Choo Choos and TuTus

That's the new name of my blog. Cute, huh? :) My friend Justine said something like "It must be fun dealing with Tutus now instead of Choo Choos" and I said, "Hey, you just renamed my blog!"

There's not much new going on, but I'll post something for my nosy family in Martin County! (haha!) Georgia had her head ultrasound yesterday to look at the hemangioma on her head, and although I haven't heard definitively, the ultrasound tech did not appear worried. The appointment was a real pain in the neck though. It was at 4pm, and I had to be there at 3:30. (I did not set this appointment--the pediatrician's office did.) Well, they didn't even call her back until 6 pm!!!!!!! They were all very apologetic and gave me a Kroger gift card for the inconvenience. But Blake was at home with Nate, and I couldn't even call him cause there's no cell phone reception in that part of the hospital. Finally, Elizabeth showed up so he could go back to work. And this also meant that I was late to Bible study AGAIN! This is the third week of it. The first week, I couldn't find the place and ended up being 45 minutes late. Last week, since Nate was sick, I didn't want him going with us and being around the kids there, so I dropped the kids off with Blake after he was free, so I was 45 minutes late again. And here I am a half hour late again. I'm almost never late to anything!

Georgia is growing like a weed and is slightly less cranky as time passes. I mentioned before that she has found her tongue. If you stick out your tongue at her, she gets the biggest toothless grin on her face and sticks hers out too, like "Ooh, I have one of those too!!!" She's so sweet. I have been trying to get one of these priceless grins on camera, and I can't catch them. This is the closest I've gotten.

Eh, I'll keep trying. I'm sure they'll get less elusive soon.

Nate is feeling much better and is off all of his medication except for pulmicort, which is his daily breathing treatment that we'll be doing indefinitely. He doesn't much like it, but he does it like a trouper.

This morning was our music class. This is the fourth week of it. The first week he had to miss because he was in Owensboro. We went the second week and he had a blast. Last week he was sick and missed it. So he was stoked to go this morning. He kept saying "I'm so excited!" So I got all of us ready and out of the house by 9am, drove a half hour to the church where they have it, got both kids inside through the rain ... and no one was there. Apparently, last week they told everyone that this week was cancelled for some reason. Well, I was ticked cause of all the trouble it took to get us down there, and the teacher totally could have emailed everyone. But even worse, Nate was SO disappointed. He was a big boy about it, but he was so sad. So we stopped on the way home to have some healthy breakfast at Krispy Kreme, and we came home to do our own music class. They gave us a CD of all the songs, so we danced up a storm.

Speaking of dancing, this isn't from this morning, but here's a video of Nate dancing. He thought it was so funny to make the music go faster.

(If you can't see the video because you are viewing this on email or facebook, click here to see it: http://whatnatesaidtoday.blogspot.com/)

This weekend we're going to the big Halloween party at the zoo with some friends, and we'll get to spend some time with Memaw and GrandBob, so it should be a fun weekend! Hope you have a good one too.

What you need to know about Spina Bifida. Yes, YOU.

In honor of Spina Bifida Awareness Month, I thought I'd give you a little run-down of what the average person needs to know about Spina Bifida. Three years ago, when we got the diagnosis, Blake and I really had no idea what it was, and I suspect most people know about as much as we did. So here goes.

1. It's a birth defect in which the neural tube doesn't completely close, so basically, the spinal cord is exposed to amniotic fluid and all the bumping around that a baby does in utero. This causes damage to the spinal cord, which can result in paralysis, hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain), bowel and bladder issues, and other problems.

2. All women of childbearing age--let me say that again: ALL WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE--should be taking at least 400 mcg of folic acid, which is usually present in any multivitamin or prenatal vitamin. This has been shown to reduce the risk of having a child with SB by 70%. Because the neural tube closes in the first 28 days of pregnancy, the birth defect can occur before a woman even knows she is pregnant. And we all know that pregnancy is not always planned. (Folic acid has all kinds of other benefits too, like preventing several types of cancer and dementia.)

