Saturday Fun

We had a lazy Saturday.  After a stressful week, our little family spent a quiet day together enjoying the weather.  It was a bit breezy to say the very least.

We started out with a trip to the local hardware store.  Phillip worked as a sales rep for this place when we first got married, so he spent a good deal of time catching up with the men folk while Emory and I plundered.  We got watermelon, squash, spinach and cucumber seeds.  Emory discovered that they made the best instruments.  The we moved on to select our strawberry plants.  I even snagged a sweet mint plant.  Maybe I'll get it planted before Phillip eats all of the leaves.  :-)  Before leaving, we had to stop and say hello to the Easter chicks.  Emory LOVES animals (usually much more than they care for him and these chicks were no exception).

Alas, there was two brave souls willing to come close to our squealing child. 

Next we headed to Concord Mills.  This has become a rather frequent trip for us.  Emory loves Bass Pro Shop.  LOVES.  Ugh!  I am so outnumbered in this house.  There's way too much testosterone and he's only 10 months old.  I left Phillip for a second and came back to this:

Do you see this?  Yes, we put shoes on our child.  He knows how to kick them off like a pro.  He rides around the mall with his foot propped up.  I think the added gun and hunting hat really pull the look together. 

Emory has gone quite a few rounds with colds this season.  This week he went to the doctor for a small ear infection and yet another viral infection.  I love winter, but I think having a baby makes me very excited for spring!  Anyway, sweet boy was getting bored so we visited the aquarium.  Let's just say it was a hit.  He's been amused before, but he was beyond stoked this time.


Suffice it to say, Daddy has himself a great fishing buddy! 

We hope you all didn't blow away this weekend!  Happy Monday!

10 Months and Counting...

How is it possible that our sweet baby boy is almost a year old!?  For some reason the double digit months seem so much closer to non-baby age than those single digit ones.  I am lying here in bed by a sleeping Emory (finally).  There are moments, like this one, where I stop and wish that time would just stand still.  I'd be perfectly happy in this place forever.

This kid is crazy.  So is his hair.

Emory has been so much fun!  Each new milestone is so much better than the last.  Sometimes I believe babies truly are the only gifts that keep on giving.  :-)

How could you not love that face?  P.S. - Check out the belly chub!  Whoot whoot!

So far, we've hit quite a few milestones: first tooth (bottom left), first sign ("more," and he understands "eat" and "drink"), first time standing (although he completely freaks out and cries the second he realizes he's doing it solo), and now he officially waves "bye bye" on command.  He laughs at the weirdest things.  On our trip to SC, we thought we would try the portable DVD player to see if it'd occupy him during the ride.  Rio is a great movie with lots of color for the kiddos.  It's been a hit with Emory from Day 1.  He actually laughed almost every time the blue macaws appeared on the screen.  Phillip and I love the interacting/communicating phase he's going through!

Fear not!  The head tilt is still alive and well.

Food!  Oh heavens at the food this child will eat.  There is no full button on Emory.  He is eating mainly what we eat.  He loves whole wheat pitas.  Bananas are an easy A for us in the food department.  We're still working on the peas and green beans.  He seems to prefer the baby food version over the real deal.  I made a roast with carrots and potatoes in the crock pot this week.  Let's just say that someone believes he can scream at us until we give him as much of that as he pleases.  ;-)  Did I mention that we seem to have turned a corner with the reflux?  Not that it's 100% better, but it has SUBSTANTIALLY decreased in frequency and volume.  Praise the Lord!

His hands are apparently the tastiest morsels as of late. 

Shoe strings are an appropriate meal as well, didn't you know?!

Top it all off with a little giraffe.  Yum!

I will say that teething with Emory is far from fun.  Fussy fussy fussy and absolutely NO sleep.  He is only happy if he's lying between Phillip and myself.  He's becoming much more of a cuddle bug.  Not that the separation anxiety phase is wonderful, but I do have to say that I like being the one he's clinging to instead of turning from.

Ummm yes, he is just that cute. 

Be at one with the drool!

I am so excited for the months and years to come.  This is one journey that I hope I never tire of.  Phillip and I were discussing second children the other night.  It's hard to imagine that anyone, anywhere could ever mean as much to us as Emory does, but I guess that's the power of a parent's heart...it just grows and grows.

Emory's First Day of Love

Not that he needs to be reminded, but this little boy is adored.  It's only befitting that he belongs to a family that revolves around the holiday of L.O.V.E. every year.  :-) 

Between teaching and working at the florist, I really didn't see Emory too much.  Phillip took a few pictures of him on his first Valentine's Day. 

No idea what's going on with his lips lately.  He looks like an old man without his teeth. 

Love this.  He makes the best faces.

Oh yes, did I mention we talk...a lot!?

We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  Give someone a big ole hug!

Grammie's House!

We decided to clear the calendar for a weekend and head down to Florence before things really start getting busy these next two months.  Emory got to visit Grammie, Logan, Taylor, Aunt Diane, Aunt Nicki, and the whole gang!  He event got to see Mrs. Miriam and visit Uncle Chris at the fire station (he loves the big red trucks).  He gets spoiled with all that attention!

