My baby is getting big!

Here I am slacking off on the blogging again. It's just coming to the end of the semester time, so I'm SOOOO busy! I just don't understand why everything has to be due at the end... don't all these instructors understand that EVERY other instructor is requiring a 10 page research paper due on the SAME day? Talk about STRESSFUL.
Anyway, updates about Destin: If you ask him, "Destin, what sound does a dog make?" He will now bark. It's so cute. Al and I were just talking Sunday night about how he is not a little baby anymore. I'm so used to tearing up all of his food into tiny little pieces because he is not the greatest eater and tends to just swallow food before chewing it... but Al gave him a whole piece of pizza and Destin was just picking it up and taking bites out of it like you or I would. I know that seems simple... but it's the little things like that. He can also go and get his own diaper and wipes for me now. I'll tell him to "Go get a diaper." He walks back to the bedroom and brings me back one.... sometimes it's one, sometimes it's about five diapers. Ha Ha. Hey, at least he is catching on! The kid loves music! When he is watching cartoons, he will dance along to all of the music. And if we are in the car, he will bob his head to the beat. It's adorable! I think that he has probably LOST weight since his last doctor's visit. He is so tall and skinny. A lot of my friends have babies that are the same age as him, and he is taller than most of them but SOOO much skinnier! He is so strong, though. On Sunday we were at our usual Sunday dinner at Granny's house, and there was a full bottle of wiper fluid or something like that (One of those huge bottles!) and he was able to pick it up and carry it down the hallway. He will grunt the whole time like he is really working hard! I know that in pictures he looks like he does not have any hair... while it is not growing at a fast pace on the top of his head, the back is starting to get out of control. He is starting to grow a mullet! His hair is so blonde too! Another thing that he loves to do is sling his head back and look up at the ceiling while he is walking. He usually falls down because he loses his balance. He just thinks it is the funniest thing. I'm trying to teach him not to cry when Al, my  mom, or myself leave. (He loves my mom.. she helps us out a lot!) My niece will wave bye-bye to my sister and brother-in-law and go about her business, but Destin will cry and make a big scene. I used to sneak out of the room when he didn't realize it, but then I don't want him to be paranoid every time I leave the room that I am going to leave. So, now every morning Al will hug him and tell him bye-bye and when he will be back. I'm doing the same thing whenever I have to go to work or school. I'm hoping he catchs on sooner than later.
We are excited about Thanksgiving coming up next week! All of my classes are cancelled on the Wednesday before, so we will head down to Cleveland on Wednesday for family functions that night and Thanksgiving morning. Then, we will head back to Manchester around noon to make it to both sides of my family's  dinners that day. This will be the first year that everything is reversed since we moved.
Al had his first wrestling tournament this past Saturday. He said that his kids did pretty good. You know it's wrestling season when he has to be up and gone from the house by 4 a.m.! Gotta love it, though!
I just registered for all of my classes in the Spring. I am taking 15 hours again, but I think it will be a lot easier than this semester! I didn't take so many upper level English classes. I spread out the English and Education classes. I also have one Psychology class to finish up my double minor. Instead of having to stay at school until 9 on Mondays and 535 on Wednesdays like I do now, I'll be done at 345 on those days and 135 on Fridays! This REALLY excites me. These late nights on campus are killing me! I keep telling myself just two more semesters.... I don't know what I will do with myself when I FINALLY graduate. Sometimes I think about how I should already be graduated with my nursing degree if I had never changed my major, but then again I'm SO glad that I'm not a nurse. I would have hated having to do that job for the rest of my life. I definitely feel like I will love teaching and that it is something that I will enjoy (for the most part) for the rest of my life. I cannot wait to get DONE!!!!!!!
Anyways, this blog is getting to be really long. I also have Destin and Carter today. I'm going to go work my super mom powers to get them both down to a nap at the same time, so I can take a nap too. Destin getting up at 5 everyday is for the birds!

