McGown Memories

Days to Remember…

2011-12-22T16:04:00.001-06:00

Halloween

Favorite memories…

Watching Josh run at lightning speed from door to door with Luke-- listening to him yell “thank you” at the top of his lungs thereby diminishing the politeness of the effort--seeing sweet MC in her first Halloween gear (and I say “gear” because she had several costumes/outfits lovingly shared with and given to us by family and friends)

Thanksgiving

Favorite memories…

Josh and I sharing the excitement of “Sir Top’em Turkey” coming down from the attic and out to the front lawn (another thing shared with us from a kind neighbor from the old neighborhood)--celebrating with family--holding MC in our arms on her first Thanksgiving with us

Joshua’s 4th Birthday

Seriously?!? How did this little one turn FOUR on December 6th? We cannot believe he is already so big. He is as energetic as ever and it is fun to be his parents. We love and treasure all that God has put within him; it is a JOY to see him grow and develop. We thank God for his little life every day and we cherish this precious time with him.

Favorite memories…

The look on his face when he saw the bounce house in the living room--the polar bear swim party adventures shared with wonderful family and friends--Joshua saying “Thank you, Mommy and Daddy, for putting up signs and banners to celebrate my birthday. That was very nice of you.”

Ordinary days…

Yesterday Joshua and I went on a little mommy/son date (one of the delights of being an educator are these periodic days off to be at home) and on the way to the bakery for breakfast this was the conversation …

Me: “Joshua, was Jesus rich or poor?” (This was a question in response to lots of thinking about how we celebrate a poor teenage mom giving birth to our Savior in a manager by going ridiculously overboard buying tons of stuff…I was wondering if Josh was thinking of our powerful and awesome Jesus as more of a “now-you’ve-seen-my-crib-it’s-time-to-get-out” big-money ball-a kind of character…but, I digress…)

Joshua: “Poor.”

Me: “How do you know?”

Joshua: “Because he died on the cross.”

Me: “True. How else do you know?”

Joshua: “Mommy, you know what? Jesus is special.”

Me: “Yep-why?”

Joshua: “Because he is a solid AND a gas. He’s a solid because you can touch him and gas because he floats around in the sky like a balloon.”

Me: Speechless, except for laughter.

I love being a mom to this goofy boy.

MC is 8 months old…

Sweet Mary Claire is just as lovely as always. She is crawling all over the place, pulling up, and belly laughs at Joshua’s entertaining antics. She calls him “ba-ba” and he is her delight. We hit up the 9-month appointment early so we could benefit from hitting my deductible this year, and she is between the 50-75 percentile for height and weight and 80 percentile for her head. She also has two ear infections, buy you’d never know it. She just keeps on smiling and hooting along. We love her laid back disposition.

Santa’s Wonderland

For the second year in a row, we’ve journeyed up to College Station with the Penberthy Clan to take in the wonders of a zillion lights and Cafe Eccell for dinner. This year the Lee’s joined us, and it was a blast. The lines were MUCH long and the wait was made more manageable by a hefty supply of fruit snacks and gummy bears, but the company was superb. We are thankful for wonderful friends who make our life richer.

Favorite memories…

Listening to Josh and Luke’s HILARIOUS commentary on the lights (seriously, these two carry on a pretty sophisticated and bizarre conversation for toddlers)—the look on Mary Claire’s face watching the lights—the random carol singing on the bus shuttle across Highway 6—all the kids playing hide and seek in the side room at the restaurant

Thanking the Lord for so many special moments, days, and memories…

iPhone Pics…

2011-10-12T21:37:00.001-05:00

I am thankful for my iPhone. It is the little camera I always have with me for those random moments I want to make sure I don’t forget…

I walked into Joshua’s room one day during naptime to find him sleeping like this…

I’ve never seen a boy quite so excited about Halloween. He loves ghosts and anything “spooky” this year. Halloween has never been so much fun…

Joshua is becoming a great helper with feeding Mary Claire. He makes a huge mess, but she loves it when he feeds her so I don’t mind the extra clean-up. Joshua is so proud of himself when he is helping to take care of his “MC”.

Mary Claire is sitting up really well now on her own.

Brian had a conference to attend the other weekend, so we all went with him and had fun playing in the hotel.

Josh sported his new high-tops which he likes to call “big tops”.

We spent most of the night riding the three-story escalator. Joshua loved it so much, and Mary Claire was in the Baby Bjorn literally along for the ride.

We love our life. :)

Cousins

2011-09-18T16:27:00.001-05:00

Oh, the joy of cousins! The oldest ones are lively little leaders and the younger two are just relaxed and along for the ride (at least for now). They warm our hearts.

