Another weekend gone by

Why is it that the weekends seem to fly by and the weekdays not as much?  I remember feeling this way all through school and working.  And now, even though it is “summer” and will continue to be “summer” for me come fall, the weekends still fly by.  For me, it is because those are the 2 days when Jeff is around the most and the 3 of us can enjoy being a family together.  We tried another church Sunday morning.  Ford was very quiet and stayed in the service with us the entire time.  Jeff held him and stood up right behind where we were sitting (in the back) towards the end and Ford was happy looking out at all the people in front of and around him.  The church was a step in the right direction compared to last week, but still doesn’t seem like the place for us.  We didn’t actually hear the pastor preach, but heard a great sermon from a pastor in Birmingham, Alabama.  We decided driving 5 hours to get to his church might be a little much, but we really enjoyed his teaching.  So, it will be off to another new church next time.  After we came home we took a few pictures, which surprisingly we think turned out pretty good (especially since right after this Ford ate lunch and went right to sleep for a nap).  For some reason Ford thought it was pretty funny when the camera starting flashing and beeping with the automatic timer.  That is how we took our family shot.   

 

 

Cutie Pie

Here are quite a few pictures I have taken that I haven’t yet posted of Ford that make me think “Gosh, he sure is a cutie!”  Notice that he is supporting two of his favorite teams in some of these pics. . . the Frogs and the Gamecocks.  A boy can’t have too many teams. 

Exhausted, but still holding on to his toys.  One in each hand.  May 21

Lovin’ his plastic giraffe.  Very tasty.  Early June

Look at me!  I rolled to my tummy all by myself!  June 10

Having fun on his aqua duck June 11

Hanging out on the couch on June 20 just thinking. . .

Now that I got myself down here on my tummy, I wonder what is over there?

Hey there!  Check out my blue, blue eyes!

Having fun exploring Dad’s TCU helmet Saturday June 21

Maybe I will wear one of these one day. . .

Either way, I’m gonna protect it!

Enjoying a cold, wet, wash cloth!  June 23

Hold On

There are a few reasons I chose this title this morning. 

1.  Last night Ford woke up after being sound asleep for about 45 minutes.  His cry was such an incredibly sad cry.  Not a hungry cry, not a frustrated cry, not a “hey, did you forget about me?” cry, but a sad, sad, cry.  Jeff went up and tried to console him.  Ford continued his sad, heart wrenching, cry even while Jeff was holding him.  Jeff tried putting him back in the crib once he calmed down at which point I watched on the monitor to see if he would fall asleep.  I saw him roll on his side and was relieved that it looked like he was trying to put himself to sleep.  Hold on, not so fast!  Next thing I know he had popped his ultimate crib sheet off one side of the crib (we could actually hear the snap un-snapping) and rolled himself up in it, at which point he then began his sad wailing again.  So, we both headed upstairs.  Jeff turned a soft light on and put the sheet back on while I held Ford.  I noticed that there was something different under the outside corner of his right eye.  My tummy got in knots as I felt it, and it was wet!!  How can it be??  My little baby cried his first (of many, I know) tear!!!  It was horrible.  I felt so bad and thought. . .hold on, you are supposed to be too little to have tears yet!  I guess not.  I guess Ford is really growing, and despite anything I do, will continue to grow (which is also really cool to see).  I held my little pumpkin for about 15 minutes before he calmed down and fell back asleep. 

2.  In the middle of the night when I was feeding Ford his arm was moving all around and rather than moving on my clothes, to his head etc, he was running his sweet, soft, left hand over and under my hand and in between my fingers.  I sat there just letting his hand hold mine in whatever way it moved next, and loving every minute.  Then, just as it started, it all of a sudden stopped, and I knew my Bean was full and asleep.

3.  Hold on. . .isn’t his reflux supposed to be OK with his medicine?  Well, I think because he has gained weight that his dosage isn’t working right and we are off to see the doctor in just a bit.  I was hoping his 6 month well visit could be moved up and we could just visit the doctor once, but of course that is not an option.  So, we will be visiting the doctor twice in one week.  Gotta love it.  But, he is sooo worth it!   

