Last Day of School

Today was Alex's last day at school at Willowbrook Mother's Day Out!  He started at this school when we moved to Huntsville and has absolutely loved it!

We were blessed with two amazing teachers, Ms. Rene and Ms. Susan!  They have both been patient with Alex and he has really grown fond of both women!  Today when we left, he gave them both big hugs and told them "bye-bye"!

Alex will be attending Willowbrook next year.  He will have two new teachers and move up in class.  Fortunately he will have two girls from this year in his class next year!  I'm glad he will have some familiar faces in the crowd.

He has learned so much and done so well!  His speech has improved greatly, as well as his identification of letters, colors and numbers.  He has made incredible artwork that is proudly displayed around our house and has made great little friends!  We are going to meet up with a few friends for playdates this summer!  He loves music class - his teachers tell me that he always dances and sings along with the music, which he always does at home!  Lucky for him, next year his music teacher will also be his regular teacher!

When I picked him up today his teacher, Ms. Susan, had a CD with pictures on it from Alex's two months in school!  I loved seeing what he does in class and how he interacts with the other kids.  This was such a great gift to the parents (she did one for each student)!

Here are the pictures that I received today:

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Cell Phone Pictures...Again

I haven't picked up my camera in a few weeks now.  We have been so busy during the day and our afternoons/evenings have been spent outside.  I need to get better about bringing it outside - we have been having some great times with our neighbors that I really need to capture.

Fortunately for all of you, I do carry my cell phone with me all the time!  Here are some good pictures that I have taken over the past few weeks:

Watching TV...foot propped up on his table and rocking in his rocking chair (this rocking chair used to be mine and Larry's grandfather sanded it down and re-stained it for us - looks like brand new):

Fake sleeping on the loveseat:

Blowing bubbles:

Riding his tricycle:

The best seat in the house...on daddy!  Yes, he is smiling with food in his mouth - I will take a smile however I can get it:

Bathtime is serious:

Cheesin' it up for the camera:

Allergy Testing for Larry

As many of you know, Larry has horrible allergies!  In the spring and fall, his nose is constantly stuffy, eyes itchy and all sneezy.  Since moving to Huntsville, they seem to have gotten even worse.  Even with his daily dose (or two) of Allegra, he is still struggling to breathe and feeling pretty miserable.

After weeks of suffering, he finally had a doctor's appointment with an allergy specialist.  As his appointment, they did the skin prick test to him.  During this test, he is injected with serum from common allergens.  If the area where the allergen was injected raises up, he is allergic, if not, he isn't!

This what his arm looked like during the test:

He was tested for 42 common allergies - 25 on one arm and 17 on the other.  He tested positive for all of the allergies that he was tested for, except cockroaches (really, who is allergic to cockroaches or who stays around them to find out if they are?), molds and three different tree types (cedar, pine and jupiter).  Now we definitely have answers as to why he has been so miserable - basically, he is allergic to life!

The doctor gave him a few nose spray prescriptions, an eye drop for the itchiness and was instructed to continue on the Allegra.  We are planning on getting a cover for our mattress, as well as one for his pillows, since he is also allergic to dust mites and the morning seems to be one of his stuffiest times!  If his allergies don't seem to get better from the medicines, he may benefit from allergy shots, but we are holding off on the decision for a few weeks!

Since his appointment (about a week ago), we have noticed so much of a difference.  He is able to breathe through his nose and his head feels much less stuffy.  I felt so bad and so helpless when he was suffering, so I am relieved to feel like he has somewhat gotten it under control!

Our main worry now is whether or not Alex will have allergies!  It feels like it is inevitable given how bad Larry's allergies are and how bad my dad had them.  He has had a few bouts of stuffy nose and watery eyes this spring - they were mostly controlled with a children's over the counter allergy medicine.  We are going to wait and see how he reacts in the coming years before we subject him to allergy testing.

Funny Kid

Alex's two new favorite things:

1.  Dancing with Mommy to Dancing with the Stars (it was laundry day...I don't normally have that many hangers lying around)!

2.  Cooking with Mommy!  Yes, he is eating Cool Whip out of the container!  What's the fun of being a kid if you can't do fun stuff like that :)

I just love this kid and everything that he does!

Fashion Sense?!

