No time for a title

This is a post to make myself feel better about, well, myself so that I can say I've blogged this month.  It's driving me crazy that I haven't written in awhile.  I've had so many good ideas to blog about and I haven't done any of them!  I promise I'll catch you up sometime soon.  My problem is that when I DO have time to sit down and write, I want to write about 5 different blogs, enough for a whole week!  I know nobody wants to read 5 at a time, but as far as I know, there's no way to write a post and set this thing to post at a certain date.  Is there?  I admit, I'm probably the least knowledgeable person about blogs and how to operate them.  Anyways, that's my post.  It is what it is.  :-)

Back to Reality

A couple weeks ago, things were abruptly put into perspective for me.  WARNING:  This will be a pretty somber post.  Stop reading if you are looking for something funny.

The first week of school is always CRAZY.  This year, things got busy right after I got back from our National Sales Meeting and I felt like I was working non-stop earlier than normal.  I had no idea how crazy it would get.  The Friday before classes started at Baylor, I found out that a custom book we had done for them was the wrong edition.  This was a huge deal.  It was so bad.  I was busy dealing with that and trying to make it to a training at BU in the morning and then heading to Temple for another training when my sister kept calling me.  I couldn't answer because I was with customers and then some other things came up so it was a couple hours later before I called her back.  What she had to say snapped me back to reality quicker than I could imagine....

One of her friends from high school, Maggie Moreau Meers, had been driving her little girl Avery, 6, to her friend's house which was about a mile away.  She also had her 3-year old son, Callan, in the car with her.  Apparently, she hit something in the road that caused her to lose control of the Tahoe she was driving and when she overcorrected, the car flipped and then hit a tree.  All three of them were ejected from the car.  Maggie was able to call 911 and the friend whose house they were on their way to.  All three were alive when the first responders arrived but little Callan didn't make it.  He passed away before the ambulance could get him to the hospital.  Avery escaped with a broken collar bone and Maggie suffered several broken bones and almost had to have surgery.  She found out about her baby boy when they realized she wouldn't have to have surgery.  Can you imagine?  You're taking your kids to play at a friend's house and then all of a sudden your life is turned completely upside down.  It makes my heart hurt to just think about it.  Avery and Callan were absolutely everything to Maggie. She was a wonderful mom and you can see the happiness in their faces on her Facebook page's pictures. 

As you can imagine, I immediately dropped what I was doing and went to pick up Robert Alan.  I just needed him in my arms.  My mom and Brittney headed to Abilene to be with Maggie, her husband, Bryan, and the rest of their families. 

Maggie and the family have been so strong.  I cannot imagine the heartbreak and the loss.  Apparently, her husband has been very understanding and they are strong in their faith, so they are calling on the Lord to help them through this.  If you're interested, you can see Callan's obituary and information on where to contribute here. 

The Meers family will be living with Maggie's parents for awhile until they have time to process what has happened and are ready to go back to the house where they all used to live.  Can you imagine?  I'd never be able to walk back into his room again.  It's such a sobering event that reminds you how quickly everything can be taken away.  I think my mom may have explained how to deal with it best.  She said, "When this happened to a lady I knew when you were about 2 years old, I just realized that you ultimately aren't mine, you are God's.  I am just here to take care of you for Him and to do the best I can.  When God is ready, you'll go back to be with Him."  There's not much comfort in this, but it helped me to realize that Callan is definitely in a happier place.  He'll get to experience life in Heaven!

My prayer to the Meers-Moreau family:

Dear Lord,

Please wrap your loving arms around the Meers family.  Please be with Avery as she struggles to heal from her wounds and learns to live life without her little brother.  Please help her to remember all the good times they had in the few years they were together.  May she always have fond memories of her brother and may she live a long, happy life and bring joy to him.

God please be with Maggie and she struggles through this situation.  Please heal her neck, her back, her legs and all her physical wounds.  Please do not allow the enemy to allow her to place any sort of blame on herself.  It could have happened to anyone.  God please help her to see the sunshine each day at some point during the day.  Please allow her to enjoy Avery's smile and continue to be a good mom to her daughter.  Please let her allow Bryan to love her through this.  Please wrap Maggie in her arms and let her feel Your warmth and love, peace and sovereignty. 

