Sweet Uncle Adrian.....

Let me introduce you to my Uncle Adrian. He's more of a grandfather figure than a Uncle. You see, he had a big hand in helping to raise my mom and so we have always been around Uncle Adrian and Nana. I wrote a few posts back that he had cancer and that the dr.'s gave him 3-6 months to live. Well, that 3-6 months was actually 3 weeks. He died peacefully in his sleep Friday morning.

Today was his funeral and that brought a whole other set of emotions. It was the first funeral of someone close to me since my dad....it was rough. My Uncle Adrian was a very soft spoken, kind hearted man. He loved everyone and welcomed everyone with open arms.

He had 10 great grandchildren - 3 of who got up to speak about the kind of man he was. As we sat there today, I saw young children, children not even really old enough in my eyes to understand death, just bawling. They knew. They knew their world would not be the same without their Papaw.

And then it hit me. My dad won't ever have that. Reese will never know that kind of love for my father. It broke my heart. I sat there and cried for the loss of a great man, a man I considered to be like my grandfather, but more for my son. Reese will never know the great man who is my dad. Reese will never get to stand up and say "I love my PawPaw and I will see you in Heaven"... and it breaks my heart that my son will never know......

Here's to you Uncle A - I hope Heaven is all you hoped. I hope that your mansion is fitted with a Coke supply that will never run dry. I know it will be.....I love you.....




And not to take away from all that, it was time for a picture update and what better to make me happy than to see my son as cute as can be.......enjoy his sweetness!

I just had to put this in here....Here is Reese throwing a fit. We just laughed at him. He was sitting in my lap, watching cartoons and eating raisins. Next thing we know, he is in the middle of the floor throwing a screaming fit.....

Last Lazy Saturday.....

*****Update********
The dogs and Garrett got home a few hours ago. Seems as Harley ingested a flea (this new backyard is SWARMING with them and we have to check the dogs NIGHTLY). He has a tapeworm. The vet suspects there are several and that they have laid eggs and so he was give medicine today. In three weeks we will administer a second dose to kill of the eggs that will hatch between now and then. In the meantime, we are investigating in some flea killer that will rid our yard and side yard of the fleas. Apparently the flea and tick bath we give them weekly won't do it. Sorry to be so dramatic, but my baby was hurting this morning.........

of the summer. Gosh, I hate the sound of that. School started for me on Monday and for the kids in 2 days. I can't really say I am excited. Wow. Sounds awful doesn't it? I really wanted to transfer down to elementary and it didn't happen this year and so I am starting off disappointed....maybe Monday will bring new joy.....

We've all had a bug around here this week. It started with Reese and its ending with Garrett. It's really yucky and no one has felt normal for a long while. So since we've had some pretty crummy days, I've got laundry, cleaning, cooking, ironing....all those things to do today. Not my idea of fun.

Garrett was just outside mowing so I took Reese and his mower outside and when Garrett finished up, we let the dogs out front to run for a bit. They LOVE the front yard. Garrett went around back to put up the mowers and I notice Harley acting funny. He comes running over to me and I notice this long "snotty string" all down his back. As I look him over I notice his booty is contracting. I have Garrett check it out and he says - "He's got to go to the vet NOW". Our vet is in Winters, so the boys have loaded up and headed off...and I am stuck here with Reese watching Little Einsteins and worrying about my "first born." Garrett used to work at a vet in college, he usually knows just what to do when the dogs get into some sort of pickle, so this really has me worried.....

This post is nothing but random and unexciting. Sorry.

What home means to an 18 month old....

I love the conversations I get to have with Reese on the way home from school. I always ask the same questions, but I never get the same answers. Here's a little snipit from our conversation today....

Me: "Hi Reese! Did you have fun at Tammie's today?"

Reese: "Mammie's?"

Me: "Yes, baby, what did you do?"

Reese: " "

Me: "We are going to go home now. Do you know who is home?"

Reese: "Daayie" (see vocabulary lesson below for translations)

Me: "Yes, Daddy is at home"

Reese: "Ry-Ry"

Me: "Very good - Ryder is home."

