Giving Mamma's smiles away!

Last night Rick and Renee' (RNR) came over to visit and I captured my son giving away my smiles to Renee'. Actually, he's been sharing smiles for a couple of weeks. This was the first time we caught it on camera, though. If I catch his attention and shower his cheeks with kisses, he'll grin real wide. I know it won't be too long before he starts to giggle!

-EBP-

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John is a popular name...

Here's a photo Mom took of the three John's together for the first time on last Sunday night. Interestingly, John is not a Buckley or Vidaurri name. The two adult John's both married into the family.

Husband John Nolan, Baby John Harrison, and Uncle John Edward

-EBP-

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What a trip!

I think I've just now recovered from our trip South. I thought halfway through our trip that I must have been nuts to subject us to all that car time. Don't get me wrong - I WANTED to be on that trip. It was an important event not to be missed. The Buckleys were all together for the first time in a really long time! I just probably would have rethought the MODE of transportation. My poor son spent way too many hours in the car seat. He was a sport about it, though.

Overall the trip was really good. John Harrison met all my side of the family except two of my cousins (Chrissy & Lisa). We saw the Buckleys in Mission, saw Betty and Ed in So Padre Island, and Charlotte and John in Corpus. JHP slept through most of the driving and only got really fussy one time when he was waiting on Momma to pump him some lunch. I do think that he missed some of his "routine" that we have established at home, though. Mom and Dad really missed that swing and those fishies! JHP is still working on learning to fall asleep and stay that way during daytime naps. He sleeps well at night and is getting to be easier to put to sleep, but during the day it's hit and miss. JHP did enjoy seeing all the new faces and Mom and Dad enjoyed showing him off to all my relatives. He enjoyed a good long nap under the trees in Krysti's courtyard in the papasan chair on Saturday. It went downhill after that, however. He seemed to have a bad bout of gas and I think the activity got to be too much for him. He wouldn't nap and feeding him would be the only thing that seemed to quiet him. So we went back to the hotel and worked his little legs to help him pass the gas and then he and I took a bath. That seemed to relax him a lot. After another feeding, he slept for SIX hours! He was much happier in the morning! You'll find more pictures of him napping in the WebAlbums.

As for the gathering, the burial of Mom Mom's ashes was really nice. It was emotional, but knowing that we were all together sharing much of the same feelings helped. The great-grandchildren reverently placed the first of the dirt back into the hole along with some flowers. Mom has a great picture of that (see below). Jimmy and I spent time at Daddy's grave. It's always an overwhelming thing to be there. And even more so as we get older and realize that life is way too short. I think that was the predominant feeling among us all at the gathering. Life is too short and we, as a group, need to do a better job of keeping in touch and gathering periodically. We are all busy, but that's not much of an excuse. It's the only family we have. I've long felt very disconnected from the Buckley's as a result of Dad's death so early (he was 49 in 1994). I know that most of that is self-imposed. But I'm going to turn over a new leaf. I'm home and have only one little excuse (his name is John Harrison) to not keep in touch. With email and this blog, I will hopefully keep the family ties TIED up tight. Check out all the pics from the Buckley reunion on the WebAlbums. The children had such a grand time together (and the adults enjoyed it, too). I love the sound of children laughing!

Here's a link to Gio's pics from the weekend: http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll20/bryan_giovana/BUCKLEY%20April%202008/?albumview=slideshow

I'll amend this post and add other links from the weekend if you send them to me.
-EBP-

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2 Months Old - my, how time flies!

John Harrison is 2 months old today! He now weighs a whopping 8 1/2 pounds and is 21.5 inches long. The doctor was pleased with his progress. He could not check the murmur, however, because John was really unhappy and crying a lot. And then he got shots! He'd gotten only a short 15 minutes of nap in before I had to put him in the car-seat to go to the appt. So he screamed the whole way from the house to the appt and would only quiet down for a few minutes to he could regain his strength to cry some more. Poor thing! Here's a picture of him just now finally sleeping peacefully!

Our first road trip is this weekend to Corpus and then on to Mission for the Buckley family gathering in memory of my grandmother Mom Mom who passed away recently. We are looking forward to seeing all the cousins and introducing John to his family. Here's hoping the trip is uneventful and enjoyable (and quiet!)! Say a prayer for us that John Harrison travels well!

-EBP-

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Blue Cat Jan 1995 - April 7 2008

I had to say goodbye to my friend Blue today. She had advanced kidney failure. So I made the decision to euthanize her. She had lost a lot of weight in the last week or so and had refused to eat even her beloved treats. She was unsteady on her feet and only put up a verbal protest at the vet's office. She was 13, the equivalent of roughly 70 human years. She'd lived a good life! She'd kept me company in Baton Rouge and Lake Charles and tolerated John when he came into my life. I'll miss her terribly. She was my first baby and I'm thankful to have had her in my life! She's at peace now and in no pain. The picture above was taken on Feb 25 as I breastfed John Harrison. It was one of the last of us together. Thanks Mom for capturing the moment!

-EBP-

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A busy week

We've been busy this week. John Harrison has begun to sleep in his crib at night. Oh, yeah, I should start with the fact that the crib is set up and bedding is in. Here's a picture:

All I have left to do really is put the valance up on the window. And put things on the wall. One of John's co-workers gave us some darling animal pictures that were on his child's wall. They are redecorating and we were thankful they thought of us.

As I said, JHP is sleeping in his own room now. There are lots of things to look at and I think it's more comfortable than the Pack-n-Play is. He is becoming more alert everyday, and yesterday John and I both thought he was beginning to smile. We've made a trip out of the house each day this week and he is getting used to the carseat. It's not so much fussing when he gets strapped in, which is much easier on me. We went to the OB for my check-up and then to the grocery on Monday. Tuesday was the little shower given by my Tuesday Bible study group. He was a popular man there. All the ladies wanted to hold him! And all he wanted to do was look at the flourescent lights! Wednesday was my Right at Home Bible study. AND Thursday we went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. Today we are resting. And he's been pretty pleasant all week. He doesn't appear to have had any tummy issues that make him really irritable. Thank goodness!

Last week Grandma and Grandpa Pitcher were here. And they were an immense help! Daddy took time off also to enjoy the visit. Bev has said what a way Tom had with John when he was a baby and it seems that Tom has not lost the touch. When they first arrived, Tom really enjoyed having some good cuddle time with John Harrison. But then Grnadma needed her turn, too. It had been more than TWO WEEKS since she held him last. John and I were able to have a "date night" on Wednesday and that was really nice. I wasn't too anxious about leaving John Harrison. He was in good hands!

I've added a few new pics from last week. I guess I need to get snapping since he's almost 7 weeks old and I haven't taken a picture in almost a week! Shame on me!

-EBP-

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