A child's Imagination

It is so cute to see children develop an imagination. Colton has a VERY strong imagination. He colored on the floor the other day but I couldn't get too made because he said he drew "a hot hair balloon." For him to know what a hot air balloon is was amazing and to see him think his scribbles were one. This week he has displayed the funniest imagination so far. If you have kids or grandkids you probably know who this is...

Handy Manny!

Handy Manny is a chartoon character who he, along with his talking tools, fixes things. He is supposed to be Hispanic and they ocassionally say certain things in spanish. Well, the other day we had some maintenance done in our apartment. I was in the bedroom feeding Tayler and kept hearing Colton scream "Handy Manny! Handy Manny!" over and over again. Sometimes he gets excited when certain shows he likes come on TV, so I thought maybe the Handy Manny cartoon was on. Boy was I wrong..... There was a short plump hispanic maintenance man working in the apartment. Apparantly Colton thought he was Handy Manny! LOL It was soo funny. He was so excited to see "Handy Manny" and kept asking him about his tools. I laugh sitting her thinking about it. It is crazy how children have such an imagination for things!

On a GREAT note..... I have exciting news...

- In addition to Colton knowing all of his colors, he can now count 1-10 perfectly!! Next we will begin working on his ABC's.

- Colton poopied in the potty the past 3 days in a row!!! WAHOO!!!! Since we got new furniture, Kyle and I have been on Colton a lot about pottying in his pants. (He is getting so big and goes so much that sometimes he leaks through the pull up!) We make sure to take him any time he wants on the couch, which is very frequently. I take him as soon as he wakes up so he as actually told me when he wakes up that he needs to go. So exciting! Colton likes to run away and hide when he was to go #2 so we have been catching him and making him sit on the potty and when he goes tell him how much of a good BIG boy he is! He also gets a lecture when he goes in his pants. Well we have been doing something right because today he told me "me poo poo pleaseeeee." He wanted to go in the potty and told me before he actually went! Today is a great day! YAY for not having to change a toddler's dirty diaper for 3 days now!!!!! :)

Play Date Craziness!

This afternoon, Kelli and I got together for a lunch date. Kelli came with her daughter Brooke who is going on 2 years old and her son Maddux who is 6 months old. I came with Colton who is going on 3 years old and Tayler who is 2 months old. I was excited for the kids to get together and play and also conversate with Kelli. Unfortunately, we did not get to conversate as much as other times we have gotten together.... between Colton and Brooke playing with each other under the table, them both screaming at each other (in a fun way) Maddux getting fussy from tiredness and Tayler getting fussy from being hungry, I felt like I barely had time to take a deep breath. It was CRAZINESS having all of them in a public crowded place! They both wanted to play in the kid area. It was soo crowded and LOUD in there. There were soo many kids (especially a lot of big kids!) Colton was pretty frightened almost the entire time from the roughness and loudness of the big kids. Well, within a matter of 10 minutes, our kids had the play area cleared out... literally. Every single kid left, leaving only Brooke and Colton to play. Well, this wasn't just a happy coincidence. They all left because it smelt REALLY bad because both Brooke AND Colton decided to poopy their pants at almost the exact same time! lThey had that room smelling BAD!! lol. Well when we got all 4 kids into the restroom to do diaper changes, I looked at Kelli and said.. "So I think our next lunch date needs to be at one of our houses." We both laughed because we both knew that the past hour had been loud and crazy. Needless to say, it was an experience, but a stressful one at that.

Organizing

So this morning I was doing some straightening up and some more unpacking. One thing that I LOVE about our apartment is that it has sooo much storage! That is one thing that was so difficult about our house - there was no where to put everything! In our new bathroom, we have 2 sinks, 2 cabinets and 9 drawers... at the house we had 1 sink, 1 cabinet and 3 drawers. I love having a spot for all of my stuff and now my husband can't complain that i have too much stuff because I have my own drawers and cabinets so he doesn't ever have to see my stuff! In addition to a regular closet in our room, we also have a walk-in closet - something we did not have at our house. We also have more counterspace and cabinets in the kitchen so everything is a lot less packed. We also have an actual laundry room which is sooo nice. Even though we are in a smaller place, we gained sooo much storage space!