Reese: "Arr"

Me: "And Harley too"

Reese: "Mawma"

Me: "Yes, baby, momma goes home too."

Reese: **clap clap** "say!!!"

My son is BRILLIANT!

Why I love it so....

I love me some Hills. I mean, who doesn't live vicariously through these girls? They are so cute and hip, and they always have some sort of drama brewing......So with this new season starting, what did I love best about this first episode???

I swear, the best moment of the show was this face........

that soon turned into this face. It completely said what me and everybody else was thinking - no words necessary!
Lo - you showed your true colors girl.........

Vocabulary 1301

Here is a picture we recently took of Reese enjoying a "pop" after playing in his sandbox. To most ordinary people, "pop" would mean a soda of some sort, but not to this little boy who has his own language we have been forced to learn. In the last 18 months, I've gotten an A plus in Vocabulary 1301.

Here is a teenie tiny little bit about what I've learned:

Daayie - Daddy

1. What Reese screams at the top of his lungs when he hears the garage door open

2. What he says when he gets in trouble

3. Reese's best friend

Maawma - Momma

1. What Reese says when he points to any part of my body

2. What Reese says when Garrett puts him to sleep

3. What Reese chants the whole way to our room if he gets up in the middle of the night

Ry-Ry - Ryder

1. our second dog

2. What Reese says as soon as he wakes up from any nap

Arrr - Harley

1. our first dog

2. What Reese says as soon as he says Ry-Ry when he wakes up from a nap

Nah - Snack

1. What Reese stands at the pantry door and says

Juw - Juice

1. What Reese calls any drink

2. What Reese starts yelling if you open the fridge

3. What Reese says when he really wants a snack but wants it to come from the fridge and not the pantry

BeeBee - Belly Button

1. What Reese will say when he pulls up ANYONE'S shirt and shoves his finger in your belly button

PeePee - well...you know

1. What Reese says right after he "pee-pees"

2. What Reese calls his "part"

Gaw-Ca - golf club

1. What Reese calls his green golf club

2. What Reese screams out in public if he sees someone walking with a cane

Gaw Ball - golf ball

ChiChi - chicken

1. Reese's favorite food

2. What Reese calls any type of brownish food

Cheesh - cheese

1. Reese's other favorite food

Dot Dog- Hot Dog

1. What Reese calls Mickey Mouse (this is because Mickey does the "Hot Dog" dance on every episode)

2. Reese's favorite show

Goo-Goo - Goofy

1. Reese's favorite character on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Mammy - Handy Manny

1. Reese's second favorite show

Yah Yah - Yucky

1. What Reese repeats when I say something is yucky in an attempt to get him to stop doing soemthing

Boon - Balloon

1. What Reese loves about driving around town - seeing all the balloons at the car dealerships

Say - Yeah!

1. What Reese says when he claps

2. What Reese says when he does something and we give him praise for it

Dor-Joe - Curious George

1. What Reese calls both of his Curious George monkies

Moo - Shamu

1. What Reese calls his Shamu doll from SeaWorld

2. What Reese says when he sees dolphins or whales

Sorse - Horse

Bahh - Bath

Caw - Car

1. What Reese calls any moving vehicle

Seas - Keys

Digi - Gigi

1. What Reese calls my mom

PawPa - PawPaw

1. What Reese calls my dad

Buhyye - Bye

Fsh - Fish

Nana - Banana or Nena

1. What Reese likes to eat for breakfast

2. What Reese calls Rena

bearry - strawberry

Beybey - Baby

1. What Reese calls all kids

Daw - Dog

1. What Reese calls all dogs

2. What Reese calls an animal when he doesn't know the name

Awwww -

1. What Reese does when he hugs you

Shoosh - shoes

1. What Reese calls feet

2. What Reese calls shoes

Sie - Outside

1. Where Reese likes to be all day long

No No

1. What Reese says when you change his dirty diaper

2. What Reese says when you ask if he wants to take a nap or go night night

Ni Ni - Night Night

Woah - Hello

1. What Reese says as he holds the phone to his ear

Jump Around.....Jump Around.....

