Tulsa Bound

Once again, we're leaving town. We had been originally planning on going to the lake this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. We are still going, but headed to Tulsa first. Last weekend my dear sister-in-law, Whitney, had her mother pass away suddenly from a brain aneurysm. It's absolutely horrible! We are leaving tonight to be there for the funeral tomorrow morning. I just can't imagine how much pain Whitney is in right now and I want to be there for her. I have been praying that somehow God can have good come from this and that Matt's brother, Mark, will be a stronghold that Whitney needs during this time. He's always been such a solid rock for their family.

We have one slight hiccup to the plan, though. Roman was up most of the night last night crying and now has a 103 temperature. Matt is at home with him and is currently taking him to the doctor. We kept thinking that he might be teething. I just don't know what is wrong with him. So, hopefully everything will work out and we can get to Oklahoma with no hiccups. Life is so crazy! Anyways, happy 4th of July!

15 months old!

June 12th, Roman turned 15 months old. He's growing and learning so much every day! We found a new pediatrician near our house and he did great! Here are his stats:

Weight: 25lb 15-1/2 oz (60%)

Height: 31-3/4" (60%)

Head Circ.: 19" (80%)

I'm going to copy after one of my friend's blog and note 15 things about Roman lately in honor of him being 15th months old!

1. Roman is an amazing eater! The other night at dinner, I stopped and noticed that my child was eating the following: homemade turkey meatloaf with carrots and applesauce ground together, fresh tomatoes from our garden, homemade zucchini bread that Matt made, and slices of avocados. It really doesn't get much healthier! His favorites are fish, sweet potato fries, any bread, banana oatmeal pancakes, eggs with ketchup, and much more!
2. He speaks!! Roman is saying so much more! Two nights ago he was so thirsty, so I took the opportunity to try to get him to say please before I handed him his milk. He did it! Roman said please for the first time! I might be the only person that can understand him, but he's doing so good in learning new words. He said please again last night too!!
3. Roman is remembering so much. We have a picture that he loves to look at with my mom, dad, brother, Elizabeth, and me. Roman giggles when we look at the picture out of excitement and says "pictr". After we got back from Springfield, I got the picture out and asked where is mommy and he pointed to me. He did it with everyone! Even "papaw" who he has never met! I almost cried!
4. Roman is a champion sleeper! He still takes two naps a day when at home, but is so flexible and can easily just have one nap if we're out at a play date. He normally naps around 3 hours a day and sleeps almost 12 hours at night.
5. A favorite song in our house right now is "If you're happy and you know it..." Then I will say clap your hands, and he will!! He even loves to stomp his feet! It is adorable!
6. Roman's favorite thing is to be outside. What kid doesn't love the outdoors!!! He will just stand in his little play pool forever!
7. Mosquitoes absolutely love Roman as much as we do! My poor boy has so many bug bites on him from being outside. We're really trying to protect his young, obviously sweet skin.
8. Roman sleeps on a cot now at school! The first of June, Roman's Montessori school moved him up to the pre-toddler class. I was so proud of my little boy! I went and got a nap mat with his name on it and he uses it on a cot. I asked the teacher on the first day and she said he slept great! I was in awe!
9. Roman had ice cream for the first time finally! Daddy is so picky with what Roman eats. We made a family trip to NorthPark mall and couldn't get out without going to Pacuigo. I snuck a bite of my ice cream in Roman's mouth and Matt snapped at me. I'm like the little kid and Matt is SO the parent. Of course, Roman was in heaven!!! I thought it was hilarious!
10. He is finally pointing! I was getting nervous that he never pointed at things because I keep hearing that is a sign of autism. Isn't that what mothers do, worry about everything and always think the worst!? Anyways, he points at everything now and says "dat".
11. Roman is still wearing a size 4 diaper and size 18 month clothes. He's a big, healthy boy!
12. I know everyone thinks they're child is smart, but I really do too! Two nights ago, Roman and I were playing with his animal puzzle and I took three animals, the monkey, elephant, and giraffe and really explained them to Roman. I said they're names over and over and showed them to him. The next night we took the puzzle out again and I said, where's the monkey... he pointed to the monkey! He did it with the giraffe and elephant also! Smarty pants!
13. He's starting to throw temper tantrums! Isn't this too young? If Roman is tired and wants something, he will sit down and cry for it. It's so funny. Matt and I just try to blow it off and Roman is fine afterwards. I just didn't realize how he's growing so fast and it's already time to start disciplining! These tantrums are just little bits of my personality probably! Ha ha!
14. Roman loves dog food! A couple of times, Matt and I noticed that he was walking around with something in his mouth, we found dog food. He would go grab a bite and walk around playing!!! Seriously, disgusting! We've really had to work on always paying attention to him when he's around the dog bowl. His breath smelled of dog food too! Yucky!
15. Roman overall has such a laid back personality and usually always just goes with the flow. When I take him to school, he just walks in his class and sits down in his seat waiting for breakfast. He's usually so calm and easy going. We have created a little Matt. I love that we can already really see his personality now! He is such a blessing and joy to be around! We love you "big boy"!!
    
    
    

    
    The spatula in the kitchen is his new favorite toy!
    We took him out to eat sushi the other night to celebrate Matt's birthday and he saw mommy using the chop sticks. Guess who tried to eat with them after that?!
    

Our big eater!

His favorite toy right now is Thomas the Train!

Grandma and Pa sent Roman a new leather chair to match our furniture. Seriously, how adorable!?

