14 Months!
8-18 to 8-20-2022: With summer coming to an end and this being my last real weekend before school starts back up again, and the clinic gets busy with flu season, we decided on a last minute trip to DFW to see family. Brandon had to stay home for work, unfortunately, but it was only a two day trip so nothing we couldn't handle. Chandler and I left after swim school, which is did great in and is starting to really kick in the water, and had a great drive to Mckinney. He is doing so well in the car and loves music! I put on Toddler Time and he just listens and never makes a fuss! We've come a long way to being able to drive straight through instead of stopping two or three times to nurse and change diapers. Love those precious days though and wouldn't take anything for them! We spent the time playing in his new amazing play room at Lovies (like a fairyland for kids), visited the Bonnie Wenk park, took long walks, went to splash pads, and just enjoyed our time! Bethany stayed the night once and I also snuck in a yummy dinner with the Mobley's at Torchy's (it was so so good)! The weekend flew by as always but I'm so glad we went to visit! It was especially sweet when I got to go to bed in my room, just like old times! Just me and some quiet time! I of-course missed Brandon and Chandler but I was also at peace knowing they were both safe in their beds (Chandler has a nursery at Lovie's house). Mom surprised me with putting a tv in my room and although I'm not much for tv, I really enjoyed having it in there and just relaxing before bed. I always sleep well when I go home! Bedtime was hard since Chandler wasn't at home but he calmed down and eventually was so tired from the busy days, that he'd go right to sleep. We laughed a lot this weekend (lost the diaper bag with my keys at the park, Lovie got pooped on while changing Chandler from his swim diaper to a diaper, and ziplining at the park)! I sure do love my momma and am so, so thankful for her!
8-22-22: This morning has been the sweetest little morning I've had in a long time. Every morning that starts out with Chandler and Brandon is a great one, but this one was especially precious. I got up at 5:00 to have some me time, get my day going, and work before the boys got up. I snuck out of bed, covered up Brandon, went to the nursery to cover up Chandler, and then got cozy at the dining room table with my coffee. An hour later, I hear little boy stirring. I snuck in and crawled in his crib. Usually he is ready to go but today, he laid down next to me and we just snuggled! It filled my eyes with tears as I sang "Jesus loves the little Chandler's" and "Here comes the sun." He was perfectly still and just smiled as I sang. He is loving back scratches so he let me scratch his back and we enjoyed our priceless moment. After about 20 minutes, he was ready to play. He sat up and had to show off his new skills! It's so cute to see him so excited to show me all he knows now! He clapped, waved and then said "bye-bye (bu-bu), and then this was the first day that I asked "where is your tummy?" and he grabbed his tummy along with a big giggle! This boy! Golly I love him! We got up, checked on "Da" and then shared some avocado toast for breakfast, his favorite. He's busy now, playing sweeping, chasing tennis balls, and playing on his Baby Einstein piano.
After lunch, we decided to make a trip to BuyBuyBaby for a few baby necessities and it was also the first time Chandler was able to get out of the basket and actually walk the store a bit. I let him out in the toy aisle and he had a blast! He'd go between one noise making toy to another one, and it was so cute! I love him so much and enjoy every moment with my little buddy! Once home, it was nap time for Chandler and discipleship group for me with Joelle on facetime. Chandler woke up ready to go and to our major surprise, it started pouring rain! Praise the Lord! It's been the hottest summer and we have had no rain! I took Chandler out once it was safe and had let up a bit, and he absolutely loved it! He was amazed and spent forever trying to catch the rain! We played and played in the rain and it was one of the sweetest moments of my year! Brandon came to support our fun and then snuck inside to get Chandler's bath ready- best daddy! Chandler played in puddles, ran circles, and couldn't get enough of splashing in the rain coming off the rooftop. It made me cry happy tears to see him expereince something so new, fun, and unique! Once we were both soaked and cold, we came in but he did not want to! He threw a little fit but calmed down once we got in the tub. We played with a new bath toy, got nice and clean, and then ready for bed. It must have really worn him out because afterward, he was quite the fuss for us until bedtime. We also noticed a little reaction to something outside (we think) and both his ankles/legs were red with small hives. I'm sure that was bothering him too and itching no doubt! We gave him benadryl, I laid down with him in his crib, and we both fell asleep. Those are the moments I live for. Feeling him snuggled in next to me, hearing him snore lightly, and loving on him gently as he sleeps. He loves his head being pat, back being scratched, and being wrapped up in our arms. Once I knew he was sleeping peacefully, I snuck out and then Brandon and I went to bed. We love our little Chandler so very much! Thank you Lord for every day you give us with him!