*Update.  We are back from the doctor.  Ford now weighs 16 pounds, 4 oz.  She said it is typical for reflux to flare up around 6 months so she switched medications and he will now be taking Prevacid vs. Zantac.  Of course we just refilled his Zantac yesterday.  Go figure.  She also said that the dosage of Zantac is still appropriate for his weight, but since he is having symptoms of reflux again, it obviously isn’t cutting it.  So, hopefully this will work and when we go back on Wednesday for his 6 month check up she said we will talk about whether or not the dosage of the new meds is working.  Hopefully the little guy will be feeling better soon!

The Wonder of Plastic Cups

For the last two to three weeks Ford has been loving plastic cups.  Who needs fancy toys when there are cups around?  Not Ford.  GIve him a plastic cup and he thinks you just gave him an awesome and exciting toy!  If only we were all so easily entertained! 

Sounds

After I finished feeding Ford tonight and he was asleep on my shoulder, I heard three amazing, beautiful sounds.  I sat in the glider for an extra bit just taking them in.  Thankful for each one.  As my cheek rested on Ford’s head I listened to the sound of him breathing.  Outside, the rain was coming down and Ford’s noise maker was on the “ocean waves” setting.  I was thinking. . . does it get any better than this?  Thank you Lord, for creating Ford and for creating water.  The “breath of life” is an awesome sound and an amazing gift, as is the sound of water, which without, there would be no life.  God is so good.   

*this is my second post today in case you haven’t seen the other one, it is below

Nothing in particular, but still wonderful

We had a great weekend.  What made it great?  Nothing in particular.  It was just a really nice weekend at home.  We were able to get a few things done, spend time playing with Ford, spend some great time with some sweet friends on Saturday, and tried out a new church Sunday night. 

A few weeks ago we decided to pull our boat out of the marina we have been storing it in since we most likely won’t use it much this summer since Ford is so little.  For those of you who don’t know, Jeff hates having to deal with taking the boat in and out of the water and hauling on the trailer (I don’t blame him).  Our friend DJ helped him on Saturday get it out of the water, put it on the trailer, deal with deflated trailer tires (once the trailer had the weight of the boat on it the tires were like pancakes apparently), and a few other minor inconveniences.  Needless to say, we are so thankful for DJ’s help!  And while the guys were out at the lake, Katherine, Ford and I got to stay home and spend time together before Jeff and DJ joined us!  Once Ford was in bed we had a great dinner and even rented a movie (have no idea when the last time we did this was). 

Sunday we tried to take Ford swimming at the Rec Center on campus.  I got him lathered up with sunscreen and had his bag ready to go.  Jeff and I had our suits on and were pumped for our first “real” swim with him.  Got to the Rec Center where we were told that they don’t allow children in.  Bummer.  That is one of the main reasons we continued our membership once we had Ford.  So, we sadly came home, but had a great time playing and spending the afternoon here.  

 

We decided to try a new church out that has an evening service.  We have been going to a church for about a year, but just aren’t convinced it is the one we want to call home.  We like it, but decided we need to check out a few more.  Ford needed one more nap, but wouldn’t go down (shocker, I know), so he was up longer than usual before bed.  We took him in the service with us and he did great for quite awhile and then just made a few noises so Jeff took him right outside the door.  We decided that that particular church wasn’t for us, but at least we tried.  I have a feeling nothing is going to quite measure up (at least for me) to our church in Fort Worth.  I think that has been the hardest part.  Finding a church that I like as much and that has as great of music and as wonderful and practical Biblical teaching.  I guess it just takes time.  Anyways, because of church Ford also went to bed later than usual.  To say he was ready to go to sleep is an understatement.  It took him no time to fall asleep.  After putting him down Jeff and I got to talking about what a sweet boy he is.  He really is.  There are so many things that make him sweet, but here are just two of the things we mentioned to each other.  Jeff said when he was outside the service, Ford just put his head down on Jeff’s shoulder and snuggled as he was held by his Daddy.  That is, until he saw some guys out in the hall, at which point he quickly lifted his head and strained to see the “action.”  I shared with Jeff how just the other night before bed, after I fed Ford, I was burping him and he put his head on my shoulder and his left hand went on my shoulder, but in my hair.  He spent a couple minutes just running his fingers through my hair before falling asleep.  It was a precious feeling.  We know we are very blessed with not only a fun boy, but a sweet one too.  So, here we are back to the “work week” and wishing Jeff was home with us, looking forward to our next weekend home as a family. 

