Bubble Bath

Well it only took 16 months, but Orien finally had his first bubble bath. It's pretty easy to see he was slightly obsessed.

I feel like these photos capture today for me. Today was awesome. Not just awesome as in "it was a pretty great day", but awesome as in it was the best day I've had since O was born. With all the ups and downs I've had the past year and a half, today was a breath of fresh air. It's difficult to put into words why today was so wonderful, but I just thank GOD for never leaving my side. Every single time when I think I've been pushed to my absolute limit, He gives me just what I need...His comfort and love.

Today showed me that I can do this, I can handle everything at once and I can lean on Him...always!

Now check out these photos...seriously some of the most adorable ones yet.

Signing "more" LOL

"More" bubbles Dad

Computer Nerd

Check out what Daddy let Orien do this morning - play on our Mac. This is something Mommy forbids, so it was definitely a treat for O. He looks like such a natural using the mouse and keyboard. Weird how he'll grow up in a world with high-tech computers and laptops and iPads.

Even with strep throat, he's a cutie pie.

He's checking out himself as a baby.

"Privacy please?"

A Little Perspective

Sometimes all you need to improve your sticky, whiny, rushed, back-breaking day is a dose of perspective. I just wish it was easier to swallow.

As I sit here smack in the middle of my day with 26 things on my to-do list, I am trying to hang on to a thread of perspective. My current read is a book called "When Did I Get Like This?" Written by a mother of three and author, she describes her early parenting years. The point of the book is that she does things (bribing her kids, feeding them junk and telling them fibs to avoid "The Talk") that she never thought she would do as a mother. When I see Orien drop a french fry on the bathroom floor then pick it up and eat it without intervening, I wonder "How Did I Get Like This?" Just a year ago I was Purrelling everything in sight. Am I a bad mom? Am I lazy now? Am I being judged? Pretty soon I'm feeling overwhelmed and judged and just plain tired. Reading this book helps me gain perspective on this stage of life. It won't last forever and some day I maybe even can write a book about it and laugh.

The author's kids are still young, but well on their way of becoming young teens.

She explains her hectic life from the other side of toddler hood...a place I find myself longing for. I know I should really be loving every minute of Mommy & Me time with my towhead little monster, but truthfully I just can't. I love him to death and would die for him in an instant, but realistically...every, single, day is a struggle! For instance today: I am hosting bunco tonight, Orien has strep throat and I am on the verge of getting sick as usual. Need I say more? Any mother knows a sick kid makes for a LONG day AND night.

But the point of this post is not to be negative (I just needed to vent for a minute). The point is to remind myself to keep a little perspective. I often repeat the mantras "This is Temporary" and "Just Breathe". Sounds silly? Sure. But it works...about half of the time. I know this moment, this day, this stage is all very temporary. And you'd be amazed at how deep breaths help you relax and start over.

I need to go even deeper than spitting out peaceful phrases while not feeling so peaceful. I need to realize how incredibly BLESSED I am to have a husband who can leave work a bit early to come help me. I need to remember how tonight will be light-hearted and fun once things get rolling, and remember how crucial girl nights like these are. I need to remind myself that I have a healthy, thriving little boy. That is sadly not the case for every parent. These are the things that bring me back to ME. I feel more balanced and sane after putting some perspective on my current situation.

Now that I've spent 30 minutes of Orien's short-once-a-day nap writing on my blog, I MUST go prepare for tonight! There's fruit to be cut and floors to be swept! But even if the house isn't perfect and the food isn't done on time, I know that I still have it pretty dang good. God has blessed me abundantly...But I still need a dab of perspective every now and then :)

Flash Back

I was going through some old photos of Brett & I and wanted to share them. I wish I had more younger photos of Brett! I only have a handful. I like seeing who I think O looks like when looking through old pictures of us. I still think he is completely 50/50 of his Mom & Dad. It'll be interesting to see if our second child will look like Orien, or favor one of us. Check out our clothes by the way...talk about old schoool!

-PB

Me and my Papere :)

I love my Parrain!

Brett and his Aunt Judy!

Daddy Time

Last weekend was completely relaxing for us three. We just hung out and spent time together. Brett's been working late days and has often not been able to see Orien during the week. So this weekend they made up for lost time. I don't need to tell any of you about the bond between a Dad and their son...

But I'm going to anyway...To Orien, Daddy = fun. Daddy is always cheery and goofy and loud. Daddy lets him get away with a bit more too :) Orien simply adores his Dad. The older Orien gets, the more "boy" things they'll enjoy together. Hunting, fishing, boating. It makes me incredibly happy knowing my son has the absoulte best Dad.

On another note, Orien has shown an interest in coloring lately. And by "coloring" I really mean "wildly waving markers around and sometimes hitting a piece of paper". It's messy. It's stressful for mom. But I let him do it while being carefully monitored.

