Lunch Date with Daddy

Today Whit was out of preschool (and I don't work on Thursdays), so we spent the best part of the morning trying to decide how to spend this beautiful fall day. Then, suddenly Whit asked, "Where's Daddy?" and it hit me like a bolt of lightening...let's go see him! This was a great idea today because: (1) it's been a while since Whit's been to the Grain Mill where Kevin works, (2) Kevin's been working late hours lately because corn is in season, and (3) it was an absolutely beautiful day to do anything outdoors! We quickly got dressed and headed up to Jonesville. Daddy was so happy to see us!

Just as we pulled in, a big loader truck pulled in to pick up some soy beans. Whit loves "big trucks" and loved even better getting up close and personal with one! His face in this picture is priceless!

He wanted very badly to "drive" the truck, but with all of those buttons and gears and such inside, we didn't think it was a good idea (although the truck driver, James, said he could sit in there). I just felt like that just might be a disaster waiting to happen! We walked around the rest of the mill and saw the brand-new grain bin that was installed recently. It's 80-feet high and holds 80,000 bushels. Here are some other pictures.

 

Whit is of course very "hands-on" these days and had so much fun touching things and playing in this wheelbarrow full of a corn/grain mixture.

After visiting the grain mill, we went to eat at Basin Creek Country Store in Elkin. When my parents had a house up at High Meadows we rarely made a trip up the mountain without either first stopping there or stopping on the way home. Whit slept for a little while in the car on the way home, and we had such a great morning visiting Daddy at work!

B O O M E R ---- S O O N E R !

How cute are these shoes???

Whit has been sporting them all football season in hopes to bring a win to the

Oklahoma Sooners (for Uncle Robert)

and the NC State Wolfpack (for Daddy)!

So far Oklahoma is 3-3 and NCSU is 3-4.

Hopefully the shoes will bring better luck to both teams in November and December!

P.S. The shoes even squeak each time Whit walks!

Sick Days

Look at that sweet face! Can you believe that he's "suffering" from pneumonia!?! Yep, it's true. Whit went to sleep at 8:00pm like any other normal Monday night, however at 11:00pm woke up to a fever of 101.9. We gave him some Motrin but before the fever went down to 99.1, it spiked up to 103.7. Of course I freaked out and immediately searched the web (& texted my Mom) to see if we should take him to the ER. Thankfully, temps of 103.7 aren't really that high for a two year old. Once his fever was down, he went back to sleep and slept pretty soundly from 1:00-7:00am.

I stayed home with him on Tuesday. He didn't run a fever for most of the day and was doing his normal activities, which mostly consists of begging to watch Barney (over and over and over) and letting Charlie sniff whatever he's snacking on and then taking off running, taunting Charlie with the food while giggling and tripping over toys.

I got a text from my step-sister, Erica (Whit stays with her the 3 days I work), and her daughter, Emily also had a fever on Monday night/Tuesday, went to the pediatrician, and was diagnosed with H1N1. Whit had an appointment with the same pediatrician at 3:00pm that afternoon and if I were a betting woman, I would have put down good money that he also had H1N1. When we arrived at the pediatrician's office, his fever was back, but "only" hovering around 101. Thankfully, the flu tests came back negative, however he was diagnosed with beginning pneumonia in his right lung. We left the pediatrician with prescriptions in hand for a high-powered antibiotic and steroids.

So far, the side-effects of both drugs have been worse than the "beginning pneumonia in the right lung." The steroids cause Whit to either be hyper-active or irritable, with a little bit of a look of being stoned thrown in the mix. The antibiotics are pretty rough on his digestive system, and must be given with yogurt because his GI tract needs the probiotics.

Kevin stayed home with Whit Wednesday morning while I went to work and then we switched off at lunch. Whit is taking full advantage of having Mommy and Daddy at home with him and is milking this "illness" as much as possible! He's eaten cookies for breakfast and watched Barney, Sesame Street, the horse video, and music videos to his little heart's content! He's also been allowed to have his paci and blanket all day, not just at nap and bedtimes like normal.

