Weekend with the Grand-Parentals

Our time with Steve and Cozy was wonderful. It's always so sad when they have to go back home to Missouri.

The last time they came, Annabeth was just five weeks old. They were originally going to wait to visit until she was a little older to give us time to settle in, but we didn't want them to miss out on her tiny-ness. Plus, we wanted to take them to the rodeo. I thought I would be totally normal by then, but now I cringe whenever I think of that visit because of how crazy I still was from the hormones, exhaustion, and the wardrobe crises I was having every time I got dressed. Plus, at that time Curtis and I were at our wits end with the potty training marathon. We were both about to lose our minds, but everything fell into place shortly after. I think we were in a better place for this visit.

I already talked about what we did on Friday. On Saturday, we drove out to Tomball to have the world's best chicken fried steaks at a place called Goodson's. (You can read all about it on this blog review I just found.) After that we went to It'z Pizza, not to eat again, but to play the games. Well, it turned out that you have to pay for the pizza buffet to get in for the games. Awesome. We were not going to get out of there without Jackson getting to play some games unless we wanted to make a long visit to Meltdown City. Rather than pay for every one of us, Cozy, Annabeth and I left the boys and went shopping for some fake plants at Garden Ridge. Have I mentioned that I'm hosting bunco next week and that's why I'm in a rush to finish up at least some of my decorating? The boys had lots of fun playing games and I found some greenery to go above my kitchen cabinets.

After that, Cozy and I went to visit an outlet mall. The Baby Gap outlet had super cute onesies for baby boys for $4 and $5. For the record, I think the boy colors at Baby Gap are the BEST and I miss buying those little onesies. I got Jackson and extra bathing suit and swim shirt (love those) for our upcoming Galveston trip.

That night we had dinner at a neighborhood Japanese steakhouse. Yum. The only unfortunate thing was that we were seated with a young married couple who were clearly on a date. I felt so bad that they had to sit with us. I strategically placed myself and the children as far from them as possible. But from where I was sitting, I had an optimal view of their scowling faces. I don't know if they were super annoyed by us or if they were in a fight. Curtis and I have been in that position before, but hopefully we did a better job at masking our disappointment at being seated with other people's kids while ours were with a babysitter.

On Sunday morning, Steve-Papa (as Jackson says) and Nana left before 7 am. So sad. We went to church and then had lunch with our friend Ralph from Charasia. Ralph is who Curtis and Jerrell went to visit in India last fall. His organization saves young daughters of prostitutes from having to follow in their mothers' footsteps. They care for them in special homes where they are educated, taught about the love of Christ, and equipped to live a vibrant adulthood instead of being enslaved in a brothel. It's an amazing organization, to say the least.

I'm about to bombard you with a ton of pictures.

Nana and Pappaw came bearing gifts. Annabeth got a Jumperoo. She LOVES it.







Jackson got some miniature Nascars and a Tom and Jerry DVD. He also got this awesome wooden horse that his Great-grandpa Dixon made him. It's so neat!

















Here's Nana reading the Dr. Seuss pop-up book with the kids.



Jackson was really amused by his sister.









After we got home from Jackson's swim lesson yesterday, Annabeth had little beads of sweat across her nose. Welcome to your first Texas summer, baby girl. It seriously feels like August right now. So does that mean it will feel like October when August does come? Lord have mercy. We might actually get some rain today. Bring it on.



Sometimes the best thing to do when you've been in the 104 degree car is to get nekked.




Here's our bed with the new quilt. It totally made the room come together. I love it. When I first saw the quilt in the store, I thought it was a little too homey for me. But I think it works with the furniture we have.



That end table had a jumbled stack of books on it until a few weeks ago. After a visit to Hobby Lobby, it's in much better shape. That's Curt's side of the bed, so I had to add a picture of Jacks in his Batman costume to man it up a bit.



Thanks for all the great advice on what to do with my frame. I'll let you know what I end up with!

Help Me With My Weird Frame

I'm so stinking excited right now. Remember a million years ago when I said we were getting a new bedspread? (Here's my explanation for that.) We finally find one today. Curt's mom and dad are here visiting this weekend and my mother-in-law loves Pottery Barn as much as I do. So we made a little trip out there to look around. (Afterward we enjoyed a fun lunch at Paulie's. Yeah!) I still had a bunch of money on my Christmas gift cards to spend. While we were there, Curtis pointed out a quilt that he liked. I was totally shocked. It miraculously works with the color of our crazy-long, hard to replace red curtains, our black furniture, and the blue gray bed skirt and pillows from our old duvet cover that we got so sick of. We brought it home, plopped it on the bed, and voila'! I can't believe that our room finally looks finished after 15 months. I need to buy a couple of pillows to go in the shams and then I'll take some pictures for you.

The only thing I can't figure out is what to do with this weird frame we bought at Ikea last year.



It looks really ugly by itself, but I promise it's cool with our bedroom furniture. You can see what we have here. At the time, I thought I'd put a mirror in it, but I was delusional. It's not a conventional shape, plus we already have two mirrors in the room. I'm not real sure what I was thinking. I put some scrapbook paper in it last year as a temporary fix. Time to figure this bad boy out. What would you do with it? Tossing it is not an option because I like the way it balances my boxy furniture.

The dimensions are:
Width: 23 ¼ "
Height: 33 ½ "
Picture, width: 15 ¾ "
Picture, height: 19 ¾ "

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Earlier this week I spent some time going through my posts from Jackson's first year. I wanted to look at his pictures and compare his infancy to Annabeth's. I realized a few things in reading those posts. For instance, Jackson was about 2.5 pounds heavier than Annabeth at 4 months and an inch longer. They rolled over (tummy to back) at about the same time. Jackson took his sweet time doing the back to tummy roll and Annabeth is doing the same. By now Jackson was already showing signs of teething. Annabeth is not really.

