Memorial Day!

We spent this past Memorial Day with MeMe, Pop Steve, Julia and Ryan. Steve and Tina cooked us lunch and Ryan and Julia brought their baby pool for the kids to play in. It was nice to be able to spend time with our family and enjoy sitting in the sun watching Lillian play. It was a nice relaxing day and a perfect way to start our week!

*Thanks MeMe and Pop Steve for cooking such a delicious lunch for us!

Kolby needed to take a dip in the pool too

Pool Time

We have already experienced some intense heat this summer and it is only June! So obvieously we have been trying to get in some kind of water pretty much every day. Most community pools didn't open until this past Memorial day weeekend, so we have been playing in baby pools, sprinklers, the water hose...pretty much doing anything to keep cool. Shaun even went to Academy sports and bought us this pool that we can keep in our back yard to play in on days that we are not tagging along with Alli and the kids to the homewood pool. It goes up to Lillian's shoulders almost and John Whitten can actually sit in his float and float around in it while Lillian splashes. I joke with Shaun that it is our redneck riviera! One of the biggest things about this summer is that I AM NOT PREGNANT this time. Last summer was one of the hottest summer I have ever experienced and being seven and eight months pregnant didn't help matter much. I am much happier floating around in a pool wiht my baby boy rather than cashing Lillian aroudn with John Whitten still in my tummy!

this summer heat sure does wear my sweet boy out!

Our Fabulous Friday

We had a fabulous day on Friday! We headed for the our first park of the day early Friday morning to meet our MOM's club for a park play date. Unfortunately we had to leave about an hour into because Lillian didn't have her best listening ears on. We left and headed to over to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, where Lillian was obsessed with the Chick-Fil-A cow who was  waving to traffic. She kept saying, "I want that cow to come inside". After lunch we stoped at the park by our house to run some the last of our sillys out before nap time. All three of us napped that afternoon and it was a good thing we did because when the kids woke up we headed to our THIRD park of the day! Did I mention that it was almost 90 degrees on Friday; we used a lot of sunscreen! We headed for Vetrens Park after the kids woke up, it is one of our favorite parks and has a ton of open space that Lillian can run around. I was exhausted by bedtime Friday night, but I can't tell you how happy I am that I am able to stay home with my babies and go to three different parks in one day!

Shepard and John Whitten

Lillian taking a break under a tress. She needed to "rest a little bit"

Lillian snapped this pic of Mommy and John Whitten!

we pretty much end every day with blowing bubbles in our princess dress



Happy Anniversary

Today is mine and Shaun's four year wedding anniversary. The sad thing about this is that both of us almost forgot about it; sad isn't it? My Grandmother actually reminded me a couple of days ago that it was this week. We had been so caught up in Lillian and her surgery that it had just skipped our minds.  

I LOVE celebrating our anniversary. Mainly because it is a wonderful time to remind myself how thankful I am to have married such an amazing man. Shaun is everything that I could want and more. I strive everyday to love and respect him in the way that Christ calls me to, but I know that many days I fall short. I am so lucky to be his wife, and am so lucky that my kids have such a wonderful Daddy!

I love you Shaun and am so blessed to be your wife! Happy Anniversary!

Our first anniversary...Lillian was eleven days old

Going to dinner for our 3 year anniversary, where we found out that we were...

                   

expecting a BOY!!

Goodbye Tonsils

Lillian had her tonsils and her adenoids removed on Friday morning. She had been having a lot of sleeping issues the last six months, and the ENT our pediatrician recommended (both of them) thought that she was experiencing sleep apnea due to her over sized tonsils. He said that there was just very little room in her throat and that it would be best to just go ahead and have them removed along with her adenoids. 


