The Joys of Summer!

Despite my back troubles, things are going very well here in our little household. Colin's new bed is a lifesaver and he is in such good spirits these days. He is so happy and comfy in his big bed that I am almost sorry that I did not move him sooner. Who would have guessed that was what he wanted...he still seems so young for the transition. He is a big guy, though, so it would make sense that he felt crowded in his crib. He seems so little in the great big sea of bed he sleeps in now, which I would imagine is exactly what he likes about it. There are no more tears and screams when he wakes up, just calls to come get him. I love it!

We have also been a lot more active with our friends in the past few weeks, which I am enjoying just as much as Colin. We live very close to a little college town, Denton, and they have been hosting a "Concert on the Square" and "Twilight Concert on the Square" every Wednesday afternoon and Thursday evening through May and June. We have been several weeks in a row on both days and have had so much fun. Jer has been working quite a bit lately, so it has been so nice to have these fun things planned for Colin and I. Different local bands set up on the big courthouse lawn and everyone brings picnic blankets and food and we all hang out under the trees while all the kiddos dance. Colin has come out of his shell quite a bit with all the extra interaction with other toddlers. I love nothing more than "small town Texas" and this really fits the bill...the square is typical of old Texas with all the historical buildings and big trees. It is always such a sweet gathering of families and friends and they even have twinkling lights in all the trees to add to the fun. Colin has become quite attached to my friend Laura's little baby boy Greyson. He is six months old and Colin sits beside him and strokes his hair and cheeks, plays with his toes and kisses him. Today when I announced to Colin that it was time to go "dancing", he shouted, "BABY! BABY! BABY!". It was too much! Here is a shot taken last week of Colin going in to kiss "his baby".

We have also been to lots of parks, play dates and pools...the beginning of the summer has been a joy for us! I am very thankful for my hard working husband who is the only reason I am able to spend my days with our precious son. This is such a gift! I will leave you with another hysterical shot of Colin with his favorite baby...Laura got this one and it is CLASSIC! :-)

No Words

My back went out AGAIN on Sunday. There are not enough words to express how tired I am of this! Luckily, it locked up without completely knocking me to the floor, so I was able to carefully sit on the couch while Jer was working and still take care of Colin, albeit from a laying down position while hollering at him. After the ambulance experience of a year ago, I am scared to death of being rendered helpless again. If Jer had not been home when that happened, I don't honestly know what I would have done. I went back to my family doctor yesterday morning and he sent me to a new sports therapy physician. I saw him today and he ordered an MRI and spinal x-ray, which obviously will require yet another doctors appointment. I am glad, however, that this doctor seems to be taking an aggressive approach. I will be very happy to follow whatever instructions he has in an effort to keep this from happening again. I have never had an MRI before, but I don't imagine it will be that big of a deal.


I have quite a story from yesterday to share. My doctor called in a prescription for a round of steroids and a small amount of pain meds. I have never had a problem taking prescription pain meds...they don't bother me in the least, don't upset my stomach, and don't give me a rush at all. However, they are absolutely the only thing that will touch the pain in my back when it locks up. When my back goes out, it knocks me to my knees, literally. As I have written about before, I am scared to death of being alone with Colin when this happens. Therefore, if my doctor gives me pain meds, I make those 20 pills last for six months. I take them ONLY in an emergency, so that they are around when this happens. I don't touch them unless I am desperate...I save them in the back of the medicine cabinet. I share this because of what happened yesterday. Jer picked up my prescriptions and headed over to get the car inspected. He put the medicine in the center console of the car, still stapled in the CVS bag they came in. After the inspection, he got in the car and opened up the console. He noticed that the bag was tampered with...just slightly smudged and a little wrinkled. He opened up the pill bottle and sure enough, three pills were missing. The script was for 20 pills and there were 17 in the bottle. Jer came straight home with the bag and told me what happened. I can honestly say that I have NEVER in all my life been SO MAD. The hair on my arms is standing up even as I type this. I called CVS and made sure the prescription was filled correctly before I started my rampage. Of course, the pharmacist assured me that they count and recount pain meds. The guy at the lube shop definitely stole my pills. I called the police and filed a report and then called the shop and spoke to the manager. In all fairness, he did seem upset and alarmed that this happened and assured me he would get with the owner and they would get back to me. I figure that we at least deserve a free service of some kind for the theft. Of course, I have not heard a peep back today from anyone. I know it is only three silly pills, which really makes no difference in the long run of life, but I feel SO VIOLATED. Some asshole put his grubby hands into my private prescription medication and helped himself to it. He also thought we were stupid enough not to notice if he only took "a few". As if we would not see that the tightly stapled bag had been messed with. I feel sick about it....I would give anything to do physical damage to this person. Whether it be three pills or a stereo or a car...the feeling of someone stealing from you is horrid. I suppose that it is a good thing that Jer noticed it first because if I had been the one there, I would have raised some serious hell in that place. Level headed Jer forced me to call the police first, then call the manager and would not let me go down there to do bodily damage to that jerk. I am STILL SO MAD! Jer put it well yesterday...that piece of sh*% had no idea if that script was for someone with a bad back or terminal cancer. What a low life. I swear that I lost a good bit of faith in humanity. To cool off, I will post pictures of my precious baby. At least HE is pure goodness!

Hunter Turns TWO!

I can hardly believe it, but Miss Hunter is now TWO years old! Melanie and Patrick held her party at Boomerang's on Saturday and in what can only be characterized as my best move ever, we arrived at 5pm. The party was from 3-5pm. Yes, I am awesome. ;-) Colin refused to get up from his nap, which always happens when I actually need him to wake up. I thought we were going to miss the whole party and just drop off Hunter's present, but things were still in full swing when we arrived. Hunter was having a blast and the party carried on for over an hour after we got there. This little girl has NO FEAR and was doing everything by herself. I already have a feeling that she will be getting Colin into trouble before you know it. :-) We had a great time and I got to see Melissa and Daniel, too! It feels like just yesterday we were all at Hunter's 1st birthday party...how is time passing me so quickly?!?! Here are a few shots that I managed to take despite my late arrival.

Colin and Hunter in the same shot, which was a miracle. As you can tell, they were having nothing to do with my camera.

One of my all-time best friends in the world, Melanie and her little crazy girl Hunter.

Colin loving some bounce house goodness!

Lastly, a very silly shot of us when we got home from the party. I was tickling the man and he was doing "the melt" as I like to call it...when he does not want me to get him, he turns into jello and just melts out of my arms. Ah, the joys of toddlerhood. :-)


For even more fun, you can see how much Colin and Hunter have changed here, too. :-)