Sweet girl cousins…

Abi and Josh hit the pool in the surfer-swimsuits given to them by our family in England.

Big eyes…

The four fabulous cousins together…

This photo was not staged! I came into the living room to find Nate and Mary Claire holding hands and looking at one another…

We are thankful for the special love these cousins share!

5 months, a race, and grandparents

2011-09-11T17:04:00.001-05:00

Our little beauty is five months old. She brings us so much joy! She can roll both ways, sit up for a least a minute without help, eats fruits and veggies, and laughs and babbles all the time. She loves her brother, her daddy’s silliness, her mommy’s snuggles, and putting anything and everything in her mouth. She has two little teeth on the bottom now, too! She is a delight to our souls and our home!

Josh ran in his first race this past weekend, a 1K called the Bearkat Bash!

Momma and Poppa came down to Houston and we had a wonderful weekend!

Mary Claire loves listening to Poppa’s voice (she always smiles when he talks) and laughing with Momma. We give thanks for the irreplaceable blessing of family!

The Park

2011-09-03T21:58:00.001-05:00

It’s finally less than 100 degrees here in Houston! In fact, today it was in the mid-80s until about 11 a.m. We were all so excited to return to one of our favorite family activities… fun at the park! Josh drove his red car and Mary Claire enjoyed the BOB (sans car seat for the first time!) as we all enjoyed a glorious Saturday morning together!

Beauty

2011-08-21T21:38:00.001-05:00

Potluck

2011-08-07T21:34:00.001-05:00

A few things I want to remember and celebrate from the past few weeks…

Four months…

First, sweet Mary Claire had her four month “birthday”! The time goes by so quickly and each day just gets sweeter and sweeter. She truly lives up to her middle name of “Joy”. We love how relaxed she is, always looking around with her big eyes and taking it all in. She is my living reminder from God to slow down, enjoy every moment, and just savor this special time.

A home school lesson: “God forgot”…

In our “home school” with Joshua we have been focusing on money in two parts. First, we’ve been learning the value of each coin and bill, along with some simple addition. Secondly, and most importantly, we’ve been talking to Joshua about using money to help others. This came up because sweet cousin Abi was raising money for Charity : Water in celebration of her third birthday. We were asking Joshua if he would like to give any of his piggy bank money to help kids in Africa have clean water. In order to decide if he wanted to give to this cause, we showed him the video clip online. In it, some of the children are naked and Joshua, in a very cute 3-year old boy kind of way, found this particularly interesting.

Joshua: “Mommy, those kids don’t have any clothes!”

Me: “I know, buddy.”

Joshua: “God forgot to give them some!”

Me: “No, Joshua, we did. We forgot.”

Joshua: “What?” Very cute and confused face.

Me: “God wants us to help people, especially since we have so much…if people are naked or hungry or thirsty it’s because we forgot to help.”

Joshua: Long pause. “Can I have some chocolate milk?”

The teachable moment was over, but Joshua did decide to give $13. Thanks for the inspiration, Abi!

9 wonderful years…

Brian and I celebrated our nine year wedding anniversary by taking a quick trip to Sonoma Valley, CA. It was heavenly, a true time of retreating and reflecting, and we thank God that we truly are each other’s best friend.

“There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.” –Martin Luther

Houston Rain

2011-07-25T18:47:00.001-05:00

Well, after a particularly dry summer the typical Houston rain has finally come (and with it the humidity and mosquitoes!). So instead of pizza and the pool, we went for pizza and a picnic in our living room. Joshua thought it was great that we could eat dinner somewhere other than the table…

The fun continued with Joshua getting to watch a real movie (Toy Story III). He hasn’t seen Toy Story I or II but Netflix only had the most recent version and Joshua didn’t mind one bit.

The perfect end to our picnic…

And beautiful Mary Claire slept through the whole thing…

We savored a relaxing and laid back night in our home. Thank you, Houston rain.

Florida Family Fun

2011-07-20T22:17:00.001-05:00

We did it. We drove 12 hours in one day in a Toyota Camry with a 3-year old and a 3 month old. And…it was AMAZING! We’d truly drive to Destin again in a heartbeat. Both Joshua and Mary Claire were wonderful little travelers, and we’ve decided to make this adventure an annual affair.

Departing for “The Sunshine State” at 4:00AM…

I am so thankful for the memories we made together as a family. I will always be able to close my eyes and see Joshua and Brian jumping over waves, laughing and occasionally being knocked down only to get right back up again and keep doing it. I can see sweet Mary Claire lounging in her pool-turned-ocean float, chilled out and taking it all in, as is her nature. What a blessing to share this special time. Certainly summer at its finest.

