Rebecca and the giant apricot

This Monday night was a night much like any other in our house. Dinner, bath, and kids to bed.

Last Monday night was a very different story. A story involving 2 hospitals, an ambulance, and one dried apricot.

Rebecca had woken up from her nap and seemed hungry so I offered her some dried apricots as a quick snack before we left to pick Daniel up from school. She ate the first few without incident but then seemed to choke on one. I heard her making choking sounds so I immediately laid her over my knees to hit her back to dislodge it. She immediately cried heartily and was breathing well but nothing had come up. I gave her some juice hoping that would help it go down, and she seemed okay but then threw it up. She was also drooling a lot. She was never a drooler even when she was teething so I knew this was a sign something was wrong.

By this point I was concerned enough to want to see a doctor so I called Kevin and told him I was taking Rebecca to the hospital so he'd probably need to get Daniel from school. Las Colinas Medical Center is only 5 minutes from the house but I debated whether it was safe to put her in her rear-facing car seat or if I should hold her in my lap instead. I have a mirror by her seat so I opted for the car seat but called her name every few seconds and was prepared to pull over and grab her if she seemed to have trouble or wouldn't look up. 

Thankfully we made it to the hospital without incident and ran into the ER. As soon as I said I had a baby with a foreign object in her throat they brought us back to a room immediately...then we sat and waited. The first in what would be a series of "hurry up and wait" moments over the next 2 days.

Finally someone came in, checked her pulse, listened to her chest, and told us that this hospital wasn't well-suited for a pediatric emergency but that they were arranging for an ambulance to transport us to Medical City Dallas' pediatric ER. I called Kevin to update and ask him to pack a hospital bag for Rebecca and me, assuming we'd be there overnight. He packed the bag and he and Daniel headed to the hospital to meet us. During this time she soaked through several burp cloths from drooling and spitting up. Other than that she was in reasonably good spirits though.

After about 45 minutes of waiting the ambulance arrived, Rebecca was given a hep lock in her hand in case IV was needed (a process she thoroughly hated, understandably), and we said goodbye to the guys and embarked on what was the first ambulance ride for either of us.

As I looked out the back windows at the freeway behind us I thought "wow, traffic is better than I expected for 635 during rush hour." I knew we didn't have sirens on but thought maybe our lights were flashing. As we arrived at our hospital though I heard the paramedic tell the driver "you drove to the wrong hospital." What?! I looked out and sure enough, we were at Dallas Children's Hospital, not Medical City Dallas. The driver asked if I wanted to go on to to Medical City or just stay here. Um, my baby's got a foreign object in her throat, do you think I want to stay at the world-class pediatric hospital you accidentally drove me to or fight traffic to go across town to the other one? I told them we wanted to stay here so they wheeled her in and we were sent to the emergency room dedicated to kids with breathing issues. Which may not have been the best fit in hindsight but there we were, surrounded by kids going through asthma treatments.

And there we sat from about 7pm until almost 2am. An assortment of doctors and nurses came by and promised to be back soon with more information. From what I gather there was some confusion about whether Rebecca should be a surgery patient or a gastroenterology patient, because foreign object removal was usually the surgery team's job but when the foreign object in question was food, as in this case, GI took it. I'm not sure why that distinction or why it took so long to sort it out. They took several x-rays but couldn't see anything. Several nurses commented how her breathing seemed fine. I kept mentioning the drooling, though, as the main sign that something was wrong.

It was a long, frustrating night. Rebecca napped some in my arms but when she wasn't asleep she was fidgety and upset, as you'd imagine given that it was past her bedtime and she hadn't had any meaningful food since lunch. They started her on an IV line for fluids to prevent dehydration, which meant if I wasn't holding her I couldn't let her roam far for fear she'd pull the needle out of her hand. It's a sign of how tired she was that she didn't squirm to get away much and let me hold her.  Also, we watched a lot of Daniel Tiger on Daniel's Leappad computer and my phone.