Alex has been showing his independence lately.  He is getting pickier with what he wants to wear.  Often times, he tells us "No, blue shirt" or "Grey shorts, Mama"!  On days when we don't have anywhere to be, I try to let him pick out his outfit.  This is one of his selections:

The top doesn't look so bad!  Sesame Street shirt (complete with all his favorite characters) and visor:

The bottom...not so great!  His orange shorts, brown dress socks and brown dress shoes:

And after he put all this on, he proceeded to tell me "Look good Mommy"!

As much as I love my boy, I am seriously beginning to wonder about his fashion sense.  I pray that it gets better as he gets older!

Life These Days

We are slowly, but surely settling in to the new house!  We still have random boxes throughout the house, but I am setting a goal of getting them emptied and out of the house by this weekend (I know, I know…why am I on the internet then?).  The house is coming together and I can’t wait to post pictures as soon as we have everything put away!

We have met some of our neighbors.  The people across the street from us have a 4 year old girl and a 2 (almost) year old boy.  She is a stay-at-home mom and he works for NASA on the arsenal (where Larry works).  We have spent most of our afternoons outside talking with them and letting the kids play.  The really nice thing is that we pull out all the toys from each of our garages and just let the kids play with whatever.  Their kids have taken a liking to Alex’s truck and tricycle and Alex loves riding their tricycle and a Dora bike!  There is also a couple a few houses down that have two little boys, one is 5 and the other is 2 – he was actually born a week after Alex.  They have come and played with Alex a few times.  And yes, if any of you are friends of mine on Facebook you will have noticed that we also have a neighbor named Harley Davidson.  Kind of ironic, huh?!  I just laughed a little when he told us his name J  Our neighborhood is full of kids and young couples – I love it!  The ladies play Bunco once a month – I’m not quite sure what Bunco is, but figure I will give it a try!  Also, our neighborhood has a 5K walk every Saturday morning.  It is a time to come out and meet your neighbors and get healthy.  We haven’t done the 5K walk yet, but we are planning to!  Our community pool will soon be open and I can’t wait to get Alex out there and enjoy it!  It is great living in a neighborhood where Alex can play outside with other kids, Larry and I can meet people that we really like and where we feel a sense of community!

Alex is loving Mother’s Day Out!  He is really thriving and learning so much.  He knows a few letters, knows what sounds they make and can pick the correct magnet letters of his magnet board!  The other day he made me the best present ever.  For Mother’s Day, the kids painted a flower pot and the teachers helped them put a paper flower in it with their pictures on it.  It was adorable!  He looked so cute waiting at the door to give it to me and he was so excited, however last night he decided that he wanted his present back and it was his, not Mommy’s!  I could never understand why my Mom kept all of my little arts and crafts from all of my school years, but now, having Alex, I can’t imagine not keeping these treasures!

I’m back to cleaning up around here!  I just wanted to give you a little update on what we have been up to and how we are doing!  I know that I haven’t been all that great about taking pictures lately – I promise to get better about it!  I know you all are missing out on your Alex “fix”!    Here are a few pictures from my cell phone to tide you over:

Here is my incredible flower pot...I just love how he smiles for his teachers, but he won't smile when I take his picture:

Driving our neighbors tricycle (yes, he is wearing his helmet OVER his hat):

Happy Birthday, Uncle Mike!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Mike!

We love you so much and miss you even more!  We really wish we could be down there celebrating your birthday with you (and the day of Larry's "people")!

We hope you have a great birthday - you deserve it!

Diana, Daniel & Zach's Birthday Party

Today, we went to Larry's Aunt Tina's house to celebrate the birthday of three of his cousins...Diana, Daniel and Zach.  Most of Larry's aunts and their children were there!  It was a fun time :)

We ate, watched the kids play games and talked!  We haven't see Tina and Dave in quite a few years, and they had never met Alex, so it was nice to see them and catch up!

Here are a few pictures from the party:

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Happy Birthday, Cousin Mikey!

Happy Birthday, Mikey!

We hope that you have an amazing birthday this year!  We will be thinking of you and wishing we could come celebrate with you!

We love you birthday boy :)

What's Been Going On Lately...

Just thought I would post a little (well, it may get long) update about us!  So much has been going on lately, so I have a bunch to say!

