Rugby Pictures

I forgot to post some of the pictures of Chad in action on the pitch. the pitch is the field. i guess. i'm still trying to figure out all of the lingo or whatever.

Chad is the one with the ball

now he is tackling

ummm, i'm not sure the lingo for this one...maybe he is trying to go in for a tackle and just completely missing?!?!

Chad is on the far right side

I guess this is what Graham looks like as he is taking Mikey down (see below post)...he is his father's child

Future Rugby Player???

So. If you have been reading our blog from the beginning, I may have mentioned a few times that Chad LOVES Rugby. He played in college and is now playing for the Little Rock Rugby Club again. I think he may just love rugby more than he loves me. We pay an extra 15.00 a month just for ONE channel that shows nothing BUT rugby. All of the time, I hear rugby this, rugby that, rugby blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong. It's a fun sport to watch that is for sure. I mean, what isn't fun about watching a bunch of sweaty in shape men tackling each other without pads and stomping each other with their spiked cleats?? It's entertaining. My husband has me loving it...to a point. I can only take so much. The cauliflower ear I can do without though. that is just disgusting. and when it pops, OH.MY.LAWD.

I won't post a picture of what it looks like when it pops. because it will make you sick to your stomach. or maybe not. maybe some of you are freaks and like that kind of stuff. lol. i, however, have a weak belly. my mom knew me too well when she talked me out of nursing school.

okay, so anyway. Chad is constantly saying how graham is going to play rugby and be a star and yada yada yada. I'm thinking to myself, there is no way in HELL I am going to let someone tackle MY son. I dare them. over my dead body. i will "junk punch" anyone that messes with my baby.

Well, apparently, Graham is already practicing.

This morning when I dropped Graham off at daycare, his teacher Ms. Tracy asked me if graham and chad wrestled at home. No, they sure don't. We never even play rough with Graham EVER but we have noticed him tackling his Learning Dog a few times. well, not only is he tackling his doggie, he is tackling the other babies at daycare too. But mainly, the biggest baby of them all, Micheal. Now, Mikey is not your average baby. This child WILL be a football star. He's huge. not fat. but TALL and STOUT. He is off of the charts! And because he is so big, he doesn't get around by himself very well. Ms. Tracy said that Graham will watch Mikey as he sits there playing with his toys and just lunge towards Mikey and takes him down. and sometimes he headbutts too. I'm not quite sure what in the world my child is trying to prove. guess graham watches wayyyy too much Rugby with daddy.

We have created a monster. He is all boy and ALL DADDY.

Future Rugby Player?? I sure hope not but it looks like it may just be inevitable.

Our Handsome Man

at nap time, he sits up in his cribs and plays...until he falls flat out. literally.

i haven't been this flexible since i was a cheerleader many many moons ago.

he loves water bottles. if chad or i have one on our hands, g rips it away. he don't play. hardcore.

This is the aftermath of a tornado barreling through our living room. graham seriously makes this mess himself. he has two baskets of toys and I leave them in the corner and he pulls out every single toy.

We Officially Have a Crawler

This weekend Graham started to actually crawl, not army crawl, not inchworm everywhere...but actually CRAWL. Now he is everywhere and into EVERYTHING!! He also waves too!

Graham, we love you so much!! We are so proud of everything you do and couldn't more blessed. You are so incredibly smart and we know you are going to achieve big things.

Rockin to the Music

He loves music just like his mommy and daddy. We are so proud. :)

Challenge 2 details and some other good stuff

Hey Everyone!

Some of you have asked me to let you know if there is going to be another challenge and I have GREAT NEWS!! YES!!! But you MUST get in touch with Tanna by Wednesday, the 27th of May.

Here are some of the details:

(copied from Tanna's blog)

Challenge 2 Details:
Monday June 1-August 22
SIGN UP BY WEDNESDAY, MAY 27th
12 weeks long
16 cheats (make your coupons)
Take a before picture
Check your weight before it begins
Take your inches (waist, hips, chest, arms)
Record your current size of clothing
No fried foods
No sweets
Only 12 ounces of soda per day
Exercise 3-6 times a week
We will only weigh in every 2 weeks(you will email info on Fridays instead)

Email me the following:
(tctummy@yahoo.com)
Name
12 week "pound" goal

(That is all I need to know this time. I have all the rest. You need to keep up with your weight, inches and all that because we will be seeing how those change)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



We have only one week left of our 42 day challenge and I have to say that I've done pretty good. I've lost 5 pounds so far and I have toned up a little bit because my clothes are fitting really well. For the 2nd challenge, my goal is to lose 10 more pounds...more would be ideal though! :) I haven't been able to work out as much as I wanted to especially this week. I caught food poisoning or the stomach bug one.

