First Swim and First Steps!

Gabriel had his first swim last Friday afternoon at some friends' house from church. He seemed a little unsure at first and just kept looking at me with an expression that seemed to say "This is different, what are we doing?" He remained in this little float for the entire time and towards the end he was splashing the water quite a bit. We were only in the water for about an hour, with a break in the shade for part of that time. I didn't want him to get a sunburn. Even though I had lathered him with sunscreen, you never know how effective it will be.

Wayne got an early Father's Day present. On Saturday night, Gabriel took his first steps! This video was from last night. The one from Saturday wasn't so great, and Micah kept walking in front of the camera. He will take some steps here and there, usually about 3 or 4 and then collapse while giggling. It won't be long though, before he will be toddling everywhere!

Zach's graduation

My three handsome nephews

My immediate family minus spouses and kids

Zach with his Dad and Mom

My brother's son Zachery graduated from high school last month. It was so hard to believe! Eighteen years have gone by so quickly. I have so many memories of cute things he said and did when he was a baby. I also love the fact that he and I took a couple of road trips together for holidays and that he came to visit me when he was just a little boy when I lived in east Texas. He was the first grandchild and nephew for many years until my sister had her sons. He was the ringbearer in our wedding almost 8 years ago and was so cute and doted on by many who were there. I don't have a scanner yet, so I can't post the cute picture of him when he was 10 in his little tuxedo! Someday, I will get up with the times and get a scanner.

Zach is very smart and sweet. It will be fun to see how he continues to grow as a young man as he prepares for college and life in the "real world."

Going back to Mother's Day

Thomas, Kim, and my sweet nephews Harrison and Benjamin

on the stage with the pastor

I'm a little late in posting this from Mother's Day. We had Gabriel's baby dedication at church. Mom and Dad were here as well as my sister Kim and her family. It was nice to spend Mother's day with my Mom for the first time in nine years!

The dedication was very quick. Our church only does baby dedication one Sunday a year, which was unusual to us. There were about 25 other babies and families, so they moved us through quickly. We didn't have Micah in for that time because we weren't sure how it would go. The waiting in line to move through would have been too hard for him, so we went to get him afterwards for the family picture. The one that the photographer took turned out fairly well because we are all looking at the camera. I don't have a scanner or I would post that one.

The Powdered Sugar Incident

This happened last Thursday. This mess topped all three from the day before. I had gotten home from picking up Micah at school. I got him out of the car first and then went back to get Gabriel as I always do. I immediately went to change Gabriel’s diaper and Micah had gone into his room which I thought nothing of. Apparently, I left the pantry door open in the kitchen, once again. As I was coming out of my room I glanced in Micah’s room and saw him sitting in his bean bag chair, dumping powdered sugar out of the bag. He had already dumped it all over his bed, all over the carpet, all over his toys, and all over himself. He was also enjoying the taste because he was smacking his lips.

I didn’t get mad or frustrated, just sighed in exasperation “OHHH Micah!” Then I started the task of cleaning up which took about half an hour. Before I cleaned up, I decided to take a few pictures. I knew that one day, I will look back at these photos and laugh hysterically. I accidentally deleted one photo that was a good shot of Micah, but you get the gist by seeing these few.

Three messes in one day

Yesterday was a messy day at the Womack household. I had gotten a rose on Mother’s Day at the baby dedication and it was sitting on top of the entertainment center where I thought it was out of reach. Wrong. I was back in the bedroom for just a few seconds yesterday morning and heard a crash. I ran into the living room and discovered some picture frames knocked off as well as the rose in the vase on it’s side with water dripping off the entertainment center, on to the TV and on to the floor.

Just the day before, Wayne was helping me with changing Gabriel’s diaper (he’s getting quite wiggly and strong). When we finished, I came into the living room to discover Micah playing with my bouquet of flowers (also from Mother’s Day) on its side, with water and bits of flowers everywhere.Apparently, I had left the pantry door open long enough for Micah to discover a bag of rice. It had a twist tie on it which he somehow managed to get off. While I was feeding Gabriel, Micah had happily dumped the rice on the floor.

The last thing was my wedding bouquet. It was in a plastic box which was taped on both ends. Micah found it in his closet ( I had also mistakenly left this door open). I saw him with it but thought there was no harm since it was taped. I suppose he rattled and shook it so much that tiny fragments of flowers were scattered all over his bed and in his floor and in a few other places, all with the box taped and never completely opened!

It’s so hard to not get frustrated with him or lash out angrily and raise my voice in these situations. Then, I have to remind myself that he doesn’t know he is doing anything wrong. He loves water and he loves flowers…knocking the flowers over was about getting to both. He loves plastic and different textures…the rice was about that. I’m sure they have rice bins at school for the kids to play in. I want to say to him, and sometimes do, “What are you doing?!” or “Why are you doing that?!!” I’m sure it makes perfect sense in his mind. I need to remember to pray in the moment when something like these instances happen, to ask the Father for help in responding gently and lovingly.

Where do I start?

Well, it has been a while! So sorry for the two of you who check every day to see if I’ve posted! Okay, maybe there’s more than two. Anyway, a lot has happened and I won’t be posting all of it today! Since I last wrote, we’ve had both sets of grandparents and my sister and her family came to visit. The stomach virus also visited and started with me, then Micah (poor kid was out of school for a week!) and then Wayne had it for a couple of days. Thankfully, Gabriel did not get it!

Since I last posted, Micah had the MRI and did very well with the whole process. His neurologist said there were no changes except those consistent with Tuberous Sclerosis. When I asked what that meant, he said there were some areas that looked like scar tissue that can sometimes develop which can cause mild seizures. He still has seizures on occasion; they are so mild that you have to be watching very closely or at just the right moment to know it’s happening. So, overall, that was good news about the MRI.

I know many of you have prayed diligently for Micah since he was a baby, and we are always thankful. I also know that many have prayed specifically since I asked for that in March when he was having such extreme meltdowns/tantrums for about two weeks. Thank you for that as well. We haven’t seen anything like that since that time. We have figured out that he is sometimes very bothered by the dishwasher and other loud noises (lawnmowers, hair dryers), so these noises will upset him. It’s such a process trying to figure out why he gets upset, but things have been so much better!

9 month photo shoot

It’s hard to believe that Gabriel turned 9 months old on Sunday! I found this denim shirt that was Micah’s and decided to dress him in it. I couldn’t resist a quick photo shoot. The brown recliner makes a nice background. He is getting so animated. He chuckles easily and is quick to get mad when we take something away that he wants to have or chew on that he shouldn’t. He has 5 teeth with a 6th on it’s way soon. He is crawling but hasn’t quite mastered it. He does the “army crawl” a lot and sometimes will make a few crawling motions only to lunge at something and then flop down on his belly. It’s so cute. He is moving all over the place and has discovered some of the electronics and the Cds. He managed to get one open that was a little loose in the case and started to chew on it. That's not so cute.