Lord God please be with Bryan as he tries to lead his family through this tragedy.  Thank you, God, for his strength and his love for Maggie, Avery, and Callan.  I pray that You will help him through this and give him the words and the actions to help Maggie and Avery through this.  Lord please help them to take the time to mourn.  To grieve.  To cry.  To hurt.  Please then allow them to see that there is tomorrow.  Please give them something to look forward to.  I pray that You will be with Bryan and Maggie's marriage and that they will cling to each other and to You throughout this process.  I pray that whatever counselors they may talk to will have the right words at the right time.

God please heal this family.

In Your name I pray,

Amen.

Ode to Blog Readers

Before I begin this, I must confess:
1.)  I was an English major
2.)  Although I remember explicating "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Song of Myself," I had to look up "what is an ode" on ask.com so that I could do this correctly.  I won't, though, because it takes too much effort.
3.)  The two glasses of wine I just had have affected me more than normal.  Thus, the lack of effort.

Here goes.....  :-)

Ahem.....

Ode to My Blog Readers

To those of you who read my blog

And kindly decide to comment,

You are much loved--more than a frog.

You don't make me want to vomit.

I know that there are only three or so

of you who read consistently.

Wait, I think there's only four people in all

who about my blog even know.

I appreciate every comment you see,

Because each one of them makes me feel tall...

(er, significant but it didn't fit in with the rhyme scheme)

To the one of you who doesn't feel fit

To comment on what you read,

Don't you worry, I won't throw a fit (sorry for the duplicate word)

I'll just mock your stalker-like deed.

In fact, a blog-stalker is how I will feel

about you as long as I'm aware

that you read this blog and don't feel it necessary

to let me know that you're indeed real.

It's okay, go ahead........if you dare.

I know it's because you're a scaredy...

(pants--again, doesn't fit the rhyme).

There you have it.  A TWO-STANZA, traditional English ode, ladies and gentleman.  (and I mean, the two ladies and one gentleman who are reading) :-)  I've decided that I love it when I get comments, and the only reason I wish everyone commented is because I'm curious as to how many actually are reading this silly thing......still......   :-)  Am I kidding myself?  The two that leave comments are probably the only two that read!  Bless their hearts.  Whatever.  I'm out.

My angel is a lot less sarcastic at this point than I am.

The Lake!

One of my favorite things to do when I was growing up was to go to the lake. If my parents had owned a lake house, I might likely have been known as a lake rat. I loved it. I loved to use my friends for their lake houses. :-) I think I was in college when my parents finally broke down and bought a couple Sea Doos. I used them as much as I could, even conning them into bringing them all the way to Tyler, TX, so that I could play on them one weekend when I was a summer camp counselor.

Robert Alan made his debut at the lake this weekend. Brittney's fiance, Clay, has a lake house at Lake Granbury and it is, well, AWESOME to say the least. It's actually his parents' house, but who's counting? Anyways, we've been wanting to go for awhile, but things always came up every weekend, so we finally made the trip. It was perfect. Only 1.5 hours from Waco and a very pretty drive at that. The house is beautiful, like nice enough to live in full-time. It has a pool, hot tub, outdoor kitchen, and dock with jet ski and boat. We didn't get on the boat or the jet ski, Clay and Nick did, but RA and I had plenty of fun in the pool looking at the lake. He was wonderful during the trip. There were no interruptions in his sleeping patterns (by the way, does anyone else's kid wake up at 5:00 a.m. every morning, talk to themselves, and then go back to sleep around 6:00 until around 7:00? Just wondering because mine does. I have a feeling it's not normal. It's also probably not normal that I ignore him during that time and continue to sleep as best I can....but I digress.) He ate well, even though we didn't have a high chair. In fact, we successfully managed to use his Bumbo finally. Remember when his thighs got caught in it several months ago and he was very unhappy sitting in it? Well, those days are long gone. I think he actually enjoyed sitting in it. He had more freedom to try to grab everything around him than he does in his high chair.

RA also made his first trip to Wally World over the weekend. David and I didn't want him to wake everyone else up in the house when he got up in the morning, so we decided to go buy a cheap, smaller stroller so that we could walk him around the neighborhood for a little while. I have the best stroller ever at home, but it's not really the kind that you would keep in your car and take to the mall with you, although I have a couple times, so I thought it would be good to go ahead and get one and keep it in the car. Well, our little jaunt to Wal Mart lasted over 45 minutes as we had to buy David some shirts (he left his hanging in our room in Waco because I was rushing him out the door too quickly he said), and then we found some Rangers gear for RA which, of course, we had to buy. Well, needless to say, we bought the stroller, but by the time we got home, people were up and ready to play, so it never escaped the box it came in. Oh well. At least we have one for next time.

