Kayla Darby

Jack at 3 yrs.

2011-12-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

My sweet boy is almost four and I am just posting about 3 but better than never:)
This is a pic from december right before his third birthday the night we told everyone we were expecting Case.

These are some random pics throughout the year.

This has been absolutely one of the bests years of my life! Jack has just been a joy to have as a son. He sure loves his mommy and I am going to eat it up while I can:)He is always coming up with the cutest things to say. Milestones this year were his first sleepover (many since then lol), first dentist appointment, and became a big brother!

Things he says:
for by myself he says all my by yourself
for a time reference he always says "last morning" even if it was a month ago or today
gnomeo and juliet are nomino and jennynet
for any mini mine mo he says any mini miny mo petrified soap lol haha
he calls all his costumes soups instead of suits

Favorite movies this year:
Transformers
Megamind
Iron Man
Captain America
Hulk

Favorite TV shows:
Umizoomi
Super Why
Scooby Doo

Loves school this year and Ms.Donna:)

Cute story:
We got him two hermit crabs for his birthday. One of them didn't make it but a couple of days and when it died we had to explain death a little bit. I told him that one day we would go to heaven and be with God and worship him. We talked about it a good bit and he was fine. The following Sunday when I woke him for church I told him we had to get ready to worship God and he didn't want to go. I didn't know why but he whined all morning until we were pulling in the parking lot he busts out laughing and says "We're not going to heaven, we're just goin to church!" Guess he thought we were going to die and go to heaven that day lol. Bless him.

Case Tucker Darby:)

2011-12-06T07:21:00.001-08:00

I haven't blogged in forever but here goes:) On August 8, 2011 we welcomed our new little sweetie into our family. He is such a joy and Jack is the best big brother on the planet! Seriously I am so blessed that he has been so helpful and sweet. I couldn't have asked for a smoother transition. The first few months Case had colic and reflux and just plain fussed almost all the time so most of my pics are with him asleep or crying lol. But here are a few Jack is always talking to him and saying the sweetest things. He told him in the bath one night " Do you love me, do you? Sometimes we will be mad at each other but we always love each other." It was just precious here is a pic from that night:) Here are some pictures of them together and of Case when he first started smiling

Case started smiling at 7 weeks and laughing at about 12 weeks:) He loves to talk. He is a very busy baby. He loves to be moved around and played with. He will be so happy when he can crawl because he just hates to sit still. At almost 4 months he weighs 16 lbs. He has the sweetest smiles in the morning when he wakes up and loves to lay on his changing table and just laugh at you:) He is such a sweet little boy and I am so blessed that God chose me to be the mommy of these two very precious boys!

Here are a few pics where they were around the same age:

Jack and Abby:)

2010-09-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

Jack absolutely LOVES Abby!! Just wanted to post some pics of them together. We are working on an arranged marriage lol. They are just so stinkin cute together! Last weekend we met at spring park and the two of them held hands while riding the train. It was soo cute!

This and That...

2010-09-07T09:25:00.001-07:00

Jack's first day of school this year:) He is moving up to the three year old class and he is pretty excited because one of his little buddies is in that class!

Here is my favorite potty training pic:) He hasn't worn an diaper in two weeks yay!!

Just wanted to post some new pics...

Yay for Jack!!!

2010-08-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

We are almost 100% officially potty trained!!! :)

We have been working with him a little here and there for a while, but this weekend it just finally clicked. We spent most of the weekend at home and he has had barely any accidents! He is getting better on telling us when he needs to go, but otherwise as long as we take him every so often he does great. He is even staying dry through the night which amazes me. Never thought it would be this easy:) So bye bye diapers!! Jack loves his underware haha. We got him some with all the pixar movie characters on them and he has his favorites. Right now he prefers to wear his Incredibles underware lol.

The first time he went #2 in the potty, he refused to flush it until we took a picture of it haha. So every now and then while he is sitting there he asks to see the picture! I guess for inspiration! Well we are excited and just thought I would share:)

The offcial last diaper was Sunday Aug 21st, 2010

Jack's Prayer Monday Night 7/5/2010

2010-07-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

Dear God.... thank you for Jesus, mommie, daddy, b, sessie, b, and my balls...amen!

Hahahahaha! Mine and Casey's eyes popped open and we laughed till we hurt! He is in a what's that stage and when he came running in there after his bath asking, Casey told him. Such funny random thoughts of our two year old:)

Post for me:) Jack at 2 years 3 months

2010-04-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

Jack is saying all kinds of things, but I wanted to write down some of my favorites so I don't forget them..

Words:

Mom's dog tyson - tysus
Our dog daisey - daisus
elephants - ellisis
when he wants me to hold him or give you a hug - "hold you mommie, hold you"
when he wants to swing - "push you"
still calls my sis in law jessica - sessie
my brother brennan - B
Granny (Casey's mom) - Gwe
Grandma (my mom) - Mam ma
Casey - Diddy
My dad - Pa Pa
He thinks that a belly button is called a boo boo now after my surgery haha and he will not call it anything else.

