Cake To Celebrate!

If we celebrate then we celebrate with cake! And there is a sweet little 15 month old that has 9 teeth and all of them are sweet! He loves his cake! Cookies! Yogurt! Graham Crackers! And Ice Cream! (Side note, yes I am aware that this is not the best of foods for him to eat, please don't judge) But to watch him enjoy his sweets is so funny to me, you see he gets his sweet tooth from his momma. David could go weeks and not eat anything sweet, I might can walk past something once and not eat but if I pass it again well, pass me the fork! But in all in seriousness, the 20th was just too important of a day to have it go by without acknowledging so as you can see we had cake ;-)  Happy Life Day!

 

He knows what is coming...

This is serious, no time for pics...

 



I will eat this cake, one lick at a time...

 



This is some good stuff...

 



Yes, when my parent's say "who's cute" I turn

my head to the side and smile!!! 

My mom should be ashamed she taught me that!

 



This young man passed on the cake

but stood around for pics!

 



Also, since Steven is now 15 months it was way past time for a real haircut.  On Saturday morning, we decided to stop by and see if he could get a big boy haircut.  Luckily, Christine had a little opening to tackle his hair.  SO VERY THANKFUL!  It was starting to look like a horses mane!  To our surprise he never cried or fussed.  He was too busy with his first sucker, again sweet tooth!  Anyway, he had two first on Saturday...sucker and haircut!  Of course, I had my camera....

The Heart of Our Adventure....a year ago!

Ok, so the blog has taken a back seat to work, homework and sleep.  Yep, a day in the life of me!  But I cannot let this day, well tomorrow pass without a post. 

A year ago this evening we were sitting in a room on the 15th floor of TCH waiting for the morning to come and the longest day of our life begin.  Dramatic, huh?  But for parent's of an almost 3 month old baby boy, it was a very dramatic day.  Tomorrow is kinda like a mini-birthday in my eyes for Steven.  September 20th is the day that his heart was healed and his life began so maybe I should call it his "Life Day."  I am one of those with an annoying memory, I remember everything...it is a blessing and a curse.  But I look back on a year ago and I think, when did I pay bills?  when did I get school shopping done for Miller?  when did we grocery shop?  who did the laundry?  From the time Steven was born until the surgery our lives were focused on the amount of ounces he gained, or how few he gained.  how long did it take to finish a bottle, did he finish the bottle?  what day was the next doctors appointment?  how did his blood work look?  Our alarms were going off at all hours of the day and night for medicine.  It was such a strange time.  I remember so much but yet if I have had a memory lapse it was certainly in those first 3 months of his life.  But in the end, we all recovered...even my memory!  Today our hands and hearts are full of joy!  Today we have friends from a community that I never gave much thought to...the heart community.  This week I was reminded that not all heart babies recover. My heart hurts for a family that knows first hand the other outcome for some CHD babies.  We have always known that Steven's surgery was a one and done and we feel extremely blessed!!! 

So just to recap....a year ago

 

 

 A couple of weeks ago...

 

 

What a difference a year makes!!!!

 

 

 

Side note:  Sports wrap....yes the Saints are stinking it up, I know!  Texans are looking strong!  Cowboys were "BACK" after week one and Cowgirls were "BACK" in week two!  LSU is on a roll but I cannot wait for a real game for them!  McNeese is charging ahead!  Oh, and USC lost to Stanford again!!!!

 

Side side note:  The memory is back so for all of my friends that know me, yes I can still direct you to any location if I have been there once...even if it was many years ago.  Yes, I can still recall what I was wearing on the Thursday before Good Friday in 2007 and Tressa I remember your outfit too.  If any one needs to know, just ask :-)

 



Birthday Lunch With Her Whole Bunch

So my dad decided to plan a little surprise for my mom for her birthday last weekend.  Props to Dad for arranging this.  Her birthday was on Sunday so we all met for lunch and she was pretty darn surprised and beyond excited.  We were missing the two oldest grandson's, Jake who also became a teenager last week SNIFF SNIFF and Miller were both MIA and although we missed them we still had a great time.  This was the first time since Christmas that we have all been together.  Which is a shame considering we are all within 3 hours of each other.  SHAME ON US!  Anyway, it was a wonderful day and hopefully we will not wait until her next birthday to get together again. 

