S M Squared

Please pray for Tripp

2012-01-13T09:46:00.000-06:00

http://randycourtneytripproth.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, Tuesday

2012-01-10T13:11:00.002-06:00

This will be a random post, but I did want to share with you a new recipe for Chicken Tamale Casserole I tried last week. I believe it comes from Cooking Light, and we really enjoyed it. I actually bought and baked chicken breasts the night before, and just baked 2 extra to be used in this casserole. doing so made the total time for this recipe probably 30 minutes. Perfect for a 'school night' when I don't have much time to cook after getting home from work. I would definitely make this again! I served seasoned black beans with some frozen corn mixed in on the side.

In other news, I'm shooting for workout #2 of the new year this afternoon. I'm sure I shouldn't be proud of 2 workouts in 2 weeks, but it is actually an improvement. We go skiing (pray for snow) in early February, so I have more motivation to try and prepare my poor, out of shape body. I'm sad to think about leaving Sullivan for a whole week, but it will be very nice to relax and have some adult time. I shouldn't be already excited about returning from our trip to see Sullivan, but I admit, it's on my mind. I'm hoping once I get there and get settled in, I'll be able to just enjoy each day without constantly looking ahead.

I missed my typical Sullivan's 26 month post, but I did want to share a few of the adorable things he says these days. This morning in the car it was, "Have a good day! I Lub you!". Melts my heart every time! He got a little scared of the fireworks New Years Eve, and since then often tells us or the animals or his toys, "It's ok. Fireworks not scary" or he'll ask "You doing ok Mommy?". I love listening to him jabber on! Language and communication are wonderful!

I'm staring down a huge project at work that is about to take up my days, nights, and weekends, so I may drop off the Earth for a bit.

2012

2012-01-03T09:54:00.001-06:00

A new year is upon us! I had grand intentions of ringing in the New Year, at least with the East Coasters, but just couldn't make it. I was in bed by 10:30, but did get to hear, what seemed to be, a never-ending stream of fireworks in our neighborhood. We had some family and friends over to celebrate, and I got to try some new recipes on them! I don't know why, but Pinterest has gotten me to try so many new recipes this year! I get so tired of making the same ole stuff, so I'm grateful for the motivation. I made bacon wrapped chicken bites and french bread topped with goat cheese, filet, caramelized onions, and yocona sauce. I got the idea for the yocona bruschetta? from this recipe: http://pinterest.com/pin/148618856422915727/

I also made Korean beef tacos for dinner last week. Daniel always orders these at a local taco shop, so I thought I would give it a try. They were wonderful! A definite keeper in our dinner rotation. I believe the only modifications I made to the recipe were using the ground ginger in a jar rather than freshly grated and using regular rice vinegar rather than seasoned. This recipe definitely had some heat to it, but was amazingly good. The cabbage 'salad' topping was a must!

I hate making resolutions, but there is something about the end of the holidays and the start of a fresh year that just make me want to start fresh as well. I have many hopes for the coming year! I definitely want to be healthier and exercise more. I also have a huge goal for our family to save a rather large amount of money. I'm tired of seeing our money go to junk or food or junk food! I want to get outside more. I want to do a much better job with my garden this year. I want to take more weekend trips with my family. There are so many sites that are driving distance and inexpensive. I want to volunteer more. I want to be nicer to my husband and show my appreciation for all he does. This list could probably go on and on, I'm just glad to start this new year with a positive outlook. Here's to a wonderful 2012!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T14:57:00.001-06:00

Hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone. This weekend we will usher in a new year! 2012! The holidays seemed to fly by quicker than ever this year. I always hope that things will slow down and we'll be able to sit back and really take in all the magic of the season, but, as usual, that didn't exactly happen. I was sick the ENTIRE time I was off for Christmas, so that alone was a big hindrance. We spent Christmas proper in Ocean Springs and came back to Oxford on the Monday after. My nieces rode with us from Mobile to spend a couple of nights, and it was so wonderful to spend some time with both of them! I wish I had felt better for all the family time, but at least the mucinex, zyrtec D, nyquil, dayquil, etc kept me out of the bed and mostly present for the festivities.

this is a video of Sullivan checking out his loot from Santa. He still doesn't quite understand the concept of Santa, but has definitely enjoyed singing carols, talking about Jesus' birthday, and pointing out all Christmas related decor. He was also an avid un-wrapper this year! He really does make Christmas so special!

The next video is of the nieces and Sullivan singing Jingle Bells.

He had the best time hanging out with his cousins! They kept him happy and entertained the entire ride back from the coast! It was wonderful!

The four of us had breakfast out at Big Bad Breakfast as well. I sure wish they were closer, so we could do stuff more often! I hope they'll come up this spring and go to the Tupelo Buffalo Park with us. I know they would love to feed the giraffes!

For any of you who might not have received an Christmas card in the mail, below are the photos from the card. We had Bill Dabney come take photos for us again. He did a great job with what he had to work with. Of course Sullivan had no desire to smile or sit still!

And this photo we snapped ourselves.

May you all have a safe and very Happy New Year!

25 months?

2011-12-12T11:04:00.001-06:00

So, Moms out there, at what point do you stop telling your child's age in months? And at what point do you stop updating month by month. I feel a little guilty even asking that. I know I'm glad I've posted each month of his life so far, because he has changed so much! I guess I'll keep it up as long as I can.

I watched most of Toy Story 3 the other night. Holy cow. As fast as the days, months, years keep flying by, that movie made me so sad! I kept looking at Daniel and commenting that Sullivan would be going to college before we know it. Breaks my heart to think about my sweet little boy being all grown up and going off on his own. Of course, as a parent, everything I do is in preparation for him to become a kind and intelligent adult member of society. But the reality of that is, he won't be my sweet, cuddly little boy any more. I totally understand why some parents would tell me to let him sleep in the bed or whatever since soon he would be too old or too cool to want to do so. Maybe the holidays just have me being emotional and unreasonable.

On to happier stuff?! I really don't even know where to begin. Work has been exceedingly busy, so I feel like we haven't done much of anything lately. We were in Cleveland for Thanksgiving for a nice, long weekend. It was wonderful to spend so much time with my family. I'm looking forward to more downtime over Christmas. Our Rotary club had the Christmas Store this past weekend, and it was a huge success again. I believe we bought gifts/books for about 775 children in our county. This is our club's biggest service project of the year, but so worth the work! My book club just finished reading The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass? It was good, but at about 400 pages, it was a struggle for me to find the time to read it! I hope the next book is 200 or less!

Ok, so I totally got off track! Sullivan is 25 months old. He weighs just over 30 lbs. Can't recall his height at the moment. He's doing so well with his language. We frequently get 4+ word sentences! He loves to read with us and sing songs with us. Jingle Bells and Rudolph are big favorites this month. He's been eating soooooo much better! Maybe turning 2 turned a corner on that front. Last night he ate pork tenderloin, carrots I cooked, mac & cheese, roll, and cranberry sauce! It was like a normal meal! I shouldn't be this excited I suppose, but it sure will make life easier if I don't have to cook something extra that he'll eat! Sullivan is loving the Christmas tree. Daniel says he's just like me in that he wants it on all the time. First thing he says when he wakes up is "turn on the Christmas treat". He helped me with quality control while decorating by letting me know if each strand of light or ornament was pretty enough for our tree and where I should put them. It made my heart so glad to share that tradition with him. Sullivan and I also made our first snowman together! Since Oxford got a snow that stuck around for a bit the other morning, he and I made a point to play in it. Daniel was sleeping...typical lazy bones, but Sullivan and I caught snowflakes on our tongues, built a tiny snowman, and made some snowballs. We followed this with a cup of hot chocolate...which Sullivan promptly spilled, but it was a lovely morning anyway!

Sullivan's 2nd Birthday

2011-11-29T14:58:00.001-06:00

I'm really going for Mom of the year with this almost month late post! Never seems to be enough time for reflection or contemplation these days. My one hour of yoga a week that FNC provides seems to be about all the focusing I get!

Sullivan's 2nd birthday was a great success. We had a backyard affair with close friends and some family. Below are some pictures from the event.

What is Sullivan up to now that he's officially in the 'terrible 2s'? Well, he can certainly throw a tantrum, but he balances it out with his incredible sweetness. I must admit, it's very hard not to laugh when he says, "Go to time out Momma!". He repeats all the phrases I say to him when he's in trouble, right back to me if I make him mad. I guess I should be impressed he's speaking in sentences at 2 years old, regardless of what he's saying!

Sullivan has really gotten into emotions. He'll frequently ask if I'm going to cry or if I'm happy. When reading Peter Pan the other night, he became very concerned for Captain Hook when the Tic Toc Croc was about to eat him. He'll say, "Uh Oh, Momma! Uh Oh!" whenever he gets worried about someone. Cars parked on the side of the road are definite cause for concern since he associates this with Lightening McQueen running off the road in his Cars book. Our recent walk back from the grove together was filled with "Uh Ohs" since there were cars parked all over the place! I kept having to explain they were just parked, and that they were ok.

Speaking of the Grove, Sullivan joined us there LSU game weekend. It was not his first Grove experience, as I had originally thought, but his first since he has become mobile. And, boy howdy, was he mobile! He had no fear and would run straight through tents until we finally caught him. He did get to play football for the first time in the grove, and it was so sweet! I have memories of watching the Manning boys throw the football in the grove when we were all kids, and I was glad Sullivan got to experience the same. Daniel and his brothers went to the game, the first half anyway, and Sullivan and I watched from the comfort of Anna's couch. Painful.

I would say Sullivan still isn't eating great, except he did suprise me a bit at my Mom's over Thanksgiving weekend. He ate ham, meatballs, and cranberry sauce! Not sure why he will eat Bebe's meatballs, but not mine. Especially since we use the same recipe! Perhaps my nieces were a positive influence on him! Either way, I was happy to see him eat something resembling normal dinner fare.

We go for Sullivan's 2 year check up on Thursday, so I'll have to update stats then. I know he seems so big and grown up to me! It amazes me to see the changes mentally and physically since just a year ago! I am so very blessed to have such a sweet, smart, and handsome boy.

MISC

2011-11-02T10:35:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a random post, but at least I didn't wait until Sullivan's birthday! 2 posts in one month is an improvement, right?

First, I wanted to share something I stole from the janii .
Here's a close-up look at St. Benedict, who founded the monastic order of Benedictines and established a rule for living summed up in a book I love: Always We Begin Again ("translated" by a Memphian, too).

The first rule:
live this life
and do whatever is done
in a spirit of loving kindness

Abandon attempts to achieve security,
they are futile,

give up the search for wealth,
it is demeaning,

quit the search for salvation,
it is selfish,

and come to comfortable rest
in the certainty that those who
participate in this life
with an attitude of compassion
will receive its full promise.

I find this to be a nice reminder about life, and what I should be focusing on always.

We are in big time birthday planning this week since Sullivan's party will be on Saturday. I probably should have been doing some of this planning for the past month, but I'm a procrastinator and have had a bit of trouble deciding on anything. I'm still maintaining low key, but there are still logistics to arrange and food to prepare. I'm sure it will all come together in the end. As long as we have family, cupcakes and candles, we'll be good to go!

On the cooking front, I've tried several new recipes in the last month. I'm addicted to Pinterest and all of these recipes came from there. I wish I had taken pics, but the pinterest pics are better anyway, I'm sure!

Corn and Potato Chowder : I did really enjoy this recipe. Next time: more liquid because the crockpot had almost none when we got home from work, and probably a little less corn. I also added a bit of red pepper to mine.

Ham and Cheese Sliders : my older sister made these on one of our visits down there. They are easy and delicious!

Pioneer Woman's Olive Cheese Bread : SOOOO easy and delicious. NOT HEALTHY, but a great fast appetizer or side!

Baked Egg in a Ham Cup : This recipe is so easy, relatively healthy, and looks beautiful. I made this for my mother's birthday breakfast and it was a big hit...even with kids!

Weicht Watchers Bubble Up Enchiladas : I added corn and a bit more sauce to this than the recipe calls for. It was good, but definitely bready.

Farfalle with Mushrooms and Spinach : Daniel really liked this recipe, but it was a little bland for me. Next time I would probably do a little garlic butter or caper butter to toss with it? Just needed something to balance the dirt taste from the spinach and mushrooms.

Baked Spinach Dip Mini Bread Bowls : This was easy, delicious, and easy to carry to party. I used mini muffin pan instead of regular sized.

23 months

2011-10-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

It's the final count down (cue music in head). Less than a month until Sullivan is 2 years old! I'm shocked, sad, excited, happy, blessed...many things.

Today is probably not the best day for this 23 month update as we've had 'one of those days' today. You know when you are doing time outs during breakfast, it's not gonna be a good one. I have new respect and pity for my dad. I had his temper/stubborn nature and Sullivan has my temper/stubborn nature. Although it takes quite a lot to ruffle my feathers, once I cross the line..oh boy. I know it is impossible and unreasonable to expect logical/reasonable behavior from a toddler all the time, but man, sometimes I just want him to make the connection! Throwing your cup/food/fork/etc on the ground and then yelling "mine!" until it is returned to you does not win you any brownie points. Anyway, Daniel had already scheduled a hair cut appointment for Sullivan today, so we went ahead and kept that. What time was this appointment? Well, right at lunch/nap time of course. It did not go well. Probably our first really embarrassing, screaming kid incident. We did finally get him calmed down enough for the poor girl to finish cutting his hair. Next time, I will cut it. I would rather it look terrible than go through that again. Whew.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, on to the good stuff! Most days Sullivan is really sweet and inquisitive and curious and playful and fun! He has really mastered his shapes this month! He loves to point out triangles, pentagons, squares, circles, ovals, rectangles, etc while we drive down the road. He has the vision of a freaking eagle! He'll spot something and it will take Daniel and I minute to realize it's some tiny sticker on the bumper of a car or something barely visible through the trees. I'm pretty sure he could be us at 'I spy' any day.

He is really enjoying counting objects as well. We typically don't get accurate totals after 3, but I'm impressed he can do 1, 2, & 3!

Sullivan was the only kid from his class to participate in fire safety day at school since he's so far ahead of his classmates. He got to see the fire truck, hear the sirens, see the lights, meet the fire dog, and learn about fire safety!

He loves to hand out "big hugs" to everyone in our family. Last night it was "big hug Momma", "big hug Daddy", "big hug Sophie", "big hug Bailey". Nothing better in this world than a Sullivan hug.

He now runs anytime you call him to do anything. Bath time, diaper change, get dressed, dinner, etc. He'll either run in circles around the house or go hide behind the dining room or kitchen curtains. He, of course, thinks this is hilarious.

He has also started saying "change diapers ok?" when he has a dirty diaper. He still makes us chase him down to actually do the changing, but it's funny to hear him say it. I don't know if it was his Spanish speaking teacher in the 1 year old room or what, but he definitely says some words in a funny way. Change diapers, colors, and papers all sound funny to us. He also likes to say "Momma do it" or "____ do it". He has started memorizing the words for our nightly prayers, so he now contributes more than just an Amen at the end. He likes to do the Pookie responses when we read "Whats Wrong Little Pookie". He knows all of the chorus to the song "Loving You". I would love to get that on camera, but since I'm usually singing it with him, I may have to pass on that. Trust me, your ears will thank you!

No change on the food front. I guess it doesn't take veggies or meat to make a smart kid, so I'm not fighting it too hard. He gets lots of fruit and healthy items, so I'm picking my battles.

Second birthday party planning is under way. We plan to borrow several toys/ride/a jumpy thing from a friend and just have a handful of kids and family at our house. Fingers crossed the weather won't be rainy or too cold for them to be outside in the yard. Backup plan is currently the garage, so we'll see. Sullivan wants to sing Happy Birthday every day, so he should be really ready when the time actually comes! He loves to add the "and many more" to the end of it! Some of his classmates have birthdays which he will come home talking about, so I'm sure he's getting pumped for his own.

Here's hoping I blog more than once a month one day soon!

22 months

2011-09-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe my sweet boy is already 22 months old. It seems like only yesterday I was still pregnant with him! Where does the time go? Sullivan has been a busy bee over the last month. He jabbers on and on...well, until you try to get him to speak to someone on the phone! He amazes us every day with all he is learning. He is truly a little sponge. When he gets home from daycare, he immediately goes to the letter magnets or his puzzles or his trains! I find myself afraid we aren't providing enough new things for him to learn! I'm trying to work on more crafts/artsy things in addition to taking more walks and going new places. He's mastered counting to 10, saying his abc's and can identify most, if not all, is letters. we've downloaded many new flashcards, but he has those memorized before we know it! I certainly want to do all I can to foster his love of learning!

Not much has changed on the food front! He regularly eats spaghetti-o's in the letters and numbers shapes (refuses to eat the meatballs, so those go to Daniel), pb&j, mac & cheese, cheese pizza, whole wheat waffles, carrots, sweet potato fries, chips and rotel, cheese, any carb, any sweet, tons of fruit. He will occasionally eat a chicken nugget, but not regularly. I'm open to any suggestions on alternative protein sources that don't look/taste like meat or veggies! :) We've started giving him the V8 Vfusion fruit/vegetable juices in the reduced sugar/calorie version mixed with water. I hate to give him artificial sweeteners, but hate for him to be sugared up while getting his veggies too. It's a vicious cycle.

He loves, loves, loves trucks, tractors, helicopters, airplanes, motorcycles, cars, school buses, trains...you get the picture. He enjoys kicking the soccer ball around, watching wiggles, elmo, or baby Einstein videos on his dvd player. He wants to help do anything you are doing- unloading the dishwasher, putting away dishes, folding laundry, watering plants, pulling weeds, taking out the trash, checking the mail, etc, etc. He brings Julia her pacifier and sleep sheep whenever she gets upset or rubs and pats on her. He goes to get a towel if he notices a mess on the floor and then goes to put the towel back when he's done! (he obviously gets this cleaning thing from Daniel) He likes to sit on Bailey, hug on Bailey, feed Bailey, and boss Bailey around. He's very helpful and sweet. Although his behaviour has been much improved over the last month, he has gotten back into a 'No' phase. He actually lays in his crib and says No, no, no, no over and over again in different pitches and volumes. He practices this with us when he doesn't want to eat his dinner. (pretty sure he gets this from me) I definitely don't want to encourage it, but sometimes you just have to laugh. :) Some new phrases he frequently uses are: "they 'e is" which is used for people and things. ) Example: where's your cup? 'they 'e is'. where's daddy? 'they 'e is'.) it's adorable. 'Bless you Momma' is said every time I sneeze- so sweet! 'Boool Bus' is something we here on the way to daycare. 'Bailey heal' and 'Bailey hushhhh' are regulars. He enjoys saying his own name these days as well. He identifies body parts as his or ours- Sullivan's back, Momma's back, etc.

