Magical Moment

Five years ago today, Michael and I flew down to Florida for our week long vacation to Disney. The night we arrived, Michael and I went to the Magic Kingdom to begin our vacation with Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain (some of our favorites!) When we first go to the park, Michael wanted to take some pictures of the castle. I just wanted to get on a ride!

After much convincing we went off to the side of the castle that had a good spot for pictures. I took a picture, and when I turned around Michael had a ring out! Of course I said yes!

Love you babe! Here's to many more happy years together as a family, and of course, trips to Disney!

Germ X Anyone?

It's time I come clean. I am somewhat of a germ freak. Before I had Patrick, I was not that bad. Of course, working with little kids I constantly washed my hands and try to Lysol the class computers and doorknobs as much as possible. Now that Patrick is here, I am ten times worse.

I HATE it when other people try to touch him. If they aren't a family member, they need to ASK. Even family members have to wash their hands, so when someone, who I don't know, comes up to him and tries to touch him, I get this panicked feeling and quickly move him out of their way. I try not to be rude, and I don't mean to be, but I have a very real fear of him getting sick. He hasn't had all of his shots yet, come on people!

My Mom and I went out to eat one night with Patrick. He was sitting in his car seat doing a great job all throughout dinner. He had a pacifier in his car seat just in case (I don't know why I even had it there, he won't take one!) An older gentleman came by, started to touch his cheek, pat his head and then PICKED UP HIS PACIFIER BY THE NIPPLE PART and proceeded to put it into Patrick's mouth. I immediately pulled it out and put it in the baby bag to be destroyed later. Laugh if you want, but you don't know where his hands were! I was very calm, but my mom could see my panic. She explained to the man that he actually doesn't take a pacifier and after a few minutes the man left. My Mom commented on how good I handled it (she knows how I am). I felt like I needed my inhaler.

My Mom keeps telling me he needs to be exposed to germs so he won't be so sick later. I agree, but not when he is only 3 months old! A sweet lady in our school recently experienced the passing of her 6 week old granddaughter due to bacterial meningitis. They have no idea how she contracted it. THIS IS WHY I PANICK!

I cannot begin to imagine how I would feel if he ever got sick. Even a cold, I think I would feel guilty about! Therefore, I sanitize. I don't go INSANE because I don't know what those chemicals will do to him, but I do make sure everything is at least washed in very HOT water with soap.

Am I the only one that feels like this? I kind of feel insane.

Redneck?

The time has come in our small state for the State Fair! It seems to always hit during a massive heat wave, or a week straight of storms. This year, we get the heat!

I have mixed feelings about the fair. First of all, I think it is pretty boring. There are animal showings (sheep, cows, horses, etc.), food and art competitions, cooking demonstrations, FFA exhibits and Monster Truck shows. There are some concerts, but mostly country, which I could take or leave. I am not a huge enough fan to pay $70 some a ticket. Sorry. There are some very interesting people in the crowds, God love them. You know who I am talking about too....The ones with the mullet and too short jean shorts with cowboy boots. I just feel like a giant redneck when I am out there. I am a city girl. I love the people, the noise the lights, you name it. The pens of animals and manure in the air just doesn't do it for me!

One reason I LOVE the fair...the food. There are tons of vendors, and since I was pregnant last year (although I didn't know it yet) I was in heaven. I could always go for one of these :


I am sure at one point we will go out at night and take Patrick. I do like to at least walk around and play a game or two. (Side note, Patrick will NEVER ride the rides there. They take them down and reassemble them every week, how can that be safe?) But you definitely won't catch me there EVERYDAY! Some people are fanatical about it! I guess to each his own right?

Prayers Please...

As I mentioned before, Michael's Poppop has been in the hospital since last Monday. A few days ago we received results from the first biopsy, they were negative. We were very happy to say the least. They still needed to do surgery to remove the rest of the mass and ended up removing 18 inches of his intestines (Sorry if this is TMI!). The results from that biopsy came back and unfortunately Pop has been diagnosed with Stage 3b cancer. The oncologist will be meeting sometime next week to discuss options for treatment. Pop is still pretty weak from the surgery so we will see if he can even start treatment anytime soon.

Michael's Uncle, Poppop's brother has been sick for quite sometime and unfortunately he lost his battle with cancer Tuesday night. It has been a rough few weeks for Michael and his family so please keep them in your prayers as we say goodbye to Uncle George and get Pop started on treatment.

Am I Really THAT old?

About a month ago, I received a Facebook message inviting me to a group that was planning our 10 year reunion from high school. Ahh! I cannot believe it has been that long! It feels like yesterday I graduated from college, but then I take a step back and realize that it has already been 5 years. Wow.

I have kept in touch with a few of my friends from high school, and touch base here and there thanks to Facebook. It is funny who you actually stay close with from your high school days. I remember thinking we would all be great friends forever. How times have changed!

