Tomorow, tomorow!

Tomorow, tomorow, I'll love ya, tomorow, baby's only a day away!
Who? My neice or nephew of course!
What? His or her grand arrival of course!
When? Tomorow, tomorow!!

I'm so excited. I'm going to be an auntie, Ivan and Dominique will be cousins, Brian will be an uncle and John and Jenn parents!!! Oh, joy ;) May everything go swimmingly! Hee, hee.

OK, here are some more pictures for your amusement.

The overall club. I think it's like a rule or something to have overalls, or a cowboy hat, or cowboy boots while in Texas. I don't have any of those, but the kids are so cute in overalls and they are Big Buddy's main clothing staple.





I took this while "wearing" her in the sling. It was a deliciously beautiful fall day. The weather here is anywhere from 70-80 (+10-20) these days and sunny. Very nice.
Ivan on that very nice day in long sleeves. I love pulling out the winter clothes, snuggly, warm clothes.


I really should wipe his mouth before taking a picture, but here he is in all his two year old grandness!





We call this Dominique's school picture. Doesn't she look all prim and proper. I hate to gravitate toward steriotypes, but she seems so much more dainty than Ivan was. And while I'm not all into girl/boy categories, sometimes you have to wonder. Like about the boy who got stuck in a toy machine here in Abilene. I read the article on it. He was stuck there about an hour, with the toys, laughing while his parents and desperate restaurant people worked on getting him out. The article said this has happened before, about 6 times throughout the country and ALL BY BOYS. I think I see a pattern.

Snaps: vol. 19

One of our favorite cousins (Lin) sent this onesie for our new little rocker. It's still a little big, but will be perfect for a journey up north, since she seems to grow daily. We are planning on going up there this Christmas if all goes well. No dates yet.







This shirt really does need props: instruments, musician and groupies.







And accessories. Don't worry, no tatoos, piercings or dyed hair yet.







From Nana and Pawpaw Terry's visit.



Who is your favorite musician or band? What were your favorite songs as a kid?

Where are daddy's shoes?

Every so often, like about once a day, Ivan takes Brian's work shoes and takes them for a walk. Today he got very frustrated when he tried to add his favorite prop. (A toy you push that he pretends is his mower). He had troubles maneuvering the shoes and push toy at the same time. He also took the vaccum for a walk today. Unfortunately he wouldn't let me turn it on for him and he's not quite tall enough to move it with the front actually touching the floor (just the wheels make contact), otherwise I could have really cheap house help. It's not child labor if you have a two year old clean the house is it? I'd rather think of it as play time with a vacuum ;)



We have pictures of us as kids dressing up in the Christmas decorations. We had ornaments as earings and the garlands as glittery boas. My brother got the worst of it though since we added a dress, hat and shoes for him. Did you have dress up clothes? What was your favorite thing to dress up in?

Snaps: vol. 18

I'm still trying to catch up on pictures and videos.

It's gotten "cold" here (cold is relative), no snow or freezing temps, but cold when compared to our 4+ months of hundred degree temps (35+ C).










Our little lady looking lovely with her still blue eyes.






Ivan thinks everyone should have a chance to talk on the phone including the pets.














He also includes the pets in the nightly kiss goodnight ritual, sometimes even before mommy, daddy and maymay get their kisses!










I found my daughter thus positioned when coming home one day. Brian was watching the kids. He hasn't lost his touch since Ivan was an infant. I remember coming home to Ivan zonked out all slouched over with his head laying on the tray of his swing.

Singing his own song

Ivan REALLY liked his birthday this year. We got two cakes and everyone sang to us. Now whenever Ivan sees the cake he sings: "AAAA day you!" He also sings this throughout the day just to make himself feel special. You get a clipped version of him singing his song at the beginning of the video and my indignant expression at the end when he gives the pumpkin a kiss instead of me!

Baby Boast Halloween

Some people have told me that they couldn't do a blog because they wouldn't know what to write each time. I never seem to have that problem. Right now I've got at least half a dozen videos and all sorts of pictures to get caught up on. I'm in constant amazement of my kid's development and assume that you are enthralled with them too, and if you aren't you don't have to come and read- it's as easy as that!


