"You looked like a mom"

Today we went out for a late lunch and then Josh drove me around to run some errands and stayed in the car with Frazier most places. One of the stops on my list was the cleaners where I ran in and dropped off a pair of paints to be hemmed. As I walked out they asked several questions like were they pinned where I wanted them hemmed and did I want them washed and pressed. I answered them and got quickly back to the car.

As we drove off Josh said "You looked like a mom standing there answering their questions."

I laughed. "And how is that?"

"I don't know...you just held yourself well. And you looked like someone who had more important things to do. You know, bigger fish to fry."

I found this amusing.

So here's to looking like a mom at the cleaners. And to Frazier, my son, my "more important something to do," my "bigger fish to fry." :)

The End.

An Apology To My Subsequent Children

To Whom It May Concern (aka, the children that may follow Frazier):

I have come to the realization that there is a definite possibility there will not be as many pictures of you as there are of your brother. As a matter of fact, you may be certain that even if there are as many pictures of you as there are of him, they will not be as well organized or as diligently edited. Because I can't think of any possible way that with more than one of you I will have that kind of time. I barely have it now. I want to apologize for this in advance and assure you that neither organization of nor the number of pictures we may or may not have of you and/or your siblings...should be taken as any indication of how much you are loved. Or of how cute we think you are. ;)

Love always,

Mom

And now- ANOTHER slide show of Frazier. (Song: Sometimes by Frances England) It is my new hobby of sorts, to sit and click away for several minutes seeing how many expressions I can illicit...and capture.

Just so you know.

I do get out of my house. Plenty. (Or all I care to, anyway.) I just don't take the baby. I wait until Josh is home and leave them here together.

Grocery Shopping

I've been considering it for over a week now, but haven't been brave enough to actually try. But I figure the first step in conquering your fears is to face them, right? (Actually, I think the first step is acknowledging them...then facing them.) Either way, facing comes before conquering so that's just what I did. I woke up this morning and decided to go to the grocery store.

Like everything else, I put a lot of thought into it. I'd go to Brookshire's because it's less than five minutes from home, you can almost always park VERY close to the store if you don't go in the evening or on weekends, and someone brings your cart out and puts your groceries in the car. Wednesday was as good a weekday as any to avoid a grocery store crowd. So we got dressed, I packed his little diaper bag and I decided we'd just go get the stuff to make fajitas for dinner.

Then I googled putting the carseat/carrier on the shopping cart. Everyone I see with a baby in a store has their carrier up on the child seat section of the cart, but I didn't want to get there only to find mine didn't fit safely or something so I thought it best to prepare ahead of time. I'm very glad I did, because EVERYTHING said you shouldn't do it...period. Even if your carseat said it was safe to do so. And apparently, the majority make no such claims and don't actually fit even remotely snug.

Undettered, I considered my options. I could take him in his carrier and just set the whole thing in the bottom of the buggy, I could wait until Josh got home, get another type of carrier and go tomorrow, or I could try my sling.

Now, I'd purchased this sling thing (mine's a Munchkin Jelly Bean Reversible Sling) because there were so many positive reviews and moms everywhere just raved about their slings. However, the one I bought was too small (even the first time I tried it when Frazier was really "small") so I returned it and got a larger one. I'd tried it again just a few days ago and had all but decided to give up. It was just too difficult to get him in and out of it and keep it folded right, etc. But as I researched how best (and safely) to carry your baby in the grocery store today, I found so many praises for the sling I had to believe they couldn't all be wrong.

So I broke mine back out, determined to practice until we got it right. And we did! Much to my surprise it didn't take long before I was much encouraged and decided this was, indeed, an ingenious option for baby toting. See picture below:

(*note: there are several different ways to use it...Frazier fits this way best right now, but you can use them for babies and toddlers up to 35 lbs)

I got it all ready before we left and just wore it in the car on the way. Then when we got there, I parked right up front, took him out of his carseat, slipped him in and went to get a buggy. I was able to get in and out with not only him, but also my purse, his diaper bag, and two reusable shopping bags. And my hands were free for shopping. He just relaxed and hung out (literally) the whole 25 minutes we were there. He kept looking up at me like he was checking to make sure I was still back there even though I talked to him the whole time.

