One Woman's Perspective as a Domestic Professional

New Words and Fun Times!

2012-02-06T13:21:00.004-06:00

Adelyn has advanced in her speech to using the "ee" sound at the end of words. I'm now Mommy instead of Mama, Scott is Daddy instead of Dada, and a banana is nanee instead of na.

We've been having some fun outside! You can see below!

I LOVE wearing my hat and jacket!

And also my Elmo shirt underneath!

I'm being convinced to attend A&M.

Imitating Melodies

2012-02-01T20:07:00.000-06:00

As I type I'm listening to our almost two year old hum and babble the tune of the ABCs. I guess it could also be Twinkle Twinkle or Ba Ba Blacksheep but I actually don't sing those two with her much. She does however, love to push the ABC song button on our Leap Frog Fridge Phonics game on the refrigerator. I remember being surprised to hear children at this age sing melodies. Some of the children who played with Zachary when they were this age would sing like this. I don't remember Zachary singing melodies that clearly at this age. I love how they are all different! I guess Adelyn is trying to perfect this song because she sings it quite frequently throughout the day. She loves the piano also. Can't wait until she is interested in lessons!

Uh HUH and Unh Uh

2012-01-14T21:56:00.000-06:00

Over Christmas break while we were in Louisiana Adelyn figured out how to verbalize and properly use the words "uh HUH" and "unh uh". On the first one she really emphasizes the HUH and it sounds like "uh HUUUUUH". She uses them correctly every time. I then realized how much I actually say those words. So we started focusing on the YES and NO. And it has been working. She's now saying "no" or "doh" and "ish" for yes.

Tonight Adelyn shoved 3 books through the bars on her bed before I put her in. She and Zachary both have that habit of reading a few books by themselves in their beds after we read to them in their little reading area. One of the books Adelyn put in was Where's Spot? and on each page Sally is looking for little spot and everyone informs her that he's not there by telling her "no". I watched Adelyn turn a page, say "doh" and turn another page. I'll post the video sometime. It completely melted my heart.

2011 Christmas Experience!

2012-01-07T14:35:00.002-06:00

We were surrounded by all kinds of loving family members this Christmas and had even more we talked to by phone or skype or just knew that we had wonderful family from afar.

The kids enjoyed the people, food and presents of course. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve Mass with a live nativity at a church down the road from town. The priest seemed like a very happy and joyous person and he definitely shared that with us all. We got to be there with my family and grandparents on my dad's side.

Getting Ready for Christmas 2011

2012-01-01T23:13:00.000-06:00

Advent time at the Miller house! We had put up the tree with a hot beverage day. One of my favorite! And my husband does it to make me happy :) He knows I love doing that as a family. Thank you Dear! It was a tradition when I grew up and my kids seem to enjoy doing it too.

We put up our home made advent calendar and built the bed in the manger by putting sticks in each day after doing acts of kindness.

Zachary also had his first Christmas concert at his school!

2012-01-01T22:33:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday dear Sofia. I'm watching Oklahoma which reminds me of course of you because it's a musical!! You always sang songs from musicals. I miss you every day. I think of the inspiration you were to so many people. You were so loved. Love you with all my heart.

Remember this picture? We took it at your 15th birthday, 13 years ago on New Years Eve.

I know you took several years to decide what to do for a career. You worked hard and took classes and then discovered your love and talent for musical theatre (which many of us saw growing up!!). You went to Sam when I was leaving. I wonder what it would have been like if we were there at the same time haha. We would have had a blast but I guess it wasn't meant to be. You are an inspiration though to me. You searched and followed your dream. Your ambition and love of life has influenced me in my decisions. I auditioned for the San Antonio Choral Society and got in! I'm so excited and I'm thrilled to be in a large ensemble again. I love music and I know you did too. Thanks for reminding me to have confidence in myself. love you dear Sofia.

I Was Just Thinking Mom...Dad...

2011-11-21T22:28:00.001-06:00

Zachary is in a stage where he thinks really hard about the facts and has some great ideas as a result!

Scott is transferring to another division at Southwest Research. I'm thrilled that he won't have random days/nights where he has to go in at strange hours so they can work round the clock to get testing done. He's also excited about the new projects he will get to work on. It likely will involve space!! I know he's excited. Upon hearing this information Zachary had a thought. There is a series on Netflix about space. Zachary and Scott enjoy watching it together sometimes and in fact Zachary chooses it for his 30 minute morning show sometimes. So when Scott was telling Zachary about the things he might get to work on Zachary said, "Daddy you should watch more of the space show. You might need to know that stuff". Scott thought about it and in all honesty said, "You are probably right. I may very well need to know some of the information on those shows".

Zachary has also been very interested in sports lately. He really wants to try baseball and then soccer. We were watching Sunday football on FOX this past Sunday. We are excited when a soccer game comes on and Zachary is interested in seeing the game. He asks a lot of questions. He does mention that he is a little afraid to play because he might get hit by other players or collide with them. We explain about the rules and talk about the gear they wear to protect themselves. And then I say, "yeah I really like soccer. I wish I could play on a team right now but there isn't one convenient at this time". Zachary says, "that's ok. You can be on my baseball team".

The last of the clever words I have to share happened today. The kids and I were going into HEB. I was holding Zachary's hand to cross the street of course. I let go on the sidewalk so he could see if there were any "car carts". As soon as I dropped his hand he said, "My hand fell because of gravity. It was just pulling it down".

Love to see and listen to the things kids learn :)

Daily Laughs

2011-11-06T21:06:00.003-06:00

Zachary's daily experiences and happenings have given me a couple of stories to post about today. Thinking about them remind me of how much he is learning each day.

A couple of weeks ago I was serving lunch one weekday. We have learning place mats; one with the ASL alphabet, one with the periodic table, one with musical instruments, and another with the presidents. Zachary was studying the one in front of him which happened to be the presidents. Zachary knows very well that we live in San Antonio. He also knows that one of his very good friends moved to the place called Washington. Zachary looked up and asked me, "Where is San Antonio on here?". I looked at his place mat and then said, "Well, that place mat has the presidents on there. It doesn't have the cities or states". He said, I know but where is San Antonio on here?" I repeated myself again and finally he said, "Washington is on here, so where is San Antonio?". I got it. "Oh I see I said. That is George Washington. That's his name and the place Meredith lives was named after him. We didn't have a president named San Antonio. :)

A couple of nights ago Scott and I were admiring a coloring page that was on Zachary's wall. I hadn't put it up and neither had Scott. "Zachary did you put this up?" Scott asked. He answered yes. I remembered that he had asked me for tape earlier that day and said so. We both were admiring that he had figured out how to put it up. Somehow Zachary ended up telling us that the tape didn't work so well. "So what did you use?" we asked. "I used a gluestick". ohhhh. I remembered that he had been trying to put glue on it that day too. I had not seen him actually glue the paper to anything so that was where it had ended up. "You glued this??" "yes". I tried to pull it off a bit. It was stuck stuck stuck. Oh wow. Needless to say, we were both proud of him for using great problem solving skills. We did though, explain to him that there are other ways to hang things on the wall and that glue doesn't end up working out so well in the end. :)

My 4 Year Old Photographer

2011-10-27T16:21:00.001-05:00

Zachary has taken an interest in the camera as most children do, however he's also taken an interest in still life pictures. He takes his time finding lovely images he feels are worthy of photographing and remembering. He's becoming more experienced at capturing the light in just the right way and displaying a unique angle to the world around him. I took the liberty of captioning his photographs. I hoped to assist in displaying the inspirational perspective of life captured in this unique work of art.

One Consistency in a 4 Year Old's Life

Don't Look Down on Yourself

Be bright but don't look into the bright.

What Can You Build in Your Future?

The entrance to a New Journey.

Green and Life Enhancing Transportation

Remember to Organize Your Life and Your Garage

Before You Open an Unknown Door Look Through the Window

Remember Your Special Cup which Holds the Substance of Sustenance.

Numbers You'll Never Leave Home Without

A Dream put to rest and set aside for the future.

The Early Mode of Transportation

A New Perspective on Leaves

Paint the Town Brown or Paint Your Table Autumn

What's on Your Artistic Table?

Take a Rest and Have Ice Cream in Bed

Matter Outside and Inside your Body

Have Variety in Your Life and in the Colors of Your Wardrobe

Library Halloween!

2011-10-25T20:41:00.001-05:00

The blog entries have been few and far between since our trip to Washington and the loss of Sofia. I'm extremely behind on exciting events, ideas, and pictures. We attended two weddings since August, had a trip to Richland, WA and have put up a great club house in the backyard. Before I catch up though I have to post about our Costume Parade to the library today.

The library had a costume parade with extra exploration activities today. Zachary dressed as Buzz Lightyear which he had been asking for, for quite a while. Adelyn wore a Halloween shirt which was my back up plan knowing that she wouldn't want to wear the adorable dog costume I got last year a few days after Halloween for $3. She looked cute anyway.

We unfortunately missed the story about a monster and the name of the face parts. We began with the station to make the Monster face on a stick that went with the story. There were other entertaining activities for the kids that were very simple. They had a blast hitting a balloon tied to a string which was tied to the ceiling. They also went fishing for bats and organized pumpkins by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.

The last thing was the exciting costume parade where they got to collect candy at different points in the library. We all brought candy to share in the mix. Many of the librarians were considerate and noticed that Adelyn did not need any of the jawbreaker type candies. I personally don't care to buy anything like that to hand out at home or anywhere.

We had a fun time with our friends Denise, Nana, and Isabella! We still miss our favorite librarian Yanira! But we know she's making other kids smile in a new library. Here's our experience below.

Watching the pumpkin balloons fly around.

Fishing for bats!

Adelyn's turn

Playing with puppets

Hitting the balloons!

Pumpkin puzzle line up

Working together!

