Fave Foto Friday

I'm stealing this idea from another blog I read.

Every Friday I will post a favorite picture.

There are so many to chose from. Hope you enjoy!

He looks so much like...

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

What goes down, sometimes comes back up!

We have not seen this happy face in a few days. Luckily Krystyna documented this rare occasion! Poor Daniel has been diagnosed with acid reflux. I saw this coming. He was getting more and more unhappy with each feeding. And his spitting up was becoming much more projectile. I was doing all I could to avoid medication but it was only getting worse. Dr. Sweet wasn’t available so we saw a family practice doctor in the office. He was very good and I’m thinking we may have found a doctor for Michael and I.

When they weighed him in I was astonished at the weight gain! He is weighing in at a hefty 13 lbs. 15 oz. They say that you can’t over feed with breast milk. I hope this is true.

I think I may have given birth to a future Dallas Cowboys linebacker!

Weekend Wrap-up

Well this weekend went much better than last. We celebrated another birthday but this time without a dog fight!

Friday night we went to Cleburne to meet up with a dear friend and her boyfriend. Elaine and Michael worked together at Cleburne Middle School two years ago. If it wasn't for the unexpected opening in Corsicana, he'd still be in Cleburne. When I met Elaine two years ago I thought she was a very goofy, crazy and larger than life person. More than I could handle! Now that I've gotten to know her I still think she is a goofy, crazy and larger than life person. But I'm so glad she's in my life! She absolutely fell in love with Daniel on Friday. I'm surprised she didn't try to smuggle him out.






Our Burrito Baby at the game.
It got a little too cold for him.










Saturday Daniel and I went up to the civic center for the Veteran's Day Celebration. My dad was performing. There were several great performers. Luckily Daniel waited to get fussy and fill his diaper just after my dad sang. But we left after our stinky dash to the bathroom. I thought I'd spare everyone Daniel's opinion on the whole program. Hopefully we didn't miss too much more. The music was inspiring but not as much as the pictures they showed and the tons of veterans from wars as far back as WWII. We owe these men and women more than we could ever repay.


Sunday after church we headed down to my mom's to celebrate Jennifer's birthday. She turned 26 on the third. We missed David and Natalie due to other obligations but had a great time anyway. If you notice the picture we had to improvise on the candle. I forgot to bring birthday candles so my mom found a scented votive to use instead. After we stuffed our face with cake and ice cream we played a board game called "Loaded Questions". I wish I could say I let the birthday girl win, but really she kicked butt!







Happy Birthday Aunt Jenn!

Halloween, Birthday Cake & Dog fight . . .

Baby Ninja Daniel

Daniel celebrated his first Halloween in Italy this year. Italy had their annual fall festival so we got dressed up and crashed the party! They had hot dogs and hamburgers. I ate Daniel's share. And lots of games to play. We won candy and treats at every game! I will admit that the only game we didn't cheat at was the Cake Walk. We won that play-doh and crayons fair and square.

We definitely cheated at this one! -----My baby can karate chop your baby!






Our. . . I mean Daniel's pumpkin was heavy!






On Saturday I experienced Costco! My mom, Jennifer, Krystyna and I went grocery shopping at Costco. We decided to get the bulk items and split them between us. Once we got home we split up everything in the middle of my living room. I wish I had taken pictures of the whole thing. I hadn't seen so much food in my house at one time! It was actually kind of fun. We are planning to do this again. Next time with a bigger vehicle or two.



Wake me up when we get there...zzzzzzzzzz







That night we celebrated Barrett's 26th birthday. Michael grilled up some turkey burgers and hot dogs for everyone. We had a good time sitting around talking and watching the football game. Don't ask me which one, I didn't really watch it.

Happy birthday Uncle Bear!



While cleaning up our mess from dinner I thought I'd check on my dogs out back. Frito was barking his "tattle-tale" bark that made me think something was going on. When I stepped outside I found my two bigger dogs, Daisy and Gretchen, in the throws of a major fight. This wasn't like all their other scuffles. These dogs meant business and nothing I could do would stop them. I yelled for Michael who was able to split them. The fight got so out of hand that Daisy was injured pretty badly. A patch of skin from her left front leg was torn and required a trip to the emergency vet in Mansfield. Sadly they didn't do much for her because they wanted way too much money up front. (My dogs are very special to me but I believe the vet was taking advantage of the situation.) So they wrapped Daisy up and gave us some meds to get by until Monday. Michael took her to the vet here in Waxahachie who was able to stitch her up for a tenth of the cost. She's doing much better and has a crazy little limp to get around. Hopefully in a few weeks she can go back outside and play nice with Gretchen.

