2009 East Texas Yamboree

Well, Yamboree used to be such a big deal to any child that grew up in Gilmer. The school lets out Wednesday-Friday the third week in October to celebrate. I used to love going to the carnival and riding the rides as a small child. And as any young girl would, I loved seeing the Yamboree queen and her court at the Coronation pageant. As I got older I was involved in some of the Yamboree activities. I was in the parades and marching contest as a member of the band or drill team and danced in the Yamboree pageant a couple of years. Of course during the high school years there is the invitation to the Queen's Ball you await. And you can't forget about the Barn Dance.

After I left for college, I haven't made it back that often for the yearly festival. When Mark and I were first dating I brought him home to experience the Yamboree. I think that was either 1995 or 1996. I didn't make him endure the pageant, and let's just say experiencing one barn dance is plenty.

Anyway, the kids are a great age to enjoy some of the activities this year, so we made the trip (6 hour trip) to Gilmer last weekend.

Here she is the 2009 Yamboree Queen on her float in the Queen's Parade Saturday

And I guess you can tell I am a mom of 2 boys. I took pictures of the COOL things in the parade instead of the girls in pretty dresses on beautiful floats.

A Monster Truck

Race Cars

See, I didn't bore you with too much parade stuff. The kids did great sitting through the hour plus parade of marching bands, drill teams, cars, trucks, school duchess, and the Queen's court. Their favorite was the Shriner's in the mini cars and funny hats, clowns, and the local Tai Kwan Do kids.

Then we hit the carnival. Different than when I was a kid, you can buy an all day armband and ride as many rides as you want...for a price of 20.00 per child. So we coughed up the 40.00 and made our way around the square. Here is Keaton and Cort at the top of the slide. I was nervous for Cort because it was very high. He nearly scared me to death. I thought he was going to slide down head first. When he was ready to go, his sack was hung and so he was hanging on and climbing back up to fix his sack. Needless to say, he made is down the slide safely and it was no big deal for him.

On the carousel with Gee

The boat ride

A different boat ride

As you can tell, we pretty much rode the same kiddie rides over and over.

The race car ride

And one of their favorites, the motorcycle ride

Honestly, I think these are the same exact rides from when I was a kid. There are buttons on each of these rides you can push to make honking noises.....they don't work anymore because they are so old.

And the kiddie dragon roller coaster

Cort didn't want to ride it and Keaton only rode once. It was fun, but the one kiddie ride with a long line.

I have never liked the Ferris Wheel, so we stayed clear of that. Keaton did ride the Tilt A Whirl for Aunt Kerrie one time. Cort was too short. They loved going in the fun houses. There were about 3 different ones. With the armband they could go in over and over. If you paid tokens, it cost 3 tokens=$3 a trip!!!! So the armband investment paid off.

As a kid I did love the Octopus ride, the Rock O Planes, the Sizzler, and the Tilt A Whirl. And I loved Candy Apples. The kids enjoyed some Cotton Candy during the morning parade and we snacked on a candy apple and hot dog later that afternoon.

I dont' know when we will be back, but it was a fun trip.

Proud Mama

Monday was Keaton's 1st grade parent teacher conference. His homeroom, math, science, and social studies teacher is Ms. Adam. His language arts teacher is Ms. Clements. I only met with Ms. Adam. She showed me the results of his benchmark tests. He made a 100 on his math test! She was very impressed because the test was very difficult in her opinion. In language arts he scored higher than the requirements in all categories except two. Vocabulary and the writing sample he scored in the normal range of requirement, although these are areas he needs to work on. He is reading above level and she loves his enthusiasm for reading.

She went on to say that he is very helpful and respectful. She wishes she had more kids like him in her class. Needless to say, we are very proud of Keaton and his efforts at school.

Each week he has math, reading, and spelling homework. He usually completes all 4 days of homework on Monday night. (That's because our schedule is so busy--Soccer on Tues, AWANA on Wed, and Small Group on Thur) And he usually does it with minimal help. So far, he has made a 100 on all spelling tests. Ms. Clements grades on spelling and handwriting. Although he has received a 100 on the spelling, he receives an N for handwriting. He gets very upset about this and says Ms. Clements is mean, but I tell him it is just something we need to work on. But really, we all know guys usually do not have great handwriting. And she seems to be picky to me. If the letter is below the red baseline at all, she circles it.

We are very proud of Keaton and all that he has learned. As a reward, I took him to the school book fair and he picked out 3 books for himself (2 football books and a Naruto book-it's similar to Pokemon) and 1 book from the class wish list. It was either the book fair or Bendaroos. He has been begging for Bendaroos every time we see the commercial.

Praying for Health

I have to admit the media has me terrified of the flu/swine flu. I read online today that a hospital in Arkansas has 7 pregnant women on respirators due to complications from the swine flu. This flu seems to have it out of children and pregnant women. Cort woke up this morning with 99.2 fever so Mark took him to the doctor. If it is the flu, I want to catch it early, early so the meds will work. Luckily, it is not the flu, but strep throat. (We breathe a sigh of relief) Both strep throat and the flu are posted as going around in Cort's class at daycare.