Amidst birthday celebration and Nana and Pawpaw Terry's visit was another baby boast party. This one was halloween themed. I figured I could make Dominique her costume when I thought of her being a butterfly- I had all the materials on hand. I thought it would take just a couple of hours, but it took more like a week. The paint didn't want to adhere to the fabric either, but it came out cute. Why do I always start these seemingly little projects that take way more effort than I imagine??? But it's fun and I guess it satisfies my need to do something creative.
Here are our beautiful children. Can you find our butterfly? The chickens are twins, but we also had two cows and two pea pods. Batman is eating Dominique's antenas. He pulled on it so hard, she ended up with just one long antena sticking all squiggly up from her head, but the momma fixed it.


My next big project is painting my little niece or nephew's clock. I'm so excited!!! Only another week and a half to go if that. We've decided I will be Auntie Ang.

Are you an aunt or uncle? What kinds of things do you like to do to make your niece or nephew feel loved?

Our hapy birt

Here we are, Oct. 20th, 2004, 2005, 2006.







Ivan and I had a wonderful birthday. We were on the phone half the day with calls from family and friends. I got calls I don't usually get with uncles from both sides of the family, so that was fun too. Dominique, myself and grandma Wynetta went to Anson to see miss Mary and enjoyed a walk out there, then came home to a napped and refreshed Ivan. Nana and Pawpaw Terry soon arrived and we tried a new restaurant for supper. You can't judge a book from it's cover. I've been wanting to go to this restaurant for a long time, but it's located in the industrial section and so unappealing looking from the outside we never knew if we should risk trying it. It was very small, but nicely decorated inside and the authentic Thai food was fabulous. I'm so glad we went. Daddy had made chocolate cake for us that was oh so delicious, we had mint choc. chip ice cream and a second cake by big buddy. He tried writing on it and ran out of room, so it said hapy birt. Mom's package came just on time with treasures from Europe.

Ivan is totally loving his darts. They really don't work very well. Even us adults can't get them to stick, but Ivan doesn't seem to care. He caries the darts around with him all day and will periodically throw a dart at the board, or just walk up to it and stick one in.

Early Fright Night

We had a major scare last night. I took the kids grocery shopping and was unloading the car and kids in the dark. Ivan didn't want to get out of the car, so I let him play in it while I went for more loads of groceries. Dominique was patiently waiting in the house with the two pets right inside the door. As I got the last load, I told Ivan it was time to get out of the car. By this time, he was in the driver's seat and really didn't want out. So I took his hand and pulled him out. As we tried to make our way in the house, he squirmed and pulled and threw fits on the end of my arm, but I didn't let go knowing that he would possibly make a run for it in the dark and I had groceries in and out of the house and the baby in the house (Brian was at a neighbor's house). As I tried to get Ivan in the house, the cat made a run for it. When I'd caught her and got back to the house, Ivan was still throwing fits about the car and "Snaynay out". But then he wouldn't calm down. He kept crying and then pointed at his hand dangling at his side. I suddenly realized that he could be hurt and immediately felt horrible. He was so inconsolable it was hard to tell what if anything was hurt, so I started putting away the groceries while I watched him. Brian came home and I said I think I hurt Ivan (he gave me a look of what have you done to our son). For the next hour or so, I got groceries up and fed Ivan cookies and made him tea and we watched.

He wasn't using his left arm or hand, he wouldn't pick things up with it and cried if we touched it. We asked him where it hurt and he just said "no" for everything. It wasn't discolored or swollen or sticking out at weird angles. Brian gave him his bath and we debated a trip to the emergency. I gave Ivan some children's tylenol and while it made him act more normal, at times laughing and playing, he still wasn't using the arm and didn't want anyone else to touch it either. We called his doctor. All the while I'm thinking I've crushed the bones of his hand (how much pressure would that take? I was holding him tightly), or dislocated his shoulder or something horrendous. I was thinking how his first injury was by his mom! How horrible is that? I'm wondering if I'll get interrogated at the hospital: do you usually yank on his arm? do you spank him? CPS wants to know. Meanwhile I'm talking to a lady at the hospital who is typing my information into a computer. The first aweful telling of our fateful event. She misunderstands and asked if he got his hand slammed in the door (no, that would be so horrible, I can't imagine his hand being smushed in a door, but then, that happens all the time and wouldn't really be my fault).

