Memorial Day in San Antonio

For Memorial Day weekend this year we decided to head south to San Antonio to visit Nana and Pop.  We left on Saturday morning to avoid the Friday crowds and it seemed to work in our favor, as we arrived in a decent amount of time.  Nicky watched movies the entire way down, so he was revved up by the time we got there.  After saying our hello's, it was time to change into our suits and take a dip in the nice, cool pool!  Nicky loooves to swim, so getting him in the water is easy - getting him out is another story altogether.

Sunday morning Nana and Pop were on Nicky duty while Momma and Daddy took a little trip to the outlet malls - a must for every trip we take down there.  This trip was made even better since we were actually able to take our time and not have to tend to a crazy man every 5 seconds.  From there, we had a nice leisurely lunch at a cute diner/greasy spoon...yu-um!  It was so nice to have some "adult" time - we definitely need to make more time for that. 

We got home and quickly jumped into the pool, then were joined by the rest of the Mills clan.  Pop grilled up some burgers and brats and Nana, GG, and Aunt Marsha made all my favorite side items.  Potato Salad, and vermicelli salad, and mixed veggie salad oh my! :0)

Monday morning we packed up a little cooler with plenty of fluids and headed to the zoo.  Nicky was soo excited - he had been asking about it and looking forward to it since we had mentioned it a few weeks prior.  That kid loves him some animals!  The zoo is nicely laid out and there are a fair amount of animals to stare at.  Nicky was quite the trooper...it was pretty hot, yet he managed to walk the entire thing without complaining or asking to be carried one single time!  We were quite impressed!  Here are a few fun pics of us...

Nicky and the "amingos" (not so good with the letter "l" yet, and for some reason, he drops the "f" on this word too...too cute!) - he has such a fascination with birds, much to his daddy's chagrin!

"fishing" in the children's zoo area

yummy hot dogs!

Nicky and Daddy brushing one of the goats in the petting zoo area.  Nicky will be quick to tell you that this goat "hit him in the head with his horn".  Guess that was his way of telling him that he thought his hair looked good just the way it was!

Silly Nicky trying on a mask in the gift shop.  Hard to believe that a year ago he would've never put it on, much less smile while doing so.  He's come so far!

After the zoo we went home for a short nap, then more pool time.  By the end of the weekend Nicky was going under the water to touch the bottom, swimming much better (thanks to some guidance from his favorite Pop!), and jumping off the diving board all by himself.  We ate a lot of yummy food (thanks Nana!!!) and had great company.  It was very nice and relaxing and we all got a good start on our tans.  Well...Nicky and I did at least!

Belated Birthday Thank You!

Ok...so this post is loooong overdue, but better late than never, right?!  While I was taking a few extra days to soak up the atmosphere in Prague, Nicky was getting a little surprise of his own.  A box arrived on our doorstep, and of course he immediately asked if it was his.  Could you imagine what people would think of us if we were all as egocentric as preschoolers?  Anyway, as with most things that arrive on our stoop, this box was indeed for him.  I mean, who sends us parents anything anymore?  It's all about the kid now, right?  (what was that I was saying about being egocentric?)  Nicky tore through the present to find some new summer clothes...

...a fun Diego Color Wonder book...(those things are so cool...no muss no fuss!)...

...and the biggest chalk EVER...

There was also a ginormous candy necklace which we are rationing out - he woulda had it for dinner that night if it were up to him!  Thank you, Aunt Caroline, Brenden and Emily for the fun gifts!  We love you and miss you!!!

What I've Lost Up Top I've Gained Down There

I've been on my migraine regimen for almost 4 solid months now, and I'm happy to announce that as far as the headaches go, it appears to be working (knock on wood)!  The first few months didn't show much progress - I still had way too many days of headaches to count.  But, the past month has been pretty well pain-free!  I love it!  I almost didn't remember what it felt like to not have a headache.  I can't believe I went so long, in so much debilitating pain before finally finding something that actually helps.  Last month I only had about 3 days where I can say I hurt - and some of that was due to jet-lag from my trip to Europe I'm sure.  This month so far, I've had 1.  Yep.  ONE!  I feel like I finally have my life back!  I'm sure Kris is happy about it too, since I'm not complaining all the time.  It got to the point where he would ask me if I had a headache and I would snap at him "I always have one...don't ask...I'll let you know when I don't have one!"  So not fair to any of us. 

That said, as happy as I am to have my life back to normal (is there really a norm?)...it doesn't come without cost.  The pill I'm taking is causing me to lose my hair.  Not in the going through chemo way, but still in rather large amounts all throughout the day.  We're talking handfuls in the shower, all over my clothes during the day, on the furniture, and I've even pulled it off of Nicky!  I suppose I should be thankful of two things: 1) I still have eyebrows/eyelashes; 2) it's growing back, so I'm not exactly balding.  The other major side-effect of depakote is weight gain.  I've always been very weight conscious, so this one is a biggie for me.  I've gained roughly 10 pounds-ish.  It kind of fluctuates, but is still enough for me to notice when I wear a few pairs of my jeans.  I now have the biggest booty in our household (which isn't really saying much because neither Kris nor Nicky have one at all...sorry boys, but it's true)!

