I cannot believe how behind I am with posting...

Wowzers! Almost 3 months has gone by without a post. What a slacker mom I am!!! Since the last post, we have had Ryan's 35th birthday, my sister Missy's birthday, Easter and nothing else too exciting. I just post some pictures because that is all I know you really wanna see. Ha! Just my cop-out for not writing a long blog. Hope all is going well with you. We are doing well, just busy raising two small kids and working. Time just escapes me. Cannot believe that Guen is now 2 1/2 years old and Grae will be 5 months this Sunday. Take care! Liz

Been a Long Time...

Seems like this is the theme now, ALWAYS late with posting a blog. My goal is 2/month, and that ain't happenin'. Oh well, here goes. This maternity leave is flying by. I have 4 more days before going back to work. My first day back is February 19th. Countdown is on! This December some exciting things occured. On December 19th, we came proud owners of a minivan. Yes, I know minivans are the uncoolest vehicle but we got one. We love our new Honda 2012 Oddessey. I do hate though having a car note now. But it was time. Ryan's 2002 Saturn was on the verge of a breakdown and we thought we needed to trade it in before we had to tow it in to get any kind of trade in value. Plus with our growing family we needed the room!!! Another exciting thing we did this December is get our lawn dyed green for the winter. And it looks good. We turned off our lawn service for the winter and so it has stayed green. The only thing is we have yet to go out and maintain the yard now that the lawn service is over. The lawn just needs a good raking to get rid of all the pine needles. Ryan and I plan to do it soon. Probably we he starts his 3 months paternity leave (starting February 20th) when I go back to work. We did another first this December, we had a professional photographer come over to our house to take baby announcement/xmas/family photos. She was a reasonable price and it beat going to Sears/JCPenny/Portrait Innovations to have our pics done. Especially now that I see how long it takes to get out the door with two kids now, it was very convient that she came to us. This xmas we celebrated here, of course. We did our usual xmas eve over at Ryan's sister's house and then went over to my parents for xmas lunch, back to my house where babies napped and then woke up to do the Mears xmas. We ALL made out with too much loot!!! This xmas Guen is understanding a little bit about Santa. She put the cookies and carrots on the plate on xmas eve. But when we woke up and saw all the presents under the tree and asked who brought the presents and placed them under the tree she said "Nanny and Poppy". Ha! When we ask whose birthday it was she said "Holly" and eventually said Baby Jesus. Holly was given to her 2 years ago by a family friend and has been Guen's "lovey" doll ever since. She cannot go anywhere without that doll. This Christmas we were very fortunate and had a great time. Lastly, this December, we finally finished up our tiny remondeling job in the house. Although I do not like the "grey" paint that was chosen for our bedroom and want to repaint it, everything else is done. We got a new bed and nightstands too. We refinished our 50+ year old twin beds and they honestly look brand new. I think that was my favorite thing, that my grandmother's twin beds look so good after being refinished by a woodmaker. Now I am being very slow about rehanging all the pictures on the wall. My goal is to finish that up when Ryan starts his paternity leave and can help me. New Years was so exciting with us all in bed by 10pm. January was pretty much uneventful. I did attend a two day nursing conference to get some much needed CEU's. And this February was pretty much uneventful, although we are just getting over Guen being sick last week with high fever and possibly an infection. There has been many nights of interrupted sleep by Guen. Although Grae is sleeping now for the past 4 days in a row 9-10 hours. He has been a good sleeper and has been sleeping about 6-9 hours since he was about 3-4 weeks old. Hope all is good with you. Here are some pics of the last 2 months.

Graeber John Fennell Arrives!!!!