A few other things he's gotten good at:
blowing his train whistle
brushing his teeth
washing his hands
closing doors
OPENING doors- not cool

anyway, sorry for the long wordy post. you know this is mainly for me to remember. :) As usual, we feel so blessed by Sullivan every day. His sweet hugs and kisses make life worth living.

Week or so my a$$...

2011-08-31T12:10:00.000-05:00

I don't know who I was kidding when I posted on August 16th, that I should have my pashmina cowl finished in a week or so. HAHAHAHAHA. It's the last day of August and I'm probably half way through. I guess I should be proud I've made any progress on it. I was going to make myself some fingerless gloves next, but considering how long this current project is taking, I'm going to make Sullivan a winter hat instead. He has a big head, so kids hats are iffy. If I don't do it next, I'm afraid it will be Spring before it's actually completed.

Here is a photo of my pashmina cowl progress as of last night.

P.S. Hooray for upcoming long weekend!

New project

2011-08-16T13:38:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to get back into knitting after an almost year long hiatus. My first project is a very simple pashmina cowl, although it is my first time using circular needles to knit. I'm probably a third of the way done with it, so I should have it completed in the next week or so. Below is what it should look like, so we'll see! If it turns out well, my friends can expect one for the holidays! ;)

Since I've finished my year as Rotary President and I've graduated from my Leadership Lafayette class, I'm taking some time to do some things just for me! Knitting is just the beginning, I hope!

21 months

2011-08-15T14:53:00.000-05:00

I'm so behind on my blog posting! Not sure what my deal is, but I've been too busy or uninspired to post here lately. I've got that handy blogger app on my phone, but I've used it once to date. Oh well! I shall endeavor to do better!

Sullivan is 21 months old as of last Monday! I can't believe he'll be 2 in just a few short months. I'm already beginning to think about party possibilities! So many fun options out there, but I don't want to over do it. We'll see.

Sullivan moved to a new classroom at his daycare, and his teacher is constantly bragging on how smart he is! No surprise to us, but nice to hear from his teacher as well. It's no secret that I hope he will be a bookworm like his Mom and a handsome athlete like his Dad! He still amazes me with the new things he learns every day, and he has really begun to string together 3 or more words to form sentences. He has certain parts of our favorite bed time books memorized and it's so cute to listen to him when he gets to those parts. I think he hung the moon, obviously.

Sullivan continues to be very affectionate. He loves to give hugs and kisses and tell us he loves us. He also enjoys hugging on Sophie (the cat) and Bailey (the dog) and telling them how much he loves them. It's adorable. Unfortunately, we've had some molars coming in this month, so the sweetness is often tempered by irritability. When he doesn't feel good and gets frustrated, he usually ends up in time out. I'm not sure he totally understands time out, but we sit with him after and ask him to apologize and we try to explain why he was in time out and then tell him we love him and give him hugs. FYI, parenting is hard work. We really have no clue, but are trying to figure this business out as we go along.

On the food front, not much new to report. He is typically a little more willing to try new things these days. He had several bites of salmon croquettes, some pasta salad, and some alphabet spaghettios for the first time this month. Now, if i could just get him to eat a vegetable besides carrots and potatoes! One day at a time.

Daniel and I are planning a family trip to the Smokies/Chattanooga in the next couple of months. We want to take Sullivan to the Aquarium in Chattanooga, go See Rock City (Daniel wants to go hang gliding here), ride the train or whatever, and maybe hit up Nantahala GAF. I'm really struggling figuring out itinerary and places to stay. Let me know if you have any recommendations.

I've started back knitting, so stay tuned for updates on my latest project.

BEEEECH

2011-07-14T15:58:00.000-05:00

We had a great trip to the beach over the 4th of July weekend. It was very strange to be away from extended family and not at the lake for the 4th, but we also enjoyed trying something new! Sullivan had a great time swimming and digging in the sand and playing with his cousins. He would mimic just about everything they did! I was very glad to have such great 'helpers'. Below are a few pics and a video of part of the fireworks show we watched from our condo balcony. My nieces are sweet as can be! I love their enthusiasm! Vacationing with a child is definitely not very relaxing, but Sherri and I did get one afternoon of wine and appetizers on the balcony that was quite lovely.

20 months

2011-07-13T15:06:00.000-05:00

As usual, I'm behind on posting! Sullivan is 20 months old as of last Friday! I can't believe in 4 short months he'll be 2 years old!

He is learning so much, so fast. I can't even begin to note all the words he is saying. He can now count to 10 and sings the alphabet quite well! He still loves his flashcards and knows all of them! I'm going to have to create some new ones! He frequently sings Twinkle Twinkle or his ABC's or Jesus loves me or All through the town. I guess everyone thinks their kids are the greatest and the cutest and the smartest, and we are no different!

His new favorite word is no, but he now says it more like 'nah'. Everything is 'nah'. He can even be nodding his head and staring at ice cream, and he will still say 'nah'. It's cute, but getting a real yes or no out of him is hard! We are still working on some of his terrible 2s attitude problems, but over all he just loves to give hugs and kisses and hang out with us. Daniel and I are really working on how we react when he throws a tantrum, so as not to encourage them! it does require lots of patience!

Sullivan still isn't eating great, but we are making do. Most meals have lots of fresh fruit and often a baby food vegetable, and some peanut butter or cheese on bread/toast/tortillas/pizza. He refuses to try most of the things I cook for Daniel and I to eat. Oh well. He enjoys cheerios with milk and he just looks so grown up when he sits there eating cereal out of a bowl. It sort of breaks my heart. He's just growing up so fast!

Sullivan still cries most mornings when we drop him at daycare. He stops crying by the time we get to the front door, but it's still hard. He still talks about 'Abby' all the time. It used to always be 'William', but now it's always 'Abby'! I know he has a great time at school, and he certainly is learning a lot!

I've still got to post on our trip to Florida, so maybe that will happen in the next week? I've been working from home while trying to recover from Strep and tonsillitis, so we'll see if I get anything else done.

Welcome Julia Jane!

2011-06-21T10:37:00.000-05:00

After an incredibly long labor, Julia Jane was born on June 15, 2011 at 2:20pm. Julia and Anna are doing great, and I can't wait to hug them both!

19 months old!

2011-06-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

I know, I'm wayyyyy behind on my posting. I'll try and catch up as much as possible today...maybe.

First of all, Sullivan.
He amazes me every day with what he has learned! It seems like something new every minute! He has also gotten into the repeat anything I say phase-- time to clean up the potty mouth! He copied 'shoot' and 'crap' this weekend, so at least it hasn't been something worse yet!
Some of his new mad skilz:

Can sing his ABC's- granted there are a few mumbled areas, but I was pretty impressed!
New body parts he's learned: Heart -he says bum,bum for the heartbeat each time, Elbow, legs, arm, back, neck, eyebrow, ding dong (you can thank his dad for that), chin, cheeks, fingernail
Can sing most of twinkle twinkle and Jesus Loves Me
Learned the chicken dance from his Dad (his toy tractor plays the song)
Loves to act out If you're happy and you know it!
Has several new teeth coming in- looks like molars, but I'm no dentist
Loves to be a helper! Wants to help with the laundry, dishes, watering the yard, pulling weeds. He's a little mini me that just follows you around and copies whatever you try to do
Has started really telling us when he has just gone or needs to go tt. He's asked to get on the potty several times, but no action yet. He did 'water' a tree last weekend (another of Dad's influences!)
Knows tons of animals and sounds. He got some flash cards for Easter and has those mastered in addition to those we regularly look at on the ipad.
LOVES to point out airplanes and anything that remotely looks or sounds like an airplane is cause for excitement.
Still doesn't eat well when it comes to meat or veggies. He'll eat his veggies if they are baby food form, but not the real deal. he will occasionally eat a chicken nugget, but frequently spits that out. He does eat tons of fresh fruit and dairy, so it will have to do for now.
No surprise, but we still think he's awesome! So much fun and so very sweet! Below is a video of Sullivan practicing his music appreciation for Uncle Ricky's music! Thankfully, he has just as much fun with other types of music.

In other news, Daniel and I took our first vacation without Sullivan last month. We missed him, but we had a wonderful time relaxing! We did some light hiking, did the river twice, and drank lots of wonderful N.C. beer! For the first time, we got a luxury cabin instead of tent camping. Wow. Gonna be hard to ever go back to a tent. It was wonderful to come home sore and exhausted and have a hot tub, big bed, etc awaiting us! We plan to try and go back in the fall for a family vacation. My Mom and Freddie kept Sullivan, and all had a wonderful time until my Mom came down with the stomach virus. Thank goodness Freddie was there to take care of Sullivan while she recupperated! Unfortunately, about 10 minutes after we got home, Sullivan came down with it as well...all over me. The joys of motherhood! I don't know how I avoided getting it, but I sure am thankful!

We haven't been up to much lately. Our weekends are mostly spent watering or playing in the baby pool. We did go sailing on Daniel's brother's sailboat a few weeks ago. That was fun and Sullivan really enjoyed it. He swam in Sardis lake and kept trying to crawl all over the boat! Hard to keep him contained, but he had such a great time pointing out all the boats!

Daniel celebrated a birthday and we joined the church on June 5th! Well, Daniel is an associate member, so he doesn't have to give up his Catholic-ness. :) We had a great time celebrating his birthday weekend with friends, good food, and new church family members!

We are all anxiously awaiting the birth of Anna's baby. She will be induced this thursday if she doesn't come on her own sooner. Mom is in Seattle with Anna and has been cooking and cleaning, etc. I know she's a huge help and a comfort to have around! So, keep Anna and baby girl in your thoughts and prayers this week for a safe, and easy, delivery!

18 Months Old and Mother's Day

2011-05-09T16:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was an especially celebrated Mother's Day as Sullivan celebrated 18 months! He is growing so fast, learning so quickly, and the weeks and months just fly by! I'm going to share several videos since I haven't posted in a month!

Tomorrow is Sullivan's official 18 month appointment, but I'm going to go ahead and give you some of the fun stats! He has become quite the singer in the last few months. We've added singing a few songs to our nightly routine before bed, so that, coupled with the singing at school, it is really catching on! There is no doubt he's a chorus man, and enjoys chiming in the these various parts of songs:

The "Yes Jesus" and "Bible" in Jesus Loves Me
E-I-E-I-O and animal sounds
"beep, beep, beep", hand motions, and "All through the town" in The Wheels on the Bus
"merrily, merrily" in Row, Row your boat
"Amen" at the end of prayers!

Sullivan has a very sweet disposition and no fear of running amok through crowds. He does get shy if someone addresses him directly though. He still briefly crys most mornings when we drop him off at school, but usually stops before we get out of the building. Breaks my heart each time though. Needless to say, Daniel and I practically arm wrestle over who gets to go in to get him in the evenings! He's always so happy to see us and as soon as he's in our arms, he's turning to wave bye bye to his classmates. He knows the names and sounds of these animals now: giraffe(no sound cause i don't know the sound), cow(moo), chicken (cluck, cluck), duck (quack quack), dog (growl), cat(memow), frog, elephant, bird, sheep(baa), snake(ssss), monkey, bunny, horse (nay), lion(roar), fish...New words he likes to say/recognizes: moon, stars, shoes, socks, chair, Bailey, Bebe, Freddy, fish, boat, baby, fan goes round and round, flower, trees, water, giraffe, tissues..

This is really a wonderful age! I love that he can answer my questions and run around in the yard while we work in the garden, etc. He's totally happy following Bailey and Sophie around and checking out whatever we are working on. We appreciate he is very independent most of the time. I definitely worry whether we are teaching him enough, setting good examples, etc. As any mother does, I want to give him the greatest head start on life I can. I hope he'll grow up big and strong, smart and kind. I look forward to many years of exploring together! I am so blessed that God chose me to be his mother!

And on that note, our Mother's day was really great this year! What we had expected to be a small (read: just the 3 of us) celebration, turned into brunch for 12! It was wonderful to see the extended family members who were able to come, and to spend Mother's Day with both my Mother and my Grandmother. After brunch we spent the afternoon in the baby pool and working in the yard. We had a really wonderful day!

Ok, you get a break from videos for now since blogger is having issues uploading them! I'll just have to post again this week with the other stuff I want to share! Happy Monday!

PARP and 17 months old!

2011-04-11T16:31:00.001-05:00

My title comes from this hilarious blog post. Since the weather was gorgeous this weekend, we tried to stay out of doors a good bit. Saturday morning we tackled house cleaning and then moved to the yard while Sullivan napped. We got a few more azaleas relocated, but haven't quite finished with that project, so no pictures yet. Moving stuff is a pain, but the things we are doing now are saving us work in the long run (hopefully). Below is a picture of the new fence Daniel built around my veggie bed to keep all the critters out! He also put pine straw around the perimeter to negate the need for mowing/weed eating and to give me a clear walk way around the bed. I'm excited to get stuff planted!

We met Rachel and her family and friends at the new South Depot Taco Shop in Oxford. This was our second time to go, and my pork tacos this time were messy, but way better than the chicken tacos I had previously. I recommend you check them out! Daniel has gotten the Korean and Asian tacos both time and really enjoyed them.

Since the other kids we were with needed naps after lunch, the Martins hit up Avent Park. Sullivan had a great time! Next time we'll come prepared for a longer stay! He really enjoyed playing music and running around the little buildings.

Sunday Daniel played in an early morning golf tournament, so Sullivan and I were lazy bums. I read most of the day and we both stayed in pjs. It was wonderful! Although I should probably have been working outside, it was nice to just chill.

Sullivan celebrated 17 months on Friday! Maybe he's turning over a new leaf because he ate pizza Friday night and a cheese quesadilla Saturday! Shocking that that impresses me? It's wonderful to be able to go out to eat without carrying something just for him to eat! He is very independent and wants to feed himself! The hitting and saying No has seemed to decrease over the last week, so maybe it's starting to sink in that that behavior doesn't fly around our house. Overall, he gets more affectionate each week! He gives wonderful hugs and slobbery kisses! He wants you to kiss his 'froggy' good night and good morning too! He shocked me this weekend by flipping through a photo album and saying a version of my niece Madeline's name! He then said my other niece Avery's name! I couldn't believe it! I guess those girls have really made an impression on him! Glad we all get to see each other this coming weekend! Sullivan's list of animals/animal sounds is growing to include ducks/quack and horses/neigh. He can recognize/attempt to repeat all the items on his quilt: boat, lighthouse, dog, baby, crab, horse, frog, etc. Loves to say shoes and to play with any shoes lying around. If he's not wearing our shoes then he's arranging them all ON the coffee table. He also enjoys removing my shoes from my feet and then putting them back on me! It never gets old! He's very fond of his privates and will grab hold, say 'peepee' and grin when we change his diaper. Boys learn early to be proud of that, don't they! Sullivan loves to wave and say "hey" to people in stores, restaurants, and even when we pass cars on the road. He'll say "truck" and then wave "hey" to just about everyone we pass on the way to daycare in the mornings. It's adorable! All in all, we still think he's the bee's knee's and just about the sweetest thing ever. We are so lucky!

Monday!

2011-04-04T13:53:00.000-05:00

You like my title? That's about how creative I feel today.

We enjoyed our visit with Gigi and DaddyTim two weeks ago, but I forgot to post some photos I snapped!

Daniel recently purchased some hiking poles? I guess that's what you call them. Regardless, Sullivan thinks they are super fun and just his size! He's ready for the trails!

We had a nice time in Cleveland this weekend visiting with Bebe and FredDaddy. The Outback Kayak Reunion was a bit more formal (read: sit down for 2 hours) than I had anticipated. I spent most of that time plying Sullivan with junk food to keep him happy or chasing him around the building where the dinner was held. I think people enjoyed getting to see him, but Momma was worn out by the end of the night. Unfortunately, he didn't sleep well that night either. Not exactly a restful weekend, but beautiful weather, good food, and family made it worth it. I plan to take photos of our latest yard projects and the art I came home with this weekend! Fun stuff!

Choo Choo!

2011-03-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

This is a choo choo train, right?

My friend Rachel blogged today about her son 'helping out' around the house, which reminded me of this video Daniel took a few months ago. Every time we vacuum, Sullivan either tries to ride it like a train, or gets his popper toy to pretend to vacuum right along side me. I think both are hilarious, and I sure hope he retains the love of vacuuming! Ha! It's great exercise to pull a vacuum and 30lb child around the house!

Several people have asked for the stuffed shells recipe, so here is the link:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/turkey-and-artichoke-stuffed-shells-with-arrabbiata-sauce-recipe/index.html

Tonight, thanks to the hard work of my lovely crock pot, we'll be having this (minus the pickled onions- i like my onions crunchy):

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/slow-cooked-pork-tacos-with-fire-roasted-tomatoes-and-pickled-onions-recipe/index.html

I'll let you know how this newest recipe turns out. It was amazing simple to throw into the crock pot this morning, and we love homemade tacos, so I sure hope it's a winner!

It's almost TGIF!

Unsolved Mystery (rash)

2011-03-30T15:52:00.000-05:00

*I apologize for any baby nakedness, I wasn't paying attention!

Our trip the allergist this week didn't really give us any answers as to what caused Sullivan's hives last week. Of course by Monday afternoon they were all but gone. Thankfully, all the photos I took came in handy! The doctor did a scratch test for about 16 different things, but all came back negative. This in itself is pretty amazing considering when I had my allergy scratch test done as an adult I was allergic to severely allergic to every single thing. Here's hoping Sullivan is working with Daniel's genes on the allergy front! So, since all were negative, we know what DIDNT cause the hives. Doctors best guess is a food we haven't eaten since or a virus/infection. We are to return for blood work if the hives return. Oh well. Glad my baby is back to normal!

