Proof

So I have been trying to take a decent video of Henry walking for the last few weeks, but the task proved to be very difficult. I finally got one that is worth sharing yesterday! Enjoy the amazing skills of my son. He is a walking phenom.

Walking from Sarah on Vimeo.

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend! We are loving it around here. We have been to birthday parties and out to eat, grilled out and played in the pool. All around a great weekend! I will post picture of Henry's first time in the pool soon. For now I am off to be lazy and enjoy the last of the three day weekend!

Tough as Nails

The other morning Nick, Henry and I were laying around on the couch together. At one point Henry reached up to pull on my glasses and I said (in my most firm mothering voice) "NO Henry. NO." And do you know what he did? Did he put his hand down and say, "Oh, sorry Mama. My bad. I didn't realize those were off limits". Um, no he didn't. He melted down into a puddle of pitiful. His entire body going limp as he SOBBED about this HORROR of not being allowed to rip my glasses off my face.

The meltdown lasted about a minute. I don't think there were any actual tears. Then he looked up at me, and half smile on his face, and then he did it. He went for my glasses again. As if to say, "SEE how much I want them! You wont allow me to get that upset again, will you??" And when he got the "NO HENRY!" for the second time, it was back into the meltdown. "WORST MOTHER EVER!" he seemed to scream and he once again collapsed in my arms in the pits of despair. But I was not moved. We have been working on the word "No" a lot around here. He cannot convince me with these fake sobs.

When he picked his head up off my shoulder for the second time, he slowly raised his hand again. I gave him a look. A "don't even try it" look. And his hand dropped. He was over it. Moving on to the next thing to explore. Nick on the other hand, he was not over it. That's when he said, full of heart ache for Henry's despair, "You broke his spirit! He is just a husk of a baby now." My husband, tough as nails. Henry may not be able to convince me with all those fake tears, but Nick is another story entirely. I never knew I would have to be the tough one around here.

LOST: My Thoughts

So, obviously this post is going to be chocked full of spoilers. If you have Lost finale on your DVR, close out now and come back and leave me a comment after you have seen it! If you have never seen Lost, What are you thinking?? It's the best show EVER! Go rent it! NOW!

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The easiest way for me to do this is bullet form. That way I don't have to feel bad about lacking transitions or not following a timeline. So here we go.

• My heart is so sad for this show to be over. When I went to bed last night I just kept replaying several scenes in my head and just...it is so full of sadness...and love...and sadness!
• The sideways timeline, the fact that it is actually after everyone has died. It just...is so beautiful and so tragic. What an amazing way to bring them all together and yet...*sob*
• When Kate touches Jacks face in the sideways time-line and says, "I have missed you SO much". Has so much weight once I thought of how much longer she lived without him. Her memories of life contain a lot more time than his.
• Hurley eventually dies. Somehow that makes me happy and sad and curious all at the same time.
  
• I love that Ben became the number two he always wanted to be.
• When Eloise was terrified Desmond would take her son, just heart breaking too. She knew they were in an afterlife, but she was holding on to him. Full of regret for what she had done.
• I want to know what happens in the lives of the people who left the island. Were Kate or Sawyer ever happy? Somehow their sideways life leading them to Jack and Juliette make me thing that they weren't...
• Desmond...I love you.
• So did Jack die because he went into the light or did the MIB actually kill him? Was the wound fatal either way?
• I loved that Vinson was with him in the end. As my mom said, "that's what a good dog would do".
• Charlie...I love you Charlie.
• I want to know if Clair became a good mother. Did her and Kate raise Aaron together?
• I wonder how long it took everyone to die. How long was Hurley on the island? Ben?
  
• We can all agree that Desmond did get off the island and go to his family, right?
• The Kwons, they just seems at peace. That was so nice to see. I loved the way they looked at Sawyer with so much affection.
• The scene in the church with everyone together at the very end was perfect. Just perfect.

Okay, for now that's it. I might come back and add more thoughts as I think of them in the day. If I do I will add an *updated* line so you know where to start. Basically though, I just loved it. Loved every second of it. I thought it was a perfect, complicated, emotionally satisfying end to a show that was so amazing. I know they couldn't answer all of our questions, but they answered enough for me. LOVE.

