The Baker's

Just a few pictures I LOVE!

2012-01-16T12:27:00.004-06:00

Cyst

2012-01-16T09:53:00.006-06:00

On Sunday before going in to have Anistyn on Monday, my tail bone started being really sore. I figured it was inflamed because I had been laying around a lot resting with my feet propped up. During my hospital stay the soreness got worse and worse. We got home from the hospital on Wednesday and even after we got home, the soreness wasn't getting any better. I was either having to sit on a pillow or on one of my hips. All day Thursday I laid around on my side with an ice pack on my tail bone. It was so hard to even move that some times Robert would even have to give me a hand to even get up off the couch.

By Friday morning, I was in so much pain I couldn't hardly bear it. I had googled anti-inflammatory medications and knew that whatever type of medicine I was given that I probably would not be able to breastfeed while taking it. That upset me even more. I was able to give Britt breastmilk til he was 8-9 weeks, but started having to suppliment with formula at 6 weeks because I wasn't producing enough so I was really wanting to be able to do better this time.

Robert talked me into going on to the doctor that day. I called to make sure the Nurse Practitioner that I wanted to use was there and would be able to see me. All morning, if I wasn't crying about the pain I was in-I was crying because I knew my chances of being able to breastfeed were dwindling down very quickly, especially if I had to take certain medications. Everytime I would cry, Robert would ask me what was wrong, he eventually started just asking "is it the pain or the postpardom?" I sent my friend Erin who was my labor/delivery nurse a text and told her what was going on. She told me that what I thought was postpardom blues was probably just my emotions confused because of the pain from my tail bone. She also gave me a pep talk about breastfeeding and that even if I did have to be put on medication, I could still pump my milk but throw it out.

When the Nurse Practitioner came in, I had told her about when it started and had gotten worse over my hospital stay and time at home. She looked at it and said that she thought it was a poly-(something) cyst (I don't remember the exact name she used). She asked when I would go back to see my ob/gyn and we both quickly agreed that I couldn't wait that long. She asked if I had a surgeon that I used already and when I told her no, she said that she would call down to Dr. Dabbs' office to see if they could work me in that day. Lucky for me, they had me come straight on. I say "lucky for me" because I knew that it would give me some relief......but what I didn't know it how much more pain I would be in when they lanced it!

Once Dr. Dabbs looked at it, he agreed that it was the same kind of cyst the Nurse Practitioner thought it was. After a few minutes of getting prepped, he lanced it and let me just say-It was the worst pain I have ever felt before in my life!!! Not only did I already have a lot of soreness and tenderness but add on top of that, the so called numbing shot (that didn't work) that he gave me in amongst that very tender area, the cut and then pressing out all the infection.......it definitely wasn't a walk in the park! I think I would prefer childbirth over having another cyst lanced!!!!! Oh wait, and I forgot about the packing! They had to pack gauze in the cut for the drainage and Robert has had to unpack and repack it. I pray I never have to go thru this again!!!!! It has been a horrible experience! My pregnancy, labor and delivery was so smooth but the 1st week of post pardom has definitely NOT been a walk in the park!!!!! However, after going thru all the torture of having the cyst lanced, I am feeling much better and now can actually move without any pain.

Oh, and one more thing I forgot. Since it wasn't my tail bone that was inflammed as I originally thought I didn't have to be put on anti-inflammatory medicines.

Unfortunately, Dr. Dabbs gave me 2 options:
1) take an antibiotic to kill/prevent infection-the type of antibiotic he needed to give me would go thru my breast milk to Anistyn so I would either have to completely quit breastfeeding or pump and dump for a couple weeks.
2) No antibiotic and let my body heal naturally on its own. This way would take longer.

I had to make a decision quickly. I knew that if I let it heal on its own, the possibility of it getting infected again was increased with nothing to fight off infection. Robert also told me that when they lanced the cyst some of the infection drained down between my legs around where my stitches was from tearing in delivery. I chose to go ahead and get the antibiotic and I would just have to come to accept that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed....which depressed me even more.

Mama had come over that morning to stay with Anistyn while Robert took me to the doctor, he brought me home and went back to town for my prescription and bandage supplies. Once he got back home, we were talking about not being able to breastfeed and how upset I was about it. He told me that if I was determined enough to breastfeed, I knew what I needed to do to keep my supply up, like my pep talk from Erin, this pep talk from Robert was just what I needed to hear. With Britt, I went back to work quickly and was so busy that I didn't have time/take time to pump like I needed to to keep my supply up so that's why I lost it so quickly. My antibiotics are for 10 days, so I've decided to pump and dump for about 15 days to allow enough time for them to get out of my system. My milk came in Friday/Saturday.....I'm pumping anywhere from 2-5 oz. each time and each time I pour it down the drain it BREAKS MY HEART!!!!! Robert went to pour out some egg nog last night that he never drank around Christmas and I was about to dump my milk. I mentioned to him that it broke my heart to have to do that and he said "well, I'm about to throw out a QUART of egg nog." I kind of chuckled and said but mine is "liquid gold!" I am praying I can pump often enough for my supply to remain until I can breastfeed again, then when I can, I'm hoping that she will latch and take to me.

Robert has taken such good care of me this past week! I don't know what I would have done without him! My parents have also been wonderful! Mama has come over and washed/dried and put up clothes, gone grocery shopping for us, cooked and brought over meals. My cousin Nicky cooked supper for us Friday night and brought it over. We are just so blessed to have the love of family during this time....the words "Thank You" just don't seem adequate enough.

Happy Birthday-Anistyn Brooke Baker

2012-01-13T15:03:00.026-06:00

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get around to posting this. I wanted to do an entire blog entry of when Anistyn was born but I haven't felt like doing it because of a cyst.....details on that will come in my next post.

To start with, I think it's only fair to warn you that there are LOTS of pictures.....of course you probably already figured that out anyway.

Having trouble getting comfortable due to what I thought was an inflammed tail bone, I needed some help raising up to get readjusted and more comfortable.

I had a wonderful labor. When I actually felt the contractions, they felt like mild cramps that you would have during your menstrual cycle. During a lot of the "labor" time, Dusty was carrying on over one thing or another and making me laugh. He had me in tears numerous times.

Pa John even made Anistyn wear his LSU cap.

and also hollered at her to HURRY UP. LOL.

My cousin DeAnna Richmond and her kids Laurel and Cole, she was my labor and delivery nurse with Britt and my friend Erin Nowell who was my labor and delivery nurse with Anistyn. The day Britt was born Erin was there running my video camera, she was still in nursing school at the time and I've wanted her to be my next nurse ever since. I am so glad I was able to have the 2 labor/delivery nurses that I wanted. Britt was born at 8:22 am and Erin had to leave just a little while after his birth to go have her nursing pictures made.....she had to finish getting ready in my labor/delivery room while I was recovering.

It took longer for me to progress than I was expecting because my cervix wasn't as thin as it needed to be but luckily, we didn't have to use cervical gel-which probably would have made the wait even longer.

I had my notebook out and made notes everytime I was checked to have for Anistyn's baby book and my blog but when it was all over, Erin printed it all out for me.

Here's the time line and how everything progressed:

6:00 am: (admitted to hospital) approx. 2.5 cm, started a little pitocin.

8:56 am: no change dilation/60% thinned, broke water (I actually didn't even realize she broke my water. I had a gush of water with Britt but I guess Anistyn's head was in the way so it trickled out without me knowing it.

10:45 am: got epidural. I wasn't hurting but the anesthesiologist was already on the floor so since he was in the area I decided to go ahead and get it. After getting my epidural (before anyone ever came back in my blood pressure got low and I felt nauseated and dizzy. Every had been outside waiting for so long, they started worrying and thinking something was wrong and sent Robert in to check to make sure everything was ok....he forgot to come back and tell everyone and daddy ended up texting me asking what was going on. I told them it was ok to come back in.

11:25 am: 4.5 cm/ 70% thinned

1:20pm: 5.5 cm/70% thinned. At this point, Erin started flipping me from one side to the other every 15 minutes or so to keep Anistyn from getting too comfortable. Erin was getting some urine out of the catheter bag and Britt asked "is that REALLY your pee pee?" He would also announce as people came in "that's my mama's pee pee!"

3:22 pm: 7 cm/80% thinned. At this point, Erin put me up in a position where I was on my side and my opposite leg was crossed over and in a stirup. You'll see a picture of this on down in the post....it made a good bed/hiding spot for Britt.

4:10 pm: 8 cm/80% thinned. We flipped to the other side with the other leg crossed over in the stirup.

4:45 pm: 9 cm/ 85% thinned

5:35 pm: 100 cm/ 100% thinned. The last update by text or facebook that I gave was at 9 cm, later on I found out from my aunt that she had started getting worried when she never heard anything else from me until Anistyn was born. After I updated about being 9 cm, it didn't take long for me to start feeling the pressure of her head so I was focusing more on that than I was updating anyone. Then I went so fast from getting to 10 cm to pushing, I never thought about updates.

Ok, back to the pictures during the waiting time.

I was afraid that Britt was going to get too anxious about having to wait such a long time. Granna, Nanny and Britt got to the hospital around 9:30-10:00 am that morning and he did a lot of sighing and asking how much longer it would be but for the most part acted really good. Luckily, we had his portable dvd player and a couple Nintendo DS's to play with.....Britt wasn't the only one who got bored. Here is my friend Brandy's little boy playing and killing time. Dusty and Cayla even took their turn playing.

Once I was getting closer to being completely thinned out, Erin turned me up in this position....flipping from side to side every 15-30 minutes or so to help thin out my cervix and help me dilate a little faster. Britt found this kind of fun I guess and laid with me. I had an internal monitor in at this time plus my catheder and I was so scared he was going to pull them out without knowing it.

Yes, you're seeing this picture correctly. I am on my cell phone and texting and facebooking my updates. I've been there before.....waiting anxiously on word of someone who was having a baby and the time of not knowing what's going on is horrible. I wanted my friends who feel the same way I do to be up to date and know the moment I did when something was happening. I don't think anyone believed me when I told them that I would be posting my updates.

Just one of those sweet moments caught on camera......we actually had to pose and kiss again because mama or Cayla missed the first sweet moment. I even stopped texting or facebooking for it.

Sorry, this picture got a little out of order when I was uploading them.

Mama got lots of pictures of different expressions that Nanny made. They went from one extreme to the other.

Excited Aunt Peggy (Robert's sister) and Great-Grandmother, Nanny.

Another funny expression

This has to be my most favorite expression! I was pushing and mama was telling her "come down here, you can see better!" Nanny was saying "Noooooo, I'll faint!"

I could have swore that Anistyn's head was bigger than Britt's. I had a harder time getting her to crown than I did him. I pushed with him for 22 minutes and only pushed with her for 12 minutes but I didn't think I was ever going to be able to get her head out, it didn't feel like it would move at all when I pushed. I had an episiotomy with Britt but actually tore on the inside with her.....which I guess is why I was having trouble.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Mama hollered it out.....as if the 4 sonograms we had weren't enough proof. LOL!

Anistyn Brooke Baker

January 9, 2012 at 5:47 PM

7 lbs. 14 ozs and 21 in. long.

Oh, I couldn't believe she was finally here! Our sweet baby girl to complete our family!

I love this picture and the look on Erin's (Aunt E's) face!

Cayla was able to slip outside and take this picture. Britt was about to bust the door down to get in to see her. He kept saying, "I hear her, I hear her crying, that's my baby sister!!!"

EXHAUSTED!!!!

I forgot to upload a picture to show this but while I was being stitched up, I had my phone and was texting and updating facebook to try and get my mind off of the pain from being stitched. I've caught a lot of flack from being on facebook while in labor and such but as I've mentioned above....I've been there waiting for news, I wanted people to be informed. I love details and I was going to give details!

Britt's 1st time to meet Anistyn.

I love the look on his face......I do believe it was love at first sight!

Britt spent the night with Granna and Pa John while we were in the hospital. After they got home the night she was born, Granna pulled up facebook and showed him a picture that Robert posted of Anistyn for people to see. She said that he laid his head over on her shoulder and told her that he thought it was a dream. We've talked about it before and figured that it was going to be hard for him to believe since it takes so long during a pregnancy.

1 Day Old

Each of us has a "mini-me." Britt looks so much like Robert and Anistyn looks so much like me.

Britt was too busy playing his DS to stop for a picture.

Getting ready to go home

Nurse Betty here has been at Anderson's for AT LEAST 31 years! My mama has a picture when I was born and Nurse Betty was holding me up. She was also Britt's baby nurse when he was born and now, one of Anistyn's nurses. I have pictures of her with both of my babies too.

All dressed up in our 1st set of pearls and ready to head to the house!

Prenatal Appt-38 Weeks

2012-01-03T13:41:00.004-06:00

Well.....for starters, even though we have been planning on going in to induce Monday, January 9th I was deep, deep down hoping I would have progressed enough that they would go ahead and admit me this afternoon to have the baby. When they didn't, I wanted to cry because I am so ready for it to be over but knowing that I have a date to count down to helps.....A LOT!!!

My blood pressure was 114/80, Anistyn's heart rate was between 136-138 and I've gained a few more lbs. putting me at 30 gained so far. (I think I ate as many Christmas cookies as Santa did this past week....oh and I'm sure the 2 gallons of milk that I've drank BY MYSELF helped with that extra weight gain this week too!)

I haven't dilated anymore and my cervix is still too thick right now for her to come. They wanted to put me in on Monday afternoon at 4 PM but I begged to be put in early that morning. For my own reasons, I'd rather be put in early and have all day to progress than I had be put in late afternoon and have the baby really late at night or in the wee hours of the morning. Besides, if we went in at 4 Monday afternoon, chances are my labor would be like it was with Britt.....gel to soften my cervix and then start pitocin to induce early the next morning which wouldn't be the day we wanted her to be born to share her birthday with her great-great-grandparents.

OH! And another thing! I have been measuring right on target the entire pregnancy.....until this week. When Dr. Purvis measured me, I was measuring 41 weeks. I could tell then that he wanted a sonogram as bad as I did. He started asking the nurse if 2-3 people were there and called each of them by name. I knew he was asking about the sonogram technicians....I had already asked the nurse if anyone was there and she told me not until later this afternoon. On Tuesday's they come from Anderson's and it's usually around 2 when they get there. So.....we have NO IDEA how big of a baby she is going to be.....I'm so anxious to find out!!!

Unless something happens between now and then, we will be at the hospital Monday at 6 AM to get everything started. I will blog as soon as I am able to with updates and pictures.

Blessed

2012-01-02T14:18:00.008-06:00

I posted this as my facebook status but I wanted to post it here in my blog so I could go back to it anytime I needed a reminder of how blessed I am.

As I look ahead to my last week in this pregnancy, exhausted, uncomfortable and finally ready for it to be over....I can't help but feel so overwhelmed with how much God has blessed me! This has been a a wonderful pregnancy as I have mentioned several times before but now....I'm ready to have my body back, I'm ready to be able to smile without feeling like I look weird because of the extra fluid in my face, I'm ready to be able to wear my wedding rings again and I'm ready to be able to sleep comfortably! Out of all these and more discomforts of pregnancy, I'm so glad that God has given me another chance to be a mama! In January 2004, with reasons we will never know, he took our 1st baby from us, now 8 years later, he is completing our family with our Anistyn soon to arrive!

Prenatal Appt-37 Weeks

2011-12-27T14:05:00.005-06:00

Quick update about our checkup this morning. Everything looked good, my blood pressure was 119/72, Anistyn's heart rate was 152 bpm and my weight gain stands at 24 lbs. I have started dilating and currently I am at 1 cm. I have been having contractions for the last couple weeks so they are working! I mentioned that I wanted to be induced on the 9th and Felecia said that date would be fine. I wasn't able to have a sonogram today because the technician wasn't there so we don't know yet how much she weighs. I'm hoping we will get to have one next week when we go back.

Our countdown is officially ON! 12 days! OH MY GOODNESS!!! I think I have pretty much everything ready for her......(well, I HOPE!) Her room has been ready for months and yesterday I worked on getting the pack n play set up in our bedroom and I went ahead and loaded the vehicle with our hospital bags and car seat. Today, while I was still gone to the doctor, one of my oldest and dearest friends dropped off Anistyn's birth announcement sign that she has been working on. A few weeks ago when I started having contractions, I think I sent my friend into a panic because she had not been able to finish the sign.

Here's a picture of it-completed except for just the last minute details that we can't fill in yet.

It is PERFECT!!! I am so proud of it! It matches Anistyn's bedding. We are all so excited about this little girl that is about to be here. I think I'm STILL in shock that she is a little girl and that I will no longer be a mama to just 1 little boy. Has reality really hit me yet that I'm gonna have 2 kids........um, No not yet....not completely!

36 Weeks

2011-12-21T10:15:00.004-06:00

I won't go back to the doctor until next Tues., Dec. 27th but I wanted to post this update.

Monday night while me and mama were talking, she reminded me that my great-grandmother on daddy's side (Ollis Stephens) and my great-grandfather on my mama's side (Troy Todd) was born on January 9th. I'm going to mention to Dr. Purvis or Felecia that if Anistyn doesn't decide to come on her own before that date, that we do want to induce that day. That's just under 3 weeks!!! Oh my goodness! I can't believe we are down this close, it's gone by so fast!!!

I know I said that I wanted to go in on my own, but I do hope we are able to have her on that day. I think it's so sentimental that Britt was born on his great-grandfather's birthday (Jr. Stephens) and Anistyn could possibly be born on her great-great-grandparents birthday. I would love for her to be born around Robert's birthday as well but I don't want his birthday to end up being forgotten every year when we celebrate her birthday. Britt's birthday is 8 days before mine so Anistyn's birthday may be 9 days before Robert's if all goes as planned. I'll be 2 days shy of turning 39 weeks so I don't think Dr. Purvis or Felecia would have a problem with it.

I am SOOOO excited......and overwhelmed at the same time! There's so much to get done in the next 19 days!!!!

Tinkerton

2011-12-21T09:12:00.004-06:00

Our Elf Tinkerton has been very busy this year, flying back and forth to the North Pole to report to Santa how Britt has been acting. Unfortunately, for most of the month he hasn't had good reports for Santa!

The first part of December we were so excited for Tinkerton to arrive (me and Robert hoped it would help how Britt acted, but as I somewhat mentioned above, Tinkerton's presence in the house hasn't changed his behavior!)

His very 1st mission on the 1st day he arrived was to get Britt's Christmas tree up. I have been so tired, I just didn't feel like tackling his tree. When we walked in that day, Tinkerton was hanging from the light in the kitchen.....after a few minutes, Britt walked to his room and found his tree! Tinkerton also brought some new fire fighter ornaments for Britt's tree.

Britt was SOOOO excited that his tree was FINALLY up and that Tinkerton had done it all by himself!!!

