July 9th, 2013

What a jam-packed week and a half this has been. I am not even sure where to start.

Last Monday, William and I made it safely to Plano and got to spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with my mom and Danielle before my dad arrived back in town from Europe. In that time we went to the mall, William played at Kid Mania, I had lunch with my old friend Candace Campbell, and we all had dinner with Christian and Chad at  Red, Hot and Blue. KidMania is a place with a three story high, mesh structure that has ladders, trampolines, tunnels, bridges, zip lines and so much more. They have a small area for kids under three to play, but after about 10 minutes, William zipped right into the big kid area and was quickly as high as he could get on the third floor. I watch, took pictures and hoped he could get down by himself so I didn't have to send another kid after him. He made it our just fine, and went back in a couple more times. After his two growth spurts the week before, his new long legs come in handy!

Wednesday night, after my dad got in, my parents, Danielle, William, my in-laws and I went to Olive Garden together. It was fun having almost the whole family together and William LOVED the attention. Francis got in late late Wednesday night, but we didn't see him until Thursday.

Thursday was Independence Day! We got up early and set up camp outside the Senior High to wait for the morning parade. William had his R2D2 chair set up right by the curb so he could get all the candy as the people passed. Francis and his parents rode their bikes to the parade and took William around in the trailer while we waited for it to start. My Dad, Danielle, Christian and Chad were also there. My mom was in the parade and I got a fun video of her as she passed by. Can I just say how much I love my family?! I wish we lived closer so these times could happen more often. With the exception of Christian and Chad, we all went and had lunch at my in-laws house and spent the afternoon swimming in their pool. We all met up for fireworks at the community college and were rejoined by Chad and Christian. We also got to see Francis's Best Man Brandon and meet his lovely future bride Bethany.they are scheduled to be wed March 22, 2014 and Francis will be in the wedding. Anyway, the fireworks were spectacular. I cried (as usual) as I held my William in my arms and held Francis's hand. For a bit the world stopped and I would not imagine any place I would rather be. I just held myself in the moment and drank in the memories. It was beautiful.

Friday we celebrated Danielle's 22nd birthday out at Lake Lavon. William and Francis got to go out on the inner tube. William was hesitant at first, but he had a great time! He loves Papa's boat. We had to go out on one last ride after dinner or we would have never heard the end of it. After missing so many years of Dani's birthdays, I am glad I got to spend this one with her. I love you, sister! Happy Birthday!

Saturday, Cyndy, Abby and Chris came into town and we celebrated my mother-in-law's 28th (give or take) birthday. We started off the morning by the women getting mani/pedis and the men riding their bikes to a playground with the kids in the trailer. Fun was had by all! We had Chick-fil-a for lunch and after a nap, we headed to a nearby pool that had water slides and a good sized children's area. Brandon and Bethany came too. It was fun, but it boy did it make my hungry! We all went back to the Phillips' house for dinner, did cake and presents and played in the pool in the back yard. The men and Bethany played volleyball in the pool and the rest of us played with the kids until it was past their bed times. Which brings me to a funny story. We gave Abby and William a bath in the tub that has jets in my mother-in-law's bathroom. She turned on the jets and added soap. Well, the tub got so full of bubbles that we got to where we could only see the kids' eyes. I We turned off the jets and emptied much of the water. The kiddos just played and painted the walls and themselves with bubbles to the point we couldn't tell them a part. It was so cute!

Sunday I headed first thing to San Antonio (after very little sleep), and Francis, William and the dogs headed back to Austin. I made it to San Antonio in time to help Rachael Heard set up for her sister Rebecca's baby shower. We got to celebrate Becca and sweet baby Jonas as well as shower them with gifts. I wish I could see those ladies more often because we always have fun! I headed back to Austin and arrived about 5:30. Francis, William and I went out for dinner and then frantically cleaned as much of the house as we could before my cousin Summer, my mom and Danielle arrived at our house after 7. You see, the Texas legislature is meeting to try to ban late term abortions and they all are here to support the bill. We stayed up a while talking before I finally was able to put my head on my own pillow for the first time in ages.

Yesterday and today, all three of them had been at the capital while I have been grocery shopping, cleaning and trying to get back into the swing of things. My grandparents (Jamama and Japapa) are due to arrive any moment and so I will have 5 house guests tonight. Not the most I've ever had, but it is still a large number. My grandparents are coming to spend some time with William and will be here until Thursday.

Ok, and for the update on William. We found out last week that he not only knows all his letter sounds, but he can name all his letters and point them out in different places. He knows his numbers 1 to 10 and can count to 6 unassisted. He has also started to call family members by their names without any prompting including Walther (my mother's dog) and Christian's beau Chad. He is getting so much clearer in telling people what he wants and even throws in a please without prompting now and then. I love to see how he is growing!

Last Wednesday, Robert dropped into place. Within a 24 hour period my stomach (and my center of gravity) became significantly lower. I can breathe again, but he is pushing so hard down low, he feels like he will fall out. Still 10 more weeks to go and I don't anticipate him coming early. My doctor can confirm tomorrow, but I am pretty sure he is head down. All I feel up high anymore is feet. We'll just have to wait and see!

That's all for now!