Weekend in Review

My sister Katie came to visit for the weekend while our "big boys" went to the Alabama game! She brought her dog Tyson and the children had a blast! He is only 4 months old, so I was a little nervous about what he would "do" to my house, but he was great - only 1 accident. She brought his crate, and sure enough, within about 5 seconds, this is what we saw...

Bless his heart, the little rascal just can't help himself - he is a curious little thing!

Big Sis had to follow suit and "prove" she could fit in there too!

We went to the park with cousins Saturday morning (it was hotter than I thought it would be) and we had a great time watching some awesome football games (can you tell Katie is a little discombobulated???)

We celebrated Wilson's birthday (kind of) and Katie gave him his Halloween costume - a PIRATE - isn't he the cutest thing you ever did see?

This is a picture of Wilson wearing his first "big boy" (as I call it) outfit to school on Monday. I'm just tired of ironing so much - it really adds up when you have 3 chidren wearing smocked outfits every day to school - 15 a week!!!! So I'm giving in and allowing Wilson and Henderson to wear "boy" clothes to school at least one day. I know, I'm a little obsessive compulsive - but they're only little for such a short time and when they get big they wear the "boring" stuff everyday! Don't worry, he wore his new smocked Pirate jon jon today - no pictures though, it was rush rush after I woke up insanely late (6:00) thanks to my turning off my alarm to run at 4:30 when Henderson woke up to eat at 4:00 - so so tired!!! =(

We had a great weekend - thanks Katie for the fun visit and "extra hands".

Roll Tide

Roll Tide!!!!! - that's all I gotta say!

The Patton Patch

This is what Henderson wore to school today - no, that is not Henderson in the picture, that is his cousin, Matthew, whose mom owns http://www.thepattonpatch.com/ where I ordered this outfit. The one he wore is a red long sleeved romper with the elephant and the white roll tide (I don't do white shirts much b/c he spits up all the time!!) Anyway, there are soooo many cute things on her website, she does them from home and they are reasonably priced. Check it out. Yes there are Auburn things too!

Just for Fun!!!

I found this website, http://www.dumpr.net/sketch.php that changes your pictures to a pencil sketch - it was so much fun - here are a few (many) that I did: (can you tell I had a slow afternoon?) =)

A Busy Day

Well, yesterday was a busy day to say the least. I went to work, as usual, after getting all 3 children up extra early to bathe and fix hair and get dressed for SCHOOL PICTURES!!!! I know normally school pictures aren't really a big deal, but b/c I have yet to have any "professional"p portraits made of my children (besides school and church pictures) I am always hoping they will turn out great! So I dressed them all in light blue and off they went. I had a meeting, so I couldn't be there like I wanted to be, to make sure everything went just right (I am kind of a picture snob - I don't like any props or waterfalls or any of the like in my pictures - just a traditional background and my child!!!) There teachers said they did great, when it was time for all 3 to be in a picture together, they said that Henderson was really flirting with the camera - he wouldn't stop smiling, but Wilson (being 2) was being stubborn and they could hardly get the little man to smile, but finally he did (so they say), and Emma Claire had her fake, cheesy smile plastered on her face! Emma Claire did mention at some point that she was a pretty bride!!??? And I said you were what????? "It was my wedding" Apparently she was holding some kind of umbrella and standing by some sort of "column" in some of the pictures - Lord help us, We'll just have to see when they get back, if they're terrible, I'll order the minimum amount, if they're great, I'll order alot - maybe the one with all 3 children will be good enough for a Christmas card!!!

A good example of EC's cheesy smile and Wilson "zoning out"

After school I took Emma Claire to her ballet class, then the fun began. Wilson and Emma Claire had their 2 year and 4 year old check ups. I took Wilson and Henderson and then Will's mom, Di Anna brought EC after her dance class was over. It was a busy day at the Ped. office and the doctor didn't come in for like an hour. Then he finally came and spent a whole hour with us! Here are the stats:



Emma Claire:



Height: 40 1/2" (55%)



Weight: 36# (55%)



So she's pretty average!!!!



Wilson:



Height: can't remember, but 20%



Weight: 22# (minus 5%)



Head: can't remember, but 10%



So he's improving on height and head, but still at his own rate with the weight! But the good news was our Pediatrician, who like I have said before, I LOVE and IS AWESOME and THE BEST did not freak out like I thought he would! We are just to continue trying hard, offering Pedia Sure, giving vitamins - he didn't even seem to mind that Wilson still takes a bottle twice a day - that's the only way to ensure he gets ALL his whole milk in!!!!



