The Sharps

Reed at 17 months

2011-11-17T20:47:00.002-06:00

Our Reed at 17 months. Such a funny guy. His vocabulary is really expanding. His hair is growing and getting blonder. Man, we love this kid!

He usually loves to ride on Daddy's shoulders...

Our boys side by side at 17 months. I am thinking Reed is taller than Will!

I love my baby boy!

Owl themed shower

2011-11-17T19:01:00.004-06:00

I had the honor of cohosting a baby shower for my SIL Sara with several of her best friends. We had an owl theme featuring aqua and lime.

Yummy cupcakes!

Dipped pretzel rods

We also had deli spirals, chicken salad on croissant, and fruit.

We had baby pictures of the parents to be on a tree.

Cute blocks with baby Walker's name to match his nursery.

Baby Walker racked up!

Me and the other hostesses.

The honoree and her friends.

Sara and her mom. Doesn't Sara look great?

My brother in law Andrew and Sara.

Sara and her Aunt Jan.

We had such a fun time celebrating!

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

2011-11-16T13:57:00.019-06:00

On March 26th we celebrated the upcoming birth of one of my best friend's first baby, a little boy. Three of us joined together to host a Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails shower. I wish I could take credit for the the creativity, but I cannot! Haven and Lea Ann amaze me with the things they come up with. I'll just use my boys as an excuse since those two don't have kids just yet. Ha!

Don't you just love the mason jars with the paper straws?

The honoree has two pugs. This wooden cutout (by Lea Ann and her husband) is of Stellaluna, aka "Stella".

Love the snail!

Lea Ann grew little pails of rye grass to decorate with. So cute!

We had "mud pies" (chocolate chess pie - one of our favorites!)

Everything was coordinated, down to the utensils.

Sweet and sour meatballs.

Dirt cake with worms

Fat rolls.

Little wienies. Ha. Seriously if you have never had cocktail wienies wrapped in bacon with brown sugar on top and then baked until the sugar and fat caramelizes, you are missing out! But you are probably less likely to have a heart attack, because you cannot eat just one!

How cute is this table?

We continued the banner on the mantel.

I made a diaper cake. We didn't know his name yet, so we went with the last name/initial for everything.

Guests signed a copy of "The Poky Little Puppy". We even had a little boy at the sign in. :)

Cookie favors.

We took our own little party outside for a few minutes and took pictures. Here are Haven and her husband, Ken.

Lea Ann and her husband, Steve.

Haven has learned some mad photography skills recently.

The honoree Alyssa and her husband Chris.

I thought this face was too hilarious not to share.

And this one was too sweet not to share.

Look how cute the outside turned was! Haven did an awesome job on the banners that we used throughout the shower.

Love the pinwheel in the flowers.

Cute door hangers.

Brook, Haven's sister, is a fabulous photographer by profession! I am a wee bit jealous.

Haven and Ken

Lea Ann and Steve

Alyssa and Chris

Brad and Me

Me and my friends!

My boys being sweet.

Cutie pie.

Mississippi Children's Museum

2011-11-16T13:39:00.003-06:00

We were very excited for the new children's museum to open before Christmas, but it took us a few months to get to go. Gigi and Poppy went with us and even bought a membership so we can go many many times!

They have so many great areas to play in. One of the first exhibits we got to was an agricultural one. Reed enjoyed driving the tractor.

And playing with the cotton balls.

And climbing up and down the stairs.
Unfortunately, my camera died after this so I don't have pictures of them playing with the water and the rocks in the quarry and climbing more stairs and sliding and playing at the fruit stand and...

How to survive a Mississippi Winter

2011-11-15T21:35:00.002-06:00

If you've never lived in Mississippi, you may not know that we do seasons a bit differently. Here is a quick reference guide for how to survive:

Summer is predictably hot. But it is also hot in spring, fall and sometimes, winter. So we keep shorts available year round. But we also keep hats. Because what is a heat wave in the morning, could turn into a cold snap by evening. So it is always good to keep your hat handy. Say, on your head while you are riding your tricycle. Why, yes, that is an Elmo knit hat, courtesy of Nana.

And play ball, but keep a nice, comfy seat close by.

Enjoy the sunsets. And the glow it casts on the Bradford Pear blooms.

Laugh.

And let your brother drive you around, even if you aren't happy about it.

Is this really February?

2011-11-15T21:21:00.002-06:00

Could it really still be winter when little boys play outside in shorts and tshirts?

And cousins share popsicles on the driveway?

And the Bradford Pears are blooming?

Surely it isn't winter, still! It looks like spring!

BTW if anyone ever questions the paternity of my Will, all they have to do is look him. Is he not Brad Sharp made over?

Helping Daddy

2011-11-15T20:58:00.002-06:00

On an unusually warm February day, little Reedie helped his daddy wash the car.

He loved the soapy water.

And the brushes.

And he even cleaned the driveway for us.

Such a good helper.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-11-15T20:27:00.004-06:00

Just a typical day in the life...

2011-11-15T20:14:00.002-06:00

...of a 15 month old and almost 3 year old...

They play...

And cry...

And climb on furniture...

And lay places that aren't mean for laying...

And make lots and lots of messes!

Warm January Day at the Park

2011-11-15T19:52:00.003-06:00

We took advantage of some unusually warm January weather and let the boys play at the park. They loved it! Brad's parents met us and played with them, too. I'm sure that is pretty much heaven for my kids - grandparents AND the park?

First Haircut

2011-05-08T19:22:00.003-05:00

I debated for several weeks on whether to cut Reed's hair or not. After a bath, the back of his hair curled up so pretty and I didn't want to lose those, but during the day it generally looked messy. I finally decided to go for it and made an appointment with the lady who cuts my hair. We've had some bad experiences having Will's haircut in the past at other places so I decided Joanna would have to do it.

When I picked him up from Ms. Honey's, his hair was looking especially bad. I think he got a little baby oil on the ends and it looked pititful!

I was disappointed because I thought if we did cut the curls, they would look ratty and I wouldn't want to save them, so as I drove to the salon I decided not to cut it. When we got there I spoke with Joanna and we decided to cut Will's first while I thought about it some more.

Surveying his ratty ends, she thought we could try some dry shampoo to make it look better. I decided to go for it since getting an appointment that coordinates with my work schedule takes time. Reed didn't know what to think but he was pretty good.
Joanna and Reed. He wasn't thrilled at this point.
My happy-n0-longer-baby-looking baby.
Some days I am glad we glad we cut it and others I wish I'd left the curls. Either way, I think he is cute!

Happy Birthday, Drew!

2011-05-08T19:12:00.002-05:00

We got to help Will's friend Drew celebrate his 4th birthday at an inflatables party place. Will loved it!

The theme was Cars. Look how cute the cake was!
Drew is so sweet but he and Will are so active it's hard to get a picture of them together. This was the best I could do.
Thanks for having us, Drew!

Truckin'

2011-05-08T19:07:00.001-05:00

Santa brought Will and Reed a truck for Christmas. I think Will likes it.

Bowling in the New Year

2011-05-07T20:32:00.005-05:00

On New Year's Day, my siblings and our families (minus Joseph, Brad and Reed) spent the afternoon bowling. I think Sam was the best. Check out that form!

Alex and Will used the ball stand to help them out.
A ball or two went flying backward!
That is a look of concentration.
Chris was probably saying something smart here. :)

Emily and I were excellent at gutter balls.

It is very rare that we hang out without the rest of the family these days. I hope we can do it again soon!

A Very Gibbsy Christmas

2011-05-07T15:00:00.006-05:00

On New Year's Eve my side of the family celebrated Christmas. It was an extremely warm day and as a result of the sudden weather change we had some nasty storms and a tornado nearby. Will seemed very anxious as the sirens continually blared. In true Gibbs fashion, many of my family members stayed on the front porch.

The cousins exchanged gifts and the siblings played dirty Santa. It was fun! I think we will make that a yearly event.

All of the boy cousins (l-r Alex, Oliver, Reed and Will)
All six Gibbs (Sharp) grandchildren.
My brother Joseph is the only one who hasn't married yet. This is him and his girlfriend Andrea. We think she's a keeper and hope they make it official soon!

Some interesting things took place. Here, Andrea is combing Joseph's beard with a teeny comb that was in a party popper.
My dad tried to eat Reed's fingers!

But he needn't eat the baby. There was tons of food! We opted to have hor devours instead of a traditional meal and everything was so good! We had twice baked potatoes, sausage and cream cheese crescent squares, fruit with caramel toffee dip, a delicious cheeseball, bacon wrapped sausages, veggies and dip, and no bake chocolate cookies (I forget the name Emily had for them - cow patties?).

It was such a nice evening with my family. We don't get together often enough!

Merry Christmas!

2011-05-07T14:57:00.001-05:00

Peppermint Bliss Christmas Card

Shutterfly Christmas cards "

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Day

2011-05-07T14:38:00.002-05:00

We spent Christmas morning at our house (and I can't find the pics!). Will and Reed got a power wheels f150 from Santa and it was so cold that Reed and I only stayed outside for a few minutes testing it out. Will and his daddy stayed outside until their noses started to fall off then headed inside to play with the various trucks and guitars and other noisy toys we exchanged. It was a nice relaxing morning. That evening we went to Brad's parents house. Look how pretty their tree looked!

My husband is a pretty quiet guy and doesn't show many people his true colors. For example, he does a great Bill Clinton face:

Brad's brother Andrew and his wife Sara were there, too. We are so excited that they will soon have their first baby!

We tried to take a family picture.

There's always next year, right?

Canton Festival of Lights

2011-02-17T10:04:00.006-06:00

The weekend before Christmas we went to the Canton Festival of Lights with Brad's parents. None of us had been before but it was so much fun! We will try to make this an annual event.

Canton is a popular location for filming movies. The square is picturesque and every year they decorate it with thousands of lights at Christmastime. The gazebo has a beautiful tree that has no inch untouched by a light. It is a popular place to pose and you have to wait your turn!

There is a huge tree that plays music every few minutes. Will really liked it.

Grandfather and grandsons.

Father and son.

Me and my Reedie pie.

Our family in front of the white tree.

I couldn't find Reed's gloves, so I had to stick some socks on his hands! It was freezing!
Reed was upset that he didn't get to ride the rides. Isn't his hat cute? His cousin Julie made it for him! Will has a matching one. Too cute!

Riding the carosel.

Will REALLY loved driving the cars. Luckily there were few people in line after his first ride so he was able to stay on for a second one.

I pretty much had to drag him away after the second ride. We were out of tickets and it was late! We stopped for one more picture before heading home. Will wouldn't look because he was still mad!

A Visit from Friends

2011-02-13T22:30:00.003-06:00

My friend L. brought her 3 girls to visit one evening. Reed was fascinated by her youngest. She and Reed are just over a month apart. They should have been nearly 3 months apart, but Reed decided to come early. Can't tell now, though!

Sweet loving.
Her middle daughter was not too impressed by Will! They are about 6 weeks apart in age, Will being the younger of the two.
Her oldest daughter is just too cute and too smart! Looks just like her mama!
Miss S. still wasn't having the picture session with Will! He was still oblivious to her!
It is so fun to have friends over. We don't do it often enough!

Bright Eyes

2011-02-13T15:50:00.004-06:00

Reed was FINALLY able to have his tear duct fixed on December 2nd! Our pediatrician made us wait until 9 months to be referred to an opthamologist and we saw Dr. Mallette when he was 10 months. Dr. M made us try a few things and wait 6 weeks to schedule surgery. We had surgery scheduled a couple of days before Reed's birthday but they cancelled it because he was sick. So we were excited to get the go ahead in December! His little eye was almost always red or gunky if he wasn't on antibiotic ointment or drops and I was ready for it to be clear!

I thought the surgery would take minutes and he wouldn't even have to be intubated. I was a little nervous when I found out they would put him totally under, start an IV and intubate him. But he wasn't nervous at all!

Loving on his tiger before he went back.

They came and got him without premedicating him and I was prepared for him to scream. He didn't cry a bit! Brad and I sat in the waiting room and entertained ourselves by reading a site about autocorrect mishaps with text messages. We had to put our phones up because we were laughing so much and other families were staring! I think I did pretty well not being a crazy momma considering he was away from me for over an hour. So much for a few minutes! He had a distal blockage, meaning the duct was closed off down in his nose, not up by his eye. Basically the massages we were doing didn't help and wouldn't have. Dr. M. put a stent in that looks like a piece of fishing line curled up in his eye and we have to keep it in for 10 weeks or so. He said if he hadn't put that in, it would have closed right back up, meaning more surgery.