Funny things he does:

He will all the sudden spread his legs about shoulder width apart and start shaking his hips from side to side dancing! It is so funny. He broke it down in walmart last night while we were grocery shopping! He got a lot of laughs:)

He loves any kind of anything to do with hunting. Guns, 4wheelers, turkeys, deer, tractors, just anything that Casey does! He wanted to sleep with a life size turkey decoy the other night! Just imaging putting your two year old to sleep with a big turkey head laying on the pillow next to him and a deer head mounted on the wall above his bed (he loves that deer by the way). He pets the deer and tells it night night every night, lol! He also told me yesterday evening to go inside and get the turkey so he could shoot it. Oh me, guess I have another hunter on my hands. I am going to have to have a girl so I will have some company when they get older! If not I guess I am just going to have to take up hunting myself.

He got in trouble on easter for pulling hair and hitting. So after that the whole week we really went over and over the rules. It really must have made and impression because now he will randomly at least once a day say "No pull hair, no hit, no bite....spankin" Guess I made a dent. He actually lightly hit me in the bathtub last night and then held up his leg and said "Spankin". He actually wanted me to do it. It was really funny.

Yay!!!!!

2010-03-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

I did a little research yesterday on getting Jack in his bed and they recommended putting them down the way you did when they were in the crib. Then leave the room. They will immediately get down. You are supposed to show no emotion and no eye contact and just pick them up and put them back in the bed while saying, "stay in bed." So I tried it. They say to be prepared to put them back anywhere from 20-30 times. I was ready. Would you believe he stayed the fourth time and went right to sleep!!!!! So much easier than crying it out! I am very excited. I got in my bed first for the first time in two months!! What a success:)

Any Tips

2010-03-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

We moved Jack up to a big boy bed about two months ago. At first it worked out okay. I would lay down with him until he fell asleep and then get up and go to my own bed. Well he was going to sleep pretty fast, but now I end up falling asleep before he does and sleeping half the night in his bed and half in mine. Also he seems to wake up every night at 4 and either I go in there with him until he goes back to sleep or he comes and gets in bed with us.

Now I do realize I should have researched this a little more before I got him used to the idea that mommy was going to go to bed with him every night instead of daddy, but hindsight's 20 20 I guess. Could use some tips or tricks or even some success stories to get me motivated to try something. Feels like how I dreaded the whole cry it out thing. Listening.....

Pee Pee in the Potty!!

2010-02-21T17:50:00.000-08:00

My little man pee peed in the potty thursday night Feb 18th 2010! It was funny he got out of the bathtub and was walking through my bedroom when I heard him say, "pee pee mommy.." i yelled noooooo. He quit dead in his tracks. I asked him if he wanted to go to the potty and he said "Potty?" I took him in there and he stood on his little red stool naked as a jay bird and just strained. He finally got it to come out and I got so excited that I yelled "Good job, yay!!!!" which stopped his little stream cause I scared him to death. hahahahahahaha. It was great! He also talked to my grandaddy on the phone that night for 25 minutes. I have never heard him talk that much for that long! It was so cute!

Today we had another success. Jack has been going to preschool for a month now and today we really saw some positive results. Jack walked right into his class at church! Without me carrying him and the teacher having to pull him off of my body while he screams bloody murder! He just told me he wanted to go to class and walked in and started playing! I got to hear my first uninterrupted sermon in probably a year:) It was such a great day!! Thank you for preschool! Jack really does love it and it has been good for all of us. They are really great with the kids!

Hope everyone has a great first of the week!!!

Two...Really?

2010-01-18T10:53:00.001-08:00

Long post so I can remember everything, so hope it isn't boring to everyone :)

Well I haven't posted in forever, so I thought I would do a little update. My baby boy will be TWO tomorrow! I was sitting here the other day reading all of my old posts from when he was under one and was so glad I wrote some of that stuff down. It is amazing how time does fly and how fast you can forget some of the precious things that they do :)

Jack is still following the footsteps of all the men in my family. His favorite things to do are play pow pow with anything he can turn into a gun (thanks to Casey and the hunting channel). He also still loves to ride 4 wheelers, tractors, or just anything that moves really. He talks ALL the time and it is so cute. He has some things that he says that don't sound much like the actual word, but we know what he means. A few of them are...

Shuwada - love you
saaabe - sit by me
kree - drink
faffel - waffle
B - for uncle Brennan (who he loves by the way)
Essie - for aunt Jess
Maw maw -for grandma ( mom just loves that lol)
D- for daddy
ela ela ela - elephant
ki kle - for motercycle

there are several more I just can't think of right now. He loves to count while jumping of the bed to you. His favorite number is five! He will say, "tree, four, five!!" or "five, six, five, go!"

He is out of the terrible twos that we went through early. I am grateful that we got that over with. He really listens well and doesn't pitch big fits any more. What a relief! He gives great big hugs and kisses randomly that just melt my heart.

He is getting a little closer to potty training. He will tell me everytime he is going pee pee or poo poo. He just doesn't want to go use the poty. Maybe he will change his mind soon.

He loves movies. His favorite right now are Cars, Pixar short films, Bambi, and finding Nemo.

