Mommy & Baby Small Group

Lisa Surratt organized our first meeting of the mommies (and babies) this week. I have to admit that I used to make fun of all the women who started bonding just because of their kids. You know the ones, you see them hanging out at Starbucks chatting away while their babies sleep away in their carriers. They always look so happy and I have secretly envied them because I still work full-time and could never imagine planning a time to just hang out with other mommies discussing poopy diapers and breast pumps.

Well, this week I did it. I joined several other "Seacoast Mommies" for some good old-fashioned fellowship.....and I loved it! We are all going through alot of the same things - all of our babies were born within a few weeks of each other - which is really cool. (People have been afraid to drink the water at Seacoast because of how fertile our church has been this past year.)

Anyway, we decided to meet on Tuesdays and I hear that there are plans for a "Mommies Night Out" in a few weeks! (I'm excited just thinking about it.)

Well, we forgot to take pictures of all of the kids together, but we managed to get Miles, Abby & Riley together for a picture right before we left. I'll be sure to keep you updated on Abby's new friends (and mine too).

5 weeks - smiles are here!

Abby has finally started to flash a few smiles. It feels so good when she smiles at me. It makes me want to say, "You like me! You really, really like me!". Some people will say it is just gas or she is working on a poopy. Believe what you will, but to me these are real smiles!

Why I love South Carolina...

I recently found out two interesting things about South Carolina:
1. We are ranked 5th Heaviest State (fried chicken...yum!)

1. 2. We have some of the dumbest people representing our state.
2. Here is the proof on YouTube!
4. If you think that is funny, check out this video from Miss West Carolina.

4 Weeks

Abby is 4 weeks old already and looking cute as can be. She weighed 9 lbs yesterday when I weighed her on our scales. As you can see, she is getting her "baby acne" which is normal between 3 - 9 weeks. She sleeps for 2 - 3 hours at a time and prefers sleeping on her side or tummy rather than on her back (me too). She enjoys swinging in her swing and watching the ceiling fans.

Cody is doing better around her, although he still has his moments where he just wants to swat at her. Most of the time though, he kisses her cheek and lays his head on her. You can tell that he loves her so much!

Speaking of Cody....he was bit at school this week. Supposedly a little girl named Morgan has a habit of picking fights with Cody. I hear that he fights back with her, but he seems to bear the mark of Morgan when he comes home. Here is a picture of one of the incidents this week (yes, there were more!).



I also included a picture of Cody's finger right before Clay clipped the nail off. I couldn't have done it. Cody doesn't act like it bothers him though - he's all boy!

In Memory of Grandpa Curt Nicely

The only "Grandpa" I ever knew passed away this week. He was 86 and had been married to my Grandma for about 20 years. Counting our family, he had 6 children, 19 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great grandchildren. Wow!

He had been a deacon at the church I grew up in and was a smiling face waiting to shake hands with everyone who entered the front doors of the church. He and my Grandma sat in the same seats (the back seats on the right) for all those years. Over the last few years, he was fighting Alzheimers and once his mind had gone, his body went too.

I remember him as a quiet man who smiled with his toothless grin. The thing I will remember most was how he made my Grandma happy. They always looked like they were lovestruck teenagers. They held hands and sat next to each other at restaurants and on the couch at home as they watched TV. He opened doors for her and they prayed together everyday. They were a cute couple who loved their life together.

Although we all will miss him here very much, we will see him again in heaven some day.

High School Musical 2 Review

For those who live in a cave, "High School Musical 2" aired this past Friday on Disney Channel. I along with 17 million other viewers tuned in to set a viewership record, making the movie's debut the most-watched basic cable telecast of all time. Can you believe that?

FYI: "High School Musical," one of 10 original movies set to air on the Disney Channel in 2006, was seen by 200 million viewers in 100 countries.

My take on it: It was not as good as the first (most sequels aren't), but I really enjoyed it. The storyline was predictable and a couple of the songs were lame. The great choreography and close-ups on Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) made up for the not-so-good stuff. I especially liked that Gabriella was always dressed modestly in the movie and stayed cool, calm & collected even though Sharpay was trying to steal her man. I also liked the fact that Ryan was "macho-ed up" with the baseball scene - he really needed that before he was cast for Will & Grace. They could have left out the big plunge in the pool at the end though - sort of cheesey.

So overall, I give it a 4 out of 5 thumbs up. Rumors have it that HSM3 will be in the theaters and HSM4 is already in the works. Can't wait!

(By the way, this post was not written by Clay. I'm sure he would want me to mention that!)

Cody Update

Cody's finger is doing a little better today. As you know, he got it smashed in a door at school a couple of weeks ago. Last Friday, he got it lanced at the Emergency Room - basically, they poked a hole in the nail to allow it to drain. It started looking much better and the swelling was going down. It actually started looking more "flesh colored" instead of purply-black. Then last Tuesday, he got it ran over by a toy at school. Ouch! So, now the nail is lifted up and gross looking. It will most likely fall off any day now. Clay cut some of the nail back and we have been trying to keep it clean. That is hard to do when he uses his hands to touch everything!






Here are a couple of other pictures of CodyMan. He got a haircut by Daddy. Clay learned how tricky bangs can be...as you can see Cody's bangs are up to the hairline now! I think most people learn about cutting bangs (the hard way) at some point in their life. You know, you wet the hair, pull it down to where you think it should be and you cut away. Once the hair dries your bangs look like Bettie Page! It really doesn't look bad though - I'm actually used to it now and I think he looks adorable (of course)!

