The McIntyre Clan

Yehaw!

2012-02-13T22:38:00.002-06:00

Layne got to go to his first rodeo Saturday night with my cousin Sara. I'd say he had a great time!

This was his excitment before the rodeo!

Cows! Horses! Bulls! Cowboys! Fireworks!

Layne took a nap during the band. That was intermission at 10:00!!

Thanks, Sara (and Michelle and Joe and Emily) for taking me to the rodeo!

So I know there are no pictures of the actual animals, but they were there and Layne loved them all. I promise! He talked about it for at least two days. He didn't go to bed until 11:30 (later than ME), but he had a really fun time and he got to sleep late Sunday and took a really great nap. I can't wait for next year! I might even go then, lol.

Oh where?

2012-02-01T18:28:00.001-06:00

Oh where, oh where has my little blog gone? Oh where, oh where could it be? :)

We have been busy here. This weekend we celebrated Layne's 2nd birthday with his friends. We blew up the bounce house and had cupcakes and grapes. Everyone had a great time!

Layne couldn't quite blow hard enough to get the candle out. So cute!

Weeeeeeeee!!!!

He's an old pro at this by now.

I have a 2 year old! What?!

Busy hoilday time

2011-12-14T21:58:00.000-06:00

As everyone does at this time of year, we are super busy! I apologize for the lapse in blogging. Instead of trying to catch you up on everything you have missed, we'll just start with December. December started out with some great traditions. We went to the Belhaven Singing Christmas Tree. It is 79 years old and the oldest in the country. They hold it outside at the soccer bowl at Belhaven. We went to eat and then found a great seat to take in the singing. Layne had a great time. He sat still for a little while, and then he got up and started running around our little set of chairs. I had no idea, but Layne knows how to play Duck, Duck, Goose, and he proceeded to show us. It was hilarious! Add to that that he wanted to wear my gloves which are three sizes too large. I love how funny Layne is now that he's developed that personality.

That Saturday night, we took in the Clinton Christmas parade. They light the tree by the poice department before the parade and welcome Santa, and then the parade starts. We sat in front of City Hall and had a great seat for the parade. Layne was really excited to see all of the lights and the bands. We are always amazed at how great Layne does when he stays up past his bedtime. On this night, he was up until about 10PM. We went to eat after the parade, and he was just so funny! Layne really talks up a storm now, and we just have no idea what will come out of his mouth.

The second weekend of December held just as much Christmas fun! Friday night we went to see Canton: the City of Lights. They were having a sippin' cider event with lots of goodies at each shop. Layne enjoyed seeing the lights and eating the goodies. We had yummy Mexican after, and, as I said, it was yummy!

Saturday it was time for that great hoilday tradition of Santa! Last year, Layne saw Santa at Caitlin's office Christmas party. I plopped Layne on his lap, and he screamed. It was a great picture! LOL This year we headed out to Bass Pro Shop to visit Santa's Winter Wonderland. Layne loved seeing all the animals at Bass Pro and he wasn't too freaked out by Santa. We said hello, gave him a high five and a fist bump, then got a candy cane. I plopped him on his lap and hopped in front of Santa and yelled, "say cheese!" Here's the result!

Not too shabby, huh? He's not smilling, but he's not screaming. Santa was very nice, and I look forward to next year when we'll hopefully have a smile!

Now this is the smile that I love!

Merry Christmas! Our little family hopes that you (all of my avid readers, lol) have a

blessed and happy holiday season.

fall time

2011-11-16T20:43:00.001-06:00

This fall is shaping up to be beautiful. The weather, for the most part, has been beautiful. The leaves are colorful, and it makes for a wonderful recess. Here's some pictures to recap you on what we've been doing this fall!

Layne had a fun time picking out a pumpkin. Or two.

Say cheese, at the RES Fall Festival!

Fun slide time at the park with Courtney

Park time with Parker. He'll get the hang of the slide soon!

Superman and Lex Luthor

Einstein and Superman

Red Beans and Rice Festival

Game time at TPC's Fall Festival

I'd like to say he was trying to fly away, but he just wasn't into the pictures.

Happy Reformation Day!

family photo time

2011-11-13T21:05:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, we took family pictures. The event was almost disasterous because it was pretty cold that morning, and I (stupidly) had Layne in a short sleeve shirt. He froze about the whole time. There were some redeeming moments, like when he played in the fountain in front of the police station ( and soaked his whole foot!) and when he found a giant swan to play with. I was afraid, of course, that we wouldn't get any good pictures. Our gallery is now ready, so have a gander! I esepecially like some of them and I am overall happy with how they turned out. Enjoy!

Just click the link here and the password is rkmcintyre.
http://muddyfeet.smugmug.com/Family/Kendra-McIntyre/20067884_cZDbWH#1582495059_CRhfM7Z

Daddy's home!

2011-11-02T21:55:00.000-05:00

I'm sure I've mentioned before that my dad works overseas. He got to come home this time for 3 weeks, instead of his usual 2. I always worry about how Layne will react because he doesn't get to see him much, but the first night that we went over to visit, Layne ran around the house yelling, "Baba! Baba!" I loved it, and I hope my dad did, too! Both of our families are very busy so we got together as much as we could. We hung out at Daddy's house one night, and then we were able to go to Oxford to visit my grandparents for a weekend. And then we headed over again for steaks on Sunday. We had a great time visiting with Baba and Nana, and Aunt Leah and Uncle Daniel.

picking pumpkins in Oxford

Catch up and keep up!

2011-11-02T20:52:00.002-05:00

So, I'm behind, I know. This will be my attempt to catch up in small bits. First - the fair!
Layne LOVED the fair, which makes me very happy because it's one of my favorite things of the year. We knew that Layne wouldn't ride many rides, so we planned on just the best for him - the carousel, ferris wheel, and best of all - the big yellow slide!! He loved the slide the best and the ferris wheel the least. I think he was a bit unsure of being so high. We went to the petting zoo and the pig races, but skipped the circus. Layne even touched a snake - yuck! I'm excited for next year because he will ride more rides and have even more fun!

Layne looking out at the fair from the ferris wheel.

About the take his first ride on the big slide!!

Over the River

2011-10-20T21:45:00.002-05:00

We headed over to Vicksburg last Saturday to support my mom and Jolene in the Over the River Run. After the race, they had a fun band and free food. Layne even got in the bounce house. I wasn't there for that, or I probably wouldn't have let him go. They make me nervous. The weather was great and Layne had a really good time.

Layne had a very fun time shopping. We didn't stay too long, and he was very cooperative. He got a great nap on the way home and then I took one, too! Later, we went over to Mimi and Jolene's to hang around.

Hot Springs!

2011-10-07T22:20:00.000-05:00

We headed up to Hot Springs to visit with Rob's family. The weather was beautiful, and it was so good to see family. Layne got to play with Gavin (16 mo) all weekend. They had a blast together. And shortly after we found out that Kirbi (Gavin's mom) is pregnant, so she has an idea of what it might be like with two!

Layne and Gavin were so sweet to each other!

Aunt Maxine got on the floor and played with the boys.

Kirbi settled in to read a bedtime story.

Can't get enough of these cute boys!

Uncle Bill has no idea who Layne is, but he loves him just the same. :)

Layne was exhausted after the long weekend. He fell asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car.

2011-09-30T22:45:00.001-05:00

Tonight I went to Providence's woman's retreat. The theme is learning to pray. Two great women were the leaders, and even though they were the leaders they were quick to point out that they don't have it all together. That was encouraging to me because people sometimes look so together from the outside. It takes something like this to really see that we're all sinners. That's kind of sad, but refreshing at the same time. After our lesson, we all spread out and had time to pray, and I'll admit that I've never been the best prayer. I am not what you would call a "prayer warrior," but I know it works so I prayed to have the want-to to pray without ceasing for everything that crosses my path. It's so easy to pray for all the things I need and want in my life, and all that really does is just feed into my selfish, sinful self. It's so easy to call on God when I need something, and then I feel this overwhelming guilt that I'm not even worthy to pray because I'm not the most faithful prayer. I am praying that my heart will change to one that seeks that open communication with my Father. That's another thing that our leader talked about. We have this awesome open communication with the God of the Universe! He cares to hear our prayers and respond to them. Food for thought! :) Had a great night, looking forward to tomorrow!

2011-09-29T21:08:00.001-05:00

Layne got to hang out with Jaycie while Rob and I were out on the town. Lori didn't want him to get his clothes dirty at dinner so she stripped him, lol. They had a great time playing together. Jaycie even gave Layne her gorilla.

I got these awesome blocks for FREE from school. Layne really likes them, except that he wants to chew on them.

So sad news, recently we've been having some issues with our daycare. I have never been someone who really wanted to stay home. I love my Layne but I've always felt like I would be an awful housekeeper and I love the socialization that Layne gets with other kids his age. I won't go into the details, but I just want the ladies that watch him to love on him and treat him as good as I do when he's with me. That's not too much to ask, is it?? We've looked into other daycares, but all the other ones in town are full-up and more expensive, which we cannot do. At this point, I REALLY want to stay home with Layne, but after running numbers it's just not going to happen. I'm sad about that. I was kind of liking the idea of staying at home (for the milisecond that I was able to think about it). Even without the socialization, I would almost rather have someone come to keep him at our house. I know nanny's are expensive, but maybe we wouldn't have to get a nanny. Anyway, this is my plea to all my friends out there who can keep their ears open for any trustworthy person to take care of my sweet baby.

So tired

2011-09-28T20:28:00.000-05:00

It's sad that I'm almost too tired to type anything at all. I love having a blog, but it's so hard to keep up with with a busy toddler. Layne is so much fun everyday! He's so playful and creative and ambitious. It's hard to stop him when he knows what he wants. I think he's cutting about three teeth right now and he sure is a pill when his teeth are hurting. We try to take care of that quickly so he can get right back to playing. Layne was 20 months on Sunday. He weighs about 28 pounds, and I haven't measured him lately but I think he's about 33 inches tall. We don't go back to the doctor until his 2 year check-up. We might actually be heading to the doctor sooner if his cold doesn't clear up. He's been very snotty lately and coughing at night. Maybe it's the weather flip flopping on us that's making him feel bad. I hope it passes soon. We are going to Arkansas this weekend to visit Rob's family, and we're so excited to play with Gavin and Sage (cousins).

Layne hanging out with Parker

Rob drove Leah's car and Daniel escorted for Homecoming

Momma and I enjoying our bulldogs!

Hanging With Friends

2011-09-17T23:16:00.000-05:00

Last week Stephanie needed a babysitter, so Rob and Layne and I went over to keep the kids (I can't say girls anymore, lol). We watched CareBears and Rainbow Bright, brings back good memories. Layne had a good time playing with the girls, and Garrett was great. We should do that more often.

On Friday, Kim and I went to the consignment sale at the Trade Mart. They had lots of goodies and the boys had a fun time haning out. After the sale, we went to Target and then headed home. Parker is 7 months and he's starting to get around more. I think Layne will really like it when he has a mobile friend that gets around as much as he does.

At this point they weren't very amused with the cart. When we started pilling in our purchases, then they had something to play with and had a good time. On Saturday, we headed over to Carter and Kim's to watch our Bulldogs take on Auburn. It was a good game, but I left very sad. The boys had a good time playing together except that we were there through Layne's nap. Carter and Kim live about 5 minutes away from us, and Layne was asleep before we even got 2 minutes away. He had a good nap once we got home.

The boys had a good time watching the game. I can't wait until Rob can start explaining it all to Layne. That will be so fun to watch.

Lazy Labor Day

2011-09-05T20:53:00.000-05:00

This weekend has been very relaxing. It started with a fun night with friends, Matt and Liz. We grilled burgers and played Settlers of Catan. Layne had a lot of fun because Matt played ball with him all night. :)

Saturday morning we got up with Layne and noticed a little bug bite on his booty was looking pretty bad, so we headed to the St. Dominic's Clinic at Wal-Mart - nice little place. We got an antibiotic and a cream for the infection, and poor Layne screamed his head off when we tried to get the puss out. After heading to the clinic we went to April's first birthday party. We cooked out and had Cat in the Hat cupcakes. I think Layne had a good time playing with the other kids that were there. It look a while for him to warm up, but there were plenty of toys to play with.

We chased Layne around Wal-Mart while we were waiting for the clinic to open. Good times!

Layne enjoying his cupcake at April's party

Layne giving April a big birthday hug!

On a sidenote, I got chosen for jury duty last Monday and headed to the Courthouse bright and early to serve my civic duty. I was actually really excited about it. In the end, I didn't get picked but it was still fun and interesting.

Headed to the Courthouse. Let's serve some justice! :)

Playdates!

2011-09-05T20:22:00.000-05:00

My sweet friend, Suzanne, is pregnant with her second sweet baby. Tuesday night she came over to "shop" through my maternity clothes. With Suzanne came April! Layne took a little while to warm up to her, but pretty soon they were playing like old pals. We had a good dinner and the adults had fun hanging out while the babies played. Hopefully, we will have lots more playdates soon! Sorry about the quality of the pictures. They're not great.

Layne looks a little frazzled with this girl in his house, lol.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2011-08-27T23:29:00.000-05:00

Today has been a super busy and super fun Saturday! I woke up early this morning and joined Jolene at IHOP for a good breakfast before we went to donate platelets. I watched a movie and had a good snack while Rob stayed home with Layne and played. We hung out during the afternoon watching the Little League World Series then headed out to the ballpark. Before the ballpark we made a stop to Bass Pro Shop. Rob and I walked around there last week on our date, and I thought it would be really fun for Layne to see the fish and all the animals there. That place is amazing if you've never been! It's huge! Well, I was right. Layne loved it. He kept walking around pointing at the animals. Momma and Dwane were meeting us there, and at one point Layne got super excited about seeing my mom. He ran over to her and tripped and busted his lip. Poor thing! He was so excited to see his GranNe. Then later he was looking down at some animals and turned too quickly to take the corner and hit his head on an i-beam. It was a rough time at Bass Pro. Hopefully, he won't associate it with pain so we can go back at Christmas and get our free Santa pic. LOL

Getting started early!

He wanted to pet the bear, so cute!

We're trying to "contry-fy" him. How's it looking so far?

After Bass Pro, we headed over to the Braves stadium for a baseball game. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot Layne screamed out "baseball! Baseball!" It was so cute!!! We ended up getting free tickets because a church group had already bought their tickets and didn't need some. It was also $1 hot dog and drink night, so our grand total for total was $9! Our seats ended up being right behind the home dugout so we moved around so we could see better. We ended up on the first base side in the outfield. Layne had a blast! He got to dance to the music and walk all over the ballpark with his Papaw and his Daddy. He did great with the heat. The weather was actually great, with a breeze. I hope he'll sleep good tonight. I know I will!

Enjoying the game and dancing to the music

Does that look say it all??

19 Months Old and Already Getting Blamed For Mommy's Pain

2011-08-27T22:11:00.000-05:00

Subtitle: Keep Smiling

I recently started going back to the dentist consistently. This is a good thing for the health of my teeth but not so much for other reasons. In January I found out that I had my first cavity! I have always had the same tooth brushing habit. It hasn't been the greatest habit, but I've never changed and I've always gotten a good report at the dentist. Until January! I have had 6 cavities since then! Throughout my pregnancy and after, I never felt like I went through any of the hormone changes or had any ill effects from pregnancy. But this! This is Layne's fault! I think it has something to do with decreased calcium or something like that. Now I am worried every time I brush my teeth that I didn't get it good enough! Oh, and by the way, I have changed my teeth brushing habit. Here's to no more cavities!

Saturdays are for family.

2011-08-20T21:45:00.000-05:00

This morning I went to a parent summit for school, then I met my mom over at Mimi's to pick up Layne. He was asleep when I got there so we ended up spending the afternoon there. We played and went to visit my great-aunt who lives in the same neighborhood. She was thrilled to see Layne, and he was thrilled to play with her snowman pillow.
And on an added note, Sundays are for family, too. We are having Justin's birthday lunch, and then I get to go see "The Help," which I am supper excited about! Sweet twins from my church play Mae Moebly, so that will be very exciting to see on the big screen.

Are you bored?

2011-08-20T20:48:00.000-05:00

If you're having a lazy Saturday, why don't you watch these videos? :)

Layne enjoying the Shiloh Water Park. He's at the perfect age to enjoy this!!

Having fun playing with Daddy at a friend's house.

Enjoying a nice dinner with family.

Busy Fall

2011-08-16T22:50:00.000-05:00

With school starting up, we've been so busy around here! School started last week and is now in full swing! There hasn't been one day that I've left before 4:00 on a school day. Hopefully, when everything gets organized and calmed down I can leave earlier. Layne has been super busy being a busy toddler! He is on the move all the time! Tonight he ran back and forth from the TV to the dining room table about 20 times. He looked just like Ella (our dog) when she's running through the house and burning off energy. He repeats practically anything that you say. He's getting good at "love you." That's my favorite right now. Layne can follow simple one-step directions like, "put that in the basket." I'm very impressed with all he knows and can do. We started singing "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" the other day (which I didn't even know he knew) and he started doing the motions! Amazing! Layne's eating habits are pretty sporadic at the moment. He seems to eat great at school but wants almost nothing to do with dinner. Not sure what that's all about. He definitely gets enough to drink, though. That boy loves his milk and juice! Layne is definitely getting into that stage where he wants what he wants NOW! Giving him something else to distract him doesn't really work anymore.

Helping with the laundry!

Pizza for dinner!

Independence Day

2011-07-10T01:11:00.000-05:00

I am home from Chicago. When I left last Sunday, Rob was in Atlanta so it was a full week that I hadn't seen my two babies. They had a great time in Atlanta with Granny. They got to go to the aquarium, which I'm sure was really awesome. I am sad I missed it. I headed out to Chicago on Sunday evening and had a great time with my mom, Mimi, and Jolene while Rob kicked it back home "single dad style." He did great, and Layne had fun having Daddy all to himself all week. As soon as we got back on Friday (Rob picked us up, thanks!) I headed to get Layne. It's been a great weekend back with my family. When I have more time, I'll post some pictures from my trip. Love being home!

