"Bubbles"

Our little man loves bath time! We have a good feeling that he is going to be a good swimmer. He has started rolling over on his belly and kicking in the water, and I have had to stop him from putting his face in the water and blowing bubbles. There is just something about bathwater and little mouths that just don't mix. It's kind of yucky if you ask me, but I guess we can be thankful that is not covered in dirt before getting into the water.


Santa brought Mills a bath bubble machine that suctions to the wall. He loves it too. His new word is "bubble." Erik and I both agree that it is the sweetest "bubble" that we have ever heard. Of course it sounds more like "baa-bole," that's what makes it so cute. Seeing his eyes light up and his giant grin as the bubbles float down into the water is the best!

"B. Whacky Ball"

I thought I would take time out to show you one of Mills' favorite toys. His Gammy & Pops gave him this for Christmas, and its been a hit ever since. After Mills figured out how to use the hammer to "whack" the balls, instead of using his hands to push them in, he's had become a B. Whacky ball addict. It is such a neat simple toy, but one of his favs. Not to mention that its pretty too! The B. toys can be found at Target and other stores online. I have been looking around at the other B. toys, because Mills likes this one so much.

Mills in the Snow

As promised, here are a few snow pictures. This was Mills' first time to actually play in the snow. Last year, we took pictures holding him. He was only 5 or 6 months then, but since he is running now, I thought I would see how he likes it. The snow is more powdery and making a snow man would have taken forever, but he loved the snow. It was a little tough for him to walk in, being two and a half feet tall, but he trekked through it pretty well. He would walk, run, then fall and laugh.

We started early. There is not supposed to be "much of a melt" today (says the news), but the sun is out, and I can hear the snow melting and dripping from the roof. So, I opted for an early snow pic session before lunch and nap time.

He was waving at me, saying, "Heeeeeey!"

Bitter"sweetness"

I had a huge scare on Monday night. My computer went bonkers! After calling Dell and learning that my hard drive had gone bad, my heart sank. Thousands of pictures....lost in space! I had some of them backed-up, but not all of them, and was desperate for help. With a lot of prayer I tried the "system restore" option and luckily, I managed to get my laptop up and running again. It is only a matter of time before the hard dive completely crashes, so I am waiting patiently, and am using the computer until it does. So far, so good. ALL documents, pictures, and videos are safely backed up, and will be taken to the safest place I know, our bank safe. All of those pictures are the only thing we have to look back at the wonderful memories we have made. Especially, the past year and a half.
While going through and organizing every folder and picture, I found this small clip. Oh how it made me smile. I wanted to cry too! It just goes to show you the silly things a mommy will do to get her baby to smile. Mommy's hold on to your babies. In no time, they grow up! Here is Mills approximately three and a half months old.

Snow

It's Baaaaaack! It has been snowing extremely hard for about 3 hours and has not "let-up" at all. I have not yet picked up our Mills O, because he was napping when I got off work. This time. I am promising a few snow pictures. Hopefully, Mills and I will get some snow time tomorrow!

3 hours ago...



Now...

Random Saturday Night Conversation

Erik: "I'm not far out of the bed. I didn't sleep good last night."

Me: "I slept like a rock."

Erik: "I know you did. I watched you most of the night."

Me: "Bahahahahaaaaa!"

Now, I know I should not have laughed, but usually, I'm the one tossing and turning because of Erik and Joey's heavy breathing/snoring!

My Hubby Rocks!

Because, he deserves it. I'm going to give a million kudos to my E! He is feeling much better. Like new! He had to make a quick trip to Memphis this morning. He called to check on us, since Mills has been completely out of sorts and has either screamed bloody murder or slept for the past three days. We have had a very rough week with Mills. Bless his heart, he's been so worn out with running a fever of 101-103 for 2.5 days and teething on top of that. Erik asked if it "was okay" if he ran by Bass Pro. I think he thought we were going to have major meltdown and he may need to head home. Mills was asleep. I told him we were fine, just before he asked if I needed anything before he came home. Jokingly, I said, "yeah, the whole mall." Well, what do ya know, he stopped by The Limited, and did a little shopping for me before he came home. Yep! What a surprise! He bought me clothes...and they were too cute! I owe him BIG TIME!

Farewell Sweet Friends!

I have not "posted" this yet, because I was waiting on a picture. Forgetting the camera is not a good thing, so I am "borrowing" this one.