.....Jump Up Jump Up and Get Down!

Today we met my good friend Starla and her two precious girls, Yasmine and Rheauna, at the Jump Around. It is an indoor inflatable house. The kids had a blast. Enjoy the pictures.....

Lovin' him some soccer ball!

I love these....I told him to give Rheauna hugs and kisses and she turned and kissed him back - it was pretty much the sweetest thing - EVER!



Yaz showing Rheauna how to clap!

Yaz will be 3 in December. It is funny because she was so scared of the bounce houses, but once we finally talked her into getting in, she LOVED it!

Yup, if there's a ball, he will find it!
All the kids - together for a picture inside the kiddie land...believe it or not, it only took 1 try to get this picture.
Here they were having a hugging and kissing war! Yaz thought Reese was trying to tackle Rheauna and so she was going to tackle him back. He grabbed her and threw her to the ground and she pounced on him and the kissing war began!

Sweet Rheauna
She was the least scared of anyone of the bounce houses!

The only way to get him in a bounce house was with the ball!

Answering the phone in the little house

The De La Garza girls
WIIPPPEEE OOOUUUTTTTT!!!!!

Raising Reese

As I lay in my bed this morning I had no idea what the first 10 minutes of my day would bring....

I wake up, do my usual morning "get out of bed and nearly sprint to the potty" routine, then get back in the warm covers to watch the morning news before The Little Peanut comes in.

About 20 minutes later I hear "Mama....Mama Juice". I then feel my covers ripped from my body and icy hands creeping up my leg. I reach down and grab for my sweet little Reese and when I do I grab his so soft, so cute, so perfect little baby's butt! I mean, who doesn't love a baby's butt? Then it hits me.........

BABY'S BUTT!!!! Where is his diaper!!??!!

Right about the time I realize he's going commando he starts giggling as if he knew I just figured it all out. I walk into his room and there it is, laying in the floor. I pick it up, it's pretty full, so I think to myself, "Ok mom, he just thought it was too full and knew I would change him immediately anyways."

I take another diaper to our room and the 3 of us lay in bed watching Little Einstiens.

When my husband can take it no more, he decides it's time for work and makes a pit-stop into Reese's room not knowing I had already done the mommy cleanup.

But, little did I know, I had missed the boat completely.

Seems as if this diaper had been off since last night - when Reese (who we heard through his door) was up playing basketball! So, he had wet the bed!!!! And when I say "wet", I mean drenched the bed, like a wave came crashing up over the side, landed right on the entire bed, completely soaking the thing from top to bottom!

His dad put him in a UT sleep shirt last night - and I guess it is obvious what he thinks about UT!!!!

It's a never ending battle......

.....with cancer.

My mom emailed me a few days ago to tell me that my Uncle Adrian has lung cancer. From what she knew it wasn't that bad and they were going to determine the next steps. She really seemed like this was going to be not so bad.....

Sunday she called to say that she had been to see him and my Nana (let me explain the relationship here. My Nana and Uncle Adrian are my mom's aunt and uncle. They have forever been a constant in my life, just like grandparents - to me there is really no difference. Nana is my Memaw's oldest sister).

Anyways, my mom had been to see him and Nana and my always upbeat, always positive, always with a coke in a small glass with some Saltines and peanut butter Uncle Adrian had shrunken into a man who had been swallowed up by this disease.

I'm going to be real honest and say that cancer does scary things to people. I've seen it up close in my dad. I remember vividly he had no color in his skin. It was a very clear color. His eyes were very, very deep in his head and had a purplish, bluish, blackish look around them. I worked with a man at Franklin MS who had cancer. This man never looked like my dad when he was healthy. However, when cancer overtook him, the resemblence to my dad was unreal. Mom said the resemblence to dad was there again. Nana just sat and patted his hand.

The news of the biopsy came Monday afternoon - 3 to 6 months, but closer to the 3 month time frame. My first thought? In 3 months, it will have been 3 years since my dad died. Here we go again.......

