Slacker?

I have been just awful at posting on this blog lately, but life has been truly crazy! Between spending as much time with Johnathan as possible now that he is home, outings with my Little Sister, my new job - which has me much busier during the day - all of the daily sturm and drang of life and my new business venture, I rarely even have time to think about this blog, much less write a post proof-read it 5 times, post it, proof read it a couple more times, edit it because I'm just not satisfied, repost it and then sit and think about it it for another half hour...yes that is usually my process when I blog.

But what I want to talk about today is the new business venture mentioned above. Whatever loyal readers I have may remember my post back in December about doing a photo shoot for a coworker. Well, things have really been progressing since then and I am now officially Constance Elyse Photography! You can also check out my Facebook Fan Page here. I have not yet decided if I want to start including personal blogs over there or keep things separate and try to be more active over here.

For now, here is a picture of Alivia in the bluebonnets. They are moving back to Texas in July and I absolutely cannot wait to have them close again!

Family Resemblance

I fully admit to pilfering this from my mom, but it's just too funny.

Recent photos of my adorable niece:

Recent photos of my adorable sister:

I cannot imagine where Alivia got it from!

My Favorite Thing This Christmas

There is just too much to write about in regards to my Christmas celebrations this year. Between Johnathan's family and the two sides of my family, the holiday lasted about five days. I loved getting to spend time with so many loved ones, but there were definitely some absences leaving a void as well.

If I had to pick my one favorite thing about Christmas this year, it would definitely be watching my niece, Alivia, really get into it for the first time in her life. At 14 months, she was able to unwrap her own presents (and try her best to open others' too), get excited over gifts and just look plain adorable. I took hundreds of pictures during all of the festivities, but here are just a few favorites photos of my favorite niece:

Legacy

This is my paternal grandmother:

Her name is Margaret; I call her Grandma.

This is my paternal grandfather:

His name is Bill; I call him Bampa.

Yesterday was their 70th wedding anniversary. We had a party on Saturday to celebrate. Their three children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren were all there, along with one of Grandma's brothers and plenty of in-laws. The suit Bampa is wearing is the same one he wore on their wedding day. I'm so blessed to still have these two in my life. Their lasting love is an example that I pray to live up to in my own relationship with Johnathan. Maybe around 2080 or so, we'll be celebrating the same thing.

Here are a few more pictures from the festivities:

Grandma and Bampa reading a card from Johnathan and me.

Alivia showing off her pretty dress by rolling around on the floor in it.

My second cousin, Lindsey.

My Aunt Linda.

Alivia showing Great-Grandma her See 'n Say.

Telling Bampa a story.

My great-uncle, Jack and Uncle Ed.



Aunt Linda and great-aunt, Joyce.

Anniversary cards and flowers.

Waiting On The World To Change

My niece, Alivia, was born with moderate to severe hearing impairment. Fortunately with all of the testing they do in hospitals when babies are born these days, her condition was discovered before she even came home. At six months she got her first pair of hearing aids and with them in she can hear well enough to pick up on sounds around her and, most importantly, voices.

Although she is ahead in almost all areas of development, spending the first six months of her life with very limited hearing caused Alivia to fall behind in speech development. She has picked up some sign language and now a speech therapist comes to work with her three times a week. With a lot of work, she will have full use of spoken language.

Since we found out about Alivia's condition, I have felt that God blessed us in specially preparing us to welcome a hearing impaired child into the family. My mom studied sign language in college and my parents fostered a young deaf boy when Erin and I were kids, so we all have a bit of signing background and were familiar with the special challenges that come along with having a hearing impaired family member.

What we've learned over the past 13 months, and particularly since Alivia got her hearing aids, is how many people have or know somebody with similar conditions. Most people are curious and kind, however there are those occasions when one becomes shocked by the lingering ignorance in this day and age.

This week Erin took Alivia to the doctor and had to see somebody in the practice other than her regular pediatrician. When this doctor - not a specialist, but somebody you'd think would have some knowledge of hearing impairment - was done examining Alivia, he asked Erin if she would be able to speak in the future. She told him that yes, she could hear fairly well with her aids and receives speech therapy. His response? "At least she won't be deaf and stupid."

It breaks my heart to think that my sweet, beautiful little girl will have to deal with such ignorance her whole life. This one's for Alivia:

I got the video from my mom's blog.

Things To Look Forward To:

• A much overdue haircut this Friday with my old stylist who changed salons, prompting me to try somebody new who I did not like. On top of that, it turns out her new salon is way closer to my apartment.
• Taking a personal day off work next Friday to spend with Erin, Alivia and other family on my dad's side, followed by a 70th anniversary celebration for my grandparents on Saturday.
• A trip to the spa with Johnathan's mom and sister on the 30th, that we finally (almost a year after we gave them the gift certificates, which are dangerously close to expiring) managed to schedule today.
• Planning a ski trip for the spring with Erin. It was just an idea, but it looks like it's really going to happen!

