Mardi Gras 2012

I'm sure it's probably a combination of things, but I can tell this pregnancy is really draining me.  I have little desire to get on here regular and word-vomit my thoughts like I usually do.  I know there are other factors, like being busy at work and taking care of Aiden at the end of the day (which I did not have last pregnancy).  I guess it all adds up. 

In addition to blogging, I've also failed on the photo front.  I bring my camera along to events with the intention of snapping some shots, but then never get it out.  This weekend was the start of Mardi Gras.  Travis and I celebrated with his old boss in Galveston.  They have a large family that sort of took us in when Travis started working for them.  I really like all those people.  They are so friendly and absolutely great with Aiden.  Part of the appeal to being with them is there's usually someone else playing with Aiden, even if there aren't other kids around. 

We headed down to the island at 10 in the morning so we could hang out a bit before the noon parade.  We brought some sides and enjoyed all the grilled food.  Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't eat any of the grilled food.  HA!  One of the girls made some fabulous gumbo (chicken, sausage AND shrimp) from scratch and Travis' ex-boss made chili.  Ugh, it was awesome.  Aiden partook in a hot dog or two. 

The parade itself was really fun.  I felt like I spent more time protecting Aiden from flying objects than I did catching them, but it was still enjoyable.  The worse part of the day was how cold it was.  When I woke up Saturday it was 39 degrees at our house.  It was in the 40's by the time the parade started, but coupled with the wind off the Gulf that is SUPER cold for us (we were right on the Seawall).  I think I was more exhausted by all the shivering I did.  



Bead man



Aiden got tons of beads and hung out with a girl that he used to go to daycare with.  She is such a cutie.  I don't think they recognized each other though.  After the parade we ate lunch and then left for Ariel's.  I didn't get Aiden down for his nap until 3 pm, which is really late for him.  He was out immediately.  I thought about taking a nap myself, but ended up resting on the couch and chatting with Ariel the entire time.  It was the least I could do after she gave me a pint of cookie dough ice cream.  Amazing stuff, ice cream. 

The down side to hanging out with lots of people who love Aiden are all the opportunities to eat chocolate and various goodies.  Aiden spent a good portion of the afternoon complaining about his tummy hurting.  I force-fed him some rice and crackers, hoping it would help placate his belly.  Thankfully there was no diarrhea or vomiting. 



Travis' old boss and Aiden



After the evening parade, my co-worker and her boyfriend came over and sat with us by the fire.  Travis had met them already a couple weeks ago when we went out for dinner together.  That was a funny night because we ended up runing into our boss and his wife (also our co-worker) at the same restaurant.  Ha.  All in all, we had a good time.  Aiden and I were exhausted by the end of the night and Travis had perhaps one drink too many.  Thankfully we had zero plans for Sunday, so that turned into a recovery day!

Beginning of Mardi Gras

This past Friday was Travis' first trip out of the house. Kai invited us over for dinner, so we all piled into the car and headed over early that evening. It was nice to go out on a Friday night. We haven't been able to do that for so long because Travis always works later than normal on Fridays and then usually has to work again Saturday. That was not the case this weekend!

Rich left on Thursday, so it was just Brenda, Travis, Aiden and I to go to Kai's. He had his kids, Railey, 9, and Brennan, 6, so I was actually able to lay back a little bit while Aiden played with them. While I still don't trust him 100%, he is much better about using stairs, so I didn't have to freak every time he showed up at the top of the stairs all by himself. Railey was also really great about leading Aiden around where ever he wanted.

Saturday we got up bright and early so I could pop into work for a moment before we went to the Mardi Gras parade. Every time Mardi Gras rolls around, I am reminded of buying our house. We closed on Fat Tuesday 2007. It's strange how fast time flies once you reach adulthood.

Travis' boss, Guy, parked his truck and a trailer on the Seawall on the parade route, so we would have an unfettered view. He grilled burgers and hot dogs before the parade reached us. A huge group of us got together for the parade (Alexa, Blair, Skylar, Kai, Brennan and Railey), including several of my friends from college (Tehina, Chris and Veronica) and Guy's huge family.

I was a little nervous about how Aiden would handle the parade, mostly because it fell directly during his nap time. He had several cranky moments, but there was no complete meltdown. It helped that Guy is really good at scooping Aiden up when he is "having a moment". There were a couple times when the drums in the bands scared him. Makes me a little weary of the fourth of July this year.

The kids collected many beads and various goodies they throw from the floats. By the end, Aiden was even holding one arm up in the arm and screaming "Wooooo!" like the surrounding people. He's growing up so fast!

I was a bad blogger and forgot my camera ALL weekend. So you'll have to make due with these cell phone shots. First, is a shot of the Crank Monster...

Both of my boys wore yellow, which helped me pick them out from the crowd. Here's Surgery Boy with his trademark squinty-eyed photo:

Here's Guy with his granddaughter Addison. Travis works with Addison's dad, Jeremy.


We sat around and ate a little more before leaving Seawall. Aiden desperately needed a nap, as did I. I wish the weather would have been nicer. It was overcast and foggy. The day before it was clear skies and 75 degrees! I guess everything can't ALWAYS be perfect.