Maximillion-one year checkup

You can see his first bottom two teeth...love this.

Look at me....here I come.




Thadeus love his books.


This past Friday was Max's one year checkup...yes, the pediatrician was soooo booked it took over a month to see him. Apparantly, July marks a very busy time of year for school vaccinations so we were put off...I'll remember that in another three years!!!! I hope.



All and all Max did very well. Found out that his little man area had to be tackled a little bit and that was not comfortable for him...but he is doing well now. I feel so horrible. I had let his "mushroom" close up a little bit. I guess Jerime never noticed it either. Now I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate this post but I just felt so bad. I mean, the first thing I thought when I was told I was having a boy the first time was...what in the heck am I going to do with that extra part? And it is funny looking back because when Thadeus was born, my mama looked at Thadeus all naked and said, "what in the world are we going to do with that little thing?" And hey, she had a point...she had had three girls. My sister had a girl. My cousin had a girl so we had no clue. But you definitely get schooled before you leave the hospital. Thanks goodness. But how in the world did I let this happen to poor Max? I dunno. But it is all fixed now. Geez, that nurse did her thing to fix it and I was like, "wow, what a woman!" I told her that I was sooo sorry and I didn't know how I let that happen. She explained that it is very common and not to worry and just to make sure he always has that mushroom and the mushroom has a top! LOL

He had four shots, two in each leg. It was so hard to have him happy one minute and then the next, looking at me like, "mama, what in the world did you let her do that for?" Poor baby. But once all in and out, he was fine. He is a whopping 21 lbs 11 oz; but I think he lost weight since he's been walking. I thought they would tell me he was average weight and height but come to find out he is a little below average in height at 30 inches and in the 17 percentile for weight... Now, I looked at the doc and said, "what, how can it be that he is in the 17th percentile? What does this mean?" My first pediatricain never talked percentile terms so these statistics have baffled me. It means he is way below average, duh, for weight. AND I thought he was a CHUNK myself. I mean, if Max is in the 17th percentile then Thadeus must have been in the 2nd percentile!! I love Uncle Kirby's description of Thadeus. One day he was watching Thadeus run around the room like crazy and Thadeus came up to Uncle Kirby wanting to wrestle and he was a tough little two and a half year old then. Kirby said, "man, this kid is a piece of grissle. I would be a nervous wreck and need anxiety medicine if I had to take care of him!!! You see, they have a girl. She is just a sweet little petite princess. Calm and cool. Anyway, the doc categorized my Max a lean baby??? What??? He is healthy and doing well. EXCEPT...

Well, except that at his one year "well-check" visit, he was not well. He had been cranky for three or four days and when I say cranky, I mean, lay-himself-in-the-kitchen-floor-screaming-the-whole-time-I-made-dinner cranky. I mean you really should not cook and hold a baby even if you are tempted when he is flinging about on the floor like crazy, wanting you to hold him...just not safe. And because I know this, I let him twitch on the floor--I mean, Mama has to do what mama has to do. Which brings me to this funny story...

When Max was born, well several weeks afterward, I found myself wanting to hold this precious thing ALL the time. My sister, Heather, and I rode to Target in hopes to find a nice baby sling. I found one and just loved it. It was cloth and very comfortable for mama. Baby fits in and lays almost like in mommy's tummy--they sleep so well in them while you go shopping or clean house or whatever. Well, the first thing my sister says to me is--"now Christine, you cannot wear this while cooking." "What," I said, "what do you mean??? I would never do that!!!!" Well she knew me all too well....but I didn't wear it while cooking...I was good.

Anyway, so yes, he had been cranky. I said, "can you look in his throat to make sure he looks alright...I mean, since he has been cranky and all." I thought it was related to the fact that he was teething. I mean he is trying to get four of them boogers at one time... and come to find out the poor thing has TWO EAR INFECTIONS. Now, wierd. I mean I bet I took Thadeus to the pediatrician at least once per month the whole first year of his life, and Max...almost never. I had no idea that he had that dang ear infection, or should I say ear infectionS. Ugh. No mother award for me this month. So, left the pediatrician with four shots, antibiotic for ten days, decongestant, and ear drops for pain. So much for the well-visit! Oh, and thank you, Tylenol, for RECALLING ALL OF THE INFANTS TYLENOL AND MOTRIN. Ok, glad I got that off my chest. There are some things you just don't want to buy generic and infant tylenol is one of them. I have no reason, it's just for some reason I feel like a better mom for spending the extra money on medicine if I don't buy off brand. EXCEPT that all of the infant's tylenol and motrin has been on recall. And, you are required to give them the meds every four hours for the first 24 hours after shots to reduce fever...so I had to buy, ugh, yes, generic. I bought the Little Fevers brand. It has worked great and I may buy it from now on...lol.

