Please pray for Alden

It's amazing how as you get older the trials you, your family and your friends experience seem to grow as well.

Alden is the daughter of our Sunday School Director in Austin's best friend. She has been struggling with leukemia for years and about a month ago finally had to have a bone marrow transplant. I always knew that it was the treatment of last resort for a reason, but its so hard to see someone so young and precious suffer through it.

In the last week or so she has started to have major GVH (graft vs. host) issues and the outlook is steadily darkening. She and her family all know the Lord and are looking to him for guidance, but we're only human and that is their baby suffering. If it was Sam, heaven help me, I'd be a basket case.

She has a CaringBridge page if you want to know more about her fight: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aldenmalachowski

But please, when you can, pray for this sweet little girl.

Therapy

Since I started writing the blog I've tried to keep it fairly light and cheery. I'm not really one to put my/our problems out there for the world to see, though I admit to a mopey Facebook status update or two. But...

We took Sam to see his pediatrician a few weeks ago because we had noticed his speech, or lack thereof, regressing. He used to babble, which he doesn't hardly anymore; he's 20 months old and only has 3 or so words we've heard him say. A lot of the time if you ask him to say anything he'll growl or make some other kind of unintelligible noise. If you ask him a yes or no question he'll respond by shaking his head (no) or opening his mouth wide (yes). He's picked up a few bits of sign language which has helped more that I ever thought it could, at least we can understand his most basic needs that way.

Our insurance, like most, doesn't cover speech therapy and Sam is too young for a program based out of H.I.S.D. Fortunately, Texas has a program called Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) that is either free or a VERY low-cost therapy program (not just for speech) that treats children ages 0-3. They come to your home, which is great, and they place an emphasis on teaching the parents how to work with their child so that treatment isn't just when the therapist comes but can be worked into everyday activities.

We've already completed step one of two for his initial evaluation, first they do a vision/hearing/nutrition/physical before a second visit with the speech therapist for a full-on evaluation. He "failed" the hearing portion of the tests because the state automatically fails children if they don't meet a certain number of words per age. They also suggested that we have a full hearing evaluation to make sure that there is nothing wrong. Our pedi had almost ordered one when we saw him but didn't since he can tell that Sam obviously can hear us.

Our Doc applauded us for catching it before his 2 yr. checkup since the earlier it's caught the less time it takes to treat it. He also said that he isn't worried about an underlying cause, think Autism or seizures, and that it's likely just a developmental delay. He said Sam's obviously very intelligent, he understands complex commands and is ahead on all of his other milestones, we just need to get that boy the gift of gab!

The downside is that it could take over a year to treat and progress isn't rapid at all. The biggest concern is getting it fixed before his lack of ability to communicate, especially with other kids, causes social or behavioral problems on top of it.

Right now though, all this Mama wants to hear is her baby call her "Mama", something he's never been able to do. :( When I come home from school he runs to the door saying "Dada! Dada!" I love that he's excited when I'm home, but I want to burst into tears everytime I hear "Dada" when he's obviously talking to me.

The in-depth speech evaluation is December 10th and I'm curious to see how that goes. Everyone we've met that works on the program has been very kind and Sam has taken to them well. His first eval took longer than expected because he wanted Miss Rashonda to play ball with him.

In other news he has really started to love playing with balls, cars and trains. He's started saying "Too-too!" when he see's a train or he's playing with one. Target had a Thomas the Train Engine DVD on super-sale the other day so I got it for him. Oh my goodness does that boy love it! He has a couple of Thomas tub toys and he lined them all up in front of the TV while he watched it and said "Too-Too" over and over. He gets very upset when it is time to turn it off.

Sam has also started to babble more frequently and say something that sounds like "stinky", but it comes out more like "oon-ky". It would be my/our luck for him to verbally take off right after we sound the alarm for a problem. Oh well, I'll take it!

Thanks to all of you who have been asking me how he's doing and how the appointments have been. It is really encouraging to know that you care and are praying. We love you ALL!

Tomorrow we're going to Liberty Hill for Thanksgiving and will be there for several days. Unfortunately I will be holed up studying for finals, writing my oral presentation for International Relations and finishing my Foreign Policy term paper on the Czech Republic. Fun! At least Sam will have lots of family to love on him and play with him all weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

PS - Alden, after things seemed to be getting even bleaker, has rebounded a bit and was allowed to leave the hospital for a couple of hours yesterday. What a ride this has been and continues to be for their family!

