Open Letter to Sean

Dear Sean,
Hello, it's Mommy. I just wanted to take this time to asked you to please stop growing so fast.
I am very proud of you for for learning how to unzip and take off your footie jammies and then take them to your gate and through them out for the laundry; that helps Mommy out a little by letting her rest an extra five minutes so her back will feel well enough to get up. But I miss those little fuzzy sleepy sacks that your noodle legs would kick in and we would snuggle.
You amazed us the other day at lunch, when Granddad leaned across the table at Chicago Speekeasy and asked how old you were. You looked down at your little hand, heaqld up two fingers and exclamed "dwo!" All I can ask is "When did you learn how to talk, let alone figure out how old you are?" Wasn't it yesterday you just found you hands?
You and Daddy have played "So Big" forever, but when did you start saying "Soooo big!" with Daddy?
So I guess what I'm saying is; while I'm very happy and proud of you for learning how to count to five, sing, dance, color, get un-dresses, put your shirt on partway by yourself, and God only knows all the other things that I don't have the time to post here in your two years of life, would you please slow down? I don't think that I can keep up with you and I am missing my baby boy. However, I am having such a good time being your Mommy right now, as this very moment.
Please keep all of these points in mind as you continue to grow.

Love and kisses,
Mommy

11:00 on a Sunday night

Hi,
I'm sure that the few of you who check this out are wondering "where is that crazy woman?"
Well, here I am. Right here, right now. I know it has been quite a while since the last post, and I'm sorry. It can be a little tricky when you don't have web access at your place and you usually only use the web one day a week. But the important thing is I'm here now.

So.... Sean is getting so tall! I'm 5'8" (173 cm) and he's too my hip! It seems everyday he sprouts up more, and not just height. He is becoming a little chatter box. Just yesterday he used his 'first' word combination. "No more." He's known the signs for "more" and "all done" for quite a while and has been saying 'more' and sometimes using the sign with it, but this was the first time he vocally said that he was all done. I think he's close to 10-12 words total. Wow!

Nate is.... well, Nate is not to happy whit work right now. 1) the work is not their 2) his employer has but a freeze on all raises. So now, even when the companies that he audits sends harder and more time consuming work, there is no plus for all the hard work. We've had some real low paychecks recently because of that and were hurting.

Me... well I had surgery about two weeks ago. Long story, but to sum it up: I had a screw in my right knee form a past surgery and it was wiggling loose, so doctors took it out. Needless to say, I've been out of work for it.
-rant-
As horrible as this sounds, I'm kind of hoping that one of the ladies that is also in the bakery (the one that causes drama) gets canned. I know! I'm terrible! But, she's schedualed to work 'till 1pm. I get there a little before noon and she tells me she's going on her last break. Fifteen minutes later, she comes back to tell me she's leaving. She refused to work weekends, refuses to close up for the evening and refuses to pick up any of my hours while I've been out. When our superious have talked to her about her needing to fill in with my med. leave, she's thrown a fit (but that's just what I've heard form the other gal. Wouldn't surprise me, thought). If she is let go, that means that I can pick up some more hours, and that might help.
-end rant-

What will really help is when I go back to school and am able to get into a hospital. Yes, this mother is planning on going to school for phlebotomy. Just because a lot of people have already asked "hu?" a phlebotomist is the person who draws blood. Only thing is I'll have to wait until spring, at the earliest. A full time phelbotomist can make up to $34,000, and even though I'm hoping to find something part time-ish, that would still help out tremendously.

Oh, I almost forgot to brag. Nate and I have a new niece. Elizabeth Ann W. was born on June 28 at 4:30am PDT after a 54 hour labor. She is so pretty! I'm just sorry that they all live so far away.

It's been my half hour, and I should be getting to bed. Sean is, and always has been, a morning person.... and I am not.
Good night and God bless!

NO NO NO NO!

Sean has started saying his first word, we think.
Recently, he's been walking around the house just calling out "NO NO NO!" while shaking his head back and forth. He will also say 'no' and do a head shake at the dinner table if we're trying to give him a spoon full of something and he wants something else (like sweet potato).
Is this really is first word, or is it a new sound that's he babbling?....... I'm saying first word.
"No" as a first word... Lord help me!

