Having a Conversation All his Own

Puke Puke and more Puke Yet We Are Thankful

This morning Hayden woke at 6 am crying softly. I waited a few minutes to see if he was going to go back to sleep and when he didn't I went in and saw he was laying still in his crib whimpering. I picked him up and rocked my little boy for a few minutes and layed him back to bed which he slept until 9:30. I went in and started to unzip his pj's when I saw and smelled poop everywhere. Took him in the bathroom and he cried during his bath which was unusual. I got him cleaned up and dressed in his nice clothes since we were going to Nana Dede and grandpa's today to celebrate Thanksgiving. Then Hayden had a HUGE breakfast! He drank 8+ ounces of milk, yogurt, oatmeal, pureed fruit and chunks of pears. He hadn't eaten well for the past 2 days so I though he was just making up for it. He was very clingy this morning and just looked lethargic. I thought he was teething as he upper right gum is swollen and I can see a tooth about to break through the gum line. I am holding him in the family room when all of a sudden he throws up ALL over me. I then hand him off to Jeff so I can go change clothes and he throws up ALL over Jeff who then hands him back to me so he can change. Then Hayden pukes ALL over the floor in the family room and poor Linus happens to be walking by and gets puked on too. ALL over his back. Jeff proceeds to take Linus outside, cleans up the vomit all over the floor then gives Linus a bath while I take Hayden into the bathroom where he throws up all over the floor. I get him cleaned up and give him a few sips of water. He wasn't running a fever and although he has been fussy all day he hasn't had any more episodes of vomiting since. He has been sipping Pedialyte and eating crackers all day. When he gets Tylenol he acts just fine and plays with his toys but when the medicine wears off he is fussy. I don't know if the vomiting was from over eating, teething or a virus. I would have thought it was a virus except he only had the morning episode and he wasn't running a fever. This is his first episode of vomiting since his reflux days. Everyone got puked on today in our house and yet we managed to have a good day. We learned a valuable lesson and that's if your child is puking don't keep passing him back and forth and just stay put so there's less to clean up! I hope he feels better tomorrow. I hate it when he doesn't feel good. I wish I could take it away but I can't.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we were blessed to spend it with our Family. God has blessed us with so much. We are thankful for our friends, family and Jesus. We should give praise and thanks everyday and just not on thanksgiving. We are thankful for our health and our home. We are thankful for time. The time to spend with family. The time to laugh and love. We hope that everyone was able to spend time with friends and/or family this Thanksgiving and that we will all be able to share a meal with those that we love next year as well.

Bedtime Routines and Prayers

Hayden at 3-4 months reading about an alligator known as chicken

Winding down with a nice relaxing warm bath at 2 months

Starting out reading bedtime stories and not even a month old yet.


This past weekend Hayden stayed with Grammy and Peepaw from Friday evening to Monday afternoon. It is so nice to have some adult time without him every once in a while. We have been fortunate to get this time about every 4-6 weeks. Jeff and I went to the UK vs VMI game at Rupp Arena on Friday night then went to Indy for 2 days. We took in a Colts game and enjoyed our time alone. Hayden went to the "country" to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Carrico's which we hated to miss but had already booked the trip.

Because I didn't have any pictures to post from this weekend I was trying to think of what I would post for this week. As I put him to bed tonight I reflected on the precious routine of bedtime. When he was first born it was the same every night and really has only changed very little. He would always get fed, then take a bath then have a bedtime story then prayers, a kiss and off to sleep. Now it's the same routine minus the bedtime story. I loved reading to him every night but the routine became so lengthy that he never made it through the entire process. Now he gets a story at some other time during the day and they have to be interactive books (he lifts a flap, turns the pages etc) or it doesn't hold his attention. I love the last few minutes of the day walking around his room with his head on my shoulders as we thank God for our blessings and pray. I cherish these moments as I know they go by so fast and do not come with guarantees that there will be another. I try to live in the moment and not take these times for granted.

May God bless my baby as he sleeps so soundly tongiht. May He bless those that have touched our life today. We pray for those that are ill; that they may feel God's comfort and peace. We pray for those that do not know Jesus; that he may touch them through those that walk the earth. We thank Him for these everyday moments, our good health and for sacrificing his only Son so that we may have eternal life.

Ohhhh C-A-T-S Cats Cats Cats

Hayden went to his first UK sporting event. We went to see UK play Georgia and although they lost it was still a good game to watch. Hayden had fun and even took a 30 minute nap during the third quarter.