Wilson does have fluid behind one ear (we have tubes still {the good news} one is working, one is not) and he is on an antibiotic. Also, the VSD heart murmur that he had as a newborn, that we saw a cardiologist for (that said it had closed by the way) is still there, so we have to follow up with our cardiologist at UAB soon. Wilson got 2 shots (hep. A and flu) and Emma Claire got 5!!!!!!



5 shots ????- I don't want 5 shots and I'm not afraid of needles!!! Bless her heart she was pretty sore last night and this morning. She has a field trip to the hospital today, so on one hand - lots of walking on sore legs, but on the other hand, she'll have a great time telling everyone about her doctor's visit and her shots and what a BIG GIRL she was - she didn't cry unitil the 4th shot - she was trying soooo hard! It was actually quite humorous - the sweet nurse told her to blow out when the needle was going in and you would have thought she was having a baby - she was blowing out so hard!!!! =)

Henderson was a jewel, he even fell asleep in his grandmother's arms! Thank you Di Anna for all your help - I couldn't have handled it without you and (m&m's of course)!!!



Well, 2 1/2 hours later we left the office and went home for the night (thank goodness we had no more activities for that day!!!)

Happy Birthday Wilson!!!

You are 2 years old today! How quickly it has passed. You are my firecracker - the life of the party! My Little Man. You came out screaming and wiggling, you rolled over at 4 weeks old, and you haven't stopped since. I hear all the time - "I have never seen a child quite like Wilson, does he ever stop?" I just shake my head, laugh and say "you have no idea." You are the first to run to someone's arms and give them a big hug and big smile! You are my monkey - nothing stops you or holds you down. We never quite know where we'll find you next! You constantly have the biggest smile and that "I am up to something" look. You are my strong-willed child - you can be smiling ear to ear one minute and fiery mad in the floor the next - together we are working to control this and use it for your good - I know this is how God made you, but hopefully you will use it for the good of His Kingdom - you will be a leader someday! We are making big strides, I know, but we still have a long way to go.

Silly and Cute!

Always up to something!

Laughing one minute, screaming the next!

Always hanging off of something!

You are my non-eater - this has been especially frustrating for me, given I am a Registered Dietitian, but that, too, we are working on and progressing slowly. I learned early on I could not MAKE you eat anything - you would gag and throw up peas as a 10 month old - nearly every time I put them in your mouth - and medicine, OMG - gag and throw up, gag and throw up - I am glad we have finally came to the conclusion that you are "just genetically small" and are no longer going through a battery of tests and procedures and medicines to try and get you to be bigger, this too is how God has made you - wonderfully! {All this said before our 2 year check up, at which time we may begin again the battery of tests and procedures!!!??? =( }

Cute as a button!

You and your cousin Mills celebrating his 2nd B'day only a month ago!

I love you Wilson and pray that you will grow to be the man God wants you to be, to love Jesus and share your Joy in Him with everyone you meet. That you will spread your enthusiasm and love for life to all who see you. I pray your sister, Emma Claire, and brother, Henderson, will be your very best friends as you grow up. You are all so close in age and I hope that closeness will bond you for life. I pray you will love each other as Christ wants you to love and not feel any jealousy or envy. I want you to know that there is no one that loves you more perfectly than Jesus. Your family loves you, but in an imperfect way, oh how we try, but oh how we fail, every day! I pray, as your sister prays, "that Jesus will come into your heart and you will stop knocking over her toys" (don't you love it?) But really, that is my prayer for you, that you will love God with all your heart, and strive to please Him in all you do.

Cheerleader Cheerleader Boom Boom Boom!!!

Emma Claire is now a cheerleader - she joined her cousin Chandler on the cheerleader squad. Emma Claire is by far the youngest on the squad (ranging from 4 years to 8 years) but she held her own! Several times we heard her yelling in her megaphone to the crowd "be QUIET!!! we are trying to cheer" It was stinkin hilarious - she is not shy!!!! She didn't know all the cheers perfectly, but that didn't stop her - she did everything everyone else did! It was a cool night - and we were not prepared -

Henderson and Stanton hung out on the blanket until their piggy toes turned blue from the cold, as you can see, Henderson is all smiles as usual!!!! We then picked them up and held them close to get warm - no socks anywhere to be found - hopefully they won't come down with pneumonia - next time I'll be more prepared for these Fall Nights!!!! Wilson was his usual busy self, no pictures of him - he wouldn't be still long enough - but he had a great time!

Get ready to see RED!!!!

