July 2013

Mornings spent outside

Bled into July sunsets

Enjoying the warmth 

We started off the month with a visit from the grandparents!  My mom and Rick came up from Texas for a few days, and they picked the perfect week to come - we had really pleasant weather and had a lot of fun together!

There were a few planned activities, like showing off our library and Story Time, going to the Natural History Museum for Free First Monday, and our traditional pilgrimage to the local airport to eat breakfast at Ozzie's Diner.  We had a great time with all the little things too though, like Sonic ice cream treats, shopping for Baby Abby, and splashing around in the kiddie pool.

craning to see the planes out the window

first cup of coffee at Ozzie's!

watching planes take off

Bruce loved his time with Papa and Grandma, but all good things must come to an end and they headed home on Thursday morning.  We said goodbye and then headed back to Kansas for another weekend at the wheat farm.

Charlie drove combines, I helped Yvonne with food for the fellas, and Bruce inspected, worked on and test drove every. single. truck. on. the. whole. entire. farm.  And with our powers combined, we helped to wrap up this season's wheat harvest!  

helping with maintenance work

playing in the wheat truck

"hugging" the wheat...

Charlie didn't have to travel the first three weeks of this month, which was awesome!  He did go to Colorado last week and is in Kansas City this week, but we'll be thankful that that was all!  He was able to finish the bathroom, and it looks amazing!  And now, after spending last weekend doing a major cleaning overhaul in the garage - transitioning from bathroom remodeling work stations back to his normal wood shop - he's started working on some new furniture for Bruce's "Big Boy" room.  Currently he's working on a full-wall storage shelf system to help us manage Bruce's ever-growing collection of toys and books and odds and ends, and next on the list is clothes wardrobe.  On top of all that, he still managed to squeeze in lots of guy time with the little man!  The highlight of the month was probably the trip to the motorcycle store though, with the bonus surprise of an antique car show in the parking lot.  Once again, Bruce's adorable face and irresistible personality granted him special privileges and full access to "drive" two super-classy cars worth half a million dollars.  Bruce was in heaven!



Bruce driving the Packard

 

I've been busying myself with a lot of random little projects while Bruce sleeps, like trying to go through closets and whatnot to reorganize our stuff to make room for more stuff, and get rid of the stuff that just can't get crammed anywhere else.  I've also been trying to keep up with the garden as best I can!  I've given up on weeding, and have just been focusing on collecting all the veggies every day and trying to use them or preserve them before they go bad.  We have tomatoes galore, along with quite a few peppers, zucchini, eggplants and okras.  I've been fairly successful, but have still had to toss some to the compost...

"hiding" in the okra

Bruce, at one month shy of two years old, continues to amaze us daily.  He is talking up a storm lately, even with some complete sentences now - and his vocabulary blows me away!  It's a lot of fun talking with him throughout the day to see what goes on in that mind of his - and sometimes it can be so surprising what he's thinking about!  A lot of his curious mind trails come out when he asks us to sing songs about things.  That's one of his favorite things to do right now - usually in the car or before bedtime.  He'll ask us to sing songs about vacuum cleaners or trees or oil pumps, and I've even sang a multi-versed song about the AT&T repair technician per his request.  I have a couple of go-to tunes that just about any lyrics can be sung to, and we've composed a slew of ridiculous songs this month - I wish I had recorded them all!

We weren't planning on delving into the world of potty training until after Christmas, but Bruce has been really interested in all things toilet related.  Just out of curiosity, recently I asked him if he wanted to try to sit on the toilet, and he was all for it.  So we're letting him do what he's enthusiastic about, with no pressure, time lines or goals in mind - and so far it's been great!

Bruce is incredibly excited about his new "Big Boy" room too, which makes us hopeful that the switch will go smoothly when it's time.  The original plan was to move him after his birthday next month, but I caught him trying to climb out of the crib last week, so now I think we'll move him as soon as the room is ready (hopefully by next week).  We bought a little toddler bed off of Craig's List and he insists we do all of our pre-bedtime reading sitting on it.  I'm terrified of "unleashing the beast" at night, and have no idea how hard it will be to keep him in his bed, but it's a milestone we have to reach one day or another, and I think we're at that point.

We're trying to create some fun and engaging play space in Bruce's new room to help alleviate the congestion of toys that end up accumulating in the living room.  We're hoping the tiny bed and the floor-to-ceiling shelves will help give him some actual space of his own - and I think he already loves what we've started preparing for him.

this will be the bottom cabinet/play table under the shelves

Once we get Bruce moved into the new room, we'll start making the nursery a little more girly.  We have no plans of doing anything drastic, just exchanging some of the melons, aquas, and blues for some pinks, fuschias, and purples.  I think there's a balance we need to find between making enough changes for Bruce to know it's going to be Abigail's room now, without making it feel like he's losing his place.