Poor Annabeth - she's already been sick so many times. I guess that's the lot of the second child. Jackson's first sickness was at 7 months old and he came down with it on the morning before his first airplane ride. That probably worked in my favor since he's much calmer when he's sick. But Annabeth has had one cold after another. She was a little warm and fussy on Sunday and by yesterday she was coughing and sneezing non-stop. She has not been nursing well this week. I can't tell if it's because my milk is running low or because she can't breathe through her nose. Ever since Memorial Day, I've been really nervous about my milk drying up. I've been working on making sure she's nursing enough times each day. Since she sleeps 12 hours at night (don't hate me), it would be easy to drop to too few daytime feedings to sustain it. Today I realized that the drop in supply may be hormonal. Hopefully that's all it is. Regardless, it does not make baby girl happy.

So I've had two sick kids this week with completely different things. Jackson's was so weird because he had every sign of the stomach virus, but no vomiting. He even leaned over the bowl, cried, shook, and sweated, but nothing came. I think he just fought it so hard. That day he was the most pitiful I've ever seen him. He laid on a blanket on the floor for hours. He's been getting a little more energy back each day. I will say that he's been very easy to deal with. Today he was almost normal. But when I grab his little hand, there's still not much strength in his arm. Bless his heart.

Reading my old posts made me feel like such a loser blogger. I was much better in the past. I swore I wouldn't post again this week until I had something "good." But I've got nothing! Nothing, I tell you!

Well, I do have one thing. Jackson got this water-filled, squishy toy from my aunts on Sunday. The next morning he squeezed it in such a way that it made a weird bubble along a seam. He brought it over to me and said, "Mommy! This look like my bunny!" Sure enough, it looked like a set of hiney cheeks. I laughed so hard I nearly fell off the couch. Are you confused? Maybe I failed to mention that four generations of my mother's family have referred to the private parts as the bunny.

Really, who am I to change things? How arrogant would I be to think I could improve on such a longstanding child-rearing tradition? No pun intended. That's a lie. I totally meant it. If "bunny" was good enough for Minnie Ola Roundtree and Aletha Green, it's good enough for me. When my kid yells out that his bunny itches in a crowded elevator, I will thank my lucky stars that my mama raised me up right - and her mama before her, and her mama before her. Don't worry, they didn't leave us completely in the dark when it came to anatomical correctness - we always knew we had a front bunny and back bunny.

Last Week in Pictures

I have a sick boy today. Jackson has never been so still and quiet in his entire life. He's acting like he has a stomach virus, but he hasn't thrown up yet. He's laying on the living room floor on a blanket, with a big puke bowl next to his head. Poor baby. While I wait for the puke to hit the fan, here are a ton of pictures from last week.

These are from last Monday night when the Lazos came over to play.

Here, Sunni is doing some serious Wii bowling with Baby Clara in her arms.


Curtis trying to teach Jackson how to bowl.


Old pals - Ava and Jackson.


New pals - Annabeth and Clara.


Look, they're already leaning on each other.


Father's Day

Our breakfast table. I got up at the crack of dawn to get donuts for all of us and then everyone but me ended up sleeping late. Isn't that the way it goes?




Jackson is proud to have his sprinkled doughnut.


Mom, Dad, Melissa and I always call ourselves the Original Moores. But these are the Original, Original Moores.


Dad with Aunt Tina and Aunt Mary.


Memaw, Hannah and Annabeth. I got Memaw that apron from Anthro a while back. It's so cute on her!


My cousin John with Annabeth, who was looking like a football player in that moment.




My Pappaw and Daddy


Mom with the kids. Wait for it...wait for it...


Aaaaand she's crying.






Throwing down some pop rocks.


Looking for the ones that didn't quite pop.


Confetti head.


This was the day she started trying to grab her feet and I wanted a picture of it so badly.


What are you doing, Mommy?


Tripoding it up for the first time.




Simultaneous lovie holding and thumb sucking.


Tummy time after Brother's in bed and she has all the attention.


Later that day...reaching for those toes again!


Here's Daddy doing the same and stretching before a run, only he never has been able to reach his toes. Seriously. How he can be like this and so good at every sport boggles my mind. The first time I saw him stretch, I thought he was joking. It doesn't even look like he's trying!

Wrapped Around Her Finger

In honor of Curtis' first Father's Day with his baby girl.

Sweet Little Beautiful Wonderful Perfect All-American Girl...

Little Fish

What a wonderful weekend this has turned out to be! Friday night we got to meet Sunni and her family along with her sister Tiffani and her hubby at Los Tios Mexican restaurant. Los Tios used to be a Moore family favorite but it had been several years since we had gone there. It was so very incredibly, amazingly, crazily good. We will miss our friends until next time!

This morning we went to the Altics' house to swim and grill burgers for lunch. I nearly fell over when their son Jayk, who is two and a half, did a running jump into the pool and just started swimming like he was eight years old. He is TWO. Wow! They explained it away by saying it's because they swim every day. No doubt, but he is an amazing kid. And terribly cute. And he has a little thing for Annabeth, which makes me smile.

This morning was Jackson's first chance to practice all the moves he's been learning in swim school. (We've been too busy to swim in the evenings and I'm not ready to take both the kids by myself during the day.) At first he didn't want to swim because Jayk and Judah have a ton of fun pool toys and he only wanted to play. Eventually he wanted to do what Jayk was doing and he cooperated.

