Wednesday, April 30, 2008

This Post Brought to you by the Letters N, O, and P...

Baby N...(10 mos)
Baby O...(4 mos)

Baby P...(6 mos)
Almost every evening, Baby O and I walk with our friends!! Since O was 5 weeks old, we have walked with Baby N. Baby P and his mom joined us last week. We think its funny that their initials are N, O, and P. So...take a good look at these cute babies...they are changing daily! And, hopefully, we will, too--I still have some serious baby weight to lose before the beach this summer!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

What we've been up to...

Baby O was feeling better on Friday, so he went to Mimi's. Then, Saturday afternoon, he appeared to get to feeling "not so good." On Sunday, he was really miserable. He didn't want to sleep without being held. To get a good nap in, I skipped the grocery store and we napped on the couch. Is there anything worse than the feeling of not being able to make your child feel better instantly? By Sunday evening when Daddy Q left for the airport, even I didn't feel well. No fun.

Baby O did fit in some time for watching Entertainment Tonight with me on Sunday.... He is pretty into it, isn't he? I guess he has the English aptitude for good, celebrity gossip. He must get that from Daddy Q and Grandma Q....


Thought this smile was laugh out loud funny! He is so proud of himself in his new toy!

And...this is Miss Tobie today after a rampage through her dog toys. She has not done one destructive thing in all of the time we have had her (she was adopted in September 07). Today, she went nuts! Thankfully, she knows what toys are hers and what aren't. She even ran upstairs to grab the ones from the toy basket up there. If any of you know our dog, she doesn't go upstairs for anything. She is so skittish, that she seldom will follow us up there. But, today, she ran up and down the stairs to grab the toys to rip the toys to grab more toys to rip more and so on....she is worn out.


Baby O is feeling way better today. Here is a series of bath time shots. He absolutely loves splashing in the water. We get a smile first, then a show of splashing (it looks tame in the photo, but it is anything but (I get pretty wet from the sideline), and then a finishing smile. Isn't he precious?





Last, but not least, here is my Punkadoo waiting for his "last thing before bed" bottle--he is little miffed that I picked that moment to snap another photo. He knows that the bottle is coming and the camera is in the way of a full tummy.


I miss this little fella when he goes to sleep! Who wouldn't?

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Feeling Better!

Baby O feels much better after his 2.75 hour nap today! I love that smile!


First Sick-Visit to the Doctor

Poor guy, he is not feeling well today. He woke up this morning at 7:30 AM, gave me a quick smile, and then started fussing. This was my first clue. He is usually so happy in the mornings and barely ever fusses. Not only was he fussing, but it sounded kind of hoarse, coughed a couple of times, and sneezed. Oh dear.


I changed his diaper, left him in his PJs, and fed him a bottle. He was content to just sit with me after the bottle when usually he is ready to get moving on his activity mats. So, we read a book and chatted with Daddy. He seemed pretty interested in the book, so we read it a few more times. Then, he started crying again--it is a different cry than I have ever heard. It really looks like he is communicating that he feels awful. So, I gave him some Tylenol, the rest of his bottle, plus 2 more ounces. Then, we read some more and he seemed content.

His eyes grew heavy around 8:15 so I went to put him down for a nap. This is when he really got upset and it confirmed he wasn't feeling well. AFter 30 minutes of crying, coughing, sneezing, and getting chocked up, I got him down for a nap, called Mimi, and the called the doctor.
We are going in at 10. I will update the post with what I find out....
We are back home. O has a little head cold; nothing to worry about. I did get a good lesson in how to clear mucas from the nose! The doc recommended lying him with his head between my legs and his arms under them so that I can keep him still. Put a burp cloth on his chest and work fast. She recommended a big hug when its over. I tried it since it distinguishes "cleaning my nose" time from any other way that I hold him so that every time I go to wipe his nose he doesn't think I am coming to suction it. It was easy to do, but it did make Baby O pretty mad. The big hug at the end was good for both of us.
He is not running a fever, so the doc said all is good as long as he keeps eating. Little Man is napping now--hopefully, he will feel better this afternoon.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Comments Welcome

So...I have recently heard that there are lots of folks out there watching Baby Q grow up!! I have changed the settings for posting comments to no longer require a google email address. So...comment away! We would love to hear from all of you!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

This Weekend: Lots of Standing, Sleeping, and time with Daddy!

O loves to stand up and look around. When holding him, he juts his head forward and tries to get himself to an upright position when he is ready for a change. I think all of this exercise wears him out, because he has been taking really good naps! Here are a few photos from the weekend...

Standing with some help from Daddy... Enjoying the awesome weather in the evening....


GQ charted a tennis match for one of our friend's son this weekend; here's O looking on....
Daddy's favourite toy to play with O...
Sleeping on mommy's side of the bed...

Friday, April 18, 2008

15 Weeks Old Today...Here's What I did this Week.

Monday...watched Dancing with the Stars with Mom.


Tuesday...did some tummy time and played with Cutter and Parker at Gymboree...




Tuesday Evening...played with my lightening bug that lights up and sings "Twinkle, twinkle"; it also has crinkly wings that I LOVE right now...


Thursday...watched the news. I like to sit now. Nevermind reclining...that's for lazy babies. I either want on my back so that I can kick my legs or I want to be sitting up and looking around...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Melanie's Photos

When Lanie and Miss H were here, Melanie came to the park to take some photos. Here is the slide show she posted on her website! O is 10 weeks old in these; Miss H is 7 years old! Enjoy:

http://melaniejohnsonphotography.com/hannaandowen/

Thank you for the memories, Melanie!

