Mimi's Birthday/Thanksgiving Celebration

We went over to Mimi's house on Monday night and celebrated her birthday Thanksgiving style. She had a turkey that she has been wanting to cook and decided that was what we were going to do for her birthday. So, we enjoyed our first February Thanksgiving dinner. A little odd, but tasted good regardless. Mimi wanted a red velvet cake too which I made for her and completed after 4 long hours, including breaking glass, burning my hand and ruining one of the cakes. So, I really hope everyone enjoyed it. Here are some pics of Mimi and 3 of her favorite boys on her big day.

Ryan's 8th Birthday

We had a great time in Frisco celebrating Ryan's 8th birthday. It was wonderful to see Gigi and Papoo too!

A Day at the Parks

We had a great Saturday morning taking Lucy to the dog park to play fetch and get some exercise and then to the school by our house for Wright to play. Now that Wright can walk, he was actually able to play on the playground. However his favorite thing was still picking up gravel and dropping it. I am having to get used to this whole dirty boy thing :)



Wright loves watching all the puppies.

Climbing into the tunnel.

Here I come!

This thing is wobbly...

Daddy, Wright and Wright's stick.

Lovin' that gravel.

Growing Kids God's Way

Brendan and I have started this class that our friends Jennie and Pat are teaching based on the series of books that begin with Babywise. We are such big believers in what Babywise teaches and how well it worked for Wright, that we thought this class would be good for us too. It focuses on pre-toddlers (12-18 months) and addresses all of the things that we will face during this time. But the biggest overarching purpose is to raise kids that love the Lord and bring glory to Him

We have already been dealing with some of the typical stuff that kids do at this age and have learned that it mostly all seems to stem from frustration. So, we have been implementing some new techniques and so far they are working great. Here are some things we are now doing...

1. Independent Time - we have always let Wright play alone in his playroom so he is used to entertaining himself, but we have never made sure that he is not just aimlessly amusing himself vs. actually learning and playing with purpose. Amusement is fine but just not ALL the time, so we have started doing 25 minutes in his crib with just a few toys each morning. So far it has been working great and it gives me time to get ready for the day while he is occupied. Today he fussed a little bit after about 10 minutes and just when I thought that I should probably go get him, I peeked in and he was contendedly flipping through one of his books. Not only is this helpful and convenient for me, but the long-term benefit is that Wright will be able to entertain himself and work on his own.

2. Mealtime Manners - we have been having big problems with Wright throwing fits in his high chair while waiting for his food. Yesterday it was so bad that I had to literally hold him to calm him down and begin feeding him in my arms. Clearly this is not an acceptable long-term solution. So, last night we got some good tips from our group and implemented them today. The one that worked best was to remove Wright from his high chair and put him in his crib alone for a few minutes as soon as he started screaming. Pat said to me last night "It's not like he is going to starve to death and he needs to know that screaming for his food is not allowed." So we did that this morning, and when I brought him back to his chair, he was much calmer and sat and waited for his food happily eating cheerios. Although I felt like the meanest mom ever, I saw immediately the benefits of removing him when he began to get out of control. At lunch, he started to cry and I quickly said "We do not cry, we wait patiently for our food." and he seemed to calm down and "listen" to me...so we'll see how this pans out. I also started giving him smaller portions and making him ask for "more" instead of just piling all the food on his tray. This has greatly helped with the throwing of the food and cup, feeding the dog, etc.

3. Signing - we have sparatically used signing with Wright since he was about 8 months old, but we have never really enforced it. Like everything else, it is not going to be successful without consistency, so we are now working on signing much more frequently and moving his hands to sign if he does not know the motion yet. This has helped at mealtime too with "please", "more", "thank you" and "finished". He is not at the point where he can completely do them all yet, but he is getting much better. And most importantly it helps him be less frustrated.

4. Talking to him - obviously I have always talked to Wright but I think overall I have been understimating what he understands. As a result, instead of asking him to do things or telling him no and why not, I have just sort of let him get away with a lot. One of my goals is to really work on talking to him more and explaining things better. This will take more time and will not be as easy as me just doing it, but of course will be better in the long run.

After we master all of these things (if that ever happens), we are going to work on blanket time. Just don't have that in me yet...

Mr. Independent

Wright is growing up fast and wanting so badly to be independent these days. One example is when he eats he grabs for the fork or spoon to do it himself. Sometimes I let him practice. It can be a little messy, but as you can see he is very proud of himself.

15 Month Memories

Here are some things that Wright is doing at 15 months...

