Happy Birthday to Me!!!

30. It's here. And it's okay. Now let's eat cake!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are here in Florida with Dave and Laura for the holiday. Drove 14 hours on Tuesday arriving late in the evening. Will is having a great time with the kids and is enjoying the cat. I will post pictures when I get home. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Out to Lunch...

Today Rachel, Will, and I went out to lunch for Rachel and my birthday. We went to California Pizza Kitchen, one of my favorite places. Will was very good despite having completely skipped his morning nap. We went to "Right Start" after and he played with some other babies and lots of toys. As we were checking out he was staring and then was pulling his sock off. All of a sudden I looked down and he was like this! So sweet and slightly pitiful! I have to work over the weekend so Jason has all the fun this weekend. Have a great one!

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

Ahhhh EggNog, how I've missed you! Enjoy it while it lasts, only 6 weeks till the government takes it away again!

New Teeth = No Sleep

Will is cutting teeth again, so the past couple of nights have been really hard. Letting him cry doesn't seem to work, going in and rocking him doesn't seem to help...feeding doesn't seem to help. Time is all I can count on, it will get better. It is usually just 2 or 3 days of struggle and then he goes back to normal. On a lighter side, today he spent about 15 minutes at our door that goes out to the balcony. It has small panes of glass and he loves to look out. So first he spent some time mouthing and licking the glass, then proceeded to rub his forehead up and down slowly in the spit. He did this disgusting thing for quite a while. I was too fascinated to stop him.

Why?

Today I went to Walmart for the first time in a while. I have been going to Walmart since birth since I grew up in Arkansas where it all started. Lo and Behold- They got rid of my fabric department! So sad! I always counted on them for high quality fabric at 1/2 the price of normal fabric stores. I remember going there as a little girl and picking out fabric, lace and buttons for a new dress. I don't know if they are closing all of them but I am very sad that they are closing any.

1 Week....

What I imagine Pudd will look like next week! Except Cuter of Course!

In one week we leave for our Thanksgiving/My Birthday road trip to Florida. I am still not sure how 12-14 hours in a car with William will be. I took away and hid many of his favorite toys and books today, so they will seem new and exciting again next Tuesday. I am taking lots of his CD's and snacks. We are leaving very early and plan on doing it all in one long day. Mainly so we don't have to fight traffic on Wednesday. I planned stops out along the way, especially Barnes and Noble so Pudd can crawl around safely. I have also figured out where we can stop to eat, and alternates incase we need to stop early, etc. Any advice out there for me? I think I will sit in the back with him for the most part. It will keep him entertained and I can feed him when need be. Am I crazy to be driving this long with an 8 month old?

Christmas Bells Are Ringing....

For some of the adults in our family, instead of material gifts, we exchange donations to different charities. In previous years I have given chickens, vaccines, and education gifts. If you are into this idea I urge you to go to www.charitynavigator.org and check out the charity you plan on giving to. You want your gift to go as far as possible and end up with the Bailey's and not the Potter's!

A "Scary" Monster....

New Things...

Will has learned a new skill this week: Pulling the shirt over his head! Once you take it off his arms he can do the rest. Very impressive. His latest interest however is the laundry basket. He loves to push it around, and though he has two walkers, the laundry basket is his favorite.

Slick as Snot...

That is a saying that some say down south. I am using it today to refer to poor Will's current nasal discharge. I wipe his nose, suction his nose, spray saline up his nose, and then suction again. He has developed a wet, gaggy cough and this has caused him to puke a couple of times. No fever though. He is VERY clingy, and refuses to let me out of his sight for a moment. I spent 2 hours last night rocking and rocking him and trying to make sure that I didn't fall asleep and drop him. I finally put him back in his own bed at 3:30 am and let him cry for 15 minutes. He slept till 7 and Jason got up with him and let me sleep till 8:30. I hope to heck tonight goes better. Any hints from anyone on congestion and snot treatment would be greatly appreciated. I have the humidifier puffing away, and we're plugging away on the fluids. Any other ideas?

The Zoo....

Early in the morning..All Bundled Up
Playing on the giant pizza

Making Friends in the Olive TubePricey Lunch at the Zoo

Today was Will's first trip to the Zoo. It was quite cold, hence the cookie monster like snowsuit. He didn't really care too much for the animals, but he LOVED the giant pizza play area. It was great, all padded, but it was very slick. That's why he is not wearing socks. We let him play for a long time there, he made lots of little friends. After that he promptly fell asleep for the rest of the zoo. He will probably like it much more next spring.

