Walking Home

Daddy Steve walked home with us the other day. For some reason the boys wanted to walk/ride with him rather than ride in the double stroller that I was pushing. I might have looked a little strange pushing an empty stroller, but they more than made up for it. They looked cute walking down the street together! (I tried taking an angled picture. My friend Anna takes pictures like this a lot. How'd I do, Anna? :)

Friends

This is what I saw tonight when I walked down the hall towards Brody's class after church:

Carter, Sam, Brody, and Weaver were laying on the floor in the doorway waiting for their parents. I don't know if Ms. Amy and Ms. Tami told them not to cross the doorway, or maybe they just thought it would be fun to wait like this? Whatever the reason...it was so cute!!!

First One in the Pool

My brothers used to have a race to see who could be the first one to jump in the pool each year. Tyler usually won because he was crazy enough to jump in on January 1st! I don't think they've mentioned that competition in a few years. It's probably a good thing. I think now they'd have the stiff competition of a 2 year old. Today Brody decided it was a good day to go swimming. I was inside working while Namaw was outside with the boys. She hollered inside, "You better come get a picture of your little boy swimming in February!"

He didn't go all the way under, but he did lay on the step and blow bubbles! Brrrrrrr!

When he got out he didn't lay in the sun to warm up...he sat in the shade of his umbrella picnic table!

Morning Date

This morning Brody and I dropped Barrett off at Daddy Steve & Namaw's (it was Barrett's nap time) so that we could go to the postal center before school. It didn't take as long as I'd expected to mail the packages, so Brody and I decided to go on a little date. We went to Smoothie King and got a strawberry kiwi smoothie to share and a bag of yogurt covered pretzels. Brody thought it was so cool that HE got to go on a date with Mommy...because usually I just go on dates with Daddy (according to Brody). It was fun to sit there with just Brody and talk. He told me all about what he'll do today at school and who he'll see there. Then he smiled at me really sweetly and said, "I'll be your little boy forever!" Awwww! I said, "Thank you! You're my favorite 2 1/2 year old in the entire world!" Then he said, "But I still have to keep growing. I want to drive someday!" lol

Angela's Birthday

This is the first year in many years that we've got to celebrate Angela's birthday with her...on her birthday! It's fun living so close to each other! We met Mark, Angela, Jayden, and Mark's parents and sister at Rosa's for a fun Mexican dinner.

Barrett and Angela were having a fun conversation until he heard the sound of my camera turning on. Then his head whipped around and he started grinning at the camera.

Brody helped Angela open her presents. This was a present for her and Jayden (from Mark's parents). Brody liked the baby book too!

Brody & Angela blow out the candles while Kara (Mark's sister) watches.

Here's me! I don't know if I've had any pictures of me on here lately...so I thought I'd post one ;) This was when I was trying to get a fussy Barrett to fall asleep. He didn't ever fall asleep, but he did rest for awhile.

It was fun to have a family get together during our work week!

Happy Birthday Angela!

*edit* I just looked at our blog and realized that there's a picture of me in the post before this one! lol

Last Winter Game

Winter softball has ended...ok...maybe it ended 2 weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting about it. We enjoyed watching PR Black play this winter. Let's just say that winter ball in Texas is more like fall ball in Kansas. There weren't any cancellations for snow ;)

The last night of games was a double header. Since it was a school day for Brody the next day, we just stayed for the first game. Wouldn't ya know that Mike hit a single, double, triple, and over the fence home run in game TWO! I was so upset that we missed that game!

Mike accuses me of only taking pictures of the fans when I'm at the game. I was going to prove him wrong and show him the picture I took of him batting...but it wasn't on my camera? What happened?!? I KNOW I took one of him when he was at bat. Instead there were a few pictures of me and the boys...

Brody always has to take a thing of fruit snacks to the softball game. This time he took a package to share with a friend. I can't remember who he decided to share with, but it was funny when the "friend" package was opened to reveal only 2 fruit snacks!!

