March 31, 2015

It's the last day of March. This month flew by. I wish I had more hour in the day sometimes, but then again, I'm sure I would fill them up too. 

Robert is growing so fast. He is talkative, and makes sure his voice is heard (though it is still mostly grunts and random noises). His 18 month check up last week showed he grew 4 lbs and 2 inches since his last appointment and he is healthy as can be! The doctor was super impressed with how strong he was. And how smart. He is starting to play more on his own as well as play cooperatively with William. He's my cuddle bug. Robert will never pass up a chance to hug and kiss. I just love his little face and who he is. I can't wait to continue to see him grow!

William is next to me right now telling me all about the Bible. He didn't nap (again) today, so he is thumbing through Francis' French/English bible. He keep's telling me the Bible is "absolutely true" and that it is "God's Holy word". "We need to keep the Bible in our hearts and our home." He is also quoting scripture to me. I'm so proud of this kid. He wants to say a verse at the Easter service when we are camping. He has chosen Matthew 28:6 "he is not here, for he is risen, as he said." I can't wait to hear him. He loves the Bible for sure!

As for Hannah, she finally let Francis feel her kick. Last night, I was laying on the bed talking to Francis when I noticed that each time he spoke, she went crazy. I put Francis's hand on the spot where she was and told him to talk. He did and she moved all around, kicking Francis over and over. It kinda tickled. Francis was delighted, and his beaming face nearly brought me to tears. She loves her daddy's voice and who can blame her? He's a pretty cool guy. Funny thing is I got an email this morning saying, "You are 23 weeks pregnant. Baby's hearing is fully developed now and she can hear what is going on around her." Um, yeah, I figured that out all on my own. Fun times!

We are taking Lucy to the doctor today. She started throwing up and having diarrhea in her kennel on Saturday and hasn't been the same since. Low appetite and low energy. I am hoping it will pass, but it's time to take her in. Hoping she'll be back to normal soon!

William want to type the end of this message so here he goes, "i love mommy. bye bye."

March 24, 2015

Last week was crazy! It was a great week, but it blew by.

First off, I have to officially announce we are having a GIRL! Hannah Cynthia Phillips is coming to us sometime around July 28. We are so thrilled. When the nurse told Francis, he still went a little pale(to be fair, he went pale when we found out the boys were boys too), but he has since recovered and is fully on board with the pink that is coming. I would have been happy either way, but I am now looking forward to loving my mother-daughter time just as much as I love my mother-son time. It's gonna be great!

 The boys love the idea of a sister. William keeps talking to Hannah all the time, insisting she can understand everything he says. He tells her how much he loves her and how much we all love her. It's so sweet. Today at the grocery store, a newborn girl was in front of us in line at the checkout, fussing while her mom unloaded the cart. William stood up in our cart so she could see him and started talking so sweetly to her. She perked up and even cooed at him. William was so delighted! He turned around to me and said, "Mommy! Can we get one of those?" I told him Hannah would be here soon and he got excited all over again. He gave me a huge hug and said, "That will be great!" Robert is equally enthusiastic. He points to my tummy and says, "baby!" Both boys pretend they can feel the baby move every time they touch my stomach, and giggle with delight that she has "kicked" them. Hannah is moving pretty frequently now, so it won't be long before they feel her for real. I'll be interested to see what they do.

I've already acquired some pink items as gifts from my mom and mother-in-law. My dad said jokingly (after he said how thrilled he was) that he could feel the plastic in his wallet melting from all the use. I think Hannah will be well looked after (just like her brothers) especially if the grandmas have any say!

My mother and mother-in-law were both here last week. My mom was just her over night on Monday to Tuesday so we only saw her for a few minutes that morning. Any time is better than no time, though! My mother-in-law came for a mini spring break. We hadn't seen her since Christmas, so the boys were overjoyed to have some much desired Nana time. Thursday we went to the mall. The boys both got new (light up) tennis shoes, and after eating and playing on both playgrounds, they still had energy for Inflatable Wonderland. Nana followed them around (they'd already worn me out) for a could hours before we called it a day. The boys even got a balloon spider-man and lion as we were leaving. Talk about a red-letter day! After a nap, we had dinner at Cheddar's. Francis joined us at home where I kidnapped him for a date while Nana watched the boys. She managed to get Robert down pretty quick (though he did wake up as usual), and got to watch Cars with William before he went to bed. Francis and I went to see Cinderella. I cried through the whole thing (I'll blame the hormones) and had a wonderful time. Francis didn't hate it, and since he chose the movie (albeit for my sake), I'd call that a win! Thanks!

