The Scarbrough Family

So What Happened Next?

2011-09-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

So, on August 3, 2011 I was sure that my journey on the road to having another baby was well on its way. I was on the interstate to pregnancy. Albiet, I was 4w 1d along, but I felt great. I took picture of my pregnancy test and emailed it to Ben. Nolan and I spent two hours playing at the park in our neighborhood that day. Ben and I were both happy and chatty that night when he got home from work. I calculated my due date...about two weeks before Nolan's third birthday. Three April birthdays would be challenging, but you when you try for a year, you take what you can get. And an April birthday was fine with me at this point. Over the next week, I definitely started having the tiredness kick in. I napped with Nolan because I knew there was no way he was going to start going to bed early and I knew my body would need the rest. I kicked the caffiene. Just like the previous times, I changed my life immediately to give this baby every chance to be healthy. The Friday after I found out I scheduled my pre-natal visit. I was going to have to wait three whole weeks to be seen.

About two weeks after we found out, Ben went to Philly for work training for the week. That week was hard. Entertaining Nolan from the time he got up in the morning until he went to sleep at night was rough. It was one million degrees outside, limiting the number of things we could do. So we had a fun activity every day: library, Gymboree, JumpZone, Chuck E Cheese. And we ate dinner out every night. I struggle getting food ready when I'm well rested and Ben's home. I wasn't even going to attempt dinner meals for Nolan and me. But later on that week I started feeling fine again.

Now with the first pregnancy, my symptoms faded fast. Around 7 weeks, I didn't have a single symptom. And with Nolan the exact opposite was true. I was tired and sick and everything else awful under the sun from around 6.5 weeks until 20 weeks (lucky me). So when I started feeling better, I got a little worried. But I was hopeful....maybe it was a girl this time and that is why I felt so different. Or maybe because I just didn't have time to deal with it watching Nolan, my body knew I couldn't be sick. And feeling great the entire time would be AMAZING! So I kept on doing what I knew to do.

On August 26th I went in for my appointment. Now if you've never had one before, they tell you your due date and give you all of the great welcoming baby things to fill out. There's a list of what to do and what not to do. And then they typically send you on your way. Since I had a history of miscarriage, the nurse practicioner offered to do an ultrasound. Yes, please. It would settle my mind to see everything on the screen.

Well, we got to the screen and didn't see anything. She explained she was only to my cervix and you can't always see anything there. So a little further. There it was, the sac. But there was no movement. I didn't see a baby. Having had two early ultrasounds before, I knew what we were looking for. There it was, an empty sac. BLIGHTED OVUM. My heart sank. I wanted to cry. But I kept it together....just a little 'dust in the eyes.' She explained there was probably a chromosomal abnormality and so the fetus stopped developing. She measured and asked if I was sure of my LMP. I could just be 5weeks and some change. I was sure. We have been trying a year. I keep track of EVERYTHING in my phone. So I got dressed, made my way to the front desk and set up a followup appointment and got my lab sheets so they could start seeing if my hcg levels were dropping.

I totally lost my shit when I got in the car. It hurt just as much as I remembered. The thing about this kind of loss is that you lose someone you never met, but loved just the same. Someone you changed your life for. I cried for 15 minutes in the parking lot and drove home. Cried some more when I told Ben. He said it wasn't worth getting upset about. Except it was. We had plans to have dinner with friends that night. He asked if I wanted to go. Yes I did. I wasn't going sit home and feel awful. At least I could have a good meal. So we went and I had a good time...puffy face and all.

The next day I started bleeding. In retrospect, I'm glad I saw that ultrasound and knew what to plan for. God knew I couldn't handle not being prepared for this....not after trying for so long. Had my appointment been any sooner, that ultrasound may have not painted such a clear picture and I would have been hit with an emotional ton of bricks. We went to Branson to do some shopping for Nolan. By Monday I was bleeding heavily. It was different from the first time because my bleeding started light and got heavier. The first time, it was full on bleeding and a dilating cervix in a matter of hours. Wednesday was the worst day. I was going through an overnight pad every 45 minutes. And I had to keep Nolan entertained. So we went to JumpZone to meet friends. I went to the bathroom about 4 times in the 2 hours we were there. I was passing big clots and cramping like crazy. I just wanted to go home and lay down. Later that night the cramps that feel like early labor started. My miscarriages remind me of the first stage of labor...up until I was dilated to 3-4cm. It hurts. I debated going to the emergency room to get drugs. I decided that was a waste of time and money. So Ben got home from work and I handed off my parenting responsibilities. I took a bath and used the heating pad. I couldn't take the pain much longer, so I decided to start pushing. That worked with delivering a baby, so maybe it could work with passing all of the 'products of conception.' I pushed and a lot of really nasty stuff came out. Then I thought I needed to go number 2. So I went to the potty and out plopped the gestational sac. Right there in my toilet. If you want to see a picture, I took one. It's too gross to post on the internet. Plus, it looks like a took a picture of poop. It was about 4 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Never did I expect it to be so big. But after it was out, the cramps almost totally went away.

I went back to my OBGYN the next day. My hcg levels were around 15,000 and my progesterone was around 18. But we did another ultrasound and I had passed most everything. He said my levels would begin to drop quickly. I bled for another 5 days after that.

We've been given the greenlight to get back to the business of making babies. I want another baby so bad. Not only for Ben and me, but for my son. I don't want him to grow up an only child. My heart still hurts, but I know that it will get better.

Why Secondary Infertility Totally Sucks

2011-09-14T16:42:00.001-07:00

First off, I've been an absent blogger for a while. The last post was on our trip to Denver....that happened back in March. When Ben's sister still lived there. And my days were not totally busy with a two-year old. With Nolan in school two days a week, I had time to clean my house and hit the gym. Since June I have tried to fill his days with fun activities. Three months of activities. With a child that doesn't like being a schedule, but is heartbroken if we aren't busy. And trust me, he is always busy. So for the past three months my days have been consumed with the library, splash pad, playground, JumpZone, Chuck E Cheese, etc. But N went back to school on Monday (for eight whole hours a week) so I will get some sense of myself back.

But back to my thoughts. The thoughts that have been running around in my head for forever. It's been a struggle for me. A planner by nature. The one who likes to have all of her ducks in a row and might line up your ducks too if I get a chance. I hate this part of my life and I try to stay hopeful every single day. Some days are easy as pie. Some days aren't. Those are the days when I find out someone else is expecting. Oh, and this baby was a total surprise. Yeah, those days are rough. So how did I end up here? It's been a fourteen month journey. One that I feel like I should write down. Two posts should cover it. One about the journey to trying to get pregnant and the next about finally getting there and my second miscarriage (the first was before Nolan). For the record we are now at - Miscarriage: 2. Healthy Pregnancy: 1. Those are not statistics that I like. So how did this all start?

When Nolan was about a year old I thought I was close to being ready for another baby. He never slept and he was still nursing, so getting to that point was a huge step. Well, at about 15 months he got his first pair of tennis shoes. That is what sent me into a baby fever frenzy. All of a sudden my baby didn't look like a baby anymore. And suddenly I realized that even if I got pregnant on that very day my children would be over two years apart. That was it. I wanted a baby right then. So I did what anyone that wanted a baby would do. The only problem was that I was still not having AF. I had a child that nursed 8 times a day. I'm sure my prolactin levels were through the roof and I probably wasn't even ovulating, but that didn't stop us from trying...and hoping. From July through November there was nothing. No AF, no pregnancy symptoms. I held out hope that I would be one of those people that caught the first egg before AF. But November came and went and I still wasn't pregnant. But that was just 5 months and I wasn't able to track ovulation...if I was even ovulating.

We decided to wean Nolan. Looking back it was a decision I regret. I feel guilty about it to this day. He hated the process and I hated it too. And then for the next 6 months he had an ear infection every month and had to do round after round of antibiotics. Had I known he would get sick and I wouldn't get pregnant, I would have kept on nursing. But we weaned. And again, I thought first egg. Most fertile after you stop breastfeeding. It's going to happen. But it didn't. I got my first AF in November and that's when she decided to make a regular monthly appearance. In January I went to see by OBGYN. He said 6 months is normal and 12 is when we start taking steps. I was normal. Well, that made me feel better.

We get to March while we were in Denver. I had bleeding on day 21. I just knew it was implantation bleeding. I was at Red Rocks running the stairs and I got giddy. But the next day on the flight home good ol' AF reared her ugly head. That's when I got crazy with ovulation predictors and testing and charting. I did everything right and I still wasn't getting pregnant. For three months I made myself a crazy person. Then we went on vacation in early June and I gave it up. If it was going to happen, I was going to have to let it go. Give it to God. So I did.

I had my annual in July and told my doctor it has been a year. He ran some tests and told me all of my levels were normal. I was secretly hoping something wasn't so there would be a reason. I was officially diagnosed with this awful thing called Secondary Infertility. He wrote me a prescription for Clomid. I cried on the way to drop it off. I would start on day three of my next cycle. So I would be waiting about two weeks and then begin a medicated process to try and get pregnant.

I waited on pins and needles for that cycle to start. The day she was due came and went. But I wasn't going to take another pregnancy test. I had already taken so many before just hoping and they were all negative. I made it a day past and went to store in early August to purchase a two-pack of First Response. I figured it would be negative...again. I didn't use FMU and by goodness, there were two dark pink lines within SECONDS. I was in a state of shock. 13 months and it finally happened. And I didn't even have to take the Clomid. Finally, God answered this prayer.

Up next: excitement and heartbreak. Maybe I'll even throw in a picture.

Now the sucky things about secondary infertility. The crummy stuff I get to hear.
1. You were able to have on kid, so it will happen again.
2. You are already blessed with one perfect child; you should be happy.
3. You don't want to wait too long to have another one.
I'm sure there are a half dozen more that I have just purged from my memory. People these days seriously have no filters.

I Heart Denver

2011-04-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I love the place. I wish we could find a way to move out there. It is amazing. In early March we got to make a trip out to see Emily and we were baby free. I had forgotten how easy it is to travel when you're packing for one and you can carry your luggage on the plane. After driving to Tulsa, flying to Denver and driving to Vail. My hair looks so pretty!!!! This was the view from our balcony at the Vail Cascade....amazing.

Saturday night enjoying a Moscow Mule after a yummy dinner at Jax Fish House.

Sunday's workout at Red Rocks.

The opposite of how we are working out. I'm pretending, but Ben is totally serious with the stretching.

Seriously, I love Denver.

Lotsa

2010-12-30T19:22:00.001-08:00

So I have two little sisters. Kathleen, the baby...a young almost-27 years old, is the one on the left. Christina, the poor misunderstood middle child is on the right - she'll soon be knocking on the milestone birthday of 30. We look nothing alike. Seriously, I'm like 5 inches taller than them. I have curly brown hair. They were blondes as children...now their haircolor varies with the seasons. And between the three of us, we have graced my mother with a plethora of grandchildren.

Seven grandchildren. Ranging in age from 20 months to almost 6 years. Yeah, that is a lot of children.

My little tater head is the youngest of the group. He is also the third largest in the group. Maybe it has a little something to do with those Cheetos he has a firm grip on.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T18:29:00.000-08:00

Skillz

2010-11-27T19:32:00.001-08:00

Nolan's new favorite thing is reading a lot of books. He's pretty much always enjoyed reading, but these days we spend at least a couple of hours each day immersed in story time. Here are the boys at Mimi's house sporting very similar hair styles.

Special Edition White Chocolate Covered Oreos are a huge hit.

And the skills. He got two more blocks stacked up before the tower came tumbling down.

Breakfast (of Champions?)

2010-11-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

A typical doll baby breakfast around here is oatmeal with fruit, applesauce and yogurt. That requires a little prep on mom's part. So I have to stall with a bit of a distraction. Healthy? No way. We start of with some Cheerios, Trix and the always popular Pringles.

Then we dump out all of the granola bars.

And finally, we finish it off with the Halloween candy leftovers.

About 10 minutes later, we get around to eating our real breakfast.

Listening to some tunes

2010-11-16T15:04:00.000-08:00

Give a toddler an ipod and this is what happens. Probably not good for his hearing. Good thing the batteries are totally shot.

This is what happens after every time we take a picture. He wants to see what he looked like. So he turns his head and makes this totally awesome face. Our little contortionist.
The boys.

So cute.

And a little mischievous.

Jake

2010-11-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

We have a mule in the field near our house. Nolan asks to feed him on a daily basis. His name is Jake. Nolan just loves Jake. Almost as much as he loves Greyson. Oh, and isn't his little hat adorbs....maybe we have a future snowboarder on our hands.

He had fun pushing his toy around the backyard on an unseasonably warm day.

Mini-Ben

His developed an obsession with having a variety of water cups. Today after naptime, we got out three different ones. He decided to finally drink from the 'baby' one. After dinner we got out two more - bringing the daily count to five. I'm thrilled he's drinking all of this water...not thrilled about washing all of the dishes.

18 Months Old

2010-11-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

Nolan turned 18 months old last week. Seriously, he's been here for a year and a half. So, here are 18 facts about the nugget:

1. At his well-baby visit he was 34 inches tall.

2. He also weighed 27 lbs and 3 oz at his well-baby visit.

3. He wears a size 5 diaper and 18-24 month clothes.

4. His vocabulary has expanded to include: Ben, I don't know, globe, whoa, chip, cheer (cheerios), up, down, water, What's this?, and he will repeat about 25% of what I say (so I really have to watch it - I will never say gosh around him again).

5. He still likes his fruits and veggies to be pureed, but he will eat chicken, cheese and crackers like it's going out of style. He will try anything that Ben and I are eating.

