We Three Stewarts

Funnies, Vol. 3

2011-10-11T18:29:00.001-05:00

Chris and I were discussing purchasing flight tickets while preparing dinner this evening, debating on if we should buy now or gamble with the hope that prices will dip a bit before our trip, a few months away...

Me: Do you think we should go ahead and book them now, or wait to see if they drop any?
C: Do you think they'll go up?
Me: I don't know (amazing segue:) but I read today that peanut butter is going up.
C: I know! I actually debated going out and buying a few tubs today.
Me: We should! We should buy it before it's too expensive.
C: Yeah, it was $400 a ton, now it's $1200 a ton. It's like GOLD!
Jack: No, peanut butter is brown, Dad.

Uh, thank you, Captain Obvious.

Funnies, Vol. 2

2011-09-23T11:13:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, we were on our way home from dinner and Jack was going wild in the backseat with one of his silly stories. I had to tell him to tone it down a bit, and he ended up saying something about chocolate milk and the following conversation ensued:

Jack: "....chocolate milk..."
Me: "YOU'RE a chocolate milk!"
Jack: "NOOO! I don't go in a cup!"
Me: giggling
Jack: "You can't stir me!"
Me & Chris: really chuckling now
Jack: "You can't shake me up!"
Us: VERY tickled
Jack: "So I CAN'T be CHOCOLATE MILK MOM!"

Daredevil

2011-09-04T23:08:00.001-05:00

We spent the day at my boss's lake house on Lake Placid over the Labor Day holiday, and since there is water involved,it's obviously true love for Jack. Last time we were there, he had to work up to it, but spent most of the day running and leaping off the end of the dock, and eventually coasting down the slide dozens of times.

Today, he upped the ante by leaping off the big dock all by himself.

I could only stand on the little dock in pure shock. His daddy was up top with him and I mistakenly thought theywere jumping together. Before I knew it, Jack was headed for the water on his own, with no urging, just his own desire.

I had decided to leave my big camera home today so I wouldn't have to lug it around. Thank goodness for camera phones!I do wish I'd had the big one to really capture some more shots of his fearlessness, but I guess Instagram will do in a pinch.

Jack-isms

2011-08-31T20:59:00.000-05:00

Snack Store [snak stohr] Proper noun, often preceded by 'The'

1. an establishment where snacks (i.e. Swedish Fish, Cheez-its and Tummy Ticklers) are sold; commonly referred to as a gas station or convenience store; a product of grandparents who let children out at said gas stations and convenience stores to witness the snack mecca.

USAGE: (in context)

Jack, upon being picked up from school: Mama, where we going today?
Mama: Well son, we're going home.
Jack: But do you have a snack for me?
Mama: No, but I can get you a snack when we get home.
Jack: But I think we should stop at The Snack Store to get me a snack!
Mama: The Snack Store?
Jack: Yeah! Where the snacks all are!
Mama: Oooooooooooh-kay, we'll stop at The Snack Store...?
Jack, while stopped at a traffic light, peering out at a gas station: MOM! There's The Snack Store!!!
Mama thinking: Aha, it all makes sense now.

Caught on Camera

2011-08-29T20:34:00.003-05:00

Funnies, Vol. 1

2011-08-27T21:18:00.003-05:00

Since Jack started Pre-K, he now is supposed to be at school by 8 am, so that means that on the days that Daddy takes him to school, they leave the house before I leave for work. We used to leave at the same time, so this has caused a little adjusting in our schedule, to say the least.

Anyway, one day this week I was still in my bathroom getting ready, not yet dressed, doing my hair when the boys got ready to leave. Jack comes in and asks me if I will walk him out so I can blow kisses (a good-bye ritual for him). I, of course, complied.

As we were walking down the stairs, I was putting my bathrobe on and tying it up when the little man looked back at me and the following exchange took place:

Jack: "Are you puttin' your robe on so nobody will see you a-nekkid?"
Me: "Yes, honey, I am."
Jack: "Yeah, 'cause nobody wants to see that." (No joke.)

First Day of School (Pre-K)

2011-08-22T19:31:00.003-05:00

Today was Jack's First Day of Pre-K (or, to hear him tell it, "Free Kay").

Classes and curriculum started today at his regular school, and thankfully, he got to stay in his classroom with his regular teachers for now.

Even though he was going to the same school and to the same people, I think he was a bit nervous about the day since we had hyped it up for him a bit. Chris and I were excited about his real "first day". Jack, not so much.

By the time I was near finished, he had quite enough and had tears streaming down his face. Not a great way to start the school year. Even worse, he had a total meltdown at drop off. Again, same school, same classroom, same teachers. Needless to say, it was a rough day.

Luckily, day 2 went far better!

Haircut x2

2011-08-21T19:05:00.005-05:00

Jack got his second ever haircut at the ripe young age of 3 years, 8 months old. For his first haircut, we took the SUPER safe route and I took him to my personal salon where the owner just barely tipped the ends of his hair and we paid WAY too much to have far too little cut off.

Both times, Jack has asked to have his haircut. When he requested this time, I asked all my girlfriends and this was the place they recommended because it has an airplane chair! Be sure to note the absence of an airplane chair in the photos below. Not because they didn't have one, but because Jack flat out said "I'm not sitting in that" and promptly led us back into the salon to sit in a regular chair.

Once again, he adopted super serious Jack face:
He did incredibly well during the cut. He sits extremely still, watching her every move, all while keeping a close eye on both Mommy and Daddy.

When he was finished with the haircut he resumed his position in the waiting area with a Dinosaur sticker book (which we discovered a few minutes later in the Dollar bins at Target and rewarded him with since he had to leave that one behind.)

Magically, I was able to get him to pose (!) for photos outside so I could really capture his first real haircut.
I even managed to get some smiles!
Pure happiness. A haircut at his request. A blue balloon. The promise of a trip to Target for a reward. Does it get any better?

**Funny story about the balloon. We took it in the car, of course, and Jack played with it all during the car ride. He named it "Ballooney" a few minutes into the car ride and knocked it around and talked to it quite a bit and then finally said to it, rather emphatically, "Ballooney, you've changed! It makes me sick." sending Chris and I into fits of laughter. I really don't remember the last time I got that tickled about something. (Probably the last time Jack said something equally as funny)

It was hysterical.

***Edited to add: Thankfully, the source of the hilarious line delivered by Jack is his favorite show, Phineas & Ferb. I happened to catch the episode this morning, and since he watches it on repeat, it's no wonder he repeated it. At least there's an explanation...

Family Beach Trip 2011

2011-08-08T21:11:00.002-05:00

This past weekend we took our annual family beach trip. This is a trip that we all look forward to all year long, and this year was definitely no exception.

We were loaded up and ready to go so we could leave first thing Friday morning. We were on the road by 9 and right after lunchtime, we were on the beach in Port A. We were so excited to get there, we literally pulled up on the beach, jumped out of the car and all ran for the water!

The beach was more beautiful than I have ever seen it, and I've been going to Port A since I was a kid. There wasn't a trace a seaweed and the water was more and clear and beautiful than ever. (Much unlike last year, where everything was covered in seaweed and the water was murky.)

For the last couple of years, Deeda has dragged the toy-hauler down so we'd have a place to get in out of the heat and the sand. This year, he really upped the ante with a great set-up, which we all loved. (I can't believe I didn't take pics!) Anyway, they had the camper set up about 75 feet from the water, had the awning out and had a huge tent set up so that none of us was without shade for the whole weekend. It was wonderful.

If we thought Jack was a different kid in the water last year, we didn't know anything yet. This year, we couldn't keep him out of the water. He's still fearless and this year, he didn't need anyone to go in the water with him, he'd just take off on his own. He also loved "surfing" this year and spent quite a bit of time on the boogie board, running and jumping with it, being pulled on it, and even going way out into the deep water with the rest of us.

Nana and Deeda picked their campsite because of this spot here that had already been dug out for sandcastle building. Deeda even set up a big umbrella right over the top of it so Jack wouldn't be subjected to the sun while he dug and built castles. Jack even managed to get Aunt Nikki and Uncle Hank in on the action the next day, and they built a whole little village with castles and a volcano!

But like I said, he was never away from the water for long...

No beach trip is complete without a swarm of seagulls. I have pictures exactly like this from every year we've been to the beach, and I just love that it's as fascinating as ever to Jack to feed the birds.

As with every year, we hit the shops on Sunday before we leave Port A so Nana can get Jack a "souvenir". Every year, he chooses some form of plastic fish. We have a collection of dolphins and sharks here at the house. He never tires of them, so I guess they're a good choice.

This year we encountered something we've never seen there before though! The Parrot Man is always outside the Islander, but this year, next door, there was a man with a monkey! Ten bucks later and Jack was getting up close and personal with a monkey. (Of course, he refused to go without me.)
It's funny, Jack kept trying to reach around and touch her, and she didn't like it at all. She kept pushing his hand away from her, and her owner kept telling Jack "don't grab her!" I bet he has some experience with her getting upset with little ones...funny.

When we were done, Jack paid the monkey for her time. (She was really cute, she took all the money from the patrons and handed it to the man to put away.)
We all kind of go our separate ways on Sunday since we all drive down on our own, and this year, I had plans to take the boys to see the Lex. I knew Jack would love it, and I had a sneaking suspicion that Daddy C would love it even more.
I wasn't wrong.
I think Jack's favorite part of the ship was the Brig. Once we showed it to him, it was all he wanted to do, and when we left that area, he asked over and over to go back to the Brig.
As I said, I knew Chris would enjoy this.

Jack really loved the ship. I'm not sure he realized we were on a ship, but he still really like going through all the compartments, seeing all the different gadgets and areas, and climbing all the ladders.

My favorite part of the Lex was the Captain's Quarters. I told Chris if I were going to be on a ship, it'd have to be as Captain. I wouldn't ever be able to stand the small spaces. The Cpt's Quarters were huge.
Most people know that Chris is a HUGE WWII buff, and the Lex was stationed in Pacific during the conflict. Everything is really well preserved and it's all fascinating to see.
The planes are up on the flight deck, of course, so I knew the boys were eager to get to that area and look around.

This thing freaked me out. Not much really scares me, but this "plank" is what catches the catapult equipment after the planes take off. On the Lex, they've made it a photo op and call it "Walking the Plank". The scary part is that it hangs WAY off the back of the ship over the water. I only made it about a fourth of the way out before I hurried back onto the ship. (The really shocking thing is to think that when these aircraft carriers are at sea, the protective fence around the perimeter of the ship doesn't exist. YIKES!)

The boys, however, loved it.
After that we headed up to the control rooms to sit in the captains chair and check it all out.

And then back the the Brig.
After that, we took advantage of the little photo ops before we headed to the Ship Store to get Jack a ship of his own.

Once again, it was such a wonderful trip and too short, as usual. I'm already looking forward to next year's trip!

Tuckered Out

2011-08-01T20:51:00.002-05:00

We recently headed up to Salado to celebrate my Uncle Dub's 50th birthday. Chris was working, so Nana and Deeda picked up me and the little man for a quick trip.

It was a pool party, so we spent the entire afternoon and the better part of the evening playing in the pool and lounging poolside. Finally, about ten o'clock, the little man had enough and went to put on his pj's. Then he dragged his DVD player, his blanket and his pillow pet out underneath my chair next to the pool and promptly passed out.

Amazes me how little ones can crash in even the most uncomfortable spots. Of course, I left him there for quite a while. He was practically underneath my chair, the bugs weren't bad, and it had finally cooled down some, so why bother him?

Y'all go ahead and start polishing my Mother of the Year Award...

Just A Day in the Life Around Here...

2011-07-18T21:13:00.000-05:00

We see this probably 4 out of 7 days here in the Stewart House...

Rainy Days & Sundays

2011-07-11T18:50:00.001-05:00

They never get us down! Not in this summer with this heat, anyway! With hardly any rain to speak of in this unforgivable drought, an afternoon shower was a welcome little surprise.

Jack immediately ran to put on his swimsuit (evidently it's not okay to get wet clothed any other way) so he could do some playing in the rain.

Dancing in the rain...

A few weeks earlier he had discovered that if we sprayed the slide with water, he could slide down really fast!

So up he went...
And down he came...Faster than lightning!

I just love that he is SUCH a boy.Such a sweet and handsome little munchkin.

And all smiles for a rainy day Sunday.

A to Z & 30

2011-03-21T11:34:00.003-05:00

Since it's my birthday, and I'm 30, here's an A to Z of life today...

A. Age: 30 today!

B. Bed size: King...finally, and I love, love, love it!

C. Chore you dislike: laundry. I hate laundry more than anything.

D. Dogs: Don't have one, yet. Maybe someday when the little boy thinks to ask for one.

E. Essential start to your day: A hot shower. After a hot shower, I'm ready to face the day.

F. Favorite color: Red, red, red.

G. Gold or silver: Right now, I'm really loving both.

H. Height: 5'3"

I. Instruments you play(ed): I don't play any instruments, but I love to sing to myself and to my son.

J. Job title: Executive Assistant to the COO

K. Kids: 1 perfect, precious son.

L. Live: New Braunfels, TX

M. Mom’s name: Terry

N. Nicknames: Mandy, Mandy Mae

O. Overnight hospital stays: Birthing my baby.

P. Pet peeves: rudeness, stupid drivers, and people who stop in the middles of walkways.

Q. Quote from a movie: "There's a time for daring and there's a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for."

R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: 1 little sister

T. Time you wake up: Somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30. It's never the same.

U. Underwear: It's preferred.

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Cauliflower

W. What makes you run late: Lack of preparedness, and the aforementioned waking times.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, ankle bone and ultrasounds.

Y. Yummy food you make: According to my sweet husband, anything I make.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Hippopotamus!

