Last day of the year

As I sit by the fire (heater) looking at the lit Christmas tree, the babes are down for an early nap in order to get to a New Year's Eve wedding at 3. Sometimes it's tough to get out the door to head to Costco, so let's see if I can manage it in our finest for a fine wedding. Just get me to the church on time...

Christmas has been wonderful. Today there are seven swans a-swimming, and there's much more to come! After today's affair, we'll wake the kiddos up to make the midnight fireworks over the Mississippi, Mass begins the year off right tomorrow before a big brunch party at a neighbor's house, and we've still got Celebration in Oaks in City Park to manage before the 12 Days are up.

But let's look back at what's been going on the last couple of weeks. Most of the last week of Advent was spent winding down and unpacking from our quick trip to Houston. So by the time Saturday and Sunday rolled around, and it was already time to pack again for Galveston, I'd hardly had a chance to blink. Dylan was very kind about making sure I wasn't stressing about what he would do (ie for meals, laundry) in the days we were separated. And in the end, upon return, he'd left the house spotless. Thanks, darl.

Here's a detailed low-down on Monday-Travel-Day, and after that you'll just get general themes. We picked up a rental car at 9am for me to drive Paul & Ada, so that Dylan could have Vinny to drive himself late on Christmas Eve. I was finally packed enough to leave just before 10am, when Peter - with Gregory Bonsignore, an old high school / boy scout friend - also hit the road in a sort of caravan. Paul and Ada slept til Lake Charles, ie 3 good hrs, and we stopped for food and play at a Chick-fil-a before hitting the road again at 3 for the remaining 2+ hrs to Texas City to return the car by 6. I made it to the Budget Rental at 5:40 with a full tank of gas. Phew. Both kids had lost it somewhere around 5:15. Good run, I know, but it was right at the end there that I didn't know where I was driving; we made it. After returning the car, though, Peter was still on the road from dropping Greg in Houston. He was on his way to pick us up ... and things got darker ... and kids got tireder (yes, that's a word) ... and passing cars in the parking lot got slower and louder uhn-ts uhn-ts uhn-ts ... Please, dear Lord, give my brother wings. He arrived in no time, really, and we headed for Bolivar! Just missed a 7:30 ferry, waited til 8, held an over-it Ada on my lap in the front seat for the 20 min ride and then 11mile straight-shot down the peninsula to the beach house, and finally hugged family close to 9pm. L o n g  d a y but Christmas is coming!! So we settled in, ate good food, drank good drink, and listened to Christmas songs.

That last line could be repeated for the 23rd, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and Saturday, too, before packing up Sunday for the long trip home again. One extra tidbit about each day, though, besides food, drink, and music: Tuesday was a stay-inside day with movies, too. But with the fantastic deck outside, Paul rode his little trike around for ages anyway. Nice. Wednesday had Mass at 5pm in a tiny little church with about 50 people. The priest chose us to be the choir, calling out what number whatever song was, and he talked straight to Paul during the homily. Dylan got in late evening and then drove himself to midnight Mass, poor guy. We missed going together. Then Christmas Day was beautiful - little beach walk, little cooking (ok, lotsa), pressie-opening, big meal after Ryan arrived, and another late night up talking and playing. Thursday was s'posed to be our traditional bowling day, but when we realized how far away everything was, we just scratched it and played a Ginny-original Christmas-trivia game. On Saturday, Momma's brother's family came in for the afternoon and evening, and it was great seeing them all together again! And Sunday ... boo hoo ... was go-home day. We left around noon and stopped in Lake Charles at a McDonald's this time; we go where the playgrounds are. (Sidenote: boy, the clientele sure is different among fast food chains.) Poor Ada napped the entire time what with her fever, green nose, and cough. More on that in a sec... We stopped in New Iberia for Mass and were eventually home around 9pm again. It rained the whole day. I've just been reeling since, trying to get things back in shape and shower the kids with attention comparable to what they had last week. Impossible, you say? Yeah, pretty much.

