Happenings...

I've been waiting for Adam to get big enough for his Transy onesie! Thanks Brandy - it looks so cute!



My friend Allyson and her family visited last weekend and brought her son Ryan. Allyson was my next door neighbor and best friend growing up. We spent many, many, many hours playing together, so we were excited for Ryan and Adam to meet. Had Adam been born on his due date, Ryan and Adam would be almost exactly a year apart. Aren't they cute?



We had quite a fun-filled weekend. I went to Cincinnati on Friday and was able to catch up with a good friend, Saturday was busy and Sunday I was able to co-host a shower for my friend Ashley from college. I had not seen many of the girls at the shower in quite awhile, and we had so much fun catching up. Here's Adam and me with Sara, Julia, and Ashley.



A little while later Adam and I had been playing and I started doing something else and then noticed that he had gotten awfully quiet... Now I ask, what kind of mom lets her little boy play with a tube of butt cream?



And what kind of Mom takes a picture before taking it away?



The mom of a little boy who cried when it was gone!

Happy Labor Day!

I have let the day pass without wishing David a Happy Birthday! We had a lot of fun last weekend celebrating David. We ate dinner out all three meals in one day!

Adam also wished his daddy a happy birthday. I forgot to factor in Adam's love for all things made of paper when I decided to do this! David had these pictures in his card from Adam.



The days of placing Adam in the floor and returning to find him in the same spot are long gone. It seems like he has now been mobile forever. Once he decided to go, he was gone. He can crawl really fast now, and even faster if he army crawls. He reminds me of a wind-up toy once he sets his sights on something. He is a ton of fun! He also pulls up on everything now, which has led to a few tears when he chooses things that aren't stable.



We were able to visit my grandfather two weeks ago, too, and we spent the night at Jenny Wiley State Park on our way back and worked in some hiking. Adam loved visiting Papaw Earl, and I think my Papaw enjoyed it a little bit too.



Our little guy also learned to clap on Saturday! It was so cute. He already loves for us to say, "Yea, Adam!" He smiles really big and we guess he's probably thinking, "I don't know what I did but I'll smile anyway". We were watching the Kentucky football game and he decided to clap too! What a true fan!

Finally, a couple more of Adam's crazy hair pics. This was seriously his look when he woke up from his nap. He plays REALLY hard now, but he apparently he sleeps really hard too!

Creepy Crawlies

We've had a couple of critters visit our house lately. We have a local groundhog who thankfully usually doesn't come past our neighbor's house. We have lots of birds, squirrels, and rabbits, a mole that I think may have finally kicked the bucket, an occasional chipmunk, and then our recent Mother Duck. You'd think we live in the woods or something. A few weeks ago, this little guy(?) had his nose up to our backdoor. I was worried that if I had come outside to water the flowers from that door, he could have scurried right on in, but David kept assuring me that "scurry", he would not.



We do not have a picture of our most recent critter, so you'll have to take my word for it. Adam was in the bed and I was doing some last minute things before going to bed myself when I looked down the stairs to see that a folded basket of laundry was dumped in the floor. I was getting a little worked up thinking that David was using the basket for other laundry so I yelled down to ask what he was doing. His prompt response was, "Uh, we have a problem". Thinking that the dryer must be broken, I asked what it was. David said, "We have a bat in the house." A what!!!???! I think I made him repeat it three times. David had me make sure Adam's room and the other rooms upstairs were closed, then I peered around through the dining room to watch through the glass swingy door as a bat was flying in circles in my kitchen. Lovely. David had it blocked off from going anywhere else in the house and he was using the laundry basket to keep it away after learning he was unlikely to catch it with the basket! This was not good.

I took the house key around to unlock and open the back door, then made a run for it back to the front of the house. I had plenty of time to get back inside and watch the dumb thing for another five minutes before it finally made its way out. I was really freaked out after that; I thought I was going to have to sleep with the lights on or something.

We think that I let the bat in when I went outside for a minute to water the plants on the back deck, but I didn't see or hear it when I came back inside. David was watching baseball in the basement and saw the shadow of it flying on the tv. Before he could shut the basement door to close it in down there, it had flown up to the main floor of our house. I am much more careful about closing doors now; actually, I am way less likely to walk outside after dark!

