Darr Family Blog

Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty low-key. Unfortunately with how nauseous and tired I have been, we haven’t done too many things outside of the house. Fortunately, Joseph is really patient and really likes playing with his toys. 🙂 The weekend was a bit more lively. Friday, we met up with Paul just outside the base (since I no longer have a military ID), he drove us in, and we attended the annual picnic lunch for his work. Joseph had a lot of fun walking around, playing games, and seeing big-wigs get dunked in the dunk-tank. Yesterday was a packed day in that in the morning we cleaned the park, had my annual piano recital at our house in the afternoon, and then had friends over to play games in the evening.

The Weekly Weather: I think this past week, the rainy days outweighed the non-rainy ones. If they didn’t, I’m sure Thursday counted for at least two days-worth of rain. It started at about 7:00 and finally let up a little before 11:00. Paul said that as he was driving to work, he had to drive really slowly to avoid hydroplaning on the highway. Luckily our friends across the street invited us over for a play date or else we might have gone crazy at home! I think we got close to three inches of rain with that storm alone.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been getting back into the groove after his trip. Work, school, and Scouts. He also did some yard maintenance, for which I am always grateful. Oh, and he’s been taking care of Joseph in the mornings so that I can get some extra sleep. Joseph usually wakes up not too long after Paul gets up to get ready for work, so they go downstairs, have breakfast together, and then Paul sets Joseph up with toys to play with until I get up. I’m so grateful he’s such a dedicated daddy and caring husband!

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I think I’m pretty much in survival mode right now, hahaha. Luckily, with summer approaching quickly (I think there’s only a couple weeks of school left), most of my students have asked to take the summer off. I asked the others who hadn’t said anything about vacations if they were going to come (and mentioned that most seemed to be taking the summer off) and they also decided to take the summer off. Hopefully by September I’ll be feeling better (or at least be done with the nausea/fatigue that seems to be defining the first trimester of this pregnancy). Now that recital is over, I can relax a bit and concentrate on choir music. I also keep semi-busy with my newest calling at church (compassionate service) making sure that those who are sick, just had a baby, or are new to our flock are getting their needs met.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been displaying his ever-increasing vocabulary. Last night, he was reading me a book about bugs and he made sure to tell me that the bugs who were hiding were using camouflage to hide from predators. The other day, while watching a Daniel Tiger episode where Daniel Tiger was talking about how stars make pictures in the sky, Joseph shook his head and said, “Daniel Tiger doesn’t know that those pictures are really constellations.” He then proceeded to let me know that when Daniel Tiger was talking about falling stars, the falling stars were really perseids (yes, I know that Perseids refers to a specific meteor shower, but I was still impressed he remembered the term). Thanks Wild Kratts, Dinosaur Train, and Curious George!

This Week in Pictures:

Bonus Video: My Annual Piano Recital (thanks for setting up the recording and getting it all taken care of, Paul!)

Weekly Happenings: This past week, Joseph and I were flying solo for the most part. Paul was in Washington DC so that he could accept his award for Library Technician of the Year. Starting Monday (when Paul left), Joseph would ask me if it was Thursday yet (the day Paul was due to be home). Luckily, Paul was able to do a video call each night so that Joseph and I could talk to him and see him as well. Paul was able to see a lot of really cool and historical places while out there. Joseph and I kept busy while he was gone. On Tuesday we went to the zoo with friends, and on Wednesday we met up with one of my cousins and his wife, who just happened to be in town (they won a free trip out here, of all places). We went out to eat at Augie’s BBQ and then walked around the Japanese Tea Gardens. Thursday, I was feeling pretty rotten (this baby is definitely calling the shots!) and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with Joseph. Then, one of my friends sent me a text, asking if I wanted to drop Joseph off at her house to play with her son while I went home and rested. She kept him for four hours. I have the best friends! Thursday night, Paul came home and it was back to real life. He’s spent the past two days catching up on homework and doing stuff around the house.

