High Five Asher!

Max and Asher part 2

Yep, this is happening!

Max and Asher

Feeding Baby Toucanettes

Fallapalooza Jumping

End of October Update

Happy Fall!!!

Our October wrapped up in a big hurry here in Waco.  We had Baylor Homecoming guests and festivities tied into Max's Favorite holiday (well, his favorite until Christmas rolls around) Halloween.  Mix in a trip to NM, arts festival and school activities, you have one fast month.  We had so much fun, but the downtime at home is nice sometimes too.  I often worry that Asher does not get adequate sleep since we are always going and doing which makes nap time short and/or nonexistent.  Here are a whole bunch of pictures as well as a couple of videos to share from this last month.

 We usually try to attend the Cultural Arts Festival each year in Waco.  It is a fun community event with lots of free activities for kids.  Max had a great time as he is finally at the target age for many of the activities.  He had a lot of fun blowing giant bubbles!  We may have to make one of these for ourselves!

 While he is not into just painting, the boy does love to glue.  This station had different shapes of wood pieces that kids could sculpt.  He did put a little paint on at the end.

 They had big frames around so people could take pictures.  Oh how I wish we could have gotten one with Asher looking at the camera!!!  Still pretty cute though.

 This is the Quigley lego family (according to Max).  Mommy and Daddy are in the middle, Max has a red hat and Asher has the green one.

 Not sure why, but Asher likes to put Daddy's head in his mouth.  Only Daddy mind you.

 Loving a swing!

 Here we are in NM.  We would never forget the tub-o-legos!  Max and Papa are building fighter jets together.

 Fallapalooza!  This is a big family carnival in Carlsbad sponsored by local churches.  We had to check it out, especially since Aunt LiLi is involved with planning each year.  We were the first ones to ride the ponies.

 This was fun for Max.  He always sees it at out mall, but it is expensive and I'm never sure he would actually go through with it.  Well he loved it this day.

 Carnival games.   The prizes were candy, of course.  Max was careful in selecting candy without Artificial Colors. ;)

 Asher at My Little Play Place.  We are there once a week for Kindermusic then some free play.  He loves it!

 Max's class took a field trip to Cameron Park and Asher and I went as chaperones.  The picture above is so cute!  This is Max, Eli B and a new friend since moving to Waco Montessori, Eli Clark.

 Well, we attempted a class photo… it failed miserably.  Max was cooperative though.  So was Eli Clark so long as he can do bunny ears.

 Max, Luca and Eli C.

 We spent are one free Saturday in Dallas at the aquarium (and Whole Foods, but only Mama loves that).  We picked Cash up and together he and Max had a great day.

 The manatee is my favorite!  

 They had a guest speaker (which we missed) and lots of information about alligators and crocodiles.  The highlight (which we lucked into) was petting a crocodile.

 My batty Halloween boys.  Asher's outfit is a recycle from Max.

 Asher's "costume" was a spider onesie and I had a spiderweb shirt to match.  I think Curtis may have a better pic on his phone.  I'll add it later.

 Daddy and Asher at the Homecoming football game.  Max was home with a sitter playing with Anna and Elizabeth.  We stayed through part of the 3rd quarter and Asher slept most of the game which was nice except my arms and fingers were numb from holding him so long.

 Ten Months!!!  I'm so late in adding these.  I take his eleven month pics tomorrow!!!

Asher clapping for himself

Waving!

National Infant Loss Remembrance Day 2014

"When a child loses a parent, they are called an orphan.  When a spouse loses her or his partner, they are called a widow or a widower.  When parents lose their children, there isn't a word to describe them."  ~ Ronald Reagan in 1988, when he declared October as National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.

Yesterday marked our third observance of National Infant Loss Remembrance Day, which is the one day I devote the blog to our baby girl.  I regret not finding the time yesterday to sit and write, but we were very busy all day getting ready to leave town for the weekend.  However, the benefit of waiting an extra day is that I get to tell you about how I observed this day with a wonderfully strong community of people who have been touched either personally or indirectly by the loss of a child or children.

As most of you know a support group in Waco called Cradled supported Curtis and me through our loss.  This group has only been in existence since 2011, but they have really made a difference in the lives of so many families across Waco.  Since losing our baby, I have felt the need to give back to this organization by supporting other families who have experienced loss.  I am currently a week away from finishing as session with five precious families and it has truly been an honor to walk through this journey with them.

Cradled is a non-profit organization, so fundraising is always a need for this group, especially as they expand to serve more families and the need for possible paid positions, such as a bilingual group leader, increases.  Last night the Cradled community rallied to raise $650.00 and we had an absolute joyful evening honoring our babies in the process.  We spent the evening at Painting with a Twist, and they generously donated half the proceeds to Cradled.  If you have a Paining with a Twist near you, I would encourage you to give it a try.  Even those with no artistic ability made beautiful paintings (as proof, you can see mine below).  I of course went a little “off script”, but really would you expect otherwise?  So we painted, we ate, we sang and I sensed such a connection with everyone in the room.  I hope I was not the only one who experienced this!

 The original painting only had one heart.  I put three so each of my children would be represented.  I also "carved" Curtis and my initials in the trunk of the tree.

The three hearts closer up.  I put each of their initials and year they were born.

But I can say that two years and a month after the loss of our baby, we have made great strides in healing.  Asher and Max deserve a lot of the credit for this, but Cradled also deserves credit.  And I guess they like me too…. They made me Curriculum Director.  Sounds fancy, no?  I am thrilled to dig deeper into this group and find ways of using my talents and education (my degree will be in Curriculum and Teaching after all) to give more to this cause.

