This Week

This week started out with my birthday on Sunday. Ben made breakfast and we spent most of the day playing in the front yard. Lauren got a t-ball set and has been learning how to use it. She can hit the ball, which is pretty amazing since she closes her eyes every time. :) She has fun chasing and throwing the ball as much as hitting it.

Natalie and I sat under the shade of the tree while Ben and Lauren played. Some neighbor kids from up the street came down and got in on the action, too. They all had popsicles before we called it an afternoon.

We did a quiet dinner at home on Sunday. On Monday night we went to my friend Mandy's house. Her birthday is May 5, so she invited our friends over for a joint birthday celebration. We had lots of good food and cupcakes for dessert. Here's a picture of me and Mandy.

On Tuesday we had Tumblers as usual, and then lunch as usual. On Wednesday, Natalie had PT and did really well. That night we drove down to Austin to visit Ben's cousin, Jason, who was in town from New York. They were thinking it had been about fifteen years since they had seen each other last. We went to dinner and then took Lauren swimming at his hotel and just hung out most of the night. We stayed up way too late.

We got an offer on the house last week. It was really low, so we countered it, and we're waiting to hear back. We had another showing yesterday that we haven't heard about. I hope things happen soon.

On Sunday night I emailed Natalie's Neurosurgeon about some fluid that I've been seeing build up under her scar again. He called me back that night and she's going to go in this Tuesday for another CT scan and a visit with him. If she needs another surgery, she'll probably have it on Thursday. I'm hoping she doesn't, but there is a chance. Monday night I'll drive down to San Antonio and if she doesn't need surgery I'll come back on Tuesday. If she does, I'll come back on Friday and pack Saturday and Sunday, and then we have to go back to San Antonio on Monday either way. Natalie has appointments all day long on Tuesday the 19th and once we're done, we drive straight to Albuquerque for the summer. I have just over a week left in this house. I'm really going to miss it.

But, I'm also looking forward to spending the summer in Albuquerque. Sarah and I are signing up to do 2 5Ks this summer. One is the Cherry Garcia 5K and the other is the Chunky Monkey 5K. I don't really know why I want to do it since I hate running so much, but I think it will be fun, and I'll feel like I really accomplished something. My goal for the first one is easy, I just want to finish, and for the second one, I just want to improve my time. I'm not going to knock myself out over it.

Natalie had a big accomplishment today. She rolled onto her stomach (which she's been doing for a while) and then lifted her head all the way up! That's such a milestone for her, and a great improvement and I'm so proud!

It's MAY!

This month comes with a whole lot of stuff to do! On the fun side, I have my birthday, Mother's Day, and our 9th anniversary. We also have Natalie's last (and really long) appointment in San Antonio, a house to pack up, two cars to load, and moving out to do. That's on top of hoping the house sells.

We officially dropped the price of our house yesterday. It was a little painful to do it, but we need to bring in more showings if we want to get an offer. Please say a little prayer that the next owner makes an offer this week or next week.

Natalie's eye appointment went well. Dr. R thinks now that her vision is ok but that she's showing a preference for her left eye and that is why her right eye is weak. He started her on eye patch therapy. She has to wear an eye patch 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for probably the next year. She doesn't love it, but she does tolerate it ok, and two hours isn't that long. She has also shown some really good strides with her PT. Her head is stabilizing so much, and she even lifted it when she was on her belly on Wednesday! That was the first time and it was great to see! We have some homework for her PT and we see the PT Therapist next Wednesday.

And here is my favorite recent picture of Natalie because I actually caught her smiling!!

Isn't that a great grin?!

I've been working on Snapfish making photo books. First is "Freakin' Delicious" which is our family cookbook. As of right now, I'm just waiting on two recipes and then we'll be able to order them. It's become a hybrid cookbook/photo album, and that's really fun. It's going to be totally cute. The other one is a book full of the old pictures I scanned in last year at Mom's house. Lots of my baby pictures and pictures of my parents and a few of my sisters. That will be really nice to have in print.

Sunday is my birthday, and we don't have anything planned for that day. Monday we're going to go to Mandy's house and grill. Her birthday is Tuesday, so it's a joint birthday celebration. I think we're going to have cupcakes and just a really good time.

Next Wednesday or Thursday we might get to meet up with Ben's cousin, Jason. He's going to Austin and we're going to drive down to see him. I didn't get to meet him at the big family party in Albuquerque last fall.

Lots to keep us busy over the next three weeks! Looking forward to the bee on May 25th!

My Birthday

Saturday was a lot of fun. My friends Katherine and Katrina planned an evening out. They took care of the babysitter and we went out to see a movie and then out to dinner. It was a really nice day and a great way to spend my birthday.



Ben is settled back in and passed his PC checkride and exam. He said it's been really hot lately and they've had a lot of dust storms. He's on a night rotation now. At least it means we are both going to bed around the same time and we usually have more time to get on the computer and chat or talk on the phone.

I emailed out info about the new troop T-shirts. If you didn't get it or need more info about it, let me know and I'll get it to you. The orders are due May 15. These shirts aren't girly, so anyone who didn't want a girly shirt but did want one can order these.

Lauren is responding well to the Zyrtec. Almost immediately her nose stopped running. She's still had a bit of a cough, but less and less every day. I think it will take a little longer for that to go away, but if it doesn't go away soon, I'll make another appointment for her to get that checked out.

She sings all the time. Today we called her Aunt Sarah and Lauren serenaded her with the chorus to "Hey There, Delilah" and "Sweet Caroline". I've been trying to capture it on video, but of course she clams up when I pull out the camera. I will keep trying, though.

And, I'm happy to say my resolution to read 12 books this year is coming along great. We're five months into the year and I've read 7 books so far. I've got a couple to read sitting here, but I haven't decided which one will be next.