Latest Ramblings

Life has been so busy lately. Halloween was so fun, and P totally got trick-or-treating. Hopefully, I'll upload those pics soon. Brian traveled with my brothers and friends for my brother's bachelor party in New Orleans, and I traveled to Charlotte, NC for work. We are wrapping up a big exterior project on the house, and slowly preparing for the upcoming holidays.

P is officially at my favorite age. The talking is incredible. The words are just flowing and I can't keep up with all the new phrases, sentences and sayings. The boy loves to sing. His personality is like mine in so many ways, and as he grows, I am seeing it more and more.

A few cute things lately....

The other night, our power randomly went out. When we started lighting candles, P starting singing happy birthday. So funny!

While Brian was in New Orleans, P and I had a sleep over with my mom (my dad was with Brian and my  brothers). We had such a fun girls night together, but also enjoyed playing with P. She pulled out our old trike from the attic for him to try. P saw it, yelled "bike!!!" and immediately hopped on.

P's school is getting ready for their own Thanksgiving celebrations and we were asked to bring in a family picture for their leaf project. So sweet. I love the art that comes home with him.

He's super into his blanket. I washed it, took it out of the dryer, and he was so happy. He just smiled and hugged it. :)

We went to a shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Preston came and also brought her a little gift. :)

We are blessed with the sweetest child. I really mean it when I say he is SO SWEET. We were worried for a while because he was doing a lot of biting and hitting in school. I am happy to report that his teacher told me that he has become the sweetest child in the class, and all the others are acting out now. While I feel for the other parents, I was so happy to hear this. As a parent, you just want a NICE child. 

Big boy cup!

Kicking back, watching some Caillou. The child LOVES Caillou. I think  he is starting to replace Elmo. 

Carving

We carved a pumpkin tonight on the kitchen floor. Preston was really interested, but wouldn't touch the mushy insides until a few minutes in. Then he threw a big wad of it at me and tried to grab the carving knife from Brian. Typical! :)

One story I want to remember...

We finished carving the pumpkin and put a light inside of him. Then we turned out the lights. After we oooo-ed and awed a minute, Preston goes, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear pumpkin, happy birthday to you." It was hysterical! I guess the candle and the lights out made it seem like it was pumpkin's birthday. So precious.

Preston is already really attached to the pumpkin. Brian put the pumpkin on the front porch and Preston had a major breakdown, screaming "Pumpkin! Pumpkin!" and so we brought him back inside to live.

Brian did a great job carving. Here is a little (long!) video of our night. Preston talks a ton in it! So funny. We live in a world with quick cell phone videos and I want Preston to actually be able to watch himself as a child one day. So, every now and then, I pull out the video camera and document his voice, his movements, laugh at what Brian and I look/sound/act like, etc. :) Tonight was one of those nights!

Then I made some candied pumpkin seeds, and they were pretty tasty.

1 cup washed and dried pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
some salt
1/2 stick melted butter
Mix all together and spread evenly onto a foil lined pan. Bake at 275 for an hour, stirring once or twice. After baking, let them sit on the counter until cooled. Break apart and enjoy!

A New Challenge

“No man needs sympathy because he has to work, because he has a burden to carry. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” 

― Theodore Roosevelt


I have worked at our children's hospital for almost 7 years, counting my internship. I have learned more than I EVER thought I would learn and have had experiences with families and medical staff that I never dreamed would be possible. I worked very hard during the day, completed a Master's degree at night, and was promoted in my role on the marketing team. I am eternally grateful for this job. For the chance to work for something bigger than myself and for a cause that I whole-heartily believe in. The people inside this hospital are GOOD. They were here the day I came in and shouted, "I'm engaged!" all the way to delivering me goodies in the hospital after we had our first child four years later.  They became more than co-workers, but close friends and we experienced many ups and downs together, tears and celebrations, early mornings and late nights, trips and backyard cookouts. I love this group. They will always hold a special place in my heart. :)

I'll be leaving my current job soon for a great opportunity with a for-profit company, whose national headquarters are here in Memphis. My new job will continue to be full-time, but much closer to my house and Preston's school, with opportunities to grow (a promotion from my current role). I'm excited about this new world, this new opportunity in which I will be able to gain valuable experience in facets of marketing and communications that I have not had the ability to do in the past and take on more of a leadership role. Moving from a local not-for-profit to a national for-profit will be TOTALLY eye-opening, but I am excited for an entirely new set of challenges. Bring it on!


“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.” 
― Steve Jobs

Bubbles Galore!