3. Spina Bifida is not a death sentence. If you or someone you know finds out their baby has spina bifida, there is no reason to terminate the pregnancy, despite what many obstetricians might tell you. Much like the autism spectrum, the range of outcomes with SB is widely varied. Some are barely affected at all, some are severely disabled, and most fall somewhere in between. The birth defect usually does not affect cognition--most people with SB have average to above average intelligence. These children have far more in common with their typical peers than they have differences. Spina bifida is only one part of them and does not define them. They can and do become teachers, doctors, musicians, atheletes ... anything they want to be.

4. As a parent, when you find out your child has SB, it's shocking and scary and sad, and you have to grieve. Then when your baby is born, you are shocked at how "normal" your child is, and you're over the moon and shocked that you are happy again. In my three year journey with a child with SB, I've become a better version of myself. I'm more patient, more compassionate, have a purpose to my life that I didn't have before, and I appreciate the "little" things. Example: My son standing still by himself at PT today? A miracle. What at one time seemed like the worst thing that had ever happened to me turned out to be the biggest blessing God could have bestowed on me.

5. Here's the face of Spina Bifida:

Pictures from the weekend

We hadn't been to my parents' house since March, and we had never travelled with both kids together before, but Friday I took the kids to my parents' by myself while Blake worked. It took me all day to pack! Just the medication alone for all three of us took an entire gallon ziplock bag. And I did pack light. I thought back to our first weekend trip to my parents' house when Nate was Georgia's age, and we brought everything--the bouncy chair, nearly every outfit he owned, a whole bag of different weight blankets .... well, I know better this time around. But before I left, I sat down to feed Georgia one last time for the road, and I realized I hadn't packed her mylanta ... or her paci ... or the boppy. Oh, and I forgot to brush Nate's teeth ... and put on his braces and shoes. And I still had to stop and pick up Georgia's pictures at Sears and get gas. Ugh! I thought we'd never get out of town.

Nate started whining before we even left Louisville, and I figured it was those last few whines before he passed out. But it continued the whole way home and got louder and louder. I kept asking him why he was crying, and he just continued to cry. Finally I somehow figured out he was thirsty, but I didn't have a sippy cup and I couldn't just hand him my gigantic cup of ice water or he would have been drenched. He acted like he would die if he didn't have water, so I had to stop at the next exit and give him a drink. Then he revealed that he was hungry. Well, we were still about an hour from my parents' house and I knew my mom would have dinner ready, so I told him to wait awhile. Again, you'd think he was going to starve to death before we got there the way he cried and screamed. I know this medication he's on makes him hungry and cranky, but the combination is just too much! So Granna fed him as soon as we got there, and he lived.


Georgia is a great traveler so far. She's recently found her tongue and has started smiling more.

She is SO strong! When I put her on her belly, she looks determined to get across he room, and she can nearly stand by herself, I swear.

On Saturday, we went over to my Granny and Papal's house, and my three aunts and three of my little cousins came over. They hadn't seen Nate in several months, not since he started walking, and this was their first time meeting Georgia.

Georgia is Granny's fourth great-grandchild.

My aunt Audrey made her this beautiful blanket!

And Georgia is special because Kelsey doesn't usually hold babies. :) I remember when Kelsey was this little, and now she's getting ready to turn 17. Dang, I'm getting old.

Nate had so much fun playing at Granny's, but by about 7, he was starting to melt and to boss people around. Go that way! Be quiet, stop talking! Yikes, it was his bedtime. And then we took him to my great aunt Jean's. :) Georgia slept the whole day.