An Open Letter To Bill Keane

Dear Mr Keane,

Your strip, The Family Circus, has indeed made us laugh for many years. However, in the recent past they have become a sad shadow of their former selves. Please retire Billy, Dolly, Jeffy and Little PJ to the great cartoon archive in the sky. If I have to see one more dry cartoon like today's in the paper I will cry.

Thanks for your consideration,

A Concerned American

Weekend Update

I worked all weekend and so did Jason. We were literally just swapping Will back and forth as we ran back and forth to work. I am very glad that this is not a normal occurance around here. We took a picture of Will at Target today by his picture that was up on the wall. Also, as most of you may know Will has a frog named Filmore that we picked out for him and he truly loves. The tag says Filmore Jr and it's pretty big so we wondered what Filmore Sr looked like. Well, the other day William saw him at a toystore and screeched! He is really big, as big as Will basically so we bought him as a 8 month present. Will has been having a ball with him, wrestling with him, and drooling all over him. Nothing big going on this week otherwise. Will has a cold, Jason has Tuesday off though so we are going to the National Zoo. Last time Will was there it was in me! Stay tuned for Pics!

A sad day...

Today I had to assist with a lady who was having a miscarriage and was actively passing the "products of conception". I had to put this small little lump in a container of preservative and send it off for biopsy. Though it wasn't recognizable as anything baby like, it was sad to know one had started and just didn't make it. I have such a hard time seeing the women who are miscarrying. They are so sad and I ache for them. This was the first time I actually had to help remove the tissue though and it was even more emotional for me. I am very glad that instead of miscarrying over and over I just failed to concieve. I feel very lucky that I didn't have to go through the pain of getting pregnant and then losing it time and time again. I sort of admire the women who can try over and over, but I also wonder when they will call it quits. When do you say, "Enough is enough, lets decide another path."? That's all the sad stuff for one night.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma Simmons has her birthday tomorrow and I was trying to get a funny "birthday suit" picture for her. As soon as I undressed Will, gave him the sign and stood him up, he peed, sat down, and promptly started eating the sign!

Painters...

We had workers painting the trim this week outside and Will couldn't have been more thrilled! He pounded the windows and squealed to them and everyone was very friendly and would often wave and talk to him.

On a different note:

I love Costco's Rotisserie Chickens. They are so tasty and tender. I rip off the meat and use it in all kind of recipes. Each chicken gives me about 4 cups of meat, so I can usually get 2 meals out of each chicken. Tonight I am making it into White Chicken Chili, a favorite around here. Last night I made chicken enchiladas, they turned out so flavorful! I know this is a weird post, but I don't get out a lot these days!

I never thought I would live to see this...

Growing up in the south, where people still use the N-word on a regular basis, never did I think I would ever, ever live to see a black man elected president. I am so happy for him and so proud that we as a country have risen above our prejudices and history and elected Barack Obama. My Mother and Grandmother remember seeing separate drinking fountains, benches, and serving windows. Those days are gone, but there was still a barrier and I feel like we have finally burst through it! I look forward to raising William in a country that is one step closer to the "Dream" of MLK, and he will never remember a time when the only presidents were white Males! Good Job America! I am sure that Rosa Parks, MLK, and so many others are looking down from Heaven and cheering tonight! Now we just have to get a woman in there.....

Two lines that mean a lot to me today:

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

We are closer to the mountain top Dr King!

A Young American Participates In Democracy!

We voted as a family today and had a good time while waiting in line.

It took about 1 and 1/2 hours to vote today, they are having about 3 times more turn out than usual. I couldn't be happier about waiting. I am always sad when I go and vote and I get right in. We should all vote and feel very lucky that our country allows it! You were born into a Democracy- EMBRACE IT! Will was very popular and we visited with lots of other babies there. He also charmed many older ladies, and got many compliments on his cute cheeks!

Happy Election Day Everyone!

8 Months Already!

Will turns a whopping 8 months on Wednesday. I am shocked at how fast it has gone. He is a very active baby these days, cruising on furniture, climbing on the baby gates, eating and tasting anything he can get his hands on. He is sleeping very well again, and eating like a little piggy! The above pictures are of 2 new things he greatly enjoys. One is his new Fisher Price activity table, and the other is a simple plastic medicine cup. The table is great, it has lots of stuff to do and he loves standing at it. We are going to story time tomorrow, it will be his first so hopefully he will like it and be willing to sit for more than 5 seconds!