THE MOVE/NEW HOUSE

The move went fairly smoothly.  We had packers in our house in Enterprise on March 25 and March 26.  They were great.  However, my Dad's Galileo Thermometer was broken and that made me VERY sad!  We have it listed on our missing or broken items sheet, so I am hopeful that I will be able to get a replacement for it.  The loaders came to the house on Monday, March 29 and loaded up all our belongings. 

We travelled up to Huntsville separately.  I had Alex and the three dogs, along with Mom & Dad's urns. I also had a few suitcases of clothes that we would need for the next few days, and a few coolers full of our frozen and refrigerated items.  Larry had a car packed full of our personal belongings (things we didn't want to movers to take).

We closed on the new house on Tuesday, March 30.  We were very excited and the closing couldn't have gone smoother.

They delivered all of our household belongings to the new house on Wednesday, March 31.  We directed them what rooms to put boxes and furniture in and they did.  We have been slowly and steadily unpacking boxes since April 1.  I think we are 75% done, but we are having a hard time finding the motivation to do it and we have had a few setbacks.  Also, have you ever tried packing or unpacking with a toddler around?...IMPOSSIBLE!!  No matter how many times I tell him no, he still takes things out of boxes that he shouldn't and often hides them in places where we cant find it.  We try to do most of the unpacking during naptime or once he goes to bed for the night!

We are determined to get it done in the next week though.  I can't wait to post pictures of the house once we have all the boxes out of here!

ALEX

Alex is growing and changing everyday.  He is no longer the little baby that was content with being held, now he is a fast moving, quick thinking, active toddler!  He is trying so hard to speak and is getting pretty darn good at it (I wonder who he gets that from).  He is beginning to form sentences, which is pretty neat!

Alex goes to Mother's Day Out two times a week - Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30 am until 12:10 pm.  He is loving it.  The last time I dropped him off (last Wednesday), he went right through the gate and said "Bye-bye Mama!"  It made me sad that my little boy is okay with me leaving, but I was also very happy that we have found him a place that he is comfortable at and wants to go to.  When he woke up this morning, he said "School Mama, School!"  He was heartbroken when I told him that we weren't going to school because he had a cough.  It is important to me to have found a place for him that we both feel comfortable at - and I think I accomplished that!

We are struggling with listening.  He hears us just fine, he just chooses not to do what we ask of him.  We are trying to be patient and remind ourselves that this is just a stage and it will pass, but that is a VERY hard thing to do!!  There are days that I feel like we are making progress on the listening front, and other days that I feel like we are taking a few steps backwards!

Oh, the joys of raising a toddler...but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!  I love my son and he is a constant reminder of how blessed I truly am!

LARRY

Larry had 10 days off to spend with us thru the move.  It was great to have him around 24/7.  He went back to work on April 12 at the new Huntsville facility for the first time.  I think he spent a day or two getting everything up and ready to start working.  He had to get a few new badges, set up his desk and meet all the new people!  

He is already back in full-force work mode.  He had his first flight this past week and is actually in the midst of analyzing the data from it.  In the next few weeks (I'm going to be vague here and not say the exact dates - there are sickos out there and I don't want them knowing when Larry isn't going to be home), he is traveling to Indianapolis for a meeting with the people of Rolls Royce.  As stressed as he sometimes gets, I know that he loves his job and he knows that he is blessed to have found such an incredible job right out of college!

SARAH

A little about me...hmm!  Well, as some of you know, we have been trying to get pregnant since Alex turned one.  I have been on several cycles of Clomid and nothing has been happening.  It has been frustrating each month to not have a cycle end in pregnancy.  We knew that we had been doing everything that was asked of us, but nothing was happening.  I finally decided that enough was enough and made an appointment with the ART Fertility Clinic.

We met with Dr. Allemand on Wednesday, April 7.  After a full and thorough discussion, he felt like something more was going on with my body than what we knew.  He felt as though it would be best to  do a laproscopy and hysteroscopy.  This procedures would look around the outside of my uterus, as well as the outside of my ovaries.  During this surgery, they look for endometriosis, scar tissues or any adhesions.  We set up surgery for Friday, April 9 - yes, it was quick and no, we weren't really prepared for it being that quick, but it worked out best for where I was in my cycle and Larry happened to already have off work!  We also discovered from an ultrasound that I have Polycystic Ovaries.

