Still My Favorite

For as long as I can remember, The Wizard of OZ has been my favorite movie. I still get excited when it comes on TV (even though I have two DVDs). When I was a kid I used to camp out in the living room with my sleeping bag until it came on and watch out if you tried to turn the channel! Back then we had a TV that you had to get up and manually turn the channels so I had the opportunity to attack like a lion preying on the weak member of a herd of buffalo. Not much of a threat because I hadn't yet reached my fat years (or as like to call them the years when I looked like "the girl who ate Tara").

Anyway! It was a surprise to me when The Wizard of OZ came on TV Friday night while I was doing "tummy time" with Grant.

Grant doing tummy time!

Husband left the room because I am oh so annoying when this movie is on (too bad he doesn't realize how annoying he is when Tommy Boy is on). I admit it. I know all the words and all the songs and stupid bits of useless trivia...and it makes me shamelessly happy. So, when Grant started to get fussy with his tummy time (he hates that he's flailing his arms and legs but not going anywhere) I put him in his baby gym to play.

It was when he turned his head towards the TV that it occurred to me that sometime in the near future I am going to be able to watch the movie that I so loved as a kid with MY kid! I can't wait to camp out on the floor with him and make him popcorn on the stove like my mom used to (in a pot with oil - none of this jiffy pop crap!) and watch The Wizard of OZ. He already seems excited about it :)

Grant watching Mommy's favorite movie!

Three Months

I couldn't decide if I wanted to combine Grant's third month with his first Thanksgiving. Since I'd use one of these pictures in both posts I'm just going to combine them.

So, here we are at three months already! Things are definitely getting better, if not a little easier. Our little man is now 11 pounds 8 ounces! At our last doctor visit (after our trip to the ER) they didn't measure him so I don't have a length right now. He seems to be out growing things in length before he ever fits into them in weight. We have a long, skinny little guy! Everyone keeps saying he's going to be a basketball player...that's getting old. How many times can you hear people say that? Plus it means I'd have to get interested in basketball and I just really don't want to do that.

It's true that they grow up too fast. Three months has flown by and every day I'm amazed by how much Grant is doing. He's doing really well with his "tummy time" and you can tell he wants to crawl SO bad but he just can't seem to put it all together yet. He's learned that when he's in his bouncy seat and he kicks hard that the toys on his toy bar shake and it makes him so stinking happy! There is a little toy that hangs down and he loves to concentrate on it and reach for it. He looks so excited when he grabs on to it. He holds onto his paci now and will grab for just about anything within reach...like my glasses (time for more contacts). And the best thing is that he is, for the most part, sleeping through the night. We'll usually put him to bed around 10:30 after his last bottle and he doesn't wake up until around 4:30 when we're getting up for work. And even then you can usually get him back to sleep with a paci.

As for me and Husband we're still learning but we're having fun. We still get peed on occaisionally but it's definitely not as often. We know Grant's poop schedule well enough now that I can give him a "real" bath without him pooping in the water. And when we all leave the house now it goes a lot smoother than it used to. We used to look like we were vacating the area due to a nuclear attack. But everything is getting better, calmer and into more of a routine. We're looking forward to how much fun we're going to have in the coming months.



3 months old & his first Thanksgiving!




Grant with his Great Aunt Debbie




Hanging out with the family




Grant with his Grandma (and his cousin Kristi on the left)



Grant & Daddy (this was taken the night before Thanksgiving but I thought it was so cute!)

Thanksgiving Continued!

My sister, Shauna, sent me a ridiculously long text about everything that Thanksgiving reminds her of and I thought I'd share. Some stuff I didn't remember, some stuff I still don't remember but it all made me laugh.