Some friends and I said farewell to our sweet Kendra, who just moved to the land of palm trees, the ocean breeze, and warm, sunny weather. The Sunshine State, Florida, just gained a true gem. She and Donald, and their sweet babies will truly be missed. Kendra's shoes could never be filled in as much as she has done for our church, our social lives, and our friendships. It is already so odd, walking in Sunday school and seeing their empty spots. E, threatened to take DP's seat as soon as he left. "I've got dibs on Donald's spot!" he said. Well, last week, he just couldn't do it! So, Donald, Kendra, your spots are waiting on you to come home and visit! I'm thinking a trip to Florida sounds awfully nice right now. Weather in the teens is NOT my thing!

17 months!

Finally eating after your weak appetitie from being sick. Mommy fixed your favorite breakfast and you ate like a champ!

In just one month, Mills O, you will be 1.5 years old! Wow, I could just swear that we celebrated your first birthday yesterday! You didn't have a very good 17 month "birthday" as you are still very ill and fatigued from the illness that you've had this week. Getting you to eat and drink, and cooperate has been a chore this week, and you can't seem to get back to normal. You are still learning and doing new things every day. Here is what you're up to now.

• you love the alphabet. If you see words or letters, you immediately start pointing and saying random letters. They aren't correct, of course, but you do know that a letter is a letter. I think your bath tub letters, your alphabet puzzle, and Mimi June singing the abc's all day has helped you out on this, and I am glad. As a matter of fact, when you wake in the morning, we hear you saying your letters and have even said your abc's in order from A to G (skipping F) and then continuing with I and so on. Wow!
• You like to say the number three
• Your favorite little game now is, "Ready.......GO!" You love saying it over and over as you throw one arm in the air when you say "GO," and your daddy and you have made a game of it. I catch the two of you in the floor as your daddy sits, and you take of running toward him, knocking him over after he says, "ready," and you say "go!"
• You have started the pointing game and asking me to name EVERY THING! You say, "Dat?" "Dat?" "Dat?"
• You are crawling on to everything. I turned around to get your cup of the fridge and there you are sitting on the coffee table watching the tv. How did you do that so quickly?
• Everything we ask you, you still shake your head no. I can ask you if you want a cookie and you still shake your head no and then reach for it. We are working on "no ma'am, and no, sir" and please and thank you. These are pet peeves of mine and I am a stickler for saying ma'am and sir after no! So, we'll keep repeating until you get it. I'm sure you will in no time :)
• You love to close the garage door for mommy as we are going in to the house. You love pushing buttons!
• You are down to one nap a day now, but this week, has been a different story. You are wanting to sleep a lot since you've been sick.
• You love Handy Manny and your new Handy Manny tool box. You are a pro at taking the tools out and putting them back in their correct spots. You clap for yourself!
• Things I've caught you doing: Getting in to mommy's purse for her keys and taking them to the back door to stick in the door knob. You are very observant. You try to feed Joey by getting his food scoop and "acting" like you are putting food in his bowl. You like the broom and have tried to sweep the floor, and you love brushing your own hair and teeth...before I chip in to help you.

Sick Bug, Stay Away!

Where have I been? We've had snow, and yet, I have NO pictures. What mother wouldn't take her little boy out in the snow and take dozens of pictures? This one! Oh, but I wanted to!

Snow has been the last thing on my mind since yesterday. Mills has been extremely sick. Yesterday, Mimi called me to let me know that he had started feeling bad, and that he was "warm." I was on my way to get him anyway, and when I arrived, I could look at him and see his little sick eyes. He was eating his snack and drinking his juice, but appeared to be having a little bit of trouble breathing. His respiration appeared to be a bit labored and he was pretty much "listless." I began to get worried. I know my baby boy, and he needed to be seen by a doctor. I didn't want to wait until today. Sound panicky? Well, if you would have seen him, you would have too. I was not too worried, because Mills' pediatric office has an after hours clinic. I called only to find out that they were closed due to the snow. Erik suggested taking him down to the LeBonheur urgent care. I called them, and they were open until 9pm, so, off we went. Mills' sweet daddy met us there from work and helped me. After getting there, his oxygen level, temp, and respiration were checked. Then it was recommended that a chest x-ray be taken. The doctor we saw explained that the reading was only preliminary and that the x-ray would be sent to the radiology dept. at LeBonheur for diagnosis, she then said that she was going to call it "borderline" pneumonia. He was given an antibiotic and were told to take him to his regular pediatrician today.

Mills slept pretty well last night. I wasn't worried about missing work today, because Erik would be home to take care of Mills. I was ready for work at 6:45am. The phone rang. I saw that it was Erik, and I figured that he was calling to check on Mills and to tell me that he was on his way. He then began to tell me that he was sick with fever and chills and that I needed to take off work. There was no way he would be able to take care of Mills when he could barely lift his head off of his pillow. So, I made the call, and have been here with two very sick boys today. I made an appointment with Dr. O for Mills at 12:30. After Mills' lunch, we headed down so that he could listen to Mills and check him out. Of course, my little sick man was running about like he felt fine, and did a perfect demonstration of what resembled a football player running through tires for Julie, Dr. O's nurse. I guess he was in his "high spot" of the day. Dr. O had not yet reviewed Mills' x-ray, because the Methodist system was "slow at posting." I could tell when we were there that he had a look of skepticism on his face, but he told me that he thought his chest sounded fine, and to continue with the antibiotic, and Tylenol or Motrin.

After bringing him home for a nap, he did not rest well, and began to run more fever. I received a call from Dr. O and Julie, telling me that the x-ray and radiology report from LeBonheur was normal and that Mills did NOT have pneumonia, nor "borderline" pneumonia. "We're pretty sure it's the flu," they said. So, here we are! I held him, got him down for dinner, and he cried the whole time. He did NOT want me to put him down. I fed him, gave him his bath, and while dressing him, he began to smile and repeat his new favorite saying, "ready-go!" He was trying to feel better! I went ahead and put him down for bed and now, every one is sleeping soundly. Gammy will be "baby sitting" the boys tomorrow as I see my patients. Thank goodness!!! I want this dreadful sick bug to GO AWAY.

It's what Blogging is All About...Right?

And since we are beginning a new year, I feel like we can finally sit back, relax, and start all over again. During the holidays, from Thanksgiving to New Years, I feel like our lives, houses, and schedules are all in disarray, and there's no way to catch up.

This week, I start back to work on a regular schedule. Mills also starts his new year at Mimi's house from Monday to Thursday, and so things will quickly be back in order. My weekly routines will slowly, but surely be back in order, and maybe, just maybe, I can get back to normal. It all starts with the removal of all decorations, cleaning, and putting all of our "new" things where they belong. As you read in my previous post, that all started on Thursday. I know it may sound crazy, but I actually looked forward to going back to work today to begin a new year. For me it was a "clearance" of being able to get back to normal. No odd days off, no worrying about who is keeping Mills on those weird days, and knowing that my Thursday afternoon cleanings will resume. I always try to do cleaning on my half-day Thursdays before we pick up Mills, because I want to spend the weekend enjoying the family. I have learned to let my house "go" to a certain extent, but in all honesty, it still drives me insane to see spotty hardwood floors that are in need of mopping, and dust on the furniture. Having an 80lb. fur-ball in the house doesn't help either.

We have been "slacking" on strict bedtimes for the past two weeks, because I haven't had to get up, get ready, or wake Mills to throw clothes on him and get him to Mimi's. Although, he doesn't last past 8:30pm, it is still later than his normal 7:30. He has been sleeping until 7:30 or 8:00am, so getting him up at 6:30ish this morning was a "wake up call" (no pun intended) for him. In the past three weeks. We have learned that Mills is steadily weaning himself out of the morning nap. This has taken some adjustment with our daily routine and meal schedule and so we are still learning each and every day.

I couldn't wait to pick Mills up this afternoon, and we have had an excellent evening. Starting with dinner, our little man ate like a champ, and we topped the night off with TONS of playtime upstairs. He is getting to be quite the little pro at taking his tools in and out of his new Handy Manny dancing tool box. He practices taking them out, and putting them back in where they belong. Then, he claps for himself. I let time get away from me tonight, as we were having so much fun, but bath time with Bible songs arrived, followed by the reading of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, and The Napping House, and then, Mills walked to his crib, tugged on his bumper as a sign of wanting to go "nigh nigh." How easy is that?

Now, I am actually sitting down, watching TV (I NEVER have a "my show" to watch anymore, but the Bachelor starts tonight! guilty addiction), and waiting on bedtime. It has been a great back to normal day!

Happy New Year

What a wonderful year it has been for us! Despite floods, extreme weather, and the other tragedies brought on by 2010, we escaped all of them and are thankful that God has been faithful to us in all circumstances.

Mills surpassed all of those wonderful milestones that we were so anxiously awaiting, and it is so awesome to watch him grow into a happy smiling little boy. It is bittersweet, but we are happy that he is healthy and running around all over the place.

The highlights of 2010: Mills first word, crawling, going from crawling to running, first tooth, his first birthday, our first "family" vacation, his very first celebrations of Easter and the Fourth of July, etc. Mills went "tubing" for the first time this year, despite the fact that he absolutely hated his life vest, but we'll try again next year. Erik and I welcomed our very first Mother's and Father's Days, and last but not least, finding out that Mills' hydronephrosis is GONE!

We welcome 2011 with open arms and still, we ask for your prayers each day as we continue to be Godly parents. May this year bring happiness to you and yours!