100th post!!

Wow. I can't believe that this is my 100th post on this blog. Way to go me!! I plan to follow blog tradition and post 100 fascinating (or not so fascinating) things about me. Enjoy!

1. I am 100% consumed by this scary hurricane threatening my home town once again.
2. I did not sleep a wink last night and don't think I'll sleep tonight either.
3. It's like deja vu.
4. Praying the storm spares New Orleans this time around.
5. I know you aren't surprised that my first few were about the hurricane.
6. Did I mention I'm consumed??
7. So about me...I was born on June 18, 1980 and I am most certainly a Gemini ;)
8. I grew up in a mixed family situation. My older brother and I have the same mom and dad. My younger brother has a different dad but same mom. I have a half sister and two half brothers who have the same dad as I do, but different moms. Follow me?
9. "Half" is usually never used when asked our relationships to each other and I'm very close to my sister.
10. My "step" dad adopted my older brother and I when we were 4 and 2 yrs old.
11. I call him Daddy :)
12.I was, and still am, a huge animal lover.
13. My first pet was a white hamster I named Rocky.
14. I got him as a christmas gift when I was 10 yrs old
15. I haven't been without a pet since then.
16. I currently have 2 dogs, a bird, and a fish.
17. My most loved childhood pet was my cat, Sox, that my mom got for me when I was 12 yrs old.
18. He was hit by a car when I was 22.
19. I went to private school for 8 out of 12 yrs in school. Public school years were 4th grade and 10th-12th grades.
20. I was born in New Orleans, La and lived there until I was 15yrs old. We then moved to Mobile, Al when Dad's job transferred him.
21. We moved to Gretna, La a yr later, right outside of New Orleans.
22. 11th grade was the first year I had to go to school without my older brother. I was very nervous.
23. I was on the dance team and the track team in grades 11 and 12.
24. Due to number 23, I have cartilage damage in both knees.
25. I dated the quarterback on our football team.
26. My very first niece was born at the end of my 11th grade year.
27. I was awarded a presidential scholarship to attend Tuskegee University.
28. I remember the day my parents dropped me off at college.
29. My mom had a hard time leaving me in my dorm room. I cried when she left.
30. Dad said she cried the entire drive home.
31. I was surprised to find out that my best friend from kindergarten was residing in the same dorm as I was.
32. We became best friends once again.
33. I majored in Biology/pre med with dreams of becoming a pediatrician.
34. Took classes for 3 semesters at Tuskegee.
35. My mom had a work related accident and went on disability.
36. Tuition became too much for them.
37. I was supposed to withdraw after the second semester, but the Dean helped me to apply for another scholarship.
38. Unfortunately, it didn't help as much as my parents needed it to.
39. I regretfully left all of my college friends and memories behind.
40. But honestly was a bit happy to be home with family.
41. Transferred my credits to University of New Orleans.
42. The professors there were not as thorough as the professors I had at Tuskegee.
43. At UNO the professors went strictly by the clock. If you didn't grasp the lesson by the time class was over, too bad.
44. That won't fly when you are studying pre-med
45. Two semesters there, then my grades went spiraling down.
46. Took medical assistant classes at Bryman College while working full time at the bank.
47. I was going to school from 6am-10am and working from 11am-7pm.
48. Long days, but I was making it work.
49. During this time I started having very painful periods and started to urinate huge blood clots.
50. I saw several doctors and was misdiagnosed several times.
51. Even had a Dr to tell me "I'm sorry I simply can't help you anymore!"
52. At 22 yrs old, I was diagnosed with endometriosis and uterine fibroid disease.
53. I was told that I would *probably* have a hard time having children.
54. Soon after being diagnosed, I met a man who would later become my best friend and my husband.
55. We met outside of the Louisiana Superdome on November 24, 2002.
56. Found out that we lived less than 5 miles away from each other.
57. 3 months after meeting him, I had to have surgery to remove a fibroid from my uterus.
58. This was the first of many surgeries I'd endure with him by my side.
59. We dated for a year before deciding to get married.
60. We got married on July 3, 2004.
61. July 3 is my parents' anniversary.
62. July 3 is his parents' anniversary.
63. We went through alot in our first year of marriage.
64. I had an emergency surgery, found out chances of conceiving went down considerably, and when we thought things couldn't get worse, Hurricane Katrina hit home.
65. We went through alot and managed to stay together.
66.Our favorite past time was going to the movies.
67. I say was, b/c we had to let that go once we became parents!
68. We decided to adopt in April of 2006 (after 7 failed inseminations) and were placed with our son in December of 2006.
69. Please don't think that it went as easy as it sounds.
70. Being a new mom is TOUGH!
71. I certainly do not miss the first few weeks.
72. I only planned to be a stay at home mom for the first year of his life.
73. He will be 2 in December. I'm still home with him.
74. I am a planner (read control freak), and having a child has definitely challenged that part of me.
75. I am also a clean freak.
76. I hate anything cluttered.
77. I love cloudy days. They make for the best picture taking time.
78. I like to drive in the rain.
79. I do sing in the shower, and just be happy that it's the only place I sing :D
80. I look very young and sound even younger.
81. Because of the above, I often get treated with less respect and I have to prove (in a not so nice way) that I am actually a grown woman and not a high school student.
82. I like my pancakes crispy around the edges.
83. I can only drink half-caff or decaf coffee.
84. I rub my feet together every night before I go to sleep.
85. I often suffer with insomnia.
86. I worry too much about other people's feelings before my own.
87. I think online shopping is evil!
88. I like to shop online.
89. I always spend way too much money in Target.
90. I love Orville Redenbacher's microwave caramel popcorn.
91. I long to feel a baby grow and move inside my womb.
92. Had plans to move back to New Orleans in 2010 to be closer to family.
93. With the current weather issues, we are leaning more towards our second choice, which is somewhere along the Fl. Panhandle.
94. We love the gulfcoast.
95. I can't believe there are 3 other storms behind Gustav.
96. I love chicken hot dogs, scored on the grill.
97. I also love chinese food, but have yet to find a really good chinese restaurant out here in Jackson.
98. I'm running out of random things to type.
99. Had no idea that it would take so long to type a list of 100 things about me!
100. But I hope you enjoyed them and thanks for visiting my blog!!
75.

