Thanksgiving Feast & More Snow Pictures

I forgot in my whirlwind of pictures yesterday to add some of Anna Katharine's School Thanksgiving Feast. It was quite funny that their "feast" consisted of pizza bagels & apple slices. I couldn't help but wonder if the pilgrim children ate the same things at their feast! Somehow I think menus have changed over the past few hundred years. The little boy in the last picture is Anna Kate's best friend at school-Madden. He is quite the ladies man as his mother says he routinely come home talking about his girls- "Anna Tate", Makayla & Claire!

My Mom also gave me the pictures she took at their house last week when it snowed. Her pictures came out much better than mine did so I thought I would share.

The Past Month in a Flash

We have been quite busy around here for the past month. I don't have the time or energy to post about everything but here are some pictures to sum up what's been going on around here!

JD & I enjoyed a night away by going to Baton Rouge for the LSU/Alabama game. We didn't actually go to the game, but we had a lot of fun tailgating with our dear friends Jenni Lee & Joey.

The following weekend we brought the kids to Mistletoe & Moss's Breakfast with Santa. They also had several characters walking around talking to the kids. Anna Katharine especially enjoyed seeing Cinderella & Sleeping Beauty.

After Breakfast w/ Santa, we attended Scotti Christerson's 3rd Birthday Tea Party. The girls were so adorable dressing up & drinking "tea" out of their teacups. Having a daugther is so much fun!!

The following weekend I helped organize a baby shower for my good friend, Kelley Ivey. She's expecting baby Jett in a few weeks. We can't wait for him to arrive!





We then celebrated Thanksgiving the following Thursday with lots of yummy food. I was very proud of my chocolate chip pecan pie (thanks Lyndsey Knight for the recipe).

A few days after Thanksgiving, we made our annual trek to Grant, Louisiana to the Grant Christmas tree farm. This is one of my favorite days of the entire year and I was so excited that Anna Katharine enjoyed the experience as much as I did.


Last week we took Will on his first trip to Las Vegas! I guess this has become a tradition since Anna Katharine's first trip was also to Vegas when she was 6 weeks old (what were we thinking?!) My parents were going out for the National Finals Rodeo so we decided to tag along. Will had many 1sts including 1st plane ride, 1st limo ride, 1st rodeo. Both kids did great & we had a lot of fun seeing the sights & catching several shows.


We got home on Tuesday night & on Thursday morning we woke up early to a sight not usually seen in Southwest LOuisiana-SNOW!! It snowed about an inch and even stuck to the ground until around noon.


Well the snow is melted & the weather is now in the 70's...and of course we
are all sick now! Anna Katharine started with congestion & fever our last day in Vegas and on Wednesday the doctor said she had "walking pneumonia." She's been on antibiotics ever since. Then on Saturday morning we brought Will in & he tested positive for RSV. The doctor said Anna Kate's could be viral as well instead of the pneumonia he first diagnosed. Whatever our official illness is, all 4 of us have been in bed the past 2 days with coughing, sneezing, runny noses, etc. UGH! Hopefully this bug will pass quickly & we'll have a healthy week!

2 Months Old

Will is now 2 months old!!! He went for his 2 month check up on Monday and is 13 lbs. 14 ounces (90% percentile) and 24 1/2 inches long (75% percentile). He weighs more at 2 months than Anna Katharine did at 4 months!! Needless to say he's a great eater!


Other exciting things about Will:

* Wears size 2 diapers
* Can wear some 3-6 month old clothes
* Has learned to smile
* Still only sleeps 3-4 hours at night (hopefully that will change soon!)
* Such a sweet, laid back little man

Church Fall Festival & Mother's Day Out "Job Fair"

For Halloween, our church had a Fall Festival with lots of fun activities for the kids last Wednesday night. On Thursday, Anna Katharine's school had a "job fair." The kids were encouraged to dress up as what they wanted to be when they grow up. Anna Katharine loves animals, so we decided she could follow in her Paw Paw's footsteps and dress up like a veterinarian. Baby Will was a dalmation (the same costume Anna Kate wore when for her 1st Halloween). We went to the Canton Flea Market on Friday so the kids didn't get to actually "Trick or Treat," but they did have fun at the events we attended.

Pumpkin Patch

The Sunday before last we took the kids after church to a pumpkin patch close to our house. Anna Katharine had fun running through the pumpkins and playing with the hulla hoops with her friends Hayden & Camille. It was lunch time for Will so he wasn't quite as enthusiastic as the big kids.

The week of sickness

Well this has been the week of sickness around our house! On Saturday Will started sounding congested again so we brought him to the doctor to find out he has a cold (after a short scare that it was pneumonia again). Anna Katharine had a runny nose over the weekend as well, so Will could have gotten the germs from his big sister.

