Memorial Day Weekend

Lately my work has been unbelievably busy.  Between the fact that the trauma service almost quadrupled it's normal load of patients with the tornado, taking calls and seeing patients with another surgeon along with my two to help out with a nurse vacancy, and one of my surgeons being out for his own surgery, I've been feeling a little swamped.  I ended up planning to take Friday off before any of that ever happened and I am so thankful that I did. I was able to take a day to just be a wife and mommy and it made a huge difference on my stress level.  I needed a day without patient phone calls, looking through charts, and running around like crazy.  Ha!  I cleaned the house and after I got finished I noticed Nicholas was very, very quiet.  I went in his room and found him cleaning out his dresser! Haha!

Friday night we went over to my parent's house for my Nana's 81st birthday party!  My friend Becky made a fabulous cake!  It was just as tasty as it was pretty!

I'm so sad that I didn't get any pictures of her with Nicholas.  It just wasn't a good night for him by the point we sat down to take pictures.  He was tired and over it!  Here is one of them on Mother's Day.

Saturday I needed to go get the paper goods for his party because Party City had it all on sale.  I'm in love with his decorations!  I have found so much inspiration on blogs and it has been fun to pick it all out and plan!  After that we went to Chick-Fil-A and my mom bought N his very first kids meal!  It was so cute! He LOVED it! (this kid inherited my love for food!)

Michael blew up his kiddie pool and got it ready for us while we were out and I decided to get in it with him when we got home.  He wasn't too sure for whatever reason.  He just stood there and held on to me the whole time.  We are slowly making some progress now.

He played so hard that he passed out in his swing!

Sunday we went to the community pool and Melissa went with us.  It was fun, but someone who will go unnamed decided to have a complete meltdown and needed a nap.  I went back home with Nicholas and just enjoyed myself in the kiddie pool!  I decided my favorite inventions were the kiddie pool, video monitor, and margaritas! Haha!  After he woke up we went back to the pool and stayed a couple of hours.  He had a fun day despite the nap and meltdown! 

 Nicholas decided he wanted to bring his car to the pool to cruise for hot babes!

Today we had planned on another fun pool day, but instead we ended up cleaning our patio furniture, playing in the water table, and just being lazy.  The incredible non-napping baby slept for almost four hours total today.  I think he needed some relaxing time as well! 

 Michael's dad did come bring us a refrigerator they had in storage that they were not using.  I'm excited to have another place to store all of my couponing bulk purchases!  Haha!  Tonight we had grilled hot dogs, corn on the grill, baked beans and I cut up a hot dog (very, very small since I know it is a choking risk) and served it to N with some lima beans and mixed fruit.  He loved it!  He is such a patriotic little man!  Haha!

I actually feel ready for another week for the first time in a long time.  A 4 day weekend is just what I needed!  It also feels good to know that the weekend is another day closer than usual!

Update Time

I've received several tweets asking if we are ok and why haven't I been blogging.  Honestly, it just hasn't been in my heart to blog.  A month ago I realized how fortunate and blessed my family is.  A tornado destroyed everything 1/2 miles from our house and we came out of it completely fine.  I reevaluated my priorities and decided to take a break from blogging and spend more time with my little man.  It did a lot of good for me to just take a few weeks to get my mind straight.  I've also been struggling with being a working mom and all the stress that goes along with that.  I think having a 4 day weekend has definitely helped that this weekend!  This weekend I have almost decided to shut down my blog, but decided I wouldn't do that.  I love being able to keep up with all of Nicholas' milestones and I love all of my new blog friends.  So, I'm back!  Hopefully I'll do better keeping up this time!

Nicholas has decided he WILL NOT eat anything unless he can finger feed himself.  That suddenly meant no babyfood.  One day at school he tried a muffin and then another day pancakes.  So far, no signs of having any trouble with the milk or soy in anything!  We are still not introducing cheese, milk, or eggs until we've seen his GI dr in a couple of weeks.

