Monday, November 30, 2009

TIME TO RETIRE?

Can you tell my boy is in the 95th% for height? It may be time to retire the little sleeper...it's good for one more night! Should I be concerned that it fits okay in the arm length? :)


See this paci? He has figured out how to take it out by himself. Now, he needs to learn how to put it back in!!! He will hold it in his hand and stare and cry at it as if saying "get back in there right now!" Poor baby!

Ohh how fast they grow!

Well folks...this three month old baby is officially wearing 6 month clothing! His little chunky butt laughs at his "suggested" size :) Would not have it any other way. He is such a rolly polly chunk of love...loves to be cuddled and hugged tight!


My handsome man...look at hims sit up!


Give him something shiny and he is good to go!



CHEEKS!!!...CHUNKY BABY FACE


Flirting with his daddy


Lights...loves lights! Maybe not the safest baby toy, but at least I took them away when he started putting him in his mouth ;)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

The tree is up!!!

It is Thanksgiving weekend and our tree is up! I am rather proud of myself for making this happen. Every Thanksgiving for the past 9 years I have been out of state visiting my family. We are decorate the tree the day after turkey day kind of people. The thing is...is that I usually get all the tree decorating business out of my system by the time I get back home.


This year I opted out of traveling for the holidays. Little man is still under the recommended 6 months of age for flying. If it were not for this H1N1 stuff, I probably would have taken him. It was kinda nice though...this was the first Thanksgiving I have spent with Bradman in 9 years!


Bradley... tree fluffer extraordinaire!



Nolan....not to impressed with the whole thing



He perked up and rather enjoyed watching mommy move ornaments from where daddy put them :)


Nolan's Christmas ornament. As you can see, it is a little sterling silver shoe.


I had his name and birthday engraved on the bottom


Quite heavy....I had to put two branches together to hold it up!



Tada!! Can not wait to get out of this condo and into a house with room to put a tree. We had to reconfigure our living room furniture to make it fit!





And just because he is cute......................

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Little Turkey...or should I say HAM!


Usually I can get this little turkey to ham it up for the camera...not this morning! This is the only picture I could get without him attacking his turkey bib. EVERYTHING goes in his mouth these days!
This time last year I was pregnant and did not even know it. Boy, how things can change in just one short year! This Thanksgiving I am thankful for my sweet, caring husband...my healthy baby boy...wonderful, supportive parents...super siblings...fabulous friends. I am blessed...God is good :)

Sleeping Baby

Nothing more precious than a sleeping baby....ohhh how I love him!



What is with the towel???? You know he is a face scratcher...well he just finished clawing the side of his head and I did not want to get neosporin on my shirt :)

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Jumpity Jump Jump

It is official...my baby is a kid. To me it seems like once a baby plays with something...and knows he is playing with something...he has entered kid mode. From now on, he is going to be getting more and more kid like. Ohhh, I don't want him to grow up!


Grandma sent Nolan a Christmas present. I think she thought we would wait until Christmas to test it out...YEA RIGHT! Thank you Grandma!!!!!! He loves it! I took a video of him playing, but I won't post it here. My husband is acting like a D-O-R-K. It will be a good blackmail video later on though! ;)


Look, I found a mirror! He loves to look at himself...must have gotten that from his daddy!


Yea, I'm in a jumper...whatcha gunna do about it??????
(do you love the excessive drool????)



Hey ladies....wanna test out my new toy?




He actually it the music thing to make it come on...he did it more than once, so I know it wasn't an accident!



Had to include this picture. Today, my cousin got married. Nolan looked so cute. Looks like a little man in this picture resting his hand on his leg. Poor baby was burning up in this sweater. Who knew it was going to be almost 70 degrees in mid November???? Welcome to fickle Nashville weather!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

It's been a while....

Have you missed me???? Can you tell I have started back to work???? This almost daily blog might turn into a weekly blog. I knew I was going to loose some of my free time when I started back to work, but I didn't know it would be ALLLLL my free time! HA!


I have really enjoyed being back in the working world. It has been a fun ride getting to know my class this year. Boy, do I have some doozies....sweet doozies so its okay! Nolan is doing great at daycare. He is getting loved on all day, and has already learned his shapes and colors ;)


Where does the drool come from??????/



I walked in to check on him this afternoon and found him in this thing.......

Had to take his picture...this is the first time in a jumper thingy. As you can see by the look on his face, he finds it very fascinating! Don't you love those little feet? Grandma is sending Nolan a jumper thingy of his own. Soooo excited for him to try it out!!! Thank you Grandma!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

"D" Day

Well, we made it through "D" Day...that's Daycare day in case you were wondering! :)

Today was Nolan's first full day of daycare, and my first day back to work. We both did very well considering we (I) have been crying for the past week. One good cry this morning and it was out of my system...it didn't hurt that I got to visit a few times today :) When we got home this afternoon, I noticed something. He smelled different. Isn't that funny...the things you notice. He smelled like someone other than his mama and his baby lotion. He smelled like Mrs. Kelly! I don't mind though...at least he is getting some lovin' throughout the day! Nolan took a nap that lasted almost 4 hours! Can you believe that??? Guess waking up at 6:30 took a toll on him too! This is a picture of Nolan and Mrs. Kelly...thank you for lovin' on him today!!!!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

ChooChoo



This arrived in the mail today! I ordered it from Pottery Barn on Sunday....aren't they johnny on the spot! Cannot wait to fill it with little goodies for my sweetness! Christmas is next month...can you believe it?????