Littlest Pet Shop and Buzz Lightyear

Nana and Zachary

Learning Animal Sounds

2011-10-16T16:25:00.003-05:00

Here is a link of Adelyn learning about what bears say. She has elephant down great also! We'll have to get one of that animal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU5hr1-rEnk

2011-10-11T22:48:00.000-05:00

Dear Sofia...Snowfia,

One day during the summer before we could drive, we wanted to learn a vocal duet that you had. It was an arrangement of The Wind Beneath My Wings. You had it and since we couldn't come to each other you taught it to me over the phone. We were so proud of ourselves and we had a great time singing it that day and there after. I cherish that day and of course many more great times we had. You played a big part in my life. You gave me strength, encouragement, laughter, joy, appreciation for the things around me, knowledge, music, and much more. This week has been hard knowing that you are gone from the earth and that I do not have any more chances to make more memories with you. So I re-wrote the duet to fit you. It helped with the grieving and I'm glad I have something to sing to you. Your life and journey was so inspirational in so many ways. I will always cherish our friendship. The piece goes like this.

The Wind Beneath My Wings- Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar
For Sofia V. Mendez

I know you felt cold in a shadow.
But then you felt sunlight on your face.
You always had a natural shine.
But smiled and encouraged from behind.

You searched through life to find your calling.
You inspired us all and gave us strength.
Beautiful face and angel voice.
You followed your dream and made your choice.

Chorus
Did you ever know that you're my hero
So much of what I'd like to be.
I can fly higher than an eagle.
You helped form the wind beneath my wings.

Your gusto for life and your compassion
Put hope and joy in our hearts.
So full of love and full of truth.
I wouldn't be the same without you.

Chorus

Second Chorus
Did I ever tell you you're my hero
You helped me decide who to be.
I can fly higher because you loved me.
You helped form the wind beneath my wings.

So maybe I'll record it sometime and give it to your parents. I'm sure they want to know everything about you. You were so loved by so many people. Your example inspires us to follow our dreams and persevere.
love,
Eng a ling

2011-10-08T20:19:00.000-05:00

Sofia Victoria Mendez- January 2 1984 to October 1, 2011 and beyond because you are always

living in our hearts and of course in heaven.

Thursday, 10/6, 4:00-9:00 PM - Cashner Funeral Home, 801 Teas Rd, Conroe, TX.

Friday, 10/7, 5:00-8:00 PM - Community Baptist Church, 8909 Cochran's Crossing Dr., The

Woodlands, TX 77381

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, 10/8, 10:00am at Community Baptist Church at the

address mentioned above

‎Sofia V. Mendez I haven't seen you in a few years, but you have always been a dear friend to me.
Hearing of you passing away has of course made me miss you so much. I have endless
memories with you from junior high, high school, and even a few in college too. You were the one
to tell me about my career, music therapy. I know you are with our friends Kristen Cote and Zack Homrighaus shining down on us. I miss you.

Can't get past the fact that I will never see you again. And I can't stop looking at all of the
photos. I
regret so much that it had been so long since we caught up. I wish this were a dream.

Dear Sofia, I remember the summer before our freshman year before we could drive. We really
wanted to learn the arrangement of the wind beneath my wings duet that you had so you taught it
to me on the phone. I know I'll cry every time I hear that now, but it's worth the memory. Love you
friend.

We Love Music!

2011-10-08T20:09:00.002-05:00

Mommy took the video sideways!! This thing called a recorder is fun!

I love to dance and be silly!

My Favorite Activity

2011-09-13T22:32:00.004-05:00

This is what I like to do anytime I can run into the bathroom when it's open. I see everyone else doing it and it feels good on my teeth.

Just talking to my toothbrush.

Here I'm brushing my teeth...a few times.

Adelyn Sophia's 17th Month

2011-09-13T22:28:00.002-05:00

Am I cute or what? Mommy says I am. She might be a little biased but she doesn't think so.

Daddy really likes this picture.

Morning is a great time to be outside!

I really like these bead things. They say I will probably like Madi Gras.

Bedtime Routine

2011-09-10T23:00:00.002-05:00

My children have both gotten into the habbit of reading books before falling asleep. I'm loving it of course. Zachary takes about 25 books to bed well....give or take a few. Adelyn selects about 5. I kind of have to monitor to make sure she doesn't rip the pages of the soft page ones. Some of those are her favorites. She's in the phase right now where she doesn't want me to leave the room until she falls asleep (but not for nap time...who knows why....) so I sit in the rocking chair until she does. I've learned over time to let go of things I need to do and just enjoy the moments watching them read their books. In addition to reading, Adelyn also likes to rearrange her stuffed animals over and over. I don't remember Zachary doing that at her age but she sure enjoys it :) Maybe some night I'll get a picture to add to the post.

A Boy Version of Doll House

2011-09-03T20:47:00.002-05:00

Dollhouse is a favorite game at our house. Of course each kid has their own version. Here is the Zachary version.

Kids Favorites

2011-09-02T22:35:00.004-05:00

Just for us to remember years down the road, I thought I would include a favorites post of our children's favorite things at this time.

Zachary's Favorite:

Color- blue, second favorite is pink
Food- Pizza, berries, celery, carrots, popcorn and PBJ
Pretend game- House, doll house, camping, acting out disney movies
Books- Berenstain Bears
Show- Busytown, Caillou, Curious George
Songs- Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants, Here Come the 123s, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Veggie Tales, Polar Express
Songs to sing to Adelyn- Itsy Bitsy Spider, Do You Know the Colors of the Rainbow (because he knows she likes these, ah so sweet)
Toys- Cars, dollhouse stuff, duplos

Adelyn's Favorite

Color-unsure
Food- it changes often but currently blueberries, pizza, peanut butter, yogurt chicken nuggets, brocolli
Books- Sesame Street, I'm a Helper, My First Signs, The Wheels on the Bus, Is Your Mama a Llama. Used to be Blue Hat Green Hat and Itsy Bitsy Spider
Toy- slide, ball, dolls, books
Activity- brushing teeth, sliding, unloading the dishwasher, helping with laundry by bringing me anything she sees.
Songs- Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Do You Know the Colors of the Rainbow, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse CD, Pat-a-cake Songs CD, Greg and Steve

The kids have grown so much inside and out this summer. It's amazing to think that their development has improved in the few months of summer.

At the beginning of the summer Zachary was telling me things like, when I asked him how the movie was, he said "It was fantastic!". He told my aunt the something was mysterical and he uses the word rediculous a lot.

While visiting my family in Louisiana he asked my grandmother why she had a hole in her neck.....uh, yeah...While driving back from Louisiana he told me to drive on the grass because we were in bumper to bumper traffic going down to one lane. Well he didn't know all the rules so it's a good idea if you're in a hurry! When we arrived at home both kids were ecstatic to see their daddy. I hadn't seen Adelyn ever smile so big. And when we walked in the house Zachary said, "I remember this place Mom!" Well I guess three weeks is a long time to be away :) He also told me that night that I smelled like baking soda. Kind of ironic.

We have been playing a lot of dollhouse, camping, and house this summer. He loves it. I've been using stuffed animals to get him to do things and teach him things like piano. It's amazing how differently he responds to an animal talking to him. A funny story about dollhouse is that one day we were playing and Zachary made his character play hockey on the roof. And then the mom, me, was suppose to go play with him. I then said, after they were done playing, let's go jump on the bed and Zachary made his character say, that's too dangerous". Ha.

He's also been practicing three letter words this past couple of months and he's learning to figure out putting the sounds together on his own. I'm so excited!! He's also in love with the Berenstain Bears now. He saved his money for 4 weeks and bought himself The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist.

Adelyn of course has changed a lot this summer. She has been saying Moo and oof oof (woof) since June. She pants like a dog whenever she sees one also. She has frequenly changed her mind about which foods are her favorites. She may have devoured grapes one day but the next she refuses them. At 16 months she figured out how to slide down the stairs on her tummy. Now at almost 18 months she tries to hold on to the posts and step down. She definitely needs some help though.

When Scott comes home there are now two little runners who dash for the garage door. "Dada, Dada, Dada" Adelyn repeats over and over. We've also been flying her to bed just like Zachary. Sometimes she puts her arms out in front of her. She tries to do gymnastics by herself. The other day when we stopped at Brenda's house on the way to the woodlands (Aug 22) she tried to jump off the arm of her couch. She also does the down dog but with her head too. And she loves it when I flip her around.

Adelyn loves to bring us stuff. Anything on the ground. She loves to help me with laundry so when she sees me in the laundry room she brings me any piece of clothing she can find. ah, melts my heart. She also is fascinated with the dishwasher and helps me with that also. I frantically try to grab all of the glass stuff before she does. Makes things go quicker :)

The other day I dropped something I was carrying and knew it but didn' stop to pick it up. Adelyn was reading herself a book in the rocker in their room. She put the book down, got off of it and brought me the object. So sweet! And then returned to her spot. It was sometime before Aug 15.

This week she has been carrying baby dolls around a lot more. In June we got her a tiny one from Target which she loved probably b/c it was perfect for her size. She now carries more of the other ones in the house, feeds them a bottle, and brushes their hair. They grow so fast!

This morning Zachary told Sandy he couldn't come watch a show with him because he didn't have a butt to sit on.

That's it for the Miller children update :)

Rare day of Rain one July

2011-08-25T13:14:00.002-05:00

Playing in the rain on this rare day in July of 2011! It poured and we were not going to miss out on all of the fun. We don't need rain coats in San Antonio, TX. If it rains the excitement throws the rain coat out of the picture!

Important to Brush Teeth!

2011-08-15T18:04:00.003-05:00

Adelyn has watched her big brother brush his teeth every day and now she's interested her self. I find her often going into their bathroom, placing the stool where she wants it, climbing onto it, opening the toothbrush drawer and pulling out her and Zachary's toothbrushes. She selects three types of toothpaste although she just lays them on top of the counter. Sometimes she brings all of it to me or takes it to sit down at the little blue table. I'm sure it's because she watches us and it also feels good on her gums!

I've tried to get pictures but since she's also fascinated with the camera she puts it down when I put the camera up. :)

Summer Reading

2011-07-28T17:02:00.002-05:00

Zachary participated in the Library Summer Reading program. I thought it might be fun for him to look back and see what he read this summer so I'm going to list the books he read here on the blog. Adelyn did not complete her summer reading. She's still into the repetition of her favorite books and is not always interested in new stuff yet.

