Getting to know me

What the heck is Big Red?
Last night, we had a "getting to know you" Ladies night. The question was asked, "What would people be suprised to know about you?" Hmmmm... Where do I start? So, I mentioned that I attended Western Kentucky University for my undergrad on a Mascot scholarship. I had an absolute blast. On the way home, I was thinking about all the weird things about me that people may or may not know. Should I keep them secret for the future "ladies nights?" Well, no. That's something people may not know about me.... I don't keep secrets well. I pretty much just say whatever I'm thinking whenever I'm thinking it. For better or worse.

So, here's a few more tidbits that may suprise you (or not)....

I've gone scuba diving with sharks in the Bahamas without a chain suit or cage (now illegal to do).

I've been paid to train therapists at John's Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD (career highlight)

My cellphone was once stollen from my carry-on bag and used in a terrorist ring. The big wigs actually tracked me for a while until we discovered it was stolen and I wasn't actually the one making the phone calls. - pre 9/11.

I've published three professional books that people actually pay money to read.

I've been a keynote speaker at the "Rehab Summit".

I once dated a guy who was deaf - hence I know a bit of sign language.

I was invited on the tour bus of "Dr. Hook" while in college. I declined. I had snuck into the bar with a fake ID.

I was on the Homecoming court at Western Kentucky University.

I sucked my fingers until I was about 12 years old.

I had monkeys and racoons as childhood pets.

My father's side of the family is very into motor sports and I have driven race cars and rode many motorcycles. Yet, not nearly as many as my siblings - and not nearly as fast! :)

I have nine siblings. Three brothers and five sisters. I'm third from the bottom.

My maiden name is Black and I have a hospital bracelet that says, "Black baby girl". In college, my papers would come out of the lab as "Black Student".

There were no daisies in Austin the day Rob proposed to me. He had bought out all of the wholesalers and filled his apartment with thousands of my favorite flower. He even custom designed my wedding ring with a quilting daisy pattern on the side.

Rob and I took a week long sailing cruise/lessen as a date one time to get certified to rent sailing yachts. Oh, the days of freedom to travel and be spontaneous.

I hate peperoni. I can't even "just pick it off" my pizza.

I entered a quilt in a national quilting competition. I didn't win, but I made it into the show.

My hair was so white as a child my siblings called me an albino monkey. (I was also very skinny and climbed everything....) I wonder where Suzy gets her energy?

My grandmother was in the Miss America pageant in the 40s and I have her pageant ring as my college ring.

I have been to almost all US states (except Wyoming and Montana - and Alaska)

I love to read other people's blogs and the comments left on mine!

Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend!

Silencing Little Lamb

So, little man apparently loves the pacifier, but can't keep it in just yet. All the things I'm learning in the past few weeks. So, here's another attempt to keep him happy. He really is a very sweet little guy and hardly fusses, but I am feeling the need to be inventive and this was just a minor little adjustment that I thought of. Granted, I'm not crazy enough to use this unsupervised as it is definitely a choking risk. However, while we are all hanging out in the toy room, it works great. If you don't laugh out loud at this, we certainly don't share the same sense of humor. I especially like the pink pacifier. Hey, it's all HEB had yesterday in this brand. It's just a test anyhow. I bought several different brands in an attempt to find one he loves. I think he looks like an adolescent with a head gear thingy from the dentist. Rob made a reference to "Silence of the Lambs". Ironic, since a loving nickname for him is "Little Lamb". I've never seen the movie so I was a little lost in his reference.Anyway you look at it, it does seem to do the trick! Poor little lamb... as Rob would say, "There's another therapy session." (He's putting money aside with each of these posts to pay for the therapy my children are sure to require as they look back on their crazy mother and the experiences of their childhood... ha)

A Warm Heart

I want to remember last night, so I'll blog about it. I'm so grateful for all of the help from family and friends so that I have been able to get a little rest and am finally feeling much better. I'm even getting my sense of humor back, ever so gradually.

