From Aiden's Point of View

This morning on the drive into work, I asked Aiden if he had a good weekend.  We did a ton of Christmas related things so I was interested to see what the highlights of the weekend were to him.  From the mouth of babes:

Setting up our Christmas tree and decorations

Trimming the tree

Tree trimming audience

Aiden's favorite: St. Nicholas Square Coffee Shop

Aiden's first Advent calendar

Dickinson Festival of Lights

My co-workers' kids and Aiden thoroughly enjoyed the lights and cookie decorating.

Playing at the beach after taking our Christmas photos

Playing in the cold water.

Texas Snow Angels

Setting up the new Christmas train

Travis got a late-90's Lionel Train from his mom and Rich.

Mommy's favorite: Enjoying evening life in the warm glow of our Christmas tree

Bottle fed and ready for bed.

Our Beach Escape and Callaway's Yard Escape

I have been wanting to go to the beach with Aiden for a few weeks now. I want to get in as many trips as possible before the heat and tourism becomes unbearable. Travis wasn't up for it this weekend - he didn't feel like dealing with the sand. I feel the same way sometimes, but the need to get out of the house overpowered my disdain for sand everywhere. So Aiden and I headed to Galveston beach Saturday afternoon.

Aiden has been taking naps later in the day ever since he learned to climb out of his travel crib, so we were later getting out of the door than I preferred. I went straight for East Beach because you can park your car right where you want to sit on the beach. Having Aiden, I've found this much more convenient than having to walk a ways from the car with my arms full, all the while keeping track of Aiden. I knew there was a sand castle competition on Saturday, but I didn't realize it would go so late in the day. So when I was stopped in traffic half a mile away from the beach, I decided to back track a bit to another beach.

I had never been to this particular section of the beach, but Rachel frequents it when she can. It's known to have more than the normal amount of rainbow umbrellas and same sex hand-holding. The perfect place for a woman to go if she's not up for flirters.

I recently bought a stake umbrella, so I was excited to put this to good use. This was the first time I'd used it and it was only a bit breezy. Perfect for umbrella usage. We applied our sunscreen and went straight for the water. Aiden loves it. The water is warm now. It was still cold when we were on the beach for Mother's Day. It's not the hot bath water that it is in the dead of summer, but it was warm enough that I didn't hesitate sticking my feet in.

Aiden found some seaweed that he didn't want to let go. He carried it around for the remainder of our time on the beach. After we played in the water for a while, we went back to hydrate and build a sand castle. Or should I say compacted sand pile? Finally, we went back to the water to rinse off. I showed Aiden some shells and he quickly started collecting them. He had his hands full by the time we left. It was nice and relaxing.

Saturday morning, Travis and I attempted to go for a walk to the park with Aiden.

We had about 5 minutes playing at the playground before one of our neighbors pulled up at the park to notify us that our dog kept getting out of the yard. He said he put Callaway back in twice, but somehow he kept getting out. Our neighbor was worried he'd get hit by a car since we live on a fairly busy street, so he drove over to get us right away.

We quickly started the trek back home. When we got there, Callaway was sitting on our front porch. Travis put him back in the yard and then we tried to figure out how he was getting out. We couldn't find anything strange or out of place. I was worried he was jumping over the fence. The only way to solve that problem is to build a taller fence - a luxury we don't have at the moment. I didn't want to have to go back to kenneling Callaway. He's lost so much weight, just by being allowed to run free outside during the day.

Aiden and I went for a short walk while Travis stayed on the front porch. We were trying to get Callaway to show us his secret escape route. It was time for lunch, so we didn't have enough time to figure it out.

That afternoon, we had plans to go to our friends' house for a birthday BBQ. We threw Callaway's collar on, put him in the yard and started north. We were pulling into the grocery store when a different neighbor called Travis to say Callaway kept getting out despite repeatedly being put back in his yard. We turned the car around.

When we got home, Callaway was still in the yard, but Travis had spotted the escape route. He was digging a shallow spot under the fence near the new patio. I am so thankful that this is a problem we can work with. Assuming he doesn't start digging in another spot, we can just fill this hole with bricks or boards. Also, this is the part of the fence we will be bumping out to encompass the new patio. Which means eventually, we won't have to keep the bricks under the fence.

