29 and Lookin' Fine

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!  

(Blaine donning her Kittitian makeshift party hat)

We celebrated Eric's birthday last night at our place with some of our closest island friends.  Enchiladas, Mexican themed appetizers, margaritas, Coors Lite, and Cake Balls were enjoyed by all.  

Nuts about Vet School

Eric performed his first surgery this week on a sheep assigned to him and his sx partner, sweet southern bell (by way of North Carolina), Natalie.  The procedure was an epididymectomy and castration.  Let's just say that the procedure was a little different then your normal farm boy calf castration.  Anesthesia, surgical blades, sutures and recovery were involved.  Eric said the surgery went off without a hitch.  And no, we did not have sheep fries for supper.

Eric is also on equine rotation this week.  On top of SOAPing morning and evening, he must tend to his assigned horse (that has a specific hoof problem at the moment that requires daily tranquilizing and bandage placement) before and after he SOAPs.  So he has had really early mornings followed by a long day of class, studying, then SOAP/equine again...just typing it all out makes me tired.  So that is what is happening on the school front as of now.  There are many more surgeries and rotations to come, bovine rotation being next week (right up Eric's alley).  Stay tuned for the next update of my own, Dr. McDreamy.

Nine Month Mark for BAM

Blaine has now been living as long as I was pregnant with her.  Wow, these last 18 months were a gift!

Blaine is now eating bits of solid food, i.e...ham, soft cheese, vienna sausages, boiled egg whites, ground beef, squash, zucchini, green beans, etc.  Her bottom two teeth are coming in simultaneously.  She is still scooting with intermittent crawls of about 4-5 steps.  Blaine has begun to pull up on me and furniture, give high fives, and make the most hilarious tthhhmmmppp sounds with her mouth (I was having difficulty trying to figure out how to demonstrate the mouth sounds in text format).  She is constantly on "the run" and having so much fun.  Bedtime and continuous night time sleep is still a challenge for her (and us) but hopefully won't last forever.

That's about it for now.  Here are a few pics of our 9 month beach babe.  

Water Baby

Two Teeth!

No, she is not for sale with the vehicle.

Back to Maroon and White

We are headed back to Aggieland for Eric's 4th year of vet school.  Whoop!  Nuff said.

Blaine's new trick

Want to see something hysterical, that might possibly make you wet your pants?  Well, we thought it was knee slapping hilarious!

Maria calls for Sangria!

Tropical Storm Maria is projected to hit the Leeward Islands tomorrow.  While I am sure this storm will be a "breeze", I am not ruling out the possibility of devastating consequences from Mother Nature.  Here lately, seems she has had a rough go of PMS, with the north eastern floods, earthquakes, Texas wild fires, etc.  As of now, we are stocked up on water, formula, and some non-perishable food...plus a room at the Marriott on standby.  The electricity going out is generally at the top of our concerns.  Looks like it will be an uneventful, rainy weekend.  But in this case, uneventful would be a blessing.

Seventh is Present

We are back on the island, folks!  I think the household is finally caught up on sleep from the dreadful travel day, bags are unpacked, furniture re-arranged for a mobile baby, and we are ready to begin the end of our St. Kitt's journey.

Blaine, so kindly, offered to help me unpack my suitcase.  I can't wait until she volunteers to do laundry and dishes. :)

Our two plane rides to the Lesser Antilles went pretty smooth.  Blaine slept the first leg, then played and slept the second.  She has discovered various ways to produce unique sounds with her vocal cords, and decided to exercise them on the flight to Kitts.  While her parents think it is the cutest thing eva, I am sure the older Kittitian gentleman next to us was not as giddy about her new talent.  But really... who cares, right?!  She's a BABY, and a darn cute one at that...and if the two girls, two rows up can practice their right to chat and laugh, so can my little sweet tater....got it?  :)  Funny how your perspective changes when you bring your own child into the world.  I never knew I had the protective "I will eat you if I have to" momma instinct in me...not to mention the wrath of Daddy Eric if you publicly point out general baby annoyances of his little gal...wow...boy did I digress.

As I now try and ease my elevated heart rate back to resting, let me talk about something else!  Eric started his last semester of classes yesterday.  This semester his class agenda is as follows:

Large Animal Medicine

Large Animal Surgery

Special Species (pocket pets and such, as Eric likes to call it)

Theriogenology (reproductive process' of all species)

...he will also have 13 clinical rotations throughout this semester to attend, on top of class, SOAPing, studying.  Looks like I am back to being a single mom (well, for the most part).  Good thing I have made lots of helpful VIP friends to lend me a hand every now and then.  
Eric meets with the man who will decide our clinical year fate, tomorrow at one.  This will allow Eric to give him the low down on why we DESERVE to go back to A&M.  Our family, house, my job, immediate family near by, daycare lined out, alma mater, etc. etc. etc!!  We will receive word on where Eric is placed next Friday.  His top three choices are: 1) TAMU 2) Colorado State & 3) Okie State.  Keep your fingers crossed, say continual prayers, perform voo-doo/magic/witch craft if you feel lucky in that realm... just please Lord, let us get back to The Lone Star State! 

There are more tropical disturbances in the Atlantic.  I pray that Texas would get a slow, soaking rain from one of these.  The devastating fires that are current in our great state are heartbreaking.  I pray daily for the firemen, rescue teams, victims, etc.  I hope the drought, fires and disaster stop, well, right now.  

We already miss friends, family, and familiar luxuries (like being able to get darn milk at the grocery store..they finally got a shipment in today, sans any in all the grocery stores on the island in the last 3 days) back home, but for now, we are where we should be.  Life is good and so is God.  Until next time...

Fun Pictures of Blaine over Break

Our two children.

Blaine and Daddy

Blaine and Torey...Macey's little one (as if I needed to identify her Mother...look at that Kirkham smile)