treasures

My great-aunt called to say she had something for me...

Isn't he awesome?!

He's lived at her house for several Christmases, and she thought it would be nice for him to move in with some cookie-eating heathens.

Nice, indeed. I'm in love.

An open letter to mothers of girls...

Dear Mothers of Girls,

Please stop standing by and allowing your daughters to behave like little bully b*tches to every child that isn't their 'best friend' - whatever the eff that means to a 3-year old, anyway. You are teaching them NOTHING by a) pretending not to notice, b) laughing off, or c) ignoring their selfish, conniving, snooty behavior. You are, in fact, promoting their inborn egocentric world view and creating little diva monsters incapable of serving any purpose in the real world but to 'look cute' and make everyone else miserable.

Of course, I do not expect you to force your kid to play with mine. Of course, I do not expect you to intervene on every single altercation that arises on the proverbial playground. I just expect the same thing of you that you would expect of me if my big, brawny, imposing, in-your-face boy was screaming at your daughter five inches from her face to "GO AWAY!!! YOU ARE NOT MY FRIEND...I AM NOT TALKING TO YOUUUUUUU BECAUSE YOU ARE UGLY!!!!!!"

See, that sucks doesn't it? You'd want it addressed, wouldn't you?

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that girls do it differently. They're more sneaky about it. They turn on their heel and say things under their breath. They convince their mommies that it was the yucky boy being mean to them first. Stop believing them, moms. Start paying closer attention. This is bullying. It looks different, but that doesn't make it any less WRONG or HURTFUL or IN NEED OF CORRECTION.

Stepping down now. Thanks for reading.

EHC

P.S. I realize that much of this letter is full of generalization and stereotype. Of course, I recognize that there are exceptions to those...I'm just coming hot off the playground and wanted to tap the beginnings of my thoughts on this out as soon as I got home. Also, no need to remind me that "I'll understand once I have a daughter of my own"....I have empathy, common sense, and intelligence enough to see the other side just fine.  

17 weeks...

Her name is Emerson. She's due May 16th. We'll likely have a repeat C around the 9th. Jared is adorably excited. Henry is over the moon. James likes string cheese and raisins. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world...humbled to be on the brink of this little pink dream coming true.

Thanks for sticking around through my blogging hiatus, friends. It was a rough first tri, it's been an exhausting and family event-filled second, and I just haven't had much left over in the way of creative energy. I hope that we're back to regularly scheduled programming...but I won't make any promises.

re-entry

What do you call a deer with no eyes?
No-eyed deer.

What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?
STILL, no-eyed deer.

What do these lame, life-of-the-party jokes have to do with my blog?
Nothing...they're just my ice-breaker to help get my fingers moving across the keys again. Shwooooo, it's been awhile.

So, what's new with y'all?

Here's what we've been doing since September:

We've been sick a time or three...here they are keeping hydrated on their "floor bed."  

We made a big day out of the Texas Renaissance Festival again this year. The boys traded in their pirate garb from last year and decided (well, Henry decided...James just copied, obvi) to be knights.

 James enjoyed many, many pre-school days home with mommy and daddy. While big brother is at school, James loves to sit in Henry's chair at the kitchen table (the blue and green one) and play with all of Henry's toys. He may enjoy it a little too much, to be honest, but it's hilarious...so we roll with it.

 Mr. Bigs had his very first school picture day. This is a shot I got of him as we were leaving the house. He is growing up so fast, and I swear he gets more handsome everytime I look at him. He is still really loving pre-school, and his teachers and school have been such a blessing to all of us in more ways than I can recount here.

 Henry had the best time at his school's Halloween Parade and class party. Here's our little knight (note: his costume got upgraded and accesorized from RenFest...all credit to daddy for keeping our guy authentic)...

 Here he is playing Pin the Tail on the Cat during the party...so cute. His class has 9 girls and 4 boys, and 6 of the little girls were princesses this year. That said, I find it notable that Henry's favorite girl at the Halloween party was the one dressed as a dinosaur, and his second favorite was dressed as an true-to-life Dora (backpack, short brown wig, and shorts and a tee).

 We played super hero in our street A LOT. Most of the time, we had pants on...of course on the day I had the camera out, we were in our skivs. Oh well. Art imitates life, and you all already know we have a very undressed house in the toddler department.