Eating roast, mashed potatoes, and green beans for the first time

Eating strawberry muffin for the first time

Nicholas has also decided that he needs to brush his teeth himself now.  By the way, he now has FOUR teeth!  He got his top two teeth on May 13!

Two weeks ago, Nicholas spent the night with his Gigi and Grandpa and we went to the best wedding ever!  We saw one of Michael's best friends, Dan marry Amber and then went to the reception at the Hunter Art Museum (one of my fav places in Chattanooga).  The reception was fabulous.  Fly By Radio was there playing and it was a great party!  We look forward to seeing the new Mr. and Mrs. Norton soon!  Here is a picture of us.  It is a terrible quality, but I am proud of the fact that I have now lost 50 pounds and wore a dress that I haven't worn in 4 yrs and it looks better now than ever!!!

We took Nicholas to the community pool last Sunday and it was his first time to get in the water.  Last summer he was just too young, so he watched from his bouncy.  This year he loves it!  He likes to splash and play with his neighborhood friends from his little float.

He also discovered the goodness of a lime slush from Sonic that day!  He is now hooked! If he sees a Sonic cup he immediately wants to drink out the straw now!  Haha!

I've been working hard on getting everything done for the BIG first birthday coming up at our house!  It is a safari animal theme with turquoise, lime green, and bright orange decorations.  I'm really excited to see it all together.  There will be pictures of decorations coming soon, but for now, here is how my photo shoot to get a picture for his invitation went...

I did get a couple good ones, but it took three days!  Haha!

The other big news in our house is that Michael is out of the auto business completely now!!!  His last job (which was NOT a family dealership, it just had the same name we do, but not family) was just too far from home and with the long hours, it was too hard.  He now works Monday-Friday, 8:30-5!!!!  Perfect for us!  It is exactly what he wants to be doing and I think he will do great at it!

I'm going to attempt to blog again tonight about our long weekend!  Hopefully I can keep my promise.  We were pretty busy and I want to remember his first Memorial Day weekend.

My First Mother's Day

For a few years Mother's Day was a hard day for us.  Michael's mother passed away in 2005 and within a couple of years we were dealing with infertility.  It was a day I dreaded and wished wouldn't come.  I loved being able to share the day with my mom and Nana, but at the same time it was a huge reminder of what I didn't have, a baby to call me Mommy.  Last year I was almost 9 months pregnant and full of excitement and nervous for what the next year would bring.  I couldn't wait until the day that my very own baby would say Mama!  Yesterday morning I was awakened by the the sweetest thing I have ever heard, Nicholas was yelling "Mama" over the monitor for the first time (he started saying Mama about 3 weeks ago, but never to call me from his bed).  It was the best Mother's Day gift anyone could have given me!  The past year has been the most wonderful year I've ever had.  I'm so honored that this sweet, precious baby calls me Mama.

We were very busy yesterday.  We had lunch with Michael's Dad, Grandfather, sister, and Mamaw and then went to the cemetery where his Grandmother and Mom are buried.  This was Nicholas' second trip there, but the first since he was 5 weeks old.  Here is Michael, Nicholas, Melissa, and their Dad at his Mom's grave.  We wish more than anything she could have known Nicholas.

 Nicholas is REALLY into cheesing it up for the camera these days!  Here he is at his Great-Grandmother Mitchell's grave.  She would have LOVED this picture!

 Last night we went to my parent's house for dinner with my parents, Nana, and my Aunt's family.  Nicholas was all about his Gigi.  He only wanted to see her.  I guess he knew it was her special day!

 I have been so blessed.  I have a wonderful mother who is my best friend and the most supportive person in my life, and a fabulous Grandmother to Nicholas.

 Nicholas loves my mom almost, if not more than me, and that makes me so happy.  All of my life my Nana was my biggest fan.  She always supported me in anything that I did, played dress up with me more times than either of us could ever count, and taught me more about life than anyone I'll ever know.  I love that Nicholas and my mom have a similar relationship.  Here is four generations of our family, My Nana, Mom, me, and Nicholas (who was so tired he didn't want his picture taken anymore!).

