Aiden's party on Saturday was a success. He only invited 5 friends that weren't family, and yet there were still over 40 people there all together. That's what happens when you have a big family I guess. The weather was gorgeous, which was good, because my Dad was able to drive the kids on his tractor to the back of his lot where they picked out a pumpkin, then they all painted them later. Casey's sister, brother-in-law, and their three kids came in from Austin, and Casey's parents came from Denton to celebrate, which meant so much to Aiden and to us. It was a fun, fast, jam-packed weekend, and now we're starting to recover.

Pierce LOVES his Grandpa!


Our sweet niece, Morgan. Aiden adores this girl...........The Stones from Austin

WE HAVE A FOUR YEAR OLD

Aiden turned 4 yesterday. It was the first year that he was aware of what was happening, and it was so much fun to see the excitement in his eyes. He danced all day. Literally-he was almost always doing this little, I guess you'd call it a "jig", from sheer joy. Casey took off work early and we took him to do his favorite things. We played with the trains at Barnes and Noble, we got ice cream, rode the trolley (he got to ring the bell!), went to the library to get some books, and played at the park. It was such a sweet time and all I could think of is what a big boy he has become. He has such a sweet heart. We often worry about how sensitive he is, but his concern for others is so real, and he cares so deeply, that I think we should stop worrying and try to be more like him. I am so thankful that I have a son who still asks me to cuddle and puts his hand on my tummy already to "hold hands" with the new baby. He is a gift. It's hard to believe that 4 years have passed since he came into our lives. We love you Aiden, you are such a big boy!!

We are having a little party with his "big boy" friends this saturday.

I love his little fuzzy head at this age

he still loves his sunglasses!

HERE WE GO AGAIN....

Well, I'm sure all of you have probably already heard, but we had to make it official on the blog. We're expecting another little McKown! The doctor confirmed this week that there's only one in there (sigh of relief), and that the due date is officially May 8th. This being the third time around, I'm sure I'll be showing a lot sooner than before, so stayed tuned for my expanding waistline! We told Aiden and he is now enthralled with what the baby looks like and what it is doing and wants to talk about it all the time. Unfortunately he has a while to wait, so we'll see how his patience holds up.

aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!

Aiden got his face painted at a drop-in daycare the other night. He came home and said he needed to take his shirt off because pirates don't wear shirts and they are scary.

Our trip to Colorado with Casey's parents

I know these are a littled belated, but at least I got them up at all. We went to Colorado with Casey's parents at the beginning of August. Casey and his Dad went on a week-long hike in Pagosa Springs, and his Mom and I took the boys to Durango for the week. Fun was had by all (especially Aiden when he and I took the 3 1/2 hour long train ride!)

>

girls will be girls...

i never posted pictures of a trip i took with my bible study at the end of april. it was so great to relax and spend time with great girls. we went on a cruise out of galveston to cozumel.













And upon looking at the pictures i am left with only one question: how come i am the only one who still acts like i'm in junior high....

(THESE ARE FOR YOU, CECILE!)

my little model...

poor guy. he's too often the target of my neverending picture taking. eventually he just putters out and ends up on the floor like this. little does he know that this is when i like to take pictures of him the most!

it's almost summer....

the boys and I spent the day out in the front yard. pierce ate approximately 9 leaves and a few pieces of tree bark i'm pretty sure. this is before we got the watering hose out!

water fun!!

...and this is after we got the hose out!

keep your eyes on the ball in my right hand...

AND NOW IT'S GONE!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a horrible blogger, I know! I can post pictures all day long, it's the updating and the stories that are hard for me to get to, so from here on out I'll post pictures and just write brief 'snipits' and if you don't like it...well...call me and you can be my ghost writer.


Aiden and Pierce with our friend, Greenley. I think Pierce already has a crush!


We went to Palm Springs, CA last weekend for a business trip for Casey. We didn't take the boys and that gave us a chance to really relax and enjoy ourselves, even though the weekend flew by! We went to a really great zoo/nature preserve there, and I fell in love with these little birds.
Our flight back got canceled and we had to spend the night at an airport hotel, but we got great meal vouchers and ate in a really cool hotel-top lounge right next the where the airplanes flew in to land. It was amazing!