Fun with the Boys

The other day I went out in the garage to head to work and realized that I'd left the double stroller at work the day before. Mike drives the car to work, so my options were to carry Barrett and let Brody walk (which would take MUCH longer than I had time for) or to use the jogging stroller. I guess I could've carried Barrett and let Brody ride in the stroller, but we thought it would be more fun if they hugged all the way down the street! I strapped Barrett in and then Brody climbed in, turned sideways, and hugged Barrett all the way down the street. They both thought it was so much fun!

Yesterday I got to watch Jayden while Angela went to a meeting. Brody was at school, but Barrett thought it was lots of fun. I didn't get any pictures of the two of them together because I was too busy trying to keep Barrett from injuring his cousin! He was fascinated with Jayden and wanted to put him in his mouth (just like any other toy) and crawl all over him! Jayden doesn't roll around yet, so he was an easy target for Barrett!! When Barrett when down for a nap I let Jayden help me do a tax return. You can tell he's gonna be a thinker...and he was really studying this folder that the return was in.

Life

So how is your life? Are you enjoying each day? Some day's I like to ponder this question. I have been really blessed. I am married to a man who works hard for our family and tells us every day how much he loves us. We have 2 amazing little boys who remind us to slow down and be thankful for the little things in life...from a leaf on the side of the street to the way a cough drop clears out your nose! We've been fortunate to live just down the street from my parents for almost a year now (sooo much fun) and have formed a closer relationship with them than ever before! We both have jobs that we truly enjoy. We are close friends with our siblings and their spouses. We enjoy spending time with our extended family. We are part of a loving church family that has a children's ministry that our boys love. Most importantly, we haved been saved by the precious blood of Christ. What more do I need?

O Bed Sweet Bed

I got to sleep in my bed all night last night! It was awesome!! What's the magic trick? Vicks vapor in the humidifier in Barrett's room. It is amazing! It cleared out his nose so he can breathe and helped him to sleep much better! He woke up once around 2 am, but he was back asleep before I got to his room. It's 7:34 am and he's still asleep. It must be all the prayers y'all sent up on our behalf last night. Thank you!

Sleepless in Texas

It's been a rough few days here. Barrett just hasn't been himself the past few days. He's usually a very happy little boy. In fact, he typically smiles most of the time that he's awake. The past few days there have been more tears than he's cried in his entire life! He's been congested, chews on his hands all the time, drools, and yesterday started coughing. I just chalked it all up to the idea that he might be getting his first tooth. Last night the fever started. I gave him Tylenol before bed. We heard coughing, but he kept sleeping. We went to bed around 10:45 and at 11:18 pm Barrett woke up crying. I went in and soothed him back to sleep. The sleep lasted about 30 minutes, then he was crying again. This happened over and over...only the sleep time got shorter and shorter. Finally around 1:45 am I just got up and sat on the couch in the living room holding him. He felt hot and seemed so uncomfortable. He didn't want me to lay him down (or lay down myself), so I sat up all night caressing and holding him.

Around 6 am I passed him off to Mike so I could drive up the street to borrow my parents' thermometer (ours isn't working right). He did have a fever (no big surprise), but I can't remember what it was (must be the lack of sleep). Mom called me and suggested taking Barrett to her so that I could sleep until Brody woke up. I took her up on her offer. I slept hard for about 1.5 hours until Brody woke up. When I called Mom she said that Barrett's temp was 101 and that he cried hard when she tugged on his ear. DUH! Why didn't I think about an ear infection!!! Maybe it's because Brody's only had one ear infection and he was old enough to say, "My ear hurts!" I felt like a terrible mom for not thinking of this sooner!

