Sunday, July 15, 2012

Andrew in Prague


Before Andrew left, he, Johnny and I built Johnny a "spaceship", so I had to take this opportunity to show that off: :)

Where's Johnny?

There he is!! Wait - if his eyes are closed is he still hiding?
Andrew made it to Prague on Saturday with no problems! We have heard from him a few times, and I think he is settling in nicely. He has been on a tour of Prague, and one of the wives that is with them spent part of last summer there, so knows her way around, which is helpful. I tried to Skype with him this morning, but his connection was so bad we never did even talk, just did some asynchronous messaging...

 The boys and I have been doing well. We all three went to the airport to drop Andrew off, and I intended to take them to the observation park at the airport to let them "watch Daddy's plane take off", but they fell asleep on the way up there! So, they didn't really get to say goodbye at the airport to Andrew :(. I drove to a park closer to home, and we played there for a while and even found a really nice family with three cute little boys to play "fish, fish, crab" with, which was a lot of fun. Johnny really liked the oldest boy, who was 5. Next we headed to pick up pizza for Johnny and I to have pizza and a movie night! I got Johnny all set up with the movie and pizza and got Alex ready for bed. I ate and watched the movie with Johnny once I got Alex in bed. Even after the 50th time, probably, Cars is a good movie. Love that Mater. To top off a good night, I went to bed early expecting to be up in the night with Alex, and he slept all the way until 5:20 Saturday morning! I know that is an early wakeup, but no interruptions in the sleep made that a great wakeup time :)

Saturday morning we got ready and headed on down to Carthage to spend the day. Johnny drew a couple of pictures on the way down. I thought the second one was especially good!


Ummm - Hope we don't need these directions anymore!
A Dinosaur! Roar!



Johnny went to VBS at Eureka, and Alex and I hung out there with him until Alex was about ready for his second nap. Johnny was a little shy at first, but warmed up and was having a great time. The kids made some really cute crafts, and were listening intently to the Bible story when I left.



After VBS, we all went swimming, even Alex! He really seemed to like the water and getting pulled around in it. The boys had a great time playing with the water balloons that you bought, Andrew. They were very long lasting in and around the water!
I actually did like this - but Mommy didn't get pictures of me grinning :)
Would you like some "ice cream"?
The boys were seriously wiped out from swimming. But managed to stay awake long enough to watch some Transformers.
Tired bunnies
 Alex and I headed on home after dinner. We did not get pictures of it, but he did NOT like peas, lol - lots of shivers and funny faces :) He fell asleep on the way home.
If you look closely, you can see Alex asleep on the way home

Alex didn't have as good of a night last night. He did sleep all the way until 4:30 am, which was pretty good, but then he would not fall back asleep and I finally gave up a little after 5 and got him up for the day and fed him, except he fell back asleep after I fed him. He slept until 8:00, and I noticed he was warm, and checked, and sure enough he had a fever of 101.1. Gave him ibuprofen later in the day when he was fussy and still feverish and it helped, but then he wouldn't nap much because he felt so good! Only slept for about 30 minutes around 2:00, so I did another stroller ride around 4:00, and he catnapped a bit. He was in a really good mood most of the afternoon, and did a lot of exploring around the house and crawling. And pulling up on the red ottoman :) Managed to delay bedtime a bit by giving him a bath, which he enjoyed, but he was asleep a little after 6:00. I gave him a bit more ibuprofen, as his temp was up to 101.5. He didn't have any other symptoms except the fever today, and being a little bit fussy, so we will see how he is tomorrow...

I talked to Johnny a couple of times today. He was really tired last night and got upset when I left Saturday night, but calmed down quick and Annette said he went right out after we left, and was in a much better mood this morning when I talked to him. He was very chatty this morning, which was nice. It always amazes me how little he sounds on the phone - so sweet! She said they swam some more, and then tonight they did some songs and things from VBS at church. Johnny was most excited about the ice cream that they had with chocolate syrup! He was excited about that and about going out to play with Klay, so I didn't talk to him long tonight. Sorry about no pictures from today. I'll try harder to take some tomorrow!

Oh - and here are all the pics above and a few more in a Picasa album:

For Andrew in Prague


Sunday, December 4, 2011

Fall, Santa Train, and Andrew's Birthday

Here are pictures - a few just random fall ones, but mostly from our trip on the "Santa Train" yesterday and from Andrew's birthday today - enjoy!

Fall Random, Santa Train, and Andrew's Birthday

Friday, October 28, 2011

Halloween and Picture update!

