Tuesday, December 30, 2008

And the winner is...

After much deliberation, negotiation, and some marathon discussions involving names such as Vladamir, Demetrius, Teague, Emerson, Finnegan, Eli, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Nash, Dirk, etc.; we have decided on the following name:

Owen B Underwood
I know what you are thinking and I agree, Owen should be spelled in its orginial Gaelic spelling, Eoghan, however I was vetoed in those regards. Something to do with phonetics and the lack of ability to spell his own name until he was 14.

Owen means "Born of the King".
B is in honor of both of our dads (both of their names begin with "B") and also Chad's grandfather's middle name is "B".

We thank you for the prayers and truly covet them now that we are in the home stretch and getting ever so close. The due date still remains at April 5th.

The picture is from San Diego where we spent a week with family after Christmas. More pictures should follow shortly.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Songrams...

The sonograms from November 20th when we found out it was a boy.


Monday, December 8, 2008

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas...

The Underwood casa lit up at night with some sweet clouds looming...
The view of the tree from outside, Sara did a bang up job on the decorations...
Our tree. It had to be skinny enough to see around, but tall enough to be a presence in the window. Mission accomplished.

The front room all lit up...




Thursday, December 4, 2008

the nursery...

Here are some photos of the nursery coming together...out with the big bed and desk and in with the crib, dresser, "cloud-like" glider chair, rug, book bins, toy baskets and (life size) Ella dog.








As we make progress on our preparations for the nursery, the Lord is continuing to prepare our little one for his grand entrance into the world....






Heavenly Father,

Thank you for our son's continued growth and development, already, he is almost eight inches long and about one pound in weight. Thank you for allowing him to begin to decipher the difference between when it is time to rest and when it is time to be awake. Thank you for the little kicks that so humbly remind us both of this awesome miracle. Thank you for allowing all of his intricate blood vessels to form from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. Father, as his finger nails and finger prints begin to form, please bless their development, please prepare his hands to do great things on Your behalf.



We continue to be so blessed and so grateful...






Friday, November 28, 2008

videos of the pups


and another...


Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Great news and Big news...

The great news is that our little one is right on target (on average) of all the vitals. a kidney, a gall blader, two kidneys, a 4 chamber heart, 2 (very active) arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, and boy parts. Yes, that is right. our little one is a little boy. all good things.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

this is for beth...

Here are 7 things that people may not know about me.

1) I love musicals. I have seen several live, including 7 in London, 2 on Broadway, and 2 in Jackson Hole. I also enjoy a good play, but I think that musicals get me a little more excited than plays. I even grew up acting at church and really loving it. If I wasnt such a great athlete, maybe it would have been something I would have pursued.

2) I love efficiencies. My goal in life is to be efficient as possible. To the point that I will do as many things as possible while I am brushing my teeth (get Ella her food, get my shoes and belt out of the closet, lock the door, make up or turn down the bed, etc.). This may be why I am dumbfounded when I see sara walk around the house in socks (or "stocking feet" as she calls it). It wears them out too quickly, its not what they were made for. Barefoot or shoes. Just makes sense to me. This also leads me to leave things out and not put them away under the thought of, "I am going to need it again at some point, why put it away if I am just going to get it out again?". Just makes sense to me. I could go on for a while because this is something that gets me going, but I will stop.

3) I cant stand watching baseball on tv, much less live. If I get the chance to see a game in a stadium that I haven't been to before, I am all over it, but to watch baseball on tv? Maybe if it was 2000 and pedro was throwing I would, but nowadays it is tough for me. Maybe it is because the dvr skip button doesn't line up perfectly with the action like it does for football. But I find it really boring. I love talking about it, but I cant stand to watch it. Yes, I played it professionally.

4) I hate fiction books. OK, let me back off of that a little, I realy don't like to read fiction books. The Chronicles of Narnia was good, Catch-22 was super good, This Present Darkness is one of my favs; but that is about it. This may tie into the efficiency rant, but I don't see the point in reading something that I know is not real. If I am going to invest time, it will be learn something. To make myself better somehow. I can barely stand to read books about the present. The whole time I am reading I am thinking, "You know, I bet there is more up to date information/statistics/opinions/theories on the internet right now and I am here reading an out of date book." Now books about past theories I love. For example, The Origin of Wealth is a great book about a study of how wealth is created. That study is stagnant, the experiments were completed and the author gave his theories. Done. No new information from that author about that study will come out. I am ok reading that book. Or the book Bowling Alone. Great book, once again it is about a study that was complete. Now a book about what the next 5 years is going to hold will be diminished and slightly out of date by the time the first book rolls off the press. And that is why I cant read those types of books or fiction books.

5) I am not a huge fan of the beach. Too much laying around. Cant stand it. Now if it is a beach that also has a cliff or has caves, I will explore all day. But going to Florida and hang by the beach? I'm out. Unless of course if there are kayaks, jet skis, etc. then I am in. But if it is a vacation that is geared towards laying around I'm out. I'm double out if the laying around is accompanied by reading fiction books.

6) I can make up a fact and you will believe me. If you are reading this chances are I have done it to you. For whatever reason I am able to say a fact and make up support for the made up fact very quickly and I say it with enough conviction that people usually believe me. Of course this has made my wife very skeptical of me when I state facts. And rightly so.