Weekend Apart

2011-06-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

This weekend our happy little family spent time apart, so we were a somewhat sad little family, although we all had fun at our respective gatherings. Rob and Layne went to Starkville to see Uncle Chris and Lucas who came down to surprise Grandpa with a visit! They had a great weekend hanging around the house. Layne and Lucas had a good time getting to know each other, and I'm really sad I missed out. Rob says that he can definitely see lots of Layne in Lucas, and he feels like he's gotten a peek into the future.

Say cheese!

I spent the weekend here at home with one of my best friends, Olivia. She was in town to celebrate our friend Traci's wedding. We went to eat at FatSumo on Thursday night, and it was super good!

Layne did really great at dinner. He ended up just sitting on the ground and playing with Maguire's toys. He pulled EVERY toy out of that bag, but he had a good time!

Traci's wedding was Saturday night, and we had a GREAT time! I am so happy for Traci and Dustin. They both looked great and put on a great party! Their reception was at the MS Museum of Art and had great food and a great DJ (Scott Steele).

We had a great weekend even though our happy family had to spend it apart. I was super glad when Rob and Layne got home. We got to visit with Momma and Dwane. Thanks for dinner! Daddy is leaving tomorrow to head back to Afghanistan for work, so we got to spend one last evening with them. We had read beans and rice and Layne had a blast running around their house. I'm so happy that Layne loves his Baba!

Daddy didn't want me to put this on the blog, but it's too cute not to!

Father's Day

2011-06-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

This year I got to spend Father's Day with my dad! For those of you who do not know, my dad works in Afghanistan and comes home about every 4 months. He came home last Tuesday and we got to spend an evening with the family. Layne loves his Baba and Nana, and Leah and Daniel. It was so cute because he kept saying "Leah" and "Daniel." He, of course, has been able to say "Baba." :) We just hung out at the house and played. It was a good evening.

We played outside and had lots of fun after dinner.

Layne loved playing with the MegaBlocks.

We spent Father's Day weekend in Oxford visiting Granny and Poppy. I think Layne had a great time showing everyone how well he can walk and all the new words he's learned. They were very impressed!

Layne was very excited to watch SpongeBob all weekend!

Layne and Leah had a fun time playing ball outside Saturday night.

Layne wanted to play ball with the big boys!

We got Layne on the motorcycle long enough for a quick picture!

On Monday we got to celebrate Father's Day again with Layne's D-Daddy! We invited Caitlin and Ben and Momma and Dwane over for dinner. Rob grilled out and I cooked a little bit in the kitchen myself. We had a great dinner and a fun evening.

I just want to take this opportunity to say how thankful I am to have two father-figures in my life. When divorce happens in a family it's never good at the moment, but good things do come of it. Although there have been some rocky times in my life, I am so thankful for the family that I have been blessed with. Having step-parents and step-family means there is that many more people to love and to love you. I love the thought of a big family, and now I not only have one sister, but also another sister and two brothers! I can't express how thankful I am for the love that every person is my WHOLE family has shown to Layne (and us) since (and before) he's been in our lives. Anyway, all that to say that I am thankful for my wonderful family - the Wolfes, the Miesses, the Roberts, the Catts, the McIntyres, and the Baileys!

Weekend Fun

2011-06-13T21:44:00.000-05:00

We had a very eventful weekend. I hosted girls' night at my house on Friday night. The girls came over and we had pizza and salad and yummy dessert (thanks Traci!). At some point in the night we were supposed to play games, but we had a really good time just sitting around talking. Two kids were there, Layne and Garrett. Layne was really interested in Garrett but only when he was on the floor playing. He was so sweet to him. He even tried to share Donkey.

Here, you can play with this.

We also got to celebrate our friend, Brian's, 30th birthday. His wife set up a fun surprise party at the Reservoir. Layne was in Heaven because there were ducks and geese EVERYWHERE! There was also duck and geese poop EVERYWHERE! Since Layne has aquired this new skill of walking, he wanted to walk all over the place and chase the ducks and geese. We had a busy time chasing him around. We did have a little help from our friends! Thanks! We hope Brian had a great birthday. Layne almost said "happy birthday!"

Happy Birthday, Brian!

Chris and Layne had a good time chasing the ducks. I'm kind of sad I didn't get a picture of Layne walking with the ducks. O well! We'll just have to go visit the ducks at Jolene and Mimi's.

Walk like a. . . Frankenstein??

2011-06-12T20:35:00.000-05:00

Layne is up and walking all over the place! He is deciding more and more everyday that he wants to WALK over there, and not crawl. His poor knees will finally get a break! They are almost rubbed raw.
I say it every time I blog, but Layne is talking more and more. He says new words everyday! We almost got him to say "Happy Birthday" to Brian on Saturday. We got "happy" but not "birthday."
Anyway, here's a couple of videos I shot tonight. Enjoy!

Layne is super funny when he walks! He has a Frankenstein stance. He uses those arms to balance, I guess. And I love it when he just falls down laughing.

Visit from up north

2011-06-07T23:27:00.000-05:00

This weekend Grandpa and AG got to come down for a visit. I did a 5K early in the morning, so Rob got to spend the morning with Layne. Well, guess what? When I got home at 10, they were still sleeping! Once they got up and Grandpa and AG got here, Rob went to the store to get lunch and we played with Layne. We had a great lunch and a great time hanging out with Granpa and AG. They even brought Layne a new book! He loves books! Sometimes he just rides down the road "reading." It's so cute! We had a great day with Grandpa and AG, and we're so glad that they could come down!

Layne had a great time using Daddy as a jumping toy.

Layne had a very fun day with Grandpa and AG!

Tonight we went on a family date to Olive Garden. We had a gift card so there's no better time than the present to use it! Layne had a good time flirting with the waitress, and Rob and I had a really great dinner. Erin even got to join us when she got off work. After dinner, I had an awesome coupon at JC Penny so we went shopping. I got 3 t-shirts for $2.11! Then we went to Target for diapers and I found an AC/DC shirt for $1.74! Yay - I love good deals!

Daddy and Erin helped me pick out some cute new shirts!

Go Braves!

2011-06-03T22:40:00.001-05:00

I came across these pictures while I was working on my computer tonight. These pictures were taken after the St.Paddy's Day parade in 2010 and 2011, and you can see that Layne is sufficiently worn out from the event. Let's see if we can continue the trend next year!

Tonight Rob, Courtney, Layne, and I went to the MS Braves game. We sat out on the berm so that Layne could move around as he wanted. The temp on the scoreboard read 98 degrees when we got to the ball field. Layne did really great for it being so hot. I never reallly pay attention to the game when I go to baseball games, but we had a good time anyway. I saw several of my students, so that was fun. We left in the 6th inning and the Braves were not winning. I think it was a pretty good game, though (if I had been paying attention). Layne talked and laughed all the way home, so I would say it was a successful night!

fun family night at the MS Braves game

summer slide

2011-06-02T23:36:00.000-05:00

This summer there will definitely be no summer slide for me. In the past I have spent my summers sleeping extremely too late for anyone's good and watching awful TV while attempting to do housework. Last summer I was pretty busy because Layne hasn't started daycare yet. This summer I am working at Layne's daycare with the elem age kids. This will definitely not be a boring summer. I'm looking forward to the work, but I have also enjoyed this week off, and I have actually gotten up before 8 most days. So with little responsibility this summer, I am reading more. Rob got me a Nook for Mother's Day, which I love! I'm also reading some actual books that I've had lying around the house for a while. I don't read the most thought-provoking things, but I am proud of myself for reading. I used to not get within 10 feet of a book.

But you're not here to hear about me. . . Layne is such a joy to be around these days. He is always in a great mood. His little personality is bursting forth every second he is awake. He's now got four teeth on the bottom, 2 on the top and one more cutting soon and a molar cutting on the bottom. It's like he got a couple of teeth and the teething died down, and now they are just bursting out of this mouth! I'm excited for the new things he will be able to eat. It's a whole new world!

Layne enjoyed a blue cupcake to celebrate (cousin) Sara's graduation from high school!

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted some pictures. We got a great family pic on Mother's Day.

My brother got married! :) Yay!

Layne talks up a storm all the time. It's so fun to listen to him and wonder what he's thinking in all of that babble. He will basically repeat anything you say if you ask him to. He's saying new words all the time and associating them with the real thing. He can point out his nose, ears, hair, and (funniest of all) his bellybutton. It just tortures him when you ask him where his bellybutton is and he's wearing a onesie because he can't get to it, lol. He loves playing in boxes and I wonder why we have SO MUCh baby stuff around when he is so entertained with cardboard! He's wearing size 18mo clothes and has been for some time. He can wear 24mo shirts, but he's still too skinny for the 24mo pants and shorts. He still eats really well. It's pretty much up to him if he wants to eat what we're feeding him. He's still pretty keen on feeding himself. This weekend (cousin) Kristin tried to help him start eating with a fork. It was semi-successful. He was more interested in holding the fork and picking the food off of it to put in his mouth. Too funny!

We had a great Memorial Day at Mimi and Jolene's house. We had BBQ chicken and ribs and hung out by the giraffe pool. Layne wasn't too keen on the pool. I think the water was too cool. He did get to practice walking with D-Daddy so I'd say the day was a success!

Layne was more interested in the giraffe head the came off the side of the pool.

Layne loved hanging out with his Mimi. She's been out of town at the SEC baseball tournament.

Look at my big boy!

Walk like an Egyptian!

2011-05-30T15:42:00.000-05:00

Layne is having such a good time practicing his walking. He is so close to taking off by himself all over the place!
In other news, he says a new word everyday and he will try to repeat almost anything you say. He's also got 4 teeth on the bottom and 3 teeth on the top now, and he's cutting a bottom molar. He's not big enough to have those big teeth!

Intentions, intentions

2011-05-03T22:16:00.000-05:00

So, obviously it had not worked out with weekly posts. O well, I gave it a shot.
Layne seems to learn a new word about everyday! This weekend I heard, SpongeBob, bus, and hello. I am so amazed at all the new things he picks up everyday.
Rob went up to Ohio to visit Uncle Chris so I spent the week at Mimi and Jolene's to have a little help. We had a great time hanging out over there all week. Layne spent the week at home pretty much since he had been sick. My mom stayed with him Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. Jolene was off work Thursday and Friday so he just stayed with her those days. Saturday and Sunday was spent in a mad dash for a dress for Justin and Jasmine's wedding. I didn't forget that it was coming up. I think I just let time get away from me, I actually ended up finding two dresses. I am taking one back tomorrow because I like the second one better. Layne was such a trooper with little to no nap both of those days. He could have slept in the stroller, but I guess he wasn't tired enough for that.
Monday night we headed to the ballfield to watch Rob play softball. Layne had a great time! He got to crawl all over the grass and the bleachers. He was a trooper once again, going to bed late. Rob's team lost but I think it was a good game.

Layne had a great time watching the ball.

Good game, Dad!

Also, notice the Cleveland Browns shirt that Layne is wearing. Thanks to Granny for that! She sent lots of great Ohio sports team shirts for Layne to enjoy.

Layne took this bite of banana and just crammed it in his mouth. It stayed in there for at least a couple of minutes before he broke it down enough to actually eat.

Go Buckeyes!

Layne wants to help get his bath ready with plenty of toys.

15 month appointment

2011-04-25T21:38:00.000-05:00

Layne had his 15 mo check up on Friday. This was, once again, a well check up that I had to change to a sick check up. I discovered that Layne had a fever on Thursday evening. He has had a pretty good cough for a while and his nose had been running, so I guess I knew it was just a matter of time. Thankfully, Layne still sleeps really well even when he's sick so I got to sleep a little late since I was off of school for Good Friday. We got up and had breakfast and headed to the doctor's office. Layne must have definitely been feeling bad because from the first sight of the nurse, he just cried and cried. Usually, he does really good at the doctor's office, but he didn't want to have anything to do with anybody at the office this time. I think part of the problem was that he was pretty tired because he hadn't gotten his nap yet. I think he almost went to sleep but didn't, while we were waiting for Dr. He did all of the normal things you would do for a check up except the vaccinations. We are going to walk in for that later this week. Here's Layne's latest stats:
weight - 24 lbs - 50%
height - 33 in - 95%
teeth - 4, but I think I see one on the top peeking through
eating - pretty much eats anything you give him but really wants to feed himself all the time
walking - nope! still no action since he took those first steps a few weeks ago
bottle - he still gets one at breakfast and at bedtime, but I am working on getting down to only the one at bedtime

Layne is doing the funniest things these days. He loves playing peek-a-boo with his hands. Where did Layne go?? I know it's probably not the best thing, but I let Layne play with my phone sometimes. While he's playing with it he will put it up to his ear like he's talking on the phone, but he puts the phone up backwards.
Layne is also doing some very frustrating things these days. I think my email from babycenter.com says it best: "Doing errands around town is harder than ever with a pint-size explorer in tow. Being strapped down in a car seat or stroller is the last place your toddler wants to be: Expect an earful — usually accompanied by an arched back and flailing arms and legs — when it's time to buckle up." This is my experience when Layne does not get his way. It seems to be more and more often these days. I find this age to be very frustrating because Layne knows exactly what he wants but doesn't have to words to tell me, so he gets very upset when I don't understand babble. I defintely have days when I am fit to be tied with Layne, but I love him still. He's so happy when I finally figure out what he wants to gets it for him. We don't see the Dr. again until he's 24 months old. Hopefully, we can go to that appointment telling the Dr. that Layne is walking and totally off the bottle.

Weekly Updates

2011-04-24T22:23:00.000-05:00

Ok, I think I have decided to start doing a weekly review. I think it will help me stay up to date on everything that is happening around here. I haven't so good about updating. Maybe this will help! I'm sure they'll be about more than just Layne and sometimes boring, but I hope you enjoy anyway.

Monday: Monday mornings are always hard to handle, but I was actually on time to work today. Layne was up during the night a little, but I never had to go in to his room which was nice. At one point I woke Rob up to have his turn comforting Layne, and he freaked out like something was wrong. I guess that's what happens when you wake up Daddy in deep sleep, lol. School was so so today (can't wait for summer break!!), but it's a short week. We have a field trip on Thursday and a holiday on Friday. We didn't have a faculty meeting today so I left school a little early. It turned out to not be such a good idea because Layne was still asleep when I went to pick him up. He was not a happy camper when I woke him up. We headed home and played for a while. Rob had a softball game tonight and then he was going to a concert, so we invited GranNe ove because D-Daddy is out of town and Justin and Jasmine had to work. We had Mexican for dinner, and Layne loved the quesadilla I got for him. He wasn't too keen on the beans and rice, but I sure enjoyed them! GranNe helped give Layne a bath and get him ready for bed. He went down great and Momma and I watched some TV. Hopefully, I head to bed at a resonable hour so the morning won't be so hard.

Tuesday: I started weekly updates on Monday, and by Tuesday I had already forgotten. I am a bad blogger. :) Now I am racking my brain for what we did on Tuesday, lol. I had tutoring after school and then I picked Layne up later. We had yummy breakfast burritos for dinner and watched the Biggest Loser with Courtney. Layne had a fun time playing and went down great! Rob and I cleaned up a bit and headed to bed. It was a pretty boring day.

Wednesday: Wednesday was my last technical day of school for the week, and I was giving a test so it was a great day! I left school early to get Layne and headed to Jolene and Mimi's house. Jolene was so sweet to give me her ticket to "A Chorus Line" and she kept Layne. He was spending the night anyway so it worked out great! "A Chorus Line" was great and I saw Carter and Kim, who I have missed seeing. Rob hung out with Layne until he went to sleep and then he headed home and started cleaning. He did a great job picking up the house. I got on to him for running the vacuum cleaner while Layne was asleep! Haha, he wasn't even there! I felt motivated when I got home so I helped Rob finish the den and started on the bedroom. We went to bed around 12AM, which turned out to not be such a good idea.

Thursday: Field trip day! (Here's a day I remember!) This day started off pretty rocky. I woke up at 7AM to Rob saying, "Kendra, you have to get up." I jumped out of bed and get ready quickly. Once I got to school, it was pretty much a mad house because my kids were off their schedule since I was late. We loaded up and headed to the zoo for our field trip and to meet Layne and Jolene. It was very cloudy and windy, but I was expecting it to clear out. I didn't get to see Layne until about an hour after we got to the zoo because we had to go jump on the train as soon as we got there just in case it rained. The kids got to see most of the zoo and had a great time hanging out with Layne. Layne pointed out and yelled at the animals. He had a great time. After we got off the carousel, we headed to have a bathroom break and then the bottom fell out! We got stuck sitting under this little pavilion for about 30 minutes in driving rain. Everyone was a very good sport through it all! We ended up having to go back to the school early, and get drenched in the process but we still had a great time. Principal sent us home early since it was the day before a holiday so I went to Jolene's to get Layne. He had a great afternoon nap since he didn't get a morning nap and when he woke up we found out he had a fever. :( I had to go to a Relay for Life meeting but brought him some Tylenol and put him to bed. We have his 15 month check up tomorrow, so I'm hoping this passes quickly since he has to get shots.

Friday: I ended up spending the night at Jolene's because I stayed there late and didn't want to wake Layne up since he was sick. I slept on the couch and it was pretty comfortable. Layne slept until about 9:00 so that was very nice of him considering I didn't have school. I called the Nurse and got Layne a sick apointment since he still had fever. We got ready and headed to the doctor's office. We waited a while in the waiting room and then went in to get all the stats. He was not a happy camper when he saw a nurse. He has never done that before, but I guess he just wanted his mommy since he was sick. We waited a while in the room for Dr. and Layne almost went to sleep. That would have been good for him, but he never did fall asleep. Layne ended up having a virus. Dr. did all the normal things he would do at a regular check-up except vaccinations. I was glad to be done with that appointment because Layne was just not in a good mood. He's growing well and we can drop in next week to get his vaccinations. After the appointment we went to visit Daddy at work and went to lunch. I was hoping Layne would get a good nap, but he didn't sleep long in the car. After lunch I went back to Mimi's to gather our things and hung out with Michelle and Sara for a little while. Then we headed home so Layne could take a good nap and I could get our things ready to go to Starkville. Rob got home from work and he left pretty soon after that. The drive up to Starkville was defintely long. Layne fussed and cried all the way there. It was definitely hard to sit in the car and just listen to him fuss, with there being nothing we could really do. I think he just didn't feel good. Once we got to Starkville we spent some time with Granpa and AG and Molly, and Lyn and Janelle and then went to bed.