We had a great weekend! We tailgated for the Alabama game in the HOT HOT HUMID Air!!! I actually got some great pictures with Big Al - notice Wilson is in NO pictures with Big Al - you can see him clutched in his daddy's neck. He would wave to him and that's about it. There was a blow-up Big Al near our tent and Wilson would run up to it and hit it and run off - he thought it was hilarious - but that's as close as he would get (and that took about 30 minutes of coaxing). The children loved watching the Elephant Stomp!!!!

Henderson is doing great - the heat aggravated his rash a little, but he was a joy out there on Saturday! He LOVES eating his toes, as you can see in this picture and he is rolling and turning around - I never find him in the same place anymore - in his bed or on the floor!!!

Sunday night we went to a Birthday party of one of Wilson's best friends who turned 2. The gracious mom and dad invited 50 some odd people to play in Lee's backyard and have dinner - but it rained - so everyone, children and all ended up inside - bless her heart, but it was a great time! Here are some of our tailgating pictures!!!

Update on Henderson

Thank you all for your kind and gracious prayers for Henderson this weekend. We went back to the doctor Friday afternoon and had more blood drawn and his WBC count had fallen to 19,800 (still way above the normal 5,000-10,000), but this indicates that whatever was going on, his little body was reacting to the aggressive antibiotics. He got 2 more Rocephin(sp?) shots and his fever finally broke Friday night. He still has remnants of the red dot rash all over his body - still no idea what that was (maybe a reaction to the amoxicillin he had been on the previous week) - but all is well today! Let's pray it stays that way! I'll post later about our fun weekend when I can get the pictures on my computer! Enjoy this fall-like weather and pray for gas prices to go down soon - I have half a tank til empty!!!! =)

Pray for little Henderson

Yesterday, about 1:00 I got a call from the Dayschool that Henderson (4 mos) was running a fever - 102.6 (axillary, so really 103.6)- he has had an ear infection for the last week so we both assumed that was what it was. The director said he could stay (since Thursday is the only day I work all day) if we brought him some tylenol and the fever went down. Well, I was about to go into a meeting, so Will took him some Tylenol at 1:30. At 2:30 I got another call that he was still running a fever -102.9. I called the Pediatricians office and b/c he is on an antibiotic and still running a high fever, they wanted to see him right away. So I leave work and pick him up and take him to the doctor at 3:00. He has a mild rash all over his body (little red dots, nothing raised or serious-looking) my other two children have had this before when they run fever. The doctor assumes it is just a fever virus b/c his ears look great, but b/c the fever was so high and he is so young, she ran some blood work and did a urine test just to make sure. Well, his blood work came back and his WBC count was 25,000 (should be 5,000-10,000). She sends us to the hospital lab (it's now 4:45 and the lab closes at 5:00) to have more blood drawn and a urine culture done. We get there at 4:59 and they get us back. They put the tourniquet on his arm and try to find a vein and stick the needle and tubing in and WIGGLE it around to find blood, but can't find any. SO, they go to the other arm and do the same - NO BLOOD!!! They go back to the original arm and stick him again and finally find blood, they are able to fill 2 vials (they need 3) when no more blood will come out (I guess he's a little dehydrated). So they go to the hand and find more blood (I feel like I'm talking about digging for oil right now!!!=) After 30 minutes of holding H's legs down and listening to him scream bloody murder and turn bright red and blue, it's finally over (or so I think). We go back to the Pediatrician's office and he is SOUND asleep in his carrier (you would be too after all that screaming). We are waiting for the CBC, CRP and urine results (the cultures take longer) and the doc comes in and says she is going to give him 2 Rocephin (sp?) shots - an antibiotic, just to cover any infection. Well, I WAKE him up and the nurse comes in and tells me what she is going to do - the shots are BIG and they have lidocaine in them b/c they hurt so bad - it's thick and I need to give him Motrin for the next 24 hours b/c he will be SORE - ya think?????? My little man is black and blue all over from 7 sticks in 2 hours - not just little vaccine sticks, but BIG needle/tubing/squeezing/thick sticks. I hate I didn't get a picture of him all bandaged up - he was a sight, but he began eating the guaze and tape and bandaids, so I had to take them off and throw them away! The urine came back clean and the CBC confirmed that the Ped lab is correct - WBC still at 25,000, the CRP is slightly elevated - meaning there is some sort of inflamation going on probably. He ran a high fever about midnight last night - 103.3, I prayed over him and couldn't sleep until he finally went to sleep an hour later when the fever broke. We go back today for more results and a follow-up - no one seems to know what's going on. He will get 2 more shots of Rocephin if he's not better and possibly more blood work - Seriously, poor guy =(

Please pray that he will get better miraculously and if that is not God's will that we will at least know how to treat it.

