In everything, a lesson...

In preparing and cleaning out for the new baby, we have been taking loads of baby items and clothes to the Pregnancy Care Center here in town. It is a great ministry helping young Moms facing unexpected pregnancy. The center does its best to educate and counsel these women about the emotional and spiritual effects of abortion and prays with them, hoping to show them that God has a plan for each baby He creates. The women who choose LIFE, be it through parenting or adoption, can become clients and receive benefits and services. In exchange for attending Bible Study or classes in infant care, breast-feeding, etc. they receive "Diaper Dollars" to use in the Care Closet, which is full of donated baby clothes, maternity clothes, highchairs, etc. to help them ease the burden of a new baby. I love the ministry and the Director, Rose, is a wonderful woman.

Before making a donation, I always tell Jack where we are going, (he calls it the "Baby Place") and why we are donating our things, hoping he'll understand that we are helping other little boys who may not have very many new toys, etc. In the beginning, he would suddenly become attached to the items we were donating. Although these items have been completely ignored for at least a year, they would become precious as they were about to be donated. So, we would go through this each time, but he is now getting the hang of it. I tell him that it makes God very happy to see His children sharing their toys and clothes.

Each time we have visited, Jack has seen a particular Batmobile in the Care Closet and I let him play with it while we unload the items from my car. He loves that thing. Every time we leave, he asks Ms. Rose if he can take it home. She says, "Of course, sweetie, if it's okay with your Mom." I always refuse, since that totally defeats the purpose of our visit and undermines the whole lesson of giving.

Anyway, at our most recent visit, we dropped off a box of women's clothes, a bedding set, a box of baby clothes, and a timeout chair. Hoping he had forgotten about it, I was surprised when we turned into the parking lot and he immediately said, "Can I play with the "Batman Movile" when we get inside?" These kids have amazing memories. Much to my dismay, it is still there, and I know he is going to, once again, ask to take it home.

At the end of the visit, sure enough, he asks Ms. Rose. I feel bad as I realize he has now donated three full boxes of his toys, and has never really complained as we leave empty-handed. On the other hand, I don't want him to think that he gets something new, especially at the Pregnancy Care Center where he is supposed to be learning to GIVE, not to TAKE. Well, after a sad face from him and Rose and a "please, please, Momma?" I agree to let him have it. Rose is thrilled and so is Jack Everett. This "Batman Movile" is huge and he absolutely loves it.

We get in the car, and fearing that the entire life lesson has been lost, I ask him to explain why we give toys to the "Baby Place."

He immediately pipes up from the back seat, "I gived the kids my Timeout Chair and they gived me this awesome Batman Movile!"

Oh, great.

Jack swims "on his own"

Finally, Jack lets go and swims on his own for the first time! We have tried arm floaties and life jackets, but he cannot stand the sensation of floating without being held.


Today, it just took a little peer pressure, and Alli Jean's mastery of the inner tube did the trick. He was so excited, so Mommy got the camera!

Notice how he sorta panics when he experiences a slight splash of water into his mouth.

Oh well... practice makes perfect and the summer is still young!

"We're Back!!!" (Vacation Part Two - Virginia)

Summer Vacation, continued... on to Vienna, Virginia!

Sandra, Trevor, Jack Everett and I enjoyed Mexican food in Virginia Friday night before heading to see their new home for the first time. It's so cute, and as they showed me around, I remembered the bliss of newlywed life, new home ownership, and the overall sense of possibility and excitement for the future. I am so excited for both of them, and it really made me wish Jeff was with us. I just realized I didn't take any pictures of the house - except this cute one of Jack on the back balcony.

Sandra found out there was a carnival within walking distance of her house, so we decided to check it out the next morning. It turned out to be AWESOME. It was called "!Viva Vienna!" and we had a great time! Jack Everett was just tall enough to ride dozens of rides and we got him an all-day arm band for $30.00. It was the best $30 bucks I have spent in a long time!