He wasn't sleeping in his bed very well and was waking up every night between 2 and 4, so we decided to take down the crib and put up a big boy bed. He loves it. He takes everyone to his room to see his bed :) He loves to curl up in there and watch a movie. Everyone has been sleeping better since we took down the crib. It was sad though especially when I remembered a little game we used to play. He would get in the crib to play sometimes and would want me to come over and kiss him over the side of the crib. Then, he would bend down and kiss me between the rails. It was so cute. He would want me to do this on all three sides of the bed, lol. I love those sweet kisses!

He likes to pretend his is a puppy or a lion and will come over and act like he is biting you. He does it so soft though, it feels like he is kissing you on the cheek:)

His favorite people are Mama and Daddy, Papa (my dad), Grandma (my mom), B, Jess, and my grandaddy. He would be content if all of these people just moved in with us.

His 2nd birthday party is tonight. We are having just a small family party at chucky cheese. I hope he has fun I am looking so foward to it!

Hope i didn't bore anyone to death!

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween Party:)

2009-10-28T07:54:00.001-07:00

We had a blast at the pumkim patch!! Aunt Jessica went with us and we took about a million pics with only a couple of him looking at us and smiling at the same time! He loved crowing like the roosters, looking at the goats, and milking some cows, lol!

We also went to a Halloween party Friday night and Jack had a ball! He wasn't real sure about my costume though as you can see by the pic:)

Butterflies....

2009-10-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

We listed the house yesterday at about one o'clock. The realator called and said someone wanted to look at it this morning at 8! I have had butterflies all day, lol. Just wondering for all you who have gone through this process lately how long until this feels semi normal. Also I have to say I didn't realize how hard it is to keep your house clean alllll the time. I feel like I clean from the time I come in to the time I go to bed! Oh well, it will be worth it when we find a buyer:)

Jack at 20 Months :)

2009-09-24T05:44:00.001-07:00

Well this is late, but I wanted to post some things Jack is saying and doing now....
Words: Ka chow (like Lightning McQueen in his favorite movie)
Cracker
Please (tssss)
belly button
Tractor
drink (dink)
Ear
night night
Nose (mos)
bye
eye
hi
papa
kinda says lawnmower
banana
ball
french fry
dog
thank you
duck
cheese
fish
shoes
shew (when he smells something)
car
hot
truck
bird

I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting because he tries new ones every day! I just can't believe how fast he is growing and maturing these days.

Things he is doing:
showing his muscles
tickling
giving big bear hugs and kisses while saying mmmmmmmmmm
climbing everything
"reading" books
having imaginary conversations on his power ranger phone,lol he says "Hi, hahaha, bybye!"
likes to play chase

I am so facinated by how quick he is picking up on things right now. It is getting so much easier to communicate because he is actually starting to understand most of what I tell him and he is getting better at telling me what he wants.

We have had a few good temper tantrums, but those are also gettng easier to manage. Pretty frustrating at first though, I did have a couple of breakdowns with him, lol. The worst one he ever had I just had to leave where I was and when I got in the car I just burst into tears. Then of course he quits crying and says ma ma? like he couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I looked back and said, "that is how I feel when you are crying", lol. Real mature conversation while I was squalling! That was the worst one though, it has definetly been better since then.

Every day is a learning experience and an adventure! I am enjoying every second of every new phase because I just can't believe how fast the time is passing!

Assistant Ring Bearer

2009-08-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend my brother got married!! They asked Jack to be the assistant ring bearer. I was really nervous, but he ended up doing pretty good. Here he is practicing for his ride down the aisle in the wagon.We decided not to push our luck and hope he would walk, lol. It was a very beautiful ceremony, I am so proud for them:)

Quiet Mouse

2009-07-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

You probably think I am fixing to blog about a game with Jack, but little did you know you are about to read them morbid happenings of my Tuesday morning....

Well, about a week ago I went to get something out from under my kitchen cabinets and what do I see..... mouse droppings!!!! I have never never had a mouse in my house, so I freaked out! I took all of my dishes out from under the cabinets and put them on the spare bed. Then, I cleaned like a mad women. Then, I went directly to Walmart to get some mouse traps.

Now I need to stop for a second to tell you that Casey is not scared of many things, but on that short list is mice. So.... I know that this whole deal is going to be on me. Therefore, I want the simplist, easiest, most humane trap to take care of this problem for me.

Back to the story, I decided on these little sticky pads that the mice walk across and get stuck to. Someone had told me that they had a chemical on them that would euthenize them after they got stuck. WRONG!!!!!! I put the traps out Saturday night. Sunday... nothing. Monday.....nothing. Then this morning at 5:45 I hear some squeaking. I wasn't thinking of the possibility of a mouse because at this point I am still under the assumption that if I do see a mouse it should be dead on a little sticky pad and have felt no pain. I go check the bathroom..nothing. Then I realize the noise is coming from the kitchen. I open the cabinet door and find not one, but TWO mice stuck to these pads just a squeakin! Okay, now what! I shut the door thinkin that I should give them a little more time to allow the chemical to work.

I come back an hour later to what? Well the exact same thing! Now I can't go off to work and leave them there suffering and I know Casey won't take care of them, so I came up with a plan that I thought to be the most humane option..