Praying

Hurricane Gustav is going to be another big one. My entire family is being scattered around once again. I feel helpless. We offered our home as a "safe haven" from the storm, but looking at the track, we are still in the red for the outer bands of the storm and we will be on the most powerful side, so we are unsure of the affect Gustav will have here. I heard that Katrina was pretty bad for the residents here in Jackson. The house we rented when we relocated here had to have the roof repaired b/c of damage from Katrina. So we all agreed it would be safer for my family to go further north of the storm. We are still home and waiting until tomorrow evening to see how big this storm will be and get a better idea of exactly where it is headed. If we have to, we will leave tomorrow. I pray New Orleans doesn't have to endure the same destruction it did 3 years ago.

3 years ago today

I really planned on starting up my Flashback Friday again today, but this morning I woke up with a really heavy heart and could not understand why. Then I looked at the calendar...August 29. 3 years ago today Katrina tore apart our city, tore apart families, tore apart our homes and memories. Changed our lives forever.







We evacuated Saturday morning. Mandatory military orders. We went to Memphis, TN. Stayed in a hotel and BEGGED my parents to come. My dad wanted to cut his grass first. They finally came on Sunday night. Katrina made landfall directly over thier city. Praise God. We stayed glued to CNN with tears in our eyes as we watched our city go under water. We watched the people of New Orleans beg and plead for help. The hardest part though, was not knowing where my great grandmother was. She has dementia and was in the Superdome b/c she wanted to stay behind with her son who was on dialysis and could not leave the city at that time. Her son called my mom and told her that they were spearated and my great grandma was put on a bus but they didn't know where to. WE prayed and prayed and thank God we stayed glued to CNN b/c a clipped played and sure enough, we saw Grandma Pearl! My mom called CNN and told them that she saw a clip with her missing grandma. The kind people at CNN went through the clips and studied the background and were able to tell us exactly where she was. Praise God! We stayed in a hotel for 4 long weeks before getting the okay to go to the city and check our homes. Here's what we found...






We had 2 feet of water in the house so it caused the walls and everything in the house to mold. Then we went upstairs...







As soon as we pulled up to our house, our neighbor was standing outside and burst into tears. We knew things would never be the same and I had to tell her that we wouldn't be moving back in b/c my husband had to start working again immediately and that couldn't be done in New Orleans. We went into the house and grabbed whatever it was we could salvage (and fit in our suv b/c moving trucks were nonexistent). Most of what we tried to save had to be thrown away later b/c of mold. So we left behind our home and all of our memories from our first year of marriage. It was tough.