It's been entirely too long since I posted anything on here, but Johnny's Halloween party at school inspired me to upload the pictures - get this - the SAME day I took them!! Who knows, maybe I will make this a regular Friday night activity....


Halloween Pics!:
Halloween 2011


Here are some random pics from October and the State Fair:
State Fair 2011 and October


We went to LEGO fest in downtown Raleigh in early October - this was SOOO cool!:
LEGO Fest!



And, the very next day, we happened upon the Fire Station Open House in Fuquay-Varina:
Fire Station Open House

Sunday, July 17, 2011

7/17/2011 - Liz in Oregon Day 2

Happy anniversary, Liz! We've had 12 wonderful years together and I can't wait to have many, many more.

Johnny and I had a really good day today. He woke up around 6:30 this morning. I brought him into bed with me for a while, mainly because I was still sleepy. He played with Mater in my bed and had a great ol' time!

We ate cereal for breakfast this morning and then went to the 8:30 service at church. The lady who keeps the nursery wasn't there right at 8:30 so I took Johnny into the sanctuary with me. I told him that if he wanted to go downstairs to play at any time to let me know and that I would take him. He made it all the way to the sermon and decided he wanted to go downstairs so I had to get up and carry him out in the middle of the sermon. :)

After church we ran a few errands. I wanted to change the oil and rotate the tires in Liz's car so we ran by the auto parts store. Kroger had a good deal on ribeye steaks so we ran by there and got some steaks. We came home, had lunch, and went outside to swing for a while.

Then it was time for nap. He did pretty good at nap time today. He called out for me within 30 seconds of me leaving the room so I went back in to see what was wrong. He had found a toy in his bed and wanted me to take it out. He called out again after I left, but got quiet after a bit and went on to sleep. He slept about 1.5 hours.

While Johnny was asleep, I changed the oil and rotated the tires on Liz's car. I was pretty hot and tired after that so Johnny and I just sat around and played and watched TV when he woke up from nap.

We talked to Liz on Skype this evening and that was really nice. I had already started cooking supper so we didn't get to talk for long. We had more squash and onions, left over potatoes from yesterday, and corn and steak cooked on the grill. It was delicious! Johnny likes corn on the cob!

After supper, Johnny played with his trains. He talked me into letting him watch some Cars movie instead of reading our books tonight. We took a quick bath, brushed our teeth, then watched 5 minutes of the movie. We went to his room and sang our songs while he was laying in bed. He fell right out as soon as I left the room tonight.

I did a better job of taking pictures today.

July 17th, 2011

Saturday, July 16, 2011

7/16/2011 - Liz in Oregon Day 1


Liz is on her way to Portland for a week long conference. Johnny and I are living it up as bachelors while she's away. Liz left around noon to head to the airport while Johnny and I were eating lunch. He ate a great lunch. He had a piece of pizza, some cantaloupe, half a turkey sandwich, some chips, and some of my bologna and egg sandwich. I didn't think he was ever going to stop eating!

After lunch, Johnny played with his puzzles and cars while I chopped up a watermelon. Liz texted and then later called saying her flight to Minneapolis was delayed and that would cause her to miss her flight from Minneapolis to Portland. The airline booked her on another route through JFK to Portland, but she didn't leave RDU until 4:45 (instead of 2:15) and wasn't going to land in Portland until 11:30 Pacific time (which will feel like 2:30 AM to her body). Now she's going to spend the night in Portland and then catch a shuttle to Eugene in the morning.

I put Johnny down for his first nap in his big boy bed this afternoon. He talked me into letting him sleep in his underwear (and nothing else) so I moved his little potty into his room and told him that if he needed to potty that he could get out of bed and go. We read "If You Take a Mouse To School" and "I Am a Bunny" and sang our songs and then he went to bed. He called out for me about 5 minutes after I left the room so I went back in. He had pooped his underwear. So I changed him and rocked with him for a while and then he went back to bed. He went to sleep around 2 PM and slept until almost 4 PM! I was pretty amazed. I looked in on him at one time and he had his knees on the floor and his head in the bed.

After he got up, we didn't do too much. We piddled around and then watched the Cars movie for a while. OK, I admit. I had the TV babysit my child while I tried to get supper ready. We had grilled salmon, squash with onions, and some roasted potatoes for supper. It was pretty good if I say so myself. And Johnny ate more salmon that I thought was possible for a 2.5 year old. I told him he was going to turn into a fish and swim away. He thought that was hilarious.

