Weekly Report

We may have electricity, but we are still without internet and cable TV. The second one doesn’t bother me so much, but no internet is KILLING me! I am not sure how I survived before we had internet, but I don’t think we go an entire day without forgetting that we have no internet and attempting to open internet explorer and then crying out in anguish. Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but still, it has been hard. We feel like we are in an information black out. I am just glad that we get the newspaper or we would have no idea that Houston’s energy industry was facing recession or that we now need to prove that we are here legally to get a driver’s license. And oh, the letters to the editor from yesterday’s paper! I was almost as entertained as when I read my friend’s blogs! So my friends, when I call you, I REALLY have no idea what is happening with you, so please, tell me all!

So, now that I have vented a bit about lacking internet (I DO realize that some people live like this every day…) what is happening with us you may wonder. We have been doing well. We are now beginning our last week of solitude, and I have begun to think about life after isolation. One consequence of this time has been my increased fear of enclosed spaces and crowds. I have never been a real germ-o-phob, but I am now scared of exposing my children to anything. I am nervous about letting Travis play with other children who have not been pre-screened for illness. And I do not want anyone to touch Justin’s hands for fear of contamination. So silly, I know! I really have been praying about God taking this fear away, and also for recognizing once again, that God is on control, that he loves my kids even more than I do, and that he can take care of them even better than I can. Seems obvious, doesn’t it?

The other consequence has been getting to know my children even better. I don’t know if anyone else felt this way, but when my kids were born I loved them, but I didn’t KNOW them. I could look at the pictures and say, “This is my new son, Travis.” But the meaning stopped there. Now I can look back at those pictures and say, “This is TRAVIS” and it carries so much more meaning. I am not sure how to describe it, but I smile knowingly when I look at pictures of my kids. I know Travis’ smile, I recognize his feet barefoot, and I can pick out the picture he has drawn. And it all has depth of meaning that just cannot be there at birth. Now I can say all those things about Justin. We have had some great conversations while Travis is sleeping. Justin has Brushfield spots in his eyes, and I now know their pattern. He loves honking my nose, and he has his special way that I hold him that helps him sleep. And I have not had anyone else with whom I can compare him. There are no other 6 month old babies in my home who are able to crawl, who have teeth, and who stand up. There will be times when I won’t be able to avoid this, but I have gotten to appreciate and love Justin for who is, not for who he is not.

I have started working on Justin’s baby book, which had put off doing for a long time, partly because it is a daunting task for me, but also because I didn’t know how to write it. Why do parents create baby books? I had always planned to give Travis’ to him when he gets older, but what about Justin? Will he understand what it is? I want him to know that he is loved just the same as Travis, so I am working diligently to create something that Justin will be able to look at and enjoy, probably for different reasons than Travis, but still equally special.

We took a family outing to the Pumpkin Patch today. It’s weird going places other than church on Sunday, but soon we will be back to “normal”. Travis enjoyed the goats and climbing on the pumpkins, and he watched the hayrides without wanting to ride himself, although I expect this will be the last year for that. And Justin slept, so we didn’t get any pictures with the boys in the pumpkins. Here is what we did get:

And some other tidbits from this week: Travis got his potty prize (a dump truck) for successful poopies in the potty. The next prize is for staying dry all night long. We have 1 sticker on that chart so far. And he wanted Justin to watch him play with his truck so I had to set him on the floor to watch, which he did for a long time. Travis is LOVING all the trucks that are picking up the debris from the storm. He calls them “grab-nabbers” (think Little Einsteins) and we have to look for them whenever we are out. He uses his crane as a grab-nabber and picks up “logs” (blocks) and puts them in his new dump truck. They were working in our neighborhood yesterday and we took several walks to find them. Apparently they are from Florida and they are used in the orange groves. Who knew?

And my sister’s boyfriend came to town. Travis thinks it was to visit him. When he woke up from nap the first thing he asked was, “Where’s Jerry?” And we sing a song that changes the first letter of each word to be the same, and he asks for Jerry’s letter (J) all the time, even though his brother’s name starts with the same letter! Jerry is the preferred playmate for the time being at least.

That’s all I can muster up now, so please pray that internet returns to the DeCarlo home soon and for our last week of introspection (may it not get TOO deep!)