Road Trip

As Ford mentioned in his previous post the three of us headed to Tennessee last week for Daniel Crane’s wedding (one of Jeff’s cousins).  Ford did pretty great overall on the 6 hour drive there. 

Hour one was fun. . .

Hour five was a different story. . . 

The good news is, we made it and overall Ford did fantastic!  Jeff’s dad, Jason, and Kari, all made it to our cabin late on Thursday night so we didn’t get to see them until Friday morning.  Ford picked up right where he left off with all three of them and had a lot of fun playing with them!  On Friday we drove into Chattanooga (only about 15 minutes from our house) and walked along the river and downtown.   

Saturday afternoon was the wedding in Dalton, Georgia, about a 45 minute drive.  It was nap time right around the time we were arriving at the wedding, but of course being the social guy that he is, Ford had no intention of falling asleep.  We tried to get him to nap in the car on the way there and had his lullabies CD playing and his blanket, but all he was interested in was blowing very wet, and spitty, raspberries.  The entire drive over.  Needless to say he was soaked, however, I didn’t dress him in his nice clothes until we arrived at the church so it didn’t matter.  We stayed in the ceremony for a bit, but quietly removed ourselves about half-way through and went into the “cry room” so no one would hear him fuss.  He took a 20 minute cat nap in the car on the way to the reception, which wasn’t nearly long enough, so most of the reception he was completely out of it.  However, he was quiet and sweet while he was out of it, just not his normal happy, spunky, self. 

Sunday we had a nice time celebrating what a wonderful and amazing father Jeff is to Ford and also were able to celebrate Jeff’s dad too!  Jeff’s cousin Jay (on his mom’s side), his wife Lisa, and daughter Patsy, drove in from Atlanta to spend the afternoon with us.  In the evening Jeff’s Aunt Susan and Uncle Keith (parents of the groom), along with his cousin Jordan, stopped by.  It was great to be able to see so much family and to introduce them to Ford!  

While we were in Tennessee Ford started rolling himself on his belly to sleep during the night.  This is what I found when I went to wake him up one morning.   

 

Isn’t that sweet?!  Since then, when I look on the monitor or when we go to get him up in the morning or from his nap (which he has been taking in his crib since we got home!!!), this is how we find him.

While we were at the cabin we had a great time just spending time together and hanging out.  Ford loved looking at the wind chimes with his Grandad. 

Ford also loved hanging out with his Aunt Kari and Uncle Jason! 

As Ford also mentioned we all went to the Tennessee Aquarium on Monday.  It was awesome and we all really enjoyed it!  While we were in the butterfly exhibit a beautiful butterfly decided Jeff’s shirt looked like a great flower to land on. 

Jeff’s dad was able to get the butterfly to go on his finger so he took Ford in his other arm so he could get closer to it.  Can you see Ford’s observant/perplexed look on his face?  Can’t you just hear him saying in his mind “If I could just get a little closer I could grab that thing!”

Jeff and Jason made us all laugh (and those around us too) as they worked their way first on the floor and then tightly up into this “tube” inside one of the aquariums.  Who says you have to be a “kid” to take full advantage of these types of things?

All in all, we had a fabulous time on our trip!  It was nice for Jeff, Ford, and me to be able to spend so much time together with out work and house “chores” to occupy us and we are looking forward to our next trip, Colorado/Ft. Worth/Shreveport! 

The drive back to Columbia took us longer and was not quite as smooth as the trip there.  However, we made it!  When we were on our way to Tennessee I noticed that Ford’s first tooth is coming in!  It is his bottom right tooth and is still just a white blur under the skin.  However, I think it is making him not feel so hot at times, which contributed to a slightly harder ride back.  By the end of the 7 hours he was exhuasted and the picture below is how we ended our trip.

Fun with Grandparents, Aunts and Uncle

Hi friends–

I know its been a while-sorry.  My mom and dad tell me I really need to step it up now that I’m getting older.  Well, I have news for them and you–I’ve been busy, ok?  Now, you must be asking yourself, how could a five and a half month old be busy.  Well, if you really must know, I have been hanging with my grandparents.  You may already know this, but I invited my Grandma to come play with me for the last few weeks of my mom’s school year.  I must say, she’s got the Ford thing down and I think I got the Grandma thing down if you know what I mean (wink, wink).  I got her right where I want her.

