new photos ... too cute.

um, is this one adorable photo or what? nothing beats some puppy love ...

henry and "sa-anna-anna" as he calls her
photos from the weekend ... before Morgan and John's wedding

another one-notice the two little hands on my legs in this one

my mom and I ran to columbus for a few baby things this past Saturday morning and gary and his dad took henry to the Auburn basketball game. War Eagle anyway!

tomorrow this little fellow turns 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2!

34 weeks and an excited big brother

34 weeks ...

I don't have a 34 week photo from Henry's pregnancy ... I do have a 36 week one, so it will be interesting to compare. so far so good as much as we know. still going to the doctor weekly for appts/exams to see how the contractions are affecting the progression. the contractions are still around ... they will be pretty frequent for 3-4 days and then slack up a little for 3-4 days. who knows what's going on in that belly!

owen has been very active the last 10 days; I can't wait to see his gymnastics routines in person because they are certainly impressive in utero! he gets the hiccups a lot. henry did as well. I still crave cherry sprite or shirley temples like none other-and normally I am not a huge cherry anything fan.

as we've been getting all the old baby clothes, toys, bottles, etc., out and washing and preparing them, henry has been very enthusiastic about his upcoming role of big brother. we still don't think he knows exactly what all is involved, but his sweetness with regards to Owen is touching nonetheless.
big brother jommers and llama llama ... thank you auntie dee and uncle joe!

henry thought climbing in and out of owen's car seat was a blast. at one point he just sat in the seat and talked to himself for about 20 minutes.

he also liked the moses basket ... as I was washing the liner and such, he laid down in it and said "take a nap in baby brother's basket." this is no exaggeration.

we've been praying for snow today, but alas, no such luck. there is still hope for later in the winter though! in the meantime, stay warm and happy friday.

funny stories

two funny henry stories to share ...

henry received a toy dirt devil vacuum for christmas. anytime I vacuum, which happens all the time at our house with 3 dogs, he loves to "help." so he really loves this gift from his sweet grandmother. his vacuum normally stays out with his toys and our vacuum stays in our hall closet. the last time I vacuumed, I opened the door and found henry's vacuum lined up perfectly next to our vacuum in the hall closet. I asked gary if he had put the vacuum there ... nope! turns out henry placed it there. how sweet!

yesterday we had our carpets cleaned (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when this happens!) and we move all of our furniture and such to our kitchen so the whole area can be cleaned. when I went to get henry up and take him into the kitchen to feed him breakfast, he saw all the "mess" in the kitchen and exclaimed, "oh no! oh no! furniture upside down! henry's toys up high! cleveland bear up high! mess! mess! furniture upside down!" ha! too funny.

catching up ... with pictures

We had a really nice Christmas this year and are most thankful for God's abundant blessings ... most importantly the gift of His son, His grace, the good health of our family members, our beloved dogs, and a loving and supportive circle of close family and dear friends. We started a few new Vaughan family traditions this year, such as having a "birthday" celebration on Christmas morning ... reading the story of the birth of Jesus from Luke and making a birthday cake and singing happy birthday to Jesus. Santa came to visit as well; Santa brings three gifts to Henry, representing the three gifts of the wise men. And, while Henry is young and didn't quite grasp this, this year, he will in years to come ... Henry (we) selected a toy of his to wrap up and give to someone else in need. We had a few other fun and worthwhile activities leading up to Christmas Day and hopefully throughout the year, not solely in December, we as a family will keep the true meaning of Christmas close at heart.

Henry really loved Christmas carols this year ... some of his favorites were: I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, The First Noel, Frosty the Snowman, Away in a Manger, Rudolph and Jingle Bells. At Christmas Eve church service, we sang The First Noel ... part way into the first verse he blurted out with much enthusiasm, "NOEL, NOEL!" Even though it was really loud, it was so cute.

Unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning was a hoot; both sides of our family chide me each year for being the slowest present unwrapper. I have someone that shares that slowness, Henry! Hooray! Here is Henry with a gift from Santa, a tinker truck. The truck came with tools that allow you to literally take the truck apart and put it back together.

Another Santa gift was a rocket ship that has little play people (kind of like Fisher Price Little People sets). The last gift from Santa was a submarine toy for the bathtub. Henry likes the submarine and the little man that came with it, whom we call Jacques.

Gary and I gave Henry a learning laptop computer that works on letters, colors, shapes, etc., and the third Signing Time video. He still knows and practices his signs and loves the videos. Now that he talks non-stop, literally, he doesn't sign as much unless you interact/encourage him to converse with you in sign language.

my parents, brother and grandmother came over for a low country boil christmas lunch.

it was great!

YaYa gave Henry a monkey napping mat - he LOVED it!

Auburn table place setting and manners guide from YaYa. He loved that too!

Christmas night we had dinner and celebrated with Gary's Dad. It was a really nice visit and Henry had a fantastic time!

Moving on from Christmas ... last week Henry got out his little storage bins from his room and decided to sit and read in them. He had a whole conversation with himself while he read this book ... it was so darn cute.

the dogs had a nice holiday too ... they've already torn up 3 of the 4 new toys Santa brought. they have been in the pack mindset lately and where one goes, the other two follow.

last week Gary took off work to spend the day with Henry while I was working and Henry's school was closed. He and his Dad took Henry to see a Sesame Street show. Henry had a blast! It was a 90 minute show and 90 minutes is a long time for a 2 year old boy to be sitting, so we weren't sure how he'd do, but he loved all the characters and the singing. Every time the singing paused, he'd say "Go see Elmo!"

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!