Tree Lots were created for a reason...

Man do I sound like a scrooge! But it was so freakin cold traipsing through the woods to find the perfect tree.

I wanted to ride on the wagon with Jack and just get pulled around. :)

Snow in Seattle

We decided to brave the busiest travel time of the year and fly to Seattle for a week to visit Grandma & Grandpa Rankin (my Mom and Step dad). Luckily we flew first class...Jack had plenty of room to play and sleep. He also loved the hot baked cookies.





It has snowed every day we have been here - a record for this area! Despite the cold & ice, Jack has loved wearing his snow boots and trekking through the deep snow.

Weekend Escapades

Hannah came into town Friday afternoon for her sister's graduation. Jack loves having someone new to play with. Plus, Hannah laughs at all his crazy antics. He just hams it up fo her.



John & Jack had a boys day at the Dallas zoo. Apparently they have a cool penguin exhibit and a monorail train that travels through an animal "safari". Pretty exciting stuff for a 2 year old...

Bubble Lights!

Jack absolutely loves Christmas trees this year. We've spent several mornings decorating our tree. We've had to convince him that all of the ornaments shouldn't surround the bottom of the tree.

My belly

For those of you that haven't seen me in a while...I'm huge! Still spinning and working out but this baby keeps growing! :) I wonder if she'll be bigger than Jack!

At least someone likes moving...

Jack will be so sad when we finally finish unpacking.
Lucky for him we are just not as organized as we used to be...it could be a few more weeks.

The Never Ending PhD...

So John was supposed to defend his thesis this Friday. This has been postponed several times thanks to his professor's hectic schedule and then Hurricane Ike. He assembled a team of professors to present to and just found out a few days ago that the ChemE professor would be unable to attend because his brother passed away. (John was bummed because he said if you have the ChemE guy behind you, everyone else will agree it's a good project!) His Civil professor just informed him TODAY that of course they can't do this without everyone attending so he'll have to reschedule again!!

Let me tell you, John is not happy right now...
I think he is just ready to finish this PhD and move on.

I'll keep y'all posted so you know when you can start calling John "Dr. Hagan" j/k

SOLD!!

It's official! Our house is sold. Now we just need to find a place to live in Dallas...

New Do

We took Jack for his 4th haircut this weekend. I seriously need to learn how to cut hair myself - John & Jack are like chia pets! Their hair grows so fast!!

Happy Halloween!

Zoo Boo

We took Jack to Zoo Boo today at the Houston Zoo. Kids get to run around in their cute costumes, check out all the animals and do fun Halloween stuff (decorate pumpkins, trick-or-treat, etc). Jack loved it. Of course we couldn't leave without a quick ride on the choo-choo. My parents got up early to brave the madness with us.

It's a Girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday. We were both shocked to hear we are having a girl! I don't know why but we've been referring to the baby as a boy - that must be why she's been kicking me so much for the past few weeks. We're thrilled though!!! Enjoy this 3D video! She has her arm up over her head and if you look closely, you'll see her smile. :)

E-I-E-I-O

Jack loves his new truck from Grandma Rankin! Especially since it sings "Old MacDonald".

Off the Charts

Jack had his 18 month check-up on Friday. He was thrilled to have John with us (of course they were smiling before he got 3 shots!)

Jack's 75% height and 50% weight. Poor kid has inherited my feet though and they are enormous! He wears big boy shoes already (size 7 1/2).

To make up for the shots, we took him for a ride on the train by the zoo. He says "woo woo" every time the conductor honks the horn. Too cute.

The Next Picasso

Hurricane Ike

Well...it's taken me long enough to blog about the hurricane but we're finally just getting settled again. We "sheltered in place" as most Houstonians did and weathered the actual storm ok. Jack actually slept through the entire thing and it was LOUD. We lost power just before midnight on Friday and by Sunday morning, it was just too unbearable. We packed up and decided to join John for the week in Dallas. Jack loved spending all day with his mama, checking out new parks in Dallas and seeing John during the week again. I was exhausted hanging out with an active 1 1/2 year old and working during naps and at night. We got power on Wednesday afternoon and headed home late Thursday night. We realize we're very lucky because almost everyone around us still has no power...

Before the storm



Ike's Damage



This is I10, a 10 lane major interstate underwater!

Jack helping with the clean-up

Like Father, Like Son

Just what I'm afraid of...another generation of Hagan boys in the military. Jack already looks so cute in camo!

I'm a sucker for a man in uniform - I made John put his uniform on just for kicks! Totally kidding y'all - he had Army reserves this past weekend.

17 Months Old!

Never leave a baby alone with a bowl of baked potato soup...he'll get creative with it! I had fun washing this goop out of Jack's hair tonight!!

Mmm...Soup!

This was too funny not to capture on film tonight! Jack decided his spoon wasn't doing the trick so he picked up his bowl and slurped his Potato & Leek soup right down. I'm blaming this habit on John...

Tents, Gymbo & Daddy

Jack's favorite things these days! He'll say "tent, tent" so John will make a tent with a blanket and they can hide underneath. Gymbo is this clown from his Gymboree play gym that he just loves. I hope he outgrows the clown fast because honestly the little doll freaks me out!

Matt - I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to write a new post. I promise to update more often. At least Jack can say "Matt" now! That should definitely guarantee him favorite nephew status.

My Kid has a Potty Mouth

Emily, you'd be happy to know Jack says poo poo now. He proudly announces when he has a dirty diaper. I cringe to think that he might just yell this in a public place...

Big D

I'm sad to say we'll be moving to Dallas in the next couple of months! It's not like we're moving across the country but it feels like it. John was accepted into the SMU law school just this past week and we had days to decide. His company has been begging him to move for several big projects they've landed in the area. John promises it'll be temporary. So don't fret all our fabulous Houston friends...we'll be back!

Howdy!

Jack spent this past weekend in the "country" at his Poppa & Abuelita's house. I don't think he missed us at all...

Jack-Size Furniture

We found this cute furniture at IKEA. Jack likes to sit at the table to eat cheerios and work on his art (mainly scribbles on paper at the moment).

Raspberry

Poor Jack! He face-planted into the concrete today and got this lovely raspberry. I imagine it will only get worse as he gets more adventurous.

Guilty

You mean I wasn't supposed to unfold all the clean laundry?

Animal Noises

Up!

102

That was the temperature yesterday afternoon! Jack and I met my parents at Market Street in the Woodlands. Jack played in the jumping fountains to cool off...

Happy 4th of July!

Should we be worried?

Jack has been fascinated with my shoes lately...maybe because there are so many?? He decided to wear some this morning. I swear he looks like he's trying out for Miss America - high heels and the wrist wave. Hopefully he grows out of this!

First of Many Trips to the Zoo

We took Jack to the zoo for the first time this past weekend. He loved it of course! His favorite animals were the lions, the elephants and the new sea lion named Deano.