Now 3 yrs later, the gulf coast is being threatened once again by a hurricane that may very well do just as much damage as Katrina did to our city. It seems cruel that the residents who did decide to move back to the city and rebuild, were given 3 yrs to rebuild and for the city's population to rise again and return to normal (as normal as a devestated city can be)only to be threatened to lose everything once again. My church home was completed ruined in Katrina and was just reopened not even 6 months ago. Now they are biting their nails and praying that this storm does not wash all of the hard work away once again (ok now I'm crying!). It just seems unfair. But I am a firm believer that our God put's us in certain situations for a reason. When we lost everything to Katrina and were basically homeless for 2.5 months, I could not understand what God's message or plan was through all of this. But now we own our first home and we have our son! Both of which would not have happened had we still been in La. I'm sure thousands of people who survived Katrina also have testimonies to share. God had a plan for everyone. So there's no reason why I don't believe He's got this situation under control. The thought of our city going under water again is sickening, but I can certainly say that everyone is taking action to leave the city this time around so I know there will be less lives loss this time, hopefully none. Life is precious and definitely cannot be replaced.

So to everyone on the gulf coast an in the path of Gustav, I'm praying for you and just know that God is your pilot!

Ortho Update

As you know, J's appt was yesterday for his foot. We ended up waiting well over an hour to see the Dr, and J was being the "normal" 2 yr old, if you know what I mean ;) Several times I asked my husband if he wanted to just leave and reschedule for another date. But we waited and I'm so glad we did b/c the Dr is awesome. We got in the room and explained to the Dr what it was we were seeing in his right foot and ankle. He asked me to take off J's shoes, socks, and shorts. Oh J loved this. Thought it was time to get undressed so he even tried to pull off his diaper and his shirt! LOL! So we were in a small exam room and the Dr asked me to walk J over to a wall and J walked to the wall, knocked on it, and then ran into the Dr's arms. Then the Dr put J in my lap and examined both legs really well and also did a flexion exercise that seemed like it bothered J quite a bit :( When he finished he told us that J has moderate femoral anteversion/torsion in his LEFT LEG. LEFT LEG!! My husband and I sat there with big, silly, confused faces. We only saw the problem in his right foot and thought the left leg was perfect. The Dr told us that he does indeed have a tibial torsion in the right leg, but his left leg shows tibial torsion AND femoral torsion, which makes it worse than the right leg. He told us that the reason why we notice the right foot more is b/c it's below the knee only and that's why his foot curves in so much. He also noticed before I was even able to tell him, that J limps when he walks. He told us that the limping is b/c the left leg is slightly shorter than the right b/c of the femoral torsion. He told us that this is why J doesn't like to walk far distances b/c it definitely affects the hips and he is probably having a little pain when he walks too far :( He then asked me how big of a baby was J. J was 8lb 6oz. He told me that the condition is fairly common in bigger babies b/c of the way they were squeezed in the womb. D was dealing with gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with J, so I am sure he probably grew faster than her uterus could stretch and was pretty cramped up in there. The Dr told us not to worry b/c the bones are still soft and it's an easy fix, surgery is very rare in these situations. PHEW!

So the plan right now is to give him 4 months to straighten out. The 4 months could be just what he needs and the Dr said that he never does anything before the 2 yr mark b/c the bones are still so soft and they end up doing more damage than good. So we will watch him for 4 more months and he has to wear shoes with a strong sole and good ankle support during this time. If in the 4 months, his legs don't get better, he will have to be braced. The first attempt will be with a DB bar brace at night, for 4 months. Yeah. I seriously don't think J will love that ONE.BIT!! He likes to sleep curled up. I can't imagine having to sleep with my legs like that :( For 4 months! And if that doesn't work he will have to wear a brace similar to the one beneath the DB bar. Finding shoes to fit over that will be a chore! So we are praying that his legs straighten out considerably in these next 4 months b/c we don't want to have to go through the whole brace ordeal if we don't need to. Oh and the braces will be to correct the tibial torsion which has to be corrected before age 3. The femoral torsion is harder to correct, but he has until age 5 for it to straighten. I have faith that the femor will correct itself in time!

So that's an update on Mr. Crazy Legs for you! Now I need to continue to hold on the phone for the IRS, hang out in the backyard with J, and then get on the phone with my mom to discuss plans about this hurricane. I'm going whereever she goes b/c I am not staying here if we are going to be slammed with tornadoes!!!

Today's wardrobe...

A diaper and, of course, a hat!!




There's no bargaining in that area anymore. To him, the hat is a must have accessory. It goes with everything...even PJs!! So if you are thinking of what to send him for his birthday, you can't go wrong with a new hat!

