We have had a very busy August so far-hence the no blogging. The first weekend we went to San Antonio for a good friend's wedding. Austin was actually in the wedding so I was so excited to go visit this city b/c Austin grew up there for several years while his dad was in the army and lived on base at Fort Sam Houston. I LOVED being able to go see the house he lived in, the trees he climbed, and the bush he would "run away" to when he got in trouble. There's something about seeing it that made me feel like I finally know that part of him! There's not much I don't know about Austin considering we have been together since I was 12 years old but now I know that part of his life a little better now and I loved hearing about his life as he remembered it there. I was very impressed with the Fort it was MUCH bigger than I thought it would be and it was very nice and everyone kept their homes and yard looking nice. San Antonio was such a beautiful city! I was very impressed and would be up to going back there again one day!! I really didn't know what to expect going in but everyone kept saying how nice the city was and they were right. The River walk was beautiful and it felt like someone from Opryland Hotel went and saw the river walk and said "Lets make this into a hotel in Nashville Tennessee." There were several times I truly did feel like I was walking in Opryland Hotel. Here are just a few of my favorite shots from Texas
Here's a picture of the Graymere Youth Group from 1999 that made an appearance at the wedding
This is the street Austin grew up on while living in San Antonio
The river walk is so pretty!
Austin in front of the actual house he grew up in-I wanted to go knock on the door and ask if I could look around but Austin axed that idea! haha!
The hospital my wonderful father-in-law did his training at while in the army
Austin and I in front of the Alamo!! He had to give me a quick refresher of the story behind the Alamo when we got there. I am actually starting to enjoy history and learning about it. Unfortunately, I really don't remember much from high school-due to lack of interest at the time(I was more of a science student) so Austin is my personal history tutor b/c he is a HUGE history buff. I think it's safe to say my sister-in-law would be proud also!
After we got back from San Antonio we only had 2 short days to get laundry done, re-pack, clean house and get rested up before we left for our Gulf Shores annual trip! I look forward to this trip every single year. I grew up going to Gulf Shores every single summer and sometimes we would go twice in one summer. We used to go as one big family-(cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents) but as the years have gone on life is a little more busy, schedules are little more tight, and work just gets in the way of vacation(ha!) so this year we were only expecting it to be Me, Austin, Landry, Amber and Nathan. Last minute my mother and daddy and granny and her sister decided to join us half way through the trip so they came down and joined us for the last few days of our trip which was a good surprise- I Love family time!
I will be completely honest I was DREADING the drive like CRAZY!!! My sweet little boy has a history of not being the best "car rider." He does not like to be strapped down unable to move as he pleases. I had even looked on Southwest to see if they flew to Gulf Shores but the closest I could get was Panama City and from there to Gulf Shores it still would have bee a 3 hour drive. So I decided to suck it up and take the bulls by the horns and just try to make it there without any HUGE meltdowns. He has gotten a TON better than he used to be in the car now that he can face forward and see out but I was just worried about him being strapped down that long. The main thing we struggle with now in the car is him having a toy in his hand and him chucking it across the car! (Just as a side note: The throwing thing is a constant struggle in every part of his right now-any suggestions on how to stop this would be appreciated)I know that he is a boy and it's very confusing as to what he can and can't throw for example we allow him to throw: soft plush balls inside the house, Sadie's toys when he is playing with her, soft rubbery balls we have for him outside. What is isn't allowed to throw is: his sippy cup when he is done with it,his shoes or any shoes for that matter at Sadie's head(poor little Sadie-good thing she is a good natured dog), corn on the cob across the dinner table(yes this has happened), his food when he is full and done eating, mommas cell phone in the toilet(yes this has also happened), TV remote controls in the trash can without me watching-so as I said before...suggestions???) Anyways back to the Gulf Shores driving adventure.
So Amber and I left home at 5:00am-with my nerves coiled tight and my patient pants on and what did my precious little boy do??? Once again proved me wrong!! He was so well behaved, didn't throw one fit, was content as could be the whole way down there-a little sleepy at the beginning of the trip but once we got Chick-Fila chicken biscuit in his stomach for breakfast he was good as gold the rest of the trip. We were able to make amazing time on the way down there b/c he slept for 3 hours in the car which was almost half the trip! What a relief!! He did just as good on the way back as he did on the way down there. Portable DVD players are my new best friend to say the least!!
When we got to the beach we had to let him test out the sand and water. This was the first few pictures I got of him heading to the sand.
He wasn't a big fan of the sand being on his hands and feet at the beginning but he eventually warmed up to it and had fun building a huge sandcastle with momma and daddy. He loved to go out in the ocean as long as you held him but he didn't like it one bit when the sand would wash away under his feet when a wave would come. I think hands down we could all say Landry's favorite part of the trip was the food each night! I have never seen him put so much food down in my life. I guess building sand castles and being in the heat all day made him work up an appetite. We had a great trip and I am already looking forward to our annual trip back to the beach in 2012!
He wasnt feeling or sounding good at all when we got there and it broke my heart to see him in that hospital crib with the little hospital gown on that just about drug the ground bc it was so big on him.
I will just go on a bragging blog here for a minute and just say he was the BEST patient on the unit. He thought he was at his very own retreat all weekend. Not only did we think he did so good but the doctor on call that weekend said the same thing as did ALL the nurses that took care of him around the clock and the respiratory therapist that were in and out of our room every few hours all weekend. They would have to go get each other with each shift change and say "I'm sorry I just had to show them how cute and sweet your little boy is. I just have the best patient ever and they are so jealous!" He stole the show and somehow became the center of attention even on a pediatric unit at the hospital-he always seems to get attention somehow! ha! I was really worried about my little guy all weekend! I was anxious at how he would do with them coming in the room ever 2 hours during the night to get his vitals and give him his medicine but he was a champ! He slept right through all the commotion Saturday night and never knew they came in his room-it was another story for Austin and myself though! Thankfully he is doing much better and they let us come home yesterday. They put him on 4 different medicines for the rest of the week and will now on will be on a preventative medicine for 30 days to hopefully keep this from happening again since this was his 3rd spell since July 4th weekend. 
They still can't officially diagnosis him with "asthma" b/c he isn't old enough. But they all but came out and said it was asthma and there is something that is triggering these episodes either an allergy to something or just random attacks. But once again they can't officially say what his allergies are b/c he isn't old enough for testing yet. This is very Frustrating-I just want to know what's causing my baby to not be able to breathe and get rid of it and make it stop! But in the mean time we will continue his medicines and try to prevent another one from happening. I took these pictures with mt cell phone while we were there so the quality isn't the best but I wanted a few shot of our little man this weekend. Please notice his little booties/house shoes he has on in these pictures! they are so cute on him and he LOVES them! Nathan got them for him when he went to Guatemala last month!
