The Eyes of Texas

Wow - so much has happened since my Dallas trip!

The constant, and inspiration for this post title, is that my eyes are contact lens free. On Tuesday I have corrective vision surgery. Yay! So it's been glasses every day, all day for the past two weeks. I wish I had spent a little more on my frames and purchased something cuter but in a few days, that won't matter at all.

Next let's jump right to the best of all. Last weekend KEVIN WAS SENT HOME FROM DEPLOYMENT! Yay! Last Friday he texted me from Spain where he was waiting on his connection. Then to Virginia late that night. Saturday he was able to catch an earlier flight than expected and was all the way back to Seattle by lunchtime-ish. Yay! Carly and their dog Holly picked him up from the airport and they are all staying on Whidby Island for a week or so while he goes through all his discharge paperwork. Then back to northern California where she'll return to student teaching, he'll get to do some relaxing and hopefully quickly find a job. He has a strong lead in Southern California so we're all hoping that comes through soon and that he can start before Christmas. His Navy experience will be a real asset for that, or any, gig. And while he learned a lot and saw/lived in some new places, and truly had as positive an enlistment as one can have, I think there are smiles all around for his transition to civilian life. Yay Kevin! Welcome home!

Now know that that cannot be topped...

In other news, last weekend Ross worked a double. Boo! Cade declared it no nap Saturday but thankfully I had a sitter for the afternoon to help us get through that fun time. Sunday we went to the fire station to visit Ross and deliver football snacks.

Monday Cade was sent home from school sick and Tuesday he and I hunkered down at the house with movies. Ross had to be back at work so by the end of that day, we were all running a little thin. Hubby gone for 72 out of 96 hours and a sick kid will do that to a family. So I took my maiden voyage with Instacart and had groceries delivered that day. A bit too pricey for every day life but it was a unique circumstance, I had a $10 coupon and the first delivery is free. A perfect time and place. I'm pleased to report Cade recovered quickly from his little cold and was back to school on Wednesday.

Monday/Tuesday, while Ross recovered from his double and then Cade was sick, we added landscaping to the crazy. The same guy who did our awesome back porch stone-lined and cleaned up our flower beds. I added path lights tonight.

Yesterday was the return of the famous Mustache Party. The party was skipped last year as the hosts were prepping for the arrival of baby 3. But that's behind them now and it was time to party again. For the first year we brought Cade. All and all, he did OK. He declared yesterday no nap Saturday again (an unpopular trend) so I knew he'd be touch and go all afternoon. He had fun though, chasing their chickens, enjoying his first ring pop and playing with the awesome truck and dinosaur toys. He and I managed to stay until almost 6 p.m. He dozed the last part of our drive and was in bed by 7:15 p.m. yesterday. In fact, asking to go to bed.

These two were so sticky and so happy.

Also of note yesterday was Cade's official ability to climb out of his crib. ....yay? No, not yay. Stress! I was really hoping we could do that transition next month post eye surgery but he had other plans. So this morning Ross and I converted his crib to a toddler bed. The rail doesn't fit quite how I'd like so we'll be getting a new one as well as some new dinosaur sheets for his "new big boy bed."

With the after effects of the Mustache Party/my at-home wine night and some wicked allergies (it feels like I have an elephant sitting between my eyes I'm so congested), today was a pretty rough day. Cade also decided to really embrace "terrible twos" which was rough on our already short patience. He went to time-out like five times and had one train taken away for bad behavior.  We made it to bedtime though and an hour in, bedtime in the big boy bed seems to be OK. Only time will tell.

Tomorrow Ross and I are both off but preschool is open. So Cade's terrible two tush will be at school and we will be taking care of grown up things. Like my pre-op eye appointment, dropping off a bag of donations and packing up Nancy. Super fun right? Cade doesn't know it, but he's winning by being at pre-school. However after all that I'm really looking forward to taking Cade and Holden to Fuddruckers for $1 kids' meal night and to play in the arcade a little. Ross and I like Fuddrucker's burgers more than any two adults should and we're happy to return the favor to Jenny and Jeremy (who took Cade to Chuck E Cheese this summer) by taking the boys there for dinner. Mommy's last dinner before surgery! Wah wah!

Surgery is Tuesday afternoon and I'll be pretty out of commission until Thursday morning. I'm not even going to see Cade Tuesday night; I'll just be locked in my room on pain meds. By Friday though I should be cleared to drive. And these eyes of Texas will NEVER HAVE TO WEAR CONTACTS AGAIN!

