Heading

Everything you want to know (and maybe a few things you didn't) about our life as we just try to get through one day at a time with our two boys - Jackson and Will. This is an exciting time for our "Little" family!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

"Come on, Will"



We have a very important bedtime ritual in our house - we read "Thomas" and other books if Jackson will let me, sing songs (usually "Amazing Grace" and "Jesus Loves Me") and say our night time prayers. During prayers we thank God for our many blessings including our friends and family. We will then go down the list of those important to us. Tonight, we thanked God for "Baby Brother Will" and rubbed my belly. Jackson patted my belly again and said, "Come on, Will"! We had to laugh - and I couldn't have agreed more. Sometimes I rub my belly and say the same thing!

Tonight we also said a special prayer for Paw Bush who is steadily declining from the cancer attacking his poor body. He will no longer be able to undergo dialysis and is in terrible pain. He is a strong man but I know he's tired and ready to go home to see the Lord. They already have the gospel music playing for him and when he arrives there will be a big screen playing old westerns and ball games (Braves and Cowboys)... In the meantime, we will pray for his comfort and peace and that he will know how much he is loved and adored.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Belly Pics (23 weeks) and other updates...







I've posted the latest pictures of my torpedo belly - yes, that's Will in there who looks like he's ready to shoot out of my belly button at any moment. He is moving and kicking like a little maniac. I couldn't go to sleep last night due to his nighttime follies; he must be practicing for a spot in the circus with all that flipping around. I could actually watch my belly moving and David put his hand there only to get kicked back in an answer to the pressure decreasing Will's gymnastics arena.

I feel good, tired (well, exhausted really) but other than that I actually feel like a halfway normal person. I've been craving smoothies so I make these really healthy concoctions full of fruits and and veggies - I make sure they're really cold so that must be what my body is craving most. It's hot here in the Texas prairie! We swim often and Will seems to like it; it takes the pressure off of my joints. My hips hurt, especially at night, but doing yoga helps me achieve some relief with my joints in addition to the swimming. Jackson will pat "Baby Brother Will" in my belly and tries to talk to him sometimes. But, honestly, he still has no idea what is going on and that his world is on the brink of major, major change!

Now, on to the Jackson updates:

~ I am devastated to report (okay, that may be a drastic word but I really am heartbroken) that Jackson is now calling me "Mom." Where did he hear this? Why is he saying it? I remind him that my name is "Mommy" but that only encourages him to use "Mom" even more (while laughing). He sounds 15 years old. He asked me recently, "Mom, where did daddy go?" and I thought this is what it has come to. I'm "Mom" - no more mommy hugs and kisses, cuddles and nighttime whispers. I'm simply a provider of necessities... Well, maybe it's just a phase and I'll go back to living the sweet life as "mommy" for as long as possible.

~We had a great trip to Austin - it was a whirlwind of a weekend and we packed in lots of activities. Our trek started at Fossil Rim Wildlife Refuge where Jackson was able to feed deer, ostrich, zebra, and the giraffe from our guided tour aboard the safari bus. He was in safari heaven - and we were so excited to watch him experience this! Check out the pictures I posted recently to see more. From there, we made the drive to downtown Austin where we stayed for the night. We had a nice dinner then walked down to the bridge over Congress Avenue to watch the bats. We actually thought we were late but noticed people were still hanging around, so we hadn't missed it after all. Not so fast, don't assume this meant we actually saw the bats. Oh no, after waiting another 30 minutes with the other fools on the bridge (and those who paid lots of $ to take a boat ride to the site) it slowly dawned on everyone that the bats were comfortable in the perch under the bridge and they weren't coming out any time soon (by this point it was so dark that if they did come out, no one would have a clue). So we made the walk back to our hotel grumbling about those darn bats (but, hey, the people next to us on the bridge had stood there for almost 2 hours so I didn't feel that bad...). On Sunday, after a sleepless night of Jackson crying until after midnight and Daddy snoring like he was competing with a freight train, we had breakfast at a great little place on Lake Austin then headed to Zilker Park for a train ride around the park. This, honestly, was the highlight of Jackson's day. It took us on a 25 minute ride around most of the park and was quite fun! Jackson then had a snow cone and played at the park there before making our way to Barton Springs for a cool dip in the water (around 70 degrees!). We only made it in up to our knees but it felt great on that hot day! We had lunch at the original Whole Foods, while listening to a fantastic 8 piece band that played old standards. People were up dancing in the cafe' - this was authentic Austin and I loved it. I do still wish I had a chance to live there when I was younger but maybe Jackson will decide to go to college there one day and I can visit him (ha,ha, I know it never really works out the way Mom plans).