Zachary age 4

1. The Healthy Wolf

2. Berenstain Bears Bad Habit

3. The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear

4. The Berenstain Bears New Baby

5. The Berenstain Bears Afraid of the Dark

6. If the Dinosaurs Came Back

7. Come Back Ameila Bedeila

8. The Berenstain Bears Double Dare

9. Amelia Bedeila

10. Own

11. The Berestain Bears and the Big Race

12. The Berestain Bears and the Sitter

13. Book Book Book

14. Arthur Goes to Camp

15. Curious George Takes a Job

Other new ones

The Berestain Bears Go to the Doctor

Wobble the Witch Cat

The Sun and the Wind Fable

The Berestain Bears Too Much Vacation

Obviously we've found a favorite series!

The Woodlands Children's Museum

2011-07-21T13:01:00.005-05:00

We went to The Woodlands Children's Museum back in June. It was a little place but it had everything we needed to have fun. Zachary even met another boy his age named Zachary!

Playing in the water and fishin

Preparing the firetruck

Riding in the firetruck

Diggin in the construction area

Taking care of the house

Workin in the kitchen

Purchasing groceries

Picking out groceries

Imagining on stage

Playing on stage

Trying out a truck

Book Series on Behavior

2011-07-21T12:19:00.003-05:00

I'm posting a series of books and link to the author's website on the totschool blog.

http://growingmemoriestotschool.blogspot.com

The author is Joy Berry.

You can also see some of the other online resources we discovered this summer!

Ideas for Children When a Parent Travels Away

2011-07-19T13:08:00.003-05:00

One of my parenting magazines had some suggestions for making a parent's temporary departure easier.

1. Count Down the Days- Make a tear-away calendar or something similar so they have something to help understand when the parent is coming home.

2. Look at the Lovely- Take along a stuffed animal or toy and photograph it doing cool things like flying or sightseeing.

3. Record your voice- Use the computer or smart phone to record a message, video, or story for bedtime.

4. Video Chat- Skype or gmail!

5. Start a Virtual Diary- familydetails.com has a free website for the family to write day to day activities, upload pictures and texts.

6. Create Together- If a parent is gone for a long time create a picture together. Start out with a single line on a page and mail it back and forth, adding one line or shape until you have a piece of art.

Here is an example of number 2

Mouse traveled with Daddy on his business trip.

Mouse went to the pool.

Mouse sleeps in.

Daddy missed us this summer

2011-07-17T20:43:00.002-05:00

While the kids and I were away for three weeks in June, Scott posted a sweet video for the kids. I'm just posting it here so we remember it one day. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJichBsNkoM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Thanks Daddy! We missed you.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-21T21:26:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day to our special Daddy! Today we made him his usual breakfast, but instead we made it ourselves and served it to him in bed! I really wanted to have my breakfast in my own bed but Mommy said it was Daddy's special day to day and I could eat it in their bed next to Daddy. I've been wanting to do this for a long time and it's finally happened!

Daddy you're going on five years as a father and you're doing a super job!

Tubing on the Slide

2011-06-21T21:05:00.003-05:00

Today we went to play at the park. One little structure happens to have two parallel slides with a steering wheel directly in front. Having just been at the lake Zachary got the idea to go tubing. First he said he would drive so he took his spot behind the wheel. I sat at the bottom of the slide facing up. Adelyn practiced her sliding on her tummy feet first as all of this went on. After I rode the "tube" and pretended to get tossed off we switched and I drove the "boat" while the kids did their tubing.

News Signs and Verbal Words

2011-06-17T19:37:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Adelyn had her 15 month birthday. Already! So much has happened in a month.

The past 2-3 weeks she's been attempting to say "flower" and I think "fan" by saying "fa".
Monday June 13 she said moo when my mom read her Is Your Mama a Llama?
Monday June 13 she said roof roof when she saw Sandy or another dog or a picture of a dog. It sounds more like "oof oof".
She signed please this week for the first time on her own. Still a little inconsistent but at least it's happening now!
She signed book for the first time this week and consistently today on June 17! She's been selecting her preferred books for us to read her at night since before she turned a year. I really don't think Zachary picked his own at that time. He always seemed to like whatever we chose. She definitely likes to pick herself. Her favorites are Blue Hat Green Hat, The Wheels on the Bus, Is Your Mama a Llama and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

Just talking to my brother.

Signing Finished!

Exploring Toys

2011-05-31T14:43:00.002-05:00

Stacking some pots and looking at a soft farm book.

Boys aren't the only ones who love cars.

Pouring the tea!

Mixing the tea!

Easter Fun

2011-05-31T14:30:00.002-05:00

My First Easter Egg Hunt when I was Mobile

2011-05-31T14:17:00.005-05:00

We had an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard. I found a few eggs and I got to play with some large eggs. It was a fun time. I was here last year for the egg hunt but I was only 3 weeks old so I didn't do much hunting.

I was most interested in these eggs.

And sitting up here watching.

Zachary did a great job finding those eggs.

Our neighbors joined us.

Zachary decided to pose in this one. They may have bribed him, I'm not sure.

Admiring our finds.

I ran out of grass to pull out.

Playing Tee Ball

2011-05-31T14:03:00.003-05:00

I got this baseball tee for my birthday from my Paran and Aunt Kitty. I'm hoping to play next year.

Just Hanging Around the House

2011-05-31T13:47:00.003-05:00

I remembered how I used to love Super Why and Now I want to be a super reader again.

My favorite downstairs toy.

Doing what Brother Does

2011-05-31T13:19:00.003-05:00

Zachary gives me so many ideas! He gives me ideas about playing, eating, signing, and all kinds of things! Watch what I learned in these two videos.

Observing

My turn to try it out!

Happy 4th Birthday to Zachary!

2011-05-05T20:22:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday to Me!! I turned 4 on Easter Sunday. Since it was going to be a very special day we invited both sides of the family over. Mommy, Daddy, Adelyn, Granna, Pop2, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Matthew, Uncle Brian, Krystal, Uncle Kevin, Gramsie, Pa-pa, Paran, Aunt Kitty, and Grandma Marilyn were all there. I got the Disney Cars garage with a few of the car characters for my birthday! I LOVE the movie, Cars. I also got a Spider Man, spiral art, a baseball tee, baseballs, a Berenstain Bears book, and Lincoln logs!!

Me in my birthday chair.

Our family on my 4th birthday!

I had a very special dirt cake. Do you see my letter?

Adelyn enjoyed the dirt cake too!

My new Disney cars garage!

Almost Walking!

2011-05-03T12:10:00.002-05:00

Adelyn is taking some steps. I really think she gets so excited that she goes way to fast for herself. Sometimes she just reaches for us with her arms and leans forward without taking any steps at all! Obviously that doesn't work! She's balancing so much better when she is just standing in one spot so that she doesn't always need support. In the meantime she's extremely cute when she crawls!

Doggie and Da da

2011-04-30T09:37:00.003-05:00

Our sweet little girl is figuring out language again! When she sees or hear Sandy she says da da. And when she sees or hears Scott she says da da or da ta! I'll have to attempt at getting this on video. I love to see her become so sweet towards Scott. She's following Zachary to the garage door when they hear him come home. She reaches toward him a lot to go see him.

Dirty

2011-04-21T19:52:00.003-05:00

Here is our dog, Sandy. Although this day he was not worthy of his name, Sandy. He didn't have his beautiful sandy color nor did he have sand pieces stuck to him as he sometimes does. He was obviously covered from head to tail in dirt. Wet dirt. So this day his name was Dirty.

Adelyn is 1

2011-04-21T12:00:00.002-05:00

I'm 1 now! Mama finally published my pictures! Mama didn't you know I've been 1 for over a month now?

Here's my first birthday party. Mama and Dada said it was the fastest birthday party they've ever given.

Before

Trying it out

After

Forts

2011-04-20T21:43:00.007-05:00

This house is becoming famous for having a standing fort 24/7. Not the same one all of the time of course. They randomly pop up here and there. In the living room and the game room have been the most popular. Boxes and sheets are great toys.

Leading the Choir at Church

2011-04-12T20:01:00.002-05:00

The other day Zachary and I were playing house. We pretended it was Saturday and had breakfast, lunch, nap time, dinner, sea world, bath and bedtime. And then it was Sunday. So we had breakfast and then hauled the 8 animals and 7 babies to church.

The large penguin was our priest and wore a Super Why cape. The altar was a turned over drawer from the plastic drawer set for the kitchen toys. And we also had a potato on a plate and a shiny square box for the chalice.

Our little stuffed skunk sat on a box for the ambo and read out of a book. Zachary was the choir director. He sang, "Glory to God in the heartest and peace to his people on earth". And then he couldn't remember the other songs so he sang it again. At that point I suppose he knew he needed to sing something different so he belted out "Mercury! Venus! Earth!..."from the cd Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants. Which was still completely relevant I thought! After that he sang Happy Birthday, the ABCs, and one more popular selection.

What a great choir director!!! And the cutest one I've ever seen.

Language Development at almost 12 Months

2011-03-12T20:27:00.002-06:00

Somehow I almost missed the fact that Adelyn's "ba" sound she's been making for a few months now, now means "book" or "ball". I put 2 and 2 together when I saw the ball near her when she was crawling around trying to get it. And then I also realized that she makes the sound when we do our story time or she happens to be near the books.

I think Zachary just said, "Da Da" for many months when he pointed out anything. Everything was a "Da Da". Sweet moments in watching them grow!

Trying on Hats

2011-03-12T20:22:00.003-06:00

The other day I realized that Adelyn was examining all of the hats from our imagination basket. I saw her momentarily swing a hat onto her head. Who knew!! We don't know half of what they notice!!

"When I get Bigger"

2011-03-12T20:12:00.002-06:00

This morning when we were getting up Zachary and Adelyn played in our bed for a while. Afterwards Zachary went to check out two drawers that we have in our dresser. One has my old brownies sash, gymnastics leotards, old class pictures and some other random things. Scott has a drawer too. It has old art projects, boyscout stuff, etc. Zachary likes to ask me things about us and today he had Scott in a conversation about a paper mache car Scott made in 95, and the classes he took. Scott was saying something like, "and one day you will go to school and take classes like art and science...".

Zachary replied, "yes and then when I get bigger I'll have a drawer with all of my old stuff".

Yeah, I guess that happens. Some of our treasured posessions or just old stuff get shoved in a drawer. I suppose we should make sure we are displaying things with honor that were special too us.