Silly Kid

I think I have the silliest kid some days! Destin has just been the biggest hoot the past two days. He has SUCH a personality. First of all, the kid tries to be the most independent baby that I have ever seen. He does not want anyone to touch him, tell him what to do, or get in his way! I was in class all night last night, but Al said that he would whisper to Destin, "Go get NanNan(my mom)" and Destin would run to her just laughing! Then my mom would say, "Go get Daddy" and he would do the same. They said he did this for about 5 mintues and he thought it was hilarious every time. He also thought it was funny when he wanted to go night-night, he grabbed his bunny that he always sleeps with and his blanket and walked to the room like he was wanting to go to sleep. He always waves to everyone when it's night-night time, and he even did that too. But, instead of actually wanting to go to bed, he just wanted to play peek-a-boo. He was  at the end of the hallway and was trying to hide.
Oh, and Sunday night the kid said FUMBLE! He was carrying around a football (a real football which is almost as big as him) and he fell with it and dropped it so Al yelled, "Fumble!" Destin got up and repeated "Fumble!" I couldn't believe it! The only other words he will ever say is "Ball" and "Deuce" (The dog).
Al took him to McDonalds tonight to get a happy meal and let him play. I didn't get to go because I was at work, but I heard all about it. He tore some chicken nuggets up! He had a blast playing with the other kids and flirting with the girls. He is also the biggest flirt I have ever seen for a 14 month old baby. I believe that I might be in trouble here! Al said there was a guy that was eating with his wife there, and he kept holding out his hand for Destin to give him a high five. Destin would, and the guy would act like it was hurting him, and Destin would crack up! He also loves if he thinks that he is hurting you! Here are some pictures....

                                            Chowing down on some chicken nuggets!

                                                             Flirting with the girls!

And please excuse the fact that he is in pajamas and no shoes!! Men!! If I were with him, this would have never happened! lol

October so far...

Once again, I have slacked off on the blog. This month has been crazy! It has also gone by extremely fast so far. This month is filled with birthdays, including mine! That was a great week! My birthday is not usually a huge deal, but my friends at work made sure to make this year special. We had an ice cream cake to celebrate at work, they all got me a month to the tanning bed (which is greatly needed!), and a birthday crown that I had to wear all night. Needless to say, it was great, and I am very appreciative for it! Al got me my XM radio in my car that I'm too cheap to pay for. I love it! I got some money and jewelry from others, too. I'm a pretty lucky girl!

Destin has gotten so good on his feet. He is actually starting to run. The funniest thing is when he will go half way down the hallway and run back into the living room laughing with this arms straight up just waiting for Al to catch him or to fall onto the bean bag. That kid is a hoot. He also will jabber and hold his hands up like he is saying, "I don't know." He talks alot now! Most of the time it's just a lot of jabber, but a lot of times he will say "Da, Da" and  "Ball." He likes to get onto his little play car that he has and play the music and lift the seat up and hide things under it. If we can't find the remote, that's the first place that I look now! He spent these past few days with Al's parents. We took him down to Cleveland on Sunday, and I met back up with them on Tuesday. Monday was also my fall break, so I was lazy all day and literally slept all day! Al says that something has to be wrong with me since I could sleep that much, but I say it was a much needed catch up! I haven't done that since before I had Destin! When I picked Destin back up, he hurt my feelings because he didn't want to come to me. He wanted to stay with his Mamaw Sharon. He just loves her to death!

Al started wrestling practice this week. I love wrestling, but we have so much going on this year I hope that this season goes by really fast! School is going for me... hard as ever but still chugging along.

The terrible news that I found out this week is that I'm going to have to have a new transmission in my car. The cylinoid(sp?) is messed up. It started doing it on Saturday, and it will lock up and shift really hard between the second and third geers. Once I get over 40mph, it drives fine. It's really stressing me out! My brother-in-laws dad works at the Acura dealership and is going to try and help me out with what he can, but he said at retail price it would be $3,800. WHAT!!?? Where in the world am I going to come up with that kind of money! That's almost as much as I owe on the car itself! I'm not really sure what to do, but I guess we will figure it out. It's always something, though. Right?

I'll stop venting about my car now. I better get back to writing this paper. Oh, the joys of being an English major! Papers pretty much every night! I'll try my best not to be so long on the next blog.

