To Christie...

I'm sorry.

And you're not invisible. You're a valuable member to this circle of friends.
I just don't have any emails or phone calls to return to you so.....
Don't give me a hard time or I'll get Cousin Vinny to pay you a visit.
Noooooo, just joking. ;)

J~

To my friends...

Hey guys,

I've had a lot on my plate since I got home, but I do think of you often. As soon as things settle down, I'll be more in touch. And then I can fill you in on what's up at our house.

Jenn K.: I'll call you soon and we can plan on visiting and walking.
Jenn B.: Same as above.
Jenn N.: I hope that things are getting better for you. You're on my mind and I do plan on calling to catch up.
Debra: You DO owe me a camera and I demand that it's better than the one you broke! LOL I need to call you because I had a dream about you too, about a week ago.
Beth: What can I say? You are a sweetheart.
Mary: I don't know if I officially thanked you guys for lunch when we went to visit. I planned on sending you a note, but....well, I didn't. I'm so glad we got a chance to visit.
Linda: I've been meaning to call you. Give it some time and I might surprise you!

I know that I'm forgetting to address a few people.

I hope everyone is doing well. And please be patient with me. I'm a busy little momma these days with doc appointments, and just....life. I am very grateful to have a wonderful set of friends.

Later Ya'll,
Janet

Leroi Moore funeral is tomorrow

I know that many of you don't know who Leroi Moore was.

It saddens me that the world lost such talent recently. Without him, the music of Dave Matthews Band might not ever be the same....at least to me. I mean, who will they ever find to replace him?

Anyway, his funeral is scheduled for tomorrow.

So sad. Really, it is.

Uhggg!

Yesterday was not such a good day.

Sarah started vomiting around 2 pm right after I rushed us home from running errands, so that I could visit the bathroom....and we were both sick ALL day. I set up her bassinet in my room last night so that I could hear her if she needed my assistance. Thankfully, the alarm woke us all up at 6 am (meaning she slept through the night...and didn't need me after all).

There's a bug of some sort in the air over here. I'm just happy and praying that Gabe hasn't/doesn't get it. Because cleaning up puke from a 6 year old is a whole lot different that cleaning that of a 6 month old.

I'm happy to report that Sarah and I are both better today.

Sarah's 6 Month Portraits

We went back to Kiddie Kandids in Austin today. While I was gone, a coupon came in the mail that expires tomorrow. So today, we rushed out to take advantage of the savings.

The smiles that you see below are not the result of the photographer(though he was a really cool cat); it's Gabe's doing. Gabe told the photographer that he could make her smile and so the guy told him to "get to it".

I was about to strangle the girl that was working on my proofs, though. Every time she'd do something I liked, she'd change it! I finally had to tell her to stop. Anyway....

Enjoy!
J~

More shorts, Part Two...

Here we go AGAIN:

• Thanks to my wonderful husband for turning me on to Igoogle.com....I now have a fabulous new homepage that I truly love.....I mean LOVE!
• I'm putting Gabe in Cub Scouts. I think he will really enjoy it and I'm excited for him. He loves stuff like that!
• My Beer Fridge kinda went out on me yesterday. At first, I thought it was just a burnt bulb, but this morning, the stuff inside was warm. Thankfully, all I had to do was throw away the bad stuff, and push the reset button on the power jack. Ta Da!!!! All better...
  
• How do you like my use of the word "stuff" today?
• Gabe's new teacher happens to be one of our friends and neighbors. I've given him the talk about how she is his teacher now, and he must give her that respect. I think he got the idea. She was very excited to have him in her class and told him that she is looking forward to having him as a "table leader". He was also so excited to see that his friend, Logan, is in his class that he almost cried! Another friend of theirs is in the same class, so both boys are excited. And Emma, the girl that Gabe "spys on", is not in the class....Gabe is so relieved that he won't have to worry about his crush being in the same room.
• I fired my lawn guy, because he sucks! He was recommended by some friends and maybe he does a great job for them, but when my neighbors call and say that my yard looks like shit and I call him and find out he hasn't cut my grass for a month, because he felt it didn't need it....it's time for him to go! When I canceled services with him, he didn't seem to give a rat's butt!!! I'm relieved that he is out of my life!
• I met my blogger friend, JB, yesterday. It was so nice to meet her, since she seems like a really cool gal. I think we'll start walking soon. She even blogged about our meeting on her blog! And if you like my cool new signature at the bottom; I got it from her blog. Cuz that's how I roll....I steal things that I like. LOL

More shorts...