While I'm on the subject of Wal Mart, might I say that I can't stand the place? Nothing seems to be where it would logically go, and the clientelle are less than desirable. I almost got into an argument with a lady there, and I was in a particularly good mood that day, so it took a lot to irritate me. Here's the scoop: David found a Rangers shirt that he wanted for himself, to match RA, of course, and he needed me to find him an XL. As I was going through the shirts, all I could find were XXL and 3XL, so I'm going deeper and deeper into this cavern of shirts. Meanwhile, this lady and her two teenage daughters (I'm guessing) walk up to the row of shirts next to me. They don't find what they want there, so they proceed to start looking at the row of shirts that I'm looking at. I quickly find myself pinned in by 3 women who obviously have never heard of the concept of wait your turn, don't push others, and chill out about the Wal Mart t-shirts! I couldn't believe it! I backed out as best I could and said, under my breath but as loudly as I could under my breath, "Excuse us!" David freaked out. "Maybe there are some over here, dear!" he exclaimed as he walked to the other side of the grid so that we could get out of sight and earshot of the 3 little piggies. "Traci," he said. "Calm DOWN!" "David," I said. "Can you believe what they just did?!" "Traci, it's Wal Mart," said my every-so-calm-and-rational husband. "Consider the source and chill out." "Oh yeah. Wal Mart, land of the dilinquent shoppers who don't know how to act in public," I thought to myself as I slowly stopped the steam from shooting out my ears. In the end, the heffers left, David found an XL shirt, and we went on our merry way, but if that happens to me again next time I'm in Wal Mart (and there's a reason why RA has never been there before--I avoid it at all costs), well, you can imagine what I'll do. :-)

So, enough about Wal Mart---back to the lake. I got really excited on our ride home thinking about how RA and his cousins are going to grow up together going to the lake all the time. I can't wait to put them on the banana and pull them behind the boat, although I believe he'll have to wait until he's 14 and mom feels comfortable with him being on such a dangerous thing. I don't think I'll even want him on a boat until he's 5 or so.....okay, maybe 3. :-) I am excited about the experiences they'll have and the stories they'll tell as they grow up and have fond family memories of the lake. I have those same memories, and I am so happy to have the chance to provide that for my son. Below are some pics that Aunt B took this weekend....

"Good morning, Everybody!  Let's play!"

Trying really hard to get to the dog outside.

"Hey Mom!  Can you come help me?"

Maybe I can slide this door open...

If I could just get through this glass, I could kiss that thing on the other side!

Dad sleeping.  Not abnormal.

My kid does not know how to smile for the camera.

There is way too much stuff to do at the lake.  We had a hard time focusing on the bottle.

Aunt B made me model the Big Red Hat.

I found my belly button.  It's so cool.

Hanging out with Funcle Nick in the big boy rocking chair.

Finally!  Smiling at the camera in the outdoor kitchen.

 

"Wow, Dad!  That's a big bathtub!"

Fourth of July

We had the best fourth of July weekend! David and I, my sister and her fiance, and another couple friend of ours, the Peels, all went to Austin and stayed at Barton Creek Resort & Spa for two nights. No kids. It was heavenly. We stayed in a villa that had three bedrooms and a huge living room and kitchen, granite, double oven, everything. We cooked dinners both nights, and Jenny made the best french toast I've ever had. Everything was so great and it was nice to get away for a couple nights and not have any responsibilities over another human being. Don't get me wrong, I missed my little man, but I also REALLY enjoyed my time away. You might say my chatty side came out a time or two after a couple really good banana daq's.

At Cattle Baron's Ball the night Brittney got engaged!

Meanwhile, back in Wack-town, my mom was keeping Robert Alan. They had a good time together, and she took some pics for me. It wasn't all good, though. Monday morning as we were leaving, my mom called and asked if we were on our way. She told me RA had been running a fever since about 10:00 Sunday night. Turns out he had an upper-respiratory infection, we think, and he ran somewhere between 99 & 102 for the next three days. It was miserable for both of us. If I hadn't had the getaway before, I'm not sure I could have come out on the other end of the illness as together as I did. It was his first time to be sick, so it was especially hard because I couldn't really help him. It was sad, but we're all better now, thank the Lord, and we'll be heading to the pool as much as possible in the next coming weeks since I'm about to have to go back to work soon. (Yuck. ...Not really. I'm ready, but work's work, right?)

"Happy Independence Day, Everyone!"