Of course I had my camera so here are some pics of the day....

Pretty sure Steven had a little dessert from everyone!



Family photo in the middle of Rao's :-)

Beautiful 5th Grader!

Umm...someone was not paying attention :-)

Get back over here, runaway boy!

There are some creepy men behind you, Shana!

Say Cheese!



First Day of First Grade

Well he survived and he likes his teacher!  What a wonderful way to start the year.  I am sure it will be all down hill from here but a much better start than last year.  He said that his teacher was nice and young.  David and I agree to both, she looks like she is 18 and was very sweet on Friday for the meet and greet.  He did say that he was nervous in the beginning, he was worried about not doing well if he had a test today :-).  The one thing that I like, no nap so at 8:30 he was snoring away.  I get the feeling that this is going to be a good year!  Here is his first day photo...my handsome big boy!

Getting Our Crab On --- Old Post Finally Finishing

If you throw a line they will eat and so will we!  This past Several weekends ago we had a little crabbing trip planned with Jeff and Erin and we hit the jackpot!  And the hubby finally caught a fish, yes he has caught fish before but not one in that boat so he was pretty pumped about that.  Jeff caught one too but the missing tail made it too small to keep, ha!  Let me just say that we should keep to catching the crabs then fishing because we would not eat if we had to count on our fishing skills.  Here a few pics from the day, don't be jealous of our loot :-)

Determined To Finish A Post

I have probably 3, 4 maybe even 5 post that are drafts because I cannot find the time am too lazy to finish them.  Maybe one day or maybe never :-)

But here is a little recap of recent events:

• Blood work has been completed for Steven and we are waiting for the results.  Having to have him poked is not much fun but props to the girl at the lab because short of a little cry he handled it great. 
• Miller will start school on Monday, so much for summer being June, July and August. 
• School supply list are OBSCENE!  Thank goodness children are few and far between at our house.  Cannot imagine if we had 3 in school the budget would be sucked dry with pencils, ear buds, and paper towels. 
• Miller will be heading out on a little vacay on Thursday with his dad and family.  We will be picking him up Monday after school.  For me, this reads -  Tomorrow will be the last time I see Miller until he is a First Grader!  For you, this likely reads - Miller is going on vacation and returning the day before the school year starts?  Yes, I do have that thought too but it is what it is.
• David and I had a date night this past Friday.  It included dinner and hanging out until 4 am and I have the blisters on my feet as proof!  Yes, I am super proud of this.  Yes, I know how sad that sounds. 
• This weekend we will get another adult only evening so that Gary Allan can sing to me.  Sorry if anyone else thinks he is singing to them but you are wrong :-)  Haha
• The Olympics are physically draining to me.  I hold my breath, I shout out loud, I clap and smile just like I am on the podium.  It is rough but I am here to support our athletes!!!! 
• Finally, the official countdown to college football:  23 days!!!  Oh and does anyone know who is ranked #1????  Geaux Tigers!

Random Thought Thursday!

Just my random thoughts for today:

I am so ready for some football, SEC and NFL!  I guess I should say college football but really is there any other team worth watching that is not in the SEC? :-)

I am beyond excited for the Olympics to start, I love it, even the badminton!  Funny that I love all sports but the most un-atheltic person in the world.  Is un-athletic a word???  :-)

If it were not for a crock pot and ideas from Pinterest my family would not eat.  My husband has taken a vacation from the kitchen and I am not sure how I feel about that or who gave him permission for the vacay!  But I do love the crock pot...it creates a surprise for dinner.  Kinda like that box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get!

I always have a fear of cracking my windows on my car in the heat, doesn't it just invite an afternoon thunderstorm?

I am pleased to admit that I have actually done the Shred video for 8 of the last 9 days.  And I can still walk...miracles do happen :-)

Hope everyone had a great Thursday and if not, well tomorrow is Friday so it can only get better!