Halloween

Sam had SO much fun on Halloween. In an effort to coordinate costumes with our dog Caspian, and because he likes them, Sam was a duck. Caspian has a chicken suit, since we couldn't find a chicken costume we went for at least both of them being yellow. Getting them together dressed up and still for a picture however proved to be impossible, though maybe cousin Ajeng managed to get it.

First we went to the Fall Festival at CEPC, the church I go to MOPS at. There were so many cute kiddoes, I just love seeing them dressed up and having fun. Sam woke up kinda late from his nap so he got there just in time to go up and down the hallway getting candy from the adults. How sad ;)-



After that we headed to Uncle Eric's house to spend the evening with him and cousin Ajeng. He grilled some chicken, I brought some sweets and we just nibbled at stuff throughout the night. Once it was dark we took Sam trick or treating. He used the bag I decorated for him at the festival (I think having him decorate his own bag every year might be a tradition I'll start) and he wouldn't let anyone else carry it, let alone touch it for any reason. He got the hang of it pretty fast and everyone thought he was just too cute!
Dr. Mom, Daddy the Caveman-Clown-Wizard, and Sam the Duck


Trick or Treat! I loved the poofy booty on his costume; it waddled when he walked. It was just precious!

This is fun! I want to keep going!...


But my bag is getting pretty full and heavy. I think I'll just sit down and look at my loot.


Done for the night.

Gucks

Sam has been growing so much, it seems like he's bigger every day and in every way. Lately his new favorite thing is lining his trucks up all in a row. If you mess up his rows he gets upset and has to get everything aligned again. In this first picture I had him come back and sit by his trucks for the picture, he got so excited that I made a big deal out of it! His trucks have become his favorite toys and he has even started to try and say a new word, "guck" (translated as "truck"). It just cracks us up to see him working so hard to get them organized. He'll get a couple of them just right and then raise his hands above his head and clap, looking at me to expect an enthusiastic "good job!". He does this sweet thing where after he gets a "good job" and applause he'll run over for a quick hug. It's so sweet! He first started doing that a few months ago when we play basketball in the tub during bath time. I've got to get video of that before he grows out of it.





Sam has started to branch out in his reading material, the board books have started taking a back seat to longer, thinner books and he doesn't rip the pages any more. His current favorite is "The Little Puppy" which has been around since at least the 80's. It was part of a series and I still have "The Little Lamb" that my Aunt and Uncle gave me when I was his age. I think I've had to read it 8 or 9 times so far today. I love that he loves reading and I'm certainly not going to turn it down but oy! Sometimes I wish he would diversify just a bit.

Dad has been doing a great job teaching Sam where all of his body parts are. He knows what everything is on his face and where it is, plus we've gotten to where he knows the difference between his right foot and left foot.

We had dinner at Memorial City Mall last week with Uncle Eric and cousin Ajeng (their foreign exchange student from Indonesia). Sam sat in a big boy chair and actually stayed very still for a long time...then he got down and started pushing it in circles around our table. I'm not sure if he was still because he's a good boy or if it was because he got Chik-Fil-A for dinner! Yum!



We're also going over to their house tomorrow for Halloween. They live in a better trick-or-treating neighborhood, plus Ajeng is really excited about the holiday. It's definately not something they have in Indonesia. Sam is going to be a duck...Daddy wanted him to be a chicken (or something yellow) because Caspian has a chicken suit he'll be wearing. He absolutely loves ducks so I think this is perfect, plus the separate webbed feet still barely fit so he can actually wear them! I can't wait to see what he looks like! We'll be sure to post pictures. Before that we're going to the CEPC Fall Festival so it'll be a fun and busy day.

In other news we are going to see my family in Belgium at Christmas. Yay! We haven't seen Gigi since she went to stay there awhile in July so we're very excited. Also Tio J and Aunt K are coming too! (Tio J should be coming home [to Germany] from his deployment in Iraq any week now.) We haven't seen them in over a year either. Plus, did I mention it was Belgium? At Christmas? That means guaranteed snow and my Aunt and Uncle live in a fancy country Chateau complete with farm animals. It's going to be awesome. Now if I could just figure out how/what to pack; and how to keep an almost two year old happy for hours on end on a plane.