6. He likes to make the number one on his right hand.

7. He likes to help. He will help me fold clothes (actually try to unfold everything that I have already folded), unload the dishwasher (try to lick the silverware before I have a chance to get it out), feed the dog (he may have eaten dog food once or ten times), etc.

8. He still rides rear-facing in his car seat.

9. He likes to watch the intro to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Imagination Movers, and Choo-Choo Soul on the Disney Channel. He also likes most any music channel.

10. He's a great dancer.

11. He loves all of the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. He unloads all of the ones he can reach on a daily basis. He has his own special drawer that he can put stuff in and a cabinet that he likes to hide in.

12. He has started giving me kisses on my cheek (as opposed to open-mouth ones he was trying to give me a couple of months ago) and he still gives the best hugs.

13. He has no fear. He has gotten in trouble many times for tearing off down the sidewalk. Usually, we have to go and retrieve him.

14. He loves water.

15. He has started laying down his belly in random places....the bathtub, in a pile of pine straw in his grandparents backyard, in the lobby of a mexican restaurant.

16. He tackles the stairs with reckless abandon. This really freaks me out when he heading down the stairs. I see a trip to the ER in our future.

17. He loves the computer. And is reminded that it is OFF-LIMITS no less than 20 times a week.

18. He is more than we could have ever imagined he would be.

Phew

2010-11-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Last week was a busy one. In addition to all of the Halloween prep (i.e., me eating the Halloween candy we had already purchased and having to buy more), Ben was in San Antonio Monday through Wednesday, Nolan turned 18 months old and we had our fifth wedding anniversary.

Here's the little nugget rolling around on the guest bed upstairs. How he got up there, I will never know. He's always into something these days. The word used to describe him most is cute. After that - busy. Fortunately on this occasion, I got off the computer to see what he was doing and he didn't have time to injure himself.

We had a fall festival in our neighborhood on Sunday afternoon. Here Nolan is riding a pony. He didn't make it all seven times around. But I think he enjoyed it.

I guess he was looking for something in particular in the candy bucket. The best way to find that. Dump all of the candy on the floor. Still didn't find what he was looking for...probably something sugary with an extra kick of caffeine.

We did do some trick-or-treating. We only went to about 10 houses and took the wagon with us. Nolan did some running up and down the sidewalk and was rarely still enough to let anyone put candy in his pumpkin. He also through the pumpkin on the ground at least 10 times sending candy everywhere. We decided on the shark costume because we call him Sharkbite or Little Chompers (among many other nicknames). Adorable.

His last stop on the candy tour was Mimi & Poppy's house. Not content with just getting candy, he figured he would turn it into a geography lesson...thus the globe. He's finally calling it a globe and not a ball.

Then we came home and got our bath. Sunday was a busy day. But on the bright side, he was only up once last night around 3 a.m. (down from the 4 and 5 times a night on Thursday and Friday).

This week we have our well-baby visit. I'm hoping for some resolve with a couple of issues he's been having. And of course, getting those stats. Wonder if they can do a percentile on busy-ness?

Hi Pumpkin

2010-10-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

Almost two weeks ago we went to the Pea Ridge patch at McGarrah Farms. That and the battlefield are probably the only reasons you would head over to Pea Ridge...well, and they have a Fred's. I hear he's giving the place away. Back to the patch. We met our friends Kacy, Wells and Davis. Wells is about a year older than Nolan and Davis is the sweetest little baby (about a year younger than Nolan). And boy are they C.U.T.E. It's fun to see how Davis is and remember how Nolan was that little and then see all of the things that Wells is doing and know that I get to look forward to those things.

Nolan was somewhere between the ladybug and butterfly in height. (We'll find out his real height next week at his well-baby visit).

Picking up pumpkins was so much fun.

He finally figured out why there was a whole in the piece of plywood. Adorable.

We jumped (with mom's assistance) from haybale to haybale.

And before we headed home, we hopped in the train (but didn't take a ride).

Now I'm off to carve our pumpkins.

On another note, please pray for my nieces. Mady and Maci are both sick with ear infections and viruses (I can't remember which has which) and they are testing Marlee because she has lost a lot of weight (down to 15 lbs from 20). They tried to do a sodium chloride test yesterday but couldn't get enough sweat so they are going to have to go another route. They are just the sweetest little girls and I don't see how their mom does it.

This is an picture from the summer (so obviously, they are bigger now) - but aren't they just adorable?

More Greenville Fun

2010-10-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in the previous post that the 4-wheeler was a different story. Nolan loved it. My dad drove him around the yard a couple of times. Here, Ben couldn't even start the thing. Ha!

This is Sunday morning as I was packing our bags. Looks like someone wasn't ready to leave a certain something behind.

Did you know Stein Mart began in Greenville? The store is pretty awful now. And now Frostop and Pasquale's are moving in next door. It's a shame they weren't open when we came through town. I really wanted a roast beef sandwich from Pasquale's.

Mischievous. Poor Chester couldn't escape Nolan.

And Nolan made a new friend while we were there. This is Fluffy - Daddy and Cathy's outdoor cat. We will never have a cat because Ben hates them and I am not exactly fond of them (though 11-year old Shelley loved cats). Nolan is clearly aware of this and got in as much QT as he could.

The Dirty

2010-10-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

We ventured down to the Delta this past weekend to see my family. It was a trip that was long overdue. We've tried to make this trip since June and finally got around to it. I know my family was excited. It was too short, but we had a good time.

Greenville is an exceptionally flat place...thus the pooling water. Okay, it might have something to do with a poorly designed neighborhood street with not enough stormwater inlets. Either way, Nolan had a blast.

My dad has a lot of outdoor stuff. Here Nolan is standing on the lawnmower. He wouldn't ride on it. It was too loud. 4-wheeler = different story.

And playing with his sweet cousin Stella who was down from her house near Memphis. She is over a year older than him and running around dad's house playing, they looked like they were the same age. Proof that they grow up too fast.

We got take out from Doe's on Saturday and ate at my grandmother's house. Nolan was content to play with the acorn squash. It's hard to eat a steak when you only have 10 teeth.

And on our way home we stopped at McAlister's in Conway. Nolan's 'dessert' was this super yummy pickle. Have you ever seen a cuter face?

Nolan's in Jail

2010-10-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we got a nice little cool spell. I just love it when the weather is cool but everything is still green.

Nolan had fun playing in the backyard. Here he is supporting his Bulldogs in his finest pair of maroon pants. I might also add this is his only pair of maroon pants.

Holding dog's bone. Now that I've typed those words, they sound so dirty.

At Ben's parents house yesterday evening. He loves to pretend he's in jail whenever he gets behind bars. Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

And spying on the neighbors. I hope no one was home.

Pretty Peas?

2010-10-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

Dinner time is always fun when daddy is controlling the spoon.

Sweetsies

2010-09-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

I love Flipping Out on Bravo. And I just love Sarah. That thought process is totally unrelated to anything in my life and in no way an indication of how much television I watch. I just needed a title for the post and since I think she is the sweetest thing ever, I decided to use her word.

Nolan has decided it is fun to sit at the table. He just pulls the chair out, crawls up in it and enjoys a little snack. It's easier to feed him in the high chair, but it seems I can't keep him from growing up. (Don't you just love those little pjs?)

Last Friday we took a little trip to Chik-fil-a to play on the playground. I got a lemonade and we started playing. He wouldn't go down the slide without me following him in. In case you aren't aware, those children's enclosed play areas smell like urine. Consider yourself informed. In other news, at 5'9", I may be a little tall to effectively get around in Chik-fil-a's Toddler Town.

We named this little doll Richie. Little Richie, if you will.

Here he is with dad watching some football on Sunday afternoon. I had to crop the picture because someone was wearing shorts, and couldn't keep his legs together. Borderline inappropriate.

And here's what's left of my box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I rarely eat cereal, but I had a total hankering for the stuff on Sunday so I bought a box. I had one bowl and then Sweetsies here emptied it out on the floor. To top it off, Greyson wouldn't touch the stuff. It took two days to get the floor clean, but I think the tile is now clear of all cinnamon and sugar.

Because I Always Deliver

2010-09-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Now this post is only like a million-kajllion-bazillion light years late, but I finally got around to it. Now that our backyard doesn't resemble a scene from The Grapes of Wrath, I can show you pictures of the new paver patio (taken this morning while the in-laws watched N and after I watered the plants...woo hoo).

Here is the before. The grass didn't grow close to the concrete because it was always shaded. It also didn't grow next to the house for the same reason. There was a lot of dirt tracked in on puppy paws (and baby feet). Also, see those two terrible trees. What were they? We figure they were there to somewhat block the neighbors. Well, they did a terrible job and they were ugly. From where the picture was taken was a terrible muddy mess on the northeast side of the yard. Dirt, dirt and more dirt. After our yard was aerated, grass would grow for all of 40 seconds here and then start to die off.

The yard was pretty sad. But after the improvements and letting most of the grass grow back in and replacing 12 boxwoods (9 of which were totally dead), the yard is looking better. We still plan to put in some bigger trees, but this is a start.

We planted hydrangeas along the north side of the house - they just make me think of home...not that we ever had any in our yard. I just love them. We also did about a 350 sqft paver patio. We plan to put a table out on it in the spring if we can find one that I like. We did boxwoods, crape myrtles and daylilies around the patio and have three open areas so we can get to the yard.

On the left hand side, you can see Ben's new grill storage area. It was stored under the original porch area, but that created a fly hotel by our back door. So then we moved it here, but it was in a mud hole when it rained. We extended the patio around this side of the house, and ta-da...now the grill has a cozy new home.

And the view looking west. You can see those ugly trees are gone. We would like to do some evergreens along the fence so we don't have to see our neighbors back porch (or hear their awful country music). We also want to put a maple somewhere over here so Nolan has to rake leaves when he is 10 years old. I figure his childhood would be imcomplete without a backyard full of messy leaves. Plus, I think the tree would look pretty awesome and provide some much needed shade during our hot summers.

So there you have it - the complete patio. Finally. And only a million-kajllion-bazillion light years late.

Two Posts

2010-09-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

in one evening. Because who knows when I'll get around to it again???

Isn't this face amazing? You can truly sense just how demanding he is. Wide eyes? Check. Clenched jaw? Check. Pointed finger? Check. Don't worry. After this picture was taken, I picked him up.

And what's a meal time without a little see-food. Grrreat indeed.

Someone just loves walking the dog. And some dog is not at all a fan.

And what's a Sunday morning without a little coffee and the paper? No thanks to those seasonal allergies, we didn't make it to church on this particular Sunday morning.

Make-up Blogging

2010-09-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

I could start off this post by saying how incredibly busy I've been and that I've been struggling through the worst case of seasonal allergies you can imagine....look that's just what I did. I get it; we've been MIA in the blog world. Main reason - it's hard to sit down at the computer for 20 minutes with a 17 month old boy (and a husband and a dog...and all of these new fall previews). I love TV. But you don't want to hear about my rough life. You just want the pictures of the cutie...so here they are.

Waking up is hard to do. It's best to relax in dad's lap a little before he heads off to work.

When that doesn't work, you can always go and rest your head by the dog's water bowl.

But when you wake up and get dressed, you can play catch with Greyson.

And stack blocks.

And walk around the yard picking up dog stinky. Of course, this requires holding your dad's hand.

Monday

2010-08-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

What have we been up to? A lot...and nothing. The days run together and I don't know what I'm doing most of the time. But, all and all, we're happy (and healthy). Nolan is keeping us all entertained. How did we ever live without this little nugget?

He's wanted to hold hands and walk these days. He may let you carry him for a bit, but then he has to get down and be a big boy. Then he lets go of your hand and goes running down the sidewalk and skins his knee and you realize you are a terrible parent and have no Bactine or Neosporin in the house. You use hydrogen peroxide to clean the scrape and he cries and cries. Another source of tears - cutting molars.

As a result of the patio construction, we have a lot of dirt and sand and mulch and other dirty things in the back yard. He loves to play outside. And get dirty. He he's also throwing in a little dance for you (while one of the new trees casts a funny shadow on his face). Notice Greyson keeping her distance.

After filling up on a hearty sampling of dirt, he decided to climb in the chair. He climbs on everything these days. Why did I think parenting was eventually going to get easier? I guess it will....in 20 years or so.

And this one is after church yesterday. Milestone. When we picked him up from the nursery, he was not crying. And he was playing. With another little boy. It was glorious.

Because

2010-08-17T16:28:00.001-07:00

Nothing to see here. Well, except cute pictures. Life has been uneventful. So, on with the cuteness. (All of the pictures were taken with the awesomeness that is Ben's phone).

Riding in the car is exhausting.

He likes to hold my hand and walk now. He probably didn't want me to hold him because I still stunk after my workout. We were on our way to look at shoes. Notice how little the ones on his feet are. I ended up ordering some online.

He had his hand on the back of that creature for the first 3 minutes he was in the ride. Finally, the hands went on the wheel.

The backyard work is done. The grass is a disaster and the plants look stressed. I promise I'll have pictures some day. In the meantime, Nolan is content to move the mulch from one location to another.

Today - AKA - The Scariest Day of My Life

2010-08-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this brief. I'm still having trouble wrapping my brain around what has happened in the last 5 hours. I've just got to get this down somewhere and try to get it out of my system - the blog seems like the best place.

Today we had a great day. Nolan was up crying for about an hour last night - I suspected it was teething. It looks like he's getting some molars in. NO FUN! Fast forward to this afternoon. Little guy took a two hour nap - atypical, but a little welcomed. He was running around a 101 fever when he woke up so I gave him some Tylenol (I figured I would save the ibuprofin dosage for this evening). Ben's mom came to watch him for a bit. Not two minutes later she is screaming running to my front door (fortunately, she literally lives right down the street). Nolan is having a seizure.

