'Tis the season...

This is my favorite time of year...Christmas. Now I can play that Martina McBride Christmas CD that has found residency in my CD player in the car for the past two years. I love Christmas!

But first came Thanksgiving. We had a really good Thanksgiving. The only bad thing was it was so short. I had to work on Friday, so that cut family time short. We went to Jasper on Thursday all day. Had a great visit with everyone! We discovered that Ethan LOVES to jump around! Malea and Dewayne had a "sit and go nowhere" station that bounced. Ethan discovered that and went to town. It was so funny! So now we have a jungle jumperoo in the den that Ethan bounces around in. He loves it. He just laughs and bounces for about 20 minutes and then he slowly fades off to nappy town. (That means he goes to sleep) When I was at work on Friday, I talked to Nick a time or two during the day. You could hear Ethan in the background growling and babbling and having a good ole time. Now that he has gotten over his sickness (thank the good Lord above that we made it through that) he just talks, growls, laughs, whines, etc. His personality is showing more and more.

We got to visit with Megan and Thomas the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was so good to see them! I miss you guys! I'm glad that they were able to stop on through. Funny Fact...Megan is going to kill me for this one....she sent me a text message the next day telling me her arm was sore from holding Ethan. Hehehehe.....Just had to throw that one in.

Ethan's development is moving right along! I can't believe that he is growing so fast! For someone who loves schedules (me) having an infant proves that schedules don't exist. Ethan is now eating cereal/fruit three times a day. We have had success with apples, pears and peaches. Because I have been mixing them in with cereals, his formula feedings have spread out and decreased. He loves to eat though! I think next we will try some veggies.

He is definitely teething. Nothing has cut the gums, but it is so funny to watch Ethan. No matter what he can get his hands on it goes straight into his mouth. When we have him bundled in a blanket or with a bib he stuffs half of it in his mouth. When we catch him doing that he stops, stares at us to see what our facial expressions are (we are laughing out loud) and then he laughs. Its so cute!

He has mastered the rolling from front to back, almost has back to front and almost has sitting up by himself. See the video/pics. He is a little tripod when he sits up. Then when he falls, he laughs. I think he likes the journey down to the floor.

Okay, I think that is all. Time for Christmas decorations and songs. I love this time of year!

TGIF

All I can say is thank the good Lord its Friday! This week has been terrible and I am just glad its over. Where do I even begin?

I ran out of the formula we were using and had to use a different formula. I thought this wasn’t going to be a problem and used it for about 2 days (until it ran out).
We started our new daycare teacher on Monday. It was a nightmare. Leaving Ethan on Monday was harder to do than the first day of daycare. When I dropped him off, everything I was worried about happened. First off, I told his teacher that he was only 4 ½ months old. The look on her face was frightening. I don’t think she realized how young he really was. Then I told her that I didn’t want him on the ground while the other babies were down there b/c I was afraid that they would try to pull themselves up using Ethan, swat at him, get in his face, etc. and Ethan had no way to defend himself. So, I put him in the “stand and go nowhere” thing…which is the only activity center in the room…and the first thing that happened was the 12 month old…yes, 1 year old in his class…crawled over to him…yea, that too…pulled herself up and swatted a sock in his face. After Ethan was quickly pulled away from the girl, it took everything I had not to cry in his room. I went straight to the director’s office and cried. I voiced my concerns and she basically told me the same thing that the other lady told me. Wasn’t comforting, wasn’t helpful, in fact, I began to look at other daycares. Then later that day I went back to go check on him and asked the teacher how his first feeding was and she said “he took the bottle well”. I was like good, now what about the cereal? Her response was “Oh, he gets cereal too?” It’s written down right behind her and I pointed that out. Mommy is not a happy camper. By the time I pick him up, he has developed a snotty nose, cough, sneezing and was breaking out on his face. OH NO, one of those other snotty nosed kids has given Ethan something. Ethan didn’t sleep through the night. All in all wasn’t a good day. By Wednesday I had calmed down a bit until I went to go check on him during the day and found him asleep in his teacher’s arms with a bottle stuck in his mouth. Ethan was definitely asleep too, it was obvious, he was snoring. That didn’t sit well with me. When I left, I stopped to talk to another mom whose child is in the same class and informed me of the flyers we had been getting at school. The first one was ANOTHER price increase of tuition and the other one was…drum roll please…the teacher was moving out of this classroom and another (whom we LOVE) is coming to take over. I cannot tell you how excited I was, and am, to hear that news. A prayer was answered, I felt so relieved. I could have hugged her when I found out. So, we are excited about next week when the new teacher starts. We look forward to it! :)

We switched back to his other formula. The snots are clearing up and so is his cough. Apparently he had an allergic reaction to the other formula. He still is congested a bit, but much better.