Mary Claire’s first 4th of July…

There are no words for how much Joshua loved all the pillows at the hotel. He was convinced he could not sleep unless he had at least—and I am not exaggerating—eight pillows!

Beach fun…

What day is complete at the beach without a snow-cone at 10AM?

Mary Claire napping in our tent on the beach…

Wave jumping…

Never leave home for the beach without a clothesline. I am sure housekeeping found this, at the very least, interesting.

Ah, family vacation in Florida…we’ll be back.

“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” -Shakespeare

VBS

2011-06-24T17:21:00.003-05:00

VBS, or “Vacation Bible Study” as Joshua called it, was last week. Josh did not meet the age requirement but the wonderful staff invited him to come with the four and five year olds anyway. He had the most amazing time. Here are our favorite things Josh shared with us when we asked him what he learned each day…
1. “Jesus hurt himself, died, went and lived in a cave, and then went to Heaven.”
2. Joshua: “Daddy, do you believe in God?” Brian: “Yes.” Joshua: “Good, because you’re going to live forever!”
3. Joshua: “Mommy, I’m going to listen to you.” Me: “Good. Why?” Joshua: “Because I don’t want to have to go and live in the belly of a whale.” (This was after the lesson on Jonah refusing to listen to God about going to Ninevah.)
The singing and dancing was also a big hit with Joshua. The theme was Pandamania/God is Wild about You! and Josh got to do lots of kung-fu panda moves. Here he is singing parts of the songs he learned…

Dream of me

2011-06-14T22:01:00.001-05:00

Tonight as I was feeding Mary Claire, Joshua came to kiss me goodnight. He quickly slopped a kiss on my cheek and ran happily towards the door and then, quite unexpectedly, he stopped, turned around, looked at me, and said, “Mommy, when you go to sleep tonight dream of me, okay?” I laughed, promised I would, and he sped off to bed.

As I sat and finished feeding Mary Claire in the quietness of our bedroom I thought of how I do dream of Joshua. I dream of all that he might be one day, all that God may call him to do, whether he might be the one to find a cure for some rare disease or be president or somebody’s husband or any number of little dreams for our precious son. And these little dreams of mine inevitably turn to prayers for him. They always bring me to my knees as I am reminded there are no guarantees and that God does not promise me anything as a parent. I think of all the parents who have grieved the loss of child (I cannot even fathom the misery!), who have seen a child become prodigal and drift away, whose children have grown up and decided not to even like their parents at all! There are no promises. Just little dreams and huge prayers.

I pray with all my heart to have children who love God, who love and serve others, who love me, who want to spend time with me when they are all grown up….I pray that God would help me to love them and nurture them and that in His mercy they would one day reflect upon their childhoods with fondness.

And so when I close my eyes tonight I will dream of sweet Joshua and Mary Claire, the beautiful children I am privileged enough to mother. I will pray for sweet dreams to become sweet lives lived for Chirst and shared with all of us who so ardently love them.

Homeschooling and Cars

2011-06-08T21:04:00.001-05:00

Recently God has been reminding us how important it is that we are actively teaching our children at home. Regardless of whatever type of formal education we may eventually choose for them—whether public or private, classical or Christian—those of us who have been blessed enough to be educated should actively share a love of knowledge and learning with our children.

We have so much fun teaching Joshua. He has been learning about the value of money (not only what each coin or dollar is worth but also how we can use money to help others), his address which we made into a little song, the sounds all the letters make, and most recently, how to write. We are trying to also teach Joshua that when you work hard at something there is a benefit. In the world of a three-year old boy, this means that when you work hard learning your letters you earn cars, specifically those from the soon-to-be-released “Cars II”. Joshua learned this week to successfully and independently write all his letters in uppercase! Guide, Luigi, and Uncle Topolino (who Joshua prefers to call “Uncle Donald”) are now Joshua’s “benefit” (AKA bribery) for learning.

We are very proud of our little boy!

Big Brother, Little Sister

2011-06-05T15:33:00.001-05:00

What a joy to watch these two little ones grow up together. We pray for them a relationship filled with God’s love and joy and for many happy childhood memories to be recalled in the years to come.

The big brother…

The little sister…

The big brother/little sister photo shoot…

Finally, Mary Claire was ready for a nap…

I, who have no sisters or brothers, look with some degree of innocent envy on those who may be said to be born to friends. ~James Boswell

Saturday Summer Fun

2011-06-05T15:19:00.001-05:00

We especially treasure Saturdays when we are all together all day long! This Saturday we enjoyed a little painting and swimming in the pool.