The doctor calls and while I feel like slime under a car seat, he calmly says that it's probably his elbow that has popped out. I said I thought it was his wrist and he replies that it's usually the elbow for something like that (USUALLY- there was nothing usual about it for us, but I was somewhat reassured that he'd heard of this before and wasn't screaming into the phone saying "how could you drag your screaming child by the arm, arms are fragile, hands are fragile and his will never work the same again" or some other devastating words). He starts describing the procedure to pop the arm back in place and then it dawns on me that he's telling me this for ME to do it! He said it's so easy to do and would be a shame to have to go all the way up to the hospital to do it, not to mention the doctor there may not know what it is. He instructs me to place Ivan's hand palm up and bend his arm so that his palm touches his shoulder. He warned me Ivan would scream, but should be using the arm shortly and he'd call me back to make sure it worked. So I did it, several times, just to make sure. Ivan did scream, but not as bad as when I told him to get out of the car, or when I told him there were no more cookies. So I thought that was a good sign. Sure enough, within minutes Ivan was using his wounded arm and hand again, throwing things and running around the house thinking this was so great that his parents were letting him stay up past 11pm and eat cookies with tea. I could have hugged the doctor when he called back, except that's a little hard to do over the phone. I couldn't believe that he was able to help us over the phone, that Ivan was ok and that I'd gone from bad mom to ok mom. We were so relieved and thankful to the Lord that Ivan was back to the lively, fun and strong toddler he is. In a moment our night had gone from lovely to tormented, and just as quickly from racked with pain to celebratory.

Of course in hindsight I can see that I could have put the groceries down and picked him up, but there are other times when there is no other recourse, like when he throws a fit half way across the street with Dominique on my one hip and him holding my other hand. I can just hope that this will make him think before trying to twist away from me like he did and pray that he'll be protected from all harm, accidental or otherwise.

I won't make you retell your worst moment as a parent, but you could tell us about your first bad injury. Have you been hospitalized before? Had stitches?

Trio dance

Don't watch me during this video. I didn't know Brian was recording (not that I would have done anything more spectacular), plus I was a sweaty mess. I had actually thought I'd try to work out by jumping rope, since you burn calories really fast that way. That's when I realized that I don't really like jumping rope, plus Dominique was crying and since the music was on, I tried dancing with her instead. Ivan couldn't resist and joined in for the fun, while his dad took unsolicited camera footage.

Ivan loves a party and loves to dance. I sing him a little song every morning, sometimes he yells no to me, other times he smiles along and some times he just breaks out and dances. I usually get applause at the end too, which is so fun. He's the only one who applauds my singing (understandably so). Ivan's favorite dance is to spin in circles, his second favorite dance can be seen briefly about half way through the video. He dances on one tiptoe and flings his arms. I love his freestyling!



Do you dance? With others? In the view of others?

Baggett family reunion

Well, we got to go! It was a miracle how it all came together at the last minute and I mean at the last minute, and we were so thankful to get to be a part of the party. There hasn't been a reunion in decades, certainly not since we've been married, but you wouldn't have known it by the way everyone came together and welcomed me in and our family. It was all hugs and smiles and "glad you made it". There was enough food for an army. We got there late, as in everyone had already eaten, but there were still three tables full of food. We did our best to polish some of it off, and while it was excellent, we were really to excited to meet everyone than to eat.


All three of Brian's grandfather's siblings were there, and various children and grand-children of their's. The families had a little baseball game, visited, took pictures, swung on swings, took in some horse riding competition that was going on as well at the park, played in the playground (well mostly Ivan and his generation), had a raffle for a blanket, gave toys to the kids and tried to make Dominique happy (which didn't happen much). She screamed through picture taking and anyone holding her longer than about 1 min., but they all acted like she was the greatest little baby ever (she was the youngest member of the family present).

A funny story: Ivan had wandered to the playground, so I dutilly followed him. There were several kids already playing there, so I asked them if they were there for the family reunion. "yes", "well who are your parents?" I asked trying to make family associations. They replied with names I had yet to connect. "Ok then, tell me who your grandmother is", thinking if I go back far enough, I will finally know someone. "Memaw", the daring eldest cousin replied. Seeing that I was still perplexed, she giggled and said, that she had another grandmother and that her name was "Maymaw". She then realized this was no help to me at all and pulled out of her short 8 years of knowledge a first name to her grandmothers to help me along.

A tender story: I was telling great uncle Benton about some of our visits with his brother (Brian's grandfather) and how he would act all put-out that I couldn't keep all the names straight when looking through old pictures. Benton then assured us that Brian's grandfather actually did connect with us more than with anyone, that we had been able to get the most out of him in the way of stories or looking back over the growing up years. We took this as a very high compliment. Maybe all those years knowing grandpa MacLeod and overlooking his orneriness helped out. Brian had the same attitude, what is there to lose? Ask for the stories and draw out the memories.

