Littlest Tiger

Today was Grace's first LSU game, and it came complete with a brand new outfit! She looks so stinkin cute in this, I could just squeeze he cute out of her. She seemed to love it too, but started to get annoyed with all Mom's picture taking.



She even watched some of the game; in between a nap and lunch.

Grace Elenor - Ear Tube Champion

This kid is a champ. The whole surgery took all of 5 minutes and she did awesome. We were worried that she'd be upset before the procedure because we couldn't feed her anything, but she was very sweet. Grace found one nurse and freely gave her lots of smiles, but everyone else had to work for them. She was hungry and wasn't about to hand out smiles for nothing, except to Mom and Dad. Dr. Boone said her ears actually looked better and everything went fine with the tubes. Once we got back to her in recovery, which was only about 15 minutes from when they took her from us (BTW, that part was awful), she was extremely unhappy. They said she would be disoriented and whiny, but she cried like we had never heard her cry before. We gave her lots of apple juice, which helped, but not like leaving did.

They let us leave after a half hour, and the crying stopped immediately. She only slept for about 10 minutes after we got home, and when she woke up, Daddy got the first smile.

From that moment on, she couldn't have been more of an angel. She was sweet, and played, and talked all day. We all (all five of us) took a nap in Mom and Dad's bed, and had lots of fun the rest of the day. Grace really seems to be feeling better all ready, and that's enough for us.

Hooray!

Hooray, hooray!!! Granny and Papaw are coming back! After almost 2 years of their house being on the market, my parents finally sold their house. While they won't be coming back quite as close, their new house is only a few hours away, and we'll be able to have lots of fun visits. They left almost 3 years ago after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and they are very excited to come home. So, out with a hurricane, in with a hurricane. Bringing us to Gustav. Are you serious? The three year anniversary of Katrina is tomorrow, and Gustav is scheduled to hit Louisiana in a few days. However, I am glad to see that people seem to be taking this one much more seriously.

The parish we live in, issued a voluntary evacuation earlier today, but we're currently not sure what we're going to do. Once again, the LSU P-MAC will be a shelter, so I'm fairly certain I won't be going to work for at least a couple days. While it's still several days out, the news is saying the conditions in the gulf are very favorable for the storm to intensify. Right now we are just watching and waiting. All I know for sure, is that if we do leave, what an adventure it will be. Two adults, 2 50+ pound pups, an infant, and all our junk. Fun times!

But for now, we're concentrating on Grace. Her surgery is tomorrow, and we plan on hanging around the house, spoiling her rotten, and giving her lots of hugs and kisses to make her feel better. I also want to say thank you so much, to everyone that has been supportive about this. Nothing anyone can say will make us feel 100%, but it does help! Thanks.

Happy Birthday Itchy

Although Itchy's 2nd birthday isn't until Wednesday, we decided to have his party today. I love puppy birthday parties! He was very excited all day long.
We waited until Grace was up from her nap to start the festivities. She wanted to be included too. We baked cupcakes and wrapped presents earlier in the day. Everyone was required to wear party hats. It's tradition and it was not up for discussion. Grace was the only one who didn't put up a fight.

Although it went much more smoothly than their birthdays last year. Last year they ate their hats. We sang happy birthday, ate cupcakes (with the exception of Grace, who is still to little, but a bottle was just fine with her), and opened presents.

Poor little guys look so beat down.

Visiting Memaw

On Saturday, Grace got a special visit with her Memaw(great-grandmother). It was special becasue she didn't have to fight anyone else off to play with Memaw. It was all Memaw and Grace time. She had lots of fun, and of course, she got lots of presents. Grace doesn't get to spend as much time with Memaw as I would like, but I'm working on that. It was also very interesting how in only a short time Memaw can teach Grace something new. I've been trying to get her to smack her lips or blow raspberries, but she gives me nothing. Memaw smacks her lips once and Grace immediately imitates her.

Please Mommy, make it stop.

This kid is breaking my heart. She acts perfectly fine during the day, with the little exception that it's a bit more difficult to go down for a nap. Once about 5:00pm hits, which during the week is right after we get home, Grace lets us know just how terrible she's feeling. She gets super fussy, rubs the back of her head and pulls on her ears. All she wants to do is hang on me and cry. I just keep promising her it will only be a little longer and her ears won't hurt anymore. I wish there was more I could do for her. We've been talking to more people about tubes, everyone is assuring us that once it's over, she'll fell 100% better. I can't wait until this is over, so she isn't so miserable. The only thing that helps is rocking her with her chewy. BTW her chewy is a little security blanket with tags all around it.

Flower Child

We were so happy it was finally Friday. That night we took it very easy. Grace played with some flowers Daddy bought us, we ate, took a bath and went to bed. Sometimes you can't ask for more than that.

Saturday morning we woke up early and got ready to go shopping. And by we I mean Grace and me. Daddy came too, but he didn't wake up quite as early. Apparently we're feeding her pretty well, because she's growing out of everything. Luckily she has tons upon tons of clothes. She wore a new outfit and her pretty pink crocs Daddy bought her. He was so excited when he came home with them, and couldn't wait until she was big enough to wear them.