This is just to show what a difference a year makes...

I was HUGE at 9 months pregnant, swollen, and tired!  Haha!

I spent a lot of time last night remembering how far I've come in just a couple of years.  Two years ago was some of the darkest days of my life.  I spent a lot of time the week of Mother's Day crying tears of desperation and begging God to give me a healthy, happy baby.  I did a series of posts that week that made me cry when I went back and read through them.  I was in such a low, sad place and it was so hard to read those posts.  God had a BIG plan for my life that I realized I needed to slow down and wait for, but it was hard to be patient and to wait.  If anyone wants to go back and read those they are all in my posts from May 2009.  Today I had a patient that I had never met before tell me Happy Belated Mother's Day.  All I could say when I heard that was, what if I was still in THAT place?  I could feel a deep pain in my heart just thinking about that.  I want everyone to know that is still waiting to become a Mommy that I pray for you every day, sometimes several times a day.  I remember the pain that you feel and I understand the desperation you feel every day.  I'm praying tonight that you all get to enjoy your first Mother's Day NEXT year!

Happy 10 Months Sweet Nicholas!

 Happy 10 Months to our sweet baby Nicholas!  You are truly the sweetest, most loving little boy I've ever been around.  You are still happy unless you is hungry or very tired.  Even when you is teething or sick you just go with the flow, isn't fussy, and stays extremely active!  You are keeping us VERY busy these days!  You go nonstop from 7am-7pm when you start to wind down for the night. 

 You have developed quite the vocabulary this month.  You now say "dog", "bye" (which was your first word), and "Mama".  You have also started signing "more", "eat", and "finished".  We love that you have learned sign language at school!  Here you are saying "bye bye" for the camera!

 You have developed quite the little (or maybe I should say BIG) personality in the past 10 months!  Sometimes I think you may have a future in the entertainment industry!  You LOVE people and you even love to meet new people.  You are very friendly.  You just flash your big smile and everyone around you laughs.  Your new thing is to wrinkle your nose and smile...

 You weight 20 pounds and 2 ounces and are 30 inches long!  You are a BIG boy!!!  You are in mostly 9 month, but a few 12 month clothes.  (I am so sad your first birthday is less than TWO months away! Boo! I want my baby back!)

You are eating a lot of table food (just nothing with dairy, soy, peanuts, or eggs).  Your favorite thing right now is to eat puffs.  You eat them a couple of times a day and do great with your hand to mouth coordination.  You are still eating a 8oz bottle when you first wake up (better have it ready!) jar of stage 2baby food in the morning at school, a 6oz bottle around 11 with another jar or two of food, a 8 oz bottle around 3-4pm and then two jars of food around 6pm!  You have a fabulous appetite and love to try new foods. You still only have the two lower teeth, but have two on the top and two more on the bottom just about to pop through!

You are pulling up on EVERYTHING and taking a step or two to get from the couch to the table, but haven't figured out you can do that all the time yet.  You also love to walk behind your lion (video on that coming soon!).  You are very active these days!  You give Mommy, Daddy, and Mrs. Carla a workout!

You are still anti-naps, but sleep like a perfect angel at night.  You sleep from 7:30ish to 7am every.single.day.no.matter.what!  Not sure why we even set an alarm around here! Haha!

For the first time your celebration was almost a week late.  Mommy honestly just didn't have the heart last week with all that was going on around us and our friend Becky, the cake lady, was without power.  I didn't think you would mind waiting a week.  :-)  This is what your 10 month cake looked like.  We weren't sure what to do since all we could think of was May flowers and that just didn't suit you!  Haha!

We love you more and more every day!  You are the most wonderful gift we've ever received and such a special little boy.  God has very big things for you and I cannot wait to see what He has planned for you.

God of This City

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10
First, thank you for the many tweets, FB messages, comments, and emails the past few days.  Things are starting to sink in that this actually happened so close to our house.  However, it is hard to believe that we cannot just run down the street and pick up some baby food or run through the Taco Bell.  It is still so surreal.  I saw this video on FB last night and it is so true.  God had His hand on us Wednesday night and again, He has a plan for us and our small town.  I think this song says it all.

