things to remember.

what did i do before pratt? honestly. what did i spend my time doing?

i'll go out on a limb and say that i was one lazy bird.

i was.

i can get more done in one hour now than ever before. my friend allie said that her little girl madeline had learned to "multitask" by using a basket to gather her toys...instead of carrying several over to one place and then turning right back around to do the same thing again.

well, i figured that out too. only i'm 30. so, madeline, way to go. way to figure this out decades before me.

just so that i remember this years from now, here is what we do these days....

i have been sick this weekend. something like a flu or fever...plus a sore throat. my body has been aching all over. the best way for me to describe it is this. there is a 300 pound man sitting on my shoulders...and he's getting ready to chicken fight. and then after he chicken fights, he beats the mess out of me.

that's how my entire body feels. and i realized this weekend that moms don't get sick days. what?! i know, right. who would have thought.

clint was so kind to take pratt on errands yesterday so that i could try to get ready. they went and reserved canoes for the float trip this weekend.

i guess because i haven't felt so hot i've realized lately how much this child of mine moves. i don't want to encourage him to be still and sit because i know that he is learning with each and every new experience. (i never knew guilt until i had a child. now...i think of him before i ever think of myself. i guess that's a good thing...but it's very tiring. right, girls? you all know what i mean!)

and...i thought the highchair was the one place i could put him and not worry about him getting out. i mean, i'll try to hurridly clean the kitchen while he's mashing up what he didn't eat on his tray with his fingers.

well, he's figured out how to turn around backwards. yes. in the highchair. completely backwards. i don't know how he did this. i was putting up dishes and looked over at him babbling away and he was talking to none other than the back of his seat. great.

he constantly moves his toes over each other. constantly.

he has started that smacking thing he does with his tongue. sounds like a kiss. but it's not.

and he has started trying to bite my face. he bit clint last night and clint screamed. it scared pratt pretty bad...but he didn't try to bite him again. maybe that will work. i have been screaming and saying "no!"...but he just looks at me and laughs. yes, he really does. if anyone has any advice on how to handle this, i'll gladly listen. i read where if you're nursing and they bite you, if you yelp...they will stop. that's probably a better word for what we've been doing with him. we ARE NOT screaming at him. it's more of a shocking yelp. that will get his attention.

oh, and he ate pasta last night and LOVED it. it was just noodles, but he thought they were great. i found a recipe for a pasta dish in my baby cookbook that i'm going to try later this week.

and on a serious note. i'm remembering more and more to be thankful for small things. i haven't felt good at all this week, yet even feeling bad, i wouldn't trade this life of mine for anything in the world. i feel so blessed.

hope you all have wonderful weeks!

pops turns 50!

last night pops came down and had a wonderful dinner with us. he turned 50 yesterday! i don't think he would mind me telling his age. after all, 50 seems so young these days. since i will be only 20 years away from that in a little over a month!

clint made his dad a thai broccoli and shrimp rice dish. and we had brownies for dessert. i think that pops really, secretly liked the candles and the "fuss".

on the other hand...it's no secret that pratt REALLY liked the candles. he totally wet the bed last night. :) and yes, he's reaching for the fire in tha first picture. great...

also, this morning clint took pratt for a jog. can you tell he LOVES it? yeah...me neither.

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

tonight i was talking to your dad and i was reminded of something. so often, i think of something and immediately ideas come to mind. things i need to tell you before i forget. and that's what these letters are for. because i will never remember when you're all grown up and you'll want to hear stories about your mom and dad. stories that you'll laugh at. these are the best stories. i love hearing "real" stories about my parents. enjoy.

one. i once dropped out of a philosophy course at college because on the first day we were asked to define philosophy. and i couldn't. i didn't know what to say. what to write. i felt like such an idiot. so instead of laughing it off, i just didn't go back. i remember the classroom. it was in the bible building. and there were all these smart people with glasses. i can't remember what i wrote. i may very well have gotten up from the table and faked an illness. it was bad. i started sweating under my arms and on my upper lip. tragic.

