La Vita E Bella*

We've been quite busy, and haven't been putting up the blog articles quite like we should. Thanks for your patience.

So, after more than a week...here's the latest update--with pictures! (Feel free to scan down to them now--just promise to come back and read my thoughts.)


Today is a special day for Tara and me. On this day, August 29th, only three short (long) years ago, Tara said "Yes!" to one of the most important questions of our lives. On this day, at a secret location known only to us, she agreed to marry me.

It's hard to believe that was only three years ago. Boy, how many things have changed since then!! That being said, it's been the best thing I've ever done. I know she agrees.

I'm really blessed to have such a wonderful woman as my wife. I'm finding this more and more each day, as I watch her as she mothers our young son. It's really amazing to see how much she loves and nurtures him.

I see this love in a lot of things, but I'm most in tune to this when I watch her read or sing to him. Sometimes, when they aren't watching...I just sit and watch them play. As I do, I thank God for my wonderful wife, and for the wonderful mother she is for Jaxson.


So, amid the misty-ness...life is good. It's really good. I married a beautiful woman, who is a loving wife and mother; I have a wonderful son, who is the joy of our lives. As the title says (only in Italian):

*Life is beautiful!

Here's a few pictures of our happy family:

It's official: the whole family hates Sweet Potatoes!

"How do I get myself in these messes?"

Aren't they adorable?

Jaxson smiles with his whole head.

Jaxson Hat!

See ya next time...

Norman

Getting SOOOOO Big...

We've all heard the expression "Kids grow up so fast"...well, Tara and I are seeing it in Jaxson.

It's been amazing watching all the new things that he's started to do in the last few weeks. If you've not seen him in a while, you might not recognize him.

Here's a brief list of the new stuff that Jaxson can now do:

1.) Roll over--right now, he can only go from front to back, but he's working on the reverse.

2.) Eat something other than a bottle--cereal is a lot cheaper than formula, so Mom and Dad are excited about this one. He'll eat applesauce like it's candy. He's not fond of bananas--which Dad fully understands.

3.) Reach for stuff--at a friend's house the other night, Jaxson was in their Exersaucer (like a walker), and was having the time of his life. He was grabbing the toys, and desperately trying to get them into his mouth. If he sees something that he wants, he'll reach for it--and probably put it in his mouth.

4.) Put his pacifier back into his mouth--he still has room to improve, but he's getting better. We can thank Uncle Travis for this one, as he worked with Jaxson on this a lot.

5.) Sit at the Big Boy table--now that he's doing cereal pretty well, we decided that he'd get to graduate to the dinner table. He's not figured out how to keep his hands above the tray, but he'll get it soon enough. It's pretty cool for us to sit down and have dinner as a family.

6.) Hold his head up and look around--this has become a real struggle when it's night-night time. When we lay him down on his stomach, he starts arching his back to look around. He just wants to be part of what's going on...that's all.

It's really been a lot of fun watching him grow. Each day, he gets more and more personality, and becomes more like a little boy.

Speaking of which, he's not so little anymore. I took him to the doctor today (runny nose and fever--again), and he weighs nearly 15 pounds. As the one that carries him in his car seat most often, I knew that he was getting heavier, but I wasn't expecting him to be at 15 pounds yet.

He does eat a lot, though, so I guess it's not that surprising.


Here's a few pictures of our boy doing some of his new stuff:

Jaxson likes his walker, but REALLY wants an Exersaucer (wink, wink).

Jaxson enjoys dinner with Mom and Dad.

He sees the cookie, but wants to eat the tray.

"Did someone say applesauce?"

As an aside, this was the first post in a while. I appreciate that everyone comes and checks out our 'blog as often as you do. We'll try to be a bit more diligent in posting updates. He's growing up really fast, and we don't want you guys to miss a bit of it.

Until next time...

Norman

P.S. If you happen to see an Exersaucer for sale (say, at a Garage Sale or Wal-Mart), feel free to pick it up. There might be one at this link:

Exersaucers are COOL!

...(or not).

My Sister's Married...

