Four Years of Joy

Four years ago today, I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, BIG baby boy (8lbs 7ozs to be exact. Oh, and in case you forgot his head was in the 95%. No way I will ever forget. His Daddy still jokes about his big noggin!)

Today, my heart is full of love as I think about how much joy he has added to our lives. It's true what they say - until you actually become a parent, you just never can understand that unconditional love a parent has for a child. What a blessing J has been to us - he is a tender, sweet, caring, silly, smart and loving little boy. He has a great sense of humor and wow, what a vocabulary this kid has...just the other day he told me something I did was a little "peculiar" (heh...no surprise there). He also has pretty great manners for a preschooler and I love when people look at him in surprise after he says "thank you" or "please" to them without any prodding from me. What a special little guy he is, and I still thank God every day for him. Yes, even on those days when his listening ears don't seem to be working and he keeps asking me what is making me so grumpy. Even THEN, I'm still thankful for him.

Here is JWM when he was about 10 days old -

And here is the birthday boy surrounded by his cousins (almost all of those kiddos are family) and a couple of friends at his bowling birthday party -

These preschoolers bowled like pros - well, maybe not pros, but once they got the hang of it, that 5 lb ball was making it's way down the lane pretty darn fast. Well, maybe not fast, but you get the drift...

Daddy with J. He LOVES sports, of all kinds, and seriously WANTED this bowling party. Too cute.

The birthday boy with his baby brother and Cousins C & S.

Happy Birthday J!!!! Mommy & Daddy love you so very, very much!

Much Deserved Recognition

And the winner is...

I am soooooo glad today finally came. I have been keeping a secret from my husband for about a month now. Having to do with him. Getting an award. Needless to say, I had to completely put it out of my mind so I didn't tell him in a burst of excitement.

Through work, the hubby has become very active in professional organizations. One such organization is BOMA - Building Owners and Managers Association - a national organization with a local chapter. Recently, he was asked to be a committee co-chair on BOMA's Sustainability Committee. (This came about due to his work on the City's Water Conservation Task Force.) He has provided his industry and clients a much-needed presence in the discussion on water conservation in our area. Apparently, the powers that be at BOMA took notice and decided to award him with the BOMA Allied Professional Member of the Year Award!

The hubby's boss called me up about a month ago to ask me to attend. She not only wanted the award to be a surprise, but she wanted me to come as an added surprise for JMcD. How thoughtful, right? Our lives have truly been blessed since he joined this company almost three years ago.

I am so proud of my guy. He has worked so hard and given LOTS of extra time and energy to both BOMA and the task force outside of work (plus he also served on yet another committee with the LCRA...I won't lie, there are some nights when he gets home late that I don't LOVE all of these extra obligations!!! LOL! But I'm still very proud of him.) And now, I am so thankful that someone else out there appreciates this extra effort too!

This picture was taken just after he received his award and realized I was there. Not the best picture (of me), but you can tell by the smile on his face he was very surprised and happy. :)

Santa Claus

I think it's nothing short of a miracle that we were able to get a picture of both of our boys smiling with Santa Claus. Now, it's not the absolute best smile we can get from big brother, but it's tough having to sit there with a smile plastered on your face while mommy, daddy and the elf helper try to get baby brother to smile! They did great and L was not phased at all by the man in red. He was just happy to be out of carseat. lol!

J ended up seeing Santa again just three days later at his preschool. He sat in his lap again, and when Santa asked him what he wanted, my smart little guy said, "I already told you what I wanted at the mall. You don't remember?" :) To which the even smarter Santa replied, "Well of course I remember, but I thought you might want to share it with your friends!"

Tree Trimming

I love that J is completely and totally into the spirit of Christmas. He loves Santa, he loves Christmas decorations, he loves hearing the story of baby Jesus - he loves all there is to Christmas. It makes it SO much fun to get out decorations when you have a little helper. My hubby keeps reminding me that since he IS a boy, there will come a day when he might not want to help decorate the tree or sing Christmas carols with his mom. So I'm relishing it while it lasts.

The pictures from this year's tree trimming at the McD Casa will bring a smile to my face many years from now. He found something of his daddy's that he decided he HAD to wear while hanging ornaments. I love his silliness.



L also enjoyed the silliness. I'm sure he's thinking that he can't wait to get his hands on these decorations next year.

Happy 5 Months!

