Regular Programming

So, do any Houstonians out there have any guesses as to when we might see anything besides post-Ike coverage on NBC, ABC and CBS? On the upside, Nate and I have power again and we're good to go!

Safe, Dry, and Mooching Like Crazy :)

Hey peeps. This is just to let you know that Nate and I are fine, our house is standing and didn't even have a window broken in the storm. Our fence was not so fortunate.... it's completely knocked down. We feel blessed though that the fence was the worst of the damage. We spent last night in our interior bathroom with 6 couch cushions, a ton of baby supplies, and Micah sleeping on Nate's chest.

My parents are one of the few people in all of Houston who have had power today, so we are bunking with them and eating their food :) When I say "few", I mean that 2.1 million of Centerpoint's 2.2 million customers are without power, so we are truly blessed. Anyhoo, Nate and I are hoping that our power returns soon, but the official Centerpoint stance is that we should be prepared to go up to 4 weeks without power, so we'll see :P

Ike.... Yikes!!

For those of you who might not be following the storm, Hurricane Ike has set his sights on Houston and is coming to get us. Well, technically he has set his sights on Katy. The eye is supposed to pass directly over Katy on Saturday bringing with it 10-14 inches of rain and 100 mph winds. Hmmmmm, this should be fun :P The official City of Houston stance on Ike is that only those in the storm surge area should evacuate and the rest of us should "shelter in place". Nate and I have debated whether or not to evacuate and thus far we have decided to stay here and ride it out. I'm not gonna lie, I'm scared. I'm not terrified, just scared, and not entirely sure that we shouldn't evacuate.

We are getting ready, storing water and putting our essentials into our interior room (aka, downstairs bathroom). We are even flying in duct tape from California (compliments of my dad) in order to tape up our windows. If you are reading this, please be praying for everybody near the Texas coast. We don't ever know for sure where these storms might go, and a good portion of the Texas coastline is still at risk. Pray for our safety as we hunker down as well as protection for our neighbors as Katy is expected to have a direct hit. We may still decide to leave, but for now we are planning to stay..... I'm getting nervous :P

Coupon Frenzy

My grandma has been bringing me her coupons that she gets from the paper, and I think I have found my new favorite pastime. I REALLY like clipping coupons!! I have no idea why, but it gets me all excited. I also can't wait to use them!! It's official... I'm a mom. I get excited over coupons and call my husband to tell him about Micah's extraordinary poop this morning.... I don't want to think about what comes next :P

First Place

Sooo, Nate and I started our First Place bible study last night at Kingsland. For those of you unfamiliar, First Place is a bible study that focuses on exercise and good eating habits. It teaches you nutrition as well as how to put food in the proper perspective as a Christian. Nate and I wanted to establish good eating habits before Micah ever eats solid foods so that he grows up with good eating habits. It looks like it is going to be really good and really challenging!

The first night was good... our leader explained some things to us about the program and then began to play a couple of segments from the DVD.... wait a second, that's Erin!! We knew she had played a major role in developing the new curriculum, but we didn't know that she was the one who had done the videos. It was surreal :) (Erin is in our Sunday School @ First) Erin, if you still read this blog, you did great! You sounded very professional and explained things well :)

The Hairless Wonder

Here is something interesting.... the weirdness of pregnancy extends beyond the bounds of pregnancy... oh yes, it does. During pregnancy you get so used to really weird physical things happening to you that they start to not phase you at all. Now, the assumption is that this will end once the baby is out.... WRONG!!

The newest random thing I've noticed is that I am losing A LOT of hair. Like, clumps every time I brush it, or touch it. When this started happening, I was kinda worried. This is where I become very thankful for Google :) I found out that this is common and does not, in fact, mean that I am going bald. Apparently pregnancy hormones make you hold on to hair that you would normally shed. Well, once your hormones re-adjust, all the hair you would have lost over 9 months comes out in 1 month instead. I'm adding this to my list of things that nobody tells you before you have kids :P

Anyhoo, sorry for the late post.... I went to Katy Mills early this morning with my mom and logged 3 miles in air conditioned comfort :) We brought Micah home after that to eat and then we went to La Centerra and visited the Loft and Gymboree and I just now got home. Gosh, it feels fantastic to be writing so late because I was out doing something and not because I was passed out or trapped under a sleeping infant :)

