A (really late) 15 month update!

Tristan turned 15 months on June 5, so this is a really late update, but I figured better late than never, huh?! Tristan went to his 15 month check-up to find out that he had his first ear infections :( Today is June 27 and we're STILL taking meds for these ear infections. Hopefully this will be the last round! He DID NOT like being poked and prodded, getting weighed, measured, etc... He weighed 22.1 lbs (17%) and was 32 1/2 inches long (87%). The kid can't stay still enough to gain weight! In three months, he gained one pound, but the doctor wasn't worried. He's just active!

Some info about the past three months!

- Sleeps from 7:00 to anytime between 6:45-8:00, although 8:00 is very rare (but Mom sure likes it!). Takes one nap in the afternoon, usually 2 hours, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer.
- Pretty much running now :) He also does very well with steps, even being able to step down off a curb without falling. He LOVES ramps for some reason -- just goes up and down, up and down.
- His favorite thing to do outside is play in the splash pads, which is just different water fountains shooting out of the ground. There is a small one close by that we go to more often, but the BIG ONE is so much fun but much further away.
- Some of his favorite foods now are cottage cheese, plain yogurt, eggs (especially frittatas with salsa), pasta with tomato sauce, tomatoes, corn on the cob, watermelon, strawberries, and, of course, bananas. But cottage cheese is probably his all-time fav!
- He LOVES books and having us read to him. However, if we get past the first few pages, we are doing good! His attention span isn't the greatest... I've had to hide some of his books because I got SO TIRED of reading them and got some new books from the library.
- He is developing a love of cars, trucks, tractors, etc... A true boy!
- Teaching him sign has been useful at times and really frustrating at times. He seems to get a lot of signs confused or will all of a sudden use one sign for EVERYTHING. "Milk" right now is also for "fish", "water", and some other things that I still haven't figured out :)
- He HAS TO BE entertained. He is NOT a boy who can entertain himself very long. He seems to enjoy other children, so I'm hoping having a brother will really help out some day!
- He still doesn't talk a lot -- "ba" for his beloved pillow (not sure why), pee pee :), nononono, go-go-go, and some other words he sounds like he's trying to say...but he understands wonderfully!
- He's a mess, definitely, but he's a funny boy! Enjoy the pictures!

Splash Park Fun!

On these hot summer days, we almost always have to find something to do outdoors in the morning, so the rest of the day, we can spend inside away from the heat. This Saturday, we decided to try out the new splash pad about 25 minutes from our house. Kind of further than we like to go, just for a couple of hours, but we had to try out this new place. Plus, admission was $1 a person, so we thought it would probably be worth it. And boy, was it worth it! Tristan LOVED it! It was a very neat splash pad, with lots of water fountains, a large sand pit, and a water slide just big enough for Tristan and Dad to go down together. We so wish this place was closer to us! It sure would help beat this heat! Here are some pictures of Tristan enjoying his time there.

Pure Joy

I have been blessed with the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Costa Rica this July with an organization called Pure Joy International. This trip's focus isn't the normal focus of mission trips that you think of -- and I'm SO excited about it's focus. It isn't construction or VBS or medical or even evangelism as we think of it...even though all those wonderful things...but it's strictly on lifting up our missionary women. Pure Joy International (purejoyinternational.com -- take a look if interested in learning more!) has one and only one focus -- reaching out to women that have left their home country and are serving Christ around the world. We, a team of twelve from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Arizona, will be setting up a retreat for fifty missionary women who reside in different parts of Costa Rica. We will have praise and worship, speaking, craft time, exercise time (zumba!), and, most important, one-on-one counseling with two licensed counselors. Being a former missionary woman, I know how important it is to receive counseling. It is so nice just to talk with someone regarding the struggles of language learning, culture barriers, home sickness, marital problems, etc... Each team member has a specific job -- one doing craft and zumba, two being speakers, one media person, two counselors, etc. I have been chosen to be the team devotional leader -- giving devos to the team every day. Scary! I'm not a speaker, but hopefully God has a reason for choosing me to do this!

As with any mission trip, I've had to raise my own money to go, which although I'm not fully funded yet, I'm sure the rest of my funds will come in, which has been a great blessing so far! It is intentional also for the fifty missionary women that have been invited to this retreat would also be funded by various donations of people wanting to help and support. The retreat starts July 12 and so far, only half of the missionary women have been fully funded. I know that God will fully provide -- because that is just the way He works! If anyone would be willing to donate some money towards some of these missionary women, it would truly be a generous and wonderful gift. Just go to the website and you will find all the information there!

I'm excited to be able to go and minister to women that are serving us overseas by sharing God's love in various ways. I'll be leaving my baby boy for 10 days, but I know he'll be having tons of fun with grandparents! Be sure to look up the website! www.purejoyinternational.com

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I had looked around to find an Easter egg hunt for Tristan. He had one at Mother's Day Out last week and did pretty well if someone was helping him. So, I was excited about giving him another chance to show off his egg hunting skills. We went to a recreation center down the road and noticed TONS of people there. They had roped off a huge section for the older kids and a smaller section for the younger kids. However, there were so many kids there and just not that many eggs! Also, the parents were NOT allowed in the egg section, so the kids were all on their own. I then gave up my dreams of having Easter candy later. The pictures below will explain some of our adventure...that lasted a whole 30 seconds...


Nathan and Tristan waiting for the hunt to start!


Not sure what he was looking and smiling at...he didn't fully understand the reason he was there...


There were some mothers yelling at their kids to get more eggs...and the whole 30 seconds that the egg hunt went on, Tristan stared at them the WHOLE TIME :)


Again...more staring. One of the mothers then ran under, grabbed an egg, and gave it to Tristan, who didn't even say thank you but just continued staring.



