london :: sunday, dec 21

we left houston on friday and flew into heathrow on saturday. we went to see grandpa at his new flat where we had a small meal and visited. after a "short" nap at my aunt's house (jet lag's a pain!), we ate a dinner of chinese take out and caught up until late in the night.  

the next day, we got up and got ready for a christmas lunch at grandpa's golf club. after lunch, we went over to leslie's (mum's cousin) for dessert & tea/coffee. 

joe, anna, & james.

brian, dad, bob, & james at the bar.

mum, bobby, james, & brian.

grandpa.

james & i.

grandpa, mum, bob, & dad.

grandpa & mum.

grandpa & his girls.

christmas in london.

we're in london for christmas :) pictures to follow...

shuttle flyover.

since we are a NASA family, i couldn’t get away with not showing these pictures.  the shuttle was forced to land in california because of bad weather at KSC in florida.  in order to get it back to florida, they load the shuttle on the back of a modified 747 and fly it cross country.  last thursday, NASA had the 747 do a flyover of JSC (& as a result, a flyover over much of houston).  i wasn’t able to see it but brian said all of JSC was outside watching it come over.  it was apparently quite a sight!  here are some pictures that were sent to me so you can get an idea of what it looked like…

 

snow.

yesterday, i had a doctor’s appt in the med center so we headed out about 2:30.  i had heard reports that we might get sleet or snow but kind of blew them off.  i mean, really, snow before christmas?? in houston?? sure!  on the way home from the dr, it starting sleeting on us and we were hearing reports of snow in north and west houston.  considering we live in southeast houston, we were still expecting nothing.

i went outside about 6:30 and it was starting to snow a bit but nothing was really sticking. still fun though!

around 9:30, we went outside again and our yard and house was covered with snow!  rylea & addie didn’t know what to think of it all and took some convincing to go out and play in it.  when their daddy went outside, they quickly followed – of course.  they truly are daddy’s girls! 

here are some pics of our snow covered house & weims.  enjoy!

“mum, what is that white stuff?
we’re not so sure about this –you know we don’t like rain!” ~rylea & addie
the backyard an hour later. we REALLY got snow!

addie was the brave weim to venture out into the snow first but still wasn’t so sure.the front of the house.  can you believe this is houston, texas – right by the water?!?!”ok, ok, i’m out here daddy but asking me to sit in this really cold, white stuff is a little much don’t you think??” ~rylea  “can i hunt these snowflakes?  they really aren’t that scary after all!” ~addie rylea’s still trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

our 4 legged babies.

just so you don’t think we have completely forgotten about them with the baby on the way(& trust me, we haven’t  - they are still as spoiled and rotten as ever!), here are some pictures of our weimies playing and snuggling – their 2 favourite things to do!

 

 addie has a thing with towels.  she can keep herself entertained with them for hours! aren’t we cute??

more baby pictures.

we had another ultrasound yesterday morning and actually got to see the baby looking like a baby! it was amazing! the baby's foot measured in at 1 cm!!!! how crazy is that?!?!? anyway, enjoy the pictures...

slept the last month away.

so i obviously haven't posted in the last month - there is a reason. the first trimester of my pregnancy has been spent sleeping, sleeping, and more sleeping. i know i shouldn't complain (especially since i haven't been physically sick) but i hate feeling useless & drugged. i would literally get up, go to work, barely make it through the day, wonder if it was safe for me to drive home, get home and go to sleep, wake up when brian had dinner ready, eat, go back to sleep, wake up to get ready for bed, and then go to bed. i have been completely unable to get anything done and it's driving me crazy - ask brian. he definitely gets hubby of the year this year. he has had to do everything for the last month and has been great!

the good news is that today is the first day that i haven't felt drugged and i haven't had an upset tummy or feel like food is sitting in my throat threatening at any moment. again, i haven't been physically sick but always felt like it was a second away. i'm crossing my fingers that i'm at a turning point but i guess we'll see!

in the last month, we have gone to the home aggie games (yes, even though they're not so great this year), i turned 27 (which is crazy!!), i've gone to watch numerous volleyball playoff games (and brian's old high school, creek, is heading to state this week!!), and other random things. all of the other time was spent snuggling with the puppies and sleeping. i haven't even busted out the camera in the last month so no new pics but that will be changing!! with thanksgiving, christmas in england, and a baby bump appearing, there will be many pictures to be taken! let's just hope i can stay awake long enough to capture them ;)

first ultrasound.

