Never Say Never Son

Y’all all know the old saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.” That’s been the theme, if you will, around our house lately. While we were at Jon’s parent’s James started having these little moments of despair (when he wouldn’t get his way, of course) where he would state that if we didn’t let him, he was never coming back to SuSu’s again. Never. The first time he said it, I didn’t quite know what to say in return. We had just had a HUGE episode and battle of the wills and I was a slightly frustrated with him and totally over his outburst. So, instead of getting on to him for saying it, I just shrugged my shoulders and said “Oh well, that will be sad for you.” Talk about turning the tables on the little rascal. Now he was the one who was shocked and didn’t know how to respond. Ha!

He makes that statement at least twice a day now or every time he’s in a foul humor and not getting his way. Of course, it’s not always that he wont go back to SuSu’s. No, our 'too smart for our good sometimes' son has gotten rather inventive with his threats since he can’t seem to get a rise out of us. He continues to think of new things to try and break us with so that we will say “Oh, no we don’t want you to do that!! Of course you can have what ever you want.” He’s come up with some pretty good stuff but nothing that has broken us yet!

He will say “If you don’t let me, I’ll never play with you again” or “I’ll never be your best friend again” or "I’ll never go any where ever again” or (and this is my personal favorite) “If you don’t let me, I’ll never go in the shed with daddy again.” The first time he said that, I couldn’t help but bust out laughing!!! You see, Jon likes to take James outside with him to do “manly stuff” and they usually go out and work on something in the shed. Well, this perceptive little son of ours knows that that’s special to Jon so he was gonna try and hurt him enough so Jon would give in to his demands. Hilarious! Well, after I quit laughing (which by the way just made James cry harder and say it louder) I told him that would just be sad for him because he would miss out on lots of fun stuff with daddy. But it’s still one of his favorites to throw out there. And yesterday he bumped it up a notch by saying to me “If you don’t let me, I wont love you again.” Now, I must admit, that one got to me a little and I told him that made me sad, real sad. So he changed it to “I’ll never hold Tookie again.” But that didn’t last long and soon he was begging to hold her. After he’d gotten his fix of the baby and ran off to play, Audrey looked at me and said “Bubba said he didn’t love you but, me and Tookie do!” Us girls gotta stick together.

1 Month

Dearest Olivia,
from the moment you arrived in this world you have been a precious, joyful addition to our little family. The experience we had and are still having with you is much different than the one we had with your brother and sister and for that we are so thankful! There was no drama surrounding your birth and from the moment you were placed in my arms, we’ve hardly been apart. Such a blessing!

You are only 4 weeks old and have more nicknames than most acquire in their whole lives! We call you Tookie, Took, Livi, Peanut, O.R. and Sugar Ray. You sleep well at night for the most part. We are figuring out your sleep patterns more and more and that makes for a better night’s rest for me. Your schedule of late is this: You go to bed between 7 and 8:30 at night, depending on what time you woke up from your late afternoon nap. If it’s 7, you will sleep till 11 or 12, wake up for a bottle and then sleep till 5. If it’s 8:30, you will sleep till 3, wake up for a bottle and then sleep till 7. During the day, you can sleep 2-4 hours at a time with wakeful periods around 2 to 2 1/2 hours. You usually eat 4 oz at a time but sometimes you want a little snack in between feedings!

You love taking a bath, you love to sleep on your stomach curled up in a little ball. You love to stay up on my shoulder when being held and you are the best burper ever, which is something we were not used to! You never spit up and you are not as big of a fan of your pappy as your siblings were. You usually only like it when you are really sleepy and spit it out as a signal that you are asleep. When you are drinking your bottle, you draw your arms up with your hands under your chin, like a little squirrel. Which is exactly what Audrey did when she was a baby!

You look a lot like your sister when she was a baby and even more like me as a baby. At times, it’s like looking at Audrey all over again. You don’t have her dimples but you have more hair now than she did at 6 months!! You don’t have an hemangioma on your head but you do have one on your back but it’s not raised yet. You also have 2 stork bites: one in between your eye brows and then one on the back of your neck, just like me!! You weighed 9 lbs, 3 oz and were 21 in long at your one month check up yesterday. You are also very, very strong and have been from the day you were born.

Your brother and sister absolutely ADORE you. Every time you are brought into a room, their attention turns to you. No matter what they are doing! They are quiet when I tell them to be if you are the concern. They are gentle with you and extremely conscious of not touching you if they haven’t washed their hands. If you cry they run go get one of your musical animals, wind it up and put it as close to your head as they can. They are just convinced it makes you feel better! They remind each other to be quiet and to be careful around you. Audrey is already a little mama hen and James the protecting papa bear. I’m afraid you’re going to have to fight awfully hard to have “your own life” when you get older! And so far, I can get them to behave much better when you are around. I sure hope they keep that up!!!

Olivia Ray, you most assuredly are a blessing from the Lord and it’s already hard to remember what life was like with out you. Love you forever,

Mama

Fun in the French Quarter

And not the bad kind either!!! On Thursday we took the kids down to Canal Street to ride the street car. Looking back on it, we really should of done it on St. Charles Ave because it’s not near as busy there so it doesn’t make half as many stops. But, despite all the stops and the rain we got caught in, the kids enjoyed it and that’s what counts!