He missed preschool pictures on Tuesday and is missing the Fall Festival at preschool on Thursday, but luckily he doesn't realize that he missed them, so it's just me that's sad. Here's one last picture of Whit singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes" - he's never been to sick to break out into song...his life is truly a musical sometimes!

Whit-isms & Other Fun Stuff

This child is so hilarious! Here are a few of Whit's recent funny sayings and stories, his routines and habits, and what life is like with our energetic, strong-willed, outgoing, and loving two-year-old! There's never a dull moment around our household these days! I know this is long, but hang in there with us...we want to make sure and capture these before he moves on to the next phase of his little life!

"One More" - Whit says this when referring to wanting one more kiss before bedtime. Kevin does the bedtime routine of diaper change, brushing teeth, and taking Whit to his room, but he has to give Mommy multiple kisses before heading back to his room and gets each one of them by saying "one more" in between kisses!

"Beep Beep, Night Night, No Mommy No Daddy" - This actually started this summer when we started using the timer on our microwave to let him know when it is time to go to bed. We set the timer to 4 minutes before it's time for him to go to bed and he can play with anything he wants or have any snack he wants in that 4 minutes, but when he hears the beep-beep sound of the timer going off, he knows it's time to hit the sack. Not only does this work like a charm to get him down for bed, each night when the timer goes off he says, "Beep Beep, Night Night, No Mommy No Daddy" which means he understands that it's time for bed & we're not coming with him!

"He/She coming" - Whit says this when he asks for someone who's not around or wonders where someone went. For example, he'll ask "Daddy?" meaning "where is Daddy?" I'll then say, "he's at work," and Whit will respond, "He coming?", meaning "will he be home soon?"  We think this is a bit of a comfort for him, especially when Mommy or Daddy leave - this helps him to know that they're always coming back to him.

"Jump in Pool" - This was Whit's first imaginary play and it happened just last week! He stood in the living room floor and said this to me, while he jumped over an imaginary pool edge and then proceeded to lay on his back and stomach saying "simmin", which is how he pronounces "swimming."

"I Do It!" - With the emphasis on I! This is by far one of his favorite sayings and in his two-year-old mind, there's nothing he can't do all by himself without any help from anyone, thank you very much!

"Wash Hands?" - Yes, his OCD Mommy is afraid she may have created a monster with this one. I'm a lover of washing my own hands, as my two-year-old has apparently caught on to, and he too enjoys washing his hands ALL the time. Hey, with the swine flu threats this year, I'll let him wash his hands as many times as he wants! On a side note, his (step)cousin, Emily, who is 9, is also an obsessive hand-washer, and she's a perfectly normal 9-year-old!

"Whit Help?" - This is a two-parter: (1) Whit is constantly referring to himself in 3rd person these days (exception to this rule: "I Do It") and (2) He loves to help - with anything and everything! It's so great that he's so willing to help with taking dishes out of the dishwasher or loading clothes into the washer or dryer, and I know that one day he'll grumble when asked to do these chores, so I'm taking advantage of every minute of him WANTING to help. It takes a few minutes longer when he "helps" but so worth the looks of gratification and accomplishment on his sweet little face!

"Neen Up" - This is how Whit says "clean up" and is something else he loves to do (did I mention that his Mommy is OCD?). He sings the little clean up song of: "Clean up, clean up, every-body every-where! Clean up, clean up, every-body do your share." Just like "helping," his cleaning skills aren't quite up to par yet, but he loves to think he's cleaning up whether it be putting his toys away or when we let him take a wet rag and wipe off the cabinets (and anything else nearby). He can "neen" till the cows come home!

"Mew Me" - This is "excuse me" in Whit's dialect! He is actually pretty good with saying this if he burps or toots! I love that he loves to please us with his good manners...like the helping & cleaning, I'm sure this won't be something he does/says so willingly in his pre-teen and teen years!

"I Poop" - You never know what you're going to get with this one. There are two options - a poop or a toot - and just absolutely no way to make a prediction. Believe me I've tried to find a rhyme or reason to this saying to save me a peek into his diaper. The surprise truly lies within the diaper & you never know which you're going to get!