Two months and growing!

I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger. Now I know why new moms don't post as often. I will never be ugly about that again!

Daniel is growing like crazy! He has his two month appointment tomorrow, that I'm not really looking forward to. He will be getting his first shots. My guess is that they will tell me that my little man is just that, a little man! He is getting longer and fatter by the minute. I will have to update tomorrow with his newest stats.

I think he has fallen in love with his nanny, Krystyna. I hear him laugh and coo at her nearly every morning. A small part of me selfishly wants him to only do that for me. But I'm glad that he loves her because I know she loves him.

I wish I could say this picture of Michael and Daniel was posed...

but it wasn't.

Thank you GG for letting us take pictures in your flower bed. I hope we didn't step on too many!

Sharin' the love!

Long time no blog!

Well, we have another computer up and running again. Thanks to Hurricane Ike and a friend of ours, we were able to score a perfectly good computer being tossed out. Unfortunately it doesn't have the capacity our other one did for all my pictures so I am trying to be very choosy about what I load up so I can show them off to the blog world.

As far as updates I don't have too many. We got our car up and running again. Luckily it was just the battery! We were convinced it was the starter because the sound it was making. Jerrod suggested we trying jumping the battery before shelling out the cash for a starter. Sure enough, the computer guru was right. He joked before that about knowing nothing about repairing cars only computers. So we only bought a new battery. Thank God!

I start work on Monday the 13th. My feelings are torn about this transition. I'm happy to be back around other adults. And doing something besides house work and laundry all day. But I'm not looking foward to it because of Daniel. Especially on days he's not feeling well. I just want him to know that I'm there to cuddle him and try to make him happy. Luckily we have decided to hire an amazing nanny. Her name is Krystyna. She came over a few times when I first brought Daniel home to help me out. She is so great with him; I can't imagine him with anyone else outside the family. Sadly she will only be here until the end of the year. She goes back to school in January. I'll hate to lose her but will cherish the time she's here.

Michael has been busy at work and will be getting even busier. In fact, he will be spending three nights of the five day week late into the night in Corsicana. He, along with the theater teacher, will be putting on the first musical in fifteen years at the high school in January. They will be performing Grease. (I always wanted to be Sandy. Who wouldn't want to kiss John Travolta?! Who was your favorite character?) They just finished the auditions and rehearsals start ASAP. Which means a lot of time away from home. All of this on top of his yearly concerts and contests. Please pray he copes with the stress okay. And pray that Daniel and I cope as well. It's going to be hard without him during the week.

Enjoy the pictures. I know they're a long time coming!

At three weeks he's too fast for the camera!

One month old on September 27th!

Michael turned 31 on September 26th!

Mr. and Mrs. Jerrod and Alecia "Lisa" Johnson
But I don't want to leave Houston yet!

Krystyna and Daniel getting some fresh air.

Six weeks old.

I have the cutest baby!

(I'm a little biased.)

One of my favorite onesies, it says "I'm not a girl".

Believe it or not, someone actually asked me if he

was a boy or a girl that day!

To top it off, the onesie is blue.

This is the most random picture of all.

How lazy do you have to be to actually use this product?!

If you have one, sorry if I offended you.

BUT SERIOUSLY!

OMG! Where has the time gone?

Sorry for the lack of updates guys. While some of the time it was just total blog neglect, this past week has been out of my hands. Our computer has decided it was done playing and took it's toys home. In other words our computer is no longer working. And it's not as simple as replacing one little part. Oh no! Michael built this computer nearly five years ago so the fact that it's lasted this long is a true testament to his skills. Sadly the piece that needs replacing is no longer sold in stores and neither is a lot of the complimentary parts. So, we basically need a whole new system minus the hard drives. Luckily, there is nothing wrong with those and my hundreds, no exaggeration, of pictures are still safe and sound. So, we are temporarily using his laptop from work to check email and such. Sorry no picture updates for a little bit.

There has been so much going on! Not only has the computer decided to quit but so has my car! Is this God's way of telling me I don't have to go back to work on the 13th? (Don't panic Candi!) My car's starter has died. We are working on getting that replaced. Keep us in your prayers as our cash flow is low right now. God always has a way of helping us out in these situations.

