God is good!
Our church. As we settle into our new state, I've prayed in earnest that God would send us a church home that we may get involved in. That we'd find fellowship there, find support in training up our children, and truly grow in Him and give to His ministry. For the first time in our married lives, since leaving San Antonio, I believe we've found that very church, and my heart is overflowing with joy!
Him. His precious gift of Himself to us. Not only in creating us and the world, but choosing to be involved in our lives and to dwell among us, as Sovereign God and Father. The ultimate price was paid for me, and I'm so thankful that He first loved me, and drew me close to Him. If that doesn't shake your world, I don't know what will!

What are you thankful for?

*****

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!" - Psalm 118:24

US Space & Rocket Center

2008-09-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Our day started out with a real bang... literally!! We were getting ready to head to the Space & Rocket Center while Moira and Ian were running around playing, and all of the sudden we heard a loud THUMP immediately followed by crying. Not good. I ran out of the room to find Moira in a heap on the floor, having slipped and slammed right into the bottom of the wall at the baseboard, poor baby. She got a huge knot on her head with this dark red line (which still hasn't faded, by the way). She was a trooper though, and decided she was ready to head off for the day anyway - that's our girl! :)

To see all our pictures (with captions) from Saturday at the US Space & Rocket Center, click on the picture below and it'll take you to our Picasa album. We had a great time - thank goodness for free tickets for Smithsonian Day! Moira is now thoroughly convinced that she must have Space Camp Barbie (oh goodie) and Ian has learned the joys of yelling "3-2-1 Blast Off!" at the top of his lungs and taking off in a full on sprint. Quite a fun day for the whole family!

Here's some video from a small piece of our time there:

All in all we had a good day, topped off with a trip to Pizza Hut for dinner. We think we might go ahead and get Annual Tickets for the family - that way if any of you want to do see the Space & Rocket Center when you come visit, we'll have some discount tickets ready to go! So, come visit!! ;o)

***

Today we went to Sunday School in the morning, followed by Church, and were invited out to lunch by two couples from our Sunday School class. We went to a new Deli here called "Newk's" with them and their children, and had a lot of fun for 12 people in a party! We're thankful that some of the members from the church are really starting to warm up to us and make room for us in their lives. God is good! Tonight will consist of a small dinner at home, getting the kids to bed early in preparation for school tomorrow, some laundry, and relaxing before the start of another busy week. Thanks for stopping by and checking in on us - we love ya!

Alabamians by Residence, Texans at Heart!

2008-09-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

Collin took a couple hours off of work today, so that we could go get our vehicles registered in the State of Alabama, and get new Driver's Licenses too. Yup - we're officially residents of Alabama now, and we'll have to give up those precious Texas license plates... again. I was thinking of a way we could still claim our Texan-ness on our vehicle, and I found this window sticker:

Perfect, right? :)

So, it's been about three full months since we moved here, and I must say we're feeling pretty content. Life is good - or perhaps I should say God is good! Huntsville has plenty to offer in the way of activities and culture, we're settling into a church that we're considering joining, our home is wonderful and we've met some nice neighbors with young kids, Moira's loving school, and Collin's job is going well. Man, remembering back 4 short months ago, when our entire lives were up in the air, it all seems so distant now. The thing I haven't forgotten (and hope I never do) is the provision, hope and comfort God gave us during our 6+ months of uncertainty. We've been so thoroughly blessed, and it's more than we deserve. Again, God is good! Amen?

I should have some fun stuff to post this weekend, as my brilliant hunk of a man found free passes to the US Space & Rocket Center for tomorrow! We've wanted to do the whole NASA museum/discovery center thing, but it's pretty pricey. So, this will be a good opportunity to go check it out and see if Annual Passes are something we'd like to get. The Annual Passes aren't too expensive, and we'd get some discount/free tickets for visitors (might be a good activity for us, Suzann, when y'all come for Thanksgiving! What do you think?). Anyway, more on that to come.

We've been invited over to our neighbor's house tonight to help celebrate their oldest son's 8th birthday with cake and ice cream. Should be fun - the kids are definitely looking forward to it. Until then, I suppose I should go get some cleaning done around here so I can enjoy the weekend thoroughly. Thanks, as always, for caring what these new Alabamians have to say! :)

It's about time!

2008-09-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

I finally started potty training with Ian this week. Well, really we started on Friday, but the weekend put a damper on our progress with our trip to the caverns and other stuff, so we're back to it in full force this week. I figured it was time when I kept getting well-meaning comments like "how's potty training going?" to which I'd be forced to reply "well... it's not." Yes, he turned three in May, but can you hardly blame me for waiting until we were settled after a move, a brief stay in an apartment, and all that unpacking?! But, now we're really working on it. We've had quite a few "accidents" (I'm suddenly very thankful that our entire house has wood floors!) but I think he's really starting to get the hang of it now. We had one big oops this morning, but since then he's successfully told me of his need to tinkle and performed marvelously four times!

There are definitely benefits to waiting until the kiddos are a bit older - they just get the hang of it much quicker. Sure, we could've really pushed them to go potty at two years old, but I guarantee you we would've had a lot more work and accidents along the way. Just my thoughts on the matter; although, each kid is different, and each Momma is gonna know hers best! So if you had your infant going in the potty, more power to you - but I think I'll wait a couple years, thankyouverymuch!

So proud of the big boy pull-ups. He especially loves the dinosaur undies he gets to wear around the house too!

Ian's "tinkle treats" - he gets to pick 3 each time he goes.

Funnily enough, Collin got this funny short story e-mailed to him this week, which he promptly shared with me:

***

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library, the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you Never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked. There've been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco. Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall:

''Mommy , are you gonna go potty?

Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy?

Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now?

Mommy, what are you doing?

Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?'

At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued:

'Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you?

Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!

Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty?

Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy!

Oh ... Mommy! I'm trying to see In dere.

Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get some
candy!'

I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming new born when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said,

'Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some.

'No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies.

Oh! Mommy!'

He started to gag at this point.

'Uh - oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up.

Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!!

Dat is so gross!!'

As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. Quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing Monologue will be long gone.

'Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!'

He grunted as he tried to pull me off. Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door.

'Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy?

You wooking under da door?

What were you wooking at?

Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?'

More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation.

'Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy.'

He started pounding on the door. 'Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!'

I saw that my 'wait 'em out' plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, 'Where's The fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and
privacy?' But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.

(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids , Michigan , where she no longer uses public restrooms).

