New Years, fried chicken, and fessing up

Well, that's embarrassing. I was just thinking about needing to update my blog, I downloaded a few pics, and BAM! I forgot my blog password. I guess that means I've been gone too long? Whoopsies! Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I will not apologize for not blogging because we've been BUSY living and attempting to appreciate every morsel of these holidays. I do believe we have been successful in this endeavor so far with only one more holiday to go....LOUNGERAMA! We do the New Years Eve thing at my sister's house with close friends. It's what we've done for at least 7 years or so now and it's what we love. I told Homet that I pray to never be one of those people that says, "Well, I was in bed by 10 on New Year's Eve." Something about the New Year, wiping the slate clean, and a fresh start make me giddy. Hom and I have "Goal's Dinner" every year on the first week in January where we go somewhere super fancy and make goals for the next year. We each have to come up with a spiritual, professional, and personal goal and can't tell each other until dinner. We, then, record it in our "Goal's Book" and look back over the previous years and what we have/haven't accomplished. Yes, gasp, sometimes our goal's fall short but that's part of the fun. Anyway, I love everything about a New Year. That being said, the best part about New Years is our annual Lougerama (also held at Lindsay's.) We wake up late, stay in our pjs all day, put blow up mattresses all over her living room, pick up KFC fried chicken with all the sides, and watch football all day. It is heaven. We were talking about the logistics of it last night and I recalled that the last time I ate KFC fried chicken was....Jan 1, 2011. Love it. Anyway, I didn't intend on this being a blog about New Years and fried chicken. I actually was going to blog in reference to a friend who had "Fessed up" about being obsessed with Pinterest. She asked who had tested out some of the ideas on the site so here goes, Ashley...
Here were our fall/Christmas projects (all of these were from Pinterest and I am taking no credit for the creativity of them.)
The first was just a little centerpiece for our island. It was popcorn, split peas, and red beans topped with a orangey red candle and tied with some twine. My twine obsession is a blog post in itself. Anyway, the pic doesn't do it justice. I thought it turned out adorable and since I already had most of the items (I didn't have any split peas and Wade wasn't all too happy when he went to cook red beans and rice and I had used them, but anywho), it was cheap. When fall was winding down and Christmas decor started, I just popped that popcorn, strung it up, and put it around our tree.

Notice, my (reused) popcorn garland

This next one was free. I love all things fall. The football, the weather, the soups, and most of all, FREE ART SUPPLIES! E and I went walking on our neighborhood trail and collected these pine cones and leaves. I then spray adhesived them to a vase I had, tied on a little twine, and filled that sucker up with pine cones. I put this on our dresser in our bedroom. I don't think I got this from Pinterest but I'm sure it's an idea adapted from something I saw on there.


I made these little cuties for our Halloween party. They were a hit. Just a mini Nutter Butter, a bit of melted choc chips, and a Hershey kiss, and Ta-da---you have acorns. Plus, they were yummy too.



At Christmas, I repeated my fall layered decor for the mantle and gave it a Christmas candy land touch. It's hard to see in the pic but I layered Life Saver candies, then Hot Tamales candy, then red/green/white gum drops on the bottom. The jar to the left is just candy canes. The vase to the right was layered red hots, peppermints, and Hershey kisses. The garland was from our tree and there you have a mantle piece for less than $10. Not the fanciest mantle around but it was ours and we loved it (or at least I did. I think it was torture for E as he kept pointing up at the mantle and saying, "Mommy, I like to eat those.") And, yes, my TV is above our fireplace. I know it's tacky. Don't even get me started. That fell into that category with my beloved husband, "Makes him so happy/Not really worth fighting over."