And thanks to our family and friends who have also supported us.  Your love has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. 

Maybe next year I will work up the courage to see her face again, but really I don’t need to look at pictures… She looked a great deal like her brothers.  I will leave you with a sand dollar.  Seeing one of these always reminds me of her, which is why I wear one close to my heart always. 

Busiest Family ever?

Hi everyone,
Wow, are we busy.  And we are so far from having extracurriculars to eat up even more of our precious time.  I have no idea how we will function when that time comes… and it will.  Max has already asked when he can play baseball.  He has actually been old enough the last couple of years to play T-ball, but I am just not willing to parcel out more of our time to something that I don't think he will actually appreciate yet.  We have plenty of time to get him into sports, I don't feel the need to rush into it while Asher is still so little and we have more than enough on out plates as it is right now.

So what do we do with all of our time?  Well, Max is at school 5 days a week from 8:30-3:00.  He really seems to love it, but I can tell you that it is exhausting for him.  He will typically nap on the weekend and this morning he fell asleep on the couch after Curtis woke him up.  He complains that we wake him up "too early" and yet it is a struggle to get him in bed by 8:00 every night.  And it's not always his fault (mostly it is) but sometimes it is just circumstances.  On Friday afternoons, Curtis picks him up from school (sometimes Asher and I come too) and they go to the zoo, the park, etc.  Max looks forward to this all week and he deserves some fun after working hard.  In fact last Thursday his teacher, Ms. Tita, made a point in telling me how hard Max is working and how well he is doing.  "He deserves a reward" she told me.  So we went for a cupcake.  I am proud of him.

Asher is going to Parents Day Out on Mondays and Wednesdays this fall.  He doesn't love it. :(  But I remember struggling with Max when he started out.  I still feel bad when I hand him over with that bottom lip stuck out and a look of betrayal on his sweet face.  And then he cries again when I show up to get him, just to remind me how upset he really was.  Hopefully we are turning a corner.  Today seemed a little easier.

Curtis is working, working, working.  I remember when we first moved here he would have huge gaps in his schedule and come home at all hours of the day.  That was waaaaay before kids.  Now when it would be great to have him home he is busy, busy, busy.  Don't get me wrong, busy is good, but I know he wishes he could spend more time with the boys.

And me, I am taking a statistics course which keeps me plenty stressed out.  I meet with a group every Sunday to work on homework and that is the ONLY thing getting me through right now.  While Asher is at PDO, I am usually in the library doing homework or reading for my future dissertation research.  My class is Tuesday nights so that is "boys night" and for the past three weeks (and we have three more to go) I have been sitting in on a Cradled group in a supportive role to these families.  So lately Wednesday nights have been "boys night" as well.

Asher had his 9 month check up a week ago last Monday.  He weighed 21.5 lbs and was 30" long.  Growing boy!  He is still behind Max in weight, but is actually a little longer than he was at 9 months.  But the most important part is that Dr. Janish proclaimed him "perfect".  She said she wished all her babies were so easy.  We did not get away without a needle stick though… he has his first half of the flu vaccine and we will have to go back later this month for the other half.  Max was with us, so he took the flu mist.  Im not sure we will do that again.  He ran a temp Friday after Curtis picked him up from school (and took him for ice cream and the zoo) and complained of his ears hurting.  We dosed him with Advil, but I was worried he might be getting an ear infection so I took him to urgent care.  They swabbed him for strep and the flu, and he came back positive for the flu!!!  But Max was acting so normal, just feverish.  He prescribed Tamiflu (very expensive) but Curtis and I decided (once consulting with both of our former pediatricians and the nurse on call at the clinic) that we would give it 24 hours.  Well he is just perfect too.  Not sure if it was just side effects from the mist or another little virus messing with him, but he's right as rain.

Asher's fused tooth.  The one on the left is extra wide as Curtis thinks it is actually two teeth fused together.  No problem now, but hopefully his adult teeth will be ok.

We went to the Perot museum in Dallas the Saturday following Max's first full week of school as a treat.  It was awesome!  Above Max is simulating a bird and is "flying".

All of the skeletons in this part of the museum were found in Texas.  

Max and Daddy were feeling a simulated Earthquake.

Exploring rocks and minerals.

Argon laser

This was a neat wall. Small wooden blocks that would turn on edge to mimc the person in the camera.

3-D Imax movie!!!

Way in the basement was a teeny tiny corner for Asher's age group.  Poor baby!  He didn't seem to mind getting hauled all over the place though.

Asher just adores Max.  He wants to do whatever Max is doing too.

Papa came for a visit!!!  Here Max and Papa are playing a dice game.  Max makes the rules up as he goes, but needless to say he ALWAYS wins and you ALWAYS lose!

Max is counting the block tower to make sure it is taller than Papa's tower.

Papa and his new car. He headed out before Curt and Asher were up for the day. As we watched him drive around the corner, Max says "I miss Papa already!".  We will see him in about a week!!!

First day of PDO was traumatic.  Asher wouldn't nap there and passed out in my arm immediately after we climbed in the van.

Grocery shopping.  He was just chilling in the cart checking out the scene at HEB.

Our first (and last for a looooong time) family outing to watch football in the new stadium.  It is an awesome place!

Asher's first Sic 'em!

It was a beautiful night.

9 month pictures!!!

How big does he look?!? It breaks my heart...