Snow What???

I knew the day would come.... I just didn't know when. Snow. Not here, but in Omaha. Every person's facebook status' are blowing up with the first snow storm of the year.... winds blowing so hard you can't see, drive, or even go outside.

It is 71 degrees here today.

I am not trying to rub this in any ones face..... not trying to be evil about the weather here... but it IS December, right?? It does not feel like Christmas is just a couple weeks away.... it still shocks me that Thanksgiving has already come & gone. The chilly weather has been absent, and its absence is noticed. I started explaining what snow was to Brady today. Do you know how difficult it is to explain snow?

"It is this frozen water that falls on the ground, stacks upon itself, and makes it impossible to drive."

"It is really cold, and if you try & hold it, it melts into water in your hand"

"Lightly frozen rain"

None of these descriptions does snow justice.... not for someone that has never seen or felt snow before. Last Christmas, Austin & I made some videos of the snow so it would remind us on WHY we moved to Texas... these might help him learn what snow is.... a little...



Well.... I was telling my sister, Molly, about how HARD it is to describe snow to Brady.... do you know WHAT she told me about one of her friends facebook status's? "Someone was explaining sleds to me and all the different kinds of sleds there are out there. I never knew that there were so many! It sounds like snow can be lots of fun! Can't wait to see it!" This AMAZES me people!! AMAZES!

Ava Kathleen McCartney

I miss Omaha. Yes, I'll now admit it. Don't get me wrong--- Texas is wonderful..... I love being close to my parents, my youngest sister, Bridget, and Molly & her family.... And the weather being so nice.... It is easy to pretend Texas is so much better than Omaha. Of course we miss our family & friends up North that we've moved away from.....

But.... Something happened in the past couple weeks that makes me miss Omaha like no other.... Something small.... Just 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches.... But the most adorable little girl I've (*never*) met. Her name is Ava Kathleen McCartney.... And is the first granddaughter of the McCartney clan.

Isn't she beautiful?




Big brother Liam is a fan as well...

Karma

When I was a kid I hated my sister Molly. I do not mean the kind of hate kids have when they are mad at one another for stealing the last cookie.... I mean I had full hatred for her... And I am pretty sure I was the ringleader in the "I hate Molly" club amongst our siblings.

For example, when we were kids my mom had a rule that we had to flush the toilet when we were done going to the bathroom. The rule was if you didn't flush, you had to stare at the "contents" for an hour... Really... She even had a timer by the toilet for such occasions. Well, one time I was guilty of the above mentioned crime..... But convinced Molly to take the blame for it. I did this by being nice to Molly... And Molly was so happy that I was being nice to her that she agreed and told my mother that she did this awful deed.... I got to watch TV.... Molly had to face the consequences..... It wasn't until she realized the consequences that she told mom the truth..... And then I got into even MORE trouble....

I remember this hatred continued on into our older years.... I am not sure how old I was when we were at a family function and Molly was doing some very annoying that was irritating me (though now I cannot remember what it was). I was just sitting there watching Molly and then my mother looked at me, and said to me "Browyn, quit looking at her with that awful look like you are going to kill her.".

Basically what I am saying is that I was an awful child and sister to Molly...... I have apologized in our adult life... But I am not sure that makes up for years and years of torment and ridicule.

Why am I telling you this, you ask? As I sit here with my child, and his "identical cousin" (who belongs to Molly) I just got the worst fear of the future..... You see... Both the boys were standing up, looking out the window.... And then Jack (Brady's identical cousin) pushed Brady down and glared at him.... Yes, glared. It brought me right back to the moment when my mother told me not to look at Molly like I was going to kill her..... But Jack was me.... And Brady was Molly. It was awful. I would feel absolutely awful if Molly's son treated my son the way I treated her growing up..... So, I hope Jack is nothing like me one day.

Life is tough, get a Helmet

Brady recently has gotten himself a new accessory. A helmet. Yep, you read it right folks, my son wears a helmet. Not ALL the time... just 23 hours a day.... for the next 3 months....

I attribute this to the fact that I have such a perfect baby. You see, since he was 6 weeks old he has been sleeping through the night. Such a blessing.... even now he sleeps on average 12 hours per night, with a couple naps throughout the day. One thing my babe does not have a problem with is sleep... and Austin and I thank him for that every day.

