Summer Time

So it's summer time around here and we constantly seem to be doing something fun. And I commonly take pictures of these fun activities with true plans of writing a blog post about each and every event. And then time passes and we go to something new and I never get around to actually posting any of the pictures. So...here is a random post of some of the pictures of our summer so far. They are in no logical order. Enjoy! Henry and his Aunt Boo playing at the pool!

Henry loves the pool. We have been going on my day off work to get ready for the beach! He has been the only boy at the pool with a swim shirt on all summer and I was starting to think I was that annoying over protective mom that makes their kid have the big flag on their bike or cover their back-packs in reflectors, but today I saw like ten other boys with them on. Apparently we are just trend setters.

Back a few weeks ago my sweet best friend had Henry a birthday part since she was out of town for the actual day. She had a cake and presents and it was super awesome. Here are me and Carter Helping Henry open one of his presents. It was his very first Thomas the Train toy! She got him the Henry train of course.

So Nick decided that Henry needed a fort. So he turned the pack-n-play into one in the living room. It is Henry's favorite place. And after he goes to bed, it is Ellie's favorite place as well.

My parents had a cook out on Father's Day Weekend and Henry was adorable at it!

Nick and my little sister taking a self portrait at the cook out. I think it is so cute!

Boo and Chris hanging out

Four Generations. Me, Henry, Great Nana and my dad

Four Generations again! Me, Henry, my mom, Great Mamaw and Great Pa!

We have also been spending lots of time at Grandaddy and Gram's pool! Here is Henry enjoying his float. Notice Ellie on her own float in the back ground.

Nick schooling everyone in the family at ping pong

Henry hanging out with Meagan

And a sweet one of him and Savanna. At least I am about 99% positive the first picture was Meagan and the second is Savanna. Or 90% sure. Or at least 50-50. (sorry girls. One day I will figure it out for sure!)

And we are done!

Follow me Here, Follow me There

So I have been working on random blogging/social media aspects of my Internet life and have a few things to share with you all. Before I even get into it though, I wanted to tell you all I am going to be updating my blog roll over on the sidebar (As well as in Google Reader). Are you a reader here at Bio Girl and you have your own blog that you just know I would love if I ever came to read it? Do you want to be on my google reader and blog roll? Leave me a comment and let me now and I will add your site. I love reading all of your blogs!

Okay, now on to the next order of business. So you read bio girl. Obviously since you are here. And you most likely have a Facebook account, because basically everyone has a Facebook account these days. Well now Bio Girl has a Facebook page! And you can become a fan and follow it. Just click here and then click follow. That way I can see who is reading, which will be cool. You can go add me as a Facebook friend too if you like. Or if you don't want to, I totally am okay with that. You know, whatever. My feelings wont be hurt.

Next, I have started reading again. Weird that I took like a year off of reading. Well...not all the way off. I did some re-reading. I listened to some audio books of my favorites, but I wasn't actively reading. But now I am. And I have started to actually use my Good Reads account! Do you use Good Reads? You totally should. It keeps track of all the books you have read, the ones you want to read, and the ones you are currently reading. It shows you reviews of the books, you can have friends on there and see what they are reading and if they liked your "to-be-read" list, it has a FREE app for the iphone which works great. It is awesome. SO, come follow me on Good Reads and we can chat about the books we are reading, want to read, and have read and loved/hated!

Finally, I signed up for Twittermoms. This one I am just getting into, so I don't have a big spiel about how great it is, but if you are on Twittermoms too, then come follow me!

Oh, and I am on Twitter too. But I have told you all that already.

So that's it. Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be on the updated blog roll!

Pack Him Up and Ship Him Out

Well, it didn't take this Mama and Papa long to realize that once Henry was weaned, he can sleep someplace else! Someplace where another loving and familiar person will get up with him several times a night. And you know what we can do? We can go out to a nice dinner. We can go out to a bar. We can sleep. Oh sweet sleep.

