Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet. We're Hunting WIONS!!!

Sam's New Hat

Saturday evening while I was getting Sam ready for bed, I noticed he felt a bit warm. I checked his temperature and found that he was running a fever. This continued on throughout the day Sunday. It wasn't a dangerously high fever, and we're pretty sure it was teething related, but it made for a scared mommy and daddy, just the same. The Tylenol we were giving him was only doing a marginally acceptable job of keeping the fever down, so we decided to try a cool washcloth as well. Sam, in his normal roll-with-it attitude thought his new hat was funny.

Teeth, please make your appearance soon.

Bless his heart, look at how red his cheeks were!

Pbbbbbbbbbbbbb!

Sam learned how to blow raspberries this week. He especially likes to do it with a mouth full of cereal. Who taught him that?

Good Eats

Sunday was Sam's 5-month birthday, so we decided to give him some birthday....CEREAL!! (Alas, he's going to have to wait a few more months for the cake.) When we went for his check-up last month, they told us we could start solid foods at any time, but we really didn't think he was quite ready. We didn't want to push him, so we've been waiting and watching. Lately, he's taken more of an interest in us eating and has started mimicking our chewing motions. His appetite has also increased dramatically in the last few weeks.

And now, for a bunch of cute, messy pictures!!!

While I was getting everything situated, Shawn snuck in and started feeding Sam. Don't worry, though. I didn't let him have all the fun. After a few pictures, Mommy took over.

He got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Rice cereal must not taste very good, because Sam decided the strap on his highchair was better.

"Mom, this was so much easier when it was just a bottle."

Somewhere in the middle of it all, he decided eating with a spoon was FUNNY!

This is proof that Maddie really will eat anything. She was having such a fit while we were feeding Sam, so after he finished I put the bowl down thinking she'd turn her nose up at it. Yeah, right! (Don't worry...I washed the bowl on the sanitize cycle.)

Catching Some Zzzzz's

Friday night, Shawn and I decided to take a big step and put Sam in his bedroom. This may not seem like such a big deal for a 5-month old, but we have really struggled with it. We've been talking about it for weeks, and we knew we wanted to try it on a weekend just in case things went badly. But for the past several weeks we kept coming up with different excuses perfectly valid reasons for not doing it that weekend. In reality, I knew Sam would probably do fine. He's a great sleeper. It was me I was worried about. It's comforting to be able to just glance over at him during the night and be assured that he's okay.

I've been letting him nap in his bed during the day for several weeks. He just didn't seem to rest as well in there as he did in our room, so Friday night I put him down at bedtime and prepared myself for a long night.

We never heard a peep.

You'd think that would mean that I slept really well and woke up Saturday morning refreshed. No. I think I slept less Friday night than I did when he was still getting up during the night to eat. I kept waking up and grabbing the video monitor to see if his chest was still rising and falling. It didn't matter that I had the volume turned up loud enough to actually hear him breathing...I needed to see it, too.

Even though he seemed to have slept well, it must have still been a rough night. Saturday morning, I put him in his jumper and zipped in another room for a second. I figured as long as I could hear him jabbering, he was fine. After a minute, he fell silent so I peeked in to see what he was up to. This is what I saw:

What A Tangled Web We...Destroy

We have had this giant spiderweb in our front window for a few weeks now. I told myself we'd just leave it for some natural Halloween decoration, but that was really just an excuse to keep from dealing with it. In the end it was just too creepy to walk past every day, so this weekend I decided to be very brave and get rid of the spiderweb. This was a big step for me because anyone who knows me very well knows that I loathe and detest spiders. I don't really mind bugs. I mean, I swat the occasional fly and smack at mosquitoes, but in general bugs don't creep me out too bad. But they only have six legs. Spiders have two legs' worth of extra creepy going on. And hair...why do the big ones have hair? They're like vampires...sucking blood from insects in their little mummified cocoons. I love Charlotte's Web, but even as a child I wondered how a spider could be one of the good guys. She was probably just trying to help poor Wilbur stay alive long enough for her to figure out a way to spin him up in her web.