8-30-22: The past 5 days have been a whirlwind!! Oh my goodness! All was going smoothly and normal routine (play date with Lottie on Tuesday, Little Gym on Wednesday- Chandler loves Miss Caitlyn so much, swim school on Thursday
9-02-22: Today was the sweetest little day! We are feeling better after our week recovering from the dreaded tummy bug so I decided we would finally get out of the house! Chandler had a makeup class at The Little Gym since we missed our Tuesday class and afterward, I thought I'd surprise him with a trip to the library! It's always been my dream to be able to take my baby to the library once every two weeks to read, pick out books, check them out, play, and enjoy the world of the library! So today, we did! I though we should grab a late breakfast/early lunch first so we wouldn't be hungry. I decided to take us to Cracker Barrell and we had the sweetest mommy-son date together! There was a bit of a wait but Chandler didn't mind a bit! He was so good and enjoyed playing with the toys in the store. When we got seated, we had a great little waitress who was so patient with Chandler. We shared some sausage, fresh fruit (he loved the blueberries and strawberries and I enjoyed the pineapples), and a few strips of bacon. It was our first breakfast and restaurant date alone by ourselves and I was so proud of us for just going for it! He did amazing and I will cherish those memories forever. Afterward, we headed to the Buda Public Library! It's a beautiful library with a great children's section! Chandler was so happy and he loved picking out books and playing with the kitchen toys! He made a little friend, watched the big kids play, played trucks with mommy, and wandered around the aisles. Just when we were getting ready to go, Chandler had an upset tummy again and we ended up darting to the bathroom! I got him all cleaned up but unfortunately, didn't have extra clothes in the diaper bag! Oops! I just laughed at myself, smiled at him, and said "okay, buddy, let's go!" I had to carry him out in just a clean diaper but he didn't mind and nobody was there to see us anyway. I had a good laugh and so did Brandon when I told him about our day! This was one of the best days and I'm so thankful to have Chandler in our lives. I love being his mommy and can't imagine my life any other way!
9-8-22: Oh dear!! Here we are again! We had just gotten over the stomach bug 9 days before feeling bad again. Thinking we were just still recovering and overly tired, we didn't think too much of it. I went to clinical on Saturday (9-3), life went on as normal, and then it hit me at work Sunday. Aches, pains, fever, headache, all of it. I COVID tested myself just to be safe and I tested positive! I was so upset! We have been more than careful! It's going around again now that school is back in session and nobody is required to wear masks anymore. I figured we'd get it at some point but I was upset seeing as how we were still recovering from the stomach bug. I powered through work, all my patients had it too and of-course I wore an N95/PPE, and then went home to crash. I survived long enough to do bedtime and that was it. Brandon and Chandler were feeling equally as bad, and Chandler would end up testing positive the next day. We didn't test Brandon since we know it would be positive and don't see the point in wasting our at-home test kits. Monday, the 5th, was the worst! Classic flu-like symptoms and just misery. I tried to tough it out all day but at 5:00, I just couldn't do it. Brandon took over, took care of me, took care of Chandler, did the bedtime routine, and really stepped up to play mommy and daddy all at once. I felt so guilty and so sad that we all had it but at least we are doing it together at once and hopefully it will be short lived since we're vaccinated. So far, the worst is over and it's just the leftover cough, little bits of congestion, and raspy voice. My taste is off just a bit but not horribly bad and the body aches are much better. I think the worst part for me was the headache, sore throat, and the bizarre sweating one minute/freezing the next! That was really, really strange. We've been staying at home and isolating. We're bored but resting when we can and Chandler is getting a little screen time since he wears out too and just wants to be held. We watch a Disney movie (or part of it anyway), play when he has energy, and try to stay on schedule with naps and sleep. By 7:30, we're all done and ready to go to bed. Looking forward to feeling better soon! Thankfully, the college doesn't need me tomorrow so I get an extra day to rest before our first day onsite this Saturday. I could tough it out but the fact that they didn't have me scheduled for SIMS when I had infact committed was an answered prayer! I consider that a miracle. I truly feel bad and don't want to be on campus for 8 hours. I can survive the hospital but not a full SIM day. Thank you, Lord for giving me the gift of an extra day of rest.