How did you all feel about it??

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Update #1: More Thoughts

• Where were Michael and Walt?
• Just to be clear, the Island was all real and they were alive there and the only time they were dead was in the Sideways timeline, right? That was my understanding but my dad wasn't sure.
• From the first talk of the candidates I wanted it to be Hurley. I knew he would be best.
• I am still really lost on where the Others came from. And he people at the Temple. Did they ever explain that?
• I am sad that Jack and Juliette's son never existed. I liked him.

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Update #2: A Better LOST Blog:

If you want a great review and some amazing comments check out this blog!

Small Steps to Big Things

So when I took my new job at UK I knew it came with one pretty cool perk. Free school. This was a perk I wasn't positive I would ever use, but the idea of a Masters Degree for free was sorta appealing somewhere in the back of my mind. Then I started work. So many people were taking classes. Slowly but surely working their way towards a Master or PhD. For the last month it has intrigued me. Growing into an actual desire. So today I took the plunge. I called the Graduate School to see what was involved. They said just to fill out an application and get in contact with the Masters program I want to be involved with.

Long story short, I am now signed up for my first Masters class for the fall. I will be taking Epidemiology, working towards a Masters in Public Health. I might change my mind on my degree, I might only take one class ever and say it's not for me. But for now I am excited. Really excited. But worried too. I know people go to school while working full time. I know they do it with families. But...I just don't know. It seems like it might be a lot. Still, it will be a slow process. One to two classes a semester. That will give me a Masters in Five years. Five years...Henry will be in kindergarten. And that's if I don't take time off for other babies, which I hopefully will. Still, it's a start. A small step towards something big.

One Year Stats (plus a little more birthday wrap up)

I swear this is the last post about Henry turning one. I am totally out of material after this one and we can hence forth return to our normal lives...until next May 13th. Then it will be all about "OH GOOD LORD MY BABY IS TWO!" and it will once again take an entire week to cover. Go ahead and mark it down in your calenders.

Anyway, Henry had his one year check up today! All is well with our sweet boy. We could say yes to all the developmental questions which always makes me feel good. We talked about him still waking up in the night, and she really said that for his size it is normal. He has a really high metabolism and he is honest to god hungry. So...that's good to know. And I am not sure about weaning him now because making bottles is WAY more of a THING than scooping him out of his bed and nursing him in ours. We will see...the entire nursing, night waking thing might get its own post soon. Actually yes...yes it will. So on to the stats!

Height: 30 1/2 inches : 75th percentile (moving on up the chart!)
Weight: 18lb 1.5oz : <5th percentile (still skinny)
Head: 18 3/4 inches : 90th percentile (extra room for brains)

So, basically we still have a tall, skinny, big headed baby. And we feel that is absolutely perfect!

Now, in order to actually make this the LAST birthday post, I realized I was going to have to toss a couple pictures up here at the end. So...enjoy Henry eating his first cupcake!
Henry says, Mama, see this bib? It's says "1" that means I am totally in charge. And my first order of business is to tell you to keep that thing away from me.
Seriously, what the heck do you want me to do with this thing?

Okay, okay...I will touch it... but I make no promises on actually tasting it. I only eat things off the floor.

Hold up...this is....this is awesome

Have you all tried this?!?! My GAWD it is good!

I totally love you guys! Hugs and kisses and all that. So... can I get another??

And then he opened his presents from us and got his very own swing for the back yard! He begged to try it out, so we let him.

And so concludes the 1st birthday extravaganza!

The End.

1st Birthday Party

We had Henry's first birthday party last Saturday and it was a HUGE success! If you happen to follow me on Twitter (what? You don't? Well you totally should. @biogirl) you will know that I was worried about the weather. REALLY worried. Turns out there was no reason because we had the most beautiful day of 2010. A real score. I mean, it was risky to have an outdoor party in May in Kentucky, but it worked out perfectly!
We will start the party pictures by jumping to the middle of the party (it's how I do things) to show you the only family picture of the three of us taken. Enjoy! As you can see, Henry really isn't sure about his Elmo cake.

Not sure about it at all....

