Super Busy

We have been so busy with finishing up the semester at school, John's been on jury duty, getting the baby's room together, and of course, Mollie running around with more energy than she knows what to do with. Finally on Sunday night we decided it was time to go look at some Christmas lights. Mollie's really into the lights this year and finding Santa so this year was going to be fun. We have a tradition that we make hot chocolate for me and John, Mollie gets chocolate milk and we put her in her PJ's and we ride around. Here is a picture of little miss right before we left. Like her shoes???

LIttle Man at 30 weeks

His foot

The 4 chambers of his heart. (it's in the middle of the picture)

His cutie face. Look at those chunky cheeks!!

We went in for an ultrasound today and everything is looking really good! Little man is moving around a lot and loves to stretch out which is fine for him but uncomfortable for me. However, he's not like Mollie was during this stage as I don't have a foot up in my ribs constantly and he also is pretty decent at night so I'm sleeping better than I did with Mollie at this stage in my pregnancy. We got some good pictures and the technician and my doctor said he's looking good.

Hard Day To Be A Teacher

Even though I wasn't at school today (I was at a conference in Houston) my heart was at Space Center more than it ever has been before. This morning I saw on the news that a fire had broken out at a local apartment complex and mentioned to John that I thought the kids that lived there went to SCIS and how I hoped everyone was okay. Well, it wasn't. I found out later from a
co-worker that it was possible that one of her students had perished in the fire along with a younger brother. It wasn't until this afternoon that she texted me and told me that it was indeed her student and they were about to tell the kids.
Don't think that I didn't want to get in my car and go to school so that my kids could see me and know that I was there for them. However, our principal had been at the conference with us before she went back to SCIS and specifically told me and my other co-worker to stay at the conference but to be prepared to come in tomorrow if she needed us there. I don't think it really hit me until I got home and saw it on the news. Granted I knew what was going on but I was in the little bubble of the conference and really hadn't had time to think about what my co-workers and students were going through until I got home. Then the tears started pouring. I felt so bad that I couldn't be there today to support my kids and my wonderful co-workers. After speaking to my principal she told us that she still wanted us to go on back to the conference tomorrow but to be prepared for Monday. Our kids are okay and we have to be strong for them.
I am praying with a heavy heart tonight for my co-workers/friends that taught the wonderful young lady that God needed with him and also for my students. Also, don't think that every time I look at Mollie and feel little man kicking/moving around that I don't think about the mother of these two wonderful children and hope and pray she can find comfort in knowing that they are in a better place.

It's Candy TIME!!

Well we can definetely say that Mollie has trick-or-treating down this year! She had so much fun last night and got a ton of candy. We stayed in our neighborhood and were out for about 2 hours. My parents came over last night to hand out candy at our house so John and I both could go with Mollie. The first few houses she was a little shy but when she started realizing that she was getting candy at houses with their front porch lights on, she was one happy little girl. Since she was a "scaredy cat," John would have her tell the people what a scaredy cat says. (BTW: it says "meow" then "boo!") It's so stinkin cute!
Our weekend was nice and slow since John's game was on Thursday so Friday night we had family time, Saturday I worked in little man's room and John worked in Mollie's play room and Mollie did who knows what around the house. That evening we went to Victoria's school carnival and then to our friends Stephanie and Dale's house. Everything was going really well until John went running outside with Mollie because, poor thing, was throwing up. We ended up taking her home and she was up and down till about 2 the next morning sick. However, she must have known what yesterday was as she jumped outta bed like nothing was wrong. I felt sure that trick-or-treating would not be something we would be doing last night but she proved us wrong. Anyways, she had a wonderful time and it was so neat to see her start understanding what's going on. Who knows what next year is going to be like????

Checking out the treasure chest our neighbors had.
Mollie and Carol, her babysitter. Carol surprised Mollie and came over for a bit!

Mollie surprising Pappy at our house. We had to go back to our house to unload before we kept on.

Mollie taking the easy way and riding in her wagon. We've taken off the ears at this point.

Daddy and Mollie heading up for more candy.

Me and my girl going to our next destination

Getting ready to head out.

Daddy doing Mollie's make-up.

