catching up

LOTS of Christmas footage, pics and video to post. Soon ...

We had a lovely holiday! Henry was even more fun this year than last. He is out of preschool for 3 weeks and is enjoying lots of fun activities. He has spent lots of time with his Daddy, his Papa, his Auntie and cousins, and next week will see his Grandmother. All the Vaughans are getting excited about Auburn's upcoming bowl game and Henry's second birthday!

Congrats to Kimberly and Kasey who welcomed Noel Kasey Myers on Christmas Day-how exciting! And, two of Henry's good buddies turned one last week, Happy Birthday Jake and Adam! Wow, that year flew by way to quickly ...

Owen update ... I've been going in to the doctor every 7-10 days for the last 6 weeks for appts/exams to make sure I'm not progressing since I've been having regular/frequent contractions since 26 weeks. Some days are much better than others, but nothing miserable by any means. Anyway, yesterday was my 32-ish week appt. I am measuring about a week and a half ahead and am 70% effaced, but am not dilated at this point so that is good. Will continue to go back weekly and see what happens. As my laid back doctor has said, Owen could come tomorrow or he could hold out until 38 or 39 weeks. Dr. G did say that 38 or 39 weeks would be the longest he would "let me go," whether our hope for a VBAC works out or if we end up having to have a C-section. Speaking of which, we do hope that a VBAC, and hopefully without anesthesia, will work with Owen and we can avoid a C-section. As we learned with Henry, all of this is beyond our control so who knows! We'll be ready for whatever comes our way and just excited to meet the little fellow whenever that day comes!

In the meantime, have a joyous New Year and here's to 2010!

happy days

shelby is really in the Christmas spirit ... we have found her snuggled up under the tree multiple times! sweet little.

the stockings were hung by the chimney with care ...
a lovely weekend in Bham with family we did share.
Lunch with miss madeline was also a treat ...

and a visit to santa was no crying feat!

(no tears this year!)

grandma and daddy jon spoiled us all ... a vet kit,

books, a guitar, a toolbox, what a ball!

sneak peek

we had some professional photos taken this past weekend when in Birmingham. go to:

http://sfisherphotography.com/blog/

scroll down until you see a family photo of Gary, Henry and I ... a preview/sneak peek of some of the shots. can't wait to see all of them! to view Stephanie's complete works, go to www.sfisherphotography.com

enjoy!

our sunday school teacher sent this to us ... it is worth reading.

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13 [CHRISTMAS VERSION]

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals
and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime:
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen
carol in the nursing home,
and give all that I have to charity;
but do not show love to my family,
it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir's cantata
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love does not envy another's home
that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,
but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return; but rejoices in giving to those who cannot.

Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things, and
endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break,
pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust;
but giving the gift of love will endure.

Author: Sharon Jaynes

laughter

the old saying goes, if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans. what a true statement! last weekend we had a weekend full of plans ... most of which fell apart. it all worked out of course, but it was a good reminder that we really don't have control over what happens to us ...

Last Tuesday night, our little germ prone Henry, was up most of the night with some upset stomach. Wednesday, Henry started to lose his appetite, the telltale sign of oncoming sickness, and did not rest well again. Thursday night he was running 102 fever and didn't rest all that well again either. Friday the fever continued and he was pretty pitiful. Friday I had planned to take him to spend the night with my parents, then head to Montgomery for a little Christmas shopping, and then meet up with Gary and several friends to have a little date night/getaway ... dinner and "A Christmas Story" at the Shakespeare Festival. We had reservations at a hotel to stay in Montgomery for the night and Saturday we were going to sleep in (yea!) and Gary was going to take a certification exam for his work he's been studying for for the last 8-9 months. Then it was back to Auburn to take Henry to see Santa at the John Deere store (the only day Santa would be there), and then that night we were having about 15 friends over for dinner for our 5th annual Festivus ... yep, a Festivus for the rest of us, airing of the grievances and all.