1.I scoot the sticky pads and mice into a plastic bag.
2. I put that bag into another plastic bag.
3. I put that bag into yet another plastic bag.
4. Then... I take the bag outside and beat it, yes beat it on the pavement!

I then threw them into the trash!
Moral of the story, don't buy the sticky pads unless you are ready to kill them yourself! I hope this will be the only mouse story I will have !

Bye bye paci:)

2009-07-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

Jack is now paci free:) We let him have it one last time Thurday night (july 2nd). The third was his first full day without it. I was really worried, but it has been much better than I anticipated. In fact I am enjoying getting to hear all the jabber I was missing when he had it. Now I just have to find them all and throw them away.

He is trying to say so many words. Just for me I am going to list all the ones I can think of....
tac ter - tractor
bey buto - belly button
baaaaa - ball
bye bye
hi
eye
title title title - tickle....
uh ohhh - he throws things down just to say this one and make a big O with his mouth
mama
daddy
Buba
book
sish - fish
duce - juice

He also rolls his tounge all the time. I can't do it, but he walks around just rolling it back and forth. Sometimes he does this while talking and it sounds like he is speaking spanish or something. It is hilarious.

He loves to play hide and seek. He also loves to hide in daisey's crate. He just grins and grins while you pretend to look for him, then all of the sudden he will push the door open and yell, lol.

He still prefers to ride the tractor, 4wheeler, or lawnmower over any other activity. It seems like i have heard every horror story related the riding all these here lately and it has made me a nervous wreck.

Jack is getting great with stairs as long as there is a rail. If not he will just sit on his butt and go that way. I let him practice on our basement stairs so that by any chance that door was open, at least he knows how.

Anyway... just wanted to post mostly for me, sorry it was so long :)

Oh by the way, I have finally talked Casey into a big boy haircut! The baby mullett will probably be gone this week. I have mixed emotions. I know its time, but he will look so big :( At least we will have plenty hair to save. In fact there is probably enough for the whole family to have a lock, lol!

New :)

2009-06-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well just thought I would post a few new things that Jack is doing now. I love, love, love this age! It is soooo cute!

1. He has learned that we say "tickle, tickle, tickle" while we tickle him and now he will sneak up on you and try and say that while tickling your feet or legs or anything that is exposed :) It is so cute!

2. He can say this or dis rather. He uses it for everything while pointing to what he wants.

3. The other word that we can really understant and comes as no suprise to me that it is one of the first things he has said is tractor. Every time he sees one he points to it and says "tac ter." I love it!

I am so blessed to have such an awsome little boy! What did I used to do for entertainment?

Family Pics

2009-03-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

We finally managed to get some family pics taken!!! I am very pleased. My mom took them and I cropped and changed some of the colors to black and white. It was a fun day at spring park :)

Walking Molar Maddness :)

2009-03-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well..... where do I start? It's been a while :) I guess with the fact that Jack is finally walking!! I was beginning to wonder if he would haha. He just started really doing it last sat (3/07/09). It is so cute. He knows that too and really plays it up. I had blogged not to long ago about our great sleeper.... well scratch that!

Jack has been waking up and staying up for 2-3 hours every night. I couldn't figure out what in the world it could be. I guessed it was teeth, but I didn't see any signs of the next ones coming in which would have been his eye teeth (?spelling). Well..... I happened to brush my hand around the back of his mouth and to my surprise there was a molar!!!! I didn't think they got those until two. Well at least it explains the fits and sleepless nights. Now we are in the habbit of letting him in our bed every night at 2 or 3, so sleep training will have to start all over again, yeah!!!

Jack is getting such a little sense of humor. He gets it honest though :) He is also really observant. He will no longer eat a french fry without dipping sauce ha ha! He isn't really particular about what he dipps it in so long as he can. For instance, the other night he didn't see the ketsup and so he just dipped it in his corn lol! It was so cute. He also has to dip his chips in salsa just like us when we eat mexican. They sure don't miss anything!

Well just wanted to update:) Oh and those of you with older kids, is it normal for them to be cutting molars this early? He is just about 14 months (the 19th).

Twilight Series!!!!

2009-02-02T06:48:00.000-08:00

Ok, I just need to start by saying... My name is Kayla Darby and I am addicted to the twilight series. It is truly unhealthy how much I love these books. Is there a group out there that meets about this addiction? I started the first book Wednesday Jan 28th. I finished it that friday morning. I started the second book Friday mid day and finished it Saturday night. I bought the third one Sunday after church and will probably finish it today! I forgot how much I love to read! This is a fun and captivating story even though it is something I would have never dreamed I would like. I won't say anything about it, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might read them. I know Casey will be glad when I am done, because I am truly antisocial at home right now :) When I try and tell him about the story he looks at me like I'm crazy. Anyway, hope everyone is having a good monday !!

Still Working!

2009-01-30T09:04:00.000-08:00

Night number three was a huge success. He is sleeping great and getting a lot more rest. I actually had time the last few nights to start and finish a book. I am so happy!!

I forgot what it was like :)

2009-01-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

I have welcomed my old friend sleep back into my life .....

I was talking to Sara at supper club and she told me how well Collier was doing sleeping through the night in his own bed. I asked how she did it and they let him cry it out. I didn't know if we could do it, but she got me very motivated and I decided to try.

