Mindful of blessings
Grateful for this November
Finding contentment
Charlie was supposed to be in China the first two weeks of November, so Bruce and I planned a trip to St. Louis. His business trip ended up being rescheduled, but Bruce and I didn't cancel our adventure! We found a great deal with Southwest, and went to celebrate Baby Liam's birthday and baptism!
I was a little bit anxious about taking Bruce on the airplane, but Charlie was able to take us to the airport, help with hauling the suitcase, backpack of books, diaper bag, and car seat - and even was able to get an escort boarding pass to help us get all the way to the gate and waited with us until we got on the plane! Fantastic! Bruce had a great time watching planes take off while waiting, and like everyone, had fun people watching too. Our flight was almost empty, so we ended up getting a whole row to ourselves - could it get any better? The flight was nonstop, a little over an hour, and from take off to landing, Bruce was an awesome little travel companion. He didn't cry over ear pressure, didn't go too stir crazy confined in a tight little space, and amused himself with the seat controls, the bolts that fasten the chairs to the floor, the window shade, the tray tables... I think by the time we landed he had all the details memorized and could have built his own model airplane replica. I brought tons of books to try to keep him occupied, but only ended up reading a couple of them - 15 pounds of wasted cargo! (and a backache to boot) I asked about the little wings that I remember so fondly from my childhood plane rides, but was told that the program that sponsored them doesn't do that anymore. Understandable, but disappointing!
My friend Leslie greeted us at the airport, Bruce napped in the car on the way back to her house, and then all the family loaded up and headed to Grant's Farm for the birthday party. It was a bit cold, but everyone had such a great time! We got to feed the camels ( one of which almost ate the birthday boy! ) and offer bottles of milk to the goats, too! We saw some exotic animals, and got to pet one of the clydesdales. Ever since Charlie designed the breeding facility for the Budweiser Clydesdales a few years back, we've had a fondness for these giants of the horse world, and it was exciting for me to actually get to see Grant's Farm. (One of these days I hope to make it out to the breeding facility too!)
Liam was baptized the next day, and it was so wonderful to actually be there to celebrate with his family. Leslie and I have been friends for over fifteen years, and have grown even closer over the past couple of years as we've come into motherhood. It's really precious to me that we have boys the same age and that we can walk through this together.
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| already wanting to play behind closed doors... |
Not too long after we got back, a special package arrived in the mail! Our Aggie Rings! When we were in college, Charlie and I weren't too interested in getting them - we didn't have the money, and didn't want to sell out to The Man. It was a decision we didn't regret, and didn't think too much about - until recently. It seems the further removed we get from that season of life, the more nostalgic we get. Texas A&M doesn't seem like "home" as strongly as it once did, but it's definitely a magical place that we don't want to lose ties to. Ironically, both Charlie and I started wanting the rings at the same time, independent of each other, and thought we'd have a lot of convincing to do to get them. Nope! So we ordered them a few months ago and have been anxiously waiting for Ring Day like giddy little seniors. As soon as Charlie's travel schedule settles down a bit, we'll be planning a Ring Dunk party!
We celebrated Thanksgiving with our international students the Friday before the real holiday. It's always fun to introduce our family traditions with our extended family!
Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we loaded up the van and headed to Texas to spend a few days in Horseshoe Bay with my family. Bruce still traveled well, but this was probably our most difficult trip to date. He's at that point where he doesn't want to be strapped down, and isn't interested in watching movies yet. It was hard to keep him happily entertained for eight hours, but we survived decently. A couple of pit stops at the Fried Pied store and then the Dutchman to load up on homemade chocolates definiately helped!
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| The Dutchman on HWY 281 - a must! |
My brother and sister-in-law and two of their kids were there on Tuesday night, and we all had a play date at the park the next day. They had to leave that afternoon to catch a plane to Boston, but more family showed up as they left.
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| My neices Courtney and new Baby Jocelyn! |
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| Me and Mini-me |
We had a great feast on Thanksgiving and then ushered in the Christmas season with the Walk of Lights on Lake LBJ. They expanded their display, and Bruce got to sit on Santa's lap! We didn't have the all-out Christmas Movie and Game Marathon, but we did manage to squeeze in The Santa Clause, Christmas with the Kranks, and the Polar Express, and several rounds of Yahtzee.
