Naptime

This was Brandon's response when I asked him if he was ready to go "night night" for his afternoon nap. Do you think he likes naptime or is it just a coincidence that he smiled and cooed when I asked...??? =)

Meg

Little Treasures

Today, Sally and I went to Little Treasures. It is an annual consignment sale here in Louisville that sales anything you can imagine for your "little treasure." A mother-daughter duo from my church started it in their garage in 2001 and it has grown so much that they have to hold it at Basketball Academy. I have never seen so many clothes, strollers, baby beds, toys, shoes, high chairs, bouncy toys, books, movies...I could go on. There was SO much stuff and even more people!

I bought Brandon a swing since he loves the one at his Aunt Tiffany's so much. They had about five or six of the same swing. I got mine for $10...the other ones were $40 and $50!! Yeah, what a bargain! I checked it before I left to make sure it worked and it did so I stood in the longest line I have ever seen so that my precious baby boy could have the swing.

We left my house at 10:15 and I got home at 1:00. I only bought two things (I got a diaper trash can for $5 but that's nothing to brag about) and I was there forever. I really want to go back and look at their clothes but I will have to block out several hours to do that. They are there until Sunday so I might just have to go back.....

Meg

Riverfront

Yesterday was a great day! We went to church yesterday morning then came home and took a GREAT nap (thanks to Brandon). We went to Chili's for dinner...YUMMY!!! Then, we drove over the bridge to Indiana to the Falls of the Ohio. It was a beautiful night so we took advantage of it by taking a few pictures.

Nathan has to work and go to class the rest of the week so I am glad we were able to take a day for our little family.

Meg

A Saturday in Hendersonville

Nathan had yesterday (Saturday) off which is very rare. He normally had one day off during the week and then Sundays off. So, he and my brother-in-law, Tommy (Tiffany's husband) took advantage of the opportunity and decided to play golf. Yesterday morning we drove to Nashville after Brandon's morning feeding. Nathan and Tommy played golf while Brandon and I hung out with Tiffany and her kiddos. It was a GORGEOUS day so we did a little shopping...well, they did. I am not much of a shopper but Brandon and I had fun just hanging out with them.

Graciee and Brandon

Graciee and Sunniee showing off their "Taylor Swift dresses"

Jaxon

Jaxon and Brandon...yeah, Brandon is literally twice his size! =)

Gavin

Such a hard life!

Typical interaction between Sunniee and Nathan

Graciee showing off her new outfit and new baby doll

Brandon loves the swing at Aunt Tiffany's

Graciee practicing her golf swing with Uncle Nathan

NAPTIME

Sunniee is a beautiful girl and so photogenic...and then...

She can make these faces =)

We don't know who she gets that from

Brandon, Graciee, Austin and Sunniee (that's cake icing on her lips...seldom takes a normal picture)

We are planning a trip to Jackson the last weekend of September. Tiffany and her family are going to go, too, and we are looking forward to it!!! Nanny and Pa, we missed you but we will see you in about a month.



Meg

Brandon's Baby Shower

A few friends of mine threw Brandon an After-the-Baby baby shower tonight. Since I was put on bedrest in February, they decided to wait until after Brandon was born to have a shower. We had a YUMMY dinner and it was good getting to hang out with the girls.

Ginger and her son, Thomas

Me and Beth

Laine and Brandon hangin' out =)

There were several toys for Laine to play with but she chose the tissue paper

Brandon fell asleep at his own party..."It's my party, I can sleep if I want to..."

Thomas helped me open the BIG PRESENT

The hostesses...Beth and Sally...and of course, baby Laine =)

Thanks, girls!

Brandon woke up from his nap and Cassie was there to get him back to sleep...it might not look like it here but he did fall back to sleep

Thanks for the gifts!! I will be sure and get a picture of him in the ExerSaucer - he will love it!

