My baby is THREE

Well, this time three years ago I had no idea what was in store for me.  It was a Thursday and I had been at school, done some shopping at Fred’s for wrapping paper, eaten supper at a catfish joint (I actually had steak), went home and hopped in bed.  I slept for a total of 30 minutes when I realized I already needed to go to the bathroom.  Before I made it down the hall I “thought” I had wet my pants.  At that point I got mad and said to myself that it was ridiculous for a 26 year old to do such.  It later occurred to me that it was “show time” and we needed to head to the hospital.  I woke Trey up and told him the news.   He showered, packed his bag, and filled the car up with gas all the while I am calmly shaving my legs in the shower.  I nearly gave him a heart attacked since I was so calm and taking my sweet precious time.  I am ALWAYS the one who is rushing, stressing, and freaking out while he is Mr. Calm.  I guess you never know how you will react until its game time.  Seventeen hours later we had this little guy weighing in at 7.6 pounds! 

 

I had to throw this in there.  This is what 17 hours of labor and a c-section will do to you.  Life wasn’t too pleasant at this point, but it was ALL worth it! 

 

I do believe in love at first sight…. How could you not if you’re a mom!!! 

The first year passed by quickly and he turned 1. 

Then he was two…

And tomorrow my little man will be THREE years old.  This is the last picture taken of Ford when he was two. 

Ford is such a sweet child and has forever changed our lives.  It’s hard to remember life without the little guy. 

He talks more than any other human being I know.  He has energy that can last for hours on end from the minute he wakes up until he crashes at night.  Ford is tender hearted and genuinely cares about other people’s feelings.  He cries if someone else is crying and will worry about them until they act happy again.  Ford is obsessed with tractors, 4-wheelers, trains, dirt, trailers, the colors green and blue, the farm, sweet tarts, cinnamon rolls, gum, riding his bike, yard tools, Delta, his paci, his blankie, and critters.  He can throw a fit at the drop of the hat or sit so sweetly in my lap and tell me he loves me.  He is a big momma’s boy and loves to cuddle and rock.  He also loves to help Daddy fix things, mow the grass, and clean the animals he kills.  Ford loves life more than anyone I have ever seen.  He doesn’t miss an opportunity to have a good time and has a contagious energy about him that draws other people to him. 

I am excited to see him continue to grow into a little boy and one day into a man.  We are proud of our baby and look forward to many more birthdays with Fordman! 

** Two posts in one day. 

Double Decker

I love to rest and be at home, but when I am at home I don’t tend to rest a lot.  Therefore, I am constantly on the go.  This weekend Ford and I went to Oxford to Double Decker.  Trey missed the fun since he had to stay in Jackson and work.  We met my parents and the cousins at the festival. 

This was our best attempt at taking a picture. 

We ventured around the square about 1 ½ times before it was off to kiddie land.  Ford loves a bouncy house.  This ride down ended in tears.  I think Caroline crashed into him. 

 

I seriously can’t believe he let someone paint his face.  Naturally, he got tractors on both cheeks. 

Double Decker wore him out.  He fell asleep right before we got home.  I think he slept a total of 12 minutes.  I knew it was not a good sign that he went to sleep in the car. 

When we got home I put him in bed and I decided I needed some “Suzanne time”.  Suzanne time would be some alone time by yourself to do whatever you want to do.  My mom’s name is Suzanne and when I was younger and lived at home she was often wanting us all to leave her alone for some “Suzanne time”.  So I put him in bed and off I went into the back yard to get a tan.  Yep, I put on a bathing suit and fried my belly.  I had been out there about 20 minutes when I heard Ford saying, “Momma, where is you?”  I went inside to find out why he was out of bed and he replied with, “I’m not taking no nap.”  Well, I wasn’t arguing because I only had so much time to soak up the rays so I gave him the hose and made him water the trees Trey planted.  He later played in his pool and attempted to flood my back yard. 

 

With a growing family there are changes that need to be made.  One of which was for us to get a bigger car.  I am at the point in this pregnancy where I just don’t care about much and would rather give others my tasks to complete.  In saying, I told Trey it was his job to find us a new car.  Regardless of what kind of research I would have done he would have done his own as well, so it made no sense for me to waste my time.  Last night we said goodbye to my Honda.  I was kind of sad because we bought her when I was about 12 weeks pregnant with Ford.  That was such a good car, and now we have upgraded to an SUV.

 

Trey called Saturday night at 7:00 and said he was coming home and had bought a car.  I was under the impression that we were to talk about major purchases before we actually acted on them.  Well, apparently we don’t do that because he came home in this new ride and said, Happy Early 30^th birthday! 

