Thank you, Mr. President!

Thank you, Mr. President (of long ago) for this great holiday we had today! We had fun (and made BIG messes) at home, went to the park and played with friends!

Good old fashion fun with rocks and sticks!

(this is disgusting, but if you'll look closely, he's licking the snot dripping from his nose - it was FREEZING out today - the wind was whipping!)

There's a little dog under there somewhere!

Hangin' with the BIG boys!

Cheesin' it up!

These friends DID NOT want their picture taken!

These guys had a GREAT time!

Cousins HAPPY to see each other!

You'll get a laugh out of this

This is more for my memory (and Wilson's embarrassment when he is of reading age) than anything else....But, I sent Wilson to school today in Emma Claire's Dora panties. You see, we only own like 7 pair of little boys underwear. Well, since Wilson still won't poop in the potty and since we (I) started this, I feel like putting him back in pull-ups or diapers would be a set back, so he goes to school everyday in underwear. Well, 2-3 poops a day in underwear, and I only own 7 pair - well, 2 and a half days and we are out of clean underwear. Well, yesterday, Wilson ACCIDENTALLY dropped his underwear in the potty, so that was one less we had to work with. This morning I went to get him a pair and realized there were no more clean ones. I gave in to myself and suggested just wearing a pull-up today, but Wilson would have nothing to do with it (which secretly I was thrilled with). Well, the only alternatives were NO underwear at all or Emma Claire's panties. I chose the panties and you'll be proud to know I did pick a YELLOW pair of Dora panties - nevermind that they have a big pink heart on the front, but at least they weren't her pink tinkerbell panties!!!! I told Emma Claire's teacher what I did when I dropped them off at school, b/c I knew that he would be the laugh of the day amongst the teachers. Thankfully Wilson loves Dora and didn't think a thing about it. He's only 2 and I'm hoping that all the other 7 boys in his class are too young to realize that they are girl panties - or else we may be in for some counseling pretty soon!

TODAY I bought 6 new pair of underwear!!!!

On another note, last night after reading books to Emma Claire at bedtime she asked me this question:
"Mommy, will you still love me after I die?"
Of course I told her I would and that I hoped that we would both live to be 100 and I would die before she did, but WOW it shocked me...and this isn't the first time lately that she's asked questions about dying. The other night she was nearly sobbing saying how much she didn't want to die. I certainly don't want her to be excited about dying (meaning wanting to die soon), but I don't want her to be afraid, either. I think all the talks we have about Jesus and heaven and Jesus dying on the cross for our sins so we can live with Him in heaven one day have really got her thinking, but sometimes I really don't know how to answer her! This mommy thing is HARD sometimes!

Potty Training Tales

This afternoon, Emma Claire had dance at 1:00, so I picked all the children up from school and took her into dance (after running back home to get the baby doll and stroller she was supposed to take to practice for the recital with). After her dance had started I took the boys to a clothing store next door that has recently changed from a retail children's and maternity boutique to consignment. I was looking around, talking to the owner and my SIL, Ellen came in with her boys. The children were running around WILD but having a good time and being relatively good. There was a little "playroom" in the back and they were somewhat contained in there. As I was talking to the owner and my SIL, Wilson came up to me with only the shirt half of his short set on - he had taken his shorts and pull-up off and was standing there for all the world to see (and I might add the store was fairly crowded at this point). I ran back to the "playroom" horrified at what I might find, and Wilson had taken everything off and peed on TOP of his shorts. All I could think was that he at least had the right idea. BUT, b/c this was kind of an impromptu visit and b/c I had already gone by the house, I had unloaded all their bags and had no wipes, no diapers, no changes of clothes.... so holding Henderson I calmly walked Wilson out into the front of the store and out the front door, quietly smiling and saying bye to everyone I saw. On my way out the door I ran into my dear friend Ashley and we both pretty much were laughing hysterically - but she said the same thing I thought - "at least he had the right idea". So Wilson rode home half naked and I learned to laugh at the little things!



Wilson got a new change of clothes (this time play clothes) and we enjoyed the warm day outside!

If you could, lift my friend Amber up in your prayers. She was 16 weeks pregnant with twins and lost them both today. She lost a lot of blood and has possibly had to have a blood transfusion and is in the hospital in B'ham. She has a 3 year old son. I can't imagine the grief with any loss. There are a lot of families out there who have lost much, and I pray God will touch them in a BIG way.

Sleep, who needs sleep?

