Lots to Post....Pictures to follow!

Okay...so the last four days have been busy, busy, busy. I figured I would blog first and post pictures second. So let's start at the beginning......

Thursday was my baby's 1st birthday! I decided to take off Thursday and Friday to spend the day with him and get ready for his party. So, on Thursday, my mom took off too and my Mom, Dad and I took Brody to get his first haircut. He was such a big boy! I took him to my hairstylist and he sat in the chair all by himself for the majority of the haircut. She said we should try that first rather than having him sit on my lap. He did so good....which is usual for him! He sat there and only towards the end did he get a little antsy. I have pictures that I will post next.

From there, we went and got his 1 year old pictures taken. When I called to schedule the appointment, they suggested bringing a cake or cupcake for him to eat so we could get pictures. We got him changed and took some pictures in his regular clothes first. The photographer wanted me in the first set, which I was not prepared for, but they turned out pretty good. Then we got a few of him walking, with the 1 block, and some on a little tricycle. We also got a few with my parents, which was great! Then, at the end, we brought the cupcake out and got some pictures of him with that and his "birthday boy" shirt on. They turned out great! He was not real excited about the cupcake and having it all over his hands (he is definitely my father's grandson!), but once I broke off a piece, he did eat it! We had to wait for them to develop and when we went back, the photographer said she couldn't decide on the pictures and gave us 41 to choose from. Normally, they only give you 15. I had a coupon for one free 8x10 or 10X13 and I also was able to get another free portrait and sheet. Since we couldn't decide, she said we could get all 41 poses on a CD where we could take them wherever we wanted and get extra sheets made for much cheaper than they could offer. I decided to do that because I could not decide. But, I did get a sheet of 2 5x7s of him smiling, one with my parents and then another one with his signature face (scrunching up his nose). It was perfect. And the funny part is that she asked for my permission to put the picture up in the store! Of course, I said Yes! It was definitely a great day.

So that was Thursday....on to Friday.

Brody's 12 month checkup was scheduled for Friday afternoon. Ted took off Friday to help me clean the house and get ready for the party and to take Brody to the doctor. Here are his latest stats:

Height - 31 1/4 inches
Head - 18 3/4 inches (his head was much better than last time so nothing to worry about...Thank God!)
Weight - 28.3 lbs. Much better than we thought. I totally thought he would be 30 lbs.

He is in the 96% for weight, the 90% for height, and the 80% for his head. While above normal, he is still pretty perfect! So we talked about food, his development milestones and she checked him out. All checked out great and his is doing well! We then talked about his shots. Since I am so worried about his MMR shot, I told her that at his 15 month checkup, I only wanted to do the MMR and no other shots. So, this meant he had to get 3 shots and a finger prick to check his hemoglobin, lead and iron levels. So once they got done with the shots, they sent us down to the lab to get the finger prick.

Well, when they called us back, they said that my insurance did not cover a finger prick, that they had to do an arm draw. I was a little hesitant about that, but what was I going to do. So, they stuck the needle in his arm and could not find his vein. They then proceeded to dig around trying to find his vein for what seemed like an eternity. I finally said, "can you just do the finger prick! I will pay for it!" By that time, Ted came back to see what was going on because he could hear Brody screaming. To make matters worse, since they did the finger prick, they wanted to make sure they had enough blood and took like 10 sticks of his blood! Which meant they had to squeeze his finger for like 5 mintues. It was pretty horrible. Ted said he was proud of me because he expected to come back and see me crying, but I held myself together well. Of course, when we got to the car, I wanted to break down. I hate to see him in pain and I know what it feels like for someone to stick a needle in my arm, digging around for a vein. Needless to say, we made it out in one piece.

Tab came down on Friday. She was originally going to come down later on Friday, go shopping with me for the party stuff and then spend the weekend. Unfortunately, her grandfather died on Wednesday night so the wake was Friday night and the funeral was Saturday at 1:00....the same time as Brody's party. She took off Friday, came down a little early, went with me shopping, then went to the wake after. She then helped me prepare Friday morning, went to the funeral at 1:00 and made it back just in time for Brody to eat his cake, which was the part she didn't want to miss. I totally appreciate all her help during all of this, especially considering what she was dealing with!