Okay, that's it. Talk to you later.

We've Moved!

It's done. It's final. We've moved. It's bittersweet, too. I went to the "old house" yesterday and got really sad when I went through it and nothing was there. I miss my hardwood floors and my new cabinets and my bathrooms and my walk-in shower and the rain shower head and my office with shelves and everything about it. In honor of my "old house" I'll post some pics some day. I've just spent entirely too long waiting on them to load. Maybe another day I'll have more patience. Probably not, but one can hope, right? Now I have to move on. I'm excited about living next door to David's parents. It's already been a huge help and so convenient. They are great neighbors, not to mention quite possibly the best land lords you could ask for. I mean, who puts granite in for renters? Melanie has also been working on our front garden and they've already mowed for us twice. I think I can get used to this. :-)

Meanwhile, RA cut three top teeth and turned 8 months old. He's such a mess. He's obsessed with opening and closing doors. Any door. It could be the front door, it could be the bathroom door, it could be doors on cabinets. He's happy as long as he can open and close them. We've had a couple pinched fingers, but that still doesn't stop him. He's a maniac. We've decided that whenever he starts whining and crying and not acting like his usual, sweet and happy self, we're going to call him "Roberto" (said in a heavy Mexican accent). Roberto has been gracing us with his presence a little bit lately, but I think he's about to leave for awhile and we'll get to enjoy our sweet Robert Alan now that his teeth are fully in. I'm loving this age right now. He's fun to play with, but he'll also play in his play pen on his own for awhile. He can do new things, like eat apples on his own, and I can tell he's trying to check things out. We also had to put his bed on the lowest ring so that when he stands up, which will be very soon, he can't get out of his crib. I love when he wakes up and I go in and he's sitting up smiling at me. That's his newest trick--sitting up from a crawling stance. He's great. Life's great. I'll miss my house, but we're working towards something better and I can handle having dinner offered to me about every other night for awhile. :-)

Talk to you soon!

Just Playing

I came across these pictures and thought they were semi-cute. Truth be told, I started this post over a month ago and forgot it was saved in my drafts.

Cool kid in the sunglasses...staring blankly into space.

"Ummm, mom, I'm not sure what to think of these sunglasses."

"Finally! Back to normal!"

"Hey! What's that in your hand? I wanna eat it!"

"Oh, Frog, you're too funny."

"Go go Gadget Arms!"

"Mmmmm, now I got you!"

"Life is soooo good."

Scary Experience

Yesterday I may have had the scariest experience of my life, aside from when I was almost struck by lightning, but that's another story. David and I had just gotten back from Abilene, and RA went down for his nap. When he woke up, we decided to go over to Melanie and Larry's house to see them and to check out the house we're going to be renting. We were on Bosque heading towards Highway 6, and a car came around the curve literally swerving all over the road. It was zig-zagging everywhere, and then it did a 360, I think once, maybe twice. It was so crazy. I stopped the car, but then I got to thinking, what if it doesn't stop? I don't have anywhere to go! Finally it came to a stop about 10 yards away from us. All traffic was stopped on both sides just trying to stay out of his way. I don't know what happened, but he ended up perpendicular to traffic. He pulled his car forward, put it in park and got out to get his cowboy hat that had flown out the window during the ride and then continued on down the side street. I was shaking I was so scared. What would I have done if he had hit us? I couldn't have gone anywhere and he would have hit us on my side, which is also the side that RA sits on. It was so scary. I'm glad we're all okay and that no one was hurt, but it got me to thinking, driving is so dangerous and I take it for granted too often. I need to start being more mindful of what's going on around me and having an out for any situation. I'm also done texting in the car. Oprah has a pledge right now called the "No Phone Zone" pledge. I think I might take it, although I don't think I'll stop talking on the phone. I will definitely stop texting, though. Okay, ya'll take care and be careful driving!

Lots of Updates

So it's been over a month since I last posted something. I feel bad because I know I'll forget something major (or what I would say is major), and I wanted to write more often so that I could remember certain things Robert Alan did and know when he did them. Oh well. Here's what I want to cover: mine and RA's trip to A-town for Jamie's graduation, Mother's day, RA crawling, Memorial Day weekend, our house, and maybe some other stuff, but I think that'll be long enough for now.