I had a great time and I am so thankful for friends who are willing to throw a little party for my baby boy! Brandon said, "THANK YOU!" (Laine, he'll call you later.) =)

Meg

Kelly Clarkson

Our friends, Brennan and Sarah Uthe, called yesterday with an amazing offer! They had FREE tickets to the Kelly Clarkson/Gavin Degraw concert at the KY Fair and they wanted Nathan and I to have them. They also offered to babysit Brandon so we could have a date night! WOW!! Ok, so I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kelly Clarkson so this was an amazing deal!! However, I hadn't left Brandon with anyone yet so I was a little hesistant. But, I talked to Nathan and we decided to go. We had a great time and we are so thankful for great friends!!

The tickets...we had great seats

Gavin Degraw

Kelly Clarkson

Us

Thanks, Brennan, Sarah, Marisa and Sam!! I know Brandon had a BLAST with y'all and we are so thankful for your willingness to do that for us! We owe you big time!!



Meg

Precious...

Brandon and I were getting ready to go to a friend of mine's house for dinner and games last night when I took this picture. I LOVE IT and thought I would share it. He is so stinkin' cute, huh?! =)


Meg

Hematoma

I heard back from my doctor with the results from the ultrasound yesterday. He said that it is a hematoma (blood clot) and that it doesn't look like anything that needs an invasive procedure. However, he wants to do a couple follow up ultrasounds to make sure it doesn't collect any fluid or show signs of an abscess. He did encourage me by saying that most of the time these dissipate, or go away. I was nervous that they were going to have to re-open my incision from the c-section. Mama let me know that if I had to have a procedure done, they wouldn't mess with the incision. Whew!!

Praise the Lord it was nothing major. Now it just needs to GO AWAY! =)

Thanks for your emails!!


Meg

Blood Clot?

I went to the doctor today for a routine follow-up appointment. It's the normal six week check up which really should have taken place about three weeks ago. I rescheduled the original appointment because I was in Hendersonville when Tiffany had the twins. So...today was the big day to make sure everything was okay. Unfortunately, the nurse found a lump near my uterus. My doctor is on call today and was at the hospital which is why I was seen by the nurse practitioner. She paged him and he instructed me to come to the hospital and have an ultrasound. The ultrasound tech said it looked like a blood clot but she would need him to confirm that. (We aren't going to rely on her opinion too much. We think I was her first patient. She had to call someone in the room to show her how to use the machine. hahahaha) My doctor is supposed to call me with the results. We don't think it's anything to be overly concerned about but I will keep the blog updated.


Meg

Two Months Old

Brandon turned two months old yesterday! Everyone has said, "They grow up so fast...time will fly by..." I have to admit, the first month was FOREVER long. When he turned one month old I thought, "Really? He is only a month old? I feel like it's been forever." I think that's because for that first month, he and I were getting to know each other; I was learning as I went and he was learning about being in the world! =) There were so many adjustments for both of us.

But, I can now say that time has flown by. Brandon has started smiling, cooing and sleeping through the night! So much has changed and the past month has flown by! He got his two month shots which was worse for me than for him. I cried longer than he did!! At his one month check-up, he weighed 10 lbs 2 oz and was 22 inches long. At his two month appointment he weighed 13 lbs 6 oz (75th percentile) and was 24.5 inches long (90th percentile)!! He is growing like crazy!

Nathan starts back to school next week and is continuing to work full time. Over the summer he started an internship at chuch and is continuing to teach our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) class. He is so busy but somehow makes time for me and Brandon. As he starts his last semester of seminary, we are starting to send out his resume and pray about where God would have us serve. We are both excited about future ministry opportunities but we have NO IDEA where we are going to end up which causes a little anxiety. God is in control and we trust that we will end up serving where we can most glorify him!


Meg

Jackson...and home

Monday was a crazy day as Brandon and I made the rounds visiting friends and family. We started the morning with the Stanleys. Jonie and I have been friends for years and it had been TOO long since I had seen her three kids. She hadn't met Brandon yet so we spent most of the morning playing with them.