I'm a bad, bad girl....

How long has it been since I posted?
Let's think....
Sean had his first birthday
Sean started walking on his birthday!
Sean had a wonderful first birthday party and crammed cake in his face
I hate winter
Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Mumm's
We crashed our car in a snow storm
Got car fixed
Sean's grabby stage
Sean got out of his grabby stage after taking him to the play area in the mall once a week
Christmas
SARAH'S HAVING A BABY!
Grandma and Grandpa come over for Christmas
Nate and I weren't able to preform in the Christmas eve service due to snowstorms
Christmas at Grandma and Granddad Davisons.
Davison Christmas.
New Years Eve
Sean likes to eat paper
Sean likes story time at the library
I HATE VALENTINES DAY
Sean's started waving

Wow. That's a lot. Not having internet stinks.

Word-full Wednesday?

Okay, so I made a post on Sunday evening, I get it just about done, and the internet crashes and didn't save what I had written. GRRRR! And the icing on the cake (mmmm....cake....), the server isn't letting me upload a photo for Wordless Wednesday. But I guess it isn't that bad; I mean, I get to talk your ear off, right?

So, Sunday my darling mother -in-law (and that is sincere) came to visit her little Irish grandbaby. She and my sister-in-law had come down on Friday and stayed with my brother-in-law and his family right out of the city limits. She was suppose to come up on Saturday, but all hell (yes, hell. H-E- double toothpick. I said it!) broke loose and between co-worker's mothers dieing, and my sister-in-law using the only car (we never did see her...) and mother-in-law having to watch my nephew so brother -in-law could fill in for said co-worker... well, Sunday seemed to be better.
I was kind that Kathy (mother-in-law) was able to come, just her. I think that it's important that Sean has some one-on-one time with his other grandma. My mom get's a lot of it, but Kathy lives out of state and, well, it's hard to get together sometimes.
We went out for an after church lunch and Sean promptly took a nap as soon as we got home. "Ahh. Sean is resting. So nice, since he was up a lot the night before teething. We'll let him sleep for an hour and a half" Well, that lasted all of 45 minutes when he woke up pooping himself. He was MAD! He was fine it I was holding him, but not Daddy. And Grandma? Don't even go there.
He was fussy for, maybe half-an-hour, but after he woke up more, he decided that Grandma was okay to crawl around on the floor with him. I got dinner ready
Scott and Naomi came over for dinner, we are, we talked, we did dishes, the three left and the three of us crashed! Phew! What a day!

Well, tonight I had a cake class. Sean needed a sitter, so Auntie Naomi came to watch Mr. Monkey Butt! He was pretty good for her, I heard. He cryed for about 15 minutes but dozed off. He's teething and he's going through a groth spurt. I feel so bad for him! But this was the first time that Naomi had the chance to have Sean all to herself! I think that she really enjoyed it.

But, I'm tired now. I made a metric butt ton of baby food today and am now wiped.

Goodnight voiced
Goodnight air
Goodnight noises everywhere.

If it's not one thing....

... it's twenty others. That's the reason I've been absent for over a week (bout, come to think about it, that's kind of normal...).
Well the reason is, I'm a scatter-brain. Always have been. I'm doing something and I think of something else that needs done, and that leads to another, and that leads to another, and at the end of the day I have a dozen (at least) half finished projects.
A typical week plus the two days a week I'm working now) are as followed:

• Get up at 8am to take meds and see if Sean is up. If not, go back to rest a little more.
• Wake up with Sean
• Get breakfast for Sean-realize that the dishes have been there for a while and try to get those done at the same time
• Play-and if Sean is playing nice by himself, try to round up the laundry, but get distracted
• Put Sean down for nap- do some laundry, but realize that the stuff to go is Sean's room has to wait and then totally forget about it
• Sean gets up we play
• Get lunch ready for Sean- maybe try to get some baby food made in her, too, or dished, or some more laundry in between spoonfuls (Mesh teething feeders are my HERO)
• Play 'the foot game' in Sean's room- knit/crochet/sew or some other crafty thing, then realize that the front room is a mess
• Let Sean play in play-pen and try to clean computer area- get distracted by email and Sean
• Put Sean down for a nap (hopefully he'll sleep, usually does) and pray to God Nate gets off early
• Nate gets off and I have done a lot, but nothing gets done!
  

