Ally Jae

Ally's Room So Far

John finished painting, and the new carpet has been installed. It's all coming together! The black parts of the squares are chalkboard paint!

Bellies

We went to Sea World on Halloween and I noticed that the animals there have the same problem as the animals in our house... they fall over and their bellies go up in the air!!

Catching Up

So I haven't posted anything in a while, and there are a million reasons why, but I won't bore you with them! Here are a few fun things that have happened recently.

Tonight was Einstein's last Intermediate Agility class. He has done so good! He's such a handsome boy running through the tunnels and jumping over the bars. He's so fast at it too it's hard for me to keep up with him! We are going to take a few months off until the larva gets here, but I'm sure he will get to go to the advanced classes at some point in the future!

When it rained ALL day last Sunday the pond got pretty full... and I think our big turtle tried to make an escape! And of course, Tina had a great time playing in the water in the backyard!

John has been doing awesome in his Composition class. He has made high 90's on both of his papers so far! He's so smart.

I'm doing good also, my regular pants are barely fitting (buttoning them is out of the question). I'm starting to have a bit of heartburn, but it isn't nearly as bad as being sick & nauseous! We are in week 24 of 40 now. We have successfully moved the Fat Cats out of what will now be the Baby's room. So now we can paint and put new carpet in that room.

And that's about all... at least all I can remember right now!

99.9% it's a Girl!!

Had another sonogram at my appointment yesterday, and this time it is confirmed that the larva is indeed a little girl!

Pink or Blue?

Most likely pink!!

At our sonogram last week we got to see lots of neat stuff. The head and spine, and some ribs, and a hand up in the air waiving again, and we got to see lots of the feet and legs - which were real cute, but kept us from knowing for sure if it's a boy or girl. The Doctor did tell us she saw two lines that she thought were girl parts though, so as of now, she is betting on a girl. We'll have another sonogram at some point to see if we can determine more then!

Family McT

We had some McTarnahan Family photos taken yesterday. They turned out really good, and we all had a great time. We went out to eat afterwards... thank goodness it was after the pictures, otherwise we might not have all fit into one shot!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

This past Sunday was my Mom's birthday and they came down to take us out to eat! What a deal! We ate at the Monument Cafe in Georgetown, it was a real fun, cute place, with good food too!

Happy Birthday Mom, You're the Best!!!

First Photo

Thursday we had out first sonogram. The baby was definitely awake during it, and squirmed and waved the whole time! The top picture has a dark spot towards the right with a white splotch in the middle; the splotch is the waving hand. Underneath that is a profile shot of the head, and the body is off to the left. The bottom picture has the waving hand again and a front view of the face, all that you can really see are the big eye sockets and other facial bones; it doesn't quite look like a baby face yet, but I'm certain that I can see dimples just like John's! =)

Thump Thump thump thump

We were able to hear the baby's (other wise known as "The Larva") heartbeat at my appointment today!! It took a little bit to pick it up, but we could hear it pretty clearly once she found it. Dr. Pagette told us it is between 174 and 178, which is pretty normal for this stage. Very exciting!

Make sure to take our poll on whether it is a boy or a girl!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

July 2nd was our 4th Wedding Anniversary! John got me a beautiful potted flower and made me a chocolate chip cookie cake!
The first four years have gone by pretty fast, I'd say. They have been great though! This anniversary is even more exciting for us since we are expecting our first baby, due in late January!! (yes, a real baby this time, not another fur baby) =)

Who Will Scream at Me Now?

So I come in to check my email just before heading off to bed, and check out CNN only to see the saddest headline I could possibly imagine... Billy Mays, OxiClean pitchman, found dead What?!?! How can this be? I heart Billy Mays. I record Pitchmen every week and love watching him & Sully go back and forth. I don't think tv will ever be the same again (John says it will be quieter from now on; I am not amused by that). Well, I guess I will try and get to sleep after this devastating news. Goodbye Billy, I will miss you.

Start Looking Into

Nursing Homes for me... I've turned 30!!

Ok, so maybe I'm not quite ready for a nursing home yet, but I am a year older (on June 13th). John made me a very fun cake for my birthday this year. Apparently he has had this idea for quite some time and finally got to execute it. Here are some pictures:

House Guest

We have had a house guest for the past few days... and she is a real Princess.

No really... her name is Princess. While her parents have been in Vegas for a long weekend, Tina & Einstein have been keeping her company.

Words of Wisdom - by Regina Brett

Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
When in doubt, just take the next small step.
Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
Pay off your credit cards every month.
You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
It's OK to let your children see you cry.
Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
Everything can change in the blink of an eye.
Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
Over prepare, then go with the flow.
Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
The most important sex organ is the brain.
No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
Always choose life.
Forgive everyone of everything.
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Believe in miracles.
Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
The best is yet to come.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
If you don't ask, you don't get.
Yield.
Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Final Day of Vacation

Monday we drove from Arizona to Texas. 13 hours of dirt. The End.