On the other hand, he was very sure about his new favorite toy "Buddy". Every time he sees Buddy he picks him up and gives him a kiss. It is the most adorable thing ever.

Here is Henry hanging out with his Aunt Boo and Uncle Chris back at the beginning of the party! (Who needs a logical timeline??)

Hanging out with his Mama. He had to wear his sun hat for the majority of the party because we couldn't keep sun screen on him because he rubbed it in his eyes. Poor birthday boy.

Taking a break from the outside festivities to play some penny hockey with his Papa and Wesley

Ryan and Arielle enjoying the party

Uncle Chris and Uncle Awesome

Grandaddy and Uncle Chris (yes, Henry has two Uncle Chris'.)
Grandpa and Nana

A shot of the party in the back yard. As perfect as the weather was, it got a little toasty. So we moved all the tables to the shade. Thank god for the big trees in our back yard!

Heading out to see everyone at the party with Grandaddy

The boys hanging out with their Mamas

Precious birthday boy.

The cake and cupcakes! My sisters and I made all of these! Well, actually Nana made the cake, but we iced them. ALL. By ourselves! I am so proud I could pop. They came out absolutely adorable.

A shot of the food table. Everything came out great!

Hanging out with his Papaw and Ellie. I like how Henry has on nothing but a onesie here, but has on his shoes. We are nothing but classy around here on birthdays!

Everyone at the party who is related to Henry. I am so glad we got this picture!
Henry loves his Aunt Candice!

The boys hanging out with their Nanny and Mimi. Henry says, "what's all this fuss about??"

Wesley enjoying a cupcake. He says, "Man, this cookie monster is slammin' "

Henry says, "Tell me about dude, tell me about it."
And finally, a shot of Henry enjoying one of his many wonderful birthday presents with his aunt Missy!

Thanks to everyone who was able to be apart of his birthday! We loved celebrating with you all!

One Year

**Sorry this is a little late. Things have been birthday-crazy around here! We have had a great few days. I will post pictures from his actual birthday and his big birthday bash soon!**


Dear Henry,

What a joy you are. I don't know how else to describe you. This last year has been the very best of my life. It is impossible for me to imagine my life without you now. You have so completely stolen my heart. And not just mine, you have come into our lives and stolen the hearts of your entire family. You are a very loved little boy.
This last month has been a big month for you. You have started walking, which is very exciting! You are so funny to watch. You will take off walking across the room, and as you are doing it you will yell out loud. Just out of pure joy that you are actually doing it all by yourself... or maybe to make sure we are watching. Either way, it's so adorable. You are eating absolutely everything. I have never known a baby to love food the way you do. A favorite is Mexican, so that is where we are going for your birthday dinner. Only you can get your Papa to eat Mexican and not complain about it. Anything for his sweet boy on his birthday!
Well Henry, I just cannot believe it has been a year. A year since we met you and found out you were a boy. A year since we first saw your sweet face. You are getting so big. So independent. So precious. I wish I could really describe to you how sweet you are. It's just...there aren't words. There aren't words for the love I have for you. I want to describe how you lay your head on my shoulder. How you love to touch my face. How you love kisses and love to kiss us back. I want to write it all down and remember, remember how you were on your first birthday, but I know things will fade and that I cannot freeze these moments. Words do not capture our time. So I will just live it and love it and always be so amazed that I get to be your Mama. Happy birthday my sweet boy. I love you.

XOXO,
Mama

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Boy

We love you more than we can ever say. Happy Birthday Henry.

Song: Smile by Uncle Kracker

**Henry's one year letter will be coming tomorrow. For today I wanted to share with you the slideshow of his first year. I just cannot believe how fast time has gone and how much he has grown into a little person. I hope you enjoy the video. I know I loved making it, and I cannot seem to stop watching it. And I think I have something in my eye...**

Walking

Weeks ago we thought there was no way. No way was Henry going to walk before his first birthday. He was too little to walk. He was our baby. He was hard at work on other things, but walking was going to come after the big birthday. Then one day it clicked in his sweet little head. He spent less and less time crawling from here to there and more and more on his two feet. Holding tight to our hands or the couch or the wall, but standing, walking from here to there.

