Bear with me, this is long and mostly just a recap of our visit.
So after the initial insanity of our flight to Indianapolis, we did eventually make it there. My parents are currently living in an apartment while they get their church going, so we kicked my brother Jesse out of his room (thanks, Jesse!) and put a twin air mattress on the floor for Garrett. Let me just start by saying that Garrett is a wild sleeper, he thrashes and cries out in his sleep. The first night he didn't get into bed until midnight due to the crazy day spent in Memphis. Keith and I didn't sleep well due to adjusting to Garrett's weird bed antics, but we all got up Friday morning pretty well refreshed and just happy to be there. My mom had the day off for fall break, which also meant that my brother Jesse was home from school. My dad had worked extra time during the week so he was able to be off that day as well. Unfortunately my sister Christie did have to work. That morning my other sister Grace came over with her 2 kids Riley and Jake. Garrett was excited to see his cousins. Jake is only 8 months younger than Garrett, so they're becoming closer and closer the more they see each other. Us women were wanting to go shopping so we decided to bring the kids with us. This meant 3 women with 3 kids ages 4, 2, and 18 months attempting to shop in Kohl's. It took us an hour and we weren't really finished, but it was time to meet the guys for lunch. I got a good deal on a winter coat for Garrett. Yes, we live in Texas, but there are many days where it's really cold outside and I am having trouble finding a nice, thick coat for him to wear this winter, so thankfully I found one on sale there. I also had to buy him the prerequisite Indiana clothing. He already has an Indianapolis Colts jersey that my parents sent him for his 2nd birthday, and a pair of Indiana Hoosier shorts sent to him by one of my close friends who still lives there. Since I lived 9 years of my life there, I am a Hoosier fan through and through, so I bought him an IU jacket with matching pants. I'm sure everyone in Texas will love to see him wear it, but I love it so that's all that matters. I also bought myself (and my dad) an IU Christmas ornament, so I'm really excited to put that baby on the Christmas tree this year.
We then met up with the guys at Culver's. Even though we have Culver's here in Texas, Keith and I had never eaten at one before. It was really good. Since the kids weren't really cooperating with our attempts at shopping, we all ended up heading home. My mom helped me to get Garrett down to sleep for a nap and then she and I left for more shopping at Target. (Grace had gone home so that her kids would get naps as well.) Riley's birthday is next month, so I bought her birthday present while we were out with plans to give it to her before we left. It was nice to spend some alone time with my mom. We don't get to do that very often anymore, especially considering I'm the oldest of 5 kids, there are now 3 grandkids, plus 3 in-laws added to our family, so alone, quiet time is pretty rare. Friday night we ate a yummy, home-cooked meal by my mom at their apartment. Roast, mashed potatoes, all the good stuff. Friday nights are when my dad's church has Bible study (currently). So my mom stayed home with the 2 boys so they could get to bed at a decent time and the rest of us headed out to someone else's home for Bible study. It was really good. They are in the midst of discussing relationships and Friday night's lesson was focused on the parent-child relationship (namely discipline). It was very good and I learned that I definitely discipline out of anger which is something I need to work on. It was fun though because my dad was teaching the lesson and he had 4 out of 5 of his kids there, so we all enjoyed sharing our moments of discipline growing up. I think the rest of the group got a kick out of hearing our stories. Everyone was really friendly. They have a good, solid group of people that they are starting their church with.
On Saturday we all left and went our separate ways. The women and children (minus Christie again, due to working at her darn job ) headed for Greencastle. As luck would have it, my best friend since I was born, was in town visiting her family. She now lives in Florida. I haven't seen her since she got married and she now has 2 kids. Her sister was in town with her and she and my sister are best friends (weird, I know). So we all made plans to meet up at a tea room type restaurant. We obviously weren't thinking. This was 6 women with 6 kids (all under the age of 5) in a place that really wasn't meant for kids. I mean, the tables had thick pieces of glass on top of the table cloths. Unfortunately my son got a hold of some metal silverware and started banging away on the glass. Apparently the manager didn't like this, so she came and took it away from him and brought plastic instead. I honestly didn't think he was banging that hard and he wasn't being loud, but of course after she took it away from him he got hysterical and wouldn't sit there any longer. So my mom ended up holding him the rest of the meal. But all in all, we had fun, it was so nice to see Mary again and her kids are adorable. After eating we all went to a local park for an hour for the kids to play. We decided later that we should have just picked up McDonald's and eaten lunch at the park. We probably would have enjoyed ourselves a lot more.
After the park we were supposed to meet the guys at my Aunt Pat's house. She lives out in the boonies on like 50 acres. It was so pretty because there's a ton of trees and with it being fall, the leaves were turning and some had already fallen. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the leaves and the adults had a lot of fun taking pictures of them. We were able to get some really cute outdoor shots of everyone. Aunt Pat made us a nice, big homemade meal which included steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies, homemade yeast rolls, etc. It was all so yummy. She always goes overboard when we all come out for a visit.
The next day was Sunday and we all went to church. As I mentioned above, my parents have moved to the Indianapolis area to start a church. They currently meet in a historical building called the Interurban Depot, it used to be an old train station. It's really neat, with brick walls and really high ceilings and cool windows. They had almost 30 people in their service, and that didn't count an early service that my dad held for the first time with a cheer group who left for a competition earlier that morning. I think my dad said there were about 15-20 people in that service. So it was a good morning for them! The service was awesome, totally laid back, and very inviting. One of the neat parts of it was during their Sunday school time they are learning the books of the Bible. I've grown up knowing them, but I realize that many people (my husband included) don't know them, so I think that's a great idea, considering a good number of their people are new Christians or younger kids. My siblings, plus atleast one other girl, do the praise and worship songs, and they are great. I know Christie is praying hard for someone to join their church who can play the keyboard. She would then be able to get out her drums and add them to their music, but for now they have the keyboard and 2 guitars. After church we all (all as in the majority of the people in the last service!!) went to eat at Pizza King. Now, for those of you who don't live in the Greencastle/Indy/Plainfield area, you probably haven't heard of this pizza place. I grew up getting pizzas or subs from the local Pizza King every Sunday night. It was our weekly tradition and I loved it! I've craved Pizza King ever since we moved from there and every time we go back I have to go there and eat. Their pizzas are a really thin crust and all of the toppings are chopped up really fine. They also cut the pie up into square pieces, which I think contributes to it's appeal. It was very yummy. I love the actual restaurant too. It's set up like a train station, with each booth having a window on one side that looks onto mini train tracks. The mini train actually brings you your drinks! Plus each booth has a small TV where, for a quarter, you can watch cable TV at your own booth. Pretty awesome! Especially considering we had kids with us and cartoons kept them quiet so we were able to visit and eat in peace.
Sunday afternoon was pretty quiet with all the kids down for naps and everyone else resting. My mom and I played Skip-bo, which is always a fun game. Then once the kids were up from their naps we had the Toy Party. The Toy Party is something my mom implemented way back when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. It was about 3 or 4 weeks before Christmas and of course us kids (there were 3 of us at that time) were desperate to open one of the many presents already sitting under the tree. So one Saturday my mom kicked us all out of the kitchen and we weren't allowed to come back in until she was ready. After an hour or more, she called us in and it was so cool. She had decorated the kitchen table with toys and Christmas decorations. Each of us had our place set and next to our plates was a wrapped present. My mom had made chicken nuggets and fries. My dad put on an apron and folded a towel over his arm and pretended to be a French waiter, with a silly accent and everything. We "ordered" our food and they both served us. It was a lot of fun. We then got to open our presents. (I burned my finger on a candle, but didn't tell my mom because I didn't want to ruin the fun we were having.) It became a yearly tradition up until we got married. Once we were older, we started drawing names for the toy party and exchanging presents that way instead. After us three oldest ones got married and moved out, it became a movie exchange party. Anyway, I say all of this to say that my mom is starting a new tradition where she wants to have a Toy Party for her grandkids. It won't necessarily have a Christmas theme since she knows that we all won't be around at the holidays, but whenever all of her grandkids are together she will have a Toy Party. Since this year it was close to Halloween, all of the grandkids wore their costumes. It was really cute. Garrett was a turtle, Jake was a lion, and Riley was a beauty queen/princess. They each got a few smaller presents, plus one bigger present and they all had chicken nuggets and fries served by my parents, just like always. The table was decorated really cute with a variety of different toys and we spelled out "Toy Party" with blocks. I think the kids had fun and we got some cute pictures. That night after everybody went to bed, Keith, Christie, and I all watched a movie called "Bugs" (I think) with Ashley Judd. It was really weird and not a movie I would recommend. But I enjoyed getting to spend some time with Christie and watching a movie I hadn't seen before.
