Five Fact Friday

1. I am so curious. I want to know everything about everything. Why it happened, where they were, who was involved. When we go out to eat, I get so fixed on certain people and I try to figure out their story. JM gets frustrated because he says I don’t talk to him at the table because I’m too busy trying to do this.
2. I cannot stand to waste things. Whether it be a French fry on a plate or the last drop of toothpaste in the tube, I’m going to finish it off. One particular peeve is when the cleaning ladies come to my desk and empty out the trash. I may have four pieces of paper in there and they will tie up the bag and put it in the trash pile. I finally asked them to please combine the other trash in order to save bags. At home, I search the house for anything I can throw away before I tie the bag. I will stuff it to capacity.
3. I am obsessed with recycling. I am no Leonardo DiCaprio, but I try my best to recycle. I think it kind of goes along with the “not wanting to waste things” obsession. Knowing that you can recycle newspapers, bottled waters, milk cartons and such instead of throwing them out, why wouldn’t you? This bothers me.
4. I judge a book by its cover. This also goes for gifts. I think it’s going to be the best gift if it’s in a cute box or bag and all dolled up with lots of fun ribbons and bows in all different colors. This has thrown me off at several dirty santa parties. When wrapping a gift for someone, I try to make it as flashy as possible. I hoard bows, ribbons and bags from gifts given to me, and I always reuse them for gifts and spend too much time trying to dress them up.
5. I have a very low patience level and get annoyed too easily by certain sounds. I can’t explain this, but will try. For example, the Olympics was on TV last night and I was folding clothes and listening to it in the background (not by choice). The swishing sound from the skis really started getting to me. I started to get really frustrated and slammed the clothes down that I was folding and had to leave the room to get away from the sound. I don’t know why this is, it is really strange but I can’t help it. Then, you know when you are taking a picture with a group of people and they are waiting for THREE, have you noticed how there is this awful smacking sound surrounding you while people are smiling? I can’t take it! On the other hand, there are a few sounds that I love and that could put me to sleep: The sound it makes when the lady is checking you out at the library, you know, the plastic that goes on the books. Also, when people are going through their makeup bag and also when people are going through a plastic box of crayons. Call me crazy.

Dermatologist Visit and Tales from Miss B

We went to the dermatologist on Monday to figure out what is going on with Ryder's skin. He wrote a prescription for Desonide and said to use it 2x a day for 2 weeks, then only 2x a week for the next 2 weeks. We decided not to put any hydrocortosone cream on him before the appointment so the doctor could see what we were talking about. Here is a picture of what he looks like when he hasn't had the cream put on his face in only 12 hours.Pretty pitiful huh? And this picture doesn't do it justice. You should see the back of his head. What is even worse, he was crying pretty bad last night at about 11 and he never does this. He never makes a peep from 9 pm (or whenever he goes to sleep for the night), until 7 am or so when he wakes up. I went to pick him up and there was blood droplets on his sheet where his head was. I turned him around and sure enough he had scratched himself silly. I'm so ready for this to be fixed.

Wanting to look just like daddy. Aren't these adorable? $3.99!Standing up big and tall

For those who don't know this, my sister Kayla is in her last semester at Mississippi State and majoring in Elementary Education. She is student teaching in a kindergarten classroom at West Point Public Schools and graduates in May. She recently passed the Praxis II which is a really big deal because it takes alot of people several times to pass it! Please be praying for her to find a job when she graduates. With all of these state budget cuts, they are letting teachers go in many of the school systems, so I know it's going to be tough to find a job. She's not even a teacher yet and I love to hear the stories from her class. This one made me laugh especially, since I know the feeling of getting my maiden name mispronounced on many occasions.

Kayla is helping the kids sort through their Valentine's cards to put in the other student's bags and there is one left over that says Miss B on the card. Kayla knows who brought these certain cards and she asks the student who Miss B is. He said, "It's for you!" Kayla says, "Why did you put Miss B on the card?" He says, "Maaaaan, I don't know how to spell Miss Brooms and neither does my mama." - Her last name is Grooms.

I love this and I can't wait to hear the many stories that come with teaching elementary students.

The Sweetest Sound & Best Valentine's Gift Ever!

The Sleep Sack

Here it is folks...the sleep sack. It's like a snuggie for babies. I highly recommend this during the winter time. It keeps Ryder so warm without having to put a blanket in the bed with him. I don't know how babies sleep without covers, I never really thought about this, but I could not stand it if I had to sleep without anything over me!