I made some new dishes Sunday afternoon! Turkey and artichoke stuffed shells with Arrabbiata sauce and artichoke pesto. I'm very happy with both. The stuffed shells are reminiscent of a lasagna, but the turkey, artichokes, and herbs really lighten it up to me. Doesn't feel as heavy or fattening. The pesto was good as well, but I still prefer traditional basil pesto! Looking forward to that this summer for sure! Both of these recipes are Giada's so are easily found on the internets.

Sullivan and I are heading to Cleveland this weekend for an Outback Kayak Reunion dinner in honor of Dave Heflin. Dave is a legend in those parts, and most everyone has been on at least one of his trips. My childhood is filled with memories of Halloween's in Tishamingo, winters skiing, and summers at the Nantahala. Dad, Dave and Henry sure knew how to have a good time! If I had written down all the stories I heard growing up from this group, I would be a retired, and very wealthy, author. Maybe one day. Regardless, I'm looking forward to my first trip home in MONTHS!

Me Slacker

2011-03-24T16:18:00.000-05:00

My brain is fried from work and long hours and stress, but feel the need for an update here! I'm definitely feeling the strain of too many activities in my life, but I can't exactly get rid of any of my current responsibilities! Note to self: stressful/long hours career, Rotary President, 1 + year old son, husband, filthy house, Leadership Lafayette, book club, yada, yada, yada...might be a bit much for one year! Anyway! I'm lucky to have these opportunities!

This week we've been battling the mystery hive maker on Sullivan. Most of you have seen on facebook I'm sure, but since Monday morning we've been battling mild to severe cases of hives. he started a steroid Tuesday night and yesterday looked to be almost completely cleared up, and then, BAM, worst case ever this morning. His back was actually one big hive rather than polka dots. He literally looked sunburned. It has spread to his legs, arms, and neck now poor baby. We have an appointment with the allergist in Tupelo on Monday. Tonight I plan to rewash EVERYTHING of his in the no chemical stuff to see if that helps any. He's been playing outside a good bit more lately, so I'm afraid if might be related to that. We'll see on Monday I suppose.

In more fun news, I think Sullivan and I will begin a Mommy and Me 'Baby Fish' swim class this Sunday on campus. Daniel and I have been talking about getting him in some 'swimming' lessons, and this just happened to fit right in. Yeah, I know, adding one more thing to my schedule, but this is on the weekend and is for Sullivan and should be FUN! :) Daniel and I are planning a lovely 7 day vacation to Seaside late this summer, so I want Sullivan to have as much exposure to swimming as possible before that! Speaking of that, can late summer get here already? :) If anyone plans to be in the Seaside area between late July and early August, let me know so we can meet up!

Friday, since I've been working til after 10 most nights, I'll be taking off work a bit early to clean house and cook dinner (first time this week) in anticipation of a visit from my grandparents! There is a free Benny Goodman-esk concert at the performing arts center here, so they are driving over to join us for dinner, a show, and a spend the night! We've done this in the past and it's always such a treat! I know they are anxious for a visit with Sullivan and we are anxious for a visit with them as well! Daniel has been doing some big time work in the yard in preparation of this year's veggie bed, etc, so we do have to squeeze in some yard work at some point! I'll have to post photos when he finishes his current project list.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend! It's almost TGIF!

16 months and Mardi Gras!

2011-03-10T14:32:00.000-06:00

Daniel, Sullivan, and I headed to the Coast last weekend to visit family and attend a Mardi Gras ball. It was wonderful to see family we haven't seen since Christmas (or much longer in some cases). Unfortunately, I took almost NO photos. There are some photos on Sherri's camera, so when she shares those, I'll pass them on here! Here are some photos from the night of the ball in Mobile. There were 8 of us total, and we had a really fun time! I would post video from the limo ride home, but some people might not appreciate me sharing their music talents with the world! Trust me when I say, very funny stuff. The ball was quite a party! Multiple bands, open bars all over the place, all the food you can eat, and dancing til you drop! I was shocked and delighted to discover the hot dog bar a little later in the evening! Don't think I didn't enjoy a chili dog! LOL. All that fancy food, and I was still excited by a chili dog...oh well. Daniel pulled out dance moves like I've never seen from him before. I definitely wish I had video of that! Good times!

Sullivan had a wonderful time visiting with grandmothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc, etc! He was thoroughly entertained and worn out the entire trip!

He's learned several new 'tricks' over the last month. His list of body parts he can identify is growing. He gets a huge kick out of you fake burping or sneezing and then saying excuse me or bless you. He loves to mimic the fake burps. Bleh! He loves Bailey more every day! He was so happy to see her when we got home. He went up to her making his dog growl noises and just hugged on her! They enjoy scoping out the backyard through the windows together. don't know if I've shared this before or not, but since Bailey doesn't bark, when you ask Sullivan what the dog says, he just growls. It's funny and very accurate for our dog! He loves to pretend to talk on the phone or any other item that he holds up to his ear like a phone. He has really gotten the hang of running and can quickly escape with items he knows he shouldn't have! The boy LOVES balls! He has one of ever size and gets them all out to throw constantly! He and Bailey really like playing fetch outside together!

He calls his cup his 'ba boom'. Other new words: truck, shoes, fishy, juice, cheese. We have definitely been getting a taste of the terrible twos on occasion with his falling to the ground and squealing or banging his head when he doesn't get what he wants or if you take something away from him. One loud 'Sullivan' from Daniel typically cuts that out real quick though! He definitely tests me more than Daniel. Guess I need to work on being more authoritative. So hard when he gives you that cute little devilish grin!

Sullivan has officially moved up to the 1-2 year old class at his daycare. Don't think I'm not a little sad to see him leave the nursery! I know he's enjoying his big boy class though. They get to go outside on the playground, and I've heard he adores that! He certainly comes home worn out! The progress sheet they send home every day lists the food he was served each day. I say served, since I don't buy for a second that he ate beef tips or sloppy joes, etc. No way my child is eating that. He will still eat just about any fruit, but veggies are limited to carrots and sweet potatoes. Meat is limited to bacon. Super healthy, right? Ha! We are sneaking in veggies through smoothies, so I don't feel too terrible about it.

He has started giving out hugs upon request, and is really quite affectionate. Nothing like feeling his soft little hands hug you around the neck and really hold on to you! Love, love, love him! We are so very blessed and lucky to be the parents of such a wonderful boy! Love making new memories with him every day! Thank you God!

V Day

2011-02-15T16:04:00.000-06:00

Daniel and I typically don't do gifts for Valentine's Day, but this year he got me a gift and I LOVE IT!

That's right! I finally got a kitchen compost container! Now, what amounts to basically a garbage can for your kitchen counter may not excite most of you, but it does me! We've had a compost pile going in the yard for quite a while now, so I'm super excited to have a large, attractive, smell-proof container to hold my food scraps before Daniel takes it to dump on the compost pile. You would be amazed how much smaller your trash gets when you don't throw out those wonderful veggie scraps and coffee grounds! Veggies gone bad in the fridge? Just toss 'em in here! Hopefully, all this wonderful 'trash' is going to work wonders on my veggie garden this year! Woohoo! Enjoy your roses ladies, I'll take rotting fruit! :)

On the Sullivan/food front, I've had a few wins this week! He enjoyed an avocado pocketbook for dinner the other night, ate maybe a bite of pot roast, lots of baked sweet potato fries. I'll take my wins where I can get them.

On a side note, is my family the only family in America that calls a 'foldover' sandwich a pocketbook? You know, one piece of bread folded in half with stuff in side. While on our recent trip to the cabin with friends and their kids, I asked the children if they would like a peanut butter and jelly pocketbook and they thought I was nuts! Oh well...to each their own. I'm sticking with pocketbook!

15 months old and house projects

2011-02-08T15:23:00.001-06:00

Sullivan is 15 months old today! The photo above was taken at bedtime, so his eyes look about half closed. He doesn't sit still for photos, so it took quite a few tries to get him head on! He is still learning new things/words/actions every day! He is definitely getting some attitude and lets you know if he doesn't like something. He complains terribly when you change his diaper or change his clothes, so keeping him distracted during those times is mission critical these days! He still won't eat much of anything! He refuses to try most things I make for him, so it's a constant battle. He basically survives on fresh fruit, peanut butter on waffles, bagels, toast, yogurt, milk, watered down white grape juice, whole wheat baby cereal mixed with pureed fruit, carrots, mac and cheese, and bacon. Not exactly a well rounded variety. I'm going to buy some veggies blend juices today (like green goodness) and see if I can sneak some veggies in that way. Fingers crossed! His habit of eating anything he finds on the floor or otherwise seems to be lessening. He can be trusted to wander a bit more around the house since he is less likely to eat any piece of leaf, dog hair, etc he finds on the floor. He loves to run from us...yeah..super fun. He's pretty much a constant wiggle worm and impossible to contain these days! He's also the cutest, sweetest thing ever! Love him! He's great at pointing out his and your body parts, loves the cat and dog and turning lights and fans off and on. He has recently become attached to 'froggy' that he got for Christmas from the Hernando Rogers clan. When we get ready for bed, I turn on his music in his crib and ask him where Froggy is and he'll lean right over, get into the crib, hug Froggy, and my job is done! Bed time is a breeze these days! He's still sleeping great, although, I believe he has more teeth coming in on the bottom, so that may quickly change. He currently has 2 teeth on the bottom and 4 on the top. He is really sporting a mullet look these days, so the first haircut is fast approaching. I'll be sure to document!

On to house project news, Daniel and I got several small house projects tackled over the weekend. The first was the changing of the cabinet hardware in the kitchen. I didn't want to spend a ton on it, but the hardware that came with the house has always irked me, so we made a simple and inexpensive switch! I'm much happier with the new! You can see the new and old in the pic below. (old is the white, new is the all metal)

'We' also finally made a decision on the problem area behind our bar stools. Because the kitchen paint is flat, when anyone would sit on our bar stools, their pants, shoes, etc would scuff the mess out of the wall. We talked about different options, including just a tougher coat of paint, but decided to go with something a little more exciting! I think it turned out really well, and I'm excited! This project was quick and easy (especially for me since I spent that time on the couch watching tv)! We bought these faux pressed tin panels from home depot that are typically used for back splash areas.

Before:

After:

After with bar stools:

We've got several other projects currently under way, so I'll update on those when they have been completed! We are expecting to get several inches of snow tomorrow, so maybe we'll be able to tackle some projects while working from home!

Help Save Anton

2011-02-07T15:44:00.001-06:00

Please share the links below in case you might know some one who can help Anton!

http://patriceandmattwilliams.blogspot.com/2011/02/please-help-save-anton.html

http://helpanton.com/

A post and it's not even the 8th of the month!

2011-02-02T12:03:00.000-06:00

Shocking I know, but I'm actually posting even though it's not a Sullivan 'birthday'! I would really like to get better about my posting because I find it very hard to sum up large segments of time, but I don't want to leave anything out!

I've been lately working on "decorating" some parts of the house. I use this term very loosely, as I have no decorator gene in my body. I've recently purchased a cupboard and area rug for my dining room, and am now looking for paintings, etc to work with this area. You can see the new rug and cupboard in the photo below. The tall Walter Anderson used to be hanging where the cupboard is now, so we need to find a new home for it. The ceilings in the dining room are 17 feet I think, so i really need another large piece of art above cupboard to help fill some of that space. wish I had the art gene and could just make myself one! Obviously, the photo below was taken before the dining room table was moved back in...just fyi.

In addition to the dining room changes, I'm working on our bedroom. I've bought a white mattelasse coverlet for our bed, but am still looking for a throw or comforter for the end of the bed (and to pull up on cold nights), coordinating pillows, curtains eventually, and fabric to recover the overstuffed chair in the reading nook of our bedroom. A daunting task to be sure, but I'm hopeful it will come together eventually. Our bedroom is a soothing 'McCarty green' and I would like the rest of the room to have the same soothing, spa-like vibe. I'll post photos if I ever get this close to finished.

We are also looking at new kitchen table, possibly re-doing a small storage cart thing in the kitchen, new hardware for cabinets, another chair for my living room...my lists could and do go on and on! One thing at a time, but I'm tired of just ignoring the things I want to do.

I also have a list of to-do's for outside! I'm so ready for another warm weekend to get the veggie bed ready for spring planting, do some transplanting, etc. I've got to find a solution to our water issues with the veggie bed. I HATE A GARDEN HOSE. The dragging, connecting, etc drives me insane! Of course every time Daniel has to mow, we have to move the hoses out of the way. We have a giant culvert that we were given in hopes of making a rain barrel, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe this year. My biggest dilemma is how to get enough rain water to drain into the rain barrel to use in the back of the yard. Also, I've read you aren't supposed to use rain water to water vegetable gardens...can someone explain this to me? How do veggies in the wild get watered? RAIN!? Any who. I have grand plans for the veggie garden this year (as usual), but really hope I'll get to implement them successfully since Sullivan is now old enough and mobile enough to play in the yard while we work.

Book club is officially back in session! We have our first review meeting next Thursday to discuss Water for Elephants. This book was a great, entertaining, quick read. For the first time in the history of this book club, I think every member will have actually finished, and possibly even enjoyed, the book selection! May wonders never cease! :)

And now, because it just wouldn't be my blog if I didn't, I leave you with some photos of the recent snow!

14 months!

2011-01-11T11:04:00.000-06:00

Sullivan celebrate 14 months this past weekend with a quick visit from his Bebe! They had a great time playing!

Sullivan seems to be progressing so quickly these days! New words daily and wants to mimic everything we do! Some of the words he's using now: cat or ki cat, dah (dog), Santa (calls pictures of Colonel Rebel Santa too), thank you (when you hand him something or when he hands you something), bubbles, bah (ball), cup, spoon, bowl, ligh (light), fa (fan), socks, belly and belly button...can't remember what else at the moment. He's learned to identify his head, his ears, his tongue, his belly and belly button, his hand, and his feet sometimes. He still points to our noses, eyes, etc when you ask about those.

He's doing MUCH better with the eating. He doesn't want baby food anymore, but won't touch most food you give him unless you let him sit with it for quite a while and let him watch you eat the same thing. He doesn't trust anything you try and give him, especially on a spoon. He has to have it in front of him and be able to check it out before he eventually will try it. This doesn't go for everything though. Lately, he's found he likes rotel and fritos, bacon, pancakes, pork tenderloin, just about anything with peanut butter on it, mac and cheese, my spaghetti and meatballs, any bread/rolls/pizza crust. He still typically turns his nose up at meat, so it's a good thing he likes peanut butter so much. Carrots are definitely his favorite food. I have to ration them so he doesn't turn orange.

He loves throwing balls, either to Bailey or us. Loves his choochoo train and galloping rocking horse. Really, he loves all his toys, so it's hard to pick a favorite. LOVES Sophie (the cat) and Bailey (the dog). He wants to rub his face all over their fur and 'pet' them. Loves to dance. Loves Mickey Mouse. He loves his books (especially Peter Pan), and likes to find certain objects in other books on each page.

We had our first snow day yesterday with him. He did not enjoy attempting to walk in the snow and did not enjoy face planting in the snow. I thought I had recorded his first taste of snow, but somehow it didn't save. He did enjoy our very brief sledding attempts and just walking around with us and watching Bailey play in the snow.

Sullivan is so happy and sweet majority of the time. He likes to hug and kiss. He enjoys putting his cold hands on your leg and watching you jump! I can't believe he's 14 months old. Time is really going so quickly, but we are enjoying every day.

dont fall for it!

2010-12-22T18:25:00.001-06:00

For the second time in my life, I've had a sketchy man try and get me to get out of my car in an unsafe location by telling me I have a very low tire. The first time this happened more than 10 years ago and I had just gotten new tires so I knew the Guy was full of it. The most recent was Monday night when I drove to marks to meet my mom. Now my new car tells me when I have a low tire, but I wouldn't have fallen for it anyway based on my previous experience. I saw the minute this Guy saw me and changed course to come annoy me. I already had the doors locked when he knocked on my window and I rolled my window only low enough for him to hear me. Not low enough for him to reach a hand in. He gave me the low tire story and I told him my dad was on his way and would take a look for me. He started walking off at this point only to come back to start giving me a sob story about his health and tubes in his head or something. Thank goodness Freddie and mom pulled up just then. Of course he tried to bother them too but Freddie eventually got rid of him. I was asking Daniel yesterday what he thinks these men plan when they do this. I was in a well lit gas station parking lot. Would he have tried to rob me? Take my car? Worse? Next time, instead of rolling down my window, I'm going to let a Smith and Wesson do the talking. The first time this happened my little sister said she probably would have fallen for it and gotten out of the car. So ladies, I'm sharing this with you so you don't fall for this. Better to ride on rims to a safe place then get out of the car! Be safe. Sad that I even have to share this.

PS this is my first official post from new phone!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

So behind

2010-12-15T14:17:00.002-06:00

I've gotten on here several times over the last month to blog, but just haven't felt the motivation. There has been a lot going on, but I often just feel like it would be too hard to try and sum it all up here. Since it's too much pressure to try and blog about all the things I've missed, we'll just start on clean slate from here. I will include a few photos from big events, but that's about it.

My baby sister, Anna, got married! Woohoo! She and Ricky got engaged this summer and were in the middle of planning a lovely Seattle wedding for next summer when God decided to change things up a bit for them! They are expecting a little bundle of joy in June! So instead of a summer Seattle wedding, they had a fall Cleveland wedding! Anna made the most beautiful bride! The wedding festivities were Delta fabulous, as always, and I wish her and Ricky a lifetime of happiness together! They are actually looking into moving back to the Oxford area in the next couple of months, so if you have the hook up on a job for an awesome speech pathologist, let me know!

The beautiful bride!

The happy couple at their wedding rehearsal!