We flew to the hospital in my car (food all over the counter, the dog freaking out as to why I'm leaving the house in a tizzy, no cell phone). The doctors at NMCB were so helpful and within seconds he was on the table and they were working on him. I think I was able to remain somewhat calm (we're talking a shred of calm here) because I suspected it was from a rapid spike in his temp. We have some friends that this has happened to before - and I was praying was Nolan was ONLY having a reaction to his fever.

In a matter of minutes his fever had spiked to 103. I wonder what it would have been had I not given him the Tylenol when he woke up. The doctors ran a series of labs, cultures, x-rays, etc. and could not find any sign of infection. He is on a 7-day round of antibiotics. Even though he is fine right now, this ordeal has turned me in to a nervous wreck. I love my son so much and could not stand anything happening to him. (Plus, I'm pretty sure it terrified my mother-in-law to death).

Here's the little trooper after his meds with a nice little iv in the arm. (You can probably guess how much he loved that).

This means we're cancelling our trip to see my family in Greenville this weekend. I don't want to travel with him on antibiotics. This is the first time he has taken them and I'm not sure how he is going to react. And if you could, please just say a little prayer for him (me too).

Well, Hello August

2010-08-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought it couldn't get any hotter outside, good ol' mother nature went and proved you wrong. It's still hot here. I know it will cool off - in anticipation, I ordered some sweaters from Anthro this past week. I'm so looking forward to cooler evenings and football season.

Ben has been so busy this past weekend with golf tournaments and judging some MBA thing at the university. It's like we didn't even have a weekend. Yesterday afternoon when he got home we decided to go get N some new toys. One of his milestones is that he should be able to stack blocks. Can he? I don't know. We don't have blocks. So we headed to find some. Where did we find them...Dilly Dally's. Nolan was overwhelmed to say the least. There were lots of new toys and he was in no way afraid to mix it up and play with non-boy gender toys.

He walked around with these push toys for 45 minutes. I knew a breakdown was going to happen when we left...and it did.

Ben thought he might buy it, but when he looked at the price tag, he changed his mind. Nolan held on for a brief moment longer, until I had to pry it from his little hand while ignoring the tears.

We also got a bead maze. Any time we go somewhere that has one of these, he gravitates toward it. His favorite thing to do with it when we got home - throw it on the tile to make a loud noise.

But, what's more fun than toys....playing on the floor with mom.

Greyson wanted some attention, so she went and got Ben's dirty (and slightly damp) golf sock from the previous hour and shoved it in my face. Clearly, I am thrilled and Nolan is stunned.

Dinner time meant inventive toy action. Here he is playing astronaut with the top to a plastic cake container.

And here's another reason why I get no sleep. Greyson. I went to get in the bed and this is what I found. She sure looks comfy.

And with my little guy on the way to church this morning. He cried in the nursery - again. I'm hoping we can get to a p0int where he's happy to go. On a side note, this is as straight as I could get my hair this morning - this is an hour after I dried it and I haven't even stepped outside. It has curled up every day for the last week. I hate humidity.

In other news, we are having a paver patio installed in our backyard. They've been working for the last week and the backyard is a disaster. I hope to have before and after pics posted later this week.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

2010-08-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

I guess he's seen Ben on the Blackberry a couple of times.

Rolling in the Walmart showcasing his mad texting skillz.

Off the Bentonville Square at Saturday's Farmer's Market.

All. Boy. All of the time.

These stairs made me nervous. Not as soft as the ones at the house.

Christmas

2010-07-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah, not the holiday. As in the Lloyd Christmas haircut. Nolan has a haircut scheduled for tomorrow, but Ben just could wait and hacked off some of the bangs - giving him the finest Caesar haircut you've ever seen. Mr. Impatient.

Today we went outside to enjoy a little cookie action from the always delicious Carbajal Bakery. Double-fisting.

Greyson is always trying to steal Nolan's snacks.

A perfectly good chocolate chip was sacrificed to the hair (I'm sure he's upset about the trim too). Quite the mess was made eating Nolan's share of the cookie.

I got a little bowl of water for him to splash his hands in, but he poured it all over himself. So I just got out the baby pool to get him nice and clean.

CUTE!

15 Months

2010-07-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Today our sweet little Nolan is 15 months old. And what an amazing 15 months it has been. I think back to the days where he was just a little nugget on the ultrasound...and now he is destroying our house on a daily basis. And as exhausted as I am, I am loving every single second of it. I went to college and majored in engineering (obviously if I were focusing on the Mrs. degree I would have picked something a little easier). Never in a billion years did I think I would be a full time mommy. I've never been as passionate about anything in my life as I am about this little boy. And shocking (maybe not), I'm really good at it. Don't get me wrong, I'm still my neurotic self - obsessed with a clean house, not much patience for stupidity, etc., but with Nolan I'm a much more mellow version of me.

So, recently our little guy has started gnawing on the side of his crib. Now, if this were a real piece of furniture, I would be freaking out. Fortunately, this is a piece that is out for a baby (maybe a couple) and then gets put away. I could care less that he is trying to eat his way out.

Barefoot at the doctor's office. Germaphobe Shelley gets over germs real fast when Nolan is around. If he's not jumping into a cesspool at the wastewater treatment plant, I'll probably get over it.

After today's visit (that's a big smile for a little boy that just got stuck three times). Nolan is 24 lbs 6 oz (50th percentile), 32 1/2 inches tall (90th percentile) and his head is 19 1/4 inches in circumference (90th percentile). Some of the things he is up to these days.

He loves water. Drinking it, bathing, going to the pool, finding puddles, playing in Greyson's bowl, standing in the rain. If it involves the potential for getting wet, he loves it.
He is eating a lot more: oatmeal, waffles, Cheerios, goldfish crackers, chicken, turkey, string cheese, yogurt, homemade mini-meatballs, salsa, pasta, and much more. Some things he still won't swallow: avocado, quinoa, mashed potatoes, asparagus, banana, whole milk...and sometimes ice cream.
Sleep is still hit and miss. We're doing better with two naps a day. The morning one is the longer of the two - he's usually down for just over an hour. The afternoon nap is too short (like 30 minutes) if he takes it at all. And at nighttime, he's still getting up most nights around 1 a.m. After a little check-in from mom, he usually goes right back to sleep for another 5 hours.
Some words he says: Ball, Mom (not in reference to me but referring to a balloon), Mama, Dada, Dog, Bird, Bat, Hello, Bye-Bye, Down, Toes, Nose, No and Good Girl (in reference to the dog). I swear sometimes I think he has just said 'Thank You' and today he may have said 'Yellow'. He seems to do much better when repeating words that start with a B.
He wears a size 4 diaper and 12-18 month clothes, although I'm still putting him in some 9-12 month stuff and he has a couple of rompers that are 24 months that he has worn. He has a little foot - a size 5....barely.
This week it was suggested that he move up to the Level 4 Gymboree Class for 16-22 months. He is just way too active for his Level 3 class. They work on two-way communication in Level 3 and he's pretty bored with it. Level 4 is problem solving. I have mixed emotions about it. He's already pushed a kitchen chair up to the kitchen sink and tried to climb up on top....I'm sure in an attempt to turn the water on. I don't need him to figure out how to get in my car and back it out of the garage.
He has started giving big hugs and kisses on the mouth.
He started biting, pinching and hitting. How on earth do I stop this?

Bye-Bye

One of those weeks

2010-07-22T19:00:00.001-07:00

First, an obligatory cute Nolan shot. Most pictures of this kid are cute. Even the ones of him crying. I take those as a reminder so 15 years from now I will remember that he did act like a total turd sometimes.

Ben's been out of town this week. And he has an all day golf tourney tomorrow. That translates into lots of fun for me. Now, if you work in a real job you're going to think this is all whiney of me. 'Poor Shelley. She is just tortured staying home all day with that baby.' Yeah, I get it. But it's not as easy as you would like to think. He has all day to mess up the house and he usually has a big meltdown before 9 a.m. And then there's just the rest of the day. Don't get me wrong; I am so blessed to be able to spend this time with him. Every day he changes and I get to be there for all of them. But those days when there are no reinforcements...no backup, those days are exhausting. But Ben is back now. Mini-Ben has been here all week.

He's just so cute.

So, on top of the fact that I was on full time Nolan duty all week, I had a major dental emergency this week. I was born without some teeth (7 & 10 in case you're curious), so I now have a series of bridges and veneers and a small fortune of dental work in my mouth. I had them redone about 3 years ago and despite my dentist telling me they would NEVER move, they did. So we were in the process of moving them back. Nothing like being a 30-something wearing an orthodontic appliance. (And I worry that while reading to Nolan I am going to have a lisp and he is forever going to say words incorrectly).

Now this bridge that wasn't supposed to move is also made out of very strong porcelain. The kind that doesn't break. Unless it is in my mouth. Where it wasn't supposed to move or break but it did both. While my husband was out of town. (And diapers would have been good because I wanted to poop my pants when it happened).

So after an emergency dental appointment on Tuesday (thank goodness my in-laws were available to watch Nolan for a couple of hours that afternoon while I was at the dentist) and trying to keep my tooth from falling out for two days, I had another temporary bridge put in today on the right side of my mouth. It's not nearly as pretty as the one that was there before. I have to wear it for three weeks. And make sure it doesn't fall out. For the next three weeks.

Oh, and Ben is never allowed to go out of town for 4 days ever again.

He Doesn't Do Floors

2010-07-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well, unless if by 'do', I am meaning throwing stuff all over them. In that case, he totally does floors. It is H.O.T. here in Arkansas. I'm sure it's hot where you are too. I waffle back on hating the heat and hating the cold. I guess I could move to Hawaii, but then I would hate not having seasons. But right in this moment, I would like nothing more than to slap the mess out of this heat and tell it to get on outta here.

But Nolan, he wants to play outside. I guess it's fun. So we go outside into morning temps probably only rivaled by those in the fiery pits of hell. Well, then there's the humidity. Win - Win. Something like that.

After 20 minutes, I was hot and hungry. So I let Nolan play on the patio under my watchful eye while I fixed my cereal. He was content to play with the old broom and swiffer while I ate. These are his favorite outside toys. He would only rather be in the pool or trying to poke the dog's eyes out. I've got to figure out a way to teach them that these tools can be used for cleaning the floors he so quickly destroys on a daily basis.

Then he gave me kisses through the door. The door that I'm sure the dog has licked. (I should probably clean that door off). That might be one of the funniest pictures we've taken in a while.

And then there's lunch. I have the hardest time with lunch. I am open to any lunch time suggestions. Usually it's just some torn up chicken or lunch meat, cheese and crackers. Today I made him a grilled cheese, but he wanted no part of it. So I made him a chicken and cheese quesadilla. It was love at first bite. Between that and the tomatoes from the salsa, I think this is the closest to a complete meal I've gotten in a long time.

A Model Baby in the A.M.

2010-07-08T09:57:00.001-07:00

We got an exceptionally early start this morning. By 8 a.m. we had finished breakfast, pulled several snacks out of the pantry and logged at least an hour of playtime. After a third diaper change and getting dressed for the day (well, we had the shirt in hand...I just couldn't get him to sit still long enough to get it on), we decided to head upstairs for some semi-independent play - this includes pulling things out of the desk and harrassing Greyson while I check my email.

Throwing around these two balls provided at least 43 seconds of entertainment.

On to a playing a little music on the computer.

Why does this picture remind me of something off of America's Next Top Model?

Finally, on to giving Greyson some love.

Dinner Flair

2010-07-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know that I love to cook and bake. I just never do it. When it was just me and Ben, I hated making all of the food to then have to eat it for five meals or throw it away. Now, with Nolan it's hard to find the time to make anything other than cereal, a sandwich or frozen waffles.

But tonight I did find some time to make dinner. It was really good. I would not say I'm a huge fan of stuffed peppers....really stuffed anything. The only thing I like stuffed at dinner is my tummy after a yummy meal.

Tonight we had stuffed bell peppers and Black Beans and Coconut Lime Rice (from the May 2010 Southern Living):

*

Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 Bell Peppers, sliced in half with seeds and white removed

1 lb. ground turkey

1 box Zatarain's rice

1 can rotel tomatoes, drained

Shredded cheddar cheese

Boil peppers for about 9 minutes and then cool in ice water. Pat dry.

Brown turkey in skillet

Cook rice according to directions.

Mix cooked turkey, rice (I only used 1/2 of the cooked rice), and tomatoes and stuff into peppers. Top with cheddar cheese.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Black Beans and Coconut Lime Rice (recipe courtesy of Marian Cairns in the May 2010 Southern Living)

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1.5 cups chicken broth

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

3 Tbsp. butter, divided

1.25 cups basmati rice

1 small onion, chopped

1 poblano pepper, diced

2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 lime

2 green onions, thinly sliced

.5 cups chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 350. Bake coconut on single layer on baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes

Bring broth, next 2 ingredients, 2 Tbsp. butter and 1 cup water to boil in 2 qt saucepan. Stir in rice. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 15 to 20 minutes until rice is tender

Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in medium saucepan; add onion and pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in black beans, chili powder, cumin and 3/4 cup water. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Grate zest from lime and squeeze lime juice into bowl.

Fluff rice and fold in lime zest and juice, coconut, green onions and cilantro into hot cooked rice.

Serve bean mixture over rice.

(The recipe suggested topping with lime wedges or mango or sour cream. It was fine without the toppings).

*The plate may look a little dirty. This was my second helping.