Can I just say that when he put on his goggles, pushed off the step, and swam several feet over to me, it was one of the proudest moments of my life? He swam! My child is swimming! Way to go, Jackson! We laughed and smiled and made big over it all day. We left the Altics after lunch and headed home for naps. He was dead tired from all the swimming.

This evening we went to our neighborhood pool because we had nothing else to do and I wanted to swim with my boy again! We absolutely wore his sweet little self out. He must have swam from the steps to me and back again a hundred times. We worked up to about 8 feet, I think. Occasionally he would get tired and say, "A little bit, Mommy! A tiny, little bit?" He'd hold out his thumb and index finger to show me the universal sign for "a tiny, little bit." What he wanted was for me to come closer. He cracks me up.

I can't even explain how much fun we had today. It was such a blast to see Jackson learning something new and loving it.

After the kids went to bed, I wrapped Father's Day presents and made a collage out of magazine clippings for Curtis. It's just something fun and silly. I used to make those all the time and I'd forgotten how fun it is. My desk-slash-project table was great for it.

That is all. I'm looking forward to celebrating Father's Day with Curtis, my dad, and my grandpa tomorrow. All my aunts and uncles will be in town, so it should be fun. I hope you enjoy celebrating the men in your life on their special day!

Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On

Dear Annabeth,
Last night you wore jeans for the first time in your life. If you are anything like your mother, it was the beginning of a life-long love of denim. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't document this moment? I've been waiting in anxious expectation for these jeans to fit you. They're a little long, as are all of your pants, but it's okay for now. When you're older you can wear heels to compensate for the extra length. For now we'll just roll 'em right up.

Seven Years and a Birthday

It's been a non-stop party around here since Sunday night. Yesterday was our seventh anniversary. Wow. I wonder when we went from thinking of ourselves as newlyweds to feeling so settled in together.

My parents kept the kids for us on Sunday night and we went to dinner at Taste of Texas. It seemed like we were in and out of there in a flash and we weren't ready to be done with our date yet. So we drove over to see our first apartment. It was at The Trails at Rock Creek if anyone knows where that is. We loved living there and the property still looks so nice from the outside.

We had that apartment complex picked out a year before we even got married. When we were engaged we loved to drive by and see it. Curtis would also drive me around pretty neighborhoods and we'd pick out our dream house. I could not wrap my mind around how we could ever get in a grown-up house, but eventually the Lord provided grown-up salaries for us and it happened. Now we're in our dream home in one of those pretty neighborhoods and we still like to think about our first little nesting place. This sounds really weird, but every time I get out a new trash bag, the smell of the bag itself (not the trash) takes me right back to that first place. Maybe I didn't ever take out the trash until I got married. (Mel and Bonny, I love y'all.) I definitely do not want to return to a 700 sq. ft. apartment, but remembering that season makes me grateful. It was like a Jolly Rancher - sweet and hard.

We mostly hung around here on Monday. Jackson had a swim lesson in the afternoon. He's making progress with every single lesson and I'm so proud of him. He jumped in the water and had to get back to the surface mostly without help. He also swam a very short distance from the steps to his coach. I saw the guy's surprised expression and could tell that he said, "You did it!" His partner for that class is an older girl who can already swim and I think it helps that he can see her do it. He did a good job following directions and earned himself an ice cream when we got home.

On Monday night Sunni's family came into town for a mission trip. We got to have dinner with them at our house and hang out for a few hours. It was so much fun. Jackson was at a 10 and completely out of control. He was just so excited for Ava to be here and I think he was still hyped up on the ice cream. Annabeth went to sleep pretty soon after they got here, but not before she and Clara got to have their picture taken together. I'll post pictures of all this later. After Jackson went to sleep (it took him all of 10 seconds to pass out in the bed), Ava performed her dance recital routine for me. Then I had the pleasure of hearing her sing "I am 16 going on 17..." Oh my word. It made my week! Also? Ava had mad bowling skills on the Wii. I was astounded by her many talents.

Today was crazy and fun. Jackson started his summer MDO program this morning. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Lest you think it is only for my benefit, he smiled and waved goodbye to me so very happily when I dropped him off. My child needs a lot to do. Next I zoomed over to a mall to pick up my dad's Father's Day gift. After that, Annabeth and I joined the LPM crew at Pappadeaux for my mom's birthday lunch. So, so fun. We had a whole room to ourselves, which means there was wild laughter and even some dancing. The girls had concocted a dance in honor of Michelle called the Baby Hawk and I got to see it with my own eyes. I'll never be the same. Then I booked it to pick up Jackson from MDO. On the way home we had to go to the grocery store and buy everything we needed to make my mom some birthday cupcakes. I was trembling with fear of inadequacy as I whisked the batter, but I had people praying for my baking needs and the Lord came through for me. They were so delicious! And even pretty! Mom's present from Melissa, Colin, Curtis and me was delivered only minutes before we had to head to her house for dinner. Thank God! We all chipped in and got her a Kindle. (It's kind of like an iPod for books.) She was really excited, which is always fun. The birthday evening festivities were great. My heart is warm and fuzzy tonight.

Now the kids are bathed and in bed and I'm going to sit on my couch and watch TV. Curtis is speaking to a youth mission team tonight and I have it - the TV - all to myself. If I want to watch So You Think You Can Dance, no one is here to stop me.

Tomorrow is another busy day. We have friends coming over to swim, a swim lesson in the early evening, and other friends coming over to hang out after that. I should probably just go to sleep right now!

