Making music

Musical instruments were much enjoyed by Kate and Carlee as shown here. Pop demonstrated the proper position for Carlee, who didn't quite know how to hold her little guitar.

Kate looks like a rock star and sings into the mike like she's been doing it for years!

New little Bubela on the way!

Carolyn and Brent will be welcoming a new baby next May. They just found out this week that it's a boy. They plan to name him Jax Wade. He is due on Carlee's 2nd birthday, May 17. Carolyn has been a week or 10 days early with the girls, so she is expecting the same deal this time. She doesn't like anything to mess up our yearly trip to Schlitterbahn the Sunday before Father's Day. Of course, we are all very excited to have a new baby coming!

Models

Robin tried to get photos of the kids in red plaid p.j.'s, etc. for the New ICM catalog that they send to retailers. Robin took pictures with her camera and Wendy and I took pictures with mine. What a zoo! The kids acted like they had been on candy and soda pop all morning. Trying to make them stand still, smile and look at the camera was a fiasco. The best plan was just to let them be, shoot lots of pictures and hope we got something good. The odds that they would all be still at the same time were very small, but we went at it anyway.

The gown sent for Carlee was much too small, but we put it on her anyway. The gown that went with Kate's robe was left at the store. It was rare to get a shot in focus. My camera just takes too long after focusing. Here are some of the shots:

Expansions

Carolyn is expanding her chiropractic offices. They have taken some space from their very large garage. There's still ample room to park both of their cars in the garage as well as all the riding toys, tools, lawnmowers, etc. So, they have made two smaller rooms in which Carolyn can do therapy or acupuncture while still having a client in the main adjusting room. After starting therapy or acupuncture, the client sits or lies quietly for up to about 30 minutes. She has a growing clientele. One of her (very satisfied) patients has passed out about 150 business cards!

Brent recently expanded the playset by building a sandbox for the girls in the playset area. I've included a few photos taken there a few days ago while they played outside.

I got the cold shoulder

After picking up her kids from school, Carolyn stopped by my house to pick up the dressing I had baked for her. (See the Free Form blog if you really want the long version.) She left the kids buckled in the car, car running and hurried in the house to get the food. It couldn't have taken more than a minute or so, but when we got back to the car we could tell that Kate was very upset. She probably thought that she was going to get out at Cookie's house and play for awhile and she didn't like it a bit that it didn't happen. She wouldn't even look at me. I kept talking to her and trying to get her to settle down (no crying, just no other response, either) but she kept hear head turned the other way. Finally, after several minutes, she reluctantly smiled briefly. Then more ignoring, then another smile. She can be tough when she wants to. At last, a hug, and then they were on their way.

Labor Day Weekend at Port Alto

Labor Day is another one of the big 3 holidays at the bay...Memorial Day Weekend, 4th of July Weekend, and Labor Day Weekend. After Labor Day you don't usually see many of us there for the weekend, so this is the last hurrah. Wendy, Kelly & the boys weren't able to come to the bay for the holiday weekend. They had a long list of things they needed to take care of at home.

I went by Carolyn's house on Thursday and picked up the waterslide and the baby gates. On Friday I packed everything else I was taking from home and headed to El Campo to buy groceries. We had meals planned and I made an Excel spreadsheet with the menus and the supplies needed...sorted by categories, of course! So, it didn't take long to boogie through the store and be on my way. Thanks to Chris for installing the thermostat that is connected by phone line. I had called the thermostat earlier in the morning to turn the system on and the house was cooled to about 75 degrees by the time I got there. In and out numerous times to unload the car and the temperature had risen a bit, but, omigosh, it's so much better than the days when we would arrive in a house that was 90+ degrees. It would take it 8 or more hours to cool down.

I just had time to unload everything and eat my lunch when Carolyn and the girls arrived. Brent wasn't too far behind them. He had been in Corpus Christi and came from there. We put Carlee and some toys inside the baby gates. She immediately started fussing...so, we popped the Barney DVD in the player and she was happy.