Saturday was his party...which was a success. He didn't take a good nap Saturday morning, which stunk, but he was pretty good considering. He was a little fussy, which we think might have been from the shots as his leg was red and swollen and he felt a little warm. We gave him some tylenol and he was much better today. He got so many great things and I think he had a good time. My parents got him a little chair with his name on it and my sisters got him a little table and chair set and a toy chest to put all of his toys in. We decided to make our dining room his playroom, since we don't have dining room table and we really don't plan on getting one anytime soon. It is working perfectly!

Today, we decided to just chill out since the last 4 days have been nonstop! It was so nice!

I was a little emotional last week considering Brody was turning 1 and I can't believe the time has gone by so fast. To make matters worse, I received a call from the daycare that Brody was on the waiting list for and they said they had a spot for him and could start on April 6th. Since we had to respond within 24 hours, I hung up the phone, called Ted. Since we weren't expecting to put him in daycare until June, this was a little early for us. We went back and forth about it and decided that we would go ahead and take the spot. I, of course, immediately started crying. I can't believe my baby is going to be going to daycare. It was a hard decision to make but I know that it will be such a good thing for him. He will definitely benefit from the socialization, which is the main reason for putting him in daycare in the first place. When I told my Dad, he said "let me sit down!" He was a little shocked it happened so soon as well. I know he will miss having Brody around, but I know they will want to take him on the weekends and my Dad has already said that he will want to pick him up some afternoons once he has gotten settled in to the place. I have my intake appointment with the daycare tomorrow at 11:00, where I will meet his teacher and go through all the important information. Once of the best things about this place is that the ratio of children to teachers is 4:1. You can't beat that! And, two of the other kids that will be with him have their intake appointments tomorrow at 11:00 too so I will get to meet them and size them up! :) Just kidding!

April 6th will be one of the hardest days for me, but I need to keep reminding myself that this will be good for him! I asked my boss if I could take that day off and she said, "no, but you can come in late. I am not going to let you stay home, going crazy all day long and being in close vicinity to the daycare that you might be tempted to pick him up early!" She knows me so well! :)

Sorry to babble, but as you can tell, the last few days have been pretty crazy. But, all in all, they were okay (with the exception of Friday) and I officially now have a 1 year old! CRAZY! Atleast I have about 1 million pictures of his first year that I can look back on! And... he is officially a walker now. He is walking all over the place...still a little wobbly, but he is walking. He is also trying to run but he does not get very far!

I am going to post pictures now! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Pictures....Finally!

Okay...here are some pictures from the last few weeks. The first ones were from Brandon's birthday party....Brody rode the little kiddie rides at Chuck E Cheese......and then we bathed him in antibacterial soap! :) Just kidding....but seriously, that place is germ-infested! The others are from the house.......just random pics! We are in the process of weaning him from the pacifier during the day and he is doing really good! He only gets his pacifier during his nap times and at night. We have given it to him when he is a little fussy when it is close to bed time or when he is out of his element, but for the most part he is doing just fine without it!

Hope everyone has had a good weekend!

Here is Brody and his Aunt Ti-Ti!

Brody checking out the ladies! :)

My crazy kid with a ball in his mouth!! He does this often! Should I be worried?

This is what I get when I ask him to say "cheese!" Love it!

He has this fixation with turning his giraffe toy upside down. He will play with it one minute and then turn it over the next. Strange.

Again, "Cheese!"

I love his expression in this picture!

Brody sporting daddy's hat

My attempt at a new Ethan-Brody picture!

Trying again...although neither one is looking at the camera!

I love this picture....it looks like Ethan is telling Brody a story!

Brody is going to be 1 next week.....Can you believe it?

So.....the past week has been pretty lazy. We haven't been doing much. Ted and I are starting to cook more at home because we will have daycare to pay for soon and it ain't that cheap! Ted went by the daycare the other day to see where we are on the waiting list and we are in the same spot. The person he talked to did say that they are getting ready to transition some kids so we may move up a spot or two. At this rate, he will be going to day care next year! I guess I should look for some other options, but it just sucks because that day care is so convenient. But...we will see.

