"For I know the plans..."

Here comes the Sun

2012-01-09T01:13:00.000-06:00

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.

~Charlotte Whitton

I love the cold weather, and all that comes with the holiday season fesitivities in the winter, but I really love the energy I have in the summertime when we're getting sunshine on our faces 24/7. Fortunately, the SUN has been coming around a little more lately. We are all loving it.

I found myself on a little playdate with my kids in the toddler park near our old neighborhood the other day. Little miss got to slide down her first real slide, and swing in her first real swing. She was delighted.

What a glorious time it was, to play in the sunshine, and feel all the winter blues just roll~slide~and swing away.

Too many apples (in a good way)

2011-12-30T17:25:00.003-06:00

We had an abundance of apples in our fruitbowl this week (thanks to a lovely giftbasket), and some leftover cider from Christmas. I came across an article in Good Housekeeping and decided to be resourceful. It called for fresh lemon, but I used the orange we already had. It also called for 5 lbs apples (about 10 apples), but I didn't have that many, so this is the halved version. I thought it turned out nicely. Husband agreed. Let me know if you try it out.

Apple Butter
5 apples, cored, peeled and cut in 8 wedges
1 cup apple cider
2-3 strips orange or lemon peel
3 Tbl. fresh orange or lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1. In a dutch oven, combine all ingredients except sugar, heat to boiling. Simmer on medium, partially covered 18-20 minutes or until apples are soft, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in sugar; heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, partially covered, 30-40 minutes or until very thick, stirring often and breaking up apples. Increase heat to medium-high; cook, stirring until spatula run along bottom of pan leaves a clean trail.
3. Discard peel and cinnamon stick. If needed, transfer to food processor and puree until smooth. Refrigerate in an airtight container for 3 weeks or freeze up to 6 months.
Makes 2 cups

Simple things

2011-12-22T02:43:00.000-06:00

My father in law passed along a notebook he replaced with "newer technology", so now I blog more :) Thanks Pops! Just to update my last actual post...we got to see some amazing Christmas light displays in Cali, we walked the sundial bridge and riverwalk in Redding, Billy and I had a nice date night (with free babysititing), but the fishing was replaced with another hobby of my hubby's, our spa day was replaced with shopping (nice trade off) :), and.....there was snow!

(It still amazes me we have two blue eyed kids!)

The kids were so cute, just taking in all the surroundings. Emma seemed to enjoy the sledding, but Will was pretty overwhelmed by all the screaming we did racing down the hills (which I royally whipped my husband at, by the way ::) he wasn't too interested in going down with either of us.

When he watched both his parents go flying by at once, he got a bit concerned we might be leaving him, or hurting ourselves. Thankfully, he figured out he liked throwing snow balls at the bottom of the hill and everything was all better.

We're finally home after a great early Christmas in California. Two of our big suitcases ended up in Newport News Virginia after being tagged incorrectly by the ticket agent. They finally made it home yesterday. At the moment, a good amount of our belongings are strewn down the hallway.. it feels like the piles just never go away, even when I whittle at them for what seems like hours. Oh dear, I need a maid!

We got home, turned on some Sinatra and Bing, and finished up the ornaments on our tree we had put up before we left. It was nice to get into the spirit of the season. This year we are staying in line with our churches theme to have a Simple Christmas (it's all part of the Advent Conspiracy). So we only put the ones on the tree that were sentimental.

For Christmas, we're doing one big gift for each of the kids, and a few little knick knacks, so tonight we did a little stocking shopping together. Speaking of stockings....it's pretty wild to have a mantle full of those babies! The thought crossed our mind we may have a mantle full from just our own family one day :) That's a cool thought.

Merry Christmas week....try to enjoy it with the people you love, and make your time together a gift.

(Tr)Ader Joe's

2011-12-14T10:22:00.001-06:00

Cali Christmas Part 2

2011-12-11T18:21:00.006-06:00

Will has this funny habit lately of offering you something encouraging you to "rock rock" it :) Sometimes it's a bell, a truck, a book or even YOU ("rock Daddy"). I literally found Billy sitting in his lap the other day so Will could "rock" him :) LOL!

This time, he handed his sister her doll and in good fashion, told her to "rock rock" the baby. They are so cute together...he play's really nicely with his sis, and she totally adores him.

Last night we had a really nice evening with Grandpa (Gpa) and Grandma (Gma) E., Uncle Herb (Suzanne's brother) and Aunt Brenda. We enjoyed a nice bowl of warm chili and homemade cornbread (I missed my cast iron when making it!) on a cold night, and we watched Ice Age Christmas and Cars 2. Will was throwing kisses and "I love you's" to me across the table and Emma enjoyed catching up with her Pops (who had been out of town for a few days on business in Austin, TX, of all places!).

Everyone was highly entertained by the kids, and Gma especially loved showing them her santa-popping out of a gift-box lapel pin. She said when Billy and his bro's were little, they loved it too (that's a long time to keep a pin!) Will would count to three for her to pull the string, and Emma would mainly just try and put it in her mouth :) She's turning into quite the skilled fine-motor girl, undoing her Nana's pins multiple times in a row. .

Gpa and Gma brought the kids some great new books, and a very nice gift for Billy and I. It's times of gathering like these that we are so thankful for good people we get to call our family.

California Christmas Part 1

2011-12-06T19:08:00.001-06:00

Billy's annual work Christmas party landed us in Las Vegas over the weekend. It was great to catch up with all the co-workers and their special someone's, and meet the many new faces added to the company this year. We were treated to a nice dinner and a night's stay at the Bellagio, a gift exchange, Cirque du Soleil's "O" and a yummy brunch before we dashed off. Will and Emma loved all the Christmas decor and fun animal displays the hotel offered in their Conservatory, and thankfully we had church friend of a family member that was able to come care for them during the late evening show. This was our first time out of the Vegas airport...and a nice trip. Oddly enough, we never took our camera out to take any pictures while we were there! Shame on us!

When we left Vegas, we took a little detour....and flew out to visit...Nana and Pops!'

and Grandma and Grandpa B....

they totally loved seeing the kids (and meeting Emma).

Will found it very interesting that Grandma had her own walker too, it was so cute how he chased her all over the house. We are always thankful to get another visit with them

Emma girl has been on the move, scooting around on her bum, or getting onto her knees. She's also been pulling herself up a little on things like the coffee table.

Somebody's about to crawl

Sunday we had an early Christmas, so the kids could have some fun toys to play with while we're here in Cali. It was so fun to see Emma light up about the wrapping and bows! She got an adorable giggle doll, a purse and my pal Violet. Will loved his farm and cars and is starting to warm up to the idea of liking the Singamajig:) They both had new clothes and accessories in the closet when we came. Billy and I were blessed with cash and presents too and we feel so loved for all the gifts the B's gave our family.

Will and Emma are both having a lot of fun playing with all their new toys and books, and Nana and Pops are eating them up! We were promised a date night, guys fishing trip and girls spa day, so more pics to come!

Daddy's helpers

2011-11-30T23:37:00.002-06:00

New in Christ

2011-11-21T12:17:00.002-06:00

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

2 Corinthians 5:17

We received an email this morning that our dear friend passed away after a rollercoaster battle with cancer. Our hearts ached for the families' loss. Immediately, we began to pray for their minds to be at peace, for grieving to come, and for comfort and love to overflow in their grieving.

I questioned why God would allow such a struggle like this one to come to an end? Especially when there had been some very high peaks of hope, and victories, in his valley called cancer.

God quickly reminded me that he ultimately had been healed of this terrible disease. His healing came in a different form than we had hoped, or expected. His healing was eternal.

We left our bedroom, and to our surprise, the caterpillar we had caught on Saturday in our bug catcher had fully cacooned himself in the night. What a symbolic moment that was. This creepy crawler was about to be made new, into a beautiful winged creature.

God revealed his truth in nature. In our decaying bodies' death, GOD GIVES US A NEW BODY. When we are in Christ, our lives are transformed and our bodies are perfected when we go to be with Him.

We will miss our friend dearly.

For him, the new has come.

She's here

2011-11-15T23:42:00.002-06:00

Just in case anybody was still wondering...yes...our little, ahem, BIG sparkle is here!

Miss Emma Jaymes Sweet Girl Sparkle Baby arrived a few weeks early at 11:56 p.m. on March 9, 2011. She was a tiny little thing, weighing 6 lb. 3 oz. and 18 1/2" long. Now our 8 month old "little" girl weighs about 20 pounds! She's been a great addition to the B. fam, and her brother loves her so (the feeling's mutual). Her contagious smiles light up the room, and her newest trick "pat-a-cake" is sure to put a smile on anybody's face. I'm thinking she may be crawling soon, since she is starting to side prop a lot in efforts to reach all her toys. She gets herself around the room, rolling to and fro. She is sure cute when she engages you to play or hold her. Her little feet just kick kick kick when she wants to get somewhere while in someone's arms (I guess she thinks she's helping you go). We are certainly glad to have her and can't imagine our family without the cutie pie.

The Princess and the Pilot

Will is doing great these days. He amazes us all the time. Spelling his name...recognizing many letters, all the colors, and shapes. There are so many books he's memorized and can fill-in words for. Lately, his big thing is pointing out the different tractors...backhoe, excavator, dump truck, etc. It's so cute to hear him sing his version of "Row, Row, Row" among several other songs. He had surgery back in September to have tubes placed in his ears and his blocked tear duct drained. He hadn't suffered from many ear infections, but his speech had somewhat changed ("dada" had become "gaga"..imagine the joking we did with Billy for that one! LOL:) . This was a clue to us that his hearing had also changed. So in efforts to test his hearing, we found he had chronic fluid that needed to be drained. The ENT described it as having "air plane hearing" all the time. Just imagine that, poor guy! The week of his surgery, we noticed his speech improve. His words are becoming more clear every day. He now has high-profile AFO's (orthotic braces) to assist him in walking, and for long distances is pretty pro at using a little walker.We are hoping these are only temporary, as he has recently started taking independent steps. His overall tone is getting much better, and we are soooo often praising God for the awesome blessing Will is!

Since we last spoke, my brother and his family moved in (April 2). It's been a lot of fun having so much "community" time together. We enjoy rotating the dinner duty (and the clelaning duty as well!) and the kids totally enjoy being in one house. It's been good for the toddlers to have "siblings" around, to learn to share and play fair. They will certainly be better off for it. We had a friend tease the other day that our house "looked like Disneyland"...with many books, toys and play-things in every room. Life is fun in our casa!

We gained 3 neices this year! Olive, Olivia, and Nova! They are all beautiful and healthy girls! We haven't met Olivia yet (she lives in Boston) but we get to see adorable pictures of her via email.

Aunt Mimi came for a visit

I thought I'd post a quick something to let the blog world know I haven't forgotten you! It's just been suuuuuper busy! If you can, take a sec. and let me know you're still reading and I just might follow this posting up with another :) Here are a few fun pics of the 5 grandbabies on my side of the family.

Nova, Will, Emma, Olive and Lucie with Papa and Gramm

Big Boy, Big Girl

2011-02-18T14:35:00.001-06:00

~BIG BOY~

Back in January, Billy and I started working on getting Will's bedroom ready for his transition. We wanted him to love it so much, and not feel slighted when little sister's crib took the place of his in our room. Fortunately, he already loved his "playroom" so very much, that he, in fact, would leave us in the living room most days to go play in there alone. It took a few days to get paint on the walls, the ceiling fan, pictures, decals and curtains hung...but I'd say what took the longest was Mommy being okay little man leaving our room (he never skipped a beat so I'm good now) :) Here's the pics of the finished product.

~BIG GIRL~

We had an ultrasound today with the maternal fetal specialist. They wanted to check Emma's growth, and the midwife had noticed a few months back that my placenta seemed to be a little low-lying. This could be dangerous, potentially causing something called "placenta accreta" where the placenta can actually attach itself to the scar tissue of a former uterine surgery (my c-section), and result in hemmorage and/or hysterectomy if not diagnosed in time. So it was important for us to have a good report today, in order to continue with our plan to birth safely at home. We were so pleased when the ultrasound was over, the specialist came in with a big grin, announcing that our girl looked healthy and beautiful. She's weighing in around 5lb 6oz (only 6 oz. less than Will AT BIRTH) which is considered a little above average for 35 wks g.a.. Whew! Then she said the placenta had completely come up to my mid-belly region, moving completely out of the way of my scar or cervix. Whew again! We had a feeling, based on the past 3 visits, and good fetoscope findings with the midwife, that it had moved up. But it never hurts to see proof!

The only downside to the ultrasound today was Miss Emma is already so embedded in my pelvis, and looking down, that we never saw her little face! I guess she will have to surprise us when she arrives!

Update on~Bags!

2011-02-01T23:53:00.002-06:00

UPDATE: I found my perfect bag! I was browsing Dillards one day with mom, and came across a Fossil utitlity tote. At the time, I thought it was the wrong size, but after much searching in several stores and online, I came back to it. Billy said he knew I loved it when I was showing it to him for the first time, and I looked like a kid in a candy store, face beaming and all.

Its's waterproofed inside, with just the right amount of pockets and zippers...plus a great big area on the outside for changing pad, diapers, nursing cover, etc. I bought a second smaller toiletry bag that fits comfortably inside, that I'm going to use for Will when we drop him off at the nursery, or he goes out on his own with family. It's perfect! Holds his sippy cup, snacks, bibs, diapers, wipes, etc. Just what we needed, and I can keep my brain organized with their things separated for times when she's with me, and he's out having fun with someone else. LOVE IT.

My goodness, who would have thought finding a good diaper bag would be so hard! I'm less than 7 weeks out from being an official parent of 2, and I really wanted to get a bigger, better bag to carry my kiddos things in.
I guess I'm pickier than I originally thought. It's got to be big, but not heavy; I want it to have a washable/waterproof liner, but don't like the "laminated look"; I like the outside pockets, but don't want it to look like a gardeners tote :) I would love for it to be stylish, but not just a pocket-less bag that becomes a big black hole....My, oh my, this is hard!
I've SEARCHED THE ENTIRE WEB and have yet to find "the one" where I hear angels singing their ahhhs in the background :0 Okay, so perhaps I'm overthinking it.

So far, this is the one I'm leaning towards... http://www.etsy.com/listing/61573709/morning-glory-emma-large-hot-mama?ref=mt

We've only just begun...

2011-01-22T01:27:00.002-06:00

This afternoon, Will wandered into Billy's office where he had brought a brand new can of Kilz oil-based primer in to read the directions (we're re-painting Emma's armoire). Needless to say, Will found that brand new can of Kilz, knocked it onto the floor, and managed to get the lid off....when my mom and Billy found him, he was swimming in it, covered from head to toe! By the time I was called into the bathroom, I found Billy scrubbing him vigorously in the sink, and all you could see were those baby blues shining out from a very white painted face! He was talking up a storm, seemingly not even phased by what happened. If anything, I think he had fun splashing around in the quart of thick goo on the carpet!

Thankfully after speaking with Poison Control, we were relieved he must not have ingested much at all,if any (smart boy!). Otherwise, he would have immediately had coughing and vomiting fits (none of which he had) and most likely, he was going to be just fine :) We were able to clean him up with Canola oil and baby wash...and his mouth came clean with peanut butter! I just spent the last hour scrubbing all the clothing my husband and son have most likely turned into "painting clothes" (Billy's fave jeans, and a brand new outfit on Will from Nana and Pops!) Tomorrow, it will be on to scrubbing the carpet...then again, maybe we'll call someone professional in for that one.

I was especially amused, because I had taken a picture of him earlier this morning after he pulled himself into my generously sized bathtub, fully clothed. I thought that was a big deal, and then this happened! I have a feeling life with a toddler on a mission to get into everything has only JUST BEGUN. Yippie.

4 Preggo's

2011-01-19T23:21:00.001-06:00

My friend Claire (18 weeks pregnant) and I thought it was high time she was introduced to the store called Babies R Us :) It just so happened to work out that sisters Lin and Rachel were free so they got to come too (and don't forget Grammy May, Will and Lu!) We all piled in the Durango (good ole' Bess) and had a grand time together. We had people stopping us in the store, trying to get the whole scoop on our group. Claire and Rachel mainly browsed for future ideas, but Lin was on a mission, buzzing around scanning registry items diligently.

At one point, I was wishing I'd had my camera when we all stopped to enjoy a rest in the comfy rocking chairs...so there we were, 2 kids in strollers sleeping, 1 grandma watching over them diligently, and 4 tired pregnant girls with their feet up, eating a protein snack. What a day. I'm pooped!

2 and Under!

2011-01-18T14:42:00.002-06:00

Last week, we heard the great news that our SIL Winnie, in Boston, is due to have their first baby in August :) We were so happy to know Will and Emma would get to share a B.cousin now!
Last night, we were informed that our sister Rachel is joining Lindsey and myself on our Round #2 of baby making! (We always teased them their 5 year plan was gonna' change, and they would join us on Round #2...)
We are thrilled and amazed that this year will make 3 grandbabies for Billy's parents, and 5 grandbabies for my parents that are all 2 years old and under!! Of course, just like our wedding year, we had to be on this journey at the same time, and we didn't even plan it, lol.
How blessed to be a apart of a beautiful, growing family :)

Kickoff to Christmas

2010-12-17T14:49:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, Billy's company flew us out for their annual Christmas party. We had a wonderful time with the company, and the best part was we were at....DISNEYLAND! There was a great party on Friday night with delicious food and great company...then we had breakfast together the next morning and it was off to an entire day of Disney!

We took Will with us (of COURSE!) and weren't quite sure how he'd handle all the big characters, rides, crowds and noise. Turns out, he's as much a fan as his parents :)

He'd never taken a pic with Santa, so we thought the Disney Santa was the perfect one to break him in with. He was beautiful! Perfect rosy-red cheeks, handsome and heavy courderoy clothing, and a soft and gentle voice. We were fully prepared for a fight on our hands (as most 20 month olds might give), but NOPE, Will LOVED him. Santa was as surprised as we were, I think. He whispered to us parents that we could "go ahead and leave now", and then he patted Will's leg and said "Son, you can have whatever you want for Christmas". It was adorable.

Nana and Pops were able to join us for an early Christmas time together. They had fun seeing the glee on Will's face...about every 5 minutes, when he experienced something new!