Oh the joy of family on Saturday!

Swimming

2011-05-16T15:12:00.001-05:00

Today we went swimming for the first time as a family of four! Mary Claire LOVED the water and we loved having her in the pool with us to enjoy our favorite summer pastime.

Let the summer fun begin!

Family

2011-05-07T15:30:00.001-05:00

We thank God for family who are our friends, too…

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Beauty

2011-05-02T17:26:00.001-05:00

Mary Claire, you take our breath away!

I love dressing you up! Having a daughter is so much fun!

Here come the smiles…

A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future.

Welcome to the world, Mary Claire Joy McGown!

2011-04-30T16:12:00.001-05:00

We praise the Lord for Mary Claire’s sweet life. She is a precious gift!

And her proud and wonderful big brother…

Whenever I held my newborn baby in my arms, I used to think that what I said and did to him could have an influence not only on him but on all whom he met, not only for a day or a month or a year, but for all eternity - a very challenging and exciting thought for a mom. ~Rose Kennedy

Cowboy Joshua

2010-03-03T21:36:00.001-06:00

Last night we had an amazing time taking Joshua and his buddy, Luke, to their first Houston Rodeo. The boys loved it, and we have decided to make it an annual outing. :)

Unlike his city-girl mommy, Joshua loved all of the animals and was not scared one bit to pet and hug all of God’s creatures.

When Joshua was done in the petting zoo, he said “Bye, Animals!” and proceeded to walk out the gate on his own.

Next, Josh and Luke had their first pony ride. Josh yelled “hee-haw!” and was very excited.

Josh enjoyed all the other attractions as well, including Miss Moo. He thought she was pretty funny and kept giving her high-fives.

The boys on the walk out after a very fun night…

The Rodeo makes me thankful we are raising our little boy in Texas. :)

Tractor and Turkey

2009-11-09T15:22:00.001-06:00

Well, this past weekend provided some fun times and cool surprises! Our dear friends, the Penberthys, invited us to come hang out on their newly acquired 10 acres of land. So we put our boots on and headed out to the country! The boys had an awesome time riding in the tractor and the jeep (which they could both drive amazingly well for their age!) Yes, we have an inflatable turkey in our front lawn. The neighbor down the street saw how much Joshua loved it and gave it to us. Pretty cool surprise since we would probably never spend the $ to buy one of these things. Josh LOVES it!

Trick or Treat?

2009-11-02T19:59:00.001-06:00

Joshua’s first “real” Halloween was this year and it was the most fun we have ever had going door to door looking for some candy! Josh would run up to the door and yell “trick or treat” and then when the person would hand the candy to Josh he would say “thank you” and proceed to hand the candy back to them. There were a couple homes that Josh refused…some included freaky midget skeleton talking man, one had a smoke machine and loud noises, and another had tons of zombies and severed heads….other than that it was all fun and games.

Josh pushing his friend Tori around the block!

After a TON of trick or treating….well deserved rest!

The Halloween Compromise

2009-10-31T12:56:00.001-05:00

We could not decide between the pumpkin and the penguino so we decided to go with pumpkin last night at our church’s Fall Fest and tonight Josh will sport penguino!

Josh’s good buddy, Luke, was a UPS delivery man…maybe one day he’ll run the company and this picture will be worth millions to a tabloid!

TRICK OR TREAT! They made a special home for Joshua at the Fall Fest.

Daddy’s two pumpkins!Grandpa and Grandma with lil’ pumpkin McGown

Halloween Costume? Help us decide….

2009-10-26T15:20:00.001-05:00

The team is not great this year, but Joshua bleeds maroon for sure.

His favorite thing about Halloween this year has been that lovely orange veggie (or is it a fruit?).Penguino has been around since last December and Joshua loves saying his name. If we could only get him to walk like a penguin….

Cowboy Joshua is the most complex costume and least practical.

Well….We are only keeping one of these silly costumes. You be the judge.

Fall.....

2009-10-26T14:06:00.003-05:00

The weather in fall is amazing. It is almost a shame to have to come inside when it gets late. Here are a couple memories captured in pictures only days in the fall season.

I love my cousin!

2009-07-30T15:28:00.005-05:00

Thankfully July provided us many opportunities to be with our amazing family in Dallas. Joshua loved being with his Papa, Grammy ("Mama" as Josh has taken to calling her), Aunt Ang, and Uncle Doon so much, but he ESPECIALLY loved getting to spend time with the girl he literally sings about everyday, his beautiful cousin Abi! Here are just a few pics from their adventures together this summer...

Oh, and a quick cute picture of Josh with Papa and Grammy...