Pancakes in Pajamas Party

2010-12-06T19:39:00.007-06:00

For Jack's 3rd birthday, since he is such a little lover of pajamas, we decided to throw him a Pancakes in Pajamas birthday party. (Plus, I wanted to do something super cute while I still had a choice since I won't when he's older!)

It all started with this cute invitation:

We used the color scheme from the invitation as the basis for the party theme, right down to the colorful circles (the shape of pancakes!) on the tablecloth and above the table with the balloons.

(Tell me that table isn't awesome! It's a real school cafeteria table, borrowed from my boss-man and it was perfect for this party.)
Right before the party, the pancakes were set out piping hot along side all of the toppings we had to offer.

Gummy bears, sugared worm (one of Jack's favorites), sprinkles, and mini-chocolate chips could be spooned on.
No pancake would be complete without syrup, so we had maple, chocolate and strawberry to choose from, with a little whipped cream to top it all off.
Jack was very eager to get his little party started! The cute sign was a gift from his teachers at school, and I thought it was just perfect that they used the dots, just like in the invitation and on the table cloth, so we stuck it up next to his cake.
No party activities were necessary since making the pancakes was the activity! The kids, who were all decked out in their pajamas, dug right in and made their own pancake masterpieces.
It was loads of fun, and not nearly as messy as I had imagined it might be.

After stuffing themselves with pancakes and handfuls of toppings, everyone went outside (it was SO warm in December this year, NOTHING like last year's below freezing temps!) to run around and play, and burn off some of their sugar highs.
After that, we rounded everyone back up and came inside to have birthday cake. Yes, more sugar!
I know the "thing to do" these days is to have kiddos wait until they are home to open the presents, but I just don't understand that. I want to see the joy in a child's face when he's opening the gifts, plus, I LOVE watching all the other kids reactions too.
So since we were already home, we went ahead and opened all those gifts up. There was a LOT of ooh-ing and ahh-ing from all the little ones, and lots of help opening the packages, and even more help getting into the toys and playing with them right away, which I happen to really love seeing. It's probably my favorite part to be honest.
The fact that it teaches Jack to share no matter what the occasion or how new the toy doesn't hurt either.

Plus, look at the wonder and curiosity on all of their faces! Who could resist that?
Jack's Grandma has not missed a single one of Jack's birthday parties. She flies in every year to be with him, and she is tons of help with party prep too! She always has great gifts for Jack, and this year, she gave him what was probably one of his favorite gifts.

He had been in the habit of serving "pizza" to us, pretending that whatever flat item he could find was pizza and serving it up to anyone who would pretend to take a slice. At Thanksgiving, I even made him a pizza out of paper plates so he'd have something to serve for dinner!
So Grandma got him a Melissa & Joey Wooden Pizza set, complete with serving tray, slicer, toppings, and of course, Pizza! He immediately started serving all his guests.
Then Nana really topped the day off with several pair of new pajamas for the little man. Pajamas as presents at a pajama party...DUH!
He wasted zero time getting into them either, stripping down right that very second to change into them then and there. (You may have noticed from the cake photo to the party photo, he'd already had one outfit change, so this makes 3! Told he loved pj's!)
After all the presents were opened and sufficiently played with, our party guests departed with hugs and goody bags (which I didn't photograph, but were also dotted and adorable).
After everyone else had gone, Jack had his Deeda whip out the screwdriver and start assembling thos toys that needed it, and then we all played in the floor with them together.
It was a really great party, and so much fun. I love that I was able to give Jack something that he loved, and something that I loved. I can't wait to see what he'll want to do when he gets to decide next year!

A Letter to My Little Man

2010-12-03T11:18:00.004-06:00

Dear Jack,

Three years ago today, you entered the world and changed my life forever. When you were born and I first saw your precious face, everything that defined who I was changed in a mere instant, and I knew I was born to be your mom. What I didn't know then was that you were born to be my son and that having you would change me in so many ways and teach me so many things I never even knew I needed to learn.

When you were born, I thought you were the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. Until you were 3 months old and first began to really smile at me, and then I thought that was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. Then you were six months old, and you sat up and laughed, and it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. When you were 10 months old, you walked for the first time (and you haven't stopped moving since) and that really was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. Until you started talking (and you having stopped since!) and your words were the most incredible things I'd ever heard. In the past 3 years, you have left me awestruck countless many times.

I will never, ever forget the first time you counted to 10 (in the bathtub) or the first time I watched you peddle your tricycle for real (down our sidewalk) or the first time you slept in your big boy bed (when you were barely even 2 years old). I'll always remember the first time I heard you sing a song (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), the first time I listed to you saying your ABC's, all of the block creations you've made, the first time you made your own breakfast (Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream) and the time you made your own waffles (before you even turned 3).

Throughout your life, I have repeated the phrase "this is my favorite stage" over and over again, and now, I'm saying it again. You, as you are now, are my favorite Jack.

Your light shines brighter than it has ever shone before. You're a Super Hero and a good guy, and sometimes you wear bad guy clothes, you are a boy who loves to wear pajama shirts and happy pants. You love odd looking socks, you play more with your imagination than any toy you've ever had, you still love fruit more than almost anything, you won't eat peanut butter (still) and you love jelly sandwiches. Mickey Mouse and Iron Man are your two favorite people and you still love trains, airplanes and firetrucks. These are things I will always remember about you and your 3 year old self.

When I ask you if you're a silly goose, you tell me no. When I ask you if you're a crazy mouse, you tell me no. So I ask you what you are, and you tell me "I'm just Jack!" And I'm so glad you are.

So, Jack, on this first day of the fourth year of your life, you are still the MOST amazing thing I've ever seen, and I wish you a happy birthday! I hope with all my might that you'll always know how special you are to be Just Jack, to be you, to be the son that you are to your dad and me and to be the person you will be to the world.

I love you more than life itself, and I always will.

Always,
Mama

It's a "Potty" in Here!

2010-11-29T11:48:00.003-06:00

About a week and a half ago, Jack's teacher informed us that he had been wearing pull-ups (that did not belong to him) and going potty on his own at school. This was definitely news to us, as Jack absolutely refused to go in the potty at home. Of course, after learning this, we tried our hardest to get him to go at home as well, but alas, he would get out of the car each day, strip down and ask for his diaper to be put on.

After a few days of this (and some moaning and groaning to my girlfriends about it), we decided enough was enough, and I informed Jack that the half full box of diapers we had was the LAST box of diapers we would be buying, and that we needed them for night night time, so he was going to have to wear undies from here on out and go in the potty.

We began putting him in underwear for school so he'd be in pull-ups no more, and on Thursday (yes, Thanksgiving Day, when we'd all be busy and scurrying around) we put underwear on him and that was that. He went potty on his own all day long without a single accident. He did the same thing on Friday, and then again on Saturday and again on Sunday, with a lone accident Sunday morning.

As far as we're concerned, this kid is day trained!

And I could not be more excited or happy for him. We have never pushed him to do this sooner than he was ready, but have gently encouraged him, asked him and talked to him about for a while now, and he just wasn't ever ready. Because he is so very strong willed, I thought for sure he'd be the only kindergartner still in diapers, and that eventually, I'd have to buy him adult diapers and pin them on the sides or something. ;) But as usual, my boy never ceases to amaze me, and made the choice to start doing this at school, and now, has chosen to be a big boy at home, too.

Obviously, there's still some work to do in this department, as well as making the jump to night training, but I am so pleased with and proud of him!

Potty trained by his 3rd birthday!

Grown Up ( a Sneak Peak)

2010-11-02T06:31:00.004-05:00

My dashing little man is looking very grown up in our recent family photos in South Austin. We had such a blast taking them, and my sweet friend Amber always captures our family so well.

For more, check out her blog at http://aleighphotography.blogspot.com/2010/11/stewart-family-austin-tx-family.html.

Waffles

2010-10-20T16:04:00.002-05:00

I am fast discovering that I have a very independent child. Case in point:

This morning, Jack and I had a minor disagreement when I was going down the stairs to make him some breakfast. We'd had the same disagreement moments before when I went to get him some milk. He wanted me to carry him down, but the deal is, he's got to meet me halfway and at least be standing so I can pick him up...not be laying down wailing so I have to scoop him off the floor like a sack of potatoes. He knows this is the way it works. And so, when he didn't get off the floor, I said I had to finish getting ready and he could have waffles after I was done, and I returned to my bathroom.

I turned on the blow-dryer and dried my hair, and when I was done, I could hear some crinkling downstairs and thought "oh, good! he's getting some cereal from the pantry" and went on to straightening my hair. When I finished that, I put on my clothes, gathered Jack's things and headed downstairs. When I turned the corner to the kitchen, I found that he had moved his stool to the counter and was sitting on the counter top.

In front of him was a brand new box of waffles, newly opened, and the bag the waffles are in, also newly opened. In each of his little hands were a frozen waffle, and in the toaster, were 2 waffles, cooking away. When he turned and saw me, he said "I'm makin' waffles Mama!" and shoving the waffles in his hands in the air followed up with "and I'm gonna make you some too!"

I moved to the counter to put the bag of thawing waffles back into its box and return it to the freezer and complimented him on doing this all by himself. I mentioned what a great job he did opening the box without ripping it and he then informed me that he opened the bag with a knife. "What knife?!" I exclaimed, opening the knife drawer while he pointed down and said "that knife." "Which one? Show me which one!" and he matter of factly pointed to the largest knife in the drawer, our bread knife. I was simultaneously thrilled he had chosen a serrated knife and nauseated that he'd used a knife at all.

About that time, the waffles popped up in the toaster, he took them out and put the next two in. I asked if he wanted them cut and with syrup to take to school, and he let me finish the job for him, taking my waffles from the toaster for me when they were ready, and asking for juice to take along as well.

I poured, changed him into school clothes, and away we went, me and my little independent chef.

The Long Summer

2010-09-09T10:58:00.002-05:00

Wow.

What felt like the longest year ever, with Chris away, was followed by what has felt like the longest summer! In the few short months since Chris returned, we have packed in as much as possible and it's been exhausting, as evidenced by the fact that the last time I graced this blog with my presence was to say Chris was coming home!

Since the end of June we have:

Celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary
Been to New Orleans
Taken swimming lessons
Had Gramma here from Vegas
Had family vacation in Port A
Spent 5 days in Junction with the Ashton's
Had a Housewarming Party
Spent a day at Splashtown
Had Gramma here from Vegas again
and spent 5 days in NYC

All that....in the past 2 months...and life went on around all of it! Changing jobs, hour long commutes to San Antonio everyday, Chris back to work, the whole nine yards, and that has made for one busy summer.

I, for one, am thankful it's over! I'm looking very forward to the holidays in our new home, accompanied by cooler weather and a little more relaxing. In the meantime, I'm going to try to get our summer events posted here to the blog.

Next up: N'Awlins!

Army Man Update

2010-06-04T16:23:00.002-05:00

Our Army Man is coming home!!!

ONE week from today, he'll be on a bus to the air base.

One week from tomorrow, he'll be on an airplane bound for Georgia.

TWO weeks from yesterday, he'll be HOME.

And he's NEVER leaving again!

Sneak Peak

2010-04-12T14:24:00.001-05:00

There's more at http://aleighphotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/jack-in-bluebonnets-new-braunfels-texas.html!!!

Home Sweet (New) Home

2010-03-25T10:31:00.003-05:00

The Stewart Family has a new home!
Yep. We're moving. Again.

But this time, it's to our very own home.

Our FIRST very own home!!!

We closed on it yesterday, and move in April 1st!

And we couldn't be more excited!

Kayla asked for more pictures, so here's a few!

The Home Front.
We plan on adding some decorative shutters around those great windows!
(And I would personally love to replace that tree right in front with a Crepe Myrtle!)

The formal dining room is the first room off the front door.
We'll eventually convert this space to a study.

The Kitchen. LOVE.
I love everything about our new kitchen! The counter tops are gorgeous, as is the tile backsplash, I'm thrilled about a gas stove, and my favorite thing is that it's open to the living room. No more being in the kitchen all alone!

You can't tell in this picture (thanks to the crazy weather lately), but the light that pours into those windows is STUNNING. It's part of what sold us on the house.

Additional view of the Living Room.
I do love the color and quality of the carpet, but feel sure that down the road, some wood flooring will make an appearance here.

The Half Bath.
Adore that pedestal sink.

Possibly my favorite feature (ahem. aside from the separate master closets)
is the 2nd living area AKA playroom!

The Master Bedroom.
Nice and big. 2 Master closets. Giant tub.
And those lovely windows.

There is so much we love about it.
4 bedrooms = room for kids and guests!
A real laundry room = just Yay!
A garage = no unloading groceries in the rain!
A fenced backyard = a happy outdoor loving little boy!

**For those of you wondering, NO, I did not pick this bad boy out on my own. Chris and I looked at it when he was home on leave and decided we had to have it. And as of yesterday, we do!

Big Boy Bed

2010-02-14T21:28:00.005-06:00

The other morning, I woke up and rolled over and found myself staring straight into Jack's face beside my bed. Obviously, since he still sleeps in a crib, next to my bed first thing in the morning is NOT the place he should be.

It became quite a common occurrence, and sometimes, he would even crawl out of his crib moments after I put him down to bed and scare the heck out of me in the living room. After a couple weeks of this, it was clearly time to get him out of the crib, since his climbing over it repeatedly couldn't possibly be safe.

I conferred with his Daddy and we shopped online together for beds and decided on one that would get him through at least junior high. :) I think it's funny that while having this conversation about buying our 2 year old a bed, we both made a point of saying we each slept in a twin bed until after we graduated high school. Like we were choosing the bed Jack will sleep in for the next 17 years. Yeah, right.

In any case, it was delivered the today and Nana and Deeda came over today to help me put it up in his room for him.
He was VERY excited and immediately told us that these were train tracks. Go figure...
It was no time before he was jumping all over the thing, of course.
And practicing covering up!

I thought it would be a huge challenge, but incredibly, he napped in it the very same day!