Zoo Time

Last weekend we made our annual trek up to Boo at the Zoo. This is a really fun event they host and it's usually not too hot. However, last weekend wasn't that cool. In fact, you will notice that we are all in shorts. Who would've thought that 2 weeks before Halloween we would still be wearing shorts on a regular basis? Even though, Mollie had fun and that's all that mattered. Mollie getting her "Tatzoo"
Chillin in her wagon ready to see the sights.

Waiting in line for the carousel with Mr Jason and Chloe and Christian. Jason is to John's right.

Trying to see how much she can spread her arms compared to an eagles wings.

Mollie and Daddy looking at the otters. She loves this ever year!

Me and my girl at the elephant exhibit.

New things happening around here

We have been so busy (plus a broke camera) that I don't even want to know how long it's been since I've updated the blog. However, things are going very well around here. Last Friday was a big day for Mollie as we decided to break her of the Binky (aka pacifier) and she is doing so well! She's asked for it a few times but we just tell her it went bye-bye and she's good. We have also started potty training. It really helps that they work on it at school so she's getting it around the clock. She's in pull-ups now and loves to go sit on the potty. Unfortunately, she goes right for the toilet paper and likes to throw it into the toilet before she's even tried but it's a start.
John's football team is doing really well. They have only lost 1 game in district and even that one was a close one. We have 4 games left and then play-offs start and his volleyball team is doing well also. He's pretty busy with Junior High football once, maybe twice, a week then JV/Freshman football on Thursdays and Varsity football on Friday nights. However, he's not nearly as busy as he was at his old school.

Go Gators!

Hanging with Pappy after kick-off. It was very hot so she had to wear her shades!

Chillin' out during Daddy's game.

Here HE is!

Today was a very big day for all 3 of us. We found out this morning that we are having a BOY! When the tech told us I think John and I teared up a little bit. We love Mollie so much and would not have minded at all a little girl but having a boy is going to be fun. Unfortunately all of my friends that have boys live far away (except for Gretchen and Joe) so I'll be making lots of phone calls looking for advice. We couldn't be happier and can't wait to meet him in January.Meet Baby "H" Sorry his name won't be revealed until January.

I'm already trying to figure out his shoe size.

Need I say more?
One more of his cutie face.

Pictures

After her nap.

Mollie at the tailgate before the game. During halftime, about 2 seconds later she was out until the end of the third quarter.

Must apologize

I must apologize. We have been so busy with school starting, football and just getting back into the groove of everything that the blog has been looked over. Well hopefully now that things are getting into a routine I can blog a little more.
Mollie:
She is doing SO good in her new class. We love her 2 teachers and has even learned to count to 10 in Spanish. Imagine the looks on mine and John's faces when she busted out with that one night at dinner. We are so proud of her. She's gone to two of John's games (including one scrimmage) and gratefully my mom has come so that helps since I'm almost to the point where bending over and picking stuff up will not be an option for me. Mollie doesn't understand quite yet why Daddy can't come and see us all the time during the game so we make sure we see him pre-game and post-game and maybe halftime. The stadium at his new school is so nice and I can take an elevator up and then walk down about 10 rows to my seats which is much nicer than walking up 35 stairs to get to our seats. As you probably know, Texas was playing Rice yesterday in Houston so we (or I) felt that since we were going we could take Mollie to her first college football game. She did so well! We tailgated with my parents and my good friend Nancy and her brother and she even snuck in a nap during the third quarter.

John:
SUPER BUSY! Granted he's not as busy as he was at Clear Brook with events but he really likes it. I haven't seen a fire like this in him for a very long time and it's nice to see him enjoying himself and with what he's doing. It's been a long time since I've seen this and I'm so happy for him. He usually has late days where he doesn't have to go in till 9 or 10 because Jenna (his work wife) comes in and does the morning treatments so on these days he takes Mollie to school. This really helps me out but I find myself running late on these days! :) Besides that, Dickinson is 0-2 for the beginning of the football season but we're not in district play yet so no worries and his volleyball team is doing very well.