I thought that going from a 3 bedroom to a 2 bedroom would be reaaly difficult. To my surprise, it doesm't feel any different. Colton is never in his room except to sleep. He always brings his toys to the living room. So, I don't even notice much difference. The kids room is very large and has a big walk in closet so all of their things fit and it is not over crowded.

Here are a few more recent pics...

The pool is literally right outside our unit so we try to take Colton in the evenings to get energy out before bed but also bc its not hot and sunny for Tayler.

Below: Colton playing in the shallow section for kids.

Below: swim lesson with daddy.

Below: Tayler sleeping in mommy's arms while daddy and brother swim.

I'm Back!

I'm back! It feels like forever since I have posted. We are finally settling in to the new place and have internet. All is well and we are all enjoying the new place. Even though we just moved from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment, Kyle and I are both so much happier here...

- We get a fresh start with cleanliness and organization! We did not realize how much JUNK we had until it was time to move. (Mrs. Stacy - to answer your question from my previous post, we did get A LOT sold. We got all of our big items sold.. furniture, yard equipment, pool, etc. We also had a garage sale where we made a good bit of money. We have a lot of clothes and toys that didn't sell that we are just going to take to good will.) Our goal was to make enough money to buy a new couch. We had an L sectional that is simply too big for the apartment. In addition, we didn't want a table or ottoman in living room but still wanted to kick our feet up. We went with cash in pocket knowing what we wanted. We wanted a recliner sofa and hopefully a recliner as well. We went to Gallery Furniture after an unsuccesful trip to Rooms To Go. We did not know that furniture was negotiable when it comes to the price tag. However, we quickly learned that it is. We knew what we wanted but saw it was more than we were willing to spend. We showed our sales rep what we liked (which is very similar to what we told him we were looking for upon arrival.) We were ready to leave and Kyle told the guy if he could do it for what we had cash then we would do it. Well, surprisingly, they accepted our offer and we got our recliner sofa and recliner for $700 less than ticket price!! So, if you are ever furniture shopping at Gallery Furniture, go in with a mindset as if you were car or house shopping - prices are negotiable!!

- Another plus about living out here is that we feel like we will actually be able to have a social life since we are not so far away from everyone and everything. We live 10 minutes from my sister so I went walking with her on Monday at Katy Mills Mall. She goes every day so I hope to start next week making it a routine! It was great to get out of the house and exercise (we did 4 laps - 3 1/2 miles!) But it was also so great to spend time with her since it's not too often we see each other especially now that we both have newborns. So I am looking forward to the sisterly time and exercise and the cousins get to see each other! In addition, Kyle has several friends that live in the area. We went to his friends house on Thursday evening for dinner. They have a 7 year old daughter and a 14 month old son. Colton had soooo much fun playing with the 7 year old girl. Kyle played video games for a couple of hours with his buddy so he enjoyed the boy "play time." Last night my mom came over and watched the kids and Kyle and I had a baby-free evening. It was so needed and could just feel the unspoken new happiness. We went out with my middle-school best friend and her husband. They treated us to an evening at the country club they are members of that is just a few minutes down the street. They also live only about 10 minutes from us. It was so nice socializing with people our age and another married couple. In addition, I am only about 10-15 minutes away from my best friend now (verses 45 min before) so I am really looking forward to play dates, girl time and hopefully couple time with them!

- In addition to our new found social life, Colton is also getting one as well. I took Colton the pool a couple of nights after we moved in and he LOVED it. They have a section of the pool that is only a foot deap so he loved splashing around in it. In addition, there was a little boy out there who is only 3 months older than Colton. They had soo much fun together! I will have to take a picture of them together because from a short distance, it's hard to tell them apart because they look so similar!

