Mommy Memo #4

Call American National to see if I can Baylor coverage on the "Cozy Coupe"... Looks like I will need it!

Go Car, Go!

Baylor's friend Ashton celebrated his 1st birthday 2 weeks ago. Baylor loves birthday parties so much, but the downfall to that is he thought it was his party and wanted to open the presents and play with the new toys before the birthday boy did. Needless to say, we spent 95% of the time outside playing in the backyard with the other kids. In the backyard was an inflatable jumper, new swing set, a see-saw and toys galore for the kids to play with. Was my son interested in any of that fun stuff? No, Baylor set his eyes on a faded, older "Cozy Coupe" and that's where he stayed almost the entire time! Scott kept saying he was gonna go buy Baylor one since he liked it so much but I figured he would just wait until his birthday which was only 1 month away at that time. WRONG! Sunday, after the party I went shopping at Mistletoe Market with my friend Christian (Ashton's Mommy) and Baylor stayed home and spent the day with Scott. Apparently while I was gone, they went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and ended up getting something a little extra for Baylor. This is what I saw when I came in the door:

An excited little boy that wouldn't even let Daddy finish putting it together before he got in it! Scott literally had to put the whole thing together while Baylor sat in it, mesmerised.

He.loves.this.car! When I tell you the boy lives in it, he literally lives in it from the time we get home until I have to drag him out for his dinner and bath. He will even sit in it to watch t.v. in the afternoons. Baylor doesn't say much but is picking up more and more each week thanks to his therapist. But let me tell you, when he runs around the house pushing his Cozy Coupe or is riding in it, he will say, "Go car, go, go car, go"! He especially loves it when his Daddy or I push him in it and he knows exactly what to do, he picks his feet up and props them up on his dashboard and cruises! I am so glad my little guy is enjoying his new ride, thanks to his Daddy.

"Gilt"y Fun

My friend Lauren introduced me to Gilt Groupe a few weeks ago. When she sent me an invite (per my request), I signed up and got a $20.00 credit. Today I received an email telling me my credit was expiring in 2 days and I have been so busy, I forgot about using it! I immediately got on and started scouring the site for something and then I found it, the perfect item!

It was $18.00 with $7.95 shipping = $25.95 and with my $20 credit, I only paid $5.95! This dump truck is super big too! Though I know my Mom has bought Baylor a Chuck The Talking Truck for his birthday, it will make a nice accessory to the sand activity table Baylor is getting for his birthday. But 1st, it will be used as a 2nd birthday party decoration!

My Dad, My Veteran

My dad joined the Navy when I was almost 3 years old. My dad served 20 years and alot of those years were spent on sea duty. I have to say we were very fortunate that we did not have to move around like most military families. I grew up mainly in Alabama and then spent a few years from the age of 11 to 14 in Jacksonville/Mayport, Fl. The down fall of not moving around so much meant my Dad was gone for pretty long periods of time out to sea, traveling the world. My Dad was a "Gunners Mate" and as I used to tell me friends in grade school, "he shot the big guns on the ship". Here is a picture of my Dad and on the back it says:

Taken April 12th off the coast of Libya 1986. Cleaning out the gun barrel
after firing runs completed.

I would have been 4 years old when this picture was taken, which means my twin brothers were only a year and 1/2 old and my Dad was only about 22 in this photo.

I remember so many times seeing my Dad come in on a plane or dock on a ship, I have also seen him leave many times the same way. When I was little I used to get so excited when he would come home and I would cry when he left and honestly that didn't change as I grew up. Sometimes my Mom would try to suprise us and not tell us when Dad was coming home but she couldn't always fool me, I knew when she was up to something or I knew which direction the airport was when she started to drive that way:) My Dad and I always wrote one another and had a phone conversation when we could. I remember sometimes he would be so far away, we had to have an operator as a third party and say "over" when we completed what we were saying (like talking on a walky talky).

This picture is of my Mom and Dad on September 16, 1992:

My Dad served a tour of duty in Saudi Arabia and even at the age I was, I can remember being scared. I remember hanging yellow ribbons around the trees in my yard and we always had an American flag flying high on our flagpole. He returned safely and when he did, my 4th grade class thought it would be cool to have him for like a show-n-tell. It was so cool for my Dad to come to my class and talk to us, I was the "cool kid" on campus, atleast for that day.
My Dad missed many summers, holidays, field trips and just quality family time. But that's what you do when you serve your country, so it is a safe place for your family and all to live. The one important thing my Dad did not miss was my high school graduation. I had no idea he was in town and I saw him from where I was sitting out on the field. It was the best present ever!