Hmm... on second though, a six-year-old in diapers wouldn't be out of the question, would it?!?

Cathedral Caverns

2008-09-21T16:07:00.000-07:00

We spent our Saturday at Cathedral Caverns, about 45 minutes outside of Huntsville. It was so much fun to have the kids experience this kind of adventure for the first time! I was really impressed with how well Moira listened to our tour guide and how much she learned from his fun facts, and Ian was such a trooper with all the climbing and walking (about 1.5 miles in all) and I only had to carry him a couple of times. Click on the picure below, and it'll take you to all of our photos from the day in our Picasa album - enjoy!

Caught!!

2008-09-18T13:08:00.001-07:00

First this...

...then this!

Well, kind of. I actually gave Ian the scissors and paper to cut while I was working on putting my craft room together. It was just so funny that after I snapped the picture of him cutting the paper (unbeknownst to him) he looked up startled, as if to say "I didn't do it!" Of course when I laughed at his reaction, his face in the second picture is what I got in return. I could eat him up - he's just too cute for words. Mommy loves you, little guy!

There's a crispness in the air

2008-09-16T05:23:00.000-07:00

...and we're loving it. I woke up this morning and let Cailin out to find our patio thermometer reading 59 degrees, and I immediately planned on making warm coffee and donning a sweater when I returned inside. I love days like this. Although I don't expect it to last quite yet - Summer will inevitably push it's way through a few more times before Autumn takes a stronghold - this is the first hint at the changing of the season. A season when I dream of cradling warm drinks between my fingers and cozying up by the fire on chilly nights with a good book, the comfort of woolly yarn running through my fingers as I knit to my heart's content, the excitement in the air as the children begin to plan Halloween night and the perfect costume, and the feeling of family togetherness that the anticipation of Thanksgiving always brings. These are things that we're doing, as Fall, easily my favorite of all seasons, is approaching.

Both Ian & Moira have made it their personal missions to collect all the beautiful leaves they come across. We haven't seen much change in color from the trees yet, so I was quite surprised to see some of the gems they found in our backyard. Definitely a sign that Autumn is coming!!

Moira can't stop drawing. It's like a disease - she eats, sleeps and dreams in crayola washable marker colors! Collin and I have been so impressed with her improvement in this area over the last month. She's drawing with such detail and takes such time and care on each individual picture. Here is an example of that. This is a depiction of herself in the library (which is quickly becoming one of her favorite activities at school). Notice how each book has it's own unique design on the cover? I also love the ladder-backed chair she drew to the side of the left bookshelf, and the simple things, like the bow in her hair - so cute. Looks like some of drawing genes from her daddy have been activated! I'm always so amazed by these little people, and their unique talents and ambitions.

Yesterday was Moira's day for the book fair at school. I decided to bring Ian up to the library with me, so they could each pick a book. We discovered that a 15 minute time slot for a Kindergarten class of 16 is way too short!! Poor Moira could not decide which special book she wanted to choose to bring home within the time frame, and was in tears when she had to leave her task and line up to go back to her classroom. I told her I'd bring her back later, so she'd get a chance to pick, but it was no consolation to her. Her sweet teacher, upon seeing her tears, let her stay with me a little longer to pick her book, while the other children returned to the class with her for rest time. I'm so thankful that God's given her a gentle, sweet-natured teacher who understands my sensitive little girl. Moira chose a Fairy Princess repositionable sticker book, we bought a Corduroy book from Ms. Stover's wish list for the classroom, Ian picked a Star Wars young readers chapter book, and Mommy (having the foresight that a chapter book was perhaps a bit above Ian's current attention level) picked a book called Charlie Cook's Favorite Book. As you can see, Mommy's instinct is usually spot on!

As for me, I started a women's bible study on Monday mornings with the church we've been attending. It's one of Beth Moore's, A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place, and I'm already amazed at how much I've learned. I've eagerly completed the homework every morning without fail, and I'm so excited to see God's Word in the Old Testament with new eyes. I've decorated the house for Fall, and started putting my crafting space together out of the half of the office I've been given. I'm volunteering some of my time helping with the Teacher Appreciate Committee, and I've taken on a project to help the "Enrichment Specialist" at Moira's school put together some portable activity centers for students who finish with their work early. In addition to that, and my normal child-caring and home-making responsibilities, the desire to scrapbook and knit has hit with a relentlessness known to many crafters during this season. This basket of yarn patiently waiting by the hearth beckons me to sit and give in to my desire to do nothing but let it be my muse the whole day.

(If this picture makes your heart skip a beat, or you have a compelling desire to reach out and lovingly caress the yarn, you might be a knitter who just doesn't know it yet - go with it!)

Collin is diligently pulling himself away from his cozy home and making his way to work daily. He loves Fall just as much as the rest of the family, and he finds time in the evenings to play with the kids, love on the puppy and enjoy relaxing after a hard day's work. He's looking ahead to a business trip for a week in early November, back to Vandenberg AFB, for a "Glory Trip" (that's what they call them). It pleases me to see him enjoying his work, and being treated like an asset to the company. I'm so thankful for a hard-working husband, and to see God blessing his efforts and His ever-faithful provision for us.

So that's what we're up to. I know I haven't been as good at posting as I usually am, and I hope this post will serve to get me back into the swing of things. We've got lots going on, and lots to post about, so stay tuned for more soon. Mmm-k?

Happy Birthday, Mom

2008-09-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

my mom as a child

***

In honor of your special day, here are a few quotes that have rung true to me about you. Thank you for your gifts of time, patience, prayer, forgiveness, support, kindness, wisdom, sacrifice, and love. Today I'm rejoicing in God's gift to us of you!

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my Angel Mother." -Abraham Lincoln

“A mother understands what a child does not say.” -Jewish proverb

“When I stopped seeing my mother with the eyes of a child, I saw the woman who helped me give birth to myself.” -Nancy Friday

"A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take." -Cardinal Mermillod

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers." -Jewish proverb

"Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers, and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world." -Kate Douglas Wiggin

me as a child, with my Mom

I love you - happy birthday!

Homecoming

2008-09-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

This journey with Cailin, since the beginning, can best be described as a roller coaster ride. I can think of at least 4 times when a Vet has told us "this is what is going on" just to come back later and say "no, that's not what's going on after all" - it's been completely exhausting and emotionally draining. This is the latest twist and turn on our ride, since my last post...

