Scenes From Around Here

Guess how the dynamic has changed in our house....

I will give you three guesses....


One :)

Two :)

Three  :)

Happy Birthday!!!

I am really not supposed to post these pics but I just couldn't stand it!!  No one really reads this blog anyway ;) Just a few more weeks until we make it official!!

Evan is so sweet and cute.  He is the clumsiest, silliest boy ever.   And even though he is a bean pole, he eats us out of house and home!!!  We love him so much and he has definitely stolen our hearts!!!

I have to add some Evanisms.  He has his own language for sure!!!

- Mommy is "Mommia"
- Lemonade is "waa-waa nade"
- Diet Coke is "Mommia's Waa-Waa"
- Cars and Trucks are "Boo's"
- Lightening McQueen is "Nee-Nee Boo" (Nee-Nee being Lightening and then see previous)
- Mater from Cars is " Uh-Oh" - Did you catch the obsession with "Cars"?
- Chickens are "Bick-Bick"
- Isaac is "Bu-Bo"
- His favorite blanket is "Nuv Nee" aka Lovie
- Fruit Snacks are "Oot Nacks" emphasis on the Oot :)
- Apples are "Aaa-Aaa's"
- Phone is "Pone" which he asks for frequently to play the "Nee-Nee Boo" game

He is totally obsessed with shoes too.  He will change his shoes several times a day and gets so excited if he gets new ones.  If there is someone around that has shiny shoes, watch out!!, he will try to take them off your feet and wear them!!

He also really hates it when I polish my toenails. Every time I do, he says "Uh-oh Mommia.  Boo-boo" and then he proceeds to try and take the polish off.  He is so silly!

There is so much more but I just can't think of them all.  We have been so blessed by this boy.  The meaning of the name Evan is "God is gracious" and He has certainly been gracious to us!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!

Weekend Away

This past weekend Steve and I were able to sneak away for a much needed night away.  We have learned that getting away when you have 4 children in the home is really hard.  Thankfully I have wonderful friends to come to my rescue!!  The big boys (AKA "the bigs") had a great time with the Akin's swimming and eating ice cream!  I don't worry about them at all.  The little boys ( AKA "the littles") I have harder time with.  It's very difficult with  two foster children to find respite.   Thankfully we recently have had some good friends that have become licenced foster parents and it made it so much easier to leave Evan and Hot Rod for the night.

So with all of the boys safely tucked away, Steve and I were able to get in our empty car :) and take off for our 24 hours of alone time.

A friend texted me after we dropped the  boys off and asked if we were finally on our way.  I texted her back a pic of our empty backseat and this unflattering but obviously jubilant picture of us.

I love all of my boys, I truly do but there is no feeling better than knowing that you are only responsible for yourself for a few hours!!   


We found this great little B&B in the middle of nowhere.  It was suggested by the local winery we love to frequent.  It was very cute and peaceful.  There are several cottages but we happened to be the only one staying out there that weekend.

This was the view from our cottage.  

We enjoyed a nice quiet evening at the winery, eating great food, listening to cool music and engaging in  quiet conversation.  Long overdue!

We spent the next day driving around the East Texas countryside looking for a new vineyard and winery that we had not tried before.  Steve loves to explore new wineries and pick their brains about their vineyard and wine making process.

We found this little gem in the middle of nowhere.

This is Red Road Vineyard and Winery in Naples, TX.  What a find for us.  The man in the picture is Merrill.  He is the owner and vintner.  We literally spend almost 3 hours here tasting, talking and touring his place.  It was so nice.  This is exactly what we want to do in a few years.  Our own vineyard and winery set up.  Meeting new people and making great wine.  It's a dream right now but with an acre of grapes already planted and thriving and 10 more on the way, we are getting closer.

We spent the rest of day just driving around enjoying the quiet.  It was so relaxing and great!  I have no idea when we will be able to do this again but we sure did need this!!

Thanks again to our great friends that help us pull this off!  Couldn't do it without you!