We were all starting to feel a little better until last night Anna Katharine threw up all over my Mom, herself & Will! Then after we got home I took her temperature & she's running 101. So we are home today drinking lots of liquids, watching lots of movies and trying to nurse this family back to health! Hopefully she will not spread her latest germs to the rest of us! Tuesday was my 1st day back to work & I already had to take a sick day off today. Lots of fun!

Lynette & John's Wedding

This weekend my cousin Lynette got married in Estherwood, Louisiana. Her Dad (my Uncle Timmy) has had Lou Gerigs disease for 16 years and is confined to his home. In order to have him a part of the wedding, they decided to have the wedding in his backyard. There was not a dry eye in the place when Lynette and Aunt Mary Jane walked down the aisle. We are so thankful that Uncle Timmy was able to be there to watch his daugther get married. Will is doing much better and the doctor gave us the all clear to go out in public again. It was the first time for several of our family members to meet baby Will and the first time that we got a picture taken of us as a family of 4!!


There were so many kids at the wedding and Anna Katharine found this one little boy in particular to play with. They got bored waiting on the band to start playing and decided to provide a little entertainment of their own. I have video footage of them "dancing" as well and will attempt to upload that later.

One Month Old

I know, I know...Will is closer to 2 months than to a month now, but I am just now getting around to posting his one month old update.

At one month, Will
* rolled from stomach to back
* followed a object with his eyes & turned his head (Baboo was holding an oreo!!)
* wears size 1 diapers
* gained over 2 pounds since birth
* eats every 2-3 hours during the day
* usually wakes up 2 times a night to eat
* very laid back personality

Lazy days around the house

I found a few cute pictures of us being lazy around the house that I thought I would share...

McNeese Games

A couple weeks ago we took Will on his first outing-to a McNeese game. He only lasted one quarter before he got hungry and we went home. However, he got his first introduction to college football. I didn't get any pictures of the kids at the game, but I got a few of them decked out once we got home.

We took Will back the next week and he lasted until half time. However, this weekend my parents watched the kids so JD & I could go to the game. The Cowboys lost, so I guess we need to bring the kids back for good luck!! At this weekends, JD was asked to do the Coca Cola promotion and attempt three field goals. He made the first one, but missed the second two. I videoed the whole thing, so if I can figure out how to download and upload a video I will post it. He did good and we won a weeks worth of Coke Products.

Update on Will

Thank the LORD, Will is doing much better! Wednesday night we got a little worried because he started weezing. However, when we went for his check up yesterday his oxygen sat levels were good (which measures how much oxygen his lungs are getting). They went ahead & did a breathing treatment on him and his breathing started sounding much better. The doctor was pleased with his improvement, but sent us home with a breathing machine to use every 4 hours. For the most part he tolerates it fairly well. We are just so thankful that he is on the mend & we didn't have to spend any time in the hospital!

Please Pray for Baby Will

Today has been one of those not so fun days of motherhood. I brought Will to the doctor this morning for a rash he has had. The doctor told us that it was eczema & gave us some medicine to try. He then did a normal check up on Will-looking at eyes, ears, listening to chest, etc. When he was listening to his chest I noticed a look of concern on the doctor's face. The doctor quickly ordered a chest x-ray, CBC, and what seemed like a 1000 other tests. After a ton of nurses poking & proding Will from every angle, it was discovered that Will has "walking" pneumonia. They considered putting him in the hospital, but decided to send us home with antibiotics & a follow-up appointment tomorrow. Thankfully Will doesn't have any symptoms & has been quite a trooper today. Please pray that the antibiotics will work & tomorrow's appointment will show drastic improvement.

...and the Little One Said, "Roll Over!"

Will reached his first milestone yesterday- he rolled over from his tummy to his back. JD & I were folding clothes & letting Will have a little "tummy time" on his surfboard mat. I noticed he was flailing his legs and I commented that he looked like he was trying to do the motions to crawl already! About 30 seconds later, Will bent his little leg & hoisted himself from his stomach to his back. We tried to get him to repeat the act for the grandparents last night, but he isn't into performing yet.

However, his big sister did perform her rolls, backbends and other gymnastic stunts for anyone who would watch her last night! She never passes up an opportunity to perform :)

Will's Official Hospital Picture

Here is the link to Will's "official" hospital picture. He looks like he's showing off his muscles!
http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=3f255133-d618-47f3-a1e5-3d8e604e4762

Will's Nursery

I was going through pictures this morning & found some pictures we took the night we went to the hospital to be induced. My friend Kelley painted the abstract canvases as a gift for us & a friend of my parents did the two big canvases. They all turned out great! There are still a few things to hang & buy to make Will's room complete, but I'm pleased to say it was basically complete for his arrival (thanks to Ryan helping JD hang everything on the wall right before we left for the hospital!)