Videos of William chasing the cat and clapping!

Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone! Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I have no real excuse other than laziness! A lot has happened in December. First, William is now the champion crawler! He only does the army crawl, but he can really get around fast. We did have to put up a gate around the Christmas tree as he wanted every present and all the ornaments! He is growing like a weed and is now starting to take table foods. He really likes pancakes and puffs. We have tried bananas, carrots, and string cheese, and none were a real hit, but he was a champ and tried them all. Christmas was wonderful! It was funny. Santa left him a toy and when he woke up to see what Santa had brought, he went straight for his other toys! hehehe After Daddy opened the package, he enjoyed it a lot - a train ball popper toy. Then, we had a wonderful breakfast at our house with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle John. William hit the toy jackpot and had fun opening his presents. He didn't quite get the whole opening presents thing, but he liked to rip the paper. I am a little disappointed in myself. I didn't get any still pictures of William opening presents. We had the video camera, but dumb me forgot the still camera. The videos I have to figure out how to download since we used the camcorder, and usually all the other little clips I post are taken on the digital camera. Anyway, he enjoyed Christmas Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Markus's house. He did much better than on Thanksgiving. He ate mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and tried a little turkey. Thanks to all of you that got William presents. You really made his first Christmas wonderful! Here are the few pictures I took Christmas Eve...

Happy December!

Here it is December already! My favorite time of the year. I love snow and I love Christmas. Another good thing is I only have 13 more working days until Christmas Break from school! WooHoo!

William is a great little boy. He is now army crawling! Well, we say it it more of a "wounded soldier" crawl, because when he crawls, he is on his tummy and one of his legs just kinda gets dragged behind. He is fighting another cold the poor thing. He hasn't been eating very well since Thursday, but he has taken a little more formula today, so hopefully tomorrow he will be even better.

A week ago, we went to get some pictures take an Sears, and they really turned out well. Here are a few of my favorites!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It is really here! When William was born, thoughts of his first Thanksgiving where in my head even though they seemed so far away; however, it is here and I am excited. Last year at this time I was pregnant, and I had no clue how my life would change. It is amazing how one little person can change a life - or a whole family! So, as I look back at the past year thinking of all the things I am thankful for, I get a little teary eyed. To list all the things I am thankful for would be overwhelming. I've been blessed with a beautiful little boy, wonderful loving husband, and an extremely supportive family, not to mention all the things I take for granted - food, home, clothes, etc. William and I will be enjoying the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, and seeing Santa at the end of the parade. The real start of Christmas!

The Christmas season is now upon us, and I am going to enjoy every minute of it. Christmas is my favorite time of year, and this being William's first Christmas, it has even more magic! This past weekend, Benjamin, William, and I went to the mall to do some shopping. To our surprise, Santa was already there! (I thought it was weird he was there even before Thanksgiving, but oh well) So, we took William over for his first look at Santa. He sat on his lap, just staring at the old guy. He wouldn't take his eyes off of him. All the adults were trying to get William's attention to look at the camera and smile, but this little boy was too interested in the weird guy in the red suit. They snapped a couple pictures, but then it was too much. William started to cry, so Mommy went and rescued him. As soon as he got back in the stroller, we was all smiles! So, overall, William's first meeting with Santa was a good one. Here is the picture we got!

First Attempt at Crawling!!

Who needs to crawl...

When you can roll!!!!

Sad news

Unfortunately, our little doggie didn't make it. :-( We took her to the vet Monday morning (a week ago). I even took off work because I kinda knew what was coming. The dr at first said she was looking better, but after I told him when she got up that morning that she just fell over, the vet thought that she might be anemic. So, he took a blood sample, and from that sample the poor baby just wouldn't stop bleeding. It confirmed the dr's thought that she had a blood disorder. After he analysed her blood, it came back that her white count was really high and her red count was very low. He told us that she probably had about 2 days to live!! We just couldn't bare her to be in pain anymore, so she was put to sleep. I have never had to put a pet to sleep and even to this day there is a part of me that hates myself for doing it. I still believe that it was the best decision for her, but I do not EVER want to have to do that again. It has been a long hard week, and I am still really sad. I really don't want to get another dog right now. It just isn't the right time with both Benjamin and I working, plus the baby is going to be crawling soon. Maybe we will get a puppy this summer when I am off work and the baby is a little older. If has been tough. This is the longest I have ever gone without a dog. I miss a wet little nose to greet me. Thanks for all the prayers! At least I know that Dusty is in doggie heaven and having a great time!

