Preacher Pa

I must have been 5 years old when I went on my first "date."  I remember feeling like a princess.  Riding on the metro train and then being taken into the big city of Atlanta.  I remember sitting on a high bench at a bar in a restuarant and having a strawberry sundae.  And I remember feeling loved. 

I remember putting my toes on the edge of the diving board and being so scared to jump in.  Almost jumping, and then backing away.  I remember him catching me when I did finally jump and being so proud of me for having been so brave. 

I remember going to visit he and my grandmother in their home and wondering if he could see our car as we turned into Lake Junaluska assembly from the front porch of their home, where I knew he was sitting in his rocking chair waiting for me. 

I remember how he smelled like Old Spice and mouthwash, how he would wink at me as he crossed the room, how when he talked, the sides of his mouth never parted, and how he loved my grandmother. 

I called him Preacher Pa, but as a little girl, I would say "Pepa."  My Preacher Pa, Art O'Neil, Jr., was one of the greatest men I will ever know.  He had strong hands, kind eyes, and one of the sweetest voices I've ever heard.  As a child, I would visit him at Simpsonwood, and I felt as close to a princess as a girl can feel.  He had a picture of me on his desk (or was it a bookshelf?) and I knew that I was special.  I've always known that I was special to him, I've always known that he was proud of me, and I've always known that he loves me.  Always.  How does someone get so lucky to have that sort of influence on their life? 

On June 24, 2011, I gave birth to my sweet Sallie.  I knew it was coming because we had scheduled a c-section, so the morning of, I styled my hair, put on my makeup and jewelry, boxed up my homemade cupcakes (for the nurses) and headed to the hospital.  We were there at 6:00 in the morning, and by 9am, I was holding her in my arms.  I had given life to a person.  I had delivered a person into this world.  I had (my body had) created this tiny human being then after months of growing and nurturing and loving, she was born.  She had been created.  As I held her there in the hospital, I knew without a doubt that God had been in charge of this little life since before she was even conceived. 

Less than 2 months later, my sweet Preacher Pa, decided to stop his treatments for Kidney Disease.  I witnessed his body becoming more frail and when my big strong grandfather had to have help into and out of bed every day, I knew that it was time.  I watched as he prepared for the coming weeks.  I was there when he made his funeral arrangements and chose which hospice company would come and what he wanted to be done with his body.  Like me, preparing for my c-section, he was preparing for a birth also.   The hospital bed was brought in, candles were lit, his favorite hymns were being played, and  friends and family were coming by.  Within just a couple of days he began to whisp away.  He began to sleep longer and longer and on August 30, he fell into such a hard sleep that he couldn't be awaken.  I was there that evening.  I didn't want to leave my grandmother.  My dad had just left to take Nathan home and I was nursing Sallie.  I remember my grandmother sitting by his bedside and whispering in his ear.  Directly, she stood up and went to the door and when she came back to his bed, it was noticeably more quiet.  His snoring had softened and was becoming more shallow.  I'll never forget her saying, "Y'all come here, I think he's dying..."  and as we all stood around him - my grandmother; my cousin, Rachel; my uncle; my mom and I holding Sallie, his spirit left his body.  After all the years of growing and nurturing and loving - he was born!   He had been created into the spirit of God.   As I stood there at the hospital bed of one of my favorite people, I knew without a doubt that God had been in charge of his life and had been in charge of his death and that my Preacher Pa was in heaven. 

Better late than never!

Tonight, after I kissed Nathan goodnight, I went into Sallie's room and turned on her sound machine.  When I came back into the living room, she was holding her "mongy", pointing at the rocking chair and swaying back and forth.  She's never done this before, but I knew that she wanted to rock.  So, I rocked my baby.  I rocked and rocked and rocked.  And I soaked in the smell of her and the feel of the warmth of her sweet little body and I drank in the blessing that she is to me.  As I was holding her, she was sucking on those sweet little fingers and with her eyes closed, leaned her forehead into my lips over and over again as if she were saying, "kiss me, mama."  I melt.  This is my motherhood.  I'm not a good blogger, but tonight I realized that I've GOT to get some of this stuff down before it slips away and I forget it all...

Sallie,
You are al-most 15 months old.  You are so sweet and you have so much personality!  You can say, "Juice/Shoes (they sound the same!), Dada, Bigda, and basketball (biggle-biggle-ball).  You do a LOT of pointing and grunting, but it works for you!  You make sure we alllllll know what you want and in a way, I sort of like it.  It's honing our skills at being able to read each other's minds.  :)  You can run and you are beginning to climb, you know where your eyes, nose, mouth, hair and belly is.  You are the BEST sleeper!  You recently fell from the highchair at Memaw's (my first trip to the Emergency Room!).  You bit through your bottom lip and pushed your top left tooth into the gum, but it didn't fall out!  We are hoping that it will continue to straighten itself out as it slowly moves back into position.  I think this shows a) that you don't have quite as good of balance as your brother and b) that you are going to be a very active little girl!   You squeal at the top of your lungs with laughter when you see an animal - any kind!  It's so sweet.  And you loooooooove your daddy and your brother.  You give sweet hugs and kisses by leaning over and saying "uh-uh".  You don't like for Nathan to get into trouble and you try to do everything that he does!  It's such a sweet and precious relationship that y'all have!  You won't remember and I hope I'll never forget how in the morning when we first wake you up, he always says, "Good morning, sweet princess!"  :)  This is the greatest joy of my life, right now!  It reminds me of when he first saw you in the hospital.  When he first came in, I was holding you and he climbed into bed with us and touched you and looked sweetly at you.  But then, several minutes later, someone had placed you in the bassinet and you'd begun to cry.  Memaw was holding Nathan and was standing next to the bassinet and he said, "It's okay, Sallie!  Don't cry, I'm your brother and I'll protect you!"  And he will, he will love you and protect you all of your life.  I'm so thankful for the two of you!

Nathan,
You just turned FOUR!  I can NOT believe that it's already been 4 years since you were born!  You are so big and grown up and smart and sweet and strong.  I just sometimes wonder how in the world it's even possible for you to be mine!  I'm not (first of all, old enough ;) ) and second of all, smart enough to have risen such an amazing little person!  You are going to school at First Methodist 5 days a week with Miss Karen Moon and your friends are Luke Hice, Cade McKnight, Griffin Conoly, Kate Sears, Kathryn Ross Pass, Addy Welden, etc.  The teachers always have the nicest things to say about you and they all think you are so smart and well-mannered!  You have such a strong love for your family, for Preacher Pa (who passed away a year ago) and Meme, for our house ("We have a fun little house.  Don't we, Mama?"), for Sallie (you'll stop your bike when you're riding just to come give her a hug), for Mason (sometimes we won't have seen him for weeks and you'll say, "I'm glad I have a brother."), for sports (ALL sports), and for God ("What does God's mommy look like?")  You do test us and are not a very good sleeper and you do like to get your way and you are VERY active, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I never knew what life with a boy would be like and I'm surprised at how much differently it was than I expected.  I love you so much, sweet boy.  You are my favorite little boy in the whole world and I'm so grateful that you are mine.  I hope you will always know how much you are loved and how wonderful I think you are. 

