Zachary moves in to the "Big Boy" class

Hope everyone is having a good week! This week Zachary has been transitioning to the "Big Boy" room at school. He is doing very well with it. His teachers are awesome and he really seems to like them. In this class they get to play outside more, which Zachary loves. His vocabulary skills are through the roof. For his post placement report I had to estimate how many words he can say. I said that my guess would be at least 200. The truth is that he can say a lot of words on his own but he tries to repeat everything that I say. ;-)) I guess the next thing he'll start doing is asking me "why" about everything...lol

So our week has been ok. I have to say that I'm thrilled that tomorrow is Friday. It's been hard to make it through work this week. I love it when we're slammed and this week things have been a little slow. It's been good for me because I've been able to work out every day this week. I've been doing yoga too and it's making me feel great!

Other than that, we are just staying busy. Looking forward to the weekend!

Hugs....

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY *Update*

Hope all of the dads out there have a WONDERFUL Father's Day!! This gives me a chance to reflect on my own dad who has always been very supportive and loving. (Unfortunately, because my computer blew up recently, I don't have any pictures to post of my dad. I will see if I can find some and post them later today.) God really blessed my brother and me when he chose this man to be our Dad. He is a strong Christian with high morals and values. He is also a family man. I know that when I was growing up I gave him some gray hairs during some of my "rowdy" times. Hopefully now in my adult life I have made up for some of that. He and I are very close and talk at least several times per week. We used to talk every day but things get so busy sometimes that it's hard to do everything that we need to in a day, especially with a 2 year old running around. Oh and this brings me to my next point. He just adores Zachary and loves spending time with him. He talks about the future and things that he wants to do with Zachary. Just last weekend he said that he is excited about taking Zachary fishing one day when he gets a little older.

My dad came up last weekend and spent Saturday and Sunday with us. It is always such a blessing to have him around. He's like a ray of sunshine! When he left to go back home, I was so sad. I bet I have told him 3 or 4 times this week how much I miss him. I believe Zachary misses him too because he keeps saying "Where Papa"?! When daddy and I are on the phone, I let Zachary talk to him too. He'll say things like "Hi Papa" and "Love you Papa". It's so cute to hear!

I also wanted to mention my stepdad on Father's Day. He has been a blessing in our lives as well. He is very close to Zachary and loves spending time with. Since he and my dad (and brother) are all named "David", we call him "Papa Sease". I watch him with Zachary when we visit and they are always doing stuff together. Whether it's walking around in the yard looking at the flowers, out on the balcony playing with the wind chimes or sitting in the recliner together, it's obvious that they love each other. In May my mom and David kept Zachary for the weekend while I was away at a CLE. I know that he had a great time and that they enjoyed having him there. It was also nice for me to get a break and not have to worry about Zachary. I knew that they were taking good care of him.

On my piano I have several pictures. One of them is a picture of my mom, David and me when we went on a cruise to Hawaii about 5 years ago. Zachary looks at the picture and can tell you who every person is. He'll say "papa", "nana" and "mommy". Next to that picture is a picture of my dad. So then Zachary looks at that picture and says "papa". ;- One thing is for sure, he loves his papas, nana and mommy!!!

As for us, Zachary is getting better every day. He is still coughing but it's so much better than it was. I am still giving him breathing treatments every 4 hours and he's getting a lot of rest. The bad news is that I am now sick and believe that I have the croup. Unfortunately if that's the case, there's not much that the doctor can do for me. I still think that we may go over to Urgent Care today. I noticed for the last two nights, when I lie down I have a hard time breathing and every time I breathe, I hear this wheezing/whistling sound. It makes me think that I may have some pneumonia too. I hope not but I guess we'll know in a few hours after we see the doctor. If I do have pneumonia, I will be going on antibiotics too. Let's just pray that isn't the case. This is the last thing I need right now!!

*Update* We went to Urgent Care and found out that I have bronchitis! She said that she is basing it on the way my cough sounds and the fact that I am wheezing at night. She gave me Zithromax (antibiotic) that I have to take for five days and a stong cough medicine (which already seems to be helping). So, I guess that's that. Zachary and I napped this afternoon for several hours. I actually feel a lot better than I did when I first laid down. I'm just ready for both of us to get well so we can get out on the greenway and ride bikes. I really miss exercising right now. I feel so lazy and lethargic!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

(((HUGS)))

Friday at Last *Update*

Look at that mouthful of beautiful teeth.

