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.

6 & 24

the end of october marked the sixth year that gary and I have lived in Auburn post graduation. six years! in one place! this is the longest I have ever lived anywhere in my entire life and I can readily say that Auburn is truly home. we adore living here and pray we never have to move.

november marks the start of my favorite holiday ... Thanksgiving. many holidays have special and true meanings, but Thanksgiving stands out to me. I love that when you focus on your blessings, it indeed warms your heart and brings a smile to your face. and when you make the time and effort to share your thanks over a meal with those you love, that time together creates a fond memory. a memory that can not be taken away no matter what life throws at you or your family ... it is there for the duration.

as for 24 ... a little over 24 weeks gestation. that's the life span of our second baby boy this far. the first photo was taken at 24ish weeks with henry ...

and this is 24ish weeks with yet to be named baby vaughan. we have narrowed it down to two names, so we are making progress I suppose ...

pregnancy is going well. it is nice to be able to exercise and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. the weather the last two days has been unbelievable! my running has turned into running/walking, especially when pushing henry, but it still feels wonderful. not too much longer; there is a pretty good chance this baby will be early like his brother (maybe not a month early), so come January we will not be surprised if he makes his appearance. and if he wants to wait, that's just fine too. :) my best friend, brother in law, sister in law, sister, and henry all have january birthdays. another brother in law, myself and gary all have february birthdays.

winter is a celebratory time for our families!

we are thankful for God's abundant blessings and each day he gives us together.

6 & 24 are pretty good numbers these days ...

equestrian event

more from this past weekend

just sit right back ...

and you'll hear a tale,

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port

Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man

The skipper brave and sure.

Five passengers set sail that day

For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough

The tiny ship was tossed,

If not for the courage of the fearless crew,

The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.

Gilligan, the Skipper and the boat (S.S. Minnow) with a hole in the side

trick or treat!

Henry enjoyed his second Halloween! The city of Auburn declared Halloween on Thursday night ... which is fine, but still kind of weird if you ask me. Halloween should be on Halloween, October 31st!

Auburn enjoyed a victory over Ole Miss too ... it was another nasty day for tailgating but we all managed. Alison and Erik came down from Bham - it was so great to visit with them! They are expecting a little boy, Graham, in early March. We are super excited for them!

the great green (but dry!) poncho & alison

sweet madeline

last weekend henry and I ventured to Bham to visit some special people. we surprised my mom at work on the way up, had lunch with gary's mom and jon, went by my old office, ran by a few shops and then we went to see allison and madeline. it was a jam packed 24 hours but oh so fun!

henry and madeline, dressed up as tinkerbell. her expression cracks me up in this photo!
they thought playing in maddie's crib was so fun (who knows!). good photo op though!

henry trying to give madeline a kiss ... he asked his mommy first of course.

they played so well together. can't wait until the next time!