- CONVENIENCE! We are soo close to literally everything! The mall, grocery store, restaurants, etc... everything is literally 5-10 min away (vs our 30-40 min drive at the house.) Kyles new drive to work is literally 7 minutes (vs 45-50 min) and my drive to school is on the same street and is literally 3 min away!

So, so far everything is going great and we love it here. We still have a lot of cleaning to do at the house that we hope to get done within the next week or so. We had planned on going this morning but we all ended up sleeping in and now just feel like having a lazy day :)

I hope to post some new pics soon but for the time being, here a few... Tayler is growing so fast! She smiles soo much and yesterday giggled for the first time!

Updates

Update #1:
I think Tayler is teething!

I am worried... I read that some children can teeth as early as 2 months, although it is rare. However, she is 1 1/2 weeks shy of 2 months.. She has been really cranky lately... cries and wakes up every time she is put down. She has been sleeping 1 1/2 hours at night the past few days.. She has been eating very frequently but only little amounts. In addition, she has been VERY fussy during breastfeeding and kicks, punches, gets red and seems angry. She will latch and then do the same thing. So, I have given her a bottle of breastmilk more than usual lately because we have both been frustrated during nursing sessions. In addition, she developed a rash on her face a few days ago and has been having a lot of loose stools. She has also been sucking on her first a lot more than usual. All of these things she has been doing fall under the list of teething symptoms. I didn't think too much about these things until this morning when she was crying, I saw 2 white dots on her bottom gum. I felt her gum and could barely feel them, but I could feel something. So, I think she might have teeth coming in! Is this normal? Surely not! She has an appointment sometime soon for her 2 month check-up, but I will be calling tomorrow to see if I can get it any sooner. I just hope that if for some strange reason she does have teeth coming in then that just means she is an early developer and they don't have to remove them!

Update #2:
We are moving!

Yep, if you haven't heard yet, we are moving!

When?: We will start moving this coming Friday. We were scheduled to move Aug. 15th but that has been moved up to the 1st.

Where?: We will be getting an apartment in Cinco Ranch. The address is Richmond but is right on the Katy border.

Why?: As I am sure most of you are wondering, we are moving for several reasons. Overall, the reason is to save money so that we can live more comfortably. We will be downsizing in size and should have a lot lower water and electric bills. (Our neighborhood uses a small private water company. Our bills are usually $150! most of which is automatic service fees. In addition, our electric bills have been over $300! At around 2pm, our AC runs nonstop til about 9pm. We have to keep it on 69 just to keep it somewhat cool, and no one can find anything wrong with it...) In addition, Kyle will be 5 minutes from work (vs. 45) and I will be 5 minutes from school, so we will be able to save a lot on gas. MOST IMPORTANTLY: These are brand new apartments that are scheduled to be finished in September. When they are complete, the complex is looking to add a second security patrol officer. In the event that the second position is added, Kyle is suposed to be up first for the spot. So we are crossing our fingers her gets it, because if he does, we will have free rent!

In addition to saving money, we are looking forward to being back in the city. We are tired of having to drive 30+ minutes to go anywhere and are also far from practically all of our friends. Kyle will be close to 3 of his best friends and I will be close to my sister, my best friend and a couple of other friends. We are hoping the move will help add playdates for the children and also give us a little bit of a social life. Everyone needs friends, other than their significant others. With the busy-ness of our lives and living so far, it has become difficult to see friends and Kyle and I have both began feeling trapped at home. We are hoping that being only minutes away from so many people will help us regain friendships and a life outside of the home.

Although it will be an adjustment moving from a house to an apartment, I am looking forward to the move. I am especially looking forward to having a fresh CLEAN start! :) I am also looking forward to having a pool to take the kids to and a fitness center to work out in. I am also hoping that living in a larger community (our neighborhood is very small and spread out) that it will open opportunities to meet new people, especially those with children.


Those are my updates for now! Have a great Sunday!

Feelin' Good!!

I am happy to say that I am "feelin good!"

