Kindergarten

Morgan started Kindergarten on Monday. The whole family was there to see her off amidst the chaotic crowd of families dropping off kids. Greg did manage to take some pictures of her. Her first words to me when I picked her up: "That was a long day!"

Little Man-n-Stuff

Vegetables from our garden. The squash plant has taken over the backyard.
My little helper. She is like a second mom for Austin.
My favorite little man! I am amazed by how fast his nails grow. If I do not cut them every couple of days, he ends up scratching his face--hence the scratched nose.

My mom and Austin are exasperated by how many pictures I have to take to get a good one.
The girls enjoyed giving him a bath. Austin hated it.

Austin Thomas Gorby

On July 1st, 2009 at 12:55 am, Austin Thomas Gorby joined our family. The little guy could not wait until the 2nd, which was fine with me. I was so very ready to have that baby boy. We all instantly fell in love with him and his sweet personality. So far, he is a very mellow baby and I am keeping my fingers crossed that this continues. I am keeping this post short due to tiredness, but stay tuned for more details and pics. Thank you to everyone for their well wishes.

Muppet Meet

Today was Morgan's first "official" swim meet. She swam the 25 Freestyle without the aid of a kick board and swim coach. She placed 2nd in her heat and surprised us (including coaches) by taking only one short rest mid-pool. Monday was her first attempt at swimming 25 meters and she stopped about 7 times to hold onto the lane line or side of the pool. By Friday, she was swimming the length of the pool with 2 or 3 rests along the way. We were all very excited for her. Way to go Morgan!

One week!

Greg took some pictures of us before baby arrives.

Homestretch

Four weeks can seem like an eternity when you feel like a beached whale. I am down to four outfits that fit me. My skirts no longer stay on my hips because my stomach pushes them down and my shirts barely cover my stomach. I am wearing dresses from here on out. Whenever I eat I feel like the food is stuck in my chest and I cannot find a comfortable sleeping position no matter how many pillows I stack around me. Greg calls me the pillow hog. Despite these little annoyances I am determined to stay positive. My goal is to stay as busy as possible this last month. We still need to finish putting the nursery together--no dresser or changing table yet. Morgan has swim team everyday. Taylor is taking a ballet/tap class once a week. There is parent participation required at the swim meets, doctors appointments, free summer movies at Grand Cinemas, weekly play dates at the splash park and of course, house cleaning ( I am in nesting mode). I think I have enough to keep me occupied for four more weeks.

Rock Stars

My sister Courtney visited us this weekend. The girls just love it when their aunts visit because there is guaranteed to be some kind of wild craziness. This time, they formed a rock band.

My first trip to the ER

I am letting Morgan narrate this post. This is her story:

When I was going outside my sister smashed my finger in the door and it ripped my nail completely out and it bled so bad. It hurt really, really bad. Then, my mom called the doctor and I was watching TV with the bandage on. I almost passed out and fainted, and when I was going to the doctor I threw up in the elevator because I was a little shaky. Then the doctor laid me down on the table and then another doctor looked at it and then they took me outside. It was hurting because the wind was blowing. Then we got in the car and drove to the ER. I sat in a wheelchair because I was weak. Then they wheeled me in. Then they put a little thing on my pointer finger to test my heartbeat. Then they pushed me into a different room and put me in a bed and I was cold so I got a sheet. Then I was laying there and Mom had to call someone. Then she came back and a different doctor came to take pictures of my finger. He pushed the bed into a different room and he had a super camera. After a little while later they took me to a different room and I got shots in my finger. I didn't freak out, instead I cried. Then I got a red Popsicle. My finger was not broken. The doctor put my nail back on and pushed it in. I did not get any stitches. Then we had to wait for out papers and it took so long. Then we drove home. The End.

Is it really 100 degrees already? Yes, I am one of those people who complain about the heat every summer. You say, "Why do you live in Tucson?" To which I respond, "Because Greg has a job here." If I had my way, I would not live in the desert where it hits 100 degrees in May, while the majority of the country is enjoying cool spring weather. I wonder if my kids would mind me spending the last two months of my pregnancy in bed with the air cranked up? Oh well, I can't really complain because I am lucky to even have A/C.

"Homeless woman"

Two weeks ago, Greg and my sister Ashley conspired to fly her out to Tucson for a visit. I, of course, had absolutely no idea she was coming, Greg did a very good job keeping it a secret from me. The night she was scheduled to fly in, it was extremely windy and her flight was delayed. Greg had planned on doing some "hometeaching" that night so he could pick her up from the airport to surprise us. Since her flight kept getting delayed later and later he had to come up with a story as to why he would be out so late. He called me up and explained that a friend was having a tough time after breaking up with his girlfriend and the friend wanted Greg to come over so they could talk. I bought the story because this is not the first time this has happened with this friend.
I expected him home late so I went to bed. In the meantime, Greg went to In-N-Out and then a movie while he waited for Ashley.

Around 12:45 in the morning, Greg comes in our room and wakes me up.

"Erin, you have to hear this!" exclaims Greg.

"What?" I groggily mumble.

"I was driving home and I almost hit a homeless women. I didn't know what to do so I brought her home with me. Can she stay the night?" he asked.

"What?!" I exclaim, completely confused. "No, she cannot stay here." "We do not know her."

"Well, I didn't know what to do. Can you come out and talk to her?" asks Greg.

As I throw on some pajama bottoms and shuffle down the hallway in a daze, all I can think is:

She cannot stay in the house. What about the girls? What if she has mental problems? There is a serial stabber on the loose and Greg is bringing home a homeless person, is he crazy?

I blurt out, "She can stay in the office." (It is in the backyard, separate from our home.)

"She is not dirty, she's clean" assures Greg.

At this point I peek into the living room and there is Ashley, standing next to her suitcase, with a huge smile on her face.

"Here is the homeless women!" jokes Greg.

It takes my sluggish mind a few seconds to comprehend what is going on. Finally, I am able to laugh and breath a sigh of relief. My husband is not crazy.

We had a wonderful time visiting with Ashley and we were able to hang out with Courtney as well. The girls had a blast playing with Aunt Ashley (Taylor called her Courtney the whole time, even when Courtney was around), and by the time she left they were ready to go home with her. We miss her and hope that she comes back soon!

It's a boy!!!

Prenatal Yoga

I recently bought a yoga DVD for pregnant women and I really like it. I had only done yoga a few times before and I was not that impressed. Maybe I like it so much because my pregnant body tends to get tense and sore. The breathing and stretching help immensely with increasing my energy and mobility. I also seem a little bit more calm on the days I do yoga. I think I may have found a new interest.

On Saturday our family drove up to Mt. Lemmon to go sledding. We all had a ton of fun and Taylor even convinced me to go on one run (truth be told, it was her incessant whining). I was nervous because I did not want us to flip, but we came through safely. Enjoy the action shots!

Happy Birthday Morgan!

Yesterday was Morgan's 5th birthday. On Saturday she had an "all girls" party (with the exception of Dad and Grandpa) at the zoo. It was great because the zoo provided food for the kids, gave them a treat bag and cleaned up afterward. Morgan invited a friend who's family has "connections" at the zoo and all the girls were able to go into the giraffe area and feed them. The girls were a little intimidated because the giraffes were much taller when they stood level with them. On Sunday we had a family celebration at Grandma and Grandpa Gorby's house. Thank you to all who helped make Morgan's birthday fun and memorable.