Stories now....Pictures Later

So, yesterday was Taft's 4 month check up with Dr. Worley. He is apparently not having any problems in the growth area as he weighs in at 16 lbs. & 10 oz. He is also now 26.5 inches long. He is getting to be lots of fun. On the 23rd of August he rolled over for the first time at Grandma & Grandpa Simpson's house while I was running to town to return a movie rental and Daddy was laid up in bed after his surgery. He is now rolling over pretty regularly and steady. I have created a little play area for him in the living room with some toys and he sure enjoys it, but you eventually get to hear the frustration of a baby trying to discover his new world. No one could have made me grasp the idea & excitement of watching your own child learn and discover life. Taft is grabbing at things including my hair and necklaces (I don't wear these very often). He has a rattle that he loves and it is just perfect for his hands to grab and it is not obnoxious when it rattles. He is starting to get more vocal and loves to stand up in your lap if you are holding him. He is also learning to fight sleep. For some strange reason just in the last few days he has had a hard time getting settled in for his afternoon siesta. I think he may have just gotten over stimulated. Yesterday Taft & I also got to see a very special friend of ours that I haven't seen since January. Dr. McCardell (one of my bosses) was diagnosed with a malignant, aggressive brain tumor early January and I haven't seen him since. He is a wonderful man, a great dentist and I have missed seeing him at the office. His daughter in law Tina brought him to Casa Ole in Beaumont yesterday so Taft & I met them and a whole host of people for lunch. He looks great and I will post a pic of him with some others later. Doc got to hold him and snuggle him for a while and I think it was neat to see him in that realm. Doc is a very generous and kind man and I am so thankful that we got to visit him for a few minutes yesterday. And lastly....some of the best news ever! Taft spent his first night in his own crib...he went to sleep at 8:30, woke up for a tide me over feeding at 10:40 and went right back to sleep until 7:30! YEAAA!!! I couldn't believe it. I probably woke up to check on him about 3 or 4 times, but he was very content in his own space! So here is to a more restful sleep without my kid kicking me in the throat, the chest and the gut!

I am not sure...

if I should be thankful that I haven't had a second to really sit down and blog. Two Thursdays ago I accompanied Eric to the ENT's office to check out a deviated septum and see what would need to be done to correct it. Because our insurance deductible is renewing Sept. 1st & we are so close after having Taft and his NICU stay we felt like if they could squeeze us in that this would be the best time to have the surgery from a finacial point. Well, Dr. Jordan accomodated us quite nicely and Eric got not only his septum corrected but his tonsils out as well. Apparently they were chronically infected...NOT GOOD. So, for the last week I have been a nurse, a mom, a hygienist, and today I am a crazy. Or at least I felt like that while Taft was being cranky and unwilling to fall asleep. However, I almost positive that after some personal and good conversations with some of my patients today that I am okay with Taft being cranky as long as he is here with me and Eric needing some extra attention as well as long as he is here with me, too. I cannot think of anything else that is more worthy of my attention than the two best men in my life. Here's to a little faster recovery and Taft getting off the monitor!

Are you ready for some Football?

If you are bored and need some good entertainment...come to our house and watch some quality comedy as the youth and sometimes the leaders head up a game of mud football. It is super fun to watch and it is free. The kids are coming frequently which is fine by us. We are glad to have them and feel fortunate that our house is deemed "cool enough" for now that the youth hang out here even if we aren't home. So get your tickets while they last and while they are free! Hope the youth play for a long long time!

The Fan

The Game in Action

The Team

We Don't call him BINKY MAN for nothing...

Taft can do things with his binky that I wouldn't have thought possible. The other night Eric & I were talking & I decided to check on "boy" as we sometimes call him. This is what I found....mind you the binky started out in his mouth when we laid him down....

You are getting sleepy!

Sundays are notorious for some of the best nap taking ever. As I am typing I am wishing that it was 3:30 and not 5:30 so I could take one myself, but no such luck. I am not sure if you will get the same effect as I did, but I couldn't help but laugh & get the camera as I watched Taft in his swing a few minutes ago. I came out of the bedroom to see Taft staring blankly as he was trying to ward off the much needed sleep. He gave me a sly grin and kept staring. Of course by the time I got my camera he was in such a trance that I couldn't get him to smile at me again, but rest assured it was very cute. I figured at the very least people wouldn't mind seeing one more picture of Taft!

What do you think?

Well, Eric and I have been wanting to do some things to our house, little projects as you will, to make it more esthetically pleasing from the road. Since we are limited in our funds due to the nature of "the beast", we have tried to come up with some inexpensive ways to do this. Our first desire has been to pu tdown some sod, but at 90 dollars a pallet and the need for atleast 3-4 pallets we decided to hold off for a bit. So, we found some great hanging planters for half price, some great plants to go in them, some great front porch sittin' chairs and went to work getting them put together and in the respective places. We love them and are once again enjoying our favorite "room" in the house.

Taft & His Bumbo

Taft got a bumbo seat today after we tried out his cousin to be Grant's. We are hoping that he enjoys using it and that it helps to strengthen the muscles he needs to sit up on his own in the next few months or so.

The long awaited and much needed Update

So, it has been a really long time since I updated I know. Thanks for the encouragement (Kim) to do so. I have been meaning to update, but needed some time and well frankly we haven't had much of our own the last few weeks. We have had Taft's Baby blessing, Youth Conference, and a mini vacation to Port Aransas (Corpus Christi area) where Taft had his first visit to the beach! So, here are a few slide shows to update our happenings. Taft's baby blessing was July 20th at our home. Youth Conference was July 24-26 in Williamson and we actually housed 7 boys and one of Eric's counselors in the YM pres. (bro. Pogue you were awesome!). The kids were great and the conference was a huge success and the best part is that we made it through without Eric getting sick. Taft enjoyed himself too. He went everywhere we did even to Lake Tejas. Our trip to Corpus Christi was good fun. We visited Eric's cousin Nicole who lives in Ingleside. Her sister Natalie who lives in Georgetown came down, and we also carpooled with Eric's brother Chris, his wife Kirsten and their son Gunnar. So, we had a good group and we did some good eating and saw some really cool things at the TX State Aquarium. So, here are the pics...I hope you enjoy! Well, actually before I can post the pics I have to find them. We can't locate them on my mom's external hard drive....SORRY....I will try to download them to my computer from my CD. Thanks for the patience,