Seaside Wine Festival

A few weekends ago, we traveled on down to Seaside to celebrate their annual Red Wine Festival. Months ago, Homet and I were looking for some way to, without child in tow, celebrate our 6th anniversary. As we asked around, a plan was hatched. It was also two of my favorite people's 40th birthday party (I can tell their age now because 40 is the new 30.) About 18-20 of us came from all parts of the country to join in the festivities. We had one house in Seaside for "the couples" and one house in Seagrove for "the girls." GOOD TIMES were had, I assure you. Anyway, if you're a wine drinker at all, I encourage you to try this out. I'm not much of a red wine drinker but they had options for all palates. If you've ever trekked to Florida with an almost 2 year old then repeated the trip without said angel a month later, you will realize that a 6 hour car ride really ain't that bad (the second time around.) We were well rested, bellies firm from laughter, and felt totally full (metaphorically and physically) by the time the long weekend was up.
When we left for our vacay, we left behind a one year old, barely grasping to the innocent one-ness. As I kissed him good-bye all I could think was, "When I return, you will be two." We returned on the day of his second birthday to an energy-filled two year old and were grateful for our weekend of rest and relaxation.
My littler big sis and I

Just a few of my fave PICU girls!

My sweetie and I celebrating 6 wonderful years. Hard to believe he's put up with me for over TEN! Sucka!

Love this guy. Too bad he lives in Cali/Texas:(

Wild Man

We took our Christmas pics a couple weeks ago and, to say the least, it was an adventure. I got so bad about taking pics after E turned one. I just didn't feel like stressing (and paying a small fortune). We have a nice camera and I usually have it perched in our living room shelves for easy access to capture priceless moments. Well, as he approached two, I started feeling all guilty that we hadn't had any professional pics in a year. Let. Me. Tell. You. It is way different taking professional pics with a two year old than it was just a short year prior. That child has his own agenda. If she said stand, he laid. If she said run, he walked. I have no idea where he got that stubborness from (wink wink.) Anyway, she took about 50-75 pics and I walked away with VERY low expectations. I was surprised a few days later with about 20 absolute gems. Here are a few of the wild child himself.

Media Days

I have been making a point to read more lately. It makes me happy, makes me feel more informed, and chills me out (typically before bed.) Lately, I have read some great books. Of course, I read The Help a few months ago which was unbelievable. My goal was to finish it prior to the movie coming out because I can't stand to see a movie THEN read the book. So, finish it I do and then.... I never got a chance to see the movie. I'm now waiting until it comes out on DVD/Infiniti. I know, I know, it was a breathtaking movie. You don't have to tell me.
After I finished The Help I was given a recommendation to read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I went into this read very skeptical. I am more of a chick lit sort of reader. I think a lot at work and don't want to think at home. While Homet reads something like The Life and Times of Genghis Khan, I'm snuggled up with Shopahaulic Takes Manhattan (and loving it. Don't judge.) Anyway, Unbroken is a story about a POW in World War II. I know right? I sound smart now. Told you not to judge. This book was so well written and the story so captivating, I couldn't put it down. After Unbroken was complete, I set my Nook down and allowed Homet to borrow it so he could read the book I had been gushing about for the last week. Well, after longingly staring at my Nook gathering dust on his bedside table, I swiped it back and bought another book. I gave him a solid 5 days and after that, I say "Too bad, so sad." (Poor fella was actually too busy reading up on some financial church literature that he has to teach on in a couple weeks. SUCKA!)
So then I just went into B & N Top 100 feeling all inspired by a "real" book. I kept seeing The Hunger Games pop up. Though it was, again, totally not my style, I bought it anyway. Y'all I REALLY couldn't stop reading. Homet found me reading while....putting on make-up, folding clothes, drying my hair, and even DURING BREAKS IN THE SAINTS GAME (I found myself wishing Payton would take a time-out at non strategic times.) It was quite out of control and I had to stop myself when I got flour all over my Nook while reading and rolling out dough for a pizza. Needless to say, it is a really strange plot but so well written.
Since my post is "Media Days" I feel it necessary to insert at least one other form of media besides books. Last night I got this great idea that, in "celebration" of Halloween, we put E to bed, pop some popcorn, and watch a scary movie. All that we could find was Halloween H2O which is apparently some sequel to the 5 previous Halloweens (is it called a sequel if there's 6?) Anyway, both of us couldn't even remember if we'd seen the first Halloween but we were both certain we hadn't seen 2-5 and feared we might be a bit behind with the info leading up to H2O. We opted for the only other option, The Happening. I'm not a big scary movie watcher. Hell, I'm not really a big movie watcher at all. I despise sitting still and not talking that long. Drives Homet crazy. Anyway, maybe I'm rusty on my movie critiquing but that was one of the worst movies ever. I was confused throughout and not in a really-pay-attention-you'll-figure-it-out-by-the-end-DaVinci-Code sort of confused. It left me scratching my head as the credits rolled. They tried to insert an occasional kiss and couples' dispute but it wasn't even a good love story. One plus was it had Mark Wahlberg and he's just as cute as he ever was (though this might be his first movie where he never lost his shirt:(()