We got down around midnight Friday night.  It's normal for us to travel late because of Phillip's schedule.  We have a key to Aunt Diane's house anyway.   Emory was being SUPER clingy (wouldn't even look at anyone else).  He refused to sleep in his pack n' play.  We usually don't let him sleep with us, but we had to cave that night after constant crying.  Phillip got to sleep.  I...well, I got a baby that tried to pick my eyelashes off my face.  When that didn't work he decided to see what he could find up my nose.  I turned my head and then he thought pulling my hair like reins would be more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  Really, it was a great night.  I'd roll him over to Phillip's side and he'd come right on back. 

Logan volunteered to stay with me this summer and help keep Emory.  I may take her up on that offer!  Emory loves his cousin.

Aunt Nicki and LoLo playing with Emory. 

Nicki shouldn't have been on the floor.  She had a REALLY bad wreck the day before on her way to have dinner with everyone at Grammie's house.  Thankfully, she made it out with nothing more than a bad case of whiplash.  Her 4Runner wasn't so lucky:

Obviously, the results could have been much worse!

The girls were with Grammie already, so Phillip and I went to the hospital to check on Nicki while Linda kept the kids (including our miserably fussy child).  Thanks for letting us get out, Grammie!

I would like for it to be noted that Logan will be 13 this year and still runs up to her uncle like she's 3.  I LOVE that about her.  Taylor, as you can tell, is allllllll sass!  :-)

The sun never sets on a bad boy!

We had a great time visiting.  Hopefully, our next trip down won't be quite so eventful.  We wish Aunt Nicki a very speedy recovery!

Overfloweth-ing :-)

Heavens to Betsy!  If February doesn't kick our hind ends, nothing will.

We were due to take our rescheduled anniversary trip at the end of January.  I have issues.  Big ones.  I can't leave this house for long trips with Emory.  It's like my little comfort bubble.  I'm ok with visiting family in SC, but the idea of going some place new ... with our baby ... far away from home.  Gasp!  Literally, I break out in hives at the thought.

Suffice it to say, I once again canceled the trip.  No rescheduling.  No refund.  Just out of luck, out the money, and out of ideas.  :-(

As it turns out, this played in our favor (staying at home).  Read this carefully: Emory hit his 9 month growth spurt, cut his first tooth, and caught his first stomach virus ALL AT THE SAME TIME.  That's right!  Not a double whammy, but a triple.  Five of the roughest days we've ever had.

Emory never lets anyone rock him to sleep.  I got to do just that on this particular weekend.  I hate that he was sick, but I love holding him while he sleeps.  Precious lamb.

We decided to head to the park for one of the "not as sick" days.  It's just down the road and it was nice to get out of the house for an hour or so.  Emory loves being outside, but even the greenway didn't appease this fussy little guy for long.  However, we did catch a few cute pics!

One of the few smiles we got out of him. 

Pouty baby

He's so stinkin' cute in his little overalls.

Now, we had to take a trip to Target when the stomach virus kicked into high gear.  The plan was in and out to get Pedialyte.  Unfortunately, the layout designers of our local Target placed the baby section at the back of the store.  There I stood, happily holding my cuddle bug browsing through my options when suddenly a fountain of "the goods" overfloweth.  Straight down my shirt.  Soaking my bra.  Poor Em didn't even lift his head.

Now, I am accustomed to vomit flowing from this child.  He's a reflux baby.  However, there is a HUGE difference in the smell of reflux vom and stomach virus vom.  I can deal with sights, but the smell of certain things will send my stomach into knots in a heartbeat.

What's a girl to do?  I'll tell you what I did.  GOT NEKKID!  No lie.  I purchased the coveted Pedialyte (and have since found a recipe should the urgent need ever arise again), placed my sweet boy in his car seat, got in my car and stripped.  I kept my pants on, but the shirt and bra HAD.TO.GO.  I wrapped up in Emory's blanket just in case a cop was planning on pulling me over for indecent (and it would have been VERY indecent) exposure.  I laughed all the way home...then showered.

To top it all off, Phillip decided that he would follow up Emory's performance with his own rendition.  I love Phillip, but what is it about men that make them such big babies?  He wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, nothing.  I loaded up on soups, gatorade, jellos, etc.  NOTHING.  Finally, I gave him one of my nausea pills from our pregnancy and some ibuprofen.  Soon enough he was feeling not so queasy and his fever was dropping by the hour.  Yay!

Emory's derriere was air drying while Daddy was feeling all yucky.