It was the PERFECT day to be in the park. We happened to be there for the lighting of the giant Christmas tree. A large group of carolers sang Christian carols down the streets with candlelight, they put on a big production telling the birth of Jesus, It's a Small world was completely decked out in lights, and it was the holiday version of the ride....so cool. Plus, when the park had it's normal fireworks display at the end of the night, they had a Christmas accompaniment, and then made it snow! What a way to start the Christmas season!

All that Sparkles

2010-10-24T23:36:00.003-05:00

On Monday morning, I woke up to check my email and found a sale ad in my inbox with the heading "All that sparkles is Oshkosh". It was an ad for their new "Sparkle Shop", and I found it's timing to be impeccable. Later that afternoon, we found out we're having an Emma!

We saw a MFS and found that Emma's heart and other organs look great! As far as the doc was concerned, we are as low risk as anyone else this time, which is a big sigh of relief! The high-def anatomy ultrasound found her to be a very active little girl too! She was so cute, posing for us...hand on chin, hand on forehead, hand on cheek, hand in mouth... :) Billy said "she already looks like she's gonna' be a talkity box" :) I can just hear her imaginative fairy tale princess stories now.....lol.

I've been feeling her kicks for several weeks now, alot earlier than last time, which is very comforting. As far as the rest of our baby news goes...we're planning for an HBAC (homebirth after caesarean) and will be meeting our potential widwife on Wednesday. She has a wonderful reputation, and alot of VBAC experience in our area. We're considering using a doula as well, and have already spoken to a wonderful choice, who comes very highly recommended. It will depend on finances whether we end up having her apart of our team or not, but I would really love to let Billy do less work this time :) With Will's labor, I was bruised (literally) after the 26 hours I put him through rubbing my back, and HE was requesting an epidural since I wouldn't have one, hehe.

As far as big brother Will goes..he pointed to her first ultrasound (the 8 week one) and said "Emma"...my mom and I both heard him, but didn't know how he knew to call her that (we hadn't been coaching him)! Then, a few days ago, I was changing his diaper and he kicked off me to get up. I told him to be gentle because "mommy has a baby in her belly". He said "Emma?". I asked him, "did you just say Emma?" he answered, "Yeaaah" and smiled so proudly. He's been so cute signing "baby" every time we ask him about her now.

We don't forget the awesome God we serve, who has HIS hand on the baby and me. Thank you for your prayers as we continue this journey and continue to seek peace and pursue the right paths for our growing family concerning this labor and delivery!

Who knew?!

2010-10-02T09:57:00.000-05:00

My son USED to eat anything I put in front of him...that is, until he discovered his passion for French fries and p.b.&j.'s :) He would scarf any fruit or veggie I placed on his tray...but GONE are those days sister! If you have one single veggie in a full bite of anything else, he finds it and it alone comes shooting out of his mouth like a beebee. Just last night, he refused to even try the butter and bacon-laden green beans from Lubys. Shameful.
So during that meal, my mother shared the most GENIUS idea with me. It's one my sis Lin has been trying on my niece Lu.
FROZEN peas. BRILLIANT! Will loved them! He kept asking for more! Then we moved to carrots...not so much. Green beans...perhaps. Blueberries...of course! But the peas, of all things, were his FAVORITE.
I think I just found my new secret weapon.

San Fran Zoo

2010-09-23T01:14:00.008-05:00

Billy was in a friend's wedding in San Francisco, so we decided to make a family trip of it :) I have plenty of stories and pics to share in the near future, but for now, I'll leave you with my favorite shots of Will's first zoo-adventures. He was super sleepy with the time change, but he still managed to point, smile and growl at all his favorite animals...you know...giraffes, lions, tigers, and bears oh my!

The biggest lion was so lazy (cats!) napping out on the grass, but after several loud visitors banged on his window, he awoke and stood to greet us. The tiger, however, chose to forgo the big reception he would have been given, and just slept on through it (like I said, cats!).

One of the giraffes was in the middle of feeding time, so Will enjoyed a nice little look at the very tall spotted thing in front of him.

It was actually pretty cool when one of the bears moseyed on over to the window, seemingly unafraid of us. Little man got so excited he was trying to jump out of the stroller to get him :)

Our little navigator led us to eat a p.b.&j and fries at the cafe (smart people know kids eat there) to finish up the day. I think the bears were his favorite...but I wish we could have captured his smiles more. It's hard when you're trying to get the animals in the back and his facial expressions in the front. He was adorable growling and doing the signs he knows for the animals though, and I think all in all he really enjoyed it. Gotta love it!

Worth every penny

2010-08-28T22:37:00.001-05:00

This weekend, there was a large consignment sale at a local church. Everything that didn't sale yesterday, was half price today. My mom and I toted Will Riley along for a 5 hour ride yesterday. Fortunately he was able to eat lunch, nap and spend some fun time making new friends on the bleachers while I shopped (*no worries, Grammy was with him) . I spent the majority of my time trying on a load of maternity clothing, and walked away with a big brown bag full of staples I can use for a number of pregnancies. I had also spotted a Pottery Barn crib in great shape, but wanted Billy to see it for himself before we made such a big decision, and he wasn't off work in time to join us last night.

So...little man decided to wake up bright and early this morning *6:15 am to be exact* Lucky for us, it was a good excuse to get up because the sale was opening at 7am...and off we went! Billy liked what he saw, so we snatched up the crib for a STEAL of a deal! I couldn't believe it was still there on a half-off everything day! My handyman husband brought all the right tools to break it down, and lucky for us he did, because we almost couldn't fit it in our car! After we dropped the bed off, we went out for some delicious eggs benedict, and I was telling Billy it felt like Black Friday. Those of you as crazy as my mom and I know what I'm talking about. There's just something really refreshing and energizing about waking up while it's still dark, to run out and save money while the rest of the world sleeps. One year, Aaron joined my mom and I for an post-Thanksgiving run, and after several hours of shopping, we stopped for a bite at Denny's. We were amazed at the crowded place! We actually had to wait for a while, and as we looked around, everyone had shopping bags at their feet. It was like we were all in a club or something :)

Tonight, while my son caught up on all the sleep he would normally have had in the morning, I decided to sit down and look up each item I purchased. I wanted to compare the retail prices, to the ones I paid. Although it was used, everything was in great shape, and I factored in the touch-up paint we're ordering from Pottery Barn so we can make the crib as good as new. All in all, between the crib and clothing, I ended up saving OVER $500!

I don't know about you, but that kind of savings was worth every ounce of missed sleep :)

A little sparkle

2010-08-23T19:09:00.001-05:00

On the 4th of July, I shared a dream I had about my sis-in-law Rachel. In the dream, she was informing me that she had a "sparkle in her belly"...little did I know, I was carrying a little sparkle of my own :)

Looks like we've got ourselves a Mini "B" on the way! It's cool, we already had a name in mind, before we knew we were preggo. So, more on that later....like when we find out what we're having! For now, I will sip my Coke Icee, which seems to be one of the only things that makes my naseau go away (that and Jack in the Box tacos, oddly enough). I'm having a lot more sickness with this one than I did with Will, so I'll be glad when it subsides (hopefully it will subside!).

Here's a pic of the cutie pie~

We're due March 25th, right after Will turns 2...sounds like perfect timing to us. Oh, and although my dream hasn't come true yet, I'm sure both my sisters will be joining me sooner than later ;)

Go-go-gadgets

2010-07-16T17:04:00.000-05:00

This kiddo loves phones/Ipods....I wonder if he'll be in software like his daddy one day :)

Funny boy

2010-06-26T11:03:00.002-05:00

"Mom, do I have to brush my teeth?"

I heard him playing peekaboo in the back seat...all by himself!

Wow, the boy can put down some spaghetti! And although, the stains come off his face, I'm still trying to get them out of his highchair cover!

He sucked WHAT up his nose?

2010-06-22T00:57:00.003-05:00

Look at him admiring it as if he meant to inhale it! It was a piece of pasta...and Grammy came to the rescue after 3 sneezes sent it sneaking out his nostrils. He was glad to get it out, and seemed almost proud of himself :)

And just for the record (since I'm HORRIBLE at keeping notes on my calendar of these little milestones...) while playing a drop-it-in-the-bucket game this afternoon, my mom offered Will 2 balls at a time (like normal)...this round asking, "blue or red?". Out of the mouth of my babe comes "baloo" as he grabs for the blue ball! Next round, "orange or red?"...once again, a tiny response "reeddd" as he reaches for the red ball! He said red again a few rounds later and reached for the red ball once again....when did my 15 month old learn his colors?!

In the grocery store parking lot, mom and I were sitting in the car with a friend of the family, and I was trying to get Will to show off for her. We asked him to say "Grammy"...which usually comes out "Ooomah" (which is, by the way, adorable). This time, he said "Gamba"...he's getting closer to saying it right! Ooomah's gonna be sad when she's just plain ole "Grammy" one day :) Reminds me of when cousin Jeremiah started calling his Grandma "Maggie" until he was able to say it correctly...and now she's all bummed she's just "Grandma" to him. Speaking of that cutie...

he and Will thought Aunt Mary was funny popping herself out from behind me :)

Michael Grimm

2010-06-09T21:15:00.002-05:00

Remember that name. Singers are a dime a dozen, but this one is a gem for sure.
If you ask me, he will be picked up by a record lable whether he wins AGT or not.

All American Boy

2010-06-02T19:17:00.007-05:00

I still have come catching you up to do....however, I figured, while I'm looking at this past weekends photo's, I might as well share them with the world :) I love this sweet boy.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Will was given his first kiddie pool (thanks B's). Billy decided to try it out with him, and it was hilarious to watch the neighbors drive by pointing and laughing (I wonder if they thought he wasn't wearing a swimsuit either? LOL)...it's really cute, with a slide and elephant that has a waterfall for a snout. Will loved it, although he didn't keep his eyes open much since the sun was beating down on him.

We enjoyed grilled burgers, corn on the cob and sweet potatoes...then I made a funfetti cake and between it's 3 layers was vanilla pudding and fresh strawberries :) YUM.

Nana and Pops were here to visit so they enjoyed time with their grandson. He showed off all his tricks...plenty of sign language, singing, raising up his arms and showing us "how big is Will", saying 1 with his finger when you ask,"how old is Will"...you know, all the usuals ;)

Will discovered the washer and dryer last night, and couldn't get enough of it! He would have stood there watching the spin cycle forever if I'd let him! This morning, he was trying to help me pull his clothes out of the dryer. It was adorable.

These two are MY FAVORITE!When we got home from the airport, Billy sat down with his boy and read a generator manual to him :) I guess when it comes to preparing for hurricane season, you can never start too early. He was enthralled!

Birthday Boy Part 2 (finally)

2010-05-13T22:51:00.004-05:00

It's pretty sad, seems like every time I make my way up here to my desk, I have to tear off another month's page on my calendar! Okay, so maybe moving up to the loft wasn't the best idea...seeing how all the action in my family happens downstairs :) It just seemed like such a great idea, having a new desk and chair to sit and be comfortable...yet we NEVER come up here!

I have far too much to catch you up on, and I'll start with my now 14 month old's 1st birthday!

Although we gave our boy a Jungle themed party, we enjoyed some homemade Mexican food...Billy's cheese enchiladas (Gma B's famous recipe) and I made some from-scratch refried beans and spanish rice...green sauce and chips! YUM! The Birthday boy slept through the meal, lol...but woke up to our loud family singing him a birthday song with his very own banana cream monkey cake (I made 2- a big one for us, and a little one for him).

It was so cute, how he talked to the cake as I brought it up close..and then he tried to grab it all up-fire and all! He actually didn't tear into it too bad, but he liked what he tasted.

Cousin Lucie came dressed in her zebra...fitting right in with the theme And Grammy couldn't let her go without a gift to open too :)

My little man is growing up too fast!

Kinda Sneaky

2010-03-17T23:49:00.001-05:00

Sister Lin, what you said was true...I have yet to bring the world Part 2 of my 1 year olds birthday celebration. I winked and it was 10 days later. So strange how that happens.
I had every intention of following through on that posting, as well as catch you up with pictures of my loving husbands 29th bday at the shooting range (he only had a few minor requests and that was one of them;)
...and adorable pictures of Will in his plaid pants
...and his green stripes for St. Paddy's day
...and a pic of my St.Paddy dinner including but not limited to my fave green foods like guacamole, and creamy green sauce, and a DELISH cheese-filled chile relleno
...BUT I am currently being held hostage in my bedroom;) I came in here to nurse, and the door was shut behind me. I was told Im not to come out for the rest of the evening! I asked Billy if he was cleaning the house, lol!(I think he's up to something for my bday tomorrow). No laptop, no camera memory cards. Just my sleeping son and me, chilling in a dimly lit room on a comfy king size bed...
with nothing but an ITouch on which to tell you all about it.

I LOVE surprises! You have my word I'll share what he was up to as soon as I'm alowwed to know!

Gnite all
XOXO

Birthday Boy (Part 1)

2010-03-06T00:13:00.005-06:00

It's hard for me to comprehend an entire year has passed since my

"birthing day". As I put it to my husband earlier today, the scar still feels new to me. I know it sounds so cliche' but I can't believe how quickly the time flew!

We have a toddler. Wow! A year ago, he would lie so quietly in his bed, barely moving at all. He weighed a little over 5 pounds, and I could fit him in my shirt (we did kangaroo care quite often to keep his body temperature regulated). He didn't cry much, and showed much more interest in sleeping than eating. He looked JUST LIKE his uncle Aaron at first...which freaked all of us out. The little stinker didn't come until 2:54 in the morning, after 24 hours of labor with NO DRUGS (although that all changed when I ended up with a C-section)! He changed our world forever. It was flipped upside down and all in the right directions. We love him more and more with every day we know him, and he brings more joy (just like God promised us he would before he was even born) than we could imagine. That little laugh...those funny words...touching our faces...grabbing our hair (even though it hurts, it's sweet)...and now...the boy is opinionated, and he likes to eat! He even ate a whole hotdog the other day! He's bigger and cuddly and ewwwwie, we can't get enough of him! He smells yummy, and taste even yummier ;)

Mommy and Daddy love you Will Riley!

Today, our birthday boy had a nice normal day at home, where he LOVES to play with all his toys and has plenty of carpet to roll and roam around. When he finally went down for a nap (he's refused for the past 4 days~ I think he's TEETHING) I came in to find him like this....Lol he certainly moves more than he used to!

Our little birthday celebration was postponed when several family members decided to get the sickies...but when we do party, I promise to post some adorable pictures of my jungle monkey boy eating his banana cake mommy made for him!

Lost & Found

2010-02-21T17:25:00.002-06:00

Lost: Our Calphalon BREAD KNIFE (we're talking about a BIG shiny serrated knife!)
Found: A new replacement @ Ross for half price
Lost: 2 of Will's socks
Found: 1 of them under his car seat :)
Lost: My 1-cup measuring cup
Found: $14 cash on my bedside table (thanks Honey)
Lost: A 3-tier server
Found: It in Billy's old chest in the garage (I forgot we were space-saving in the townhome garage)
Lost: That's what the flower delivery guys were last week when they took 2 days to deliver part of my Valentines present (no wonder my husband was stalling all morning when I wanted to get out)
Found: Them on my front porch late that night! They were b-e-a-utiful!
Lost: 1 black high heel
Found: It hiding under the drivers seat of the car (gotta' love changing into flats after church)
Lost: The need for plain ole' white pasta every time
Found: Barilla PLUS with flaxseed, protein and omega-3's to be quite tasty
Lost: My I-touch (momentarily)
Found: It in my husband's hands ("but it's time to harvest my crops")
Lost: I NEARLY lost it when the lady in the public bathroom at a HOSPITAL was too busy talking on her cell in the stall to realize her little girl was LAYING all over the floor...and then they both walked out without even washing their hands!
Found: The serenity to keep my cool and NOT chase that lady down with at least hand sanitizer
Lost: Billy's IPOD dock
Found: An old 3/4 full bottle of water in my rocking chair cushion
Lost: Our little led flashlight
Found: It beaming out from the washing machine in a fresh batch of washed clothes
Lost: 2 of our 4 Dr.Brown's bottle caps
Found: Some old cd's I was looking for
Lost: My train of thought when the new neighbor came by and talked nonstop (at least she's friendly)
Found: A renewed interest in playing the WII when a few friends came over to play for 6 hours (Caren says she got 38 snowballs when she got home and played, but Billy being the reigning champ here with 30 says "sure Caren, sure you did".

And I'm still looking for my 1 cup measure, Billy's IPOD dock, 1 baby sock, and 2 bottle caps...so random

Approaching the BIG 3-O!

2010-02-08T18:47:00.000-06:00

Ohh boy, there really is something about that 30's thing that gets to you! I can't believe I'm getting OLD!!! LOL! Okay, so maybe that's a tiny bit of exagerration, because some of you readers are in your late 50's and you're not old right?!

I was in the nutrition store the other day to stock up on all my supplements, and the owner (who I've become acquainted with over the past year) asked how Will was doing. She's watched him grow from a very tiny and sickly looking 5 pound baby into the much bigger-energetic-bundle that he is. When I answered "he's growing and doing great", she responded "well he sure has a great mom ..a mom who likes to take care of herself. Can you believe some of those crack babies that are out there?". I know seriously! I'm amazed those kiddos do as good as they do regardless of their mommy's habits. Actually, one of my little girls that I love so much is a product of a crack addicted mother. She was born in the car in the hospital parking lot, because her mom was afraid of being caught. Thankfully, she was adopted out to a very dear family (my other mom and dad) and is doing awesome.

ANYWAY-When the nutrition store owner said I was a mom who took care of myself, I wanted to turn around and see who she was really talking to. I know I don't take TOTAL care of myself like I should. But I guess when I thought about it, I do try my best. Maybe it's that whole 30's thing that's kind of kicked me into high gear :) Or maybe it was pregnancy that started me on the right path, (it's funny how that responsibility can have such an effect on your choices) and breastfeeding has just kind of kept me there...paying more attention to the foods I eat, and the drinks I gulp down, or the vitamins on my bathroom counter I choose to endure daily.

I want to do even more. I want to be healthy. I want to live a long time. I have a husband and son that need me around, AND it's for my own good too.

I will however, warn you that I refuse to STOP enjoying a yummy dessert or cup of decaf with lots of cream and sugar! Great mexican food (with homemade tortillas) will still be in my repoitoire, and bread will still be on our table. There are a few moments of bliss that are worth keeping around for sanities sake! LOL! BUT, I am trying to make more balanced choices, eating and drinking MOSTLY was is good for me :)

P.S. I dropped 3 more baby pounds!!! I attribute it to walking more in my new neighborhood, AND taking more fish oil :) Woohoo!