I think I'm still fighting so part of the same cold I've had for about 2 months now, and the cold medicine has just completely blanked my brain. No idea what other 'big events' I was going to share with you. This is pretty typical these days! Sullivan and I have been passing a cold back and forth and are looking forward to days when we are both well!

We had a 'photo shoot' a couple of weeks ago since I haven't had any 'professional' photos made of Sullivan yet. We had a great time, and I think the photos turned out well! Below are a few of my favorites!

Sullivan has been doing great and is so much fun! He's walking/ running all over the place! We struggle to keep him contained for even a few minutes so we can get things done around the house. He is most definitely testing the boundaries. He knows all the places that will earn him a 'NO', but he will still sneak over to those places and then look back to see if we are watching. Sneaky little sucker! If we do catch him doing something he shouldn't be, he'll either throw us an 'innocent' grin or scurry off!

He is able to find even the tiniest speck of dust, dog hair, dead bugs, you name it, on the floor and immediately puts them in his mouth. He requires constant supervision! He's put so many needles from the Christmas tree in his mouth, I'm certain he will be pooping a wreath one of these days. That being said, he is a very picky eater when it comes to real food! He'll still eat any pureed baby food out of a jar, but things with texture typically get spit out. He especially seems to spit out meat which makes me wonder if this preference has always existed for him since meat totally grossed me out while I was pregnant with him. Some of the 'big boy' food items he will eat: chopped fruit (apples, pears, bananas, etc), rolls/biscuits/muffins, cooked chopped carrots, and turkey meatloaf?! Well, he ate a few bites of meatloaf one night, but didn't touch it the next, so that may have been a fluke. He is slowly learning to eat some of the Gerber graduate type meals, but is still very picky and will basically throw it up if he doesn't like it. Super fun, huh? How can any child of mine not LOVE ALL FOOD? Probably better for him in the long run!

Sullivan currently as 4 teeth full in and 2 more coming through. He typically sleeps from 7:15 pm to 6:30 am, but whenever the teething hits, he sleeps horribly and ends up in the bed with us. He is almost totally OFF the bottle! The only time we have trouble with this is if he wakes up in the middle of the night. He wants a bottle to go back to sleep at those times, and my tired self usually gives in. When you get used to real sleep, it's hard to go back!

He is trying to say lots of words and will try and repeat things you say. He still points and says 'Dat' for most things, but says 'da' for dog and 'bow' for bowl and ball, and i think i heard 'bat' for bath last night. He still loves his mommas, dadas, nannas, etc. He has started this new talking gibberish that reminds me of how the ewoks talk in Return of the Jedi. He sticks his tongue out a lot while jabbering. It's hilarious. Things he will do if asked: stick out his tongue, touch your nose, give you five, patty cake, look at your belly button, peek a boo. It's so nice that he can understand some phrases we say now, too! He LOVES Bailey and Sophie. Besides letting Bailey lick all over him, I frequently catch him holding out his food for her to have a taste! Anything he doesn't want to eat, goes straight out to Bailey or on the floor for her. I've had to really start working on explaining that we don't share our food with Bailey. I'm glad they love each other so much though. Not sure what other things I wanted to get documented here before my feeble brain forgets! I'm sure you've had more than enough for one day (if you are even still reading at this point!). To sum it up, he's wonderful, we love him, we are very happy and lucky and blessed.

Help Someone

2010-11-29T14:29:00.000-06:00

My Rotary club's primary service project is The Christmas Store. Each year we fundraise and buy toys and books for children in Lafayette County who wouldn't have a Christmas otherwise. We have already purchased toys and books for over 700 eligible children this year. This year there has been a definite increase in families emailing us asking for help. Each of these emails just breaks my heart. Granted, I've become extremely emotional since having Sullivan, but just imagining what these parents must be feeling when they write to ask us to please provide some toys for their children for Christmas is heart wrenching. I recently read online about families who are drying and re-using disposable diapers because they cannot afford more for their children. There are so many families living paycheck to paycheck or worse who are struggling for just the most basic necessities. I know all my friends who read this blog probably already give during the holidays, but if this post will encourage just one more person to give, it will have been worth it. We take so many things for granted in our daily lives. If you want to make a donation to The Christmas Store, you can go online here or find a child in need in your area using the Angel Tree online form here or help provide diapers here. I hope you will each thank God for your many blessings and pass on some of your good fortune.

Happy 1st Birthday Sullivan!

2010-11-10T14:39:00.001-06:00

Sullivan's first birthday has come and gone as quickly as the year has passed! I've been extremely sentimental and emotional over the last few weeks leading up to his first birthday, but it's very hard to document all of that here. I am very thankful to have this blog to document the milestones we've achieved over the last year.

After re-reading my post about Sullivan's birth a year ago, I realized there are a few other things I wanted to document, so this will be a random list!

My labor and delivery nurse, Jennifer, shares Sullivan's birthday
I listened to track #4 (possibility) on the New Moon soundtrack on the way to the hospital pretty much on repeat. I'll bet Daniel knows that song by heart now! I found it calming.
As I was wheeled to my room after delivery, several of the nurses greeted me as 'super woman'. I guess my quick, drug free, tear free labor was the big news that night! I'm actually hopeful they greet every woman like that since any Momma is a SUPER WOMAN!
I loved being pregnant and giving birth. Both definitely have their negatives, but it is also such a miracle. I feel so blessed that I have been able to experience both. I would have a soccer team of kids if I could!
I never knew true love or real fear until I had Sullivan. The maternal instinct is a powerful thing. There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep my little Pooh safe. I also spend way too much time thinking about all the bad things in the world that could hurt him. At the same time, I want him to experience all the wonderful things this world has to offer! It's so hard to sit back and let him experience even when there are risks!
Parenting is the hardest job in the world. I have so much respect for stay at home parents. the pressures to love, educate, entertain, stimulate and get anything else done are enormous! I actually think working makes me a better mom in a lot of ways. I definitely appreciate the time I get to spend with Sullivan. Although it would be easy to let work and life stress interfere with our time together, we make a point to use the hours after work to have quality time with Sullivan as a family. (and then he goes to bed and I fix a glass of wine :))
I made a red wine beef stew the day I went into labor. It wasn't that great, but I had considered starting a tradition of making it every year the day before Sullivan's birthday. It didn't happen this year, so I guess I'm off the hook for that.
I'm STILL working on Sullivan's stocking! I have made lots of progress and am determined to have it ready for Christmas this year! I actually brought this to the hospital thinking I might have time to work on it before labor got going or maybe after the baby came? HA! How clueless was I?
Daniel and I forgot camera chargers when we went to the hospital, so our video camera and regular camera were both dead! Thank goodness for cell phones with cameras!
I sent Daniel to Newk's to get me a Margarita pizza after my water broke. I stayed home and showered and packed and attempted to rest. In actuality, I was so full of nervous energy, I called Daniel about 5 times while he was gone. I should have had someone come sit with me while he ran to town I guess because I got PARANOID when he left. :)
We had a baby pool at work to guess the delivery date. Everyone was WAY OFF since Sullivan came 3 weeks before his due date. I'm pretty sure that means that I should have gotten the money. No idea who actually got it??? DANIEL?! :)
After Sullivan was born and they put him on my chest, I kept trying to see his face! I had only seen it for a second before they lay him on me and I just wanted to study the heck out of his every feature. Instead, all I could see was mainly the top of his head and an ear. It was more than enough for me to see that he was the most beautiful, perfect thing I had ever seen though.

So, what is the birthday boy up to these days? We had a big family birthday party last weekend at the cabin for him. I think he was totally overwhelmed by the number of people we squeezed into Bebe's cabin, the balloons, the noise, the children, the presents, the cupcakes! He was in good spirits as usual though! His first taste of his red velvet cupcake icing made him shudder from the sweetness! He enjoyed smashing the rest of his cupcake with the plate rather than eating it. As the weekend progressed, his aversion to cake was lessened since we gave him a bite of many leftovers! We had a small (Sullivan, Daniel, and I) celebration Monday evening with another small smash cake. Sullivan has enjoyed playing with all of his new toys and books! *an aside here* have any of you read the book I'll Love You Forever? I seem to recall reading this book before, but holy moly! SO FREAKING SAD/EMOTIONAL!!! I've cried every time I've read it. I couldn't barely speak when I tried to read it to Sullivan. It's a doosy! I guess I recommend it, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Sullivan is doing great with his walking! He'll go 5+ feet between Daniel and I regularly. We've seen him take a few steps towards things he wants even if we aren't there to encourage or catch him. Totally shouldn't be in a hurry for this, but it's still so amazing to watch him learn and to watch his excitement over his new tricks! He has started to motion with his hands to show things he wants and says 'dat' or 'da' to indicate something he sees and/or wants. He will repeat Momma and Dada on command and correctly associates those most of the time. He can identify all of the following items if you ask where they are: spoon, bowl, dog, cat, momma, dada, bottle, juice, cup, ball, diaper, nose. He can splash on command, clap hands, patty cake, peek a boo, give eskimo and open mouth kisses. He loves to pick out his books off of the bookshelf each night. He also loves to remove every book on the shelf if we let him! He likes to flip through books and turn pages and often gets cracked up when we are reading a book at who knows what. He will eat absolutely anything off the floor, but usually won't take food you try and put in his mouth. He wants to pick it up or take it from you himself. He has so many new tricks that I couldn't probably keep going and going here forever! I suppose all parents are that way. Every stage of the last year has been special in it's own way, but I really love Sullivan's ability to express himself now. I love that he loves us and wants to hug and cuddle us!

We had a follow up appointment with the ENT on Sullivan's birthday and it was decided that he did need tubes in his ears. Since the ENT does this procedure every Tuesday, we went ahead and went in yesterday. It is incredible how quick the procedure is! I had made it through 1 article in the magazine before the doctor came out and said he was finished! 5 minutes tops. Having seen some of the yucky junk draining out of Sullivan's ear yesterday, I'm glad we went ahead had had the tubes put in. I can't imagine how it must feel to have that in your ear all the time! YUCK and annoying! Glad everything went smoothly and hopeful for a full and quick recovery.

I love you sweet Sullivan! You are the best thing I've ever done!

A gata' ate my baby! or 11 months old!

2010-10-13T16:21:00.000-05:00

You have to say the title in a Southern/Cajun accent. You know, like 'a dingo ate my baby' in an Australian accent? Random, but that's what popped into my head when I noticed my poor baby on the bar at the top of the page is heading towards the mouth of the gator as the year progresses.

11 months! Cue minor freak out. Less than a month until my baby is a year old. I'm beginning to believe the shock of how quickly children grow and time passes will never wane.

What is Sullivan up to these days? He's a busy bee! He is a VERY fast crawler. When we pick him up from daycare, if he is across the room when he first sees us, he squeals and crawls sooo fast to the door to see us. Can't take your eyes off him for a second or he'll be making the rounds to all the places that earn him 'no' from us. A few of his favorites: the rocks in the gas fireplace, the leaves that have fallen from the ficus, Baileys' bed and toys, the bar stools in the kitchen, any bug or thread or piece of whatever on the floor!

We are getting much closer to walking. He can now get from sitting to standing without pulling up on a piece of furniture or us to hold on to. He will frequently let go and stand on his own and will attempt a step on his own but only if there is something to grab close by. I think we'll see some steps before his birthday, but I'm in no rush!

Sullivan is eating many more solids and will try most things we give him. This week he's been doing great with chunks of cooked carrots, apples, avocado, and toast (cheese or jam). He still really likes his pureed baby foods, but is much more accepting of the chunkier varieties now. I still struggle to cook meals we can all eat/enjoy and in time for him to eat them. Work in progress! Sullivan still gets 3 formula bottles every day- 2 during the day and 1 at bedtime. I've tried adding whole milk to these to start the transition from formula, but he got really bad diaper rash that week, so I stopped the milk. I'll probably try to add it back next week and see if that is what triggered his diaper rash. Might be using soy milk if so! I dread trying to get him to cups instead of bottles. I'm open to any advice! He is not crazy about his sippy cups, but regular cups end up spilled all over the place after a few sips. I don't have a clue how we will get him to sleep without bottles. I guess everyone makes this transition though.

Sleep is much improved lately. We get a full nights sleep most nights! He is usually in bed by 7:30 at the latest and sleeps until 6:30 or so. When he's teething he definitely doesn't sleep as good, but we'll take it! As for teeth, he still has the 2 on the bottom all the way in and looks like a third on the way. He did end up in the bed with us early this morning, but he's so sweet to snuggle up to, I don't mind having him visit on occasion!

Sullivan is a Daddy's boy! LOVES his Dada. He's going through a little separation anxiety phase, so if we go to a new place with lots of new people...he wants his Dada to hold him. I think he likes being so high up above people! He typically wants me when he's hungry or tired. The life of a Mom, huh? I love rocking him to sleep, so I don't mind.

We are getting many more 'words' these days. Sullivan will jabber on all the time, but still says mama, dada, says 'mau' for cat and some form of 'doh' for dog and 'hey'. He uses his milk sign for any drink I think. He knows nose and we are working on other body parts. He claps hands when you say clap your hands or patty cake. He waves regularly. He gives fives. Tries to say bowl and repeat other words he hears frequently. Can look to many different things when you say their name. It is so much fun watching him learn new things every day!

Sullivan still loves his bath and naked play time after baths. He's gotten much more affectionate and really wants to hug you, rub your arm, lay in your lap. He'll even give sloppy open mouth kisses and eskimo kisses. He always has a big smile for us when we pick him up from daycare or get home from work. He is just so sweet and calm, curious, and good natured! We are so blessed and in love!

Wonderbar update

2010-09-29T13:54:00.000-05:00

A few of you had asked for a Wonderbar update, so here goes. I ordered the bigger bar. Over the last few weeks, my stress levels have been through the roof and I've not been using my bar as you are supposed to. I could instantly tell when I wasn't using it enough/properly. Over all, I've been very happy with it! Skin is definitely smoother, clearer (except for last week), and just better overall. I'm really trying to sustain good habits with regard to diet, exercise, and taking care of me! We'll see how long I'm able to keep it up!

Sullivan and I took another stroll yesterday after work. My neighborhood is very hilly, and getting my own body, much less a heavy stroller and Sullivan, up those hills is no easy task. I was thinking about how much walking I did while pregnant on those hills- even up to the point when I my water had broken and I was having contractions. It made me sad to realize I was in better shape then than now! I'm pre-pregnancy weight, but not pre-pregnancy fitness levels. GOT TO GET TO WORK! Going to be much harder when it begins getting dark before I get home, but I'm determined to find a way! So anyways, I'm trying to keep myself motivated. The more stressful work and life get, the more important that I find a way to take care of me! Fingers crossed!

I've been working on my knitting and stocking just about every evening lately. I'm making great progress on both, although, I doubt I'll have the stocking finished by Sullivan's first birthday as I had hoped. I suppose as long as I get it done before Christmas, I'll be doing good. My 'spa cloth' is about halfway done. I try to pick it up every few days, so I don't lose all I learned in my knitting class while I'm focused on the stocking. It's definitely coming more easily and I look forward to sharing my progress with you all. I'm going to be taking on a big/more complex project next, so we'll see how that goes!

This weekend I believe we will head to the lake for a relaxing/work weekend out there. I'm hoping to maybe sneak away to Tupelo by myself for a couple of hours.... we'll see if that happens. It will be nice to spend a fall weekend away with Bebe and FredDaddy regardless. Come on Friday!

getting close

2010-09-27T10:43:00.001-05:00

Sullivan is a cruising machine lately, and is starting to let go and stand on his own pretty frequently. Of course, catching that on camera is just about impossible! I was lucky to get what I did! I'd also love to show you a photo of his two teeth, but I haven't been able to catch that either! Oh well.

So my earache from last week turned out to actually be a severe sore throat (on one side). I went to Urgent Care Friday morning and they gave me meds instead of the steroid shot. After spending the next 24 hours doped up, but still in pain, I went back to Urgent Care for the 'magic shot'. Sure enough, by 5 that afternoon I felt well enough to attempt the Ole Miss football game. I was very nervous about dragging Sullivan out to such a late game, but he did great! We trekked to the grove just long enough to grab our tickets and say hello to some family before making our way to the game. I must admit, the first loud cheers scared the heck out of Sullivan, but he was happy the rest of the time. I think the people around us enjoyed getting to watch him as well. At 3rd quarter we had a tt diaper blow out that required a change of clothes and it was definitely past Sullivan's bedtime, so we headed home then. It was a great first game for him, but I'm not anxious to go back necessarily. Even with our cushioned seats, bleachers just aren't that comfy! Especially while holding a child. Guess we'll have to upgrade to box seats ;). I'll post pics from the actual game when Daniel sends them to me from his phone. Of course my camera battery died after our one photo in the grove.

Happy Monday.

Falling apart

2010-09-23T15:10:00.000-05:00

I'm having one of those months where suddenly being 30 something is making me feel old. I remember too vividly the days of running on little sleep, junky food, and probably lots of booze and still being healthy as a horse. Now...not so much. The past week I've been told my bad cholesterol is high, prescribed glasses for reading/computer/etc, suffered from an earache and discovered I've got the early stages of glaucoma. GLAUCOMA!! Ok, seriously, this is something you hear about your grandparents having, not people in their 30s! Anyways, it's symptomless, so I guess all the new technology to detect it means more people are actually diagnosed in the early stages. I just have to take some vitamins for the cholesterol and glaucoma, but still. Depressing. Having a child has definitely affected healthiness in our house, and not for the better. I no longer have the time or the energy to cook a healthy dinner every night. I no longer have the time or the energy to exercise all the time. This working all the time business is really interfering with my health! Hahaha. Oh well, I suppose I shall have to make more of an effort to figure out quick, easy, healthy dinners and how to squeeze in more exercise without sacrificing the little time I actually get to spend with Sullivan each day.