I am not ready to lose someone else, and to be quite honest, I am tired of watching people I love die. I am selfish. Garrett and I have been together for over 5 years. In that time, I've lost a grandmother, 2 grandfathers, my dad, a childhood friend, and now Uncle Adrian......when do I get a break from all this??? Garrett hasn't lost anyone since his grandmother died when he was 15. I am not at all in any way asking for Garrett to have someone die, but when does someone get a break??? When does this cycle end for us? When can our lives not be overshadowed by someone else getting sick and dying?

I am so tired of it, so tired of loss, so tired of the emotions that rise up in me when someone else dies. I relive the smells, the sounds, the words I heard the morning my mom called and told me dad had "seen Jesus" that morning. I am tired of it. I am tired of the hurt, the longing for my dad. The wound is as open as it ever was. I just want a few years where I don't have to relive all those feelings again. I really feel it will help my heart.

I know people get old, I know that my Uncle Adrian can't live forever, and he has had a wonderful life, full of kids, and grandkids and great grandkids....I remember he always gave us Coke and made us Peanut Butter on Saltines. We used to sleep on their fold out couch and he would let us stay in bed all day and rent us Anne of Green Gables and used to laugh at how much my sister loved those movies! He would let us stay on that couch all day and would bring us our breakfast, lunch, and dinner on that couch. He never let us lift a finger when we stayed with him.

I love him, I'm going to miss him, and I am forever changed by his influence on my life.......

Friends Forever....

This past weekend, we traveled to Lubbock to watch my oldest friend get married. Amber and I have been friends since we were babies. We also have some friends, Alice and Laura who have been friends with us almost as long. All of us went to the same small church when we were growing up. There was basically only one other person our age there - Corey - and he ended up marrying Alice. Anyways, we've been friends since our crawling days. We've seen each other at our best and worst and it seems we always pick up where we left off when we see each other.

Amber got married this past weekend and we all got to get together again to celebrate with her. It's so crazy now because we all have kiddos. It's so crazy to think we've been friends for 28 years. Laura is a year older than us all, but all of our birthdays fall within weeks of each other. And, by the way, Laura and Alice are sisters!

Laura, Amber, Alice, and me

Reese had such a blast at the wedding. Amber has 2 kids, Carson and Oliva and so the wedding was very much kid friendly. They had activity packs for during the ceremony and then a "sucker and candy bar" during the reception. They also had this little pinwheels for the kiddos. My Reeser loved his. Unfortunately, a bigger, meaner bully stole his.

Here are my boys enjoying the reception....after the bully incident

This wedding was SUPER casual. The guys didn't wear tux's, the girls wore these super cute skirts and shirts - it was just totally casual and totally summer. I can't tell you how nice it was to go to a wedding like that. I love a big wedding with all its elegance and pretty, but this just felt like a bunch of old friends hanging out....even the people we didn't know. It was just like a get together...and really, isn't that what weddings are supposed to be about???
We survived our first "weekend away". Reese stayed with my mom Thursday night until we got there for the wedding. He was WORN out and slept until 9:45 for her! (Why does he insist on getting up at 6 am for us???) Anyways, he had a blast and I'm so glad my mom got to hang out with him.

We are home now. Last night I decided to shoot some pictures during bathtime. Reese LOVES his bath. This little guy could stay in there FOREVER! And yes, I know the water is pink - we have Elmo tablets that color the water.....they dissolve as they hit the water. Reese really loves to throw them in and watch them dissolve. Anyways, here we are...bathtime!






And finally, I've learned to sew! I know I know...about 5 years ago for Christmas, my master seamstress grandmother got me a sewing machine because I wanted to learn. Well, it has sat in closets as we've moved over the years and I finally had Garrett get it out for me and set it up on her sewing table in our spare bedroom. Well, now, we have our own little Etsy shop in here! I have absolutely LOVED every minute of teaching myself to sew and seeing what I could come up with. I've started a new blog with my stuff - I think I am going to try to see some of it. The blog isn't up and running, but will be soon. Of course I've used the name "Sassafras"....it's what I've always called my crafty stuff.

I'll leave you with a little preview of what I've done (I've done way more that this, but my memory card on the camera is full and will be until I print some pictures off).