So, that is what we did. Friday night we were talking with Nana (aka, Nick's mom) and mentioned that Henry was weaned. She had been asking if he could come stay the night since he was about a month old, so this was very exciting news for her. She asked if he wanted to come sleep at Nana's house. And instead of me and Nick saying, "Oh no no no. He is still nursing. He can't sleep out. He will keep you up all night. We got this!" We were like, "Ummmm....no? " And she saw the weakness. The crack in our baby hoarding defenses. The exhaustion of him getting us up at 5:15 that morning. She was like, "He can! I will bring him to our house and you can pick him up in the morning! Pack a bag!" And we were like, "welll...um....ok?" and off my baby went. And the house was quiet.

It was actually the best way to do it. No super planning or panicking. Just a quick decision and he was off to Nana and Grandpa's for the night. And you know what. It was great. I mean, we missed him. And it was weird. Really weird. But we did go out to a nice dinner at a little place downtown that was casual, but had never been to because we didn't think had a baby feel. We then went to an old friends birthday party at a bar close to our house. Then we crashed. Hard. I mean, I was in bed by 11:30 (party animal, I know) and slept solid until ten. And it felt great.

Henry did amazing as well. He seemed to have a very normal night. He woke up a couple of times, but there were no freak outs or meltdowns. He had fun. He was happy. But he was also really happy when we brought him home, which was nice.Henry says, "Okay guys, every now and then I will sleep out, but I really like my home. I mean, don't get any ideas of shipping me out all the time. I will be good and not make a mess. Look at what a small space I take up. I mean, you can hardly tell I am here!"

Weaned

Thursday morning I was laying in bed and Henry was nursing. It was around 5:30 in the morning and I just watched him. Rubbing his back and giving him little kisses on his forehead. And it hit me. This would be the last time I would ever nurse him. It has been coming on for a little while now. Slowly cutting one feeding and then another. We had recently cut the bedtime feeding and given him a sippy cup and it went really well. I knew in my heart that he would take the cup in the night if he was hungry. He was ready.

So last night we went to bed and had the sippy cup in the fridge in case he needed it. He woke up early and we offered it, but he didn't take it. Once he realized he couldn't nurse he went right back to sleep. This morning at 5:15 he woke up and we offered the cup again. He drank it, and then after awhile drifted off back to sleep.

It's been 24 hours since I nursed him. And he seems perfectly fine. We really are done. Thirteen and a half months, and I have loved every second of it. A piece of my heart is sad it's over. But we were both ready.

My Day Off...to Rest

6:30am - I feel two little hands on my arm. I open my eyes to the sweetest smile you have ever seen. He throws his body on top of mine, then pops his head up to grin some more. He laughs hysterically. I realize we are most definitely up for the day.

6:40-Henry has waffles, yogurt, blueberries and strawberries. Mama has coffee. Lots of coffee. I unload and reload the dishwasher and switch out the clothes in the washer and dryer.

7:15- We both get dressed and ready

7:30- Out the door. Nick is still sleeping.

7:45-Bank. Bank is closed so have to use ATM

7:55-Mama decides coffee isn't enough and gets Chic-fil-a breakfast while talking to Charing on the phone. Charing has been a Mama for 19 years. She is always awake before eight.

8:10- Grocery shopping for the week. Get first spot in the parking lot. Hear the pep talk for the day workers by the management. Laugh that they have a Walmart cheer that they all must sing.

9:15- Stop by old work with program they need. Chat for a bit.

9:30-Put away groceries while Henry has a morning snack. Consider a morning snack for mama as well. Settle on iced coffee.

9:40-Get ready for the pool!

9:55- Write a post about the exact moment you realized that 10am is no longer early, and sleeping in is anything past 8am. Babies change everything.

10am-10pm- Continue on with our relaxing day off. Pool for a couple hours, lunch, nap for baby, read book for Mama, shopping for vacation, cleaning house, dinner with friends, home, stories, snacks, bedtime. Sleep.

A perfect day.

The Vacation Relocation Bonus

So you all remember how I hate BP, right? Well that hate is still strong. We have officially decided to move the location of our family vacation. We just weren't comfortable continuing to plan to be in Pensacola in mid July. At this point only 1% of the beach has seen tar balls, but it is pretty clear that actual oil will be washing up soon. So we are moving. We are still staying in the panhandle (assuming nothing crazy happens...you know, like more OIL) but we are going to the far eastern edge. About 45 miles past Panama City. We have found a perfect beach house and I am really excited about the trip. If the oil does happen to make it all the way there by mid July, they are giving us a full refund, so we were comfortable booking.