Thursday night I woke up at midnight and was up til 4am in sheer misery. Oh it was terrible. I don't wish that on anyone. I won't give you TMI but I certainly would rather go through labor a million times than go through that mess. I think that it could have been the stomach bug though because Saturday it seemed like maybe Graham had gotten it too because he was pooing it up. But he never threw up. I, in a way, envied him (not really. I felt so sorry for the poor thing) because I would much rather just be pooing than pooing AND throwing up. I hate throwing up more than anything. ugh. I honestly don't see how people can make themselves throw up cause it just makes me cry like a little baby. Back to Graham pooing. Oh, it was so baddddddd. He had pooped all over himself, his highchair, me. I stood in the kitchen for a good minute, holding him up in the air with poop dripping off of him and not knowing what in the world to do with him. I didn't know where to put him and undress him without getting poop everywhere. So I threw gently sat him in the tub, fully clothed and diapered and just washed away. Poop had dripped all the way from the kitchen to the bathroom. I was so disgusted. and the smell. oh dear Lord. it was the worst I have ever smelled. I felt like I was never going to get the house disinfected. I kept shaking my whole body thinking that it would make all of the germs go away. shaking now just thinking about it. All of this before 730am. It made for a longggg Saturday because that happened two more times before the end of the day. I ended up giving both Graham and myself 3 baths in all.

But we are all fine and dandy now, thank Goodness. and where was Chad during all of this fun?? working. what a lucky fellow. but you better believe he has had to change every single poopie diaper since. I may just make him change all of the poopie diapers for the next month after all of the trauma that I experienced. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

good night and happy pooping.

A Day at the Park

Sunday, we didn't make it to church because SOMEONE was NOT being a happy boy (ear infection and teething) but we didn't want to waste the day inside because we FINALLY had an entire weekend of gorgeous weather so we took Graham to the park. He wasn't too excited about that either. Poor thing.

He FINALLY has his bottom tooth poking out a little bit. It hasn't quite risen to the surface but there is a hole there and you can see his white tooth. I tried to take a picture of it but that wasn't happening. After the park, we ate lunch at Larry's Pizza on Hwy 10 (one of our FAVORITE buffet places because I LOVE their salad). We had to make it kind of a short lunch though because G started screaming again. So we came home and worked on our yard. We are trying to work on the house little by little to get it ready to put on the market. Wish us luck!! We are getting closer and closer to our dream of being out in the country!

Vroom, Vroom

Look at how big Graham looks on his little bike!! He holds on all by himself. This is just crazy to me...but don't worry, we are ALWAYS right there!

Lunch Date at Boston's

Friday, my friend Jenn and I met up with some of the Little Rock "beauties" and Tanna aka "the beast" for lunch at Boston's. Tanna was in town so it was nice to FINALLY meet her and a couple of the other beauties from our 42 Day Challenge. I picked Graham up from daycare so he could meet everyone and that wasn't really the best idea. Poor thing didn't have his morning nap so he was MAD!!! He was okay for a little while and then all hell broke loose. And it was just my luck really. Graham is usually the best baby everywhere we go and that just was not the case. He was REALLY showing out for our new friends. ha! But it was still so awesome to get to meet everyone and hang out.

Whitney and Blakely, Tanna and Brylee, Graham and Me, & Pratt and Hannah (can you tell that Graham isn't too thrilled???)

Me and Graham and Tanna and Brylee

Alyssa (Whitney's other lil girl)
Whitney and Blakely

Tanna and Brylee

Pratt and Graham (exactly one week apart)

Updates...but Sadly, No Pictures

This exhausted family no longer has baggy saggy eyes!!! YAY!!! We all got much needed rest last night and it was sooo nice...actually I didn't sleep as HARD as I would have like to but I just have a habit of waking up in the middle of the night to check up on Graham. So I guess I never really get a full night of sleep uninterrupted. But at least I was only up for minutes at a time (compared to hours) and then was right back to sleep. Graham was soooo exhausted. He slept most of the day yesterday as well. He was making up for lost time. I could just tell in his eyes yesterday morning that he was exhausted and not feeling well. But this morning he had HAPPY EYES!!! Okay, and let me just be honest, Chad said he didn't really sleep well last night. Yesterday evening, he started telling me that he wasn't feeling well again...he's feeling like he felt when that dumb doctor that he went to said he had rotavirus. But he's calling GIL FOSTER (the dr. that I told him to go to in the first place but instead they made him see some lady doctor there that apparently has no idea what she's talking about...where did she get her MD anyway) to get an appt with him for tomorrow at 4pm. So let me just rephrase. hmmmm...GRAHAM GOT SOME GOOD SLEEP LAST NIGHT. I got good sleep when I did sleep. and Chad did not. so it is chad that still has the saggy baggy eyes. but still so handsome. :)

So...(I say So a lot and this annoys me)....SOOOOOOOOO.....Last night, we were playing on the floor in Graham's room and he LOVES getting on his hands and knees now and rocking back and forth. LOVES IT. LIVES FOR IT. Okay, I'm going overboard but yes, he seems to fancy it quite SO. Yes, I just had to throw that SO in there. he's getting the hang of crawling backwards and is trying SOOOOO hard to go forward. Chad and I were getting so stinkin excited! But then when I would get excited, he would position himself back on his hiney and just look at me and smile...so I had to stop outwardly expressing my excitement so he would keep on trying.