On a side note, I would like to mentioned something I find a little crazy. Why does the opthomalogist send you out to pick up your glasses as your eyes are dialating? Besides being totally overwhelmed by all the choices, I was half blind by the time I made a final decision. Needless to say, I ended up with one of the most expensive brands they carry, and who knows if they actually looked cute on me! I guess we'll see in 7-10 days when they arrive. After the amount of money I spent today after what my insurances covered, I think I shall direct Sullivan towards the eye glass frame or opthamalogist careers. Highway robbery! :)

knitting and other stuff

2010-09-17T15:45:00.009-05:00

I attended my final knitting 101 class last night. I definitely learned a lot and feel more comfortable with the basics. In our last class we learned binding off, weaving our excess yarn into our projects, and how to fix mistakes. I attempted to put my 'how to fix mistakes' knowledge to use last night when I got home and continued my newest project. I say 'I attempted' because I quickly became confused and just frogged the whole thing. I was only 3 rows in, so not too terrible. Definitely need more practice on how to 'fix' things or un-knit to get to the problem areas. Since it was our last class, I had our instructor snap a few pics and then I snapped a few more to give you a peak into our class and the lovely shop, knit1 oxford!

From left to right we have, Beryl, me, Pam, and Carly! I should have taken a photo when we were finishing our first samplers rather than casting on for our newest project, since it doesn't look like we are doing much in the photos. Regardless, I have proof of our hard work and lessons learned which I shall post later!

And now one with our fabulous instructor, Meredith!

I wanted to take a few shots of the shop and projects to encourage anyone in Oxford to drop by! Lovely, lovely yarns and many beautiful 'finished objects' to inspire even a beginner like me!

This past weekend we had a visit from Daniel's brother, Zach. He hasn't seen Sullivan since Thanksgiving of last year, and needless to say, Sullivan has changed just a bit since then!

This last photo I took on the one day we had cool weather this week since I bought this outfit for Sullivan when I was pregnant and I assumed, mistakenly, that 1. he would only be 9 months old in September, and 2. that at 9 months old you can actually fit into 9 month old clothes. Regardless, I forced him to squeeze into this outfit, took his picture and dropped him off at daycare where the AC ended up going out and they changed his clothes anyway. At least I have photographic evidence that he wore it. More than I can say for quite a few things in his closet!
"why do you do these things to me Mama?"

HAPPY FRIDAY TO YOU ALL!

10 months old!

2010-09-09T15:38:00.010-05:00

Sullivan celebrated 10 months yesterday! Two more months until his first birthday! I'm completely freaking out. This year is just flying by! The photo above is the only one I could snap yesterday before my camera battery died, so not the greatest, but any pic with my baby is cute to me!

Sullivan is all over the place these days! He's fast and will be from his play area in the living room to Bailey's dog bed in about 10 seconds! I have no idea why he loves Baileys dirty, dog hair covered bed, but when he makes it over there, he just buries his whole body in it and rubs his face all over it. Probably not the greatest thing for a kid who has to take Zyrtec twice a day, but it's hard to stop him every time! He is still enamored of Bailey and Sophie and really any dog or cat he sees. He'll follow Bailey around and Bailey will bring her toys to him and drop them for him to 'play with her'.

He's definitely getting a lot more attitude and is typically unhappy having his diaper changed or his clothes changed unless you have something really interesting for him to hold during. He is still a good eater, but will let you know if he doesn't like something!

He is waving and saying Bye, giving fives still, says Hey sometimes, lots of didi and dada now that he's finally made it to the d's. Most mamas these days come when he's really upset. If you ask him where certain things and people are, he will turn and look at them like: fish, dada, bailey/dog, mama. Trys to say words like bottle and bowl.

Sleep is still touch and go. Last night he slept through the night, Sunday he was up every 2 to 3 hours. No method to the madness, but I guess we are used to it now.

He had his first fever last week, and I was a total new mom about it. Made Daniel get up and read in the baby book about fevers. it took two doses of Tylenol before his fever came down, and we didn't get to sleep until 5 ish. LONG NIGHT. Felt so bad for my poor Pooh. I knew as soon as I picked him up he had a fever. It was a dramatic difference to his usual hot head. Hopefully next time I'll be a little less freaked out/panicky. Doesn't help when your husband says, does his neck look stiff? Hello, thanks for making me even more paranoid about meningitis!

He is still happy and cheerful 98% of the time. Loves to go to his daycare and just grins at the ladies there. Loves to dance to the ABC song and just about any other music he hears. Loves his musical instrument toys and animals that sing. After bath each night, we spend about 30 minutes having naked baby play time in his room. Daniel and I will usually lay on either side of him to watch him play, and he has started sitting up and spinning in a circle, typically holding a burp cloth or diaper. We joke that he's cleaning the floor. I need to get it on camera because it's hilarious. He's wearing 12 month clothes for the most part, although he can still fit into a couple of his knit 9 month things. I only buy 18month clothing items now since he just grows so fast! STILL NO TEETH, although, about every other day someone remarks he must be teething. I swear he's been teething since 4 months. I guess they are all going to come in at once. I don't even look anymore. A watched pot never boils, ya know?

Newest trick: hamming it up for the camera. I don't know what started this, but when my Mom was taking pics of him at Gigi's house over labor day weekend, every time he saw the flash, he would make the face below. There is a video showing him in action doing this below as well.

Here he is napping in his Bebe's lap Saturday morning. Sweet angel!

We went out to the farm to visit Daddy during his break from dove hunting, and Sullivan got to see/meet baby cows for the first time!

Love my sweet boys!

On a non-baby note, I have my second knitting class tonight! Looking forward to it! Last week served as a refresher for things I had learned years ago, so I'm looking forward to learning some new things tonight! Yay for knitting!

You are a knitting queen, young and free, only 17!

2010-08-26T15:29:00.002-05:00

So I bit the bullet and signed up for a Novice Knitting class yesterday afternoon. The class meets for an hour and a half for the next three Thursdays. I was with Sullivan when I went to sign up, and they immediately started talking about me knitting him sweaters. LOL. We'll see if I have the skill and the time to get to that point! I'll keep you all posted.

Sullivan and I are heading to Cleveland this weekend to spend time with Mom, Freddie, Sherri, Madeline, and Avery! I know Daniel is going to enjoy his weekend alone! Although, I'm sure he'll miss at least one of us! I'm hoping these sunny, cooler days continue, so we can spend some time on the porch and deck!

So far, so good!

2010-08-23T15:36:00.004-05:00

Week 1 of the Wonderbar as gone smoothly! Had some slight redness, very slight dryness around mouth, and very slight itchiness the first day or two, but nothing since. I've worn Covergirl Clean liquid foundation for sensitive skin 3 times with no adverse affects. I use CeraVe lotion on occasion after my Wonderbar treatment. I definitely think my skin has a much more even tone, pores are smaller, skin is softer. Here's hoping the benefits continue! I never thought I'd be comfortable going to work without foundation or powder during pms week, but here I am!

In other news, Sullivan finally said Dada yesterday! Daniel was giving him a bottle and when he finished, he looked up at Daniel with a milky, slobbery grin and said, "Da..da". After that first time, he said it several other times throughout the day. Needless to say, Daniel is extremely excited! I've been working with Sullivan on several words, sounds, motions, so I'm glad some of it is sticking!

Saturday we all drove to New Albany for my grandfather's 89th birthday! We had a great lunch at Vanissi's and then grabbed some cupcakes to go from next door at Sugarees! Yummy yummy! It was great to spend some time with Gigi and DaddyTim! Sullivan had a great time at the restaurant and at their house playing with old toys! Wood blocks and toy phones never go out of style; even if the phone is a rotary phone as opposed to the toy cell phone we have at our house!

I don't know why, but I'm suddenly feeling rather industrious. Soooo...I'm got several things I'm going to try and accomplish over the coming months. 1. finish Sullivan's Christmas stocking! 2. start playing my violin again 3. take knitting lessons at the new knitting store in Oxford. As with my violin, I'm a super beginner and would love to improve! I have no idea how I plan to accomplish these things other than replacing most of my reading time at night for a while. We'll see!

wonderbar, wonderbar, we're on our way...

2010-08-16T15:14:00.004-05:00

So I started using the Wonderbar yesterday. Before you click the link to learn about it, let me start by saying, 1. I'm out of my regular cleanser/lotions, so was looking for something new 2. i'm gonna be mad if this tiny, expensive bar doesn't do something positive. Ok, you can go look up the wonderbar now. Back? Yeah it's stupid expensive for a tiny little bar. But if it truely does replace cleanser, toner, moisturizer, yada, yada, yada, then it's not that bad. The biggest headache so far as been that you can't use mineral foundation with this bar. I LOVE my bare minerals, so this was sad news for me. Fortunately, I had recently watched an episode of Dr. Oz where he talked about the fact that mineral makeups work so well because the particles are so tiny (the reason it interferes with wonderbar) that you can breathe them in and they can like stay in your lungs. Icky. Other drawbacks to the wonderbar, the mysterious 'healing crisis' where your skin gets rid of all the toxins and can cause dryness and breakouts temporarily. Also, they discourage the use of any makeup until after the healing crisis, so today, for the first time in a LONG time, I am without foundation/concealer/powder what have you while at work. I did wear eye makeup and lipstick to hopefully take the focus off the rest of my face. I need to remember to take a photo of this sort of before phase and then document how my skin reacts to it. I can already feel a sort of tightness to my skin and maybe some slight itchyness? I could just be totally paranoid. So, for anyone else interested in the wonderbar, I'll be posting my personal experiences with it here. My fingers are crossed that it will do at least some of what it promises! We'll see!

And now, some videos of Sullivan interacting with Bailey (dog) and Sophie (cat). The video with Bailey is not really the highlight of their playtime, but is better than nothing!

P.S. the title of this blog comes from the cartoon the wonderpets. all i watch these days are kids shows, and that one just fit and got stuck in my head.

9 months!

2010-08-13T14:36:00.003-05:00

I'm way behind on my blogging, and just realized I never did an 8 months post. Oh well. What is Sullivan up to these days? * Well, crawling obviously. He is pulling up on anything he can get his hands on and trys to cruise from different pieces of furniture. * The sounds he most frequently makes are Mama, Baba, FaFa and then just general babbling. He really trys to say Bottle, so I'll have to try and get that on camera. He'll get the ba- part, and then strains to try and get out the rest. * Last weekend he started sticking his tongue out like crazy! He hasn't done it much this week, but he wanted to stick it out constantly last weekend. * He can clap his hands, 'give 5s', wave bye bye on occasion. *He loves his musical instruments set and moves from the piano to the drums to the marracas to the tamborine. Loves them all. He loves to hear us sing 'Loving You' to him. The Lalalalala part gets his attention every time! * He's really started to get a kick out of animals- live or stuffed. He'll laugh and get so excited when he sees a dog or a stuffed animal. *He loves books! We often pick him up from daycare and he'll be off by himself flipping through a board book. He absolutely wants to help turn the pages, so I typically give him his own small book to hold while reading to him, so he can be steady turning pages. * Speaking of daycare, he still loves the ladies there. There have been some changes lately at the daycare. They moved his nursery to a larger room, so he has lots more room to crawl around. His 'girlfriend' Harper, an older woman, got moved to the 1 year old room this week for about 3 days and then decided she missed her old pals and came back to Sullivan's room. It is usually Harper, Sullivan, and Hunter (the 3 oldest kids in the nursery) hanging out together. * He's drinking out of a sippy cup on occasion, but preferst to drink out a regular cup or glass. He'll eat just about anything, but if he doesn't like something, he'll make himself gag and spit it right back up. * He weighs just over 22lbs and is 28 inches long. * He still gets up once a night most nights. We have discovered he will sleep through the night if given Ibuprofen, so I don't know if that means his teething pain is waking him up or what. Either way, we don't give him any unless it seems like his gums are bothering him. * Still no teeth popping through yet. * He has decided he doesn't want to be on his back to be changed or have his clothes changed. I have feeling he associates having to lay on his back with getting yucky medicine or having the nasal aspirator used on him, both of which he hates. If he's in a good mood or you distract him with something he'll lay there happy as can be, but most times he crys and kicks at you. Getting a bit of an attitude, although, I haven't a clue where he gets that! ;) * He's still just so happy 99% of the time! We are so blessed and fall more in love with him every day. This age is definitely fun since we get to watch him learn so many new things every day!

Crawling!

2010-08-02T14:17:00.002-05:00

I finally got a video of my child crawling and with clothes on too! He is loving his new mobility. Starting to follow us into the kitchen if we leave him on the floor in living room or his bedroom. I've got to remember to run the roomba each evening when I get home from work! The dog hair is out of control!

I'm very tired today and not at all inspired, so this is all you get. I'll try and do better later. :)

and now for some videos

2010-07-15T11:48:00.005-05:00

Random assortment of videos, that most will find quite boring. The first was taken after bath time last night. I apologize for the nudity, but I had to get this on camera. We are definitely progressing from the downward dog/roll to something much closer to an actual crawl. Sort of a frog hop at this point!

The next video is just Sullivan jumping in his Johnny Jump Up. Not exciting necessarily, but don't want the grandmas to miss out on anything!

This last video is just Sullivan playing peek-a-boo and playing with one of his toys. Besides the new frog hop/crawling technique, this morning Sullivan clapped his hands during breakfast! I guess he's getting used to me clapping when he eats all his food! Hope I can get that on camera at some point.

This weekend I shall begin an early celebration of my birthday, by doing nothing but stuff at home! Cooking, cleaning, gardening, relaxing! We've been on the go since Memorial Day and I'm ready for a break! The girls and I will be celebrating my official birthday on Monday with a lovely dinner and girls night out! Looking forward to it!

Happy Birthday today to my god daughter, Lulu! Can't believe she is 5 years old!

What did we do before camera phones?

2010-07-14T12:51:00.005-05:00

All the photos below were taken with cell phones over the last week.

Newest napping spot. You'll notice Sullivan's left arm is up by his head. When he starts to fall asleep, that arm goes up and he runs his hand through his hair or scratches his head til he falls asleep. Looking back through photos, I realized he's put that arm up from the beginning! Even when swaddled he would work that arm out. Adorable!

Hanging at Aunt Nina's house. This photo was taken AFTER he had tt'd all over Nina's brand new bedspread. Good timing Buddy.

Naked Yoga. Pretty sure he naturally (and more easily) does more yoga poses than I know. I really need to find a baby and mommy yoga class.

Showing off his blue jean diapers. Apparently, the only goal of these diapers is to look cute because I've found they don't fit well and they leak. We are now trying to use these up, so we can get back to the good stuff. Cute is over rated when it comes to diapers.

good for the soul

2010-07-13T15:36:00.003-05:00

Something a big more upbeat today. How about some baby giggles and Daniel's famous 'Baby Sandwich'!

Glutton for Punishment

2010-07-12T13:13:00.002-05:00

First, a warning. This post is going to be fairly depressing. I don't recommend you click any of the links I provide unless you seriously want to do some crying.

A little history on where this blog post is coming from. My friend Corinne's sister lost her sweet baby just days after he was born. Lindsey and I were pregnant together, both expecting boys, and she was actually due before me. Our paths were so similar and then suddenly her path took a horrible detour. Both Corinne and her sister have blogged about the experience and life since. The words and emotions and experiences in those blogs are beyond heart and gut wrenching.

In the months since, I have been exposed to many other 'babylost' blogs through friends and friends of friends. I've also come across many blogs written by parents whose children are suffering from terrible illnesses or diseases. These blogs would be hard for anyone to read, but, as a new mom, I find myself drawn to them. They make me cry, they make me so scared for Sullivan, but they do help me appreciate the huge blessing that Sullivan is to me. I tell Daniel about these blogs and he doesn't understand why I keep reading them if they upset me so much. I don't really know either. I think part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop in my happy little life. My family are no strangers to random, sudden losses. I read these blogs about people who were so happy one day and then these unthinkable things happened to them. I almost feel like if I can journey with them through their struggle, if it happens to me, maybe I'll be better prepared. Crazy, huh? I walk a fine line between wanting to shut us all up in a protective bubble and wanting to experience as much as we can...just in case.

I never knew real fear until I had Sullivan. I suppose that's because I've never loved anything as much as I love him. The thought of losing him or him suffering in any way is agony. These blogs are like driving by a wreck. I CAN'T LOOK AWAY! I find myself asking the same questions the Moms on these blogs ask...why? Why would God allow such terrible things?

Anyways, I read these blogs, have my cry, and then try to lock those feelings away so they don't drive all my decisions and thoughts. I refuse to be ruled by fear, even though I feel it in my gut and my heart so frequently. It is a very hard thing to know you can't control everything. Can't prevent bad things from happening. Every time I hold Sullivan and rock him to sleep, I say a prayer thanking God for him and the time he has given me with him. I want all the suffering Moms out there to find some peace. I want to thank them for sharing their stories. I want to look away, but I just can't.

Some of the other blogs I follow:
One Good Thing
Williams Family Blog

4th of July

2010-07-07T09:27:00.010-05:00

Note to self: don't travel with Anna! Anna and Ricky have had issues everytime they've flown from Seattle to Memphis for a visit. The first time, they lost her luggage. The second time, their rental car got screwed up and they had to borrow a car from one of my aunts. This last time, their flight was initially delay several hours and then their connecting flight out of Houston was cancelled due to Alex induced storms. They ended up having to rent a car and drive the 14 hours from Houston to Memphis. They got up on Friday morning at 2:30 am in Seattle and finally made it to New Albany at about 11 am on Saturday. LONG DAY of travel! We were very glad they finally and safely made it! It was wonderful to spend the weekend with both my sisters! As usual, I didn't take enough photos! I did take some with a water proof camera, but haven't developed those yet. Below are a few hat fashion show/modeling photos! We had a wonderful time at the cabin. Lots of good food and family time! Below is a video of Sullivan and his attempts at crawling. I'll say, on a bed, he can hop from one side to the other in seconds. On a hard surface, he has a bit more trouble. He's slowly getting there though! Once he can hold up that big, heavy head of his, there will be no stopping him!

Mama and the Beach

2010-06-30T13:16:00.011-05:00

Although the video above isn't the greatest example, Sullivan has definitely got the mama sound down pat! He pretty much says this whenever he wants something- particularly to be picked up. Of course, I fall for it every time!

