What We've Been Up To

Well, things are finally starting to get better around here. I'm feeling better, Andrew is out of school, and I've got one day left! I've made it to 15 weeks and the nausea has subsided. I still get sick in the morning and afternoon, but it just comes in one wave and then goes! We have been going outside a lot! Andrew loves to be outside. If we ask him if he wants to go outside he says "Yeah" really loud with a huge smile and runs to the door. He especially likes the front yard, because he likes to go on walks. He runs the whole way or holds the leash and walks Gracey. It's really funny! He is so active these days! Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

We took a trip to Conway and Andrew enjoyed going out to the store and riding on the mule with his Grandad. He almost fell asleep...almost!
Here he is doing some painting.

His Grandad was teaching him to blow the duck call. He can actually kind of do it.

Here he is walking his dog. He gets a very determined look on his face!

It was time to go home, but not time to go inside! Anytime you ask him if he wants to go inside he says "No" and shakes his head.

Eight Things...And Three New Posts!

I have finally updated our blog. There is this post and two more (with pictures)!

My friend Laurie tagged me to do eight things and since Andrew is napping I think that I will! Here are the rules...mention the person that tagged you, complete the list of eight things, tag eight of your wonderful blogger friends, go tell them you tagged them

Eight things I look forward to:
* Having this baby. I HATE being pregnant. I know some people love it, I don't. I throw up all the time, have NO energy, can't be around anything that has a distinct smell, can't eat any of the foods I normally love, etc. etc. etc. Now, just to explain, I love being a mom. I love kids- I'd have several if I didn't have to actually HAVE them. So, for the record, love babies...hate pregnancy.
* Summer vacation. The month of April creeped by and I'm hoping that May will go a little faster!
* Weekends- especially weekends with nothing going on!
* Seeing my friends- I don't get to see them a lot because everyone's schedules are busy or we have kids or we live far away.
* Christmas- always have, always will
* Bubble Baths- they're really a treat, because I am usually to tired to take one when I have the opportunity, so when I actually do it, I love it!
* Finding out of this baby is a boy or a girl. I think we've got eight more weeks until then! I'm just curious. This pregnancy is different in a lot of ways, but similar in a lot of ways to the last one, so I'm curious to see if a girl or a boy is causing me to feel this way.
* Having enough energy to clean my house myself. So far, I haven't been able to clean like I want to and Jason has been kind enough to take over most of the chores I do, but there is just something I truly enjoy about scrubbing cabinets and mopping floors. So, once I feel good again I plan to clean, clean, clean!

Eight things I did yesterday:
* Ate a good breakfast of waffles and little smokies sausages (I love them when I'm pregnant) all dipped in syrup.
* Went to work- I only went for two days this week because Andrew had been sick.
* Picked Andrew up from school
* Watched it hail outside- I would say "pop" everytime it would his the ground and Andrew would laugh histarically!
* Stopped Andrew from plugging in his breathing maching- he had pneumonia all week.
* Stopped Andrew from taking out one of the outlet covers so he could plug his breathing machine into a different outlet
* Took away the breathing machine
* Took some medicine to keep me from throwing up (I threw up A LOT on Thursday, so I got some new medicine) and passed out soon after!

Eight things I wish I could do:
* Feel great during pregnancy
* Know what Andrew is going to destroy before he does it
* Not get frusterated when things get difficult
* Dance
* Take really good pictures
* Go a day without washing my hair
* Not ever wear makeup again
* Go to work only on days that I felt like it

Eight shows I watch:
* Desperate Housewives
* Brothers and Sisters
* Gray's Anatomy
* Private Practice
* Ugly Betty
* Dancing With The Stars
* 18 Kids and Counting
* Old sitcoms on TBS and Nick at Night

I tag anyone who wants to do this. I always think they are fun to read!

Ally Finally Had Enough!