I called the Surgical Hospital in Birmingham yesterday morning to see if Cailin would be allowed to come home that afternoon. The Tech informed me that they had pulled her catheter that morning, and she was urinating on her own, so the doctor approved her release. Great news - we'd finally get to bring our puppy home! We arrived at the hospital around 4:30 yesterday and waited in an exam room for the Surgeon to come have his post-surgical talk with us, we were both feeling a bit apprehensive about what we'd be told, since we'd gotten a smidgen of not-so-great information from his nurse on Tuesday night.

Dr. Ballagas sat down with us moments later to tell us how it went, and this is a summary of what he said. Basically, there was indeed a large, bleeding tumor located in a safe-for-removal spot at the front of the bladder. He was able to remove that "safe" portion of the bladder, leaving about half of her bladder remaining. Here's where it gets interesting... he noticed some thickening in the bladder wall around the tumor, possible evidence of either the tumor spreading, or in his opinion, more likely just inflammation from being beaten about by the tumor when she moved. He also noticed a couple of tiny nodules at the ureter (where the kidneys dump into the bladder) that didn't look the same as the tumor he removed, and figured they might also be spots of inflammation. He shaved them off for good measure and included them with the tumor to be sent for biopsy. Generally speaking, this was all relatively good news.

So, we were confused. We told Dr. Ballagas that we were under the impression that the tumor had definitely spread into the muscle wall and the urethra, as the nurse had told us the evening of the surgery. He assured us that the nurse misunderstood him say ureter and not urethra (which means a HUGE difference in how much time she'd have left), and must've drawn her own conclusions about the nodules found there, in addition to the thickening of the muscle wall. We were shocked that such a dooming prognosis was given unnecessarily, but thrilled to find out that that was probably not the case! Now, that being said, we're still waiting for the ultimate word of the biopsy, but there is hope yet. Dr. Ballagas is hopeful and seemed to think it more likely that the thickening in the muscle wall and the nodules were simply inflammation, which is more reason to be hopeful ourselves. We should have the biopsy report in about 2 weeks, possibly sooner.

Meanwhile, our sweet puppy is home with us and seems quite happy to be so. She's resting under the computer desk at my feet as I write. Happy Sigh. We brought home an antibiotic, pain medicine, her Peroxicam (the cancer med) and the Misoprostal (to counteract the ill effects that can be caused in the stomach by the Peroxicam) - so she'll be given lots of pills four times a day for a while. She also has a horrid collar to keep her from biting or licking her incision, but we're only using it when we have to leave the house or can't keep an eye on her. Her exercise will be very limited for a while, no running or jumping. And because her bladder is half the size it once was, she'll need to go out pretty often (I woke up with her every four hours to let her out last night). Fortunately, the bladder is an amazingly regenerative organ, and we were told that it should, in time, stretch back to very close to it's previous size. We'll take her back to Birmingham to have Dr. Ballagas remove the sutures in 2 weeks, and hopefully get the results of the biopsy in person.

So, there's the most recent experience on our roller coaster ride with Cailin. Fortunately, the ride took our emotions up this time, instead of down, but there is that little part of me that's waiting for the drop at the end of the hill. Please pray it doesn't come, especially in the form of bad news about the biopsy. I appreciate so many of you staying tuned for news on our baby - I'm sure I've been long-winded about it all, but it really has been therapy for me to compile my thoughts and share them with others here. It seems that this topic will pretty much be coming to an end with the final news of the biopsy, at which time we'll return to your previously scheduled broadcasting.

Much love and puppy kisses from Huntsville, Alabama!

Cailin's Surgery

2008-09-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

I drove Cailin down to Birmingham for her surgery yesterday, and left her in the caring hands of the Surgeon and his staff. No small feat in itself, I assure you. Although I called to check in at 4pm and again at 7:30pm, we didn't hear about the outcome of Cailin's surgery until very late (9 pm) last night. They started her surgery later than planned, because an emergency case came in, but they also had a complication in closing her up, so it took even longer. I guess they ran a stain through her bladder to make sure there were no leaks, and there was a small one, so they had to open her back up to reseal everything. She came out from the anesthesia fine and they had warm air on her and warm liquids running through her to help raise her temperature. When I called this morning they said she was in good spirits (as much as she can be in the hospital after surgery), she'd eaten breakfast, had a bowel movement and they thought they'd be able to remove the catheter Friday morning and we can come get her and bring her home that afternoon. We're definitely hoping they'll let us come get her before the weekend!

The surgery itself ended up being more intricate than they originally had planned. I guess the tumor was pretty large, and so they had to remove a good portion of her bladder. The nurse also told me that the tumor had spread into the muscle wall and urethra, so they weren't able to remove that portion. We'd been under the impression that it hadn't made it to her urethra yet, so that was upsetting news. We have yet to find out what it all means, but should know more when we have our consult with the Surgeon when we go pick her up. I was pretty upset last night, with the new information, but Collin and I have had a chance to talk and I've calmed down emotionally quite a bit. We'll just have to wait and see what the Surgeon says it all means, and I'm trying not to get ahead of the game or make assumptions that will upset me, and might not even come to pass. Please say another prayer that the surgery will help her, and that it wasn't all in vain. We're remaining hopeful, and God is in control. He'll allow to happen what He wills, which we know is what's best. He'll give us peace and grace enough to handle it all.

In other news, Moira woke up today with two red, gunky eyes and complaining of a sore throat and ear ache. Ugh. So, I kept her home and we're going to the doctor at 10 this morning. Not what I wanted to be faced with today, but you do what you've gotta do. Hopefully he'll get her some good meds to make her better and she'll be back at school tomorrow.

This is one of those times that life can just be overwhelming. Thinking about taking things "a day at a time" seems like too much right now, so I'm focusing on an hour at a time. Please pray for our family, our sweet Cailin and the outcome of all of this. Mostly that God's will be done and that He'll give us peace about it all. Thank you all for your loving support - your comments, prayer and encouragement has meant so much to us both. Each and every one of you is a ray of happiness and representation of God's love for me.

Making a House a Home

2008-08-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

As of last Monday, we've been proud home owners for one whole month, and today marks 5 weeks exactly! Whew - I can't believe how much we've accomplished in that time period. We've painted most of the house, had a new roof installed and almost all of the boxes are unpacked! There are still so many things that I'd like to do, but this house is finally starting to feel like home. In commemoration of the one month mark, here are some pictures of the things we've done to the house to make it our own (warning: lots of pictures and home decoration talk to follow, just in case you don't like that sort of thing).