The mosquitos were pretty bad. Kate is very sensitive to their bites as you can tell by one of the photos. A mosquito bit her just under her eye. It didn't look so bad at first, but the next morning it was very swollen and almost looked like a black eye.

On Saturday morning Carlee and Kate both enjoyed being down in the sand and water in front of the Rioux house. In fact, we just didn't even bother getting the waterslide out of the car. Carlee had sand everywhere, so I eventually took her back to the house and Brent bathed her in the kitchen sink. She had her lunch and watched Barney and played until naptime.

When Carolyn and Kate got to the house, Kate had a shower and then lunch. Then she and Brent headed to the bed for a story and a nap. Carolyn called me to go look at them. The were both asleep...Kate holding on to one book and Brent, looking like he fell asleep as he was turning the page. You can see the photo somewhere in this post. By the way, clicking on a photo in a post will enlarge it.

Carlee was being kind of a toot...cutting back teeth...so, Brent decided he would take her home after her nap on Saturday afternoon. He had things he needed to do (they are expanding Carolyn's offices) and he needed to get a better night's sleep. Kate had coughed all night on Friday night...allergies. She coughed all night Saturday night, too. In fact, I think she coughed more Saturday night. By then, Wayne was at the bay, too. He got there in time for tacos on Saturday and left after breakfast on Sunday.

We took down the baby gates, slathered sun screen on and went to the beach again for some floating with Virgie. Janie was there as well as Hannah and Scott. They had pictures with them, but I never went in to see them. I hope they'll bring them again.

At this point, while I'm typing, I know all these things happened...I'm just not sure when. I know milk punch was poured and we had a good time. This much I know!

"In them old cotton fields back home"

Wayne suggested that Wendy and Carolyn take their kids to the cotton fields for some photos. Wendy didn't get around to it, but Carolyn and Brent got the little girls all dressed up in matching outfits and took some cute pictures. Wayne was anxious for me to get them printed so he could take one to the gin for their bulletin board. When I picked them up and showed them to him, he complained that they hadn't done them the way he wanted. I asked him to explain and he said he wanted them to get way back so it just looked like a field of white. I said, "Oh, so you wanted a picture of the cotton, but it was okay to have the kids in it, too." He backtracked a little...but, I think that's exactly what he meant. The cotton did look really good this year. He got most of it picked before the rains set in. It's been raining just about every day for the last 10 days or so.

Carlee walks!

Carlee took a few steps when I was sitting for them a few days ago. Since then, she has done a little more walking. Today, she was really going to town. Walking back and forth from Carolyn to me. At this point, crawling is still the mode of choice, but with enough applause and encouragement, she'll walk. She will be 15 months old on August 17. She liked wearing the little pink shoes that came with an outfit of Kate's.

Cookie babysits

Carolyn and Brent went to the bay for a couple's weekend with friends. So, I was roped into babysitting. I whined and moaned for a couple of weeks, but it didn't do much good. At least they waited until they got the girls to sleep on Friday night before they left. That was about 9 PM.

I ate my sandwich and watched some TV. Although I usually stay up till at least 1 AM, I decided I'd better get to sleep since I would be on my own for the next day and a half. So, I turned off the TV at about 12:15. Roughly two minutes later, I heard the pitter pat of Kate's little feet running for her door upstairs. I hurried up to her room to get her back to bed. She asked for her daddy and then for her mommy. I told her that Cookie was there to take care of her and she raised her arms and let me pick her up. We sat in the chair in her room for awhile and then I put her back in her bed. She rolled over and went right to sleep. It was 12:24 when I got back downstairs.