Brandon had a great time hanging out with Kimory, Ethan, and Michael

Ethan was so sweet

From there we went to Olivia's house. She was moving back into the college dorm that afternoon so I wanted to tell her bye. Dana (her mom) hadn't met Brandon so she got a little cuddle time. Unfortunately, Brandon was being fussy so it didn't last long (sorry, Dana).

Next stop - Union. My mom works there and we had arranged to meet at her office before going to McAlisters for lunch. Brandon was spoiled by her co-workers which, of course, he didn't mind! =)

Our final stop of the afternoon was at First Baptist. We were at church Sunday morning but I wasn't able to see all of the office staff. Brandon took his afternoon nap like normal and I was able to chat with the church ladies. It was a great visit!

We went back to my parent's house and chilled out for a little while before going to Sakura with my mom and brother. I got Sakura twice during my stay in Jackson...it's so yummy!!!! My mom had a meeting at church after dinner so Brandon and I went to my grandparent's house to visit with them. Mimi and Daddy Bill were able to spend time with Brandon before we headed back to Louisville the next morning. When we got home, Brandon was EXHAUSTED so he took a little power nap before his bath and bedtime.

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We left my parent's house around 7:30 yesterday (Tuesday) morning and stopped in Hendersonville to visit Tiffany and the kiddos and to give Brandon a little break.

Brandon playing at Tiffany's

Baby Gavin has jaundice so he was taking his nap under the light =(

Sunniee being a great big sister and holding one of her baby brothers

I checked my email and Facebook from Tiffany's computer and found out that Louisville had been hit with some pretty nasty weather. There was lots of flooding, interstates were closed, businesses were closing early, people were without power, etc. I immediately got paranoid about driving the rest of way home. If I had been driving alone I would have been fine but having an 8-week old makes you rethink stuff like that. So, after talking to Nathan we decided I should be fine and I made the journey back to Louisville. Luckily, we only hit one little patch of wind and rain that lasted about twenty minutues.

Poor Brandon was so exhausted. He slept great last night and then took a 3-hour nap first thing this morning. I must have been tired too because I took that nap with him!! =)

Meg

Visit to Jackson

Brandon and I left for Jackson on Friday. The purpose of the trip was to go to a family get together on Saturday for my cousin, Marco, and his fiance, Shelley. They are getting married in October in Texas. A lot of family won't be able to go to the wedding, so they drove here so everyone could meet her.

Marco and Shelley

It was great meeting Shelley and I wish them the best!!

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Brandon and I made a couple pit stops on the way to Jackson. Pit stop #1 was in Hendersonville to see Tiffany, Tommy and the twins. Austin wasn't home and the girls were staying with my mom in Jackson so it was a totally different atmosphere than when I am normally there! =)

Brandon loves the swing at Tiffany's house

Gavin

Jaxon

After leaving Hendersonville we headed to see our friends, the Fraziers, in Nashville. They hadn't met Brandon yet so that was priority! =) It was great visiting with them and Brandon gave Chuck the best present...tons of spit up! =) I can't believe I didn't get a picture of them with Brandon. I am terrible, I know!

After meeting with them we made the rest of the trip to Jackson. Luckily, Brandon is a great car rider! I never heard a sound out of him the entire time. That made for an enjoyable drive.

Olivia came over Friday night shortly after I got to my parent's house. She made Brandon the coolest blanket. Thanks, Liveloo!!!!! It is SO cute and SO comfy!!

Brandon laying on his new blanket

Olivia, Graciee and Brandon

Brandon was named after my Daddy Bill and on Saturday at the family get-together, they were finally able to meet.

Daddy Bill and Brandon

Mimi and Brandon

We went to FBC Jackson on Sunday morning. It was great to see people I haven't seen in months and Brandon was able to make lots of new little friends.

We are heading back to Louisville on Tuesday morning. I hope to visit a few friends tomorrow (Monday) since I don't know when I will be back this way.

More pictures to come...

Meg