Hopefully Callaway can avoid getting himself killed until then...

Mother's Day on the Beach

Every year on the Saturday before Mother's Day, we go to the beach. In 2009, when I was pregnant, we went with the Ramby's and in 2008 and 2010 we went with the Luck's. This year, we met the Luck's again and brought Jenna with her two kids.

We were good about applying sunscreen the moment we got everything set up on the beach (canopy, tent, tables, chairs, toys and food). In the end, I forgot to apply any sunscreen to my scalp, so it is scorched. And I forgot to reapply to my back, so that's a little tender as well today. Sara was rocking a serious tan before even setting foot in the sand:

Jenna's son Brian and Sara's son Logan put their shovel hands together to create a castle city:

Aiden was not interested in getting into the water at first, but after watching Logan and a couple other boys playing he hopped right in. I finally had to pull him out after about 30 minutes because he was so cold. He was purple all over and shivering, but he really wanted to keep playing.

There was so much seaweed on the beach. I cleared a path through the dried algae so I could get back and forth without having that stinky nastiness crunching underfoot. The cool thing about the seaweed though, was a couple of the girls found a nudibranch floating amongst the debris. I was talking to a guy at work about that this morning and he said there were tons of them in the seaweed. He freaked out and thought they were leaches though. LOL!

Here were all the girls in our group on Saturday, plus Aiden and minus Landry.


Travis and Jenna, enjoying some fun in the sun...

Travis and the newly thinned out JR...

JR has lost over 80 pounds through diet so far. Sara recently blogged about it, so check out the photos she posted over there.

Jandi is always so great with Aiden.

The best part about the trip to the beach this year, was Aiden's ability to entertain himself and follow the bigger kids around. The worst part was that he got really cranky an hour and a half after his normal nap time, so we tried to lay him down in his travel crib in the tent. He wouldn't have anything to do with it. He cried for about 30 minutes and then sat and talked to himself for another 30. Eventually we just got him back out. At least he sat down and took a break. It was the only time I was really able to get him to eat or drink anything.

Around dinner time, we headed over to the Luck's rental house to shower. It was a great rental house. I'll have to get the number from them if we can come up with a reason to rent a house on the beach. They had travel size soaps and shampoo and toothpaste for the bathrooms. Toilet paper was stocked and they had bath and kitchen towels available. There was a really cute outdoor seating area, complete with radio/CD player and speakers. If you can fill it with a few families, then it is totally worth the price!

Unfortunately for us, Aiden learned how to climb out of his travel crib while we were at their house. We couldn't just lock him in the room because he figured out how to turn the door knob as well. Finally, I broke down and just let him come outside with us. The problem was he wanted to walk all over the place and all I wanted to do with sit and relax. After about 15 minutes of that, I gave up. Travis and I locked Aiden in his car seat and got on the road home.

We got Aiden in bed around 8:30 pm. That's an hour past his normal bedtime without a daytime nap. I think he did pretty good with the lack of sleep. I was more frustrated with his activity level than anything else. All-in-all, it was a great day though!

Sun, Friends and Fun

A lot has happened in the last four days! David, Stephanie and Wednesday came to town, we celebrated St. Patty's Day, went to the beach, celebrated Blair's third birthday and went to the Houston Rodeo Carnival. All that and I'd say I forgot to bring my camera about 50% of the time. BAD NIKKI. I also have not had time to sort through my photos yet.

To tide you over until I can get everything in order so the posts are not a complete mess, here is a photo of me Southern fried:

Is my face really that long? Or did my camera phone stretch me out? ...weird. Oh and here's David in the frying process. He was out for hours longer than I, so you can imagine how sunny he looks. ;)

Poking a bucket with a stick. Typical David.

A Whale of a Story

Wednesday, a whale beached on the west end of Galveston Island. It is strange to me that whales come so close to Galveston. I've heard stories from fellow scuba divers that you can easily see whales if you go to the Flower Gardens about 100 miles off the coast of Galveston. I guess it's one of those, you gotta see it you believe it things.