Check out the posted photos to see Orien coloring and more!

Hope everyone is enjoying summer :)

Patricia

Orien dancing in circles to music.

More dancing...

Checking out a fishing magazine.

Feeding the Ducks - A Toddler Must!

Lately, Orien's favorite summer event is to stop by the duck ponds in our neighborhood. Every time we go, more and more ducks show up. As you can see below, there are maybe a hundred? Ducks of all shapes, sizes and colors come out of their hiding places to eat whatever us humans decide to feed them. This morning we finished off a cereal box of fruity cheerios. It definitely wasn't the best thing for the ducks, but they didn't seem to mind.

Feeding the ducks is a simple, but great childhood memory I have and it's been fun to let Orien enjoy it too. Being the huge animal lover he is, he had SO much fun he didn't even mind when his shorts kept falling down. Ha! See photos below...

Surrounded.

He's so brave. He goes right up to them - no fear!

Oops.

Uh oh...oh well.

A colorful breakfast for the ducks.

Cool shot.

Morning sun.

In the Midst of Summer...

Well we are in the middle of summer and enjoying it FULLY.

This summer has been full of boats, trips, friends, families, play dates, pool and even bumps on the head...Enjoy.

This was the worst one yet. Almost went to the ER.

One of my new favorites. Is he strutting his stuff or what?

O and Lily.

(Lily 19 mon, O 15 mon)

Getting wet at the museum splash park.

My sweetie giggling

Lake Conroe

Last Saturday we went up to Lake Conroe with Brett's cousins. It was a perfect, sunny and HOT day on the lake. We got to ride on Brandon's new boat, which rode really smooth on the choppy lake. We stopped twice to take a cool dip in the lake. It was one of the best days of summer '10 so far...family, sun and water. Just perfect!

Broadway Across America Comes to Houston

WICKED

The world of Broadway is a fantasy world of its own. It's a world I like to escape to whenever possible. Last night I got the chance to get lost in one of the most popular plays in the past decade: Wicked.

The Broadway plays not only allow you to enjoy a thick, interesting plot, but you become emersed in the the music, actors and lights. Just like every other Broadway play I've seen, Wicked blew me away. It explains everything about the characters in the Wizard of Oz - including how the tin man, lion and scarecrow came to be. The music was AWESOME. The songs were so well-written. The play was actually very funny - something I didn't expect with this one. My favorite song by far was "Popular", sung by the Good Witch. To watch this song performed by the Broadway stars themselves, click here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9dCDMOTl7k&feature=related

July 4th, 2010

You know you had a fun weekend when you barely have any energy or strength the day after you get home. I'm dragging a bit today, but the full weekend at the lake was definitely worth it.

We arrived Friday afternoon to a rainy Lake McQueeney. But after a few showers left over from Hurricane Alex, the sky cleared and the sun came out for the next three days! We really lucked out on the weather. It's always a bit cooler at the lake and breezier. It's been well over a hundred in Houston, so it was a nice break. Saturday, we skiied, had boat rides and played with all five dogs. We stopped by the Wonder World animal park that afternoon, melting in the sticky summer heat. Although Orien has a love for animals, he was slightly nervous getting so close to deer, turkeys, peacocks and goats. We rode a train through the park and fed all the animals. Afterward, we ate at the amazing Grismill in Gruene...one of the best parts of being at the lake! We even were seated right next to some good family friends of ours who we haven't seen in a long time.

On Sunday came more boating and hanging out around the house. Our friend Ashton from Baylor arrived with her boyfriend Ryan that day. We invited them to spend the Fourth with us. Ashton is a sorority sister and long-time friend who has moved back to TX after going to grad school in TN. We missed her!!! We had an awesome time with them on the boat. The highlight of the weekend was definitely the boat parade water balloon fight. If you have ever been on lake McQueeney during the Fourth you know how intense this gets!!! And it's the adults who really get into it. Since the parade didn't have as many boats as they usually do, we decided to jump in with our boat and get smack in the middle of the action. Nearly every dock on the lake has groups of people armed with water balloons just waiting for the boats to drive by. We got tortured and hit and smacked and slapped with TONS of water balloons. After getting hit in the eye, I ended up hiding in the boat curled in a ball on the ground...so pathetic but oddly fun at the same time.

We stopped by the Grismill for round two that night with our friends. Brett took a minor detour on the way home and stocked up on fireworks. The guys were pumped. Something about fireworks makes grown men ten years old again. We didn't buy the biggest fireworks, but they were entertaining. Ash and I sat at a safe distance away and enjoyed the mini-firework show :) We could see huge fireworks all across the night sky...it was a perfect ending to the weekend. Monday we all cleaned, packed up and headed home. It was such a relaxing and fun-filled weekend. I'm SO glad our friends could come spend some time with us too. Enjoy our photos!!

David bringing Princess to the boat.

Feeding the pups.