HE'S HERE!!!

Announcing Rhett Mitchell Powell. 5 lbs 9 oz.

I Spoke Too Soon

The doc just came and said Kim is actually between a 7 and an 8. They put a towel on the ground, so they must expect things to move a little faster now.

March 10th?

Rhett is being pretty stubborn. Or maybe he's just lazy. Either way, it looks like his birthday will be on the 10th now instead of the 9th. Kim is still only at a 5. She thinks that maybe he's wrapped up in a short umbilical cord. The doctor is coming in soon to give Rhett a scalp monitor and try to figure out why he's not dropping.

Slow Going

Kim is still only dilated to a 5. I'm going to spank Rhett's bum as soon as I see it.

Shift Change

We've got some new nurses now. Kim is dilated to a 5. I predict Rhett will be born at 10:13pm.

First Visitors

Kim just took this picture of me, Owen, Courtney, and JoEllyn. She's dilated to a 4. Things are moving pretty slowly.

She's Human!

Here's Kim right before getting an epidural. She didn't get one when Owen was born. I thought she was some super-human cyborg or something. I guess this proves she is mortal like the rest of us. Her pain tolerance is still light years ahead of mine though.

A River Runs Through It

The water is broken. We can't turn back now.

More Than Meets the Eye

Man, I love transformers. Kim's bed transforms into this cool chair-like structure.

We're in!

We got the call! Here we go!

cell phone updates

Hello everyone. I'm going to take pictures with my cell phone and send them to the blog as the day progresses. We found out this morning that Kim needed a dose of penicillin before they would induce her. Labor and delivery hasn't called Kim in yet, so she took matters into her own hands. Here she is at the NICU. Her coworkers started the dose for her. It was pretty funny seeing a bunch of baby nurses trying to start an i.v. on an adult.

13 Days Early

Good news from "The Land of the Arch,"

That's better than carbs and starch...

Let's all hoot and howl

'Cause Rhett Mitchell Powell

Will be born on the 9th of March!


I know March 9th isn't St. Patrick's Day, but when we heard the news, I still felt like dancing to an Irish jig and writing a limerick.

That's right my friends. We have an official induction date. Unless Kim goes into labor extremely early, we know that boy #2 will be born on Sunday, March 9th. That's 13 days before his due date. 13 is my favorite number, so this must be a sign that Rhett is going to be a pretty cool kid.


I also know that many of you out there do not like the name Rhett. All I have to say about that is, frankly my dear...well, you know the rest. Be glad we didn't choose Bruce, Earl, Melvin, or Dewey.

Slothfuliciousness and Randomaticity

I haven't posted anything since February 4th? Wow. Sorry. A lot has happened since then. I've just been slothful in my blogging duties. Catching everyone up will make for a very random post.

First of all, there was a reunion of sorts last weekend here in St George. We had 22 people in our house at one point. Things got a little loud and out of hand, but no police were called so all is well. Kim's sister Melissa was about to leave for Iraq, but Kim couldn't travel anywhere due to the human being growing in her belly, so everyone came to our house to say goodbye to Missy. We had a blast playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero, eating at Golden Corral and Cafe Rio, and walking the ice covered trails at Zion National Park. (Click on the Annie and Rich link from my favorite bloggers list to see how fun the drive from Denver was for the Kunz clan.)

Owen started soccer on the 9th. He was the only kid that had 21 people there to support him.













Please enjoy these other random pictures from the reunion weekend:














Valentine's Day came and went in a hurry. Kim got me season 6 of the show "24" on DVD. I got her American Idol for the Wii. Owen got a Hershey's kiss the size of his skull.

Did anyone else watch the NBA dunk contest this year? I haven't seen one that good in a long time.




Owen will hate me for this later, but I present to you our son, sitting on the toilet, sans pants, wearing a shower cap.














We finally decided to do something about our dead Dodge Neon that has been sitting in our driveway since Thanksgiving. We posted it on craigslist.org and had 2 responses within 2 days. The first lady wasn't serious. The second guy drove all the way down from Orem and bought it from us. He was probably an illegal alien planning to trade it for drugs or body parts, but the transaction was completed without incident, and we now have a spot for the Scion.