It was great. There were, maybe three other people there the whole time and one of the girls who worked there stopped and watched as we passed and said "Oh my gosh, how cute is that?" And we got everything we needed to make fajitas and guacamole. Which I'm going to make now.

So that's the story of mine and Frazier's first grocery trip. I felt empowered and not a bit anxious. And Frazier was perfect. I won't do it often, probably, but having done it once makes me happy. :)

Once upon a time...

...when Frazier was a few weeks newer than he is now, I decided to take a shower while he napped. I got half way through shampooing my hair when I heard him. It started small, but escalated quickly. By the time I rinsed (sort of), wrapped myself up (in a towel that may or may not have been clean) and ran (dripping) across the room to the bassinet, he was in all-out, red-faced, fist-clenched, teaspoonfuls-of-tears, stiff-limbed, gasping-for-air, freak-out mode. Why? I don't know. But as soon as I picked him up he stopped. Completely; instantly.

And that's when I realized.

I. Am. Magic.

:)

The Diaper Dilemma

We had an abundance of diapers...12 hundred and something to be more precise. And we were grateful. Many came from very generous people as gifts. I also purchased a few packages here and there when I had a coupon or something since I was so super-prepared ahead of time for this baby you'd think we were never going to leave the house again. (You may remember this post: Lady-In-Waiting). I actually bought diapers in several different sizes, too (newborn through size 3). You know...just to be prepared. It seemed we had it made...there were a few packages of newborns, then most of the others were divided between size 1 and size 2. We had about 600 size 1's and half that many size 2's. And probably half that many size 3's...which in case you couldn't do the math that fast is about 150. We counted them up a few weeks before he was born and marvelled at the numbers and were grateful some more.

Then he came...almost in size 1's right out of the womb. And it knocked the whole diaper system askew. We were able to use up the few newborns we had (though by the middle of week 3 when they finally ran out they were a bit snug). And then we began a race to use up size ones before he outgrew them! Alas, it was not to be. I realized, with like seven and a half packages of size 1's left, that we were fast approaching size 2.

I sort of felt gypped. He started out so far ahead of the curve that we didn't get to wear the newborn clothes but for a few days, and he was so large and strong that he really didn't feel like a newborn for long at all and I think even people who know how old he is, forget he's still a new baby...because he doesn't look like one. He grew so much so fast we'll never get to wear all the cute clothes we got. He's in some 6 month clothes now...at nine weeks. I feel like when people see us keep him with us during the church service they wonder why I can't leave my four month old in the nursery. I just want a sign for him that says "I'm only nine weeks old".

So, okay, I didn't really feel gypped...I'd much rather him be big and strong than to seem little and frail. I was pleased if anything. He's just a healthy, happy, big boy. And he feels good to hold. Like, solid or something. Anyway, I expected a big baby (hence very few newborn diapers) but I didn't expect to be out of size one diapers before the end of month 2, thus, the diaper dilemma.

I wasn't entirely sure what to do with all these surplus diapers. Who knew where they'd come from and when and whether those places would take them back? We decided we had too many not to try to return some or at least exchange them for a larger size, so I wrote down all the packages of diapers we had and went on a diaper scouting mission. I went to Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us with my pad and paper comparing diaper packages. Huggies Naturals 56 Pack, for instance, might be sold at Wal-Mart, while the same brand in a 44 pack might be sold at Target. Anyway, I was able to match all of the unopened packages of diapers with a retailer and Josh, darling that he is, volunteered to try to return them.

And he succeeded! He was able to return every single one to one of the three places I mentioned and came home with over $100 in gift cards. Which, when we use up (or outgrow) all the size 2 diapers we have, we'll use to buy size 3's!