When they came to get us once he was out of recovery, I was expecting a screaming child. I work in outpatient surgery and most of the kids we get back are wild! But Reed was just looking around. Poor thing had his eyes dilated so we turned off the lights and snuggled. Once he woke up a bit more I gave him his sippy cup and some crackers. The ONLY time he cried was when I got him dressed to go home and had to take the cracker away for a second. He didn't even cry when the nurse took his IV out! He was an ANGEL!

We went home and had a mommy and Reed day. You can see that his eyes are still dilated here.

I love this precious man!
He is a gift from God!
Doesn't our tree look pretty? Much more festive than last year!
Thank you, Lord for this sweet boy and for protecting him during surgery!

Christmas Parade

2011-02-12T21:01:00.002-06:00

I have lived in central Mississippi for 15 years and had never been to our town's Christmas parade. We went to the homecoming parade in the fall and the boys seemed to enjoy it (or rather enjoyed the loads of candy they got), so we decided to take them. Will liked seeing the motorcycles and lights on the floats.
Reed got tired of the stroller and enjoyed the view from Daddy's shoulders.
We didn't get too much candy, but Will did catch some beads!

I think we will try to make the parade next year, too!

Going to see Santa

2011-02-12T09:39:00.003-06:00

Did you know that Santa goes to Bass Pro Shop? That's where we went to visit him one lovely Saturday morning.

After being inspired by some cute shirts on Etsy, I made the boys matching reindeer shirts. Cute, huh?

I love the look Reed is giving Will.
Buckled and ready to go!
At this point, I was really wishing I had my Canon with me instead of a pocket sized Kodak.
They did pretty good! Better than last year.
Will found the North Pole!
Then he found what Mommy and Daddy would really like for Christmas.
Reed thought it was unfair that Will got to drive the boat and he had to sit in the stroller.
To this I say, dream on, buddy!
It was a fun family outing!

Black Friday

2011-02-11T17:00:00.000-06:00

I did not get up at 3 am to go to some huge doorbuster on Black Friday. Brad had to work and I was home with the boys. I did have his parents come over for an hour or so while I went to Children's Place once I saw they had 30% off the whole store plus I had a 20% off coupon. I got some deals. Then I got Chik-fil-a for all of us and came home and we shared lunch.

And THEN!

The Fedex man came and delivered my new bff:

It is delightful! There are many things I don't know how to do, but I love it. I had been drooling over one for quite a while and we were finally able to get one. Just in time, too, because the netbook was begging for death.

I'm Sarah. And I'm a Mac.

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-02-10T21:22:00.003-06:00

We spent Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law's parents' house. I have known them since I was 13, so they feel like family to me. They have a beautiful old home they moved from the country to a small town and completely restored it. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the actual home. But we did take a few pictures on the stairs, just like we did last year.

It was quite warm on Thanksgiving day and we enjoyed some beautiful sunshine after lunch. Nana caught some snuggles from Reed in between chasing him around the yard.

Such a funny little guy.
This one cracks me up.

Silly Willy

2011-02-10T19:54:00.001-06:00

Playing at the park

2011-02-01T21:32:00.003-06:00

Just enjoying a nice fall day.

Halloween Part II

2011-01-31T23:01:00.002-06:00

Halloween Day 2010 is one I will not soon forget. We didn't dress the boys up. We had a nice morning at church followed by a relaxing day at home. That afternoon we let the kids play in the yard.

Reed took to Will's ride on car and enjoyed pushing it around the yard.

And then he did some crawling.
And then he pushed the coupe around.
And then Will took a ride in the coupe.
And then. AND THEN. I watched Reed push the car all over the yard. I kept meaning to pull out my phone and record it. So I did. Watch for yourself.

Halloween Part I

2011-01-31T22:33:00.004-06:00

On Halloween Eve, Brad and I took the boys to my oldest brother's house for dinner and trick or treating. This is the first year we have been trick or treating. Last year Reed was in NICU and we took Will to my church's fall festival. Will's first Halloween was spent at home. So it was fun to dress them up and actually do something!

I made some spider web cupcakes:

And some delicious caramel toffee fruit dip:
My little MSU football player and sweet lion were so cute!
This is Will doing his football pose. ?? Silly kid!

My nieces and nephew, the superheroes!

Uncle Chris and Reed. Chris is laughing because Reed always cries when Chris a)talks to him or b) picks him up. He wasn't crying, so Chris told me to get a picture quick!

The whole group. Poor little buzz lightyear kept tripping on stuff. I think the wings made it hard to balance.

Will picking out some goodies.

We had a fun night!

Weekend in Alabama

2011-01-31T21:15:00.005-06:00

We took a weekend trip to Alabama to visit Brad's brother for his birthday at the end of October. We got there Saturday afternoon and walked over to the neighborhood pond for some fresh air. Will and Poppy took turns throwing rocks. Andrew tossed sticks for Tebow to retrieve. I hate this picture is out of focus, but I really like it anyway. I gave a print to Andrew for Christmas.

Reed just hung out and played with his feet.
Until his daddy got him out to toss him around.

Tebow and Andrew took a break from the game of fetch.

We went back to their house and the boys crawled around and played with Maggie and looked out the windows. Sara and Andrew have the cutest house with nice big windows.
That night we had a yummy dinner at Cheesecake Factory. I had orange chicken and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Mmmmm!

Sunday we went to the zoo. This was Will before he started the first of several meltdowns. I ended up dragging him out of the bathroom at one point to keep him from laying on the floor in protest of something ridiculously minor like me trying to help him reach a paper towel.

We got to see the lions up close.

It was lunch time for them!

I always love looking at the flamingos.
We had lunch and then headed back home. We stopped at a gas station that had the most gorgeous grove beside it. I figured the kids could enjoy the grass for a minute while I snapped some pictures.

Reed - 12 months
Will - 2 1/2. And in need of a haircut!
We had a great time visiting Brad's 'little' brother! They were such nice hosts and even gave us their bed for the night so we could have Reed with us.

Reed's First Birthday Party

2010-11-27T18:26:00.005-06:00

Reed turned one on a Saturday so we had his party on his actual birthday. I decided to go with a modernish theme of colors and circles. My friend Elizabeth made his cake and she did such an awesome job! Not only was it totally adorable, it was addictively delicious.

I painted some plain letters to go over the table and cut out circles to hang from the window. (I took this after we ate - whoops!)
My friend Lisa made this cute birthday banner. I wanted to do something with the mantle but ran out of time. I was thinking maybe putting his monthly pictures would be cute but oh well.
We grilled chicken, steak and shrimp kabobs. They were all good but the shrimp were delicious! I got the recipe here. Look for sweet and spicy honey shrimp. I haven't figured out how to copy the whole link.
I made stuffed bleu cheese potatoes, also from the above site. Even those who dislike bleu cheese loved these!
I made these cookies sort of at the last minute. I do not love how they looked but they tasted good.
I dipped some pretzel sticks as well and they were a big hit. Other goodies included pigs in a blanket, chicken nuggets, fruit and veggies and a cheeseball and crackers.
I found these colorful sodas at Walgreens. I was planning to buy some blue cream soda as well but for some reason decided to wait until the day of the party and the store was sold out.
Ms. Honey came to see Reed and celebrate with us. She brought her granddaughter Austin, too.

After we ate we opened gifts. Reed seemed to enjoy the process but I am not sure he was as interested as his brother and cousins were.

After gifts it was time for cake!
He started out slowly, just taking teensy bites.
But pretty soon he demolished his smash cake!
We had a wonderful time celebrating Reed's first of many birthdays. We are so blessed to have this little man in our lives! His birthday is also our wedding anniversary. I can't think of a better way to celebrate our marriage than the birth of our son!

Happy Birthday Reed!

2010-10-16T23:41:00.000-05:00

To my Reed, on your first birthday:

A year ago you surprised us when you decided to be born on a Friday afternoon. Labor started out pretty mildly that morning and we weren't sure if today was "the day". After spending a week in the hospital on moderate bedrest and worrying about every little thing, I was pretty numb to things going on. I really didn't think you would come that day until labor intensified by 11:00. I decided two things: I wanted your daddy there and I wanted an epidural.

I spent a good deal of the pregnancy with you worrying. At first we were worried we would miscarry, so I didn't let myself get attached. Then other worries came. How would we afford this? How would we manage our time with two full time jobs and a busy toddler? How would we love another baby as much as we loved Will? I spent so much time worrying that I missed out on bonding time with you. And that last week in the hospital, I was worried about how healthy you would be when you were born. Looking back, I think I didn't want to get too attached in case something went wrong. The first moment I laid eyes on you was sheer delight for me:

Our first minutes with you were brief. I got to hold you and introduce you to family, but I knew any second they would want to take you to the NICU, so I didn't let myself get too attached. After I rested and got cleaned up and had dinner with daddy, we came to visit you in the NICU.

The moment I saw you in your incubator, so tiny and sweet, tears started pouring from my eyes. You were so beautiful!

The nurse let me hold you. And then I couldn't help myself. I got attached.

And now a year later, I can't let you go. You are a momma's boy and it tickles me. I am usually the one who puts you to bed at night. Not because daddy is unwilling, but because I want just one more cuddle. I am attached. I worried that I wouldn't have enough love for you and now that thought seems ridiculous! I am so proud to have you as my second son and as a brother for Will. A year ago I couldn't imagine how you would fit into our perfect family of three and now life seems like it would be imcomplete without you. You have taught me so much about faith and love and family over the past year. I am excited to see what the next year brings!

Happy birthday, my sweet Reed!

Love,

Mommy

6 Years

2010-10-16T23:38:00.000-05:00

6 years ago I began the day as a Gibbs and ended it as a Sharp. I completed a mission I had been working on for over 5 years: I got Brad to marry me. With that mission complete, we started a new one - to live happily ever after. And we have succeeded thus far! Ha! Of course not every day is perfect. We have ups and downs, but there are many more ups. I wouldn't change a bit of it. 6 years ago I couldn't have pictured our life today. Two kids, two dogs, a few job changes. We have been blessed! I look forward to 6 plus 60 more! I love you, Brad! Happy Anniversary!

What do you think?

2010-10-11T19:41:00.002-05:00

People tell me quite often that my boys look SO much alike. And I can tell they are brothers. They have the same color eyes and similar hair color and skin tones. But to me the look quite different. Reed has large round eyes and his face shape and body shape are so different than Will's.

So, I thought for fun I would put a picture of each of them for comparison. Here is Reed at about 10.5 months and below is a picture of Will at the same age.
What do you think?

The Big Easy

2010-10-10T17:15:00.000-05:00

Brad and I took a trip to New Orleans at the end of August. This was the first weekend away, just the two of us, just because we wanted to, in a LONG time. Brad's parents kept the boys for us so we knew they were in good hands.

We stayed on Canal Street. Our room wasn't that great but we got a great deal on priceline and had a wonderful view of Canal Street and of the Mississippi.

We slept in Saturday morning and then walked here for breakfast.

The line to sit down was quite long so we stood in the takeout line. After 20 minutes (I think) and lots of sweating, we finally had our beignets and drinks. As we walked out we realized there was also an indoor dining area with no waiting. Ugh. I guess we'll know next time!

We sat on a bench and enjoyed this view:

I was in an aircast from a foot injury a few weeks prior so we decided to hitch a ride on one of these to tour the French Quarter:
It was wonderful! If we go back, I really want to do this again. Our driver was a retired history teacher and he knew so much interesting information! I am not very observant, apparently. I thought they were horse drawn carriages. Umm...no. They are pulled by mules! Once I really looked at the animal I realized! Here is our driver and his mule.

He was nice enough to offer to take a picture of us, too!

Jackson square is full of vendors and people. I took a picture of a guy taking a picture of us! Ha!

The red building in the middle is where Ellen DeGeneres went to elementary school, as well as some other stars I can't remember the names of!

The Clover Grill was in a scene of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I had never seen that movie but we decided to watch it after we got home. Interesting! Anyway we had dinner there Saturday night because we ran out of time to eat somewhere fancier. It was decent but I doubt we would return. The staff and other diners were...shall we say... colorful?

I thought this sign was funny.

