Tribute to Albert

When Brian and I first moved in together in 2004 my parents cat had just given birth to a litter of kittens. We decided to take two of the kittens with us: Albert, the boy, and Riddick, the girl who we originally thought was a boy. That first year I learned something new: just because animals are siblings doesn't mean they won't breed. Nine kittens later I learned our lesson and had Albert fixed. lol

A few years later we had Carson and moved into our new house. Both cats were amazingly patient with Carson and would let him pet them and would just get up and walk away if Carson started getting on their nerves.

We hadn't been in the house very long when Riddick passed away, making Albert our only pet.

When I say he was the best cat in the world, I really mean it. Even friends of ours that aren't "cat people" loved him because he was just so friendly.

When Carson was little we would go on walks through the neighborhood and Albert would accompany us, and would even stop and wait if we talked to neighbors.

He knew his name only when I called him and would meow in response each time I called for him.

He really turned into more of an outside cat the past few years, but would still greet us by the front door every morning as we left and again when we arrived home.

On Easter weekend, while we were out of town, we received a text message from our neighbors saying that they had found Albert. It appeared to them that he must have been attacked by dogs due to a large amount of cat hair found in the yard and no signs of being run over. We were devastated; he has been a part of our family even before we were a "family." Even worse, we had to tell Carson the news on Easter during our drive back home. He cried the entire way, he has known Albert his whole life. :(

I probably sound like a crazy cat lady writing a blog about Albert, but since he was a "Scott" I wouldn't feel right not paying tribute to him.

I am sure one day we will eventually find another cat, but Albert will be a tough act to follow!

Painting with a Twist

One of my best friends, Lindsey, celebrated her 29th birthday yesterday by hosting a party at a place called Painting with a Twist. The way it works is that the host chooses a piece of artwork that all guests will learn to paint while sipping wine. Our instructor was a soon-to-be retired kindergarten teacher and her husband, and the art of the evening was a fleur de lis ("florida leaf" according to my co-workers lol). We used the same basic image, but chose our own colors based on how our homes are decorated. I have been trying to find something to hang on the wall in our master bathroom, so this event was able to kill two birds with one stone.


We started by tracing a large stencil on our canvas with a pencil and then painted around it for our background. (I thought about lying and saying I painted that free-hand, but if any of you attend a class I would be caught!)



The birthday girl and her mom:


After the background was painted we dried it and painted the inside.

Two hours later we had finished "masterpieces" to take home!

All the girls:

It was slightly stressful, just because we were perfectionists, but we all had a really great time!

Registered!

Last night we signed Carson up at an elementary in the district where I teach. We are hoping he will be accepted into the Dual Language Program where he will learn in both English and Spanish and be fluent in both languages by the time he enters junior high. He was evaluated a couple of weeks ago, now we are just waiting for the school to finish testing the other applicants.

At the meeting we learned a few things that we need to work on over the summer, like shoe tying and learning our address, and also what he will be capable this time next year, the most amazing being the level of reading he will do!

I know I say this all the time, but where does the time go?? How is my little guy already about to enter school?? Why can't we freeze time and keep him this age forever?? I am thinking I need to start stocking up on kleenex now because I am going to need it come August!

Mother's Day

Life has been busy, mostly with work! Between TAKS and 8th grade dance preparation, I have stayed late at school pretty much every day for the past three weeks. This week I didn't get home before 8pm any night, making me miss my guys so much. So, I wanted to spend Sunday having some quality family time.

We decided to invest in season passes to Schlitterbahn in Galveston, so that we can have a fun place to go this summer while the boys and I are off. We had such a great day!

After sleeping in, I was woken to breakfast in bed and a bouquet of flowers. We got dressed in our swim suits and headed to Wal-mart to fill up an ice chest for the day. (A plus to going to Schlitterbahn is that you can bring in outside food and drinks)

We are only about 45 minutes away from the park, so it didn't take long to get there and hop in.

The water was still a little cool, but Carson didn't mind a bit.

Deacon thought the water was hilarious. He must have known it was Mother's Day because he repeated "mama" over and over the entire afternoon! :)

With Carson's new haircut, he looks like such a KID. The baby look has left his little face, and he is getting so big. Next thing we know he will be losing teeth too! How is it possible that this is already my 6th Mother's Day!?!

Brian and I took turns the rest of the afternoon hanging with Deacon, while the other rode the big slides with Carson. The bad thing about water parks are that you can't take as many photos (...well unless you have a waterproof camera, which we do not) so all the photos were taken close to where our bags were. But seeing as I am about a million blogs behind now, it is probably better that I didn't have so many photos to go through!

I couldn't have asked for a better day or a greater family than the one God gave me! I am one lucky gal!

Easter

We had a great Easter last weekend at my parents house in the country.

Carson dyed Easter Eggs, and they turned out gorgeous.


The Easter Bunny made sure to spoil the boys! (For some reason we weren't able to convince Meme to keep the Moon Dough at her house...)



Carson loved his goodies.

Deacon liked the eggs. He held, shook, and LOOKED at them!

...and then dropped it when he was over it.

Carson HAS to be the most amazing big brother ever. He would find a couple of eggs for himself, then bring some for Deacon's basket. I love that kid!


These past few months have really strengthened our relationship with God, and Brian and I both agree that we have never felt closer to Him. Our faith has grown so much from putting our son in His hands and seeing the miracles He has made. This Easter was the first time I truly understood the magnitude of the holiday, and the sacrifice that was made for each of us. Hope yours was fab too!

2 WEEKS!!!

That's right, we are at two weeks with no seizures and life couldn't be better!! It is like the fog has cleared in Deacon's mind and he is doing fantastic!! Here's a few things he has already started doing so far:

• Sounds: "e" & "m", I have been sick this past week and he is now fake coughing and clearing his throat too!
  


• Social: The daycare was so excited because he lined up to go outside with the rest of the kids, instead of wandering around the room as usual. Deacon is staying in same room as us at home, and will even follow us around some. He is laughing in response to us and will mimic some sounds we make. Actually, he is loving us so much, he is waking up extra at night just to spend extra quality time together! We are loving it too, and have taken advantage by putting the little snuggle in bed with us.
  


• Fine motor: Deacon has improved at retrieving his pacifier and bottle, and getting them back to his mouth. This may be because his thumb-tucking has decreased.
  


• Vision: He is following us with his eyes and looking for items that have dropped instead of just searching with his hands. We also got a report from school that he watched them blowing bubbles for the first time!
  


• Other: He can now jump off the ground with both feet!
  

The funny thing is that he has picked up a preference for us, and is a little less open with others. So while we are wanting to show off all the new successes with everyone, he is not as willing to demonstrate his new tricks! lol

ONE Week!

God has been working on Deacon, I have no doubt.

I have been nervous about typing this blog, that maybe I might jinx something, but we are elated to share this news:

Deacon has been seizure-free for a WEEK!!!!

This past week has been nothing short of amazing! Deacon has gone from having up to TEN seizures a DAY (well, actually 40 before the medicine), to NONE for SEVEN!!

See that picture above? That has been his temperament ALL week! He is full of smiles, laughs, and the light has returned from behind his eyes. I can't even explain the changes we have seen in him in such a short time.

Maybe the medicine finally kicked in? Maybe the seizures have disappeared for good? There are cases where seizures stop with no explanation of where they went, or why they happened in the first place.

We are holding our breath and treasuring every moment. Please continue to pray. God IS listening and Deacon will be a testimony of how powerful prayer is.