As I said in my last post, yesterday was L's 5 month birthday. I cannot believe another month has already come and gone. And with it, has come one MAJOR milestone. L is sleeping 9-10 hours at night now! WOOHOO! We are going on day 9 (yes, I know exactly how many days I've gotten some great sleep) and I am L-O-V-I-N-G it. Well, except for the past two nights, but that wasn't L waking me up.

He is eating his rice cereal like a champ for dinner, and we will start fruits and veggies in the next week or so. He is attempting to try to sit, but of course, that lasts for a couple of seconds and then he starts to topple over. It will happen sooner than I want it to. I think he wants to be up and playing with his big brother in the worst way.

Here is our big boy at five months -
Look mom, I can sit on my own...

...until I start to lean too hard in one direction...
...then I end up on my face. :)

Poor L the Second Child

Yesterday was L's 5 month birthday. I didn't forget in the midst of the chaos, but I DID forget to take one single picture of him. Sigh. I know I had extenuating circumstances, but still. I swore I would take just as many pictures of him as we did of J. It's already started. I will take his picture this morning and post later today. Even if I have throw up on me. (J started the day today around 5 a.m. with a vomit episode. Lucky for me, hubby was running late so I asked him to stick around while I feed L in the nursery. This is when J decided to throw up - all over hubby AND our bed.) The good news is that J is awake right now and seems to be o.k. for now...knock on wood.

I did fail to mention in my last post that yesterday was not a good day for L either. For some reason, every time I tried to put him down - in the swing, exersaucer, on the floor, in his crib, etc - he started crying. Totally uncharacteristic of him. (And very difficult to take care of a sick boy with a baby in your arms...which was another reason I was ready for the day to be over.) He is normally such a happy baby. So either he is trying to get sick (please, no) or he was feeling the stress of the day. Or maybe he is starting to teeth? I don't want to stick my fingers in his mouth right now for fear of germ-spreading, even though I'm washing my hands about 100 times a day.

For those of you familiar with strep, have you ever had an infant get sick with it? My doc said it's very uncommon, but not impossible. We shall see.

Sick Little Dude

Is today over yet? I very rarely look sooooo forward to a day being over b/c I LOVE being a mommy and being with my boys every day. Today was rough. It started at Midnight, with J waking up crying, saying his throat hurt and running fever. He mentioned once before going to bed last night that his throat was "burny" but didn't feel warm or act like he felt bad. By midnight, that had all changed. For the rest of the night, he slept between the hubby and I and cried in his sleep. :(

After waking up this morning, I knew we were in for a long day. Almost immediately, he started crying about his throat and his fever began to go back up. I called the pediatrician's office as soon as they opened. By the time we left for the doctor, J was saying his throat, head and tummy hurt. Then he said, "Mommy, everything hurts." He was literally whimpering. You other mommies know, when your child is hurting that badly, it hurts you too. After buckling him in his carseat, I kissed his forehead and told him that I was taking him to see Dr. H and that Dr. H would make him feel better. He looked at me with big tears in his eyes and sweetly cried, "Thank you mommy." I knew the boy felt really bad at that point b/c what preschooler thanks their mommy for taking them to the doctor?

Thank goodness we only had to wait for about 7 or 8 minutes in the waiting area. Because as soon as we got into an exam room, J sat on my lap and then proceeded to vomit everywhere. Projectile to be exact. And the poor nurse that was just about to take his temp got the brunt force of it. Sweet, wonderful, darling thing just acted like it was no big deal. God bless her. He couldn't stop for what seemed like forever. By the time he was finished, the exam room floor was covered. I quickly, and carefully, so as not to slip in vomit, wheeled L out of there to hang with the other nurses (thank goodness he was in his carseat in the stroller versus the floor or he would have been covered too). J was soaked and the sweet nurse gave him a race for the cure t-shirt the office had made last month. So now he's in a t-shirt that hangs down past his knees and socks. She took his temp finally, and after alternating motrin and tylenol all night and morning his temp was still over 102. No wonder his tummy hurt. Poor baby.

As soon as Dr. H looked him over, he knew. He quickly swabbed his throat and said we'd know for sure in 15 minutes. Five minutes later he comes in and says J has strep throat. I was actually a bit relieved, and so was Dr. H, b/c at least there is medicine that will make him feel better. I was PRAYING it wasn't the flu virus. That wouldn't been way worse.