That night, after we picked him up he fell asleep on the way home. We put him in his crib and went to bed. He woke up one hour later and cried for twenty minutes. I was thinking is wasn't sooo bad. Then, he woke again at 2:15 and this time cried until 3. I thought I would die!! After he finally fell asleep I was awake for at least another hour feeling like the meanest mother in the world! He woke again at five and I went and got him. We missed church and all slept until 9:30.

He spent the night that night at my parents house. I was afraid that would be a setback, but we really needed some rest. We had a great night.

Monday night we let him lay in the bed with us until he fell asleep. We put him in his crib and went to bed. He woke at 3 and cried for about twenty minutes. Again at 5 and I went and got him. I read alot yesterday trying to find out what I could do to make this easier and much to my surprise I was supposed to put him down awake. I read that it was confusing to him to go to sleep with us and wake up with us not there. It said that it was better if we got into a routine and said goodnight and put him in his bed awake.

So..... I decided to go this route. We gave him his bath, read a story, and gave him a bottle. I rocked him until ge was drowsy and Casey and I went in and kissed him goodnight. He has a little fish music thing that goes on the side of his crib and we turned that on and patted him as we left. He cried for only 12 minutes and put his little self right to sleep! He even accidently turned the little fish music thing off. We were so happy.

Now comes the grand finale..... he did not wake up until 6:50 this morning!!!!!! My alarm clock woke me up for the first time since 1-19-08! I am very rested and very excited!! I hope things continue to go this well!! Thanks to Sara for my inspiration and to those of you giving me support on facebook :)

Steps!!!!

2009-01-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

Jack took his first steps last night!!!! It was the cutest thing ever. Casey stood him up and he just walked right over to Casey's mom like it was no big deal! Then, Casey pointed him at me and he walked over to me. It was just adorable. He is kind of wobbly, but he just looks so big when he walks. I can't believe he is walking. Just for me, the date was 1-22-09. I use this as sort of a scrapbook :)

First Birthday, Wow!

2009-01-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it has already been a year since Jack was born! It has been a wonderful year filled with all sorts of new and exciting changes. They learn so much this first year it just amazes me. Jack is doing many new things these days. He loves music and dances (sits up and bounces). After the music goes off he claps for himself and wants you to do the same. He is also learning words. He says dada and moma of course and now is trying to say hello and thank you. He will hold the phone up to his hear and say something that is supposed to be hello :) Oh and he has mastered a skill the his daddy and grandaddy are thrilled about. My grandaddy has a deer call that you blow in one in and suck the other and it sounds like a deer grunt. Jack has this down to an art! He could call up a whole herd of deer ! He has taken a few steps, but isn't walking yet.

He has a major hair fedish. It started when I was still nursing. He would reach up and play with my hair. Now he plays with everyone's hair when they hold him. Especially if he is tired or upset. He gives big open mouth kisses that I just love!

I hope our family will continue to grow and be strong and healthy. Being a mom is the greatest gift there is and I am so blessed to have a beautiful little boy. I pray that I will be a good parent and that God will bless our home. Hope everone is having a good new year:)

Tagged by Merry Melodie

2008-12-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

20 Years Ago

Well, I was probably playing with my best friend Erin tromping through the woods somewhere around our house. She and I loved to go exploring as we called it. We were attending college church and were meeting at IBC. There was a pature behind the church with a fence that had a sign on it. If we could have read the sign we would know it said beware of horse. We went in and tried to feed the horse and it went crazy. Some women came running through the field after us and she chased us all the way to our church and told our dads. We got a good talking to.

10 years ago

Wow! This is fun. Ten years ago Casey and I had dated in September and broke up sometime in October. I knew he was fixin to ask me back out. We got back together that January. He was my first love :) I had just passed my driving test, so I was probably driving all my younger friends around. Me and Amber were inseperable. She is still one of my very best friends. I had a gold honda accord, I loved that car. I thought I knew everything and I was sooooo much wiser than my parents of course. I am not looking foward to paying for my raising.

5 years ago

Casey and I had been back together for 2 months and we were disgustingly in love. My brother said we just made him sick. We spent every singe minute we could together. I was living in Athens and going to ultrasound school. All I did was spend time with Casey, study, sleep, and drive. It was a stressful, fun time.

1 year ago

I was eight months pregnant with the most woderful life change that I couldn't even understand yet. I never knew how much you could love someone until I saw his little face. I didn't know yet what he would look like or how sweet his little perfect smile would be. I didn't know how sweet it would feel to kiss the little feet that were kicking me all the time. I just knew that I was ready for him to be here, it is such a long time to wait.

Yesterday

Yesterday, I had my hopes up that Maggie, my cat would have a home. The woman that was supposed to come look at her didn't show up and didn't call until an hour later. I was angry. I played with Jack and we all went to bed early. He is doing the funnies thing. Every time he hears music, he flapps his arms in the air and starts clapping. It is just precious.

Today

Well, today i am stressing over giving my cat, Maggie, away. We just don't have time for her. I wish I didn't have pets at all at this time in my life, but I can't give my dog away so the cat had to go. I have several people wanting her and a long list of people to call if the woman I am meeting tonight doesn't want her. I will be glad when it is over.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, hopefully I will be free of this cat drama and I can focus on getting ready for chrismas. I plan to get home from work and go to church. We'll see:)

I tag Melodie and Julie Young

I passed!!

2008-11-26T14:41:00.001-08:00

And by the way I passed my other test!! I am sooooo happy ;) I am now a Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer!!

My Good Boy :)

2008-11-26T10:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it didn't take very many little spats and Jack is back to his little sweet self :) He is minding when we say no finally. I am soo glad because I was really not enjoying having to spank him.

He now has 5 teeth!! He cut the front top right one 11/17. It is great because he can chew his food lots better. Just in time for his first Thanksgiving dinner :) I am looking so foward to the first holidays with my sweet baby boy!!

Hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving!!

What a little temper!!

2008-11-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

Well, the dreaded time has come that we are having to start spatting Jack! Is it normal to do it this early? Any of you experienced moms, please give me some reassurance. He is throwing full blown fits! The worst of them is when we are trying to change his diaper. He acts like we are torturing him or something!! He rolls and rolls and then when I finally hold him down or spat him, he looks at me like I am the meanest mom in the whole world. NOW.. I understand what parents mean when they say it hurts them more because it does!! I would rather take several beatings that have to spank him, but I don't want to raise one of those kids that just do whatever they want to and won't mind. He also is a little defiant these days. If he doesn't get his way or get to do what he is wanting to do, he has a little fit. He has a very strong little personality. He gets his stubborness honest though. He really didn't have a chance in that department between Casey and I :) I would appreciate any advice that any fellow moms can give, because this is hard!!

Also, I though I would blog about the Love Dare. Casey and I bought it after church last week and started it Sunday night. It is amazing how it has already changed several things in our marriage. I am really enjoying doing it together and we are learning a whole lot about each other and where we can improve. I won't spoil the book for those of you who plan to read it, but I wanted to just blog about some of the funny things Casey has said after our daily readings.

On day one, our dare was not to be negative. That is what the few pages we had to ready was about. After I finished reading, I said "Did you get all that?" and he said, "Yeah, I can't talk all day tomorrow!!" We had a good laugh about that!

The next day, after we finished reading, he a said, "Kayla, this book is picking on me. This book is me exactly!!" It was also very funny.

Anyway, it has been a great thing and has brought us closer already. I would recommend it if you had time to read it together. It is fun to see what your dare is for the next day!

Hope everyone is having a good day!!

Bye, Bye :)

2008-11-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

Jack waved for the first time this weekend :) We were leaving the Harvest festival and he just raised his little hand and waved. It was soo cute! After that he has done it a few more times. Last night he was in the bathtub and I was saying bye bye and waving and all of the sudden he said bye, bye and waved at the same time! Casey and I were so shocked! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen:) I think that is the first time he has said something and meant to.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday!!

I PASSED!!!!!

2008-10-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone knew it, but I had to take one of the hardest tests of my life yesterday! I am registered in abdominal ultrasound, but I wanted to get my board registry in hearts (echocardiograms). That required that I take a 200 dollar echo test which was 150 questions and lasts for three hours and also a physics test which is about the same. I took the echo yesterday and passed!! I am so grateful! I prayed so hard while I was in there I know God's ears were burning. I had to take a physics exam for my last registry, so I am not very nervous about that one since I have already passed one before. I feel like a hundred pounds has been lifted off of me. It is really challenging to find time to study with a nine month old.

On a new note, I hated to miss peak of the week last night. I went to visit a new little baby:) A friend of mine growing up has a serious drug addiction. His girlfriend just had his little boy and left him because of the drugs. She is here to stay with his parents for a while and needed some things. I took her some Jack hand me downs. I need to tell her about the friendship center if she needs anything I don't have. Luckily his family is wonderful and like my second parents, so I know she will be very well taken care of and little Waylan too. Please pray for this family, they are in a lot of pain. It is such a sad situation. I don't want to disclose names because I'm not sure they would want that.

I know I am jumping subjects, but I felt the need to post something happy after that. Also, this is a great way to document things that happen in Jack's life since it has dates and times. This week Jack has started a few new things. He has discovered he can do all kinds of funny things with his mouth. He is making this hilarious sucking noise and it looks so funny. He also learned how to get his knees up under him and turn to sit upright. This was great because before this, he would get frustrated at being on his belly and would crawl to us to sit him up. About two weeks ago he started drinking ouit of a straw. That is so much fun to watch:) Sorry this was such a long blog. Hope everyone is having a great week!!

RSV

2008-10-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I just wanted to update everyone on Jack. He is doing a lot better. The steriods he is on make him really hiper. And get this, they are for the inflamation in his lungs to stop the wheezing, but... when he takes them he crawles around like the energizer bunny and gets so worked up that he starts wheezing. I don't know if they are helping or making things worse. Anyway, the doctor said he didn't have a bad case of RSV and that he may not get any worse than he is now. So far he hasn't and I am very thankful. We have only had a couple of scares. Last night he was really congested and wheezing and the combo got him a little strangled. He got his breath after just a few seconds, but we never let him out of our sight because it could happen anytime.