I love long weekends

2010-07-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

I don't have a 'real' job. So every day is pretty much the same for me. But I love it when Ben is home for a long weekend. That extra day is always so much fun for all of us. Emily came to town this weekend for Ben's birthday and the 4th of July. We love it when she visits!

Nolan loves it almost as he loved eating this dirt. The kid refused to eat cake for about 2 months, but shoved a handful of this right in his mouth. Weirdo.

And this picture cracked me up. I mean, could these two look anymore alike?

This was at about 8 p.m. just before bath and bedtime. N was in the best mood. Proof that you don't have to be sour when you have wet pants (or no pants).

And he was quite tickled with himself.

In other news, the Japenese beetles have arrived. This is a birch in our backyard - we taking it out, so I'm not too worried about the destruction of it. I caught these two lovebugs in the act. Snacking and getting busy. Nice.

I don't even know what to say

2010-06-23T07:58:00.001-07:00

We've been busy - so busy I don't even update my Facebook status. I know - super busy, right. Nolan got sick and then I got sick. And I don't know what is worse: a) taking care of grumpy sick little boy or b) attempting to care for a full of life little man when I am under the weather. But it seems we are both better now. Thank goodness.

We were supposed to be on the beach in Alabama this week. That got cancelled when oil washed ashore. Obviously Alabama tourism is spending a lot of money to try and get people down there suggesting many off-beach activities. Look, when I plan a trip to the beach all I want to do is sit on the beach slathered in my SPF 30 and read a book. This year I was also planning on watching the baby. We just couldn't justify spending that much time in the car to expose Nolan to a potentially harmful situation. So Ben went to work and I'm doing more of the usual...hanging out at home.

Oh, and I now have to wear a retainer. It's slightly humiliating because people look at me like I'm an unwed underage mother. I'm just hoping my teeth move back to where they were 3 years ago and I don't have to undergo major dental surgery...again.

Well, what post would be complete without a picture of my sweet little boy?

These pretzels....

2010-05-31T19:58:00.001-07:00

Are making me thirsty*.

*Disclaimer: We did not give Nolan pretzels. Well, not yet. I did however let him taste a chocolate bar last week. The look on his face was a mixture of excitement and bliss. But don't tell dad; he knows nothing of this.

The Pool is Open

2010-05-30T19:24:00.001-07:00

Today we took a trip to the neighborhood pool. And against my better judgement, I just uploaded a picture of me in my 'momsuit.' Hey, it's a cute picture of Nolan. He enjoyed himself and only nearly drown twice - even with Ben and I keeping a close eye.

The backyard pool is much safer. And from the comfort on playing in inches of water, you can also harrass the dog.

And when that gets old, you can run around in the sprinkler (and eat dirt).

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Denver Dining

2010-05-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

So, here's a post about food. Really good food. And the most important meal of the day. So if you are ever in the Denver area, I suggest you get yourself to Snooze for some yummy breakfast. Since our days in Naperville I have dearly missed a good breakfast. Seriously, those pumpkin pancakes at Egg Harbor were so yummy, and sometimes you just want a good Sir Dugan frittata. Alas, most of NWA breakfast dining options are pretty terrible (looking at you Village Inn). Nolan had a couple of pieces of my food, but he focused on his YoBaby yogurt.

Ben had some breakfast burrito with chorizo and avocado. It was really good -and I'm not a huge chorizo fan. I do, however, love black beans...those were in there too.

I should have taken the picture before I started devouring my food. I got pancakes. I love pancakes. Ben does not. Something about wet bread. Well, he had a bite and he liked them. I loved them; so much so, that in PeeWee style fashion, I might have married them. From L to R: chocolate chip with a whole bunch of cream on it, pineapple upside down cake and sweet potato. Yummers!!!

So, if you are ever in Denver, get yourself over to Snooze. And go early; they get crowded.

Go West Young Man

2010-05-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we traveled to Denver to see Emily. She has moved with work (again). She lives right in the heart of downtown next to Coors Field and has the cutest little apartment. We got up early and drove to Tulsa to catch a direct Southwest flight. Since we woke up so early and I was able to keep N awake during the drive and while we waited to board, once we took off he was straight to snoozeville. And didn't wake up until about 10 minutes before we landed (of course, it was only an hour and a half long flight).

When we got to baggage claim, he had some energy to burn. If you've never traveled with a baby, my only recommendation is check your luggage (prior to this trip the last time I checked luggage was 2006 - when they totally banned liquids on the plane for that short while). It was all Ben and I could do to get ourselves, a stroller, Nolan and the diaper bag through security. It would have been an disaster with carry on luggage.

When we got to Emily's she had a ball waiting for him. The next morning he ran around and played and played and played with the ball.

Once we got ready we went and had breakfast at Snooze (yummy, btw) and then headed to the Denver Zoo. This was Nolan's first trip to the zoo. And being a candidate for mom of the year, what did I do.....temporarily lost my camera. Fortunately, Emily had hers. Lifesaver!!! Nolan was asleep for the first 20 minutes of our zoo experience, but then he woke up.

Just in time for the giraffes. They were by far his favorite 'dog' that we saw. To a 12-month old with a dog, everything with four legs is a dog. And then there are birds. Those are the only two animals we know.

He tired of being in the stoller, so after the great apes exhibit, decided to push the stroller around and attempt to take out some zoo patrons in the process.

So Emily held him. He just loves Emily.

Then we headed to get some lunch and went to the park to eat it. Nolan LOVES pickles. They are really the only solid food he will eat. He did swallow a couple of pieces of turkey on the same day. Progress!

While I finished up my lunch, he and Emily played.

That afternoon we headed up to Lookout Mountain. Getting there was not fun. Nolan was grouchy, but upon arrival, he found lots of fun things to touch.

The stuffed animal pit creeped me out a little bit (germs), but he wasn't screaming so we played for a bit with these. We were going to hit up Red Rocks, but he got pretty mad with the 2k elevation change and started screaming, so we just headed back downtown.

And had some dinner. It's always feeding the little monkey without a highchair. (Oh, and Emily bought him a balloon - he loves balloons).

After the adults had dinner we were going to walk to the downtown jazz fest. Turns out what we thought was the jazz festival was actual the Jose Cuervo games. Probably not where you want to hang with a toddler so we headed back to Emily's by way of Coors Field.

And on Sunday we got up and played around the river for a bit and then drove to the airport to head home.

The flight back wasn't as smooth. To start, Denver is a slightly bigger airport than Tulsa so security took longer. Once we boarded, Nolan wasn't the slightest bit tired, so the next 45 minutes were spent removing all of the seatback materials and throwing them (I felt a little sorry for the lady next to Ben getting the menu thrown in her lap every 10 minutes). He finally fell asleep near the end of the flight and slept until we picked up our luggage.

We made it home in time for him to start hardcore teething again. No one is sleeping and there is a lot of poutsies. Currently, we are 4 teeth in. I guess that leaves about 16 more baby teeth to go. Good times.

Goodbye Sweet Baby Curls

2010-05-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well, for the record, I don't know that there were ever any curls. Just a lot of hair. Not so much a mullet....there was a party all the way around - absolutely NO business to be had on Nolan's head. Here he is last week prior to the trim.

He's pretty adorable, if I do say so.

Giving the old haircut one big smile in the mirror before it's gone.

Toward the end. It's shaping up to be a nice little boy cut. For the record, there were no tears. Just a lot of squirming. Ben and I had to take turns holding him...and the whole cut took about 10 minutes. Thanks Michael at Blue Door & Co. for making this easy. (She has two boys...I'm pretty sure that's why she was so awesome). It's not perfect; we wanted to fix up the front a little, but he was having no part of that. Maybe next time.

Playing outside is so much easier when you can see where you are going.

Unrelated to the haircut, Ben and I went to see Iron Man 2 on Saturday afternoon. It was slightly better than okay. I like RDJ and think he's pretty adorable, so it was really win for me either way. But while trying to park the car we tried to turn into a space and this was parked there. Not a motorcyle, but a bicycle. With no chains or anything. This has to be one of the stupidest things I have ever seen. I'm sure there is a bike rack in the area. Wonder if the bike was there when this person got back to it?

Sometimes....

2010-05-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

he likes to feed himself.

And boy is it messy.

As you may notice, he got a haircut. Fun pics to come soon.

A lot can happen in a year.

2010-05-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

So it's official. Nolan is one year old. We had a birthday party the weekend before his actual birthday. He only fed me icing off of his cake and then started throwing it around the dining room - at which point, the cake was taken away. Just as a note, if you plan your pregnancy, try not to have your baby 8 days after your birthday (or 8 days from any family birthday)...in one week, we ate THREE cakes. The party was just a family event. I figured this was the one year I could keep it low key and he wouldn't be devastated.

He liked opening gifts more than eating. I mean, seriously, who doesn't like cake? I'll tell you who....my child. Which comes as a shock because I eat something sweet EVERY SINGLE DAY. (Note to self - I need to spend more time in a gym). At heart, he's a Cubbies fan, but since the Orioles are in a different league, he can wear the outfit Kimberly sent him.

At his one year "well" baby visit, he was 30.5 inches long and 22 lbs, 8 oz. Still right in the 50th percentile. When asked how he was doing with solids I laughed. Out loud. He has some weird aversion to most foods. Again weird, Ben and I eat ALL OF THE TIME! He still nurses about 6 times a day. I get tired just typing that. (If you have any strong feelings against breastfeeding your child this long, maybe you should see what the AAP or the WHO have to say about it). Turns out, a lot of kids who have late eruption of their teeth (he got his first tooth just before 11 months and a second one just before his birthday a third came in shortly thereafter, and we're still working on number four) don't take to solids that well. We're hoping he'll be eating table food by junior high. Now, we offer him food about 5 times a day. Most of the time he doesn't eat it. Sometimes he does. Like greasy mexican rice....off of a table. He ate a ton of this stuff. After he had already eaten a pretty hefty dinner.

And he's walking full on these days. You'll be doing something and then he's all BAM! up in your business. When 2 seconds ago he was three rooms away. Ben says he's stealth.

And no post would be complete without a picture of him torturing the dog. All Greyson wants to do is sleep. Nolan does not like sleep. Sleep is for losers (and most certainly not for moms...or dogs).

I am as busy as a bee.

2010-04-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

Heavens to Betsy. Nolan has been keeping me on my toes. Every single day is busier than the day before. I guess that's what happens when your baby starts to gain ground on becoming an semi-independent toddler.

There are far too many toys to play with to worry with putting clothes on for the day. I'm just lucky I was able to get the diaper on him. For about 20 minutes he scooted around the house in just socks.

We bought him this push lion on Easter Sunday. I figured it would help work out of some that energy. And maybe it would help him start to learn how to walk. He's been pulling up and cruising on the furniture for about two months now. What could this little guy hurt? There's NO WAY he would be walking before his first birthday.

Another attempt to wear Nolan and Greyson down. A long walk on a pretty trail. Well, it sure wore me out.

And put this little dude straight to sleep.

But when we got home, more exploring. Yeah, you saw the lion walker early. This was one week later and we've now progressed to holding mom's (or dad's) hands while we walk....everywhere.

And tonight, he decided it was time to do some serious solo walking. He had been taking a step or two (or three or four). But tonight, we walked to Ben across the kitchen. And then walked across his bedroom. I guess this means he is officially a walker. He seems to do a better job if he is distracted holding something in his hands (yeah, you see the splatter guard which is almost as tall as he is).

I would like to state for the record, our pediatrican told us once he started moving around more, he would need more sleep. It didn't happen with the scooting (he never really crawled). I don't expect it to happen with the walking. Like I said....busy as a bee.

40/29 News...You're Wrong

2010-02-23T17:51:00.000-08:00

Arkansas is not in first place in the SEC West. As I've heard at least 10 times on the news commercials today.

The Bulldogs are (at least for now). THANKYOUVERYMUCH.

Their conference records are the same, but Miss State's overall record is better.

And if I hear one more time about how Arkansas will be getting into the NCAA tournament, I might just keel over. I mean, honestly, with an overall record of 14-13? Not happening.

Deals, Dinner and Celebrity Dish

2010-02-10T07:13:00.000-08:00

Hi, my name is Shelley and I love to shop. I would not call myself an addict; I can stop whenever I want (or, when say, I don't have any money). Really, more than anything I just love (LURVE) a good deal. That being said you have to do a lot of browsing to know a good deal when you think you see one. Good thing I'm a stay-at-home mom with a little time on my hands (and a baby who hates napping and loves getting out of the house).

Yesterday, I hit the motherload. Just a quick trip over to TJMaxx to try and find some sunglasses. I've been devastated since Greyson ate (YES, ate) my SpyOptic Smoke Gray sunglasses that I got for FREE. I figured TJ's would have something cheap. Well, I found two pair that I liked: a purple Esprit pair for $2 and a black BCBG pair for $5. Then I headed over to handbags and found a cute little ColeHaan satin clutch for $7. The brand sticker had it at $255 (WHAT???). Why stop there? Back to the baby section to see if I could find anything for little man. Nope, but I did find a pair of jeans for my niece who just turned 5. They're pink and they were $3...which will make a nice addition to the two little dresses I got her for her birthday. At that point, I just had to look over the ladies stuff and I found a Joie cashmere blend sweater cardi vest for $15 - you could buy it at Bluefly right now for $118.99 (original price $245), along with a Joie sapphire blue (one of my fav colors) racerback shirt for $10 (original price $108). Over in the jeans section I found a pair of JBrand jeans for $10. I was a little unsure because they were a 27 and well, I'm still holding on to some baby inches, but at that price I figured I could return them if they didn't work out. Well, they did work out!!!

Also, last Friday, Ben took off to hang with me and Nolan after his sales meeting in San Diego. We had a good time as a family.