"Tank Ew" - This is thank you and like "Helping" and "Mew Me" we pray these great manners continue! He says "tank ew" when you do anything for him, from giving him his lunch to handing him a toy. This is one of his most frequently used phrases and it melts my heart each and every time!

"Draw?" - One of Whit's favorite pastimes is drawing; however, he must be closely supervised as he doesn't discriminate on the "mediums" to which his art drawings can appear. A few months ago, I walked into the living room from brushing my teeth and heard him say "draw!" He had taken a pen from my purse and made a "masterpiece" on our suede recliner. Lord, thank you for hairspray, which removes 99% of two-year-old drawings on suede recliners!

"G!!!!" - He yells this at the top of his lungs anytime he sees his G, which is what he calls my mom, or even when he thinks there's a chance he might see her. Each time we turn on 801, he says "G's Road" since it's the road we take to get to her neighborhood. Did I say he yells "G!!!!" at the top of his lungs? That's not an exaggeration...

"Hmmmmmm" - This is one of his favorite sounds to make and he actually uses it in the right context and very  frequently. If he can't find something, or even if you're trying to find something, you'll hear him looking & walking around saying, "Hmmmmmmm."

"Fine it" - This usually follows up the "Hmmmmm" and can take the form of a question or statement. If we're trying to find something, he'll repeat "fine it" - I think he thinks it helps him "fine" whatever he's looking for. It is also used as a statement once he/we "fine" what we've been looking for.

"Jujic" - This is pronounced "Jew-Jick" and is what Whit says for "music." This is one of his greatest loves in life. If there is music to be found, he will find it! He loves to play with "G!!!"s portable CD player when he visits there, and Ms. Jenny also says that he spotted the preschool CD player on the first day at Bethlehem! He definitely takes after his Uncle Robert in this respect - we just hope he has half of the talent of Robert!

Some of Whit's Favorites:

• Bath time still ranks up there as one of his top 3 times of the day
• Mornings are Whit's happiest time of day - We're so lucky because we each get to experience this on different days. I leave before he gets up on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, so Kevin gets to experience Whit's happy mornings on those days and said that this should be a "life lesson" to all of us to wake up in such a good mood! Well said!
• Elmo
• Barney
• Horses
• Torturing our dog, Charlie, because now Whit can hold up his arm with a cookie in his hand and he's taller than Charlie can reach. He loves to run around with a cookie, having Charlie chase after him, and then putting his arm up to show Charlie just who's in charge!
• Singing the "I Love You" song from Barney. No matter where we are in the house, he comes running full speed ahead to give us a hug & kiss when Barney sings, "...and a great big hug and a kiss from me to you..."
• Sleep! Which comes in handy because he happens to have parents who would put this on their list of favorites too! He takes a predictible two-hour nap every afternoon and then sleeps for about 10-11 hours each night. I'm knocking on wood as I type and am tempted to hit "delete" because if I say/type it out loud, I might jinx it!
• Horses
• Holding hands and saying prayers before meals. We do this every time we eat with him, and he LOVES it. We don't do a "canned" God is Great prayer (not saying anything there's anything wrong with that of course), instead we choose to say a prayer thanking our Lord for specific things and prayer requests for the day. Oftentimes, Whit thinks our food needs to be blessed several times during the meal, and he will simply hold out his hands and say "Here" (which is pronounced "Hee-ya") during the dinner and we pause to bless it again. He loves to say "Amen" with such emphasis at the end!
• Horses
• We're not sure where he got this (because I swear we've only done this a couple of times!!), but every time we pass a McDonald's he starts saying "French Fries?"  I guess he knows a good thing when he sees it (his Mama is a big fan of the McD's)!
• After naps at home, he's started waking up and starts to sing. In fact, his life is like one big musical, or I guess you could call it "jujical". He LOVES to sing and particularly loves any song with hand/body motions. He breaks into song unpredictibly and when the moment hits him!
• Did I mention his love of (ok, obsession with) Horses?