I had a hard time the first of the week when we learned what he had. I felt responsible, since I had been sick and I knew I gave it to him. I hated to know I was the reason he was going to have to fight this stupid virus. I know it isn't productive to beat myself up, but I guess that is just the overprotective mother coming out. I just wish it were possible to protect them from anything hard or painful. If I feel this way now, I know the next 18 years are going to be tough!

Well, we miss everyone and hope to be back this sunday if all goes to plan. Hope you are all having a great week!!

The Joys of Teething :)

2008-09-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Well... gone are the few short months of sleeping through the night. Jack had been unusually fussy for a couple of weeks and wakes up every morning at 2am. He finally cut his second bottom tooth, but instead of getting better, he is even more irritable. I don't know if it is hurting the more it comes through or what. Bless his heart, he will take is paci out and just chew and chew on it. He is refusing to eat solids too. I can't get him to take anything but milk which worries me because the infamous "they" say that at his age he should have juice, fruits, meats, cereal, and who knows what else every day! Oh well, I guess its just a phase. Oh yeah and after waking up at 2am, he will only go back to sleep in the bed with us and then wakes up EVERY time his paci falls out of his mouth. I hate to see him hurting like this. Baby ibprofen seems to help, so I gave it to him last night.

On a new subject, he is pulling up! He looks soo big walking from me to the couch while holding on to the edge. It is hard to believe he is soo big. Although sometimes I miss him being a little baby, it is so much fun to hear him talk (especially when he accidently says mama) and see him smile and laugh.

We have a new daily show in our house. We are now big fans of non other than spongebob!! Jack will watch him for a good long while and I even catch myself watching when he isn't. Today at work me and a guy I work with that has two young girls were actually talking about episodes we had seen last week that we thought were hilarious.

Anyway, I have to go study and I hope everyone is having a great week!!!

Guacamole!!!!

2008-09-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

Casey, Pam (my mother in law), and I decided to go out to eat at Casa after work. Jack had just had a diaper change and had had a dirty diaper earlier, soooo I foolishly decided it would be okay to just take toys in the diaper bag. This decision was based on my growling belly, so it wasn't the brightest move. Anyway, we went to Casa and Jack was sitting calmly in the highchair. All of the sudden we look at him and he is straining like you wouldn't believe. So hard, in fact, that his eyes and face were turning red. "Uh oh!" I said as the reality of the situation started to sink in. We realize that he is filling up his diaper, but just decided to tough out the odor and change him when we got home.

That is.... until Pam noticed a little bloch of something green on Jack's arm. She said, "None of us ordered guacamole, did we?" She was right. She wiped it with her napkin and took one sniff and made a terrible face. We looked down and what to our suprise the entire high chair is full of green poop! Here we are in the middle of a restaurant with no wipes, no diapers, and no change of clothes. What now!!!

I pick him up and as fast as I can take him to the women's bathroom. Pam helps me undress him and we wash him in the sink! Yuk!! There is poop everywhere and we have a naked baby with nothing to put on him at all. I was having a serious white trash redneck moment as i wrap my naked son in paper towels and carry him out of the building. All the while trying to ignore all of the hidden giggles.

I take him to the truck, still naked mind you, to wait on Casey and Pam to pay and box up our food which we haven't gotten to eat yet. As we wait, Jack decides now would be a good time to pee while he is standing in my lap!! Now I have a naked baby and am wearing poop and pee.

Finally, they get to the car and we strap little naked Jack into his carseat and quickly drive home!!! This is definetly a tough lesson learned( although very funny after the fact). First RULE of parenting: NEVER NEVER leave home without a diaper, wipes, and a change of clothes NO MATTER WHAT!!!!

Ode to Breastfeeding

2008-08-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

Warning! Long blog!!

Well, my days as a breastfeeding mom are numbered. I was out of town last weekend on a ultrasound confrence and I had major issues getting to feed Jack! I only has two fifteen min breaks during the morning which wouldn't have been that bad, but it took 10 min for mom to get to the hotel that the conference was in and and we never knew when the breaks would be. This meant he had to take formula during my sessions and then when I got to the room on lunch he was full. Wow, it was crazy. Then I had to pump, but we had no fridge to keep the milk cold! By the end of the weekend, I was producing very little milk.

At first I was very stressed and sad, but then I just decided to give myself a pat on the back for making it this long and move on. He is still nursing at night and maybe once in the afternoon, but I don't know how long that will last. It is kind of nice not to be pumping all the time at work. I am not near as stressed during the day and I don't worry if he is eating enough anymore. BUT... formula diapers are a whole new issue!!!

this leads to a new section of this blog

THE BLOWOUT OF ALL HIS BLOWOUTS!!