We had a great vacation, but I must say vacationing with a baby doesn't really include much relaxing! I did read whenever Sullivan was napping, and I got a little alone time on the beach. Most of our time was spent applying sunscreen, putting on swim diaper, putting on swim suit, gathering all the bottles, diapers, gear, etc to go to the beach or pool. Of course, by the time you get there, you've got about an hour of happy baby time before he's ready to eat again or maybe nap or cool off. Still better than being at work though!

We ate some wonderful food (lots of seafood of course) and had great family time. The beaches were beautiful, as was the water. There was a good bit of seaweed the last day, but we'll take that over oil any day! I'm glad we got pictures and videos of Sullivan's trip to the beach since who knows what things will be like next year. Don't even get me started on BP. Our condo was wonderful! Had a huge pool that was 4-5 1/2 feet throughout except for one tiny part. It was great for kids and parents having to hold/swim with kids. Huge balcony with plenty of room for everyone to sit. Great bar/restaurant right on the beach for grabbing drinks or snacks. There were several pools on the property and we did try one at the spa one afternoon when it rained. Had the place to ourselves and it was great! I saw the gym the through windows and it looked great. That's as close as I got to working out despite grand intentions. :) On the same topic, I actually purchased and wore a bikini for the first time in I can't tell you how long. Sherri and Mom convinced me, it's basically only going to get worse from here on, so I might as well enjoy what I've got at the moment. It didn't kill me, so maybe I'm turning a new leaf. Still have plans to get back to the gym though!

Daniel loves to dress Sullivan just like him. It's cute.

Chilling with his Bebe!

My sister Sherri and her girls. My nieces kept Sullivan so entertained! They were a great help!

Lunch at the beach snack bar.

Yeah I still have my linea negra to some degree. Super cute.

Sullivan trying his first cracker. Can you tell how thrilled he is?

What happens when you say no dessert.

After Florida, we traveled over to Ocean Springs for a friend's wedding/reception. It was held at The Old Place in Gautier. Absolutely beautiful old home and grounds full of gorgeous oak trees right on the river. It was great to see old college friends!

Now for my usual baby updates. Sullivan is practically grown. He's getting so big! He was 20lb 2 oz about 2 weeks ago. He's had his first official earache and antibiotics treatment. He loved the bubble gum medicine. I'm pretty sure that was another food group when I was a kid. Tasty. He has been sleeping through the night (except for while on vacation of course). He is sitting up great and only occasionally falls when reaching for a toy, etc. He is ALMOST crawling. It is definitely more of a scoot still. He begins in downward dog position and uses his feet to push him along. Funny to watch. I'll have to try and get a video of it. He loves to watch the fish swimming in the tank by his highchair. The fish usually check him out as well. This does make it a little difficult to keep him on task though! He's still just about the sweetest thing in the world. Such an easy disposition. Calm and happy and we just love him more than anything! We are so happy and blessed!

Teething Much?

2010-06-15T15:03:00.002-05:00

This is the video Daniel took during our drive down to the coast Memorial Day weekend. I can feel and possibly see signs of a tooth on the bottom, but not enough to say he's gotten his first tooth. Any doubts after watching this video that it's coming?

T-minus 3 days until vacation! Needless to say, this week is miserable and dragging horribly! I would love to go home and pack up the car, but that would be jumping the gun just a bit. We'll have to do another load of laundry before packing up I'm sure! Come on Friday afternoon!

Ipad demo

2010-06-12T20:32:00.002-05:00

Trying out kent's ipad. It is hard to type on for sure. I am a fast keyboard typer, so it is weird to pick and peck! Over all it is cool, but for the things i would use it for i am just not sure. We'll see.

7 months old!

2010-06-10T14:58:00.007-05:00

Tired of me being shocked by how quickly time flies? Me too! I had lunch with some sorority sisters this weekend, and one of them said, "Sullivan is like 4 months old now?". Uhh no, he's more than half a year old. I'm going to blink and he'll be in college I swear. SCARY!

Anyways, in honor of his 7 months, I decided post some naked baby pics! We've taken some naked baby video that will be saved for the first time he brings home a girlfriend or something equally embarrassing. We tried to keep these discreet, with just a hint of adorable baby buns! :) Ok, maybe more than a hint on this first one, but wth.

Our latest milestone achieved was our first trip to the pool! Sullivan seemed to really enjoy chewing on his pool floaty and splashing/hitting the water with his hand. On a side note, I really liked this 'Mommy and Me' pool float. It was nice for me to have something to float around on too. This way we could both comfortably float in the deep end to avoid any splashing, etc. I bought another pool float just for him, but then grabbed this one at Wal Mart recently. Glad I did!

Sullivan and his Dad hittin' the bottle together. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Beach trip updates. Sooooo, we briefly allowed the media to freak us out about our trip and cancelled. When we called back to rebook the same place, we ended up getting 1 night free and an additional 20% off and a total refund if beaches get closed. We ended up saving $500+. Not too shabby! If the beaches are bad, the pool, big kahunas, outlet malls, food, and relaxation will keep us occupied.

What Sullivan is up to these days: still lots of rolling and really enjoys hanging out on his belly/pushing up. He mainly rolls/scoots to get where he wants to go. Definitely doesn't qualify as a crawl yet. He's been sleeping like a champ for the last 2 months-ish. I didn't want to say much about it since every time I do, he quits. I think he's truly in a pattern now though. I'll let you know tomorrow if I've jinxed myself once again. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8, sleeps until 5 or 6am, has a bottle and goes back to sleep until 7:30 or later! Wow, it's been so nice! He's doing great with his eating (except he still won't eat any meat products). He hardly makes a mess at all these days! He'll copy me saying 'mmmmm' after he eats something tasty! Doesn't care for a sippy cup yet, but we'll slowly keep trying. He LOVES to watch you speak, sing and make repetitive sounds. He'll watch your mouth to intently and usually smile alot. I have a feeling he's just absorbing it all and plans to start replying in full sentences one of these days! He is extremely curious about new things and anything you might be doing while holding him. He smiles at new people, but usually gets teased and hides his head in your shoulder once they start smiling back at him. He loves to watch you clap, sing, or dance. And nothing makes him laugh harder than his daddy 'having a baby sandwich'. Basically involves Daniel holding him on his back and 'biting' him all along his side and belly. I'll have to post video of this soon. Very cute.

Memorial Weekend Coast Trip

2010-06-02T12:44:00.019-05:00

Well, we survived Sullivan's first long car ride to the Coast! He actually did really great! We stopped once on the way down for a quick bottle and diaper change, so made decent time. This long weekend was certainly not relaxing, but it was very nice to see lots of friends and family. Our first stop upon reaching the Coast was to Daniel's Aunt and Uncles house/B & B, Chateau Blessey. We enjoyed lovely drinks and appetizers on the front porch while watching the gulf and the schooners going by. Sullivan got his first look at the ocean! After unwinding from the drive a bit, the Blesseys fed us a wonderful meal (as always)!

getting some loving from Aunt Katherine

getting love and a bottle from his Nanna!

Sullivan was very entertained by Uncle Walter!

On Saturday, Sullivan got to meet his other Great Grandmother, Boosha, for the first time! He was quite a hit at the assisted living home! The residents kept wanting to hold him and talked about his sweet disposition, and his good looks, of course! My favorite line of the day: Kids are just like dogs, they know when people like 'em! :)

This is Mr. Hall. He is retired air force and was a elementary school principal for 20 years. He is 94 years young and has all his own teeth. He LOVED Sullivan! I sort of feel like a pageant announcer with that description. :)

Saturday night Sullivan got to 'eat' at Jocelyn's in Ocean Springs for the first time! It was wonderful to see Ms. Jocelyn and her grandson, Patrick again. The food was outstanding as always!

Sullivan and his Nanna worked very hard on blow bubbles together!

Sunday morning we moved on to Mobile to visit MORE family! They were so excited about our arrival, they planned a shrimp boil party for us! I didn't get a photo of all the lovely decorations the girls made and put up, but I sure wish I had! It was a great party with lots of wonderful boiled shrimp with all the fixins!

Uncle Daniel's attention and lap were as in demand as always! My nieces love their silly uncle Daniel!

Madeline was a wonderful help with Sullivan. She had him laughing so hard! My Mom got a video, so I'll have to see if I can get it and upload it here! It's awesome!

All in all, the trip was great! I think Daniel and I had shrimp at every meal except breakfasts! Gotta love the Coast! The return trip was a little long, but we made it! It was good practice for our beach trip which is just 3 weeks away! WooHoo!

On the milestones topic, Sullivan starting rolling from back to front and front to back like he'd been doing it all his life. I don't know what clicked, but he now loves rolling from back to front and then scooting over to whatever toy is out of his grasp! Our days are numbered before crawling kicks in! Lord help us then! Sullivan also has a white speck on his gum where a tooth is popping through! I have another hilarious video of him rubbing his Sophie giraffe along his gums.

Weekend update

2010-05-24T16:34:00.006-05:00

We had a nice weekend at home, but it FLEW by. I have no idea where Saturday went except for our 3 hour stint to Wal-Mart (aka hell), Home Depot and Kroger. I made the mistake of telling Daniel I would just do the grocery shopping at Wal-mart since we needed to run by there and would be on that side of town. I told Daniel to slap some sense into me the next time I say that. It never fails that Wal-Mart doesn't have like 3 crucial things I need for my grocery list! So I end up going to Kroger anyways. NEVER AGAIN!

Sullivan tried his first 'meat' this weekend. I use the term loosely for chicken and broth baby food in a jar. Looks and smells just like dog food. Sullivan has enjoyed every food he's had so far...until this one. I don't blame him. I wouldn't eat that crap. So, Bailey got to enjoy some pureed chicken and broth. I'm going to have to find the time to make my own meat baby food apparently. Suggestions from other parents out there? I have some ham, beef, and turkey, but I can't imagine those are any better than the chicken. So nasty. So anyways, you can see from his face below, how he felt about it. It was so bad he didn't even want his sweet potatoes or juice after that.

Trying to get the taste out of his mouth:

I finally got Sullivan some shades. They aren't for babies, but he needed something to help when we go for walks/strolls. He looks like he knows he looks good! :)

Sunday we had some co-workers/friends over for lunch. Their son, Alistair, is just 2 weeks younger than Sullivan. (although he should have been 2 weeks older!) Wasn't much of a playdate. For the most part Sullivan stared at Alistair, while Alistair stole whatever toy Sullivan was playing with at that moment.

Worn out from all the playing!

Sullivan may not enjoy chicken, but he LOVES some prunes and carrots! I tried to find him one of those baby art kits, but wasn't able to. He loves to 'finger paint' with his food these days! Messy boy, but oh so happy!

This week already looks like it will be a bad one as far as work is concerned, but I'm trying to keep my eyes on the prize of a long weekend! Can't wait to get down to the Coast Friday night and visit with family in Ocean Springs and Mobile!

A Yard Post

2010-05-21T12:12:00.014-05:00

So I totally didn't take pictures of my azaleas or roses in their prime a few weeks ago, but decided I better try and capture a few other things that are blooming. Are you excited for a non-baby post? :)

My hydrangea is doing so well this year, and getting so big! I keep meaning to get more of these to plant, so maybe that will be a weekend project. Last year they were much more purple and pink in some places. I guess that means maybe the potting soil that was added when these were planted is gone? Or my soil ph is just changing for the fun of it!

I have no idea what this flower is called. Jenny Harris gave me a transplant from her yard last year and it seems to spread like crazy. I like it, so I think i'll move some of the babies around to different spots. anyone know what it's called?

Magnolia is blooming, but I couldn't reach some of the prettier blooms to take a picture. I wonder if Sullivan will one day enjoy opening (read destroying)new magnolia blooms to get to the 'matches' inside? Fran Haaga and I spent many an hour in the giant magnolia tree behind her grandmother's house doing this. Note to anyone who has never done this, it will stain your hands orangey brown. And, if you do this on the day of your older sister's sixth grade graduation, your mom will make you sit on your hands during the ceremony.

Rhythm and Blues Petunia. I planted lots of petunias this year- something new for me.

My newest pride and joy, my pear tree! I can't wait to eat my first pear!

And, ok, who do I think I'm kidding here? I have to have baby pictures! I snapped these just as Sullivan was waking up from a nice nap on Daddy's tummy.

I wish this one wasn't kinda fuzzy cause I love that little smile!

Daniel must have made a funny noise before this one or something. Sullivan definitely has a look of surprise on his face. I'm biased I know, but he's so freaking cute!

finally the videos

2010-05-20T16:31:00.003-05:00

Crazy blogger. So, I have no idea why, but today videos are posting just fine. Here are the two giggly videos from last week? Not the best, but enough to tied over some relatives I hope!

I'm a big kid now!

2010-05-20T14:07:00.004-05:00

We've officially upgraded Sullivan from his infant car seat to a new 'big boy' car seat that we can use until he's 50 lbs! This one looks so huge compared to his little infant seat, but actually fits better in our car because it's not layed back so far. He'll, of course, have to remain rear facing until he's a year old. The requirement before he can face forward is 20 lbs and a year old. We've just about got the weight requirement covered, just have to wait 6 months now! Anyways, boring post to most I"m sure, but so far, I'm happy with our new car seat. Had some friends recommend it and lots of positive reviews, so hopefully will be good to go.

On a venting note, one month until vacation, and it can't get here soon enough! Work has been insanely busy lately! Working 12 hour days sux! Trying to keep my eyes on the prize though!

Laura Loo and a new video too!

2010-05-13T09:52:00.007-05:00

My cousin Laura Loo stopped by for a quick visit last night! It was wonderful to catch up! She got to see Sullivan eat and take a bath and she even gave him a bottle! We love visitors who love to help out! Have fun at the Nanty and we hope to see you again soon before you head back to Colorado!

**Can't get videos to upload- I'll try again later from home **The video below finally captures Sullivan laughing some. Daniel always makes him laugh like crazy, and it was nice to catch a little of it on video! I had originally tried to post the video that I posted to facebook, but maybe it's too big or something, but I couldn't get it to upload. Trying this smaller one for now.

In other Sullivan news, he has really started playing with his feet and toes this week! He has previously stared at them and used them to kick stuff and all, but this week he is grabbing his toes and spending lots of time in 'happy baby' pose! (which reminds me I need to get back to doing some yoga!) I think he must be in a growth spurt as well, because he is eating and drinking constantly! I really thought with us increasing his cereal and food that he would not want as much milk, but it hasn't slowed him down at all!

I wanted to share this photo below because this is the very first thing I bought for Sullivan before I knew whether he was a he or a she!

6 months old!

2010-05-11T11:56:00.007-05:00

Sullivan celebrated this 6 month milestone with a weekend at the cabin! Although the weather turned unexpectedly cold, we still enjoyed our time on the porch and visiting with everyone! We went to the pediatrician yesterday for his 6 month check up and last round of shots until he's 1! Yay for that! Below are his updated stats. They said he looks great and went over new foods to try etc. I still can't believe he's old enough to be eating all these different baby foods, yogurt, fruit juice, etc! He hasn't met a food he doesn't like yet, but he's still not crazy about the sippy cup. I've tried two different styles, but he makes a face every time he takes a sip out of either. I'm open to suggestions on this front!

The bath pictures are from this weekend at the cabin. It was his first time using his 'sit-up' bath chair, so of course, I had to document it! This boy LOVES his bath no matter what! We finally went and bought him some new bath toys, so I hope he'll get alot of play time out of those. We looked up his astrological sign again (Scorpio) and verified he is a water sign! Sure hope he's as crazy about the cold pool in florida!

Length: 25.7 inches
Weight: 18 lbs.
Head: 18 inches

I had a lovely first Mother's Day (post uterine). Daniel and Sullivan gave me the beautiful McCarty's bowl below! I can't wait to fill it with something pretty or yummy! Becoming a mother is certainly life changing! I never imagined how much I could love someone until Sullivan! I also never imagined how terrifying motherhood can be! I try not to focus on negative thoughts, but there are just so many things to worry over! I'm constanly going over worse case scenarios in my head! I really have to tell myself to just give it to God. As much as I want to have control, I don't. I can only do the best I can with what God has given me and treasure every moment He has blessed me with!

The picture below is a photo of my gift 'from Sullivan' that the daycare gave me! It came with a little handmade card with a poem about Moms in it. This photo of Sullivan really cracks me up and this was such a wonderful surprise! My firt official Mother's Day gift from Sullivan! I look forward to many more! The ladies at the daycare also gave all the Moms a "Whispers of Encouragement for Moms" book. It's filled with devotionals geared towards challenges that Moms face. The card attached talked about how they understand how hard we all work as Moms and they appreciate that we trust our precious children with them each day. I've been SOOO happy with Sullivan's daycare, and this really sealed the deal for me. I just love the ladies in Sullivan's room!

Please take a moment to say a prayer for Nott Wheeler, Jr. He's in grave condition in St. Dominic's in Jackson. His lovely family have been family friends and members of my church in Cleveland all my life!

I love to sing!

2010-05-04T07:34:00.004-05:00

Sullivan had a stomach bug this weekend and has still not fully recovered, so I'm working from home this morning with him. I have my healthy you in Tupelo this afternoon, so he and I will be making that trip after lunch. I'll have to say, stomach bugs are no fun. He had no fever and has seemed to feel pretty good, so it definitely could have been worse! Our first foray into cleaning up vomit and constantly changing both his clothes and mine was not exactly fun! Thankfully, he seems to like his pedialyte, so hopefully that will help him. The video above is from this morning while Daniel was occupying him while I attempted to get some work done! My stupid crackberry has been having issues recording videos, so I'm thankful we finally have a new one to post! So frustrating to think you got a great video and then to realize the crackberry didn't actually save the recording! AHH! Anyways. This weekend we will be meeting Bebe and FredDaddy at the cabin for a hopefully beautiful weekend! I think we could all use a little more sunshine! Hope you are all having a good week so far!

Flash back!