Baby Grae is here! I cannot believe that I had a boy!!! I don't know what to do with boys but I bet I will quickly figure it out. What a shocker and here is the story. Monday night, went to bed at my usual time around 9-10pm (I did not have to work) after an exhausting day of running errands with Guen. I woke up Tuesday morning around 145am to use the restroom. When I got back in bed I noticed I was contracting. I thought they were Braxton hicks but they were coming pretty regularly and so I decided to start timing them. I got up and found a website on the computer that keeps track of your contractions for you while I played around on Pintrest. After an hour, they were about 5 minutes apart and 30-40 seconds long. So I went and woke up Ryan and we timed them together for about 30 minutes. They were getting pretty intense so I went to take a shower to get ready for the hospital while Ryan called my Dad to come over for Guen. After my shower I felt so much better that I laid down again in the bed and asked Ryan to time them again. I did not want to show up at my work and the be sent home cause I was not even close to having a baby-how embarassing! So we laid there timing them for about 15 minutes when my water broke during a contraction around 445am. Yippee, now I officially could go to the hospital. We finished getting dressed and said our goodbyes to my dad and headed to my work. We got there at 6am, got my epidural around 830am and I had Grae at 1112am. My birth with my friends at work was fabulous. I have had the VIP treatment and have been treated like a princess this entire time. Grae was 7lb 7oz and was 20.5 inches long. A lot smaller than Guen who was 8lb 12oz. He looks kinda like Guen when she was born but definitely has my feet and my ears. He, so far, is a great breast feeder and a very mellow kid (unlike Guen) and I hope he stays like that. I have been feeling a lot less stressful about this kid and feel like I can actually enjoy the experience rather than worrying about the small stuff. Guen came to visit for the first time this morning and she was very good with Grae. She was "real soft" as she pets him and calls him "my baby". Will be discharged tomorrow and reality will begin. Wish me luck!!! Anyone with any boy hand-me-downs to pass on to me, will be eagerly accepted. Anyone need any girl clothes? Love, Liz

Please vote for Harris County Library

Good News! Ryan's video is a finalist for the following contest:

www.ideapaint.com/360Vote

People can vote once a day until December 4th. Please vote for him! My husband and the kids worked very hard on this submission for the Harris County Library, see video on the very bottom of the link and watch the magic.

Thanks, Liz

November...

This November has flown by. I guess it is because it is the last month to be a family of 3. We have been getting ready to be a family of four at the end of this month. On November 13th, Ryan and I thought we were having our last date night before Baby #2 came with the Homer's at Zelko Bistro. Instead it was a suprise baby shower with all our friends. That sneaky Sarah had arranged for Barbie, Robert, Amy, Dr Huang, Chris, Tootie, Chad and Sarah and Aaron. It was fun and they all got me a double BOB stroller!!! The food was delicious and the company was awesome. The following weekend, we went to a wedding reception for Ryan's old roommate from college at University of Charleston. He got married in Thailand back in August and had a reception here with Andy's side of the family on November 19th. They had pics of their wedding as a slideshow on the tv screen. Their wedding looked amazing and their reception here was very nice too. It was good to see Pang and Andy-Congrats to you both again! We were saying at the wedding how it was funny that the last time we saw them was when we were in New York (where they live) and I was pregnant with Guen and now when we get to see them again I am preggo with F2. We said next time we see them again Pang better be the one that is preggo, not me. For turkey day weekend, I had to work Thursday, but fortunately my parents held off Turkey Day til Friday when I was off so I could celebrate too. On Friday the 25th, we went over to my parents house and my sister Missy came up from San Marcos and we all had Thanksgiving together. It was a FEAST!!!! After turkey, my sisters and Chad came over to help Ryan and I put up the xmas decorations. We put up everything early this year because of F2's imminent arrival. I just did not think that I would want to be decorating when dealing with 2 children, much less one child. The next big news is we are buying a new car. It is going to be hard for me to swallow a car payment after not having one for so long. Both of our cars are 9/10 years old. But Ryan's car is on the brink of death and before it goes, it would nice to have a new and bigger car before the baby gets here. So I have been frantically emailing dealerships this past weekend, trying to get us the best deal/APR. Hope everyone had a fabulous November/turkey day. Next time I write will be the posting of F2's arrival. Exciting!!!!

Busy October....