Catching you up

2010-02-06T12:58:00.033-06:00

We didn't get a Christmas card out this year, in case any of you may have felt you were left out :) But Billy and I bought a new camera for Christmas, so I had snapped a few cute pics of our little man in front of the Christmas tree. There, now you've got an adorable card :)

I finished nursing Will this morning, and instead of my usual dosing back off to sleep, I had a head full of thoughts just swarming around...waiting to tell you all!

See, I realize my postings have been very few and far between, but when we doubled in square footage, my few steps to the computer became many more! Plus, what used to be our "kitchen computer" (which was great for grabbing recipes in a jiffy, but not so great when you want to sit and stay a while, and there's no where to sit!) moved up to the loft. So, as I sit and write today, I'm perched at my new desk :) and now, I will tell of our families' latest and greatest!

Since we've moved in here, we've had Thanksgiving, a trip to Denver (work Christmas Party), Will's first Christmas and a trip to Boston ( to see the B fam and let Will meet his other uncle and auntie :)

Will had his first surgery on New Years Eve (sounds like bad timing, but it was great for insurance sake!) for a congenital hernia repair (doing just fine-acted like nothing ever happened that same evening), and Billy's been enjoying his new office "down the hall" from the noise :)

In family news...my Mom's been sporting her GRANDAUGHTER AND GRANDSON, Dad's got NEW GLASSES, Will fell asleep on the plane sharing Mommy's new I-TOUCH & definitely had lot's of CHRISTMAS PRESENTS to open.

Lucie's been sporting some very CUTE FURRY BOOTS & HATS, Brian and Billy sport THEIR BABES, Lin's got a NEW DO, Aaron & Rachel like to make FUNNY FACES, and I'm sporting a NEW CAR :) (okay, so Billy and I share, hehe).

It's so hard to believe we're 1 month from having a 1 year old! Will is changing and progressing all the time...and it's amazing how it can feel like he was born last week, yet he's been here forever! He's been talking soooo much, saying over 25 words now (at least copy-catting if he doesn't say them all the time). He's sitting for longer periods of time, and loving to roll or pivot pretty much anywhere to get things.

He's recently been rocking on all fours (when you set him up on them), and is getting better at pulling himself up to stand. He rocks side to side,(we call it dancing) and smiles on his own alot more often. He loves to clap, give high-fives, patty-cake, and wave...and it's so cute when he decides to say "bye bye" when you go. He still gets a thrill with blowing raspberries and blowing his nose (even on command at times) at people. He enjoys drinking from a straw or big boy cup.

As far as feeding is concerned, he thoroughly enjoys grabbing his own spoon, or biscuit, or anything on his tray for that matter...and eats 3 rounded solid meals a day, with bottles/nursings in between...he is catching up to his peers in size! I know some kiddos his age haven't gained much if any weight for a few months(since most of them gained at normal rates early-on), but he just keeps on packing it on (probably all the food mommy offers :). He seems to be getting a little taller too...and is finally wearing age-appropriate clothes. He loves to sing (I think he matches pitch) and "the wheels on his bus" is hilarious when he sings it. He waves his hands up and down yelling "busss, busss". Thankfully, he's a really healthy baby, never even had a cold, despite all the tests he underwent his first year of life...overall he seems to be feeling and doing great!

That boy is such a joy for our family, and I think he likes us back a little too :) Just the other day, my heart melted when a friend was holding him, and he reached over for me to take him back...gotta' love being the MOMMY your baby wants!

In other family news...Jeremiah's gonna' be a big brother! :)
Yippie Mel!

~AND~

Last but not least, we lost our family dog, Tuxedo a few days after Christmas.

We'll all miss him~ He was alot of fun, and we all loved him. He barked a lot (especially if you closed the bathroom door really loud), annoyed the brothers (who despised that he wasn't well-trained), kept dad company, made mom feel safe at home alone, protected all babies/kids around, and played with the cats. He was my roomate before I moved out, and I kind of owned him (even though he was dad's Christmas present in 2000). He was buried in my parents backyard with our Chinchi Buddy (who passed away last Valentines Day) so the grandkids can know of them when they're older.

That can't hurt

2010-01-27T00:49:00.001-06:00

I just returned from a somewhat late-night grocery run with my hubby. I realized just how
long it had been since I said hello to you folks and thought this was a good time to do it...while i've got $$$ on the brain ;) See, a few of my cousins turned me on to this addicting money-saving grocery game, and now every week, when I get home I am in awe of my savings and just wanna call someone and tell them! Today, my friend, consider this your call :)
The site is www.thegrocerygame.com and here's how you play: every week the Sunday paper is full of coupons...and every week your local grocer is cycling through some kind of sale...so the grocery game keeps up with those sales and posts a list each week of what items are at their lowest (rockbottom) prices. This is when you PLAY your coupons, and usually end up with several free (or close to it) items (depending on how many copies of the coupon you have). It's amazing!!! Last week I saved $100! Tonight, on a "short list" night, I still managed to save $50!
It can be a lot of work, but it's worth it during these hard financial times. I feel like since I'm not bringing in a salary, the least I can do is save some $$$ for the fam.
If you want to save some crazy money, check out that site. Its $10 for the first store, and $5 for each additional. The key is to have at least 1 store that doubles/triples coupons (that's
where you see big savings). Sorry I just put you through an infomercial! Lol I should be their spokeslady. ;)
Happy saving from the new and improved Coupon Queen ;)

Peace to you

2009-12-21T22:28:00.002-06:00

I've noticed a lot of us bloggers have been lagging in our postings the past few months...I guess it's due to all the crazy holiday festivities. In the Sunday comics this week, Family Circus features the kiddos all piled up on one bench in the kitchen, just staring longingly at their advent calendar. One of the little ones said "Don'tcha wish Christmas would hurry and get here?"...and the parents just seem exhausted already as they looked each other with pop-up thoughts of decorations to hang, cards to send, trees to decorate, meals to make, lines to stand in at the stores, and presents to wrap. Whew! It can get very stressful around this time of year. I pray you find peace during the whirlwind. I pray you find time to spend with your family, making memories to last a lifetime. I pray you find Jesus at the heart of your festivities, remembering what we are really celebrating here. I pray you are a light beaming brightly to your friends and loved ones.
May this be a week to remember for you and yours.
A very Merry Christmas-week to you!

Pics of the week

2009-12-15T11:06:00.004-06:00

Cousins Will & Lucie...

they already seem to enjoy talking and playing together!

"Look at me dance"

"Will, you're so funny!"

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While I was in the kitchen, these two were playing loudly on the floor together....then suddenly it was silent. I found them like this :)

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"Mommm! I said I wanted the ELMO stocking!"

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Watchman Will stands guard over the Christmas decorations...and his toys :)

I love having the fire going, and the tree and stockings up...and with this weather, it's even beginning to FEEL a lot like Christmas too ey?

First Snow!

2009-12-12T15:59:00.002-06:00

Will saw his FIRST SNOW!!! The most ironic part of all is that although our city (no names) was having it's 1st and most likely ONLY SNOW of the year...my dear 9 month old was sitting in my lap, looking out the snow-covered window from the inside of a Boeing 757 airliner headed to Denver, Colorado (where there was MUCH MORE SNOW). He was such a trooper when the already boarded and full plane was delayed 2 hours because our poor city is not prepared for snows that large, and we were 8th in line for de-icing on the 1 and only de-icing pad in our cities major airport!

But he was so stinkin' adorable in his mohawk trapper hat :)

We had a nice time with Billy's company for their annual Christmas party! They are always very generous and treat us to a really nice weekend. It's great to catch up with everyone (since they all work from their homes in so many different states) and see what's new in their lives. We got to meet a few newbies this year, and had our most-excellent gift exchange (the bosses buy the gifts and then we all fight over them). It's a real treat and other than the altitude, it was a great place to stay too.

Will had a lot of fun meeting all the new people, and I think some of the wives wanted to take him home! I was so glad we had him with us, and he spent most of the trip like this:

Which he doesn't seem to mind :)

It was 15 degrees when we came home on Sunday, and thankfully, we all had many layers to keep us warm. It was so cute, when we dropped the rental car off at the airport, Billy ran Will inside to keep him out of the cold...and as snow was falling down into the carseat, all you could hear coming from the little man was a bunch of really loud raspberries! His hat was a bit tosseled, but he didn't seem to mind the cold at all.

(See all the pretty snow behind him?)

Dog gone cute

2009-12-01T14:10:00.003-06:00

The Rest of the Story...

2009-12-01T12:23:00.018-06:00

We're IN!!!

MORE PICS TO COME! :)

The past 3 1/2 weeks have been a whirlwind of packing, moving, and unpacking! The day before we closed on the house, my FIL Larry called asking "can I come over?" Billy jokingly answered "sure dad, you can come on over"(from Cali)....but to our surprise he was serious, and was in the middle of purchasing a ticket to come! He and Billy had so much fun working on projects like "packing the moving truck" or "taking off the faucet fixtures" or "replacing the ceiling fan". They also enjoyed a few trips to Home Depot and Lowes. Then again, what guy doesn't? :)

My Aunt was such a big help, organizing, unpacking and basically helping me find a place for....
almost everything! Mom completely took care of Will so I could be in other rooms working, which was a HUGE HELP for me :)

Court and David took their turns feeding the boy, playing with him, and "homeschooling" him with lessons on coloring and reading (Courtney was so proud of Will that she gave him a sticker :)...then when they wanted to play, they just went out to the backyard and made forts out of our fridge boxes or sat in front of the washing machine to watch it work! Brothers Brian and Aaron joined in the efforts, and they were so great actually putting the boxes in the room they were marked with! That was SO HELPFUL. I officially have 2 more boxes to go through, which feels WONDERFUL to me.

and here's the rest of the story...

A few months ago, the Lord laid it on my husbands heart to pray for our son, Will. He was born growth restricted and due to slow g.i. motility, he had a hard time growing at first. We had been very concerned for his health, and felt it was time to truly lay it all down at Jesus' feet. We didn't know how long we would continue the fast, and waited for a release when God spoke it was time.

One day during the fast, the Lord reminded Billy of a small piece of unfinished business concerning our finances. Because of the time we had been dedicating to prayer, my heart was prepared to hear what Billy knew we needed to discuss. We had a productive talk, and felt released immediately from the fast. Billy told me that night, "I think God is about to do something very BIG and very FAST with our finances, because we obeyed and are taking care of business".

Who would have guessed that within a month, we would find and purchase our first home?!

During our meeting with the salesman, to turn in our earnest money, we were told the original discount on our home had been DOUBLED! The salesman didn't even understand it, especially since we were prospective buyers, and usually they wouldn't feel the need to discount in that circumstance. He said "they didn't ask if I had any serious lookers, and therefore I didn't feel the need to tell!".

That's not the end of it....

Over the past year, we had been experiencing some foundational shifts in our townhome, that kept us from closing some of our doors...we had asked for them to work on it, but it was going to be a big job, possibly re-locating us. Our lease wasn't ending until the 31st of January, 2010. When we bought our home, we expected to be bombarded with re-letting fees, IF they even decided to let us break lease. Billy spoke honestly to the manager about our situation, about finding a good home in our budget and the timing of our buy. The manager said "it's funny you are telling me this now, because the contractor is ready to start demo, and we've been trying to figure out what we were going to do with you". He said we could go early FREE AND CLEAR!!

For those in the apartment business (like my mom), you know that is UNHEARD OF!

We know God has opened all the doors for us to buy this home! We don't understand it all, but we know there is a purpose for us here. In the years to come, as we make new memories with our family gathered around, we will see and understand the unraveling of God's perfect will in this.

My cousin keeps teasing that now she needs to fast for a new place too, lol! I'll just say we know and have tested that it's true what God's Word says: Some things come ONLY by prayer and fasting. For us: a healthy son, financial freedom, and a new home! What more could we ask for? We are truly blessed and what a more fitting time to be here than this season of giving and thanks!

Harvest Tea and More

2009-11-02T22:42:00.006-06:00

I've been meaning to blog about the wonderful tea my Aunt Mary threw a few weeks ago!

It was in honor of the October girl birthdays on that side of the family....Aunt Mary, Aunt Pat, Peyton and my Mamasita. Little cousin's Will, Jeremiah, Lucie, Courtney, David, Kinsey and Peyton joined the "big kids" ~ Aunt Pat, Cheryl, Aunt Mary, Melissa, Lindsey, Mom and myself.

They had the table set so pretty just in time for Fall...and all of the foods and drinks were DELICIOUS! Sausage and Apple Casserole, Zucchini Bake (Quiche), Croissants and Chicken Salad, Chicken and Rice salad, Broccoli and Raisin salad, Tea Biscuits with jam, Zucchini bread with butter, and TEA!

Even little Lu seemed to enjoy the sights :)

Jeremiah was so cute showing off with all of his new words! He's a very smart little boy, and I can't wait to see how he and Will are best buds like Mel and I are! He brought his echoing microphone and guitar to entertain us...and Cheryl even joined him in a little diddy :)

The kiddos showed off their dress up clothes after we ate, and that was quite the fabulous little fashion show! (I had a cute pic of Peyton and Court dancing, but I can't find it anywhere!)

And we managed to grab a cute shot of the newest cousins! They were so funny holding arms and looking at each other like they were pals! Will was rubbing his little fingers together on her arm, like she was a new "texture"...lol, he loves touching new materials lately!

thank you Auntie for a great day!

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I just want to say how much I love this stuff....especially when Will decides to hold a prune extravaganza :) It's got an enzyme in it that eats away at food products...so when I sprayed all of his clothes, bib and chair down, every last bit of prune either washed away or disappeared! If you don't have it, go and get you some!

Doesn't he just look so proud of himself?

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We didn't celebrate Halloween, but we did, however enjoy a little browsing at
Bed Bath & Beyond and Chipotle tacos dressed up as the THINGS (Courtesy of the ever so close to Disney (jealous) Florida & Africa fam!)

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and now....I'm gonna' go get some sleep. Starting tomrrow we start packing because
we're moving this weekend!!! Yippiee!

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I will leave you with a shot of my sweet sleepers...Will's even got the shirt impression on his ear to prove it. (p.s. the boy is looking VERY MUCH like his daddy these days :) I'm glad!)

All Smiles

2009-10-24T02:36:00.007-05:00

Will was all smiley today, because he has been keeping a

very BIG SECRET!

He's gonna' have his very own bedroom in our NEW HOUSE!
When we walked in, it just felt like our home, and by the time we reached the master walk-in closet,
I started jumping up and down, grabbing Billy saying
"Can we get it? Can we get it? I LOVE this house!"

We close November 6th. Just in time for all the fun holidays! It's so crazy, we just started the looking/loan process about 2 weeks ago...I guess "we came, we saw...and we conquered"!

Buckle up

2009-10-13T18:53:00.002-05:00

Will usually ends up in the bathroom with me when I'm showerering, or throwing some makeup on.

Today, I placed him in his bouncer, just like usual, and then stepped out to grab my clothes. When I came back in, I found this!

He'd scooted out, rolled over and was VERY PROUD of himself :)
Guess I have to buckle him in all the time now!

As good as the original

2009-10-12T01:48:00.006-05:00

I've tried and enjoyed many a dish at Cheesecake Factory but I always end up going back to the Jumbo Chicken Chop...a flattened and lightly fried crispy parmesan crusted chicken with a procuitto and cream tasso sauce...atop a pile of skin-on mashed potatoes....and tender green beans. DELICIOUS. Sadly, they took it off the menu (even though most waiters will tell you it was a very popular dish). So a few trips back, I asked them make it for me anyway, and the chef got a little confused and accidentally sent out the Chicken Costoletta instead (the Chop's replacement). I wasn't so disappointed after just one bite, and I'll have to tell you now that I AM A FAN. It's the same tasty parmesan chicken and potatoes, but the sauce is a bit different....more of a creamy lemon instead of ham. You gotta' try it!

I wanted to make it myself, and went searching for the perfect copycat recipe. Recipe Zaar has a good collection if you're ever looking for your favorite restaurant's dish. This is a good version, but I made a few slight changes since I'm trying to limit my dairy with Will's sensitivity to it in my milk.

Here it is, in all it's glory :) Tomorrow I'm going to make the sauce to throw over some pasta and grilled chicken.

If you make it, let me know how you like it!

Crispy Chicken Costoletta

Recipe #276183

45 min 20 min prep
SERVES 4

The Chicken
4 chicken breasts, cut horizontally, and pounded to about 1/4 inch thick or chicken cutlets
2 lemons, zest of
1 1/2 cups plain breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, whisked with 2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt

Lemon Sauce
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tablespoon canola oil *(I used olive oil)
2 cups heavy whipping cream (I used 1 cup milk, 1 cup chicken broth)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For the chicken:.
Preheat oven to 250°F.
Zest two lemons. Bake zest for about 5 minutes until dry.
On one paper plate combine flour, pepper and salts. On another paper plate combine eggs and water, whisk until combined. On another paper plate combine dry lemon zest, bread crumbs and cheese.
Place pounded chicken in the flour, coating well, followed by the egg mixture and the bread crumbs.
Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil and 1 Tablespoon butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Place chicken in pan and cook on each side about 5 minutes until middle is no longer pink. You will need to work in batches, adding more oil and butter as needed.
Keep chicken warm in oven at 250°F.

For the lemon sauce:.
Over medium heat in a fairly large saucepan heat oil. Add minced garlic and sauté about 3 minutes.
Add whipping cream (or milk and broth) and boil until reduced by one-third.
Add Dijon, lemon juice, chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted.
Serve chicken with lemon sauce and mashed garlic potatoes.

© 2009 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

Good smellin' towels

2009-10-12T01:43:00.002-05:00

I went to unload a washer full of wet towels and look what stowaways I found amongst them~

Yep, 3 lovely Vanilla Spice bath sachets that were meant to stay on the ledge of my tub! OOPS!
Well, I guess that's one way to scent your laundry :)

A new addition

2009-10-05T13:54:00.012-05:00

Anxious to get their new sister!

I am celebrating yet another new addition to our family! Today, 7 of my Floridian family members ventured over to Jinja, Uganda to adopt a very beautiful girl, Kimber GIFT. She is one of the orphans from Amani Baby Cottage, and she was deemed the name Gift when she was abandoned around Christmas 2003. Her cry was heard outside a church, and she was found under a pew inside. Not too long ago, a foster family returned her to the babies home when they became pregnant with their own biological child. You can only imagine the devastation a little girl might feel after being taken to a new home only to be abandoned once again!