We are officially moving the baby seats out now. Max is too heavy for the infant travel seat so Max is getting Thadeus' seat and now Thadeus gets an awesome booster seat. He is such a big boy!!! He just smiles everytime you put him in that seat. The thing is, with two working parents, you buy two...yep, two infant seats, and two booster seats. Totally worth it but just a thought.


Wow, you know, my car used to be big. Now, I look at it and it is soooo weird. In a matter of only 34 months, I went from big clean car to unclean non-roomy-mommy car. We waited five years before having children and we went from it is all about me (us) to.....
BETTER.


And I must say this. There is nothing in the world better than the love of these little people. I thought I loved until I had my children and now I know how much my mama loves me.

More teething, really?

Can it be possible that more teeth are coming??? Well probably so when you are one year old and only have two teeth...
The nights have been rough lately..then come to find out all the Infant's Motrin and Infant's Tylenol have been recalled!
Maybe he will sleep through the night tonight.

Mama be so tired!

Second Tooth-Max

Max's second tooth popped through! So cute!
He's been quite irritable. LOL

sleeping baby/pool fun

Have you ever wondered....what makes a baby sleep through the night?

That is a crazy question, no doubt...but when Max started sleeping through the night at six weeks, I used to sit there and just watch him breathe and think...hmmm, what makes him sleep through the night just like an adult? I mean, he is, afterall, only six WEEKS old....what????

okay, I must be tired.

Today Jerime went fishing with Uncle Kirby, Melissa's hubby. I met up with her and we took the kids swimming.

It was soooo much fun. Thadeus got so brave and was jumping in with just the swimmies. Then we took rides on the golf cart...as Makinzie and Thadeus referred to the woods as THE JUNGLE! LOL So stinking cute!

Mama, or Meme, had to paint a room in her house since the twins moved off to college... she has decided to move into what used to be my old room...it is bigger and all... Makinzie said, You can do that later meme! OMG, so funny. She is 3 and so cute when her words come out. She calls me Critine. So cute. She just loved playing with me and Thadeus was so funny b/c he would say, MY MAMA! LOL...just cracks me up.

Rough week...