So, this weekend I lost a diamond out of my Granny Peggy's ring. It's a beautiful old cocktail ring with 9 small diamonds in it, and I wear it every day. Saturday afternoon, I was cleaning up my and Nate's mess after lunch, and I looked down and saw something shiny on my shirt. I picked it up, and it looked like a diamond. But this has happened to me before because I have a shirt with little rhinestones on it, and they are constantly coming off. I recently bought another shirt that resembles that one and I brought it with me, so I assumed a rhinestone had fallen off that shirt in my bag. So I threw it away without really even thinking about it. In the truck on the way to Granny's, I looked down and saw there was a diamond missing from the ring. Stupid, stupid!!!! At home, Daddy looked through the trash twice, and I looked through it once, my mom swept the floor, and we all were down on our hands and knees looking for this little diamond, and we couldn't find it. Ugh, it makes me sick to my stomach to think about losing that diamond. :( And I had it in my hand!!!

I'll finish with a funny little Nate story. Lately he's started calling us "honey" or "buddy" cause those are things we call him. It's pretty cute. So Thursday night Blake went to give him his medicine, and Nate said, "No, honey! Give it to Georgia!" Ha! Since then, he's tried every thing he can think of to get out of taking his medicine, including bargaining. He starts, "How about this..." He is getting way too smart for us!

Georgia is 2 months old (and pitiful hospital pictures)

Georiga is cute as can be and a very good baby! Her reflux is improving, so she's not as colicky in the evenings. She's sleeping about 4 hours at a time at night, sometimes more. At her doctor appointment yesterday, she was 11 pounds, 3 ounces! That's 50th percentile--just right! And her length is 21 3/4 inches, which is 25th percentile. The doctor looked at the strawberry mark on her head and wants to send us for a head ultrasound to make sure it's just attached to the skin. I did not ask questions, haha. She said she was sure it was fine, but she likes to be cautious. Georgia is getting ANOTHER strawberry mark on the side of her head. I hope her hair grows in quickly, bless her heart. :) That's okay, she's gorgeous enough to pull it off.

I just uploaded the pictures I took from the hospital. As pitiful as Nate was, I still try to document the big things he goes through for the photobook I put together each year around his birthday.

Here he is in the emergency room after he got his IV, getting a breathing treatment.


This was after he was admitted and in his room. He held his arm up like that the whole time he had the IV.

Blake and Georgia trying to get a few winks. Actually Georgia was an angel and slept most of the time we were there, thank goodness.

After he started feeling a little better, we got him in the chair with some toys.

We also borrowed some boys from the child life room.

He loved this drum, but hated he could only drum with one hand.

So Granna drummed for him. :)

The bed started to get a little crowded.

Look how pretty. (I think that's the camera strap on the side.)

We almost had to move Nate out of the bed to make way for toys. He called these car toys "spinnies."

I borrowed a swing from the child life room for Georgia, and she was out like a light. Yet she won't sit in our swing at home. Hmm.

Nate is feeling better, and his cough is lots better. We've finished up his breathing treatments, except for twice a day pulmicort. He's now down to steroids once a day until Sunday, and he'll have his antibiotic twice a day for another week. I'm getting ready to bathe the kids and pack for our weekend trip to Paintsville to visit family and maybe go to Apple Days. We were excited to take Nate to Apple Days this year now that he's big enough to ride the rides and stuff, but now I'm afraid to take him because there will be so many people, cigarette smoke, etc. I'll have to find a way to get a corn dog and some fried pies without taking him over. :)

Another hospital stay

Nate's allergies have been awful for the past couple months, so when he started coughing Saturday evening, I figured he just had sinus drainage. We gave him some cough syrup and put him to bed. He woke up at 4:30 am Sunday in a coughing fit and was not in a good mood, to put it mildly. He was up for the day, and so was Blake. :) By late morning, he was still hacking, and I was starting to get worried. After his last horrible hospital stay this summer, the last thing I wanted was to end up back at the children's hospital. I called the on-call pediatrician, who called in a prescription cough medicine and told me to give him a breathing treatment. The breathing treatment helped him stop coughing long enough take a nap, but he woke up with a low grade fever, and I called the doctor back. This particular doctor had never seen Nate before, so I explained why I was so concerned (his history of lung disease, last hospital stay, etc), and we were wondering about the flu, so she prescribed tamiflu. By the time I found a pharmacy that had the last two bottles of tamiflu in our side of the city, Nate was breathing hard. I packed a bag and took him to the hospital.