--Please forgive my lack of underlining and quotes as appropriate. For one, I can't remember what's supposed to be in what. For two, I'm too lazy to look it up. Threesies, my almost two year old just woke up and I don't have time.

Yep, we're alive.

Well, hello there, blogging world! It's been a while. I have no excuses other than we've been busy. This blog post will be heavy on the pics since they pretty much sum up our recent life. Happy Halloween from our little boxer...


No, the shiner's not real.

Our little sports lover is gearing up for his second birthday in a couple of weeks. Here's a pic from his birthday photo shoot.


And here's his "Mom are we done yet?" face. He has mastered this quite well in his 23 1/2 months.

And a shout out to our pal, Lala, for E's birthday invites. Love them. Check her out at http://www.pickled-paper.com/. Not only is she fabulous, but she's super quick too.

Mouth of the South

Since our boy got his ear tubes in May, his language skills exploded. He now repeats EVERYthing. It might be the scariest, cutest, funniest, most intriguing trick as of yet. Here are a few gems you might catch if you get to spend a few minutes with our busy body.

Me: Ev, what's today?
E: Game. Day. (He says all compound words as two separate entities like he has to catch his breath between. Pine. Apple. is one of our faves. No Reunion jokes needed here.....)
Me: What do we say on game day?
E: Go Tigews (Tigers.)

You see, I'm a nurse and all about using the correct words for your body parts but when penis started coming out sounding like pieces, I must admit I did like that better. In fact, it came in pretty handy in the store the other day when I was holding him on my hip and he looked at me, scowled, and yelled, "MOMMY, MY PIECES."Sorry, Bud, I'll readjust so I don't squish your "pieces."

Mommy, moowwnn. (Come on)

He also LOVES to pray but mainly for Paw Paw and Gen Gen (my Dad and StepMom.) We haven't figured out yet why they need more prayers than the rest of us but you better believe they get prayed for multiple times a day. We pray before each meal then, as my hubs says, "We have to pray our way through dinner" as E will often stop us, try to hold our hands, and say, "Mommy, Daddy. Pay." and bow his head.

My Beach Baby

We go on a family vacay every year at the end of the summer. We stay around the Seaside area so as to avoid the big crowds. This year has been the funnest so far as Shoog thoroughly enjoyed every minute at the beach. He could have spent the entire time covered (literally covered. Like HEAD TO TOE) in sand and been perfectly content. Here's a progressive tour of our last three years. How time flies...
2009--The pregnant year. I think I was 26 weeks. This was the year that while my family enjoyed a nice glass of vino, I sipped on one of my hub's custom mocktails. There was alot of mocktail drinking this year.

2010--The year with a baby. This was a cool year. Shoog was 10 months old and FINALLY got a tooth (actually two, on the bottom) while we were on vacation. We were starting to think he was going to be toothless the rest of his life. We were thinking about the bright (cheap) side though...after the dentures, no real dentist visits. No dental insurance, no braces! Unless he got gingivitis...or we had to replace the dentures...I bet dentures are expensive...anyhow, he got teeth this year!