So, anyway...the spiderweb. One cannot enter into such tasks lightly. I stood in front of the window formulating my plan of attack for a few minutes. I have a little duster thing, but that wouldn't work because then it would be all dirty with spiderweb and bug carcasses, and I'd have to clean it off when I got done. No, thank you. I could just use a paper towel, but then I'd run the risk of actually touching the stuff. Um...double no thank you. So I decided to go out in the yard and gather a few sticks. I could open the window from inside the house, swirl the sticks around and get rid of all of the spider gunk, then just toss the sticks out the window. Easy cleanup.

I came back in the house, armed with my sticks and opened the window. Do you know what lives in giant spiderwebs?

FREAKING GIANT SPIDERS!!!!!!!

Icky, nasty, disgusting, creepy spiders that are just sitting there waiting to jump into your living room when you open the window. Spiders that cause 3 heart attacks and a stream of bad words to flow from your mouth as you're trying to get them out of your house without touching them. Even as I type this now, I'm shivering remembering that horrific creature scampering in through my window.

So after I scooped the disgusting, unnatural, eight-legged freak up using one of the sticks and tossed it out the window, I set about destroying his home. You guys, I stuck the stick in the middle of the web and yanked and the stick broke.

It. Freaking. Broke.

What kind of awful creature makes something out of material spun from it's butt that strong enough to break wood???

Dear Sam,

Are you already 5 months old??? I feel like I start so many of your letters with, "Are you already x months old?" but time is just slipping away so quickly. It seems like yesterday that I was wandering around Lexington in a total fog because I'd decided to take just one more test. Someday I'll tell you more about it, but I had all but given up on ever getting you without medical intervention. I can't believe that a full year has passed since that day that I told your dad I thought I was pregnant. I can still see his look of bewilderment, then deer-in-the-headlights, then sheer joy.

You had your first cold this month. I was hoping it was just allergy symptoms with the changing of the seasons, but after a couple of days, I could no longer deny that your snottiness was caused not by some pollen and ragweed, but by a nasty little virus. On top of that, we took you for your four-month shots, which made you feel loads better, I'm sure. You're generally such a happy, smiley baby, but during those days when you were sick, I'd talk to you, sing to you, make silly faces at you...anything to get you to smile...and you would smile for about a half-second then your face would crumple into a wail. You'd stick your bottom lip out and let out your hallmark Samuel Squawk. We spent a lot of time with the booger-sucker, or as you like to call it, The Instrument of Torture. You think it's child abuse really like it as evidenced by your incessant screaming shouts of joy! In fact, I've sucked so much snot from your nose with it that now when you see it, you immediately put your arms up over your nose so I can't get to it, and if I try to pull your arms down you start your hiss-and-spit-like-a-cat-in-a-fight routine that you do when you're mad...which is really hilarious, by the way. So, now that we've had a cold and recovered successfully, I think your immune system has had enough practice. We know you're able to defeat those nasty little bugs, so we talked about it and we both agreed that you're not going to get sick anymore.

You're really coming into your own as a little person. Your personality is so laid back and chilled out. Just a few weeks ago, we were shopping in hhGregg, which is what I call a boy store. Your dad calls it an oasis of "cool stuff" in a technology desert. Anyway, we're in there browsing around, and I look down in time to see you all kicked back in your stroller with your feet propped up on the safety bar, and you're completely engrossed in watching all of the televisions. I mean, eyes glazed over, mouth slightly open, not responding to me when I speak, captivated. When I finally squatted down in front of you so you were forced to look at me, I was rewarded with the biggest grin and a sweet giggle. Mom, this stuff is so cool!

Speaking of giggling, that's about all you do these days. (Sometimes you even do it while you're sleeping.) Daddy bought you a little lion rattle as an afterthought one day when we were out shopping. You think it's just the funniest thing. It's a ring with a lion head and a fuzzy mane on one side, and a little floppy tail on the other. You can do all kinds of cool things with that rattle. It's fun to chew on his head. His tail is just perfect for little hands to grab onto. And it's really funny when the lion sneaks up from behind you, jumps in front of your face and says, "Raaarr!" That's when he gets the belly laughs. With as much as you like to be startled, I'm afraid you will have your dad's love for scary movies.

On September 8th, I put you down for some belly time. You have never really liked belly time, and you usually avoid it by rolling up on your side. On this particular night, you rolled up on your side and just kept on rolling! I'm pretty sure it was an accident because you looked just as surprised as I was. I played it off as a fluke, but I knew you were close to doing it on purpose. Just two days later, I put you on your belly and went into the kitchen for just a second. When I came back, you were on your back! When you roll over, you usually look a little scared until we cheer, then you smile and laugh.

