Gin, Wine, and Work

No, I'm not talking about gin as in gin and tonic, although, that is a good summer drink! :-) My husband recently learned the card game, gin, from one of the eldest members of our country club, and now we've started playing together. It is wonderful. Whenever Robert Alan goes down for the night, if we feel like it, we play a couple hands. So, we've only played twice, and I have to say that I got beat both times. Not just beat. Annihilated. Completely smashed. It hasn't been pretty. Today, I got beat in less than 30 minutes by more than 100 points. You'd think I don't understand the game. But I do, you see. I guess I just haven't had the good luck David has. Hmmm...I'm not giving up!

Tonight, after having a good talk about being a working mom with David, he cooked me a steak and we accidentally opened a bottle of wine we'd been saving for a special occasion. It's not that we didn't mean to open it. We knew we were opening it, but we were opening it fully expecting it to be corked. We could see the wine was coloring the top of the cork, so we figured it would be corked, taste bad, and we'd open another one. We figured we may as well open it to find out, and it turned out to be AWESOME! It is the best wine I've ever tasted. Our friends Marilyn and Raf gave it to us before we got married (they actually gave us a whole box of various wines and champagnes----a FABULOUS gift!), and we thought we'd drink the ZD (oh yeah, it was a 2002 bottle of vintage ZD Cabernet) on our first anniversity. Well, as you know, I was pregnant on our first anniversary, so I think we decided to save it until our 5th anniversary. However, during the move, it ended up spending some time in a garage, and then, mysteriously, the cork started to show wine on the top of it, so, as far as we knew, that meant that it could be corked. Well, it isn't, and I am enjoying it now as I write this. I highly suggest this bottle, although I just read on an online wine snob site that the best dates for drinking it are 2011-2035 or something like that. If only we'd waited until our 5th anniversary.....oh well. It's pretty dang good right now!

Speaking of being a working mom, I really thought I'd have a harder time going back to work than I have. Don't get me wrong, it's tough, and I've cried, but I am absolutely LOVING being back at work. I love my job. I love my son and I love my job. I am allowed to do both. And I'm capable of doing both well. I know that I am. It's something that I've had to adjust to. I was raised by a stay-at-home mom who did a wonderful job and I always thought that I would do the same. However, I like what I do too much to give it up. I don't think that working means I have to sacrifice time with Robert Alan and I don't think that my working is hurting him one bit. In fact, I think that it's helping me to be a better mom when we are together. I enjoy our time more, and I don't take for granted rocking him to sleep and being around him all day long on the weekends. I love it! I live for it! It's hard to realize that he's learning things that I'm not teaching him (like the fact that he's doing a really good job of pushing up from the floor when he's on his tummy---Gigi is working so much with him and making sure he gets plenty of tummy time), but I also see that he IS doing things that I'm teaching him, like the motor-boat sound. He does it all the time, especially when I do it first. He mimics me. He also does it to his daddy, who, for some odd reason, can't seem to figure out how to make the sound. It's so simple. How can you not make the motor-boat sound? Anyways, like I was saying, he does it to his dad as if to mock the fact that he can't do it back. Ha! I'm raising him well. :-) So....I've cried about not being the one working with him during tummy time, and not being the one who reads to him during the day or plays with him or takes him on walks during the day, but I have realized that a) I'm super blessed and grateful to have someone who loves him who is doing all those things and more with him every day (thanks Gigi, Honey, and Aunt B!), and b) I'm still playing with him at night, reading to him at night, and taking him on walks on the weekends. We're doing all that and more when we're together and I'm loving it. I may change my mind in a year or two (I highly doubt I will), and I know I'm allowed to do that, but the fact that I continue to work just means that he will have a mom who figured out a way to balance her career and her family and nobody suffered or wanted because of it. I'm happy that I have the support of my husband to fall back on when I doubt my abilities to do both well. You see, I don't want to do both if it means that one isn't getting my best, but he reminds me that I am doing a great job at both--I need more reassurance that I'm doing well at being a mom than I do for my job, working is the easy part! Thank you, Dave, for talking me down from the ledge when I begin to doubt myself and my decisions. So, I love being back at work--it feels like I've started a new job that I'm super excited about but I don't have to meet new people and I don't have to prove myself. It's wonderful! I know that the newness will wear off and it won't be new anymore, but I don't think that I've ever really thought about it as my J-O-B. It's something that I do daily that I truly enjoy and am so lucky to have landed in this career, working for the people and the company that I do. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to have a job that I love that allows me the flexibility to still be there for my family when they need me.