Our driver pointed out a few hangouts of local celebrities and he drove us right by Brad and Angelina's house. This is looking through there door into their courtyard. I don't even really like them but I was hoping we would see them coming or going! (we didn't)

This is a statue of Joan of Arc. I am fuzzy on the details but she had a lot to do with New Orlean's history and the fleur de lis.

After our tour ended we went on foot for a bit. Here is another view of St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square.

And I can't remember what this building was called but it is right next to the cathedral. Clearly I am not cut out to be a tour guide!

After having some lunch (shrimp poboy and gumbo!), we walked back to the hotel. I caught this on the way back. My maiden name is Gibbs so anytime I see that name I think it is neat.

We cooled off and lounged in the room for awhile and then went to the pool for about 20 minutes. The pool was about the size of my living room and it was very crowded so we left. We went to the Imax and saw "Hurricane on the Bayou" which was a great film about the swamps and marshes and hurrican Katrina.

After that we changed clothes again and got dinner. We had to walk on Bourbon street for a few blocks and it had changed a LOT from 11:00 that morning. Definitely not our type of fun! After dinner was the real reason we were in New Orleans - to see Brian Regan!

If you are ever near one of his performances you defnitely need to go. We laughed our tails off! He was soooooo funny and so clean! I don't really appreciate foul language so it was nice to be at a family friendly event. Lots of people had their children with them!

After the show we walked back through the Quarter and got some dessert which was a total disaster but we had fun. We slept in the next morning, got Starbucks for breakfast and headed home! It was great to see our boys. It was the first time I had been away from Reed for more than 1 night and I really missed him. Of course I missed Will too!

A Year Ago Today

2010-10-09T22:07:00.002-05:00

A year ago today our lives changed when my water broke at 32 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I wrote this post that day and blogged pretty much daily through the next 7 days of my hospital bedrest and throughout Reed's NICU stay.

So many emotions run through me when I think about this time last year. I was scared because our baby was so far from his due date. I was surprised. I mean, who expects their water to break just in the middle of the day while you're at work doing the same thing you do 5 days a week? I was excited. We didn't know the gender of our baby and I was possibly VERY close to meeting him/her!

The whole experience was surreal. It felt dream like. I felt like I was being silly sitting in the doctor's office. I really thought they would tell me to quit peeing on myself and go back to work. But they didn't. They told me to go check in at L&D and that I could possibly be there for up to 4 weeks before I had the baby. Brad was in Louisiana so my dad was with me. I remember getting hooked up to the monitors and finding out I was having contractions every 3 minutes. I remember nearly passing out after they started my IV. I remember getting steroid shots that hurt like the dickens. I remember being so glad when Brad finally arrived. I remember being giddy after getting stadol and phenergan to help ease the pain of the contractions that night.

Most of all, I remember quiet time with God. Some friends from church were at a Beth Moore event in Memphis and they were praying for me. Friends of my parents in Russia were praying for me. Friends across the country were praying for me. I remember waking up around 6 the next morning and feeling like God's arms were wrapped around me and that someone was praying for me right then. It was amazing. God had gotten my attention. I believe he had been preparing me for this time.

Throughout the pregnancy I had several dreams about our baby. I had six dreams we had a boy. In three of those dreams he was born early. In two of those three I met him in the NICU. I only had one dream I had a girl. A couple of weeks before I ended up in the hospital I had a very specific feeling that we would have a baby early. Will was 3 weeks early and I always felt he would be born before his due date and I felt the same way with Reed's pregnancy. But this feeling was different. I felt like we would have a preterm baby. It really shook me up but I dismissed the feeling and told myself I was being silly. I feel like God was trying to say "Hey Sarah! You're going to have a BOY! And he will be early!" I guess if we have a third child I will pay more attention to those things!

Even though this time last year wasn't particularly fun, I would do it over again in a heartbeat. I met some wonderful people and made new friends. And of course Reed was worth every minute of it! I am so thankful for good medical care and an attentive doctor and nurses. Because of what they did, Reed was able to stay inside me for 7 more days. I will forever be grateful to my doctor and nurses and to God for performing the miracles He did.

11 Months

2010-10-09T11:17:00.003-05:00

Reed,

You are ELEVEN months old! Just one more month before your first birthday!

You have too much to do these days to sit still and take a picture with your bunny. I tried and tried but couldn't get one. So I tried sitting the bunny next to you but you kept knocking him down before I could get a decent picture!

So I enlisted the help of Daddy. Here you are smiling when Daddy walked in. You love Daddy.
And here is one of the only pictures I could get of you sitting with the bunny. Pitiful. But look how big you are!

You weigh about 24 lbs now. You wear size 4 diapers and mostly 12-18 month clothes. Since the weather has been cooler I got out Will's old shoes and you have outgrown some of them before you even wore them! Right now you can wear a size 4 or 5! You have 5 (almost 6!) teeth and your hair is growing quickly!

You are crawling/creeping everywhere and you love to pull up and cruise the furniture. Sometimes you stand on your own but you haven't attempted to walk yet. You are BUSY. You get into everything. You pull tuperware out of the cabinet and books off the shelf. You love when I am loading or unloading the dishwasher and you constantly try and climb and sit on the door and pull silverware out of the basket. You love balls and books and pushing things. You love Will's vacuum so maybe you need one of your own!

You sing "E-I-E-I-O" from Old McDonald and you have started saying "No no" and sometimes "Nana" as well as "mama" and "dada". Ms. Honey says you can say "eat" but I haven't heard it yet.

You are only taking sippy cups with whole milk now and are eating all table foods. You love bananas and ravioli and anything sweet. You also love green beans and peas. Will would gladly give you all of his.

We will be celebrating your first birthday very soon and I can't wait! Though I can't lie, I am kind of sad that you are growing up so fast.

Love,

Mommy

Daboice Nana

2010-10-08T14:58:00.004-05:00

Our parents are invaluable to us. They birthed us, fed, clothed, taught and disciplined us for many years and helped us to become (semi) responsible adults. We all live in the same subdivision which was a pretty wise choice because now that we have kids of our own, they help us with our boys. They have taken care of sick boys and visited in the NICU and cooked meals and cleaned house.

Brad's dad kept Will full time for us while we worked and kept Reed and Will for a few months until they started going to daycare during the day. His parents usually have one or both boys at some point during the weekend.

My parents have kept them some while we work and usually about once a week my mom comes over at 5:30 in the morning to get the boys up and ready and dropped off at daycare so I can go to work when Brad is out of town. I don't think anyone should have to be anywhere that early but she does it. So when she asked if I would take her picture with her little princes, I happily obliged. It was about 99 degrees with 150% humidity and we had to wait for the camera to defog first, but we got a few cute shots. Her grandmother name is "Nana" and Will has started calling her "The boys' Nana" but it comes out more like "Daboice Nana". Cute. :)

Reed's expressions crack me up. It is nearly impossible to get everyone smiling at the same time!

We were trying to get Will to stand by her and he wanted to stand under the tree. So we asked him to look at the flower on Nana's dress. He did. Laughter ensued. We never could get him to look at me.

10 Months Old

2010-10-07T22:26:00.004-05:00

**This post will be moved to August where it belongs...evenutally :) **

Reed,

You are TEN months old! We have hit the double digits and there is no turning back now! Look how much that bunny shrunk!

You are becoming a BUSY boy. You like to get into things. You fooled Mommy up until this point by making me think you wouldn't be as much of a handful as Will. Sly little thing.

You are now crawling up on your knees! I think this is called creeping? Nana would know... You kept the army crawl for quite a while then all of a sudden you were UP! And moving fast! You love to play with balls and you laugh a lot! You are cruising the furniture and can even stand up for a few seconds without holding on to anything!

You are eating more and more table foods and still eat quite a bit of baby food. You still take bottles 3-4 times a day though we are working you getting you used to a sippy cup.You are wearing size 4 diapers and mostly 12-18 month clothes with a few 6-12 month things still thrown in there. You are long and lean compared to how Will was at this age. I still get tickled when I put some of his old pjs on you and they are so baggy in the sides.

Your hair is growing quickly and coming in sort of blonde! You have 4 teeth and a 5th one will likely come in soon. See them chompers?

We went to see Dr. Mallette, your opthamologist, for the first time. They dilated your eyes, poor baby. He said that you are far sighted and that you definitely have a blocked tear duct. He wants us to put antibiotic ointment in your eye and massage it to see if it will come open. We will go back and see him in October and if it is still blocked, he will perform surgery to open it. I would hate to put you through that, but we want your eye better!

We enjoy you more and more everyday. It is exciting to see you learn and do new things, but could you please slow down the growing? I love you!

Mommy

Ketchup Post

2010-10-07T21:56:00.003-05:00

I have to do another Ketchup post because I am so behind! I was behind before I took a near month long blogging break. With everything that has been going on at our house and our computer issues, blogging has taken a backseat. I am still reading everyone else's blog, but can't seem to keep mine up. So let's see...

I pretty much left off from the summer and my memory is terrible...

Reed had his 10 and 11 month birthdays. Actually his real birthday is next weekend! EEK!

Brad and I took a little trip to New Orleans for the weekend. First time I have been away from Reed for more than 1 night. We had a blast but New Orleans really isn't 'our town'. The food was fabulous, though!

Will is potty trained except for night time. He has been for a few months now.

The boys had hand, foot and mouth disease. Yuck. They were miserable. Blisters, fever... I guess I can spare you the details. Luckily Brad and I did not get it.

Reed gave up the bottle. This one was kind of tough. I knew he needed to give them up but they were just so baby looking and I was kind of happy he couldn't use the sippy cup. But overnight is seemed to click and I only gave him sippies one day and that was it. When I was taking the last load of clean bottles out of the dishwasher I was a little sad. Dr. Brown treated my baby well and now Playtex will have to see him through babyhood.

The boys each had double ear infections. A first at our house. Really can't believe we made it this long without getting any! During that week Will had high fevers for 6 days. He was pitiful. He lost a couple of pounds. We went to the doctor twice and called several times. Will decided he could not stand medicine which was unfortunate because between antibiotics twice a day, cough medicine up to every 6 hours and tylenol or motrin as needed, there was a lot of liquid being forced down him! I think I went to Walgreens 4 times in 36 hours. No fun.

And I took the boys back to the doctor today because they have horrible coughs. So round 2 of antibiotics. And I hate being the crazy "my kid sneezed so something is wrong!" type but they had been coughing several days so it was time.

Reed went back to the opthamologist this week and we are going to proceed with surgery but we can't do it next week since he's been so sick. I am glad the doctor is cautious but it is a little aggrivating to have the time scheduled off work and not be able to do it. We rescheduled for December so hopefully he will be well enough to have it then (or even better - the duct opens on its own!).

This is a very exciting thing - we rented a rug doctor. I know, I know. You didn't have much warning and probably fell off your chair. I am sorry. But I had to tell you. This thing was awesome. It works so well! Our carpets looked pristine. The water we dumped out of it was disgusting. And then 0.5 seconds after the boys came back home (Poppy and Gigi kept them so we could clean), things started getting spilled/wiped/tracked on them and now they look pretty terrible again. Sigh. But it was nice having good looking floors for a minute. I highly recommend renting a rug doctor and using the ZEP carpet cleaner from Home Depot unless you have rugrats (ha! get it?) who are going to undo your hours of work in mere minutes.

Hmm.... lets see... what else, what else...

Oh! I started a weight loss competition at work. Several coworkers and I decided we needed/wanted to lose weight so we started a money pool and are weighing in every week (privately) and one person is keeping up with our weight sheet. In March the person with the highest percentage of weight lost will win the money! It should be around $400 if everyone sticks with it the whole 6 months. I am down 10.2 lbs in 4 weeks! I am very happy with that because I haven't been exercising like I want to. It has either been 100 degrees or the boys have been sick and now I am sick. I did get out in 95 degree weather and jog/walk 1.5 miles and can't wait to do it again. I just think being able to breathe first is a good priority. A few coworkers and I are signing up for a 5k at the end of the month so I need to get better and get active! We aren't planning to run the whole time (I would die! ha!) but we are going to jog/walk so I need to get more conditioned to doing that in the next 4 weeks.

I am planning out Reed's party and I think it is going to be really cute. I can't believe my baby is almost one!

I hopefully can put up the pictures of his 10 and 11 month birthdays soon and our New Orleans trip. I got some good ones!