Goodbye forever Nan the Neon. We will not miss you.








Everything is going very well for us right now. The stores are selling lots of phones, Kim is 35 weeks pregnant and doing great, and Owen is always happy. Now if only I could keep a regular blogging schedule.

Snow in St. George?

A much more creative title was used on the Hirschi Kiss blog. For those of you that don't know, Peter and Laura are friends from our ward here in St George.

Kim, Owen, and I spent some good quality family time in the garage on Sunday night. Why? Because the dish on our roof was filled with heavy, wet snow. Yes, that's right. We listened to the last 5 minutes of the Super Bowl on the car radio because we could not get a TV signal. Who would have thought that the Patriots would lose on the same day St. George, Utah gets blanketed with snow? Luckily, ESPN radio expanded to our neck of the woods a few months ago.

Owen had a blast playing in the snow the next morning, as you can see on the video. We went to a park that overlooks our neighborhood to try and get some rare snow-covered St. George pictures.


The clouds are hiding the mountains off in the distance.












Someone else built these snowmen before we got there.
















Owen with a mouthful of the cold stuff.

Love Songs

Ok. I am setting myself up for some serious ridicule here, but I'm moving forward anyway...

I love 1980s and early 1990s love songs. I don't know what it is. It might just be that I played a lot of them on the piano for wedding receptions. It might just be the memories of stake dances. It might just be that my good friend Jeremy and I would sing duets together whenever we got a chance in South Africa. Whatever it is, they just make me feel all warm and bubbly inside. The song you are hearing right now came on the radio while I was all alone in the Cedar City store. I cranked it up full volume, surely annoying the quilting store to my right and the cafe to my left. It got me thinking, what other love songs from this period do I enjoy the most? I would have to say my all time favorite is probably "I'll Be There" by The Escape Club. I also love "Please Don't Go" by Boyz II Men. Other favorites include "Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh, "Forever Young" by Alphaville, "Alone" by Heart, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, and "One Last Cry" by Brian McKnight. I could go on and on.

Feel free to comment on your favorite love songs from this period. I am curious to know if anyone loves them as much as I do. Also, feel free to call me a nerd or any other names you can think of.

It's Been Awhile

So much has happened since Owen's birthday. I don't even know where to begin. First of all, I should say that we are all extremely sad about Grandmother's passing. We are so upset that we couldn't make it down to the funeral. However, we are comforted knowing that she is no longer suffering. The last few years of her life had to be unbelievably difficult, and we can only imagine how happy she is reuniting with her husband and other family members.

Owen started primary. That has been an exciting change at our house. Here he is singing one of his new favorite songs:


I also must apologize for my new Guitar Hero addiction. I am not denying this addiction. I need help. They have somehow designed this game to create a burning desire in my inner being to continue playing and playing. That is why I have not blogged in so long. I need a return to my normal self...as soon as I beat the last song on hard, and the last 7 songs on expert.

One more thing, for those of you that know Gina McDaniel from our good old Auburn days, she lives in St. George now. I ran into her at the mall, and we went as a family to have dinner with her family. She is married with two kids. Owen had a blast playing with their 3 year old boy. I forgot to take my camera. We'll probably do dinner again soon.

Happy Birthday Owen!!!

Yesterday was Owen's 4th birthday. Here are a few photos:














He wanted to go with a Scooby Doo theme this year.


















We played a game where the kids had to drop Scooby snacks into a container.


















There's seems to be a mummy in every episode of Scooby Doo, so we wrapped each other up in toilet paper.














The kids attacked Kim at the end of the mummy game.














It's nothing like a cake from the Kim Myers collection, but it sure did taste good.














With Christmas less than 2 weeks ago, Owen experienced present overload.














We're sad no family could have been here, but luckily Owen has made some really good friends to share the day with.


BONUS PICTURE!!!













Owen wanted everyone to see his entire dinosaur collection.

Tagged Again

42 minutes until the new year, my wife is asleep, my son is asleep, I think I'll respond to my sister's blog.

ABC Tag

Here's more stuff about me that you always wanted to know!

