The debate

So I stumbled onto a new video series last week, that we've since been checking out from the library. Each one features a historical hero, with good character/ values/ etc. The first one we watched was on Beethoven. I had to do a little explaining as Pierce and I watched it, as it seems to be geared for about 5 yrs an up, but I'm really trying to increase musical experiences and music appreciation in our school days. Anyhow, today I had on the classical station, and recognized the tune as we are parking and said, "Pierce, listen! I think it's Beethoven". He listens for a second, and says, "No, I don't think so. There's no horns". I'm like, "no, listen (wait wait) see, there, there's a horn. Did you hear it?". He listens and continues with his insistence that this song was NOT by Beethoven. The song was ending, and we're just sat in the parking lot, waiting for them to reveal the name of the song (and for me to have my "I told you so" moment), when the DJ announces that the previous tune was in fact, by Haydn!
Yes, today I was schooled by a 3 year old.
Fortunately, he's too young (and kind) to gloat, but he certainly didn't miss the DJ's announcement, nor the fact that HE was actually correct...and of course he had to gently point out that fact!
I'm so impressed. Sure, it could have just been coincidence, but what's amazing to me, is him trying to place that tune up against what he remembered from the movie (which was loaded with music), AND that he was deconstructing it, critically listening to the individual sounds, and the instruments that he heard. That is just impressive. Love my little guy!

Snow Day #3, Conviction

So Pierce, my 3 year old wakes up from his nap, and joins me in the living room....
P- "Are we gonna have friends come over?"
Me- "mmm, I think Monday will be the next time we have friends come over buddy..."
P- "Then why are you cleaning up?"

(I guess mama has taken a little too much advantage of these lazy snow days)

Henry is one!

It was a whale of a good time at our house for Henry's birthday!

I'm exhausted, and it has been one of the best days ever. First and foremost, Henry had a great time at his party. There is a long story with the cake, but a spur from that issue was the declaration that "first birthday parties are more for the parents than for the kids". Well, that may be true in some ways, but I tried to keep focused and tried to make it a party reflective of Henry's personality; I am so pleased with the result. The house was filled with tots his age to play with, great food (add sausage rolls to his list of faves- unauthorized snatching by the birthday boy, and special thanks to Audra, my mom, and niece Hannah), and the whole mood just seem celebratory and fun.... just like our birthday boy! We had a great group of friends and family in attendance, ones that have been influential to Henry (or us as parents), that we respect and really have had fun with, during this adventure called parenthood.
We did a brunch, and it turns out 10am is a great time of day for Henry. The theme was whales, inspired by our Nantucket trip earlier this summer, and we used nautical accents, which he just coincidentally got a collection of, from well-wisher gifts celebrating his birth.

Parenthood certainly changes you, as it is one of God's greatest blessings, and Henry has blessed us and stretched us as parents, growing us in immeasurable ways. I am so thankful that he is a part of our family!

A few pics from this special milestone...

Odds and Ends

Henry is 7 months. He weighs 24 pounds and is 30 inches long. We just went to GI, and can try slowly introducing soy as an ingredient. They say at 7-10 months most kids can handle some, and when that goes well we can tackle dairy. We've all had the allergy gunk, and both kids have had nasty ear infections, so we're trying to get healthy again. Henry needs to be off antibiotics before I alter my diet though. He is in love with his brother, and Pierce generally takes really good care of him, and does a good deal of entertaining.
Pierce is now 2 and 1/2. We joke that he's "3". But honestly, when I compare him to peers, I'm so incredibly happy with my sweet boy, despite his little tantrums or whining...could be a LOT worse! He's loving the alphabet lately, and is doing great expressively IDing letters, and giving their sounds. He's still cow crazy, and loves to go places with daddy. He loves to help and work, and one of his favorite past times, is "working" in his sandbox. I'm so proud of his creativity, love for books, and calm nature. He cracks me up, and fills my heart with joy when I see his imagination at work!
Things are going well at church; we are loving the "new" building at Texana. I'm working in the Two's in training class. I'm also helping with the women's retreat this year.
Jodi has asked that I help with the models for a children's fashion show in May, benefitting the Senior Center. That's getting under way, but so far so good!
Pierce is going to be a ring-bearer in Harrison Frist's wedding in Nantucket this summer. We're all really excited for that wedding, and hoping that he exceeds all the bride and grooms expectations!

Snow Day #2

I love my fun husband. The bad thing, sometimes I let him influence my judgement. Today it was me not protesting my 2 year old riding on the tailgate, while daddy snowboarded behind the truck.
Yeah, we're rednecks like that. Fun dad.
All fun and games until he fell off
If you look closely you will see an injured cheek and chin. Bad mom.