We are enjoying summer and doing our best to beat the heat. Jackson seems to be doing a little better with his weight and we are working hard to get him to take a couple Carnation Instant Breakfasts a day as I believe this is crucial to his weight gain. We plan to make another trip home to see Paw Bush soon and our summer is sufficiently booked up with fun activities.
We send our love to everyone!

Monday, July 12, 2010

New Photos!

I've posted pictures from our 4th of July holiday as well as our trip to Austin this past weekend. I'll update more on the trip soon. Right now, I've got to fight Jackson to get him down for a nap...
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4875740014/a=127789006_127789006/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

June, what happened to you??

Golfing on the 4th of July.
Floating in Mimi's Pool.


Happy Birthday Jack and James!

Jackson was telling James how to "use" his new present.


Yes, it's been awhile. I could give excuses but mainly life has been busy. Traveling, visitors (Lee and Mimi), house projects, and our general daily schedule seem to take up the day and it's night before I know it - and I'm ready to put Jackson to bed and put my feet up! With everything going on, on top of being exhausted from the pregnancy, blogging has fallen behind on my ever-growing "to do" list. So, in an effort to catch up as much as possible, let me give you a recap of the past few weeks:

~ We had a great visit to Sulphur and Jackson enjoyed a fun, festive birthday party with his cousin James. We were so excited to see everyone and spend time with all our family and friends. Jackson came home with great gifts and lots of special memories. We spent some time with Paw and were able to have some nice conversations with him when he wasn't too exhausted. He is still uncomfortable and in pain, so we pray for him daily and know that God has a plan for him.

~ Uncle Lee made the drive back with us to Dallas - Jackson and the girls did great on the long drive I might add! He stayed for a long weekend and we were able to see SATC2, do a little shopping, swim at MawMaw's new pool and reminisce at Truluck's. Mom arrived a few days later and we got to work on "house projects" - I took advantage of her help (sorry, Mom, I know we wore you out). Everything is looking so great (and with a lot more color!) that I'm encouraged to keep going... I think I might be nesting early actually. Oh, speaking of that, we picked out Will's new bedding at Pottery Barn Kids. It has sailboats, ocean scenes, a beach house, etc. (it's called Santa Barbara if you would like to look it up in the magazine). We're focusing on the color sage for all of the accents and using sailboats as accessories. David even put together the bassinet for Will's room so at least he has somewhere to sleep for the first few months.

~ The 4th of July was full of family fun - we swam and ate at Uncle Brian and Aunt Debbie's, brought Jackson and Megan out to the golf course to practice a little, then watched the fireworks from our backyard (we had a front row seat). I'm thankful for living in a land where we have so many wonderful freedoms, thankful for the men and women who fight (and have fought) so we can keep those freedoms, and I'm thankful to live in a country where women have equal rights and we are free to worship how we choose. My hope is to use that freedom for good in every part of my life. I'm thankful my child can grow up in a country where he can have all the advantages we are given, while remembering to thank God for those blessings. Happy 4th to all!

~On a final note, though we still have many more pounds to go, Jackson has gained 1lb3oz since May 2nd. One small step but a big boost of encouragement for us - I believe the Instant Breakfast has been a big (caloric) aid and very helpful in this weight gain.


We are planning a weekend family trip to Fossil Rim Wildlife Park and a night in Austin so I hope to have great pictures of that to post. Have a great week!

Followers