So the 6th and 7th month of RA's life have come and gone. He's almost 7.5 months old now! I can't believe it. During his 6th month, he and I took our first road trip alone. Brittney actually rode to Abilene with us so that we could go to Jamie's college graduation. It was a horrible trip down there. He cried all but 30 minutes of it, and it's a 3 hour trip. It was awful. We enjoyed our stay, though, and I got to really let loose and enjoy myself. My parents hosted a party at their house the night Jamie graduated, and during one of the toasts I was having so much fun that I said, "Amen!" instead of Cheers! Oops. I felt very sacreligious (sp?). I asked for forgiveness, though, and moved on. :-)

The kid loves to eat paper. Don't ask me why.

Hanging out with Aunt B in the lobby. "Graduation is boring, Mom!"

He loved Aunt B's necklaces, so we put them on him so he could chew endlessly.

Such a cool little kid.

Conked out at the restaurant.

Jamie's graduation was the same weekend as Mother's Day, so it was nice to see my mom that day. We left early, though, so that we could get back to Waco and carry on with the plans we had already made for my first mother's day (you see, we didn't realize Jamie's graduation was Mother's Day weekend until a couple days before, so we had already made arrangements to have lunch with David's mom at her house, etc.). I was driving back to Waco by myself with Robert Alan and I was so nervous, but he was perfect! Where he had cried all but 30 minutes of the trip to Abilene, he only cried the last 30 minutes of the trip back to Waco. It was wonderful, and I thought that it was the perfect gift for Mother's day. He was so sweet and quiet the whole time. He'd doze off for a little while and then wake up and just quietly look around. Then he'd go back to sleep for a bit. It was wonderful.

I enjoyed my first Mother's Day. David got me a sweet card and RA did too. David also got us a travel DVD player and a stand to install in the car so that RA can watch DVD's when we're on road trips. I was so proud of him for doing this because I had mentioned to him how awful the drive to Abilene was with a screaming baby in the back and that I wanted to go buy a DVD player. He picked up on it and got it for me! So sweet. I also got to take a nap, which is a really good gift as well. All in all, it was a good day.


We've been having so much fun lately. It seems like when Robert Alan turned 6 months old, he became so happy. We had a week or so where he was mad all the time and he would do an awesome "mad face" where he squeezed his fist, frowned, pooched out his lips and snorted in and out through his nose. It was absolutely hillarious. I couldn't help but laugh each time he did it, so he did it a lot, even when he wasn't mad, just to make me laugh I think. I think he did that because he was frustrated with being unable to move and get where he wanted to go. Now, though, he has started army crawling, so he's able to get pretty much anywhere he wants, though he doesn't venture much further than his blanket. He's too lazy to get up on all fours, so he tries to pull himself with his arms. Since last night, he's been using his feet and legs a little more, though. I think he'll probably be crawling normally in the next couple weeks. We'll see.


He's also giving awesome kisses. We say, "Give me a kiss" and he opens his mouth as wide as possible and presses up against your mouth, cheek, arm, whatever he's closest to. It's a very wet, very slobbery kiss and I usually have to wipe my cheek off afterwards, but I love it! Sometimes, when he really wants to show me he loves me, he blows a sherbert on my cheek. I love it and can't get enough of it. What I don't love, though, is that he bites down, sometimes, and could, if he wanted to, take a piece out of my cheek, arm, or whatever it is he's "kissing." I might need to start calling him Mike Tyson. He really bites hard and he left a bruise on my cheek this weekend. Ouch! I can't get mad at him, though. He doesn't know any better and he's really just trying to show me he loves me.

Chillin' in the jumper outside. "What's up, Mom?!"

He also loves noses. He tries to grab everyone's nose all the time. It's hillarious. I am having so much fun with him, and I'm so glad we've been able to spend more time with each other lately. This past weekend, we went to Abilene. We were there from Thursday until Tuesday. It was a great getaway, though I wouldn't call it a vacation. David calls it a vacation, but he got to golf every day for 4 straight days and pretty much do as he pleased. I enjoyed being home and getting away from work, but I still had the same duties as I do every day. My mom did offer to keep RA quite a bit so that I could go watch the guys play golf and we had a babysitter a couple nights so that we could go out. It really was a good time had by all. Robert Alan and I enjoyed getting some sun on our skin. Brittney had recently told me she'd never seen me so white. Thanks, sis. :-) We swam every day we were there. He loves the water, and it would wear him out so he slept really well all weekend. I worried the whole time about him sunburning, though. I need to get over that. I'm sure I will after a couple more days at the pool. I just don't anything to happen to his baby-soft skin!