A week or so later, we came home and found Tinkerton in the kitchen light again, with more ornaments! These ornaments went on MY Christmas tree!

I don't know what got into Tinkerton this particular night. I'm wondering if he had some of his elf friends over for a party and had a little too much spiked egg nog! There was toilet paper everywhere!!! Luckily, we were able to roll all of it back up to use! Britt was amazed at the mess that Tinkerton and his elf friends had made but was sure that if Santa knew about it, Tinkerton would be in trouble.

On Monday night, Dec. 19th we got together at Granna and Pa John's house for Christmas. We noticed that their elves, Thornton and Vinson had a note in one of their hands. Britt wanted so bad to get the note but we wouldn't let him until we finished eating. When we finally let him get the note, Pa John read it. It was from SANTA!!! He mentioned that Tinkerton did get in trouble about the toilet paper and that he (Santa) also had a video message for Britt and that I would have to check my email to see it.

We all gathered in the pool room to watch the video and we discovered that because of the way Britt has acted and the reports that Santa received from Tinkerton, that Britt is currently on the naughty list! OH NO!!! Santa also mentioned that he still had time to be a good boy and act like he was supposed to because Santa was counting on him!

We had a really good time at Granna and Pa John's house for Christmas. It was so much fun watching Britt and Jagger with their presents, however Jagger was more concerned with Britt's big boy toys and the boxes/paper than his own but I don't think we were expecting any different. Anistyn had a great Christmas at Granna and Pa John's house too. I had mentioned to mama earlier that night that one of my friends (Kim) had asked me if I was going to have a shower for Anistyn. I told her that I've always heard that you didn't have a shower for the 2nd baby but everyone that I knew that had 2nd and 3rd kids, did have showers. I wasn't going to have one for myself because I think that is tacky and I wasn't going to ask for one, so really I didn't know if I would or not, I haven't heard any talk about one. Mama told me not to worry about it, all Nanny needed was a way to get to town and she would get whatever we needed. LOL! That's the truth! HA HA! Anistyn got lots of good stuff that we needed- diapers, wipes, numerous outfits, blankets, socks, bibs, etc. just about anything you could ask for. I already had her clothes packed for the hospital but now I'm gonna have to unpack and repack because of some of the new outfits she got for Christmas are some that I want to take to the hospital!

One of Britt's gifts was 2 new DS games. It wasn't until the next morning that Britt and I realized that the DS games were not the right games for his Nintendo DSi but rather for a Nintendo 3DS (which he doesn't have.) Not to fear! Tinkerton must have heard our conversation about the games not being the same because when we got home yesterday afternoon-there was Tinkerton with a brand new Nintendo 3DS!!!! WOW! Britt was soooo surprised!

Now back to Tinkerton's mischievous fits! This morning when we woke up to find Tinkerton, this is how we found him.......with MY lipstick!!!! Now, why on Earth would Tinkerton have my lipstick?!?!?!?!

OH YEAH........that's why!!! When me and Britt went to the bathroom this morning to give him a bath, this is what we saw when we turned on the bathroom light.

Since, Santa's video to Britt (even though it was only 2 days ago) he has been acting better, he has even made mention that he has been acting better since we got the video. Maybe we need to get a video or letter from Santa every month or so to keep our behavior in check......it sure would make for a smoother year!

35 weeks

2011-12-13T15:01:00.004-06:00

I won't go back to the doctor for a normal check up for 2 weeks but I wanted to go ahead and update on a few things.

Contractions:
Has started!!! As of right now, they are no where near being regular or close together...approx. an hour and a half apart. It isn't uncommon to have them now in the pregnancy but I didn't have any with Britt that I was aware of so this is all new to me. I have stated before that I would love to make it to my due date (Jan 18th) because Robert's birthday is the 19th. I would love to be able to deliver her and then turn to him and tell him "happy birthday daddy." If she holds on and we do get to induce around our due date I still may get to do that. However, if she decides to come on her own, I would love that too because that is what I have wanted all along. I want the experience of going in on my own where we did get to induce with Britt so that he could share my Papaw Jr's birthday. If she does decide to come on her own, she really REALLY needs to wait until after Jan. 1st because of insurance!!! So, we'll just wait and see.

Sibling Rivalry:
Has started!!! Last night I was sitting with Britt watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and this is how our conversation went: Me-"What are we going to do when Anistyn gets here? Is she gonna sleep in the bed with us when Daddy is at the fire department?" Britt-"She is gonna do the same thing Jagger does when he spends the night with us when daddy is at the fire department" (Meaning that he isn't gonna share the big bed with her....she will have to sleep in her own bed!"

After we got in bed, it didn't take long for Britt to fall asleep. We laid there facing each other and he fell asleep with his hand propped up on my belly. After a couple minutes, Anistyn started kicking harder than she has ever kicked before. I took it that she was trying to kick his hand off my stomach and I have joked about them already being territorial of me. That could have just been her way of getting back at him for saying in very few words that she couldn't sleep with us!

Interviews

2011-12-12T20:23:00.004-06:00

Recently I had a friend to post about an interview she had with her kids. After reading all the cute answers she got, it made me want to interview Britt. I was a little nervous about some of his answers because lately I feel like I fail so much as a mama! I also asked the same questions about "daddy" so here are those answers:

What is something we always say to you?
Mama-"Come here"
Daddy-"I love you"

What makes us happy?
Mama- "When I do what I'm told."
Daddy- "When I do what I'm told." (You can sure tell he gets that preached to him alot!)

What makes us sad?
Mama- "When I don't do what I'm supposed to do"
Daddy- "When I don't do what I'm supposed to do"

How do we make you laugh?
Mama- "by tickling me"
Daddy- "by telling jokes"

What were we like as kids?
Mama- "a girl"
Daddy- "he had short hair"

How old are we?
Mama- "30"
Daddy- "35"

How tall are we?
Mama- "Big"
Daddy- "Big"

What is our favorite thing to do?
Mama- "stay home with me"
Daddy- "cut grass with me"

What do we do when you're not around?
Mama- "go to work"
Daddy- "works"

If we become famous, what will it be for?
Mama- "a rock star"
Daddy- "Rock n roller"

What are we really good at?
Mama- "laughing"
Daddy- "Fighting fires"

What are we not very good at?
Mama- "hoola-hooping" (this child has never seen me hoola-hoop!)
Daddy- "pumping the hoses cause he don't drive on calls"

What do we do for our jobs?
Mama- "print papers"
Daddy- "works real hard"

What is our favorite food?
Mama- "pizza"
Daddy- "peanuts"

What makes you proud of us?
Mama- "letting me do stuff"
Daddy- "spending time with me"

If we were a cartoon character, who would we be?
Mama- "Garfield" (ummm, isn't Garfield a boy cat?)
Daddy- "Spongebob" (ha ha ha ha ha!!)

What do we do together?
Mama- "snuggle on the couch"
Daddy- "ride the 4 wheeler"

How are we the same?
Mama- "we're both white"
Daddy- "we're both boys"

How are we different?
Mama- "you have long hair and I have short hair"
Daddy-"I am short and he is tall

How do you know we love you?
Mama- "you're so sweet"
Daddy- "he kisses me"

Where is our favorite place to go?
Mama- "walmart"
Daddy- "deer club"

Prenatal Appt-34 weeks

2011-12-05T20:43:00.003-06:00

My checkup today was great, everything is progressing smoothly and I'm still measuring right on target. So far, I'm still holding at 21 lbs. gained which, like I said before is more than I wanted to gain to start with but at the same time I am thrilled with it. I gained 41 total with Britt so anything below that number is awesome in my book! My blood pressure was 115/71 and Anistyn's heart rate was 144. I'll go back to the doctor in 3 weeks (instead of 2 weeks because of how the weeks fall, that being Christmas week) so I will be turning 37 weeks when I go for my next appointment.......WOW, it literally blows my mind that we are down to the last 5-6 weeks.

The day that my next appointment is set for is a day that Robert would be at the FD but he had already taken off to go hunting. I normally schedule my appointments for the afternoon so that I can at least work until lunch time and not lose the entire day. However, the last few weeks I want my appointments to be in the morning, just in case they decide to send me on to the hospital, it will still be early in the day. When I told Robert the day of my next appointment he asked what time it was. When I told him 10 am, you've never heard all the spitting and sputtering, then I heard "but it's the RUT! I may as well just go ahead and pack all my stuff up" I said in laughter, "well I'm so sorry, but you'll have plenty of time to hunt. I'll tell you what....when we get home from the hospital, me and Anistyn will be just fine, you just do what you feel like you need to do." Then I got THE LOOK....and if you know Robert, you KNOW the look I'm talking about. I couldn't help but laugh! I love that we can go back and forth with each other, knowing that neither one of us are serious and can laugh about stuff like this. I did tell him that I'm sure I wouldn't have any trouble getting my grandmother to come over and stay with us in those early weeks while he goes hunting. He said, "yeah, she'll probably need to get out of the house anyway." LOL!

Prenatal Appt-32 weeks

2011-11-21T19:31:00.001-06:00

For the last couple weeks I have been EXHAUSTED! A lot more tired than usual, achy, sore and feeling pressure down below that I have only felt when I was in labor and "pushing" with Britt. I was nervous about mentioning it to Purvis or Felecia because my biggest fear so far is being put on bed rest. During the day, I walk back and forth to the bank several times a week....sometimes even a couple times a day. I know the exercise is good for me but I was also concerned that with this pressure it was also working against me. I try to rest and prop my feet up every evening to keep any swelling down but after laying and resting for sometimes a short length of time, sometimes it's hard for me to get up because my back hurts so bad. Well, I did mention the pressure today and Felecia said that not only was it just round ligament pains, which is normal but also because my abdominal muscles were so stretched and weak after having Britt, that is causing me to have more pressure and back pain than I had before. So....note to self: even though Anistyn will be my last baby, I NEED to work my abs! All the more reason to get in shape. Ha Ha!!!

My blood pressure was good, 136/72, a little higher than it has been but I think the difference is because I had lunch before this appointment and the times it was lower I had not eaten. Anistyn's heart rate was 130, the lowest it's been so far but Felecia didn't seem concerned.

As far as my weight gain......I'm still in normal range so far. However, I've gained more than what my goal was. I want a healthy weight gain but I also don't want an excessive amount. My friend Erin, who will also be my labor/delivery nurse told me that even if I kept my weight gain between 25-35 lbs., I'd still be doing good. So far I am at 18 lbs. gained with approximately 6-8 weeks to go. 6-8 weeks to go......WOW! This pregnancy is FLYING BY!!! I know it's just going to get faster with Christmas gatherings, etc. over the next month!

Prenatal Appt-30 weeks

2011-11-08T08:35:00.004-06:00

I can't believe I'm already down to going every 2 weeks to the doctor now instead of once every 4 weeks. This pregnancy is going by so fast!!!!

My appointment was great. I had not gained any weight since my last visit....still around 12-13 lbs. gained (depending on the day). Felecia (Dr. Purvis midwife) complimented me on how well I was doing. I wish strangers knew just how well I was doing, then they wouldn't make comments about how big I am. Felecia told me to reply back to people that they are ugly but lucky for me, I'll have this baby soon enough and get rid of the extra belly size but they are stuck with the ugly. LOL, I just love her!!! My blood pressure was 100/72 and the baby's heart rate was 148.

We tried the 4D ultrasound again to see if she was in a little bit better position. She was a little but we still couldn't see her entire face. What we DID get to see though was so sweet! During the ultrasound she stuck her hand in her mouth and was sucking on her fingers, when she took her hand out she started sucking on her bottom lip (like my daddy does!) I had also already decided from the 1st 4D pictures that she was going to have Robert's mouth, the way her top lip lays over her bottom lip but yesterday getting a better view of her mouth, I'm even more sure that she is going to have Robert's mouth/lips. In this picture, it looks like her nose is going to be a little wider than Britt's little round nose but then again it could still be because she is smushed up in the placenta in her comfortable spot. Here's the newest ultrasound picture from yesterday.

We got to see girl parts again, I've got pictures of that too. Mama was with me and I think she's convinced now that they didn't make a mistake. Ha!

4D Ultrasound

2011-11-04T13:47:00.005-05:00

Today, we went for our 4D ultrasound. I've been hoping so much that she would move around so we could get a good picture of her face. Last time I had a sonogram, we barely got a profile of her face. She had her face smushed up into the placenta......and still does. We did everything we could think of to get her to move away from the placenta so we could get a better picture but it didn't work too well. Out of all the pictures we got, this was the best one and just so happened, she smiled and we were able to capture it at just that moment.

She was so stubborn throughout the entire sonogram!!! I have threatened to change her name to Mary......................Mary, Mary quite CONTRARY!!!

She is about 3 lbs. 3 ozs. and is still measuring right on schedule. I got a picture of her "girl parts" again, to make sure she is a little girl....it was very clear to me on the screen but the print out of the picture doesn't show it clear enough. So, after today we have been told 3 times that she is a girl....so surely she IS a girl. ~wink, wink~

HALLOWEEN 2011

2011-11-01T19:24:00.008-05:00

Friday afternoon when Robert picked Britt up from Mama Helen's he was running a fever. Robert never checked his temperature but went ahead and gave him some motrin. When I got home they were sitting in my oversized chair, sound asleep. Close to an hour after Robert had given him the motrin I checked his temperature and it was still 102.9. With it being that high after having the motrin in him for nearly an hour, I told Robert we needed to take him on to the doctor, see what was wrong and get him an antibiotic.

We got to Urgent Care at 6:05 PM and they were locking the doors! They don't usually close until 8 PM! I was beyond furious! What is the point of having an after hours clinic, a clinic that was designed to keep non emergencies OUT of the emergency room, if you're not going to be open when you're needed? We ended up finding a clinic that was still open and he was able to see a doctor. He had an upper respiratory infection and we got the antibiotics we needed.

I had my maternity pictures and our family pictures scheduled for the next day, which was also the night of our trunk or treat at church. I was so worried that we would have to cancel our picture appointment and if that happened, I knew the chances were very good that we wouldn't be able to reschedule because of everything else going on. It was hard enough to schedule that day for our pictures, having to take into consideration Robert and Dusty's fire department schedule and swapping days at the funeral home when we have a funeral. Pretty much Saturday and Sundays were gonna be our only days so that narrowed it down to about 2-3 days a month....the temps are gonna be getting cooler, Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I was also wanting to use these as Christmas card pictures so in my mind it was NOW or NEVER!

We decided we would wait until Saturday around lunch time to decide whether or not we would still be able to keep our appointment and go to trunk or treat at church. Saturday morning, Britt woke up and we took our medicine but we weren't running fever.....thankfully, we never ran any fever at all Saturday and was able to keep our picture appointment AND go to trunk or treat. YAY! While we were headed out to our photo shoot, I told both boys that I shouldn't have to tell them how important these pictures were to me and I wanted them to do good and cooperate. Robert quickly informed me that as long as he didn't have to look into the sun that he would be fine, Britt agreed. I have to say that both boys did good....you could tell they were both getting tired of it but I think we got some really good pictures and I can not wait to see them!!!! I think I'm more impatient to see the pictures than I am getting Anistyn here.

TRUNK OR TREAT

Me and Anistyn at 28 weeks

I think Robert was pictured out by this time.....he didn't want to smile.

Robert and Barry kissing Miss Piggy (my mama)

Jagger LOVES Miss Piggy!!!

PUMPKIN CARVING

Sunday afternoon, I had to bake cupcakes for Britt's class on Monday. It was his snack day and their halloween party so while I was in the kitchen, the boys were on the back porch carving pumpkins. Britt started out helping, (I'm not sure exactly how much help he was though) but it didn't take long for Robert to be left doing it all himself.

Dixie wanted to help sooooo bad!!!

TRICK OR TREATING

We didn't have many places we were gonna stop but the 1st place was definitely the fire department to see daddy.

Our next stop was at Nanny's house.

We stopped by Aunt Judy's and also Memaw and Papaw's but I forgot to get the camera out of the truck.....oops, pregnancy brain!

Pa John

Granna

Prenatal Appt-28 weeks

2011-10-24T14:39:00.002-05:00

Today at my prenatal checkup, it was time for the dreaded glucose testing.....for me, not because of the sugar drink but because of my results. For the last month, I have been monitoring my blood sugar and it's been a little higher than what it should be. I fear gestational diabetes and know that diabetes beyond pregnancy is probably in my future because it runs on both sides of my family. During pregnancy the only form of medication for gestational diabetes to keep it under control beyond a diet is with insulin shots....I really don't want to have to take daily shots!!! This past month, I have tried eating smarter but with carbs and starches being my #1 most wanted food, it's been really hard. My biggest change/obstacle has been in my sweet tea and coffee. Choosing unsweet tea and replacing sugar with sweet and low in my coffee has been an adjustment!!!! I didn't get any results today. They are supposed to call me in a couple days if my sugar was not what it was supposed to be.

As far as my weight, blood pressure and baby's heart rate, everything was great. I am up 1 lb since last month which puts my total weight gain at around 12 lbs.....I fluctuate daily so really my weight gain is give/take. I told Felecia (Dr. Purvis' midwife) about the comments that some people has made about me being big for my point in pregnancy....you know the comments I'm talking about. She said my weight was absolutely fine and I am measuring right on target!

My blood pressure was 100/65 and the baby's heartrate was 151. After checking the heartrate, Felecia asked if we knew what we were having and I told her a girl. She asked about her name and I told her Anistyn Brooke. She then cut her eyes at me and said "Well, what if it is a boy?" (I'm sure she was asking because of the heartrate being lower) I said, "Well then his name is: _____________, but with 2 different ultrasounds taken by 2 different technician's and both said girl, I still feel like it's a girl." She agreed. Me and Robert discussed it after we left and if 1 of the technician's had been in question then that would throw up a red flag but with BOTH of them saying girl with ultrasounds 4 weeks apart, it just doesn't leave much room for question for me.

Anistyn is a very active little girl and I love watching and feeling her move around. Several people has asked or made comments like "I bet you're ready for her to be here." I am anxious to see her and see who she looks like but I'm no where near ready for her to be here just yet. Life goes by too fast already, and not only does she need more time but I also don't want to wish this pregnancy would go by faster than it already is. I am having a wonderful pregnancy and I'm trying to enjoy every moment of it while it lasts because this will be the last one if Robert or I have any say so. I enjoy feeling and seeing every kick, every roll and I wish so much that for 1 day Robert could experience it like I do. To feel this little life inside me, it's such a sweet, sweet little miracle.

I am counting the days til I go for my 4D ultrasound (11 days)! I just hope she cooperates this time so we can get a good look at her face!!!

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-23T16:13:00.005-05:00

For the last few years, we have been wanting to take Britt to the pumpkin patch.....well, ok to be honest, we wanted to go too. Robert took off on Saturday and we were able to go.

You can't see it very well but the goat had a straw hat in its mouth.

Britt had lots of fun jumping.

I think Britt and Robert enjoyed the the pumpkin chunkin.

