Friday, September 08, 2017

Lots of time

One of those things that nobody tells you prior to having a baby is that if you choose to breastfeed you have a lot of time on your hands in which you can do almost nothing because your hands are full. There's only so much Facebook a person's sanity can handle, only so much television a person can tolerate, and only so much online shopping a budget will allow. Therefore I have returned to a favorite hobby of my childhood... Reading.

I recently discovered that my library allows me to download books temporarily to my phone and I've read about a dozen since I realized this. An added bonus that I need a finger free to operate it.

What have I been reading? A little of this, a little of that. Some history, some fantasy, some historical fiction. Best books: Jerrod Packard's Victoria's Daughters, Debbie Macomber's Inn at Rose Harbor series, Georgette Heyer's The Incredible Sophie, and Jim butcher's Changes. You'll forgive my typos here; I'm still typing with I one finger. Worst books: Marissa Meyer's Heartless and The Regency Rakes, which is nothing like Georgette Heyer's books no matter what suggestions the website suggests. It takes a lot to make my list of bad books... and remember it.

Friday, July 14, 2017

The cry room

Ever have one of those days where morning goes according to plan? Where you realize that for the second day in a row, you are missing one crucial ingredient to make dinner.  Therefor, you have to prepare for an elaborate trip out, which you desperately try to plan around daily Mass and a desperately needed free coffee day at Starbucks.  (Don't judge me; I still haven't gotten my French press back from ServPro.)  This involves repacking the diaper bag to ensure you have plenty of spare diapers, wipes, pacifiers, blankets, and at least two changes of clothes for your bundle of joy who usually loves Mass, has been known to blow threw the outfits in less than a half hour.

After much preparation and fanfare, you get to Mass, where you must choose your seat with care. Not too close to the well meaning little old ladies who think it's acceptable to pat my baby on the head/back/tushy and wake him up, not too far from the exit should the need arise to make a hasty get away, not too far from a visible spot to the front because we actually want to see Mass.  And then, he woke up.  As a rule, Tolkien likes Mass but if he gets hungry and if I can get him settled eating quickly he will happily sit through the rest of Mass.  I have found that we are the most successful with this maneuver if I do it before Mass starts and there is almost no one there, or if I excuse myself to the cry room for a minute to get situated.  I only have about two minutes to get him set up before all hope is lost, Tolkien won't settle, and I might as well go home.  Now the scene is set. 

Today, someone thought the Cry Room was really only for the first person who gets there and used it as her personal playpen for her unruly toddler... And locked the door.  Needless to say, I missed the window. Causing me to try not to glare daggers at the woman for the rest of Mass.  I will be the first to say that I understand that taking toddlers to Mass is difficult and bless you for trying.  However, lady, I needed a cry room for my crying baby, and by the time Mass was done, *I* was ready to cry too.

Saturday, July 08, 2017

Wild, fire breathing, babies

"The thing about dragons is...." So many of these stories in the last ten years have started it with this line. Just ask any of the children I have ever babysat. The gist of the story is always summed up in this line.  The thing about dragons is they don't like swimming. The thing about dragons is they like their naps.  The thing about dragons is they have a sweet tooth.  The thing about dragons is they exceed expectations.  The thing about dragons is they never do what you expect.  All center around a precocious young dragon named Prince Eric Dragon. Some of these stories, told to me by my good friend, Colette, are purely to make the smalls giggle while others are to encourage certain behavior. There's even one or two to help through difficult experiences.  But there has always been one story that I've never been able to tell involving Prince Eric Dragon and a baby human prince.  I think I finally am ready to.

The thing about babies is they have never read the baby books.  The thing about babies is they like long naps, except when they don't want to nap. The thing about babies is they are supposed to begin smiling when they are around two months old, but some start when they are a few days old.  The thing about babies is they like to be snuggled, and entertained, and fed all the time.  They don't like to be raised high like Peter Pan, until the next time you try.  They like to pretend to be Superman, but only when they are in the mood. Sometimes they wake up crying but sometimes they wake up laughing. They wake up because they need something but sometimes they don't need anything at all.  They are always on their best, best behavior, except when they're not. They save all their smiles for Daddy, and Abuelita, and Atilla, and even occasionally Mama.  They like doing monkey see, monkey do. They abide by their rules long enough for you to learn them, and then they change ALL the rules to the game.

The thing about babies is that even when you haven't gotten out of your pajamas in days, or showered in a week (and haven't washed your hair in longer), your house is a mess, and you can barely manage to feed yourself, coffee and make-up are long forgotten luxuries except when someone extra comes along, household chores after barely covered, and the dog is barely acknowledged (but always fed), yet you still love that little baby.  You love him enough to go out in public with your hair a mess in order to show him off.  You drag him into Church where he acts like an angel until just after the sermon... Every time. He makes messes and belches loudly at the worst opportunity but you just think "he's so cute".  And even on your worst days, you're already planning out your next adventure and your next little one.
The thing about babies is they are just about perfect.