09-14 to 09-20: Portland is the BEST! Little Chandler is becoming quite the world traveler and he does so great! When the chance to travel arises, I'm all in!! This month, Brandon has his annual cycling trip to Fort Davis (which we went on last year as a family- our first big trip as a family of 3) and Bethany is also celebrating her 30th. Wanting to do something special for Bethany but also not wanting to be away from Brandon, we planned that we would both be gone at the same time so that we wouldn't miss each other as much! Brandon headed to Alpine and we headed to Portland!! Chandler and I drove to Dallas on the 14th, stayed with mom, and then Brook picked us all up the next morning for our flight to Portland. Chandler did great as always but I will say, wheww he is busy! The bigger he gets, the more I realize how important buying an extra seat on the airplane will be, ha! We landed in Portland and immediately noticed the amazing weather and clean air! It's just different on the coast and God willing, I will live on a coast one day! Not a beach, don't like the sand; but a coast! That's where the joy is! Especially an amazing place like Portland or Washington state where you have mountains on one side, and 30 minutes the other direction is the coast!
After we landed, got our jeep mom rented (a great choice!), we made a trip to Safeway for some groceries, a drive through downtown, and then checked in to the house! I can tell that Portland, like most major big cities, is suffering post covid and is struggling with drug control as they seemed to have as big a homeless issues as other states do... but that's just how a big city is now, I think. There seems to be a "designated" area in any big grungy city now that is occupied by the homeless/addicts which is so sad to me. Several locals we talked to mentioned this and also had positive things to say such as they think it's getting better overall and small improvements are starting to be noticed. That made me feel so good because a city as unique and beautiful as Portland has so much to offer those that live/visit there.
Back to the house, it was a piece of art! Truly! It is the "sister house" of the famous Twilight movie house, and we got to stay the week in it! It is, by far, my favorite vacation home of all time and best AirBnB I've ever stayed in! Every part of it was uniquely designed and I it encompassed sleek, modern, functional, yet artistic all in one! Minimal in "stuff," the majority of things were built into the home! It was truly incredible! Chandler and I had an upstairs room that was just perfect for us! The bed was much lower to the ground and the carpet was padded, which made me feel more comfortable snuggling with him on the nights he was having trouble sleeping in his pack-and-play in a new place.
We spent the next 4 days exploring and it was the best travel experience I've had in a long time! The time change meant that Chandler was waking up for the day at 4:00 but he and I would get up, make our way to the amazing living room space, and watch CocoMelon while daylight started. The views of the house were what made it so unique, and fortunately, I got to spend the extra time in the morning looking out through the huge windows into the forest and skyline of Portland. We did everything from Cannon Beach, Multnomah Falls the coastal drive, hiking in Forest Park, shopping on 23rd avenue, enjoying amazing coffee mid day, beach walks, going to Manzanita, having local raved about burgers and corn poppers, making our own spaghetti dinner at the house, visiting the infamous rose gardens, going to parks, venturing to the river and having an impromptu play date, and visiting the amazing Bridgetown Church! We did it all!! It was amazing!!! I loved getting to share such a special time with Chandler and the girls! My mom was such a huge help watching him so I could do little things like shower and get ready without having to be extra mindful that he was toddling around. I'm so glad we got this opportunity and I would do it all over again, 10 times!
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