Overall, I think Bruce is excited about Abigail's impending arrival.  He's crazy about babies, points out the hospital when we drive by reminding me that that's where "Abby be born," and enjoys picking out things at the store for Abigail.  Despite the fact that Bruce asks for "Abby come out" on a daily basis, I feel pretty content in letting her incubate for another two months!  Health-wise we're both doing great still, and although my energy level is starting to decline, life is still really manageable.  I don't feel like I have an enormous baby bump yet, but I leave people shocked when I tell them my end-of-September due date, and Bruce tells me all the time to "close Abby" whenever my belly starts to come uncovered a bit...  Needless to say, I'm curious as to what the next two months will bring as Abigail continues to grow and we continue to get ready to bring our sweet baby girl home from the hospital.

Another highlight of the month was a trip to the OKC zoo!  Bruce had been begging to see a peacock (we heard them squealing when we were at the wheat farm, but never could see them) so we planned a trip on "free day" and Granny K was even available to join us there.  We weren't able to stay a really long time, but we were able to see a few peacocks, the giant Galapagos tortoises (another favorite lately), a dancing elephant, a few chimps, and several other animals.  We all had a great time, and Bruce still refers to himself as "monkey" when he's narrating his day...

And man, we love this monkey.
 

June 2013

June means sunny days

And with bare feet and shoulders

We welcome Summer

 

Charlie was in China for the first part of June, making three trips since January.  I'd like to say the end of these extended travel trips is in sight... but there's another one on the calendar for the beginning of August.  Yes, it’s difficult on all of us, but we're learning how to "do this" and it isn't so terrible.  I think this go around was especially challenging for Charlie though - the stress of meeting for and working on several different projects there, combined with the cultural "differences," being away from home, battling exhaustion while trying to keep a cold at bay - let's just say that he was happy to come home.  And we were happy to have him home.

 

While Charlie was gone, Bruce and I spent a lot of time watching the weather.  Thankfully, all that came of it was rain.  And more rain.  And even some more rain.  I don't know what the official "amount" is to date so far this year, but considering last year we qualified as having a "desert" climate, I think it's safe to say the drought is over.  All the rain swamped our garden, actually hindering it more than helping I think, but now things have dried out again and the plants have exploded into life!  We’ve picked our first tomatoes and small peppers, and there are tons of tiny zucchini that should be ready any day now.

 

 

Bruce and I had a few little things on our calendar while Charlie was away that kept us fairly busy, but when the weekends arrived, we headed for the farm.  We found time to throw rocks in the creek, transplant some flowers in the garden, go nuts over Charlie’s old matchbox cars, and of course, drive various farm vehicles.  Granny K even took us to the John Deere Tractor supply store and let Bruce pick out any toy he wanted.  He quickly snatched up a little lawn tractor toy and immediately convinced us it was time to “pay,” which is what he says repeatedly anytime he’s tired of shopping with me and ready to go.  That boy has been obsessed with lawn mowers lately!

 

 

 

When Bruce and I are just hanging around the house, we’ve found a few activities that occupy our time nicely.  He loves play-doh, and it’s great fun until he decides he can’t resist eating it, and then we have to put it away.  He doesn’t really mold it much himself yet, but he loves telling me what to make with it, and then he starts to giggle as soon as he can recognize what I’m making.  Either I’m a stinkin’ good sculptor, or he’s got a great imagination, because he always approves of my creations, regardless if they look like the item he’s asked for or not.  Not to brag, but I do make a pretty spectacular string bass, which is one of his favorite things to request.  Then he’ll ask me to make a “stick” and he’ll sit and play his bass for the longest time… until he decides he has to eat it.  Naturally, our budding musician often wants us to make him play-doh instruments - so along with a bass, I also have a trumpet, trombone, guitar, saxophone and various drums in my repertoire.  The trombone probably should have been classified as a failure, but Bruce didn’t seem to notice and still jazz-danced with it around the living room.         

