we don't beat our kids (that much)

It seems like so many kids we know have gotten sick in the past couple of months. I've caught myself thinking wow Ollie hasn't been sick in a long time. Its inevitable the moment I think or dare say it out loud we'll all get it. This weekend we discovered Ollie has a case of Fifth Disease. I tried to ignore it for a couple of days and dismiss it as allergies, but Saturday morning it was clear that something was definitely abnormal. Perfect, a sick kid on the weekend. Luckily our neighbor is Abe is a doctor, who Misty refers to as "doc on the block," and was kind enough to diagnose our child. All that to say, I didn't slap Ollie on the face to make him smile for the camera, he just has a crazy rash.

bonus: baby otto looking cute and eating his shoe!

NeNe Update

Thanks for your prayers people. NeNe is doing great and recovering at home. She only spent a few days in the hosital...I'm very delayed on the update.

I love my NeNe...isn't she a cutie?! She is one stylish and hip grandma. I also think its cute that she has an iPod. Last summer she floated the Guadalupe River with her grandchildren (or was it the Comal, Leah). I was not one of the grandchildren floating the river, I was 7 months pregnant and not up for an adventure.

I must admit I've not taken advantage of learning from her. She cooks great food from scratch...Jeremy is always impressed with her. She paints, does all the needle arts and crafts, sews & quilts. I love her quilts the most. They are handmade and even hand stitched (some machine stitched). Everyone in the family gets a quilt. Babies always get a baby quilt. I got a quilt in high-school made out old denim she even used jeans that were once worn by my dad. After I graduated college I was given a quilt and again as a wedding gift. NeNe has stacks and stacks and stacks of quilts she's made just sitting her house. Over the years, we've talked about them, admired them and on occasion laid them out on the floor to get a better look. Last Christmas, after all the presents were opened, she let everyone pick out a quilt. It was quite a surprise, there were more quilts than people and choosing the right one was a task. Talk about hard decisions, each special in their own way and all special because she made them.

Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to the cool lady I call NeNe.

Angel Baby

Otto is so cute these days. He is 6 months old and I can't believe how much he has grown. I have been enjoying every second of him. I really don't want him to hit anymore milestones...its going by too fast for me. I was just telling my best friend, Melissa, how laid back I am with Otto. With Ollie everything was so new...I anticipated every stage of his development. I'm so different with Otto. I don't read any emails about development, I don't wonder about what's next, I'm not concerned that we have no schedule and I don't follow the "rules". Otto just started sleeping in his bed. I've been nursing him so its so easy to keep him bed with us :) He is sleeping in his bed now and sleeps from 9ish to 7ish. Last night from 9ish to 6:4oish. He is pretty much a rock star. He's truly a good baby...he's been so easy from day 1.
I'm so thankful for him and often refer to him as "angel baby" (sometimes "that baby" but more frequently "angel baby").
Otto is also my firecracker, he'll let you know if he doesn't like something. He's already a social butterfly...he can be ready to sleep and then I take him out to see people and he beams. It seems like he may have more personality than Ollie, is that even possible? Ollie is like his dad, give him the stage and he'll put on a show for you.

Otto's big milestones these days: sitting up and moving up a class at sunday school! I was so sad when I found out he was no longer in the baby, baby class(that is my official name for it). He also decided to sit up early. Like I mentioned, I don't read the books but my doctor was very surprised that he was sitting up and commented he was early doing that. I'm pretty sure the old guy didn't believe me, so he sat Otto up on the table and gave him something to play with. Otto performs well under pressure and was up for impressing the doctor. I'm glad he is wanting to sit up but I'd rather him just need his mommy. for a little while longer.
Here is a picture of my sweet angel baby.

Not quite a cult-de-sac.

I wouldn't say we're a cult-de-sac like the Tennesse Seays , but we really like hanging out with our neighbors. Saturday afternoon Jeremy decided to grill out...amazing weather this weekend don't you Texans agree? Anyway, we invited everyone over from our street to come eat with us. Jeremy set up his laptop and projector and we played Ratatouille on our garage. We had steaks, sides, some amazing bread (Thanks Jennifer), beer and lots of fun. Here are some of our sweet neighbors below: Robin (holding Cannon), Siby, Misty, Cassy, Kelly (not a neighbor just my good friend) & me holding my precious angel.

Sunday after church everyone was back outside in the cul-de-sac doing some sidewalk chalk art and riding Cassy's old Spree scooter (remember those)? Oh and I got a iPhone this weekend. What a great weekend! Here are the pics:

Sweet baby Otto.

Fred driving Mady around...he was a little crazy on the spree so I wouldn't let Ollie ride.

Ollie upset b/c he can't ride the Spree.

NeNe

We are in Houston for the weekend. Candi's grandma (Roy's mom) went in for a heart cath on Friday that turned into to triple bypass. She is doing fine, and is expected to be out of ICU in the next couple of days. We love NeNe and are praying for a speedy and full recovery. We know she will be quilting and making her famous rolls (from scratch) before we know it. Please remember to say a prayer for her!

--JJ