Pictures and a movie

Yep, I've been lagging here. I don't know if it's because I've had a little computer/camera burnout or if it's just hard to find the energy...but here I am, hoping to catch up.

So, here's our rundown of August-September.

As I mentioned before, my family came in (Mom, 2 sisters, 1 brother and 1 sister's boyfriend) town Labor Day weekend, partly for fun, partly because of the Hurricane Gustav Evacuation. We had a great time, and little did we know, it was a trial run. A couple of weeks later, they all returned for Hurricane Ike.

Also, as I mentioned, all of their homes were fine on Galveston Bay and in Nederland (somewhat miraculously!). The only family member who lost anything were my aunt and uncle, who lost their vacation home - a beach cabin on Crystal Beach. I do have friends who lost their homes and all that they own. I can't imagine how wearying it all must be...They just went thru Hurricane Rita 3 years ago, and now this. While many didn't have much damage to their homes, it doesn't mean they don't feel the effects. Some family stayed behind (much to my chagrin), and then dealt with over a week of no power, no grocery store, and it was hard to drive around (trees in the roads, etc). And even now, many of them get to delve into dealing with insurances (I think I'd rather pull my hair out while walking on hot coals), and helping others rebuild. To give you non-coastal folks an idea, this area hasn't seen hurricanes in at least a generation. I grew up there and I remember evacuating - once. And that hurricane didn't hit us. This hurricane blew 60+ mph winds (sustained!) for over 10 hours straight. The floods from storm surge that occurred in Orange and Bridge City following Ike still seem unfathomable to me, even though the areas are surrounded by water - because they just don't ever flood. And all this was 100 miles East of Galveston, where the eye of Ike made landfall.

Anyways, I'm praying for all you folks back home. I hope life returns to normal quickly....or that you decide to move to San Antonio ;)

So, we had about 10 days of guests, and lots of playing the Wii. It was fun! Here are some pictures:

[1 sister + boyfriend. Dan and Chuck have much in common, and he, along with Bubba, helped balance out all the estrogen in the house!]


[Granny & Uncle Bubba]


[Granny enjoyed her grandkids, obviously.]


[Chuck and Bubba enjoyed some Guitar Hero.]


[I know, sloppy snapshot, but the boys were so cute playing Wii together.]


[I didn't get a picture of Meme this time. I think Charlie got this one with our point and shoot. Gotta love it! Aunt Meme, please forgive me for posting this picture...If you don't, I'll stick it on a billboard in NYC again. ha!]


[I love this picture. Charlie was telling Granny that he would give her a piggy back ride. LOL]


[Aunt Randi didn't get to see Chandler until he was about 6 weeks old...I think it's safe to say they've bonded now though!]


[Chance enjoyed (and terrorized) Dan's kitty. I relished the cat, since we can't have those - Chuck's allergic (cough cough, "he says," cough cough).]


[Also, while the evacuees were here Chuck and I took the opportunity to see my friend Dalinda and her new baby Jaxon, and visit with our dear friend Rhonda.]

We also met up with some family and those friends (pictured above) at the zoo. The weather was glorious! I love the zoo, and it's even more special when loved ones come with us!


[The boys + cousin Kaleb + Kaleb's grandma Jan.]




[Chuck's mom and Rhonda]


[Dalinda and her teeny tiny baby boy. Oh how cute is he?!!]


[Chuck's sister Melanie, pregnant with our niece Kaylee. I can't wait to meet her! We need more girls around!!]


[Charlie has gotten much braver with the lorikeets!]


[I wonder where he gets it from?]

Then, as I've mentioned, Chuck got meningitis. To follow up, he's feeling better, just still a bit tired. I'm told that's to be expected, even for another week or so. He's now in New Hampshire, working and hopefully enjoying some true autumn scenery.

Life here is returning to normal as well. The biggest news is that Chandler is now crawling. He kinda skipped the army crawl and perfected the all-fours. He's also 21 pounds now. I pulled out baby books the other day, and Chance was actually 4 pounds lighter at this age. Poor baby, I really hope he doesn't have a complex about his 95 percentile brothers, when he's just an average 50 percentile build. Anyhow, Chandler also, just like Charlie, decided to pull up to standing the day he figured out how to crawl. Chandler is actually 2-4 weeks behind where his brothers were developmentally, and you won't hear me complain about it. It all goes too fast anyway. I'd be delighted to have kids who wait until they're 12+ months old (which is more normal) to start walking...but it looks like Chandler will be there by about 9 months, just like Charlie and Chance.

Chance, by the way, has been sleeping thru the night like a charm lately. I'm so thankful the doctor showed us he has allergies. He even makes up excuses for his "candy medicine" (kids' claritin) that he gets everyday. He loves it.

Charlie has been doing well in school and is really enjoying it. We've debated about homeschooling, but seeing how much he's enjoying the social aspect of Pre-K (not to mention having a teacher teach him how important it is to obey the parentals!!!), makes me realize homeschool might not be a good fit for him. He's already coming home with papers where he's written his own name, and he's asking me how to read words all.day.long. It's so fun to see him grow. And to think, 6 months ago I was worried that he might be behind with letters and words. By the way...if you have a child, say 2+ years old, I highly recommend the LeapFrog Word Factory and Letter Factory DVDs. They're about $6 each at Costco, and now even Chance is recognizing letters and knows their sounds!

Also, I started a Youtube account, if you want to see our latest videos! www.youtube.com/thethiers.

Here's a teaser ;)