Record breaking snow day

It literally has not stopped snowing all day long. We thought the blizzard at Christmas was a lot of snow...nothing on this!!!

We've got chompers!

Click pic to enlarge

If you look really, really, really closely, you will see Henry has TWO new teeth. I'm embarrassed to say that his doctor found them (and YES I have been checking every day!!), but we got a laugh as it seems his amber teething necklace is apparently working. He's six months and 2 days. He's 29 inches and one ounce shy of 23 pounds.

Henry is 6 months

It is going by so much faster, having two.
We had a big day. Stonewater had it's first Sunday service at Texana Plaza, and I hear there were around 1600 people there; that is the highest attendance ever, for a "non holiday"! This month is the marriage series which is my fave that Jeremy preaches on. We had a good visit with Henry's WeeSchool teacher, then headed to the Rodeo in Fort Worth. Today was Parker County day, and Uncle Justin rode with the Sheriff's Posse in the Grand Entrance. Henry seemed to really enjoy all the activity, and diligently watched the sport (OK, when he wasn't flirting with the girls around us). Pierce was an angel, stayed in his seat calmly and had fun watching the show. "Got bucked off" is one of his favorite sayings, and he got to use that one a lot today. It probably paid off that there weren't any rowdy kids for him to feed off of, but he truly loves all things cow/ horse related, so he was elated to be going to The Rodeo! God bless him, his only request today was for ice cream (after seeing a snow cone), not any of the glow stick paraphernalia that they parade up and down the aisles. We promised him ice cream after the show, but couldn't find any- but he scored a skewer of chocolate covered strawberries, so I'd say he really came out ahead :)


Tutu bought him a lasso later, so he will surely love that new toy ("cow ropes" are a favorite past time, thought they are typically plastic pump tubing or sewing tape measurers). After the exhibits, we had Uncle Julio's with Tutu and Pa, and the boys. We missed the Superbowl, but nobody minded, LOL.
Regardless, it was a fun way to celebrate his six month birth day month (we laugh not knowing what to call these things...). He's just outgrown his car seat (22 pounds) and is sitting upright with a little support from us. He's an ok eater with rice cereal (once a day). Pierce and him love to hold hands, and he giggles and grins at Pierce's antics. Henry loves to be worn in baby wraps and has fallen asleep on me several times- I love that!!! He's very chill, until he's hungry/ tired/ gas pains, in which case you will certainly know about it! If a TV is on, he loves to watch it (I hate to admit), but he is fascinated by any kind of flashing light activity or toy. Henry started WeeSchool one day a week, and is having fun with some little friends his age, and his teacher seems very loving. We're really blessed to have two boys who are so sweet, friendly and low maintenence. Plus, they are just cool. I'm not biased or anything :P

Henry started cereal today

Not my favorite milestone, but I suppose as far as first cereal experiences are concerned, it was a success.

When we were fininshed, Pierce wanted a turn. That was pretty funny.

New addition to our family

With absolutely no prompting, when people would ask Pierce what he wanted for Christmas, he always replied, "big cow!". Clearly this was not the standard answer of a 2 year old. Santa did deliver a big cow at the foot of the fireplace (and a baby cow in his stocking), much to Pierce's delight. For a good week or two, I'd find a little bowl of water out in front of him too, as Pierce was diligent about keeping his cow hydrated. And at given time I can find my round hot-pads from the kitchen, strewn throughout the house, as Pierce has given the cow a "hay bale" and if a shrink wrapped package of diapers is missing, inevitably it is at the foot of the cow acting as "feed sack".

All foreshadowing! Shortly after New Year's, Ryan asked me how I'd feel about taking in a baby calf, and bottle feeding it. Now I had been with him a couple of times when we were dating, as he bottle fed a baby for his best friend Craig; It wasn't bad, really. With each year of marriage I am getting a little more savvy though, and know the right questions to ask, after such propositions are presented. "How much is this going to cost us? Where is the calf going to go, and what's THAT going to cost us? How many times per day does it have to be fed and how many of those feedings am I responsible for? and How long is this calf going to be on the bottle?" PS- I remember Jodi talking about the babies keeping her up at night, when they were pulled from their mamas....so I knew there would be a lot of crying involved, to boot! All of his answers were within reason, and there was the most important fact of all...our toddler is COW CRAZY!! So of course, I agreed to it.

This past Sunday was the day of adoption. After church, Ryan headed out to the Bar Oak Ranch, to pick up our new baby! This calf was a twin, perfectly healthy and had been nursing just fine, but apparently you get a better sized cow if there's only one on the momma, so this one needed to go.