We went to Outback Steakhouse on Friday and Mr.Cody was having a major meltdown the whole time we were there. In case you were wondering, Cody is attempting to eat a tomato in this picture. He decided that he didn't like it and continued to squish it in his hands before throwing it down. (I would hate to see what the floor under the table ended up looking like). I think the waitstaff actually applauded when we left the restaurant.



The other picture is of Cody with his foot in his mouth. I think he gets that from me....I do that all the time!

3 Weeks Old

Abby's first doctor visit at 2 weeks

7lbs 14oz. (25th percentile)

21 inches (75th percentile)

Here is a picture of her getting weighed. She was crying because she was cold and Mommy was taking too long getting the camera ready for the picture.

Bubbles!

Cody took a bath with Daddy and experienced the fun you can have when you combine bubble bath lotion with the jets in the tub. Bubbles everywhere! Here is the evidence...

Maternity Leave

I remember the days that I looked forward to maternity leave. I couldn't wait to just stay at home all day and do nothing - just laying around and watching TV, playing on the computer, and talking on the phone. Ahhh, it seemed like it would be a mini-vacation from all of the stuff that was going on at work. Well, now I get to stay at home with Abby, but there isn't as much free time as I had expected.

I feed her, pump if needed, work out a burp (from Abby), change her diapers, change her outfit, try to get her back to sleep (which involves rocking, patting, shushing, singing, swinging, and swaddling).

As she drifts off to sleepyland I realize that the clock is now ticking. I jump up and use the bathroom, brush my teeth, think about taking a shower (no that can wait)....I'm hungry!

I go to the kitchen and look for something easy to fix. Toast! And this time I will put cheese on it...a grilled cheese (sort of) and....now what's that noise? Abby is crying!

Back to the bedroom to see that she has spit up on herself and needs another change. I guess I didn't work out all of the gas bubbles in her tummy. Oh no! Her crying is making me leak now! Grab the pump and get it started. Baby is changed, I am pumped, and I repeat the process to get Abby back to sleep. I'll stick her pacifier in for good measure. Ok, where was I? Oh yes, the food!

I go back to the kitchen and get my cold cheese-on-toast sandwich and refill my glass of water. I gobble that down and decide that I will check on the news to see if there is anything of importance going on outside of my four walls. It's the same old stuff...global warming is causing our heat wave, Nicole Richie is pregnant and going to jail and planning her wedding (in that order), and the hype about the hurricane season has already started. I then scan the other nine thousand channels but can't find anything worth watching.

Then I remember the saying "sleep when the baby sleeps". Ok, I should do that. I turn the TV off, turn the fan on, and snuggle up under the covers and......wahhhh! Abby is awake and hungry. It starts all over again, and again, and again.

I can't wait to go back to work so I can get some rest!

Are you a parent? Take the quiz to be sure!

Here is a great article and quiz I found online - thought I would share it with you:

Are you a parent?
Take the quiz to be sure!
You might ask, “Isn’t it obvious if you’re a parent?
You know if you have kids,don’t you?”
That’s an excellent observation since most moms and many dads were present at the birth of their children. I have a faint recollection of sitting next to a hospital bed in which my wife had complete authority over the television remote control for 18 straight hours and I was forced to beg her to turn back to Little House on the Prairie so I could see if Michael Landon saved the neighbor girl who had fallen into a well. I even have a videotape of the experience. The episode of Little House, not the birth.
But, in my estimation, 98 percent of parents forget they have children. If you don’t believe me, just look at the kids raiding the candy bin at the local grocery store checkout and the adults pretending those kids are someone else’s progeny. My quiz will help jog your memory.
Take the quiz now!

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

Cody has had a very interesting week so far. He received his first tricycle (a really big deal to a toddler), Daddy punked him up for school (mohawk and all), and then he got his finger smashed in a door at school (it's not broken, but it made mommy queasy).

Date Night

Clay took me to Dragon Palace this week for our first official date since Abby was born. Grandma Carolyn stayed home with Cody & Abby and did a fantastic job! It was so nice to get out of the house and to have a conversation with my husband that didn't involve crying kids or diaper changes. I can't wait to do it again! Anybody offering babysitting services?

Pretty in Pink

I never was much of a "pink" person, but I have to say....Abby looks really cute in her little pink outfits. Here are just a couple of pictures to show off.

Cody Time

We have had so much fun showing off Baby Abby to everyone. One of the questions we always get asked is "How is Big Brother Cody handling the new baby?"

He absolutely loves her and wants to see her.....and touch her. He usually starts off with a crazed/obsessed look in his eyes as he says"Abby, Abby, Abby". Then he works his way toward her with a finger extended. He wants to show us her nose by poking right at her face while proudly saying "nose!" We respond quickly shouting "Gentle Cody!" We have tried holding his hand to let him gently touch her toes or her cheek, but he just gets more and more excited about being near her and he just ends up swatting at her. He really wants to help though. He has even tried putting her pacifier back in for her (after he has tried it out for her). It is really cute.

Because of all of the attention Abby has been getting, Clay and I have been really trying to make sure that we spend some quality time with Cody. Here are some pictures of Cody at the playground.

Best things about being in the hospital...

Cody would say that the best thing was all of the food (especially the potato chips!).

Clay would say the fantastic wardrobe they provide for the Daddys.

Abby would say the great accomodations and friendly staff.

Terri would say...going home!

Some of Abby's new friends & family

And this is only a handful of those who stopped by to welcome Baby Abby to the world. Thank you to everyone who came by to visit - especially those who travelled long distances.

Abby's Mommy apologizes to those who she slept through the visit. The meds are just now wearing off! : )