The Lord has blessed my family and so many others that were in the path of this tornado, but somehow managed to come out unharmed.  Please continue to pray for those that were not so fortunate.  There are so many that are heartbroken and lost in a new world to them.  I have suffered the loss of a home and it is a life changing moment.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose both my home, most of my town, and family all at once.  Please keep our town in your thoughts and prayers.  We need all that we can get.  We may not have lost as much as those in Alabama (I am also keeping them in my prayers, I cannot imagine how it must feel to have that much devastation), but we are a very small town of less than 3,000 people and the loss of 8 and many, many buildings is devastating.  

Urgent Prayer Request for Our Town

For those of you who may not know, we live in a small suburb of Chattanooga that only has about 3,000 people.  Last night we were hit with a F3 tornado that actually hit less than a mile from my house.  All day there were tornadoes and bad storms in our area, but around 8:00 they were showing a small cell headed straight towards us.  At 8:10 they told our street to take cover on the news, so I jumped up, grabbed Nicholas out of the bed and ran to the laundry room (our most interior room).  About fifteen minutes later Michael opened the door and told me to get as low as possible and lay on Nicholas, that there was a huge, visible funnel directly behind our house.

(Photo courtesy of my neighbor, Lucas George Photography)

  Within five minutes it was all over.  Immediately we started hearing sirens, horns, and just chaos.  Our town was flat.  It absolutely breaks my heart to look at all of the pictures I've seen on FB and the news websites today.
This is of the main street through downtown Ringgold.  This is next to the First Baptist Church, which lost it's steeple.

 (Photo courtesy of a FB user)

This is the intersection 0.5 miles from my house.  It was a pizza hut, Hardees, Taco Bell, and Super 8 Motel.

(Next three photos are courtesy of Beasley Photography)

 The other side of the intersection.  This used to be a Hotel, Waffle House, KFC, and a BP.

 Food Lion and Ace Hardware plaza about a mile from my house.

 I did go to the command center (which also happens to be the Ingles grocery store I shop at regularly) at 11:00 to offer my help last night, but they were still not to the point of going into the the rubble yet.  Please, please pray for our area.  We were hit so hard and there were so many lives lost.  From what we have heard tonight they are still trying to get to some people.  We are under a curfew on our street and also told to boil water due to the water treatment plant being damaged.  I wasn't able to sleep last night, sirens everywhere, so many images in my head, and the thought of how close it was just wouldn't let me go to sleep.  I'm hoping for a better night tonight.

Easter 2011

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." John 11:25-26

Easter is one of my favorite holidays because it signifies the most important gift we could ever have, eternal life!  I love going to church on Easter and praising God and thanking Jesus for making the ultimate sacrifice for us.  

Friday I took off work and we got up bright and early to take Nicholas to see the Easter Bunny at the mall.  He did so well!

The Easter Bunny must have remembered how good he did meeting him because he brought him a basket full of goodies Saturday night!

 Nicholas loved looking at his new things!

 This is one of my new favorite pictures.  I love how it looks like he is reading the back of the book!

We are still in the process of looking for a church home, but we went to church with my parents on Sunday at the church I went to on my first Easter.  Nicholas did so good!  He went to the nursery and they said he did great!  We have not been in awhile due to all of us being sick so much, so I was nervous how he would do.  Hopefully he will do good again this week!

This picture is from Easter 2010, I was almost 7 months pregnant.

 And here is our family now! Easter 2011

My sweet boy and I

 This is how most of our pictures went...

 Nicholas with his Grandpa and Gigi

Nicholas loves looking at the windows at my parents house.  They have low, large windows and he loves them.  He spends a lot of time looking out the back windows in the living room, especially when their dog is outside.

 Looks like the Easter Bunny left him another basket at Gigi's house!

 When we got home late in the afternoon, the neighbors were having an Easter egg hunt and wanted to include Nicholas.  He did so good!