travelers

After a VERY long work week for both Lofton and I we also had a very eventful weekend.

Saturday night we headed to Lagrange for a wedding shower. My sweet friend, Braley, kept Reese at her house for us. It was his first time staying with someone that isn't family, but he did great. There was no shortage of attention from Anna Carson and Davis, and undivided attention is Reese's favorite thing. Davis was so sweet to give Reese one of his old trucks. {It makes a cameo down below.} He loves to roll it around... and chew on it.

The party was great and we had a good time catching up with friends. We picked Reese up around ten. He was wide awake when we got home, but we gave him snack and off to dream land he returned.

Yesterday we headed in the other direction-- Goodwater, Alabama. We went to see Lofton's grandmother, Marene, who celebrated a birthday on Tuesday. Lofton's aunt Linda was there also. Her church was having a lunch for their new preacher. It's called a pounding. Basically they give the preacher gifts and stuff. You can google it. I did.

Marene quite enjoyed showing off her great grandson! And he, as usual, ate up all the attention. He also ate some yummy food. Sweet potato casserole, rolls, and some chocolate cake.

great grandmother love

We took our new truck with us!

Yak

A little vocabulary lesson before I begin: Yak is a very technical term we use here at the Beasley house. It stands for vomit. It is neither classy nor appropriate in mixed company, but neither are a lot of the things we do here. That's just how we roll.

Last night I fed Reese his usual dinner of sweet potatoes and turkey and a fruit. I think last night he ate apples and cherries. Yummy. About an hour later he was playing in his jumper so Lofton and I could eat. After we finished, Lofton sat down next to Reese to play. Obviously, Reese wanted to escape the cage so Lofton reached over to lift him out. {I really hope you are trying to visualize this.} Lofton had to lift him relatively high into the air so Reese's feet could clear the jumper seat. When Reese was directly over Lofton's head he yakked. On Lofton's head. And down his pretty face.

I would love to say I was helpful, or even a little empathetic toward Lofton. I wasn't. I laughed until I was in pain. It was the funniest thing I have seen all week. And the fact that Lofton hates anything remotely gross {spit up, yak, poopy diapers} made it that much more amusing!

work daze

I'm at work this week. I wish I could think of a nice way to say this but I can't... being at work sucks. I'm not having fun. I love seeing my teacher friends, but I'd much rather do it in a different setting. I'd rather be at home with my baby.

Not to complain further BUT being back at work has been tiring for our little family this week. Getting home, chasing Reese around the house, washing/making bottles, doing laundry, cooking dinner, and bathing Reese in record time every night is wearing us out. All of us.

Reese has gone to bed at 7:30 both night's this week. He fell asleep in his high chair at 5:15 tonight when I was feeding him. It was pitiful. School is wearing him out, too. He just doesn't nap at school like he does at home. He is much too busy tearing down his crib mobile or crawling around the front office. He slept for ELEVEN hours last night. That is unheard of in this house.

Evidently he had a bagel with his yogurt this morning for breakfast with Ms. Maureen. Popular? Loved? Spoiled rotten? A little. But I'm NOT complaining about that. It is wonderful to know that he's being well taken care of and well loved.

Three more days and then I have five weeks of freedom left. Slow down, father time, slow down.

Father's Day

I’ve been working on this post for a few weeks now, trying to encapsulate into words how I feel about watching Lofton become a father. It’s harder than I thought.

Lofton was great from day one. No, he didn’t indulge my late night cravings for snow cones {Truthfully I indulged enough on my own. Thirty-seven pounds of indulgence to be exact.}. But he DID shout encouraging words from the bed when I was in our bathroom throwing up every night.

He attended every doctor’s appointment, rubbed my feet when I could no longer see them, and even shaved my legs a couple of times. Clearly nothing prepared us for the horror that was the birth of our child, but he was strong and brave and amazing.

I remember little about that night. My most vivid memory is of Lofton sitting by my bed after everyone had left and telling me, with tears in his eyes, that I NEVER had to do that again. And that if he’d known it was going to be that awful he wouldn’t have made me have children.

Since then he has put Reese to bed almost every night. That’s their time. He sings Reese old George Strait songs and prays with him before laying him in his crib. I think it’s fitting that Reese’s bedtime falls around 8:15, because that’s the exact time he was born, and Lofton was the person that got to hold him first that night. It’s been “their” time since the beginning.

In typical male fashion Lofton is always looking ahead to the next thing. “When will Reese smile?,” he’d ask. Roll Over? Crawl? But I know he’s just excited to see what’s around the corner. I swear he dreams at night of coaching soccer and taking Reese hunting.