Pig Races....

While there we saw some church friends, here Britt is posing with Ollie Patterson and Bailee Rhea Ridout.

I'm not sure what was going on with the sideways cap.....

The Corn Maze.........I swear, it was nearly the death of me!!! It probably wouldn't have been so bad if I had worn my tennis shoes.....or if I hadn't been pregnant! I should have waited at the entrance on the picnic table!!!!!

The train ride...

We stopped and had lunch, then we took the hayride to the pumpkin patch.....

Looking for the perfect pumpkin.....

Even though it was a very exhausting day, we had a really good time! The only thing that would have made it even better is if it were a little bit cooler. The morning started out cool but it got pretty warm, pretty quick while we were out there.

Fall Decorations 2011

2011-10-23T15:57:00.002-05:00

This year, Robert handled ALL the fall decorations himself! I couldn't be more proud of it, he did a GREAT Job!!!

The pictures doesn't do it justice!

A few weeks ago he finished his lamp post project. We've discussed several options for lamp posts and he decided we would do concrete pots so that we could also plant flowers in them.

I am so glad he took it upon himself to go ahead and decorate because I just haven't gotten to the point that I was ready or had the energy to.

Our Newest Family Member

2011-09-27T20:38:00.005-05:00

Daisy has been gone just over 2 years and since she died I have missed having a dog so much! Several times over the last couple years I have asked Robert about getting another dog but it wasn't the right time or we couldn't agree on the breed. This puppy basically fell right in our laps. Last night I saw on facebook that some friends of mine from high school, Turk and Heather Stovall had 2 female 7 week old yellow labs, free to a good home that they needed to get rid of. I hurridly text Robert to see if he was open to the idea and he was. (It wasn't until today that I found out why he was so quick to say yes. He had had a bad day and didn't want to explain his reason for saying no, so saying yes was much easier~HA, HA~ Well, it worked cause we have us a puppy now!

I called Heather and left her a voice mail letting her know how bad I wanted one of them if one was still available. She text me back a little while later and said that one was ours. I was thrilled!!! This afternoon I made arrangements to meet Heather to pick her up. We never told Britt we were getting her so he was very surprised!!!

She is so little, he loves to pick her up!

Here's Nala......and her 1st impression. I don't think she was too impressed with Dixie but I do have to say I think she is handling the adjustment very well. Not one time has she hissed or slapped at Dixie. Robert said it may be because she doesn't feel like Dixie is a threat to her.

She hung pretty close to me after we got home.

We are keeping her in a plastic tub that Robert drilled holes in until we get her a kennel. Before bed tonight, we took her out to go potty and got her to eat and drink a little. Britt had to sing her a lullaby, kissed her and told her goodnight. The beginning of a beautiful friendship!!!

Prenatal Appt-24 weeks

2011-09-27T10:32:00.005-05:00

I went yesterday for my prenatal checkup, everything was fine. I've gained 11 lbs. total so far. Robert wasn't able to go with me so mama went. When we were about to finish up, Dr. Purvis' midwife asked if I had any questions. I asked, what are the chances I could get another sonogram just to make sure we are still expecting a little girl. We know they've been wrong before so just for that extra confirmation, more especially since mama was with me and could see Anistyn for herself since she's gotten bigger.

I was thrilled that they let me have another sonogram, ok in all honesty, I couldn't wait to see her again myself! The ultrasound technician that we had yesterday was so thorough and explained everything we were looking at to help with any confusion or questions. The other ultrasound techs weren't that informative. We had even discussed my 4D ultrasound which was scheduled for Oct. 21st but we had to reschedule for Nov. 4th because that technician wouldn't be able to be there on the 21st. She tried doing a 4D yesterday, Anistyn was being very stubborn.....IMAGINE THAT, so we barely got a glimpse of her profile. On the picture below, if you look close on the right side of the picture you can make out her eye, nose, cheek and lip.

The technician we had was not the same one when we 1st found out we were having a girl. Drum roll please.......this 2nd tech also said that she didn't see anything that looked like a boy!

Anistyn was positioned head down, face down (her back to my stomach), legs bent at the knee up to her stomach and foot flexed. Her arms were straight by her side and her hands were pointed behind her. She weighs 1 lb. 5 oz.

Since I haven't been sharing the heart rates, I will now since we know what she is. I didn't want to reveal any heart rates and people assume boy or girl because those are not always accurate.
8 weeks: 157 bpm
12 weeks: 157 bpm
16 weeks: 146 bpm
20 weeks: 155 bpm
24 weeks: 140 bpm (clinic)/ 146 bpm (ultrasound)

They say girls are always fast and boys are always slow. Britt's heart rate was always between 148-152. A childhood friend of mine, who is due a week and a half after me had a heart rate in the 180's....she felt sure she was having a girl based on that heart rate.....wrong, she is having a boy.

I've always heard 160+ is a girl/150- is a boy. The "old wives tale" says 140+ is a girl/140- is a boy......so see, you can't always go by the heart rates.

Stubborn Girl!

2011-09-19T14:19:00.002-05:00

Saturday was the 1st day I saw kicks and felt Anistyn move with my hand. Both Robert and myself felt and saw Britt move for the 1st time at around 25 weeks, I'll be 23 weeks this week so I knew it was getting close to feeling her.

I felt and saw her numerous times but every time I tried to get Robert or Britt to watch or feel.....she would stop. Oh well....their time is coming. I don't know who she gets more stubborness from, me or Robert! Lord, help us if it's some of BOTH!

Our Big Reveal

2011-09-05T23:53:00.008-05:00

Several days before our scheduled "Big Brother Bash" I called Walmart to order our cake. I told them on one side of it, I wanted 3 blue balloons with "Boy?" under the balloons and on the other side 3 pink balloons with "Girl?" under those.

The morning of our party, Robert came home from the fire dept. and we started picking up and getting ready for the party. Britt was even eager to clean his room which shocked both me and Robert. At one point during the morning Britt told us, "well, I guess I gotta get back to work."

Around lunch time I had planned on going to town and picking up the cake and some balloons. When we got to Walmart to get the cake, this is what I was given.

I was beyond disappointed in what I saw. Numerous people told me that I shouldn't have paid for it but honestly the only thing I thought of at that moment was ~I need icing because this has got to be fixed!~ I took off to the cake isle and got 3 canisters of cream cheese icing. All me and Cayla could come up with is they forgot about my order and ended up throwing it together at the last minute.

As soon as we got home, Robert was just standing there waiting on me to give him orders. He was so great being there to help me in my desperate time of need! While I worked on getting my blue and pink icing ready, he scraped all the other icing off the cake so it would be ready for me when I was ready. I jokingly told him that Mamaw Tiny (my daddy's mama who made cakes for the public) was going to have to channel through me to get this cake done. I had never decorated or tried to decorate a cake like this before. I've used icing with piping bags and tips for Christmas cookies but they definitely aren't something that turns out "pretty."

I slapped the white icing on the cake like I had done it before....boy, would I have fooled some people! When I've tried to ice a cake before, it's not worked near as good as it did with this cake!

When I started trimming the cake with the pink and blue is when I started getting REALLY nervous! Robert reassured me that no matter how it looked, it couldn't look worse than what it did when we picked it up.

Mamaw sure pulled through for me! As if I wasn't already emotional enough today with the sight of that horrible cake. Decorating this cake and thinking about Mamaw made me even more emotional! Several people commented that she would have been proud of me and how I was able to salvage the cake. I sure miss her and wish she were here to have helped me, celebrated with us and watch her great-grandkids grow. A week ago, 15 years to the day that she passed away, we found out what her 8th great-grandchild would be.....and even though that makes me more sad I also can't help but think of the book "Heaven is for real." We won't know til we get to Heaven but it's a very good possibility that she knew these great-grandkids before we did...and that makes me smile and my tears of sadness become tears of joy!

I think the anxiety of the wait was getting to Pa John!

and the announcement........Nanny jumped up and down clapping for joy and you can see the ear to ear grin on Pa John's face. Before the reveal, we went around the room and everyone made their guess of what they thought the baby was. Pa John, Nanny, Peggy and Kevin (Robert's sister and brother-in-law) were the only ones who thought it was a girl. Papaw Billy said as long as the baby is healthy and happy.

Look at the look on Aunt Cayla's face!

and here's our "girl parts" picture. Needless to say, I was extremely shocked! I have always thought I would only have boys! When they were doing the sonogram, the tech asked me if I knew what I was having. I told her that I was suspecting a boy. She kept looking and said "well, I think you're suspecting wrong!" My reaction was "WHAAAT?!........Can I get a close up picture of that?!" I'm still in shock!

As you know, we had discussed NOT finding out what the baby was til it was born. Well, I can tell you right here, right now.....I couldn't have been MORE SHOCKED or surprised if I had waited til the end!

Prenatal Appt-20 weeks

2011-08-30T20:05:00.003-05:00

Today was my 20 week checkup. I can't believe I am already half way thru this pregnancy, it seems to be going by faster than it did with Britt!

Everything was great. The baby's heartbeat was great and so was my blood pressure, etc. I am measuring right on schedule. I have only gained 7 lbs. and they didn't fuss at me so I guess I'm doing good there too. When we had our sonogram, we told the technician that we DID want to know. I know, I know.....I had previously said that we wasn't going to find out but I decided that in order to fix Britt up a really sweet present "from the baby" for his Big Brother party that I'm planning that I needed to know what baby to expect.

So.......WE KNOW.....but you don't......YET.

Soon.....very soon, we will reveal! So until that time, here is the only picture you will see of Itty Bitty Baker!

Decision to Reveal

2011-08-25T14:55:00.007-05:00

When I was pregnant with Britt, we found out what he was at 19 weeks. I have said since before I ever got pregnant that we was not going to find out. I wanted the experience of NOT knowing and waiting til delivery for the big surprise. Well, when you think about it, you go your entire childhood, adolesence and part of your young adult life not knowing what sex your child/children will be so regardless of when you find out....it will be a surprise.

I had thought about even keeping it a secret that we were going to find out but I've also decided to let people know this too. Now since we have decided that we will find out, I am wanting a unique way of revealing. Lots and lots of different ways has crossed my mind. Several people has delivered a sealed envelope with the "secret" results inside to a bakery. The bakery will bake a cake with the inside pink or blue and when the cake is cut, the results are revealed. I think that is a cute idea.....but I don't want to do it because a lot of people seem to be revealing that way.

I do know that I want everyone to find out at one time when we do reveal. I had thought about just having Thanksgiving at our house and revealing that night. I thought harder about that time and decided not to do it then. Thanksgiving will be a harder time to get everyone together with all the other places they will have to go PLUS, I don't know if I can hold on to the envelope that long without peeking!

The closer we get to my next appointment, the more impatient I am getting about finding out! I will go Tues., Aug. 30th for my sonogram and depending on the cooperation of the baby, we should come home with a sealed envelope with the results inside. As to when we will make our big announcement.....that will also be revealed later.

Stay tuned................

A Little Funny

2011-08-18T13:57:00.002-05:00

This morning, I went to the bank for mama. I don't normally run her bank errands but I needed to go myself and told her I'd take her stuff too. I guess it was just meant for me to go to the bank because while I was in there, Britt's afternoon bus driver came thru the drive thru. He took care of his business and while I was still in there talking with the other ladies, he came in thru the back door. We started talking about Britt and what a character he is. After several minutes of talking about different things, Mr. Kirk asked me was there anything about Britt that he needed to know. I looked puzzled and said that I didn't think so. He then preceeded to tell me that Britt told him one day that he had emphysema. I burst out laughing and laughed so hard until I started to cry. Mr. Kirk looked at me kind of funny. I then informed him that Britt had ECZEMA, not emphysema. He got tickled and said he had wondered if he was going to have to freshen up on his CPR, not knowing if he was ever gonna have to do mouth to mouth on him. LOL! I have laughed ALL day about this little funny!!!!

Pregnancy Scare

2011-08-16T13:59:00.003-05:00

I've already mentioned that I had started feeling the baby move a lot earlier than I was expecting to, when I say a lot earlier I'm talking about 14 weeks! I never thought I would feel it that soon. When I first felt it, I suspected it but needed more confirmation that the baby is what I was feeling. Later on that week, I got the confirmation I needed. I felt the baby move again (after getting back from the flea market at the fair) and talking to my pregnancy partner, Nikki Lundy Stokes who is also due the same day I am. She too was starting to feel her baby.

Well, since the fair (just over 2 weeks) I haven't felt the baby move at all. I'm aware that the baby is still small but after feeling it nearly every day of the fair at 15 weeks a couple times a day and then it suddenly stops moving.....I was scared! I had numerous things running through my head that it "could" be. Hoping, maybe the baby is just lazy/I've been drinking a lot more, maybe my fluid is high and with a small baby that would cause me not to feel it/maybe it's just moving in my sleep and I'm not feeling it. LOTS of things running through my mind. My next checkup isn't until Aug. 30th, I absolutely could not wait that long.

After messaging one of my friends for some prayers, she suggested I go on to Neshoba General. Me and mama talked about it for a minute and she suggested I just call the doctor's office just to see if they would let me come in to hear the heartbeat to give me peace of mind. She said to let them know about the previous miscarriage and that I just needed that assurance that everything was still ok with the baby. So, I did. They went ahead and set me up for an ultrasound as soon as I could get there.

Mama wasn't where she could leave, Robert was gone on a funeral so I called Cayla. She had a customer and was about to blowdry their hair and cut it. The customer was so nice to allow Cayla to leave to go to the doctor with me and come back for the cut once Cayla got back to the shop.

When we got to the clinic, the ultrasound tech came and got us. As we walked to the ultrasound room, this was our conversation:
Tech: What kinds of problems are you having?
Me: I will be 18 weeks tomorrow, I've been feeling my baby move since I was 14 weeks but nothing in the last 2 weeks. I want to make sure everything is still ok and that we have a heartbeat.
Tech: ~gives me a very doubtful look~
Me: I know, I was surprised I started feeling movement that early too!
Tech: The book says movement is felt at 20 weeks.
Me: Well, the book is WRONG! I know what I felt was the baby.
Tech: It was probably just gas.
Me: No, it wasn't gas it was DEFINITELY the baby! I have a pregnancy partner who is due the exact same day that I am and she has also been feeling her baby.

Seriously! Gas bubbles and baby movement flutters don't even feel the same, or they don't to me anyway......

She started doing the ultrasound and I was straining hard to see a heartbeat. About a minute into it, she told me that she wasn't focusing on the baby yet but she was detecting a heartbeat. Her word wasn't good enough, I needed to see it! After a few minutes, she zoomed in on the chest cavity and I saw that precious little 4 chamber heart beating. That is all I wanted and today, that is all I was needing!

The baby weighs approx. 8 oz. The sonogram was showing me 5 days ahead and due on Jan. 13 instead of the 18th but like before, I'm not going by that due date until they tell me.

Morning Bus Rider

2011-08-15T13:08:00.008-05:00

As of today, Britt is no longer a car rider in the mornings! A year ago when he 1st started to school, I never would have thought I would be saying those words but I can proudly tell you today, I am so GLAD he is going to be riding the bus in the mornings now!!!

This morning he begged me not to make him ride the bus. He wanted me to take him to school. I just kept telling him that I was sorry but he would be riding the bus. I also told him that as long as he acted like a big boy and didn't cry and show out that I would stay and wait on the bus with him but if he acted ugly and cried, he would be waiting on the bus by himself because I would not stay and listened to him, I would go back to the house!

As the bus approached, he looked like he was about to start crying and tried to bury his face in my stomach. I kissed him, told him I loved him, hoped that he had a great day and shooed him toward the bus. He got on the bus without any hesitation and when he got in his seat I waved to him, he waved back. As I walked back to the house, the bus driving away I couldn't help but feel a little bit sad but also VERY relieved at the same time! The time was 7:15, the normal time that we would have to be leaving to get a good spot in the school line because let's just go ahead and admit it.....if you get there too late, it is CRAZY!!!!

I was completely ready and had about 30 minutes or so that I needed to kill, I didn't want to get to work too early, so, I started on supper. I got my food cut up and put in my crockpot, dishwasher emptied, filled back up and running. By that time it was 7:50, the perfect time for me to head to work!

After I got to work, I text Robert about our experience....this is what I said: I just wanted to let you know, I think having Britt ride the bus is a fantabulous idea!!! I was in such a better mood this morning when I got to work! I was even able to get supper in the crockpot and the dishwasher going before leaving the house at 7:50! Whoo Hoo!!! Why haven't I already put him on the morning bus?! He may just ride in the mornings til he starts driving!!!

Seriously, I can only see good things coming from Britt riding the bus in the mornings and me having this extra free time. I was trying to think ahead about how I would swing getting up, getting ready, breastfeeding and pumping, getting the kids ready, taking the baby to Robert's parent's house and getting Britt to school, all before 7:30 and still trying to get up at a decent hour....while at the same time KNOWING that he would pitch a fit to stay at Memaw and Papaw's house and NOT go to school! Now, I'm asking myself, why worry? Things will work out just like they're supposed to!

~SIGH~

I have had such a stress free day today! I feel so light and carefree, the world has 1 less problem to deal with....all because Britt is now a morning bus rider!

1st Grade

2011-08-14T15:15:00.007-05:00

The 1st day of school was by far a really bad morning!!!! It took me back to the 1st day of Kindergarten. Britt did NOT want to pose for a picture because he claims that the flash hurts his eyes! Keep in mind, he has NO PROBLEM with Mama Helen or Cheryl taking his picture. We fought over a good picture that morning....I lost! As you can see, I didn't get a good one!

He had straightened up by the time we got to school and when we got out of the truck I was finally able to get a good one.

Walking to his class.....his booksack is nearly bigger than he is!

Sitting at his assigned desk, with his name on it.

That afternoon I went to Mama Helen's so I could get pictures of him getting off the bus.

As you can see, he is in a MUCH better mood than he was that morning!

I take Britt to school every morning and have since the 1st day of Kindergarten. I never thought I would ever want him to ride the bus to school in the mornings, until now. Here we are about to start the 2nd full week of school, (day 8) and he has cried and acted ugly the majority of those days. Friday morning of last week, he had no choice but to ride the bus because I had a monument truck coming in and I didn't want to take him to school to early and him have to sit in the cafeteria nearly 40 minutes before being able to go to class. I took him to my aunt and uncles house (my uncle drives the bus) and he rode to school with him. I have decided that he WILL start riding the bus every morning possible. I had to put up with him crying and acting ugly nearly everyday of Kindergarten after going back to school after Christmas and now starting this year off acting the same way.....my nerves can't handle it anymore!!

Nursery

2011-08-14T13:28:00.008-05:00

Since before we got pregnant, I have been imagining what I wanted the nursery to look like. When we built the house, I had the baby's room painted lime green because I knew I wanted that color. I also had my curtain made in zebra because I love zebra print and wanted to use it some how.