Potty training is as successful as I think it's going to get right now. He pees everytime he gets on the potty now, but he doesn't always ask to go. His diapers stay pretty much dry during his waking hours, and if I catch him on time I can get him to poop on the potty. But he's starting to hate sitting on it, so I'm giving him his space. He knows what it's for, but he wants a break, so he'll get that!

His ortho appt for his foot is today. I am sure everything is a okay and will probably feel like a dork for wasting that Drs time, but I need the peace of mind that there is nothing to be concerned about.

I may start my part time job as soon as tomorrow. The manager hasn't called me yet, but on Monday she told me she wanted me to start Thursday. I'm not anxious at all, so if she wants to wait until after Labor Day, I'm fine with that ;)

We are all still mourning the loss of our cockatiel Cino and seriously can't stand the quietness. I find myself walking past the cage expecting to hear a muffled "I love you" but when I hear nothing, my heart breaks again. I thought it was just me, but last night my husband and I were watching television and one of the many commercials with whistling in the music came on. Anytime any of those commercials came on Cino would whistle right along. His favorite was the Viagra commercial with the s miling man on it. He could whistle the entire commercial right on cue. Well when this commercial came on and we didn't hear the background singer, my husband sighed :( We all miss him. There's a local breeder here in town and she has some sweet babies ready to go who are already talking and whistling. I think we are going to look at them this weekend and possibly bring one home. Not to replace Cino, b/c he could never be replaced, but to fill an obvious void in our hearts.

Finally, please keep everyone on the gulfcoast in your prayers as they wait on the news to see exactly where Hurricane Gustav is headed.

10 on Tuesday

1. Found out that I did get the part time job at the YMCA childcare. Supposed to get a call today to find out what time to come in on Thursday. For some reason, I'm not too excited. Worried about J missing me while I'm gone, but it's only 4 hours each morning. I just hope the sitter doesn't put him down for a nap before I get home. I'll have to make that request.

2. Been working on Morgan's 3 month pictures. She's so beautiful, don't you agree?


3. So excited about my vendor table at a local consignment sale at the end of Sept. I have a few items in mind that I need to order, like TODAY!! I am so indecisive...but I need to make a decision...TODAY!!!

4. My parents are having a little BBQ on Sunday for Labor Day, but I really don't think I feel like driving out there this time. Too bad b/c I will definitely miss my dad's crawfish! We'll just have to get some from the seafood place out here and have our own lonely Labor Day picnic! Hey, we'll go to the lake, and I'll bring my camera!! FUN!!

5. I think I want to design some new business cards...Maybe I should do that today also?!?

6. Still (not so) patiently waiting on a check from the IRS. It's impossible to contact them by phone. I've been trying for the past two days, non stop. They seem to always have an "extremely high call volume." Hmmmmm.

7. I love the sound of naptime...silence...with an occasional "Mom, hi mom!"...He talks in his sleep, and he always dreams about me. Now that's love!

8. The weather here is really nice, so we went for a brief walk today before his nap. He insisted on bringing his two cars. We are trying to let him walk more barefeet now b/c of the tibial torsion, so he didn't wear any shoes. He loved this b/c he didn't fall as much!



9. Found out today that the nurse referred us to an ortho who is not in Tricare's network, so we would have ended up paying out of pocket if I took him to the appt. Good thing I checked on that, but now I have to find a new ortho and cancel his appt that was for tomorrow. Sigh.

10. My husband and I are in the 4th year of this battle with infertility. I won't give up hope though, b/c I believe that God does have a plan for us. Keep us in your prayers!

We are in trouble!!

J was playing with one of his plastic golf clubs and decided it would be fun to hit the club against the wall several times. Daddy told him to stop 3 times (he gets 3 times before a time out). J wouldn't listen so Daddy said "Give me the club!" J threw the club down and ran to his room and SLAMMED his door!!! LOL! We are so in for it!

Mommy's little helper

J has taken to playing in his room alone, and being a fairly good boy while in there! But he takes notes of all things Mommy and Daddy do and he mocks them in his own little way. So yesterday I believe he was straightening up his room for me before his nap. I went in to get him and change his diaper before putting him in his crib and I reached down for the new pack of diapers that I'd left out. Empty. What? How could it be empty? We just purchased that pack of diapers 2 days ago and I swear it was full that morning. Where did that pampers go? I ask J, were are the pampers? He does his usual, "I don't know" shrug. So, I'm going crazy thinking I'm in the twilight zone and we did indeed use that pack of pampers in 2 days. I'm looking everywhere for them. I looked in his closet. In his drawers. In his crib. In his clothes hamper. In his toy box. Behind his glider. Can't find a trace of NOT.ONE.SINGLE.DIAPER. One last option...Look in the diaper pail...