The last few years of my Dad's service were spent on shore duty as head of security on the Navy base in Millington and he was also a traffic judge. My Dad's base was targeted a few times with all that happened with 9/11 and he did a great job of tighten things up and keeping everyone safe around there. My Dad retired as a Chief Petty Officer after 20 years of service in 2004. It was a very proud and happy day for our whole family. This is my Mom and Dad on that day:

I know my Dad has fought battles I can't even imagine and has seen things I will never know or would want to know about, and he did this all for our country and our freedom. I am so proud of all that you have done with your career serving our country Dad. You are the wisest and most courageous man I know. Thanks to all of our Troops and Veterans that serve our country but I would especially like to thank my own personal veteran, my Dad!

I love you Dad!

Love,

Pooh

Birthday Planning Update... 34 days to go!

Okay, this party planning committee (which includes me, myself and I) have been trying to get things done to stay ahead of the game... so far so good! This week I finished Baylor's birthday banner. It was no easy task having to do all the letters for "Happy Birthday Baylor", cutting them out in blue and lime green, gluing them all on and then cutting out 2 other background colors to contrast them. Then to finish it off, I punched holes in the paper and ran some lime green ribbon through and viola!

What's on the list next? The dreaded birthday shirt! As you know, I am having to make everything for the party seeing that I couldn't find anything I liked enough to buy for Baylor's birthday, including his shirt. I searched everywhere and thoroughly on etsy and still couldn't find exactly what I wanted. I did however find some fabric that I just adore.... plus it ties into his invite (stars). So I bought a yard of this Allstar Fabric by Riley Blake on etsy for $10.00 with shipping. I am currently looking for a short sleeve shirt and a long sleeve to go underneath, incase it turns off cold for his party. I plan on making the applique for his shirt which of course will be a "2" and stitching it on there. Then I plan on taking it to my monogram lady to have his name put on it. I'm glad I bought a yard of this fabric, just incase.

Here goes nothing!

Baylor's Sedated Hearing Test 11/09/10

Today, Baylor had a sedated ABR (hearing test) to rule out any hearing loss. This was recommended by his ENT a few weeks ago when we went in for a follow up for his tubes. He had the audiology dept. do a quick hearing test on Baylor while we were there. He passed in his right and failed in his left so we decided to schedule a sedated ABR, just to make sure. Today was the big day.... I had to keep Baylor up until 10 P.M. last night. Yea right, he only made it until 9:35 P.M. but was such a trooper. Then I had to wake up at 4 A.M. this morning so he was very sleep deprived, which was our goal for the medicine they were giving him to work. We loaded up at 6 A.M. and this was what I was dreading:

Once we started moving, he got a little better, thank goodness. Once we got the the hospital and I checked him in, one of the nurses turned on cartoons for him. That lasted all of 2 mins and then he decided it was more fun to pull all of the magazines off the tables and run around like a mad child. He did have a M&M toy he got for Halloween that had a fan on it so he carried that around the whole time and showed it off to anyone that came through the door.

They finally got us back and administered the medicine that would make him sleepy. We watched a little Sesame Street (Bert and Ernie singing a night night song) while I rocked him to sleep. He was out in 10 minutes.

That is until they started to hook up the patches to his ears and forehead. We got about half way through when he woke up, and he was not happy I must add. They had to give him another dose of the medicine and left me to rock him back to sleep. It only took me about me 5 mins to get him to sleep this time. Then the nurses were able to finally hook everything up to perform the test.

The test only took 30 minutes to complete and came back just fine. What a relief... Baylor can hear just fine. Great, that means he just ignores me when I call his name and is just being a little stubborn with his talking! His speech therapist Megan promised me that it was something she would work with him on and he would get caught up, she's just glad to ow know that we are not having to work with a hearing loss. Once we got home, I thought Baylor would still be groggy enough to go back to bed. We tried to rock back to sleep but that didn't work. So we sat on the couch and tried to watch t.v., that didn't work either. The child was determined to get down and play. Today is the day I needed padded floors and walls in my house because it was all I could do to keep him from running into something or falling over. You would of swore someone slipped a little somethin', somethin' into his a.j.! As time went on, he got a little better but I still couldn't get him to go back to sleep. We then decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and go for a walk. We made a couple of loops around the neighborhood, came back, had some oatmeal and he finally went down for a nap at 12:30 P.M., and so did I!

A Little Helping Hand

Baylor stays busy...all.the.time! He loves trying to do the same things mommy and daddy do around the house. He loves the broom and mop but gets it quickly taken away so he doesn't bust the t.v. or a window out (he looks like he's trying to use it as a sword, DANGEROUS!). He has gotten pretty handy when it comes to unloading the dishwasher as well. I don't have to tell him "no, no" about picking up knives or forks because he never does, like he knows he's not supposed to. He strictly grabs his spoons, bowls and cups out for me:

The other day after our weekly shopping trip to Wal-Mart, Baylor noticed I was getting the bags out of the truck. He ran over and threw his arms up like he wanted a hug but when I bent down, he reached for one of the bags. So, I let him have at it:

Starting him early and training him right!

a

Mommy Memo #4

Check MawMaw's home phone bill for long distance calls....