On Monday my mom had to head back to work, but my dad had the day off. He took us around and showed us a variety of stuff, mainly places where they were looking into possibly buying a house in the future, or where my sister and her family might buy a house. It was fun to look around the town. We had lunch at a place called "Red Robin" which was good (all the fries you can eat) and we went by my mom's work so we could see her office. When my mom got home we visited some and then I made supper. I wanted to fix a meal at some point and had thought about doing breakfast, but there wasn't a breakfast time where everyone was available, so we just had breakfast for supper. It was fun making the meal and we had a nice evening together (minus Christie again! because of work, but we did send her a plate up there). The kids all put on their new pj's from Nana and Pawpaw and we attempted to get a few pictures of them, they weren't too cooperative, but they did have fun tackling each other and Pawpaw.
Tuesday morning we got up and prepared to head home. Of course that's always tough. On the one hand, we were ready to sleep in our own beds and not share a room with Garrett at night (he either climbed into bed with us or I ended up on the air mattress with him each night), but on the other hand, it's always very hard to leave your family. Especially since I don't get to see them very often. My dad took us to the airport on his lunch break and we said goodbye outside. That was actually a little easier. The last time I was up there my parents took me to the airport and waited with me and I cried buckets when I had to get in line for security. It didn't help that Garrett was reaching for them the whole time. It was really hard. So I'm glad I was able to avoid that, even though it's also nice to have someone seeing you off at the airport as well. Initially our flight did not have a good start. We had been sitting on the plane for about 10 minutes when the pilot comes on and says that they had to update some paperwork in the cockpit, so it would be a few minutes before we would be ready to take off. Keith and I were already on edge after our trip up there, so we were both very stressed after hearing that. But after about 15 minutes we were pushing back from the gate. After we took off and were able to turn on electronic devices, we got out the DVD player. While at my parents' we discovered that the DVD player itself worked just fine, but the battery was fried. So we went to Walmart and bought some other kind of battery-type thing where we just plugged the DVD player into it and it worked just fine. Unfortunately, Garrett remembered all of the fun he had with shoving toys inside the DVD player on the trip going there, so he wasn't really interested with sitting there and watching a movie. Somehow we managed to keep him mostly happy up until about 30 minutes before we were supposed to land. Then he snapped and decided he wanted out of his seat belt, immediately. He went into hysterics and wouldn't stop. I picked him up and held him trying to muffle his screaming with my shirt and a baby wipe, but that didn't work. After about 10 minutes (I'm not kidding) of non-stop screaming and crying, Keith took him and he got quiet and went to sleep. I'm sure our fellow passengers were hating us right about then, but honestly, what can you do? I was trying everything. Thankfully nobody said anything to Keith about holding him when we landed, and he stayed asleep up until we got our luggage. Then we had to wait for a shuttle bus to take us to the terminal where we had parked (of course we landed in a different terminal than the one we took off from, that's just Murphy's Law). After about a half hour of waiting and then riding the shuttle, we were finally at our truck. It was nice to be headed home after that horrendous display that Garrett put on in the plane. I was worn out. We got home around 6:00 on Tuesday night, Garrett was in bed by 7:00 and we were in bed by 9:30.
Garrett has been asking where everyone is now that we've been home for a day. It doesn't quite make sense to him that he was just playing with Nana and Pawpaw and now they're not here. Thankfully we will get to see them again in December when Brad and Kristen graduate. We're looking forward to that!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The Flight
Well, I promised a blog about our trip to Indiana so here goes... This is going to be a 2 parter, atleast.
I have to start from the top, which would be the actual plane ride there, which was something I had been worried about. Our flight was initially delayed about 30 minutes, which is becoming more and more typical in today's airline industry. Once we boarded and were settled into our seats, everything started out smoothly. Garrett was distracted through take-off with new snacks and a new sippy cup with his favorite "Queen" on it (Lightning McQueen, for you non-Cars fans out there). We then got out the always-loved DVD player with an assortment of DVD's to make this 2 hour flight pass by in the blink of an eye. But, what happens? The DVD player won't work!! I made sure to charge the battery for atleast 24 hours prior to packing everything in our carry-on bag, but for some reason the darn thing would not cooperate. So, plan B consisted of allowing Garrett to pretty much do whatever he wanted to ensure a happy flight for everyone involved. This basically included shoving toys down inside the now-defunct DVD player, but hey, he was quiet and happy so in turn, I was happy. This DVD glich should have been a sign of things to come...
About an hour into the flight Keith turns to me and says "Do you smell that?" Well, when you're traveling with a 2 year old that isn't the best thing to hear, but thankfully he wasn't smelling a dirty diaper, but smoke. (Also, not something you want to hear mid-flight...) I initially chalked it up to my husband's over-active sense of smell and his mechanical abilities which allow him to always assume the worst of other mechanics, particularly those who work on planes. But unfortunately this was not to be just a figment of Keith's imagination because about a minute later we see 2 flight attendants "running" up to first class, one grabs a flight extinguisher and another starts pushing buttons on some control thingy that happened to be inside one of the front over-head bins. We see 2 or 3 first-class people standing in the aisle while the fire extinguisher is being used. The pilot then comes on to tell us that there has been an "electrical issue causing an odor" and we would be needing to make an emergency landing in Memphis. Now, the next thing that happens is our plane starts a nose dive (basically) in order to land. I'm not one to suffer from motion sickness, but this was rough enough to even get me a little queasy feeling. Thankfully it didn't bother Garrett's stomach, but it did affect his ears so we were all treated to a little screaming courtesy of my son and his ears that needed popping, while our plane dive-bombed it's way to the Memphis airport. We had to disembark and sat around at the gate waiting to hear something. After about 30 minutes we were told that they were still waiting for a mechanic to come to our plane and check out the problem, so it would be atleast another 45 minutes. Keith and I took advantage of this to get a bathroom break and let Garrett run around a bit. After an hour, we were then told that the FAA had said that our plane was grounded until they could figure out what had caused the smoke, so a plane was going to have to fly to Memphis from Dallas to pick us up and take us on to Indianapolis. This would take 5 more hours and this was "the best that American Airlines can do". As one of my fellow passengers shouted, "5 hours is the best American Airlines can do?! I guess we should have all flown Southwest. You may have to hop and skip all over the country but atleast they get you there!" Needless to say, we were NOT happy. After eating lunch, getting another bathroom break, and trying to keep Garrett from rolling around too much on the floor of the airport, we finally get the announcement (about 6 hours later) that the plane has arrived and we would be boarding momentarily. 30 minutes later, another announcement is made saying that a gauge isn't functioning properly on the new plane and we were going to have to wait for another mechanic to come out and check on it before we could board! At this point we all thought we were being filmed for Candid Camera. How in the world can this kind of thing happen? During this 6 hour stay in the beautiful (yeah right) Memphis airport, we were forced to watch non-stop cable news. One of the stories that was repeated over and over (and over) that day? How American Airlines had broken records on their profits made in the previous quarter. Not something stranded AA passengers wanted to hear. Another fellow passenger (can you tell we were all friends by this point?) said that they made such a profit because they apparently got rid of all of their mechanics. By this point Keith is ready to just ditch this plane, get a hotel room, and then rent a car and drive out the following morning. I was also feeling the same, but I knew that our time with my family had already been cut into, so I didn't want to lose any more if possible. Thankfully the gauge was fixed quickly (probably just ignored due to the almost mutiny they had on their hands), we were loaded onto the plane and then sat there for another 30 minutes. By the time our plane took off into the air, we had been in Memphis for 7 and a half hours! Garrett was not the least bit thrilled to be strapped into his seat yet again. Thankfully the majority of our fellow passengers were drunk from the bar next to our gate and the rest of them were very understanding so we didn't get one dirty look or rude comment resulting from Garrett's lack of enthusiasm. So you might be wondering what kind of compensation American Airlines offers to their passengers in this kind of situation. (Maybe some of you already know because you've been there before.) We got.........(wait for it)........a $12 voucher for a sit-down BBQ place inside the airport! Isn't that just the greatest? And definitely practical for the family with a small 2 year old. So needless to say we didn't enjoy that lovely piece of Memphis heaven.
