Heavy Heart, Busy Mind

Yesterday Vanessa called me to tell me that her sister-in-law (17), Doug's sister, had been in a car accident.  When I was talking to her it didn't seem like that big of a deal.  Nothing ever really does at first I suppose.  Then the facts started coming in.

She was in her car, in the back seat, with a blood alcohol level double the legal limit.  She had gone to a party at a friend's house where the parents were home and allowing the drinking to happen.  These "parents" allowed an 18 year old boy and his girlfriend to drive Doug's sister's car to take her where they needed to be.  He was going 120 mph and was being followed by a police officer.  When the police lights went on, the car hit a median and although the facts about what happened to the car are fuzzy to me, they ended up flipping the vehicle. 

Doug's sister was not in a seat belt.  She was thrown 50 feet from where the car landed.  Normally when you hear these things, the ending isn't a good one.  I still can't figure out how, but the only thing that happened to her was that her orbital bone was broken, the tip of her nose needed to be attached and she has some very severe road rash.  She was taken on the StarFlight helicopter to the hospital.  The believers would say there was an angel or something protecting her.  I'm still not sure how she survived, but i'm so relieved that she did. 

Christian has known this family for almost 20 years.  She was there when Shelby (the sister) was born.  She has watched her grow up and more recently we have become incredibly close to Doug and Vanessa.  They are all great people and I am fortunate to have met them and have them in my life. 

I was up the majority of the night last night thinking about the what ifs.  What if she hadn't been bought a BMW.  What if it had been a little car.  Would all three of the kids still be alive?  What if they had hit the tree that they missed by a narrow margin.  What if the "parents" that were allowing all of this to happen had taken all the car keys to protect these kids.

The 18 year old that was driving is in jail.  The other girl that was in the front seat is also in the ICU.  She was in a seat belt, but needed stitches on her face and has sporadic bruising I think from the seat belt. 

Walking into the ICU room took my breath away.  I had to hold back the tears as I looked at this little girl that has her whole life ahead of her but how it could've been taken away in an instant.  

I can't imagine what it would be like to get that call.  The middle of the night call that changes your life. 

How do we get these kids to listen to what is right?  How do we get them to realize that the people you hang around do have an influence on you and could change your life forever?  How do we keep them safe?

Galveston

I have slacked, yet again, on this blog.  I don't think there is any catching up, so we'll start anew.

This last weekend we packed up, what seemed to be, the entire house into the Denali and trucked it on down to Galveston.  We went with Doug and Vanessa.  Christian calls us her entourage.

Christian's Entourage

Doug wasn't feeling too well (ie he was hungover) and Jake and Vanessa just chatted away in the back of the car.  Parker did really well too.  She talked, slept and talked some more.  Vanessa kept her entertained when needed.

We arrived around 1, knew our room wasn't supposed to be ready until 3 so we went to grab some lunch.  After lunch, we headed to Wal-Mart.  I hate Wal-Mart and this trip was not the exception.  It was testing my patience.  But, we had time to kill.  We ended up with a boogie board for Jake and the rest were necessities.

We finally made it to our overpriced and now, overly gross condo.  Did NOT look like the pictures they posted online.  And "newly renovated" had a half inch of mold in our shower and the crappiest of crappy sheets and towels.  Our sheets didn't even fit the bed and the first night Christian got up to go to the bathroom and when she got back in bed, she slept under the fitted sheet.  She was only a little grossed out.  

The first day at the beach was great! Parker loved it, tried to eat sand and seaweed and was entertained for a good 20 minutes, maybe more.  She didn't like the sand in her diaper or the rinsing off in the shower.

After the 1st Day

Jake and Doug spent a lot of time together.  They threw sand at each other, chased each other and body surfed.  They also explored and pulled little creatures out of the ocean.  They found a stringy looking starfish, snails and other mollusks.

Playful Boys

 Vanessa had a pinterest idea.  We attempted it, but looking at it, i'm realizing they were too far away from the camera.  Oh well, it was fun.

Pinterest Photo

Parker really enjoyed the water.  We all took turns making sure she didn't drown.  Vanessa and Doug sure do love our little Parker. Parker wouldn't admit it, but she loves them too.

Parker and her Ti Tia (pronounced Cha-Chia)

Parker and Uncle Doug

The goal of Doug's for the trip was to build a ginormous sand castle.  Turns out, it was the hit of the beach.  Everyone stopped and looked at it.  They spent almost the entire day on it.  Building moats, lakes/ponds, and fixing turrets that collapsed.  Jake liked the "rustic" look of them, but Doug wanted perfection!

The Sand Masters

 Fortunately, Saturday was our first/last long day at the beach.  Sunday came and so did thousands of dead fish.  Turns out, there was some red tide, i'm assuming further out in the ocean.  It stank and we were all glad it was time to go home.  Mostly because we needed to shower to get the funk off of us.  You just can't get clean at the beach. 