So even though I hate the fact that BP is ruining my favorite beach, I am willing to focus on the positive. One of the positives of your relocation? Someone very special gets to come with us.
No, not him. He would be coming no matter where we went! (although we are really excited about THAT first trip to the beach too!)
It's Her! (can't you tell she LOVES to vacation.)

Oh yes, we are bring Ellie. To the beach! We are so excited. Our little dog, well, she is a finicky girl. She is terrified to be left alone or with strangers. (And by strangers I mean close friends or family.) She doesn't do well when we go on vacations and it is always a point of stress for me and Nick. We want to go, but good lord we feel bad leaving her. She wont eat. Her hair falls out. Her stomach gets so upset that she gets sick. She wont get out from under the bed...it is mess. Don't even mention the word "kennel". I think she would have a heart attack before we got her threw the door!

Nick always asks if we can bring her, but no rental houses on Pensacola Beach allow dogs (at least that we have found). But in Mexico Beach, Dogs are totally welcome! They LOVE dogs! They LIVE for dogs! So...Ellie is seeing the ocean for the first time. We really think she is going to love it. We know we will love having her along. Sammie says: What? Why don't I get to come?? Don't people take their 17 year old cats on vacation too? I mean, I know I never stop meowing in the car, but I thought you all LIKED that. Well, as long as you take that barking dog and ear pulling baby, I think I will enjoy my relaxing week home alone just fine. I guess I am cool with the plan. As long as you have someone come feed me!

Happy Father's Day

We love you so.

That's Bright

So this morning I got up a little earlier than normal due to a small child thrashing around like a fish out of water in my bed. I made my way to the kitchen to start the coffee, then sat down on the couch to wait for it to brew and to read a couple of blogs. I hear the coffee is almost done and I stand to make my way back into the kitchen. As I stand, this bright light shines threw the kitchen directly into my eyes. It happens as I am standing, so I only see it for a second, but I realize that this is NOT NORMAL. I look into the kitchen and nothing seems to be on fire, but still...the laser beam of bright light into my eyes...I am concerned.

I quickly start making my way to the kitchen to investigate. I can see it is coming from the window. The curtain is blocking it, but I can see a bright burning light coming from outside. I am pretty positive my neighbors house is on fire. Or that a meteor crashed. Or that aliens had landed. In my back yard. I mean, it was BRIGHT. So I scurry over to the window to see if I need to call the fire department or grab Nick and the baby and run for cover, and then I see it. The brightest thing I have ever seen in my life. The Sun.

Yep. Just the old sun. Rising in the East. Same as every other day of my life. You don't really realize how bright the sun is until it takes you off guard. Sneaky Bastard.

The Brass Band Festival

The town where my parents live have a Bass Band Festival every year. Last year my mom and sisters went, but Henry was really to small for an outside event in the heat of summer, so we stayed home. This year we decided to all go as a family and bring a picnic to celebrate my little sisters birthday (Happy Birthday Aunt Missy!!). We had such a blast. I love doing things out-doors. It makes me feel all active and involved in the community! And they always have funnel cakes at those sorts of things. I am a sucker for funnel cakes. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of our family at the Big Band Festival. Our little family enjoying the sunshine!

We tried to make Henry wear a hat. It lasted about the same amount of time that it took me to take this picture.

They boys. Notice Henry's hat is now nowhere to be seen.

Henry says, "Mama, I LOVE being outside! Why don't we do this more often??"

Me and my sister, Boo.

Boo and her husband Chris

Henry got a little hot, so we stripped him down to his onsie. I love this picture of him listening to the music.

Did I mention Henry is learning to climb? God help us all. Also, Henry loves his Nanny.

My attempt of a picture of the festival. It didn't really come out like I wanted. Imagine bass band music, and a big stage, and tons of people...you get the idea.

At dark my mom broke out the glow necklaces. She's cool like that. They were a big hit! Here is Aunt Missy and Henry showing them off.