Love my sweet, sweet babies... 

Sweet Sallie

Dear Sweet Sallie,
I want you to know how much we love you. I haven't been able to blog as much with this pregnancy, but you are loved and thought of so much! Currently, I am 37 weeks pregnant and couldn't be more excited to finally get to meet my baby girl. This pregnancy has been fairly uneventful. Feeling you moving and squirming inside of me is the most wonderful part. I love you so much, sweet girl, and can't wait to hold you in my arms.
I have always known that one day I would have a daughter. I have dreamed of bows, lace, tea parties, dresses, sparkles, pink and pedicures. I know what you will look like because I have seen you in my dreams and in my wishes. I love how close I am to my own mother, grandmother and sisters and I am excited to introduce you to this circle of women who mean so much to me. I am so excited to get to experience you taking dance, wearing your first mascara, and having your first boyfriend. I can't wait to meet you, my little princess.
Your daddy can't wait either! He doesn't have any idea how tightly wrapped around your little finger he is going to be. The other day, I came home from work and had a vision of him with his toenails painted and his hair in little rubberbands. He needs a little girl to soften him up. He will take you on dates and show you how a lady is supposed to be treated. I can't wait to see him watching you at your recitals and fixing your hair. He is going to be such a great daddy to you.
Your brothers are excited, too! Nathan talks about you all the time! He tells me almost everyday that he thinks it's time for me to go to the hospital. :) I think he is going to be an excellent big brother. You are only going to be 3 years apart which means that I will have to watch his friends and make sure they aren't hitting on you (and also watch your friends to make sure they aren't liking Nathan!). He is going to be such a big helper! I think you are going to be best friends and I am thankful that you will always have someone to protect you. Mason likes to watch you moving in my stomach and asks lots of questions about how you are able to eat and how you are going to come out. I think he, too, will be a good big brother to you and will enjoy having a little sister.
You are loved by so many already. We can't wait to kiss you on your sweet little cheeks and to give you lots of hugs. I can't wait to watch you grow and learn. You are so special to our family and your being here completes us. My babies are all here and your dad and I can relish in knowing that our family is finally whole.
Our plan (and I'm interested to see the twists and turns that this 'plan' takes) is that your dad will come home on Wed, June 22, which is also my last day of work. On Thursday night, your Memaw and Big Daddy will keep your brother and early Friday morning, June 24, we will go to the hospital to have you via c-section. I am hopeful that by 9:30 you will be in our arms and we can begin getting to know you in the outside world. We are so excited that we could burst. We love you so much and are so ready for your arrival! Love everything about you, my sweet.

Mommy

As of late

Oh my, it's been so long since I've blogged! I am finding that life with a 2 year old is very busy! Trying to work, keep house and take care of my favorite little person is keeping me on my toes! And to top it all off, we found out recently that Nathan's going to be a...





Yay! We are SO excited! We went to a 3d ultrasound place (the same one we used with Nathan) on January 12 to find out what we are having. I just knew it was going to be another boy. I long ago gave up the dream of having a girl since we had 2 boys, I felt like that's probably what was destined for us. I know lots of people who have 3 or more boys and I assumed that my life would be like theirs.

However..... they told us that we are having a GIRL!!! We are elated, to say the least. I can finally start buying pink and purple! The other day I sat down in my chair and realized that I was sitting on an army man, then I looked over and saw the pirate ship on the table and the tonka truck on the floor. Though I love these toys, I can't wait to start buying barbies and baby dolls and a little toy kitchen!

Nathan is going to be such a great big brother. He already talks about "baby sister" all the time. When he first found out that I have a baby in my belly, he went to Miss Ana's house and told her that he was sick. She asked him what hurt and he said his tummy and so when she asked him why his tummy hurt, he said, "Because there's a baby in there!" lol. He often will walk into a room with his hands cupped together and when we ask him what he's doing he says that he's carrying around his baby sister. It's so precious! He doesn't like to talk about me being her mommy, too, but I'm sure that's an adjustment that will come with time. My hope is that if we talk about her enough, that once she gets here it will just be putting a face with the name.

I am feeling fabulous at almost 20 weeks. This pregnancy is so much different from my last. I was pretty sick the first trimester this time around, and wasn't at all with Nathan. Not physically sick, necessarily, but lots of dry heaving and food aversions. Also, I think I was already pretty swollen at this point and so far, I'm doing really well in that regard. In fact, my doctors have told me that I'm not gaining very much weight this time and that so far I am an example of a "perfect pregnancy". lol. Now that I'm well into the 2nd trimester, I'm feeling great! Sometimes I even forget that I'm pregnant. Just in the last week or two I've started feeling little kicks and pushes. She's an active little one! I can't wait to be able to feel her from the outside, too, and to push on her little heels, like I did with Nathan.

It didn't take us long to decide on a name. We are going to name her Sara Alice (after me, but more importantly, after my Aunt "Me" and of Jason's grandmother Alice. We are most likely going to call her by her double name, but also will call her "Sallie" for short. Sallie is short for Sara and is what the original Sara in our family (my great-great grandmother) went by.

Today I'm off so Nathan and I are fixing to brave the snow and try to make it to the grocery store. We are out of everything or I wouldn't try to get out today. Anyway, he's getting restless so I probably need to start getting him ready. I will try to update more often from now on!