Like I posted earlier, I received my flu shot and plan on getting the swine flu vaccine in a few weeks. The risks associated with the flu seem higher than a chance something could be wrong with the vaccine. Even with the swine flu vaccine of 1976, only 1100 people had severe complications from the vaccine and 48 million were vaccinated. Given, the complications were awful and lifelong, GBS, and 25 died. The sad thing is, the vaccine killed more people than the disease did, but today a lot more have died from the swine flu.

Anyway, we normally do not vaccinate our kids from the flu due to their history with egg allergy. The flu shot is cultured in egg. This year we are trying to determine what we should do.

Keaton visited the allergist back in September. (I forgot to post about it) We received very exciting news. The allergies have improved by 50% the doctor stated. This is only based on the skin test. He can start trying more things made/baked with milk and eggs. Peanut, per the skin test, came back the highest. I looked back at my blog post last year and was reminded the blood test cleared Keaton of peanuts. I am a little confused about this result, but guess it doesn't really matter. I didn't plan on letting him eat peanuts any time soon anyway.

But, since his egg allergy has improved, he can receive the flu shot. It would be given in the allergist office so he could be monitored closely. They would test the vaccine on his skin first before injecting him. I want him to be immune to the flu, especially since he has a VSD. The heart defect puts him in the category of higher risk, but at the same time the flu shot still scares me.

Will giving him and Cort the flu shot bring back or make worse their egg allergy? Is this a risks I am willing to take to protect him from the flu?

Regardless, we have a little time to think about it more. Zambrano's office is out of the seasonal flu shot. They will be getting the swine flu vaccine the first week of November. At this point I plan on making an appointment.

High Risk Doctor

We went to see the high risk doctor yesterday. I am 13 weeks. We had a consultation with Dr. Sue Palmer mostly discussing our medical history and the ultra screen. Ultra Screen is a early detection test for Down Syndrome and other Trisomy defects. It is made up of two parts, a blood tests and an ultrasound. Both results are calculated together to see if our baby is at risk for a chromosomal defect. One of our concerns we discussed in the consultation was placenta previa. We were very eager to detect if the placenta had again placed itself in the lower part of my uterus.

Our ultrasound lasted at least an hour since the baby did not want to cooperate. In order to measure for the Ultra Screen, she needed to measure the fluid on the baby's neck. The baby didn't want to give a profile shot as needed, but wanted to stare straight into the camera. Maybe we have a celebrity on our hands. I was asked to roll back and forth on the table, go to the bathroom, touch my toes and jump up and down before they were able to actually get the measurement they needed. But we did get to see a lot of the baby and hear its heartbeat.

The tech was very excited to announce that she believed the baby was a BOY! I have to admit I felt a little deflated after that. I was not prepared to find out what we were having yet, I mean I am only 13 weeks. I didn't want to find out at all this time, but Mark was very adamant that he wanted to know. Three boys are awesome, but of course there was some part of me that was hoping for a little girl.

The GREAT news is that there is no sign of previa and the baby looks very healthy. The ultrasound part of the test fell into the normal range so we just wait for the blood test result.

I also got my flu shot while in the office. This was the first time in my life, and now 24 hours later I feel fine, so hopefully no side effects. I return to see the high risk doctor again in 6 weeks to complete the anatomy ultrasound and get my swine flu vaccine.

After the appointment we had lunch at Pappy's Cafe. I don't think I had been there in 6-8 years. I had the famous chicken fried steak and it was delicious! We talked names over lunch. We seem to be stuck in the 'C' and 'K' names. I think it would be great to find another name we love as much as Keaton and Cort regardless what letter it starts with, but another 'k' sound would fit really well too. Some names we discussed Kirby, Kiptyn, Cullen, Cruz, Carter, Cason, Kade or Caden. Mark told me over his dead body would he name his son Kirby or Kiptyn, but I think the more I say it to him the more it might grow on him. So if you have any cool names you would like to offer up, let us hear them. We have 6 months, but I would like to decide before the baby is born. Since Cort came 6 weeks early, he was 3 days old before he had a name. The funny thing is we had a girl name we both agreed on, Corrine, prounouced Cor-RIN, and could call her Rin or Cori.

Mark wanted to skip out on work the rest of the day and go see a movie, but I talked him out of a day of hooky and went to work.

I have now gained 1.5 lbs and yet I wore a maternity dress to work today for the first time. With Keaton and Cort, I was more like 20 weeks before I started wearing maternity clothes. But, the baby bump is showing and the waistbands were getting too tight!

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary. How blessed I feel to have a happy marriage, house, 2 beautiful, healthy kids and another one on the way, and of course, 2 dogs. We are living the American dream as 'they' would say.

I wish I had photos of our wedding to post. That was before digital cameras, or least before we went digital. Even the photographer gave us negatives. I thought about scanning a few pictures, but we are still putting the house back together since having it painted. Maybe at a later date.