I had planned on doing a jungle theme and having someone make my bedding and mix zebra and giraffe prints together with a few other colors and prints (stripes or polka dots). I couldn't ever visualize exactly what I wanted so I started surfing the internet for ideas. I came across some bedding that had the jungle animals that was really cute but it looked more boyish than for a girl so I kept looking for the perfect bedding.

I came across some bedding on JC Penny's website that had lime, aqua, chocolate, black with a little yellow. It was a paisley print and I absolutely fell in love with it. I decided to wait about ordering it to see if I came across something I liked better. Well, I never did as I kept looking at bedding my mind still went back to the paisley bedding. Finally, after about 2 weeks I broke down and bought it.

I've had the bedding now for about a month and have just been itching to start the baby's room. Yesterday, when Robert got finished cutting the grass we were able to get started on it.

We have pretty much got everything finished except for just a few things. I have a glider rocker on layaway, a "circles" mirror that we need to hang and of course, his birth announcement canvas that one of my oldest and dearest friends, Brookes Spears Hardin is going to paint for me. I am so excited that this room has finally come together!

Prenatal Appt-16 weeks

2011-08-03T20:14:00.002-05:00

Today, I went back for my next scheduled checkup. To start with, the nurse started out writting down the wrong week for me so when Felecia (Dr. Purvis' midwife) came in, she assumed we were going to be getting an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby. I told her that we weren't going to find out and that we were actually 16 weeks instead of 20. She made a few notes and then checked the baby's heartbeat. It was really strong and it sounded so good to hear it even thought I have started feeling the flutters.

When we left the doctor's office we went by Woodstock Furniture to look for a glider rocker for the baby's room. I found the perfect one and put it on lay-a-way. About a month or so ago I found the bedding for the nursery so it won't be too long before I'll start getting the nursery ready and I'm so excited. Britt never had a cute nursery in the trailer so I'm ready to see this one all put together.

Tooth #3

2011-08-02T13:54:00.002-05:00

During the fair I noticed that Britt's other bottom front tooth was loose. Long story short.....Sunday after the fair, Me and Robert tricked him, held him down and got it out. LOL! Looks like tricking and holding him down is gonna be the only way we will ever be able to get his loose teeth out because he sure won't LET us pull it, not even using creative ways.

Again for this tooth....he got $20!!! Dang! Where was that tooth fairy when I was losing teeth?!

Itty Bitty Baker

2011-08-02T13:40:00.002-05:00

On Monday, July 18th while sitting at work I thought I felt and couple thumps coming from Itty Bitty Baker. Not quite 14 weeks I thought that it was way too soon to start feeling any movement because he/she is still so small. I've heard and read that you feel movement sooner with your 2nd than you did with your 1st. With Britt, I was 19 weeks when I 1st felt him move so I was expecting to feel this baby at around 16-17 weeks. On Tuesday, I thought I felt it again. I was hoping that it was in fact the baby because I love the way the flutters feel but in my mind I was still telling myself it was probably just gas and all in my head.

On Saturday, July 23rd (just over 14 weeks) after getting back from the flea market at the fair I settled in on the porch swing to look at a cook book that I had bought. I had my bottle of water and was really looking forward to resting because that was a long, hot walk and I was TIRED! Just after I took me several big gulps of my ice cold water, I felt a flutter.....then another! I was almost certain this time that it was not just gas! LOL! A girl I know, Nikki Lundy Stokes is also due the same day I am so I sent her a message inquiring about whether she had been feeling her baby too. She confirmed my thoughts when she told me that she had been for about a week. WHOO HOO! These moments are what I have been anticipating since I found out I was pregnant! Extra reassurance that Itty Bitty Baker is ok.

Since then I have felt them here and there, not often but definitely a pleasant surprise when I least expect them. Britt still comes and places his hand on my belly from time to time so I'm even more excited to be getting to a point in the pregnancy that Britt will start being able to feel him/her move too. Ironically, Itty Bitty has moved several times while I posted this!

CRAZY

2011-08-02T13:35:00.002-05:00

These last couple weeks has been CRAZY! I am so behind on my posting and have so much to post on. I will post them as I think of them so they are probably not gonna be in order.

Tooth Fairy

2011-07-18T08:58:00.004-05:00

When we got ready to go to bed, Britt wanted to be the one to put his tooth under his pillow so I carefully placed it in his hand and showed him where to put the tooth. There is a dip in his mattress just under where his pillow lays that is perfect for teeth to lay in. My thinking is that the dip cups the tooth and will prevent it from moving around a lot at night in his sleep, I was wrong! We went to bed and I was EXHAUSTED, I didn't sleep good the night before so I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stay awake to greet the tooth fairy when she got to the house. I ended up setting my alarm clock for 5 AM to make sure the exchange happened before Britt woke up!

When my clock went off I jumped up and hurried to the kitchen to get the money. The tooth fairy's helper just happened to leave it there by my purse. I went to Britt's room to check and see if he was asleep and sure enough, he was. I felt around under his pillow ~wink, wink~ you know, just to see if the tooth fairy got the tooth. IT WAS GONE! I couldn't find it anywhere! The money was placed under the pillow anyway and I went and got back in the bed. I mentioned to Robert that the tooth wasn't there but the money was still dropped off.

At 6:15, Robert was up and getting ready to go to the fire department. Normally, I have to wake Britt up to start getting ready but he woke up on his own this morning. From the opposite end of the house I heard, "I HAVE MONEY! I HAVE MONEY! DADDY I GOT $20!!!

Yep! $20! Guess the tooth fairy knew the fair was starting this week and Britt would be needing ride money! After a few minutes Robert came back in the bedroom and told me that he had found the tooth, it had slid underneath Britt while he slept. Robert also told me where he put the tooth so we could be sure the tooth fairy would be able to add it to her collection of "Britt's" teeth later.

Loose Tooth-update

2011-07-17T20:15:00.003-05:00

The times that Dusty has tried to pull Britt's tooth before has been horrible. Britt would scream this terrifying scream and it would just break my heart. Putting myself in his shoes I can imagine how scared he was and being his mama not being able to comfort him was just as horrible to me as Dusty pinning him down to pull his tooth was to him. Each time Dusty tried he would tell me that I needed to leave the room but after a few seconds I had to go back in a rescue Britt.

After we got home this afternoon, Robert and Britt was having a father/son talk about his tooth. Britt was still baulking having it pulled but Robert was persitant that we weren't gonna be going to Dr. McCarty because that tooth would be out before Thursday. Robert sat down in Britt's floor, with Britt on his right side and me on his left. Britt was crying and screaming and Robert turned to me and told me to leave. I said no, this tooth needs to come out and I'm gonna help you. So I reached across Robert and grabbed Britt's ankles and pulled him across Robert's lap. I laid across his legs, Robert criss crossed his arms while I held his wrists. Robert pretty much had him in a head lock position and started pulling.

I didn't actually count, I was more focused on keeping Britt from kicking 1 or both of us but I would say it probably took about 10 seconds. I didn't realize that Robert had gotten the tooth out until I looked at Britt and saw that it was gone. I immediately screamed, "Your tooth is gone!" While Britt is still screaming and crying not wanting us to pull his tooth, me and Robert couldn't help but laugh. We went to his bathroom so he could wash his mouth out. When he looked in the mirror and saw the tooth was gone and the blood, he started crying and screaming harder and louder and even turned to Robert and started hitting him. We couldn't help but laugh even more. We then took him to our bathroom so he could see his new big boy tooth up close.

He was so excited once the inital shock wore off and the blood was cleared up. We decided 1 tooth today was enough, we will give the others a little more time to loosen some more.

Loose Tooth-update

2011-07-12T20:25:00.002-05:00

We have tried and tried to pull Britt's loose front tooth! Robert has even tried to pull it while he was asleep. He said there is no way you can pull a sleeping 6 year olds tooth. We gave him the option of pulling it, letting us pull it or going to the dentist and letting him pull it. Today was when we were to go to see Dr. Anthony Steele to have it pulled since it has not come out yet.
I took these pictures before we got out and went inside Steele Family Dental.

That has become a very scarey tooth! You see the gap is so wide now, we have even had strangers make comments about having lost a tooth. I've had to and tell them, it's still there it's just moved.

Dr. Steele did some x-rays and we agreed that both front teeth are loose enough, they need to come out. I am so afraid of the baby teeth staying in too long and messing up the permanent teeth. People will say, they'll come out when they're ready. Well not always, sometimes you have to have a little help! You could see his permanent teeth there trying to come thru but the baby teeth are just in the way.

I asked Dr. Steele if we could do a little laughing gas to take the edge off the feeling for when he pulled the teeth. He got the equipment set up and then came the hard part! I don't think I would be exaggerating by saying that me, Jennifer Leigh Steele and Lindsay Burkes spent a good 30-45 minutes trying to coax Britt into allowing us to put the laughing gas on him. We started off subtle and ended up having to hold him down. During the short amount of time that the mask was on his nose he SCREAMED to the TOP of his lungs, not once breathing thru his nose to even inhale any of the gas!

Finally, we had been there so long with no luck at all, Dr. Steele told me that he could call Dr. Britt McCarty and make an appointment with him. There at Dr. McCarty's office they could give him a liquid to sedate him and pull the teeth then. I'm now waiting to hear back when our appointment is. As we were walking out, the waiting area was full of patients. A couple men made comments to Britt about "having everything all taken care of". Obviously they were there and heard all the comotion he was making, all the begging/pleading and screaming. I politely replied "NOPE!" and walked out the door. Before the door closed I heard them laugh in disbelief and as I turned back to check and make sure Britt was behind me one of the men asked "is he bigger than y'all?" I just smiled and kept walking. I'd like to see him hold a thrashing, kicking, bucking, screaming 6 year old against his will, Britt may be small but he sure is stout!!!

Prenatal Appt-12 weeks

2011-07-07T20:22:00.002-05:00

I went into this appointment today really, really hoping that they would do another sonogram, especially since I had the cramping a few weeks ago. Still deep down in my heart I felt like everything was ok because I never had any spotting but the unknowing was making me paranoid!

As I was waiting for them to weigh me, a guy was in the waiting room waiting for his wife to be put in an exam room. As we talked he told me and mama that he and his wife lost their baby on Sunday at 12 weeks.....which of course made me start worrying even more because that's where I was in my pregnancy as well.

I'm not going by Dr. Purvis' scales so I don't even know how much they weighed me but by my scales at home I've gained 2 lbs. They got me in an exam room and Dr. Purvis came in and right off the bat asked if I had any questions. I told him about the cramping with no spotting and he said that we would do a mini sonogram there in the exam room just so he could see the heartbeat then he would send me across the way and have their ultrasound tech do the "big" ultrasound where we could see more.......which was EXACTLY what I was hoping for!!!!

Dr. Purvis did his sonogram and we couldn't tell much with that piece of equipment but we could see it moving and knew that was a great sign. We then left and went over for the big sonogram, here is a picture from that one.

This baby is very active!!! It moved the entire time! One moment in particular that my mama got so tickled over was when it arched it's back 2 times then flipped to its side. That is exactly how Britt used to sleep in his carseat....he would kick his foot a couple times til he got flipped over onto his right side and he would go sound asleep!

The baby, obviously is growing and doing great! As of today I was measuring 12 weeks 6 days which would put my due date at Jan. 13th....which is also where it should be according to my last cycle. I told the ultrasound tech that by my 1st sonogram my measurements was 5 days off and the due date I was given was Jan. 18th. She said normally the 1st ultrasound measurement is the most accurate so I guess as of right now I'm sticking with the Jan. 18th due date until they tell me otherwise.

A few nights ago I told Britt that our baby was "this big" and held my fingers up about 2 inches apart. He just looked at me, with no emotion. I walked over to my fruit bowl and pulled out a small lemon and held it up to show him. I said it again, our baby is "this big." His eyes lit up! I guess he needed something physical to actually visualize the size of our baby. I can't wait until he sees and feels the baby move for the 1st time. I'm so ready to see what his 1st reaction will be. When Cayla was pregnant with Jagger, he never moved much while we were around so Britt never got to feel him move. I think it's really gonna start sinking in once he can feel the baby.

Surgery

2011-06-29T08:55:00.003-05:00

Over the last few weeks, Britt hasn't said too much about having surgery. Here and there something would come up about it but he never showed any emotion when talking about it. Monday night we were sitting on the couch and I told Britt that we was going to call Pa John so he could tell us the story about when he had his tonsils taken out. I called Pa John and put him on speaker phone. He told us that when he was Britt's age that he had his tonsils taken out and his mama had to go home and get extra clothes because she didn't have any with her. Before she left she told him to stay in the bed and she would be back shortly. As she was leaving, he stood up in the bed and leaned to look out the window to watch her leave. The bed rolled out from under him and he hit his nose on the window ledge and broke it. When Mamaw Tiny got back he was laying there in the bed with blood all over him and he ended up having to stay an extra night in the hospital. He told Britt, that's why we are supposed to do what we are told. As we were going to bed and saying our prayers Britt asked, "Am I gonna die when I get my tonsils out?" That was the 1st time he had shown any type of fear or anxiousness about it. I told him no, that he will be fine. He asked, "but how do you know?" Well, I'm just mama and I know these things.

When Robert woke him up to get ready on surgery day, he was a completely different child than normal. It didn't take him long to get up and going......at 4 AM, when it's all I can do to get him stirring around at 7! We got to the hospital and as we were sitting in admissions he still seemed pretty calm. The called us back and got us settled in a room. Here we are surrounded by our friends, Ribbert the frog and Daisy the dog.

A family friend of ours was across the hall getting his tonsils out too. His grandparents walked over to see Britt and prayed with us for a safe surgery and speedy recovery. Britt had started getting really nervous to the point of tears not long after they left. After a little while, a preacher that we know stopped him to see them and before leaving came over to see us. He asked could he pray with us and we told him of course, we needed all the prayers we could get. Britt was really nervous about his surgery. Bro. Chris prayed for Britt then left.

After a little while, they were getting closer to being ready for Britt and they brought his silly medicine. It tasted really bad!

It took longer than expected for the medicine to start working. After probably 10-15 minutes, Robert looked over at Britt and his eyes were jumping from side to side. Robert asked him what was wrong and he said my eyes feel funny.

He acted silly but not near as silly as I was expecting. For the most part it had a calming affect for him.

I don't remember what time they called saying they had started or what time they called saying they were finished or even how long he was out of the room. They brought him back and he was wide awake! Shocked me because I remember sleeping for a while. Even our friend across the hall slept for several hours after being brought back to the room.

I had my tonsils taken out.

See where my tonsils was?

Our tooth is still there!

Eating some jell-o and watching spongebob.

Multi-tasking between DS and Spongebob!

We were expecting a complete meltdown when he realized that he had an IV in his foot. They put it in after he was asleep but after he got back in the room he could tell something was different down there and pulled up the sheet to look. We quickly covered it back up. When the nurse finally came to take it out, the tape that was holding it on seemed to be the biggest thing he was concerned about. He was a very brave little boy during the whole ordeal!

He ate and drank pretty good. I asked several times if he was hurting a little or a lot and he always responded with a little. Once we got home, you couldn't tell that he had even had surgery. He was wanting to get up and play with some of his toys that Granna and Nanny had bought him. It was all we could do to get him to sit down and rest. Never once did he take a nap after surgery or after we got home. Around 8:00 is when he finally fell asleep then we had to wake him right back up to take his pain medicine. He didn't take it well and spit something out, I don't know if what he spit out was juice or medicine or both. We didn't want to give him more medicine not knowing if he had swallowed any and risk overdosing him so it caused a really bad night!!!

We got up around 12 for the next dose of pain medicine and both of us had to get really ugly with him to make him take it. His throat was hurting worse and he didn't want to drink anything or take his medicine.....possibly because of him spitting the last dose out. He must not have swallowed it before sipping his apple juice. He also had a fever so Robert went to Walmart to get some Tylenol, all I had was Motrin and he couldn't take it. Our next dose was at 4, just before we took our medicine he got a sip of apple juice. He immediately threw it up. We waited a little bit before giving him his medicine to make sure he was finished. He took that does really good and was a very big boy taking his medicine. Like Robert's sister told me when I talked to her on the phone.....maybe that dose last night that he spit out showed him the purpose for needing to take his medicine.

He is still running his fever, if it continues by tomorrow and doesn't break on its own or gets higher than 101 (which is where it has gotten to so far) I'll call the doctor to see what he wants me to do. He doesn't want to eat any popsicles so I'm making him sip on his apple juice every 10-15 minutes to keep his throat moist. They said the 5-7th day was the worst, my 3-4th day was the worst....I dread it and hope it's not as bad as it was last night!!!

TV and Talking

2011-06-22T11:33:00.003-05:00

Last night, while me and Britt watched Marley and Me for the 1st time, he wanted to come up and lay with me on the couch. He has become more aware of my belly and the baby that's growing inside. As he was crawling up to his spot, he slowly and very gently crawled over me, making sure not to put any pressure on my belly. The whole time while we watched tv he laid there with his hand on my belly, rubbing it. It was just so, so sweet! I know once the baby gets here, there will be some jealousy and a fight for mama's attention but right now, he seems to be adjusting so well to the idea of having a baby.

As we watched Marley and Me, there were several parts of it that I cried like a baby on! I've been told that it was a sad movie but no one ever went into details of what made it sad. The 1st sad part was when the couple found out they were pregnant and went for a sonogram, at 10 weeks (where I currently am as of today) and there was no heartbeat. It brought back soooo many memories of 7 years ago when we miscarried, although we were much earlier in our pregnancy at that time. I told Britt, that what happened to the couple in the movie is also what happened to us with our 1st baby but this time our baby does have a heartbeat.

Later on in the movie, the couple went on to have 3 children. During the scene where they were wheeling Jennifer Aniston's character out of the hospital to the car with baby #3, Britt asked why she was in a wheel chair. I said "well, when you leave the hospital, that's how they take you to the car. When you were born, they took me out in a wheel chair and when I had my tonsils out they took me out in a wheelchair. Next week when you have your tonsils taken out, they will take you out to the car in a wheelchair." He was quiet for a few minutes, that little brain was working! Then he said, "well how am I gonna get up the steps at Mama Helen's house?" I got tickled and told him that nothing will be wrong with his legs, they do that to keep him from falling in the hospital. I think he was still a little bit confused but also relieved that he would still be able to walk!

At the end of the movie when they have to put Marley to sleep, that also brought back soooo many memories from 2 years ago when we had to have Daisy put to sleep! I bawled my eyes out! Britt looked up at me and asked what was wrong. I said "it's sad because the doctor couldn't make Marley better and he died, just like the doctor couldn't make Daisy better and she died." He said "well, I'm sad too but you don't see me crying!!!" Just like a man to show no emotion!!!