He's coming home!

We just received word today - my brother will be flown off his air craft carrier on October 1! After all the necessary travel, he should be stateside October 2 and then will have a couple weeks on base (paperwork I think). And then, THEN, his Naval enlistment is officially OVER!

In late October, Kev is coming to Texas for a long weekend. We're going to celebrate with a Houston Texans game! A "homecoming game" if you will. We are all SO excited!

Californ-I-A

The Baby Cade and I survived our first plane trip and vacation! We spent three nights in the San Diego area with my brother Kevin and his wife Carly.

I'm officially brain-dead from travel (and because the crazy baby wanted to sleep in bed with me every night except that meant that "sleep" only applied to him; I was awake all night trying to make sure he didn't roll outta bed) so you'll have to stay tuned for more pics and stories.

For now though, enjoy this gem of Kevin and Cade playing peekaboo during Cade's first vineyard trip.



PS The Deltas and I decided that "first vineyard" is a thing, just like first step or first word.

Going to the Chapel

Or in Kevin and Carly's case, the vineyard. (A much better place to get married if you ask me.)

We spent Memorial Day weekend in northern California with my family celebrating little bro's nuptials. He and Carly married on Sunday evening at Ironstone Vineyard.

I was busy enjoying the wedding so I only took a few pictures but here's what I have. Congrats Kev & Carly!

Ooo la la the garter

Ross hit it off with Carly's bro-in-law, Robert. They have a serious bromance

Merry Christmases!

Merry Christmases!

It's Christmas evening and me and my little family are back home unwinding from a full long weekend of Christmases. They were all lovely!

On Saturday we had Ross' family Christmas at my in-laws' house. Ross had already received all his big gifts (laptop from me, recliner from his folks) but he still managed to get a pair of underwear or two. Me and our new house scored big time with a Dyson from Nancy and Jack. Now I (and whoever I can bribe to help) can clean this big house in no time!

Cade's very special Gramma sweater

The most special, super awesome gift of all, bar none, though was a baby sweater for Cade that Gramma knitted before she passed away two years ago. She knitted one in blue and another in pink because as a grandmother, she knew to be ready for anything when it comes to babies. Neither of us knew such a treasure existed and we feel very lucky to have it for our little bundle of bouncing baby boy.

Then yesterday on Christmas Eve we loaded up the car and drove to Houston for my family Christmas, complete with little brother Kevin and his fiance Carly! It was Carly's first adventure to Texas and Kevin's first trip home since relocating to San Diego last year. It was a full and crazy house with 6 adults (and of course, one being prego) and 4 dogs but it was really nice to have us all under one roof.

Breaking from Lowe family tradition a smidge we had a big Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. As it turns out, that may have allowed more people to come so a win in general.

Then today Kevin and Carly caught a jetliner back to Cali; Mike, Brenda and Bryanna stopped by for some holiday cheer and about mid-afternoon the Blacks of Round Rock loaded the car back up, with presents received instead of presents to give, and headed home.

On said drive home I received the most fabulous of text messages - a picture of a big sparkly diamond ring on the left ring finger of one of my dearest friends! I don't think she's quite told everyone yet so I won't reveal her identity here (yet) but if you are 1 of the 10 people who read this, there is also a pretty good chance you were 1 of the 7 people on that big beautiful group text message. Oh how I love an Engagemas :)

Now we're in for a relaxing night of bubble baths (Ross), Christmas movies (me) and leftover pizza (everyone).

From our little-but-growing family to yours - Merry Christmas y'all!

And we shall call him...

Now that we know we are having a baby boy, it's lovely to start calling baby "he" and "him instead of "it." And even better than gender-specific pronouns is his actual name.

We're naming our son

Cade Daniel Black

Cade is a name that during the random name shoot-out ("Michael!" "Duke!" "McLean!") we both stopped on and really liked. We discussed "Caden" too but realized we would always call him Cade and Ross especially liked the shorter version much better. And so it was decided: Cade.

Daniel is my brother's middle name. In addition to liking the subtle family connection (we had a family middle name selected for a girl too), I really like that it has softer sounds since both "Cade" and "Black" have very hard consonant sounds. I think it provides nice balance.

And that, friends, is our little boy's name! Let the monogramming begin!

Double Dad

On his way to meet Kevin in New Mexico for a car exchange, Dad made a stop over in Austin on Friday night. And tonight on his way back from the same, he's hanging out with us again. Two Dad visits in one weekend!