Sarah

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Baptism


April 13, 2008 was a very special day for our family. Today, we baptised our baby boy and professed our commitment to raising him in faith. Baby N was baptised along with O. It was the sweetest ceremony I could ever have imagined. Both boys had precious outfits. O's had tiny crosses stitched into the collar. His shoes were handed down by Grammie; they were the shoes that Uncle Ben wore when he was baptised.

This was a very meaningful day for me. I was baptised 31 years ago by my Uncle Dean. A photograph from that day hung in our hallway when I was a child. Every time I caught a glimpse of that picture I was reminded that my parents committed to raising me as a child of God. If ever I was struggling with something in school, or thought my parents were being too hard on me, or doubted that God was there, that photograph reminded me His love and my parent's commitment to me. It meant a lot to me today to take a photograph of O with the Pastor that baptised him so that if ever he doubts our intentions or love for him, he too can be reminded that we are doing our best by him and that we love him completely. I will probably place that photograph outside of his bedroom, too!

After the baptism, the Pastor and Assoc. Pastor carried Baby O and Baby N to introduce them to the church. When Baby N reached out to O while they were standing in the middle of one of the aisles, it brought tears to my eyes. I wish for the happiest life for both of these boys and hope that they will grow to be very close friends--the kind of friends that look out for one another, share joy in small things, and laugh daily--the kind of friends that I am blessed to have. When the preacher said that as teenagers she hopes that their every action is filled with grace, I have to admit that I chuckled. I am sure that there will be some moments that they will not be proud of (to say the least). But, I hope that they are together in those moments and that they keep each other safe.

Grandpa Texan, Grammie, Paw Paw Mc, and Uncle Ben (from Michigan) came to share in our commitment; O's English Grandma was there in spirit and sent him a very sweet note today. Some photographs from the day follow (thanks, Dad, for taking the pictures).

The Boys all dressed up for their special day.

Baby O with Pastor Kathleen.

Baby N just before his baptism.

Baby O just before his baptism (he was "talking" as I handed him to the Pastor).
The family blessing Baby O; Grammie is there behind Uncle Ben and Paw Paw Mc.

The boys being introduced to the church.
At the front of the church just before prayer.

Baby O in his Christening Shawl (traditional in England) sent to us from Justin & Wendy.

Shoes worn by Uncle Ben during his baptism.

The family in attendance (dressed down for tamales!).

Thursday, April 10, 2008

He Rolled Over...Yay, Baby Q!




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First and foremost, we made it through the minor tornado that hit in our neighborhood last night with very little damage. Dona, I am uber impressed that you recognized our front entrance on the news and can't believe it made the news in Tennessee. There is a lot of damage to the houses around us: chimneys came off in whole and are in the backyard, air conditioning units are ripped from the base, one house lost an entire upstairs room, many had windows shatter, cooper was peeled back from roofs, mailboxes turned over, fences completely blown down, and port-a-potties were lifted from construction sights and dropped in front yards of occupied houses (ick). We were very lucky to have only minor roof damage. Melanie's family had a terrible scare (http://www.melaniejohnsonphotography.blogspot.com/) What a scary night for all.
On to exciting developments! O rolled over tonight for the first time. I was re-taking his three month scale picture (below--I like this one a lot better) and scrolling through them on the camera while O laid on the black blanket. I looked down and he was further over on his side than I had ever seen, so I snapped a photo (before). Within about 15 seconds, he was all the way over, and then tucked his legs and arms in (after). It was really cute. He stretched his neck to look around and lasted, oh, about 30 seconds there ;-)

Later, after his bath, he was laying on his back and went to roll over again. When he got far enough into that he knew what was happening, he started to cry so I helped him return to his back and he smiled at me. Not sure that he liked the idea of rolling over again when he was so tired after playing in the bathtub! At least, I hope that's it and and that he won't be too scared to do it again ;-)


Monday, April 7, 2008

Weekend at Grammie & Paw Paw Mc's

The bluebonnets are in bloom! Ever since I can remember, my mother has wanted photographs of us with the bluebonnets. So, a couple of weeks ago, she let me know they were in bloom in College Station. When Linz said she was going to College Station for the weekend, O and I decided to tag along for the roadtrip. This was O's first official, overnight stay included, roadtrip! All for a picture... Here's the little man asleep in the back seat of Linz's car!

I have a photo album for O that is squishy and made for teething. It contains pictures of O with all of the people of love him most. I was missing one of O with Grammie and Paw Paw Mc all in one photo!! So, they posed...
Grammie reading a bed time story. This is the book that Grammie bought for the little guy at my shower; we were building a baby Q library. We read it, and Goodnight Moon, every night.

Playing... showing off more like it. O showed his Grammie and PawPaw Mc that he can lift his head way up high. And, when on his back, he can grab his toys with both hands to get them to his mouth for more exploring!
Laying on the couch watching Mickey Mouse with his giraffe named Aggie.
First trip to Layne's for some seriously good chicken strips--he doesn't know what he is missing!
On the way home, Linz got some news that meant we needed to get home. So, we detoured. My dad picked O and I up in my and Linz's hometown and drove us halfway to Dallas. Daddy Q met us and we had dinner and then went our separate ways. Here is Grandpa with his crazy order!!! He hardly ever eats Mexican and got carried away--they brought it on three plates. Hilarious.
Thanks for the lift, Papa! Linz, your family is in our thoughts and prayers! We love you so much!!