The first night home from Nashville we went out to eat (as usual since I don't cook lol). After we got back, I decided to check my email. I left jack in his carseat to watch TV beside me. He started fussing and so I got up to get him out. When I picked him up I thought man, he's wet! Then I looked at my arm... yuk!!!! I had poop all over me!!!! It was all down my arm, all down his legs, all in the carseat, and on his hands (which were on the way to his mouth)! I knew this was no job for wipes and I just set him in the tub and hosed him down. It was quite a mess, but after we had a good laugh :) He didn't eat any of it by the way, I caught his hands before he made it that far :)

Son Seekers

2008-08-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a thank you to everyone :) I have really really enjoyed getting to know all of you and am glad to be getting more involved! You have all made my family feel so welcome. I look foward to all of our events and classes. I hope all of you are having a great week!

What was I thinking?

2008-08-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

I just need to vent a little! I am having a real problem with my cat! When we got her, I never imagined how annoying she could be with a baby in the house. She cries all the time! Last night I woke up twice to the sound of her sharpening her claws in my carpet. Luckily she didn't damage anything, but I was still mad as a hornet. I have never been much of a cat person and now that we have Jack, I don't tolerate her well at all. Oh well, since I can't find her a home or get rid of her, I just had to vent my frustration.

26 things about me

2008-07-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

1. Casey and I dated in high school, but broke up. He randomly called me three years later and we were married the following december.

2. We lived in Sevierville TN beside Gatlinburg for 11 months, it was a blast!

3. All of our parents and my grandparents live off of the same road.

4. My first crush on Casey was when I was twelve and he had goofy glasses and a bowl cut ;)

5. Around the same time, I shaved the bottom half of my hair off because Jennifer Lovelace did it and I thought she was sooo cool lol.

6. My best friend growing up was Erin Lynn.

7. I went into ultrasound because I wanted to do medical and didn't want to deal with needles or anything gross, boy was i in for a rude awakening. You wouldn't believe the things you can scan with ultrasound!!! Seriously just get me started on this one, I have lots of stories.

8. I have a mini dacshund and a cat.

9. I don't know what possessed me to get either one of them. They are too much work with a baby. Actually I can handle my daisey, but the cat is the one i could do without! All she does in cry!

10. I have a beautiful baby boy (like any of you don't know, he is all I have blogged about so far and I take him everywhere!)

11. I love naps!

12. I don't cook, really! I think I have used my stove twice since Jack was born. Poor Casey. We eat out! Alot lol.

13. My husband did electrical work for five years and my bedroom still does not have switch covers or plug covers!

14. We pretty much gutted the house we have and remodeled and I never want to paint again.

15. Casey is the funniest person I know, I laugh all of the time. I love him!!

16. I don't have a hobby, not that i would have time for one now that i have Jack.

17. I envy stay at home moms.

18. I never mail anything. I am horrible about this! I will write a card and it stays in my house forever. Email has saved my life!

19. I love to lay out in the sun on a float. I will probably regret that in about 10 years or sooner than that, but it really relaxes me.

20. I am ocd about jack's food and not wasting the milk i pump. I am like the breast milk police. I call all the time to make sure he eats every drop. I feel sorry for my family, but they forgive me. The know i just want to be involved. And for those of you who pump, you know it is hard work!

21. I have to sleep with two pillows (more when I was pregnant). One under my head and one between my knees. It drives Casey crazy because they are everywhere.

22. I have been cutting Casey's hair for five years. One night he wanted me to try before he shaved it off and he liked it. Now i do my dad's, casey's, and my brother's hair every month. i like it, it is a fun chore and it saves my family some money!

23. I am obsessed about shaving! I do it everyday of my life. That was the worst thing about having jack. At the hospital I was to weak to do it and it about drove me crazy! Right when we got home, i had my mother in law help me, i felt sooo much better ;)

24. I am totally still in love with Casey!

25. My family is my world. I love them all! I am blessed to be as close to them as I am!

26. Jack is a gift from God and i love him more than anything!

My little Jackpot

2008-07-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am just sitting at work bored to death and missing Jack, so I thought I would blog about him. Mondays are always hardest for me because I have just gotten to spend the whole weekend with him. I go through withdrawls. This morning I woke up the the sound of him jabbering and just by listening I could tell he was laying on his stomach lifting his head just waiting on mommy to come a get him :) I went in there and sure enough, he was on his belly looking up. I put him to bed last night in his last Pamper's swaddlers diaper (size 2) so it wouldn't go to waste and now I have a whole bed worth of laundry to do. The poor little guy peed all over himself. I don't know how he was sleeping in it. Well we are for sure in a size 3 now. I hate to leave the swaddlers behind. Partly because I love them and partly because it is all going way to fast. I can't belive it has already been six months! Anyway, back to this morning. He usually goes right to sleep when i feed him after he wakes up, but for some reason this morning he just kept staring at me and playing with my nose. I just decided to get up and let him watch my morning routine. He sat quietly on the bed and watched me iron while chewing on a few toys. It was a great way to start the day :) Well enought for now, hope everyone is having a good Monday!

2008-07-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

My first blog :)
Well a little introduction about me and my family. I am married to a wonderful husband, Casey. We were highschool sweethearts and have been married now for nearly 4 years. We have a six month old little boy named Jack and he is the love of my life!! We have two pets daisey and maggie.

I do ultrasound for a group of doctors in muscle shoals and Casey is a salesman at Ray Miller Buick. I love my work most of the time. It is a very interesting job.

Well, I guess that is enough for my first blog!