To ease the transition, I left his crib up in his room for a few days. The first night, he was excited to get into the big boy bed, but he asked later to sleep in the crib, so I let him. The next night though, he was ready to move on to the big boy bed for good and told me that his crib was for babies and that he wasn't a baby. He transitioned right over, and I didn't even have a problem with him getting out of the bed at night at all. Mornings are a different story!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T10:19:00.003-06:00

to everyone on this Valentine's Day!

I am feeling especially loved around this Valentine's Day because my dear, sweet, wonderful husband who pays attention to everything I do and say and listens to all the silly little desires of my heart and mind sent me these:

Well, he sent me two of them, to start my collection. Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice. Um, hello? A man who sends me Jane Austen? Love.I am so excited to have them and cannot wait to continue adding to the collection!
I believe that Great Expectations will be next, as it is one of my all-time favorites.

Thanks, baby! I love you!

The Latest Antics

2010-02-02T16:32:00.003-06:00

The little man is into so much these days, I feel like I'm missing taking pictures of about 85% of it. Not to mention it's harder to capture him when he practically moves at the speed of light! It's not as easy as when he just laid there, like a baby!

Instead, I have to run for the camera when he gets down into the floor to help his Nana clean out the Tupperware cabinet.
And I have to try to keep one eye on the road while I snap a picture of him pinching lizards with his toes!
Try to catch my breath (after running for the camera) while I capture the little man discovering his very first worm!
Scramble to get a picture of him doing just what we knew he would...crawling into the TV cabinet when the monster died and had to be replaced.
And trying to contain my laughter long enough to catch him after he stripped himself down in record time...in my car, no less!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T11:16:00.008-06:00

This Christmas was a different kind of Christmas for all of us I think, but ultimately wonderful, in spite of everything. Of course, the absence of Chris was felt throughout the holiday, not just for myself and for jack, but for my parents and my sister and Hank as well. It's as though it's slightly incomplete without him. This was also the first Christmas in many years that we didn't get together with our extended family. For whatever reason, it just didn't happen this year.

Christmas Eve, Jack and I had plans to spend the afternoon with our friends the Payne's and then go to the family service at church, but alas, Jack had other plans. He had felt slightly warm most of the day, but didn't have fever any of the times I checked it, and seemed okay otherwise, so we headed out in the late afternoon. He never perked up or played any with Davis, and was clinging to me quite a bit, so we decided it best that we check his temp again. No sooner than we tried, poor Jack was throwing up all over Amy's sun room, dining room and bathroom. Needless to say, we cleaned up, packed up and headed home. After a nap at home, we had plans to be with my parents, so we changed into our pajamas and headed over there to eat summer sausage and cheese (thanks, Mom!) and watch Christmas movies. After we were sufficiently worn out, we headed home, where Jack was sick again. Poor baby felt horrible, and on Christmas! He apparently had gotten a blockage in his tubes, because his ears started to drain. Thankfully, I had an unopened bottle of antibiotic ear drops, and oral antibiotics at home for him, and we started doctoring him up right away.

After Jack was tucked away in bed, Santa came!

Christmas morning, an exhausted and coughing little boy woke to find a train table under the Christmas tree!

He was as impressed and excited as he possibly could have been, given the way he was feeling. (It was truly pitiful...constant coughing, cried every time I so much as touched his ears, still throwing up....AWFUL.)
But the train table was enough to give him a short reprieve and some play time! He played with it until he couldn't play any more, and we went to eat strata at Mom & Dad's for breakfast.
After breakfast, we came home and played a bit more with the train table before crawling into my bed to take a nice long nap and get some rest for Christmas dinner.

That evening, we arrived back to my parents house, finding my mama in the kitchen (my favorite thing!). She had set a beautiful table, all silver and white and made a truly gorgeous dinner. She served us delicious Cornish game hens, red potatoes and steamed veggies and yummy rolls. We drank champagne and laughed around the table. We talked about the Lord. We talked about each other. We had a wonderful time around the table. It was the best!

After dinner, it was time for presents! We gave Jack some Motrin and got him off the couch long enough to open some presents with us...

We were all blessed with some great gifts this year....

Little Man & his Little People Airport....

and a Palm Centro! (just kidding....it was trains in the box!)

Pop-Pop (as Jack calls him) and a new drill....

Chris even joined us via telephone! While he didn't have any presents under the tree, he had left one for me! We were all thankful to talk to him and have him somewhat present at Christmas.

A slinky! (the favorite gift of the night!)

A BIG! train filled with gingerbread...

Nikki with a sign she had loved....

Nana with her annual Little Man calendar...

Nikki loved the necklace I picked for her....

Deeda got some motorcycle parts....

Nana got a little bottle of champagne...

Hank got some new pillows!

Nikki got another accessory for her house....

Daddy got a new leather jacket...

Mom got an Iceman autographed basketball!

and I got "The Busy Mom's Bible" that I was dying for...

a pair of gloves and gorgeous new scarf (that go gorgeously with my new coat!)...

and Little Man got his very own tool bench...

a gorgeous Silpada necklace from Daddy C! (thanks Baby!)

an awesome, oh-so-me sign from Nikki...

and Nana & Deeda finished it off with a HUGE Tonka truck for Jack!

After all the presents were opened and the last of the gift wrap thrown out and all the gifts loaded up, we retreated to the kitchen for dessert and coffee! Mm mm...chocolate pie and pumpkin cheesecake and coffee...yum! We spent the rest of the evening in the kitchen, together, over pie and coffee.

The presents were great, but the presence of our family was the best gift of all this year.

Thanks for the merriest Christmas, family!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T00:01:00.000-06:00

Wishing You and Yours Peace this Christmas!

Love,
We Three Stewart's

All Aboard!

2009-12-22T11:44:00.011-06:00

The Saturday after Jack's birthday, we threw him a birthday party that was all things train. Last year, the weather was beautiful for his party in our backyard, but this year would fail us. Epically fail us. As in, it snowed the day before, and never got above 35 degrees.

Luckily, our awesome friends and family didn't fail us, and all came out to play in the park in the cold. Sadly though, the weather put another kink in the train party plans, as the city shut down the train because of the weather!

Nonetheless, a great time was had by all!

The invitation, from Etsy seller Sugarcoat Paperie:
I loved the invitation SO much, the baker took it as a cue and made Jack a Train Ticket cake!
I am also completely in love with our city park and it's special play areas for kiddos of a younger age. As you can see, our best friend Davis,
and our great pal Eli,
and our birthday boy all thoroughly enjoyed it without any regard for the bitter cold!
The parents, however, were not without regard for the cold, so we hurried the party right along, kicking it off right by singing Happy Birthday to the little man!

We wasted no time cutting cake...
and Jack helped to serve the pieces....

that we then had to eat with our fingers because Mom forgot the forks! What's better than eating birthday cake? Eating it with your hands! (A funny sidenote: our friends Jake and Davis took up residence in front of the M & M's bowl and barely moved for the rest of the party! Such funny boys.)
Then we jumped right into opening the HUGE pile of presents our friends brought. Unlike last year, Jack caught onto the paper ripping right away this year, and boy did he have fun with it!
He dove right into every package....
with full force,
and amazed expressions!
He was an eager opener,
tearing tissue paper from the bags
and delighting in his treasures!
He was a maniac with the tissue paper, and I wish we'd recorded it!
He was two handing the paper out of the bags and throwing it into the air,
in search of the prizes waiting at the bottom.
It was probably one of the most joyful experiences of my life watching him open those gifts. He was so eager and excited, so surprised and delighted with each new find. I imagine it was one of the most joyful experiences of his life, thus far!

And we're SO very thankful for our wonderful family and friends who came out in spite of the cold to celebrate with Jack, and for gifting him an enormous amount of gifts (it's unreal, really, the generosity) and just for being present for Jack. He was an exceptionally happy boy that day, and we were exceptionally happy parents.

2nd Birthday

2009-12-22T11:20:00.005-06:00

I know I am getting this posted SO late, but hey, better late than never, right?

On the day Jack turned two, we commenced the day by eating cupcakes for breakfast, but not before the little man blew out his candle!
After our sweet breakfast, we opened the front door to surprise Jack with his big birthday present! A brand new Cozy Coupe! (Because every 2 year old needs his own car, and because a naughty little boy at daycare never lets Jack in the Coupe there, so he needed one of his very own!)

Then, because it was FREEZING cold outside, we brought the coupe indoors, where Jack proceeded to ride it all over the house. Such fun!
That evening was Wassailfest (yum!) in New Braunfels, so we bundled ourselves up and headed downtown to stroll through all the twinkling lights and try all the yummy, yummy Wassail.
All in all, a great, great birthday for the little man, made better because his Daddy was home to celebrate with him!

This Christmas

2009-12-21T08:02:00.002-06:00

This Christmas

This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty with word and deed. Keep a promise. Find the time. Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Appreciate others. Be kind; be gentle. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice. Decry complacency. Express your gratitude. Go to church. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Christmas is celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning - with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself toward the core of life. Then, only then, is it possible to grasp the significance of that first Christmas - to savor in the inward ear the sweet music of the angel choir; to envision the star-struck sky, and glimpse, behind the eyelids, the ray of light that fell upon a darkened path and changed the world.
~ Author Unknown

Merry Christmas With Love!

Two Years Ago

2009-12-03T07:36:00.001-06:00

I am repeating this post from Jack's birthday last year, because it absolutely still rings true for me.

Two years ago,

"At 7:34, Jack Eugene Stewart entered the world, weighing 9 pounds, 1.4 ounces and was 20 and 3/4 inches long. He was very healthy and happy and just perfect. His daddy went to the nursery with him while I got stitched back up and sent to recovery. After an hour in recovery, I was taken to my postpartum suite to wait and wait and wait for Jack to come out of the nursery. Finally, around 11, they wheeled him in and I was able to get my hands on him! He's gorgeous and perfect and everything I've ever dreamed of."

I couldn't have known then that that last sentence would be one that I would repeat aloud, and especially in my head, millions of times, daily. In his first year, I have witnessed miracle after miracle as he has grown before my very eyes, discovered so many things in the world that surrounds him, changed from a helpless infant into a walking, talking, climbing machine and continued to be the little boy that had been my dream.

I have said before that he has been the gift that gave my life purpose, and he is. I knew the moment I first saw him, just like I know right now, that I was born, put on this earth, to be his mother.

To hold his hand when he needs it held, and to let go when necessary. To comfort him when he cries, and to leave him alone. To teach him, and to learn from him. To love him, and be loved by him.

Happy 2nd Birthday, my Little Man Jack.

It Is Decided.

2009-11-19T14:11:00.004-06:00

I am making this:

From Here

to hang on the little man's door for Christmas. I think it's just delightful!

If it goes well, every door in the hallway might get one!!!

Edited to add: I cannot find the right wreath form, OR any gumdrops anywhere! What is the deal?

Disasterpiece

2009-11-11T10:09:00.005-06:00

The last two mornings have been filled with mischief and surprisingly, with patience.

You see, yesterday morning, I accidentally left Jack alone in the dining room, where I had accidentally left an ink pen laying on the table. I discovered he had the ink pen when he came into the bathroom with his entire right leg covered in markings. I confiscated the pen, cleaned his legs and went to the kitchen to pack his lunch, where I discovered that he had made a canvas of one of my dining chairs. (If you look closely, you can see the ink pen, below all that marker, which I'll get to.)

Incredibly, (and knowing it was too late to scold him since I didn't catch him in the act) I took a deep breath and said to myself, "Self, this is ink pen, on a microfiber chair. There is a way to get that out!" and carried on into the kitchen to pack lunch and get out the door. Then, this morning started off beautifully. I needed to be to work early so I got up early and was almost entirely ready to go, had lunch packed, clothes laid out and only needed to finish my hair and get dressed myself by the time Jack finally got up (thank goodness for a long, late play date yesterday!). I left him in the living room with his milk and his trains and retreated to my bedroom to put on the finishing touches.

I came out a few minutes later to get him changed and ready for the day and discovered him with a Sharpie. A big, black, permanent marker. As I rounded the corner, I immediately wondered where in the world he found that, while simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief, as it appeared to still have the lid on. Rather than fighting him for the marker on this close to perfect morning (since it still had the lid) I kept on into the kitchen. But, as I neared the table, I could see that the lid clearly was NOT on the marker (so much for my 20/10 vision!), since he'd made yet another crazed art show of my dining chair. I bolted across the room to him to snag the marker, took a VERY deep breath and calmly explained to my little Michelangelo that we do not mark on the furniture or the walls, but only on our paper. And then I said to myself, "Self, you cannot get permanent marker out of that chair. At least he made a bigger disaster of the same chair! Not to mention, you hate micro suede and had always planned to re-cover those anyway."

Yes, mischief and patience. Lots and lots of patience.

2009-11-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

Trick or Treat '09

2009-11-01T20:25:00.005-06:00

Oh! We had SUCH a great Halloween! Jack loved his costume this year...he didn't even fuss with the hat! And of course, he loved his Thomas bucket! It was fun choosing something this year that Jack likes, rather than just guessing at something!

We started off our trick or treating evening around 3 in the afternoon, heading over to Gruene Harley Davidson, where they had advertised this HUGE Halloween bash. Turned out to be a big disappointment, so we headed straight to downtown New Braunfels to kick off the real trick or treating.
I really like avoiding trick or treating in neighborhoods from some reason. It's just nice to walk on the sidewalk and for everyone to be out on the street, and not have to approach dark houses.

Downtown New Braunfels is one of my favorite places anyway, so it was perfect to be able to trick or treat there. (Though I do have to say, NB's got nothing on Canyon Lake's downtown trick or treat!)
We stopped off at the Train Museum to pose for a quick photo...

Then we went to Landa Park to ride the Landa Express, since he was dressed for it!

