Not Just Teeth

Well, Cristian was sick. I mean really sick. So sick that he infected me, Grammie, all of my Aunts and my Uncle. We took him in to see the doctor Monday and he confirmed it was a stomach bug. No other issues, so we just had to wait it out. I took Tuesday off to care for the little guy, but by Wednesday I had it too. So Wednesday was a sick day for me. Carlos and I split today as Cristian was still not quite ready for school. He is doing so much better today, I am pretty sure he will go to school tomorrow. I have included pics of our weekend below. Despite the "bug" we had a good time, I think even Cristian had fun!

This is my favorite picture from the whole weekend. I love that the background is blurry, but Cristian is clear. I don't know who took it, but I wish I could take the credit!

Does this look like a sick kid to you? That smile was why it was so hard to not go to Mardi Gras. Instead we stayed at my Aunt's house and visited with family.
Cristian snoozing in the car

Izzy rockin' the mike
Belle concentrating on Guitar Hero

Cristian with Aunt Colleen & Uncle Eddie...as you can see, Cristian was completely mesmerized by the Cajun band...we even found him singing along! He may look like Carlos, but he is a little Cajun afteall!

Newly Engaged, Reina & Bubba!

Week in Pictures

Here are some new shots we took over the past two weeks. I have more from our weekend trip to East Texas, but I will load those tomorrow! Cristian is still crawling everywhere, but has started pulling up! He had his 1st Major Diaper Blow-out on Friday, five minutes before we left on our trip! I was alone and it was a mess, but I made it through only to have Carlos show up minutes after I was done cleaning everything up. How does he get such good luck? Cristian finished his antibiotics last week for his first ear infection, but was still pretty sick over this weekend. He made the drive over like a champ, but woke up Sat. in a mood. He refused to eat most of the day Sat. and continued to have "blow-outs" the entire weekend (including a huge one a half hour outside of Houston earlier today). Just like a good redneck, I cleaned him up in a Jack in the Box parking lot. ;-) The family concensus: teething. I am still not sold, as I think it might be a stomach thing. He ate today, but is still having stomach issues. We will see how tomorrow goes. I have tomorrow off, but he will go to school for a few hours in the morning so I can unpack and wash clothes. If they report more of the same it is off to the doctor we go. I don't want to risk him dehydrating. I'll give more info about the trip and some pics tomorrow!

I stood up all by myself!

Why sit in it when you can climb through it?
Whatcha eatin'? Homemade chocolate ice cream? Heck yeah!

Baby's 1st Mohawk, thanks Aunt Mandy!
Cristian in baby jail
the newest Moxley, sleeping beauty, Miss Ryleigh
Kelli & Braden Moxley

three sleepy little monkeys

Ups & Downs

I took a ½ day on Tuesday so I could take little man to the doctor and get our taxes done.

Cristian had a little cough that started last week and as it lasted longer that 4 days, we needed to have him checked out. It was a good thing we did because he has his first ear infection (and hopefully his last). It is only in the right ear and we caught it early on. He started on antibiotics Wednesday and I think he is getting better. He is very clingy (not a good sign) but the cough has disappeared (a very good sign).

After the doctor little man went back to school for a few hours while Carlos and I want to see the tax lady. I will spare you the details. In the end we have to PAY. I have never had to pay…ever. I was shocked. How did we? Why didn’t we? To summarize, Carlos’ 2nd job pushed us into a higher tax bracket and I did not calculate our deductions correctly. I hate being wrong, but I hate more when my wrong costs money. I was so angry (at myself mostly). Anyway, we definitely learned from the situation and immediately made a few changes to our current deductions.

So after all that I woke up Thursday to find my throat a little scratchy. I do NOT get sick, ever. But, when I do my first sign is the throat. The minute my throat hurts I know it is only going to get worse. I bought some meds at the pharmacy and started sucking on cough drops. After the boys left the house this morning I took a (uninterrupted) one hour nap. It made me feel so much better. I had to come into work, so I am toughing it out until 4.

Shortly after I got here this morning I got a call from my good friend Kelli. She is a busy mom of two so we don’t see each other often. She had some time today so we were able to catch lunch. Her son, Braden, is a few weeks younger that Philip and her daughter, Ryleigh, was born a little over a month ago. We went to this great burger place that has a jungle gym. Braden had fun with the other kids while Kelli and I talked. Little Ryleigh is super cute and made me want to have a girl of my own (almost). Kelli lives near my office so we usually catch-up over lunch. Unfortunately, that means she has only seen Cristian once and it was many months ago. I am hoping we can get together soon, over a weekend, so the kids can meet again and play.

My mom is coming tonight to help me with the munchkin. I need to get some sleep so I can feel better instead of worse. Carlos will be working all day tomorrow (because of Valentines), so I am very glad my mom is coming. I have some new pics of Cristian that I will post later!