Me:
Getting bigger is all I can say. I've really been able to feel the baby move the past week and hopefully in the next few days John will be able to feel "Baby H" also. My school year started off great which is a nice change from last year and I'm really enjoying my classes. I have 4 GT classes and 2 Regular Ed classes and one advisory. I have a lot of siblings this year so at open house it felt more like a reunion than anything for me. We have set the baby's due date to January 18th and will do a c-section again. I'm still on month-to-month appointments and won't start every 2 weeks till November and then every week in December. So I'll come back to school for 2 weeks after Christmas then will take off until the end of March/beginning of April. The baby will go to the same day care as Mollie and I'm so excited about the ladies that work in the nursery there. They were so good with Mollie so I know they'll be awesome with our new addition.

This and That

We survived!
A few of the stingrays.

Daddy showing Mollie how to pet the rays. She was not having it!

Checking out the catfish.

We are officially back in school mode. John went back two weeks ago (but his hours are dramatically different than they were at Clear Brook) and I went back to school yesterday. Kids come back on August 23rd. Mollie started in her new "class" yesterday at day care. I am SO excited about her teachers and even had to buy her school supplies! Her "Auntie Julie" bought her and Elmo backpack which Mollie calls a "pack cak" and wore it into her school yesterday. SO CUTE!

Last night we headed over to Kemah for a free event for teachers at their aquarium. They provided food and drinks, a free behind the scenes tour, admission to their stingray exhibit and Mollie won 2 tickets to ride a ride on the boardwalk train. She was okay in the stingray exhibit looking at the fish but did not like petting and feeding the stingrays. Needless to say, she and I let Daddy do that part. She really liked riding the train and it would have been perfect except for the heat. Today the heat index is supposed to be 112, so we'll be staying inside. Love to all!

New Due Date and Ultrasound on Baby "H"

We had an ultrasound today on Baby "H" and my NEW due date is January 20th. I think, after 4 times, we finally have it right. It's been so crazy but with the ultrasound done today they were able to get some really good measurements of the baby and therefore, were able to finally figure out how long the baby was. The ultrasound went very well. We got some really good pictures (they will be scanned and posted in the next day or two) of the baby and could see the eyes, chin (John's chin), heart beating, the legs forming and it's brain. Unfortunately, Mollie wasn't able to come with us and see Baby "H" but she will definitely join us for the next one! I'm going to take one of the ultrasound pictures and frame it in a special frame so that Mollie can have a special picture in her room of Baby "H". Besides that John is officially back at work and things are going very well. I am participating in a 3-day workshop that started today and will conclude on Friday. After this is over I will have 2 more weeks till I go back so Mollie and I might take a little road trip up to the San Antonio area but we'll see.

Home, Sweet, Home

Well we made it back to Texas in one piece with a car that wasn't too filled with much stuff. I swear, I can't even imagine what next year's trip will be like with 2 kiddos! We had so much in Knoxville, Bean Station, Clemson and Edisto this year. I can't get over how much Mollie blossoms when we are off in the summer and am amazed at everything she can do. We were very sad to leave everyone but now that our new laptop has Skype on it, we talk to our East Tennessee/South Carolina family a lot more. Since we've been back John has been working most mornings at Dickinson, I've been trying to get the house under control and Mollie's been into everything but what else is new? I was supposed to have an ultrasound yesterday but the ultrasound tech called in sick so we rescheduled for next week. However, I did go in yesterday for my monthly appointment and got to hear the baby's heartbeat. My due date has been moved to January 24th and since we'll be doing a C-Section, most likely, the baby will come the week of January 17th. Besides that things are back to whatever we consider normal and love being home.

We made it!!

Well we made it to Knoxville safe and sound. We left our house at 4:50 a.m., on Wednesday and drove till about 4:00 that afternoon and stopped in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. That night we swam at the hotel and went out to eat. I totally forgot that the University of Alabama is in Tuscaloosa and wore one of my many Texas shirts out that night but no one said anything so that was nice. :) We got up Thursday and ate breakfast and loaded up the car for the 5 hours left of our trip. We got into Knoxville around 4:00 and John's mom and step-dad were VERY happy to see Mollie, and us. Mollie did very well on the trip. Thank goodness for the DVD player and also the little car seat tray where she could color, play with her blocks and put her snacks and drinks. It's such a nice little tray because it is rounded around the edges so nothing can roll off and even has a cup holder. Tonight we are going to the Tennessee Smokies baseball game with many of John's family members so that should be a lot of fun. Love to all!