Feeding the Fowl

One of Sam's favorite activities is feeding all of the birds at McGovern Lake in Hermann Park. I felt like the last few weeks all we had been doing together was eating and sleeping so last Thursday I took him to Hermann Park and we fed the birds and went to the zoo. He got so tuckered out that he was asleep before we even pulled out of the parking lot on the way home.

It's so much fun watching how he behaves at zoo changes as he gets older. He used to just sleep in his stroller the entire time. Now he points at the animals, laughs at them, claps for them if they do a trick or impress him somehow (especially the sea lions during their show) and he'll wave goodbye to them when its time to move on to another exhibit.

I took some video on our digital camera of him feeding the ducks so the quality may not be great, but I hope y'all enjoy it.

I'm Working On It

Postings have been pretty sparse the past few weeks. Sorry! But "my life got flip-turned upside down..." (anyone remember where that line comes from?) Taking a full course-load this semester has been quite the experience, I didn't think I could spend MORE time in the library than I did over the summer but apparently anything is possible.

As a result things around here have been pretty staid. Monday and Wednesday I have class, Mondays are also MOPS days. The rest of the time I spend morning, noon and night studying. David is awesome and gets Sam going in the mornings while I study (or unfortunately mainly sleep if I went to bed too late, but it's because I was studying!) , I study during Sam's afternoon nap, and I study after he goes to bed. I still don't feel like its enough.

In other news, some of you may have been following my Rhyder updates and I'm sorry to say that he went to see Jesus on September 19th. His memorial service was this past Saturday and couldn't have been more perfect. Especially poignant was the 25 butterfly balloon release (one for each day he was here) done at the exact time of his death. His family is healing but please remember them in your prayers. I've been blessed to never have to know what it feels like to lose a child but I can only imagine that the pain never fully goes away.

I'll try to get new pictures/video uploaded soon. Sam has grown so much! David and I were saying just a few days ago that something happened recently and Sam looks changed. We can't quite put our finger on what. Still no more words really, but his interest in things with wheels has picked up and in addition to a spoon or ten in his hand he'll be holding a car, tractor, etc. He still loves books as much as ever, as well as being outside. They've been doing construction around our place this past week and he's been fascinated by the workmen and their tools. (And our house isn't pistachio green anymore! :( I'm a little bummed, it had really grown on me.)

UT Weekend in Port Aransas

Every labor day weekend since perhaps the early 18th century, David's UT buddies all get together in Port Aransas. It started out with just a few of them (still single) all in one condo and this year there were 28 adults, 22 kids and a pregnancy. Wow.

It was our first year to attend and we've been planning for it since May. We got down there on Thursday afternoon and stayed through Monday morning. In our condo were the Rener's and Brown's...their kid's Ava and Josh were great playmates for Sam. According to Ava the schedule while we were there was, "beach, pool, eat, beach, pool, eat..." she was very accurate. I'm part iguana so 4 days of being in the sun was perfect! Even the weather cooperated and it was never overbearingly hot, nor were there mosquitoes out en masse.

Friday night we all grilled out near the playground. Zach made some great fajitas and grilled veggies and we had lots of fun watching the kids slide instead of eat. Sam went down a few times but really enjoyed clapping for everyone else who went down.

Saturday night the guys all went to a local joint to watch Texas beat LA Monroe, despite the win the real highlight of the evening was OU losing to BYU. HA! :)

Sunday morning I finally bucked up and decided to go running/walking. My roommate Alison is marathon training and got up and out before I did. Since I don't have a pedometer and didn't look at my watch to see when I left I thought I would just turn around when she passed me on her way back. I didn't see her. Once I finally realized I had gone W-A-Y too far, I turned around...when I got back she told me that I had gone almost 10 miles. Ouch!

Since the guys had a night out, we ladies thought we deserved some time alone too. Sunday night we got together for drinks, sweets and dominoes. No Nonnie and Bubbie, I didn't lose my temper this time...though I almost didn't play because I was worried that I would.

Heading home was a little sad, but Caspian spent the weekend in Katy with his Aunt and Uncle and we missed him. At least in just a few months we'll start planning for next year which is sure to be bigger and better...enjoy the pictures!

We had a little bit of luggage, and yes...we brought our KitchenAid.

The ladies chattin' on the beach.

We had a great setup.

Sam and his friend Diego, just hangin' out.

The annual shot of everybody in UT garb.
22 kids + organized photo = meltdown!

Sam and Dad at the start of the annual toddler race.

