Summer 2013

I am probably the absolute worst blogger of all time!! Duncan is only a few days away from being 7 months old, and Rissa is (as she likes to say) 4 and 3/4 years old!  Just the other day she came into the living room because we needed "to have a conversation" about how "the month after next, on the 15th, I will be FIVE.  And we need to talk about my party" :)  I can't believe how quickly time truly flies and how fast our babies are growing!

Rissa and Duncan have been spending their summer at home with a Nanny we hired and they are having a great summer full of outside play and just getting to be together.  They are so in love with each other, it is beautiful to see their relationship blooming right before our eyes.  Rissa is an amazingly loving and caring big sister to her sweet little "Butter".  This past weekend we went to Dallas to celebrate Todd's older brothers birthday as well as get to see Jason, a rare treat since he is on the boat so often!  We had 2 full days of swimming and sun and Rissa's swimming skills really advanced in just 2 short days.  She wears floaties when no adults are in the pool, but when there is an adult, she takes of those floaties and swims like a super fish!  She is growing into quite the water lover.  Duncan got his first taste of the pool and took to it wonderfully.  He loved being in the water and splashing everywhere.

This morning, Rissa, Todd and I went up to CTK, Rissa's old school, to give her 2 teachers some (very belated) teacher gifts and for us to tie up some lose ends there at the school.  When I graduated high school, my dance teacher, Janis, gave me the Dr. Seuss book 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!'.  I have decided to pass it on to Rissa but with a fun twist.  Each school year she finishes, I am going to get her teachers to sign the book and write something about Rissa and their experience with her over the year, then at her high school graduation, present it to her with notes from her teachers over the previous 14 or so years.  This year started that tradition, and I wanted to share with you one of the notes in the book written by one of the young teacher assistants at the school, Andrea.  She is a very wonderful young woman who has helped out with Rissa's classes since she started at CTK and has always shown great affection for Rissa.  Her note made me well up, I must admit.

Marissa,
I knew you in between the ages of two and four.  Even at the age, you are one of the most strong and independent people I have ever met.  You are creative, outspoken, and kind hearted. Sometimes, you get frustrated with the "injustices" of childhood, but it's been very endearing to see what an advocate for justice and your liberties you are! I have had the unique opportunity to observe you interact with all types of personalities and you emerge as a leader every time.  I truly see you succeeding in anything you choose to do.  Have faith in yourself, always!   Andrea.

What a wonderful thing as a mother to read about your strong willed and often misunderstood child.  I am so proud of the strides Rissa has made in the last two years at the ECDC,  She has learned so much academically, she is reading, writing, adding, subtracting and even multiplying!  She really IS a defender of the younger and smaller, and has the leadership capabilities to thrive.  I am honored to call her my daughter and I cannot wait to see what wonderful things she will learn about herself in Kindergarten this Fall!

Our other big news is Todd!! He has been with the production department at Ramar Communications, the Fox affiliate here in town, for 5 years and has finally found greener pastures!  Starting next Monday (his last day was Friday and he is taking a week off) he will be focusing on our business, Vintage Penguin Studios doing freelance photography, home content documentation for insurance purposes, and consulting with an ad agency here in town.  He will officially go to work for the ad agency, Griffin Wink, in 6 months when his non-compete with Ramar has lapsed.  We are so very thrilled with this new chapter for Todd and our family and cannot wait to see how this new experience will touch Todd's daily life with an abundance of joy!

I hope all of you are well and happy and that you have a wonderful and safe summer!  God Bless each of you!

Butter

It is hard to believe that already two months have gone by.  Duncan has at least tripled in size, and his sweet smile brings such joy to all of our faces.  He recognizes several people (obviously me, Todd and Rissa..) but he also seems to have special smiles for my G amd Grumps and his very own Nani, she is my newest favorite person at my office, Lori. She is the wonderful angel who was hired in order for me to take a maternity leave at all.  She has filled in so much at work and taken immeasurable stress off of me.  She is a true gem.  Anyway, she has grandkids who call her Nani and Duncan responds to her in a way he doesn't do for most people outside the family.  It is a little more understandable when you realize that I have been taking him with me to work.  While on leave, I continued to do payroll and now have 60 hours worth of 'comp time' built up that I can use as needed and I have been back full time for 2 weeks now.  Taking him to work with me has definitely had its challenges, but it has been nice to not be separated from him only 6 weeks after birth.  I am moving into an actual office (with a door and everything!) very soon and that will make things even easier, I think.  I am so very blessed to have a Boss (who is also the owner) hear Duncan cry and say, "here, I'll walk him around the building for a while so you can finish what you are doing"...it is a rare and precious thing to see your son loved so much by so many who don't have any obligation to love him.  My cup runneth over.

The other person he really loves, is Rissa.  She is such a wonderful big sister!!  She loves her little "Butter" and never misses a chance to kiss him, hug him, tickle his cheeks, or sing him a song.  Since I have been going to work again, I have taken her to school a lot more in the mornings since I have some flexibility as to what time I get into the office.  She LOVES taking Duncan into school so all her friends can see her baby brother.  It is really precious when we come in and all her little friends press up against the window and say,"it's Duncan!! The baby is here!" Even the teachers make a point to say hello to him.  She is very helpful and seems to have had little to no jealousy problems.  There has been a little bit of regression to younger behavior, but not much so all it all it has been a pretty great experience. In May, Duncan will start at CTK (where Rissa is now) and in August...Rissa will start Kindergarten at Rush here in the neighborhood.  I seriously can hardly believe it is already time for her to start Kindergarten, but we know she is ready and will flourish. Duncan is a wonderful baby.  He is not overly fussy, in fact, he rarely cries for no reason and he has been sleeping through the night (as in 8-11 hours at a time!!) for almost 4 weeks now!! In my opinion...that makes him the perfect baby!!  :)  He is truly beautiful and has the CUTEST dimples!  We have seen expressions and features in him that have reminded us of someone on each side of the family...not only Todd's side and mine...but both parents sides, too!  He has the Bentley red hair and round head, the Biles/Outsen chin dimple, the Tidwell lashes, Outsen ear spikies, Bentley toes, Tidwell chicken legs and lack of butt, Outsen/Tidwell height, Biles/Bentley blue eyes and the combined beauty of all of them.  There is still some debate with some of the family as to his hair color, but if you ask me, it is totally red!!  He is a regular lil' stud muffin!

We had a full weekend of parties, on Saturday we had my parents, Bobby and Jennifer and Chef over for dinner.  It was so nice to see Chef, and he seemed to really enjoy himself.  Then on Sunday we hosted a Super Bowl party...and let's just say...the table was FULL of food, there were 7 people not counting the kids, and the next day I had to Google 'Who won the Super Bowl' because I was so busy talking that I didn't exactly catch much of the game!!  It was a very fun weekend!

We are so blessed and can't wait for everyone to meet our sweet boy.  Hope you all got our Merry Christmas/ Happy New Year/We Moved/Baby Announcement card!  it was such fun figuring out a way to combine all our announcements and greetings into one!  All our love to each of you!!