Happy Birthday Waylon!

It was two years ago today that our saving grace entered the world in this way.  Our lives have truly never been the same.  He has brought so much to our family.  It makes me even more excited to see what the newest little guy will bring.  Just when we thought we were maxed out on the love! 

Yesterday was kind of special.  I had a check up with the dr.  My mom went along so we decided to take the boys.  The dr hadn't seen Waylon since she held him for the 1st time two years ago when I had him.  Kind of cool!  He gave her the sweetest smile.  Usually he isn't very friendly to "strangers."  He must have known she was a pretty special person in our lives!  He even straightened up when she walked into the room from his ever so two year old behavior.

Two years ago I thought the waiting would never end and that boy would be planted in my belly forever.  But he came and has been such a blessing. 

My angel as he slept last night!

He loves his silky blankets!

Yes, I sat there and stared at him for awhile. Those eyelashes and those crossed fingers.  MMMM!  What a blessing we have on our hands!  He took a shower last night, yes, a shower!  He was just standing there in the warm water letting it run over his head and over his plump belly.  He didn't want to get out either!  I just couldn't get over what a big boy he looked like, such a bittersweet moment!  Where in the world have these two years gone?  I can hardly picture him as a baby anymore.  Thank goodness for this blog!  Now I want to cry.

When I look at Wyatt I think the very same thing.  How was he ever a baby at one time?  I think this last guy is going to be spoiled beyond belief as I really try to slow down and soak in those precious baby moments!  Even the middle of the night feedings and crying spells!  Remind me of that in a few months, ok?!

His party is on Saturday where these little things will hatch out and crawl all over the kitchen table.  I can't wait.  Thanks for the help, Mom and Wyatt!!  And thanks to Alicia for the inspiration!  They turned out better than expected and I'm sure they will taste even better!! 

Man, I can't wait to get a really good camera.  I'm not doing these much justice!

Happy Halloween, All!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Halloween looking back

We brought Waylon home on his 1st ever Halloween as a little pumpkin that soon turned into a Tiger.

I remember my little pumpkin looking much cuter than that.

It doesn't look like he was a happy little Tiger!

 

2008 - A week before we brought his new little brother home. 

 

2008 - with mommy and daddy in the hospital.  My parents had to take him trick or treating as Wyatt Earp.

 

Getting ready for his birthday invite!

2009 - Our Tiger turned into a Lion a year later, but was actually a skeleton for trick or treating.

2009 - His 1st birthday and 2nd Halloween

2009 - Wyatt - a rockin Optimus Prime.  Dale - a MJ fan.  Connor - Thomas

 2009 - Our skeleton crew!

For other Wordless Wednesday pics click here.

"Oh, Hello!"

Here is a little glimpse of the boys in action last night while I was cooking dinner.  It was another single mom night for me since Dale had his last jv football game.  Woot!  And they won, Woot! Woot! And we got left over bbq that one of the parents had catered, Woot! Woot! A Woot!  No cooking for me tonight!

We had a good time and got to watch DWTS, so you know, it was good!  Waylon was in a great mood and I don't even think he threw his regular "just got home" fit.  That was a blessing!

You can see the evidence here about Waylon's little jabber conversations.  I provoked it, but it is the same anyway.  Wyatt is just too funny.  He loves watching himself right now.  Yes, I pick my battles with the boys or I would be saying, "Don't", "Stop", "Do you want me to..." constantly.  So, yes, they are standing on the island and climbing as well and hitting the lights.  All things they aren't supposed to be doing.

Anyway, enjoy your glimpse into my real life! 

Friday

Friday this not so little guy turns two! 

Wyatt asked this weekend while we were buying his present if Waylon's birthday has started.  It's not just a one day event around these parts.  This not so little guy that came howling into our lives on a beautiful October day, he has changed our lives forever.

He has made us a family of four.  He has made his brother a big brother.  He has gripped my heart so tight, words can't express. 

Looking through pictures of the last 2 years has made my eyes fill with tears of happy beautiful times with him.  What we would do without him we just don't know. 

This not so little guy is a momma's boy truly and his brother's biggest fan even if he doesn't want to admit it sometimes.  And he loves his daddy like no other.  It breaks his heart when daddy leaves the house and he isn't in tow.  He is in love with little Addison at the babysitters.  He loves her so much he gives her love bites.  They play so well together then he bites her and then they are in love again.  Weird! 

He is tough as nails and more stubborn than all get out! He is the lover of babies, and puppies, and kitties, and big roaring dinosaurs. He doesn't like spiders, snakes, or bugs. They make him spit, and stomp them, and he says he will throw them in the water. He throws everything in the water he doesn't care for including some of my cooking : )!

He makes my heart swell. 

He jabbers like you wouldn't believe and if he has nothing "real" to say you can tell by him starting off with "Sooooo," and then a completely long run on jabber sentence ensues.  He has no fear holding his own.  He loves football!  Daily I'm asked if he can go to the football game.  I wish you could hear the way he asks it.  I haven't decided if we have a running back or a defensive lineman on our hands.  We definitely don't have a kicker!  That one is still growing in my belly.  Wyatt has the QB position all tied up.  In case you were wondering.