Well... all this sleeping has given him a flat head.... he tends to always sleep on his left side (which is quite a coincidence because when I was pregnant he only liked me to sleep in my left side too!).... Well... he has developed a flat spot on his left side of his head. It wasn't incredibly bad or anything... but it was noticeable. The doc told us to talk it over with our family & see if getting a helmet to correct the shape of his head was a good idea. The doc said, "If Grandma ever sees him and says 'wow! look at his head' or something along those lines you probably want to get him one." Well.... this wasn't going to really work for us since my mom sees him about every day, and Austin's mom now lives 1000 miles away.... But.... my dad did say (who has no hair, mind you):

"If he is anything like me, you need to get him one! You don't want him to be 50 years old, bald, and have such a flat spot you can land a helicopter on it!"

Okay Dad.... that sealed it. We were getting him a helmet. Yes, it is a cosmetic thing... but it is so easily correctable now, and not so much after a year old, when the head starts to fuse together for good. After we met with the helmet company... they gave us a "break in" schedule in case he wouldn't tolerate it. And he couldn't.... he absolutely hated it.... I am sure you can tell by the evidence below how much it bothered him:

This past weekend we even had a "Helmet Party" to introduce everyone to Brady's new accessory. Everyone had to wear a helmet or a hat to help Brady feel more comfortable. We even decorated it for the Nebraska game...

We are Alive!!

Well... it has been a LONG time since my last post.... The reason? Pure laziness. Do you know how much time it takes to plug in my camera to the computer?? Not much.... But as the pictures have been building up it made it that much harder to sit down and do it....

So.... here is a little view on what's been happening with us since August....

My best friend Laura got married to Tono. This was extra exciting because it was Brady & Austin's FIRST time meeting Tono.... and, did I mention they are Brady's Godparents? They had a beautiful wedding in Estes Park, Colorado. It was beautiful there.... I now know why everyone love Colorado so much. Also, this trip was exciting because I got to see 2 of my other college roommates.... Kelly & Molly.





Also..... I got to stop by Denver & see my good friend Mackenzie (Ok), who I haven't seen since MY wedding..... and her little boy, Emory!



During this trip Brady also got 2 teeth!! It was quite exciting!! (except for Austin... who flew with Brady all by himself to Colorado.... with 3 layovers! Oops.... somebody (me) didn't plan that too well....)



I convinced my dad to get a boat. I actually thought this was a far-fetched idea... but it turned out just mentioning the idea & what great memories it would create for his grandkids worked great! So... this is what we've been doing on the weekends.........






Nebraska football season started.... and Austin has friends from Law School FROM Nebraska!! Can you believe it? From Scottsbluff... but we'll forgive him for that! This is Chris & his wife, Leslie.


Austin's sister, Amy, came to visit & meet Brady! Amy lives in England... so it was quite nice spending time with her! Brady told he all about how he can't wait to meet Alexis too.... who is Amy's girl. Alexis made Brady his first blankey... and Brady loves it!



We made a quick weekend trip back to Nebraska in September for the Market to Market Relay Marathon... we went from the Old Market in Omaha to the Haymarket in Lincoln.... all in all I think it was about 80-90 miles.... we got cut off after 12 hours though... I guess we were too slow. It really made me realize how out of shape I am!! Who knew having a baby & having your body be on maternity leave for over a year would put you so out of shape!! But.... during this trip Brady got to hang with his big cousin, Liam. Liam was very generous & shared his toys with Brady.

And of course, got some love from Nana.
After just a couple weeks back in Texas... we get a surprise phone call from my brother, Willy, that he is going to be in town for work.... AND.... he is bringing LIAM! So we got another few days playing with one of my top 3 boys!! Brady was thankful that we got to return the favor & share his toys with Liam....


But isn't quite used to someone stealing toys right out of his hands....
Last weekend, in preparation for Halloween, we of course went to the pumpkin patch. Brady was not as excited about this as Mom, Aunt Bridget, and Grandma Mac though... I think he would have rather finished his nap in the carseat while we all picked out pumpkins.




And of course... Halloween. And since Brady is a KING..... Why not be King of the Jungle??

And since I am his food source.... why not be a DAIRY COW??
We only went trick-or-treating to one house.... Brady's identical cousin's, Jack. He was a pirate.



Lots of things going on in the future too! I will try to be more diligent about updating my blog more! Thanks for sticking with us!