Happy Halloween!

Aunt Randi sent us a cute orange and white outfit that we thought was appropriate for Halloween since Evan didn't have a costume for his first holiday. He got a cute jack o lantern hat and some fun socks from Nana and Papa, so we decked him out in all his Halloween goodies. Unfortunately, he wasn't as fond of the hat as he was of the rest of the ensemble. Though that didn't last too long either--during the next diaper change he soaked himself. Ah, boys!

Baby Evan

Cousin Caleb Comes To Visit

Baby Caleb Ketcher came to visit Evan today. He brought his parents with him. They had a good time getting to know each other as the two newest men of the Ketcher family. They both commented on how fun it would have been to have baby Gracie here as well, but they had fun none-the-less. Evan is excited to meet all of his new friends.

Evan Magnus Ketcher

Alright, now that Jen is feeling better, we decided on his official name: Evan Magnus Ketcher. I have to say, though, that this was actually Jen's second favorite name choice this morning. I told her, however, that we were not going to officially name him Cutie Patootie. They are still both doing great. Daddy is also learning how much sleep he will NOT be getting over the next MANY nights.

Baby Boy Ketcher Has Arrived!

I just wanted to take a quick second and announce the arrival of our son, Baby Boy Ketcher. We are leaning towards a name, but we want to wait until morning when Jen is feeling better to make it official. He arrived by way of c-section at 11:55am on Thursday. He weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and was 20 3/4in long. Both baby boy and Mom are doing extremely well. I can't even begin to express how proud I am of Jen. She trudged right through 4 hours of contractions coming one minute apart without complaining until she received her epidural (which she is a huge fan of). We are both extremely excited for this new little addition to our family.

Ugh

It's been far too long since we've posted anything. We've had lots going on trying to get the house organized and get baby things in order. Two weeks from today I'll go into the hospital and two weeks from tomorrow they'll be inducing me. So yeah, we've been busy. So here's a photo of me looking fat and tired. Enjoy!

Aah...a visit to NOT Memphis.

We took a fun little trip with some friend to see the sights in St. Louis over Labor Day weekend. Neither John nor I had ever been. We left on a Thursday evening, and at the advice of some locals who had moved into our area, stopped at Lambert's Cafe, the home of the throwed roll--that's right, throwed. I'll post a clip of the experience in a bit. It was great. It's home-style cooking, lots of southern fried food. Yum. They walk around with pots of sides and just pile them on your plate, not to mention the huge rolls. My kind of eating.

We went to the temple Friday morning, then went over to Union Station and walked around. We took a Mississippi riverboat tour as well, and walked around the arch.

The City Museum was our favorite part of the trip. What a place! It's designed so that any little nook or cranny that you can fit in, you're supposed to go in. It'll lead somewhere. I wasn't feeling very adventurous (being seven months pregnant will do that) so I didn't squeeze anywhere exciting. But they had a whole spelunking area, a whale you could crawl around in, an aquarium, a seven-story slide, and a whole outside cage climbing area that was pretty fantastic. I'd love to go back with kids. Below is a photo of the outside area. At the very top is the tunnel the guys crawled through. Then there's a photo of the group of us in the first room with the whale. It's such a cool place!


We went to the top of the arch aferward--pretty anticlimactic. I'd say it was worth it to do it once, but that's about it. Here's the view from the top:

We also went to the St. Louis Zoo and Grant's Farm, and took the Budweiser plant tour--those Clydesdales are amazing horses. The zoo was pretty impressive, though we didn't spend a whole lot of time there. The Science Center was also fun--kind of Omniplex-ish, for those who grew up in OK. Then there was the Cathedral Basilica, home of the most extravagant mosaics in the country--also pretty cool. One of the great things about St. Louis is that most all these exhibits are free--you just pay for parking.

We had a great time on the trip! It was a great break from school and work, and a nice little last hurrah for John and I before little boy Ketcher comes along.