Also, our dear friends Jerrod and Lisa got married on Wednesday, October 1st! We are so excited for them. It was a quick trip to the JP with hugs and kisses all around. They are wanting to throw the "big" shindig sometime next year as well as possibly start a family. Lisa, by the way, is doing so much better. She really seems to back to her old self. They are still trying to figure out the right formula for all her medications. She is also trying to find a new rheumotologist (sp?) without much success. If anyone knows of a good one in Houston please let me know! Continue to keep them in your prayers.

While I do have tons of pictures of Daniel I can't figure out how to post them without putting them on Michael's laptop. So be patient. If you wait, they will come. He went to see the doctor on Sept. 29th. (I was told incorrectly by a nurse that he needed to be seen at one month.) Oh well. That gave us a chance to meet his new doctor that we just love and I'm glad we went. He of course is growing like a weed and weighing in at 10.5 pounds! The doctor is a wonderful woman that had my very fussy and hungry baby hypnotized for about 15 minutes. She reassured me that he is growing beautifully and to come back for his two month appointment where we will discuss and administer immunizations. This is where I'm on shaky ground. While I know that these shots are vital, I'm concerned about the amount and timing of the shots. Why so many at one time? Can't they be spread out more? I guess these are questions we will discuss at his next appointment. What are your thoughts on the immunization debate?

As for me, I'm doing great. I had my six week post-partum today, one week early. The doctor's wife makes personalized burp rags for his patients as a congratulatory gift. It's so cute. My doctor is just great. I think I'll continue seeing him even if he's an hour away. Good doctors are so hard to find! He even said he's looking forward to seeing baby number two. Everything appears to be great and I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Can you believe it?! Sadly I still have lots of toning to do. Will my stomach ever be the same? It looks like a deflated balloon! TMI? Well, luckily I was wanting to lose some weight before I got pregnant so now I'm back to my starting point. It can only go down from here. Right?!?! Just pray that I don't get discouraged and that my "new mom" schedule will keep me busy and distracted enough to do just that.

Well, I guess that's all for the updates. I will figure out some way to get some pictures posted ASAP for you. There are some cute ones!

Update on prayer request

We got a call from Jerrod saying that the blood clot that was found in Lisa's brain is no longer there! Thank you God!!

She does still have the original blood clot that is located in the area of her shoulder. I can't remember where exactly he said. But the doctors feel like she is well enough to leave the hospital. Jerrod and Lisa will be staying in Detroit for the remainder of the week to allow her newest medications to "marinate". Once they feel she is able to safely travel they will return to Texas. Their current plan is to return on Sunday. Please continue to pray for them during this time of healing.

God is such an awesome God!

Prayer Requests

Please take a minute to read and pray over the prayer requests we have listed in the margin. The list seems to grow everyday and they are really on our hearts.

One request that I would really like to point out is our dear friends from Houston, Jerrod and Lisa. I don't normally like to mention other peoples' names but I feel we really need to this time. Lisa has a very severe case of Lupus that sometimes causes her to be hospitalized. Well, this weekend was no different.

While in Detroit for a friend's wedding Lisa had another relapse. She has been in the hospital in Detroit where the doctors have found a blood clot. The clot is in her brain and can be fatal if it moves. Right now they have her on blood thinners hoping to clear it up.

Please pray for the doctors' wisdom to get her through this and back home to Texas. Also pray for Jerrod while he is by her bedside.

Look what I can do...

I go back to work in about four weeks and thought I should start to prepare myself and Daniel for that transition. So, I decided to see how Daniel would do on a bottle. I was able to pump a little and after nursing him for a little bit I handed him over to Daddy for a bottle trial. I have to admit that I'm a little hurt how well he took to it. I guess there was a small part of me that was hoping he'd put up a little fight. But he didn't. Is this the beginning of not needing just his mommy? But you can't be attached to Mom forever, right? I don't think I'm ready for that. This means I have to let other people help me even more! (YIKES! Control freak panic attack!)

"What's the big deal? It's food! I'll take it however I can get it."

Pictures

Here's pictures for those of you who don't come here to read.

I know you're out there!

ENJOY! :0)

Guess who's in charge of refreshments!

I like lots of lotion Daddy!

Getting by with some help from my friends...

Hey mom, look at me and Krystyna!

This man looks a little familiar...
tired eyes, blue scrubs, needs a shave...

IT'S DR. FORD!
(Who brings a camera to their OB/GYN appointment?!?!)

Two weeks and another miracle!

