Pictures!

Here are a few pictures that have been taken the past several days. (and oh my gosh how i wish i had a better camera...)

First off, I wanted to post the picture of the cart/highchair cover that I made for Jude. I have already noted several design adjustments that need to be made to it. Honestly, I'll probably end up making an entirely new one for him once I find another fabric that I like. Anyway, here he is in the cart at the end of our HEB trip on Sunday. This is one of their larger baskets and it fits just fine. It originally had a drawstring, but I never felt like it was tight enough and I always had this massive length of string hanging from the cover to do something with. So I pulled out the drawstring and replaced it with elastic. Works like a charm! Fits sooooooo much better.

The coolest thing about this cart cover is that my sister-in-law's friend Astrid (our new playdate buddy!) checked it out in person yesterday and has commissioned me to make one for her!! I can't wait to get it going. We also bought me a table this weekend so that I can set my sewing machine up in a permanent location and I won't have to pull it out of the box every time I need it. I'm very excited at the thought of my own little sewing spot...even if I will be a bit cramped for storage space.

The next set of pics are from Saturday evening. We got some Pizza Hut and took it over to Terry's dad's house and he got to spend some time with the kids. We were out in his back yard for a while because we had a visit from the horse that lives on the lot behind his house.

Jude and Cecilia wandering around outside


Jude and Grandad

Cecilia checking out the Antlion trap that Mr. Morgan pointed out to her

....and one of her notorious lovely faces for the camera.

Mr. Morgan and his "puppies", Penny (l) and Cooper (r)

Cecilia feeding Penny a biscuit because they were so well-behaved around the kids

And last, but not least, here are just a couple of cute pics from home.

Jude lined all of his cars up on the windowsill one morning. Thought it was too cute.

....and just a big cheesy grin to end this post!

Have a great rest of the week!!

God in the grocery store....

Yesterday was just another Sunday, same routine, same schedules....

...but as anyone knows about life....no one day is exactly the same as another. God always sneaks those little lessons in there to remind you of just how remarkable and mysterious His creations are and more importantly how remarkable His love is.

In recent years I have become more aware of these little "mysteries" and I find myself marveling at least once a day (but probably should be MUCH more) at His amazing design.

Back to yesterday...it was a "typical" day...go to church, eat lunch, spend too much money at Target, buy groceries and head home to get Jude down for a real nap since his morning one is usually preempted or disturbed by the aforementioned schedule.

The day went as planned, church was crowded (had to sit on the opposite side of the sanctuary...GASP!), lunch was yummy (tried an actual meal at the new DQ in Tomball), spent too much money at Target when we had only planned on getting 2 or 3 things...and then it was off to the grocery store...our little worn out troop in tow.

Jude has been cutting his first year molars this past week and has been crazy clingy/whiny/annoying. And since he is a big ol' Daddy's boy, he cries like a madman every time Terry leaves his sight. In church I was merely taking Jude to change his diaper and he screamed the whole way out of the sanctuary and into the restroom. Not like him at all. Usually such a well-adjusted kid.

Anyway, by the time we got to the grocery store I was getting to the fed-up stage. I was feeling helpless about what to do for Jude who kept fussing for no reason and I was frustrated with Terry for continually falling victim to the little manipulator's cries (which shut off instantly as soon as Daddy plucked him from the shopping cart). I know that instead of being helpless and frustrated I should have taken 5 seconds to say a little prayer for patience and understanding, but I didn't.

So here we are making our way through the store, Terry carrying Jude in his arms, letting him "help" put stuff in the cart, Cecilia pushing the cart and very likely annoyingly yapping my ear off and me...poor me....just feeling sorry for my whole irritated situation.

Then out of the blue comes this HUGE wail...like an alarm you've never heard, sending waves of disturbance straight down to my very core. Over and over I hear this scream. I can't even pinpoint what is making the noise...only what direction it is coming from. The other end of our aisle is what I deduct. The noise keeps coming. It starts like a blood-curdling scream, but ends on such an odd note that I STILL can't figure out what it is. Cecilia and I are looking at each other with faces of confusion and shock and by this point I am ready to walk over there and see for myself what it is. Then I hear it coming up the next aisle over. I decide to mosey on around to "glance" down that aisle to um...yeah...."check to see if I need anything that way". So yes, I was just going to be nosey. Anyway, I head around that way and as I come around the corner of my aisle I hear a grown man from my right side laughing out loud at what I am about to see on my left side. It was simply a boy...not a small boy, mind you, but a boy who is at least 12 years old, sitting in the cart that his father is pushing. The boy is screaming out...at maybe 3 second intervals, making this horrific noise. He isn't visually upset or throwing a fit....just making the noise.

My first reaction was anger. Not at this boy and his father, but at the grown man who I hear laughing behind me. It is obvious that the boy in the cart is autistic and truly has no control over what noises he makes or how he behaves. And in that 2 second interaction between me, the laughing man, the boy and his father, I am struck with shame.