It was a great time to meet family and know the love of family, recall old times and make some new memories too. It was a good start to the rekindling of something that is ever so precious, family.




Brian found several people in the crowd who attended both of these reunions Sept. 1960 and Oct. 2006.


Since most of you don't know all the family, I left out many great pics. If you're interested go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/baggettfamily/

credit where credit is due

You may have to click on my new profile picture to see it very well, but it is by our very own daddy of the house. He drew our family under a rainbow. I messed around on the computer way too late a couple of times creating this new look. Hope you like it. It did require something that can be pretty hard for me: making decisions. It was easy enough before when I could just choose from about 5 templates. Now blogger offers about 30 templates and you can choose to change colors and format.

We've had a good week and are looking forward to a great weekend. We are heading out in the morning for a "Baggett" family reunion. I put Baggett in parenthesis because the great aunts have other names and I think it will be mostly their kids. We will get to meet all sorts of second cousins and I know we'll have fun. I have lots of fond memories of times with my cousins and second cousins and am so excited Ivan and Dominique will get to meet all these families (and me too!)

Above are more sidewalk chalk pictures by the dad and Ivan. Our son is also very creative with ice cream. Here is what happened when he tried to stick his head in the bowl and suction out the remaining stubborn smudges of chocolate stuck to the bowl. Dominique is growing and cooing, smiling and has laughed a time or two, so that is fun. She is more and more interested in her surroundings and toys. We were watching a baby Einstein video and I am not exagerating, she imitated the sighing of one of the puppets as he cuddled down to sleep. We are just in constant amazement of these two little wonders and are ever so thankful to the Lover for provision and joy this week.

From the Ivan funnies: he makes motor noises for everything with a cord, which makes sense, except when he made a mower sound for the crock pot. He also enjoys talking to no one on the phone and will hold the phone for the dog and cat so they can talk on it as well.

Grandpa you forgot...

Dear Grandpa Ray,

I think you left a couple of things behind in Texas.
You'll never guess what they were, but these pictures should give you a clue, among them are evidence of the beautiful weather since you returned home, our last picture taken with you and a grandchild, and two little goofy kids who enjoyed your stay with us.

Giving Thanks

Tomorow is Canadian Thanksgiving day and my aunt's memorial. I think it is the perfect day to celebrate Aunt Laveena's life. From her cheery red hair, to her vivacious spirit and lilting accent, everything about her said to live life fully. She would want us to focus on her life today and not the grief. While there is sure to be tears, there will also be smiles, laughter, hugs and joy at being together, sharing stories, memories and common knowledge of a wonderful sister, wife, mother, aunt, friend. I am thankful to have known aunt Laveena. I am thankful that she brought a slice of womanhood to the brood of men she grew up with. I am thankful for her insights and memories of growing up and of the previous generation.

I've been thinking some about the awesome power of the Lover to help us rise above situations and circumstances. Many people today believe in finding strength within. While this may seem noble, what happens when you are sapped out? when you are all used up and confused, or hurt or feeling all alone? This is why I love the Lover so, when I have nothing, He is there for me to make me strong and give me joy, perspective and meaning... that my life is in a bigger realm than my current reality, that living is greater than this world, that there is life beyond, love surpassing, overcoming victory and knowledge available to me that will spurr me on, expand my limited sphere and bring beauty out of ashes, even joy out of mourning.

Of course at this stage in life, I am ever so thankful for my family, immediate and extended, for the life I enjoy and get to live, for the plethora of comforts that the majority of the world does not have access to, which I so often take for granted: from drinkable water, to a cozy bed, a variety of food, educational resources at my fingertips, love at the end of a phone, hugs and kisses within arms reach, the sound of laughter daily, friends, children, pets and plants... so much that makes my life incredibly rich, layered in beauty and wrapped fabulously in the sweet delight of heaven.

May the ears of those who mourn the loss of my aunt ring with the delightful sound of her laughter, may your noses tickle with her fragrance, may your arms tingle with her love and your spirits dance with hers as you remember and commune with her at a different level, in another way. She may seem ever so far from us and she is in a way, but she is also so very near. May we hear her salutations of love through the stratosphere. Likewise, I am not near you in body, but I am with you in spirit, in thought and in love. Give a big hug to everyone for me... from angela and her expanding gang in Texas

Guess that song

Can you guess the song Ivan is singing in the first 3-4 seconds of the clip? I give it away after the first chorus chant.



What is your favorite song?

Who are the people in the neighborhood?

