So Many Rainy days!......
Well, I made a new posty here
Lastly, I hope you all are having a good day! Take time to splash in the rain puddles, if you haven't already ;)
May 29, 2007
May 24, 2007
My Brother's Graduation
Nearly a week ago my brother graduated from Linguistics school! Congratulations, Jedidiah!
We headed out to Bowie to join in the celebration. We had two children for the day, as we were babysitting our niece, Kylee. She was a trooper - such a good little girl!
Here's my two sister in law's (James' sister on the left, Jedidiah's wife on the right!) and brother! (and little Baby Bee, too!)
The ceremony was very good. We enjoyed the singing and the speaker....we are going through some difficult times, and his words were an encouragement to our hearts...of course we enjoyed watching Jedidiah get his diploma, too! :)
It was an altogether loverly time, and we are very proud of my big brother!
An extra bonus to the graduation was that it was an excuse for James to wear his suit! He looked SO handsome!! I'm very much in love with this fella!!! Not only is he so good-looking, ;) but he's just an all-around great guy! Such a sweet and caring man, and such a dear father to our son! I love you, James!!!
And in closing, just in case I haven't said it enough.....
CONGRATULATIONS, JEDIDIAH!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!
(more photos can be seen here)
May 22, 2007
A Little Boy and A Dandelion...
....and so much love our hearts cannot hold it!!!
Who would have thought that one single little person could change your life so much?
May 18, 2007
Such A Day!
Yesterday was quite the adventure. It started off as a really good morning. I was "on schedule" (whatever that means!) and feeling like Miss, er, I mean Mrs. "All-Together" ;)
As Patrick was eating his oatmeal, I noticed several little dots on his wrist and hand. It's pretty typical for Patrick to have various "spots" or rashes of some sort, but this looked different and I was concerned.
Finally I decided to ask about it on a forum, as well as IM'ing my husband and mother. A few people responded online, but I still hadn't heard back from my family, so I went about my business.
Then, all at once both my mom and James start IMing me. As I talked to both of them, the decision was made for me to take Paddy boy to the doctor.....
There was just one problem. I don't have a car right now.
I do however, live right next door to a bus station! But did I really want to take the bus all the way to Plano? It would take around 2 hours. Maybe I should just take him to the PA down the road-it would be a good walk, but not too bad.
Finally I decided, and called the PA's office. But they were booked. They offered a "walk-in" but I decided to go ahead to Plano. I called Dr. Sham's office and made an appointment for 1:45 or 2:00. It was about 10:34 at this point.
I hurried to get ready. Took a quick shower, gathered some food and various items, looked up my bus route online and wrote it down.
Then I got P out of his crib (I'd placed him there earlier! :) ) and put his little sandals on.
Out the door we went. I needed to take the larger stroller so that I would have a place to put the diaper bag etc., so I had to carry Patrick, the stroller, the diaper bag AND the lunch tote down three flights of stairs!
Once on the ground I buckled little Pea into the stroller and set off. I had to go out of my way (the opposite direction!) to get some cash at the gas station. I hurried, because at this point it was about 11:00 and the bus left at 11:35!
One quick dash into the gas station--shouldn't take long, right? Well, maybe if it was a day with no deadlines! :) It seems that whenever we are in a rush, things end up taking longer, right?!
This is a tiny little gas station, so it was difficult enough to maneuver the large stroller down the narrow aisle. I made my way carefully to the ATM machine, only to discover that it was blocked off by boxes of beer! I couldn't even see letters on the screen, and I wondered if it was out of service. I figured I looked suspicious back there, so I hollered up to the cashier "Does your ATM work?" This turned out to be a good idea, because after responding "yes" he quickly called the beer delivery man to come move all the beer!
After getting $20.00 out I went up to ask for change. Since I wasn't buying anything I had to wait until another customer was ready and the cash drawer was open.
Earlier I'd asked the man for a ten, a five and five ones, but by the time I was ready to exchange the bill I'd decided it would be better to have ten ones.
So I asked the man for a ten and ten ones-and he gave me a ten, a five and five ones! Ah well, hopefully it would work out and I'd have the right change for the bus!
