Rainy Texas

It's been raining and raining here and I'm loving it. To me Texas feels more like home when it's gray and cloudy out, especially if it's actually cold and rainy and not hot and steamy and rainy. Those days are gross.

Today I met Tony and our Pastor from Calvary Grapevine for lunch at Cafe Brazil. I love that place. The lunch was great and it was good to have an edifying lunch with our pastor, just talking about the Lord, the work He's doing in Asia, parenting, the Bible, etc. I think that might be what I miss most about working full time in the office at GFA, just talking to people in the halls and at lunch about their lives and the Lord and the ministry. It was nice.

Then Ava and I hit up Babies R Us to get a shower gift for a friend and a much needed replacement bib for Ava. I was talking on the phone to my mom when I pulled into the parking lot and made the mistake of thinking I could continue to talk to her as I tried to get myself, my purse, Ava and Ava's baby doll out of the car while keeping the phone pinned between my head and shoulder. Just as I got Ava out of her car seat I dropped my purse onto the wet pavement. I bent down with Ava on one hip to pick it up and my phone slipped off my shoulder and went sliding underneath the car. I grabbed a diaper out of the car and knelt on it while keeping one hand on Ava in the car and was just able to grab my phone with my finger tips. Every day I feel more and more like a mom. . .

My sister was here last week with her nearly one year old son Eli. We had a great time, even though Eli came down with a cold the day after they got here, which then turned into pneumonia and a double ear infection. So we didn't really leave the house much other than a Target run and a couple trips to the urgent care, but we still had a really nice visit. Ava loved playing with her cousin and I think she really enjoyed being the "big girl" especially when she got to eat her meals at her desk while Eli used her high chair. She also like helping Megan change Eli's diapers and once even went into the guest room and brought Megan back Eli's wipes after she heard Megan say Eli needed his diaper changed! It's amazing what they hear and understand. Scary too.

Eli is a very sweet little boy and full of energy, even when he's sick. They did really well together most of the time, and Ava was good about sharing her toys and playing with him up until the last afternoon. She was eating some cheerios off of the top of a stool in the kitchen (it's a low wooden bar stool that I sometimes use as a table for her snacks when I'm working in the kitchen). She was happily snacking away and then along came Eli. He pulled himself up to stand by the stool and began swiping the cheerios off onto the floor. She started to push his hands away and I told her "no, no, you need to share" and she just couldn't take it anymore. Down to the floor she went, just wailing her little heart out. And Eli just stood there watching her, scattering the rest of her snack and then even had the audacity to eat a few. She would just look up at him, nonchalantly eating HER cheerios, and cry all the louder. I tried to give her some more snack on the other stool but she just couldn't take it anymore. She'd been so kind and patient with that boy and then he just came along and messed up her snack and then didn't even care. She just cried and cried and cried. I think we've all been where Ava was that afternoon. Or at least all of us with little brothers. Haha!

We didn't get many pictures of the two while they were here, I guess because of Eli not feeling well and just thinking he'd feel better tomorrow and we'd get more . . .and then it never happened. But here's a few of them playing in the tub and some Tony took of Megan, John and Eli before they headed to the airport on Sunday (her husband John was in New Orleans that week working on a rebuilding project with Samaritans Purse, but his layover was in Dallas so he could fly home with Megand and Eli). I am assuming that the world wide web will be so obsolete by the time Ava and Eli are old enough to care, that it's ok for me to post these pictures for the entire world to see.

Isn't he just the cutest little boy ever?