Ready...set...go! (Sam just turned around and ran straight back into David's arms.)

Greenley Stirman and Joanna and Rebekah Blaisdell. I LOVED those tutus!

Playing dominoes on girls' night.

All the (nicely tanned) girls!

An update on Rhyder

I'll try and post pictures/a blog about our vacation this past weekend in Port Aransas tomorrow or thursday, but in the meantime here is an update on Rhyder Anderson. Please keep praying for him and his family.

Posted by his parents today: "Well, at 3:42 PM RHYDER LEFT US... He stopped breathing and had no heartbeat... then 8 to 9 minutes later he came back (completely on his own)! ...Another MIRACLE! The nurse nor his doctor could explain it... only he and God know what happened. We are so fortunate and grateful to have him with us! Please keep believing... for our little BIG miracle son who is 14 days old today!"

That ought to pretty much sum things up. He is home, released into hospice care. He has a feeding tube now to try and help him gain weight. He has a hole in his heart which can be fixed surgically when he is bigger, and some other cardiovascular/urological problems. I haven't been able to go and see him or help out in person since between Sam and I there are too many chances we'll accidentally make him sick(er). He already caught a cold from one of his brothers, poor little guy.

Pray for Rhyder!!!

One of the things that I love so much about MOPS is the incredible women that I have met. Michelle Anderson impressed me the very first meeting I attended with her openness and faith. In the Spring they found out they were expecting baby #3 unexpectedly...they also discovered that their 3rd little boy has Trisomy-18. His name is Rhyder and through the pregnancy God has continually revealed himself.

Rhyder was born this morning and against many of the doctors predictions, made it through delivery and even "ate" a little! Despite the fact he is doing better than expected he is in the NICU and they all certainly have a long road ahead of them. In the womb ultrasounds showed two heart defects (among other things) and now it is fighting hard.

Please pray for this sweet family as Michelle recovers from a surgical delivery and Rhyder fights for his life. Also Dad, Dave, and their other young boys, Caeden and Dash.

27 Years Young

Friday was my 27th birthday. Poor Sam had roseola so David, wonderful Father and Husband that he is, took the afternoon off so that I didn't have to cancel lunch with my sweet friend Ana, or a long awaited eyebrow wax.

When he came home from work he had a bouquet of daisies and my present in his hand...a new backpack!!! My faithful Jansport backpack from 1998 died on me this summer. I have this love affair with a company called Sherpani that makes these awesome bags of all shapes and sizes. This pack brings my total to 3, plus a wallet. Imagine the green parts as blue...I just love it. There are tons of pockets and a neoprene insert for a laptop. Thanks honey! It's just what I needed.

Rounding out the day was dinner and dessert with our friends Meredith and Andrew. I made stroganoff and David made an awesome strawberry pie.

Road trip!

Saturday we headed out to Liberty Hill, David's paternal grandmother's family was having a birthday party/impromptu reunion out at the lake. We loaded up the truck at 9:30...we got there at 1:30, about an hour longer than it usually takes. Right after we left the house we got swiped by a car that pulled out into us, fortunately there was no discernible damage. After we got onto I-10 we were stuck in traffic because all lanes were closed at Mason Rd. because of an accident. We always try to leave around Sam's nap time so that he'll sleep the majority of the way...that didn't work out, he was up until noon. He sure is cute when he's asleep (well, anytime really); he's developed a love for pillows and I gave him one to snuggle with in the car. When we hit Austin there was another traffic jam so we were all pretty strained by the time we got there.

Sam was a hit at the party that night, though since he only got one nap Saturday he was a basket case by the end. David and I, mostly David, took turns playing with him outside. He especially loved the birthday girl's tiara, silly boy. You can bet this picture will come back to haunt him when he's older.

Sunday I spent the morning making some very yummy gluten-free chocolate cookies and we had a nice relaxing day in the country. Uncle Hal came over to eat lunch with us and we had a good time visiting on the porch and Nonnie and Bubbie always love to see their boy. On our way home we stopped to see our friends the Franks; I miss our wonderful friends in Austin SO much. The trip home was mercifully shorter than the trip out and now we're going to enjoy my last week class-free until December.

It is finished...

Saturday night I took my last exam. Since I had an final in the morning as well I thought having fun family time at the UH Leisure Pool in between sounded great. I've really missed my boys the last few weeks, plus I'm part iguana; I love to just bake in the sun on a patio chair...so long as there is water nearby to cool off in! Sam has this cute little float-suit, I got take-out from the McAlister's across the street...it was great.

