It's been a long hard week!

So... last week, on Thursday... Joe got sick. I think I may have mentioned it. Thursday night he sprung a fever and when I brought him to bed with me... about thirty minutes later he vomited all over me and all over bed. Nice. So... while I stood there like a dummy (Jason is so much better with barf)... he kind of barked at me (I needed it) to get moving... get changed... take Joe upstairs... I continued to stand there like a dummy. D'OH!

Finally... he grabbed the baby and headed up to bathe him... I started cleaning the sheets. I went upstairs and as soon as little bits saw me... he wanted me. So... I changed him and snuggled him into the guest room... aye eye eye! He luckily didn't throw up anymore... but it was a rough night of me checking on him. Oh yeah and he wanted to play all of a sudden.. oye!

We got up... Jason went to work... and Joe and I snuggled. He just had a raging fever and aches and pains and the other end... man oh man. I made an appointment with the doc who basically told me his throat was raw but it wasn't strep. It could be viral. It could be bacterial. Thanks!

We left armed with a prescription and a instructions to rest... We got home and both took a nap. Dee left Houston at three and I just watched a lot of wiggles.

And although Dee and I had other plans... Joseph came first and we kind of tailored our weekend around him. We did make it out to Central Market but we cooked... we drank wine... we snuggled joe... Joe and Dee played "mountain" when he was feeling better. :) And even though he had a HORRENDOUS night Saturday night... (up from 10 - 3)... it was a GREAT weekend. :) We didn't make it to church like we had planned but we got lots of visiting time. :)

She left around 11:00 am so that Joe and I could take a nap which kind of was the course of the whole week... What I thought was just going to be a 24 hour bug turned into ... oh... a week long bug. We literally slept, played, drank juice, plyed him with tylenol and motrin and slept some more. He raged a fever of 102.5 and higher for the ENTIRE week. OH my. It's exhausting having a sick baby. I just kept thinking it has to be over tomorrow.

With another call into the doctor on Wed... or was it thurs... we trucked up to the CVS (walking for the fresh air)... got back and I promptly dropped the medicine (glass bottle... shattered)... and CVS wouldn't give me another and my insurance wouldn't cover another. So...we called in a third antibiotic which it turns out we didn't need. :-D

His fever broke Thursday morning... and although he got tired quickly... I just felt that giving him the medicine was unnecessary.

Today... Friday... was the first day in a week I took him to school and I went into work. I had piles of unorganized stuff on my desk that I had thought I would get to on MONDAY.... and it just felt good to get away. I mean no offense to my little monkey who I love and adore above all... but MAN... he tired me out. Especially today!

But it was so great to get home to him! :) I missed him so much! :)

Tomorrow his Bebe and Big Daddy are coming. (Jason's parents)... and we all can't wait to see them! :)

Hope you guys had a better week than we did. :)

Daddy's are cute

I think that most daddy's are pretty cute... but I am a bit partial to mine.

Jason is heading to Matagorda this weekend (one of his once a month trips) and he has to drive through Houston to get his boat. So, daddy just called me and asked if I wanted to ride with him, spend the time with my family and then Jason could pick me back up on his way North.

This would have been a great plan about a month ago... cause that's when my dear friend Delia and I decided this was the perfect weekend for her to come for a visit. :) And might I add, I am so super duper excited. (insert... I'm a dork music here). We are going to visit... drink wine... visit some more... love on Joe... go for some walks (weather permitting)... cook... did I mention drink wine?... and just have some girly (plus Joe) time. I am so excited.

This is Dee, by the way! :)

But, had Dee decided she couldn't make it... I think it's just lovely that my Dad was thinking of me. And... that he sounded a bit disappointed that his idea wouldn't pan out. He really is my hero.

While Jay and I were in Vegas... Mom and Dad took care of Joey and the business. They got lots of good snuggle time. Not as much as Gammy did but nonetheless... he got some cuddles oh yeah... and some BOAT time. :)


And I think it's super cool that Joey is going to have a daddy just like him. One that one day he'll be talking about Jason in the same (well as a son would talk about a dad) kind of way. You should see how ADORABLE it is when Joe see his dad come home. He runs to the window and starts jumping up and down. It's truly too precious. I will see if I can get a video of it. :)

anyway... happy Thursday everyone. Tell me about your Daddy's. :)

My niece is the most gorgeous little girl

My gorgeous little niece lives with my ex brother in law in Maryland and Matthew sent this adorable video of Emilie wishing us a Happy Valentines day. I thought I would share it with you. :)






and to add to his/their craziness... they have two new puppies and are expecting a new baby. Boy do they have their hands full!