Brody has been walking more. He has definitely taken more steps, but he still loves to crawl. And he is so funny because he always puts his right leg up and crawls more with that leg. He can definitely get there faster and he of course has figured that out. We have finally mastered the sippy cup! Thank the lord! We bought these trainer bottles to try and get him used to the sippy cup and he has really taken to them. He has totally boycotted the sippy cup until now. Although it is really funny to see him drink out of the sippy cup with water because I know he is expecting milk.

We also had our first bleed the other night. Brody was crawling around the kitchen and did a face plant on the floor. He immediately started crying and when I picked him up, I saw blood. So what do I do? Freak out with him! Ted calmed us both down and he just nicked his lip. I know there will be many more boo-boos to come. I just hate to see it when he hurts himself! I better get used to it because he is all boy! The rougher you are with him, the more he likes it. My dad has definitely figured that out and definitely takes advantage of it! :)

I am getting ready for Brody's first birthday. It is hard to believe that my baby will be 1 next week! I have said that I have very mixed emotions. While I am so glad he is growing up and thriving, I am not a fan of him becoming more independent and not needing me as much. He does so much on his own now that it is hard to let go! But, it is definitely a milestone and I am so greatful that he is a part of my life now. I am off next Thursday (for his birthday) and next Friday to prepare for his party on Saturday. My mom took of next Thursday as well (thanks Mom!) and we are going to take Brody for a haircut and then his 1 year pictures. His hair is a hot mess and it definitely needs to be trimmed. His hair is growing every which way and his poor ears are hidden as well. He looks so handsome with his hair done so I can't wait to see him!

My camera has been in my diaper bag with my parents for the past week so I haven't been able to post pictures. I will get it back tonight (since I work from home tomorrow) and will try and post pictures later!

I hope everyone has had a great week!

Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a really great day! :) I have always loved my birthday and that hasn't seem to change as I have gotten older. One of my birthday presents was a video monitor. I wanted to get one for a while, but really wanted to get one recently just to see what Brody was doing once we put him down. For a while, I figured that he went to bed as soon as we put him in the crib since I never really heard him in our monitor and he didn't seem to cry out. Well, we installed it late last week and that night, I watched him after we put him down. My little man did not go to sleep for about 30 minutes after we put him down. He was just chilling in his crib, playing with his stuffed animals and his pacifiers. It was so cute. Ted asked me, "Is there anything else on TV besides Brody?" I absolutely love this monitor and am so glad I have it now!

My girlfriend at work sent me these super cute flowers yesterday! They look like a big margarita! I thought it was the cutest idea!

After work, I asked my mom to make one of my favorite dinners rather than going out so we ate there last night. When I got to my parents house, Ted had decorated the house with some birthday decorations. It was really nice. He also surprised me with a gift certificate to New York & Company, which is one of my favorite clothing stores. I have lost more weight than I gained with Brody and some of my pants are too big so he told me to go get some new clothes! He is so sweet! :) We had a nice dinner and in the middle of dinner, Brody said Mama for the first time! For the past couple of months, he has been mouthing mama but hasn't actually voiced it. Well, he did yesterday and it was a perfect birthday present for me!

Today is Tab's birthday and I hope she is having a great day! :)

It has been a while.....

Yet again....I have failed to post as often as I would like! Today, I stayed home with Brody because both of my parents are sick. My Mom was home all last week and she went to the doctor and they said she had bronchitis and gave her some medicine. Well....my Dad started to not feel well on Friday and they were both in bed all weekend long. I called them yesterday and my Dad said he was going to take my Mom to the doctor this morning because she wasn't getting any better. So, they went this morning and my Mom got some stronger medicine to hopefully kick the bronchitis and my Dad got some meds too since he has a sinus infection. My Dad said he is starting to feel better, but I am going to stay at home again with Brody tomorrow just to give my Dad another day to recouperate! I guess it is that time of year for sickness.....I just don't want Brody to get it!