Refurbished

My sweet Granny died last year at the wonderful old age of 94.  She was such a big party of my life.  I have never met a more sweet and humble lady.  She was special!!

When it was time to choose our sentimental memento from her house before it was sold, I knew exactly what I wanted.  I held my breathe and prayed no one else wanted it.  Thankfully it was available and I was able to bring it home!!

I just love it.  It's been on my Granny's porch my whole life and was a big part of my mother's as well.  I thought it was beautiful just the way it was but because of years of neglect, it had become very rusty.  I decided to white wash it with some Rustoleum paint.  I wanted it to still look old but give it a bit of a face lift.

Here it is refurbished.  I looks really good on my front porch just like it did at Granny's and hope my kids will enjoy it as much as I did as a child.

Hocus Pocus

I don't want to drag this illness out anymore but I have to share this experience with you because I am in awe of it.  

If you know me well, I am typically very skeptical about medical treatments.  I hate going to the doctor. I hate taking any medicine myself and giving medicine to my kids.  Not because I don't believe it works; I do.  I just think we way over prescribe today.  Got a cough, here's a steroid.  Got a fever, here's a Zpac.  Too many antibiotics and we are immune or allergic.  I believe this is what happened to my middle son.  Six ear infections before 18 months and six antibiotic prescriptions and he is allergic to Penicillin and Erythromycin.   I could be wrong but I strongly suspect it.

But if you know me really well, you know I am even more skeptical about "natural" remedies.  I am NOT saying that natural is not good but I am very hesitant to rub an oil on a staph infection and think it will not spread.  Or stick garlic in any orifice and it pull out infection.  I am not even saying that these remedies don't work, just incredibly skeptical!!!!

All of this to say that when I was told that to cure my vertigo all I needed to do was see an ENT and have a series of head movements to "settle my ear rocks", I was skeptical for sure.  But even more than skeptical, I was desperate.  

I could go into all of the details about how ridiculous it was for me to find an ENT that would take me before the end of June but I am not going to relive my frustration.  Thankfully an fantastic ENT had me on his cancellation list and I was able to go yesterday.  Now mind you I had to live on Gyro Coaster  for 5 days but there was nothing I could do.  

So yesterday morning, my dad drove me to the doctor.  I got in immediately; no wait!  YAY!!  The doctor comes in looks in my ears (which were NOT infected like the PA said on Saturday.  Again antibiotics for nothing), my throat and my nose; always a pleasant experience ;)

He asked me a series of questions about how I felt and confirmed vertigo.  Now.... the hocus pocus part...

He had me fall straight back onto the table 4 times, twice facing opposite directions.  I became terribly dizzy.  He even had a bucket "just in case" I got too sick.  He determined that my left ear seemed to the one causing the most problems by how much my eyes would track after each fall.   His nurse came in and they began to have me do a series of falls and turns with my head.  A succession of turns 6 different times.  The first time I was so sick we had to rest but as he continued to the turns with my head, I felt less and less dizzy so that by the 6th time I was almost back to normal.  WEIRD I know but it worked.  I sat up after that 6th time and was not dizzy at all.  Apparently they have gotten this down to a fine art.  The series of movements forces the ear rocks back down to the bottom of the inner ear.  

If I hadn't been through it, I would have NEVER believed.  But it worked... I am a believer.  No medicine, no drops or ointment.  Just head movements!!

The down side is that I have to wear this lovely neck brace for 48 hours so that I don't move my head back and forth and up and down too fast.  I can only take it off when I take a shower.  Bummer.  And believe when I say no one stares at you when you are wearing a neck brace in public {insert sarcasm}

And I have to sleep sitting straight up for two nights.  I survived last night okay but this is going to be a long 2 more days for sure!!

I am so relieved that my misery is over  for a while anyway.  I was told that once this happens you are very susceptible to it again.  So no more bending over with my head down.  I have to use my legs to squat down and pick things up.

I think my legs needed this kind of work out anyway :)