Young, Wild & THREE! July is hot, so when looking for a place to hold Lola’s 3rd birthday party we wanted somewhere indoors with a park-like feel. After a lot of searching, we settled on… More
Letters to Lola: A Big Sister!
My Angel Baby,
Words cannot express how proud I am of you! Lola, you are the best big sister on the planet. I love the way you call your brother “Bobo”, make sure mom and dad snuggle him when he cries, kiss his head, and ask for him every morning without fail. You have made this transition the easiest it could ever be. My hope has always been that you and Bodhi will be best friends, always take care of each other, and love each other through all the things. And IT IS HAPPENING! I love you always, my baby. Keep being the amazing, sassy, kind-hearted person and big sister that you are!
Love, Mama
Lola’s 2nd Birthday Party
This year was a little different than her 1st birthday, but we still had a great time! We scaled down our guest list due to COVID-19 because it just isn’t very safe to gather in large groups right now. Instead, we got our Nance side and Cindy (AKA Grammy) together for a celebration of Lola.
Some of Lola’s current favorites are swimming and Minnie Mouse, so we made sure to incorporate the two into her party. Uncle Jaron helped keep the our ambitious swimmer entertained during pool time while I snuggled with Bodhi during his first dip in the water. And you better believe Grandma Nance had Minnie balloons, a Minnie swimsuit and matching Disney t-shirts ready to go. Lola even picked out her Minnie slippers for shoes that morning!
For food Andrew picked up Zeke’s Pizza and Krispy Kreme 4th of July donuts. Lola loved her sprinkle one. She was pretty impressed by our singing and almost figured out how to blow out her candles.
At the party she received a Moana doll (which she gave a kiss!), purse, hairbrush and bracelet from Grammy, Barbie accessories from the Reeves and Barbies/baby doll accessories from Grandma, Grandpa and Jaron. Her big ticket item at the party was her Barbie house, refurbished by Brian, Shani and Grandma Nance. It had originally been built by Lola’s Great Grandpa Arrington and Great Uncle Dwayne as a Christmas present to Grandma Nance when she was a kid, then was passed to me as a birthday present when I turned two. It was fun to keep the tradition alive.
Other fun presents she got were: Bowling set & golfing set from Grammy, adorable pink 2 lb weights from Maman the Great, electronic ride in car from Aunt Mary and Uncle Randy, adorable clothes from Mariah and a Peppa Pig set from Papa Butters & Karen.
We’d say it was a success! Happy 2nd birthday, Lola!
The Origin of “Bodhi Rush”
First of all… naming your child is hard work! This time around, we had no girl names we liked and our only boy option was Bodhi. Unfortunately, for the first half of the pregnancy I was not on team Bodhi, no matter how hard Andrew pushed. Once we found out we were having a baby boy I started to hop on board, and now I can’t imagine our son being named anything else.
But where did Bodhi come from? Soon after we were set on Lola’s name, Andrew fell in love with the name Bodhi from Patrick Swayze’s character in the movie Point Break. Andrew loved the character and the meaning of the name. “Bodhi” comes from “Bodhisattva”, a Buddhist term meaning awakening or enlightenment.
Now that we had a first name, the hunt for a middle name was on. We knew we wanted something meaningful yet unique (to go along with Lola’s middle name of Moon). The first one we considered was Riot. We both liked the sound of it, but there wasn’t a unique meaning assigned to it. Maybe we could attribute it to the crazy kicks he was putting his mom through? Next was Rush. Again, we liked the sound of it, but this time there were a few more associations. It is the nickname of Andrew’s favorite UFC fighter, George St. Pierre, and Andrew has seen the band Rush with his best friend Brian a few different times. We were pretty much set on Rush at that point.
Once Bodhi Rush was born, we found some additional ties to his name (or almost name):
-Just a few days after his birth, Black Lives Matter protests began in response to George Floyd’s murder. At this same time riots broke out in across the country, meaning our Bodhi Rush was almost Bodhi Riot the week national riots were happening.
-George “Rush” St. Pierre is being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2020 (GSP Video).
-And my personal favorite: a few weeks after Bodhi was born, my dad found the below sheet showing that Bodhi’s great-great-great-great grandfather was named Benjamin Rush.
Lola’s 1st Birthday Party
Lola’s 1st birthday party was… epic. She was surrounded with so much love and we couldn’t have asked for better. Happy 1st Year, Lola Moon!