I know, I know, I have neglected the blog for too long, and you are going to throw up if you have to look at "mimi's pumpkin patch" much longer. It's been a little crazy in our world since Thanksgiving, and to be quite honest, my daily routine isn't all that exciting to anyone who isn't a mom, but I thought the least I could do was put some different pictures of the boys up. Aiden was obviously showing me his best "i'm 3 and i've got more attitude in my little pinky than you have in your whole body" look. Pierce, on the other hand is happy 90% of the time and eating the other 10%, as evidenced by his gargantuan proportions.

We are heading to Casey's family's ranch this weekend near Austin to celebrate Christmas with them, and then we will celebrate the actual day here with Kim's family. Aiden is having so much fun this year, as it is the first year he really is starting to understand Christmas. Let me add, though, that his version of the story goes a little something like this: "Baby Jesus, Son of God, came from my tummy, and so did Mary, and ALL the presents, and now they live on the farm inside a big barn, with cows and sheep and horses and penguins (we just saw the movie Happy Feet), and the men brought Baby Jesus lots of presents just like me!!" I didn't say he understood it perfectly, but we're working on it. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

MIMI'S PUMPKIN PATCH!!

Here are a few pictures I took of the boys yesterday at my parent's house. Aiden wouldn't put on his chicken costume, but I'm still determined to get a picture of both of them dressed as chickens, so stay tuned. oh, and in case any of you were wondering, pierce IS as big as he looks in the picture!

Potty Wars

I had to share this little story because I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day...

Casey and I live in a two story house, so Aiden's room is too far away to hear if anything is wrong in the night and since he tends to have nightmares every now and then, we use a monitor during the night in our bedroom. Most of you are already aware that Aiden loves trains (huge understatement), and very often we hear him in the night making the very realistic "wooo-wooo" sound of the train in his sleep, or saying "the train is coming..." or something else train-related. Well last night I was up in the night feeding Pierce at about 2:30am when I heard Aiden talking in his sleep. I figured he must be talking about trains again, so I turned the volume on the monitor up so that I could have a laugh at his expense. It took me a second to understand what he was saying, but this time he wasn't talking about trains and he sounded VERY distressed. It was obvious he was having a nightmare, and by this time he was screaming. This is what he was saying: "NO Mama-I not. NO! I no like potty. I not go potty Mama!!" He went on a little longer battling his potty-training determined mother in his sleep, before he and his size 6 diaper must have won the fight and he calmed down.

I sat there laughing so hard, and decided maybe I needed to back off the little guy a bit for the next few days. But fear not-I WILL win the potty training battle eventually, Mama always wins!

LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN...

Okay. Here we go. This has to be the third or fourth time that we've tried to start one of these, so hopefully this time will be different. Our lives seem so crazy right now, but we know that this is a great way to update our friends and family with what's going on with us, so we're going to try it one more time.

I guess we'll start by updating everyone with our most recent exciting event. On August 3, 2006, we welcomed our second son into the world! Pierce Ebeling McKown was born at 12:23 pm, at 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 20 inches. The delivery couldn't have gone any smoother, but it became evident during his first night that Pierce was having some problems breathing. His lungs had quite a bit of fluid in them, so they admitted him to the Newborn ICU at about 3:30am. He spent the next week there, getting worse before he would get better. He was diagnosed with Respitory Distress Syndrome, but thankfully made a full recovery and came home eight days after his birth.

The adjustment from one child to two has definitely been challenging, to say the least, but completely rewarding at the same time. The lack of sleep is much harder to deal with this time around. Getting up in the middle of the night multiple times to feed Aiden wasn't nearly as debilitating or exhausting, knowing that I could take naps the following day with him. This time, on the other hand, my days are spent chasing after a three year old, who conveniently grew out of his own nap time when Pierce was born. It's definitely not all bad, though, not even close. Aiden has adjusted so beautifully to having a baby around. He isn't jealous at all, and loves to be near Pierce, constantly talking to him and singing him songs. I pray so strongly that they will grow closer and closer together as they get older.

So that's the latest update on our little family. Casey still loves his job as a Financial Advisor, and I am enjoying being at home with Aiden and Pierce for the time being. We are really excited about this fall season because of some new bible studies and small groups that are starting up. We can't wait to see what God has planned for this season of our lives!