Mama's Boy!

"Give me 5 mommy!"



"Night Night Elmo"









"This is my serious look."

It's been a crazy and stressful week. Zachary started coughing so I took him to the doctor on Tuesday and found out that he has the croup! Little did I know that someone in his class had this last week...and go figure, no one bothered to send notes home letting the other parents know what was going on. To top it off, the child had croup all week and his parents apparently didn't know so he was at school without going to the doctor for several days. For anyone who doesn't know, croup is a viral infection and is highly contagious until treated. SO you can see what I have been dealing with this week. Then we went to the doctor for a follow up yesterday and the doctor sent us to have chest x-rays done on Zachary (that was an ordeal within itself). Well, the x-ray showed that Zachary has pneumonia in his left lung. Forunately we caught it early so hospitalization is not required. Thank God!!!!! He is on a round of antibiotics for 10 days and I have to give him breathing treatments every 4 hours. Oh and let me add that he hates them!!!!! We have to go back to the doctor for another checkup this afternoon. I am thankful that we have a really good doctor. She is very conscientous and goes the extra mile to make sure her patients get the best care.

As for today, I can tell that Zachary is getting better because today, for the first time in several days, he is more like himself. He's talking more, finally eating more and playing more. The doctor said that he needs LOTS of rest so that's my focus right now. He slept until 10am this morning and I just put him down for a nap a few minutes ago. I'm hoping that he'll sleep for several hours. In the meantime, I am going to clean house and do some laundry. I may manage to get a nap myself...and I probably need it because I believe I may be in the early stages of croup myself. Please pray that's not the case.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I'll post another update when we get back from the doctor's office.

UPDATE: So we went to the doctor and got a good report today. Zachary has really improved since starting his antibiotics. His chest is already sounding better. The doctor said to continue the antibiotics for 8 more days and continue his breathing treatments every 4 hours for several more days (until his cough gets better). SO thankful for this good news!!!!! We'll keep you posted on his progress. For now, here are some pictures that I took today. You can tell that he is getting back to himself....laughing and giggling a lot. ;-))

(((HUGS)))

Welcome Baby Brayden

On Tuesday of this week, my friend Katrina and her husband became proud parents of a baby boy, Bradyen James Owen. Brayden was born at 3:52am PST on June 8. He was a healthy 6 lbs. 6 oz. and 18.5" long.

You can see their story by clicking on the link "Katrina and Brayden" under 'My Favorite Blogs' on the left side of this page. I am SO happy for them! They have wanted a baby for so long and finally through the miracle of adoption, they have a beautiful, healthy baby boy!! They are going to be such wonderful parents!

Congratulations Katrina, Jon and Baby Brayden!! ;-))

One word to describe our weekend

WONDERFUL!!!! We had an amazing weekend. We were literally on the go the entire time. Friday night we stayed around the house....went for a short bike ride and got in bed early to prepare for our busy day on Saturday. I got up around 6:45 am on Saturday and by 7:30, Zachary and I were on the road, headed for the greenway. For those of you who may think we were on the golf course, let me explain. Charlotte has lots of trails and paths (mostly paved) where people can walk, run, ride bikes and roller blade. There are about 15 in Charlotte. Eventually they will all connect! The one that we went to is about 10 minutes from our house and it's a 15 mile trail (one way). We rode the whole thing and some. We hit the trail around 8:15. The really cool thing is that 75% of the greenway is shaded. I bought an Instep bike trailer for Zachary to ride in. It hooks on to my bike and let me tell you, the boy is riding in style. ;-)) He even has a little fan blowing on him so he doesn't get too hot. He's got it made! The story is a little different for mommy though. It was pleasant for the first few hours but then it started getting HOT!! It was 102 degrees at noon when we were leaving.

