Hi-Ho Hi-Ho

It's off to get a new car battery we go!


Hooray for O O O O'Reilley's...buy a battery, they install it on the spot!

Sweet Blissful Snow

I am insanely jealous of these numbers and pictures in Colorado today...







I miss snow so much. I miss seasons and changing weather. My alma mater is closed for a snow day today...in the 7 years I was there, we never had a snow day. This tells me that Greeley is covered in a blissful blanket of snow. I can only hope it stays cold enough that we can at least see it this weekend. And that this is the beginning of a white Christmas. I miss snow.

I shall now commence with drinking coffee and listening to Christmas music all day...

(be safe everyone!)

Our Little Pumpkin

We took Evelyn to our local pumpkin patch last night.  She wasn't a huge fan, as you can see below...she was either not looking at the camera, or crying!  Now that I think about it, I think the straw was probably poking through her tights and hacking her off.  Fortunately there were some cute shots!

At the beginning...still not sure what all this is about

 Woah guys - I need some help here!

 Hey - this one's my size!

 I don't mind this so much when I get to be big and stand up

 This looks like something I want to put in my mouth

 Are we done yet, guys?

 I really really don't like this!

 No...I don't even like the wagon!

 Ahhh...this is better...Daddy's soft lap!

After the Pumpkin Patch we went back with our Life Group to carve pumpkins, eat lots of yummy fall food, roast pumpkin seeds, and enjoy a fire with some s'mores.  It was actually a gorgeous night here (could have used that cooler weather on Friday night when we were AC-less!).

Evelyn liked sitting with Daddy by the fire

When we got home, we tried to get some pictures of Evelyn in our pumpkin.  She actually wasn't too upset with this one!

Until she leaned over too far and hurt her tummy

HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!!

It Hurts to be Hot

Well our HVAC unit finally bit the dust. We've had troubles on and off with it since we moved in (causing fires in the attic, clogging lines, just plain not working). This week the external unit/compressor fan thing started making a LOUD humming noise, so we called our trusty HVAC service tech and had him come take a look. Apparently we had a freon leak that had created a block of ice leading into the external unit. He said it has probably been leaking for a while, but it's been so hot here it has melted itself before causing trouble. This week we finally got down into the low 50s overnight, which was the night the humming started. So he replaced a part that would work as a patch buying us anywhere from a day to a year's time before we had to replace the whole thing. It bought us about 5 hours before it started humming again. When he came this morning, the entire inside of the external unit was a block of ice. Apparently this is problematic. Of course today we're back into the high 80s for daytime temperatures and will barely break 69 for a nighttime low. We've got the windows open and every fan on...it's been around 83 degrees in the house all day (loads of fun). It's finally cooling off outside, so we just worked our way down to 79 indoors. Still hot. Ugh.

But at least she's still cute!

No need for clothes today!

Wenches...yet another example of how it hurts to be hot...

I Like My Toes

God makes the coolest toys!!

Sitting Around

It's fun to sit up!!

A Tale of Two Cousins

Dan and I were looking at pictures of our new nephew and commenting on how tiny he is (and how stinkin' cute he is!). We remembered thinking Evelyn was tiny, so we pulled out some pictures of her first day of life to compare.


Evelyn on the left...Micah on the right


Evelyn was 8 pounds, 8 ounces, and 18.75 inches long...Micah was 5 pounds, 15.5 ounces, and 19.5 inches long. It's amazing how much difference 2 1/2 pounds makes!!

Can't wait to get my hands on this little guy!

5 Months Old

Little Miss Evelyn is 5 months old today, and I can't believe it!  My friend Nicole always blogs about what milestones her kids reach/fun things that they do for each month/year of their lives...so I'm shamelessly going to copy her. :-)

Evelyn, you are such a joy to us.  Every day is a new adventure, a new smile, and a new laugh.  You went swimming for the first time this month.  I always thought that you would love it because you love your bath time every night.  When I got into the pool, the water was really cold, so I was nervous that you would hate it...but you LOVED it!  You chattered with us the entire time!  Your personality is really starting to take shape.  You are opinionated (Daddy thinks you get this from Mommy) and you aren't afraid to share with us what you are thinking.  We like to call you "0 to 60" because when something doesn't go the way you want it you, you are screaming in .35 seconds.  But you calm down just as quickly!  You really have an adorable "I'm mad" face - it's probably good that your cry is loud and shrill so that we will attend to your need instead of watching how cute you are when you get mad! :-)  You have been rolling over front to back for a while now, but a lot of times you'll need help getting started.  You are doing it all on your own...over and over and over again...now.  You are just days away from getting yourself from back to front as well.  You still hate tummy time - you will dig your head into the floor and stick your bottom up in the air, but you rarely lift your head.  When you do figure out to get your arms underneath you, you'll stay for a little while, but then it's back to face digging!  You found your feet this month, and they are your most fascinating toys to date.  You'll sit back and grab them and coo and talk with us for hours.  You have also started sleeping on your side.  When we lay you down in the crib, you curl up on your side and stay there for a while (at least until you shift onto your back or lose your pluggie).  You have started sitting up on your own.  You usually need a little help when you get excited about something so you don't face plant or fall backwards, but you love playing with your blocks while you sit.  You also just figured out if you lean over while you are sitting, you can get to those fun feet again!  Everything is going in your mouth these days....which means you are drooling like crazy.  I think your tactile sense is also developing because you love to touch everything.  When you are sitting on our laps, you'll rub our arms (and pull Daddy's arm hair!) and you want to touch everything that is within arms reach of you.  You love being outside, so we are glad that "fall" is finally coming to South Texas so that you can be outside more.  You also LOVE football.  I mean, love it.  Daddy knew that Mommy's family enjoyed watching games, but he had no idea it was genetic! :-)  When we are watching the Broncos, you will fuss when the commercials come on, but be completely content (and watching) when the game is happening.  We took you to a Javelina football game this month, and you loved watching everything.  We think you are going to have a love for sports like your Mommy and Daddy!  This month has flown by, as every month since you were born has.  You make our days sweeter (and let's be honest...our nights longer, you still aren't sleeping through the night!).  We love you so much!!

Happy 5th month birthday, our sweet Princess!

Welcome Cousin Micah!

Michael Terry Gaines III - Micah




Evelyn welcoming her little cousin to the world

Congratulations Mike and Kendra!! We can't wait to meet him in a few weeks!

It's Sonic Good

Somebody likes Daddy's Strawberry Limeade!