Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for so many things: My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my baby boy, all of my family and friends, and my health. I could go on and on. I'm very Blessed!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We kicked off ours the weekend before thanksgiving in Pinson celebrating with Jonathan's dad's family. Then we spent Thanksgiving day in Trussville with Jonathan's mom's family. When we got back in town we spent the evening with my mom and nephew Riley. It's crazy and hectic at times having family in different cities and states, but it's always good to see everyone.

Here are some pictures from both of trips up to Birmingham!

I'm so thankful for this sweet baby. I truly can't find the words to express my love for him!

Eating his first Thanksgiving Feast. He was a week old last Thanksgiving!

Nana and Papa with their grandchildren!

Uncle Tony and Baylor!

Our Turkey!

Mom and Pap with all their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren!

Mom and Pap with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

12 Months!

I know I'm a little behind on blogging his 12 month post, but I've been just a "little" busy lately. Baylor had his 12 month check up on the 18th so here are his stats: Weight 21lb 7oz (30%), Height 30in (45%), and Head circumference 18 3/4 (80%). Dr. M was pleased with his stats and said he looks great. Minus a little eczema flair up. If any of you moms out there have any tips for eczema please share. We are using dove soap, eucerin lotion, baths every other day, and steroid cream. Is there anything else out there that helps? I'm sure we're in for a long winter of dry, itchy skin. Baylor got three shots at his visit. One was the flu shot which is not routine, but he's a candidate for it since he's had a history of breathing "problems" (asthma, RSV, bronchuolitis, who knows??). I think this was the most upset I've seen him get over shots. I felt so bad for my sweet baby. I'm glad that is over with!

Here are a few things our big boy is up to at 12 months:

He is drinking whole milk! We switched over the day before his birthday. We never did the half milk, half formula thing. We went right into it and he has done so well!

Walking... sometimes. He takes steps throughout the day and has been for a while now, but he still loves crawling. I think the two stomach viruses he had, one which he ended up in the hospital with really set him back. It's more of he can do it, but doesn't have the desire too. He'll do it when he's ready and we're (Dr. M and Mama and Daddy) OK with that!

He is a very strong-willed little boy. He lets us know when he's unhappy and when he wants something he can't have. I'm trying to tell myself being strong-willed and knowing what you want is a good things, right?!

He is the sweetest baby! He gives us kisses all the time. He also blows kisses and gives them to the babies at daycare. Such a sweet boy.

He's a talker. He constantly talking. His vocab consist of Mama, Dada, thank you, uh-oh, ba ba (bottle), bye-bye, duck, Ha (Hank), No, Huh, and I think he's been trying to say Granna since yesterday. It's a pretty hard one to say so I'm surprised. Other than these words he does a lot of chitter-chatter all day. Even his Mimi (sitter) says he's a talker there during the day.

He's riding face-forward in his car seat as of his Birthday and seems to really enjoy it.

He's wearing 12 months and some 18 months.

Some of his favorite things right now are: being outside, being around other children, being around Mama all.the.time (separation anxiety is setting in), playing ball (throwing and catching, yep he can catch), looking at his books, playing with his puzzles (thanks Emma), and just being out and about. He's such a ham and loves all the attention he gets!

Playing while waiting to see Dr. M!

I'll be back soon with our Thanksgiving and Iron Bowl post! WAR EAGLE!!

Our Baby Turns ONE!!

Baylor turned ONE year on Saturday! I honestly CANNOT believe it's been one whole year since the Lord blessed us with our incredible son. I don't think I could ever put in words the way our lives have changed since the moment we layed eyes on our sweet boy.



Dear Baby,

God blessed us in a way far beyond our desires, November 13, 2009. We love EVERY.SINGLE.THING. about you. Although I'm sad that your growing so fast, I look forward to seeing how much you change in the year ahead. I can only imagine it gets better each and every day. I love you, baby!!