I can't think of anything else that happened in Abilene (besides the fact that we got him an awesome horse-print baby-sized recliner, picture to come), so I'll move on. In the last month, we also decided we would sell our house. It was a hard decision for us because we worked so hard on this house. When we bought it a little over a year ago, we completely gutted it and re-did everything. The only thing we left was the kitchen and laundry room tile. Everything else came out and we turned it into an awesome house. I love it and don't want to leave it. However, we sold it over the weekend! I think it was on the market for a couple weeks, and the first couple that looked at it bought it. It's very bittersweet. I'm excited about the next phase in our lives, but I'm also sad to leave something that I like so much. I've never been attached to a house before like I am to this one. I know that I'll like another house more than this one, but I guess it's harder for me because it won't be the next house that I like more than this one. We've decided to make a little bit of a weird decision (some would say a very weird decision) and rent a smaller house from David's parents while we work really hard to save money to either buy or build our dream house. The house we'll be renting is a lot smaller than the one we currently live in and it won't have nearly as nice finishes and ours does either. It'll be hard for us to refrain from putting money into it, but I think that's what will help us save faster---not spending money on renovations and trying to get out of the house and into a better house quickly. I'm also very excited about the neighborhood we'll be living in. While it's not as nice as the one we are in now, it's one of those neighborhoods where people know each other and talk to their neighbors. Of course, we'll know our next door neighbors because they are David's parents, but I'm excited about getting to know the others. The ones on the other side of Melanie and Larry's house are really nice and their daughter, Myla, is 3 days younger than RA, so he'll have an automatic playmate that I'm excited about. I'll also enjoy not having to drive across town 2-4 times a day to drop him off and pick him up from Melanie's. She'll just be a couple steps away now! Next time I forget my cell phone, I won't have to drive 15 minutes back to go get it. (Quick sidenote: I forget things all the time, but the latest and best is me forgetting food at the drive-thru. Yes, it really happened. I gave the girl my money, she gave me my change, and I drove away without the food. I got a couple blocks away and realized I didn't have any food, so I had to turn around and go back through the drive-thru. I said, "Umm, I just came through the drive-thru and I forgot my food." She said, "We wondered where you went. Pull on through." Good grief.) So, we sold the house this weekend and the closing date is in 17 days! I can't believe it! I never thought we would close so quickly. It'll be a quick turnaround, but we're going to have the movers pack and move us. I've never done that before, so we'll see how that goes. It can't be bad, I mean, packing really stinks, so if someone else will do it for me, why not, right?


So what else has been going on you ask? Well, I was in the hospital the week before last week with kidney stones. What?! Seriously. I went to happy hour with some friends, and towards the end, my back and stomach started really hurting. I thought maybe it was just really bad cramps and I wasn't used to it, but it was horrible pain. I drove back home trying to have a conversation with a friend from Houston, and when I arrive at the house, I had to get off the phone with her because I was hurting so bad. I ended up going to the hospital. They diagnosed me with food poisoning (from sushi, most likely) AND a huge kidney stone. I had to go the next day to the hospital for surgery to have it removed since it was 8mm and you can only pass one smaller than 6mm. Nice. So they did the surgery, put a stint in, gave me some meds, and sent me home packing. The meds were nice, but I always hate taking those things for fear I'll like it too much, so I only took two and then dealt with it. By the way, if anyone has ever had a kidney stone, you know how painful it is, but I'll just say that it's worse than the worst contraction I had with Robert Alan, and I'm not too far removed from that experience to have forgotten what that felt like. It really is worse than labor. It sucks. And the stint is almost as bad. It's not painful but is extremely uncomfortable and makes you feel like you have to go to the bathroom all the time. I was so happy to have it taken out last week. That sucked too, and the pain afterwards was really bad (bad enough for me to think I had another stone and to take a pain pill), but now I'm back to normal and feeling good. In fact, I'm feeling like I'm ready to start doing P90X and paying attention to what I eat more closely. I want to get into really good shape and I do NOT want to have another stone ever again. Whatever it takes to make that happen, I'll do.


So, that's the last several weeks in a nutshell ("Oh look! I'm in a nutshell!") Sorry. I couldn't resist. RA's crawling and kissing, I had a brief stay in the hospital, and we're packing and moving. Life's crazy and I'm lovin' it! Talk to you later!