The Weekly Weather: We’ve had a couple big storms roll through. One was on Monday night, which sent Joseph into our room. He willingly shared the bed with me that night. Normally I’m not a fan of having him in bed with us (he tends to kick and roll a lot), but since Paul was gone, Joseph had an entire half of the bed to himself. I only had to move him back over a couple of times. The other one came through yesterday afternoon. I like afternoon storms better because Joseph doesn’t get too scared.

What Paul’s Been Up To: In addition to his trip to DC (which he wrote about here), he also helped the Scouts clear a tree that fell down in someone’s yard. He also rearranged our upstairs quite a bit. He sold the guest bedroom bed and moved the dresser into Joseph’s room (moving the changing table dresser into our room for when baby comes). He also moved his desk and all his computer stuff into the guest room, turning it into a separate office. When the baby comes, he’ll either leave it all in there (if it’s a boy, we’re planning on having him share a room with Joseph) or he’ll build a shed in the back yard to serve as an office (if it’s a girl, she’ll get her own room). He also moved my desk so that it’s against the wall, opening the loft up a lot.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve mainly been trying to figure out how to deal with life while feeling sick almost every day. Luckily, Paul, Joseph, and my friends have been a big help.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a ton of fun at the zoo, Japanese Tea Gardens, and playing with friends. One funny thing he said was that if the baby is a girl, he wants her name to be Mrs. Joseph. 😀

This Week in Pictures:

Weekly Happenings: Not too much out of the ordinary happened for the family this past week. We kind of just did our normal routine. We are going to be starting an exciting new adventure in that we just found out that we’re expecting our second child! Joseph is pretty excited that we’re going to have a baby come live with us “for all the time” (he loves babies). 🙂 It’s still rather early on, but if everything goes well, we should be expecting this baby to arrive in January sometime. I’ve already been dealing with some morning – actually all-day – sickness (luckily just nausea so far) and fatigue, but I try to eat small meals and snacks throughout the day and Joseph is pretty good about letting me rest during the day. Today is Mother’s Day. Paul had already given me the go-ahead to to get some more cute LuLaRoe clothes earlier this week (I got a tunic, a couple maxi skirts, a dress, and a knee-length skirt). This morning, Joseph helped Paul make me breakfast to have in bed (Eggo waffles and juice) and they got me this fun Mommy-and-me coloring book (more about that later). I’m feeling pretty spoiled…and I’m also reflecting on my wonderful mom (I can hardly wait to call her later this evening…I look forward to our weekly talks more than she’ll probably ever know, though I do try to express it each time we talk) as well as all the other women in my life who have been mother-figures. I feel like my successes as a mom come greatly from their examples.

The Weekly Weather: It’s been another mixed bag, but not nearly as much rain as the previous week (I actually had to water the garden, hahaha). We’re supposed to get some more storms this upcoming week…yay! It’s also been a bit cooler than normal for this time of year (no complaining coming from this quarter). Paul says that there are reports that say we’re supposed to have a milder summer…I sure hope so! A “mild” summer in San Antonio is still going to be plenty warm. 😉

What Paul’s Been Up To: Mostly work, school, Scouts, and working around the house/yards. He’s almost ready for his trip to DC, so expect some pictures from our nation’s capitol in a blog post coming relatively soon.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mainly surviving at this point. 😉 As mentioned previously, I went to a LuLaRoe party. It’s always fun to get to talk with my girlfriends (doing so while trying on cute clothes is an added perk). I’m also gearing up for my annual piano recital which will happen on the 21st.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: We’ve had a couple play dates (including one at the park) and we also registered him for Pre-K through the district. It will be five days a week (half-days, of course) at the elementary school that is down the street and around the corner from our house. I’m so excited that I’ll be able to walk him to school! Another kind of crazy thing that happened was that at church, they had to take the Junior Primary (Sunday School class for ages 3-7) and split it into two groups, meeting in two different rooms. Apparently there were about 60 kids in our Junior Primary alone. So now, we have two Junior Primaries and one Senior Primary (ages 8-11). Because of this, Joseph ended up going to Primary in a different room than he was used to, but he was okay with it because the chairs were soft (padded). Silly boy.

This Week in Pictures: