Tasty!

There's a new craze that's sweepin the McGowan nation. It's unorthodox I know, but still the hottest new thing! Grady, being the trendsetter that he is, has once again reached new heights. Or is it new lows? Yes folks, Grady's the name and toe-sucking is the game. I am truly counfounded by this kid's gumby-like flexibility. I mean, I won a couple of sit and reach contests in elementary school, but that's nothing! When he lays on his back, it's like a contortionist circus act. I'm not sure if it's just general curiosity or the taste, but he loves it. I actually took the liberty to taste his toes and they are pretty good. To him though, they must taste like turkish delights compared to that bland rice cereal slop he's been eating. FYI, I also tried the toe sucking thing myself, but I was unable to raise my foot quite far enough. Although, I was able to get it close enough that the smell quickly quenched my desire to continue. Warning, if you are unable at this juncture to even touch your toes, attempting to taste them could be harmful to your health. Leave the toe sucking to the kids... oh and the thumb sucking too.

~A

we survived...

Grady's first cold! He woke up last week w/ a fever and a horrible cough! I was so afraid that it was an ear infection or worse but the doc said just a nasty cold! We fired up the ol' humidifier and suctioned out the poor kids nose at least a thousand times! And then, of course Mommy caught it! Needless to say, we were thrilled to have Gigi here to take care of us!:-) It was definitely a bummer to be sick over the holiday but we still had a great Thanksgiving! We celebrated w/ Gigi & our dear friends Pete & Jolene at the good ol' Cracker Barrel!

Grady Man feelin' rough but such a trooper!

Me & Gigi

the whole gang!

~jen

All Things New

The last six weeks have been a whirlwind adventure for the McGowan clan. We have:

-Listed our old house - kind of on a whim

-Sold it - kind of a week later. Praise Ye the Lord and Big Strib our realtor.

-Bought a new house - had only one day to search

-Moved - with lots of help from Nana and some great friends, including Eddie McKinzie (Pastor John's dad) who quipped my favorite quote of the past few months. He would be taking a break and someone would ask him if he was alright. His response was, "Just sittin here waitin on the world to catch up." Nice. I will be using that one.

-Experienced daylight savings time in a whole new light. Fall back used to be a semi-annual highlight. Yeah, it's all fun until your 4 month old thinks it's 6:30, but just kidding... it's really only 5:30. Haha... gotcha... not too funny... but still cute.)

-Been verbally assulted, insulted, battered, etc. by our new neighbor. Vengance is the Lord's..... oh wait, um... No one is beyond His reach...there's pow'r in the blood... yeah that's what I meant!

-I can walk to work in about 8 minutes. Love it! And Jen and Grady can come and visit me at the office.

-Grady finally figured out how to roll back to his tummy! This is a/an historic accomplishment!

-Introduced the little man to cereal, a.k.a. mushy grits, and he is seriously takin to it like a champ! He loves to get a spoon full and wash it down with a little thumb sucking before the next. I am working on a video for that!

-One day Grady gained 5 lbs from the time I left for work to the time I got home. OK that's a tiny stretch. But no joke, sometimes he grows and changes hour by hour.

-Implemented our weekly Family Menu! Seriously saving some cash and loving the time we get to cook together as a family. Daddy grills the meat, Mommy cooks the veggies, Grady's the taste tester, and Riley mops the floor. Like a well oiled machine! (ok, just kidding about the taste tester thing... don't be so uptight... laugh a little... I never knew that babies loved jalapenos)

-We finally had room in our new house to break out the exersaucer. Yes, I totally wish that they had one my size. Envious I am, but so proud of Grady. He's doing so good at holding his head up and grabbing everything in sight.... such a big boy! We love him so much!

That's enough news for now... Even though America's Funniest Home Videos begs us for mercy and threatens to file Chapter 11, 13, 19, and 84 everytime we say it, here is some riveting new footage of our little guy. Just meeting the demands of the public... Sorry Bob Saget and that other guy that's not really funny on the show, Grady Lane is comin at ya live and commercial free! Enjoy!


Sir Laughs-a-lot from AUBREY MCGOWAN on Vimeo.


GradySaucer from AUBREY MCGOWAN on Vimeo.


A Sad Story from AUBREY MCGOWAN on Vimeo.

~A

Happy Halloween!

Okay, Okay...so I'm a bit late posting this but hey, give me a break! We put our house on the market, sold it, spent a week in Minnesota, found a new house, packed up and moved...all in 4 weeks! Stresses me out just typing it!:-)

We took Grady man to the Fall Festival at our church last week! After a long day, he wasn't exactly thrilled about being a zebra!:-)

cutest zebra ever!

My photographer friend, Shannon took this one...

Daddy & his little zebra

Grady & Eme (birthday buddies!)

Shannon also took this one of Grady w/ her son, Christopher & hubby, Jonathan!

~jen

Pumpkin Patch

We took Grady to a pumpkin patch today & let him pick out a pumpkin!:-) Here are a few pics...

~jen

MinnesOta

The McGowan family just returned to Texas today after a week in Minnesota. We were invited to lead worship for Northwestern College's homecoming week. During the morning chapel services, it was just me, Aubrey, a guitar and 1,800 students singing at the top of their lungs! It was an amazing sound and experience! It was such a beautiful campus w/ trees everywhere turning shades of red & yellow! We also led worship for an alumni candlelit communion service on Friday night in the most gorgeous chapel...it's actually the #1 wedding site in all of Minnesota! This trip was such a blessing in so many ways! They flew us there...payed for our hotel, rental car, food and for the "gig"! We really only spent a few hours each day on campus and had the rest of the time to relax and check out the Land of 10,000 lakes!:-) Here are a few pics from our adventure...

Grady all bundled up! Goin' out to eat...
First rainbow I've seen in years!
The Mall of America...

Cathedral of Saint Paul

Grady had to take showers w/ Daddy all week! I totally forgot to take a picture of the redneck roll-away crib that Aubrey made towel bumpers for...it was a little crazy to be in one room w/ a baby!The chapel at Northwestern...gorgeous!!!Last but certainly not least...SUE! Our new friend who hung out w/ Grady all week!

~jen

A Few Of My Favorite Things - Baby Edition #2

In all my years, I have still not accomplished the great feat of reading the Bible through in a year... until now!!!!! No longer is that guilt trip to be lain on my shoulders by greedy read-the-Bible-in-a-year manufacturers and their holy-literacy regimes. In the past month alone, I have read the Bible through more than FOUR times... count it faithful brothers and sisters!!!!!! Back off you Gifters of Guilt... You Deliverers of Dissention... Take That!!! Of course, I have to admit that it probably does not meet the publisher's standards for the specifications of an adequate study Bible. Actually, it has cardboard pages and cool colorful pictures. Oh and it summarizes the whole of Biblical truth, wisdom, and knowledge in less than 20 pages! So, if you are feeling burdened by the guilt placed upon you by the "one year one-ders"... pick up your copy today, of my #2 Favorite Thing - Baby Edition

Little Golden Book Bible!

Happy Guiltless Reading!

~A