Strep Throat

Well, I couldn't prevent the invitible. Destin got sick this weekend. He had the croupe when he was 6 months old, and this is the only other time that he has been sick aside from his worse teething days. When Al picked Destin up from Summer's (our babysitter) on Friday afternoon, she told him that she thought he felt hot when she got him up from his nap. Al and Destin came up to Boskey's to eat so I could see them, and Destin acted fine. He was even okay that night at home. He slept 12 hours with no problem too! On Saturday morning, he wouldn't eat or drink anything. He usually loves eggs and he wouldn't even eat those. He just cried and fussed, so i figured it was just teething and that he was still tired, so I put him back down to nap. (He often wakes up in the morning, and 20 minutes later he is ready to go back to bed.) When he woke up from his nap, he was BURNING UP! He wouldn't move. He just sat on the couch and acted so pitiful. I changed his diaper with no fuss or fight.... which this NEVER happens. That kid will fight until the end when he has his diaper or clothes changed. I knew when he wouldn't get up to play that it was more than teething. I don't ever want to be the mom that takes her kid to the doctor for everything, so I debated on taking him right away. At first, I thought, "well, I'll just give him a little while to see if he starts to feel better." But, then I started thinking about it being a Saturday, and if he didn't feel better and continued to get worse that all the doctors offices would be closed and we would have to run up an expensive ER bill. So, we headed on into the doctor. We didn't drive to Murfreesboro to go to his peditrician. We first went to the walk-in clinic here in Manchester, but they won't see patients unless they are over two years old, so we drove to the Urgent Care in Tullahoma.
He started to perk up in the waiting room until we actually got called back. I have three thermometers at home, and none of them would work, so I didn't actually get to see what his temperature was before we went in. They took his temp and it was 100.4 under his arm, and you have to add a degree because it was under his arm, so it was really 101.4 and that was after having Tylenol in his system for an hour!! He threw a fit when they took his temperature and swabbed for a strep test.
I initially never thought that he would have strep. I just kind of thought it would be a routine proceedure, but the doctor walked right in and said, "Yep, that baby has strep throat." My heart sunk I felt so bad! He got a high dose of antibiotics, and after 24 hours wouldn't be contagious anymore. After we left the doctor, we stopped at dairy queen to get him some ice cream. He still only ate a little bit of it. The doctor said not to be really concerned about making sure he eats nutricious foods for the next few days. Ice cream, yogurt, and pudding would be close to all he would eat. You can tell that it hurts his little throat to swallow. He will drink some of his milk and then act like it hurts. I wish I could trade places with him! I didn't want to leave him yesterday feeling so pitiful, so I took off of work.
He still slept good last night. He woke up with a fever still, but it broke later today. All he has eaten is some ice cream, yogurt, and vanilla waffers. I know that he has to be starving, but he just won't eat. For the most part, he acted like his normal self today. He was playful and happy. We had my niece, Keena's 5th birthday party today, and he played with all of the kids fine (remember he is not contagious anymore lol). When it got to be bedtime, he started acting like he didn't feel good again and felt like he had another fever. He has been up and down about 5 times since 6:00.Al actually just got him back up and is rocking him in the living room as we speak, so I should wrap it up and go tend to my baby.
This weekend sure wasn't what I had in mind! Seeing my baby sick has been hard....I don't know how parents whose kids are terminally ill or something like that cope with it. I would do anythinng to swap places and take the strep throat away for him. Hopefully I can get him to sleep for the night! Wish us luck!

Busy Tuesday's

Tuesday's are always busy! I keep Destin and Carter on Tuesday's, so I'm always running around like a crazy person trying to keep up with both babies. Actually, Carter is extremely easy to take care of! She doesn't get into everything like Destin does. And when she is tired, she will just lay down on the floor or couch and not move or even go to sleep on her own. Shew, the differences between boys and girls! Destin is a wild child and wants to be into everything! He would never just lay in my lap or on the floor until he fell asleep. I wish he would though. He is still a wonderful baby. He climbs on everything and I mean everything! His favorite thing to do every morning is to climb up into the glider and sit like such a big boy and watch tv and rock himself. It is SO cute! He will climb onto the couch and on the back of it. One of these days he will probably learn his lesson because he is bound to fly off the back of the couch. His walking is getting better and better every day! He still walks like a little drunk man, but he walks everywhere. The only problem is is that I cannot keep shoes on him. He always pulls them off. I don't know what I'm going to do when it gets really cold and needs to be bundled when we go outside because he won't keep a hat on either. I wish some people would give me some suggestions on what to do!?