Today is a good "taking care of me" day.

Mixed Emotions

Halloween means many things to many people - costumes and candy, haunted houses and scary movies, carving pumpkins and decorating cookies. My mom was always really good at costumes when we were little. I remember the whole family being Care Bears one year, complete with little plastic hearts on our bums; Erin and I were once Jem and Kimber of Jem and the Holograms; and one year (when Mom was feeling particularly hippy-ish, I guess) we were Spring and Winter... as in the seasons... but they were cool costumes.

Halloween will always mean something else for my family, though. In late October 1992, my grandfather went to the doctor. Dr. Sanders happened to know my Papa well; his family attended my grandparents' church and his mom and my grandma were friends. Because of this close association, it was easy for him to see that there was something wrong with Papa. His memory was off, he would say things that didn't really make sense. Within a week Papa (whom everybody had thought was perfectly healthy) was in surgery to remove a tumor from his brain. He never woke up. On October 30th, with the knowledge that he would spend the rest of his days unconscious and on life support, it was decided that we should let him go and he died early Halloween morning. I was seven at the time and I will never forget it.

I remember sitting in the waiting room of the ICU late at night with Erin and our cousin Amanda and seeing The Arsenio Hall Show for the first and only time. I remember half dressing in costumes with all of my cousins, but never leaving Grandma's house. I remember the woman who volunteered to watch all nine of us while the adults of the family grieved and dealt with funeral plans. We thought she was horribly mean, because she wouldn't let us run around and act like the crazy kids we were even during a time of mourning. I remember a few brief moments next to Papa's bed hours before he was gone forever.

But mostly I remember what he was to me, even at such a young age. Though he was already in his sixties when I was born, had grey hair and could hardly hear, he never seemed old. He would play on the floor with us, take us to the beach and jump in the waves, throw us in the pool. We're a family of hunters and he would take each grandchild out to shoot their first deer. It was my turn the year after he died and my cousin Jeff was no replacement. The whole family spent Christmas day at their country house in Wimberly and every year Papa would disappear for a bit and then Santa Clause would come walking from the woods, through the meadow to bring us presents, fruit and nuts. The last year they had that house (I would have been five), it occurred to me that Santa Clause and Papa looked an awful lot alike. I think I said something like "heeeeeeyyy..." and immediately found myself with a dozen hands clamped across my mouth.

He was the perfect man in my eyes. He had worked his way up from a bicycle messenger at Nixon Blue Print to owning that very same company. They sold office supplies and logged oil wells and everybody knew his was the best in the business, because he could give you the information for any well off the top of his head. He was devoted to God and to his church. He loved my grandma more than anything in the world. To her dying day, I don't think she ever uttered a single complaint about him. And he would do anything for his children or his grandchildren.

I wish so badly that he had been able to see us all grow up and to meet his great-grandchildren. I miss him every day. Sixteen years later, Halloween is mostly a happy day for me, but it also means a little bit of heartache.

Daddy's Girl

My dad is great. He is pretty much everything I think of when I think of what a dad should be. We haven't always been as close as I would like, because we haven't lived in the same city since I was seven, but he's definitely always made a great effort. My whole childhood, he would write letters to us every week, as well as calling a few times throughout the week. Even today getting something in the mail besides bills and junk is really nice, but as a kid, having mail just for me every week was thrilling!

Now that I'm all grown up, I see him even less often than before. He still calls me a couple of times a week and we meet for dinner between Austin and Boerne at least once every couple of months. It would be nice to think that I didn't need my daddy anymore, but I do. He still takes care of me in ways that only he can.

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I have this truck. I got it when I was 16 and drove it until I bought my new car last December. I was never terribly fond of this truck - it was not my choice - and did not take very good care of it. When it came time to buy my new car, I knew that it would not be worth enough to really help me, so I didn't bother trying to trade it in. I had money for a down payment, so I decided I'd just sell the truck on my own.

Well, the truck has just been sitting, ignored, for 10 months. It has a flat tire (whether from not being driven or from a hole, I don't know) and it won't start because the battery is run down from lack of use. I want to sell it, I need to sell it, but there are a few things I have to do to be able to sell it and the whole process is daunting and seems like a pain in the butt. It would be nice to have whatever small amount I could make from the sell, but I don't need the money, so I just keep putting it off.

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My dad is going to be in town today on business. We decided we'd have our semi-monthly dinner tonight, since he'd be here anyway. This morning he called to say that he'll probably be done with business about an hour before I get off work, so he's going to fix my flat and charge up my battery for me. This has given me new resolve to get the truck sold. I'm sending off the paperwork I need to take care of today. Hopefully that means I can have it sold within the next month-and-a-half or so and have the money for Christmas shopping. My dad is great!