We talked to Liz after she arrived in JFK. In typical toddler fashion Johnny didn't really want to talk to Liz after asking about her all afternoon long. He really does miss Liz because after our call we went to the bathroom for bath and he had a melt down. He just started crying and screaming that he wanted his Mommy. But bath went good and he went down to sleep as pretty as you please. Hopefully we'll both sleep good tonight.

I didn't do a good job with the camera today. The only picture I took was this one of Johnny with my cell phone. He said he wanted to call his Mommy!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Big Boy Bed!

Our new adventure this week has been to move Johnny to a "big boy bed". It is really a low toddler bed that was actually Annette's (Grammy's) when she was a girl. We have been a little nervous about this, but felt like he was ready. We also wanted to go ahead and do it since he would need to sleep on an air mattress at the beach, and because I am not supposed to be lifting him so much. I was also not so sure how it was going to go, because when he saw the bed frame in the garage before we had it set up, he said "I don't like it", and that first night he told us at bedtime that he wanted his crib. We told him we would try the big boy bed for a few nights and if it wasn't going well, we could move him back in his crib. Although, I don't think Andrew really was wanting to take it back apart and move it back into his room!

We started on Sunday night, and so far he has done great! The first few nights he took a long time to fall asleep, and it was funny to watch him go on and off screen on the video monitor as he explored his new-found freedom. But, he stayed in his room, although we did have to go check on him a time or two. On Tuesday night he fell out of the bed and I found him asleep in the middle of the floor in the morning, which was pretty funny, but he did not seem upset about it! In the morning, he still calls for us so far and wants us to come get him. This morning, specifically, he yelled "Mama! I need a nose wipe!!" LOL...

Tonight he told us "I love my big boy bed!" as we were getting him ready for bed - so I think Andrew is safe on that having to take the crib back apart and moving it thing :)

Big Boy Bed

Saturday, June 4, 2011

A Good Saturday

Well, since I didn't write last night, I suppose I should tell you a little about yesterday. It was a long day - work and then I had the pre-op appointment at the OB's office. It was a 3:30 appointment, but they seemed to be running behind, as I had to wait a long time once I got into the examining room. Had a long talk with Dr. Beatty about the cerclage procedure, and left feeling very upset and confused. The best thing about the appointment was that I did get to hear the baby's heartbeat, and it sounded wonderful. That is so reassuring and nice to hear :) I get the feeling that Dr. Beatty doesn't think I should do the cerclage, but maybe she is just trying to make sure that I understand the risks so we don't sue them and such. She had talked with Dr. Goodnight, the doctor that had treated me at UNC, and told me that there was a new study out saying that the progesterone treatments I had done were just as effective as cerclage, and was talking about how we could wait and start that at 16 weeks, and could do a cerclage as late as 20 weeks if needed. I looked up the papers later, and it was actually just progesterone versus no progesterone, and the progesterone did give improved outcomes. They never mention if the women were on bedrest or not, but all had cervical lengths between 10 and 20 mm, so I am assuming they were. Women who elected to have cerclages were excluded from the study. The thing I found interesting was that several women were given emergency cerclages. Everything I see says that emergency cerclages are way less effective and more prone to infection and problems, which makes sense really. The outcomes of the studies all concern the outcome of the baby, which is of course the most important thing, but never mention what the mom is doing during the pregnancy, how much time is spent in the hospital, etc. After all my reading, it brought me back to the cerclage and doing it now, when it is not in an emergency situation, before anything has a chance to start moving. I am going to pray on it, and to read about it a little more, but I still feel like it is the best option. I really hope I am not wrong.

Because I didn't leave the doctor's office until right at 5:00, and traffic was AWFUL in Fuquay, I got to Johnny's day care pretty late - around 5:40. He was still doing good, though, and was outside in the wagon when I got there. I had ordered a pizza from J&S before I picked him up, so we headed over to Varina. I then found out the reason for the bad traffic - Broad street was closed through downtown Varina for a block party concert later on - which meant no parking near the Pizza place either! So, we parked by the CVS and walked all the way down there. I decided that since we walked so far, we should just eat there, but forgot how slow the service was there! We ate outside, though, and had a pretty good dinner. Johnny really enjoyed watching all the cars, trucks, and motorcycles go by. I think he was pretty tired, though. I didn't realize his nap had been pretty short that day until later on after he went to bed. He wanted to play so bad when we got home, but I hurried him on to bath and bed since it was late. It was probably after 8 when he got in bed, but I don't think he fell asleep until after 9! I guess it was just such an unusual day, and maybe he knew I was upset about something. I had to go in there a couple of times, the last time I left his door open and told him I was going to sleep (because I was!)