Blake met us at the ER (and of course Georgia was with us and I was scared to death she was going to catch something!) and they started an hour-long breathing treatment. That didn't help, so they did a chest x-ray then started another hour-long breathing treatment. His oxygen saturation still didn't improve, so they admitted him. But all of this took about 6-7 hours, and we weren't admitted to a room until 3:30 am. They started a continuous breathing treatment for about 8 hours. I've never even heard of this before, and thank goodness he slept through most of it because when he was awake, he was tearing at the mask on his face. They also had to give him an IV. Blake tried his best to refuse it for him, but it had to be done. Poor guy HATED it, of course. He kept holding up his arm, saying "Help!" Also, they had to start steroids again, and you may remember that Nate turns into a monster when he's on steroids.

That night/morning, Nate got some sleep, Blake got a couple hours, Georgia slept like an angel, and I got no sleep. Literally, no sleep. I haven't pulled a real all-nighter since college, and this time I was already sleep deprived! Thankfully, my mom came Monday afternoon to help out, because I was braindead and having a hard time keeping both Georgia and Nate fed, changed, and entertained in this little room, especially with Nate being so cranky.

We figured it would be like last time and on his second night in the hospital he'd be able to go without oxygen and then we'd go home. Well, it didn't happen like that this time. After an exhausting day of fits and considerable efforts I finally got Nate to sleep and fell asleep myself, and a half hour later the nurse woke me up and said Nate was desatting and we had to wake him up. That was about the worst news I could hear at that point. She asked me if he'd blow a pinwheel to clear his lungs out a little, and I was thinking, Lady, do you have any idea what kind of beast you are about to wake up? We woke him up, made him cough ... I'm sure the screaming helped clear his lungs too. The details are a little foggy after that, but I remember that all of us (except Georgia) were wide awake at 2 am. When Nate fell back to sleep, he kept desatting again, and the only thing to do was put oxygen on him. And I knew what that meant--yet another night in the hospital. He has to go a whole night without oxygen before he can go home.

Tuesday kind of dragged by. At one point, I noticed there was some blood on Nate's bed, and I saw his hand was bleeding at the IV site. At first I was a little horrified, but then I realized this meant the IV had come out, and that was good news! The day before, I had begged the doctor to take the IV out and she said she wouldn't, but if it came out on its own she wouldn't replace it. So we were rid of the IV! I think I was as relieved as Nate. Another side effect of the steroids is that it wires him so he doesn't want to sleep. He looked tired enough to nap at 11am, but he wouldn't lay down and fought sleep until 10 pm when he passed out against his own will. He slept about 8 hours last night with no oxygen or waking, and we were all itching to get home this morning. Fortunately, his pediatrician came by early, and we were discharged by 11am.

So best I understand, they think that Nate might have caught a bug of some kind, or it might have just been his allergies, that caused a full blown asthma attack. The pediatrician thought he might have seen a spot of pneumonia on his lungs too. Since this is the third bad respiratory thing Nate's had since May, it's time to do something preventative. I didn't realize Nate had asthma, but I guess it's apparent now. Lots of kids with chronic lung disease of prematurity end up with asthma. So long term, Nate will do one breathing treatment of pulmicort a day to prevent him from getting sick as often, and prevent getting soooo sick when he does catch something. It's a steroid, but it doesn't have the side effects of the liquid steroid. In the short term, he also has an antibiotic, the liquid steroid (till Sunday), and breathing treatments every 4 hours, including at night.