We had lunch at Las Fajitas. I've been boycotting since about a year ago after I found a hair in my rice. After sampling other mexican places around town, I decided we could give it a go again. I mean, what restaurant doesn't sometimes give you a suprise in your food. I'm looking at you Taste of Thai. I will never eat there again after I found a roach in my thai barbeque chicken. Hey, there are some things you just can't get past. We've also learned that if you give Nolan food at the table, he will play with it and put it in his mouth and pretty much be quiet for the better part of a meal. File that in 'Bad Things Parents Do.' He licked the tortilla. A little unsure about it.

He's also continued on the warpath unraveling everything he can in the house. I tried to explain this to Ben, but he left the dog's dinnerware on the floor anyway. And as you guessed, Nolan decided that is EXACTLY what he needed to play in.

He's quite pleased with himself.

I've been trying for about 9 months to read Atlas Shrugged. It's hard to read anything really deep while taking care of a baby. Nolan decided to give it a go.

And then, like mom, decided USWeekly was a little more his speed.

And look at the shag!!! We're going to have to get a haircut SOON.

He Wears Many Hats

2010-02-03T17:21:00.001-08:00

In his great-grandfather's Mississippi State stocking cap. This was taken just before bedtime. He was tired, thus the solemn look.

I like to call this look 'Cousin Eddie.' He's embarrassed.

You probably thought this post was going to be something more insightful and not actually about hats. Insightfulness is lost on a mom who has for the past 24 hours spent every minute alone with her baby. I'm so glad Ben will be home in the next couple of hours. It's been a LONG four days.

Y Chromosome

2010-02-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

It's a destructive thing.

First task of the morning. Pull up on the little table with a marble top and break it. Not just the base or the top...but both. (I'm lucky the thing didn't fall on him). It will get fixed and then be put away until someone is not cruising around on the furniture.

Next task of destruction...the $300 breast pump.

Scootin' Around

2010-02-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

I'm still not crawling, but that doesn't mean I can't get around. I scoot across the floor at a record pace. Getting into cabinets and drawers. Today I found two new things in the kitchen that I might like to get into.

First - the wine fridge. Look how low they put these handles. Just asking for a baby to open it up if you ask me. Mom promptly got the key out and locked it.

Next - the dishwasher. It's the perfect height for pulling up on. Even though I'm not crawling, I'm trying to pull up on EVERYTHING - mom, chairs, the couch, even Greyson.
I'm ready for independent mobility!

Have you ever?

2010-01-31T17:13:00.001-08:00

Seen anything cuter than these two? And the fact that they are just smitten with each other makes me so happy.

We're still snowed in. I think most roads are fine, but the road in the neighborhood are horrible; I don't even think I could get 50 feet past my driveway (Ben did an excellent job of shoveling off the driveway...it's totally clear now). In the past I might have risked it to get over the cabin fever...maybe a trip to Sonic for a diet vanilla coke. But with the precious cargo, I'm not taking any chances.

And so it continues....

2010-01-29T15:24:00.000-08:00

the snow. Good times.

Yes, there are very yummy things in the fridge. Nolan enjoys staying warm inside in his pj's.

Freezing rain then sleet and now snow.

My finger got pretty cold doing this.

9 Month Well Baby Visit

2010-01-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

Nolan is nine months old today. So far, it's been such a fun journey. We've been so lucky that he really hasn't been a sick baby (well, other than the eczema, reflux, random cold, etc....but small things). I've also been very fortunate that he has been a good eater and I have been able to exclusively nurse him for the last nine months.
I wake up every morning thrilled to be his mom.

The doctor's appointment fell right at nap time. I guess we're lucky he was not in a foul mood.

Sitting in the waiting room with daddy. There are lots of fun things to look at on the walls.

Hanging out in the appointment room waiting on Dr. Harvey. Love those chunky legs.

Like I mentioned, fun murals are very distracting to a baby and might make a photo with him looking at the camera nearly impossible.

So, all and all, it was a good visit. He weighs in at 20 lbs, 8 oz and is 29 inches long. Pretty much 50th percentile....but so far from average.

Diapers?

2010-01-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

So, in the last month, we've had some slight issues with N having accidents at night. Somehow, in a 10-hour window he manages to tinkle so much that he fills up and over the diaper. If I change him when he wakes up at 4 a.m. we are usually good. But sometimes I don't feel like changing a diaper at 4 in the morning. I just want to get back in the bed.

Any suggestions on how to stop this from happening? It happens a few times a week. He gets fresh clean sheets every third day or so (lucky him). It was happening every night, but I went to a larger size overnight diaper and thereby eliminated some of the problem. Currently, I am using Pampers Overnights in a Size 4. He usually wears a size 3. Would using another diaper brand help?

Well, here he is in all of his cuteness.

CUTE!

Not crawling here. Just slapping the tile. And that tv in the background. Yes, I was watching CSPAN. They were talking food stamps (now the program is known as SNAP). I could go on and on about socialism in this country....but I won't.

Working those swollen gums over. He threw the spoon and bowl on the ground no less than 15 times this morning after he had his breakfast.

And when can I trim up this hair? Notice the lovely side fringe. And it's long in the front too. I was told to wait until he's a year old, but I worry that he's just going to look so bummy if I don't do something about it soon.

Don't Call It A Comeback

2010-01-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

I've been here for years.

Despite my lack of blogging, I've been here. It just seems such a daunting task to go through the camera, pick out pictures and say things about stuff. The last three months have been good (maybe a little not so good too). There was Thanksgiving, Christmas, snow and a whole bunch of stuff in between. I got a new camera - the Canon SD780. It's pretty great and tiny. I wanted the D50, but let's be honest, it's expensive and I'm cheap. I still have the film SLR and if I want to get fancy, well, I'll just get my film developed.

Nolan still has no teeth. He still nurses way more than the literature says he should. He has a head full of hair and probably weighs in around 20 lbs now. And I just love spending my days with him. It's gotten easier. We try to get out of the house every day. Some days that is a challenge. Like when it was really cold a couple of weeks ago. I reminded myself that I 'braved' two Chicago winters. Yeah, that didn't make it any easier.

I've started going to the gym again. Well, on more of a routine. I've convinced Ben to take two longer lunches during the week so I can go around noon. If you live in NWA and are looking for a gym, I highly recommend Fuse in Bentonville. It's clean. I'm big on clean. We were members of another gym when we lived here before and it was not clean. Edward Health in Naperville spoiled me. Fuse doesn't spoil, but it does keep me content. I'm trying to get into a running routine again and pick back up with some weight lifting.

So other than house stuff, baby stuff and gym stuff, I've really just been hanging out. I'll try to be better about the blog. My mom asked me for a while about updates. Finally she just stopped asking. I put pictures of Nolan on Facebook, so she gets a little fix there.

So, here are pictures of 'Little Toot' (don't ask me where the name came from) over the last several months.

Ben figured out if he set him in the sink, he really couldn't go anywhere. He however, did end up with wet pants.

His love affair with Greyson has grown stronger. She tolerates him, for now.

Still loves to jump.

The first walk around the neighborhood in the wagon.

We've tried a lot of new foods. So far we've had sweet potatoes, butternut squash, parsnips, green beans, sweet peas, leeks, asparagus, cherries, blueberries, peaches, mangoes, pears, apples, bananas and avocado. This is N with cherries all over his cute little face. Despite what you see, a lot actually went 'down the chute.'

These monthly pictures get harder and harder to take.

We went back to Mississippi and visited with friends and family. We pretty much covered the north third of the state in a week. Ben and Daddy went duck hunting. Here they are with 'the kill.' Well, most of it.

We also got to see Brett, Kelly, Emma, Hudson and Logan. Hudson is such a sweet little boy. In this picture, he's definitely the easy baby. Even though my child is sleeping, things quickly turned around and I was bouncing all around Little Dooey.

Christmas Socks!!!

Emily came in for the holidays from Charlotte. Nolan just loves her. So does Greyson.

So, I had to do a little rearranging of the tree. Something tells me next year I won't have any ornaments on the bottom three feet of it.

Nini got Nolan the wagon for Christmas. He was clearly excited about it.

Favorite things to play with: my hair, kitchen items.

SO CUTE!

Spooks and Frights!

2009-10-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

BOO!

It's my first Halloween. Mom wanted to buy me a fun costume, but they are so expensive. And I wasn't going to leave the house this year (she tells me I'm too young and I've been sick). We decided next year is the year we drop major bank on festive attire. This year...a festive sleep n' play. I got my bath before the trick or treaters starting arriving and got all gussied up in my skeleton sleeper.

I helped mom hand out candy. We had a lot of trick or treaters at our house. Bags and bags and bags (and more bags) of candy were handed out. Some girls even asked if they could take me home. I guess I am as sweet as candy.

Mom and dad eat this stuff all of the time. Wouldn't it be awesome if they let me have this whole bowl of candy?

Well, it's past my bedtime. I should probably get to bed in my super scary sleeper.

Happy Halloween!

-Nolan

6 Months Old

2009-10-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

Busy Week! This week we celebrated Sparkie's birthday on the 27th, Nolan's 6-month birthday on the 28th and our 4th wedding anniversary on the 29th. The 29th also marked Nolan's 6-month 'well' baby check-up. He had (still has - and gave it to me, Ben and grandmother Sparkie) a cold, so well isn't really the best description. A little bit of what he's been up to in the past month or so....

A lot of talking. I've never heard a baby talk so much. Probably because I've never been around one this much. 24/7.
Disrupted sleep schedule. He still gets up twice during the night to nurse. His doctor says its not necessary to feed him, but he cries if I don't and let's be honest, no one wants to calm a crying baby at 2 in the morning. It's just easier to feed him and go back to sleep.
Being average in size. He's 17 lbs, 7 oz and 26.5 inches long. I think he might be longer - the nurse was kind of willy-nilly getting the length. I think he's over 27 inches long - at least he is when I measure him. Either way, he's at the 50% mark or above on length and right in the middle on weight too.
Trying new foods. So far we've had rice cereal (he still hates it), oatmeal (hates it), green beans (if there was a stronger word than hate, I would use it here), avocado (acting like he was choking the entire time I was feeding it to him) and butternut squash (LOVES it). I also have some parsnips to cook up and some sweet potatoes and a half a bag of frozen sweet peas leftover from making paella in the freezer. After I get through about 5 veggies, I'll add some fruits. I have a feeling those will be a success.
Stinky diapers. When you start solids, things start to smell.....foul.
Teething. This has been an ongoing process for a while. I can see two bottom teeth that are close to breaking the skin and the top two are clearly not far behind. Maybe this will be one good thing and he'll cut all four at once (maybe at night while he's sleeping and never know what hit him). A girl can dream, can't she?
Sitting. He's been doing this well since the 5-month mark. Still not trying to be mobile. Another thing on my wish list. That he'll be totally stationary until he's around the one-year mark and then decide to skip crawling and just walk. What a glorious thing it would be if that actually happened.
The cackle. It's more like a fake laugh. He scrunches up his nose and makes a cackle. Not sure where it came from, but we laugh when he does it so it continues.

As you can see, the monthly photoshoots with paper have become a little more difficult.

And if not distracted by the paper, he'll find something else to play with. He can't just smile for the camera. (These bumper pads do not stay in his bed. Just ask Ben how he feels about it).

I leave you with two of my loves. Hanging out. Love them both.....so much.

Things I Do

2009-10-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

Most of my time is spent tending to the little guy. Feeding, changing, entertaining in general, but I do other things. The list of other things has dwindled in the last six months, but here are a handful of things I have accomplished in the last week. What can I say, it's been a good week.

I did this arrangement for Ben's mom's birthday (she turned 35). This arrangement is from Emily. Sparkie loves fall colors, so I thought this would be a hit. It was. I did another one from Nolan and delivered it to her office. I didn't take a picture of it. It was white roses with bright pink phlox, some lavender and had a big turquoise and brown ribbon.

Last night I also made dinner. This one is an easy one. Easy is a good thing around this house.

Cook 1/2 package of angel hair pasta (or 8 oz. if you like to get fancy) for about 5 minutes. Drain, BUT reserve about 3/4 cup of the cooking water for later. In the same pot cook 1/2 lb. of shrimp (I use the frozen kind - they are cheaper) in 1 Tbsp of olive oil turning after 1 min and continue cooking until opaque; add 1 tsp of minced garlic, and a handful of cherry tomatoes chopped in half. Stir in reserved cooking water with 1/2 cup of pesto (I use the kind that is already made). Mix and then toss in the cooked pasta and some baby spinach. Toss until mixed and garnish the parm and a lemon wedge. I served with garlic bread. It was good. This usually makes enough for me and Ben and leftovers for one of us the next day.

I also made the little man some butternut squash yesterday. He loved it. The picture is fuzzy, but you should be able to gauge how much is all over his face.

Meeting the Three New Cousins

2009-10-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

Ben, Nolan, Sparkie and I headed down to Starkville last Thursday to catch a little college football action. On the way down, we made a pit stop in Collierville to see my middle sisters girls for the first time. They are adorable, and there are three of them. Nolan really liked them and loved visiting.

Nolan talking to Madi, Macie and Marlee with Corlee supervising.

Sitting in their Bumbos and Nolan sitting beside them.

It looks like Nolan is listening to a good story.

Jax was more interested in playing with his lions and tigers.

And Corlee was more interested in her Cheetos.

We ♥ Greyson

2009-10-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

Ben and Nolan spent some time this afternoon playing with Greyson in the backyard. I had to get the camera out after I heard super loud laughter. Yep, Nolan was laughing loud enough for me to hear him in the kitchen.

Good times.