Our life with you at 21 months

Dear Nathan,
You have just turned 21 months old and you think you are 3. You are already so wise and mature. We love you so much! It's hard to imagine what our life was like before you became apart of it. You fit into our family perfectly and we are so glad that you're here!
You have already started turning flips on the floor. You climb on everything. Ev.ry.thing! You love to jump, but you count backwards. "Two...One...." :) You love to read books and we do so alot. Especially at night before we go to bed. One of your favorites is "Where the Wild Things Are." You say, "Max, max" as we turn the pages. You also love to read "Good Night Moon." This is my favorite book to read with you because you are precious as we read it. You say, "moon.... cow...." and when the quiet old lady whispers hush, you put your finger beside your nose and make a noise in the back of your throat like you're saying hush with a stopped up nose. Then, when we get to the page where the kittens are by themselves, you pull the book from me and give them kisses and you always feed me mush like you are pretending that we can really eat it off the page. I think this means that you have an imagination and that makes me excited that as you get bigger we'll be able to play pretend more and more.
You enjoy school and are always willing to get out of the car with the teachers that come to get you. Almost every day as they are unbuckling your carseat, you point at me and say to them, "mommy..." As if you are letting them know that I'm your Mommy. And I am indeed that. My most favorite job in the world.
You love to "guys" which means go outside. And we spend alot of time on the playground that your Papa built. You love to walk up his ramp and down his stairs over and over again. When we let Sadie out of her pen, you blow air out of your lips as if you are trying to whistle. It's adorable. You are a big helper and are willing to help me do ANYTHING. You love to water flowers and sweep and wash dishes. Oh boy, do you love to wash dishes. One of your favorite things to do at Memaw and Big Daddy's is to push a chair up to the sink and play in the water. Today, in fact, we came into the kitchen to find you actually in the sink!
You love your daddy and try to emmulate him all the time. When he spits on the ground, you lean over and make a kissing noise just like him. You are his little buddy and I hope that you will be just like him.
You do like to have your way, though, and sometimes you pitch little temper tantrums to try to get what you want. We don't like to spank, but time out doesn't work at all. Maybe this just shows that you are going to be tough and be a leader. You couldn't be more perfect to us. We are so proud of you and we love you so much. We can't wait to watch you become the Nathan James Dewberry that you are meant to be.
Love,
Mommy

This may take awhile...

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I last wrote. I don't know how I ever expected to be able to keep up with a toddler and a blog at the same time. So much has happened since September, I don't know where to start! :)

Let me see if I can try to back it up a few months...

We didn't do much for Halloween. Our downtown Newnan does a great trick-or-treat for the children on Halloween, but this year it rained. Nathan was so cute in his little monkey outfit that Aunt Kiki had bought him. I thought that if we drove through, we might get out and stand in the rain, but after I saw the lines of people wrapped around the buildings, I decided against it. He didn't seem to know the difference so that's good. But, I've arleady started trying to think of cute outfits for him for this year.

We had a very busy Thanskgiving. It's almost overwhelming because we have to see my family, Jason's mom, Jason's dad, our grandparents, etc.... I told him that maybe next year we could go to the beach with just our family and do it there so we didn't have to run around all week. But, then I think I would miss it, you know? And I'm sure that no one will be able to let us take the kids with us! :)

Christmas was about the same. Although, this year was fun because everyone in my immediate family swapped names at Thanksgiving and then we set a $100 limit. I drew Meme's name and Jason drew my mom's. It was so much fun! I really liked doing it this way, so that you only had to focus on one person instead of everybody. And, then we were "surprised" to find out who had our names! It was fun, too, to be able to see what people thought you wanted. Rebecca had drawn my name so she came in on Christmas day with a a huge bag and made it look like it was heavy. Silly girl, she had packed it full of little things that were holding various gift cards. SO cute! I love gift cards, so i was super duper excited! Chris drew Jason's name and he got him a gift card to Dick's and a ton of dvd's of some of Jason's favorite shows. He's realy appreciated those on his trips! And of course, everyone bought for Nathan. He really racked up this year!

It was so cute, because of course he didn't have any idea what was going on. I mean, he did look at us like we were lunatics when we were bringing the tree inside and every strand of lights he saw, he would point at and talk about. Then, on Christmas Eve night, we told him that "Santa Clause was coming tonight..." and even though, he didn't know really what that meant, he still didn't sleep good! Can you believe that? His favorite gift that Santa brought him was his cozy coupe. When I carried him into the living room that morning and he saw that car sitting there, his little heart started beating and he started kicking his legs..... I don't think he's come out of it since! He l-o-v-e-s it. Maybe this spring we will take it outside to play with, but right now it's bringing us lots of entertainment inside. Christmas with him was so much fun! It's only going to get better and better!

This picture is of Nathan with his friends Tuff Hudson, Karson Coley, and Benjamin Edge. He stays with them at Ana Edge's house when he's not at the First Methodist Church preschool. We love her and are so happy with how this is working out. These boys are all so sweet and I'm glad that he has such nice friends!

But, then we had a couple of sad weeks...

We were supposed to get Mason on the day after Christmas and keep him for a week until after New Year's, but that afternoon as Jason was getting ready to go meet Mason's mom, she called him and told him that Mason was pitching a fit and did NOT want to come to Newnan. :( We were so disappointed. We had planned to have a special dinner for him when he got here and to give him all the cool gifts that we had gotten him. It really put a damper on our Christmas. Jason and I struggled with what we should do, but we finally decided that he needed to be with us during the Holidays. I've tried so hard to help him feel apart of this family and we wanted him to know that we really wanted him to be here, so Jason set it up for us to pick him up on New Year's eve and keep him for a long weekend.

That morning, though, as I was getting ready to pick up Mom so we could go get Mason, I learned that my sweet Papa had suffered a major heart attack the night before and was in a medically-induced coma at Piedmont in Atlanta. Mom and I decided that we would go ahead with our plans to get Mason and I'm so thankful that we did. He had so much fun shooting fire crackers and being with everybody. We let him stay up to watch the ball drop and he did! I was surprised that he made it!! We love him so much and are hopeful that this was just a phase and that he will want to come see us in the future.

Papa was on a ventilator and had a balloon in his heart for several days. This was a blessing to us, because every one of his children and grand-children had the opportunity to see him in the hospital. Even if he didn't know we were there. It was interesting because as we would talk to him, his heart rate would rise and the nurse said that his sub-concious knew that it recognized the voices. They eventually began taking him off the machines one by one, hopeful that his body would be able to pick up where the machines left off. On Wednesday, they stopped his sedation medication, but Papa never woke up. Sadly, my daddy and his brothers and sisters had to make the hard decision of letting Papa go. He died on Friday morning and we had the funeral on Sunday. We all feel so blessed that we were with him for Thanksgiving and then again at Christmas. He wouldn't have wanted to suffer. He was just ready to be in Heaven with Jesus and Memaw and all of his friends and family.

Just before Thanksgiving, Papa had come in for a haircut and he only had a $20 bill. He always gave me $10 for his haircuts even though I never charged him. I didn't have change for him that day, so he said that I could just give him a free haircut next time. Well, Papa wasn't one to not get every penny's worth of what he spent. I had the opportunity to give Papa that last haircut at the funeral home just after he'd died. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I am so thankful that I was able to do it. I asked Susan to come with me since I knew that she has done it before, and I knew I would need someone with me. She was awesome. It really helped us bond, I think, to do this together.

And he looked so handsome! The funeral was exactly what he would have wanted and I could feel his presence so strong that day. My papa wasn't a perfect man, but I am so thankful for the influence he had on my life and for loving me with such a sweet heart as I became an adult. He loved Jason special and I am grateful for the opportunity they had to get to know one another.