two. once i winked at someone who had tourettes. i thought he was winking at me. he wasn't. he actually winked because of the tourettes. he was a senior in college. i was a lowly freshman. and he was the lab assistant. and he was a cutie. he was helping a group of us one night with some stuff in the lab. and i just happened to look up and see him. and he winked at me. well, at least, i thought he did. and so i, thinking that this senior was winking at me...i TOTALLY winked back. and he gasped, turned around and left the lab. i was a little confused...but just thought he was playing hard to get. i went back to my roommate, emily and told her. she was the one that told me he had tourettes. needless to say, he never spoke to me again.

three. just take my advice on this one....everyone's butthole is in a totally different place. long story. this is what i learned in medical school. that buttholes aren't in the same place. i'll tell you more about this later. it's pretty embarrassing.

four. your poptart once slipped on a kotex outside of walmart. when it happened, he did the splits. it wasn't pretty. i started laughing so hard that i wet my pants. when he was able to pick himself up off the ground, he made me ride on the floor of the car the entire way home.

five. i once broke up with a boy for writing the word "there" when he should have used "their". seriously. before you date a girl, make sure she knows the difference in these word pairs, "their/there", "its/it's", "you're/your" and "to/too". drives.me.insane.

okay. that's probably enough crazy for one night :)

love, mom.

a small request.

it is with the heaviest of hearts that i post this.

last week i posted the pictures that sarah bussey had done of our family. as i said, she was pregnant with a little girl they would name mamie.

sarah and her husband lost their little girl early wednesday morning. sarah was 37 weeks pregnant. here is the link to what sarah's sister britney posted on the blog.

wednesday at 10:54 pm, britney, sarah's sister posted the following.

Hi Everyone,
It’s Britney here. I am writing with a very heavy heart. We lost Mamie today. Sarah went in for her weekly check-up and there was no heart beat and no movement. She was transfered from her clinic to St. Vincent and is now here in labor. It is moving very slowly b/c she had not progressed at all. Please stop right now and say a prayer that Sarah has the strength to get through this labor and delivery and that everything goes smoothly. Please also pray for Sarah and Taylor to have peace and strength as we enter this terrible journey. Thank you so much.
Love,
Britney and Family

and then today, thursday around 730 am, britney posted this...

Mamie was born at 3:15 a.m Thursday, June the 25th. She weighed 5lbs.11oz. and was 18 inches long. She was beautiful and perfect with a little bit of brown curly hair and brown eyes like her mama. Sarah and Taylor are grieving this deep loss and Sarah is yearning for her child. We ask that you please continue to pray for their strength. We all feel your prayers. Thank you for them. The Lord is here with us. We will update you as we know more. Reverend Andrea Allen is blessing Mamie this morning. There will be a funeral service, but details are not known at this time. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Our Lord is good.
Love,Britney and both Families

i'm sobbing as i post this. i don't understand. i can't even begin to comprehend what she must be feeling. or thinking. i was up all night last night thinking about sarah. and her little belly. and how pratt reached for her when she came in our front door. how she was 37 weeks pregnant. and had the nursery all reading for mamie. and how now she goes home alone. without that little girl.

please stop and say a prayer for her and her husband and their families. i know that God is good. and i know that He is in control. it just feels like things are spinning wildly right now.

here is the link to her blog if you'd like to leave a comment.

http://www.sarahbusseyphotography.com/journal/

thank you.

new trick.

june twenty fifth.

the day my life just got a WHOLE lot more complicated.

my child has stopped being content with a blanket and his toy basket on the living room floor. wayyyy too boring. what's fun you ask? well, let's see...

one. crawling as fast as he can over to the jogging stroller in the back hallway and touching the dirty tires with his one pointer finger on his right hand. he does this to everything and everyone. if you've seen us lately, he's pointed at you. i'm sorry about that.

two. crawling as fast as he can over to aces bed. where he rubs his face on the pillow and comes away with dog hair all over his face. it's disgusting, i know. i try to keep him from doing it...but the little sucker is fast.

three. here...take a look for yourself...

i mean, is he not completely thrilled with himself!?

and when i took him off the fireplace because he kept insisting on sticking his pointer finger everywhere, he got so mad at me. and he stiffened up. and then would look at me and laugh.

good thing he's so cute. well, maybe it's a good thing...i don't know anymore :)

enjoy your thursdays!

pratt's favorite...