2011--The year of the busy toddler. His favorite game ended up being, "Whoa whoa whoa!" As in: Ev's heading straight for the water, who's going to stop him? Then, one of our crew would jump up and cut him off screaming, "Whoa whoa whoa!" He though it was hysterical. Actually, I was driving around today and heard him talking nonstop in the back saying, "Beach, whoa whoa whoa! Birds. Fly away!" Yeah, it was a hit.

Lazy Summer

There is gloriously absolutely nothing going on in our lives right now. We just returned from a family vacay to Florida. We were pleasantly surprised that Ev LOVED the sand and water. He would play with his cousins for HOURS. It was a nice change from last year where he just sat in his baby pool and stared at us as if to say, "What am I supposed to do now?"
I have been off of work for somewhere north of 10 days. I lost count. I go back Wednesday and am probably going to spend the first few hours just trying to remember what to do.
We are almost finished filling up our house. This has been a painfully long process as we moved in sometime in January. However, Homet and I are super picky (and cheap) so it's taken a while to find/purchase the extra furniture we need to fill up this extra space. I'm just grateful to have extra space.
Ev starts MMO next week and I am super fired up. I'm ready to grocery shop in peace and possibly get a pedicure (gasp!)
Last but certainly not least: FOOTBALL STARTS THIS WEEK and while I couldn't give a flying taco about Mississippi State's season, I sure will be glad to see some college football in action! It will be a holiday around our house and we grocery shopped today, planning our meals around what we were going to cook each game night. "Let's see, Thursday's just MS State so maybe burritos and Rotel." "Saturday is LSU so we'll channel our inner fall weather behavior and try beef stew." Speaking of MSU, why do they spell dogs, dawgs? It's not shorter and it just looks silly. Misspellings are the last thing Mississippi needs to bring down our academic image. Drives me crazy. What's so wrong with "Go dogs"?

Too much sugar

I think I've mentioned that I love birthdays. Perhaps it's because of all the sweet things that are guilt-free for a birthday. After all, it'd be rude not to sample the cake and ice cream with the birthday recipient. I'm pretty sure I learned that in an etiquette class once (or perhaps made it up...) Well, my favorite man had a birthday this weekend and that has meant one thing for this house. SWEETS. We have had three birthday cakes (thank goodness we left two at the host's house but we still wound up with one.) Then, he requested that I make brownies and who am I to turn down the birthday boy? Thus, brownies were made...and ice cream bought. In his humble opinion, you can't have brownies without ice cream...and chocolate syrup...and Whip Cream. Who am I to argue? I also made cookies for a friend that needed a happy and was left with about a dozen. If anyone has a sweet tooth, come on over. Our grand birthday total is=one birthday cake, one dozen choc chip cookies, a dish of brownies, and ice cream.

Dear Diabetes and extra 10 pounds, It's been a fun road, was a wonderful birthday, but I'm not so sure it was worth it.

Glass Half Full

Maybe it's the eternal optimist in me but this drives me crazy...

Isolated T-Storms High
92°F
Precip
30%

I mean why does it have this ominous looking storm cloud and lightening for a 30% chance of rain? If I'm doing my math correctly, there's a 70% chance that it will be sunny with a few clouds, no? I think they should bring that little sunshine out from behind that dark cloud a bit and let it peek it's head around more.....perhaps like 70% of the sun should show. Just thought I'd release this pent up pet peeve since Homet is tired of hearing it every night while watching the news. Thank you and have a great weekend. After all, I'm banking on 70% chance of sunshine in my neck o' the woods!

Parenting 101

I should have been terrified for the first few weeks of E's life. However, I was in too much of a sleep deprived stupor to gather a rational thought. As the weeks turned into months and the nighttime "naps" got longer, I started to realize I was totally in charge of raising a person. Raising one, I discovered, is not all bedtime stories and boo boo kisses. I actually had to feed, change, and basically keep this person alive forever. I was gripped in fear for a little while and constantly panicked that I'd do something wrong. I would run through infant CPR in my head while he nursed, slept, burped, etc. The months turned into a year and he was still alive and, dare I say, thriving! Then....toddlerhood started. That is in a league all it's own. He's 20 months and I feel like in the last few months he's a different person. The vocabulary has exploded, the personality has come to life, he has his own opinion, and oh that temper. I find myself in situations at times where I have NO clue what to do. I've even started thinking, "Is he smarter than me?" That being said, maybe some of my Mom readers out there could bail me out of the following conundrums (it's spelled right. I googled.)