She reminded me that we used to hope not to get stuck sitting in the chair next to the wood stove vent because it was hot we'd sweat through the entire meal. And that every time my dad said grace we would laugh the whole time because dad was usually crying. My mother would always roll her eyes and say "Oh, put it in your journal Brian!" which would make us laugh harder. Shauna says she remembers AJ and Nick getting into fights...but I don't remember that. After the meal our Gram would do the dishes in water so scalding hot it's baffling that she never had to go to the ER for third degree burns (which is hereditary because I now have a tendency to do it). Then when the deck of cards came out, we'd play 31 and Gram would cheat. It was something everyone expected and yet everyone always acted surprised...when Uncle Charlie would call her out on it. Uncle Charlie used to talk to us in what my sister calls "gibberish" (seriously...who knows what it was). Shauna says she used to act like she knew what he was saying...but I'm pretty sure I always just stared at him. For some reason, my sister used to like to style Aunt Bonnie's hair...and Aunt Bonnie put with it. It always looked painful and by the time Shauna was done she had used roughly 5 pounds of mousse in her hair.

And lets not forget my mother cooking a retarded amount of food (like the time she cooked a 26 pound turkey with all the fixings - and then some - for six people). She would do this while drinking her Busch beer out of her "fancy" glass that she only ever drank out of at our family get-togethers. And, knowing my mother, she had probably stolen the glass from some restaurant. Petty thievery was a hobby of hers.

Anyway, that text made me smile remembering all the wonderful - and usually humorous - family holidays we've had over the years. It makes me sad to think that we won't have holidays like that anymore but I thank God for the memories that we have. And I look forward to the holiday traditions that Husband and I will be starting with our own family :)

Being Thankful

Every year on Thanksgiving my family used to go around the table and say what we’re thankful for. When we were kids we were always thankful for our (unbroken) toys, when we were teenagers we were thankful when our parents stayed out of our business, and when were a little older and no one was remotely serious about it anymore we would say whatever would make everyone laugh - like being thankful for Aunt Bonnie’s little turkey cookies or being thankful that someone labeled the ham gravy so Dad wouldn’t put it on his turkey again (that didn’t go well). So this post is in the spirit of the Thanksgivings that I used to have.

What I’m thankful for:

• My healthy baby boy and my husband
• All my family (even the ones I’m not so crazy about – or the ones that send hate mail)
• Great friends
• Our dog, Brodie, who will sometimes get mad at me but usually forgives me after a treat
• A roof over our head and food in our bellies
• Having a job I don’t mind going to in the morning
• That lack of “need” in my life (hopefully I eventually learn to “want” less)
• My sense of humor and being so easily amused
• My inner child (even if he is chubby…and sometimes a little bit lazy)
• My happy childhood and my great memories

I know I’m leaving some things out. I have a lot to be thankful for. Family holidays make me reminisce and I wish I had some pictures from our Thanksgivings to share but cameras seem to have been absent at those gatherings.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Happy Anniversary!

Today our little man Grant is 12 weeks old! It's also our 4 year anniversary. Hooray for me and Husband! We were married at Bass Lake Park in Holly Springs, NC. The wedding was supposed to be at 2:00 but due to unforseen hiccups it was probably more like 2:30-3:00 (my sister got drunk the night before and made me incredibly late for my hair appointment which threw off the rest of the day - then had the nerve on the way back to her hotel to say "Can we stop at Chick-fil-a?"). But, other than the fact that I was late for my own wedding, it was a great day. So Happy Anniversary to me & Husband!

Getting married under the canopy deocorated by Mom & Aunt Bonnie

My favorite picture!

One of my other favorites.



Us with Judge Wills (we decided to do the judge thing...good decision).




Wedding Party
(my friend Elizabeth, my sister Shauna, me, Nate, Nate's dad, Nate's friend Casey)



Us with everyone who came down from NY
(Aunt Bonnie, Mom, Nate, Me, Shauna, Dad, AJ, and Jenny -
Note: my sister's boyfriend at the time was there too.
I had the photographer take one with him and one without in case they broke up. See him there? No? I'm a smart girl.)




 

Us with Nate's Mom's side of the family

(back row: stepdad Earl, Mom, Me, Nate, uncle Dykes;

front row: Grandma Marlene, brother Scotty, cousin Krisite, Aunt Debbie)



Us with Nate's Dad's side of the family
(brother "Sparky", sister Hollie, me, Nate, stepmom Veda, Nate's Dad)







I love this picture! It's my sister Shauna, my Mom, me & Aunt Bonnie.