Since then, though, we have hit the ground running. I have had the busiest January and February that I've ever seen and have even hired an "assistant." I am so proud to be at a point in my career where I am able to do this. I am considering going up on my prices and am hopeful that this won't affect things negatively for me. I am thankful everyday, especially these days, for my job and for having one that I love.

Now, onto my favorite subject in the whole world.... little baby Nathan. Except, he's not a baby anymore! He is a full-on toddler! I can't believe how big he is and how fast he's grown. We are walking, running, climbing, jumping, and spinning in circles. He talks all.the.time. and is saying probably 100+ words that we can understand. His first sentance was "I get it!" He knows all of his body parts and can tell you the animal sounds of a dog, cat, bird and snake. He loves the moon and airplanes. He's clearly his father's son, because he's into trucks of all kinds. He eats all day long and is very healthy. He loves to be tickled and to give kisses. He waves (and says) bye-bye when we are leaving something (even the bathtub) and blows kisses on command. His Papa built him a swing set in our back yard that we play on all the time, but his favorite thing is playing with stuff in Papa's barn. Even just walking the ramp gives him such joy! We do time-out when we have to, and every once in a while, he gets a pop to help him snap out of it. He is a toddler, after all, and with that comes temper tantrums. Although, for the most part, that's only when he's tired or not feeling well. We are working on Please and Thank you. I am hopeful that he will be a respectful child with good manners. He doesn't like his stroller - he wants to be "down, down." And he came name everyone in our family. Just recently, he said "Big-da" to my Daddy and I could tell how proud that made my dad. It's so sweet to hear him say your name, although sometimes when he says it over and over and over - I have to remind myself that one day I will miss that sweet little voice calling my name, instead of being annoyed by it. He will be 18 months old on the 5th and this just blows my mind.

We are hoping that in the next few months we will be able to start adding onto our house. Things may finally be falling into place for us. We are hoping to add 3 bedrooms and another bath so that we will offically have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. We will make our current bedroom a living room. It will be so nice to be able to spread out and to finally have some privacy from each other. I'm hoping that this will be a good time to move Nathan from his crib into a big boy bed. We are planning to have two single beds in his room for he and Mason and then to reserve the 3rd bedroom for our next. :) Maybe we'll work on that this summer as well.

I am so happy with the way my life is turning out. I am madly in love with my husband and am more thankful, every day, for our children. I love my job and our home and I can't wait to see what else my Jesus has in store for me. I can't imagine that it could get much better than this...

shoe?

Well, after finishing my post the other day, Nathan has finally spoken his first "real" word. He has been saying, "mama, dada, papa" but not always directly to the right person. Often, he will walk around saying, "mamamamama" but, not to me or about me. This time, he walked right over to his little shoe, brought it over to me and said, "Shoe?" I could not belive it! Then, he preceded to try to put it on his little foot. Of course, it didn't sound exactly like shoe, more like, "bew?" But, I knew what he meant and it was the first time that I've noticed him associating what he's saying with the actual object. So, since then, because I praised him so much for it, he's been saying it a LOT. In fact, he might be starting to have a little infatuation with shoes. He likes to wear them all the time, or wear our shoes or help us put our's on. It's the cutest thing in the world! The other day, he brought me a sock and said, "shoe?" and I said "no, sock." But, he was trying to put it on his foot, so I went ahead and helped him with it. Not very long after that, he began to get fussy, so I laid him down for a nap and we he woke up he still had that little sock on his one foot. It was so adorable. I can't wait for him to start saying more so I can see what's going on in that little head of his...

More birthday celebration

September is a HUGE birthday month for us. We have Nathan and Jason (of course) and then, Christy, Chris, Papa, Greg, Susan and Howard. So, last weekend, Rebecca and Chris came home (finally! Since they were being quarantined in Milledgeville for Becca having the swine flu) so we could celebrate September birthdays. We had steaks on Friday with everyone and then, Saturday my gift to them was to make supper which was country fried steak and gravy, homemade mashed potatoes, lima beans, biscuits and homemade strawberry cake (jason's favorite). I LOVE to cook like that! Daddy said that he felt like he was eating with Memaw. :) He could not have said anything sweeter.

I can not believe that Christy is 16! It just blows my mind that she's old enough to drive all by herself. It makes me feel very, very old. She looks so cute in her new car and I'm so proud of her! She drove us back from Troy the other day when we went to take Mason to meet his mom. I was so comfortable with her driving that I even took a little nap.

The past several nights have been hard on us. Nathan hasn't been sleeping very much and not napping, either. He's eating well and pooping regular, but he's been holding his mouth sort of funny and drooling a TON. Last night Jason and I were playing with him on our bed and he was laughing with his mouth open. I noticed two small white patches on his tongue. :( I'm hoping it's not thrush or something even more serious. I will feel so bad for not noticing it sooner. We have an appointment at the Doctor this morning.

He's learned how to climb onto the sofa and is now wanting to climb onto the arms of the sofa! He LOVES to be outside and has started throwing little hissy fits if you even open the door and not let him go outside. Papa has built him the greatest swing set and Nathan's really enjoying it. He and I were in our bathroom the other day and I stepped out to grab something from the bedroom, when I came back, he had climbed onto the trashcan, onto the toilet and was reaching for the windowsill. Uh-oh! Next thing I know he's going to be on top of the refrigerator! He eats almost everything we put in front of him, but has lately started throwing his food off of his tray when he's finished which his Dad and I HATE. He loves other children and is enjoying going to school at First Methodist. He still sucks his thumb and would carry those darn blankets around with him all day long if I'd let him. We are trying to not let him do that. He (usually) will go to bed around 8 and sleep until 7:30. He (usually) takes about a 2 hour nap around 1:00. He's not really talking yet. He's said a word or two here or there, but not enough to really count, I think. I can't wait for that! It will be fun to hear what goes on in that little head of his. :) Anyway, I could go on and on. We just love him so much and are so proud of him. I'll let y'all know when we get home how the Doctor's appointment goes...

Happy Birthday, Honey!

After I blogged and went to bed last night I realized that I didn't even blog about it being one of the most important days on our calendar!

My hubby turned 28 yesterday! Happy Birthday!! I wish you could have been here with us so I could bake you your favorite cake and shower you with kisses and hugs. I love you very much and am very, very glad that you were born. Thank you for being so good to us. I hope you'll be ready to celebrate when you get home on Thursday. Nathan and I are anxiously waiting for you.