Princess Parties and Fordisms

Last weekend we went to Cousin Caroline’s 4^th birthday party.  Ford was in the minority being that he was the only boy on the invite list.  I asked him several times if he wanted to dress up like a princess and he would holler, “I’m a boy!”  I do love that child!  In true Ford fashion he decided to go with the jeans and boots look.

Kisses on the cheek from Aunt Ashley

Ashley stresses me out with her birthday party planning skills.  When I was a kid we all jumped in the swimming pool and ate cake.  If balloons were involved the birthday party was big time.  Now a days birthday parties are much more elaborate.  My sister in law, Ashley, is so creative that I could stay up for several weeks straight and not come up with all she does.  She is a former teacher and this party definitely had that teachery feel. 

Here Ford is making his picture frame.  She bought him a special one and his own foam stickers so he wouldn’t have to have a pink heart and princess stickers next to his bed!  He is very proud of his finished product might I add. 

The birthday girl and her parents

Now Ashley didn’t discriminate against the fact that I am pregnant and extremely large, she still asked me if I wanted to be a princess.  I am not sure that I could have squeezed into any of those outfits!

Uncle Ken showing Ford how to fly 

Ford LOVES the dirt!!!  I really can’t explain his extreme obsession enough, but its big time.  Anyway, on Sunday after his nap we took him to play in the dirt with a friend.  He had a large time. 

I come up with ideas a lot of times.  Most of the time they end up being disastrous, but at least I tried.  Well, in saying, Ford will be turning 3 next week and we are having him a construction birthday party next weekend.  I decided after searching the internet, that I would make him an outfit.  NOT my brightest move yet.  I bought some fabric here in town at Cotton Treasures and went to Puddin for help.  If you will remember Puddin and Pops gave me a sewing machine for Christmas.  Well, it’s still at their house.  It’s one of those things that I don’t feel comfortable doing alone just yet.  And to be completely honest I hate to read directions and sewing patterns.  So, Puddin and I went to work making Ford some shorts from this material….

She would tell me what to do and I would sew.  After a while we thought we were nearing the end.  WRONG!  I had sewn the pants wrong and they were deformed.  I had to take the seam ripper and undo all my hard work and start over.  And I will have you know that SOMEHOW I completely messed the pants up AGAIN!  I got frustrated, as did Puddin, and I left.  Puddin is a smart lady and realized that we didn’t turn the material inside out on step 3.  She finished the pants.  I can’t take credit for the finished product, but I sure did try for TWO hours!!!  Pictures to come next weekend. 

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Funny things Ford has said lately…

Ford and I were discussing the arrival of John Brantley one day.  He said, “Momma, I will hold Toto like this.” And he demonstrated how he would hold his brother.  Then he said, “Momma, when we go to the beach I won’t throw sand in Toto’s eyes.”  That sure is sweet of him!!!

Ford tends to ask “Why” about 200 times a day.  He definitely abuses the word and it literally drives Trey and me insane.  The other night Ford said something and I asked “Why?”  He repeated and I asked why again.  After the third time of me asking why he said, “If you say that one more time I will put you in time out!”

Tonight as Ford and I were lying in bed winding down from the day he said, “Momma, I will give you a kiss, and don’t you wipe my kisses off either.”  Sooo sweet!

“Momma, I’m so proud of you for tee teeing in the potty like a big girl.”

Ford: Momma, can I call my Daddy, Butt Daddy?”  Me: “No, Ford.  That is not nice and we don’t say stuff like that.”

Ford: “Can I say shut up?”  Me:  “No, Ford.”  Ford:  “What about dang it?”  Me:  No, and if you don’t quit saying stuff you know you aren’t supposed to I will spank you.”

He has a name...

Well, after MUCH discussion, we have a name.  Toto will forever be Toto in our hearts, but his real name will be John Brantley Lamar.  We plan to call the little guy John Brantley.  John is Trey’s first name, Pop’s first name, Trey’s grandfather’s and great grandfather’s first name.  I think we covered his side of the family nicely on that one!!  Brantley is my father’s mother’s maiden name, my Nanny that died right about 2 years ago.  So by naming him John Brantley we covered both of our dads’ sides of the family.  We covered our mothers’ sides with Ford.

Here is a comparison picture of John Brantley from my appointment on Friday and Ford on the day we brought him home from the hospital.  What do you think???

