It's the Little Things

Y’all I’m SO excited!  I just received an e-mail stating my StitchFix package is scheduled to ship on September 24th.  I’m a little nervous though, my style is super casual.  I’m a jeans/shorts and t-shirts kinda gal.  More importantly t-shirts from high school or t-shirts I stole from my brother back in the day.. some well over 7 years old. :)  

Occasionally I’ll wear a dress or skirt but only because I’m lazy and don’t want to bother matching a shirt with bottoms.  Last year, I discovered leggings and now I want a pair in every color – c’mon fall!  I cannot wait to wear leggings and boots and snuggle in a warm sweater dress again.

-----------------

Secondly; September 1st is Labor Day – the office is closed as is the daycare.  It’ll be an extra day with my loves – I think it’ll be a great day for splash pads the pool and sharing fro-yo!  :)

-----------------

Thirdly (HA!  That word looks wrong but spell check didn’t correct me); Groupon FINALLY gave us a credit for a groupon I bought (for a date day) almost three months ago.  I had tried calling ATX Jet Ski’s– even going so far as to Google the company and found the e-mail address) to book a reservation.. after 15 times of combined phone calls and emails – I gave up!  We were so excited to try something new again and sadly were let down when no one answered/called back/or emailed back.  After back and forth e-mails with a wonderful customer service tech within Groupon – she stated they were unable to get in touch with the company and credited our account.  Here’s to spending the credit on something else fun – I’m thinking Ziplining though Skydiving sounds awesome too!

-----------------

Fourth; it’s always the best when I don’t have to make the late night trip to the grocery store to buy diapers/milk/coffee/bread/whatever-else-we-need-that-we-don’t-have.  Ben took the responsibility last night – bless him!  & he even brought home cough medicine for me – maybe due to the fact that he’s not sleeping very well himself while I cough on and on.  Regardless; it’s safe to say that we both HATE grocery shopping hence the empty cupboards and trying a new place out for dinner last night which was amazing – more on that below!

-----------------

Fifth; Independence Fine Foods– where we went for dinner last night = THE BEST EVER!!!  Everything is made from scratch right there and all the meat is farm raised and from local sources!  You can dine or buy in bulk and take home.. to later stuff your face.  The décor was awesome – very rustic!  They have exposed pipes in the ceiling which are painted black but have a lot of character (Caleb was amazed and kept telling me to look up at it), wood walls & counters, chalkboard menu’s on the wall, and glass bakery style refrigerated displays to make your mouth water even more!!

But holy mother, amazing chicken salad – freakin’ delish-ious (Ben told me once that saying “delish” makes me sound stuffy).  I had the baked chicken which was covered in corn flakes and baked with truffle oil, with macaroni and expensive cheese (I prefer Horizon  boxed stuff), and steamed broccoli (which had what looked like sunflower seeds but didn’t taste like them.. not bad tasting – promise!)  It was all SO good!  Then of course; we had to sample the desserts which all looked to-die-for!  Ben devoured a pecan turtle brownie – though he offered us a taste first.  Teresa had the bread pudding.  And Caleb selected a Vanilla Bean Cupcake that he and I shared (he wanted to eat the icing only because it tasted like ice cream and ended up in an explosive meltdown because we wouldn't let him).  Which prompted us to box up the remaining desserts and leave.  We will be going back though!

  

-----------------

Sixth; Our trip to Galveston is next weekend!!  I’m so excited for another trip to the beach, more photo ops, digging our toes into the sand, splashing in water, and a child who sleeps through the night because he is tuckered out from all of the excitement!  It cannot come soon enough.  



-----------------

Seventh; Caleb's Citrus Lane box will arrive in mid-September.  Citrus Lane is a monthly subscription box for little ones.. we look forward to getting a surprise in the mail each month!  & of course you can cancel at any time.  The products that go into these boxes are very impressive.  Don't forget to click the link to get 50% off your first box and free shipping!

<3 & hugs! :)

Medical Emergencies

A lot of things happened in the early months;

- Caleb caught croup at 3 months old.  We had to call the ambulance and he was admitted into Dell Children's Hospital for 1 day & 1 night.  That was the scariest night ever - he was so small and couldn't breathe and was coughing funny.

  

- He had to have a sonogram of his head at 6 months old because they thought he had a case of hydrocephalus that luckily ended up being negative - he just has big brains!  The sonogram tech had awesome patience because he was fighting Ben and I hand and foot!!

- He had croup again at 9 months old, this time we didn't have to go to the hospital just to see his pedi who gave us medicine and told us that whenever he gets sick he'll most likely have the yucky croup cough.

- When he was around a year old; he had to have tubes put into his ears due to more ear infections than I can count on one hand!  Thankfully the tubes are still in and working their magic everyday!

- One night when he was a year and half old; he had gone to sleep and woke up screaming bloody murder - nothing we tried would calm him down.  We thought he was having another night terror thing but the screaming continued even after the lights were turned on and he finally woke up.  After an hour of the screaming we knew something wasn't right and he was in pain - we called the ambulance. 