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| Cousin Peyton giving Bruce his first taste of Mnu-nu |
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| still always points out the moon... |
On Friday we made our annual pilgrimage to Johnson City to poke around in their Main Street stores and witness the Lighting of the Courthouse. Bruce enhanced everyone's firework experience by laughing hysterically every time one exploded - It melted my heart! They didn't have hay rides this year which was a little disappointing, but on our way home we drove by the forest of lighted trees which was satisfying enough. It was probably for the best because we had a tired little babe to get to bed! We headed back to Oklahoma on Saturday, just in time for Charlie to catch his plane to Las Vegas early Sunday morning!
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| "Dat?!" |
When we weren't on vacation, Bruce had a lot of fun playing around the house and growing up too fast! He's now a pro at walking, and is moving on to grander things... like climbing. He can go anywhere he wants, but is always quick to shoot his hand up for help down the curb or over a doorway's threshold. His new affinity for climbing and general accelerated pace of mobility has definitely made me a nervous wreck though! I find myself whispering quick prayers of thanks for all the near-misses from great catastrophes, but there's always strawberry jelly for the times when the head wallop sends screams reverberating throughout the house.
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| "riding" his barn |
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| Early Christmas gift from Uncle Paul and Aunt Leah! A riding scooter! |
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| somersaults on the horizon... |
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| Look at this big boy sitting at a table to play! |
Bruce and I are still going to the library and nursing home once a week and are enjoying becoming "regulars." The librarians know him by name and he loves to check up on the gerbils they have at the check out counter. He can sit still in my lap for the stories for the most part, but prefers to watch the film projector machine instead of the little movie they show at the end. It's fun that they still use an old projector though! At the nursing home, we definitely bring a lot of smiles with us, and we've started to get to know a few of the residents, too. Lucille gets the best smiles from Bruce, but Mary's his favorite because she lets him ride on her walker's seat. John may not have many teeth, but he's got a giant cowboy hat that of course is a big hit. JoAnn is as looney as they get, but in her sweet, regal southern accent, she dotes on Bruce and swears he'll be a future politician. Mildred might be a little gruff, but she's always up for a good conversation, and Karen swears Bruce is good luck for her Bingo game (even though she's only won one quarter so far).
Speaking of the library gerbils, Bruce is crazy about mice now! Whether it's the real deal in a cage, the little cast iron mice from our barn set, pictures of them in books - this boy thinks they're the best. The other day I made him one out of play-doh and his eyes lit up like it was Christmas, and he toted it around the house, squeezing it to his shoulder - his way of hugging his lovies. Maybe it's time to get another one as a pet?
Bruce still isn't talking really, but that's okay! He babbles off and on all day, and you can hear him squawk, "dat?!" a thousand times a day, wondering what the name of something is. He can point to probably a hundred different words in books now, and can understand several simple commands - so I know he's got some language processing activities going on in that brain of his! I feel like a very educated cave man these days - I have an answer for all his queries. "Dat?" "Table." "Dat?" "Chair." "Dat?" "Shovel." "Dat?" "Handle." "Dat?" and it goes on and on... Even on the "Seven Butterflies" page in the counting book. "Dat?" "That's a butterfly." "Dat?" "That's another butterfly." "Dat?" "That's also a butterfly." "Dat?" "A butterfly." "Dat?" "Another butterfly." I think you get the idea... It's so exciting now though to see that it's not just in one ear and out the other!
As we closed out this month, we had another closing on our calendar! We finished the process of refinancing our home mortgage, and I highly recommend you look into it yourselves! We used an online company called Provident Funding, and went from a 6.5% to a 2.875% interest rate, knocked 10 years off our mortgage, saving us over 70,000 dollars, and our monthly payment still went down by 60 dollars a month! You can't beat that!
Now we're looking forward to the Christmas season, for all the Wonder it brings, keeping in mind the advent of Jesus is what gives us our hope!
Here's a youtube link to Bruce's latest dancing video, I hope it works! Boot Scootin' Baby Bruce
pro at walking! exactly!
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