4.28.2007

A little bit of sunshine

Phoenix! Here we are. We got here at 10:00 on Wednesday night, and it was 85 degrees. I think that's the coolest it's been since we got here. Yesterday we walked, like, half a mile and I thought I was going to die. It was probably 100 out. Summer in California during the third trimester is going to be rough.

Anyway, we're having a blast here and loving hanging out with Brian and Ashlee and Eszter and the babies, getting to know Josiah and Sophia better. They are absolutely adorable and I love them. We're about to take Judah and Eszter to the YMCA for some swimming, so I'll update more later, but here are the things about Phoenix that we love:

1. QuickTrip! Seriously, who would have thought a gas station convenience store would be something I hope they have in heaven? 69 cent 32 ounce drinks? Are you serious? AND caffeine free diet Coke on tap? No way. Also, orange creme and white cherry slurpees and tons of other flavors. My goal is to make it there every day of our visit. I'm doing good so far.

2. The splash park in Tempe. Ashlee and I took all four kids on Thursday and there were foutains and waterfalls and tiny rivers and spray toys. So much fun. If only there were something like that back home! Maybe there is, and I just need to look for it.

3. Downtown Tempe. One part Denver, one part Third Street. It's such a great area. I would have loved it in college, and I'd love it now, anytime I didn't have a small child with me.

4. Watching Judah interact with babies. It's a good little preview of how he'll be as a big brother, although I realize that it'll probably be different once it's our baby and he realizes that it's permanent. But he doesn't seem to be jealous when I holding the babies or I tell him I can't do something because I have to change a diaper or whatever. He's really careful of them, and his eyes light up when he sees them and he goes, "OH, BABIES!!" Also, I love hearing him say their names: JOE-see-uh and Soapy.

Gotta run, more later.....

4.25.2007

All the news worth telling

I'm squeezing this post in during the few minutes of down time I'll have today, because there are some things that must be announced.

First of all: It's a BOY! Another one! We found out this morning during my ultrasound, and we couldn't be happier. And it couldn't have been clearer. I was a little bit sad at first, not necessarily about having a boy, but about not having a girl. Does that make sense at all? But the more I get used to it, the more I'm loving the idea of having two little boys running around playing together. They'll be the best of friends, I hope. And together they may stand some chance against their legions of girl cousins. This new little one makes the score almost even on the Cowell side of the family. We got to watch the baby for a while on the screen, and he was extremely active, waving his arms around and sucking on his hands and all. It was weird watching him move so much and not feeling it at all. I think I still feel very little of what he's doing, at this point. The tech said he's healthy, he has lenses in his eyes and four chambers in his heart, and no cleft lip or palate. And Nathan says his spine looks great! Now if we could just come up with a cool name. Judah has told me it should be Lightning, after Lightning McQueen, of course.

In other news: we found a new place to live. We're moving May 19th, when I'll be about 24 weeks pregnant. That's much better than last time, when I was 36 weeks along, and due in less than a month from the move date. The new place is a treasure. It's a condo in Placentia and it has just about everything we could have asked for: 2 car attached garage, laundry hookups, three bedrooms, large backyard. We're ecstatic. And it's HUGE! It's 2000 square feet, almost twice the size of our current apartment. We don't even know what we're going to do with all the space, there's a whole room that we don't have any furniture for. We're thinking of making it a playroom/library. It will be so nice to spread out some, and to be able to store things where it makes sense, rather than having our crystal in the linen closet, say. Or our tools in the heater cabinet. There are a couple of things we're not thrilled about, but they're minor. The decor is pretty 70s: the bathroom sinks are faux marble, yellow with red streaks, and the kitchen counters are white tile with dark yellow flecks. Ug. But it's worth it. We can't wait to be moved and settled in.

So that's what's going on around here. We're flying out tonight for Phoenix to visit Brian and Ashlee and Eszter and Josiah and Sophia, and I'm having about three heart attacks an hour thinking about having Judah on an airplane. There was a story in the news a couple months ago about a couple that got kicked off a plane because their child was being so noisy. I'm afraid we're the next newsmakers. I guess if nothing else, Judah and I can hang out in the bathroom for the hour flight. I can't really imagine anything more miserable than spending an hour in an airplane bathroom with a screaming two-year-old, though, can you? We're armed for the flight with new toy cars, a banana, goldfish crackers, teddy grahams, and a ton of books. So that all should keep him busy for at least the first forty-five seconds. Pray for us!

4.21.2007

My new hero!

Isn't this template AWESOME!? I love it to death, and I have Wendy to thank for it. Wendy, who I wrote to last night begging for help and referencing this template, which I though was beyond hope. Lo and behold, I checked out my blog this morning and there it was! Flowers! And vines! And something that's not generic! I love it love it. Wendy, thank you so much for your help and being willing to share your talents. Now if only I can manage to not mess it up when I add the links back in.... Seems easy enough. But you know me.

4.09.2007

Blog apathy

I've fallen very behind on my blogging. And the reason, as you may have noticed, is that I hate my template. I'm tired of all the templates Blogger offers, so I've been looking around for templates on other sites. I found some cool ones here, but all the ones I've tried have some kind of corruption so they won't work, and I don't know enough html to find the errors and fix them. And I found some really great ones on another site (which I can't find anymore) but couldn't figure out how to make them work. I'm not computer savy enough to figure out anything that doesn't have specific, step-by-step instructions. So I'm kind of stuck at the moment, bored with the old, unable to find new. I'll figure it out soon, hopefully.