Josh and the Ducks

2009-06-29T10:14:00.003-05:00

Josh has always loved going to see the ducks, but yesterday was the best trip to the park/lake yet. Josh has taken to saying "knock-knock" whenever he wants something, and he doesn't think people are paying attention. After we jogged to the park yesterday morning, Josh went to the lake and started saying "duck-duck". I explained that the ducks were swimming somewhere else, and Joshua started yelling "knock-knock...duck-duck" over and over again. Sure enough, five ducks literally flew in to see Josh, which produced a very happy and proud little boy, who now thought he had summoned them on his own. Needless to say, I was laughing...

A Long Overdue Joshua Update...

2009-06-28T20:30:00.012-05:00

We cannot believe it has been almost seven months since we last posted a picture of Joshua! He is growing up very quickly, and when the camera is not nearby we are always trying to take "snapshots" with our minds so we don't forget any part of this special time. We are constantly amazed at the new things Joshua can do and say, and the adventure only continues to grow sweeter. One thing is for sure: his precious life continues to utterly overwhelm us with God's incredible grace, for we certainly do not deserve such an unbelievable blessing as him.

Here are some photos to make up for lost time...

Joshua now really enjoys riding his "car" around the house. In early June, we headed off to Miami with the McGown Family.

It was a wonderful trip and many happy memories were made together.
Joshua LOVED his first trip to the beach.

Joshua and cousin Hailey had a wonderful time dancing together on the boat.

First time experiencing the waves...

Watering the grass (and patio and everything else...) is one of Joshua's simple pleasures

Running through the Dallas Arboretum Sleeping on the couch while he had an early summer cold

Celebrating buddy Luke's first birthday!

Uncle Jay is always quick to help out when Joshua starts asking for "agua"

One of our favorite things to do when mommy gets home from work--DANCING! Up until recently when the heat index in Houston began to stick at over 100 degrees,

we spent lots of time playing in our backyard together...

Helping Daddy gather peaches from our peach tree Celebrating Joshua's "heritage" on Cinco de Mayo as he becomes bilingual

(thanks to Nanny Mirna!)

More fun with Luke

Not only eating on his own but now he helps us cook :)

Wonderful grandparents and daddy--thanks for the MANY trips to Houston

you made the last busy six months, Grammy and Grandpa!

Easter Riding in the fun train at the Easter Egg Hunt

Joshua loves his Grammy

Fun times in the spring bluebonnets

Gig'em, Joshua!

Feeding himself now

Winter 2009

Fun with buddy Luke

Thanking God for the memories,

Brian, Jenny, and Joshua

Joshua's First Birthday

2008-12-07T19:39:00.013-06:00

These pictures (sorry!--not in order from the weekend) are for Grammy and Grandpa Wallace and Great-Grandma Nash! We love you all, missed you this weekend at the party, and can't wait to celebrate with you in Dallas in just a few days! Joshua and Mommy unwrap gifts after the party.
Joshua and Hailey play together

The kids having fun at the party

Grandpa McGown and Uncle Jason

Sweet little buddy Luke laughs on Josh's swing

Wonderful Uncle Doonald and Aunt Angela--thanks for coming up with sweet Abi to celebrate this weekend!

The McGown Ladies and Joshua

Thanks so much for these super cute pajamas, Grammy and Grandpa!

I had a lot of fun wearing them tonight on my un-birthday.

Joshua enjoys his first cake...

We are thankful for all the lovely family and friends who joined us this weekend to celebrate.

(This is for you, Grammy and Grandpa, even though it's not from the birthday weekend! Thanks for helping us plant a vegetable garden. We are having lots of fun eating fresh veggies!)

And finally, enjoy Joshua's dance moves. Needless to say, he loves his present from Uncle Doonald and Aunt Angela.

Joshua the Lion

2008-11-06T16:45:00.005-06:00

For the Fall Festival at church this year, we enjoyed great times with Joshua the Lion, family, and dear friends. Halloween hasn't been this fun in years!

Joshua and sweet cousin Abi

The boys--Brian, Joshua the Lion, Luke the Monkey, and "Uncle" Jason

Sorry for the two month delay...

2008-10-20T20:30:00.015-05:00

We are sorry two months have gone by without a post. Like all good Houstonians these days, we'll blame our slow pace and delay on Ike. :)

As you can see Joshua is growing up so fast. It is a blessing to be his parents. Enjoy these pictures and videos. As you can see, Joshua is now quite the mobile little monkey...

Playing in the tupperware cabinet (the only one he's allowed to open)

One of Josh's favorite games is when we make a big tunnel out of the couch pillows...he loves to crawl and try to find us...