2010-04-30T13:55:00.008-05:00

Daniel and I attended an 80's Prom fund raiser for Leap Frog last night and had a great time! Corinne organized the event, and it was super fun! They had Airships DJ'ing, corsages and boutonnieres for sale, and even a photographer taking prom pics! They took all the photos to 1 hour photo development, so had them ready for us before we left for the evening! Corinne won prom queen by getting the most donations! She looked awesome as you can see below! I managed to squeeze myself into my Mom's 'Peggy Sue' dress that she wore in the 80's. I remember being IN LOVE with this dress growing up! I also recall seeing photos of Mom dancing barefoot on stage with the Cracker Jacks' at Charity Ball in this dress. I'm going to blame that on the dress since I ended up dancing barefoot for about 2 hours straight last night! Can't beat some great 80's tunes! Although I was in bed by 11, I still feel pretty worn out today. Work has been sucking it up lately! I've been going in early, working through lunch, and coming home late. I'll need to work this weekend some too, but I'm looking forward to spending some down time with Sullivan and Daniel! I'm also including below some photos from this year's Double Decker. Sherri and the girls were supposed to come up to attend, but with the crazy bad weather and DD getting postponed until that Sunday, only Mom was able to come up! It was nice to have her here though!

Double Decker:

**Sullivan updates: rolling from tummy to back frequently, almost rolling from back to tummy, but that arm usually stops him. he's successfully eaten peas, green beans, carrots and sweet potatoes. tomorrow we'll introduce apple sauce or bananas! yummy! sleep is improving, although, i've just totally jinxed it by typing that. he is getting sooooo big! i'm anxious to hear his 6 month stats at his next dr. appointment. we are still completely smitten! what did we do before we had him?

4 years of wedded bliss!

2010-04-22T12:15:00.004-05:00

Where does the time go? Daniel and I are celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary today. I can't believe it's been 4 years, and I can't believe how much things have changed in the last year! I can honestly say, I've grown to love Daniel even more since Sullivan's birth. His capacity for loving and caring is amazing! I'm so glad I have him to share the adventures of life with! I suppose we will continue our tradition of watching our wedding videos tonight and will have a nice dinner at home! Sounds like a fantastic evening to me! I love you Daniel!

Sweet Peas for my Sweet Pea

2010-04-16T14:02:00.005-05:00

Sullivan has ventured into the messy world of baby food! Under the advisement of our Pediatrician, we started him with a nice green veggie instead of a lovely fruit. Although he would make a face when we switched from cereal to peas, he really didn't seem to mind it much that first day. By the third day, he actually seemed to prefer the spoonful of peas over cereal?! Daniel did the feeding for this first time, hence the no bib and gigantic mess. Sullivan also wants to stick his hand in his mouth every time the spoon is coming. We should have no problems when it's time for him to start picking up foods to eat. He knows hand to mouth = food!

He's had a bit of a stuffy nose this week, so might not have been the best time to determine how he likes peas, but no hives or noticeable adverse reactions! I think I will switch to something nice like carrots or sweet potatoes for our second veggie. Doesn't seem fair to stick him with two green veggies in a row! As recommended, we are doing 3-4 days of a single veggie (or fruit) to make sure there are no allergies, etc. Going to take us a while to get through all the different kinds of fruits and veggies we bought, but is all for the best. I've got to get MY veggies in the ground this weekend, so I can start making some homemade baby food! I'm really going to try and get some new video this weekend if I can figure out how to hide to catch him performing!

P.S. to any of you that haven't received a thank you note from me, I apologize. I just re-remembered a stack of thank you notes I wrote and never mailed while I was on maternity leave because I needed addresses! So if you get one and it talks about Sullivan from like 3 months ago, I'm super sorry! Better late than never, right? Happy Friday!

5 months

2010-04-08T15:22:00.007-05:00

This is crazy! My baby is almost half a year old! Where is the slow down button! On that subject, Daniel and I decided we better get some pictures of Sullivan in his Christening gown before he outgrows it! We ended up taking lots of pics over the last few days, but below are a few of my favorites!

this one just makes me think of a glamour shot or olan mills or something the way his hands are held and his head is turned just so. We didn't pose him though! He's a natural!

I believe this is his 'WTHM' face. (what the heck Mom) This was one of the first pics in his gown, so he hadn't quite figured it out yet.

"a dress and a lacy bonnet?! i draw the line here mom!"

My boy loves his bath! And I love his smile!

I don't know what it is about this one, but it makes me laugh. I think he really looks like a little boy in this one! Thank goodness his head wasn't that big on November 8, 2009! Of course, it takes a large head to hold his super smart brain!

Easter Sunday in his finery! Thanks to Corinne for this special outfit! What I wouldn't give to have his skin! Love my beautiful boy!

I'll be tackling some new milestones today and this weekend! Tonight we are having our first non-immediate family babysitter keep Sullivan while we attend an Engagement Party/dinner. Saturday night, I will be spending the night out at a bachelorette party! I'm more than a little nervous about a whole night away! I know it will be fine, but it's a big deal!

Sullivan is still eating cereal with breastmilk, although, I plan to try a veggie this weekend! He is great at eating and if I give him his own spoon to hold while I'm feeding him, he'll stick it in his mouth at the same time I stick my spoon with cereal in there! If it weren't for his tendency to put the spoon a little too far in his mouth, this boy could feed himself! He's still regularly holding his bottle, but wasn't crazy about our first attempt at a sippy cup. He drank for a few seconds before he realized it wasn't a bottle and then kept making faces when he would feel the hard cup instead of a soft nipple. He is still getting up twice a night, but I've really come to love our time together. I know before long the breastfeeding will be over, and I'll actually miss it! NEVER thought I would say that! Not after the struggles of the first two months, but we've got the hang of it now and it's our special time together. Where is that pause button again?

I got mad skillz

2010-04-01T10:32:00.008-05:00

Sullivan is getting so much better at holding up his big ole head! Daniel caught these many and varied facial expressions yesterday afternoon.

Raising one eyebrow just like Mommy does! Only he does the left and I do the right!

Our after work routine consists of playing until about 6:30, eating cereal, bath time, reading books, and then bedtime. Daniel and I take turns doing the bath and bedtime routine, and I have to say, Sullivan really seems to enjoy reading books with Daniel. (please ignore all the laundry and any other messes captured in my photos)

I really have to take a moment to praise Daniel. He is the best daddy ever! He is so involved and loves every minute of it! I can't imagine doing this without him!

Brown Eyed Boy

2010-03-31T16:29:00.005-05:00

So any debate on what color Sullivan's eyes will be has been settled. They are most definitely turning brown.

Tomorrow we will be bringing Sullivan to the FNC Easter Egg Hunt at the park across the street from our building. He won't know what's going on, of course, but I'm looking forward to getting to spend the afternoon with him! His daycare is closed on Friday, so I'll be working from home that day! Supposed to be beautiful weather, so I'm going to attempt to work outside as long as Sullivan is obliging!

Baptism

2010-03-23T15:55:00.005-05:00

Sullivan's baptism this past weekend was a success! The Christening gown arrived in time, family made it to Cleveland, and he did wonderfully during the Baptism and service. I had envisioned spit up, crying, etc, but he was perfect! Unfortunately, I didn't take nearly enough photos of him! I'm going to attempt to have some 'professionally' made in his Christening gown and others. A big thank you to everyone who traveled to Cleveland to share in this wonderful event! (Gigi, Daddy Tim, Nanna, Anne, Sherri, Chris, Madeline, Avery, Kent, Corinne, Charles, Elise, Jonathan and Jodi!) An even bigger thank you to Bebe who spent her Spring Break cooking and cleaning in preparation of such a large group invading her home! Everything was delicious and beautiful as always!

I wish I had gotten a photo with EVERYONE, but Sullivan was getting hungry at this point! I didn't want to push it after he did so good during the service.

Daniel and I plan to do a whole lot of nothing this weekend! We need a weekend at home with nothing going on to catch up on chores, etc. After this weekend, it seems like there is something going on just about every weekend until June! I get tired just thinking about it!

I'm a big kid now...

2010-03-15T11:26:00.003-05:00

Bebe came up to visit yesterday and spent last night with us. It was nice to have a little help! I've been fighting a cold, and with Daniel gone, being on solo baby duty has been tough. I don't know how you single parents do it! I decided to try more rice cereal with Sullivan, and Bebe recorded some of it. He continues to hold his bottle and wants to hold the spoon for cereal too! Looks like I may have a very independent boy on my hands!

Please send positive, healthy thoughts our way! We all want to be feeling our best for Christening next weekend! Happy Monday!

4 month stats

2010-03-12T11:28:00.002-06:00

So the appointment yesterday went better than expected. The nurse who administered the shots did a much better job than last time. he cried a bit, but not as bad as last time. He still felt crabby most of yesterday and didn't sleep as well last night, but seemed to be feeling better this morning. Below are his stats!

Height: 25 inches (up from 22) between 50th and 75th percentile
Weight: 15 lbs 10 oz (up from 12.12) 75th percentile
Head: 17 inches (up from 15)

The big thing discussed at this appointment was the introduction of cereal, fruit juice and baby foods in the VERY near future. The whole time the nurse was going over this stuff, I just kept thinking, but he's just a baby. He can't be old enough for this! I have a feeling I'm going to have trouble accepting these milestones! It makes me want to nurse him even more often knowing that soon he'll be done with that too! I'm excited to watch him learn new things, etc, but it also just breaks my heart to know he won't be my tiny, cuddly little baby for long! I guess all Moms have to go through this, but man it's hard!

So, we were supposed to go to Cleveland this weekend for Italian Fest and to visit with Bebe and Fred Daddy. Unfortunately, Bebe got really sick while at a conference in Jackson. She's still feeling under the weather, so we will be avoiding those germs! I haven't felt quite right this week myself, so maybe a lazy weekend at home is just the ticket. This will be my first weekend with just me and Sullivan! We sure are going to miss Daniel and his magic baby touch! He can put Sullivan on his shoulder and, within minutes, he's out like a light! Happy Friday everyone!

shot day :(

2010-03-11T09:22:00.003-06:00

We will be taking Sullivan in for his 4 month shots today! I dread it! The one up side is I'll be working from home this afternoon while he recovers. I'm sure I'll regret bragging, but apparently someone switched out my baby last night. He slept from 8 until 4 and then from 4 until 8! I'm waiting for my body to go into shock from the sleep! I feel terrible that his reward for sleeping so well is to go to the Dr. Boo.

The video below is from yesterday. I ran into Kroger for a few things so Daniel got in the back seat with Sullivan to hang out. He's got the OOO's down pat!

hittin' the bottle

2010-03-10T11:38:00.004-06:00

Sullivan doesn't get bottles at home except in emergency scenarios (like I'm out shopping when he gets hungry :) ). He does get bottles at daycare, obviously. Last night Daniel and I met friends out for an early dinner which meant Sullivan had to be fed a bottle at the restaurant. Imagine my surprise (read shock and heartache) when I saw my baby holding his own bottle! He is just growing up too fast! I'm going to blink and he'll be in college, I swear.

In other news, Daniel leaves for another hiking trip this weekend. The weather is calling for a little rain, but hopefully it won't be too bad! Sullivan and I will be heading to Cleveland to visit family and attend Italian Fest! Pray for good weather friday, so I can have the sun roof open! :) The next weekend (the 21st), we will be in Cleveland again for Sullivan's Baptism. I ordered him a beautiful christening gown which will hopefully arrive in time! Several family members and friends will be making the trek for this special occasion! I only wish we had a long weekend to spend together!

In recent cooking news, I made Pioneer Woman's spaghetti and meatballs Sunday night. The meatballs were AWESOME! they contain ground pork in addition to ground beef and it really ups the flavor. We will definitely be making those from now on. Tonight I'll be trying out her homemade mac and cheese recipe since Daniel LOVES homemade mac and cheese (i love straight out the box mac and cheese cause I'm weird like that). I'll let you know how it goes, but with all the good stuff in the recipe, I'm sure it will be yummy.

day at the lake

2010-03-08T14:57:00.005-06:00

Daniel, Sullivan, and I drove over to the lake Saturday afternoon and spent the night. We got to visit with Bebe and Fred Daddy, Gigi and Daddy Tim, Aunt Havis, and briefly Jan, John, and Uncle Carroll. It was a quick visit, but the weather was definitely beautiful and Sullivan was in a great mood! he really started laughing alot this weekend. Peek-a-boo and other silliness just cracks him up hard! I'm definitely going to try and catch video of it, because it's just wonderful to watch! Sullivan also had his first serving of rice cereal mixed with breast milk this weekend. He was a little confused about how the spoon works- kept trying to suck the cereal off it. He made a big mess, but mainly fussed when I wasn't quick enough getting the spoon back to him. He's not used to not being able to eat constantly. I don't know that we will really consistently start him on cereal yet, but the pediatrician wanted us to try it before his appointment on Thursday.

Just a swangin' with his Fred Daddy (my family has determined I have marked him, so no comments about his chubby cheeks please ;) )

"Daddy caught a fish thissss big"

wootwoot...that's only in the mornin' (that's for you Daniel :))

Tell me about your day

2010-03-04T08:58:00.003-06:00

Most evenings when we finally make it home from work and daycare, we have a very small window of happy baby time. When this window begins to close, Sullivan will start to make whiny-talky noises. I usually pretend he's telling me about the hard day he had at daycare. Daniel was able to capture Sullivan telling his Octopus about his hard day (well, that's what I imagine he's doing).

I also wanted to pass on this link about Lent that Jennifer posted this morning. Daniel and I had trouble deciding on an appropriate sacrifice for Lent this year, so maybe this is a better option for us.

I think we may be heading to the cabin this weekend. Weather is supposed to be beautiful, and Bebe and Fred Daddy will be there. So any family in that area, come on by if you want some baby time!

Vicksburg

2010-03-03T15:45:00.005-06:00

So we trekked to Vicksburg last weekend for my Rotary PETS. We decided to drive to Clinton to stay with Chip and Lisa rather than get up at 3 am Friday morning to drive down. Thank goodness we were able to do this! Sullivan cried til about Winona, and I'm not sure we would have made it on time if we'd left Friday morning. It was much easier riding into Vicksburg Friday morning with Chip! Daniel and Sullivan came over later that morning and spent the afternoon buying fancy beer and touring the civil war memorial park. My conference was fine- same as last year. And when I say same as last year, I mean EXACTLY the same. Oh well, it was a good refresher I suppose. We did not make it to the pool like we had hoped, but there just wasn't enough time.

Since we spent Friday night in Vicksburg, we went out to a new mexican restaurant with Ned, Mary Beth, and baby David! We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the company and the food! We made bets on which baby would cry first. David won that bet with his very brief cry before receiving a pacifier. If we had bet which baby would cry the longest...Sullivan would have won hands down. It's our fault for keeping him out past his bedtime, so we had to pack up and head back to the hotel rather quickly at that point. Hopefully we'll get to do dinner again with these guys in Oxford soon! What do you think? Future Ole Miss roomies?

We drove back to Oxford Saturday after a brief stop for lunch and some light shopping in Ridgeland. On the trip from Vicksburg into Jackson, we discovered a trick to overcome Sullivan's distaste for his carseat...the sunroof! Open the sunroof and within seconds he's fast asleep! Now we just have to hope for warm, sunny days anytime we travel for long distances! The video below is not the greatest, but I've got to give the grandmothers their fix! It does display Daniel's skills at distracting Sullivan when he starts to fuss.

16 weeks!

2010-03-01T13:32:00.003-06:00

How is my sweet, tiny baby already 4 months old?! As slow as the weeks may feel while I'm at work, time is flying by so quickly! I can say, "it feels like only yesterday" about so many things! Sullivan is such a sweet baby. He seems so serious one moment and so excited the next! He loves to examine and chew on his hands (as seen below), and his favorite toy is a turquoise octopus that came with his baby einstein neptune mat. I finally took it off the mat so he can hold it wherever he is. That octopus always makes him smile! It is also the perfect size for him to grab and try to shove in his mouth! Sullivan smiles and coos alot when he's got a full tummy, but I still can't get him to consistently laugh for us. We are still amazed by every little thing he does, old or new. We are so blessed and in love!

a little catch up

2010-02-24T14:45:00.007-06:00

I've had the photos from this post for many months on my phone, but am just now getting around to posting them!

My Mom bought this dog bed for our family dog, Molly, years ago. Molly was terrified of this bed, and couldn't be dragged on it! I don't know what it was about it, but she did not think she was supposed to lay on it. Bailey, on the other hand, instantly claimed it as hers when Mom dropped it at our house. This photo was taken about 5 minutes after the bed arrived at our house. Bailey loved it so much, I was finally able to get rid of the ugly, metal crate that used to be in our living room! This is also the first dog bed that Bailey hasn't completely destroyed. (knock on wood) Typically, nice soft dog beds last about 12 hours. Bailey knows a quality bed when she sees it! Thanks Bebe!

The funny thing is, on one of those really cold nights this winter, we let Sophie the cat in to warm up, and she totally stole it from Bailey! Poor Bailey kept looking at us and then at Sophie on her bed in total confusion. At one point Bailey actually got on one tiny corner of the bed while Sophie chilled out in the center. It was hilarious. We don't let Sophie in too often these days because she has a tendency to barf on things. But, don't feel bad for Sophie. She has two nice beds in the garage; one of which is heated!

And now for a segment I'd like to call...Things Only a Man Would Do! I was behind this truck back in October and just had to snap a picture! I found this quite humorous, but you know only a man would put such a mantastic statement on his dump truck.

Need a closer look?

Is there anything Daniel can't do?

2010-02-22T10:16:00.007-06:00

Daniel and I have been discussing bookcase designs for Sullivan's room, and we found a bookcase online in the shape of a tree. I instantly fell in love and Daniel said he could totally build it! So, he spent the last two weekends working on it! I'm so happy with the finished product! Looks great and so unique!

I also wanted to share with you all a very special Christmas gift that Sullivan received from his Great Grandfather Tim Sullivan (aka Daddy Tim). Since Sullivan is carrying on the Sullivan name, Daddy Tim gave him this beautiful silver plate, bowl, and cup that were his as a child. They are all engraved with Daddy Tim's name and birth date and have scenes from different nursery rhymes. They are just gorgeous and we are honored that Sullivan has been entrusted with such a special heirloom.