Disney Trip: Epcot

Our last day of fun at Disney World was spent at Epcot. It fell on Sunday, which happened to be Mother's Day. We hadn't factored that in to the equation when we were planning our trip. It was a little strange not to be at church on Mother's Day and of course I hated to be gone from my mom. But it was such a blessing to have the chance to celebrate with Curt's mom maybe for the first time since we got married.

I knew Epcot was having the Flower and Garden Festival at the time and I suspected that Cozy and I would really enjoy getting to see that on our special day.

That morning we were at the bus stop bright and early of course. There was a women's triathlon going on at Fort Wilderness and the buses were supposed to be a little delayed. It was neat to see the ladies biking on the road. I wish I cared about doing something like that. Later at the hotel, we saw three ladies dressed in matching pink workout clothes. It looked like a girl my age, her mom, and her grandma. They were pushing grandma in wheelchair. I think they had all done the competition together, which was a really neat thought. Grandma must have been injured or too tired to walk. Or maybe she had just been a spectator all along. Annabeth, I would do it for you, my dear! Bibby, what do you think? Maybe you'll have some super bionic knee by then.

We arrived well before the park opened and were first in line behind the ropes. Our first stop was "Soarin,'" which is supposedly the most popular attraction at Disney World. People wait in line for hours for it. It seemed like the whole crowd headed straight there. Curt, Cozy, and Jackson went first and then Curt and I went together when they were done. It was really cool but I don't think I would wait hours on end to do it.

Then we went to do the Finding Nemo ride. We loved that. The aquariums in the building were awesome. Curtis had to pry me away from watching the dolphins. Next was "Turtle Talk with Crush." This was really clever and funny. They had all the kids sit on the floor in front and talk to Crush. They let the kids ask questions and it was my first experience of being a little scared of what might come out of my kid's mouth if they called on him. They called on slightly older kids, so it was all good.

At this point I left to find the baby care station to feed Annabeth. It was not hot yet and the crowds were low, so I enjoyed walking around and seeing the flowers. It was just beautiful. While I was doing that, Jackson got to do "Journey into Imagination," "Maelstrom," and "Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros."

We caught up with the rest of our peeps around Norway. I saw the Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall and thought about how different our trip will be next time when Annabeth is older. We will have so much fun meeting all the princesses. This time we only saw Snow White.

After meeting her, we were ready for lunch. We found a beautiful Italian restaurant called Tutto Italia. Cozy and I had no expectations of a nice Mother's Day lunch, but we certainly got one!

We spent a long time wandering around the World Showcase. It really is a sight to see. It was getting absurdly hot by then and we were desperate to be inside. That's when we found the building that housed the "character spot." We waited in line quite a while but at least we were in the AC! We hadn't met Mickey or Minnie and we were leaving the next day, so we had to do it. It was totally worth it seeing how excited Jackson was. I was pretty excited too.

Next Curt and I did "Mission:Space," which simulates an astronaut's ride to Mars. That thing was insane.

We were finally ready to head out, so we grabbed some popsicles and headed to our bus stop. It took forever and ever amen for our bus to arrive. But it's all good. We made it back to the Wilderness Lodge without any awful meltdowns. We had to rest up so we could go back to Magic Kingdom for our last night!

Here are our Epcot pictures.

It was a long walk from the bus stop to the front gates.



Annabeth was out of control cute that day. You have no idea how much joy this outfit gave me. You can't see it, but she had on bloomers with red ruffles on the hiney. It's amazing what you can find on Etsy.



There were incredible topiaries of all the Disney princesses.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.



Curt, happy to be with his mama on Mother's Day



Fantasia.



The cast members gave carnations to all the ladies. Jackson was playing with one of ours.



Goofy!



Pluto!



Pluto welcoming Jackson to Epcot.



I love this one!



The Nemo ride.



Shark bait.



The flowers were so pretty.





Characters from Beauty and the Beast.



Mrs. Potts! Oh how I missed my tea.



That tent housed a butterfly exhibit that we never saw.



This is where the Moore family had the worst Mexican food of our lives back in 1994. That's a funny thing to remember 15 years later, isn't it? It was that bad! I remember that the only other people eating there that day were all from Texas, too.









It says "The Joy of Tea."







Annabeth's first time to meet a princess!







This was the Italy section. I think this building was supposed to look like The Vatican. I have been there, but it's been a while.



How precious is this?



Sirly Whirly eating a big cracker thing.



Chocolate gelato is a boy's best friend.



Annabeth losing her paci.









The Aladdin topiary frightened me.





England, I heart you.



I think this was Canada.



Meeting Mickey!





Minnie liked her Minnie-Me. Annabeth slept through her shining moment.







How I longed to jump in this water.



Beauty and the Beast.



My personal favorite, Princess Aurora. I can't remember her Prince's name. It must be Curtis.



There's Cinderella.



So stinking hot. Jacks was wearing Daddy's hat.



Here he is looking in at Annabeth. Is that funny or what?



Hopefully I have enough stamina to finish this thing. I'm so close to the end!

Happy Baby

It's always an adventure when Curt goes out of town. Not that he does that very much or anything. This time he went up to Irving to celebrate Pastor John's 40th birthday with some awesome guys that he doesn't see very much anymore. I was so happy for him to go because I do stuff with my friends all the time and he hardly ever does. But of course as the day approached I started dreading having the kids by myself.