Friday, Nana, the boys, and I drove down to San Antonio to go to Sea world with Cyndy, Chris and cousin Abby. The boys were so happy to see Abby, and fun was had by all. The weather kept threatening to be ugly, but it didn't end up raining until we left. We got to see two shows, tour the aquarium and the kids rode rides. It was a perfect day! The kids slept nearly all the way back and woke up just in time for the Luau party at The Little Gym. How in the world they had the energy to run around for another hour, I have no idea! But they did! I also learned Robert knows his colors. I told him to go get the red ball, and he did. Then I told him to go get the orange ball, and he did. I repeated this with all the colors that they had and he was right every time. He's a smart cookie! Best part of the day for me was that Francis joined us for dinner. We had Wings N More and I got to sit by my hubby! O Happy Day!

Saturday Nana, Francis, the boys and I went to Toys R Us to set up Hannah's registry. I didn't put much on it yet, but I wanted to at least look around. We had lunch with Nana at BJs before she headed back to Dallas. William was nearly in tears when she left and gave her a big big hug and kiss. He told me we need to visit her or she needs to come back soon (and bring Grandad).

That's mostly it for now. My heart is full and the boys are resting. I guess I should get some stuff done!

Come Sail Away Part 2

Ah, our wonderful family vacation! I left off with movie night on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, we got up and went to Roatan, Honduras. I had hired a car in advance to take us to the beach there, which was good, because the vendors at the port were a little overwhelming. He drove us to a very private beach area and for a small cover charge, we had beach chairs and umbrella's with almost no one on our stretch of beach. This worried me at first, but we settled in and had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying the sand and surf. I think William and Robert would have been content to never leave. As we were leaving, we found out why our area was so untraveled: the tour groups had not yet arrived! Apparently our spot was a stop on one of the major excursions. Our guide just brought us hours before they arrived. We couldn't have been happier at our timing. As we were packing up our last thing, I looked up and every chair on the beach was taken. Crazy how fast things change! Driving back to the boat, our driver gave us some history of the area and told us about the local culture. It was interesting, especially how they have school set up...but maybe that's just the teacher in me speaking. We got back to the boat in time for a late lunch (keep in mind we left the boat at 7 or 8 am each of these mornings so we had plenty of time off ship), and then the boys and I had our much needed nap! We swam that afternoon (as if swimming all morning wasn't enough), and William and Robert spent most of that time going down the huge water slide over and over again. I think they would have never stopped if we hadn't offered them and ice cream "snack". Before dinner we changed and had a couple professional pictures taken as we did every night. In the main area on the ship each night, they would set up photography stations and you could walk by and they would do a few shots at each place, linking the photos back to your room. Then I could go to the photo gallery later and look at the shots. By the end of the cruise, we had done more than a full photo shoot's worth of pictures, and since it was over the course of a week, everyone was happy and there was low stress. Plus we were in multiple outfits without the "outfit change" problem. I highly recommend it! We ordered a bunch of the photos and got to take them home with us. So, we got 2 family photos with everyone happy and did Robert's 18 month photos. WIN! The show Wednesday night was a couple of acrobats that hung from the ceiling from all manner of objects and spun in death-defying feats. William and Robert watched in stunned amazement. It was pretty cool, especially considering the boat was moving and could rock at any moment. William decided that night he wanted to be an acrobat that night. In fact, William had a new occupation aspiration everyday. He loved the captain's viewing room that was on our level and each time we went, he would claim he wants to be a captain. Then when we passed the chefs in their hats and ate delicious food, he wanted to be a chef. He wanted nearly every job on board and off. He finally settled on being a daddy when he grows up. Francis would agree that it's the best job of all.

Thursday and Friday were at Sea days. We did family activities on board and ate and swan and ate some more.Thursday evening we got dressed up for our "special dinner" at the Italian specialty restaurant on board. This was the one night the boys (Robert particularly) decided to act a fool. Everyone was so gracious (a man came up to me the next day to tell me he though my boys were sweet at dinner the night before. He was being serious), but dinner was not calm of relaxing. Poor Francis had reached the end of his patience by the end of dinner. He was so flustered that he blurted out, "Melissa, you have a really tough job. I amazed how you do it day in and out so well." He's never said anything like that, but it made my night. A little recognition goes a long way. Thursday night's show was Le Cirque Bijou and was a sort of Cirque du Soleil style show with acrobats, singers, dancers and people hanging from the ceiling everywhere. It was the best show of the trip and made for a perfect end for our day. That night I put Robert to sleep by sitting on the balcony and listening to the waves. I prayed over him and William for a long time, sang worship songs quietly and then prayed for my grandmother who is going through Alzheimer's. It seemed random at the time, but it turns out God was bringing her to my mind for a reason.