...time of the day.

and his first time eating cheerios. he's concerned about his hdl and ldl. smart little fella...

and he tries to clap in the video...but he has cheerios in his left hand. so that's why he is only really clapping with his right. hilarious.

hi da-da!

before i post anything else, i must include a little picture and a short story.

today pratt and i spent the majority of our day in hot springs. we went to crystal falls with some friends and pratt LOVED it. we headed back to the condo afterwards so he could take a nap. 2.5 hours. that was his nap. yes. pretty unreal. he was exhausted from swimming.

well, we get home. and as we were about to pull into the driveway, i see clint jogging. he's nearby...so i decided to pull up next to him running and roll pratt's window down.

here is pratt, in the backseat, watching baby einstein. he looks up at clint as the window rolls down. it took about 8 seconds for him to realize who it was. and as soon as he did, he raised his little hand and said, "hi da da!".

y'all. i'm not making this up! he totally waved and said hi. he's been mocking us lately when we say "hi pratt" and wave to him. i just thought he was mocking the sound. well, he must remember it...because he totally said it today. i thought clint was going to die! he got so excited.

the worst part was that as i pulled away, pratt just started bawling his eyes out. it was really sad. almost like, here was his dad...right there..and then, bam. gone. poor baby.

this picture was taken fathers day night. and pretty much sums up how much pratt loves his daddy.



okay...so on to other things. we have had one FULL day today. whoa.

this morning, pratt held his sippy cup all by himself and actually tipped it up to get water!!! this is huge!!! he previously was able to hold it, just not really tip it up to get water. success! yay, pratt!



and after a full day of swimming and visiting with cookie, sugar and spice...we had a bath. i had to get a picture of pratt's hair. it's had clorine and plenty of sunscreen smeared through it today. i love how curly the back of it is getting! oh how i hope it continues to get curly. there is nothing better than curly boy hair! yay!!!





we hope you have enjoyed your mondays too.

i made the mistake of watching jon and kate. horrible. if you didn't watch it, consider yourself lucky. and smart. i'm really done watching it this time. i can't do it anymore.

have wonderful tuesdays.

for our dad.

so in honor of pratt's dad...my husband...here are a few reasons we love him so very much. i hope that when pratt gets older and can communicate better (yes, better...because he can communicate now...just not with words...more with grunts and yells) he will do this for his daddy. i'm sure he will...until then, here is my list. pratt's list follows.

one. because he always.always.always. hugs my neck and kisses me on the forehead. he never misses it. ever. always does it as soon as he walks in the door. no matter how good, bad or ugly his day has been.

two. because when i was six months pregnant and worried about working/school/etc and being a mom, he held my hand...sitting in the truck in the driveway in maumelle and promised me that i could do whatever i wanted. whatever felt right. even if that meant me staying home while he worked. even if we had to cut back...and budget more than we already did...it was a possibility.

three. for always listening to me. even when i think he isn't.

four. for watching horrible reality tv shows with me and never complaining. well...rarely complaining.

five. for surprising me with a baby blue nursery when i returned from new york. before we even knew it was a boy. i think i was 15 weeks pregnant. maybe 16. and he moved his office to the downstairs closet so that we could have a nursery.

six. for loving me. day after day. for accepting me. with all my faults. for being trustworthy. for always being honest. for loving me forever. i already know he will. i'm completely, one hundred percent certain of it.

and now...pratt's list.

one. for always grabbing me when you come in the backdoor.

two. for taking me outside. something mom hates to do. she claims she can't sweat...and that the sun gives her freckles.

three. for working so hard so that mom can be here with me everyday. so she can feed me waffles and berries. and we can read books and go to target.

four. for knowing how to be a dad...a wonderful dad without reading a single book...without ever having to practice.

and five. for loving mom.

we love you dad. we are so blessed you belong to us.

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

sunday morning you were christened. what does this mean? well...let's see.

it means that we will raise you in a church. it means that that church will watch you grow...and hold us, as your parents, accountable to raising you in a Godly manner.

it means you are forgiven for your sins. the sins that you will inevitably commit.

you're covered for the little fibs you give me when you're five and you don't want to admit to eating the starburst you've snuck out of bed to eat after we've already brushed your teeth. or for taking the mickey mouse backpack from the disneyworld store without paying for it (ask sugar about this). or for being ugly to the brother or sister i hope that you have one day.

it means that you should live your life doing good for ALL of those around you. even those that hurt your feelings. even those who won't ever be baptised. we're all children of God. so you have to be kind to every last one of them. this is hard...the "being kind to everyone" part. if you figure out how to do it, let me know. i'm trying...but i fail every single day.