Patrick and I hurried back up the street. We arrived at the bus station early. I asked someone inside about the bus and they told me he had already come!
Soon I found out however, that there were two buses with the number I was looking for.
One had already come, but the other (MY bus) was still on it's way. Whew!
While we waited, two little twins entertained us. They were quite intrigued with Patrick-to the point of being just a little bit too much, actually! :)
They were not shy in the least, and nearly from the moment we started interacting, until the moment I boarded my bus, they were pulling Patrick's pacifier in and out, feeding him his drink, and pulling things out of the diaper bag! They stuck their faces right up in his face and touched him, too! The little girl followed us about quite often-even when her mother was somewhere else!
I was very grateful to their mother. She was friendly and tried to be very helpful. She was one of the many people the Lord sent to help me-A full grown, adult woman who knew nothing about riding buses. (I say knew, because after yesterday, I know a lot more!)
In fact, I am so unfamiliar with such business, that I missed my bus. Yes, yes. I know - I said arrived early--and I did. I was there.
In fact, I was sitting right outside on a bench, and watched it pull up. I also watched it leave--without me and my son!
I had no idea those things left in such a hurry! I thought it would sit there for a minute or so.....but I was wrong. VERY wrong!
Thus I found myself in the company of the over-eager twin helpers and their very friendly mother for about 40 min.
This meant, too, that my carefully written out bus route was now obsolete.
I knew that I should take the next bus, but after that I had no idea which bus to take-and there would be transfers-that I knew.
Before too long I saw the next bus making it's way to the station. This time I was standing up near the stop, and ready to board quickly.
My new friend had asked some clean-cut looking guy about the bus I was about to take.
He helped us determined that it would take me to the south Garland station, and that from there I could board a train which would take me to Plano.
I asked my new friend if I was supposed to pay the driver when I boarded or when I got off....I guess that just totally convinced her that I should not be on the adventure (with a baby, no less) on my own, because she asked the clean-cut looking guy if he would help me at the next station!
I don't know if he nodded or what. I smiled and sort of shook my head, hoping to convince him that he didn't have to help me, even though I really would need it.
As I prepared to board the bus, I found myself hoisting the stroller up the three steps.
I then asked the driver how much it cost, and deposited $2.50 into the slot. I started to leave, but realized that I needed to get my little "day pass."
I wasn't sure what it was good for, but I hoped it would be a free ticket onto other buses that day.
I learned quickly that I should have brought the small stroller. I squeezed into a seat with the stroller in front of me--taking up much too much room in the aisle. Once I had to push the stroller out of the way while a person in a wheelchair got situated. This made it so that Patrick was sitting right next to some lady. She had smiled at him earlier, and was now reaching out to touch his cheek. Inwardly I gasped, as I quickly scanned her lap for any food. I'm always paranoid that someone is going to touch him after handling an egg, or some other food that will cause him to react or break out. (thankfully all was fine there, though!)
Stop after Stop came next. Many types of people got on and off the bus. At one stop, a very interesting man got on and sat on the same bench as me. Among other things which wouldn't be very nice to mention, I shall just say that he had very wild hair. :)
As the bus went up and down the streets, I found myself holding on very tightly to the stroller. Try as I might though, it would persist in bumping the aforementioned man's leg.
The second time it happened, I looked over-and he looked at me. He smiled and said "I don't mind! I'd rather it bumped me than rolled over there!" (motioning to the front of the bus...)
Before this point I hadn't really talked to anyone on the bus, but now I was in a conversation with Mr. Wild Hair. "Is it a Boy or Girl?" he asked. "Boy." I replied very shortly. Patrick seemed to know we were talking about him, and peered around the side of the stroller....It proved to be a short conversation, however, and soon Mr. Wild Hair was getting off the bus.
And before too long it was our turn to get off the bus too! Some man helped me lift the stroller down, and I then found myself standing on the corner of the street. The man who helped me with the stroller was about to cross, and I decided to go with them.
As we were standing in the middle of the road, waiting for the other side to clear of cars, I heard the man talking to his friend, saying something along the lines of "...they let us out of jail and then have nowhere for us to go...." Oh boy! A man fresh out of jail just helped me with my stroller! This is an adventurous day!!!
As I said, we were standing in the middle of the road-not at a cross-walk. As we stood there, a police car drove by. I was afraid we would be stopped for J-walking, but he didn't....and we safely made it across the street.
Now that I was here though, I had NO idea what I was supposed to do. Did I need to buy a ticket? Which train should I take?
I hurried from one end of the station to the other, looking for a map or something to help me out. As I was approaching the sign, some man said "Can I ask you a question?"
You may think I'm very rude, but I replied with a firm "NO" - without even looking at him. As I continued walking I heard him behind me saying "SORRY!"
There were no helpful signs on the other end, so trudged back down the sidewalk, looking around for someone to ask for help. I soon spotted a man with a bright orange vest. Ah ha! He looked like a DART worker-just the person to ask my questions!
Thankfully he told me where I should go. Before leaving, I said"What do I need to buy?" "A Day Pass" he answered. Hoo-ray! I actually had the correct thing for once!
Now, who do you think was seated right across from where I entered the train? Mr. Clean-cut! After helping me lift the stroller, he confirmed what the man in the orange vest had told me-pointing up to something on the wall. When I looked up, all I saw at first was an add! Then I looked higher, and saw a little Map of what the trains did. I then continued to ask various other dumb questions-which I'm sure made this guy wonder where on earth I'd come from.
I think he really thought I needed help after that. He continued to look out for me-warning me about my stop coming up-helping with the stroller.
When we arrived at the next stop, we parted ways. But when it was time to load the next bus, he came over and helped me lift the stroller again!
Inside the new bus we had a whole new set of adventures! There were no seats, but a nice man stood up and let me have his.....a police man with sunglasses came and sat down next to Patrick. He smiled and waved-and Patrick proceeded to melt into tears! Poor policeman!
I wasn't sure where I should get off-but after talking to James figured it out.
Before too long we arrived. Outside the windows I saw the words "Downtown Plano."
The doors opened and Patrick and I stepped off the train. Here we were-Far from home, with no idea where to go.
We were miles from the doctors-and I had no idea where a bus stop was, and if that certain stop would get me to Coit and 15th.
So I started off, walking down the sidewalk--any old direction I thought looked good. Which happened to be the wrong direction!
After walking in a square I arrived at 15th street. Now which way? I chose left-but after walking a little ways, thought it didn't look right. So I turned around.
The sidewalk was messed up at one point, so we had to cut through a park. Then as we were walking, I saw a bus up ahead, letting a person off. I started to run a little, and I guess the driver saw me. I shouted out to her "Do you go to Coit?" She shook her head, but motioned for me to get on anyways. I tired to do so quickly, since the bus was in the middle of the street (at a red light) but this bus had VERY steep stairs. It was very difficult to lift the stroller up-but thanks to the help of a lady-who never smiled, I don't think-we made it.
The bus driver dropped me off just a little ways down the road, with directions of where to catch a bus that would take me to Coit.
P and I walked a little ways, then found the stop. There I called the helpline to find out when this bus came, and if it would take me where I needed to be. The lady said it would be there at 2:59-only about 25 min.
Since it was still quite a walk, I decided to wait. I could feed Patrick his avocado, and let him stretch his legs. After all, he had been in that stroller for about 3 and 1/2 hours, poor thing! (he was such a good boy!)
Around 3:15 we finally walked into the doctor's office. Only over an hour late :) (James had called them and they said it was ok to come in whenever)
The doctor looked at him, and did seem a little concerned-in fact, he thought we should go get some blood taken. So Patrick and I walked across the street to the Hospital, and found ourselves at registration.
What a change for me to be doing such things-usually James handles them. But I did it. I filled out paper work and signed papers. I even sat in the lab chair and held my son while they pricked his finger and it bled on him, me and the lab worker.
Thankfully James was able to leave work a little early and pick us up. That made him late for his teaching, but the students were very gracious and understanding, and it worked out to teach them longer.
Today we got the lab report back. The little spots are called "Pitichia" - it's little bleeding inside- which can indicate something serious with your blood-or can be caused by various things like heavy crying or getting pinched or bumped....Thankfully Patrick's blood work was all normal.