1. This potty training business isn't quite as hard as I expected. However, what the heck do I do if we are running errands, going to the park, etc. He's about 90% trained wearing big boy undies while we're at home but I've only braved leaving the house a few times. He's done fairly well but he has to pee about every 30 minutes. I know I should be consistent with either a diaper or undies as I don't mean to confuse him. However, if we're in the car longer than 30 minutes, he starts, "Mommy, peepeepeepeepee." Should I pull over and let him go on the side of the road? Do I stop at the next available gas station? Or should I just say diapers for errands, undies at home?



2. He loves to kiss my feet. Yeah, you read that right. At first, I thought it was funny. He's 100% Momma's Boy and kisses me whenever the chance arises. However, I keep telling him feet are yucky and not to be kissed. It never fails though, I'm getting ready in the morning, drying my hair, minding my own business, he's busy watching Cookie Monster and then, BAM...he's at my feet smooching away. Weird, huh? So anyone thinks my boy has a foot fetish or is this normal? I CANNOT imagine this is normal.
What, you thought I was making this up?

3. The hair. Oh man, that hair. I have just about surrendered to it. I have thrown in the white flag to this hair. If I comb it, it is a straight up afro. No joke. It gets so big. I end up having to wet it again and let it dry on it's own. I've tried to blow dry it while brushing it down. I think he might be too squirmy for the straightener (I kid, I joke.) I feel like I've tried everything and we end up just going into town/church/MMO looking like the toddler who's Mom forgot to fix his morning hair. Perhaps I should make him a shirt. I can see it now, "This IS brushed." On a side note in regards to this pic, where do kids learn to pull an Oreo apart and eat the white stuff first? The first time I saw this I was shocked. I certainly didn't teach him (I like mine all put together and thrown in some milk.) Homet swears he didn't teach him.

That's all my questions for today. I feel sure next week will be filled with more parenting uncertainties.

My Nook Book

I realized recently that I have hardly read a book in 20 months. Me, who used to read no short of a book a week prior to Ev, has barely picked one up. I have had the Drew Brees book beside my bed for 6 months and have only made it halfway through. I CANNOT get into it. I assumed it would be as good as Sean Payton's but I was sadly mistaken. However, my reading life changed on Sunday night. You see, I had to work and our boy was sick. Some fever virus that caused his temp to spike to 104.2. Yeah, scary even for a pediatric nurse Mom. Trust me, I was more "freaking out Mom" than "pediatric nurse Mom"! Anyway, after sitting with Ev all day while I worked, Hom talked my Mom into coming to see Shoog so that he could "run a few errands." After work, he met me with a "just because happy." Those don't happen too often after 5+ years of marriage so I was delighted. I opened my happy to find a Nook Color. Let me tell you. I am obsessed with that thing. In the three days since I've had it, I've already read two adult books and countless children's books. Ev is obsessed too. It has apps on it with buttons that make sounds. If you know my boy (or probably any boy, for that matter) you know that he is crazy about anything with buttons. That being said, Ev is napping so I am going to sit on the couch and finish another book. It's a hard life I lead, I tell ya.

My Work

I know I talk about my job on here quite often. If you're not interested, I apologize (or you can just stop following my blog. Trust me, I'm not very interesting anyway. You won't miss a thing.) It is such a huge part of my life, professionally and socially. My co-workers are my friends, my family (strangely enough, my real sister actually does work alongside me--in addition to all my co-worker sisters and brothers. If she and I are working and there is a nurse between us, it's technically called a Clairain-wich. We're working on the patent.), and a big part of my support. Anyway, a colleague posted this on her Facebook page and reminded me how lucky I am. I knew it had been filmed a few months ago but never knew where it ended up. I never realize why I can go through tragedy, triumph, and everything in between everyday at work and shed a tear only occasionally. However, if I watch stuff like this, listen to the telethons, or see the kiddos after they've gotten better, I'm a weepy mess (like most rational humans would be.) Without further ado, I introduce you to my beloved place of employment...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx2EQrdf4fo

Growing Up

My boy is starting to look more and more like his Daddy everyday.