I kept telling myself to be a big girl. I had a friend coming over Friday night to watch movies and eat Chinese food and a babysitter coming over on Saturday so I could shop for some anniversary, Father's Day, and birthday presents. The only real obstacle would be the grocery store and FedEx/Kinko's trip I needed to make.

Despite it being so hot and humid that my makeup was melting off and my hair curling, the errand run went very well. So well, in fact, that on the way home I was writing a blog post in my mind of how to set yourself up for grocery shopping success with your infant and three-year-old. It involved a unicorn pop and paying the sacker to help you to the car. I've never asked for that help before, but I decided that this summer, when it's so hot that even Satan is sweating as he sits on his throne on Houston's freeways, I will fork over a few bucks and let the teenage boy help me. (Y'all the heat index is already reaching and exceeding 100 degrees here. It's sick.)

But there has to be an equilibrium. The grocery store trip can't go that well without something else going wrong. Once I got all the groceries put away and had already doled out three different items that my son was requesting, I went to pluck poor Annabeth, who was patiently waiting in the living room, out of her infant carrier. And of course, OF COURSE there was slimy poo oozing out of her diaper and all up the back of her "Happy Baby" onesie. It was all over the car seat cover, which had to be stripped off and washed. I can't wait to put that thing back on. Lord help me.

Annabeth looks so cute in her Happy Baby Onesie, but every time she wears it she's either unusually fussy, gets a fever, or has a blow out. I considered tossing it when I saw how incredibly inundated with poop it was, but Annabeth's Aunt Melissa gave it to her. I just couldn't do it. So, Melissa, I want you to know that cleaned the poop for you. Because I love you so much. I want you to move home so I can train you how to have successful children-in-tow shopping trips and how to power wash poop-filled onesies with your kitchen sink sprayer. These are things you'll need to know one day when you're birthing me some nieces and nephews.

By the way, if you see me at the mall today and I look tired, there's a good reason for that. Jackson couldn't sleep last night and I let him sleep in the bed with me. He woke up all night long and talked to me in a loud voice as if he'd been wide awake for hours. Then at 6 am he alerted me to the fact that he'd wet the bed. My bed. My heavenly bed. That's when he got a shower and I abandoned the bed for the couch. It's only 9:49 but it feels like it should be noon.

Nevertheless, mall, here I come! And if I had a Happy Mommy onesie I'd be wearing it! Not really though.

Relief

First of all, one of my friends had to deliver her baby by c-section today at 31 weeks. He is in the NICU and is breathing on his own for now. They say the next 72 hours are critical for his lungs. His mommy was having major issues with her blood pressure and had been in the hospital this week for it. Will you please say a prayer for this family? Pray for Mommy's healing and for Baby to be strong and mighty and totally protected from complications that can arise for preemies. Thanks, y'all!

Second, this has been a weird week. I found out on Monday that Annabeth had been exposed to chicken pox. My understanding was that she would probably get them and it could take up to three weeks for them to show up. We have hunkered down all week and rearranged all kinds of plans to keep from potentially spreading it to our friends' babies. (Kids over age 1 normally get vaccinated for this.) You're contagious before the blisters ever show up. I have really stressed over this. I know chicken pox aren't terribly dangerous for otherwise healthy kids, but imagining her sweet baby skin covered in pox makes me want to cry.

This morning, a week after the exposure, she woke up with a rash on her tummy. I thought for sure that was it. Her doctor's office wanted to see her in the event that she got the virus in order to confirm the case, so I took her in. Praise the Lord, it turned out not to be chicken pox. She has very sensitive skin like me and apparently some lotion we used on her yesterday caused it. I'm so thankful. I also found out that the day she was supposedly exposed was not actually when the other child was contagious. What a relief! I wasn't going to Metro tonight, and now I am. Annabeth couldn't go to church for several weeks, and now she can. Curt wasn't going out of town to hang with his friends this weekend, and now he is. We weren't going to get to see the Lazos next week while they're here, and now we can. I feel like I just got my life back.

Today Did Not Stink

I dried my hair using a paddle brush instead of a round brush, and it looks a lot better.

Jackson and I are getting along very well today. I started the morning off by looking him in the eye and apologizing for yesterday. I was wrong. We agreed that today I would try not to yell and he would try not to whine.

He's taking a nap. I told him he needed to rest up so he could do his best at swim school this afternoon. He's loving his lessons.

There's been laughing instead of yelling.

One notable incident was when I asked Jackson this morning if he needed to go to the bathroom.

No! I tee teed on the wall!

What? What wall?

The green wall! (That's the bathroom.)

I couldn't make my mind believe what he was saying, so I just let it go.

I few minutes later he brought me one of his toy trucks that was dripping wet. Upon smelling the truck, I realized it had gone through The Little Boy Car Wash of Pee.

I inspected the bathroom and found that the grout was wet and the floor slippery. He had indeed peed on the wall. After a good long time out, Jackson came over to me on his own volition and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry." It was a real, sincere, unprompted apology. I am so glad he's learning this. Where would we all be without a sense of remorse? We'd have no relationships, especially not with God.

My dad later explained that there was just no way I could understand how awesome little boys think it is to pee on things. When I recounted the story to Curt, he had another explanation.

When Jackson woke up early this morning he really had to go. (Good job for holding it all night!) The bathroom was dark, so he moved his stool over to the wall to be able to reach the light switch. He just couldn't make it and the wall and floor, and apparently a small truck, got baptized. Bless his heart. Curtis was half asleep and just didn't see the extent of the mess that had been made. I was snoozing in the bed and completely oblivious to what was going on. Now I feel bad for giving him a time out. I suppose the theme of the day is I'm Sorry.