It's Friday Ya'll!

2009-10-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Boy, file this week under the L-O-N-G-E-S-T W-E-E-K E-V-E-R. Ben went to Hilton Head this Monday through Wednesday for a little sales meeting with work (aka - golf vacation with some meetings). I never enjoy when he is gone. As mentioned, we went to the doctor this week for some ear tugging and it's just teeth. Did I say 'just teeth.' There's no 'just' about it. It's brutal. If you know, you know.

NiNi asked to see pictures of Nolan's chair in his room. We've had it for about a month. Better late than never. I love having a chair in his room. I don't see how I did things without having it in there. I mean, I can just sit Nolan down on it and go about my daily business for hours on end. Kidding. We read our nighttime stories there (usually, 'The Animals Go In Two by Two.'). It's a good place to wind down before bedtime.

The chair is also good for photoshoots and gazing out the window or at the dog. Not sure which he was looking at. Greyson is over by the window. It could be either....probably G.

I'm pretty sure he's looking out of the window for this one.

Nolan loves the chair too. Some of his other new loves: fall weather, not eating his cereal, PLAID, his feet, sitting and playing with his toys, not napping, 'being chatty', and THIS FACE.

It started yesterday. I have taken no less than one dozen pictures of him making it. It's funny. I'm sure it's teething related. It's just so stinking cute.

This is my favorite. And he's my favorite too! Hope everyone has a stellar weekend.

Teeth

2009-10-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

Nolan and I went to the pediatrician's office yesterday. He's been pulling at his ears since late Friday night. I suspected teething was the culprit, but ear infections can be nasty so I wanted to make sure he was fine.

I was a nervous wreck taking him in during cold and flu season. A trip to the dr's office could get him sick. We didn't touch a thing, and I washed my hands as soon as we got in the waiting room and as soon as I got home. Germs. Yuck.

No teeth have fully surfaced yet. But they are there. And there's lots and lots of drool (and tears). Teething is no fun. So other than the teething misery, our 'little' 17-lb nugget is doing stellar.

Just Sittin' Around...

2009-10-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

being cute. Yep, that's me. My mom tells me that I'm the cutest little boy in the whole wide world. I guess that makes up for the fact that maybe I'm not the best-behaved little boy (I think I'm pretty close to the top on that one too).

And I'm shocked that it is supposed to rain again tomorrow. Mom always told me the fall is dry here. I guess I'll just sit around and work on my cuteness.

-Nolan

Can You Really Consider This REAL Food?

2009-10-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Today was a big day. We hit up the Farmer's Market early this morning. Not as early as we originally anticipated - some nameless daddy decided to sleep in. We got some honey. Someone told us local honey could help with Ben's allergies. He NEVER gets sick so when he does, it's pretty bad. At this point, we'll try anything. Nolan took two two-hour naps today (and I took one too). We got all gussied up and headed over to Mike and Kacy's (and Wells was there too) for some yummy barbeque. There are few things better than SEC football and a good smoked pork shoulder.

We had to hurry home before any of the good conference games were over. We had big plans for tonight. Someone was totally ready to start solids. He's been scoping out us eating since he was about 3 months old. We bought everything last week, but I just wasn't ready. It's a big step. Up until about 2 hours ago, all he had ever eaten was breastmilk. I'll be honest, I was a little sad to see him take this step. I guess the saying should be something like, '5-month old baby cannot survive on breastmilk alone.' He probably could, maybe for another month or two, but it was time. So I got home and changed my shirt, nursed him and then mixed up some super runny rice cereal. I think in Nolan's head he was probably thinking something like...
"Wow, a bowl and a spoon. Look she's holding that close to me. Does this mean what I think it means? You're going to let me put that in my mouth. Finally."

"Don't mind if I do. Could you get it in there a little faster please."

"Very nice. More please."

"Actually, no. No more please. This stuff is gross."

"Seriously Mom. Get that spoon away from my mouth. It's nasty."

We didn't finish the whole tablespoon. He started to act disinterested about halfway through. He did really well with the eating part though. He didn't try to push any back out...until he realized it didn't taste so good. Tomorrow we'll go a little thicker and before you know it we'll be well on our way to eating a pulled pork sandwich with a lot of runny barbeque sauce.

Bath Time in the 'Big' Tub

2009-10-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

After quick perusal of tonight's pictures, I found a bathtime shot that is totally appropriate for the blog. It's a happy time for our little guy, but you have to be careful of how much exposure there is. For you all you know, I bathe him in a tiny little swimsuit. In this picture he's checking out his other washcloth floating away.

We've had to move him to the bathtub outside of his room. In his baby tub, he would soak me and I would end up with more water on the floor than I knew what to do with - I mean, I'm not going to be forced to mop the floor out of my own free will. Right now, this is totally a two-man job. He can sit, but not very well, so there's a lot of holding and rotating and him trying to squirm out of my grip. And I've also learned that we always bathe with two washcloths. He has to have one to play with. This was a lesson a couple of weeks in the making. We would get into bathtime and then I would have to have Ben get me another washcloth because he would not release the original one from his death grip.

Gorgeous

2009-09-30T16:09:00.000-07:00

Splendid, showily brilliant or magnificent.

Yeah, I'm not looking so hot (a hair drying timing issue - got about halfway dry with the dryer and then spent too long on the phone for some natural drying time = disaster), but today is a beautiful day in Northwest Arkansas. Nolan and I went for a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon - which we do almost every day, usually in the morning. And this afternoon we played in the backyard and threw around the ball and frisbee with Greyson after she got home from doggy daycare.
We're not looking forward to rain moving back into the area, but while things are like this, we sure are going to enjoy them.

5 Months Old

2009-09-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Ya'll. We've been out of commission for a while. Things are changing here at the Scarbrough household. It's fall and that means college football season. And my dad watches a lot of football. It's practically on every night. Mom is okay with watching the SEC games, but that's it. There are a lot of shows on Bravo and with fall premieres, she's gotta be selective about what she watches. Did I mention I can be a bit of a handful?
In the last month we discovered I have reflux. It took 4 months and 2 medications to get it figured out, but I'm getting better now. I'm not always so tense and arching my back now. Sometimes, I just relax. I enjoyed keeping mom and dad on their toes for the first 4 months. Even though I wasn't laughing, I was enjoying every minute of their time with me. And it worked, they're so attached now, they can't leave me alone for 15 minutes. I think they might be smitten.

So what else is new with me? Glad you asked. Here are some of the fun things I have going on right now:

I am starting to sit up. I can only stay this way for about 2 minutes if I'm really focused. You gotta start somewhere right? I still have only rolled over from my back to front twice.
Mom has some rice cereal in the pantry for me. She says she nervous about giving it to me. My dad had some food allergies as a child and she doesn't want me to be cursed with the same. I guess things like milk, eggs, shrimp and bread can be good, so I'm going to trust her and keep waiting it out a while on the cereal.
I love my big sister Greyson. I may even miss her when she's gone. I like to pet her and watch her as she walks around the back yard.
I still don't sleep through the night. There's just too much going on and I get hungry. Mom's started the Sleepeasy method. She is convinced she can get me down to one nursing around 2 a.m. I guess I'll have to be okay with that. I get in my bed around 7:30 and wake up around 6:30 the next morning. We're working on the naps too.
But, I do sleep in my bed. Not that it has made a big difference in mom's sleep. She still hears me and gets up when I start calling.
I'm chatty. Even the nurses at the doctor's office think so. My mom is a talker. She has that mouth going all day. I do what I can to get a word (or babble) in.
Everyone tells me I'm tall. I'm probably over 27 inches long now. But seriously, have you seen my parents? They are giants.
I'm also around 17 lbs. The perfect size if you ask me.
I wear a size 2 shoe, but mom bought size 3s for fall and winter. And these feet, they are skinny like my mom's.

And I did my best to make mom work for a shot on the camera. I really wanted to put this paper in my mouth. Mom said she's just going to tell everyone I was reading and telling her it said I was 5 months old.

I'll try and stay on top of her to do some more posting more often.

Until next month - Nolan

A Real Cowboy...

2009-08-03T18:14:00.001-07:00

...showing us how it's done.

If you need clarification on that statement, ask Ben. Traumatic childhood moment.

And he's all greasy looking because he has eczema and I have to slather him in Eucerin creme each night after bathtime. Dewy.

The Third Month's a Charm?

2009-07-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

So little guy is three months old. How are things different? Well, he's had a couple of sleeping through the nights, he's getting better on napping, and he loves to laugh at his daddy. He smiles at me, but he full on laughs at Ben. Maybe because Ben has a bigger head...who knows. We just love this little man so much right now.

He does sleep. And when he does, we document it. Here he is napping with me on a Sunday afternoon. We're almost mirror images of each other in the way we are laying.

Sleeping on his own. I'm pretty sure this was one of those quick naps. Doesn't he look like a little angel?

And here he is at night laying beside Ben. He doesn't sleep in our bed, but sometimes he falls asleep on our bed.

And proof that he's getting more control. A little push up wave during tummy time. I was so glad I had my camera for this one.

I hear the 4th month is where everything just becomes bliss. It's pretty awesome right now, so I'm looking forward to what we have in store for the coming weeks.

10 Weeks Old

2009-07-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

Look at me..posting the 9 week and 10 week posts in the same day. Better late than never. 10-weeks old wearing our personalized onesie. I've been asked where I got it from. Well, I didn't get it. Kacy was being her usual thoughtful self and got it for him. If you are interested in getting one, you can find out more info here.

After our little photoshoot, he was all tuckered out.

We had a little milestone this week. The bumbo. So, he's only 10 weeks old, you say. He has pretty good head control when he's alert. We can only go for about 5 minutes, but it's a start. Maybe one day in the near future, we'll sit here while mom gets ready. Instead of requiring me holding him while I dry my hair.

Bumbo also got him all tuckered out. I was holding him while I was talking to my dad. He fell asleep, so I set him down. He's never stayed asleep on his tummy. Another first. And Greyson must be near him. It's kind of attention by proxy. She figures if she's close by she may get some loving.

On Friday night was the Sara Lee Fun Fest. It was no cooler than 100 degrees out there. We were a little worried about the heat and how it would affect him. This is before the trip to Bella Vista (wet diaper and all).

And here we are after the 'fun' fest. My hair was straight when we left the house. Not so much anymore. We only had to put him in the A/C car twice. He handled it okay, and it was fun, but I hope to never have to do that again.

And today, better with tummy time. Clearly, this is not a peeved at the world face. It's almost pleasant. Almost.

One word: Gourd.

We are so lucky that Daddy comes home to see us almost every day at lunch. Thank goodness everything in Bentonville is a five-minute drive from the next place.

And this picture just had to be included. This is one of those things that he will kill me for when he's older. This picture is mid-poot. Focused.

9 Weeks Old

2009-07-13T17:34:00.001-07:00

I'll go on and start this post with attention to my being 'lazy' and not posting anything for about 2 weeks. What can I say, this babe keeps me busy. At nine weeks old, not much had changed. Nolan had his shots. That wasn't too bad. And he slept for a long time the afternoon that he got them. His nine week picture was taken the next day. As you can see, I don't think he was phased at all by it the next day.

In our ninth week, we also had our first 4th of July. We were pretty pumped about the fireworks. I am terrified of fireworks. I don't really like matches, so it should come as no shock. I hope that Nolan is just as afraid of the things as me. They are just so dangerous. And I would say that even if I weren't a mom. A lot of people in the neighborhood put on some awesome displays. So we just sat on the back porch and watched them for about 45 minutes. And it's not like it messed up anyone's bedtime. We stay up until at least 10 p.m. around here. Here we are ex-freaking-cited about the fireworks.

The next day (no, he hadn't been changed yet...no spit up, no outfit change), he found his thumb. He was even more excited about this than the fireworks. I was too.

Only in Northwest Arkansas...

2009-06-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

You know you are in the heart of the Bible Belt when this happens....

This year's Best Happy Hour winner is Sonic America's Drive-In for the Best of the Best Contest sponsored by the local newspaper.

Now don't get me wrong. I love some Sonic Happy Hour. I go 2 or 3 times a week. But I don't think in any other area, they would have won the contest.

8 Weeks Old

2009-06-26T06:38:00.001-07:00

And here he is at 8 weeks old. Ben's parents say he looks different every time they see him. And that's saying a lot. We live a couple of houses down from them, and they can walk down to see him whenever they want.
At first we felt weird buying a house: 1) In 'their' neighborhood and 2) One street number off of theirs (they are 801 and we are 802). Turns out it was the best decision we could have made. I just think about how easy it is for them to see their first grandchild. They can just walk on down. I know they'd still see him if we were across town, but the nights of just calling and then stopping by wouldn't be there. I know Ben's mom enjoys it, but I think his dad enjoys it more. He'll just stop by and stare at him or touch his little feet and say how much he changes every day. He's right.

The below pic was taken the same day as the 8-week pic after a nice and full diaper explosion got all over his cute outfit.

Lately, he has been falling asleep in my lap. And that's where he is right now as I type this. I think we're developing a bit of an attachment to mom. He follows me (with his eyes and head)when I leave the room, and sometimes he starts crying. I was thinking he was too young for this, but I guess I was wrong. As sweet as I feel to know that he loves me more than anyone right now, I don't want him to be upset when I have to leave him with someone else. Especially if it's just Ben for 5 minutes while I brush my teeth and wash my face.