Saturday: Rob got up early to help Lynn and Janelle set up their booth at the Cotton District Festival. I got up early to do the Cotton Mill 5K with Momma. Grandpa and Molly had Layne duty and he was definitely up with the sun. I had a good race, except for the fact that they had no water stops and didn't give out awards for the walkers. We are not planning on doing this race next year because it's the second year that they have not had water stops. That's just crazy! After the race I headed back to get ready and sit with Layne while he slept so Rob and Granpa could go up to the market. I got a shower and got to watch some girly shows on cable that I like while I waited for Layne to wake up. When he did Rob came home and picked us up for lunch and then we went back to the market together. We had a great dinner that Grandpa made. Layne's fever was gone, but he still sounded cruddy. He went to bed well, but then people kept going in the room and waking him up (me included) so he probably didn't really get to sleep until 10. We were excited for Easter Sunday. Rob, Molly, and I were going to church with my family at Grace.

So first week of updates went pretty well. Let's see how much we can keep it up. I will try to do better about pictures with it next time. :)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-18T22:26:00.000-05:00

I know it's early, but here in Clinton we celebrated early because almost everyone will be out of town next week. We had Easter dinner at Mimi's and we tried to go to an Easter egg hunt at a park near Mimi's house. They cancelled the egg hunt because of our inclement weather that we had Friday (tornadoes, if you didn't know. We are fine.) We played at the park anyway. Then Layne got to see some ducks at the pond on our walk back. I think he played hard, but he didn't take too good of a nap that afternoon.

Layne's first Easter basket (he didn't have one last year)

Layne was pretty excited about getting his Easter basket because it had lots of "balls" in it. Really, they were eggs, but who's going to burst Layne's bubble. :)

Layne loved checking out his new "balls."

We practice a little bit of walking at the park.

We went down the slide. . .

and crawled across the bridge. . .

and played a little bit of peek-a-boo.

Earlier this week we celebrated my dad's birthday. I'm so happy he was here to celebrate with us. We cooked out and had cake and ice cream. Layne had a great time with his Nana and Baba.

Happy Birthday, Baba!

Thanks for the cake!

Let's make up for me not making a mess at my birthday!

We had a great night celebrating Daddy!

2011-04-03T16:21:00.000-05:00

Yay! Baba is home! We made a trip to Oxford to visit Granny and Poppy.

Baba was determined to get Layne walking this weekend.

Layne would rather play with his new bowling set.

And play on his blanket under the tree.

And eat Cheerios. Yum!

Today after church, Layne was very upset that he hadn't had a nap yet. He cried and cried, and tried to get out of his seat, but quickly lost to sleep.

Not much of a baby anymore

2011-03-23T22:51:00.000-05:00

Let's start with some pics of our trip to Tyler.

You can't go to Texas without seeing a Longhorn.

Layne loved the hockey game! And so did Rob.

Layne had lots of fun trying to Maguire play the drums.

Our Spring Break ended with many happenings around town. Suzanne and April didn't get to go to the zoo with us because April ened up having brocitis. Poor girl! Mimi went with Layne and I to the zoo and we had a great time. Layne is more interested in the animals every time we go. He pointed a lot, and he did not enjoy being in his stroller. We had a good lunch and enjoyed the very good weather.

I spent most of the week cleaning up the house, which Rob greatly appreciated. :) On Friday night Rob's friend Shawn came to visit and we had a great night out seeing The Molly Ringwalds while GranNe and D-Daddy babysat. Saturday was the St. Paddy's Day parade. Jackson has one of the top four parades in the nation. I read somewhere that this year we attracted 65,000 people! That's pretty amazing, and the Sweet Potato Queens have their own parade this weekend! Layne didn't get such a great nap that morning so he was pretty dazed during the parade. It was also pretty hot. I am really glad w managed to find a spot in the shade. Otherwise, it would have been unbearable. The parade was good, even without the SPQ.

This was at the beginning of the parade when it was still fun.

And this was at the end of the parade when it was nap time. But look at the cute duckie beads we caught!

We went over to GranNe and D-Daddy's house for dinner Saturday night and had a great time. Layne was really happy to get home in his bed that night, I'm sure. Sunday was usual with church and then we went to Daniel's Common Ground homecoming concert. That boy can sing! He did a great job! Layne got to bed late Sunday, too, but he's a trooper to keep going out with his busy mom and dad, lol.

What's Layne up to these days??
- Layne weighs about 25 pounds and is 31 inches tall.
- He has 4 teeth, and I hope more on the way. He has been drooling up a storm lately.
- Layne can say ball, momma, duck, some form of bottle, and dog, and maybe a couple of other things.
- His favorite toy is a ball, big or small.
- Layne is not a talker. He pretty much points to everything he wants (and we give it to him, lol).
- Layne loves to dance. Rob has dubbed his dance the "Layney Bop Drop." It's too cute for words.
- He is very much still a bottle baby. Somehow we missed that sippy cup window, and he will not take a sippy cup to save his life. Maybe we'll give it another try soon.
- Layne eats practically anything you give him that has lots of flavor to it. Don't even try to feed him anything bland because he will just spit it out. Except for those days when he just decides he doesn't want to eat.
- Layne is not a walker. Yet! He is so close to taking those first steps. He will walk next to you holding one hand with pretty good balance, but he just does not want to let go. He's also not a fan and being paraded in between people. He's much rather crawl. He's a speed crawler.
- We've turned Layne's carseat around to face the front. It was hard at first because he could see us and wanted to get out and be up front with us, but he's doing great now.

My sweet baby boy is growing up. He looks more like a little boy everyday. I miss those tiny baby moments, makes me babysick for another little one. :)

Spring Break

2011-03-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went to visit Olivia in Tyler, TX. Layne did great on the ride over. He went to bed right on time and slept until we got here. We hung out with Olivia when we got here and managed to break the bed, lol. It was old, I promise. Layne went to bed pretty easily for a new place, and we woke up kind of early for a Saturday. Bob, Olivia's dad made a great breakfast and then we got ready to go to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day, and the temperature was just right. Layne had a really good time. He pointed at all the animals. We had a great picnic lunch and went home for a nap. It was Olivia's brothers' (Robby and Victor) birthdays. We went to eat at a really great, authentic Mexican restaurant. The salsa was great. The tacos were great. The sopapillas were AMAZING! And they were free! We came back to Olivia's and had dessert and Rob, Alison (her mom), and I played Scrabble. I was surprisingly good at it, better than I usually am when I play on my phone. I guess having the actual tiles there right in front of me helped. Layne slept great last night, too. I am very proud! Today Rob got his birthday present. We went to see the Dallas Stars play. They're a hockey team, just in case you were wondering. We headed over about lunch time for the 2:00 game. Rob got to walk around and look in the team store and got to see the team warm up. Layne did really great! We, of course, were not going to pay for a ticket just for his little booty so he sat in Rob's lap the whole time. We was very interested in everything going on. The game was fun, but we lost 3-2 to the LA Kings. We're home now; Layne slept the whole way there and the whole way back. Rob is cooking dinner and we are watching Madagascar 2. We're heading back to Jackson tomorrow. We may do some shopping on the way home. Then my spring break starts. I plan on hanging around the house and picking up a bit. Layne and I and Suzanne and April are going to the zoo on Wednesday.

2011-03-11T21:59:00.001-06:00

When I think back to a time before Layne, it seems there's an emptiness there.

busy life

2011-03-09T21:58:00.000-06:00

We are still alive here at the McIntyre house! I know you were wondering, lol. I feel like we are so busy all the time! I don't think we have been at home for the past several weekends. I really thought that when Layne came along we would slow down. At least a little bit. NOPE! We're here! We're there! I guess the thing that makes it almost ok with me is that we're almost always visiting family when we're off and about.

Layne has been dealing with a pretty nasty cough for the last couple of weeks. He hasn't had a fever so I'm hestitant to take him to the doctor. His ear is kind of goopy again and his eyes have gunk in the corners. I don't know. Should I take him in?

Other than being a little icky, Layne is becoming a VERY picky eater. He practically won't eat anything that he can't feed himself. This makes it very difficult to feed him lots of stuff. I feel really awful that he is not eating very well, but I guess he will eat what I'm spooning him if he's really hungry. They haven't really said anything at daycare, so I guess he's fine there.

Layne is so close to walking, it's almost annoying. He just would much rather prefer to crawl wherever he is going. It's not like he's carried everywhere. All the kids in his class are already walking, and his teacher tells me that all he does all day is walk behind those push toys. I know, don't push it. He's just so close; I'm excited to see it happen.

On the sleep front, Layne is a much better sleeper now. I think it really helps that we are trying to be very consistient with his bedtime. He'll pretty much just lie down at bedtime and go to sleep. It's so nice that we are not having to fight him to get him to sleep. He hasn't woken up early in a while, so that is nice. It really helps in the mornings when I don't have to worry about Layne waking up. On the morning front, I have been on time to work 8 out of the last 8 days! Whoo hoo! That's just a side note there!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the cabin for Courtney's birthday, and last weekend we went to Starkville to celebrate Rob's birthday. I'll leave you with some fun pictures from all of our traveling and adventuring.

Layne sitting on the Kubota with Rob at the cabin, after I told him not to take Layne on it by himself! :)

Layne practicing his stair climbing with AG. He's getting pretty good at that!

Layne is enjoying some pizza that he gets to feed himself. He's really happy about that!

It's a blog! Not a bog!

2011-02-22T21:54:00.000-06:00

I get so bogged down with worrying about what I have or have not covered in the blog. I'm sorry if I miss out on some event we did. The days go by so fast and get away from me. Nonetheless, let us move on.
Layne looked up at me tonight when I was giving him his bedtime bottle with the sweetest smile. We just looked at each other with this look that only a mother and son could exchange. I can't believe he sat still for that long. He's definitely on the move lately. He's starting to push his lion that he got for Christmas, a little further walking with it everyday. This afternoon he held on to just one hand and took a couple of steps. He's going to be walking soon! And the personality he's got! I love every bit of it!

That's a happy look, just in case you were wondering. :)

Layne was a great Valentine's date! Daddy wasn't too bad either!

(no subject)

2011-02-09T12:16:00.001-06:00

Layne has changed and grown so much! Hmm, let me think of all the fun and awesome things Layne is doing. . . Rob got to take him to his on eyare check up. He did good with his three shots. Daddy is a great comforter. Layne weighs 23 pounds and 11 ounces, I think. He is 32 inches long. For those of you who are keeping track, that's the 50% for weights and the 97% for height! We've got a tall kid! I'm not sure about all the stats because Rob forgot to get the sheet from the doctor, but I think that's close enough.
Layne is doing lots of stuff that I'm sad I haven't documented earlier. For one, Layne is saying some words. Now SOME PEOPLE don't want to claim these as words, but I'm pretty sure there's some meaning behind them. He can say duck, ball, momma, and maybe a few others. Layne now officially has 4 teeth! Gosh, that's hard to believe! The fourth one cut through Monday. It's fun to watch him learn what to do now that he has some chompers. He's always played with some foam dice that Kat and Courtney have, and the other day we had to throw them away because he bit a hole in them! Oops! Speaking of eating, Layne is very much a self-feeder. He doesn't really like to be fed by me or anyone. He pretty much lost his appetite completely when he was sick and hasn't really gotten it back fully. I'm just happy right now if he eats anything at all. We've gone back to partial formula bottles and he is doing good. I'm not sure when we'll try straight whole milk again. I want to make sure we are far from being sick befor we try again.
Layne's sleeping habits have definitely changed. We used to put him down at bedtime, say good night, turn on his music, and he was out! This is not the case anymore. Him being sick didn't really help the matter, but at some point he stopped going right to sleep and started crying when we put him down. It just occured to me that maybe that may be the seperation anxiety we're seeing during the day. He has started getting upset now when we drop him off at school or in the nursery. I'll go back in there and rock him for a while and then lie him down and he practically pops right up like he was never asleep. I think it's going to get to the point of just letting him cry it out, and we have before so it shouldn't be a big issue.
I feel like sometimes I want time to pass so fast. I'm dying to know what Layne will be like when he's grown up, but I know that this time now already goes by so fast. It's all so surreal being a mom. I love it! Let's do it again! LOL

Oh what a week we've had!

2011-02-05T20:31:00.000-06:00

Wow, times flies. This post was supposed to have been written last week, but school has been super busy, and then, of course, when I get home it's Layne time.
Like I said in his birthday post, Layne was starting to get sick that day. He had a little fever at his birthday party and it just went downhill from there. I stayed home with him from church on Sunday. All the days run together now, but Layne was just not a happy boy. He spent the night with Jolene and Mimi Sunday night because Mimi kept him. I was practically a basketcase at school all day worrying if he was ok. We had his one year appointment on Tuesday (his birthday), but I knew it was going to be a sick visit. You know we had a great lunch date planned, but that didn't happen. Rob stayed home with Layne that day and it's a good thing because he said Layne didn't sleep any longer than 15 minutes at a time all night. Poor guys! I got off work at 11:30 and headed home. Rob got to shower and feel normal again and Mimi came over to help. The whole time Layne was sick he had this awful cough and his nose was just pouring snot. It was so sad to see him like that, especially on his birthday. We got to the doctor and his temp had risen 2 degrees since I took it 30 minutes earlier. How does it do that?! I was really surprised when they took. The nurse gave him Motrin and the dr. checked him out. They did a flu test and Mimi heard him screaming from the waiting room. The flu test came back negative, which is good, and Dr. gave us some heavy duty cough medicine. Once we got home and gave it to him, I could already tell he was feeling a little better.

Here's Layne sleeping in the doctor's office. He looks pitiful, right?

My mom kept him on Wednesday and then again on Thursday. Those were both ok days, and then Jolene stayed with him on Friday. Layne pretty much had a fever for an entire week. He spent almost every day in some one's lap and he almost never wanted to practice standing up. Once he got his good medicine, he was pretty much on a roller coaster. He would be totally happy and crawl around playing, and then he would decide that he wasn't happy and wanted to be held. I really thought we would never get our old Layne back; this illness seemed like it would never end. I stayed home with him again on Sunday. He didn't have a fever, but we just wanted to be sure. Layne has never been this sick, and I have to say I did not like it at all! He is definitely back to normal now. His appetite is not fully back, but it's getting better.
Throughout this whole week we have had a problem with milk. It being his first birthday we were switching him over to whole milk. Oh man! That was a disaster! For two weeks before I had been mixing whole milk with formula and gradually increasing the amount of whole milk. He did great! Then his birthday rolled around the we went straight whole milk. This also coincided with him being sick. Every time we gave him whole milk, he threw up. Yuck, I know! We first thought it was because of his temp, but quickly realized that it was the straight whole milk. So, guess what? I had to buy another can of formula. Boo, I know! He has not gotten sick once since he's been back on formula, so we're going back there for a little while. Moms, what do you know about giving baby 2% instead of whole milk? I am so glad to be going back to church tomorrow!

Valentine card

2011-01-29T12:00:00.001-06:00

Elegant Collage Red Valentine's Day Card

Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Party Time!

2011-01-29T00:13:00.001-06:00

Layne's birthday party was a great success! The festivities started on Friday night when Aunt Cait and Uncle Ben came over to help me bake and decorate Layne's cake. I got the idea for his cake and birthday party theme from a friend of mine who decorates beautiful cakes. I was really worried about how the cake would come out of the over, not so much how the decorating would look. I knew Caitlin could help me with that. Well, it was a baking masterpiece! I was very happy about the way the cake came out and really appreciate Caitlin's help!

Saturday morning, Grandpa and AG came down early and we got to spend the day with them before the party. Layne had a really good lunch and shopping trip to Sam's. Then we headed to the church to start decorating. Lots of people were there to help get everything ready. We really appreciate the extra help. The party would not have gone off without a hitch without the help of my great family and friends! We had lots of family and friends that were able to make it to the party, and we really missed you if you weren't able to come! Layne's party had a farm theme all around. I'm sure in the future he'll thank me for picking such a great theme!

Once everyone arrived we snacked on munchies and visited with everyone. Rob did a really great job of making sure that Layne got around to see everyone at the party. After we had our fill of snacks, it was cake time! I made Layne his own little smash cake. He wasn't so much interested in it, but that could be contributed to the fact that he had a little fever. This was the beginning of an awful week where Layne pretty much kept a fever for 5 days - more about that later. Layne finally smashed around in his cake and we sang to him. I think he liked the fact that everyone had all eyes on him.

We invited many people to Layne's party. With both of our parents being remarried, Rob and I have lots of immediate family. We also have many close friends, and we wanted to have everyone there to share in Layne's special day. In the planning, I think I figured on too much food. We took so much home!! Next year, I'll know how to plan better! Following the cake cutting, we helped Layne open his presents. I can't believe how sweet and generous everyone was with their gifts for Layne. I know he feels the love! He wasn't so much in to opening the gifts, but I think he enjoyed sitting on Daddy's lap while everyone watched him.

I have to give out the award for the farthest traveled to be here for Layne's birthday. And it goes to. . .

Daddy!

I can't tell you how happy I was when I found out that Daddy would get to be here for Layne's party. He works overseas and gets to come home only about every 4 months.

Thanks to everyone for their help and participation to make Layne's party so AWESOME!

Can I be honest?