• (Tues and Fri. Get up at 6:30am get ready for work, drop of Sean at Grammys Work till noon-ish help Grammy around the house)

(You do know that this is just a short run down, right? I mean, I do change his diaper and there are snacks and letting the dog out and other stuff. I mean, I'm not that scatter-brained, am I?)

And, have I mentioned lately that I love my husband (even thought there are some times I want to wring his neck). There's no big, special reason to say that; I just felt like I should. I really love him so much; I couldn't think of a better man to be my husband or Sean's daddy and I really really appreciate him putting up with and understanding my crazy, scatter-brainy-ness.

Well it's photo time! Here we go

Sean one day before turning nine months old! I can't believe it!


He did this himself, I sware to God! I put him down for a nap and he had pulled off his diaper! He even lied down on it so if he peed, it would be on the diaper!

~~~~~~~~
Wendseday, Sean cut his eye toothe; tooth number three. So we gave him his dinner still in frozen form:


Don't worry, that's not blood! He tryed beets' for the first time that night! The camera just made the juice look more red than purple.
Now that I look at it, I can see how one might think he was bleeding. This almost looks like it chould have come strait form Sweeney Todd!



I would say that at the end of the night, it was a success. Nate, Sean and I all ate at the same time, Sean liked the beets' and liked getting purple, the purple-ness washed off in the tub and Sean slept all night. But the best part for me was: I now have over a dozen new photos I can use as black mail for when he's a teen-ager!

Say good-night, Sean!

Fun Outings with Sean!

Okay, since last night was pretty serious, I'll post something more light-hearted today.
On Sunday, July 19, 2009, my little brother got married! i am so happy for them! I love my baby brother so much and his new wife is an absolute doll. I wish them all the good things in life.
Sean was very good at the wedding. I was standing up for D 'n' B so Sean hung out with my Aunt MaryJane and her daughter, Kaymie. Sean only lost it one time when he saw Nate come to sit down after being usher, but settled down once he was in Daddy's arms. It was a lovely day

Last week, Sean's grandparents, my in-laws, were in town. Dave helped fix the floor right under our toilet on Tuesday, and Sean and I were stuck at my folks after being there all week the week before. So, to make up for it, Grandma and Grandpa took Sean and myself to the zoo and met up with (Auntie) Amy and Austin.
We had such a good time! Sean was in awe of the tiger; it was pacing back and forth and Sean's little head just followed him wherever he went. I would bet anything that his eyes were as wide as saucers behind his sunglasses. Nate called when we were looking at the tiger, and just then, he started to roar. The look on Sean's face was priceless! It was saying, "What is that sound and where is it coming from?"
The only thing that would have made it better, was if Nate were able to come instead of being stuck at work.

The icing on the cake was when my mom took Sean (so that means me too, seeing we're basically tethered to each other) to the Heritage Carousel. We had so much fun! I honestly think I had more fun than Sean did; he was getting tired and was simply mesmerized by all the sights and sounds, it was just too much fun to watch him! All in all, we went around four times!
The carousel has all sorts of different animals, so Sean road two different horses and then the tiger, since he liked it so much at the zoo.


After the excitement of riding the tiger, Sean conked out. Nate was done working with his brother-in-law, so Mom said she would take Sean to their place so he could sleep and Nate and I got to go swiming, just the two of us.

I love my family so much. With everything going on with Stellan and the rest of the MckFamily, I see how truly blessed Nate and I are.
My heart still breaks for the MckFamily and I pray for everything to work out acording to Gods plan. I really hope that plan means that Stellan will be okay; but as hard as it may be to acept, I do understand that God may have other plans. I'm praying for his heart to be okay, but mostly, I am praying for peace.

God bless you, everyone, and have a good night.

Let Freedom Ring!

Happy Independence Day, America!
I can hardly believe that in just one week, Sean will be eight months old! That's 2/3 of a year!!
But today, we celebrated the 4th of July in a fairly traditional way: we went to a bar-b-que.
Sean even got all festive for the day!

A friend gave us the cute outfit and the cap is a wonderful hand-me-down (I love hand-me-downs! I grew-up waring them... by choice!)
Some good friends of Nate and mine, Eric and Annie, hosted the barbie and we all had a wonderful time! Here's a photo of Sean with his "Auntie" Annie