Otitis Media

The little man is down (but not out) with an ear infection today. He had a fever yesterday while he was home with Daddy and a couple of rough nights so I stayed home with him today. I took him to the pediatrician this morning and did his 9 month old checkup (scheduled for next week) today too. He no longer has a fever but one ear "looks terrible" according to the doctor. So I had my favorite pharmacist fill his prescription and hopefully we are on our way back to feeling great. Little man hasn't been too fussy in general, but if something goes wrong (like he tips over) he is way more unhappy than his normal self would be.

We have to go back to the doctor next week, though for follow-up because his hemoglobin was low again. Hopefully its just because he was sick today. Nevertheless, its back to iron supplements until we know for sure. As for now, I think we'll go for a walk. He enjoys that so much. And his ear hasn't kept him from bouncing!

By the way, Adam is now in the 3rd percentile (up from the 1st) in weight. Yippee! He is also up to the 35th for length now.

Nine Months

Here's a picture from this morning that cracks me up. You can't see the true craziness of Adam's bed-head, but you can see that every time he wears these jammies he manages to get his feet out. In the middle of the night. Little Houdini.

Well, school has started back and Adam has taken full advantage of that by deciding to absorb every little thing that happens and learn to imitate it.

• We have a 9 month old on our hands now! And maybe its just me but it seems like he has made a huge leap in growing up!


• He still has not really taken off crawling yet. He gets where he needs to go in a round about fashion but I am sure any day now he will be on the move.


• He learns something new every day. I love this age. Have I said those things before? Day before yesterday, Adam was playing on his belly and just sat himself up! He puts his legs underneath him and then pushes himself backwards with his arms until he's sitting on his butt. After the first time, he is such a pro that you'd think he has been doing it forever.


• Adam is so curious about everything now. He is pulling himself up when he can find something that will work to hold on to. Most of the things in our living room won't work, but he's found a few places that do. David plans to lower the crib mattress when he gets home from work today.


• Oh my! And the tooth! That's been almost 3 weeks now but he has one nail-sharp little tooth on the bottom front that is poking through. He's had a little runny nose to go with it.


• He discovered his tongue last weekend and was constantly sticking it out and using it to make smacky noises. After a couple of days he was over it.


• Its time to take a good look around our living room and places where he usually hangs out. I have a photo album on the shelf beneath my coffee table and he loves to crawl over and pull it off. Now that he can sit himself up, he gets situated, pulls it closer to him and then starts turning the pages (usually upside down and in a crinkled up fashion). Yep, that album needs a new home.


• Adam is ~16 lbs and 10 oz, 27 1/2 inches long and a wiggly worm. He's outgrown his 3-6 month clothes and #2 diapers (though we're still using them at the moment). We've moved on to #2 foods as well.

Who can believe its time for school to start again? No one in my household is in school now but I've realized it doesn't matter. Its still a turning point either way. First, there's the traffic. Where do all these people go? I made the mistake on the first day of school of driving by a school near my house. I have discovered this year that traffic lights fall way more in my favor if I get out of my neighborhood the longer way. I thought I was early enough to beat the school traffic, but not on the first day! I was in line for the same stop sign for nearly 7 minutes! Plus I was already running late. But sitting there and watching all these parents walk their too-little children to school made me tear up! I am such a softie sometimes. I watched a little guy who was obviously SO proud of his Batman bookbag, but I just wanted to say, "Turn around, he's too little for school!" I will be a basketcase in 4-5 more years if I'm not already (which is arguable).

On a brighter note, school does give you the opportunity to shop from the BEST selection of school supplies, and who doesn't love school supplies? Why do you suddenly feel inspired to journal when you have a new notebook and a flashy new pen? And crayons! Aren't they just fun! I admit to hanging out in the school supply aisle looking for something that I "need". Maybe I'll go back to school for something. Umm..naahh. I'll wait a few years for kindergarten.

Mobile at last!?

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but Adam is developing mobility.

A Weekend to Remember

I have been very anxious to get some pictures up from our little long-weekend vacation earlier this month. Here are some pictures of Adam before and during his very first plane ride!