So, now we are glad it’s Friday and we can relax this weekend and watch some AU foosball. TGIF!!!!

Halloweenie

I forgot to post pics from Halloweenie. He was a skunk....

PS. I also forgot to tell you that when we for our 4 month old check up, Ethan weighed 20 lbs and 14 oz. He was 27.5 inches long. That put him in the 98th percentile for his age. He's a big boy!

Well, its been a while since I posted. Sorry I have been slacking.

Last week was slightly difficult. Ethan caught his first stomach bug. We thought at first it was the almost full jar of applesauce that he ate on Saturday, but the runny diapers lasted until about Wednesday. With that being said, he (and mom and dad) stayed home from Monday until Wednesday, the MD's office received phone call after phone call from yours truly. I was so afraid that he would get dehydrated and have to go into the hospital or something like that. I guess I was expecting the worse. Luckily, Thursday, back at day care, was back on schedule and much better, a more normal day. He ate his cereal, drank his bottles, pooped a more solid poop and kept on smiling. I was so happy on Thursday. Friday was a different question...

While we were at home on Tuesday, I received a call from the day care. The director told me that starting on Monday, Ethan will be moving up to the next classroom. At first I was okay with it, but then I started to think about it. The next classroom up had babies that were sitting up on their own, crawling, pulling up on things. I wasn't too happy about it come Thursday. So I called the director, left a message to call me and she never did. I dropped Ethan off on Friday and found out that the director is out until next Tuesday. So, I talked to his current teacher, Ms. Romona (whom we have grown to love and trust). She assured me that Ethan was ready to move to the next room, that he would be okay, and she would tell that teacher how his routine is. I also talked to the next in line since the director was out. She didn't do anything but make me mad. She shouldn't hold that position. She kept referring to me being a first time mom (first time or third time, a mom is going to worry about her 4 month old in the same room with 6+ mos who are pulling on him and tugging on him and making sure he still gets the attention he needs and doesn't sleep all day), other pregnant moms who need to get back to work (not my problem, there's something called a waiting list that I had to wait on and so should they. The day care shouldn't move babies into rooms they aren't ready for), then she kept telling me to pray about it over the weekend (my praying habits are none of her concerns nor does she need to push religion on a complete stranger...a huge pet-peeve of mine). I was visibly ill with her and had to get out of the conversation quick. Well, bottom line is that he is still moving and the class that he is moving to will have the same age babies as he by December. The older babies will be moving out too. We'll see how it goes and complain as needed. :)

Nick and I had a date night tonight. Grandaddy (Ronnie), Granny (Carlene), and Great-Grandmother (Nick's Grandmother) came up here to visit with Ethan while Nick and I went out. Big thanks to them. We had a great time! It was much needed.

In other news, Ethan is now reaching for things, grabbing things, rolling from front to back, trying to get the back to front, recognizes familiar faces and greets them with smiles, playing peek-a-boo, we are working on sitting up by ourself, and soon we will be starting on fruits and veggies. He is growing so fast. This is so much fun!!!!

Teefees

Well my friends, the time has come. That time when your absolutely perfect baby starts to get slightly feverish, fussy, and a little more difficult. Ethan's teeth are starting to appear!!! WHAT?! you say, yes, it's true. They haven't broken the gums or anything, but you can see the whites of them and definitely feel them. Surprisingly enough, they aren't the front ones. They are the ones next to the front ones. We can see the outside of them. He has been more fussy than usual and ran a little fever last weekend, but that comes with the territory. The drool is for sure on high too! He has soppin wet shirts at times. I don't expect a tooth to cut through for another couple of months, but they are on their way!!

On another note, Ethan ate his first bowl of cereal. It was all over his face! I'll post those pics later. Here are some other ones.

Tailgating....Mike, Debbie, Dad, Mom, Me, Anna Catherine feeding Ethan, and Megan

Anna Catherine, Katy, Lindsey, Me, Ethan, Meghan, and Katie

Rollin, rollin, rollin.....

Well, much has happened the past few weeks in our lives. Where do I start?