Colton and I haven't had much routine or structure in our lives and that is something that I have really wanted to change, just had no idea where to start. After Tayler's arrival, her schedule was backward in that she was up a lot at night just wanting to sit up and look around. They say babies are nocturnal because when they are in the womb, the mom is finally at rest at night, which is their time to move around. So, I had to train Tayler to get her out of this. I gave her a bath at night and then dimmed all the lights so she would start to realize the dark means sleep. She caught on quickly but this still wasn't a solid routine. I have recently added more structure to our evenings...

6:00-6:30pm - eat dinner
8:00pm - go on a walk with the kids
8:30-9:30 - I shower, then bathe Colton and then bathe Tayler.

After Tayler's bath, I dim the lights and she is usually ready for her last feeding. At this feeding, I have began giving Tayler a bottle of expressed breast milk. (I have chosen the bottle for night time feeding because she seems to eat more, which I can actually monitor, and if she tries to doze off I can wake her much easily with a bottle in her mouth.)

Well, several GREAT things have come from our new evening routine..

- I have already started losing weight from walking
- Colton goes to bed without a fight

and most importantly.........

- Tayler sleeps longer!!

I have noticed that giving her a bottle of breastmilk makes her sleep longer than putting her on the breast. I am soooo excited to say that she went 5 hours between feedings, 4 1/2 of which she slept, between the bottle feeding and the next last night! It was sooo wonderful! I have not felt this refreshed since before she was born!! Usually I am groggy and have no energy but I feel GREAT this morning!

I am hoping to add more structure to our entire day but I gotta start somewhere!

Just wanted to share my excitement!!

Pics

Here are some pics of the kids taken this week...

Below: "PEACE"

Below: So proud of the truck he built

Below: He LOVES wearing my shoes!

Below: Daddy wrapped his hair after his bath. It was so funny, gave us all a good laugh.

Updates

Tayler

Tayler went to the dr. yesterday for her "1 month" check-up. The dr. said there is unfortunately no accurate way to test for food allergies in children this young. The dr. recommended that if I have noticed allergic reactions to certain foods then to continue avoiding them. So for now i will be continuing an elimination diet (excluding all dairy and foods containing soy and milk proteins - almost all processed foods.) The doctor said that IF I wanted to switch her to formula, it would be very expensive since most are milk and soy based, both of which she is allergic to.

Tayler is still only sleeping about 2 hours at a time at night, about 2 hours between feedings. So, after feeding, diapering and pumping, I am lucky to get an hour of sleep before the next feeding. However, the other day she went 4 1/2 hours between feedings and yesterday took a 3 hour nap. I am hoping these are signs of good things to come soon!

Tayler is currently 5 weeks & 2 days old. She is now 9 lb 9 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. (She was 7 lb 4 oz and 20 inches long at birth.)

Below are pictures taken yesterday...

Colton

Colton has been a handful lately. Often, he wants to be a baby.. He frequently steals Tayler's pacifier to suck on it and has been very whiney lately. He has also not been wanting to listen and telling me "no" and rolling his eyes a lot. He has developed a little attitude. Potty training has also been very difficult. He knows when he has to go, but chooses to go in his pants and then tells me to change his diaper. I am not sure if his actions are a result of his age or there being a baby in the house, or both, but I am so exhausted and feel like I am at wit's end with what to do. I am praying things will get better soon. He likes to test me, especially when I am breastfeeding, because he knows I cannot get up to do anything. I just want me sweet little boy back. :( And I want him to poo-poo in the potty!!

Me

Overall, I am exhausted, mentally and physically. From not getting much sleep to having to deal with a toddler who thinks he is the boss, sometimes I just want to cry. I had no idea 2 kids would be this difficult.

I got a double stroller a few days ago so I have been going walking in the evenings with kids. I wanted to go in the mornings but I am way too tired to exercise in the a.m. So, we have been going in the evenings when it is not as hot. It has made me feel a lot better. I have really been able to relieve stress. My feet are not liking it, though. I am so used to wearing flip flops that I have developed blisters on my heels. I am hoping that after a week or so this will no longer be an issue.