Turns out, I'm crazy about both of my Watts' Boys.

"Oww Sigh"

That is what Ev says 85% of his waking hours. What is it with kids being obsessed with being outside? He has far more toys inside than outside. It's certainly cooler inside. While I always knew I LOVED the summer and triple digit days, I actually realize I more prefer to just lay out with a cold drink in hand on triple digit days, not chase a toddler. There are more biting bugs outside (errr...usually.) I guess, while he naps, I'll just chug some ice cold water to prehydrate and rest up. When he wakes, his first word will be either "Oww sigh" or "Paw Paw" (he's a bit obsessed with my Dad these days too.)

Fathers

One of the many times my Dad made me smile...

My Homet with our boy, Day #1


To the commoner, it may seem as if I am quite late to be giving "shouts out" to the Fathers in my life. However, to my medical family out there (read: that have to work many holidays), you know that events such as these can be celebrated for weeks after the fact. As a nurse, "Christmas" didn't fall on Christmas Day for my first five years. Easter, Father's Day, Thanksgiving can be celebrated whenever, as long as you have your family surrounding you and you remember what you're celebrating. If you call me sacrilege, go take your complaints to the moms whose babies I'm saving while you're carving your turkey. Trust me, they're a tough bunch. You won't get very far.
That being said, we had Father's Week last week for my beloved Homet and last night we had Father's Day in order to celebrate my Pops. I could go on and on about how fabulous they are but it seems silly to do that for you, my readers. If you know me well, you probably already know that I think those two men hung the moon in the sky for me. I am thankful for them every single minute of every day. They are two fabulous fellas that have made me who I am today.
I came across this article that begs to be shared. I am aware there are men like this that exists. This article just makes me appreciate what I do have. Wonderfully written...

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/16/pearlman.fathers.day/index.html

A Shocking Revelation

I never thought I would say this but as it turns out...I'm a sucker for a boy in tighty whities (or navies). Don't tell his father.

Here's that adorable little bum walking the pet dog that we allowed him to have. (Because we're such giving parents and he is such a responsible pet owner.)

Chattin' Granna up

Showing me how big he's gotten.

I know he looks big but, no fear, he promised me he'd stop growing right about now.

A new business venture???

I am a nurse and have no intention of being anything else. I LOVE my job and cannot imagine there is anything more fulfilling than taking a scary, sometimes horrible situation and making it tolerable to a parent. I work in the Pediatric ICU. Most of us CANNOT imagine what it would be like to have their child critically ill. I hope to have never experience it. However, my passions are taking care of Mississippi's kiddos to the best of my knowledge and taking care of Mississippi's kiddo's parents to the best of my heart. That being said....
I may have mentioned a time or two (or even three or a final four) that I also LOVE a good craft project. My mom has a fabulous sewing machine with a few awesome attachments. Namely, an applique and monogram program. We have had a ball using them and have created some adorable stuff. I thought some of the stuff I received when I was pregnant for Everett were the cutest things ever. We started thinking that we could probably do some of those things. Thus, we set out to try. Never hurt to try right? We ended up creating these for Ev's classmates at MMO for an end of the year happy.


We, then proceeded to attempt bloomers. Everyone loves a good bloomer, right?


And some burp cloths. Goodness knows, I used to heck out of a burp cloth with Shoogs.
Girly

Boy

Houndstooth for that Bama fan out there. I love houndstooth. We plan on monogramming "I drool crimson and white on this one."