After a little while in NB, we headed back out to Canyon Lake for their trick or treat. Since it's so big, we had to bust out the wagon. Last year, my mom and I traded off carrying him (since he was such a new walker) and both thought we'd lose a limb before the night was over.

The wagon was great too, since there are cars on the street, I'd hate to think of Jack darting off into the road. Of course, after only a few stops, Jack was digging into the bucket...and I broke the cardinal rule and let him eat some! Boo on checking it when you get home! That's the other great thing about this trick or treat! These are business people, all of whom I know, so I can trust their candy!

After we had sufficiently worn Jack out with the trick or treating, we stopped into the VFW for a quick beer and a game of pinball with Deeda! (Yes, I took my child into a bar. But it's a really nice bar, with really nice people, and about a dozen other kids since it was Halloween!)
After that, we made a quick stop by the babysitter's house (she did some alterations on his costume for us!) so they could see the little man all decked out and get some yummy treats! Then we finally headed for home around 9. SIX hours of trick or treating! It's like a record or something!

It was such a fun Halloween, and seeing him all dressed up and having fun is just so fulfilling. I never thought I'd get so much joy out of a holiday I never really liked, but I do, and I'm so glad!

So Excited!

2009-10-30T14:01:00.002-05:00

Jack is on the schedule for the highly coveted Santa pictures!

I was totally thrilled with his Santa pictures last year, and can hardly wait for this year's pictures!

On a completely separate note, I went to look back at last year's photos here on the blog, and am just astounded at how much Jack has changed in the last year.

My parents and I almost never stop talking about how much he has changed and how much he is growing. Just last night we were noting what a difference there is in him now and just since Chris deployed, and the change over last year is shocking.

Last year at this time, he had zero of those curls we all love so much!

So, this year, it will be Santa and the curls! Can't wait!

Cuteness

2009-10-30T10:44:00.006-05:00

I had a handful of super cute pictures of the little man that I thought I'd share...

Here he is on his kitchen stool, eating some breakfast and being his usual silly self. His hair was WILD this morning!
He's just so stinkin' cute, if I do say so myself! Who could resist that smile?

I tell ya, that stool was some of the best money I've spent lately. It has saved me a lot of time moving him out from under my feet when trying to cook or clean, since he can get up and see what I'm doing, or help out!

Most mommies know the best place to give your kid a sucker is in the bathtub, since that's where they'll ultimately end up!

He's such a little cheeser! Thankfully, we've moved past the rough stage we were in for a few weeks, and he's his regular ol' happy self!

And lastly, this morning in his Halloween shirt! Can you tell he slept in VERY late this morning? He's been doing that lately, thanks to the darker mornings!

We are looking forward to a big day of Halloween festivities and trick or treating tomorrow, so look for a new post soon of all the Halloween goodness!

Fox Hollow

2009-10-16T15:44:00.010-05:00

Last week, the little man and I took a great vacation.

We went to Junction, TX. Yes, there were a lot of puzzled looks when I told people where I was off to, but really, it was probably one of the BEST vacations I've ever had. Usually on vacation, I'm a total busybody, trying to squeeze in as much as I possibly can to see and do. Junction is pretty much the EXACT opposite of that.

And, we had a really good reason for visiting Junction! Our best friends! The Ashton's have been friends of mine for a few years now, and friends of Chris for more than a decade. They're our "Vegas" friends, and we miss them terribly, pretty much all of the time! Nicole's mom and step-dad own this incredible property on the South Llano River called Fox Hollow, and it's incredible, as are they.

Fox Hollow has the awesome Main House, the Rock Cabin (where Jack and I stayed) and the Red Cabin (where the Ashton's stayed). The cabins are less like cabins than they are like houses; each has bedrooms, its own bathroom, its own kitchen, its own TV, yard and picnic tables. There's also a play room for ping pong or darts, an archery range, horseshoe pits, rope swing, zip line, the whole nine yards.

The Main House

The Rock Cabin

Probably the best part of the trip was finally getting to meet sweet little Ava. She's just shy of 4 months old, and she is just the sweetest thing. And she's ALL cheek. Just love her!

Jack took a liking to her as well, helping with her paci and being easy when he touched her, and calling her name at regular intervals.
Ava took a liking to the hammocks on the screened in porch (awesomeness = being outside AND safe from mosquitoes and flies). She spent quite a bit of time in the hammock on her own, in the hammock with her mama, and in the hammock with her Nana. And when she wasn't in the hammock, she was usually swinging in her swing, which is much like a hammock. She was such an easy going girl the entire trip.
Jack enjoyed using the hammock as a giant swing, rather than for it's intended purposes. But hey, whatever works, right?

Checking in on Ava

The Gorman's, our hosts, were awesome. Again, so was the screened in porch. We spent one entire day out there, all reading our books and eating the delicious pico Nana Gorman made us.
One day, after we'd sat long enough, we rode down the property to the river landing and played on the rope swing. I tried and tried, but I couldn't get Jack to go with me. No matter, though! The rest of us had plenty of fun on it!

(Find the swinger!!!)

The Llano River is really spectacular. I think this looks like a postcard, and it's literally Fox Hollow's back yard. It's stunning and relaxing and just all around amazing. We're so, so lucky to have friends that live here!

At the landing, Jack decided to meet the water face first. Lucky thing Uncle Brian was there to catch him before he went for a full on swim. Crazy kid.
After we'd had as much fun as we could stand on the rope swing, we were ready for some action on the zip line. The zip line was one of the first additions to the property, and I'm pretty sure it's well used whenever anyone is there. It's super fun, and it's not high or scary at all. (Love this action shot of Brian!)

Jack wasn't sure about the whole thing...
But his mama forced him to try it.

On the second day we were there, it turned cold, so we spent most of the day in the living room of the main house, around the fire. (a fire! in Texas! in October!) Again, we spent the day reading books, or wandering off to our own cabins to nap. Each day, we all came together for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and lots and lots of wine.
Jack was very good about keeping himself well occupied, here, he's showing me a bug.
And here, a gourd.
And helping to feed Miss Ava...

And (thanks to still the best $200 I've ever spent) plenty of time watching Monsters. That thing really kept him from going stir crazy on the wet, cold day and destroying the house. He also spent a lot of time eating M&M's, and pistachios and stealing apples from the fruit basket.
He also kept the dogs, Rita and Mischa well occupied. He must have hollered for Rita at least a million times over the weekend. They are the world's most patient and docile dogs, seriously.
On our last day at Fox Hollow, we did a 6 mile kayak. Thankfully, I did not take my camera on that trip, as Jack and I took a tumble into the water about 45 seconds into the trip. The first chunk of the trip was quite an ordeal, but once Jack got calmed down and warmed up (and Kurt caught a fish for him to hold) the trip was really great. I'll post pictures once I have them. I discovered I really like kayaking!

After 6 miles though, we were all plenty ready to be home, and to stand in very hot showers. And lay in hammocks and swing together until it was too cold to stay outside.

We finally had to move inside, where Jack got really comfy with Mischa.
On Sunday morning, we all got up and packed up, cleaned our cabins and met in the Main House for an awesome breakfast to celebrate our trip. Patrick makes the BEST cinnamon toast I have ever had. Pair that with yogurt and fresh berries and granola and leftover breakfast casserole, and you have a breakfast winner. (I could do an entire post alone on the food we ate, and a totally separate post on all the wine we drank if I could remember the names of any of it..)

We drove the Ashtons to the airport for their flight home to Vegas on Sunday, and Jack held hands with Ava for a long portion of the drive. They were so cute in the back seat together. It was hard to say bye to our friends, and after getting home on Sunday, all we did was relax from the relaxing weekend. The whole thing obviously took it's toll on Jack, as this is how he finished the day. ;)

It was an absolutely perfect trip. I love the river, I love Fox Hollow, and I loved the Gorman's. We'll be so lucky to be welcomed to join their family there again, and we're all looking forward to the next trip, where Chris will be able to come along!

The Truth

2009-10-13T21:00:00.002-05:00

Here's the thing:

I stated recently in a post that that particular post would be the last one I would post on the subject of Chris' deployment.

Y'all. I can't do it.

I try to keep this space here light and happy, which we are, the vast majority of the time.

But I have to tell you, it's HARD to keep up this facade of everything being great, and pretending that our life is the same.

It's not. Nowhere near even close.

And really, I need the outlet.

So, I will be posting the not so happy bits and pieces here too.

Starting now.

The past few weeks have been extremely difficult. As we were preparing for Chris to leave, I was preparing myself to deal with two weeks of hell immediately after C left, mistakenly thinking that would be the time period in which Jack would be adjusting to the absence of his father.

Boy, was I wrong. The first two months passed like nothing was different. Then, right around the two month mark (about 2 weeks ago), it hit him, finally, that daddy wasn't around, and hadn't been for a while.

Since that point, my anxiety has been through the roof. I have broken down into a tearful fit no less than 4 times in the last three weeks, questioning my skills as a parent, as an employee, as a housekeeper, as a sister, as a daughter, pretty much everything under the sun.

I have let my son get away with everything imaginable, at the risk of him becoming a small terror, and am now having to instill some serious discipline around here to make up for it.

I have become greatly agitated at having to listen to the word "mama" fourteen million times an hour, only to feel guilty moments later because I wanted so badly for someone to call me mama.

I have spatted an ill-behaving little boy on the bottom, only to break down in tears seconds later over the fact that I resorted to corporal punishment, and then subsequently burst into tears when telling both my mom and my husband what I had done.

I have had a fabulous 4 day vacation with our best friends (which I will be posting about soon!), only to arrive home from dropping them at the airport and spend the rest of the day completely depressed about them being gone, and the fact that we don't get together often enough, rather than being delighted at the time we had.

I walk through my front door every single day, look around, and have tears well up in my eyes because it's empty in here.

I cooked dinner on Sunday, for the first time in weeks. It's pathetic. But I can't stand cooking for one, and all of the sudden, Jack's decided he's picky.

Really, it's everything. Our whole life is depressing me right now.

I want to be able to crawl into my husband's arms and just be held and hugged by him, because he is always the one who makes it all go away. Do you know that his arms aren't long enough to reach from the Middle East?

We are inching ever closer to the holidays, and I'm not gonna lie, that fact isn't helping matters.

Also not helping matters (as completely backwards as this will sound) is the fact that he comes home on leave in about 7 weeks, and the fact that I will have to watch him leave AGAIN practically kills me.

And that's the truth.

County Fair

2009-10-05T22:37:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was the County Fair, and it's free on Sundays, so I thought I'd take Jack over to check it out.

He was very amused by the mass of colors and swirling lights. It's such a sensory experience, even for me, so I can't imagine what wonders it must hold for him. He would have been happy just to cruise around in the stroller watching the big rides.

But he was also very happy to play carnie games. He got to pick a duck to win a prize! We walked up and I had my $2 out to hand the guy and the following conversation took place:

Me: "Hi! We'll take one duck, please." (hands him $2)
Carney Guy: "You get 3 for $5."
Me: (thinking "I can read.") "Oh, that's okay, one will be plenty."
Carney Guy: "If you buy three, you automatically get a large prize."
Me: "Yeah, but then I have to carry it around."
Carney Guy: "You can come back for it later."
Me: "Yes, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO TAKE IT HOME AND DEAL WITH IT THERE! WE'LL TAKE JUST 1!!!"

Seriously, is there ANYWHERE they don't up-sell you? Not to mention the fact that, as my friend Court put it so well, that "stuffed animals are the bane of a mother's existence." No, thanks very much.

And don't you know after all that, he loved getting the duck, and further loved choosing his very small prize, a blue and yellow gator that he is STILL carrying everywhere with him?

After the duck game, we went over to ride the ponies, which Jack enjoyed, but not overly. He was far more concerned with the tractors that were on display nearby. (Plus, seriously, how much fun can it really be walking in that tiny circle? It's like NASCAR, but on ponies.)
After a long self-debate, I opted to go the wristband route with Jack. This is the kid who will rob me of every single quarter in my purse to ride the trucks and cars and animals in the mall food court, so I figured, if I buy a few tickets, I'll run out, and then there'll be trouble, so I'll just drop the twenty on the wristband and not have to worry with it!
WRONG.

About halfway through the FIRST ride, this is what I'm looking at.

A screaming child.
I literally (yes, I really did.) forced him to ride the second ride, and then he plainly refused the most kiddy ride of all, the little pig train, so we high tailed it out of there, $28 poorer.

When we got into the car, he looked at me and said "Ride train?". Not kidding. He wanted me to take him to the train ride in the park.

Clearly, that wasn't an option at that point. All the screamer got was a ride home.

Seriously though, it was really fun to watch him in the hour before the riding mishaps. He is still just so awesome to me, and to watch him take all of it in is really, really neat. It's just all so wondrous, and he loves it, and I love that I'm able to witness it.

We'll be back next year, County Fair! (even if we don't ride!)

What A Croc!

2009-10-01T10:29:00.003-05:00

Evidently, as a mommy, I am a bit behind the fashion times. Evidently, (much as I despise them) Crocs are THE shoes to have these days for those of a certain age. Especially toddlers.

At Kindermusik on Tuesday, I looked around to find that Jack was the ONLY child in the entire class not wearing Crocs. Others noticed this too, with one mama even having to explain that Jack's shoes were, in fact, shoes, even though they didn't look like rubber duck feet. (Okay, so she didn't say it exactly like that.)

Then, Jack noticed that all the other shoes were different than his, and took a keen interest in an orange pair belonging to another boy, that were covered in the illustrious Jibbitz.

Then, the next morning, dropping Jack off at school, Miss S and I somehow got onto the subject of Crocs, and her grandson wears nothing but Crocs and she started talking about Mammoth crocs, and how they don't slip off the foot and on and on, and she informed me that there is a Crocs Outlet in San Marcos.

It would appear that all roads lead to Crocs. At least for Jack, since we would just so happen to be IN San Marcos, across the street from the Outlets that very afternoon! And, of course, I can't be letting my little man be out of fashion, even if the fashion is rubber shoes.

