Another Year, Another Loving Ode to Dr. White

Today, I went to see The Best Doctor Ever, otherwise known as my OB/GYN. If you will recall from last years post, I am utterly and completely in love with this wonderful man. He is a saint in my opinion and I was just as excited to see him this time as I was before. My sister came over to watch Colin and I stopped on the way to get a Pumpkin Spice latte from Starbucks. Have I mentioned how much I love fall? Anyway, I arrive at the office and park it on the giant leather couch in the waiting room and proceed to drink my lovely coffee (despite the "no food or drinks" sign) and read emails on my phone. It occurred to me during this moment that it is a sad day when your yearly gynecologist visit is the most relaxing morning you have had lately. Being a mom can be a very humbling experience at times. Typical of my very busy doctor, he was running behind but I did not mind and enjoyed my moments to myself. When I finally got called back, my favorite two nurses were there as usual and I (of course) talked all about Colin and how I could hardly believe that two years have passed. The best part of the visit was the weigh-in...I had them check and I lost 15 lbs since my last visit! I still have much more that I need to lose, but I was VERY excited to see that I am on the right track. When Dr. White finally walked into the exam room, I was overcome yet again by how much I adore him. Just his presence sends a calm feeling over me. I have trouble accurately explaining how I feel about him; he has a way about his speech and mannerism that is just so serene. He was born to be a doctor, of that I am sure. We talked about all sorts of health things and about Colin. We talked about being parents and me having another child soon. (hopefully soon!) When we started talking about it, he said "I really enjoyed your pregnancy with Colin...I think you should surprise me with a treat instead of a trick for Halloween! What do you think?". Could he be any more wonderful!? :-) Halloween may be wishful thinking, but I must say that I look forward to being cared for by him again during my next pregnancy.

In other news, my sister is still pregnant. STILL. We have all been placing bets on the day and I say she is going to give birth on 9/4. Just putting that out there, universe. :-)

Goings On...

This week has been absolutely stunning...the temps have dropped into the 80's during the day and it is just about the best thing ever! It has even been cool in the mornings! I know our super hot days are not over, but we are on the downward slope now with the arrival of September. School has started and our daily activities have gone back to normal without the presence of big kids everywhere we go. It is amazing how much more peaceful the weekdays are when school is in session. I have jumped on the good weather and taken Colin out for park play after a solid three month break. Around here, you just don't want to play at the park in the middle of summer. Unless that park happens to be underwater....but I digress. He has been having a blast to be back on the swings and his climbing skills have far improved. He takes off up the rock walls at the playground and I find myself holding my breath and praying often. My hair gets more grey with each passing day as the mother of a fearless boy! His new favorite thing on earth is to collect rocks. Jer has taken Colin out to a tiny local airstrip on several occasions and Colin spends the whole time collecting various rocks from the gravel pavement. He loves to hunt for them at the park, too. He is so enamored with finding rocks (and insisting these rocks live in my house) that I am thinking about making a trip to Michael's to find some nice ones and letting him "find" them in the backyard. He is in love with all things "choo choo train" related and we find ourselves at the Train Depot at least once a week so that Colin can have a blast with all the Thomas tables and trains. I am keeping an eye on craigslist for a table that we can have at the house, but I am still wary about it. I don't want to buy such a large thing for our already packed little house and then Colin get bored after two weeks. I think it might keep his interest, however, because he seems to really be in love with those trains. He can easily play for a solid two hours at Train Depot with no signs of being ready to leave, which is impressive for Colin's personality. He generally bores of things in record time. I found another indoor play area called Safari Park that just opened down the street from us and he adores that place, too. The downside to this place is the price, $10 per child is pretty steep for Colin's age. We will probably limit ourselves to once every two weeks at that rate. Paradise Pond is still our favorite...you just can't beat $1 to play and the place is packed with fun for toddlers. With the low rate, Colin and I sometimes go two or three times a week. I am going to back off a bit now...I don't want him to burn out on the place before I need it during the cold weather days. You just can't beat fall weather in Texas and we will be taking full advantage this year and spending as much time as possible outdoors...picnics and parks, here we come!

Speaking of parks, my sister Alieson and I took Colin for a picnic at the park today with plans to play afterwards. We even packed his little personalized lunch box that he got for his birthday and he carried it all the way to the table while looking as adorable as humanly possible doing it. The picnic was a blast and it felt so refreshing! Colin started throwing things in the trash for us (one of his favorite pastimes...Mama! I go trash!) and things were going fine. Alie and I started walking toward the trails and Colin was standing in one place screaming and stomping his feet. I assumed we walked into a random tantrum and asked him to come on and we would go play. He still did not come to me and as we walked to him, we saw them...ANTS!! His little legs were covered in them! We snatched him up, yanked his shoes, socks and shorts off and went nuts getting them off. The whole thing scared the hell out of poor Colin, who I am pretty sure just experienced his first scarring memory of childhood. These damn ants were ANGRY and bit the hell out of him. He has probably 15 bites on one leg and 10 on the other. He was a little trouper, though, and managed to stop crying and calm down after only a few minutes. He spent the afternoon getting slathered in ointments and taking Benadryl. The bites are nasty, but he is doing well and on the road to recovery. He also scored an orange creamslush from Sonic out of the deal, so I think he is okay. :-) Still, moments like these are hard on a mommy...I did not even notice the ants around us and should have been looking out for that kind of thing. I don't like my little man getting hurt on my watch! It just happened so fast!

The rest of this week will be spent running errands, my yearly OB/GYN visit, playdates with Colin and the whole waiting game concerning my VERY pregnant sister. I have gotten to the point that hearing my cell phone ring makes me jump up with excitement, only to be disappointed. I swear this is like watching a kettle waiting for it to boil! :-)

Mom Trip!

I made a spur of the moment decision this weekend and spent my first ever night away from Colin! Jer was off work on Friday and Saturday and I decided on a whim to take a 24 hour trip to my parents house for a little "me" time. It was a lovely experience and I vow to do it more often! I drove the sports car (which I never do!) and listened to grown-up music the whole time! I stopped at the outlet mall on the way and just walked into all the stores to look around. I did not buy a thing, simply relished the time to walk in stores and browse without my boys pestering me to go! :-) I arrived slightly before 4pm and took a leisurely shower, actually fixed my hair, and went to dinner and the movies with my parents. It was fantastic! On Saturday morning I made a surprise appearance at my sister's baby shower that was given by her Sunday School friends. I had lunch afterwards and then hit the road for home. The trip was quick but much needed and I am so glad that I decided to do it. Colin and Jer are becoming bosom buddies and I don't think that they missed me too much. Colin was very excited to see me when I walked in the door, but it did not go unnoticed that he woke up this morning calling for Daddy on the monitor instead of me. I think I have been moved to second place for the time being. :-)

My sister is just about ready to pop with my little niece and the whole family is getting so excited. As of Friday, she is 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced, so she could go at any time now. I just can't believe that I will have precious little baby girl toes to kiss any day now! YEA!!!!