 We trick or treated. This year will go down as the one that Henry "got" Halloween. He didn't try to eat each piece of candy as it was put into his pumpkin this year, he wasn't ready to go home after three houses, and he said thank you at every single door! James did almost as well, but he was absolutely done after three houses. After that, he just wanted to go play with everyone's yard decor and yell "Happy Weeeeeeen" from the wagon. Following the trick or treating, our boys both had a ball handing out candy to the kids that came to our door late. Henry sat outside on his big armchair calling kids over "Candy over here, everyone!! Come get your candy!!!" and his festive mood was only sullied when we finally ran out. He was sure to save everyone a trip up the walk to find out that we were out, too..."We're all out, folks...no more candy this way!! Try again next year!!!!!"

 We've gotten enormous since September. At least an inch taller each...

 ...and James has discovered the wonder of big-boy underwear. Of course he's a total poser and still wearing a diaper underneath them - anything to look like big brother. Here he is paying homage to his favorite cartoon on Nicke.lode.on..."Um.i Zo.omi"...he's showing us his "belly, belly, belly screen!!!"

 And the brothers spent a lot of time just brotherin'. This pic is adorable from this angle, imo, but if you turn it around, you can actually see that James is not making the happiest face. He's totally annoyed that Henry is on his blankie. As we are all learning around here, personal space is a hot commodity. :0)

Okay, that just about catches us up for now. I'll try to do better...with the holidays fast-approaching, y'all know we'll be out and about and hopefully, I'll have my camera on-hand to capture some of the fun.  

is it over yet?

In the past 7 days, the following ridiculousness has transpired:

Henry slipped and bumped his chin causing his teeth to slam down on his tongue. His sharp canine tooth dug in extra hard and came as close to going all the way through his tongue as you can imagine. Profuse bleeding, gaping wound, sore mouth...what next?

Just as we were recovering from the tongue-piercing, Henry slipped off of the bench seats of my parents' hot tub into the 'deep' part in the middle, and he panicked as his head went under. I was right next to him the entire time. Although he didn't breathe water, he was scared half to death. As I was fishing him out.................

James slipped on the steps next to the outside of the hot tub and bumped his chest on the bottom step. I was holding a screaming Henry still, so my mom raced to James. By all outward appearances, he was fine. Oh, except for the fact that he wasn't breathing. He got the wind knocked clear out of him. After more than 20 seconds, he took a breath. About 20 seconds after that, he took another one. Holy scariness. Normal breathing resumed shortly thereafter......are we done yet.....................no.

The next morning, both of them were sick with a cold. Green noses and coughs. Of course, it was our first assigned day to work in James' Sunday School class, so I had to go on to church to work while Jared stayed home with the sickies. I told J that if he brought them outside, the humidity would probably help loosen up their stuffies. I got to church where not one single 18-20 month old soul showed up for my class, so I was given the go ahead to clean up and leave. It's a good thing, too, because 5 minutes later.....are you ready for this.....................

Jared called to tell me that he had taken the boys outside, and Jamesies got stung by a bee. His finger swelled up twice its size, but Jared was able to keep the reaction under control by dosing quickly with Benadryl and keeping it iced. He didn't seem to be having trouble breathing, so Jared was pretty sure we weren't headed for anaphylaxis. Lovely.

On Tuesday, Henry had to miss school because he was still sick with the crud. After we had been trapped inside just about all day, I decided we should go outside for an evening ride in Henry's truck. Henry was driving and James sat shotgun. Normally, we only drive in straight lines. On that particular day, we were driving in the street when Jared arrived home from somewhere. Henry was beyond excited to go see him, so he accelerated to our driveway and whipped that truck right in behind his daddy. Of course, as they are turning in, James chooses that precise moment to look over his outside shoulder to see where I am. So, after a tongue-piercing, a head dunk, a breathing cessation, and a bee sting,..........................

James toppled head first out of the side of the truck. He didn't land hard, but he gashed his head open on the ground. When I picked him up 2 seconds later, there was just a tiny cut visible....within 5 seconds of that, the cut started GUSHING blood. Words cannot explain how much this thing bled. As I passed Jared running into the kitchen with James' head and hair covered in blood that was dripping down my arms and legs at this point, I heard him say (trying to convince himself, I think), "don't panic...he's going to be okay." The bleeding was under control quickly, and I had my mom come over to the House of Accidents to help me decide if we needed to get stitches. She thought it would be more traumatic than beneficial, and based on the tinyness of the cut, I agreed. So, phew, we thought we were done.......................

But, alas, one more for the scrapbook...