Jack went completely B-A-N-A-N-A-S in the store, wildly pulling shoes off the racks and running around like crazy with them. (Not much unlike his Mommy in Nine West, may I say?)

I'm happy (sort of) to report that Jack is now the proud owner of not one, not two, but THREE pairs of Crocs.
When I reported this information to Daddy last night, I could hear crickets. So I repeated myself. To which he replied "You're not serious, right?" (The man knows me FAR too well.) I had to admit that I was serious, and then the man laid the ground rule that no Crocs would be permitted over the age of five. (Isn't he funny?) I can't say it's a bad rule, but it means we're looking at Crocs for the next 3 years. Won't that be fun?

He does actually look pretty darn cute in them, I must admit. And, they're guaranteed not to stink, or something, which will be good, because that child could wake the dead when he removes his sandals.

Bay St. Louis

2009-09-14T20:37:00.005-05:00

Bay St. Louis and the bayou that the Lundin Bay House sits on is really one of the neatest and prettiest places I think I've ever been. Of course there's water, and that's always good in my book (what being a lake dweller myself and all) and there are soaring trees and everything is a luscious green. Add to that some of the most beautiful homes I've ever seen, and it's just heavenly! Even better, some of them have stories of their own, some of them survived the beating from Katrina (and Gustav, I might add), and a bit of history makes everything more interesting.

The bayou is lined with houses much like this one. Rumor has it this particular house is occupied by a widow. She was married to a man whom she evidently suspected was cheating on her. One day, she received a phone call to say that her husband was in the ER, suffering a heart attack. She arrives at the hospital to find him walking out the doors, (I suppose he wasn't having a heart attack after all) and she pulls a gun and shoots him to death, right in front of the ER. Then she pleads insanity, is hospitalized and released, and now she's shacked up in this beauty with a yard boy and a yacht. (Clearly, the yard boy is busy elsewhere, as the landscaping could really use some help.)

The bayou that you must navigate to get out to Bay St. Louis and the Mississippi Sound is literally lined with these gorgeous houses. I could easily retire in pretty much any of them (well, except maybe the double wide trailer on stilts...though it was nice...)
These two houses here are owned by two brothers. They are the mirror image of one another, outside and in, I'm told. You'd think they could share a pool, but no. There's one at each house. (Cool feature: they are equipped with storm barrier doors that come down over the porches like garage doors.)
This is one of the inlets (like a cul-de-sac).

Loved this one.
There are waterways that are like streets that point out in all directions, each lined with homes.
Each more beautiful than the next.

Labor Day Weekend 2009

2009-09-09T22:11:00.009-05:00

Labor Day Weekend this year brought us Jack's first real road trip! My cousin Kayla (who was recently married) has fabulous in-laws who have a wonderful bay house in Pass Christian, Mississippi, on Bay St. Louis, and invited us to come for the weekend. In preparation for the trip, I bought the little man a new portable DVD player (a 9 hour drive warrants this sort of thing!) and man did it ever make the trip a smooth one. I had super anxiety leading up to this trip, and as usual, Jack far surpassed my expectations.

He kicked back, drank milk and ate snacks, played with trucks and trains, colored and watched Nemo and Monsters for the majority of the drive. We hit the road Thursday for Lake Charles to spend the night before getting up to finish the drive on Friday morning.He stayed up the entire first leg of the drive and was a total maniac when we reached the hotel room. I actually a bit surprised that he didn't pass out, and then, that I was able to get him to sleep. (Where he proceeded to kick me all night long in what was the most uncomfortable bed I have EVER slept in...and it was a nice hotel!)

We left Lake Charles mid-morning on Friday, where we drove over the "long bridge" that I have so many memories of. I have made this drive no less than a dozen times in the last several years, and it's really a neat drive. My memories of this area are pretty clear, and yet I never remember it looking like this. Those stumps have me (and my Grammy and Aunt D) stumped.

Jack took a moment to check out the view, too.
It was dark when we hit Louisiana, so I missed the welcome sign, but we stopped at the rest area when reached MS (after a long afternoon spent lunching and buying fishing licenses at Bass Pro Shops in Baton Rouge) and I snapped the welcome sign there.
We drove the rest of the way through Waveland to Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis to the Lundin bay house, arriving to find Uncle Ed waiting on little man Jack to take him crab fishing. He had set the traps earlier in anticipation of Jack's arrival, and wasted no time at all getting him into the boat to show the little man the ways of the south.

We got him life vested, and away we went. Jack even helped drive for a minute!
Of course, being the water baby (from the water mama) that he is, he was literally right at home on the boat. The boy has sea legs already, and walked all around the boat, checking everything from the fishing poles to the view out.
Then we pulled traps. This occurred a few more times throughout the weekend, and when it was all said and done, I'm pretty sure they probably boiled more than 5 or 6 dozen crabs for dinner on Sunday night. Sadly, I did not photograph any of the food, or our time around the table. What was I thinking? Oh, yeah, I was too exhausted from fishing all day....

Moving on...we pulled crab traps. We shook out the jellyfish.
We dumped the crabs into the hamper. We re baited the traps. We threw them back and set them again.
And we still made time to pose for pictures!
In the event you were wondering what a pregnant crab looks like...here you go. I give you....a pregnant crab. You have to throw them back. Off she goes.
We rode through the bayou a few times each day of the trip, and it's just amazing. (I'll have some pictures of that tomorrow.) This area was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina (they talk about her like a person, referring to her as "she" and everything.) and has been beautifully rebuilt.
On Saturday, the big kids left the little kid with the grandparents and headed out to fish. I have no idea where we went on this day, except to say that it was more than ten miles, in a 24 foot bay boat, in some rather high winds. And, that our guide took us to some of the best catfishing grounds any of us had ever seen. Except that he (our guide....my cousin's hubby, Ward) said he'd never seen anybody catch so many dang catfish in his life and that it MUST be because we were from Texas, and he made us throw them all back, because evidently, salt water catfish are not good eats. He spent the entire afternoon (literally.) unhooking catfish from our lines. As well as 2 stingrays, and a couple of shucked oyster clusters. (How they got those to bite, I have no idea.)

I did catch a keeper! A nice little Gafftop, and we took home a nice haul of Croaker to fry up.

I can say that the spot we were fishing in (in Louisiana waters somewhere) was beautiful. I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen, until Sunday when we went to a more beautiful place. Back in the bayou, Alfonse, the resident alligator, made a morning appearance each day, swimming down the center of the bayou, presumably looking for some breakfast. He's just a little guy....they won't come retrieve them until they're at least 6 feet long. (eek!)
Jack spent his days playing in the water hose, or dog water or ice chest water while we fished. He ran all over the bay property, and on Sunday, he got a special trip over to the beach, where he picked up a topless chic (she was in only her diaper!).

You can see the crab trap behind him, where we also fished for crabs each day.

I managed to get zero pictures of our Sunday fishing trip, which is REALLY a shame, because I now have only my memories of the amazing and beautiful Louisiana marshland. I will be the first to tell you (and my husband would totally back me up) that geography (of anything outside of Texas) is my absolute worst subject of knowledge. I just never paid much attention. But, this weekend I learned that Louisiana extends far south of Mississippi into the Gulf Coast in what is known as marsh. It is, absolutely indescribable. (Search for Louisiana Coastal Marsh in Google Images, but these pictures offer no justice). It is untouched, beautiful, quiet, serene, peaceful, and a fisherman's and a birder's paradise. I almost didn't go fishing on Sunday, and the rough ride home and dodging some potentially very bad weather in the Gulf were so worth seeing this place. A place I had no idea was even there! To think!

We returned to the bayou on Sunday night a bit heavy hearted that it was already time for us to go. We each agreed that we could really have spent days and days there, in the nice weather with the breezes blowing off the bayou, and fishing off the dock and from the boat, and eating the delicious food our hosts served each night (seafood gumbo and drunken chicken, fried fish and boiled crab, biscuits and fruit each morning, and on and on....). It was the absolute perfect trip.

Perfect.

Jack and I both did a little of this on the long ride home....

Funnies (and a Cutie!)

2009-08-17T21:28:00.003-05:00

Feeding himself yoyurt (yogurt) and barely able to tear his eyes away from Cars.

His usual morning post. Every day when I go to get him out of his crib, he first hands me his "night-night" (the blanket), then Snoopy, Shamu, the "doggy", and the "fwog", then reaches up for me to take him. (Cause I have 8 arms...) Then they all take up their positions on the couch.

Home sick, watching movies in Mommy's bed.

For some reason, we spent a lot of time in my room while Jack was sick last week. This, of course, meant Jack getting into alot of things, including Dad's sock drawer, and then insisting he wear Dad's socks, without a care in the world whether they matched or not.

And today. After a sun-filled, water-soaked evening at his Nana & Deeda's, pulling his wagon up the hill. For more Jack & the wagon goodness, see the video below!

Jack (No Jill) Went Down the Hill

2009-08-17T21:01:00.003-05:00

There is literally no end to the fun we find to have at Nana & Deeda's.

The rolling down the hill in the wagon started long ago...when Jack liked crashing into the fence. He soon learned that he didn't like having to get out of the wagon to drag it back up, so some adult person was having to do it for him.

Leave it to the ingenious Deeda to save Mama and Nana's aching thighs! A string!

Fun for all!

Busy Weekend

2009-08-10T12:14:00.002-05:00

It was a busy weekend at the Stewart House (and out of the Stewart House), even if we are down a solider! ;)

So busy, in fact, that I can't even remember Friday, though I'm pretty sure we just came home and tried to relax...as much as one can relax when Cars is playing in the living room and Thomas and the Magic Railroad is on in the master bedroom. If the TV watching continues in this pattern, I'll have mush for brains. Moving on....

I have been staying up way to late at night fiddling around the house, and I began cleaning out our disaster of a master closet last week, going through every single article of clothing both hanging and in the dresser and purging with wreckless abandon, and ended up finishing that part of the job on Saturday morning before Jack's nap time. There were piles all over my bedroom, of stuff to keep and put away, stuff to consign and stuff to trash, plus lots of actual trash. (Really, how does that accumulate in a closet? Tags, dry cleaning bags...and dozens of shoe boxes!) Jack went down for his nap sounding fine and woke up with a scratchy throat (that I instantly knew would soon be croup!) but we had a lunch date with my Grammy and Nikki, so I loaded the little man into the car, along with:

4 bags full of shoe boxes and assorted trash for the dumpster
1 large box full of accessories and household decor items for consignment
3 pairs of shoes (all I could stand to part with) for consignment
25+ Shirts to consign
10+ Skirts, shorts and pants to consign

We hit the dumpster first, then dropped that huge load off at my favorite resale shop. (And I still have 2 boxes full of stuff for the community thrift store!) Relieved to be rid of that load, we headed to Gruene and had what felt like a very fast lunch with Gram, Nikki, Codi, Brad and Gram's friend Gwen. Jack gives me super anxiety in restaurants because he just does not want to sit in the high chair at all. I don't want to be that parent with the wild child disturbing everyone else. I managed to eat A nacho. Yes, one.

After lunch, we hit up Target, where I promised Jack that if he was a sweet boy, I'd take him to ride the train. We picked up some things to send to Daddy, as well as some wooden tracks for Jack's growing interest in trains. (Lord, help me now before Thomas explodes all over my house. And let me just say, for posterity, that we are NOT decorating a bedroom with Thomas, ever. Nor are we throwing a Thomas birthday party until the child asks for it himself. I just can't handle it!) We also got new end of summer/early fall deck shoes for the boy, along with all the plates and napkins for his birthday party. In December. They were on sale for a price too good to pass up.

After Target, I drove down my favorite route through NB, a route that takes us down Fair Rd., a street with a very steep hill, where at the top Jack says "Ready?" ..."GO!" and then shrieks "wheeee!" all the way down. Makes me smile every single time. (He also does this all the way down the very hilly street on the way home from daycare.) We ended at Landa Park, where they just unveiled brand spanking new (awesome) playscapes. We started off with a ride on the mini-train around the park, as promised. Jack really loves the train, and now "choo-choos!" on a regular basis, even pumping his arm like he's pulling the cord. After the train ride, we hit up the new play area, which is beyond perfect. Landa Park is already one of the best parks I've ever been to (except for Central, of course!) and now it has a playscape designed for children ages 2-5, and totally separate from the huge looming playscapes that are usually present. (Landa still has that, too, for the bigger kids.) We played for over an hour, and I didn't have to chase him every second since it's designed for kids his size, which made it a relaxing experience for both of us, I think!

We had plans with friends for the evening, so when we had finished playing, we headed back out to the lake to meet our friends, Eli's parents to go out to a big family birthday party at the Twin Sisters Dance Hall. Jack and Eli are separated by only 1 month in age, and they get along perfectly. They're pretty well on par with their development, (and they very closely resemble one another!) and they have a ball every time we're together. We all loaded up and headed out, where we ate great barbecue and chased the boys all over the dance hall, until they discovered the giant inflatables outside, and then I couldn't get Jack out of it for hours. Luckily, there were tons of kids around to play! We kept the boys up way past their bedtimes, but sometimes it's just what you've gotta do! (As a sidenote, I ended up leaving my cell phone there (unheard of for me) and had to drive all the way back for it, so we ended up home after midnight.)

After a much too short night's sleep, Jack woke up Sunday morning with full blown croup. While he alternated between playing lazily on my bed and in the living room, I finished rehanging everything in the closet, and removed all the piles and everything else that didn't belong from our bedroom, then went to town vacumming and prettying up the bed (as I do everyday, when Jack isn't playing in it). Then I sighed a HUGE sigh of relief and the very next second I said to myself "bathroom's next!" I have a TON of stuff under my sink that I literally never touch. It needs to go. Evidently the deployment has me in nesting mode.