He didn't really sleep late this morning, though. We had a pretty good breakfast, but he was clingy all day - wanted lots of hugs and to sit on my lap a whole lot and such. And he was tired all morning morning. I think he is really missing Andrew, and yesterday was an unusually long day. Not sure - but I tried to give him all the hugs he wanted, unless I was driving, lol :) We talked to Andrew on Skype this morning after his trip to Macau "yesterday" - he said it was interesting, but he was exhausted! It was great to talk to him and see him, though!

I took my shower this morning after Johnny was up, and he was playing in our room when I went in, and I just took a real quick one. When I came out, though, it was quiet - too quiet - so I called for him, and he came running in and said "I went pee pee ALL BY MYSELF" I said "you did? Good for you! Do you need Mama to empty the cup for you?" "NO - I went in the big potty! Standing up!" I went in to see him and sure enough he was standing by the big potty - and the lights were even out in there. I was really impressed and he was really cute :) He went on his own, even #2 several times today, and was just so proud of himself. I also heard "ALL BY MYSELF" several other times today about other things :) Trying to let him do what I can!

After I got my chores done this morning, we headed up to Cary and got him some new swimsuits that actually fit at Old Navy - One has fish on it, and the other one has skateboards on it. They had a Cars one that I thought he would want, but he was not interested! He did like the Spiderman one, but they didn't have his size. There was not much left in the 2T and 3T sizes. We also got a couple of rash guards. He did NOT want another Blue flowered one, and put on a pretty good demonstration of that! I had him try on the fish one just to be sure the 3T wouldn't be too big, and he liked it so much he wanted to keep it on. I decided to let him, and just lifted him up at the cash register - :) Then we went by Whole Foods to get him more of his probiotics, and then on to the farm. By the end of all that, we were both pretty done, and I was very glad that I had bought some apples at Whole Foods - we both had one of those on the way home from the farm. He did a pretty good job on the whole apple with the skin! We had a good lunch, and he went on to nap pretty easy, as did I :) He took a good nap - probably a little over 1 1/2 hours - hopefully catching up from last night..

After nap, I needed to get some work done, so I graded notebooks, and he read some, and then watched Cars. That went pretty well for about an hour! He is totally mesmerized by that movie. He had a snack of cucumber (2nd one from our garden!) and cheez-its while he watched. I turned the movie off after I'd worked for about an hour, and we went outside and brought some shorts back to our neighbor Elizabeth's house (they were her son's - J had an accident at her house one day a few weeks ago). We got there, and Natalie and Luke (the kids) met us at the door and just started shouting "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny!" - I felt like I was with a rock star! They were really cute. We hung out there for a little while and the kids played while Elizabeth and I talked - she really is so sweet :) J and I came home and then played in the pool and watered the garden until it was dinner time. Had more leftovers for dinner, which was nice and easy, and I thought Johnny would want to go back out to the pool, but he didn't! So I worked on the kitchen a bit while he played, and then played with him some. He had done awesome with the potty all day today. He was naked or half naked most of the day - so that really helped and let him go without my help a whole lot. The only tragedy was that he tried to pee standing up at his little potty - I didn't find that until later - needless to say, the little potty needed a bath, and the floor needed some cleaning!!

After dinner we talked to Andrew, and he looked great! He said he had slept continually all night for the first time since he got there! I think it was only 6 1/2 hours - but it was more than he had been getting. He also said he slept on all the traveling yesterday to Macau and then even fell asleep for just a second during dinner last night!! He said they were all craving Western food last night and were on there own so had gone to an Italian restaurant. I hope he can get another good night tonight and can get rested up before he has to get turned around again. Tomorrow/Today they are having meetings, but also going to a horse race.

J did awesome at bedtime tonight. I tried to get him in bed a little early tonight since he seemed so tired today. He wanted to read "If I ran the Zoo" again tonight - and tonight we just read that, and so we read all of it in one sitting for the first time. We have been reading in the corner with all the pillows, and I swear I think he would sleep in that corner with just those pillows. I almost put his crib mattress on the floor tonight, but then got nervous it would end up being a long night! Maybe we will try that next weekend after Andrew gets home :) I got him in bed around 7:45, and he rolled around just a bit, and fell asleep shortly after 8, thankfully.

Tomorrow Mimi and Gramps come. I have a lot of work to get done tomorrow, so I am not sure if I will manage much of a blog post. I did not get any pictures today or yesterday, sadly. So, since I promised some pictures - here are some from March when we built the new garden bed by the driveway:
New Garden Bed