Monday, November 9, 2009

Thinking Back

I have been wanting to do a blog post about the day Nolan came into this world for some time now. I guess am afraid I will loose some of that day as time passes. With my first day back at work just around the corner, there is no time like the present....so here it goes. Warning: it's a doozie!



I was set to be induced on August 13th at 5:00 p.m. My little guy was a week late, and mama was DONE! My mom and sister flew in that day to be here....and thank GOD for that. I would have been a nervous wreck without them here to keep me company that day. Brad wasn't able to get off of work until 4, so it was just me and the girls for most of the day. We went to J. Alexanders for some illegal lunch. My doctor told me not to eat past 10 that morning, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. I would die...starve...kill someone. I don't do well when my belly is empty :)



We (mom, Elise, Brad and myself) arrived right on time. Of course, there was a wait. Like almost an hour. We sat in the waiting room on the labor and delivery floor. Time just ticked by...very slowly. There was a HUGE family there waiting for their baby to be born. Apparently, they were also the "Smith Family". When my poor nurse called out for Smith they all jumped up thinking the baby was here and cheered for joy! Sorry to disappoint folks...its just me! :)




Walking back to the room where I would deliver my boy, I felt like I was in someone elses body. It almost felt fake. I was in the furthest...and I am not kidding....the furthest room from the lobby. Compare it to the long walk from death row :) My nurse was okay. She was not the warmest human being, but then again I really didn't care at that moment. I was freaked out! I guess seeing the bed, monitors, baby cart thingy made it all seem VERY real. I WAS GOING TO HAVE A BABY...TODAY....ohh how I wish that was how it all played out!


Thursday night came and went. Long story short...I was suppose to get some medicine to get things started, but it turned out I was already having some contractions on my own so they couldn't give it to me. Why they didn't send me back home I will never understand. My night nurse was so sweet...poor thing had to come in every hour to help me go to the bathroom. They were pumping me full of fluids...and I mean FULL!!!!


Friday morning at 6 a.m. I started pitocin. I was greeted with a new nurse (if you are counting this is nurse number 3) with wide eyes and a perma-smile. She was strangely calm, cool, and collected. She would come in ever hour or so to up my dosage and help me use the restroom. The contractions didn't start hurting until they broke my water, and they were just sure it would "get things going"...not so much!


Really, Friday is all a fog. I remember hurting sometime that morning, and taking a nice, nice, nice little pain reliever. Knocked out! Thank goodness I slept those few hours...I might not have had the energy to endure what was to come. I remember getting HOT HOT HOT. Sweating. I think the thermostat was on 50 or something. Everyone was so cold. Sorry folks...I'm the one having the baby so I get to pick the temperature! By the time the epidural lady came, I was hurting pretty bad. It took her a few tries to get it in there right, but I didn't care. The contractions were hurting worse than that little needle, so bring it on. Sadly, a few hours went by and I could still feel my contractions on my right side. The second epi guy came in...he was an actual anesthesiologist ...and he gave it another try. Reinserted that needle, but this time I could not feel a thing. The contractions were gone, and I was good to go. Visiting with folks and having a grand ol' time. Some time that evening, I started getting "hot spots" in my right hip. The worst burning, intense pain. Ohhh it hurt so bad!! They came back in to adjust things, but it didn't help. By this time, I had not eaten since Thursday at noon was getting sick just from having an empty belly. Sorry to all of you who had to watch as I threw up...four times....didn't know you signed up for that now did ya??? :)


I fought through the "hot spots" and was able to have an okay evening. I just could not believe I was still in labor. Every time my doctor came in to check me, she would get this look on her face. She was thinking the same thing I was: "this is going to be a long night". Fortunately, she was the doctor on call that evening, so I didn't have to deal with some random doctor.


My poor family...and sweet Leeah. I am sure they all thought I would be in labor for maybe 10-12 hours. Don't they know I do most things the hard way??? ;) We tried to cut up and have a good time, but let's face it...we were all done!


At 7:00 my night nurse arrived (yup..that's number 4). THANK GOD FOR HER! She was wonderful! Kept spirits high, and didn't have that "she's going to have to have a c-section" look on her face. Sometime between 7-9 p.m. my contractions started coming back. They were painful, but I was able to breathe through them and continue enjoying time with everyone. Oddly enough, my Aunt Rhonda was there seeing a friend of hers who was also having a baby. It was one big party in my room! Little did I know that party was about to come to a halt!!


The next few hours are a blurr. I remember being checked by my doctor and hearing talk of a c-section if things did not progress. My water had been broken for sometime now. My contractions picked up tremendously. One minute I was talking to everyone able to breathe through my contractions, and the next minute I was in the most intense pain I had ever been in. I kicked everyone out of the room, and just held brad's hand. No talking. No noise. Silence is what I needed. Apparently, this is when I was going through transition labor. You know...the kick your butt kind. I went from being 5 cm to almost 9cm in about 30-40 minutes.