Shame first of all that I feel for the man who is laughing at this boy. How dare he?! Even if there were nothing wrong with the boy and we were just seeing a VERY strange parenting style in play, there is no reason for someone to LAUGH OUT LOUD at someone who is obviously going through a tough moment. I found that so incredibly ridiculous, insensitive and ignorant.

The other shame I felt was for myself.

The boy and father passed me and my oh-so-non-chalant glance down their aisle, so I turned to head back to my crew and then I saw them from behind..the boy still screaming methodically and the father....that father...doing all he knew to do for his son who was obviously having his version of a meltdown as they tried to clear out of the store. All that father could do for his son was rub his son's head...rub his head as if to say, "I'm sorry son. I'm sorry that you're having a tough time. I'll do what I can to make it better, but just know that I love you no matter how bad things are".

How ashamed I felt. How ashamed I feel now as I cry just writing this out. My little son...blessed with good health...not challenged with blindness, deafness or autism...only causing me a moment's grief in the lifetime of happiness that he will give me and his family. Here I was angry with him for irritating me. Now how ridiculous is that? How much worse am I than that stupid laughing man? I have love given to me daily from the 3 precious people that I live with and I dismiss that love instantly with my frustration and irritation. Why can I not excuse my children's imperfections as easily as Jesus forgives my massive sins daily?

Do I dare to believe that I am better than Jesus?

No, of course not.

I will never be able to give my family the perfect love that they deserve, because perfect love only comes from God. But I can do more for them than I have been. I can appreciate the miracle they have been to me. I pray that the Holy Spirit keeps lighting that fire of recognition that was lit yesterday in the grocery store. I don't want to forget how much love I have been given and I don't want to waste another moment being "irritated" when I have so much love to give.

I hope to always remember that perfect love that started with a Father and a Son....

1 John 4:7-12

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

She's Crafty.....

Haha...I've heard a few times lately that I've become "crafty". Not so much become I guess as just inspired to do what I've always been interested in doing. As of late, aside from taking care of the kiddos, I can do nothing but think of my sewing machine. Crazy, huh? I'm always hunting for projects to do and am dying to get my hands on some great fabrics to make things out of.

As of now, I have completed 4 "major" projects (start to finish) and 1 "fix" project (changing something to make it better). The first thing I made was done at the beginning of June for a birthday party that Cecilia was invited to. I had found this project online and thought it would be a perfect present for a 10 year old's birthday at the beginning of summer!

Here is Cecilia so joyfully modeling the beach towel bag that I made:

Here is the bag and the matching towel that was given with it:

I also bought some flip flops to complete the set. I saw the girl at another party just a week or so ago (swim party) and she was using the bag! I was so happy that it was being put to good use!

My next project was a grocery cart/restaurant high chair cover for Jude. He had one that would only work in a grocery cart, but had nothing for those nasty high chairs. I found a basic pattern online and went with it. I don't have a picture of it yet because it would have to be taken while in use. I'll try to get one soon.

The next thing I made was a little project that didn't take too much time at all. I made luggage handle covers for my sister-in-law Leslie and my mother. The purpose is supposed to be easy identification in the sea of black rolling luggage that everyone (including me) has these days. Since Les and my mom travel so much, I thought I'd make them these as a little gift. They came out super cute and Leslie reported after her trip back home that it came in handy at the airport! Unfortunately I don't have a picture yet of these either. I'll get one as soon as I can get one of them to take a pic for me.

My little "fix" project was to FINALLY finish up the sheer that covers my backdoor window. The piece that was on there originally was meant for a long sidewindow that would be alongside a door. I never could find a sheer that I liked in this style for my backdoor, so we just had the long piece folded in half for privacy's sake.

All I then had to do was cut the thing in half, hem up the cut sides to make the bottom and make a casing for the rod in the bottom section. Easy peasy! (sorry there's no before picture)

My most recent project was to make my own pincushion. I didn't have one and every good sewing machine artisan (ha!) needs one! With the help of a buttload of fabric from my best friend Scott's mom, I found some great colors and went to work. I think it came out great. Terry was even impressed! Here are pictures of the top and bottom of it:

That's all for now. I'll work on getting those missing pictures up. Off to create my next project!

The Playdate!

I can't believe I'm just now getting around to posting about our first official playdate ever!

We finally got it together and arranged a playdate with my sister-in-law's best friend Astrid. She has triplets that are 15 1/2 months old. Jude has been needing to be exposed to other children his age (although at times I think his sister can act like a 1 year old...but I guess it's not quite the same for him). When his cousin Ryan was here a couple of weeks ago Jude would just freak out (happily) and would be on top of him constantly, trying to grab his head and such. Poor Ryan didn't know what to think of this crazy kid!

Anyway, the playdate went very well! We plan on doing it again real soon. The kids played well together and Jude was so busy checking out all the new toys that he didn't grab one head!! Unfortunately he also discovered something very new to him....pacifiers. Astrid's girls use them and Jude would try to grab any that he would see and pop it in his mouth. We figured it was mainly because he saw them using the pacifiers and wanted to copy it. I kept piling them up to keep them away, but he kept finding them. It was quite funny to an extent though.