This is our entry way with hall closet. Notice the new paint color - we were going for a Tuscan Gold, something warmer and less green than the previous gold color. This is the predominate color in the house now, with the exception of our accent (fireplace) wall, which is slightly darker with a touch more orange, and the new olive green kitchen. We still have a lot of work to do in this area, with the office and dining room, but that'll come with time.

A picture of our beautiful new bathroom fixtures that Collin & Stephen installed during our move-in weekend. I just love them - the clean lines really make the space feel more updated and sophisticated.

Looking into the kitchen from the great room. We bought the two bar stools, and hope to get two more in the near future to complete the breakfast bar. You can see the new color in the kitchen as well, which I like pretty well, although I'm not 100% happy with it.

I was finally able to start using my Uppercase Living stuff I'd been stock-piling since Vandenberg (thanks Janessa)! I love how these personalize a space - you may have seen the "welcome" over the hall closet in the first picture too.

If you look closely at the wall on the right (under the window), you'll see the slightly darker accent color we used on that wall. This over-sized chair is our favorite place to cuddle up together near the fireplace and watch a movie!

Our humongous couch underneath the ledge shelves that Collin hung for me last weekend. I plan to put a few more things on those ledges, but it's a work in progress. Love the warmth of the new color... do you remember the dark terra cotta before? The room feels much bigger and lighter now.

This is part of Ian's room. We kept the color the same, but added a Mickey theme with the wall stickers, and accessories on the shelves. It feels so nice to finally have a nicely put-together room for our little guy!

Here's another portion of his room. See? The blue is not quite as bright turquoise as it appeared in the sale pictures.

Moira's room is probably the most put-together of the whole house (how does that happen every time?)! We painted over the awful dark orange color, and the space looks so much more like it belongs to a little girl now. It's complete with Disney Fairy wall stickers, Fairy bedding and my attempt at a canopy over the bed. We're just awaiting the "I believe in Fairies" and "All you need is faith, trust and a little pixie dust" vinyl wall applications from Uppercase Living, and the space will be complete. Isn't it cute?

A closer shot of the fairy stickers and some of the fairy books and accessories we're displaying on the shelves. She just loves her new room!

Our guest room hasn't really been started, except for the new bed and bedding we picked up this week for our friends that are visiting this weekend. I think it's a nice start at least!

We picked up patio furniture for the screened-in porch when we first moved in...

... but my favorite part is finally being able to hang and use the sky chairs we bought a couple years ago! I could spend the whole day in one of those with a good book.

***

So, that's it, in a nutshell! We're feeling very cozy and happy in our new home, and definitely blessed that God's gifted us with so much. I'm sure I'll post more at a later date, as more things start taking shape. Thanks for letting me share our excitement & joy here!

Better news...

2008-08-25T05:48:00.000-07:00

Many of you have e-mailed and called about how Cailin's appointment with the Specialist went on Friday, so I wanted to get on here this morning and post about it - thank you all for your concern and support!

We made it down to Birmingham a little earlier than her 4:30 pm scheduled appointment, and headed in to the building in time to get her vitals taken and talk with the nurse for a bit. After waiting in an exam room for 15-20 minutes, the nurse came back from the ultrasound with Cailin and told us the Specialist (he's an pretty renowned Veterinary Internist in this area, by the way, if any of you are wondering) would be in to discuss the results with us shortly. Dr. Lothrop made his entrance soon thereafter and was very warm with us and the kids - we definitely appreciated his calm and supportive bedside manner!

Anyway, this is what he had to say. The bad news is that it is indeed cancer, specifically it's the Transitional Cell Carcinoma (TCC) that I posted about earlier. The good news is that it's not located at the neck of the bladder, as we had thought, and she's a good candidate for surgery! He assured us that the cancer had not spread outside of the tumor (located between where the kidneys dump into the bladder, and the opening to the urethra or "neck" of the bladder), and if the tumor were to be surgically removed, it was pretty likely they'd be able to remove all or most of the cancer, and save a good portion of healthy bladder. This is really spectacular news, and against the odds, since TCC is an aggressive and fast-spreading cancer, it's usually located at the neck of the bladder and therefore deemed inoperable, and in most cases it's too late to do anything to really help save the dog.

So, we have two options. Option 1) Opt not to do surgery, keep her on the Peroxicam which would help slow the spread of the cancer (and it will spread) until in 9-18 months it would block her urethra, making her unable to urinate, at which point she'd go septic and we'd have to make the decision to put her down. Option 2) Spend an estimated $1500-$1800 on surgery, keep her on the Peroxicam (which would only be necessary if they couldn't get all of the cancer), and possibly allow her to have a normal life-span for a Sheltie, another 3-4 years or more, barring no other age-related illnesses that could come along. He assured us that, as pet-owners, both options we're completely reasonable, and the decision was entirely ours to make.

After Collin and I discussed it together, prayed about it and took a night to sleep on it, we've decided to do the surgery. We both feel that it's worth it as the risk is low, her quality of life would remain the same, and we could possibly have a few more years with our precious puppy. We made the commitment to care for this creature, who has become such a huge part of our family, when we took her into our home and hearts, and we feel this is the right thing to do. It's definitely not the cheapest option, but again we made a commitment to care for her, and since we can afford it (it'll require some sacrifices, but it's not going to put us on the streets or anything), we feel it's our responsibility to do all we can for her. Even if something horrible happens in surgery, or they're unable to get all the cancer, we'll both sleep better at night knowing that we've done everything we can to give her the best chances possible - this is as much for us as it is for her. And, we're at peace about it.

So, I'll be calling down to the same Specialty Animal Hospital in Birmingham today to set up an appointment with one of the Vets that does surgery (Dr. Lothrop, the Internist, won't actually perform the surgery but was able to give us a couple recommendations on who should). We'll need to get her in pretty soon, we're hoping next week, since we need to do it before the cancer spreads and eliminates her eligibility for surgery. We'll need to take her back down to Birmingham, leave her for there for surgery and a couple days of recovery (which is going to be exceedingly difficult), and then come pick her up for after-care. We ask for your prayers during the surgery, that it will go smoothly and without complication, that she'll (and we'll) not be too anxious about leaving her for a couple of days without us, and that the after-care and recovery will be easy afterward.

Here is a beautiful blessing that was offered up for us by some of our very dear friends, that I wanted to share here with you:

Blessed are you, Lord God,

maker of all living creatures.

On the fifth and sixth days of creation,

you called forth fish in the sea,

birds in the air and animals on the land.