This past October went by so quickly. Besides the big October 3rd birthday of Guen turning 2 years old, there was a lot more fun that I want to share. During October, Guen and I took at road trip to San Marcos. We went to visit Missy, who lives in my parents old house. I have not been to San Marcos since my parents moved here 2 years ago. It was neat to see how much San Marcos has changed. The night we rolled in, Thursday, we ate at Herberts, then the next day, Friday, Guen and I went to New Braunsfels to visit my friend Amy and her son Grahm. It was great to see them. It was such a beautiful day, we went to Landa Park and the kids played. Amy was kind enough to feed us lunch after that too. Guen and I went back to Missy's house where my friend Randi, whom is a teacher and took a half day just for us, had come down from Austin to visit us. We talked a long time (2.5 hours) while Guen napped and then went to Paper Bear for ole times sake. We met Missy at Grin's for dinner and ate out on the patio because it was such a nice night. For a sweet treat afterwards, we went to the San Marcos food trucks located behind the old Mr Gatti's and we all had cupcakes. Then Randi went home. Saturday, Missy was off and we went to have breakfast tacos at this yummy Mexican place in San Marcos, called Ta Molly's. It was so filling and delicious. I miss central texas tex mex food!!! Then we went to the outlet mall to look around. After that Guen and I headed home to Houston. Guen did really well on the trip back and forth. I was proud.
This month, on October 25th exactly, my work peeps through me a baby shower. I thought it was so sweet considering I just had a baby 25 months ago and have everything, except if it is a boy. Anywho, it was actually held at my OB/GYN's house. He is married to a NICU nurse whom I work with. It was kinda funny to have all my NICU friends there and then my doctor there too. He actually hung out with us girls too, so sweet, I love my OB/GYN Dr McGuirk. We had a fun time and I made out with A LOT OF LOOT!!!!
Another exciting event was my parents combined birthday party weekend. Since my Mom's birthday is on the 24th of October and my Dad's birthday is on November 5th, we had a combined birthday party on October 29th. Missy came over to Houston and we all went out for lunch at my mom's favorite Red Lobster. Then we came back to our house where we opened prezzies and had black and white cheesecake made back Missy and apple crisp a la mode, made by me. It was such another pretty day, we spent most of the party on my back porch watching Guen play and enjoying the weather. After the party, Tootie and Chad stayed behind and helped me move Guen into her new big girl room. We officially moved Guen into the other bedroom and left the nursery for the new baby. We finally got all the painting and construction done this month too. So that is exciting. Now it is down to the final details to get the back half of the house finished. I promise to show pics when it is all done, but there is still a lot of little things to do. Guen had no problem adjusting to her new room and seems to like it.
Lastly, Guen and I went to Wyatt's birthday party on the 29th which was another beautiful day. She got to rewear her Halloween costume from last year and it fit perfectly. She had a blast at the party. The Guen and I went to go trick or treat on Halloween and she finally "got" Halloween and what to do. She kept saying "one more house" and came home with lots of candy. See pics from October below. Hope you are doing well. Count down is on here at the Fennell house. 25 more days till F2 arrives!!

Happy Birthday to Guen

Goodness, I have not been writing lately. It seems like with this new baby coming, I always have an excuse. But I am sitting down to write a little piece about my Guenie growing up and turning a big whopping two years old! Her birthday was Oct 3rd, Monday, but we started the birthday activities earlier that weekend. My family came over Saturday for lunch. I made sandwiches, dips, and a pumpkin dump cake for her birthday cake (something I was craving and wanted to try out a new receipe from Pintrest). I thought it turned out yummy, kinda like a pumpkin pie, upside down. Topped it with vanilla ice cream-delicious! I also tried another receipe of 7 layer Greek dip with hummus, Greek yogurt, cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese, and other veggie with pita chips-delicious again! Anywho, we had a great time and Guen has finally gotten the hang of presents, that the paper is not the fun part, it is what's inside. She received a Barney Balloon from us, sit and spin, coloring book, Barney book, from my parents, a purse, play money/coins, note pad, colors from Aunt Missy and a coat, sweater, furry boots, jeans, dress, cardigan, and stuffed dog from her Aunt Tootie. On top of all that, and probably more importantly, everybody made contributions to Guen's college fund too. Unfortunately Ryan was not there cause he had to work that day. My sisters, Chad (Tootie's boyfriend) Guen and myself went to the mall that evening after she woke up from her nap after all the birthday festivities. Missy and I went off shopping, while Tootie Chad and Guen went off so I could shop without her. What a treat not having to watch to see if she is going to pull clothes off the hanger or get fussy, etc. When we got home, Missy, Tootie, Chad put Guen to bed with dinner, bath and reading. Another thing that does not happen often, while Ryan, who was now home from work, and I could relax.

Sunday, we went to church and Guen took her usual long nap after church. When she woke up, the entire Fennell family was over for her birthday. We had the same thing for an early dinner but I also made some cupcakes since I new the Fennell cousins would like that. Thank goodness, the entire weekend was fantastic weather, so we celebrated most of the festivities outside. For her gifts from the Fennell family, she received a non spill bowl from her Lovey, a tent, purse, lipgloss from the Fennell family and a bracelet from the Rajski family. She liked playing with all her cousins and had a ball.

Monday, her actual birthday, I had off from work and Ryan went in late for work that day. So we had a big birthday breakfast. We gave her a big girl brush and some rubberbands to pull back her mullet. We later went and had lunch at my parents house that day and she had another birthday cake over there. They watched Guen while I went to my 31 week appointment which all looks good. We came home and took it easy for the rest of the day.

Hope you had a great October so far. Will be posting soon before/after photos of some renovations we are doing to the house this coming week in order to get ready for baby number 2. Love Liz