Relaxing with MawMaw

We traveled back to Alabama this weekend to check on my grandmother who is receiving rehab in a nursing home after a recent fall. Plus, my Mom will be there a few more weeks to take care of her so we went to give her a break too. Baylor loves his "MawMaw" very much and enjoyed relaxing in the bed with her.....

These two love each other so much it makes my heart melt.

MawMaw

This is my grandmother (with a very pregnant me)......

She is 94 years old. Is a mother to 4 children. A retired nurse. Vibrant. Made it through the depression. A mother to me. The smartest person I know. A penny pincher. A grandmother. Has routines. Tells it like it is. The person I look up to the most. Helped raise my brothers and I. A fighter. Independent. Has been married twice. Determined. Inspires me. A believer. A widower. Strong-willed. Wise. A soap opera fan. Softer in her old age. An advisor. A great listener. Loves my son like her own. Loves me like her own. A great-grandmother.

I am who I am today, thanks to my grandmother. She has been there for me since the day I came into this world. I plan on being there for her, as she has for me. She is an important part of our family and I cannot imagine my life without her. We love our "MawMaw" more than words can say.

Alisha, Scott and Baylor

Louisiana Children's Discovery Center

I usually try to get Baylor out once a day on my days off. We usually either find ourselves at the park or Chick-fil-a. I new a few weeks ago it was time for something new. Baylor's babysitter Erin had went on a field trip with her son to the Louisiana Children's Discovery Center and thought it would be something Baylor would enjoy. I researched it online and new right away it would be something he would just love. Scott wanted to go so we planned our trip for a Saturday morning. We got up early, packed us some lunches and snacks and made the 30 minute drive to Hammond. When we walked in, we didn't even know where to start! These are a few things Baylor got to do at the Discovery Center.........

Play the largest game of Operation ever!

Be a farmer....

Cashier in a grocery store.....

Be a doctor....

and treat patients.....

Build some houses.....

Dance....

Be a deckhand on a ship....

Climbed through tunnels....

Be a vet and take care of sick animals....

Hang out with his friend Ashton and tumble....

and hang out in big trees with Mom and Dad....

There was so much more that I didn't get pictures of: bubble machines, an art center, a simulated hot air balloon and a few more small things. We had such a great time here. And it was only $5 a person to get in and stay however long you wanted; you can't beat that! I know I will be taking Baylor back again very soon!

Baylor's Speech Therapy

Baylor's speech therapist, Megan, comes every Friday to our home to provide services through Early Steps to help Baylor catch up with his speech. Since she has started coming 5 months ago, I have seen a slow, but progressive change in Baylor. She has been working on teaching him sign language for eat, more and please. The only thing it seems he will do is more: when he's hungry, when he wants something I have or wants to play outside. Even though I work with teaching him eat and please, he still only wants to sign more, but we are happy with that, seeing that he's still communicating to us in some form when he wants something.

Megan reads to Baylor, teaches him about different animals, colors and shapes, plays games with him and works with his eating problem. (Which has drastically improved and is almost not an issue anymore). He follows directions very well now, knows where his belly button and nose are, can turn off/on the t.v. when asked and so much more that he wasn't even attempting 5 months ago. Baylor is also now reading books on his own for more than 3 or 4 minutes at a time, where as before, I couldn't get him to even turn one page without throwing it and moving on to something else.

A few weeks ago, Megan suggested that Baylor have an additional day of therapy, this time with a special instructor. He had seemed to progress well the first few months but seemed to plateaued the last few. The special instructor would just reiterate what Megan was working on with Baylor, plus help him with his cognitive learning skills. Megan took the time to check into someone and get Baylor approved for another day. Mrs. Amy, Baylor's new therapist, comes on Mondays and she is wonderful! Within her 1st two visits, Amy had Baylor pointing to items/animals in a book when she asked, had him saying "eye" and attempting to say horse with "ha". I am so grateful to have both of these ladies helping Baylor progress as well as he has. We will continue on with therapy until right before he turns 3 in December and if he still needs it, it will still be provided but through the school system. Early Steps can still provide therapy, no matter where Baylor is (daycare, preschool, Mom's Day out, etc). I am excited to see how Baylor will progress now having Megan and Amy coming every week!

Smile.....

Smile.....

It's contagious!

Banana Crumb Muffins

I love cooking breakfast for my boys but I know they get tired of the same old bacon and eggs or pancakes and eggs. I got this great recipe for Banana Crumb Muffins from my friend Rachael 's blog, and boy am I glad she created that post. I followed her receipe one Sunday morning and this is what I got....