2011-01-26T00:57:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a while and I apologize. Layne's party was a great success and I'll be sure to post all about that later with pictures. Yesterday was Layne's birthday and he has been sick since Saturday. It has progressively gotten worse with coughing and a fever as high as 103.1. Can I say I'm disappointed in how Layne's first birthday ended up? I am so sad that he is sick. This is the first time he's been sick like this and you can really tell that he just does not feel good at all, even when the fever comes down. I hurt so bad for him. It makes me sick that he feels so awful, and Rob, too. Our original plan was for each of us to take a half day and have a lunch date and then take Layne for his check-up. Obviously, that didn't happen. I guess I had built it up to be this fabulous day, and I am just really disappointed that it didn't happen that way. When Layne grows up and asks what he did on his first birthday, I'll be telling him about the virus he had and how he screamed bloody murder when Dr. swabbed his nose. I'm just so sad for him that he had a really awful day. And I'm sad that he had an awesome birthday shirt that almost no one saw and the people who did didn't even acknowledge his birthday. Birthdays are really important to me. It's a great day to just make the birthday boy or girl feel special and loved all day. It's THEIR day and Layne didn't get that chance. Thanks for letting me vent.

2011-01-07T21:53:00.000-06:00

So, the email posting worked. That's good to know. It even posted my email signature; that's funny. You don't want to hear about email posting, do you?! You want to hear about Layne!

We have 3 teeth now! His top tooth on the right hand side cut through just the other day. I am so glad it's here because he was not in the best of moods the last few days. We've gotten out of our good sleeping habit of just putting him down and him falling asleep on his own. I'm not sure when we got out of practice for this, but it's time to go back! We're also starting to put Layne to bed earlier now. His bed time has been 9:00 (don't scold me!) and he gets up at 7:30. Rob almost always has to wake him up. He has two good naps at daycare and then comes home between 4:00-5:00 and most days he is sleepy again around 5:00. I know he should be getting more sleep at night, so now we're going to push through the sleepiness at 5:00 and put him to bed earlier. Tonight I felt awful for him, but after his bath and bottle I rocked him for a couple of songs and put him down. He was drowsy and fighting keeping his eyes open but as soon as I laid him down, he rolled over and stood up and started crying. I went back once and rocked him a little more and then I just had to let him cry it out. He fell asleep within about 10 minutes, I think. He'll thank me in the morning when he's slept well. There's not much other update news. He's getting around really great by gliding on the furniture. I think those leg muscles are getting stronger, but I doubt he'll be walking by his birthday. Maybe it won't be long after that that he does. I am so looking forward to Layne's birthday! It is so surreal that my little baby will be 1. We are going to have lots of family and close friends there, and I am looking forward to the fellowship. Layne won't know what's going on, but I hope he has a good time. I've tried to plan the time around his naptime so we won't have a grouchy bug. He wants to know what's going on everywhere anyway, so even if he were tired he probably wouldn't nap. Oh, mom, I need your help! Layne is not digging the idea of a sippy cup. I've tried a couple of different ones with milk and juice, but he either naws on the spout or doesn't even attempt to drink anything. I have a feeling it's about time to move away from the bottle. Any advice? The other day I let him drink some with the top off and then put the top back on, and he kinds of got the concept of sucking on the spout but still didn't seem very interested. I guess it's not the end of the world if he doesn't get it.
Countdown update: 18 days until Layne's birthday!

Testing

2011-01-07T21:31:00.001-06:00

I love blogger! I just discovered that I can email posts in. Every time I think of something I wish blogger did, I find it! So this is me testing to make sure the email posting works.

--
Kendra L McIntyre

(601)927-7055
kendralmcintyre@gmail.com

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T21:30:00.001-06:00

Time always flies by between posts. I need to be more prompt in my posts so I don't forget everything that happens. Let's see if I can remember all the happened Christmas weekend and this weekend.

After Christmas Eve at church and IHOP, Rob and Layne and I settled in for a good night's sleep. Everyone woke up refreshed and excited about Christmas day! Layne had a good time snuggling with Daddy while I got everything ready to go over to Mimi and Jolene's.

We made it to Mimi and Jolene's house before most and found lots of goodies from Santa. I think Layne was pleasantly surprised with his first stocking. The whole day pretty much overwhelmed him, I think. There were so many people at Mimi and Jolene's; it took 30 minutes to put him down for his nap. D-Daddy took care of that and he did a great job. Layne got lots of toys including a push-and-ride lion that he loves, some books, and a Radio Flyer wagon to tow all his loot home in. We had a great lunch (which Layne and D-Daddy slept through) and then we headed up to Starkville.

We got up to Starkville around dinnertime and opened presents (part 2). Once again, Layne got lots of toys that he loves and even some clothes, and ANOTHER Radio Flyer wagon to tow all that loot home in! Can you believe it?! Two wagons?! They are different and I can definitely see different uses for each of them. I am just so thankful for family that loves Layne to pieces and wants to go all out for him!!

Layne had a great time opening all of his presents, I'll say. Haha, he wasn't really interested in the presents or the wrapping but he did like to play with all the toys once we got home. Layne even got to hang out with his cousin, Grayson. They pretty much ignored each other the whole time. He's not really interested in actually playing with other kids, just pushing past them to get to the toy he wants, lol.

The rest of the week was pretty good. Lots of us went shopping in Tupelo on Sunday. We headed back home on Monday and I had a relaxing week around the house. Layne didn't go to daycare at all because Jolene and Sara came over to play on Tuesday and I went to lunch with Suzanne and April on Thursday (they were closed on Friday) so Wednesday didn't seem worth it. We had a good week, though. I was worn out by the time Rob got home everyday. Being a stay-at-home mom is tiring! Thursday was a good day spent shopping again with Jolene. We got lots of good Christmas deals. Everything was 75% off! Rob had Friday off again so he gave me a hand with Layne while I cleaned up the house a bit. I actually got the front guest room cleared out, just to add more junk to the room! It's not really just; that is just the room that stores all of Layne's big things like strollers, wagons, and his baby stuff he doesn't use anymore.

My twinkie boys had a good New Year's Eve. Layne spent it with Jolene. He rang in the new year by sleeping tight with donkey. Rob and I rang in the new year with some friends, Scotty and Nancy Lynn. We played board games and had Chinese food. At midnight we toasted and popped party crackers. I think we got into bed at 2AM. That's the latest I've stayed up in a long time. I was pretty exhausted. Rob and I got to sleep in because Layne had spent the night with Jolene. It was so nice! We headed over to have lunch and watch the State game. It was A-mazing! State beat the snot out of Michigan so Rob was really happy! Momma, Dwane, Mimi, Sara, Ellis, and Kristin are there, along with countless other friends of mine. I'm sure it was a great day in Jacksonville. Layne had a really good time ringing his cowbell.

Tomorrow is church (which I am so happy to go back to; we've missed so much because we've been traveling) and Monday is back to work. Here's a good spot for a coutdown: 25 days until Layne's birthday, 22 days until Layne's party, and 5 months until school is out.

Layne's birthday invite!

2010-12-28T13:42:00.001-06:00

Twelve Months Blue Birthday Invitation

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And the stockings were hung

2010-12-24T20:56:00.000-06:00

by the chimney with care.

Tonight was beginning of many Christmas Eves I'm sure we will enjoy and cherish so much more. We went to Christmas Eve communion service at church with all of my family. Then we had dinner at IHOP. It used to be the only place open on Christmas Eve. There's nothing like a breakfast dinner on a cold night.

Layne had his first Create-a-Face pancake, and he ate all the fruit and about half of the pancake!

MERRY

CHRISTMAS

FROM

THE McINTYRE'S!

2010-12-15T23:01:00.000-06:00

Rob and Layne at Canton's Christmas lights on the Square.

Layne really enjoyed chili for dinner last night.

Layne likes to feed himself now. Tonight he emjoyed marinara chicken, potatoes, and bananas.

Oh, I think he liked it!

This week we made a step up. Layne got a new carseat! He's moving on up in the world. He's not too big for his infant carseat yet, but he probably will be soon. We found one for a good deal and I think Layne loves it already. The only sad thing is that if Layne falls asleep in his carseat I have to wake him up to get him out of the car. Now we just need one more. We can still use his infant seat in Rob's car for the time being, but when he outgrows it, we will have to leave it at daycare and pick it everyday. That does not sound like my idea of a good time!

Layne is so fun to play with these days. He is pretty much into anything that is within his reach, but I try to keep precarious things out of reach (except poop, of course! JK). Right now he likes pulling the VHSs off the shelf and crawling back to his room and unloading his bookshelf. I haven't gotten him to help me clean up after him yet. Come on! He can't just put them back when he's done?!

There are 1.5 days of school left. I CANNOT wait for Christmas break! Tomorrow is the Math test early in the morning and then they are going to create their Christmas Bingo board, go to lunch, a Christmas program, and then recess. What a day! I will be so happy for a few days to sleep in! Layne gets to keep going to daycare to play with his friends. Yay for me!

We got our Christmas cards today so this weekend Rob and I get to address them all. Then about a week after that we get to address all of Layne's birthday party invitations. Oh my! I can't believe Layne is about to be 1! I'm excited about the party. I hope all of our family is going to get to come to see Layne. I just had a brilliant idea! We should schedule out one-on-one time with Layne so that all the family can really get some time with him. That would be too funny! "I'm sorry, Granny. You can't come to the party right now. Your assigned time is 2:00. See you then." LOL It's going to be crazy but a lot of fun!

Quick Update

2010-12-15T00:18:00.001-06:00

I feel like we have been running NON-STOP for the last week or so. I'll make this update short and sweet to avoid it being long and drawn out, and it's past my bedtime anyway. Pictures will come later!
Last Saturday Aunt Cait, Uncle Ben, Jolene, Layne, and I went to the opening of the new MS Children's Museum. It was awesome! Everyone should make their way out there when they get the chance. It's not really geared toward the younger kids, but it's still really cool to walk through. We also got to see "Between the Lions" at the Natural Science Museum. I think Layne enjoyed it, but who really knows? :)
Sunday was D-Daddy's birthday lunch. I wasn't feeling so great so I spent a lot of time on the couch, but Layne had a great lunch - sweet potatoes, catfish.
Last week happened to have been a week that falls where I have Bunco on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Bunco at Carrie's was really fun. I won the door prize, which was a really cute snowflake platter - very handy in the holiday party season! Thursday was my mom's Bunco group, but I ended up not going to that because Caitlin invited Layne and I to her office Christmas party. They had a cake walk, Bingo, door prizes, and Santa. I guess I should have known, but Layne did NOT like Santa. Mrs. Claus was snapping pictures and Caitlin picked it up for me. It's a classic "baby crying on Santa's lap" shot. I felt bad for Layne but I couldn't help but laugh. Before the Santa shot, we had a mishap in the food line. I was holding Layne on my hip and he peed on me! Who knows how, but he definitely missed the diaper, and I had no other shirt. It was a bit yucky walking around with a wet spot on my shirt, but what could we do? Friday was Bunco at Anna's house, and it was, to say the least, hilarious. We had a really great time and we burned off a lot of calories from all the laughing. We exchanged gifts and even made a trip to Walgreens. Sadly, they were closed. I picked up Layne and headed home to sleep in a big bed by myself.
Saturday morning, Layne let me sleep late. We got up around 9, took naps, and headed out to shop with Jolene. We went to the Flowood flea market and found a high chair for Jolene and Mimi's house for $10! Then we headed out to Dogwood. Oh my! What a crazy idea! Chick-fil-a was a mad house and Layne didn't want to eat anything but french fries. After a little more shopping I headed up to Starkville. Layne did great all day and slept all the way to Starkville.
Earlier Friday Rob flew up to Ohio to help his sister move down to Starkville. He was driving back on Saturday with her and her kids. I headed up to Starkville Saturday evening to join them. They got in around 10:30 which was really amazing for the drive they had. I think Layne enjoyed playing with his two cousins. We hung out on Sunday and headed back home a little later than usual so we could spend some extra time with Leslie and everyone.
Monday night was Rob's office Christmas party. We had dinner at O'Charley's with everyone. I had a really good time chatting with all the wives. Momma and Dwane kept Layne. I think he had a really great time playing. What a life! Play, eat, sleep, poop!
This week is set to be pretty low-key. We are taking nine weeks tests at school, so all we're doing all day is reviewing and testing. Super fun. Friday is our Christmas party and early release. The teachers normally have to stay until 3:15 but we get to leave when our grades are posted. I am going to make sure that is done Thursday after their test! This weekend we are going up to Oxford to visit Granny and Poppy. They haven't gotten to see Layne since he's really been on the move. It should be an interesting weekend.

McIntyre Family Christmas cards done!

2010-12-07T22:26:00.001-06:00

Snowman Wishes Holiday Card

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Picture yourself this Christmas!

2010-12-02T21:02:00.000-06:00

So apparently, I didn't follow directions the first time. :) Here's shot number two!

I am so excited about getting our Christmas cards from Shutterfly this year. I am very excited to share my cute little family with all of our family and friends this Christmas. We are getting together with D-Daddy this weekend to take pictures. We may do a few in front of the Christmas tree or outside somewhere pretty. He's pretty good with a camera so I'll let Dwane tell us what to do. :) I am hoping to get a cute photo card that has lots of spots for pictures. I've been looking at them here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards. I want to put in some pictures of our whole family and some of just Layne looking cute! I have used Shutterfly before to print shots of Layne and I've really loved the way they work send you great deals just for signing up with an account. I am really excited about creating a photo calendar (http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars). How great would it be to see Layne every month of the year and every day of the week?! Ooh! I'm getting lots of good ideas of what to do with pictures of my sweet boy! What about a canvas print (http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art)? That would be so neat! I love the Christmas season because we got lots of cute Christmas cards from our friends and family. Some of them live far away so it's great to see how their families are doing and how much they've grown since last year. Here's just a peek of how cute our Christmas card will be!!

Speaking of growing, our Layne keeps going and going and going (haha). After his special snack incident on Tuesday, Layne is doing great! We gave him a good bath and while he was in the shower, I first noticed that he's practicing lots of different sounds. He's not stuck on just "bababa" now. He's making lots of new sounds - whoo, haaa, geee, duuu. Those aren't exact quotes, but you get the point. It's exciting because it seems like he's that much closer to really speaking. I'm so excited to hear what his voice will be like.
I had to go pick Layne up from daycare today because he had a fever. When I got there he was just playing and as happy as he could be, so I was sure I would get home and check his temp myself and he would be fine. No! 102.2 - what?! I got him tylenol and he's been playing all night. Now, it's bed time and he's getting fussy but I expect that. D-Daddy gets to come stay with Layne tomorrow. His fever's broken now so hopefully it will stay that way.
Happy Holiday! 10 more days!

Warning: TMI

2010-11-30T23:27:00.000-06:00

Babies do some pretty gross things. They spit up. They poop. They're snotty. They make a mess when they try to feed themselves. They poop in the bathtub (which Layne has done, but Rob got the pleasure of cleaning that one up and I wasn't even here to see it - not that I wanted to see it. . . anyway). Tonight has got to beat all that I've heard or seen. Rob was preoccupied; I think he was taking a shower. I was watching Layne. He was crawling around on the floor and we have a bookcase that holds all our movies, and Layne likes to pull down the ones he can reach. So I was watching him play and I notice this brown stuff on his face so I wiped it off. Then I noticed my hands smelled funny. I didn't think much about it and kept playing with him. A little bit later I noticed another something brown on his face and wiped that off. Man, my hands really stink, I thought. Oh my! Come to find out through some investigating that Layne put dog poop IN HIS MOUTH! Our dog Dottie has issues with pooping in the house, but I have no idea where he got the poop. I never saw any on the floor. Poor Layne, by the time I realized what was going on I had to scoop it out of his mouth and he almost choked on it, making him throw up. I felt so bad for him. Needless to say, the next thing we did was give him a bath and wash his mouth out really well. He seems fine. I, of course, called my mom and she said he would be fine. I really felt like I needed to call the doctor, but she said he would be fine so I let it slide. I'll be sure to let you know if anything else happens.

Ok, moms, if you made it this far (and I don't blame you if you didn't), has anything gross like this happened with your sweet angel? :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-11-29T21:28:00.000-06:00

The Christmas season has officially begun in our house! We began the decorating last night. We haven't got a tree up, but we have almost everything else done. I am excited about decorating for Layne. We are, in fact, at Mimi and Jolene's tonight for Layne to see their tree. He finds it very interesting.
Speaking of Christmas, we have got to get our Christmas card picture done soon so we can send them out. Shutterfly is doing a great deal, where you blog about them and you get 50 photo cards for free! What a great deal since that is about how many we will need for our wonderful family and friends! I love Shutterfly! I use it all the time to print my pictures of sweet Layne, and it's supper easy. Just click HERE to get started. We hope everyone is having a good holiday season so far! Don't forget to visit Santa!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-27T20:37:00.000-06:00

Quick update!
Wednesday Layne went to daycare and I cleaned up the house. That night we went to a get-together and played games. Layne had a good time crawling all over the place. Courtney and Kat live near Mimi so I took Layne over there at betime and he got to sleep while we got to play. It was a fun night.
Thursday morning I got up bright and early to do the Thanksgiving Day 8k with Jolene and my mom. Layne also went because Jolene signed me up for the stroller divison. Oh, this was not a good idea! Before we even got to the 1 mile marker, I had to pick Layne up and carry him. By mile 2, I was the last person in the race. The Highway Patrol car went like 2 mph behind me to bring up the rear of the race. It was sad. Layne was sad. I thought about quitting or calling someone to come get me several times, but I didn't quit. When there was about a mile left, a lady picking up signs came and walked with me. She pushed the stroller while I carried Layne. At about a 1/2 mile left, Jolene and Momma caught up to me. I finished the race by putting Layne in the stroller to cross the finish line. I made it! We went to play in the grass and wait for the results because they were giving away turkeys and pies. We didn't win one of those, but while I was stuffing my face with oranges they called my name! I won 2nd place in my age group! Who can believe that?! It was a pretty good race and I am glad I finished it.

This is Layne doing the no-hands bottle during the race. Part of the short time that he let me put him down.

Layne was so happy that his Gran-ne stole some bananas for him!

A smiling mommy after I won 2nd place in my age division!

After the race we headed to Mimi's to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great lunch and Layne did, too! He got to play with lots of family and eat some great Thanksgiving food. He took good naps that day, too. After supper Rob and I headed back home to pack for Grandpa and AG's. Layne slept the whole way and was perfectly behaved. Black Friday was spent leasurely watching TV and eating leftovers. Friday night Rob and I had a date to the MS State basketball game. We won and we got to spend some time with our friends John and Andrea. They have a little boy, Sean, so she and I talked about our boys and Rob and John talked about sports. We had a good night. Layne had a great time with Grandpa and AG while we were gone. He ended up falling asleep in their bed and slept there all night! He looked so cute tucked into their bed. Today Angie and I went to Tupelo to do a little shopping. We went to Sam's and the Tupelo Holiday Market. We had a great girls day! Now we are enjoying State beat the h*** out of The School Up North. Gotta love those stupid black bears! Go Dawgs! It has been a great weekend!

Hope you feel as stuffed with good food, good family, and lots of love this holiday season like we do!

Oh no! I missed a day!

2010-11-23T20:09:00.000-06:00

But I have a very good excuse! I usually wait until Layne goes to bed to write my blogs. Last night we put Layne to bed about 9:00 as usual and he woke up 3 times before 11:00. Every time he was screaming crying and not happy. He didn't have a temp so I have no idea what was wrong. I don't want to admit it might be his ears. We CANNOT afford another doctor's visit. I felt so awful for him because there was really nothing I could do to make him feel better. At about 11:30 I decided to take him for a drive. We drove around Raymond for about 45 minutes. He went to sleep almost immediately which made for a nice ride around a small town in the middle of the night. I got back home and just carried his seat into his room and let him sleep. He woke up again at 2 and went back to sleep fairly quickly and slept until 9:30. Today has been so good compared to last night. He has been in a great mood!

Today I decided not to send him to daycare because he would just be there for a couple of hours. We went to the Dr.'s to get Layne's second flu shot, and he did great! He just wimpered a little bit and then he was happy! Then I met Suzanne and April for lunch and had a great time talking about nothing and everything. Layne was really good and I think he had a good time with little April. She was really good, too. Suzanne says she cried a lot but I don't see it. :)
After lunch I dropped Layne off at D-Daddy's house because I was going to finally get my message and pedicure that Rob got me when I had Layne. It was FA.BU.LOUS! It was an hour long massage and I highly recommend it! Look at my cute toes!

After my massage and pedicure I went to Target to pick up something and then headed to get Layne. Momma even let us stay for dinner. It was super good and we got to hang out with Justin and Jasmine. We watched Glee and now we're about to head home. Tomorrow will, hopefully, be filled with cleaning the house. We'll see how that plan goes.

You can't really see it, but Layne is wearing his Egypt shirt from his Baba.

Going for a ride with Daddy!

Can we go for another ride??

Peek-a-Boo!

Day two - doing good!

2010-11-22T00:39:00.000-06:00

Day two of Thanksgiving break was very relaxing. We ended up staying home from church because Rob has not felt well all week and Layne is still very snotty and yucky. I didn't want to have to sit through church with him again. That was a hassle since he is now so mobile and wanting to play all the time. It ended up being a good thing because Layne got two really good naps today since we stayed home, and Rob and I got to just relax and I think Rob is feeling better after doing nothing all day. We ended up dog sitting for a friend of ours while she was in town today. Ella and Dottie liked having a new friend, I think, and Layne loved the new puppy around the house. This evening, we went over to Courtney and Kat's place because Elliot is home! Yay! Eeeellllliot! He lives in Arizona so we don't get to see him very much so it was good to spend some time with him.

Yesterday was a wonderful wedding day! The weather was perfect and Terri and Scott's wedding was so beautiful! Layne was perfectly behaved through the service and I think he had a great time during the reception. After the wedding, we headed over to Jolene's house to watch the MS State/Arkansas game. Oh, it was a good game but we just couldn't hold on until the end; very heart-breaking.

Ok, so technically I missed today by 36 minutes. That's ok; at least I tried. Tomorrow (or today) is set to be completely relaxing again. Rob is taking Layne to daycare, as usual, so I'll get to sleep late. I'm sure I'll do some work around the house but let's not get too ambitious! This will be a happy Monday!

Happy Day, Terri!

2010-11-20T12:16:00.000-06:00

Today my good friend Terri is getting married! I'm so happy for her and Scott and I know they will be so happy, especially in the warm islands down south next week! So I saw Terri last weekend and she said she would like an update a day, so while I am home for Thanksgiving break, I'm going to give it to her. Just think of it, Terri, as a wedding present! Haha! I'm sure you're going to read my blog on your Honeymoon! (You should, you know! LOL)

So today will be filled with wedding goodness. It has already started with sleeping goodness! Layne slept until about 8:30. I was supposed to get up with Layne and let Rob sleep in because he isn't feeling well. Well, because he isn't feeling well he can't really sleep either so he was up before me. We played all morning after breakfast and then I put Layne down for his nap. Then Rob and I went back to sleep! It was very nice to get some extra sleep. In fact, Rob is still back there snoozing (and so is Layne, which is good because he probably won't get a good afternoon nap because of the wedding)! I better go wake him up if we want to be on time for this wedding!

I retracted my statement about Layne's second tooth a few weeks ago. It was just below the surface, the dentist said. Well, now it has broken through! The ladies at daycare have said that his appetite hasn't been too great this week and maybe that is why. It does look so crooked, though. I can't say whether his accient has anything to do with that, and I have to remember that these are baby teeth. Maybe his adult teeth will come in straight, but I don't have much hope for that either because Rob and I both had braces. Yippee!

2010-11-15T21:30:00.000-06:00

Layne's tooth is all healed up. I got to take a pretty good look at it today, and it looks ok. You can see that it definitely got pulled forward. The gum doesn't really cover the bottom of the tooth anymore. I haven't gotten to look behind the tooth yet. Layne's doing good, though. He doesn't seem to have any ill effects from the incident, which is good.

On Saturday, we went to the Clinton Christmas Market on the Brickstreets. Layne had a good time talking to the ladies walking by and commenting on how cute he is. Then we went shopping with Sara and tried to help her pick out a hat. How do you like Layne's hat, Rachael??
Saturday night we went to Mimi and Jolene's to watch the State game. Do you think it could have gone a little bit better!!?? Layne had a good time with Gran-ne, though.

Monkey see, monkey do??

On Sunday, Aunt Cait and Uncle Ben invited everyone over for Sunday lunch. We cooked out on the grill and had a good Sunday lunch. Layne got to meet Colby and Zoe, Caitlin and Ben's dog and cat. Layne really liked Zoe. He kept trying to chase her around. I'm not so sure that Zoe liked him so much.

Next week, I am really excited about Thanksgiving break. Layne will get to play with his friends at school and get to leave early some days while Mommy gets to sleep late! We are going to Starkville over the weekend to see Granpa and AG. We haven't seen them in a few weeks. They're going to love how Layne gets around now!

If it's not one thing. . .

2010-11-09T23:03:00.000-06:00

I guess I am beginning to know to true meaning of being a parent . . . doctor bills! But before we get to that, Layne went to his first football game! My brother, Daniel, is in the high school band at Northwest Rankin so we went to see him play. He plays the drums, but he is in the pit in the marching band. Friday night was really cold! Before we went to the game we stopped by JC Penny and got Layne's winter coat. It's so wierd buying clothes for your kid because you kind of have to guess at how long he's going to be at this current size and how long he's going to be able to wear something. Hopefully, this coat will last him through the cold months. We also found a cute tobaggan, scarf, and mittens. I was really glad we found those once we had been at the game for a while. We wrapped Layne up tight and I think he had a good time. He didn't move around too much. I think he liked being snuggled. Although Layne doesn't look like he's having a good time, I think it was a good night. :)

This weekend Layne also had his first traumatic accident. I know; did you just jump to the edge of your seat?? Don't worry. Let me tell you the end of the story first - he's fine. Courtney and Kat came over for dinner and a movie on Sunday night. Layne was playing on his Exer-saucer, just standing next to it and nawing on it. Courtney went over to pick him up and somehow his tooth got pulled on pretty hard. There was lots of traumatic crying and blood. I called my mom first, of course. I'm not sure why I always call her first because she always just tells me to call the on-call nurse for my doctor and I could save a lot of time by just calling them first, lol. So I spoke to the nurse and she basically said there was nothing we could do except try to push the tooth back in. It wasn't pulled out completely, just pushed forward a good bit. Rob tried to put ice on it but Layne was having none of that. He calmed down after a little while and took a bottle fine. We thought he was going to sleep but he didn't end up settling down until about 11:15. On Monday I called my pediatric dentist and they suggested we just bring him in to take a look. Rob took him, and they said he was the best patient they'd seen all day! Dr. said his roots are deep and the gum should tightened up and it should straighten up on its own. I was so happy that he was going t be fine, but I was really upset for a couple of days. It's very nerve-wracking when your child gets hurt or is sick. I really felt awful Sunday because I just kept thinking about all the accidents that will happen in the future and how I can do nothing to stop them. I almost feel like Layne's got to be in a little bubble so he doesn't get hurt anymore, or sick. I am really glad that he is fine. He's eating well and sleeping well. He's a bit more fussy than usual, but the dentist said he shouldn't be in any pain and today I was able to peek in there and see how it's healing already. I think Layne will like going to the dentist, though. He got a couple cool toys that he loves. I tried to get a picture of him with his new toys, but this is all I got. He got a rubber ducky that is actually a dog-duck (??) and sunglasses that are shaped like monkeys.

In other fun news, we are on table food all the time. Is this more stressful or less stressful for Mommy? Good question! I think it is actually more stressful because Rob and I are not the best eaters and I am really trying hard to make sure Layne eats good fruits and veggies. I am happy that we're not spending money on baby food anymore. Now if we could just make it to the 12 month mark and stop buying formula. But while we're in a hurry for Layne to grow up and get big, let's remember the olden days. :)

Whoa is me!

2010-10-31T23:38:00.000-05:00

We have had quite an eventful week around here. It all started on Monday when Layne turned 9 months old! As a nine month old, he's moving and shaking! Layen likes to crawl sometimes. He's still pretty good with his swim mode. He's acutally doing somewhat of an elephant walk where he gets up on his hands and feet with straight legs. It's too funny! We have started meat and incorporating table food. I think he's much more fond of the table food than the meat baby food. I don't think I'm too sad about that.

Then on Tuesday morning at 2AM, Layne woke up crying and I gave Rob the priviledge of getting up with him. Well, it wasn't five minutes before I was up and running around the house like a crazy person. When Rob picked Layne up, he was on fire. We took his temp and it was 104!!! I freaked - of course! I called my mom and she answered in one ring. I called the on-call nurse for our doctor and she gave me general instructions for what to do with a fever. She said that if it went up to call back. Layne was super upset, but we finally got him calmed down, gave him some Tylenol, and got him back to sleep. I stayed home with him that day. We went to the doctor that mornig and I learned nothing. It was probably something viral but he said he wasn't sure since his left ear was slightly inflammed. They did a blood test and, poor baby, hated it because they had to squeeze on his finger for a while. We went home and had a good afternoon. His fever had broken by 12:30 and we played after lunch. At about 2:30 he seemed a little tired so I figured we would take a nap together. We headed back to the bedroom and, I promise, it was 45 minutes of him crawling all over the bed and sitting up and lying down and playing before he actually went to sleep. And all of this while I was trying to pretend like I was asleep so he might go to sleep. We ended up sleeping for about 3 hours. That was a nice nap since we both had been up for a while in the middle of the night.

Jolene stayed with Layne on Wednesday and he was fever-free all day. We were ready to go for school the next day. Wednesday night I kept Layne home from church and went by Mimi's to take care of some pictures on their computer. Rob came to pick him up on his way home from church. He thought he felt a little hot, and sure enough - when he got him home and got him ready for bed, he had a fever! D-Daddy stayed with Layne on Thursday morning. He had his regularly scheduled 9 month appointment that afternoon so I was already taking that afternoon off. We got a good report from the doctor, except that he had a little fever again. His temp had been doing a roller coaster all day. At 9 months, Layne weighs 20 pounds 7 ounces and is 30 inches long. Doctor says he's leveling off with his weight in the 50%, but he's still way up there in height, of course. :) Thursday night was my school's fall festival and Rob bundled up Layne and came with me. Layne (and Rob) got to meet all my teacher friends so that was fun. On Friday, Gran-ne stayed with Layne. I am so thankful that we have so much family close by to love on us.
Saturday was our church's Trunk-or-Treat and this year our group did Toy Story. Layne was a great little alien. Sadly, I didn't get to see him in person because Momma, Mimi, and I were at a football game. I think they had a great time at T-o-T, though.

Do you see a toy you'd like to win in this game?

Jessie, Buzz, Bo Peep, Alien, Woody

Layne had a pretty good afternoon except that he didn't take a nap. He's that type that gets easily distracted. If there's too much going on or too many people to see, he won't go to sleep or eat. So no nap that afternoon and then at dinner time, Rob said he didn't want to eat. He took his bottle so we weren't too worried.

And now, finally Sunday. (I know this has been long. Thanks for staying with me.) Sunday morning we let Layne sleep a little later since he didn't get to bed on time Saturday night. We headed to church and ended up getting called out of Sunday School because Layne was acting unusually fussy. He's usually pretty good and happy. He plays and then takes a nap. He was not having it today. I walked around with him and tried to rock him. Well, he got in there with D-Daddy and played and played. What a stinker! This morning on the way to church I did find a second tooth! Maybe that's why he's been so stinky lately. He had really been kind of a pill, compared to how he normally acts. He's going back to school and will hopefully have a smooth week.

It didn't work!

2010-10-22T23:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, so the video upload was taking WAY too long, even at Mimi's house. So I guess I gave up. I did get to post a couple of videos on Facebook. So I'll stop talking and start showing you my cute baby! :)

Layne enjoying a biscuit from the Fair.

Waiting for the circus to start!

Enjoying the food and fun on the fairway!

Layne enjoying Red Beans and Rice Festival with Mimi and Gran-ne.

Yum - frog!

Whoa! That was lots of rice!

What do you see?

2010-10-21T21:47:00.000-05:00

Will my video upload work? I'm not so sure. The internet has been very finicky tonight. I hope it does because you will see Layne "talking." And then if I can get the second video uploaded, you will see him crawl! That's right! Crawl! We have a mover and a shaker now! Layne first started crawling yesterday. He's not trying to get everywhere yet. I think he's still trying to figure it out. He does, however, want to crawl all over you and climb up you. He's getting very good at pulling himself up so I don't think walking is too far away. Wow! My baby walking! That will be surreal! What am I saying?? It's all surreal! I was just watching some videos tonight of when Layne was born. What a life change! Nine months ago Layne rocked my world! I sat here the other night thinking that I would do aything for this kid. It's pretty cool how much this little person changes your life. Tonight he fell asleep while taking his bottle and I just held him for a while. Rob commented that he doesn't let you hold him like that much anymore because he wants to be moving and going. I guess he gets that from this dad. Last Monday Layne had his first trip to the fair! Nobody rode rides. We all just walked around, ate good food, and watched the Circus. I think Layne had a good time. We went to the petting zoo, and he liked to animals until Rob wanted to reach his hand out and touch them. He wasn't really having any of that. I've got pictures, but they are on Jolene's computer so that will have to wait for another time. Next year will be super fun because he might actually be interested in the lights and rides.
Ok, I've been waiting on this upload for about 10 minutes. I think I'm going to throw in the hat and try again when I have a more consistient connection. Good times to come!

Time to eat meat!

2010-10-14T22:31:00.000-05:00

Tonight we tried meat flavored baby food, lol. Layne had mixed vegetables and beef. It was more chunky than the stuff he's been eating and he loved it. I am really ready to move him on to table food. It will be so much easier to not have to carry baby food around everywhere. Wednesday night he ate about a whole half of a grilled cheese sandwich. That's pretty good!
This weekend Layne's going to his first Red Beans and Rice Festival. I won't be there, but Layne will. :) He's going with Jolene and Momma while I go to Stephanie's to help her make diaper cakes. I think he'll have a good time scooting around the nice grass at the ball field. It's at Trustmark Park again, right?
Here's some exciting things that Layne is doing now:
He's almost crawling!
He can lie on his stomach and push up to sitting up.
He can get up on his knees and rock back and forth and almost send himself off crawling.
He can scream at the top of his lungs when he's really happy!
He can feed himself Gerber's Puffs and Mum-Mums; he's getting pretty good at pinching and grasping.
He can say "babababa" and "mamamama" which doesn't really mean anything to him, but to me it means Baba (my dad) and Mama (me!). Just give it time and he'll know what he's talking about.

2010-10-10T16:07:00.000-05:00

Last night Rob and I went to a couples shower for some friends of ours and Jolene got to hang out with Layne. They had a great night! He really loved his bath time!

Today at church, Mimi had the flowers placed in the sanctuary in honor of her children, grand children, and great-grandson. They were really beautiful flowers so we had to take some pictures with them.

2010-10-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

I love rubbing my tounge on my new tooth!

Daddy, what are you doing?

We're two peas in a pod!