Sorry no new pictures lately - but here is the little guy - how he looks even when he's sick - with a big smile on his face - he was all smiles even with 103 degree fever!!!!

Faith as a child

The sweetest thing happened yesterday afternoon while I was playing on the floor with Henderson (4 months) and Emma Claire (4 years). EC and I were both "baby talking" to H and handing him little toys to suck on and watching him roll over when all of a sudden EC said "mommy, I want to pray" and I (kind of shocked, b/c we were in the middle of play time) said "okay honey, you pray" and this was her prayer:

"Dear God, please come live in Henderson's heart. Amen"

It was the sweetest thing, but I did go on to tell her that it was wonderful for her to want that for her brother, but that one day when he gets old enough to understand, he will have to ask Jesus into his heart on his own! We then talked a little more about sin and our need for Jesus and why Jesus died on the cross. It was a very special unplanned moment on our den floor!

EARLY Morning Run

Okay, I'll set the stage: I got up this morning at 4:30 am (yes, that's right, it hurt me too - I go to work at 7:00, so in order to get in any excercise, that's what has to be done). I pumped (b/c I dare not go running without:) and I was on the road with my precious Weimeraner dog Daisy by 5:00. I live in an area where there are 4-5 fairly large neighborhoods all within a 3 mile radius connected by 2 fairly busy roads (not highways by any means, but busy during school time traffic). Well, in my neck of the woods it is still pitch black dark at 5:00 am. Daisy is all bark no bite - but she is my security, b/c a kidnapper (womannapper) might not know the difference =). I am armed with my cell phone - ready to dial 911 at any approach of a stranger (or so I think). Well, I am about 10 minutes into my run, on a dark street (with houses, but these houses sit about 100 yards away from the street - they are on "Estate" lots as some call them) when all of a sudden my worst nightmare comes true. From behind me I hear a car coming and SLOWING down!!!!!!! My heart was racing so fast (from being scared, not the run), I had my cell phone ready, but I just froze, then the car came to a crawl - I looked over and do you know what I saw???



It was a POLICE CAR

Do you know how happy this made me???

He said, "I was just making sure you were working out and not up to something."

Do you know how happy this made me???

This police man was just canvasing our "nice" neighborhoods at 5:00 in the morning to make sure no one was "up to no good". All I could say was "no" - yes, that's what I said, if I had not been nervous to the point of near hysterics I would have said "oh thank you Mr. Police Man for making our streets safer and for really making sure that I was "legit". Thank you for actually doing your job and not just sitting in some Krispy Kreme eating away your shift." Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!

My run was a bit faster and better from that point on - no more looking over my shoulder waiting for the boogie man to get me!

And did Daisy bark or growl even once? Notta!!!!! So much for my "guard dog"!!

Just thought I would share this fun event with you all.


***Just a side note, don't think that I get up at 4:30 every morning - I am aiming for 1-2 times a week at this point - maybe more later, but you've got to start somewhere and with 3 children now 4 and under, and a 32 hour a week job, it's the only time I have!!!!

Tailgating on the Quad

We had a great, yet busy time tailgating on the Quad Saturday for the Alabama game! It was humid but not too hot, thanks to the cloud cover! We had good food, good fellowship with great friends, and lots of fun! Emma Claire had a great time with one of her best friends Mary Alice, whom she went to the game with and had a fabulous time - thanks William and Ashley!!!!

She also had a great time on the bouncy things - but she was disappointed that you could only go on them one time per ticket - we're used to having "unlimited" time on them at birthday parties/church functions, etc. Maybe we can bypass the "dollar drainer" as I like to call it next time :).

Fearless Wilson was terrified of Big Al - he clung so tight to Will and buried his head in his neck - only when Big Al was driving off in his golf cart did Wilson finally look up and cheerfully say "Bye Bye Big Al!!" Emma Claire loved him of course!

We didn't lose Wilson, but it was tough keeping up with him - I'm sure I was a sight over at the bouncy things with Henderson asleep on my chest in the baby bjorn (thank God for that thing) chasing Wilson through the 10,000 some odd people out there - he can weave in and out of people much better than I could with a sleeping baby attached to me!!!! Next time I will do like a brilliant friend of mine did and write with a Sharpie on his bicep my cell phone number - or better yet, I will just keep him strapped in a stroller and listen to him scream the whole time =)

Henderson was wonderful - doesn't it look like he's doing a cheer??? Roll Tide Roll!!!!