We had a fun-filled day celebrating starting as soon he woke up Saturday morning. We kicked off the morning with balloons in his room, surprising him with his swing set, french toast with a candle and Mommy and Daddy sang happy birthday to him. After breakfast the 3 of us headed out back to jump in the bounce house. We had so much fun and he loved it. That afternoon we had his party. He had a great time seeing all the family and friends that came to celebrate. He has so many special people that love him. He was so spoiled by all of them! We ended the night with a number one sparkler out back before he hit the sack.

Time for pictures. I will do a picture post after this one. I took a lot so I thought I would split it in two blog posts. Enjoy!

This was the day after his Birthday!

Handsome Birthday Boy!

His birthday gift from Mama and Daddy!

Birthday Breakfast!

Playing in the bounce house in his pajamas!

Party favors!

Front door. We just the same bow we had on our mailbox when he was brought home from the hospital!

He LOVED his cake!!

Birthday gifts! Very blessed baby boy!

More pictures to come!!

B Update!

Whew what a week it's been! I think, fingers crossed that we are FINALLY getting over this virus. Baylor did have diarrhea this morning, but it was so much less than it has been. We took him to see Dr. M yesterday for his follow up and he also thought Baylor was improving. I'm hoping we can stay out of his office until next Thursday when we are scheduled for Baylor's 12 months wellness exam.

In the middle of Baylor being sick I woke up Tuesday morning sick. I had what I'm pretty sure is the worst headache to date for me. I also vomited three times. YUCK! Luckily my doctor called me in a Z-pack for the headache (sinus infection??) and I had some phenergan left over from my pregnancy. I think both of those combined with me not getting out of bed AT ALL that day helped in speedy recovery. Thanks Granna for taking care of B for me. It was very upsetting not being able to care for him myself. Thanks to Nana too who offered to come down yesterday and watch Baylor if I wasn't better. Jonathan and I are very blessed with families who do so much for us and we are very thankful for all of them!


Watching the door...

Not a good start...

to Baylor's birthday week. We kicked it off in the ER early Sunday morning. Baylor starting having vomiting and diarrhea on Thursday morning and it continued through the weekend. I took him in to see Dr. M on Saturday because I was really concerned about his increased fatigue. Of course when anyone has a stomach virus they sleep a lot, but he was taking 4-6 naps a day. He of course confirmed that it was another stomach virus (2nd one since we were there on the 25th). He wasn't dehydrated, but to keep a close watch on him. He told me some things to look for and told me to give him a call during the weekend if I thought he was getting worse. Well Sunday morning at 5:00 he woke up crying and as soon as I opened his bedroom door I knew what I smelt was not going to be pretty. He had gotten sick all in his bed and he was up to his chest in it. I put him in the tub immediately and he kept trying to lay face first under the water. That was it! I knew then that he needed to be seen. I called the after-hours nurse and we loaded up and headed to the ER. We ended up staying for 8 hours. Baylor got an IV, some zofran IV (my miracle pregnancy drug), flu test (which is horrible on a child), and had to get stuck again for blood (the first sample clotted). His lab work showed his BUN and CREA were a little low which was consistent with dehydration. Good thing we took him in when we did. I think with him losing all the fluid right before bed and first thing that morning did it. It was so much. The Doctor said that dehydration can happen very fast with children and diarrhea.

Baylor did well the rest of the night with no diarrhea or vomiting. You could just tell he doesn't feel all that well. This morning he seemed to be improving even more until I got him up from his nap and it was all over him, his sheets, lovie, and blanket. Ahh... please keep him in your prayers. He seems to be improving, but I hope he's well very soon! He has a big weekend ahead of him!

He wanted his Mommy to sleep with him!


We were shocked how well he did getting his IV.

Making sure I'm still there!

What would we have done without these??

I thought I would do a post on some great "baby items" that we got lots of use out of this first year. They are in no particular order...


Fisher Price, Little Lamb Bouncy!
We got lots of good use out of this seat when Baylor was a newborn. He was content sitting and sleeping in it. It came in handy when we were first dealing with his reflux. All you mommies to be out there. We give it a BIG thumbs up!