A Weekend In Pictures

Photo #1: Mae Mae and I were talking to Frazier and I was kneeling on the bench at the foot of the bed, leaning over the end of the bed when Gatsby hopped up on my back and just sat there! I thought it was funny so even though Friday wasn't the most fabulous hair day I've ever had...I'm posting the picture anyway. Photo #2: We also went out for pizza...in the middle of the afternoon...so we were the only people in the whole place. Which is exactly the way I like it. Photos #3-5: Frazier seems to have discovered as of late not only that his fist is comprised of five individual digits, but also that any of those five digits, individually, fits in his mouth far better than the whole fist. The problem, however, is that getting one of those fingers in without the others is something he's yet to master. Though I'm pretty strict about removing the fingers the minute they go in and replacing them with a paci (which, I theorize, will be considerably easier to take away than any given finger when the time comes) I find his attempts at sucking on (primarily, but not limited to) his thumb to be amusing...and pretty cute, too. :) And the rest are some pictures I took this afternoon of Frazier and Frazier and Josh. (And I really like this little outfit...Frazier's- not Josh's.) ;)

Hello, I'm Randi...

...and I'm a germophobe.

I've always had something of an issue with hand-washing.

I used to wash my hands so often they would literally bleed. The skin on the top of them would crack and ooze bood. Which made me want to wash them more. And I couldn't use lotion (still can't- I don't mind lotion on the rest of me, but I have to wash my hands as soon as I'm finished applying it) because it made/makes them feel oily...and instigates yet another hand washing so it was (and remains) counter-productive. The widespread use and availability of hand sanitizer got me through school. Though I became pretty well adept at stealing away and coming up with excuses to wash my hands often.

There was a brief time somewhere between mid-college and now where I mellowed out a little with the whole hand-washing thing and it was a relief, really. While I still carried hand sanitizer and wet ones everywhere, I didn't have to wash my hands every time I touched Gatsby, I could live with a little paint on my hands if I was working, I could even make a whole Wal-Mart trip without disinfecting the cart handle and not even wash my hands until I got home. And home is another story all of its own. While I still Lysol all the door handles, light switches, remote controls, cabinet knobs, toilet flushers, and keyboards in the house weekly and before and after we have company I've never been excessive about cleaning the house. Thankfully.

I said all that to say that having a baby has caused a relapse of sorts. I'm still not disinfecting the handle of my shopping cart (unless they have those wipe dispensers right as you walk in specifically for that purpose in which case...well, I do). But I do wash my hands...all the time. I also feel like my house is dirty...all the time. I keep the sink scrubbed out, I wash laundry every day, I empty the trash cans compulsively. I don't even touch Gatsby much. And he spends a lot more time outside than he did before. I'm just afraid I'll touch him and then forget to wash my hands. And the thought of dog germs on the baby makes me feel like I'm going to explode. So, I wash my hands (sometimes up to the elbow like I'm scrubbing for surgery) every time I even think about it...and sometimes just because I pass the sink. We've actually gone through several bottles of handsoap already (and the baby's just 2 months old!) I also want everyone else to as well and get extremely anxious when they don't. Josh is getting better...but I never feel like he's washed his hands enough. Nothing is ever clean enough and it's stressful to say the least.

Strangely enough I don't feel that Frazier is ever really dirty...yet. I'm always cleaning his head and face and hands (places people touch) but as for actually bathing him...not a compulsion. Lucky for him. And baby spit up and slobber and even poopie? Not so much a problem...though I do keep hand sanitizer at every changing station and in his diaper bag. And I'll admit sometimes after diaper changes I strap him to the changing table so I can run to the bathroom and wash my hands.

I realize most of my germaphobia is completely irrational and even if all I did was clean I couldn't completely rid even my little corner of the world of bacteria. I function fine, really, (I know I sound like a nut) but I do find it to be a constant battle to tame the thoughts I have about all the germs EVERYWHERE. It puts me on edge a lot. Especially when we take Frazier out of the house. I've been living in a world full of germs my whole life though...and I can deal with it. I'm not debilitatingly OCD. Thank God.