I felt a special love toward Gift that began several years ago, when I saw pictures of her in my cousin's photo album. There was something special about her, something in her eyes that drew me, and now she's my new cousin!! The beauty of this story is that Vince and Stephanie, Kimber Gift's new parents, have already added 2 beautiful African princesses, Kira and Kendi to their ever- growing family.

They have a very cute VERY GIRLY bedroom waiting for her!

She will be surrounded by family and friends that love her very much.

Big Vinny, Steph, Emily, Samuel, Jeremy, Melody, Kira and Kendi.

Please keep this family in your prayers, as they seek to finalize the adoption process. Pray for Gift and her emotional stability as she transitions to a new and loving family. Pray for the financial provision they need.

Melody recently told her mom, "I wanna' be chocolate like my sisters". Steph responded that she is already quite clearly "white chocolate". :) Gotta' love it. Melody please give a big hug to my cousins Diana and Danyne (also in picture) while you're there in Africa! (and Jag and Danvir too!....and of course Danyne...and Surj...and tiny Will in the babies home..and your brothers and sisters...and YOUR MOM!)

My Big Boy

2009-09-28T23:10:00.021-05:00

I've wanted to update you all for 3 weeks now, but the little man is awake so much more now that I don't want to miss even one minute of playtime and learning with him! He loves to read his books, and his new favorite toy is his feet!

Our big boy is eating solids now! He's cute when he eats, and is doing great with all sorts of new flavors and textures. I'm so proud of him, and pleasantly suprised that he doesn't have trouble with a spoon. I guess you hear all those horror stories about reflux babies having food aversions....some going as far as sputtering and gagging before the food even enters their mouths. Not Mr. Will Riley! He's doing so good! He looks pretty darn cute in his high chair too :) I'm still nursing and pumping...and that's all going very nicely as well. He's about 15 lbs. 7 oz. today, or maybe even more...but either way, he's definitely eating great and gaining so well!

Billy and I are doing good. We're trying to get in the swing of working out again (still got some baby weight to lose). He bought us a Wii Fit and he's much more dedicated than I am. The hardest part of the day for me is finding time to shower and put makeup on, so it's hard to justify delaying that with working out. I know I just need to DO IT and I'll feel even better though.

~FAM NEWS~

It's fun being Auntie :) Little Lu is growing right on track and she's really a cutie pie. It will be so much fun seeing her grow up and getting to spoil her! I seem to get distracted a lot in the stores with all the adorable little girls clothes that I want to buy her. Billy caught me looking at more tonight, and commented that I can't wait to have a girl of my own to buy cute clothes for :)

I've found myself thinking of girls alot lately, but I sure do love my little man! He has my heart swooning every time he smiles at me or laughs out loud.
Will went to his first baseball game, and we won. I guess he's a little lucky charm too :) He seemed to enjoy the game, and almost looked like he was clapping a few times. He loved the lights and the crowd, and Billy loved it when we introduced him to the wave.

~Enjoying a nap with Grandpa Mike~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My cousin Courtney turned 6...and it was a special birthday because she recently asked Jesus in her heart! It was very sweet...she was visiting her older sister Mel when she asked if she could "go talk to Jesus". Mel told her to find a quiet place, so she went to the bathroom to pray :) She came out with a big smile and when Mel asked what happened Courtney said "He said he loves me too". Mel asked what she talked to Jesus about, and she said "I asked Him to help me with my anger". Wow! I'd say that was quite an experience for a 6 year old! When she got home, my aunt caught Courtney telling her big brother David, "you need to ask Jesus in your heart, it feels soooo good!". So he did and now he's all smiles! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My cousin Danyne (the one who runs the orphanage in Africa) just had another little boy! They aren't sure if he weighed 9.3 or 9.13, because the scale in the hospital had a low battery! LOL! He's doing good, and so is his mama. I can't wait to meet little Danvir!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The summer has just come and gone so quickly, and we have an almost 7 month old son! I don't know where the time went!

(Don't worry Will, MUMS THE WORD!)

Lucie Joy

2009-09-06T02:18:00.004-05:00

Lucie Joy was born at 12:17 am , September 5th weighing in at 7lb 4oz and 21" long. She's beautiful and petite, with a full head of dark hair! Mom and baby are both doing well, and trying to recover from the 24 hours of labor...and Dad? Well, he's already quite smitten :)

Cousins!

2009-09-04T17:31:00.005-05:00

Will is VERY EXCITED that he will meet his new cousin Lucie Joy in just a few hours!!! It's pretty cool, they'll almost be exactly 6 months apart! My SIL Lin is in hard labor as I write this! She's having my first niece, Lucie at home....please pray for a great and safe delivery, and health for little Lu.

More later :)

I've been missin' you

2009-09-03T11:35:00.008-05:00

my blog friends! We had a computer crash, so my patient husband took several days to get everything restored and back up and running. I still need to go around and pick up where I left off on your postings!

What a lovely trip we had in Cali, and here are few more pics...

Eatin' on his hands in Nana's lap...

this really great breakfast joint called "Kountry Kitchen"...they have THE MOST delicious biscuits and gravy :) YUM.

My very first canoe ride ever! I was a bit shaky at first, with the balancing act, but I soom became accustomed and enjoyed the peaceful water.

We've had a good month, full of good reports. On Monday we went in to see if Will's meds needed to be upped with his weight gain. He'd shown some signs that his motility might be a little sluggish again. We were thrilled he weighed 13 lbs 11 oz. and was 24 3/4" long! The doctor came in with a huge smile on his face exclaiming that our little man was finally on the chart! He's in the 5th percentile now for his weight...and his length and head are even better than that. He's really doing so well, strengthening his little head/neck and stomach muscles and burping like a big boy now! LOL. His most recent find is his little footsies. He can't seem to get enough of them. It makes us so happy he's been smiling a lot more lately on his own, and seems delighted pretty much any time you lay him down to play with his toys.

He saw the opthamologist for his little left eye that seemed a bit lazy. They dialated his eyes and so I sang to him to keep him comfortable when his vision got blurry. But then he fell asleep before the doctor ever came in! She said some of her best patients are asleep :) She was able to be very thorough in her exam and she's giving him 2 months to naturally strengthen it. She said he has the same prescription in both eyes, and the laziness is only intermittent, so he does show some control of it on his own.

Will saw the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor, to check for any blockages. They scoped him down his nose and saw that every thing is in it's rightful place, and she didn't find any ulcerations at all. That was great news, that even if there were any to begin with, the antibiotic helped heal them!

He's also been seeing a chiropractor for adjustments. With all the arching he's done in his life, he needed a little help getting re-aligned. He always goes away from those visits very calm and peaceful. It must feel good!

Early Childhood Intervention is making bi-weekly visits to help us work him out even more. I found it very encouraging when they had to stretch to even get him in the program. He's on track with all of his developmental milestones, except his head/trunk control. So, they're adding even more excercises to our daily routine, but we feel like they're already paying off. He does his little sit ups and toe touches and really enjoys my pilates ball :)

We had some fun times this month with family in town... Will and his pals Jeremiah, David and Courtney!

Crazy story...last 4th of July (2008) Billy and I invested in a king size bed. It was SUPER COMFY for a few weeks, and then it just went downhill from there...LITERALLY. It had a ton of depressions that made big pot holes when we slept, and I would get stuck! So we called the store and asked if we could return it *(a year later) and they said YES, without ANY QUESTIONS! So we traded it in for one that's a little bit firmer.

Will tested it out, and agreed, this was a good purchase :)

Billy and I are fasting refined sugar to pray for Will's complete and total healing, and also asking for opportunities to be a light in the dark places. Let me tell you it's not easy, especially when your family is eating delicious and decadent chocolate chunk cookies around you! BUT, already, we've seen doors open to reach people in new ways. Every single time we're tempted with yummy sweets, we say a prayer for Will and are reminded of how grateful we really are to have a great marriage and a very happy and healthy boy!

5 months and The Greats

2009-08-05T22:21:00.015-05:00

I can hardly believe our little boy was born 5 months ago today! This morning after waking to 3 different doctors phone calls (still on Central time), and a returned call from 911 that Billy accidentally made when he tried snoozing his phone alarm :) I found our 5 month old sleeping like a big boy.

He looked so cute, with his new chubs belly and legs. When he woke, Billy told him "happy 5 months little man" and he kissed me and said "happy surgery day" lol. I don't know that I want to remember THAT part of the birth day of our son...although it was kind of a crucial part in getting the boy out in to the world so I'll go ahead and celebrate it :)

This past weekend was fun. We made the drive to both sets of great grandparents, and had a little travel buddy that kept us entertained. He doesn't have a name yet, but he's got a great "boooiiinngg" sound he makes when you bop him. We put him in the back of the durango for the ride, and forgot to "buckle" him in...so every bump on the road set him off. He even entertained Will :) Check out this video...if you listen closely you'll hear the little froggie talk. Will chimes in too. You can hear and see him (Will) in the mirror on the left bottom portion of the screen .

It was a great drive down. First we stopped to see the B's again. They were thrilled to see the great grandson for the second time. They just wanted to eat him up! He was a bit tired, so the pics we took are a little sleepy, but I'm glad we got any! After we left, great grandma B called and asked if we could stop back by on our way home....Larry had to remind her that we had a vehicle we had left at their house, so it was inevitable we'd see them again before we left town. She was thrilled :)
We stayed Saturday night with the E's. They had a lovely home in the mountains, and we even slept with the windows open enjoying the mountain breeze. They had a great porch out back where we enjoyed most meals and down time together. The guys took a generational pic, but Billy wasn't quite ready and Will was screaming for it (I think he was hungry)! Grandma E gently rocked her new great grandson, and Grandpa E was a bit timid at first to be holding him. He says that babies all "break and puke on you", but he took a shot at holding him when he realized our boy almost NEVER spits up :) Will was very comfortable with both of them and it was great they got that special time together.

It was a nice weekend, and Billy was especially happy because we found a stand that was still selling fresh strawberries. He's been wanting me to try the California strawberries for a long time now! They weren't the best batch he's ever had, because it's a little late in the season, but they still tasted great to me!

We're having such a good time letting Will's uncle, grand and great grands all get to know him. He's changing so much every day, and I just love his new vocal self! He's got lots of personality these days, and I told Suzanne that his new hair he's been growing makes him look like a Chia pet!

I am convinced Will has swept every heart he's met thus far...and how could anyone resist this face?

Rollin' down the river

2009-07-31T22:32:00.007-05:00

Okay so it should really be called, "Rollin' AND the river".

We're still having a great time here at Will's Nana and Pop's place. Nana has been having a lot of fun playtime teaching Will some new "tricks"....like yesterday when he decided to roll over from his back to his tummy! He's been going tummy to back for a long time now...but this was his first time to go the other way all by himself! Now there's no stopping the boy. I'm sure he'll be crawling before we know it.

Last night we went for a walk in Caldwell Park then stopped at a long bench to enjoy the beautiful breeze off the Sacramento River. It was better than A.C. and a wonderful change from the heat waves we've had here....speaking of heat, I had a funny thing happen to me today! Suzanne and I were out shopping around, and she ran in to purchase a few groceries while I stayed in the car with my sleeping son. I decided I'd make the most of my time waiting, so I pulled my nursing cover over my head, and started to grab the pump, when I heard a fist banging on my window! It was this rather burly woman and her daughter, so I cautiously opened my window to see what they needed and she yelled at me "you're too close! I can't even open my door!". I didn't understand what she was talking about, then she pointed to her old beaten down truck parked beside us. She said "I can't even open my door! You're too close!" so I just apologized and told her I didn't do the parking :) She said "Well are they going to be quick? It's HOT OUT HERE! We can't wait forever, can't you move it?!" I was a little flustered, espeically being all "undone" to pump, and shoeless and such...so I locked the doors (just in case she had someone waiting to jump me under the car, lol) and I climbed up into the front seat and moved the car. She signed "thank you" about 5 times before driving off. My mom in law said I won brownie points for taking the yelling for her, but that lady was CRAZY!

Tomorrow we drive about 3 hours South and then into the mountains to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa "E". That should be a fun time for them to get to meet the little man for the first time. We'll be with them for a few days and I'm sure they can't wait.

This is from last week but I had to share-It's a shot of our little man with his Aunt Mary. He was all dressed up for his cousin Lucie's baby shower! I'm sure he can't wait to meet her just like the rest of us! The other day he was asleep on Auntie Lin's big baby bump, and Lucie kicked him (in utero)! I told him "get used to it son, I'm sure there's more where that came from!" Lol, girls always rule the roost.

I'll post more when Will does something else new :)

Leaving on a jet plane...

2009-07-29T00:55:00.003-05:00

So Will had his 1st official plane ride yesterday!

He did GREAT! I was so glad he didn't seem to be bothered at all by the altitude. I gave him a little Tylenol so maybe that helped. After sleeping for the first hour or so, he woke to nurse, played a little bit, then slept for a few more hours...the only time we heard a peep from him was when he pooped :) and then he yelled for a few minutes AFTER we landed. Other than that, it was a breeze! He talked a lot and wooed all the ladies especially. Pretty much everyone around us knew we were going to see "Nana and Pops" by the time we de-planed.

Once we had a quick bite to eat, we headed straight over to let the Great Grandparents (the B's) meet the little man...and they were IN LOVE. He was all goo goo eyed at them, and seemed at home with the new family. We also managed to get a 4 generation picture of Great Gpa B, Pops (Billy's dad), Billy and Will. I can't wait to see that one!

You can only imagine how excited Billy's parents are to have us here! It's been about 3 months since Will's Nana held him, so she pretty much gets dibs anytime she wants. He's been very happy to see her, and flashes many smiles and coo's at both of them. They had the house SET UP for us and it was WONDERFUL! They invested in a lot of
baby gear for all the future grandchildren to enjoy too...so our room has a crib, changing table, diaper genie and bouncer. Suzanne also picked up a stroller, baby bath sling, hooded towels and washcloths. She kept the Jungle theme for the bedding and Will seems to be sleeping very comfortably :) She also made a new blanket for him to play on when we visit..it's real cute and soft.

Uncle Todd met Will for the first time. It's so cool he gets to spend time with his new nephew. I think he surprised us the most, because when Will cries, he seems in no hurry to hand him off to anyone else..he is quite determined to quiet him on his own and really seems to have the touch when it comes to putting the little guy to sleep.

We get to be here for the next 15 days....so I'm sure I'll have plenty of good stories to tell. It's STINKIN' HOT so we haven't left the house much yet....we shall see if that changes depending on the weather. I think we set records yesterday at 116!

More later. Gotta' wake my son up to eat. He thinks we're still on Central time :)

Brinner

2009-07-25T19:07:00.004-05:00

Some of our favorite breakfasts take place at dinnertime....and tonight was no exception :) We had blueberry waffles, scrambled eggs w/parsley and bacon.

I thought I'd share my homemade syrup recipe. It's so quick to make and really makes the meal seem that much better.

Easy Syrup
1/2 cup each of brown sugar, sugar and water
1 Tbl butter
1/4 tsp flavoring (vanilla, maple, cinnamon, etc)

Boil first 4 ingredients 5 minutes.
take off the heat and add flavoring of choice.
serve warm :)

serves 4

This little piggy

2009-07-24T11:42:00.002-05:00

keeps eating and eating and eating all the way home!

We had our 4 month shots and weight check on Wednesday, and the little man gained 9 ounces this past week! He's 10 lbs 14 ounces and 23" long!

I FINALLY put the last of his newborn onesies in the "outgrown drawer" when I attempted to put one on him yesterday. He's officially a size 3-6 month boy :)

Look at those cheeks!

I'll add more later, just thought I'd give an update on the good news!

Exceeding our expectations

2009-07-18T15:03:00.003-05:00

Since the meds are making Will hungrier than ever, we were thrilled at his checkup Wednesday when he weighed 10 lbs 5 oz.! (He went into the hospital at 9 lbs 8 oz.)

He's averaging a gain of about 1 ounce per day as opposed to his usual 1/2 ounce. He's still eating like crazy, and he's been ending most nights now with a 6 ounce bottle. I've rented a hospital grade pump for the time being to really keep my supply going (since he's not good at demanding what he really wants) and I'm seriously having to keep up with him! I want to store some away for our upcoming trip to Cali (to visit Nana and Pops) but he keeps eating everything I pump! Ya'll pray for me! LOL! I've been nursing him during the morning and night, and the daytime is usually bottled breastmilk w/or w/out the rice starch supplement.

It seems like the reflux and arching are improving more and more...we just gotta work on the tummy aches and cramps that the new meds cause. He seems to deal with them pretty well, but he has a few more fussy times than before. I guess that comes with the territory. Overall I think he's feeling better. We noticed the other day he was so peaceful after he ate. I love it!

I caught this cute moment he was having with Grandma May and her "boo" game. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry...it was too funny.

Jesus in his heart

2009-07-13T17:57:00.001-05:00

I've had a started draft of this post for several days but I had to go back for more edits today because the leading line was "we're finally home after an 8 night stay in the hospital." This was actually 6 days ago, and my apologies for not updating you all sooner :)

We were discharged with paperwork that read "Reason for admission: Failure to Thrive. Current Diagnosis: Failure to Thrive, Reflux."

First of all, we Praise our God for giving Will a good heart! His echo showed the murmer was minor and warranted no repair. We were able to watch the entire thing. Will was sedated (poor boy ended up sleeping the rest of the day), and it was just a very long and complete ultrasound. At one point, I looked up the screen and I saw JESUS! It was his face, his hair and his robe....he was looking over at Will, and He was in his heart! I'm serious, I had a peace after I saw Him, and knew that He was watching over our son. How cool is that?! Will had Jesus in his heart!

It took the last day of testing to prove what we were suspicious of the entire visit. Reflux. The doctors were very thorough, as I posted earlier, but they couldn't possibly believe that a baby could actually be deemed "failure to thrive" because of something as simple as reflux. Every baby has a slight case of reflux, with their immature inner workings...but others, however are very simply put "sick" with reflux. One doctor in particular, whom we have a scheduled appointment with in September states in his book, Colic Solved the sad truth that babies, especially the ones who don't spit up, are constantly overlooked when they are in fact, very sick. So sick to the point that they don't want to eat (because it hurts), they don't want to sleep (or they wake themselves up frequently), and the don't grow very well (because they don't want to eat). Sounds familiar to me.