A friend of mine from college (pictured above rescuing the whale) currently volunteers with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network here on the island. Whenever there is a beached animal, she takes off work to go help out. When this got called in, she was one of the first on the scene. She had to hold the animal out of the water for an hour and a half before the truck arrived with the appropriate transport materials. Whales have to stay wet, or else their skin dries up. Also, it is hard for the animal to breathe out of water because they don't have the buoyancy in the water to help support their weight anymore. That is why it had to stay in the water until the transport arrived.

When they originally approached the animal, they believed it to be a baby sperm whale. They were hoping to find the mother off the coast so they could reunite her with the baby. They were worried it would be a difficult task because of all the fog we've had recently, and particularly that day.

After bringing the whale back to the holding tank at the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, they realized it was an adult pygmy sperm whale. No one has ever successfully kept one of these in captivity and 90% of beached pygmy sperm whales do not survive. Generally, if a whale has beached, it is because there is something wrong with it already. At the end of the day, they decided to euthanize the animal.

Lauren said she was exhaused after a day of dealing with the 1000-pound whale. She said this was only the second time she has encountered a beached whale on the island in her 6 years volunteering with the network. They most frequently get dolphins that they rehabilitate, then either release it or give to a facility that can house the animal (think Sea World). More often, the stories end happily. This just wasn't one of those cases.

October at the Beach

I really wanted to go to the beach this weekend since the weather has cooled down so much. We have been going first thing in the morning whenever we go, to avoid the midday heat. Probably not such a good idea now that it's started to cool down. It was SOOOO windy that we had to use the Murano as a shield from the wind. We still had a good time though.

I made Aiden a "motorcycle" out of the sand. I think he enjoyed it for a good two minutes before crushing the "handlebars". =)

Then Sunday night we went to Travis and Robert's softball game. Sadly, it was cancelled for the second week in a row, but we didn't waste an opportunity to play on their playground!

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We went up to meet Skylar last night and she is just as precious in person as she is in her photos. It was so surreal going to meet Alexa in the same hospital in which I had Aiden. It brought back a lot of rough memories. Aiden was a great baby, so no stressful thoughts about him. 'Just' the recovery. Seriously though, Skylar is adorable. She slept the entire time I was in the room. When I went to trade posts with Travis (Aiden wasn't allowed in the room), she woke right up. I ran back in after Travis came back with the news of a wide-eyed baby. Alas, she was nursing by the time I got in there.


It was such a surprise to see how tiny Skylar was. I know they come in a small package, but sheesh. Aiden is a MONSTER now. I know he was never actually as small as Skylar after he was born, but I know he was only a pound heavier. That's itty bitty. Seriously... can't believe it...

I'm hoping to visit the Ramby's this weekend after they are home from the hospital, so hopefully she'll be awake at some point while I'm there. She was mighty colorful in her sleep, but I'd love to see her awake!

My Boys and the Sea

Wow. I have been really bad about posting lately. That's what happens when I'm busy at home AND at work. No time, no time! Oh and you can blame Alexa for giving me a 100 books to read. I know Travis is a little less than thrilled about that. ;)

Aiden seems to be recovering from his ear infection nicely. We will have another three days of antibiotics left, but he is no longer walking like a drunk man and doesn't cry every 10 minutes. That's a serious improvement in my book!

Aiden has made some language advancements lately that are SO FUN. He just started pointing at things and saying "uh dat". I'm pretty sure that means "what's that". His favorite items to point at are lights and fans. I'm thinking he might have a slight fascination with electrically-run things, like his father. Ha! Most of his words at this point are his personal jargon. I can tell what he's saying because I've learned that he uses them at certain times or places. And I think that 'mama' and 'dada' are taking on actual meaning to him. Wahoo!

This weekend was tiring, but much better than the last two. No fevers or sickness. THANK GOODNESS. I had gone up to Alexa's house on Thursday to go through some books she's getting rid of (nesting has officially set in at the Ramby's), so I had a lot to choose from this weekend. So on Friday, after Aiden went to bed, Travis went out to mow the lawn and I decided to take it easy with a book. It was amazing. I love resting. Sometimes I forget to do it and then have to remind myself to chill out.