Here we go:

• We returned to Texas yesterday so that we could home in time for the start of school. I'd have loved to stay in Louisiana with family, but we've got to get back into the groove here. It's nice to be home though; I just wish that Phillip was here with us.
• It was suggested that I move home to Louisiana. I've thought off and on about doing that. It's so tempting, but I have to stay here for many different reasons.
• I've lost about 9 lbs since I had that EVIL Mirena taken out! Okay, so I have lots more to go, but hey....I'm happy!
• Phillip ordered a Wii Fit for my birthday! I can't wait until it comes in; it's on back order, and I should get it in the first week of September. Fun! Fun!!!
  
• I got the results back from my colposcopy and biopsy. The doctor himself called to tell me that I have abnormal cells around and going into my cervix. He says they normally freeze these cells, but he wants me to have a LEEP procedure. I will find out more next week on the diagnosis and further treatment of my little problem.
• LeRoi Moore , the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band, died yesterday. It's shocking news to me and our future concert experiences will not be the same.
• We saw Phillip briefly on webcam today! It's the first time we see him since he's gone. God, I miss that man!!!
• Sarah is now sitting up if we put her in the sitting position. She has yet to learn how to do it by herself. She also has thing new thing where she scrunches her nose like a little bunny when she smiles. Too cute!
• Gabe has a new game that he plays with Sarah. When she's sitting and balancing, he dangles her Noonie (pacifier) on a string connected to a little pole; she sits there and tries to catch it with her hands or mouth. He calls it "Sarah Fishing" and both love to play the game. I need to take a video of it.
  

I'll get to better posting later. I've got lots to do now that I'm home. Ya'll take care! J~

Shorts...

Our time is short here.
Tomorrow, I pack.
I will have to clean up, and organize, and see if it will all fit in my car.
I hope I don't have to UPS anything home.
I have lots of pictures to show you.
I have lots of videos to post for Phillip.
I have lots to do...period.

I don't want to say goodbye. And I'm not looking forward to the long drive home.
But, I'm looking forward to not living out of a suitcase.

Howdy Ya'll!

Well, we've only got a few days left and then we'll be back in Texas for I don't know how long. I have no idea yet what the plans are for Thanksgiving, but if I have the opportunity, then I'll mosey on down to Acadiana then. So, get ready Texas friends, Momma's coming back to town!

I've got the day to myself today. It's a birthday gift from my in-laws and I'm gonna take advantage of it. This morning, I'm going for my much anticipated massage, I'll lunch with an old school friend, get my toes done, and get the car detailed. Fun, Fun I tell ya. Being the worry-wart that I am, I know that I'll be looking at my watch the whole day thinking that I should relieve them of babysitting duties as soon as possible. They have been a tremendous help to me mentally and physically this summer and I am so grateful that even though I didn't have Phillip here with me, I had the next best thing, and that's the family that he came from. (I think that our being here helped them too, in ways)

I will post pictures soon from our past week. We did go to Deridder, as planned, to see Craig and Mary and yesterday, we went to photograph the Evangeline statue and the Oak in St. Martinville. We also sweated our butts off at the Longfellow-Evangeline State Park. It was a good day. And we ended the day with dinner at one of our favorite places, Prejeans.

Tomorrow, Gabe and I will spend the day doing stuff in New Orleans. Mary told me about the Insectarium and I can't wait to take Gabe to see it. I'll post links to all of these afore mentioned places in future posts.

I hope that everyone is doing well.
J~

PS. I realize that I need to update my photo collection on this blog. It's on my list of things to do when I get home. Peace out, J~ (I'm in kinda a wacky mood today despite having a HUGE crick in my neck...but I'm soon gonna get that fixed!)

Notes...