Date: Saturday, 06/29/2019
Theme: ONE in a MELON
Location: Grandpa & Grandma Nance’s House
Activities: Hanging out with all the baby friends, cake smashing (cherry chip flavor made by Amber) and pool fun
Guest List: Grandpa & Grandma Nance, Grammy Butters, Great-Grandma Candy, Great-Grandma Butters, Grandpa Butters, Aunt Mary, Uncle Jaron, Aunt Mariah, Shani/Brian/Lincoln, Taffeta & Lan, Rose, Kathie, Matt/Beth/Austin/Lily, Brian/Heather/Harrison, Brian & Alex, Casey/Jean/Logan, Jay/Sam/Atticus, Cait/Justin/Maddox, Lindsay/Gregg/Colette, Kristi/Cory, Erin, Lyn, Macy
The Origin of “Lola Moon”
How did our sweet girl get her name? And what does it mean? We’ll tell you!
First off, it is important to know that we did not agree on a single boy name. Not a one. And Lola was the only girl name we both liked. So when we officially found out Baby Butters was a girl, she was pretty much already named. It became absolutely official when Andrew created a cute baby announcement with Lola on it and posted it to Facebook to show me. Secret was out, and now the world knew our baby name — oops!
But where did the name Lola come from? I have always loved family names or names with meaning. When I was little my Grandma Arrington used to always comment on how Shani had my Great Grandma Lola’s nose, and the name always stuck with me. When I brought up the name to Andrew, he immediately liked the idea due to a cute little girl he used to coach at AfterCool Fitness being named the same. No other names were really sticking, so once I heard from my mom and aunts how wonderful of a person their Grandma Lola was, it was a done deal.
Fun fact: My Aunt Net (Jeanette) is also named after Lola, as her full name was “Lola Jeanetta”.
Now finding a middle name was a bit trickier. Again, I was pretty set on finding either a family name or something that had significant meaning. We went through dozens of options, but nothing really took. A short while into our hunt Andrew suggested Moonstone because it is one of June’s birthstones (at this time we expected Lola to be a June baby). I wasn’t a fan of the stone part, but we kept Moon on our list. Around the same time, my sister came up with Elliot in honor of the place Andrew and I met (Mesquite High School on Elliot road). We didn’t love the flow of it paired with Lola, but the meaning was great.
As we got closer to Lola’s arrival, I started looking into significant events from our relationship in order to try and find some additional name options. What we consider our first date (and where we had our first kiss) was the 2007 movie Halloween. I looked up the names of everyone who worked on the movie, and found that the director’s wife (who was also a small part in the movie) was named Sheri Moon Zombie.
After finding the above connection, I proceeded to look up other meanings attached to “moon”, feeling like this was a sign. In doing so, I found the metonic cycle. It is defined by Dictionary.com as, “a period of 19 years (235 lunar months), after which the new and full moons return to the same days of the year. It was the basis of the ancient Greek calendar and is still used for calculating movable feasts such as Easter.” I attached quickly to the 19 due to September 19, 2007 being the date Andrew asked me to be his girlfriend. And as I’m writing this, I realize Lola had her Butters family baby shower at an Easter celebration. I love connections!
At this point we were about 90% sure Lola’s middle name would be Moon. However, we were planning to go into her birth open to other ideas. Instead, the universe played even more into the Moon plan by pushing our induction date because of the full moon. According to the nurses, full moons cause the labor and delivery unit to overflow!
Once Lola was finally here, we figured there were too many moon connections to let the name go. She is officially our Lola Moon.
Letters to Lola
Shortly before Lola was due to arrive, Andrew and I each wrote a letter to our baby girl.
From Mama:
To my sweet Lola Bear,
This journey has already been so special. You are such a blessing to your father and I, and we know you’ll be one to the world as well.
While I think most mamas would be so excited to meet their babies, and I am, I also don’t want you to leave me just yet. I treasure being able to safeguard you from the outside world, and to know we have a special bond no one can take away. I am very happy with you still here inside of me.
What I wish for you is a life filled with love, adventure and impact. That you find your people, your pleasures and your passion. I know you’ll make such a deep impression on this world, because you already have on your parents. I hope that you always know you matter.
I love you to the moon and back, little one. Always and forever.
Mama Bear
From Daddy:
Dear sweet Lola,
I am anxiously awaiting your arrival. I have never felt more ready for something than I am to be your father. You are an absolute blessing to me for which I will always be thankful. I know you will overflow my heart with love and joy. I cannot wait to watch you, teach you, learn from you, care for you, guide you, help you, lift you up when you fall and be your confidante and friend when life hits hard. You are so loved already.
Love, Dad
Baby Sesame
On Father’s Day, June 18, 2017 we found out we were going to be parents. I had taken a pregnancy test a few days before and gotten a negative result, but I knew it was still early and I was convinced I was already having food aversions. I waited until Father’s Day to take the next one, secretly because I thought it would be cool to tell Andrew on such a special day.