The doctor diagnosed Barrett with an ear infection and gave us an antibiotic and ear drops. I didn't work this afternoon. I just brought the boys back home. Brody was great today...happy and very energetic! Barrett cried most of the day (I think he was crying every time Mike called). Mike stopped by the grocery store on his way home and got a frozen pizza, chocolate (he knew I'd "need" it tonight), and cinnamon rolls for tomorrow morning. What a life saver!! Then he cuddled with baby Barrett while I did a few things around the house.

Barrett is sleeping now. I'm hoping that when he wakes up, he'll eat and then go back to sleep for the night. I'm praying that the meds will help and that everyone will get some rest tonight!

As tired and drained as I am, in a strange way I enjoyed having an all-nighter with my son. He doesn't usually cuddle with me (he wants to be on the floor in the middle of all the action with his brother), so it was nice to just sit there and hold him and thank God for the precious gift of baby Barrett.

Sweatin' in the Mornin'

On Monday and Friday (and sometimes Tuesday) mornings I go to spinning (cycling) class followed by Body Pump on Tues/Fri. The teacher on Mon/Fri is awesome! She really knows how to push you to your limit. I had never taken a spinning class before we moved back to Texas and I was really missing out. It's an amazing workout. It took me a month or more to get to the point where I can almost keep up with the instructors pace (still not quite there)!

Yesterday no one turned the fans on during class. This has been a topic of hot debate as of late because some people don't want the fans on and some people do. The ones who don't want fans are a little more vocal which means those of us who want fans are a little scared to turn them on! I think come spring/summer there will have to be a rule that if the temp in the room is over 80...the fans are mandatory! It was sooooo hot in there yesterday! I can guarantee you that Marcia (my friend in KS who only sweats one drop per workout) would've been sweating yesterday and that Tina (who sweats when she looks at a treadmill) would've melted like the Wicked Witch of the West! I left there with my entire shirt soaking wet! In a way, it was kinda nice because there was no doubt in my mind that I'd had a good workout! If you haven't tried a spinning class before, give it a try. If you need a friend to go with you, you can meet me at my gym at 5 am on Mon, Tues, or Fri.

Brody the Builder

On Saturday Mike and Brody went over to Caleb & Audria's to help Caleb build a shed in his back yard. Brody was very excited to go build. He woke up Saturday morning, came and jumped on our bed, and said, "Are your ready to go to Caleb's?" Barrett and I stayed at home to get some housework done in the morning and then we joined them in the afternoon. As soon as Brody woke up from his nap he asked where Daddy & Caleb were. When I told him they were in the backyard he said, "Did they finish the shed?" I told him they were still working on it so he hurried back out there to help.

Barrett was content just watching out the bedroom window.

Brody alternated between watching thru the window with Barrett and going outside to be a little helper.

Sunday Edition

This morning Brody went outside to get the newspaper for us. He excitedly yelled back to me that there were THREE papers!! We forgot to get the paper out of the yard yesterday, and today they had to split the Sunday edition into 2 sacks because it was so big. He looked so cute lugging all three papers in at one time!

Window with a View

Brody is now old enough to climb up the ladder to the loft (in the game room upstairs at Daddy Steve and Namaw's) all by himself. Today I was downstairs in my office working and told him that he could go upstairs and play (Barrett was napping downstairs and I didn't want noisy Brody to wake him)! He ran upstairs to play. Later he came back and told me about climbing up in the loft. Then he said that he talked to Daddy while he was up there. What? Is this why the phones weren't working? Had he taken one of the phones off the hook? No, he said he didn't talk to Daddy over the phone. He said he SAW Daddy. Hmmm. Wasn't making sense to me since I knew Mike was at work. Brody went on to explain that when you climb up into the loft, you can look out the little triangle window and see the Fort Worth skyline. He said that since Daddy works in Fort Worth, he can see him when he looks out that window! I asked what he said to Daddy and he simply replied, "I just told him hi and gave him the I Love You fingers!" Awww! So sweet!

Playin' with Daddy Steve

We've had some beautiful weather lately. Nice enough to sit outside without a jacket on! I think today it's even supposed to get up to 70 degrees!