Okay, enough mushiness. I'm over it. We think Robert Alan may have a tooth coming in soon. He's been pretty fussy at night lately. Maybe it's because he's been missing his usual super-late afternoon nap....in fact, now that I think about it, that's probably definitely it, but he's also been gumming all his chew toys lately. (That last statement made him sound like a dog...chew toys...hmm). Anyways, if he cuts a tooth, that'll mean his first tooth came in before he was 4 months old. I highly doubt that will happen. I think the more likely explanation is that we're trying to find a reason for him being fussy and really he's just being a sleepy baby.

He is such a sweet kid. Tonight, he started "almost" laughing while David bounced him on his lap and we sang "Are Ya'll Ready for This?!" (we were watching a basketball game and it was on in the background). He loved it!

Well, that's it for now. I'm off to watch (500) Days of Summer. Man! This has been a great day!

Talk to you later!

Roll Over!

Okay, I guess I have to let you in on a little secret to post this. Since Robert Alan was about 4 weeks old, he would NOT sleep on his back without being swaddled, so, sometimes (please don't think I'm a horrible mom for this!) I would lay him on his stomach to nap---begin the scolding. I justified it by checking on him a lot during his nap to make sure he was still breathing....I know, I know, I KNOW! It's wrong and dangerous and very bad of me (I've slapped myself on the hand, okay?!). Well, we don't have to worry about it anymore because Robert Alan is now rolling over in his sleep and ending up on his back. In fact, whenever he does so, he wakes himself up, so now I just lay him on his back to begin with and, while he doesn't fall asleep as quickly, he at least doesn't wake himself up rolling over AND he finally has enough control of his arms not to hit himself in the head and wake himself up. We're making progress!

Houdini

My little man is a little Houdini! We LOVE the miracle blanket that we were given by some good friends of ours (so much that I bought another one so that I had a spare when the main one was in the wash), and we've been using it since he was about 4 weeks old--I wish we'd used it sooner! Hindsight's 20/20. Anyways, lately, this is what happens:

Before he goes to sleep, he looks like this...

How can you resist this face?

When I come in his nursery in the morning to wake him up, this is what I find...

Please note that he has flipped around in his crib. His head is on the opposite end that he started on. Oh my. If I don't have the swaddle trick, what do I have left??? I can't imagine what's going to happen when he has real sheets on his bed. I'll have to search for the poor kid in his bed and will likely find him lying sideways at the foot of his bed with only half a sheet left on the mattress. Hmmm....

That's a Good One!

I thought I'd post something really funny....

David hasn't been feeling well since about Friday. He's had a cold. Anyways, the wise, all-knowing man that he is decided to drink a few beers during the Cowboys game and play golf on Sunday, so he wasn't feeling good at all when he got home from work on Monday. I gave him a hard time about not taking care of himself the day before, and then he said..................wait for it.....

"Honey, I think I'm just tougher than most people and so you don't really know when I'm really sick."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I laughed all the way to Target where I bought them out of Kleenexes and cold medicine.

The Wonderland & Baby Giggles

We recently made our first trip to Abilene, my hometown, and it was wonderful! It was a week of firsts for Robert Alan. First true road trip, first time to Honey & Jefe's house, first GIGGLE! Details below...

We left Wednesday morning and the 3 hour trip took 4 hours (a 30-minute stop for feeding and I'm not sure where the other 30 minutes went), and only about 30 minutes of it was spent listening to a crying baby in the backseat. Otherwise, he was asleep or being quiet. (Sidenote, I really should get a TV for my car so that I can play Baby Einstein videos for him). Anyways, my mom's friends hosted a Sip & See for him. It was great. He was so good! People passed him around and he fell asleep on two people and then slept 10 hours straight afterwards!

I was able to hear Robert Alan laugh for the first time that Wednesday as well. My Aunt Marsha was at the house when we arrived, and she talked to him and tickled him and he LOVED it! (I've posted the video below. I apologize for the length and conversation afterwards...I haven't figured out how to edit the videos yet). Anyways, his giggle is so sweet, but, of course, mom hasn't been able to duplicate Aunt Marsha's antics. He has YET to do it again for me! He smiles very big and does some sort of squeely moan-type thing, but it's not a giggle and I'm dying to hear it again! We may be making a trip to Gatesville to see Aunt Marsha soon. Either way, I was so thankful that I was there for that. You see, I am going back to work in two days, and I'm having to come to terms with the fact that I will probably miss many of his firsts. I'm so thankful that I was allowed to hear his first giggle. Thank you, Lord for giving me that moment.