 We were rushed to the hospital, only to sit in a waiting room for the next two hours with a still screaming child.  When the doctor finally examined him and got our sides of the story - she stated that he had intussusception.  He had to have ultrasounds done of his abdomen and then had to do an air-contrast enema.  He was strapped onto a board with a air hose taped to his hiney.  They literally had to blow him up with air to get the piece of his large intestine to dislodge itself from where it was stuck.  As soon as that happened he was back to his happy self - with lots of gas..

----------------------------------

I'm sure there'll be more issues since he is only 2 and a rough n' tough little boy!

It breaks my heart to read about what children go through when they have a disease and I count our blessings everyday!  I give all kinds of high fives to the families who have medical emergencies weekly - if not daily! I sit here and say I couldn't do that day after day but I know if it were our life - we'd do it in a heartbeat for our little man!

Caleb is happy and healthy and that's all that matters!!  I'll continue to hold him close - even when he tries to squirm away.  & kiss him in front of everyone because I know the time will come when he'll tell me, "that's not cool!"  Until then my life and heart will be completely full!!

Don't Judge Me

Yep!  I just ate my breakfast of a cupcake with coffee at 11:40am.  After feeding Caleb his lunch of chicken fried chicken, corn, applesauce, and milk.

Don't judge me.  You don't know that I'm trying to cope the best I can with being forgotten and left behind by my own flesh and blood.

You see today, one of the very best men in my life will be buried under the cold hard ground.. forever.

I got the call from my Mother last Sunday - while Ben and I were having a "just us mini vacation in Port A."  She told me that my Grandpa had passed away - then she told me to think about what I was going to do and hung up.

I had written him a letter with all of the memories we shared; how I would spend every summer with him at his farm and later at his house after he sold the farm.  We would tend to the cows & garden at my Uncles farm up the road from his old one.  How he would have to stop at the IGA in town to buy me milk because I refused to drink the unpasteurized milk that was at the farm.  Baling hay in the hot sun & then having to load the bales in the hay-mound for winter, etc.  

I held onto that letter for weeks because I felt as if he was holding onto life to receive my letter - I felt selfish - he had many strokes & was in a lot of pain.  Two weeks prior to receiving the phone call from my Mother - I mailed it to him & it broke my heart.

My family is from Wisconsin so it's not quite a hop and skip from Texas - although many times I've dream't it was the next state over and I could drive and see them all again.

Anyway, Ben and I were headed home - while driving through Kenedy, TX my Mother calls again.  She basically stated their plans were to drive to Houston (since tickets were too high from Austin) Wednesday night and stay with my brother and his wife.  Then Thursday morning they would get up at the butt-crack of dawn and board a flight to Minneapolis, MN.  All along - I'm struggling to figure out how Caleb, Ben, and I would be able to fit into those plans.

#1 - my brother and his wife don't have the room to accommodate all of us to stay over - even for just a night!
#2 - they have four dogs and Caleb is terrified of them.

#3 - the flight leaves Houston airport at 5am - Caleb NEEDS his sleep - he has a hard enough time sleeping at home.

Then she told me, "y'all should probably just stay home" because; a. "someone has to stay and make the money."  Ben and I both have vacation/sick time.  And b. "we don't even know where we will be staying - your Aunt is going through a divorce and everything is a mess."

Then it dawned on me, she had made the plans and we weren't included...

Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday have all come and gone and we've not heard one word from any of them.  It sucks to type this but I don't even know if they're alive..

Today, my amazing Grandpa is being buried and we weren't included in anything.  I won't have the chance to say "goodbye" or take a shot of tequilla in memory of him with everyone.

It's bittersweet, I'm glad he's in a better place now.  Looking over my Aunt Cindy who passed away four years ago from a very rare cancer (we weren't included in those plans either).  He's not hurting any longer but he lived a good life!

Cheers, Grandpa!  Ben and I are taking a shot of tequilla in your honor tonight!!

xoxo

{obit}

We have a toddler who:

- eats dirt (as I did as a wee one)

- licks the slide & swings at the park

- touches trashcans at public places to see the front part flip

- chews on refrigerator shelves

- touches all over public potties even after we tell him not to

- chews on his own shoes after they've been lord knows where

- chews on shopping cart handles even though he knows better
- would rather drink out of the hose than the purified water we give to him

  

I'm constantly applying dollops of antibacterial foam to his hands and helping him "wash" all the grime away.  Because that stuff is 99.9% effective!

It's hard to remember and {LMM} said it best; "a Mama's protection is only 99.9% effective.  He'll have to learn the other .1% on his own." <3

Favorite Etsy Finds

Among other things - we LOVE Etsy!  

We're constantly amazed by the products that people can make.  Plus I don't know about you but I'd rather promote small businesses rather than the large {ie. Walmart}.

 Here are a few of our favorite things:

- crayon roll - currently on C's wishlist

- latchy catchy - has been a godsend.. we strongly believe that everyone with a baby NEEDS one of these!

- infinity ring - on my wishlist

- time out chair vinyl - another item on C's wishlist.. though it's not really something he wants per say!

- night light - love the message it casts!

- baby moc's - <3

- terrarium planter & diy succulent heart - I MUST have both!

- personalized mommy jewelry - I want.

- adventure box - must get one!!

via

And of course the list can go on and on!  :)  Do you have any favorites that we may like too??