Unfortunately after we'd been there a while Sam just seemed off. He was clingy and just laid in my lap for the longest time. I don't think he's done that since before he could crawl. David and I thought he felt hot, not just outside-in-the-sun hot, so we went home. He slept a long time and when he woke up there was no mistaking that boy had a fever. That was Saturday afternoon and now on Monday morning it's still there. Poor dude-man.

In other news, I've been asked to take a leadership position in MOPS this year. One of the girls who was to lead a discussion group is suddenly moving so I'm going to take over for her. I missed the leadership meeting this morning since Sam is sick, but I can't wait to be more involved. Aside from that, we're just chillin'...as best we can in the crazy heat. Classes start again for me on the 24th, this semester I'll be full-time with two classes on campus Mon. & Wed. nights. Yipes!

Labor day weekend we're heading to Port Arthur with something like 14 other families of UT friends. It's going to be SOOO much fun, I can't wait. We've been practicing for the toddler race...Sam has some seriously scraped shins and knees but we'll have all the kinks worked out in time. Second place is not an option!!!! :)-

Finals!?!

What are you looking at?

Just imagine me saying "Finals!" like an expletive. I feel like I've been in the witness protection program for the last few weeks. My Midterms were in mid-July and I was at the library non-stop studying. When I finished I took a few days "off" to spend with my Mom and on Tuesday when I looked back at my calendar it hit me...my finals were in 2 1/2 weeks!

That's what I hate about the summer semester, everything is squashed together. Sure I had all of the dates written diligently in my planner, but the "end of the semester" just sounded so far away. So what have I been doing this week? You guessed it...I'm a fixture at the library. Instead of having just 2.5 exams to prep for I have 2.5 exams, a term paper and 5 little mini-papers for extra credit in my world civ class.

One of the things I had to do today was go to the MFAH (free on Thursdays) to get info for one of my mini-papers. Then we headed over to the Japanese Garden at Hermann Park (again for a paper.) Since the Garden doesn't have a brochure or anything to prove you were there I had to take a picture, and it turned out fairly well I think...except Sam isn't smiling.


Doesn't it seem that no matter how well you plan your semester out things always get rushed in the end? I've had oodles of Dr. appointments and that takes up way too much time, so does eating, exercising and showering. So we've skipped playdates, I've missed knitting with my friends, meeting new babies and there are packages for my sister-in-law, Mom, Grandma Joanna and brother all sitting around in pieces since I've been paring all of the extracurricular stuff out of my schedule so I can focus. David has been a prince, watching Sam virtually every night and on weekends so that I can bolt out the door when he gets home and head to school. This had better be worth it, I want A's.

Time For a Change!

Tonight Sam had a dirty diaper. The way I found out about the dirty diaper was by watching him reach under the crib and pull out the canvas box that his changing pads are in. Then I saw him pick out one pad, instead of all of them like usual, walk over and hand it to me. After that he climbed up on the bed and laid down, ready and waiting for me to get a clue and come over with a fresh diaper.

Why is it that we see our kids grow and change every day but ever so often there's a day where it really sinks in...they're growing up! All through the day today I kept noticing things, I had seen them before but never put them all together to form the thought, "I have a toddler!!!" I asked him if he wanted water, he shook his head no. I asked him next if he wanted milk, he nodded yes. When it was time for lunch he didn't seem hungry so I asked him if he was hungry, again shook his head no. I changed the scenario a few times and consistently got the no before I just gave up. When he did finally get hungry he just climbed into his high chair and made the sign for 'more'. Even with "if-then" statements he knows what it is he's responding to. When I put him down for the night I asked him to lay down if he wanted me to sing. He quickly laid down, looked up at me with the sweetest face and made the sign for 'more'.

His most frequent word now is "Dank ou" for thank you. He knows "Da Da" is David and if he urgently wants me I'm "Mam Mam Mam....". But we hear "Dank Ou" a kajillion times a day. If you hand him something, if you give him a plate or a spoon with food, change his diaper, hand him his milk, everything gets a "Dank Ou".

Before I go to bed I look at him sleeping, my 24-month clothes & size 7 shoe wearing little boy, not baby anymore, little boy.

Bon Voyage Gigi!

