Back to Blogging

I still have not caught up my blog completely, but I've hit most of the highlights that I wanted. I really enjoy my blog, and I've decided to make more of an attempt to keep it up to date. So here is a little update about the last couple of weeks in our world.

Strep Throat 2010 took over our house almost 2 weeks ago. Oh my goodness...I cannot tell you how good it feels to be almost back to our normal chaotic life rather than the sick chaotic life. I came down with it on Tuesday, February 16. I was in bed for the next 4 days. I finally got drugs on Day 3, and the found out I also had pink eye on Day 4. Then Brian came down with it on Saturday evening, but I thought he was just tired of flying solo with the kids for 4 days. So he woke up sick on Sunday, and I sent him straight to Care Now. Then we decided to take the boys to see their doctor on Monday. I didn't think they would find anything wrong with Jacob, but I wanted him there in case they could give him something to prevent him from getting sick. Well, Jacob tested positive for strep, and Andrew had a red throat and an ear infection. The boys had to stay home on Tuesday, so I stayed home to help Brian. Then Jacob woke up and threw up on Wednesday. But everyone went where he was supposed to go on Thursday. The 3 boys in my house are still on drugs for strep. And today Brian started feeling ill again. Great.

Jacob has been so funny lately. I really can't say anything specific; he is just so chatty and he says funny things. He's at a great age! Sharing is a CONSTANT challenge. I just have to remind myself that his little world is so small compared to mine, so the toys are a huge deal to him. He still enjoys helping around the house. I'm the one with the problem with that; I don't have much patience, but I am working on it. About a month ago, Jacob moved upstairs into his big boy room. We put a gate upstairs to keep him from wandering down the stairs in the middle of the night, but we still need to make it a boy's room. Today we went shopping and picked up a few things for his big boy room. We got some Toy Story sheets, Toy Story wall decals, and a closet rod extender that would allow him to pick out his own clothes from his closet. I'm excited to set it all up tomorrow!

And for Andrew we've been working on his horrible sleep patterns (thanks to me for creating them). He's doing pretty well...he doesn't scream for 2 hours in the middle of the night anymore. Now our biggest battle is with his food. He likes food either in puree form or table foods; but he does not like the level 3 baby foods. So now my challenge is to make table foods that I can give to him, too. It won't be that bad; I just need to shift my thoughts to include him, too!

I had a great day with the kids today! I took them out of the house after naps so that Brian could rest. We went to the park and did some shopping. While shopping we had dinner at the food court in the mall. Jacob took off his favorite jacket, Buzz Lightyear of course, while he was eating. When we got to the car to leave the mall he asked me, "Where is my jacket?" Dang! We left it in the food court. I feel so bad about it as if I have lost my own favorite jacket. If I thought I would actually make it, I would have driven back out to the mall after the kids were put in their beds.

Big John

We had another unexpected death on January 26. My grandpa, Big John, passed away of a massive heart attack in the early evening hours.


I feel that his death could not have happened any more perfectly for him. He was outside, doing some chores, and he never knew what hit him. He would have been a horrible patient had he lived through the heart attack. And he was at a friend's house, so he was found pretty quickly after it happened.


I spoke with him around 3:00 that afternoon. He called the shop almost every single day, and I so miss seeing his name across our caller id and hearing his voice. He sounded like he was on top of the world that afternoon. He asked me, "Is things clickin'?" Of course, I told him they were. I had been out the day before with a sick child, so I had been busy all day long. He asked me about his great-grandsons, and I told him they were great. I had made a conscious decision not to tell him that one of them had been sick because I did not want him to worry about them; they are always sick because of daycare. However, I was always honest with him about the boys, and I can't tell you why I decided to just leave it alone during this particular conversation. His purpose for calling was to talk to my Uncle John to see if he would crawl under his house to see if he had termites. I hung up the phone laughing because I knew John would just LOVE that! It's just funny and so typical of my grandpa.


The two days following his death were full of phone calls to everyone we could think of notifying about his death. I was completely numb. Steve and I kept telling each other, "I cannot believe we are doing this. It just doesn't feel real."


I loved him so much (and I still do). I am so sad that my kids will have no memory of him. He was just one of a kind. I have memories of him where I know if my kids had experiences like that with any of their grandparents, Brian would freak out.


I am so happy that now Grandma, Russell and Grandpa are back together. They always had a special chemistry and they always needed each other.


Here is a slideshow of pictures that Steve put together for the service. We did not use this song in the service, but I think it is fitting for the last year of his life; I truly feel like he is back home with my grandma and Russell. I would've wanted it in the service had I thought of it while we were planning the music. Instead I heard it on my iPod on the morning of the day of his service. I love you and miss you Grandpa!