This is just the flight there, I promise to write more later about my actual visit and the flight home. Thankfully none of them are as traumatic as this one.
I have to start from the top, which would be the actual plane ride there, which was something I had been worried about. Our flight was initially delayed about 30 minutes, which is becoming more and more typical in today's airline industry. Once we boarded and were settled into our seats, everything started out smoothly. Garrett was distracted through take-off with new snacks and a new sippy cup with his favorite "Queen" on it (Lightning McQueen, for you non-Cars fans out there). We then got out the always-loved DVD player with an assortment of DVD's to make this 2 hour flight pass by in the blink of an eye. But, what happens? The DVD player won't work!! I made sure to charge the battery for atleast 24 hours prior to packing everything in our carry-on bag, but for some reason the darn thing would not cooperate. So, plan B consisted of allowing Garrett to pretty much do whatever he wanted to ensure a happy flight for everyone involved. This basically included shoving toys down inside the now-defunct DVD player, but hey, he was quiet and happy so in turn, I was happy. This DVD glich should have been a sign of things to come...
About an hour into the flight Keith turns to me and says "Do you smell that?" Well, when you're traveling with a 2 year old that isn't the best thing to hear, but thankfully he wasn't smelling a dirty diaper, but smoke. (Also, not something you want to hear mid-flight...) I initially chalked it up to my husband's over-active sense of smell and his mechanical abilities which allow him to always assume the worst of other mechanics, particularly those who work on planes. But unfortunately this was not to be just a figment of Keith's imagination because about a minute later we see 2 flight attendants "running" up to first class, one grabs a flight extinguisher and another starts pushing buttons on some control thingy that happened to be inside one of the front over-head bins. We see 2 or 3 first-class people standing in the aisle while the fire extinguisher is being used. The pilot then comes on to tell us that there has been an "electrical issue causing an odor" and we would be needing to make an emergency landing in Memphis. Now, the next thing that happens is our plane starts a nose dive (basically) in order to land. I'm not one to suffer from motion sickness, but this was rough enough to even get me a little queasy feeling. Thankfully it didn't bother Garrett's stomach, but it did affect his ears so we were all treated to a little screaming courtesy of my son and his ears that needed popping, while our plane dive-bombed it's way to the Memphis airport. We had to disembark and sat around at the gate waiting to hear something. After about 30 minutes we were told that they were still waiting for a mechanic to come to our plane and check out the problem, so it would be atleast another 45 minutes. Keith and I took advantage of this to get a bathroom break and let Garrett run around a bit. After an hour, we were then told that the FAA had said that our plane was grounded until they could figure out what had caused the smoke, so a plane was going to have to fly to Memphis from Dallas to pick us up and take us on to Indianapolis. This would take 5 more hours and this was "the best that American Airlines can do". As one of my fellow passengers shouted, "5 hours is the best American Airlines can do?! I guess we should have all flown Southwest. You may have to hop and skip all over the country but atleast they get you there!" Needless to say, we were NOT happy. After eating lunch, getting another bathroom break, and trying to keep Garrett from rolling around too much on the floor of the airport, we finally get the announcement (about 6 hours later) that the plane has arrived and we would be boarding momentarily. 30 minutes later, another announcement is made saying that a gauge isn't functioning properly on the new plane and we were going to have to wait for another mechanic to come out and check on it before we could board! At this point we all thought we were being filmed for Candid Camera. How in the world can this kind of thing happen? During this 6 hour stay in the beautiful (yeah right) Memphis airport, we were forced to watch non-stop cable news. One of the stories that was repeated over and over (and over) that day? How American Airlines had broken records on their profits made in the previous quarter. Not something stranded AA passengers wanted to hear. Another fellow passenger (can you tell we were all friends by this point?) said that they made such a profit because they apparently got rid of all of their mechanics. By this point Keith is ready to just ditch this plane, get a hotel room, and then rent a car and drive out the following morning. I was also feeling the same, but I knew that our time with my family had already been cut into, so I didn't want to lose any more if possible. Thankfully the gauge was fixed quickly (probably just ignored due to the almost mutiny they had on their hands), we were loaded onto the plane and then sat there for another 30 minutes. By the time our plane took off into the air, we had been in Memphis for 7 and a half hours! Garrett was not the least bit thrilled to be strapped into his seat yet again. Thankfully the majority of our fellow passengers were drunk from the bar next to our gate and the rest of them were very understanding so we didn't get one dirty look or rude comment resulting from Garrett's lack of enthusiasm. So you might be wondering what kind of compensation American Airlines offers to their passengers in this kind of situation. (Maybe some of you already know because you've been there before.) We got.........(wait for it)........a $12 voucher for a sit-down BBQ place inside the airport! Isn't that just the greatest? And definitely practical for the family with a small 2 year old. So needless to say we didn't enjoy that lovely piece of Memphis heaven.
This is just the flight there, I promise to write more later about my actual visit and the flight home. Thankfully none of them are as traumatic as this one.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Leaving On a Jet Plane
Next week we will be flying the friendly skies. Well, not really, that's Delta's slogan right? We're actually flying American, I don't know their slogan. I would wait until closer to our actual trip to write this blog, but I'm going to be pretty busy during the next week getting ready, packing, cleaning, etc.
So, "where are you going" you ask? We are flying to Indianapolis for a visit with my family! I am really excited. I've been thinking about the last time I've seen most of my family. I realized that the last time I saw my youngest brother Jesse was back in February, my husband hasn't seen him since last August, more than a year ago! The last time I saw my dad was for one day in March, when he flew to Dallas for a Bible conference, and the last time Keith saw him was back in December. The last time we both saw my mom and my sister Christie was in June when they came down for a visit. I will also be seeing Grace, Paul, and their kids, but I've seen them pretty recently. Up until a couple of weeks ago, they lived in Texas, but I'm still excited to see them too. If it was up to me, I would definitely see everyone more often than I do, but God called all of them up to the Indy area to start a church and who am I to argue with God? Keith and I haven't been called to go anywhere, so we're still in Dallas for now, which is fine, I'm at peace with being here. Plus, I still have my brother Brad and his wife, Kristen, with me in Texas, so we're not alone.
So, back to the actual leaving on a jet plane. Keith, myself, and Garrett will all be boarding a plane next Thursday morning around 9:30ish. I have flown somewhat regularly and Keith flies frequently for work, so neither of us are scared of flying or nervous about the actual flight. What gets us shaking in our boots is the thought of a 2 hour flight with a 2 year old! That's downright scary if you think about it. But what's even scarier? Driving 15 hours with a 2 year old. So give me the 2 hour flight anyday. Garrett has flown before, back in February when he was about 18 months old. It was just me and him and I didn't buy him a seat, since it isn't required until they're 2. He was actually pretty well behaved, considering. He did hit the guy sitting next to us a few times, but that man was super nice and very helpful to me throughout the entire flight. I'm in hopes that Garrett's second plane ride will be just as smooth, especially since he will be in his own seat and Daddy will be with us to help out. We'll have our own little row of 3 seats, so the only potential people to be disturbed by him will be those in the row in front of us. Hopefully it will be another family or grandparents who love all children, regardless of how many times the back of their seat might accidentally get kicked.