It isn't that I am not friendly with everyone, and I love seeing everyone once in awhile, we are just in different places in our lives. I was one of the first to get married, and with Patrick, one of the first to have kids out of the group of people I hung out with. I think we just put different emphasis on things in our lives. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy going out for a drink at Happy Hour, but the thought of going out every Friday and Saturday and getting trashed just doesn't do it for me anymore! I would much rather have a drink on my couch watching Dateline on a Friday night! Pathetic to some, heaven to me after a long week of work!

Regardless, I am still excited to see everyone, or whoever decides to show up! Those that I still keep in touch with haven't changed that much. I think we all look basically the same, just a little older (I am a little fatter :) - I can still blame the baby right?!) We won't have our reunion until next year some time, so I plan on trying to get back in shape - isn't that what everyone says for their reunion? HA

Summer Lovin..

As I sit here typing this we are having an amazing summer thunderstorm. I love them - the sound of the rain, the smell of it and most of all how it cools off the day. I actually have the windows open now! (We will see how long that lasts!)

Things are still the same around here. I am enjoying every exhausting minute with my little man. I cannot get enough of his cute smile and high shrilled shrieks. He hasn't figured out how to laugh yet, instead he just shrieks very loudly! It actually makes Rocky leave the room, poor thing.

I feel like this boy goes through a thousand outfits in a day! Between him throwing up or having a leak in his diaper! This boy can have a bowel movement with the best of them, let me towel you! I am sure it will only get better when he starts solid foods - oh boy!

Today, put on a cute outfit that my Aunt sent him. I wanted to make sure I got a picture of him in it to send to her. Even though it had long pants and a cute long sleeve shirt, I had to do it today because he is growing out of his three month things. Afterwards, I took off the pants and just let him play in the onesie. Not five minutes after I took the picture he had a major blowout. At least I got the picture. I then changed him into this outfit:
I just love little sleeveless outfits. They remind me of my Dad who, I swear, had stock in sleeveless shirts.

I took this video two weeks ago. He is finally rolling over. He does it very awkwardly in this video, but now he is much better at it. He just pops his head up, leans it to one side and rolls right over!

After watching this video, I realized I have become one of those people who sound like a complete idiot when they talk to their child. I vowed I would never do that, but alas, I have failed. It is amazing what you will do to get your kid to smile or do something that you want!

Busy Summer!

I haven't posted recently because really, there isn't too much to talk about around here! Summer is flying by WAY too fast and I know that I have been enjoying every minute of it. I have gotten back into running and I feel GREAT about it. I have worked back up to 1.5 miles without stopping. Thanks to Patrick's early morning wake ups these days, I head out around 7 and am finished in about 15 minutes. He loves going with me! He just sits contently in the jogger and looks around. He is such a good baby and we are so blessed.

I have spent many days by the pool (while Patrick is napping of course) or just lounging around the house. I have started teaching another online course for this Block, so I have also spent some time on the computer grading papers and what not! What an easy summer job! I teach and don't even have to go to class....love it!

On a more serious note, I really want to start making day trips with Patrick to the zoo and to the beach but they have been put on hold for awhile. Michael's grandfather has not been feeling quite right for awhile now, and he finally went to the hospital. After some tests they found a mass, and he is currently in surgery, but the Doc already suspects it is cancer. Say a prayer for us and Michael's family.

And because I can't end on a sad note, here is a picture of my little man during tummy time this morning. I just can't get enough of him!

I hope everyone else is having a happy and safe summer!

Twilight

When we found out I was pregnant, we were both so excited. The thought of dressing up a little boy or girl and decorating their room was so exciting to me (Maybe not to Michael, but he is a guy after all!). Then I actually started to think about all of the work involved: changing diapers, feeding at all hours and maybe never going out to eat again. I figured I could deal with most of these, but the second one: feeding at all hours, terrified me. For as long as I can remember, I am one grumpy person if I don't get my sleep. Ask my parents. Or my husband. They know when I am tired simply based on my attitude. I can't help it. I am a person who values my sleep.

Flash forward to the day Patrick was born. Since April 2, 2011 I have not slept through the night once. The first few weeks I didn't think I would be able to function. I started to hope that he would just go back to sleep when I heard him on the monitor, that's how tired I was. I started to resent my husband because he slept peacefully next to me as Patrick 'talked' on the monitor.

As those first few weeks turned into months, my attitude about those night feedings began to change. It was the only time that I was absolutely alone with my little boy. During the day we were constantly seeing visitors who always wanted to hold the baby, or try to give advice, or constantly ask if he was sleeping through the night. Although this visitors all meant well, I started to resent them as well. I felt like I was only there to feed him (I felt like a cow honestly) and everyone else just voiced opinions, or acted like they knew it all and got to hold him and have 'fun' with him.