I can already tell the medicine is working because he actually smiled this evening. Something he hadn't done all day long.

A funny sidenote - I was in a hurry to get him dressed and out the door to make the doctor's appt. We have a laundry basket with clean clothes in it, including socks that are not yet matched up with their partner. Well, I just grabbed two socks that looked the same for J, and headed downstairs. But once I put them on his feet, I noticed one was all white and the other had a gray bottom. Obviously, very different. I thought to myself, eh, no big deal. No one is going to see his socks. Hmph. That should have triggered something in my brain - seeing as how I brought home a boy in just a t-shirt and mismatched socks!!!!

Happy Birthday to Two Sweet 7 Year olds!

Our family is blessed to have two birthday parties to attend this time every year. One for our niece, C, and the other for one of the sweet Bird girls, A. They were born four days apart and this year, are turning seven! I cannot believe they are already such big girls, and I know my sister and CB cannot believe their little girls are getting so big either.

Our niece, C, is something special. She is the younger of my sister's two girls, and according to my mom, is very much like me. :) She has lots of energy and knows what she wants. She has a beautiful smile and is super creative. Hmmmm, maybe she does sound like me? LOL! Here is a picture of C from Halloween...I think this is one of my favorite pictures of her because it totally captures her personality. (She is dressed up as Belle from Beauty & the Beast in the Christmas Dress.)

A. Bird is the older of the Bird girls and is beyond sweet. She is so caring and thoughtful and tender. We have been so blessed to be around this sweet girl since she was born. In fact, she is so sweet and beautiful that my son, who is 3 1/2 years her junior. has said he wants to marry her! What can I say, he has good taste! I'd be happy for him to marry either one of those girls. (I know their daddy doesn't EVEN want to think about that yet though!!) Here is a picture of her at my baby shower in May. She was such a big helper that day and I was so glad she wanted to be there!

Next up, our big boy J turns FOUR...in just 3 weeks. Yikes, where does the time go????

Thanksgiving Program...and don't forget the FEAST!

Today, the hubby, baby and I went to J's preschool for his Thanksgiving Program & Feast (more on that feast in a second). After a cute slide show with sweet songs and pictures from the past couple of months, the kiddos got up to sing. We took video of the whole thing with our "real" video camera, but I also captured a snippet on my digital camera b/c it was too funny not to share. Note the one little dude who screamed the whole song. Luckily, J sang and stomped just like he was taught.



Here is J just before the performance began. Ever the ham...or right now I guess I should say turkey!

Being thankful for his food.

After the program in his classroom with baby brother. L was in awe of all the kiddos and of course, most of all, his big brother.

J and his best bud from preschool. Those two together are a MESS!

The hubby and I had to laugh though - the "feast" we were invited too was a plate of mini sandwich wraps (and not even enough for every parent there) and some trail mix. Oh, and some caprisun drinks. We were a bit mislead by the invitation, but that just meant we were able to have lunch together after leaving the preschool. (Sorry, but I am still a bottomless pit due to nursing. This mama can't survive on one mini turkey wrap alone!)

Despite that, I cannot say enough how impressed I am with this preschool, the teachers and the entire program. J has THRIVED at this school, and on several occasions, his teacher has told me how amazing it has been to see him come out of his shell and change since September. It has been a true blessing for all of us.

Proud of our Veterans (and my mom)

I think I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that my mom is now a member of the Alamo Chapter of the NSDAR (National Society Daughters of the American Revolution). To become a member, you must prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. It was a long, tedious process, but mom got all the necessary documents in order. Now she is an active member, and very involved in many projects of her chapter, including participating in Veteran's Day activities.

Below is a picture of a poster she made to take to my hometown elementary school on Veteran's Day. The poster has pictures of the special veteran's in her life representing different time periods and different wars. The top row, from left to right, includes pictures of my Popi (mom's dad), my Papa Scott (my great-grandfather & mom's grandfather), and my dad - he was such a cutie! The bottom row includes Sean (see post below) and Jimmy, Jill's husband who will be deploying for a year in January of 2009. The middle picture is of the ship that my Papa Scott came home on from France in 1919. He was actually in France when the armistice treaty was signed on November 11, 1918 ending WWI. Pretty neat history there, and very cool that my Grandma still has that postcard with the picture of the ship on it.


