Weekly Rewind

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks and I am not even sure where to start this post.


Topic 1: Zeke

As you know, our beloved Zeke passed away on Friday and the whole thing is feeling rather surreal to me. One minute she was sleeping at the side of our bed, I went into the office as usual and then the next minute she was gone. I think that I just need closure, but I think that finding closure will be pretty elusive. Major has been spending a lot of time inside with us, which is helping all of us adjust. We have been waiting for Andrew to ask about Zeke and he finally did on Saturday after his nap. Doug went upstairs with Major to get Andrew when he woke up from his nap and Andrew asked where Zeke Lou was. Doug replied, "let's wait for mommy to get home to talk about it." I got home shortly thereafter and we told Andrew that Zeke went to be with Shelby. He said, "Zeke is at mom mom's house outside?" We replied in the affirmative and that was that (Zeke and Shelby are buried at mt in-laws). We think that he understands as much as an almost 3 year old can understand these type of things.

Topic 2: The Baptism and Convalidation

Douglas and I have a standing reference to an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. There is one episode where Ray leaves Debora behind and he goes to a party by himself because she is not in the car when she said she would be ready. This reference is to being "AIS" or A$$ in seat by a certain time. In other words, everyone needs to be AIS by a certain time or the car is pulling out of the driveway without you. We often reference something like, "Ok, AIS in 10 minutes" or "AIS is at 2:00 p.m.", etc. So ... we decided we wanted to be AIS by 10:20 so that we would make it to the church by 10:40. Then it started raining, Doug was complaining about his suit, Tyler was still hungry ... so, we didn't make our AIS time, but we were not too far behind schedule. Then, after we get on the road, Doug realizes that he forgot his wedding ring (which Andrew had been playing with while we were getting ready) and he had to have it for the convalidation service. So, we turned the car around to get it and which meant we were pushing it to make it to the church on time, forget arriving early! We made it to the church right at 11:00 when the service was to start -- luckily it was a private ceremony and we were not rushed, despite getting there later than we intended. Everyone socialized until everything was set and then the services got started.

Deacon Don did a wonderful job and the convalidation was really special. Our friends Scott and Harriet did the Old and New Testament readings and then we recited our vows. Right about the time it was time for our vows Andrew decided he wanted to be standing up with mommy and daddy. Rather than fight with Andrew to have him sit (which would have meant a big cry fest) we decided to have him just stand with us -- it was actually really sweet and even more memorable to have him join us. After the convalidation we took a short break and then went straight into Tyler's baptism. Douglas and I did the readings and then we all went outside so that Tyler could be welcomed into the church. After the official welcoming we made our way to the font for the actual immersion. We hadn't discussed whether we were going to do the immersion or just the sprinkling, but since the water had been warmed and it was just our family and friends we decided to go ahead and do the immersion. Tyler loved it and my favorite photos from the baptism are from the immersion. After the water, the Deacon performed the anointing, the white cloth was presented and the candle was lit. We all recited our intentions for Tyler and just like that the service was over. Andrew missed part of the service because he was outside with Peepaw, which actually ended up not being such a bad thing because if Andrew had seen Tyler get in the water, he would have wanted to get in too!


After the services we had a small get together at our house. It was so great to catch up with some of the folks we had not seen in a while and to spend some quality time with friends that we wish we could see more of!

Topic 3: Tyler Update

Tyler is doing great, he is getting bigger every day and he is reaching lot of fun milestones. He has discovered his feet and enjoys playing with them on a regular basis. He can roll all the way over, although he mostly rolls from his back to his stomach. He is getting stronger on his stomach and can lift up his head and chest. He has just learned to make "raspberries" -- he loves the noise and seems to enjoy the spitting that accompanies it as well. He recently had his 4 month check-up and he weighed 12 pounds, 5 ounces and was 26 3/4 inches. He is 25% in weight and 95% in length (too bad for him that will not last!). We also got the go ahead to start giving Tyler cereal and baby food whenever we are ready. The doctor actually encouraged it because Tyler had not gained any weight over a 4 week period (he went in to get a prescription for his thrush and they weighed him then). The doc was not too worried, but we are going to take him back in at 5 months to make sure he has put on some weight. I have increased the amount of milk he gets in his bottles at school from 6 ounces to 8 ounces and we are going to slowly introduce some baby food as well. We'll see how he responds to the baby food and take it from there ...

Topic 4: Andrew Update

Andrew is a riot! We have so much fun with him every single day. He makes us laugh and smile ... and want to pull our hair out on occasion too! We have been talking to him about his birthday recently and he is getting pretty excited. He keeps telling us that he wants pizza, juice and birthday cake. We are trying to teach him his actual birthday too, but he seems to only want to say, "In July" when we ask when his birthday is. He has been learning the days of the week, so we ask him what day it is every day -- he usually responds that it is Thursday, so once a week he gets it right :) In all seriousness, it seems like every time I blink Andrew has mastered something new or is saying something that completely floors me. It seems like yesterday that I was worrying out loud to my mommy friends that Andrew was not talking as much as I would like, but in all actuality that was over a year ago ... and clearly, I had nothing to worry about!

Topic 5: Everything else!

I recently started a new job that I am really enjoying. I am going to be traveling to Calgary next week for several days and Doug is going to have to juggle taking the boys to school and Andrew to his swimming lessons. He is a little nervous about managing Tyler since he is a bit of a mama's boy, but I know that my boys will be thick as thieves when I get home.

In other news, we are starting to watch the Harry Potter movies again to get ready for the 5th movie that is coming out next week. It is a tradition to re-watch the previous movies to prep for the next movie or book, or as in this case - both! So much time elapses between the release of the books and the movies that we need a recap before the next ones come out. I am planning on skimming over book 6 to get ready for book 7's release July 21. In case you were wondering, yes we plan on getting book 7 at midnight with the rest of the Harry Potter loving fools!

In sad news, Studio 60 is officially over. The last episode was great and wrapped everything up just as one would have hoped, but I am still disappointed that NBC cancelled the show.

It looks like 4th of July is going to be a rainy one this year so the fireworks are probably out, but we are still going to enjoy the day off and some yummy barbecue. The 4th of July also marks 11 years that Douglas and I have been a couple ... we don't celebrate our dating anniversary per se, but since the whole country celebrates us with fireworks and the day off, we still acknowledge it ;)!