Sarah

Frustrated

2010-09-11T21:04:00.002-05:00

I have so much to blog about, but can't get my pictures to upload! I could do posts without pics, but that's no fun, is it? Any tips? I think maybe it's my computer...

Sweet Puppy

2010-09-01T17:11:00.003-05:00

This big guy is 5 now. I remember bringing him home nearly 5 years ago, right after Hurricane Katrina hit the coast. He was a cute little thing and had a ratty looking tail. Turns out it was ringworm which is pretty expensive to treat, but it cleared right up and now his tail is a big rope of fluff. The lady offered him to us for free because of his partially hairless tail, but we payed halfprice. Free just didn't seem right. He is our discount doggie.

Jake is a good dog. He is sweet to my babies. He loves to sleep in (unlike Lucy who wants to be let out by 6am, EVEN ON SATURDAYS. She clearly knows no boundaries). Jake still likes to play but generally you can find him doing this if he's inside. Or he is possibly stealing a poptark from Will who just can't get over that Jake took it! I mean, he set it on the ground just for a minute...

9 Months*

2010-08-31T22:44:00.004-05:00

*This should have been posted in mid July. I know, I know...

Reed, you are NINE months old! I know I say this all the time, but you are growing up too fast! Just a few more months and you will be ONE!!

You are quickly shedding your babyness. You have started crawling everywhere. It is a really cute army crawl. First you were pushing with your feet and rolling, then you got up on your knees and rocked for a couple of days and then you took off! I try not to put you in white too much because your little belly drags the floor and shows me how dirty the floors are, even after I've just mopped. Ha!

You are also pulling up on furniture, toys, whatever! You have two teeth that came in within a few days of each other (on the bottom) and I think you will get some on top soon!

Look how big you are!
I could only get a couple of decent ones with the bunny. You just won't sit still! I remember when the bunny was a little bit bigger than you. That's definitely not the case now! You are wearing size 3 diapers but we are about to move up to size 4's. You are wearing some 6-12 month clothes but a lot of them are 9, 12 or 18 month sizes. You are able to wear several things of Will's and it tickles me to see you in them because you fill them out in length but they look a bit baggy in the sides. I guess your brother stretched them out!

The tear duct in your right eye is still blocked and draining lots of gunk. Dr. Rogers was thinking it would clear up by now but it hasn't so we will go see an opthomolagist next month. You scratched the outside of your left eye the day we took these pictures, so both of your eyes are

pitiful!

But Dr. Rogers was pleased with the rest of your development. You are pretty much on track with other babies your age and it is hard to believe you were a preemie!

You weighed 22lbs 2 oz (75th percentile)

Your length was 28.25 inches (50th percentile)

Your head circumference was 18 inches (?)

You are such a delight to be around! You usually sleep from 7:30 or 8:00 to when daddy wakes you around 6:30 to go to Ms. Honey's house or between 7 and 8:30 if we can sleep in. One Saturday you slept till 9:35! Will was at Gigi and Poppy's house so Mommy and Daddy slept till 9:35! It was blessed! You are taking 2-3 naps a day ranging from 45 min to 3 hours depending on what is going on.

You take four or five 7oz bottles of formula a day. Dr. Rogers said your iron was good and we could switch you to whole milk but I want to make sure you are eating more table food first. You usually have 2 containers of baby food at lunch and 2 at dinner and you are really starting to enjoy puffs and other finger foods. Your favorite baby food is pretty much anything orange. You tolerate peas and your dislike green beans and bananas. You ADORE Earth's Best Wheat teething biscuits but make a HUGE mess with them so I am selective about when I give them to you. You really seem to like yogurt, too. When I get it out for you Will usually asks for some so I give him the first one and you throw a fit while I stir your yogurt up.

You love to play! You are starting to play peek-a-boo with a blanket and you love getting into Will's toys (which he cannot stand!). You adore Ms. Honey which I am thankful for. You do ok in the church nursery but have nearly been kicked out a few times for crying. I think there is just too much stimulation in there for you to go to sleep and you get very cranky! There were several Sundays when I came to get you and you were in a room next door asleep in Mrs. Korbi's or Mrs. LaDonna's arms with the lights off.

You are saying "Hey!" sometimes and babbling mama and dada. I can't wait to hear you talk! You seem very reserved about people you don't know and are so joyous around those you do know. Even though you can't talk yet, you are able to communicate well. I know immediately when you don't like something because this is what you do:

You seem to be a little dramatic and a put-on but at least I can read you! When Will steals a toy from you or you are tired or hungry, you cry. But you also get over it very quickly!

I am so proud of how well you are doing just nine months from coming into the world! I love you very much and enjoy your sweet cuddles and the way you touch your little fingers to my face. Happy 9 month birthday, sweet boy!

Love,

Mommy

Aunty Em

2010-08-30T16:07:00.003-05:00

The weekend after we went to the beach my brother Sam and sister-in-law Emily came to visit. Oliver was not in tow this time which was sort of strange. He was visiting with his Aunt Tressie and baby cousin Adley, so I feel pretty sure he was having a blast!

They brought Will some belated birthday gifts and he was so excited! Aunt Emily read his new book to him and his cousin Alex.
Can you oink like a pig?

Alex can!

Can you chomp like a gator?

The boys enjoyed spending time with their Aunty Em!

*It is funny to me to look at Alex and Will side by side. Alex is 20 months older than Will and they enjoy playing together. They are first cousins and look NOTHING alike. And they are both wearing size 3t gymboree shirts here!

I can't keep up

2010-08-30T15:24:00.002-05:00

Life is happening and I can't keep up.

On the blog, that is.

I have missed Reed's 9 and 10 month posts. And he has 5 (almost 6!) teeth. And he is crawling like a big boy and pulling up and cruising the furniture.

Will is daytime potty trained. Still has occasional accidents but he's spoting some Buzz and Woody or Lightning McQueen or Elmo undies everyday now.

Reed is outgrowing his infant seat so we just got convertibles for him.

I've tried new recipes.

I'm still working. Brad's still working his hiney off. We got to go away for the weekend together a week ago.

I rented a rug doctor to clean our carpets. Will definitely do that again. And possibly soon because the boys have had hand, foot and mouth disease since Friday. And the carpet has taken a beating.

Will is at his Gigi and Poppy's for the evening so it's just me and the little guy. Maybe I can do a few actual posts with some of the pictures I have taken since July. Hopefully I can get at least a few done this week. Wish me luck, because I can't seem to keep up!

Photoshoot, Take Too Sweet

2010-08-16T20:55:00.000-05:00

Reed is a mama's boy for sure, but Gigi got some good snuggles in while I took pictures.

These are Will's feet. That's the only part of him that made it in this post!

I love this of my baby boy. He was mesmerized by the sand.

I love this shot, too. I like the sand glob falling down from his hand.

Mmmm...gritty!

Photoshoot, Take 2

2010-08-15T21:52:00.005-05:00

Do you know how difficult it is to get a decent shot of 4 people?

Especially when two of them are ages 2 and under?

And the wind is blowing our hair? Oh well, we tried!

But reduce the number by 2 and it gets a little easier...

LOVE this one of Will. Even though he is burrying my lens brush in the stand. Still love it.

I was getting him to smile by telling him to say hey to his daycare buddies. I think he was yelling "Kayla" here.

This little sweetie just gets me every time he smiles.

Can you see the water dripping from the shell?

I probably took almost a hundred of him playing in the water. He loved it!

This is possibly my favorite from the day. The sunlight broke through the clouds and was so buttery warm and glowy. I made Brad get out of the way. He was nervous stepping away from Will but the momentary danger was worth it. I mean look at this! I only edited this by cropping it. If I could bottle light like that I would be rich! I think I will crop it a little more and have it printed on canvas.

It was hard to choose which ones to post because I took a few hundred. Of course a lot of them are not great and I should delete them but that is so hard for me to do! I would probably post all of them if it didn't take so long to upload a set to blogger. I have a few more to share of Reed. then I can move on.

Photoshoot, Take 1

2010-08-07T22:28:00.002-05:00

Orange Beach Day 3

2010-08-06T20:46:00.007-05:00

Saturday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and then a not so lesiurely time getting ready to go to the pool. Suiting up and getting sunscreen on 2 little people can be a challenge! But we made it and Will thouroughly enjoyed his time in the water.

I went Friday and got him arm floaties and a pool ring to use instead of his life jacket which was too tight. He loved them!

He had a blast swimming with Daddy. He did not want me at all!

Little Reed didn't have a choice. He seemed to like being in the pool.

After a little while it was time to go get cleaned up so we could go out to eat lunch.

Can you see Reed's fin on top of his hood?

The beach was just steps away. Many places in the area had double red flags but our condo only had one.

While Brad and I got showered and dressed, Gigi got Reed hopped up on caffeine!

Then we took in the gorgeous views from the balcony.

Will refused to be in a picture with us.

We headed to Tacky Jacks for lunch. The service was less than stellar but the food was good!

Reed wasn't too impressed. He thought his carrots tasted the same as anywhere else. :)

Will enjoyed his sweet tea with a bendy straw.

And he also enjoyed his 'ba' and sitting by Gigi.

We had to wait awhile on our food so Poppy drew a portrait of Will.

And Gigi entertained us by putting on Will's hat.

After lunch we took some pictures on the front porch of the gift shop.

I love this one of my boys.

But this one is the sweetest. They are smiling at their daddy (I think) and Will is holding Reed's hand.

After lunch it was nap time and then pictures on the beach...

Orange Beach Day 2

2010-08-06T18:57:00.006-05:00

Please excuse my blogging break. We've been quite busy lately!

On our second day in Orange Beach, we woke up to find quite a bit of acitivy on the beach. The clean-up crews arrived! Will and I watched them work for a few minutes.

The beach looked pretty good, I thought!

Will and I did some quick shopping then we went to lunch at a seafood place. The food was so yummy but I was sad for the staff. We got there at 1:15 and there was only one other table there and they were finishing up. When we left there was one more couple eating. I know a lot of the workers are having a tough time with so few tourists coming to the area.

That afternoon while Will napped, I chased Reed around and took some pictures. He is such a little sweetie! And he loved this remote!

He recently got two bottom teeth and I was trying to capture them. You can barely see one of them in this.

He is so fast! I took a lot of pictures of him and got several of him crawling away from me.

I never tire of seeing this sweet smile! Though I often have trouble catching it on camera!

I took the boys to the beach and pool that evening. I realized after I got on the beach that I didn't have the memory card in my camera. Argh! So my cell phone had to do. Reed loved eating the sand and Will loved playing in it.

Brad and his mom finally arrived around 10:30 and Will was still awake to help me greet them. Will was elated when they got out of the car! He refused to sleep with us once he saw his Gigi though. We are 2nd rate compared to his grandparents.

Orange Beach Day 1

2010-07-14T20:06:00.004-05:00

Brad's parents invited us to go with them for a long weekend to Orange Beach, Alabama. His dad and I left with the boys Thursday before lunch and got there around supper time. The condo was nice and the view was fabulous. Last year where we stayed was super nice but it wasn't right on the beach. This one was. And the beach looked great! See for yourself - no oil here!

After we unpacked some things and had a simple meal of sandwiches and veggies, I suited up the kids to go down to the pool. This little man didn't mind posing:

But Will... not so much. He was throwing a fit.

There were some cute houses across the street and some pretty houses on an island across the bay. (I guess it is called the bay???)

We got down to the pool at nearly 7pm so it was nice and shaded.

And we went for a swim! This was Reed's first time and he seemed to like it! Will liked it, too, until he tipped over head first into the water a couple of times. I was right beside him and grabbed him immediately but it made him a little water-shy. We ditched the vest for some floaties after that.

The sun started setting and the sky turned some beautiful pastel colors.

Doesn't this make you want to kick back and relax?

We stayed in the pool for awhile and then went upstairs, got cleaned up and dressed for bed and retired early... NOT. Reed went to bed without hesitation and his Poppy followed soon. But Mr. Will stayed up until 11:30!!! I was ready to drug him with Benadryl. I couldn't just go lay down with him because Reed was asleep and I knew he would be too loud but I thought if I let him stay up and watch TV he would just fall asleep. WRONG. That little stinker gave me a run for my money!

To be continued...

Independence Day

2010-07-13T12:03:00.005-05:00

Brad and I were both on call for work 4th of July weekend, so it was hard to relax and enjoy ourselves. Brad ended up having to work Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but we did get to go to church together, have lunch with his parents and catch a Braves game.