Reese gave him a card this morning that said, "I'm so glad my Mama picked you to be my Daddy." Ha, ha. I guess that pretty much sums it all up! Happy 1st Father’s Day, Lofton. We love you.

Still one of my favorite pictures.

Happy Father's Day to my daddy, as well. He is the BEST. By far.

adventures

Our small family of three became a family of five, literally overnight. My parents, aunt and uncle left today for an "adults only" weekend trip to Nash-Vegas. That leaves Lofton and I as the parents of two TEENAGERS. Jackson {15} and Zack{13} are with us for the weekend.

Lofton was at work so I spent the day as activity coordinator for the boys. We had father's day shopping to do this morning, and after a delicious lunch of Toomer's lemonade and Mrs. Story's chili dogs one little boy was down for the count.

When Bunky got up from his nap, I rescued the teens from an afternoon of X-Box and we went to the Monkey Park. Reese had never been to the park before so i was excited to get him in a swing. He LOVED it. We must get a swing for our house!

Of course, I forgot the camera. Lucky for me, my crappy cell phone saved the day!

{Something is clearly wrong with his left foot in these pictures. Evidently he was sitting in an odd, possibly uncomfortable, position. Mom of the Year was too busy snapping pictures to notice.}

We are off to the lake tomorrow to celebrate two birthday's and father's day for the boys {Luke and Lofton} and Paw-Paw. I made a delicious looking chocolate cake this afternoon for the festivities. While I baked Bunky was being entertained by the boys.

I give them a hard time but they have actually been VERY helpful. Even arguing over who was going to hold Reese. I do believe I heard Jackson tell Zack, "I'll hold him. He's MY nephew." Whoa guys, I know he's cute, but there is enough of him to go around!

***Side note: I have to work next week. You know what that means. No frequent blogging. Sorry!

Click it or ticket

My husband was a little late getting home for lunch today. He got pulled over on the way home. By a police officer, who kindly followed him for two miles, waiting for him to put on his seat belt. Did he? No, he did not.

But the ticket is only ten dollars, he says. Or the rest of your life if you got in an accident and weren't wearing it. Would you let Reese ride without a seat belt? What kind of example are you setting for our son? And yes, I did say both of those things.

Speaking of mobility {this is a smooooth transition}, my son just crawled across the room to play with his dogs. He crawled. Across the room. Without coaxing or prodding. This new found freedom of his is frightening. He stands. He crawls. And he does it without a care in the world.

He is currently pulling Jake's tail. Bless these poor four-legged children of ours. They are in for a world of torture in the coming months and years. I can only imagine that soon Jake will be saddled and ridden upon. Oh dear.

play date

Rush and Sydney Frances {the twins} invited Reese and Avery {Massey} over to play this morning. We had so much fun! It was so nice to watch the little ones play and have some adult conversation and lunch.

Laura had the twins seven weeks before Reese was born, although they shared a October 9th due date. Avery was born in February 2008.

Reese loved chewing on someone else's toys for a change. And I only thought he was rough on a jumper. That cutie pie Rush was out of CONTROL in his jumper. I laughed and laughed.

Love it.

books

I love to read. Aside from spending time with my family, reading is my favorite thing to do. Lofton calls me a nerd because I devour books. Once I start a book, I cannot put it down. I'm a woman possessed. During the school year, I don't have much time for leisure reading. The summertime is a different story.

When I was younger, my dad would take me to the library during the summer {one of the perks of having a parent for a teacher}. I remember vividly the checkout limit was ten books. It probably still is. Ten never seemed like enough, so Cassie and I would trade our stacks once we finished reading. How cool were we? We would pile up in my bed or hers and read during the day. Literally for hours on end.

I took my time picking ten books, usually a mixture of Mary Higgins Clark and Sweet Valley High. As I got into high school my tastes changed. I've read all forty of John Grisham's books { A Time to Kill is still my favorite} and I love Jeffery Deaver. He writes about serial killers. It's a sick fascination, I know. I also went through a Danielle Steel phase. Now that I'm older, I read pretty much anything.

I've tried to convert Lofton into a reader. I must say that although he finds the pace at which he reads frustrating, he is enjoying the books I've picked for him. Marley and me, Angels and Demons, Tuesday's with Morie, and now The Summons are a few that he has read since we got married. Most summer nights you will find us, piled in the bed, reading together.