You're also getting much better with your hand control. It's so funny when I hold a toy in front of your face. You wrinkle your eyebrows, purse your lips, and reach your hands out to grab it. You have this thing you do where you hold your right thumb with your left hand and reach out the fingers of your right hand...almost like your using one hand to guide the other. Your daddy thinks it's quite ingenious and is a sign of your brilliance.

You're becoming fascinated with the dog and cats. You especially think it's funny when Maddie goes berserk over your lizard. You see, Maddie doesn't seem to mind most of your toys. Your kicktoy that sings and lights up? Nothing. The alligator on the exersaucer that yells shapes and colors? Zilch. The globe that says the abc's and plays jungle music? Uh-uh. But that darn lizard!!! Maddie could be in the middle of one of her hibernating, deep-throat snoring, dead to the world naps, but you bounce on the exersaucer and make that lizard sing the Primary Colors Song, and she comes tearing through the living room, barking like crazy. Alert! Alert! We're under attack by an annoying, singing lizard!!! You usually pause just long enough to observe all of the commotion, shoot me an impish little grin, and give another big bounce.

Sam, I think I've smiled more in the last 5 months than I did in the last 5 years combined. I love your sweet, open-mouthed grins and your funny, donkey-like guffaws. I love the way your butt sticks out if I pick you up and put you on my shoulder while you're sleeping. I love the way you yell when I'm changing your diaper. I love how you hold my hands so tightly when I'm feeding you. I love all of these things and a million other little things about you that I've memorized without even realizing it. My days are so much sweeter with you in them.

Mommy

So, I know I've just been little Miss Posty Posterton this week, but I just wanted take a minute to brag on my husband. In my earlier post today, I didn't mention that I had a mini-breakdown on Shawn last night because I just feel like I'm not doing a good enough job with Sam. I suppose it's part of being a mom...if you are constantly worrying that you're not doing a good job, it's probably a pretty good indicator that you're doing something right.

These were delivered to me at the pharmacy today. The card just said, "You're a great mommy. I love you. Shawn"

All together, now: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The Little Things

I have been increasingly stressed lately. It seems I just constantly have something going on in my mind. I'm finding it harder and harder to concentrate on any one thing because there is always this background noise in my head.

I don't get home until 6:30pm. That's just not enough time to cook supper and spend any time with Sam if he's going to have a reasonable bedtime. I feel like it's a mad dash from the time I walk into the door. And what about when he starts school? How will I be an involved mom if I'm at work until 6:00 every night? The obvious answer is to not work but I feel like I need the structure and schedule of a job. I'm not a very structured person, and I actually think I'm a better mom by working because it forces me to have a routine. What about emergencies? And sick days? If I don't work, the pharmacy can't be open. I worry about having people to watch Sam, but I want to be there when he needs me. It's so hard to balance being a responsible and reliable employee with being a good mom. It's a struggle I knew we would face, but one that I was unprepared for, nonetheless. Also, I'm still on blood pressure medicine after having Sam. STILL! What if my blood pressure never returns to normal? My doctor said that was a possibility. What if we want to have another baby? Is it irresponsible knowing ahead of time that I have high blood pressure? On top of everything else, where is the time to exercise (to try to get it down) or to do personal Bible study or be involved in any kind of service or ministry???

So last night with all of this swimming around in my head, I sat down for some much overdue Bible time. The verse in my little study guide said, "Don't worry about anything. Pray about everything." Good advice for someone who can't stop thinking long enough to read the study that goes along with the verse. So I just laid it all out. I told God everything that I was worried about. Everything. I often fall into the trap of only praying about the big things and trying to handle the little things myself. My way. So last night, I just said, "Here's my mess, God. What are you going to do with it?" After getting it all off my chest, I felt a little better.

This morning, while I was getting ready, I got a text from our babysitter saying she had been up all night with a toothache and was going to try to get in to see her dentist today. I immediately went into crisis mode. Maybe I could take Sam to work with me. My technician took a vacation day today so I would be by myself, but maybe I could make it work. Shawn shot that one down. I began running through our list of possible babysitters, but they're all college students and would have classes today. We finally settled on just taking him to her, waiting to see what time her appointment was and one of us would just leave work to get him. If it was me, I'd try to finish the day with him in the pharmacy; if it was Shawn he would just use vacation time.