This may be a baseball helmet to you, but it is a football helmet to him when worn this way.  Don't try to tell him any different or put it on the right way.

His smile is heartwarming and his love is breathtaking.  He's a prayer, a teaser, a blamer, and a fruit and veggie eater.  He eats lemons like they are gummy snacks. 



He gives the best hugs and kisses and sings the best songs.  Undo It by Carrie Underwood is one of his favs!  Don't know why, but it is catchy to him and he will sing along every time.  He's a cowboy and loves riding horses. He's got the pouty face down pat. 

His hair is unruly.  His teeth have perfect gaps.  His cheeks are kissably soft.  His eyes are envious and the little chub in his thighs is undeniably adorable even now. 

 He is as handsome as he can be.  People just love to comment about him. 

He loves to wake up and say, "Mommy, it is morning time!"

 

 

He is amazing.  He is my love.  My little Nayners now and forever!  I love you with all I have Nayner pants!  I wish you the best birthday week yet.  I love you soooooo much!



Weak stomach? Don't look!

A few weeks ago I blogged about my dogs missing and returning.  It was good to have them home and they seemed pretty happy to be back as well.  Tuesday of last week they must have decided that whatever they were after out there was just too tempting and took off for another adventure.  Marcus our older dog took off 1st.  We expected him back a few hours later.  The German Shepherd apparently got worried and went out after him.  So, they were gone again.  I didn't really worry about it since Marcus came back on his own last time and Jerry Lee was shacked up all comfy in a neighbor's bed.  So we went about our business plus we have a million other things to worry about. 

Marcus, our 1st baby boy who we received as a wedding gift the night of our wedding, has been part of our family for 7 years.  He has always had his way in our house, sleeping wherever he pleased, shedding his hair everywhere and making me sneeze and wheeze like crazy until I couldn't stand it anymore.  He was kicked from our bed where he was always so comfortably tucked in under the blankets with his head on a pillow.  Then he got kicked from sleeping in our closets and scattering the dirty clothes everywhere and completely destroying my underwear in record breaking time.  Then he was kicked from the house this summer and had to spend his time in the air conditioned garage with the new dog. Poor guy, huh! You could say he wasn't thrilled.  But me, things were good.  I didn't have his annoying hair everywhere, and didn't have to worry about hiding my laundry basket, and didn't have to worry about him sneaking into our bed every chance he got. 

Notice how fat and satisfied he looks!

Then he started this going on adventure crap and got hurt.  Here is the yucky part.  He showed up last Sunday as I was getting home from my mom and dad's.  I was getting the boys out of the car when he brushed up against my leg.  I annoyingly said, "Hey, Marcus.  Nice of you to come home!"  Then I took a second look and saw this:

 A tail ripped in half and a neck mangled so bad we couldn't even really tell how bad it was.  (Sorry, these were taken with my phone.)  I knew I had to take him to the vet.  Especially with his tail looking the way it did.  So, Monday morning I stayed home and waited for the vet to open.  We got in fairly early.  They have no idea what he got into or what got him and neither do we.  But, whatever it was it got him good.  $560 worth of surgery good.  He went into surgery shortly after I left him at the vet.  They amputated his tail and cleaned up his neck and stitched it back together.  He looked so much better when I picked him up the next day. 

He had multiple scratches all over his body mainly his eyes and chest.  He had lost 15 to 20 pounds.  He was treated for flees, he never had them before and round worms.  He had some issues with his liver enzymes.  He was covered in little ticks.  I don't know if he got into a nest of them or what.  All of that along with this gaping hole in his neck and a mangled tail. 

 So this is what he looks like today.  Skinny!  The boys get quite a kick out of his cone he has to wear.  I think it is mean to laugh at him about that. 

He has a drain in the neck wound that the boys are scared to death of.  They think Marcus' whole purpose right now is trying to get blood on them. They scream and run in fear!

He is on a special diet to gain strength and is on 2 antibiotics and one pain med.  He is going in today to get his drain out.  I have secretly been planning in my head that I would let him back into the house once he is healed, but I'm not telling Dale yet!!!  I might change my mind.

Thanks to Wyatt's great ability to take extremely random pictures I can show you that his tail went from this:





To this:

 It actually looks a lot better than I thought it would. 

If you can believe it he actually tried to run away the last 2 days I let him out and he tried again this morning.  Picture me big and pregnant running after a gimpy dog with a cone around his head, yelling his name!!!  Too bad I can't get you a visual of that one! Whatever he found out there he must really like.  And it isn't some random dog he is doing.  He got his boys cut off a LONG time ago.  He has yet to hump a blanket since they have been gone. 

If it's not one thing it is another.  I guess this is just what is keeping us going and distracting us and not allowing us to get fat and lazy by spending too much time with our butts on the couch.  Our German Shepherd still hasn't come back home.  I wish I could say I was bothered, but honestly, I'm not.  She is very friendly and would approach others, Marcus would not.  Mark was totally out for an adventure.  She constantly craves human attention, so I'm quite sure she is yet again shacked up in a neighbor's bed.  At least that is what I am telling myself! 