We were married at John Wesley United Methodist Church in Houston, the church Mark attended in his childhood. We had 8 bridesmaids (Kristee-maid of honor, Dee Dee, Genelle, Kerrie, Casey, Lisa, Vinessa, and Becky) 8 groomsmen (Adam-best man, Chris, Bob, Alex, David, Mike, Mitch, Kel) and 4 ushers (Eric, Patrick, Daniel, Drew). The reception was at Wyndehaven Terrace and we ate, drank, and danced the night away with our 200 guests!

We honeymooned in beautiful Jamaica at the Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort and Private Island. We had a wonderful time relaxing on the beach, on the Catamaran, snorkeling and visiting Dunn's River Falls.

I loved our wedding, reception, and honeymoon. It was so much fun! But most of all, I love you Mark Edward Roberson. Thank you for making all my dreams come true!

Wedding Song

I WILL BE HERE
by Steven Curtis Chapman

Tomorrow morning if you wake up,
And the sun does not appear
I...I will be here

If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand, and have no fear
'cause I...I will be here

I will be here when you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind,
I will listen
I will be here when the laughter turns to cryin'
Through the winning, losing and tryin'
We'll be together.....'cause I will be here

Tomorrow morning if you wake up,
And the future is unclear
I...I will be here

As sure as seasons are made for change,
Our lifetimes are made for years
So, I...I will be here

I will be here and you can cry on my shoulder,
When the new tells us we're older,
I will hold you, and
I will be here to watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me

I...I will be here

I have added this song to my playlist. If your speakers are on, you can select this song to listen to. This song was played at our wedding. I don't usually listen to the radio when I am driving to work, but I turned it on this morning and this song was playing. How appropriate of a time for God to remind me of this song the day before we celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

Future Aggie

I don't want to think about the day that my baby leaves home for college, but I know it will happen one day. So Mark took him to his first FIGHTING TEXAS AGGIE FOOTBALL game. Our friend Bill Little offered Mark 2 tickets for the game September 19. Mark, Keaton, Justin and Luke Bender drove to the game together. They had a great time and Keaton loved every minute of it.

On Kyle Field after the big win!

Future Quarterback?

Another 1st: On the way back from College Station, Mark and Justin were talking to Luke and Keaton about baptism. The Brewer's son, Austin, was going to be baptized the following morning. Mark asked Keaton if he knew what it meant to be baptized and explained it to him by saying, once you believe in Jesus and pray for Him to come live in your heart, you can be baptized. Keaton surprised Mark by saying he had already prayed for Jesus to forgive him of his sins and come live in his heart one Sunday when he came to the service with us. We feel Keaton is a little too young to be baptized, but this is a first step for sure. We will continue to talk to Keaton about salvation at home and in AWANA. When he is ready, he will take the class our church offers for children who are new believers. It is a wonderful feeling to hear your child said the words. It makes you feel like you are doing something right.

12 weeks

I went to the doctor last week and heard the baby's heartbeat. It is always so exciting, I just wish I didn't have to wait another 4 weeks to hear it again. The doctor said I should expect to hear from the 'high risk' doctor within 5-10 days. I will need to set up an appointment for an ultrasound and blood work. I am considered high risk at this point only because of my age, 35.

My doctor told me at the first appointment, at 8 weeks, that I would have to have a cesarean again this time. Not 100% sure why, but something to do with the fact I had a cesarean at a pre-term date last time. It is okay with me, in fact I expected her to tell me that. I know women have VBACs all the time, but the thought of it did scare me some.

We discussed the flu and the risks associated with pregnancy. I have never had the flu shot before in my life. Even during my first two pregnancies I opted to not get the flu shot. This time I am planning on it. Not only the flu shot, but the swine flu vaccine as well. I feel I may be at higher exposure this time with a child in school/afterschool care and a child in daycare. Two people in my office have children who have already had the swine flu this year. The swine flu seems to be mild in most cases, but no so for the pregnant women my doctor advised. I just worry about the risk of the vaccine that is brand new and any long term side effects it may have.

I am anxious for the next ultrasound. I hope they will be able to give me some indication that I will not have placenta previa again this time. Then I will be able to breathe easier.

Twelve weeks, and I haven't gained any weight yet. That makes a girl feel good!

Labor Day

We spent Labor Day weekend at The Creek. It was a beautiful, relaxing weekend. Ed, Mark and Adam enjoyed fishing. Kayla, Keaton, Ryan, and Cort enjoyed playing together and were also invited to join in Jack's birthday party festivities. Jack is the grandson of the next door neighbor. The kids really enjoyed playing on the inflatable water slide he got for his birthday.

Then Sunday we headed to the beach. Look at those clouds. The weather was perfect!

Keaton, Cort and Mark looking for sharks teeth

(You can see PawPaw in the distance fishing)

Mark and Keaton strolling on the beach together

And me at the beach!

Hear Ye Hear Ye