I scrubbed and scrubbed our house (literally taking a bucket with hot soapy water to all of our floors on my hands and knees).  Apparently, this virus can stay alive on surfaces for up to a week.  Joy.  The picture above was taken while I was changing sheets.  Emory wasn't a bit concerned about his poor Daddy to the right there.  He was just happy to be naked and free!  So far, we have had no other occurrences.  I hope it stays this way because we have lots of fun coming up:

• Visiting Phillip's family for the weekend
• Nana and Pop's 30th Anniversary (Way to go, Idaho!)
• Valentine's Day (If you are in Union County and need flowers, Emory would like to suggest that you call his Poppy at Monroe Florist 704.283.2623 for all of your Valentine's needs.)
• Brandy and Ella Kate come for a weekend visit
• Squishy's bridal shower
• Then it's March and we're heading to Wilmington to play with Ella Kate in the sand.  Whew!

We hope your February isn't off to a sickly start, but if it is we hope you find a way to laugh about it!

Tag, you're it!

I have this fun friend, Renn.  She moved to Wyoming earlier this year.  Fortunately, I get to see her precious little peanut every time I visit her blog.  (Seriously, go here.  Baker is ADORBS!  Do you not love his hair?  Be still my heart.)  

Sweet Renn on our wedding day.  She read our marriage verses, Colossians 3:12-17.

I got tagged to answer the following 11 questions and then tag other people with blogs to do the same

So here we go...

1. What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday?

I would say on the farm in SC with my hubby and my baby.  The Pee Dee Farmers Market blows every other market in NC and SC out of the water.  A morning visit there really starts the day off right!  Follow that up with some time spent letting the dogs swim in the pond while feeding the ducks (Emory loves watching everything in SC).  Top it all off with a nice family dinner and you have life's simplest pleasure. 

2. Which food do you wish could be calorie-free for all time?

Dr. Pepper (maybe I just wish milk tasted like it) or chocolate. 

3. What is your favorite Christmas gift from childhood?

I don't really remember a lot of the gifts we got.  I do remember always hiding Amelia Bedelia books between my mattress and box spring and a flashlight in my pillow case so I could read under my covers once my parents thought I was asleep.  Man, did I love those books.  :-) 

4. If you could be a parent of as many children as you wanted, how many would you have?

Phillip and I have always said five.  I highly doubt that will happen, but I love the idea of a big, crazy, loving family. 

5. Who is your favorite Disney princess?

Let's be honest, I'm too round and certainly not pleasant enough to ever even relate to a Disney princess.  I choose to be Elizabeth Bennett (Pride & Prejudice) or Skeeter Phelan (The Help).  :-)

6. What's one of your favorite stories in the Bible and why?

Hannah's story of faithful prayer.  I think I find it easy to relate to the yearning of her heart during her barren years.  I can't fathom how she could keep her end of the bargain with God by allowing Samuel to be raised by Eli (only seeing him once a year thereafter).  Not only did she keep her end of the deal, but she praised God when leaving!  Don't get me wrong, He definitely should get all the glory but I couldn't praise God after leaving my only child with a stranger.  Granted, she later had other children but I hardly doubt she forgot Samuel.  I read these stories of parents in the Bible (Abraham offering Jacob, Hannah giving Samuel back, even Rahab endangering the lives of her family) and realize that my faith needs a LOT of work.

7. What is one item you feel you couldn't live without?
Aveeno Essential Moisture SPF 15 Chapstick  ... and my camera (to document Emory, of course).

8. What did you want to be when you grew up and do you think you will ever be that?

I would line my stuffed animals up in my bedroom and teach them when I was little.  Oddly enough, I'm doing it now.  It took a long time to get back to square one, so to speak, but I love my job.  I don't know that I'll do this forever, but it sure does seem like a great fit!

9. What is the worst/most embarrassing CD/Albums you've ever owned and do you still have it?

Like Renn, I wasn't allowed to listen to much of anything growing up.  I did sneak away and buy the *NSYNC Christmas CD.  I am not one bit ashamed to say that I still have it (and YES I still listen to it).  You only wish you had my copy with Justin's afro!

10. What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name?

This is just an odd question.  I've grown accustomed to Kristin these past 28 years.  Nothing else seems to fit.  Not that I'm crazy about the name, but it's me.  I digress.

11. What is your favorite item of clothing and why?

I should say anything clean.  Most everything I own gets "christened" by Emory in some capacity.  Last Monday I got to strip in my car after leaving Target, only to drive home topless (covered with a baby blanket) because Emory literally puked all over me.  However if I have to choose, when I was pregnant I "adopted" a lot of Phillip's t-shirts to lounge around in.  He likes shirts that feel worn in.  When we find them, we buy them up.  My favorite three (as far as comfort, obviously I'm not wearing these for a fashion statement) read: "Out of bait, out of beer, out of here," "Save a life, grope your wife" (it's a Save the TaTas shirt), and "WORKFishaholic."  Trust me, I look like I walked straight out of a Toby Keith music video when I wear these gems.  However, there is nothing I own that compares in comfort.

Now the fun part...

Emily at Diary of a Drake

Karolina at Karoline in the City

Sarah at A Campbell Baby

Mere Mere at Merdeezy Hollaaas!

have fun!  Can't wait to read your posts!

Happy weekend!!!!!