Well, a few weeks ago in a post I said that we were spending Independence Day weekend in the Valley with my Mom. While that was accurate, we didn't stay as long as we had planned because it turned out that we just went to pick up Gigi and bring her home with us!

Her A/C failed the Tuesday before, and the Valley is generally 10 degrees warmer than Houston. It makes me want a glass of ice water just thinking about it! So my Mom spent the 5th thru the 21st with us up here. It was really wonderful having her here, not just because I could spend my days and nights in the library prepping for midterms. (Which I aced...praise the Lord!) We also got to do some fun things like visit the Blue Bell Creamery, go to Galveston and tour the Moody Mansion, and finally have someone who shares my sentiments regarding the Menil Museum, which is a few blocks from our house.

That her A/C broke when it did was certainly a "God thing". It needs to be replaced completely which is both terribly expensive and time consuming. But, she had only just made plans to go and stay with her Sister in Belgium on the 21st, so she won't have to worry about it until she comes back. My Aunt Linda and Uncle Scott have lived in Europe for the last, I want to say 6 years. My Uncle is a Chaplain and Colonel in the Army and he was posted to Germany, then Italy and now Belgium. Each time they have stayed in a massive native home of some kind. A visit from my Mom was supposed to be my Aunt's birthday present 6 years ago, but the timing was always bad. My Aunt called her a few weeks ago to invite her to live with them for awhile and God finally said YES!

She'll be gone for 3 months, with a likely option for 3 more. While she's there she'll see my sister-in-law, be there when Johnny returns to Germany from his deployment to Iraq, and see and do things all over Western Europe. I love my Mom to pieces, she's my best friend and if anyone deserves a European vacation, it's her. Our family has been through a lot, but she's never had a "break". With my Dad there was always something, and after he died there was supporting herself to think of and countless other things she had to handle. The only real downside is that this means we won't see her for a long time, but God took care of that too with the unexpected long visit we had with her. He is so good.

We love you Gigi and can't wait to hear all about what you see and do over there! And a huge thanks to my Aunt and Uncle for letting God use them in a mighty way!

Sweet Smell of PineSol

From my emailed devotional this morning. All I can say is "Amen!"

Sweet Smell of PineSol

from Proverbs 31 Ministries Daily Devotions by Renee Swope


"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" Matthew 19:14 (NIV)

I admit it. I'm the world's worst when it comes to preserving photos. I have boxes of photos stacked in various cubbyholes. I tried to organize the pictures once. I divided them and placed them in large envelopes. My next step was to put them in albums. They are still in the envelopes—stacked in a box.

Melissa, Ryan, and Leslie are now in their 20's and newly married. The chances of me ever getting these precious memories organized are slim to none, but I'm realizing something powerful. Memories aren't limited to pictures.

Remember when, Mom…? is a common phrase in my house now. We have become the hub, a privilege once reserved for my husband's parents. At holidays and special weekends, they drive up, unload luggage and pile into the guest rooms. We laugh and reminisce a lot around the table. Remember when we went on treasure hunts in the pasture? Remember when you jumped on the bed and popped Ryan up in the air so high it scared you? Remember that yellow Slip N' Slide?

I do remember. But I also remember a young mom who worried that her house wasn't spotless when an unexpected guest showed up. I remember the angst of trying to do everything and the fatigue when my day ended before my chores did.

But there were days that I threw caution to the wind and jumped on the bed, even though it might make others frown. I grabbed a shovel and gave the kids plastic buckets and we looked for old bottles and trinkets at the abandoned homestead nearby. We mixed Dawn dishwashing liquid and water and I laughed out loud as the kids flew like greased lightening across the yellow slippery slide. Some of those memories were captured in that pre-digital age, but most were not, but they are etched on the heart of my young adult children.

They reminisce about what we did together. They don't reminisce about the smell of PineSol. Whether my house was perfect or how it compared to others' isn't even on their radar. It makes me wonder why I worried about it. Is it good to have order and structure? Sure. But don't allow the pressure to be the perfect mom keep you from the beauty of simply playing with your children. The unmade bed will still be there, but I promise that a child will grow quickly and leave the nest.

Take a moment today and look past the clutter and the to-do list and play like a child again. It might not be a picture-perfect moment, but it will be a memory.

