Weekend Update

This past weekend my little sister (Jessica) and I went home to Pearland to attend a birthday party for our big sister (Jennifer). Jennifer will turn the BIG 3-0 over the Thanksgiving holiday so her best friend threw her a party in Houston to celebrate the milestone. Jennifer didn't know that Jessica and I were coming into town so it was a surprise when we arrived. The party was fun and I think Jennifer had a nice celebration of her BIG 3-0. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!

*Note: For those of you who know Jennifer - check out her new, 30 year old hair cut. She chopped off 20 inches and surprised us all at the party *

He Has A Name!!

So, as many of you know, Braden and I have been going back and forth trying to come up with a name for Baby Boy Howell. I had my favorite names and Braden had some too. It is a lot of pressure to name a child. The name we choose will be his name for the rest of his life.

So, after a lot of discussions, we have decided Baby Boy Howell's name will be: CALEB



*the middle name is still being discussed :)

Run, Run, Run

This past weekend the Morina Crew went to San Antonio to cheer on Jessica & Matt as they ran their 2nd marathon. They both DESTROYED their previous marathon times. Jessica improved her time by 30 minutes (Matt improved 40 minutes). Although Jessica's official time is one second faster than Matt's, we are crediting them with a tie because Matt took the time to wave at us as they approached the finish line, while Jessica stayed focused on the finish line missing the signs we made for them. We are so proud of them both and can't wait to hear about the sight of the next marathon adventure :)

There is not a lot of baby news this week. Baby Boy Howell continues to grow and I continue to read about what fruit he is measurable to each week [this week he is as long as a banana]. I should start to feel him moving around any day now. I keep putting my hand on my belly hoping to feel him, but can't feel anything yet.

For all our readers, please leave us comments so we know you are reading. At the end of every blog there is a comment section where we can go back and read your thoughts. We would love to hear from you.

Another Crazy Weekend

Braden and I had another crazy weekend with not a lot of rest and relaxation. Saturday was spent running around town doing baby registry stuff. We found the baby's bedroom furniture at Babies-R-Us. Braden and I had been looking for the right crib and changing table for a while because we were trying to match the color of wood to another piece of furniture that is already in the baby's room. I think we were successful and the furniture will look great in the room.
Saturday night we met up with some college friends (Katie, Sam, Sasha & Jeff) for dinner at Fireside Pies. It is always fun to hang out with old friends, eat pizza, and drink beer & wine (I of course enjoyed water while the others drank the beer & wine).

On Sunday Braden and I went to church. During our Sunday School class we announced we are expecting a baby boy. Whenever someone in the class announces a pregnancy, one of our teachers dresses up like a stork and gives out pickles to the expecting mom. The "stork" flips a coin to tell you if you are having a boy or girl. This time the stork was wrong.
After church and lunch we went to Target to register. It was not quite as overwhelming as Babies-R-Us. I think we are almost done with the registry process. Of course once we got home I remembered a few other things that I had not registered for. That just means another trip to Target and Babies-R-Us :)

Check out our updated registries:
http://www.target.com
http://www.babiesrus.com

The Registry

This weekend Braden and I ventured to Babies-R-Us to start the baby registry process. It was completely overwhelming as we walked through the store and tried to pick out what we needed. There are too many brands of everything - pacifiers, strollers, diapers, bottles, etc. I kept writing down things, telling Braden we had to research them so we could see what the best brand/model was. When we got home last night Braden got on the internet and researched all sorts of baby products so we could make an informed decision on which ones to register for. We didn't spend too long at Babies-R-Us (had to get home to watch the Cowboys) but at least started the registry process.
The best part about our trip was that we found bedding that we really loved. This will start the room decoration process since we now have a color palette to work with.

Please check out our registry on www.babiesrus.com and see what we registered for. We will hopefully be adding to the registry next weekend when we get some time to go back.