After nap, we loaded up for a badly needed trip to Sam's (the LAST one, I swear...I'm ordering diapers from Sam's online next time, and they're coming to my door.) and then the normal grocery shopping at WalMart. It amazes me how long it all takes. We were gone for hours, but we finally made it home and finished off our weekend with some Margherita Pizza for me (the little man has zero appetite) and a nice, long bath for the little man before bed. Even I went to bed at 9:30, exhausted from the busy-ness of the weekend.

Wonder what next weekend will hold?

Block Head

2009-08-03T22:19:00.002-05:00

Check out my (slobbering-cutting-a-molar) little man stacking up his blocks! These blocks have been hanging out in the top of a closet until today, when I needed a new toy to present to him. Perfect timing...he was ready for them! Isn't he a smart little sweet pea?

The Going Away Weekend

2009-07-31T22:28:00.010-05:00

I figure it's been two weeks, so it's probably about time I actually posted pictures of the big Bon Voyage weekend we had for Chris before he departed.

We started off the weekend at one of our favorite places, the Freiheit Country Store in NB. They have the best burgers, and seriously, the best fries in the world. Plus, it's a big giant barn with loud country music being karaoked by terrible (and a few good) singers. What's better than that? Oh yeah, cold beer and super sweet tea!

And chickens to chase. Which is what Jack did pretty much the entire time we were there. With his (Vegas) Grandpa Ed close behind him.
Most of Chris' work buddies came out to drink some beer and celebrate with him. They appear to be having a good time, they almost always are.
See those french fries? They cut the potato WHEN you order the fries. They're super fresh and delish. And this little man is determined to eat them. He's just stolen them from someone else's basket and come running down the bench with them.
Just the girls.
On Saturday, we had a huge "Bon Voyage Backyard BBQ" for all of our family and friends, over at my parents house so the young'ns could run wild, and be contained.

Jack was his usual self, doing daredevil stunts and just his regular rabble rousing type stuff. With his Grandpa Ed not far behind him. Here, he's riding in his beach wagon down the drive-way, only to be pulled back up and do it all over again.
The guys all played cornhole (the bean bag toss game made of bags actually filled with corn, hence the name cornhole.)
Dirty boy. His perpetual state. (But doesn't he look cool?)
Friends of ours just had their first baby, a sweet princess named Charly, and I got to get my hands on her when she wasn't being hogged by our other friends! She's such a sweet tiny little thing. Even Chris got in on some baby holding action!

The food was great, fried fish, brisket, watermelon, potato salad, deviled eggs, Rudy's cream corn, beans, all kinds of good stuff, and some of the best cake and cheesecake on earth! Everyone really enjoyed it!

Including this dirty little man, who stopped for a moment long enough to eat a couple bites before running off again to play.
Or to sit at a table more his size and enjoy a cold beverage. After we were sufficiently stuffed, we spent the rest of the day sitting around, enjoying each other and drinking cold beer. And taking pictures.

And doing lots and lots of laughing.
And hugging.
And playing. And daredeviling type things.

You know, typical barbecue.

It was really a wonderful and perfect day, and the very best way for our family and friends to see Chris off. We're so blessed to have so much support so close to us, and I'm so thankful to all of them.

Now I just can't wait to have a coming home BBQ even bigger and better than this one!

Of Note

2009-07-24T21:49:00.000-05:00

My couch cushions can be washed in the washing machine. Well, the covers can. On the gentle cycle.

How do I know this? Because I washed not one, but two of them today, and not at the same time. My dear sweet son, who has learned to pants himself AND remove his diaper peed on one of them today. Shortly after the first one was hanging up to dry, he emptied a soda can on the second one.

If I had half a brain, I'd really have washed the third one just for the sake of doing it. But I don't, so that one will have to wait for some type of little boy torture before it can be washed.

Deployed

2009-07-24T13:02:00.002-05:00

I don't even know where to begin. The little man and I took Daddy C to the airport today. As I'm typing this, he's already had a layover in Atlanta and is on his way to Columbus, if he's not already there. I'm expecting to hear from him soon that he's arrived at Ft. Benning. He will spend the week there before flying to Kuwait, where he'll receive further orders of his assignment and move on to Iraq.

The three of us spent the last 10 days smooshing ourselves as close together as we could, spending a lot of really nice, quality time at home together. I am so thankful to have had the vacation time to take off to be with them, and am especially thankful for the next two days to decompress before we have to go back to work and school.

Jack has been a little trooper all day. I realize he has no idea what's happening, and couldn't possibly understand the amount of time that will pass before he sees his dad again, but regardless, I'm proud of how great he has been. His life has been odd, to say the least these past couple of weeks, and he didn't even shed a tear when his daddy boarded that plane today. He smiled and waved bye-bye like a big boy as his parents tried to hold it together for his sake. (I will say, that I did a great job, and it wasn't until C got misty-eyed that I let a tear drop.) I let them flow freely as we watched him step out of the jetway and onto the plane, and as we watched it take off, then wiped my eyes and carried my boy out of the airport.

I knew I couldn't come straight home, so I thought we'd do a bit of shopping, you know, retail therapy always works. Since we were up at 5 am, the little man was passed out before we were out of the airport. I had a drive-thru breakfast and made phone calls about swim lessons while he slept and we waited for the mall to open. A quick cruise through Wal-Mart helped to kill some time after he woke, and a couple of new things and some sweet tea at the mall helped us maintain our composure.

If I could have avoided coming home, I would have. I knew that getting home would be the hardest part for me. Walking in that front door and not having any idea when I might see C withing the walls of our home again is just too much to think about. I know that we will be fine, and that life will become "normal" for us, but that doesn't do anything to make it any less sad.

This is probably the last time I will talk about this subject here on the blog. I like reserving our blog for the happy, funny memories of our family, and will not focus on the separation of our family at all here. Those memories will be journaled elsewhere. For now, we are still We Three Stewarts, we're just in different time zones.

Fourth of July 2009

2009-07-06T09:53:00.013-05:00

I have to say that I cannot recall ever having a better Fourth of July weekend. I may have, I just can't remember it! This weekend was just SO perfect.

Daddy C and I took Jack to daycare on Friday, so that we could spend some time just the 2 of us, and because the daycare had a little hot dog cook out planned for the kiddos. It's so awesome that Jack loves being there so much. He's taken to clapping and yelling "Yay!" when I pull into the driveway to drop him off. After he was dropped off, C and I donned our swimsuits, slathered (most of) ourselves in sunscreen, grabbed some tubes and hit the Guadalupe River! It was the first time C had ever floated the river, and he loved it. (I think most people do) We floated a perfect stretch of the river (From Whitewater @306 to Rio @ the 4th crossing) for about 3 hours, and it was just plain wonderful. That night, we made pizza and salad at home and relaxed from our day on the water before going to bed early for our big day on the 4th.

We got up first thing Saturday morning, packed up the car with snacks and drinks and headed to Fredericksburg to watch the parade there. I grew up in Belton, where they have one of the biggest parade's in the state. I often wonder if I've made it big in my mind, or if it really is that big, and have now decided that I need to go back and see if it's as big as I remember it. Someday...but not this year! This year, we decided to hit Fred' and we're SO glad we did. Incredibly, we were able to get our chairs right on the street, even thought we only got there about 15 minutes prior to the start of the parade. The parade lasted about an hour, all the entries go down one side of the street and then come back the other, which I thought was really neat. There were tons of floats, Antique cars, color guards, tractors, horses and the like, but I've just included some of our favorites.

Fredericksburg is home the the Museum of the Pacific War (as well as the home of Chester Nimitz) and they do a re-enactment daily (I think). There were several WWII Jeeps in the parade, along with two tanks. (Don't they look like they just walked off the set of Saving Private Ryan?)
There were flyovers with vintage aircraft (another of C's favorite things, he being the WWII buff that he is.)
Jack was really good throughout the parade, and only gave in to the temptation to wander off twice, and thankfully, not into the parade route, but back into the shade in front of the shops.
These days, in towns like this, they don't allow any sort of candy throwing at all, so people give away flags, and Jack waved his proudly!

What could be better than a parade with a UT Tower float?
I will state for the record that I am a Republican. And I thought it was hilarious that this Smart Car was the entry for the Dems of Gillespie County.
Again with the Democrats, but I just think it's so funny that our little German towns put their German flair on everything.
This was a church float, and these guys are dressed as firecrackers. I loved the spirit of this parade! Everyone was having so much fun with it.
There were dozens of antique autos, but only one Stanley Steemer! Hello? Dems! You should have been driving this one!!!

There were also lots and lots of tractors, both antique and new, and they had people of all shapes and sizes driving them. This was the smallest one, with the smallest driver.
That's all, Y'all! (In German, of course.)
After the parade, we took the very scenic route to Llano (due to Main St. being closed in Fred' and me missing a turn off). We called Dad, the navigator for directions, and he found us a back road out of Harper, TX where we stopped for a short gas station parking lot picnic. After crossing no less than 40 cattle guards (no exaggeration.) we finally arrived at this spot out in the middle of literally nowhere where my family was camping for the weekend. My dad's cousin has been inviting us for years, and I think we're insane not to have accepted the invitation sooner! It was truly breathtaking, and these pictures offer no justice to the serenity of this place.

When we arrived, some of the boys were fishing and caught a little perch for live bait straight away. Of course, Jack being the fishmonger that he is, wanted it out of it's live well.

Not long after we got there and visited for a while, we all jumped in our swimsuits and hit the water. It was the perfect temperature, and never so deep your head wasn't above water. Jack got his own personal river by way of this float, and he loved every minute of it.

We were all smiles the entire day, really.
Who wouldn't be when your whole family looks like this?
Jack was thrilled to be in the water, and so were the rest of us. So much so that some of us stayed out there for literal hours.

Once we were all nice and waterlogged, we finally made out way out so we could eat some dinner, play on the shoreline, and wait for fireworks.

Some of us are better waiters than others. (I just love this picture. I see this face SO often, it just cracks me up to have caught it on camera. Such distress! {In case you're wondering, he can't move a chair, and that, my friends, is something to fret about.})

And he's over it. Whew. That was a close one. Get that boy a cold one and set him on his way. That's what we do when my dad gets that look. ;)
Mama and the little man really enjoyed the time on the river. If Daddy wasn't behind the camera, you'd see him enjoying it too!
And finally, it was time for fireworks! This is an amateur display, but you'd never have known it! A bunch of the younger boys set to work before sunset setting everything up and then they lit it all in what I'm sure was some strategic order, and it was wonderful. Jack never got upset about the noise at all, and laid back on his mama to watch, when he wasn't running down to see Deeda or move over to sit with his Daddy.

Or just plain poop out!
After the fireworks were finished, we loaded up and headed home. We got home and hit the sack right away. (Little man slept all the way home)

Sunday morning, I got up with the little man and let Daddy C sleep in. Then, after a little while, we all three piled up in the bed together to snuggle and play before finally hauling ourselves out of bed so C could make us some cinnamon rolls for brunch. We alternated between relaxing on the sofa or playing on the floor all day long, and we even ALL took a nap at naptime. So nice. It was a long, lazy Sunday, and it was the icing on the cake of a fantastic Fourth of July weekend.

Probably the best ever.

Harris & Co.

2009-06-30T11:10:00.002-05:00

Click here for a sneak peak at our other beach photos!

Eyes and Ears and (Teeth) and Nose!

2009-06-29T10:48:00.002-05:00

The little man (being the genius that he is) has been increasing his (already amazing) vocabulary at a rapid pace here lately. So much so that I have completely lost track of all the words he says. It used to be that I noted only what words he used in conjunction with recognition of an item, but then he began repeating almost everything we'd say, and then using it in recognition almost immediately, and I've completely lost track of it all!

At his 18 month check-up, Dr. P was going through the checklist, marking of the developmental milestones. When he got to "He should be saying at least 4 to 10 words on a regular basis" and I responded "Um, it's more like 50 or so", all Dr. P could say was "Oh!" and then he put down a check plus, I'm sure.

It just astounds me how quickly he's learning. He has recently been naming body parts, and upon pointing at yourself, or at him, can tell you that you are pointing at a nose, at eyes, at ears, at hair, at teeth (for some reason, he won't say mouth, though he knows how) at your belly, at an arm, at feet, or at "pee-pee". (Of course he's familiar with that one, being a boy and all.)

It just floors me every time he does it (and we've been doing it often!) He's a smart little cookie, that one!

For Better or Worse

2009-06-26T12:20:00.003-05:00

Daddy C and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary on Tuesday (and again on Wednesday, and on Thursday!).

I woke on Tuesday morning to my sweet man kissing me bye (as he does every morning) and whispering Happy Anniversary Baby in my ear. Then I rolled back over and went to sleep for another hour.

When I got up to get the little man and carry him to the living room to await his breakfast, I saw that sweet hubby had left my gift on the coffee table to wait for me. Of course, ~~I waited to open it until he got home~~ I tore right into it! And what was inside, but the gorgeous pair of shoes I had been lusting after a few months back!How lucky am I to have 1. a husband who really pays attention to the things I want and love, and 2. is not afraid to buy me shoes?!

Sadly for him, he had to wait until he got home from work to get his gift, a super cool watch that he promptly fell in love with, and super soft Thomas O'Brien (his favorite) monogrammed towels for his impending trip to Iraq (so that he would have a piece of home with him), which he also loved.

Since we both had to work until after 7 on our actual anniversary, we had made plans (long ago) to celebrate on Wednesday. I stayed home from work and had a fun day playing (indoors due to extreme heat here) with both my boys. Then we got all dressed up, dropped the boy off at his Nana and Deeda's and headed out to have a great Italian dinner, and a couple of wonderful glasses of wine together before seeing Wicked at the beautiful Majestic Theatre in San Antonio.

It was amazing. Absolutely incredible. I'd see it again. (Really, I'd see almost any Broadway, but whatever.)

