Martina McBride's song "Anyway" talks about things that might not ever come to be, that might scare or intimidate you, that may never be appreciated, or that might not even be accepted, but you do them anyway because you know it's good for you and it's where your heart and hope lie. Therefore, knowing that how my family acts, how we look, what we choose to enjoy, or even what we say and believe may not be appreciated or accepted, I still want us to be who we are anyway...do it anyway.
Aaron and I were married on May 30, 1998, so today we are officially 10 years into our life long journey together. I would not want to walk hand and hand through this life with anyone but my loving husband and best friend, Aaron. I'm prouder than ever to be Mrs. Jessica Dennington
Aaris's actual birthday was on Memorial Day this year. Since all of her grandparents were off from work, we were able to meet in the middle of the day for a family only birthday party for Aaris. We meet at Aaris's favorite place, Chuck E Cheese. Aaris wanted to dress like Cinderella again, so I got more practice at doing her "Libby Lu" hair. :) That morning Aaris and Titus helped me make Aaris's cookie cake. We all enjoyed cleaning up the bowl on that one. Once we got to Chuck E Cheese Aaris had 2 1/2 hours of games, games, games, food, some cookie cake, opening presents ,oh, and some more games. She really loved taking pictures in the game machine as well with all of us. She was in great spirits and so excited to be 4 years old. All I hear about every day now is how she can do this or that because she's 4, or how much taller and bigger she is because she's 4. I had to tell her today that she still had to wear some clothes that she wore when she was 3 because they still fit, but she wasn't happy because she's not 3 any more. :) Once again, I'm just happy that she is a very, very healthy 4 year old.
Aaris had her birthday party for her friends on Saturday. She was excited for days...even weeks. When she woke up, and before she came out of her room, she put on her pretty white church dress. She said that since she was going to be Cinderella for her party, she thought she would wear her Cinderella wedding dress. Well, we went ahead and let her open two presents before her party. One present was a big castle trunk full of princess ball gowns. The second present was shoes that looked exactly like glass slippers. She loved them and of course dressed up in them for her party. It was a Cinderella/Princess/Prince party. We had it in the morning, but it still was very hot and humid. Thank goodness most of the kids didn't seem to mind. We had some great friends that lent us their shade tents for some relief from the sun. Everyone entered on the long red carpet (we did pink though because it matched the party colors better) with bubbles floating everywhere. They were able to decorate crowns with jewels as we waited for everyone to show up. We then started a series of games and activities. We played musical glass slipper, pin the glass slipper on Cinderella, musical red carpet game, laundry pick up race, and of course we had to have a castle pinata. We even somehow managed to get a group picture of most of the kids. We then headed inside to get our food. The kids all had a special drinking cup with their goody bags that they used to drink out of for lunch. The girls had plastic champagne glasses and the boys had knights/prince goblets. The goody bags for the girls had a decorated ponytail holder, stick-on earrings, princess stickers, and a plastic bracelet and ring. The boys goody bags had a clear plastic castle and colored sand to do a sand art project. They also had a kaleidoscope (figured it looked like a telescope the prince would use to look for his princess). And all the bags had a magic star wand made out of rice krispie treats. After eating lunch we sang "Happy Birthday" to Aaris, watched her blow out her candles, and everyone had cake. (I made the cake using a fondant recipe from my friends blog, but I didn't enjoy the experience. So, even though I liked how it turned out, I will have to think twice before I use it again.) All the kids wanted a piece of cake that had part of the dress on it. Even after the party was over, Aaris continued to play and play until she was red in the face. No presents were asked of for Aaris. But, if anyone wanted to bring presents, they could bring items to donate to the kids at Dell Children's hospital. We got some great donations and will take them later this week. A few kids were extra sweet and did give Aaris some very princess-y presents. It was a wonderful party. My favorite thing was that Aaris not once mentioned that she was tired (something she use to always do). I have to admit that to me this was more than just a birthday party. It was a party to celebrate a successful recovery from her heart surgery. My little princess made it to her 4th birthday healthier than any other birthday before!! Praise God!
Recently we pulled out the big bike for bike rides again. Aaris has been riding with me for fun rides since she was one year old. Titus hadn't ridden with me yet. The really fun thing about this bike is that it was first Aaron's mom's bike. And, even better, Aaron's baby bike seat. Yes, Aaron (and his brothers) rode around in this seat, on this bike, with his mom when he was a kid. Now, Aaris and Titus are riding around with me on it. Aaris still truly loves it. She never wants to get off. Titus cried and cried for his turn, but then didn't show much excitement and was willing to get off when we stopped. I do think he liked it, he is just not one to wear his feelings on his sleeves. I look forward to more rides and memories with all our kids on a bike full of memories already.