Friday William really wanted to be in the Kid's club circus so we dropped him off to let him perform. They did their show on the main stage, and they had made it over adorably into a circus tent. When William came out, I nearly could not recognize him. They had painted his face over as a tiger. I'm talking full muti-layer makeup job. It was awesome. He was so into character, he roared at strangers as he went down the aisle to the stage (which is what he was supposed to do). He performed perfetly and after the show, we picked him up. He would not wash off his face paint though, and for the rest of the afternoon/evening, he would roar at anyone who mentioned his tiger face. It was so cute! After our last dinner of the trip, the ship held a Nickelodeon kids dance party in the ball room area. The disco ball spun as kids songs played and Dora and friends mingled and danced with the kids. It was a fun way to finish our trip. Robert's vocabulary is rapidly expanding, and afterward he kept saying "dan dan" and dancing about on the empty dance floor. He also knows, "jump, stop, run, sit," and a number of other action words that he is now using to direct the actions of those around him as well as narrate his own. Smart kid!

Saturday morning did not being as expected. We were in port in Houston by 6, which  meant I had cell service for the first time all week. I found out quickly that my grandmother had had a stroke Thursday night, and fallen at the table Friday morning when they rushed her to the hospital to find a brain bleed on both sides of her brain. We left the ship as soon as we were able and headed to Austin, with a short potty break detour to see William's friend Ranger in Houston and see their new house. I was only home for a little less than an hour (enough time to dump a suitcase and repack) before my mom picked me up to go to Abilene (she was in town already for a political event). We saw Jamama that night, and she was in rough shape. She wasn't speaking much and most of it was nonsense, but she did tell me she loved me and ask about Robert and William (which is miraculous considering the Alzheimer's). I stayed with my mom that night in a hotel and we went back the following morning. I made sure to get a picture with Jamama and me for the baby to have and we told her all about the baby while there. I'm so glad my grandfather told her what we were having and all before this happened. She didn't move almost at all when I was there and didn't eat or drink anything except a little water from a sponge. The doctors and hospice workers gave her 24 hours to a week to live. The last thing she said to me as I was leaving was barely audible, "I'm going to tell you something that will change your life. Before anything else, you gotta come to the cross. You gotta come to Christ. Be Saved." Wise words, indeed.  I came home Sunday thanks to my father-in-law picking me up (which was nearly a full day of driving for him), and got back home in time to put the boys to bed.

Angel and Ranger came by on Monday as they dropped off their apartment key and officially became Houston residents. I am so sad to see them move. William randomly cried last night because he missed his friend. It was good to see them on Monday though, and I hope we will at least be able to plan occasional trips to meet up.

Well, I do have an update on my grandmother, and it was not the update I was expecting to give. Jamama is actually improving. She sat up in a wheelchair yesterday, passed a swallow test drinking water and eating a graham cracker. She's talking more and communicating her wishes and desires. Her mind is still effected by the Alzheimer's, and the left side of her body is still relatively unresponsive, but eating and moving are a vast improvement over when I saw her. They moved her out of hospice care into a 24 hour monitored facility for rehabilitation. It's been a week since the stroke, and her body seems to he miraculously healing. Not sure what God is doing in the situation, but we are all waiting to see. Please continue to pray for my family as we travel this uncertain road. I still pray for absolute healing of her. His will be done, and for now it seems she's not quite ready to go home.

Overall a great trip, and one I would not trade for anything! The boys have visited more countries than states at this point, so we may have to do a continental road trip on of these days. Who knows??

Come Sail Away Part 1

Vacation was wonderful. Saturday before last, we got up, drove to Houston and got on a boat. The boys were so excited and William kept asking when we'd be on the boat. Once we boarded (just before noon), we immediately got food and sat to wait for our room to be ready. We didn't have to wait long and as soon as the announcement was made, we hurried off to see our accommodations. The mini-suite was great. We had a balcony, which was the place William and Robert wanted to be whenever we were in the room. Robert would sit out there indefinitely pointing and smiling at wave after wave that the ocean produced. I liked that we each had our own area to sleep. Our room was the "bed room" area. William was in the "living area" where the couch folded out into a full size bed, and Robert was in the long, very wide hallway between the bathroom and front door (in a pack n play bed). My favorite thing was that our room had a full size tub in it which made for east bathing of the boys each night. Who could ask for more?

