October

Having a part-time job really is time-consuming. I'll catch you up on some of what's happened in the last month.

I had my eye surgery again. My mother-in-law came and helped out again and she was a big help...again. My eye didn't swell as much but it hurt a little more. It was a little harder to follow the rules this time around now that Barrett is bigger and more mobile. I wasn't able to bend over and had to have ice on my eyes most of the first 48 hours. I then wasn't allowed to lift more than 10 pounds for a week. It was difficult not to pick up Barrett at times. But Donna did put him in my lap some so we could get some cuddle time. Luckily, I have a happy-go-lucky kid who goes with the flow quite a bit; He was great for his grandma.

Most of the month was consumed with getting ready for trunk or treat at church. I was so consumed with the big details, the little details stressed me out in the end. Even though we had to move it inside because of the rain, we had a good time. The bad thing was, Darren and I were both stuck running different games so I didn't get any pictures. The next night which was actually Halloween, we had some friends over, I made much too spicy chili, went around our neighborhood and got WAY too much candy.

One of Becca's favorite friends is Thomas. I used to watch him at my house and now they're in school together. Normally, they're waving to each other as she gets off the bus to get in one last goodbye. The other day when getting off the bus, she's saying something to Thomas and the bus driver is as well. Thomas is waving out the window as usual to which Becca just flips her head and walks inside. She told me he was calling her, "Rebecca Rodriguez" or something like that and she didn't like it. About 10 minutes later, I get a phone call from his mom saying that Thomas told her he needed to call Becca to apologize...he wouldn't let it go, so she called. I tried to listen to the conversation because I thought it would be funny to hear two 4-year-olds talk.

Becca: So, what did you want to say?

Thoams: (something about Rebecca Rodriguez)

Becca: (with a sigh)I know, but I just don't like that name

Thomas: I won't say it again

Becca: What's the next word? (????)

Thoams: I'm sorry

Becca: What else did you want to say?

Thomas: (obviously done with the conversation he says something about talking to his mom and says bye)

Kids really do crack me up. The next day, her class had a Halloween party and they were sitting at the table. Some of the kids started calling a little girl, "Rylea Banana". Now, who knows where kids come up with these names..nobody was dressed as a banana, nobody was eating a banana...Anyway, I watched Becca to see if she would join in the name calling thinking I could use it as a teachable moment later on. She looked around at the kids saying it and said, "Stop it, stop it, don't call her that, she doesn't like it." Needless to say, I was very proud for her standing up for her friend. Now, I'm sure I can't expect the same all the time, but she did the right thing at least once. I will say, I don't worry about anybody pushing Becca around. This has been a long post so I will end with some pictures of my cuties.

Aren't they so cute?

Eyeing that cupcake

Catch-up

Wow, time never slows down! I can't even begin to remember everything that's happened in the last month. I started my new part-time job as the preschool/nursery coordinator at church. Basically, I'm in charge of scheduling volunteers, workers, activities, etc for all our kids younger than kindergarten age. It has kept me pretty busy lately. I'm also beginning to work on the trunk or treat for our church...wow, is it only 4 weeks away?

Becca is loving preschool but it's hard to find out what she does for the 3 hours she's in school. Normally she tells me they played outside. Although she did tell me that they worked on the letter "D". I'm glad to tell you, I passed the background check in order to volunteer in her classroom. (I know some of you were worried about that) I hope to be able to go on field trips and help in other ways too. Unfortunately, the first field trip to Christian Way Farms is 5 days after my eye surgery so not sure I'm going to be up for that one. As a librarian, books are one of my weaknesses. Becca will be bringing home book orders once a month and I am going to have to budget myself. It's so hard not to support her school. (at least that's what I told myself when I bought books this last time)

Right now Becca has the flu and an ear infection. We waited in Convenient Care on Saturday for 5 hours. Luckily, Barrett is an easy baby and he didn't fuss much at all. She's run a fever off and on since Thursday and has a bad cough and stuffy nose. The hardest part is to try to keep her from coughing and sneezing all over the place and keep her hands off too many things. The last thing I want is any of us to get sick but am most concerned about Barrett. His little body wouldn't handle it as well.