We started off with the slow train, unsure how he would feel about riding by himself. After one unsure lap on the track, he was okay with it, and had a total blast for the rest of the day. I was proud of myself, and even surprised Sandra a little. I let go of all inhibitions about him riding alone, all fears about germs, about rickety carnival rides, and about sanitation, as Jack and I even used a porta-potty three times. Yep. I have come a long way. Jack seemed to feel such esteem by my trust in him to wait in line, ride by himself, and come out of the rides like a big boy. He really is growing up, and the truth is, in a couple of months he will have no choice but to do many things by himself. I was so proud of him, and proud of myself too.

Here are some pics from some of his favorite carnival rides:



Time for the Ferris Wheel! I was way too pregnant to ride (and needed to take pictures...) so Sandra and Trevor rode with him. It was so cute, and he was not at all afraid! We discussed it later, and Jeff definitely would NOT have let him ride this Ferris wheel.



It was quite unnerving seeing him at the top of this thing!



Sandra and Trevor decided to ride the "Cliffhanger." It was a crazy ride where you are hang gliding in circles on your belly. They said afterwards that they actually feared for their lives on this ride.



No vacation with a 3-yr-old boy is complete without a story involving pee-pee. Throughout the day at the carnival, I actually let Jack climb in and out of a "Germ Gym" as Emily calls them. It's a toddler fun house of sorts where they go through a plastic maze, into the plastic ball pit, up a cargo net, across a bridge, then down a red slide. Kid after kid after kid went through this Germ Gym and came out, covered in static flying down this red slide. So, at the end of the evening, he came down the slide, and sat at the bottom for an unusually long time. I snapped this photo before realizing that he was sitting there peeing at the bottom of the slide, thus the wet shorts and concerned look on his face. So, after I stood him up, a little boy splashed through the puddle. I could hardly look at his Dad's face when I told him why his son's back was all wet. I felt terrible.

So there I am, bent over the slide, calling out to the ride operator/ticket taker to stop the kids from coming down. The next boy comes down FACE FIRST and I stop him with my arm just before he gets wet. One, two, three kids come down, all piling up behind this poor kid who is suspended face first over the puddle. FINALLY, someone dries it all up (no clorox or soap) and the backed up channel of kids can come down. The ride continues. Kid after kid used that same slide for the rest of the weekend. So, again, it is confirmed that those play lands are absolutely disgusting.

It was such a great day! He was worn out by the end of the day, and so were we. The weather was so pleasant. That same carnival would have been miserably hot in San Antonio. That night we played UNO, did a Transformers puzzle, and Jack entertained us until bedtime.

The next morning, I cried as I walked into the airport to return home. I cried, knowing Sandra would not be there when my baby boy was born and that made me sad.



Jack loved the moving walkway at the Chicago airport during our 3-hour layover. We rode it at least ten times - each way, walking in circles. He never tried to run, and never tried to pass anyone. It was hilarious.

After 8 1/2 hours of travelling, it was great to finally be home and it was so good to see Jeff. I was thrilled when Mom offered to keep Jack Everett for me the next day (all day) while I unpacked and recovered.

When he got up that next morning, he came out of his room with his Spiderman pajamas and his crab hat on. It's sure good to be back.

To see all pics from Vacation Part Two, click here!

"We're Back!!!" (Vacation Part One - Maryland)

Jack and I had a great trip together to Maryland/Virginia to see my best friends Emily and Sandra. We experienced many "firsts" and I anticipate this will be a long blog post, so here goes.

We arrived at the San Antonio airport around 7:30am, so Jack was pretty groggy. Seeing that I was 8 months pregnant, with stroller, we were swept away past the normal security lines and got to use the pilot/crew line to scan our carry-ons. It all happened so fast that I had no time to explain to my sleepy toddler what was about to happen. Suddenly, the big "police man" is telling Jack to get out of his stroller because we have to put it up onto the conveyor belt. Jack screamed, "Don't take my stroller!" While I am unloading everything, Jack is screaming. To make matters worse, the man says, "We will need to take off his shoes as well as yours." Fantastic.