we had the first ultrasound today :) sooo fun!!
here are the first pictures of our little one:

click on the picture to see it more clearly

while it doesn't look like much, we were able to see the heart beating which was really neat. the heart rate was 116 bpm. apparently at our next ultrasound, we will be able to see more actual parts - can't wait!!

the beginning of this week was a little rough. i woke up monday morning feeling pretty terrible. monday was the worst but tuesday and wednesday, i was queasy. no actual being sick - just feeling like i might at any time. last night i decided i really needed to eat something substantial but i'd had a hard time eating any thick or chewy meat the night before. soooo, we went to kfc(i mean who wouldn't when you feel queasy?!? :)) and i got chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. when we got home, i had to force myself to eat but once i got started, it wasn't a problem. i finished it all in about 5 minutes. i was apparently starving!!
after i ate, i sat on the couch just waiting for something to kick in. apparently my miracle cure is kfc!! sounds yummy (& oh so good for me!) we're wondering if it wasn't a bug because it was over so quickly and i'm feeling fine. i'm hoping it was or if it was some kind of morning sickness, it stays away. it was miserable!

big news.

it has been forever since i have posted last & there is good reason :)

brian & i found out that we are going to have a little one at the beginning of june. we are so excited & can't believe that we are so lucky!!

the last few weeks have been spent sleeping, telling the family, sleeping, taking it easy, & more sleeping. i am apparently one of those pregnant people who gets really tired when i'm not doing anything and will crash.

we had our first doctor's appt last wednesday and everything looked good. we have our first ultrasound on thursday - we get to hear the munchkin's heartbeat!! we can't wait. it's hard to believe that there's a little one growing in my belly but apparently my body is well aware - it wants to rest at any opportunity :)

rylea & addie were in charge of "telling" our parents. i made them bandanas that say "i'm going to be a big sister." they were soooo cute and worked well. our parents were surprised but very excited!!

here are some pics from the last few weeks...sooooo exciting!!!

our positive test.


rylea & addie in their bandanas.

ike aftermath.

we got to my parent's in katy on thursday afternoon, before the storm, with our stuff & our animals. our friend, juliet, & her son, jaxon, evacuated with us because her husband-to-be is a medic in league city and had to stay behind. once we got there, we started getting my parent's house ready for the hurricane - taking everything loose into the garage, boarding up, etc. then we just waited.

we spent the day friday making sure everything was ok before ike hit. friday night, we went to bed waiting on ike. we lost power about 3 that morning but we had the ac low enough that it didn't really bother any of us.

when we woke up saturday morning (yes, we slept through the entire hurricane - don't know how but we did), no one knew what had happened during the night. i thought i'd heard a branch hit against the board on our window but didn't hear anything besides that. when we looked outside, this is what we saw...

kinda bizarre that we didn't hear a thing (and neither did 4 dogs!). we spent that morning cutting up the tree and taking it to the curb in the rain. the half of the tree that fell on my dad's shed caused some chemical to leak into the drainage and dad wanted to figure out what it was before it went everywhere.

for the next 2 days, we helped dad get the tree cut up and moved out of the backyard. it was a REALLY big tree so it was quite a job. they also took apart the shed and stored everything that was in it. did i mention that my dad had had hernia surgery a week before and couldn't lift anything bigger than the chainsaw?? let's just say brian ray earned some serious son-in-law points! this is what the pile of tree looked like when they were done (they put it all in the yard of a vacant house down the street :)).

we got power back at my parents about 3 on saturday afternoon so we only went without power for about 12 hours. we were lucky! we decided that we'd stay at my parents until we figured out whether we had power back or not. in that time, we worked our booties off, but we also played a bit as well...

jaxon & i in the mud.

i think addie's comfy on her daddy :)

on sunday, we got a call from my in-laws asking if they and brian's aunt & uncle could stay at our house. apparently we got power back on before almost anyone else in league city so there was a slumber party at our house that night (and we weren't there :)).

