Mother's Day, baby chicks, and active boys

Jay had to work on Mother's Day, so it was just my little guy and me. We got ready for church and I got some cute pictures with my timer. He loves that thing; thinks the flashing light is hysterical and says, "Beep! Beep! Beep!" I get better shots that way than when a person is taking them for us. :) I love his little Carter's onesie even though he's getting a little big for onesies. It says, "Mommy Loves Me!" He is really into having his hair spiked right now, so we did that, too.

Grammy and Papa (my parents) and Memaw and Aunt Allie (Jay's mom and sister) are at church every week with us. It was great to have my brother, Eric, in town, too! After the service we went to a banquet set up at the Double Tree hotel. Dad treated Mom, Granny, Holden and me to this last year and we liked it so much we decided to make it a tradition. Granny unfortunately was sick this year, but Eric came and I treated Memaw and Aunt Allie. The setup is elegant but not too fancy for little kids. They have a big buffet with breakfast and lunch foods, a make your own omelette table, salad bar, and then a seperate dessert table complete with a chocolate fountain. What's really cute is the little kids buffet. It is just their height and has kid-friendly choices like mac n' cheese, Jell-o, tater tots, and chicken nuggets. I ate until I was stuffed, then found way to make room for dessert. :) Dad and Eric gave me the great gift of running around the hotel lobby and garden with Holden when he tired of sitting in his chair. Ahhh....being able to relax through an entire meal! Such a treat for a Mommy of a 2 year old! My mom got me some chocolate covered pretzels in a cute pink box (sense the food theme here...can you tell I love to eat?!) and I got really nice cards from both of my parents. It was such a nice, relaxing day.

Holden, Memaw, and Aunt Allie. The moms all recieved carnations upon entering the dining area. Holden can turn anything into a weapon of mass destruction.

My buddy and me. Can you tell he is literally saying, "CHEESE!?"

Papa, Grammy, Uncle Eric, Mommy, and Holden. (He was mad that we made him pose yet again.) :)

Just a little collage of Holden on Mother's Day. I wanted to remember what the day was like with a 2 year old boy, since he is the reason that I celebrate Mother's Day. It was all action except for the WONDERFUL 3 hour nap that we both took after our big lunch! He currently loves bubbles and wants so badly to be able to blow them. But he always put his mouth right on the bubble wand so it doesn't work. I have tried and tried to show him how to do it, but he is so stubborn and independent that he is just going to have to figure it out for himself. He usually ends up spilling the bubble liquid all over himself and the ground. Thank goodness for refills! In the picture where he is looking at his shirt, he was trying to figure out how in the world to untuck it! Since it's a onesie, he didn't have any luck. It was pretty humorous!

My best friend, Bridget, teaches 3rd grade at a different school than me here in town. They are hatching chicks in the classroom, and they hatched this week! She brought Natalie in and invited Holden, Jay, and me over to see them. Holden talked the whole way there about the "baby birdies," and he did think they were pretty neat, but he and Natalie were more excited to see each other and run around the classroom together! They are so cute together now that they interact more. He kept trying to show her and tell her things, and she greeted him with a big grin and waved her arms at him when he showed up. We actually got to see one chick right as it hatched out of its shell. It was truthfully pretty "gross," as Holden announced. :) But also a neat thing to see. Thanks for letting us visit, Bridget!

Lastly, Annie and I took our boys to Prairieland school last Friday for a goodbye party for the Unit 5 student teachers. Each of us had a student teacher in the fall/winter months that was graduating. Well.....let's just say we spent the majority of our time in the halls and gym rather than in the room that the party was held in. There were a lot of speakers and while our boys are many things, QUIET and STILL are not really words that are used to describe them!! Lol! I was cracking up watching and listening to them. They have so much fun together and are just such BOYS! Holden and Colin were being extremely goofy together in the first two shots, stomping their feet and singing some nonsense song. Can you tell they were hot? Look at those flushed cheeks! (Perhaps if they would SIT for 5 seconds, they would cool down!) The bottom one is the only shot I managed to get that included Mr. Drool-Meister Cade. He is in such perpetual motion! Oh-and check out Holden's nametag! Colin "wrote" Holden for him on the top half. So cute and funny!

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I was heartbroken to read that sweet Baby Kayliegh passed away this week. I have followed the Freemans' blog faithfully for months now, amazed at their faith and courage in the midst of their tiny baby girl's fight for her life. They have endured so much, and just when it looked like a happy ending was in sight, her airway was accidentally shut off during a surgery, causing her to become brain dead. I know that they had so many hopes and dreams for their daughter. I can only imagine the pain that they feel. I am glad that they have faith and know that she is dancing with the angels. Please keep this family in your prayers this week. They have lost virtually everything as their medical bills piled up, and now their baby girl is gone as well. You can click on the link below or if that doesn't work, it is on the right side bar on my blog. They are a truly amazing family!

Celebrating ...

...the fact that God has blessed me with this beautiful, smart, funny, rambunctious little boy that we named Holden Jay. That he looks past all of my imperfections and loves me because I am his Mommy. That he allows me into his world of playing, discovering, and exploring each day. And that each of those days comes one at a time, so that I can enjoy this wonderful little person as he grows and changes. I love you, Holden! Thanks for giving me such a special reason to celebrate Mother's Day! You're the best!
Love,
Mommy

Signs that spring has arrived...

...through the eyes of a 2 year old boy!

Our tree is dressed in pink! Let Holden show you:

Even puddles look pretty! (Can you see why they are so tempting to him?)

"Ohhh.Yook! Flowes!" (Translation:Look! There are flower buds on the bushes!"

This is our view across the street. I love the trees in spring!

