The Great Wolf Lodge

So last weekend we took a trip to The Great Wolf Lodge a.k.a. a parent's worst nightmare. When we got there (at 10:30 at night . . . see last post for that ridiculous drama) the place was crawling with kids in pajamas running around with wands. It's like Vegas for kids. And like I said, it's a parent's worst nightmare. Generally speaking, even with Andrew we try to avoid these types of hotels, but The Great Wolf has an indoor water park so we thought we'd give it a shot.

The water park was good. The water was cold, but the air temp was warm so no real complaints there. And it actually ended up being a perfect weekend to visit since most of Texas was dealing with cold rainy weather. Andrew had a great time. I'm not sure that we'll ever go back, but it was fun and nice to get away for a couple nights.

Wow who's that hot mama? Oh that's me sans make-up. ;)

Story time

The trees talked. Andrew is still convinced they are real.

And that's all the pictures I took. All in a two hour period. I'm one of those moms that's right on top of things.

Now for your coming attractions:

T-ball pictures coming soon to a blog near you. (Hope you can sleep tonight . . . I know the anticipation is killing you.)

Busy, Busy

So it's been a while since I lasted posted. We're busy. It's spring. Life happens.

On Friday, Spring Break started. Yay! We left Friday after school and headed to The Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine (near Fort Worth). Anyone, who's ever been unlucky enough to travel on I-35 between Austin and the DFW area knows how awful it can be. Ummm, it wasn't awful . . . it was a parking lot. Which may or may not have caused some frustration. Then we got into Fort Worth, over an hour later than we should've, and the road we needed to go down was closed. It wasn't just closed. It was closed like Twilight Zone closed. We got off because we had to, but there was no stinkin' way to turn around, and it was dark, and traffic was bumper to bumper, and did I mention I was navigating using my phone which only had eight percent battery left on it because I may or may not have spent most of the drive playing on the internet because I hadn't forseen this little problem (big run-on). It took us over an hour to drive five miles. I suggested we pull over and ask someone how to go around the construction mess of the century. Patrick's response was, "That just seems like the thing to do doesn't it?" "Yes, yes it does." Clearly I think like a human being and not like a man. Anyway, we got there without anyone getting killed. Although, had we been in the car five more minutes . . .

I'll post details and pictures on the trip soon.

Yesterday, I went and bought these babies.

I needed the Red Converse because Andrew's t-ball team is the Red Sox, and I needed cute shoes to match my shirt . . . and that was just an excuse to buy Red Converse.

I also got new running shoes. I've actually kept up the running. I was running quite a bit last summer, and I don't know why I ever stopped. I like running. I don't always want to do it, but I like the way it makes me feel. Yesterday, I managed to run two miles and walk half a mile (not bad for three weeks back at it). The reason for my new shoes is my knees. I have horrible ankles which overpronate (they roll in) which causes knee problems if my shoes are either worn out or don't have enough support (I know you really care). This morning I could only run a mile. I walked the rest of the way. My knees were begging me to stop. I felt like I was 150. Any suggestions or exercises to help this problem would be welcome.

The other reason I'm sore probably has something to do with the 50 lb bags of garden soil I lugged around yesterday. Andrew and I planted the world's smallest garden, and it only took us three hours. I'll show pictures of that later too.

Well, I better run (or walk). My cousin is in town (another yay!), and we're having dinner at my parents' tonight. I'm making an extremely unhealthy delicious dessert so I better get on it.

Growing Up and Going Forward

Being a mom is hard. I mean it's rewarding there's no doubt about it, but y'all it's still hard. One of the hardest parts about it is watching your baby grow up. No one warned me about this phenomenon . . . this whole growing up thing. Oh wait, people actually did warn me. That's what they meant when they said things like, "Time flies" and "They grow up too fast." Who knew?

The truth is I've been pretty okay with Andrew getting older. I wasn't a huge fan of the newborn stage. They eat, they sleep, they poop, and you don't eat, you don't sleep, and I'll stop there. But the other day, I picked my baby up, and he was huge. Huge being a relative term. I'm a really small person, and by small I mean most twelve ten year olds are bigger than I am. So when I say Andrew is huge, it shouldn't be taken too literally. Anyway, I couldn't help but think about when I brought him home from the hospital, and his entire little body would fit on my chest. He was only 17 inches long, and he weighed less than a bag of flour. I couldn't help but think about how he would lay on my chest and sleep while I would read books or watch t.v.

When Andrew was so little, I couldn't imagine that one day he would walk, and talk, and play sports, and make friends, and be too big to sleep on my chest. It's a huge privilege to watch our kids grow and change. It is also one of the most terrifying and humbling yet awesome experiences on this Earth.

Through all of this, God is showing me that growth is part of life. Our children are supposed to grow up, and one day become independent. But growth shouldn't stop with independence from our Earthly parents. As long as we are living and breathing on this Earth, we should continue to grow. We should continue to seek to allow God to change and mature us in a new way with each day that passes. As long as we are growing, we are living. We were not created to live stagnant lives that never change. God created us to dream and live our lives growing and changing and becoming more today than we were yesterday and more tomorrow than we are today.

Quick Catch Up

Yowzers . . . it's like someone flipped the busy switch around these parts. I've been going from sun-up to sun down  . . . literally.

Andrew started t-ball practice yesterday. It was entertaining. He's by far the smallest one on his team. He looks tiny compared to all the other kids. Including the other four years olds. Somehow we my husband ended up being the head coach of Andrew's team. Ummm . . . yeah, we know absolutely nothing about baseball . . . or football or soccer or any other organized sport for that matter. So we were obviously the first and best choice to help shape and mold these fine young athletes. At least it's just t-ball. Maybe they won't be too damaged  . . .

Had I been "on my game" (no pun intended), I would've taken pictures of Andrew's first t-ball practice, but I wasn't. I promise actual photographs in the near future. I'll just use the lame excuse that I was too busy to grab my camera.

Thankfully, Spring Break starts on Friday. I'm so glad that March has begun, and spring will soon be in full swing. I love the warmer weather and longer days.

Surfacing for Air

Hey y'all. It's been a few days. I think this is one of the longest stretches I've gone without blogging. It's just been one of those insane weeks when you don't have a moment to stop and breathe, and I feel like this is the first moment I've had to sit down and write.

Thankfully, with the reintroduction of Zyrtec, we got Andrew's hives to go away and stay away (hopefully). He and Patrick both ended last week and started this week with colds. Now they're both on the mend, and I feel like my face may explode at any moment. Plus, I can't breathe through my nose which has to be some form of medieval torture. Glorious sinus pressure. I took two . . . yep two . . . that's a hefty dose for me . . . Benadryl last night to knock myself out. I slept okay, but was up at 2:30 looking for some ibuprofen to fix my pounding head.

I know the current state of my family's health is fascinating y'all, but I have switch gears here.

Our adoption agency received two referrals this past week for two little boys. Once again, we're super excited for those families, and we're "movin' on up" the line. Everytime our agency receives another referral the theme song from "The Jeffersons" plays in my head. I never claimed to be normal. Anyway, it's still a long wait, but everyday is a day closer. Sometimes, as we go about our everyday life day after day, week after week, it seems a little surreal that we are actually waiting for a precious little girl.  But we know that God has it all in control, and that's all that matters.

So that's it. Cold or no cold, the laundry beckons, and the sheets and towels must be changed. Have an awesome and safe weekend y'all.