- He is very particular about what he wants and does not want to do. He gets frustrated easily if things do not work out the way he wants. For example, he has started playing with his blocks, stacking them, etc. But if one does not stack easily or if his tower falls down, he starts fussing about it. I keep having to work with him on not getting frustrated and continually showing him how to do it in hopes that he will learn some more patience.
- He is understanding so much. I have started realizing that we have been underestimating what he actually gets. We can read books with him and say things like "Point to the ball" or "Where is the duck?" and he will show us. I can also tell him to bring things to me or put things in a basket and he will do it. One thing we have been working on is cleaning up. It is a complete chore and he HATES it, but I have been surprised at how well he seems to be catching on quickly.
- He is growing into a typical little boy and he loves to be outside playing with sticks, dirt and rocks. Luckily, we recently re-sodded our backyard so he has somewhere to play. But, he doesn't really seem to like the grass as much as the concrete porch where he can pick at the dirt between the blocks. The downside to this is that when he is on his swing or playing in the backyard and we have to go inside, he gets very upset. And of course the cold winter weather can be challenging.
- Lucy is the playmate that he loves the most. She makes him laugh by far more than anyone or anything else that he interacts with. One thing he does that cracks us up, is he goes and finds toys that he knows she will want to chew on (soft things, stuffed animals, etc) and he dangles them in front of her face until she grabs them. Then he cracks up at her running around with his toys and at us yelling at her. He also loves throwing any ball to her and watching her chase it or chew it.
- He has learned a lot of new words recently and learned how to use them well. One of the big players is "up". He stands at my feet, pulls my pants and looks at me with those big eyes saying "Up, up." How can I resist that?
- He actually cuddles with us now. It used to be that he was far to busy to sit in my lap and snuggle, but now he seems to enjoy it more, especially when he is tired. He also loves to lay with us and read his books. It is really cute because he has certain favorites that he will go grab off the shelf and bring over to us to read to him. We have "Dinosaur Roar" and "Mommies are for Counting Stars" memorized for sure.
- Dancing has become one of his many talents recently. He loves this show on Noggin called "Jack's Big Music Show". Every time it comes on he stands really close to the tv and claps and dances to the theme song. He also has a toy that plays music when you push this one button and he likes to push it repeatedly and dance, dance, dance.

15 Month Checkup

We went to Wright's 15 month checkup on Monday. He is now the 70th percentile for height and 40th for weight. I think he might have lost some weight while he was sick which is why he is so "small". ;) While we were there, I was commenting to the dr. that he has been super grumpy and he was like well his ears are still very infected. Basically the 2 different antibiotics we have had him on are not working even though they have in the past. He is now on a 3rd antibiotic that we are hoping will clear up his ears. If not, he is probably going to have to get tubes which I hear is not a huge deal but nonetheless is a "surgery" of sorts because he would have to go under anesthesia. So, not so excited about that. Today when I tried to put him down for his nap, he cried every time he laid flat which is an indicator to me that his ears are hurting him. So, I completely broke every napping rule I have and held him for over an hour so he would sleep. Its just not worth it for him to get no sleep and be a complete pill all evening. We are going back to the dr. on Friday and will determine the next steps from there.

On another note, I subbed at UPUMC on Tuesday and loved it. Hoping I will get offered a job there or at another preschool for next year. It seems to be a great fit for me and a good long term solution for our family. Not much action on the house thus far, but the weather has been cold with freezing rain, so we are hoping that is the big reason for the lack of showings. We have another Open House this weekend. We'll see if someone falls in love with this place.

Will It Ever End?

Our house was invaded this week by a major stomach virus. I was so so so sick Sunday night through yesterday pretty much and Wright has had it too. Every time I think he is getting better, he has a new symptom. Yesterday he seemed to have more energy and more of an appetite and then boom...he projectile vomited 3 times in his high chair at dinner. This morning he did not wake up covered in diarrhea for the first time in a week but he only wants to be held and sleep on my shoulder. It is very trying as a parent to have such a sick baby. I just feel so helpless, sad for him and very frustrated. On top of all the sickness, we have had people in our house every day this week getting stuff ready to put it on the market. Today is the day it is officially listed and my mom is coming over here to take pictures shortly. This is great news, but has been really hard with everything else going on. Our house does look really good though and we are hoping to sell it quickly. It is going to be very hard to leave...

Sick Again

Our poor sweet little boy is super sick again. It started last week around Wednesday night when he was up a few times during the night. I thought it was a little odd but chalked it all up to teething. Then Thursday night he was basically crying and moaning all night long. I got up with him at least 5 times and had to rock him and hold him. Plus he had fever. Then the next day his ear had this ear wax looking stuff in it. So we went to the dr. and it turns out he has another double ear infection and this time, one bursted (hence the stuff in his ears). I of course felt like a horrible mother that I kept telling myself his lack of sleep and low fever was teething. The dr. told me that the only true symptom of teething is grumpiness because of the pain. If he has any other symptoms, it is related to something else (cold, infections, etc).