I'm sure there are a ton of things we're missing, but these are the things we could think of that are happening in Whit's life now. He's such a blessing and we cherish every day we are allowed to be his parents! He was truly chosen to be our child and we thank God for the privilege to raise this wonderful little boy! Sorry there are no pictures on this post, I promise to post some more soon! Love to you all!

Back to (Pre)School!

With a (gigantic) orange bookbag in tow, glasses secured, and cute clothes adorned, Whit started his second year of preschool! This year, he is attending two preschools (because he's really smart.......well, okay, mostly because it helps out his Aunt Erica who is keeping him the 3 mornings a week Mommy works)! He's going to the same preschool he attended last year on Mondays and Wednesdays and then the preschool at our former church on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The great thing about his preschool at our former church is that Mrs. Tammy (the absolutely wonderful, God-sent lady who kept Whit last year) works full-time at that preschool, so he gets to see her very often! Daddy and Aunt Erica took Whit to his first day at one preschool on Tuesday and then Mommy took him to his first day at the other preschool on Wednesday. Here's a picture of him playing on his first day in Mrs. Jenny's classroom (his Monday/Wednesday teacher).
 
 

 

Mrs. Melissa is his teacher on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and although this picture of him is on the first day where some tears were shed, those tears quickly subsided once he realized that there were horses to play with in the classroom. Horses are Whit's latest obsession favorite animal!
 

On Thursday, we (ok, Mommy) got really brave and Whit went through the "car rider" drop-off and pick up! What a big, brave boy! I love the fact that I'll be taking him and picking him up on Thursdays since I don't work that day. Not only will I enjoy the 3 hours to run errands, clean the house, [fill in the blank], I also love that I get to see his expressions when I pick him up, talk with his teacher, and mingle with other preschool parents! 

Before school started this week, we took a very relaxing Labor Day Weekend trip to Maggie Valley, NC with Mrs. Tammy (the absolutely wonderful, God-sent lady who kept Whit last year)...yes that bore repeating - she's really that great and special to our family...her husband, Mr. Chris, her daughter-in-law, Haley, her 19-month-old grandson, Collin, and two children that Haley is keeping. We had a great time in Mrs. Tammy's cousin's spacious mountain house and had plenty of room to relax, fellowship, and play. Their house overlooks a creek, and Whit had a wonderful time playing with all of the children. A trip for us is not complete without someone getting a boo-boo, and Whit was the receiver this time. He ran into the footboard of our bed and showcased a black eye for his first week of school! We explained the mishap to the teachers and we're crossing our fingers that DSS doesn't come knocking on our door! ;)  You can kinda see the "shiner" in the picture below, but if nothing else, you can at least see just how stinking cute our 2 year old is!

 

Just One Word...

I'm serving as the Creative Activities Coordinator for our local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group this year. As an avid scrapbooker, I'm super excited about this role and about learning new crafts/creative activities that I can do for myself and my family. I found a great "craft" of making glass magnets here that we will be making during our first meeting this Friday. We're not only making the magnets, however, the magnets will house one word that we choose as "our" word for this MOPS year.

A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be a catalyst to enriching and changing your life. One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. The glass magnet we'll be making will have a decorative piece of paper that we've written "our" word on and then it can be placed on our fridge for frequent viewing and reminding!

I want this to be a word that I/other MOPS moms can focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon throughout this year. It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mom's word, or your child's word, or your husband's word - this is YOUR word.

I love this time of year. Fresh starts & new beginnings. I remember looking forward to this time of year as a child, and still feel like the start of school in the fall is more of a start of a new year than actual New Year’s Day on January 1st. I always feel so motivated and inspired this time of year. Many people make resolutions at the beginning of a new year. Through picking a word for this "new year" I want to celebrate the newness of this time of the year, NOT by making a resolution, but by choosing a single word for the year. A word that sums up what you want for yourself for this new year.

