Merry Chistmas!

Christmas is almost here! Wade and I have been getting things ready while Clay is in Corpus Christi working hard for us. This has been really hard on Clay. He goes out to dinner and sees families all together and misses us tons. We miss him tons too. While it is really cool that his job takes him to so many great places doing some incredible things, it sucks at the same time because it takes him away from us. Honestly, we are very thankful that Clay HAS a job, and can provide for us.

Here is a picture of what Clay is working on. Clay is involved in the hull which is the part of the offshore oil platform that is in the water. Here it is on a ship in Singapore. The hull is the big hunk of steal (the yellow, gray, and brown thing) sitting on the ship. That ship brought it over here from Singapore.

Here is Wade's picture with Santa this year. He just couldn't believe that I would hand him over to this strange man and just walk away. Maybe next year we'll get a smile.

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Glad it's over!

We did it! We finally go tubes in Wade's ears. I can't believe how fast it all went down, but I am so glad it is over. We have been talking about this since October. I tried everything to avoid them. I did all I could do and there was still fluid in there, so we did what we had to do. It really wasn't too bad. It took about 15 minutes and he was happy to see me in the recovery room. Here we are right after he woke up.

Thanks to everyone who told me how easy it would be. It really did help to hear that so many people had gone through this and it was so easy. They were all right. I just hope we don't have to do it again.

Getting tubes

Well we finally saw the ENT on Tuesday and it was confirmed, Wade needs tubes in his ears. There is still fluid in there. That makes it since October that Wade has had fluid in his ears. He doesn't always have an infection with the fluid but fluid is in there none the less. He has been on 6 different antibiotics and doctors really don't like to repeat antibiotics, and frankly neither do I. So on to tubes. The doctor had a cancellation and we are getting them TOMORROW (Thursday, Dec 11) morning. I just pray that everything goes smoothly in there. I know this is a very routine procedure, but anytime your kiddo has to be put under, it's SCARY. I'll let you know how things go.

::I've been Tagged::

I was reading my friend's blog the other day and noticed she listed 6 things that made her happy. I thought this was great, then at the end of the post she "tagged" some of her blogging friends to do the same on their blog. I was on that list so here goes......

6 things that make me HAPPY!

1) My sweet husband- I could not ask for a better husband. Clay is so helpful around the house, works so hard to support our family, is GREAT with Wade, and is so loving. Sometimes I don't know how he does it, but he always does. These past few weeks have been a little hard on us. He has been in and out of town since June and will be until at least March of next year. Through all that he still maintains his "awesome husband" status. I honestly think I have the best husband in the whole world (sorry ladies).


2) My healthy, super cute, little boy- Aside from a few ear infections, Wade has been pretty healthy. (Thanks be to God, we are so lucky). I also got really lucky on getting a FREAKEN cute kid. No, Wade has just been so much fun these days. He has been such a joy in our lives. Clay can go from having a horrible day, to walking in the door and seeing Wade run to him yelling "Dada!!!!!" and all those bad day blues go away.

3) My running buddies- As you know, I am training for a half marathon. I run with two girls from Stroller Strides, Ami and Kristy. If I did not have them, I would have already quit. This is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. Running is not easy for me! Ami and Kristy are so positive and encouraging. They are awesome for just putting up with me. I complain, moan and groan, and get down on my self all the time. I honestly don't know how they are not sick of me by now. It makes me happy that they are there for me and let me try to keep up with them during our runs. hahaha

4) Wade's school- I love that I can drop Wade off and know that he is having fun, learning, and making friends while I go and get some things done. I can shop, clean house, make cookies hahaha, and go to appointments all while Wade is safely at school. His teachers are great and so loving. He has so much fun there and I am soooo happy to take him there.

5) My DVR- I know this sounds terrible but I am a tv-aholic. I love "my shows" and a lot of my shows come on when I am running or giving Wade a bath. But no worries, I have a DVR. I can watch my shows later commercial free. It is the best invention EVER!

6) Baking- I honestly love to bake! I have so much fun making sweet treats for people. I know I will be the cause of Wade's teachers gaining at least a pound over these holidays. I have so much fun watching people's faces light up when I give them some goodies. This last week I made some cookies for a cookie exchange I went to on Saturday. I had to make 65 cookies for the party. Everyone there would go home with 5 cookies from each batch. I started on Monday working on these cookies. I made drawings of each cookie so I would know what colors of icing I needed and how I was going to decorate them. Then I spent a day making icing and the cookie dough (a shout out to my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, couldn't have done it without you). A day was spent just rolling out the dough and baking all the cookies. Then two days on just icing and decorating the little guys. They came out looking awesome so, of coarse, I had to take a picture. Needless to say a few "WOWs" were said at the party, and that made it all worth it.


So there you go, 6 things that make me happy. This post was actually kind of fun, and totally put a smile on my face. One day when I am down, I'll come back and read this post. If you haven't done this before, you should. Thanks Kristy

First 5k

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We changed it up a little this year in order to avoid all the driving we would have to do in the DFW area to visit all the family up there. It was a good Thanksgiving and we had tons of fun.

The morning of turkey day I ran my first 5k with my friend Kristy. I have been training for a half marathon for the past 8 weeks with my friends Ami and Kristy. This was a very good point in the training program to get some "race" experience. Oh man was it a learning experience. I am so glad I did it. I ended up having a little bit of a hard time. It was so humid outside which made it very hard to breath. There were 950 people running this 5k, and the tons of people running past me was a very big distraction. The mob of people kind of made me run at a faster pace than what I am used to, which is not always a bad thing, it just made it even harder for me to breath. (These are all my excuses as to why I had to walk a few times). I was so heartbroken that I had to end up walking some. I have been running 3 miles at around 40 minutes in our training, and I finished the 5k at almost 41 minutes. So tonight's run was 3 miles and I was so mad that I hauled butt (for me of coarse) and finished the 3 miles in 36 minutes. ha!

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the big race day.

Chiropractor??

We have been battling ear infections in Wade's ears for the past 8 months. We get an infection, get rid of it and a couple months later, another one shows up. Sometimes the doctor says double ear infection and sometimes she says "fluid in his ears". Either way, Wade is on Antibiotics for 10 days. Our second run on Amoxicillin, he had a huge reaction. Major hives everywhere. No breathing trouble, but scary non the less. This last time we were on about 3 different antibiotics and then had to have a round of antibiotic shots to try to get rid of the infection. I think the fluid is still there. The doctor pretty much told me that our next step is going to an ENT to put tubes in his ears. I have heard that these infections can damage their hearing and cause speech problems, so I started to become ok with putting tubes in his ears. Then I just found out that tubes can damage their hearing too. So now I don't know what to do. Many of my friends have told me to try a chiropractor to help with his ear infections. I have been seeing a chiropractor for 4 or so months now myself, and have a pretty good relationship with him and his staff. I just don't know if this is safe for kids. I am still not 100% sure it is safe (or even helping) for me. Of coarse on the Internet it says chiropractors are horrible for kids under 5 and then it says that they are miracle workers and can keep kids from having tubes put in their ears. Our pediatrician just kind of looked at me funny when I asked her if the chiropractor could help us. She said she just wasn't taught that way. I guess I am going to at least try it. I would rather not have to get tubes in his ears.



Here is a picture of my little man eating is first sandwich big boy style. I don't have to cut it up for him anymore. He holds it and takes bites off of it just like a big boy. Dang they grow up fast!

Stay at home moms.

"What do you do all day?" "Don't you get bored?"

I get asked these questions all the time. Well, Wade and I do lots of stuff (and now I get to do stuff alone when Wade is at school, whewho). Today for instance we had our weekly playgroup, which was a fun Halloween party where the kiddos dressed up. It was so much fun to see all the kids in their costumes.

I feel so fortunate to be able to stay at home with Wade. We do get bored sometimes and I do miss work, A LOT!, but it will all be worth it. I sometimes get jealous of my friends with jobs who get to go out in the real world, wear real clothes, and have real adult conversations (not talking about the kids, birth, or breastfeeding). But just like they are confident in their decision to go to work I try to be confident in my decision to stay home.

Anyway here are a few fun pictures from today.