If you look under his right eye you can see a large cat scratch!
Most of you know about Andrew's love for our fat cat Ally, and that Ally has loved him back for some reason. Well, Andrew has gotten a little big aggressive and tries to tackle Ally or pull his tail and other things that cats just don't enjoy. Jason and I have been trying to teach Andrew how to gently pet Ally and he has learned that he can pat him softly. Andrew and I were sitting on the floor and Ally was right there with us so we were petting him and all of a sudden Andrew just pounced on that cat and had Ally pinned to the ground. Ally doesn't have claws on his front paws but he does in the back, so when he was trying to escape he scraped Andrew's cheek. Andrew looked up at me and was holding his face and starting to cry a little bit. It really hurt his feelings that his Ally cat would scratch him. He got over it pretty quickly and was after that cat again!

Andrew's Dedication

Two Sunday's ago we had Andrew dedicated at our church. Usually it is done when they are babies, but we wanted to go ahead and have it done. If I had only known I would have waited and done both at once! It was a really nice service and our families were able to be apart of it. Andrew did really great. We thought it would be at the beginning of church, but it was at the end. Andrew lasted about 10 minutes before he had to go to the atrium with Jason and stay there until the end of the service! We are so proud to have such a special little boy!

Finally, A New Post!

I'd say that things have been busy around here, but that would be a lie! Things have actually kind of slowed down- mainly because I have made them. Andrew is still busy though! I have been feeling awful followed by miserable, but am starting to feel a little bit better. The Dr. upped my dosage of Zofran and that's helping I guess. I still get sick almost everyday, but I am used to that from Andrew. They say that the sicker you get the healthier the baby. I think that I belive that phrase, because Andrew was a VERY healthy 32 week preemie- he didn't need to be on a breathing machine or have any problems with his organs and I got sick every day with him. So I can tolerate it for 31 more weeks...I hope! Anyway, here are some pictures of the last couple of weeks.

Andrew enjoys riding his tricycle
One of his favorite things to do is get my hairdryer and hairbrush and "dry" his hair after his bath. He has also learned to pull out the outlet covers and so I often catch him trying to plug in the hairdryer. He also does it with the vacuum cleaner and the phone charger.

Here he is last Saturday. You wouldn't know that he had been in the ER the night before because he couldn't breathe. He was having trouble breathing late Friday and so we called the Dr. and they said we needed to get him in right away so we should just go on to the ER. Thankfully, Mercy's new hospital is nice and they got us right in. We weren't even there for 2 hours. We had a couple of breathing treatments and a chest X-Ray that came back clear. He just had some bronchitis. He had to miss the big Easter Egg hunt on Saturday morning because of that. Oh well, at least he didn't know that he didn't get to go!

Andrew got some new Easter shoes on Saturday. When we took them out of the box he went "OOHHH" and had to have them on. We put them on over his footed pj's and he was just so proud of his new shoes!

He really didn't want to take them off! He cried when he had to go to bed because he wanted to wear them.

We died eggs, but they didn't turn out really great. We didn't have any vinegar (that's something only a mother would remember to get at the grocery store and seeing as I haven't been since mid-March due to the smells in there we didn't have any) without vinegar the color does not stick, except for apparently the pink. So Andrew had a dozen pink Easter eggs.

Here we are at church on Sunday. Andrew looked so cute in his Easter outfit. It was the first smocked outfit I have put him in. I really liked it. Excuse my outfit, it was cold and rainy and the outfit I had bought to wear suddenly didn't fit right!

The other night Andrew (in his Easter shoes- per his request) decided that he needed to make a phone call. He drug the chair from the kitchen table over to the cabinet and stood up.

He got the phone and "dialed" the number.

Then, he had to sit down. It was a long conversation!

Well, that's what has been going on around here lately. I'm just worn completely out. My house hasn't been cleaned according to my cleaning standards since Spring Break. I'm about to go crazy. My mom is coming up this weekend and she said that she'd help me get it cleaned up. Let's hope that we do, because I'm about to lose my mind! Andrew has been helping with the vacuuming thank goodness!