I'm not sure how many of you keep up with the news, but as a mom, who is also about to fly with my small child, I do keep up with the news. Especially the stories of all the families who have been kicked off of flights in recent months. I realize that most of the time there is more to these stories than meets the eye, but I'm still horrified for a lot of these parents who are kicked off of their flights simply because their child is talking loudly. I think the airlines need to loosen up a bit. All children under the age of 5 or so have issues with sitting still and being quiet for long periods of time. Should these families not be allowed to fly simply because they have a small child? I don't think so. Maybe they need to have a designated section for parents with small children on their flights. That would minimize the number of people who might get upset about your child talking loudly. Now, I am not saying that parents should allow their children to run up and down the aisles of the plane, or sit back and watch while their toddler is throwing a fit. Parents should have control of their kids as much as possible. Honestly, if my toddler starts throwing a fit on the plane and I'm unable to distract him with a different toy, then we will be heading to the bathroom to have a "come to Jesus" meeting. Of course, does that then mean that when we get off of the flight some of the people sitting within earshot of the bathroom will immediately call CPS on me for spanking my unruly child? Probably! That's what's wrong with this world. People don't want children acting up, but they're not ok with parents who choose spanking as their method of discipline. How exactly would one impose a time-out on the airplane? "Son, sit there in your seat, where you'll be sitting for the next 2 hours, and have a time out" how exactly is that supposed to work? I'm not anti-timeouts at all, I just think that sometimes some discipline methods just aren't going to work in some situations.
Now, with all of that being said, I will be heading to the airport as fully prepared as I absolutely can be with MANY things to distract and entertain my child during the 2 hour flight. I've bought quite a few new toys, books, stickers, crayons, markers, small containers of play-dough, many snacks, etc. Plus we will be bringing our portable DVD player and many DVD's that Garrett likes to watch. I think we'll be ok and he'll behave himself for the most part. But, if you're a parent reading this, we all know that sometimes kids just have melt-downs for absolutely no reason at all. You don't see it coming, and then, bam!, your child is screaming and kicking. I will definitely avoid anything that I think will bring one of these tantrums on, but sometimes there's no avoiding these things, like fastening the seat belt. I can see that becoming a major problem, I'm just in hopes to have him completely distracted with something else, so that I can quickly snap the seat belt into place before he realizes what's going on.
So, in closing, if you happen to be flying from DFW to Indianapolis next Thursday, you may see us. We'll be the ones carrying a huge bag stuffed to the brim with toys and distractions and hopefully we'll have a happy, content child with us who will make everyone around us say "What a great child, your son is so well-behaved". Hey, we can wish, right? Hopefully you won't see us on the news as the next family to get kicked off a plane. I'm afraid if that was to happen, my husband would also be arrested for punching the flight attendent who attempted to do this. That wouldn't be good.
I will blog when we get back to let you know how the flight and the visit went. I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to share as well (hopefully none of my husband in a prison cell).
So, "where are you going" you ask? We are flying to Indianapolis for a visit with my family! I am really excited. I've been thinking about the last time I've seen most of my family. I realized that the last time I saw my youngest brother Jesse was back in February, my husband hasn't seen him since last August, more than a year ago! The last time I saw my dad was for one day in March, when he flew to Dallas for a Bible conference, and the last time Keith saw him was back in December. The last time we both saw my mom and my sister Christie was in June when they came down for a visit. I will also be seeing Grace, Paul, and their kids, but I've seen them pretty recently. Up until a couple of weeks ago, they lived in Texas, but I'm still excited to see them too. If it was up to me, I would definitely see everyone more often than I do, but God called all of them up to the Indy area to start a church and who am I to argue with God? Keith and I haven't been called to go anywhere, so we're still in Dallas for now, which is fine, I'm at peace with being here. Plus, I still have my brother Brad and his wife, Kristen, with me in Texas, so we're not alone.
So, back to the actual leaving on a jet plane. Keith, myself, and Garrett will all be boarding a plane next Thursday morning around 9:30ish. I have flown somewhat regularly and Keith flies frequently for work, so neither of us are scared of flying or nervous about the actual flight. What gets us shaking in our boots is the thought of a 2 hour flight with a 2 year old! That's downright scary if you think about it. But what's even scarier? Driving 15 hours with a 2 year old. So give me the 2 hour flight anyday. Garrett has flown before, back in February when he was about 18 months old. It was just me and him and I didn't buy him a seat, since it isn't required until they're 2. He was actually pretty well behaved, considering. He did hit the guy sitting next to us a few times, but that man was super nice and very helpful to me throughout the entire flight. I'm in hopes that Garrett's second plane ride will be just as smooth, especially since he will be in his own seat and Daddy will be with us to help out. We'll have our own little row of 3 seats, so the only potential people to be disturbed by him will be those in the row in front of us. Hopefully it will be another family or grandparents who love all children, regardless of how many times the back of their seat might accidentally get kicked.
I'm not sure how many of you keep up with the news, but as a mom, who is also about to fly with my small child, I do keep up with the news. Especially the stories of all the families who have been kicked off of flights in recent months. I realize that most of the time there is more to these stories than meets the eye, but I'm still horrified for a lot of these parents who are kicked off of their flights simply because their child is talking loudly. I think the airlines need to loosen up a bit. All children under the age of 5 or so have issues with sitting still and being quiet for long periods of time. Should these families not be allowed to fly simply because they have a small child? I don't think so. Maybe they need to have a designated section for parents with small children on their flights. That would minimize the number of people who might get upset about your child talking loudly. Now, I am not saying that parents should allow their children to run up and down the aisles of the plane, or sit back and watch while their toddler is throwing a fit. Parents should have control of their kids as much as possible. Honestly, if my toddler starts throwing a fit on the plane and I'm unable to distract him with a different toy, then we will be heading to the bathroom to have a "come to Jesus" meeting. Of course, does that then mean that when we get off of the flight some of the people sitting within earshot of the bathroom will immediately call CPS on me for spanking my unruly child? Probably! That's what's wrong with this world. People don't want children acting up, but they're not ok with parents who choose spanking as their method of discipline. How exactly would one impose a time-out on the airplane? "Son, sit there in your seat, where you'll be sitting for the next 2 hours, and have a time out" how exactly is that supposed to work? I'm not anti-timeouts at all, I just think that sometimes some discipline methods just aren't going to work in some situations.
Now, with all of that being said, I will be heading to the airport as fully prepared as I absolutely can be with MANY things to distract and entertain my child during the 2 hour flight. I've bought quite a few new toys, books, stickers, crayons, markers, small containers of play-dough, many snacks, etc. Plus we will be bringing our portable DVD player and many DVD's that Garrett likes to watch. I think we'll be ok and he'll behave himself for the most part. But, if you're a parent reading this, we all know that sometimes kids just have melt-downs for absolutely no reason at all. You don't see it coming, and then, bam!, your child is screaming and kicking. I will definitely avoid anything that I think will bring one of these tantrums on, but sometimes there's no avoiding these things, like fastening the seat belt. I can see that becoming a major problem, I'm just in hopes to have him completely distracted with something else, so that I can quickly snap the seat belt into place before he realizes what's going on.
So, in closing, if you happen to be flying from DFW to Indianapolis next Thursday, you may see us. We'll be the ones carrying a huge bag stuffed to the brim with toys and distractions and hopefully we'll have a happy, content child with us who will make everyone around us say "What a great child, your son is so well-behaved". Hey, we can wish, right? Hopefully you won't see us on the news as the next family to get kicked off a plane. I'm afraid if that was to happen, my husband would also be arrested for punching the flight attendent who attempted to do this. That wouldn't be good.
I will blog when we get back to let you know how the flight and the visit went. I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to share as well (hopefully none of my husband in a prison cell).