Little does Mr. Serious know, Jack is wearing his brand new big-boy "Belcro" shoes that he put on that morning all by himself. This request sent Jack over the edge. As the harried crew members are passing us up and rolling their eyes, I lift Jack like a screaming sack of potatoes and carry him through the metal detectors. Later I realize, the only time little boys see conveyor belts are in cartoons when something is going down the belt to be chopped into a million little pieces. I felt so bad. He was truly scared.

To make matters worse, they take a while to give our bags back to us, because they see his EpiPen in the carry-on, and proceed to ask me a million questions. Little did I know that answering "yes" to the question, "Does the little guy have a peanut allergy?" would throw us into another flight adventure altogether - more on that later. So, after calming him down, getting everything back in good order, putting his Belcro shoes back on, and lots of candy at 8am, we were ready to head for our gate and start the fun part - our first time flying in the huge airplane!

We were approached to complete a "Peanut Dust Allergy Alert" form with four perforated parts. One part was for the front flight attendant, one for the back flight attendant, one for the gate attendant, and one for Jack to keep with him. This Peanut Allergy afforded us "Pre-boarding" privileges as well. I felt bad that they were going through so much trouble, since his peanut allergy is really very mild, but I was glad that they had such a protocol and took it so seriously. Before leaving the terminal, the crew made an overhead announcement about the "Peanut Allergy on board" and asked that everyone refrain from eating snacks that may contain peanuts or peanut butter. They informed everyone that they'd be serving Cheez Nips in lieu of peanuts, and even made Jack Griffin press his call light button to show all flight attendants where we were sitting. Anyway, this same 4-part form/announcement, etc. was necessary for all four flights to and from BWI.

The really ironic thing is that Jack Everett is far more allergic to Cheez Nips than to peanuts.

Up, up, and away!

He was great on the plane, and loved looking out the window. Fitting him and his big Mama in the airplane bathroom (like twelve times) was quite a sight.



Emily and Evan (8 months) greeted us at the Baltimore (BWI) airport, and it was so great to see her and to finally get to meet him. Pictures don't do him justice - he is SO cute and has such a great demeanor.



We went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore where we were surprised to find that strollers were not allowed. I felt so bad as Emily had to carry 20-lb Evan on her chest in a borrowed baby pack. We made the best of it. We could not resist these matching crab hats for the boys!



We swam at the local indoor pool - Evan's first swim!



We took a walk to the neighborhood park - Evan's first swing! Which of these two boys is getting a little too big for the baby swing?

And finally, we took pictures in matching shirts.

It was a totally relaxing visit, but gave me a small peek into what it would be like to have two boys for a few days. One afternoon when they were both getting hungry and sleepy, I stopped Emily to say, "Can you imagine? This is how it would be for me if these were both my children!"

It was awesome to see Emily as a Mother. Evan adores her. She is a natural, and I can't wait to watch Evan grow up. I am so glad we got to see them, and Jack can't stop talking about "Baby Evan."

She took us to the Metro station Friday night to meet Sandra and Trevor... It was hard to leave because I know it will likely be quite some time before I see her or Evan again. Thank goodness for blogging...

For all pics from Vacation, Part One - click here!

Right up my alley.

Jeff and I are on a mission. We know that very few weekends remain where we will have one child. We plan to fill our remaining Saturdays sans baby with family fun! Tonight, we went bowling and had a really great time.

His first strike rolling the ball with a little help from Daddy. High five!

Finally, we were able to use the bowling ramp, which doubles the amount of fun (and independence) for a 3-yr-old. It was so cute that Jack and Jeff had matching bowling shoes.

"Momma, are you watching?"

Using standard bowling form...

STRIKE TWO! (Or "Stripe" as he called it.) Woo hoo!

His total score was 80. His Pappy would be so proud!