Our theme for MOPS this year is Together on Planet Mom and the key verse comes from Jesus' promise to us in Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." I can't wait to start our new MOPS year and look forward to the amazing relationships I'll make and continue with other moms going through the same season in life. I love that God created us for relationship with Him and with others...it’s one of the defining parts of being human! I truly believe that the more we draw together in community, the better we are able to thrive as women, moms, and most importantly followers of Christ.

I'm not sure yet what my "word" will be for this new year, but have been praying about it and look forward to God revealing it to me soon (hopefully by Friday)! Stay tuned...

Deeper Still 2009

This weekend I was privileged to attend the Deeper Still 2009 Women's Conference in Greensboro, NC with some spectacular Christian women and friends. It was truly a life-changing event and left me so full of God's love that I surely will never be the same! God allowed me to go deeper still in His Word, in prayer, in worship (the unbelievably talented Travis Cottrell from Boone, NC was our worship leader), and in fellowship, not only with the 4 other incredible women I was there with, but with the 11,000 others that filled the Greensboro Coliseum. I learned so many valuable life lessons from 3 renowned Bible teachers (Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore) that I wanted to capture these things here so they are never forgotten...

• We have entangled ourselves in everyday life so much that we do not know God the way we should. We cannot live the way everyone else is living. Don't look at now, look at eternity. This world is not the end of His plan. --Kay Arthur
• God is saying, "Wake up! Listen to Me! Believe Me! Live by faith because without faith it's impossible to please Me." --Kay Arthur
• Don't prefer the teachings of others [pastors, Bible scholars, Bible study leaders, etc.], instead know what God's word says. God rewards those who diligently pursue God. --Kay Arthur
• REST is the activity of Faith for Today...unite the Word with Faith and Live in it Today. --Kay Arthur
• Sometimes faith brings promises and benefits, but we must realize that sometimes it doesn't. Every trial in your life is to make you more like Jesus. --Kay Arthur
• Sometimes we must change the foundation of our spiritual life in order to grow like we're supposed to. --Priscilla Shirer
• No matter how impossible it may seem, God is able to do the impossible. God is able. In the midst of the impossible, NOW is the time to deliberately turn our attention to God (not ourselves or the situation) and know that He is able. --Priscilla Shirer
• Whether God does what we ask Him is a question of His sovereignty...believing that He can is our job. --Priscilla Shirer
• God IS power, He doesn't have power. --Priscilla Shirer
• If we truly believed that God is God, we'd let Him do His job. --Priscilla Shirer
• God is capable to do beyond what we would consider to be beyond...He can go beyond the beyond! When you realize God's ability in your life (with big or small things), it changes what you request and changes the way you pray. Pray, "God, here's what I want...but if You've got something better up your sleeve, do that!" God's power is inside us and it's time to put that power to work! --Priscilla Shirer
• If your view of God and His ability changes, the circumstances may not necessarily change, but the way you look at those circumstances will. --Priscilla Shirer
• When Jesus gets a hold of you, He will never let you go. --Beth Moore
• There are two types of relationships with God: (1) where your daily needs are being met; and (2) where you enter in to be with God and fellowship with Him, which requires you to disengage with the things of the world, but it's here that you have a true relationship of enjoyment with God. This is oftentimes the missing element in one's spiritual life. --Beth Moore
• God meets our needs, but we must take the time to go where He is and enjoy the bread of the presence of God. --Beth Moore
• God's presence in your daily life is a FACT not a FEELING. --Beth Moore
• God's word is perspicuous...He WANTS to be understood! --Panel discussion with Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore

Satan tried everything to prevent me from going to this conference...he tried everything from a bounced check (i know, how embarrassing - that hasn't happened to me since college - good grief!), to a nasty allergy/sinus attack, to invading my thoughts and making me doubt whether I wanted to go or not. I'm so glad that God prevailed and that He made a way for me to go! I know that He wanted me to hear specific things there that are answers to prayers or guidance & clarity in so many areas of my life! I just pray that I will always cherish the things that God taught me through these 3 incredible speakers and that I have the opportunity to attend something like this again....or God, if you've got something better up your sleeve, I'll take that too! :)