One of the main reasons we went was for our boy.  He loves the beach.  Although he said he didn't have enough time, I think he had fun.  He was definitely fun to be around.  

RIP Simon the Glofish

Today, we lost Simon, the Glofish.  He was the  yellow fish that made up the "fishmunks" as Jake has come to call them.  This morning I saw him struggling to swim.  I knew it was the end.  The next time I checked on him the other fish were circling and I think I saved him just in time.  Jake and I took him to the front yard, dug him a little hole, said a few words and covered him up. 

Jake thinks in thousands of years when the house has fallen down and people are digging around they will find hundreds of fish bones.  Because we've lost hundreds of fish...

Simon "The Glofish" Gribble - 5/31/12 - 6/5/12

My Fish Tank

So Jake wanted fish.  We all know what that means.  So, I have taken over this tank.  It's in his room and he likes to pretend that he feeds them, but they are constantly swimming around like they are starving and if there weren't a top to the tank i'm pretty sure they'd leap into my arms when I walked by.  They love me.

We had two little algae eaters.  They aren't scientifically named that, it's what I called them.  They have disappeared.  Gone.  No remnants at all.  So, yesterday I went to the store and bought some more fish. It was Thursday so I knew my selection was going to be great.  That's how much I love this tank.  I have become knowledgeable as to when Petsmart gets their fish shipments.  Sad, really.

So I got three Glofish.  I think they're some kind of hybrid radioactive fish.  They are bright colors.  I picked a pink, yellow and orange one.  On the way home I thought about names.  Three fish, need three names.  I thought of Larry, Mo and Curly, but that was stupid.  Then I came up with Alvin, Simon and Theodore.  Genius!  Mostly because I also got a hass of an algae eater that affectionately became known as Dave.  I have to admit that I had to look it up online because for the life of me I couldn't remember the guys name that lived with the chipmunks. 

The guy at the pet store told me that Dave will grow really fast and that he really needs a 55+ gallon tank.  Our ten gallon tank hasn't exactly been the fountain of youth.  It's more like the place fish go to die.  I'm taking my chances that poor Dave won't live to his 55+ gallon aquarium size.  BUT, if he does make it, apparently you can take him to some local fish stores and they'll want him.  Who knew there was such a market for ginormous algae eaters named Dave.

Alvin, Simon and Theodore are too spastic to take a picture.

Dave

"Jake's" Fish Tank

6 Months

Our little girl is growing into a person before my very eyes.  It's amazing how it seems like yesterday that she was born, yet I can't remember her being a lump around the house.  She's so busy now.  She sits in her exersaucer and plays.  She grabs at things, yanks at things, moves things and wants things to play back with her.  She's happiest when you are carrying her around doing errands, chores or just walking.  She makes raspberries constantly and yesterday when I went to give her a spoonful of peas she shook her head "no."  Then she smirked at me as if to say, "i'm too cute for you to be mad at me for not wanting any more of those peas."  She was right.  She loves learning.  She has started enjoying me reading books to her and when she's bored she'll let you know it. 

So far, she LOVES bananas, isn't a fan of sweet potatoes, carrots or pears.  She's taking a liking to peas.  At least I got one veggie in her!  A girl after my own heart, only liking fruits.  The pear was from the fridge.  I think the cold bugged her more than the flavor.  That's what i'm banking on.

Her 6 month check up had her at 14 lbs 9 oz and 24.25 inches long.  The doctor says that she's evening out on her percentages.  At her 4 month check up she was super long and skinny.  Now her height has slowed and her weight is catching up.  She's still in the 30% percentile for most things.  Except the size of her head.  I think that was higher.  Lots of brains.

Jakeism

1.
This morning we were in the car listening to Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger." Jake mentioned that he likes this song.  A few moments later he talks about how it is a confidence booster.  Then, he says, "it's so much better than those depressing country songs.  The ones with the low voices."

2.
Also, leaving the neighborhood this morning he asked me when papers came to the house.  I told him that it depended on what the people wanted and that it could come everyday or every Sunday.  He then says, "those people must have been gone for two days, two weeks or they're ignorant of their paper on the driveway."  I still haven't figured out if he used the word ignorant properly, but the fact that he is 10 and used the word ignorant made me smile.

Week 23

Today is our little one's 23rd week.  I can't believe how fast it's all going.  She is focusing across the room, standing on her little bow legged legs and grabbing at things.  She still hates tummy time and screams bloody murder when she's doing it.  She then buries her head into the ground and does this until someone picks her up.  She's onto me.

She loves to watch the dogs play & loves being outside (but doesn't like to be hot).  This is going to pose a problem being that we live in Texas and it's already been 95 degrees in April.  Hope she likes the pool as much as her bath!

She babbles quite often and lately has fallen in love with Jake.  She was fussy yesterday in the car and he leaned over so she could see him and she instantly stopped crying.  He makes faces and now has an outlet for his nonsense songs he likes to sing.