Shoes = Tantrum and Tears

Okay so Hayden is now 12 months and he has never worn shoes. no it's not because we live in Kentucky it's because the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that baby's shouldn't wear shoes until they are walking independently and even then shoes really only need to be worn outside. Apparently toddlers learn to walk better by feeling the ground with their bare feet. So being a first time mom I am trying to follow everything by the book (breast milk exclusively until 6 months, vaccinations on schedule, on the back to sleep, no bumper in the the bed ... you get the picture) So even though Hayden is not walking independently he is cruising and using a walker. We went to the UK football game on Saturday and I thought since it was cold and we would be outside he would benefit from having on shoes and his Nana Dede has been strongly suggesting shoes for months now. Well as usual we were running late so no time to try to figure out what size shoe he needed and which pair to pull out of the closet. So Sunday comes and I am determined to at least try some shoes on his feet. No problem, right? WRONG! He threw a fit with the biggest tears rolling down his face for the entire 20 minutes I had the shoes on him. They were a 1/2 size too big so I know they were not pinching his toes. He acted like they were glued to the floor. He just stood there and would not move his feet. So then I put him on his hands and knees so he could crawl. Nothing he just stayed on all 4's with tears pouring down his face. I then took the shoes off. He immediately stopped crying and started playing. So I picked him back up and put the shoes on him again. Same story .. waterworks. I left them on about 5 more minutes and then surrendered. So now on Monday Nana Dede comes over and I tell her the shoe story and tell her to knock herself out trying to get him to wear shoes. She is insistent that he needs shoes. All her boys wore shoes early on and poor Hayden should have been in shoes for months now. I tell her all the reasons that I don't think he needs shoes but if she really thinks he should wear them then she can put them on him and see how he cries. So I leave for work and then I came home at 5 to find my blonde haired little boy playing happily in his play room WEARING SHOES! Yep that's right he has on shoes and is smiling. Deanna said he fussed just for a minute and then was fine. I guess sometimes Nana's and Grammy's just do things better or at least less traumatic!

Surprise Visitors

As I put Hayden in his car seat this morning and got Linus' leash we were heading out to the car for Linus' vet appointment for shots when the doorbell rang. I figured it was probably a solicitor and thought about ignoring it but decided to see who was at the door. Boy was I surprised to see Aunt Rose who had Uncle Jerry and Grandma Hamilton in the car. Grandma had come to get her new shoes at the doctors and they happened to drive by. I called the vet and canceled Linus' appointment and we visited for about an hour then went to Cracker Barrel. Hayden enjoyed eating Uncle Jerry's pinto beans, Grandma's hash browns and my lemon. He was such a good boy. We really enjoyed the time and Linus was glad to get out of his shots.

Thanks Uncle Jerry and Aunt Rose for treating Hayden and me to lunch!

Walking for a Great Cause

On November 1 we went on our third walk for suicide prevention in honor of Jeff's cousin Bradley who passed away four years ago. The weather was great and there was a large turn out in support of Brad and his family.

Trick or Treat

Keeping with our yearly tradition we went to Mason and Kellie's to trick or treat with Connor and Carson. Although Hayden didn't collect any candy he had fun hanging out with his older cousins dressed as star wars characters.

Friends that are Our Family

While I was off on vacation last week with Hayden we had cousin Kayla and Danielle over to play on Halloween morning. It was so cute when Hayden went to his high chair and pulled out all the plastic bibs to find the only cloth bib. He had then crawled over to Kayla and wiped the drool from her face. They both seemed to enjoy themselves as did Danielle and myself.

Doctor Visit and Kids Meals

Hayden went to his 12 month check up last week and was upset from the time the nurse called us back and he had to get undressed. The poor thing didn't stop crying until after we got in the car and headed to the mall. He is developmentally meeting his milestones although he is still small being 21 pounds and 29 1/4 inches long. He falls in the 25%-30% range for height and weight but 90% for head circumference.... lots of room to grow his brains. He got his MMR, varicella and flu shots. His anemia has improved but still needs to continue his MVI. After a traumatic visit we headed to the mall to meet Grammy for lunch. Hayden had his second visit to the mall in his lifetime and got a Chick-fil-a kids meal with a toy(Barney book). He nibble on some chicken and fruit and seemed to have forgotten about his shots.