Swimming Fun

We went out to the pool Sunday afternoon. Aaron loves being in the water and we're practicing going underwater. He especially likes to jump from the edge and have mommy catch him.

He has more and more words each day. I'm looking forward to being able to hear all he has to say!

CVSing

Thank you JD and MOTM for turning me on to CVS! I think I had a successful second week of CVSing. There are $58 in products in the pictures above and after sales, coupons and extra care bucks, I paid $11 and I have $5 in Extra Care bucks to use next week (so really $6)! I had a plan to be able to save more, but my CVS is out of some of the things on special in June. It's a little crazy, but a fun game and it saves money.

Aaron ate chicken and vegetables tonight!

Aaron ate chicken and vegetables tonight! Hey, it's a big deal to me!! The only protein I've gotten him to eat in months is hot dogs and eggs. He even ate a couple pieces of lettuce the other day! He's so proud of himself in this picture :)

Remember the Alamo

We went to our IVF appointment this morning in San Antonio. It was mostly just talking and figuring out a plan. We probably won't go ahead with this until January, maybe a little earlier. Until then we are just doing some tests and figuring out how to pay for it. Although our insurance doesn't pay for it, they do have a discount program. Also, they are likely opening a satellite location in Austin, so I might not have to go all the way to San Antonio (although it only took 1 hour 10 minutes) for some of the appointments.

After the appointment we went to downtown San Antonio to visit the Alamo. There was a long line to get into the actual "shrine" and Aaron was getting cranky, but they had a very nice area to walk around. We decided we'd come down another day when we could spend a little more time. Below is a picture as we strolled around the "River Walk". I was surprised at how close you are to the water. It's more like a man-made canal with lots of restaurants and shops along the way.

Good-bye Dear Friend

After much thought and rethought, we've decided to find Tyrus a new home. We've had this guy since he was just a puppy and he's now 6 years old. It makes our hearts very sad, but we know it is the best decision for everyone. Aaron has become a very grabby toddler (aren't they all?), and although Tyrus tries to get away and controls himself the best he knows, he has growled and nipped at Aaron. Many of you remember a few months back when Tyrus actually bit Aaron on the face, breaking the skin. It was an accident, but we can't allow the possibility of further incidents to happen.

We prayed about this and I put an add on Craig's List here in Austin just yesterday. This morning I received an e-mail from a very nice gentleman with older kids and previous JRT experience. We visted his home this evening, and Tyrus actually did very well. They do have a rat terrier, that Tyrus was a little unsure of at first, but we think he will adjust just fine. I know the Lord has provided this family to ease our hearts in letting Tyrus go. So, we left Tyrus with his new family and although it's been a sad parting, we know this is a good situation for both families and our Tyrus. This gentleman knows what he's getting into and knew how to behave with Tyrus. Again, although we are sad for ourselves, we know he'll have a good life.

And no more dogs for the Geesaman family for a very long time :) ....................

More fun around home

We hung out at home today. We met our new friends who live just across the street. We are planning on meeting with the kids every morning to walk. Today we ended up going to the park again near our house. It has some great stroller friendly trails. After our walk they came over to our apartment to swim in the pool. It's so good to have a nice young family to hang out with and not have to drive all over to entertain ourselves!

I was able to get Aaron's train table out of storage recently and he's having a great time playing with them. He'll play on his own for more than an hour, a great chance for me to get the necessities done.

We're looking forward to our appointment on Saturday to explore doing IVF again. We'll update more as we know, but I doubt we'll be moving forward with that until after we've found a house.

More Zilker

We went back to Zilker Park today with daddy to explore some more. It has some great trails that go for miles and miles. There were a couple of people sitting playing their guitars and we wandered through. Above is a picture of downtown Austin with some swans that meander through the streams and Town Lake.

We didn't plan a water adventure, so here Aaron is bottomless enjoying the cool water and the hot sun. Not far from here there is a section called "Barton Springs". There is a natural pool area fenced off that you have to pay to get in, but there is a smaller area just outside that you can wade and swim. Many people bring their dogs there to swim and play. Maybe we'll try bringing Tyrus one day so those other dogs can teach him a lesson in manners!

At one point early in our walk I took Aaron's shoes off because he had a rock in them. After getting the rock out I put the shoes in the bottom of the stroller and Aaron in the stroller. Of course, when we went to put shoes on, there was only one shoe :( . So, I got a nice 20 minute or so jog as I went back to look for it (unsuccessfully). I had finally found a pair of sandals that fit his chubby feet, only to donate one of them to Zilker park!

Zilker Zephur

We visited Zilker Park again today, near downtown Austin. We met a group of ladies from the church we've been attending. The three ladies we met all have little boys very close to Aaron's age. There's a great playscape and a train that takes you around the park. I hope to go back and explore the miles of trails soon.

Oh, the house signing went down without a hitch. Yeah!

And, after yet another time of getting lost I finally found the Travis County Tax Collector's office, where we registered our car. Now, both vehicles have official Texas license plates. We'll go to the DMV on Monday and start the process of getting our Texas Driver's Licenses.

Hi!

Tricycles and IVF

We went out last night with Aaron's tricycle to ride around the apartment complex. There's a video at the bottom (sorry, it's a little shaky!).

We also made a new friend the other day at Tanglewood Park, near our apartment. Jennessa has a little boy and a little girl right around Aaron's age. We met at the park, but she actually lives right across the street. She was able to show me some shortcuts in the neighborhood to the park, the library and the grocery store! Who needs gas?! We'll look forward to more fun times with our new friends.