It really was a fun weekend - the weather was phenomenal, but Henderson was a little sick, STILL. I kept him home from church Sunday b/c he threw up once in his high chair, WHILE EATING APPLESAUCE (you would think he would have not eaten if he felt bad) and then had several BAD diapers - not sure if it was a stomach bug, or a combination of a strong antibiotic, ear infection, and blistered gums from 4 upper teeth all coming in AT ONCE!!!!! Poor guy - he's been very whiney and clingy and sleeping more in the day, but last night he woke up at 3:00 out of the blue - I gave him a bottle and he went back to sleep, so hopefully he was just hungry. I pray he will be 100% soon and the infections will all be gone and the blood work will be completely normal - his appt. is scheduled for Feb 24 (my birthday - what a fun one THAT will be - Drs appt then a trip to the hospital lab where they will tourniquet my poor baby's arm and hold him down and fill up no less than 3 large tubes with his blood).

THEN, this little live wire woke up at 4:15 AM ready to get his day on - wanting to eat a doughnut and watch his show, and that would have been great had he stayed in the room and actually watched his movie, but no, Diego wasn't good enough - he wanted Barney, then Baby Einstein, then Rescue Heroes - I finally gave up at 5:15 and just got in the shower, only to come out to Wilson opening up a cup of chocolate pudding IM MY BEDROOM - he got disciplined for that, simply b/c I had SPECIFICALLY told him (2 minutes earlier) he couldn't have chocolate pudding for breakfast. I will let Wilson have just about anything foodwise that he wants, but I draw the line at chocolate pudding in the morning when we are dressed and ready for school.

Will and I enjoyed a night out Saturday night at a Japanese Restaurant - it was a lot of fun and great food too! Last night I hosted a Castles and Crowns clothing show at my house and had a great time looking at the fabulous spring clothes and wishing I had $5000 to put towards all my children having oodles and goodles of matching smocked clothes!

Wilson is doing pretty good with the potty training except he had his first poo poo accident at school yesterday - it was bad - I think he had been holding it and waiting until nap time when I put a diaper on him. Yesterday morning while we were getting ready for school he said something about needing to stinky and then told me he needed his diaper - I did everything I could to convince him to poop in the potty, but he just wouldn't do it. Apparently he waited until school and did it on the playground. So, against my better judgement, today I sent him in a Pull-up to school - I just can't do that to his teacher. Any tips on getting them to "do #2" in the potty when they don't want to? Emma Claire didn't mind at all - she hated having "mess" in her diaper. Can you tell I'm struggling with what to call this "business"??? Any tips are WELCOME!!!!! He does great with tee-tee during wake time. And sleep time will come once he gets off the bottle of milk that he has to have to go to sleep (don't judge me - we weighs NOTHING and eats even less).

Well, I'm going to enjoy this last day of gloriously nice weather in my capri pants and flip flops b/c tomorrow is supposed to be NASTY in my neck of the woods!

Henderson's Baby Dedication

Henderson's Baby Dedication was nearly 2 weeks ago and I am just now getting some pictures back to post. It was a wonderful time of family gathering to dedicate the babies to Jesus. It was not a baptism or a christening, simply a dedication by the immediate family and church family to raise and support and encourage him in the ways of Jesus. It was very special for us, as has been for all 3 of my children, to be dedicated alongside his cousin, Stanton, who is only 2 weeks younger than him. Emma Claire and Patton were dedicated on the same day, in the same gowns (the same gowns as their siblings, not each other!!!), Wilson and Mills the same and now Henderson and Stanton. The other 2 dedications were done when the babies were about 3 or 4 months old. But the last dedication at our church was held the Sunday after the Alabama/Georgia game, and all the men were out of town at the game, so we held off until the next one, which in my opinion was easier, b/c the babies were a little more scheduled and predictable at 8 months than they were at 3 months!

Henderson didn't sit still for long, he was doing his best to crawl away in this long, silk gown!

Our family with our Pastor, Dr. Gil McKee

My parents and sister, Katie and her fiance, Matt.

Henderson and Stanton - another benefit to waiting until 8 months - they can both sit by them selves!

Our family with Will's sister, Ellen and her husband, Stan and Chandler, Patton, Mills and Stanton

Add in Will's parents!!!! And we are together ALL THE TIME - don't you know it gets wild!!!

The Check Up

We went to Henderson's 9 month check up yesterday and it went okay - I won't say GREAT, but it wasn't bad. To start, here are his stats (more for my memory than anything else):



Weight: 15# 4oz (minus 5%)



Height: 27 inches (20%)!!!!!



Head: 45 cm (25%)!!!!!!