I've been thinking about this because I went out to a couple of places including the mall today (Josh spent the whole day with Frazier so I could have a day out- which was really, really nice). But I almost had a mini-meltdown because of all the people who were there...it being Saturday and all. I kept thinking about all their germs I might be picking up...or inhaling. What kind of terrible germs or worse...illness...was I collecting and bringing home to my baby? I got super paranoid. I even caught myself holding my breath. All I had to do was return a couple of things and I wanted to do a little shopping, but once out, I just wanted to go home every time I stepped into some store. As a matter of fact, the only place I wanted to go in the mall (other than Dillards where I had a return) was Bath and Body Works (because my Aunt Melody sent me a gift certificate for my birthday and I've really been looking forward to using it!) but by the time I got there I had to wash my hands immediately (thank God they have a sink in there!) and then all I left with was a big bottle (on sale 50% off) of antibacterial hand soap and a mini foaming hand sanitizer. Fortunately those two things only used up a fourth of my gift card...so I can go back...for bubble bath or something. :)

Why did I just go on and on about germs you may ask? I don't know. I just wanted to share. So if you're a fellow germaphobe you'll know you aren't alone. And so if you're ever around my baby and I freak out because you haven't washed your hands or if you wonder why I'm always washing mine...now you know.

And now, since I know you don't really come here to read my ramblings...here are some pictures to make your visit worthwhile. :) Thanks for stopping by. Happy (clean) Saturday!

Two Months

Frazier is two months old today, and appropriately, we had his two month check up this afternoon. It went well. He weighed 13lbs 8 oz and was 24 1/4" long. Which I think she said put him in the 89th percentile for weight and 91st for height. Maybe it was vice versa. Either way he's on the big side...but normal and certainly not overweight since he's so long.

I went into the appointment slightly annoyed. First of all they rescheduled it for today after I'd specifically requested a Friday afternoon appointment so Josh could go with us. I hope she has a funeral or something to go to and that she isn't just taking the afternoon off. It's one thing to not take appointments for a Friday afternoon- I wouldn't begrudge her an afternoon off, but I was rather put out that they'd made one...and then revoked it. So I had to go alone. Second of all, I called on Monday to see if they would send me in a prescription for some EMLA cream (it's a topical lidocaine cream that deadens the skin for painful procedures...like shots. Also the same stuff they used as an anesthetic for his circumcision-which, by the way, I was adamant they use, but received no resistance about). This time, however, I was given a firm and final "no ma'am".

So I pouted (but we were on the phone so she couldn't tell) and asked if there was anything else I could give him to which I was told Tylenol. I'd read about not using Tylenol before shots for a couple of reasons, but I did some further research and so many physicians and people on discussion boards recommended doing so (and since my pediatrician recommended it I decided it was worth it). I had to go to Wal-Mart and get some, though...at 7 pm last night...which made me want to pull out my hair. Though really, for an evening (probably because it was Tuesday), it wasn't all that busy. I gave him some right before we left this afternoon and he didn't like it at all! It was grape flavored- there was no other choice. This is how he felt about it:

...and he made that look for a long time.

**Also as a side note-speaking of Wal Mart: the self check outs at our Wal Mart finally have an "I brought my own bag option" so you don't have to get an associate to come void out the weight of your reusable shopping bag. It's about time.

Anyway- I began to prepare for our appointment last night by gathering some of the things we would need to take with us and choosing what we'd wear. Then I just stayed up after our 5:30am feeding and finished getting things (and myself) ready (which included baking muffins and making coffee since Mae Mae and Pop came to visit this morning! I said all that to say...believe it or not, we were actually 5 MINUTES EARLY! Do I hear applause? Thank you- *bowing*-thank you.

It's probably because I planned well in advance having me showered, the baby bathed and dressed, and my diaper bag packed and ready to go before even Mae Mae and Pop got here at 9:45. I don't know how people do this every day...or with more than one kid. Kudos to you people.

