Father's Day ~ I love my baby-daddy!

Today I am "off" from my usual routine, catching up on things here at the local coffee shop, and then I will run errands in preparation for a shower I'm helping to organize, as well as our church's VBS, for which I'm gonna be the craft lady! James is the sole blessing filling in for me now, enabling me to do these things today, before we meet up at a birthday party later.
Last week, Linc was diagnosed with hand, mouth and foot virus as well as a double ear infection. He'd suffered a 104.4 fever, which scared me big-time, and was having difficulty overcoming pink eye. He got one antibiotic shot in each thigh instead of his 18 month vacs, and has been getting better steadily, on med, but it's been so exhausting, just trying to get him interested in eating, just trying to help him feel content. His allergies are so bad, and the ears are a problem, so we'll have to check into that later. Maybe tubes or adenoids need to be considered.
Wendy, last week also, got the granuloma removed from her finger via "the accidental snap of the dermatologist's rubber band" following the ice pack application. I held her face and distracted her when the mighty prick numbed this rapidly growing blister of blood vessels right inside the joint of her right hand's finger. It was shaved and cauterized. We might have waited to see if it would resolve spontaneously, but as I was told that, if it happens, it could take months or years, and that these things grow quickly and bleed profusely when nicked, and as it was making it hard for her to hold a pencil, AND as he advised he'd do it for his child, I gave my consent. I got the headache of a century. Wendy was fine after the moment of "WHAT WAS THAT?!" I got her a new doll from Target. It's healing well. Let's pray it doesn't return!
Drama #3---the floor James painted never did dry/cure, so I made a phone call and wrote a letter (I e-mailed the higher-ups). Men representing the product came out to see it, and of course, they were defensive but made poor arguments, so I had to resist their efforts to intimidate me, I had to prove my case and stick to my guns without wavering, me with two small kids against two grown men. God gave me strength and an edge when I needed it most. I recall how I asked to see the clipboard, and how as I stood beside the man, looking over his shoulder at his notes, how I made him make the appropriate corrections to his check list, and how I requested a copy of these documents. Before they left, I looked him straight in the eyes and told him I didn't feel confident that he would represent our situation with the product fairly based on some of the things he said to me. (He said it wasn't supposed to be used on foot-traffic areas. I told him the store employee recommended it for our floor project and then I grabbed the can. It did not say to avoid applying to floors. He said, "It doesn't say TO use it on floors." I read to him, "...excellent for ceramic tile,' ---I don't see too much ceramic tile on walls. I am not stupid." It also said to allow 24 hours drying time for regular foot traffic. No floors, huh? There are even STAIR instructions. The product stinks. Period. Update--Monday the head guy will call me and set up times for contractors to come out and give bids to remove the mess and repaint it for us. I won! Praise God! Justice! But, another headache. I hate having to be that way, but sometimes one has to be!
Fiasco #4--A virus corrupted my e-mail. Gonna have to try g-mail soon as that's what folks suggest. Evil hackers. I want someone to make a virus that immediately detects virus-making activity and shuts them right down. Wouldn't that be awesome?!
GOOD news! Nothing worse than any of the above has happened! Ha ha. Seriously, life is like this sometimes, and this year has been weird in that many of the major things we've attempted to accomplish have gone wrong--like our move, the house situation, etc, and we've had our share of frustrations, but I know none of it's actually tragic, so I'll accept this season for what it is---life in a fallen world. Amen?
Below are pics from Father's Day weekend. James had the idea of going to Tanglewood Park for water fun! They looked so adorable to me, out there. First, a pic of James at rest, and Linc, ever and always interested in what his daddy is doing.

I love his outstretched hand in this one~

"Sprinkly Bliss."

Father and Son~

Wendy following closely behind...

What a blast!

I won't get 'kinis for her again, as she's getting older now, but this one is so cute to me.

Afternoon at home~

I see you!

Cluster O' Pooh Bears, Wendy's way of bundling them so that she can carry all of them at the same time. Note the tiny one wedged in.

Wendy's taking swimming lessons now at a friend's house, and here are the two girls having a snack.

I dragged some boxes outside after I emptied them, and the kids were like cats, just exploring them and having fun.

Wendy did beautifully at the dentist appt. She laughed out loud when given the laughing gas ("because she didn't want to hurt their feelings if it didn't work!"), and they didn't have to give a shot. she sat still and watched tv from the ceiling! Good girl!