Reed was in patriotic fare for church:
Sunday evening we went to the Mississippi Braves game. It was packed. Brad's parents kept Reed for us since we knew it would be pretty late before we got home. Will spotted the inflatable play area as soon as we entered the gate so we let him jump for a bit.

Then he wanted to 'lide'. He climbed all the way up by himself, which looked to be quite a feat. He started his trip down quite nicely.

At about the halfway point, he started to lose.

And then it was over with. I wasn't even sure I had gotten it on camera because I was shocked as he tumbled. But apparently my finger kept going for this shot:

Poor little man. He landed and was crying pretty hard but he got over it and we were able to enjoy the game.

Scratch that. We were able to go get our hotdogs, corndogs and drinks and make our way toward our seats when Brad got called to work. We decided since the place he needed to go was 15 minutes away that he could take the car and go then come back after. It was still about 30 minutes to first pitch so we figured he wouldn't miss too much.

In the meantime I met up with some coworkers and their kids.

Anna, Noah, Mia and Will.

Me, Kerry, Mellicent and Amy

We ended up hanging out with them and standing behind the section I'd actually bought tickets for. Our seats were good but there was a man sitting two seats down from us who had a case of being loud and obnoxious. I tolerated his chatter until he started using some profanity, then I asked him to cut it out. After a little bit of back and forth, my friends motioned for me to join them and I was glad to leave the loudmouth. Many people looked annoyed with him, too, but nobody spoke up when I did. It's a shame that one person can ruin something for a lot of people.

Will's night wasn't spoiled, though! He had a blast playing with water.

And his hats.

Brad finally made it back with 1 inning left. The game finally ended around 10:15 with the Braves beating the Diamond Cats 8-0!

Finally it was time for fireworks!

Will seemed to enjoy watching them. I was quite surprised he made it through the whole game and fireworks without falling asleep!

After sitting in traffic and stopping by Taco Bell for a late night snack, we finally made it home at 11:11pm! Brad and I never stay out that late anymore! We ended up letting Will sleep with us since he was pretty wired. Brad had to get up and go to work the next morning and Will and I slept in a bit and then went to his parents' house to get Reed. It turend out to be a baby exchange because Will refused to come home with me! A little while later Brad came home and then we went back to his parents' for some yummy lunch. It was a good weekend!

Watch out now!

2010-07-13T11:34:00.003-05:00

Because this little man is on the move!

He can play baseball with his brother.
And get into the dogs' water bowl (which thankfully was empty this time).

And get photo-bombed by his big brother!

Why yes, those are Dash pants. Thanks for asking. Will has been working on potty training for the past 8 weeks or so and is doing great!

For Erin T.

2010-07-07T10:58:00.001-05:00

Here is Will's haircutting face. He and Sydney would be good friends, I think.

Things I learned about my 2 year old today

2010-07-06T22:57:00.002-05:00

Today I had the privelege of spending the day with my babies. Though if Will could read this he would certainly inform me "I not a baby, mama!"

I learned a lot about my little man today. Some things I already knew, but haven't shared with you.

1. He calls a pop tart "pop tark". It is adorable.

2. He does a decent job of picking out his own clothes. Exhibit A:

3. If I get out the single stroller with the intention of putting Reed in it, he will demand to sit in it.

4. He will attempt to shoplift a stuffed monkey from a store if I am not paying attention.

5. He likes to dip his fries in polynesian sauce like his mommy.

6. He can stay dry for 4 hours and use the public potty. He even wants to flush it!

7. He loves expensive kiddie rides. Look - it's his favorite song - "The Will's on the bus!"

7. If I get out the double stroller, he will refuse to ride in it.

8. He will follow me pretty well until I walk into GAP and then he will keep walking until a nice lady directs him toward me.

9. He picks off the m&ms from his cookie and eats those first. If he drops an m&m/cookie chunk under the seat, he will pick it up as I am telling him to leave it. And then when I tell him not to eat it, he will turn away and hide as if I don't realize he is eating it.

10. He flips out if I don't buckle him in his carseat. We were parked too close to the car next to us for me to strap him in so I put him in on the other side and was going to turn around in my seat to buckle him. I guess he thought I forgot about him and he started yelling for me to buckle him in.

11. If I get him on the potty when he says "My tummy hurts", he will poop in the potty!

12. He is one of the sweetest, smartest and funnest two year olds I have ever been around!

I enjoyed being with this guy, too!

3 Trips to GAP later...

2010-06-26T19:57:00.003-05:00

Thursday I left work a little early and quite cranky. I had a stress headache and hadn't eaten so I decided a Chik-fil-a sandwhich would cure me. After I perked up a little, I decided to check out GAP, Children's Place and GYMBOREE. I hadn't been to any of those stores in awhile and the boys were both outgrowing their clothes.

GAP was my first stop and they were busy marking down some items. The salesperson told me all sales items were an additional 40% off. Sweet! I started grabbing everything I liked. The store was quite busy-busier than I'd ever seen it. I checked out with what I thought was a pretty good deal and decided to skip the other stores.

Friday I had to go back because a shirt and pair of jeans I got for Will were too tight. I decided to go to GAP in the mall. I found a few more good deals but was disappointed because their prices were higher than the first one. I then headed to GYMBOREE where they were having a huge sale also.

Today I had to risk my husband taking away my debit card to make one more trip to the original store. I picked out a few more items and went to check out. The first 2 items didn't ring up as low as they should so I asked and found out they were only 25% off. I told the lady I thought it was 40% off because that's what it was Thursday and I needed to rethink my selection. She kept ringing me up and said "OK we'll see". I was getting uncomfortable as she kept ringing things up and I thought she didn't undetrstand so I said again "I'm not sure I want all this." She said "It's ok,I will honor it." And then she made my balance go from $77 to $44. The 25% had already been taken off then she did an additional 40%!

So here is my loot from 3 GAP trips and 1 GYMBOREE trip:

5 Jackets
1 Anorak
1 hat
3 pairs of socks
3 pairs of underwear
2 pairs linen pants
2 linen shirts
2 swimsuits
2 t-shirts
1 polo
1 long sleeved shirt
5 sets of pajamas
1 romper
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of shorts

Total spent: $167.64

Total retail value if bought at full price: about $575 before tax.

I did good!

Reed on the move.

2010-06-25T22:22:00.000-05:00

Reed up on his knees

2010-06-23T19:40:00.000-05:00

Reed started getting up on his knees today. He has been moving around a lot on his belly, spinning in circles and rolling. But today is the first day I've seen him do this. I was thinking it would be another month or so before he started crawling, but I think it may be soon!

At the end when you see the camera shaking and I'm not saying anything, I was laughing. I wish I had captured the look on Will's face. It is so hard to discipline your kids sometimes!

Sadie turns 2!

2010-06-19T21:51:00.006-05:00

Will's friend Sadie had her 2nd birthday party today! They had it at a local farm and it was so much fun.

Look how cute the birthday girl was!

There were animals galore. This sweet horse had a window that opened onto the porch and he (she?) got lots of love and attention while we were there.
Will looked like this most of the time:

He really didn't want to touch any of the animals. Even the sweet bunnies.

We went on a hay ride.

We stopped and saw some llamas.

And some goats.

Then we came back to party and pet the horse again.

Reed enjoyed watching all the kids and seeing the animals. Except for when the horse sneezed on him.

Check out this cutie!

We sang to sweet Sadie and had some cake!

Reed had a bottle then sacked out.

Then, when the party was almost over, Will decided to pet a horse.

And then he rode a tire horse.

And wanted this plastic horse.

But the birthday girl was ready to ride away in her new car and it was time to go!

Will Sings

2010-06-18T21:46:00.001-05:00

Just so you know, I was NOT 'nekked'. He was playing with the drawstring on my scrubs. I don't know where this kid gets some of this stuff.

8 Months

2010-06-16T19:40:00.004-05:00

Reed,
You are eight months old! 3/4 of a year! Wow.

Look how big you have gotten! I am not sure how much you weigh but you have filled out so much recently! I would guess that is because you take five bottles a day, sometimes totalling 35 ounces AND you are eating 4 containers of baby food, 2 at lunch and 2 at dinner. I have given you a sippy cup and you mainly play with it.

I have a hard time getting you to eat green foods. You gag with green beans and avacado and you barely tolerate peas. You love squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, mango and pears. Sometimes you will eat bananas. You eat so much orange stuff, your nose now has an orange tint to it! You love biter biscuits and get goo all over yourself when you have one and you SCREAM if you drop it and can't find it.

You are wearing some 6 month clothes, some 9 month and a few 12 or 18 month things. You are wearing a size 3 diaper and your belly has gotten so round recently I don't know how much longer you will fit in those!

Your hair has grown a lot in the last month and it is hard to tell what color it will be. It mainly seems to be light brown but there is quite a bit of blonde and gold mixed in and sometimes it looks red. Your right eye still has a blocked tear duct and I made an appointment for you to see an opthamologist in August. I am hoping it will decide to open on it's own before then, but if not I suppose we will have to get it probed. :( Either way I can't wait for it to clear up. You get very annoyed with me cleaning it.

You have become so busy lately. You roll everywhere and can push yourself backward with your feet when you are on your back. You do a decent job at sitting up though you are still quite wobbly. When you are on your belly you raise your arms and legs and squirm so it looks like you are swimming. I haven't seen you try to get up on your knees yet but I doubt it will be long. Just tonight you rolled over to your bumbo and were trying to pull up on it. Then in the bathtub you flipped yourself out of your mesh seat. I was right there, of course, and caught you before your head got close to the water but you surprised me!

You love to smile at me and daddy and Will. You also smile big for Ms. Honey. Most other people you are sort of cautious with and aren't as free with your sweet grins. When I come to pick you up from Ms. Honey's or the church nursery, you usually smile at me then fuss until I have you in my arms. You are pretty much a momma's boy and I am totally fine with that! Speaking of the church nursery, you nearly got kicked out again last Sunday. After church you were being held out in the hallway. I think there is just too much going on in there for you to relax so you get aggitated.

You are generally calm and happy, but do throw some fits when we do something unthoughtful like take the remote from you after you have stolen it. You get downright mad. It is kind of funny to watch because as soon as you get what you want back, the tears stop.

You are still sleeping through the night!!! We usually put you in your crib between 7:30 and 9:00 depending on how the day/evening went and you sleep until 6:30 and 8:30. You take 2 or 3 naps during the day, lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.

You don't have any teeth yet and I hope you will get them soon! You have had bouts of crankiness and lots of drooling and chewing on things. I feel some bumps on your gums so we may see them break through soon!

We love you so much and you are such a precious addition to our family!

Love,

Mommy

Check her out

2010-06-06T22:47:00.003-05:00

So there is a lady who calls herself Grasshopper Momma. I stumbled on her blog when I saw her comment on another blog back last spring and I've been hooked ever since. She has 3 absolutely precious and hilarious children and she is pretty funny herself. She is a good ole Southern girl, too, so she uses "y'all" and appreciates good food and air conditioning. I always look forward to her posts.

She is giving away a pair of earrings and you need to go leave a comment for a chance to win! I am hoping to win them myself because 1. they are cute and 2. I am too busy buying diapers and wipes and formula to buy anything for myself these days. You have until Friday morning!

Staycation

2010-05-30T14:44:00.007-05:00

Friday night Brad and I decided we had the itch to go somewhere this weekend. He is on call tomorrow but we thought we could do something Saturday and today. With it being a holiday weekend, popular places like the beach would be too expensive but we considered going to Memphis. We have never taken Will to the children's museum, Mud Island or the zoo and thought it would be a great time to go... until we looked at the weather. The forecast was pretty much a chance of rain all weekend.

Instead of traveling all that way just to stay indoors, we planned to do some things around our town. We ate some Mexican food for lunch then took the boys to the Natural Science Museum and we all had a nice time.

Will saw some alligators:

And Reed hung out in the stroller:

We saw some bears and Will pondered touching them. He eventually stuck his hand out for a brief rub.

We saw fossils of creatures:

And fish!

We saw a two headed snake:

And more fish!

This was in the "abandoned farm" display. Anyone else find it creepy?

We saw some turtles including a HUGE snapping turtle but he blended so well it was hard to see in pictures.

Will pretended the bird watching binoculars were phones.

And Reed got carried around by daddy.