I'm glad we got to the bottom of Will's issues. Besides the reflux we suspected all along, the Upper G.I. showed he has delayed gastric emptying....in other words, he stays fuller longer because his tummy doesn't do it's job in pushing the food out as well as it should.

I know some may have criticized me in the past saying that I should have been feeding him more all along, or possibly even changing his main food supply to formula rather than breastmilk. The fact is I DO feed him as much as he will eat. I wake the boy up to eat, even when he shows no hunger signs. At the end of our nursing periods, I attempt to give him milk I've pumped off. But until now, he showed no interest in eating more. He was full. NO WONDER! And as far as formula vs. breastmilk, breastmilk is the best food for Will and his reflux. It is easily and quickly digested. This means less acid to come back up all day long. It also contains a natural antacid that helps his cause. We are, however adding those 2 formula-infused breastmilk bottles that contain a rice starch thickener to help with the reflux, and add a little more calories (and a red rash he doesn't usually wear on his hind-parts).

The doctors added a third medication to Will's daily doses, in order to improve his motility. I have to say I now have a PIGGY for a son! I have NEVER seen him eat so much in a day, I think he's gained 2 pounds since we've been home! LOL! It really seems to have improved his hunger, but I'll have to give it a few more days to take shape before I really say whether I like how upset his tummy seems to be from it. I will be so glad when he doesn't have to be medicated every day! But for now, we have a better handle on his reflux and motility, and his arching has improved dramatically! We are praying he grows out of the reflux and d.g.e.

As far as our hospital stay....
It's funny how we'll miss those wonderful nurses who interrupted us every 4 hours to take vitals :) They were so helpful and encouraging during our stay. It almost seems like they weren't just doing a job, but also showing us love.

One evening I was crying in the waiting area of our floor, because they had poked Will 4 different times looking for a good vein to insert the I.V. He was SCREAMING and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I asked Billy to take over at the foot of Will's bed, and I quietly left the room...and took a walk. A nurse I hadn't met stopped to console me, and offered encouragement for my weary heart. She periodically checked on Will thereafter.

One afternoon they were drawing blood and our sweet nurse thought it would be better to remove him from his "fun room" and do the mean things somewhere else. While I stood by Will's side, kissing his little face, I saw that she had made a good poke on the first try! I said "Oh wow, thank you so much for getting it the first time!" she said "don't thank me, I was talking to the man upstairs". Billy told me later that when she came in to get him for the draw, he had the praise baby dvd running, and she curiously was asking about it. I think she felt comfortable later, letting us know she too was a believer.

Another day, while visiting the milk bank, I overheard one of the lactation consultants introducing her coworker to an emotional mom. She said "this is my good Christian sister and anytime you need her to pray with you about your son, she's here too". So on one of my weary moments, guess what I did? I asked her to pray with me! She held my hands firmly and we prayed in the spirit together! Then she sent me on my way with prayer cards to claim for our son, and a whole packet of healing scriptures.

We praise God for the knowledge we now have concerning our son and his health. He has a good brain, heart, thyroid, pancreas, liver, kidneys, bladder and gallbladder! He doesn't have cistic fibrosis and the issues he has faced up to now will be gone and outgrown in no time! It's not too often you find out so many things about your kids health this early, but we're thankful we did.

He is STRONG and the boy is getting FAT I tell ya'!

A little updating

2009-07-05T11:21:00.005-05:00

So the doc came in yesterday and informed us that Will is having 3 major tests tomorrow. The first will be a heart Echo and he will be mildly sedated. He won't be able to eat 8 hours prior, so they are putting him on I.V. fluids again tonight to keep him hydrated. I'm sure he hasn't missed that big taped up mess that keeps him from sucking his fingers :) At least he's had a few days to be without it.
They will also be doing the swallow study that we've been pushing for. He'll drink the barium and we'll be able to tell how everything moves inside.
The final test tomorrow (from what we know at least) is a sweat study to check for cistic fibrosis. I guess it can cause growth restriction so they're just covering all their bases.
We're still waiting to hear the results of the organic stool test (it looks for any chemicals from his gut that are signs of gene mutations) since I have the MTHFR.
Everything else has come back NORMAL. Oh, and the last post I said they added Maalox to his regime...my bad, it was Zantac, and it's making a difference! He wanted to eat like a little piggy yesterday!

We had a pretty lazy 4th of July....just played the Wii and mom relieved us for an hour or so and we ran out to get food "off campus". That was nice :) I wanted a Coke Icee from Burger King, and that is precisely what I got :) Billy opted for Pizza Hut pizza and he was satisfied :)
Will wore an adorable festive outfit from Nana and the nurses couldn't help but pat his little booty when they would come to see him. We could kinda see the fireworks, but it's not quite the same when you can't hear them or the background music :( Oh well, maybe next year.

Still waiting...

2009-07-03T14:54:00.005-05:00

You've been in a hospital too long when...

*The prepackaged muffins in the hospitality basket are like gold
*You greet the doctors in a towel-head
*Half a building's been built next door in the time you've been there
*Your idea of "getting out" is walking across the street
*You've learned the names of each ultrasound technician
*You go down to the milk bank and pump in your p.j.'s
*You hear monitors beeping even though it's really silent
*Hospital food doesn't taste "that bad" anymore
*You start making up nicknames for the doctors
*You associate the interns with characters off scrubs or greys anatomy
*Your back hurts from playing the WII
*You know more doctors than the nurses do
*You are thrilled about renting a VHS version of Liar, Liar
*You start using words like "stat"
*Your entertainment for the night is getting stuck in an elevator
*You consider 4 hours without interruptions a "good night's sleep"
*The most exciting part of your 4th of July is the view of the downtown fireworks
*You think you can diagnose your son better than anyone else can...

Pray we're right. Pray it's just reflux that doesn't require anything invasive (like surgery).
So far since my last update they've done an abdomen ultrasound including the kidneys, liver, pancreas, galbladder and bladder. All were normal.

They ran an organic culture on his stool to check for any milk allergies. We've yet to hear those results.

The EKG on his heart was normal. They did, however feel it is necessary for an echo cardiogram since his little murmur still peeps it's head up when they give a listen.

They are infusing my pumped milk with a high cal, preemie soy-based formula, and I'm cutting all dairy from my diet until we hear if he's allergic to milk or not. We give him the fortified bottles twice a day, as an added supplement to the nursing. Especially since we think he's not eating as much as he wants to because of how he feels.

Today they are talking about a possible swallow study. This is THE REASON we came here. We feel this is Will's biggest obstacle to overcome....swallowing properly without any reflux involved. It affects his eating and sleeping, and the boy's gotta grow! Pray for favor that they are able to perform this test sooner than later. The weekends usually mean wasted time getting nothing done (especially on a holiday weekend), and we would love for Will to feel better soon!

The occupational therapist has been coming by daily to work with Will on his suck, and on his arching. She placed an "X" of kinese tape over his tummy to encourage him to use his stomach muscles more and tuck his chin and arms when he lifts up, or when trying to raise his head from a lying position. IMMEDIATELY we saw a change in him! Although he still tries to arch after he eats (because he is still refluxing), he is no longer doing it continuously. I wanted to cry! They've added Maalox to his reflux regime and are using a liquid compound of his Prevacid that really seems to make a difference in him. This morning he just played and played on his back, talking to his toys and acting like he already feels better.

Thank you for your support and love. We have a direct phone line and private room if you want to see the little man. There are no certain visiting hours either. Pray for wisdom for the doctors, and sanity for us :) We're tired, but willing to stick this out until we resolve the underlying issues of Will's weight gain, comfort and health. He hasn't been able to gain much weight here in the hospital, since a lot of these tests require an empty stomach, and then with emergency's that come up in the ER we get pushed back sometimes a few hours longer....so pray for him to GROW GROW GROW! Even though our schedule is crazy here, we're believing we will have answers soon.

My milk's gonna' be better

2009-07-01T11:06:00.004-05:00

...those were the first words I uttered to my mom this morning when I informed her that our son's brain ultrasound came back normal. Looks like we might just have a genius on our hands :)

Yep, you heard me right. We're at Texas Children's (been here since Monday) to figure out just why Will isn't gaining enough weight. If you couldn't tell from my opening line, they are being very thorough in their search. We'd like to attribute it to his silent reflux, and it looks like the more tests they rule out, the more they kind of agree with us on the culprit.

Considering the high stress involved in this visit, and the fact that we actually cancelled a much anticipated trip to Cali to be here, my milk supply was almost NOTHING yesterday. It was the saddest thing ever, and I didn't have any of my stockpile with me. So we went ahead and gave Will 1 small amount of formula while I pumped and tried to rebuild what was "broken" at the moment...and he threw it up...TWICE! He's NEVER puked before, and it was very scary to watch. Several nurses rushed in to check his vitals and see if he was breathing okay, and I was overwhelmed with emotions. They ended up putting him on fluids since he seemed slightly dehydrated. I was shocked when the doctor came to check Will after he threw up. She looked over at me and asked " How does he look to you right now? Out of all the people in this room right now, I trust to you the most". Little boy's got an I.V. and he's been quite the trooper, that boy :) He's already won all the hearts of the nurses and doctors over, and they've been for the most part very informative and great listeners!

They've done alot of blood work, and some tests so far....His chest xrays are normal all except that his stomach was extremely dialated in them. It could be due to the voracious yelling he did during the tests, but it could also be something else. His thyroid tests were good, and his vitals are all good. However, two doctors agree they hear a slight murmer in his heart. Today he will undergo an EKG and we'll go from there. They will also do a ultrasound on his abdomen. I believe we are meeting with a gastroenterologist this afternoon to find out what tests they will perfom on his esophogus and possibly pharynx and vocal chords...I personally believe his silent reflux is burning him all the way up to his eyes (if you see my boy on his back, or try to hold him "like a baby" you'd know what I mean) and if we can get that under control then HALELUJAH! Billy has a pyloric sphincter that doesn't always function properly. It gave him a lot of grief growing up, and it could also have been inherited. It attributes to the emptying of the stomach, and it could explain why Will doesn't gain as much weight as he should...

We are just shouting praises to God that it seems like they are narrowing the issues of weight gain down to a few minor fixable (wouldn't it be amazing if God did a miracle and they didn't even have to fix anything!) things.

Like a very thoughtful voicemail I recieved yesterday said "Will's rescuer is coming to his rescue, and his name is JESUS".

It's all gonna' burn

2009-06-16T16:20:00.004-05:00

This has been one CRAZY weekend! My Aunt Mary and cousins Mel, Jeremiah, David and Courtney spent the night Saturday after a fun time swimming and staying up late (some didn't crash til' 4:00am) playing games and hanging out. We went to sleep in a very chilly townhome (we like it that way), only to wake to it being 84 degrees inside! My aunt dragged herself into the living room, scratching her sleepy head asking if the a.c. had broke. IT HAD. Will's crib monitor was registering at 81...and the poor boy was sweatin' big time.

So we called the repair man in, and he fixed that bad boy up. It was wonderful to come home from a church event on Sunday to a very breezy home again.

Until last night, that is.

My parents were over for a visit when all of our smoke alarms went off around 9:00 pm. We smelled a very strong electrical fire smell, and smoke was filling our home. Billy turned our A.C. off and I rushed outside to get our son out of that stinky place. I banged on our neighbors door, because we couldn't find fire anywhere...but they wouldn't answer. It occured to us that we actually hadn't heard them (and believe me, those guitar hero boys can ALWAYS BE HEARD) for a few days....

I called 911.

They sent 2 firetrucks, but only 1 could get through our gate! LOL! So the other stood on standby. About 3 firemen ran into our home, and couldn't find fire anywhere. Where was this smoke coming from? and the smell?

They found a hotspot of 400 degrees in our guest bath ceiling! It was coming from the newly fixed Air Conditioner! The firemen said we did the right thing in calling them. Even though there wasn't an active fire, if Billy hadn't turned it off, it could have eventually sparked and started one! Thank God for his wisdom in that!

They turned our breaker off so the maintenance men could replace our whole unit. We couldn't stay home last night, because of the heat or the smell, so we came home with my parents. I'm sure they were really "put out" by their grandson staying the night :) Thankfully, Will ended up sleeping on my shoulder through the whole ordeal.

I think the hardest part about leaving was walking out the door, wondering if it would happen again while we were away. Then I remembered an old saying my cousin Danyne used to say...

"It's all gonna' burn!"
But, we'd really rather it not happen today if possible!

Ants in... Will's pants?!

2009-06-10T22:39:00.003-05:00

So about a week ago, my hubby, son and I were on our way out of the church parking lot. It was a BURNING HOT summer day, and as usual, we cranked the a.c full blast. All of a sudden we realized there were hundreds of ANTS flying in to our car through our air vents! They were ALL OVER THE PLACE....our arms, legs, clothing, seats, dash, doors, you name it! We were freaking out, and Billy was trying to keep his eyes on the road while I smashed each little black ant I could possibly track down. Poor little ant kamikazes were flying into their doom. It was like something from a horror movie or something! I was mostly concerned the ants could be tracking down the sweet and innocent baby boy in my back seat, so as any normal parent would, I screamed for us to pull over and see where these crazy ants were coming from.

We pulled into a parking lot nearby, and watched as they poured out of the car onto the hot pavement...finding some other tasty treat left from the last car parked there. But we still weren't able to keep all of them from coming back in.

It was CRAZY!

Later that afternoon we went through a professional car wash, hoping it would clean out the carriage and hopefully vacuum up any remaining ants. We got back in our car only to find the residual ants left behind, sticking with every step to our freshly Armor-All'd car like fighting soldiers dragging their wounded bodies in a swamp. To this day (about 10 days later) we still have a serious problem when we turn the air up. We have no idea how to rid our a.c. system of these critters.

I've only found 2 of the castaways on Will's car seat, however, Monday afternoon I saw several sticking to a few different outfit options in his closet. I looked closer only to realize they were trailing in the closet now! What is this all about?! Then I found a few crawling on my arm in my bed!

We immediately told the complex manager to call Pest Control, and the guy came out yesterday.
I had spotted a dirt pile behind our rocking chair, very close to Will's bed...and I didn't want to mess around. The pest guy said they were breeding under our carpet there under the window seal! He sprayed inside and out, and we haven't seen any signs of live ones in our room since late last night.

I'm going to try and rest tonight without worrying about those crazy little ants that seem to have infested our world like nobody's business lately.

YUM!

2009-06-05T00:48:00.004-05:00

Sometimes I come across recipes that really stick with me and tonight was no exception :) I thought I'd share it with you all. It's one of those "1 dish meals" and I've made a version of it a few times before, but this was by far my fave.

It's pretty close to Sunny Anderson's (food network) "Shepherds Pie with Mushroom Onion Gravy", but I'll post exactly what I did with it.

2 lbs russet potatoes, washed and cut into chunks (I like the peels on)
1 Tbl dry minced garlic, or 1 clove smashed
Salt (I like Kosher)
6 Tbl butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 lb ground beef
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 Tbl tomato paste
1/4 cup beef broth
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 zuchinni, julienned
2 carrots, julienned or about 1 1/2 cups of baby carrots cut in half
8 oz. corn
1 tsp Paprika,
16 oz. cheddar, shredded
Mushroom-Onion gravy (recipe below)

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes and garlic with enough water to cover by 1 inch. Add some salt and bring to boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-high and cook unitl fork tender, about 15 min. Drain and return to pan, and mash together with 3 Tbl butter and the heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper (and I added parsley for color and a dash of cayenne pepper) and set aside.

In a large pan on medium-high heat combine 1 Tbl butter and 1 Tbl oil. When butter has melted, add beef, worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until meat is brown. Stir in tomato paste and saute for a few minutes. Add beef stock and bring to a simmer. Place meat in a casserole dish and set aside.

In the same pan, add remaining butter and 1 Tbl oil and saute onions until almost tender.
Add corn, zucchini, carrots and paprika. Cook until tender, about 1o min. Remove from heat and mix with meat in casserole dish.

Place a very light layer of the cheese and then cover with mashed potatoes, smoothing out to the edge with a spatula. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese across top and place in oven until cheese has a nice texture, and potatoes are brown around the edges, about 30 minutes. Serve with Mushroom Onion gravy.

Mushroom Onion Gravy:
1/4 onion, chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbl oil
3 Tbl flour
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
Salt and cracked pepper

In the same saucepan over medium heat, saute onions and mushrooms in oil until tender and mushrooms release their moisture, about 5 min. Add flour and stir to evenly coat. Slowly whisk in wine and broth. Simmer until thickened and season with salt and pepper, to taste. This is a very rich reduction, and a little goes a long way, but you will be surprised how much it really pops all the flavors!

I served this with a romaine salad that had cucumbers, grape tomotoes, red onion, avacado, walnuts, sweet almond slivers and diced celery with Ranch. And SWEET TEA, of course :)

Fave's of the Week

2009-06-03T18:06:00.013-05:00

UPDATED: Sorry in the midst of my editing, I accidentally deleted this image the first time... here's the little man reading :)We took Will in for a checkup today. He's 8lbs 14 oz and 22" long :) The doc says he looks great, and is developmentally right on track. He's been rolling over, reaching for toys, putting everything to his mouth, holding his head pretty steady, doing his "push ups" on his tummy and "tracking" everything around him.

He loves a little elephant his Nana got him (see pic above he's got the ear) and lovey Aunt Mary made him when he's getting sleepy. Can you see his blue eyes??! We can't figure that out! It really seems like he may keep those baby blues and we are thrilled about it!

He's really started laughing more (especially when you put his feet up to his face-weird) and smiles so much at people and his toys and mirrors. He has a lot of different faces and it seems like he comes up with a new face or sound all the time. I can't believe how much he's already grown up.

We love him so much and I'm really glad we get to keep him <3<3<3<3<3>

We bought him a bumbo seat this week, and he looks so funny and really tiny and newborn looking which is so weird because he can sit up strong in it. I was playing "teacher" and he got a "head start" looking at flashcards and learning things, lol.

Remember his stuffed Monkey(from the pic of his first night home?!)...we'll he's finally bigger than it! LOL!

We took him out to the pool for the first time and the new swimsuit and flip flops from Grammy were adorable on his feet! He just "laid out" on the blanket under the shade chilling out like a big boy.

Good News

2009-05-26T00:27:00.007-05:00

Billy made a business trip to Missouri this past Tuesday. He had to spend the night and I'd have to say it felt much different this time with him away. He wasn't just leaving me alone for the night like before, but now we have a son in the mix too. I wanted to call and chat with him even more than usual, because it just felt like a piece of us was missing with him not here.