As you can see, he doesn't seem too bothered by it at all. He was a traveling angel! He just sat on my lap and played the entire time. I had read and been told to take a bottle or pacifier to help keep his ears from hurting during takeoff and landing. I gave him these unless he was asleep and he didn't seem to even notice. So maybe my worries were unfounded; I choose to think all my preparation paid off!

Even our plane ride back by myself with Adam was a breeze. He helped me out TREMENDOUSLY by flirting, making eyes, and giving huge grins to everyone sitting around us. So we got a little bit of special treatment, which never hurts, right? I met several people this way! I had prayed about the people I would sit beside on the plane, that Adam wouldn't be a bother to them and that they would be okay with having a little one close by. That plan was sure answered! On our first flight we sat beside a gal who was a dental student in London, England traveling home from visiting her cousin at the beach. It turns out that she had a nine month old baby sister at home. Next thing I knew she was handing me things from my diaper bag and letting me know when his eyes looked heavy. The seat was open beside us on the second flight home but Adam made friends with several people around us who then set up my stroller for me once we picked it up plane-side. The steward on that flight made a special trip to my row to tell me that Adam earned the "best baby" award. Well, yeah!

We had a little bit of excitement on our trip too. On our first full day there we walked from Leigh and Tom's house across the road and for a long morning walk on the beach. We came back and went out by the pool (which was beautiful!). We had really enjoyed our day and were packing it all up to come inside to go to my mom's birthday dinner when my mom fell down one small step by the pool. She was hurting pretty badly and we found out the next day that she had sprained BOTH of her ankles and broke her left leg! So needless to say our vacation plans changed slightly after that!

Adam loved being in the water though. Leigh and Tom had this gigantic yellow duck in the pool that made Adam do a belly laugh when he saw it. We also spent a lot of time near the waterfalls in their pool because Adam was fascinated by them. Now for a few more of those pictures...

Up and Away

Look at what I found Mom! A plastic bag!

Yummmy! I like carrots!

Yikes! Its almost Thursday already, and that is when Adam and I leave for Virginia Beach! It is Adam's first plane ride and my first attempt at trying to pack all of his stuff AND mine in ONE BAG! Yikes again! The good news (well, sorta) is that its only for a few days. We are traveling out with my mom but will be returning on our own after the weekend. We are sad that David couldn't come too! We'll be visiting family there and have some serious pool time planned. So say a little prayer for us as we travel.

Happy Independence Day!

I guess my theme for the summer is to be a few days late of every event! Adam and I had a great weekend (and Daddy too) but he did have to work a couple of days. I was fortunate enough to be off from work both Thursday and Friday and we visited with many friends, did a little shopping, good eating, cookouts, lounging around, playing, and even singing. Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Adam really is a happy baby most of the time!

We went with my parents and brother to the Patriotic Concert at Transy led by the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. We packed a picnic full of snacks and our camping chairs and really had a nice time. The weather was wonderful that day; we were so happy to have taken advantage of it when the next couple of days were a little bit rainy.

It was a good time to think about our country and how blessed we are, and to remember those who have served and are currently serving our country. One of the best parts of my job is getting to give a little something back to our veterans. Surely, as we go about our busy lives we do not take enough time to remember those who are overseas, are in preparation to go, those who have returned and are trying to pick up their lives, and those who did not make it back. We thank you!

God bless the USA!

Father's Day and Summer Fun

I heart summer! Isn't it just wonderful? I love doing things outside, enjoying the weather, the greenery, the parks, the flowers, all the activities, summer holidays, vacations, the pool….I could keep going! We've been taking advantage of the good weather and perhaps that's why I have so much catching up to do on the blog.

Happy Belated Father's Day David! It is your very first! Adam loves his daddy, and he is just wonderful! I say frequently that as a new parent I have a great appreciation for single parents, and I am so thankful that we are able to go about parenthood as a team! David was a natural from the start, and he jumps in and does anything that needs done to take care of our little man.