Another Loose Tooth

2011-06-21T18:32:00.003-05:00

Since our 1st loose tooth, we've had a couple more that have been loose but were no where near being ready to come out. Both of our top front teeth are loose and have been for a while but 1 has only just recently gotten to the point where it's almost ready. With the 1st tooth, I noticed that it was loose because it was crooked, same way this time with the 1 front tooth. Below is a picture that I took last fall while working on one of Britt's projects for school. You can see that his teeth were so straight and so pretty....

Below is a picture that I took yesterday. I find it so funny that he went from such a pretty smile to 1 crooked tooth! Notice the gap!

Every so often, he will let me wiggle it but will not let me pull it. I told him that next week while he is on his silly medicine and asleep that I was going to pull it, then he won't have his tonsils, adenoids or his front tooth anymore!

Checkup

2011-06-15T20:48:00.002-05:00

Today, Britt had a followup checkup with his allergy doctor and also an appointment with the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor. He had no idea about the checkups so when I picked him up from Mama Helen's and told him we were going to Meridian, he assumed we were going for a baby checkup. When we walked in the allergy clinic he made reference to checking on the baby. It wasn't until they started weighing him and checking his temp and blood pressure that he realized we were there for HIM!

ALLERGY:
I didn't know what to expect with this follow up checkup. Dr. Phillips came in and Britt immediately starting freaking out and begging for them to not stick him. Dr. Phillips promised him there would be no sticks today....little did he know, we had another reaction to tell him about. About a month ago, me and Britt went to Meridian with mama. Me and Mama always goes to Red Lobster when we go to Meridian and have taken Britt with us LOTS of times. That particular day, Britt got the Lobster Pizza. He ate fairly good and it wasn't until we were about ready to leave that he started whining with his tongue itching. We left and went to find some benadryl because I had just taken it out of my purse a day or so before because it wouldn't fit. We made a flying trip to Walmart and I got some of the pre-measured benadryl spoons that I ALWAYS keep in my purse now! Anyway, when I mentioned that to Dr. Phillips, he wanted to do seafood and shellfish testing on him so he apologized to Britt for lying to him. The testing today was almost as bad as it was the 1st time as far as Britt's reaction is concerned, but the plus side to it was that it didn't last near as long and he didn't have near as many sticks. He tested highly allergic to shrimp, crawfish and lobster. Not allergic to crab but we've decided to completely stay away from it too. These allergies are really getting annoying! It's like they are coming on instantly! He has eaten ALL of those foods in the past with absolutely no reaction to them but now all of a sudden, out of the blue we are allergic! There is currently no allergy shot or medication that can be taken for food allergies and a good possibility that he will not outgrow it.

EAR, NOSE & THROAT:
When we got to the ENT clinic, Britt still had no idea what we were there for. We saw Dr. Cater which was the doctor that took my tonsils out 2 years ago. When Dr. Cater came in to examine him, he said that his tonsils/lymph nodes was swollen. On a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the worst his tonsils were a 4 and said that he had chronic tonsilitis....really? This child has had no symptoms or complaints with a sore throat but ok. His snoring is HORRIBLE which is why I felt like we would be needing our adenoids out. It also makes me feel better that Dr. Cater wants to take them out with no symptoms/complaints especially since he's having the breathing issues while he sleeps. Britt took the news pretty good, A LOT better than I had expected! After Dr. Cater left out, while we waited for his nurse to come in and schedule our surgery, I started telling Britt about my experience getting my tonsils out. I hyped it up a bit to sound exciting and cool and he seemed pretty interested. When the nurse came in she said, "ok, now lets schedule a day for your surgery." Britt responded, "SURGERY?!" We both chuckled and she said, "well I guess I should have picked a different word." We will go June 28th to have our tonsils/adenoids taken out and I am soooooo ready!!! I really hope it helps his snoring like it helped mine. Daddy had also mentioned that it would probably help with his eating and help him gain some weight. Dusty was small like Britt when he was younger and after he had his taken out he started gaining.

After we left the clinic, we went to the hospital to do our pre-registration paperwork. They had to draw a little blood and oh boy! That was about as bad as the allergy testing. I thought he was gonna be a brave little boy but when the nurse reached and held his arm, without the needle even in her hand, he went beserk. She did an awesome job trying to calm him but finally we had to get stern with him and let him know that if he wasn't very still that the needle would hurt even worse. Of course, he cried and screamed during the stick but did very well staying still. We've told him of all the ice cream, popsicles and surprises that he will get when his tonsils/adenoids come out but I don't think reality has set in that he is REALLY gonna be getting them out!

Cramps

2011-06-13T12:45:00.004-05:00

As I was getting ready for church yesterday I started hurting really bad. They were the worst cramps I have ever experienced before in my life!!! I've never had cramps like that before. For a moment I thought that I was having a miscarriage but I never had any spotting. I called my mama to see if she had any of the "constipation" medicine that I could take but she didn't. So, I text my aunt Betty and she brought some over. I started feeling a bit better and was able to finish getting ready for church.

During Sunday School, I started having pains again and during church as well. Dusty and Cayla's reception was that afternoon so after I picked up Dusty's cake I ran home to just see if I could go to the bathroom....no luck. I went on to the church and somewhat felt a little better with the occasional twinge. Not long after the reception got started, I started hurting again. Dusty and Cayla both tried to get me to go home but I didn't want to miss their day. I was so overwhelmed with the pain of the cramps and the fear of a miscarriage that when Dusty came up to me and tried to get me to go home, I broke down into tears. They both said they would understand if I needed to leave and they wanted me to go home, rest and take care of myself and the baby. I told them that I would sit down and rest but I was going to stay a little while longer.

Cayla's sister, Chasity and my cousin, Nicky went with me to the back of the fellowship hall, away from the crowd so I could regain my composure. After taking some tylenol and drinking some punch, I started feeling better, again with an occasional twinge. After a while, I decided that I would go on home. Robert was leaving that afternoon for the fire academy for a week so I also wanted to go and spend a little bit of time with him. When I got home I felt the medicine I had taken that morning was starting to work. I was able to go to the bathroom, which completely relieved all my cramping. I laid on the couch for a while talking with Robert about baby names, etc. and dozing off to sleep until it was time for him to leave.

All along I felt like my cramping was just because I needed to "go" but couldn't, but still I had that fear that something was wrong. Knowing I wasn't having any spotting helped my feelings but then again, I never had any spotting with my other miscarriage. This pregnancy is already complelely different from my pregnancy with Britt! With him, I had no constipation. I do with this one. With him, I had constant nausea. It comes and goes with this one. I feel like a lot of people take for granted that they'll have a healthy pregnancy. I've even had that mentality before but after the miscarriage it opened my eyes that anything can happen at any time, sometimes without warning. I think that's preventing me from being overly excited about it, still having somewhat of a guard up in case something happens and I don't like it because I feel like I'm causing myself to miss out on some of the joy that comes with it.

Prenatal Appt/ENT

2011-06-07T10:41:00.006-05:00

Prenatal-
Since finding out I was pregnant, I have been really anxious about going to the doctor and making sure we had a heartbeat. The miscarriage was by far the worst experience I have ever had to go thru and I really, really, really hope I never have to go thru that again. With Britt, I had constant nausea to help assure me that my hormones was still going crazy and my pregnancy was still there. This time my nausea isn't as bad so I didn't want to rely strictly on that as my reassuance.

I woke up yesterday morning around 3:30 and could not go back to sleep. I tossed and turned, worried about what was going to happen when we went to the doctor. When it was time for me to get up, I went to pick out my clothes and burst into tears. I prayed so hard that God would just give me some peace about it and whatever happened, that he would also give me the strength to get thru it. I was desperate for any and all prayers I could get so I got on facebook for a few minutes and posted that I sure needed some prayers right then. I straightened myself up and went to get in the shower and burst into tears again and sobbed and sobbed. I got out of the shower, got my clothes on and makeup on. While brushing my teeth, Robert came up behind me and kissed the back of my neck and I burst into tears! He asked what was wrong and I told him that I was just so worried, literally scared of not having a heartbeat. The night before, Britt was sitting closed to me and passed gas and I thought I was going to throw up! Robert reminded me of it and asked when I did I ever gag and nearly throw up when Britt pooted. Never. I said that I knew but that wasn't enough to calm my fears. I don't actually think I can put into words how terribly worried I was.

We got to the clinic at 8....they didn't open til 8:30 (we were impatient). While sitting there waiting I slowly started feeling a little calmer, still worried but not nearly as bad as I had been that morning. About 9 they called me back and started going thru some of the routine stuff. I asked my nurse if they would do a sonogram, I really needed a sonogram! I had to make sure we had a heartbeat. She said that she didn't think so because I was so early, after she figured my cycle/due date and realized I was 8 weeks, further along than she originally thought she said that they should do one. When she was checking my blood pressure it was 128/95, a little higher than it normally is. She asked me was I nervous and I burst into tears! I told her I was a little emotional.

After only about 20 minutes (but seemed like an eternity) she stuck her head in and said that the ultrasound tech usually gets there about 10 and as soon as she got there, they would give her my chart. Sure enough, just after 10 the ultrasound tech came to get us. At that moment, I was so nervous I think I probably could have thrown up if I had put much thought into it. She started doing the ultrasound and as she ran the probe thing over my uterus as she was finding my ovaries to measure them I caught a glimpse of the baby. She didn't have to tell me what it was, I knew but it wasn't close enough to see whether we had a heartbeat or not. It seemed like she was taking FOREVER to measure my ovaries, I wanted to just tell her, "LOOK, you can measure these in a few minutes, first lets make sure we have a living fetus!" Finally, she centered over the uterus and there was the baby, still not in a position to see a heartbeat.

She zoomed in and then we saw the heartbeat. I burst into tears again! Both me and Robert saw it and knew what it was before she had a chance to point it out to us.

By the measurements of the baby, I was 7 weeks 5 days verus 8 weeks 3 days according to my cycle. My due date is Jan. 18th instead of Jan. 13th. I feel like the difference is because I ovulated later, which would explain why I wasn't able to get a positive test of ovualting when I was supposed to.

I also found out yesterday that Dr. Purvis now does the 4D ultrasound. I was super excited to find this out and can not wait to have it done later on in the pregnancy!

ENT-

Going to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor was a waste of time. Turns out, Robert's problem is a little further down his esophagus. We have an appointment to go see a GI doctor on July 13th so we will know more about Robert later on.

While at the ENT clinic, I went ahead and made Britt an appointment to see Dr. Cater. He was the same doctor that took my tonsils out 2 years ago. Britt has been having some trouble with breathing thru his nose, mostly I notice it while he sleeps. Sometimes it sounds like he even holds his breath while sleeping. His snoring is also horrible so I feel like it's about time for his tonsils/adenoids to come out to help with this problem. His appointment is June 15th.

Reactions

2011-05-29T17:49:00.006-05:00

We wanted it to be Britt's job to tell the grandparents so decided that the night we went to clean the fair cabin that we would tell him so he could tell Granna and Pa John.

I had him sit down on the bench and told him that mama had a baby growing in her belly....This first picture was his initial reaction!

Not much difference in expressions before and after. Then I added, you're gonna be a big brother!

Then, a little more of a timid look/grin.

After if finally started sinking in, he was excited!

He got up, came over to me and lifted my shirt. He said he wanted to see the baby. I said, well it's gonna be a while before you can see it. We told him that it was his 1st job as big brother to tell Granna and Pa John so when they got there he needed to get them to come sit down so I could get their picture when he told them.

For once, he did just what I told him. He got them to come sit down and waited for my cue to tell them. He started out sitting on the bench and they took their spot on each side of him. After I gave him the nod that it was time, he got up, took a few steps forward and turned around as if he was about to make a speech. When he made the announcement, "My mama's got a baby growing in her belly" Granna and Pa John had the same expression that Britt had....kind of a stunned look.

After several, several minutes Pa John turned to Granna and said "are they serious?" They thought Britt was playing or just running off at the mouth. They didn't realize it was for real!

When we went over to tell Memaw and Papaw he wasn't as enthused about telling them. It took him a few minutes to finally tell them but by that time they already suspected. Memaw even flat out asked, "are you pregnant?" I said, "I'm not saying, Britt's the one that has something he needs to tell you." Finally he said, "my mama has a baby growing in her belly." They just hollered!

After telling Memaw and Papaw, Britt called Aunt Peggy (Robert's sister) to tell her.

What I would have loved to have done was wait until Father's Day, that way Peggy and Kevin would be at Memaw and Papaw's house and I could have revealed it to all of them at one time and had the sonogram picture to show but at the time that we told them, I had already known for 2 weeks and couldn't wait any longer. I am however extremely surprised at Britt, he only told 1 person that I'm aware of before he was supposed to!

Our Trying Time

2011-05-29T17:48:00.026-05:00

I started out not really wanting to "plan" the next pregnancy the way I did with Britt. With the funeral home, we can't plan anything but monuments is a little different. I knew it would be hard for me to be due spring/summer during our peak monument season. Britt was born in April and it's usually fairly busy that month. The night he was born, I was on the phone with Dusty trying to walk him thru what to do on the computer to cut stencil for a monument that we had an upcoming deadline on, while he was also having technical problems with the machine which is very frustrating and stressful. I was back at work on Monday, 4 days after delivering Britt. With the next pregnancy, I really wanted to be able to enjoy my maternity leave, even if I do have to go back to work within days of delivering I don't want to feel like I HAVE to.

My implanon birth control was due to come out in February. Since having it put in 3 years ago, I've been talking about us trying to have another baby once it came out. The day it was taken out I started my cycle as expected and it lasted the normal 28 days. My next cycle started March 7th and lasted 32 days, a little irregular but not too bad. I decided in April that I would start trying to track my ovulation time so I would know when I was most fertile. I didn't really want to be due during the cold/flu season due to the risk of the baby getting sick but we are all usually pretty healthy so if that were to happen, maybe it wouldn't be a problem. Where monuments are concerned, winter would be the ideal time for me to be out because monuments are slower and I wouldn't be as rushed to get back to work.

I started my April cycle on the 8th and used my ovualtion tests as directed but never had a test showing that I was ovulating. I had started to worry about whether or not I was ovulating in order to even get pregnant. As you may recall, in February of last year I found out that I have endometriosis, which wasn't too bad at the time. In the back of my mind I was concerned, worried and well, just flat out scared that maybe the endometriosis had gotten worse over the last year and would prevent me from getting pregnant. I also knew that worrying about it would also delay my period but I couldn't help it.

I had taken several pregnancy tests and ovulation tests and all of them were negative. Negative for pregnancy and Negative for ovualting. My gut told me I was too soon to even go to the doctor about it but I didn't want to wait too long about going and it be too late by that time to do anything to help. Normally, they tell you that if you try for a year and still fail to get pregnant in that time to see your doctor, well we had only been off birth control since February and only "trying" 1 month. I felt like I was being too paranoid but at the same time I still wanted to be sure nothing was wrong!!! On Friday, May 13th I had decided that on Monday I would call and make an appointment to go see Dr. Purvis, mainly for my peace of mind. That afternoon on my weekly Walmart trip, I went ahead and bought another box of pregnancy and ovulation tests.

The next day, Saturday May 14th was gonna be a somewhat lazy day for me and Britt. Robert had some things he needed to do at the fair cabin and we didn't have any place to be except for a wedding later that afternoon. When we got up, I started straigtening up the house and put some clothes on to wash. I went to the bathroom to get another load of dirty clothes and decided to go ahead and take another pregnancy test while I was in there, knowing it was gonna be negative again. I had already taken 2 tests earlier in the week that were also both negative, so I set it to the side and went about my cleaning. On my way back to the bathroom to clean my shower I got side tracked in the living room and helped Britt play Super Mario Brothers. Just before I started cleaning the shower I decided to check the test. I couldn't believe my eyes!!!!! There was 2 lines, it was positive!!! I broke down into tears and melted onto the floor!!! Happiness, Joy, Excitement, Relief all flooded my heart and my mind.Nothing was wrong and I was pregnant, I AM PREGNANT!!! Thank you God!!!

I immediately started thinking about how I would tell Robert! Britt came in while I was crying and asked what was wrong, I told him I was just extremely happy!!! Since Robert had plans to work on the fair cabin, I wasn't sure what time he would be home but he ended up coming in about 20 minutes later so I didn't have a whole lot of time to plan a "big" announcement. I was still in the bathroom cleaning up when he came in. He informed me about his choking incident where fellow firefighter and friend, Scott Clark had to do the heimlich on him, you may remember my post about it (yeah this all happened the same day). I told him that I went ahead and bought more pregnancy and ovualtion tests the day before but I had pretty much talked myself into making an appointment to go make sure nothing was wrong, the only problem was that I wouldn't have to go afterall to make sure anything was wrong but I would still have to go. I held up the positive pregnancy test and told him that it was positive. He said, "so you're pregnant?" Through tears I managed a "yep!" He grabbed and hugged me. He hadn't mentioned it but I think him knowing how worried I was, also worried him.

I told him that I didn't want to tell too many people we were pregnant until we could go to the doctor and have a sonogram to make sure we had a heartbeat. With my 1st pregnancy, I was 4-5 weeks along and never hesitated about telling people I was pregnant. Then after we miscarried, I still had tons of people questioning how I was doing, unaware that I had lost the baby. I felt like it would be easier not having so many people asking questions if something happened again like that. However, I did let a few of my friends/prayer warriors know so that they could be praying with me and for the pregnancy.

I called to make my appointment and they scheduled me for June 6th, which would put me just over 8 weeks.....that meant I would have to pretty much keep my secret from everyone for 3 weeks. Initially, we weren't even going to tell our families until we had our sonogram and saw the heartbeat. That 1st week of knowing and not being able to scream it out on facebook and to my family and friends was pure torture!!! Every single day it seemed like there was someone new who was announcing their pregnancy, but I couldn't! I had so much anxiousness, worries, nervousness, excitement that I wanted to share and needed to share but I knew at the same time it was so important that I wait. So wait I did. One day in particular was the day I had my purse party, my friends Lindsey Eakes and Kim Clark was there. Lindsey is pregnant and we were talking back and forth about her pregnancy and Kim mentioned that another girl that we know just found out that very day that she was pregnant. The whole time I was doing my best to hold in my news, all while my heart was screaming out I'M PREGNANT TOO!!!!! After Kim left, Lindsey asked me when we were gonna have another baby. I had to lie and say well, we aren't trying but aren't preventing either.....so we'll just have to wait and see.

Finally, the 2nd week after we found out I couldn't take it anymore I had to go ahead and let our families know. I wanted Britt to tell the grandparents. Robert reminded me that when we told Britt that he would probably go to Mama Helen's and tell them too. I told him I was aware of the chance we were taking and we would deal with it if that happened. We needed to go ahead and let our parents know but wait until after the sonogram to officially announce it, however if I was confronted and flat out asked "are you pregnant," I wouldn't deny it.