Coming in a close second to seeing Dad twice this weekend is that I got to drive Kevin's new car before he did. BAM! Take that little brother!

Stay Classy San Diego

In tribute to the newly announced Anchorman 2...I'm not sure who is more excited, Ross or Kevin.

As it's way past my bedtime I'll be brief. I'm in San Diego! With Mom! And Kevin! And Carly!

Here's a picture from dinner last night.


More pictures from the San Diego Zoo and Flower Fields coming soon.

Walk Me Down the Aisle Baby

I like to think we provided him
with good wedding practice

Last night Carly and Kevin called me to talk wedding.

First, let me say I think I've met my match with this girl. She's a talker (we chatted for a full hour, love it!) and a planner (they've been engaged 2 weeks and she's knocked out tons already). Clearly she was meant to be in my family.

Now on to wedding. We chatted about a lot of things: who is making the centerpieces (her family), travel plans, day-of coordinator, puppy dog ring bearer, the importance of fake eyelashes (priorities people), the wedding party....which is where it gets exciting! Carly and Kevin asked me and Ross to both be in the wedding!

Same people, different aisle

We've walked down one (very important) aisle together and we're both really looking forward to doing it again. And I must say, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside that they want us as their family to be so involved in the wedding. It's going to be great!

Shopping Weekend

Yesterday Mom drove to Austin for a serious outlet shopping trip. Having heard me rave about the deals at the outlets in Round Rock, she wanted to check it out for herself. I think we did really good. I was most impressed that she bought 3 tops from Ann Taylor and her total price just under $50. That's some good sale shopping.

As you might suspect, this being the first time we've seen each other since Kevin's big engagement announcement, we talked tons and tons about the upcoming wedding. We were able to call Kev & Carly and get some more scoop from them on the wedding. I'm so excited to know I'll share their big day with them next year!

Next time I see Mom it will be on a plane bound for San Diego to see the lovely couple for a weekend. It even sounds like we'll be able to meet Carly's parents when we jump up the coast to San Francisco. After traveling east so often and living out there for college, I'm really excited to have a good reason to explore the other side of the country. Nicely done, Kev, nicely done.

Yay!

Wanna know what's new around here?  Just check out lil bro's recent Facebook announcement. It's pretty amazing.

https://www.facebook.com/kdlowe22

(And if you are too lazy to follow the link, just see the pic for a darn clear hint.) Happy happy day!

Welcome to 2012

Dear Cheryl, welcome to 2012.

When I was asked for approximately the 400th time about calling someone via Skype this week, I decided maybe it was time to get with the program. Tonight my friends, I downloaded Skype.

New headshot

Then I got crazy and decided I should have a mildly recent headshot to fill the avatar screen so that required some photo selecting and editing. (And now I'm wondering, should I maybe update LinkedIn, Blogger, etc for improved consistency and recency? Oh the really tough and important questions in life.)

Then - ooh! I can add contacts! Yes let's do that. Let's search my Facebook. I bet I find a dozen or so...or like 500 people I know who are on Skype. Apparently I really was last.

I didn't have the patience to sit down and add all of you. I apologize. I added Anna, AJ and my cousin Anthony because as A's I got to all of them before I was bored. The real purpose was to be able to call Kevin so I added him and on my way to K I saw Joe's pic and figured I might as well round out the Renaud family listing. So I have those five people. One day I'll get crazy and add the other 495 of you. Or you can find me. I'm CLBlack425...just like my username for nearly everything is. Creative right?

Watch out! Now that I've joined 2012, I'm gonna Skype you!

(That sounds somewhat violent doesn't it?)

California Girl

It's been unofficial for a while but now it's official - for six nights this spring I'm gonna be a California girl! I'll be adventuring first to San Diego to see Kevin for two nights and then on up the coast for a four night business trip to San Francisco. I've never been to either city so between that and seeing little bro, and knocking "San Diego Zoo" off my bucket list, I'm quite pleased.

Hotel in San Fran

This officially solidifies the first half of 2012 as just pure crazy. Pure wonderful fun crazy. Check it out:

• January: 3 speaking engagements, 1 in each city: Austin, Phoenix and NYC
• February: This is the month I sleep. So far nothing other than Valentine's Day here.
• March: Cirque du Soleil date night, SxSW, Boston for Jane's wedding, start California trip
• April: Finish California trip, Easter, Ross' birthday, my birthday
• May: EuroTrip

I totally dig it.

Christmas Part 3

Christmas morning I loaded the car with presents and cake balls, made the mandatory stop at Starbucks, doubled back to the house for my flat iron and then hit the road to Houston!