Then Will sat on a frog. That may look like a smile, but he was really crying for me to take him off of it.

After that we played at the huge wooden playground until I decided it was way too hot and bribed Will outta there with the promise of ice cream. He fell asleep on the way home and we stopped for sno cones at Snoasis which Brad renamed Slowasis because it took FOREVER to get one. Not sure why he was worried about how long it took because I was the one who stood in line and got texts that said "Boy it sure looks hot out there!". The thermometer on the stand said 95 but the Tahoe thermometer said 99.

Today we all slept till after 8:00! We were going to be late trying to get to Sunday School and decided to skip the worship service, too. After Reed was up (at 8:45!) and fed, we went to Waffle House. Will surprised us by refusing to eat his chocolate chip waffle (really buddy?) and then knocked his glass of watered down chocolate milk all over himself. But all in all, we had a nice breakfast.

After breakfast we went to Big Lots to try and find a splash pad or pool for Will. He had a splash pad last summer and we apparently threw it out at some point during the winter.

While at Big Lots, Will got to ride a mechanical horse. It was only 25 cents! Clearly everything is cheaper at Big Lots because the last time we were at the mall it cost 75 cents per ride. We found a pool that was on sale and came home to play.

You may not be able to tell, but this pool has the works. It has a basketball goal, slide, ring toss and sprinkler. For $25.

Will mostly enjoyed himself by splashing. I made the mistake of inviting myself in the pool and he said "Get out, momma!".

Reed was down for a nap but woke up before Will was finished playing, so I dressed him up for his first pool encounter.

He was not impressed. In fact, I dare say he hated it. He did okay after a minute of sitting in the water but I was holding him with one hand and doing something with Will with my other hand and Reed slid down into the water. He mostly got the right side of his face wet, but he was M.A.D. I tried to reintroduce him to it but he was pretty vocal in protest.

He had much more fun sitting in my arms outside the pool. Good thing I didn't spend anything on this outfit for him. We went shopping in Will's old clothes. This is the same suit and glasses Will wore at 3 months old. Not the same swim diaper, but it is from the same pack.

Tomorrow we are going to have lunch at Brad's parents' house and cross our fingers he doesn't get called in to work. It's been a nice little staycation!

The things he says...

2010-05-28T17:36:00.003-05:00

Will has become quite a character. Actually, he's always been a character. He just says more things now.

Like just now he found some hand sanitizer and was squirting on the hearth and rubbing it on the bricks. I told him to stop and he said, "No, momma." I told him to stop again and he said, "No, momma! Leave me alone!"

A little while earlier he was asking for his ba (pacifier). I told him he didn't need it and he said, "I do need it, momma!". I told him ony babies used pacifiers and that he was a big boy now. He said, "I am a baby, momma."

Last night after I got home from work he sat in my lap and spotted my pocket. This is what followed:

"You got a pocket, momma."

Yes.

"You got pens. Here's your stissors."

Yes. Thank you.

"Daddy got pockets, too."

Yes, he does.

"Loooook! Stissors!"

And at bedtime last night: Will, it's time for bed. Let's go night night. "Noooo!! I NOT GO NIGHT NIGHT! I not leepy!"

Man, he is a funny guy. Sometimes he makes me laugh at a time I need to be serious and discipline him. Try as I might to not smile, he can usually tell when he's tickled me and he will get this little grin on his face and I know I'm busted.

Safe

2010-05-26T19:15:00.002-05:00

I think...
it is safe to say...

our preemie days...

are behind us.

Nothing Says Summer Like Baseball

2010-05-22T18:11:00.006-05:00

Last night we took the boys to a Mississippi Braves game. I took Will to one last summer but Brad and I haven't been in 2 years. It's a shame we haven't taken more advantage of having a minor league team less than 10 minutes from our house because it really is a lot of fun!
Will seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself. He kicked off the evening with by enjoying a corndog.

We need to work on chewing with our mouths closed...

And after he ate his, he ate half of mine. We spent a lot of money at the concession stands....

We saw my coworker Kerry and his son Noah at the game and they came and sat with us. Is Noah not the cutest thing you've ever seen? He is such a sweetie, too. He invited me to bring "the baby and the little boy" to his t-ball game this morning, but we didn't make it.

We watched some baseball...

...and Will played and danced and laughed and sang his ABC's. He even said "CHARGE!" when appropriate.

Reed seemed to enjoy his first trip to Trustmark Park.

He was especially delighted by my empty cup.

Look how at ease my hubby is being a daddy of two.

I never get tired of seeing things like this:

But we did get tired before the end of the game.

That was actually Will singing "Happy Birthday".

We left at the bottom of the 6th around 9:30. Will and Reed did great! Reed fell asleep on the way home and I got him out of his seat, changed his diaper and put pjs on him and put him to bed. He was out quickly. Will fussed for a bit before going to bed and I sacked out by 10:00. It was so nice to have an outing as a family. I look forward to going to the ballpark with my boys for many years to come. And maybe one day we will have a girl to bring with us, too. ;)

7 Months

2010-05-17T19:43:00.008-05:00

Reed,

You are 7 months old (yesterday)! You are getting so big!

You are eating baby food twice a day now and take five or six 6-7 oz bottles. So far you have had carrots (love), sweet potatoes (love), squash (love), bananas (love), green peas (tolerate), apples (love) and green beans (make you cry). Tonight we tried pears for the first time and you made some awful faces but then seemed to like it. You don't really like rice cereal and I can't blame you. That stuff is bland! You are doing fairly well with the sippy cup and seem to enjoy playing with it.

You are teething and though none are about to poke through, I doubt it will be long. You gnaw on
fingers and blankets and burp cloths and teething rings. Everything goes to your mouth. You aren't quite sitting up on your own but can kind of sit/lean for a mintue. You seem to be a good ways from crawling and I am not in a hurry for you to! You can roll from your belly to back quickly and often but I haven't see you go from back to belly. You are very good at grabbing things and holding onto them. You especially love to grab hair and necklaces!

You have so much personality. You are usually sooooo happy but are definitely opinionated when it comes time to eat or sleep. You nearly got kicked out of the church nursery yesterday because you were so tired and the nursery workers couldn't get you to sleep. They were just about to page me when the director was able to get you to dreamland.

You love to SHRIEK now and make goo-goo ga-ga noises. It is precious and I love to hear you babble. You almost always smile at me, daddy and Will. Will adores you and has his own baby talk voice he speaks to you in.

You have pretty much grown out of your 3-6 month clothes and mostly wear 6-12 month things. You have moved up to size 3 diapers and are wearing 0-6 month shoes. Your looks have changed a lot to me and sometimes you look like Will but most of the time you don't.

Check out how much you look like a Gibbs:

You still have a blocked tear duct in the right eye and sometimes it drains soooo much. I know you hate for us to clean it and I hate for it to look gunky. I am hoping it clears up very soon. I know the best option is for it to open up on its own but I worry that we will have to take you to an opthamologist to fix it. If it isn't open by July, Dr. Rogers is going to refer us to one.

You were not very happy with me when I was trying to take your monthly picture today:

You seemed better when I gave you a paci.

But then you got mad again and I decided a quick nap was in order. So this bunny pic will have to do for the month:

You make me smile so much and I feel so blessed and happy to be your mommy!

Love,
Mommy

Birthdays

2010-05-16T14:13:00.003-05:00

I finally got my birthday present last week! With gifts from my parents, in-laws and friends, plus a little savings, I was able to replace the lens Will broke a few months ago. I actually got the upgraded version:
I got it in the mail last Monday and have gotten to play with it some. Actually, it was my mother-in-law's birthday. We went to have dinner with her and my father-in-law. I caught some pics of the kids and their Poppy while we waited for Gigi.

I love this one. Bruce was blowing Reed's hair here.

Wish this were in focus, but it's still sweet.

My parents came by to wish Patty a happy birthday, so Reed got some lovin' from his Nana.

And then he got some kisses from Gigi.

Gigi and her boys.

And today is Poppy's birthday. He had surgery last week so he isn't feeling great but hopefully we can go see him for a little while.

Typical

2010-05-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

This is my typical night at home.

And I love it.

Ree Ree

2010-05-13T17:41:00.003-05:00

I recorded this over a month ago and never uploaded it. I just love baby babbles!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T21:10:00.003-05:00

I would love to say that I started Mother's Day out right by sleeping in and having breakfast in bed brought to me by my sweet husband and adoring sons.

But I didn't, so that would be lying.

What I did do was get up at 6am to put a ham in the oven and start getting ready for church since we had to be there at the crack of 8:15 for a meeting. Brad and I struggle to get there by 9:15 every week. 8:15 seemed impossible, but you know what? We did it! And the preacher had already started our meeting. Apparently his watch is about 2 minutes faster than ours.

What were we meeting about? Baby dedication! We dedicated our sweet Reed Matthew today along with 12 other couples dedicating their precious babes. We go to a Baptist church and for us, baby dedication doesn't symbolize salvation for the child. It is an informal ceremony where you as the parents present your child before the church, recognizing that he or she is a gift from the Lord and commit to raising your child in a Godly home.

Here we are (below the stained glass window) dedicating Reed. You don't see Will here. At this point he was either at Brad's feet trying to put his sandals on or he was behind us trying to climb up the steps to the choir loft. I was so proud of him for the few minutes before the dedication started and he was quiet and calm. And then right before we needed to walk up front he took his shoes off. There was no time to put them back on and when Brad picked him up he started saying "No!" in protest. Lovely.

My oldest brother and his family were not able to come because their children were involved in their church's morning service and my middle older brother and his family weren't able to be there, either. But my youngest older brother (is that confusing? I have 3), Joseph, did come. Joseph and I sat with my mom and dad. We took Will back to the nursery for the rest of the service and I kept Reed with me. He sacked out on mom as soon as she snuggled him in her arms.

Here are my mom, Reed and Joseph:

Mom and her youngest grandchild

Our precious family. Two years ago we were standing here dedicating 5.5 week old Will.

Will had enough of pictures by this point. He was behind us.

Brad's parents are far left, my parents far right. I love how Reed and Will are looking at each other. When you have young children, you just have to smile and take the picture, no matter what the kids are doing. Chances are, you aren't getting them to both look and smile.

Once we put Will down, he was happy to pose!

This is our minister of music's wife, Angie. She is truly one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She and Bro. Ronnie came to see us the night Reed was born and got to be there when we held Reed for the first time since birth. She took pictures for us and prayed over us. That was so special to me and I'm glad I got to share those moments with her and her husband.

The gown Reed wore is special to me, too. My brother Sam and his wife Emily gave it to us when I was pregnant with Will. Will wore it for his baby dedication 2 years ago and I was so happy that Reed was able to wear it, too. I don't know if Will would have fit in it at 6.5 months old!

After church our parents and Joseph came over for lunch. We only have one oven, so it was interesting to try and get everything ready quickly. I forgot to take a picture of the food. We had honey ham, roasted asparagus, carrot souffle, homeade macaroni and cheese, yeast and wheat rolls, tea and peanut butter fudge cheesecake. It was very yummy!

Mom put Reed down for a nap and everyone left. We got Will to sleep and Brad and I both crashed. Then Reed woke up and I managed to get him to sleep in my arms for 2 hours while I napped! Actually my nap was interrupted by someone offering to pressure wash our house (not for free of course). I had to wake Brad up to get him to tell the guy no since I wasn't convincing enough.

Once Will was up we went outside so he could play, then went for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day and actually quite cool for May.

Did I mention we finally got a double stroller that is easy to push?

So that was my Mother's Day. I didn't get to sleep in but getting up to cook for my family was worth it. Rearranging my morning schedule to take my boys to church and introduce Reed to the congregation was worth it. Spending the afternoon with my baby sleeping in my arms was special. I know it is because not everyone has family to cook for. Not everyone has a baby to dedicate or is a member of a church family. And I know my babies will grow and won't always want to spend sunny afternoons with their momma. So I am thankful for my busy Mother's Day!

Will was here

2010-04-29T16:15:00.003-05:00

Apparently he thought the tweezers needed to be cleaned. And now they sparkle.

6 months

2010-04-24T21:18:00.004-05:00

Reed,
You are 6 months old! It looks like your bunny shrunk! Or did you really grow that much? Your hair is coming in thicker and a little darker and your eyes are most definitely blue. You are wearing some 3-6 month clothes and some 6-12 month things. You still wear a size 2 diaper but I think we will move up to 3's the next time I buy them. You weigh about 18lb and are solid! You have some fat on you for sure but you aren't nearly as fluffy as Will was. It is funny to put you in some outfits that he filled out in the middle and they look baggy on you. The star onesie in you are wearing here was Will's and he wore it in his 4 months pictures.