GriefShare

My first GriefShare class was last night. I practiced introducing myself all the way there in the car. With confidence I approached the room, said Hi to Jan, and sat down. As the introductions began I was holding strong. And, wouldn't you know it, I totally lost it when it was my turn! Why does that always happen? Carlos can talk about Philip to complete strangers and he doesn't tear up...me, I just think about him and there go the water works. I mean, I practiced for goodness sake, I prepared! It has been a hard two years always feeling like no one could hurt as much as I am hurting. It was, in a way, enlightening to hear about other people's grief. The loved ones they missed and the everyday things that brought up the hurt. Their relationships are different, but their pain the same. It was a hard class but I am excited to go again next week. We even got a workbook with homework in it. That really works for me for a couple of reasons. I totally love homework (yes, I am a dork and I miss school). I know the homework is going to bring on lots of tears, snot and the "ugly crying face" so I feel better about doing that at home without strangers to face.

Weekend Update

Mom and Aunt Colleen came over Saturday and had a whole bunch o' fun with Cristian. He did great showing off all his best tricks! In addition, he made me look good when he got his first scolding. Well, maybe scold is a bit harsh. Now that little boo is crawling, his favorite place to go is right over to the air conditioning vent. It is metal and makes a nice loud noise when he bangs on it. I don't really mind the noise, but the filter is behind the metal grate, so banging on it releases dust right into little bit's face. Yuck! Well, saying No didn't seem to get his attention in front of my mom and aunt so I got up and walked about 1/2 way to him and I said, with my finger pointing the other direction at his toy mat and toys, "Cristian, you know you are not supposed to be here. Turn around and crawl back over to your toys." And you know what? He did just that. Actually, when I was saying it I had no real confidence it would work. But, to my surprise it did. Mom and Colleen just cracked up. That kid is so funny! I have to admit, he was banging on the grate Sunday and I tried the same approach, this time he gave me a big smile then went right back to banging. At least he made me look good for company! Yesterday, we went to Carlos' good friend Victor's house for a BBQ. They have known each other since grade school but only recently found each other after many years. The big kicker is that Victor and his family live like 5 minutes from Carlos' moms house! We had a really great time and the food was awesome! Victor used some kind of Japanese BBQ sauce on the meat and it was delicious...sweet and tangy! Yummy! Afterwards we went by Estella's so she could see her grandson. Jimmy and her bought Cristian a little music machine that he can bang on like a drum. It made noise so of course he loved it. When we got home Cristian was still going (energizer bunny like) so we let him crawl around on the floor and play with toys while we got lazy on the couch. We knew he was finally ready for bed when he tried to use Curious George as his pillow! That kid never has a fuss (unless it is feeding time, of course).

So Much to Say

The last few weeks have been super busy. Work has been kicking my butt. We are overlapping administrations so ending and beginning all at the same time has been quite the challenge. I am also training a new editor (yeah I got help) and that has been hard because I don't have enough time. In addition, our house has become a danger zone. Cristian is crawling! Not on two knees yet, but he has mastered the Marine crawl. I am now on high alert when he is free and moving. He also has two big white teeth (both on the bottom) and he loves to drink from his sippy cup and to bite it. He is sitting up too which really helps when he plays on the floor. I think he was getting pretty tired of tummy time. Last week he had his first diaper rash. I think I was feeding him too much concentrated fruit. We used up a tube of Boudreaux's and I went back to cereal with fruit and it disappeared in a couple of days. Now we just need his nose to stop running and we will be back to normal. I think it is the weather (cold in the am and hot in the pm). I have been having the same stuffy, runny nose issue. All-in-all we are really enjoying our newly mobile little guy. He is happy as usual and makes us laugh everyday.
Sittin' Up

What is this? Apples? Are you sure?

Ok. I'll try it.

Yikes! Those apples sure are sour!

I'm awake!

I see you!

Come and get me!

7 Month Bear Chair Pic

Yes, there is still more to say, so read on. This week I got in touch with two very dear friends...Jill and Roxanne. These girls are the best of the best, two of my very favorite people growing up. I was pretty moody (to say the least) when I was young (what's new?) and I did not appreciate either of their friendships the way I should have. Nor did I put in the effort to maintain the friendships like I should have. I was so busy doing...Well, I don't know what I was doing but I should have been a better friend. It made my week to touch base with them again on Facebook! The funniest thing is that I had been talking about them alot the last few weeks; telling Carlos some old stories and how I wished I knew how to reach them. God answered my prayers because there they were, right on my screen! Actually, I got two prayers answered this week. I have been missing my Philip alot this week. Sometimes I just get overwelmed, and this week was one of those times. I have cried at my desk more than once. Anyway, ever since Philip died I have wanted to go to a grief class, but never came across the right one. Well, my wonderful friend Jan is starting a new 13 week GriefShare class at her church on Monday and I am signed up. Jan is a faithful, loving soul that I truly adore. He husband went to be with the Lord about a year and half ago (after a long illness) leaving her a very young widow. She amazes me with her strength and grace and I am thrilled that she will be leading this class. It is the perfect fit that I was looking for. Alright, it is late and I am tired. You all got new pictures of the King so I hope you are happy. We sure are! Oh, and did you notice, his hair is starting to come in!