You inspired St. Francis to call all animals

his brothers and sisters.

We ask you to bless this animal, Cailin,

By the power of your love,

enable Cailin to live according to your plan.

May we always praise you

for all your beauty in creation.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures!

Amen.

We, too, have caught the Olympic Spirit!

2008-08-19T14:09:00.002-07:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

... at least no one can say we aren't good sports! (right honey?) He's gonna kill me...

P.S.

2008-08-19T14:09:00.001-07:00

Cailin's appt was rescheduled to Friday at 4:30pm, so I won't have news until then...

Ultrasound Appointment

2008-08-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to report that Cailin's ultrasound is scheduled for tomorrow at 5 pm. Collin's going to leave work early so we can head for Birmingham after Moira gets out of school, around 3 pm. Meanwhile, Cailin's just as perky and sweet as ever! Thank you for all the sweet comments, e-mails and phone calls - we feel so blessed by the encouraging words of love. Hopefully we'll have some more conclusive information to report on Wednesday...

Man's Best Friend

2008-08-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while due to getting in the swing of our new schedule with school, and Ian and I seem to have come down with a cold of some sort this week that's really taking it out of me. I felt the need to update you, and ask for your sincere prayers for our family, and our beloved dog, Cailin.

Cailin has been having some health issues since about late April, but we've not had the ability to get to the bottom of what's causing it. I finally took her in to see a new Veterinarian on Friday of last week. After an exam, x-rays and examination of some tissue collected from her bladder, it was determined that she has Transitional Cell Carcinoma, a rather aggressive form of bladder cancer. Not a good diagnosis - according to our vet, it is inoperable and chemo and radiation would not really be a viable option. We were, needless to say, heartbroken. While dealing with the shock and sadness from the news, we decided to send the same tissue sample into a Pathologist with the hopes that we'd find out more and hopefully get a better idea of how much time we have left with her.

Yesterday we received a phone call from the Vet with the news from the Pathology report - and to further confuse things - he seems to think that it's a "possibly benign polyp" in her bladder that could and should be surgically removed! Good news, right? Well, yes and no. We asked the Vet where this left us and he's recommending that we take her to a Specialist in Birmingham for an ultrasound, to help figure out what this really is, and possibly surgery if the diagnosis calls for it. I called to speak with the Specialist's office today and it looks like we might be setting up an appointment for the beginning of next week to drive her down to Birmingham for the ultrasound. So, the bad part of all this, is that we still don't know what's affecting our dear little puppy (I say that as a loving mother, she'll be 10 years old on Monday) - and we're looking at a pretty expensive road toward finding out and taking care of it. We've already put over $300 toward her diagnosis, and that's just while we've been here in Alabama... we've spend over $800 total since we first took her to the Vet in San Antonio. Now, we're expecting this visit with the Specialist next week to cost $365 for the exam and ultrasound, and possibly more if additional tests are needed. I don't even want to think about surgery yet, as that's estimated (at this point) at costing between $1500-$2000.

Now, I'm very well aware that many of you out there reading this will think we're absolutely crazy for putting this much money into our pet. But, I must stress to you how much a part of the family our "pet" is. She's been with through everything with us during the last 10 years, we lovingly refer to her as our first child, and I can't imagine my daily routine without her. That being said, we're talking about a whole lot of money here (especially after just coming out of 6 months of unemployment), and while we do feel she's worth it... I also fear that they'll do all of these procedures, including surgery, just to do a biopsy on what they remove and find that it is cancer, and we're going to lose her soon anyway. We've been taken on a roller coaster ride emotionally since the beginning, and I just can't bear to lose her after the hope that she could be alright.

So, please pray for our family. We haven't, and probably won't, explain to the children what's going on. If it does turn out to be cancer, we'll tell them she's sick when she starts acting like it... meanwhile, they're too young to really understand anyway. For Collin and me, we need the ability to handle this with clear heads and loving hearts combined; we're praying that God will give us the wisdom we need to know what to do, and the strength (and finances) to do it. Thank you for your sensitivity in this issue, and for any prayers you might be able to offer up for us. I know some of you other dog lovers out there will understand when I say she's given us so much more than we could ever give her.

1st Day of School

2008-08-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

My oldest child started Kindergarten today! *sniff* We went to an open house at her school last night to meet her teacher and see her classroom, so she was good and ready to go this morning. School starts at 7:40am here (really early for a non-morning-mommy) but I was up at six and ready to go by the time I got her up for breakfast. She looked absolutely darling in her Gap Kids dress (thanks Aunt Dara!), Mary Jane shoes and Tinkerbell backpack. Here are some obligatory first day pics...

Standing at the front door, in all her cuteness, ready to go!

Ian saying a sad good-bye for the day to his big Sis

Daddy adjusting her backpack after Mommy got her "Car Rider" tag pinned on (she'll wear this for two weeks, to help her remember her car line #)

Once in her classroom, she found her tiny assigned seat with her name on it all by herself!

West Madison Elementary - isn't it cute?!

One of the great pictures she brought home today. This one is of her in front of the slide on the playground, with her new school on the right. Check out those windows - we have a little artist, must've gotten it from Daddy! (Sorry, I couldn't get the picture to rotate.)

***

She came out of the building with all smiles when I picked her up today, exclaiming that she "had so much fun!" She also said she "likes her nice teacher, made two friends that are girls, and remembered her lunchbox at lunch, but forgot to bring it home." How cute is that? She'll have tomorrow off, as they're staggering the start for Kindergartners this year, but she'll go every day starting Friday. My baby is such a big girl! I was a little teary once we got back home, but did pretty well overall. Hopefully Ian will make the adjustment as smoothly as it appears Moira is going to. Thanks for the well-wishes, advice, and loving support for her (and Mom!) as we start this grand new adventure!

Nieces galore!

2008-08-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to announce, to those of you who don't already know, that we've received a wonderful blessing in the form of our newest niece, Hannah Elyse McCann! She was born to Collin's brother and sister-in-law, Barrett and Suzann, last Sunday the 27th around noon, and weighed in at 8 lbs, 9 oz and 20.5 inches long. Hollyann and Andrew seem very happy with their new baby sister. Isn't she beautiful?

Many congratulations and blessings to the new family of five, may God bless you and keep you all in the palm of His hand!

Cherished friends

2008-08-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do, so I thought I'd start with a few pictures from our move-in weekend with the Hobbses. What a blessing to have them here to help so whole-heartedly and witness the newest chapter beginning in our lives - we're so thankful for cherished friends!