I could only get a couple of pics before you would knock your bunny down. You are very active with your arms and legs now! You aren't quite sitting up yet but you roll over really well now. One night you got me up several times because you kept rolling to your back and waking up. I can usually tell on the monitor if you are on your back or belly by the way you babble.

So far you have had rice cereal, carrots and sweet potatoes. You didn't care for the rice cereal at first but tolerated it with apple juice mixed in. You really like the carrots and sweet potatoes but you don't seem psyched about eating baby food in general. We are trying, though!

You found your feet! You love to grab them and have brought them up to your mouth a couple of times! You mostly do this when I put you on the changing table. It is definitely one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

You have also found your tongue and your voice! You love to stick your tongue out. You have quite a long tongue! One day when I came to pick you up, Ms. Honey and Aubrey's momma were sitting there laughing at you because you were touching the bottom of your chin with the tip of your tongue. It looks so funny! You love to shriek now and blow bubbles and make noises. I have started taking you to the nursery at church because you are too noisy to make it if you are awake.

You love your brother and he loves you. You are always watching him in apparent awe. I hope you don't learn his bad habits! Whenever I have you in your crib taking your picture, Will throws a fit to get in there with you. Sometimes I let him, but I didn't this time so he resorted to climbing to see you.

You bring so much joy to our lives! Before you were born I couldn't imagine how you would fit in. Everything seemed so perfect with just me, daddy and Will. BUT the moment you were born I fell instantly in love with you and each day I love you more and more.

Love,
Mommy

One big boy and one sort of big boy

2010-04-20T19:24:00.003-05:00

I took the boys to the doctor this morning for their well child/baby checkups. They did great! I had planned to push Reed in the stroller and have Will walk and that worked until Will threw a fit to ride and I had to carry Reed and push the stroller. (double stroller - you are a definite on my need/want list). But Dr. Roger's nurse Jess is always so sweet and helps me carry stuff if I need her to. Reed had to get three shots and an oral vaccine and he was a little crabby this afternoon. Since he is 6 months he can have Motrin now and he actually seems a little better after having a dose.

We missed Wills dental appointment last month because we were sick so I took him this afternoon. He did great! He already has his bottom 2 year molars and his top ones are cutting through. They said his gums were a little inflamed so be sure to brush by those, but other than that it was a good checkup. He didn't want to leave!

The dentist is in a small strip of businesses that includes a Bop's. If you don't know what Bop's is, you are so missing out. (it is frozen custard and heavenly. go try the Snappy Turtle or Strawberry Patch sundaes or Bop's Favorite concrete. Yummy). There is also a mexican restaurant and a Curves fitness center. It's funny to me that both a dentist and gym are within a few steps of frozen delight.

Anyway, a few weeks ago Brad's parents met me and the boys at the park across the street from Bop's and then treated us to dessert there. That is the one and only time Will has been to Bop's, at least that I know of. When we pulled up to go to the dentist, he said "Ice cream?" as in, are we going to get ice cream?

He's a smart boy.

So here are their stats from today:

Will, 2 years
36lb
36 inches
20cm head circ
90th percent in all measurements

Reed, 6 months
18lb 4oz
26.75 inches
17.5 cm head circ
in-between 50th and 75th percentile in all measurements

So there you have it. One big boy and one sort of big boy.

My little un-doer

2010-04-20T17:03:00.008-05:00

Ah, Will. He is a funny little boy. He loves to examine things and open things and undo things. He's my un-doer. Is that a word?

A little while ago he was watching Barney. I was comforting Reed who is a little cranky after getting 3 shots today. I had previously folded some laundry for Reed but hadn't put it up yet. I looked over and saw Will unfolding one of Reed's blankets to put it on his lap. I told him to leave the rest of them alone then I proceeded to get online. I got on Megan's blog to read about her sister's wedding shower and when I finished, I saw what Will had been up to (mind you, this had to be in the span of 3 minutes tops):

He unfolded a few blankets, 5 sets of pajamas and 2 towels and scattered them across the floor. Maybe more. I didn't really count them all. I would be aggrivated but it is kind of funny. You can't really get the effect but the pjs laid on the floor like that kind of looks like there was a baby in them who melted away like in the Wizard of Oz.

Not that a baby melted away, but you know - the witch did.

I hope I didn't ruin the movie for anyone.

So that's Will. He's my un-doer. And he's currently rearranging the laundry on the floor. So if you come to my house and it's a wreck, please know that we try. We just can't keep up with the boy.

Do you ever...

2010-04-19T17:59:00.003-05:00

Do you ever do immature things like have a diaper stand-off with your spouse and bet on who can stack the most diapers before you absolutely HAVE to take them out?

You don't?

Yeah, me either.

**None of these were dirty, so there was no smell. Since Will is back home now (he was in Atlanta with Brad's parents), I gave in and took out the trash. He would probably have them all over Reed's room!

Two Years Old

2010-04-18T23:20:00.003-05:00

Will, you are TWO YEARS OLD! How did that happen so quickly? It seems like I just brought you home from the hospital! Here you are at 1 week old:

And here you are last year on your first birthday:

And now look how big you are! You didn't want to sit down to take a picture. In fact, I only caught 2 before you got down from the chair. Shocker!

You are such a funny boy! You make me and daddy laugh a lot. You are talking quite a bit these days and even say some sentences. The day before your birthday you started saying "Thank you SO MUCH, momma!" when I would hand you something. You also like to say "I wan (want) more grapes/goldpish (goldfish)/juice/milk" etc. You LOVE Barney and can sing so many of the songs. Barney sings a song about elephants and you do the elephant motion with your hands. It is so cute! There are some days I have had enough of Barney so I have to say "Barney went night night." You will then look at me and say "Watch Baby Bop?"

You love to go to Ms. Honey's house and have many friends there. You know everyone's name and say them when I pick you up or drop you off. Daddy drops you off most mornings because I often have to be at work very early. But I get to pick you up most days. Lately you have started running up to me and giving me a huge hug! I love this!

You are wearing a size 3t in most things and a size 9 shoe. You are still wearing size 6 diapers, but hopefully not for long! You have been saying "pee pee potty" and we sit you on the toilet. The other night, you actually peed! We are so proud! You have been wearing pullups at Ms. Honeys and I plan to buy you some big boy underwear soon. I guess we'll have to take the rail off your crib when you get potty trained! That is exciting and scary. I don't know if I'm ready for you to have that much freedom just yet!

You have changed so much and we just love the little boy you are becoming. You are such a great big brother and Reed adores you. I know things will just become more fun as both of you get bigger!

Happy Birthday Will!

2010-04-16T22:19:00.009-05:00

Welcome to Will's second birthday party!

We had lots of yummy food

And delicious cake

And green eggs and ham

We got to jump and play

And had fun decorations

And lots of books!

Will loved jumping

And everyone had fun with pinwheels

And bubbles!

Will had his own stovepipe hat

And he and Reed dressed alike

Reed hung out with Megan

And we took some pictures outside.

And loved on sweet babies

Will was too busy to be in these pictures...

...because he was enjoying his new ride!

he loves his new 'motorcycle'

Then Will rode off into the sunset.

Easter

2010-04-16T21:00:00.001-05:00

Our family Easter Sunday 2010

I love this picture. It isn't the greatest picture of our family. Will is fussing. Reed isn't looking. Brad and I are both squinting a little. But I love it. We took this after church on Easter. You can't see the jellybean stains on Will's jon-jon. You can't hear him fussing. You can't see him kicking his daddy to let him down. It is our complete family for now. I couldn't quite picture this last Easter.

I was newly pregnant with Reed last Easter. Will had just turned 1 two days before. We had some ups and downs in the previous weeks and we weren't sure we were going to get to keep our new baby. We didn't see anything on the first ultrasound and then some of my labwork came back questionable. Last Easter was the day before I had a sonogram where we saw Reed for the first time. A little butterbean with a fluttering heart. I was unsure of what was going to happen. But I felt like everything was going to be fine. God told me everything would be fine. He gave me peace. He gave me hope. And that next day after Easter we saw God's work on that ultrasound. We saw his promise that things were going to be ok.

And this Easter, well, things are more than ok. They're wonderful. We have our two beautiful boys. They're healthy and bring so much joy. Our life isn't perfect but it is close. And it will be perfect one day because God sent His son to die for us and save us. One day we who are born again will be in Heaven and things will be 100% perfect. I can't wait. It is going to be the most wonderful place that we as humans can't even imagine! God promises everlasting life through Jesus. Our family Easter picture is a reminder to me that God keeps His promises.

Ketchup

2010-04-16T16:56:00.002-05:00

I have to 'ketchup' on my blog. I am a few weeks behind. So where do we start...

Four weeks ago I had a patient who had a fever and aches and said his wife was at home with the flu. Oh and I found out that piece of info after I had sedated him for an EGD and he was coughing everywhere.

That Sunday we had a shower for my friend who introduced me and Brad way back 11 years ago. The weather was pretty yucky, rainy and cold and it actually snowed a little! I started coughing that afternoon and that night I had a fever and chills. But I didn't feel really terrible so figured it was from the weather andconstantly being out in it getting ready for the shower. I was off on Monday and Tuesday. Will was coughing and had a runny nose so we skipped his dentist appointment and just hung out.

Wednesday he didn't seem himself and then started with bad diarrhea. I was home half the day with him then his Poppy took over so I could go to work. I found out 2 coworkers were out with the flu and I had allergy stuff going. Thursday Will woke up and vomited and still had diarrhea but just once. Brad stayed home with him and I went to work feeling rough. That afternoon I felt better and Will was better so we went and got the bad hair cut.

Then the diarrhea started back. I had to change one diaper in the walmart parking lot.

That was fun.

Then that night I was feeling bad and had a fever so I had to call in to work. Did I mention 3 people were already out sick with the flu by this point and 2 were taking a PALS class? So that makes for 1/2 of our staff gone...yeah. My boss wasn't thrilled when I called her.

But it ended up being good that I couldn't go to work (you aren't supposed to go if you have fever, vomitting or diarrhea within 24 hours) because Will had diarrhea for the third day in a row.

Poor little man. We went through a lot of gatorade and pedialyte.

I called his doctor and they wanted a stool sample to test for rotovirus. Any guesses on how you collect that for a child still in diapers? Let me just say that saran wrap isn't just for use in the kitchen.

So I went to the doctor to get tested for the flu. I don't have a primary physician so I went to MEA which is a walk-in clinic. There were 3 people ahead of me when I got there. 2.5 hours later I leave with a diagnosis of sinus infection and a negative flu swab. But considering my symptoms started at the same time everyone else's did and Brad got sick after I did, I'm pretty sure I had the flu. We all had the regular flu shot so we're pretty sure we had H1N1.

Exciting, huh? It really wasn't that bad. So by Saturday everyone was all better and we went and got Will's hair fixed. It looked SO much better. I would have shown you a picture except he was in a mood and I was unable to get a decent shot.

And the next 2 weeks were a blur because Brad and I were both working so late, but I did get some pictures of some important things to share. Is the suspense killing you? I will get to it soon...

Proofs

2010-04-01T23:33:00.002-05:00

We had the boys' pictures taken 2 weeks ago and the proofs are now up on the photographer's site. You can click here to see them. Go to "proofing" and enter 'spring1' in the box. I was pleased with the outfits and with the pics. Enjoy!

Exhibit A

2010-03-26T18:03:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, when I thought Will was better and before I realized he wasn't (more on that later), I took him to get a haircut. I usually take him to Sports Clips (I think it's a chain?) and they generally do a good job. His hair is thick and wavy and it's hard to make it look bad. Yet the Walmart salon lady found a way.

ExhIbit A:
Notice how he has no sideburns anymore. Not that he needs huge ones since he's a toddler, but a little curve wouldn't hurt. It's the way nature made him. And she cut it straight off. And you can see where she didn't cut the hair near it. This is just one part I'm disastisfied with. You can find something from every angle if you look.

(This is what will typed while I was away from the computer trying to comfort Reed: kdsddddddddddcdccddcssss

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkdscdnkedddddzc'

Not quite 2 and typing. Very talented boy.)