While he was away, my mom and I got some much needed time in with my cousins and auntie.

Mom also came and stayed the night with me. I even asked her to sleep in my room 'cause it felt lonely without my hubby. She obliged :)

While Billy was away, we got a phone call from Will's doctor. The kidney tests came out normal, along with the acid (carbon dioxide) test on his blood.
PRAISE GOD!!!

I know it sounds crazy, but I think Will started gaining more weight faster since then. I started wondering if maybe I'm more relaxed now, knowing that he seems to be just fine health-wise, therefore I'm making more or even better food for him perhaps? Weird? Maybe. Either way, he's getting more fat and seems really long lately so that's all good news to us!

We met with the maternal fetal specialist on Thursday to discuss my lab results. She was very encouraging and confident that I will be able to get pregnant again without fear of the health risks on me or the baby. They want to keep a check on my homocysteine levels and determine whether I need blood thinners or not, but she feels at this point the folic acid and b vitamins will really help my "pathways" do their job and function properly bringing the homocysteine levels down on their own.
That's another PRAISE GOD!

I found it hard, however, to just believe that everything is "fine" with me. It's hard not to over-think things, or look for more assurance or answers. After Will's birth and situation since then, plus my own results, it's really hard not worrying the same thing will happen again if we don't make major changes. But if both my doc and the specialist think the supplements are enough, then maybe just maybe they will really make a difference the next time around and I really won't need more meds than that. I want to believe that's the case. I really do.

I really like the word REALLY don't I?

We had a relaxing day sleeping in a little extra and making burgers and homemade fries and ice cream today. We spent some good time with my parents and Brian and Lin (and Little Lucie) eating good food, getting a little sun and just chilling out. Lin is looking way cute with her preggo belly. She even sported a bathing suit and everything. She's very brave!

We took Will to his first movie! He did great, although the 30 minutes prior to the movie were crazy! He pooped all over his outfit on the way over to the theater, so I went to change him and they didn't have any changing tables in the bathrooms! I ended up laying him in my lap to change him and got poo all over my arm! YUCK. Then, the extra clothes I brought for him were too small! I guess that's a good sign right? Needless to say he ended up with just a tee shirt and diaper for the duration...he did good though. Slept like a baby on his "Grammy nanny". She's always a huge help when we go out together, and sometimes I feel like she's our nanny for real!

Hope you all had a wonderful and Happy Memorial Day everyone :)

So that explains it

2009-05-15T15:37:00.022-05:00

"Explains what?" you ask.

1st-The humongous blog I'm about to write will explain why I haven't been online too much over the past 2 weeks

2nd-I finally got an explanation as to why my son was born IUGR (growth restricted) and SGA (small for gestational age).

On Cinco de Mayo we took Will in for his 2 month checkup/shots. Billy and I had done a lot of research on the pros/cons and it was a tough decision-not only because of the risks of the vacinnes themselves, but also because his low birthweight puts him in a more dangerous zone for SIDS. We opted to go ahead with 3 of the normal 4 vaccinnes they give (2 in the thighs and 1 orally), after having a really long discussion with our doctor.

He's been in practice for quite a long time now, and has seen several "fads" come and go when it comes to this arena of medicine. He's also seen a major decrease in the number of patients he has to treat for sicknesses like Meningitis. With Will being so small, it was in his best interest that we went forward with them, especially since they are much more pure in form now.

Mom spent a few nights with us after that. We wanted to be sure someone was always "on duty" to watch the boy (mom calls him the "watched one" hehe) Thanfully, Will took them like an old pro, and the only major reaction we saw in him was fatigue for a day or so. He desired to eat (good sign), slept well (major plus), barely even had a fever (if any), and wasn't even cranky.

At that same visit, he was given a Prevacid prescription. I think (from researching on my own) he was dealing with some silent reflux. He HARDLY EVER spits up, but I would see him "chew the cud" and arch his back with screams of pain sometimes when he was eating or he'd wake up screaming in the middle of the night (and it wasn't hunger). I read that babies with reflux don't always spit up, but instead spit into their mouths, and then swallow it back down. This means it burns coming up and back down and if it goes untreated, it can make sores on their little esophogus. Ouch! I think he may have been in pain, and it made him eat a litle less than he should be. So he hadn't been gaining as much weight as they'd like to see. At least he's still growing consistently. They tested his liver function, salt/acid levels in his blood among a few others I can't even remember.

Today we went back for another checkup, and he's ***8 lbs 4 ounces and 21 1/2" long!!!*** I know this sounds so small for you moms who delivered babies bigger than this, but to us this is another small VICTORY! The prevacid has helped. He's eating more and is so much more relaxed. That boy is just one happy baby! He even has a little bit of a belly now (what a tubbo! LOL).

The doctor said his liver function was good, and the only test that came back a little high was his carbon dioxide (acid). He said it's not always accurate if you just have blood samples, so he took urine and more blood today to re-test. That was actually a funny experience, as he peed on the table BEFORE the nurse could insert the catheter...then she waited and got a little in the tube....gave up and took it out and then he peed on the table again! She was laughing hysterically and yelling "Oh William! You could have asked us for a cup if that's what you wanted!".

We're praying for the test to show PH balanced blood in our sweet baby! We don't want to have to put him on any more meds, or see any specialists if at all possible. The doc also encouraged us today that Will is really on a steady growth pattern, and this just may be his "normal". He's been consistent, and it's "sufficient" growth for his age, even if it's not the usual "7 oz per week". He looked at Will and said "You're just gonna' be a thin guy huh?" and then looked back at us "yeah, I think he's just gonna' be thin, and maybe tall" (I mean you'd sure think so after you look at those feet!) :)

SO....the other big event of the past few weeks was receiving the lab results from my own blood panel (remember the 14 viles??)

Turns out I have a few conditions I never knew about. Also turns out that most women never even know they have these problems until they've had multiple miscarriages or even stillborn babies all the way up to the 3rd trimester! We realized after reading posting after posting of these testimonies, just how much of a miracle William Riley is! He must have quite a destiny ahead to be so strong and to have gone through so much in the womb!

I am a Thrombophiliac.

I have a low lupus anticoagulant which is supposed to keep my blood from clotting (it's one of the 3 protein strands that do).

I also have a mutated gene (it's inherited) called MTHFR that affects my homocysteine levels, thus causing hyperhomocysteinemia. High levels of homocysteine can be related to vascular diseases, strokes, and deep vein thrombosis *(blood clots) and embolisms. Normally Folic acid keeps this in check, but not everybody converts it properly from their foods/supplements. It's actually very common in a number of people, but doesn't seem to be symptomatic until pregnancy or later in life.

I will tell you that I believe God gave me wisdom during my pregnancy with Will. During the 1st trimester, I was taking extra doses of Folic acid along with my prenatals. After I had a UTI, I started taking Cranberry pills (totally helps ya'll) and found out just recently that those are natural blood thinners! I also read a list of foods that help thin your blood, and I CRAVE and eat SO MANY of those foods already! I feel like God was taking care of both of us during the entire 40 weeks. Will could have had neural tube defects among many other complications, but God's hand was on him and he is a healthy (just "thin") boy!

From this point forward, especially during pregancies, I will be on low dose aspirin, or other blood thinners, as well as higher doses of Folic Acid and the B vitamins. Billy and I started walking daily in our gym. He's supporting my efforts to be healthier, and says it's time to lose his "pregnancy weight" :)

Crazy. My doctors didn't even think it was necessary for me to have these tests. They said the blood clots in the placenta were just "random".

I will be honest, at first, when they called with the results I just cried.

When they told me the blood clots weren't just "random" I was relieved.

When they told me the blood clots weren't just "random" I was terrified.

What about future babies? What about our dream of a big family? Was I risking future babies lives? and my own life, what about my own life?My cousin called and gave me truth. It completely put peace in my heart. She said "God is the one who placed that dream in your heart and if it's His will it will be fulfilled. He's not going to let the enemy come and steal a dream He gave you".

God loves his kids. God loves me. and I really think God gave us this news now so we can live healthier lives, be better prepared and give a testimony of His goodness. This is the time when our faith has to step up above our feelings. It's certainly been a test, to say the least.

Will is a miracle no doubt about it. We look forward to future miracles.

P.S. I told you this was gonna' be a long one :)

Family Photos

2009-04-29T14:21:00.009-05:00

My little bro (tharpe media) did an AMAZING

job with our very first official family of 3 photo shoot :)

You HAVE to go see the rest of his faves posted on his blog...

http://tharpenator.blogspot.com/

Sweet Sleep :)

2009-04-26T16:08:00.003-05:00

Look who slept 8 HOURS last night!

I heard you shouldn't let them go longer than 5 hours until they are at least 4 weeks old....so especially since he was so small, I had been waking the poor boy up to eat in the middle of the night for the first few weeks...then he kinda got in a routine and would wake up on his own at 2 or 3. But last night, I decided NOT to set an alarm and he did great! I felt very refreshed this morning, and he was so sweet and calm when he woke up too. I think he's in a growth spurt. We'll see how tonight goes (I have my fingers crossed and comfy pillow waiting).

War Zone

2009-04-23T22:42:00.007-05:00

That's about how I would describe my body over the past 7 weeks...a living War Zone :) the good news is that today, I FEEL GREAT!

After coming off 40 weeks of pregnancy (exactly to the day), I had my very

first major surgery in the form of a Cesearean-this also brought with it my

first real surgery scar,
first spinal,

first i.v, and

first catheter. When I got home from the hospital, I had my

first post-pregnancy hormone drop (lol, well probably not the first of those being that I am a WOMAN) in the form of a shock-type reaction where my hand (the i.v. hand) and both feet swelled up over a matter of seconds, and I couldn't keep from shaking or having cold-sweats.

Later that evening, I had my
first "milk coming in" which certainly is like nothing I've ever experienced. YOWEEE! and the next night, I noticed my heart was racing and wouldn't stop for hours.

5 weeks later, I was given antibiotics for a

bacterial infection, and that same week more meds for a possible onset of

HSV type#1 (fortunately I NEVER had a sore on my lip! Praise GOD).

A week ago today, I had an

huge blood panel (14 vials) done to check my clotting factors, for possible Thrombosis (this might explain the blood clots in the placenta). We wanted to know so we could prepare for the next time. It left my arm bruised up pretty bad! This is how it looks today (a week later, mind you).

The next morning, I woke up with a horrible headache, fatigue, chills, 102 fever, and felt very sore..turns out, I had my

first case of Mastitis. YIPPIEE! More antibiotics! Oddly enough, my body temperature has been very LOW over the last few days....I'm assuming from the meds, but maybe it just doesn't know what "regular" is for me right now. I'm praying I don't have to deal with any more major physical changes for a while!

Poor baby Will, had to struggle along with me concerning his feedings for the past week. Since my milk production was down with the infection, he was wanting to eat so much more often, and working so much more burning precious calories to do it. At one point, he ate like every hour. We weighed him today, and he didn't gain very much this week. I had a feeling :( I think he will pick back up again for the next week. Seems like we're already back on track today with our feedings, and there's more available for him to eat again. He looks so much bigger to us! and he's getting really long too! He was almost touching the end of the scale!

In other news...I got laid off from my job 2 days before my maternity leave was up. Although, we hadn't made the final decision or turned anything in yet, I planned to resign and stay home with the boy anyway. It was nice to have the option to stay if it was necessary for me to continue working (like any emergencies, etc), but I'd say it was pretty good timing :) Thankfully, I can apply for unemployment and we also get to keep our insurance for a few more months without any extra cobra fees. That will give us more time to find one we can afford, and really fits our family. BTW does anyone have any suggestions on that? We're looking for good insurance and since we're out of state from his companies headquarters, Billy's considered self-employed now.

In other-other news...did I mention the WORLD'S CUTEST BABY lives at my house??!

Yep, that's how he introduced himself to me, so I figure if he said it, then it must be true! :) LOVE THIS BOY.

1 year ago...

2009-04-13T22:43:00.005-05:00

April 12, 2008 marked the VERY BEST day of my life! On that day, I married my soulmate ~ my best friend ~ the man God made especially for me! (and I could fit in a size 4 wedding dress! LOL)

It was no mistake my brother worked for the same company and introduced me to Billy and it was by way of a miracle that God chose to bring us together to communicate on April 12, 2007. I am sooo very blessed and honored to have Billy for my husband, and as we both pledged to each other last year and on our anniversary yesterday, we are IN THIS FOR THE LONG HAUL!

This has been the most fun year of our entire lives, and I just know the future holds many more great times for the two of us and our newest little family member :)

Germs

2009-04-10T19:57:00.004-05:00

Last night, after a great checkup, we washed the doctors office germs off of our 6lb 12oz, 20 1/2" long boy! Yes he has grown 15 ounces in 14 days (even better than the norm)! Will's pediatrician was very encouraged and couldn't believe how much he'd taken off without any formula in over a week and a half. After the last visit, we took him on an empty stomach to the hospital where he was born, weighed him, then nursed him and weighed him again. Turned out he was getting 3 oz. of breastmilk on his own so we weaned him off formula pretty soon after that.

While we were in the doctors office, I asked him about a cold sore I felt coming on (trust me I just "know" the feeling), asking if it would be dangerous for me to be kissing on the baby. He immediately pulled down his book of med's, and prescribed something for me (mind you, he was MY pediatrician growing up). I've fought cold sores/fever blisters pretty much as long as I can remember, but as I learned yesterday, they are VERY DANGEROUS for small children and elderly. He wanted for not only myself to be treated, but for Will to have treatment (via my breastmilk) asap.

WEIRD. I knew the STD kind of herpes was potentially deadly, but these measly little sores would do someone harm?

So when I got home, I found several websites, that warned not to let anyone come in contact with your child that has Herpes Simplex Type #1 (the cold sore kind, not the STD).

Anyone? What about the child's own mother?

One article in particular that was very sad, brought the horrifying reality of what could happen had the virus spread rapidly without treatment http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/7915010.stm

So, I am officially NOT KISSING my baby (this is so incredibly hard for me!) and keeping my hands and everything else that touches him SQUEEKY CLEAN until there are no signs of this little lip intruder. The good part of the HSV type#1 is that it's not contagious at all unless there are actual visible signs of an outbreak, such as a cold sore, etc. The doc said since I knew it was "coming" and it hadn't "come" yet, we most likely are able to treat it pretty quickly and aggressively. We shall see, but if nothing else, this certainly makes me question the cleanliness and health of anyone who holds Will from now on.

Props

2009-04-08T14:13:00.006-05:00

As some of you saw in my first William Riley post, my little bro showed some mad photo skills during Will's birth. Well, since then, he's broken in his new camera even more, and his creativity is really paying off. He recently entered a contest with one of his shots of Will pouting during a burping session...there were over 400 entries, and he was given 3rd place losing only to 2 professional photographers. Way to go bro!
ALL 3 OF THE PHOTO'S BELOW WERE TAKEN WHEN WILL WAS *10 DAYS OLD*
Here was his entry: (we think it looks like a Norman Rockwell shot)

Here are a few more from that day:

And you can keep up with all of his photography on this site:
http://tharpenator.blogspot.com/

Leaps & Bounds

2009-04-04T23:09:00.004-05:00

I'm so happy to announce that 2 days ago, Will weighed 6lbs 5.7 oz!! This means he's most likely around 6.8 today :) He's actually outgrowing some of his preemie clothes, and is fitting (somewhat) into his newborn sizes (especially the Carter ones that shrink, lol). My cousin says he's now a "chubbo"...funny we didn't think we'd be using that word to describe him, and it's still a reach...but he DOES have some fat on his ribs, and cheekies, and on the top of his hands even, as I noticed yesterday. Yeehaw!

He's starting to really make eye contact, and has more wake-time now. I think we've finally got him on a good eating/sleeping regime and he seems pretty mild mannered up until the moment he's about to eat-then for some reason, he starts almost yelling at me! It's hilarious, he just yells out until he gets food, and even then, he takes breaks while we're nursing to pull off and yell at me some more! So funny, that boy!

Yesterday, for some of his wake time, I laid him in his crib and he stared at all the animals, and I think he finally noticed his mobile. How cute :) You have to come by and see him while he's still tiny, if you haven't already. I think you will too find that this boy has a way of grabbing your heart as soon as you meet him.

Pretty in PInk

2009-03-30T14:52:00.003-05:00

With Brian and Lin expecting in September, I must say my mom and I are SOOO thankful to have a little girl to buy some fun little clothes for! It's hard getting too creative with my choices in the boy's section so now I just mosey on over to the girls and browse when I get the chance......

We stopped the other day at Carter's and picked up a few selections for my little niecey poo!! I wanted to surprise Lin and post this pic for them to see we were picking up a few things here and there, and then I found out THEY ARE COMING HOME! Tomorrow, actually! Yippiee! Can't wait to see you guys! XOXOX

Oh Boy!

2009-03-27T14:40:00.010-05:00

We had our 3 week doctors visit for Will yesterday...it was mainly a weight check to see our progress with the supplementation. I'm happy to announce that he has EXCEEDED his birth weight and is weighing in now at
5 lb. 14 oz.!!!

The doc was so relieved, and said he's probably getting even more calories than he needs now, so we're pulling back a tad on the formula and slowly weaning him off over the next 2 weeks. Hallelujah! I still worry sometimes when I have to wake him up after a pretty long period of going without eating...but he always seems to be really hungry when it is time to eat, and he is gaining and having a good amount of wet/dirty diapers, so I shouldn't worry so much.

In other news...

*Will had his first TOY STORE experience. We had to run a few errands and one of them was to Toys R Us. He was SO FUNNY to watch in that store. His eyes were bright and alert, and he just couldn't get enough. Mom put a little toy deer in his line of sight and it was so cute to watch him. He had the first infant-seat-in-the-shopping cart ride, which went pretty well.

He got to sport some real big boy shoes for the first time that day and finally fit in a newborn onesie. (thanks Deanne and Nana!)

*We wanted to find an Easter outfit for him that fits (seeing how all our cute things now are way tooooo big for him still) and so he got to go to ("got" to, lol) the mall with us and ride for the first time in his stroller. (We use it at home as a portable bassinet, lol, but never with his car seat) Janie & Jack have the most ADORABLE preemie size clothing, and we found the perfect outfit for him! I can't wait to show you!