He also discovered his hands while in Abilene (I'll spare you the video on that one...it's not quite as entertaining)....maybe we need to go to A-town more often--he seems to achieve many milestones there. Come to think of it.....it is, afterall, The Wonderland (as my husband and his friend have affectionately named it). It's hillarious to watch him sit and stare at his hands. He turns his two fingers towards him as if they're the neatest things he's ever seen and then he tries to cram his entire fist into his mouth. When he wakes up from his nap, he tries to put both fists in his mouth as if to tell me how incredibly hungry he is.


As far as what has happened more recently, I think that in the last day or so, he has found his feet. It seems as though he's trying to grab them and put them in his mouth whenever he's sitting in my lap but his dad-gum huge belly keeps getting in the way! Haha! Eat up, chunky monkey! Say what you want, but I secretly hoped he'd have lots of baby rolls, and he does! I worked hard for the milk that made those rolls! He'll figure out a way around his tubby belly soon enough (evidence of said large tummy below). By the way, he does not need to eat his feet. He already attempts to eat both fists at the same time, and, as you can see below, gets plenty of real nourishment. Although, those toes may be a bit tasty...



Let's see....what else.....I really shouldn't go so long without posting. I forget everything that I want to write. Ugh. Well, I guess I'll sign off until I think of something else to write home about.

Talk to you later!

A pose created by Dad. He thought this was hillarious. Poor kid.

REALLY??

Okay, I can't believe I'm writing this, but a man was shot and killed on our driveway early this morning!!!! Seriously. Lead story on all the news stations. All I can say is God had his hands on us last night.

Here is the story as I know it:

After my large New Year's Eve celebration, I needed some help with Robert Alan on good ole' January 1, so David, Robert Alan, and I made the trip out to my sister's house (only about 20 minutes away) and hung out there all day. The guys watched football while Brittney and I watched Robert Alan and tried to catch cat naps. So, when it came time to decide what to eat, we debated going into town and eating Poppa Rollo's. I wanted to go home and eat at the house and have Britt and Clay come over to our house so that RA could sleep in his bed and try to get him back on schedule. David thought we should just stay at their house and watch movies, let RA sleep over there, and we could all go home in the morning. Being tired and too weak to argue, I agreed. I didn't really feel like loading up the car anyways. Plus, having Brittney to help out all night sounded really nice to me. So, the guys went into town to get the pizza. Brittney, David, and I watched a movie and then we went to bed. Probably around 11:00 p.m. Well, RA woke up at 3:00 and I was nursing him when a 972-number called my cell phone. "Who is that?" David asked. "I have no idea. Probably a wrong number." We ignored the call. Then it called again. I answered. It was our security system provider telling me that the police were at our house and were requesting that a responder come to the house. They wanted to know how long it would take for us to get there and what we'd be driving so that the police would recognize us. OMG. I don't think I can accurately describe how that phone conversation made me feel. I started shivering, my heart was racing, thoughts went through my mind 1,000 at a time.

So, I woke Brittney up, quickly told her that the police were at our house for some reason unknown to us, and that I needed her to watch RA while we went into town to see what was up. We'd be back as soon as possible.

The entire drive there, David and I were trying to come up with each scenario we could think of. We thought maybe the house had caught fire (horrible), or maybe the police had caught someone breaking into our house (also horrible), or maybe someone had broken into David's truck (bad, but not horrible). As we were driving up to the house, you could see the cop car lights from 1/2 mile away. There were at least 12 cop cars. The intersection to our house had yellow crime scene tape all around it. The cop walked up and told us we had to turn around. Upon explaining that we owned the house on the corner and were told to come home, he told us to turn around and go in the other way and he'd meet us at the front. "What happened?" David asked. Cop: "There was a man burglarizing cars and he ran from us so we shot him. At least one bullet went into your house." At this point, I notice that there is a wrecked blazer on the grass about 1 foot from our fence. Holy cow.