On the subject of diaper bags. This is mine (the red bubble thing is a clip-on paci pod):

It's a Kalencom backpack and I love it. I have a little blue bag that was pretty inexpensive and works well for short outings (like church) but I've found that this backpack is perfect for, well, anything else. It has an insulated bottle pocket, a zippered front pocket and gathered side pocket, and a zipper compartment at the bottom with a changing pad in it, but the best part is that it's a backpack. So it leaves your hands free for the baby, or the baby carrier, or your car keys, etc. AND you can fit LOTS OF STUFF in it. Which is important to me because I like to pack (including but not limited to) the following:

6 diapers

wipes in wipes case

nursing wrap

blanket

back up blanket

back up back up (mini) blanket

paci

back up paci in case we drop the first one

back up back up paci incase we drop the back up paci :)

2 burp cloths

extra outfit in case we have an accident in the one we're wearing

back up extra outfit in case we have an accident in the extra outfit :)

mini lanolin

Lansinoh cleaning wipes

mini diaper rash cream

mini hand sanitizer

mini lotion

nasal aspirator

bottle (warmed or freshly expressed at the last minute)

1 pack of scented diaper disposal sacks

1 very hungry caterpillar toy

1 mirror/rattle

my cell phone, wallet, and keys

Now on to the most important subject- the shots. I know you've all been dying to know how they went. ;) Well, I'd been dreading it and, like I mentioned before, I was not at all happy with the events leading up to it, but I'm pleased to report we both left happy. I was able to nurse him for a few minutes right up until she gave him the first shot and though she said I could give him a bottle during them, she advised against it since he might choke when he began to cry. I'd actually thought about this so I settled for staying ready to nurse again and doing so immediately after the last shot (of three-she did them extremely fast, though). I literally had him back in my arms and feeding within seconds of the last shot and he was soothed so quickly he hardly had time to turn red! I let him nurse until he'd completely calmed down then got him dressed (during which he was back to smiling away) and we then moved back to the well-infant waiting room where I finished feeding him and he promptly fell asleep. This was him minutes after we got home:

Overall it wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated...though I don't look forward to doing it again. Dr. Hunter said it was probably worse for me than it was for him. I don't know that that's true...but I'm glad it's over...for now.

One Year, One Day

Josh reminded me that a year ago yesterday, when Frazier did not yet exist, when the future looked very different than it turned out to be, back when we didn't know someone was missing from our two person, one dog family, before we knew we'd be rearranging our house to accomodate a little someone else...a tree fell on it. Courtesy Hurricane Ike.
You may remember this post: 9-15-08

Returning to Routine

It's about that time, I suppose, when the baby is no longer "new" enough to be an excuse. Or that's how I feel anyway. For awhile people will forgive and overlook just about anything because, afterall, you just had a baby. House messy? Hair dirty? Tired? Grumpy? In your PJ's at 3 pm? Not getting out of your house? All expected. But not so much anymore. Really those things were never a problem because Frazier's such a great baby we haven't been tired, I've gotten a shower most days, I could get dressed if I wanted to, and he's been extremely good the few times we've gotten out with him. It was just nice to know that if we did have an off day or didn't get those things done, that was expected.

So we're adapting. And we are getting better everyday at, well, returning to ou old routine...an adapting to modifications of it. I think. I am much better at time managment now (most of the time) and I actually get more done around the house now than I did before Frazier was born. My house is much neater these days. I read more, work out more regularly, cook more often and clean daily. Weird, wild stuff, right?

(You may notice my use of multiple paragraphs *ahem- Ross*. I received complaints that my longer posts were all one paragraph and therefore difficult to read. For which I apologize and am attempting to remedy. However, for some reason this is the best I can do...no matter how many spaces I put between paragraphs or how far in I indent the first word, when I publish it reformats it to look just like this.)

Anyway, today was our first week back to church which I was really looking forward to. We'd actually intended to go back two weeks ago and it took us until this week to actually make it. And we were a few minutes late. Which might be because I insisted on taking pictures before we left. It's just that Frazier wore his nicest outfit- our one and only Feltman Bros. outfit with a hand-embroidered train across the front...a gift from Mrs. Long. He looked so handsome :) so I did the whole throw-a-blanket-over-some-pillows-and-prop-him-up thing. This was the result:

one picture of him almost smiling...one picture of him actually smiling..this look...one of him poutingand one of him yawning...

Pictures aside, it really was great to get back to church (and to see friends and show off the baby and all that stuff!) I hadn't realized how much I'd really missed being there regularly. We weren't able to go to an E&E class (our church's answer to Sunday school) and that was a little disappointing. I'm just not ready to leave Frazier at the nursery. It just so happened, though, that our first Sunday at church to worship as a family was also the first Sunday of a new sermon series about creating healthy families! It seemed like the perfect Sunday to have returned!

8 Weeks

I did two whole posts without pictures. I know. I imagine you were terribly disappointed. ;)

Never fear- I'm making up for it today. :) This has been an incredibly long week for reasons as yet undetermined. Anyway, here are pictures from week 8:

love. this. look.

tummy time!I'm forever impressed with how strong he is already!The story behind these next two pictures: He was all upset because he was hungry, but I insisted on changing his diaper before I fed him so he fussed and fidgeted the entire time. Well, the little blue cloth bag the pee pee teepees go in was laying on the changing table and somehow with all his frustrated flailing, while I was putting the dirty diaper in the Diaper Genie, he got it over his hand and proceeded to wave it angrily about. It really made me laugh...(but as soon as the picture was taken I did immediately remove it and feed him.)He is not always so unhappy at changing time. The changing table in his room has this brown and white dog mobile hanging over it and he loves it! Also a favorite? This mobile above his crib.More pictures of him smiling at these things that hang on his bouncy seat...I don't know what it is about the big blue owl...but he gets really excited about it. *shrug*I know this picture looks like he's in attack mode...but it's actually just super excitement! :D

So that's the second half of week 8 in pictures.

Have a happy weekend!

How Many Of Me?

65. That's how many Randi Andersons there are in the U.S.
I've just been to howmanyofme.com- you should go, it's fun. I found that there are 23,051 people in the U.S. with the first name Randi making it the 1,219th most popular name. 99.9% of people with the name Randi are female. There are 868,628 people with the last name Anderson making it the 12th most popular last name. Frazier, however, is the 314th most popular last name with 100,632 people who have it as their last name. There are only 8 people in the U.S. named Randi Frazier so marrying Josh made me considerably less unique. There are 670,026 people named Joshua in the U.S. (the 72nd most popular name) and 1,894 Joshua Andersons + 100 people who are just named Josh Anderson. There are fewer than 1537 people with the first name Frazier and 4 or fewer Frazier Andersons..though there's a disclaimer with his name that says the estimates for it are not absolute and there may be fewer or no people with that name in the U.S. So, basically, the chances of Frazier meeting someone else with his name? Slim to none. Mission. Accomplished.

