September Showers

Last week I got really off on my workouts. For starters, Monday was Labor Day so no classes were being held (nor would I have gone if they were), Tuesday I did make it to cycling (Yea me!), but then that ended up being the only day I made it. I got lazy, I made excuses….totally not my style. I was so disappointed in myself by the end of the week, and you know what? I didn’t feel too hot either! (and I seemed to gain 2 lbs in a week! Eek!) I am convinced that the exercise is really helping this pregnancy (both with the pounds and my overall physical/mental well-being) or this baby just really loves it! Case in point: At yoga today I was lying on my stomach and guess what! I felt the baby move for the first time!!! And when I did the move again, I felt the baby move again! I don’t think I felt Riley move until sometime between 18-20 weeks and so today I am at 16 weeks and 1 day! It made me smile and I wanted to shout to the whole class “I just felt my baby move for the first time!!!” but I held it in and smiled to myself! My goal is to get back on track this week and make it to the gym all 4 of my scheduled times. I also go to the baby doctor on Thursday for a check-up so I’ll try and post again on Thursday with that update.

Friday night, Chad opened his latest show, Three Days of Rain at the Sanders Theatre in the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. Amphibian Stage Productions is the company that produced the show and they originally did the show 10 years ago in their inaugural season. It was cool to see how things were done differently this time around, in a different theater, with different actors, set designer, costume designer, sound designer and director. I think Chad and the company were the only constants from 10 years ago. While there were certain things I really loved about the original production, there were also things I really loved about this one. The acting is really superb, and Chad did such a great job on the lights, even though he had a very small budget...and it rains onstage people! Here is a picture from the show:

This was one of the coolest lighting moments in the show and I really liked how Chad made their shadows stand out a lot in the first act. If you have any interest in seeing this show, it is only running through next weekend and has 4 remaining performances September 17, 18 & 19 at 8:00pm and Sunday, September 20 at 2:00pm. Check out http://amphibianproductions.org/2009current-three-days-rain.htm for more info and to make reservations.

Riley’s latest obsession is taking showers. I don’t really know how this came about, except that Chad was getting tired of Riley throwing fits about taking baths so one day he asked him if he wanted to take a shower with Daddy and a new obsession began. Last week Riley was convinced that he could only take showers with Daddy so it took a lot of convincing on my part to explain that Mama could give him a shower just as easily as Daddy. Chad was working so I think Riley realized that the only way it was going to work those two nights was if Mama did it. However, as soon as Chad was home again he went back to thinking only Daddy could give him showers. Last night I ended up just making him get in the shower with me, to give Chad a break and in the end Riley was okay with it. What’s funny is that he doesn’t cry at all when the shower water is going down over his head, but in the bath he would ALWAYS cry when we would wash his hair. While the showers take more work on mine & Chad’s part, they go by much quicker because he just wants us to hold him while we bathe him and he doesn’t have any toys in the shower, which were what made bath time take so long. We have to shower in the master bath because I don’t think Riley realizes that he can actually shower in his own bathroom too. In one way I am sad that he seems to be over baths, but I think this might just be a phase and we’ll be back to bathing one day…I’m also not sure how much longer I’ll be able to hold him in the shower as my belly grows and grows over the coming months, so that may stop this trend in its tracks anyway…

This weekend it just rained and rained and rained all weekend. It was really taxing to have to get out in it and I can’t remember the last time we had just a steady constant rain like that for so long. We ventured out on Saturday to do some grocery shopping and then that night we went to Nana & Papa’s to help them and some of Jake’s friends plan the annual (this time memorial) softball tournament in honor of Jake. I can’t wait to post details about the tournament as soon as we have the plans solidified. It is a great day of fun and it's all for a good cause. The previous two years, all the money went to paying for my brother’s mounting medical bills, etc due to his 19 month battle with cancer. This year the money we raise will be put in a fund that will award scholarships to Jake’s high school, alma mater, Western Hills High School, as well as a possible donations to Thrivewell Cancer Foundation (www.thrivewell.org) for cancer research, because Jake was a BIG supporter of cancer research and participated in a clinical trial that we credit with giving us some extra time with him. As the annual tournament hopefully grows each year, we would also like to offer possible scholarships to each of the colleges Jake attended, Tarleton and Sam Houston State. Details are still being ironed out, but expect a blog post dedicated just to the tournament as soon as we get everything settled!

Yesterday, we met up with Grammy, Nana & Papa at Yogi’s Bagel Café for lunch. I am always surprised how one pancake there can really fill me up! Their multigrain pancakes are the best! I really craved them (and just pancakes in general) when I was pregnant with Riley. This time not so much…Chad keeps offering to make pancakes at home and I keep turning him down because they sound too sweet. The sweetness of fruits usually sound good, but the sweetness of really sugary things, like syrup, have sounded downright nasty at times. After lunch we ran a couple quick errands and then headed home for Riley’s naptime. During Riley’s nap I watched, August Rush, which I Tivo’d earlier in the week. It was a really sweet story and of course it made me cry at the end (happy tears though!). Chad did not like it and went to get on the computer about halfway through…boys!

After naptime, we got ready and headed over to Grandmommy and Haha’s house to celebrate Haha’s birthday (which was actually on Wednesday!) HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAHA! Chad’s brother Blake cooked dinner for everyone and made some really great steak with mushroom sauce, as well as mashed potatoes and asparagus. Of course Riley wouldn’t eat a bite of what everyone was eating and ended up eating cheese and deli meat and goldfish crackers. He’s lucky we all cater to him! Every time Riley is at his Grandmommy & Haha’s they get their train set out for Riley to play with. I think some of the pieces were Chad’s when he was growing up and other pieces they recently acquired. I got some pictures of the three of them having fun with the trains last night:

We had a great time visiting with Grandmommy, Haha, Uncle Blake, Aunt Rebecca and Great Grandmother Muzzie and the food was really good! Riley also impressed me both here and at our house over the weekend when he helped pick up his toys and put them away. He also was very polite all weekend, saying “thank you” and “I’m sorry”. His school must be teaching him well! Speaking of school, Riley moved up to a new daycare class this past week and while I am happy he is back with some of his old friends, we will really miss his old teachers, Ms Anna & Ms Kaylee. They were two of the greatest ladies and we were so lucky to have them caring for Riley each day! I will miss them dearly, but I know it was time to move up and I look forward to getting to know Riley’s new teachers! Already I have been so impressed with some of the crafts Riley has been making at school. I guess his class is finally at the age where they can actually comprehend crafts better than before. Chad says dropping Riley off in the mornings has been a lot easier because along with this move up in class, Riley also got to move up to the big playground to play and he absolutely loves that. I love it too because he doesn’t come home with so much sand in his shoes each night! I guess there are other things to distract him on the big playground other than the sandbox! Hopefully this rain will stop soon so he can get out there and play!