A Namesake

Josh and I are so lucky. We have three amazing grandmothers. Nana in Lubbock, Granny in Crosbyton and Granny Liz in Kingsland. So many of our childhood memories involve these ladies. Needless to say when we were choosing a name for our precious little girl we thought of these women. We decided to name her Lila Elizabeth Warren after Elizabeth Purdy (Granny Liz). We can only hope that she has as much strength and grace as her namesake. Unfortunately, Granny Liz's cancer has come back and she is going down hill pretty quickly. Over our 10 day stay in Waco Josh and I were able to go down to the lake and tell her in person that we were naming our daughter after her. It was so amazing to see her smile and to let her know how much we love her. I can't wait to tell Lila all about her Granny Liz! She has some very big shoes to fill.

Almost Back to Normal!

We finally made it back to Houston last Sunday when we got power. So many of our neighbors still don't have it. I felt very annoyed not to have internet or cable this week, but then I went back to work and heard stories of people who still have no running water and have trees that fell through their houses. My school got power back on Thursday night. The students are coming back on Monday. Two weeks is a long time to be out of a routine for all those kiddos. I feel so blessed that we have such a wonderful family who took us in while we were displaced. Here are a few pictures of the precious kids.

The St.Clair family ready for the game!

Josh and Granny

Our cousins Tanner and Cooper with Mia enjoying the beautiful Lubbock weather.

Presley with a big girl hair cut. So cute!!

Josh with Mia and Blaine

The Piano Man Wyatt

Nana bought a great table and toys for all the kids to play with.

Nana and Ryan. He really loves taking pictures:)

The Purdy girls

Cooper and Ella playing in Waco.

Josh playing guitar hero. (The headband was bought especially to ROCK with).

Still in Waco!

Well this is day 8 in Waco. We are still waiting to get power on at our house before we go back to Houston. The centerpoint website says it will be sometime after Monday??? Whenever that is! I also don't know yet if I have work next week? We have been so lucky to be here with my parents. They have feed us and allowed us to come in and completely disrupt their normal schedule. Most importantly they have let our pup Cooper stay and rule the house. He LOVES their huge backyard. They have a new little puppy named Ella who is loving having Cooper around to wrestle with. Josh is loving playing Guitar Hero and I am loving being around my family. There are lots of pictures to come when we make it back to our computer! (Whenever that will be)?

Hurricane Ike!

First and foremost we are so thankful that we and our house are safe. Just like the images all of you have seen on the news all weekend, so many people were not.

I guess it all starts last Wednesday night. Josh and I had gone to bed..or so I thought. He aparently stayed up all night worrying about the hurricane. At about 2:00 in the morning he tells me that we need to get up and go right then. Like so many other Houstonians I think he is over reacting and tell him I have to work and we'll figure it out later.

The next day work was crazy. All the classes were doubled up because half the staff had to leave and almost every parent came early to pick up their kids. At that point I realized maybe a 6 month pregnant lady should leave to be safe.

When I got home my very wise husband had taken every thing off the walls and documented it on camera. (It looked like the hurricane had already hit our house:) I had 5 minutes to pack and we were headed off to Waco. We took the backroads and got there in about 5 hours. (Not fun while pregnant)! We spent the night at my parents house and rested up for the days to come.

The next morning we checked Cooper into a kennel and hit the road to Lubbock. Another 6 hours later we got to Josh's parent's house. From their house we watched in suspence like everyone else wondering about our friends who stayed behind and what damage might be done. Thankfully we talked to everyone we knew there and they too were okay. Our sweet friends have gone by our house and from the outside it looks like the fence is the only thing messed up.

Now they say school is out for the week and there is no reason to come home. Trying to find the silver lining we went ahead and had a Great weekend! We saw all of our neices and nephews from both sides of our family and both grandmothers. We got to watch the Red Raiders beat SMU and hang out with our friends. I will post some photos whenever I get home to my computer.

For now we are back in Waco. Hopefully we can get home sometime this week. in the meantime, I am going to try to enjoy a few days off work:)

If I only knew back then...

Life has such a funny way of making you laugh at yourself. When I was in college I thought I was SO busy and SO stressed. I mean how can someone be expected to make all these life choices about career and the future when they are working so hard in class. I should mention that is the only responsibility I had. Money was still coming from dad, school was paid for and my Nana would even sometimes do my laundry! Seriously, the hardest choice I had to make was Crickets or Chimmys?

Then you get married. The first experiences of living with a boy. Having to cook and clean for someone else. Having to pay bills rather than get a new outfit. I mean serious sacrifices right?

Then I got a job teaching. Working 8 hours a day with 6 year olds then coming home and trying to be a good wife and friend. It seemed pretty exhausting.

Then you get pregnant. Not only do you have the same responsibilities as before, but I literally could fall asleep driving home. My feet hurt like never before and I'm starved. This has been my "poor me" attitude I have been carrying around with me the past few weeks.

Today I had a conference with a mother from my classroom. She is also 6 months pregnant and is working full time. When we were trading stories she mentioned how when she gets home her two other kids need help with homework, dinner, soccer practice, etc... It hit me that this is another time in my life I'm going to look back and think "If I had only know how good I had it back then."

I write this to say that I am so thankful that it is just me when I get home and I can sit and do nothing. When we have # 2 I'm sure these complaints will seem laughable. To all you mothers of multiple kids. More power to you and this prego lady will stop the complaining asap!

Lila at 6 months

I am 6 month pregnant this week! We went to Dr. Jurney for our monthly check up on Wednesday and got to see Lila again! She is doing very good and has grown so much this month. She is around two and a half pounds and 15 inches long! My favorite pregnancy website www.epregnancy.com is comparing her to a men's athletic shoe! She has already turned and is head down. Her muscles must be getting stronger because I feel her moving around all day long. Her retinas are developing this week so I am eating lots of carrots. (Don't know if that will help or not :)

The top picture is her profile (her legs are on the left).

The bottom picture she turned and is looking at the camera.

We finally hung some things in her nursery today. It is all coming together so cute. (Pictures to come soon). Every morning I go in there and say a prayer for her. I can't wait for her to get here!!