Is Three the Magic Number?

I thought that today was going to just be more of day one and two - little interest and more in the pool distractions of goggles, floaties, sticks, and toys. At first all Richard wanted to do was throw and retrieve the sticks - all of this being OUT of the water of course! Gradually I eased him into the water and into his seal and floaties - at first we just cruised the pool together, but then he seemed to relax. When it was his turn with Mrs. Lou he was a STAR - he kicked his legs, held his mouth closed, and even began working his arms without her telling him to do so. . . he just soaked in her praises, hugs, and kisses. I was so proud of him!! Even when Lou moved on to work with other students he would say "mommy swim lou" so we would "swim" towards Lou with him working his legs and arms while mommy gave a bit of support! Lou came back to give him a hug which he wasn't too sure about - I think he thought it was one on one time again, but when we got out of the pool he just had to lean down and get one last hug from Lou! Hmm...can't wait to see what next week will bring!

**On a more serious note, please keep Lou in your prayers - the spots they found in her lungs are cancerous and she is going back to the doctor tomorrow.

Time for Those Southern Grads...

Two of Richard's favorite "non-family" people are Mrs. Aubrey and Mr. Jamie. Ty and Jamie used to work together and as an added bonus, Aubrey and I became friends. Aubrey came to take care of Richard while I went to visitation for Owen W. I wasn't sure how Richard would react to me leaving, but I told him that mommy's friend Mrs. Jennifer was sad so mommy was going to go give her a hug, but Mrs. Aubrey was coming to play with him while I was gone. When the doorbell rang, Richard went running and jumped straight into Aubrey's arms!! What more could make a mom feel at ease (hmm...also knowing that Aubrey is a nurse and has seen it all in the ER - that helps a nervous mom as well LOL)?!?!?! So off I went in the pouring down rain...the weather so perfectly matched how I felt inside. Yes, we know that Owen is in Heaven but my heart is so heavy for Jennifer - the pain of our children we have lost through miscarriage came rushing in on me...the comfort is in knowing that one day we will ALL hold the children that God is keeping in His arms for us till one day we are together. When I arrived home, Mr. Jamie was off of work and had come to play with Richard as well. When Ty got home we all decided to head to Ichiban - no one was in much of a mood to cook and Ichiban somehow can always make any day better! Other than "breaking your budget" regrets later. My lil child who can't stand to be messy was cracking me up as he tired of using the proper utensils and decided to eat his ice cream face first!! As the adult conversation continued Richard grew restless, but thank the Lord for Little People "friends" that live in mommy's purse!! Richard has always enjoyed lining them up just so - sometimes by height, and sometimes by color - whatever the mood is that strikes him. We must have a night together again very soon Aubrey and Jamie - we love y'all even if you do cheer for that "BIRD" rather than the DAWGS!!

Sneakin' In Some Daddy Time...

We headed to North Park Mall to meet daddy for lunch after a morning of fun with our Mrs. Beth Buddies! Richard always loves the view from daddy's shoulders...who wouldn't?!?!? For an added surprise full of fun - there is a train ride in Center Court - so our Lil train fanatic rode in the front car and rang the bell for everyone to hear. It was so much fun getting to see daddy in the middle of our day! We love you daddy!

Play Place Fun!!!

We had the day off of swim lessons so that Mrs. Lu could go to the doctor. Kozy suggested that we meet at the Play Place for a morning of fun so that is exactly what we did! We met Kozy, Claire, Cindy, Emma, Amy, and Wes for a couple of hours of indoor fun away from the scalding heat!!

The effects of Swim Lessons!

OH MY!!!! This is what Richard looked like after nap time - we had played and worked so hard with Mrs. Lou and in our backyard that we were both exhausted!!! Amy texted to ask us to come on over - I was sleeping so hard I never heard the phone ring the first time!! We did rouse ourselves, change clothes, and head over to Big G and MiMi's house (Wes' grandparents). . . Wes had fun showing Richard how to make bubbles in the whirlpool and how to stomp the water that cascades into the pool. We had a fantastic time! Thank you for having us over Amy, Wes, Big G, Mimi, and Mamaw!