Well I thought we were in the clear once we got Wright his medicine and ear drops, but he has gotten even worse. His fever has continued, he refuses to eat, he is super fussy and lethargic and he has horrible, non-stop diarrhea from the antibiotics. I have changed his diaper like 15 times today and his little bottom is completely raw. Every time we got near his changing table, he would start crying and shaking. It was basically complete torture and it is just awful being the one that is causing your child such pain. I am definitely going to call the dr. tomorrow and see if there is another antibiotic that he can take that may not make him so sick. The only silver lining is that when he feels this bad, he wants to cuddle with me all day. It can be hard, but it is so rare with such a busy little boy, that I have to cherish it.

Wright's Rocker

Candace made Wright the most adorable western rocking chair for his birthday and brought it over the other night. He LOVES it! Almost immediately he got in it and started to rock back and forth. Then he would repeatedly get out and go climb back in. Even the next morning, he went straight to it to play. Thanks so much Candace for an awesome gift!

Our Son "Rawr" Morris

This is so hysterical that I had to write about it so I would not forget. When Wright was about 10 months old, we taught him how to say "Rawr" since he was going to be a dinosaur for Halloween. After he learned this word, he said it all the time because he was so proud of himself. Well a couple weeks ago, Brendan asked Wright what his name was and he almost immediately said "Rawr." We laughed but thought for sure it was just a random word he threw out. Well, we were wrong. I have asked him a few times today "What is your name?" After I ask, he looks at me for a few seconds and then loudly says "RAAAAAAWR!" LOL! I don't know if he thinks "What is your name?" sounds like "What does a dinosaur say?" or maybe "Wright" sounds like "Rawr", but regardless it is so funny, I can't stop laughing when he does it! These are the things I don't want to forget.

A Wonderful and Happy Holidays

We had such a wonderful past 2 weeks filled with lots of activities and time with family and friends. Having Kimmy and her family in town was especially fun, even though it was crazy crazy crazy most of the time. It is always very hard to see her leave.

It seems like Wright grew up 6 months while his cousins were in town. He picked up lots of new words and actions. His new thing is that he is SO stubborn. He throws his body all over the place when I try to change his clothes and diaper and he has decided he HATES his car seat. That combined with learning to say "no" (and shaking his head violently while he says it) have been a true test of patience for me. I am hopeful that these actions are merely a phase he is going through and not signs of his true personality.

As always, it is a little hard that Christmas and New Years is over and tomorrow is back to reality. I am so used to constantly having stuff going on and people around me that hanging out with just Wright feels a little lonely. Plus I am getting a little nervous about job searching in the next couple of weeks and what all that will bring. That being said, I am confident that the Lord has a plan for us and will keep to His promise to provide and take care of us, especially during this time when money is tighter than normal. My biggest prayer is that I will find a job that is a great fit for me and has child care for Wright. Sometimes that seems extremely daunting, but I have complete faith in an awesome and powerful God who has proven time and again that he can make the seemingly impossible reality for those who believe in Him.

Some pics of the past few weeks...

The Chous were back in Dallas and we met them for lunch at Snuffer's.

Trains at Northpark.

Cathy, Jeano and Sarah relaxing at Melanie's during our family Christmas White Elephant party.

We laughed so hard that Bill won the shabby chic bird cage.

The Lipscombs got a new dog - Charlotte.

Lanie and Wright taking a wagon ride on a nice 70 degree December day.

Wright and Molly playing on New Years' Eve at the Akhtar's house.

Newt and Jeano are bonding on New Years' Day.

Wright was not too sure about this big slide.

The cousins (and me) on the bounce house.

Our First Case of the Missing Glasses

Melanie and I went on a walk today with Wright. He was doing so well all day with wearing his glasses that I decided he could keep them on while we were walking. When we got home, he did not have them on and one of the lenses was in his stroller under him. I started freaking out because the glasses are only about 2 weeks old and they cost $300! We knew that he had them on at about the mid way point of our walk so we jumped in the car and drove over there. Then I began to retrace our steps while Melanie followed me in the car. After about 10 blocks and much prayer, I found them (thank the Lord) in the street all bent up. But the good news is that the other lens, which is the most expensive part, was still intact. I am thinking he took them off, was playing with them, popped out one lens and chunked them in the street. Needless to say, I am headed back to the eyeglass place tomorrow to get him some sort of glasses gripper that will keep him from being able to take them off so easily as I am sure that was just the first of many such incidences.

No More Morning Naps

Well, we have officially dropped Wright's morning nap. I have been putting it off for about a month even though he has not been sleeping well in the am, cause I thought it might just be teething. But, when we dropped it this week, he has been happy and awake until at least 12:30 or 1, so now I know he was definitely ready. It is probably more of an adjustment for me than him, considering I have to reorganize my day to make up for that lost morning free time. Showering before he wakes up is a whole new world! Overall, it has been a success though and I am excited about the morning activities we will get to do now.

Big Red Wagon

Wright LOVES his new wagon. We went for a ride around the block yesterday and he smiled the whole time.