Fire Museum

Our playgroup scheduled a trip to the fire museum this last week. The kids had an absolute blast and learned lots of cool stuff- like not to get your favorite toy while escaping a fire. None of them were too keen on the fireman all dressed up, but supposedly its good for them to see so they hopefully won't be afraid if they ever encounter one in real life. Its was a great day for mommy and Sullivan with no sister allowed!

He was truly worried that people might think he was a real fireman since he had the hat AND the badge.


The kids had to crawl out of the fire.


Lots of little fire people checking out the fire trucks.

The kids got to step on the fireman's boots to see if it hurt.


Checking out the bedroom, Sullivan asked who was the boss. The fireman tried to explain, but lost him.


Our neighbor, Sullivan's new best bud.


Ring around the firepole.


Our group of fire people.

One handsome fireman!

Right...

So, Sophie talks ALOT. Sullivan talks ALOT. I am constantly reminding myself that I need to be thankful of "little people" talk because there are plenty of people praying for children out there. Sometimes its harder than others. But lately, Sophie has learned to say some pretty funny stuff. You have to remember that she is barely two and is VERY little for her age. So, when she talks, it kind of seems funny.

Her new favorite word is "right." She likes to reward you for understanding what she said with "right." She asks for chocolate milk, you get it, she says "kockolate mik right!" ( very excitedly because you understood her). She asks you for a green marker and you give it to her, "Geen right!" . It's super cute.

She has also begun saying "Sulliban". Its bittersweet. For one thing, Sullivan called himself "Taliban" forever. I am pretty sure he was four before he could actually say his name where other people could understand. For another thing, she started calling him "BoBo", then moved to "Brother". The "Brother" is infinitely cute coming from her mouth. I can't believe she is already switching to the real name!!!

Lastly, she likes to praise everyone for going potty correctly. If she hears the toilet flush from across the house, she'll yell "Hooray Brother, good job Sulliban!" Or, more embarrassingly, when we are in a public restroom, and I pee, she exclaims "Yeah mommy, good girl- you did it right!!!" Yesterday she heard the toilet flush in the stall next to us, realized that her and Sullivan were in there with me and had no idea who to cheer for. She thought for a minute, then yelled "Yeah lady! Good girl doing your teetees on the potty!!!!" The poor lady was cracking up laughing and gave her thanks when she left!

A day of fun!

We went to the Houston Aquarium yesterday and met up with my family- parents, brother Shawn, and his wife, Sarah. We had a blast. The weather was perfect. My dad got a new camera lens, so we got lots of cool pictures. Sophie enjoyed it way more than we thought she would. She was enamoured by all of the cool fish. Everything was exciting for her. They have a train ride that goes through a HUGE aquarium filled with sharks. Its spectacular! We rode 7 times! We did the carousel at least 10 (probably more). We rode the ferris wheel once, my kids were weenies and didn't fare well on that. There is a white tiger exhibit at the end that is unbelievable. The tiger visited with Sophie quite closely. He apparently wanted to give us a show, he stood up and attacked the glass. It was really cool! If you haven't ever been, you definitely need to give it a try. And, if you are really lucky, you can take Sullivan with you- he knows how to read the maps, show you where to go and even knows random animal facts that he learned from Diego he can share with you.

The Quiver

You know its coming when the eyes start to gloss over. Then, the attitude changes to mellow. Then the lip is next to follow with its sure quiver. Oh yes, a full tantrum will ensue. Drama teachers, you have met your match, for surely I have found the next Oscar winner.

Life is going over here. Sophie has thrush in her mouth. She whined and cried all day yesterday about her tongue hurting before I decided to actually take her seriously. I looked inside, and sure enough, cauliflower all over it. So, we are trying the $1.77 gentian violet treatment first. Her mouth, cheeks, hands, drool, pillow, and anything else that come into contact with her are bright purple. Definitely need to try the medicine next time. She decided to wake up screaming this morning at 5! That's right folks, Aaron is at his dad's house sleeping in, I am up at 5 with a screaming girl. Speaking of screaming. Tuesday, she woke up in her bed yelling "Momma!" around 3 am. I was hoping she would fall back asleep while I lay in bed pretending I was in Hawaii with no dependents. Then I hear her yell (after probably 10 "mama"s), "Bicky, you hear me?" I decided to go get her with that one!