The other day Barrett woke up from his nap and was playing in the living room at Daddy Steve & Namaw's house while I worked. I suddenly realized that I didn't hear him anymore. When I went looking for him I found him playing outside with Daddy Steve.

I think they were both having lots of fun and enjoying the "winter" weather of Texas.

Good Morning to You

The other morning Barrett slept in really late. I finally decided to go peak in his room and see if he was really asleep. When I opened the door, this is what I saw...

He was laying there just watching the door...waiting for us to come into his room! Brody was right behind me and when he saw that Barrett was awake he started singing our "morning song". Every morning Brody and I go into Barrett's room when he wakes up and sing this song:

"Good morning to you!

Good morning to you!

We're all in our places

with sunshiny faces.

Now this is the way

to start a new day!"

Then we both say, "Good morning sweet little boy!" (Used to I'd just say this, but now Brody joins me.) We're greeted with a huge grin and usually a "Dadadadada!" to which Brody responds in a sad voice, "Dada's not here. He's at work."

Por Comes to Visit!

This past weekend was very busy! We spent most of the day on Saturday at Daddy Steve and Namaw's house. Mike was working on a computer/server project for me and Mom (for work), I was wrangling the kids, and Daddy Steve & Namaw weren't even there! They went to Houston to pick up Por!

Por is my Thai sister. She is from Thailand and was in Texas as a foreign exchange student '02-'03. She lived with my parents while she was in Texas and became a permanent part of our family. She is now a flight attendant with Emirates Airlines and is stationed out of Dubai. This past weekend she worked a flight from Dubai to Houston that arrived on Saturday night and didn't go back to Dubai until Monday. Dad and Mom drove down to Houston to pick her up and let her spend the weekend with our family!

Sunday Mom's side of the family came over for lunch. Brody LOVES getting to play with his cousins! Lauren and Katelyn give him lots of attention...and he and Collin are actually starting to play together now! It's so fun to watch them. At one point they were actually all sitting on the couch together. This isn't the best picture of the girls, but I just had to post it to show you what Barrett does when he hears the sound of my camera turning on! He looks my direction and gives me a huge grin!!

I didn't say the kids were all looking at me and smiling...just that all 5 of them were sitting on the couch at the same time.

After lunch, we headed over to Caleb and Audria's house for a Superbowl party! We were joined by Tyler, Ann, Carl, Tricia, Daddy Steve, Namaw, Por, Chuck, Lou Ann, Mark, Angela, Jayden, and Billy. Paula was sick (although she sent some delicious cookies and pigs-in-a-blanket...which Brody ate his fair share of!) and David & Daina were on a trip. We all really missed Brett & Amanda and Kyle & Susie (I can't believe they broke and tradition and went to another Superbowl party!!!)

Here's a picture of Por and Barrett.

Me, Por, Brody, & Barrett (Brody wouldn't look at the camera)

We didn't just watch the game, we had our own competition (as usual). Candy bars were at stake! Caleb & Tyler added up the points to determine the overall winner while Mike supervises.


Chuck was the big winner (fitting since he was one of the only TRUE Steelers fans at the party). He now has the honor of displaying this beautiful trophy in his home...until next year! (Sorry Caleb, I can't seem to make the red eye disappear in this picture! lol)

Brody absolutely loved Por (this was his first time meeting her). In fact, this morning he woke up and wanted to go to Daddy Steve & Namaw's house right away. When I asked why he said, "I want to see Por!" I told him that Por had to go back to Dubai. This did NOT go over well! He laid on the couch sobbing for at least 10 minutes saying over and over, "I want to see Por! I want to see Por!"

Our family on Superbowl Sunday. A big thanks to Caleb & Audria for having us over. It was a good game and the food was awesome (you know that's why everyone REALLY comes!)

We can't wait until Por's eligible for her traveling visa so that she can come visit for a few weeks! We love you and miss you Por!