Oh and a few of the cookies I made for the party.

Avery's visit

My niece Avery came to stay with us for 2 weeks a little while back and we had so much fun with her here. We had a girls day one day where I took her to Bridgeland's Nature Fest. We had so much fun. She loved the pony rides there, the petting area, and the Indian teepee.

Avery and Wade played so well together. She loved to drive Wade all over the house on one of his ride on toys. Wade climbed onto the open dish washer one day and got upset when Avery told him "no no". She thinks she is a little momma (with two little sisters, she kind of is). She was a big help while she was here.

Wade just loves his cousin, Avery, and I think she has tons of fun here too. We love having her hear. She can be a little bit of a pill sometimes, but this visit went exceptionaly well. She was such a good girl. Here are a few pictures of her time here with us.

Playtime at the Thompson's

Lots has been going on lately. It seemed to be hard to get back into the swing of things after the hurricane blew through. There are still trees down, fences down, and debris all over the place. I still can't believe how lucky we were.

Wade has been going to school two days a week for 2 weeks strait now. His first 2 weeks (before Ike) was really tough on him and must have been tough on his teacher because she asked me to bring his lovey to school to help him adjust. I any of you know Clay, he is the guy who said "I don't want my son dragging around a blanket !" Well our son is the kid dragging around a blanket on the playground at school, hahaha. I think it is so funny. According to the teacher it is really helping him.

I thought I would share a few photos of our new addition to our "playroom". Wade's first day of school, I went shopping at Big Lots. Sounds kid of crazy that I picked Big Lots to shop at but I thought I am kid free and I have never been there so I randomly dropped in. I found a small slide there for $30. I couldn't believe it. Thirty bucks??? I have shoes that cost more than that. Why not? I could give the thing away if he didn't like it, and only be out $30. I think it is a little big for Wade right now but my niece, Avery, has been here for the last week and a half and she is having a blast on it.

Our First Hurricane

These last few months we have been through a lot of firsts. Wade's first birthday, his first day of school, our first family vacation, and our first hurricane. I am writing this from my parents house due to Mr. Hurricane Ike. I am pretty sure we have power there now, but from what I hear, it is not too fun to be there right now. So we will stay put for now. Let me give you a little summary of what we went through during our first hurricane....

The whole week everyone was watching Ike to see exactly where he was going to go. First Corpus, then Victoria, then Galveston. We were just in Galveston the weekend before. I feel so privileged that I got to see that city before it was wiped out. So Wednesday, we knew it was coming for us, so we started the hurricane preprations. We made a list of everything we needed and Wade and I headed to the grocery store on Thursday morning (after our storytime playgroup at the library of coarse). As I suspected, the place was nuts. People everywhere with this worried look on their faces. I calmly walked up and down the isles and got what we needed. I did feel the panic for a minute at the Pop-Tart isle and felt the need to buy some just because everyone else was. haha. So as Clay fixed up everything outside (mowing the lawn and putting away potential projectiles), I fixed up the house (fill the tubs with water, fill tons of containers with water, set up the Pack n Play in the closet, oh and do the laundry). Friday morning, we are ready for this storm to get here (aside from the windows, I talked Clay out of trying to board them up and he stressed about that all day). We had lunch at Willies Ice house, with tons of other people partying it up before the storm. So Friday night came, we gave Wade a bath and put him to bed and watched the radar. The wind started blowing around 10:30 or 11:00. About 11:30 I started getting scared so I went to get Wade and put him in the Pack n Play set up in our closet. This was supposed to be an easy transfer, but of coarse it did not turn out like that. He woke up and wanted to play. I didn't mind too much because it kind of took my mind off of the loud wind outside our house. So finially about 12:30 or so I put Wade in the Pack n Play and got back in the bed so he would fall asleep. The boy will not go to sleep if he sees you in the room. I sorta fell asleep until 3:00 a.m. when we offically lost power. Then I could really hear that wind howling and blowing stuff all over the place. I said, I can't do this and ran to the closet. Wade and I stayed in that closet all night. I had a little battery powered tv in there with me so I could check on the radar periodically and see where we were in relation to the storm. The wind was so loud, the house would creak and it felt like it even moved a little. I was so scared, I tried my best to just close my eyes and try to sleep. Clay was sound asleep in the bed, dang men, they can sleep through anything. Then around 7:00 a.m. people stared calling to see if we were ok. I sat up and said, "I think so". Then I ventured out of the closet to check on things. The wind was still going crazy outside, but now I could see it since the sun was up. There were leaves and little tree branches all over our yard. I ran to wake Clay up. It felt like Christmas morning when I used to run to go wake Stephanie up, "come on lets go see what Santa brought us". Only this time it wasn't Santa, it was Ike.
Our house really didn't get any damage. We were very lucky. It is hard to believe because there was so much damage around us. We fired up the generator and plugged in our refrigerator and a couple of fans. It really wasn't too bad in the house with those fans on us. Around 3:00 p.m. though we decided that this blows and we should just pack up and head to my parents house. As we were packing the car, one of the neighbors came over and started making small talk and then said, "So I hear you have a generator.....I don't know what we are going to do with our freezer, we have so much meat in there". I didn't want to offer it up without Clay's consent so I just kind of said, I know. Then Clay came outside and offered it up to them. I was glad to let them borrow it. They have 5 kids, one of which was just born August 15th.
As we were leaving town, we got to see some of the damage on Barker Cypress. WOW! Power lines down in people's back yard. Some of the poles that were down poked holes in people's roofs. Traffic lights dangleing in the middle of the street where you had to drive around them. It was eerie to think, we just went through a hurricane. A hurricane with winds up to 100 mph. That just freaks me out. And that Galveston is pretty much gone. We were just there. I am still in shock a little bit. I am sure it will be in shock again once I go home.

