7 months

Simon wanted his friends to have breakfast at the small table.   We had the Johnsons over for breakfast one Saturday, and with our combined efforts, enjoyed way too much food:  monkey / sticky bread, biscuits, mango, strawberries, bacon, eggs, coffee, and juice!

Simon trying to figure out what kind of bug we had with his "pest-finder" key.

College Application

Skill:  Bug Classification

(I'm sensing a full-ride to an Ivy-League)

Simon isn't being rebellious.  I was too hot to let him ride outside.

Funny dream that I can't remember if I blogged yet.

I had a "nightmare" a few weeks ago that made me literally sick to my stomach when I woke up.  I dreamed that it was all over the media that Pastor John Piper had been involved with a scandal and his church had asked him to resign.  ----  They had actual video footage of his crime ---  stealing a silver cup from a flea market!  

I know it sounds funny, but it was actually a nightmare.

Evie looking sweet !

(I wrote a "Dear John" letter last week to the internet.  Maybe I'll have the nerve to post it one day on my blog.  It was kind of funny, kind of serious.  Still keeping up my blog and my emails but am seriously reigning in other time-taking diversions)

I'm not sure why I typed an actual letter, other than to make it more concrete.

Evie had her 6 month well-baby exam last week.  (Yes, she turned 7 months last week-we're a little behind)..  

Speaking of behind, we're already on an 'adjusted' immunization schedule, as we opted out at the hospital and are just doing a few at a time, rather than the recommended course.  

And, last week I asked to postpone the ones due at her 6 month check-up until she is COMPLETELY congestion free, b/c it sounds like it is in her lungs, and it just didn't seem right to add immunizations to her system.

6 month Well-Baby Exam Results

(Keep in mind she is really 7 months)

Height:  27 inches (75 %)

Weight:  14.5  (10%)

(We joke that she'll be a super-model if she keeps up these percentiles!  She'll have to wear a wig, though, if she never gets hair! )

Need to encourage her to lay on her left side (nearly impossible) when sleeping to encourage that side of her head to flatten out a bit)

Have a referral to a pediatric G.I. specialist for her, um, intestinal abnormalities :)

Silly Faces (both on plate and off) with Timmy

Timothy cracks us up!  He says the funniest things. 

 One night at dinner Simon starting talking about the earthquake in China and Timmy said, "Simon, you are serious!"

And, Simon has been saying, "OOPSY, DAISY!"  all the time now when ever something falls, etc.  We wondered where he picked up that phrase, but now we know -- Timmy !

A 17 pound turkey, fresh out of the oven.

A well-endowed lemon pie.

Not a typical scene after prayer on a Tuesday Night, but we had to cook the turkey that day, as it had thawed for 4 days (hoping to get it grilled over Memorial Day weekend and that didn't happen).  

The weather was surprisingly cool on Tuesday, so, in she (turkey) went!

Side-note:  Would you like it to rain, sleet, or snow?

Just ask me to schedule a pediatrician's visit and I can pretty much guarantee you that it will precipitate in one form or another!

Sweetness (newest nickname for both kids)

Origin of rocking chair:  bought in Asheville, North Carolina 20 plus years ago by Barry and Cathy Cox on their honeymoon

Just sitting around on the porch with big brother and his friend !  

Trying to imitate Evie's facial expression to see if we look alike ...

Irony:  This is the shirt that Simon 'cart-lifted' from Wal-Mart.

Mom and I came home from Wal-Mart and realized she's bought the shirt, but she didn't put it in the cart!   

I snapped a pix before we return it.

Precious face, precious nose, precious eyes, precious mouth, precious tummy, precious legs, precious arms, and most of all, precious hands !

These pictures (there are more later in the blog) are almost edible -- (if that's possible).

Playing with her "lovey."

Yes, that is turkey!  17 pounds goes a looooong way !

Simon and I have taken some "nature walks" lately where we collect various neighborhood and nature artifacts.

It has made me see our park, neighborhood streets and cul-de-sacs, and even alley in new ways!

I've also realized how observant Simon is.  One night we noticed an apple core (freshly disposed) next to a bush in a cul-de-sac near us.  A few days later we were walking with Matt and Evie one evening and happened to go down the same cul-de-sac and Simon remembered exactly where the apple was, and pointed it out, in its rather-developed stage of decaying ... 

And remembering isn't always a good thing...For example, I don't now if Simon will ever drive up to GFA with us and not ask, "Where's the water slide?"

This was sweet Evie sleeping on her LEFT-SIDE a couple of days after we were told to try and put her on her left side more.  

Since then, she has been caught one other time on  her left side while sleeping.  

This is nothing short of an answer to a specific prayer request for our back-preferring babe!