What I'm not sorry for is taking these. Or for realizing that Annabeth didn't have her bow on and quickly taking care of her accessory needs.

Today Stunk

I do not like my hair.

I found out that Annabeth has a very good chance of coming down with the chicken pox.

Jackson asked me for something every two minutes all day long.

And he's trying to give up his nap.

I yelled at him more times than I can count.

It was my worst mothering day since right after Annabeth was born and I was basically a sleepwalking hormone with greasy hair and B's of Doom.

What was my excuse today? I don't have one.

Today is over in 90 minutes.

Strange Words

Oh man, is it Sunday night already? We had a fun weekend but it flew by. On Saturday morning I picked up my friend Heather and we went to get our hairs done at Visible Changes in Memorial City Mall. We also did some shopping, which should go without saying. I lost another pound that day but it was not fat. It was many, many inches of my hair. I had asked my stylist to cut off three inches, which is typical, but she wanted to do more. I didn't realize how short it was til I got home. I think I like it, but I haven't had to fix it myself yet. We'll see. It's definitely different. I have a real fear of mom hair. Hopefully I have not inadvertently achieved my worst hairmare. (That would be "hair nightmare." Isn't that a gem?)

Later that afternoon we went to our Sunday School pool party. All the dads swam in the pool with the bigger kids and all the moms sat under the patio with the babies. Our class is very reproductive and there was no shortage of birth story sharing and pregnancy symptom comparing.

Jackson spent the entire 2.5 hours swimming. And just when I thought we had the child who could not be worn out, he uttered strange words from his mouth.

"I need to rest."

Beautiful words they were.

This was Annabeth after her first swim on Friday night. Ten minutes tuckered her out.



Here are Jackson and Annabeth with some of the sweetest girls we know. We missed you, K!



See what's in Jackson's hand? I got in the pool long enough to have a 10 minute water gun battle with him. I lucked out because he couldn't reach me but he didn't know it. I, however, got him right in the face for 10 minutes straight and he'd never loved me more.

Four Months Old

I was a little late taking Annabeth's four month pictures with Big Pink Bear, but we have been busy bees this week. Mom kept the kids while we went to see Night at the Museum 2 on Wednesday. Last night we had our first Metro Live. It was really cool and I'm gonna love having that to look forward to every week. Tonight we went to our neighborhood pool with two other families and had lots of fun. We had pizza delivered there and feasted on fruit and brownie-cookie bars. Annabeth got in the water for the first time. Sadly, I have no pictures. She was stinking cute though. And she didn't mind, and maybe even liked, the water. Jackson had the time of his life. He has been so hyped up lately. I think he shouted or squealed 75% of his words today. If you have a son whose energy makes other parents marvel, and you survived him at three years of age, I welcome any advice you have for me.

And now here is my daughter in her four month preciousness.





I'm in love with her and with those jammies.


This is the Baby Minnie I got her at Hollywood Studios. They had all the characters as babies. I wanted them all!


My baby's not a whole lot bigger than Minnie.


Don't worry! She doesn't wear her bow to bed. It was just for pictures.


Annabeth started sucking her thumb last month. She's very serious about it.


Maybe it was a coping mechanism stemming from all the Big Pink Bear pictures.


She's pretending he's not there.


Oh, now she wants to cuddle!




Four Month Stats:
13 lbs. 12 oz. - 50-75%
24.5 inches - 50-75%
head circumference - 10-25% (Jackson's head was small, too.)

Likes:
-"Five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact." For real. If you look her in the eye and talk to her, she smiles so big and loves to talk back.
-Watching her brother.
-Taking little naps on the couch next to mommy.
-Escaping tummy time by rolling onto her back. Her first roll was on May 13. I know that because she rolled on the same day as Baby Clara and I went back on Sunni's blog and looked up the day.
-Warm baths.
-Eating.
-Spending a few minutes at a time in her Bumbo seat or bouncy seat.
-Mommy getting smart and ordering cheaper hair accessories from Etsy.

Dislikes:
-Being away from mommy too long.
-More than 3 minutes of tummy time.
-Her 4 month shots. So sad.
-Spitting up. Oh wait, she doesn't care. That's my dislike.
-Headbands that break after one use and snobby boutiques that give Mommy a hard time when she tries to return them.
-Only having a dirty diaper every 3 days. Look out when it comes!

Sleeps: 12 hours at night. Her bedtime is about 8:30, at which time she starts fussing.

Eats: Every 3-4 hours.

Things I love about her:
-When someone else is holding her and she hears my voice, she cranes her neck and looks every which way until she locks eyes with me. She has reacted that way to my voice since she was a newborn.
-How she "talks."
-Her dramatic, pitiful, girly cries.
-Her beautiful eyes and fuzzy head.
-The gumminess.
-The slow blink when she's smiling really big.
-How she has so much head control when I hold her upright. She's adorable when she's looking around at everything. I still love the little head bobs though.
-The smell of her Pampers Swaddlers. (Obviously not when they're dirty.)
-I love that I got to buy her some toys (rattles) yesterday. I also pimped out her playmat and now she has a little doo-da hanging from every available spot. She loves it.

Annabeth, you are such a joy. What a happy 4 months it has been! We love you!

Disney Trip: Blizzard Beach

I know that one day I'll be so glad I meticulously recorded every detail of our Disney trip, but these posts are wearing me out! Hopefully I can finish soon.