I know this post is forever long (sorry), but it is the whole story and one day I will look back on this post, read it and still be in shock that we were in hurricane Ike.

Thanks be to God for taking care of our family and our friends. Please be with all the others who lost everything.

First Family Vacation.

This weekend we got to take our first "family" vacation..... on SBM Atlanita's dime ;). Clay's company has been taking all the employees on a "Company Weekend" for 14 years now. We have gone to the last 4. They pick a resort within driving distance and book rooms for all the employees for 2 nights. Then they give us $100 to spend while we are there. This year we went to Moody Gardens in Galveston where they even gave us two tickets to all the attractions there.

We had a really good time while we were there. We checked in, set up our room (i.e. Wade's stuff), and headed to the pool. On Saturday we decided to do all the pyramids there. We hit the rain forest first, then went to the Titanic exhibit. Wade did not do well there. We couldn't take the stroller so one of us had to hold him, and he was ready for a snack so we did not get to "see" the whole exhibit. Back in the stroller he went and we headed to the aquarium pyramid. They also have an IMAX theater there, but with a one year old...yeah right. So we headed back to the hotel for a nap then back to the pool. On Saturday night there is always a dinner, dance, and casino night with these company weekends. They provide us with babysitting, which I have been stressing over for the past month.... Leaving my baby with a TOTAL stranger? How am I going to do this? I called earlier in the week to hear about where they get these babysitters. That eased my mind and Clay and I walked into the 0 to 2 year old room to sign Wade up before heading to the party. We handed him over to the total strangers that I was worried about and they just took him away to get us out of his sight as soon as possible. He didn't cry but I did! I found the first waiter handing out white wine at the "cocktail hour" party and downed it like I was in college. After a couple of those, my worries were gone.

We had a nice dinner, talked with some friends, and danced to a few songs on the dance floor. Then it was time to go pick Wade up. As soon as he saw us he started crying like crazy. Why do kids do this? Do they see you and remember..."Oh yeah you left me and I am mad at you." That just breaks my heart. It really broke Clay's heart. So we took him back to the ballroom to show him off a little. I took him to the dance floor for a song or two. It was fun. We had a great time and Wade was so exhausted, he fell asleep as soon as we put him in the pack n play.

The next morning we had a great breakfast, provided by SMB Atlantia (yay) and headed back home. It was tons of fun and will probably go back to Moody Gardens one day. Here are a few pictures from the vacation. Also a video of Clay teaching Wade how to dance in our hotel room. We were dieing laughing.