Here is a picture of mom speaking to a group of the elementary students. I think it's a great picture - the kids look so proud to be holding their little flags that mom passed out to them. It is so important for our kiddos to learn about the sacrifice of ALL of our service men and women, both past and present. Let's face it, the media doesn't paint the best picture of soldiers, so if we don't teach them to be proud of our men and women in uniform, who will?

Remembering

I remember November 13, 2004 so well. I remember exactly what I was doing that day. It was a Saturday and I was home being VERY pregnant. I was about 4 weeks from my due date, and the hubby had gone to the Aggie game that day in CS. I did not make the trip due to being so uncomfortable and close to delivery. I was sort of listening to the game, cleaning around the house and surfing the Internet for baby stuff. It was later in the evening and hubby was on his way home. I decided to check my email one last time before assuming my position on the couch. I was so unaware of what I was about to read.

I was excited to see an email from Heidi. She had been emailing me more recently to let me know how she and Colin were doing in Germany, and also to keep us updated on Sean. He was in Iraq and she had recently let me know he was in one of the more dangerous places. As soon as I opened that email, my heart stopped. I had to reread it several times before it sunk in. It was so difficult to comprehend. I couldn't wrap my mind and heart around it. Sean was gone? He had been KIA? That didn't make any sense.

Today, four years later, on the anniversary of his death, it still doesn't make any sense. Sean was a great man, a wonderful husband and had just begun on his journey of being an amazing daddy. We think of him often and still miss him. And today, we send out extra special hugs and prayers to Heidi. We pray for her often, but today, I want her to know we all love her and Colin and will never forget her brave, selfless husband. xoxoxoxo

Win or Lose, It Was a Great Day

We took the boys to CS on Saturday to see our beloved Aggies play. Well, see them try to play. Poor guys. It was a frustrating game to sit through, but the weather was PERFECT and J could have cared less who was scoring the touchdowns. He was up clapping and yelling, even when OU scored he still optimistically declared that the Aggies just "tackled the Oklahomas!" Yeah, we sure did, just about 50 yards too late. :P

J was so excited, even before we hit the CS city limits. Here he is "getting ready" for the game, listening to the Aggie War Hymn on Daddy's phone.



Since this was L's very first trip to Aggieland, we took him to the MSC for a picture in the flag room. This was followed by some fine dining in the MSC Cafe. (That became a tradition for me when I was in college. Heidi and I would meet mom and dad before games sometimes at the MSC. Hey, it was a free meal! :)
After the game, we have a new tradition - going onto the field so J can play football. It is worth sitting through a blowout to see our future football player so happy and blissful. Here he is posing just like a real football player - And playing football with Daddy. I have some priceless video of Big J taking Daddy down. LOL!We cannot forget about our newest future Aggie. He loves being outdoors, and even though it was getting late, L still had smiles for the camera.

Shots, Rice Cereal & Doctors, Oh My!

Today was L's four month well-check. Dr. H was so happy with how he is growing & developing. Here are his latest stats:

Weight: 16lbs 13ozs (75-90%)
Height: 25 1/2 inches (75%)
Head: ummm, can't remember the measurement but it's 75-90%!

Still smiling, even after getting two shots today.



Despite the fact that he is still a roly-poly, he did come down in the growth chart a bit from his 2 month check. Dr. H said he bets he will fall into the 50-75% for both weight and height by 6 months. Fine by me! This boy is starting to become very heavy in that infant carseat. Of course, he'll probably be out of it by 6 or 7 months!

Little L also tried rice cereal for the first time today. I made it very liquidy, just like the instructions say to for his first feeding. I think he wanted more of a challenge. I added a bit more and he did great. He didn't want all of it, but for a first attempt, I call it a success. The three pictures below were taken by big brother b/c daddy wasn't home from work yet. Quite a little photographer, isn't he?

Sidenote: I have been planning on trying cereal this week, but didn't think about where the poor baby would sit to eat! Thank goodness for the Bumbo. I must get daddy to put that highchair together.

My Three Sweet Boys

I must brag. I have the sweetest boys. Including my husband. :) They gave me a "party" last night to celebrate my birthday. The hubs cooked a yummy dinner, J serenaded me, singing "Happy Birthday to Mommy" while playing his ukulele (which we got on video...it's priceless), and they finished the evening with presents and little mini-bundt cakes with cream cheese icing (from NothingBundtCake...soooooo good!). It was perfect!

Today, the boys have continued to make me smile. After getting home from my Mom2Mom Bible class, we were playing on the floor, when the boys started "monkeying" around. Little brother is already trying to do what his big brother does...