It felt like the ER staff was playing zone defense with us but no one really "owned" our case. I asked several times when we'd be admitted and given a room and was always told "soon."

After I posted on Facebook about it, several friends graciously offered help. We took our next-door neighbor Candice up on her offer and she stayed with Daniel for a few hours that night so Kevin could come to the hospital. We had planned on enjoying a good bottle of wine that night after the kids went to bed to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Instead, we dined on soggy Taco Bueno in ER waiting room chairs that stunk of BO. Then when it was getting late and we still didn't have a definite plan for moving forward, Kevin headed home to stay with Daniel.

Finally around 2am we were given a plan: GI would do an esophagram first thing in the morning then, if it showed a blockage, they'd schedule her for an endoscopy to remove it. In the meantime, we finally had a room on the GI floor so we could get some rest. The room had a big crib for Rebecca with collapsible rails, a recliner chair, and a foldout couch. Rebecca was still hooked up to the the IV pole and had another monitor taped to her toe so I had to set her in the crib just to use the bathroom. She hated that so I knew she would have no interest in sleeping in the crib. 

So we passed the night sleeping together. We started out in the chair but it was horrible. It wouldn't recline all the way and kept trying to collapse in and my feet hung off the end, so after an hour or so of that we moved over to the couch. That went much better. With her wires she had to be on the edge so she started out sleeping in the crook of my right shoulder. Then when I woke up with nerve pain in the shoulder I rolled over a little more so I could wrap my left arm over her to hold her in the bed. I alternated between those positions every hour or so when the nurse check would wake us up.

We woke around 7:30 when one of the machines in the room started beeping loudly. A kind nurse brought me a cup of coffee (which tasted horrible but still, it was coffee) and we waited for the doctor to come get us for the esophagram. In the meantime one of the GI resident doctors who was rounding that morning came in to introduce herself. She was wearing a black cocktail dress and great heels with her white coat, the way Dr. Roman dresses on Nurse Jackie (but seemed imminently more competent). It crossed my mind that that was a curious wardrobe choice at 7:30am and I was tempted to ask if her day was ending or beginning. She said the esophagram would be around 9:30 and surgery, if needed, would be around noon.

By this point we were awake for the day and I wanted to keep Rebecca entertained to keep her mind off her surroundings and hunger. I was starving but didn't want to eat in front of her, so we turned on the iPad and watched another few episodes of Daniel Tiger. Every time the intro music started she got a big smile on her face. 

After dropping Daniel off at school Kevin came to join us and brought coffee and breakfast for us.

When the time came for the esophagram we were brought down to radiology and they explained the procedure. Rebecca would be immobilized and drink a barium solution to coat the esophagram and enable an x-ray to see if there was an object in her esophagus. She was not a fan of being tied down and by this point she was deeply suspicious of any stranger who came at her.

Fortunately she took the barium solution easily and sure enough, it was immediately obvious on the screen that yes, there was a giant apricot lodged in her esophagus. Now it was just a matter of waiting for surgery. After a few hours and several more PBS Kids shows we were taken down to pre-surgery, where we met with the anesthesiologist and GI surgeon. And I think several other people. All the names and faces and titles were running together by this point. Finally the time came to part ways. Rebecca was wheeled away on a stretcher toward the OR and Kevin and I went to the surgery waiting room. I hadn't cried yet through all of this but watching that stretcher disappear and knowing my baby was scared and anxious and I wasn't there for her was enough to make me tear up.

We were told surgery should take around an hour so we grabbed lunch from the cafeteria and ate as we waited. After a little more than an hour we were told surgery was done and sent to a consultation room to meet with the surgeon. Once he arrived he told us the surgery was successful and showed us the swollen apricot in a bottle.

He explained that the surgery had been difficult because of the apricot's size. The scope they used had a grabber on the end to grab it but it was too big to pull out that way through her esophagus. He tried taking it in pieces but that wasn't working well either so they ended up pushing it into her stomach then going back in with a net on the end of the scope to grab it. (Apparently there was some reason why they didn't want to just leave it in her stomach but I'm not really clear on that). He showed us pictures of the irritation in her esophagus and warned her throat would be sore for awhile. He also prescribed 6 weeks of antacid use.

