Camping and other fun!

Tyson went on his first camp out this last weekend! Our friends, the Patricks invited us to camp out on their property up near New Braunfels and it was so much fun! Our car was maybe twenty feet away--easy access and no need for a bear bag! Christian put up and took down the tent alone while I tried to convince Tyson that the grass which was taller than he was was not 'scary.' There were lightning bugs and a campfire, good food, and friends! We even had an air mattress so it was delightful! (I thought it was delightful--I guess it still woke up Christian each time I got up to use the restroom but that's ok!) The next morning we went kayaking down the river and Christian jumped off this HUGE tree swing--he was at least twenty feet in the air and he would do back flips off of the rope after swinging down...it was so cool! The first time he jumped, Tyson's eyes were huge!! He was almost as impressed as I was with his daddy! Christian has been so amazing to do everything this year. I am so lucky to have a husband that is so much fun and does so much to help me out with Tyson. He is the best daddy ever!


Last night we went to paint pumpkins and have soup with some friends and it was so much fun! The food was AMAZING and there was even a pinata with candy in it! Christian helped Tyson with the bat and when the candy fell out he was the first to tell him which candy was the best. Tyson would've been happy with one piece of candy but Christian helped him get more...I suppose that's why he gets to eat so much of it, too :) Anyway, we feel so lucky to have so many good friends and so many fun things going on! Hopefully things will only get better once we have two little guys to tote around!

Dad's visit

This past week my dad came out to visit because I requested him to come. he had just recently come out but after seeing my mom and step-dad I had so many angry and sad feelings I just needed to see my dad. The fact that he was willing to come out just to spend time with me made all the difference in the world.

My dad is amazing. I think I could have said anything to him and he would never have gotten up to leave the room. He never even seemed offended. He owned up to things that had been hard for me and was available and open to talk about anything the entire time he was here. We did a lot of talking and it was really good for me.

During one of our conversations, Tyson fell off of his chair in the kitchen and had a bloody lip. I just held him until he felt better but at the same time I felt like that was what was happening to me. After all of this time, I was able to talk to my dad and he just held my feelings for me. Thanks dad!

I'm still just feeling things I don't quite understand but at least they aren't frightening anymore. I think the biggest thing I realized was that even though my home is broken, I still have the pieces in my hands. I have a father and a mother who both love me very much and even though our home will never again be like how it should be in my mind, I am lucky. I can finally trust my dad again. I can move past the past and build with each member of my family a new relationship, a better relationship, and even though I won't do it all at once-I can't-it is too overwhelming. I can, I want to, and I will. I just can't talk about all of my feelings about my family all at once. I'm still feeling them and letting them work inside me. Anyway, that has been my week. Thank you to all of you who had us in your prayers. It has made all the difference in the world to me. The last thing that happened is my testimony of the church has grown stronger. I needed so much help from God to get me through to this point and He has been with me the whole way. I'm so grateful He was there to see me through.

Also, Monday night around midnight I started feeling the results of food poisoning from Wendy's and felt awful! I am so grateful to everyone who helped me out Tuesday! Kim picked my dad up from the airport and I had babysitters available at any time. I am so humbled and grateful to have such amazing friends and support. Thank you again to everyone!

Discovering Shadows

Last night, Tyson and I went out for a walk and Tyson noticed his shadow for the first time! At first he would try to step on my shadow and would bust up laughing every time he did! It was so cute! He would get excited when we walked under a street light and he was pretty much standing on top of his shadow and then he walked backwards the rest of the way so he could make sure his shadow was coming along, too. Who knew shadows were so much fun?!! He was giggling the whole time and it was too cute not to drag Christian outside (even though he was studying for a test) and join us. I love these guys!!
Oh, and Christian knocked out two of his teeth playing basketball on Thursday night. We're still waiting to see if they're vital or not...cross your fingers for us! His uncle lost an eye playing ball so we're actually feeling quite blessed! Anyway, there's our craziness in a nutshell!

Growing up!

I feel like I'm going to regret taking so much for granted with the next kid. For example, Tyson is pretty much potty training himself! He tells me when he needs to pee or pooh and then I set him on the 'big boy potty' where he proceeds to do either without much help! We finally had to get him some marshmallows to reward him since he'd say he needed to pee and then when I asked him if he wanted to go to the big boy potty he would say, "No, right here!" and then go stand against the wall. He's still wearing diapers since he gets too excited when he pees on the floor through his underwear, "WOW!!" but it's been nice to see him training himself! What a big boy!

Also, ever since he has learned how to open doors he's been reveling in the freedom! Here he is after helping himself to the pancake mix in the pantry! I love his smile here! He's finally starting to eat more and he can talk so much better now! I'm nervous to start back over at ground zero with the next kid but I am really enjoying this stage in Tyson's life! He is such a sweet boy and I love him so much!!

Mondre

My mom and new step-dad came to visit us this past week! It ended up going much better than I expected (which goes to show that you really can't judge someone based on rumors and you really shouldn't judge them at all...oops! Sorry Andre!) Their visit also showed me that I'm not quite over the divorce. But, I think it's a good thing to actually face it now, so I'm glad they came up. Plus, it is always fun for me to see my mom!We went to the Alamo!We went to the Japanese Tea Gardens. These are cool because it is so serene and it's free! I think this is my favorite time of year to visit them because the flowers are so beautiful!
We rode the train around Brackenridge park which Tyson loved! It's only three bucks a person (Tyson is free) so I think we may end up doing this more often during the day!!
Tyson loves to be read to! I'm so lucky he'll sit through books and books over and over again!
Also, my brother Dan and his awesome wife Katie moved to Austin so we got to spend time with them, too! Dan's birthday is just two weeks after mine so we did a double celebration. Thanks Katie for the yummy dessert! Happy birthday Dan!

Still ten weeks to go! you can definitely tell there's a baby in there!Thanks for coming to visit us guys! We love you!!