This brings me to the book I finished last night. The Last Lecture. I knew the story. I had heard about it on the news, but never read the book. Mama had it at her house and I swiped it for myself this weekend.

Amazing. Life changing. Moving. Those are just a few of the many words I could use to describe it. I'm not sure if i would have had such a visceral reaction to the book pre-Reese, but my post- Reese self was deeply moved. Randy Pausch delivered his last lecture on "Really Living Your Childhood Dreams." The lecture and the book are really a collection of memories and stories for his children, so they would have a piece of him when he was gone.

Surprisingly, I'm not really a book crier. I don't generally cry during movies or television shows either. Odd isn't it? I guess I'm more of a life crier. I actually made it through most of this book tissue free. The end got me though. He talks about his dreams for his kids and his love for his wife, and the frustration of knowing he'll miss so many moments with them both. I was a basket case.

All this to say: If you haven't read the book, drive immediately to your nearest bookstore and purchase it. You'll love it, too.

Future Bookworm

outtakes

A few pictures from the weekend that didn't make the cut yesterday...

sand, sun, and SLEEP

*WARNING: This is a VERY long post.

We had a great trip home. Yes, I still call my parent's house home. I LoVe to go home. I like to sleep in my old room, pad down the hall in the morning to my old kitchen, and mainly I just like being with my mom and dad {and Jackson}.

Going home has been a bit of a challenge lately {i.e, the past eight months}. Reese is NOT a good traveler. We have groomed our son to be a bit of a stickler for scheduling. He is a creature of habit, much like his mama. This makes any traveling difficult. We have been home three other times with Reese. Each of those trips was exhausting. He didn't sleep. Didn't nap. And didn't ride in the car well.

I am happy to report this trip was much more successful. I decided after our last overnight excursion to cart Reese's crib mattress to Pensacola. You laughed at me, I'm sure of it. Laugh no more, my friends. That was the best idea I have ever had. Yes, it was a bit of a pain to take the crib matress and bumper pad with us, but we were desperate. And Reese slept as well in Pensacola as he does at home. Yippee!!!!

While at home we were super busy. Thursday, Lofton {and my dad as his helper} started construction on the pergola for my mom. Lofton worked like a slave to get it finished and it is so beautiful. It took him all Thursday afternoon and all day Friday

He is supremely talented.

Friday, Mama and I hit the mall with our favorite baby to do some shopping. He was a great shopper... for the most part. Things started to fall a part around nap time, which coincided with me being in the dressing room in Ann Taylor. There was some very loud yelling {Reese not me}, but as soon as we started walking again he fell right to sleep in the stroller.

My parents were quite amused to see the changes in our little man. He has developed a fiesty personality over the past few weeks. There is a lot of shrieking, mixed with a little yelling, and {around food time} some spitting. He is sneaky and silly-- and stinking adorable.

There was also some exploration of new foods. I read in baby book that at nine months I was eating finger foods and table foods, so I decided to test the waters. Reese ate, and loves, yogurt. Clearly he takes after me, yogurt is a staple of my diet. Yo-Baby it is. It's a whole milk, organic yogurt. We've tried the apple and the blueberry. This morning he ate some for breakfast. He also ate some banana {still not a fan}, some biscuit, and some cheese grits.

Saturday we hit the beach. The water was a bit chilly, and Reese whimpered anytime we took him close, but he was brave enough to stick his little feet in.

He basically spent his time in the turtle pool. I'm so glad I thought to bring it. He splashed in the water and chewed on his toys, all the while watching everything going on around him.

All that playing wore him out. He actually took a decent nap under the umbrella.

It was a long ride home yesterday and we were sad to leave. Maybe that's why Reese was such a cranky toad on the way home. He really misses his Buck and Nonna when they aren't with him. Lucky for us, we'll see them on Thursday.

pooped

We are home from a fun-filled trip to Pensacola but traveling wears us out! Let's catch up tomorrow, okay?

excited

We are headed to the beach tomorrow to see our Nonna and Buck and we just wanted to share our enthusiasm!

* I actually took this yesterday. Reese has been mastering sitting up from the lying {or laying??}down position. Every time he does it I make a huge deal. My excitement is obviously contagious!

jokes and ear wax

Because making jokes about Reese's size never gets old...

When we went to the doctor last week, Reese had been running a low fever for a few days. He had no teeth coming in {that we could see} and no other visible symptoms of illness. I had been alternating Motrin with Tylenol for three days and I just felt like a trip to the doctor would reassure me {and Lofton} that Reese was fine. He was, of course, fine. No ear problems. No nothing. A quick twenty bucks down the drain.