Without further ado...

Insert your own caption here....

Becoming friends.

Want to know the really cool thing about this whole adventure? The calf was born on Christmas Eve!

Henry is 3 months today

I hope to add to this, definitely with some pictures too. This week he weighed 17 lbs and is a good 26 inches long. The MSPI diet has made a huge difference when he eats, but he still screams sometimes (but I'm pretty sure it's gas pain, not protein intolerance). We go for a 6 week follow up with GI on Wednesday.

In the last couple of weeks he's been having longer wakeful periods, laughing, tracking objects, and now reaching for things. He's got a gorgeous bow-shaped mouth and such a friendly smile. Seriously he will melt your heart when he flashes you a grin. People still can't figure out who he looks like, but is resembling Pierce more as he gets older. Sadly these days are flying by~ I'm trying so hard to have time with just the two of us, to treasure these fleeting days.

BLACK(berry) Tuesday....

Worst day I've had in a while. What has brought me such joy, and sanity has wrecked my day. I learned on my way to Pierce's 1st denist appointment, that Ryan couldn't hear me on my cel. This wasn't they "married & I've tuned out my wife deaf", but literally couldn't hear me. We took advantage of being in "the city" to stop by the AT&T store, and knew we were prob w/in a day of the 1 yr warranty. That just isn't how things typically work for us, LOL!

Here's were it turns bad. The guy is "troubleshooting" and asks if he can delete yesterdays missed calls to free up space, thinking it's a memory issue. It wasn't (duh!), and it seems that he deleted EVERY email and text on my phone! I didn't realize this until later. He decides it's a broken microphone, and sends us to another location for replacement. While waiting there, I see my missing info. OH NO! All kinds of sentimental baby milestones I had intended for the kids books~ GONE! I've got some filled out of course, but both books aren't fully up to date.

There, they tell me they can transfer most of my data (not emails, but thanks to the 1st guy, they're gone). We go to lunch while they work. On my way home, I realize my calendar did not transfer (which is totally my brain~ when to mail bills, pick up kids, appointments, etc!!) and I've lost my "notepad" feature of shopping, to do lists, etc. I'm feeling especially sick at this point. THEN I realize, that I never deleted my info, and just handed my phone off to total strangers, with all kinds of passwords and sensitive info saved, that could be very bad news. And to top it off, I still don't know how to sync my BB to Mac, or if it is even possible :(

All afternoon I've been looking for the silver lining.

I decided to do a silly bible technique, that one of the girls described last time at our women's book study. She just asks God what he wants her to know, and blindly opens the bible to a passage and starts reading.

Well, here's what God told me:

Psalm 104: 27-30

They all depend on you to give them food as they need it. When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satisfied. But if you turn away from them, they panic. When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust. When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.

I think this was a 'tap on the shoulder' to be a little more dependent on Him, and to remember that my Blackberry is just a scheduler of worldly things. What do you think?

I'm Thankful for...

the way Pierce calls me "momma".... it's so sweet. I'm blessed to be needed by him, and able to provide for his needs. 11/1/09

Ryan coming home in a great mood, and he had a much needed great day at work! I love it when he comes home with a smile on his face, song in his heart, and pep in his step. (shout out to Mitch, LOL) 11/2/09

having a husband that altruistically wants me to get out of the house, have girl time, and do things for myself. That's a great balance for this homebody. 11/3/09

my family, especially parents, brother and in-laws. They are just so "normal" with just enough quirky traits to keep 'em interesting! I'm extra thankful that we all get along well, without much *drama* 11/4/09

my children's good health, from pregnancy to present. What a blessing that so many of us take for granted, myself included of course.... 11/5/09

our church. I'm so thankful God led us to Stonewater, a place that is centered around His word, and that encourages personal growth and an authentic and relationship with Him. The timing was perfect, with us starting our marriage and having children. 11/6/09

my grandparents. Even though I don't see them as often as I should, I do feel so fortunate to have them in mine and my kids lives. 11/7/09

our military. What they do is such a gift. Their bravery and sacrifice, and that of their families, makes me so proud of our country. Thank you :)

businesses that value customer service. Sadly it's becoming more of the exception than the norm, but it just brightens my day when someone seems to care. 11/9/09

these beautiful fall days. I think the high today will be 75, and it's sunny. Great zoo weather! 11/10/09