I am finally over my cold, but Sullivan still has a bit of a snotty nose and a yucky sounding cough. He still seems to feel ok and hasn't had a fever, so no trip to the pediatrician yet! We are heading to Vicksburg this weekend though, so I hope it will clear up before travel! Sullivan's newest trick is blowing bubbles with his lips! He loves it and is very good at it. I'll try and catch it on camera soon.

On the note of travel, my family and I are trying to plan a beach vacation for this summer. It seems like we do the same ole spots all the time. Anyone have a recommendation for an area/condo/etc that has a great pool, on the beach, close to good stuff? I've never been to Orange Beach, so I have no clue about things in that area. Seaside is great, but far from alot of recreation for kids and adults alike. anyways. If you've stayed somewhere that knocked your socks off, let me know.

Happy Friday!

2010-02-19T13:19:00.001-06:00

hurry up spring!

2010-02-18T15:31:00.003-06:00

This week I've been suffering from a cold that I may or may not have caught from Sullivan. Seems like there are a ton of people sick at work. Some with the stomach virus, and you can bet I'm trying to avoid that mess! First cold post pregnancy has been super no fun. All I want to do is dose up on NyQuil and sleep for 10 hours straight, but that is not to be. To top it off, Sullivan has not been sleeping well this week. Don't know what's up with that, but he's been waking up frequently for what appears to be no reason. If it's not a feeding time wake up, Daniel or I will hold him for a few minutes and he'll drift back to sleep again. I guess I pretty much jinxed myself by bragging on his good sleep. I'm still hopeful that one day it will return!

Despite the stuffy nose, achy body, and extreme lack of sleep, I'm having a pretty good day. It's been a busy week, which is hard, but at least makes the days pass quickly. The appearance of blue skies has definitely helped! In the car on the way home from Daycare, I tell Sullivan about Spring and Summer. I tell him how the bare trees will have leaves and flowers, and the car won't EVER be cold when we get in, about how long the days will be, about taking a stroll after work as a family, about all the flowers and veggies we'll plant, and about laying on a blanket in the yard on a warm and sunny day. I'm done with winter. Bring on the warm weather please! My baby and I got plans!

Maybe next time...

2010-02-09T08:16:00.005-06:00

I'll post something not baby related. Maybe. But probably not.

My boy loves bath time! We are going to a Rotary conference in Vicksburg in a few weeks and made sure to get a hotel with an indoor pool. Can't wait to see how he feels about a giant 'bathtub'! Here's hoping we can find some little swimmers diapers in the middle of winter!

He also loves to chew on his hands. Nom, nom, nom.

Our friend Rebekah painted the Walter Anderson print we received at Sullivan's Coast Baby Shower and we finally got it framed and hung! I love it!

OHHHH! I almost forgot! I GOT SLEEP LAST NIGHT! WOOHOO! Sullivan slept from 8pm to 2:15 am! He ate again and then went back to sleep until 5:45! Thankfully, I went to bed at 9 last night, so I really got to take advantage! This is probably a one time fluke, but man it felt nice to only get up once last night! I actually made it to work before 8 this morning which means I can pick him up at 4 today! (I work through lunch/eat at my desk) This week Daniel and I are trying out our plan to each get to spend more quality time with Pooh. Daniel takes him to daycare around 9am, so he gets to spend some time in the mornings with him. I go to work earlier and pick him up earlier, so I can spend some time in the afternoon with him. The exception to this will be Wednesdays when we have Rotary and both have to leave him early. We'll see how it works out, but so far so good.

On a not so fun note, he might be getting his first cold. He coughed and sneezed more than usual last night and this morning and his nose was a little crusty. He acts like he feels ok, so maybe it won't get worse than this. Fingers crossed!

Video of Sullivan

2010-02-08T13:18:00.003-06:00

Most of you will probably find this video extremely boring, but I want for those relatives that haven't seen Sullivan in a LONG time! I have to say, he typically stops smiling and making noises as soon as I pull out a camera, so it's pretty amazing I got him doing anything on camera! Today is my first Monday back to work. It sux. Sullivan seems very happy with his daycare though! I made Daniel drop him off this morning, so he could get a taste of how hard it is to leave him each morning!

I actually plan to post some non-baby related stuff one of these days! Maybe when I get more sleep at night I can manage it!

3 months already?

2010-02-03T12:15:00.003-06:00

I have no idea how my maternity leave has already come and gone! never has 3 months gone by so fast! Today is my first day back at work and Sullivan's first day at daycare. We are easing into things and I'll be picking him up at 1 and working from home the rest of the afternoon. He did great this morning. I did not so great. I think tomorrow it will be Daniel's turn to take him! Work today mainly consists of sorting through hundres of emails. I might actually get some work done tomorrow! Really looking forward to winning that lottery any day now so I can go back on maternity leave! I miss him so much! (and pumping at work sux)

I need your help.

2010-01-20T15:33:00.002-06:00

I'm trying to come up with speakers for my Rotary club meetings. My mush/brain is having big trouble coming up with more ideas! If you know someone who would be an interesting speaker, please let me know! Thanks guys!

Vaccines

2010-01-15T10:43:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we took Sullivan for his 2 month, first round of vaccines. Horrible! It was so terrible to watch them stick him 3 different times! He was just laying there all happy and then BAM! Glad we don't have to do that again for another 2 months. He felt like poo most of yesterday, so it was not a fun day. As for his stats, he weighs 12.12 lbs and is 22.25 inches long. He's in 75 percentile for weight and 25 percentile for length. They said everything looks great and were surprised he had gained so much weight as a breastfed baby! Obviously, he takes after my side of the family cause my boy can eat!

The sleeping and eating has improved. He will typically sleep about 5 hours from 8 pm on and then another 4 after that, so we are getting more sleep. The craziest thing is he will lay in his crib awake for a long time and put himself to sleep! He was awake from 1 to 2 am last night, but eventually went to sleep. Right now he's awake in his crib too, but he's just hanging out! Works for me!

2 months!

2010-01-06T14:58:00.002-06:00

We've made it 2 months! I can't believe how fast time is flying by! I am enjoying every day home with Sullivan and am starting the dreaded count down before returning to work! Only 3 1/2 weeks left of my maternity leave. Really sux having to give up staying home with him. Oh well. Such is life.
'
Sullivan is really starting to smile and coo at us! I'll have to try and catch a video of him doing so to post here. He's grown from 17 inches at birth to 25 inches! We haven't weighed him, but he's definitely filling out! I've started trying to get him on a better schedule to hopefully work towards sleeping through the night. currently he eats every 3 hours, so I feed him at midnight, 3:30 am-ish, and then 6 ish. I would love to get rid of that 3am feeding! we'll see how it goes. Thankfully, he doesn't cry when I put him to bed. He will fuss during some of his afternoon naps, but is pretty laid back! we are so blessed and so in love!

I'll try to be better about posting!

My new favorite pic and some short videos!

2009-12-11T18:16:00.007-06:00

I love this picture so much! It makes me laugh! Daniel calls this his Steve-O picture! He's much cuter than Steve-O though! The videos below are mainly so my sister Anna in Seattle can see Sullivan! She'll be here in a week for the holidays, but thought she might need a sneak peek before then! Sullivan can't wait to meet his Aunt Anna!

Please continue to pray for baby Andrew. You can read about his struggle here.

One Month Down!

2009-12-07T18:33:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was 4 weeks since Sullivan was born. Needless to say, between the visitors, holidays, and breastfeeding, I don't get much free time for blogging these days! As it is, I'm expecting him to wake up to be fed any moment, so this will most likely be a short post.

This month has flown by! It scares me to think my 3 months off is going to go so quickly! How am I going to leave him at daycare and go back to work? Here's hoping I win the lottery between now and then.

Sullivan is wonderful! He's so alert and laid back. He really only cries when he's hungry or if he needs to burp. The rest of the time he just sort of chills out with us! We are so absolutely in love with him! I can't tell you how many times a day Daniel and I say how much we love him and how amazing he is. I completely understand why parents always say any bad is totally worth all the good that comes with having children! What a gift!

I will say, the breastfeeding is much more challenging than I anticipated. The needing to feed every 2 hours (which translates to about every hour or hour and a half) is exhausting! I've been trying to pump a few times a day so I can give him a bottle once a day. Using the bottle makes it go so quickly and he falls asleep for at least 3 hours when we use the bottle. Unfortunately, I can't pump all the time! I can understand why people use formula instead of breastfeeding, but I'm determined to stick it out since it's so much better for him. I've currently got a clogged duct on one side, so dealing with that is super fun too! Oh well. He's worth it!

We've been trying to slowly get our house and tree decorated for Christmas. I've only worked on his stocking once since he was born. I have a feeling you will be able to add me to the ranks of moms who never finished that first stocking attempt! Maybe by next year! Thankfully, Bebe (my mom)has bought him a stocking to use when he is at her house for Christmas this year. I'm so looking forward to Christmas in Cleveland this year. Anna will be here from Seattle and we'll get lots of time to catch up! I'm hoping Sullivan's cuteness will convince her to move closer to home! He needs his Aunt Anna! :) I'm also looking forward to taking Sullivan to his first Christmas Eve service at church! Such a special time!

Ok, he's stirring, so I better go! I'll try to post more frequently if I can!

after a week

2009-11-14T20:07:00.003-06:00

Tonight at 2am will be one week since little Sullivan joined our family! We've been slowly adjusting to our new lives! I'll admit, the lack of sleep is HARD! Getting up every 1 to 2 hours to feed is exhausting, but I also treasure those quiet moments with my little guy. I'm really going to try and work on taking naps during the day to help with the exhaustion. Sullivan is doing well, but he did have some jaundice, so we've got him under a bili-blanket getting some light therapy. We've had to go to Tupelo every afternoon after being released except for today (i requested one day off) to check his bilirubin levels and weight, etc. His levels are dropping (a good thing) and his weight is going up! We go back tomorrow afternoon and will hopefully be able to return the bili-blanket and hopefully not have to come back again! Please keep your fingers crossed for us! It's very tiring to pack him up and drive (well, ride for me) to Tupelo every afternoon. We really needed and enjoyed our lazy afternoon at home today. We all watched the Ole Miss game and just vegged! Freddie came to town Friday night and he and Mom left today for Cleveland. It will be strange not having someone always cooking and cleaning and running errands for us! I sense another major adjustment coming for me! :)

Sullivan Alexander Martin

2009-11-11T08:38:00.003-06:00

Well, I guess I was correct in assuming I wouldn't make it much longer! I spent most of Saturday cooking and working on baby's stocking. Daniel and I decided to take a walk that afternoon, and I noticed that my bladder was maybe leaking. We completed our walk and I noticed even more little gushes when I'd move around. I immediately called my doula to ask if she thought my water was breaking or if I was just have bladder issues. She recommended I lay down and jiggle my belly to see what happens. Well, doing that confirmed it was definitely my water breaking! Let the excitement begin! We did some last minute packing, took showers, ate some Newk's and headed towards Tupelo around 7 pm. I was having some contractions about 4 minutes apart, but nothing too painful. The clock starts when your water breaks, and let's be honest, I was a little anxious, so off we went! When we reached the hospital I was still only at 2 cm, but they admitted me! The doctor was fine with letting me see how things would progress naturally, but planned to start pitocin at 1:30 am if I wasn't in active labor by then. Thankfully that wasn't a problem for me! The fast birthing genes of my mother and sister kicked in! By 11 pm my contractions definitely starting hurting and coming closer together. The next two hours are sort of a blur! I labored stading up leaning over the bed or on my giant yoga ball with my head leaning on the bed. We tried getting in the bed to labor, but that was NOT an option for me! So much more painful when I was in the bed, so that lasted 1 contraction! Corinne, Mom, and Daniel all helped rub my back and talked me through the contractions. When the nurses came at 1 ish to check my progress and to see if pitocin would be necessary, she was shocked to find I was at 8 cm. So shocked she actually went to get another nurse to check me! That nurse determined I was actually at 10 cm! My doctor quickly arrived and the pushing began! It took 3 rounds of pushing to get little Sullivan out. Each round consists of taking a deep breath and pushing for 10 seconds 3 times and then resting before the next round of pushing. So really it took only 90 seconds of pushing to get him here! I was totally like in another world at this point. I focused on the nurse and Corinne telling me when to breath and when not to push, etc. Thanks to their wonderful help, I was able to bring Sullivan into the world very easily and with no drugs, no episiotomy, and no tearing! It was exactly the birth experience I hoped to have! No doubt it is the hardest and most painful thing I've ever done, but absolutely worth it! It is totally true that when you reach the poing in labor that you start doubting yourself and your ability to do it without drugs that you are almost done! As I climbed on the bed to lay down to push I said 'I'm insane', and just a few short minutes later he was here! Such an amazing experience! My accounting of the birth is very fuzzy, so I have to rely on Corinne and Mom and Daniel to give me the details. He was born at 2 am on the dot on November 8, 2009. He weighed 6lbs 8 ozs and was 17 inches long. We both were doing so great, they let us go home on Monday afternoon. I feel really good. My insides feel a little sore and my breasts are definitely feeling the milk! My milk came in on Monday afternoon as well, which is great for fattening our little guy up!

So, on to the fun stuff! We are so absolutely in love with our son! He's perfect in every way! We are learning how to breastfeed and making great progress on this front! It's a little harder for early babies to figure it out, but he's doing great! We go back to Tupelo today to see how his bilirubin levels are, etc. I will continue to keep you updated on our progress. I know this post is sort of a random jumble, but it's about all my brain can manage at the moment! I think i hear someone wanting to eat!

update from the ob

2009-11-05T16:24:00.001-06:00

Well, no baby yet but making progress! I'm dilated 2cm, 50% effaced, and cervix is anterior. She said she can feel cervix and head down low. Got to see lots of good stuff on the sonogram! He has a head full of hair! Has chubby cheeks and was poking his lips out. He weighs about 6lbs 12 oz which is right on track! Our next appointment is tuesday, so will see how things are moving then! Daniel is still hoping for tuesday to be our due date so he'll have a cool birthday. We'll see! I'll post sonogram pics tomorrow.

We got to see lots of his face this time, but only got a pic of his profile. He kept pursing his lips and had adorable chubby little cheeks! Can't wait to see him in person shortly!

This image is from the top of his head and you can see the hair sticking out on the sides! I guess that old wives tale about having lots of heartburn means your baby will have hair is true!

P.S. Daniel cancelled his trip to New Orleans!

T-minus ???

2009-11-03T16:56:00.002-06:00

So I have my doubts I'll be going the 20+ days until my due date. I won't go into details, but it looks like things are progressing! I'm thinking he'll be here in the next week. I'm shooting for the 10th cause then his birthday would be 11-10-09! We have an OB appointment Thursday which will include sonogram, pelvic exam, and group strep b test, so we should definitely know more by then. Our bags are packed and we are just in waiting mode now! This definitely puts a kink in me finishing his stocking before he arrives! I'll have to post a pic of the progress I've made so far!

T-minus one month!

2009-10-28T10:26:00.006-05:00

I can't believe we are already in the home stretch! One month until our due date! Daniel and I went to Memphis last weekend to purchase 'a few' last minute items and ended up breaking the bank! Adorable baby clothes are the devil and impossible to resist! When we got back we had fun putting in the car seat, washing and putting away all the clothes, and organizing stuff! Only big thing left to do is pack bags! Oh, and pick a name. I'm sure you don't believe me, but we really are closer to finalizing the name. :) And I will let you all know when my mind is totally made up.

We've got our first 'weekly' OB appointment tomorrow. We are both anxious to see if any 'progress' has been made by the occasional contractions I've had. Probably not, but I'm excited anyways! I don't want too much progress because Daniel will be in New Orleans November 8-11! Several of my girlfriends have offered to stay with me while he's gone, just in case! Xerxes will probably be late like most first borns are, but it would be nice if he'd make an appearance before Thanksgiving. No rushing these things though!

The nursery is almost done except for needing things to hang on the walls. The Walter Anderson we received will most likely go above the crib once it is painted and framed. I'm undecided what else I will hang, but the walls look sadly empty to me at the moment, so I've got to work on that. I'm open for suggestions! I've posted some pics of the nursery in it's current state.

Please ignore the stickers on the dresser drawers! My feeble brain needs them to remember which drawer has what sized baby clothes!

The gestational diabetes diet is going fine. My numbers are always good unless I cheat. I always know when I'm going to fail, but sometimes I just can't resist that piece of french bread. French bread is definitely the worst offender so far. I am really sick of having turkey sandwiches with a side of carrots and cucumbers for lunch just about every day. We eat lunch at work most days, and it's hard to find things that are easy to bring for lunch that fit the diet. Thankfully today we have leftovers from dinner, so I get at least a day off from sandwiches. Just one more month and then I won't have to constantly think about what I can eat 6 times a day!

Farewell Jenny, Vic, and Madylan!

2009-10-21T15:49:00.002-05:00

Jenny, Vic, and baby Madylan should be on the road to California today! Please join me in wishing them good luck and safe travels as the drive cross country with a week old baby, 3 dogs, and a trailer behind the truck! Talk about an adventure! We will certainly miss them! The girls went out for dinner last night as a second birthday dinner for Christina and as a going away for Jenny. We'll all just have to make a trip to California to visit one day!

Weekend at the cabin

2009-10-19T09:47:00.011-05:00

Daniel and I drove over to the cabin Saturday morning to enjoy the wonderful fall weather and what could be our last trip to the cabin without a baby in tow! Although it did sprinkle off and on on Saturday, Sunday was just perfect! It's so nice to see blue skies again! I spent a good bit of Saturday relaxing in front of the fire and working on the baby's stocking. I definitely think I'll be finished before he gets here. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Yesterday we went for a long walk through the woods and around part of the lake.

It was pretty chilly when we first started our walk, so Mom and I are all bundled up.

Freddie, Mom and Bailey

The Martins

Looking across the lake to our point although you can't see our cabin since the leaves are still on the trees.

Bailey had a blast swimming of course!

The often requested, rarely flattering, belly shot. Feeling big as a house.