Night Owl

Sooooo, last night Micah tried something new and VERY unwelcome. Between 10pm and 6 am he slept for a grand total of 30 minutes.... yikes!! With people coming over at 9am, this left me with a bad attitude and very little sleep :P For those of you who are thinking, "but how tired are you, Abby?". Well, it's about like this ~


Now, I understand that not everyone is a cat person, so if you are unfamiliar with the body language of this pooped-out kitten, allow me to demonstrate my lack of energy with the following human example~

So I feel like that.... only slightly less Asian :P

Six Random Things

Ok, Liz.... sorry for the delay, I had to wait for my mom to get home so that I could write a longer post :)


1) I am incapable of talking on the phone in one place. I pace around the entire time I am on the phone and will not stop moving until I hang up. This is why I don't like talking on the phone that much... it's very tiring and contributes to the wearing down of the carpet :P


2) I am a sore loser. No really.... I should have gotten over it in kindergarten, but I didn't. I'm ok around the general public, but when I play games with my family I can't stand to lose and I'm kind of a brat about it :P


3) I danced Ballet, Jazz and Tap for 9 years total growing up (some years I did all 3). At one point, I auditioned and got a part in a Dallas Ballet production of Cinderella. I was a caterpillar :P Caterpillar was the second best child's part available and I have to admit, I wanted the best part. What was that, you ask? Firefly. The butt of their costumes lit up :P

4) My maternal grandmother was a skater in Holiday on Ice and was a headliner. She met my grandpa when he became the manager of the ice show. He went on the manage Madison Square Garden, travelling the world to find new acts to entertain the people of New York.

5) I have an unhealthy obsession with paper.... good paper. One of my life dreams is to own my own specialty paper and invitation store.

6) I heart food. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach... forget that! The way to MY heart is through my stomach too :) I am daily thankful to my dad's metabolism for allowing my love of food without me weighing 290 pounds :P

Open to Suggestions

Thank you to Rachel for the suggestion of this site for a little fun.....they have a look-alike feature that takes pictures of both parents and tells you who your child looks more like. Well, this was my first attempt~



Sweet!! I win!!! For try #1, I used a pic from late in my pregnancy. I realized afterward that I did have some extra fun puffiness during that time that might effect the outcome. To be fair to Nate, I tried it again with a pre-pregnancy pic....

Woo Hoo!!! Yes sir, that's MY baby :P

nope, not dead.... just uninspired :)

The Kindness of Strangers

Ok.... not strangers so much, but good friends :) People have been so incredibly sweet and generous since Micah was born!! Our sunday school brought us meals for the first couple of weeks and when it ended, I thought that was it.....WRONG!! Other friends have continued to call and want to bring food. They always ask if they can like it is an inconvenience to us... ummm, free food and visiting time with a friend? Definitely NOT inconveniencing us!!

It has been so great to see people and get a break from the new normal. Thank you to everyone who has dropped by, you've all brightened my day and some of you have even expanded my recipe collection :) (Jana, I emailed your hotmail but I'm not sure you still use it... I need that recipe like whoa.... so delicious :)

Ok, time for my second date with "Burn Like Fire"..... I'm hoping NOT to have a third :P

Nate was holding Micah yesterday, and he began to laugh. I asked him what was up and he said that I had to see it for myself.

Step 1- Assume the position


Step 2 - Open mouth

Step 3 - Insert foot in mouth :)

Truly he is a prodigious talent :P

Letting Sleeping Babies Lie

Now, some people I have talked to have asked whether I am going stir crazy being somewhat stuck in the house all day.... to be honest, no :) I am a total home body and staying around here makes things a lot easier actually. It seems like every time I have plans, I have to wake Micah up to feed him before I go so that he has a full stomach to make it through the time I'm gone..... have you ever woken up a sleeping infant? It feels SO WRONG! I mean, he's quiet... he's happy... I could be taking a nap too :P Anyhoo, I need to go get him up now so that we can be ready to leave in an hour for our outing...... deep breath, and here we go :)

Gotcha!!

We got his smile on camera!! Our best picture was, unfortunately blurry.... but we got quite a few keepers anyways :) I decided yesterday that seeing your kid really smile is pretty much the best experience EVER. Anyways, the little man is losing it right now, so I'm afraid the ramblings today must be kept to a minimum :)

Talent Beyond Compare

I have mastered the art of holding a baby with my left arm and blogging with my right....is this skill marketable?? Well, either way it has come in handy for me :) It also serves as a time saver for you as one-handed blogging leads to shorter entries, less fancy shmancy vocabulary, and reduced rambling......it's a win-win :)

Good news- I don't have to have corrective surgery!!

Bad News- I healed weird so I have to keep going to my OB weekly and have Silver Nitrate (Indian name for this compound is "Burn like fire") applied :P

All in all, I will take burning over surgery... Praise God for his healing!!

Evolution of a Smile

Getting Micah to smile is becoming easier. Capturing it on camera....not so much :P He times it perfectly to keep you from documenting it, it's amazing. Here are some of my attempts...






Yay!!! A smile picture!! Well, sorta. It is the closest I got at least :)

Lessons Learned

So, I am a big fan of a show called "Jon and Kate Plus 8" on TLC. It is a reality show about a family with twin girls and sextuplets. That's right.... at one point this couple had 2 six yr olds and 6 two yr olds... yikes!! Now, I've found that watching this show has made me into a better person. Sound ridiculous? Here's what I glean from the show~

- If she can raise 8 that are so close in age, I can definitely do 1 :)

- Thou shalt not treat thy husband like crap. Kate is VERY nit picky in a way that I have a tendency to be (on a smaller scale) and I gotta say; seeing it on tv makes you realize how awful it is to pick apart everything your mate does and how much it tears them down.... no thanks!

- I have no excuse for not being able to keep my house clean. If Kate has time to clean her kitchen floor 4 TIMES A DAY, then I should be able to find the time to tidy up.

- Did I mention that raising 1 compared to what she does looks ridiculously easy?

- Organization is key to not losing it as a mother.... so is having a lot of help :)

- Finally, kids are a blessing.... even when they make you want to bang your head against a wall :P

Anyhoo, on a different note, last night I went to the registration tea for MOPS (Mothers of pre-schoolers) at Kingsland and I am really excited about it starting up! It looks like it is going to be great for meeting other Katy moms and making friends that are available to hang out during the day and have play dates. Yay for MOPS!

Enough is Enough

Anybody else out there watch every second of Olympic coverage possible? There are so many cool stories this year and it is so much fun to watch. Swimming in particular has had it's share of dramatic storylines..... Michael Phelps and his 8 golds, Coughlin and her 6 medals, and of course Dara Torres and her... ahem... advanced years :P I have to say, I am tired for her of having her name constantly prefaced by her age. If you've been watching the coverage at all and you don't know that she is 41, then I am shocked. Perhaps the media could be a teensy bit nicer and just let her be "Dara Torres" instead of "41-yr old Dara Torres".....just sayin :P

1 Month!

Micah turns 1 month old tomorrow!! It is absolutely crazy how quickly the last month has gone by! You know what they say.... time flies when you have no idea what you are doing :) Anyways, after a month on this earth, Micah has perfected his smile, learned how to laugh in his sleep, discovered the joys of the pacifier and learned how to roll himself onto his side...... who knows what he'll be up to by this time next month!

One errand, over 10 complimentary comments on how cute he is.....I really should get out more often :)

Water Usage

Here is something interesting..... Since becoming a mother, I do more laundry and take fewer showers. While this might all even out, I find the trend disturbing :P

My Kind of Rings

Ok, so I REALLY like the Olympics....... really, really :) The only thing I don't like about them is that they don't show Ellen during the day while the Olympics are going on. I think I can forgive them for that one though :) I have watched almost every moment of this year's games and have found that along with the sports I knew I liked (swimming, gymnastics, track& field, volleyball, etc), I also can get into fencing, water polo and rowing. That's right folks, I'm growing, expanding my horizons... aren't you proud? With that said, I still get much more excited about the first sports I mentioned along with diving and a few others. Now, I know that they only do it in Japan, but I wish Sumo would become an Olympic sport....it's so freakin fun to watch. Don't believe me? Try it sometime :)