And on the ear front, I am always worried that Reese is going to have an ear infection. It seems like every mom I know grapples with ear infections all the time. No worries for us though. Reese has extra ear wax. "Eww gross!" was my first reaction. No so fast though, evidently extra ear wax is a good thing. It keeps you from getting water and bacteria in your ears. Maybe forgetting to clean in {and around} your kid's ears for seven weeks keeps you infection free.

Now to the fat jokes...

Dr. Greer was asking me how much Tylenol/Motrin I give Reese at each dose. When I told him he laughed. Evidently little BIG man can take the dosage for toddlers, which is twice as much as I had been giving him. No wonder the fever wouldn't budge. I can even buy the children's Tylenol/Motrin now instead of infants. Unlike bigger diapers {which cost more as you get bigger}, medicine is less expensive as you get bigger. Yippee!!!

Oh, and for those of you who may be keeping track, Reese weighed 24 pounds, three ounces. A full pound more than when he had gone to the doctor a week and a half before. The nurse said he is going to have to learn to stand soon because he is a few ounces away from not fitting on the baby scale.

mama's day out

I would have blogged yesterday but somebunky would not leave my hip/lap all day. I think we are cutting a top tooth and it has put us {and I mean us} in foul mood .

Reese went to school for a little while today. I need to clean and get organized because we are headed to the BeAcH on Thursday. Okay, really we are just going to my parent's house, but it's like going to the beach. And it's free.

Sunday, we spent some time outside in the turtle pool. I actually think we are going to take it with us to the beach in case little man doesn't like sand. I didn't time my "sunning" well, so we didn't stay outside long. Lofton and I also got eaten alive by the bugs. I'm surprised they didn't eat Bunky as well, but he only has one little bite on his toe. We are literally covered.

As you can see, my baby is a stud in his swimsuit and matching hat.

My goal for this week has been to make progress in napping {him not me}. I'm doing a so-so job. Lofton and I put him down for all his naps this weekend and he pretty much screamed every time. I can say that the duration of time he screams is lessening. Is that progress? Poor little guy. Twice I have gone in to check on him {after the screaming subsides} and found him asleep, sitting up but hunched over with his head between his feet. I just gently lay him down. Pitiful.

And in big news.... he crawled a little last night. Lofton was playing with him on the floor and Reese was trying to escape. He crawled about twice {does that make sense? imagine twice being hand knee, hand knee, hand knee, hand knee} before he feel back down to do the army crawl. We tried and TRIED to get him to do it again, but when Lofton picked him up to reposition him he whacked Reese's face. It was all down hill from there! I have hope though that he'll crawl by the weekend. Lofton agreed. He said if Reese is anything like me he's probably saving the big moment for his Nonna. Ha, ha Lofton!

Off to pack. Maybe I won't forget formula this time!

baby shower

My dear friend Morgan's baby shower was today. She is beautiful and glowing {and not just cause it's hot}.




I love to see my friends happy.

Liam is due to arrive at the end of July and he will be at no loss for stylish clothes or toys. The kid is set. Lofton brought Reese by for an end of party cameo. He was quite the hit with two of my favorite people; Morgan's mom and grandmother. They crack me up!

Happy baby day, Morgie. I am over the moon excited about Liam's impending arrival. You are going to be a fabulous mom.

{I totally janked this picture from somebody's facebook album. It's cute, right?}

bubbly bunky

{new post below}

sippy cups and tears

When I alluded to the new "Baby" phase we are moving into, I should have clarified we are diving head first. It's been an exhausting week. I am trying to ween Reese to a sippy cup {part-time}, and then the sweet baby who last week napped with no problems now screams bloody murder when I lay him in his crib.

I totally understand that when can't see me he thinks I'm gone. I also understand that he knows if he screams for ten minutes I'm going to get him out and rock him. We are undergoing a battle of the wills here at the Beasley house. And I think Reese is winning.

We went to the doctor yesterday. Reese is fine. However, I took the opportunity to chat with Dr. Greer about our frustrating lack of progress with the sippy cup. He basically said that Reese is learning to manipulate his environment and that includes me. He knows that if he doesn't want the cup, I'm eventually going to relent and give him the bottle. I certainly don't want him to dehydrate!

I mentioned dehydration to Dr. Greer and he said, "Elizabeth, have you ever seen a starving child in Ethiopia who won't eat broccoli?" Yeah, yeah, I get it. If he gets thirsty enough he'll drink from the cup. Battle on.