the next morning, we packed up - all of our stuff, 2 dogs, 1 rabbit, 1 cat, and a 21 month old (sounds like a zoo huh??) and headed home. it didn't take much longer than normal to get home. when we got here, dad and brian repaired the shingles on the roof that had ripped off and recemented the fence posts so that they are more sturdy than before. i unpacked the cars and got our house back to "normal" in time for everyone to come over for dinner that night.

we spent the week cleaning up everything, having big, group dinners, and trying to get back into the swing of things as quickly as possible. for "hurrication," there was alot of manual labour done!

we are glad things are getting back to normal - the tv stations aren't covering ike 24/7, we don't have to hear the term "hunker down" every 5 seconds, "certain death" isn't an everyday term, and the storm surge isn't coming and taking our house away.

thank you so much to everyone who has been thinking of us & praying for us. we were very blessed & hate that so many families were affected by this hurricane and lost everything. we thank God every day that our family & our home were spared and pray for those who weren't so lucky.

school starts again next monday after more than two weeks off although teachers go back this friday. until then, i'm playing house wife and getting as much done around the house as i can.

some random pictures: (more on my picture site - link on the right)

kemah - before the storm.

a car outside our neighborhood -
there were 3 total (this plus a hummer & a mercedes)

galveston - the seawall.
brian's aunt went down there on friday before ike hit.

ike.

we are evacuating to katy(my parent's house) with caddy, rylea, and addie.

life is starting to get back into a "normal" routine. the day after i got back from england, i started my new job at a new high school and it has been busy since! getting used to getting up early is never fun but the jet lag actually played in my favor on that one.

since i've gotten back, i've gotten to spend lots of time with brian & the girls watching the olympics. it's one of our favourite times but it also means lots of lost sleep - for some reason, they keep putting volleyball late at night. as brian says, it only happens once every 4 years (technically two but we only get volleyball once every four).

other than that, it's been life as usual in the crisp house. our two weimie babies love to snuggle and we think it's soooo fun so on any given night, this is the scene you will probably find in our house:

it's a rough life addie has found herself in :) she's obviously had a hard time adapting to life around our house ;) we are so lucky to have gotten such a great dog that is so well adjusted & sweet! we love our ryleaquinn & addison savannah :)

finally home.

mum & i got back monday (we were both not looking forward to getting back because we had to go back to work on tuesday:( ). it was soooo nice to be home but it was great getting to see all the family! instead of posting my pictures on here (there are ALOT), they're all on my picture site - link on the left.

it's back to work for me. it's hard but at least i don't have classes this year which is a definite bonus. i miss summer already and i'm on day 2 of work :)

football season (aTm) starts in two and a half weeks and i can't wait!!

that's all for now - i've still got a little jet lag so it's hard to put together too many thoughts...

While the cat's away...

While Amy is in England, the dogs are doing what they always do:

Playing...

and napping...

hi from london.

so i've up & left brian at home with our two little girls :) i'm in london right now visiting my family and having fun. life at our house was fun before i left. having 4 dogs in the house definitely was an experience - especially with a grumpy pound puppy (my parent's dog, baley)! when my parent's two dogs went home, our house seemed very peaceful - even with the new addition to our family. having addie has definitely made our lives easier. they keep each other company and wear each other out. we can take them on walks when it cool off at night instead of in the heat of the day. we are loving it!! i'll have to post pictures of them soon!

so back to london. mum & i are over here for my cousin's wedding as well as to help my grandpa sort his flat out before moving to a new one. so far we are having a great time!! here are a few pics in the garden to enjoy...

addison savannah.

we picked up the newest member of our family on the way home from new braunfels today. we decided to name her addison savannah and call her addie. we liked savannah but thought it was a mouthful when you are trying to call two goofy weims. rylea and addie seemed a lot easier. they have played like crazy since we got home and seem to be attached at the hip already. we even had wrestling matches on the bed brought on by their daddy. they are so cute!

some pictures of rylea & addie (addie's the dark one :))

to add to the madness, my parents are going out of town and brought their two dogs down for us to watch until sunday. just call us the crispy kennel! it actually hasn't been bad. our two pair up while peaches and baley sit back and watch. maybe i've found a new calling :) i'm sure we will have plenty of stories while we run our little kennel.