Um. Yeah. He unpacked his diapers and put them where he sees mommy put diapers everyday. Only, mommy puts dirty diapers in there, not brand spankin new ones! Thank goodness it was trash day and I'd just cleaned out the pail that morning. And he had every single diaper in the pail! Gotta love this age!

Tagged!!

I was tagged by my good friend Michelle. How fun!! So here's how it goes...

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. List 6 unspectacular quirks you have-.
4. Tag 6 bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each taggee's blog to let them know they've been tagged.

And here are my quirky quirks!

1. As if you didn't know, I am a photography addict! My day is never complete if I haven't snapped at least one picture. Also, television and magazines are not the same for me anymore. I watch television and all I see are photo ops. And magazines are just picture albums to me! I get a few ideas from them also ;)

2. I cannot and will not go to sleep with a dirty dish in the sink. I tried one night and tossed and turned all night! Can you say OCD?

3. I get very nervous and restless if the house is a mess. I was in a slump last week and couldn't figure out why, then I noticed that my carpet was a mess. Hubby steam cleaned it and now I'm happy as a clam! More of that OCD stuff there ;)

4. I have to eat chicken with a fork. I can't stand the smell of the chicken bone. It makes me gag. So I don't order chicken in public b/c I hate to explain why I eat it with a fork.

5. I always eat oreos in 3 bites! Can't be two and it can't be 4. Must be 3!

6. I am obsessed with checking my email, and I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one! Thanks Michelle!

So there are my 6 quirks and here are my 6 tagged friends:

1. Tori
2. katd
3. Liz
4. Angie
5. Min (not linked b/c blog is private)
6. Amber

Blog hits GALORE!!!

I checked my blog hits for the past week and I've had 191 visits! That's saying alot for this lil bitty ole blog! So someone must love it ;)What's interesting to me, though, is seeing how the visitor found my blog, and several of the hits have come from various google searches! So I want to take this opportunity to give my advice and thoughts on the searches that lead folks to our awesome blog! Here goes...

The majority of the google searches have been for milk free soy free diets. Oh boy! Do we know about that! It is a VERY difficult diet to be on that's for sure. And even tougher when you have a picky eater on your hands. We've been there, but I did manage to find websites and recipes that I am willing to share with you all. (the google search key words are in bold):

milk free soy free icing
milk free soy free birthday cake
milk and soy free food/recipes

Yeah, I totally remember doing the very same searches and in case you haven't found the gems that I have, here are a few. This site was an awesome resource for us. There are various recipes for foods, birthday cake, snacks, etc. Also discussions on how to deal with MSPI, Celiac disease, and other food allergies. They also have tips on how to make shopping easier, which I can totally appreciate. More recipes and tips can be found here, here, and here. Also, this is an awesome blog to reference! Hope this helps some of you!

Now on to the other random searches that led folks here! This should be fun ;)

potty training toddlers: Oh boy. We are so there! All I can say is persistance is key. We've been doing every 30 minutes in the mornings only and then I let him go about his business (pun intended!!) in the evenings b/c it was getting to be too much for him. He's 20 months old, so there really is no HUGE hurry, but I'm sure any parent would love to be done buying diapers sooner rather than later! He is started to pee more on the potty now b/c he knows he will get a fruit snack, but he does get frustrated from time to time. Patience and Persistance!!

My brown eyed boy Yep. We have one of those!

Islands of Adventure hulk marvel :)

teething 19 months Yeah, my baby was teething and he was 19 months ;)

planning first birthday This was so much fun!! And here are a few pics fromk the actual party. Now we are planning the second!

hats I'm definitely not surprised that this search led someone to my blog, especially after this most recent blog post! Shocker?!?!

Magic Kingdom worst day of the week to visit HAHAHAHA!! I have to apologize to the blog reader who was more than likely looking for a specific day!

My baby has bleeding in his mouth Could be from teething, but if the bleeding is not a direct result of an injury and your baby also has a high fever, go to the Dr immediately. It could be stomatis. J went through this and had to be hospitalized, poor guy.

toddler traumatized by hospital stay This talks about his hospital stay and also the traumatizing event we went through just before he was discharged. He's much better now and doesn't mind going to his Dr for check ups.

Now this last google search is OFF THE WALL!! I have no idea how it led the reader to my blog, but it did, so here goes...