As you might recall, we had a busy weekend working to get my sister, Sarah, married. This has kept us from getting a blog post up for the last little while. There was much to do to prepare for the wedding, and we're finally get back to our routine after a busy weekend.

While you are reading this, my sister is probably out on a beach somewhere in the Mexican Riviera. She and her husband, Scotty (my new brother-in-law) were married on Saturday, and are honeymooning in Mexico. Hopefully, they're enjoying some fun in the sun, and a much needed break from the hectic-ity (I just coined a new term) from planning a wedding.

The wedding...was beautiful. My sister...was a beautiful bride. Tara...was a beautiful bridesmaid. All in all, it was a beautiful weekend.

Jaxson wasn't in the wedding, but he was beautiful, too. We had to find something for him to wear at the ceremony, and somehow that responsibility fell on me. Tara requested that I find him some khakis and a nice button-up shirt, which I did. The problem was, both were a little too big for him. He was wearing too many clothes during the wedding, and he let everyone around him know that he was unhappy and hot.

Afterward, though, he was fine.

Additionally, Travis moved out of our place today. He stayed with us all summer long, while working with me at the Plant. We really enjoyed having him stay with us, and will miss having him around. He's moving to College Station for another semester at Texas A&M (Whoop!) this weekend, and we're praying that things go well for him. He's looking for a job there now, but he'll find something soon, I'm sure.


Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Sarah and Scotty are happy, but tired.

In this picture, Sarah and I are pretending to talk--this photo is staged.

Here's a picture of Jaxson getting ready for the rehearsal dinner.

Our happy family at the reception.

Tara and Jaxson enjoying a book.

Jaxson has been putting EVERYTHING in his mouth--including Dad's thumb.

"I'm ready for my closeup."

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Until next time...

Norman

Greetings from Franklin, TX.

We've had a busy week. That's the reason for the delay in updating the Hall Monitor this week.

Why so busy? Well, my sister is getting married--tomorrow! There's been plenty for us to do to get ready for the Big Event.

We left yesterday (Thursday) to come to Franklin. It takes a lot of planning and packing--we've discovered--to get everything that you need to travel on a trip of any length with a baby involved.

I had the day off to prepare everything, and Tara was good enough to leave me a list.

I was responsible for getting all the needed stuff cleaned (we always behind on laundry) and packed into the car. Naturally, I forgot a few things--most notably, Jaxson's safety spoon and Baby Wash.

However, we're here now, and we've had to buy replacements, but things are coming together.

We went up to the church earlier to get everything set up, and it looks good. I had forgotten how much work goes into a wedding. Fortunately, there were a lot of ladies there who had a knack for making everything work out just right. My job was just to stay out of the way.


Well, there's other stuff to be done, so I'll cut this short. No pictures this time, as I'm connected via dial-up, and it would take a month to upload a picture.

Rest assured, though, Jaxson is still adorable.

(I'll post proof next time.)

Until then...

Norman

Weak and Powerless...

This is the first update in a few days. We've had a weak, puny, sickly child for the last few days.

Jaxson was sick Friday. (Remember--I stayed home and watched the History Channel with him.) He didn't really feel that all that well until yesterday afternoon.

This was the first time that he's been really sick. He's had a runny nose before, but this was more than that. He had a really runny nose, cough, congestion--the works. He didn't feel well, and he made sure to let us know that. I don't ever recall him being quite as fussy as he was over the weekend.

That being said, it appears that all that is behind us. By Sunday afternoon, he was ready to resume his normal duties. He felt so well, we went up to the church to play some volleyball, with Jaxson in tow.

Jaxson was the hit of the event. All the ladies wanted to play with him. There were long periods of time in which we weren't sure exactly who had him. We just knew that he was being well taken care of, by ladies who adored him.

Like I said, he was feeling a lot better.

Tara and I had a good time, too. We discovered that we aren't as young as we thought...but we had a great time.


When we got home from the big event, we discovered that our power was out. It rained about six-and-a-half drops at our house Sunday afternoon, and apparently, that was enough to wreak havoc on our local electrical grid.