Now, the weight is no surprise, but still disturbing - I mean, he is a GREAT eater!!! He still has an ear infection (he had this 2 weeks ago, along with the RSV) RSV is gone, but ear is still infected, so we switched antibiotics. They did a CBC and his white blood cell count is HIGH (20,000). Now if you remember, we dealt with this back in September. My prayer is that it is related to the current ear infection and will go away with the current antibiotics and that he will be in no pain. My pediatrician didn't go into any what-ifs with me about what it could possibly be, which is good b/c I know how my mind works. We go back in 3 weeks for a re-check and if he is well, we will go to the hospital to have more blood drawn.

Otherwise he is a healthy, developing 9 month old with a tenacity for being on the move!!!!

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Wilson did great yesterday with potty training (wearing underwear to school) He did have one accident, around 11:00 while they were playing in the gym - my guess is he was having too much fun to stop playing! He'll soon learn that it takes more time away from playing when you have an accident than it does to actually go to the potty! He went back to school in underwear again today, so hopefully he will be accident free!

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Emma Claire had a fun play date with Mary Alice yesterday at both houses (at her house while I was at Henderson's appt, then at our house for the rest of the afternoon). They turned my living room into their "house", bringing all the baby paraphenelia (baby doll bed, high chair, strollers, chairs, pretend food, etc, etc, etc). And guess what - I LEFT IT THERE!!!! Emma Claire is having Patton, Caroline, and hopefully Mary Gibbons over today after dance, so it will all be dragged out again - pure fun!

Big Happenings!

Happy 9 months Henderson!!!

My third-born (and last, sniff sniff) is 9 months old today! I can't believe it - he is such a fun little guy - active like Wilson always was (is) - into everything and all over the house - crawling fast and pulling up and cruising around on mommy's furniture! He climbs the steps great, but hasn't yet learned how to go down by himself - he just sits at the top (our 2 steps, not the big staircase) and rocks back and forth while "calling" out for help - it's so cute! He is a GREAT eater - eats all kinds of baby food and LOVES table food - drinks his milk great - but still tiny - go figure. His favorite "treat" is Daisy's dog food - goes after it like a man on a mission (Wilson did this exact thing too). Henderson, though, will stop and look up at me when I say "NO", whereas Wilson would just start crawling faster! Hopefully this is a sign of a compliant child (like Emma Claire) and not a testing child (like Wilson). All are wonderfully made in their own ways - I prayed for a mix of Emma Claire and Wilson's personalities and I really believe God answered that prayer (the way I wanted it answered)!

We go for his 9 month check up this afternoon, so we'll see how he's REALLY doing! He's a great sleeper at night, 10-12 hours! Naps are give and take, some days 30 minutes, other days 1 hour 30 minutes. Overall I couldn't ask for a better baby! He's my love bug, always wanting momma to hold him when I'm around, but perfectly content when I'm nowhere to be seen or heard! I love you little Henderson and thank God for the wonderful gift you are!

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This little 2 year and 4 month old guy went to school in underwear today!!!! I can't believe it myself. I just knew he would be the 4 year old still in diapers - he could just care less about being dirty. Food (candy) has never worked as a reward for him, b/c he DOES NOT EAT!!! But alas, Will came home with powdered doughnuts and Wilson went crazy for them!

- and I held them over his head so to speak, so he could only have 1 if he went potty. It worked - he was going to sit on the potty over and over again!!!

Now, we may be back in diapers tomorrow - if today is disastrous at school,

but he did SO good this weekend going potty and I'm of the school "they've got to learn somehow". I'll let ya'll know how it went - my big worry is poo-poo - we haven't gotten that down great yet!

As for my tennis, it went AMAZINGLY well, I felt like I picked up where I left off - though I am quite sore today - I can tell I used muscles that I haven't used in 15 years - like my forearm and triceps! I've definitely got the "tennis bug" and will be out on the courts whenever time allows! It's great that one of my best friends plays all the time, so hopefully we can play alot and she (Ashley) will put up with me while I improve and get back in the swing of things!



We had a birthday dinner at our house last night for Will's mom. We grilled out steaks and had baked potatoes and salad and a yummy chocolate chip pound cake - my tummy and heart were both full - time with family is so treasured! Will's sister and husband and her 4 children came over along with his mom's 2 cousins that are in town. I love seeing how our 7 children play and get along (most of the time) and truly enjoy being together!



On another note, can you believe it's FEBRUARY!!!!???? Wow, how fast time goes by! Spring is just around the corner - and I CAN'T WAIT!!!! I love spring and fall - that middle ground weather - and I don't have allergy problems, so that helps, b/c we all know how pollen is down here!