After awhile we got to go back to recovery to see her. She was still sleeping and looked quite peaceful. She woke up in good spirits and immediately sucked down a sippy cup of apple juice and wanted more. 

We went back to her room (making sure to take her beloved blue Crocs that were in her crib!) and the nurses said to order her dinner from the room service menu. If she tolerated the food well, she could go home.

Usually I try to give my kids a healthy, nutritionally-balanced meals. This meal, however, I stacked the deck with things I knew she'd like: ice cream, applesauce, and a quesadilla. She wolfed it all down with a cup of milk, making up for the day's worth of meals she had missed.

She also figured out how to hold her cup with the hand with the IV and the padded board.

Besides her healthy appetite I was impressed with how much energy she had and the good mood she was in. The anesthesiologist definitely had a light touch, she had no lingering fogginess or confusion. It was like she woke up from a nap.

Kevin and Daniel came to pick us up and we headed home. 

Since she's already had dinner and was exhausted I just gave her a quick bath and put her to bed. Funny, she'd spent much of the preceding 24 hours clinging to me tightly but now that she felt better when I tried to hold her she squirmed away to play. Well okay then ;)

She fell asleep almost immediately and while she woke a few times during the night she was easily soothed back to sleep. It was nice to see her sleeping soundly in her own bed...wearing her shoes, of course!

In the almost week since our return she's done pretty well but has choked on and spit up several foods so we know her throat is still pretty irritated. We've been sticking to a largely liquid diet as a result-lots of mashed sweet potatoes, yogurt, fruit pouches, oatmeal, and scrambled eggs. All things considered though she's in great spirits. Little ones are so amazingly resilient.

It was a scary adventure for our family and one I didn't see coming. Both of my kids have now visited the emergency room-one got injured sleeping, the other eating. No high-risk daredevil stuff. Needless to say we'll be more dilligent about cutting up food for both kids now. You worry about your kids choking on their food but I had never before considered the risk of food going down the right pipe and getting stuck. I'm the one who fed her the apricot so I felt terrible about inadvertently subjecting her to all of this.

I wondered if I was overreacting to take her to the hospital at all that night, especially when the ER team didn't seem to have much sense of urgency about it. The esophagram showing how her esophagus was completely blocked confirmed that my mommy instinct was right. I later read that the drooling was because her esophagus was so blocked that saliva couldn't pass through it.

So glad our sweet girl came through the experience okay and hoping her throat is better soon. In the meantime, aside from at the dinner table, it's not slowing her down any!

Daniel is 4!

On July 21, my little man turned 4 years old! As in past years, we celebrated with a swim party at the Coppell Aquatic Center with school friends and a few others. Unlike last year, thanks to the polar vortex it was a little chilly that morning so we took the kids to the indoor pool area. It actually turned out just fine; the kids are the right age to enjoy the indoor area and it made it easier on the parents to keep everyone in sight.

Of course, no birthday party would be complete without cupcakes and singing "Happy Birthday!"

Daniel had a great time celebrating with his friends. It's been fun for me too to see his friends grow up alongside him.

The next week he had his "Celebration of Life" in his class at school. The teacher puts a (battery-operated) candle in the middle of the circle as the sun, and Daniel took a trip around the sun for each year of his life, then lit a smaller candle. For each year Ms. Susan showed the class pictures of Daniel at that age and told stories of what he did.

Our big gift to him this year was a balance bike. For months he told us that for his birthday he wanted a helmet (pronounced "heelmet"), a bicycle, and "a place to hang it up" in the garage like Mommy and Daddy's. After much research we found him the perfect bike. He was thrilled to get it and take it out for a spin. At first he was pretty much just walking with it but soon he got the hang of gathering momentum and coasting. He's getting pretty fast!