Joshua's christening (Sept. 6th)
Poor Abi--we think this was right after Joshua accidentally hit her in the face.
Happy Grandparents :)

9 month appointment--Joshua passed the developmental tests by chewing on all the tools.

A night at the Arboretum during the days following IKE...

The cousins sport their super cute jeans...
Sweet Abi smiles
After Joshua's first haircut
Fun times in Dallas with family...

Check out all the things Joshua can do now...

Do you believe in me??

2008-08-28T20:57:00.001-05:00

Check out this amazing keynote speaker at the convocation for faculty in Dallas ISD. http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm

Our Little Tigger

2008-08-23T17:33:00.004-05:00

During a presentation for work last week, my friend Amy and I showed a clip from "The Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" by Professor Randy Pausch--it is really an awesome speech and the three-minute clip is posted below. Watch it! :)

After we showed the clip, we presented our information to the teachers and reacted to each idea the way Tigger would and then the way Eeyore would. It was pretty funny since we had these ears, which we are now lending to our kids. I think Joshua's wearing them very well. :)

We hope he grows up to be a Tigger like Professor Pausch, although we admit he certainly makes a cute Eeyore as well. :)

2008-08-18T15:18:00.004-05:00

Here is Joshua playing soccer!

Here is Joshua tired of soccer and interested in our chair. :)

Joshua's 1 meter dash

2008-08-18T13:21:00.005-05:00

We think it might be a world record! :)

Our Little Olympian

2008-08-16T11:49:00.004-05:00

Joshua is so WONDERFUL!! In the spirit of the Olympics...here are some stats/updates on our little one:

7 teeth (3 on bottom and 4 up top)...still drooling like crazy!

Weighs 21lbs

Army crawls the 100 yard dash in less than 10 seconds (He has been watching the Jamaicans)

Crawls on his knees for about 2 1/2 meters, but then quickly realizes how much faster he is on his belly

Lifts 21lbs!...Well, kind of... He can now pull himself up to standing, as we discovered this morning when we went to check on him and found him standing up and bouncing on his mattress (which subsequently led to lowering the crib today)

Throws toys more than 3 feet expecting us to pick them up for him so he can toss them again

Speaks the words "baa-baa" and "daa-daa" (which Brian claims is short for Daddy)

Walks the length of our house while holding on to Jenny's hands

Races at a speed of 2 miles an hour in his walker around the house, bumping into walls along the way
GOLD medalist in the 1 yard freestyle swim in our blow-up pool...watch out Phelps!!

We think Joshua is the best little boy ever and we can't believe how BIG he is already! :)

Part II: Top Summer Family Memories

2008-07-29T15:44:00.010-05:00

The McGown Family Top 10 Summer Memories

10. Celebrating Brian's first Father's Day
9. Abandoning our “to do” list in order to spend time just relaxing together, especially on Mondays when both of us were off from work
8. Celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary :)
7. Spending Fourth of July watching fireworks with Fa-Mor, Grandpa McGown, Aunt Mel, and Cousin Amanda
6. Enjoying seeing Auntie Ginger and Uncle Lewis from Boston and introducing them to Joshua for the first time
5. Taking a road trip to Austin to see the Froedge Family with Aunt Tammy and Baby Luke
4. Experiencing all of Joshua’s new skills: crawling, swimming, indiscriminately saying “mama” and “dada”, playing at the park…
3. Relaxing and exploring the amazing city of Seattle while Joshua had a special week alone with Grammy, Grandpa, and Great Grandma
2. The birth of our beautiful niece, Abigail Kirsten Grace, and all the fun spent with family celebrating her arrival in Dallas!
1. Spending so much quality time together as a family!

We are thankful to God for all the blessings and wonderful memories He gave us this summer! They will be forever treasured. Here are some more pictures from all our fun...

Mom and Josh smile after throwing a party for our friends Brian and Julie who are adopting a beautiful baby boy from Russia

Smiling as we celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary at Brennar's on the Bayou--lovely! (Side note: Before leaving for our date, I was giving Joshua a hug--he started playing with my necklace and one of my earrings so I took them off. I realized when we got home from our date that I had spent the entire evening missing my necklace and only wearing one earring! Oh, how things change when you become a mom!)