A Pilot or an Astronaut

2011-03-03T20:50:00.003-06:00

Zachary has decided that he would like to be a pilot or an astronaut when he grows up. His goal is to be the pilot for the Thunderbirds in the air force. In addition to that he would like to play football. From what I understand, many mother's would say this would be their biggest nightmare. We have been listening to the Science CD of the group, They Might Be Giants. They have very educational songs on their that teach about different scientific concepts. I could see myself using this cd with music therapy clients.

Zachary tells me that Jupiter is his favorite planet. He observes our planets poster often in the game room.

I'm happy he's got big dreams. I can't wait to see what interests the kids pursue each year.

Growing Up Fast

2011-03-03T20:48:00.001-06:00

Adults always say we grow up so fast. I guess we do because I'm already learning to drive!

Helping Out

2011-03-03T20:39:00.002-06:00

Monday's are very busy days at our house. We go to the store, do laundry and sometimes do gardening outside. Zachary and I love to help!

Observations at our dirty clothes basket.

Helping out at the grocery store. We hold things for Mommy and sometimes I like to chew them a bit.

I love outside! And now it's becoming even more fun b/c I can move around on my own. They say once I start doing this thing called walking, I'll be able to do more things in the backyard. I guess I'll find out. Here I'm helping with the dirt! Yes, that is a sock in my mouth. They are so tasty, have you ever tried one?

Snow in San Antonio, TX!

2011-02-25T20:45:00.003-06:00

We had snow in San Antonio, TX! It happened the night of February 3 and on February 4 we woke up to find snow! I had a music therapy client who once told me that San Antonio had not had snow since 1985. Houston didn't even get snow that night.

Zachary had been asking to see snow since last summer. We made plans to go to Amarillo in January thinking we had a chance of seeing snow. Well it was quite warm when we went. In fact the warmest day they had seen in winter. And then it snowed the day after we left. But who would have thought that we wouldn't have seen snow in Amarillo and that next week we would see snow in San Antonio! He got his dream.

New developments

2011-02-15T20:40:00.002-06:00

Adelyn is doing so many new and cute things. I hope I haven't forgotten them all since it's been so long since I've written about them.

First, her hair is no longer only spikes. At the bottom it's now touching her neck and it's the same color as mine. She's not looking as much like a baby, but instead a tiny little tot. I like to look at her face when she is observing something or someone and watch those little eyes taking it all in.

Today I discovered that she knew to put some little balls into a train that takes them in and shoots them out. I have never seen her put anything in something like that. She also figured out to push the yellow button when I told her to. That one isn't mastered yet but she does it sometimes.

Last week I showed her how to play her little xylophone. She's got the concept of using the mallet! She bangs it on the xylophone, but usually it's the whole thing and not just the tip. So cute to see a young developing musician.

Something we've been doing for about a month or more is her story box. At night we always read them stories. She's always been everywhere when we've tried to read them but she has been learning about staying in one spot over these couple of months. The box helps a lot. We put a lot of her books in the box and sing the "Story Time" song. It's the same one we sing at the library story time. She knows that she gets to come over to the box, take books out and open them. She even has a favorite which she picks every time, The Itsy Bitsy Spider. This particular book has very colorful and large pictures.

It's hard to believe our sweet baby is almost a year old already and learning so fast. She's such a joy to have with us. Both of our children are. I love seeing them grow up and play together!

Swinging at North Shore Park

2011-01-20T13:36:00.002-06:00

Here I am at Northshore Park in the Woodlands, TX.

I love to swing! Who doesn't?

I got to swing while my big brother played in the sand.

My New Favorite Toy that Appeared During Advent

2011-01-10T20:26:00.003-06:00

I loved this new beautiful, green, and branchy thing in our house that appeared during advent. The word I've heard around it is "Christmas tree". The things with that tempting shiny paper underneath looked fun too, which I later found out had some new clothes and toys in them! I guess Mommy caught me exploring these new things here.

My mischief gave big brother a chance to do some chatting on the phone.

1st Gymnastics Recital

2011-01-06T20:56:00.001-06:00

I had a gymnastics recital on December 4, 2010! We showed our parents the skills we have been working on in class with Coach Sam. She is a lot of fun and sometimes we get Popsicles at the end. I had my performance with my friends Aurelia and Taylor. There were other classes there too. Here are some pictures and videos!

The Beginning of the recital- The Hokey Pokey!

Balance Beam

I'm not in that front row, I'm way in the back doing my skills. Look for me.

Aurelia and I with our Medals

Audubon Zoo

2010-12-22T21:50:00.004-06:00

Audubon Zoo- New Orleans

We went to a beautiful zoo during Thanksgiving break!! I sure loved it. The animals had a lot more space than other zoo's we've been too. There was more shade and great scenery for pictures. There was fun things for the kids too!

Climbing the big tree

Daddy trying to learn tricks from the elephant.

Gramsie and Adelyn

Saints Fans

2010-12-21T22:47:00.004-06:00

I have always loved the priest Fr. Paul at Our Lady of Grace in La Coste, TX. He has a way with making people feel like he's speaking directly to them during homilies and he has an incredible sense of humor as well.

The next day after arriving home to San Antonio from Thanksgiving break, I decided to attend Mass at Our Lady of Grace. I had really enjoyed our trip to Louisiana. One special thing we did was watch the Cowboys/Saints game on Thanksgiving day at my Uncle's house. Most of us there were quite into it. Only Scott and my sister n law Kathryn were wearing cowboys shirts or cheering for them. The Saints won that game and it was close. Well, at Mass that Sunday Fr. Paul announced that there were no bulletins because after his favorite team, the Cowboys had lost on Thanksgiving he told the staff to go home on Friday and have the rest of the day off. Hehe.

Well this past weekend my parents and my brother and sister n law visited so we could celebrate an early Christmas. On Sunday we got up and went to the 10:30 AM Mass which is the more upbeat and lively one. Berch asked me if it was okay to wear his Saints shirt and if Ithought Fr. Paul would "approve" :) I told him I wasn't so sure about that. We meant to leave with enough time to get there a few minutes early and get seats. I like to sit close so Zachary can see. We left late though and arrived just after it had started. I figured there was no way we were getting seats together let alone up front. The usher, however, directed us all the way up to the front on the right side. There were two seats in front for Berch and Kathryn and enough room behind them for the rest of us.

We proceeded with the Mass. When we arrived at the homily we all sat down to listen. Now, Fr. likes to walk around while he talks and pass by each person in the front row on each side just so he can look at everyone in the church. He was discussing being accepting of all people and how it didn't matter what religion someone was. He said it isn't necessary to argue about who is right or better, but remember that all people are created equal. But then all of the sudden he stopped in front of Berch and exclaimed "but sometimes there are those who test our limits!". He then proceeded to take him by the hand and lead him up to the front of the church. The congregation began laughing as they looked up and saw my brother in his Saints shirt. But what really iced the cake was when Fr. Paul lifted up his purple vestment, unzipped the white one and revealed his Cowboys shirt. The congregation was roaring at this sight. I looked around and saw Mom, Dad, Scott and Kathryn laughing hysterically in their seats. I myself laughed so hard my cheeks hurt.

I love Fr. Paul. He has a way of making you feel as if he's speaking directly to you and he presents his homilies so that you can apply them directly to your own situations with ease. He is very sincere when he speaks to you so that you may feel he knows you personally. On top of all of that, he's hilarious. He has really impacted me and is a good model of how I want to be to people I am close to and also those I don't know well or at all.

That afternoon the Cowboys played and won. The Saints however, lost the game they played in. So I suppose Fr. Paul had the last laugh.

2010-12-12T20:59:00.002-06:00

Zachary has been saying so many funny and clever things that I'm starting to forget all of them and I've got to wright them down.

Last week we went to my parent's house while Scott was gone on a trip for work. The first night we were there Zachary let my mom put him to bed. He was having a very serious conversation with her and asking her lots of questions.

"So why was Pa-pa's job in Dubai?" was one of them and they went into the elaborate conversation about why we moved there and us living there for some time.

Later when I had gone to kiss him goodnight he said, "Is Aunt Liz's house far away?"

I was a little surprised and wondered what had made him think of Aunt Liz. "Yes" I told him., "She lives in Louisiana close to Ma-ma and Pa-pa.

I found out later about this conversation he had which made the puzzle fit together. He looked at the large poster on the wall of different trains.

"Where did you get that, Gramsie?"

"I'm borrowing it from Aunt Liz".

"I don't like all of the trains on there. I just want a poster with one train".

"Oh okay well we can return it to Aunt Liz".

He started to close his eyes.

"You can borrow the Tahoe" he told her very seriously.

This morning he told me:

"I still want to be an astronaut"

"That's great" i told him. If that's what you want to do then you can do it"

"Well, I need to practice my floating" he said.

I smiled to myself.

"Okay".

"Why can't we change gravity?" he asked.

I was so proud of him for wondering that and I tried to explain it as simply as I could.

"It's part of the earth"

New Things in November and December

2010-12-04T21:48:00.003-06:00

Adelyn has been crawling since the second week of November I think. She has been army crawling using both arms at the same time. Two days ago she started alternating her arms. Her hair is growing too! It looks spiky right now. She is still a very busy one!! She lost some weight when she had an ear infection a few weeks ago. She's been eating better since, but sometimes I think she'd just rather be doing something else than eating. Distracting her with her water bottle has gotten her to eat more after thinking that she was done. :)

Zachary has grown taller and I can tell his little mind is developing. I see him acting out events in life through his play. He packs up our entire toy area of the gameroom for his adventures or his moving day. I can tell he's thinking hard about how things work.

The other day our freezer broke and of course the fridge runs off of the freezer. So Scott spent some time working on it and I did the night time routine by myself. When he was going to bed I asked him to pick a song like we always do but he said, "our refridgerater broke". I said "yes it did, can you pick a song?" But he wasn't finished. "My refrigerator isn't broken". I said, "No it isn't. Can you pick a song now?" But then he said, "my refrigerator isn't broken, well, because, it's made of plastic". I laughed. "You are right" I told him. "That is very good thinking".

And he has moments when he makes me melt. I woke up one morning this week to Adelyn crying a little on the monitor. A few seconds later I heard, "It's okay Adelyn. You don't have to cry. I have bad dreams sometimes but they're not real. They are just pretend". And he went on for another minute. I could hear her crying cease and I listened to the sweet sounds she made while he talked to her.