This morning, as Jared was holding Henry in his lap to help him put his shoes on for school, Henry decided he wanted to play with Jared's phone. We weren't in a hurry to get to school, so Jared let him. A few seconds later, Henry pushed some buttons that made the kid program close down on the phone, so Jared told him to 'let daddy have it to fix it.' Henry pulled it tight to his chest. Jared reached his hand in to take the phone from Henry, and the H-man screeched and jerked the phone away from Jared...in an upwards and backwards direction...right into Jared's front tooth...which abruptly cracked in two and fell into Jared's throat.

All that said, Bosephus my sweet hubs and I would like to calmly warn all of you to steer clear of our place. We've got a black cloud overhead this week. The only good news around here is that it's almost Friday.

Henry goes to school.

We did it.


















Last Tuesday, Henry woke up around 7:15 without a fuss (he's a 9:00 sleeper most days), ate his breakfast well, and let me 'make him handsome' - that's what we call brushing our teeth and hair around the Chesshouse. He put on his new school shirt - creases ironed into the arms nicely, I might add - and was as giddy as a schoolgirl boy to get to his classroom.

The plan was for me to take the H-man while daddy kept James at home. We thought the whole family driving to the first day of school might overwhelm Henry or make him sad that he didn't get to come home with us. As we were leaving, though, he asked if 'my daddy and my Jamesies could take me to school, too.'

And just like that, the first day of school became a family outing.

I had been nervous for months (okay, maybe years) about how this would go for our sweet boy. He hasn't always mixed well with other kiddos, and he has never been fond of going into the care of strangers. When we toured the preschool in February last year, I chewed my nails to the quick worrying about if he would ever be able to do this. At that point, we were in the throes of the infamous two-year old resistance, and I honestly believed he would be sent home the first day with a note that read something like, "We're sorry, but your son just isn't preschool material." heehee. I registered him anyway - on a hope and a prayer, y'all. Oh, the minds and hearts of mothers.

Well, as the months passed, it seemed like we were turning a corner. Isn't that how it always is with parenting? Just when you get yourself nice and freaked out that your kid has issues, it all works out just fine...until the next thing comes along. When will we learn, moms? Anyway, back to turning that corner -- by his third birthday this past July, he was a new man. I mean, completely different from how he had been any month prior. He wanted the company of other children. He enjoyed walking into his Sunday school class (this was a 2-year battle, guys). He asked for the kids he met at parks and playgroups to come over to our house. He started sharing his toys. A new man.

Holy moly, not a moment too soon, we just might be ready.

We arrived a few minutes before class was to begin, so we made a trip to the bathroom together. We had a short talk while washing his hands about being kind to the other children and obeying Ms. Patty and Ms. Allison. He listened carefully and told me he would be a nice boy to everyone. With that, he was ready to head in.

And, head right in, he did, my friends. He bound happily into the room and started playing with a few other kiddos who were already in there. I felt bad even grabbing his attention to say goodbye, because he seemed to have already forgotten that I was anywhere around. I did it anyway.

"Bye, Henry -- mommy will be back in a little while, okay?" He replied without looking up by waving his hand and saying into the toy he was holding, "alright, see ya later, mommy!!"

And, just like that, all of my first day of school anxiety melted away. I walked out to Jared and James waiting in the car with the biggest smile on my face, proudly returning the thumbs up that Jared was questioningly giving me from the front seat. As I climbed in, Jared and I gave each other a high-five with the wide-eyed realization just setting in..."we've got one in school."

We did it. We all did it.

on borrowed time

About a month ago, we went on our annual family vacation to the beach. James turned 17-months old about a week before we left. On the day of his 'birthday,' I remember telling Jared that James is still so far from his 'terrible 2s' at this age...whereas, his big brother was in full-swing fit-pitching glory by now.

One week later, while we were enjoying lunch at the beach house, he showed me that I had spoken too soon. I still wouldn't crown him a full-swing, fit-pitcher by ANY stretch, but I did, in fact, capture his very first temper tantrum on camera. This was prompted by my telling him he could not sit outside on the balcony in the blazing sunshine.

No, Sweetface, not the faceplanted silent treatment!!

He hasn't done it again since, but from the looks of things, we may just be on borrowed time...

We've got a big day tomorrow...

Henry and I have enjoyed this Sesame Street clip for years. Yes, years. I can't believe that tomorrow is really the day that pre-school becomes something more than a word in a song. I hope to post something more introspective later, but for now, I need to think smiley, happy things.


If you know me at all, you know I'm a bundle of nerves and emotion this week. I never slept the night before ANY of my own first days of school...could have probably guessed that sending off my little man would bring all that bubbling right back up.