Mother's Day Out

So, I signed Robert Alan up for Mother's Day Out on Monday. It was a crazy day. First, I had completely forgotten that I should pay attention to when open enrollments were for MDO's. I knew I wanted RA to be in one starting in the fall so that he can be around other kids, but I guess I just thought that I'd snap my fingers and he'd be in the best one in town, whichever one that is. Well, of course, anything worth being in for kids requires a lot of research and waiting on lists. I realized I had missed a good one when one of my friends posted that she was waiting in line for registration on Facebook. I was in San Marcos working that day. Goodbye, good MDO. Then, during a night out with David, we ran into that same friend and a couple of her friends who told me that they had heard that said really good MDO (Kids' Kastle) had some openings. Glimmer of hope! Woo-hoo! I called the next day. Nope. They did have some openings, but not for his age. The lady I spoke to was avery nice, though, and put us on a waiting list. Smaller glimmer of hope! She also said we could go on the list of "drop-ins" where they would call us anytime a child doesn't come and we can come. "Hi, my name is Traci, and my son is a drop-in."

I called some other places and found out that one I wanted was having open enrollment the following Monday. I thought I wanted this one because I thought one of my friend's little girls goes there. I was excited. Bigger glimmer of hope! On my way to registration Monday morning, I called my friend just to make sure I was thinking correctly, and, BOMBSHELL, I was WAY off! Her daughter goes to Harris Creek. Where in the WORLD had I gotten First Woodway? So I had a mild freak out. I had a delimma on my hands. Do I go ahead and go sign my son up for this unknown MDO at First Woodway Baptist, or do I wait and cross my fingers that he gets pulled up from the bench at Kids' Kastle? I knew of nobody whose kids went to FWB, and, to make matters worse, I couldn't figure out how to even get to the place. I called David, who I always call when something goes wrong. He didn't answer. So I called Brittney, who was keeping RA for me for the day (by the way, I had a presentation in Temple that I was trying to get to while all of this was going on). She texted two of her friends who we thought might have some friends who might know about FWB. David called back. After explaining to him what was going on, he told me that his boss's kid goes to FWB and "a lot of people do and he says it's good." "Okay," I think to myself. "Everything is going to be okay." I mean, it's mother's day out! It's one or two days a week, and only for a couple hours. How bad can one be, right?! So, I went into the church and filled out the paperwork. The lady took my paperwork, asked for a check for supply fees, and that was it. "That's it?" I said. "He's in?" I can't imagine what I looked like at this point.....confused, shell shocked, competitive.....I guess I had in mind I was going to have to wait for hours, maybe get a tour of the facilities, be given the third degree, maybe give a little of my blood, and then challenge a fellow mom to a mother's duel for a spot in mother's day out. Talk about a letdown. :-)

So Robert Alan will be attending First Woodway Baptist's Mother's Day Out program on Tuesday's and Thursday's in the fall! I'm excited about it now, but as I was driving away from the church, I couldn't help but feel a little sad. My little baby boy will be 10 months when he starts MDO. He'll almost be 1! He's growing up way too fast for me, and if I'm this sad now, I can't imagine what I'll be like when I drop him off the first day of kindergarten. I overheard some moms at the registration talking about how sad dropping their kids off the first day of kindergarten was and how they went to a Boo-Hoo Breakfast afterwards for all the moms who just dropped their kids off for their first days of kindergarten. I think that is a GREAT idea. Put me on the waiting list now, please, so that I can get my spot at the Boo-Hoo Breakfast! Or can I be a drop-in?....

Easter Weekend

We recently took a trip to Abilene for Easter weekend. We hadn't been there since January when we went for RA's sip & see, so I was excited for my grandmas to see him. It was a great trip. I'll start with the trip down there (WARNING! If you are easily queezy, then just skip down to the picture below. This is going to get graphic.)

David was able to take off work on Friday, so Thursday night we went out with some friends who were in town from Houston. It was so much fun, and I really hope they move down here---I would love to have them to go out with every now and then. Anyways, because we went out, we slept in Friday morning and got a late start on the trip. We ended up leaving around 12:00, hoping that RA would sleep the whole way. Well, that didn't happen. I think he slept for about half of it, which was fine, but when he woke up, he was a little fussy. David tried to reach back and hold his hand to pacify him, but his whining kept getting louder and louder. Finally, David looked back there and said, "OH MY GOSH! Traci, you have to pull over!" Well, what would run through your head if someone yelled that after looking at your baby? I couldn't decide if he was bleeding, had somehow pulled something over his head, or what. Either way, it scared me to pieces (note to self: tell David to elaborate when something goes wrong). After asking David what was going on, I found out RA had pooped. It didn't seem so urgent, and I couldn't pull over right away because we were on a two-lane rural road without a shoulder, so we had to wait until we got to a town with a gas station. So, when I got out of the car and opened the door, I realized what the big deal was. He had pooped alright. And it had come out of his diaper!!! Disgusting! I had to carry him into the gas station holding him away from me so that I didn't get any on me. Talk about a blow out. Man! It took all the wipes I had to get him cleaned up, and I ended up just throwing the onesie he had on away. It was a cute onesie, too, dang it. Anyways, David was left to clean up the carseat, which he did very well, and then we had a wardrobe change in the car before getting back on the road.