Me & my Mom dancing to "Bobby McGee" while everyone else is cleaning up.
This is picture is extra special since we lost my earlier this year.



Baby's First Trip to the ER

Grant loves his bottle. I try to burp him half-way through it so he doesn't spit up all over the place following one giant burp at the end. It's hard to do because he pitches such a fit about it that it's easier to just let him have the whole thing. So I knew something wasn't right last night when I took the bottle out of his mouth and he didn't care. He was very warm and had no interest in the second half of the bottle. So I took his temperature - in his bum - and when it went to 101.1. The answering service at the pediatricians office told us to take him to an emergency room. From that point on we had two people in the house who needed medical attention. Grant for his fever and husband for his extreme anxiety.

We were seen very quickly at the ER and in "triage" they took Grant's temperature again...102.4. And the triage dude was a pro 'cause Grant pooped mid-temp taking and the guy never flinched (Note: see previous post about projectile poop). He was lucky though, the diaper blocked most of the poop shrapnel. It could have been a lot worse. Then they put us in a room and we waited for nurses and doctors and what-not.

Little Grant in the big ER bed!





To be honest, I don't remember the order of events last night. I know they stuck him with a needle to get blood - twice because it didn't work the first time. They stuck a q-tip way up his nose. They stuck a catheder in his little peeper several times for a urine sample with no luck. They would take it out, put his diaper back on and 5 minutes later...pee in the diaper. He had x-rays done and laid remarkably still for them. And then the poor little guy had to have a spinal tap. Husband had to leave the room for that one (he was a complete wreck the entire time), Mommy did really well. It was tough to hear him cry that hard but at least I was right there to hold him when they were done.

After all that, what they came up with was that he must have a virus. They finally let us go home at 3:00 a.m. and Grants temperature was down to 98.4. Today he spent the day at home with Mommy & Daddy. All of us took turns napping.

The First 2 Months

I am going to attempt to be a better blogger. That is to say, I will actually post things on my blog. I wish my blog was cuter...that might make me do it more. Anyway, this was supposed to be about mine and my husband's adventures and experiences as new parents but it's sort of turned into just my blog. So, in my attempt to be a better blogger and a more bragging mother I'm going to at least make monthly posts about my baby's first year.

One month

Grant's first month was, for lack of a better word, interesting. He was figuring us out and we were...clueless. He learned that if he cried he'd get held and, if was really lucky, a boob stuck in his mouth. We learned that newborns have projectile poop. Yes, we were peed on. Several times. So was the dog (who we don't see much of anymore. He's got an apartment set up underneath the bed). Pee is easy to clean up. I've cleaned poop off of just about every surface in the nursery. When I say "projectile poop" I mean to say that his best distance was roughly 3 feet. I never measured but I should have. I did take a picture but I've been told that I can NOT put it on the internet. In case Grant becomes president. I need you to take my word for it that it's hysterical. We learned how to give baths to a screaming, terrified infant. My husband learned to love onesies because "they hold the diaper on". And I learned that the best way to sleep in was to put Grant in bed with me. It was an educational, sleepless, stressful, but wonderful first month.

Grant's first full day at home (8/29/10)
4 days old



Grant at one month

Two months
By two months old Grant was almost 10.5 lbs and thankfully, no longer breast fed. We seem to have passed the projectile poop stage but still occaisionally get peed on. He doesn't mind bath time any more and it's actually enjoyable for me to give my little guy a bath. He can hold his head up really well now and loves to be sitting up so he can see what's going on. We use the bumbo seat to help him sit up. He's sleeping much better at night so I feel more rested than I did in the first month. Husband on the other hand...not so much. We've moved Grant from the bassinet in our room to his crib. BIG move for husband who worries constantly. We have a baby monitor, of course, and every time the baby so much as grunts Nate is instantly crib-side checking on him. But I need to be thankful he's like that and not leaving it all up to me. Thanks husband :) Grant also had his first shots at two months. I can't wait to do that again! However, it did make me feel good when he kept screaming until I held him. Then he put his little head on my shoulder and calmed down. He loves his mommy!

Happy Grant in his bumbo seat



Grant at two month old



Grant's first Halloween



Month three coming soon!