Love,
Me :)

tivo

So, I'm going to quickly catch up on the two last weeks, since I've obviously not kept up with my blogging...Last Monday night, I was getting all prepared for Nathan's first day of school (mom's day out at the church), by fixing his lunch getting his bag ready and making sure we were in bed on time. About 1:30 in the morning, though, Nathan woke up crying. Sometimes he does this, but he usually goes back to sleep pretty easily on his own if I just ignore him. However, that night, he wouldn't stop crying! So, I changed his diaper, tried to give him something to eat, tried rocking him - nothing was working. An hour passed, then another and he was still just crying uncontrollably. But, I knew that I had to go to work the next day, so since I had done everything I could to try to soothe him, I decided to leave the room and try to go to sleep on the couch. Every so often, though, I would go in there to check on him because he would drop his little silky over the edge of his crib and I know that he can't go to sleep without it (which is probably why he was dropping in the first place, but what do you do...). After about the third time of me going back there, I was laying on the couch and heard the most awful noise I've ever heard - he fell out of his bed!!! :( I could cry right now. It was awful. I'm sure that he'd dropped his silky and was leaning over the rail reaching for it and just fell right over. I ran in there, flipped the light on and here he came crawling out from beside the bed, tears just streaming down his face. At this point, I called my mom because I was thinking that maybe she would say, "well, sara, have you tried ___" and it would cure everything. Maybe there was something that I hadn't thought of. She didn't have a real magic answer but she offered the idea of just putting him in bed with me and pulling Mason's bed out from underneath our's so that if he fell off of our bed, he would at least land on Mason's. This sounded as good as any idea I'd had yet, so I layed Nathan on our bed and proceeded to pull out Mason's bed, but as I was doing it - he fell off. Yes, people, he fell off the bed twice in one night! I just might be the worst mama ever. I feel so badly about that night. Luckily, he didn't have any broken bones or bruises even. I quickly got in the bed and snuggled him up close to me (which he normally won't let me do), but he finally fell asleep whimpering into my chest. :( Poor little baby...
One of my friends said that he must have just been super excited about his birthday party coming up the next weekend....
And he should have been because we partied hard! It's a big deal that my sweet little boy was turning 1! We started out the festivities by having what was supposed to be a "small" get together at the park Saturday morning for just Nathan's little friends and their parents. It went so well! We had a nice little group show up and it was a lot of fun! I am so thankful that he was in such a good mood. As each of his guests were getting there, he would walk up to them and smile like, "hey, good to see you! Thanks for coming!" :) It was so cute. He got so many nice gifts, too. I hadn't expected to have so much to bring home!
The next day, we had another party for him at my parents' house for just family. (I did two parties because we have so much family and so many friends that it would have been too overwhelming to try to have them all together). Daddy cooked a whole pig that was delicious! I swear I have the best baby! He stayed up until 9:30 that night just hamming it up for the camera and for our guests. You would never have known that he was up past his bedtime. I mean, the icing could have had something to do with that...

Here are a couple of pictures from both parties:

Our sweet little birthday boy



The pavillion at the Kids' Castle Park


Our little family


Nathan and all of his sweet little friends


Cake Monster


Party #2
Told ya'

All set up for our second celebration

The beautiful cake that I did NOT make :)

Giving brotherly love on the Birthday

September 5, 2009

I really and truly am too tired to blog tonight. I can't mentally put it all out in words the way I want to right now, but all I want to say is...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATHAN!

This time last year, I was relishing in the sweetness of the greatest miracle that God has ever given to me. I was counting fingers and toes and learning the sounds and smells of my son. I am so thankful for this child and for the whole last year that we spent together. I can't believe he's already a year old. Time truly does fly when you're having fun! ;)

lazy sunday and manic monday!

So, Sunday was truly a day of rest for us. It was rainy, so we really just stayed in and relaxed most of the day. I decided to make a meatloaf for Jason and his Dad for when they got home from fishing and man - was it good!

Nothing beats a good ole' meatloaf with lima beans, rolls and sweet tea, of course. I love cooking good southern meals for my honey, especially when I can tell that he likes them! I don't get a chance to cook for him very often, so when I do - I appreciate it.


I am totally in love with this website http://www.allrecipes.com/ All of the really good meals I've prepared lately have been treasures from the site. I like it especially because it lists the health facts about the dishes and people can leave rate the recipe and leave reviews. But, my favorite part, is that you can type in what ingredients you have and it will bring up a recipe for you that includes all of those ingredients (in case you have a case of cooker's block, like I sometimes do.)


The fisherman ate their dinner and then they spent the evening making Nathan laugh. It was hysterical. (disclaimer: this sounds like the most redneck thing ever - and it is - so, just play along...) Jason and Mr. Mark were rolling a dip can back and forth to each other across the kitchen floor and Nathan thought that was hilarious. He couldn't even stand up without falling over for laughing so hard at that little round can rolling back and forth in front of him. It was too cute!


Today was really fun! We went to Nathan's orientation for "school." He will be going to First Methodist 3 days a week for Playschool. I think this going to be a really good thing for him to have a little more structure and to be around more kids his age. He will still go to Miss Ana's in the afternoons, but this will just be something a little extra for him to do. I can't wait for him to start - I feel like he's growing up so fast. I can't believe I'm already filling out immunization forms and emergency contact info. I just hope he gets as much out of it as I'm expecting him to...


So, when we left school, we came home to have lunch and a nap and then headed out to Babies' R Us and Target to get our list of supplies that the teachers asked for. We saw two of the other kids in his class there doing the same thing. I also saw an old friend of mine in there who told me that she's expecting! (I wondered what she was doing in the baby store since she doesn't have children). I'm so excited for her! She is only about 6 weeks pregnant, so I can't wait for her to announce it herself. While we were there, after we finished giggling excitedly with my friend, I was looking at the Halloween costumes when I heard a man say, "Oh no, little buddy, don't do that! Um, Ma'am!!" I was thinking, "aww, I wonder who's child is getting into something...." and then I glanced up and realized that NATHAN WAS STANDING UP IN THE BUGGY! Little booger! I can't believe he did that!! Guess I'll have to start buckling him in, now.


We ate leftover Meatloaf at Mom and Dad's and we got a really cute little video of Nathan climbing into Memaw's chair. He truly is a little monkey. I don't know how I'm going to keep him from breaking his arms/legs/neck. I just know that one day I'm going to come into the kitchen and find him on top of the table or refrigerator or plant shelf! hahaha.....ha....ha? :-/

slacker!

ahh!! I'm starting to slack! Let me back up...

So, Thursday I was off of work and Nathan and I had a great day! It all started with waking up to a very cool house. Yay! We had slept in a little late, so we had to hurry to get ready because I was going to my very first Zumba class! Oh, "What's Zumba?" you ask? Well, it's similar to jazzercise, but a little more pumped up. Very Ancient Africa-ish. Kinda crazy, if you ask me. But, at least it was fun and it helped me feel healthy. It's time I do something about this leftover baby weight, but I'm procrastinating it badly. Nathan went to the daycare at the gym with his friend Ally (my friend, Jessica Montgomery's baby). I'm so lucky that he is such an easy-going child. I was so proud of how he let me just set him down and then he walked over all by himself to play with the bigger boys and never looked back at me. I'm really glad he's not a crier like some babies.