*He also EARNED his very first REAL big boy bath this week! I had him all pappoosed on the bed, napping. It was adorable and he was so sweet and content...and then Lo and Behold I hear a rumbling and a bubbling coming from that boy. I waited for him to wake on his own, and he was pleasant and oh so sweet. He didn't seem to be bothered whatsover with his lovely new body art :) Even after this, he's still such a *CUTIE*

and then finally...

Billy and I had a candlelight dinner on Wednesday. :)

However, this wasn't by choice..the tornados and crazy rain took our electricity with them! We had to order pizza in since we had NOTHING real to eat that wasn't frozen. When the guy got here, we all realized he forgot to bring our DrPepper with him, so he had to get back out in that weather, go get it from the store, and then come back to our place yet again. Poor dude. I would show you a picture of our experience, but the flash from the camera does it NO JUSTICE to how dark it truly was in here.

While our lights were out, we managed to keep the baby relatively happy in his crib, and Billy and I played a game of Phase 10 by the flashlight. It's really strange how having a baby changes EVERYTHING mentally for you. We weathered a week without electricity during the hurricane, just the 2 of us, but all I could think of that night was Will's formula going bad in the fridge, and all the frozen milk I'd pumped for him...and how we couldn't go for much longer without eating or I wouldn't produce enough milk for him to eat well...and....whew my head hurts! You mom's all deserve a medal for all the worrying you've done for your kiddos!

He poured in the oil...

2009-03-20T15:17:00.003-05:00

Do you remember that song?
When I was a little girl, we had a worship leader who LOVED singing that song...so it's imprinted deep in my memory "He poured in the oil and the wine...(good samaritan)...the kind that restoreth my soul"...

Anyway! I guess our "pouring in the oil" to Will's tummy has paid off! Literally, that formula is made up primarily of OIL. Weird huh? My mom spoke with the nurse at my cousins orphanage, concerning Will's low birthweight and the need for supplements. She replied to her "why doesn't she just put vegetable oil in his diet like we do with our tiny babies here?". Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? Did you just suggest I put VEGETABLE OIL in my babies belly?
So I did a little reading on the formula ingredients we're giving him: Milk, whey protein, VEGETABLE OIL, SUNFLOWER and/or SAFFLOWER OIL, SOY OIL, MCT OIL, COCONUT OIL, ALPINA OIL, COHNII OIL, and a bunch of vitamins/minerals. Crazy!

We walked in to the pediatricians office yesterday, took a deep breath, undressed the boy and almost had a heart attack when the nurse announced "5 pounds even". We told her we had to try it again, I KNOW this boy has eaten more in the past 2 days than usual...so she re-tried the scale, and came up with 5lb 3oz! MUCH BETTER! That means he had a gain of 2 oz in 2 days. Not bad! We're supposed to check again in a week, and hopefully see a 4-7oz gain by then. That means we could be back to the birthweight in 2 weeks or less! Praise JESUS!

I had to share this video. Billy was playing with my new camera while he did what we've coined the "Wake up song" for Will. See, we have to actually wake the boy to eat most of the time, so Billy created a song we sing to him, and you can see how it actually works! LOL~

Firsts all around

2009-03-18T13:21:00.006-05:00

So today's my bday :) Hooray, I'm 29! I don't know that I ever had certain years I wanted to have accomplished certain things...you know like "5 kids by 30" or something...I'm so blessed, and the past 2 years have been especially amazing for me. This is my first Married birthday, and my first Mom birthday, so what more could I ask for? I have the most amazing husband, and a beautiful boy now!

Billy was so excited to actually be celebrating WITH me (last year it was over the phone-he was still in Cali), so he kept watching the clock, and at midnight, he yelled out "Happy birthday!" I was cracking up, cause I was walking around the house with a pump in hand...woo hoo, fun times!

He came into the kitchen this morning, and couldn't wait for me to open my stuff...the card alone made me cry and his presents were awesome....he got me a Canon Powershot SD960 IS! That sucker hasn't been on the market for even a whole month yet! He knew I wanted my own camera to throw in the diaper bag, and mine's been kinda out of working order for a while now (I had a warranty but never got around to getting it fixed). It's charging as we speak, but I couldn't pass up a great photo-op with my son.

I laid him in his bed for some "wake time" after his meal...and he was staring at all the colorful animals on his bedding. But then, since he can really only see a few inches away, I put one of those little silkies real close to his face (the green elephant one). He was SO CUTE just watching it, and trying to grab it's little foot, and playing peek a boo with his hat. It was sooo adorable. Had to share.

So today's gonna be a great day- feeding my son, enjoying my husbands company, and reveling in all the firsts we get to share together. Oh, and he also picked up a DVD of John & Kate +8 for me, since he knows I'm home alot right now, and we don't have tv :) So I just might watch a few of those today too :)

Little Victories

2009-03-17T14:45:00.005-05:00

Well, today we had our doctors checkup. Will is 12 days old, and he's strong and alert. However, his weight has been a concern since day #1, and today was no different. They weighed him on a different scale today than usual, and he only checked in at 5lbs 4oz..... so....the doc wanted to make sure it was accurate, and had us re-weigh him on the scale we normally use-5lbs 1 oz?!

What is up??! He's been eating really heartily, and for long periods of time...but we think that might be part of the problem. He's burning more calories than he's taking in. SO...it's back on the 22 cal. supplements for this boy. At least until he shows signs of growth again. BUMMER! The doctor said if his weight doesn't start going up again soon, he might have to be hospitalized with a feeding tube. They would probably run tests at that point to make sure there's not a problem with his intestines or anything else that would be keeping him from keeping nourished.

I told Billy when Will was born so small, it gave he (Will) and I the chance to have these "little victories"...you know, teaching him how to suck properly, learning how to use the nipple shield, enticing with glucose water, using formula supplements, then weaning off of it all together... and finally being able to go with breastfeeding all the way....

So we're choosing today to see God's hand in this. He knows our boy needs to grow. He knows what's best for us all, and if this will be yet again, another "little victory" for us, then it's worth going through it. For now, I will do my best as a mom, to take my worry and fear, and turn it into some faith and trust in our God. Maybe I need to go eat some more calories so my milk will turn to GOLD :)

Priceless

2009-03-16T12:36:00.004-05:00

William Riley

2009-03-13T16:50:00.018-05:00

William “resolute protector”; Riley “one of great strength”.

After the many battles this baby boy had endured, we knew he must be destined for great things, and needed a strong name. While we were in the hospital, several hours after he was born, Billy pulled out a Christian baby name book, came across Riley, and read to us a scripture that was tagged with it: “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness”. We knew in that moment that this would be our son's name.

Here is our week in pictures...

and if you want to see more of the birth, I posted a large amount of

beautiful shots taken by Will's Uncle Aaron on myspace.

March 4th-
9:00 pm- After 21 hours of laboring at home, my contractions had held at about 5 minutes apart, with some random sets as long as 13 minutes in between. We decided at this point to head to the hospital and see how the baby was handling everything. They checked me in and I was only dialated to a 4. This was hard to believe considering the amount of time already spent in hard labor. About 3 hours later, we’d made very little progress, and after a very serious contraction, the baby’s heart rate decelerated for a period of 7 minutes. Several nurses were alerted, the on-call doctor was paged from home, and I was given an oxygen mask. At one point, I heard my labor and delivery nurse yell out “Don’t code!” (I don't think she even meant to say it out loud) and I knew this was a serious issue we were facing with the life of our child. Not even an hour later, it happened a second time, and we didn’t want to run the risk of stressing his body anymore with a potential 6 hours or more of labor ahead. Will was delivered by cesearean at 2:54 am, on his due date- March 5th, 2009. Weighing in at only 5lbs 12 oz and 19 ¾” long, this tiny little boy has already melted our hearts forever.

We were given some test results today on our cesearean. They had sent my placenta off to pathology for testing, to see exactly why we never progressed, and why Will was so small. It turns out there were enfarctions in the placenta that basically died off. Blood clots formed, and the nutrients and oxygen were cut off for Will in those areas. This affected his ability to perform during labor, and it also affected the fat he would have been storing up the last few weeks in utero. We are so THANKFUL for the doctors instict to go ahead with the C-Section. God is good and we are blessed our son's doing so well!

March 7th-
Will got to come home in a Hummer! Billy's parents rented an expedition when they came in to town, but when they picked it up, it had been upgraded :) Since Will was so stinkin' small, his "coming home outfit" was way too big, so Uncle Todd came to the rescue and bought him an adorable preemie set with a baseball cap and everything. We placed him in his bed, and he was smaller than his stuffed animals. He didn't even look real. It was adorable.

March 8th- The Dedication of our Son
Since we had both families in town, we thought there would be no better time to offer our son back to the Lord in an intimate celebration at our home. Pastor David Summerlin came and blessed us all with a beautiful and sweet and holy time of offering Will back to God. Many of those present spoke words of blessing over him, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house (literally). It was such a special time. I'll post pictures when I get them.

March 9th- First Doctors Visit
While we were in the hospital, the on-call pediatrician turned out to be the pediatrician I had when I was a kid! I used to go see him up until I was 21 yrs old! LOL. He does a wonderful job, and is a great listener, so we decided to use him as well. Will got weighed in at 5lb 4oz. today. Hopefully this is the end of the normal weight loss phase for him.

March 12-
Will is 1 week old today! He went in to the doctors today for a blocked tear duct, and also because we hadn't changed a wet diaper in several hours....they ended up catheterizing him and that boy had 13 cc's in him! The doc laughed and said at least he's not dehydrated! He's getting plenty of food, and he just has a big bladder :) He gained 2 ounces since the last doctors appointment (losing birth weight is normal, but we needed him to start gaining again), and he's nursing really well (hallelujah!). His tiny mouth made it hard for him to suck properly, since he didn't have the fat stores most babies are born with. Thanks to mom's, mothers in law, aunts, cousins and friends working and working on it with me, my boy learned how to eat! Every feeding seems to be getting better and better. We've weaned off the shield, are off all formula supplements, and he is starting to get fat on his little body. I can officially kiss some real cheeks now!

Happy B-day Billy Boy!

2009-02-28T14:14:00.011-06:00

My hubby finally caught up to me yesterday when he turned 28!!! (mind you, this will only last for 19 days, hehe)

It was nice to be home with him all day, but unfortunately, he was feeling under the weather. I think the night before was probably the worst sleep either of us had gotten in a long time.

He got some great gifts in the mail from the B fam, and last night he actually got to use one of them :) His new TomTom will remind us what side of the street to drive on (if we should be in another country and forget), can update us on current gas prices at the stations we are near, and even MOO'S like a cow when he exceeds the posted speed limit!

It was great fun making it moo on our way home from the original Ninfa's where we celebrated with friends and fam! The food was good (as usual) and I made him a tres leches cake to share with everyone. Yum.

I thought it was the cutest thing ever when he had 4 homemade cards given to him at the table! His little buddies (and Rachel, lol) honed in their artistic skills to give him extra special bday cards, that all had very special and intricate details including leaf-less trees, Billy sitting as his computer with a sombrero, the preggo wifey and babe inside her belly (Courtney even managed to remember the baby has an umbulical cord) and a variety of other creative specialties. Check 'em out :)

Billy's "big gift" this year was a grill he's been eyeing for a while now. A couple of us went in together to get it for him. We decided to give it to him a day early, seeing how he would probably want to put it together himself (that's a present in itself to him). He's got it "locked and loaded" on the bistro patio, and I told him we'll probably really get to break it in when the baby's here and we've got a crowd to feed.

Happy Birthday Babe, I love you and hope you have an even more exciting year ahead of you (although, I don't know if you can top this past one)!

Better off in Bed

2009-02-25T17:41:00.005-06:00

We had our “weekly” visit to the doc yesterday, and she wasn't pleased with my blood pressure readings. I haven't had any problems with this for the entire pregnancy, but as we get closer to D-day, they take these numbers more seriously, and it was definitely much higher than usual. I have been dealing with some headaches and off-and-on blurry vision during the days for about a week or so....usually while I'm working. I also have this weird tenderness at the top/right side of my uterus, that bothers me the more I walk or stand…she says it’s the round ligaments, but whatever it is, I feel like someone punched me in the same place every day and gave me a big bruise inside.

So…she’s asked me to stay home from work, at least until she takes another reading Friday morning. Her goal is to be the least aggressive as possible...and let the baby come in due time.
Please pray with us, that they won't have to use any other measures if medically possible.

**************************************************************

CLEANING PARTY

In other news, our “NOOK” looks more and more like a “NURSERY” now!!!

Thanks to my Mom, Aunt Mary and sis Rachel, the entire townhome has been turned upside-down! Billy walks around and says we “need to make a mess” because it’s so “sterile”. It looks and feels great to have it all cleaned up! I’m very, very, very thankful for these ladies. They came and helped us put everything away for the baby, DEEP-cleaned our entire place top to bottom (Rachel even climbed up on the bathroom counters to clean the light bulbs!), and gave great advice in the process on where things really need to go for easy access when he gets here.

Billy (with Court and David's help) built some cubes to organize us a little better, and the dresser/changer combo is on backorder so the baby got some of my Rubbermaid drawers in the closet for the time being. The ladies “improvised”, and turned our ottoman into a changing table, LOL. They were sitting on the couch "pretending" to change him, and said that's where we'll be wanting to do the diaper duty anyway. Silly moms. :)

As of yesterday, we are the proud owners of the comfy chenile glider/ottoman I’ve been drooling over, and it should be ready for pickup within a week (it’s been on backorder too). How do people get all this stuff in time usually? We waited too long I guess, or maybe we were just fooled with how “fast” this furniture comes when our crib made it here in less than a week.

Oh well, it’s all just “stuff” and the baby is all we really want to get here in time! So, come on Baby B! We all wanna’ meet you...ON MARCH 4th IF AT ALL POSSIBLE…hehe :)

Baby got a bed!

2009-02-09T20:33:00.006-06:00

Okay, so a few weeks ago we had a belated wedding gift given to us in the form of a check(Praise JESUS!), and were able to purchase our crib and mattress! Then we ordered our bedding and received it today!!! We found it on a super sale at Baby Supermall...with free shipping and couldn't resist going ahead and getting it. If you haven't seen that site you have to go check it out.

Today, with the help of grandma's and great grandma's we also became the proud owners of a matching dresser that will also function as our changing station (it matches the bed)! Yeehaw! That should be getting here maybe in the next week and half or so...hopefully :) Until then, we'll be waiting and organizing the babe's clothes as much as possible...getting everything ready to chunk in those drawers when they show up!

I think all we're missing to our cozy "Baby nook" is a super comfy chair and ottoman...and we're good to go! We've already got our stroller and diaper bag so we can even take him SHOPPING! :) Billy can't wait for us to get the Baby Bjorn portable crib. We just can't get over how light weight and easy it is to travel with. It will be a breeze when we go make our lengthy stays to Nana's house in California! :)

We've been SO BLESSED by all the friends and family helping us out with all the cute clothes, blankets, towels/washcloths, bath stuff, etc...it's been WONDERFUL thank you! There is still more celebrations to come and we can't wait! This is a blast for us! This boy is going to be so spoiled and loved and we are grateful for the blessing of pure unadulterated love and help from all those around us while we go through this awesome new phase of our lives.

While I'm saying thank you, I have to brag a little on my awesome sister-in-laws!

First, Winnie (in Boston) hand crocheted a beautiful cream blanket for the baby. We were so blessed and surprised by it, and I'm almost afraid to use it it's so nice! Then, we received a special delivery in the mail from my bro and sis in law (I'm sure she had more to do with it than he did, lol, thanks Lin!) they went online to our registry (in Africa) and found the super soft and silky blanket that goes with our bedding!

THEN my in-town sis in law, Rachel, sent me the sweetest email offering to be my "Merry Maid for a day!" I couldn't beleive she would think of such a thing, and can't wait to see the town home when she's done with it! I'm so grateful to these ladies for thinking of us, and being so incredibly thoughtful. We love you all!

36 weeks...

2009-02-07T11:05:00.002-06:00

I've got a little "Baby Love" for my Baby "B".....Billy took these last night :)

Oh the Irony

2009-02-07T10:54:00.002-06:00

We’ve had many inquire as to what we shall be naming our son…and to all of them, we’ve answered “we’re waiting until we meet him”. Ironically, that very response sparked 3 very, VERY similar stories in 3 un-related families. We were amused.

#1 My cousin Melissa.
For the duration of her pregnancy, we were all convinced she would be naming her son "Matthew". Now, don’t get me wrong, she never officially announced that would be his name or anything, but because this baby was such a special child, who came after many prayers for children, they wanted him to be Matthew meaning a “gift of God”.

On the day he was born, Melissa and Michael looked at their newborn baby and realized he wasn’t a Matthew. They spent hours after the birth reading name books and discussing the issue at hand. Michael had a favorite book of the Bible, and the both loved that name.

Therefore on that day, their son was named JEREMIAH.

You can imagine our surprise, when we received text messages announcing the birth, wondering who in the world was our cousin Jeremiah?

#2 My friend Pam-maw.
Pam and John were pregnant with their 3rd child, and only son. They didn’t have a name for him before he was born. They wanted it to be perfect and God-given and so they waited for his birth to decide. After the birth, they spent many hours in the hospital, praying and believing for the perfect name.

24 hours after his birth, their son was named JEREMIAH.

#3 My co-worker.
We have a few younger guys who show great interest in my pregnancy at work. They frequently ask me how I’m feeling and recently one of them asked if we had picked out a name. When I gave him our “usual” response, he told me his own story.

His parents were pregnant with him, and had decided on “Nehemiah” for a name. While they were in the hospital, after he was born, they changed their minds, and waited several hours to name him because it just didn’t “feel right”.

On that day, their son was named JEREMIAH.

Seems like everyone who waits to name their son ends up with JEREMIAH! I don’t know what name we’ll end up with, but we did realize when God speaks something specific, we should be listening. LOL, for now, we’ll just call him “Baby B”.

Priceless

2009-02-03T19:10:00.003-06:00

Concerning childbirth-

"Mom's should have a zipper. But then they would play with it"
~David, 5 yrs.

Sickness and Disease

2009-02-01T10:52:00.002-06:00

With our due date a little under 5 weeks away, Billy and I ventured over to the hospital for a little hospital cafeteria food....AND our birthing classes. :) They were jam-packed into 1 long weekend. We learned SO MUCH! I mean, we’ve had friends who’ve told us what to expect (like 4, 000 different stories too), but to hear and see the actual event taking place made it even that much more real. I’ve seen Baby Story a thousand times, but it’s almost always high-risk deliveries, and they’re usually edited to the max anyway.