Anyways, there's plenty that I need to be doing right now. I have tons of homework and laundry that I need to try to catch up on.

School, Destin walking, and FSU game

It's been a little while since I updated on the last blog. I told myself when I started this that I would do really good at keeping up with it. Well, the last week or two have been hectic! School is starting to become intense with tons of papers due, tests, and novels to read. I seriously don't know why I thought it would be okay to take four upper level English classes and Spanish 3 all in one semester. All of the papers and reading that I'm supposed to do for the English classes is just crazy. I just have to pick and choose on what I can do that week on the readings and try to sparknote the rest of what I can't get to. Spanish 3 is a lot better than what I took over the summer! Granted, I'm not learning it like I did in the summer because it was so intense and compact then, but it's much easier now that it is spread out and I don't have to stress over homework and a test every three days. Once I get through this semester, I should be smooth sailing for the rest of everything because I will have almost all of my more intense upper level classes completed... besides I will still have Spanish 4. I'm hoping that I can pull my goal of always having straight A's this semester....but.... if I get a B or two I honestly don't think I'll be that upset about it now that I have SO much going on in life.

Destin has matured a lot within the last two weeks. He is walking so much more now. He actually walks like a little drunk guy, but he's walking! Sometimes he will take a couple of steps forward and start to lose his balance, so he will take a couple of step backwards. It's so funny... you just have to see it. Yesterday, he got his first shiner on his left eye. He was just walking along and tripped and it the wall right under his eye on his upper cheek bone. He started to cry, and I felt bad later because I just told him he was okay to get up ( That's what I usually do because I have learned if I act like it's a big deal then he will scream and cry for a lot longer than if I act like it was no big deal that he just fell or got hurt.) But, I felt really bad when I saw that his eye was puffy and starting to bruise. I seriously wish they invented like a little baby bubble that I could put him in to always keep him safe. I keep thinking, "How in the world will I ever be able to see him play a physical sport with the chances that he will probably get hurt!?" Once that day comes, I will more than likely have a heart attack. I guess that is something every mother and father have to learn to overcome. Anyway, his eye looks much better today. He woke up in such a great mood this morning. I was way too tired after only getting about 5 hours of sleep to really enjoy it to the fullest, so I just laid on the couch and watched him play and admired him. I am at school today until 5:35, so he is at my sisters house. He and Carter (Carla's baby) are so fun to watch together. Although, Destin is quite mean to her sometimes. Poor Carter, she will just look at me and cry because Destin will steal her paci, or sippy, or actually yesterday he took the play station remote and blatenly whacked her on the head with it. Needless to say, Destin got a spaking and Carter got lots of hugs and kisses from Aunt Jenna. lol. I have a feeling those two are going to have that kind of relationship growing up.... like my sister and I did. I hope it's not to that extent, though, since they are the opposite sex and all.

We left Thursday night after I got off of work to head down to Tallahassee for the Florida State vs. Oklahoma game. We had to wake Destin up and drive to Cleveland first to drop him off at Al's parents house and to pick up Al's brother. Destin didn't go back to sleep in the car eventhough it was 1:00, but he didn't fuss. He was a champ. His Mamaw and Papaw said that he was awesome all weekend. It was hard for me to leave him. I actually cried when we got back in the car. Of course Al made fun of me and told me I was over reacting. lol. He was right... I wasn't crying because of him staying there or anything, I knew that he would be fine and would have a blast there. I just... I don't know I can't explain it. I'm sure other mom's know what I'm talking about. I did good away from him all weekend. I missed him, but it was nice to relax and enjoy ourselves. On Friday, we got to go on a tour of FSU's football locker rooms, weight rooms, training rooms, etc. That was awesome! Then they had a player send off where we all rallied while the players got onto the bus. We were right up front and got to clap hands with all of the players. Those guys are HUGE. We went and ate at Hooter's for dinner, and then we went to the Corey Smith concert. We didn't stay but for about ten mintues. We were all so tired from being up for over 35 hours. I slept so good that night. We got up on Saturday at about 5:30 and got ready to head over to the stadium and go see Game Day. There were students that camped out there over night to be up front. It was some crazy stuff! Then we tailgated all day. The game was absolutely awesome. I have never witnessed such an awesome atmosphere. I about lost my voice, my hands were raw from clapping, and this is sad to say, but my arms were sore from doing the chop so much! It would have been even better if we had won. Oh well, we will win it all next year! We got home around 5 or 6 Sunday night. Once again, I cried when we were almost there because I was so excited to get back to Destin. I don't know what it is.... becoming a mom has just made me such a softy! Everything makes me cry! Ha Ha. I'm sure other moms do the same thing too!