Sophie the Giraffe! Baylor got her as a gift when he was in the hospital for breathing problems back in April and she has the the BEST teether. Actually she is the ONLY teether he actually used as a teether (does that make since?!). He loves her and we take her everywhere with us.

Chicco Pac-N-Play!

This was Baylor's bed for the first 12 weeks (or maybe a little longer). We had this in our room waiting to bring our baby home. It has a changing table and a little organizer so we had everything we needed in our room for those late night diaper changes. It vibrates, plays music, and has a little night-light. We now use it as a regular play pen and we took it on all our beach trips this summer and Baylor napped and slept in it every night with a problem!

This 3 piece monitor is the reason we have been able to sleep well these last 11 1/2 months. The flat screen is on our nightstand and the handheld I use during the day when he is sleeping. We got this as a shower gift and wow what a great gift it has been!

Little Lamb infant swing! This was a big hit with our little man from the first day we brought him home until just a few months ago. I'll have to go back on previous posts,but I'm pretty sure he used it til he was around 6-7 months. It also came in handy with his reflux issues on those nights when he couldn't sleep lying flat.

Chicco Travel System! I must admit 2 things that I (we) had pretty much made our mind up on years before we knew we were expecting a little miracle were the name Baylor (family and friends knew for a while too) and this chicco travel system. Lame right?! We'll when your trying to conceive for years you have a lot of time to think, research, wish, dream about all things baby. Well this is one of them and it hasn't disappointed! I must admit it was an emotional day moving from our infant seat to our Britax.

Bear Mat! We actually got 2 (bear and giraffe)of these WONDERFUL, soft, and comfy mats as baby gifts. It was perfect when I needed to put Baylor down for a second. I could put him down on this mat with some toys and I knew he would be comfy. He still loves it to this day. He crawls as fast as he can up to it and plops down snuggling with it. It's so sweet. Who knew you could get such good use out of a cute little mat?!

Day gowns! I don't think there is anything sweeter than a baby in a gown, especially baby boys! Not only are they precious, but so easy for those middle of the night diaper changes.

Dr. Brown Bottles! Plain and simple, they were great! Several mommies recommended them to us and they did not disappoint.

Born Free Sippy! These are Baylor's favorite sippys. The aren't the cheapest, but totally worth it. If your trying to transition your baby from the bottle to a sippy and it's not going so great, give these a shot!

Praise Baby! This is no surprise if you've been reading my blog. Baylor and his Mommy both give these a HUGE thumbs up. They are my life saver in the mornings when I'm trying to get dressed for work. We will continue to add to this collection!

Good News!

Praise God we got good news today after my mom's procedure. Thank you all for the prayers!

Now we're onto the 10 day countdown to celebrate this sweet boy's First Birthday!!

First night sleeping with a blanket!


Doesn't get any sweeter!

Random Post!

I can't believe we are just 11 days away from Baylor's First Birthday. I've done a lot of reminiscing on what was these few weeks were like this time last year. It's just amazing how much life changes the second you become a parent. It's unexplainable. I try not to forget how much the Lord has blessed Jonathan and I and our entire family with the precious baby boy.

I have a couple things I wanted to post about too...

Saturday would've been my sister's 30th Birthday. I never did a post on Saturday. Sometimes I get in a "funk" and would rather not talk about, think about it, blog about, etc. I sometimes lose focus on what I should think about and that is celebrating her life here on earth and how wonderful her life is with our everlasting father. Something I heard a few years back that has stuck with me is " you don't grieve for the loved one lost because they are fine. Your actually grieving for yourself (selfishly) because of the things your going to miss about them." I think that is so true. I know she is happy, free from all suffering, and that she wants us to be as well. Happy Birthday, Ashley! You will always be my hero!! Love and miss you always!

I also have a prayer request tonight. My mom is having a little procedure at Baptist South tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:00. Please pray that the procedure goes well, that questions are answered, and also pray for guidance for her cardiologist as she is in surgery. Thanks blog readers and try and post an update tomorrow evening!


What's a post without pictures?!

Our cute little turkey!


LOVE this face!