I realize that I haven't blogged lately (okay, in like, a few days) so I figured that I'd give you an update:

• Gabe is in Gulf Shores with Phillip's parents, his cousins, and one friend. The friend is Jordan, who I'd probably adopt as a little sister for myself if I could, because she is a complete Hoot!
• I talked to Gabe this morning and he is having a great time. Good! The kid deserves it.
  
• Sarah and I have been shopping, napping, and just plain taking it easy...which is a nice.
• The crazy woman in my life has started with her crap again. I pray hard for a solution to the problem.
• Since we are all friends and adults here, I will tell you this: I had to see a doctor over here in Lafayette for a small problem. Basically, I was a lion with a splinter in the paw and could take it no longer; I had the evil Mirena device removed. (it seemed like a good idea at my post-partum visit...come to find out, it wasn't) Well, a routine test came back with some questionable results (high grade squamous epithelial cells), and so on Monday I will have a Colposcopy done. I don't think we have anything to worry about, because this is the second time something this happens to me, but still...
  
• Next week, I plan to visit with our friends Craig and Mary in Deridder, LA. I can't wait to see them and their new house!
• I also plan to sneak off to New Orleans with Gabe, if I can. Even if it is a small day trip, it will still be fun to show him around and do a little more shopping. I want to take him to Cafe Du Monde, ride the riverboat to the zoo, shop in the French Quarter, ride down Canal street on the cable car, etc. Maybe we can even have a quick lunch with one of my dear friends, Holly, if she's not too busy.
  
• Next Friday, Phil's Mom will babysit for me while I treat myself to a massage at one of my favorite places here in Lafayette.
  
• I need to have Sarah's six month portraits done. I can't find a place that I like, to do it over here, so I may have to wait until I can get back to TX. By then, she will be 7 months old. I'm a stickler for accuracy so this is weighing heavily on my mind. Amazing, what I worry myself with!
  
• School starts over here for the kids in Lafayette parish tomorrow. Bummer!
• I learned two things about my Edge this summer: The special sized, 18 inch, tires on it are very hard to find (I got a nail in my tire about a month ago. I was going to be a big girl and handle the problem myself, but with no luck on finding a tire anywhere in the Killeen/Austin area, I called my Dad and he reminded me of something...); thankfully I have Roadside Hazard on it so I didn't have to pay a butt load to replace a tire. And, I was not getting good gas mileage at all. Not like I used to. Come to find out, if you use gas without Techron in it, your gas will burn faster and you are wasting your money. Texaco and Chevron gas is a little more expensive, but saves you in the long run. You can get way more miles to the tank. Just FYI for you.
• Our time is running out here in Louisiana and we got lots of stuff done, but there is still more that I want to do. I'm sure that, if Phillip is going to be away through next summer, we will be spending the summer here again. And maybe next time, Sarah can do more things with us since she won't be such a small fry.
• Oh, and Sarah can flip from her belly to her back now. If she swings her leg over, she can do it! The little Chunky Monkey still can't make it from her back to her belly...kinda reminds me of a turtle on it's back. LOL And we're still practicing the whole sitting up thing.
  

I have given myself the summer to grieve and have my pity-party over Phillip being gone. I am pretty sure that I am ready to face life at home without him, with a better attitude than I had when I went home at the beginning of the summer. School will keep us busy. I plan to organize, clean, and get the house ready to be put on the market. I have my list of to-dos. I also plan on dropping some un-wanted pounds. When Phillip left the first time, I dropped at least 25 lbs and I plan to do that plus more. I just need to learn how to keep it off! Because somehow, when Phil is home, we eat more and exercise less...I just don't get it.

Hope everyone is doing well.
J~

Sarah at the Pool

I just found this on Jenn K.'s myspace. Thanks a whole lot, Jenn, for letting me know that this picture even existed...wink, wink. So, I did what a friend does and I stole it!
Cuz, that's how I roll!

Anyway, I had to brag. God, Phillip makes cute babies! PS. All she needs is a Midori Sour and Cosmo magazine to complete her "coolness".

My Babies...

Sarah is getting soooo big. I think that, with practice, by the end of next week she'll be sitting up like an even bigger girl all by herself!

And Gabe still thinks the world revolves around her. (he got teary eyed last Saturday and said he didn't want to leave her for the weekend!)