Saturday morning, we went to the beach first thing. We were only there for a couple hours. Aiden would have enjoyed more time there, except it was nap time so we had to head home. I am so excited Aiden had fun this time. He kept walking back into the water. It was hilarious because the waves would throw off his sense of balance and he was constantly falling in the direction the waves were moving. I wanted to sit down and have a snack for a moment, so I got out a shovel for him to play in the sand. He loved that too. Best part for Mommy was he didn't try to eat the sand. We'll have to get him a sandbox soon!

Travis and I drove separately, so he could go to work. There was a fundraiser run on the beach and his company had been asked to set up the lights the day of, and then take them down the day after. Saturday was the day of, so he and a co-worker made three trips to carry the lights and a generator and set them up. Unfortunately, his co-worker lost his keys, so they had to wait for a friend to come unlock the van. When the keys weren't in there, they called a locksmith to make them a key.

When they were finally finished around 6:45, the woman running the show asked if they would stick around to turn on the lights at 7:30. Travis originally thought he'd be home in the afternoon. Ha! Anyway, while they were waiting to turn on the lights, the EMS arrived. The sand on the beach was really soft, so he didn't want to drive down onto the beach. He said that if someone more capable would drive it down, he'd be okay with that. He just didn't want to be the one to get it stuck. Travis jumped at the chance to drive an ambulance and he loved every minute of it. Of course, he got it stuck 10 feet from the wet sand. A gas-powered golf cart was all it took to help them out of the soft stuff.

Travis came home electrified. No pun intended. Or was it?

Sunday morning, Travis left to pick up the lights. Aiden and I played out in the yard with the water table (I put bubble bath in it this time). The best time of day to go outside at this point is first thing in the morning. So that's what I try to do with him every weekend. To give you an idea of what we're working with, right now, at 8:52 in the morning, it is 84F (cooler than normal actually) with 85% humidity, making the heat index 97F. It wouldn't be so bad if it cooled down at night. But it doesn't. It feels like this all day long. Well, I guess it gets worse from noon to 4pm. Hooray for Texas summers.

Sunday was my dad's birthday. He got his gift just in time on Saturday, but saved it to open ON his birthday. I talked to him for a while in the morning. Travis got back in the afternoon, just in time to get Aiden up from his nap and feed him his snack.

We played inside with Aiden until it was time to bring him to the babysitter's. Sue, the babysitter, asked that we bring him by more often so he could get used to her. I think it's working because he didn't cry at all this time. She also said that this was the best visit they'd had so far. I'm sure it helps that he's not sick this time, but either way I am glad. Travis and I took a few hours for adult time and went to see Inception with some of my work friends. I thought it was an excellent movie, but you really have to pay attention so you don't get lost. It had one of those endings that leaves you wondering what it meant, instead of just telling you outright. Normally that annoys me, but this time I'm not sure.

Travis and I have realized that we really like Leonardo DiCaprio. He always does great movies. Part of that could be that he always chooses to work for great producers. Or they choose him? Not sure, but I do know I like his movies. I'll have to remember that...

My First

This was my first Mother's Day as an actual mother. Last year at this time, I was pregnant and that felt real. BUT, I did not yet know my son, or the extreme sense of connection that I would feel for him. This Mother's Day had an entirely new meaning to me. It makes me sad to think of all the years that I did things for my mom on this day without understanding the extent to which she felt about it the holiday. I guess that is just the cycle of life. I don't doubt that Aiden will love me (or already does), but I don't think he will understand the breadth of the feeling I have until he has children of his own.

This year it was a weekend long celebration and I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I made plans to meet the Luck family for a potluck barbecue at the beach with JR's family. That morning, Travis decided to fit in blowing the attic with insulation. Chris R. came over to feed the machine, while Travis crawled around in the cramped quarters of our attic space with the hose. There were a few hiccups (the originally rented machine did not work, one hose got severely clogged, etc.), so Travis was not ready to leave when we needed to. I would have waited, but since I figured Aiden would not last long, I wanted to get out there before his afternoon nap.

Fortunately, Travis was able to meet us down there just an hour or so later. The location they chose to have the BBQ was right on the beach, so we parked right next to where we were sitting. I will DEFINITELY be going back to this location next time we visit the beach. It was so much easier than attempting to cart everything with you in one trip from the Seawall down to the water. We were able to go back and forth from our car with ease.