Trouble

{Please ignore the disastrous state of our coffee table. }

Eight months. Where have the days gone?

Reese is growing in more ways than one. Obviously size is no issue here. Lofton has taken to calling him little big man. Which if funny, but so true. carrying him around is a workout.

The past week of being home with him has been both a blessing and a curse. I really didn’t think I’d love it as much as I do.

We are working on taking two good naps a day, at pretty regular times, as opposed to whenever he feels like it. So far so good with this plan. He seems to be adjusting to the new schedule well. I had to tweak his bottle times but that hasn’t been an issue either. I can promise you that we would know if he was upset with his eating schedule!

This more structured nap schedule has lead to the one thing Lofton and I have been waiting for forever… SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. I didn’t think the day would ever come. When Reese was born people would say “feed him more” or “when he weighs more he’ll sleep through the night”- yeah, whatever. My favorite was, “at twelve pounds he should sleep through the night.” Seriously??? My kid weighed twelve pounds at five weeks old.

The other big change the past month has been this dynamic personality. Reese has the charm of his daddy and the temperament of us both. He can be so funny, so sweet, and such a flirt with the ladies. Then without notice he turns into a growling, grunting, yelling firecracker.

If you are a frequent reader, you know that Reese has terrible allergies. Because of this I wipe his nose. Often. Maybe too often, but I can’t stand the thought of snot on his face. He gets super annoyed with my nose wiping and so his new favorite trick is to purse his lips and blow spit in my face.

Trick number two? Trying to grab the spoon while we are feeding him. Or Lofton’s personal favorite, sticking his fingers in his mouth BEFORE he swallows his food. This morning he did it multiple times. Finally I gently grabbed his hand and firmly said “no.” The waterworks ensued.

I’ve had to use the dreaded two letter word on more than one occasion lately and it usually results in his tears. I’m not so sure about this phase of parenting. I’m pretty sure discipline is not an area I’m going to be good at. Can you put your kid in silent lunch? Send him to the principal? What about Block Suspension? Probably not.

Some real tricks we’ve developed? Almost crawling, being able to sit up from lying down, and pulling up on everything. He would also prefer to pick up random pieces of dirt or dog hair off the floor rather than play with his toys. This age is so much fun for us. Lofton and I love to watch Reese play. You can tell he is thinking, studying his toys, paying attention to everything around him. I’ve really been bumping up our reading. Shakespeare. Steinbeck. Homer.

Capturing pictcures was difficult this morning. Bunky is quite the squirmer!

lake lounging

We packed up Saturday morning and headed to the lake to visit with Lofton's family. We were sad Mamie and Paw Paw weren't there to hang out with us, but excited to see the Hurst clan and Lofton's parents.

We arrived around nine and I immediately lathered Reese in SPF 50 and toted him down to the docks. That fun adventure lasted all of ten minutes. He was tired and it was nap time.

Sleep was an issue at the lake. But more about that later! Here are some snapshots of our day.

Post-nap in the frog pool.

Trying to keep Bunky from eating grass that was floating in the water.

My boys.

Mimi trying to keep Easy B from going overboard.

Analee, checking out the action in the water.

Lofton reliving the glory days of his youth.

Sleep. It was an issue. Reese just doesn't sleep well when he isn't at home in his crib. Truthfully, I don't sleep well when I'm not at home in my own bed either. I'll be honest, I did not want to spend the night at the lake because I anticipated we would have difficulty with sleep. However, Lofton wanted to try it and so I agreed to give it a go.

Reese did not sleep at all. He was restless in the pack and play, he could never get comfortable. He kept crying out- keep in mind the three of us are all in the same room. Finally I got him out of the pack and play and put him on me. That worked for maybe an hour, then Lofton tried the same approach with no success. Around three (in the morning), I made Reese a pallet on the floor. That was also unsuccessful. Finally at 5:30 we threw in the towel and got up. We went ahead and packed our things so that after breakfast we could scoot on home. Little man napped most of the day yesterday and slept soundly in his bed last night.

We go to Pensacola for our first beach trip in two weeks. I am taking a new approach and bringing the crib mattress with us. I have a plan that will hopefully work. If not, our travels will continue to be exhausting.

Sleep aside, the day was so much fun. Reese loves to watch Brennan and Analee play and before we know it he'll be joining in. Easy B {as I've nicknamed Brennan because he is so laid back} is six months older than Reese. If you can believe it, Reese outweighs Brennan by two pounds! Unbelievable.