The instructor said that people always seem to be confused when ladies have “hospital births” mixing them up with all the other patients who come with SICKNESS and DISEASE. She said “pregnancy is not a SICKNESS”, and “You don’t have a DISEASE”. It was a good reminder that we were born for this! God made the female body to carry this child through 40 weeks of miraculous formation, and we were made to birth these children as naturally as possible! It was empowering. I leaned over to my “support person” a.k.a husband, and said “I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROARRRRRR!”

Lamaze has gotten away from their stereotypical “hee-hee-hooo’s” in breathing, and really made some efforts to teach women to find their very most natural and comfortable way of deeply or shallowly breathing in order to stay calm and relaxed. We got to practice those techniques and figure out what works best for us. It was fun. It reminded me of my vocal warm ups before a big singing competition or concert…if you can really use your diaphragm and breathe right, you relax and stretch the rest of your body, just like you would your vocal chords.

We also had some fun with pilates balls, handheld relaxation tools, and music. We learned several ways we can use a squatting bar, or our partner for support and counter-pressure. It was great and helpful and now I’m not nearly as anxious about what to expect. We have quite a few options to be really active during labor if we want to be. I’m really gonna’ TRY to stay as un-medicated as possible (please pray for me, lol). I’m not ruling it all out, and won’t feel like a failure if I end up asking for a little epidural action, but I am doing my best to go meds free…it’s better for the baby, and I know it’s a much better recovery for me too.

I think my biggest fear and anxiety before was the claustrophobic feeling I might experience with the medical staff being too darn invasive, or cords keeping me tied to my bed, or the potential use of drugs that may keep me from feeling much of my body…but now that this boy’s dropping a little, and I’m breathing better and more naturally again, and now that I have so much more information on what my options to relax and be focused on the right things are, the more I think I’ll be just fine.

All in all, I can do this! I AM WOMAN AND I WAS MADE FOR THIS!

The Macho Myth

2009-01-21T19:29:00.003-06:00

This was our devotional from today, and I thought it was very shareable. It had EXCELLENT insight, and I love the way they expound on what appreicating really means. At the very end, when it asked the quesion, Billy answered it for me and said "Um, that would be on the last blog post, marked January 19th" lol. Read for yourself, and take a li'l truth from the WORD today....

The Macho Myth
by Barbara Rainey

Ephesians 5:33 Let the wife see to it that she respect her husband.

One day Dennis gave me a list of what he considered to be the needs most men have:
· Self-confidence in his manhood;
· To be listened to;
· Companionship;
· To be needed sexually by his wife;
· To be accepted and respected.

Counselors and pastors would give you similar lists, based on their experiences. And you know what this tells me? The "macho man"-self-contained, independent and invulnerable-is a myth.
To bolster Dennis's confidence, I try to encourage him by being his best friend. Every husband wants his wife to be on his team, to coach him when necessary, but most of all to be his cheerleader. A husband needs a wife who is behind him, believing in him, appreciating him and cheering him on as he goes out into the world every day.

The word "appreciate" means to "raise in value." When I give Dennis words of praise and encouragement, I raise his value, not only in his eyes but in mine as well, and that builds his confidence as a man.

The psychologist William James said, "The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

And Charles Swindoll adds this: "We live by encouragement and die without it. Slowly, sadly and angrily."

When is the last time you told your husband you appreciated him?

A Mighty Good Man

2009-01-19T21:01:00.006-06:00

WARNING: IN THIS POST, YOU MAY EXPERIENCE SOME SLIGHT GUSHING :)

I was just sitting here thinking about how thankful I am to have Billy in my life and wanted to share :). He is the husband God had planned from the beginning, and I see it more and more all the time.

He has been such a trooper through this whole change of life called pregnancy, as he has watched his newlywed life change and his brand new wife EVOLVE into a rounder-figured, hearburn ridden, early nighter, poor housekeeper of a woman.

Last week I could have sworn it was my birthday or something! On Wednesday, a shopworker came barging in with a delivery of beautfiul live orchids! I was speechless. I thought, what are we celebrating? Turns out he didn't need any celebration to send them! It was my first "married AND preggo flowers" and the card nearly made me cry as Billy said he had admiration for the strength I've shown during this pregnancy. Wow! Strength? I didn't feel like I was being strong at all! I whine about not being able to bend over well, or having my random "one hiccup", or putting my shoes on and having to constantly be grunting, or falling asleep as soon as I lay down no matter what time it is, or getting leg cramps in the night and nerve pains in the day...but yet...he admires me??

The next day....he found out I wanted to go to a concert downtown with the Symphony and Peter Cetera (former Chicago lead singer), so he BOUGHT TICKETS! We had such a fun and crazy night, nearly missing the first half after I had to fly through rush hour Friday traffic, and get home to find out we didn't have enough time to really "go out" for dinner....so we settled for Taco Bell! LOL!!

We felt like highschoolers at a prom night or something....all dressed up and then fast food for dinner! He spilled his burrito on his tie and we had to wash it off as good as possible...but yet we still laughed for the rest of the ride like giddy schoolboys/girls....then we couldn't find the parking garage....and once we did, we had to park at the top. I decided to venture out and wear my heels that night *bad idea* and as we FINALLY approached the concert hall, Billy remembered he left HIS WALLET in the car, and our tickets were at will call *and we potentially needed his id to pick them up*.

Fortunately, they didn't need his ID so we were totally fine without the wallet, and we made it after just missing a few songs...

But seriously....it was funny. Some people would have been stressed to THE MAX after a night like that, and it's times like those I realize how much we really are MADE FOR EACH OTHER!

To top off my BIRTHDAY-LIKE WEEK TO REMEMBER...I decided to be frugal and make my own New Years cards this year. He didn't want me to smell the fumes of the adhesive, so he spent 3 very COLD nights in our garage watching King of the Hill & Kung fu Panda on a portable dvd player while he spray glued 300 cards for me!!!

All I can say is, my husband is MY HERO! He makes me laugh at normal little things, and reminds me to ease up when I get too serious about life. I know he's going to make such a great dad, because he already takes great care of his kids mom!

P.S. He told me to say he has big muscles too

Baby Cubes

2008-12-31T18:04:00.004-06:00

...that's what Billy jokingly said I should call this blog :)

After spending the entire day (8-3) at the doc's office yesterday, we decided to reward ourselves with a 4D Sonogram package! It was the final week we could do it, and we had plenty of time in between my "poking sessions" with the lab lady. The baby was so funny, we couldn't get him to move his hands out of his face for the ENTIRE TIME! We tried two different attempts a few hours apart, and they nudged and rolled me around begging him to move. So for now, we have a right profile view along with his hands, and feet, and umbulical cord, all of which he has grown very fond of :) In the bottom pic, he looks like he's praying with his hands folded, and we watched him pull that foot up into view as she took the pic. So cute, really acting like a baby.

Wash on-Wash off

2008-12-29T21:23:00.009-06:00

Billy and I were fortunate to be given a Maytag washer and dryer when we first moved in/got married....needless to say, after 28 YEARS they had their fair share of use and I think we just pooped them out! They died on us this past weekend...and just in time....because today Billy got his bonus so we got to buy new ones!!! Check them out! (*Ours are in white)

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Ours was so much fun being our very first together! Christmas Eve at Mom's is always fun, we got to see family and friends and eat great food togeether! We have this family tradition of opening 1 gift that night....it's almost always been pajamas! This year, she kept the tradition alive, and added Billy and Rachel to the list....just as we were all opening our pj's, Brian and Lin called from Africa! The timing was perfect! It was like they were with us sharing the family moment :) We figured since none of us would be staying with mom this year, we would go ahead and let her "feel" like we were...so we all put our p.j.s on! It was hilarious! I wish I had a picture to show you! After a few minutes, Rachel and I looked at each other and realized we still had guests over, lol.....I asked, "do you feel kind of weird in pajamas?" and she said "yeah, I just realized....what were we thinking?!".

Christmas morning was so much fun to wake up in our own place, with our own tree and our own presents! I told my co-workers that Santa, I mean, Billy was a good listener for Christmas :) He gave me some very fun (and comfy) maternity lounge wear, sweaters/shirts, pajamas, some GREAT shoes, and a BEAUTIFUL diaper bag that all the girls wanted to buy 'cause it was the only one the store had recieved in stock :) He had it hanging on the stroller Christmas morning for my surprise!

He said I spoiled him, but I just had such a great time getting him things he will never buy for himself! I think every single item he wore Christmas day was new! Lol! He had fun with his "toys' (a.k.a a Milwaukee Sawzall and huge hellicopter) and then we headed over to mom's place to eat a late Christmas lunch with the family. The baby was given a few gifts....some sports onesies and socks from Uncle Aaron & Aunt Rachel and a DIAPER GENIE from mom and dad (they don't have their grandparent names picked out yet)! We pretty much spent the rest of the weekend chilling out and enjoying our time off. I was actually fighting a cold most of the week...so it was great to get some rest and try and feel better again. This weather is freaking my body out!
Baby B has been SO ACTIVE and now we can see him move from the outside! It's WILD! Last night I laid a bottle of baby oil flat on my tummy, and it was rocking back and forth! I guess that's a good sign....he's growing! Tomorrow, I have to take the 3 hour glucose tolerance test to make sure I'm not going to be dealing with gestational diabetes (this is round 2 of tests). We're praying they rule it out this time-for good! Please say a prayer if you think of us.

Oh, and regarding my last post, thank you ladies for all the sciatica advice! I had a sneaky suspicion that's what the problem was..as I had experienced similar pains in my "younger days" during a couple of all-nighter video-editing sessions. Thankfully, my cousin (a licensed chiropractor) showed up at my parents Christmas Eve bash this past week, and gave me a full out adjustment! It was WONDERFUL and I haven't had any of the major sharp zings since!

On my Nerves

2008-12-23T18:53:00.002-06:00

This poor innocent son of mine is getting on my nerves.....literally! I yelled out many times when I got up to walk around at work today, and would get caught mid-stride just trying to make myself breathe through this awful "zinging" pain. It's in my lower left back....and boy it's a doozie! Does anyone have any remedies? Poor baby needs his room to grow but I'm just a little person!

Christmas Time is Here!

2008-12-19T18:06:00.012-06:00

Billy and I finally got ourselves a first tree! After we made our selection, a really sweet man helped us tie the tree up, and showed great dedication to the task. Ole' Blanca (our car) got to prove how strong she was carrying that tree on her back :)

Then tough Billy got to prove how strong HE was by carrying it on HIS back! See how tough he is?! LOL, just smile and nod :)

It happened to be a really cold night too, so we had our very first real fire in the fireplace. While he worked long and hard on beating the wood to "kindling" pieces, I pretty much got-to-it decorating that sucker with all kinds of fun new picks and sticks and ornaments and lights and bows.

SEEEEEEEE!

It was so fun and smelled up the whole room to have a REAL tree in our living room!

Here's Billy's pretty fire in our first home together:)

We hung our new stockings on our "NOEL" and "PEACE" hooks, and we bought our "JOY" baby one for next year...hard to believe he'll be 9 months old by then!!!

Playing Ketchup

2008-12-15T18:36:00.015-06:00

When I was a little girl, if someone said they had to “play catch up”, I always pictured a red ketchup packet in my mind. It wasn’t until I was in junior high that I realized that I was playing volleyball, not “volleyVALL”. Funny how kids perceptions can be so far off from reality…

Anywho….for many weeks now, I have intended to update you folks on life. Every time I had a good idea for a posting, I’d wait for a break in my work day and realize, the only thing I honestly wanted to do in that moment was PUT MY FEET UP! Which meant….no typing, cause I can hardly breathe enough as it is, much less with my feet up and a keyboard in my lap :)

So, here are some snippets from the recent exciting times in the B house. ~XOXO~

Thanksgiving Part#1
Since the big bro and wifey were here in time for Thanksgiving, we held our festivities on the Sunday before the actual holiday. The little bro and his new wifey had returned from their honeymoon just the day before! They were all tanned up from the Mexico rays, and had many fun stories to tell. The food was GREAT as ALWAYS and the cleanup was a breeze (we used paper goods and plastic cups this year- and served most of the dishes in the handy aluminum pans you see all over the stores during this time of year-talk about easy peasy)! As we sat around the table after dinner, mom asked, “okay so to all three of you new family members, what is missing from this table that you would normally have?”…Rachel responded timidly, “um…broccoli and cheese casserole”…. So we should be enjoying that dish from you next year Mrs. T! After dinner, we enjoyed Kung FU Panda with all the cousins, and David was hilarious beating his legs for drums in beat with the Asian drummers….so cute. Brian and Lin raised the funds to return to Uganda, so we will see them again in August! Our prayers are with them for a great time of ministry and learning while they are there.

Thanksgiving Part #2- GOT OXYGEN?
Since flights were so expensive this year for Christmas/New Years in California, the B fam decided to rent a cozy home in Silverthorne Colorado for Thanksgiving week! We all flew out from Boston, Cali and Texas to celebrate together … I’m usually really comfortable on planes, and since I’ve flown so much, domestic and internationally, it doesn’t ever really cross my mind that we’re stuck in the air….unable to open the doors to get out if needed. But for some reason, this time the flight really weirded me out! Just as we were getting ready to pull away from the gate, I had this enormous heaviness on my chest and I had to remind myself to breathe. All I wanted to do was jump from my seat and run full force to the door and get out! I leaned over to Billy and said “I need you to pray with me”….he asked why and I told him “I need to pray for peace, because all I can think about right now is the doors closing and how I can go into labor right here in the aisle and I’m completely freaking out about it!” So we prayed :) and lived :) and we ended up having so much fun!

It snowed EVERY DAY!

We made a full-out meal on Thanksgiving day, thanks to a local grocery store that carried Kroger products :)

We hiked one day, where Billy was showing off standing on a frozen pond!

A few of us were able to ski in Keystone and others of us had our fun “pretend skiing”! On our way home one night, we saw a red fox just casually lying on a pile of wood outside a gas station. We got out and Billy called him over to him. He was so tame! But we didn’t get too close to touch him…who knows what germies he was carrying…but it was so cool! He had a bum back leg, so maybe he was hiding out from predators in the woods. We looked for him every night after that, but never saw him again.

It was such a great trip, but I think I was moving a little bit in slow motion because I had NO OXYGEN it seemed! I know the altitude had something to do with it, but pregnancy probably didn’t help! We stayed on the third story of the house, and we sure did enjoy our room up there whether we could breathe or not!

It had a great view and it was decked out in cute little brown bears.

MC Party in San Fran/Christmas Celebration
Billy’s company flew us out for their annual company Christmas party! It was in San Francisco this year, and we had a wonderful trip! The party was held in a hotel downtown, in an open loft-like area that overlooked an outdoor ice rink

! The lobby was decorated for Christmas and it was absolutely gorgeous!!

We played the company’s usual swap game, and we all had a good laugh when they used Aaron and Rachel’s wedding pics in a gag gift this time (we were one of the big jokes last year when they tried to give away blown-up and framed photo-shopped pictures of us!). It was good to see everyone, and do some catching up.
Billy’s parents drove up and picked us up the next day. We took the trip back to their home through Napa Valley (it was my first time to see it). I was in awe of the beauty! We stopped for a stroll around the Mondave mansion and Billy snapped some scenic pictures (of course) of the grapes and then his dad grabbed a few of us too.
After Napa, we had a short but sweet visit with Grandma and Grandpa B. They gave us a beautfiul handmade blanket for the baby! We can't wait to see how handsome he looks all wrapped up in it :)

When we got back to the B house, we helped them pick out a Christmas tree!

And then we exchanged our gifs with them...here's Billy sportin' his new ski coat :) Crazy dude.

It was so fun, and I’m so thankful we had the chance to spend an “early Christmas” together.

We also had a fun present waiting for us when we got home….in the form of…..

new Maclaren baby wheels!

We found our stroller on ebay for much less than any store or site was carrying it for, so Billy’s parents bought it for us and shipped it to our home while we were in Cali with them!

Probably the next time we see them will be in 11 weeks OR LESS when we have a BABY!!! Time is flying! We got started on our registry at Baby’s R Us this past weekend, because we knew we might just keep putting it off and it’d be too late!

I can’t believe Christmas is only 10 days away!!! Our mantel is done, with a wreath and stockings, the table has some fun and festive décor and we have ornaments, lights, poinsettas, a skirt and a star….but no tree yet! So maybe tonight we’ll get one!!! You are all welcome to come and visit us anytime, we’d love to have you!

Stay sane during this crazy time of year, and try to remember why we are celebrating in the first place. God gave a son to us! I can’t imagine, with a son on the way, what it must have felt like to give such a HUMONGOUS sacrifice. May we remember with all our hearts what this means for us and eternity, and share the LOVE of our savior with those around us.

"For I know the plans..."

Here comes the Sun

Too many apples (in a good way)

Simple things

(Tr)Ader Joe's

Cali Christmas Part 2

California Christmas Part 1

Daddy's helpers

New in Christ

She's here

Big Boy, Big Girl

Update on~Bags!

We've only just begun...

4 Preggo's

2 and Under!

Kickoff to Christmas

All that Sparkles

Who knew?!

San Fran Zoo

Worth every penny

A little sparkle

Go-go-gadgets

Funny boy

He sucked WHAT up his nose?

Michael Grimm

All American Boy

Birthday Boy *Part 2* (finally)

Kinda Sneaky

Birthday Boy (Part 1)

Lost & Found

Approaching the BIG 3-O!

Catching you up

That can't hurt

Peace to you

Pics of the week

First Snow!

Dog gone cute

The Rest of the Story...

Harvest Tea and More

All Smiles

Buckle up

As good as the original

Good smellin' towels

A new addition

My Big Boy

Lucie Joy

Cousins!

I've been missin' you

5 months and The Greats

Rollin' down the river

Leaving on a jet plane...

Brinner

This little piggy

Exceeding our expectations

Jesus in his heart

A little updating

Still waiting...

My milk's gonna' be better

It's all gonna' burn

Ants in... Will's pants?!

YUM!

Fave's of the Week

Good News

So that explains it

Family Photos

Sweet Sleep :)

War Zone

1 year ago...

Germs

Props

Leaps & Bounds

Pretty in PInk

Oh Boy!

He poured in the oil...

Firsts all around

Little Victories

Priceless

William Riley

Happy B-day Billy Boy!

Better off in Bed

Birthday Boy Part 2 (finally)

Priceless