My mom with her girls. Henry isn't sure about this necklace thing after all.

My parents. Adorable.
Alright, that's enough. Henry says we are outta here!

**I took no pictures of the actual picnic, which was delicious and a huge success. I also took no pictures to show that we ended up meeting up with some friends of my sisters and hanging out with them too. Sorry there is no proof you all were there Shawna! My bad.**

Not Weaning...

So I am ready to wean Henry. I think. I mean, I feel ready. I feel done. Most of the time. A piece of me is sad that the breastfeeding days are nearly over, but most of the time I am excited to be finished with it. Excited to let him stay the night with grandparents and to go out late without having to worry about rushing home to nurse. Yes, I can say that after thirteen months, I am ready.

And yet I keep nursing him. Each night before bed I nurse him, and every single night, at some point, I wake up and nurse him. EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. I just don't really know how to break the habit. When he turned one I was all for the "Tough-Love" that was going to be required. It was TIME to stop this night waking and nursing. I knew what to expect from the doctor. All you other breast-feeding bloggers (and night waking mama's in general) have posted about it. You walk in and mention that the baby still nurses or eats and night and your doctors are HORRIFIED! They tell you TOUGH LOVE! BREAK THE HABIT! So I was ready to hear it. Ready for the road map to tough love. But you know what I got to hear? I got to hear, "Oh yes...I am not surprised he is still nursing at night. He has a really high metabolism. Just keep feeding him until he starts sleeping all night."

???

Where was my TOUGH LOVE speech? I mean, this is it's own form of tough love. The kind that has us still waking up every night thirteen months later. And I know I could wean him and we could make him a bottle, but...come on guys. Once you breastfeed at night, do you know how hard it is to go to MAKING A BOTTLE? Okay, I don't actually know because we haven't tried it, but it sounds hard. Much harder than scooping up Henry and bringing him to our bed to nurse and fall asleep until morning.

Now when you all read this I know what you will say. TOUGH LOVE will mean bottles and NOT getting to sleep in our bed. I hear you. The thing is, our system is really great. Except for that weaning issue. You will have to trust me when I say the "Crying It Out" method does not work at our house. Henry is an accelerated crier. He can go for HOURS. Only to pass out and wake up fifteen minutes later and start screaming again. It doesn't work for us. So...that means rocking to sleep. Something I don't mind in the slightest at bed time. At three am...well...our bed is just so much more inviting...for ME.

I know, I know. I am working my way up to it. I swear. I cut out all other feedings, so we are down to bed time and middle of the night. Next to go is bed time. Then...we tackle the bottles. and the rocking. And the TOUGH LOVE. Soon. But not tonight. But soon.

Showing Off

Henry was wanting to show off his mad skills to you all. I told him showing off wasn't nice, but he was pretty positive you all would want to see what he can do.

Showing Off from Sarah on Vimeo.

For the record, I do see the humor in the fact that I spent two posts talking about worrying about how much he eats, only to interrupt him during a meal to make him perform tricks. I am awesome like that.

Henry's Thoughts

Um Mama, you need to chill. I am FINE. See me eating. I love to eat! I will eat anywhere, anytime! I am thrilled to eat everything you put in front of me. I am an EATING MACHINE! Also, I am a pooping machine.
Ahhh hahahaha!!! I talked about POOP on your blog! Oh Mama, poop is hilarious.

Mama, why are you taking pictures of my shoes?? What do shoes have to do with anything when we are laughing about POOP? Women. You just don't get good humor.

Over the Sickness...Along with a Rant

Well, Henry is finally starting to feel better. Did I tell you all he was sick? I can't remember. Well, if I didn't, Henry has been sick. It has been going on for a few weeks now and over Memorial Day weekend Nick and I got a wild hair to google some of his symptoms and...well...let's just say you should never google your one year old's poop color on a holiday weekend. Nothing good can come of it. Turns out what WebMD calls LIVER FAILURE Henry's doctor calls a virus. Good to know. Sorry we call the on call service to make sure. But you know...LIVER FAILURE sounds serious.