My parents also got him a Leappad tablet, which he calls his "iPad." At first I wondered if he might be a little too young for it but he figured it out pretty quickly and now loves it. Surprisingly to me he's actually pretty good about sharing it with Rebecca too. They love watching Daniel Tiger videos on it!

Last week Daniel had his 4 year checkup. He weighed in at 34lb 10oz and stands almost 40" tall, placing him in the 40th percentile for height and weight. The pediatrician was pleased with his development and growth. Daniel had to get 4 shots that day but was quite brave and even helped comfort Rebecca when she got one too.

He's generally a sweet big brother with Rebecca. He has him moments when he snatches toys away from her or pushes her down but he's also generous in sharing bites of ice cream with her and can often get her to eat when Kevin and I can't. 

She adores him and loves playing with him. He's used that to his advantage once or twice ;)

Here he is in the car seat he rode home from the hospital in as a newborn. He's grown a bit since then ;)

A few more pictures of my sweet, funny, adventurous boy:

Watching Daniel Tiger with Mommy, cuddled up on the couch

At Sea Life looking at the shark tank with Rebecca

Helping Mommy make pasta from scratch

Sleeping in his pink robe

It's been another wonderful year with Daniel. I'm lucky to be his mom and excited to see what the next year with him brings! One thing it will bring is his first A&M football game. He and I are going to watch A&M play SMU next month and we're both looking forward to it.

One particular harbour

"I know I don't get there often enough

But God knows I surely try

It's a magic kind of medicine

That no doctor could prescribe

And there's that one particular harbour

Sheltered from the wind

Where the children play on the shore each day

And all are safe within."

- Jimmy Buffett, One Particular Harbour

It's late July, which means another annual Padre trip has come and gone. As always it was a fun time.

I have to admit this year's trip was kind of a big blur though. The kids being at the age they are, our time was pretty much spent keeping them safe and occupied. Not much time to just be in the moment and take it in. It was fun anyway, just not many distinct memories from it.

We went with my parents and our friends Nicole and Marko and their kids Alejandro and Gabi. Ale and Gabi are a few months older, respectively, than Daniel and Rebecca and the kids have always played well together. Of course my kids were thrilled to be with Mimi and Baba again. Rebecca immediately attached herself to my mom and stayed in her arms as often as she could over the next 5 days. Both kids loved having swimming with my dad and having guest readers for their bedtime stories.

Daniel has really made impressive strides in his swim lessons and I knew he'd enjoy the water. He and Alejandro really had fun tossing their toy boats into the surf and chasing them. They also had fun playing with sand toys.

Love this picture of Daniel and Gabi walking up from the beach together:

Rebecca enjoys bathtime and playing in the pool so I figured she'd enjoy the beach. It turned out, though, that she hated the feel of the dry sand. When we first tried to set her down on the sand she set a toe on it then bent her legs up and refused to stand on it. 

Here she is realizing that this beach has sand, yucky!

Eventually she made her peace with the sand and decided in its wet form it was okay. She pretty much stuck to the surf area. She liked the tide coming in but wasn't a fan of water hitting her in the face.

Rebecca and the sand kiss and make up:

It rained our first full day there, which rained out the guys' fishing trip and forced us indoors for the afternoon. Fortunately the condo has an indoor pool so the kids didn't miss a beat.

One evening my parents and Marko's mom graciously offered to babysit the kids so we could get a parents' night out. We went to the place that has become our go-to "night out restaurant" over the last 3 years, Gabriella's. We sat out at a patio table to enjoy the nice weather and a few relaxing moments.

There were a handful of moments that did stick out to me for this trip, and one was our last evening there. Because we were planning to eat leftovers in the rooms, there was no need to hurry up to get ready to go out to eat or cook. So Kevin and the kids and I stayed out till after 7 and had the beach largely to ourselves. The kids had fun playing in the surf for awhile. Then the four of us dug a big hole and built a sand castle.

One of the few pictures of all four of us. Sidenote, check out Daniel's expression. Future heartbreaker there, people.

Having a "hole" lot of fun!

That night we watched the summer supermoon rise over the ocean.