Then, my neighborhood had a "Market in May" where local vendors made and sold their crafts. We (well, mostly me convincing Mom) decided that we could really do this. Our big problem is that A.)We suck at all things business related and B) We suck at all things media/logo design related. I was hoping to get help from one of my friends and whip up a quick logo on Photoshop but her computer is on the blink. Argh.
We do have a name already...Naptime Designs. Why you ask? Well, because that is the only time I'm able to sew and applique. During Shoog's naps. So, my honest friends, any ideas? What things do you buy friends having babies? I love all things baby related. We have even made a few outfits but they take a long time to make and we'd probably never get our money's worth.

Baby Angler

We have an annual crawfish out at my Dad's land in Ebenezer (read: the COOOWN-TRY). Dad has a catfish stocked pond in front of his house so Ev and I decided to wet a line. He was reel (get it...reel. harhar) interested in throwing the line out there and reeling it back in. However, when he realized there was an actual squirmy fish on the end of it, he clung to me like an alligator was coming after him. It made it easy for me though with him clinging to me like that. I didn't even have to hold him. Look ma, no hands. Tadaaa!

This is about as close to touching a fish as I'll get. I was pretty proud of myself. You know, I had to appear brave so my boy will take them off the line for me one day.

Hom came in to rescue us and get hook out of said fish's gum. Otherwise, the fishing day was over. I decided that if I caught a fish when no man was around to take it off, I would just leave it on the line, prop the pole near the water, and let the guy get himself off. Survival of the fittest. I think he'd have figured it out eventually.
Side note: When the men folk were talking about how to get rid of a coon this was the convo between my father in law and Dad:
FIL: Make sure you check your trap everyday.
Dad: Yeah, that's what I heard.
Me: (brow furrowed) Why would you have to check it everyday? I mean, what if you go on vacation?
FIL and Dad (in unison): Coons will eventually chew off their leg to get out of the trap.
Me: Fab.
Survival of the fittest, I tell you.



He was much happier when the fish was out of sight. Boy better get used to it! Wait until he's expected to skin a deer. He won't make it very long in Talullah if we don't whip him into shape. I probably could have helped out his cause if I'd have put him in a manly T-shirt instead of crawfish smocking. Made him feel the part, ya know?

18 months and Tubes

Well, after battling our 6-7th ear infection (who's counting at that point) in the span of 12 months, we are finally on tap for PE Tubes in the morning. I am more scared of the anesthesia than the procedure itself. I know it's routine, but the only "routine" surgery to me is one that's not on MY kid. Honestly, the whole situation makes me want to barf but I know we have to do it. If for nothing else, to get him some relief. He goes about 2 1/2- 3 weeks then he stops sleeping, gets fussy, refuses food, and then spikes a fever. This has been every 2 1/2-3 weeks since he was 6 months old. Not to mention, we had become somewhat concerned about his hearing. He talks CONSTANTLY (yeah, he looks just like me and got Momma's mouth too) but he didn't have too many appropriate words. he finally went about one month straight without an infection right before Easter and, all of the sudden, his vocabulary exploded. Then, another infection. Argh. Poor guy. Luckily, we have an UNBELIEVABLE pediatrician. I really don't know how Hom and I would've maintained our sanity without him. He is such a calming voice when we're at our wit's end. He makes it all better (for E as well as us) and now that he can't, Dr. Reed will! Thus, the Watts' family will be waking sometime around the 4:00 hour of the morn and heading up to the Children's Hospital. Please pray for our boy in the morning, if you think about it.
On a healthy note, he is 50% weight and 95% height. His head circumference is "off the charts" (apparently got my big ole melon too.) Looks like he's gonna be tall like his Uncle Jay and Paw Paw.

Two inches to trouble

There's not too much more growing to do for our boy before we will have to totally rearrange our house.