So it seems that his "Pitichia's" are caused by something else. Hopefully in a few days they will disappear.
What a day. Needless to say I was very tired at the end of it, and very worried about Patrick.
Praise the Lord that he is ok, and for keeping us safe on our very big adventure on the buses and trains!
As Patrick was eating his oatmeal, I noticed several little dots on his wrist and hand. It's pretty typical for Patrick to have various "spots" or rashes of some sort, but this looked different and I was concerned.
Finally I decided to ask about it on a forum, as well as IM'ing my husband and mother. A few people responded online, but I still hadn't heard back from my family, so I went about my business.
Then, all at once both my mom and James start IMing me. As I talked to both of them, the decision was made for me to take Paddy boy to the doctor.....
There was just one problem. I don't have a car right now.
I do however, live right next door to a bus station! But did I really want to take the bus all the way to Plano? It would take around 2 hours. Maybe I should just take him to the PA down the road-it would be a good walk, but not too bad.
Finally I decided, and called the PA's office. But they were booked. They offered a "walk-in" but I decided to go ahead to Plano. I called Dr. Sham's office and made an appointment for 1:45 or 2:00. It was about 10:34 at this point.
I hurried to get ready. Took a quick shower, gathered some food and various items, looked up my bus route online and wrote it down.
Then I got P out of his crib (I'd placed him there earlier! :) ) and put his little sandals on.
Out the door we went. I needed to take the larger stroller so that I would have a place to put the diaper bag etc., so I had to carry Patrick, the stroller, the diaper bag AND the lunch tote down three flights of stairs!
Once on the ground I buckled little Pea into the stroller and set off. I had to go out of my way (the opposite direction!) to get some cash at the gas station. I hurried, because at this point it was about 11:00 and the bus left at 11:35!
One quick dash into the gas station--shouldn't take long, right? Well, maybe if it was a day with no deadlines! :) It seems that whenever we are in a rush, things end up taking longer, right?!
This is a tiny little gas station, so it was difficult enough to maneuver the large stroller down the narrow aisle. I made my way carefully to the ATM machine, only to discover that it was blocked off by boxes of beer! I couldn't even see letters on the screen, and I wondered if it was out of service. I figured I looked suspicious back there, so I hollered up to the cashier "Does your ATM work?" This turned out to be a good idea, because after responding "yes" he quickly called the beer delivery man to come move all the beer!
After getting $20.00 out I went up to ask for change. Since I wasn't buying anything I had to wait until another customer was ready and the cash drawer was open.
Earlier I'd asked the man for a ten, a five and five ones, but by the time I was ready to exchange the bill I'd decided it would be better to have ten ones.
So I asked the man for a ten and ten ones-and he gave me a ten, a five and five ones! Ah well, hopefully it would work out and I'd have the right change for the bus!
Patrick and I hurried back up the street. We arrived at the bus station early. I asked someone inside about the bus and they told me he had already come!
Soon I found out however, that there were two buses with the number I was looking for.
One had already come, but the other (MY bus) was still on it's way. Whew!
While we waited, two little twins entertained us. They were quite intrigued with Patrick-to the point of being just a little bit too much, actually! :)
They were not shy in the least, and nearly from the moment we started interacting, until the moment I boarded my bus, they were pulling Patrick's pacifier in and out, feeding him his drink, and pulling things out of the diaper bag! They stuck their faces right up in his face and touched him, too! The little girl followed us about quite often-even when her mother was somewhere else!
I was very grateful to their mother. She was friendly and tried to be very helpful. She was one of the many people the Lord sent to help me-A full grown, adult woman who knew nothing about riding buses. (I say knew, because after yesterday, I know a lot more!)
In fact, I am so unfamiliar with such business, that I missed my bus. Yes, yes. I know - I said arrived early--and I did. I was there.
In fact, I was sitting right outside on a bench, and watched it pull up. I also watched it leave--without me and my son!
I had no idea those things left in such a hurry! I thought it would sit there for a minute or so.....but I was wrong. VERY wrong!