A cute little story: When my mom was coming to Louisville, she asked if we wanted her to bring anything, and Nate said he wanted Hiro (the train). Well, this train is impossible to find, and walmart didn't have it, so she brought him something else. That afternoon, my mom was talking to Nate about my dad, and Nate said, "Pop's comin, and he's bringin Hiro!" It was cute, and my mom told daddy what he said. Then I got an email from my dad saying, "Hiro is on the way. He is leaving West Virginia and should arrive in Louisville at Nate's house by Thursday." Nate was so excited, and that's all he talked about after that. Well, Hiro made better time than we expected. We had been home today for about an hour when UPS rang the doorbell, and I saw the package was addressed to Nate. I said, "Nate! Hiro is here! Hiro is here!" He was running around laughing saying "He's here! He's here!" I opened him up, and Nate said, "Oh my goodness! He's big. Oh my goodness!" We called Pop right away to tell him Hiro made it and to thank him. It made his day. Right now he's saying, "Oh my goodness. I got a new engine."

We're so happy to be home, and I'm going to try to find a way to catch up on sleep. Staying in the hospital is hard work. P.S. if anyone is looking for a charitable thing to do for the holidays, take some new or used toys to your local children's hospital! It really helps to have some different toys to occupy the time.

My cute kids

As you know, Georgia is my dress up doll.


Speaking of dress up, Nate is really into costumes right now. :)

Nate: "Look at those trains, Georgia!"

Hello, Bear.

So sweet in their jammies.

Streeeeetch!

Where did she get this coloring?

We had a very nice week. It was much less stressful than the previous few weeks, partly because Nate is getting more used to school and party because one of his therapies was cancelled this week. When I picked him up from school on Thursday, one of the teacher aides said, "Nate has the best attitude! He has the best laugh, and he never throws tantrums!" I said, "... Really?" :) I'm really glad he behaves so well at school, even though he must save up all his tantrums for me. I think he knows that I am genetically required to love him no matter what.

Friday morning was our first Music Together class, and Nate had a ball! I thought he would love it, and I'm so glad he did. Even though it's another "scheduled" activity in our busy schedule, this one is just for fun! Our neighbor and her baby go, and Nate's PT (the one we like) was there with her little girl. So Nate walked in knowing half the people in the room, and he thought he owned the place. He laughed and danced and pranced around and played instruments. Even Georgia seemed to have a good time!

Have a good weekend. I'll update after our SB clinic on Monday.

Migraines, colic, and the dentist

Yesterday was the day of appointments for me and the kids. I went to the doctor to get my flu shot (That reminds me--Blake, go get your flu shot!) and I also talked with her about my migraines. I've been having them more days than not since Georgia was born, and that is a bummer. She put me on a preventative medication that is safe for breastfeeding and also immitrex for when one comes on. She also had me do bloodwork and ordered a CT scan for next week just to be thorough.

Next, I called the pediatrician about Georgia's reflux. We've been using prevacid for about a week now, and she's still spitting up multiple times after almost every feeding, and she is screaming for hours every night. Poor thing is miserable, and she's taking all of us with her. Of course I'm not getting any sleep, and it's stressful when a baby screams for that long every evening. Blake has taken to sleeping on the couch to get any rest (and I don't complain cause I don't want what precious sleep I do get to be interrupted by snoring). And the crying is even causing Nate to get less sleep. Yesterday he was exhausted at school cause Georgia kept him awake until after 11 the night before. Anyway, he said in addition to the prevacid, I can give her a little mylanta 2-3 times a day. If that doesn't help, we'll look into it further.

Yesterday afternoon, Nate went to the dentist. This is the second time he's been to see Dr. Haney at the UK pediatric dental clinic where Uncle Lucas works, and she is amazing with him. He was so good during the exam--he actually likes going to the dentist! He doesn't have any cavities, thank goodness. She said his teeth have moved somewhat because of the pacifier, but now that he has given it up, they should move back where they should be within 9 months. I'm going to try to switch to a dentist here in Louisville now (I think I found one that takes his medical card), because as much as I like Dr. Haney, it's about a 5 hour ordeal to get there, eat, park, and get back (maybe cause I get lost every time I'm inside New Circle Road in Lexington) just for a 15 minute appointment.