Meet Black Jack and Zoe Rose. :)


I cannot believe how big my little Emilie is getting. She will be five in May, just two weeks before Joey turns two. I saw her born. I held her little 4 lb 8 oz little body and prayed for her. I kissed those sweet little cheeks and I nuzzled that soft little neck. Now... she is such a smart and precocious little girl. :) She can count change from a $20 bill. She can count to 20 in Spanish. She taught herself how to tie a shoe in a thirty minute time slot. When it came to brains... this little punkin got her lions share. :)

I attribute it to good genes and great parenting. :)
I miss you buggy boo!

Joey Jammin in Daddy's car

So, Joe's latest craze is anything that is boat/car/motor vehicle related. And Everything is "BOAT".

So last week, Jason let Joe play in his car and he had such fun. I thought I would share a bit of Joey headbanging and playing with the buttons. :)

Happy Monday and Happy Birthday Aunt Kiki! :)

Happy Valentines Day and it's MAGIC

Happy Valentines Day. Today was such a nice day... I got flowers yesterday from my gorgeous son. :) Jason and I had agreed that we weren't going to get each other presents because we went to see Mystere in Vegas. :) I should have known that my romantical husband would do something. I am such a bad wife. :( But I am enjoying my flowers. :)

I did let him sleep in this morning though... :-D Joe and I had a good night and woke up this morning around 6:15 to play and watch the wiggles. He had juice... I had coffee... he played... I facebooked... what more can a mama ask for? :)

When Jason awoke... Joe decided it was nap time. SOOOO he and I went in and took a nap and while we were snoozing, Jason went to get donuts. What a great hubby. :) And there is nothing quite like the small comforting sounds of a baby sleeping on your chest. The small puffs on your neck as he slumbers on. It's a small slice of heaven I tell you.

Then I went and got my toes and nails done. When I got home, we packed up and headed to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science that has a childrens musuem. We had such fun. Joe got to play on the firetruck and with leggos but the BEST part was this section that had a water table. There were little shawls that you could put on them but Joe was having NO Part of it. So we stripped off his sweater and let him go at it. He splashed and played and called BOAT to his little hearts content. It was GREAT. We finally moved onto the farmers section and the "in your backyard" sections. The farmer part had an area to "plant" foods and then harvest them. Joe was MUCH better at harvesting. HA!


In the backyard there was a big anthill... or really just a big mountain you can climb through and pretend you are an ant. I had to show Joe the way... which I am sure was funny to other parents... but it worked and he had a ball.

He did NOT want to get back in his stroller though to come home... alas we wanted to get an early dinner in before the crowds got crazy.

We tried Outback but there was an hour wait at 4:40 pm... so we went with a hibachi place that had no wait (at the time) and it was perfect! We sat down with two other couples that had the good fortune of going out to dinner WITHOUT their bundles of joy... so I am sure they were overjoyed at us having brought ours... but... oh well. He did remarkably well. He was enthralled with the chef though. As you can see......


The funniest portion of the evening had to be the magic show though. :-D

Jason was trying to keep Joey entertained so as not to disturb the other diners... so he was taking his napkin and making it "disappear". Joe was loving it. So, after a few times... Joe took the same napkin and he, in fact, made it disappear. It was hysterical. He stuffed it under his sweater thinking none of us would know where it was. It was CLASSIC!

When we got home, Jason pulled out his magic stuff and Joe just sat there watching it and then trying to do it himself. Watch out James Cielen... we have a budding magician on our hands. :) Too cute.

It was a great valentines day and I can't think of ANY other way I would have wanted to spend it than with my two favorite men. :)

I hope you guys had a good one too.

Just some general cuteness to offset the somber tone to my last post. :)

HUH?

Wrinkle Nose. :)

I'm cute! :)

Seems like lately...

I have been overwhelmed by an abundance of blogs of people in need of prayers. I suppose that this is the way God works... people are put into your path especially when they need it... but yesterday a friend of mine posted about blogs that you read.

I opened the post and it said how she had gotten involved in a random persons blog and she regularly signs on for her "harper fix". It's a great blog... in fact, if you want to read more... it's called Kelly's Korner Blog and she has a gorgeous little girl, Harper, who had some difficulties in the beginning. But she has a fabulous style about her and she is quite fun to read. :)

But, yesterdays post led me to another blog. A blog about Cora. It is NOT for the faint of heart, I assure you. It is a terribly sad yet oddly, uplifting, blog about a little girl diagnosed with cancer. She went to be with Jesus three weeks after diagnosis and her family could most definitely use your prayers. But I started to cry when I opened the blog. I continued to cry when I went back to her diagnosis. And I was openly sobbing when I read that she had gone to be with Jesus. For some reason, this little girl has touched my heart. Her family has touched my heart and I cannot get them out of my mind.