We've been enjoying life lately. I made a little trip for work to Washington, DC and caught up with some old friends while I was there. I had a little bit of "me" time, and had a wonderful trip in a great city. Brian held the fort down with Preston. I found it funny how many people asked me if I was worried about leaving my baby with my husband. My response was quite the contrary! I was more worried for Brian - was he handling everything okay, I hope he's not stretched too thin, I hope he's eating, etc. etc. etc. :)

When I came home, we had a nice weekend together. We went to Preston's last class at the Little Gym and he was hamming it up big time! He has no fear of being center of attention. Then we went to Tyler's first birthday party. Tyler is Preston's neighborhood friend, and it was the cutest first birthday party. They had a bubble theme and it was adorable!

Preston had an absolute blast! He devoured a cupcake (much to everyone's delight), dove head first into a baby pool filled with bubble solution, was covered in about three layers of dirt, and ran around like he owned the place. Brian and I talked later about how fun it is to watch your child have fun. Nothing better. :)

I mean, really?

Reed made quite the mess!

I am so thankful for having such sweet neighbors. We are hosting the next neighborhood get together and it should be a fun time. These little ones are all growing so fast. I really hope that they have lots of fun summer memories in the neighborhood! :)

Mama said there'd be days like this

When you become a mom, parts of you change for the better and parts of you change for the worse.

I have become more laid back with Preston. At first, when he was a newborn, I was a nervous wreck over everything. As Preston has grown, I don't worry as much as I used to and tend to not sweat the small stuff as much. I remembered crying when Preston was around 3 months old because I spilled an ounce of breastmilk accidentally, and breastfeeding was so hard for me that every ounce mattered. I just wanted to do everything right. I am long past those days and feel much more at peace over my role as a mom. Like I always say, perspective is a beautiful thing! It's much easier to say that now, compared to how I felt this time last year. 

On the flip side, I have become increasingly hard on myself. I REALLY want to be supermom. I want to work full-time, have a home cooked meal on the table every night at 5:30, play for hours with Preston, have a designer home, and for Brian and I to always enjoy each other.

A moment of enjoyment from the weekend with friends.

It's impossible to always be perfect, I know. But several times over the course of the last year, I have made mistakes and it's bothered me much more than it should have. I am working really hard on laughing at these moments, rather than having a freak out/adult tantrum.

Let's take Thursday night for example. I was having a major allergy attack, and for the past few months, Brian has been working later than he ever did before. I try to plan meals the best I can, and had prepared an awesome crock pot dinner that morning before work so we would all have food when we got home. Preston and I got in the door around 5:30, and I went to check on the food in the crock pot. It was exactly as I left it, completely uncooked. I had turned it on, but didn't plug the stupid thing in the outlet. I completely lost it. Brian walked in the door after a hard day, and I just unloaded on him and cried and flipped out about how I do everything wrong (drama mama moment). All the while, Preston ate a Gerber Graduates baby dinner I so desperately tried to keep from feeding him.

Clearly, Preston was enjoying his treat. :)

Thank goodness for that perfect smile.

I immediately called my mom (which I tend to do nightly) for some of her more experienced, wiser perspective. Growing up, I remember thinking she was supermom. In fact, I talked with the rest of my family recently about this and they were all in agreement. :) Not only were the three of us in matching smocked outfits that she sewed for us all the time, but we had home cooked meals nearly every night. I am pretty sure by the time I turned 16, I could count on two hands the amount of times my family had eaten out at a restaurant. Not to mention she taught school full-time and piano lessons on and off through the years. I sometimes think of my childhood as idealistic. No major issues, everything was wonderful and great, and my mom and dad were perfect, and my brothers and I had a lot of fun together. Even though that is what I saw and how I remember it, that doesn't mean that is how it WAS. Now that I am a mom, I know that a perfection in parenting doesn't exist. But I am so thankful I have her to talk me off the ledge, when I am about to have a panic attack over an uncooked crock pot dinner!!! :)

She tells me stories about how she had all three of us in the grocery store when one of us accidentally tripped her, and she fell and hurt herself badly in the story. Or times when she ruined dinners, or was sick and still had the three of us to take care of, or lost her temper, or couldn't "sleep train" us because she couldn't stand to hear us cry so I didn't sleep through the night until I was almost two. My favorite is the time she was extremely pregnant with my youngest brother, and had a 3 year old and a 16-month-old. Somehow, our dog got out and my mom tried to chase him down the street and because she was so pregnant, lost her balance, fell and broke her arm. She delivered my brother Joe a few weeks later with a sling on her arm.

The important lesson is that, I don't really remember any of that and those aren't the moments I think back to. I want the same for Preston. For the majority of his memories to be good ones. I don't want him to look back on a mom that freaked out all the time, over small things. I remember growing up, my mom used to tell us all the time to pray for patience. I find myself doing that throughout the day. Praying for patience. Slowly but surely, my prayers might be answered, probably around the time Preston turns 16 and then I'll lose it over driving. :)

28

My birthday was last week. But before I mention that, please look at these sweet pictures of Preston. Oh, he is the sweetest before bedtime. 