Mom and son celebrating the one egg (and one piece of chocolate) they got during their adventure!

Maybe next year will be better...

My A-Z

I stole this from a friend -- Carman, hope you don't mind :)

My Random A-Z

A. Age: 28
B. Bed size: king, which was a hand-me-down from a friend when we got married, and I'm SO spoiled by it now!
C. Chore you dislike: making the bed -- our king-sized bed! Then, cleaning the shower (I think it is from cleaning all the showers out at camp -- yuck!!!)
D. Dogs: None, although I've promised Nate that when we get our house out in the country, we'll get a dog :)
E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast (oatmeal) -- the little one is usually up about the same time as me, so we usually have breakfast together, although lately, Nate has been really good about letting me sleep in a few extra minutes before he goes to work and feeds Tristan for me -- what a great husband!
F. Favorite food (I changed it from color because I don't have one): hamburgers, fajitas, and Asian food (right now, Vietnamese!)
G. Gold or silver: I'm a silver girl
H. Height: 5'9
I. Instruments you play(ed): Piano for 20+ years, violin in 6th grade, flute from 7th-12th, and piccolo for two years
J. Job title: Full-time stay-at-home mom and part-time (10 hours/week) teacher of 1 year olds at a Mother's Day Out program
K. Kids: Tristan Ezra, 12 months old, my dear lovable, sweet, temperamental, active child
L. Live: Currently Austin, TX
M. Mom’s name: Beverly (aka Bev)
N. Nicknames: FeFe (only one person still calls me that :), Rudy (aka Rudaburg)
O. Overnight hospital stays: Age 20, had gallbladder out; at 27, had two nights at hospital after Tristan was born
P. Pet peeves: arrogance, noisy eaters, gum poppers, selfishness, unrespectful
Q. Quote from a movie: I'm horrible at quotes!
R. Righty or lefty: Righty
S. Siblings: Shannan, my 32-year-old sis
T. Time you wake up: normally around 6:15-6:45
U. Underwear: none ya business ;)
V. Vegetables you don’t like: bitter melon/ku gua (had it in Asia -- yuck!!!)-- I like most other vegetables
W.What makes you run late: Usually when Trist and I are almost out the door, and I realize that he has a dirty diaper :(
X. X-rays you’ve had: on my foot for tendinitis, several on my back/ribs for pain
Y. Yummy food you make: Love to back! Muffins, cakes, pies...all those not-so-good for us things :)!
Z. Zoo animal favorites: I like the snow leopard -- so pretty! But I'm not a zoo person like my husband -- he loves the zoo! I'm hoping Tristan will too someday!

Tristan is One!!

Can you believe it?! How did this past year fly by so fast?! How can I really have a one year old already?! It's been a fast, yet fun/crazy/tiring/exciting/stressful/wonderful year! I never knew the learning curve could be SO steep!

He went to his one-year appointment last week, and he is 30 1/2 inches long (75%) and 21 pounds (23%) -- as always, long and lean. Doctor says he looks healthy! He HATED laying still for the doctor and, of course, the shots, but he recovered quickly.

Tristan is walking (almost) like a pro now. He still falls a lot, especially when he is walking outside, but he is definitely a "walker" now. It's so funny how he'll walk around, waving his arms (like he's talking with his hands)and talking to himself.

He is starting to say a few words. Several things are "ba" -- bath, banana, ball. He still doesn't say mama and dada much unless he is in distress. But his receptive language is really improving. I told him tonight it was time for a bath, so he walked right to the bathroom (I was putting up his toys) and waited for me, standing right next to the tub. Cute, huh? He loves his baths.

Anyways, here are some pictures of his birthday:


12 month picture -- he didn't want to just sit there...surprise, surprise...


The rocking chair he got from his Mimi and Buddy -- he loved it!


Isn't he just cute sitting in his chair, reading his book?!


Nathan holding Tristan while everyone singing "Happy Birthday"


Tristan was really unsure about the cupcake -- he kept trying to feed it to Nathan!


Once he tried it though, he loved it!


A piano that his friend (and her mommy -- one of my best friends) gave him for his birthday. I'll find him sitting on his knees on the bench, hitting the keys -- he may be a pianist someday! (the white spots is just packaging from the box)

He also got lots of other things (I just don't have pictures of everything) -- he was only a LITTLE spoiled :) I think he had a great first birthday!

Eleven Months Old

My baby boy is now 11 months old! One more month and he'll be one!!! Can't believe that at all! How is he growing up so fast?! The picture isn't the best, but we were in a hurry, so this is what we got :)


Some new things about his this month:

He is playing more with his food than eating his food -- which he loves, but Mom doesn't!

He stopped nursing this month and is now on half formula and half whole milk.

He loves sweet peas, bananas, cottage cheese, sliced cheese, avacado, scrambled egg yolks. Our problem was protein, so we've started blending cottage cheese and tofu (which isn't bad at all, actually!) and he seems to really like that. Against grandparents' wishes, we still haven't given him any juice or sweets ;)

He isn't walking yet, also he cruises on furniture like a pro. He's even stood up by himself a few times, but gives up pretty quickly. He can even get off the bed and couch by himself!

He is still taking two naps a day, and Mom is hoping he'll continue that for quite a while! He also still goes to sleep at 6:30-7:00 and usually wakes up between 6:00-6:30.

He hates sitting still!!! Always on the go and definitely loves to play with people. However, I have caught him several times playing with books, which is wonderful to see :)

There is probably lots more I could put about him, but while he's sleeping, gotta get stuff done! He's my joy :)