And then there was the plus sign…
I think I had a mini heart attack. I was so shocked and excited I didn’t know what to do! I then made a card that said “Happy Father’s Day”, left it next to the pregnancy test on the bathroom sink and then found a way to get him upstairs. My heart was beating out of my chest.
I think it took a minute for him to process, and then he responded with some “is this real?” and “are you serious?” We had officially decided to start trying for Baby Butters once we both turned 25, and this was our first attempt.
We spent the rest of the day doing the typical Father’s Day activities including visiting my dad and grandpa. Luckily that meant lunch outside, because Andrew needed his sunglasses to hide his tears of joy that were streaming all day!
The next few weeks were full of planning for the future, secret texts of excitement between us and giving the baby the nickname of “Sesame” (due to how big the baby was at the time). I even bought some Aunt t-shirts for my friend group and an outfit for baby Lincoln to help announce the news once the time came.
Fast forward to July 12, our first baby appointment. I was super nervous because I did not know what the appointment would entail, but Andrew kept reassuring me it would be fine and reminding me how awesome it will be to see our baby. The doctor eventually came in and began by checking for the baby’s heartbeat. Nothing was coming up, so he moved from the regular ultrasound to the vaginal ultrasound. Still no heartbeat, but we could see a baby measuring about 6.5 weeks (two weeks behind our estimate of 8.5 weeks). Our hearts sank a bit as he explained we were either 2 weeks off of the conception date or going to miscarry. We left the office with an appointment to come back in 2 weeks.
The next 14 days were spent reassuring each other that our baby would be fine and we must have the date wrong. Or our baby is just measuring small. And that my nausea and achy body must be morning sickness. We still hadn’t really told anyone what was going on (only Andrew’s boss knew), so all we had was each other.
On July 26 we went back to the doctor. I hadn’t had any bleeding, so we were pretty optimistic. We even planned to visit our parents after to tell them the news. However, Baby Sesame had not grown. We were devastated by the news.
On the way home (in tears) we let our moms and my sister know we had been pregnant and that we had miscarried. Then we went home, snuggled the dogs and let the full weight of what happened hit us.
Friday, August 11, I started to physically experience the miscarriage in the same hour that Andrew called to tell me he had been laid off. On top of that, the next day happened to be my sister’s baby shower. I was in a lot more pain that day, and after barely making it through teaching dance I ended up spending her shower holed up in my mom’s room instead of being able to celebrate with her. This is the only picture we got, after everyone left.
We will always treasure the memory of our Baby Sesame.
5 weeks pregnant:
9/11 Memories
Today is the 16th anniversary of the day that both Andrew and I first experienced a nation-wide tragedy. Before September 11, 2001, we had only heard stories of the past American or world events that our parents and grandparents had experienced. The events where they knew exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. The events that changed the way they looked at the world.
Below is a quick look at what we experienced as mere nine-year-olds.
Jory:
A typical morning as a 4th grader involved rolling out of bed and bringing my clothes to my parents’ room so I could sleep a little longer. As they got ready they always had something on the TV, whether it was news or cartoons. Today it happened to be the news, and my parents were in a solemn mood. We watched the towers in flames and heard the warnings of more plane hijackings in the works. They (in simple terms) tried to explain the little they knew about what was going on to my sister and I, but I don’t think at that point we really understood. We just knew something very bad and very big was happening to OUR country, that we were taught was pretty much invincible.
We got ready and went to school where my mom was the principal. I think that is where it finally sunk in. There were a lot of phone calls calling kids out for the day, and my mom was busy figuring out how to address this with students and teachers. We were so far from the actual attacks, but Arizona has a very large nuclear plant and it was thought we might become a target. I don’t quite remember the rest of the day, probably because it was a blur, but I do know it was all my friends and I discussed.
Over the next few weeks all the coverage of the rescue missions was constantly on our TV. One of the biggest things that hit me was all the pregnant women that no longer had a father for their unborn babies. My mom was pregnant at the time, due with my brother in November. Talk about a reality check. Those images will be forever imprinted.
Andrew:
Like most, I vividly remember the details of that day like it was yesterday. I awoke on September 11, 2001 and strolled downstairs to eat before school. We were expecting a delivery of couches that day so our living room was empty other than the movie case and the TV. I stepped off the stairs and could see both of my parents frozen, just locked into the TV. As I came closer I quickly realized what was happening as they played and replayed the planes crashing into the World Trade Centers. It was death and destruction the likes of which I had never seen in my life, and it hit me hard. At some point, it was decided that we would cautiously go about our days as normal as possible. So off to school we were.