A Cry Baby!

Getting...

Ready...

To...

Cry...

And the sad part is Benjamin and I did this to the poor baby! William was kinda cranky yesterday anyway, but when Benjamin was making a weird sound he started to cry. So, what did Mommy and Daddy do? Go grab the camera and did it again! Oh man are we bad parents or what??

As for our household...

Well, I finally got around to updating our Blog. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Everyone has been sick (again). It started off with the baby, and progressed to my Mom, me, Benjamin, and my Dad. We are almost back to normal and the baby is finally back on solid food and getting his appitite back. He is doing really well. I can't believe he will be 8 months old next week. I am really looking forward to Halloween. My mom is going to bring William to my school for our party so my class can meet him. We got him a Darth Vader costume and he is going to look precious! I got a great Strawberry Shortcake costume. I've never really been into to dark side of Halloween, but I do love to dress up in costumes!

Benjamin is doing well. Right now he isn't home. They've had some server problems at his work so he has been working some major overtime. I've been doing fine. I got through parent/teacher conferences and if I make it through Monday I will have made it past my evaluation. I didn't have an evaluation last year because the day I had my eval scheduled last year was the day I started having pre-term labor and never went back to school! My class is really good this year and if I can get past all the politics and junk going on with administration I will have a good year. On a sad note, Dusty (our cocker spaniel) is not doing well. We took her in for some dental work and to have a growth removed, and her recovery isn't going well. The dr suspects that she has some sort of blood disorder that we didn't know about and she hasn't stopped bleeding. The dr said it is very serious, so I am really worried that this may be the beginning of the end. We go back to the vet tomorrow, so keep us in your prayers!

William's First Hair Cut!

William did really well with his first hair cut! His hair wasn't too long, but need a little trim. He sat like a big boy and only got a little upset when he had to put his head down to get the bottom. Now he looks like such a big boy!

William in his walker

Our Little Bronco!

WHAT? 41 to 3??? Bummer!

Someone is 7 months old!!

You guessed it! William turned 7 months old yesterday and he is doing really well.



He is really enjoying his food. We have given him rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. He has liked it all!! It is hard to choose one as his favorite. We will start giving him fruits next. Our pediatrician suggested we start with the vegetables first and then move on to the sweeter fruits. I have a feeling he will like those too! This baby is one very UNfussy kid! I'm not sure how we got so lucky!! Grandma loves to feed him!




Not only is he doing well with his food, but this kid is really getting mobile. He is rolling all over the place!! If you put him on the floor on his back, 2 seconds later he will have already flipped to his tummy. The other day we had him on the floor, and he managed to roll himself over to the coffee table to get the basket of remote controls - one of his favorite toys!!! Looks like we need to start baby proofing! When he is on his tummy his legs go back and forth, but his arms are still kinda stationary. He might be doing an army crawl soon, but I still think he might be a month or 2 away from hands and knees crawling. He sits up very well now too. He is even walking forward in his walker. Of course, I haven't seen it, but it was reported to me by his grandparents! Still no teeth yet. I am thinking they should be showing up soon, but nothing yet. Not even a little bump on his gums. He sure is growing and developing. I love to watch his progress.

Last weekend was my cousin's wedding, and here is a picture of us at the dinner...




Here are a couple more pictures. They are of bath time. Look closely at his Mohawk!





And, one video of that infectious giggle!!

Everything is going well in our house!

Hi everyone!

Things are going well in our house. Everyone seems to be feeling better and just kinda getting into living life. The past week was William's 6 month well baby doctor's visit. He did extremely well with his shots. Cried a little, but was smiling by the time we left. Here are his stats...

Weight = 18lbs 8 oz (75%)

Height = 26 1/2 in (50%)

He gave us the ok for William to start having 3 meals a day, eating "real" baby food (not just cereal), and using a sippy cup. William has done really well eating his food. We have only been feeding him 2 times a day, but I think he will be ready for 3 soon.

In fact, today was his first time eating veggies - Green Beans! How do you think he liked it?

I was also lucky enough to get him rolling over on video! He has been doing it for a while now, but I just haven't been able to catch him until this morning!...