 

We still hardly go a day without a family “jam session,” and Bruce has been trying really hard to figure out how to play the harmonica lately.  He just can’t seem to blow hard enough for it to make a sound, so he just hums into it instead.  Whatever works, right?  Charlie got the electric guitar out of the closet for the first time this month and Bruce has been in heaven.  We haven’t plugged it in to an amp for him yet, but Bruce still thinks it’s pretty special because it looks like “that guy’s” (referring to the coffee table book pictures of Bruce Springsteen) guitar.  Other news on the music front - Bruce got a new guitar this month!  We already had a small guitar that was Charlie’s when he was younger, but you could never tune it right, so it always sounded a little wonky.  Charlie had some leftover Christmas money burning a hole in his pocket, so he bought Bruce a nicer miniature guitar that looks “just like Daddy’s.”  As you might have imagined, the gift was a big hit.  I was pulling for the ukulele at the store, but it wasn’t my money.  Maybe Abigail will need one of those in a few years?     

Another fun activity that we’ve enjoyed this month is floral design, initiated by Bruce!  It started with a few dandelions and one little bud vase, but has grown to all sorts of flowers from around the yard and every single bud vase I can find in the house.  We have a rose bush on the side of the house that I’ve never really appreciated because it’s ugly and scraggly and the red blooms aren’t really red - more like a cheap orange, but man I’ve loved that bush this season!  I can clip as many flowers off for Bruce as he wishes without even batting an eye.  And they’ve become beautiful to me.  

As many people have noticed around here, one of Bruce’s favorite things to do is push things around.  Previously he’s had a walker toy, a shopping cart and a lawn mower to satisfy this desire, but this month he’s also added two doll strollers, courtesy of the always-generous neighbor girls, and a miniature wheel barrow, courtesy of the sucker store lady at Lowe’s who said Bruce looked so adorable pushing it around the store collecting plumbing supplies that we could have it 50% off, and the sucker we call Daddy who shelled out the other 50% while Mama was across the street at Wal-mart getting groceries.  He indiscriminately rotates between the wheeled objects, but always seems to want to be pushing one of them around. 

 

I guess I can’t give Charlie a hard time about getting Bruce the wheel barrow, because last week I got him a kiddie pool.  Nothing fancy, just one of those cheap plastic ones that you don’t have to feel guilty about throwing out at the end of summer when you don’t feel like storing it.  I say I bought it for Bruce, but really I think I bought it for Abigail.  And seeing as how I’m Abigail’s host for the next few months, I’ve been enjoying wallowing in the kiddie pool thoroughly while Bruce runs around the backyard like a banshee, completely unfazed by the heat.

 

Speaking of Abigail, she’s doing just fine!  I don’t have too much to report on her, other than things are progressing normally, and her movements are sending ripples across my belly that you can see now.  By this time of summer while pregnant with Bruce, my ankles were already turning into puffy monsters, but so far so good with Abigail.  No swelling yet, and physically I’m still feeling really good and energized, so I can’t complain!  I'm not sure if Bruce has clued in to what's all going on, but when you ask him what's in my belly, he'll say, "a baby," and when you ask what the baby's name is, he'll say, "Abby."  Those might be conditioned responses though, who knows.  I know it'll completely rock his world when she finally arrives, but we're trying to get him as used to the idea of a new baby as best we can. 

 

Charlie made it home from China in time for Father’s Day, and we celebrated throughout the weekend by doing a lot of fun things together.  We started Saturday morning off by heading to the train station in Norman bright and early.  Charlie has always loved train rides, and Bruce has become a lot more interested in them lately, (Is it because he’s almost 2?  It seems all two year old boys love trains…) so the two of them hopped on the Amtrak train and rode it one stop south.  It was only a 15-minute ride, but that’s about the length of Bruce’s attention span these days, so it was ideal. 

 

I drove the van and met them at the station, and then we headed down the road to a cute little shack called the Railhead Diner for some awesome fried pies.  If people can justify eating donuts in the morning, why not fried pies?

 

That afternoon we went to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History.  I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love that museum!  We’ve gone several times lately because for the WHOLE month of June, admission has been FREE!  You can’t beat that. 

 

Sunday afternoon we went to the Splash Pad in Noble for some fun in the sun!  The one in Noble isn’t as fancy as the ones in Norman – there are no rainbow misters, or automatic dump buckets, or water canons – just small fountains that squirt up from the concrete slab – but I actually think it’s better for Bruce.  You still get all the benefits and fun of running around in water, without all the unexpected water surprises or annoying probably-too-old-for-splash-pad crazy teenagers.  Bruce loved it!  And getting sno-cones afterwards topped off the day nicely.