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Proposal
This Saturday marks the 6th anniversary of the day Keith proposed. I'm not really sure how many people typically keep up with that kind of thing, but for me that day was a big deal. Keith and I had been dating for almost 4 years before he proposed, so I was more than ready for him to pop the question. We had been discussing marriage for probably a year prior to the big proposal, but didn't really have a timeline for when we would get engaged. I was in college and knew I wouldn't graduate until May of 2002, so we knew we couldn't get married before then. A couple of months before the question was popped we actually had started looking at engagement rings. One Sunday we thought we had found the one, but it just wasn't meant to be. Then we talked about designing a ring and having one specially made, but honestly that was going to cost more than either of us wanted to spend.
The big day finally came. It was a Saturday and we were out ring shopping, which obviously wasn't a new thing. We ended up at a little jeweler in Tyler. He had the perfect ring with the perfect price. So Keith bought it and we went back to his parents'. Once we got there he refused to let me have it until he personally cleaned it within an inch of its life. He's very meticulous like that. After drying it with a hair dryer (yes, you read that right), he called me into the kitchen and said, "So, do you want to marry me?". Of course I said yes, obviously. Then I immediately called my parents and sister. (A few months before this, Keith had asked my dad for my hand, old fashioned, but very sweet and appreciated by my parents, who were more than ready for him to propose.) We then told Keith's family (they weren't home at the time) and everyone was very excited for us. After a few weeks of discussing we agreed on getting married on June 1, 2002, which was 2 weeks after I graduated from college. So we weren't engaged for very long, but we dated long enough to make up for it.
Planning the wedding was a lot of fun. One of my younger sisters had already been married (and she was actually expecting her first baby when Keith and I got married), so we already had a few ideas for where to shop and things like that. Since I was still in college, most of the wedding plans were made on the weekends or on the internet. Wedding dress shopping was a lot of fun. I only tried on a couple of gowns before I found the one I wanted. Keith and I had decided we didn't want a reception so that eliminated a lot of the planning. (We didn't want a reception because of the hassles, the fact that my dad's church really didn't have a facility large enough to hold one at that time, and we just wanted to leave for our honeymoon!) We didn't really have any crazy things happen when we were planning this. Everything went pretty smoothly. I do remember that the day of our wedding we had 2 Jehovah's Witnesses show up at my parents' door and of course I was the lucky person who answered. But other than that, everything went off without a hitch. It was a great day!
I'm always a little surprised when I hear about people who knew each other less than a year before getting engaged or married, but I know everyone's story is different. While I would have loved to marry Keith sooner than we did, I know that my timing is not God's timing and it happened the way it did for a reason. Because Keith had been working for almost 3 years before we got married, we were able to buy our first house within 6 months of getting married, which was so nice. I'm not really an "apartment" person. I can barely manage to contain my frustrations with our neighbors here in our housing addition, I'm not sure what would have happened had we lived in an apartment for very long. But I probably would have been on national news for killing someone over the volume of their stereo or something like that.
In January, we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first date, so I'll try to remember to post around that time to share about our first date and some of our dating experiences. Just FYI, I use the term "celebrate" very loosely. I am married to a great husband, but he isn't so romantic as to really acknowledge these "anniversaries" beyond saying something along the lines of "really? I can't believe it's been that long" whenever I mention it. So, don't start thinking we're going on a cruise for the anniversary of the first time we held hands or something. But we do celebrate the important wedding anniversaries so that's the main thing.
The big day finally came. It was a Saturday and we were out ring shopping, which obviously wasn't a new thing. We ended up at a little jeweler in Tyler. He had the perfect ring with the perfect price. So Keith bought it and we went back to his parents'. Once we got there he refused to let me have it until he personally cleaned it within an inch of its life. He's very meticulous like that. After drying it with a hair dryer (yes, you read that right), he called me into the kitchen and said, "So, do you want to marry me?". Of course I said yes, obviously. Then I immediately called my parents and sister. (A few months before this, Keith had asked my dad for my hand, old fashioned, but very sweet and appreciated by my parents, who were more than ready for him to propose.) We then told Keith's family (they weren't home at the time) and everyone was very excited for us. After a few weeks of discussing we agreed on getting married on June 1, 2002, which was 2 weeks after I graduated from college. So we weren't engaged for very long, but we dated long enough to make up for it.
Planning the wedding was a lot of fun. One of my younger sisters had already been married (and she was actually expecting her first baby when Keith and I got married), so we already had a few ideas for where to shop and things like that. Since I was still in college, most of the wedding plans were made on the weekends or on the internet. Wedding dress shopping was a lot of fun. I only tried on a couple of gowns before I found the one I wanted. Keith and I had decided we didn't want a reception so that eliminated a lot of the planning. (We didn't want a reception because of the hassles, the fact that my dad's church really didn't have a facility large enough to hold one at that time, and we just wanted to leave for our honeymoon!) We didn't really have any crazy things happen when we were planning this. Everything went pretty smoothly. I do remember that the day of our wedding we had 2 Jehovah's Witnesses show up at my parents' door and of course I was the lucky person who answered. But other than that, everything went off without a hitch. It was a great day!
I'm always a little surprised when I hear about people who knew each other less than a year before getting engaged or married, but I know everyone's story is different. While I would have loved to marry Keith sooner than we did, I know that my timing is not God's timing and it happened the way it did for a reason. Because Keith had been working for almost 3 years before we got married, we were able to buy our first house within 6 months of getting married, which was so nice. I'm not really an "apartment" person. I can barely manage to contain my frustrations with our neighbors here in our housing addition, I'm not sure what would have happened had we lived in an apartment for very long. But I probably would have been on national news for killing someone over the volume of their stereo or something like that.
In January, we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first date, so I'll try to remember to post around that time to share about our first date and some of our dating experiences. Just FYI, I use the term "celebrate" very loosely. I am married to a great husband, but he isn't so romantic as to really acknowledge these "anniversaries" beyond saying something along the lines of "really? I can't believe it's been that long" whenever I mention it. So, don't start thinking we're going on a cruise for the anniversary of the first time we held hands or something. But we do celebrate the important wedding anniversaries so that's the main thing.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
What This World Needs
I am copying this blog from my sister's blog. Obviously if you've read this on her blog, then you don't need to read it here. This is for my friends who don't read her blog. I found it to be very inspiring. My favorite part is "Jesus is the only way to God, but we are not the only way to Jesus." It's so true! I could preach an entire sermon on this song and the truths that it presents. But I'll refrain.
This is the very first song on Casting Crowns' new cd "The Altar and the Door." I recommend everyone go and buy this cd (or download from iTunes). It's so great. This one is one of my favorites. These words are great but the music makes them all the more powerful. I encourage you to get ahold of this cd. I've highlighted the parts below that struck me, personally, the most. Hope y'all enjoy!What This World Needs
Galatians is the main basis for this song. False teachers were slipping in and adding to the Gospel. Jesus + being good = the believer's life. Paul builds in a foundation for the Galatian people that it is by faith in Jesus that we are saved. Even today, we, the church, are in danger of adding to the Gospel. Jesus plus my denomination. Jesus plus our style of worship. Jesus plus good behavior. We must be careful not to strap ourselves to the Gospel.~2 Corinthians 6:3-13 / Colossians 1:13-23 / John 17 / Romans 12:9-21 / Matthew 7:1-3 / John 7:24 / Romans 16:17-19 / Philippians 3:18-20Written by Mark Hall and Hector CervantesSpecial guests – Gunnar Miller, Madison Miller, Logan Miller, Tripp Weir© 2007 My Refuge Music/Club Zoo Music/SWECS Music (BMI) (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing)
What this world needs is not another one hit wonder with an axe to grind
Another two bit politician peddling lies
Another three ring circus society
What this world needs is not another sign waving super saint that's better than you
Another ear pleasing candy man afraid of the truth
Another prophet in an Armani suit
What this world needs is a Savior who will rescue
A Spirit who will lead
A Father who will love them in their time of need
A Savior who will rescue
A Spirit who will lead
A Father who will love
That's what this world needs
What this world needs is for us to care more about the inside than the outside
Have we become so blind that we can't see
God's gotta change her heart before He changes her shirt
What this world needs is for us to stop hiding behind our relevance
Blending in so well that people can't see the difference
And it's the difference that sets the world free
[spoken]People aren't confused by the Gospel, they're confused by us
Jesus is the only Way to God, but we are not the only way to Jesus
This world doesn't need my tie, my hoodie, my denomination, or my translation of the Bible
They just need Jesus.