RA snuggling with his Uncle Robert.

When we got to Abilene, David went to hit some golf balls at the Country Club, and mom, Jamie, and I decided to take Robert Alan for his first swim. Fairway has an indoor swimming pool, so it was perfect. He LOVED it, just like he loves his baths. His favorite part was when Aunt J bobbed him up and down in the water. We didn't take his head under water, though. He's had a cold lately, and I just wasn't ready to take that step.

About to start bopping up and down (you will soon notice that

when RA smiles, he really just opens his mouth really wide.)

Finished bopping up and down across the pool. "Do it again, Aunt J!"

Trying to lick the water off his face after he splashed himself while kicking.

And now, we all knew it would come, trying to stuff all his fingers in his mouth to get all the water off them.

Needless to say, Robert Alan slept very well Friday night. Saturday was a big day as well. Robert Alan met his new girlfriend, Hallie. She is my best friend's daughter, who is 6 weeks older than Robert Alan. By the way, all of Robert Alan's girlfriends are older women. He's a fan of baby cougars, I guess. It was funny having both of our kids together. Daron and I couldn't get over how different our lives are now. We just sort of sat there and watched each other's kids play and stared at them, talking about how Hallie could already sit up so well and how much Robert Alan tried to move. He pivots, by the way. That is all he can do. He rolls over to his stomach, and then he pivots on it to turn in a complete circle. He doesn't go anywhere, but he tries really hard to move. I guess facing a different direction by pivoting causes him to think he's going somewhere. Anyways, I was amazed by Hallie's hand-eye coordination, too. She liked one of Robert Alan's new toys that my mom gave him, and she knew exactly what to do with it and how to make it work. I was impressed. I told Robert Alan he should hook up with her (not in that way!) and take some lessons. Keep in mind, this was Robert Alan's first time to meet anyone under the age of 21 and know they were there.

Hallie is very interested in RA. RA isn't so sure he wants any.

RA decides that she's worth his time and gets super excited. Hallie, meanwhile, wonders why he keeps rolling away from the toys. Little does she know he's a one-way roller.

"What the heck is he doing?!"

Get used to it, son. Women rarely understand why boys do what they do. For good reason, too.

After a wardrobe change into a diva-licious outfit, RA decided he wanted to taste Hallie.

RA: "Give me your arm, Hallie!"

Hallie: "Say what?!"

RA: Mom, she won't let me eat her arm!

Love Hallie's face here.

Hallie decides that RA's ear looks tempting.

After Daron tells her she can't pull RA's ear, the meltdown begins and the couple's photo shoot is over.

Sunday was Easter. We debated forever which service to go to in order to fit it into Robert Alan's schedule. He ended up staying with his Aunt B, playing and praying in his exersaucer while the rest of us went to church. When we got back, he had to endure yet another photo shoot. He was a good sport, though.

So proud of this pic. It's the first we have of all 3 of us smiling.

Chillin' with Jefe and Honey.

Reflecting on the recent shoot. He thinks it went well and is happy to be sitting up on his own.

I have to say, I think Robert Alan was at his cutest on Sunday. We went to lunch at Fairway, and some random strangers thought he was so cute that they took a picture of him with their iPhones. Aunt B, the resident fashion diva, couldn't have been prouder. I was happy he kept his hat on.....that said, I'm not so sure he knows where his head is or that he would be able to coordinate his hands to take it off, but oh well. It stayed on for the most part, until David took it off.

At lunch he was super tired, and he fell asleep on me right before dessert. It was really sweet, andI was happy that he was relatively good. It helped that there were 9 people ready and willing to hold him or walk him around if he started getting fussy.

Overall, it was a really good weekend (minus the trip up there---I could've done without that episode). I can't wait to go back. I think our next planned trip will be in May for the Memorial Day golf tournament. By then, the pool should be warm enough for us to get to swim outside. It'll be a fun weekend. The golf tournaments always are.....