The Garner Family

A dear friend from school gave birth to a little boy yesterday evening named Cooper Reid. Mom had a stressful delivery and baby Cooper had some difficulty making it through the birth canal. I do not know all of the details (I'm on a jury and not in school...not even supposed to access the Internet), but felt this post was necessary. Please pray for Cory, Laurel, big brother Drew, and baby Cooper during this difficult time. I cannot even imagine what they are going through and they can use all of the prayers they can get. Laurel is an amazing person and mother and so strong. Please keep them in your thoughts. My heart hurts for all of them right now. Thank you. We love you Garner family!

Sick

Cuddling. Jason was not happy that I was being the paparazzi.

Sick boy :-(

So sweet.

There is his new silly smile!

Well...it was not just a stomach bug. Pretty sure we were hit with the flu. A little girl at Ms. Jeannie's had H2N1, so it could have been that...who knows? All I know is that it hit me way harder than it hit Declan. Thank God he did not get it badly. Apparently it sneaks up on you...you get VERY sick...and then it sticks with you for a few more days. Just lovely. It hit me Friday evening and I was down for the count until Saturday late night. Declan threw up one more time and it didn't even phase him. He has not been nearly as hungry as he was before he got sick and has been sleepy, but has been as cheerful as ever. We spent the weekend recovering and let Jason be our nurse. It is not his best role, but he tries :-)

Declan and I are both feeling better. He is staying with my sister next week because Ms. Jeannie is out of town. It will make a long week for us, but we are so grateful that she is keeping him and thankful that he will get sometime with his family.

I have a busy week ahead and it is the last week of my 20's! I finally got my first call for jury duty, so I have that on Tuesday and a big week at school.

Here are a couple of pictures of the sick DEW. I couldn't help but snap a few. I definitely enjoyed how lovey and cuddly he was when he was not feeling well. He would come over to me when I was laying down and hug me and pat my back. He is such a sweet little boy. My other favorite thing he does...after our bedtime routine I ask him if he is ready to go "night night," and he walks over to Jason and climbs in his lap and kisses his him and walks to his room. It is absolutely precious. I am loving this age. It just keeps getting better.

Upset Tummy

I woke up this morning and got ready and then proceeded to get Declan up to finish our morning routine. I was hit in the face with the wonderful aroma of vomit. The DEW had puked at some point during the night and slept through it and in it. He woke up smiling with crusty puke all over him. The sweet boy never made a peep. I gave him a bath in the morning and checked for a fever...he didn't have one and was acting like his usual happy self. I even made it to work on time. He was fine at Ms. Jeannie's, but didn't eat much. I guess it was just an upset stomach, but it breaks my heart that he just slept through it. I guess if it didn't bother him...it shouldn't bother me. I'm sure this is the first of many sicknesses, but I just felt so badly for him :-(

Ladies And Gentleman...

We are finished with physical therapy! We have a graduate! Declan was discharged from by his PT today. She said that he is looking very good, but he is lifting up his shoulder when he walks and still tilting a bit to the left. We are working on "maintenance" at this point. We do not have to go to CHOA anymore, but we have to do the stretches/exercises 1-2 times daily. How much longer? I asked her if I would be visiting Declan at college to make sure that he was stretching or doing them for him??? We will have to do them until he is 18 months-2 years old. I had slacked off on the stretches...BAD Mommy...and she could tell :-( but he was looking so good to me. ..apparently not.

Declan thought he was big stuff today and was really showing off for Kim. It was pretty cute! She said he is right on track developmentally and even advanced in the area of fine and gross motor skills. Hey...she is not telling this Mom anything she doesn't know already. Ha ha! So for now we will have to be more vigilant with the stretches and at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm so proud of Declan and what a champ he has been through all of this. We are very lucky! He just goes with the flow.

As They Grow

Chasing after her after bath time...I think he wanted to dry her hair :-)

Look at those faces! They are so cute I can't stand it!

Patting Rylan on her head :-)

Rylan was getting a little annoyed at the paparazzi :-)

Playing :-)

How cute is her dress?! She is so sweet!

We watched the AU game at the Nau's. Declan and Rylan enjoyed a lovely dinner together and then a bath. Declan just pines over her. Follows her around and she pays him no attention. They are so funny!

And Let The Picking Begin...

Look at his cute little legs. He just sits there criss cross applesauce :-)

I'm hoping this finger didn't have a boogie on it!!! Yuck!

Licking the rail?

Busted! He has started picking his nose lately! GROSS!!! He does it just to annoy me and laughs while he does it. He has such an amazing sense of humor...at 13 months.

Well...I told you about the stair obsession in the last post...while he was sitting on the stairs I captured some funny pictures of our little guy.

Stairs=Fun

I LOVE his little expressions crack me up!

Peek-A-Boo!

So handsome!

He is so lucky that I don't eat him!!!

We have one set of stairs in our home They happen to be spiral and they lead to our loft and a gate does not fit to block it off. Declan loves sitting on the first step and hanging out. He can climb up them, but likes to hear us say "no" and just laughs and sits on the first one. This game can last for hours. He thinks it is hilarious...I think it is pretty cute too!

It's Great To Be An Auburn Tiger!!!

Touchdown!!! So silly!

He found my rally cup!

Big stuff!

WAR EAGLE!

Declan sported his Auburn gear this weekend! At least one of our teams won!

Cousin!

Aunt Cousin is funny!

Love

Peace!

Well...she does have a name...Katie :-) Katie and I went to Auburn together and whenever I introduced her I would say "this is my cousin," but never say her name. So, it just kind of stuck. I only have 4 cousins and Katie is the only girl. We have always been close, but got very close when we were roomies together at Auburn. It was so fun to share the college experience with someone in my family. Katie is probably one of the funniest and most talented people I know. Life has definitely been very challenging personally with Cousin, but she has kept on truckin'. I had not seen Katie since I was pregnant with Declan. It sucked even though we talked a lot. She was finally able to come to Atlanta and visit with us and meet Declan. Declan is my world and I was so excited for her to finally meet him and show him off. They bonded immediately! He was giving her hugs and smooches by the end of her visit! We are hoping to see each other more often. That is the beautiful thing with a close family...we may not see each other for lengths of time...but none of that matters when you have the love and support from one another. I might actually be getting a little wiser in my old age (30 in less than a month, yikes)! Ha ha!

KETCHUP!

Declan has discovered ketchup and LOVES it!!! I really haven't found too many things that he doesn't like! I put some ketchup on his chicken tenders and he was in heaven! Here are some cute ketchup face pics!

Sunday Fun Day...In The Park

One of the best things about living in the city is only being a few miles from Piedmont Park. We don't take enough advantage of it, but plan to more now that the weather is getting cooler. Declan seemed to really enjoy it today!!!

Cruisin'

Peek-a-boo!

Driving!

Beep, Beep!

I'm so cool!

Loves looking at the big buildings!

I love The Dew and had the best time with him! I look so forward to the weekends and spending it with my family!

Declan and I took a nice and long walk today. Well, he was chauffeured in the Cozy Cart while I pushed him. He loved it! We all are loving the cooler weather! So glad that Fall is around the corner! We