it means that because you are constantly forgiven, you must forgive those who hurt you. this is even more difficult than being nice to everyone. but it feels so good when you are big enough to do it. so always try to be that big.

it means that when you feel so, so alone...you aren't. there is someone so much bigger than me or your dad. someone so much bigger than superman or spiderman. bigger than bumble bee in the transformers. someone so much bigger than anything you can imagine who is watching over you. He made you. He created you. He loaned you to me and your daddy. He "pays so much attention to you...down to the last detail - even numbering the hairs on your head!"

it means that when you get old enough...accountable enough...you can stand up and say that you accept Christ as your savior. and you want Him to live in your heart. a day when you decide it for yourself. not just when we've decided it for you.

until that day, your dad and i will do everything in our power to raise you in a good way. in a way that is pleasing in His sight. we are so lucky you belong to us.

i love you, mommy.

ps. here are some pictures from your special day. a special thank you to the winningham family for coming all the way out to see us! we love you guys so much! and how cute are madeline and allie? i love it! (and of course, thanks to my family and clint's family for coming...but we knew y'all would come :)

our little day.

we started breakfast with a waffle and blackberries and bananas. i'm loving that we can share. and pratt loves to rub his feet on my knee while we eat breakfast. i'm not sure why...but he constantly does it. has since he was a baby. if his feet are near you, they will be kicking you...or rubbing on you. he is a monkey...i'm convinced of it.

he banged his head pretty bad when he was pulling up on the recliner. fell on a toy. ouch. it was bad. and he has a small bruise. i hate this. i hate him falling. i know i'm going to have to get used to it. i'm not sure i ever will. :)

we played in our kiddie pool on the backporch. (once the sun went down...no worries. i'm more worried about myself than him. i have spent too much money on facials and microdermabrasions to be getting all out in that sun :) i'm one gigantic freckle). he loves the pool! he loves to splash! i'm thinking of taking him to swim lessons with my friend mandy. i think it would be good for us to do it now while we have the time!

and now, he and his favorite person have gone for a jog. i wouldn't walk to the mailbox in this heat. glad clint is happy to take that kid outside.

hope your day was as wonderful as ours. sometimes i forget the joy and beauty in a simple day. so today...i remembered.

sarah bussey photography

so, i'm thrilled with the pictures. sarah put up a sneak peek on her website.

www.sarahbusseyphotography.com/journal/

she was wonderful. so if any of you need a photographer, i would HIGHLY recommend her. pratt leaned for her as i opened the door to her. i think he knew she was about to be a mommy herself. she is just adorable!

here are a few of my favorites.

b.fast.

so this morning pratt had his first waffle.

well, not the entire waffle...but part of one. spencer told me about these multigrain waffles, low fat. 2 of them have like maybe 140 calories. and maybe a few grams of fat! yay! bring it on. so i've been eating one or two...depending on how hungry i am...with sugar free syrup and a fresh arkansas peach. seriously, it couldn't get any better than that.

this morning i cut up some strawberries and blackberries for pratt. we sat down with our breakfast and i realized that he could probably have some of my waffle. minus the syrup. he LOVED it. i wish i had gotten a picture of it. we had some really pretty plates...and they were really happy plates at the end of breakfast :)

i soaked the waffle in strawberry juice. he gummed it and eventually swallowed it. he's getting so big. it's so sad.

also, last night i made him chicken and vegetable kabobs. it's in my baby cookbook and was super easy and super healthy.

i marinaded the organic, free range chicken breasts (cup into cubes) in low sodium soy sauce, ginger, brown sugar and canola oil. it sat in the fridge for an hour. then kabobed the chicken and squash and broiled it in the oven...five minutes on each side.

we will try it tonight. i think he will love it. it was really easy. so if you're interested in the recipe, let me know and i'll post it. the cookbook is fabulous if you're looking for a good one for babies!

have wonderful tuesdays. we're on our way to our 9 month doctor appointment!

oh, here are some new pictures. and no, i didn't really let him use the fork. but he wanted to. we just sort of ate with it. he wants to be a big boy...oh, so bad. and i don't have enough pictures of me and him. so i know i need lipgloss...or even chapstick...but oh well.