Beach Pics

A few weekends ago we ventured south for a visit with my brother and his girlfriend. It was exciting for several reasons...

1. Don't tell Cameron, but he's in LOVE!!!! He and Ryan are obviously meant for each other and it is so much fun to be with them. He fits perfectly into her family, and she fits perfectly into ours too. We are SO excited and happy for them!

2. We got to meet Ryan's family for the 1st time. They were wonderful to us and made the whole visit comfortable and fun. THANKS EVERYONE!!!! We had a GREAT time!!!

3. Ryan made an AMAZING dinner for us that night. Thanks Ryan, everything was delicious!!

4. Nathan and I rode uncle Cam's horse, Doc. Ryan's house is on the same property as her parents' house and also her grandparents' house. They have a lighted riding arena so we were able to ride after dark, aka after it cooled off a little.

5. WE WENT TO THE BEACH!!! On Sunday we all went to Galveston to the beach. There were so many of us we had to take 3 vehicles! It was an absolutely wonderful day. The boys both loved the beach. We also had dinner at a very nice seafood restaurant and shopped around downtown Galveston.

Sorry some of the pics are so small. I guess the setting on the camera was too little. I tried to stretch them a little so you could see them better- that's why they're a little fuzzy. The jist of it is that we all had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back to see "Aunt" Ryan and Uncle Cameron again. We love you guys!!!!

Paul's 20 year high school reunion was this past weekend. This pic was taken in his dad's backyard before the Saturday night event. We had a great time visiting with our friends Shawn & Marja Liner. Paul and Shawn have been friends since high school and stood up for each other when they got married. Shawn & Marja have a daughter, Maggie, who was born 14 hours before Nathan. As you can see, Nathan & Maggie are great friends even though they only get to see each other once or twice a year. Destiny???? We'll see...

These are just some fun pics I've taken of the boys recently. I'm sure you'll agree that they are absolutely adorable!!

Joseph turned 10 months old a few weeks ago. It's so hard to believe we're already making birthday plans! He's still trying to figure out crawling, but seems to enjoy trying. When you've got 24 lbs to lift it's kinda hard, after all! I, in the meantime, am enjoying the fact that he ISN'T mobile yet!

Nathan starts to Pre-K in a few weeks. I am SO not ready for him to be in school 5 days a week! It just does not seem like he should already be starting school. He's totally fine with school- at least once he gets there. He's a little like his Momma & Daddy in that he doesn't like getting up in the mornings, but once we get there he darts off to play with his friends. I have to beg for bye-bye hugs!!

This weekend we're heading for Houston. My brother's girlfriend, Ryan, lives there, so we're going to go stay a few nights with her. We're going to drive to Galveston on Sunday to spend the day at the beach. We are all SO excited! This will be our first time to meet Ryan's family and we are really looking forward to it. We LOVE, LOVE Ryan and can't wait to see her and Uncle Cam!

Under the Weather and Still the Sweetest Kid in the World

Our whole family spent the 4th of July under the weather. Not exactly our plan for our holiday weekend, but such is life. Joseph has a double ear infection, but thanks to several days of antibiotics he's doing better. Friday night Nathan started crying saying his ear hurt. Nathan is not a crier- he takes immunizations without crying, so we knew it was a for-real-deal. I got him in at an after hours clinic to find out he probably has swimmers ear (outer ear infection), but the dr couldn't be 100% sure because he had earwax covering his eardrum. Lovely. So we've been putting antibiotic drops in his ear 2x a day but he still cries out suddenly that it hurts. I see another trip to the dr in our near future. I am SO missing our wonderful Dr. Bharani in Broken Arrow. The only bad thing about having a pediatrician you love and trust so much is that he's been impossible to replace since we moved. Joseph has been seen by FOUR different pediatricians and I'm still not 100% satisfied! And then there's Dr. Vaidya, our ENT in Tulsa. THE BEST ENT IN THE WORLD! Since this is Joseph's 3rd ear infection in a row we're probably headed toward tubes and I'm seriously thinking of taking him back to Tulsa. Nathan hasn't had any ear trouble since getting his tubes at 15 months, but if this keeps up he'll be needing an ENT again, too. So, not only are my babies both sick, I woke up yesterday with mild flu-like symptoms. I slept most of the day, thanks to my wonderful hubby. So far today I THINK I'm better, but I'm waiting to see if the fever & achy feelings come back once the Tylenol wears off.