Thus I found myself in the company of the over-eager twin helpers and their very friendly mother for about 40 min.
This meant, too, that my carefully written out bus route was now obsolete.
I knew that I should take the next bus, but after that I had no idea which bus to take-and there would be transfers-that I knew.
Before too long I saw the next bus making it's way to the station. This time I was standing up near the stop, and ready to board quickly.
My new friend had asked some clean-cut looking guy about the bus I was about to take.
He helped us determined that it would take me to the south Garland station, and that from there I could board a train which would take me to Plano.
I asked my new friend if I was supposed to pay the driver when I boarded or when I got off....I guess that just totally convinced her that I should not be on the adventure (with a baby, no less) on my own, because she asked the clean-cut looking guy if he would help me at the next station!
I don't know if he nodded or what. I smiled and sort of shook my head, hoping to convince him that he didn't have to help me, even though I really would need it.
As I prepared to board the bus, I found myself hoisting the stroller up the three steps.
I then asked the driver how much it cost, and deposited $2.50 into the slot. I started to leave, but realized that I needed to get my little "day pass."
I wasn't sure what it was good for, but I hoped it would be a free ticket onto other buses that day.
I learned quickly that I should have brought the small stroller. I squeezed into a seat with the stroller in front of me--taking up much too much room in the aisle. Once I had to push the stroller out of the way while a person in a wheelchair got situated. This made it so that Patrick was sitting right next to some lady. She had smiled at him earlier, and was now reaching out to touch his cheek. Inwardly I gasped, as I quickly scanned her lap for any food. I'm always paranoid that someone is going to touch him after handling an egg, or some other food that will cause him to react or break out. (thankfully all was fine there, though!)
Stop after Stop came next. Many types of people got on and off the bus. At one stop, a very interesting man got on and sat on the same bench as me. Among other things which wouldn't be very nice to mention, I shall just say that he had very wild hair. :)
As the bus went up and down the streets, I found myself holding on very tightly to the stroller. Try as I might though, it would persist in bumping the aforementioned man's leg.
The second time it happened, I looked over-and he looked at me. He smiled and said "I don't mind! I'd rather it bumped me than rolled over there!" (motioning to the front of the bus...)
Before this point I hadn't really talked to anyone on the bus, but now I was in a conversation with Mr. Wild Hair. "Is it a Boy or Girl?" he asked. "Boy." I replied very shortly. Patrick seemed to know we were talking about him, and peered around the side of the stroller....It proved to be a short conversation, however, and soon Mr. Wild Hair was getting off the bus.
And before too long it was our turn to get off the bus too! Some man helped me lift the stroller down, and I then found myself standing on the corner of the street. The man who helped me with the stroller was about to cross, and I decided to go with them.
As we were standing in the middle of the road, waiting for the other side to clear of cars, I heard the man talking to his friend, saying something along the lines of "...they let us out of jail and then have nowhere for us to go...." Oh boy! A man fresh out of jail just helped me with my stroller! This is an adventurous day!!!
As I said, we were standing in the middle of the road-not at a cross-walk. As we stood there, a police car drove by. I was afraid we would be stopped for J-walking, but he didn't....and we safely made it across the street.
Now that I was here though, I had NO idea what I was supposed to do. Did I need to buy a ticket? Which train should I take?
I hurried from one end of the station to the other, looking for a map or something to help me out. As I was approaching the sign, some man said "Can I ask you a question?"
You may think I'm very rude, but I replied with a firm "NO" - without even looking at him. As I continued walking I heard him behind me saying "SORRY!"
There were no helpful signs on the other end, so trudged back down the sidewalk, looking around for someone to ask for help. I soon spotted a man with a bright orange vest. Ah ha! He looked like a DART worker-just the person to ask my questions!
Thankfully he told me where I should go. Before leaving, I said"What do I need to buy?" "A Day Pass" he answered. Hoo-ray! I actually had the correct thing for once!
Now, who do you think was seated right across from where I entered the train? Mr. Clean-cut! After helping me lift the stroller, he confirmed what the man in the orange vest had told me-pointing up to something on the wall. When I looked up, all I saw at first was an add! Then I looked higher, and saw a little Map of what the trains did. I then continued to ask various other dumb questions-which I'm sure made this guy wonder where on earth I'd come from.
