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

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

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

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!

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

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

June 2nd

Well, today it will have to be no pictures, since I didn't take any today. I guess I got out of practice with Johnny being gone. Got Johnny in bed just before 8 last night, and he was zonked. I heard the little sigh he used to give all the time when he would finally calm down last night while we were reading before bed. You knew he wasn't done pitching his tantrum or being upset until you heard it. We talked to Andrew a little later than usual because he was having internet troubles. Johnny wanted to read the Pooh book Mimi and Gramps gave him AND the little engine that could. Both are a little longer, and I agreed, but told him just those two and no Bible story. We read the Pooh book, and then started on the Little Engine when I heard that sigh. I decided we could stop half-way through that book and finish it tonight. He did pretty well with that, and just wanted to read one more page. He gave me a nice long hug, and then went right to sleep.

Johnny woke up earlier than I expected this morning - 6:15! He really is cutting back on his sleep. I worry a little that he's getting how much he needs, but he really doesn't seem to be able to sleep much more than that. So, I guess we will roll with it for now as long as he is not too cranky. I forgot how tough it is getting out the door without Andrew here and for an 8 AM class! We were doing so good, and he wanted to read little engine that could, so I agreed, and then I looked up and it was after 7, and neither of us had shoes on! We managed to make it out of the house, but not without a bit of a roller-coaster ride. He wanted to put his shoes on himself, so I let him do that and went to get my shoes while he did that. He actually did a pretty good job! He didn't have the straps right, but that was easy to fix. I had so much stuff to carry that I handed him his milk cup to carry, and I think he didn't want any right then, but he just screamed and screamed all the way to the car. I told him I needed his help, but that didn't make any difference, so I decided to ignore him.... Didn't seem like too much to ask to have him carry his milk cup... The only true calamity was that we forgot his strawberries that I had cut up for his breakfast at home. I managed to make it a few minutes early, so I had a little breathing room to make it to class on time.

Had a good day at work. It is still so hot in the building even though the a/c is running. It starts out OK at around 75, but the temperature quickly goes up with warm bodies, projectors running, and the sun hitting the big east windows. It makes it tough in the afternoon to concentrate. I may start coming home to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays once I am pretty sure that the lab is going OK for the other lab instructor. I have a lot to do to get everything ready to leave it on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I will probably end up working this weekend some at night and during (please, please let there be) nap time, but I think I will be OK.

He had a good day at school - ate a good lunch, took an over 1 1/2 hour nap, and had no accidents! He was playing with some big plastic nuts and bolts when I got there, and had a wet shirt - I guess from washing his hands?

Was a little late leaving work and picking up Johnny, but I continued my tradition of setting a timer and spending 30 minutes with him when we get home before I start cooking dinner. We had a good time outside throwing and kicking balls. At first he just wanted to throw them into the yard and then go get them and do it over again. Then we would throw the balls at the other balls to see if we could get them to move. Later, I showed him the velcro mits, and we almost had a game of catch going there for a little while :). It was getting close to time to go in, so I told him we needed to water his flowers that he had started from seed at school, so we took his little watering can around to the rain barrel and watered the marigolds. We had the little can a little over half full, and as he was carrying it around the house, he said "I'm strong!" I thought that was really cute, and told him he was! Then he wanted to water more, so we got another canful and did the begonias that I'm pretty sure are in too much sun and aren't going to make it. He started losing it a bit just as I almost had dinner ready - I think he was pretty hungry.

We had a good dinner - hot dogs, mac and cheese, and green beans, and then we had some pudding that I had made. I had told him that we could go out and fill up the baby pool after dinner, so we did that. This time we put it in the back yard in a flatter spot. That will probably work well, except the grass is not so good there, so it's a little harder on the bare feet in that area. He had a good time splashing in the pool, and then we talked to Andrew for a little while! It was a good thing Andrew called when he did, because the mosquitoes were coming out en force at that point.

Andrew seemed more tired again - and disappointed that they had stayed up late to finish their project, but it still didn't work. He has to make a presentation today on it, and wasn't looking forward to that really. The only good news was that part would be over after today, and then he could sleep in tomorrow! So, we may not talk to him tomorrow night, but he really needs to sleep in, I think. He says his body has not quite figured out the time yet and he keeps waking up early in the morning, unable to sleep any more :( This weekend they are going to Macau - the Vegas of China and next week is Dale Carnegie training for them.

The bedtime routine went well tonight - Johnny loves throwing the football in the tub - and is pretty good at it! At bedtime he wanted to read Seuss' "If I Ran the Zoo" - which is a really long book, it turns out! We didn't finish it, but marked it for tomorrow night. Again, it was almost 8:00 when I put him to bed, and he seemed to fall right asleep! I am hoping he sleeps a little later in the morning - we will see! I may try putting him to bed a little earlier tomorrow night to see if he will sleep a little later.

OK - bedtime for me! So glad it's Friday tomorrow and class starts at 8:30 instead of 8! I promise there will be pictures tomorrow, even if they are from our backlog of unedited, unposted pictures! :)