These were such a hit in our house.... 12 muffins were gone in a day and a 1/2. I have tried making these muffins with blueberries but they were nothing compared to the Banana crumb. I must have done something wrong with the blueberry batch because they actually tasted horrible. So for now we are just sticking with the yummy Banana Crumb receipe. Thanks Rachael!

Brady Used Cars

SUV's, Trucks, Bikes & Trikes.... Come on down and check out our selection. One of our courteous salesman will be more than happy to take you on a test drive!

No Words Needed.....

Cast/Foot Update

Today we went to see Dr. Frierson, a pediatric orthopedic in Baton Rouge for Baylor's followup. The first thing they had to do was cut of his cast with this loud saw. Suprisingly, Baylor did very well and only let out one or two whimpers but no bouts of hysterical crying, thank goodness.

We got to keep his cast as a souvenir!

After we got the cast off, we went for more xrays. Dr. Frierson came in to assess Baylor's leg and talk to us about the xrays but there were still no signs of a fracture in Baylor's ankle or foot. He asked if Baylor had been sick the week or two before and I told him yes, a nasty sinus infection that went away on it's own, just like all the other ones he gets every few months. He told me that it is very common this time of the year for kids to get sick and the fluid/infection ends up settling in their joints or synovial cavities. He was 100% sure Baylor had "synovitis" in his ankle/foot from his recent sinus infection. Synovitis is just inflamation of the synovial membrane that lines the joint. (This is also what Scott suggested to the other Dr. in Mobile that just blew us off!) He told me to keep him on Motrin for a couple of days so his leg wouldn't get stiff and he would be good to go. And that he was..... go, go, go. He got that cast off and kept going. He was a happy camper!

Of course I didn't even think to bring his other shoe. The whole week I only had to worry about one. Thank goodness we didn't have any errands to run afterwards.

Christmas 2010

This Christmas we traveled home for the entire week to Alabama. We spent 1/2 of our time with Scott's family and the other 1/2 with my grandmother and Dad's side of the family. I've been wanting to take Baylor to Bellingrath to see the Christmas lights since he was born. The first year he was too small, being only 3 weeks old. Last year it was way too cold and this year between the cast and the traveling back and forth, we did not make it. We did get to take him to see the "Field of Lights" by Scott's parents house in Irvington. Down the street there are some houses that sit about 1 mile or more off the road. Every year (since Scott can remember), they decorate the entire field leading up the the road with Christmas decorations and lights. You can drive down the lane to see all of the lights and there is a turn around at the end. We let Baylor sit in our lap up front so he could see (and we were only driving 2 miles an hour, I do not condone this at any other time). Oh yea, and he got to drive his Daddy's truck:

I cannot tell you how much I love beenies on my child... i think he is stinkin' precious in those things!

Santa visited Baylor and his Mimi & Honey's house since we were there this year. Santa left his first letter for Baylor this year:

It pretty much said he was a good boy but asked him to be careful jumping on the beds and running around so much. It also referenced his Christmas cast :)

Christmas morning was exciting. When Baylor woke up, we tried to get him to lay back down with us in the bed so we could wait for Madison to get up and they could open presents together. Didn't happen.... Baylor climbed out of the bed, opened the bedroom door and bolted out. It took all I had to run, get my camera (which I did have ready) to catch him in front of the tree. I couldn't stop him once he saw everything and needless to say his Daddy was not happy we didn't wait for him as you can see at the end of this video.
We put the tricycle he pulled out back and went to wake up Madison and everyone else and then we redid the whole moment with everyone. Baylor got way too much stuff! A boy's dream: tractor's, cars, trucks, a tricycle, movies, coloring books, reading books and much more!

His absolute favorite gift was the tricycle which was from his Nana & Pop (my parent's) delivered via Santa. Baylor did not let his cast keep him from riding his new toy. He is so short he can't reach the pedals yet so he pushes himself around with his feet or prop his feet up so we can push him.

I wanted to stay in my p.j.'s all morning with my little guy but I wanted to go to Christmas mass with my hubby. Since we didn't make midnight mass the night before, we went for 11 A.M. right down the street. It was nice to go to church with Scott alone and be able to pay attention to the mass. After that we went back home and spent the day playing with new toys, playing outside and riding new tricycles. What a blessed family we are and what a wonderful Christmas we had with family and friends.