Hail to the Ch(i)ef

Well, it's Mardi Gras yet again on the island, which means an annual invitation to Mona's (a coworker of mine) Mardi Gras celebration.  Every year the island has three parades on Saturday and we take Milo to our friends house right on the Seawall.  Milo has a blast watching the floats and gathering beads (no flashing, just good clean fun in the parades, get informed!) while we partake in good company and food.  This year a coworker of mine had stumbled across the much famed Bacon Explosion and suggested we contribute to the pot luck.  Well, I thought to myself how could we celebrate both mardi gras and the recent bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth?

With Bacon-ham Lincoln of course!

Be warned The Emancipation Porklamation* is both patriotic and delicious.  Democracy never tasted soooo good!  Check out the pictures of both our creation and the festivities!

*deliciousness may cause heart attack and/or stroke!

Before the man went into the smoker

Carving the 16th President

Milo's bead haul

Mardi Gras Galveston

Milo Hamming it up - no pun intended

It's Raining Men

Well Karrie, Milo, and I went to the hospital yesterday for the BIG ultrasound and the preliminary consensus is that we are expected yet another boy. Which is good news for the pocketbook since we don't have to worry about clothes/toys. It was also good for Milo since the kid wouldn't even entertain the idea that a little sister was a possibility. I'm sure my parents could name a few, but I have never met a boy more stubborn. The mere mention that the baby could be a she would send him into tirades of NO's. So it was with some sadness that we let Milo know that he would indeed have a little brother to play with, knowing that the news would only embolden.

To those that may question what our desires on the matter may have been, I can only speak for myself when I say, no expectations were set. A boy brings the benefit of a playmate for Milo, and the ease of second hand materials. A girl would have completed the set and lowered any future stress of expecting a girl. So either way it was going to be great. Maybe expectations the second time around are always lower, but for us it seemed to be the case.

The baby is due the beginning of July and no, we haven't begun the task of picking a name. As with Milo, all suggestions are welcomed, but I expect we'll just goof around until a week or two before the birth before we give it any serious thought.

We'll try and post a picture of the ultrasound when we access a scanner.

Christmas was like last week right?

So we are officially bad bloggers since all of our friends had their Christmas posts up like weeks ago and we are just getting around to it.  Posting pictures of Christmas three days after the event is so 2008!

We spent Christmas in Dallas with the Families yet again (is there any other way?).  We helped move my parents into their new Royce City home the day before Christmas Eve... so you can imagine it was a little hectic.

The usual Smith tradition of looking at Christmas lights Christmas eve and then returning to open Santa's bounty was continued.  Milo got to put out his reindeer feed to intice the little creatures nearer to our home.

In all Milo made out like a bandit.  Santa brought the lightsaber, the transformers, the guns that he had emailed the big guy (yeah, Santa takes emails now, so what!).  Christmas day was spent at the White Family home where more gifts were exchanged.

So with out further ado, roll the pics.

Another Ike Contribution

Brad and I were all set and trying for this baby thing to happen before Ike hit. Then comes the flood and washes away all of our baby stuff save a few clothes that were able to float inside the bins. (I could not put the crib out until this week, sniff) So, of course Brad and I thought now might not be the best time to make another Smith and put the whole thing on hold. Then low and behold a month later a giant pregnant sign on the test stick. Ironic.

I just hit three months and am due at the beginning of July. Things are going well, if I feel sick I just eat and that seems more like a bonus than a sickness. We do not know what it is, but we all know Milo's vote. He wants somebody he can Kung Fu with, play transformers, and all other types of shenanigans.

Milo's announcement

Milo has an announcement he would like to share with you.

Oh my, oh my, oh Dinosaurs!!

During our week long Thanksgiving break we took a break from the everyday and went camping at Dinosaur Valley State Park. I was a little skeptical what with getting into the 40's at night and being pregnant and sleepy, but away we went. When we drive up we find 2 gigantic dinosaurs roaming the camp. I definitely did not sign up for being hunted and sleeping outside but Milo assured me that he would protect me. So off we went on a hike to find dinosaur tracks and staying down wind of the carnivores. About two hours later 4 soggy shoes from river crossing and a pound of beef jerky later we made it back to camp safe and sound. We ate the heck out of some hot dogs and smores then snuggled in to our sleeping bags as the temperature started to drop. After a fitful nights sleep with 3 people in two sleeping bags and no frostbite we set off on the adventure of taming the giant dinosaurs and having them hold still long enough for us to snap a couple of pics. Camping wasn't so bad after all!

MILO 3.0

So we celebrated the upgrade of our Milo model this past week. We were a little apprehensive at the daily reminders that an upgrade was pending. No matter how many times you click, remind me later, it always sneaks up on you when it's time to upgrade to a new version. We are hopeful that the Milo 3.0 will address the bugs of last years model, namely the whining sound that one hears when the CPU has been working long hours, or the constant needs for reboots when the system acts up. There was always the problem with the CPU overclocking and no matter how many times we try to downshift to a more suitable RPM, the hard drive is always on the verge of melting. Granted, we haven't experienced any bugs that haven't been reported in other makes, but you never know... though we do suspect the monitor is way larger than normal! Milo 3.0 is sure to be an improvement.

Here are some picks from the birthday bash