Celebrity or Freak Show

Today I went to the doctor for my checkup.  The doctor came in and said that I had grown and got out her tape measure and began to measure my stomach.  She continued to stretch that little deal out and then checked her notes and said I should be 30 weeks and 5 days, but I was measuring bigger.  She looked concerned.  I told her I had gained 31 pounds, thinking I would be scolded for being in the heavy weight class, but she didn’t seemed bothered by the fact that I now round to 200 pounds.  She said that you get bigger with your second baby.  She decided I needed an ultra sound to check on the size of Toto and to see if I was retaining fluid. 

I was told to wait for about 30-45 for the ultra sound technician to finish up with her other appointments.  At that point I was not nervous at all.  I was more ticked that I had to wait there longer than expected.  I called Trey and my mom and gave them an update and then took pictures of random people in the waiting room on my phone and e-mailed them to deserving people.  Have I mentioned I LOVE my camera on my phone!!!

Well, the lady called me back and said that all looked fine with me and that Toto looked good too.  He is measuring in the 73^rd percentile, is 4 ½ pounds already and she said according to the measurements I am 10 days ahead of schedule.  So since my due date was June 24 the ultra sound today puts me at June 14.  I still don’t think I will make it that long. 

When I go out in public people stare at me.  I am pregnant, but you would think I was a celebrity or a freak show.  Today I purposefully watched the people looking at me when I went into the restaurant at lunch and in various stores out shopping.  I like when people feel led to comment on my size and the fact that I am carrying this baby so low.  Some of the things people will say is really amazing considering they don’t know me.

But the best part of the day was seeing this little man………

Sweet Moments

I put Ford to bed every night, and during that time we spend some sweet moments talking.  Tonight after we finished reading our Bible story I told Ford he needed to thank God for his friends, family, toys, house, food, etc.  He looked at me and said, “Momma, I don’t want to go to Heaven.”  He knows that when you go to Heaven you don’t come back to Earth.  His innocence in the conversation was so sweet.  I explained that he wasn’t going to Heaven right now, but one day he did want to go live with God in Heaven.  I told him no one was ever sad in Heaven and people are always happy.  He asked me if they had tractors in Heaven.  I told him God had all kinds of tractors and toys that he would like.  After a few minutes he agreed that one day when he was big he would like to go to Heaven. 

I had my baby shower at school yesterday.  I work with some really sweet people who go out of their way to make things special for others.  One of the teachers approached me about having a baby shower and I told her I would love to have one.  She asked me what I needed and I said not too much.  We agreed on consumable things such as diapers, wipes, baby wash etc.  Little Toto definitely racked up on goods from my shower.

 

My mom was able to attend and she brought Ford.  He was so excited to help open gifts.  He was the most excited about the new set of baby monitors!  Ford even got to open a present of his very own.  Can you guess what they got him?  A tractor!

 

Sorry, Amy… I had to put this on here!

 

It’s hard to bend when your midsection has increased dramatically in size!!! 

 

One thing I definitely learned from the shower pictures is that I desperately need to get my hair highlighted!!! 

 

The last two days at school Ford has participated in the St. Jude trike-a-thon.  Tuesday afternoon I had to sneak his bike to school before I woke him up from his nap so he wouldn’t have a meltdown that it wasn’t at home.  He got to ride on Wednesday and today.  I sent my camera today so his teacher could document the occasion. 

 

He insisted on bringing his helmet today since someone else had taken theirs yesterday. 

 

Ford shares other’s toys very well.  He wouldn’t dare let anyone ride on his Huffy bike though.  We have discussed sharing and it’s a sore subject around here!!! 

I get some kind of funny story from his teachers just about every day.  Today a little boy in his class came to school calling everyone a “punk”.  This little guy has two older brothers who teach him all kinds of stuff that he feels the need to come to school and share.  Well, he kept calling the other kids “punks” and the teachers had to get onto him.  They explained that it was an ugly word and he couldn’t say it.  Well, Ford is a big time rule follower and knew that if he said “punk” he would be punished as well.  His teacher said he thought for a few minutes and finally said, “Mrs. Jennifer, can I call everyone a pump tire?”  All she could do was laugh.  She said he could.  So the rest of the day Ford called people a “pump tire”. 

Every night before Ford takes a bath he uses the “big boy” potty and is rewarded with a blue and green Sweet Tart.  Then I get his bath tub water gun and chase him around the house squirting him.  It’s great fun had by all!!!!!

I go to the baby doctor tomorrow.  I can’t wait to see what weight class I am in this week.  I was in the hefty class two weeks ago!!!