Day Two of Swimming Lessons...

You can see Richard's excitement in pic #1 as he eagerly holds his swim vest from Mrs. Kozy - then as you see in pic #2 there is less excitement and more apprehension as he realizes that yes we are back to do this "swim thing" again!! He did make some progress and would kick your feet if he got really mad - he would shout "NO KICK MOMMY" as he aggressively kicked his feet - go figure! When we got home from swim lesson we decided to spend some time in our "wonder land of fun" that we call our back yard - what more could a little boy ask for - slides - a pool - a work table - a club house - you name it! How blessed and fortunate I am to have this "extra" mommy time with him! Time for nap and then off to play with Wes. Here's crossing our fingers for day three of lessons - we will be off tomorrow and go to play with some "Mrs. Beth friends" and then back for more on Thursday.

First Swimming Lesson....

Today, Richard had his first swimming lesson - the place where we are taking lessons is from Ms. Lu - Richard and Wes were so cute sitting there waiting for everything to start: they are so grown up!! Amy took a pic of me and Richard although he wanted none of it - he was ready to play with the fish and throw the swim rings and goggles into the pool. Ms. Lu told us that she was running a bit behind, but to go ahead and get the guys in the pool and put them into rings and help them to get used to the water. She worked from student to student (there are five children in our class) - Richard liked parts of it, but lost interest in doing what he was "supposed" to be doing and wanted to "play" instead. . . Ms. Lu was very patient. For a first time of "structured" swimming it went fairly well and before it seemed possible an hour had already passed. I did manage to get this pic of him in his shades before he realized we were leaving - the last picture says it all - he did NOT want to leave!!! Although, that blows my mind because he cried off and on throughout the lesson as did Wes...today we were learning to close our mouths when going under the water and to "make popcorn" by kick, kick, kicking!! It will be interesting to see how the rest of our lessons turn out - stay tuned!!

P.S. Pleas pray for Ms. Lu - she just found out that she has lung cancer - they are saying that they found it early, but she goes back for more testing on Wednesday.

A Time For Everything...

As most of you know, I am NOT a gardener - NO green thumb - not even a green pinkie!!! I got a wild hair a couple of years ago to pull out all the shrubs from the beds across the front of the house because they didn't match (I know I am OCD) - anyway, I planted beautiful Nandinas and Euonomous (SP) to alternate and be beautiful shades of red and yellow - yeah well - they have all since died - NOW my solution is to keep the beds filled with cedar mulch! There are a few "special" flowers in my bed though - I have some Cannas that I went and retrieved from my grandmother's yard when she passed - I also had some lilies that my mom had given me - I thought that I had dug all of them up and given them to our babysitter - as you can tell from the pictures I took this morning, the canna is absolutely beautiful this morning, the lily is growing and multiplying like crazy, and then there is this "mystery" plant that I found in the front bed growing up from the rocks and mulch - it is probably a weed, but it is beautiful...I couldn't help but be thankful for the signs of life and God's beauty in areas you least expect it (my lifeless flower beds.) Then as I came in to get ready for the day, I read an email that has my heart breaking - one of my co-workers had a precious baby boy last week (Owen) we knew that he was going to have a cleft lip and possibly a few other things to deal with - when he arrived (early - Jennifer was having extremely high blood pressure) he did have a cleft lip, but they also discovered that he had heart problems - he was taken to a different hospital that is more specialized and Jennifer was able to be transferred there later - that is not the end of the story - after more testing, they have found that he has Trisomy 13 - this is a fatal situation unless God miraculously intervenes - most babies do not even survive to be born - please, please, please lift Jennifer, her husband, their older son, Owen, and family members up in prayer as they face the next few days. There is a time for everything - joy, sorrow, laughter, weeping, coming, and going - may we be mindful to look to God for the strength to face each of those times.

***I just received the news that Owen W passed away - please pray for his mom, dad, big brother and other family members.

My Guys...