We can be passionate about what we believe, but we can't strap ourselves to the Gospel
'Cause we're slowing it down.
Jesus is going to save the world, but maybe the best thing we can do...
Is just get out of the way.
Jesus is our Savior, that's what this world needs
Father's arms around you, that's what this world needs
That's what this world needs
This is the very first song on Casting Crowns' new cd "The Altar and the Door." I recommend everyone go and buy this cd (or download from iTunes). It's so great. This one is one of my favorites. These words are great but the music makes them all the more powerful. I encourage you to get ahold of this cd. I've highlighted the parts below that struck me, personally, the most. Hope y'all enjoy!What This World Needs
Galatians is the main basis for this song. False teachers were slipping in and adding to the Gospel. Jesus + being good = the believer's life. Paul builds in a foundation for the Galatian people that it is by faith in Jesus that we are saved. Even today, we, the church, are in danger of adding to the Gospel. Jesus plus my denomination. Jesus plus our style of worship. Jesus plus good behavior. We must be careful not to strap ourselves to the Gospel.~2 Corinthians 6:3-13 / Colossians 1:13-23 / John 17 / Romans 12:9-21 / Matthew 7:1-3 / John 7:24 / Romans 16:17-19 / Philippians 3:18-20Written by Mark Hall and Hector CervantesSpecial guests – Gunnar Miller, Madison Miller, Logan Miller, Tripp Weir© 2007 My Refuge Music/Club Zoo Music/SWECS Music (BMI) (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing)
What this world needs is not another one hit wonder with an axe to grind
Another two bit politician peddling lies
Another three ring circus society
What this world needs is not another sign waving super saint that's better than you
Another ear pleasing candy man afraid of the truth
Another prophet in an Armani suit
What this world needs is a Savior who will rescue
A Spirit who will lead
A Father who will love them in their time of need
A Savior who will rescue
A Spirit who will lead
A Father who will love
That's what this world needs
What this world needs is for us to care more about the inside than the outside
Have we become so blind that we can't see
God's gotta change her heart before He changes her shirt
What this world needs is for us to stop hiding behind our relevance
Blending in so well that people can't see the difference
And it's the difference that sets the world free
[spoken]People aren't confused by the Gospel, they're confused by us
Jesus is the only Way to God, but we are not the only way to Jesus
This world doesn't need my tie, my hoodie, my denomination, or my translation of the Bible
They just need Jesus.
We can be passionate about what we believe, but we can't strap ourselves to the Gospel
'Cause we're slowing it down.
Jesus is going to save the world, but maybe the best thing we can do...
Is just get out of the way.
Jesus is our Savior, that's what this world needs
Father's arms around you, that's what this world needs
That's what this world needs
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Update
This morning was Garrett's 2 year check up. First off, I just want to ask, why does stepping onto a scale result in a huge ordeal for a 2 year old? I mean, nothing bad is happening, they haven't given him a shot (yet), all of his clothing is still intact, nobody is even touching him (except for me trying to force him onto the scale). I do not understand his fear of stepping up onto this small little platform. I mean, if it's the one inch height that is scaring him, then why does he regularly climb on top of the kitchen table? That's something to be afraid of. I don't think I'll ever understand what's going on inside my child's head.
We finally managed to get him on to the scale long enough to see that he weighs 26 pounds (he's always been on the thin side) and by this point I'm sweating as if I've run a marathon. And this is just the beginning. He screams when they insert the thermometer into his ear for 1 second (hey kid, the ear is much better than the alternative...), he screams when they wrap the paper measuring tape around his head to see how big his brain is, he screams when we lay him down on tissue paper and they measure him (36"=3 feet tall!!). There was a lot of screaming going on and we hadn't even made it to the examining room. Of course we waited for about 25 minutes or so before the doctor came in, and let me tell you, that 25 minutes is really 2.5 hours with a 2 year old in a small room with nothing but the toys in his diaper bag (which he's played with approximately 1 billion times) and a few books that are way too long for his attention span. So, this results in Momma making a poor choice and digging out one of those super-bouncy balls. This is very good entertainment, but not really practical in a small doctor's exam room. I could just see us becoming the reason for a sign in all rooms that reads "no balls allowed". There's already a list a mile long of things that aren't allowed in those rooms and I'm sure there's a story behind all of them. So I finally managed to get the ball back and put it away before the window was broken or the doctor walked in right in the midst of a super bounce resulting in breaking his glasses or worse. Of course this resulted in the BIG ONE (tantrum wise) and I'm sure everyone within a mile radius thought he was getting his shots, but alas, he was just throwing a fit.
Thankfully our doctor's office has seen fit to lock all of the drawers and cabinets in these rooms because Garrett checked them all multiple times just to be sure they hadn't miraculously unlocked to reveal a hidden stash of awesome toys. At one point Garrett was screaming bloody murder (because I wouldn't let him color on the walls) and I'm trying to shut him up, but my husband (oh wise man that he is) says, "No, just let him cry, maybe that will get them in here faster so they can get us out of here." Wonderful thinking. Of course that didn't work, but eventually the doctor came in. Now, let me just say, I do like my son's pediatrician. He seems very knowledgeable about a lot of kid stuff and he's always talked to Garrett and been nice, but every once in a while he says stuff that makes me feel like a total moron. After he came in he started talking to Garrett, he was asking him if he had a birthday party and what all he got, so I, being a mom, started prompting Garrett to respond. Of course the doctor gets on to me, telling me to stop it and let Garrett answer for himself. I was a little mortified, but of course Garrett didn't answer one question, except when he asked how old he was, he tried to hold up 2 fingers. But I didn't want the doctor to think that we didn't have a birthday party for him so I was trying to help and encourage Garrett to answer. This is just one of many times that he's done this. Don't ask me why we still go there, it's just too much of a pain to try to find another pediatrician, and like I said, he does know what he's talking about, he just doesn't have a very good bedside manner.
So, after this pleasant exchange we move on to discussing various issues (Garrett has excema and also holds his breath sometimes when he cries and then passes out). Then the lovely physical exam comes. The doctor looks in Garrett's mouth, throat, ears, diaper, etc, and the entire time Garrett is screaming as if he's being tortured for information (Where did you hide the remote! If you don't give up this information we will look in your ears until you crack!) Finally the moment comes (dum, dum, dum) shots time! But, thankfully, we lucked out. Garrett was supposed to get the Hepatitis A shot and a blood draw to check his lead levels. Well, there's apparently a national shortage of Hepatitis A vaccines so he didn't get one, but he still got the blood draw. That went pretty well. Though I feel sorry for the ladies who have to do it. I'm sure it isn't fun drawing blood from someone who is screaming in your ear. You definitely need a steady hand for that job.
So, we are now done with check-ups for an entire year! For those of you who have had kids somewhat recently, you know that the first 2 years consist of quite a few check ups so you get to know your pediatrician on a first name basis. But now we can go back to being nameless people in the crowded waiting room. Barring multiple illnesses over the next year, we won't be seeing him much. Though we will have to go back whenever his office gets a hold of some Hepatitis A vaccines, so that should be a fun day. With his breath holding problem, any time he gets a shot, he always holds his breath, which kind of makes the nurse panic a little and she repeats over and over "breathe, baby, breathe". I'm used to it now, so it isn't a big deal. I think he will be an Olympic swimmer some day because he can hold his breath for an eternity before he does eventually pass out. He'll have to figure that out exactly, we wouldn't want him to pass out while underwater.