Even though I had a juggling act to perform during the day and was exhausted by the time bedtime came, I soon realized that during the night I didn't have to worry about a schedule or making sure he would be in a 'good' mood for the next visitor. I didn't have to worry about someone stealing him away as soon as I was finished nursing or giving advice or asking questions. It was just Patrick and I. I could peacefully nurse my son without looking at the clock. I remember sitting in the glider just staring at him and being amazed that this little person grew inside of me.

No matter what time it was, every time I went to pick him up from his crib, he would smile at me. I would scoop him up and carry him to the changing table and then to the glider. He would nurse for around half an hour and I would sit and just stare, stroke his head or rub his back. When he was finished, he would lay back and contently smile in his sleep as I gently laid him back in the crib. Even though I knew he would be up again in probably an hour, I would spend at least five minutes just watching him.

Patrick still gets up around 3 in the morning for a midnight snack, and instead of dreading it, I actually look forward to it. He still gives me that smile when I walk in and is as happy to see me as I am to see him. I still feel like this time allows me to be the mother I want to be, if that makes sense. No one is rushing to steal him away from me, or asking about him sleeping or trying to give advice about maybe giving formula so he sleeps longer. I am simply content to nurse and spend some time with my son.

Am I still exhausted, yes, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Even though he will not remember this time when he is older, I know I will and I will forever be grateful for our quiet time together during those twilight hours before the rest of the world is awake.

Happy Fourth!

My how this summer has flown! I guess not working in the summer makes them even shorter. Now that the craziness of moving out of our house is over, we have been lounging around, enjoying our first summer as parents. We have some plans for the coming weeks including visiting the zoo. Yes, he is too young to know what is going on, but I will take plenty of pictures to remind him (and probably video too!)

I want to take this time to wish everyone a happy and SAFE fourth of July. As you celebrate with your families please take the time to remember those soldiers who are still away fighting for our freedom so everyone can celebrate back home. I know our family will be thinking of those who are still away and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. I thank God that my husband returned safely from Iraq and dread the day he has to leave again. He is absolutely my hero.

3 Months

Oh my how time flies! My little munchkin is three months old today. I can't believe it! He celebrated by waking up to nurse every two hours, how nice of him! Patrick is growing so much every week and I still can't believe that he grew inside of me. How amazing is that?!

Dear Patrick,

You are an absolutely amazing little boy. You continue to grow and amaze us every single day. This month was full of firsts. You slept through the night, from 10 until around 5am. Of course this hasn't happened every night, but you are sleeping very good. We moved out of your first house, you got your first pair of sunglasses, you went in the pool for the first time and loved every minute of it!

You are still nursing (I don't know if I am more proud of you or me for this feat!) about every two to three hours during the day, and you go about four to five hours at night. You are getting so big, I hope I can keep up with you before we introduce solids next month some time!

You are sleeping very well. You go down around 9 or 9:30 and sleep until 3:30 or a little later. You nurse and then go right back to sleep until 6 or 7. You are then wide awake and ready for the day! You still take two to three naps during the day, but they aren't as long as they use to be. You can sleep anywhere from an hour or two, but normally not more than that.

You have grown to absolutely love you jumper. You can spend hours in there if I let you probably. When you are held, all you want to do is stand. Your legs are really getting a work out! You still love your playmate and enjoy tummy time. You are pushing up more and more and are ALMOST rolling over. You have your hips there, but can't quite get your arms to work at the same time. I think it's only a matter of days before you figure this out though. You still aren't much for toys, but you do like this one little piano that plays music and lights up. You love lights and will stare whenever you see one, or a ceiling fan for that matter!

We don't have a Doctor's appointment this month so I am not positive how much you weigh or how long. Your Daddy and I did the best we could and our guess is you weigh around 13 pounds and are about 23 1/2 inches long. What a growing boy! You are still in size 1 diapers and in some 0-3 month clothing and some 3-6 month, depends on the brand! I am sure in another week you will be in all 3-6 months though!

Patrick, your Dad and I are so happy that you are in our lives. You are an amazing little boy and such a good baby. We couldn't ask for a more perfect blessing! I can't wait to see what you do this month!

Love,
Mommy

All Moved Out AND In!

Well, we are officially out of our first house. It was very bittersweet. I have to say, I have no idea how my husband did it all in almost three short days. I packed boxes, but he moved ALL of our furniture out and organized where everything was going to be stored. He is absolutely amazing, that's for sure. There is no way I would have been able to do it without him.

Sunday night was our last night in our house, and we were officially out yesterday. It was only fitting that we closed one chapter of our life, and opened another on our anniversary. Yesterday, Michael and I celebrated 4 years of marriage. It seems like yesterday we were saying our vows and then counting down the hours until our honeymoon. We went from a young couple who always had fun together and planned for the future together, to a little bit older couple (BUT STILL YOUNG) with an amazing baby and still waiting to see what the future holds.

Next week we will meet with our construction company to finalize our floor plan and start picking out things. How exciting! For now, we are settling in to my Mom and Pop's house and enjoying our summer and the pool.