After all the fun we had in Grammy and Grandpa's pool, we bought a small one from HEB for our yard. Not nearly as spacious, but Joshua doesn't seem to mind. :)
Check out Joshua's new bathtub--when you touch the beak, it quacks! Josh loves it!
Josh spends some time with Miss Hailey.
Joshua and Bella chew on Mr. Giraffe. We loved the way they shared the fun.
Beautiful Grammy and Joshua

The Happy Grandparents with Abi and Josh
Joshua and Abi--we can't wait to see them grow up together!
Grandpa and Joshua hit the pool clad in their hats
Celebrating our anniversary in the Space Needle in Seattle
Best friends take a ferry ride

Joshua and Grandpa McGown on 4th of July
Joshua laughs with delight as Uncle Doonald and Daddy play with him
Mom and Aunt Jenny delight in Abi's arrival
The proud Uncle
Joshua and Mommy go for a swim

Beautiful Big Eyes in the water
More swimming with Mommy
Josh and Luke catch a quick nap in Austin
Joshua and Amanda on the 4th
The happy family on the 4th of July

Josh and Aunt Mel

Joshua and Luke bond
Hanging out with the boys
More swimming times

Part I: Joshua is 7 months old (and has been for three weeks!) :)

2008-07-28T21:52:00.008-05:00

So, we are blog slackers once again. So much has been happening this wonderful summer, and we simply have not made the time to sit down and post some new pictures. Tomorrow is Joshua and Jenny's last summer playday together before heading back to work. It has been a glorious break and our family has really cherished our time together. Joshua already has SIX teeth and is crawling! We cannot believe how big our little boy already is! We love every minute of being his parents!

Here are some of the photo highlights from the past 6 or 7 weeks...

Fun times with Grammy
Giggling as we prepared some photos for Brian's Father's Day present
Fun times with Fa-Mor
Fun times for Grandpa McGown
Fun times with Mommy

Fun times swimming in the pool at Grammy and Grandpa's house

(one of Joshua's most favorite new activities--he's been swimming

at least a dozen times this summer and he has quite the little kick!)

Playing with Mommy and Daddy at Grammy and Grandpa's house

Cooked to perfection :)

Gig 'em

Practicing on the kickboard with Daddy
Meeting the ducks

Enjoying the park with Grammy and Grandpa

(while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a few nights in Seattle)

Fun time with Auntie Ginger and Uncle Lewis in Joshua's new wagon (a lovely gift)
Beautiful, amazing, lovely, and wonderful cousin Abi was born!
(And there will be MUCH more to follow about that in the next post...)

Everyone's in love with Abi :)
Joshua the little swimmer

More to follow of our summer fun soon...

Joshua is 6 months old tomorrow!

2008-06-05T20:08:00.006-05:00

Joshua relaxes on the couch at Aunt Angela and Cousin Abi's baby shower.
Grandpa and Joshua read the morning paper. Joshua was mainly interested in eating it!
Joshua hangs out with Uncle Doon and Aunt Ang.
Joshua and Great Grandma Nash
Super Joshua flies thru the air with Uncle Doonald
Joshua can sit up all by himself now.
He likes it.

Sitting up comes in handy on the play-mat
Joshua wore this outfit for Grammy last week.

Joshua learns to play with flowers. He also tried to eat them.
Joshua went to Dr. Pope today to have his 6-month old checkup. He is almost 18 pounds and is very healthy! Dr. Pope says he's still waiting for Joshua to grow a neck for his chins to rest on. :)
Joshua and Daddy play in the office before Dr. Pope visits.
Meal time offers many more types of foods, but Joshua is still just as messy.

We've upgraded to a completely waterproof bib.
Joshua and Daddy read "The Good Puppy".

One day, when Joshua is big enough, Joshua may have a good puppy of his own.

We love being parents! Joshua is the most wonderful little son!

We pray the next six months are as amazing as the first six months!

A Little Laundry and Piano Playing...

2008-05-26T17:47:00.003-05:00

Everyday he is just more and more fun. We are blessed. :)

Welcome, Baby Luke!

2008-05-26T17:41:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday, May 13th little Luke Sullivan Penberthy came into the world! He was 9 pounds and 21 inches long! We were so excited to be there at the hospital to see him when he was only an hour old. It is wonderful that we get to share life as new parents with Tam and Jay. We love you, Luke!

Pictures of Josh at Sunday Small Group

2008-04-27T11:52:00.004-05:00

Special thanks to Jennie for taking these awesome pictures!

Fun Times

2008-04-26T21:18:00.007-05:00

Here are a few recent pictures of Joshua. He has traded out the indoor swing for the outdoor one Brian put up last weekend. As you can see, he still has no problem eating and has added pears, prunes, and apples to his diet! He is growing so fast--we can't believe in a few weeks he'll be five months old!

Best Little Boy in the World

2008-03-31T20:40:00.009-05:00

We love being parents. Each time we look at Joshua we are just amazed at God's grace towards us. He is really just the most amazing little boy, and I know that all parents think that about their kid but we just can't help saying it. We think he is the best thing that ever happened to us, and we love being a family of three. :)

Here are some pics of Josh from the last couple of weeks...