According to Travis, the power had been out since 5:30--a little over three hours. He figured that the power would be back on soon.

Travis was wrong.

We sat around a little candle for the next two hours or so talking. It was kinda nice. The TV was off, Jaxson was in a pretty good mood, and we all bonded--in the dark--but it was really nice.

Around 10:45pm, it was time for Travis to go to work, so Tara and I decided to go to bed.

With the power out for the last 5+ hours, it was starting to get pretty balmy in the house. What little rain we'd had earlier in the day made it a little humid. The house was getting uncomfortable. We both hoped that the power would come on soon, otherwise, we wouldn't get a good night's sleep.

The good news is, the power did eventually come back on. The bad news--it was 4:00am when it did.

By then, Tara had decided to open the windows to the house, hoping for a cooling breeze. There wasn't one to be found. Simply stated, the night was sultry. The air was still, and that still, sultry air had settled into our home.

When the power came back on, it was 86° in our home. We were drenched with sweat. Jaxson was too, but oddly, he was sound asleep.

We cranked down the thermostat, and when we woke up a few hours later, it was a bone-chattering 67° in our home. Those last two hours of sleep were wonderful.


Today, Jaxson is feeling a lot better. In fact, he's back to his usually playful self. Here's a picture showing his playful mood:

He wanted to see what he'd look like as a silent film villian.


I also included a picture of him raising his head up to look around. He's getting pretty good at this. For a while, he had no head or motor control, but we've been working on it. As you can tell, he's curious to see what's going on around him.

And one last picture of Jaxson hanging out with his Dad. Doesn't he look happy?

(A final note, Jaxson squirms too much when getting a fake mustache put on his face. I think I would, too. That's my boy!)

Until next time...

Norman

Playing Hooky with Mr. Mom...

For a while, Jaxson was sleeping through the nights pretty well, but it seems now that Tara's working again, he has reverted to his old ways. For some reason, he wants to make his presence known each night around 2:30. (That's "am", by the way.)

Last night was no exception.

For Tara's new job, she has to get up pretty early, as she has to be in her office by 7am. Figure in a 30 minute commute, and let's just say she's "up with the roosters". Jaxson woke up around 2am and was being unusually fussy. Usually, a warm bottle puts him (and sometimes us) right back to sleep.

Last night was an exception.

After the bottle, he continued to fuss. He'd had a fever earlier in the day, so we suspected that he might be cutting teeth. We're told that four-month-olds sometimes do that. However, we noticed in the night that his breathing was really raspy, almost like he had a cold or something.

We had plenty of opportunity to monitor his health, as it seems he was awake all night long.

This morning, he was running a low grade fever, and we decided that Tara would go on to work, and I would stay home with The Boy. Three days of Day Care, and he's already playing hooky.


I've done my tours of duty with him before, but this was the first time that I stayed with him when he was feeling this poorly. Usually, when he starts to fuss, Tara's right there to scoop him up. Often, she'll say something like, "You're not the momma." and can calm him a matter of minutes, if not seconds, just by picking him up.

Today, however, Tara was no where to be found.

I looked around for her more than once.


I had to make a quick trip to the office this morning to drop off some stuff in my car, and so I loaded up Jaxson, and we made the drive to Waxahachie. He slept the whole way, which was very good.

When we got home, he started feeling badly. Despite my best efforts, there was nothing in my "Daddy Bag-o-Tricks" that seemed to work. Desparate, I gave him a little Tylenol. Once it took effect, he became more like himself.

The next time he got fussy, it was because he was hungry. If there's one thing that I know how to do, it's make bottles. After a warm bottle, he was ready for a nap. Though it was only 9:30, I was ready for one, too. Being Mr. Mom is hard work.

We slept for a while. Well, he did. I got a few phone calls which woke me, but thankfully, not Jaxson.

By the time Jaxson woke up, we were both hungry again. About this time, Uncle Travis came home. I sent him to get me some Sonic grub while I fed Jaxson again.

After we both ate, I was in a better mood, but Jaxson was still not himself. He continued to cry for long periods at time, seemingly for no reason at all. Frustrated, I tried "The Last Resort"--I let him watch the History Channel for a while.