Then we headed to the Quarter and went to Central Grocery for lunch which is famous for inventing the muffuletta sandwich. I’ve had one from there but never eaten inside so that was a treat for me. Surprisingly the children ate their part of the gigantic sandwich, olive salad and all! I think they enjoyed their Coke’s the most though!

We then walked down to Cafe Du Monde for beignets, chocolate milk and the best cafe au lait in the world. It had been raining all morning so it was very comfortable sitting there, not humid at all which made for an even more enjoyable time. Audrey only licked the powdered sugar off her beignets because they were so hot when the waitress brought them out. She drank all her milk though! James ate about a whole one, drank all his milk and most of his water too.

After that, we walked to the Mississippi but not before stopping for a picture in front of Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral. To me, this is one of the most beautiful backgrounds in the world. And every time I see it, I can see President Bush standing there giving his speech after Hurricane Katrina. Still gives me chills.

The train was really loud!

James wouldn’t hug or kiss his sister because she is a girl. Audrey was wounded...

I told him he’d better hug his sister and this was the best he could do!

Love this picture, probably my favorite.

We got to the car and all of a sudden he grabbed her and hugged her
Guess he really does love her!!

Summer vacay in the Big Easy

As I stated in the last post, our plan last week was to go to New Orleans to fetch James and Audrey and hopefully take them to do a few things around the city that they hadn’t done. Thankfully, we were able to follow through on those plans and even though Jon and I were slightly exhausted during our morning jaunts with the chirren, we had the best time we’ve had together in a long time!!

On Wednesday we took them to eat lunch at Camellia Grill a favorite of locals and tourists. We all got cheeseburger’s and cokes and chocolate freeze’s (imagine a Wendy’s Frosty but better!). James insisted on taking both of his drinks with him!

After lunch we headed to the Louisiana Children’s Museum and I must say that’s the coolest place ever for kids! I had never been before and had almost as much fun as the kids. We spent about 2 1/2 hours in there and if Jon and I hadn’t hit the horrible afternoon slump to which we could barely keep our eyes open let alone follow the kids around as they darted here and there and everywhere with a seemingly endless amount of energy, we would of stayed all afternoon. Talk about the perfect place for kids to learn and use their imaginations! There was so much and we took so many pictures that I just tried to include their favorite things (the ones we visited 3 or 4 times each!) in this post.

This is the Natchez steamboat. I would say this was

James’ favorite thing to do.

They both had an absolute blast in Winn Dixie! It was like

watching mini me’s going grocery shopping!

James at the optometrist!

The kids cafe was amazing. They were serving coffee, taking our orders 

bringing all kinds of food, clearing the dishes, mopping the floor......

the list goes on and on!

There were several little houses that Audrey just fell

 in love with. She was totally in her element playing house

and was hilarious to watch!!

That night we walked down to Sal’s Snowball Stand and got a snowball. Well, some of us got snowball’s...other’s opted for ice cream cones. Then that someone tasted his mother’s snowball and decided he wanted that instead!!

She’s a good girl

My baby girl is 2 1/2 weeks old and just in the last 2 days we’ve seen a difference in her. The skin on her little legs is fattening up and her’s is eating like a little piggy at most feedings. She was 7/8 when she was born, lost down to 7/2 on the day we left and when we went to the ped’s office 3 days after we left the hospital, she had gained back to 7/7.5! So we don’t go back for a check up until her 1 month. I ended up taking her in yesterday though to get her belly button/cord checked out because it had a slight odor to it. (James and Audrey’s cord’s had fallen off by the time we got them home so this is new territory for me.) The nurse said it was a little infected so she put some silver nitrate on it to help it dry completely out. (Guess I over looked making sure it was dry after her baths. Strike 1!)

I got them to weigh her and she’s up to 7 lbs, 14 oz. So, we are obviously doing something right and that is always good to know!! 

About 3 weeks before she was born I started noticing that she hardly moved during the day; not like she had been doing. And that she really got active about 11:00 at night. I knew then that wasn’t a good sign. And I was right. From the day she was born, she had her days and nights mixed up. That first night in the hospital she was wide awake about 3 a.m. just looking around, not making any noise. As long she was being held that is! And for about the first week and a half she’d be wide awake at the most inconvenient times.......after the 2 and 4 o’clock feedings. She never fussed, just sat there looking around. We’ve gotten her on more of a schedule now and last night was the first night in about a week that she’s been wide awake after her 4:30 feeding. Even still, she just layed in her crib for a while making little noises (the sweetest little noises in the world, I might add) and after she’d had her “exercise” for the morning she started to fuss so I rocked her for a few minutes and she fell fast asleep and slept until 9:30 this morning!!

She really is such a good baby. She pretty much fusses only when she’s hungry or real sleepy. She doesn’t seem to like to fall asleep in her swing; she’d rather be rocked and put in her bed or held in a snugly little ball on your chest. I prefer the later, myself, and have been soaking up as much of that as I can because it won’t last for long. Soon she’ll be too big to curl into a ball and real, real soon I’ll have many more things to tend to other than just soaking up that delicious baby smell 24/7.