Barrett is really getting so sweet and his little personality is showing through. He truly is a joy. Below is a video of him discovering a new toy and cracking up. Also, there are some pictures of him with a little girl I was watching a few times this last month. It was really cute to see them together.

First day

Today, my big girl, went to her first day of preschool. Darren and I took her up there and thought I would get her settled and leave. Darren did have to leave pretty quickly to get to work, but many parents were hanging around so I did too. We took her to her room and met her interim teacher: there still is no permanent teacher. The assistants from the previous year(s) are there so that is good. Every morning, they will go to the cafeteria for breakfast first. I stayed with her while she ate. Her friend, Thomas, who I used to watch in the afternoons is in her class. That is both good and bad. Good because she warmed up quicker and didn't have problems with me leaving. Bad because if she's too comfortable or knows someone, she may not listen as well or make friends as well.

She wanted to ride the bus home so she did. The preschool bus is strictly for preschoolers. There is the bus rider, plus another adult to help them. It is also a hand to hand transfer: they will not let your child off the bus unless you're there to get them off. So, I felt pretty good about letting her try it. With her friend on the bus too, she liked it. Tomorrow, she will start riding the bus to and from school. This also gives me a little extra time to get a few things done.

I tried to find out what she did today but when I asked her, she said, "We played outside." I felt a little better when another friend whose daughter goes to another school, told her the same thing. So, I'm not sure exactly what she did but I know she had fun. I also told her to have fun playing with Thomas but to make some other friends too. Like I said earlier, if she has a friend she's playing with, she doesn't always want to try to make new ones. I'm sure she will in time. As for me, I did pretty good. I went home to feed Barrett and the house was SOOO quiet. I got out, went to Target, and got back in time for the bus.

As for Barrett, he's still as happy as can be. He's finally got his second tooth which came in 3-4 weeks after his first. They're coming in slowly and he doesn't seem to be too cranky about it. He started crawling just a little last week. He's got it pretty perfected now. He doesn't crawl fast but he can get to just about anywhere he wants to go. Wow, one in preschool and one crawling. They really do grow too fast!!

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life - A

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was a cute idea.

African violets - My mom had many, many of these little flowers. She had a lighted stand in her bedroom that was filled with these pretty plants. She knew all the names and I remember her going shopping for new ones and getting excited showing us.

Aquarium - Everyone is always fascinated by an aquarium full of fish...big or small. My dad always wanted one. To get a nice one is not cheap so us kids discussed giving that to him as a gift one year. He never had space for it however so he would enjoy "visiting" when he went to his mom's house. It really is peaceful to sit and watch them.

Alligator - In high school, our youth group went on a mission trip to Cut Off, Louisiana. I had never seen rivers with boats in the median of the roads or "swamps" on the side of the roads. There was a guy in the church we called 'Alligator Jimmy'; in my small rememberances, he wrestled, caught, did something with alligators. We went to an alligator farm and got to hold some if we wanted...I chose not to. We also had a big shrimp boil with all you could eat shrimp, corn, potatoes, etc. They served cajun nuggets which we were later told was alligator meat. It was good, don't remember exactly what they tasted like...maybe chicken???

Amy - It's funny how names go in cycles. My mom didn't know a single Amy when she named me; she had only heard of 1 other. It became a pretty popular name in the 70s; I was one of 3 in my second grade class. Now, I haven't heard of anyone naming their babies Amy in awhile. It went from #2 in the 70s and droped through the decades to now being #116 in the 2000s.

New nephew

I made a last minute trip to OK. Darren was going to be really busy (even more than usual), plus I had a nephew due on July 4th. I had played with the idea of going to OK but wasn't sure I was brave enough to drive it with the 2 kids. Becca's always been a great traveler but was still a little unsure about both of them. So, I finally decided a few days before I left that I might as well try it now. We left at 8:00 and got to OK at 6:00; I'd say that's pretty good. I did have to stop a little earlier than expected twice with Barrett screaming in the back but all in all they really did well.