A- Attached or Single? I am not a Siamese twin if that's what you mean.

B- Best Friend? Kim and Owen

C- Cake or Pie? Cake is my all time favorite band. I've never heard of Pie.

D- Day of Choice? Day off

E- Essential Item? my phone

F- Favorite color? blue

G- Gummy Bears or Worms? worms

H- Hometown? Along with my sister, I still say Auburn, WA is my hometown.

I- Favorite Indulgence- eating until I have to undo my pants

J- January or July? January in southern Utah, July most other places

K- Kids? 1 boy, 1 more boy cooking in the oven

L- Life isn't complete without? my son screaming my name when I get home

M- Marriage Date? July 17th, 1999

N- Number of Brothers and Sisters? 3 brothers, 2 sisters

O- Oranges or apples? apples dipped in caramel

P- Phobias or fears? most heights, leaving Owen with a babysitter

Q- Quote? If it itches, scratch it.

R- Reason to smile? Our Wii showed up today, and I also just won Ebay item #260198260637.

S- Season of choice? autumn

T- Tag three friends or family (if your name is here you have to do it) Julie, Annie, Jeremy

U- Unknown fact about me? I learned how to drive a stick on the left side of the road in South Africa.

V- Vegetable? Not yet, maybe I'll lose all of my faculties when I'm 90.

W- Worst habit? Scratching

X- X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasounds, I can see my unborn son's face. Amazing.

Y - Your favorite food? Annie gave Kim a recipe for Cajun Chicken Pasta. I could eat it every day.

Z- Zodiac sign? Libra

Happy New Year everyone.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. We didn't do an official Christmas card this year, so this will have to do. Please enjoy our family picture which was taken on Christmas day in the break room at Kim's hospital. Yes, Kim had to work today. It's ok though. Owen felt pretty cool knowing that Santa made a special trip to our house before Christmas Eve morning. We celebrated the big day on the 24th so Kim could be there too.





Here's Owen seeing all the loot Santa left him.










These two swords also came with two other swords, nunchucks, and two Chinese stars.










Owen sat on the mall Santa's lap for about 5 seconds. He wouldn't look him in the eye, and he only asked for dinosaurs. Santa heard him loud and clear. (As well as Nana and Papa.) Here are two members of the herd now living in our house.






Owen got lots of cool stuff this year. (Thanks grandparents and siblings!) This video shows the one getting most of his attention for now...the Smart Cycle.





I have to show off my favorite gift this year. Kim found the Transformers movie in a DVD case that transforms into Optimus Prime.













Due to our work schedules, we did not get to travel anywhere, but our little family still had a great Christmas. We saw the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, (I highly recommend it), and we even ended the night with "special juice that burns our lips." That's Owen talk. You might know it as sparkling cider. The best Christmas present we could ever ask for is coming later...a Wii with Guitar Hero. Just kidding. Well, it is coming later, but that's not what I was referring to. Our best Christmas present is showing up in March. Kim and I are still so shocked, happy, and thankful for her pregnancy.

We love St. George, but we sure do wish we could see family and friends more often. We hope you all had a very happy Christmas. Happy New Year as well in case I don't blog before then.

Sorry Christmas and a Crappy New Year

Blogging has been the last thing on my mind. After temporarily suspending two employees for a missing $870 deposit, and having three other employees quit on me, life has been pretty crazy lately. When you figure in all of the driving to Cedar City, I've been doing 60 hour work weeks. Kim is working full time as well to build up some paid time off for when the baby comes. That means Owen has been spending way too much time at the babysitter's house. Add in the stress of church callings, early contractions, (for Kim, not me), Owen once waking up in the middle of the night not being able to breathe, lots of dog puke, and no time to even give Owen a haircut, and you get a season that hasn't been too jolly. Hopefully things get better soon. (Thanks for sending all of the Christmas goodies Mom. That helps, except for the fact that I've been gaining lots of sympathy weight with Kim again.)




We did put up the tree and build a gingerbread house, so things can't be that bad.





Is anyone else as excited as me, Kim, and Owen to go see the new Chipmunk movie?