Ear Infection, Smear Infection

2010-10-08T22:17:00.000-05:00

This week Layne has had lots of yucky stuff coming out of his ear. Rob said that it took him about 15 minutes to clean his ear one morning. Yuck! That's when he said he thought we should take him to the doctor. We have a school nurse, and she is great for helpful advice. She said that maybe it was allergies but maybe it was something else and that she would take a look at his ears for me if I could get him to school before she left. So I used my 2:45 coupon and left as soon as I could and rushed to get Layne so I could bring him back to the school before 3:15. She peeked in his ears and said that she saw some inflammation so we should probably take him to the doctor. Rob made an appointment for me and I didn't even have to miss school. Layne hadn't really been acting like he was feeling bad. He didn't pull on his ears or get really fussy or even get a fever. His appetite was a little off, but I just thought it was because of his tooth. We got right in at the doctor's and didn't have to wait long after the nurse took his stats. And we got an updated weight and height: 20 pounds 4 ounces, 30 inches long. Dr. looked in Layne's ears and said he could barely see his eardrum because of all the yuck in there.We got ear drops and an antibiotic and spent WAY too much money! Sick babies are expensive! But I can already tell a difference in his ear yuck so that is good. While we were there, he also got his flu shot. He cried for, literally, 5 seconds and I picked him up and bounced him and he smiled at Nurse. I love my baby! He's such a sweet boy! The rest of his night wasn't so great but it wasn't too bad either, and he slept great. Today has been better but he's still been a little fussy so I skipped Bunco tonight. Nobody takes care of my baby like Momma. I think he enjoyed tonight with Mommy and Daddy. Tomorrow is a day filled with nothing! I hope Layne sleeps late. That would be a GREAT late birthday present! In the evening, Rob and I are going to a couples shower for some friends and then Rob is going to a concert. Hmm, early to bed? Yes, please! And then, Monday is Layne's first trip to the fair! Yum!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

2010-10-05T01:19:00.000-05:00

My birthday was this Sunday (can you believe I am 28?!) and I got to spend the whole day with my Layne. And my family and friends, lol. We had nursery duty Sunday morning so I got even more time with Layne than I normally would. He was great while we were in there for church and played the whole time with toys by himself while we took care of the other babies. I am so happy he is such a content little boy. When Rob drops him off in the mornings at daycare, he just sets him down with some toys and says bye bye. I hope that trend continues for a long while. After church we went to eat at one of my favorite restaurants, Froghead Grill. I had a coupon for a free meal since it was my birthday so some friends and Momma and Dwane joined us. Layne had a great time playing on the table.

After lunch I got to go home and take a really good nap. Rob had a good afternoon, too, because Layne slept about as long as I did. He got to watch football and relax so I'm sure that was nice. That evening we headed out to Brian and Jenn's to hang out for the evening. We cooked out and had a good time. I am so happy that Layne is so easy because we were able to put him to bed while we were there and stay later with our friends. It was a great birthday. My whole birthday week has been fun. It started on Wednesday. Momma and I went to see Switchfoot at Belhaven. It was AWESOME! Then Friday night we went to Feast With the Beast at the Zoo. Basically, the zoo was open after hours for Friends of the Zoo and free dinner. The food went fast, though, so we had to be there early. It was a nice evening. The weather was great and the animals were active. On Saturday, I went to the MSU game with Momma and Mimi. We played Alcorn State and won pretty handedly. It was a good day, I got a pretty good sunburn. My paw print was burned into my cheek. Do you burn for your team??

I can't believe I am 28. That is a little crazy! It's so funny to me, though, how nothing really changes just because the date changes. I'm 28 now, but nothing is different from the day before when I was 27. We just grow up so gradually, then one day we're adults. I can't imagine what it's going to be like to watch Layne grow up so fast. It fasinates me how Layne will change so much as he grows up. I constantly think about what he's going to look like when he's older. How much is he going to look like that tiny baby I brought home 8 months ago? When I was pregnant I couldn't wait to see what he would look like. Is he going to look more like me or Rob? Will he get my Boatright thumbs? Will he be tall like Rob? Will he play sports or be in the band? What kind of big brother will he be? Ok, I am babbling and it's late. I have other news to share!

We have a tooth! Layne has been fussy on and off lately. He's usually a pretty happy-go-lucky boy so I knew something had to be up. We have been looking for a tooth for a while. The other two boys that are close to Layne in age at church already have a couple of teeth and have had them for a while. (I know they all develop at their own pace, but it's still nice to be going through the same milestones at the same time with friends.) I thought that I felt something yesterday, and today there is definitely a tooth coming through. I'll just consider that a late birthday present from Layne. What a sweet boy to get teeth just for me! Haha!

Give me a high five! I have a tooth coming in!

In other news, on the crawling front, I kind of think he will just skip it. Every time he's on his stomach, he pushes up on his arms but won't get his knees underneath him (I know he can). He just flails around like he's swimming. He's getting pretty good at pulling up on my legs if I'm standing in front of him and pulling up when I support him. His legs need to get stronger though. He's really wobbly when he's standing up. We'll see if crawling happens. If he goes straight to walking, I've got some major baby proofing to do! I haven't done any at all! Ok, it is bed time for this momma. I am hosting church Bunco tomorrow night so I have been cleaning and preparing dinner for tomorrow night so that all I have to do is pop it in the oven after school. Jolene and Mimi came over to watch Layne while I cleaned (Rob had a basketball game) and I got almost nothing done. I dusted and picked up the den. I did get to go to the grocery store so that was good. After I put Layne down and they left I started preparing dinner, and I should be cleaning now but isn't blogging more fun? It's also interesting to see what's on TV this late (1 AM) on the very few channels we have. I am actually tired but enjoying being on the computer with nothing else to really do. I know I am going to kick myself in the morning when the alarm goes off. Who's going to volunteer to come by and get me out of bed? Anyone?? Anyone? Buhler?

Poor Sick Momma

2010-09-23T22:24:00.000-05:00

This week has been almost completely awful! I wasn't feeling so great Sunday, and early Monday morning I woke up with a 101.1 fever. I stayed home from school and took Tylenol and rested. I called Stephanie to come over and look at my throat, but she couldn't get over until 12:00, so I spend the whole of my afternoon waiting (sleeping) at MEA and filling prescriptions. I had strep throat and a sinus infection! It has been some time since I have been sick enough to miss school. I usually am pretty immune to what the kids bring my way. I was cleared to go back to school on Wednesday, so until then I had to steer clear of Layne. Do you know Rob wanted me to go stay at my mom's house?! No way! The prescriptions I got helped a lot, and I was almost all better. Better enough to go to Legally Blonde: The Musical on Tuesday night. That was really fun. My good mood turned sour when I got back to school Wednesday morning. My sub didn't follow simple directions left by me and I have no idea what my kids did while I was out because they certainly didn't do my work! They also played that game called "Let's See What We Can Get Away With While a Sub Is Here" a.k.a. breaking little rules that they know better than to break. So since they didn't do any work Monday or Tuesday, I have spent the whole week playing catch-up. It's so fun! NOT! I am feeling much better now and Layne has been super sweet so that helps! I think Rob does wish I had gone to stay at my mom's house while I was sick because he ended up sleeping in the guest bed because I snored so loud with my congestion! HAHA! Serves him right! :)

2010-09-19T19:44:00.000-05:00

We have had a great weekend. Caitlin, my mom, Layne and I headed up to Oxford this weekend to visit my grandparents. We had a great relaxing weekend, like we normally do in Oxford. We lied around, ate lots of good food, and watched the Rebels lose. Sadly, we didn't get to see the Dawgs win. Layne had a great time anyway. Mary and Sidney Faye bought him lots of new clothes, which is always good. Thank you so much! I said Layne had a good time, and he did, but he was so snotty and irritable all weekend. I really hope teeth are coming in soon. He has had a few bad days where he just fussed and fussed. Wednesday wasn't a good day for him either. The daycare called because they accidentally rocked on his finger. He was ok, but you could tell when I picked him up that he had not had a good day. On top of Layne not feeling good, I haven't felt good at all this weekend. The bed at Granny's is kind of hard and it really hurt my back. It's good Layne likes other people because I definitely couldn't handle him all weekend. I am hoping we both wake up in a better mood tomorrow.
I am trying to think of other things that have been happening. We headed to Starkville for the first MSU football game. My mom, Mimi, and I went to the game and Rob stayed at his parents' house with Layne and watched football all day. I was thinking that I wanted to take Layne to a game this year, but now I don't really think it's a good idea. Our seats are right in the middle of the row. There is absolutely no room to move around, and it gets really loud during the game, especially if we're winning. So, I think it would be better if Layne didn't go until he was older. Maybe next year will be good. Then he will definitely be able to ring that cowbell. Go Dawgs!

Need I say more?

2010-08-28T20:20:00.000-05:00

Happy Un-Birthday to You!

2010-08-25T21:31:00.000-05:00

Today Layne is 7 months old! Did you hear me?! Seven months! I am the mom of a seven month old! Motherhood is still so surreal. I feel like I'm old-hat at this (in this stage), but it's nothing to what I will face for the rest of Layne's life. I have so much to look forward to! The other night I had a dream about Layne and he could talk in it. I'm really excited for that time when he gets his own voice and can talk to me. Can you imagine what he will say?! Yes, he'll say "I want milk" and "Where is Donkey?" But he'll also say "I love you" and a million other wonderful things I can't wait to hear!
At seven months, Layne can:
- sit up on his own - his back gets straighter everyday
- hold his bottle and put it in his mouth, but he hasn't quite grasped the concept of tilting it up to get milk
- roll from his back to his stomach - I STILL haven't seen him roll from his stomach to his back, but my mom and Dwane tell me he can do it, the mysteries of a child!
- hold himself up for a long while on his arms while he's on his stomach
- reach out and try to move towards something he wants
- grab a toy he wants and shake it around or put it in his mouth
- put anything and EVERYTHING he grabs in his mouth! Where are those teeth that must be on the way?!
- spin a complete 360 when he's playing on his stomach
- sleep through the night, almost 12 hours if we let him!
So some of those are not actual skills, but it's still good to know that Layne can do them. He weighs 19 lbs. according to Jolene's scale so that's 7 ounces up from his 6 month appointment, and he's probably a little bit taller than he was at 6 months (28 in.) but I don't have a tape measurer to tell you (sorry!).
Football season is about to start so Layne will get to see a lot of his Grandpa and AG. I have season football tickets - Go Dawgs! We're excited to see them because it's been a while since we went to Starkville to visit.
Layne is still having a wonderful time at daycare. He plays almost the whole day away and takes really good naps. I feel "toy poor" when I get home because we have all the same toys he's always had and that' mostly rattles and little stuffed toys. I feel like I need some "age-appropriate" toys for him to try to chase around the room to encourage his crawling. Moms, tell me if I'm wrong! Or tell him if I need to rush out to Babies R Us!

Look at my big boy in his MS State shirt! Go Dawgs! Thanks, Jodi!

Layne loves these rice cake things called Mum-Mums. He can feed himself - whoo hoo!

Whoa! What are you doing?

Layne and his Baba (Sir). We're so glad he got to come home to see us! Be careful at work!

Hopefully this weekend I will be able to post our 7 month family picture, and maybe update my Facebook photos. That would be nice. Now I'm off to put Layne to bed. Fun times!

My Apologies

2010-08-21T20:52:00.000-05:00

I have to send my extreme apologoies out to the blog world. I have been absolutely absent from my happy little blog. I know you have missed me! :)

Well, since our wonderful 6 month check-up Layne has started daycare and had his first bat with illness.
Daycare started on August 2. I was really anxious about how his napping would go, but he - of course - did amazingly well! All the ladies at the daycare just can't get enough of Layne. Rob drops him off in the mornings and I pick him up in the afternoon. Almost every day when I pick him up, he is super happy and really excited to see me. He's always happy to see me, but sometimes he's had a long day and kind of fussy. The ladies are so good to him. I'm happy so far!
And so with daycare, there comes germs from other little children that Layne isn't used to being around. Sunday after church we went to eat with friends at Olive Garden and Layne got really fussy. While I was trying to rock him he felt really hot. We got home and sure enough - 102.7! I gave him some Tylenol and tried to help him feel good. I (the bad mom that I am) just convinced myself that he was teething and called my mom to see if she could keep him. I noticed that he had kind of been congested but he had been before and didn't think anything of it. He still had a fever Monday morning so Rob called the doctor and they wanted to see him. Well, guess what? He had a viral infection, poor baby! My mom said she had gotten him asleep and then Nurse came in and pricked his finger. :( Well, then I felt bad because I was so convinced it was a teething fever. Doctor gave him a prescription to dry up his congestion and he had a good time with my mom. Well, poor baby had to stay home from daycare until Thursday. His fever wanted to persist. His congestion is still pretty bad (he's been sleeping in his carseat for the past few days) and he's got an awful cough that sounds deadly, but he definitely is feeling better. We survived our first illness bought, and I'm glad to be over it.
My dad has also been home to see Layne (that's, of course, not the only reason he's home but a pretty darn good one). He is changing jobs and got to come home for a short time. He spent all this past week in D.C. getting ready for his new job and he's home again for a bit more. We had a great time visiting with them, and we get to see them again tomorrow!

I promise to try to update more often. I am hoping to get our computer back soon and, hopefully, get it fixed so that I can update more often and get my photos uploaded. I have so many pictures still on my photo card. Usually, I'm the one who clears off my photo card as soon as I upload the pictures. Ok, anyway, I hope you hear more about Layne soon!

Layne loves his Daddy!

Six Months

2010-07-28T20:36:00.000-05:00

Layne is 6 months old! Half of his first year is already over! I am already trying to think of great ideas for his first birthday party! Layne had his 6 month appointment on Monday, after spending a great weekend in Oxford seeing Granny, Poppy, Aunt Sidney, and all the rest of our family. Layne weighs in at 18 lbs. 9 oz. and 28 in. He's in the 70% for weight and the 90% for height. What a big boy! He did great when Nurse came in to give him his shots. He got three and then an oral vaccine. He cried just a little and got his oral vaccine and then his paci and I had Donkey ready for him to hug tight. He went to sleep on the way home. I stopped by there for a quick second to grab stuff to take with me and headed to school. I was hoping that he would just sleep the day away like he has in the past. Then I would be able to get some work done, but no. He wanted to play. I almost wish that he was already crawling, then I wouldn't have to keep one hand on him and one hand on my work. By the afternoon, I headed over to Michelle's office so that she could help out and hang out with Layne so I could get some work done. And guess what? I did get some work done. The teachers have to officially report on August 4 and the kids come August 11.
Layne's first day of daycare is August 2, so I have two days that I don't have to worry at all about trying to hurry at school and get back. I am anxious about daycare. I went by there last week just to check in. When I went there to check the place out in the first place they, of course, ask you if you have any questions and at the time, I wasn't a mother yet. So now that the day is looming that he will be going to daycare, I did have questions. Everything looks good, though, except one important thing. I have been making Layne's baby food, just cooking and mashing up veggies and fruits. I am doing this primarily to save money and because I think it would be an easier transition to real food if he's already eating "real" food. Anyway, because of health department regulations I have to send unopened jars of baby food. I can't send homemade. Boo, I'm not happy! I really was pretty bummed for the rest of the day after I talked to the lady. So we're just going to do what we can. I am only buying baby food for lunch at daycare, and we're going to try to make sure he eats breakfast and dinner at home. Soon enough he will be eating real food and it won't be an issue anymore. Ok, enough talking...Let's see if I can find some pictures to show you!

my little duckie

Layne can hold his own in the shopping cart!

sitting up on his hands and knees by himself - a little physical therapy never hurt!

Layne loving on his D-Daddy

And just for old times and fun. . .

What a sweet baby! This was probably around 2 months.

2010-07-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

I am so tired! :( I know my child is out of the norm, but he has been sleeping through the night since he was about 1-2 months old. It has been WONDERFUL! I'll tell you what it's also been - spoiling of his mommy! Recently Layne has taken up to crying out at night and sometimes even waking up very early (the earliest this morning at 4:10). Most of the time he just wants his paci and his donkey and he goes back to sleep. Sometimes though he is hungry, and I can hear his little tummy growling. I just want to sleep uninterrupted! I know, I know! I lost that priviledge 6 months ago. Where is Rob in all of this? Sleeping, and I can't blame him. If I asked him to, he would gladly get up with Layne after I woke him up and sent him in there but guess what? I wake up no matter what. It takes way longer to wake Rob up and send him in there than it does for me to just get up and replace the paci. I am a good sleeper so I always just go right back to sleep, but I do love not waking up 2-3 times in the middle of the night. Who's with me?

Vacation - Day Two

2010-07-18T15:09:00.000-05:00

Day two of our vacation was spent in St. Louis. We were all supposed to wake up early, take Momma and Dwane to the zoo, go swimming, and then go to the brewery tour at the Budweiser plant. Well, apparently our beds were way too comfortable and everyone expected Layne to be their alarm clock because no one set an alarm. I just happened to have woken up at 9:30 and decided to see what everyone else was doing. Well, guess what they were doing? Sleeping! No one was awake! I walked in the den where Mimi and Jolene were sleeping and Mimi was just lying awake in bed. She was surprised at the time and we started to wake everyone up. Momma and Dwane had missed their chance to go back to the zoo because we only had one car and the brewery opened at 11:30. The night before Rob had gotten two tickets to the Cardinals game for basically the price of one on Stubhub.com so Dwane decided to go to the game with him. Momma, Mimi, Jolene, Layne, and I headed to the brewery and finally made it there after going to Illinois by accident twice!
The brewery tour was really cool. We got to see all the steps involved in making beer, and we got to see the Clydesdales. They keep about 12 of them on the property all the time. Their stables were nicer than my house! There is this beautiful chandelier and stained glass windows all the way around.

Layne slept for most of the tour, until we got into the cooler section where they do the beechwood aging. You basically walk from outside where it's 90 degrees into a cooler that stays a cool 50 degree. Layne's eyes popped open as soon as we walked into that room. He had a good time on the tour, though. We got to see a factory line filling cans and bottles. It was pretty cool.

After the tour you get two free samples of beer and all the pretzels you can eat. I had forgotten my license so I didn't even try to go up and try to convince them that I was of age. I just sipped on everyone else's beers. I think I may have found one beer that I can actually tolerate. It's Bud Lite Lime. I think if someone ordered one I would drink some of it. I still probably wouldn't get a six pack for myself.

Layne was very interested in the glasses of amber colored drink. Too bad he couldn't have any! Meanwhile, Dwane and Rob were at the Cardinals game. I think they had a pretty good time. Their seats were in the shade for the whole game and the Cards won! After the brewery we ordered pizza from a classic St. Louis pizza place called Imo's. St. Louis pizza is super thin and very good! Mimi, Jolene, and I then went up to the Arch and took the tram ride to the top.

The view from the top is really great! While we were at the top, the air show and concert activities were happening below us. We tried to find Momma but we really had no luck finding her from the top. The big gap in the crowd was for the parachuters to land. We got to see them going down while we were at the top of the Arch.

After the Arch it was time to party with the B-52's. Mimi and I headed back to the room for a little while to chill out. Rob was going to take Layne swimming but it ended up raining. We stayed in the room long enough to let the rain pass and then we headed back to the Arch park for the evening festivities. The B-52's were a lot of fun. You can help but dance when they're playing. After they finished playing they had a great fireworks show. It was pretty funny to watch all of Illinois shooting fireworks beforehand. You could see the little fireworks coming up from the little towns across the river. We headed back to the room and packed to leave for Chicago early the next day.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Let's try this again!

2010-07-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

This is the FOURTH time I have tired to post this entry. Each time something has gone wrong! Not this time! I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Layne is doing great eating fruits and veggies. He's tried bananas, carrots, avocado, and pears. I think avocado is his favorite. Up next we are trying butternut squash. I have enjoyed staying home with him, especially the last couple of days. He's been so fun! Rob came home the other night and had him giggling and laughing without even touching him. That's a great sound! In other exciting news. . . Layne rolled over all by himself! I'm excited that I was home to see that since he is going to daycare soon. We've been having a bit of trouble napping lately. I'm pretty sure that when he goes to daycare he won't be able to nap in a swing so I'm trying to get him used to napping in his bed. So far it's not going so well. He sleeps but just not as long as he would in his swing. I think he likes feeling snug. I tired surrounding him with pillows today and it seemed to help. Hopefully, we can work it out within the next couple of weeks because that is when daycare starts.

Yay! I got it posted!

Vacation - Day One

2010-07-13T21:16:00.000-05:00

I am going to try to take our vacation one day at a time and recap. It started on Friday night when we all spent the night at Mimi and Jolene's so we could get a jump start on the morning. Friday night was the 4th of July balloon glow and fireworks. It was a hot night, but I think Layne had a good time...until the end of the evening. Tracy Lawrence played and there were lots of people there. Layne was so curious about everything that was going on. He yawned over and over again and was so tired, but he was just too busy watching everyone to go to sleep. It got towards the end of the night and Layne started to have a break down. He was just so tired and did not want to go to sleep. Dwane and I left for the car early. I think he would have enjoyed the fireworks if he weren't so tired. He cried and cried and cried all the way home. Finally, it occurred to me to pull out my iPhone and Layne loved the Pocket Pond. It's this really cool coi fish pond that you can add lily pads to and thunderstorms. He is so fascinated by it. Well, guess what?? My phone died on the way home! So that was the end of that. When we finally got home, he was fine once he got to stretch out and go to bed.

Saturday morning we hit the road bright and early to make it to St. Louis by lunchtime. Layne was very good for the whole trip about traveling and being so off his schedule. When we got into St. Louis we headed straight to Forest Park. The zoo is there, along with the science museum and SLAM (St. Louis Art Museum). Everything in Forest Park is free so it was a great place to start our vacation. We started at SLAM, which I had heard was really good, and they were right! My favorite part was the modern art section. Momma and Dwane left SLAM and went to the zoo. I think they had a pretty good time. We did kind of cut their time short, though, because we were ready to get to the hotel.

Forest Park is pretty amazing. It's just this huge park with museums in it. You can paddle boat in the pond behind us there; you can rent bikes or segways. I think that if we lived in St. Louis it would be a place we huge out in lots.
Once we finished up at Forest Park, we went to the hotel. We were staying at the Crowe Plaza right next to the Arch. We pulled up to the hotel and I am sure the bellman about had a fit. We had SO MANY bags to take inside. We packed food so we wouldn't have to eat out of the road and we had to take all of that in along with 4 suitcases and who knows how many other things! We had a suite in St. Louis and we had a lot of room, so that was very good. We had a really big living room and Rob and I got a king bed! Unfortunately, we didn't have a view of the Arch. We had a view of 4th Street, which was kind of neat because we could watch all the traffic. When we got unloaded and settled we headed down to the Arch. There was an air show, music, and fireworks at the Arch. Saturday night John Legend was playing. There was a huge crowd! Layne did pretty good, but Rob went ahead and took him back to the hotel so he wouldn't be out late again.

We had a good time relaxing under the Arch. We found a great spot in the shade. After John Legend and the fireworks we headed back to the hotel room. It was really convenient to just be able to walk across the street. Last Memorial Day, Rob and I took a trip to St. Louis. Little did we know that that was our babymoon because I was pregnant on that trip but we didn't know it. Well, while we were there we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. I almost bought a "My First Hard Rock Cafe" shirt even though I wasn't (didn't think I was) pregnant. So this time I made sure I got the shirt! Jolene, Rob, and I walked down to Union Station after the fireworks to look around the shop and get the shirt. Well, I have a small problem with buying expensive t-shirts that Layne could wear now because he will only wear them for a short time. So I ended up buying a kid's small. I guess he will be able to wear it when he's 4 or 5. Sunday morning we put the shirt on Layne to take a picture. How funny will it be to give him that shirt when he's 4 or 5 and show him the picture of when he got it? LOL

Layne loves his shirt! That is the end of day one! I'm happy I managed to keep it short and sweet. Hopefully in the next couple of days I will get to continue our vacation story. Here's what you have to look forward to: Budweiser Brewery, really good hotel, late nights with Layne. :)

2010-07-11T22:14:00.000-05:00

We have returned from vacation and we made it! Me, Rob, Layne, Momma, Dwane, Mimi and Jolene drove all the way to St. Louis and spent two days there. Then we drove to Chicago and spent three days there and drove all the way home from Chicago in one day. Seven tired people were very happy to be home and out of the car! I won't attempt to recap the whole vacation at this moment, but I will say we did A LOT of walking! I mean, we walked between 8 and 12 miles a day in Chicago. Let me tell you that I am not planning any vacations any time soon. Layne did really great on the trip for all of the traveling he did and being really off his schedule. I do have to say that I had my first moment of absolutely needing to walk away from Layne. It was the night before we left at about 10:30 and Layne would not give up and just go to sleep. I finally took him in to Rob and said, I am going for a walk. I went down to the hotel lobby and got on the computer for a little while. When I headed back up, Jolene met me at the elevator because I think she was coming to find me. He was finally asleep in Rob's arms. I felt sad to just leave him, but I knew I was reaching my breaking point so I just let Rob take over. He slept great that night, though.
We took all of our pictures on Jolene and Dwane's cameras so I will have to retrieve those soon to show all that we did. I think the highlight of the trip was sitting under the Arch listening to music as the sun went down. It was fun and relaxing and not too hot.
In other news, Layne will be 6 months old very soon! He has been eating carrots for several weeks now and he likes them. He's getting very good about opening his mouth when there's a spoon in front of him. He usually has rice cereal with breakfast, carrots with lunch, and both at dinner. Tomorrow we are going to try pears. While we were gone I bought baby food carrots from a jar just to make it easier on us since we were going to be in a hotel room for about 6 days, but in general I am planning on making my own baby food. These carrots that I bought said they only were made with carrots and water, so that made me feel better about it. My whole reason for making my own baby food is that I want him to know what the different foods really taste like. You know, they always play those games at baby showers where you have to taste the baby food and tell what it is. They never actually taste like what they say they are, SO I want Layne to being eating real food and not have to transition to a different taste for the same food. Did you get all that?? I am excited about him trying new things. Mommies out there, help! I am having trouble figuring how to let Layne try new things and keep them in his diet. I can't introduce 5 new foods and then feed them all to him everyday. I'm not getting it quite yet. Do I just switch foods out every now and then once I've introduced them? I'm sure it's not as complicated as I'm making it out to be. Here's to the adventure ahead!

2010-07-01T15:11:00.001-05:00

Oh, woe is me! I am such a bad mom! Yesterday I go to Wal-Mart without a paci and Donkey at naptime. I had to get a paci off the shelf and open it for him and pay for it later. Would you believe the little stinker went straight to sleep when he had a paci?! Then today he slept later than normal (9:30) and for some reason when 2:00 rolled around and he was yawning I tried to put him down for a nap. Well, dumb me hadn't fed my child since 9:30 and he just cried and cried!! I finally figured out that -DUH- he hadn't eaten lunch!! After that I read to him (I won't tell you that it was Twilight, which I am in the middle of) and then he went right down. I am such a genius!

Oh what a relief!

2010-06-30T14:37:00.000-05:00

It rained today! It also rained yesterday and all night. Around here, about all the rain we get is for at most an hour in the afternoon and then it just gets hot again. I am loving this rain! Layne, not so much! He had to be out in it just a little bit last night. I'm not sure he liked it too much. It sure does make for a cooler day, though. We are back in town now. I am so happy to sleep in my bed and not have to have Layne in his carseat all the time. I just hate that for him. We did have a good weekend, though. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Last weekend was Rob's first Father's Day. I have to say that he is doing an amazing job! Layne couldn't have a better daddy!

We went over to my mom's house for Father's Day lunch. Caitlin and Ben got to come and Justin and Jasmine, too!

Layne got to play with Aunt Cait and D-Daddy. He had a great time!! After lunch Layne got to stay at GranNe and D-Daddy's because Rob, Brandon, and I were going to a waterpark the next day. I know my mom really liked having him spend the night.

We had a great time at the zoo. It was really hot but not as hot as it normally is so it turned out to be a good day to go. We saw bears, tigers, gorillas, rhinos, and birds. We even got to ride the train! That gave us a great breeze to cool off with. I think Layne was too hot to really enjoy it, but it was still fun.

Layne had a great time meeting his cousin, Lilly. She was so sweet to him! He also got to meet Aunt Donna, Uncle Rob, Susan, Julie and all of her family. Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of that.

We leave Saturday for St. Louis and Chicago. I hope that will be a great trip and Layne will do well. We're taking one van for 6 people and Layne. Cross your fingers! :)

2010-06-25T19:05:00.001-05:00

We are on the road again. Will this never end?! Well, not any time soon. We are on the way to take Brandon back this weekend, next weekend we are headed up to St. Louis and Chicago and then a few days later back down again. The visit with Brandon has been good. We've done a lot of fun things since he's been here - water park, Braves game, softball games, Jackson zoo. Hopefully, I will get a chance to upload some pictures soon.
Today is a special day! Layne is five months old! He has gained about 6 ounces since his four month check up. He's still eating and sleeping great. Cereal time is a bit of a struggle because he doesn't want to sit up straight and eat. Layne has definitely discovered his feet. Everytime I change his diaper he just grabs those feet so I can wipe that booty. What a helpful little boy! Layne is so close to rolling from his stomach to his back. He loves lying on his back and arching back. This weekend we get to see Aunt Donna and Uncle Rob and we can't wait! That's all for now. Father's day post to come!

2010-06-19T21:26:00.001-05:00

Ok, that was only a test. I am trying to update the blog from my phone instead of from the website on my phone. Hmm, did you get all that? Anyway, we've been having a great time with UB. We've been pretty lazy during the day and busy at night. Layne is grow, grow, growing like a weed. He's practicing sitting up and rolling over everyday. I think it won't be long now before he rolls from his back to his front by himself. And he's sitting up more and more on his own. Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy are cleaning house trying to get everything in order. It's not easy keeping a clean house with an almost five month old. Who am I kidding? We didn't keep it very clean before he had a baby. O well, we try. :)

2010-06-18T22:39:00.001-05:00

This is a test. This is only a test. In the event of a real blog stories and pictures would accompany this entry. Stay tuned to your local blogs for more updates. :)

2010-06-13T17:33:00.000-05:00

Layne is almost sitting up all by himself! We can set him up and balance him just right and he can sit up. It won't be long before he's sitting up and playing by himself.

He loves reaching out for his toys and putting them right into his mouth.

This is the first documented foot grab, lol. He is now interested in his feet now. He hasn't put them in his mouth yet, but it won't be long.

Playing on the way to meet Granny and UB (Uncle Brandon). Brandon will be staying with us for two weeks. By the end of Sunday, Layne was definitely tired of being in the car. So was his mom!

"Hi Granny!" We got to hang out with Rob's mom for a little while. It was good to see her. She even brought new clothes for this growing little man!

The hotel had a pool so Layne took his first swim in the big pool. I think he had fun riding around on me and Rob.

He hasn't quite got the "kick, kick, kick" down yet. We'll work on it, though.

After a much needed nap, Layne got to play with Granny and Brandon and Ed some more.

UB is going to have lots of fun with Layne. He's already mesmerized by his phone.

We've got lots of fun things planed while Brandon is here, so I hope you keep you updated on all the fun things Layne will do with his UB.

Now it's time to say goodbye to all our company,

2010-06-08T17:24:00.000-05:00

M-I-C (see you real soon) -K-E-Y (Why? Because our AC is fixed) M-O-U-S-E!!
That's right, our AC is now fixed and we will be relocating back to our house. That, sadly, means that there will be fewer blogs. Hopefully, Layne and I can still get over here pretty often to visit Mimi and Jolene, though.
Today has been an exciting day already! Layne spent time with all his friends in the nursery at VBS this morning. Then we had lunch with Erin, Courtney, and Mrs. Phyllis. It's Erin's birthday, and for her birthday she wanted to have a pool playdate with Layne. So she bought him this awesome giraffe pool and we tried it out.

Happy Birthday, Erin!

Mommy got to chill out in the pool, too. I'm not sure Layne thought it was the greatest thing. He didn't seem too interested in the "cool bath." Ella and Dottie even joined in the fun, but not too much because Ella really hates water. She was just glad to be able to play outside.

After a while Layne had had enough of the pool. It was fun, though. And in the shade we stayed really cool in the water. It wasn't too hot at all. We'll have to remember that later when it's baking outside and we want to stay cool.

So now we're headed home. Next week, UB (Uncle Brandon) is going to be staying with us. That's Rob's half-brother from Ohio. He usually comes down for a couple of weeks during the summer. We are driving up to Bowling Green to meet Rob's mom to pick up Brandon. It should be a good time. I am sure Mimi will be so surprised by how Layne has grown since the last time she saw him in person. So long for now; hope to be back soon!

lazy summer

2010-06-05T22:52:00.000-05:00

Mimi got me this awesome walk-around/exursaucer. It's like a walker, but it only has two wheels that allow for the walk-around to rotate around an axis. Layne loved it immediately.

We went outside to enjoy the cool weather and the beautiful flowers that Mimi planted.

Oh yes! I love my new toy!!

Jolene ordered pizza and Layne couldn't decide if he wanted pizza or his paci. That pizza looked really good to him, and I will tell you that it tasted really good!

GranNe and D-Daddy came over after they worked on our AC. They were very tired. GranNe napped with Layne in the shade in the "cool" of the afternoon.

Aunt Erin came over to hang out and she read Layne a couple of books.

Tonight we had our first bubble bath. He's usually takes a bath in his little tub, but I didn't bring it to Mimi's so we took a bath in the kitchen sink. We've done that before at Grandpa and AG's, but we've never had a bubble bath. He found it very interesting. I think he liked it a lot.

He kept lifting his foot out of the water through the bubbles. I think he found it very interesting with all the bubbles. We'll have to do bubble baths more often.

Then we hung out with Jolene watching TV and getting sleepy. He's still up now playing. I'm not sure if I like these late nights. He does sleep later, though. Tomorrow is church though so he will have to get up, but it will be nice if he sleeps until it's time for us to go.

In other news, rice cereal is going well. I try to give him some with his first bottle and with his dinner bottle. I try to let him sit in his Bumbo seat to eat but he always ends up trying to turn and look at something on the side or behind him. So I am having to put him in his car seat and kind of prop it up to feed him. Any suggestions for what else I might be able to do? It's too funny when he eats though because he just laughs and talks. He's doing this new babble that kind of sounds like George of the Jungle but it's really high pitched. I am going to try to get it on video soon and post it if I can figure that out. I think we may be getting teeth soon. I'm not sure though. I think I feel a couple under the gum when he is chewing on my finger. He is definitely drooly, but I know that he'll have that for a while before teeth so we shall see. Tomorrow is church and nursery so I'm sure I'll update on how that goes. Night-night!

2010-06-04T02:01:00.000-05:00

This is the view from the hotel we stayed at last weekend for Memorial Day. We always go to this same hotel when we go to Hot Springs. We had a great time relaxing and watching the boats roam.

This is Layne's cousin, Gavin, and his dad, Kalim. They had a great time hanging out. The looks that Layne gave Gavin were hilarious all weekend.

"Who is this kid and why is he crying?" He was not amused with the crying.

"It's ok, Gavin. Grandpa will fix it!"

Gavin looks like he's having a great time!

Rob decided to take Layne on a ride on Lynn's scooter.

Look at that diaper! I now trust Pampers with my life! No leaks at all, just a full FULL diaper!

I love that Layne is active with his toys now. He reaches out to spin the toys on his toy bar. One time he even hit the button to make it play music!

Relaxing and resting on the way home after an exciting weekend!

Whoa! Big Boy!

2010-06-03T14:39:00.000-05:00

Right now Layne is sitting up, propped against the couch playing with a toy. What a big boy! He can totally occupy himself now, for a short time at least. Haha, as soon as I said that he got fussy.
O well! I am enjoying being home with him this summer so far. It's funny because I feel like I have to figure out his schedule all over again because I haven't been with him. It's fun, though. The past couple of days have been great! He's let me sleep in until about 9:30 and taken pretty good naps. Our doctor's visit yesterday was good. He fell asleep on the way so he didn't get him nap out. Dr. says he looks great! Here are the stats: weight - 75th percentile, 16 lbs (off from my measurements, but I knew it would be) height - 95th percentile, 26.5 in. long! After the check up with Dr. he went back to sleep and poor Nurse had to wake him up for his shots. He got two shots and one oral vaccine. As soon as she finished the oral vaccine and I put that paci in, he was asleep. And he pretty much slept the rest of the day away. And he slept great that night, too! We have been so amazingly blessed with Layne! Believe me, it does not escape me that Layne is not the norm. He has been sleeping through then night for at least two months, he has always eaten well, he only gets really upset when he's hungry, sleepy, or dirty, and he's completely content most of the time playing by himself (although I do like to hold him), and he loves new people. I am excited about being at home this summer so I can help him move along to the next milestones that are coming up. Yesterday, he was really off his feeding schedule. He ate a lot more often. So this morning, we started rice cereal.