Next week we have some more big appointments. We go to Nashville on Monday for Nate's Spina Bifida Clinic. This will be the first time he will WALK into clinic! I know his doctors will be so proud. He'll see the neurosurgeon (no concerns), ortho (no concerns, but I want to see what he thinks about Nate's new braces), and urology (where we'll discuss potty training). Also, Georgia has her 2 month check up next week, and I'm not looking forward to her getting 5 shots. :( I was always so tough when Nate got shots, probably because he went through so much more in the NICU. But I'm getting softer as time goes on. :) I'll update on those next week.

Funny sayings and tutus

There hasn't been much blogging lately because I usually have a fussy baby in one arm. But I wanted to record a few cute things Nate is saying lately. He is talking like such a big boy these days! I'm amazed every day at the things he says. But it's funny--in just about every sentence, there's one word wrong. Examples:

I miss your paci. (He misses his paci.)

Maggie pooped on the ottoman. (Maggie actually pooped beside the ottoman. Still not good.)

He needs his paci. (It was Georgia who needed her paci.)

You threw the bowl! (I saw a fly on a bowl and swatted at it, so I think he meant I hit the bowl.)

This is Nate's 4th week of school, and he still likes it and is getting stronger every day. But he still gets really tired, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when he has therapy right after and no time to nap. After two days in a row of carrying him screaming to the car to go to therapy and dealing with behavior problems because he is so tired, I knew something had to give. I talked to his therapists about the schedule, and the best we could come up with, with their packed schedules, was that Nate could do PT Wednesday mornings before school instead of after. That will help some. And I know Nate will continue to adjust and build stamina. Today I had a talk with Nate's teacher about my concerns, and she said he is doing wonderfully at school. She said he sometimes refuses to do things they ask him to, but he doesn't throw tantrums. Really! He sure throws tantrums at home. She said this morning she was trying to individually assess each child on how much they knew of their shapes, colors, etc., and Nate didn't want to. She finally lured him over, and after about 2 minutes, he politely said, "I'm done with this." :) Anyway, she told me if Nate was too tired and needed to stay home sometimes, that would be okay. We'll see how it goes.

We had a very busy weekend! Blake and Nate went to Owensboro, and Nate had such a great time playing with Memaw and GrandBob that he couldn't nap. Saturday evening, there was a birthday dinner for Little Bitty Memaw, and Nate was so tired that he fell asleep sitting up in his booster seat. While they were in Owensboro, Mindy and Georgia and I went to Columbus, OH, for Jenny's baby shower. This was Georgia's first road trip, and she was a trouper! We had a great time.

Today we picked up Nate's new braces, so while Nate stayed home with Elizabeth, I took the braces to the mall to buy shoes. (The only perk of your kid wearing braces is that you don't have to take them shoe shopping.) I did finally find shoes, and during a brief stop in Gymboree, I found a pink tutu on clearance! Then I thought that since I had a tutu and a couple pretty hair bows in my bag, I should go ahead and get Georgia's picture taken! We went to Sears. Here they are, Georgia's first professional pictures:

Big things going on here!

1. Georgia gave me her first real smile yesterday! I offered to feed her, and I got the biggest smile. Later on I got a couple more as I made every silly face and noise I could come up with.

2. She also slept through the night last night! She's still having belly troubles (reflux) so last night she cried and fussed for hours, then I guess she was exhausted. She slept from about 12:30 till 6:30 this morning! After I fed her, she slept for 3 more hours! I remember that Nate started sleeping through the night right after he started smiling, so maybe Georgia will be the same way. Even if it was just a fluke, I like it.

3. Nate is now paci-free! For the last few weeks, he's only had it while sleeping, and he's done really well during the day. So I decided this weekend was a great time for the Paci Fairy to visit. I started prepping him for it the day before, and he was excited that the Paci Fairy was going to bring him a train in exchange for his paci. He said, "I have an idea! Let's pick a train! How about .... Hank!" So she brought him Hank. His first night, he cried for a bit, but I went up to talk with him once and assured him he'd learn how to sleep without it and that I was right downstairs if he needed me. He talked until after 10, but he fell asleep. Yesterday morning he was so excited about Hank that he didn't even want breakfast! And that's saying a lot for Nate! Later, he took a nap, and last night--after some crying and having to go talk to him a few times, he fell asleep just fine again. He's only asked for it a couple times, but then he remembers on his own and doesn't ask anymore. I'm very proud of him--he's a big boy.