Andrew's 9 - 10 Month Update

In some ways I cannot believe that Andrew is 10 months old now, and in other ways I can. He is such a sweet boy and more fun-loving than Jacob, although he tends to have a bit of a temper when things don't go his way (mainly about eating). I know I've written it in other blogs, but he truly loves his brother. I love the way they look at each other!

At his 9 month checkup, Andrew weighed 19 lb 6 oz and was 28-1/4" lg. He is a total cuddler, especially with Mommy. He loves to get in the middle of whatever Jacob is doing and try to steal his toys. Sharing is now a constant lesson in our house. He pulls up on everything, and I think he will be walking very soon. It's the only way to keep up with the big boys. Bathtime is a favorite for Andrew. He just splashes and splashes. I am totally soaked by the time he gets out of the tub. And he totally prefers to take a bath with Jacob rather than by himself. He seems to be a picky eater. Actually, I'm not sure if it is that or that he has a sensitive gag reflex. Textures are a big deal with him. So where Jacob jumped right into table foods, Andrew is coming along in that sense very slowly. He still only has 7 teeth, and we get to see them all the time! I love how smiley he is!

Here are some pictures and a video full of clips of Andrew from the 9-10 month ages.










Christmas 2009

(Please ignore the fact that it is February and I'm just posting my Christmas blog)

Christmas was GREAT! It was the best yet! We always have a lot of different celebrations to attend.

This year we started on December 20 at Grandpa and Gram's house (Earle and Deb). Jacob made a new friend, Jake. He is Deb's youngest son; I think he's 11 now. Jake was so nice to Jacob and kept him occupied all evening. Andrew enjoyed chasing the cat around the house. We always have a great time at their house. Here are pics from that evening (Aunt Em and Andrew, Antonio, and Aunt Em with Jacob and Andrew).





On Christmas Eve, it snowed and iced like crazy. I was so happy that the kids got to have a white Christmas, although they will never remember it and I'm sure we didn't take enough pictures. Emily and Antonio had a party on Christmas Eve. Brian and Grandmother went to the party together because we didn't want to haul the kids in the ice; Texans CANNOT drive in that crap. Our tradition in our family is to read The Night Before Christmas before the kids go to bed. I tried to keep Jacob up so that we could carry on the tradition, but he totally crashed while we watched a movie. Brian and I were a little bummed, but we were excited that Jacob would get to play in the snow on Christmas morning!

We woke up Christmas Day and did our family thing. It was so fun to watch Jacob. He was finally old enough to get it. And, as bad as I feel saying it, for me it was all about Jacob this Christmas. We bought Jacob a little Thomas train set. He was having some trouble working it and it was a little flimsy, so Santa had to end up getting him a GeoTrax train set in January. We did keep the other track and the trains. Now the trains are a constant source of frustration for Jacob; Andrew likes to play with them, too! So here are a few pics from our family Christmas.





And here is a shot of Jacob in the snow on Christmas morning! He had so much fun!



So with the snow, we did not leave our house on Christmas until 4:00 in the afternoon...with 2 more places to go by the end of the day. Our next stop was Grandmother's house. Aunt Becky and Uncle Tom came into town, and we were so happy that they made it! Emily, Antonio, and Sirius came over, too!





Becky and Tom got The Beatles Rock Band. Emily and Antonio had another stop to make that evening, too. So we all decided that we were going to go to our next stops and meet back at Grandmother's to rock out!

Our next stop was Big Gaga's. I was so happy to catch my cousin Robbie and his wife Ericka and their daughter Olivia. Olivia is so sweet! I hate that they live in Austin and we can't see them more often. I did not get any pictures of Christmas at Gaga's.

So back to Grandmother's we went. Becky and Tom did not participate in playing the game, but Antonio, Emily, Brian, and I had a great time! I think we finally left the house at 2:00 a.m.

December 26 was another full day. We had to be in Kaufman by noon for the Paxton family Christmas. We were all so happy to have it at Big John's house this year. We all ate really well, did our gift exchange game, and then visited the cemetery to take some wreaths to Russell and Grandma. It was a very nice Christmas, and I'm so thankful now for it. Again, I suck at taking pictures; I have none, but I'm told that my mother got some good shots.

After Kaufman, we went to Red Oak for Christmas with my family. I think the best part was when my parents opened their gift from all of us. We got them tickets to the last regular season Cowboy game at the new Cowboys Stadium. Oh my goodness! My mom's face says it all. They were truly surprised and so excited! Here are the pics.








So Christmas is usually a little chaotic with scheduling everything and trying to make sure we do not stress ourselves out just to make it to all of the different places. But I'm always so thankful for my family, Brian's family, Brian, and most importantly my babies. I feel so lucky that we all get to spend that time together.