Then, last night, after a gourmet dinner of oven-baked pizza and salad with our boy, we cracked open a bottle of champagne my mom gifted to us and proceeded to toast our wonderful couple of years together, our astonishing little boy (and the life of Michael Jackson), and drink the whole bottle watching So You Think You Can Dance. 'Cause we're cool like that.

Harris Family Beach Trip 2009

2009-06-25T15:29:00.012-05:00

On of the things I look most forward to every year is our annual beach trip. We all load up in our own time and meet at the beach. We're so fortunate to have friends who have a great beach house, just blocks off the shore, and are nice enough to let us use it.

We loaded up on Thursday morning to head down. We wanted to take it easy getting down there and not be in a rush. Jack loaded himself up with his "nigh-nigh", his favorite stuffed animal "Noopy" and Tad, his Leap Frog for the drive. We left right at naptime so he could catch some z's for the first part of the drive, and so he parents could have a bit of sanity during the drive.

It took us practically all day to get there, with potty stops for mommy and diaper changing, a stop at the grocery store, and the never-ending hunt for bathing suit bottoms to match a top I fell in love with.... (which, incidentally, we didn't find, and my mama ended up finding a couple days ago.)

When we arrived, there was a slight mix-up with the beach house, so we had to find something to occupy our time. What better than to take the little man to the beach?

He was such a different kid this year at the beach than he was last year! He was all about the sand (but not eating it) and he liked looking at the water, but wasn't especially fond of it "chasing" him.

When we had had enough of the sand and water (since we weren't really dressed for it) we headed back to the casa (to wait for the mix-up to clear out). Jack discovered the joy of an outdoor shower while we waited to get into the house and get unpacked. He really, really loved splashing around in it, and just standing under it, letting it spray him.
That night, we went down to the wharf to eat at Virginia's, which sits right on the water. Such a great place to eat. It's got amazing views, and it's a totally open air restaurant with cold Corona. My kind of place.
Of course, they had an aquarium, and we all know who loves fish in boxes.
While we waited, we went out into the marina to look at all the boats, the oyster shells, the sunset and the ducks.
Jack likes to get down so he can view things from a different perspective (and so he can give his mama a heart-attack-a-second).
On Friday morning, Jack got us all up very -5:30-in-the-morning early. After we gave ourselves some time to wake up and munch on some breakfast tacos, we decided to head down to the Padre Island National Seashore on the longest undeveloped barrier island in the world. I am always hearing about it, and had just read a Texas Monthly article on it and decided we must go.

It's 67.5 miles of national seashore, and you can find all sorts of amazing things. There is a place on the shore where you can still see some of the remnants of Hurricane Ike that washed up, and you can find sea beans that arrive from the Caribbean, trees that you KNOW aren't native, hundreds of helmets that have likely fallen off the off-shore oil rigs and washed up....innumerable amounts of odd things.

You pass by people who have clearly been camping out for a very long time:
And are making good use of their time:
And you can spot some native creatures, the likes of which you'd never find north of there on Mustang Island.
Once you get to the 5th mile marker, you're not permitted to go any further without a 4-wheel drive vehicle. There are 2 awesome areas to stop and check out. The first is Little Shell beach, where you get a sneak preview of what is to come at Big Shell. We first got out to explore at Little Shell, which is where we met our little crab friend.

I loved that there was not another soul in site up or down the beach. (Nothing like the popular beaches in Port A.) Not to mention that the whole terrain of the beach, the sand, and even the water where just totally different there.
We found some real seaweed - next to our nasty Texas seaweed.
Jack was happy because we allowed him to get out of his carseat so he could really get a good view as we drove (very slowly due to the terrain). He loved sitting up like a big boy next to his Deeda.
When we finally arrived at Big Shell, I was just completely amazed. These pictures do the beach absolutely no justice at all. When you're looking at what you think is sand, is actually millions of shell pieces, broken and smoothed by the roaring surf, and they make up the entire beach. It took my breath away.

The other amazing part of Big Shell was the dunes, and the grassland areas. The dunes are so much higher on Padre Island than Mustang Island, and the grasslands are beautiful. I hiked up to the tallest dune I could find and was able to see clear across to the other side of Padre Island.
Jack loved running away from the water, and this picture of him running on the beach with the wind in his hair just brings me pure joy.
I loved picking up the thousands of shell bits in my hands and just feeling how smooth they were. It's amazing the things that nature can do to a person, and to the things it touches.
Stand-by for a totally unrelated to anything, but nevertheless amazing photo: Catches my breath every time I look at it. (Good job Daddy C!)
While we were at Big Shell, we found lots of, well, shells. Which was really great since we were enlisted to serve in a covert operation to surprise my little sister with this:

After lots of kissing and crying on the beach, we headed over to Beach & Station Street to listen to our absolute favorite island band, Triggerfish (who actually broke up last year, but are on the revival/farewell tour this year). Jack got in on the action with some good dancing, and could not resist the urge to pet the band's groupie, their dog.
On Saturday morning, we had to get up early and go have our family pictures taken on the beach. After that, we came back to the house, loaded our bellies up with lunch, then loaded up our towels and chairs and hit the beach!

Right next to us, a group of guys had a full on soccer game going, and being the all-boy boy that he is, Jack jumped right in to do some ball chasing of his own. The guys were fun about it, with one team even offering to let him play for them.
Then he decided that corn hole was more his speed and took to standing in front of the hole on the boards while our boys tried to play.
Once he got bored of the games, he took his wagon and his toys and headed straight for the surf.
Without a care in the world that no one was following him. He just went on his merry way. Dragging his wagon and toys. His Deeda made his way down and dug Jack his very own private swimming hole, just far enough from the surf that it would get full of water, but that the waves wouldn't get Jack.

When he was done with that, we fed the birds. Other people on the beach just love it when some family decided to feed the birds. Honestly, they do.
Jack especially liked feeding the birds. And trying to pick up the chips out of the sand and eat them himself. He was giving those bird a run for their tortilla chips, let me tell you what.
Of course, Mommy is the type of beach goer who wades into the water for a few minutes upon arrival at the beach and then quickly retreats to the shade of the tent. I'm fair skinned. What can I say?

When Jack played in the sun for longer than he could stand it, and Uncle Hank and Daddy went of swimming, Aunt Nikki and Mama decided to have some fun with the boy, by burying him in his own wagon. He thoroughly enjoyed it.
That night, at the Casa Del Beach, we (Uncle Hank) grilled up some yummy fajitas for dinner, slathered ourselves in Aloe and relaxed. While everyone else sat around watching movies, Daddy C and I decided to go our for a beer after Jack was tucked away in bed. We ended up back at Virginia's in the upstairs bar, watching the ships come into the harbor in the dark.

On Sunday, Jack was gracious enough to let us all sleep until after 9 a.m. A record for him, I think. After lazing around on the porch for a while, we all got cleaned up and packed up, then headed over to San Juan for their famous $2.99 breakfast. Our last family outing of the weekend before we all parted ways and headed home.

I absolutely love this tradition of ours. It's such a wonderfully comfortable weekend, and I love that we all do it together. I'm already looking forward to doing it again next year.

Family

2009-06-18T09:25:00.002-05:00

Sneak peak of our recent family photos in Gruene here!

They were done by A.Leigh Photography, and I just love her! She is such a cute little apron-wearing photographer, and makes the session so easy and laid back. We love Gruene, so walking around in the historic district was perfect for us, and it makes for fantastic backdrops.

When I first saw Amber's site, I fell in love with the softness of the pictures she takes, and as I looked at our photos, I fell in love all over again with her style!

Check them out, and if you're in the NB, TX area, definitely give her a try!

*She also does Port A beach sessions, which we just had done with the whole fam, and can't wait to see!

My Soldier

2009-06-09T22:48:00.003-05:00

My husband is a soldier.

Never in my life did I imagine I would marry a soldier. In fact, I grew up kind or really disliking soldiers; especially those in the Army. I grew up very close to Ft. Hood, TX, where there are LOTS of Army soldiers. Army soldiers who were hanging out at the lake, and in bars in the area, the same places I was hanging out. As a cute teenage girl, they really made me uncomfortable, with all their cockiness, etc. Of course, at that time in my life, I was too young and too busy doing my own thing to understand why these soldiers were so important. So, it came as a huge surprise to me that my husband being a soldier is one of the things that attracted me to him.

He had returned from his first tour in Iraq only 2 months prior to my meeting him. He had fought in a war of my lifetime; not a war in the past that meant nothing personally to me. He was dedicated to his service, loved being a soldier, and at that time, felt he had failed to do enough while he was in Baghdad and wanted to return. It was inspiring and intriguing. Intrigue is really what made me fall in love with him.

The best thing about him being a soldier is that he was a Reservist. So in spite of my loving his "being a soldier", it was really one of those things that was compartmentalized and separated, that wouldn't really impact my life. He went one weekend a month, has less than a year to his separation date and was serving in a unit that wasn't set to deploy. His being a soldier was the farthest thing from my mind.

Until March 17th. The day we got the news. My soldier would be deploying. No news on when, where or for how long. Only that he would. After weeks and weeks of pushing the thought to the backs of our minds, we finally received word that he would report in July.

The week of July 24th, he will leave us. To go back to Iraq. For up to a year.

He will be part of a "replacement push"; a group of Reservists and inactive retirees who are called up to fill in the gaps that exist in deployed units, so that they may complete their missions. He will be gone for up to 365 days. The good news is that as part of this "replacement push" he could be gone for less. We just won't know until he gets there. He will travel alone, one of those lone soldiers you see traveling through an airport, on his way to serve.

Incredibly, I've done a great job coping with the total lack of control I have over this situation. And a great job of not letting it get to me, obsessing over it constantly and counting the minutes we have together. Really, it's an afterthought at most times.

Except for the times when I am devastated.

Like when his truck pulls into the driveway and our little prince starts yelling "Daddy" through the window, waiting to jump into his arms when the front door opens. And when he grabs a book and crawls into Daddy's lap, demanding to be read to. Or when he "tags" Daddy and takes off running, to be chased down the hall and tackled onto the bed.

Those are the moments that my heart is broken.

There are other moments that it shatters.

Like when I think that he will be in a sandy desert on Thanksgiving, while his family eats turkey and enjoy each other back home. And that he will spend his birthday (also Thanksgiving - double whammy) away from his wife and baby boy. That he will miss his son's second birthday. And Christmas might pass without his smiling face, watching his boy opening the presents we thoughtfully selected. That I will watch 2010 ring in with an empty Champagne glass there for him.

It shatters.

So I don't think about them. But as the weeks tick by, and July 24 approaches, it's becoming more difficult to set those thoughts aside. It's harder to be strong.

Because he's not just any soldier. He's my solder. The soldier of my heart. And I just really don't know what it will do without him.

Vegas!

2009-06-07T22:51:00.012-05:00

The little man had his first Vegas trip this past weekend. I know I've mentioned them (many times) before, but Chris has the absolute best group of friends I could possibly imagine. There are six of them (though since Brad's a ball player, he's usually not around.), and they are all amazing and special in their own way, and they all have this incredible bond. They all wanted to see him 1. because it's been since November that we were all together, and 2. because Chris is deploying, they didn't want it to be 2 years until they saw him again, once it was all said and done.

So, they planned a great surprise for Chris. They were going to all 4 (5 minus Brad) show up on our doorstep and knock on the door, with Chris never knowing a thing until he opened the door. A brilliant plan. Would've been great. Except that one of them has a baby ready to come any second now, and we had to change the plans.

Enter Vegas. We arranged to go and we went. And we took the little man. And it was SUCH a great trip.

It started like this, in the SA Airport. He looked like this the entire time we waited to board the plane.
Getting an eyeful of these babies. The kid is obsessed with airplanes (much to his Grandpa's chagrin.)
I'm telling you, he didn't move. For the time that he was awake on the plane, he was looking out the window at the wing and engine telling me "airplane!" and "fly!"He was an angel on the flights. So, not only does he like looking at planes, he likes being in them, too.
We headed straight out to the Ashton's (who we went to NYC with) when we arrived to get the little man a nap, and then we headed to In & Out Burger. If you're ever in Vegas, In & Out is a MUST. Seriously. Just do it. We had it twice while we were there, because we just love it that much.

Then we went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. Of course, you know Jack loves fish. (I really think it's because they appear to fly, but I could be wrong.) Here, he's checking out an alligator who is sleeping at the bottom of that aquarium.
Here are the Ashton's (would you believe she is literally 9 months pregnant? It's like on TV when they place items in front of an actress's belly because she's pregnant in real life, but not in a story line. That bag is SO big!) and C and the boy checking out a Komodo dragon.
You can't see them, but there are pirhanas in that tank. They came complete with their own security guard, which I thought was amusing.
Jack LOVED the Shark Reef. He would take off running ahead of us to get to the next thing, rushing up the the tanks without a second thought, never thinking to look for us, only caring about seeing the fish. Here he is with no one in our party in sight. He loves the fish.
See what I mean?
They have a pool full of sting rays that you can touch. Jack's arms were just too short to get his hands on one, but he didn't care, he just like splashing in the water.

When we were done at the Shark Reef, we decided to head down to the Mirage to go to the Secret Garden and see the dolphins and the big cats. Again, the little man had no fear, venturing off into the casino far ahead of the rest of us. Thankfully, it wasn't too crowded. And he didn't make it to any slot machines.
I think he definitely needs to go to Sea World. He was entranced with the dolphins.
It's actually pretty cool at the dolphin tanks, because there isn't big glass anywhere, and you're literally just a few feet away from where the dolphins are.
Neat, huh?
After the dolphins, we went to see all the big cats. The Mirage has over 30 big cats on their property, that they rotate in and out of the habitats.
Jack was watching bigger kids swing on the railings and decided to give it a shot himself. He is so funny about bigger kids. He just loves them!
Taking a break with his Daddy.
When we were done on the strip, we headed back to the Ashton's. The weather could not have been any better while we were in Vegas. It didn't get above 85 degrees the entire time we were there, and was actually a bit chilly at night. That was great news since Jack is such an outdoor kid. The Ashton's built a great new patio for their house last year, and we took full advantage of it, and the weather.