Do you ever notice that when you are first pregnant you notice ALL pregnant people? It seems like everyone is pregnant. Or, when you first have your angel... everywhere you look, people are walking with infants? Now, I am NOT saying that anyone I love or hold dear is battling with this. It's just that all of a sudden I am recognizing it.

It seems that lately I keep reading or hearing about these instances with children being diagnosed with cancer. A friend of mine from high school has a five year old son (Matthew) who has leukemia. He is doing tremendously well and her younger son was an exact match for his bone marrow and was able to be a donor, thank you Lord. He is doing so very well.

Another friend of mine, a little sister of sorts, Danielle, is battling with an AGGRESSIVE form of cancer and had to have something like 200 nodes taken out of her abdomen. She continues to be uplifting and positive about her situation. She is, and always has been, an inspiration to everyone around her.

I mentioned to Jason that I was feeling called to volunteer at Cook Children's Hospital. He thinks I should wait until Joe gets a little bit older and that is probably wise. He knows me better than I know myself and I know that this would rip my heart out of my chest. But volunteering isn't supposed to be easy is it? I don't know. It scares me, but I do also want to help.

I am feeling rather vulnerable in wake of reading about this little angel and then I heard of another one today. This is the story about Tuesday. Tuesday was also diagnosed and went to be with Jesus. Why?

If you could please keep these people in your prayers or in your thoughts, they could most certainly use it. Danielle, Jess and Joel, Tuesdays family, Matthew Gray and I am going to be selfish and ask for you to pray for my family too. All of this scares me. I know it is completely irrational... but can you please pray that I gain the insight to know why all of this has come tapping on my doorstep?

Need to update

I have been very remiss in writing... but I haven't had much to say or the time to say it. :) Last week, my parents came in right before the superbowl. YAY steelers, btw. :) We had a great and relaxing Sunday and watched the fantastic game... Mom taught Joe to say "GO GO GO" and with all of the yelling I wasn't sure we would ever get him to sleep. :)

Then on Tuesday, Jason and I left for Las Vegas. We were going to the World of Concrete. Last year the five of us... mom, dad, Jason, Joey and I... went. We had such fun, although we learned very quickly that Las Vegas is NOT the kid friendly place they tried to sell it as long ago.

So, this year, with a new business under our belt we can't just up and leave it... Mom and Dad came to watch the business AND the baby. Not sure which one we were more worried about. :-D Just kidding... am I? ;)

This was the first time we were going away together, alone, in quite a long time. MAN did I miss my little guy... but I will also say that it was GREAT to spend that time with Jason. We laughed, we ate, we held hands, we cuddled, we went and saw shows and worked. We walked and walked and walked and walked the World of Concrete... and we entertained some customers. We gambled a little bit... we lost... we even went down to Old Town Las Vegas. I loved the three dollar tables... lost there too but at least only lost twenty bucks.

I think my favorite place is the Parasol Down bar at the Wynn hotel. You sit outside and there are comfortable tables, heaters if you need them and a lake with a waterfall that every thirty minutes turns into a mini-show. there is a large frog that sings... a huge talking head that comes out of the water and my new favorite... two colored orbs that come out of the water and one is a girl and one is a boy. :) The boy chases the girl... the girl runs. The girl comes back... the boy turns around. They chase... and all of a sudden a baby orb pops out. :) It's all set to music and super cute.

But even during the day, this area is great. I could sit outside and have drinks and read a book all day... except for the fact that the drinks are hugely expensive. :)

And luckily, I got to meet one of Jason's old Lufkin friends. She is the Food and Beverage Manager at the Wynn and is absolutely delightful. I so enjoyed getting to know her. And she blessed us with tickets to see La Reve on Friday night. It's a cirque d' Soleil show and it's all in water. It is so different than "O" but equally spectactular.

I also had the chance to see my friend, Isabelle whom I had not seen for two years. I worked with she and her husband, James, on ships. Had the great fortune to see the two of them married. Now... she has two beautiful boys and gosh... it's just amazing to me the people that come and stay in your life. I know for certain, that I am better for her being my friend. :)

WE got to come home on Saturday and I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to see my baby. To hear his little giggle and squeeze his baby fat and have him give me kisses. Awesome.

Now... real life. I learned a somewhat valuable lesson last night. Marriage is an ever evolving thing... and I guess this is why God knows what he is doing. He puts us opposites together to ... make us crazy... make us better... and teach us. Teach us to rely on others, to rely on their strengths and to strengthen their weaknesses.

When we are on vacation... we both go with the flow. When we are home... it's not so easy. It's great to know that I can be a bit more regimented ... working on this, I promise... and my dear husband can be a bit more "go with the flow". So... my love... if you are reading this... thank you for making me better and I love you very much. :)