Friday morning went pretty smoothly overall. I was VERY nervous about leaving John Whitten for such a long time, but at the same time I knew he was in good hands with my Mom. You could tell that Lillian got very nervous when we went back with the nurse to take her vitals, and when they tried to take her blood pressure she got very upset. She calmed down after that was all over and then it was me who was all upset and nervous. When the nurse came to our little room to take her back to surgery I could barley hold my tears back. I held on to her extra tight while Shaun said prayer, and then the nurse took her to the operating room. Thankfully, there were no tears and Lillian actually reached out to the sweet nurse who was taking her back. Of course the second that they disappeared behind those doors I started crying. It was probably only thirty minutes later that the nurse came and told us that it was over and she had done great! The doctor told us that there was NO bleeding at all during the surgery and that everything looked great. We did not get to leave the hospital until 12:30, so it had been a really long morning for all of us. But once we got Lillian home she just slept and even ate a bowl of mac-n-cheese. 


So far it has been forty-eight hours after her surgery and sweet Lillian is almost back to her old self. She has been playing and dancing around all morning today, and has been eating wonderfully. It amazes me how quickly children bounce back from illness and surgeries. I am praying that things continue to go so well, and that Lillian just continues to get better over these next few days. The doctor had told us that it was important to keep her activity level low for ten days, which is already becoming a difficult task. I am just so thankful that it is over and that now we can enjoy our summer....without of tonsils!

Three Year Check Up

This past Thursday I took Lillian to see our favorite pediatrician Dr. Walley. I have to admit that this year I was very surprised that Lillian had not been our pediatrician's office more year. Seeing how this was her first year to be in preschool, I thought she would start catching bugs and colds...but nothing! We have been very blessed to have such a healthy year. Lillian hadn't seen Dr. Walley-other than at church- in a YEAR! Her appointment was pretty uneventful, really it was more like a social visit.


Here are her three year stats:

• 30 lbs 6 oz (75-95 percentile)
• 39 inches (75-95 percentile)

Lillian had a HUGE growth spurt over this past year. She has gained six pounds and grown three inches in the past year! It is hard to believe how much has changed over the past year. When Dr. Walley was looking back at her chart from the last time she was there he read me a little note he had jotted down, "Melissa 22 weeks pregnant, baby gender unknown". This year flew by us and we have two very healthy children to show for it. Shaun and I are so grateful for God's grace and all of His blessings.  

Top Preschool

Looks like all of my exhausting research on preschools paid off. All Saints' Episcopal Preschool was voted as a Runner up to Alabama Waldorf School as the top 2010-2011 preschool in the city! Too bad she will not be going there next year. Instead she will be attending God's House since we recently moved. I am a little sad about changing her school, but I LOVE God's House and really think that she will do great there.


http://www.bhammag.com/bhammag/may_11_parents_choice.aspx

Eight Months Old...And A Few Days

On Sunday my sweet baby boy John Whitten turned eight months old! He is still a big mamma's boy, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We finally started giving him baby food last week, but lets just say he isn't the biggest fan. We have only given it to him a few times but I am going to start giving him it to him at least once a day in the coming up weeks. He still prefers to nurse and will usually cry if I try to feed him baby food before nursing him. So now I will nurse him until he is satisfied and then put him in the high chair to give him baby food. He is so close to crawling but for now he just roles/slides himself where ever he wants to go; it is really cute. John Whitten is just so laid back and ALWAYS happy and smiling. The only times he is upset is when he is hungry or tired.

Sometimes I look at my sweet baby boy and I cannot believe how blessed I am...I mean really blessed. My son is healthy, happy, sweet spirited and a great little brother. John Whitten bring so much joy into our lives and I cannot imagine our family without him. 

We love you John Whitten

Our Monday

Today was a great way to start our week. After a very busy birthday weekend it was nice to just stay home all day and relax. We started out playing with bubbles and riding Lillian's new scooter while John Whitten napped. Then a couple of Mommy's from my Sunday school class and their sweet babies came over this morning for a baby play date. Alli and her boys also came over and Lillian and Eli did a great job playing nicely together in Lillian's room while the little babies played together. After everyone left all three of us took a much needed nap and then spent the rest of the afternoon painting and playing with play dough on the back porch.

John Whitten-8 months, Jackson-61/2 months and Harper-10 weeks 

Lillian is pretty in love with her new baby Itty Bitty. 

*Happy Birthday To Pop Steve! We Love you!