Adam has been busy trying out all the pools! I bought a little one for our back patio, he has one for my parents house, and David's parents have an above ground pool. Adam sometimes enjoys the splashing and kicking but for the most part, he doesn't care too much where he is as long as there's something around that he can chew on! He did get a little excited over swimming nakey!

In other news, Adam has been sitting up by himself some this week. He has a few topples and can always find the one spot that doesn't have a pillow to fall on, but he is doing pretty well balancing himself. His favorite toy at the moment is the box of wipes with the picture of Nemo on it. Why do we spend money on toys?

Adam spent some time last weekend with his great-grandmother, Nana Thurmond at her house. He loved showing her how well he could jump!

Twenty-Nine and Holding

Well, its true, and thanks to Facebook, everyone already knows its my birthday today! I have already had a wonderful week of birthday celebrations, and really feel like today is passing by just a little too quickly!

Thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! I am so grateful to have all of you in my life. I have such a wonderful husband and son, family, friends, and co-workers. It’s a great day to take the opportunity to let you know how much you are appreciated and valued to me. I thank Jesus for placing each of you in my life.

David’s parents, sisters and their husband(s) - yea Sarah and John! – all stayed with us this weekend while they were in town for a wedding, and we all went to Bob Evans on Sunday with my parents for a b’day breakfast, complete with cake.

Last night, David took me to dinner at Dudley’s to celebrate and we had such a great dinner. I had a half rack of lamb which was just fabulous, our appetizer was great and so was the Black Tie Sundae we had for dessert. We even had a special dinner guest, Coach Calipari, who sat next to us! This of course, was the highlight; forget my birthday! David was really happy with my choice of restaurants! Our waiter asked us if we had already tweeted/texted/called/and facebook-status-updated regarding our table neighbor, but we were trying to be cool until we left the restaurant, when of course we started calling everyone! Our waiter claimed we could be the most popular people at the water cooler today just by sharing the info.

I’ve had several extra special gifts already…
1) Flowers were delivered to my house as soon as I got home yesterday, and they were a beautiful arrangement of all-white flowers. For those of you who don’t already know, David is a very thoughtful gift-giver, and has always given me flowers on my birthday that clue me in to the piece of jewelry that he gives me next. So of course, white is very exciting, right ladies? I got a pair of diamond earrings before we went to dinner.
2) My co-worker made me a cake and cupcakes and brought them to work this morning, which was so thoughtful. The cupcakes were yellow cake mix with a gallop of cookie dough in the middle and cream cheese icing on top. The cake was equally yummy!
3) Adam was also thoughtful; he had my mom make me a keychain that says “29 and holding”. Thanks sweet Adam! There’s a story behind it…just wait. I can remember my mom’s 29th birthday. Our family used to camp nearly every weekend in the summer, usually at Jenny Wiley State Park/Dewey Lake. I loved riding my bike to the campground store to peruse the pencils, great eraser collection, and the keychain rack. (My brother loved the fool’s gold). I found a “29 and holding” keychain and had to go back and ask Dad for money so I could buy it for Mom for her birthday. So we have a family tradition!My mom sent me the sweetest email this morning. I’ll have to ask her if its okay to share, but it was all about this day 29 years ago. I love birthdays!

Homemade Highchair

Adam and I had some playtime in the grass. He watches my every move while I water the flowers.

Then David came home and Adam lit up! He loves his daddy.

Here are Adam's first little dirty feet! Ironically, this happened at my grandmother's house, who always has the cleanest house in town. (It was outside Mamaw, I promise!)

We have come such a long way with rice cereal! Adam now LOVES eating with a spoon even though he hasn't quite mastered it yet. Already, though, he wants to hold it himself. Ahhh.....don't grow up so fast! He loves applesauce, bananas, and pears, and makes, "Mmmm..." noises with nearly every bite. Looks like our boy didn't fall far from the tree with his love of food!

Here is my grandmother feeding Adam at her house on Friday. It was sort of an impromptu meal!

And here was Grandad holding him up the entire time.

Adam pays so much more attention to everything around him now. He watches everything so carefully, and now has favorite toys. It melts my heart when he falls asleep holding them! Here is his little bee that plays "twinkle twinkle little star". We often call it "bug" at our house for some reason. Bug, bee, butterfly, whatever. He likes it.