Also, Grandpa came in town to play as well.  We had tons of fun.  He is a really funny guy.  He talks to me and says funny things that I think only babies understand.  Little does he know, I understand grandparent language too!

I must say, I have had lots of visitors over the last few months.  My Auntie Sheryl, Aunt Sandi and Aunt Patti all came to Columbia so I could play with them.  We had lots of fun.  Auntie Sheryl taught me some new funny songs and Aunt Sandi and Patti took me to the movie being filmed at the house down the street.  I really hope the three of them left manuals for mom and dad because, trust me, they need it.  If I see dad attempt to set up my pack ‘n play one more time without mom’s help, I think I may scream…he just doesn’t get it!

Finally, last week I took mom and dad to Tennessee for a wedding.  We got to hang out with Grandad, Uncle Jason and Aunt Kari at a really cool house in the mountains.  Grandad took me to the aquarium and I had tons of fun wrestling with him (you can check out the video below)…by the way, I can whip that guy.  Uncle Jason and Aunt Kari taught me UNO and told me all about their trip to Peru.  They promised to take me there when I get older.

Hope all of you in adult land are doing well—Things in Ford land could not be better!

Ta Ta for now–Ford

 

 

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/v/_pw3W5KOjp4

 

http://www.youtube.com/v/d3Kmj_43SiI

 

http://www.youtube.com/v/Li4wS2VQAmM

 

http://www.youtube.com/v/TFz3SN8LEgg

 

Our Monkey

Little did I know when I took this 5 month picture of Ford in his monkey onesie how fitting it truly would be for this month. 

 Not only is Ford loving to roll, especially from his back to his tummy, but he also has discovered it is fun to try and “climb” anything around.  If he is near something he will put his feet up on it and try to grab whatever it is (coffee table/trunk, chair, bouncy seat, etc.) with his hands.  Early last week I walked into the kitchen to pick something up and came right back to the family room and this is what I saw. 

Notice how Ford can smile around anything in his mouth, even one of giraffe’s feet!  I have a feeling that Ford will definitely be keeping us on our toes in the months and years to come! 

 

Loving, Giving, Generous, Amazing, Wonderful, Appreciated. . .

Those are just a few of the words that describe Ford’s Grandma Sue!  As you know my mom has been here helping our family quite a bit since Ford was born 5 months ago.  She helped us welcome him into the world in January.  She helped us figure out what we were doing that first week or so at home, while cooking up a storm (not only for us to eat while she was here, but she also stocked our outside freezer!), doing laundry, and just helping out in any way she could.  She came back in February so that I could get my yearly continuing education hours at a conference in Charleston.  She covered 6 of my 10 weeks of work, providing Ford with the best “day care” possible.  Without her, I don’t know what we would have done.  She has been such a source of encouragement, support, and most of all, love.  She has loved all of us in so many incredible ways that we are so very grateful for!  We have all enjoyed having her here and now that she has gone back home (she left yesterday) it seems lonely without her.  She has seen Ford grow and learn, was the one to persevere to teach him to drink from a bottle, handled our first over nights away from him, saw him make many discoveries like his fingers, thumb, feet, and re-learning to roll over from his tummy to his back (Sunday June 8) and learning to roll from his back to his tummy (June 8 and 10th)!  It has been such a pleasure sharing these things with her and I am so thankful she was so incredibly generous with her time and love and willing to be here with us!  Here are some pictures from the last 5 months of her and Ford.  You can tell he loves her a ton and has a special place in his heart for her (just like I do)!

Grandma and Ford meet for the first time the morning of January 2, 2008

At home not even 2 weeks old and Ford already thinks his Grandma is great!

Ford has always loved to nap in Grandma’s arms!   February 20

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Ford loves getting kisses from Grandma!  Mother’s Day May 11

Ohhh- Don’t you know MY Grandma is the best?!  May 23

                         Grandma always makes Ford smile!

Playing together June 9th

Laughing together one last time before Grandma leaves June 10th

Grandma- Thanks for loving me so much and taking such wonderful care of me when Mom and Dad were working!  I miss you already!  I love you a bunch!  Love and hugs, Ford