There are so many great moments of parenting young children.

Early Halloween at the Library

2010-11-10T21:02:00.002-06:00

We had a special story time the Wednesday before Halloween. We got to dress up in our costumes for story time. I was a stegasaurus dinosaur. It was the same costume that Mommy, Paran, and two of our cousins wore. Adelyn was a ladybug and Mommy let me pick her costume at the store. I got to see my friend Aurelia at the library. She was Ariel the mermaid. I was glad we got to celebrate halloween together before my trip to Louisiana.

Tubing at the Lake

2010-11-01T21:13:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to the lake to see Daddy's family and have some fun. It was hard to swim in the water because there was all of these hydrillas growing. There were a lot this summer but now it's even worse. Mommy and Daddy took me paddle boating but a few times we had to peddle backwards to get some of thoses silly hydrillas off.

Best of all though, we could take the boat out and I got to go tubing. I went all by myself for the first time. Life at the lake is great!

Adelyn's New Developments

2010-11-01T21:07:00.002-05:00

I am 7 and 1/2 months and I can drink from a sippy cup now!!!! I know Mommy is really excited about that. I've been playing around with them since I was about 6 months. I finally figured it out on the car ride home from Louisiana. I bet Mommy is going to try to go back to her ASL classes now that Daddy can maybe put me to bed with a sippy cup. It might just be fun to give her a hard time anyway :)

I am also very close to crawling. I've been trying to scoot and wiggle myself along using my head, arms, and tummy but I can't seem to go anywhere. They've been telling me something about my legs but I haven't figured out what they want me to do yet.

One of my favorite activities to do is look at a baby in the mirror. It looks like it has a mommy who holding her just like mine!! I love to play with her. It's really fun.

2010-10-20T22:30:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Zachary and I were doing a puzzle. A very large and more advanced puzzle. In the middle of it he had to stop and check on his pretend cookies at his kitchen.

I guess that's one way to take a break. Had to get the cerebrospinal fluid going.

Doing the Washing

2010-09-12T08:50:00.002-05:00

I can't keep from smiling right now :) I just noticed that my little independent three year old was in the process of getting dressed. I then saw him take his pajamas and bring them in the laundry room. I thought, oh how cute, he's putting them in the washer. I then saw him take all of the clothes out of his dirty clothes basket sitting outside the laundry room and bring those in also. I looked back from where I'm sitting on the couch and realized that the dryer door was open and he was putting all of his clothes in the dryer. "Mommy I put all of the laundry in the washing machine" he just told me. "I put ALL of it in. I put ALL of it in" he told me twice.

Another favorite Mommy moment.

Adelyn's First Swim

2010-09-07T22:08:00.003-05:00

I wish I would have had the camera out for this. Adelyn officially went "swimming" in our neighborhood pool out 3 weekends ago (middle of August). I put on Zachary's old swimming shirt. We waded around the shallow end. It was a great day. Not too hot and the water felt like bath water. She seemed to love it a lot. Zachary goofed off with his silly daddy :) and he was excited that Adelyn got to come in the pool. Zachary even tried out floaties and was successful! He felt safe enough to let go of Scott and he swam around the pool. He did a lot of his regular jumping and is still comfortable going under the water when doing so. Hopefully next summer will be easier since Adelyn can go in the water now!

Adelyn's Baptism

2010-09-07T21:51:00.003-05:00

This is a late posting, but here it is finally! I was baptized on July 11, 2010 by Fr. Paul Cleary at Our Lady of Grace in La Coste, Tx which is not too far from the house. This is not Mommy's usual church but Fr. Paul is a very special person too us. This day I became part of my family's church community. This was chosen for me, but when I get old enough I will decide if I want to continue being a member of this faith and become confirmed if I choose to. Aunt Kitty is my godmother and Uncle Brian is my godfather.

I got to wear a pretty white dress. It was really long but I think people liked it a lot because I got a lot of pictures taken of me. We had guests from our family on Mommy and Daddy's sides as well as some special friends. We grilled after the ceremony and there was a special cake made in honor of me (but I couldn't have any). It was a great weekend with my families all together. Mommy even got her wish to have board game night, the night before.

Mommy's Sad Face

2010-08-11T21:24:00.004-05:00

One of my closest friends moved away the other day. That would be the second one this summer. After they drove away from my house the other day and were on their way, I was of course feeling pretty down. Zachary and I have been talking about the moving day to prepare him for it. During those times I would tell him that I'm sad that they are leaving. Zachary would say that he didn't want them to move also. A few minutes after they left he said, "you're sad Mommy".

I was curious if he thought this because I looked sad or he remembered our discussions. So I said, "how do you know that I'm sad?"
"because Aurelia's not moving".
"Oh....well yes you are right about that but how do you know that I'm sad?"
He repeated himself and obviously he wasn't understanding the question so I said,
"Did you see my sad face?"
He said, "yes but you can just put on some make up".

Well, someday he will learn that there's not much we can physically do to hide sadness...but that sure was cute.

"Not until we get home...we have to pay for that!"

2010-08-09T19:40:00.002-05:00

Zachary and Adelyn both accompany me on our weekly grocery store trips. Zachary holds my shopping list and we both look at it to pick out our groceries. Sometimes I let him get a few special things like gummy bears or oatmeal bars or something fun and he gets to hold them. Sometimes he just likes to hold some of the items that we regularly buy, but I always tell him, "Okay don't eat it yet, just hold it. We have to pay for it first".

Today Zachary and I were playing grocery store and stuffed animals. We were finding all kinds of cool things to buy! After selecting a rotary phone, a mop, a mailbox, a few blocks and some railroad tracks we were on our way to pay at the keyboard that Scott brought Zachary from the junk box at work. I was allowed to hold the mop. Before we got there Zachary looked at me and said "Okay, don't mop yet. We have to pay for it first". Darn! We know how much we all have that urge to start mopping before we even get to the checkout line". :)

Look at Us!

2010-08-09T19:30:00.002-05:00

We are having a great time being a brother and a sister! It gets more fun everyday! Look at all of the things we are doing together!

Giving Adelyn a stroller ride in the backyard!

Teaching Adelyn how to sit at the table and eat!

Showing Adelyn toys and eating the toys Zachary shares!

"Mommy, I want to read her a book!"

Sitting together! Isn't this a Mommy and Daddy's dream picture?

My New Chair!

2010-08-08T21:35:00.003-05:00

My Great Aunt Jan gave me this really cool chair! It's pink and I can sit in it all by myself! It was kind of hard when I first got it, but now I can hold my head real still and I can watch all of the things going on around me, like the train set and Zachary with all of his adventures! It won't be long before I can sit up on my own!! Thanks for the Bumbo chair Aunt Jan. You really are a "great" aunt.

4th of July

2010-08-08T21:02:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday America!

We enjoyed a fun forth of July with family and friends. We had a great day with Scott's brother Kevin who came to visit for the weekend while taking a break from his summer job in Houston. I know Zachary enjoyed his company. Who wouldn't with an uncle who does science experiments with you and makes peanut butter play doah?! We also got to spend time at the Sebastian's house. It was the perfect day for Zachary's newest present from his Pop2...a slip n slide!!

Below you can see how thoroughly he and his friends enjoyed this fabulous water invention.

The 2nd Edition of The "No Milk, No Soy" diet

2010-07-21T21:11:00.004-05:00

"Excuse me, would you mind telling me what you cook your food in?", "can I get that without cheese?", and "do you know if your salad dressing contains any soy or milk?" are now common phrases I use whenever we go out to eat now. I grill the waiters/waitresses (no pun intended), to find out every detail I can about what goes into their dishes.

Both of my children have had me on this "no milk, no soy" diet while nursing. We didn't discover Zachary's until he was 4 months old and it seemed that starting solid foods too early had all of a sudden triggered this issue with irregular composition of bowel movements. We discovered Adelyn's allergy when she was 3 weeks. They both were very grunty upon the time we discovered it, but as time went on and we had it under control with this diet, the grunting went away.

The actual allergy is to the PROTEIN in milk and possibly soy, not the lactose. I've heard that maybe it's the way my body processes the protein and I've heard that maybe both of my kids just have this allergy. It's actually a really good thing for me. I am forced to eat healthy. It's so much easier to do knowing that what I eat affects the comfort and health of my children. Pretty much every dessert out there has milk and/or soy in it so I can't eat much of that! Talk about a drop in calories.

So I thought I would post this to share info with all of the other moms who are experiencing this new diet for the health of their children. Even since Zachary was a baby I've discovered more things I can eat. My friend and I have decided that food companies are beginning to make a lot more products that are "natural" and not made with the soy and/or milk.

Although I do feel like I cook the same things over and over again, there are quite a few meals that I am able to eat. Here are a few meals and foods that are safe to eat.

Tacos- hard shell, ground beef, refried beans (some brands, check labels), guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, other veggies, and own spices (not packets).
Sloppy joes- meat, red wine vinegar, onions, brown sugar, ketchup (no worchestershire)
Chili- use your own spices, not packett.
Chicken stew/meat stew- Chicken, potatoes, carrots, onion tops, add flour to make it thicker (no cream of mushroom soup).
Red Beans and Rice with Sausage- Onion, olive oil, sausage, dark red kidney beans, bay leaf, Tony Chacherie.
Meats marrinated in red wine or balsamic vinegar and spices
Steamed or roasted vegetables- can use olive oil, etc
Bruchetta- Tomatoes, basil, garlic powder, choppped, mixed- put on chibata bread
Eggs
Pork chops or meats cooked in whole grain bread crumbs
Tyson's NATURAL chicken nuggets
Chick Fil A chicken STRIPS, not the nuggets. (nuggets dipped in non fat dry milk, but the strips are not).
Salad with oil and vinegar
Spaghetti with regular tomatoe sauce. Add your own spices
Hamburgers made from pure ground beef
Bar S Hotdogs

Bread/cereals

Chibata bread- found at HEB in the bakery- square loaf
Rudy's Organic Bread- some HEBs, definitely central markets
Home made bread- (will post recipe)
Some grits- check labels
Malt o Meal
Some raisin brand, Total, Life (regular flavor), some Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Oatmeal Squares, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex, Rice Chex.

