Sandy's Half Birthday!

To the most adorable little girl in "Our Little Piece of the World,"

Today is your half birthday!  That means that you are six months old!  My how the first half of the year flew by.  I love you in so many ways.

I love how you stare at me from across the room.
I love the moments we share lying in my bed, just the two of us in the middle of the day with the sun shining through the window.
I love that you have discovered how to hold your own bottle.
I love it when you fall asleep in my arms.
I love how you are curious and wanting to grab at everything.
I love that you inspire me to sew.
I love to have you model all the baby clothes that I create.
I love to take your picture.
I love all the squeaks and squeals you make.
I love to watch you roll from your back to your tummy.
I love to watch you sleep in your bed.  You look so tiny curled up in your big bed.
I love that you have an amazing big brother who loves you unconditionally.
I love it when you reach your tiny little fingers to touch my face.
I love to watch you smile at your daddy when he comes home from work.
I love how you stick out your tongue and make funny faces.
I love the sandy blonde hair on the top of your head.  It's beautiful in the sunlight.
I love your bright blue eyes.
I love all fourteen pounds of you.
I love to anticipate all the fun things we will do together as you grow.
I love how you stop crying and look up and smile at me when I begin to sing to you at night.

I could go on and on about all the ways I love you.  But most of all I just love the fact that YOU are my daughter.  Happy Half Birthday, Sandy!

                                                                                       Love,
                                                                                       Mommy

The Most Adorable Six Month Old in "Our Little Piece of the World"

The Amazing Big Brother

Scoot the Turtle

About a month ago while Matt was mowing the yard, he found a small turtle.  He came inside to tell everyone and wanted us to go outside to see it.  So Mommy, Brazos and Sandy all headed outside to see the little fella. 

When Matt had said "little" I hadn't imagined it to be as little as it actually was.  It could fit in the palm of my hand!  I made the suggestion that we keep it as a pet for Brazos, and Matt must have agreed with me because before I knew it, he dashed into the attic to pull down an empty aquarium.  We filled it with some small rocks and a lid with water.

The next day we searched on the internet what kind of turtle it could be and we discovered that it was an aquatic turtle.  So we dumped out all the tiny rocks and filled the aquarium with water and large rocks for him to crawl onto. 

I'm a name fanatic so of course I couldn't wait to name the turtle.  I tried teaching Brazos to say "Indiana" but that was a bit hard for him.  Daddy blurted out "Scoot," and Brazos shouted "Scoot" with ease, so Scoot it was.

Turtles aren't so slow you know.  Scoot can be standing on his rock sunbathing in the lights, and as soon as I walk into Brazos's room, that little turtle scurries and dives into the water as fast as he can.

We feed Scoot every night and it's pretty amazing to watch the little guy eat.  He'll swim right up to the pellets and eat them right out of your fingers.  Also, if a pellet is too big for his mouth, he'll grab it with his mouth and then push the rest of it off with his little feet, just to make the perfect little piece for him to swallow.

When we clean Scoots water every now and then, he gets the thrill of his life.  We put Scoot in a box for safe keeping {not sure how safe it is...} and Brazos shakes the box like an earthquake.  

Another thrill came from being chased by a flyswatter.  One afternoon I found Brazos standing on a stool with Scoot's aquarium top open and a little boy with a flyswatter dipped in the water and waving it around like crazy.  Never a dull moment!

About a week after we had Scoot, Daddy forgot to put Scoot's food up, so in the middle of the night Brazos decided Scoot was hungry.  The next morning I looked at Scoot's tank and thought, "Wow, Scoot must of had diarreah."  The water was green and I couldn't even see Scoot.  As I got closer I noticed a few pellets still floating in the water and lying on the floor of the aquarium.  Brazos fed Scoot the entire bottle!

I'm hoping Brazos has great memories of his childhood pet, Scoot the Turtle.  I'm thinking he will.

After a Rainy Day

So a few days after I found Brazos at the water trough, I found him here.

I guess the boy just loves water!

We had just gotten home from running errands and Brazos had seen the puddle in the driveway.  He quickly ran over to it and said, "Water!"  Then he knelt down in the mud and took a big ole' gulp - not just one, but several, time and time again.

Maybe it taste better from this puddle.

Next he discovered the joy of running through the muddy muck and letting the mud drip through his fingers.

Next he went pickin' wildflowers.

 

Here's what Sandy thought of the day:

Ewwww!

Boy...you've lost your mind!



Boring!

Country Boy

Every now and then you can find Brazos at the water trough.

Why?

Because he's thirsty.  This little boy eats with the dogs and drinks with the cows.  What can I say...he's a country boy.



Donating, Glass Jars, and Saving the World One Chew at a Time

This past week I've been cleaning house in places that I usually neglect such as the dining room, utility room, and our bedroom.  I usually take time to clean Brazos and Sandy's room but when it comes to my room I just start making piles. 

I had a huge pile of clothes on the floor on my side of the bed, maily because I don't have any space for it.  The teeny tiny closet if full.  The two dresser drawers are full and under the bed there is just no more room.  I know it sounds like I have a lot of space with a closet, 2 dressers, and under the bed, but if you saw my tiny room you would understand that I really have no space. 