So, just a lesson for those of you out there who may be exposed to my child over the course of the next few months (he's supposedly going to outgrow this by the time he hits 3, so less than 12 months to go!). Yes, he holds his breath and passes out (occasionally), but this is not uncommon and, according to our doctor, happens in approximately 20% of all children. So please don't look at me as if my child is a freak whenever you hear about his breath holding spells, or if you're one of the lucky ones who gets to actually witness one of these blessed events. He's perfectly normal, just needs a little closer watching whenever he gets worked up. Just put out an arm to catch him whenever he passes out, and then everything is back to normal (until the next episode). ;)
We finally managed to get him on to the scale long enough to see that he weighs 26 pounds (he's always been on the thin side) and by this point I'm sweating as if I've run a marathon. And this is just the beginning. He screams when they insert the thermometer into his ear for 1 second (hey kid, the ear is much better than the alternative...), he screams when they wrap the paper measuring tape around his head to see how big his brain is, he screams when we lay him down on tissue paper and they measure him (36"=3 feet tall!!). There was a lot of screaming going on and we hadn't even made it to the examining room. Of course we waited for about 25 minutes or so before the doctor came in, and let me tell you, that 25 minutes is really 2.5 hours with a 2 year old in a small room with nothing but the toys in his diaper bag (which he's played with approximately 1 billion times) and a few books that are way too long for his attention span. So, this results in Momma making a poor choice and digging out one of those super-bouncy balls. This is very good entertainment, but not really practical in a small doctor's exam room. I could just see us becoming the reason for a sign in all rooms that reads "no balls allowed". There's already a list a mile long of things that aren't allowed in those rooms and I'm sure there's a story behind all of them. So I finally managed to get the ball back and put it away before the window was broken or the doctor walked in right in the midst of a super bounce resulting in breaking his glasses or worse. Of course this resulted in the BIG ONE (tantrum wise) and I'm sure everyone within a mile radius thought he was getting his shots, but alas, he was just throwing a fit.
Thankfully our doctor's office has seen fit to lock all of the drawers and cabinets in these rooms because Garrett checked them all multiple times just to be sure they hadn't miraculously unlocked to reveal a hidden stash of awesome toys. At one point Garrett was screaming bloody murder (because I wouldn't let him color on the walls) and I'm trying to shut him up, but my husband (oh wise man that he is) says, "No, just let him cry, maybe that will get them in here faster so they can get us out of here." Wonderful thinking. Of course that didn't work, but eventually the doctor came in. Now, let me just say, I do like my son's pediatrician. He seems very knowledgeable about a lot of kid stuff and he's always talked to Garrett and been nice, but every once in a while he says stuff that makes me feel like a total moron. After he came in he started talking to Garrett, he was asking him if he had a birthday party and what all he got, so I, being a mom, started prompting Garrett to respond. Of course the doctor gets on to me, telling me to stop it and let Garrett answer for himself. I was a little mortified, but of course Garrett didn't answer one question, except when he asked how old he was, he tried to hold up 2 fingers. But I didn't want the doctor to think that we didn't have a birthday party for him so I was trying to help and encourage Garrett to answer. This is just one of many times that he's done this. Don't ask me why we still go there, it's just too much of a pain to try to find another pediatrician, and like I said, he does know what he's talking about, he just doesn't have a very good bedside manner.
So, after this pleasant exchange we move on to discussing various issues (Garrett has excema and also holds his breath sometimes when he cries and then passes out). Then the lovely physical exam comes. The doctor looks in Garrett's mouth, throat, ears, diaper, etc, and the entire time Garrett is screaming as if he's being tortured for information (Where did you hide the remote! If you don't give up this information we will look in your ears until you crack!) Finally the moment comes (dum, dum, dum) shots time! But, thankfully, we lucked out. Garrett was supposed to get the Hepatitis A shot and a blood draw to check his lead levels. Well, there's apparently a national shortage of Hepatitis A vaccines so he didn't get one, but he still got the blood draw. That went pretty well. Though I feel sorry for the ladies who have to do it. I'm sure it isn't fun drawing blood from someone who is screaming in your ear. You definitely need a steady hand for that job.
So, we are now done with check-ups for an entire year! For those of you who have had kids somewhat recently, you know that the first 2 years consist of quite a few check ups so you get to know your pediatrician on a first name basis. But now we can go back to being nameless people in the crowded waiting room. Barring multiple illnesses over the next year, we won't be seeing him much. Though we will have to go back whenever his office gets a hold of some Hepatitis A vaccines, so that should be a fun day. With his breath holding problem, any time he gets a shot, he always holds his breath, which kind of makes the nurse panic a little and she repeats over and over "breathe, baby, breathe". I'm used to it now, so it isn't a big deal. I think he will be an Olympic swimmer some day because he can hold his breath for an eternity before he does eventually pass out. He'll have to figure that out exactly, we wouldn't want him to pass out while underwater.
So, just a lesson for those of you out there who may be exposed to my child over the course of the next few months (he's supposedly going to outgrow this by the time he hits 3, so less than 12 months to go!). Yes, he holds his breath and passes out (occasionally), but this is not uncommon and, according to our doctor, happens in approximately 20% of all children. So please don't look at me as if my child is a freak whenever you hear about his breath holding spells, or if you're one of the lucky ones who gets to actually witness one of these blessed events. He's perfectly normal, just needs a little closer watching whenever he gets worked up. Just put out an arm to catch him whenever he passes out, and then everything is back to normal (until the next episode). ;)
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
2 Years...
So, today is my son's 2nd birthday. If you're a parent you understand that feeling of "I can't believe how fast the past ___ years have gone by". Before becoming a parent, I always thought that was silly, but now I understand what it means. So much happens at the beginning of life. You learn so much so quickly and the growth rate is incredible. It's hard to believe my 7 lb 12 ounce, 21 inches long baby is now pushing 30 lbs and who knows how tall (we haven't been to the doctor in a while, but we go next week, so I'll update you:) in only 2 short years! He went from screaming about everything and never sleeping, to... well, still screaming alot and not always sleeping great, but atleast now his head doesn't flop around and he can feed himself! I know, not too encouraging for those soon-to-someday-be parents, but such is life.
I'm sure only mothers do this, but I have caught myself all day today looking at the clock and thinking back to what was going on at this particular time 2 years ago. I'm sure I'll still be doing this when he turns 30. It's like every minute of that day is ingrained in your mind. Well, the bad stuff is kind of a blur, which is a good thing because otherwise families would only consist of one child. :) But I'm sure I'll always remember that my doctor broke my water at 8am (I was induced), they started pitocin at 10am (my own contractions weren't doing much), I got my epidural at noon (praise the Lord!), I started pushing at 5:30pm and he was born at 6:30. By the way for those of you not real familiar with labor and delivery "stuff", pushing for an hour may seem like an eternity, but trust me, you take breaks in there so it really wasn't that bad and didn't seem like an hour.
Now, I have to be honest here (hey, if you can't be honest with your bloggy friends, who can you be honest with?) :). I was not one of those moms who instantly fell in love with her child and felt this overwhelming bond. I did cry (mostly because I was glad it was over with and also because I couldn't believe this little alien was actually my child), but the bonding part takes awhile, atleast it did for me. Of course I loved him, I mean he is my first baby, but it wasn't as if some light shone down from heaven on him and God spoke to me. (Although some moms want you to think that happens.) It was just a very overwhelming experience. To go from being a wife and having a good time, to being a mom and having responsibilities is a pretty big deal, so it took awhile for it to set in.