Desserts

Coconut milk ice cream (just look out, it has 7 grams of saturated fat)
Fruit chillers- found in the canned fruit section. Put them in the freezer.
Honey
Angel Food Cake

Other

Rice Milk
Olive Oil
Peanut Oil
Canola Oil
(Not Vegetable oil-made with soybeans)
Fritos
Lays Natural Potato Chips
Popcorn with out butter/cheese (home made cooked in olive oil with lemon pepper is good)
Nuts and dried fruit. Can make your own trail mix.
Skippy Natural peanut butter or Peter Pan Peanut butter

Foods to avoid

Ingrediants with soy, soybean oil, caramel color (milk).
Worchestershire sauce- caramel color
Bar B Que sauce- check labels
Rice Dream Ice Cream- contains soy
Frozen Waffles
Instant oatmeal
Tortillas
Coke and dark colored sodas (caramel color)
Most bread crumbs except for whole grain.

And I wanted to end with a shout out to the Food and Drug Administration. Thank you for requiring labels!!

JIF peanut butter

Random Kindness

2010-07-19T14:57:00.002-05:00

We all have one of those days. Or one of those moments. When you are struggling to achieve a task/s and one thing just keeps going wrong or you just plain feel like you are never going to get there.

We all have our moments also when we step in and give random kindness to our family, friends or strangers. And what a wonderful surprise it can be.

Today I took the kids to Wal Mart to do our grocery shopping. I had a good friend join me also with her own two kids (and also of course her new baby on the way! yay!). We've had company at our house off and on for the past two weeks and quite a bit of company the week of the 11th for the baptism. My mom and cousin just left yesterday. The kitchen needed to be restocked so I had a nice hefty list. I didn't realize it's capacity until I got to the store and was shopping with Zachary chattering about this item and that while I was trying to make decisions, and with Adelyn strapped to me in the sling which gave me the idea that my shoulder was going to fall off any second. Zachary, trying hard to help me, threw items into the shopping cart when I would hand them to him. The chicken had a dent in it and the strawberry container flew open all over the bottom of the basket. And what joy it brought me to have to use one hand to support Adelyn and another arm to reach over and down into the basket to slowly clean up the strawberries. And then there was the lady who I'm sure thought she had given ever such detailed and superb assistance when I asked her where the industrial cd cleaner was by saying, "oh that? yeah it's there" and fluttering her arm vaguely towards some isle for about .3 seconds. Though my friend and I walked slowly with puzzled expressions as we glanced here and there we did end up finding a small kit for purchase among other random objects at the end of the isle. So we ended up asking the photo department who told me they don't have one that they do themselves. Thankfully this shopping trip did not require jumbo sized bags of dog food or dirt for the garden. At the end of the trips on the way to the check out and even out to the car turtles have the opportunity to boast about how much more fast they can go comparatively. We each reached our car and I opened the trunk to put stuff in. I handed Zachary his gummy bears, pulled out my keys and began unlocking the car when Zachary INSISTED that he be the one to unlock the car while I'm longing to take Adelyn out of the sling and put her in the car. He's yelling and grabbing them out of my hand and car and I threaten to take the snack in the car. I see a gentleman walk by to his car on the other side of mine and I'm sure he's seen the whole catastrophe while he's quickly putting his stuff into his trunk. I return to my own trunk and begin unloading the groceries. Of course I forgot my large HEB reusable bags that can fit a large amount of items so instead had about 89 plastic bags to reach down and grab, lift and relocate in the trunk. But much to my surprise, the gentlemen who parked next to us was returning his cart and said, "here let me give you a hand" and proceeded to put my groceries in the trunk for me. And returned my cart. Wow, I appreciated that so much. I thanked him a few times and he said it was no problem.

Little things like that sure make a big difference. Circumstances can prevent us from doing some, but there are others that maybe we can when someone else can't.

Overall the shopping trip wasn't terrible and we did enjoy ourselves. We found pretty much everything we wanted, the line was very short, I had good company with my friend and her children and I was delighted to see Zachary pick out his first item that he paid for with his own money. Although he had a hole in the ziplock bag he put it in, I made sure I carried it in my pocket and he got to put it all up on the counter for the lady to take. He had chosen gummy bears and was so proud.

Who is adopted?

2010-07-01T15:40:00.003-05:00

Most people are aware that our dog Sandy became our dog unintentionally. Sandy followed me around the entire neighborhood while out running when Zachary was about 11 months old. We tried to find his original home but obviously did not. We even tried to have him adopted, but that was unsuccessful as well. Finally we decided that we could keep a dog and as Zachary understands, we adopted him.

We do seem to be notorious for bringing home dogs or having dogs end up in our yard. Throughout time we found owned dogs in our yard or outside in the front and had them returned. In September though, when I arrived at a client's apartment, my client's provider and several neighbors presented a dog with a hurt leg who had been hanging out for several days without a collar. So I of course could not leave her there and much to my husbands dismay, brought her home. With the help of SNIPSA, we found the dog whom I called Belle, a fabulous home with a loving family with five kids. So when Zachary asked where she was we of course said, "She lives with another family now. They adopted her".

So we have these family members, the Sibley's. They are very much dog people. They have Sabrina who is getting up there in age. They recently found a small puppy, Drue Breeze. And then one new puppy found them. "Tails" they call him. Aunt Amaryllis said, "yeah, he followed Cody home and then adopted Blaise. That dog follows Blaise everywhere". My cousin Blaise stays active with the latest ways to have fun so twas no surprise.

So I put Zachary to bed at my grandparent's house. They live next door to them Sibleys. After we read books, sang songs, and said prayers he asked for Gramsie to come sit with him. So my mom went in there. He told her all kinds of facts.

"Tails was adopted"

He sure was. He had caught on to the term for finding and keeping a dog.

"Sandy was adopted. Belle was adopted. Blaise was adopted".

New Braunfels Children's Museum

2010-07-01T15:03:00.007-05:00

Getting practice in so I can be ready for the lake!

Cooking the fish that Meredith and I caught at the campfire. You don't really eat it. It's just pretend.

This was one of my favorite stations at the museum!

The ATM gave me some money! I gave it some money too which confused Daddy and I don't know why.

Checking vitals.

I was pretty good at this one because I help Mommy every week at HEB.

Mommy checked my groceries.

I explored my artistic side.

I think Adelyn had a good time. She stayed awake some and slept some too.

The Children's Museum was a great experience. I did lots of exploring and stimulated both hemispheres of my brain.

Even Mommy and Daddy had a good time!

Time for a Cool Down

2010-06-29T22:24:00.002-05:00

I was at the rest stop on the way home from Aunt Michelle's wedding in Dallas. I just couldn't help myself. At the end of May it was already scorching hot. This was SO worth it!

I have two kids now!

2010-06-29T22:21:00.002-05:00

At the rest stop on the way to Dallas. I'm amazed that I have two kids now! I'm praying that we are always a close family, despite any differences we have or will have. I love it!

Funny Words From Zachary

2010-06-02T22:46:00.002-05:00

This morning Scott made a comment about wanting to understand why the train puzzle that lights up and makes noise, does so when the puzzle is not complete and we flip light switches at that time. So I said, "howstuffworks.com or wiki how?"

Zachary says, "A wiki cow?"

Zachary- "I have a beautiful joke!"

Just Lion Around

2010-06-02T22:42:00.004-05:00

Adelyn can't build castles yet but Zachary sure likes kissing her head, singing to her, patting her back, pulling her fingers, and just hanging out near her. I'm so excited about watching them interact together over the years.

1st Gum Chewing

2010-06-01T21:53:00.002-05:00

I told Zachary for some strange reason every time he asked for gum, that he could have some when he turned 3. I don't know why I picked 3. I guess it still sounded very far off. So of course he remembered. He brought it up all the time. "When I turn 3 I can have gum". Yes yes the time is approaching. So it happened. Zachary turned 3 and as I promised, he got gum. Here is his first attempt. He did pretty well! Much better than I expected!

Happy 3rd Birthday Zachary!

2010-06-01T21:42:00.003-05:00

I had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party this year. We had Mickey Mouse decorations and a cake too! All of my friends got Mickey Mouse frisbees as a party favor. I'm really happy I got to spend the day with my family and friends. I told Mommy that I had a great time.

I also brought banana bread muffins to my class at school. Evan wasn't there that day but I got to share them with Sophia, Abby and Oscar. And my teacher Mrs. Angela.

Adelyn's First Trip to Sea World

2010-05-26T19:17:00.004-05:00

Mommy and Daddy took Zachary and me to this place with lots of water and marine life. They call it Sea World. I don't remember any of it. I was asleep in the sling the whole time. Apparently I'm going to like it later on when I get bigger. Zachary showed us the map so we knew where to go :)

Biking With Daddy

2010-05-16T17:21:00.002-05:00

Ride Your Bike- to the tune of Row Your Boat
Ride ride ride your bike safely down the street.
Wear a helmet, use the brakes and pedal with your feet.

I'm getting pretty good at my tricycle. Soon I will be like Daddy and go on long bike rides with him. And Mommy too even though her bike is more than half her age. Watch us ride!

1st Time Fishing

2010-04-25T21:37:00.004-05:00

I've been asking Mommy if we can go fishing since last summer when we went to the lake. Well, Mommy, Adelyn, and I went and stayed at Gramsie and Paw Paw's house in April while Daddy was on a work trip and Paw Paw took me fishing!

I was a little bit afraid when the fish would bite my line, but Paw Paw showed me how to hook them and reel them in. Actually he helped me a lot. It was a lot of fun though and I've been asking to go again! I have a new pole that I got for my birthday and I can't wait to use it.

Adelyn's First bath at Home

2010-04-22T21:16:00.005-05:00

Since I don't play in the dirt yet and I'm always hidden in the sling that Mommy wears, I didn't have a bath for a couple of weeks. I think Mommy was waiting for that cord to come off too. Gramsie and Mommy gave me a bath while Zachary had his own bath. I didn't like getting my tummy washed but I was happy to have the comfy outfit afterward. Zachary really wanted me to go in the big bathtub but I'm definitely not ready for that one yet!

Learning a Language

2010-04-19T14:36:00.003-05:00

While stopping at Babies R Us in Katy on our way to The Woodlands, we looked at the toy section. Zachary stopped at every other toy and said,

"Oh How cute is this!". Even at the large refil pack of bubbles.