Joshua learns to hold his own bottle (he can roll now too!)...
Joshua with Aunt Tammy, Uncle Jay, and little Luke (on the way in just a few weeks!)...
Joshua with Uncle Jay
Sweet little Joshua sleeping...

Joshua in Dallas with family...
The McGown/Wallace Men
Joshua with Grammy and Grandpa
Joshua and Uncle Jason
Joshua on Easter--his super cute outfit was a gift from Great Nanny

Daddy and Joshua on Easter weekend

World's Best Daddy
World's Best Brother

Amazing Grammy and Grandpa

Joshua loves to stand up now...

The fabulous McGown boys...

Finishing up bath time...
Joshua laughs at Grammy...
Joshua plays with Grammy.

He is so blessed to have such a loving lady take care of him during the day.

We miss Mom/Fronk every weekend and are so blessed by her presence during the week!

More laughing and love for Grammy...

Check out the cool sweater Grammy made Joshua...

We love Joshua's big eyes.

Mommy's little monkey

Happy Easter: Part II

2008-03-23T22:24:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T22:08:00.002-05:00

Gig'em Aggies!

2008-03-13T20:09:00.001-05:00

The Little Scholar

2008-02-09T21:43:00.000-06:00

Look--Joshua's reading already! Just kidding, but being the nerd that I am, I couldn't resist taking these pictures. :) While Josh isn't literate yet, we are excited he can hold his head up well enough to tolerate his cool Bumbo chair for at least a few minutes. :)
Check out Joshua's cool shoes.

On the weekends, Brian really takes advantage of the time he has to play with Joshua.

Joshua's Friends

2008-02-08T21:03:00.000-06:00

Having a baby makes you realize how blessed you are to have friends and family who love you and want to share the joy in your life. Thank you to all of you who came over after Joshua's birth, brought meals to us, and encouraged us with your company. * Joshua is blessed to have so many people who already love him!

Jen Love Adam and Rae BirdAbuela Margie

Abuelo John
Neighbor Jessica
Grant, Misti, and Luke Gibson

Uncle Jason

Bryan and Lindsay Berry

Grandma and Fa-Mor together with Joshua

Uncle Doonald

Fa-Mor
Great Mor Mor
Aunt Tammy and Uncle Jay (and Baby Luke due in May!)
Aunt Mel
Aunt Angela

Great Grandma Nash
Uncle Doon and Aunt Ang and Cousin Abby due in July!
Grandpa Wallace

Grandma

Arwen, MacKenzie and Jamie Froedge
Grandpa McGown

*If your picture is not up yet, check back soon. We are sorting through hundreds of pictures each time we want to blog, so we'll find and post your picture ASAP! :)

Birthday Blog

2008-02-06T21:03:00.002-06:00

Happy 2-Month Birthday to Joshua!

Today Joshua is officially 2 months old (9 weeks old tomorrow but weeks and months apparently have no correlation in Babyland). In celebration, we have decided to stop being such blog slackers, so enjoy some recent pictures of Joshua and thoughts on parenthood.

Every evening Brian gives Joshua a bath and he LOVES it! (Who wouldn't love taking a bath on the kitchen counter with a relaxing bath net to keep you afloat?!?) At the end of bath time we remove the net and hold Josh's head as he kicks and swims in his 4-inch deep neighborhood pool.

Joshua has finally graduated from the pack-and-play in our room to the real crib in his nursery. Here you can see Joshua enjoying a nap with his stuffed animal friends...

Some naps, however, still take place on the couch...

We love watching Joshua SMILE!!! Here he is getting ready to watch the Super Bowl. He had $150 from his college fund on the Giants! He's getting closer to the Ivy League in College Station every day...

An unfortunate part of Joshua's birthday present was his two-month trip to Dr. Pope's office. While it was fun to find out that Josh now weighs in at 12lbs. 10oz. (75th percentile) and is 23 3/4 inches long (50th percentile), getting his first round of four shots and watching him digest some other sort of weird concoction was less than a party!

Look at Dr. Pope's cool lizard stethoscope...

Joshua checks himself out...

The weigh-in...Joshua is the biggest "gainer".

Battle wounds...

2008-01-23T20:14:00.000-06:00

2008-01-23T20:06:00.000-06:00

2008-01-23T19:49:00.000-06:00

2008-01-14T20:21:00.000-06:00

2008-01-14T20:04:00.000-06:00

Gig'em A Whoop!

Hip Hop Horray Hooo Hey Hooo Hey Hooo!!!