Not only has walking helped relieve stress, but it has also allowed me to develop an evening routine. We eat dinner about 6pm and go walking close to 8pm. When we get back, I let Colton play outside. When getting dark, we come inside, I shower and then bathe both kids. After the kids are bathed, I feed Tayler one last time and then put them both to bed. It has been a while since Colton has been on a strict routine so I am hoping this is the beginning!

Well, that's our updates for now!

A Milk Allergy?

So, Tayler has been having issues with "projectile" vomitting and diarrhea. (When I say projectile vomitting, I mean it shoots like 1-2 feet. I call her the exorcist.) She has also been grunting a lot and pulls her legs to her knees. I just knew this was not normal. I began doing research online to find out what could be causing vomitting in a breastfed baby. I found a few things, one of which is a milk and dairy allergy. All of her symptoms fell under this category. So, I began experimenting... I ommitted milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. from my diet for 2 days. Well, no throwing up. So, I then ate a salad with shredded cheese to see what would happen... she threw up. So after this experiment and a few accidents I have determined that Tayler is allergic to milk and dairy products. Ok, simple enough.... I stopped eating milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, etc... all of the dairy products...

Yesterday on the way home Colton and I ate chick-fil-a. I had a grilled chicken sandwich (no cheese or mayo) and french fries. After breastfeeding Tayler, she drenched me in throw up. I began to cry.. My thoughts: What the hell!? I have been so careful!! I did not eat any dairy! What is a matter with my baby?? Well, I began to do research on foods that trigger a milk allergy. Well, in my research, I found that a lot of restaurants use milk in the ingredients when frying foods, as McDonald's does with their french fries. I also ready that most breads contain a milk ingredient. I thought that this meal was soo far from dairy and come to find out, it wasn't. In my research I have found that soooo many foods contain a milk ingredient, specifically a milk protein, which is what the allergen is. Almost everything in my pantry has a milk ingredient... spaghettios, raviolis, pop tarts, bread, etc. I thought that eliminating dairy would be such an easy thing to do... I thought wrong. Almost all processed foods (packages, canned, etc.) contain a milk indredient, so practically almost all shelf items.

Tayler's allergen did not seem to sensitize until about 2 weeks after she was born. I have been pumping breast milk and saving it for later use. I had 32 bottles of frozen breast milk... keyword: had. I have had to discard all of this precious milk. Because Tayler showed no signs of an allergen the first weeks of her life, a lot of that pumped milk probably contains dairy in it. Thus, I have no way of determining what I ate when it was stored. So, I am having to discard all previously pumped milk and start all over again... sooo upsetting. If you have breastfed, you understand how precious breastmilk is and how difficult it is if you had to throw it out.

I plan on purchasing a dairy-free cookbook but for the meantime have found a couple of helpful websites with meal ideas. Most of what I will have to eat is fresh foods... fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, etc. I have made a grocery list and will be going to the store today because currently the only thing we have that I can eat is apples. This is going to be extremely difficult. However, I do no want to stop breastfeeding because breastmilk is the best thing for Tayler and read that finding a formula that does not trigger the allergen is very difficult so switching to formula is the worst thing to do. Even though eating dairy-free is going to be very difficult, I am trying to stay positive... After I get the hang of shopping and reading food labels, it should hopefully become second nature to me. In addition, I have always heard of people losing a lot of weight after cutting out processed foods from their diet. So, this should be very healthy for us and hopefully help me continue to lose weight. I have lost 32 pounds since going into the hospital for delivery. However, I still have about 50 pounds that I would like to lose so hopefully this new diet will help both Tayler and myself!

15 days old!

Below: pretty blue eyes - I sure hope they stay blue! Above: Mama and her little girl!

Below: Colton loves his little sister!

2 weeks old!!

WOW, Tayler is 2 weeks old today!!!

Today she went for her checkup and is doing great. She was 7 lbs. 4 oz. @ birth and is now 7 lbs. 11 oz. so she is growing great! She has been doing A LOT better with the breastfeeding.