Things Are Changing

Well, things are changing around our house. We found out that we're going to be having a baby in November. It's pretty surprising- as we are not ready to have a baby in November, but we're realizing that it's happening and are beginning to get excited! I am just enjoying the joys of early pregnancy- the nausea, vomiting, indigestion, heartburn, etc. etc. For those of you who don't know my pregnancy with Andrew was not pleasant and resulted in his arrival at 32 weeks. So needless to say I am totally panicked! I've already had one doctor's appointment and have called three times to discuss my symptoms- yes, that's right, I'm going to be a difficult patient, because I did not complain last time and spent 19 hours in preterm labor before I called the doctor because I "didn't want to be difficult". So "difficult" is my middle name this time. They have put me on Zofran for nausea and vomiting- it's what they prescribe to patients going through chemo to prevent nausea. So far it hasn't worked, so they upped my dosage yesterday and we'll see what that does. This pregnancy is different from Andrew because every thing I smell makes me want to throw up. Literally, everything! Jason had to move the trash bags from the pantry to the garage because I couldn't stand the smell anymore. Yesterday I smelled them and immediatly got sick. I ran to the bathroom and Andrew followed- of course- and I told him "no, no Andrew, it's yucky". He repeats "yucky" and then slams the toilet lid on my head- hard! So that's kind of how it's been for me over the last couple of weeks. I pretty much just lay on the couch and pray that I don't have to throw up because I usually end up with a toddler on my back! I go back to the doctor in two weeks- they're monitoring me a little bit closer this time due to Andrew's early arrival- so they're going to do an ultrasound then and I'll post a picture of this little one.

Enjoying Spring Break!

Well, Spring Break has finally arrived for us and we've enjoyed it so far. We've played outside, done some shopping, had a couple of playdates, and had our 18 month checkup! What we haven't done is house work...yet! Here are just a few pictures of the fun we've been having.

Andrew loves playing outside, but he can't quite walk up our steep driveway! He likes to go on walks, but he'd rather walk himself then ride in the stroller. If only I could ride in the stroller and he could push me!
The other night I decided to cook a good meal for Andrew. I made homemade meatballs (NOT the kind that go in spaghetti), mashed potatoes, peas, and rolls. He enjoyed licking the potatoes off the beater, but he didn't enjoy my dinner =( He's going through a picky stage! He did like the rolls, but I can't take to much credit for those they were from a package!
He also thought it was fun to wipe the mashed potatoes on the dishwasher.

Andrew's friend Penny came over to visit yesterday. He enjoyed playing with her. They had some crackers and he was wiping her face off after she ate them. How sweet! He also opened the door for her to get in his car and he pushed her around.

He only pushed her into two cabinets and one door! Today was his 18 month checkup. You might be wondering what brand of diaper we are using. Well, it's a Huggie's little swimmer diaper. I got him up this morning and realized that we were out! I thought of the phrase from that new In the Motherhood show that's coming on ABC about using paper towels and tape (our pediatrician also suggested that), but I found some little swimmers in the bathroom closet! I will have to say they aren't extra absorbant, because when we got home he was soaked!

From the moment we walked in Andrew would not let go of me. He had his arms wrapped around my neck and his head buried in my shoulders. It was very sweet...and relaxing. I'm normally chasing him all around that place! He even let me read Green Eggs and Ham to him. THE WHOLE BOOK! Then, he wanted to sit in his own chair and read it to himself.

He decided that he'd tell the doctor all about his past 18 months! The only thing that he can't do is name his body parts. I just haven't taught him that. He can point to and name the mop, vacuum, and pledge. He also knows exactly what to do with them, but if you ask him where his nose is, he couldn't tell you! We'll work on that...I guess I'll just let my house get dirty!

But not today! We had to get a new mop, because Andrew decided to use ours to mop the garage floor. It got pretty nasty, so we bought a new one at Wal-Mart. I was trying to figure out a way to let him carry it in the shopping cart, but there was no way to do it without MAJOR damage to the store. So, I set the mop in the back of the cart and Andrew wiggled his little body around and screamed "AAAAHHHH MMOOOOOPPP!" He was so sad. He got the mop out as soon as we got home (notice, no pants due to the little swimmer incident!).

He also emptied the bags and found the pledge. He went to the bathroom and got some toilet paper to wipe with and went on his way cleaning!