He is getting big. Just look at those hands and feet. We go for our 2-month dr visit on Monday. I am looking forward to seeing how much the little guy has grown. At the three week visit, I think he was 21" long and 8 lbs, 2 oz. I went back at 6 weeks to have the eczema checked and he weighed 10 lbs, 12 oz. I'm pretty sure he's over 12 lbs now and I wouldn't be suprised if he was over 23" long. I measure him at home, and he's closer to 24", but I don't know how accurate my measuring is. I am not looking forward to the shots. I am terrified of the screaming we'll hear. I just hope it goes quickly and he sleeps afterwards.

Nolan and Greyson are sleeping, so I'm going to take that as my cue to eat some breakfast and get some laundry done.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Happy First Father's Day Ben!

We love you very much,
Shelley, Nolan and Greyson

(note: Greyson did not make a picture appearance. She was napping.)

Six (and Seven) Weeks. And a Happy Friday.

2009-06-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

So I missed an update. Oops. Things have been busy. Ben's been going out of town and it's been me and baby. And my family came to visit and left today. Now I'm doing laundry. Blarg.

At six weeks Nolan had eczema. I took him to the doctor. We've gotten it under control with Aveno Baby lotion in the morning, a ten minute soak in the pm followed by a slathering of Eucerin creme. He's greasy, but he seems to feel better. And he looks all dewy. He weighed in at 10 lbs, 12 oz on our visit to the doctor. That comes out to about a pound a week gain for the last three weeks. Did I mention he eats a lot?

Here's our seven week picture. More alert and chunkier.

I made some funny noises and he smiled. And you just have to capture that on 'film.'

He also likes to be all prepped out. That dang collar kept trying to 'pop' itself. He might look small because his dad's huge hand has made an appearance. I assure you, he is not a small baby anymore.

First day to sport the shoes. And in case you are wondering what he's smiling at...it's the ceiling fan.

I have to do a little modified tummy time. I try straight up tummy time until he's practically in a total fit. Then we calm down and try this version later. I figure it's better than nothing. He's good at holding his head up. I'm more concerned about shoulder strength. What if he's challenged to do a pushup? It's not going to happen unless Mommy keeps forcing this tummy time thing.

The rule is as follows: If you get dressed for the day, you have to take a picture with the baby.

Happy Friday! Happy Baby!

We're out!

Five Weeks Old

2009-06-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Nolan was five weeks old. Some fun facts about our little guy.

He sleeps about 3 hours at a time a couple times a day and almost always at night.
He eats about every 2 hours.
He is obsessed with the ceiling fan. He'll make ga-ga faces at it.
Sometimes he smiles when I am entertaining him.
He likes when I sing to him. He may be the only person in the entire world who enjoys my singing voice.

This is hilarious. A common face we see around the Scarbrough house. This is described as 'Taking it in.'

Here we are about to head out for a Saturday. Thanks for the outfit Mom. He looks cute in it. On a note about me, what's been going on with my hair? So flat and lifeless....

This is funny, because how many prints can you have in a picture? It makes my eyes hurt. But he's cute.

It rained here today, so we did a little strolling around the house. Not as fun as going around the neighborhood...and much more difficult to maneuver. He enjoyed it.

Four Weeks Old

2009-05-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Today Nolan turned 4 weeks old. And what a day it's been. I think we've had about 28 dirty diapers to coincide with the number of days we've been here. (Wow, I just had to take a 30 min break from typing to hold the baby - sometimes these posts take FOREVER).

Nolan is wearing one of my day gowns. I was worried Ben would call it a dress. When he got home and saw the picture, he asked why the baby was wearing a dress. To think, this 'dress' is 30 years old.

4 Weeks from a different angle. Ben said he looks fat here. What?

Early in the morning, he usually has a pretty calm period for about 45 minutes. Long enough for me to make the bed, let the dog out to go to the bathroom and eat some breakfast. After that, everything's a bonus. Sometimes the bed doesn't get made and sometimes breakfast is a granola bar. Greyson always gets to potty. If not, she could relieve herself in the house.

Here is he trying to punch me for taking a picture of him without his shirt on. He is very modest.

During our calm morning period enjoying some time in the living room on the floor with Nolan and Greyson. G loves any attention she can get.

And this is the best part of all. A calm sleeping baby. Shame it never happens at 8 o'clock at night.

Despite what you are about to see....

2009-05-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Ben is very helpful with Nolan. Most of the time.

We have a deal that on the weekends, Ben is supposed to help at night with Nolan. I get up at least twice during the night on weeknights to feed and change him, and each time we are up for about an hour. You figure three hours between feedings and then up for an hour...well, that's about 4 hours of interrupted sleep a night. So, the deal was, he helps on the weekend. I'll get up and feed the baby, but he has to get him back to sleep. Well, this picture was taken on Friday night. He went to work and then golfed in a tournament and then we went to Mike and Kacy's for a little party. I believe he uttered the words, "I'm so tired," and then he was out like this. Hey, at least he is holding Greyson's paw. I think she would be upset if he wasn't.

(A side note, this comforter you will see over and over is not our 'real' comforter. We have to take the real one off so Greyson can get on the bed. And with me being home all day, there's really no point of putting the real one on; I don't have the energy to fuss with the dog when she jumps up there for a snooze).

And it's me and Nolan just before heading to the party. He finally got to wear some of the clothes that people have gotten him. (Thanks for the cute outfit Michelle). And mommy finally got to shower, put on mascara and real clothes, and leave the house.

And I've been holding off on the real bath. I am nervous about overwashing him and drying out his skin. Until now, we've just been doing the sponge bath. He hated every moment of it. Well, now that we got the all clear on real baths, here he is in his first submerged bathing experience. It was so much easier and he only got fussy for about 10 seconds. There were even a couple of smiles.

Three Weeks Old

2009-05-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

Nolan is three weeks old. He now goes about 3 (sometimes 4) hours between feedings at night. And sometimes he goes right back to sleep after he is done. We had a doctor's appointment this morning and he is now 21 inches long and weighs 8 lbs, 2 oz. We are on track for a healthy growing boy. Dr. Harvey also mentioned that the gas peaks at three weeks. Knowing this made me very happy. Nolan is super gassy and it makes him miserable. In turn, I'm not happy. He cries and cries and there seems to be nothing we can do for him - and then he lets a big one rip. And suddenly he's not so peeved anymore. In the meantime, I have cut out dairy to see if that helps. In a couple of weeks, I'll start reincorporating and see if we can get this hammered out with a happy baby and mom. Did I mention I LOVE milk?

Bathed, changed, feed and ready for our closeup. He looks so peaceful.

And then I get him into his room and into the bed and he starts fussing. I expect no less.

Before today's doctor's appointment. He looks like a blob here. He was all cozied up in his little gown. And when he's not screaming, I like to take pictures.

This is take number 2. Ben recommended I put away my 'crazy eyes.' The only crazy eyes I've seen belong to Ramona on the Real Housewives of New York. I must have been sporting my tired eyes. He was all naked under his blanket and was calming down from a fit. Ben also suggested the background reminded him of a beach vacation. Seriously Ben, where? It just looks like a semi-pro mural to me. Don't taunt me with mentioning the beach. Well, I've got a sleeping baby and the Real Housewives of New Jersey on DVR so I'm wrapping it up.

Fussy Boy

2009-05-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

Nolan has been quite the fussbucket for the past week or so. He is mainly okay when I'm holding him, and I am more than happy to accomodate that request. But add on the bouncing or swaying, and well, that's it for these arms. A daily ritual of at least three consecutive hours of bouncing is going to have these arms in shape in no time. If only he were content in the swing or bouncy seat or glider or sling. We're working on the enjoying it. I know there will be a day when he does not want me to hold him. I guess that's when the arms will get flabby.

But we did have some pretty decent moments yesterday.

We take turns holding him. I think he likes Ben holding him more than me. Probably because he gets to look at this face all day five days a week.

And here he is doing his best impression of Ben. Zoning out on the bed watching television. What's on? Probably some lame logging show.

And in mere seconds we switch it on to screaming. I probably changed the channel to Bravo.

Two week old pictures

2009-05-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Nolan turned two weeks old. The screaming hasn't stopped, but it has let up a little. We are sleeping for about 3 hour stretches at night now, and sometimes he even goes back to sleep right after he eats. We also have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I hope they tell me how long he is. He was 20" when he was born, but I swear it looks like he has grown a foot in the last couple of weeks.

He was being so sweet on Friday - just sleeping and sleeping. The sleeping did turn around and kick me in the rear. He was up from about 8 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. screaming his handsome little head off.

Here's to hoping week three involves a little more predictable rest for the both of us.

Nolan is here

2009-05-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't had a post in a really long time. I started feeling horrible the week before he was due and just knew that he would be here any day. Well, one week later and a trip to the doctor's office, they decided to induce me. So I went into the hospital around 4 p.m. on Monday the 27th of April (his due date). My labor went a little faster than expected and he arrived at 5:20 a.m. the next morning. Having him here was such a relief. He was much more beautiful than I could have expected, and he had a head full of hair. I don't know why I thought my child was going to be bald. We've been chilling at the house since. We've left for a couple of doctor's appointments and a trip to Lowe's. I know, we live an exciting life.

And, no, my child is not named after Nolan Ryan. That's cute and all, but I'm not much of a sports fan. His first name is my mom's dad's last name. (Not my mom's maiden name....long story). Plus, if Ben and I were to name him after a sports figure, he would have been LeBron James Scarbrough. We think that would have just set him up for basketball greatness.

So here they are....pictures.

In case anyone wonders what I look like after 12 hours of labor, here it is. I think I would look worse if I weren't so excited that our baby was finally here.

Here is Nolan around the one week mark. He had jaundice so he looks pretty tan. Speaking of, my body hasn't seen the sun in months. It's pretty gross.

Yeppers, we're one week old here. This shot is pretty much what he did this entire day and the following day. Good times.

This is at 13 days old. I like him when he is sleeping. I don't hold him much when he is out like this, but he was being so darling on this day, I just couldn't put him down.

And look, here we are awake and not screaming. This is when we are both at our best.

Birthdays and Babies

2009-04-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Since Ben and I found out we were having a baby, I have hoped and prayed that he would not arrive on my birthday. We did plan the pregnancy and hoped that we could have an April or May baby. But there are only so many things I can control; how was I to know if we conceived in July, my due date would be a week after my 30th birthday. I am not so selfish that I don’t want to share my birthday with my child; I just don’t think that it’s an ideal situation. The one upside is that your child would never have an excuse to forget his mom’s birthday.

Well, today at the doctor’s office they told me nothing has changed since my last appointment. Baby’s still engaged, cervix is still dilated around 2cm and I still weigh more than I ever have in my entire life. He won’t be making his big debut today. Probably won’t make it tomorrow. And no way to guarantee he’ll be here by his due date. So we started discussing the possibility of inducing. My doctor told me he didn’t want me to go much past 41 weeks. I told him I didn’t much care for going past 40 weeks. So, as of right now, we are looking at inducing me some time late on April 30th and maybe having a baby by May 1st. I am seriously hoping that I can go into labor before then, but it’s nice to know that there is a backup plan should my uterus prove to be to cozy of a home.

On the note of induction, I just don’t understand why a doctor would offer you the option of being induced before your due date if you aren’t having any problems in your pregnancy. I realize a baby can be born at 38 weeks and be perfectly healthy, but why risk it?
Back to the birthday. So today, I am 30. I don’t feel any older. I feel too young to be married and on the precipice of becoming a mother. I can’t believe this is my ninth birthday I have spent with Ben. I’ve been called ma’am by a 15-year old.

Ben as the Hamburgler

2009-03-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

I have to share because this is one of my biggest peeves in the Shelley-Ben relationship. Ben loves to grill. Now, he is all over the prep and cooking of pulled pork or ribs. And that’s where it ends. After an instance of grilling burgers early in our relationship while he still lived in Jackson…one where he was a little generous with the Dale’s, he hasn’t seasoned a burger since. When I bit into my burger and said it was salty, I was accused of being the same – salty. It wasn’t until the first bite of his burger, he agreed. It was kind of an unspoken – Shelley, from now on you can handle this part. I also handle the marinating of any steaks. I take more of the ‘less is more’ kind of approach. A capful of Dale’s (maybe less, sometimes none) and salt and pepper. Sometimes I’ll throw in a little butter at the end. I really just think the steak should be quality and stand on its own.

So last night, we grill burgers. I should start with a rundown of the day. We wake up and I say I want eggs for breakfast. Well, 15 minutes into the process, he says I need to go and shower because there’s no way I can be ready in less than an hour. Forgetting I had gotten ready in about 35 minutes the morning before. I blew it off, finished my breakfast, did some cleaning and then showered. We were not late for church. The rest of the day was me picking up around the house and Ben taking a lengthy nap. If you ask him, I’m the sleeper. Well, yesterday it was Ben that was napping.

So back to the burgers. (And I’m already in a mood). He gives me a lecture on burger preparation. Forgetting he hasn’t made a burger in probably five or six years. He tells me to make sure they are not to small for the bun. At this point, I’m laughing. I have made every single hamburger patty we’ve had for the last five years at home and now he’s giving me tips. I reminded him of this. Well, I made them and he cooked them. They were fine. I am, however, debating on giving him the opportunity to whip up some of those super-thick, super-saturated Dale’s burgers again…just as a not-so-pleasant reminder of his burger making abilities.

33 Weeks

2009-03-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

So, I’ve been asked a lot about how I’m feeling and looking these days. Well, let’s just say the feelings are all encompassing. I guess you could say my belly is too. At the doctor yesterday, everything was normal, they actually used the word perfect. I guess, despite my early battle with horrible morning sickness, this pregnancy has been pretty normal. I’m huge and can’t sleep and then there are the cankles, but I still have some energy. My weight has not ballooned, normal blood pressure, measurements look good. Well, you get the picture. Every time I go to the doctor’s office I prepare myself for them to tell me something is up. They haven’t yet. I’m still mentally preparing myself for them to really discuss a c-section, but praying that there aren’t any complications and I can have him ‘naturally.’ Now, by naturally I totally mean with an epidural.