Monday, January 02, 2017

An early Epiphany letter

I wanted to write a Christmas card but that's not going to happen for  2016, so this is the next best that we can do.

2016 was a good year for us. It was the year of the weddings and big life changes for us, beginning with our own when we were married in January. We went to Louisiana and Fredericksberg and drank more wine than was strictly necessary. We also traveled to California for one cousin's wedding and were praying from afar for another cousin and uncle during their weddings. Daniel was able to attend the ordination of several of his seminarian buddies to the priesthood. We attended another friends wedding in Jarrell, Texas and we also traveled to Dallas for Thanksgiving with many of the Chapa family relatives.

In March Daniel got a promotion with a raise. He's an invaluable member of his team and he loves his job.

In August we retired my first car, Bennie. It was his time and we realized we could survive happily with one vehicle. Additionally, we spent much of early 2016 improving our house, fixing little things, and generally enjoying marital bliss, but more big changes were in store when...

We got our first family pet in July; a red eared slider turtle named "Bash" who provides endless hours of entertainment by tap dancing on the window of his aquarium. Daniel named him after a shell coding language. Bash spends his spare time chasing fish or chasing imaginary fish through his aquarium and then smugly grinning when he's caught them or shrieking in terror and hiding when I come too close to his aquarium. I don't think he'll ever forgive me for picking him up to clean his tank, but the one person who annoys him more than me is...

Molly, a seven-year-old rescue lab we took home in September. She doesn't bark much unless there is a problem (more about that later) and as a friend once described, she makes a very endearing congested elephant noise when she's excited. We had only heard her bark once until one day....

In early November, on the first cold, rainy day of the year, we had a house fire. It lasted maybe a half hour before a neighbor saw the smoke (or heard the formerly mute dog barking) and called for help. Hutto FD arrived very shortly after and around 10 AM we were notified when they called the numbers on Molly's collar. All we knew for sure was there had been a fire, they found the dog but they wouldn't comment on her state of living, they hadn't found the turtle, and we needed to come home as soon as possible.  This proved difficult with one car so I stayed at work and...

Daniel's first view of the scene was the fire department putting out the last of the flames. They had broken down front and back doors and wouldn't allow anyone in, but even from outside the damage was not small. Two neighbors held Molly and gave her food and water and wiped the worst of the debris off of her but it took them a while to find Bash. When they did, Bash was covered in ash and was pulled so far into his shell that we feared he may never come out. He was deposited in the now empty, borrowed dog water bowl which did not improve his mood but I still couldn't get back until...

One of my office lawyers drove me back to the house, armed with several business cards for restoration teams provided by some of the other adjusters in the office. I arrived after most of the excitement was over but I didn't stay to survey the damage. With the help of a close family friend, I took both creatures to three different vets before we found one who would look at both of them and give an assessment of their health. Both received baths (only one was happy about it) and were given a clean bill of health so long as they didn't exhibit any other concerning symptoms, which they didn't. Bash returned to his usual ornery self and tried his best to escape from the dog bowl. Molly wouldn't stop barking. I returned to the house and saw that despite the extensive damage, we were still very lucky. The fire was limited to one room but smoke and water damage affected every room in house. Nothing in the room with the fire survived except for Molly and Bash. By the end of the day we had hired a deconstruction / restoration team to begin work ASAP with one goal, to be back in the house by the time that...

Our baby, Balthazar Bauer got a window seat. He's due on Star Wars day 2017. Yes, he's a boy. No, we're not going to name him Balthazar. (For those who are worried, I got checked out after the fire). Being pregnant makes me a liability to the restoration team so I haven't been allowed in the house since the fire. Add in that I'm an insurance adjuster and I'm every insurance company's worst nightmare. We didn't have much after that day, but fortunately...

We stayed with relatives for a few weeks while we got temporary housing figured out and we moved into our rental on December first. As you might imagine, we didn't have much... but we were all alive so it's hard to be too upset. Several family and friends stepped up to loan us things the relocation company didn't provide. We hired a contractor to restore the house and tried to make do with hastily preparing Christmas. I don't think I've ever identified with the Holy Family more than this year. I think we had a very small idea what it felt like to be displaced and travelling with very little. It helped to separate us from the worldly part of Christmas to really focus the Christ child. Everything was beginning to look a lot better until...

I went into anaphylactic shock at a Christmas party. I've known I was allergic to doTERRA essential oils for years but I've always had more time to react to having an allergic reaction... Usually fifteen minutes or so; this time I had thirty seconds. Balthazar and I are fine... Daniel's a little scared but he has every right to be. Molly has glued herself to my leg and has become even more protective of us. That being said, we are still looking forward to...

2017. There are more changes to come, and I pray, that we'll be back in our house before Balthazar comes.