March 2012

You can take us out of Texas...

... but you can't take Texas out of us!

It's amazing how all living things are revived by Spring - and that is definitely true for us!  This past month has been so refreshing for our family.  Everything around us is green and blooming, the weather has been so incredibly pleasant, and we've been able to spend plenty of life-giving time together.  I couldn't ask for more!

Charlie's work schedule has been a little more flexible this month, so he's been able to come home early fairly frequently to catch some time with Bruce before bedtime.  It's one of the sweetest moments of the day when Bruce sees Charlie walk through the door - I have to make sure I have a good hold on him, as he wildly flails both arms and legs in unconfined enthusiasm.  

The peach tree

We've spent a lot of time working outside this month.  Charlie's done most of the grunt work, I've done a lot of vision casting, and Bruce has mainly just supervised (Although he has gotten a few grass stains, picked a few weeds, and yes, eaten a bit of dirt).  Charlie has put a lot of effort this Spring in trying to get our yard back in shape, and also finally took the plunge and cut down the apple tree.  It was mostly dead, but we've had a family of mocking birds living in it since we've moved to this house that we hated to uproot.  Hopefully they'll stick around and transition to another one of our trees.  We love those mocking birds!  We also got the garden tilled up, and the spring "crops" planted.  Already the spinach, lettuce, beets and radishes are popping up - but we're in that anxious phase of staring at mostly a bunch of dirt and wanting them to instantly get bigger!  The Farmer's Market opens next weekend and we'll go get our seedling plants then and get the rest of the summer veggies planted.  We spend quite a bit of time every day checking on the status of all the various trees and plants around the house.  Bruce carefully inspects the finest details, and has been interested in the bare twigs budding, then blooming, and then leafing out.  He seems fascinated in feeling it all, and is (usually) careful not to pull off (too many) flowers or leaves.  I think we've all enjoyed the fragrance of the lilac bush and the coolness of the grass beneath our bare feet.

The lilac

Charlie and I got to go on our first date since Bruce was born on St. Patrick's Day!  We drove to Stillwater to spend the weekend with Charlie's parents, and Yvonne watched Bruce while we went with our friends Evan and LeAnn to see Stomp preform in Oklahoma City.  It was a fantastic show and a great evening to spend with each other.  

Bruce checking on his cow

Now that cold and flu season is technically "over," Bruce and I have been spending some time at Madison helping teachers with odd jobs.  It feels really good to be back at school, but a little bittersweet because so much has changed in the seven months that I've been gone.  Bruce has learned how to use the laminator and copy machine, but prefers when we help out in the classrooms.  This past week we've been playing a Social Studies version of the Amazing Race, helping a fifth grade class with their State Test prep - he's had a blast!  (Me too)

Bruce, as always, is not the same little boy he was last month!  He's down to taking only two naps every day - which might not seem like such a big deal - but it has dynamically changed the way we spend our days.  He naps a little longer now, usually an hour, and then has longer stretches of time between naps and bedtime.  That's allowed us to get out and about more, and he generally seems to have a better disposition throughout the day.  He sleeps from around 6pm to 6am every night, which combined with Daylight Savings Time, has made Charlie's and my evenings wonderful!

Bruce is back to eating fairly well, which is a welcomed relief.  He outgrew using the swing as a "feeding station" so we tried the high chair for a while.  He's still not sitting too well though, and was pretty cranky in it, so we've been using the Bumbo seat instead, which seems like a nice compromise.  He's super distracted by everything though, so meal times can be somewhat of a circus show.  I find that if a make a bird whistle or meow, he'll look at me long enough to get a spoonful though, so eventually after enough barn animal noises, we can make it through the whole bowl of cereal!

We got Bruce an exersaucer this month that he absolutely loves!  He gets bored with things so quickly though that we're trying to really limit his time in it - it's a jewel that we want to be able to use for as long as possible!

When he's not strapped to me in the Bjorn carrier helping out at school or in the garden, in the Bumbo seat watching me do dishes, or in his exersaucer watching me cook dinner, Bruce is playing on the floor working on all kinds of "skills."  He's an expert roller now - left and right, back to belly, belly to back - and never stays on his blanket anymore.  He also has mastered the art of spinning on his stomach to face any which way he pleases.  We're finally having to consider putting away things that we don't want him getting a hold of.  Just this past week he's also started pulling his knees up under him and lifting his belly off of the floor - this baby is going to be on the move soon!

Other odds and ends - I think Bruce is secretly training to be a wrestler in the middle of the night.  He has gotten his monkey-legs involved and has perfected the arm bar hold during diaper changes - which he finds hilarious!  Bruce has also started talking up a storm lately!  He makes cups into mega-phones, babbles to the mirror baby, has 2 am soliloquies, and even tries to mimic sounds you make!  He and Mr. Pants have become good buds this month too, and no injuries yet with either party involved.  I think Mr. Pants still thinks he's the intellectual superior, but they're both still suckers for the pen light.

Can you see the light they're both trying to grab?

I closed out this month getting to have a day out with my "teacher" friends.  Our book club went to see The Hunger Games in the fancy schmancy theater and Charlie spent the afternoon with Bruce.  As much as I love that babe, it was nice to not feel like a mom for a while and enjoy some girl time with some of my favorite people!  The boys planted grass and took a drive out to Lake Thunderbird to check out the camping facilities there because we're planning a camping trip for next month.  I am so thankful for a husband who's enthusiastic to be a dad!

Here are some photos from a walk we took this week:

And some more bluebonnet pictures!

I hope this Spring has been as refreshing for you as it has been for us!