Once at school, it was a madhouse- teachers and students were lost and not a thing was instructed that day, as the catastrophic event took all the attention. While watching media coverage in my 4th grade classroom, it was clear that many of the kids did not fully understand what was happening. I am a very empathetic person and I quickly became upset during recess when classmates were joking and laughing about the atrocities that had taken place only hours before. I went up to the office and made a call to my mom to come pick me up. We then went home and spent the rest of the day as close together as a family as we could and just spent time sending thoughts and prayers to those affected most.
September 11, 2001 will always live in infamy, but it also showed how strong the American people can be when they stand together and united. This should be the American standard of excellence always, not just in times of great adversity. We are all Americans together and that pride and unity should show every day.
–Andrew & Jory
Dobby’s Adopt-a-versary!
I honestly can’t believe it. Tomorrow our baby has been with us for 3 years! Time definitely flies – it seems like just yesterday he put his sweet arms around my neck for the first time (read his adoption story here).
Some things to know about Dobby:
- Since Bella joined our family, he has become more welcoming to people that aren’t mom and dad. He used to shake with fear and run for the other room, but now he might even go up sniff them!
- He loves to be in charge. When playing with his cousins Ella & Hazel, he has his own way of letting the group know he is the alpha. By the end of each play date they are all following him around.
- He enjoys being held. Try picking up Bella and she’ll squirm until you stop, but Dobby will hold still, keep his arms around your neck or even nuzzle your chest.
- He loves his kennel. Every morning before I leave for work he knows it is coming, and even waits by his crate if I’m not moving fast enough. He has his favorite stuffed animal (a purple bunny) that he’s had forever to snuggle inside, and I think it makes him feel safe.
- He LOVES to swim. If we take him over to my parents’ house he will spend hours jumping in, swimming back to the steps, hopping out and repeating. If someone is swimming laps he will try to swim right along with them, and he loves to fetch in the water.
The other day my sister reminded me of a Dobby story from when she and Brian were dog sitting, and I think it describes him well:
When Shani and Brian had first moved back to Arizona, they dog sat for us while we made a quick California trip. They had Ella (way bigger than Dobby), and she liked to play on the porch of their 1st floor apartment. As I dropped off Dobby to them, I mentioned the half-wall on the porch might be low enough for Dobby to jump. Ella had never tried this, so we all figured it would be fine.
Fast forward to the next afternoon, when I call to check on Dobby:
Me: How’s he doing?
Shani: Do you want the truth or a lie?
It turns out that when Brian got home from work the day before, he tried to go say hi to Dobby. Being the timid dog he is, Dobby freaked out and hopped their wall, forcing Brian to chase him (at full speed) around the entire apartment complex until finally cornering him on a 2nd floor landing. But that’s Dobby – unsure of people, fast and determined!
I’ll close this post out by trying to emphasize how much this fur baby has changed my life. He has seriously brought out the mama bear in me and I don’t know how I would survive anything without his snuggles and affection. I love my mama’s boy! Oh – and Andrew loves him, too 🙂
–Jory
Travel Time: Austin, TX
So every now and then we like to get out of our normal surroundings. This time we chose Austin, TX for a long weekend getaway. It kind of just lined up- Andrew’s work has an apartment and car there, we have heard such fun things about Austin, and I was off of dance for the month of July.
I wasn’t feeling so great on the trip and Andrew needed to catch up on some sleep, so to be really honest we did not end up doing too much besides watch movies in bed! A few things we actually accomplished and enjoyed were:
Jack Allen’s Kitchen – We definitely ate here more than once! It was close by our apartment, had an amazing atmosphere and the most delicious food. We had the baked macaroni and cheese with chicken and the fries the first time around, then the queso the second. The queso had shredded pork and guacamole in it, which should absolutely always be a thing.
The Blind Pig Pub – This is definitely the place we had the most fun at. After walking around 6th Street in the morning, we happened by an empty pub that was getting ready for some live music. We walked in thinking we’d stay for one drink and a few songs, but we ended up staying for almost 5 hours! Andrew even bought a hat and commemorated our experience.
Bikini Sports Bar – This is not a place I would most likely frequent, but the circumstances that brought us to it definitely influenced my feelings for the better. It started one morning while we were in a long line for Voodoo Donuts, which led us past the spot. We kind of laughed at the silly signs saying “drop off your husband” and “best breasts,” but knew it was never a place we would go to. However, after standing in the hot, humid Austin summer weather and then getting inside the donut shop to find no air conditioning, thinking we were going to pass out from dehydration, we rushed next door for water and food. It was heaven, and thus Bikinis saved our lives!
Although we did not take advantage of all the things Austin has to offer, we had a great time taking a break from or normal lives, spending time with each other and catching up on sleep.
–Jory
meet the butters 