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

The Picture Pickle

Since Sophie has been born, she refuses to have professional pictures taken of her. We have been blessed enough to find Sarah Giles of Butterfly Chaser photography to take wonderful pictures of both of the kids even before Sophie was born. But, as wonderful of a photographer as she is, we have never gotten a GREAT picture of Sophie smiling while looking AT the camera. It is extremely frustrating. Every session we have with her, we get about 40 great pictures of Sullivan and one of Sophie. I hope that when she is older she knows how hard we tried to get good shots of her!

A Blessing and a Curse

I have just returned home from visiting with family and friends for the last few days. It was a blessing and a curse to get to see everyone. Its hard to believe that babies that I once played house with are now 20 and 21 years old. Everyone is so grown up, doing so well, creating lives of their own. I can't imagine when they start having babies. It makes me feel SOOOO old. The curse was the fact that we were gathering to mourn the loss of a great, great man. Ted was loved by so many people. It was so hard to see family and friends grieve and not really grasp the loss. It did not feel real. No part of it was fair.

It was a blessing that not one person could remember (and I am talking all the way back from his birth) Ted ever losing his temper. Not one person could remember him ever raising his voice. It is a curse that a man of this stature should be taken from the world at such a prime time of his life. It was a blessing that he went on at least one great vacation a year with his family- sometimes more. His kids got to know him more than most kids do. It is also a curse that they should know so well who they lost. It is a blessing to have so many wonderful memories with him, and yet a curse to know what we will miss out on.

Ted will be missed, there is no doubt about that. In the next few weeks and months as life returns to "normal" please pray for family that they would be able to celebrate his life rather than mourn his death.

Ted

I am heartbroken this morning. My mom called me about 7:30 last night and told me that she had to tell my dad that his brother died. I sat there in shock for a few seconds not really “getting” what she had just said. When it sank in, I think I said “who? What?” She told me that yesterday afternoon my aunt Robin came home from work as usual to find my uncle Ted dead on the floor of their home. It still doesn’t make sense to me. Apparently they are thinking he had a heart attack. He has a son Chris, who is still in high school, and a daughter, Emily who goes to LSU. I ask you to pray for them this morning and for the next few weeks as they have to deal with this overwhelming situation. Ted was 52.

My dad is number two of seven children. They are all really close, so I grew up knowing them all really well. I remember my aunts and uncles as teen agers and going to college and being young. But, I do not remember Ted without Robin. They were always the perfect couple. Even as a young kid, you knew that they just had that kind of “special” relationship. I don’t really know how to describe it, but you know it when you see it. He loved her deeply. They always had fun, always went on vacations to Disney World, and they loved Jimmy Buffet.

I found out very young, probably about five, that Ted could fix anything. He was an electronic engineer, and he could literally fix anything. I thought he was a super hero when he fixed a keyboard that I had gotten for Christmas. I remember watching him take it apart and solder wires together. After that day, I would hold on to broken tape recorders and toys to save and bring to him just to see if he could fix them. When I was eight, I was going somewhere with him in the car. I was in the front seat, and we were talking. A song by Madonna came on the radio, and he said “I love this song.” I remember thinking that this made him the absolute coolest man in America because he knew a song that I knew!

A few years later, Ted and Robin had a baby girl. They were so excited. I remember going over to their house to meet Emily for the first time. Ted was lying on the couch with this tiny newborn sleeping on his chest. He had this look of extreme tiredness, but even at 9 or 10 years old, I could see how proud he was. Robin told us that Ted laid around on the couch letting the baby sleep on him all day and night. A few months later, we were running through town and stopped to visit them. Emily was taking a nap in her crib. Ted was so proud of her and wanted us to see her so badly that he went and woke her up to show her off to us. I’ll never forget that proud look he had that day. I remember him telling us that Robin was having a boy a few years later. He had that same proud look on his face- look what I did ;) . Chris made Ted just as proud.

Ted was so fun. He always played basketball with us as kids. We would have these huge family games. While he took it very seriously with his brothers, he always made sure we learned pointers. He was such a great man. I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that he is gone. It doesn’t make sense to me. The world will miss out on an amazing man. Ted, you had a big impact on this world, and we will miss you dearly. I feel fortunate to have known you.

Funny Stuff

When we had Sullivan, we knew we had a drama boy. Because he was so much drama, we thought there was no way we could have another. Well, we successfully managed it. Sophie is even more drama than her brother. I swear, they should make a sitcom based on our lives. But, if they did, there probably would be boycotts from the birth control industry as everyone would stop needing their product because they were using home methods of permanently sterilizing themselves.

My parents kept the kids for four long days last week. It was marvelous. Aaron and I watched ALOT of movies at the theatre and just basically relaxed. Mom called me on the evening of day one (she had only had them about three hours) and says, "Sophie climbs on EVERYTHING." Yep, she sure does. She also gets in trouble but waits until someone is watching because its just not as fun if no one knows you are being bad. On the day that we went to pick them up, mom makes a declaration that she has fussed at me many times for saying. She says "Its a good thing you didn't have Sophie first, because I am pretty sure you wouldn't be able to have more children, she is wild." I KNOW!!!! This is why we call her a "caboose" child. She definitely shows anyone around that she needs no one after her. She takes all of the time and effort you could possibly give to a second child.

But, she is alot of fun. We got back home Monday, and apparently Sophie decided that she would "punish" us for letting her have a four day vacation from life. She had seven tee tee accidents and four poo poo ones. This is from a kid that hasn't had an accident in about a month. Not only would she have an accident, but she would walk right in front of you, pee and say "I tee teed on the floor". Yeah, you try keeping your cool. Luckily I had one diaper in the closet that I was saving. I put it on her much to her disgust, and she hasn't had another accident since. But, she was complaining and not wanting to potty much. I had Aaron convinced she had a bladder infection (the first one in history that comes without a fever). We were ready to take her to the ER late last night, when Aaron walks in with a handful of white chocolate chips. She sees them, says "mmmm, yummy." Walks over to the toilet, takes off her clothes, and does a ton of tee tee. Then, she gets the chocolate. Can you say BAD?

So, let me fill you in on some light hearted moments so that you don't think my kids are totally horrible! This morning, Sullivan wanted to watch UnderDog, which he still calls "Thunder Dog" no matter how many times we tell him differently. I put on the movie (which is wide screen), and he starts complaining about having to watch a movie with "Monkey Bars" on it (the black bars at the top and bottom of the widescreen).

Yesterday, the kids and I were drawing a masterpiece with sidewalk chalk on the back patio. Sophie would pick up a color, survey the patio, and say "HMMMMM...." as if contemplating exaclty what piece of art she should grace us with. She would draw a line on the ground and say, "Mmmm, Dopie, pretty flower. Good job" or "Mmmm, Dopie, nice moon, good job." It was hillarious to watch her. So then, I traced Sullivan so that he could draw himself. He is working feverishly on coloring the pants and shirt exaclty, coloring his toes and fingers just right, when he notices Sophie coloring his face turquoise. He flips out yelling, "great, now everyone who see this is gonan think I am an alien. This is insane."

I must say, we created quite a masterpiece out there, and neither of the dogs (the only ones who have been in our backyard to see the work) have mentioned anything about the boy looking like an alien.

What Happens at Nanny's House?

So, it's no surprise that my parents moved back to Beaumont a few months ago. You might say we are enjoying them being back. But, my kids are enjoying it the most. Well, maybe that's not true. If you know my parents, you know they live for their grandkids now. The first time they asked for the kids, we were kind of nervous but let the kids go just for one night. Three nights later we had to BEG for our children back. The kids come home and sleep for days. We have been fortunate enough for them to BEG for the kids just about anytime we will give them away. If you ask Sullivan what happens at nanny's house, he will fill you in on their adventures. Adventures of bear hunting, searching for bear tracks, falling in pools of water when they were just running around, finding new parks, going to Chuckee Cheese, wearing whatever clothes you want, eating ice cream sandwiches whenever you want and as many as you want, sleeping when and where you want, and playing in the tub as long as you want. At first we didn't beleive him, but Aaron and I have been down there a few times and witnessed the "life stops now because the kids are here and we must make memories" mentality. Whatever the kids say goes, they are definitely making memories. Lucky kids!

Sophie dancing with her favorite toy at their house, this plug in Rudolph. I am embarrassed by the fullness of her pullup, but I will say she came home alive and well.

This was also about two months ago, she has been in panties only for about two months now.

Here's the latest picture from this weekend after going to the park for four hours: