New normal

Let's pick up from where we left off: last weekend. 

So, this happened last Sunday:

That's Müller chasing Götze after scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 113th minute of the World Cup finale. And then Pete came over after the game for lasagna. It was awesome.

Then the rest of the week kind of flew by with Dylan's getting several calls for meetings (!!), organizing more of his firm arrangements, and the kids' and my running around as usual, trying to find a good balance between doing our thing and Papa working mostly from home. And then the early mornings. Whyyy must there be so many early mornings. We used to think 8am was normal, somewhere along the line, Paul pushed that up to 7:30, where it stayed for months. And now? We hope to make it passed 6am. This morning was 5:45. 5:45am. The garbage truck passed by -- who needs their trash taken away so early on a Friday, the second day of the week that they come 'round -- and then we hear a quiet, "Müllwagen" (garbage truck). Then, "Müllwageeeeeeeen!" OK, we're up!

And now for the week in photos:

Madeline (7 wks) and Adeline (5 months) 

PS - Dylan saw how I began this post and asked, "Is that all you're gonna say about it? Not that Deutsches Haus was insaaaaane?" So here we go, a little more about the WM (Weltmeisterschaft). We watched at the Deutsches Haus, and it was insane. When Germany finally scored one, anyway, in extra time. It was packed, the kids were great, and Paul ran around a lot - even got up in front of the screen =), like so:

All the people up front said he was cute, though, and encouraged us in making a little soccer fan out of him. Way to go, Deutschland!

"Normal" week

Normal just means that we didn't have anything fancy on: no family over, no meals out, nothing planned. We grocery shopped, post-officed, and otherwise kept busy with the usual cleaning, playing, bathing, and chasing each other around.

Two things stick out from this week in particular. One was an exchange on Thursday between Mom, Ginny, & me, and the other is a lesson that needs learning as long as Dylan is working from home.

So, the first: Thursday became a "Day in the Life" via picture text messages between Momma, Ginny, & me. Our days are all so different, we thought it'd be neat to see. Ginny was at work, as was I, and Miss Franny was down at the beach with a friend on Padre Island, well la di da. Needless to say, her hour-by-hour pictures were all achingly similar: mom on the beach, mom with a pelican, mom on the pier, mom with a drink on the beach ... you get the drift. Ginny showed us her day at work via her office view, her ideas board, her snacks and breaks (ha), and her keys-in-hand-at-5pm entitled "Freedom". And these were mine:

Hr 1:

 Hr 2:

 Hr 3: one naps, one plays

Hr 4:

Hr 5:

 Hr 6:

 Hr 7:

 Hr 8, post-nap snack & bubbles:

 Hr 9, hard to please:

 Hr 10:

 Hr 11, calm after the chaos that is dinner hour:

 Hr 12:

 Hr 13, beeeeedtime!

I learned something through all of this - yes about Momma & Ginny - but also about myself. And it reminded me of this quote from Padre Pio, "One day the Eternal Judge shall call each of us and ask us to give an account of our deeds and how we made use of our time. We shall have to give a most strict account of every minute." Or Romans 14:12, "So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God." Now, I'm not saying that showing my mother and sister that I went to the park with Paul is the same as my accountability to God, but what I am saying is that being held accountable hour by hour last Thursday really helped me embrace my time with Paul & Ada and left me wanting to be good for them all day. I didn't do anything extraordinary just so that I could take a picture of it to send, but I either kept on top of engaging them (silliness between lunch/nap) or relished the normalcy before us (morning smiles).

Apparently it takes me a day or two to figure stuff like that out, though, because Friday was lame. It's like I hadn't made any connection whatsoever between what I did the the day prior and was doing in the moment. Now in hindsight I wonder if it weren't just the disappointment after such engagement. In any case, I carted the kids off to run errands with me, and somehow managed to make everything Dylan's fault for the rest of the day. We ended up having a chat about our expectations when he's home/nothomebutworking and should do better in the future. There's likely to be an adjustment period, but I think it'll be good for us all.

Now lookit these - Ada likes books! And Paul likes making funny faces:

Last week with family from Down Under

After 3 all-over-the-place weeks, Susan & Gerry - as well as Dylan & I! - hoped for a more chilled last week for their visit. We stayed around here, mostly, and sightsaw. Sight-saw? Is is sight-see-ed? Did some sightseeing. There.

They got to see the Causeway, the longest bridge in the world at 24miles.

 They got to take Paul on the train in City Park.

They got to visit the sculpture garden & museum in City Park.

The trip to City Park included, of course, some play on the playground and beignets at Morning Call.

They treated us to a swamp boat tour, and Paul (and everyone...) got to hold a baby alligator.

And, finally, they got to celebrate the 4th of July in the USA, complete with hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, fried chicken & watermelon ... and a fireworks display with the best view!

Our last half-day together was spent having breakfast at the corner café, Tout de Suite, before heading out to the airport ... & more beignets. (Which were surprisingly delicious! West Café near the Delta check-in counter. Seriously.) And so ends another wonderful few weeks spent together, each visit more special than the last now that Paul is so aware of people, his people, and things happening around him.

Since good-bye-ing at the airport, we've kind of stared vacantly around, wondering where to begin / what to do now? And I've, wait, what was it? - COOKED! I've got to get into cooking 7+ square meals a week again. It feels like it's been since before Adeline was born since I've done so, really, what with 10 weeks of meal help after her birth, freezer meals previously cooked, then the move, and now 4 weeks of vacationing. I took a cue from Carrots for Michaelmas and celebrated the feast day of St. Maria Goretti, and I plan to catch up on all of the saints' feast days we missed during our whirlwind. I knew there was a reason I bought the book.

Tourists in NOLA

Susan & Gerry's being here gives us a great opportunity to play tourist, too! 

After the day of travel back down South and a day of taking it easy, Wednesday brought us a ferry ride into the French Quarter. We had beignets, naturally, a little walking tour of the Quarter as set out by Lonely Planet, and a muffuletta lunch. 

Friday was a lovely day driving a little upstream to tour Oak Alley Plantation - and getting to see a few others from the road, too. The tour of the Big House was excellent, as was a self-guided tour through the slavery years on the plantation. Lunch was excellent, as well, at the restaurant on the grounds. It marked Susan & Gerry's first real cajun meal, and they didn't skimp: the "cajun medley" included seafood gumbo, red beans & rice, crawfish etouffée, and andouille. All around thumbs up.

Saturday was another full, fun day in town - we bussed, steetcarred, bussed again, and then ferried. Paul was in Heaven. There's a precious little snippet of video of his very first streetcar arriving at our stop; he sees, he points and grins, it screeches, he's a little hesitant, we get in. And he wanted "streetcar again" for the next 2 hrs. 

And now let's talk about Ada. Because she's been doing great! I think she reacts quite negatively to caffeine ... of which I had lots and lots while in Philly ... because I've been going easy (read: drinking little to none) except for a small-ish morning coffee, and she's been much easier to calm and put to sleep. She also hit her 5-month mark on the 25th, and she's (*finally* yay!) decided that nursing while sitting up isn't so bad! I may or may not have mentioned previously that I've had to side-lie, as they call it, to nurse her. Every time. At home? On the floor or bed. Out and about? On a blanket in the grass. About and around other people? Err. Massage tables of fancy hotels. A couple of days in a row now have seen the two of us doing just fine and looking normal on a bench! On a streetcar! In a bus! Way to go, girl! Oh yes - and we've teased her with food, too. She had a (teensy-weensy) bit of avocado, a (barely mentionable) bit of watermelon, and she's licked a cucumber. All of which have given us this face --->

And now it's Dylan's 31st birthday. It's Mass, coffee at the café down the street, and dinner on the Lakefront. Plus a birthday cake Susan got to make for her son. 

And on to Philly

I kind of want to skip writing about our 5 days in Philadelphia because my whole, nearly-finished draft with tons of detail vanished. Even though that's exactly what google-save is supposed to avoid. But I won't skip it entirely because that wouldn't be fair to everyone we shared time with ... and we had a great time. But still - lame blogspot. Lame. Suffice it to say that the original post was hilariously witty and edge-of-your-seat interesting. Promise. And included much more gracious thank-yous than just "Thank you!" Now here's the rundown:

1. We left Galveston on Wednesday the 18th at 3am to catch a flight from New Orleans -- Philadelphia and arrived at 7:30pm. Book grandparents whenever possible for travel with small children.
2. Three Fawn Farm, aka Resort Young; Barb & Terry's farm an hour outside of the city is comfortable, beautiful and has countless amenities for your enjoyment: animals, a pool, a bonfire, poison ivy, real.good.food, sidewalk chalk, a broom, animal leashes, and a mist attachment for the hose. The latter 4 may have been added by a certain toddler we all hold dear.
   
   
3. Seriously, the food. Mrs Barb in all her Italian-mama glory. Thank you, thank you! She went out of her way to get special things for Paul, saying, "I know he won't starve, but I want him to like it here." And, boy, did we all! Something fancy every morning for breakfast as well as delicious dinner when we weren't involved in wedding events. 
4. Little random outings:

   

   See-saw with Paul

   
   

   

   Pa Gerry & Gran Susan entertain Ada en route

5. Rehearsal dinner: Friday night saw Dylan and me train into town with Adeline, leaving Paul with his team of babysitters: Susan, Gerry, Barb, Terry, & Whitney. We arrived at the Four Seasons for drinks about 7, I enjoyed reconnecting with my high school buddies, and Dylan caught my attention at 9:30, asking if I knew what time it was. We only had 20 minutes before the last train, and the salads were just being served! I said g'byes, coveted their food, and we headed for the train ... and leftover Brats from the bonfire. We looked nice, though.
   5b. I got to nurse on a massage table of the Four Seasons. After asking where I could nurse that's not a bathroom, the concierge hemmed and hawed before his "aha" and sent me to the spa. Very nice. Adeline would book that table again. (Have I mentioned that she must lie down to eat? Weird, baby, weird.)
6. Wedding Day! I started the day thinking about how I started my own wedding day and what others must have done on my wedding day before the wedding. Because while Heather was all aflutter (I'm assuming...) and getting ready, I was playing with a pig. Aaanyway. The wedding was for 5:30 at the Tyler Arboretum, we found our seats in the little white folding chairs you see in movie weddings, everyone entered, Heather looked sensational, Amanda, Jennifer, and I did our readings (from Winnie the Pooh, the Velveteen Rabbit, and The Little Prince), Heather & Connell said their vows and walked away under bubbles as husband and wife. It was lovely.
   
7. Cocktail hour before dinner. Then Susan & Gerry intercepted Paul for us, so that he could have a normal-ish bedtime. We kept little Ada with us to party on. BUT! Before we ate and partied, and during said interception, an older man and I had the strangest conversation. Dylan was maybe 10 yards away changing Paul's diaper, I held Ada on the way to find a place to (lie down on the grass and) feed her, and he says, "Whadya havta do to make him change a diaper?" Without giving the script of the next 5 or 6 exchanges, he insulted my husband, criticized how I feed my children solid food, and judged me for taking my nursing infant around with me instead of leaving formula for a babysitter. Wait, what?? What just happened? It was so weird. The oddest is that I didn't expect it and wasn't rude or defensive in response, quite honestly. Ah well. We cleaned up nicely, so that was fun.
   
8. Late night. I KNOW! Let's wake up early and wake the children up to visit downtown Philly. I wasn't the happiest camper at 7am on Sunday, but once we got on the train and got to see Paul so excited, things became easier. Little coffee helped, too. It was really great to walk the city again and show Susan & Gerry the parts that we know & like. I love Philadelphia.
   

   

   In Elfrath's Alley

9. Sunday seemed to last a while because we fit so many different things in. After playing tourists, we napped, went to Mass, and then came back to ride Annie the horse! It was wonderful - for me, for Paul & Ada, and Dylan and Susan enjoyed it, too. Thank you so much, Barb & Whitney. Annie's so great, she wouldn't even trot with me at first because she knew I was all - wrong. Barb gave me a quick tip, and then we got going on a trot. I have a long way to go.

10. 

    Paul & I on Annie with Mrs. Barb

    
    
    
    
    

    

    Ada on Annie

    

    Ada on Pearl

    
    
    
    

    

    Susan on Annie

    

    Dylan on Annie

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    And Monday was travel day. Again. Kids did just fine, but seriously - book grandparents.

Braud Beach Vacation 2014!

We left our New Orleans address at 3am on the 13th because the kiddos travel long distances best while still in their night sleep cycle. Usually. They didn't fall back asleep until about 5am, however, and then we stopped for breakfast when they woke at 8. We travelled to Galveston via the Bolivar ferry and arrived around 10 or so ... but couldn't get into the beach house until 4pm. We took Susan & Gerry to the Strand, had lunch on the Seawall, and then the kids finally fell asleep, so we sat in the grocery store parking lot for a while. Once they woke, we spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for the Brauds to trickle in in all of the beautiful outdoor space the house had.

First off, I have to give Galveston tons of credit. My mom and I both were completely & pleasantly surprised! We'd expected to see Seawall-esque beaches, but everything about the west end felt exactly like the other places we've stayed further down - Matagorda & Corpus Christi - and the house was *so* nice.

Now, how do I sum up a week of beach lounging, big eating, and family time without giving hour-by-hour detail? Suffice it to say that we all really had a great time reconnecting with each other, eating together, reading together, and playing with the bébés. Paul was precious with his little beach toys - particularly the rake and dump truck. And he danced - boy did he dance! - with his Uncle Pete & Tante Ginny. He got to stay up way later than his normal bedtime but sacked out every night because he was so, so busy. If he weren't in the sand or in the waves with his Papa, he had someone's attention on the deck playing with bubbles. It was also Adeline's first beach trip! I dunked her teeny toes into the water twice, and she reacted to the cold. She had all of us making fools of ourselves to keep her laughing - such a sweetie! She is making it very clear that she loves people. She loves to be engaged and have someone right there with her. Since Paul and Ada have the same birthdays, it's also very easy for me to compare their growing, but we vacationed much earlier this year than usual. We're usually on the beach the last week of July, and this year was the 3rd week in June; that's an extra 7 weeks difference in baby-growing world! Consequently, Ada was very much in our arms - not sitting up or pulling herself up yet like baby Pauly was 2 years ago. Also - the tiniest little Crocs that exist that fit Paul great? Too big for our little peanut's feet. She's so cute (if I may say so...)

In and amongst all of those regular things that we love to do together, there was some World Cup watching, as well as celebrating Father's Day, Ryan's 35th birthday, and also his parents' 40th wedding anniversary! There were a ton of people around on the Sunday for those events, so there was definitely a more party-like feel to vacay than the usual chill-out of previous years with just the 5 Brauds. We're all getting older and bringing the people we call family other than just us, and that's special, too, albeit in a different way.

Dylan and I escaped once or twice for a surf stroll, and it was nice to reconnect, given the general tone of craziness we've had in our lives lately! Road trips are normally good for that, right? But we've been traveling distances either separately (like from MN-->LA) or very early with sleeping children; both situations of which lend themselves to not talking.

And then we had to leave. I couldn't believe that I had to leave vacation early! I don't have a job! I'm used to going to TX early and staying the whole time if not a little more on the tail end. But we had to leave to get to Philadelphia. We left early, early (again) Wednesday morning and therefore missed Wednesday and Thursday (+ Friday morning before checking out). Sad ... except that we didn't have to deal with insane seaweed! Since I wasn't there, I'll include others' photos capturing it all:

Hopefully we'll see you sooner than next year, dear Gulf! I love our beach week.