Rock On

When I made the onesies for baby Shelby, I had a little guilt about the fact that I'd never actually done any for my very own precious niece. I decided that her birthday was the perfect excuse to make her something. We'd already ordered her this book (I highly recommend this company if you are looking for a personalized gift, they were great!) and gotten her these instruments from both Johnathan and me, but the embroidery project was going to be just from me, so I knew exactly what I wanted to put on one of them:

I made her two others, but was not able to get pictures, because my camera died half-way through her birthday party and, like a total doof, I had left my battery charger 1,700 miles away. I just managed to get this one by turning the power off between shots. Erin made the tutu back in August, so I chose the colors specifically to match it.


One of the others had a cute picture on it from a Sublime Stitching pattern and the other was a Texas flag to remind her of her roots. They all turned out cute enough, but (for some reason, I cannot quite figure out) this one is definitely my favorite.

A Very Special Day

I vividly remember the moment, 614 days ago, that Erin told me she was expecting a little surprise. I was having dinner with Dad when she called and he did not know yet, so I not only had to keep the secret for a bit, but force myself not to react when she told me. I was THRILLED!

By September of last year, I was ready for that baby to be born. Since Erin was not able to travel for my grandma's funeral, I went up to New York afterwards as a surprise. I was (not so secretly) hoping she would pop while I was there, but despite Erin's best efforts to coax (or maybe smoke) Alivia out of there - including lots of walking, castor oil, and a very unpleasant ginger tea concoction suggested by some lady at Target - it was not to be.

Two weeks later, I got the call that Erin was in labor and many many hours and updates later, as I slept with my cell phone nestled next to my head, I learned that Alivia Jade was finally here. The first half hour or so was nerve-wracking. Mom told me that she was out, but it had been an extremely difficult delivery and they were not sure if she was okay. While her first minutes, hours and days, were less than ideal, she turned out to be just fine - perfect, if you ask me!

Over the past year, I have watched this precious child grow and develop her own personality and change all of our lives. Most notable, is the change in Erin. She is no longer just my big sister, she is a mother. She has more strength and love than I ever would have known. Neither her pregnancy, nor delivery could be described as easy. Alivia's short life has been fraught with "complications." But my big sister takes it all in stride. She schleps to doctor's appointments and therapies most days of the week and doesn't seem to get bogged down by it. Her amazing love for her daughter shines through it all and I know she would do absolutely anything for her. I couldn't be more proud.

And as for this little girl, not quite a baby any more, she is the shining star of the family. She is smart and funny, moody and loving, fearless and gentle. She loves books and Elmo and dances whenever there is music (and sometimes when there isn't). She climbs on everything and chases the dog around the house. She eats green beans by the handful and likes to suck on lemons. Her laugh is completely infectious. She is loved beyond words.

Happy birthday, my darling Alivia (Ali, AJ, Liv, Livvy, Libya, etc. etc.)! Thank you for coming into our lives.

Do You Want Fen-Phen With That?

Right now I am in New York for Alivia's first birthday (well, that is really just my excuse to take a couple of days off work and visit the family and one of my favorite cities). Aside from the party on Sunday, the only definite plans were for a sisters' trip to see Legally Blonde the Musical. Erin had already seen it once, but it's closing soon and she wanted another go and I was eager to see this adaptation.

The show was very good. All of the charm of the original movie with a lot of the same funny lines, but plenty of new twists and changes thrown in. Bailey Hanks stars as Elle and I have to say that I was very impressed with her. She is a total newcomer, having been discovered through an MTV reality show/competition to cast the role. She reminds me of a young Kristin Chenoweth in her mannerisms and voice.

After the show, we stopped for a slice of pizza and I had a horrible confrontation with a new law in New York City. You see, the powers that be recently decided that people are not trustworthy enough to be responsible for minding their own caloric intake. It is now required that restaurants don't just provide the calorie count for any dish if it is requested by a patron, they have to display it on the menu! Honestly, I'm not usually somebody who feels passionately about the government staying as small and unobtrusive as possible, but this is over the line, in my opinion.

Obviously I know that a piece of pizza is not a healthy choice, I do not care to see that it is going to cost me 700 calories a slice. Seriously! But, by far the biggest shock was the Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Chicken. Now, I did not see the size of a portion and I'm assuming it was quite large, but according to their own calculations, one serving of this dish contains a whopping 3070 calories. That is more than 150% of the daily suggested caloric intake for an adult. I'm am appalled and disgusted and dismayed. How is anybody supposed to ever enjoy a meal with this information staring them down?