I think it went pretty well. He seemed to get a bit into his mouth. I started with a 6 oz. bottle (he normally takes an 8 oz. bottle) and then went on to the cereal. He liked it for a while and then got bored with it. The bad thing was that he was hungry again about two hours later. Moms? Any suggestions? I really think he needs to move on to rice cereal because his bottles aren't holding him over, but then he doesn't eat enough of it to hold him over. I don't want to give him a whole 8 oz. bottle and cereal. What to do?!
In other news, we had a great Memorial Day weekend. We went to Hot Springs to visit Rob's family. Layne's new little cousin was there and they got to hang out. It was pretty funny because when Gavin was crying Layne just looked at him like, What's up with you, dude? Layne is going to be Gavin's bodyguard, he is so much bigger than Gavin. I am sure Gavin will catch up soon. He's only 4 weeks old.

They make a pretty awesome pair! I can't wait until Layne is old enough to really play with friends. Speaking of friends, Layne had a good time last night for his first time in the nursery! We were decorating for Arts and Sports Camp (VBS) next week at church. I definitely couldn't tend to Layne and decorate so he hung out with Miss Sara. He did great! I think we are going to start dropping him off during church. He was a distraction before when he was much less active, so now he would be lots more distracting. He needs to get used to nursery type care anyway since he will be going to daycare soon. Well, Layne just woke up from his short nap and I think we are going to take a trip to our brand new library so see what it's like. Maybe they have story time that I can go to with him. It won't be as engaging as it would be if he were older, but I think he would still benefit from hearing someone read. We are going to be staying with Mimi and Jolene tonight because our AC is on the fritz so I hope to be updating more! :)

2010-05-31T18:41:00.000-05:00

Layne is four months old!! Let's compare Layne to my friend's baby, Sean. He is 7 months old and he weighs as much as Layne does at 4 months! I always knew he was going to be big. I am very interested to see how he grows as time goes by. We are going to our 4 month check up tomorrow so I will have all the specifics then.
School is now OUT! I get to spend the whole summer with Layne. I am really excited about that because he hasn't sat up on his own yet or rolled over so I am hoping I get to see that before I have to go back to school. Who knows what two months will bring?

Here's shot of Layne enjoying his tummy time on Mother's Day weekend. It won't be long now before he rolls over and sits up.

Here's Layne and his school time playmates, Victoria and Audrey. They had lots of fun playing with Layne three days a week, and it was great practice for their new little one coming in December!

We went to the last baseball series of the season with GranNe and D-Daddy. The Bulldawgs didn't win, but we had a good time anyway.

Layne loves it when you grab his arms and raise them up and shake him. He laughs so hard!!

I am really excited for tummy time this summer. Layne usually does it best in the mornings so we'll have lots of fun!

four month family shot

Layne doesn't go anywhere now without his hands in his mouth! I think teeth are coming soon, but we will see. Maybe I am not hoping for teeth because that might mess up our really good sleep schedule.

This is the latest attempt to sit up. It was pretty hilarious! He would sit like that for a little while and then fall right over onto his face with his butt up in the air, haha.

This is one of Layne's newest toys, the Johnny Jump-Up. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet, but he doesn't mind just hanging out in it.

I hope these pictures will hold you all over until the next update. I hope it won't be so long next time since I have time during the day now to get over to Mimi's to use her computer.

This weekend we went to Hot Springs to visit some of Rob's family. We stayed at a beautiful hotel on the lake and Layne got to meet his cousin Gavin. He's going to be Gavin's body guard. You'll see why in the pictures to come.

Happy Summer, everyone!

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

2010-05-18T20:56:00.000-05:00

I know! I know! I am awful! We did have a great Mother's Day, though. We actually went out of town that weekend. We went to Little Rock with Brian and Jen. Rob and Brian went to a concert, and Jen and I hung out with Layne. We had a pretty good time even though we had booked a pretty awful hotel. Next time we'll just stick with our old stand-by. LaQuinta Inn. They've always been good to us. Ok, so we were driving back from Little Rock on Sunday and made it to Mimi's house just in time for lunch. We spent the day just being with family, which is always fun. Hopefully, I can get some pictures uploaded soon!
Layne is growing faster than ever! He's wearing 6-9 month clothes! It makes me so sad to put away clothes that he didn't even get to wear. Layne is so talkative! He loves to gurgle and coo and talk to us. It's so cute! And he is giggling all the time! It's too funny when Rob is kissing his neck and he just screams out. I love it! What else is he doing? He's making those neck muscles strong by playing with Dwane almost everyday. They're having a great time. I can't wait until school is out, though, so that we can spend all day together! We're going to have a great summer! We're headed up to meet more new family members on Memorial Day weekend. We're going to Hot Springs. It should be lots of fun and lots of people will get to meet Layne.

Poor Layne has a little cough right now. The nurse says it's post nasal drip. I feel so bad for him because he sounds so awful, but she's says it's ok. We're heading to the doctor June 1 for our four month appointment. He'll be getting more shots - poor baby!

Oh, poor baby is crying! Off I go to be Mommy!

2010-05-06T21:54:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Our computer battery is completely dead so now I have to completely rely on someone else's computer to update. And sadly, that means no pictures this time.
Layne is doing great! He's growing well and eating well and sleeping well. We have been so blessed with a good baby! I am just amazed at how great he is. He's very laid back. Layne's holding his head up really well now. He is nonstop drool, and he loves he suck on his hands. Pretty soon I think he'll discover his feet and then he'll have those in his mouth all the time! He's very talkative these days, too. He gurgles and babbles a lot. It's too funny to try to come up with what he's "saying."
We got to go see Granny and Poppy the weekend after Super Bulldog Weekend. They had a great time hanging out with Layne. It was really funny to see them and my aunt fight over him. It's good to know so many people love Layne. If my family's going to fight, I'm glad it's over my baby!
School has been carrying on. There are three weeks left. MCT2 is next week. We are pretty much done after testing is over. I am very much looking forward to spending the summer with Layne. So much so I may not want to go back to school in the fall, but I signed my contract this week so I am going back.
Lots of exciting things have been happening on the McIntyre side of the family. Rob's sister, Leslie, had her baby on April 20. His name is Grayson. Rob's cousin, Kirbi, had her baby on Monday. His name is Gavin. Boys are just taking over! Layne will have lots of playmates - if we can ever all get together. Leslie lives in Cleveland, OH and Kirbi lives in Hot Springs, AR. We are going to visit Kirbi and Kalim on Memorial Day weekend. Too bad Gavin won't be up for playing then.
I hope to get my computer battery working again or at least get the pictures off of it so I can show off my sweet boy again soon!

Bad, bad blogger

2010-04-26T22:30:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry! I have been a bad, bad blogger. Motherhood will do that to you, though. I have been so busy, and yet not busy at all. I've been back to school now for three weeks. The year is definitely winding down and everyone knows it! There are two more weeks until MCT2 (state tests), and I can't wait until it is over! It makes it that much closer to spending the summer with Layne. :)

Well, let's catch up! Layne turned 3 months old yesterday and he is a haus! My sweet boy is between 15-16 pounds! Can you believe it? He has been a very busy boy! Last weekend we went up to Starkville to visit Grandpa and AG and enjoy the Super Bulldog Weekend activities. My mom and I did the 5K Saturday morning, and Rob and Layne enjoyed the Cotton District Arts Festival with Grandpa and AG and Grandpa's cousin Lynn and Janelle who had a booth at the arts fest. After cleaning up a bit and lunch, we headed to the baseball game. Layne had a great time! He got to sleep in GranNe's lap in the shade! The game was fun and Layne did great with all the cheering that went on when State beat Tennessee. After baseball we headed to the spring football game. We got great seats in the chairbacks in the shade. The game was fun, but we were getting hungry so we left to get dinner. We had dinner at Old Venice with Chris, which was lots of fun to see him. Sunday was a relaxing day with Grandpa and AG and then we headed back home. This was Layne's first over night trip and he did great! They already had a pack and play for Layne to sleep in so we didn't have to pack that. The only thing we forgot was the bathtub, but the sink worked just fine. Layne slept great! He even woke up early one morning and I just gave him his paci and he went right back to sleep! Score!

This weekend we got to visit my grandparents in Oxford. Two overnight trips in one week! We headed up on Friday night and drove through the horrible weather. We made it safely to Oxford and Layne didn't mind the weather at all. When we go to Oxford the usual plan is to eat, lie around, watch TV, eat, go to town, eat, and hang out. And did I mention eat?! My grandparents are great cooks! So that's what we did. Layne had a great time meeting new family members. We got to go to church on Sunday and all of Granny and Poppy's friends enjoyed meeting Layne. The weekend ended by watching the Braves game at Thomas'. Layne is a real trooper for traveling around with Mommy and Daddy!

Layne relaxing at Granny and Poppy's

Layne loves his duckie!

Picture time!

2010-04-14T23:20:00.000-05:00

I got the battery to work for a short time so I've got the pictures all loaded up! I updated the Month Two album and I loaded the Month Three album, which will be updated until month 3 is over, of course. :) Enjoy! Sorry I haven't been so great at keeping you up to date with pictures.

Guess what?! Layne had his first real giggle today! It was so awesome! Courtney, Kat, and I were sitting with Layne in the fellowship hall at church after dinner tonight. We were playing and Courtney decided to video, and we got the first giggle on video! It was so awesome! You can check it out on YOU TUBE. The file was apparently too large to email, and I don't even know how to load videos onto the blog. I am so thankful we have the technology to share things like this!
Layne has another exciting weekend coming up! We are going to Starkville for Super Bulldog Weekend. Layne will get to hang out with Grandpa and AG, and he'll get to meet some of Grandpa's cousins who will be there for the Cotton District Arts Festival. We're excited for the weekend and you should be, too!

Layne sends his love!

Oh, what a world!

2010-04-11T16:51:00.000-05:00

Life has definitely picked up since I started back to work. It was ok going back to school except that I had tons of meeting lined up, most of which I didn't know about. My kids were glad to have me back, and I was kind of glad to be back. I made it ok without Layne, and I know he made it without me. Maybe he didn't even miss me. On Thursday I found a paci in my purse when we were going to recess. So sad, I missed him lots. Dwane and Steph took great care of him. I know Victoria and Audrey had fun with their new playmate.
I have been trying to get a schedule going for Layne to make it easier on Steph and Dwane. He had been doing really great eating every 4 hours, going to bed around 11 and not waking up until 5. That is great for me because I get to feed him in the morning, put him back to bed, and get ready for school in time. Well, he just decided this week that he did not like that schedule and he was going to change it. Wednesday night he ate at 9:30 and went to bed around 11. I texted Dwane on Thursday around 9:15. Here's the converstation:
me: how's it going?
d: great, he's still asleep
me: when did he eat last?
d: i don't think he has
WHAT?! I then proceeded to head to the office to call Rob and find out when Layne woke up, but not before first calling myself. What?? Our numbers are two digits off so it's not such a stretch to accidentally call myself. It was still pretty funny. Anyway, Rob said he hadn't woken up. When I got back to my room Dwane had texted me back and Layne was awake. So that means that he slept for 10 hours and hadn't eaten for 12. Wowie! He has pretty much kept up the same schedule all weekend. Let's hope this is not a new trend. I want to see him in the morning before work. Maybe all this sleeping has to do with a growth spurt.
He is over 13 pounds now. He's looking around and is amused by the littlest things. He loves his duckie on his carseat. The other day he was just sitting in his carseat and he just started smiling at his duck. He entertained himself for at least 5 minutes just watching his duck. I reached up and shook his duck and his eyes got so big. He loved it! He's not too keen on tummy times these days. He lasts for about 5 minutes and then he is done. He does love playing on his back, though. He's so cute when he's wiggling around and smiling at his toys - or me! When you hold him up on your lap, he can stand up and put weight on his legs. He's getting so tall! He's getting really good at following objects with his eyes. It's pretty funny to watch him looking around.
This morning was the first time we left him in the nursery in church. They didn't have too much fun with him because he slept the whole time. I'm sure he doesn't even know he was in the nursery. We'll see how he does when he's awake in there. The ladies are just jumping to get their hands on him. They won't have their chance for the next couple of weeks because we are going to Starkville next weekend and Oxford the next. Layne gets to visit MSU campus for the first time. That will give us lots of photo opportunities!
Sadly, I have no pictures to post because our computer battery is acting up. I am on a friend's computer typing so I can't get to any of my pictures. As soon as we get the battery issue resolved there will be tons more pictures to look at on our photo site.

Heigh Ho! (It's off to work we go!)

2010-04-07T23:19:00.000-05:00

I thought I would start out this post with Layne. :) We are getting busy around the McIntyre household! Since the baptism I have been reveling in the time I have left before I go back to school. It's been so fun staying home with Layne. It hasn't been easy to keep up the housework, but I'd rather hang out with Layne. :) I started back to school on Tuesday and I was met with a barrage of meetings. Maybe I should have waited until next week to come back. My kids were happy to see me, but I am tired. I'm not too excited about writing lesson plans. Maybe I will just plan review for every day until MCT. Ha - fat chance!
Daddy left on Tuesday, too. I am so glad he got to spend some time with Layne. We had a mini photo shoot on Friday when we went over to visit. The pictures turned out really great! Some of the pics don't even look like Layne. He's changing and growing so much everyday!

Leaving Layne this week has been ok. I actually felt more like crying today than yesterday, but I am doing ok. I know he's having a good time with Stephanie and the girls, and he will have a blast with Dwane. We went to church tonight and Layne "colored" a picture on table cloth. Dwane put the crayon in his hand and he held on to it. Then Dwane drew for him. It was so cute! I think he had a good time hanging out.

On Monday, Dwane came over to get a gist of Layne' schedule. We went to Newk's for lunch and Layne sat with us chilling in the booth. He was just staring at his duck toy and suddenly started smiling like crazy. It was so cute! He was smiling at his duck for almost five minutes. I am excited about how he changes everyday!
On a side note, I have to do better about posting pictures to the photo share site. Hopefully, I will have time for that tomorrow or Friday. I feel like with me being at school all day I want to spend every second I'm at home with Layne so that doesn't leave much time for anything else. That's ok with me!

Oh, it has been so long!

2010-04-01T22:37:00.001-05:00

(Sorry for the delay! I have been waiting on pictures.)
Layne's baptism was Sunday (the 28th) and we were SO happy to have all of our family with us to celebrate! Sweet Aunt Caitlin made Layne's baptism outfit, and she did a GREAT job! I would have paid for that outfit in the store. We tried to be smart about the outfit and only put him in it right before the service so that he wouldn't spit up on it. Well, nice try! He got yuck on it, but no one could tell except for us. He was so sweet during the service. Ken (the pastor) sprinkled some water in his eyes and he didn't even flinch. He was quiet and alert through the whole thing. Our sweet friend and elder, Phil McDade, prayed for us after and it was a wonderful morning. After church the whole family came over to Mimi and Jolene's for lunch. We had a great lunch and Layne was so good with so many people. There were about 30 of us at Mimi's. That's double our normal lunch group! Layne was a trooper because at the end of lunch we took lots of pictures with him. He was tuckered out after that, but the party wasn't over! Sunday night we had a little celebration with our friends at our house. We haven't had our group over since Layne was born so we just hung out and had a great time.

Layne looking great on his big day!

Sweet Aunt Caitlin and Layne in his baptism outfit.

Sweet Layne was so tired after being passed around all day and being the subject of so many pictures.

In other news, Layne is growing every day! I feel like I say that every time, but it's true! He's so cute on his tummy - he just wiggles around like a little turtle. It's amazing to think that's going to turn into a roll over and then a roll back and then crawling. Layne is sleeping great at night! For about a week and a half he has been eating at about 9:00 and then going to sleep (at the latest) at 11:30 and then sleeping until 5:00. Then throughout the day he's eating pretty close to every 4 hours. He's such a big boy! Let's hope this schedule keeps up because, sadly, I go back to school on Tuesday. I am glad to get into a routine but sad to go back to work. We'll see how next week goes.

Poor baby!

2010-03-25T19:17:00.000-05:00

Today Layne is 2 months old! That means we had a check-up today and shots. Rob went into work late today so he could go with us to see the doctor. Here's all the stats: 11 lbs 12 oz, 23.5 inches. He's in the 50% of weight and the 75% of height. Are you surprised? He did great during his check-up and Dr. says he is doing great. After Dr. left Layne got a bit fussy and with the time we had to wait for the shots he fell asleep. Nurse Charlotte came in with his shots and woke up when I laid him down. He was so brave today. Poor guy bled pretty bad when she stuck him the first time. He took it like a champ, though, and only cried a little. We had that paci ready. He fell asleep shortly after that and had a pretty good nap. I went shopping this afternoon with Jolene and he was not a happy camper at the mall. We fed him one more time and he got a little happier. I think, overall, he's had an ok day for what he went through today. He's one tough little cookie.

Layne and his Uncle D

2010-03-22T16:37:00.000-05:00

Every time I post I always plan on writing a short and sweet entry. Of course, it always ends up being very long - very cute and informative, but very long. So today I just thought I would share our weekend with you in pictures. Enjoy!

Layne loves his D-Daddy!

Layne enjoying the zoo.

Waiting to meet "Grandpa" (he doesn't have a grandpa name yet, suggestions welcome!)

Yay! "Grandpa" is home!

Layne's first 5K

Layne and Daddy got 2nd place!

Layne's first St. Paddy's Day Parade!

And speaking of pictures, I found a photo sharing site that I like better than Shutterfly. Click HERE to see all the pictures of Layne since he was born TWO MONTHS AGO! I am going to be sure to update it much more often so everyone can see how Layne is growing so fast! Enjoy!

Ok, one quick paragraph - Layne's baptism is Sunday and we are so excited for our family and friends to share this great day with us! I think the best part will be lunch with all of our family. It's going to be a great mish-mash of family - I love it!