I LOVE THURSDAYS!

Thursdays have always been one of my favorite days...Why you ask? Because the next day is FRIDAY!!! and we usually go out to eat with my family on Thursday nights (at LOG CABIN...LOVE log cabin...especially their yummy turkey sandwiches dipped in their ranch!!!). Matt and I have only been to ONE (pretty sure only one) Thursday night suppers since Trigger was born. I really, really miss my Thursday nights but now Trigger gets a bottle at 7:30 and down by 7:45. It's pretty miserable if we are any later!! Sooo...maybe someday soon we can return to our Thursday night suppers....for the time being, our (Trigger's) sleep is pretty important! Did you know that they have linked lack of sleep in infancy to ADHD? Oh my...we have to get plenty of sleep. Okay..as I promised, I am bringing out more NICU pictures.
This is of my hospital room where we LIVED for 19 LONG days. Excuse the mess...this is actually the day I was discharged so we were packing up all of our stuff. The couch that you see in the picture is where Matt slept every night. Liz and I told him for SEVERAL days that the couch HAD to pull out to make it longer...didn't believe us...said it wasn't possible...Hmmm...YEP...it pulled out!!! He was way more comfortable after HE (haha) made the discovery!

Each baby in the NICU had a sign for their isolette. There was a NICU nurse that liked to make them when a patient was admitted. This is Trigger's sign.

Look at his PRECIOUS leg. Sooo tiny. They finally gave up on keeping his patient band on his leg because they wouldn't stay on.

Let me say that Trigger being in the NICU was VERY hard. It was hard to leave my baby at the hospital when I got discharged. I felt very uninformed about my child's care. I was never worried because I knew that LSUS is THE best care but it was still hard. I had a couple of friends that had had babies that were in the NICU when they were born. Their support and encouragement and advice was priceless. Hopefully, I can help someone else in the same way. There were so many things in pregnancy and delivery that I just didn't know. I would ask Michelle and Susan, "Is my body suppose to do this" or "What are they about to do to me?" Sooo...I am open book...don't ask me about delivery unless you want to know the details because I will give them to you so you won't be surprised! THEN, we had all the uncertainty of the NICU. I gave birth to this precious, tiny baby (at 732pm)...held him long enough to take a picture and then he was wisked away to the NICU and I didn't see him again until 1030-1045pm. VERY HARD!!! Matt of course left after delivery to go to the NICU with Trigger so that someone would be there for him. and I was left with a OLD BITTY of a nurse! Anyway, not sure why I am rambling...I'm going to bed. More tomorrow...hopefully!! TOMORROW"S FRIDAY...YEA!!!!! Hopefully we will get to plant our tomato plants this weekend.

is frustrated

not really sure why i am feeling frustrated...i just am...think it's a combination of several things! So quick post...we have 19 days left until pre-k graduation...YEA! I'm soooo ready for summer. I am craving TIME with Trigger...full days with him! We are going to have LOTS of playdates with Izzy's pool! And we have several trips planned to go to the condo on the beach!!!! I can't wait to see it.
Not much else is going on...I did hear from Dr. Slusher this afternoon. Trigger is a little anemic so they are putting him on an iron supplement which can apparently stain his teeth...So pray that we can squirt the stuff way back in his throat so that his teeth don't turn colors! May sound a little shallow but he'll have these teeth until he's 5ish!
So...Trigger is officially 9 months old today. He has come SOOO far since birth.
This is the night he was born...weighing 4lbs 5oz and 18 inches

This next picture was taken on day 3 in the NICU. I thought it was a good picture because you can see how tiny his face was with the pacifier in his mouth. It took up his WHOLE face. But, he loved (and still loves) his paci!

And, one more from the NICU. This also shows how tiny his head was against Matt's hand. Liz always said that Trigger's head was the size of a softball...and it was SOOO small.

This is a picture of Trigger in March with his pacifier so that you can compare his face size with the NICU pacifier picture.

AND, this is where we are now (17lbs 13 oz and 28 inches)
Trigger army crawls everywhere. He can crawl on his knees but prefers army crawling on our hardwood floors. He is pulling up on EVERYTHING he can get a grip on. We have to really, really watch him because he's getting into everything. AMAZING because the child has toys gallore but chooses to go towards everything that he's not suppose to...hope this isn't a glimpse of future behavior. HAHA! AND, he has 7 teeth.! Anyway, here is a picture of our big 9 month old boy. This isn't that great of a picture but just shows you what I see ALL the time. I left him in his bedroom with a few toys...closet CLOSED. I come back and he's opened the closet and pulled up on his shelves (this shows him on his knees but he made it to feet of course).

I didn't mean for this to be such a long post but Trigger is still napping and I got a little nostalgic looking back at NICU pictures....Maybe I will post some more NICU/first month pictures in the next few days.

9 months...