On Friday, we went to Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, bright and early - we had to be there at 5:15 am, which meant we left our house are 3:00 am.  VERY early morning!  They took me back fairly quickly, got the IV's in, gave me a little medicine to calm my nerves and then took me back for surgery (my scheduled surgery time was 7:15 am, but I think they took me back to the operating room around 6:55 am).  I don't remember any of the surgery since I was knocked out :)

When I started to come back around in recovery, it was nearly 9:00 am.  Apparently the surgery went a little longer than we expected.  After spending a little time in recovery, they wheeled me back to a room and Larry was there within seconds!  Once I felt up to it, Dr. Allemand came in the room to tell me his findings.  I have Stage 3 (out of 4 stages) Endometriosis. He had to laser out quite a bit on my uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes.  He still left the disease on my bowel and large intestine.  He doesn't mess with those areas (looks like I will need to visit a GI Doctor or a General Surgeon in the future to get that taken care of).  He was impressed with how much he was able to get out and said that he definitely thinks the Endometriosis contributed to us not getting pregnant.  Endometriosis mixed with Polycystic Ovaries is not a great combination.

At the next appointment, we are going to discuss injectable hormone medications to stimulate egg growth and development.  My body does not ovulate on it's own - I have to give it some sort of medication to have ovulation.  And since we have done SOOOO many cycles of Clomid, my RE (Reproductive Endocrineologist) would like me to try shots - yes, that does mean giving myself shots, and yes, I am so thankful that I am not squeamish.

We are trying to remain hopeful and place all of the medical decision into the hands of an RE and place all of our fears with God.  For it is only Him that knows if we are lucky enough to have another little addition to our family!

For those of you that don't know, my Mom had Endometriosis discovered in her body when she was only 28 - they had to take out one of her fallopian tubes as well as that vary.  Eventually, the Endometriosis regrew on the other side and on her uterus and she had a full hysterectomy at the age of 31.  During all of my struggles to get pregnant, I always wondered if I could possibly have Endometriosis - it was both relief that we found out something that could be causing us problems in getting pregnant, but it also scares everything in me.  Knowing that Endometriosis does regrow makes me wonder how much time I have before it grows back and once it grows back, what do we do?  I am trying to take all of this one step at a time and not try to rush anything.  

This is long enough!  Hope you enjoyed the little update on our life!  Thanks to the many friends and family who have helped with the move, watching Alex for us and being there for us!  It really does mean a lot to us!

Playing Hooky

Alex had a little bit of a cough yesterday, through the night and then this morning.  I decided to keep him home.  I'm not sure if this is the beginning of a sickness or just a random cough.  In case he is getting sick, I didn't want to expose him to any other germs or expose any of the other kids to him.

We had a VERY low-key morning around here and his cough seems much better this afternoon.  I snapped a few cute pictures of Alex with my cell phone!

Here he is relaxing on the couch:

Alex and "Yee-Haw" (the cowboy Woody from the Toy Story movies) going night-night:

And finally, a sign he is feeling better!  While I was in the bathroom, he pulled his chair in the kitchen up to the candy bowl that we have on the counter and began to dig in.  He had a few pieces of chocolate before I found him (notice the empty wrappers on the counter)!

Cell Phone Pictures

It was time to take some pictures off of my cell phone.  Here are the cute ones that we have taken recently:

So excited to come home and see his new fish tank:

Our little train conductor:

Watching the Braves with Daddy:

He thinks he is so hilarious:

His new Braves hat...and footie Monkey jammies:

Our sweet, sleeping baby:

Outdoor Fun

The weather was incredible this afternoon, so Alex, Larry and I decided to take advantage of it after naptime and play outside.  Of course, Alex was wanting to do and play with everything.

He played a little golf, ran around with the dogs, drove his truck, played basketball with Daddy (and hung from the rim), and rode his tricycle.

Days like this are wonderful, not only do we get to play with our son outside, but I get some great pictures :)

Here are some snapshots of our afternoon:

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Park Time

We decided to take Alex to the park today!  He had a ton of energy and we wanted him to run it off :)  He had a blast, running around and playing with the little kids.  He went up and down the slides and climbed up high ladders.