Wish us well. I'll let you know how it goes.

15(ish) month stats

On the same day I took H in for his 3-year old check-up, I was able to finally take James for his 15-monther. We were in Florida for his actual 15-month birthday...and then he was sicker than sick for the 10 days after that. Then, one thing led to another, and we got so close to Henry's birthday that I just decided to wait on James' appointment and take them both at the same time. Simplification is good.

James loves going to doctor (or pretty much doing anything new and seeing new/different people), and this visit was no exception. He had a great time flirting with our pediatrician, showing her all of his tricks, and generally hamming it up for anyone in the office who looked his way.

At 16-months, he is just an extension of the way he's been all along -- a sweet spirited extrovert full of giggles and chatter and snuggles and fun. He's saying new words everyday, and although I haven't officially counted them, I would guess he can say about 50 unprompted. His unsteady baby-walking has turned into a true toddler gait. His hair is curly and blonde and gets lots of attention everywhere we go. When he was about 15 months old, James realized people were looking at and talking about his hair so much. Since then, he has picked up a hilarious habit of running his fingers through it while flashing a big, cheesy grin to every stranger we pass. They usually eat it up. So does he. What can I say...this boy loves attention! His eyes have settled into a pretty shade of hazel...some days they look brown, others they look green...just like his dad's. Speaking of dad, James recently discovered - much like his brother did at this age - that his daddy hangs the moon. He follows Jared around everywhere, saves the best snuggles for him, and calls his name all day long in hopes that he'll come down from his home office to play. The bond between daddies and their babies is so precious, and I treasure watching the foundation being built for a lifetime of father-son relationship in my home.

Here are Jamesies' stats at 16-months-and-5-days:

weight: 25 lbs. 13 ozs.
height: 33 inches
head circ.: 19 3/4 inches

For fun, I looked up Henry's stats from this same age. They are just about the same in height and head size, but the H-man takes the cake in the weight department. He had five pounds on his brother at this age!

Time is flying by in these parts. I can't believe our baby is growing up so fast.

THREE

It was easily the best birthday yet.


Three.

This past Monday, we celebrated the little man who made us parents.

Of course, I'd be lying if I said the celebration was confined to only one day...we went ahead and wrecked all hopes for small-scale birthdays in the future by welcoming surprises, gifts, and visitors for several days before and after the actual day...not to mention throughout all hours of The B-Day - not just at the party. Go big or go home, right?!?

Jared's mom came in all the way from Tampa on Saturday, so we enjoyed a few days with her before the official festivities got under way. With her, we took the boys out to The Rainforest Cafe in Katy for the first time and it was such an awesome adventure. The boys had the best time exploring the jungle, and Henry was ecstatic when we had the waitstaff bring out a giant chocolate cake with a sparkler on top. They even sang him Happy Birthday, and the little man soaked it right up!! Last year, I think it would have completely overwhelmed him to be sung to by strangers...I love the difference a year makes. :)

On the big day, Jon-Jon brought birthday donuts over before the Birthday Boy even woke up. As he came down the stairs and realized what awaited him, the excitement began. I'm not sure it's ended yet...six days later.

Paw Paw dropped by with a few flying surprises.

Jonathan came back by for a second bite at the birthday present apple...he just couldn't wait until the evening for Henry to open his gift. Ha! Heyyer came over too, and we all had so much fun trying out the new weaponry. So much for age-appropriate and politically correct.....well on my way to winning my bid for Mother of the Year, I know. 

For the party, we enjoyed another family-only, low-key affair. We started off with dinner at a local Hibachi grill, which proved to be a perfect choice. Both of our kiddos scarfed down their suppers and loved the chef entertainment. Everything went so smoothly at dinner that, as we were leaving, I think we both sort of felt like we stole something, you know? Perfect dinners out are not exactly in our reportoire these days, so we were so pumped that the birthday magic was with us on this oh-so-special evening.

My mom and dad had everyone over to their house for the cake and presents part of the evening. We needed the space of their downstairs for the cake part (a small family gathering amounts to 16 people!)...and the cul-de-sac outside for the present part. Needless to say, Henry is at no risk whatsoever for becoming un-spoiled anytime soon. He received so many wonderful gifts from our family, and he has enjoyed every single one of them this week. Note to all parents of boys: I highly recommend ANYTHING by Imaginext (Fisher Price's toddler line) for boys of this age....since the bday, Henry is never without one of his new airplanes, helicopters, space shuttles, etc...all Imaginext...all suhhh-weeeeeet!