So now, after 3 weeks of knowing we were gonna have a baby, hearing all the comments and questions about us needing to have another baby from friends, we can finally talk about it and officially announce it. I initially wanted to come up with a few cute, unique ways of "announcing" it on my blog and on facebook. I came up with a couple riddles but ended up just telling the whole story. I liked my riddles so much and wanted to go ahead and share them anyway: We're expanding our home, but not a remodel. This next expansion will take a bottle! Diapers, wipes and so much more, we're real excited about what's in store! Some flowers are pink, some flowers are blue. A lot of people are pregnant and we are too!

P.S. Britt wants a boy and a girl, so if this turns out to be twins, we will ALL know that God answered his prayers!!! Robert said that he had a strong feeling that this is a girl. I asked what gave him that feeling, his response: I don't know, but it could just be gas or heartburn. With Britt, I had a very strong feeling he was a boy but I don't have a strong feeling either way this time.

Britt's Journal

2011-05-17T13:44:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Britt brought home his journal from school. There are a lot of them but I wanted to post a few of my favorites!

The grahog dinnot see hes shadow ="The groundhog did not see his shadow"

A spas cats win I came up here on this plnnet there wass spas cats. i said it is ok. = "A space cat win. I came up here on this planet there was space cats. I said it is ok."

My Pet. One day me and my cat play fech. My cat saw a bug. My cat ate the bug. = "My Pet. One day me and my cat play fetch. My cat saw a bug. My cat ate the bug."

This summer I am goin swimen and goin to see my frand Jace. = "This summer I am going swimming and going to see my friend Jace."

I just love to see how much he has learned since the beginning of the year!!!

Choked

2011-05-14T14:05:00.003-05:00

Monday night I fixed steaks and grilled vegetables. As we were eating and talking, I asked Robert a question. He didn't answer me immediately so I looked over at him and he looked as if he was struggling, he was also making some sort of gurgling noise. I said his name and he just raised his hand, to motion me that he was ok. I said his name again and asked if he was ok. He just raised his hand again then stood up. I jumped up and opened the back door, we went out on the back porch and he threw up. After a couple minutes I asked him what in the heck happened. He said that he had started getting choked from time to time when he eats. I asked him how long had it been going on. I was shocked when he told me MONTHS! He said that it had never gotten as bad as it was that night, it always has just felt like the food would try to get stuck and not go down. I told him that he needed to go to the doctor and have it seen about, he may have to start having his throat stretched. You know men, he blew it off.

For the rest of the night I would catch myself daydreaming off thinking about that incident over and over again. Imagining if he had not been making the gurgling noise, if I would have had to have done the Heimlich on him, if he went unconscious......all this while Britt was in his room playing unaware of it all. I was/am scared to death! What if it happens again?!

I told mama about it and we agreed that he was stupid if he didn't go to the doctor about it. I think he thought we were joking! Well this morning when he came in from work he said that he got choked again this morning at the station. Close friend and fellow fire fighter, Scott Clark had to do the Heimlich on him! I think that scared him enough that he has agreed to go to the doctor. I have news for him! If he don't go to the doctor, his diet will consist of BABY FOOD!!!!

2011-05-12T12:46:00.000-05:00

Britt: I miss our trailer.
Me: I DON'T!
Robert: Me Either! If we still had our trailer, you'd be saying that you wanted the house back! If you want to, you can go live with the people that have the trailer now but mama and daddy are staying in our house!
Britt: Well, I'll just stay with y'all

About 2 minutes of Silence

Britt: Why do people move into different houses?
Me: For different reasons, mostly because when people get grown, they get married and move into their own house to start their family, like mama and daddy did. We had the trailer first then we built our house.
Robert: One day you'll move out and start your own family.
Britt: Nuh uh! I'm gonna live with y'all forever!
Robert: ~ROLLS HIS EYES~
Me: ~chuckle~

Stray Dog

2011-05-12T11:47:00.000-05:00

Last night when we got to church, there was a stray dog in the parking lot. He seemed like a friendly dog but I wouldn't let Britt get close to him....just in case. Well after church, everyone was gathered around and a few people were contemplating on taking him home, my daddy was one of them!

After several minutes attempting to get a rope on him and tied to the light pole, daddy went and got his truck and with Dusty's help, got him loaded up in the back. We went on to Mexican and waited for them. It took daddy a really long time to get to Mexican and when he finally got there he informed us that when he stopped at Clay's 16 Stop & Go to get some bread and vienna sausages for the dog, the dog jumped out and nearly strangled himself. Daddy tried to get him back in the truck but was unable to catch him again. After we finished eating supper, daddy went back to the store to see if he could try it again....and again couldn't catch the dog.

This morning, daddy called Larry McKinney with Animal Control. Told him the story about the dog and said that if they were able to catch him, he wanted them to take him to the vet and let them know to worm him, etc. and call him when they were finished so he could go pick him up! So......I guess Daddy has a dog!

The dog isn't the prettiest dog but daddy seems to think he will make a good yard dog.......only time will tell!!!!

P.S. I just had a thought! I wonder what he plans on doing with the dog during the wedding! Surely, they are not gonna want a 4 legged guest of honor in the middle of it all. Hmmmm!

Aftermath of the Fire

2011-05-10T11:44:00.004-05:00

May 9, 2011 will forever be a day that is remembered. Everyone knew that this day would come sooner or later but no one knew when.

Although our cabin was spared, our hearts and sorrow goes out to those very dear friends of ours who lost theirs. My very 1st time to stay at the Neshoba County Fair was with Randy, Annette, Kristian and Drew Watkins when me and Kristian was in about the 7th grade. My heart breaks for them and all the others who have lost so much and so many memorable pieces of their lives.

Luckily, there were no serious injuries to the Emergency personnel that responded. A few had to be treated for heat exhaustion, Dusty had a spell with his blood pressure and had to be treated but as big of a fire that this was, God's hands was surely over them, protecting them while they worked.

There is more than just a materialistic loss here but a loss of memories of loved ones who have already passed away.

Cabins will be rebuilt, as time goes by more memories will be made with the future generations. Regardless of the loss, we (all fairgoers) were so extremely blessed that this fire happened when it did and not during the week of July 22-29! That truely would have been out of this world, devastating!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T20:17:00.006-05:00

After church, before going to Robert's parents house for lunch we went to my parent's house to have some pictures made.

Please excuse the squints, the sun was bright!

LET GO of my dress!!!

Eating a moonpie

Britt loves playing with cushions from the chairs and couch.

Here he's building a hiding place.

My Saturday afternoon

2011-05-08T20:09:00.005-05:00

Saturday afternoon, me and Britt kept Jagger while Cayla and her mama went to Meridian shopping for dresses for the wedding.

Before they got there, I told Britt that he needed to get in some practice for when he is a big brother! He did very good while we had Jagger, not a single sign of jealousy.

I love these 2 boys so much and I'm so thankful that God has allowed me to be a part of their lives!

Kingergarten Graduation

2011-05-06T08:46:00.008-05:00

Well.....here we are at the end of our 1st year of school! It has absolutely FLOWN by! I can not believe we are 9 1/2 days from being out. Even though we are only in Kindergarten, there have definitely been some days that I didn't think we would make it to the end!

Yesterday, May 5th was Britt's Kindergarten graduation and their Cinco de Mayo Fiesta.
They started out singing about 5-6 songs about the alphabet, months of the year, counting, etc. to show all of us parents what they had learned.

After their songs, they were given awards. Every child received an award for something ranging from most exuberant (I had to get the dictionary out on that one!), quietest, best smile, best artwork, most improved, best handwriting, citizenship, most dependable, etc.

I am EXTREMELY proud to say that out of all the awards given, Britt got the AR (accelerated reading) award. He had the highest AR score out of the entire class, a 2.1 which is a 2nd grade reading level. When Mrs. Smithey announced it, I broke down into tears! No words can describe how I felt, of course I was proud but at that moment it was proved to me that all of the pushing, struggling, tears and frustration had paid off. We weren't trying for the highest score, we were just pushing because we knew he had the potential but a lot of times he wouldn't show it.

Showing off his AR award

Waiting for his name to be called to receive his diploma.

We love Mrs. Smithey and Mrs. Coghlan!

After the program, we went back to the classroom for the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. They danced Mexican dances and everyone brought a potluck dish of Mexican food.

They even had a pinata. Here are a couple of the dad's hanging it.

Hitting at the pinata got a little serious, the bat was a fairly good length and I think all the parents cringed everytime a child took a swing, luckily only the pinata took the licks.

In the end, Mrs. Smithey hit the pinata until it fell to the floor and the kids were on it like white on rice!

Britt and Kylie Grace Posey

Will you........?

2011-04-25T20:26:00.018-05:00

MARRY ME?!

.....and she said Yes!

Saturday night, Dusty took Cayla out to a romantic dinner at the Rustler. Well, it was supposed to be romantic but they said there was some older ladies/men at a table next to them talking so loud that everyone around could hear them.

Friday night, me and Britt went to the races with Cayla to watch Dut run his car. On the way, she mentioned that Dut wanted to take her out to a fancy restaurant and he wanted them to dress up. I immediately had a light bulb come on in my brain because there is only 1 reason why this country boy would want to go out to some fancy place-I knew what he had to be planning! I waited and waited, finally around 9 I got a text from Cayla asking if I was in the bed and if I would stay up til they got back from Meridian because they had something to tell me.

The wait was horrible! I was so excited it caused me to be a little nauseated. Because it was so late, they hated to go over to my parents house and tell them. Not only with the fact of having to get up earlier for sunrise service but also with daddy not ever knowing what time of the night he is going to have to go to work. So they decided that Cayla could tell them Sunday afternoon-Dusty was going to be at the Fire Department. So, I had to face my mama, daddy, grandparents and friends at church while keeping this HUGE secret until it could be revealed to mama and daddy!

I must say, Dut did an amazing job picking her ring out (all by himself!)

A few wedding plans have already begun.

They are looking at having a small private ceremony in June at my parents house. Neither of them want anything real elaborate. They would both be just as content if it was just them and the preacher.

Birthday, Baby and Flu Bug

2011-04-18T09:54:00.008-05:00

Friday-

Well....my 30th birthday was definately a memorable one, not only because it was my 30th birthday but because of the weather! It started off Friday morning with Robert wishing me a happy birthday when I got up to get ready for work. While putting my makeup on Robert and Britt came in the bathroom and gave me a card from each of them, a new willow tree angel and sang happy birthdy to me.......I cried!

I didn't actually count each of the phone calls, texts, facebook messages/comments but I would say that I had probably close to 200 birthday wishes, which helped to make my pretty depressing day a little brighter. We had watched the news all morning, keeping an eye on the weather. As the storm approached Philadelphia, we all gathered in the lounge with a couple of us straggling back up to the front office to look outside just to see what we could see. Later on, my grandmother called and said that her and my grandfather stood out on their back porch and watched the tornado go by. They live right on the Neshoba Kemper line, so they were watching the tornado that hit Kemper County and Scooba pretty hard.....I wish I could have seen it!

That night I was back and forth on what to do for my birthday. I wanted so bad to go to Meridian to eat and to a movie but because of the weather still in our area I didn't want to be on the road. I had finally decided to go on to Meridian. About 1 mile from turning onto Hwy 19 at Bethsaida, the weather report on the radio said that another line of storms would be in Meridian in approximately 30 minutes. I told Robert just to go on to Philadelphia, so we went to Firehouse BBQ, Walmart for a couple things and back home.

Saturday-

Cayla text me around 11:30 that morning to make sure I wasn't busy, her and Jagger was going to come for a visit. That night, they had plans to go out to eat for Cayla's sister, Chasity's birthday so decided to let us keep Jagger. Me and Britt had such a good time with him and yes, there was a bit of jealousy!

He is such an adorable little boy!!!

That night Granna and Pa John got there just as I was getting Jagger's supper ready. They stayed for a while and as they were about to leave, Cayla and Dut got back. They all left around 9 or shortly after. Me and Britt stayed up for a while longer and he actually fell asleep on the couch. When I got ready to go to bed, I went to take his socks off and put him to bed and I noticed that he was really hot. I woke him up and told him that I needed to check his temperature, it was 102.5. I gave him Motrin and we went on to bed. Robert was at the fire department so of course, Britt slept with me. I didn't get much sleep, afraid that his fever would jump up again so I watched him most of the night. Since his little episode last year when his fever shot up and he had the stiffening up, I have been scared to death of him having fever. I hope we never have to go through that again.

Sunday-

I text Robert around 6:30 to let him know that Britt was sick and running a fever and we wouldn't be going to church. We were at Urgent Care when they opened. After Dr. Partridge (sp) examined him, he asked me if anyone had ever explained to me the differences between viral and bacterial infections. No one ever had, so he did. Now, I have NEVER been one to take off to the doctor as soon as symptoms start showing, the doctor is always my last resort after several days of over the counter meds but this time was different. Whatever was causing his high fever, I wanted it gone. As he was talking, he gave me the impression that I over reacted and Britt's "cold"- nasal congestion, runny nose, and fever was viral and just had to "run its course." He said lots of times, doctors prescribe antibiotics for things they know is viral that the antibiotics won't cure just to make the patient/guardian feel better. Thanks for the "tip" doc! They went ahead and did a flu and strep test on him. Strep was negative......flu was POSITIVE! I guess my mother's intuition was right, it wasn't JUST a cold! He said usually starting tamiflu within the 1st 48 hours increased our chances of getting rid of it quicker....luckily we were still in that time frame.

At the moment he read the test results, my mind immediately went to Jagger! I told the doctor that we kept him the day before, before Britt started showing symptoms and asked was he still at risk before the symptoms. He said that it's possible because Britt had already had the infection at the time. As soon as we got out, I called Granna and Pa John's to let them know the results. Dut answered the phone and I told him to tell Cayla to be watching Jagger, just in case.

We went straight to Walgreens to get his prescription filled.....they didn't have any! You've got to be kidding me?! Tamiflu has GOT to be the #1 most prescribed flu medicine and Walgreens didn't have it?! Then, we went to Walmart......guess what?! They were closed! From 1:30-2:00, they're closed so that the 1 and only Pharmacist can take lunch, I got there @ 1:31! I was NOT HAPPY! We went to Fred's......and again, guess what?! THEY WERE ALSO CLOSED! I was beyond furious and to tears at this moment! I had to do something at the monument shop since I wouldn't be there today so we went on to the shop. We got back to Walmart just before 2 so I could drop off the prescription. When the pharmacy tech got the prescription, she said "oooh, I don't know if we are going to have this" I'm sure the look on my face was pretty fierce! I said "Please tell me you do because Walgreens doesn't have it and Fred's is closed!" She then preceeds to tell me that Tamiflu no longer comes in a liquid. My question to her...."Why the heck does doctors still write prescriptions for it, if you can't get it?!" She shook her head and said she didn't know. I broke down into tears again. She said she did have the dosage but it was a capsule, we would need to break the capsule open and sprinkle it on his food. I said ok, thank you and left.

I had gotten some more liquid Advil before leaving Walmart and on the way home I looked back at Britt, he looked so pitiful. It was getting close time for another dose for his fever, I hated to give it to him on an empty stomach but when I felt of him, he was burning up so I went ahead and give it to him anyway. I haven't seen him look that bad since last year when we had that episode. I dropped Robert and Britt off at home and I went over to Granna and Pa John's to get lunch.....at 3:00, we were starving! I cried and vented to them for a few minutes, Dut being the clown that he is did anything he could think of to make me laugh and feel better. Granna went back to town to get his prescription so we wouldn't have to.

Dr. Partridge gave us an excuse for school thru Wednesday and as you can imagine, Britt's pretty excited that he gets to stay home. I tried explaining that he is sick, really sick. We aren't just staying home because we want to and I hope he doesn't try pulling the "I'm sick" thing again hoping that it will work next time but I'm sure he probably will! Robert made the comment some time yesterday that 30 probably hasn't impressed me that much so far! I have to say that my answer is definately NO, it hasn't! It is still pretty depressing!!! Today is the 4th day I've been 30 and I've only had 1 really good day (Saturday when we had Jagger) but all in all, if my 30's turn out as good as my 20's were-they should be pretty great!!!!

Britt's 6th Birthday-Surprise Party

2011-04-09T21:49:00.022-05:00

I was going to split this post up into several smaller ones but......I changed my mind! So this is an extremely long post! Wednesday night, as usual we were at Mexican and kicked off our birthday celebration there.

On Thursday, the day of Britt's birthday, me and Robert went to Britt's class to take his birthday cupcakes and to help in his class during their centers.

It was Robert's 1st time to help in his class......I think it wore him out but he had a good time.

When it was time for us to leave, we surprised Britt by signing him out early and going to Jackson. We had planned on taking him to Chuck E. Cheese's and to the Children's Museum, he had no clue where we were going, his only request was that we didn't go to any stores with clothes! When we got to where I THOUGHT Chuck E. Cheese's was.....it wasn't there so I had to call for directions! I had it on speaker phone and Britt heard them say their name. He immediately hollered, "I wanna go to Chuck E. Cheeses!" I said well, you're in luck cause that's where we're going....we just have to find it!

He wasn't too sure about standing next to the mouse!!!

After Chuck E. Cheese's, we went to the New Children's Museum. When we were turning in the driveway, Britt thought we were going to the Science Museum. We went a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

This catfish exhibit is what Britt would have stayed at the entire time!!!

Here he was dancing to "Hound Dog" by Elvis

There was soooooo much stuff to look at, at the Children's Muesum. Britt got mad at me because I kept moving him on to the next thing but I was afraid we wouldn't have enough time to see everything if he stayed as long as he wanted at some of the exhibits! We will go back one day when we can keep a slower pace and look at each thing longer!

I decided about 6 weeks ago that I wanted Britt to have a birthday party this year......a surprise birthday party! He has only had 1 "real" birthday party and that was for his 1st birthday.

Linda Hardy that lives at Bethsaida made Britt's birthday cake and it was delicious!!!

Me and Robert decided to have us a little fun before everyone started showing up.

The birthday boy arrived! As they were pulling in the driveway, he spotted the cars and immediately started saying something about a party. I think he was hopeful because he really didn't have a clue! You can tell by the look on his face that he is trying to figure out what's going on!!!

He came up to me shortly after getting there and asked, "Was all this your idea?!" I responded, "Yes, Yes it was!"

Noah Clark

Maggie Grace Stovall.....When they were still toddlers going to Mama Helen's Britt called her Maggie Grace Snowball but now he calls her Maggie Grace Snowvall.....maybe in a few more years he will understand what her last name "really" is.

Ali Grace Cheatham

Kylie Grace Posey

Pa John!!!

Cole Cheatham being silly

Anslie Beall Flake

Can you spot the biggest kid of all????????

Yep, there he is! Scott Clark!!!

Madelyn Lea Flake (7 weeks old) whispered to me that she really needed a fire helmet too.....she didn't want to feel left out!