The long-awaited PODS with all the comforts of home

Moira and Ian ready to help move in

We all enjoyed a hearty lunch of Zaxby's to fuel the rest of the day's labor

A quick trip to Lowe's for some "much needed" bits of this and that (or so I was told!)

Stephen overseeing Collin's first attempt at changing out a faucet - we'll make a handy man out of him yet!

A celebratory dinner to mark two birthdays and a new home!

"I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar." - Robert Brault

Sweet Home Alabama

2008-07-29T11:23:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post to let you see we're here and settling in! This week is sure to be busy with unpacking, setting up and getting Moira ready for her first day of school next week - but I'll be sure to post more about our weekend with our friends soon. Have a great Tuesday!

It's official!

2008-07-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

We are home owners! We closed on our new home at 5pm this evening, and things couldn't have gone better. We were surprised to find that the sellers had left their (nice) washer and dryer for us, and had renewed our Terminix Bond for another whole year. This is a little thing, but they also cleaned pretty thoroughly and mowed the lawn before leaving, which is a nicety that isn't always done nowadays. Plus, we only had to pay $72 of closing costs, which was about $300 less than we were expecting! Needless to say we couldn't be happier with the way things turned out.

We're relaxing here at the apartment this evening while waiting for our dear friends Stephen & Dara to arrive for a weekend of helping us unpack and do some little jobs around the house (installing new ceiling fan and faucets). We'll sign out of the apartment tomorrow and spend our first real night in our house tomorrow!

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes - we'll post again soon!

5 years of Sweetness

2008-07-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Moira turned 5 years old today! It's almost unbelievable that she'll be starting school this Fall - that it's been 5 whole years since she made her entrance into this world and changed our lives forever. We're so blessed with smart, funny, beautiful and sweet-spirited children; there's so much to be thankful for today, and always.

We had a relatively calm day for a birthday (as it was the first year we haven't had a big party for her, since we don't know anyone here yet), but we tried to make it as special as possible for her. I took both Moira and Ian to the Mall this morning to Build-a-Bear, where Moira built "Ally" a Topaz bear that sings happy birthday when you push a button in her foot. Ian chose a dinosaur, appropriately named "Dino."

Moira lovingly giving her new bear a bath and brushin'.

Ian & "Dino" with his volcano t-rex shirt Ian picked out for him.

...

Then we went to the food court, where they both had a blast on the bungee jumping trampoline thingy and we ate an indoor picnic lunch. I was quite surprised that they were both up for the jumping, as they were easily 20 ft in the air at the height of their bounce. They both had fun and were ready to go again right away!

Ian getting ready to jump.

Moira getting some serious air!

...

After a short time at home to rest, Daddy came home and we all went to Moira's choice of restaurant - and you'll never believe what she chose... Cracker Barrel!! How funny is that?! That a 5 year old would choose to go to Cracker Barrel for her birthday dinner... I guess she truly is her daddy's girl! Here's a cute clip of her being sung to by a host of Cracker Barrel servers tonight (excuse the vertical to horizontal switch in the beginning of the video).

Then we came back to the apartment for cake and presents. She chose a red velvet cake at the store, which was pretty yummy, and enjoyed opening her presents from Mommy & Daddy and Grammy, Papa & Mimi. I think her 5th year of life started off pretty darn well!

Look at all those candles for my (not-so) little one!

A new Fairy book to enjoy in her soon to be fairy-themed room.

An adorable dress from Grammy that Moira absolutely loves - aren't those dangling strawberries cute?! Thanks Grammy!

Thank you for the presents, cards and phone calls for our little girl today... she definitely knows she's loved, and that makes this Mother's heart happy. My wish today, is for many more blessed years with this sweet little girl.

Blessings abound!

2008-07-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say that the sellers agreed to a new roof! Their insurance adjuster isn't coming out until Wednesday, but they agreed to up to $5300 to be "escrowed" at closing for roof repair - and we couldn't be more happy, or feel more blessed. Everything has gone so smoothly in acquiring this house, and we know Whom we should be thanking. He is ever faithful. Through recent scary times, through our own uncertainty, in joy and thanksgiving, and renewed hope, He's proved to be the God of mercy and provision, above and beyond anything we could've imagined! We're so blessed.

On another topic, we registered Moira for Kindergarten on Friday. Can you believe our baby girl is going to be 5 tomorrow and will be starting the grand and new life of an elementary school student on August 6th? I hardly can. She's excited though, and we went to pick out all of her school supplies, and I really think this will be a good thing. Another thing to be thankful for, after the uncertainty of whether or not to start her this year or not.

Here is our not-so-little Moira, proudly displaying her new school supplies, as she readies herself for everything kindergarten will have in store. Please keep our precious little girl in your prayers as she starts this new adventure.

Just popping in to say...

2008-07-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hi! We're still alive and breathing, there's just not a whole lot of interesting stuff to report. We had the home inspection last Friday, and everything went well, but we have asked the owners to reshingle the roof, or give us an allowance at closing so we can do so. It's not leaking or anything, the shingles are just at the end of the viable life (it's a 15 year old home), but there's a little hail damage so we're hoping their insurance company will cover the new roof. We should hear something back on that tomorrow sometime. Please keep the roof situation and our closing on the house on the 25th in your prayers!

And just for fun, here's a recent picture of our cute little ones to tide you over until next time! :)

Have a happy week!

Just a little fun

2008-07-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

This survey was sent to me by two of my girlfriends in California... and I since I took the time to fill it out, I thought I'd post it here for a bit of fun. I'd love to see your answers to these questions, if you're so inclined to post them on your blog or send them to me in an e-mail. So, tag you're it!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not really after anyone - although my Mother fell in love with the name after hearing a woman named Janelle sing at their church in Alaska, about 8 years before I came along. At least I think that's how the story goes...

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Tuesday night – this whole thing of adjusting to a new place again can be rough

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING I like my handwriting pretty well (when I’m not rushing), but I’m not fond of my printing.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 2 sweet little people who remind me daily what it really means to live (and a loving puppy that I can’t imagine life without either)

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I’d like to think so… I hope so.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A Lot? When the conversation especially calls for it… mostly with Collin.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS Yes, yes I do. (And my adenoids and wisdom teeth and appendix, and all those random things Doctors like to take out - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!)

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Before kids, yes – now I’m not so sure.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Healthy – Basic 4 (although I just bought Kashi strawberry fields to try); Non-healthy – Ohs! (because I have fond memories of my Grandfather putting a layer of marshmallows beneath this cereal as a ‘surprise’ every morning we were visiting!)