I have rambled enough. This week has been busy with homework, Al's going to have wrestling start up soon, and he has had PTO meetings. I'm hoping this weekend I can balance spending time with everyone and getting caught up on all my homework! Pray for me! ha ha. I have to go to class now.... until next time!

Tribute to Shannon

I just wanted to have somewhere to vent. Today would have been my friend Shannon's 25th birthday. I cannot believe that it has been 8 years since the accident. It still feels like yesterday when everything happened. Shannon was one of my newest friends that I had made through my best friend, Katie. We had all gotten really close before everything happened. She was such an awesome, sweet girl. I can remember her always eating marshmellows... for some reason it feels like she always had a bag of marshmellows and that just really sticks out in my mind. Every year I still think about her, and I wish she were here. Not only because I think we would still be great friends, but because her sister Brooke is my very BEST friend in the world. Everything just makes me ache for Brooke and her family. I love them so dearly and hate that this hurt and pain is a never ending pain for them. Anyway, I'm sorry to vent like this on this Saturday morning, but Shannon's birthday was just weighing heavily on my mind. I hope to get out to the grave  yard today before I have to work and see her... I think I'm going to take her a bag of marshmellows!

Al will be watching football all day, I will be watching what I can, but I have to do some laundry and homework. I plan to take Destin to the triplets soccer game with me for a little bit before work. Then, off to work I go for the night. Can't wait for tomorrow. Sunday's are the best days for us! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Just Another Day

Is it the weekend yet?? Only one more day! Eventhough this has been a short week because of the Labor Day holiday, it feels like it's never going to end. Today already started off a little hectic. I was supposed to go to my cousin's dentist office for an appointment, but my car seat ended up in Al's car yesterday, and we forgot to get it out before Al left for school. So, I had to cancel my appointment and reschedule for next week. It seems like every appointment we have had has had to be rescheduled. Destin was supposed to have his one year check up and shots on September 1st. Well, about two hours before his appointment they called and said that his doctor had to go home sick. Now, we are rescheduled for next Tuesday the 13. It was also hectic this morning because I forgot all about Al having parent/teacher conference tonight, so he won't be home until 8. I have to work tonight, so I had to get everything worked out for my brother to watch Destin until my mom gets home, and then she will put him to bed (the poor kid goes to bed about 5:30 or 6:00!)
Aside from the hectic week, it has been exciting in some ways. Destin is walking around a lot! He is not walking perfectly or all of the time, but he will pull himself up on things and then take about 5 to 10 steps before falling, and then he gets back up and does it again! It is so weird to see my little baby walking around. I wish he could just go back to being a little infant! I guess it's time for another one... ha ha NOT! That will have to be a few more years... I have to get done with school and want to get my first year of teaching under my belt. Destin loves taking a bath. Even when the bath water is not running, he wants to crawl in there. He gets mad when I take him out, too. He absolutley loves blueberries! He actually loves all fruits that I have given him, but he will make a point to pick the blueberries out and gobble them down. He also knows when he eats good that I will give him a couple of vanilla waffer cookies. He knows when I get that box out he starts going crazy and humming (that's his way of saying he wants something). He has become a pretty good eater. The only thing that I am having a problem with is breaking him from his bottle. About two months ago, he was doin great. He only took a bottle at bed time and took his sippy cup all day long. Well, Al would give him a bottle more often, so he started pushing the sippy cup away. Now, he wont drink from one at all! I will still try and try to make him drink from it, but he just won't. (Unless he is around my niece, Carter. He always wants to steal hers while she is drinking and then he will drink out of it to be a little turd ha ha) Anyways, so I have gotten discouraged and then worry when he won't drink, so I just put it in a bottle because I would rather make sure his drinks his milk and water than if the bottle is going to mess up his teeth right now. I'm hoping that the doctor will have good advice on what to do next week, though.
I am hoping that this weekend can have a little time for relaxation eventhough I work on Friday and Saturday. I plan to take Destin to my nephew's soccer game this Saturday morning. Brayden, Cayden, and Dylen are going to be so adorable out there! They are on the same team... I hope they don't fight with each other! Then, I guess we will watch football and eat wings with Al until I have to go to work. Sunday's are always our family days together. I wouldn't give those up for anything! Next week is a busy, busy week with school, 2 doctors appointments,Al's dad is coming down on Tuesday, work, and then Thursday night we will be headed out to Tallahassee for the FSU game. Destin is staying with Al's parents. I absolutley loves them! I know he will be fine and that they take perfect care of him, but I am nervous. The only night I have been away from him and not been with him to get up with him in the morning was when Al and I both had to take our Praxis tests on a Saturday, so my mom took him to my sister's house right at bedtime so we could get a good night sleep. We will be leaving Destin on Thursday night until Sunday night. I hope I do okay and don't cry. I think I do need the weekend break though. Every mom needs one, right?
Ok, I'll stop rambling! Have a good day and weekend coming up!