Halloween...a little late

So I know I'm behind but I just can't seem to stay well longer than about 5 days in a row! I knew last week wasn't going to be my week when I woke up early Wednesday morning with HIVES! Then, on Saturday, I got the crude again. Yucky sinus junk. Ugh. I am SOOOOO ready to not be sick.

Luckily, I'm on the upswing today and know I need to post Halloween pictures of our little guys. J was so excited to dress up like Indiana Jones. Granted, he's never seen one of the movies, but the movie previews sure got his attention, as did the theme song. And what better animal for our L to be than a lion?

L was a good sport with his lion's hood, but was much happier with it off.This is the 3rd year we've trick or treated with the Bird family. A was a woodland fairy and EK was Little Red Riding Hood. Aren't they a cute bunch?
Our trick or treaters in action. J came home with WAY too much candy. Good thing Daddy and I can help him out with that problem!!!

Happy Four Months!

Another month has come and gone. My baby is getting bigger. And so much fun! L was four months old yesterday, and continues to be a happy, smiling, giggling little boy. We have had some big things happening lately -

• L is now sleeping in his own crib! YAY! I knew from the beginning I wanted to keep him in his cradle next to our bed for the first 4 months. Well, this past week, I decided it was time as he seemed to be getting cramped in his cradle. He likes to move when he sleeps. So off to the crib we went. He did great! Now if I could just get him to sleep all the way through the night...soon. I can feel it.


• He has already flipped from his tummy to his back and is now trying to flip from his back to his tummy. I think he can do it b/c he tends to roll right onto this side to sleep at night with no trouble. I just think he dislikes being on his tummy so he doesn't go all the way over.


• He is making all kinds of sounds. I even think I heard him say MOM! LOL! Probably my imagination, but he IS making the "mmmm" sound. And he likes to laugh. Big brother is good at getting him to laugh a lot lately.


• When he "talks" it's not quiet. He tends to be very loud, and much of his talking turns into squeals. I think he knows in order to be heard around here, he's going to have to be loud.

We go for his 4 month check-up on Thursday. I dread him getting shots, but can't wait to see how he is measuring. Then probably on Friday, we will start rice cereal. YAY! And on Saturday, he is making his first trip to Aggieland for his first football game with the family. Lots of excitement ahead.

Here is this month's picture with his squishy bear - he seriously loves to smile!

Happy Halloween from our Little Pumpkins!

Make a Smilebox postcard

A Tiny Trip

This past weekend, we loaded up the boys and headed for a quick trip to SA. We had originally planned to go to Galveston this weekend to see my Granny, and visit our good ol' favorite places. Thanks to Hurricane Ike, those plans changed. (Side note - to see first-hand how the storm has affected a family living in Galveston, visit this blog - http://texasbug.blogspot.com/. She is a friend of my friend Heidi.) Luckily, Granny was safe and sound at my parents during the storm, she got to meet L, and return to her home that sustained little or no damage. Amazing since the eye went right over her neighborhood.

Back to our weekend - we took the boys to SeaWorld on Friday, and then to downtown SA on Saturday. Of course, J LOVES SeaWorld and had a blast. Especially since he was with his cousins and they pretty much dote on him.

One of J's favorite parts of the day - eating Shamu shaped ice cream with Daddy!

L's first trip to SeaWorld. I think he watched a couple of seconds of some of the shows, but basically, just enjoyed being outside. He looked around all day!

J and Cousin C fed and petted the dolphins. Doesn't he look cool?

L was a little apprehensive about the dolphins. I think because the dolphin kept looking at L like he was dinner!

Saturday - all of the kids first visit to the Alamo! Growing up in this area, I probably visited this site at LEAST a dozen times as a child. Not until I was older did I really understand how amazing this historical site is, as are all of the missions in SA. I hope that our boys have the same love of history that their Daddy and I have. And their Grammy, who is a proud member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution - they have contributed funds to the current restoration project at the Alamo by the way.)

After the Alamo, we were off to the Riverwalk and the Rainforest Cafe. Here, J found a new friend - a "pet" rubber snake. Just don't put it in my bed thank you!

The kids on the Riverwalk. It was the perfect day to be outside. We could have just sat on the benches by the river and people watched all day - o.k., the adults could have done that. The kids were ready to go to the children's museum!