Loving the water

Yesterday Mollie and I went to the Discovery Green park in Downtown Houston with our good friends Liz and Sally and Liz's nephew Sydney. Liz is awesome because she loves doing stuff in the summer that is either low cost or FREE so we get along very well! :) I had never been there to hang out before, only walked around it a few times going to Astros games, so I was pretty excited. During the weekends they have a ton of stuff going on but on a weekday it's more low-key. Needless to say, they have a water area where the kids can play and Mollie loved that. Being the wonderful mother I am, I totally forgot Mollie's bathing suit (they are all packed for ETN) so I just let her run around the water in her clothes. You're only 2 once, right?

She had so much fun! She played and played for a good hour but started getting fussy so we had to head home. We will definitely be visiting this place again and I think I'll bring the bathing suit next time. Enjoy!

Summer Pool Fun and a Sad Good-Bye

Everyone knows how much we LOVE being off in the summer and hanging out with all our friends and Sunday was no exception. Gretchen had us over for a good-bye party for our awesome friend Sally who teaches with everyone at Clear Brook. Sally is leaving us to go back to Auburn and teach and coach there. We are so sad but excited because we've already told her that we will be coming to visit. She's just a caring, awesome person who is as genuine as someone can come and she LOVES Mollie so, why couldn't you love someone like that???
Anyway, we went over on Sunday for our last crawfish boil of the season and lots of swimming. We all know that Mollie loves the water and just to prove this point: she got in the pool around 2:45 and didn't get out till close to 8:00 that evening. Holy cow! Needless to say, she was tired the next day and took 2 naps. So, I hope you enjoy the pictures.....

Sally (the one leaving us) and Liz (our awesome house sitter from last summer)


Daddy and his girl...this was as the evening was winding down.

Mollie loving the birthday cake for her buddy's, Michell's, birthday. I think this is only like the 4th time she got out of the pool the whole time we were there.

Daddy and his girl. Like the pigtails?

Starting the day off right....in the pool she goes. Can we say she is definitely a Harmon Baby??

Big Girl Bed!

After a hard day of swimming...love how cute she looks!
Well we have come to that time where I must admit that Mollie is definetely getting older. She's no longer sleeping in the crib but in her toddler bed! Yes, I understand that this is pretty much the same as her crib but without one side but this a big deal for us! Tonight will be her 2nd night and last night she did very well so here's hoping.
We have been so busy during our first week of summer with doctor appointments, swimming lessons and catching up on much needed rest from the school year that it feels like our summer is really starting today. We have been swimming almost every day and while we tried the swimming lessons, Mollie's still a little too young to understand what's going on so we're going to postpone lessons until next spring. We have a lot to do before we leave for East Tennessee but I know we'll get it done. Love to all!

Helping daddy start taking her crib apart.

Checking to make sure nothing falls.

Mollie and her big girl bed!

Birthday Party Time!!

Mollie and her new wheels

Like the hair? Right after she woke up from her nap.
Cake time #2...She REALLY liked her cake!

Opening presents with Daddy.

Trenton and Victoria helping Mollie with her presents.

Mollie with more presents...like her Elmo phone?

4 of the 5 little girls in our group all lined up for cake.
From L-R: Isabell, Mollie, Victoria and Emmie

Mollie and Victoria...like the hats?

Mollie's cake...it was SO GOOD!

Mollie swinging

We had Mollie's birthday party today at a local park. She had lots of fun but it was close to 97 degrees so hot doesn't even begin to describe how we felt. Luckly, the pavillion we were under had a nice breeze but the playground wasn't that shaded. Eventhough, Mollie had so much fun with all her friends and family. She gots lots of fun things and cute clothes. Her big presents this year were a tricycle from us and my parents got her a wagon. We took our first stroll around the neighborhood in it tonight and Mollie was right at home.