Bailee Rhea Ridout and Anslie Beall Flake

The "Grace" Girls-Ali Grace, Maggie Grace & Kylie Grace

He got a little timid when we started singing Happy Birthday to him

Britt with his "girlfriends"....all of which are also Mama Helen kids. Someone asked who his "girlfriend" was this week. Ali Grace came and told me that he kissed Maggie Grace on the lips.....but I think Kylie Grace is the one who really likes him or so I've been told! I hope these 4 will remain close friends all throughout school, they are just so precious and sweet together! P.S. The aqua blue outfits was not planned but it sure worked out perfectly didn't it?!

While Britt was in time out for acting ugly-yes I put him in time out @ his birthday party. While Noah was trying to climb in the jumper, I saw Britt reach up with his foot and put to Noah's head trying to push him out ....so I reached in and grabbed Britt by his feet and pulled him out and he sat in time out for a while. Pa John was up to NO GOOD!

Granna having a grand ole time in the jumper!

Helping Noah get buckled up

We had such a great birthday party with great friends to celebrate with. This being our 1st official birthday party, I didn't really know what to do or what to expect, so we just sort of went with it. After it was all said and done, although we were so exhausted from getting ready for it I had huge feeling of not necessarily relief that it was over but accomplishment that we could pull it off with such a great turnout!

On Thursday, when we were at the school Ali Grace asked me if Kylie had gotten an invitation. I nodded my head yes to her. Britt came up a few minutes later and said that Ali said that Kylie didn't get an invitation. I asked "an invitation for what?" He said, "my party." I asked "what party? This is your party." He then said..."I don't know"......he is sooooo my child!!!!

He had to have a couple attitude adjustments during his party.....at one point I told him that I could end it as fast as I put it together. Regardless of his mood, I think he and everyone there had a great time. I know I did!!! After the party was over, our friends-Scott, Kim and Noah Clark stayed and played longer. Me and Scott got in a water fight, Britt and Noah helped deflate the jumper. Being together reminded us of old times from our pre-kid days and we all agreed that we needed to get together again real soon!!!

Stop Calling Me!!!

2011-04-09T12:25:00.003-05:00

Britt has learned my cell phone number, which I think is a very good thing! The only problem is when he is away from me and can get his hands on a phone, he is going to call me!!! For example: During Spring Break, he stayed with my grandmother on Monday, spent the night that night and stayed Tuesday. Monday alone I got probably 10 phone calls from him.....BEFORE LUNCH! This weekend we are having him a surprise birthday party. He spent the night Friday night with Robert's parents and they will have him at the house for the party just shortly after it's supposed to start. He knew he would be spending the night but at 7pm Friday night I get a phone call from him wanting to come home. I explained that mama and daddy had lots that we needed to do and he needed to stay.....we would also have a surprise for him when he got home. He said ok, but I want to open it 1st! HA HA HA!!! Isn't he really gonna be surprised to find out that the surprise isn't gonna be something he can open!!! Today, while getting ready for the party, up until this point I have gotten around 3-4 calls from him. It's so sweet that he is calling me and most of the time just wanting to say hey and see what I'm doing but at the same time it is getting a little bit annoying. ~~~~In my Gecko lizard accent from the Geico commercials........"STOP CALLING ME!"~~~

Jagger Dale Yates

2011-04-07T18:29:00.010-05:00

Neither Cayla or Dusty had slept any the night before and were both exhausted.

Cayla's sister, Chasity. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to be in the delivery room. She is a couple months pregnant and got sick when they came in to break Cayla's water so she decided to wait in the hall.

Jagger Dale Yates, born on March 25, 2011 at 5:47 PM, weighing 7 lbs. 6 ozs. and 20.5 inches long.

Just before Dusty got Jagger from Cayla to take him to the nursery, Dale, Cayla's daddy stepped up and said I'm holding him first!!! Jagger was just as content as he could be and just looking around.

But as soon as Dale handed him over to Dut, Jagger started crying which tickled Dale to death!

Again, Jagger just as content as can be while Dut is talking to him in the nursery.

The day after he was born, I took Britt to see him for the 1st time!

The nurse asked Britt if he wanted to listen to Jagger's heartbeat. He did, then he wanted to listen to everyone else's.

Here's a few pictures after they got home.

I had just gotten finished feeding him and he was WIDE awake! I think they actually slept good this night, Dut said he woke up every 4 hrs on the dot.

Dut sent me this picture a couple days ago. He's just so sweet, I could eat him up!

Life Goes On

2011-04-06T08:13:00.011-05:00

I am so thankful that God knows His plans for us before we do!

I am so thankful that when God closes one door, he also opens another!

Tomorrow, Britt's birthday is a very happy occasion that we will celebrate. However, it is also the 1 year anniversary of Summer leaving. Why she had to pick that day of all days to leave, I don't have a clue! At this moment in time, her leaving is still bitter-sweet. Of course, a year ago it was pure devastation. I describe it as bitter-sweet because it still hurts, just like the death of a loved one....but at the same time God has His plans and he continues to open doors when we don't expect a door to open. At the time of trials and tribulations in our lives, it's hard to keep in mind that God has plans and purposes for all that we go thru.....but Life Goes On!

The past year has been just heartbreaking for us all. We've prayed and prayed for peace and the strength to get thru it. Unfortunately, I'm still struggling with it! I still need prayers daily to get thru this and be able to let go of all my negative feelings! I made the comment to mama several months back that I could not get close to another girl that Dusty dated....at least not until I could be sure that she was in the relationship for the long haul. I could not go thru dealing with his broken heart again when I also had my broken heart to deal with as well!

Dusty started dating Cayla Yates this past December. I immediately felt the desire to get close to her and form the friendship that I have missed so much since Summer left but I was so scared. A couple years ago, Robert gave me the Jane Seymour "Open Heart" necklace for Christmas. One day a few weeks ago, I was playing with my necklace and out of the blue, I thought about Jane's story behind her necklace collection.

This is from one of the websites that features Jane's Open Heart Jewelry Collection:

The Open Hearts jewelry collection originated with her paintings. Everytime she painted a heart, she noticed that it was always open. She realized that to her, an open heart reflected all of life's experiences. Most importantly it reflected her mother's advice that only when you can love yourself and keep your heart open, can you best give and receive love. A universal symbol of giving and receiving love is an open heart. "Life is always full of challenges and it is my hope that this jewelry collection will remind you everyday that if your heart is open, it can never stay broken."....Jane Seymour

I realized that if I completely closed off and didn't leave my heart open, I might miss out on one of the best friendships/relationships that I could have. I have seen a complete turn around in Dusty since Cayla came into his life. He seems much happier than ever before and for this I am so glad and so thankful. They actually have known each other for about 6-7 years from Battlefield Racetrack but for one reason or another, their paths never crossed....until now. I can't help but feel like this was God's plan for them all along. Each of them has been thru trials in their lives and have had heartache that they've had to learn to pick up and move on. God's plan very well could have been that they had to go thru all their bad times to finally be able to realize where they was, was not where God intended for them to be.

Not only do we now have Cayla in our lives, we also have Jagger Dale Yates. Cayla was about 6 months pregnant when her and Dusty started dating. Jagger was born March 25th at 5:47 pm, weighing 7 lbs. 6 ozs. and 20.5 inches long. Dusty was right by her side thru everything, he even cut the umbilical cord when Jagger was born. Cayla also allowed me to be in the delivery room and that by far ranks as one of the most amazing and precious moments of my life. Dusty has said before that he doesn't think he could love Jagger any more than he does, if he was his own son. I feel the same way. I had a friend send me a message the night Jagger was born saying, "I guess you're an aunt now." It wasn't until that moment that I realized, "yeah, I guess unofficially, I am!" WOW!

Even though Dusty and Cayla's relationship is still new, I am still nervous about getting close and them not working out and not only losing Cayla but also Jagger. Dusty's outlook is: "Why worry about what might or might not happen, take a chance because we aren't promised tomorrow anyway."

So, as we approach tomorrow....and the anniversary of Summer leaving.....

Life Still Goes On!

I am still so thankful that God knows His plans for us before we do!!!!

I am still so thankful that when God closes one door, he also opens another!!!

Fairy Tale Ball

2011-03-31T11:43:00.011-05:00

This week was Fairy Tale week at school and with this week they had a Fairy Tale Ball. The girls got to dress up as princesses and the boys got to dress up as princes, kings, knights, etc. Britt was a knight.

Here are a few pictures while we waited for Britt's class to arrive.

Robert wasn't too crazy about posing with the Knight.

Regardless of Robert's pose and him and Jeremy's smile, they really didn't want to pose with him!

Me and Brandy had to pose, just couldn't pass it up.

Pucker up!!!

Making a craft...

Dancing.....

Britt was not a happy camper AT ALL for the most part! He was so concerned with whether or not we were gonna sign him out that he cried nearly the entire time. I kept telling him that as long as he cried I would not sign him out. Finally, Robert told him that if he would stop crying, he could sign out and go setting monuments with him. That immediately helped to dry those eyes and he was a completely different child after that.

Tooth Fairy

2011-03-28T21:06:00.005-05:00

I had forgotten all about posting about our Tooth Fairy visit.....thanks Kim for reminding me!

Last night as Britt was getting in the bed, we placed his tooth under his pillow. I practically had to threaten his life if he messed with it. He tried telling me that he had to sleep with his arms under his pillow or he wouldn't be able to sleep good............he NEVER sleeps with his arms under his pillow, therefore he had no reason to be messing with his tooth. I told him the tooth fairy bought his tooth and left the money under his pillow, just like at the store, we buy items and leave the money with the cashier.

Mission for: Rookie Tooth Fairy #1 and Rookie Tooth Fairy #2

Target: Britt Garrett Baker

Job: Place a $5 bill under the 5 year olds pillow

Time allowed: As soon as possible!

Tooth Fairy #1 and her assistant started their mission. As they approached the target, Tooth Fairy #1 got the feeling that her assistant, Tooth Fairy #2 had been watching too many covert ops movies or something. You've never seen all the duckin and crawlin that Tooth Fairy #2 did! She expected the Mission Impossible theme to start playing at any moment. It was hilarious....Tooth Fairy #1 was really wishing she had been packin a video camera!

The tooth was confiscated and the money was dropped in the designated area. The mission was complete, in approx. 00:30 sec. The 5 year old subject was still fast asleep and snoring but suddenly the snoring STOPPED! Tooth Fairy #1 bolted for the door but apparantly Tooth Fairy #2 wasn't aware that the mission was completed because he was still lying low on the other side of the bed. After a few minutes he exited the subject's room ticked off because Tooth Fairy #1 had left him behind but both Tooth Fairies identities was saved!

The following day (today) there were quite a few disputes over why Tooth Fairy #1 left Tooth Fairy #2 behind and also who should have REALLY been in charge of the mission!

This morning when we woke Britt up he immediately said that the tooth fairy hadn't left him anything. I asked him how he knew because he hadn't checked. We pulled the pillow back and there was NOTHING there! Robert thought maybe Tooth Fairy #1 had failed in her mission but I knew otherwise, she was successful!!! I glanced between the headboard and the mattress and there was the $5 bill. Britt was very surprised!

Baby Teeth-Update

2011-03-27T21:13:00.005-05:00

It has been about 2 weeks ago that I first reported about our 1st loose tooth. Since then, we have talked about it coming out with Britt and have asked if he would let us pull it. Each time, he would clench his lips together and cover his mouth with both hands.

Yesterday I even tried to "inconspicuously" tie a piece of dental floss around it and pull it out. I told Britt I needed to floss his teeth.....he knew what I was trying to do. It took forever to get it around that tiny tooth and the whole time he was saying "don't pull it." Once I FINALLY got the floss on it and tied I told him to look toward something on one side of him while I tugged to the other side....the floss slipped off. Right after that he said "I told you not to pull it!" I said "well, lucky for you I didn't pull it."

Today, just before daddy started preaching I looked over at Britt. His mouth was opened and he started trying to get my attention to his tooth. I noticed that his tooth was almost sideways. I reached in and pulled it right out. He immediately said "mama, you were right it didn't hurt!" I shooshed him and gave him a big hug. I don't know who was more excited-me or him! He asked me if I had a mirror but I couldn't put my hands on it at that moment. We have some little gold plaques on the backs of the pues in honor and in memory of people who purchased or donated money for them. He got down in front of the one on the pue in front of us and started looking at his reflection in it to see where his tooth was....then he started making goofy faces.

Also since my 1st post about his baby teeth we have discovered that both of his top 2 front teeth are also loose but they are still some time away from coming out.

My Goals

2011-03-18T16:51:00.005-05:00

I'm sure you're all getting tired of seeing my weight loss posts with no big progress to tell about, but I assure you, I'm slowly getting there. As you already know, my weight loss journey consists of getting really excited and pumped about losing weight then that fire fizzles out for one reason or another then back and forth, back and forth.

Well, today I got on the treadmill and as I was walking with my ipod as loud as it could go, jamming out to my music-and yes, I was JAMMING OUT! I'm actually glad no one but Britt was here to see me because I'm sure, no, in fact I KNOW that I looked ridiculous dancing and lip syncing as I walked. Anyway, I was steadily reminding myself of my "goals" to encourage myself and motivate myself to keep moving, keep walking.

I wanted to share some of my goals with you to continue to have that accountability that I need so badly.

#1-To beat my mama in our 15 lb. weight loss contest......yeah, you read that right, I'm gonna beat her. I've done it before and I'll do it again....ha ha!

#2-To lose enough weight to lower my chances of having gestational diabetes/high blood pressure with my next pregnancy...when ever that may happen. I am currently about 17 lbs. heavier than I was with Britt and I want to at least be at the same weight I was when I got pregnant with him....but preferably lower. My 1st blood sugar test while pregnant with him was high and I ended up cheating on the follow up test and had good results, but I feel like I was probably right on the verge of having gest. diabetes with him. But not only during pregnancy- diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease runs in my family so I know I really need to get a handle on my weight now before it causes problems with these diseases down the road.

#3-To look and feel my very best. I want to be comfortable in whatever I decide to wear, whether it's a cute, fashionable dress or even blue jeans and a t-shirt. I don't want to worry about what clothes does/doesn't look good on me with my stomach hanging out or what clothes I can wear to try and camoflauge my stomach. I want to be able to walk in a store and pick up something, try it on and have the confidence and KNOW that it looks good on me.

For the most part, I think my eating habits are better......at least better than they were. I don't over eat at every meal and sometimes, ok a lot of times I don't stick to smart "smaller" portions like I should but I also don't walk away stuffed to the point of feeling sick like in the past. Today, for example....I have snacked on carrots and celery all afternoon but for supper I do plan on splurging on some crawfish and corn! =)

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement!!! If you've ever tried to lose weight, you know how important it is for the support and encouragement from your friends/loved ones!

Baby Teeth

2011-03-15T18:15:00.003-05:00

Britt spent the night with my grandparents, Nanny and Gramps last night. This afternoon when I went to pick him up he opened his mouth to tell me something. I noticed that one of his front teeth was crooked....it hasn't been being crooked. All his baby teeth have been so straight and so pretty. I looked at it a little closer and touched it. I found that the reason it was crooked was because IT IS LOOSE!!!! We have our very 1st loose tooth and are possibly day(s) away from losing it! Oh my, how this makes me want to cry!!!

For months, I have known this day was coming and have feared the reaction Britt would have to it when it happened. I had a feeling he would freak out or overreact as he tends to do over certain situations....he is so much like me! I think being in school with other kids who has already lost some baby teeth is helping because he is excited about having a loose tooth.......not so much about having it pulled though. I can't say that I blame him any, I have always HATED having my teeth pulled!!!

It absolutely blows my mind how fast Britt is growing. I was chatting with a friend thru email yesterday about his upcoming birthday. He will be 6 in less than a month and I told her it is all just a blur! It's so hard to remember back when he was a little baby....and even back to when he was 1-2 years old. I wish time could just stop for a moment.....

P.S. I will post before and after pictures of the tooth once it's out......

Just a little funny to start the day

2011-03-09T08:44:00.004-06:00

I'm a little late about posting this but Monday night while watching The Bachelor. I mentioned to Britt that Robert was a bachelor when I met him. Britt asked, "was he a bachelor before he was a fire fighter?" I said "No, he was a bachelor before I met him. That means that he didn't have a girlfriend....you are a bachelor." Then Britt looked at me so sweetly and asked, "so does that mean I can be on that show?" All I could do was laugh!

Well to start my day this morning, I got a text from one of Robert's friends from high school. She works in the library at school. She said that this morning while Britt was in the library, he was talking to a little girl and said "you know what, I'm a bachelor."

All I can do is smile while I thinking about it.

More D-R-A-M-A!!!

2011-03-03T08:47:00.008-06:00

This morning when I dropped Britt off at school, he actually didn't cry but he did start tearing up a little bit. I told him I loved him and to have a good day. I left the school and went straight to Robinson Electric to pick up some light bulbs that I had ordered. As soon as I walked in, my phone rang. It was Jessica Alford Ridout that I go to church with, she teaches Kindergarten and is across the hall from Britt's class.

When I answered the phone she told me that she was with Britt and he was crying and really upset, saying that I was moving out of our house. WHAT?! She put him on the phone and I talked to him for a minute, of course assuring him that I wasn't going anywhere. Mrs. Smithey then got on the phone. I told her that I wondered if he had dreamed it. I know sometimes I can dream something and it seems so real that sometimes I have a hard time deciphering what is real and what's not. I assured her we were all fine at home and told her what I've been saying about Britt for a while (he has as much drama as a girl-sometimes I think he should have been one.) She had a laugh and we talked for a minute or two longer. She said that Britt had a great imagination. When they have writing assignments he always does so good with them.

She apologized for talking to Jessica about him but was concerned and didn't know how to help him and since we go to church together she figured Jessica may know if something was wrong. I told her I had no problem with her talking to other teachers or moms about him.

I don't know if this is normal....or if he really needs to talk to someone like a counselor or something. I joked with my mama and grandmother that even if he doesn't talk to a counselor or psychiatrist...I might be the one that needs too. I know that having an imaginary friend is normal for kids to have and Britt does have one. A couple days ago, me and Britt went out to my friend Brandy's for her to cut our hair. While he was in the chair he was talking about his friend "Princess Itchiwawa." We started questioning him about this friend. He said that she had long black hair with pony tails all in her hair, she drives a red mustang but she lives in the air and follows him everywhere and she was 100 years old. Gotta love that imagination!

To top it all off, Last Saturday morning when I woke up I went to check on Britt. He was awake so I told him to come get in the bed with us. As he was walking into my bedroom he asked, "who is in here with you?" WHAT?! Who do you think is in here with me????? YOUR DADDY, that's who!

Seriously.....I think I might need a psychiatrist!

