More on Laughing:

Ok, so here's how to stop Riley from laughing:
Call Grumpa, or Aunt Stephanie, or Uncle Danny, or Bob, or anyone and say excitedly, "Listen, Riley LOVES to laugh!" Suddenly Riley is staring at the phone instead of chuckling. "I swear he was just doing it. Riley! Riley! A booga booga booga." Nope, no laughter, just me making lunatic sounds on the other end of the phone line. Or get the camera ready for some great photo opps: "Riley, look at the doggies! Aren't they funny!?" Nope, nothing, just Riley sitting there, staring at the camera. Babies, they keep us on our toes!

Professor Mom - Me?

The strangest thing happened to me when I went to the grocery store the other day: There I was in the baby food aisle, stocking up on green peas, puffs and cereal and a fellow mom was standing near, looking at all the baby food options with a lost look on her face. Just as I was about to go to the next aisle she said, "Can I ask you a question?", which I, of course, allowed. She wanted to know if my baby was eating solid food yet and if so, when did he start, what does he eat, etc. So I answered her questions and then she told me that a friend of her's had suggested she start feeding her 3 month old daughter rice cereal in the evening to help her sleep through the night. Well, I explained to her that, according to my research and my doctor, babies' tummies are not developed enough to digest solid food until they are about 4 months old. There are some exceptions, but why would you want to put your preciuos angel at risk? She was very thankful for my suggestions and, from what she told me, she was planning on following my advice. Wow! Did someone really just ask me for MY opinion? When did those tables get turned around? And as she and I were just finishing our conversation a father was passing by and came to a halt to listen to what I was telling her. When I was finished he said he had a few questions of his own and asked if I would give him my advice. I was thinking to myself, "Are you kidding me? I've only been doing this for 6 months myself! I'm no expert people!" But because my suggestions came from very trusted sources (my doctor, my books and my sister-in-law) I felt comfortable sharing them, and I think they were very appreciative and impressed with what I had to say. I walked away from the conversations feeling slightly bewildered, as I remembered that I was the one pregnant and asking complete strangers for advice just 7 short months ago, but also proud, proud to be passing on my 'mommy knowledge' to those who are even NEWER at this than I am!

Song in my head: "All Jacked Up" by Gretchen Wilson

Taken from 'Wish On A Star'

You are the Sun card. The light of the Sun reveals
all. The Sun is joyful and bright, without fear
or reservation. The childish nature of the Sun
allows you to play and feel free. Exploration
can truly take place in the light of day when
nothing is hidden. The Sun's rays fill you with
energy so that you may live life to its
fullest, milking pleasure out of each day. Such
joy and energy can bring wealth and physical
pleasure. To shine in the light of day is to
have confidence, to soak up its rays is to feel
the freedom of a child. Image from: Stevee
Postman. http://www.stevee.com/


Which Tarot Card Are You?
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Picture This:

7:30am in the morning. The sun is just rising high enough to send a series of orangey-yellow beams into the window and across the bed. There in the middle lays our precious baby boy. Now 6 months old, he is smaller than most of the babies his age, but perfect to us, with a big, round head and two long legs sticking out the back of his onesie. He is beginning to awake. He rolls back and forth on the bed, rocking right then left again and again. Any minute he will be wide awake; his eyes, which are a beautiful brown, will be open, bright and excited. He will now begin to 'talk', to make the loudest, funniest, sweetest sounds, all the while, watching mommy and daddy to see if his 'wake-up alarm' has worked and he has been rewarded with our open eyes. We will finally give in, wake-up and turn to look at him. His head of blondish brown hair will be curly and frazzled from all the tossing and turning. Then comes the smile. The smile is the best part. Open and toothless, it seems to burst from his face all in an instant. Like he is saying, “Hey, I’m so glad to see you, let’s play!”

Song in my head: "There Goes My Life" by Kenny Chesney

Another Loss

Derek Rowell…our company's 'tree guy', but I’ve known him for 13 years or so, he coached Danny in baseball and basketball, played softball with mom, and I babysat his kids…died on Friday or Saturday while scuba-diving in Mexico. Apparently they do this often…him, his friend Jerry (who mom knows from Softball and he’s also our pool repair guy), and his youngest son, Steven (who I babysat when he was 4 or 5)…and he lost some of the weights in his belt while they were descending. Steven gave him one of his weights and everything went fine, they finished their dive and everything seemed okay. According to Jerry, Derek ascends head first and Jerry ascends on his back, so Steven and Derek had already surfaced by the time Jerry did and Jerry saw Steven trying to get Derek in the boat, so Jerry knew immediately something was wrong. They tried giving him CPR, but all Jerry was getting was blood. They were 55 miles off shore. The Coast Guard was there when they got to shore, but Derek was already dead. I believe Derek is still in Mexico and they are still awaiting the autopsy, but Jerry says that Derek lost his weight belt and ascended too quickly and his lungs just blew up basically. The funeral is this afternoon and I am attending with mom.
Derek was a wonderful guy, so full of life, such fun. He was only 42 years old. It’s so shocking, such a tragedy. I just can’t believe it. What a horrible thing for Steven to go through, at 17 years old, to have your father die in your arms. Steven, and Derek's whole family, will be in my thoughts and prayers. God Bless you Derek, you will be missed.