While we were out enjoying nature and our ride, we had the most amazing experience. We saw lots of people as we were riding along but there were three people that we crossed paths with that really touched our hearts...Jim, George and their mom Ms. Barbara. They had stopped on the edge of the trail and were taking some pictures. Ms. Barbara is Jim and George's mom and she is 90 years old. She was recently diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. Let me tell you though, she still has a quick wit and such a sweet disposition. She and Zachary had the best time. Zachary blew her kisses and sat on her lap while we took pictures. He brought a smile to her face while really warmed my heart. Children just seem to have that effect on people. ;-) So we sat there and talked to them for the longest time and by the time we parted ways, I felt like we had known each other forever. What a wonderful experience that was. It was absolutely the highlight of our day!!

We got a really nice surprise on Saturday afternoon when my dad came up to spend the rest of the weekend with us. We had a wonderful time! We grilled out on Saturday night (that papa can really whip up a mean hamburger) and then we went to church yesterday. We had homecoming so it was a really special time for my dad to visit with us. We had to be there at 9am because I had choir practice. We ended up not getting back to our house until almost 3pm. We had a covered dish luncheon and then a singing after that. I'm telling you, by the time I got home, I was beat!

I did manage to take a 45 minute nap yesterday!! I was happy about that but still feel like I could use another 2 hour nap today! ;-))

Ok, so I added some pictures to the post from a week ago (Z's birthday party) and I added some to this post. I included some of my dad and Zachary from a month ago. I just realized I hadn't posted these and they are wonderful so I wanted to share. ;-)

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

What's up with us?!

Seems like I'm having to apologize a lot lately for not posting! Thanks for all of the emails checking on us. We are doing great! We are just so busy we can't see straight. Literally between Zachary, church, work, exercising and our extraciricular activities, we stay on the go. On and don't let me forget to mention the boyfriend. That also takes up a lot of time. ;-) He's wonderful and we see each other pretty much every day. We have really been on the go over the last month. We went home to my parents house for Mother's Day and then weekend before last we went out of town to meet Mitch's family. We had a wonderful time and really love his family!

To bring you all up to date, my back is completely healed now. I am back on a regular workout routine and feeling good! I had a rough couple of weeks but now that's all history. Back trouble must be in the air because I have run in to SO many people lately that are suffering with back pain. It's no fun at all! The medication that I was on really messed me up too. I'm so happy to be drug free now! ;-)

So Zachary turned two years old on May 15! It's SO hard to believe!! I feel like he was just born a couple of months ago. We had a few friends over for a little party. I fully expected him to put his face in the cake but instead he sat in his chair and ate it with a spoon! WHAT!?! Go figure! I couldn't believe it. This child ceases to amaze me. He has such good manners and is so polite. He says "please", "thank you" and "you're welcome" over and over again!! I'm not saying that he doesn't have his days...because let me tell you he does. I have to say that I am truly blessed!! I couldn't have asked for a better child. So not only is he polite but he is SO smart! People are always commenting on how intelligent he is. He can tell you where his eyes, ears, nose, head, feet, tummy, neck and hands are. He is talking up a storm and has now started putting sentences together. For instance, sometimes he'll ask for Mitch and I'll say, he's not here or he's at work and Zachary will say, "Mitch gone to work". It's so cute! He's also on a roll right now where sometimes I'll ask him to do something and he'll say "No mommy, No mommy...No". Usually I'll talk right back to him and say "Yes Zachary"...you have to do it or whatever. He can also tell you all of the animal sounds. The other day I asked him the question, what does mommy say? He said "gobble, gobble". I guess that means I'm a turkey!! ;-))

The other highlight of our lives right now is that we are really exercising a lot. We have been riding bikes a lot. I used to ride in 200 mile bike tours and I always felt great. I decided to get back in to that so I bought an Instep bike trailer for Zachary. It's SO cute. I'll have to post a picture out here so you can see it. It connects to my bike and I pull him around the neighborhood, through parks and on the greenways. I don't ever take him on the road though because I'm terrified of the crazy drivers. We have a great place to ride in our neighborhood. It comes up to about 8 miles total. So if I ride it twice that's 16 miles. Not too bad for a day! I'm on a major health kick right now and determined to get 25 lbs. off. That's what I have left after losing 5 lbs. My goal is to do this by mid July. I should be able to accomplish this if I stay on track. I'll keep you posted.

I promise to post pictures soon! My laptop is on the blink so I haven't been on it much. I'll see if I can get some pictures downloaded in the next couple of days.

Hugs.....