When arriving at Gramsie and Pawpaw's house and seeing his new room...

"Oh what a nice new room" (with drama in his voice) and seeing a toy bus he remembered...

"Oh a bus, how wonderful" (still with drama).

And while visiting Gramsie's classroom (otherwise known as Mrs. Sylvester's classroom) of boys and girls in second grade who were not following directions very well...

"Guys, wisten to Gwamsie", but upon no response marches to the front of the room and says again, "wisten to Gwamsie!!".

And while staying in the house found a point to blame a toy mess or something broken on his friends about 200 miles away back at home in San Antonio.

"Did you take this out?"
"No, Meredif (Meredith) did that".
"Here's your snack"
"Um, Awelwia (Aurelia) is not going to take it?"

Chanting 5 Little Monkeys

5 Little Monkeys jumpin on de bed. He fell off and bumped his head. Zachary called the doctor and the doctor said, "no more monkeys jumpin on de bed". And 5 Little Monkeys jumpin on de bed...

And singing "Splish Splash"

"Spwish spwash I was takin a baff. All on a Sa day night! Rub dub wewaxing in de tub. Finking evewyfing was awwight. Well I stepped a de tub and put my feet on de floor. Wapped towl na na na na na opened de door. And spwish spwash. I fogot about my baff. I went and put my dancin soes on!"

Firsts for Adelyn

2010-04-13T12:36:00.002-05:00

I didn't do the best job of remembering "firsts" for Zachary for the first two months...sorry Buddy. I'm sure you win with pictures though...so I'm trying to keep up with Adelyn's.

On Sunday March 28th (day before the actual due date :), Adelyn went to the Olive Garden for her first outing at a restaurant. She rode in the zolo sling but didn't stay in the whole time. It was easier for Mommy to eat while Pop2 and Granna held her.

After the meal we went and had pictures taken in the bluebonnets next to autozone! The amount of rain in the fall sure paid off! San Antonio has beautiful wildflowers this year!

She had her second restaurant trip to the same restaurant for Gramsie's birthday on April 2 which also happened to be Good Friday and the weekend she came to visit for Easter.

Adelyn's first trip to church happened to be Easter Sunday on April 4 in La Coste at Fr. Paul's church. Gramsie and Marilyn also accompanied and it sure was nice to have all of those loving hands to help entertain our beautiful children :)

Her first trip to The Woodlands happened yesterday, April 12! Scott is in New York all week doing testing on software for his work trip. I was not intrigued with the idea of staying by myself all week so I made the trip with the two kids. I never would have even dreamed of traveling by myself when Zachary was born. We didn't make the trip without Scott until he was 7 months....ah, first born. I thought about also bringing Sandy, but then decided against it for a few reasons, one of them being I would have been crazy to think that I could do my first trip with two kids also with a dog sticking his nose in my face in the front seat. We stopped in the nice rest area with a playground just outside of Seguin and then again in Katy at the Babies R Us. Adelyn slept almost the whole time. Zachary listened and danced to music with me and read books for the first half of the trip. The second half he was playing restaurant with himself, his toys, and the imaginary animals and friends back there. Apparently his two close friends Aurelia and Meredith were with him back there as well. I love kids' imaginations.

More "firsts" to come :)

2 Week Update for Adelyn

2010-04-01T11:06:00.002-05:00

Adelyn was two weeks on Tuesday the 30.

For the first week she pretty much slept. I had to wake her to eat and try to get her to eat for at least 10 minutes during a feeding.

She saw the pediatrician exactly at 1 week. She weighed 5 lb 9 oz which was one oz over her birth weight. We did find out through a second biliruben test that she had mild jaundice but the Dr. said the best thing was to feed her often to get the breast milk flowing through her system.

We took her in over the weekend b/c she had been stuffy sounding for a few days. No RSV or ear infection. Wasn't much we could do except give her the Little Noses saline. 6 lbs 2 oz!

We were back for her 2 week check up on Tuesday. 6 lbs 6 oz! Good growing! The Dr. thinks that since I'm not able to get any mucus out of her nose with the syringe and with a few other symptoms showing he thinks she has reflux. I've thought that too. She spits up on her back if we don't burp her. He wanted to try a few things before giving medicine. One I was already doing which is inclining her bed. We'll see... She goes back in 3 weeks. Other than reflux she's doing great!

Baby Adelyn's Arrival

2010-03-31T11:09:00.004-05:00

Adelyn Sophia Miller
5 lbs 8 oz 19 in
March 16, 2010

Adelyn has finally arrived! We have a new sweetheart (or sweet pea as Zachary says) to love and enjoy.

The Labor Story
Labor did not go as expected and was actually kindof abnormal. I had been 2.5 cm since I was 25 weeks. I stayed at that for many more weeks. I know for sure up to 31. As I progressed through the later part of the 3rd trimester I noticed a lot more soreness. As it turned out, I was 5 cm dialated at 37 weeks. I remembered contracting on walks just a little bit, but it had not been anything to put me into active progressing labor. I knew from my good friend that there are some women who walk around for a couple of weeks like this so I was only half way concerned about getting to the hospital on time when I did actually go into labor. The Dr. and I decided I should go into the hospital, but on the way I did some thinking (like a 2 minute drive) and decided it wasn't the right day for this and I wanted her to grow another week. Dr. was fine with this. Scott and I talked before my appointment the following week. If I was at a 7 or 8 we would go ahead and have the baby that day. I didn't think I had dialated any more although looking back I should have thought otherwise because I did experience more soreness especially after walking on the riverwalk that Saturday. So when I got to my appointment at 10:30 AM on March 16th, 2010 I found out I was almost 8 cm. I called Scott and drove myself to the hospital. Dr. has time to deliver babies in between morning and afternoon patients.

My mom was with Zachary which worked out nicely. She was on her spring break. Dad had driven in on his way home from Laredo the previous week but had taken off the day before to get some things done at his house which was quite understandable after not being home for 3 weeks.

At the hospital I had to park on the roof of the parking garage. Busy day in labor and delivery. That gave me time to start contracting some more. Dr.'s exam and the walking was enough to stimulate the contractions to put me into that active labor (finally). I buzzed into labor and delivery and they opened the doors for me to come in. I was assigned a nurse and immediately taken into a room. There were 2 nurses and one student nurse. One seemed to be in a hurry. I guess being nervous that I was almost to a 10?? I was given my hospital clothes. Afterward the hurried nurse anxiously tried to get me to sit down in the bed. I first, feeling a bit anxious myself, asked her if I could just walk around to progress a little more. She kept telling me no and that the best thing to do was sit down so they could get the IV going. When I finally got through to her that I didn't know what exactly the procedure was and that I would be a lot more comfortable knowing, she stopped and explained to me. So I grabbed my IPOD and while I was getting hooked up I started to feel frustrated because labor had not gone how I expected it thus far. My Dr. came in to check on me as I was tearing up. She rubbed my shoulders and told me it would be okay and thankfully the baby was 38 weeks. I've always been thankful for her encouraging words when I do need them. She stepped out to go next door to deliver another baby while I progressed. I knew it would be fine. I think I was getting more nervous about the pain getting suddenly bad after not experiencing any. The nurse told me to ask questions for anything.

Scott wasn't long before he arrived. I was very glad he was there to listen to me vent feelings. He was also encouraging with words and held my hand as the contractions progressed. He was also very excited because there was a monitor with data for the contractions! A computer with data. His second language. So he enjoyed himself saying, "that one was a 6! or that one was a 9!". It was also nice for me to have numbers to compare to pain. So good teamwork there. He and my IPOD were the best comforters. And the ice chips were nice to avoid that dry mouth which was definitely there.

The nurse asked if I wanted any drugs or epidural and let me know that it was the final offer. I was hoping to avoid a catheter. That was the main motivation for going natural however ridiculous some people may think that is. Last time I had the epidural and of course a catheter. Unfortunately I couldn't urinate for 6 hours afterward b/c of muscles spasms. That was extremely annoying. And I had three close friends who went natural and had very good experiences which was also another motivation. "So just so you know, if you're screaming at me later to give you something I can't" the nurse said. Yes yes...

Getting to a 9 was not so awful. Contractions to me feel like extreme gas pains X 10 that almost seem never ending but soon subside. I was able to bear it but going from that 9 to a 10 is the real questioner of why I thought natural might be a good idea. Pains change to jabbing sharp feelings that are almost constant. So I ask what I'm suppose to do as I move my head from side to side. It's at that point that you're like, "oh wait....how do those breathing techniques go? I think I'm suppose to be breathing". Next time I will request a reminder ahead of time. The deep breaths actually help. I guess they relax your muscle tension. I wish I would have remembered that when I first arrived. The nurse said I could push at a 9 1/2. "Do you want to push?" Did I want to? I didn't want to do much of anything at that point. "Am I suppose to?" "Tell me when you want to". "I don't know when I want to". "When you have a contraction" Well everything just hurt."Was that one?" "No" "Okay tell me when I have one". And none of my words were calm at this point so you can picture them more angry or frustrated. So the nurse gave me instructions. Over time pushing helped the pain slightly subside for a few seconds. I guess Adelyn was coming faster than she though b/c then at one point she said, "English don't push" which makes you want to kick them in the face. I'm sorry but at some point after you progress with pushing your muscles feel the contraction and automatically go. So the second time she told me not to push (b/c the doctor was not there yet!) I yelled "I can't help it!". And in my head thinking, I'm in a labor and deliver room in a hospital. Someone here has to be able to catch the baby. From what I understand my Dr. was finishing up and was running down the hall to come deliver Adelyn. She gave very good instructions to Scott and the nurse to help me push and also to me. When she was out the pain completely left and I could hear her beautiful little cry. And Proud Daddy Scott cut the cord this time. I was impressed. We had signed up for cord blood donation. There wasn't a lot but it hopefully will still be used for research.

The whole thing started at 12:00 and she was here at 1:52 PM.

We got to enjoy her for an hour before the nurse had to take her to the nursery. Scott asked to hold her before she had to go. He comforted Adelyn by singing to her and carrying her around the room. Mom and Zachary missed seeing her by about a minute. They looked through the nursery window. I got to spend time with Zachary briefly in the delivery room and then in our recover room upstairs. On our way upstairs the nurse grabbed my tray for lunch. It was pizza! "Oh yeah, it's pizza Tuesday isn't it?" I said. She laughed remembering that I had been here for 3 weeks in December.