Trigger will be 9 months old tomorrow (the 29th). My boy is growing up so fast...makes me sad! Today we took him to see Dr. Slusher...we love Dr. Slusher and Mrs. Lori...for his 9 month check-up. Trigger was busy tearing up the paper on the table the whole time!! At least he wasn't screaming. He weighed in at 17lbs 13oz...don't remember his height (it's written down in the car but I don't want to go look...does that make me a bad mom...NOPE, just a tired mommy!). He has fallen a little off his growth curve in weight which kindof worried me. Dr. Slusher said it was fine for breastfed babies to fall off a little at this point. We will watch his weight and he should be back on schedule by 12 months. She said we are doing everything we are suppose to be doing...always good to hear! Dr. Slusher did check him out good since he has been sick and the diagnosis is COLD and EAR INFECTION!!! WHAT? ear infection? I just told someone yesterday..."he's never had an ear infection!" Shouldn't I know better than to go off and say something like that! He's on his first antibiotic...a little penicilin will fix anything! Unless your highly allergic like me. Hope that's not the case with Trigger because it's a PAIN! Anyway, he had to have his finger pricked to check his iron levels. He was so brave. Trigger just stared at his finger and watched the blood come out...YUCK! and OF COURSE he smiled at all the ladies that passed. SUCH A little FLIRT!
This is a picture of Trigger after getting his finger pricked. He was a little obsessed with his bandaid. I'm not sure why all the gauze was necessary. He managed to pulled it all off as soon as we got on the road!

we had a bad day...

or really a not so great weekend. Trigger has not been feeling very well. I started noticing his nose was runny last Tuesday. Now, we have developed a cough and had fever last night. He actually sounds ALOT better this morning. But, I'm staying at home with him today since he had fever last night...I FULLY believe in the fever rule (even though he goes to Izzy's and not an official child care center). Our rule at school is that you have to be fever free for 24 hours before coming back to school. If more people would actually follow the rule, we may have alot less illnesses. SO, I am determined to follow the rule. It's not fair to Izzy or Sydney to send him over there...just like it's not fair to me when children come to school sick. I think it's only right to practice what I preach! What do you think?
I'm attaching a picture of THE red blanky. If you are on facebook, you have heard me mention the red blanky. Trigger has become attached to it. Liz and Matt said I have created this attachment...which i have! I had a blanket when I was little...I called it my "B". I actually still have it in a box under my bed. It's in very, very horrible condition. I got the blanket when I was born and it had the alphabet on it. Now, you can't even see the letters and all the batting is gone AND it's in two pieces. My "B" went almost everywhere with me. So, when we were having naptime bootcamp (i.e. leaving him in his crib to cry it out), I decided he need something to comfort him. I gave him this little red blanky that smelled like me! He loves it!!!! He always sleeps with it! And, the other day, I caught him dragging it around while crawling in our den. I hope I haven't created a Linus!

Our poor child...

Trigger has a long road ahead of him...I think we are going to drive him insane but it's very funny!!!!
The other day I was going through Trigger's closet and remembered that I had brought home this sorting toy from school. It has four shape boxes (circle, rectangle,etc.) and inside it has four soft, bean bags in the same shape. I had it at school to introduce the shapes at the beginning of the year. But, each year it seems as though I never use it because most of my students come to school knowing their shapes. Soooo...I brought it home. I put it away in his closet so that I could clean all the peices when I had time. Well, after cleaning out his closet, I decided to get it down and clean each piece to get school germs off. I just knew Trigger would LOVE this because he loves playing with little boxes. And, he does love it and WE LOVE IT TOO! Matt discovered that the circle box bottom fits perfectly on top of Trigger's head...Looks VERY funny!!!! I must say that if you need some educational baby/toddler toys, you should look at www.lakeshorelearning.com. Us teachers LOVE, LOVE this website/store....it's like heaven when I get to go to the store in Houston!!!! Problem is...I want EVERYTHING! Anyway, they have great stuff that you can use at home too! Take a look when you get a chance!!!
Here are some pictures of Trigger's new hat..Haha!
BTW, the tire he is holding in one of the pictures is one of the bean bags that goes into the circle box.

BEWARE...Scary pictures!