Then, before our very eyes, we watched him as he got more and more courageous. He would let go of the couch. Only for a second or two, but he was testing those legs. He learned to stand up in he middle of the room. Not pull up, but just stand. Then he started cutting the corner of the sectional sofa. Just two steps, then he flung himself into the cushion. With this look on his face that said "I made it! I am so awesome." And we smiled and praised him, but we didn't say he was walking. He took a couple of steps, but that is different. He is awfully little for walking.

Then days went by and the corner cut got earlier and earlier. He would take three steps, and then not fall into the couch as much as just stand beside it. Still the look of "I am so awesome" on his face. But we didn't say he was walking. Just taking better steps. He is too little to be walking. He is our baby. He will get it eventually, but not yet.

Then one day I was walking out of the living room. I was at least four steps from Henry when I felt him collide with the back of my legs. I look around at him, and I must agree. He is awesome. He is positively glowing at his accomplishment. And yet...we didn't' say he was walking then either. He was close though. Really close.

Last night Henry was standing at the couch, he let go and walked across the room. All the way to the wall. His legs were shakey, but they got him where he wanted to go. There is no more denying it. Henry is walking. He snuck in the new skill right before his first birthday. He is growing up so fast, and I love it and I hate it. I watch him as he wants to get down. As he wants to walk. And I know that soon walking wont be enough. He will learn to run. And he will want to go outside and play. And he will keep growing and keep pushing himself to take that next step. To set a goal for himself and to reach it. And I am so proud. And he is so awesome. And I am trying hard not to be sad. Sad that one more thing that made my baby a baby is gone.

Mother's Day

This day has a rough day in the past, but not today. Today has been an amazing Mother's Day. The first of many. I hope you are all able to enjoy this day in your own way. For me, I am loving on my sweet boy, who was totally worth the wait.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing mothers out there. You are an inspiration to me.

The Guatemala 900

We are going to take a break today from funny stories or Henry stories or endometriosis stories. we are going to talk about something really important. A lot of you know my sister is adopting from Guatemala. You can find her blog about her sweet daughter Avery here.

My sister and her husband have been working on their adoption for two and a half years. They have been trying to start a family for seven. After four IUI's, an IVF and an FET they decided that adoption was the way to bring their family together. They were quickly placed with their beautiful daughter, and we hoped to have her home to hug and kiss and show her the love we had for within six months. Unfortunately that is not what has happened. Due to government issues and dragging of feet sweet Avery is living in a foster home in Guatemala. They can and do go visit her, but the date of bringing her home is still unknown.

This is not a unique case. My sister and her husband are part of the Guatemala 900. Nine hundred children who are caught in the middle of a political battle. The parents of these 900 are petitioning Washington to come to their aid. To assist them through relations with the Guatemalan government to release these nine hundred children to their loving American homes.

I know I do not have a ton of readers, but I know that I have faithful ones. Ones that have supported me through the toughest of times. I am now going to ask you to please support my sister and the other families involved with the Guatemala 900 by simply signing this petition. It only takes a few seconds, but if there are enough signatures on it when the families present it in Washington DC, it might make a difference.

I wish every single day for a way to help my sister and brother in law. I pray every night for their daughter to come home and their family to be complete. I know I cannot do much, but I can at least call on you all to sign. Please take a few seconds and fill it out. And keep Avery and the other children in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks guys. If you want to do more, you can post this link to the petition on facebook and/or twitter. Every signature helps.

In Celebration of National Star Wars Day...

Someone was born to be a fan...
Mama: Henry, we are going to watch the three best movies ever made. You are going to love them!
Henry: Mama, wasn't there six Star Wars movies??
Mama: No Henry. Just no. We are sticking with the classics around here.
Henry: Silly Mama

I know, I know. Two posts in one day. But when I wrote about ER I didn't KNOW it was National Star Wars day! I am actually even quoted in an article on Examiner.com about it. Because I am that big of a nerd. But seriously, you can't be surprised.