Meanwhile, Jack took advantage of having his own personal door.

On Friday night, we went out to dinner with Chris' parents at Maggiano's, a fabulous Italian restaurant. There's also one in SA, and we'll definitely be eating there again! Incredibly, Jack managed to keep himself composed (even after a full on meltdown in the car on the way to eat) all day long. We got the poor boy up at 5 am to leave, and he didn't get to bed until around 10 pm, our time. I don't know how he didn't either pass out or flip out, but he was such a trooper all day long.

After finally getting him home and into (Ava's) bed, Chris and I headed out to all of our old hangout, the Roadrunner. When we were dating, we spent just about every Friday night that I was out there in this joint, with all his buddies, and we (he) just love(s) it. All the guys were there, and Chris has a good time hanging out. I, on the other hand, could have fallen asleep, having been up for so long, and went home to bed without him. Up for 22 hours. Not my idea of a good time.

On Saturday, we got up and had a lazy morning before going over to Grandma's to play on the Wii and hang out for a bit before the big cook-out that afternoon. After lunch (at In & Out) it was back home for a nap for the boys. A 3 hour nap. For both of them.

Then we headed over to Nicole's dad's (beautiful) home. He lives out in the Northwest part of the city, really close to the mountains, an area that I love. If we still lived out in Vegas, we'd live in that area; it's SO gorgeous. Also gorgeous is his backyard, complete with a great swimming pool, and a putting green.

Even though it was a bit chilly, the boys took advantage of the swimming. And the splashing.
That's not a smile. Those are chattering teeth.

Grandma came out to the cook-out to hang out with everyone, and played in the rocks with the little man once we got him out of the pool.
That fish on the table isn't his lunch. It's a really cool pool toy that swims in the pool! He loved them, and I'll bet they'll be making it into his bath at some point.
All the guys had a good time playing on the putting green. Nicole's dad did a really great job on it! You chip the balls from here onto the putting green to the left. Into any one of 3 holes. It's pretty cool to have in your backyard. And would you believe that is fake grass? I had to touch it to see if it was real or not, that's how great it is!
As always, Jack likes to be in the middle of things, but that can be dangerous with golf balls flying. So security had him removed from the fairway.
We women sat around chatting and watching the men do the work, and then we enjoyed the awesome burgers and brats that Brian cooked up for us.
It was a really great cook-out, and all of our best friends were there, which is great. We loved watching all the little boys play together. Poor Ava, when she's born, she'll be the only girl in a zoo of rambunctious little boys. I'm sure she'll hold her own though!

After the cook-out we headed back to the Ashton's to get the littl eman into bed. It was later than usual again, and he was still such a good boy all day long. All weekend long, really. While I got packed back up for our early morning, Chris went to spend some time with his Dad.

Again, we were up at 5am to head out to the airport and back home. Jack and I made it home around 1 o'clock and poor Daddy (who was flying on a Buddy Pass) was stuck in the airport ALL DAY long, and didn't get a flight home until 8 o'clock that night. Poor guy. He was also a trooper! I would have freaked out.

All in all, we had a really, really good time. We are so lucky to have a truly great group of friends.

June 3, 2009

2009-06-03T10:41:00.005-05:00

Eighteen months ago today, a boy was born into this world. My boy. He was larger than life, even in the womb, weighing as much as an average 3-month old when he was born. And he had the biggest, most inquisitive eyes I've ever seen. Hours after his birth, he was busy taking in the entire world, seemingly never blinking, so as not to miss a thing. So attentive, so serious, so attuned to his new world.

Eighteen months later, my boy, though more average in physical size, is still larger than life in personality. He is a joking, tickling-his-mommy, dancing-like-nobody's-watching, running, chasing-his-daddy, tool-handling, playing-in-the-grass, sweet-kiss-and-hugging little man. Eighteen months after his birth, he is busy taking in the entire world, seemingly never blinking, so as not to miss a thing. So observant, so curious, so attuned to his little world.

Happy 18 Month Birthday, Jack!

Family Reunion 2009

2009-06-01T11:58:00.008-05:00

Every Memorial Day weekend, for as long as I can remember, our family has gathered for its reunion. It's the only time all of the cousins, aunts and uncles of each branch of the family gather together at the same time, and it's one of the best weekends of the year.

The A. Family Reunion has evolved through the years, from far before I was ever born, and in my lifetime from being about the little ones, to being about partying when there were no little ones, and now that so many of us (who used to be those little ones) are having our own little ones, it's becoming about them again. It's funny how I look so forward to it for such different reasons these days.

We headed up on Friday afternoon to join my parents and my dad's siblings and help finish setting up. Little man always likes to be in on the action, so he helped Uncle "Jay-meeeeeeeee!" (for some reason he only yells it?) hammer in tent stakes. (A VERY important job considering the rains and high winds we had on Saturday and Sunday!)
Since we hold the reunion on the Memorial Day weekend, we always go with a patriotic theme. Jack helped out in that department by ~~dragging out~~ unpacking all of Nana's red, white and blue decorations. You'll also not that he is wearing red, white and blue. (One of Nana's dress code requirements for the reunion.)
Clearly, all that hard work will tire a little guy out, and make him thirsty, so he took a break with his Daddy to gulp down some nice, cold water. (Don't you just love him sitting "Indian-style" here? I do.)
After a quick break (and I do mean quick!) he was on to the next thing. I'm not exactly sure what that next thing was, as I found him carrying around this sprinkler with this "Who? Me?" look on his face.
Thankfully, my darling, sweet Aunt Carolyn (who has a brand new grand baby girl!) bought a crib for "our room" in her house, and we were able to keep Jack to his regular schedule without any trouble at all. (So awesome!) That meant that we were able to act like grown-ups and hang out late into the evening drink adult beverages without worrying about him!

For some reason, someone ends up commandeering the back seat of the golf cart every year, and for the past couple, it's been these two guys here. I swear I have pictures of them last year in this exact spot. And I'm certain I have incriminating photos of my husband, Hank, and the beer bong in this exact spot from the year before.
Saturday is when the Reunion is held, so while the women (and some of the men) were getting ready for that, Daddy and Little Man did some playing around outside together. These photos were a sweet surprise on my camera since I didn't take them! I just love this shot of him (trying to cause mischief) against that green grass. (You can see he is deriving from the dress code. That will all change before the party starts...)
Since he wasn't abiding by the dress code, I guess he figured he could get in on some patriotic flag waving action instead. This picture is so sweet to me when I think about his Dad's upcoming deployment to Iraq.
This one, I have no idea what he's doing, I just know that this is an expression I receive often from the little man, and I just love it. It's the perfect mixture of sweet boy innocence and mischief, and those curls!
I rarely get out from behind the camera, so I love this shot that Daddy C caught of the little man and me. Just wish the little man was actually looking at the camera!
Okay, okay, back to the reunion! This is my new (since he just married my cousin Kayla), favorite (since he made that ah-mazing seafood-less jambalaya) cousin Ward. That's him, stirring that wonderful, delicious jambalaya with an oar. In a kettle. It's jambalaya with no seafood. That he made in a big black iron kettle, with an oar. He's my HERO. (and he's following the dress code! Cheers!)
This is the Nana and the Deeda (G-Pa) that I'm always talking about. Aren't they so cute? They are the very best grandparents that any little boy could ask for. Seriously. Plus, they're A-OK parents too! My dad is cooking crawfish in a pot big enough to fry 4 turkeys (yes y'all. we fry turkey round these parts.) in just to his left, so he's not yet abiding by the dress code (just in case his shirt got dirty.)
I was super excited to have one of my best friends Mailyn and her husband David and their sweet girl Piper to come down to visit us at the reunion! (David and I worked together when I lived in Vegas. He's from Stephenville, where my mama was born. I later learned that his childhood best friend was none other than Paul A., one of my cousins. We never knew! I kind-of, sort-of introduced he and Mailyn to one another. They proceeded to have a wild, crazy, romantic relationship and then fall madly in love and get married! and have Piper, the sweetest girl I've ever met! and move to Texas! Get all that?) Long story short, we're all friends and haven't seen each other since (oh, Lord? 2005? That couldn't be right.)

Mailyn loved Jack's curls. Jack loved Mailyn. I loved Piper's blue eyes. Piper loved me. It was love at first sight all around.
It was not love at first sight, however, with the bounce house. Piper wasn't a fan. See her staring off to her mommy to save her? See Jack not paying any attention to his future girlfriend, but rather opting to touch that weird green thing? See Liam being the only one looking at the camera? See them ALL following the dress code?!
The man on the left is Jack Mitchell. My Jack is named after Jack Mitchell's daddy (whose name wasn't actually Jack, but that's a whole other story.) I think it's really neat though to see my little man Jack with my Uncle Happy Jack's little man Jack. Hopefully Little Man will get to hear some neat stories from Jack Mitchell about his daddy someday.
Piper absolutely loved both Chris and me. She is such a sweet little thing. Chris really has a way with kids and dogs, and Piper was no exception. She either clung to me or to him the whole day, which I just loved. She can come and stay with us anytime! Not sure how Jack will feel about it, but I'd love to have that snuggly girl for a day or two to cuddle with!
ALL boy. He wanted nothing to do with Piper and just carried on, business as usual, digging in rocks or whatever boy thing he could find to do.
Like hanging out with his dad. Where of all places? On the back of the golf cart!
Piper's not such a "get-in-the-dirt and get your hands dirty" kind of girl. (Thanks in part to her protective Daddy). So she mostly just watched Jack operate his shovel.
One of my favorite parts of the reunion is the requisite family picture. Somehow we managed not to get a photo of the ENTIRE group this year. We did, however, get our branch. Grams, (my grandmother) is incognito back there in her sunglasses. This is her crew. My crew. Our crew. This is the family that I'm always talking about. That we're always leaning on. That we spend most of our gatherings with. I LOVE them.
And this is my super-awesome, amazing husband, juggling two babies. I so love him. He's in control of them, and they're in control of their blankie and cup. Could it be better?

It was, once again, a perfect family reunion. There hasn't been a bad one, well, ever. I've already marked it on my calendar for next year (you know, in case I forget when Memorial Day weekend is.) With any luck, Daddy C will have returned from Iraq by then so we can "reunion" as a family.

And, just because it is so darned endearing, this is what my son looks like just about any time his Deeda is around. He would follow my dad to the ends of the earth.

***Can you tell I love the dress code? Everyone totally follows it too, (except for my husband, evidently.)

The Nester Always Has Something Fun Going On

2009-05-28T12:37:00.002-05:00

As part of The Nester's Lampapalooza, Imparting Grace is giving away a gorgeous lamp. This would be just perfect on my bedside table!

If you're a design lover, make sure you check out The Nester (since she's full of design greatness!) and check out the Mr. Linky party to see all the other great ladies lamps out there!

Interesting Tidbit

2009-05-26T16:03:00.001-05:00

Morning sickness may be linked to a baby's intelligence?

Women who felt nauseous in the first few weeks of pregnancy went on to have brighter children, according to a study conducted at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Nausea may be a sign that conditions in the womb are good for the baby, scientists have said.

If this is at all true, Jack is going to be the next Einstein. ;)

Little Man Around Town

2009-05-20T15:30:00.004-05:00

As most of you probably know, I am the President/CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in the community where we live. It's a wonderful position, and it means I get to do all sorts of fun things around town, as a dignitary.

No exception was the Groundbreaking Ceremony for our new library. They have been working for years on a capital campaign to raise the 4 million dollars needed for the new facility, and they are oh-so-very-close!

They were recently awarded a bond to start construction, thus, the big groundbreaking ceremony. The library's board of trustees got the job started, and then, since the library is FOR the community, and more specifically, the children of the community, they let the little ones who were present get in on the action!

And so I give you the little man around town, doing his part for the new library!

Photo Credit: Gary Poss

Ebeanstalk

2009-05-18T13:27:00.003-05:00

To me, one of the toughest things about bringing up our Little Man is him receiving toys (that are usually flashy and noise-making) that he plays with for a few minutes and then moves on to some inanimate item, like a rock or stick (or some rebar, if it's available) that he ends up having much more imaginative play with.

In all my searching, I couldn't find a company that I was just in love with it's toys. Nor could I find a place that helped me find age appropriate toys. It was always some range of 6 mos. to 18 mos. Well gee, that's a pretty wide spread. I couldn't ever decide what was just right, and always felt like I was failing when I purchased toys that Jack seemed to have little interest in. That is, until I found Ebeanstalk.

Ebeanstalk is dedicated to a baby's development. And we select the best baby toys matched to a baby's development. To see great information on how a baby grows up, check out the info on our baby toys page.

Picking toys for a baby is not as simple as it sounds. Here are some quick baby facts:

Toys for a newborn baby: A newborn baby is briefly looking at objects and attempting to imitate facial expressions. They can follow objects with their eyes and usually quiet down, when they are picked up.

Toys for a three month old: They will enjoy ‘frolic play', reaching for objects and will repeat enjoyable activities. Believe it or not, they will respond to ‘no' (about half the time) and will start babbling.

Toys for a six month old: They'll search for hidden objects (object permanence). They'll reach for themselves in the mirror, play peekaboo, crumple paper, roll from their stomach to their back and even respond to their name.

Toys for a nine month old: They are pushing toy cars, playing pat-a-cake and looking for hidden sounds. The baby toys they are playing with are also getting more fun.

If you're looking for great shower gifts or age and developmentally appropriate toys that will be engaging for a child, you should check them out! Best of all, they're offering a 15% discount on any first purchase at ebeanstalk — TGS345 — just enter the code at the shopping cart!