So this pile next to my bed was consumed of skirts and dresses that no longer fit.  I have an attachment to clothing, which I think comes from my grandmother, to wear I remember why I bought each piece and I just can't seem to part with it.  For example, I had the skirt that wore on my first day of teaching in my very own classroom.  I loved that skirt but I'm pretty sure i won't fit back into it.  I tell myself that maybe Sandy will like it one day, but then I realize that it'll be another 20 years until she can wear it and that's a long time away.  Then I ask myself what do I want to leave around for Sandy as momentos and I know pictures and stories of our lives is more important than leaving her my clothing.  She'll get my wedding dress which she may like more than an old skirt. 

So I decided that I would donate my clothing to Hospice Boutique in downtown Brenham.  After I gave the sweet ladies my boxes, as I was walking out I heard them talking about what nice clothing I had in the boxes and how I folded them so neatly.  It made me feel good about donating it...and I began to walk a little slower to hear what else they might say. ;) 

At night, it felt good to not have a pile of clothes to step over, although I still find myself wanting to take a big step over the clothing....it must have been there for a while to have a habit of stepping over it.

I also have a hard time parting with Brazos and Sandy's clothing.  I did get one bag full of clothing, blankets, and some maternity clothes that I was going to donate to Sweet Repeats, the children's resale clothing store downtown.  When I brought her the bag she only accepted about 1/3 of it which bummed me out a bit, because it was a big deal for me to get rid of some of it.  I'll give it to MOPS for their annual garage sale.

When shopping for Sandy's baby food I came across this:

I was so excited!  At first I had filled the cart with the plastic Gerber containers which I hate.  Every time you open those containers they squirt some food out which usually lands on my clothing.  I miss the glass jars.  Just as I was about to walk away I saw this box hiding on the shelf.  You can buy a box of veggies and a box of fruits with 16 GLASS JARS each.

Then as I was checking out this gum and mints caught my eye. 

I've seen it before, but I read the fine print carefully this time and as I placed it on the conveyor belt I felt like I just made the choice to save the world.  When I popped a piece of chewing gum in my mouth I got that feeling again, "I just planted a tree!"  The gum plants 7 trees and the mints feeds 7 people.  Amazing!

Five Months Old

Dear Sandy Samantha,

     On Sunday, June 24th, you turned five months old!  Although you are still my baby girl, at times it seems that you have already morphed into a young lady.  You are absolutely beautiful and I adore you more than you will ever know.

     You are a momma's-girl and I love that you follow me with your eyes as I walk past you, and how you keep your eyes focused on me when you are in the arms of another person.  It makes me feel loved and wanted {and exhausted at times}.

     You are trying your hardest to sit up.  You love to stand with support and don't want to miss a thing.   You can roll from you back to your tummy, but you get frusterated after being on your tummy for a few seconds.  You have discovered your hands and feet and often sit and gaze at your tiny fingers moving.

     Brazos entertains you and you love to watch him play.  He gives you lots of hugs and kisses.  When you cry he'll ask, "You okay?" and he'll say, "I sorry" if he thinks you're crying because of something he did.  You two have begun a wonderful relationship and I'm grateful that you have one another to journey through life together.

     This afternoon you were crying in the house, so I decided to take you outside to sit on the porch.  You immediately stopped fussing.  You relaxed to sound of the water sprinkler and fixated  your eyes on your little fingers in front of you.  Then I decided we should take some pictures to remember your five month milestone.  Once again, you're beautiful.

                                                                             Love always,
                                                                                Mommy

Even in black and white your eyes still shine!

June Days

Here's a glimpse of what our days of June have been filled with...

Brazos dog sat for his Nana while she was on vacation with Popo.  Brazos had lots of fun walking Rhett Butler around, but Rhett was super happy to go back home when Nana came to pick him up.

Sandy has been trying her hardest to sit up while laying in her chairs, so we decided to buy her a Bumbo chair to help her sit up straight.  Here she was enjoying her chair and watching her brother play in the front yard.

 

This little man is obsessed with TRAINS!  Our days at home are spent watching Thomas the Train, reading train books, building train tracks, and drawing trains.  Here he was sitting at the kitchen table drawing more trains.

 

For his birthday in March we bought Brazos a playhouse.  I'm kind of disappointed that he doesn't play in it more often, but one morning he ran outside and I found him playing by it.  So I had to capture the moment.  I'm hoping one day Brazos and Sandy will enjoy the playhouse together.

Sandy has lots of chairs to sit in...a swing, a bouncer, a Bumbo chair, a high chair, a beanbag.  She only enjoys each chair for a short amount of time.  Here she is in the bean bag piled with a bunch of toys hoping they would make her enjoy the sit for a little bit longer. 

Our church hosted Vacation Bible School a few weeks ago.  Brazos was old enough to participate this year and he really enjoyed it.  I taught the Arts and Crafts section and it was fun to watch him come into my classroom and sit at the table with his other classmates and create works of art.  Here is a photo of all the kids and their palm leaves at the opening of VBS.

Of course my mom, Granny, had her camera with her during VBS and Brazos doesn't miss the opportunity to take pictures.  He loves to take pictures with her camera and her iPhone. 

 

Brazos had gotten a hold of Granny's phone after VBS and him and friend, Avery, took turns taking pictures of each other.  This is how he posed for his picture.

We also went on our family vacation in June and I'll tell you about that in another post, so yall come back!