Family birthday cake picture!   


Mommy and Henry


Mommy and Daddy's big surprise!
 
It was a hit!!! We were just a little nervous that he would be scared to ride it...haaaa...
    

The kids were jumping curbs (on purpose) within 5 minutes.

The day was exactly as we had hoped it would be for our little big man. All of his favorite people, doing all of his favorite things, eating all of his favorite foods, and playing with all of his favorite toys.

I stumbled across this picture from last year's birthday...look at those chubber hands and babyface!! I just can't believe another year has flown by already...this is all going by much too fast for me.

A few days after the party, we visited our pediatrician for the big 3-year old check-up. It was his first "shot" appointment since, I think, 18 months...so I was a little nervous for him. Y'all know he isn't the least demonstrative kid on the block. :) He did cry a little at the stick but he was far and away more pissy about the band-aid that the nurse tried to put on his leg afterwards. The H-man just doesn't 'do' sticky things (band-aids, stickers, tattoos), so as soon as we got into the car, he ripped it off. As he did, he proclaimed loudly and laughing, "Now I'm better, mommy...I took that hurting shot right off!!" When we got home, he told Jared that he was sad when he first got his shot but he was much better after he ripped it off in mommy's car. Works for me.

So, on the week he turned three years old, Mr. Henry was 42 inches tall, 41.5 pounds, had hit all of the milestones for this age, believed that band-aids are shots, was ready for a car-date, learned how to shoot a gun, loved his family more than anything else in his world, and had the very best birthday ever.

Happy birthday to our special boy! 





angels

Henry needed non-sneaker shoes. I needed baby shower gifts. A trip to the store was necessitated.

As any of you out there with little people can understand, a trip to the store is no small feat. In order to even attempt it, everyone must be fed, dressed, freshly diapered/pottied, perfectly timed to fall inbetween naps, etc...not to mention making myself look a few notches better than homeless for the occasion. Showered being secondary to deoderized, if you catch my drift.

So, knowing the task ahead of me, I attacked early. I had breakfast ready when the kids woke up, their clothes laid out for immediate dressing after feeding, and we were en route to Marshall's about 45 minutes after wake-ups. That, dear readers, is what we here in the Chess house call a Booyah Moment.

The whole way to the store, I was thinking about what I wanted to buy for my baby-having friends. I was also thinking a lot about the likelihood of the shoe department having even one pair of boys' brown sandals to consider. Boys get the shaft at EVERY store, but it's particularly horrible at the bargain stores (read: pretty much the only places I shop without a gift card). Back to my point...wait, what was my point? Oh yeah, baby shower gifts. I knew I wanted to get my baby-girl-having bestie some really fun girly things. This child, by the very nature of who her mother is, needs rhinestones, okay. For the other baby-haver, I needed something smaller and more understated as her big present is a box o' diapers being that her shower is, in fact, a 'diaper shower.' And, as much as I hate to admit it (because I love for you all to believe I'm a multimillionairess with ties to royalty), I was thinking about how suitable gifts were certainly going to add up.

We're trying to be a little more budget-conscious around here these days, you see. So, I needed great gifts and new shoes inside of our budget without anyone shooting their eye out in the process of perusing ye olde Marshall's.

The shoe department was a bust. I mean, it was worse than a bust. I caught myself thinking curse words in the direction of the 46 pairs of precious little girl sandals as I dug through piles of cartoon-character or hoodrat sneakers for boys. Not one single pair of boys sandals...neon Nike flips do not count. I also caught myself saying to Henry loud enough for the store clerk to hear (because I'm so sure he has huge control over inventory), "Yeah, this store has a TERRIBLE shoe section Henry...it's just RIDICULOUSLY terrible! Nope, nothing for us here!!"

There was a man in the next row overhearing my silly commentary. I noticed him noticing us, and I gave him a 'hello' and I even waved James' arm at him to say 'hi'. He did not speak much English, We exchanged a smile over Henry's attempts to show me how great this or that shoe was because he could run weeewy fast in it. That man seemed nice.