First, Nick passed his agency interview. YAY!!!! Thanks for everyones thoughts and prayers. Nick worked very hard for that interview and it payed off! Our next step is to hurry up and wait. We are waiting for an agency opportunity in an area that Nick wants. Where you might ask. I don't know, where ever he wants to go. I'll keep you posted.

Second, we took a trip to AU to visit with Aunt Debbie and Uncle Mike who flew in to meet Ethan and to celebrate Aunt Debbie's b'day. It was a real good visit, just didn't last long. Ethan had his first tailgating experience and seemed to have fun. A bunch of my friends from high school were also in town and they came by to meet Ethan too. I wish that weekend would have lasted longer!

Third, Ethan has begun to roll over!!! He is going from tummy to back. Its so fun to watch him do this too. Its just like a roll and plop. He sucks his thumb during this entire time and it doesn't skip a beat. When he plops over he's like "whats up, yea I just rolled over, so" (in his best gangsta voice). He is giggling, slobbering, talking up a storm! He loves Nick too. All Nick has to do is look at him and he smiles and giggles. I discovered scratches on his fingers tonight and question whether he has a tooth coming in. I stuck my finger in his mouth and there is nothing cutting through, but there are definitely two teeth poking out, not his front teeth but the next ones, whatever they are called. I am afraid he is going to have teeth like his momma's...big. He is developing so much. He is not a big fan of laying on his back now. Since he as gained excellent control of his head and movements, he loves to sit up and look around. When we have him laying down, he'll try so hard to sit up. His little head raises and you hear him grunting to sit up.

Ethan turns four months on the 20th. Can you believe it? FOUR MONTHS! The time has just gone by so fast. I walk in the nursery at work and see all the newborns and just remember my chunky little thing when he was born. Those days were seem so long ago. We'll go back to the MD on the 28th for a check up. I'm anxious to get a wt and ht on him.

I'll keep you posted.

Read her story

Since I got pregnant, delivered, and am now back to work I have a different perspective doing my job. I use to be able to sympathize with my patients, but now I can empathize with the majority of them. I have noticed that I can do my job so much better. I know what it is like to have a c/section, recover, be at home with a newborn, have a baby that was jaundice, experience the baby blues and much much more. My job has become a bit more meaningful.

On Friday, I was sent by work to a seminar in the ham about post-partum depression. It was a fabulous seminar that lasted just a few hours! In those few hours I learned so much that I wish I knew before I delivered. To all the moms to be, your OB's may have discussed this with you, but I know mine didn't and I wish she had. Just a few facts: *There are three different mental illnesses that can occur post delivery 1) Baby Blues 2) Post-Partum Depression and 3) Post-Partum Psychosis. Me myself suffered from the baby blues. Thanks to my family that is all it turned into. The baby blues occur most of the time in 70% of women. PP Depression happen in 15% of women. Any signs of PPD need to be addressed with your OB and/or a counselor so it doesn't turn into Psychosis. When I say psychosis, I mean it. You would hear voices, have hallucinations, be irrational at times. True psychosis. I want y'all to read this story. Its about a women, upper middle class, IN BIRMINGHAM, who suffered from PP Psychosis. This girls best friend's came to the seminar to speak about their organization. You may have heard about this back around Christmas of 2007. What this story doesn't tell is how well Jenny hid her feelings. One speaker said that she was there a few days before this happened and they were trying on baby clothes, laughing, having a good time. Even the day it happened, they said that that morning is when she went to the sporting good store and that evening she cooked dinner, set the table, packed their bags for an upcoming Christmas trip then went out back. Can you believe this happened in Birmingham?! It is crazy! They said she seeked help from her OB, but nothing was done b/c "she didn't fit the mold". It just goes to show this can happen to anyone! This story just breaks my heart. For all you soon-to-be moms, new moms, new grandmothers, please educate yourself and learn more about these mental illnesses. Lets do all we can to help new moms deal with their feelings/thoughts/emotions through those first few months into the first year to cope. There is also a link on their page for additional info on PPD.

On a lighter side, E-buddy had a good weekend. We have moved up to size 3 diapers and are about out of size 6 month old clothes. I have taken new pics but haven't uploaded them just yet. Ethan is cooing, laughing, played peek-a-boo a few times this weekend, and looking all around. Everyday he does something new to fill us with joy!

Please keep us in your prayers! Nick is working hard! We'll post updated info later!