So, last night we were at our bible study. We are planning a big trip to the coast with several families in October, so we wanted to test out some new sleeping arrangements. My mother bought Suzy a little tent/bed when Andy was born (originally for Andy, but is now being shared.) So, we put Suzy in the tent in Katie's room. Good Luck Girls! Go to SLEEEEEP! Can they make it? Uhhh... No. Suzy started calling for Daddy and Katie chimed in with "Uncle Rob (pronounced Un-cle Ro-ob)!" Very funny. However, not as funny as when Suzy started crying and when that didn't work she actually used the words, "Oh, Boo hoo hoo." All of the adults downstairs got a pretty good chuckle out of that.

My favorite part of the evening, however, occured on the way home. Andy was starting to get a little hungry and I asked Suzy if she could put his pacifier back in his mouth until we got home. I'm still not really sure if she can reach his mouth from her car seat. She told me she couldn't find the pacifier (it had fallen down between the side of the seat and his legs - well out of her sight). Then she says (Heart Melting) "It's OK Mommy, I will just hold his hand." Wow. I just can't describe the joy of looking in the mirror and seeing my sweet little girl holding her baby brother's hand. AND... he had stopped crying. At least for a minute....

I'm gonna cherish this memory and hopefully be able to recal it on the many car rides where I will look back and hear, "He's touching me!!!!"

Sweet Siblings

Suzy wanted to try and burp Andy yesterday. It was really cute.

Suzy continues to just adore him and it truly warms my heart.

The Smith Swaddle Blanket

Yet another little invention. Why don't you see zip up swaddle blankets? I figure it may be due to the choking risk. But.... if you sew a sleeper into a lycra sleeping bag, it won't shift around. The baby stays swaddled and voila! You have a break free proof swaddle blanket. Now, granted - Little Man loves his hands out, so I don't zip his all the way up. Not the prettiest sewing design, as it was my prototype and I did have a two year old helper as well. But, I think it's a good start!
Unzip it and it looks like this with the sleeper sewn into it. A little bonus of a super hero look.
Only two seams inside. One tacking the necks together and the other down the back to keep the sleeper from shifting around inside the bag. One of these days maybe I will patent some of these things. But for now, that just seems like a lot of work.

Creepy Crawlies and Such

This is what I saw from my kitchen window yesterday. It's just a Texas Garden snake and harmless. But...EEEEEWWWW! We just had the bug guy out to spray for critters last week. I guess he's now hungry and venturing out a bit. ;)


Then, this is what was on my car windshield after church on Sunday. What the heck is this??? It looks like little egg pod things that were stuck on the inside. They hang from the window from some super strength sort of web string or something. The only thing ickier than this is the idea that whatever made it may still be living in my car. Help! What is it? Mr. Werle, do you know?

Are YOU Man enough?

The "Man Sling".... Little Man loves to be in the sling. We've been having a pretty intense "bewitching hours routine" for the past week or so and about the only thing that worked consistently was putting him in my sling and walking. Walking, walking, walking. I finally broke down and asked my neighbors if it would wig them out to see me on their nice comfy porch swing at 2:00 am and we both laughed. She even joked that she may leave cookies out for me one night. So far, no cookies. I do get hopeful every night....

Anyhow, all this to say, we needed a way for Rob to help out. He's such a great Daddy and really does pull much more than his expected weight on the baby front. But, with his work and potential for wrist injury, we had to come up with something to help out...

I love Andy's little hand sticking out here. He looks SOOOO tiny compared to his Daddy!
He refused to "pose" unless I made it manly. Here's his favorite reading chair and a little treat of Scotch. He doesn't really smoke cigars, but thought this would be a nice touch. We received it in a birth announcement from a friend of his in Seattle. I thought it was pretty funny.