We ran around with my mom and saw my brothers and their families. My nephew still hadn't arrived but they induced her on Sunday, 8 days after the due date. I was able to be at the hospital when he was born. I've never been on the other side of the birthing room for anyone so it was cool. The kids did really well and I wanted to see him as soon as I could so we waited.

My brother and his boys

I was home for probably 10 days and still didn't go everywhere I wanted or see everyone I wanted, although I came pretty close. Becca enjoyed hanging out with her extended family and didn't really want to go home. My sister came up to meet our new nephew as well. Our last night in town, Phil and Katie braved coming over to my mom's house so we could get pictures of all the grandkids. Next time we'll all be together, the smallest cousins will probably be big enough to really enjoy each other. I just hope they'll be close and we'll continue to get together every year because we and they have a blast when we do. Here are a few pics.

I hope someone got a better picture than this but here's all of us!

This was their entertainment one evening

Barrett likes to try and eat hair

Barrett is now sitting up in his bathtub and doing a new funny expression.

Summer catch up

We have been so busy this summer. Darren has junior golf clinic every year and this year Becca participated. She got her own set of golf clubs for Christmas. We originally have her a pink bag but then realized they couldn't be passed down to Barrett. We convinced her, thankfully, to trade for the red set instead, since both pink and red are her favorite colors. It's a kids set with a driver, iron and putter...all she really needs. I wish I would have gotten pictures but I was usually rushing around the house right before we left. I'll try to take pictures of her golfing with daddy sometime this summer.

The same week as the golf lessons was VBS. I was helping with the craft area and Becca went to the 4-year-old class while Barrett was in the nursery with some lovely ladies that loved on him all week. I always enjoy helping and Becca really enjoys it as well. We actually got there early on Friday morning and one of the teenagers picked Becca to go up on stage and sing the main song with them. Again, I didn't have my camera so my lovely friend took some for me. I'm just sad I didn't get it on video. She knew the motions and didn't mind getting up in front of everybody...it was so cute. The theme this year was "Boomerang Express". Now that I'm blogging about it, that song will probably be in my head for the next day or so...it's kinda catchy.

Last week was Barrett's 6-month checkup; where does the time go? He's growing so fast. The day after the appointment, Barrett decided to start sitting up. He still won't roll from his back to his belly, but he'll sit by himself.

What a big boy!

This week, Becca has been taking swimming lessons. Everyone should know how to swim, plus she doesn't have any fear of anything, including water. There is a lady who is really good with the kids and Becca has had so much fun. Today, she asked if she could go off the board. She also decided to let go of the edge of the pool. She thinks she's so big...we're going to watch her. Luckily, she listens fairly well in the pool, but we may be spending a lot of time in the baby pool if I'm by myself with Barrett.

Cute $5 Old Navy suits

I think our summer activities are going to really slow down. T-ball is over so there are no more planned activities, we're just going to go with the flow which will be nice, especially since it will just be getting hotter.

Final St. Louis post

We're on our final day in St. Louis. We went to Grant's Farm which was one of my favorite places. The first place you see is the clydesdale barn and fields. I didn't realize they were so much bigger than any horse I'd ever been up close to. We hopped on a "tram" and saw so many different animals while the guide told us what to look for and a little history of the place. We even got to see a baby horse that was just born and was taking standing up for the first time. When they drop you off, you can buy milk bottles to feed to the goats which the kids really enjoyed. There were so many different animals, it was like a very, very small zoo. We missed the elephant show but saw a bird show with various birds, owls, and birds of prey.

Here are some random pics from the vacation

One of the many dinners we cooked

Hanging out

Family photo on deck

Driving my brother around Brothers goofing off

Pics of the house..the last one being a screened in porch the kids enjoyed playing on

Kids chillin spot watching a movie

It was great fun being with almost the whole family, minus a couple of working spouses and one teenager cousin. It was almost too quiet when we came back home. This town isn't big enough to go do too much. We walked everywhere which is getting me motivated to walk for exercise. We were able to do a lot of fun things and then spend some quality time with the family. Great trip, I'd recommed St. Louis to any family!