We had a relatively laid back weekend - Ty and Richard watched the NASCAR race (well sort of as you can see LOL) - for lunch Sunday we went to Mazzio's Pizza and since Richard is in his "race car phase" Ty helped him drive the racing game - and then I just had to include this picture of Richard from this morning - he was upset when daddy left to go to work and so I took him outside to distract him: this is the look I got when he realized there was no water in the pool! Priceless! I am so thankful for my wonderful husband - he is so loving to me and so patient and loving with Richard (even as we have hit the TWOS) ... and I am thankful for Richard even as I am silently crying out "God help me figure out what to do - give me guidance!"

Splish Splash - O What FUN!!!

Richard's friend Emma invited us to come over to play - it was perfect timing - I had just gone outside to get Richard's pool ready and Cindy texted to see if we wanted to come and swim at her house - MOST DEFINITELY - backyard fun is always better when shared with a friend! Thank you Cindy and Emma. Richard was not sure what to think about the sprinkler at first, but quickly found it to be a lot of fun. For some reason Emma was fascinated with Richard's pool shoes and so the two of them shared (without mommy suggestion) and each wore one shoe - it was the funniest site! Mrs. Cindy gave the kiddos some animal crackers to snack on while they cooled off and had water as well. As you will notice, there are NO pics of me OR Cindy - we mommies have a pact you know - I won't take a pic of you if you won't take one of me ....although Mrs. Cindy made the cutest pregnant mommy in her two piece - narry a sign of baby to be on that flat tummy!! :o) Richard and Emma had so much fun going back and forth between her swing play set and the pool! Richard was cranky after about an hour and a half (I think due to lack of sleep the night before) so after repeated warnings of the behavior that was expected of him, sadly we had to leave. (Mommy also had to go to the grocery store) It nearly broke my heart as he cried out over and over for Emma. . . but this is one of those hard times where it is hard for both of us - I must set and stick to the limit and he has to learn about consequences...isn't that how it is with us: we sometimes push and push and then when God allows us to feel/experience the consequences we cry and cry and say not fair?!?!? Richard is such a reflection of myself that I am constantly learning from- who ever said being the parent was easier than being the child?!?! We had a FANTASTIC time though and look forward to Emma coming over to our house and maybe Wes and Manze can join in for some splish splashin' fun as well!! See y'all soon!!!

Two Generations of Friendship. . .

Last night we met some life-long friends at Gattis Town. I went to junior high with the two moms, Lisa and Laurie...when I married Ty I discovered that the "parents" were close friends before any of the kiddos were born, so in fact Ty and his brother Shane had known Lisa, Laurie, and Lindsay even longer than I had...small world!!! Laurie's children attend school where I am a teacher. Lisa and her family live in Alabama. After a phone call and "combining of calendars" we found a time for all of us to get together - what fun....a different kind of fun...but fun. No longer is there time to just sit and visit: when you have SIX children with the youngest being two you find yourself grabbing snippets of a conversation here and there. We enjoyed our time together and look forward to seeing y'all again before you head back to Alabama!!!

A Great Way to End the Weekend...

Sunday afternoon while Richard was taking his nap (finally) his daddy and I worked together on our latest project - a little kiddie pool for him - yes I know that we live (LITERALLY) right next door to the neighborhood pool, but sometimes it is really crowded, or there are a lot of "big kids" there, or I can't have family time for having to be "Mrs. Sullivan" and watch my "other" kids do their tricks - not good if you need to keep BOTH eyes on your two year old....so we inflated it and just for added fun we had his slide go into the pool. When he woke up I changed him into his swimming attire and lathered him in 50 sunblock and outside we went (only for him to request his sunglasses) - I never seem to have enough hands! I thought it was hilarious that he picked out his Spider man swim trunks and refused to take off his Superman shirt to start with! We had such a great time playing with him. He loved using his toys from Mrs. Beth to help empty the water out of the pool - I think there was more "watering the grass" than actual swimming but that is OK - he had fun and that was the point. After we watched him we were so hot that we decided to head in and change into our swimsuits and we all headed over to the "big" pool. We finished off the evening by grilling out. How blessed we are - thank you God for that refreshing "family" time before Ty had to head back into the work week and help me to be a good steward of my time off and accomplish things to improve our home and nurture our son.