Sick on Snow Day

As I wrote a couple of nights ago, Ryder's had a slight cold the past several days and I thought it was from not being swaddled and having that extra warmth. That could still be it, but he hasn't gotten over the cold. We pulled out the ole' sleep sack to replace the swaddle. I bought it when Ryder was like 2 weeks old and didn't really know what we would use it for, I just thought it was cute and funny. I totally forgot we had it until JM's mom reminded me that we could use that as as his "blanket." It has worked really well the past 3 nights... will post a picture of it soon.

On to the runny nose/cough attacks - We took him to see Dr. Penny yesterday just to make sure it wasn't RSV or worse. He tested negative for RSV and she said to just wait it out and make sure he doesn't get a fever. Although I hate taking him for an unexpected visit since that means something is wrong, I always find the silver lining -- getting his height and weight checked =)



At 5 months and a couple days old he weighed in at 16.2 lb (fully clothed and wearing a diaper), so I'm thinking he's about 16 lb and he was 26 1/2 inches. As most of you know, we've had some problems with his skin and his head. He scratches it to bleeding every single day, so we're just ready to get down to the bottom of what is making it itch so bad. So, on Monday we're headed to see a dermatologist. We are both off on Monday for... is it President's Day? One of those... Will update after the visit.

Happy Snowing!

5 Months Old & Swaddle Free

I slipped up on posting Ryder's 5 month photo yesterday, so here he is, and handsome as can be might I add.

On another note, since Ryder turned 5 months yesterday, we decided to give it a try without the swaddle. This is literally the first time in the history of his life that we did not swaddle him before putting him to bed. We were expecting the worse, but it really wasn't as bad as we thought. We put him down at 10 because we had a late night due to our Bible study group and he woke up at about 2 a.m. crying pretty bad. I went in there and put his paci in and he fell back asleep about 5 minutes later. Then we heard the crying at 4 a.m. but didn't go in there and he fell back asleep. Then, he finally woke up for good at 7:30 a.m., so overall I would say it was a success! However, there was a negative to this... he woke up with a cold. For whatever reason the heat doesn't put out much at all in his bedroom so we have a small plug in heater which we had on last night. I guess it just wasn't enough without the swaddle so poor baby woke up with a runny nose and a cough. We have the cool mist humidifier on tonight so hopefully he'll get better. They say not to put a blanket in the bed with babies until they are 1 year old, and I can see why because if we have even a bib in his reach, he immediately puts it over his face. So that is something I don't want to risk.

Until next time...

Well, we are now FIVE whole months old. We're wearing size 2 diapers and eating baby food. To be exact, we're on 3 tbs rice cereal mixed with 3 tbs applesauce for breakfast and half of a plastic container of green beans mixed with 3 tbs of rice cereal for dinner, along with the same amount of milk (every 3 hours or 3 1/2 if he can make it). Ryder's new trick is pulling his feet to his face and pulling his socks off. There hasn't been much rolling over action just yet, we're working on it though. For about a month now he's been so strong when we stand him up, it's almost like if we let go of underneath his arms, he could actually stand for a second. Each day I love him more and more, and have learned to thank God for him every chance I get. He is getting to be so much fun and it melts my heart every single time he smiles. It's so funny how you don't even realize it, but I'll find myself just sitting there staring at him while he's sleeping. I am in awe of everything he does. I've been reading a book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I'm starting to learn his signs. One thing I've learned is that the second he rubs his eyes or yawns, I need to put him down. This has worked wonders. We used to let him get overly tired and when we'd try to put him down, it was too late. He was already so mad from being so sleepy that he would scream and scream. Now, when I see the signs, I soothe him for a couple of minutes and put him in his crib and about 90% of the time he falls right to sleep. It's so important for babies to get their sleep because it can mess up their entire day if they skip a nap. Trust me, I know it's hard to sit there and listen to him cry, but I know it's best to let him just cry it out, even if it's for 5 or 10 minutes, because he always always always falls asleep. If he doesn't fall asleep within 5 or 10 minutes, I know something is wrong. Usually it turns out he just has a really big burp when I pick him up. Then, once he gets it out and I put him down again, he falls right to sleep. He is SUCH a good baby, we are truly blessed.

Forget the spoon, I'm going all in!!!

Sorry for the mess Mommy... After getting greased up with my Aquaphor. Gotta keep that face nice and smooth.

Gooooo Saints!

Ryder's Saints gear from Nanni