Brushing his hair before bed

Toddler tummy!!!

I throw my hair up like this for bath time :)

On Thursday, I turned 28. Brian arranged a nice dinner for us at Paulette's and my in-laws watched P. It was nice dinner, and we enjoyed adult conversation. On Saturday, my family came over to celebrate with a cookout. Also, a few of my friends from high school stopped by, including Astrid who was in Memphis all the way from Germany. She was our foreign exchange student, and I hadn't seen her since Amber's wedding, so it was great to catch up. Michelle brought Avery, and I got to meet Amber's little boy Bennett for this first time. He is so cute! My mom made me a delicious trifle instead of a regular cake, and Brian cooked a fabulous pork tenderloin.

P was a huge fan of the trifle. And spoons.

This might have been one of my highlights of the day. I guess Preston was watching my dad and brother get beer out of the cooler they brought. So, he walked over to the cooler and put his sippy cup with milk inside the cooler. Then walked into the living room, walked back to the kitchen and got the sippy cup back out and drank it. It was so funny! Of course, I had the camera out.

I had a really great birthday. I definitely never thought that at 28, I would have a one-year-old but I must say it is pretty special :) Thanks to friends and family for making my birthday sweet!

Sicky

Ugh. Today, Brian got a phone call from Preston's school. They said he had a fever of 102.9. This scared me, because P has never had a fever this high. My first thought was ear infection. We are lucky, because P has never had an ear infection before. I left work and raced to his school to pick him up. On the way, I called our pediatrician to see if he could be squeezed in. He could see us at 4 p.m. I figured that was okay. Motrin could fix the fever until then.

I got to his school, walked into his room, and was totally shocked by what I saw. Preston was laying in his bed (he has his own bed with his name and blankets and lovies from home), on his belly with a blanket over him, and he was just staring. This seriously freaked me out, because anyone that knows P, knows that he is NEVER still. He was just laying there with his eyes half open, red and puffy, and I am pretty sure my blood pressure went through the roof. Plus, his teachers who probably love him as much as I do, were very worried and wanted me to call them when we got out of the doctor to see what he said.

I scooped him up, called the pediatrician's office back and told them I could not wait until 4 and needed to see someone now. They worked us in with another doctor in the practice and we headed straight there. Thankfully, he had only had a fever for about an hour when I got him, so I felt like we were being very proactive.

At the pediatrician, Preston got weighed. He was 18 lbs., 10 oz. Can't believe my baby is so big! By this point, the Motrin had kicked in, so his fever was down to about 100.2. We saw the doctor, who told me P's throat and tonsils were red and he had a virus. His ears were perfect. Thankfully, at 7 months, we are still ear infection free!! But a part of me wanted to hear ear infection so that we could get an antibiotic. With viruses, you just have to wait. Boo. So, we spent the afternoon doing this:

Poor baby

 Y'all, he never does this. NEVER. He is not a cuddler, nor is he still for any period of time. He was sick! I have to say, a part of me loved it, because he would never do this normally. He slept on me for about an hour. Plus, he clung to me for dear life. Hopefully, this virus moves through him quickly. Brian and I hate seeing him like this.

On a happier note, we had a really nice weekend. P cheered for the Vols against Florida, although I am not sure that it helped.

Also, P picked up a pair of chocolate brown Toms. I couldn't resist.

That's life at our house right now. We are DREADING tonight, because we know he will be up a lot. Having a sick baby is no fun.

Zoo Trip

Brian and I took off work the day of P's 7 month birthday to tour preschools. We spent the morning looking at schools, getting very excited for our big boy to start preschool next year. Time is flying.

Since we had already taken the day off, we decided to take Preston to the Memphis Zoo for the first time. He loved it, and we actually saw everything at the Zoo. I expected that Preston might get sick of being in his stroller, or want to crawl around, but he was such a trooper and really had a good time.

It was a little warm, but we managed. The Memphis Zoo is fabulous! A lot of it was shaded and they have a lot of indoor exhibits we could go into that had AC. Preston loved the polar bears and the kids that were playing around them.

Preston took a little snooze in the stroller when we saw the apes.

We took a break for a bottle, and the monkeys came up to where we were sitting. P loved it!

We had a little talk about how we grew up going to the Memphis Zoo. Who knew we would be taking our own there?! I think we'll be going there lots in the future. Preston was very intrigued by the animals and by all the kids playing. Such a fun Wednesday off!