Mr. Mom

Every parent should experience a "routine check-up" during their baby's first year of life.  In order for the experience to be valid it should must include a series of vaccination shots.  Luckily, with our 3rd child, Shane was able to have this experience.  Additionally, he was eager, willing, and excited to take Audrey to her 6 month check-up, knowing tears would be involved.  After returning home from Audrey's check-up Shane proudly handed over her measurements and smugly said, "just call me Mr. Mom."  I knew then, this was an experience he relished as a parent, because the "tough" moments are the moments that make you feel most like a parent, and that is rewarding.

Weight:  16 lbs and 13.6 oz    77%

Height 27.4 in     98%

Head:  42.3 cm   54% 

A new tie, just what dad wanted!

This past father's day Shane received a special gift, a tie. One tie from Amelia and one tie from Avery. Shane is wearing the tie Amelia made, and in the below picture Amelia is holding the "tie" card Avery made. He loved them both. Additionally, we made a trip to a new "Shipley's" donut shop, which opened semi-close to our house. The donuts were awesome! Shane worked the night shift Father's Day eve, but was able to spend most of his day exactly the way he wanted, with his family.

Cousins!

Auntie Liz, aka my sister, and her beautiful baby girl, Izzy made a trip from Boston down to San Antonio over Father's Day weekend.  It was sooo much fun having my sister in town and being able to hang out with my niece, whom I haven't physical seen since she was born. 

I decided shrimp and scallops on the grill, would be a yummy "Father's Day" dinner. However, the shrimp needed to be deveined, and neither Liz nor I had prior experience with this skill. So, Liz googled "deveining shrimp," watched a short video, and we were off working on a new technical, culinary skill. Naively, Liz and I both thought "deveining" meant removing a single, blood carrying vein. However, we soon found out deveining also included removing an alimentary canal, which carries waste out of the body. Unsurprisingly, for the next couple of hours our appetites were squelched.

A trip to "Orange Mango" was well received by Auntie Liz and baby Izzy.

My little monkeys.

I love the minivan:)

Avery's latest find at the park, a toad, a.k.a. boy heaven.

Notice no water being slashed in the babies faces in the smaller above two pictures?  Notice water being splashed in the babies faces in the above big picture?  Can you guess the culprit?  I thought so...Avery.

I'm once bitten twice shy baby

Those of you that know us know pushing "the limits" when our baby's nap is involved is something we do not do. It's not that we don't want to engage with the living, because we really do, it's just we've been burned too many times. We have countless memories of attempting travel during our tour in Germany, and listening to prolonged periods of crying, which have been charred to our brains. The worse reminiscence being a trip to Rome, in which we swore never to return. I guess the musical group Great White sang it best, "I'm once bitten twice shy baby." However, as with all memories, time lessens the pain and here we are again asking ourselves, whether missing a morning nap is worth engaging in the activity being questioned. Lucky for us, our 3rd baby is quite easy. With that being said, we haven't truly tested Audrey's limits. Therefore, we are going to take it slow, not for Audrey sake, because I'm sure she would do well regardless, but for ourselves. For that reason, we recently attempted an outing that involved a waitress/waiter, which means sitting and waiting. Our breakfast venture was to a place called "The Magnolia Pancake Haus." The atmosphere was enjoyable, the food was tasty, the kids did fine, and Shane and I survived with smiles on our faces. Who knows when we will attempt another outing, but one positive experience is sure to spur a few more.

At the very top of a playscape, Avery found a baby praying mantis.  If a bug is to be found, Avery will find it. 

Obsession

Our latest obsessions......

my feet

my dresses....I have 6 (one is too small, one is too hot, one is appropriate for the fall only,  one I can't wear until the 4th of July, and two are just right).  Whatever the case, I know when mommy tries to remove them from my closet, I know how many I have, and I love to wear them every day of the week. 

my "cave"....I have taken over the living room furniture and refuse to let mom and dad take my "cave" down at night.  Mom and dad are relegated to sitting either on the couch, or if the couch is reserved for the "cave," the floor for evening down time. 

Lemon cupcakes from "cupcake couture".....do not go to "cupcake couture" you might be disappointed to find an extra 500 calorie habit that's hard to break.

my work....when you spend an average of 90+ hours a week at work, it's considered an "obsession."

All girls find themselves identifying with at least one movie during the ever impressionable “teen years.” We associate with certain characters and feel their pain as if it’s our pain. Great examples include “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” and “Weird Science.” Additionally, as we get older we can typically equate our personality to a specific character, played in a specific movie, varying slightly in degree. Sometimes seeing some, or all of your individuality exploited in a movie can either be therapeutic or agonizingly painful. These movies, and sometimes sitcoms (Friends, Sex and the City), include a few of my favorites; “Legally Blonde,” “Never Been Kissed,” and “Election.” OK, so I hate to admit it but Alicia Silverstone and I had a lot in common….we were both “Clueless.” I didn’t grow up in a mansion, I didn’t have a credit card until I graduated from college, and I didn’t visit the mall regularly, so luckily our commonalty only covers a certain extent, however when it came to the obvious we were both oblivious. Today I laugh with friends about how much I really did miss during my glory days. So now that I’m a mom with two daughters, and after recently watching “Mean Girls” during a lonely night, I’ve started to analyze Amelia’s playtime behavior with visions of her teenage self dancing in my head. I’m having flashbacks of her talking sternly to “baby” about going to sleep, or putting rabbit in timeout many, many times for being too loud, or putting Barbie in the closet all by herself because she isn’t fun to play with, or pushing down a younger child in our community. Unfortunately, the movie “Heathers” comes to mind, but alas I’m thinking of only her negative conduct which accounts for only a small portion of her daily behavior. Amelia is sweet, lovable, congenial, and shows empathy for others her own age. So, I’m thinking maybe Shane and I need to reevaluate how we address bedtime behavior, and time out for using an inappropriate tone, and remind Avery that pushing his little sister out of the way to wash his hands is not OK, and that wanting to play different games doesn’t make us “not fun to play with.” Hopefully, rethinking the “obvious” puts visions of teenage movie land out of my head and doesn’t leave me feeling “Clueless” about Amelia’s future as a 16 year old adolescent girl, because 16 is still a few years down the road. With a bit of luck Shane and I might even feel confident enough to say “Bring It On.”