California family trip

Only three days after Roman and I returned from Missouri, we all hopped on a plane again to go to California. Grandpa Franks passed away back in January and was cremated. The whole family got together in Sacramento to celebrate his life. It was a wonderful service.

Flying standby in June is just plain not fun! All of the flights were full! We ended up having to purchase tickets for me on Southwest going and returning. The flight there was horrible! It left around 4pm and didn't land until 8pm west coast time. I strongly dislike Southwest! It's like a big greyhound bus in the sky and we had to stop twice before getting to Sac, but weren't allowed off the plane. Luckily Matt and I packed our entire pantry for Roman so he could eat dinner on the plane. Midway through the flight, Roman found his voice and kept doing a screeching yell over and over again for about 30 minutes. It wasn't a cry, just an excited yell!! I'm sure everyone loved us! Part of me didn't really care though because I, for once, was a paying customer! Roman did amazing considering the whole trip, his eating and sleeping schedule was completely thrown off. He was amazing!

Early Thursday morning, I received a huge greeting from the Triplets!

We were all so excited to be together!

The whole family stayed at the Embassy Suites and all ate breakfast together

We rode with Mike and Meg to San Francisco.

Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge

I just love this city!!

First stop: Scoma's for lunch!! We had to wait for them to get a table for 13 together!

Matt had Roman outside and kept playing with everyone through the window. Cute!

Whitney, Meg, and Ashley

Pam, Grandma Jones, Whitney, Meg, and Ashley

Mike and Meg at lunch

Everyone walking down Fisherman's Wharf

The kids loved riding in Grandma's wheel chair!

Roman loved the Seals!

The Seals are back! Man, they're stinky!

The family in San Fran!

Three generations

Burr... It was so cold on the Wharf!

Next stop, Buena Vista! We all enjoyed an original Irish Coffee while Roman slept in the stroller in the corner! He was amazing!

Beautiful San Francisco!

Mark, Whitney, The Triplets, Matt, Ashley, and Roman

Early Friday morning we all headed to the chapel in Sacramento for Grandpa's service

The Franks Family

David, Grandma Franks, Uncle Vic, and Jackie

Bill did an amazing speech about the memories of his father

Aunt Judith and Bill

Matt, Ashley, and Roman next to a picture of Grandpa

This is the glass case where they put Grandpa's ashes next to uncle Jim

They got a picture of all of the friends and family at the service

All of the Franks men together!

Bill and Pam with their three boys and Grandpa's picture

After the ceremony, we all headed to a park in Sacramento for food and play. It was such a great idea! Roman LOVES the triplets!

Seriously! Does it get any cuter?!!!

I think Matt had as much fun as the kids did at the playground!

Roman always loves a good swing!

Meg and Mike had a blast with the kids too! Oh, and Matt of course!

Grandma helped Roman get dressed to go swimming at the nearby public pool.

It's swimming time!!!

We all loved being in the pool!

You can tell Roman had a blast too!

I'm so glad that Grandma Jones got to come with us to California from Tulsa. I just love this picture of both of our Grandma's together! Beautiful!

Overall, it was an amazing trip! Grandpa Franks had a long, full life. He now has a large family to pass it on. We loved having the whole family together! Thanks Bill and Pam for everything you did to get us all together! We love you!

Last minute trip to Springfield!

Last Thursday morning, I was driving to work talking on the phone with my mom and the idea popped in my head that I could fly to Missouri and see her that weekend while Matt was working. I worked out all of the logistics with Captain (Thanks so much Kristin for watching him!) and looked at the flights and decided to go! It worked out great! Roman and I left early Friday morning. We had some minor set backs at the Delta counter trying to buy our ZED passes, but it all worked out. After waiting in line for almost 2 hours at the Delta counter, I thought for sure that we missed our flight. As soon as we got our tickets we had to transfer over to the American terminal to catch our flight. Luckily, the morning flight to Springfield was delayed for maintenance issues and we made it! No one in that waiting area was excited about the maintenance issues, but me!! Roman did fabulous on the flight! I just fed him lots of snacks and let him move the window shade up and down over and over again. We sang lots of songs, read books, and played peek-a-boo with the passengers behind us. I'm so glad that we got to go see my family!

Roman loves his Meema!

Catherine, Caroline, and Roman had a BLAST together!

We kept trying to get a picture of them together...

Let's try again...We finally got a picture of them all together!
Elizabeth and Ashley with our babies!

We got to stop by and see one of my best friends from home, Sara, and her baby Carter. Carter and Roman are only five months apart. They're so adorable!

Carter is always smiling!

Carter loved having Roman and the girls over for a little bit!

Ashley, Roman, Sara, and Carter

Catherine and Roman

Saturday morning, we all headed to my mom's lake house. It was so fun to get everyone together!

We all headed in Andy's new truck down to the water

Yippee! We're at the lake!

Caroline loved the boat!! She was so cute. Later that day, she came up to me and said in the softest voice, "I've missed you so much, Ashley. It's been a long time since you've come and stayed at Meema's house". ADORABLE!!! Love my nieces!

Family boat ride!

This was Roman's first boat ride ever! Who would have thought daddy wouldn't have been there. Sad, but at least uncle Andy got to take us!

We're enjoying the boat ride!

Our driver Andy!

Later, we bathed the kiddos and let them play. No one had a nap, so they were on their last wind!

Roman and his cousin Catherine

My sweet boy all ready for bed!
Sunday morning, we had to wake up extra early to get on the early flight out. Roman was a trooper!

On our way to the airport!

This is how you travel with a toddler by yourself!
Thanks mom for everything! We had a fabulous weekend! Love you!