When we got done at the gym, we were sleepy and hungry, so we went straight home for lunch and then Nathan took a nap while I caught up on my book. I'm currently reading "The Time Traveler's Wife." I'd started it a couple of years ago, but life got in the way and I ended up shelving it, but since it's just been made into a movie I decided that it may be time to pull it back out and try to re-engage myself. But, it's hard to find time to read! I can't get very far because I'm always in the middle of something and then when I pick it up, I have to re-read to figure out where I am. This makes me sad, because reading is one of my favorite things to do. It makes my soul feel good to read a good book.

After Nathan woke up, we went to Target to pick up a few things. Nathan enjoys shopping, but not for a long time. It was good that Memaw called and invited us over for dinner because I could have spent all evening in there! Love that store!!

Anyway, So Friday was really quiet at work. Shelby and Jenny planned a fun trip to the beach for all the girls at the shop. I really wanted to go, but since I'm taking off next weekend for Nathan's birthday I knew that I needed to stay. Plus, I had some big color clients that needed to have their hair done today and I knew that I probably shouldn't pass that up. Plus, I'm not quite ready to leave Nathan yet. :)

Friday evening, we went to Memaw and Big Daddy's and we got to show off how Nathan has learned where my nose is. I say, "nose..." and he looks up at me and puts his little finger right on my nose. SO CUTE! I love him soooo much and am so proud of every little new thing that he's learning.

I worked this morning - again by myself - I'll be so glad to have those girls back on Tuesday! And Jason came home around lunchtime. After I got off work, we let Nathan take a little nap and then we went over to my mom and dad's to play Wii with Preacher Pa and Meme. Can you believe that the physical therapist actually recommended for Preacher Pa to play the Wii to strengthen his new hip? I think that's crazy! Jason and Daddy grilled some yummy steaks that went really well with the homemade chocolate cake that mom and I made.

Mom bought Nathan a climbing tower thing that has a little platform and then a little slide on it. Nathan loves it! Just like a boy, he immediately tried to walk up the slide! And of course he took a tumble or two. It's hard to see him get hurt, but I want him to know that it does hurt to fall and that Mommy and Daddy aren't always going to be there to catch him. He's also started throwing his food off the side of his tray when he's finished eating and he's learning that when he does that we say, "NO!" I guess he thinks that it's funny, so he's started doing it and then looks up at us and laughs. We're going to have to try some new tactics with this, I think....

Well, Jason just put our little pumpkin to bed. He's going to catch up on his NCIS show and I think I'm going to take the opportunity to read! :) Night y'all!

Law-sey Day

I lived at Lake Junaluska in North Carolina for about 10 months after my first year of college. While I was there I worked at the local Belk with a girl who was straight from the hills. And i don't mean the O.C. Hills. She had black, heavily permed hair that went straight down her back to practically her fanny and wore long painted nails. I can't remember her name, but I remember that whenever things got a little stressful, she would say, "Law-sey Day!" Probably like some of us might would say, "Good Grief!"

About this time last night, I was saying a big, long, southern "Law-sey Day!"

Everything was going smoothly, Jason had left Monday afternoon so Nathan and I got up yesterday and did our normal routine. I dropped him off at Ana's and then I went to work. Well, as I had mentioned, he's been running a temperature so I was a little concerned about him throughout the day. I spoke with Ana late that afternoon, and she mentioned that she could meet my mom in town instead of Mom having to drive all the way out to her house to pick Nathan up, since Ana had some running around to do anyway. It wasn't but maybe a half-hour later that Christy called me to tell me that Ana's son Benjamin had thrown up in her car on the way to bring Nathan to meet them. "Great!" I thought. This is what I have to look forward to! I promptly call my Aunt Joyce to make sure she could come to watch Nathan today for me, and thankfully she was happy to do it!

So, I get home and get him ready for bed, put him to sleep and then am trying to catch up on All My Children, when I realize that it's *really* hot in the house. So, I got up to check the thermostat and sure enough - the air was out. See, we like to keep our house pretty cold. I live with a man who's inner furnace never dies down, so when he's here it's usually on 68. When he's not, I'll keep it on 70, but it's still pretty cold compared to some people. That thermostat said it was 76 degrees in here! Like a sauna for somebody like me!! AND I had a baby with a fever trying to sleep in there. :( (you know, it's funny how this stuff ne-ver happens when Jason's home and it can't happen on my day off, of course). But, thank goodness that my sweet Father-in-Law lives close by (ha!) He came out to look at it, got right on the phone with somebody he knew and then reassured me that the man would be out first thing in the morning to look at it.

This was when I was reminded of my mountain friend and her sweet phrase and Lord - did I say it! Because it was then that I realized that not only did I have my sweet little Aunt coming to keep Nathan at my house, but I was having her come into a house with no air, and with a strange air-conditioner man coming to look at the unit and I wasn't going to be there and AHHHHH!!!!

I needed a xanax or something.

We struggled through the night with as little blanket (and clothes) as possible, and I got up early of course, because I was stressing out about what to do, but it really all worked out well. Joyce came around 9 and the air conditioning guy didn't need to come inside and he actually got it working quickly. Oh! And nathan didn't get sick (praise God!), so he's still recovering from this fever thing and we're just hoping that he gets well soon. Now, Jason and I (yes, he surprised us with a short visit) are going to snuggle down deep in our covers and enjoy our cold air. :)

Good night!

Almost!

Well, two-a-day ain't bad!

Yesterday was one of the most perfect days ever. We woke up to a beautiful Sunday morning so Jason and I decided to catch a Braves game around 1:30. We dropped Nathan off with Memaw and Big Daddy (i.e. best grandparents ever) and then headed to Atlanta to eat at the Varsity. You *must* eat at the Varsity before a Braves game! We met Jason's childhood friend, Joe, there and caught up on lost time with him. Then, we headed on over to the stadium. It couldn't have been a prettier day. We sat on the very front row and Jason even al-most caught a foul ball. It was great!

We did leave the game a little early because it was so hot, but we stayed long enough to feel like we got our money's worth and were really glad to get home and find out that the Braves, had in fact won the game. Yay! I hope we get to do that again. Spending time with Jason is one of my favorite things to do. It will be fun to take Nathan, too, once he gets big enough. :)

Unfortunately, though, when we got home we found out that Nathan was running a fever. Not high enough to be very alarmed, but enough to worry his mama a little... So, that's what we've done today is nurse a little fever and try to sleep it out. (I even got in a 2 hour nap!) We did go to visit Big Daddy at work during lunch to pass time while Ellie was getting groomed, and that was a lot of fun. I think Big Daddy likes it when Nathan and I surprise him.

Here's to hoping that this little fever goes away and a new tooth emerges soon!

One - A - Day

I have so much guilt over how long it's been since I've written. That's the problem I've always had with keeping a "diary". Sometimes stuff happens so quickly that I can't keep up and then I've forgotten and feel overwhelmed when I think of sitting down to actually try to sort it out into some sort of logical material. But, it makes me sad that I haven't done it and I've missed recording so much of Nathan's first year.

I've been telling myself that if I can log onto facebook everyday to update my status or if I can log into yahoo to check my email, I should find just a few minutes to log on here every day and just type out one funny/odd/interesting thing that has happened that day. It shouldn't matter if it's witty or long enough or unimportant to anyone else. This isn't like writing in a journal. This is much easier than that. And I should do it. For Nathan...

So! Every day, I'm going to do it. Update my blog with something worth mentioning about that day. Because everyday is important and should be remembered - somehow.

Like, today, Nathan wore the shirt that his Daddy bought him at the truck stop. It says "Daddy's Mini-Me" and it is adorable!

I had so much fun watching Jason chase Nathan around this afternoon. That little tickle box gets turned upside down by his Daddy in a way that I can't figure out. He doesn't laugh like that with me, which is fine, because we have our own special little moments, too. There's something very precious about a boy and his Dad and I'm enthralled with watching this relationship blossom between the two most important people in my life.

Mother's Day 2009

It's Mother's Day and I'm feeling so thankful for my sweet baby boy. My heart is with those women today who want to be Mama's and are having trouble becoming one, or who are mama's but who have lost their babies or who's babies are sick. Also, my heart is very much with those Mama's who don't have their Mama's anymore. I have no idea what it is like to be one of them, but can imagine how painful a day like today might be. Thank you, God, for blessing me with Nathan. I pray that I will be as good of a Mama to him as mine has been to me!

Jason came home on Friday and since he was having to leave this morning, we decided to celebrate Mother's Day last night. I know it's kinda crazy, but we haven't had a REAL date since Nathan was born. It's hard for us, because Jason's usually only home on the weekends, and so we like to spend the weekends all together so he can spend as much time as possible with Nathan. But, we were long overdue for a date night. Also, alot of people have been getting onto me lately for not having let Nathan spend the night off yet. But, I haven't had a reason to let him (and it's hard to imagine waking up without him there), so it hasn't been an option.

So, last night I packed up his little bag and took him over to my parents' house. Okay, you have to understand that Mama and Daddy live literally two houses away from us. It's not like they live across town or anything, but you would have thought so. I kissed him and kissed him and hugged him and loved him like I was going to be away for the whole weekend. I honestly almost cried as we pulled out of the driveway. I know, I'm a little attached...

We had a little disagreement about where to go for dinner. We knew we wanted Mexican and since I'd already conceded on the movie (I wanted to see 17 again, he wanted to see Wolverine - stupid, but naked Hugh Jackman? Oooooooookaaaaaaay, if you insist.....) so I felt like he should eat where I wanted to eat, right? I love El Ranchero, but the salsa is too chunky for his taste (enter me rolling my eyes and breathing out deeply), and he wanted La Parilla, but it's a little pricey and not very tasty (enter him rolling his eyes and breathing out deeply). So, I offered La Fiesta because I have a discount card, but we were already on the other side of town so we decided to go to Fiesta Grill which is owned by La Fiesta. It was so nice to be out together by ourselves. My husband is not one to talk alot while he's eating - which drives me nutty - but, he did manage to tell me how pretty I look in my purple dress. haha.

Of course, when we got in the car, my sister had sent me a text message that said, "Hey Mommy and Daddy! I've had my bath and my bottle and now I'm going to sleep. I love you!" That almost made me cry again....but, i sucked it up so I could see Hugh Jackman naked. Oh, the sacrifice.

And the movie was O-kay. I guess I need to know more about the x men movies. I kept asking questions and was a little confused, but just so you girls know - Hugh definitely deserved Sexiest Man of the year. I wonder if I could talk Jason into making his arms look like that...

When we left, I called Mom and Dad's of course. She said that he'd fallen asleep a little early, so they'd gotten him up to be sure he would sleep well all night and now he wasn't going back to sleep. She said he'd been in his pack-n-play just talking to himself like, "where am I at? Where are my parents? Why is it dark outside and I'm still here?" So, we decided to go ahead and pick him up. :) yay! I don't think any of us were ready for that. Maybe when he's 1.

This morning, we got up and Jason left, and then he called. He said that he was just giving me a warning - so I'd be decent - that his Dad was coming to give us something. I was like, "????What??? Why???" But, Jason said he didn't know. Awwww...... Mr. Mark walked up with 2 cards that Jason had bought for me and had left in his truck. One was from Nathan! :) How sweet! The one from Jason was especially sweet because we have a little inside joke that we are Team Dewberry. (He would die if he knew I was telling this), but we even have team huddles. I like to text him sometimes and say things like, "Nathan and I just voted you MVP. It was unanimous." haha. So, inside the card that he got for me, he wrote "keep up the good work. Love you, Jason." Oh me. Y'all probably think that's so stupid, but it makes my heart swell and puts a smile on my face. I just love him so much! As long as he remembers that I'M team Captain. :)

26

Really? Am I that old? I certainly don't feel it. I catch myself all the time feeling like I'm fresh out of High School. But, I'm exactly where I hoped I would be at 26. I have a sweet little house, a husband that loves me and a precious child all of my own. Life is good!

With wedding plans in full swing (only 16 days away!), I almost forgot all about my birthday! One of my clients last week asked me what I was doing for the weekend and I said, "Well, we have another shower for Rebecca on Sunday........Oh! And it's my birthday!" haha. There was a time when I would have been anxiously anticipating that day for several weeks beforehand. Much like my youngest sister Christy, who makes sure we all have her birthday circled on our calendars and will start reminding us of her September birthday here in a few weeks. :)

Mine was actually on Saturday (the 2nd). Jason was home and busily putting my new beautiful screen door on the front of our house.

You can really tell you're getting old when you start asking for gifts like that! I just want to be able to sit in my living room with the door open and not have insects sneaking in at the same time. It's so pretty! I'm so blessed to have a husband that is so handy! We had the best dinner ever at my parents' house - steak, twice baked potatoes, salad and rebecca made me the best carrot cake in the world. Homemade! Delish!! It was so nice to do something so low-key and nice. I'm so lucky to have such a great family! Here's a picture of me with my sisters at my birthday party. We all wore Maxi dresses! haha. Great minds think alike! :)

We don't have many new updates. Nathan's cruising around on everything he can pull up on. I swear, he's gotten so big so fast! He's such a flirt. That little toothless grin will mealt your heart every time! Everywhere we go he makes new friends. I could not be more proud. He's just the best thing that's ever happened to us and we feel so blessed to have him be our's.