Easter Thanks

These pics are slightly mortifying so please excuse me while I get sentimental. This was me and Mom just two Easters ago. I was 8 weeks preggers, still not believing that Wade and I would have another person in our house in a few months. Easter Sunday 2009 was spent in Houston, TX with Mom, Bert, Lindsay, Wade, me, and my in-laws. We spent it with Wade's best friend from college, Anthony, his wife Katie, and their adorable son, Andrew. You see we had just started treatment for Mom's cancer. She was so incredibly weak and pale, a shell of my Mom just a month prior. Some days it was hard to look at her without crying. However, if we did that, she would quickly question what the problem was. She didn't want to end up "gray like the other MD Anderson patients." No one told her then, but she did turn quite a morose gray color.

Easter Sunday, Mom and I woke up early so that we could catch the service at the hospital prior to her chemo for that day. Cancer doesn't take Sundays off. I loaded her in her wheelchair and wheeled her down to this strange chapel, surrounded by people I'd never seen. Almost everyone in attendance was accompanied by an IV pole, some beeping straight through the service. Most churches give a glance to "that" Mom that just had to bring her fussy baby to church. At MD Anderson, you could dance on the pew and scream out and everyone there will just turn a blind eye and resume with their prayers of thanksgiving for living one more day.

We sat on the outside seat of the first row in a circular chapel so that I could pull Mom right up to the pew next to me and, if she got sick, we could get out quickly. I could tell that Mom wasn't feeling good but when I questioned if she wanted to go back to the hotel and lay down, she stated quietly and slowly, "I'd rather feel crappy in a chapel on Easter Sunday than good in a hotel. I'll stay right here." Seeing as she's as stubborn as me, we hunkered down for this (hopefully quick) worship service. It didn't take long before Mom started dozing off. Chemo does that. It just sucks the energy right from your bones. I pulled her over to me and let her sleep from the first hymn until the final prayer right there on my shoulder. I sobbed the. entire. service. What had our life become? Whey did THIS have to be my last Easter with my Mom? Why did she have to hurt so much? I would never liken Jesus' suffering to Mom's, but I sure was questioning why anyone so good would have to suffer so much? In addition to the ignoring of beeps at church, the congregation also turned a blind eye to those weeping in the pews, unable to stop the tears (and snot. ewwww.) A sweet lady just quietly walked over and handed me a box of tissues. The church service concluded and I woke Mom. We headed upstairs to fight the damn cancer again. I must say that I was having quite a pity party. I watched as the poison dripped into her veins. I was bitter at those that I knew were eating lunch with their families. I tried to be grateful but I just couldn't find the energy.

This year, this is us. She wears the hat, not because she's covering a bald head, but instead because it looked fab with her outfit. I cannot believe where we are today. I cannot believe our blessings. So many people are not as fortunate. I let myself go back to that day when I woke Easter Sunday. I shed ONE tear, then I got up, took my baby to his Easter basket, and texted Mom that we'd see her at early church. I, then, finished preparing the lunch that I was going to be eating with my family.

Thank you, God. For my Mom's health and for your suffering for me.

Easter

Well, Easter has come and gone. This was the first big holiday we got to spend in our new house and what a fun one it was! We had lots of church, family, food, and laughs. Also, I gave up all candy and sweets for Lent so LET.ME.TELL.YOU, there was some chocolate eaten in our house yesterday.
Since I am short on time (Shoog is napping and didn't have MMO today), here's a summary of our Easter in pics...

Shoog had his first Easter eggs hunt(s)


A couple of these


A little of this


And thousands of these (my boy has finally mastered the "pucker"!!!)


Also, I can't leave you without our Easter card craft. Last year was a bit easier since Shoogs was younger (read: more cooperative). However, I am a sucker for a snail mail card. I swear if I knew anything about technology and ever wanted to quit nursing, I'd go into graphic design. Here is a sampling of our Easter card from last year...

With a little of this enclosed to up the cute factor.

Well, this year, his feet/ears were too big and his thumb isn't big enough for those adorable chicks. Thus, we improvised. I painted his index and pinky fingers with paint and we started stamping. Notice the bunnies are on a separate sheet of paper. That's because it took about two hundred tries with a wiggly toddler and I didn't want to waste my cards.

Cute factor upped with this...

I haven't downloaded the pics from yesterday so I'll try to do that on the next nap!