God's perfect timing. 11/11/09

having a husband that helps with the kids and who is a support for me. I truly can not imagine how "single parents" do it. It is so hard to get through 1 day with him out of town, and I am immediately reminded of the million ways I count on him for help with them boys and simply how he keeps my sanity in check. He such a good spiritual leader, dad, and friend. 11/12/09

my girlfriends. I'm so glad we have that connection that transcends time. I can always count on them for a good laugh, a good time, and they've got their heads on straight, unlike so many crazy girls out there, LOL! 11/13/09

The video baby monitor. 11/14/09

girls that choose life. 11/15/09

having an open-minded husband. 11/16/09

always having at least one option, but often many, when it comes to making holiday plans. 11/17/09

getting a diagnosis for the MSPI and for the dramatic difference it has made in our lives... and for the prayers to help me stick to the diet :P 11/18/09

the Brazos Pregnancy Center- all the good work they do to save babies, and for the opportunity to go to their annual fundraiser....it's always a lovely evening! 11/19/09

our house, that we don't deserve, but we love! 11/20/09

Jana, my super-sweet girlfriend that loves my babies and is the best sitter a girl could ever wish for! 11/21/09

pumpkin (shape not flavor) hummus

We had our playgroup Halloween party today, and everyone was suppose to bring a holiday side or dessert. Naturally, I waited until the last minute, thinking I'd just take hummus (since it's one of the few things on my MSP-free diet). As I was getting ready, I thought, "wonder if I could shape it like a pumpkin? After all, it IS orange....) Well, it totally worked. I made my favorite red pepper hummus, and put it on a heavy duty white cardbord plate (so I could trash it afterward, rather than carry it back home). Next, I put dried parsley flakes on the stem. It was thick enough that I could make it 3-D basically, but it still needed a little more orange. I put a little hummus in a snack size zipper bag with a couple drops of red and yellow food coloring, mixed it in bag, snipped the corner, then "drew" on the pumpkin lines. How easy is that?!? Plus, I think it turned out pretty cute, especially for a 5 minute meal. Right before serving, I surrounded the plate with broken up Wheat Thins tuscan herb flatbread. I'm so thankful that it all actually worked last minute, LOL!

Horse Trailer

Being a "crunchy" mom

So what exactly qualifies as "crunchy" anyways?

Here is a fun quiz to determine your level of crunch, LOL!

Do you have homebirths?
15 points for “yes” (unassisted)
10 points for “yes” (with a midwife in attendance)
5 points for alternative birthing center
2 points for “thinking about/would like homebirth”
0 for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Will you circumcise future sons?
5 points for “no”
-5 points for “yes”.

Do you use cloth diapers?
20 point if you do Elimination Communication (no diapers)
15 points if “yes” (wash and make your own)
10 points if “yes” (wash your own)
5 points if “yes” (diaper service)
2 points if “thinking about it”
0 points if “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you observe your fertility signals using Natural Family
Planning/Fertility Awareness and use that for birth control/trying to conceive?
10 points for “yes” (observe and use for birth control/ttc) or you use ecological
breastfeeding/lactational amnorrhea
5 points for “yes” (observe for trying to conceive)
2 points “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you breastfeed exclusively for the first 6+ months?
10 points if “yes”
5 points for “no” (use occasional bottles of expressed breastmilk)
2 points for “no” (use occasional bottles of formula)
0 for “no” (don’t breastfeed by choice).

Do you co-sleep/family bed?
10 points for “yes” (all night every night)
5 points for “yes” (part/all of most nights)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no”.

Do you use a sling/soft carrier?
5 points for “yes”
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you believe in/practice child-led weaning
(even if that means breastfeeding for several years)?
15 points for “yes” (complete child-led weaning)
10 points for “yes” (up to 3 years)
5 points for “yes” (up to 2 years)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (you’ll wean the baby at 1 year or earlier).

Do you tandem nurse/nurse during your pregnancy?
10 points for “yes” (nurse during pgcy and tandem nurse)
5 points for “yes” (nurse during pgcy, but wean before birth)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no”(wouldn’t consider it).

Do you eat organic/whole/natural foods and limit your meat?
15 points for “yes” (grow own/buy organic, shop only at health food store,
grind own wheat, vegetarian, etc.)
10 points for “yes” (grow some of own food, buy organic,
use whole wheat flour, bake own bread, eat some meat occasionally)
5 points for “yes” (try to buy natural, whole grain foods, etc.)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you use herbal/homeopathic remedies?
10 points if “yes” (very rarely see a regular doctor)
5 points if “yes” (but use a doctor occasionally)
2 points if “thinking about it” (see a doc for now)
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you homeschool?
10 points if “yes” (currently homeschool)
5 points for “yes” (will homeschool)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

What's your take on childhood vaccinations?
15 points for no vaccines
10 for delayed, selective vaccination
5 points for selective, on schedule vaccination
2 points for thinking about not vaccinating
0 points for vaxing on schedule.