When I got back in bed, I realized that I didn't have my "wrist" pillow (it's a ridiculous thing, made even more ridiculous if I tell you it's my left wrist pillow) and I spent a few minutes pulling back covers, etc., looking for it. Finally, I realized that I left it in the closet when I unpacked my body pillow, arm pillow and head pillow (I know, I know.) I retrieved it and settled back in the bed. About one minute later, I heard Kate's feet hit the floor again. So, back I go upstairs. This time she wasn't satisfied that I was there. She wanted Daddy or Mommy. She locked her elbows over the gate across the door and I couldn't move her. Eventually, I went to sit in the chair, thinking that she would come to me when she was ready. After 5 minutes or so, I went to her, again, and tried to pick her up. The elbows had a death grip on the gate and she wouldn't budge. She never said anything, either. I can't imagine what was going through her mind. So, once more, I went to the chair to wait for her to come to me. I have no idea how long I waited, it could have been 15 minutes, before I went to her again. She hadn't moved an inch! But, this time when I asked her if she wanted to sit in the chair with me, she turned and raised her arms. It probably took another 20 minutes for her to relax and go to sleep. When I got back to bed, it was 1:39. About an hour later, she woke up again, but came right to me and fell asleep quickly. That was the last wake-up call of the night.

The next time I heard from her was at about 6:45 on Saturday morning. She pushed down the gate, which made a great deal of racket. She came downstairs with me where we watched TV until about 7:30. Carlee was up before 8. They had breakfast and then we all adjourned to the master bedroom for the beginning of a Barney marathon that continued (except for naps and bedtime) until Carolyn and Brent got back on Sunday.

Luckily for me, eating still takes up a lot of time during the day...two snacks and three meals. Kate will eat just about anything, but Carlee has been a bit fussy in the last couple of months. Carolyn told me that it aggravates Carlee when people mess with her food...so anything that needs to be done to it (slicing, dicing, whatever) should be done out of sight, before her plate is given to her. I was careful to follow that advice and had no problems with her until I gave her some pears. She doesn't care much for apples and the pear slices look like apple slices. At almost the same instant that the bowl was placed in front of her, she swept it off the table, with great force. She got other fruits after that. Kate was pretty good about staying in her chair and eating. She even mentioned it to me a couple of times, just in case I hadn't noticed her good behavior.

After snack, we put Carlee in the stroller and walked out to get the paper. Kate then put on her helmet and rode her new bike that Nana and Pa gave her for her birthday. Carlee stuck out her hand and got a high five every time Kate rode by her. We stayed outside long enough for Carlee to get cranky and then came in to have lunch. After lunch they got bite size s'mores. Carlee took all her s'mores apart before eating them. Carolyn said that she did that the first time she got them. Instinctive, I guess.

Yay! Nap time for Carlee. She dropped right off to sleep and then Kate worked a puzzle before it was time to head upstairs for her nap. I started reading "The Little Engine That Could" to her. About the time the passenger engine steamed off to the roundhouse, Kate fell asleep. Carlee usually sleeps about 2 hours, but, just for me, she cut it to under 1 1/2 hours.

The afternoon went about the same as the morning...snacks, TV, play, supper. At bath time, I tended to Carlee while Kate bathed herself, including (I realized later) washing her own hair. All I did was pour the water on to rinse it. She was even trying to help me wash Carlee, although I wasn't having any trouble.

After baths, we played and watched TV. I got some video of Kate dancing to the music of Zane's toy. Kind of put me in mind of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld...interesting style. Kate only woke up once, at 11:15, and then stayed in bed for the rest of the night.

Carolyn and Brent got back before the girls were down for their naps on Sunday afternoon. Kate and Carlee couldn't have been any better. Carolyn said that maybe she could talk the other couples into starting the getaway on Thursday evening instead of Friday. They would come home on Saturday afternoon. That way, this poor, old babysitter could have the kids in day care all day Friday and would only have them until about midday on Saturday. Now, that would work a lot better for me.

Kate's 3rd Birthday

Kate's birthday celebration was at her home this year. A clown theme was followed from the cake to the clown who came and did face painting. There were a lot of kids there to help Kate celebrate her 3rd birthday...neighbors and cousins, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles. Also, friends from Sugar Mill Chiropractic were there. It was very exciting for Kate and she had a wonderful time. I think you can tell by the last photo that Kate was totally worn out by the time it was all over.