I can honestly say that overall my labor and delivery experience was relatively easy. I'm sure my husband has a different perspective, but this was his first time in a hospital room with a pregnant woman in labor, so he would have been horrified regardless. He occasionally reminds me about the time I threw up, almost passed out, Garrett's heart rate dropping, me needing an oxygen mask, etc, etc, in order to prevent me from wanting another baby. Which, I'm not ready for another one yet, but he can't talk me out of wanting 2 kids. That's something we've already agreed on, so it's a done deal. I just need some more time for Garrett to grow up a little before visiting "newborn land" again. Garrett hit "terrible 2's" a few months early, but I can honestly say that it's better than the first 3 months of his life. Newborn babies are sooo tough. Atleast mine was. They cry a lot and you have no idea what they're crying about because they can't express themselves AT ALL. Just think, what if you had a headache or gas pains, or hunger, or whatever and you weren't able to take care of yourself or express these needs to someone else. It's tough trying to figure this stuff out as a parent. Mix in raging hormones, no sleep, and minimal help from other people and you've got yourself some exciting days in our household when a newborn is around. Now, I do want to say that our church was awesome about bringing meals that first week we were home, my mom, dad, and sister did a great job getting our house ready for us (my mom even organized my kitchen cabinets!) and groceries bought, and my inlaws were here for a week as well. But eventually all of that stops and you're still here at home with a new baby still pretty much clueless as to what's going on. Now, I may be painting a somewhat bleak picture here, but I do want to share the fact that I was also dealing with post partum depression. Unfortunately, I didn't get help because I wasn't really sure what was wrong with me. I just knew I didn't really want to mess with Garrett much, I cried all the time for no reason, and I desperately needed to get out of the house every chance I could so I could see that the world was still "out there". Sometimes you just feel so isolated when you're in this kind of situation. I remember a conversation I had with a girl from my SS class (Kristi!). I think Garrett was maybe 10 days old and I remember her helping me to put it in perspective and knowing that she had felt a lot of the same things I was feeling, it really helped.
Honestly, looking back, I think I had a relatively good baby (he's a very active 2 year old now...) but he started sleeping through the night around 8 weeks old and he didn't fuss a whole lot (though from 6-8 in the evenings he would just cry non stop and there wasn't anything we could do about it).
Now Garrett is 2. He runs and jumps all over the house. He just recently learned how to do a somersault (I have no idea where, he didn't learn from me!), he climbs on EVERYTHING and gets into everything as well. But he's a lot of fun and very funny. He already shows to have a great imagination and is going to be pretty mechanical, like Daddy. He loves to sing and dance too. He really wants to sing along with songs, but only picks up a word here and there. He loves to try to spell his name (a, e, t, i... Garrett!!-that's basically what he says) and points out a few letters that he does know. He also loves animal sounds and would rather tell you what the animals says than what the animal is called. I'm very thankful that he doesn't seem to be the bully type (I'll find out for sure in the next few weeks because he is starting Mother's Day Out at church next Tuesday), so far he's never bitten or hit another child with the intention of being mean. He seems to be more the type that will allow himself to get beat up on even though he's plenty big enough to stand up for himself. Something else that's also like Keith, you have to push him a lot before he'll react. He loves cars (and the movie Cars), blocks, balls, the sandbox, outside, Curious George, Veggie Tales, giving kisses, and a whole lot of other things.
He's my baby but now he's 2. I'm so thankful that I have him and I'm able to stay at home with him. We are just so blessed.
I'm sure only mothers do this, but I have caught myself all day today looking at the clock and thinking back to what was going on at this particular time 2 years ago. I'm sure I'll still be doing this when he turns 30. It's like every minute of that day is ingrained in your mind. Well, the bad stuff is kind of a blur, which is a good thing because otherwise families would only consist of one child. :) But I'm sure I'll always remember that my doctor broke my water at 8am (I was induced), they started pitocin at 10am (my own contractions weren't doing much), I got my epidural at noon (praise the Lord!), I started pushing at 5:30pm and he was born at 6:30. By the way for those of you not real familiar with labor and delivery "stuff", pushing for an hour may seem like an eternity, but trust me, you take breaks in there so it really wasn't that bad and didn't seem like an hour.
Now, I have to be honest here (hey, if you can't be honest with your bloggy friends, who can you be honest with?) :). I was not one of those moms who instantly fell in love with her child and felt this overwhelming bond. I did cry (mostly because I was glad it was over with and also because I couldn't believe this little alien was actually my child), but the bonding part takes awhile, atleast it did for me. Of course I loved him, I mean he is my first baby, but it wasn't as if some light shone down from heaven on him and God spoke to me. (Although some moms want you to think that happens.) It was just a very overwhelming experience. To go from being a wife and having a good time, to being a mom and having responsibilities is a pretty big deal, so it took awhile for it to set in.
I can honestly say that overall my labor and delivery experience was relatively easy. I'm sure my husband has a different perspective, but this was his first time in a hospital room with a pregnant woman in labor, so he would have been horrified regardless. He occasionally reminds me about the time I threw up, almost passed out, Garrett's heart rate dropping, me needing an oxygen mask, etc, etc, in order to prevent me from wanting another baby. Which, I'm not ready for another one yet, but he can't talk me out of wanting 2 kids. That's something we've already agreed on, so it's a done deal. I just need some more time for Garrett to grow up a little before visiting "newborn land" again. Garrett hit "terrible 2's" a few months early, but I can honestly say that it's better than the first 3 months of his life. Newborn babies are sooo tough. Atleast mine was. They cry a lot and you have no idea what they're crying about because they can't express themselves AT ALL. Just think, what if you had a headache or gas pains, or hunger, or whatever and you weren't able to take care of yourself or express these needs to someone else. It's tough trying to figure this stuff out as a parent. Mix in raging hormones, no sleep, and minimal help from other people and you've got yourself some exciting days in our household when a newborn is around. Now, I do want to say that our church was awesome about bringing meals that first week we were home, my mom, dad, and sister did a great job getting our house ready for us (my mom even organized my kitchen cabinets!) and groceries bought, and my inlaws were here for a week as well. But eventually all of that stops and you're still here at home with a new baby still pretty much clueless as to what's going on. Now, I may be painting a somewhat bleak picture here, but I do want to share the fact that I was also dealing with post partum depression. Unfortunately, I didn't get help because I wasn't really sure what was wrong with me. I just knew I didn't really want to mess with Garrett much, I cried all the time for no reason, and I desperately needed to get out of the house every chance I could so I could see that the world was still "out there". Sometimes you just feel so isolated when you're in this kind of situation. I remember a conversation I had with a girl from my SS class (Kristi!). I think Garrett was maybe 10 days old and I remember her helping me to put it in perspective and knowing that she had felt a lot of the same things I was feeling, it really helped.
Honestly, looking back, I think I had a relatively good baby (he's a very active 2 year old now...) but he started sleeping through the night around 8 weeks old and he didn't fuss a whole lot (though from 6-8 in the evenings he would just cry non stop and there wasn't anything we could do about it).
Now Garrett is 2. He runs and jumps all over the house. He just recently learned how to do a somersault (I have no idea where, he didn't learn from me!), he climbs on EVERYTHING and gets into everything as well. But he's a lot of fun and very funny. He already shows to have a great imagination and is going to be pretty mechanical, like Daddy. He loves to sing and dance too. He really wants to sing along with songs, but only picks up a word here and there. He loves to try to spell his name (a, e, t, i... Garrett!!-that's basically what he says) and points out a few letters that he does know. He also loves animal sounds and would rather tell you what the animals says than what the animal is called. I'm very thankful that he doesn't seem to be the bully type (I'll find out for sure in the next few weeks because he is starting Mother's Day Out at church next Tuesday), so far he's never bitten or hit another child with the intention of being mean. He seems to be more the type that will allow himself to get beat up on even though he's plenty big enough to stand up for himself. Something else that's also like Keith, you have to push him a lot before he'll react. He loves cars (and the movie Cars), blocks, balls, the sandbox, outside, Curious George, Veggie Tales, giving kisses, and a whole lot of other things.
He's my baby but now he's 2. I'm so thankful that I have him and I'm able to stay at home with him. We are just so blessed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)