And the kids enjoyed one last storytime with their beloved grandparents:

The guys did end up getting their fishing trip in the last full day we were there. Fortunately or unfortunately, they caught their limit so we had pounds and pounds of trout and redfish to try to eat. We gave it our best shot. Here's less than half the catch at lunch on our last day:

Yeah, it was a lot of fish. More than we could eat, really, but we gave it our best effort.

One last picture from that lunch. My parents had had to go on ahead to catch their flight so it was just us and the Rangels by this point. And all the kids sitting on an alligator because why not?

Running on the beach on my last morning I was thinking about past trips and future ones. The ones my parents took my brother and me on when we were growing up. The ones Kevin and I took with my parents pre-kids (I think the only year we've missed since we started dating 9 years ago was the year Daniel was born). Daniel's and Rebecca's respective first trips. 

And thinking ahead, to next year when the girls aren't napping anymore and the kids are more comfortable in the water. Later years when the kids need to be coaxed out of the water, not into it. When Daniel and Rebecca are old enough to go fishing too. When boogie board and tubes make our packing list and sand toys stay home. When I have a running buddy or two for morning runs along the beach. When the kids are teenagers and wanting a night out on their own.

This year's visit was just another link in the chain going all the way back to my dad's boyhood in the valley. It was fun and we're already looking forward to next year's.

Also, unlike last year, we did not have to visit the emergency room this year. So bonus for that!

Belly draggers

At the end of year celebration in Daniel's previous classroom, his teachers gave him the "Most Imaginative" award. Lately he has lived up to that title well.

It all started a few weeks ago. Mommy was trying to use the bathroom in peace and Daniel wanted to come in. I locked the door, which didn't sit well with him. But so far as I knew, that was that.

Later that night when I was lying down with him before bed I asked him if Mommy loves him all the time or just some of the time. Without missing a beat he replied "you didn't love me when you were in the bathroom!"

Then he said that while I was in the bathroom no one was taking care of him and the belly draggers came and took him away. They carried him off on their spikes which hurt his back and wanted to eat him. Then he said "here they are again, at my door!"

Lying there next to him in his bed, I felt like I was taking a pop quiz I was thoroughly unprepared for. I knew that one of these days he'd be afraid of imaginary creatures but I hadn't expected it this soon and hadn't thought about how to address it. His class was studying dinosaurs that week so I figured they must have talked about how some of them were "belly draggers." 

So thinking on the fly I decided to address the belly draggers now presumably crouched in the doorway. " You silly belly draggers," I said, "this is Daniel, not Danube. You're in the wrong house!" I told Daniel that the belly draggers were looking for their boy, Danube, and had just come to the wrong house on accident. Then in another voice the belly draggers said "Oops, sorry!"

Then I told Daniel if the belly draggers ever came back he could shake his toy rattlesnake (which, by coincidence, a teacher had just given him) at them and it would scare them away. He laughed and seemed satisfied by that, and I patted myself on the back for a crisis averted.

A few days later I was reading to Daniel's class (one of the perks of self-employment, if I want to go read to my son's class in the middle of the day I don't have to tell anyone or ask permission, I just go). I asked his teacher if they had talked about "belly draggers" and she hadn't heard the term. I wondered where he got it from but didn't really think about again.

Then the other day he was showing us his yoga poses and he said he was going from downward dog to belly dragger. Hmm, I thought. Sure enough I asked one of the extended care teachers the next day and she said belly dragger was one of their yoga poses.

So on his own, he synthesized dinosaurs and belly draggers and turned them into something that came and stole him away while Mommy was in the bathroom. Imaginative indeed.

(For the record, I wasn't even in the bathroom more than a minute. Those belly draggers are sneaky and fast, apparently!)