My entire pregnancy it was just going to be me and my husband in the delivery room. I wanted to experience the birth of our son together...just our little family. Well, all that went out the window when the time came. My doctor came in and was amazed that I had progress that much so quickly. I heard the words "pushing" and "hour" in the same sentence and freaked out. Immediately I wanted my mommy. HAHAHA! Isn't that funny. Guess no matter how old you are you revert back to that stage. Brad called mom and she and Leeah both came. I am so happy they were both there. I don't know why, but I just really felt the need to have women with me who have had babies as well...not sure what they could have done for me...just needed to have them there. None of us were aware that they would take part in the delivery. My wonderful nurse gave them each a job...and that was that!!!


I really don't know how much time passed, or the events that led up to little man being born. I was in so much pain. I had to put myself somewhere else mentally. I was told that I pushed for an hour...good for a first time mom...go me! I didn't open my eyes and I didn't do all that yelling crap. Really like an out of body experience. My nurse was the best...she talked me through everything. God put her there....I have no doubt.


Nolan arrived at 1:59 a.m. Saturday morning. Took him a minute to start breathing...scarred this mama to death. He eventually figured it all out and let out this little cry. I held my breath my entire pregnancy, so I guess he thought he would do the same ;)


I was able to hold him for a little while before he went to the nursery. I needed to sleep and eat. I was wheeled up to the postpartum floor, and asked not to pass the nursery on the way. If I saw my little bean crying, I don't think I could have left him in there. The best thing for me was to get some rest. Fat chance...I didn't get to sleep until around 5 that morning and the doctor came in at 7 am to check on me. Shortly after, they brought Nolan in to be with his mommy. Who needs sleep????


Needless to say, it was a LONG labor and delivery process. I was in active labor for 22 hours. If you count the stupid night I spent in the hospital the night before it tallies to 35 hours. That's almost 40 hours of not eating...A BITE!!!


Wouldn't change a thing...all these events led up to having the most beautiful, sweet, cuddly little boy. Brad was a trooper...hung in there the entire time. Didn't pass out or get sick one time! :) I posted a few pics...beware...I am not looking my best. Many hours without a shower!!!!




Before leaving for the hospital...good thing I didn't know what was about to occur. I may not have gone!




Dr. Cothern and I. He is the doctor who delivered me!! He happened to be in the hospital that day. Calm, cool, and collected nurse went and found him. Note the baby doll. Mom brought my first baby doll and baby book...she saved all kinds of stuff from then day I was born. My calm, cool and collected nurse rounded up all the almost retired nurses on staff that day to come look. They had a party in my room reminiscing about the good ol days...don't mind the chick on the bed...I'll just hang out right here :)


Me and my baby doll....this is when we were all delirious. How long could this possibly last??



Brushing my teeth. This was Saturday and I had not showered since Thursday morning...nasty!



Nolan is here!!!!


Nurses helping him breathe better...had to give him a little oxygen.



Born one minute shy of 2 a.m. and weighed 1 ounce shy of 8 pounds



Grandma and Nolan



Mama and Nolan. This was Saturday around 9 am. I finally showered. Look at the Mother's Mask on my cheeks! Glad that goes away!


Daddy and Nolan. He seems so tiny!!


All bundled up...nice and toasty!!!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Park with PawPaw

I love this time of year. Just the right amount of crisp in the air. The trees still have their colorful leaves....just could not live in a place with out fall!!! Nolan, my dad and I went to the park today to have lunch. My dad is an outdoorsy kinda guy, and I think he is going to make Nolan one as well...whether he likes it or not!






Doesn't he look excited? How did he get big enough to swing at the park?? Ohh, how time flies!


He didn't cry, but he didn't exactly smile either :)



He is going to have to find a way to keep his shoes on if he is going to be a rock climber!




See this creek??????????????

If it had been a few degrees warmer, my crazy dad would have had Nolan creek stomping...not kidding!





This is why I love living in the great state of Tennessee. 15 minutes outside the city and you get views like this.........................



Happy fall ya'll ;)

It's a Date!!

See this cute guy?????????


He had a hot date yesterday! Recently, I have reconnected with a friend from high school. Stacy and I were pregnant at the same time, and had lots of fun talking preggo stuff via facebook. Little Savannah was born about 4 weeks after Nolan. This was our second time getting the babies together, and we had so much fun! Three hours of lunch fun to be exact!

Auntie Lisa also came along with baby Johnson. Miss Lisa is going to have another girlfriend or bestie friend for Nolan to play with in April!

Lisa and Nolan....he was fighting sleep. Why does he do that?!?!?


Nolan's date...Miss Savannah. Have you ever seen so much blond hair on a baby? Stacy had TERRIBLE heartburn/indigestion while she was pregnant. I didn't have any. There maybe some truth to that wives tale!


Lisa, Nolan, Stacy and Savannah...and mommy taking the picture!


We had so much fun ladies!!! Can't wait till the next date!