Say What?!

I'm experiencing more and more every day the truth that "kids say the darndest things."  I've not documented enough of the hilarious things that I've heard come out of Isaac's almost-three-year-old mouth.  So I'm starting today a new series of blog posts that will from here on out fall under the "Say What?!" label.  Not to mention, Ella is only 6 and a half months old and has already uttered her name and "kitty" (which was Isaac's first word at 6 months old, too!)  Anyway, without writing them down I'll forget these moments much too soon, and so... here we are.
Isaac has recently become an expert navigating his way to some computer game sites.  This afternoon he was playing some Sesame Street games on pbskids.org.  He got to Cookie Monster's "Color Me Hungry" where Grover asks that you help Cookie Monster match certain fruits and vegetables with the box they belong in based on what color they are.  He proceeds to tell you some facts about the foods as they are correctly matched.  This is the dialogue that took place after Isaac correctly matched the honeydew to the green box...

Grover: What a wonderful melon! It helps you grow and it is good for your blood and for your digestion. Not only that, but it is sweet and delicious.
Isaac: Yeah, and it's good for diarrhea, too.

Haha! Say What?!

As an encore, this evening Isaac asked me if I wanted to play in his room....

Me: Sure, but I've got to pee first... I'll be there in a minute.
Isaac (opening the door while I'm "midstream"): Good job, daddy... Tell me when you're done and I'll wipe you.
Me: Uh, I'm good.

Haha! Say What?!

Today's Good Read: Psalm 8:2

A Halloween Masterpiece

Whew.  Definitely the most tiring Halloween yet.  And only the third since Isaac was born.  Guess we better suck it up and enjoy these moments while they last, though right?  And so we did.

Rebecca is the Halloween costume mastermind in the family, and isn't it funny the pressure you put on yourself to find the perfect costumes for your kids?  Then again, maybe that wears off after the first few years.  You seasoned Halloween parents know better than I do.  Regardless, my wife came through in 2008 with an adorable golfer costume for Isaac, and she... delivered (pun intended) again last year with Isaac's UPS-man costume.  How do you follow that cuteness?

Last year's UPS man costume (2009)

And this year we add a six-month-old baby sister to the costume equation.  I suppose we didn't have to dress her up, but we figured she was going trick-or-treating with Isaac, so we might as well figure something out.  So building on an idea Rebecca found in a magazine we created our Halloween masterpiece... Isaac as the artist and his baby sister Ella as his masterpiece.

Happy Halloween!

The Artist and his Masterpiece

The Artist and a portrait of his Mom

The Artist and another beautiful portrait

Today's Good Read: 1 Thessalonians 2:4-6

Ella Riley McMahon

Baby Ella has arrived!  Okay, so it was nine days ago.  Fair to say I've had a few moments of time when I could have probably published a quick blog entry; however, energy has been at a premium over the last week, and I've been waiting for the dazed and confused fog to pass.  So this is it!
Early on the morning of May 2nd, Rebecca spent most of the morning sick with a stomach bug and became very dehydrated.  We all know what causes dehydration, so I'll leave it at that.  Rebecca felt awful and began to have mild contractions, so we decided to go ahead and get to the hospital, figuring she was due May 8th, so this might be magic time.  Turned out that the dehydration can cause contractions, and after a bag and a half of fluids and a little rest, the doctor sent us home to spread news of a false alarm.  She could have induced (one was scheduled for May 4th anyway), but preferred to not make Rebecca go into labor feeling the way she had for the previous 12 hours.
So we got home around 10:30am and Rebecca headed back to bed.  I knew she really felt drained because (a) she didn't want to vacuum anything, and (b) she killed a 32 oz. Gatorade and loved it -- she hates Gatorade (but I've told her that Gatorade only tastes good when you need it and she's not the jock/sweaty-type that has ever much needed Gatorade... you follow me?  Anyhoo...) She spent the next 10 hours in bed, quite literally, other than to pee and finally get a shower around 9pm.  And then, the real labor began.  I called my mom -- and aren't moms especially great in times like these?! -- and she came over and sat with Rebecca as I got Isaac ready for bed.  We began timing contractions around 9:45pm and at 10:30pm decided that this was no false alarm.  It was time to go!  Mom spent the night at our house with Isaac, though obviously didn't plan to sleep much.
We got back to the hospital around 11pm and told them we were there to stay this time!  The details of the next four hours are a little fuzzy, but they involved breaking her water, getting an epidural, and me nodding off on a bedside stool (I did eventually move to the uncomfortable dad's chair, because when I start nodding off I twitch hard enough to kick a 40-yard field goal and didn't want to destroy any nearby medical equipment).  We both rested through the early phase of contractions, but eventually the nurses came in, I half-woke up, and it was time to have a baby.  Don't worry, I eventually gathered my wits and did an outstanding coaching job.  Rebecca was awesome, breezing through the [no-doubt painful] "hard part."  After only 35 minutes of pushing, out came our baby girl.  And yes, I cut the umbilical cord... without realizing I had grabbed it with my left hand to help stabilize it.  It seemed incredibly strong... and slimy.
So while big brother Isaac slept, Rebecca and I excitedly welcomed Ella Riley at 3:08am on Monday, May 3, 2010.  Only a half-ounce separated her from her big brother's size at birth -- 8 pounds, 6.5 ounces and 20.5 inches long.  She has a full head of dark brown hair and seems to favor the McMahon side of the family... she looks like my dad and brother Kyle!  What?!  Scary, I know! :-)  No, really she is absolutely beautiful, and we are blessed beyond measure.  Praise God!

Today's Good Read: Psalm 139:13-16

A few pictures... see more on Facebook!