Aliens have abducted the Woo Loo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summer Lovin'

I promised I'd put up the pics of Wendy and Hattie together, so you'll see 'em here, along with lots of other pics that should get me caught up! First, some words about my children...Bear with me. This is my form of journaling, especially since baby books and the like are still in boxes up in closets as I've not yet had the chance to catch up on those things.

Wendy, Wendy, Wendy. Last night she was hilarious. She wanted me to draw a treasure map, and as I did so, she watched beside me and asked, "Will it involve (I can't remember what she said)," but it was so funny to me that she used the phrase, "Will it involve..." And, once I'd tucked her in, said prayers and hugged and kissed her, she looked up into my face and said, "Mommy, I love you more than my Pooh Bear!" That's a lot, for those of you who don't know how much she favors Pooh over anything else in the world. I told her I love her more than my ring. She then asked, "Even more than organizers and closets and all that?!" Ta ha ha. What an observant one. I have been rather focused on trying to get this house organized, which takes for-evah!

She's reading a little bit now. My mom's been working with her. She read "hot" and "cold" on the tub faucet when I refused to tell her which was which, as I did not want her to turn them on, warning her that one can scald her or brother. She said, "Well, this one says, 'hot,' because h-o-t spells 'hot.'" When I asked her how she knows that, she said, "because h-he, and o-au, and t-te, so put it all together--'hot.'" And she spelled, "no disc" on her dvd player when it wasn't working for her. She's always been so verbal. Lately, she hears us use a new word, and she just starts using it, too. James told her Lincoln was pillaging her doll house, so then she goes, "Well, Lincoln, you can pillage my doll house a little bit, but don't pillage the top floor." I do believe she understands context.

She's so spirited and WILLFUL, and it drives us crazy sometimes, and we struggle to keep her in line, but we are thankful that she is a happy child, and a kind-hearted one. She is loving and sensitive when it comes to others' feelings, so that is huge. The other day, at the grocery store, we saw a young man chatting with a friend, and he was missing a leg and an arm on the same side, and had a metal pole leg sticking out of a baggy short. Wendy thought it was a costume, and pointed and shouted, "Look at that funny man!" And I, horrified, quickly turned the corner and told her that he "has a problem," and we need to talk about it in private and not to do that again if she sees someone who looks kinda like him--as it hurts others' feelings. I'd told her about public sightings of people with all sorts of physical and behavioral anomalies, and had trained her to be quiet, avoid staring/pointing and to wait until we're alone, when I'll answer any questions. Later that night, as I put her to bed, I told her he likely lost those limbs while helping to protect us. I said, "I think he's a hero, but we don't want to make him feel sad about his appearance now." She said, "I know, Mom, but he gave me the thumbs up!" And I turned away to control my tears. We then prayed for this brave...and kind young man.

And Linc. He's walking all over the place, and if he reverts to knee-walking, I simply say, "Big Boy, stand UP!" and he puts his hand down, and then plops one solid, chubby foot on the floor and up he goes! He sorta walks with his legs apart, and James does a great impression of it!

It astonishes me how manly Linc is already. In most cases, from the get-go, little girls, like Wendy, are girly all the way, expressing themselves gently, demonstrating a nurturant nature, and displaying themselves proudly when donning a frilly dress complete with all the accessories of their choosing! And then there are the "boyish ones." My son throws like his daddy, and to my knowledge, nobody's taught him the correct over hand form! While a student at A & M, I took Lifespan Motor Development for one of my free electives, and we had to grade each other as we ran, threw a ball and, I dunno, maybe broad-jumped. Anyway, I couldn't run the right way, and I didn't throw the right way either. I bombed it all. Linc's little hand, he throws down at the wrist very deliberately following the propulsion of one of his toys through the air, usually directed at some target. While Wendy could sit still, for a long time, pouring over the pictures in her books, tickling that amazing imagination of hers, Linc tolerates my pointing to 2 pics, 3 pics max, and repeating their names for him, before he slams it shut and throws it down. He grabs hangers, sticks, toys, and points them at you rather aggressively and makes shooting noises or growls loudly while stabbing the air towards you. WHO taught him to do that?!

He's interested in gadgets, and choo choo trains (real ones especially). He takes it all in, and studies things silently, and he does understand a whole lot more than he what he can speak. And, occasionally small groupings of words do come out of him, like last night, "Bye bye, Mimi!" or "No, no, Didee (Sissy)."