After officially waving the white flag at the shoes, I attempted to parade our little party of three on over to the baby section. This means, however, that I have to walk past the housewares section, which, as you and I both know, means that housewares are getting a few minutes of my time. Decorating on the cheap is sort of my forte. Marshall's/TJ's/Ross...my meccas. So, we're all in the frame aisle. Henry is showing me cute babies in the pictures in the frames, and I am pleading with him not to pick anymore up because frames are made of glass and although mommy would love to buy one or two, she really would not love to buy one or two that are broken by oopsies in the frame aisle. He's getting it, but he's also testing boundaries...so he picks one or five more up for good measure. At one point, I kneeled down on the ground to pick up a few frames that he had stacked down there, and as I stood up, I locked eyes with that friendly stranger man from the shoe section again. Housewares apparently suck him in too. He smiled kindly at me and gestured knowingly towards Henry as he laughed to himself about me cleaning up the frames. I smiled back and thought he seemed like a grandpa. I wondered if he had grandkids around my kids' ages...that knowing glance spoke of experience. He walked on past, and I finished my browsing...nothing worth buying this time.

And, with that, I was off to babyland. Henry played with the toys at the end of the baby girl row offering hilarious and endearing commentary the entire time, and I tried desperately to shake my resentment towards store management for allowing such blatant gender discrimination in the children's clothing department. I mean, really...6 racks for girls...2 for boys. Yeah, that's fair. It's a good thing I was shopping for a girl on this day, I guess. As I was narrowing down the 16 or so to-die-for outfits I found, Henry came up to me and asked me to buy a choo-choo train that he had been playing with. Ordinarily, Jared and I allow Henry to pick one small toy (i.e. less than $2) at the store, but in this case, the train was about $10 AND he already had one just like it. So, I told him no. As I was explaining to him why we weren't going to buy it, Mr. Stranger from Shoes and Housewares is meandering on by. I'm sure he overheard Henry and I discussing it, but he went along to Menswear without stopping. Just that same smile and knowing glance. I gave him a wave this time, as it was getting pretty funny that we kept ending up by each other in the store. I finished up my outfit selection, Henry put the train back, and we started heading for checkout.

As we got to the front of the store, I was thinking a lot about budget stuff...a lot about saving money where we could...I put back one baby outfit that was a lot like one of the others I had picked...and I felt reasonably good about my gifts. As I turned back to the shopping cart after hanging up the put-back, there was my Hispanic grandfatherly friend again. This time, he was holding the train that Henry had asked for, and he was walking right up to me. Before I could get a word out, he asks me very politely while holding up the train to me, "Is it the money?" I told him no (while thinking 'maybe just a little) and that we just already had one so much like it. He says, "But the boy loves this...he should have this." I told him that he loves everything, and that he'd be happy with the one we have at home. He pulls a twenty dollar bill out of his blue jean pocket and says, "I insist. He should have this." My refusals to accept his gift were met with only kinder eyes and persistent insistence that he be allowed to purchase this train for Henry. I reluctantly took the money.

While we were in line, I waved to our sweet smiling stranger-friend as he made his way through the racks and out the front door. I felt a pang of guilt that I couldn't even give him his change. I told a few ladies next to me in line about what had happened, and they - as smart ladies are wont to do - became concerned that the guy was a creep waiting for us to exit so he could follow us home and commit whoknowswhat crime against us. While I never felt an ounce of creep factor, I agreed to let them escort us out to the car and make sure we drove out of the parking lot okay. And, as I suspected, we walked outside to find no sign of our blue-jeaned-white-shirt, Hispanic, grandfatherly friend anywhere.

As I loaded the kiddos up, my mind was full of thoughts about irony and generosity and how humbling it was to be on the receiving end of a completely unsolicited and unexpected gift. I was so touched by the kindness. I wondered what it was about my Henry that spoke to that man's heart...that motivated him to pull his undoubtedly hard-earned money out of his pocket and just give it over to the mom of the little blonde-haired boy at the store. I called Jared to tell him the story, and I told him it was just such a mind-blowing irony to me that I walked into the store feeling fretful about money...and then a random stranger just gives me twenty bucks.

But as I was telling him of irony and coincidence, a verse was laid on my heart that stopped me in my tracks. Hebrews 13:2 says, "Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." This was no coincidence.

Y'all, that man was an angel. I'm sure of it. Right there in Marshall's in Humble, Texas, we smiled and waved at a man we didn't know...and he eased the trouble in my mind. He reminded me of the Good out there when I needed it the most. The $10 left of his $20 after the purchase of the train obviously didn't cover everything I had in my cart, but it affirmed my faith so beautifully that all things really are being worked together for Good. Even trips to discount stores.