Pumpkin Patch

Everyone else has their cute little pumpkin patch/fall pictures up. I am feeling a little behind. We did make it to the pumpkin patch last Sunday. It was a beautiful day!!! We couldn't ask for a better one. 

This was their 2nd trip to a pumpkin patch this year.  My mom took them one day when I was working.  It was a great time for all of them, but I wanted the experience too, call me selfish!

Waylon has been saying that he wants to ride a horse for weeks now and he finally got his chance.  Well, it was a pony, but no difference to him.  Wyatt was super excited to ride one as well!

These little horse shoes were their tickets.  I thought it was a pretty cute idea and the boys loved them too.


This guy was great!  He was telling Wyatt how excited he looks. 

I love the stage Wyatt is in right now, where he isn't afraid to talk to people and isn't snubbing everyone that tries to talk to him. 

Look at that excitement!

There they go.




 The one in the grey shirt?  Yeah, he's hot, I know!

Here is Waylon.  The same guy put his helmet on him and couldn't get over how cute he was.  Waylon hung on for the 1st 3 steps and then had to hold his helmet up.  It was adorable how his little body bobbed uncontrollably when he held on to the saddle horn.  I swore he was going to fall off and I didn't want to coddle him too much, but I broke down because I couldn't take the fear anymore.  I was so torn between letting him be such a big boy and protecting him.  So, we held hands on the rest of his ride.  He didn't seem to mind.  Still a momma's boy!

He loved it and is still talking about it!  That guy in the grey shirt?  I don't know, but he could have been a bit more chipper, slowed down some, and could have quit dragging his untied boots, just sayin!

He was pretty amazed at these things.  I've never really gotten the appeal unless they are used in some pretty fall decorating picture in some magazine.

He sure liked this one though.  I think he was just showing off his little muscles!

The best attempt at a picture together.

We had a great time and they both were such good boys!  I just realized we don't have 1 picture of a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch.  We didn't buy one either!  We bought our huge pumpkins the next day at Wal-Mart for $2.00.  You couldn't even buy a small one for that at the pumpkin patch!  These places must make a killing! 

It is worth the joy on their faces though!

Preg update, Bill, and Dale's childhood dream

Here we are.  Week 25.  Nothing new except for a few more pounds and a few harder kicks.  He still hasn't quite gotten the rib detached from my right side, but he is working feverishly to get it before he arrives.  I'm sure of it.  This kid moves A LOT, really, A LOT, you wouldn't believe it!  I recorded some kicking on my phone yesterday.  I might post it soon, but I really want to catch him when he is going crazy and my belly is popping all over the place.

I still feel good.  Tire easy, crappy hormones, and some heartburn, but for the most part good.  At this point with Waylon I was having a lot of back pain and a lot of lower pressure.  Thankfully this baby boy has been a bit nicer to me. 

The name game is still in play.  We don't have one and we haven't really even talked about it further.  It kinda sucks having to name a kid when you are dealing with a teacher.   Every name that seems to come up belongs to some little jerk at school Dale has to deal with.  It's not easy!  But, something will come up.  I'm not worried about it.

A little more of a side view

 The boys still love their baby brother and are still really excited to get to meet him.  They hug my stomach often and kiss it as well.  I think once he gets here, Waylon might have a hard time adjusting.  He gets pretty mad if I hold Wyatt or sit with Wyatt.  He marches right over and plays the baby card.  I think that is something we are going to have to work on.  We're truckin along.

Speaking of truckin along, Dale has taken the 1st huge step in realizing one of his childhood dreams.  He got his CDL on Tuesday.  I'm a trucker's wife.  Well, not officially yet.  He isn't quitting his teaching and coaching, but this is something that he wants to do in the summers.  If he was thinking of making a major switch in careers we might have some issues, but I think he is making the right decision and he is doing his part in living a dream.  I'm proud of him. 

His dad... sorry I haven't given an update in awhile.  He is closer to home.  It takes around 40 minutes to go see him vs the 3 hours we were driving.  It makes a huge difference!  He is still in rehab to get rid of his trach.  They have put a smaller one in and he is pretty much breathing 80% on his own.  They give him more at night so he can rest better.  He still has some infections and is now starting to get some bed sores.  At this point he can't feel them, but that is going to be a huge problem later if they start to get out of hand. 

The new place doesn't seem too bad.  They seem to take pretty good care of him and they are still having a physical therapist come in, but nothing like the therapy he needs to regain some function.  We like it because it is a lot less hospitally (you know what I mean even if that isn't a word, right?!) and the boys can go in to see him, but we all have to gown up and make sure the boys don't touch anything.  It is almost impossible.  We haven't taken them in since we found out about the recent infections so they really haven't had to gown up yet, but when they do that is going to be a stressful visit!  They miss their papa Bill still and both of them voluntarily pray for him every night.  That is really so touching especially to hear Waylon ask if he can pray for papa Bill.  So sweet. 

Anyway, you're on update overload, so I'm signing off.  Have a great weekend hopefully your weather will be just as beautiful as ours is supposed to be!!!