Despite the side-effects, I'm thankful to be more myself again.  The time spent with Nicky is much more enjoyable (especially since he's in the repeating everything over and over again stage - couldn't imagine that while having a migraine!).  And knock on wood...the drug continues to work and I don't have to go through the long, tumultuous task of finding another one!

Pretty Much Just Another Sunday

That about sums up my Mother's Day.  Kris worked at the fire station, so it was just me and the little Russky left to our own devices.  I somehow was able to sleep in until 9:45 (whoo hoo!) as Nicky was still tuckered out from our never-ending Saturday.  After checking out my pretty flowers my wonderful hubby got me (and tickets to see Wicked...yay!)...

I climbed into bed with Nicky and lay there listening to him breathe and staring at his beautiful lips (they are so juicy, I just want to bite them!).  He looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake him - I was afraid he would start talking again and never stop.  But, alas, my belly started to growl and I had it in my head that the only thing that would fill it up would be Burger King egg and cheese croisan'wiches.  So, with messy bed head, we rushed out and came home to chow down then cuddle on the couch watching a movie.

After that, it was more of the same ol' typical weekend day.  Ate lunch.  Napped - my favorite part!  Had snack.  Did some laundry.  Ate dinner.  Washed dishes.  Cleaned up some dog puke while Nicky stood over me asking a million times "what dat?"  "what dat der?"  "who do dat?"

The only thing that wasn't normal about the day was out of the blue at random Nicky would look at me all sweet-like, give me a big hug and say "happy mudder day momma!"  Talk about melting your heart!  There was also the opening of the super sweet cards from both Kris and Nicky.  Here's part of the one Nicky made for me at school...(green paper and pen, of course, as that's his favorite color)...

*picture of our family - that's me on the left - notice the fancy hair?  Nicky's on the right - tallest one!  Daddy's in the middle with the big eyes.  I think it's a spitting image of the three of us, no?*

*This is the part of the card that really got me.  It says "I Love You".  In Nicky's OWN handwriting!  He was barely able to make more than a circle at the beginning of the school year and now he's writing letters!  Sniff, sniff...my boy's growing up!*

A girl could get used to this kind of stuff!  Ok, so maybe it wasn't just another Sunday afterall...I'd say my boys definitely took good care of me...I'm just bitter Kris had to work and couldn't spend the day cuddling on the couch with us.  Aw...how sweet...blech! :)

They Should Call the Doll "Chatty Nicky" Instead

Seriously.  And if I have to start out a post by saying "seriously", then you know I mean business.  So, seriously.  What's up with all the chatter?  The Russky has gone from never talking at all, to jabbering on constantly about nothing at all, all the time!  And it's not like he's really saying much - most of the time it's the constant repeating of the same effing thing over and over, even though we've acknowledged him after the first time he's said it.  And he will say the same exact thing every single time he sees something that he's seen a million times.  Every day we drive by workers putting up a building - we'll hear "diggers!" from the backseat then he'll tell us they're building offices.  Then a few more yards we drive by a church and he points out the steeple - yep...they put up a steeple 4 months ago, thanks for letting us know Captain Obvious!  That's his new nickname in fact - Captain Obvious. 

And it's not just on the road.  It's while we read books.  He'll point out the exact same things every time - and they're always the super obvious things.  "der a cat."  "dat a ball."  "dat a beer."  (I swear we don't read him books with beers in them, but he has seen a few beer bottles in his short life, and he swears the picture of a seatbelt on a man in a big rig in one of his books is a beer - no matter what we tell him.  and - he's always right!) 

Then there's the "i watch tv".  So I think, ok, let's watch a little tv - maybe he'll zone out for a minute and give my ears a rest.  I'm not the biggest fan of Sponge Bob.  It doesn't teach anything; it's kinda crass; and it's overall annoying.  But, he seems to like it, and I used to be guaranteed that he would stare at it quietly, as if he's been possessed for 30 minutes.  I sit with him and half-watch while checking out some facebook, and now 50 percent of the time, Nicky will talk all through it, giving me a blow-by-blow of the show as I'm watching it!  Like I said, I don't like the show, but if I gotta watch it, I at least want to hear what's going on.  Argh!

Don't get me wrong.  We're thrilled that he is speaking now.  We just wish he were saying more and not repeating the same things over and over! 

Sigh.

Anyone have any earplugs I can borrow?

*the picture above has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but I put the hat on him at Target and texted it to Kris while he was at work one day just to torture him...pink being his favorite color and all!*