I had my checkup yesterday and was given the clearance to begin light exercising, so I am very excited about that! Now just gotta get a stroller and I will be rockin & rollin!

I am still extremely sleep deprived. I cannot just sleep when she sleeps as with Colton because this time there is a toddler in the house who doesn't sleep... However, I think my body is finally starting to get used to running on just a few hours of sleep.

Pictures!!

Here are a few recent pictures of my beautiful children.

Below: 10 days old

Below: 10 days old. Wide awake after her bath.

Below: 12 days old.

Below: Colton admiring his sister.

Below: Colton holding his sister.

1 week old!

WOW how time flies!! Today, Tayler is 1 week old!!! It seems like we just had her yesterday!

Below are a few pictures that were taken today, 1 week old.

She went to the dr. on Monday and he said she looks great. She had also gained weight back from what she lost after birth. She is also feeding very well now. I voiced my concerns about her not waking up to eat and having to use bottles and the dr. advised that I can stop using the bottles and that she will eat when she is hungry. Well, she finally seems to have a normal appetite and is eating very well. So, she is doing great!





Colton is still calling her "Baby Tayler My Princess" and loves her so much. He always wants to "be nice" to her, i.e. touch her. He is my little diaper change helper - his job is to put the dirty diaper in the diaper pail. He loves his job and helping. :)

Above: Mom took Colton for the day, which I greatly appreciate because I am extremely sleep deprived. I took full advantage of the quiet time. Kyle snapped this pic Tayler and I.

I love being a mommy!!

Meet my Baby Girl!!

Tayler Lee Sheard

Born Wednesday, June 10, 2009 @ 12:51 pm
7 lbs, 4 oz

20 inches long

Brown hair and blue eyes (currently)

My original due date was 6/25/09. However, after finding the fluid level in my uterus to be very low, my doctor wanted to induce early. Well, needless to say, it was a great thing he did... When Tayler was born, my doctor discovered that she had a knot in her umbilical chord! This could have been life threatening so we are very thankful that she was taken early.

Labor Story
I arrived to the hospital at 7 pm Tuesday night where they inserted something into my cervix to help "ripen"/losen it. It was removed at 5am on Wens. morning. My doctor broke my water at about 7:40 am. At about 11:45 am, I was about 7 cm dilated, still 2 cm to go before it was time to push... very shortly later, I started feeling "movement" or pressure down below. I called for a nurse.. I was completely dilated... time to push! I only pushed for about 35 minutes!

I had an amazing delivery this time. With Colton, labor lasted 18 hours and I actively pushed for 3 hours. I also tore extremely badly with Colton and had a very rough healing process. HOWEVER, this time, I was only in labor 5 1/2 hours and pushed for half an hour and did not tear at all! I do not have one stitch! I feel awesome! It is so nice to be able to walk around and get in and out of bed without hurting! In addition, I was able to deliver at the hospital of my choice and I had my dr.! (unlike with Colton, I had the on call dr. and a crappy hospital that the dr. had me go to.)

Tayler's Status
Tayler had to stay in the hospital an extra day because she got a bad case of jaundice (where they change color - usually yellowish/orange.) I was discharged but they allowed me to stay in a bedroom inside the nursery so that I could be there with her. She was in an enclosed glass "cage" for 24 hours under special therapy lights to help the jaundice go down. Emotionally, this was very difficult for me. I was only able to hold her during feedings, which was limited to 45 minutes. However, they moved the machine into the bedroom that I was staying in so it made me feel a lot better having her there and taking care of her. They showed me how to work the machine so I was able to do everything without assistance from the nurses.

Tayler is doing a lot better now. However, because of the jaundice, she is very sleepy, which has made feeding her a challenge for me. I am breast feeding, but also pumping to increase milk supply but also to supplement at the end of feedings to ensure she is getting enough. Feeding her in general is a challenge. She frequently falls asleep at the breast and is very difficult to awaken. When supplementing with expressed breast milk in a bottle, it sometimes takes me 10 minutes just to get the bottle in her mouth and then another 10 minutes to get her to eat it. Needless to say, I am exhausted. After feeding, diapering and pumping, I usually only have about 1 1/2 hour until I have to start again... However, it is worth it because I want the best for my baby.