We bought some cute clothes and extra special presents for after her surgery, but don't worry, we didn't show them to her. From there we ate at Daddy's favorite pizza place, because in his words, he craved sustenance and would colapse and die if he didn't not eat right at that moment. After we all had our fill, it was time to go home, for a much needed nap. Everyone was starting to get a little cranky. We hung out the rest of the weekend and played around in our pajamas until the evil beast that is the work week intruded on our lives once again.

5 months old

Grace is now 5 months old! Yes, I am a little late but Mondays through Fridays are kind of crazy around here.

We went back to see her ENT on Wednesday; surprise, surprise. Wednesday stared off rather interesting. We had everything ready. Daddy was strapping Grace into her car seat and I was taking the dogs out. When I came back in, there was no Daddy and no baby in the car seat. There was however, a puddle of regurgitated formula and a couple burp cloths in their place. It was slowly leaking out the bottom of the car seat and onto the table. Fun times. Grace had been pulling on her ears and rubbing the back of her head for a couple days, so we decided to make another visit to Dr. Boone. After I washed her car seat material and hosed the rest off in the sink, we were on our way yet again. Dr. Boone said what we all knew was coming. TUBES. While I know this will help her feel much better and keep her from being as sick as long, I’m still super upset about it. She’s so little and I’m terrified about them putting her to sleep. Jared had tubes three times, and many other people have said how it’s not a big deal, and most babies get them. I don’t care. While it’s unfortunate and scary that other kids and parents had to go through this, it’s not my baby. Grace is my baby.

Weekend Family Fun

Saturday we packed up to go visit with Uncle Josh, Grams, and (Great) Uncle Randy at Grams house. Sadly we missed Aunt Jill and (Great Aunt) Georgine.

Grace looked mighty cute. We ate, got presents, and lots of love. Correction: Grace got presents, because Grace always gets presents. We are not alone in the constant spoiling of our child. Grandparents are spoil seekers. All they have to do is leave the house and sweet little things to buy are attracted to them like a magnet. From there we went to visit our Lindsay. That’s right, we own her. She’s ours and you can’t have her.

Once we got home, that’s when the real fun began. After tiny and all to short naps in the car, Grace was in great need for sleep. That’s when the ears really started to bother her. Bet you can’t guess what happens? Yep, all of those things Dr. Boone mentioned, she got. She was pulling on them, crying, and just plain unhappy. Ear infections are evil. She’s miserable, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. So I’ll be calling Dr. Boone tomorrow.

Dear God, will it never end?

Tuesday Grace had an appointment with Dr. Reed, for a checkup and hopefully her shots. Well, we got her shots but she still has an ear infection. That’s right folks, a solid month of ear infections. She has been on three different antibiotics, and Dr. Reed suggested we see an ENT and most likely gets tubes. I was freaking out! Not my baby. Are you serious, tubes? It’s surgery; she can’t even sit up by herself. So off we went to the ENT, Dr. Boone. And when I say we, I mean all of we; Jared, Grace, and me. Dr. Boone suggested we try Nasonex for the next two weeks and hopefully that will help her ears drain. If not, TUBES! Nasonex? Ever give a 5-month old nose spray? Yeah, they should call it Infant Parent Torture. He also told us to call if she started to get real fussy, had trouble sleeping, or had fever. So we’ll see how it goes.
Jared on the other hand, is apparently having sympathy pains and also has an ear infection. His right ear canal was almost completely shut. So I sent him off to the doctor too. We need a vacation.

You can just call me Martha Stewart.

So I’ve become quite the little online baby product buying freak, and in the process I’ve found a lot of really cute things. Through my many searches I came across some obnoxious yet very precious flower hats and headbands. And then it came to me; why buy when you can make! My art degree might as well come in handy for something. So instead of spending a ridiculous amount of money on a headband, plus shipping and handling, I made one. Well actually I made two; I couldn’t help it. After I made the pink headband, I wondered what she would do if she was wearing a different color. I didn’t want the other little ones making fun of my baby because her hair accessories didn’t match her outfit.

When Daddy’s gone, no one has any fun...especially Mommy.

Jared had to work on Saturday so he decided to stay in town on Friday, to avoid having to commute an extra day. So we were all on our own. This made me super nervous considering how Thursday night had gone. After eating all her rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and remaining formula, I thought it would be fun to show Daddy Grace’s new favorite game. I was wrong… sort of. So I proceeded to show Jared how Grace sits on my legs facing me and I bounce her up into a standing position with my legs. What was I thinking, right? After about 10 minutes of calmly lying on me, that was when our beautiful little princess engaged in an involuntary personal protein spill. I stood in the kitchen with Grace while sweet potatoes and rice cereal dripped down my legs, and Jared cleaned all the fun off the carpet. He also had to fend off the dogs, because they look at vomit with a kind of, “Well if you’re not going to eat that, I will,” face.
So needless to say I was concerned about all the fun I’d have out numbered 3 to 1. But except for missing Daddy, everything worked out, even though Oakley threw up a little on the floor. There’s always 1 of 2 things happening in this house. Either someone’s puking or someone’s pooping.