Photo Card

Initially Boy Baby Announcements

Customize your own unique baby announcements with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Anson's Room

It has been awhile since I posted anything, but I was wanting to get pictures of Baby Anson's room up on here before he actually arrived! We are about two weeks away from arrival date. Woohoo!

His name and monogram that we painted on the wall:

Minivan owners????

So, knowing that I want to stay home with our babies has posed a bit of a dilemna when it comes to affording a bigger vehicle. We know we need one for the 3rd baby for sure just as a result of the logistics of fitting 3 carseats into either of our cars! But, the cost of the new cars (Acadia, Highlander, Traverse, etc) we want is out of our range. One day, I'm looking at a repossession dealership's website and they have a newer Dodge Caravan for only $12,000! Keep in mind that I have always said, "I am NEVER driving a minivan!!!!!" But, for some reason this minivan stuck in my mind. I thought we could afford the price, but then it was still a van. I really felt that maybe this was some sort of humbling experience for me. Andy and I have everything we want-a great family, a sweet boy, a nice house! The only thing I don't have is the bigger car. I was feeling God saying that if I want my dream of staying home and having more children, I would need to give something up. Maybe that something was a nice, fancy vehicle. So, we kept looking at the minivan and crunching numbers. On the Saturday that we had decided to go look at the van, it had sold already! But, we had found another affordable one plus a couple others. So, the next Saturday came. First we were going to look a Honda Odyssey. The dealership was very sketchy and didn't have the van. So, one we went to the next minivan at another dealership. This van was a Honda, but a few thousand more dollars. It was newer than the cheaper van and had a TON of options. We test drove it and I LOVED it! To make sure we could afford the higher price and also it was Aiden's naptime, we decided to go home to crunch numbers again. Once we decided we could afford it, Andy went back to negotiate a price and they accepted what we were offering! This car is a 2007 Honda Odyssey with a dvd player, leather seats, heated seats, AND power doors! While at the same time it is super exciting to get a new car, I was feeling a bit sad at the thought of trading in my Rav4. I have driven that thing longer than I have know Andy-8 1/2 years! It was a very good car to us. But, we are in a different place in life now, so I am okay giving up that car. The Ouano's are now minivan owners! And, best of all we actually like our minivan!

It's a ....

We had our ultrasound (March 8th). We had convinced ourselves we were having a girl. But, it turns out we are having another boy! He looked very healthy and very, very active! We might have our hands full with this one. We are very excited for Aiden to have a brother so close in age, he'll love it once this next one is old enough to play!

Exciting News!!!

On December 5th, we got some exciting news...we were PREGNANT again! We are so excited about this pregnancy! We went on December 21st to confirm it with the doctor and she gave us a due date of August 8th-one week before school starts up again! Bummer! But, this also means I'll get a really good taste of being a stay at home mom since I'll be home from June all the way through the end of October!

Christmas 2010

Ok, so I am a bit late on some blogging! I want to make sure I have some of these pictures in here to look at later on. Christmas was great! Mom and Dan spent Christmas with us at our house.

Aiden's new police car from Mia:

Enjoying Rock n Roll Elmo from Lolo and Lola:
A Xylophone with a dual purpose as a chew toy!:
Reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" for the first time:

.

Boston - 2010

The past weekend was a whirlwind of adventures for us in Boston. Andy was working there, so we decided to meet up with him for the weekend. I'll try to break down our adventures quickly so it doesn't turn into a book!

Friday: We got in late, went to bed.

Saturday: Slept in until Aiden woke up. Then, we headed into town to check it out. We started out at Quincy Market area. We stumbled upon the Holocaust exhibit that Andy and I had a moment at during our first visit there. The actual temperature wasn't necessarily that cold, but the wind was very chilly. Aiden refused to wear his hat and gloves for nearly the entire trip. He was fussy and crying nearly our whole outing that day. I'll skip ahead to dusk. We arrived back in the area after the tree was already lit. But, it was still spectacular. A huge tree!!! There was so much energy around us! Band was playing music, confetti shooting up in the air, lots of people! Then, off to the hotel and bed we went.

Sunday: We met up with Casey and her family! I haven't seen her since 2004! Since then, she's had 3 kids! It was so good to see her and her family. We went to Christopher Columbus Park. But, it was very cold. We let the kids play for a bit in the sand and on the playground. Off to lunch time at Quincy Market. Then, we found a Toys R Us to play at near the T station. Aiden was mesmerized by a Cozy Coupe Box in the store when we walked by it. By now, it is time for the Groders to head back home. After we say our goodbyes, Andy, Aiden, and I go to Harvard Yard. The grassy area is filled with tons and tons of Fall leaves. It was so much fun. We only had about 30 minutes there, but I could have stayed all day and was wishing we had gone there on Saturday too! So, then it is time for us to go to the airport. We got Aiden his first kids meal at Burger King! Then, head through security and on to the gate. EXCEPT-our milk was flagged by security. The milk we bought from Burger King. So, I got a full pat down-head to toe. So humiliating to be in the middle of security with a TSA agent instructing me in detail how she is going to pat me down. Finally, I am cleared and on to the gate we go. Everything is smooth, we get to our seat. We are waiting at the gate watching the instructional video on the plane when...Aiden out of no where throws up on my lap and the seat between the guy next to me and myself. Andy jumps up to get paper towels and he gets yelled at because he took his seat belt off! So, he sits back down and we push the help button. At that point, they finally understood. But, goodness! They told the guy next to us about an empty seat a few rows up. All in all, it was good that Aiden threw up so we got an extra seat, but it made for a long flight!

Overall, the trip was great! It is just difficult to travel to such a different weather climate with a child that refuses to keep the things that will keep him warm on. The trip was much too short as well to get into a good routine there.