7) I hate social norms. I don't like doing things that are expected of me. I don't like hearing, "that's just not how you are supposed to do that." Drives me up a wall. I wont go into what social norms bug me the most because my wife would not be happy with that. Suffice it to say, if my ex officios aren't dirty after one day of use, I should be able to rock them again the next day and the next day and the next day…

Yeah, ex officios are that good.

8) I can't count.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Greene Girls Reunion


This should have been posted a couple weekends ago...


On October 20th our dear friend, Megan, was able to say that Cooper Lee Bates was officially part of her forever family. We were able to celebrate with Megan, Cooper and the rest of the Greene Girls (Sara's roommates from TCU) for a quick reunion. The time was short...but so SWEET as we all celebrated how God has blessed both Megan and Cooper and how He has used them to bless so many friends and family!

Our Little One

Well...we are almost to the half way mark...there seems to be a little discrepancy over which week we are currently in...19 0r 20...but all that to say almost half way done...it's incredible, we can't hardly believe it, the spring will be here before we know it.

We are over the hurdle of warm Texas summer weather, the first trimester nausea, concealing my growing bump at school, breaking the news to my students and their families...it has been quite a whirl-wind...but God's grace and provision has prevailed, and to that we are both so grateful and humble. Sorry, no "baby bump" photos yet, it still isn't that obvious...more awkward than anything where maternity clothes fit like living room drapes and "normal" clothes are growing quite snug.

I (Sara) have been recently humbled by our little one and have been convicted to pray specifically for the little miracles that are happening each week, as the anticipation continues to grow.

Heavenly Father,
Thank you for another day, thank you simply for life and for the little life growing inside of me. Father, I want to pray specifically for our little one's finger nails and toenails, please continue to bless their growth this week and prepare those little hands and feet for great things, things that will glorify You.
Father, I pray for the bones that are growing and strengthening in our little one's body this week, please bless their growth, allow them to be strong. Father, I lift up all the intricate movements happening within our little one's body from the connections that are being made in its brain to muscles and other nerves. Father thank you for the little kicks I am beginning to feel, what a gift...reminding me (and Chad) of this precious little miracle within.
At the same time, please bless the development of our little ones' facial features as they are delicate but becoming more recognizable. Father, prepare his or her little mouth to smile and allow his or her smile to be contagious.
Father, as our little one is now able to decipher light from dark, please bless the development of his or her eyes, please prepare them to desire to seek after Your light.
Father, as our little one is gaining the ability to hear, I pray that he or she may be able to recognize our voices- I pray that he or she would hear our voices speaking to each other in love, that he or she would be able to see a reflection of you through our words to one another- but more importantly Father, develop a desire in his or her heart to decipher and seek after Your voice in his or her life.
Father, it is such a miracle! Please continue to bless every intricate detail of development that will happen this next week. Father, thank you for this gift of life.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

The nursery is beginning to take shape...

The rug is obviously folded in half, but that is where it will be more or less. And then the crib (Pottery Barn Dana for those of you who care) is where it will be. The dresser will be where the desk is right now. And finally the glider will be to your left. That is all I have.




































Yeah, but you should see the other guy...


As I bent down on Tuesday night to grab Ella's ball she jumped and popped me in the eye.










The Kitchen is 99% finished.



















































Ella's new bud

We have a new addition to the family. Ella sniffs the new pup everytime she comes in.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

So Close

Here are a few more pictures with 3 coats of polyurethane on. two more coats to go...

















































Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Kitchen Updates


Here is an example of the tape job. half of the white squares are painted and the other half are about to be painted.









here are all the white squares painted.













Here is Ann dominating the black border, we are ahead of schedule (notice the beadboard backsplash that is up and painted)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Kitchen Floor Pics...

There it is, she is just waiting for a little paint (and some baseboards of course)...



















just enjoying the super wide angle lens...














looking at it from the back door...




















ella is just putting the floor through its paces...

Monday, September 15, 2008

Kitchen Floor Update, almost there...















about 2/5ths of the floor is laid, but really about 60% of the work is done. hopefully it will be done next weekend.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Mamma Mia

Sara and myself (and my parents, my aunt Sally and her friend Bennie) went and saw Mamma Mia last night at Bass Hall. super good. i would highly reccomend it.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Our jelly bean...

This is our first sonogram, taken on thursday, september 4th. the little tyke (or "Vladamir" as i like to call it, cause i know i wont get that name after it comes out) is approx. 1 inch and 10 weeks old here. the head is on the left and the "rump" (that is the technical term the sonogram guy used) is on the right. enjoy...

Monday, September 1, 2008

Kitchen Updates...

Making it happen, with great legs I might add. Safety first (or so my wife says)...
Happy as can be, granted the wood isnt nailed down, it is just laid to put pressure on the adhesive under the moisture barrier, but it is still super encouraging...

Friday, August 29, 2008

Some random Kitchen pics

Our new kitchen floor, i am just hoping it installs itself...
had to do some plumbing work on the dishwasher (not really "had to", but you cant waste a plumbing opportunity, can you?)
Mount Great Stuff...


Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Virginia Place Block Party Extravaganza...





It was an old fashion block party it was...


Just some random kitchen pics...





Even Ella is enjoying the Olympics...

And she agrees with her papa that the "Phelps as the greatest Olympian" is a NBC contrived title.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

My Favorite Ella pic


Cabin Pics (Ella version)

Starting off with a few Gatsby pics (Jamey's new pup). Please scroll down for non-Ella cabin pics. Thanks, Management.






















love this one...