Here is my boy...paci and all...

Playing with Ian

Cecilia getting a hug from the little charmer




Such a sweet face!




Sofi (love the face!) and Ian






Sweet Sofi





Sofi and her momma






Snuggle-bear Gabi...wouldn't leave Cecilia's side most of the time!

And last but not least...lots of kids cramming through a small space!

Seriously can't wait to do this again. I'll just have to bring Jude his own personal paci next time so he'll leave theirs alone! HAHA!!

Here is the link to Astrid's blog where you can read all about her beautiful blessings: http://www.survivingtriplets.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend!

The Cousins

Here are the pictures that we had done of the cousins while Leslie and Ryan were in town.

They came out super cute! Enjoy!

One year photos!!

I can't believe he's already a year old!!!

The "eyes" have it

Just wanted to make this quick post about a couple of occurrences this week.

Monday was an eventful day for both of the kids' eyes.

First thing that morning, just after I put Jude down from feeding him his bottle, he was taking the whole 3 steps from the recliner to the coffee table in front of me and as he reached to grab the table, he missed....

Well, he went straight down to the ground, but not before grazing his right eye/cheek on the edge of the table. it resulted in a nice little "black eye". I'm such a great mother.....

Fortunately it didn't turn out as bad as it could have and he was happy as a clam for the rest of the day as you can tell in the photo below. (the left eye looks puffy, but he had just gotten up from a nap)


















As for Cecilia, she didn't have as much of a traumatic day. We went to the eye doctor to pick up her new glasses. At first she was very self-conscious of them...thought they were too big and noticeable. She was in an especially bad mood when we went to Target by our house after picking them up and was afraid she'd see someone she knew from school. But by the end of the day, she decided that she actually liked them and thought they were pretty cool. (She is still in eager anticipation for the day when I allow her to get contacts)

On a side note, I have to post this pic of the shirt that my parents got for Jude in San Antonio. I think it's really funny....and so appropriate!




















Oh! One more thing....gotta say a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the AWESOME rain we received yesterday!!! We haven't seen ANY rainfall here at our house for at least 2 months. Needless to say, we've lost part of our lawn and added to our water bill during that time. We've even had some trees in danger because of lack of water. Not small trees either! Well, we got a good rain yesterday that lasted for about 7 hours. 2.5 inches in the rain gauge! YAY!! That will save us at least a few days of watering the grass. Thank you Lord!!

The 4th

Our fourth of July celebration wasn't a big one. We tend to stay home on days like these....enjoying the extra day off usually, although this time around, Terry was finishing up his week of vacation.

We started the Saturday with a planned lunch at my father-in-law's house, where we were going to grill burgers and such before my sister-in-law, Leslie, had to leave for the airport. As we were getting out of the car at his house, my father-in-law greeted us on the driveway only to let us know that he thought the AC had just gone out. .....uh....it was gonna be a hot day too. well, we hoped for the best and at first thought that the AC had started working again. When we got there, the temp in the house was about 80 degrees. Well....it started warming up....

We got our burgers done, ate lunch quickly and cleaned up. All the while getting more and more miserable. We were pressed for time since we had to get Les to the airport by 4pm, so we had no time to relocate our party. We had a quick birthday cake celebration for Ryan, Jude, and Mr. Morgan whose birthdays have just passed and for Leslie whose birthday is this week. (please excuse my singing on the video...i forgot that i would be heard so loudly)

As soon as we ate a bite of cake and ice cream (Blue Bell of course!), we packed up Les and Ryan and I took them to the airport. We were so glad to get in that cold car AC. We also were sure to stop by Sonic's "happy hour" (half-price!) and get a cold slush to go. (oh, and by the time we left the house it was almost 90 degrees inside...blech!)

Anyway, we are always sad to see Leslie and Ryan go. But I am satisfied that they got to spend a lot of time with us and her dad. It was a great visit overall. We also took the kids last Friday to get pics taken. I'll post it after I pick them up later this week.

As far as our personal 4th of July celebration went, we just bought a small pack of sparklers so that Jude could see one for the first time. He didn't mind them at all. We had more fun playing with my camera settings so that we could catch the movement of the sparklers in the dark. We caught some pretty cool pics...

The other part of our celebration came on Sunday at church. Our church always has a beautiful patriotic service complete with a full brass section, choir, armed services anthems and the Ross Volunteer Color Guard from Texas A&M to post the colors at the beginning of the service. Always neat to see. Afterwards they provide a hot dog lunch and outdoor fun for all. But the highlight for the past 2 years has been the arrival of an Army Apache helicopter. One of our members is an Apache pilot. Here is a pic just after they arrived.

And this...this is just so amazing to me! Terry took a pic with Jude last year next to the helicopter, and then again this year. Here is the comparison....

It's crazy how much a kid can grow in just 1 year!

I have to throw in this last pic just because it is so cute. Terry was swinging with Jude and he was just having a blast. Those are Cecilia's legs in the background...

Well that's it for now. I did mean to talk about the stuff I've made lately....but that will just have to wait until another time.