I arrived at about 11:30a which gave me plenty of time to change into my holiday clothes (complete with new jewelry from the hubs) and help Mom and Dad with a little set-up (though they really had it covered). It also gave us time to open the Christmas box from Kevin which he instructed us to open early. When I saw our gifts I knew just why - crystal drinkware engraved with "World's Best Sister" and Mom and Dad respectively. FANTASTIC. We drank from those all day.

We had 13 people at the Lowe Family Christmas this year and it must have been the year of the prime rib because that was a part of the menu just like at Nancy's.

I hung out with family, got the latest scoop from everyone and ate lots of good food. For our gift exchange this year, we traded photos, mostly old, which sparked a lot of fun conversations about different family stories. My Uncle Larry also brought an old home video of my third birthday party which was HILARIOUS. My favorite three parts in that video were...

• 5 year old Robin jumping out of the sandbox, running to her mom and yelling "A dime! I found a dime!" Ah, if only life were that simple today.
• Uncles pushing/throwing the cousins down the slip-and-slide. We got way more slide and did way less work.
• Mom, 8 months pregnant with Kevin and wearing her 1980s pregnant lady swimsuit, eating a piece of cake and telling the camera "getting fatter with every bite." Awesome.

After the whole clan left it was just three. We FaceTimed Ross in for some present opening, specifically when I opened the brand spankin' new Blu-Ray player from Mom and Dad and when they opened the Houston Symphony tickets we gifted them with. Other present highlights include many new pairs of shoes for me, some of our fav movies on Blu-Ray from Kev and one of my favs, Dad got Mom a book of bed-and-breakfasts from which she gets to pick their 2012 vacation. The book even came with a voucher for one night free at any B&B listed. So cool!

For a final Christmas highlight, here's a video of Lexi playing with the new puppy blankie Kevin and his girlfriend, Carley, sent her. We're not sure if she thinks its a chew toy or a blanket but either way, she loves it.

Thankful XXVII

I'm thankful for my little brother.

You might expect me to wax poetic about his service to his country or his recent promotion to petty officer. I am, after all, very proud of him for his Navy service and the strong start in his career.

However, I was happy to have Kevin as a brother before he joined the Navy and I'll be happy to have him as a brother when his Navy career is done. Navy or no Navy, he's a great kid. He's fun to be around, sincere when the time's right, a smart-ass when the time's right (and sometimes when it's not right but I think that's part of the definition of "smart-ass"), helpful all the time and to his very core, a good person.

Like most siblings we have stupid inside jokes, stories only we think are funny and plenty of dirt on each other. It's great.

I'm thankful to have a brother who I not only love, but who I really like.

In Memory

Well...as you know, it's the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I watched a little of the remembrance service in NYC this morning. I think in some ways, it affected me more than the attacks did that day.

On September 11, 2001 I was a junior in high school. I left my first period class and heard the news. In retrospect, I'm not sure if only the first tower had been struck or if the second had been struck then too. Being in school across the country, I don't think we even watched much of the TV coverage. I do remember learning the full scope later in the day and calling to check on an extended family member who was living in Manhattan (she and her hubby were fine, scared but fine).

What often strikes me as strange about that day, for me specifically, was I had a very personally defining, completely unrelated personal moment that night. There's no need to go into great detail but a volunteer role I was very passionate about disintegrated in one brief denunciation by a misguided (but I suppose well-intentioned) adult. I was so distraught, even though I was old enough to drive and had my car, my parents came to pick me up.

Every time I remember September 11, I'm shocked to recall that both pivotal moments actually happened in the same 24 hours, and really within the same 12 hours. How could two incidents, one so life-changing for a country and one so personally life-changing have both occurred? How could it possibly be the same single day? In my mind, they are entirely separate events and memories. I often forget they are the same moment in time.

Besides that personal rollercoaster, one element of September 11 that stands out to me was my proximity to NASA. You might remember that President Bush issued a no-fly order. Imagine our surprise when we saw planes in the sky overhead. It took a while to realize they were government planes circling and protecting the Johnson Space Center.

Now, 10 years older, married to a firefighter, with a brother who is enlisted and with probably just a more mature appreciation of family, seeing those attacks replayed and listening to the spouses and children left behind cuts me like a knife. It also inspires a nearly desperate desire to fix it, to bring goodness to something so ugly.

From the BCRC Champagne Brunch, where
this morning 600+ supported our neighbors
fighting breast cancer.