That night, I was so excited to tell my mom about what had happened. She and I differ in our beliefs in many ways, but I knew she would see the 'magic' in this story. So, I tell her all about it and even about the bible verse, and she was in disbelief...one, because it was such a cool story, but two, because she had been helped out by a stranger earlier that afternoon as well. As she was leaving a doctor's office with my grandmother, a man came out of nowhere and helped my grandmother out of her wheelchair and into the car. Her words were that 'he acted as if he was their companion - doing the things that any man would do if he were accompanying a lady to the car.' He made sure they were comfortably in, and then he told them both to have a great day waving as they drove off. Would it surprise you at all to hear that their kind helper was Hispanic, grandfatherly, and wearing a white shirt and blue jeans as well?

Yeah, me neither.

June, Part I

I have the best job in the world. It might come with long hours, no pay, and an extremely fluid job description, but it also allows for a certain freedom-of-movement that no other job offers.

One day last month, Jared came in the door and told me that he would be traveling for two straight weeks. Two. Fourteen days and nights. Which meant, obviously, that for those fourteen days and nights, me and the munchkins were on our own. Fourteen bedtimes. Twenty-eight naptimes. Forty-two mealtimes. Is your head going to explode yet? Yeah, mine too.

And so it came about that I decided to take my little boys on a roadtrip. An epic roadtrip.

We left town less than two days later and headed east for sunny Florida. Inlaws and old friends...seemed like a perfect place to go. I made arrangements to stay a night with friends in Biloxi on the way there. I was worried that here to Biloxi would be a stretch for Baby J, as he normally doesn't believe in sleeping in cars. Normal went out the window this trip.

On day 1, to my delight and disbelief, both boys took normal naps the entire day. Nobody shed a single tear the entire day. At one point in the trip, I needed to hold them off for about 20 minutes while we made it to a good food exit, so I gave them each a book to 'read'. For twenty straight minutes my 15-month old and my almost-3-year old 'read' quietly in the backseat. Yes, I'm serious. I called my spend-the-night friends as we flew by their house to say, "I'd be crazy to stop now...these babies are doing great!!" Three hours later (12 hours on the day), we stopped for pizza and hoteling. It was nothing short of amazing - the twelve perfect hours, the cute little hotel we found for less than $80 a night, and the fact that Hungry Howie's delivered thereto for a special hotel guest price. Henry still talks about our 'pizza hotel'.

After everyone slept like a dream in the hotel, Day 2 was just as easy breezy as the one before it. We woke up leisurely, ate breakfast at the pizza hotel's resaurant (a hot/cold breakfast bar in the lobby), waited for James to take care of his morning diaper, and away we went! The kids, again, did great. Everyone ate, slept, pottied, etc. as if nothing were different about their day. And, once again, not a single tear shed. I could hardly believe we were already there when we pulled into Tampa later that afternoon.

First up on our big adventure to the sunshine state -- a visit with Nina (Jared's mom) and a rendezvous with Heather at her castle. Details and pics coming up in the next post. For now, I leave you with the two secrets I discovered for flawless roadtripping by yourself with two kiddos under 3 -- stop once every two hours and let everyone out for at least 15 minutes (even if you have no other reason to stop) AND don't be afraid to use a dvd player to get through the long, boring stretches.

June, Part II - tomorrow.

Law School Laura Gets Married

Last weekend, lots of old friends inspired me to write a blog post about face-to-face visits. The giggles, tomfoolery, and staying-up-late just did me in. I had a muse of a weekend, and it was fantastic.

So, what was the occasion that brought us all together, you ask?

It involved a little beach...

 ...a little baby. Her name is Emma, by the way, and she's due in August...and I got to pat on her and feel her kick and talk to her way too much, because her mom (my Christmas kindred spirit, Charity, remember?) is totally okay with me getting all up in her personal space. Are you lovin' this 'b' alliteration as much as me?? I hope so, because here's the biggie...

...and most importantly, a beautiful bride. Yep, it's true...the last of our law school girl group tied the knot last weekend. You remember October-5th-birthday Laura, right?  That's Jamie there on the left, by the way...she is one of my besties and was the first of the four of us to bring the group together for an amazing and memorable wedding. Amazing and memorable insomuch as I met my husband AND learned how to tie a square knot at it. I'm still deciding which of those two things is more blog-worthy. hehehe. But I digress...

Yes, yes, Laura was kind enough to bring together the entire crew from back in the day...at a fabulous beach resort, no less...to celebrate her special day. We sort of liked it. Okay, okay...it was heaven. From left, allow me to introduce you (for those who don't already know these folks) to a few of my peeps: Stephen, me (obvi), Adam, Charity, and Jamie.