As I was frantically throwing things in the car to entertain a baby at work if needed, I remembered the verse from last night. God whispered to me, "Chill out for a minute. Let's talk about this." I threw up a prayer that basically said, "I don't know what to do or how to handle this. Give me an answer that works for everyone."

Before I even got to work, I got another text from the babysitter saying her dentist was closed for the day and she wouldn't be able to get in. I suggested that she try to get an appointment with the dentist at my clinic, which she was able to do. Problem solved. She can drop Sam off to me during her appointment and then just take him back when she's done so I can finish the day. You asked for a workable solution...here you go.

This may seem like a happy coincidence to some or a normal parenting speed bump, but to me it was an answered prayer. And a lesson. One way or another, it's all going to work out. The answers will come when I need them, so I just need to hush long enough to hear them.

Manners, Please?

At what point should one teach his children that it's rude to put your feet on the table during dinner time?

Sam's New Trick

Last Friday, I put Sam down on his belly for some exercise. I zipped into the kitchen for just a second to take care of a couple of things, and when I peeked back in the living room, he was like this!



When I pretended to fuss at him for being so sneaky about it, I just got a big grin.

Birthday Surprise

We did birthday pie instead of cake. Chocolate pie...Shawn's favorite.

Sam wasn't very interested in blowing out the candle.

I love birthday surprises. However, I can rarely surprise Shawn because he usually manages to find or guess the present. This year, Sam and I managed to trick him. For the last few years, we have done a trip to some sporting event (usually an away SEC football game) for Shawn's birthday. It's something he really enjoys, and we get a mini-vacation out of it, so it's a win-win. I had Shawn convinced that his birthday trip just wasn't going to happen this year because babies really don't like going to football games. So, this was his reaction when I picked up the pie to reveal two tickets to the UK vs TN football game.

Let this be a lesson for you boys out there: When your wife wants to do goofy birthday pictures, indulge her and blow out the candle! It might not be such a cornball idea, after all!

Shawn's Birthday Pie

I decided to make Shawn a birthday pie instead of birthday cake this year. He loves chocolate pie, so Paula and I decided to whip up one for him. You just can't go wrong with Paula Deen. This chocolate pie is from her Paula Deen Celebrates cookbook, and I tweaked the recipe just a bit. The meringue is just shy of overdone...one of the hazards of baking while taking care of an almost-5-month-old, I guess. No matter...the pie was a success!









Paula's Double Chocolate Cream Pie

-1 cup sugar

- 1/4 cup cocoa (I used nearly 1/2 cup to make it DARK chocolate)

-1/4 cup corn starch

-pinch of salt

-3 cups whole milk (I did 2 cups whole, 1 cup skim)

-3 egg yolks

-1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

-1 deep dish pie crust





Meringue

-3 egg whites

-1/4 tsp cream of tartar

-4 Tbsp sugar



In a heavy-bottomed 1-quart saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Stir with a spoon to mix. Combine the milk and egg yolks and whisk until well-blended. Slowly begin adding the milk and egg mixture to the chocolate mixture, blending well. Cook the mixture over medium heat until it thickens, stirring constantly (about 5 minutes). It actually took me a little closer to 10 minutes. When it is quite thick (about pudding consistency), add the vanilla and chocolate chips. Stir until completely blended. Pour into the pie crust and allow to cool. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form, then add the sugar slowly while continuing to beat. Spread the meringue over the pie and bake in a 350 degree oven just until the peaks are browned. Serve chilled.