Great Absent excuses Um...GO TO SCHOOL KID!!! LOL!!

Those are all for now and I have to say it's pretty interesting to see how people get to my blog and I want to thank everyone for reading! Feel free to leave me a comment if you like. Well J and I are about to go out for a while. Our birdie friend passed away this morning and it's very quiet in here and it's making me sad, so I think we'll hang out until it's time for my photo shoot this evening.

Hats, Hats, Hats!!!

He LOVES hats! He thinks he has to wear a hat with everything! Everytime I get him dressed, he runs to his closet and grabs a hat and pops it on his head. Most times it doesn't even match...like today.

(whoa! check out that right foot. This is the dragging I told the pedi about but it happens so fast that it's hard to see most of the time but we know he drags it b/c his shoe gets worn there. Maybe I should take this to the ortho.)



I don't dare take it off him or tell him he can't wear it b/c it doesn't match. So if you see us in public and my child is not matching, just know he dressed himself!! I remember just a few months ago Daddy would get frustrated b/c J didn't like hats on his head. He would scream as if someone was hurting him. But now, I guess he wants to be more like his daddy b/c he loves having hats on. He also has his own cell phone (a broken one) that he tries to wear around his waist just like daddy. And we just recently gave him a wallet but he seems to want to keep that in a purse, uhm, just like mommy! LOL! I love his little personality and how he picks up on things so quickly. I think I'll try to get a good picture of him soon with all of his hats b/c it is so him right now and I love it!

Verbal Explosion!!

They told me it would happen, but I didn't expect it to happen this way! He's been saying some words here and there, mainly like a parrot, but he never really talks much. I didn't really worry though b/c he definitely understands almost everything! He's very, very smart, just not really verbal yet. But we got a shocker today! Like I said earlier, we went to the Y again today, hoping that J would behave much better than he did yesterday. I got there early, found out I may have a part time job there starting next week (woo hoo!), and we headed to the nursery. J got down and went ot play with the toys. I could tell he wanted me there for a few minutes b/c he kept turning around to see if I was there. Then it started...He looked at me and said "Come?" while motioning his hand for me to come see something. Then he picked up a ball from the ball pit and said "Ball!!" very proudly! See, I knew that he knew what a ball was, but he would never say the word. I was so proud of him! I sat with him for 15 minutes and when I saw that he was behaving himself, I went on to wait for my step class to begin. Just before the class began, I ran to the nursery to peek in on him just b/c I know he's smart enough to act up when I'm not around! I peeked in on him and he was quietly building a block tower! And it was just as tall as he is! That takes some awesome hand-eye coordination! You go J!! I went to class with a smile on my face and couldn't wait to go back and get him and find out how well he did. Well once class was over I ran in to find my boy playing very well with the other kids in the ball pit. When he say me he yelled "Mom!!" which is the norm. That's one word he says all day everyday. He even says it in his sleep! Well I asked the girl how he did and she told me something that shocked the heck out of me! She said he scratched a little girl and told her "Move" so she went over to him and told him to tell the little girl sorry and she told me that he said "Sowwy". Then she asked him if he wanted a timeout and he said "No!" I looked at J and I said "You've been talking?!?!" and he nodded his head and said "Yeah." (gotta work on changing that to yes ma'am, which he does say when I ask him to). Well that was just the beginning. We went to target after the gym b/c we needed a few things for the house. Of course as soon as we pull up it starts raining, so we had to run in. We get in the store slightly wet and J screams "Oooooo wet!!!" The entire time I'm looking at him to make sure I took the right child from the nursery! LOL! So then we go through the store and I walk pass some toddler cups in the dollar aisle. J says "Mom! CUP!!!" Um, you better believe he got that cup! What? It was only a buck! So we walk through the store and Daddy noticed there was a crack in the cup so he had to take it from J and get a new one. This involved tears and the boy said "My cuuuuupppp!" Wow, seriously an explosion. Oh and he has the cutest voice!

ETA: Anyone notice that I was so excited about my boy talking that I forgot to ask about the little girl?! BAD MOMMA! I'll check on her tomorrow but I'm sure it wasn't bad or an accident report would have been filed!

B is for Book!!

I love how he's growing up! He's such a handsome boy :D

Potty Training!!