I'm 12 weeks along in my pregnancy now. There really isn't much to truly complain about. I have just had to face the fact that I can't get much done because of exhaustion and feeling yucky. I think this baby just doesn't want to get lost in the mix. It's definitely going to go down as the toughest pregnancy I've had so far. But, that's not saying much because the other two were a breeze. It may be number three, but it wants to make its presence known to me every day! We went for my OB-GYN appointment today and heard the baby's heartbeat. It was "a very happy baby", as the doctor put it, with a heartbeat of 170. No weight gain yet. In fact, I was the exact weight, to the oz., as I was last month, but I'm pretty sure all of my muscle is just turning into fat since I have had no energy to do anything but lay around. Plus, lucky me, I don't gain in my tummy first. For some reason my body thinks it has to have a bigger bottom and thighs to have a baby. I included a belly shot since I didn't think anyone would be up for the growing bottom shot. :)
I am such a sucker for a guy in a suit!!! Every guy looks good all cleaned up and dressed up in a suit. There is just something about it that makes me melt. Aaron still wears a suit or at least a tie to church every Sunday and it still makes my head turn. Titus has now had a suit since he was a newborn. Our dear sweet friends the Howe's (Tiffeny specifically) handmade Titus a suit when he was still just in preemie size clothes. Every time I go to a second-hand store I look for suits that I can get Titus. I don't care if they are for when he will be 5 years old. If it's a good looking suit, I'm going to get it for him. I've even broken down 3 times and bought a suit right off the rack at Wal-Mart or Target. Almost every Sunday at church you will spot Titus in some type of suit. And, until he is old enough to be strongly stating his own opinion with valid reason, I can guarantee that Titus will be wearing a suit to church. And, he should even just for his own good, because let me tell you that he could get away with more stuff in a suit because I just find him more irresistible in one. And, actually for right now Titus likes it. When Aaron gets him dressed on Sunday mornings he loves to run into me and start pointing at and showing me everything he's is wearing like his tie, or dress shoes, or belt, or jacket. Hopefully it will just be routine for Titus as he grows up just as it if for Aaron.
There is a great support group for 'heart babies' called the "Milagros" group (which means Miracles). They are also known here in Austin as the "It's My Heart" group. They had a Family Fun Day yesterday at the YMCA in Cedar Park. We drove up there because Aaris has been excited since before her surgery to go to 'LINE PARTIES' where everyone there has a line on their chest. It was a little chilly, but we still had a good time. Not only was the event free, but we also got free matching shirts when we showed up that we all wore. Aaris really wanted to go canoeing, so that is the first thing we did. Then, there was this great ropes course/challenge that I just couldn't pass up. I climbed to the top of the tower and then zip lined down. Aaris really wanted to climb, too, and surprising enough a number of little kids her age were doing it, but we told her not now because it would be too much pressure for her line while it is still healing. We then went to the free lunch. After that Aaris got her face painted and Titus and Aaris got balloon toys (Aaris a heart bracelet and Titus a sword). We checked out the archery, but Aaris wasn't too interested. We then went back to the pond and went paddle boating. While we were there we of course got to talk to a number of other families whose kids had heart surgeries. I was surprised that only one other kid that we talked with had only had to have one surgery to fix their problem. All the others had had a couple of surgeries all ready and there were some that were still going to need more. I feel EXTREMELY BLESSED to say the least that Aaris will only have to have gone through this one time. The Lord has really been good to us!!
Okay, so I finally have broken down and decided to let Aaris get out and around kids for the sake of our sanity. I have just about hit my limit on what we can all do at home all day long, every day, with the exception of a doctor's appointment or a run to the grocery store. I truly hope that Aaris will be okay and not get sick. Aaris did say as we were leaving the farm that she didn't feel good and she did continue to say it tonight, but has shown no symptoms like loss of appetite, or fever, so let's just pray that I didn't make a bad decision to let her go.
A group of ladies and their kids from the South Care Group all got together and went to a place called the Crowe's Nest Farm. It's a little educational farm outside of Austin that helps save neglected animals and uses them to teach kids all about the farm life and wildlife. We had a picnic lunch there before we headed off for a milking demonstration, a hayride, and walking tour of the farm. The kids really, really loved it!!!
We brought a lot of hospital stuff home with us from Aaris's surgery and tour. They even let each kid bring home their stethoscope that the nurses used on them during their hospital stay. Aaris likes to pretend to be a doctor or nurse a lot now. Titus and I are her normal patients. I try to get her to use her dolls, but that just isn't good enough I guess. She is really good at remember what all the doctors and nurses said and did.