Little Man Spotlight

I've been experimenting with some natural lighting and I think I have the perfect model. :) Well, maybe second perfect. His sister has some killer curls. This is such an "Andy pose". It's no wonder my poor little guy is struggling with the baby acne right now.I absolutely adore little baby feet. I love their little hands, too. But, he fists them still a lot when awake. Sometime soon I hope to get some little hand shots while he's relaxed and sleeping.



Both of our children are very strong. Even with being a little early, both he and his sister came out, were placed on my chest, and lifted their little heads up to look around the operating room.



Dear sweet boy, if only you could stay this tiny and perfect forever. Well,... and maybe sleep through the night. ;)

Bath Time

It may be Andy's first bath, but Suzy stole the show! She continues to be my littlr helper.


I love this shot. I think he looks like a mob boss here. "Yo, Suzy, amere. I wants to tolk to yous." Our bible study will most likely laugh hardest here. "Rob's Mini Don."
Disclaimer... Notice Deb in the background. These are old pictures. We actually took bath # 3 last night.

Suzy LOVES to sing right now. Granted, my living room is a complete mess, but do keep in mind that I did just have a baby a few weeks ago. :) Gwyneth would be so proud, I finally figured out how to upload video! Yeah Me!

Best Daddy Ever

So, this is what happens when your two year old says, "I have the best Daddy Ever." You try so hard to catch that on video for the teenage years and so you do a little "coaching." "OK Suzy, I'm gonna turn on the camera and you say, "Hello, I have the best Daddy Ever!"

Peer Pressure

And so it begins.... "I want to have two hair bands, like Brynna."

Mommy Time

Suzy has always loved to sew with me. I hope we can continue to share this hobby for the rest of our lives. I put the pedal on the table and she's in charge of making the needle "go". Our creations aren't always "exact" for this reason. But, we have a lot of fun in the process. She has made several blankies for her dollies and we have begun to make one even for Baby Andy. Here, she is helping me make her a little swaddle sack. I just love how everything is new and exciting at this age.
I've been teaching Anna some tips in photography in order to hopefully chronicle these first few weeks with Baby Andy and all the precious things that will be fleeting memories soon. I just love how she captured the angle and expression here in this shot. Way to go, Anna!

Swaddle Sack
Here Suzy is modeling her home made "swaddle sack". She kept asking us to swaddle her like we do Baby Andy. So, we made this one for her. It's really just another proprioceptive lycra bag like I use in therapy for my little sensory seekers. I had a good feeling my little prop seeker would love this and I was right! She loves for Anna, our great helper, to chase her around. It stresses Katie, the dog, a bit. But it is tons of fun!

Little Man Hands
Baby Andy is very difficult to photograph. He LOVES his hands on his face. I've probably trimmed his nails at least five times. He's started to find his thumb a little more lately. But, he also continues to take the paci.

This is his "personality" right now. He eats, poops, and sleeps. He's so cute and funny the way he has to have his hands up over his face. Sometimes he naps in the living room in the bassinet and doesn't seem bothered at all by the noises of his rambunctious big sister. As he becomes more aware, I'm moving him to the bedroom for a little more quiet. It just cracks me up that he seems to always have his eyes covered. It doesn't matter if it's noisy, bright, or not. I wonder if he will be like his daddy and need his "alone time" from now and again. Is he trying to tell me this already? Well, Little Man...it's like I tell your daddy. "I'll do my best, but no promises! The women in your family are all pretty high energy! You may not get much down time, but you will have lots of FUN!"

Little Mother

Aunt Deb brought Suzy a boy baby doll and she has been very busy caring for him and baby Emmy for HOURS each day. We bought her a big baby station as a "birthday gift" from Baby Andy. It was Rob's boss's idea and it is working out beautifully! Thank you, also, to Grammy and Pawpop for helping with the assembly.

This is another favorite Suzy photo.




I told her she was going to be a great Mommy to which she responded, "I already a great Mommy."