First Day of School.

Today was Wade's first day of school. I was so excited for him. I got everything ready last night. I made a list of everything I needed to put in his bag and his lunch box. I put labels on everything. I even had iron on labels made for his clothes. ha! I couldn't go to sleep last night. I was up until midnight writing thank you notes. Then when I got in bed I tossed and turned and dreamed about making Wade's lunch. So this morning I got all dressed and ready before Wade woke up (I am so lucky that my little man sleeps until at least 8:00 a.m. every morning). I made his lunch, packed his bag and made him breakfast. When he woke up I told him that today was the first day of school. He smiled so big. I think he could pick up on my excitement because he actually seemed excited too. We got to school about 20 minutes early. We sat in the car for a little bit then waited in the hall with the other moms and kids. I packed his cubby and saw the other moms handing off their kids to the teacher. I sat in the back for a minute or two then said here we go. As I picked Wade up off the floor to give him a kiss and say goodbye, I could feel my chin start to quiver and my eyes fill up with tears. It took everything I had not to just sob right there. So I handed him off to his teacher and walked away with tears in my eyes. Luckily I ran into a friend near the door who had just dropped off her 2 and a half year old daughter. She was not crying but said her little girl did. So we talked for a minute (I stopped crying) and I got in my car and drove away. I went strait to Dr. Carey's office where the girls there are pretty much my family down here in Houston, so it was good to see them. I also had to pick up some teeth whitener. I had Dr. Carey check out one of my teeth because I had lost a sealant and it had been making me paranoid. So my first day off, I was in the dentist's chair getting a tooth worked on, haha. (no shots though, yay!) I did get a pedicure afterwards which was very nice. Here are a couple of pictures from today. One of him at home all ready for school and the other in front of his cubby at school, right before I handed him over. Lets hope next time will go as well if not better.

Crazy Week.

This week has been full of ups and downs. My stroller strides instructor, Ami, had a baby on Tuesday so I dropped Wade off at Clay's office and went to visit her in the medical center. I think Clay had a good time showing Wade off to his co-workers. Then the very next day I got a call from a friend asking me if I would come and get her and her family from the hospital because they had just been in a car accident. Thank God they are all ok.
We met Wade's teacher on Wednesday. I think he is going to have so much fun at school. Here are some pictures of him before we left and in his classroom.

I also found a pretty cool website that does some neat things to pictures. Here is one of Wade that I worked on.

Hurricane Gustov is brewing in the Gulf right now, so we are watching that. Hopefully we won't see too much from him. Or maybe we will and Clay will have Tuesday off too. haha. I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day.

-rachelle

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

I finally put some of the pictures from my camera on the computer, so I thought I would show some of them off.

Clay took last Friday and today off from work since he was in Singapore for 5 weeks during the month of July. We spent a lot of time together just having family time. Today we went to Wal-Mart (which I never do alone because it is so crowded and I hate that). Here is a pic of Clay and Wade on our shopping trip.

While I was at my mom's for the month of July, Wade had a lot of firsts. One of them was riding in the car facing forward. I had to move the car seat to my mom's car and he was a year old so I put it facing forward. He loves it now.

And here is just a super cute picture of Wade sleeping in the pack-n-play at my mom's house. While we were there, Wade and I had to share a room. He loved to stand up in his bed in the mornings and wake me up.

Until next time.

-Rachelle

Mother's Day out jitters!

Well I just got Wade's information packet from his school today. He starts school (mother's day out) on Wednesday September 3. I have been talking about this all summer. I signed him up in February. I have been so excited to have a few hours a week to myself, and for Wade to have some friends to play with. Not to mention the possibility that he might learn something. ha! Now that I have the paperwork in front of me, my heart is pounding and I sorta want to cry. I am going to have a hard time dropping him off on the 3rd.

New to this blogging thing.

Hi there everyone. I finally decided to start a blog. I am semi addicted to a few of my friend's blogs, so I thought I would start one of my own. Clay and I don't really lead the most interesting lives, but I figure that a blog would help our family and friends stay up to date on what we are up to these days.

So stay tuned as I try and figure out this blog stuff.