It worked. There's something oddly hypnotic about those Mayans and their centuries old astrological calendar. He was mesmerized. I was, too.

For about 30 minutes, we watched this together, and we rejuvenated.


Finally, about 1:30pm, Tara came home. I gave her a full report of his day, and I think she was impressed by my parenting skills.

Right now, he's still being a little fussy. He hasn't had a fever since early this morning, and we're treating his cold with over-the-counter meds. We're hoping he'll wake up feeling a lot better in the morning.

However, if the last week is any indication, "in the morning" will probably be around 2am...

Until next time...

Norman

P.S. Here's is a picture from one of his happier moments today.

This is a New Taste....

Jaxson has been doing so well at day care and staying on a really great schedule. However, he is often still hungry shortly after having his bottle. We were told to start him on cereal when he turned 4 months, but we decided to cheat and started 4 days earlier :)

He plays so hard at day care and doesn't nap for long periods of time, so he comes home exhausted. If it were up to him, he'd sleep from about 6pm to 2am. While that may work for Jaxson, it not the best schedule for us.

Tonight, I made him get up and eat around 8pm. He had his bottle and we tried cereal for the first time. Though he was very mad at me for making him wake up, he did pretty well. I don't think it was the cereal he liked as much as it was the spoon. Apparently, we have a "magic" spoon that wipes away all tears and makes cereal taste a lot better.

Here are the pictures I took, starting with his angry, "why-did-you-wake-me?" face. You can see that he learned to like the cereal, and later, with him in his puppy robe after a much needed bath.

Enjoy the pictures!

"You can't make me eat!"

"You didn't say it was going to be this good..."

"SEE-food! Get it?"

"Chicks dig the floppy ears."

Thanks for dropping by...

Tara

Mommy and Jaxson's Day Off!!

This is my first "post" on our blog, and I wanted to use it to say some thank you's to many people.

We have had so many people praying for me to find a job that would have the kind of schedule that would allow me to have extra time at home to be with my family. Our lifegroup especially has had us on their prayer list for quite some time and we are so thankful that you have constantly lifted our family up in prayer.

I had gone on several interviews within the past couple of months and sent out dozens of resumes to dental offices looking for an assistant. I had my own criteria of not working 5 days a week and needing to be home at night no later than 5:30. As I began my search, I realized quickly that these demands I had were few and far between. I began understanding more of what praying without ceasing was all about. This was on my mind and in my heart at all hours of the day and all hours of the night. I had come to the depressing conclusion that I was going to need to take the next job that was offered to me, no matter what the circumstances were.

I had gone in for an interview at an office in Irving (which is a 45 minute drive!) and I was asked to come back later that week to work. I was sick to my stomach thinking of the long hours I would be working and away from my husband and baby. It was then that God reminded me that he does provide and will give you far greater than you can ask for or imagine. The previous assistant and friend that I worked with at Dr. Harper's office called and told me they were looking for another assistant. She told her office about me and they quickly had me in and I was hired on my birthday. I am constantly amazed at God's timing. I work Mon and Tues from 7 to 5. I have Wednesday's off and Jaxson and I get that time together. I work Thur from 7 to 5 and then Fri from 7 to 1. I feel so richly blessed that I am in an office with a friend, with hours that I love, close to home, and with pay that will help us financially in many ways.

I started this blog saying that I had some thank you's to give out. The main one is to my valentine, my husband. I never should have been able to stay home with Jaxson as long as I did, but Norman knew how much I wanted that time and was so patient and understanding through out the entire past 4 months. I love Norman dearly and thank him for the time I have been able to stay home. He didn't always know how we would make ends meet, but somehow made it work. God has continually shown us how He provides and carries us when we don't know how we will walk. I thank all of you who have helped us financially and more importantly those who have continuously prayed on our behalf. We are a blessed family.

Tara

Sorry, folks...

There will be no long-winded or heavy-handed update tonight.

Just a quick picture...

NoName, here's your request and dedication:




Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.

Norman