And here's Laura with her handsome groom, Joe. She probably will laugh at the face she is making in this picture...and that is why it gets posted. That and because Laura-in-her-dress deserves a full-length shot...I mean, seriously, be a little more gorgeous, Mrs. Dixon.

Here are Charity and Adam P. He was one of my very first law school friends. Even before Laura. Even before Jamie. There was Adam. This kid is guilty of making me laugh so hard I cried in our very first day of Property Class...second row...middle of the class...right in front of my teacher...who proceeded to ask me if I was okay...and then I proceeded to laugh even harder as the tears just continued streaming down my cheeks. This is a hallmark of my 7-year friendship with APT...laughter. In copious amounts. Charity is one of the best friends I've ever had in my entire life. In many ways, our personalities and preferences couldn't be more different....but there's something about our souls that is the same. When we get together, we are leave-no-stone-unturned conversationalists. It doesn't matter if it's been days, months, or years since our last visit, we will find something to talk at least 3 hours non-stop about. Don't you just love a friend like that?

Somewhere along the way, Laura and Adam decided they should be brother and sister. So, they call themselves that regularly. In many ways, their relationship does have a certain siblingesque quality to it. They bicker like it. They tease like it. They goof around like it. They have fun like it. And, well, they actually LOOK like it...see??

We, on the other hand, do not look related. Sometimes, I think Laura and I don't even look like the same species. I mean, here she is with all of her fair and delicate features, pretty nose, and thin arms...and in walks the tanned funhouse mirror version of that. I met Laura a few days into our first year of law school, and we've been close ever since. She's a tough cookie to crack, this one, but in many ways, so am I...and therein lies the makings of our super-fun, sarcastic, silly, precious friendship. Circa 2003 - "Nobody gets you? Sweet, nobody gets me either...let's be BFFs!" And the rest is history.  

In law school, our class was divided up into 3 sections. We were Section 3. Someone decided we needed a gang sign to really represent. Someone else thought 'the shocker' was a good choice being that it's a righteously amazing 3-fingered gang sign. So, we throw that thing up regularly when cameras are looking at us...even when we wear wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses and seersucker suits and are standing next to people trying to enjoy a romantic reception dinner.

The girls. This picture puts tears in my eyes (and not just because, despite my Zumbaholism, I look pregnant in my bridesmaid dress). So many years. So many memories. So much connection. I just love these ladies. I am honored and humbled by their presence in my life. Good friends are so rare. I know their worth. I cherish them fully. Their happiness is my own. 



And, on that note, congratulations, Laura & Joe. Thank you for bringing us all together for the par-tay, and I hope you enjoy a lifetime of happy and precious memories together.

words words words

Remember a month ago when James wasn't saying any words...ha! Times they are a-changin'!!

James' new words (note: some are old words that he dropped....but has picked back up this month):

PawPaw
ball
push
pull
juice
all done
pay-how (playhouse)
backpack
Nana
up
doggie
duckie
Brett (my grandma's dog)
diddy (pretty and kitty cat)
wah wah (water)
buh-wa (brother)
bowl
ookie (cookie)
bobo
poo poo :)
wow
open
owsa (outside)
wasssat (what's that)
ooh oohh (what a monkey says)
dirrrdy (birdie)
hot
achoo (fake sneeze)
cheese!!
pweez (please)
no
mine

I'm sure there are others, but that's what I can remember for now. He's also copying everything he hears and can tell you what lots of different animals say. It's amazing what a difference a month makes!

pre-nap pics

Hi. I learned how to say 'cheese' this week. I say it everytime I see a camera. Or anything that looks like a camera, for that matter.

This is my big brother. My mommy says he is looking WAY too old in this picture. I just think he looks like he always looks...maybe a little nicer than usual, actually.

Here I am sitting next to him. I tried snuggling him, but it seemed like he needed his space. He's like that when he's watching Little Einsteins. I don't like TV very much, so I just practice my acrobatics while he takes in the tube.

Here is one trick I do that Mommy doesn't really care for. What does she know anyway? I think I'm awesome for learning how to do this...sometimes, I even dance up here when I think she's not looking.

The thing is, she always seems to be looking. I am also really cool, because I can do THIS.

 I moved to the middle of the floor to put on a special show just for Mommy's camera...I'm a little bit of a show-off, if you want to know the truth.

 CHEEEEEEEEEEEESE!!!

 Finally, I got him!!

We're best friends. And brothers. How cool is that? 

I think it's the coolest thing...well, it's probably a toss-up between that and my hair.