And, as you can see from the glorious 33 week picture, I’m large. I think at this point there is a lot of fluid retention in my face and arms. I know it’s going to get worse, but I just hope it diminishes a couple of weeks after the little guy’s arrival.

We’re almost completely moved in to the house. We have a couple more pieces of furniture to buy and some stuff that needs to be recovered. I want to put curtains in the bedrooms. I am beginning to realize this is not going to happen before the baby gets here. Speaking of, still no baby furniture or baby bedding. I hit another mild panic mode this weekend and went and purchased some more gowns for when he gets home. I was just so worried that I would have to wash every day and put him in the same thing day after day. At this point, I could go maybe 3 days with washing. I’m fully prepared to do laundry every day, but I just don’t want to have to do a load of baby laundry every day.

Baby Fingernails

2009-03-02T06:22:00.000-08:00

So, Ben's been out of town for the last three nights. I just knew for sure I would sleep better without him hogging the bed. Well, as it turns out, with Ben gone, Greyson is the bed hog. I got my usual sixteen inches of bed space. Greyson got the rest. And she is just too much of a drama queen when you try to move her.

Last night. Weird dream. Lately, all of the dreams I remember are so weird. Well, Ben (and most of his family) have the strangest fingernails. They are flat. I can't explain it. Just flat. Not that I would care in the slightest if our boy had flat fingernails, but last night in my dream it really concerned me. So somehow, I got the doctor to take him out for a bit and make sure they were 'normal' nails. They were, and I was relieved. He put him back in and told me he would see me in two weeks. Like I said, strange dream.

I think it is really starting to boil down to I want to know what our son is going to look like. I'm pretty sure Ben's mom is convinced he is going to look just like Ben and weigh in a nearly 10 lbs and 24 inches long at birth. But I look nothing like Ben. I guess we both have pretty large eyes and we're taller - but that's where similarities end. Hair - blonde or brown, curly or straight, fine or coarse. Eyes - blue or green. Skin - nearly translucent or not. The list goes on and on. I still don't know if they are going to do a third trimester ultrasound at my doctor's office in the next month. I am kind of hoping they do, but it would be nice to be totally suprised when he arrives.

Also, one of Ben's co-workers and his wife will be welcoming their baby boy into the world today. They were due the day after us, but Ben said the baby is not gaining any weight, so they are going to deliver him at 32 weeks. Please keep the three of them in your prayers.

The Triplets

2009-02-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

No, I did not give birth to three girls. Fortunately, there is just one very active little boy in my belly. But my middle sister, Christina did give birth (via C-section) to three little girls last week. She was at 32 weeks, but one of the babies had stopped growing so they decided to go and take them a couple of weeks earlier than expected. They are all doing good for being early and so tiny. So here they are:

Madi Belle - 3 lb, 0 oz, 15 1/4" in.

Macie Jayne - 2 lb, 8 oz; 14"

Marlee Faith - 2 lb, 0 oz; 13 1/2"

An Emotional Christmas?

2008-12-24T05:24:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'm pretty sure I'll be in tears most of the holiday season. For some reason I cry at the littlest things these days. Example - last night Ben wouldn't move his gun cases; I didn't like their location (right in the middle of the room) so I asked him to move them. Well, he decided to lay down on the bed...gun cases still laying around. I said a couple of things and then burst into tears - for at least 2 minutes. I feel so silly that I cannot keep myself from crying...all of the time. Once a week would be bearable, but I might burst into tears on my 15 minute drive to work listening to Beyonce. I'm sure I will look back on this and find it amusing, but right now it is driving me insane.

Picture Update

2008-12-16T05:20:00.000-08:00

I've been terrible with taking pictures of my ever-growing belly. My camera battery died, and I just didn't recharge it. Lazy.

So here, are some more recent pics of the growing tummy. I think this one is at 18 weeks. I'm still in regular pants at this point, but I'm pretty sure they are unbuttoned.

This is me sporting dress pants, definitely unbuttoned at this point and a nice Hanes t-shirt. I am thinking this was week 19 and the next day I couldn't fit in any of my dress pants. Oh, yeah, and this is pre-haircut. It had just gotten to be too long.

And here I am at 21 weeks. These are my 'fat' jeans and they are unbuttoned. I haven't purchased maternity jeans...yet. And I cut about 3.5 inches of hair off. Honestly, it took about 10 minutes off the drying time. Smart move, indeed. Plus, my mom hates it when my hair is long, and I just don't want to hear about how bad it looks when we see her.

You can also observe all of the beige in the apartment. I promise our real furniture is not this ugly. This was the basement furniture in our last house. I swear I have better taste than to put a tan slipcover on an oversized sofa.

Boy or Girl?

2008-12-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

We had our 20 week sonogram on Tuesday. I was shocked at how much time it took. I didn't realize how many measurements they needed. After 15 minutes of measuring, we were finally asked if we wanted to know what we were going to be having. Well, we knew it was a baby - but more importantly, is he a he or is she a she?

From the moment I knew I was pregnant (which was at least two weeks before my pregnancy test confirmed it), I was convinced it was a boy. But then everyone kept telling me it had to be a girl. So about a month ago I tried to convince myself we were having a little girl. Well, I guess your first instincts are always right. It's a BOY! I grew up with two younger sisters. I know little girls. Having a daughter seems like it would be so familiar. Somehow, I knew I was meant to be blessed with the challenges and rewards that raising a young man would give me. I really couldn't be happier. Not to say that in two or three years I wouldn't love to have a little girl, but for right now, I can't wait until the day that Ben and I get to meet our son.

Ugly Christmas Sweater?

2008-12-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking about the premise of an ugly Christmas sweater party. How on earth do they maintain a market for those things if there are thousands of parties each year declaring the piece of clothing ‘ugly’? And why do so many of our mom’s still have them in their closets?

Next Tuesday we find out if we are having a boy or girl. At first I was positive it was a boy…now I’m thinking girl. It’s got to be one or the other, and either way I’ll be thrilled.

I also ran into a bit of a pant issue yesterday. Wednesday morning my pants were snug but still wearable. Thursday morning…not happening at all. I had to wear one of the two pairs of jeans that still fit me to work. At lunch I ordered three pairs of maternity pants and will probably go this weekend to buy another pair to get me in to next week. Tonight is Ben’s office holiday party and I have to wear a dress. As of last week, I thought I could still fit into my black tuxedo pants – I really don’t see that happening. Don’t get me wrong, the dress is adorable, but I just worry it’s a little over the top (and now I am singing Kenny Loggin’s ‘Meet Me Halfway’ in my head).

I’ll try to get a new picture up next week. Every time I document how I look (after a long day at work, nonetheless) I am reminded of how horrible our tiny apartment is. It’s a shame my pregnancy coincides with our time living there. I would just love to forget this living situation altogether.

Also, I got the hair cut yesterday. Nothing drastic. I so badly want to color it darker again, but I guess that will have to wait until after the baby arrives. So that will also be evidenced, hopefully, in a picture next week.

16-Week Update

2008-11-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

So, today I had my 16-week appointment. It was super fast (except for the waiting on the doctor part). They checked my blood pressure, heart rate and weight. I still have not gained a single pound. I am nearly a good two sizes larger in my pants, but this is not at all reflected on the scale. Today my blood pressure was a lot better. I always get so nervous when I have to go to the Dr.’s office and it spikes a good 5% higher than it normally is; it was very average today. All of my labs are normal and the baby’s heart rate was around 152. So it looks like things are progressing as they should. My doctor said if I get to week 24 without gaining weight, he’ll be concerned. I am pretty sure I can’t go another two months of eating for two and weighing in at my pre-pregnancy weight.

Here’s a picture of me last Friday (close to the 16-week mark). I figured it would be good because I am wearing something somewhat close to the body. Last week at work while wearing this I was told that I looked pregnant. Good thing I am…right?

Two weeks ago Ben and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. We were supposed to go to Chicago this past weekend for a celebratory trip. It was cancelled because Ben had an important work meeting that he had to reschedule. He did get me a really nice flower arrangement sent to the office. I really think there are few things as great as having flowers sent to you at work.

I was pretty upset that the trip was cancelled, but I see this as a great opportunity to get a January/February beach trip out of him. He kind of owes me. I didn’t get a good beach trip last year, he cancelled the anniversary trip, and I am having our baby. I think I deserve it, and really we are probably going to need a good trip before the baby arrives or I can’t travel anymore.

Why I Hate Apartment Life: Reason #41

2008-10-29T05:51:00.000-07:00

I already have trouble sleeping; I'm sure it has something to do with the ever-changing mid-section. Last night, I didn't go to sleep until after 9 p.m. (this is a good hour later than I have been going to bed). Well, sometime near 1 a.m. (it could have been later), I hear the neighbor above us moaning and groaning like it is the last time she will ever have sex. It starts with some moaning, then the headboard is slamming against the wall, then more moaning, more slamming, more moaning...well, you get the picture. Honestly, it went on for at least an hour.

While laying there in bed, I found myself wondering, what man could keep this up for an hour? I told Ben about it this morning; he said he's heard it before too, but earlier in the evening and just the headboard thing. I told him I had 4 theories of how something like this could have happened: 1) the man was a stallion, 2) Viagra (pure speculation on my part, I've never even seen the stuff...I don't know how long it makes one last), 3) Toys, 4) W.D. I give the first theory about a 5% chance of being the 'culprit'. Seriously, how many stallions can there be out there? The Viagra, I'm thinking is maybe in the 15% range. After Ben told me this woman was about 40, I thought that might be more of an option (I was also very repulsed). Factoring in the age thing again, the chance that accessories were involved is at least 50%. Then there's the ever popular W.D.; at this time in the morning (on a Tuesday night) there had to be some alcohol involved. I'm saying at least a 30% chance.

Then after I thought about all of those things, I thought it was strange that I had spent so much time thinking about them and analyzing them. I'm weird. Also, I blame the pregnancy. Otherwise, I would have just slept through the whole thing, and my peri-menopausal neighbors sex life would have never entered my thoughts.

Week 14

2008-10-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

So today marks the beginning of the 14th week along with the start of the second trimester. I was hoping today, I would wake up and find the sickness just gone. That was not the case. My legs felt like Jell-O, there was a headache and the morning sickness was still there. I know this will get better, and I feel bad complaining. But I must vent.

I feel so lucky that Ben and I had only one bump in the road to getting pregnant. This is one of those things that most couples don't feel comfortable discussing, but I actually feel better talking about it. And I hope it helps couples out there realize a lot of people have problems. Ben and I ended up getting pregnant (totally unplanned) back in May. It came as a total shock. We were in the process of trying to sell a house and relocate back to Arkansas. I figured it out around the 5th week. I called Ben (who was out of town), and after the initial shock - he was pretty pumped too. They did a sonogram in my 7th week, and I had lost the baby. I was heartbroken. Some friends back in Arkansas had their baby boy a week later, and I found myself bitter about it. Ben's sister's best friend told us she was expecting about a month later, and I couldn't be happy for her and her husband. Even though we hadn't been trying, I wanted the baby more than anything. So when the doctor told me we could try as soon as things were back to normal, that's what we did. And fortunately, the first month, things worked out. Now I feel terrible about the way I felt (and acted) for those couple of months. And now when I complain, I feel a little guilty. I could be struggling with something much worse than an achy back.

But I am keeping my fingers crossed that one day I'll just feel great and have endless amounts of energy.

13 Weeks

2008-10-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

I am now in my 13th week. This week the baby is the size of a peach. (As a side, a peach sounds fantastic right now). I am starting to feel a little bit better, which leads me even more to believing I will be having a boy. Ben is in Scottsdale through tomorrow on a work trip. I really hate it when he's out of town. The primary thing I hate is taking Greyson out first thing in the morning and picking up her poo. And then there's the having to do everything by myself. Of course, I do get some more room in the bed so I can't complain too much.

I don't feel exceptionally thin these days. It's a matter of time before my 'fat' pants are too small. In a way, I am ready to make the leap to maternity wear so I don't have to deal with buttons and tucking in shirts. I've also considered dresses which limit the binding in the mid-section.

In no way do I think I look only 13 weeks pregnant, but here I am... (Yeah, I ate half a can of Pringles salt and vinegar chips. You can see them in the bottom left of the picture).

And then there's sweet baby G. She's always so tired after a full day of daycare. If only I could send her every single day.

Just call me a baker...

2008-10-15T05:48:00.000-07:00

cause there's a bun in the oven. It's official; I am knocked up (I just love that phrase; it sounds so tawdry). I am currently in my 12th week, and my due date is April 27, 2009. This week the little nugget is the size of a large plum. Right now, I really just look like I have a bad beer gut. No one ever mentions how absolutely horrid you are going to feel the entire first trimester. I am convinced very few would risk feeling like this for several months for a baby. It has been horrible. But Ben has been so nice - he does the grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, and pretty much anything else I ask of him. I am looking forward to making it to week 14, when there's a chance this feeling might ease off a bit.

Also, we are totally preparing ourselves for how Greyson may act when I have a huge belly or when the baby finally arrives. She is practically attached to me when we are at home. It will be hard to not make her my third priority. We may have to do some obedience classes again.

Me @ 12 weeks with my beer gut and crazy dog...

We're Here

2008-10-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yep. Ben and I now have a blog. We lead a pretty boring life, so I can't make any promises about how interesting I can keep this thing. But we have so many out-of-town friends, I figured this would be the best way to keep you all up to date on our ever-changing life.