What I love most about this stage of his growth is his affectionate nature, woah buddy. This kid is a lover boy. He loves me, he loves Daddy, he loves "Didee" and he loves men like his grandfathers and Uncle Chris. Last night, he just stood next to my dad who sat on our couch, and leaned his entire body into him, kissing him once in a while.

He may have allergies, so that's something I need to look into at his upcoming 18-month well-child appt. He gets sick and then inevitably gets pink eye, too. Ugh. Poor baby.

Enough updating, here are some photos of the girls, which I think portray their purity and cuteness well.

Only 2 months apart.

Double decker! If they weren't so young, this pose would remind me of that hilarious book of awkward family portraits! At Borders.

Alright..some photos of life lately...

My father playing one of his favorite games, Candy Land, with Wendy. I'm joking about it being among his favorites. It's so funny to see him, my solid, military father, who loves Risk, and Scrabble and battle strategy games, jumping gum-drop bridges and sliding down fudge rivers towards Candy Cane Island, or whatever....
Speaking of sliding down things....HEWO!
Sometimes, boy doesn't go down fast. Him gets sorta slowed down on account'a his weighty self and sticky, grippy, cautious hands.
J's folks came to bring us some of our junk, which they were so loving to store for us for so long, and unfortunately, James was sick and he was not able to enjoy anything. Not even his Margarita at the lake. Poor baby.
Wendy's best drawing to date! She even got his eyebrows and floppy paws right! I love it. It's done in washable markers, so I'm not sure how well it will hold up years from now, but I took pics of it, so I'll have them at the very least.
Yup, our kids are like little pioneers. Hey, there's work need workin' when folks move into a new territory!
And as I've yet to decide where to hang pics, favorite pieces, like this print, given by my uncle, wait to be committed to the spaces above them, and Wendy likes to walk around and stop in front of them, and study the details she never noticed before. It's nice that she gets to enjoy them on her level first.
She is detail-oriented, and as you can tell from the pic below, she'd make a great party-planner!
But Lincoln won't be invited to her events until he can eat his corn like a civilized human being.
A place of honor, on his bedroom wall----portrait of his father. I LOVE this pic of James! I borrowed a 3 by 5 and had it scanned and blown up. Looks great.
Linc enjoys his room as much as Wendy enjoys hers. Here he is, feeding a stuffed animal a play pizza slice.
And below, enjoying Sister's self-rigged puppet show!
Have you heard the one about Clown and Mousy?
Now, for pictures from the family reunion (James' mom's side!) Here we are, out on his folks' land by the creek!
J's sister and her husband are expecting their first baby, and already the place is equipped with fantastic stuff for kids!
It was so much fun, getting to relax and enjoy the family and outdoors.


Wendy and Avery splashed around and giggled and were precious together.
I think days like this are seared into the memories of little kids. Loving aunts helping them in and out of the pool, friendly faces bringing them tasty food and refreshments, oodles of laughter and love.
They kinda look alike, huh?
Mom T--I love her sooo much. Just look at how much fun she is!

I laugh each time I look at Linc's legs in this pic.
And his body in this one. Ooh, he loves dogs.
Wrong end, Linc.
Yeah, I know. Dogs are SO cute, whatcha gonna do, man?!
I locked our one set of keys in our van. The other set, accidentally removed from our home, was enroute via the mail system. I had to wake James from a much-needed nap in order to get his assistance so that we could make a party that night! James is like one of those dudes who could flatten himself to squeeze in under a door if he had to. He can do almost anything almost impossible. Our van is not old. You can't use the hanger down inside the door. He actually managed to fanagle a hanger through a narrow slit on the side of a side window to---da da DA! Pull up a push lock on the TRUNK! Wow. My man. He looks unhappy below, but he's not. He is just focusing. He was sooo sweet to me when I told him how sorry I was to have lost my brain. Again. We extend tons of grace to each other. That's how we are so happy. :)
A couple days ago, I was giving Linc a bath, and the sun was shining through this one window to the left of the tub, and I love playing with light.

I wish I could remember having this much fun taking a bath!

Linc, this ruffian, cracked one of the built-in shelves by forcing it out! Wow. Just, wow. Why? Why do boys do such aggressive thangs, y'all? Weird! And this was after I KNEW not to put any cookbooks or glass things on 'em---they had two baskets ---empty baskets. Didn't know he could damage the HOUSE! Sigh, I took the shelves out, and I can't say when they'll be put back in! Now, it's a PLAY CUBBY! I have three of them now. Sigh.