Thanksgiving

During this time of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my family and friends -- blood relatives and those who've taken us in as their own without any blood connection. Those people who have been there for us through thick and thin. Like wedding vows: In good times and in bad. For better and for worse. In sickness and in health. Til death do us part. That last part is what's weighing on my heart heavily right now as we lost Scotty's grandfather, Papaw as he was known to all of us, Wednesday afternoon. I am thankful to have had Papaw in my life for the past 13+ years. He and Mamaw (all of Scotty's family, really) have always treated me like one of their own and I've always thought of them in the same regard as my own. I was especially close to my Mamaw and recognized the same strong bond between Scotty and his grandparents when we first started dating.

I haven't talked about Papaw's situation much b/c I try to keep this blog/life record of sorts on a positive slope more than a negative. However, I can't let big things like this happen without documenting them. Papaw had a stroke on January 1st. He was in the hospital for over three months before being transferred to the nursing home. We were all astonished at the progress he made since we really didn't expect him to make it a week following the stroke. But he did, and the spirit of perseverance that he'd always had prevailed once again. He was even able to come home for nearly 4 months before having to go back to the hospital for what turned out to be a UTI at the end of October. Things were more severe than we thought and Pap had to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks before he was disharged to the nursing home. Things continued to go downhill from there until Papaw passed away peacefully surrounded by loving family on Wednesday. Scotty wasn't called until after, which is good b/c he wouldn't have made it up there in time anyway. And while his passing wasn't unexpected and really a blessing given the circumstances, that doesn't make losing a loved one easy -- but in some ways it does soften the blow.

For Scotty, his Papaw was larger than life and an example of an exemplary human being. He looked up to Papaw as we all did. Papaw was a huge family man and was liked by all. He could fix anything and we'd even called him several times over the years for an over-the-phone diagnosis of a problem. There was no issue that he didn't have a solution for and a story to go along with it. Papaw was a great man, and he will be missed by all who knew him -- especially by those of us who were fortunate enough to be a part of his family.

We had the service on Saturday and it was a beautiful celebration of Papaw's life. Scotty's cousin Shelby sang a song ("Temporary Life" by Carrie Underwood -- a tearjerker given the circumstances), and both Scotty and Lee spoke of Papaw's influence on them and then shared some funny Papaw stories. Then Uncle Davey spoke of both serious and funny things. All three speakers were excellent and it's obvious that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. :)

Here's a pic of a 6-week-old David Scott and Papaw last Christmas:







I love this picture as being a grandfather and now a great grandfather was something Papaw took great pride in. We will continue to pass along his legacy of a love for family and good friends. Although DS didn't have that much time with Papaw, he will know him, just like he'll know his Bud Bud, and our family friend Henry who both still cross my mind and heart regularly.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

12 Months...

David Scott,
As of the 18th, you are officially a year old. No longer are you a "baby" by definition, but rather, you are a toddler. In 29 years, you will be the age that Daddy is now...and will still be my baby...at 30 years old. :)

I say it every month, but you are learning and changing more and more each day. Currently, you are:

• 29.5 inches tall
• 23 pounds
• wearing size 12 month clothes, with some 18 month items thrown in for good measure.
• wearing size 3 diapers. Still waiting til you're a little heavier before going to the size 4s.
• wearing size 3 and 4 shoes. We need to get you more shoes -- preferably ones with rubber toes b/c you've nearly worn out the shoes you have with your crawling everywhere, but I'm hoping that is about to change b/c you are...
• taking up to 10 steps at a time. Auntie Boo took it on as her personal mission to have you walking before she left last weekend. Sometimes we have to coax them out of you and sometimes you'll walk unprovoked. I'm not sure at which point we say "you're walking."
• still on formula, but that's about to change as we will be making the switch to cow's milk over the next week or so. You actually had your first taste of real milk with your birthday cake last weekend. You were indifferent towards it.
• you are expanding your vocabulary rapidly. Last weekend you started saying ball and Boo. Of course you're still saying Mama, Dada, Lola, bottle (ba ba), who's/what's that (s'at), hey, bye, and thank you (da chu).
• you love opening and closing cabinets, doors, and drawers, and turning the light switch on and off.
• you still love Lola. The feeling is still not mutual, but I'm hopeful that will change.

On the night of your birthday, Daddy and I told you your birth story...during dinner. You were more impressed with your cheesy chicken spaghetti than the events surrounding your birth. Later that night, as we were all playing in your room, you bonked your mouth on a toy and it started bleeding. It stopped within a minute or two but it was still scary.

I would have posted this earlier but I got side-tracked last night as I was typing it on my iPhone.  You were bathing and decided to take a nice poop in the bathtub.  That involved quickly rinsing you off, and running with you to the other bathroom to re-rinse and finish your bath in the absence of feces.
Fun times.  Pooping in the bathtub or not (which I prefer), I love you anyway!