Zachary had his new "Big Brother" shirt on. He was very anxious to see Adelyn. He also was very excited about his new "Big Brother present" he got. Harold the helicopter to add to his Thomas the train collection. I knew he wouldn't make it in my hospital room for 3-4 hours while Adelyn was in the nursery. Zachary shared my pizza lunch with me. Scott took him home in the evening and later the plan was when my mom got home he would come back for a bit.

I had 3 great nurses for recovery the whole time I was there. Kristan, Rachel, and Jennifer. It's especially necessary to have a good night shift nurse. Mom took lots of pictures while she was there after they brought Adelyn back. They had given her the first bath in the nursery. She looked very comfy swaddled in her hat. I thought she looked like Scott. My very good friends Mollie and Sally came by after their own children were in bed. It was great to have good company during recovery. It was especially helpful to ask all of those questions I had forgotten since I had Zachary. Scott came back while they were still there, but they left shortly afterward. It was nice for the three of us to have some quiet bonding time. Part of me wanted him to stay but part of me wanted him to go home and get a good nights sleep to help me the next day. Who can sleep well in a hospital bed let alone the fabulous pull out couch for the husbands/family?

That was the first day of Adelyn's life. We've begun our new journey as a new family.

Sling Practice

2010-03-13T10:12:00.003-06:00

Words from Zachary's World

My friend Meredith came over to my house in January. Her mommy, Ms. Mowee (Mollie) brought over a sling for us to practice holding babies and amiales. I'm practicing for when Baby Adelyn comes out. What do you think? Am I doing a good job?

Scooter Practice

2010-03-13T10:05:00.003-06:00

Words from Zachary's World

Watch my scooter riding. It's really fun! I'll tell you how I felt about it.

Come Back Bear!

2010-03-13T09:54:00.002-06:00

Words from Zachary's World

In January my Mommy, my Granna, my two friends Aurelia and Meredith and their mommies came to the zoo with us. One of the first amiales we decided to see was the bear. He didn't seem very social that morning so we tried to coax him into coming back.

Come Back Bear!

37 Weeks

2010-03-10T19:36:00.003-06:00

Looks like I haven't updated the pregnancy in a while!

We are 37 weeks! Great job little baby! Good growing!

As of 37 weeks and 1 day Adelyn weighed on average, 5 lbs 11 oz. Which means she gained one oz more than a lb in two weeks! Better than she had been. She's still moving and pushing on my hips to make herself more comfortable in there. I also found out at the doctor that I'm dialated to 5 cm now. I'm not contracting so there is no telling when the rest of the active labor process will begin. My round ligaments are definitely sore, especially in the morning.

It's all very exciting! I'm looking forward to meeting her face to face.

Zachary's Memory

2010-03-07T19:42:00.002-06:00

Toddlers sure remember more than we would ever think. I have a couple of updated stories.

About a week and two days ago we were driving on Loop 1604 to someone's house for playgroup and we rarely ever go that far up the loop. I missed my exit for Bitters and had to make a U-turn. Zachary was asking if we were almost there so I told him that I had made a mistake and missed my exit. We got there though.

Two days later we coincidentally happened to be driving up that part of the loop again on our way to New Braunfels. Scott was with us this time. "You missed your exit" Zachary said when we passed the Bitters exit. I was impressed. Scott didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"He's right" I told Scott. "We were driving up here Friday and I missed the exit and had to make a U-turn. "Great job Zachary" I told my son. I was proud and impressed that they can remember landmarks so well. Little ones are so observant.

Tonight Zachary was playing with two whales in the bathtub. One was a Shamu style whale that we got at Sea World. The other was a beluga whale.

"Where did we get this?" Zachary asked me holding up the beluga whale.
"We got that at a toy store in Austin" I told him. That was about a year ago.
"With Brian and Kevin?" (Scott's brothers)
"Yes" I told him. Well, actually Kevin wasn't there but now we always see them together so it's assumed.
"And then we got ice cream afterward?"
"Oh....yeah....yeah we did" I told him remembering.

He was two or barely two....yeah, I'm impressed. I'm learning a lot about little kids.

Isn't this the Cutest Thing?

2010-03-04T20:47:00.002-06:00

Well since we're preparing to have a baby and all, I put a lot of emphasis on how Zachary was once my baby and was inside my tummy and had "Mommy Milk" and all of that so he knows that I once did all of these things for him too. And then I always say, "and now you're a big boy so you can help and do big boy things like play with trains, ride scooters, etc".

Zachary found a picture of him from when he was about 1 or 2 weeks old. He's sleeping in the bassinet in a sleeper and a blanket pulled up half way with his arms above his head. He very excitedly said, "Look Mommy! I was a baby once! I slept in that bed! And I drank Mommy milk! And now I'm a big boy!". He said it all with so much enthusiasm.

And to conclude his sweet acknowledgment he then pointed to his picture and said, "Isn't this the cutest thing?"

Rockwall You're Making a Mess!

2010-02-20T21:58:00.002-06:00

Maybe we should consider writing all of the Rockwall stories down to compile into a children's book :) I'm continuing to enjoy Zachary's imagination with his brown kitty.

Yesterday morning Zachary got up and came into our room. We asked him what Rockwall was doing this morning. He said, "Um, he's in the kitchen". He then sprung to his feet and said, "And he's making a mess!". Zachary ran out of our room and shouted, "Rockwall, stop that! You are making a mess! Oh no!". When he returned to our room a few moments later he explained to us the kitchen dilemma. Rockwall made a mess and was throwing food from the cabinets.

He also seems to be an outdoorsy kitty. We are often told that he is outside in the backyard. Sometimes even playing with Sandy. I'm glad. Everyone knows how I feel about animals shedding around the house :)

Stay tuned in for more adventures with Rockwall and Zachary.

34 Weeks!

2010-02-18T21:12:00.003-06:00

My bedrest has been lifted to a new level. I'm allowed to get out a lot more and do some walking around. My legs and ligaments have been very sore from all of the lack of exercise. So I'm walking around the block a few times a week starting this week of course. I feel so much better. I've been stretching every day throughout the pregnancy and I would probably have felt awful if I had not been. The walking is really helping a lot. And it's not making me contract either :)

Adelyn will be weighed again next week. If you ask me, she's had her own exercise routines down for a while.

3 weeks till full term! 3 more weeks after that till the due date! If we make it to the due date :)

Zachary's Kitty

2010-02-18T21:02:00.002-06:00

My 2 1/2 year old now has his own kitty. No, it's not a living one and no it's not stuffed either. One day out of the blue he told Scott and I that he has a kitty. We didn't see one. We knew he didn't have a stuffed one either. We then realized after looking at his empty yet opened hand, that his kitty was imaginary.

So I asked him what it's name was. "Rockwall", he said as if he'd known for ages. Very creative name. You would expect him to say "Kitty" or something. My only guess as to where he came up with that name is from gymnastics. They have a mini rock wall that they climb there.

I've also learned that Rockwall is brown, very soft and likes to play with our real dog Sandy in the backyard. He also prefers to sleep on the couch as opposed to Zachary's bed. Some nights I am even asked if I can put Rockwall on the couch with me after I tuck Zachary in bed.

Zachary also allows me to pet his little kitty which I am delighted to do because as many know, I'm highly allergic to cats. I'm one of those people who can walk into someone's house and know they have a cat without seeing it. I start to itch all over, get a stuffy nose, sometimes a headache, and itchy throat and sometimes sneezing also. Depends on how hairy and how much dander is hanging out in the house. So perhaps Zachary, knowing that we will never own a real kitty, has come up with his own way to enjoy cats.

I'm not sure about all of Zachary's imaginary origins but I sure enjoy hearing about them and participating in them. :) I would post a picture, but well, yeah don't have one of this kitty.

2010-02-13T13:05:00.002-06:00

Who Dat!?????

I've been waiting to see the Saints make it/win the super bowl since I was about 4 years old. I remember Dad watching on TV and saying, "they lost again". Nice job boys. We're proud and glad for the city of New Orleans. It just makes gumbo taste so much better. Hope to see you there again next year.

33 Weeks!

2010-02-09T19:20:00.003-06:00

We are now 33 weeks and 7 weeks left till the due date!

Today the appointment went great. I ate all morning long and Adelyn kicked and turned during her non stress test so they could get good readings while I relaxed in the recliner with the monitors strapped to my stomach.

I next got to relax and watch her on the sonogram with the technician who herself was quite amused at Adelyn's constant movements which included her waving her hands in front of her face. It actually looked like she was trying to get them in her mouth.

I'm getting a lot of sono pictures since we are doing these things once a week! Zachary is getting more excited by the day. He says, "I miss Adelyn. I love her". We put the infant seat in my car and he's thrilled that she gets to sit next to him :)

Mommy You Leaved!!

2010-02-08T13:34:00.002-06:00

Saturday night, Scott and I went to a friend's wedding here in town. It worked out well that my mother was still here b/c Zachary wasn't feeling that great. He preferred to play with her anyhow.
So I ask him if it's okay if we go to a wedding while he stays to play with Gramsie. He says "yes".

We leave at 4:00 PM, attend the wedding and a good chunk of the reception, and arrive home again at 9:00. It was a nice date for us.

Zachary was still awake when we got home. He was sitting with my mom. When we got him settled into bed, sang a song, and was about to do prayers he said, "Mommy I was mad at you. You leaved".

As content as he had been with my mom I guess he still missed me. And that makes my heart melt. I'm so glad he is learning to verbally express his feelings. He told me another time. We discussed me leaving after I told him I was leaving. We also talked about how I always came back. Just like at Mom's Day Out and after I used to work. He was eventually satisfied and went to sleep.

Getting the Most out of Winter

2010-02-03T20:01:00.002-06:00

Mommy found this cap in a box of my old baby clothes. My Uncle Brian and my Paran (Uncle Berchman) wear caps like this too sometimes so I thought it would be good to wear it. Especially now because it's still cold in San Antonio. We usually don't have much winter but this year we are having a lot of rainy and cold days. Cold being relative...all of those people that live north of the Panhandle seem to think we've never seen winter here.

Don't I look good?