May Update: Walking, International Dinner and Blessing of Students,MomMom

The problem with going a few months between posts is that so much happens that catching up takes some work. Here's a brief(ish) epic novel update on what's new with us:

Rebecca

Rebecca is 15 months old now and full of adventure. She started walking around 13 1/2 months and now enjoys running away from Mommy and Daddy laughing as she goes. She's also fond of climbing onto any piece of furniture she can. This stage of toddlerhood is a scary one because abilities far surpass judgment. If Daniel wakes up early we can turn on a movie for him downstairs, go back to bed, and trust that he won't get into anything dangerous. But Rebecca, you turn your back for a minute she's up on the couch teetering precariously.

She's not talking much yet but she says "baby" and "mama" pretty often. She gestures and makes noises to express what she wants though so she is communicating, just not yet with words much.

She's a little pickier of an eater than Daniel was as a toddler but eats pretty well when she wants to. Sweet potatoes, oatmeal, eggs and pancakes are favorites. She likes to self-feed finger foods and tries to feed herself with the spoon, though her technique has room for improvement.

In a bittersweet development for me she self-weaned not long after her birthday. She got a cold, then a double ear infection (which I was slow to recognize because she was still a pretty cheerful baby). She went on a nursing strike during the cold and never nursed again. I kept offering and pumping to maintain supply for 3 months to keep the option open for her but despite my best efforts she wasn't interested. I nursed Daniel for 17 months and had hoped to nurse Rebecca at least that long too but my goal was to nurse as long as she wanted and that was what happened, albeit not on the timeframe I imagined. Nursing was one of my favorite parts of the infant stage for both kids so it's sad to realize I'll never do it again. I guess any end to that stage was going to be sad for me so maybe it's best I didn't realize at the time that it was our last time to nurse.

Rebecca's personality is really starting to come out now. She's got a silly streak and likes to flop onto the floor and roll around if we're there to watch. She's a cuddler too and will happily bring me a book and climb into my lap to read it with me. She also loves the pink Croc sandals I got her and will carry those over to me too to put on her, even if all she's wearing is a diaper. She loves stuffed animals and gives them hugs and when we read books she kisses the animals on the page.

Last week she had her 15 month checkup. As expected she's on the light end of the growth chart at just shy of 18lb, but standing 30.5" tall she's in the 50th percentile for height. Long and lean. She's a healthy, happy girl and right on track with her developmental milestones.

Daniel

Daniel's had an eventful spring too. A few months ago when Rebecca was ready to move into his convertible car seat we got Daniel a new forward facing harness/booster combo seat. For all the talk about how kids can't wait to forward face, Daniel wasn't that enthused about the change. He likes the new seat well enough but anytime he's in the car by himself he asks to ride in his old seat. He can still fit if I raise the shoulder straps for him. Guess he still likes to feel like the baby sometimes ;)

For the longest time he went through a phase where he named everything Silas. His monkey was Silas Monkey, his teddy bear was Silas Bear, etc. (Where did Silas come from? Who knows?) Lately we've gone a different way on names. The stuffed snake toy one of his teachers gave him as an end of the year present is named "Tookie" and other animals have gotten variants on that. Interesting choices!

He's a very energetic little boy but can also be a cuddler sometimes. At night we do storytime with both kids together then Kevin puts Rebecca to bed while I lie down with Daniel for a few minutes. He really enjoys that snuggle time (I do too!) and he's so sweet. He'll hug me then ask "How was your day? How was your night? How was your trip?" If I say my day was busy he replies "busy is good!" Hmm, we'll have to be careful about that.

He can write his name pretty well now (still has some trouble with lowercase "e", he wants to write it backwards) and many letters. He also counts well up to 20. He's doing a better job of coloring now too. He used to scribble randomly and now he colors the shapes. He's had a good year in school.

Last Friday was the last day of the school year for him and his last day in Ms. Susie's class. He'll still be there during the summer but he'll move up to the primary (pre-K) classroom with Ms. Susan. I know he loved Ms. Susie and classroom assistant teacher Ms. Amanda but I'm sure soon he'll be bonded with his new teacher and settled into the new classroom.  It's a small enough school that he's already familiar with his new teacher so I think it'll be an easy transition for him. Friday was the blessing of the students and graduation for the kids moving on to kindergarten. 