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

I took the time to blog about Shutterfly yesterday because they had a blogging promotion going on for 50 free photo Christmas cards... how can anyone pass that up? If you haven't already noticed, I have changed my blog look. I just really wanted something different, even though it's not what I was really going for when I changed it, but it will have to do for now since I don't have time to mess with it. Have you noticed our great family picture underneath my blog title? Out of 200 shots, this is the only good picture we got of all 3 of us and I plan on using it on our 50 Christmas cards from Shutterfly. Take a look at my blog from yesteraday at the card designs I'm interested in and let me know what you think would look best with this picture because I could really use some help! I wanted to share some of my other favorite photos from our shoot over the weekend.

Oh Christmas Cards, Oh Christmas Cards

I have always been adamant about sending out Christmas cards every year since Scott and I have been together. Before Baylor was born, Scott and I would try to take a picture and include our dog Bama, to mail out with our card. If we didn't get a picture, I would still mail out cards to everyone we knew. I think I sent out, on average, about 60 Christmas cards every December. Since Baylor was born, I have been terrible about doing our cards. When Baylor arrived December 8th of 2008, it was too close to Christmas and I was too tired to get a family portrait completed. I did have Baylor's pictures made with Santa and sent it in a few cards to a select few of our family and friends. Last year in 2009, I was too wrapped up in Baylor's 1st birthday party planning and too tired again to attempt Christmas cards, much less pictures. This year, I have no excuse.... we were due for a family picture anyways, seeing we have not had a nice one made of us since Baylor's birth. I had Scott's Mom take us down to Fowl River in Mobile to take some family shots over Halloween weekend. Though she is not a licensed professional, she does photography on the side, is pretty good and she's free! She did a great job this year and we were lucky to get 1 good shot of all 3 of us out of 200 and something pictures (literally). When I decided we needed a family picture, I also decided I was going to do photo card for Christmas this year. I have also thought about writing a "2010 Wrap Up" letter or maybe just ordering a story card with a photo this year. I found some great photo cards at Shutterfly and have it narrowed down to a few:

1. Retro Wheel Green Christmas Card: the name says it all... it's retro style with Christmas colors included!

2. Christmas Letter Christmas Card: I think this is a great alternative from a long letter, I could just sum our year up in a short paragraph and include pictures!

3. Love 2010: This is another alternative to a letter or the Christmas Letter Christmas Card... short, sweet and to the point!

4. Seasonal Chic Noir: This photo card looks very modern and I love that I can put our initial on it!

5. Good Cheer: I like this one because it is simple but modern looking.

6. Elegant Floral Black Holiday Card: definitely one of my top 3. This card is very pretty and elegant.

6. Elegant Damask Noir: another top pick of mine.

There are just so many I love on this site, I don't know how I will chose! I guess I will have to let my husband put his 2 cents in!

Mommy Memo #3

Mentally and emotionally prepare myself for the "dating years".....

Halloween 2010

Wow, what a wonderful weekend! We traveled to Alabama for Halloween again this year. Saturday night we met up with our good friends the Allenbach's and their daughter Emma. Ryan and Stephanie are Baylor's Godparents and very close friends of ours; Scott and Ryan have known each other since grade school so they go way back. Their daughter Emma is 8 months older than Baylor and they are expecting their next child, a son, in February. We love spending time with them when we go home on the weekends. We took the kids "Trunk or Treating" at a local church in Mobile. This year, Baylor dressed up as "Big Al" and Emma was Strawberry Shortcake. The kids had more fun dancing to the music than getting candy. Here are Baylor and Emma hanging around the sound speaker where they danced half the night...

I have never seen another child run around as crazy as my son does. I wonder if this is a typical two year old or if this is a boy thing? I've never seen another child, much less a girl, just run and run and run! Here is Baylor playing peek-a-boo with his Daddy:

Scott and I took turns chasing Baylor around that evening. I was surprised I was able to scoop him up to take this picture:

Sunday evening we trick or treated in Scott's parents neighborhood in Irvington. They live in a huge neighborhood on a golf course so we were lucky friends came over with a 4wheeler and trailer for the kids to ride on. Baylor was "Big Al" again but Sunday brought some warmer weather so we (actually my husband) decided to make some modifications to Baylor's outfit. So Baylor wouldn't get too hot, Scott cut off the costume from the waste down and just safety pinned it to Baylor's Alabama shirt. He didn't have the elephant arms on his outfit but he was still cute as can be and I hate to admit it but my husbands idea worked!

When it was time to leave, my son new exactly how to get on the 4wheeler without me even showing him and was in total awe the whole time we were riding. I think he really liked the noise the 4wheeler made as we drove through the neighborhood. He just sat back and enjoyed the ride and when when we were done at a house he knew exactly which way to head back to the trailer.