And I have never been one to cook bland.

Yummy. Tapioca Cake! I'm real happy with how it turned out, both appearance and taste!

The only thing that spoiled the night were the fireworks. In the state of Iowa, it is illegal to own fireworks. Professionals come in to put on their shows, but someone like me could not go out and buy some. BUT, in Missouri, fireworks are legal. So most people will just cross the state line, buy a lot (some buy up to $1000!) and bring them back to fire them off.
Most people don't think it's a huge deal and the cops hardly do anything about it, but it is a bother to me. At the show by the lake, a lot of people were shooting off fire crackers/works/bottle rockets/etc. Some were shooting over the crowd! That didn't sit will with me, seeing that 1) if one tipped over after being lit or sparks falling down, there could be serious injury and/or death and 2) so many people were just shooting off one right after another, there were too many strobe-like flashes that it reeked havoc on my epilepsy. So, in the end, Nate, Sean and I missed the professional show and I was barely able to walk bake to the car.
You can see why I'm upset about this... I'm going to write to the local PD about this, seeing we saw three cops and they did nothing.

But... all-in-all, it was a wonderful night.

Food is Fun!

WARNING: This post has an image of me nursing Sean. If you are wierded out by boobage, do not read.

I love feeding Sean! I know that may sound strange - but his main way of eating is still nursing.

It is such an intimate time for the two of us and part of me wishes that he would stay small forever so we could still do that... only part, though. The sad reality is, Sean is getting to be less of a baby and more of a little boy. It's getting harder and harder to nurse him simply because of how long/tall he is and how much he wiggles. But when he's getting tired and ready for a nap or bed; oh that is our time!
I also love feeding Sean from the spoon and even his mesh feeder (that's what we call it, I don't know the proper name). I love the feeder! It's a huge lifesaver for times when Sean is hungry and the dishes are piling up. Slip some avocado or squash in there and he will go to town!
It's also a great way to feed him when he is having discomfort from teething. I'll slip in the food when it's still frozen and he loves the food part as well as the 'it feels good on my toothers!' part. It also works great with ice or 'juicy cubes' (diluted juice that is frozen).
Here he is eating some sweet potato from it:


And if you haven't guessed I do make most of our baby food. We do have jars of store bought food for when were traveling/out and when he's at my Grammy's (I guess I could make some for her, but for now, this way works) It's real fun to see his reaction to new foods.
Today, Sean tried egg for the first time. He tried to pick it up by himself, but it crumbled too easily and didn't get any in his mouth, so I helped. He must have liked the tasted, but I think that the texture was weird to him; every so often, he would get a 'yuck!' face after some gumming, but still wanted more! I wish that I had my camera to catch that look!
And just the other day, Sean had his first taste of dairy that didn't come from me. My dad and I were hanging out and having some lunch and I casually mentioned that Mr. Sean was old enough to have cottage cheese (Dad was eating it, so that's what made me think of that). So Granddad scooped a little tiny bit on the end of his spoon and offered it to Sean, which he opened his little mouth for. He gummed the curds once and then got this look on his face that said "What in the world did you just put in my mouth?!" I think he was confused by A) the texture and B) it was cow dairy, not Mommy dairy.

Okay, totally off the food topic. Check out Sean and my new favorite hair style for him:

I fell in love with the look when he woke up form a car ride all sweaty and his hair got pushed up. So now, when I style it like that I just use some water to style it and a little bit of baby loation to keep it up. I just think he looks so super cute!

Okay, I'm calling it a night now. Keep it real!

EDIT:
I snapped a few photos of the "egg face" during snack time on July 3, 2009.

Another First

Tonight was Alpha Omega (a Christian get together that my husband started years ago). We tried taking Sean along with us in the early days and lying him down to sleep in a side room, but he would get too excited or we would be too loud and he never slept well and would be up about every hour or so during the night.
My folks had been watching him over night and then I'd bunker down at their house after the event, but Nate and I wanted to give them a night off. Last week, some very good friends of ours, Rob&Lauren and Alex, moved just a few blocks up down the way from us and said that they would be more than happy to watch him tonight. Yea!