It was sad for me to see that some of the kids I've gotten to know over the years are moving on. To be a parent is to forever feel like I'm trying to hold running water in my hands as it drips through. I just want time to stand still for awhile so these kids will stay little. Hard to believe we'll be in that position of moving on from Apostles too in a year...or two. One idea we're strongly considering right now is keeping him at Apostles for private kindergarten. I think he would benefit from the personal attention and familiar surroundings, he and Rebecca would get to be at the same school for a year (easy for Mom and Dad!), and it lets us postpone the "start on time and be the youngest in the class or redshirt to be the oldest" decision one more year. But there's time yet to make that decision.

After the blessing of the students we went back to his classroom where the teacher presented each kid with a handmade photo memory book, a bag of treats, and an award. Daniel was named "Most Imaginative" for his creative storytelling and liberties with the facts, as well as his charming ways of trying to avoid trouble. When the teachers would have to take him aside to talk to him about "bad choices" or send him to the thinking chair he'd say "you're really pretty" and "I like your necklace/blouse/hair/earrings." This skill can either serve him well or get him into lots of trouble when he gets older!

The week before was International Dinner at school. The kids dressed up in traditional dress from their heritage and brought food and each class presented several songs and dances. For reasons I'll discuss later in the post I wasn't able to make the dinner, but Kevin took several videos. The kids were adorable, of course and they obviously worked hard to learn their routines. Apparently when Daniel's class started their routine he looked out into the crowd, realized I wasn't there, and told his teacher, wanting them to wait till I got there. I had a good reason for missing it but felt horrible about not being there, and him noticing and being worried :(

The kids sang a song:

Then did some country dancing:

Daniel wore the lederhosen outfit we got in Munich on our Europe trip in 2008. 

Rebecca got into the spirit too with a homemade dirndl my friend's grandmother made for her.

Sandy Lake Amusement Park

Through the school year Daniel did Soccer Shots and TOT basketball classes at his school. Last weekend was the end of year "Shine Time" celebration when kids from many of the local TOT programs got to come together for a performance. The performance was at Sandy Lake Amusement Park, a neat little carnival ride-style amusement park that, despite being only about 10 minutes from the house, we had never been to. The kids loved when my parents took them to a similar amusement park in Austin, Kiddie Acres, that I had grown up going to so we figured they'd enjoy Sandy Lake too and they did. My cousin Debbie and her husband Gary live nearby so we invited them to join us and the kids enjoyed seeing them too. 

Some of the rides were a little fast for Rebecca (some for Daniel too) but they both enjoyed the merry go round and the boat ride.

Daniel had fun performing and showed off his skills.

I'm sure more visits to Sandy Lake are in our future!

MomMom

This year we've said goodbye to several loved ones including Kevin's dad, our cat Todd and, about 2 weeks ago, my paternal grandmother, my last living grandparent and my children's last living great-grandparent. MomMom passed away peacefully in her home at the age of 92.

The funeral was on the Saturday morning after the Friday night International Dinner. I was in College Station Friday, having accepted the opportunity to speak at the Texas A&M Foundation's Women, Wealth & Wisdom conference that morning. I had planned to leave College Station early enough to get to the dinner on time but with the funeral in south Texas early the next morning I just couldn't see a way to drive 3 1/2 hours back to Dallas for the dinner then get up and drive 5 hours to the funeral, then drive back to Dallas. It was my first school event to miss and I hated to miss it, even as I knew I had a good reason for it. My heart sank that afternoon as I drove south when I looked at the time and realized even if I turned around and drove as fast as I could, I couldn't make it to the dinner. Instead, I continued south to my grandmother's visitation. He'll understand someday but it was a tough moment as a mom. I did enjoy seeing lots of family at the visitation and funeral. We're a pretty tightly knit extended family and even when it's for a sad reason it's nice to see everyone.