A Long Rant About a Show that has Long Been off TV

Remember how I told you all I was hooked on old episodes of ER that were being played on TNT? No? How can you forget all these important facts about my life?!? No seriously, it isn't important. I am just reminding you about my odd obsession so I can now vent about a show that went off the air two years ago. Because for some reason i think you care....which...never mind.

So ER. I was pretty addicted. I mean, I remember myself kinda mocking people who had time to watch a Soap Opera...it came on FIVE HOURS a week. How is that even possible to watch? But then, I sorta became one of those people with my beloved ER. I taped it and would watch it when I had time. I didn't have to sit aside a big block of time. If I was nursing Henry I would watch for fifteen minutes. Sometimes I would have to delete a few episodes because I got too far behind, but really I was keeping up pretty well.

The show...the show was getting a touch ridiculous. I will openly admit that. Plane crashes and shoot outs in the ER. But still, I watched. I was going to watch to the end. I was going to make it! Then...then TNT took ER off the air. YES. I have no idea what they were thinking. One day it just became the time slot for Supernatural. Whatever. We were like, two seasons from the end! TWO SEASONS. It might sound like a lot, but the show was on for 13 seasons, so really, we were in the home stretch.

So I set the DVR to tape it on ANY channel. Just so I can see what happens. And you know what? ER does not come on A SINGLE CHANNEL. EVER. WHAT THE HELL. SO....(do you all care about this at all?) I decided to Netflix the last two seasons. I mean, then I could watch it at my own pace. PERFECT. And you know what I learned? The last two seasons of ER have not even been released on DVD. How is this possible?? Every show ever made is on DVD. Every show but ER.

WHY is TNT allowed to get me all sucked in with like three hundred episodes (I am not PROUD of the fact that I have watched that much ER, but it is a fact....ok, I am a little proud. It is a true display of dedication!) and then cut out the last thirty? Just totally abandon me. I am sure I wasn't the only person watching. I am sure I am not the ONLY person who misses it. Right?? Maybe I am. Maybe I am the only person in America who cares. How sad.

Blackout Derby Party

So seeing as how I live in Kentucky, the Kentucky Derby is sorta a big deal. Not like a huge deal for me personally, but people in the general area tend to go a little crazy over it. As for me, I will watch the race and I will show up to a party to celebrate if I am invited. This year I woke up from a three hour nap exactly five minutes before the race started, ran to the TV, cursed the rain, said a prayer for the horses to not break their ankles, and watched the run for the Roses. THEN, I threw on a black dress (okay, I drove to my sisters to borrow a black dress because I had nothing to wear, threw it on, changed into black pants and a black shirt because the borrowed dress didn't fit right, and then changed AGAIN into a totally different black dress because wearing pants didn't feel right either) and ran out the door for my friend Tarps Derby Blackout Party!

Basically the idea was to show up dressed from head to toe in black. Nick wasn't into the party because...well...he just thought it sounded like too much work. All that dressing in black. He did dress in all white for Tarp's white party a few years ago, but I don't think I gave him a choice that time. Plus there were fireworks at that party. Fireworks makes a dress code more reasonable in Nick's eyes. Anyway, he stayed home with Henry and we made a girls night out of it. Here are a few pictures I snapped of our little group having a great time. Sorry the quality is so terrible. Once again I was just using my phone. I really will learn better one of these days...

A few of our girls all dressed in black. These are actually everyone in our group who is on Twitter, so I posted the pic and said it was a picture of my twitter friends. Really, it is my friends who have twitter, but not really Twitter friends. I have know all these girls for at least a decade (and in the case of my little sister, since her birth). For some reason this accidental lie has bothered me since posting it, so now I feel as if I have come clean. Also, yes it is super blurry. And yet, I sorta love it!

Me and my baby sister

Whitney, Mandy and me enjoying the party
My sister in law Candice with Kara and Amanda

Me and Candice. we both tried Mint Juleps for the first time. We decided they were awfully Bourbony, but still oddly tasty. Here is one of many attempts to get a picture of me and Tarp. Apparently we are both way too jumpy to stand still for a picture without a flash...

So that's it! My big night out on the town for the Blackout party. We all had a great time! The rest of the weekend has been full of prep work for Henry's birthday party and lots of laying around and movie watching. All in all a pretty perfect weekend!