I can't wait to see how the next few months go. It blows my mind that he's already 8 months old. Before we know it, we'll be playing baseball and swimming in the swimming pool. I just can't wait to watch him grow up! :)

playing catch-up

It's been so long since I've blogged that I really don't know where to start. About a month ago, Jason and I were sitting with Nathan on our front porch. We've been anticipating a tooth now for about 3 months as it seems every week like he is having the symptoms, I slid my finger inside his mouth as we were sitting there and lo and behold - there was a tooth! Just the edge of one, enough to see a little glimmer of white. :) I remember then thinking "I need to blog about this!" haha. Within a couple of days the other bottom one had made it's grand apperance and that's as far as we've gotten on the creating teeth front.

He actually did really well with teething. Like I've said, we were anticipating one because he has been drooling constantly, and chewing on everything. But, other than that we didn't have much notice that the first one was coming. Now, I'm not sure if it was because I knew that the first one was in and the next one felt like it might be on it's way out, too, that I became a little paranoid about it or if it's really because he seemed more upset with the second one, but it did give us a little more of a fit. He was just really fussy and didn't have much of an appetite, just not himself until after it was in. I'll have to get a picture of his pearly whites to post for y'all!

We went to see Dr. Jackson for our 6 month check-up which went really well. I'm getting better and better about the shots. It's so hard to see my little man being so happy and sweet and then not understanding why he's being hurt. :( I hate that part of the visit more than anything! Everything checked out perfectly. He has been in the 90-95 percentile on his height and weight, but has just recently dropped into like the 65th. Dr. J said that it's probably because we're doing more solids and less bottle and that some babies just bloom earlier rather than later and that's probably nathan's case. I'm not worried about it. He has a huge appetite, so as long as he's eating well, that's fine with me! Of course, his head size is still off the charts. haha. In fact, Dr. Jackson said, "Now, you may start being able to sit him up by himself for a few minutes at a time." And I was like, "Oh, we've already been doing that..." He looked at me like, "Really?" So, I positioned Nathan on the table and showed him and he said, "I mean, that's really remarkable seeing as his head's so big. He must have really great core strength to be able to balance it so well." HA! I don't take offense. I mean, that's just another reason that I'm glad I had a c-section.

We also dealt with our first sick virus since I've been on my blogging hiatus. It started one weekend while Jason was here (thank goodness!). We had given Nathan his morning bottle, which he seemed to take well and then we sat him him his walker like we always do. Just a few minutes later, Jason looked at him and said, "I think he's choking!" So, we rushed over to him and just as we got there, he spewed - i mean, speeeeewwwweeeeedd - all over the place. My first thought was that he'd just had an air bubble and that he was probably fine so we went on about our business. Then, that night at dinner he threw up again and I noticed that he'd not had much of an appetite. What a little trooper, though, because he'd still play and act normal. Not puny at all. That's what kept throwing me off was he seemed completely fine! There was a night in there where Jason and I felt like for sure he had a fever, so after checking it - it was 100 - we kept him on tylenol, motrin and snuggled him all night. What a great excuse for a snuggle! :)

It's a good thing that he got to feeling better when he did because Mason came up to spend the week with us. His mom brought him to us on the 2nd and then we had him until Easter. It was so much fun! My mom and I took he and Nathan to the World of Coke on Monday since she was out for Spring Break. I'd forgotten my camera :( so I didn't get a lot of great shots - but we had a blast. I can't believe this weather has been so crazy, though! Here it is Spring Break and we were freezing! Luckily, it warmed up just enough for us to go to the Panama City Beach for Easter weekend. We stayed at the condo that my parents' share with several other people. We are so blessed to have a place to go to that's so nice and comfortable (and not on the strip). Jason, Daddy and my Uncle Billy went fishing Friday and Saturday and so Mom, Christy and I just stayed back and played with the boys. I'm so thankful for them being so willing to help me out with everything. I don't know how I would have done it without them. I'll post beach pictures soon.

Oh yeah, Nathan's started crawling! It's the cutest thing in the whole world. He started by doing the worm. Like a little inch-worm all over the floor. Now, he's gotten it down a little better. But, man can he get it! He's all over the place!

I'm having to be super careful about my floors these days. A couple of days ago, I was busy doing something and noticed that he'd crawled just out of my sight to the other side of the sofa. He was being mighty quiet and still, so I peeked around to see what he was doing and he'd pulled a hair ball from under the sofa and was trying to figure out what it was so he could put it in his mouth. GROSS! Just yesterday, he crawled into the laundry room and found his way over to our metal rolling cart thing that we keep our detergent and all (that's too high for him to get, too), but he pulled himself up to his knees and then reached up to the next shelf and pulled himself up to standing! :) YAY! He's getting so big. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.

The sweetest thing ever is that he's started giving kisses. Like full on slobber all over your cheek, kisses. I can tell that's what they are because it only happens when I've been kissing on him and then it's like he says, "Okay, now it's my turn!" He'll turn around and grab my face and just plant one on me. I mean, it's the most precious thing you've ever seen. Sometimes, it takes off all the makeup I've just put on, but I don't care. Nothing is better than a little baby slobber to make a mom look complete. I'll come back later and update with a few pictures of everything. I think I even have a video of him crawling. Right now, my butt needs to get back in bed since it's only 6a.m. and I'm awake for some reason. :)

Okay, I promised I'd come back to do this, so here they are...

....that's me giving Daddy kisses for getting dressed up, taking us to the beach on our way out of town, and not fussing (too much) about doing it. :)

This is our fairytale

So, I just wanted to post real quickly to let y'all know that my sister just started a blog! Yay!! She follows mine pretty closely and is always quick to point out how long it's been since my last posting, so now I can give it right back to her! haha. Please go visit her site thisisourfairytale . I have a feeling that she's a really good writer and might become a better blogger than me. eek!

On a side note, I helped her set her's up last night. I remember when I started mine not long ago, it seemed like there were tons of options for names of your blog. However, when I was trying options for her's they were all - i mean all - already taken! That means there must be tons and tons of bloggers out there. I hope I get to "meet" more of you! :)

I'm also excited to announce that my sweet friend, Becky, just had her little girl. I'm excited to see how life at the Gore residence goes as they already have a little boy like us. So, it will be interesting for me to watch them and imagine what my life might be like if we have another one. (Not anytime soon, i promise!) You can read all about sweet Marley Ann here.

Well, today is my day off and yes, I got up at 6:45, because little pumpkin had started talking to himself and I knew that soon it would turn from sweet babble to "Feed. Me. NOW!" So, we are going to play a little this morning, and after his morning nap go to the grocery store to buy stuff to make a cheesecake for my dad's 50th birthday party!! (it's a surprise, so don't tell him!) Then, we may stop by my grandparents' house for a little bit. I hope this is a warm and fun day for you, too!