Sean was dropped off at 6:30 and We hung our for about 10-15 minutes so he wouldn't be to overwhelmed by the new environment, and help Rob and Laurens three year old understand that she couldn't hold him.
Everything went pretty smooth. Rob called once early on because Sean was hungry and he couldn't figure out what Baby needed. We said, mix up his bottle and that'll solve the issue (a mother knows her sons cries) and we would check back in a bit to see if that worked. It did and he was a good boy the rest of the night.
Lauren was home when we picked him up, Rob was out, and Sean had just woken up not knowing where he was. He had been asleep when Lauren got home at 9:30 and she let us know the Rob had changed a poopie and he had been good. Sean/I needed a nursing so Lauren did get to play with Sean for a little bit. She (and Rob) is going through baby withdrawal and are working of remedying that, but for now, the love Sean; so much so that they are 'Auntie' Lauren and 'Uncle' Rob, just like Nate and I are 'Auntie' and 'Uncle' to their little girl.
I told Rob and Lauren that I would pay them in brownies. Rob said that we didn't need to pay them, but they would still take brownies! I love those guys!

Earlier, the three of us went out to the kid’s consignment shop, right next door to where I work, as needed, so I got to show Sean off to my co-worker, Jenny. She and I have always gotten along well and she was all over the little boy! When I told 'Grandma Dee' (one of the consignment shop ladies) said "She was going to make you into a cookie and eat you up!"
Sean is so loved by so many people. I feel very happy for him.

Wow...

I'm having a hard time believing that it is taking me so long between posts! Then at the same time, I don't have a hard time believing it, because my life is crazy!
Sean is five months old now! What the F....!?! When did he get so old?! He's doing all of these new things everyday that just amaze me!

First off, he's sitting up by himself. We'll just set him on the floor in a sitting position, and he takes it from there.
Second, he's starting to crawl. He isn't doing a full out hands-and-knees, cruisin' around the house crawl; it's more along the lines of a slow, sloppy army crawl. He'll kick with his legs and push himself along with his elbows. My brother and his fiancee, who are both military, think it's the cutest thing! And let me tell you, he can get around!

Sean also had his first ER visit a few weeks back. Nate and I were getting him ready for his night time bath in his room; I was getting a sleepy sack and Nate was undressing Sean, My back was turned and all of a sudden I hear "Oh, sh*t!", a thud! and Sean scream: Sean had quite literally jumped out of his dads arms (around a four foot fall)! I turn around to see Sean face down on his floor (which is a blessing he fell there, because it has new carpet and carpet pad, so it was the softest break for his fall) and Nate with a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.
So we run him to the ER and he screamed the whole way, but started to doze off right as we were turning into the lot... then got mad we moved him and screamed even harder.
We got in, got admitted, got checked out, x-rayed, diagnosed and released all under two hours! Everything was fine: no head trauma, no broken bones, no major injuries at all, thank God. They still told us to wake him every three hours to check him for any symptoms that may be new. So I did at 12:30...... and he screamed till 7:45!
My mom rocks for coming to drive us around at 3am! Nate had an obligation at church (the very first thing) and was thinking of staying the whole service... but at 5 I called him and said if he didn't come right after the opening that "I swear to God, I'll make your life a living hell!" That got his attention. He came. I love him. Sean didn't want to nurse for a week!

Sean is all better now and nursing again, but was run back to the ER again last week with a fever of 101F. That came down very quick, just a cold bug. He still has a little congestion and a wee bit of a cough left, but he gave it to both his dad and me. All last week, we all were whining for death. Thank God for my Grammy for helping with Sean so I could recoup!

Easter was wonderful! We went to Ill to Nate’s folks and then further to Wiss to see his grandparents and extended family. Sean was very well behaved during Dad’s services (FIL is a pastor) and his grandma and grandpa ate him up… so did their Husky!

But, it’s late, so I’m going to get this rounds photos up and hit the hay!
~Night!



Baseball with Grandpa

Grandma Loves me!

I love to sleep on Daddy

Doggy Kisses!

SOOOOO Big!!

Daddy and Me Lookin' sharp

I can Sit... And Crawl!