Do you remember that sesame street song? I wish we all lived on a Sesame street, where everyone knows each other and shares, sings songs, plays and puts up with the grouch. It's so hard to know neighbors now as we shut our doors turn on the air conditioning and plop ourselves in front of tv, computer, games... We are very thankful to live on a children filled street. It seems that they are the key to breaking down barriers. Have you noticed how people will talk to you if you have a child? I first noticed this years ago when I took my cousin Lin's then baby Harley (now she's preteen!) for a walk.

My kids are famous. We'll walk down the street and cars will go by with arms waving out the windows to the cries of "hi, Ivan". Dominique is gaining a fan club too. Of course everyone wants to come see the baby. Today we went to see our friend Mary in a nursing home and it struck me again how all the people just loved to see her. Babies are common ground for everyone. One lady couldn't walk, talk or raise her head up, but she shuffled her wheelchair close when I brought Dominique by and she reached her wavering hand over and amidst her tremors, she lovingly patted our daughter. I just know she made her day. This little defenseless, non-verbal human who really has no skills to impress the adult world, but can put a smile on every face quicker than anything. Babies are just incredible, they bring joy, tender memories and laughter just by being who they are. I think we're all supposed to be more like that. Here Dominique pulled a toy to her mouth so that she could nurse on it. In her books everything can be nursed. I thought it was cute how the mirror picked up her reflection.

We had good neighbors growing up. I remember one girl, Tracy? who was a few years older than me and walked with us to the public pool all through the summer so we could swim. I remember a lady who gave dimes out instead of candy during Halloween and one who gave apples (the only non-wrapped item we were allowed to keep since we knew her). Another neighbor let me have a free book from her garage sale when I was looking through her stuff.
What special thing did a neighbor do that meant a lot to you?

no longer the baby

Last night, Ivan and I were looking through photo albums. We were looking at his baby pictures and he kept calling himself "maymay" (Dominique). I explained that the pictures were not Dominique, but baby Ivan. I got a little teary eyed though as I looked from the picture to my boy as I realized that I couldn't really see him as that little baby anymore. I know the pictures are of him on a head level. I remember him as a baby while I look at the pictures, but I could not correlate how I know Ivan now with my images of him as a baby. I couldn't go back and not imagine him walking, talking, helping... all that he is now. That's when I realized just how fleeting time is and how critical it is to enjoy each stage even as we welcome the person he is becoming.

I was relieved when we got to Dominique's pictures. Her birth is still fresh enough that I could see her as the infant she was and is, but I know this too shall pass some day.

hellos and goodbyes

This weekend grandpa Ray, Brian, myself and the kids headed over to Tuegue Texas to visit Ray's aunt and cousin. They are actually planning a reunion in a couple of weeks (that we hope to go to), but Ray didn't know the exact dates until after he had planned his trip to see us. The fun part is that we ended up having a mini reunion. The second aunt showed up, unannounced while we were eating dinner! She and her husband were traveling from camping in Colorado back to their home in Houston and happened to stop by the night we arrived to visit.

It was so fun to have all these relatives there. They just scooped up Dominique and tried their best to keep her content so that I could eat (didn't quite work) and were quite entertained by Ivan. The next day, the kids were more at ease and warmed up to all the friendly smiles. Aunt Kay and Uncle Bo could make serious money as comedians on a reality travel show. They are just hillarious and Aunt Eula was the grandma everyone wants to have. She whipped up a great meal and welcomed us like the long lost relatives we are. There hasn't been much contact through the years, and when Brian apologized to her for not keeping up with them, she replied something like: there's no better time than today to start.



It is so wonderful to know there is some family near by (about 4hours by car). Just as we were saying our hellos to these newly acquainted relatives, we had to say goodbye to grandpa Ray. He left this morning. We appreciate so much him coming down and spending time with us. We know that it was a sacrifice for him to leave his wife 3 weeks, but I know he enjoyed being in Texas again, eating Blue bell ice cream and most of all seeing Ivan and meeting Dominique.

Here's some pictures from our time in Tuegue. We'll have to go back. Aunt Eula has a wealth of love, memories and photos! This old picture is of Brian's great-grandfather who served in WWI. The picture is shown with his dog tags.

What relative are you closest to? What makes that relative so special to you?

love is in the air

Ivan is learning to say the most important three words.


Ivan was tiring of learning how to say I love you and figured this was much faster and got the same message accross.


Now he really had it with the practice, he decided to come get the camera and watch the outakes himself.