Typhoon Lagoon, one of the two Disney waterparks, opened in 1989. The commercials on the Disney Channel looked so cool and I desperately wanted to go there. My family finally made the Disney pilgrimage when we were in junior high, but Typhoon Lagoon was not on the agenda. Bummer. When we decided to do this trip I made Curt promise that we would go there. That's when we found out Blizzard Beach was supposedly better for little kids. So I surrendered my lifelong dream for the sake of my three-year-old and we went there instead.

Blizzard Beach was one of my favorite days of our trip. I will speak for myself and say that by this time I really needed a break from the stroller and from the heat. (When we do it again one day, we will put the water park day right in the middle of the trip instead of toward the end.) Cozy was so generous to stay back at the hotel with Annabeth. It felt amazing to be footloose and fancy free without the stroller and without - I'm sorry to say this - my big ole camera. I hate not having pictures of that fun day, but it would have been too much trouble to deal with that at a water park. Without Annabeth and without my picture-taking responsibilities, I was able to completely focus on having fun with Jackson.

Blizzard Beach is like a water park built into a ski resort. It was immaculately clean, not very crowded, and creatively planned. There are some rides situated at the top of a "mountain" and you can get on a ski lift to take you up there. We used that a couple of times until we got tired of waiting in line for it.

We arrived early and got a couple of chairs (that we never used) under the shade in the kids section. The first thing we did was get on the ski lift. That took us to a ride called Teamboat Springs. There was no height limit on it, as it was designed for families to do together. You sit in this big round raft and go down lots of turns and small dips. It was a really great ride and our first time to see how Jackson would handle the slides. I honestly wasn't sure what his reaction would be, but he loved it and wanted to do it again and again.

After that we tried out the Snow Stormers waterslides in the preteen section. Jackson had to go down by himself on a tube and he did great. Then we played in Tike's Peak, which is the area for little kids. There were some fun slides that Jackson liked. It was weird that he was too old to enjoy some of the things he would've liked last summer.

We decided to venture into other parts of the park that we hadn't seen yet. It was hard to tell what everything was and which things Jackson could do. Surprisingly, it seemed like there were a lot of rides he was tall enough for, even without his rigged up tennis shoes. Curt or I would try something first and then we would determine if Jackson could do it. We did the Runoff Rapids with him in a double tube. We also did some kind of toboggan ride that he went on by himself. He came out with a huge smile. The wave pool was also really fun and the lazy river was nice for being lazy.

For lunch I finally broke down and had a salad. Then to balance out my universe we had to get a bag of donuts from a vendor in the park. They were possibly some of the best things I have ever eaten. They were small, cakey, hot out of the fryer, and sprinkled with sugar. The donuts were actually our strategy for getting me, I mean Jackson, out of the park without tears. Very good move, I believe.

The last thing we did before getting donuts was ride Teamboat Springs one more time. That was when we climbed all the steps to the top of the mountain. By the afternoon, the pavement was so stinking hot that our feet were on fire. There were a bunch of people trying to climb the stairs at once and everyone was shouting and squealing from the pain. Only a few spots on the ground were wet or in the shade, so we'd go as fast as we could from one six-inch oasis to another, shouting about how much it hurt along the way. We'd stop at each wet patch for a couple seconds, take a deep breath, and run to the next one. I didn't think my feet would ever be the same. We enjoyed our last ride, though. Curtis even slipped out of the float and flopped into the water when he was trying to get out. In front of people. Laughing, pointing people. Just kidding, babe. I was the only one laughing and pointing.

In summary, Blizzard Beach was awesome and I hope we can do it again someday. Has anyone been to both water parks? What did you think?

That evening we had dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon Cafe. I had a bad feeling about that place from the start. Curt had been so excited for us to go there because, he said, "That's where the waiters are real mean to you." Um, Curtis, do you even know your wife? I like nice people. He said it would all be in good fun.

So we waited 30 minutes to be seated even though we had a reservation. It was now 8:30 and Jackson was turning into a pumpkin, as we like to say. It became clear after sitting down for one minute that he needed a little spanking, so Curt took him to the bathroom. Meanwhile our waitress came over to get things started. She asked where they had gone and I told her they were in the bathroom dealing with a discipline issue. (My bad. I did not need to have told her that.) They returned while she was still there, and as I was instructing Jackson to sit on his bottom in the chair, the waitress stepped in and said, "Oh, let me handle this." Then she proceeded to be all kinds of rude to my child - who was already feeling sensitive from his spanking - and tell him how to behave. Jackson looked at me like he was about to cry. Anyone with a bit of sense could have seen the tears coming. (It's so tragic when a little boy tries to be so big and not cry. They learn that so young!) I said, "Baby, it's okay, she's just teasing you." And she kept it up. By the time I could get him in my arms he was crying. My child was crying. At a restaurant in Disney World. Because of the waitress. What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong with me that I did not tear her head off? I was not amused. That lady was just a butt. It's so unfortunate because the waiter at the table next to us was hilarious and silly and his people were having a great time.

Another memorable thing about that night was that I broke my rule about not having Mexican food since it could only ever disappoint. But I was just desperate for some spice! The restaurant actually served BBQ, but that did not sound good to me at all. I ordered a vegetarian enchilada. And apparently at Disney World they like to flavor enchiladas with BBQ sauce. That's all I'm saying.

The tableside misadventure was an unfortunate end to a great day, but no big deal. Before going to sleep, we watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the little balcony of our room. We were just thrilled to be there and so blessed.

Annabeth on her day with Nana. She's loves her Nana!


Cozy, Jackson and Curtis played in the arcade while I got ready for dinner. It takes me a while, you know.




Something was very interesting, although I know not what.


Priceless.