So, we go into the house and into the garage where they knew one bullet had gone. Seriously. The bullet had gone through the garage door and into the wall. It stopped in the wall before it got into our house, though. On the other side of the wall is our laundry room. Had the bullet been 6 feet further over, it would have gone through our breakfast room window and who knows what wall it would have landed in. What if we had been home?! God was watching over us. Our dog wasn't even at the house--she had stayed at Gigi and PopPop's for the day and night.

Anyways, the crime scene lady took pictures, they showed us 7 other places in our fence where bullets had gone in, and then we left the house after the officer gave us his card with the case number on it with the promise that Risk Management would be calling us. Huh?

We went back to Britt's house and tried to sleep. I mean, after everything we had imagined, a bullet hole in our garage and wall and 7 in our fence with a car 6 inches from going through the fence is nothing, right? Little did we know the whole story....

We got back to our house this morning at 11:00 a.m. thinking everything would be gone. It wasn't! They still had the intersection blocked off and were still there taking pictures. The car was even still there! So here is the rest of the story:

The guy was breaking into cars in a neighborhood pretty far away from ours. He fled from cops and went through at least 1 barricade. Then, while trying to turn at a high speed on our street, he lost control of his car and hit the traffic light on our corner. He got out of his car and started shooting at the cops while running towards our fence. They shot back and he fell to his face. They ordered him to drop his gun, and he rolled over on his back, shouted "F*** YOU!" and kept shooting at them (he shot out the cop's car window). They shot him some more, and he was stopped right where our fence and electric gate meet. He died in the ambulence on the way to the hospital. I still can't believe it happened. So many bullets could have gone through our house, or someone else's. It's weird to say, but if it had to happen, I'm almost glad it happened at our house because we weren't there. What if it had happened at someone else's house and they had been home? I'm glad the cops are okay. I'm also glad I didn't know last night that the guy had died right by our gate.

Needless to say, pulling into my driveway tonight after going to get dinner was a little weird.

New Year!

Well, we rang in the new year at Barkin' Ball. I'm not sure who would echo this feeling, but I didn't think it was all that great this year. I thought the food was VERY sub-par, like not even as good as wedding food, and the band wasn't as good as the ones they've had in the past. I have also come to find out that I am a) addicted to silent auctions and b) have really bad luck with drama at silent auctions. First, I ALWAYS bid on things at silent auctions. I love it. And I win. I always win whatever I really want because I stalk my bids. Well, two years ago (the last time we went to Barkin' Ball), there were a couple photo packages being auctioned off. There were several people standing around them, so I asked which ones they were bidding on so that I could bid on one they didn't care about. So, I wrote my name on one that no one wanted. Or so I thought. When the auction was over, an older lady realized that she hadn't won (I had) and she acted like I had just stolen it right out from under her. I told her that I asked if anyone was bidding on it, and she told me that she had just had a grandson born and that she wanted to have his pictures taken. Well, I guess the fact that I was planning on using the pics for our engagement pictures didn't matter. Anyways, I felt bad, so I ended up marking my name out and letting her have it. I vowed to never let that happen again.

Sooooo....maybe I took it a little too far this year. I actually held the piece of paper until 1 minute until the auction was over. Then this girl came over and wrote her name on it. So, right as they were saying it was over, I picked it back up and wrote my name. And I won. Of course, but there was never really any doubt that I would win, was there? Anyways, she told her husband that I had stolen it (not sure those were her words, but you get the idea), and I fessed up to it. Then I felt bad because they were going to use them for their son, and I've already had some awesome pictures taken of Robert Alan, so I told her she could have it. Then I remembered that my sister had bid on a photo package as well, so I offered to let the girl take her package. Ha! Sorry sis! Anyways, she ended up taking that package, and now all I have to do is get out of trouble with Dave for bidding (and winning, let's not forget) on yet another photography package.

Oh yes! Let's not forget that New Year's Eve was our first night away from Robert Alan. He had a slumber party at Gigi and PopPop's house, and, while it was hard for me to come home and not see my baby boy, I reeeeeeeeally enjoyed myself. I hope I didn't do or say anything too terribly inappropriate. I mean, I reeeeeeeeeally enjoyed myself. :-) (There will be no incriminating pics posted, sorry! Only some of the previously mentioned awesome professional pics of Robert Alan when he was 3 weeks old. So long ago!)

The two loves of my life.

Sweet little muffin (his quilt and our marriage quilt underneath).

Fast asleep in the sheepskin. If only I had some of this at our house.