Since the last trip to the beach with Aiden was not very successful, I did not have confidence that we would stay longer than a couple hours. I was sure to put sunscreen on Aiden before I even got him out of the car. I, on the other hand, decided to forgo the cancer-prevention. I thought, eh, just a couple hours, I should be fine without it. Well, two hours turned into ALL DAY. It may have been cloudy and windy, but don't let that fool you! I AM FRIED. JUST in time for our trip home. Through the airport. With our luggage for two adults and a baby. With shoulder straps. Ahhh! Stupid me. I really should have applied sunscreen once Aiden fell asleep for his afternoon nap. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, the day was wonderful. I think the lack of full-exposure sun helped keep Aiden from getting cranky. We ate lots of food, while Travis and I passed Aiden back and forth. We played horse shoes and bags, but did not get in the water except for our feet.

After the beach, we went home to shower, then came back to meet everyone for dinner at a Mexican restaurant that we haven't been to in a long time. Aiden was such a trooper. He made it all day long without breaking down once. I'm sure it helped that he never got any sunscreen in his eyes! It was really great to catch up with Sara and JR and to see how much their kids have grown. I took a bunch of photos that I will get up later.

Sunday was a fairly laid back day for us, just the family. Travis got Aiden up, grabbed his bottle and laid him in bed with me, so he could run out to grab us kolaches and that horrific gas station cappuccino that is my guilty-pleasure. During breakfast, Travis gave me my Mother's Day gifts. Expensive gifts have never been a part of our relationship, so I was shocked to find my gifts came in two small gift bags: Victoria's Secret and Jared's. Aiden and Daddy got me new perfume, Sexy Little Things Noir with a cute little aerosolizer, and blue topaz earrings. The blue topaz is because that is my favorite stone, not because it is Aiden's birthstone.

While Aiden took his morning nap, Travis worked on replacing our hole-filled aluminum screens with nylon solar screens. Travis is taking off our storm shutters, which has been a source of anxiety for me. On one hand, they are great. The one time we have had to evacuate for a hurricane since living in this house, I was able to walk around to each window and turn the knob to close the storm shutters.

On the other hand, if there is a fire, we have no alternate escape route. I was also worried about the direct sun light affecting our electric bill, but Travis solved that problem by purchasing screens that block out 90% of the sun's rays. It has changed the ambiance of our house dramatically, as we have switched from warm daylight to a cool blue light that filters through the screens. I also believe that the storm shutters are an eye-sore. They make the house look extremely dated.

I already feel secure in our decision to remove the shutters. The house looks SO MUCH better, meaning it should be a little easier to sell the house in a year. I can't wait to see how much the combination of attic insulation and solar screens will affect our electric bill. It's been a green-weekend at our house!

Anyhoo, when Aiden woke up from his nap, we grabbed his lunch and a blanket and headed to the park. We stopped at Wendy's on the way for an easy-on-the-go picnic food. I do have to say the meal itself was very disappointing, but the time by the pond was worth it. Aiden had a good time crawling around the blanket with Travis, tinkering with his toys. We only stayed for an hour and then headed back home.

Travis worked on the screens some more during Aiden's afternoon nap. Another plus about taking off these shutter is we now can reach the outside of the windows to clean them. They were bad. I feel like it is so much easier to see out of our windows now. During the day, the windows just look black from the outside. At night, they are like any other window. I was amazed to notice just how tall our neighbor's pine trees are, now that we can see without the shutters. Travis replaced five out of fifteen of the screens. I think the rest should go pretty smoothly.

For dinner, we grilled the rest of the fish Travis caught weeks ago (we had frozen half of it) and steaks. The best part, is Aiden ate what we were eating. He tried speckled trout, Parmesan rice, green peppers and onions. This new level of eating is SO EXCITING as a mother. I love giving him new things to try. I never would have thought to offer him onions, except that I read it recently in a magazine. He took it on like a champ!

Aiden had some trouble falling asleep, so Travis ended up rocking him to sleep in the hammock. We rounded the evening off by watching the movie Sherlock Holmes (probably would have been better if we hadn't needed to pause the movie several times) and eating Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. I couldn't have asked for a better day with my boys!