We discoved the State Park on Monte Sano Mountain.  It is really pretty out there!  The park was huge and the scenery was amazing!  If you live in the area, I definitely recommend it!

Here are some pictures from our afternoon at the park:

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Alex's Half-Birthday

Our little man is two and a half today...or as he likes to say "two-half"!

I can't believe that time is going by so quickly.  Lately, when I look at him, I see a little boy and not the sweet baby that he once was!  As much as I loved snuggling that sweet, warm baby, I would never trade these days!

Everyday with Alex is an adventure.  He is learning new words and phrases and is using them ALL the time.  We have to watch our words around him...he sure can repeat things :)  He is also mimic-ing our movements and the things we do.  He keeps us laughing constantly - and he knows it.  He loves to make us laugh and laugh along with us!  He does so many things looking for our reaction, both positive and negative!

He has no fear and embraces life fully and fearlessly!  I love watching him try something new and hearing "I did it"!  He is full of pride when he does things on his own - he definitely is an independent little man!

He is very affectionate when he wants to be!  And really, there is nothing better than sweet kisses from my boy!  He gets so excited when Larry comes home from work and showers him with hugs and kisses and begs him to "go play"!

At school, my big boy goes off to class and says "bye-bye mama"!  I'm so glad that he likes school, but honestly, it kills me a little inside that he doesn't get more upset when I leave!  As much as I like taking him to school and getting a four hour break - I really can't wait to pick him up!  I love when he first notices me in his class and says "my mama, my mama"!

Our little boy is growing up and we are loving it!  He has changed so much in the past two and a half years - I can't wait to see what the next two and a half look like!

Happy half-Birthday, sweet boy!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Sheena!

Happy 25th Birthday, Aunt Sheena!

We love you and hope that you have an amazing birthday!  We are so happy that we are able to go to dinner with you and your friends tonight!

Happy Birthday!

Alex's New Fish Tank

Yesterday, I went out while Alex was at school and got him a fish tank.  I bought the tank, de-chlorinator, bacteria, fish, a few plants, some rocks and a Dora figure.  I came home and set it all up before he got home from school.

I was thinking that I was such a superstar Mom when he came in and was beaming at the tank and his new fish.  He pointed each one out (there were three), told me what colors they were (red, yellow and orange) and stared at it for quite awhile!

His happiness was very short-lived.  The fish were all dead within 12 hours.  Apparently, my brown thumb not only is with the plant world, but it also extends to aquatic life!

Lucky for me though, he is pretty enamoured with just the tank.  It has colored LED lights in it and he can turn a dial and change the colors.  He enjoys that!

I also plan on taking advantage of the two-week return policy on the fish.  Currently, they are still dead and sitting on our counter waiting to be returned to PetSmart!

Here are a few pictures of Alex's Fish Tank...before the fish died:

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A Little Backyard Fun

The weather has been incredible here the past few days, so we decided to get outside and take advantage of it!

Today was Larry's first day back at work since the move!  Alex was so disappointed when he woke up this morning and discovered that Daddy wasn't home.  Thankfully, he had Mother's Day Out School to distract him!

When Larry got home from work, we all headed outside.  Alex and Larry ran around the yard and played with pretty much ALL of Alex's outdoor toys!  Since I am still recovering from surgery (more on that later), I sat in the yard and took pictures of them!  Because he was having so much fun, I got some great candid shots of Alex.

Here are a few pictures of Alex playing in the yard:

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Basketball with Daddy!

Some of my favorite moments in life are watching Alex and Larry play together.  They interact so well together and they both have so much fun!  I love seeing the smile on both of their faces.

After playing in the backyard, Alex and Larry decided they wanted to play a little basketball.  I followed...with my camera!  I got some great pictures!  Alex loved having his daddy's full attention and Larry had a blast showing Alex something new (hanging on the rim and scaring Mommy).

Larry didn't even mind that Alex completely won the game :)

Here are a few pictures of my two guys playing basketball together:

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Happy Birthday, Uncle Darron!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Darron!

We hope you have a wonderful birthday!  We wish we were down there to celebrate with you!  We are sending you lots of love and birthday wishes!

We love and miss you!  Happy Birthday!