My Favorite Sound

It used to be the sound of children laughing...now, it is the sound of my own son laughing. I just finished having a wonderful laughing bout with Riley on the changing table and I am exhausted! Why? Because the moment he starts his belly-laughing, I start to cry, but I have to bite it back and do whatever silly thing is making him laugh this time, and just keep it up for as long as he'll laugh, the entire time holding back my tears. It's the most amazing thing to see him laugh, to hear him laugh, to be the one to make him laugh. I truly cannot think of a moment more precious than those. He's my everything, and when you make your everything smile and laugh, well, what else matters in the world?

River Weekend at Packsaddle

My parents so graciously invited me and my family and my brother & Stephanie to spend last weekend at a 'lake house' with them. They rented this lake house, called 'Packsaddle' because of it's view of Packsaddle Mountain, in Kingsland, TX for the weekend, Friday through Monday (although we had to leave Sunday). It wasn't actually on the lake (Lake LBJ), it was on the Llano river, about 4 miles from the lake. It was a blast! Friday night we drove in, ate pizza, and sat out on the beautiful deck chatting all night long! (Chris, Daddy & I got in and swam for a little bit, naming Chris: He who is Afraid of Dark Waters) Saturday morning the gals made breakfast...sausage, eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy. Then mom and dad rented a Seadoo for the entire day! Picked it up at about 10am and rode until 6pm. It was a blast! At first it was a little boring, because there were no large waves to jump over in the river and there weren't very many people out, but as the day went on, more Seadoos and boats were out, we got more courageous in our driving, and it was a BLAST! Saturday night daddy cooked out burgers & dogs...they were delicious! Danny & Steph pooped out early, went to bed about 9pm. Mom and Chris were soon to follow, then me and Daddy. Sunday morning woke up early again and made biscuits...that's it...no energy for more! Just relaxed, sat around all morning, then left about 11:30am and headed to Fredricksburg for shopping! It was fun (well, the men would argue that). Finally about 5:30pm Danny & Steph headed home and the rest of us back to Packsaddle. Chris and I fed and changed Riley and then headed on our way back to good ole McKinney around 7:30, getting home about 11:30pm. It was an amazing weekend, NONE OF US wanted it to end! I hope we are able to do it again soon.

Filthy, Frumpy, Fatigued

It's a good thing that no one ever looks at me anymore, because I'm so frumpy that I should have been placed in a cedar closet for the summer. I'm still carrying 15 extra pounds of baby weight — on top of the weight I was carrying when I got pregnant. And let's just say that with work and Riley, my grooming has not been exemplary.
I can't do it all. I can't bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and still give my man good lovin' when he makes it home from the office. I'll tell you what I can do: I can keep the baby alive, fed, and entertained. I can work part-time to help put food in the pantry and a roof over our heads. And SOMETIMES I can actually put that food together for a meal! And that's it! I can't do one other thing. The house mess level has reached epic proportions, featuring (on the worst days) dishes piled up in the sink, an office that has yet to be unpacked (for almost a year), a master bedroom full of dirty clothes, and stacks upon stacks of mail on the kitchen table. And there's not much opportunity to clean: Riley is a precious, darling baby, but he only sleeps for an hour or so at a time, two or three times during the day, and even those few hours are hard-won.
I put him down for a nap whenever he shows signs of being tired. I leave the room, hoping that perhaps I can get the dishes done (yes, hopes of napping when he naps have long gone out the window). As I start filling the sink with hot water, the first wail sounds and from there, all hopes of housework or paying bills are gone. I will never, ever see a clean sink without dishes in it again, will I?
Funny thing — as crazed as I am, I always manage to have the baby looking good. Every day he's clean, sparkling, and clothed in some gorgeous little outfit. While I, on the other hand, have been known to wear the same pair of jeans for three days, and am frequently sporting a shirt with spit-up stains on the shoulders. Quite often I'm concentrating so hard on getting the baby ready to go that I'll do things like leave the house without my purse. Or I'll realize halfway down the street that I forgot to brush my teeth. But the baby, he looks great.

To My Readers:

I want to thank everyone for visiting my blog, although I'd never know it since none of you will leave comments (minus my brother, thanks Danny!). Maybe I'm boring, maybe y'all are boring, who knows? I'll keep writing though, because some day I will read it, and maybe even my son. So, come back again, or don't, whatever.