What can I say? A LOT! What a rough week! Yes, yes, I would love to have the patience and ability to be a stay at home mom or even a part time worker but with the career I have, that is almost impossible and with the economy the way it is, geez, who knows, I could be the primary bread winner. I hope it doesn't come to that but who knows what the good Lord has in store for us and one cannot assume anything so, I work hard, live life in the fast line and just try to survive. You know what makes it better? Being able to pray, meditate, talk to my besties and see my sweet babies at the end of the day--and it's even more better when the weekend gets here.
As a working mom, life sucks sometimes. I LOVE my job. I feel like I help protect the life of the Public through education and regulation. I love the way I have problem solving and have the knowledge of environment protection. Then there are days when I'm like...um, can I pleeeze stay home? It is a catch 22. By working I am providing more money for the future--and not for myself but for my children. At the same time, I am sacrificing that time with them....however, please note that by not having that all day contact with them, I REALLY enjoy the time I have with them when I do get home too....hmm, I'm using this blog as therapy today. I am thankful I have the gift of being able to multi-task...
Why did this week suck, you may ask? Well for starters....let me say this....
My boss retired in December 2009; therefore I have been given the task of not only doing my job (which is really slow) but also covering for the Director's position. I was solo for about four weeks but the State finally approved a temporary position for my boss to come back and help which has been just awesome. It is always good to be able to bounce your ideas off someone who has been doing the job for 30 years! There are good days and bad days and I don't know what to call the following--maybe just call me crazy. I decided, when his old position opened and was listed on the job market, to apply! Yep, I actually applied for the position. It is an opportunity for advancement but also a greater challenge professionally. With it comes the extra resposibilites but I must love stress, time managment, prioritization and blah, blah, blah.
The interview was today....but boy what a week it has been.
First of all, Monday started with a bang. Several projects going on--beginning with a conference call regarding a well water study that began in 2009. The conference call, you guessed it, ended up with some work that would be great but time consuming as I am a perfectionist--probably more of a weakness than a strength. Among other items, finished the day--with the background duties going on, the whole time I'm worrying about the interview.
Tuesday-car breaks down on I75. Yep, nice eh. I actually thought, what is happening, discovered that, yes, the car is no longer able to accelerate and um, yeah time to pull over across the one lane of passers by that apparently did not care if they died or not....get a grip people--you are in a car that is somewhat but not totally in your control ....I pulled over. I have wonderful co-workers....thank you guys. Two, then three, folks came to help me out. The timing belt went stripped. Yep, that involved a tow, and parts and labor. $480 bucks later, I am the proud owner of a car with a new timing belt, water pump, A/C belt, and P/S belt. I can handle that--heck, the car was manufactured in 2002--she was due.
Wednedsay involved some crazy work stuff, more interview prep and worrying, bla bla bla. Thursday--hell day. Still trying to finish my well water letters, due yesterday, but still had other stuff just getting in my way--however, still fun, exciting, etc. Finally Friday came; interview at 2pm. I almost made it to the interstate about 11 miles from home when spash, water coming out from the hood....oh, no! The temp gage sky rocketed and yep, ended up on the side of High Falls Park Road in the parking lot of an abandoned church yard. Busted radiator. Here I am decked out in my black dress, heels, etc...lifting the hood to find out what the heck was going on....my ex-boss was a life saver...took me to work and so here I was....Jerime was there the whole time too--just remotely as he had a meeting himself and had to get the kids to daycare...
Interview time came and went. It was a wonderful experience and who knows what their selection will be--but what a crazy week. I was so tired that the hair appointment I made for a cut and color ended up being just a quick cut--I was just too exhausted to sit in that chair a whole hour for the color....hair dresser was ok with my decision...I don't think I let her down too bad. So I get home to my family after hell week. Then, what bad timing for me, but I could tell that the grandparents wanted little Thadeus to spend the night and I don't think he has spent the night since 2007 or so...wow. I cannot help that I am that way. I am though. I love my precious children so much...they are, after all, my life. I cried for about 30 minutes after he left, smiling as he left. I thought, is he missing me? Does he love me? Why was he so willing to leave me, when I have worked so hard all week just to be there long enough for short play time, meal time. I don't think some mothers go through the same withdrawal that I do. I hate feeling that way. But, I love them soooooo much. I am glad I let him go though. All I do is think of my little Thadeus. What did I gain out of the sleepover situation? I got to spend precious one on one time with my little Max. He is learning so much still and growing so fast. He is my little snuggle bug. We played, walked with his walker and then came bath time. He was so cute and I actually got him on video telling me "bye, bye"--such a blessing. I still think about Thadeus as he sleeps about four miles from me--and cannot wait until I see him in the morning. He is after all my first born. I could not imagine losing a child...b/c when he left to spend the night, my heart hurt so bad. I love that little booger so much.
Sweet dreams Thadeus, mommy loves you.

There is a new fan!

Okay, Okay...now I think this is the most hilarious thing ever. Am I getting old??? I remember sitting around the dinner table when I was like 8 or 9 and hearing my mom, grand-mother, great-grandmother and aunts talking about..."you know, I remember when..."
It really used to trip me out. I was like, well, I will never be that old that I will say, I remember when...
Now I have a few and most recently while watching my MOST FAV channel ever, the food network...found a new one. Here are some... and I feel like there must be much more!
1) I remember when my mom's car had an 8 track!
2) I remember slap wrist bracelets and tight roll jeans!
3) I remember NKOTB and Vanilla Ice! LOL and when my older friends gave me the MilliVanilli tape after the infamous lip synching tradedy...
4) I remember tape and getting my first cd's.
5) I remember when tye dye was actually sooo cool.
6) I remember VHS tapes!
7) I remember when my mom had a bag mobile phone in the minivan.
8) I remember getting my first cell phone in college.
9) I remember buying our first dvd player!
10) I remember dial up internet and taking and exam at UGA--and failing because the line kicked me off.
11) And what will be my newest addition to this list...I remember when fan blades existed on fans!
Have you seen the new dyson fan? I think the designer says something a foil the air travels over so that you don't get the disturbance the other design created! I'm going to have to get me one of those!!!! LOL
Happy Fourth!

Max's First Tooth

Work has been hell this week but do you know what is like the most awesomest thing ever???? I get home and Jerime says, why don't you take a look inside Max's mouth. "WHAT, I said...WHAT, WHAT, WHAT????" I look at Max and he smiled so big at me. I felt in there and he knew it was such a big deal! I held him and jumped up and down and said, "Max, you have a toothie!" I said it over and over, tears streaming, and he knew it was such an accomplishment because he laughed and laughed.

I think it is so amazing. This little fella is just growing up! I mean, I realize most kids have their first teeth by four or six months, and I know my little boy is almost a year old, but I still think it so amazing.

I thank God everyday for my babies and my sweet hubby.