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Untie? That must be something you do to shoes that aren’t flip flops!

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Definitely more than I was a year ago this month!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Hmm… I love Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food *nom nom*, but I have a special place in my heart for the classic Mint Chocolate Chip too!

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their face… usually eyes, followed by mouth/teeth

15. RED OR PINK? Pink. (I love Red, but I just can’t pull it off!)

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOU? My weight (and irrational emotional state during certain times of the month)

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? The family & friends we left behind in Texas (and elsewhere too)

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Sure, but only if it makes them happy to do so

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Grey & pink pants, with bare footsies

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE Coffee (with hazelnut biscotti creamer – yum!) if that counts… otherwise, Papa John’s pizza for dinner last night.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW The kids watching Spongebob Squarepants on TV

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red, because if I were a crayon I could probably pull it off!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Warm, cozy Fall smells like cloves and cinnamon; freshly bathed babies; rosemary

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My Mother-In-Law, who is coming to visit us today (which means I should probably stop doing this and start cleaning!)

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Well, I got this from both Janessa and Diane, whom I miss very much, and wish I could be in California stamping with right now!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Regularly, NBA Basketball (GO SPURS GO!) – but Collin & I love the Summer Olympics, especially Gymnastics, Swimming and Beach Volleyball, so we’re gearing up for that right now!

27. HAIR COLOR? Mousey brown

28. EYE COLOR? Yellowish with some green flecks (I was once told by a 5th grade boy that my eyes were the color of urine… nice, huh?)

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes, unless I’m wearing my glasses or sleeping. Otherwise you really don’t want me driving… or walking, or doing much of anything for that matter!

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Hmm – I’m with Janessa, that I don’t discriminate. But, if I have to, it’d be Greek (the whole of the Mediterranean knows how to cook) – I started eating table food on Greek Dolmas!

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings… there’s enough scary stuff in the world already.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? HA! – Spiderwick, how’s that for irony? But, it was Ian’s pick, so I couldn’t turn him down. Collin and I saw Semi-Pro before that (which really wasn’t great).

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING A neutral, oatmeal colored tank… real flattering! (oh, there’s that sarcasm after all)

34. FAVORITE SEASON? Autumn would have to be the winner for me, but I’m oh so thankful for all 4 – otherwise they all wouldn’t be so special.

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Big, squishy, reunion hugs are my favorite… but kisses are the best when initiated by my hubby!

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Gosh… anything with chocolate. How does one pick?

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Maybe Dara or Erica?

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Whoever has better time-management skills than I do

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Why Do Catholics Do That? by Kevin Orlin Johnson (thanks Dara!); Haddassah: One Night With The King by Tommy Tenney; and I’m about to reread Ben Amittai by Bruce Judisch (my Daddy) in anticipation of the next book in the series!

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I’m using our laptop, but typically Mickey (that’d be Collin’s influence!)

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LASTNIGHT? So You Think You Can Dance (…dance… dance… dance)

42. FAVORITE SOUND? The giggling of my kiddos when their Daddy is on the floor wrestling, tickling and generally loving on them!

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Geez... where is home again? I guess my family’s military tours in England, Greece and Germany when I was a child.

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Does completely obsessing (eating, sleeping and breathing) over whatever thing has captured my attention most recently count?! (i.e. knitting, stamping, house hunting, and most recently decorating/remodeling in my head the house we haven’t even closed on yet!) No? I didn’t think so….

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Harrogate, County of North Yorkshire, England… as it says on my birth certificate. (Yes, I’m a limey Brit [sorta] as Collin likes to call me with frequency)

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Everyone of course!

Well, I hope you enjoyed that wee bit of a waste of time. Thanks for caring! I promise I'll have something of more substance in my next post...

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful visit in Florida with our friends Stephen & Dara over the holiday weekend! On the 4th, they grilled tasty kabobs for dinner and we went to Destin to sit on the beach and watch the fireworks that night. "Uncle" Stephen and Daddy got sparklers and fountains for the kids to do at the house afterward, so we all had fun watching their wide-eyed wonder!

The wonder...

...and the wide-eyed!

Moira enjoying the show from the comfort of "Aunt" Dara's lap

The guys hangin' on the beach

Moira imitating the firework display back at home

A brave Ian with his sparkler (at arm's length)

On Saturday, we all went to eat at Panera bread in Destin for lunch, and then the girls split up and went to Old Time Pottery (kinda like a Garden Ridge, for you Texans) and the boys went to Best Buy. I got a great deal on some beachy decorations for our new screened in patio area, and Dara and I had lots of fun looking around together. We all enjoyed our gender specific activities and bonding time before we met up again, and checked out some local stores for patio furniture ideas. We headed to the Mellow Mushroom for a yummy and unique pizza dinner, which we all enjoyed, and went back home to get the kids off to bed, and the adults ended the night with the movie Cars on Blue Ray.

This fun & quirky restaurant had a bunch of murals all over the walls and lots to look at

We had so much fun with our hosts and best friends - and look forward to many more visits like this over the coming years!

Putting down roots

2008-06-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to say, after 4 full days of looking for the perfect house, we've found it! We put an offer in on a great 4 bed/2 bath brick ranch-style home last night, and just barely got it signed as there was another offer on the table for the same house! So, it's ours, as long as both the VA and other home inspection goes well, which we fully expect them to. We're so excited - we think it's going to be a wonderful home for our little family.

The front of our soon-to-be home (obviously the basketball hoop and truck won't convey!)

The way it's decorated currently is a wee bit quirky, but we were really able to see it with our things inside and our own little touches added to it, and we think it's going to be great. It has so much charm, and really cool touches and amenities that we weren't expecting to get in a home, and definitely wouldn't have if we'd bought a new home like we were thinking we might. Really the only things we'll have to do are decorative, like some painting to fit our colors better (or to get rid of wallpaper in bath #2), and maybe changing out the bathroom faucets, etc. Otherwise, the house has a privacy fenced backyard with great landscaping, a 14x20 screened in porch with a 10x10 patio area just outside of the porch, an extra bedroom for guests, an office and formal dining area, tons of countertop and cabinet space in the kitchen with a beautiful terracotta colored backsplash with added aged copper light plates and an island with a huge skylight above, a jetted garden tub in the master "glamour bath," tile and hardwood laminate throughout the entire house, and with 2,224 sq ft we'll have plenty of room to grow over the years! The neighborhood is the very desirable Park Meadow subdivision in the heart of Madison (which is like a suburb of Huntsville), zoned for excellent schools and it's only 6.2 miles from Collin's office - and all for a really good price! God has truly blessed us in our efforts to find a great house to make our family a home. We should be closing on July 26th, which is four weeks from today (barring no delays), and we plan to move in that afternoon.