Graham is giving "kisses" now too! :) He learns quick. I tell him to "give me kisses" and he pokes his lips out! It's the best!! Mommy can NEVER get enough kisses.

Challenge Update: As of this morning, I have lost 4 pounds which doesn't seem like a whole lot to me but I can definitely tell that my clothes are fitting so much better. I'm also getting my ab definition back and LOVE IT!! Chad even said yesterday morning that they are looking great! Chad used to be a personal trainer so I love it when we can both get out in the garage/gym and he can work me out (that doesn't sound nice). He has had me doing these "jack knives" for my abs and it's my favorite!!! But my biggest problem areas are my arms and thighs. Boy, do I have some big ol' thighs on me! But I'm working on it people.
I'm meeting Tanna aka "the beast" (she started the challenge and lives in the Dallas area) for lunch on Friday and I cannot wait!!! I am going to give her a HUGE HUG!!! I would give her a big kiss too but she may find that a lil weird. ha! I hope that a lot of the other "beauties" that are in the LR area will be able to meet up with us too!

If you are in the LR area, what church do you attend??

We have tried several different churches now and just haven't found a church that we felt was THE ONE. We are going to try Fellowship on Sunday but for some reason, BIG HUGE churches intimidate me. I don't know why. I think it's sort of a phobia. But I want Graham to grow up in a good church. Chad and I weren't raised in families that regularly attended church. We had to do it on our own. I grew up and was baptised at Beech Street Baptist Church in Texarkana. Those were some of the best times of my life. Doug Porter was the best youth minister EVER and when he left, I was devastated and heartbroken. I miss having a church family. Please send suggestions!! :)

Well, I'm on company time so I better get back to planning this conference. I will be soooo happy when June 2nd gets here. Then I can breathe and not stress so much about it. Do you know how hard it is to plan a conference for over 600 people including legislators and the Governor??? not an easy task but I do enjoy doing it as tedious as it may be. I'm chatty Patty (or is it chatty Kathy?) today, can you tell? Must have been the Diet Coke that I had at lunch. I was going to order a water but Jenn ordered a Diet Coke and well, I just couldn't resist. Plus I had already drank 3 bottles of water so why not?? Oh, I also used another cheat today (that's four in all...and two within 4 days!!) when we ate at Canon Grill. I love their beef nachos. But I have some SERIOUS indigestion now. Okay, NOW I am outta here.

Our first....

...ear infection. :( The last two nights, Graham has been up all night long screaming bloody murder. I thought that it might be his teeth because he still doesn't have any yet and thought that it might be time...I also thought it was his teeth because he had a fever and a slight diaper rash (several friends and family members have told me these are tell tell signs). But then last night he screamed his head off again and cried and cried and cried. Graham hardly EVER cries and he ALWAYS sleeps all night. Plus he started to refuse his bottle...BIG SIGN THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG. The beast NEVER refuses food. I thought that it may be an ear infection since he only cries when he is laying down flat. and so I called Dr. O'Neill this morning and took him in and sure enough. left ear infection. We have him on a 10 day round of antibiotics. I sure hope this doesn't become a trend. I don't want him to have to get tubes. No fun. Other than screaming at night, he has been fine though. Just as happy as he always is and playing and laughing and smiling. Please pray that Graham will have some relief and will fight this infection soon and that we will all get some sleep around here.

By the way, here are his stats:

23 pounds
28.5 inches

he is a BEAST, i tell ya, a BEAST!!!

My First Mother's Day

I have the best husband and little boy EVER! Chad had to stay back in Little Rock this weekend for work while Graham and I went to Texarkana. We got back Sunday afternoon and Chad had the ENTIRE house SPIC AND SPAN with gifts and a yummy pot roast waiting on me. He's the best!! He also got me some new tennis shoes. The pair that I wear now are four years old and needless to say, it made working out quite uncomfortable. Chad also got me a new Chi flat iron (mine is quite ready to bite the dust), a food scale, and three shirts. He is so thoughtful!

This frame is from Shana. I cannot wait to hang it up!

alfalfa

graham's hair is pretty short except for this small section so I tried to braid it but his hair is really fine and silky and wouldn't hold a braid. so I twisted it.

if you look really close you can see it curling over

one of my favorite things about spring

I love going to Texarkana to get crawfish from Shamsie's...they are the biggest, spiciest and just the BEST!!! Mom got me 2 lbs Friday night and then I had to go back Saturday morning for 6 more pounds...ALL FOR ME...mom helped me with a few but she said that they were too spicy...can't believe my mom who is asian and LOVES hot food said they were too spicy...but more for me. :) I was hurting REALLY bad afterwards. I've certainly had my crawfish fix for the year. I'm a crawfished out.

the aftermath

man, looking at these pictures is making my mouth water

Birthmark

I finally found it!!! Can you?? It's on his right hip. above his cute lil butt cheek. I have a couple on me...in my armpit and on my belly. Chad doesn't have any...but I was so excited to find one on Graham. I don't know why. But I just was.