Backyard Rambles

Drink Driving

From Ashley: The Morning Report

When I pulled Lillian over for repeatedly ramming the table, she couldn’t say her alphabet and she spun around a lot.

We went on the back porch and felt the rain but she’s a bit too keen on playing on the stairs.

She doesn’t like the thunder very much but is driving her car around drinking milk and she was also on her toy phone at one point (insert woman driver joke here).

At Katelyn’s Birthday Party

Me and my cousin Katelyn

From Lillian’s Grandma Peggy:

Thought you might enjoy some pictures from Lillian’s cousin Katelyn’s 3rd birthday party.

Mom, Dad and me

Josh, Ashley, Lillian and Aunt Cari (and Josh’s mom and grandmother and brother from Kermit) all came to Lufkin for the birthday.

Baby doll walking

We all had a great time, but I think Lillian and Katelyn enjoyed the “grocery shopping and baby doll walking” after the cake most of all.  They had several “deep”conversations about life – Katelyn did most of the talking and Lillian listened carefully.

My aunts Elli and Cari

They really seem to enjoy each other and shared all of the toys like best friends.

Ladybug

My ladybug PJs

The chief blogger hasn’t blogged much lately as parental care giving has consumed most of his time.

Lillian is 19 months old and growing like a weed. She’s getting taller: her mom and dad keep moving breakables and bottles to higher and higher shelves. She’s a bundle of energy, in constant motion whether awake or asleep. She’s a talker, babbling mostly, but there are real words mixed in. She’s a walker, and when she has her shoes on, she’s a stomper.

Lillian and her folks drove up to Huntington last weekend for her cousin Katelyn’s third birthday party. Katelyn is enamored of princesses, and so that was the theme of the party. Lillian thinks her cousin is very cool and sophisticated. (Katelyn let Ashley know that Lillian told Katelyn that Lillian wants a princess party for her second birthday in August.) Lillian also loved visiting with grandma Peggy and grandpa Keith, and her aunts Cari and Elli. Ashley and Josh had a great time, too, despite the torrential downpours on the drives up and back.

On the phone

Ashley continues her cancer therapy: she’s back on the full dose and will have a scan in a few weeks that will tell whether the Zelboraf is stopping the growth of her cancers. She’s lost her eyebrows and most of her hair, but she has some fetching hats and scarves to wear when she goes out (MariCarmen Wiedemann knitted several matching caps for Ashley and Lillian). Ashley has to be very careful to limit sun exposure on her skin due to the drugs she is taking: they’ve caused a lot of skin problems. She’s also having joint pain and stiffness; she uses a cane sometimes when her knees and ankles are affected. But despite all that, her spirits remain good most days, and Lillian’s always there to brighten her spirits.