I also found yet another meet-up group that will hopefully work out for us. The other ones just didn't quite work out. This newest one is a group of moms and ladies from Gateway church, the church we've attended a couple of times and will likely continue to attend. We have a playdate at Zilker park tomorrow, we're hoping to meet some new friends then.

After lots of phone calls and checking things out, I've made an appointment to begin the IVF journey again. The clinic that we are going to is in San Antonio (90 miles away), but it is a clinic that is approved by the discount program our insurance offers. So, although infertility is not covered by our insurance, at least can get a discount of 10-20 %, along with a discount program for all the medication necessary. So, our next step is to have our initial appointment and go from there...We also turn this over to the Lord, if it's His will, it will happen! We'll definately keep you updated in this process, and your prayers along the way are a blessing.

We have overnighted the papers on our house and the buyers should be signing them even as we speak, well...type. Praise the Lord for a quick sale!

Say a little prayer :)

Our house is scheduled for closing on Thursday. The papers were e-mailed to us this afternoon and there are some figures we need to hopefully correct. I'm anxious about this one, although you'd think I'd have learned to trust the Lord already! We just want this house behind us so we can move forward with the next one (although we don't even plan to start looking until October).

Central Market

Last night we went down to "Central Market" near downtown Austin. This is a nice place to hang out with a young family. The market itself features a lot of organic foods, fresh meat, a huge cheese and produce and a large wine and beer selection. The store also has a cafe and outdoor patio area with live music (of course, we're in Austin!) and a large playground area. It sits right next to a park and trail area that we didn't have time to explore. One of the more unique things about this area is that you could order a bottle of wine and glasses or get a 6-pack of beer from the store and bring it out to the patio or even the playground area and sit back and relax as you watch your kids play. So, Greg and I got a 6-pack of beer (had to go back to the store to get a bottle opener :) and sat back to relax. Of course, there's no sitting back and relaxing when your child is 19 months old and only wants to go on the highest and most dangerous parts of the playground! But, we had a great time with the family and look forward to going back again someday.

Music Time

We visited a Kindermusik class this morning. It is very close to our apartment (less than 3 miles). Aaron had a great time and I really liked the teacher. I don't think we'll spend the money for it this summer, but I would to start classes in the Fall...we'll see how things are going with the house search.

Speaking of houses, our house in Peoria had a termite inspection done, and there was a small colony found in the garage. :( The realtor is hopeful that this is a minor bump in the road and does not think it will effect our closing on June 12th. We are going to have it sprayed and hopefully move things down the road. We'll be very happy when this is officially behind us.

After the Kindermusik class Aaron and I explored the park that is a mile from the apartment. It has a very nice playscape with several paved trails and picnic tables. It will be a great place to visit on otherwise free days. This evening I went to pick up a ride-on toy I found on Craig's List only to get there and have the guy tell me he had sold it months ago! But, he gave me a great deal on a jogging stroller he had. So, I can run at any time, not just super early before Aaron is up!

Aaron went down for an earlier than usual nap so we could go to our new ped at 3pm. Yeah health insurance! It's such a relief to be able to take my son to the doctor without being so concerned about how much it is going to cost. I was very pleased with the office, the staff and the doctor. The office is in a new building with fun kiddy decor and clean toys! She (the doctor) was very friendly and thorough...and also less than 3 miles away!

We're plugged in...

With a washer and dryer! :) We had to go to Lowe's and switch the dryer from a 4-prong to a 3-prong, but I officially do not have to scavange for quarters!

Aaron is testy, testy, testy! I checked out Dr. Dobson's "New Strong-willed child" book from the library today (also just around the corner, woohoo!). I hope I can get some ideas from it. He's newest thing is throwing (toys, food, etc.), and it's especially funny (to him) when he throws it at the dog and the dog goes running. It seems he's in time-out more often than not these days. We'll see how this one turns out! We're going to our new ped tomorrow afternoon (yeah! Health Insurance!). We're also visiting a local Kindermusik class tomorrow.

To the Bat Cave!

The Presuhn's (Scott, Lana and Heather) came over tonight and we went out to dinner in downtown Austin. We ate at a great Mexican place called "Guero's" in the SoC0 artsy-type of neighborhood. We'd like to go back to check out the many shops sometime. After dinner we went down to the South Congress bridge to watch the largest urban bat colony come out for the night. I read there are 1.5 million bats that eat 30,000 lbs of insects each night. There is also a nice walking trail right along the river. I'm glad we finally got away from the interstates!

Also, we bought a washer and dryer from Craigslist today, so no more of the laundry room and quarters!

Getting out

We went to a Round Rock Express game on Saturday night. They are a Triple-A Baseball team affiliated with Houston. We had a good time watching the game and walking around. Aaron had a blast playing on the playground with the big boys and getting to stay up until 10:30 pm!

We visited Gateway Church on Sunday morning. They have a great new building and a wonderful children's program. It's only about 3 minutes from our apartment, but we'll probably try some other churches just to see.

Today, Aaron and I had a playdate with his new friend Grace and her mommy Carrie. Carrie is the daughter of someone my mom goes to church with in Springfield, IL. She grew up in central IL and her husband is a STL Cardinals fan. She's also a believer and SAHM, so we have lots to talk about. We look forward to more fun times with them!