Below: 1 day old

Above: Taken today

Baby Update!!

Well, today I had my 37 week check-up. Last week I was only about 1/2 cm dilated and the dr. said he could not induce before 38 weeks unless there was a medical reason to do so. I will be 38 weeks on Friday. Well, since last Monday, I have progressed to 2 cm dilated and have been cramping a lot. The dr. noticed that the top of my stomach was looking flat so he wanted to check my fluid. He did an ultrasound and noticed that my fluid level is low. The fluid is supposed to measure 10 cm and mine is 6 cm, 4 cm too low. So, he will be inducing me early. I am going in tomorrow evening to prep.. they will be giving me medicine to help my cervix losen. The dr. will come in on Wednesday morning and induce me. So, Tayler should make her arrival sometime Wednesday morning! I will bring my computer and try to post pics, but I'm sure my mom will as well!

Bed Rest :(

Well, today I am 36 weeks pregnant and had my weekly check-up at the OB/GYN. Mom is out of town so Kelli was a life saver and watched Colton for me for a couple of hours while I went to the dr. I think playing with Brooke wore him out because he passed out in the car holding his hamburger. ha ha.

Well, I have officially been put on bed rest by the doctor.... I am already 1 cm dilated and have extremely high blood pressure, as usual. Thus, with the combo. I have to be on bed rest so I don't go into labor. I have to go back to dr. on either Monday or Tuesday and he will check dilation again and we will go ahead and schedule an induction while I am there. I am hoping to schedule it for Friday, but I will only be 37 weeks, which is considered full term, but not sure if he will make me wait til the following week or not. I have been battling back and forth on if I wanted to be induced or not but I think I am going to go ahead with it so that I can ensure that I have my dr. this time around (with Colton I had the on call dr.) and also because I am simply miserable and hurting and want her out! :)

Luckily, the baby room is finished and the clothes and bottles are washed. So, everything is ready for her. I got all of the bedrooms and bathrooms cleaned but still need to do the living room and kitchen. I was hoping to have the entire house really clean, not sure if that will happen now or not... I wanted it spotless so when we come home from the hospital, we come home to a clean relaxing home, not a messy stressful home. Hopefully I can get it done next week.

Well, Jenn, my sis, is on her way to pick up Colton. She offered to have Colton spend the night with her tonight. Colton and I were supposed to go swimming with her tomorrow but it looks like only Colton will be. :( Then tomorrow evening Kyle's mom will be picking Colton up around 6 and will keep him til Sunday sometime. Hopefully I can keep my blood pressure down with nothing to do. However, I am so used to being extremely busy that I have a feeling I am going to go crazy with not being able to do anything... I have a feeling Kyle will be going to get me movies or he will have to figure out how to hook up the phoneline to the tv so that I can order a movie on tv. :)

Well, have a great weekend. I will be in bed or on the couch miserable, dying to clean the mess around me.

Well, the baby room is finally finished! (Well, with the exception of the chair rail on 2 of the walls... still waiting for Kyle to cut those for me....) The room is painted, furniture is in, bedding and curtains are up, diapers out, clothes washed, etc. My hospital bag is now ready as well. So, bring on the baby!! :) All I have to do now is finish getting the house clean. I really wanted the house spotless, carpets shampooed, couch washed, etc. before her arrival, not sure if I will get to all of it or not. These days, I get very sore very easily so not sure how much of the house I will get done. I was hoping it would be sparkly clean so it would feel nice and warm when we come home instead of stressful so we will see. I am due in about 4 weeks so hopefully she will be here in about 2. I go in on Thursday for my 36 week checkup where they will begin checking for dilation.

I will try to post pics of the baby room soon! :)

I DID IT!!!

I DID IT!!!!!

