Christmas Card 2010...

Before it gets to be AFTER Christmas, I wanted to share our Christmas card for 2010:

I tried getting these out in a timely manner, but most of them went out in yesterday's mail and I will be hand-delivering them to family on the 23rd and 24th.  Truth be told, I ran out of envelopes and didn't feel like making another trip to the store -- any store.  So, coincidentally, I had just enough for N. LA family, one for our refrigerator at work, and one for us to keep.  Either way, I'm sure that the fam will be much happier to have this guy hand-delivering their mail rather than their normal postal worker.

Special Delivery...

I'm very proud of the fact that a) I even got Christmas cards out at all this year, and b) that I got them out BEFORE Christmas.  Last year, although I had a 5-week old baby, I got them sent out.  Granted it was on December 23rd, but they went out.  Perhaps, since I'm moving up the mail out an average of 3 days/year, I'll get them out at a decent time a few years from now.  Ha!  A girl can dream...I LOVE getting Christmas cards and seeing everybody's families and children-- especially if we only get to see one another once in a blue moon.  Except now with the Facebook revolution, that distance and time are minimized greatly, which is nice...for the most part. 

Randomness

Not alot has been going on these past few weeks. Mainly, we've been passing various colds/viruses back and forth. We're all good at "sharing," apparently. I've been busting it at work, which is always the case at the end of every year as we try to get all the January renewals completed. Scotty has been busy as well -- conducting depositions, attending mediations, etc... (bo-ring). Not really, most of the stuff he works on is very enthralling, I'm sure. He probably thinks the same about my insurance work. See how non-eventful life has been...I've relegated myself to talking shop on my blog.




We've been trying to get our Christmas shopping wrapped up. It's difficult to do anything when a baby's in tow, so I try to get as much done during my lunch breaks as I can every day. However, I finally had to just break down and take DS with me one day after work and then Scotty picked him up after work Thursday and they went home so I could get more accomplished. Needless to say, I can understand why my mom was always so Grinch-like during the holidays. Running here, there, and everywhere every day. I come home exhausted from work and trying to run odds and ends errands and still have domestic stuff to do. I have mountains of laundry that needs my attention, but all I want to do is play and spend time with David Scott. Oh well, the laundry will still be there. The dishes to be unloaded in the diahwaher will still be there. But, DS will never be this age again and we're trying to be more present and in-the-moment when we're with him. He's so much fun and mischevious. AND, today he is 13 months old! I haven't decided if I'll continue to do an official post each month to mark his milestones, but I probably will. Our desktop seems to have some kind of virus so I'm only able to use my phone to post anything which slows me down further and prohibits me from using pics from my camera.

His newest trick: sticking out his tongue.


Anyway, yesterday was DS' Christmas party at daycare. Santa came and brought little toys for each child. He was one of the few who a) would sit on Santa's lap, and b) wouldn't cry and scream. In fact, he seemed to be kind of "into" Santa's beard. I got no pics with my phone, only a few with my camera. David Scott can say, "Ho, ho, ho!" It's so cute. And last night when I was telling Mimi and Mamaw about Santa's visit to daycare, DS just piped up with his, "Ho, ho, ho!" Good timing, little man. Ms. Debbie and Mamaw came in for a quick visit this weekend. They'll be heading back to Monroe this evening, but we're glad we get to spend some quality time with them.

See...not a lot going on. We're looking forward to next week when we get to spend more time with everyone. I'll try to do an official 13-month post for DS later.


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1st Birthday Party

We celebrated David Scott's first birthday on Saturday, November 13th.  Numerous family and friends drove in from North LA (and a few locals) to celebrate with us.  Boo came in on Friday evening to help me get everything ready.  Her real motive for coming in was to get DS to walk more than the one and two steps at a time that he'd been doing.  Scotty and I really hadn't been forcing the issue with him as we knew that he'd eventually put one foot in front of the other and take off -- kind of like he did with crawling -- started off slow, but really progressed when he was ready to. 

Friday night, we did very little other than go eat at Outback (shocker).  So on Saturday morning, there was lots to do.  However, Auntie Boo decided the most important thing was for DS to walk more.  The 4 of us sat down and let the birthday boy walk in between us.  Before she (and Brad) left on Sunday, David Scott was taking up to 7 steps at a time...when he didn't realize it, of course.  Anyway, besides helping DS with walking, we prepped food, jazzed up the cake toppers, (she) decorated the goody bags), and other little errands.  Our guests started arriving around 12:30 when Gran and Papa D (and Brad, who'd met up with a friend but arrived shortly thereafter) got to the house.  Mimi and Mamaw got there next, followed by Sue Sue and her crew (Alicia, Dale, Leslie, Riley, Angel, Lane, and Anna Kaye).  Then I think Lee and our friend Keith (AKA Uncle Salty) arrived.  Pre-party, DS was going to get his first haircut, courtesy of Angel.  Like a pro, he handled it well.  I don't think he was too squirmy and Angel was able to trim his bangs-area and some on the top -- his real first hair.  We kept a little for sentimental purposes. 

DS and his buddha belly getting a trim...

So happy to not have hair in his eyes anymore...

After the haircut, everyone else started arriving and the party officially kicked off.  There were babies/toddlers all over the place -- except for Baby John Devillier who slept quietly in his carseat in DS' room the whole time.  Olivia and her mom (Jessie) came from Ruston; Stella Grace and her mom (Betsey) came from Rayville -- the 4 of them actually rode together with it being the longest distance the moms had taken the babies/kids in their whole lives.  :)  And then Janice, a friend from high school, came with her little boy.  Also, CJ one of my friends from work and her husband Brett who are having a boy in January came as did Racheal (Evans/Bellemin).  I think that was it; hopefully I didn't leave anybody out.  And if I did, hopefully, they don't read my blog and would not be offended by my forgetfulness.  Anyway, after visiting for a while, it was time to open presents.  We are blessed with great friends and family who gave many age-appropriate gifts to DS -- grandparents and great-grandparents especially as Gran and Papa D gave DS a red wagon (with a canopy and cup holders to boot!); Mimi gave DS a rocking horse; and Mamaw and Papaw gave DS a cute, little, red rocker with the name "Rainwater" on it (David Scott had too many letters).  He plays with these and most of his other toys daily (except for the wagon since it's been too cold; but on warmer days, he's been taken out in his wagon and played in his little cozy coupe that we got him).  The spring will be a fun time with all of his outside toys that it'll be warm enough to play with.  By then, David Scott will be able to full on jog since his walking ability has just exploded since borthday party weekend. But I digress...

Riding in his wagon pre-party with Riley

After presents, it was cake time -- always my most favorite time at any party/gathering.  DS got to have his own "smash" cake while the rest of us enjoyed this (I don't think I got a full-on smash-cake pic):

What is this?

The big cake.  Boo and I fixed up the animals. 

One of my coworkers recommended this lady to make the cakes and they turned out awesome!  Not to mention the fact that I only paid $40 for both.  BOTH CAKES = $40!!!  DS seemed to enjoy his cake and got it everywhere.  I was worried the icing stains might not come out of his shirt, but they did.  To wash down his cake, DS also got to have his first taste of real cow's milk.  He took to it okay, but wasn't too impressed.  After cake time, everybody noshed on the finger foods and snacks and visited some more.  Most people didn't leave until 5 or so and a few (Lee, Keith, Melissa, Carroll, Baby John, and of course Rachel and Brad) stayed for the LSU game.  I don't recall the outcome.  Oh wait, yes I do, we played ULM and won.  Anyway, it was a nice weekend and it was funny to see DS around these other kids that he's never spent a lengthy amount of time with playing together.  I was so happy that he wasn't overwhelmed with all the people and he just dug into that cake -- wouldn't we all like to do that sometime...I know I might not pass up an opportunity if I was given it to have my own cake and completely pig out.  My only salvation would be if there was other food there and if I had to save room for something like spinach dip or chips and salsa, I could probably make a sacrifice and not eat a ton of cake.

It really is so hard to believe how fast this last year has flown by.  As has been the case the last few years, so much has changed over the previous 12 months...people...situations.  I continue to look forward to what the future brings even though I know it means that we'll never get back this precious time that we're having with our son.  I'm trying to enjoy every moment with him, especially on the weekends when we're not as rushed to get home, fix dinner, eat, bathtime, bedtime, and fall out with exhaustion.  As a consequence, I'm really behind on laundry, but who cares.  Not me...and Scotty has been known to wash a load or two (of his laundry) before, so we're good on that front.  We celebrated David Scott's actual birthday with cupcakes and cheesy chicken spaghetti -- is there any food that could've made this meal any better?  One word:  No.

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.

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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.  :)

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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. :)




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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."