I'm pleased that our country is recognizing this anniversary with a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

As is probably no surprise to you faithful blog reader, I strongly believe that giving back to our communities is one of the best ways to honor the lives of those we lost. We can work together to turn a sad, hurtful occasion into a beautiful commitment to community. We can honor the first responders by becoming "first responders" ourselves - the first to respond to our communities needs with whatever talents, abilities and resources we've been blessed with. And we can do so today with simple actions, like delivering a meal, being a shoulder to cry on or making a donation to a worthy cause.

On this notable day, how have you served and remembered?

USAF Rocks

Have you seen this video? A group from the US Air Force covered Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."



Hey Kev, get your Navy buddies together and show them what's up. You can't let those Air Force guys (and girl) rock more than you.

Between October 25ths

Somewhere between October 25, 2009 when we got married and October 25, 2010 when Kevin began boot camp, I became a sobbing mess for military-families-reunited stories. Every time I see one, I cry like a baby. (The worst was a two part series. In the first segment, the Dad watched his baby's birth over Skype from Afghanistan and a few months later in the second segment, he held his baby for the first time.) It's a combination of imagining what it would be like to have Ross gone for an extended period of time and with Kevin's enlistment, having a renewed appreciation for military service.

So last night when ABC News (I told you I'm a committed viewer) honored our military and their families as the "Persons of the Week," I just stood there in my kitchen, loading the dishwasher and cried. It's so beautiful to see these soldiers come home to their wives, kids, girlfriends, parents, siblings. Really, could any homecoming be more exciting for a family?

If you want a good little patriotic cry, here's the clip from last night.

Kevin Lowe, US Sailor

Thursday, Mom, Dad and me piled into their SUV (last minute decision against the corolla was very wise) and drove and drove and drove east on I-10 to Pensacola. After plunging ahead through some hail and tornado warnings around Mobile, AL, we finally set foot in Pensacola at 5:30 p.m. We grabbed Kev from base and headed out for a steak dinner.

Then Friday morning we packed up from our hotel room and headed down to Corry Station for Kevin's A-School graduation. There were about 100 people graduating, a big class from what the officers told us. It was a mix of people from all branches of the service, all there studying intel and technical communications.

One of the things I liked best about the graduation ceremony was they told you not only the graduates' names, but their hometowns and where their orders were to (Kev's are to San Diego). It was a pretty laid back ceremony yet with military precision on everything from the start time to the way the graduates turned corners walking up to the stage.

After graduation, Kev packed the SUV full of all his worldly possessions (again, good thing we took the SUV) and we started back down I-10, west this time. And actually we had a lovely 75 mile detour in Louisiana that allowed us to scope out SH 190 which is narrow but straight in case you were wondering. We finally made it back to Seabrook at 10:30 p.m. Friday night and all promptly crashed.

And today I'm back in Austin but it is also an important day of note for Kevin Lowe, US Sailor. It is his 23rd birthday! Happy birthday Kev!

The Year of Travel

Me thinks that 2011 will go down into Black Family Lore as the year of travel. As a team we've been to Dallas and South Carolina and have our next vaca to Canada all tied up with a bow. I've already been on business trips to four different cities (with Deltas in three and YNPNers in the fourth!). I have a fifth business trip to Baltimore on the books and of course the Cheryl-only trip to Seattle in August.

Imagine adding to the craziness a Lowe family trip to Pensacola.

Yup, because that's what's happening. Next Wednesday night I'll begin the car-tastic trip to Pensacola for Lil Bro's US Navy training graduation. I drive to Houston Wednesday (stopping just once for an all-important visit with Melissa) and then Thursday bright and early in the A.M., Mom, Dad and me will pile into the little red Corolla and drive our happy selves to Pensacola. Hopefully we'll get in early enough to have a couple hours on the beach and maybe even a seaside dinner. Then Friday morning is the main event - GRADUATION. Woohoo! I get to see Kev all dressed up in his Navy blues alongside the other Navy boys (and girls). Then all four of us are whisked away back to Houston via the Corolla. Yes, that's right, four grown Lowes in one car.

Hehe I tease about the cozy Corolla but I'm really looking forward to the trip, transportation craziness included. I'm bummed that I didn't get to see Kev graduate boot camp and this is a great opportunity to still be involved in supporting his Navy career. As I told Mom & Ross, things like this are a big part of why I moved back to Texas. In Boston it was just too hard to have quick weekend trips for things like graduation or Easter. Now there's so much more opportunity to see each other and it's only a short (or medium length) car ride away.