Solid Foundation

Nate and I read to Micah from the bible each night before we all go to bed. Micah couldn't tear his eyes away from Nate last night as he was reading, so I had to disrupt and get this pic :)

Speaking of starting off well.... I caught Micah throwing down a perfect Gig'em in his sleep last week :)

Nate's Hidden Talent

So, for Micah's circumcision, Nate and I went to a specialist to have it performed. Everything went fine until it healed :P Micah inherited from me and my fam the tendency towards uber-quick healing . He healed too quickly to the point where it didn't have the time to heal correctly. We were concerned about how it had healed, so we sent some pictures to the specialist and he told us to come right in. This was Micah's reaction when he found out we had to go back~


Everything went fine at the doctor's office, for which we are very thankful! We walked in and the first thing they asked us was a very enthusiastic "Who took the pictures?!!". Nate and I looked at each other and he answered "Ummmm, I did". They proceeded to GUSH about how good they were and how most people send in pictures and you can't tell anything but ours were amazing. The doctor then told us that he is writing a journal paper and creating a website about circumcision complications, and he asked if we would allow him to use our pictures. He was SO excited when we told him that he could use the pics. He and his assistant continued to mention the great pics throughout the appointment.... it was surreal.

Anyhoo, we figure if IT doesn't work out for Nate, that he apparently has quite the knack for Genital Photography. Now there is a skill to add to the resume :P

My Son the Sumo

Micah had his weigh-in and.... he did it!! He made it to 8 pounds! I set that lofty goal for him last week and he pulled it off! This means that he gained 12 ounces in 8 days.... well above the 1 ounce a day that the doctor wanted... yay!!! While I have been feeding him this past week, I've been whispering to him about aiming for 8 pounds and blowing the doctor out of the water. He got to 8 pounds EXACTLY and now we get to not have another doctor's appointment (for him) for over 5 weeks.... woo hoo!!

Smile!!

Sooooo, Micah smiles now!! Not just "I have gas" smiles, but "hey, you just kissed me" smiles and "Grandma is changing my diaper" smiles. It's awesome :) If I kiss him a certain way, I can get him to duplicate his smiles.... it's so much fun!! No pics yet... I've been too busy testing out different approaches to bringing on the grins.

Oh yeah, Micah is 3 weeks old today!!

We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Edouard is putting a damper on my morning, and I don't mean the rain :P Unfortunately, the local NBC station feels it is necessary to preempt the entire Today show in favor of full time coverage of this non storm. They have scraped together 5 minutes of information that they have just been repeating all morning. It reminded me of this :)

NOT open to criticism

I was perusing a friend's photo albums on Facebook last night when I realized something.... I am not made to accept criticism. Well, about some things I'm not :P In his captions on his pictures, he included multiple put downs of Texas and the Astros. When I read them, I just bristled.

Now, for someone who doesn't like to hear things important to her get made fun of, I've made some unfortunate choices in life.... some things I didn't choose, but still... unfortunate :P

1) I was blonde until puberty..... blonde jokes anyone?

2) I am a Texan born and raised. I am SUPER proud of this as any native Texan should be, but Texas pride tends to draw out alot of "haters" :P Extra bonus.... when I moved to Houston, I also took on the criticism of the rest of Texas. You know what though, I like Houston and I don't think that in any way makes me weird or delusional.

3) Yeah, I'm a 'Stros fan... what of it? I also like the Mavericks.... care to comment on how they always choke in the playoffs? You wouldn't be the first.

4) I went to Texas A&M..... I'm an Aggie..... I am die hard..... I do not think the merit of a college is determined by it's football team..... oh, and I leave your college alone, so back off mine

Whoa... this was supposed to be light-hearted, but I think I tapped into some deeply rooted hostility :P What can I say, I'm tired of people ragging on me about my school. I'm proud of my school, I don't think I could have made a better decision for myself when it came to choosing a university. Ummm, yeah... I think that's about it for a Monday :)


p.s.- thank you to everyone who has asked about Micah's feedings recently. He has good and bad feedings, but overall the trend shows them getting better. It is a definite answer to prayer!

Goin' Cordless

That's right folks.... Micah finally lost his cord!! I didn't realize how much it freaked me out until it started hanging on by a thread two days ago. I am thrilled to trade the gross little stump for a cute little belly button!