 

 

 

 

When I asked Bruce what he thought Daddy would want for a gift for Father’s Day, he said a “gun.”  Hmmm…. I was caught a little off guard by that one.  We found some fun water guns at the dollar store though that were easy enough for Bruce to operate, so we picked a couple of those up and the fellas had a little showdown in the back yard!

 

I would say that the weekend was perfect.  Almost.  Unfortunately, we had to say good-bye to our very favorite animal friend, Mr. Pants. 

We adopted Mr. Pants as a (best guess) two year old cat off the farm seven years ago, and he’s been a special member of our family ever since.  His name was Calvin then, but we quickly changed that – naturally he preferred to be called Mr. Pants.  We were sad to miss out on the cutesy kitten phase, but thought it was well worth it to know we were getting a great cat with an irresistible personality. 

He didn’t live with us long before we realized he had some fairly significant health issues.  All the blood tests the vets performed couldn’t tell us what was wrong with him, and we weren’t on board with starting the expensive process of biopsying various organs, so we opted to put him on an inexpensive prednisone pill, a somewhat special diet, and love him really well. 

He didn’t seem to “suffer” with his illness really, and most of the time seemed perfectly normal.  Once every couple of months though he would have what we coined a “yak attack” and spend a few days puking all over the house.  Not fun for anyone, but we found a good carpet cleaner and learned to live with it.

The past year or so we had noticed Pant’s health starting to decline, and his demeanor turned a little more grouchy, and although we were aware that this would happen sooner for him than most cats, he still seemed pretty “normal” to us.

 

Then, a few days before Father’s Day, Mr. Pants began another cycle of his yak attacks.  He kind of isolated himself a little, but we didn’t think too much of it, figuring he’d snap out of it like all the previous times before. 

 

By Saturday night though, we realized that this time was different.  His breathing was heavier, and his eyes seemed “off” and it just felt different.  We brought him to bed with us to snuggle - planning to bring him to the vet in the morning if things hadn’t improved, but feeling doubtful he would make it through the night. 

Sunday morning Charlie woke up and found him in the bathroom, still struggling.  So he petted him for ten or fifteen minutes until he stopped struggling and let go.  It was like he was waiting for Charlie to be with him, or that him being there gave him the assurance to relax and let nature take over.  Either way, it was a bittersweet moment but I’m happy that Charlie was there for it. 

 

So where are we now with it all?  Doing well for the most part.  We loved that cat like crazy and will miss him dearly, but overall feel that it was probably for the best.  We’re thankful that he died before he got to a point of suffering with his illness.  We’re still in that awkward phase though where we forget that he’s gone – I still halfway expect to see him suspiciously perched to ambush us in the hallway, or waiting patiently at the backdoor to be let in at dusk after an afternoon of basking in the sun and chasing off Fluffy Gray, his neighborhood nemesis.  But he’s never there anymore.  And it’s sad, but it’s okay.

 

So far, Bruce doesn’t seem to be affected by it at all, which is a welcomed relief.  Since Pants was an indoor/outdoor cat, I think maybe Bruce just thinks he’s outside or something.  I’m not really sure what goes on inside of that little head of his, but he doesn’t seemed to be bothered by the cat’s absence, and I’m thankful I don’t have to try and explain the situation to him.  I’m sure it will come up eventually, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. 

The weekend after Father’s Day, we packed up the van and drove to Kansas to join in the wheat harvest.  I really should capitalize Wheat Harvest I guess, because it’s quite the event.  Charlie manned a combine for the weekend, and Bruce and I tagged along to experience various aspects of the operation.  We spent a few hours in the combine, hypnotized by the spinning auger reeling in acres of wheat heads, made a couple trips with a farmhand to the grain elevator in one of the wheat trucks, and chauffeured some guys from field to field when they needed to move the equipment.  Bruce took it all in with wide eyes, an open mouth, and an eager spirit.  The only complaints really were when the shifter stick in the trucks became a “no touch,” or when the combine’s steering wheel was “Daddy’s turn,” or when it was time to return from the fields for a midday nap or bedtime.  It was a great weekend. 

 

 

 

 

We returned from the farm with one thing on our mind – we have to finish the bathroom!  My mom and Rick are coming for a visit the first part of July, and we wanted to have the project completed before they got here.  The last few steps have been the most tedious of all, with a lot of hiccups along the way.  I’ve finally been able to help a little though, which has made me feel a little more useful and I think helped Charlie feel a little more hopeful that the end is near.  It won't be completely finished for our "visitors," but we're getting sooooo close!     

Now we’re just waiting to hear their car drive up today, because we’ve got some busy days planned ahead for playing with the grandparents!