Fun with Nonnie and Bubbie

The weekend before last we went to Liberty Hill, it's always great to spend some time in the 'country'. David took Friday off of work so we had a long weekend to just enjoy ourselves. Nonnie and Bubbie got a big pool for Sam since it's been so hot in Texas and the boy LOVES to be outside. He wasn't totally sure what to think of it, but he did play in it some. Caspian thought it made a great water dish.

Saturday I had lunch with some girlfriends I hadn't seen in far too long. It was wonderful to have lunch at Z Tejas and just enjoy each others company. I'd forgotten how when we all get together the gab just flows and before we knew it a couple of hours had flown by and we all had to run off to get things done. In my case that meant braving Lakeline Mall to get a giftcard for Dan and Anne's wedding that night. We left Sam for the first time for long enough that he'd need to be put to bed without Mama. He did just fine, but my thoughts were always wandering. Though I am proud to say that I only called my in-laws twice to check on him! The wedding was lovely as were the Bride and the reception. There was however a decent amount of confusion involved when people tried to find the reception. No one bothered to mention that the Tuscan Hall was at the Wizard Academy! According to David, "That's so Dan." The Republic of Texas Big Band played, we danced, we ate fajitas, we had FUN! And I think I saw Sam maybe all of an hour that day :(

The following Wednesday Nonnie and Bubbie spent the night with us in Houston and took us all to the Astros game. They were playing the Kansas City Royals (who won in the 11th inning, we didn't stay that long.) It was Sam's first sports game and I think he had a good time, though much more time was spent walking around Minute Maid Park with Bubbie and Dada than watching the game.

We'll be in McAllen for the 4th of July to see Gigi, my Mom. Yay! I'm trying to get ahead in my coursework so that I can not be crazy-midterms-are-next-weekend girl.

You knitwit!

I taught myself to knit a back in April and I've been meaning to post a few pictures of my "work". My first project was a ball for Sam...he's played with it enough that the filling has de-lumpified and considering it was the first thing I ever made...I was pretty proud.

When Sam catches me with yarn out he loves to take it and play with it. This one took me awhile to unravel.

Before Sam was born I bought a bunch of this green, white & brown cotton yarn to make him a blanket. I have a blanket that my Great-Grandmother made for me as a baby and it's something I wanted to be able to pass on. Of course I didn't start trying to knit it until he was over a year old but he'll never know. I took a traditional cable blanket pattern and replaced the standard cable with an XOXO cable. I thought hugs and kisses would be appropriate. Here's what the pattern looks like. It's about a foot long now...only 4.5 to go! (Since he's not really a baby anymore I'm expanding the size beyond what I had originally planned.)

In between schoolwork and the blanket I'm working on a couple of baby hats for the little ones my friends have had/are expecting. Even if those little ones never wear them I love the thought of giving something that I made myself. Not to mention how rewarding it is to hold something in my hands that I have made (that isn't food!) and watch it take shape. It's really something that I think is being lost as we move more and more to a computer-based existence.

Laundry Day Fun

That sounds like an oxymoron...fun? On laundry day? Puh-lease. But, Sam can make anything fun. He loves to bury himself in the piles of clothes and put shirts over his face and stumble around while you say "Where's Sam?" He tries to see how far he can make it before he hits something and then giggles when he does. Too cute!

Long and Lean

Sam had his 15-month well check this morning. He is so smart, when the nurse brought in the tray with his immunizations he put his hands on his legs to try and block the shots. Then he cried to whole way to the car :( Here are his stats:

Head: 18.25 in (30%)
Weight: 21.14 lbs (15%)
Length: 31.5 in (60%)

The boy is tall and thin, just like his parents. I know, big surprise. We just had to buy him new shoes, he wears a 6 1/2 now. If he's wearing a one-piece of any kind I've started putting him in 24 month sized outfits, he has a very long torso. Individual shorts and t-shirts are still 18 month. He's grown so much!!!

Sandcastles

This past weekend was the AIA Sandcastle competition in Galveston. We went last year when Sam was itty-bitty, had a great time and decided to make it an annual thing.

This year, I'm sorry to say, we weren't that impressed. There were around 70 entries and several focused on the same concepts. "Octo-Mom" which was an octopus holding a baby in each tentacle and something having to do with the stack of money with eyes on top from the Geico commercials. Even the sandcastles themselves didn't seem on par with last years.

The beach itself was VERY crowded and we are happy to report that the water is already warm there. It didn't even look as brown/opaque as the Galveston water usually does. Sam was brave and kept wading out further and further (with parental supervision of course!)