Isn't she sweet, in her fetal position?

She remains a poster-baby for the Bradley-Method position!

I did some thing the other day that I rarely do.  I can't remember when is the last time it happened to me -- I have a sunburn!

An awful one.  I usually don't burn at all, so this is an incredible surprise.  

Maybe there are some skin-pigmentation changes with nursing hormones or something ... I can't figure out why I burned so badly.  

I was at the park for an hour or two last Thursday.  I met Michelle and her 3 boys at the park.  I thought I stayed in the shade the whole time, as I made an effort to make sure Evie (both kids were slathered with sunscreen) was in the shade.  

Apparently, I must have been residing on the shade/sun border...

PLUS, Simon put my sunscreen on me (I know it's weird, it's the only way I can get it on him.  We take turns 'painting' each other's skin , so you can imagine the patchy sunscreen job I had on myself...)  

So, I have a most interesting painful sunburn that is slowly becoming less painful.

I had to make wardrobe-accommodations last weekend, so hopefully I didn't offend anyone I knew!

Doesn't this picture just make you want to 'grab her up' and get some CT?

(C.T. = Cuddle Time.  It's a new term I came up with last week.  Simon playfully runs from me when I tell him it's time for some C.T.  Okay, sometimes he runs playfully away, sometimes he just runs ... ! )

Teething Evie

More proof of teething-Evie

The first tooth emerges !  

(Well, it emerged a week or so ago, but this is the first photo I snapped)

Last week was a 'surreal' week in one respect.  I heard from three dearest of dear friends that I don't hear from regularly, because of local geography, and each of my three close friends had been through a very tragic, or near tragic, events in the previous weeks.

Thankful for our Shelter

Another sleeping photo

I thought her body looked funny.

Evie early on Saturday morning before I made her drive with me to downtown Dallas to drop Simon off at the train-station.  

(Not by himself, he was meeting my mom and the ladies at her church for a train ride to the Fort Worth Zoo)  

The kids and I parked about 5 blocks from the station, next to an abandoned warehouse.  

I had much faith (not a very populated area except for one lone, um, "Forgotten Man" as I hooked up Evie in her stroller, grabbed Simon's hand, and wore his zoo backpack and toted his over-nite bag (on my sunburned shoulder and back ... ouch!)

The term, "Forgotten Man" comes from my favorite screwball comedy, "My Man Godfrey."  Matt and I both enjoy old movies.

Speaking of old, we celebrated our 8th Anniversary last week!

Mom:  Simon, are you ready for the ZOO??

Simon can't understand my bluetooth phone accessory.  

(Neither can I, half the time!) 

 When we're driving or walking and I'm talking, he can't figure out who I am talking to.  

He probably wonders, "Has mom lost her mind?"

I was driving to the Zoo Saturday morning, and I said, "Call Home"  very loudly and clearly several times for the sake of my ill-tempered blue-tooth.  

The whole time, Simon is saying, "No, don't call home.  No, don't call home," to my phone.  

It was hilarious !

I did something crazy last week.  (Besides the 17 lb. turkey)  I got up early Friday morning to take both kids shopping after dropping Matt off at work since Talbots Outlet was having a 75% off sale....

I don't think I have taken both kids shopping in 7 months  (the duration of both kid's actual life.)  

I might not have been shopping in the last 7 months, I can't remember.  

Friday morning made me forget a lot of things.  

(Well, I have walked to Target some in the double stroller but that isn't the same as shopping just for clothing in a store that only has clothing.)

They opened at 8 (earlier than usual) which made me think we could pull it off.  We'd be done by 10.  The kids were actually great (compared to how they could have been).  Simon didn't get antsy until the last 20 min. or so, but then we had to do an unplanned feeding for Evie in the dressing rooms.  It was a challenge to keep Simon occupied with my fancy raconteur skills so that he didn't open the dressing-room door while I fed Evie!

So, I had promised a park treat for Simon with our picnic lunch that was in the cooler.   But, I couldn't do it!!  My sunburn was aching so much that I couldn't bear the thought of being outside at the park.  So, we post-poned the park trip until "Daddy comes home" and we went through a Starbucks drive-thru because mommy needed a "SERIOUS"  (as Timmy would say) treat !

This brings me to my point of rave:  the new mint-mocha frappacino.  I remember having this in the summer of 2005 several times with my dear friend Kellie Hill.  But, the new twist is .... real chocolate whip cream with chocolate sauce on top.  Seriously, I knew I was drinking a day's worth of calories, and I didn't even care !

(the sweet lady at the drive-thru put some chocolate whip in a separate cup for Simon -- so, double treat!)

At Keystone on Sunday