Today, I decided to go see my friend, Rawan, who had a baby boy on January 2nd. I have been meaning to go see her and it just hasn't worked outso far. Her baby boy, Nicholas, is so tiny and cute! I forgot what it is like to hold a newborn! Brody definitely looks more like a little boy than a baby compared to him. It was funny to see Brody's reaction because he has never been around a little baby before. I was holding Nicholas and Brody kept looking at me, and then looking at him and when he cried, Brody started to make noise too. I am not sure if he was jealous or just curious but it was pretty funny. I took a few pics from today! Look at all of Baby Nicholas' hair! :)

Brody going for the tag on Nicholas' bib. He is in love with tags....on everything!!!

This is his look when I tell him no....I love it! He was heading for her outlets!

This time I told him to be gentle with the baby....same look! :)

Brody has now officially taken about 4 steps on his own, but he of course would much rather crawl. He has just now started to wave, but that is pretty sporatic and he waves at himself mostly! We are working on that. We are also working on clapping. He kinda clapped tonight just once, but for the most part, just looks at Ted and I like we are crazy when we start clapping! The freaky, paranoid Mother that I am is alwasy fearful about him not meeting his milestones, but I have to remember that Brody might not do things at the same pace as other babies. I do plan on talking to his pediatrician about his development at his 12 month appointment next month. Just want to make sure we are on track and there is nothing to be alarmed about. Being a mother is worrisome and I know I will continue to worry about him for the rest of my life!


This past weekend, Tab came down and we had to run a bunch of errands on Saturday. We picked up the cutest little outfits for little Miss Mallory Mae on Saturday. I swear, they have the cutest little outfits and since she will be here in June, most of the outfits we bought her are little dresses! SO CUTE! I can not wait to see her in them. It was so much fun to shop for a little girl! I told Ted that with our next one, I know that we will have another boy just because I want a girl so bad now! But, I wanted a girl with Brody but I can never imagine not having this little guy in my life now! So, everything works out the way it is supposed to! :)

Crazy Days!

So this past week has been pretty rough! I have worked late every night and I still have to go in this weekend (at least I am thinking I will, but still keeping my fingers crossed that I won't have to). We have Ethan this week so Ted was doing alot of the running around, picking up the kids, feeding them, and entertaining them until bed time. On Wednesday, I only saw Brody for about 5 minutes because I didn't get home from work until 9:00 pm! UGH! Atleast there is a light at the end of my tunnel. The project I have been working on gets submitted on Monday so that will be a huge relief. And it is just in time since Ted has to leave on Monday for South Carolina. Atleast he will only be gone until Friday. It is pretty rough when he is not here trying to get everything done....but such is life! Ted keeps reminding me that if/when we have another kid, it won't get any easier. I understand that and I am prepared (atleast I think!)

Yesterday morning when I was taking Ethan to school, he said he wasn't feeling that great. I asked him if he thought he could make it through the school day and he said he thought he could. I told him if he felt really bad to go to the nurse.

Well....he made it through the day but when Ted picked him up last night, he had a temperature of 103. We gave him some Motrin and he chilled out for the evening. This morning, when I went to wake him up for school, I asked him how he felt and he said he didn't feel good. I took his temp and it was 103.7. No school for Ethan! I gave him some more Motrin and he went back to sleep. Ted stayed home with him today and I took Brody to my Dad's. I called Ted around 9:30 and he said his temp was 99 so that was a good sign. About 3:30 today, Ted calls me and said he was taking Ethan to the ER because his temperature was 104.7!! 104.7!!!!!!!!! OMG! I couldn't believe it. I left work and met them at the ER. At first, I thought maybe something was wrong with our thermometer. Well, not the case. When he got to the ER, his temp was 104.3. They gave him some tylenol, tested him for the flu (which came back negative) and then they figured he had bronchitis. They gave us some meds and an inhaler (he is barking like a dog) and sent us on our way. I just took his temperature about 30 minutes ago and it was 100.2. Hopefully, he is on the road to recovery.

I do have a fear that Brody could get it because I read up on bronchitis (yes on the internet, which is never really my friend) and they said it was contagious. I am working from home tomorrow and will have both of the kids with me so hopefully, Ethan will be feeling better and will not give it to Brody. But, if Brody gets it, he gets it. He has yet to get sick in his 11 months of life.....which is pretty crazy, so I am sure he is due for something. I am actually so surprised he hasn't been sick yet. I was sick at one point and so was my Dad and he didn't get it. Hopefully, he has a powerful immune system. I am keeping my fingers crossed on that too!