It was an easy decision not to take Henry to my parents on Friday as he needed to be home and try to rest. Our tickets and hotel reservations were non-refundable and of course Gary had to take his exam on Saturday. On Friday we also received some interesting news on Savannah's health that we didn't quite expect, and hope to know more about that in the coming weeks. We decided Henry was "okay" enough for me to meet everyone for dinner and the play and then come back home by myself and Gary would just stay overnight and come home after his test on Saturday. Thanks to Gary's Dad for taking good care of a sad little H. I got home around 11pm and Henry had just thrown up, which he proceeded to do several more times that night. He hadn't eaten anything in several days so that made it even more sad because you could tell it hurt him to get sick.

Long story coming to an end, 102 fever continued until Sunday, when he started to make the recovery turn. Yea! So even though our little romantic "getaway/date night" before Owen's arrival didn't go as planned, we didn't get to see Santa, and Festivus got postponed, we are still grateful that Henry is doing much better, no more fever or vomiting, my contractions have been much better/less frequent, and to top it all off, GARY PASSED HIS EXAM! Way to go! He is glad to have that behind him. I wish I could tell you the certification he now holds, but it has a really long name and my preggo brain can not retain it. But he scored 930 out of 1000 and I think passing was 700.

Life has returned to somewhat normal for this time of year and here's to a great week this week! :)

blessed

I can not say enough good, no great, things about the few babysitters we have had care for Henry while I'm working. As a parent, you can't truly express to them what it means for your child to be loved, encouraged, and well taken care of ... you know exactly what I am trying to say. Anyway, we have been so deeply blessed with excellent sitters for Henry - sadly, today was Sally Anne's last "regular" day to keep Henry. She has been keeping him in the afternoons Tues-Thurs since August. Henry thinks (and we do too!) that she is one special young lady. She will be helping out some next semester as her school schedule allows and as we might need any help during my maternity leave. Sally Anne has a heart for children and that is what she is studying to do with her life ... help children with disabilities. We will all miss seeing her each week ... but are grateful for the time she has impacted Henry (and our) lives.

o christmas tree

cut our tree this past weekend. went back to a virginia pine. henry had fun ... although he was really more interested in driving the tractor that pulled the wagon out to where the trees were. that and holding daddy's saw.

bundled up - 40 degrees and windy!
henry liked this little tree

the chosen one below (the tree that is)

smiles

the other boys were cold outside and decided to snuggle. how cute are they?!?

henry found a box he thought was fun

putting ornaments on the tree. gary's mom is so good about having saved things from his childhood ... she passed along gary's spiderman and hulk ornaments to us last year. we let henry put them on the tree and he thought they were really neat! "pider-man" as he calls spiderman.

auntie sue gave henry an adorable eric carle ornament last year. henry loves the very hungry caterpillar and when he saw this ornament he was super excited!

after a bath, enjoying the tree

last christmas henry was only crawling and just sort of stared at the tree. this christmas he can help sing carols, he knows who santa is, you name it. what a difference a year makes! we thought last christmas was so wonderful and fun - this one will be even better!

happy friday

enjoy the chilly temperatures-I love them!

and, enjoy some smiles from mr. h before school yesterday ...

henry with the girls ...

bountiful blessings, way to go tigers, a hayride and 28 weeks

Henry is feeling MUCH better! Almost 100%. We are so grateful for the gift of good health!

The below photo was from a couple of weeks ago before school one morning.

We had a nice Thanksgiving holiday, despite Henry's illness and lots of contractions that kept us home on Thanksgiving Day rather than visiting Elizabeth and Jon as planned. We definitely missed seeing them!

Sadly, Auburn did not win the Iron Bowl. However, what a game!

We are proud of our team ... WAR EAGLE!!!

the old familiar orange robe makes its appearance

the petersons had their re-scheduled hay ride and marshmallow roast this past sunday afternoon. henry enjoyed getting some fresh air after being cooped up in the house for a week.

driving mr. brett's tractor

this was last week's 28 week photo. little owen is not so little anymore!

is anyone else having trouble grasping how, exactly, today is december 1st? seems like it should still be october!

sad little henry

after a trip to the doctor and a chest x-ray yesterday, it seems henry has a mild case of pneumonia. this also has caused him to have fluid behind one of his ears. both the pneumonia and ear infection are treatable with antibiotics, thankfully. he is also cutting his top two eye teeth. he is one sad little fellow! very un-Henry like. hopefully the medicine will kick in fast and he will bounce back quickly!

what's in a name?