I am proud to announce that not only did I take on a huge task by taking 7 college classes this semester, I also did something that I have never done before in college... I made straight A's!!!!! WAHOO!!!!!! The stress and exhaustion finally paid off and I am just so excited and proud of myself! I knew going back to school would be difficult so I am proud for making it through and doing such a good job!

I am excited and just wanted to share!!

Had an exhausting day painting the baby room, off to soak in a warm bath!

Night!

My little "big" Boy

My little boy is turning into a big boy :( I love the stage he is in right now... so many hugges and kisses and "i love you mommy" 's. I don't want them to end. I dread the day he doesn't want to hug me or hold my hand anymore. I know it will happen, I remember us doing it to my mom and her always bugging us to hold her hand. I just want him to stay at this stage forever.

Colton got a new 4-wheeler this week. We were supposed to get it for him so he would have something knew when Tayler comes home, but I think Kyle was too excited to get it that he couldn't wait. Colton's mini 4-wheeler just wasn't cutting it anymore. Colton is so big for it that it barely moves, so it was time to upgrade. This one is for 3 years + but he fits on it perfectly.

Colton loves his new 4-wheeler and when daddy tried to ride it, he was very disturbed, especially after I told kyle he would break it, then Colton really started freaking out. lol. Below is a picture of Colton running to tell daddy to get off.

Now after the snake incidence, Colton has to wait for daddy to get home from work to ride it...

I hate snakes!!!

So, a little bit ago, both dogs were barking hysterically. Kyle went out there to see what was going on... they were at the very back fence line. Well, he came back, grabbed a shovel, said there was a huge snake and then went back out. Well, turns out it was a cottonmouth, apparantly a very deadly snake. So, I was very freaked out...

Well, about 2 minute later, both dogs were barking hysterically again. Kyle was already in the bathroom shaving so I went to get the flashlight. This time, they were in the middle of the yard. I could see something small and black, but wasn't sure what it was. I told Colton to go get daddy and he hysterically went to Kyle in the bathroom.. "Daddy, come on, hurry, mommy" in a very panicy voice. Kyle went out there and hollered to bring a shovel. I'm thinking, Oh man, I know it's not another snake! Well, indeed it was. Another cottonmouth. Kyle killed this one as well.

It was freaky because Kyle had just walked through that path minutes before!

I HATE snakes and now I will probably not take Colton outside anymore in the back!! The people behind us don't ever mow and there grass is as tall as the fence. I think I will be going to have a talk with them this week and ask them to let us mow it if they are not going to, because now their yard is attracting snakes and causing us to have them!

So, now I am too freaked out to go to bed, so Colton and I are having a bowl of fruit while he keeps tell me he is scared and that snakes are bad.

I think I am ready to move to one of those subdivisions where you are elbow to elbow.

Family/Beach Weekend

Kyle and I spent this weekend at my mom's beach house in Surfside. We left Thursday evening and returned Saturday evening. Kyle had to work today, Sunday, so he took off on Friday so we could still have a full weekend. It was a much needed weekend for us. I have been so busy with school and Kyle with work that we haven't had much quality time. I have been feeling trapped in the house because we never really leave it. So, it was really nice to be somewhere else for a few days, and to be in a clean home. :) I didn't get a chance to take many pics because I was sandy or wet most of the time when there was a good photo moment, but here are a few we were able to get....

Above: Kyle flying a kite. (For those wondering, no, that is not my mom's house behind him.. that is a neighboring house that is still under water from the storm.)

Below: I have never seen a kite go that high. It is the tiny white spec in the very center top of the picture.

Colton playing in the sand.

Above: Kyle snapped these pics of me and Colton playing in the water. It was a surprise to see these on my camera when I was going back through them. All you moms know that being a mom means you are usually left out of a lot of pictures, unless you ask for a picture to be taken. Men just don't think about taking pictures like us women do! (I am 32 1/2 weeks pregnant in these pictures.)

Above: My beautiful little boy being silly cheesin'.

We had a great weekend with no worries and nothing but having fun as a family. It was a really great weekend and we are looking forward to more weekends as a family in the near future.