Nathan woke up crying in the middle of the night last night, which is highly unusual for him. When I went to check on him he said still mostly asleep, "help me with Blankie". (Meaning he wanted his blankie spread out over him). So I did. Then he said, still mostly asleep "pat my back for a little while". So I crawled in bed with him and started rubbing his back. With his little eyes closed and in the sweetest, most sincere voice he said, "Thanks Mom. Thanks for all you do for me." And he drifted off to sleep. As I laid there and held him I just thought about how much I love him, and how very blessed I am to have these two angel-boys in my life.

Funny Stuff...

So you know how kids are always saying funny stuff? Well, I'm thinking maybe if I write all that funny stuff down we can all enjoy it over and over again. So here's Nathan's most recent, crack-me-up episode...

Nathan to Paul: "Dad, am I being difficult?"
Paul: "No buddy, you're not being difficult. You're being really good."
N: "I'll be difficult tomorrow."

The next day...

Me to Nathan: "Nathan, you are being difficult"
Nathan to Paul: "See Dad, I told you I'd be difficult tomorrow."

Enjoy.

Perot Happenings

Wow, it seems like a lot happens between my posts. We moved into the new house on May 13, as I said in the last post. Needless to say we are still getting settled in, but all things considered it's going pretty well. The boys have both adjusted beautifully, so that alone makes everything okay. Even Binks and Bailey seem to like their new back yard. It's almost as big as our other one but this house has a sliding patio door from the breakfast area. They LOVE being able to see in and are usually curled up right in front of it. Our house is in a neighborhood that joins my Aunt Nelda's neighborhood. It is WONDERFUL to live so close to her. On days I don't work I cook dinner and she comes over to eat with us. It's also great because, since we lived with her for almost a year, we're constantly running back there to get something we've left there. We've joked that she'll be finding our stuff until she moves out of that house! It's amazing how much stuff we took there little by little.

Not long after we moved in Paul got a kidney stone. He's had them a lot in the past, and they are always horrible, but this one was exceptionally bad. It first hit him on a Tuesday night and by Friday night we were in the ER. They gave him 3 doses of IV pain meds before it even touched the pain. Long story short, 3 days in the hospital, 2 procedures, and a week and a half later, he's finally feeling okay again. Thanks to Aunt Nelda and Mom, (who rushed down here asap) for taking care of my sweet babies while I stayed at the hospital with Paul. And by the way, if you ever need to be in the hospital in the DFW area, I highly recommend Baylor. We use the one located in Grapevine, but I hear they're all that good. We've spent a lot of time at that hospital in the last 8 months, including 2 trips to the ER, and they've been wonderful to us every time. (Hopefully that will be useless information to you!!) :)

Nathan and Joseph both started a new school this week. Although I REALLY didn't want Joseph in daycare at all it's just gotten too hard for me to get much done with him at the office with me. Nathan's been in a 3 day a week preschool program since last fall, and he really likes school, so it's been easier for him. Joseph and I, however, haven't ever been away from each other, (except for the aforementioned hospital stay). I wasn't sure how either of us would do, but I'm proud of us. We both made it through the week really well. So for the rest of the summer I will be home with the boys on Mondays & Tuesdays, then it's off to work and school for the rest of the week. I can't believe my sweet Nathan will move into the Pre-K class in the fall! He's gotten so big so fast it just breaks my heart! Thank goodness he's still a cuddler, and when he won't cuddle with me Joseph will. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my boys? They are amazing little people and I am so blessed to be their mom.