Well, a lot. Naming anything, a pet, a child, a stuffed animal, is tricky stuff. That being said, Gary and I have thought and thought and talked and talked about names for our second baby boy for, oh, months now. We have decided on one that we (including Henry) already treasure.

Owen William Vaughan it is.

Owen seems to be doing well thus far. I have been having a fair amount of contractions over the last two weeks, but in the last few days, they seem to have improved. There is the recommendation from my doctor to start brethine to slow/stop them, but I'm hoping that the contractions will continue to improve and that won't be necessary. Resting/laying down does not seem to make them any better at this point. Besides, that's quite a challenge with a 22 month old.

Owen seems as active as Henry was in utero, but not more so. He's been sweet to his mother so far and I have no complaints; only grateful for this opportunity to have another child and watch our family grow. We pray the Lord will keep safe care of Owen as he develops, and we can not wait to meet the little fellow!

twenty two month hodge podge

mommy, please leave me alone and no pictures today!

twenty two months means no more pictures, right?

golfing with daddy and papa this past weekend

my mommy says no christmas decorations until after thanksgiving, but I did find a santa hat ...

my new robe, so soft and snuggly

I have been sleeping great in my new big bed for a few weeks. I love it-so many pillows.

I now call the room I used to sleep in "baby brubba's room." the only thing I miss from there is the rocking chair. or maybe my mommy misses that, I don't know.

what does a 22 month old do? well ... I love to be outside. am learning new maneuvers on the playground. still love preschool but still cry each time my mom leaves me, which makes her very sad. I am on the same nap/sleep schedule I've been on for a while. I can eat a lot ... sometimes more than mom does. I still like a wide variety of foods, provided where we are eating is not too distracting! I don't like cantaloupe or white potatoes or carrots. I can say something new every day. I have an extremely good memory. I still am obsessed with keys and cars. I am still a friendly and easy going guy, but can pitch a fit from time to time. I have expressed some interest in that thing called a potty. I love my new room. I love mickey mouse and Aubie. when there is a football game on, I yell "Go Defense!" Sadly, this doesn't help Auburn very much. I haven't been playing with the dogs much, they just sleep all the time and I'm way to busy for that. I am really good with my ABCs and helping sing songs. Numbers, well, I still think the only numbers that matter are 1,2,5,6,8. I know all the people at our tailgate and which family has which baby and so on ... and I love tailgating and pretending to drive the RV. I like to help mommy or daddy do things, especially in the kitchen. life is good!

turkey thursday

if you tell henry to "smile" he STILL puts his fingers on his cheeks. silly guy!

before school today
its been kind of a wild week around our house. here's hoping for a normal weekend!

lots of love

and support was shown to our family this past weekend. Friday night, Allison, Tricia, Katherine, Sue and Deirdre hosted a wonderful baby shower for Baby Vaughan. It was a dessert/coffee shower ... what could be better! We missed Sue and Deirdre, but they were there in spirit. It was a relaxing and lovely shower! We are well on our way to purchasing the double jogging stroller we hope to buy for the boys.

Thanks again ladies for showering this little fellow with lots of love!

Nancy, Tricia, Emilie (due with Baby #1 in May!)
Allison, Tricia and I have been friends since 1997 where we all met at Auburn. I count my blessings every day for such dear, sweet friends.
T, Megann and Nancy

Gary's mom came down from Bham for the shower-thank you for making the trip!

we had a very small but fun tailgate crowd this past weekend for Homecoming.

special visitors were Madeline, Joel and Allison! gotta love these two angels together ... I know I sound like a broken record, but can you disagree?

Henry and Baby Alex giving a war eagle

Uncle Jeff had some extra tickets to the game he kindly gave us, so Henry and I went for the first half. Since it was a smaller game, Gary, Papa, Henry and I were all able to sit together. Fun!

Stacy and family were in Alabama for the shower and the AL/LSU game. It was also great to visit with them. Here are Trip, Madeline and Henry posing for a photo.