I think he really thought I needed help after that. He continued to look out for me-warning me about my stop coming up-helping with the stroller.
When we arrived at the next stop, we parted ways. But when it was time to load the next bus, he came over and helped me lift the stroller again!
Inside the new bus we had a whole new set of adventures! There were no seats, but a nice man stood up and let me have his.....a police man with sunglasses came and sat down next to Patrick. He smiled and waved-and Patrick proceeded to melt into tears! Poor policeman!
I wasn't sure where I should get off-but after talking to James figured it out.
Before too long we arrived. Outside the windows I saw the words "Downtown Plano."
The doors opened and Patrick and I stepped off the train. Here we were-Far from home, with no idea where to go.
We were miles from the doctors-and I had no idea where a bus stop was, and if that certain stop would get me to Coit and 15th.
So I started off, walking down the sidewalk--any old direction I thought looked good. Which happened to be the wrong direction!
After walking in a square I arrived at 15th street. Now which way? I chose left-but after walking a little ways, thought it didn't look right. So I turned around.
The sidewalk was messed up at one point, so we had to cut through a park. Then as we were walking, I saw a bus up ahead, letting a person off. I started to run a little, and I guess the driver saw me. I shouted out to her "Do you go to Coit?" She shook her head, but motioned for me to get on anyways. I tired to do so quickly, since the bus was in the middle of the street (at a red light) but this bus had VERY steep stairs. It was very difficult to lift the stroller up-but thanks to the help of a lady-who never smiled, I don't think-we made it.
The bus driver dropped me off just a little ways down the road, with directions of where to catch a bus that would take me to Coit.
P and I walked a little ways, then found the stop. There I called the helpline to find out when this bus came, and if it would take me where I needed to be. The lady said it would be there at 2:59-only about 25 min.
Since it was still quite a walk, I decided to wait. I could feed Patrick his avocado, and let him stretch his legs. After all, he had been in that stroller for about 3 and 1/2 hours, poor thing! (he was such a good boy!)
Around 3:15 we finally walked into the doctor's office. Only over an hour late :) (James had called them and they said it was ok to come in whenever)
The doctor looked at him, and did seem a little concerned-in fact, he thought we should go get some blood taken. So Patrick and I walked across the street to the Hospital, and found ourselves at registration.
What a change for me to be doing such things-usually James handles them. But I did it. I filled out paper work and signed papers. I even sat in the lab chair and held my son while they pricked his finger and it bled on him, me and the lab worker.
Thankfully James was able to leave work a little early and pick us up. That made him late for his teaching, but the students were very gracious and understanding, and it worked out to teach them longer.
Today we got the lab report back. The little spots are called "Pitichia" - it's little bleeding inside- which can indicate something serious with your blood-or can be caused by various things like heavy crying or getting pinched or bumped....Thankfully Patrick's blood work was all normal.
So it seems that his "Pitichia's" are caused by something else. Hopefully in a few days they will disappear.
What a day. Needless to say I was very tired at the end of it, and very worried about Patrick.
Praise the Lord that he is ok, and for keeping us safe on our very big adventure on the buses and trains!
May 12, 2007
The Time Came....
Indeed. It was time. And it's just right for the Texas Summer that is fast approaching....but it's still a little sad. I'll miss those little curls....but it's exciting too...fun to see our baby with a different look!
Why don't you take a look??? :) Click here!
May 02, 2007
An Early Mother's Day Outing!
Sunday afternoon, my parents took me to a concert! It was their Mother's Day gift, and it was such fun! We went to hear the
von Trapp children sing! 
The concert was beautiful, and I really enjoyed my parents taking me. So nice to get to spend some time with them.
James and Patrick had some Father/Son time back at home-although Patrick spent most of it sleeping! (thus James got to play tribes all he wanted!! ;) )
Patrick's "special song" is "Blue Cheese" which is on one of the von Trapp Children's Cd's! They didn't sing it at the concert, though! But they sang lots of other nice ones, including several from the movie "The Sound of Music"!!
What a lovely afternoon!
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