School is going well. I am starting to get back into work mode, but it is starting to get harder now that the school year is really underway. I am now having homework to grade, lesson plans to make, and parents to call on top of caring for the baby. It is a busy life, but I am loving it!

William's first taste of solids!

"OK Mom! I'm ready to eat. In fact, I'll start with my bib!"


"Ooo, I'm not sure about this cereal."


"Hey, I think I like this!"


"Yum! I ate the whole bowlful!"

My 6 Month Old Boy!

Look at how he has grown!

Newborn

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

William and his Grandpa

Here is a video with my Dad tickling William with his mustache. It is adorable!

Happenings in the Reed family = everyone is sick! William started it off last week, gave it to Benjamin, and then I had a bout with food poisoning from Wendy's. We are a bunch of sickies!! Lucky for me this is a 3 day weekend, so hopefully I will be better by Tuesday - which is Open House. William is feeling better - thank goodness!! He is back to his normal self and even eating all his bottles all gone! I guess he really wasn't teething because we still haven't seen a tooth. I guess it was just a cold. And, since our little boy is learning to share, he shared his cold with his daddy. Of course, Benjamin is a dedicated worker and didn't even take a day off of work (while I would have stayed home for sure!). The good news is that he is feeling better today too. So, I guess if I can start feeling better soon, the Reed Family will be all well!!

Another exciting happening is William's 6 month birthday is coming up soon. I can't believe my little boy is going to be 6 months old on Wednesday. Where has the time gone? We have his well baby doctor's appointment on the 17th and I think that is when we will get the go ahead to start him on his solids. A lot of people have given me advice about starting him earlier, but there was no rush. I'll make sure to post pictures of his first meal!!

Bloggin will be slowin down for a while

I'm afraid that my Blogging days are numbered. I went back to work this week and barely had time to check my email let alone Blog. I think that things will only be getting busier since this week was just for teachers and not students. Once the kids start coming next week, things will be getting even busier, so I'm sure I won't be able to Blog as much. I'll try for a post on the weekends, but you all know how busy weekends fill up, so I might be Blogging only once a month. But anyway, here is our update for this week...

William has had a kind of tough week. He hasn't been feeling well. He's been cranky, had a fever for a couple days, waking up several times a night, and not eating well. We figured it was either teething or an ear infection. So, yesterday I took off an hour from work and took him to the doctor. The good news is that his ears were clear. The doctor said that he probably was teething, so I am now on a tooth watch. So far I haven't seen anything, but several times a day I stick in my finger (yes, it's clean!! hehehe) and check for a bump. I'm hoping to see something soon, because I hate to see him feeling yucky and Daddy and Mommy would like things to get back to normal. We were getting very spoiled on sleep since he has been sleeping through the night for a few months now! This morning he seems to be doing better. He doesn't have a fever (after the 101.1 at 2:30am!!) and he even ate 5oz of his 6oz bottle. I tend to think he is teething and caught a little bug. Hopefully he is on the mend and a tooth will pop out today!! We'll keep you posted!

As for me, I've had a tough week myself. Going back to work was way harder than I thought it would be. I'm having terrible guilt about going back to work instead of staying home with the baby. Things weren't bad in June when I was working as a summer school teacher, but I was only working 5 hours and it was only for 4 weeks. Now real life begins. I wish we could afford for me to cut back to part time, but unfortunately our finances are where we both need to work. We could do some drastic cuts (like sell the house, get rid of cars, etc) but I love where we live and the neighborhood is wonderful. I really want William to grow up right where we are, so I guess there are just some hard decisions to make. I was talking to Mom about it, and she said that the work/stay home issue is hard for all moms. Maybe once school really gets going things will get a little easier. I do have to say that now that I am back at work, it is very clear to see how my priorities have changed. Family now comes before work, and it always did before, but now it is very more clear!

Made it through the 1st day of daycare!

Yep. William (and I) made it through the first day of daycare Tuesday. I cried like a fool, feeling very embarrassed, but the teachers there were very nice and did a great job with William. I stuck around for a while to make sure William was ok, and then I left. Before I left, William was on the floor with some other babies and he seemed to really enjoy the company of the others. It was great to see! Anyway, I kept wanting to call during the day to see how he was doing, but I decided he would be fine. It was a long day, but I did get to go shopping and have some time to myself which I really haven't had since William was born. I did go pick him up a little early and he was very happy to see me, and I was very happy to see him too. The teachers said he did great and was a happy baby. Whew! I think each day I take him it will get a little easier, and now that I know that William enjoys being around other babies, it helps a little too!