I love this picture because he looks so little in it.




At dinner. Now in this picture he looks older than he is.




I was trying to take a picture of the line Jackson drew on his forehead in the midst of his crayon frenzy. You can't really see it though.














Having looked at these pictures again, maybe we did have a great time at dinner.

I Ain't Sharing My Calcium

I have a very deep need for randomness tonight. Are you ready? Can you deal with this?!?! (Imagine some insane martial arts moves.)

Item 1:
When I had my annual appointment a couple of weeks ago, I got in a little trouble for not taking vitamins. Right now my mom is thrilled that someone else stepped in to nag me about this. Y'all, I usually lie and say I am taking them, but look! The Lord is growing me. My wonderful nurse practitioner told me that if I am not taking calcium then my body is going to take it out of my bones to give it to the baby. Uh, gross. I love you, Annabeth, but I do not want to give you my calcium. I have goals for my senior citizen years, and they do not include having a broken hip while I'm livin' it up with the Red Hat Society. So I'm trying to be a good girl and take my calcium pills and my prenatal vitamins. (You should know that if you drink plenty of milk you don't need to take calcium while you're nursing. As for me, if I drank a glass of milk I would hate myself for 24 hours. You have no idea how much I'd like to down a big ole carton of chocolate milk though.)

Item 2:
Jackson started swim lessons tonight. He's going twice a week for the next month. Not only will this give him something exciting and fun to do, but it will also help us have more fun with him at the pool this summer.

Our whole family attended the first lesson. I wish I had some pictures, but I had left my camera at my mom's house last week. Bummer. During the lesson he was with one "coach" and one other little boy. I'd signed him up for a certain beginning level for kids who have no skills in the water and also have no fear. They are the kids who think it would be awesome to jump right in and then they'd sink straight to the bottom. I was a little apprehensive that I had picked the wrong level for him, but I knew within 30 seconds that I was right. He was lives for the water.

Curt and I watched from an observation room. We were laughing so hard that we were nearly crying. Please picture the most excited, energetic, ants-in-his-pants, wide-eyed, and LOUD little boy you've ever known, add Jackson's face to him and you've got it. He was operating at a level 10 throughout the whole lesson. His coach probably didn't know what hit her. There was a box of pool toys next to their station and that nearly sent him over the edge. This was the happiest day of his life. I'm not sure if it was the other little boy's happiest day. If he likes being splashed by another 3-year-old, then maybe. I fully expected his coach to tell us he needed private lessons because he's such a handful that she can't even concentrate on the other kid, but she didn't. It's a good thing because the private lessons cost twice as much!

Item 3:
I've lost a couple more pounds. Yay. But I'm nearly bald. Boo. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but I do have an obvious bald spot above my right temple. The left side has some catching up to do. Y'all, the hair loss is so bad that I have to clean out my brushes every day. The bathroom trash can is filled with little bird nests made of my hair. Isn't that a lovely picture? I'm getting it cut on Saturday. Hopefully I won't send my stylist running for the hills when she brushes it out.

Item 4:
Are you reading Missy's blog - It's Almost Naptime? She is so stinking funny. You need to read her, particularly if you have or want to have a large family. I especially loved her post today about having to take her 4 kids to Kroger. I cannot even handle my two at the grocery store. I tried it last week and when I was looking for some gourmet ingredient like Rotel, Jackson grabbed a glass bottle of hot sauce off the shelf and held it out like he was going to drop it and see how far it would splatter. At that moment I knew his arms had gotten too long and he was no longer safe to take, even with a baggie of snacks.

Well, I've had So You Think You Can Dance on pause for too long. Gotta get to it. Peace!

From a Faint Line to a Four-Month-Old

One year ago we found out we were pregnant with sweet Annabeth. On May 31 we were on a little family vacation in San Antonio. I took an early detection test before we left for Sea World that morning. At first the test only showed one line, which indicated it was negative, but a few minutes later a very, very faint second line appeared. So faint, in fact, that Curtis wouldn't believe it. So I celebrated in my own heart that whole day. A new baby was coming.

When we got back to Houston the next day, I bought another test and the line was totally legit. There was no debating it. We were having another baby!

That night, June 1, I began a new blog about the pregnancy. It only has 20 entries, but they are so sweet to me. I kept it private because I wasn't ready to divulge my happy secret to the world yet. I think I only sent the address and password to my mom and Curtis in case anything should happen to me. Annabeth might like to read everything I wrote to her before I even knew her.

Here's an entry I wrote on June 19, 2008.

Dear Baby,
This morning your mommy and daddy got to see you on an ultrasound screen. You are still so tiny - not even half of a centimeter! But you have a working, beating heart. The ultrasound technician said your heart had probably only been beating for two days. I wonder what I was doing when your precious heart began to beat? A sacred moment was happening in there and I didn't even know it! The Lord knows exactly when it began and He even knows exactly how many beats you've had up until this very moment. How many beats will there be until we meet face to face in nine months? We are so excited about your life, darling baby. Now that we know for sure you're in there, we get to start telling our friends and family. They will be so excited. Your big brother Jackson is too young to understand right now, so we will wait to tell him for a few more months. We love you, littlest one!
Love,
Mommy

Today that little bean is almost 4 months old. I can hardly believe it. Even Jackson has commented on how big Annabeth is getting. Oh, fun days are ahead! This morning I had her in the Bumbo seat in the living room. I had to go in the kitchen and make a snack for Jackson, and while I was doing that he entertained her with her cute little fishbowl toy. She was loving it.

My life is so full. As my mom says, "All this and Jesus, too?"