Don't worry folks. I won't bore you with weekly posts of every little thing Daniel has been doing. But, I'm on maternity leave! What time do you think it is when I do a post? So bear with me. Trust me, once I start back to work, you'll think I disappeared!

I will tell you that he's doing great. He seems to have discovered his hands. It's so funny to watch him discover the world around him. Now if I could just get up the courage to clip his little finger nails before he scratches himself. I'm still trying to learn his cries. Right now the "checklist" method is working for us. Hungry? Check. Gas? Check. Want cuddle time? BINGO! Surprisingly, he doesn't cry when he has a dirty diaper. (Just like a boy. Doesn't mind being dirty!) We did have our first official bath this week! It started out a little rough. He pooped within minutes of being in the tub. So we moved him to the sink. At least he let me finish bathing him before peeing! Needless to say, we will schedule bath time a little better next time. We didn't get any still pictures but were able to get some of it on video.

I went to see my OB/GYN today for my two week post-partum. The doctor admitted that he probably figured the due date incorrectly. We both laughed and said oh well! Something else for me to smile about is that I'm just four pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight!! I couldn't believe it. Now if I can just lose an additional ten to twenty pounds. I don't think that's too big a goal. Do you? LOL (I'm praying for a miracle.)

In other news, a couple in our small group had their second baby last night. That was my original due date! Even crazier is that they went to the weekly meeting and left some time after nine. The baby was born at 11! (I wonder, what's her secret?) Pray for lots of rest and recovery for mom. Her labor progressed so quickly she wasn't able to receive any pain medication.

Addelyn Kate Allen was born 9-9-08 at 11 P.M.

She weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz.

And will be joining big sister Avery.

Congratulations Ryan and Leah!

Another of God's miracles has arrived!

There has been another bundle of joy welcomed into this world.

Mason Reece was born this morning at 3:25 at a whopping 9 lbs. 14 oz.

Congratulations Brad and Kammy!!

Too soon for a montage? Oh well. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

One whole week!

I can't believe it's already been a week. My beautiful boy has been such a blessing in our lives already that I can't even put into words. I still stare at him sometimes and think "Wow, I really get to keep him?" I was telling someone the other day I keep waiting for someone to walk in my door and say, "I'm here to pick up my son. Thanks for watching him." But no one has come yet, he's still here. And he's all mine!! (I know I'm weird.)

We had our first doctor appointment today. Although he lost quite a bit of weight by the time we left the hospital we may have cracked the code on nursing because he's gaining it back! He weighed in at 7 lbs. 9 oz. He also seems to be getting longer by the minute. Although I'm not real confident in the accuracy because he was so squirmy, he is now at 21.5" long. And to top it all off, literally, his pumpkin head measured in at 14.5". (Obviously taking after his father!) The doctor didn't give me the percentages that most people quote and I didn't think to ask. So maybe next time. He did so good today. He barely fussed at all while being tossed around by the doctor. He even did really good when getting his second PKU. I also wanted the doctor's opinion in regards to the heart murmur. She checked and double checked and said that she doesn't hear anything remotely related to a murmur. PRAISE GOD! I'm glad I went with my instinct and didn't let the hospital pedi scare me. (Never be afraid to ask for a second opinion!) I was very impressed with my little man! Of course it doesn't take much these days. If he burps for me after a feeding I'm happy.

We've had so many visitors in the past week I've almost lost count. It's amazing how loved my little man is. My mother has been a tremendous help. She's been coming by everyday to do something as simple as laundry or fixing me breakfast or lunch. She of course takes advantage of the opportunity to spend time with Daniel. Who can blame her?! Besides, if I can get a few more hours of sleep while she loves on the baby I won't turn her away. Our Sunday school class and "Small Group" at church have also been generous enough to bring us dinner each day. That alone has also been a great help. Another wonderful surprise is that my parents have "surprised" us with the travel system that Michael and I registered for. It's the car seat/stroller combo. We couldn't be more excited. My mother and I are going to pick it up tomorrow morning. (Please don't think we've been traveling without one. I was able to get one from a friend until we could get the one we wanted.) We just can't believe the generosity of everyone. It really means the world to us.

Continue keeping us in your prayers! Michael started back to work on Tuesday and I'm trying hard to make sure at least one of us gets some sleep right now. Also pray for my continuing recovery. Although I do have to say I've been feeling pretty good. As for Daniel, pray that we get this nursing thing figured out. Some days are better than others. As I'm sure some of you moms know.

I will post pictures soon. I have tons to show.