Having fun!!

Someone found his feet!!

Someone found his feet! William's new thing is to take his socks off and chew on them! He is so darn cute when he grabs his toes! We are planning on getting some pictures when he turns 6 months, and I hopefully will get one of him grabbing his toes! He's doing really well and growing like a weed! Mom and Dad found some old photo albums, and I can't wait to see if he looks like me as a baby. Mom said he looks a lot like John did at his age. I have officially signed William up at a Daycare. He will go next Tuesday as a trial run. I don't go back to work until the following week, but I thought it would be good to try it once while I was available to be there if I needed to. The only experience William has had with a nursery is the time he went with Mom to vacation bible school. From what Mom told me, he didn't like it when the other baby was crying, so he started to cry. I hope he has outgrown that and does fine there. I'm sure I will cry a little when I leave him, but it is hard to leave your child in the hand of strangers - even though it is a very nice place.


Benjamin and I are doing well. Benjamin has started back to school for an online degree. I am very proud of him. I am sure he will do well! As for me, I had some allergy testing done this week. I haven't been feeling very well after I eat, so I was thinking I might have some food allergies like my allergy to MSG. Well, the testing shows I am allergic to Chili Peppers, Celery, Basil, and Sesame Seeds. I guess I won't be eating Mexican again. Think about it. I think every Mexican dish has either chilies or chili powder! The others aren't as big of a deal, but hopefully staying away from these foods will have me feeling a little better!

My 5 month old boy!

OH MY! Where has the time gone? 5 months???? It is hard to believe. William is doing so much more now! He is really starting to blossom into a little person! He is smiling so much more, really grabbing for toys, and starting to really show some emotions. Just tonight we were playing with a Cookie Monster cell phone my parents got him. When I took it away, he started to cry telling me, "Hey Mom, I'm not done playing with that!" It is really neat to see all the changes he has gone through in the past 5 months. It is amazing to think about what the next 5 months will bring. Here are a couple pictures we took yesterday on William's 5 month birthday!



(Notice the drool mark! This kid is still a drool machine!)

A fun personality/intelligence test

William and Daddy playing!!

You gotta love that giggle!!

Bath Time!

Here is a picture of William and I after bath time last night. He is still not that thrilled with bath time, but he tolerates it well! It's not the best picture of me, but that's how I look after a long day of Mommying!

Yesterday was our follow up appointment with the pediatrician after William's visit to the ER. The Dr said that he is fine and that the whole episode was probably due to a reflux issue. He said that was completely normal, and if it happens again that we will probably need to get William on some reflux medication. I don't think we will need that. He doesn't really seem to have any reflux problems (other than that day), but we will be keeping an eye on it. They did weight him while we were there, and he is now 17 pounds!

Yesterday we also got a visit from State Farm to look at our roof after the big hail storm in May. We will be getting a new roof, but the adjuster said that the water damage in the kitchen that warped our hardwood floor was not caused by water coming in the dog door. He said that the porch outside the door was set too high so the water is coming in under the bottom and that it was a construction problem. So, it looks like I will be calling our builder and seeing what they say about it. Our house is less than 2 years old, so hopefully it won't be a big deal to fix. I hope it doesn't turn into a fight between the construction company and the insurance company. All I know is I would like the floor fixed. Hopefully, things will work out well in the end!

Scored BIG at Target today!!

We scored big at Target today! One of the message boards that I frequent had lots of posts about a web coupon for Gerber Foods at Target. The coupon was $1.00 off of 2 items. Well, considering that the little jars were originally $0.52 a piece, with the coupon all the little jars were $0.04 for 2! The bigger jars were $0.69 a piece so those were only $0.38 for 2 with the coupons, and the double plastic container foods were $0.88 a piece, so with the coupon only $0.76 for 2! We got $1.00 off the cereal too! Even though William is not starting solids until he is 6 months, we couldn't pass up the deal! We got all the food here for only $34.00!!! I may go back for some of the small jars that are only $0.04 even though there wasn't much of a selection on those. The great part is that these all don't expire until like 08' or 09'! I love it when we get a good deal!

A Scary Evening in the ER!!!