I didn’t know it was possible to have so much more love to give and at times I feel like my heart will just burst open. My cup surely does runneth over.

Our 4th of July

We enjoyed a visit from some of my family this 4th of July!! It was such a wonderful treat to have them here, at our home; even if it was just a day trip. We had so much fun telling stories on everyone from James to Grandaddy Sam to Uncle Frank. (Yes, we totally picked on those that weren’t here!!) Then I pulled out some old pictures and we had an even better time laughing and talking about those! I hated that James and Audrey were not here to see their cousins but that just means that they will all have to come back really, really soon!!

Even the best laid plans....

Olivia and I were released from the hospital on Friday, June 24. I was so excited!! All I wanted to do was get out of that hospital bed and into my own! However, late that morning before we had left, my sister called to inform us that James had thrown up during the night a few times and was running a 103* temp. I made an appointment with his pediatrician, Nelda brought him in and the doctor said he most assuredly had a viral infection and to keep him as far away from the baby as possible because if she catches it and runs a fever over 101* then she will go right back in the hospital. Sweet.

So, making plans and changing those plans 100 times started. First we were going to stay another night in the hospital but then we remembered that Jon had an obligation he could not get out of early Saturday afternoon and decided it would be way to hectic to try to get out of the hospital, get home and settled amongst the sickness and get him to where he needed to be in time. Then, James was going to be quarantined up stairs until he quit running a fever for 24 hrs. But what about Audrey? She might be a carrier even if she wasn’t sick yet. And how heartbreaking would it be for the twins for me and Tookie baby to finally come home and them not be able to touch us or even be in the same room as us? So then we were going to send them with daddy and Nelda to meet Jon’s mom somewhere between New Orleans and Birmingham. Then it was decided that me and the baby did not need to go home while the kids were still there so a good friend of mine graciously let us stay Friday night at her house. The next morning Jon decided the kids didn’t need to be so far away from us so he made arrangements for them to go to a church member’s home for a couple days since James’ fever was gone and he’d not thrown up any more. I was glad of that! To not see them for a whole week after getting home would be too much.

Olivia made her grand arrival into her home on Saturday evening around 6 p.m. When I walked through the door the first thought I had was “This has got to be the closest thing to what it will feel like when I get home to Heaven!!” I had only been gone for 3 days but my goodness it felt like 3 months! It was quiet and a little lonely with out the twins but it was nice to get settled before their energy bombarded our lives again! Well, on Monday when Sis. Juanita arrived on our doorstep, she told us that while she was en route to deliver James and Audrey back into the loving arms of their parents, Audrey told her that her tummy hurt and she needed a bowl to throw up in. Jon asked her if she wanted to go back to Sis. Juanita’s for another night and she said “No” and we just didn’t have the heart to send her away. Jon told her that if she stayed she couldn’t touch mommy or Tookie and she still wanted to stay. She crawled in her bed, took a long nap and came out all bubbly and peachy. We thought we had by passed it; NOT! A couple hours later Jon had the kids out on the front porch swing and Audrey says “I’m gonna throw up daddy” so he held her off the porch and said “Go ahead” but she just screamed “No! I have to throw up in a bowl!!” So he rushed her inside and barely made it into their bathroom before she upchucked ALL OVER HIM. A couple of times.

So, he quarinteened Audrey and himself upstairs for the next 24 hours. Monday night I started having really bad headaches and thought they were probably related to the spinal tap I’d had. Jon’s mom arrived Tuesday evening and she was a welcome sight, let me tell ya! But the sick drama doesn’t end there. On Wednesday night James came into my room and said his head and his tummy hurt and of course he was running a fever. So first thing Thursday morning, I called our pediatrician and made another appointment  for the little man. My headaches were still coming and they really hurt so I had previously made an appointment with the OB for Thursday morning to find out what was going on. So Jon, I and the twins loaded up and headed to Tallahassee. Jon dropped me and Audrey off at my doctor’s office and he took James to the pediatrician.

Okay, in an attempt to make a "long story short”: James’ problem was left over virus and he was ordered Ibuprofen and rest with no overheating. After a long day and even longer visit to L&D triage I was sent home with some hydrocodone and ordered to rest, rest, rest and start managing my pain properly. And I did and I have and the headaches have stopped and I feel soooo much better! James and Audrey went home with SuSu on Friday and were doing great until yesterday when Peach threw up 3 times. But the report today is that she had a great night, hasn’t run a fever at all and is eating and drinking.

The “plan” was for Susu and Papaw to bring the twins home this weekend but due to the uprising of some things and the fact that Jon and I are going out of our minds just “sitting” around here, we think the  new “plan” is for Jon and I and Olivia to go to New Orleans on Sunday afternoon to have a mini vacation and pick up the twins. We missed the beach trip this year and Olivia doesn’t need to be out in crowds yet so we are “planning” on leaving Olivia with Susu during the day one day and taking James and Audrey to do some things around the city. But the best thing will be to see, squeeze and kiss James and Audrey again. We miss them way to much.