I had the honor of sharing some words about my grandmother at her funeral service on behalf of all of the grandchildren. Here's what I shared, give or take an ad lib or two:

I have the honor of speaking on behalf of the grandchildren to share a few memories about our grandmother. Of all the names and jobs she had in her life I think she loved answering to Grandma or MomMom best of all.

MomMom loved her family, and she loved being a grandma. She kept up with all 7 of us and always knew what was going on in each of our lives. She never forgot a birthday, and if one of us was getting married, graduating, or performing in a school play she was there cheering us on proudly. The details of our lives were important to her and she didn’t miss a chance to let us know. Her Christmas newsletters were testament to both her busy schedule of attending our events and her pride in our accomplishments and new stages of life. I'm sure there are people here today who have never met me but you know a lot about me from her newsletters.

She was thrilled to be a great-grandmother and was so excited to be looking forward to greeting two more great-grandbabies this summer. She was also a proud great-aunt to all of her great-nieces and nephews, and she kept up with their lives too. She loved being part of a big extended family. I know she would be pleased to know how many of you honored her with your presence today and she'd be glad to bring her family together one last time.

Even when her health made it hard for her to travel she still made the effort to be part of our lives. She always enjoyed our visits and when we couldn’t physically be there with her she was happy to take advantage of modern technology to bridge the distance. When my cousin Meredith got married a few years ago and MomMom was in the hospital she wanted so much to be part of the big day that she watched the ceremony through video conference from her bed so she could celebrate with them. She also enjoyed videochats with my 3 year old son Daniel and loved when he would give her kisses through the screen. Even though she didn’t get to spend much time with them she loved being part of my children’s lives.

When we were little and all of the grandkids were together at the ranch, if anyone was left out of a game MomMom would notice and find a way to make that person feel special. It’s funny, one of the memories that came to mind this week was of a time when she and DadDad joined my family for a trip to Padre Island. My little brother David was just learning to swim and was standing on the diving board of the pool working up the courage to jump in. I was impatient for my turn so being the helpful big sister that I am I gave him an encouraging nudge right off the diving board and into the pool. My helpful encouragement landed me a trip to time-out, but I didn’t have to sit in the corner alone. MomMom came over to keep me company. She didn’t want me to be alone so she sat there in time out with me. 

She was never happier than when the whole family was together at the ranch for a holiday. She loved being the matriarch of the family and serving as head chef for the meals. And if you ever got to eat one of her meals then you know she was a wonderful cook. Her stuffed cabbage was a holiday treat (you know you’re a good cook when you can get people excited about eating cabbage) and she was so pleased that my cousin Mary Blake inherited her culinary skills and learned to make her recipe.

Sometimes when we were all there together with so many people in the house that we filled up the dining room table, a card table, and even the barstools I’d look over and she and DadDad looked so happy just enjoying everyone’s company. Sometimes they’d just sit back and take it all in, no doubt counting their blessings.

As much as she loved her grandchildren, the shining star in her life was DadDad. The other day my husband Kevin reminded me of the first time he met my grandparents. A few months after we started dating I brought him with me to MomMom and DadDad’s 60th wedding anniversary celebration. At one point we were all sitting together in the living room listening to MomMom and DadDad talk about the early years of their marriage and she was just beaming up at him holding his hand. They just enjoyed each other’s company, even after all those years.

Living out in the country was never her dream but after they sold the Mercury dealership and moved out to the ranch she traded city life for a job she described as “DadDad’s cheapest and best ranchhand.” Even after he passed away she spoke about him as if he were still there because in her mind he was. The two of them enjoyed 67 years of marriage and set a great example for the younger generations to follow.

MomMom loved her family and she loved being a grandma. She was the heart of our family, the one who made sure everyone was included, that everyone felt special. I’m grateful that longevity runs in the family so we could enjoy her company for so many years. I think I speak for all of the grandchildren when I say that whether we called her MomMom or Grandma, we definitely considered ourselves lucky to call her ours.

At the ranch last Thanksgiving. She was in high spirits that day and happy to be there with everyone.

With the love of her life at Kevin's and my wedding