Southern Louisiana

There are no words to describe the devastation brought by Katrina, we've all seen it, we all know about it. I heard this 'letter' on the radio this morning and I thought it was a very interesting way to remind America what Southern Louisiana was about BEFORE the hurricane. I believe it was written by a writer for a Louisiana newspaper named Chris Rose.

Dear America,
I suppose we should introduce ourselves: We're South Louisiana.We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that, but we never were much for waiting around for invitations.
We're not much on formalities like that.
And we might be staying around your town for a while, enrolling in your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted to tell you a few things about us. We know you didn't ask for this and neither did we, so we're just going to have to make the best of it.
First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water, your food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has come to our rescue.

We're a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don't cotton much to outside interference, but we're not ashamed to accept help when we need it. And right now, we need it.

Just don't get carried away. For instance, once we get around to fishing again, don't try to tell us what kind of lures work best in your waters.

We're not going to listen. We're stubborn that way.

You probably already know that we talk funny and listen to strange music and eat things you'd probably hire an exterminator to get out of your yard.

We dance even if there's no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we're suspicious of others who don't.

But we'll try not to judge you while we're in your town.

Everybody loves their home, we know that. But we love South Louisiana with a ferocity that borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our dead in LSU sweatshirts.

Often we don't make sense. You may wonder why, for instance - if we could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our journey to your state - why in God's name did we bring a pair of shrimp boots?

We can't really explain that. It is what it is.

You've probably heard that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is, many of us cannot fathom a life outside of our border, out in that place we call Elsewhere.

The only way you could understand that is if you have been there, and so many of you have. So you realize that when you strip away all the craziness and bars and parades and music and architecture and all that hooey, really, the best thing about where we come from is us.

We are what made this place a national treasure. We're good people. And don't be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It happens all the time.

When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.

But don't pity us. We're gonna make it. We're resilient. After all, we've been rooting for the Saints for 35 years. That's got to count for something.

OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at inappropriate times.

But what the hell.

And one more thing: In our part of the country, we're used to having visitors. It's our way of life.

So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay to you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in this season of our despair.

That is our promise. That is our faith.

Just a Little Update

We have such a busy weekend! Steph (my best friend) has a softball game tonight (it's actually for our Keller Williams office) and she's pitching! Tomorrow is her Lingerie Shower and Sunday we are going to Commerce, TX (about 1.5 hours away) for my great-grandma's birthday party!

Riley has been very 'needy' lately. He doesn't like for me to be out of his sight, and he really prefers if I'm holding him, especially at home at night. I can hardly get anything done. Monday we tried to watch a movie at Danny & Stephanie's and couldn't get him to calm down, so we had to leave. At first I thought it was teething, but since Monday he hasn't really be exhibiting teething symptoms, he just seems, well, 'needy'. I don't know? I hope it doesn't last too much longer though, it is exhausting! So I'm hoping I can get some stuff done this weekend between events (watching sheets, cleaning upstairs, the kitchen, etc.).

Riley is loving his Cheerios! He had squash this morning for the first time, loved that too. Pretty much all the veggies in stage 1 (almost all baby food veggies, really) are sweet veggies, all except green beans, which he likes. So, I'm planning on moving pretty quickly through squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots so we can get to some fruits! :) He can't quite reach the tray for his high chair so we can't work on him grabbing them by himself yet (I do a little, getting him to grab it out of my hand, but he ends up just pulling my hand to his mouth, but we're working on it a little). I'm getting ready for him to eat finger foods, so I don't have to sit there and spoon feed him every meal!

Song in my head: "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefanie

My Favorite Age

"When my son first came into the world, I asked all the mothers I knew what their favorite 'baby' age was. At the time, I felt that nothing could be better than the way my tiny little boy fit so neatly in the crook of my arm. Each mother I asked gave the same answer - 'Every age is my favorite age.' And it's true for me, too. Now, 5 months old is my favorite age because my son's little half-smiles have blossomed into full-bellied laughs. Because his random grasps have become firm hugs around my neck. And because he's begun looking directly into my eyes...with true recognition and complete adoration. Yes, 5 months old is definitely the best. Until next month...or maybe the one after that."

Adapted from Jayne, New Bedford, Massachusetts

A Time for Teething

Aaahh, the joys of teething. You hear about it, you read about, but you do not have ANY IDEA what to expect until you are going through it. It is so heartbreaking to listen to your most cherished little baby screaming from pain and not be able to do a d@*n thing about it. Riley has been going through little teething spells here and there, nothing some 'Little Teethers' and teething tablets couldn't remedy...but now, even Tylenol doesn't do the trick. For the most part, he just wants to be held by mommy or daddy, but that gets very tiring for mommy and daddy, and then sometimes, that doesn't even work. It's very rough, but we'll all make it through and Riley will have a shiny, white tooth to show for it!

Song in my head: "Mockingbird" by Eminem