33 Reasons Why I Love Shawn

1. He makes me laugh.

2. He will sometimes stop and get milkshakes on the way home just because.

3. He tells me I'm pretty.

4. He stops at the store on his way home so I won't have to go with Sam on my day off.

5. He notices when I wear a new pair of shoes.

6. He helps out with household chores that other men would consider "women's work."

7. He rubs my neck when I have a headache.

8. His aftershave smells good.

9. I never have to worry about him having bad breath.

10. We make a great team in the kitchen...I chop, he seasons.

11. He lets me put my cold feet on him.

12. He really listens when I tell him every single little thing Sam has done while he was at work.

13. He forces me to keep up with technology. If it wasn't for him, I would still not be texting.

14. He keeps me outfitted in UK clothes.

15. He doesn't look at me like I'm crazy if I'm crying for no reason.

16. He goes Christmas shopping with me.

17. He lets me obsess until I'm satisfied when we're making large purchases.

18. He pushes me to go ahead & make a decision when we're making large purchases.

19. He has good taste in music.

20. He's nice to animals.

21. He likes pool days, too.

22. He can cut loose and act goofy.

23. He doesn't make too much fun of me for liking corny mystery shows like Matlock and Magnum, P.I.

24. He says things like, "in the main back" and "nothing more, nothing less."

25. He's completely transparent and honest...sometimes a little too honest.

26. He doesn't mind to share food when we go out to eat.

27. My right hand fits just perfectly in his left.

28. He cuts Sam's fingernails because he knows I don't like to do it.

29. He's very picky about his ties.

30. He can reach stuff on the top shelf.

31. He looks cute with a 5 o'clock shadow...even if it takes him a day and a half to get one.

32. He knows me better than anyone. He knows all of my secrets. He knows my goods and bads. I can tell him the things I don't even like to admit to myself.

33. He loves me anyway.

Happy 33rd birthday, my Shawnie! What a sweet year it has been! Thanks for putting up with pregnancy hormones, post-partum hormones, Mommy Brain, and all of my other little quirks. You've mourned the sad times and celebrated the happy times with me. There's nobody else I'd rather go on this crazy ride with. I love you always and forever.

Labor Day Weekend

Shawn had been preparing Sam all last week for the first UK game of the season. And by "preparing" I mean they've been sitting in the recliner watching NFL games every evening. I'm not sure what Shawn was more excited about--the start of another UK football season, or watching his first UK game with Sam.

Sam decided to get in the spirit of things Friday night by practicing his ball-handling.

Saturday, Shawn had some friends over to watch the game. Sam didn't really understand what all of the commotion was about, but he really thought it was funny when the guys hooped and hollered. He provided the halftime entertainment by almost rolling over and being cute in general.

Here he is all decked out in his UK gear.

Yesterday, Sam and I hit the Labor Day sales. We bought winter clothes for him...assuming he doesn't outgrow them before winter...which is a distinct possibility. We also bought a HIGHCHAIR!!! Sam is almost ready to start solid foods. We went out to eat one night last week, and we noticed he was watching us very closely and was making chewing motions while we ate. I think in a couple of weeks he'll be good to go....more stories and pictures to follow.

Sam is a good shopper and was content to just cruise along while I tried out the different highchairs, taking them apart, folding them up and obsessing over which would launder the best.

His new thing is to prop his feet up on the safety bar of his stroller. I'm sure maximizing his comfort was exactly what the manufacturer had in mind when they installed that thing.

I really don't have any idea what Daddy was saying or doing at this point, but it was clearly very funny.

Random Thoughts Thursday

Are leggings ever a good idea, fashionably speaking? Seriously, I cannot think of a single time I've seen anyone in leggings and thought, "Wow...she looks really good in those!" Outside of wearing them for some athletic activity in extremely cold temperatures, I kinda think they should be against the law. And they're an especially bad idea during pregnancy. The words "maternity" and "leggings" should never be used together in the same sentence. No pregnant woman, no matter how fit and slender she is, is going to look good in them!


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We've been trying to build Maddie's relationship with Sam. She's never been very fond of children, but we're hopeful that she'll at least tolerate Sam since she'll be around him all of the time. We've always known the way to Maddie's heart is through her stomach...this dog would sit down and read a book if it meant getting a box full of treats. So pretty much every day since we brought Sam home, Shawn or I have sat in the floor with him and petted Maddie. If she's good to him, she gets a treat.

She's really smarter than us.

The result is that now every time Maddie sees Sam, she goes crazy trying to lick his feet, hands, ears...whatever body part is accessible. If I'm sitting in the recliner feeding him, she's stretching her neck up to get a taste of Sam. If we're in the floor on a blanket, she's leaning around me to bathe his head. Then she sprints off to the garage door because that's where we keep her treats.

Oddly enough, he doesn't seem to mind the dog slobber. He smiles and sometimes even giggles at her antics. I just hope we're teaching her to be nice to him and not that he tastes delicious.

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We went to my nephew's soccer game last weekend. Apparently, soccer is just not Sam's sport of choice. He really felt like his time would be better spent practicing his Superman maneuvers. Luckily, he was dressed appropriately.