We went up to the pool deck in order to watch the boat leave, but the wind was rather cold (we left behind an ice storm in Austin that morning) so we ended up watching from a glassed in portion of the ship. William went around the entire afternoon (and the whole trip for that matter) happily exclaiming, "I'm so excited" and "this is the best vacation ever!" to anyone who would listen. His face had an ever present glow of 3-year-old joy that I wish I could bottle and save forever. We ate at one of the main dining rooms that night where we discovered that Robert and high chairs were not going to happen this trip. He screamed until we put him in a regular chair, and then he was as happy as could be. Crazy kid. Francis and Robert were exhausted after dinner and went straight to bed, but William and I caught the 7:15 show in the theater. William loved all the music, dancing, and lights, but his favorite thing was when the magician came out and started heckling the audience. He called out one lady for leaving and she waved him off. "uh oh, she need's to go poo poo," the magician said, which made the audience laugh, but none so hard or long as William. He laughed long into the next couple of jokes/tricks. When we left (and for the rest of the trip) he giggled and said, "Mommy, that man told a poo poo joke! hahahahaha". Boys!

Sunday was a day at sea. We had a little family devotional while we waited for our room service breakfast. We tried out the kid/baby areas (William by himself in kids' club and me with Robert in the parent child area), and did a few of the family activities they had on board.  We tried the other main dining room, which we ended up liking much better and finished off the evening with a show (a mini-musical) and a special drink (a virgin Pina colda). the drink was big and the four of us could hardly finish it. Such a perfect day!

Monday through Wednesday were our days in port. Monday morning we got off the boat in Cozumel, mexico. We took a taxi to Paradise Beach and we could not have chosen a better location. It was only $6 for the 4 of us to get into the resort and have access to all their amenities. All they asked was a $10 food minimum that we used to buy some extremely delicious nachos. This was Robert's first time in the ocean. He was eager and interested at first. He waded in curiously and as soon as the first wave hit (not even an inch in height, mind you), he screamed bloody murder and ran from the shoreline. After a couple of minutes and some help from Francis, he went back in the water and had so much fun, he never wanted to leave again. He and William splashed and played in the waves for over an hour without stepping out. Francis went snorkeling for a bit while I watched the boys. I think he enjoyed getting to venture off on his own. As soon as he got back though, both boys wanted to join him out in the deep. We opted instead of swimming the whole way out to go out on the dock and climb down the ladder. They didn't last long, but when we got back out we watch the many many fish swim by under our feet. That was pretty cool. Before we left, we took advantage of the heated pool as we waited on out food. The boys loved that took because there was an extensive shallow portion (for deck chairs) that they could play on without needing their floaties. We eventually headed back to have a late lunch and take naps. Francis used nap time as an opportunity to do some of the on board activities such as the ping pong and goofy golf tournaments. For each one you participated in, you got a signature on a points card. By the end of the trip, he had enough points to get a free deck of NCL playing cards. William did go with him once to do the bean bag toss. He was so stinking adorable, they gave William a medal even though he didn't win. He was so proud that he wore it around all day. But I get ahead of myself. That night the show was the comedian (completely clean!) and it was the only show the boys had trouble sitting through. William made it through, but Francis had to take Robert out as the show was just not holding his attention.

Tuesday the stop was Belize City, Belize. After reading many reviews (and a request from Francis that at least one day be low key), we decided to just stay in the secure area of the port and do some shopping. It was a rather large area, and we even took a tour of a chocolate factory, eating some delicious truffles while there. The boys each picked a wooden snake as their souvenir and spent much of the day "scaring" those around them with their toys. William loved people's reaction and would proudly proclaim that his snake was venomous. Silly boy. We tendered into this port, so we caught an early boat ride back to have lunch and give the boys a rest. At dinner that night Francis had calamari, and William tried some and liked it. In fact, pretty much every night Francis would select at least one "weird" food for his 3 course meal, and William would always want to try a bite. My adventurous eaters. By this time the boys were sick of the same old kids menu and ordered off the adult menu for the rest of the trip. William loved having an appetizer, main course and dessert, and always made sure we knew which course was coming next. Such a smart kid. The show this night was the magician, but it was rated PG-13 so we opted not to go. We instead ordered room service (MORE food, I know) and watched Big Hero 6 on the TV while all laying on William's bed. When it was over William smiled big and said, "This was the best night ever. I love this so much!" I turned and Francis had tears rolling down his cheeks. My husband, who never cries, was touched that spending time with his family meant more to our little boy than all the fun he was having on the boat. I love our family.

To be continued...