AR PARTY

2011-02-25T22:06:00.013-06:00

When Britt went back to school after Christmas, he was put into the AR program. AR is accelerated reading. His teacher told me that in 1st grade it is required to be in but in Kindergarten, it is a priviledge. He started on a .3 level book, and has to read (3) books, 5 times each in each level then take a computer test on these books. It wasn't until about a week or so ago that I was talking to a 1st grade teacher and she explained to me that a 1.0 book stood for 1st grade reading level, 2.0 or 200 stood for a 2nd grade reading level, etc.

This past week Britt brought home his very 1st 1.0 book, which means that he is now reading on a 1st grade level. As soon as I told Granna about it, she immediately said that we needed to have a party to celebrate! So, we decided to make a really big deal about our AR party, going all out with balloons, presents and cake. Britt doesn't like to read his AR books because he knows he has to read them 5 times. Hopefully, having the parties to celebrate will boost his excitement about reading!!!

Pa John grilled hamburgers and deer sausage, and we also had baked beans and potato salad. Those who attended were of course Granna and Pa John (cause it was at their house), me, Robert and Britt, Dusty and his girlfriend Cayla, my grandparents-Nanny and Gramps, and Papaw Billy (Robert's step-daddy). Robert's mama wasn't feeling well so she didn't make it and Robert's sister and brother-in-law, Peggy and Kevin wasn't able to make it either.

He had a mouth full of burger and was trying to chew.

The cake.....

We even sang "For he's a jolly good fellow!"

Time for the presents!!!!!

a tractor from Nanny and Gramps

3 movies from mama and daddy

Silly string and fake bugs from Granna and Pa John......what is he gonna do with ALL those cans of silly string????????

laser tag car and truck from Dut and Cayla

Papaw gave him $50!!! WOW!!!

Thanks a bunch everyone!!!

Ok, so the silly string was a CONSPIRACY! Britt and Granna cooked up this plan!

me and Robert.....just.......waiting.......

FIRE!!!!!!

I don't know why we put the blanket down to sit on.....thinking the silly string would stay on the blanket and it would be easier to clean up.....nope, the blanket was useless.

Me, Robert and Britt weren't the ONLY ones who was fired upon!!!

Britt's aim wasn't very good but he got some help from the older and bigger version of himself......DUT!

I'LL GET YOU BACK!!!!!

Look at that mess! I told you the blanket was useless!

We all had such a good time. Maybe it won't be long before we can get to a 2nd grade reading level and be able to do it all over again!

Weight Loss Update!!!

2011-02-25T08:46:00.004-06:00

The end of January, I have a friend (Laurie) that introduced me to Body by Vi. It is a meal replacement protein shake program. Depending on how you look at it, it can be pretty pricey. For a 1 month supply of mix (1 shake a day) is around $50; for a 1 month supply of mix (2 shakes a day) is around $100; there are 2 other packages that are more expensive than that but you get more products. They also carry flavor mixes to change up the taste of what you're drinking: chocolate, banana, peach, orange and strawberry. Chocolate, peach and strawberry are by far my favorite.

I was very skeptical about it at first but decided that I would try it, just to see how I could do on it. Laurie has some friends who has been on it and has lost a good amount of weight with it. I figured if it didn't work, I've wasted more money than this over the last 10 years and if it did work or help, it would be well worth the money spent. The shakes taste really good! When I opened the package for the 1st time and smelled it, it smelled like cake mix! I was expecting something that didn't taste good at all which would make it harder to drink. When I mixed it with my low-fat milk as directed it tasted like cake batter!

So, I started this February 1st and as of today I have lost 7 lbs and I'm now under 200!!! I am ecstatic!!!! Although, it is starting to get a little harder to drink the shake now. Not because I'm getting tired of the taste but because being on somewhat of a liquid diet, drinking a shake for breakfast and lunch most days is starting to get boring. On the positive side, other than my weight loss it does a really good job keeping me full in between meals.

From February 2010-February 2011, I have lost a total of 17 lbs.

So......there's my weight loss update and I am looking forward to updating again with more good news!!!

D-R-A-M-A!!!!!!!

2011-02-21T08:47:00.005-06:00

If I've said this once, I've said this probably 1000 times since Britt was 2, he has got SO MUCH DRAMA, sometimes I think he should have been a girl!!!!

Saturday afternoon, Robert was outside getting the grill ready for supper. Britt was also outside playing with his fire turnouts on and got too close to the grill. Robert scolded him about getting too close and warned him that he would get burned. Britt made a comment about he was going to just walk away, he is always pretending stuff so Robert said ok, but that he would miss him. A few minutes later, Britt came inside, face primped up with tears in his eyes and as he walked thru the kitchen I asked what was wrong but he primped up even more and ran to his room. I followed him and by the time I got to his room he was in a full blown sob. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that he changed his mind about walking away....I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, until Robert came in and I told him Britt was upset, then Robert explained what happened outside.

Sunday night as church was about to start, this was our conversation:
Britt: I think I am gonna walk away.
Me: Why are you gonna walk away?
Britt: Cause you made me wear clothes I don't like!
Me: Well, if you leave, you can't come back.
Britt: ~tears, primping up and burying his face in my lap as he silently cried~.....I don't think that was the reaction he was expecting!
Me: Some people do walk away but those people don't have good mamas and daddys.
Britt: looks up at me and wipes the tears from his eyes.
Me: Are me and daddy a good mama and daddy
Britt: shakes his head no
Me: Well, don't we give you food, a warm bed to sleep in, a roof over your head so that you don't have to sleep in the rain, lots of love, hugs and kisses?
Britt: shakes his head yes
Me: Well, then I guess that does make us a good mama and daddy. I don't want to hear you talking about walking away anymore.
Britt: (after a few minutes)-its still in my head, I can't stop thinking about it.
Me: Well, think about something else.

After church, Granna sat down and told him that there were a lot of kids that didn't have a mama and daddy, or clothes to wear. He had a good mama and daddy that loved him and he didn't need to be talking about walking away anymore. Something may happen and someone might steal him one day and if he kept talking about walking away, that may be what we think happened and we may not come looking for him.

D-R-A-M-A!!!!!

Allergy Testing/Results

2011-02-16T16:50:00.006-06:00

Today was the day we went for allergy testing. I was soooo nervous! Britt knew he was having allergy testing but he had NO IDEA what was going to take place....I sure wasn't gonna be the one to tell him!

In the waiting room.....

Reading our AR book.....passing the time!

They planned on testing him for nuts, grass, ragweed, trees, milk and eggs. When they came in to do the testing, one of the nurses asked who was going to hold him. Robert asked me if I wanted to and I told him that it didn't matter. Robert got up on the table, with Britt facing him and his arms and legs wrapped around him. They were able to get a few sticks done before Britt realized what they were doing. They warned us that he would itch really bad and need to scratch but he didn't need to scratch.

Robert and Britt tussled hard back and forth, Britt trying to pull his arms away but Robert held on tight. Britt got a sucker to make him feel better....but I don't think it helped!

After a little bit, he started forgetting about it a little bit and began playing some.

After about 10-15 minutes, a nurse came back in and said they had forgotten to do the eggs, milk and peanuts, so they had to stick him again......

It itched so so bad!!!!!

Me and Robert tried several things to get his mind off of it, who could count to 10 the fastest, who could say their ABC's the fastest, Robert made helicopter noises with his mouth. All of which got a giggle or two from Britt and his mind off the itching for about 5 SECONDS!

Then he would think about it and start crying again......

Our war wounds......

Towards the end he started getting a little more playful with a few crying spells every couple minutes.

ENOUGH of the camera!!!!!!!

OUR RESULTS:

Not allergic to: milk, eggs or trees

Allergic to: grass and ragweed, which we can control with Zyrtec;

HEAVILY allergic to: Walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews and peanuts! Brazil nuts, almonds and pine nuts, he is not allergic to but we are advised to just stay away from ALL types of nuts!

Dr. Phillips said he probably will not ever outgrow his peanut allergy. I asked about cooking with peanut oil and he said that peanut oil will probably be ok but be cautious.

I admit, now knowing his allergy and the severity of it does calm me a little but when I stop and think of ALL the items that is packaged in a plant that also handles nuts, I start to panic all over again. So now, when I do my grocery shopping, extra time will be spent reading labels!!!!!

Valentine's Program

2011-02-11T22:26:00.003-06:00

"Yeah, we shoot fireworks then. That's so cool!"....Britt's part

"Mama Helen Girls"

Kylie Grace Posey, Ali Grace Cheatham and Addy Lea Page

Britt wanted to have his picture made with Addy Lea.....

Ali Grace wanted in the picture too...(I love how he has his arms wrapped around their waists! Sooo sweet!)

My daddy adores Ali Grace! He wants to reserve her one day for Britt!

Kylie also had to have her picture made with Britt! Talk about a ladies man!!!

He was so giddy and joyful! I've seen him happy before but today took it to a new level. I'm not sure if it was because I was there, or if it was because Granna and Papaw was with me (Pa John and Robert had a funeral and memaw was at home sick so they didn't get to come) or if it was because he knew he was getting to sign out early.....I don't know but it made my heart smile to see him so happy and I was super proud of him for doing so well in his program!!!!

Snow 2011

2011-02-11T17:04:00.010-06:00

Thursday, February 10, 2011 we woke up to this. We had no school, no work so we took full advantage of our snow day!

Headed to Granna and Pa John's to play with them in the snow. (Unfortunately, Robert did have a funeral that he had to work cemetery setup on so he missed out on most of the fun but he was able to get in a little play time later in the day)

We started out throwing snowballs and making snow angels but Pa John drew horns on Britt's snow angel.

So I guess it was a snow devil...

We wrestled in the snow......

As me and Britt was wrestling, Granna decided to take revenge on me since I took her down before.

She thought she was being slick....but I surprised her!

Dusty came and him and daddy went to my great-aunts house to get a folding table that we had used last year to sled on. While they were gone, I needed to run home and take some medicine, (I had been to the dr. the day before for a cold/sinuses and being out in the snow/cold was probably the last place I needed to be......OH WELL!)

Granna and Britt rode with me and on the way back to Granna's house we decided to drive around their circle to take pictures for our scrapbooks. Mama had her camera out and was taking pictures as we were going down the road.

Neither of us thought twice about riding the circle. The road on their end of the circle was clear and ice-free........but not so much for the other side of the circle. As we came up on a really steep hill (that both me and mama forgot about), halfway up the hill my tires started spinning and my truck STOPPED! It would not go forward another inch. I put it in park and looked and mama and we died out laughing. Britt said "PUNCH IT!" We told him no, we couldn't punch it cause it wouldn't go anywhere. I tried 1 or 2 more times to go forward and the only movement we made was sliding backwards a little.

Britt decided that we needed a tow truck! I called daddy and told him to stop and get a chain or something cause we needed a little assistance. While we waited for daddy and Dusty to get there me and Britt couldn't resist posing for a picture "pushing" the truck.

We needed "Mater" but we called "Ole Red" instead.....

Finally, our chariot arrived!

"hookin up"

When we got back to the house....it was time to go sledding! Dut was first and as you can tell from the pictures below (if you didn't already know) He AIN'T RIGHT! This boy has no sense! Where is his coat?

Britt LOVED this! We did it last year as an experiment for the very 1st time and had a blast so he has talked about it and looked forward to doing it again!!!

As we were turning sharp up by Granna and Pa John's shop before stopping, the snow would spray us in the face from the build up on the front of the table and the tires of the 4 wheeler. It was literally blinding! I think I was screaming out in laughter "I CAN'T SEE!" when this picture was taken.

He found his coat.....and a towel to wrap his hands in to get them warm

I should have known that boy was up to no good!

Dut grabbed Britt by the collar and was gonna try to slide him down the hill.

Then he tried doing Pa John the same way! HA HA!!!!!

That's when the snowball fight started!

We had so much fun playing in the snow! We stayed outside just about all day. We would play then take a break for just a bit, enough to get warmed up and then we were right back out. I can tell that my cold is a little worse from being out in it all day.....but it was so worth it. I mean, it's not that often that Philadelphia, MS gets enough snow to play in like this. I love the snow, I always have but my love for it has changed since I've gotten older. I love to see it come, I love to play in it but I'm also glad to see it go. Now......enough winter......I'm ready for SPRING!!!!

Allergic Reaction

2011-01-27T18:23:00.002-06:00

Today a little after 11, the school nurse called me and said she had Britt in her office crying and complaining with his eyes burning and swollen. My first thought was pink eye cause I've seen a few people on facebook talking about their child having pink eye.

I got to the school to pick him up and as we were walking to the truck he told me that his tongue had started itching after they ate snacks this morning. I asked him what they had for snacks and he said that it was cake (or brownie) with nuts in it.

He is very much aware that he doesn't need to eat nuts and always, ALWAYS asks me when we start to eat if there are any nuts in the food. I guess he didn't know to begin with that the cake or brownie had nuts in it.

I took him on to his pediatrician and we were given a presciption for an epi pen. This in itself terrifys me! The realization that this allergy, even though it hasn't shown really severe symptoms could be life threatening, hit me like a ton of bricks. Not only that but also that if he is with me and has a reaction, I will have to be the one to give him the shot.....and also not only give him the shot but hold it there for 10 seconds while the medicine ejects out of the pen and into his thigh. THAT is going to be horrible!!!

Dr. Simmons also gave me information about a clinic/doctors for allergy testing, so I guess that may be our next step. I've known this day would probably come....it's been in the back of my mind since Britt was 4 months old. When he was diagnosed with eczema, I was told that having it increases his chance of having allergies and asthma because they are all associated with each other.

I hate so bad that Britt will have allergy testing this young but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry!

Hunting

2011-01-18T13:40:00.007-06:00

I haven't ever cared much about hunting and to be honest, most of the time when Robert is talking about hunting it goes thru one ear and right out the other! Well, YEARS ago I made a comment that I would like to kill a deer sometime. I had actually forgotten about making the comment until Robert reminded me of it and told me that he was gonna fix up a place for us.

Last Friday afternoon when we got home, Robert was outside setting up to shoot at targets. I went inside and took my groceries in while Britt stayed outside with Robert. After a few minutes, Britt came to the door and told me that I needed to get my mud boots on and come out there where him and daddy was....so I did. Robert had actually sat up for ME to do some target shooting. He even went to the trouble of buying both me and Britt ear muffs

So.....I got in position with his gun, which I completely respect and am terrified of....even if it's unloaded. He had placed a bucket out about 65 yards away and a piece of plyboard that he had spray painted a "deer" on at about 100 yards away. I took aim at the bucket and FIRED! I was very relieved that the kick wasn't as bad as I was expecting!

Not exactly the bulls eye but hey,......I hit the bucket!

The next shot was at the "deer". I thought he did a pretty good job painting it. He told me on the deer that I needed to line the cross hairs from the scope up with the front leg of the deer. So.....I took aim and FIRED!

Bulls eye!

Yesterday was my 1st official hunting trip. We got in the shoot house about 2:30-2:45. While there we saw an armadillo, 3 turkeys, 1 button head buck and 2 does. I could have gotten a shot at one of the does but I didn't want one. To me, a doe is something you kill only if you need meat. When I text daddy to tell him that I passed on a doe because I wanted a buck, he text back "can you eat horns?" ha ha! I said "well no, but I want something I can brag about." He then replied, "well, you've got Britt."

He wants the next deer to be completely made into deer sausage but I have got news for him, I'm gonna have most of my deer made into stew meat! ~~~SMILE~~~

While we wait!

This afternoon we are gonna go back and take Britt with us so I really hope I can kill one today....I may even go ahead a shoot a doe just so Britt can think that he helped me kill my 1st deer!

Just wanted to share

2011-01-18T13:39:00.002-06:00

I was going thru the pictures I had on my cell and came across these and wanted to share. I think they were taken during Christmas break. I was gonna have to go to work so the boys were gonna spend the day together and do....you know "boy things."

This has probably got to be my absolute favorite of our more recent pictures! He just looks like a little man here....like a little Robert!

Christmas Day at Memaw and Papaw's

2010-12-31T19:15:00.005-06:00

We usually get together with Robert's family on Christmas Day, unless he is at the Fire Dept.

A while back there was a conversation about "there was no such thing as a pink tractor." I don't remember this conversation but it involved Robert and Britt. Well, Peggy (Robert's sister) remembered it and with the help of a little finger nail polish, proved to these boys that pink tractors DO exist!

Big Foot....he was scared of it to start with, but loves it now.

Memaw, Robert's mama. She was still weak but feeling well and was in good spirits.

Robert's sister and brother-in-law, Peggy and Kevin Laird

Toy Story 3 Movie

Mater's Tall Tales Book

A race track

walky talky's

This little one on the right would do anything to aggravate me when it comes time to take a picture!!!

Santa Came

2010-12-31T18:47:00.007-06:00

Britt never "requested" anything from Santa....at least not when he was supposed to for Santa to get things prepared to bring. On Tuesday before Christmas, Britt wanted to watch Home Alone. I explained that the only way we could watch it was if we had the DVD, if it come on tv or if we DVR'd it when it come on tv. I told Britt that he could tell Tinkerton (our Elf) and that night he could mention it to Santa and if there was room on the sleigh, Santa might bring it. Well, Britt did mention the movie to Tinkerton, but not just the movie. No, he gave him a list of other things that he wanted! I said "No, No, No...it is way too late for you to give your list now. Santa needed to know all this stuff a month or two ago so he could make sure he had everything and had room for everything. He might be able to handle and extra movie but not a whole list of things!" LUCKILY, Santa had already planned and made arrangements to bring all 3 of the Home Alone movies but he was NOT about to break his neck for the additional things that were sprung last minute! We didn't write a letter to Santa this year for the democrat but Britt's class did and I noticed he wanted a firetruck. A firetruck?! Like he doesn't already have a dozen of them!

Santa didn't bring a bunch with him this year (more ended up getting wrapped). Santa brought a race track, a big stationary crane, in his stocking were spiderman pajamas, 5 movies (Home Alone 1, 2 and 3, How to Train your Dragon and Mater's Tall Tales), spiderman sunglasses, candy, a gushy ball and a christmas tree cookie lollipop.

Another Tag pen and several books. Since we are learning how to read and doing fairly well at it, I figured he would enjoy this. We had a tag pen a couple years ago but I think he was too young for it then and messed it up.

Color Wonder Explosion or something like that....He is using the 3D glasses as "safety glasses" instead of what they are supposed to be used for.

When me and Robert started dating, he started getting me a Hallmark Ornament every year...some years I have gotten 2. It's a tradition that I absolutely LOVE! I look forward every year to getting my ornament. He picks it out all by himself and I don't see it until the moment that I open it. I love decorating and undecorating our tree and taking each one down, one by one and remembering when he gave it to me and what it represents.

The boots I found online and the only thing I really requested for Christmas.

Robert's new boots

I was actually really proud of myself. I was able to find these with absolutely no help at all at Lowes!

Maybe Santa should have brought Robert a crane too?.......

Naaaaa, he'll just play with Britt's!