Simple entertainment: making a mess with dried up flowers from winter.

Who wants to RIDE in the wagon? Pulling it is WAY cooler!

Mommy's view from the top of the slide...Holden likes to say, "Mommy, I catch you!" You know, because I am so light! :)

Discovering ant hills. Such a boy!

He loves to poke the hills with sticks, cover the holes with rocks, and just generally torment the ants so he can watch them run around. "Buds! Buds!" he yells. (Translation: "Bugs!")

My daily view. Doesn't get any better! (Or cuter!) In my extremely biased opinion. :)

Picking fist fulls of "Pretty flowes" for Mommy. I love how intent he is on his mission!

"Here's another one!"

"This is too much work. I don't think I want them anymore."

Admiring his neat pile.

I was afraid we'd have a meltdown when he saw his yellow hands, but he seemed to think they were pretty cool! I think he's getting over his messy phobia. He's been in a lot of dirt and grass lately!

But never fear, he's still my Holden...sweeping up after a hard day's play! (Slightly bent broom result of garage door mishap.) :)

Random Recents

Can you tell Holden has been taking LONG naps and soaks in the tub getting over his illness? The result has been extra blogging time for me! He is doing MUCH better and actually ate like a human being today. However...the Dr. told me there is a 1-3 percent chance that adults can catch the virus. Jay's mom informed me that the Mayo clinic website states that it is "extremely rare" for someone over age 10 to catch it. As always, Jay broke the mold when he woke up with a fever this morning and asked me to check his mouth. Yep, the tell-tale sores were all over. I did remind him that he told Holden two days ago, "Buddy, I'd take it for you if I could." He says he didn't mean it now. :)


Last weekend, we met up with Annie and the Cunningham boys for an evening at Miller Park zoo and playground. There were a lot of people at the newer park, so Jay convinced the boys (well, Colin; Holden and Cade will follow anywhere that they can climb!) that the old park was really cool. The three of them made a beeline for the big dual twisty slide with the curly-cue steps. It is one of the original pieces of equipment left. I remember loving it as a child. As a Mommy, it is quite scary, as the stairs have huge gaps for kids to fall through. The adults didn't have anytime to stand and chat! The boys always have fun together and it was a beautiful night.

Holden loves just opening the garage door and playing in the driveway with his riding toys and mowers. He has also learned to stick his tongue out when I am taking pictures, and thinks he's pretty funny. (See bottom left.) :)

Lastly, Holden helped Daddy wash the van. I remember loving to do this with my dad as a child. There is something so fun about using the good ol' fashioned hose and bucket of suds!

Gulf World

Okay, I lied about the LAST Destin post being the last post. :) I thought I had included all of my collages (probably because there was a ridiculous amount of them!) and realized I left out two of the best ones.

We went to Gulf World located in nearby Panama City. It had all kinds of neat creatures to see and even touch! Jay and Holden had some close encounters in the bird room, we got to pet stingrays, and we all enjoyed the seal show.

Allison and Karly got to swim with dolphins! It was such a neat experience for them. They worked with trainers for a half hour, and then the rest of us got to come in and watch them swim with them. The dolphins "kissed" them, gave them rides on their fin, and let them interact with them. It was so cool! As you can see from the two pictures of Holden, he did NOT think it was cool that he had to watch and not participate! I think every single person in there video taping has his screaming voice in the background. The doors to the exhibit locked so we were stuck with him in there. I was mortified! But now looking back it's funny.

"Hand, Foot, and Mouth"

The title of this post is the name of the virus that Holden somehow picked up last week. He has sores all over the inside of his mouth, even on the tip of his tongue. Some people who are infected also get sores on their hands and feet. He had one nasty red blister swell up on his finger today, but other than that, his virus seems content to reside in his poor little mouth. My tiny little guy doesn't need to lose any weight, so we have been giving him whatever he will agree to chew around the mean welts. So his diet this week has consisted of mainly Popsicles, milkshakes, and unsalted french fries, washed down with Sprite or water sipped out of a straw. He's also had a temp. on and off, but it finally broke yesterday and he's in much better spirits. Despite being sore, he has been a real trooper and doesn't let it hamper his style too much. He doesn't understand why he can't play with the other kids outside, so we've been mainly sticking to the backyard. I am so thankful for the beautiful day we had today! Please say a prayer that his body will continue to heal and that no new sores will pop up.

We have the guest bed mattress set up in the living room again, which we always do when he is not feeling well. Yesterday, he rolled off the mattress, and I came home from work to find him sleeping on the floor. He slept that way for the better part of an hour!

My parents accompanied us to Menards today (my mom held him the whole time, so he didn't contaminate anything!) to help me get some sand for his sandbox. He was in heaven! He played the day away shoveling, digging, and transferring sand. He also got some slide action in. He slept so well at nap time after being out in the fresh air!

Almost as good as the beach! Thank you, Papa!

Jay's parents got us a really nice swing with a canopy seriously two years ago. We thought we'd lost the directions to it, and they turned up recently. We put it together today, and it is awesome! I know we'll get a lot of use out of it this summer. Holden LOVES it! He was so excited to see it all finished when he woke up from nap. He decided it was a good place to relax. :) As you can see, Memaw introduced him to Root beer. He puts a straw in it and sucks it down. At least there's no caffeine!

Some other backyard shots taken today. You'd never know this little boy was in so much discomfort! He is being much less of a baby about it than I would be. The only times he really gets upset are when he's tired or when he wants to eat something and realizes it hurts too much. Memaw, Pepaw, Aunt Allie, cousin Kelsey, and Aunt Cyndee came over for a visit tonight. He was very happy to have some company!