Vacation Day Four - Sunday-Sunday-Sunday!

This was a busy day for us. We went to The Science Center where they had lots of hands on exhibits and fun science facts. And their newest feature was a lego castle section.

Then we walked around trying to find the Police Museum (when we finally gave up trying to find it and headed back, we found it!) but it was closed. After that we did some more driving around sight seeing, and then went to the Wiener Dog Races!!! It was held at a greyhound track as a fund raiser. The little dogs were so cute. Usually one or two out of the six at a time would run toward the finish line while the rest of the dogs just kind of muddled about at the start line! It was fun to watch though and there were lots of people there, so hopefully they raised good money.

And of course THE concert. We saw Fleetwood Mac Sunday night (which was the main point of our trip). It was awesome! They played for two hours and then came back out and played for about 30 minutes more. Lindsey Buckingham was amazing on the guitar, and of course Stevie Nicks was just beautiful! They played all the classic songs, and it was well worth the trip!

Vacation Day Three - Saturday

So what did we do on the day when we didn't have to drive anywhere?... We drove around! HeeHee. We drove to meet John's Aunt, Cheryl for lunch at Margaritaville. It was our first time meeting her, she was just lovely. She reminds us both A LOT of John's Mom. Both lovely ladies. Cheryl told us about a car show that one of the other towns has every Saturday night, so later in the evening we drove to see it. It was lots of fun too. There were lots of corvettes and lots of other cars too. John probably thought he was in a dream! Then we drove to a really cool mall and ate in the food court. Then off for ice cream, and back to bed!

Vacation Day 2 - On The Road Again

We drove and drove and drove! We drove in the rain most of the day from Roswell to Glendale, it took us a little over 12 hours but we did make a few stops along the way. We stopped in White Sands, NM, and guess what we saw... WHITE SAND! Unbelievable, I know!

As we were approaching AZ, we kept seeing billboards for "The Thing" that's all they said except an exit number; and we past lots of them! Brilliant marketing scheme I tell you, because sure enough we stopped to see what it was! First of all it is a gas station, a Dairy Queen, and a huge tourist gift shop... who'd have guessed! But there also were these big shed type buildings full of old antiques. Everything from cars to type writers to beds! So I guess those were "The Things"!
We drove around Tuscon for quite a while trying to find something to eat; it really is a pretty town. There are shapes and designs on all the bridges and walls, and just lots of neat stuff in downtown. We finally decided on a place and ate, and then got back on the road again. Our hotel this time isn't quite as nice as last time... but it also was only about half the price!!

Vacation Day One

Today we drove from home to Roswell, NM. Took us about eight and a half hours. Pretty uneventful drive, though we did pass a huge area of wind energy turbines. They are HUGE! The hotel is nice (even had cookies and milk this evening). The Alien museum was closed by the time we got here, so we will go to it tomorrow morning. We did find an alien gift shop though! We also found a real fun (and free!) zoo. The had what seemed like hundreds of prarie dogs running all over the place! They were real cute! And then we ate at Farley's restaurant, it was a real cool place, had an old motorcyle & car and neat decorations. Successful first day!!

Pre Vacation

John and I are headed to Roswell, NM (and then to Glendale, AZ) tomorrow morning. I will try to do a daily blog of our trip. Tonight we took the puppies to their Grandma & Grandpa's house in Cove where they will have their own vacation! We got home and started packing, and I think someone wants to come along...

Camping Part Deux

We went camping at Inks Lake this past weekend and had a blast! We did some fishing, hiking (ok, I didn't really go hiking, but John, Pinky & Val did), paddleboating, the boys got to swim, and of course we did alot of eating - John & Pinky are quite the excellent grillers!

Flower Power

I'm Appreciated!

Since Administrative Professionals Day was this past week, we (the staff at GDHM) were treated to a weeks worth of fun stuff! There were gift card give aways, goody bags, ice cream, and the main event was a cruise on Lady Bird Lake (which is just a few blocks down from our office). It was alot of fun, and the weather wasn't bad, a bit windy, but not bad at all. It's nice to work at a place that cares so much! The picture is a zoomed in view of our building from the lake. I work on the 22nd floor.

Camping

This past weekend we went camping with our friends, Pinky & Val and their boys Nathan & Alex... and our dogs, Tina & Einstein, and Pinky's dog, Princess. It was the first camping experience for John & I, and we were really camping... in a tent! It was quite windy & chilly Friday night and Sunday morning, but Saturday was great! The guys & kids flew kites, played ball, and we all went on a hike along a trail (we were at Granger Lake). The puppies did great! It was their first camping trip as well. I'm so glad that warmer weather is finally here!!

Spring Break

This past weekend we went to our condos up near Tyler, TX with my parents. We went to the Azalea Festival and saw lots of beautiful flowers and HUGE houses, more like mansions I'd say! The weather was perfect and we all had a great time.

The strangest moth I've ever seen landed on the glass door at the condo, I think it might be from outer space.