Anyway, he seems to be back on his feet. A key to being back on his feet is that he is once again eating well. I never realized how important it was to me that Henry is such a great eater until he stopped eating. I totally get why he didn't want to eat. His stomach was a disaster. I am sure he had no appetite and didn't like what the food did to his stomach. I get it. Really. But that didn't stop me from panicking every meal because he simply WOULD. NOT. EAT.

Well, he ate. Just not enough. For me. I guess this bug has shown me that I am a little sensitive about Henry's weight. I never realized it before because he was such a champion eater, but this little boycott made me realize that I worry about it. I worry about how thin he is. The "He's so Skinny!!" comments from strangers started to bother me more. The size of his arms made me worry we weren't doing enough for him. Not offering him enough options. Not forcing food on him! He wanted nothing to do with a spoon during the illness, so we would sit at the table for AGES waiting for him to eat his cracker and piece of cheese and maybe a pea or two. It killed me.

So, I guess the point is, I am so glad he is better. So thrilled that he ate 1/3 a cheeseburger (with bun) a ton of mac and cheese and an ungodly amount of peas, carrots, corn and green beans for dinner last night. With two glasses of whole milk. Take THAT people who say he is super skinny! My boy eats and he eats well. He has a high metabolism like his parents. And when people have upset stomachs they choose to not keep filling them with food. It totally makes since. I just need to remind myself sometimes.

Henry says: "Mama, looks at this body! The ladies are gonna love me!!"

Mama says: "Henry, no talk about ladies. Now eat your cracker!"

** I feel the need to point out that he is naked because the power was out so we had no AC. And that he is carrying around a cracker because I am obsessed.**

BP, I Hate You

I was going to blog about random mommy-blogging stuff today, but I have something else to get off my chest. I have put a lot of thought into this, and I just wanna say, I hate BP. I know hate is a strong word, but I really feel okay about pulling out the big guns (we were never allowed to use the word "hate" in our house growing up). I keep listening to the news each night (yes, I have officially grown up and watch the news now) and each day I hear more and more about the oil. The promises that it is about to stop. The terrible terrible pictures of the animals and the wet lands (heartbreaking photos) as days and weeks go by with no end in sight. The projected path of the oil and how it will cover America's east coast. It is just devastating our country.

And now the news anchors have turned their attention to Pensacola Beach. My beach. My families beach. The beach we are taking Henry in six weeks time. The beach I want to be his first. the first sand between his toes. His first sand castle. His first taste of salt water. And now we sit on pins and needles waiting for word on if they will close the beach. And we will change our plans. And our perfect family beach will be forever changed. Not because of a natural disaster, but because of a preventable man made one.

So, I hate you BP. I hate you down in the depths of my soul. I hate your cover-ups and your concerns with your image over your desire to fix the problem. I hate that you allowed this to happen. I hate that you told your employees not to wear masks because they look bad in pictures. I hate that you hired fake workers for when the president was there to look good. I hate that you HAVEN'T STOPPED THE OIL LEAK. But I guess most of all I hate America's dependency on oil. That we needed to ever let you drill off shores in the first place. But for now I will take my hate out on you, BP. And at least promise to never get gas at one of their gas stations again. Ever. I think I can keep the promise. The hate runs deep.

Summer Time

Well, the unofficial start of summer is upon us, and we have hit the ground running around here. Henry not only had his first swimming experience this weekend, but he also had his very first baseball game! Enjoy the pictures of the start of our summer! Henry says, "Let's get this pool party started!!"

Hanging out with Papa waiting to get back in the pool after some rain. Henry says, "Raise the Roof! This pool this is AWESOME!"

Having a blast with Mama!

Next up was a trip to the ball field. Here is the family before the big game

A man and his boy enjoying the American Past-time

Protected from wild hits by the baby cage. Henry isn't sure how he feels about said "cage" but he is positive it has no need for shoes.

My boys *love*

Loving on my sweet Henry Aunt Boo and Uncle Chris were there too! We actually went with some of Boo's school friends. It was so fun!

A family shot. Contrary to the look on Henry's face, he did actually LOVE the game!

Hope you all are getting to enjoy the start of summer too!