Mama

P.S.  For my records, I caught  you eating Lola's dog food earlier today.  Somehow you've figured out how to open the plastic container we keep it in and you were chowing down.  :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

365 days...

We had David Scott's birthday party this past weekend, but I wanted to wait and post about his birthday before posting about his party.

It is literally mind-boggling how quickly the last 365 days have passed. We just thought the summers flew by when we were younger, still in school, and living for the summer break. We knew nothing....on many fronts.

Before becoming a mother, I didn't understand how scatter-brained someone could be. Little did I know how hard it would be to juggle work projects and home responsibilities while my heart wasn't with me. He was at daycare. Being taken care of by someone who wasn't me. By someone he wasn't even related to in the farthest stretch of the word. But that person or persons who were taking care of my heart were doing an excellent job of it. Not better than me, not worse than me, but complementary of what we were doing with our baby boy. It is evident that he is learning so much with his teachers at daycare that I don't even have to think about what he's learning. He shows me everyday. From his smooth dancing skills, to clapping his hands when we say "Patty Cake" ("Pat a Cake?"), to new words, I know DS is being stimulated every day. And that's one less thing his scatter-brained Mama has to worry about, which is good.

Before becoming a mother, I didn't understand other people's obsession with their kids. Now, David Scott is brought up in nearly every conversation. You mean there were no weapons of mass destruction? Obviously you didn't look hard enough. I bet David Scott would've found them. Or, yeah, this battery on my iPhone does suck. I wonder what kind of iPhones will be available when DS is old enough to have one? And if their battery life will be better? It all goes back to my pride and joy and how whatever topic relates or could relate to him. Yep, total obsession with that kid.

Before becoming a mother, I didn't understand what totally exhausted was. Now I know. Thanks for showing me the light on that one, DS.

Before becoming a mother, I didn't understand why my coworkers ran errands at lunch. Why couldn't they go meet a friend or just run to Hobby Lobby and browse for a bit? Now I know-- if you don't run your errands at lunch, they're not going to get done b/c it is so much more difficult to jump in and out of the car four different times when you have to strap and unstrap, strap and unstrap every single time. Not to mention the time constraints of a nap or meal or the dreaded diaper change while being out and about. Ugh.

Before becoming a mother, I didn't understand why everything wasn't done "today". See points on Exhaustion and Errands above. Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day. Enough said.

Thank you, David Scott or enlightening me on these and so many other finer points in life. We've learned so many things in the past year -- parenting tidbits and life lessons. The first few months were tough -- sleep-deprived and slightly overwhelming at times. But once you morphed from a blob to a real, interacting baby who could do things, life just continues to get better and better. I hope it stays on that path for a long time with us all continuing to grow together individually and as a family.

I can't believe my sweet little monkey will be a year old tomorrow. Just this evening, I got to rock him to sleep which I never do. Normally we can put him in his bes and he'll go down pretty easily. Tonight, he wanted his Mama. And I happily obliged. Official 12-Month post tomorrow...or maybe Friday. Scotty is picking DS up early from daycare to go on a surprise adventure and I'll get to join in after work when we go see Mike the Tiger. We have a busy birthday evening planned. :)




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

1st Halloween...and more...

October 2010 was David Scott's first experience with Halloween.  About 2 months ago, I decided that DS was going to be a kangaroo.  It made perfect sense b/c of his love for all things jumpy.  I ordered the size 6-12 months -- at 11 1/2 months old, and by my guesstimate would be wearing size 12 month clothes by Halloween, I thought we were in the clear for the size I ordered, with my only other alternatives being 3-6 months and 2T.  It arrives a week or so after I ordered it, I couldn't wait to try it on David Scott to see how super cute he was going to be.  And it was too big.  And not just He's-got-another-2-months-or-so-to-grow-into-it-big...it was big enough for a 2  year old.  No problem, I'll return it and get my money back or exchange it for something else.  Note to self:  Read the return policy of stuff before buying it just in case it's non-returnable as was the case with the kangaroo costume.  So we're saving the costume for next year; hopefully it fits.  Plan B?  At the time, I had no Plan B.  After much deliberation, I decided that DS was going to be a crawfish for Halloween.  Found the costume at a local store and tried it on DS before buying it since once again, no return on Halloween costumes.  What is the deal, people?!?  Anyhoo, I was concerned that DS might be walking by the time he would be wearing his costume and it didn't have leg holes.  I decided I'd cross that bridge if I came to it.  Luckily, I didn't have to go to Plan C (undetermined) since no walking, but the crawfish fits kids up to 28".  Guess who measured 28.5"?  Yep, David Scott.  So he barely was able to squeeze into his costume.  It was hot, too tight for the length of his body, AND he couldn't crawl in it.  3 strikes and I was out -- he hated his costume and as a result, wore his skeleton pj's all day long.  Even to Lowe's.  Yep, we were that family today with our child wearing only socks and his pajamas in public.  Oh well -- I told myself, "He's a baby.  Everybody thinks babies are cute no matter what."  I was right.  No one even gave us a second look.  Well, a few did, except they did so to tell us how cute the skeleton was. 
As far as events for this "holiday" went, there really weren't any.  The daycare had a Halloween parade/trick-or-treating at nearby businesses on Thursday.  Not only did I have to take DS to get his second part of the flu shot, but I too had a (regular) doctor's appt. that afternoon, and after all the recent sickness and having to stay home with a sick baby, I decided I really couldn't take off to do trick-or-treating with daycare.  Well, I will definitely do it next year.  My friend Allison went with her son James and she took a few pics of DS for me.  Although a parent wasn't present for DS to go, there were enough teachers available that his teacher, Ms. Nora, was able to take him.  He did wear his costume, and was somewhat perturbed at having to do so, but got over it really quickly once he realized he'd be outside.  Ms. Nora told me that several people saw the big red-ness coming their way and said, "Elmo!"  Funny - last time I checked, Elmo did not have antennae or claws.

That Saturday night, we decided to carve our pumpkin.  DS was more interested in playing with a spoon than in anything having to do with the big orange thing he points to every day.  Scotty decided he would be the carver, and instead of listening to my gentle suggestions of how to do the mouth, he did it  his own way.  We're now the proud owners of Jack, the friendly pumpkin.  Not scary at all.  Even David Scott laughed at his Daddy's craftmanship.  Although Scotty and I have been together many Halloweens, this was the first one that we'd carved a pumpkin together.  It was nice to have a true family "first" for all three of us.

On the 31st, we didn't do too much, tried finishing up a few more things around the house and ran a few more errands in preparation for the 1st birthday party.  DS didn't have much of a nap at all during the day, so he and I both went down for one late afternoon.  When we woke up from our nap, DS still wasn't in any mood to wear his costume, so we let him continue to wear his skeleton pj's and we/I decided trick-or-treating was not in our plans for the evening.  We had chili for supper and greeted the few trick-or-treaters who knocked on our door.  I think my skeleton enjoyed seeing all the different kids and costumes who came by.  That was it for us.  Hopefully next year will be a little more exciting and perhaps DS will be a little more open to wearing a costume that hopefully fits.  NOTE:  My pics got jumbled and I don't have time to put them in the correct order...

 Not tears of joy on the face of that sweet crawfish...I mean tough crawfish...

 In his Halloween best with his accessory du jour -- a spoon.

Lola on Halloween...Scouting for food in DS' old carseat...

Scotty and Friendly Jack-O-Lantern

This last weekend was spent doing more last-minute things to get ready for DS' party mainly. However, on Friday night, we went to our friends' house -- Brad and Laura. They're a house divided with Laura pulling for LSU and Brad pulling for Alabama. They hosted friends and family at their house for a little get together. Laura wanted us to bring David Scott so we did. He was a hit...especially with Brad's mom who just loved him. Begrudgingly I told her that he was a fan of the color red and was probably drawn to her red sweater. She really took that to heart and was trying to convert him all night. DS and I only lasted a couple hours before it was time for him to go to be so we came back home and hit the sack. Over Saturday and Sunday, we got in our share of football but it was balanced out with our many errands and yard work. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I cannot wait until DS and future Rainwater kids are old enough to help with yard work. Although I'd mowed our yard and my Mamaw's yard growing up -- starting in jr. high -- neither Rachel nor Brad ever had to mow. Not fair. At our house, we will be an equal opportunity mowing family with everybody pitching in.


This week is crazy with a bunch of little, last-minute things that have cropped up at work and around the house.  For a while, we've been trying to get somebody out to the house to replace some of the hardwood that was damaged when we left an ice chest out during Hurricane Gustav a few years back,  The floor had started to look somewhat warped in a few spots so we decided that replacing a whole section of it was what needed to be done.  Finally, FINALLY, we got somebody who could come take a look at it and they're getting it done this week.  Additionally, we decided that the front doors needed to be re-stained and varnished.  We've been in our house for 4 years and haven't done anything to the door since we bought the house.  Apparently, with stained doors, you're supposed to reapply varnish at least annually.  Thanks, Homeowner's Manual and Builder for telling us of these important things.  Anyway, there's no time like the present to get all this crap done that we've been putting off.  So needless to say, I think this is the most expensive birthday in the history of Anders/Rainwater celebrations.  I think the only way we could've  incurred more expense would be if we'd hired The Black-Eyed Peas to come fete David Scott with his favorite song which is still "Boom, Boom, Pow."