Learning how to blog

I decided to create a blog for all of our family and friends, especially the ones that we moved away from. I find myself always reading all of my friends blogs, and that really helps me keep up with what's going on in their busy lives. So, I thought, why not create one for us? Anyways, I hope that this first blog works because I am not the least bit computer savy unless I'm on Facebook!

I'll start out by updating on the most important person that everyone wants to know about, Destin. He turned one last week! Wow, how time flies! I really cannot even comprehend how fast this past year flew by or even how wonderful all of our blessings have been. Destin had two birthday parties. We wanted to have one in Cleveland where all of our family and friends could share his day with us there and have one in Manchester, too. Needless to say, that defintely wore Al and me out! It was worth it for him, though. I was such a little hoot with his birthday cakes at both parties! He was a champ through both of them because they both ran into his sacred nap times. He got so many gifts! He is now officially rotten. Al and I got him a football bean bag that he loves to climb on. (We have a little monkey on our hands... he climbs on EVERYTHING!) We also got him a build-a-bear that is dressed like a football player and we recorded him a sweet message on it. I figured that is something that he can always keep and say that he got it on his first birthday. My big project for his first birthday was actually his massive scrapbook! Shew, I put so much time and money into that thing! Scrapbooking is expensive! I won't go into how much money I spent on it. LOL. I started the scrapbook off with letters from Al and myself, then his ultrasound pictures, maternatiy, hospital, newborn, and the 3198365467 pictures I took within the first year. Everyone within our families also wrote him some sweet letters and they are what concluded the scrapbook. I would love to be able to do that for him for every year of his life! But, then again, when we have another kid, I'll have to do it for him/her too, and I don't know if I could tackle doing two kids scrapbooks so intensively like that.We will see what I can do, though.

Al is teaching at Robert E. Lee Elementary School in Tullahoma and is the Head Middle School Wrestling coach. Tullahoma has two middle schools and only one team, so my understanding is that their season and program is more like club. I'm not sure, though. I guess I will find out how their system works soon since wrestling season is just around the corner. Al is extremely excited about football season. He has to be at his happiest when he is watching Flordia State football and eating wings on Saturday's! I must admit, it is fun! Speaking of football and Florida State, we are going to the biggest game of the year in two weeks (FSU vs. Oklahoma) We are beyond excited about it! My brother, Cody and Al's brother, Andy are also going with us. It will be a blast.

Lastly, I guess I will give an update on my schedule. I am going to MTSU full time this semester with 15 hours. I go on MWF, and it is exhausting. 10-9 on Monday's makes for a LONG day. I have to do it though. I also work at Boskey's Grill on Willow Brook Golf Course. I absolutley love that job! I work there on Tuesday's, Thursday's, Friday's, and Saturday's. The only other things that I do is I keep my niece, Carter on Tuesday's to help my sister out (she keeps Destin on Wednesday's) and try to spend as much time with Destin as I can get! Oh, and I study a lot, too!

All in all, life is good for us. We have know that we are so extremely blessed beyond words to have our little family. Like I said, I hope this blog works and that I don't look like a total idiot. The next blog will be better. I just thought I should give an update on what we all do for now! I hope that our family and friends keep up with us on here. I'll try to post at least once a week!