Anyway, when we first got there I asked if there would be a wait, because I'm all about not waiting with a baby or toddler in tow. She said no, so we signed in. She proceeded to spend the next 5 minutes acting like she was looking for someone or something and didn't say anything to us. Then she finally got her supply case, a towel and an adult drape out and gestured toward a chair. I asked if she had a booster for him or if she wanted me to hold him. She looked around for about 30 seconds and spotted the boosters behind her. After she got a towel around his neck she then realized she would be needing a drape for a child. I was starting to gather she wasn't their star stylist.

I explained what I wanted (cut a short as possible around the sides and back without using clippers and then a little longer on the top). She then cut about 1/3 of the hair on his head and asked if that was good. I suggested maybe she should trim the hair that was hanging over his ears and could she maybe do it a little shorter. So she did what you see to the areas over his ears, though obviously neglecting certain patches. She trimmed the top of his head about 1/2 a cm. And then asked if that was good. So I asked again could she just do it a little shorter because his hair grows so fast and really he could use a haircut once a month, so I like to get it short. So she trims his bangs pretty well and takes about a mm off what she's already done and asks a third time what I think. By this point I'm just done with her. She was obviously new and apparently in some sort of community program where people with learning disabilities can get jobs.

I'm kidding.

But then we tried to check out. Oh boy.

She rings us up for an ADULT HAIRCUT. We got 1/2 a child's cut.

"That will be $14.95."

"You rang us up for an adult haircut."

"Oh. That will be $13.00"

"Are you sure, because it says right here - 'Child's Cut and Shampoo: $10.95'. And you didn't shampoo, so is the haircut only cheaper?"

"I'm not sure, let me check."

Insert Will starting to FREAK OUT because he has used up all his toddler patience sitting still for a haircut and oh the injustice of having to sit in a basket and wait for a special needs lady to check us out.

(sorry. she irked me)

FINALLY we figure out that shampoo or not, full haircut or not, it is $10.95 for a kid's cut. So I give her my debit card. I am not sure I have ever had it take that long to process a debit card. Bless me and Will's patience by this point.

I finally get the slip to sign and begrudgingly gave her $1.50 tip because I just feel like with haircuts or restaurants, you give SOME kind of tip, even if it's not totally deserved. So that's $12.45 for a terrible haircut. And tomorrow (if he's feeling better), we're going to Sports Clips to get it fixed.

Will feeds the ducks

2010-03-24T08:54:00.002-05:00

A couple of notes:

1. This was his first time going to feed the ducks. When I handed him the first piece of bread, before the camera was one, he stood there and took a couple of bites of it.

2. There are normally a ton of ducks at the lake. Not sure where they all were.

3. I fully expected him to try and chase them or get close to the water and debated on whether it was a good idea to take him and Reed by myself. But as you can see, he stood in one place! Amazing!

4. I didn't mean to stop the video when I did - I accidentally hit the button. Oh well.

5. Right before we left, I was kneeling down by the stroller talking to Reed and an 8 year old kid (he told me his age) walked by Will and made some funny faces at him, then came and stood behind me and made faces at Reed. I'm pretty sure he gave me bunny ears, too.

6. I littered for a minute. I was feeding Reed and Will took the last piece of bread and the bread bag blew into the water. But it was at the edge and I was able to get it and throw it away. When I got to the trash can I saw 6 or 7 bread bags, so no wonder the ducks weren't going nuts over the bread. Guess we'll have to get there early next time.

What were you doing a year ago today?

2010-03-22T14:54:00.003-05:00

I was taking pictures of my sweet 11 month old Will.

And looking quite shocked at this:

A year ago today I found out I was pregnant with Reed. We were shocked. Stunned. Excited. Scared. I smiled. I cried. I thought I wasn't ready. How in the world were we going to do this? But looking back, that day ranks as one of the top faves in my life. Oh my precious Reed. I don't know how we lived without him.

Reflecting on today and Reed's pregnancy and birth, I decided I should post his birth story. I retro-dated it to the day he was born, and you can read it by clicking here. It is long, and you may find it boring or graphic, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible before I forget.

Lucky Girl

2010-03-17T20:58:00.002-05:00

Today is my birthday. I'm a St. Paddy's day baby, so some may call me a 'lucky girl'. I feel pretty lucky, but I think blessed is a more appropriate term. I have so much to be thankful for on my 28th birthday. My life now is by far more full and rich than I could ever imagine. And by rich I don't mean money wise. Our house is modest and in need of improvements we can't afford. Our cars are a little older and our bank account looks quite sad sometimes. But man, are we wealthy in other ways! Just look how full my arms are!

Last year on my birthday I thought we were quite complete for the time being. And just 5 days later I learned we would be adding to our family. Now I have a wonderful 5 month old to love and cuddle. God is so loving and giving! I never could have imagined how happy that sweet little baby could make me but God knew. And He sent me my precious Reed.

Will delights me daily. Even though he can be a challenge sometimes, he is such a joy! I have a wonderful husband who takes care of us and such great family to help. Just this morning my mom came over at 5:30 because Brad was out of town and I had to be at work at 5:45 (and I woke up at 5:27 - whoops! I DID shower and clocked in at 5:48! Good thing I live so close to work!). She got the boys up, fed Reed and drove them to daycare. And she even did dishes while the boys slept! My dad made my lunch and she delivered that this morning, too. How thoughtful! Tonight she came by and brought me a birthday cake and card.

Will loves his Nana!

Tonight Brad and I went to Applebees while Brad's parents kept the boys. Will was pretty excited to see Gigi and Poppy since he doesn't see them everyday now.

I received many wonderful phone calls, texts and facebook messages for my birthday this year and a few cards in the mail. Haven even blogged about me! How sweet! Oh and my friend Laura sent me some spatulas with shamrocks on them. That may seem like a random gift to some, but I thought it was perfect! See, last week I was making some of The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls and I broke a spatula. I had also previously broken another one, so I was down to just 2 and made a mental note to buy some more. Of couse, I didn't tell anyone (wouldn't that be a boring conversation?), but Laura sent me some!

My life is filled with so many people who I love and even though it can be hectic at times, it feels so perfect. Some may call me lucky, but I am definitely blessed!

5 Months

2010-03-16T20:21:00.002-05:00

Reed,
You are five months old today! FIVE. That just seems so wrong! How is it possible that nearly half a year has slipped by already?

You are such a happy boy! You smile at me all the time, unless I have the camera in my hands, of course. You love to coo and make noises and do a big, noisey yawn. It ALWAYS makes me yawn if I see you do it. I actually yawned just thinking about it a second ago!

I am still waiting to watch you find your feet and roll over and sit up. I know you will do all of these things and more very soon! For now I am just enjoying you being my sweet baby. I still take you to church with me and I love holding you and watching you sleep. Sometimes you are so BUSY staring at everyone and looking at the stained glass windows and sometimes you go right to sleep. I will probably have to take you to the nursery soon but I glad I have kept you with me this long.

Somedays you look so much like Will to me, then somedays you look nothing like him. I think you will favor him but you look more like a Gibbs to me and my mom. You have lots of hair coming in and it looks brownish red. Your eyes are HUGE and a beautiful light blue. Speaking of your eyes, your left eye cleared up a few weeks ago! Now we just have the drainage in your right eye. It drives me and Ms. Honey crazy trying to keep it clean and you get annoyed with us constantly wiping it. Hopefully the right one will clear up soon! You weigh around 15lb and can only wear a few 0-3 month things. Most of your clothes are 3-6 month and a couple of 6-9 month. You wear a size 1-2 or 2 diaper.

You are a happy boy but you do have opinions about things. Like when you are tired you start crying and want to go to bed RIGHT THEN. And you want to be put on your tummy to sleep. You will sleep in my arms, too, but you prefer your own space. You sleep from around 8 or 9 until 5 if I have to wake you before I go to work to 7 if you wake up on your own. I miss having you right next to me, but I am loving the sleep! You still nap a lot during the day, usually inbetween each feeding. You eat about every 3 hours during the day. I nurse you in the morning and before bed and you take 4 bottles varying from 4-6 oz. We haven't tried any cereal or baby food yet. I still don't think you are quite ready.

I really wish you would stop growing so fast. The days and weeks pass by too quickly. I love spending time just holding you and talking to you, especially in the mornings (when I am usually very short on time) because you are so happy then. It makes me hate to leave you when you talk to me so sweet, but it always makes me smile.

Daddy and I love having you as our second son and we look forward to seeing you grown and learn new things.

Love,

Mommy

Newd Balance and Little Boy Blue

2010-03-15T20:51:00.001-05:00

Where's Will?

2010-03-11T22:14:00.002-06:00

I stole this from my mom's iphone tonight. I had forgotten about it. She took this during a visit one night while I was in the hospital trying not to have Reed. Will LOVED playing in the cabinet. It occupied him for several minutes during each visit.

23 Months

2010-03-10T20:19:00.003-06:00

Will,
You are 23 months old today! It is your LAST month as a 1 year old! You make me smile frequently and crack me up often. After I got you out of the bathtub and was dressing Reed, I used Reed's brush to tame your wild hair. You took off with the brush and a minute later I found you with your toothbrush in one hand and Reed's hairbrush in the other and you were just going to town...buck naked. You are quite a fan of brushing your teeth as long as YOU can do it. How much proper tooth brushing is being performed, I can't say, but at least something is getting done.

You started daycare last week and you LOVE it! You are so happy there with Ms. Honey. When I pick you up, you usually start doing something a little naughty and Ms. Honey is always surprised because apparently you are a pretty good boy for her. I guess you save your more challenging behavior for me and daddy! Ha!

You are so big. The last I measured and weighed you, I think you were 35lb and 36 inches tall. These pjs are new and they are 3t's! The pants are a little long, which is usually the problem we have with 3t stuff. But it fits everywhere else! You mainly wear 2t and 3t clothes, size 8 or 9 shoes and size 6 diapers. After trying many different diapers brands, we finally figured out we can buy diaper doubler pads to put in with your diaper overnight so you don't have wet sheets in the morning. What a relief!

You are so sweet to Reed (most of the time). Tonight Reed was spitting up and I didn't see him. You went and got his blanket and started wiping his chin while saying "baby spit up". Last night you kept saying "Shh! Quiet Reed!" when he was talking in the car. How funny for YOU to be telling someone else to be quiet! One of daddy and my favorite things for you to say is "I love you." We kind of get in yelling matches saying it to each other. Yours comes out as "I lud choo!" most of the time.

You are a book fiend and crazy about Barney these days. You frequently ask to "Watch Barney" and thanks to your grandparents, we have several DVDs. You get SO excited when Barney pops on the screen and you shout his name and laugh! Tonight I watched you as you sang along a little and did some of the motions. You also really love trucks and motorcycles. You like to line all of your trucks in a row and you often put them in your little people barn and silo. You still love your "mink" (monkey) and go to bed with it but you also want a book or a toy. I oblige because you will often play or 'read' then go to sleep without fussing.

You have so much personality and I just adore you! I can hardly believe you are almost 2! Last year at this time you were just starting to walk and now you run everywhere! You have been such a blessing these past 23 months!

Love,

Mommy

How to have fun at the park (by Reed and Will)

2010-03-09T18:37:00.008-06:00

For starters, give mommy a good glare when she tries to take your picture. Smile as soon as she takes the camera away.

Show mommy how big you are by sliding down the big slide.
Stick the landing.

Glare at mommy again.

Think about conquering the big slide again.

Own it.

Hang out underneath the playset on a cool little bench.

Give mommy a break and smile a little while she has the camera focused on you.

Tell her that's enough.

Look cute coming off the little slide.

Make a funny face.

Climb up the steps for the 100th time in 10 minutes.

Charge mommy.

Slide down the little slide again.

Look bored with all the sliding.

Go up the little slide, just to keep it interesting.

Make a silly face.

Make mommy think you're going to jump out of the open space because you're crazy enough to do it.

Spot the swings! Beg mommy to help you on the swings. Since there are no baby swings, (and she tries prevent tantrums) she obliges and you stay on the big kid swing!

Make a sillier face.

Cry and throw a fit and try and wiggle out of mommy's arms when she tells you it's time to go. Make her stop and readjust 3 times on the way to the car so she doesn't drop you. Keep crying after you're buckled into your carseat and give mommy plenty of time to capture photographic evidence of tantrum.

And THAT is how you have fun at the park!