***

If you're interested in taking a virtual tour of our soon-to-be house, you can follow this link: http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?t=1551246&prt=61. I'm not sure how long this link will be active, now that there's an accepted offer on the table, but it should at least be viewable through this weekend, if not for another week or so. We hope all of you will come visit and see us in our new home for yourselves - our doors are always open to friends and loved ones!

We're Here!

2008-06-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Huntsville on Saturday afternoon after a couple days drive and an absolutely crazy two weeks of packing, loading everything into our PODS, and getting out of our rental house in San Antonio. We're getting settled into our furnished apartment that we'll be renting for the next month or so while we're house hunting. We had a chance to drive around a bit today. We went to the mall on the northside of town to get some new brown dress shoes for Collin (no more issued uniforms for us!), and went grocery shopping at the nearest Super Walmart on the southeast part of town, and did a bit of checking out everything in between. It's still really strange to be driving around another city and trying to look at it as home now, but hey... we've done it before in the military, so this should be a somewhat familiar experience of learning a new city, and all that comes with it.

Collin starts his first day of work with L3 tomorrow. He actually says he's feeling pretty confident about it all, and isn't feeling much in the way of nerves, but we'll still appreciate any prayers you want to send up for him! I'm not quite sure how I'll adjust to having him at work all day again - I've been spoiled in having him home all day, every day (mostly) for the last 6 months. I'll be sure to update again soon and let you know how his first day or two went.

This week for me will involve a lot of driving around trying to get my bearings, mixed with some errand running and a bit of house hunting on my own with our realtor and the kids. There's also a pool and playground in our apartment complex that I'd like to take the kids to soon (once Moira can swim after her ear surgery), since they've had to put up with Mommy & Daddy being very busy during the packing and moving stage the last two weeks. I've also seen a walking trail just behind our building that leads into the wooded foothills that our complex backs up against, and I thought that might make a fun adventure for Moira, Ian and Cailin with me.

All in all, we're happy to be here and starting a new chapter in our lives. The hardest thing for us about leaving San Antonio, is all of the family we'll be missing so much again. Here are just a couple of pictures of our last two weeks home.

Grammy & Papa Judisch with all 10 of their grandchildren!

(Top: Papa, Carson, Valie & Grammy; Bottom: Avery holding Cambria, Ian, Aidan, Moira, Evelyn and Madeline holding Lillian)

So many cousin's enjoying Valie's 3rd birthday party together

Grammy & Grandpa Wilhite at the San Antonio Rainforest Cafe with Moira & Ian

Our little clan at the Riverwalk, one last time

The news you've all been waiting to hear...

2008-06-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE A JOB!!!

Praise God! Collin accepted a position with L3 Communications today as a BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) Test Engineer in Huntsville, Alabama. Unfortunately, we'll have to pack up and leave family behind again - but the job, schedule and pay are great, and Huntsville is actually a really neat city, so we're feeling very blessed about it all! He actually had two job offers to choose from this week, and we're so thankful to God for his provision. Now, we have to get ourselves packed up and moved all the way to Alabama in two weeks, as they want Collin to start on June 23rd. Whew! Please pray that the transition will go smoothly for our family, and especially little Moira after her recent ENT surgery.

Thank you all for all of your friendship, loving support, and most of all prayers for us. They've been so helpful and encouraging during this whole time of uncertainty. It just goes to show that God is the Great Provider, and is ever faithful - and we give all the glory to God!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,

for He who promised is faithful." -- Hebrews 10:23

Our Trip in Pictures (click on the pictures)

2008-06-03T09:14:00.001-07:00

As I had forseen, we were enjoying ourselves way too much to post anymore while on the trip. We arrived back home late last night though, and I have tons of pictures to share! Fortunately, I learned a wonderful way of sharing our photo albums through picasa (thanks Erica and Dara!) instead of posting them all here, so simply click on the pictures below and it'll show you a full album of them all!

Reuniting with dear friends

Abel's Baptism

Dinner at Fudpucker's with the Treats

The only Jungle-themed McDonald's in the world

***

This trip was such a blessing for us all - reuniting with our dear friends after so long and witnessing the baptism of such a precious little guy meant so much to us. We thank God, with hearts full of joy, for this special time and the bonds that it strengthened even more between us.

***

"I thank my God upon every rememberance of you..."

the mccann clan

Hello? *tap tap* Is this thing still on?

Meghan at 9 months

A Rag Quilt with Love

Fanning the Flame

Meghan's Room

Halloween!!!

Time for Pictures!

my birthday

September

Meghan's Dedication

Godspeed

Catching Up...

Shared photo book from Janelle

First day of 1st Grade

So long, Summer

six weeks

the tooth fairy visited our house...

busy, busy, busy

6

almost four weeks

Chattanooga Aquarium

two weeks old

For your entertainment...

Our Littlest Girl

She's here!

At...

It's time...?

Now...

Oh, and...

She's at...

Terminal Count Entered

the home stretch

Last Day of Kindergarten

Memorial Day Weekend

4

Obsessed much?

Maternity Photos

I just don't give a hoot...

Happy Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt

Chick-fil-a cravings

baby shower & the nesting begins

Spring Break in Savannah

I love the daffodils...

Welcome Spring!

anniversaries, babies and & other such things

Valentine's Day Visit

Saving Spaghetti Night

1st Day of Preschool

IT'S A...

Family Update

Poll: Boy or Girl?

Our holidays

A Wonderful Christmas Gift

You Make My Heart Sing

Thanksgiving with Family

"The Bun"

GratiTuesday

Better Late Than Never?

The Goblin Train

GratiTuesday

Tate Farms

What's in a Name?

Our Big News?

GratiTuesday

Who Am I?

"GratiTuesday"

US Space & Rocket Center

Alabamians by Residence, Texans at Heart!

It's about time!

Cathedral Caverns

Caught!!

There's a crispness in the air

Happy Birthday, Mom

Homecoming

Cailin's Surgery

Making a House a Home

Better news...

We, too, have caught the Olympic Spirit!

Hello? tap tap Is this thing still on?