Since I am on the sick topic, we have officially put Brody on the waiting list for daycare. There is this really awesome place right outside of my parents neighborhood that my neighbor takes her two kids to. I have heard great things about it so even though I am super duper nervous about Brody in daycare, I think it will be really good for him. It is extremely convenient, especially for when Ted is out of town because my parents can walk there to pick Brody up. The daycare closes at 6 and I know most days, I will not be able to get there by 6 so it will be nice for my parents when they need to pick him up for me. I have already cried numerous times at the thought of someone taking care of Brody besides me, Ted or my parents. And since he is on a pretty strict schedule, I have already asked for the schedule for the class he would be in so I can start preparing him for the transition. I think it is time for Brody to have some socialization and be around other kids. Of course with that will come sickness. But we are truly lucky that he has managed to stay healthy for this long!

I initially wanted to only put him in daycare part time, but this place does not offer part-time and since we have to pay for the whole week, he will be going atleast four days a week (I haven't decided about Fridays yet.....I still want to be home with him on Fridays). We have told my Dad that he can go pick him up whenever he wants to so we will see what happens. There are about 10 people ahead of us, but we didn't want to enroll him until June anyway so hopefully, the timing will be perfect.

This blog is pretty much all over the place, but since I haven't blogged in over a week, I have much to say! Brody has taken a few steps on his own, but of course, he has defaulted to crawling because he can get where he wants to go much faster. We are also working on waving, which he has yet to do. I am trying not to freak out about that because most of the information I have read says he should be doing it by now. Sometimes, he does clench and unclench his fist when we are waving to him, but I wouldn't call that an official wave.

Here are a few pictures from last weekend. We celebrated Tab's husband Kevin's big 4-0 birthday! The second pic is Brody giving Daddy a big wet one! He is so cute.

Here is a nice picture of Brody's future in-laws! :) I keeping joking about the fact that I have already arranged Brody's marriage to Mallory Mae, although everyone thinks that might be a little too much like incest. I keep reminding them that they aren't blood related! :) And, Kevin has already said that she won't date......EVER!

I Won and Funny Videos

So...I have been battling with our insurance company for the past couple of weeks over the medication that Brody takes for his reflux. He has been on this medication for the past 3 months and when I went to get it filled for the third time, my pharmacy told me that it was no longer covered. I called my insurance company the next day, was told it was a miscommunication error and that it was covered and that my pharmacy could refill it in a couple days, allowing the error correction in the system. My pharmacist called as well because she didn't quite understand what they were talking about and was told it was not covered. I then called again the next day, and during that hour phone conversation, was told it was covered for children up to 24 months and then was later told by someone else that it wasn't covered. After all of that, I filed an appeal and wrote a 2 page letter explaining the fact that he had been on this same medication, which has been working, for the past three months and now all of the sudden it wasn't covered. Apparently, they took this medication off the drug list as of 1/1/09, but was I informed? NO! Finally, I got a letter in the mail yesterday saying that they were covering this medication for him until next January and that they were sorry for any frustration this has caused! Thank the Lord! I am glad they finally covered it because it was such a hassle. But....all is good now! :)


Yesterday, I went with Tab and Kevin to their doctor's appointment and got to see little Mallory Mae on the ultrasound. They found out for sure it is a girl! :) She was moving all around and had her legs crossed at one point. So cute!! :) I am really happy for them! I know they wanted a boy, but they are just as excited for this little girl. We then went and picked out her furniture and decided on bedding. She is halfway through and Mallory will be here before we all now it! :)


Last night when we got home, I took the following two videos of Brody. The first one is him feeding himself. He is so funny when he does it because he hasn't quite mastered how to take the spoon from his mouth yet. He absolutely can put it in, but then just chews on it. The second video is of him in the bath. We have this little fish that will spray water. The other night, I was spraying it on him and he was laughing so hard. Although he didn't laugh quite as hard, he was still laughing at it. I wish I could just bottle up that little laugh of his! It definitely brightens my day! :)