Ok so every toddler book I've read has said that most kids are potty trained by 2 1/2 yrs old. I've been placing J on the potty for a few months now, but he is not anywhere near being verbal enough to tell me when he has to go, except for the occasional whisper "pot" when he has to do number 2. Oh yeah, did I mention that I think my son will be a whisperer once he truly starts talking? Anyway, sometimes he will whisper pot, but it doesn't matter who...he'll tell Elmo, he'll tell his invisible friend, he'll tell himself, but I've heard him whisper pot a few times and we go straight to the potty. So he does have an interest in using the potty, which is good so today we are going to start some potty training bootcamp! Every 30 minutes J will sit on the potty seat. I already placed his favorite fruit snacks in there and he will get one each time he does anything in the potty. I also have 3 of his favorite books on the counter for him. I am also thinking of setting up the cd player in the bathroom to play his nursery rhymes. Good or bad idea? I'm not sure. I'm a little worried that the nursery rhymes will make him forget WHY he's on the potty and he won't do anything. But then I'm thinking that he will get tired of the potty every 30 minutes and the nursery rhymes will make it fun. What do you think? And all week he will be fully dressed in a diaper only!! LOL! Much less laundry for me? We'll see about that. There will be 2 breaks from potty training though, one for naptime and the other for our evening trip to the YMCA where he goes to childcare while I work out. And of course he'll also be in a diaper at night. I'm not really going to push him to hard just yet b/c although most books say that I need to be pushing the potty training on him right now, I did find one book that says it's smart to wait until your child is 3 and can understand and reason with you :D Yep you read right, Vicki Lovine's Girlfriend's Guide to Toddlers! I love her!! Well, gotta run, the timer is set to go off any minute now!

Kids World 2008

Every year the clear channel radio stations in Jackson sponser this event for the kids. There where LOTS of space jumps, face painting, make overs for little girls, and appearances from the Marvel super heroes and Inky the Clown! I was very impressed with the event b/c there was always something going on to catch even the smallest child's attention. This year they focused on keeping the environment clean and "Going Green". When we got there, there was a puppet show about landfills and pollution affecting the oceans and harming the wildlife. J was mesmerized by the show!





Immediately after the puppet show, Inky the Clown came on stage! Let me tell you, I have an awful phobia of clowns, but Inky wasn't bad. He only had on face paint, no big red nose, no scary clothing, no big red hair, and mainly, no big RED shoes!! And he was VERY FUNNY! Seriously, he was great. If I could convince my family to come out here this year for J's party, I would definitely hire Inky the clown. J loved the show. He clapped and danced and said "Wooooooowwwwww!" the entire show! Here's a little video of Inky juggling.



Then immediately after Inky, the Marvel superheroes came out to talk about pollution and it's effects on the environment. J wasn't to fond of the goblin. He was holding on to me so tight and hiding his face, but when his pal Spiderman ran out, J jumped up and squealed!







After they performed, the superheroes took pictures and signed autographs for the kids. We chose to skip that b/c J had just had ihs picture taken with them last week. How lucky is he?! Get's to see the superheroes twice in one month!! We walked around and let J run and spin in circles and dance and run some more. He had a ball. As we walked out, a guy came by pushing a cart with free cookies and gave one to J. He was in heaven and ate on his cookie as we walked to the car. He continued to eat his cookie as I strapped him in. He continued to eat his cookie as we drove home. He continued to eat his cookie as he fell asleep! LOL!



He ended up taking a very late nap yesterday and didn't wake up until about 6:45pm. He usually goes to bed at 8 every night, but since he had a late nap, I let him stay up late. Well he did fine until about 9:30pm. He was in the living room and Daddy put his helmet on his head and he was riding his quad. Next thing you know he goes to his room, reaches in his crib for his blankie, and walks all the way to the other side of the house to my room to climb in my lap and put his head on my shoulder. Complete with huge helmet on his head! I said "Are you ready for night night?" and he said "Nigh Nigh." I took of his helmet and carried him to his room and placed him in his crib. Didn't hear a peep. He went straight to sleep. I think he may just be ready for us to convert his crib to the toddler bed, but I'm not ready for the nap time battles so we may wait until the beginning of next year for that!

Tibial Torsion

Medical term for pigeon toed! LOL. The main concern, though, is that it will eventually start to affect his hips if it worsens instead of get better with time. Since we noticed it getting a bit worse, he's being referred to a pediatric orthopeodist for evaluation. The Dr watching J run up the hall (which J loved BTW!) and was able to see how J trips over the foot from time to time. He said it didn't really look bad, but the fact that it seems to drag a little does concern him so we're going to have it looked at but he did say it doesn't look bad at all so not to worry.

And for today's entertainment, here's a video of J doing a cartwheel! You can see a bit of his foot problem here also. It's his right foot.