MOPS

Today was the kick-off meeting of MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers...which, in case you're confused, literally means you have at least one kid who doesn't go to school yet- I had some confusion as well). Anyway, I was convinced to join by some ladies I met helping with Bible School back in June before Frazier was even born and I'd already participated in two MOPS social events so by this morning I already knew four of the six people at my table. We meet at my church a couple of Tuesday mornings a month and there's breakfast (which today was fabulous) and then something else...like a speaker. We're divided into groups of about seven (including one mentor mom) and the groups take turns setting up, cleaning up, and providing breakfast depending on the Tuesday...we got a schedule today. My group (the orange table- Planet Grace...[the theme this year is "Together on Planet Mom"])...is scheduled for set up next meeting. Since he's younger than three months, Frazier was allowed to stay with me at my table. After that I'll have to leave him in the nursery with the Moppet workers. There were carriers and people nursing all around the room the entire time so I wasn't alone. He was one of three infants at my table! Sadie and Drew are both a few weeks older than he is, but within a month, I think. So, I informed him, these will be his friends. My first thought, really, was that I wasn't sure this whole MOPS thing was really me. For instance, I got to wear a green feather boa today because I'd had a birthday within the last month. (I also got a card for a free coffee at Mugshots and some fun size candy bars as a gift! :) But since I'm not entirely sure what is me as a mom, I thought maybe this should be me...maybe not the boa so much, but the other stuff. After all, I almost joined a sorority in college. Though I wasn't sure what to expect from this, I really did look forward to it and though I was also seven minutes late, I really enjoyed it. We just ate and talked and decorated name tags and filled out some get-to-know-you questionnaires and played a get-to-know-you bingo game. Once again, I have only praises for my fellow MOPS moms. They're nice, they're friendly, they're diverse, and they're fun. They're fabulous...and they're already my friends. I liked my group and my mentor mom- Patti (who I knew already) is great- I'm glad I'm in her group. She took Frazier and held on to him pretty much the entire time, only bringing him back to his carrier once he was asleep so I had my hands free to write and make my name tag. It was nice...I appreciated that. There were lots of decorations in bright colors, our name tags are shaped like planets, they did a "style show" with different moms modeling different wardrobes (soccer mom, working mom, new mom, etc all of them juggling things like kids and laundry baskets and desserts...one with a piece of bread stuck to her jeans with peanut butter). We got little bags of of mini Milky-Ways (get it...to go with the planet theme?), I ordered a T-shirt that says "Planet Mommyhood"...and I suppose some of that might have been a little cheesy. But we opened and closed with prayer. We got notebooks with everyone in our group's name and number. We left prayer requests for our mentor mom to pray over this week, and we have a "table challenge" to get together all seven of us before the end of September. My group's verse is 2 Cor 12:9a "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." I need to be reminded of that on a regular basis. I need people here...right down the street to look after me...and I need people to do for, too. I need to be needed away from home now and then. I need reasons for Frazier and I not to always be home even though that'd be the easiest thing right now (*it took me two and a half hours to get ready to go and we were still late today). I need to be encouraged in my faith and as a wife and mom. I need people to talk to. I need people to pray for me, examples to follow, other current moms to give me advice. And maybe they need me too. I realized early on in my pregnancy that I was going to need more friends who were also moms...and Frazier was going to need friends, too. I can't expect him to be sociable and outgoing if I'm not...plus if I'm not, what opportunities would he have to be? It occurred to me that since we don't have cousins or siblings around for him...I could only think of one kid to invite to his first birthday party. And that, to me, was terribly sad. This is my attempt at branching out- for Frazier's sake and mine. I'm looking forward to this year with MOPS...it's going to be good for me. And I'm grateful for this opportunity.
So bring on the boas.

Labor Day

Ross is back in the states as of this weekend so he and Aaron came over today to visit! It was great to have company as always- plus Ross came bearing Belgian souvenirs! Candy...This is a cappucino seahorse. Strange? Maybe. Delicious? Definitely....and he got this cute green frog (which Josh set on his head...?) and two books in Dutch for Frazier..(the Very Hungry Caterpillar...or Rupsje Nooitgenoeg...came wrapped in this cute paper- with a balloon on top!...and this cupcake cookbook in Dutch for me...because I already had it in English- how great is that?!

He also brought several greeting and post cards in Dutch...which I forgot to photograph...sorry.

Here are all of us at lunch. We went early and I guess it being Labor Day probably helped, but we were about the only people at The Jalapeno Tree today...which is just the way I prefer it if we're taking the baby out.Frazier got all dressed up for company in his "baby's 1st Polo" Ross bought him in Chicago.

Cute, yes?As a side note- it's also Tyler roses time so we stopped this afternoon and bought a dozen...I just love doing that. They're usually $2.50-$3 a dozen and they come wax paper wrapped bouquets and they smell wonderful...much better than the ones you buy in the store. I divided mine between my window vase and a vase for the living room. Lovely.Finally, I leave you with (yet more) pictures of Frazier smiling...at his Dad. :)

Here's hoping your Labor Day was happy, too!