And we're still jumping! Wait...this jumparoo looks different. Oh yeah - my mom loved ours so much she bought one too. It matches the little playmat jungle gym that is at David's mom's house. Poor, poor first grandchild....

Adam had his physical therapy appointment last week on his 7 month birthday. This was a checkup type appointment that was scheduled before we left the NICU. The therapist evaluated him and felt that he was doing wonderfully and was right on track for where he should be. His strength and reflexes were good, too. She said that she didn't have anything that she could really pick on but she gave us a few tricks to help Adam work on his balance for sitting alone and to help him roll and pull himself up. On his 7 month b'day he weighed ~14 lbs, 10 ounces.

Chowing Down and Jumping Up

We are attempting cereal with Adam now despite some resistance that comes in the form of tears, arching back, and spitting it all over. It seems even when I think he shouldn't be hungry, he acts as if he is starving when we try giving him cereal. We're sticking with it, but so far we haven't had much success. But he's cute anyway!

We have a new toy at our house, the Jumparoo. Our little man is going to have some strong legs! He loves to jump, jump, jump and loves the lights and music. It is so fun to watch him!

Our Mother Duck has hatched(?) her babies so our flower bed is empty now. David saw her walking the little duckies in a line on our sidewalk so he left our gate open for them. Later, we couldn't find them so we walked down and saw her swimming in the creek with seven little ones following closely on her tail.

Three Years and Counting...

David and I recently celbrated our third anniversary! I feel like I say every year that in some ways it feels like yesterday but other times it feels like we have known each other forever, and I mean that in the best way. I am so thankful to have him as my partner for life and blessed to get to claim him as my husband. He is thoughtful, generous, and romantic as well as a wonderful husband and father. He made us reservations for dinner at Bellini's on our anniversary evening. To many more years together!

Six month checkup and an Expectant Mother Duck

I took Adam for his six month checkup Friday, though we are a bit past six months. However, we've been busy celebrating more family things such as Adam's Aunt Sarah's wedding to Uncle John last weekend. Which, by the way, was beautiful, as was the bride, and Uncle John looked pretty handsome, too. So now they're hitched, and have the monogramming to prove it!

Back to the doctor's appointment... Since we like to keep records around here, we must say that Adam now weighs 13 lbs, 14 oz (first percentile), and is 26 inches long (25th percentile). His head circumference is now in the 13th percentile. I was a bit surprised that his weight was still first percentile, but he made leaps and bounds in the other departments, and he has still gained over 2 lbs since his last appointment. That is difficult for a baby and carseat-toting mom to believe (feels like another twelve to me!). In all, Adam has gained almost 11 lbs since birth, which is nearly one-up from quadrupling his birth weight. (Someone please let me know what that word is…it escapes me at this moment and maybe a year ago I would have stopped to look it up myself). Add to that TEN INCHES in length and he is a growing boy! I have already forgotten how tiny he was, so let's add this in for memories:

We enjoyed being outside with the nice weather and admiring the flowers that my mom helped me plant. I love being outside, but looking at all the things I had yet to get to do was stressing me a bit so it is a big relief to have more color and less weeds. I managed to collapse and then reassemble the Pack 'n Play so that I could bring it outside, and was determined to not let it get the best of me. In the end, it has been just the trick, as Adam slept and slept!

By the way, here is a little surprise that my mom and I found while weeding one of my sun gardens. I heard her say my name in a way that meant she had found something, and given that we live near a creek and have quite an assembly of critters around, I had jumped the flower bed and was high stepping to the door when she finally yelled what she had found…a duck, complete with a down nest! Though I will not be weeding anywhere near her (those will just have to grow), it could have been a lot worse.

Here is a picture from my first Mother's Day with my mom and Adam:

And a picture from Leah's graduation two weeks ago:

Update on Dustin: Our friends' baby boy has had a second surgery now to remove some infection found in the pleural lining of his chest cavity. He is improving and starting to be tired of the hospital, which is good! I am sure his parents reached that point weeks ago! Tim and Kelly thank you for your continued prayers, as we hope for no more infection or fevers and for their family to get to return home this week.