Off to the pediatrician

Well, it seems like a trip to the pedi was inevitable for little man. And it's not even for the head banging issues. It's that foot :sigh: We've noticed within the past two weeks that instead of the foot getting better, it's turning in more. More people take immediate notice to it now. He also has a wobbly gait, like one leg is shorter than the other and he won't walk AT ALL when we go places. He walks fine at home (still wobbly and unsteady though) with no complaints but I assume that's b/c he can stop whenever he wants to and he sits down and takes a break. I also notice that when we play and I chase him, he NEVER runs more than 3 or 4 steps without throwing himself to the floor. He never runs far at all. But what caught my attention was last night when we went to Lowe's. Daddy is determined to make J walk when we are out b/c he thinks it's b/c J is spoiled. I didn't think so b/c he likes to get into things and walking is the best way to do so, so why wouldn't he want to walk on his own? Well last night we got him out of the truck and were walking into Lowe's By the time we got inside we both look at each other and said "Does it look like he's limping??" Of course he whined the entire way inside and when I picked him up he grabbed his right ankle :( So we put him in the cart and everytime I tried to put him down, he would grab his ankle and cry. This morning when he got up I let him walk around. No whining or crying. It did look like the foot was dragging though but it was hard to tell so I took him outside to let him walk barefeet on the concrete. When we came inside the top right side of his right foot was scraped and he didn't fall down, so he is dragging it. I called the pediatrician and they are seeing him today. Boy do I feel like the world's most paranoid mother!!! I'll update later.

Busch Gardens

We spent two days at Busch Gardens. It's so cool how they combine nature with a theme park. It's like a theme park and a zoo all for one price! We rode the train and saw lots of animals up close. Two black rhinos were actually standing right beside the tracks! The kids had a ball. There were rides for kids of all ages, which we all loved. I knew I wanted to get J on the little train ride, but when we got to the ride I didn't think he would get on alone b/c he was being extra clingy to me. I was afraid he would get on and start crying for me. So I asked my neice and nephew to get on the ride with their little cousin. They happily hopped on and didn't even complain about riding a "baby" ride!




However, as soon as it was over, the two older kids FLEW off the ride, but J just sat there and buckled his own seat belt. He wanted to stay on alone! We let him stay on and he was such a big boy! I almost cried. He's growing up :)He sat on the train saying "Choo Choo!!"







So now we were on a roll! We said, Oh he's a big boy! Let's let him ride all the kiddie rides! He was all for it! My dad put him on the merry go round bikes...





After the bikes, we took him to the planes. He stood in line and waited his turn like a big boy! I would have sworn he wasn't capable of doing so just the day before!! The planes flew up and down and I don't think he was too sure about that so he sat quietly until he found us and then everytime he flew around he would look at us and squeal! All of the parents were laughing at him!







Next we took my nephew to ride his first roller coaster. Here is a short video clip of our ride. We all are screaming at every turn b/c it literally looked AND felt like we were about to be thrown off the track. My dad and I both agreed that it is kind of rough for a kiddie ride!





So basically, the kids rode on lots of rides on our first day at the park. The second day, us bigger kids found some thrills of our own. My mom and I planned to ride every roller coaster in the park, and I believe they have 5. Well, we planned to ride 4 of the 5 b/c neither of us like the looks of the wooden roller coaster there. However, it rained alot earlier that day so one of the coasters we planned to ride was shut down for "technical difficulties". My mom couldn't believe she got me to ride the Shiekra though b/c I'm deathly afraid of free falling and this coaster drops you at a 90 degree angle from 250 ft in the air!! The killer part is that they DANGLE you before you are dropped without warning. OMG. But I got on. I actually enjoyed the dangling part. LOL! But the drop...Here's a short video clip. We are in the second row on the right end. My dad is on the end, then my mom (look for short, blonde hair) and then me (Look for wide eyes popping out of my head and the worst look of terror you've ever seen!!) If you hit pause at 17 seconds you will get a good glimpse of us and you can be the judge of how I felt about the drop Tip: continuously hit pause throughout the 17th second to get a good look.



Oh and there's a second drop after that one!! So after we get off the roller coaster, someone decided that the adults shouldn't be the only ones having fun. My nephew took it upon himself to RUN OFF and find something else to do. We searched for an hour, only to find him in the exact spot that his Uncle told him NOT to go...in the splash zone where the coaster we were on splashed everyone. And trust me when I say splash is an understatement! He was soaked. He got a firm talking to by Nana that's for sure. But we did have a great time this year and I can't wait for next year!