Would you/have you ever breastfeed/fed someone else's baby
or have someone else bf your child?
10 points if yes (have or someone has bf your baby)
5 points if yes (would)
2 points if maybe 0 if no (wouldn't consider it).

Do you use cloth/re-usable products for mom?
10 points if yes (make own)
5 points if yes (buy own)
2 points if thinking about it
0 points if no.


Ratings
120 – 140 Super Nutty, Ultra-Crunchy Granola Earth Mama
90 – 119 Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch!
60 – 89 Pretty Crispy
20 – 59 Sprinkled with Granola
5 – 19 Instant Oatmeal
0 - 4 Jell-O

Oh, and if your wondering what I scored? Oh, I'll never tell!

Just kidding.

I float between "Sprinkled with Granola" and "Pretty Crispy", depending on my garden, energy level, and what not.

Quiz taken from these sites:

http://angels-and-aprons.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-does-crunchy-mean.html

http://www.themoralesfamily.us/granola.htm

It's October

All treats around here! Well, that's not true. Pierce did get a pretend mouse at our neighborhood halloween party Saturday, and has enjoyed running around the house "scaring" different people with it. He thinks that is SOOOOO funny. Precious to see his sense of humor developing.

Sorry, I'm too lazy to fix these pics that are out of order.

Here's P sampling his first batch of sugar cookies. It's a pumpkin! He absolutely loved working with the dough, using the rolling pin, and of course the cookie cutters!
Tasting the dough, before it went into the fridge. If you can see the mess- all over his face and shirt, it's proof that he was my "helper".
At the Antique tractor museum- part of the Harvest Moon festival.
Checking out the square and doing a little people watching.
The boys lounging in their holiday wear. Pierce loves to hold his little brother!

Pierce's 2nd Birthday

Pierce turned 2 on September 7th, which fell on Labor Day this year. We celebrated by having an "All-American family picnic" at Pierce's Tutu and Pa's house. The weather was great for swimming, and we had a wonderful time celebrating! A few dear friends and family couldn't make it, but we certainly understood and missed them all.

The birthday boy, with watermelon mouth!

Front Gate- inspired by something similar I saw in a Chasing Fireflies catalog... last year, LOL. Fortunately I remembered to hang it up this time around!
Blowing out his "2" candle. His friend Jenna also was celebrating her 7th birthday that day, and we put a candle on her piece of cake too. Silly me didn't realize it was a "trick" candle that didn't blow out, so we had a good laugh with that one. She was such a good sport :)
Yummy Costco cake!
Dinner time
Silly Tutu and Jan trying on the hats that all the kids didn't find.
Testing out his scooter from Melissa
Grandmama getting some newborn snuggles from Henry

WeeSchool

Pierce goes to WeeSchool at Lakeside Baptist Church 2 days a week. He seems to really enjoy it. We started him there 1 day a week when he was 7 months old, to give him a little socialization. Not only does he have some great friends there, but his teacher from the last 2 years, Ms. Diane, is so loving- she moved up with his class. I use it as kind of a "mothers day out" and it allows me some time with Henry as well.

Pierce is enrolled in Gym Kats, a tumbling program that comes to the school once a week.

Checking out his new classroom, for this year.
Heading inside, on the 1st day of school! My girlfriends, the Sassy Six, gave him his monogramed camo backpack, filled with toys when Henry was born.

Henry's birth and coming home

"The Thomas men"

This cracks me up. Totally worth "clicking" on this one to enlarge and savor it. Note how it seems Pa is reading to Pierce, but Pierce has responded to the book in a funny way, so all the men look down at the book with a chuckle. Now Pierce clearly knows he's cute, and looks up at the camera for any others that may be in his audience. Oh yeah, and what about Henry? Pay no attention to the newborn. He does make a nice table to rest our cel phones on, Haha! Gotta love it!!!
Aunt Kimber w/ Henry; she's expecting her first (Kate) in this pic. Doesn't she make pregnancy look so easy!
Grandpops
Grandmama....Pierce still isn't too sure about this whole baby thing!
He's coming around and can strike a pose for the camera now.

Cousins- Hannah holding Pierce and Rebecca holding Henry on SundayAnne's family on Sunday when Henry came home from the hospital (click on pics to enlarge)
Momma and her baby!
Family pic, shortly after delivery
Our OB, Dr. Howser
Handsome Henry! This is what a 10 lb 14 oz baby looks like. Don't even want to imagine what it would have been like without an epidural! Hats off to the "natural" childbirth women!