Baby on the Beach

I took Aiden to the beach for the first time ever after work on Friday. It was too nice to not get out and enjoy the weather. Since it's about a 30-minute drive home, I figured we could get out in Galveston before the sun went down.

I was hoping Travis would be able to meet us there, but he ended up having to work late. Bummer. Ironically, as we were walking back to the car, Travis drove by in the work van, so we got a honk from Daddy.

There were a lot of people who had the same idea as us, so there was plenty of people watching for us. Aiden just sat and stared at the water and the sand before he started to get antsy. Then I took off his shoes and socks to let him put his feet in the sand. I've decided that baby footprints in the sand are absolutely adorable. I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of that. I held Aiden's hands so he could "walk", which I realized I have not done very often. I'll have to do it more now that I know his arms can handle it. It was funny because he kept walking backwards. Hopefully he'll get that all figured out eventually.

Here is my little heart breaker going grocery shopping with Mommy. It was chilly that day, so he wore the hat Gramma Carol made for him. He always makes lots of friends at the store, especially since he has been sitting up in the cart. I love the cart cover I got for him. It has two little pillows that sit next to him so he doesn't tip over if Mommy has to make a race car move between the crazed shoppers that always try to cut her off. It's also nice because if he gets cranky, I can just flip him sideways and let him lay back on a pillow. It's like his own personal oasis in the middle of Saturday grocery shopping.

Rebirth of Galveston

Exciting news! Several of the piers will be rebuilding in Galveston. It will take some time, but at least they are coming back!

The piers and their plan Houston Chronicle

Dogs at the Beach

Our second weekend with my mom in town was a laid-back busy weekend, if that makes any sense. I think we did a lot of hurrying around just to get somewhere different to sit. Friday I got out of work a little early, so my mom and I went to get our hair cut. I just got a trim, but my mom got her hair cut to her chin. After the salon, we met Ariel at her and Robert's new house. Travis met up with us there when he got off of work.

Ariel and Robert moved into this house the weekend before and it seems like they have had nothing but problems. When they tried to switch the electricity bill from the landlord's name into theirs, the electric company suddenly decided that the place needed to be inspected before turning the electricity back on. This is something that every home in Galveston had to do after the hurricane. Thing is, this place was already inspected and has had electricity for months. After several calls to the city inspector from Robert, Travis and his boss, they finally got it turned back on three days after they had moved in. Then to top it all off, this past Saturday night, their AC blew a hose. Since it was the weekend, they had to wait until Monday to get it fixed. =(

Back to this weekend... After getting the grand tour of Ariel and Robert's new place, we went to a locally owned restaurant for BBQ. I got a BBQ stuffed baked potato. It was awesome and I ate the WHOLE thing. That's a big deal. Those potatoes are HUGE. Yummy! After dinner we were all full, so we headed home. On the way, I convinced my mom that we needed ice cream, so she suggested stopping at the McDonald's near our house. When we got in there I asked what flavors of McFlurry's they have. The cashier informed me that they were OUT OF ICE CREAM. Ahhhh! I quickly asked my mom if she was up for driving a couple miles to Sonic. I had ice cream on the brain!

We get to Sonic, sit there for 15 minutes and the carhop comes out to tell us they are out of ice cream too!!! The world was out of ice cream! Thankfully, they had made my Blast and ran out when they made my mom's sundae. I felt horrible that my mom had to watch me eat that Sonic Blast the whole ride home. ;)

Saturday, my mom and I just hung out at the house while Travis went to work. Jenna stopped by for an hour in the evening to chat and then we went over to Chris and Alexa's for dinner. They grilled out kabobs and we sat out on the patio for the rest of the evening. We had our very own live show - several frogs ingested a gazillion june bugs. It was the weirdest thing.

Sunday we decided to do something outdoors. We settled on the beach, even though it was hot as hell. Needless to say, both my mom and I are fried. The only positive thing here is that we were wearing clothes, not swim suits, so our skin exposure was limited. Unfortunately, part of my burn area includes my shins and the top of my already VERY SWOLLEN FEET. Here are a couple snapshots from our day of frying at the beach:

Travis and Callaway baking in the sun.


My mom and her dog Pierre.

Tossing the frisbee.

Pierre doesn't like the water.

Mi Madre and me.



The Dog