Matt has been out of town this weekend on the CORPS retreat. CORPS is a men's group at Temple Baptist. They have a bible study on Wednesday night and do many other acts of service throughout the church and community AND have a little fun along the way. If you are looking for a good group of guys to hang out with and enjoy growing closer to Christ, you should check them out! Anyway, Matt goes on this trip every year and has a BLAST...always comes back very tired because I think the work (or that's what he tells me) and stay up late hanging out! Anyway, the whole reason I posted about this is because I am PETRIFIED of snakes...REALLY!!!! I don't like even the tiniest ones! Well...each year during this time, the snakes are OUT! and Matt is gone and well...NOT A GOOD COMBINATION. Two years ago while my sweet hubby was gone, I had three friends from Shreveport over at my house. They were looking out the front windows and I was explaining how we were in the process of redoing our flower beds (and for some reason, we are still in the process...hmmmm!). One of my friends said, "Garson, what is that moving?" YEP...you guessed it, it was a snake. NOW, let me just say that I had just seen my first real snake (outside of a zoo) in my yard a few weekends before. AND I freaked out...big time. It was maybe (MAYBE) as long as my arm and only the size (MAYBE) of my pinky finger. Soooo...I was a little shocked when I saw this snake in my flower bed. My friends went on the front porch to check it out and of course I went to get my camera for PROOF. I knew, just knew, Matt would not believe me when I told him that we had a HUGE snake in our beds....I have a tendency to blow things up a bit...or so he says! So I needed proof. AND I was right. When I talked to Matt, he said,"It will be fine." I knew what he was thinking...garden snake..get over it..not going to bother you. I called my parents and my brothers and BRAD...don't think any of them understood what I was talking about! BUT I HAD PROOF! I uploaded the pictures and sent them to all of the mentioned people and they were shocked!!! After doing a little research, we found out that it was a spreading atter (I think that's the spelling...don't feel like looking it up). It is a harmless snake. They will spit and the do spread out their jaws (like a cobra- which by the way, I told matt during our first conversation..."Matthew, it looks like a cobra." I think he laughed and said, "Garson, we don't have cobras around here.")! Pretty scary looking. I tell you all of this to say that I have been particularly cautious this weekend...and we have not gone outside except to get in the car (quickly)! Matt's not home yet but I think we are safe.
His name is Peter by the way...and Peter is still out there in those woods I just know it!

Busy Little Man

Trigger is such a boy. He is VERY curious and is into everything. He also likes to climb over things like coffee table legs, end table shelves, ect. Of course, like most babies (I think), he LOVES electrical cords/wires. You can tell when he spots one...his eyes light up and he takes off...doing his arm crawl to reach the cords. Trigger is also pulling up on everything he can get a good grip on. He definitely keeps me busy, but I can't wait for summer so that I can spend ALL my time with him instead of just a few hours in the afternoon. Lately, I have been feeling more guilty about not being at home with him. I am attaching some pictures of him crawling over Izzy's coffee table legs for the first time. Pictures just don't do it justice...I wish I had video of him.

AND...more pictures

More Easter Pictures

Feeling Creative

I felt a little creative over Easter break...actually inspired would be the right word. I saw Ella Grace in a really cute outfit and Amanda told me she made the outfit. Soooo..I went to the Fabric Shop on Good Friday and bought some fabric and made this outfit for Trigger to wear to my grandparents on Saturday night. NOW...this is my first outfit ever. In fact, I really haven't sewn anything before so please cut me some slack. It only took me about 4-5 times to sew the legs together...I don't follow directions very well especially when there are no pictures. AND, in my defense, I got the pattern on the internet and it was a hand-drawn pattern. Anyway, I was pleased with the turnout. I'm not sure how they will hold up in the wash. I haven't tried yet!

Watermelon

Trigger had his first watermelon on Easter sunday. He LOVED it...guess he takes after his momma!

Trigger's 1st Easter

I thought I would add a slideshow from Trigger's first Easter. It was a very busy weekend. Matt had to work Friday and Saturday so he missed the church Easter egg hunt but he did get to spend Sat night at my grandparents and ALL day with us on Sunday!!! I have been trying to make a slide show for about 30 minutes and I'm irritated...sooo...I will just add some pictures through here!

First Day Back!

Today was my first day back at school and can I say that I am EXHAUSTED! My children were ALL very well behaved but 5:30 came really early this morning. Now don't get me wrong, I did NOT sleep past 6:00/6:30 my whole spring break because sweet angel does NOT like sleep! :) But, this morning I had to get up and get ready quickly and get Trigger packed to leave for Izzy's house. BTW, Izzy didn't even end up keeping him today because my grandmother got admitted to the hospital this morning and Liz was there with her. I'm telling you, I do NOT know how mommies of 2 or more children work outside the home. BELIEVE me, I know that being a SAHM is not an easy job. But, it's definitely nice NOT to have to get up and get everyone somewhere and ON TIME...which I am NEVER, EVER on time.
I really need to be going to sleep...and I will in just a moment. Matt is back at work. He came home for supper and a little cleaning and a quick kiss from me and Trigger AND back to work. I was sadly disapppointed today because I'm sitting here thinking..."April 15th...April 15th...we can make it...only 10 more days"! I WAS WRONG! Matt told me that they are still very, very busy until May 15th...WHAT? Oh well...I do have to say that Matt has done an excellent job taking time to come home and spend time with me and Trigger!
On another note, I have to say that I really, really, really need to STOP reading blogs. All they do is worry me and make me COMPLETELY sad! I have several blogs that I follow that are awesome people. Really makes me think that I need to become a more positive person (ha...after reading this entry, you are probably agreeing...but it's late, people!) and I really need to look at what God is trying to teach me during difficult and frustrating moments. If you know me, you know that I can get frustrated and aggravated easily which is funny because I am very patient with children! Anyway, so I am really going to work on it!
Enough chit-chat...I am going to try to upload some photos...we'll see...does it take anyone else FOREVER to upload photos to your blog?