Over Christmas Beach Week, sleep was bad. Reeeal bad. Paul's cough stopped after about 2 nights, when Ada's started, of course. Her nose got nasty, and then the last night, she was burning up, but nothing would help the poor little dear. Dylan and I were running on nearly empty anyway, and then that last night knocked us over the top; Sunday was survived thanks to coffee.

And today I got to talk to Colleen!! Hooray! She's at her folks' house with her 2 girls while Mike's back in St. Paul already, and she and I had a big "oh, yeah, I hear ya, girl" for about half an hour. We said, isn't it funny how the regular routine is sometimes overwhelming, you look forward to busy family time and all the extra hands and help, stay up late because who doesn't have a case of the FOMOs*, and then get back to the regular routine with a big exhale, thinking "man, this feels easier" ... for a few days. Ha. We're catching up on sleep now that we're back.

*FOMO = fear of missing out

So there we are! I know I promised pictures from last time, and there are a slug of good ones for this post, too, but there's been no tiiiiime. Honestly. I think I'll just do another photo-heavy one without all the gab and get you caught up on the cuteness. 'Cause man, is there cuteness.

Halfway through Advent

We're already more than halfway through Advent and just 10 days from Christmas. The past two weeks have been spent preparing ourselves for Christmas, lighting our candles, reading a reflection, and, of course, having an individually wrapped sweet each morning. Necessities, people.

We've also celebrated a few saints' days and participated in a couple of neat-o public events here in NOLA and also in Houston: 1. Luna Fete on Lafayette Square 2. outdoor viewing of The Polar Express on Spanish Plaza 3. Algiers Point (massive) bonfire 4. Second-line with St. Nick in Dutch Alley 5. Walker Elementary's Jingle Bell Walk (Mom's school) and 6. Houston Zoo Lights (on St. Lucy's day). We even managed to have Mexican on Dec 12th for Our Lady of Guadalupe.

With the first of Advent, Dylan and I started hosting coffee & donuts at our church. It so desperately needs a little community life, so we're starting with food and hoping it grows from there! The first day, we were late for the early Mass (facepalm), but the second was a huge success. The following week was more organized and a big success again - for both Masses. Last weekend, we were in Houston, and a friend stepped up to host it. It's happening =).

Those are the big things that have been going on, and any photos were most definitely not taken by me, so I'll try to wrangle some up from Mom, Gin, and/or Dylan.

Little tidbits:
- Ada played peekaboo with (cousin / Father) Scott visiting from FL. Like, she initiated it, held up a napkin, and pulled it down to smile at him.
- Paul asked to go "back to Tetsas", oh, at about Beaumont... (ie, not that far from Houston en route back to NOLA)
- Paul's been asking for us to do to "our green house" what others have done with lights, cute.
- Ada dances, and it's so. so. funny.
- It's December 16th, and we're still in T-shirts (well, Dylan and I are).

Now, I'll get to work on getting some of those photos.

Was there a November?

Time's a funny thing, innit? Shalome & Ahlwan came to visit for 2 weeks, and they flew by in a flash! It's been 2 weeks since they left for Australia again, and it feels like forever. Bam - four weeks. The entirety of November.

And now it's Advent, Week 1! We've begun our Advent wreath and calendar, the former being for the whole family and the latter solely for Paul's enjoyment =). I love Advent.

Oh, what about those 4 weeks, you ask? They were fun-filled, not-so-fun-filled, busy, relaxing, and then Thanksgiving.

We so enjoyed having the chance to catch up with Shalome and really get to know little Ahlwan a bit. He's 18mos now, so he's changed tons, clearly, since we last saw him at just 4mos. We did lots of touristy things together and lots of normal not-so-touristy things. We ferried, streetcarred, playgrounded, and cooked & ate. Dylan couldn't take any time off work, unfortunately, but we all stayed up a little past our usual times in order to talk a bit without tiny people wanting our attentions. We were horrible at taking photos for the entire 2 weeks; we only took a very few at the zoo.

So, some of the fun included said zoo visit (and a 6mile walk for me from the CBD there while the others took the streetcar; Ada slept the whole way in the stroller!), an aquarium visit, backyard picnics, walks on the levee, "First Friday on the Point" browsing, the Gumbo Fest ending in Ahlwan, Paul & Ada's first taxi ride, a date with just Paul, and fancy mussel dinner at Broussard's.

I also must include some of the not-so-fun because, come on, when you're talking about 3 kids under 3, there is just bound to be some nighttime crying, nap refusal, ferry missing, ant bites (68 on Ada's legs!), falling off the bed (Ada again ... same day as Ant Day), nasty weather, teething, fussing, and puking. Add to that one almost-missed flight!

After that, there was a lot of laundry and canceling our normal things due to semi-sickness. Paul copped it bad the night before Shalome & Ahlwan left, then I had a mild version later in the week, even keeping Dylan home to watch the kids. As soon as everyone was up to par, though, we got out! And the weather shaped up. It was cool, wet, and nasty for the second of Shalome's weeks, but it's back up to 65ºish and lovely.

We've moved Ada out of our room and into Paul's! She's done excellently, and Paul hasn't bat an eye. He likes it, in fact, so that's great. Just to balance awesome things, though, let me also mention that we traumatized Paul with a haircut, and Ada fell - again - and busted her lip. She healed over Thanksgiving weekend, and there's nothing noticeable. Poor little - tough - dear.

Thanksgiving was great! Mom, Dad, Ginny, & Ryan stayed here, and Pete came over and/or met us wherever we were doing anything. We had a delicious dinner here together before a delicious dessert session at Aunt Cyndi & Uncle Ben's with the extended family. So, so nice to get everybody together <3. And never-mind that business about Ada's eating ... she'll eat anything, any way, especially if it's delicious, like gumbo or Thanksgiving dinners. Again, the only photos:

My turkey birds 

Now bring on Advent!

Hallowtide & growing kids

Paul & Adeline are growing up! Duh, I know, but I can see it happening. We pulled out the long pants last week, as it dropped below 70º, and I watched Paul's tiny, un-diapered hips strutting down the sidewalk in his jeans. On the baby-front, Ada decided that she no longer wants to be spoon-fed (slightly) puréed anything; she wants chunks, and she wants to do it herself. So different from Paul at 9mos! Since she made her decision known to us, she's had peas, penne, all the previously-tried fruits and veggies just cut up & not smushed, and oatmeal clumps ... because what else do I dooo for breakfast??

All the Brauds came in to celebrate Peter's & Nana's birthdays a couple of weekends ago, and we had 2 fun meals out together. Of course we didn't get a picture of us all together; that'd be foreward-thinking. Mom & Ginny did, however, get a couple good shots of the kiddos & Pappy, too.

That pretty well takes us up to Halloween already. 

First, there was a neighborhood party the Sunday before Halloween:

Then there was the baking of the Souls' Cakes (delish & prayerful):

Then there was pumpkin carving:

 And then Trick-or-treating!

The next day, All Saints' Day, there was a Fitzmorris (Gammaw Braud's side) reunion on the Northshore, and I am so glad we could make it! It was a lot of fun chatting with all these people I haven't seen in ages and getting to show them Paul & Ada (and Dylan, too, ha). I must've said 10 times that day something like, coming to these events is part of why we moved down here. It felt so good to belong to a big group. Family love!

And now we come upon a busy next two weeks in November; Shalome & Ahlwan arrive this evening from Melbourne! It'll be a ball to see Paul & Ahlwan - and Ada, for that matter - play together, and we're, of course, excited to get to visit with Shalome for a little bit, too. 

Here's a little comparison for fun's sake:

Finally Fall

And enjoying the weather! Complete with open doors for a through-breeze to freshen up this old place.

So, a short reflection to start. It seems I've actually crossed over to the side of "mother" somewhere along the line. Yes, yes, I know I've been "Mama" for going on 3 years now, but that's not what I mean. A friend offered to take Paul to the playground while Ada morning-napped, and this strange sensation came over me, like "what do I do when I only have a 9-month-old, napping?" My mind bounced back quickly to 2 yrs ago when we had just moved to Austin, MN with 9-month-old Paul, and I yearned for those naps (yes, plural); they were morning and afternoon. I finally got to do what I wanted. And I complained when they were shortened. Now? Now I don't think about what I finally "get" to do. Oh, yes, I still look forward to naptime (I don't know any at-home mom who doesn't), but I usually ask myself how I could use it best - for us. Should I nap, too, to re-engergize for the long evening? Should I start the meal? What needs doing vs how can I be best for later on? Somehow, somewhere along the track, I stopped thinking of naptime as me-time and more as, well, naptime, or at least rest-time. Sometimes that's facebook or the blog, sometimes that's sleeping, and sometimes it's "productive", moving from one put-off-chore to another. In any case, what's changed is this attitude of I want to read, I want to do my nails, I just want to do what I want to one of What are we going to do together later, and can I make that go smoothly? In fact, while Ada napped this morning, the initial reaction was Squee, alone time! But that quickly changed to Bummer, I'll miss our playground fun. Wonder where little Miss Adeline gets her FOMO* from... This is all to say that I think I embrace the role of at-home-mom & housewife better than I thought I did back then.
*fear of missing out

And now for a photographical show of our visit to Miss Heather's Pumpkin Patch.

 It's little Miss's first time!

And the trying-to-get-two-kids-to-pose begins!

1. Set A down.
2. Set P down.
3. P hits face on pumpkin stem.
4. P fusses about pumpkin stem.

5. Fascination with pumpkin stem begins. 

 Bouncy Pilloooooow!

 Paul picked out his very own

Finally, things are a-moving here! First, I've gotten the go-ahead from the Church Lady to organize donuts after the 2 Sunday Masses starting this Advent - boo, a whole month away but yay a little fellowship! Second, I started a Friday morning levee walking group; one mom called it a stroller brigade. I've labeled it "Let's Go!" Whatever the title, it's mommas with their littles in strollers or carriers walking on the levee for a mile & back at a grown-up's pace. Nice. Next, perhaps because of the weather, people are starting to congregate a little more. And while many aren't necessarily eager to seek out meet-ups, most are up for meeting for something I suggest. I'll take it. Then, Dylan's job is ticking along, and he seems pleased with his colleagues and with the work he's doing. Very good things. We haven't talked tons about it, though, because there isn't a ton of time to talk when it's well-spent wrestling the bébés. You read that right - wrestling the bébés. They both wrestle and love it! Ada's gotten very mobile and loves physical, rough-n-tumble games. It goes without saying that Paul's into that. We just have to, um, remind him that Ada's still tiny. HE has started playing in English. So funny and cute. He names and counts his cars and shows his books to Ada in English. And I can't forget to mention his "tank ou, Ada" as he's ripping something out of her hands or the "sowwy, Ada" when he knocks her over. Shrug.

Life is grand!

So much NEW

Dylan's view is new, and everything's going well while he settles in. Things are changing and settling for us on the homefront, too, like what happens after nap, how the cooking gets done, and when the kiddos bathe. But Dylan's view!

Ada's teefus are new, and she weighs 16 lbs at 26" long. We knew she had those two bottom, front teeth coming through, but her sleep was so insanely rough for 3 full days & nights that we took her in to see the doc to rule out other things wrong. After checking her ears, nose, and chest, he put a tongue depressor in her mouth, lifted her teeny baby lips and - wowza! - she's working on 6! Two bottom center, and all four top center! We didn't even think to look up there, yet, but the doc said they're coming in like popcorn. We're relieved all that work and lack of sleep are for something productive.




Her climbing up on things is new, and she loves it. So far she's landed back on her bum, but I'm sure the face-plant is on its way.

Paul's feeding her is new (and adorbs) - he is a really great big brother. Nuff said.

His Lightening McQueen and Thomas undies are new! And have stayed dry for 4 days so far - woo! Yes, we bribed with ice cream. For, like, a month. Every #2 in the potty got us all a bowl of ice cream. (#1 gets him a chocolate chip, but we haven't had an accident there in months.) It's the #2 that's been the kicker ... we're out of ice cream "Ooo, big boy underwear! Keep Thomas and Lightening McQueen dry, now!" Done.

Dylan and I went to a movie. In a movie theater! We saw "Gone Girl" - thank you for watching a napless Adeline, Nana!!

And the weather's new! Highs in the 70s, thank you very much.

Then there's this - can only get one kid to look at any given time. Ah well.

In other news...

We went to the zoo!

See -->

Oh, and Dylan got a job with a law firm in town. He received the offer on Monday, so we celebrated with a fancy dinner, of course; and he'll head off to a snazzy new office in a big ol' high rise on Monday of next week. Very exciting ... and a big game-changer for us. Our daily schedules will see major changes, and one of our goals just became "maximizing family time". What that means for me and how I can shift things around to meet that goal, I've yet to work out. God's timing is impeccable - thank you!

Ada-face

It was the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi last week, so let's see some Adeline Frances, shall we? She's on the move, she loves spinach, she's got a little 'tude, and she's deliciously kissable.

 Let's see what her big bro's been up to, too, because look

24 hrs of weekend fuuuun

And not one picture to show for it.

Friday night, we went to St. Angela Merici's "Catfish Festival" that was just a big, fun fair with delicious fried fish. We met some friends there, Mike & Kelsey, with their little 5-mos-old, though neither of us actually attends that church. After eating, Paul wanted to do "Das! Das!" (That! That!) pointing to all the rides; hm... but, wait! There was a special, little fenced off section that was just for 6yrs and under! Oh, my goodness, the joy! There were two jump-jump things to get in, one was just a big ball pit + the jumping about = lots-o-fun, and the other was nothing I'd ever seen before. It was a full-on playground, complete with slide but all in the jump-jump material! Bouncing and sliding and jumping and rolling on balls and running and running into the walls. Oh, gosh. Just picture Paul's widest smile combined with biggest belly laugh + eyes closed, flailing about on the balls and running to do it again. Sheer bliss.

Of course, it could only end in tears. Because how do you leave something so awesome? Sigh.

Saturday morning began with blueberry pancakes, yum, and continued into an improv musical instrument show-n-tell. It started with Paul dancing around the table with a chopstick, which looked a little like a conductor's baton. So I started singing a piece - Firebird came to mind, so that's just what I sang. Anyway, we asked P if he knew what a conductor was, etc, we showed him a video of an orchestra playing it - ooo, something shiny! Did you see those French horns? Do you want to see a real French horn? And I'm sure you can imagine the scene that followed. It ended in Dylan sort of practicing the glissando at the beginning of Rhapsody in Blue. Didn't know we had a clarinet? Ah, well, learn something new everyday. I knew we had it, but what I didn't know is that Dylan could do anything with it. Anyway, after that, we packed up the car and headed to an Open House event for the Woodlands Conservancy about 15 miles from here where there were hot dogs, burgers, cake, punch, and, of course, the nature walking. Beautiful area - and so close! I think we'll take advantage of it again. Then it was nap time. (How much did you get up to before 12:30pm?) And then it was Baylor Football time! We were playing Heidi & Josh's alma mater, and so we made an order-the-winners-a-pizza bet. But they're gamers - as in they actually go to Vegas - and started making all these stipulations, so we shook hands (figuratively) on the 21-point spread. The game ended with Baylor exactly 21 points ahead, so do we buy them pizza? Do they buy us pizza? Is it a draw? Ooooh, what's that you say, Heidi, the day after the game? The spread is 21.5 points? Interesting. In any case, it was really fun to watch the game with friends a thousand miles away.

And now it's a relaxing, drizzly Sunday. Happy Fall!

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

I've posted twice, now, with no photos. Oh, for shame! So, let's just have at some cute, here. But first, Paul & Ada played together. For real play. In the kitchen, on the floor, Ada's crawling around, Paul starts crawling, too; she starts chase-crawling after him, he plays along and goes quicker, they both giggle, and keep it up for, like, 5 straight minutes. Adorable.

Lemon-ada 

I Spy With My Little Eye ... a sleeping Paul

 <-- How we roll



  Big boy walking -->

Helpful in the kitchen

Look who made it to the Clarion Herald twice.

Both (almost) swinging!

Spinach, exhibit A, with smile

Spinach, exhibit B, with flash

Spinach, exhibit C, with brudda