Yep, we spent part of last night in the ER with William. About 6:15 pm last night, William and I were at home just playing on the floor. We were practicing rolling over (he hasn't rolled over since he did it at Mom and Dad's house on Sunday) and doing some tummy time when it looked like he was spitting up. That is a pretty normal thing for him and really any baby, and when I picked him up to wipe his mouth, I could see that is was coming out of his nose. And then, William basically started to choke on it!!! It was HORRIBLE! He was choking, crying, trying to get his breath, choking some more - I started to panic a little. I figured he would kinda work it out by himself, but he just couldn't get his breath! I got his little booger sucker thing and tried to suction out his nose and mouth, but it just didn't seem to help! So, I toyed with calling 911 and figured it would take them too long to get there, so I ended up calling Mom and Dad. In a blink of an eye they were at the house and we sped off to the hospital while I was on the phone calling Benjamin (who was still at work). By now, William was doing better but was almost sneezing nonstop. When we got there, the nurses took his oxygen count, and it was at 93 (whatever that means, I think it should be about 100). They took our name and we waited to be called back. A full 45 minutes pass while we wait! It was agonizing! Benjamin made it to the hospital before we went back to get a room. Luckily, William was doing better and better, and at that point I figured he was pretty much ok. I was a little worried that he had aspirated it into his lungs and that can be a risk for pneumonia. We got into the room, and of course got to wait even longer for the dr to see us. When the dr came in, he gave William a good look through and said that his lungs were clear (thank goodness) and that he probably just choked on his spit up. We were released at about 8:30pm and by then William was doing very well. By the time we got home, he was smiling and his little red face and eyes were back to normal color. He ate his last bottle like a champ and went down to sleep with no problems. Of course, I kept going in and checking on him to make sure he was breathing!! This morning, he is back to himself and seems to be fine. I am going to make a follow up appointment with our pediatrician to make sure William's lungs are still ok. But, I can tell ya, IT WAS SCARY!!! The look on Williams face saying, "Help Mommy, I am scared and can't breathe!" is a face I won't forget! This parenting thing is a lot harder than you think sometimes!! Thank goodness someone was looking on us from up above!!!

HUSTON - We have a roller!!

YEA!!! William finally rolled over! We were at my Mom's house while Benjamin was working on their patio cover. We had just put William on the floor while we were going to eat lunch, and low and behold, the boy was on his tummy!! My mom said, "William just rolled over!!!!" So, of course, being the type of mother that I am, I immediately go over to him and roll him back on his back to see him do it again. Well, little William didn't like that and got upset. So, I let him be while we finished lunch, and he proceeded to do it 3 more times while we were there!! I was so excited! (I know - easily amused! hehehe) He has to work really hard to get over, but he does it!! William is also standing more (well, putting weight on his legs). The kid is really close to crawling too. When you lay him on his tummy, he pulls his knees in and his little butt will stick up in the air. He doesn't quite have the arm motions down yet, but I'm sure he will pretty soon.

I can't believe I only have 4 more precious weeks with my Sweet William before I have to go back to work. Part of me is really looking forward to getting back to teaching since I missed it a lot while I was on maternity leave. However, it is going to be hard to leave William. That being said, we are really lucky that William will only have to be in daycare for a day or two. As of now, Benjamin will watch him on Mondays (as long as he stays on his 4 10 hour shifts), and my Dad will watch him on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. That only leaves us Tuesday, and I am seeing what options there are for us. A lot of daycares have a minimum of 3 days a week, so we will just have to see what we can find.

On a personal note, I finished reading the last of the Harry Potter series yesterday, and IT WAS GREAT!! Don't worry, I won't tell you how it ends! :-) I did spend the entire day Sunday reading though, while Benjamin took care of the baby. I pretty much read from the time I got up until I finished it at midnight! It was a real page turner, and I am sorry to see the series end. I do have to say that this one is pretty much a war, but all of us Harry Potter fans knew it had to be. Overall, it was a great book, and I really enjoyed reading it!

Another video of William

This is a video of William playing with his Play Gym. He loves to grab at the toys now and I love the look on his face! His eyes are as wide as can be!
Here are a couple of pictures too!

This first one is my little baby asleep with his little Duckie that Aunt Pat gave him.

Now, this picture was taken about 20 minutes later! I swear he did this all on his own. All I did was grab the camera before it fell off! I HAVE ONE GOOFY BOY! hehehe