4. School went better this week. He walked a lot more and wasn't so exhausted when I picked him up. I'm glad they had a short week. On Tuesday the teacher aid called and told me he fell and bumped his head. He had a large bruise and a pretty bad scratch that they had to doctor up. He was fine, of course, and it didn't bother him for long. Yesterday when I picked him up, the teacher told me he had done a lot more walking this week, and they let him walk even if it takes him 10 minutes to walk down the hallway. Good. Then she said that since his fall on Tuesday, they are making him hold someone's hand when he walks. He kept telling them, "I walk by myself" but they told him that his mom said I had to hold their hand. She said she hoped it was okay that they said that. Well, no. That's probably very confusing for him since I would NEVER say that! Ha! My mantra is "Let go of my hand. You can walk by yourself." I realize they want to keep him safe, but at some point that is at a cost to his independence. So I'll give it some time and hope this hand-holding thing doesn't last long. Maybe the PT will tell them to knock it off.

This morning we went to the SBAK's Poker Run to see the motorcycles off. The kids like to see the bikes, and the bikers like to see the kids they are helping. There was a huge turnout! It was awesome. I was talking with a mom of a 4 year old, who is cute as can be and doing well in a walker. She said she didn't know about her daughter's SB until the birth. After an emergency c-section and thinking the baby had swallowed some meconium, the doctor told her, "Everything is fine. There's just one small problem. She will never walk." That's how he gave her the diagnosis. Even though I have heard so many of these awful stories, they still take me by surprise. Our "Delivering the Diagnosis" project with the SBAK is still ongoing. We're currently working on gathering a focus group of doctors to give us input on the project. I hope the information we give OBs will prevent situations like the one this mom experienced.

I'm the Boss

I have a bunch of pics! These first ones are from the Kentucky State Fair last weekend. We went on a whim on Sunday afternoon.

I'm still not over how cool it is to see him walk by himself.

She's only a month old, but after seeing how strong she is, I decided to test her out in the bumbo (Nate used it around 4 months). She loved it!

On Saturday my parents and brother came to the house, and we celebrated my dad's 50th birthday! Georgia wore a pretty outfit.

We went to Buca di Beppo (yum) and my mom "accidentally" (so she says) mentioned to the waitress that it was his birthday. He looks amused, but I don't think he was.

Nate got his cake. :)

Last night Georgia slept better than usual, and then this morning Blake took her for awhile, and I got an extra couple hours sleep. I woke up feeling like a new person! I hadn't felt that good in months. We went to our church's Family Palooza, which was awesome!

Nate tried out the inflatables for the first time ever.

He got a pony ride.

There was a petting zoo.

And train rides! We had to pull out the train hat for that. He was excited to ride in a coal car. :)

This evening we were at the table eating dinner, and Nate was getting very bossy. Blake was just cutting up his potato, and Nate said, "No more cutting anymore!" I said, "Nate, you're getting very bossy. You don't boss Daddy around--he's your boss." Nate says, "I'M the boss!" Hahaha! We couldn't help but laugh at that one.

Then we all went to the grocery store, and Nate was singing a little made up song that sounded like it was to the tune of "The B-I-B-L-E." But I've never sung that song to him, so I wondered if he was singing something else. Well, I started singing the words to "The B-I-B-L-E" and he tried to follow along. Later on as I was getting him out of the bath, we were singing it again: The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me, I stand upon the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E. Then he said, "The Bible!" Which surprised me because he can't spell! So apparently he learned this at Sunday School. Then I heard his version: The B-I-B-O-E, yes that's the book for me, I stand right here before I go, the B-I-B-O-E. :)