Little Hands

Remember that Sunday School song: Oh Be Careful Little Hands What You Do...? I've been thinking about that song lately. I've even sung it to Mac a few times. And now that I have a little one of my own, I stare at his little hands and little feet and all of his other little features and I wonder what God has in store for him. And I pray that he will look to Jesus for wisdom and make right choices as he grows. But for now... I look at those little hands and I feel so blessed. And I find myself thinking: It's amazing how those little hands - so small and so dependent - are able to hold my heart in such a big way!

Shave Ice Run

It's Shave Ice season and I love it! There's a Shave Ice shack about a mile (maybe not quite that far) from our place so we decided to load Mac into the stroller and we walked! It was a nice evening; much cooler than the 96° it was earlier! As we walked by 1st church, we saw a familiar face: it was Esther Knapp! We stopped and chatted for a few minutes and then introduced her to Mac before saying goodbye. Once we arrived at our destination, we ordered our treats. We thought it'd be a good idea to sit down to eat and rest before trekking back home. While resting, we met another baby who looked to be about Mac's size but we found out she's turning 1 in four days! I knew she was a little older because she was holding her own teeny tiny cup of Shave Ice. She was drinking it... but then accidentally dumped it down the front of her topless self. Cute. Guess who's getting a bath tonight? ;) Well, I think it's safe to say that we've got Mac hooked on Shave Ice. :) He loves it. But then, who doesn't love ice shavings covered with flavored sugary syrup?? Heh, heh.

Reading is Fun!

Especially when you can do it all by yourself! Mac has been enjoying his Touch & Feel books and his Clifford books. They are the super sturdy cardboard books so, in case he should feel the need to munch on them rather than read them, they'll hold up quite nicely. This morning we read "Clifford's Bathtime" and then "Where Is The Big Red Doggie?" then Mac wanted to "read" them some more so he sat in his chair to flip through the pages. I can always tell when he's enjoying something because it tends to get quiet for a while. Until, of course, frustration inevitably sets in. And he's now started doing those loud, guttural, closed-throat frustration-screams. Mmm, fun. :)

Sunday.

It's been a lazy day today... and it's been nice. I actually got to take a short nap this afternoon. Gotta love the Sunday Afternoon Nap! And the dinner I made was de-lish! Cheese quesadillas, corn-on-the-cob, and an awesome salad!! If you ever get the chance to halve a cup or two of cherry tomatoes, marinate them in some pesto sauce and toss them in with your salad, DO IT! Soooooo yummy!! Then, Mac was being - and I know I say this all the time but it's true - so cute in his swing this evening... I, once again, took a few (ok, several) pictures. Here are a couple of the better ones:

Hammock Loungin'

We were at our friends' house for another good small group meeting tonight. Since the weather was so nice this evening we had the meeting on their backyard patio. Love bein' outside! Don't love sharing my personal space with the mosquitoes! But their backyard is too nice to let those pesky mosquitoes become a hindrance to enjoying our time out-of-doors. It's a large enclosed yard with a covered patio, a couple of trees and plenty of room for a clothesline, a couple of small vegetable gardens and 2 hammocks! There's even enough space left over for a fun yard game like Bocce Ball or Croquet... if you're interested. :) Well, tonight Brent decided to "test" the big hammock. He soon looked like he was a bit too relaxed so I thought it might be nice to let him hold Mac while I took a few pictures. Wasn't that nice of me? ;) Here they are:

Random Day

Since today has been so ordinarily random, I'm thinking I may just do this one post but section it out by subtitles. I'll probably mostly share pictures and/or videos from today and put a little blurb with each one. Ok, I might as well admit it: it's gonna be a long one... Hang on! ;)

~Starting Off~

Well, today was the day! I finally caught Mac on video rolling from his belly to his back all by himself!! I think he's been kind of a "late bloomer" when it comes to rolling anyway... but I was so excited for today! We're still working on rolling from his back to his belly though. It'll happen soon, I just know it! Pardon the length of this video... it took him a little while to get all the way over. Oh, and by the way - Happy 25 weeks, Mac! You're getting so big! :)

~Binky~

This is the one thing that helps us through our day. Sometimes we call it a "binky," sometimes it's a "paci" but, whatever we're calling it today, it's definitely a staple around here. When frustrated or irritated, it's calming effect is sublime... when fighting sleep, it has the ability to soothe. It is "Our Friend!" :)

~Feet~

Here's a small sampling of what Mac likes to do with his feet (which I mentioned the other day). And this is just while he was chowin' down on some grub. :)

~Ears~

Mac has also figured out just recently that it's fun to play with his ears while he's eating... or finds himself in an otherwise boring situation. :) Because eating is so prosaic now, what with so many other fun activities keeping him busy. ;)

~Hair~

In case you haven't noticed, I do a lot of staring at my son... and not only while he's eating... but that's the time when he's in my arms and holding still enough for me to get a good look. :) Today I happened to have the camera nearby so I thought I'd kind of "photo journal" some of his little idiosyncrasies, to give you a glimpse of Mac through my eyes. Here he is, figuring out that he can yank on his hair (what little of it he has)! I suppose he has an average amount of hair... I guess I thought he'd have a little more since both Brent and I have relatively thick hair.

And now he's figured out that I'm taking pictures of him so he looks up. I think he likes the camera. :) If he's anything like his dad, he'll have no problem really hamming it up later on.

~Eyes~

The eyes have it! And he's got such beautiful eyes! Yet mommy thought it would be a riot to have him try on her glasses. Only for a few seconds though... just enough time to snap this:

~Tired Noises~

And now, for one last video clip that I think is just so sweet. Toward the end he starts rubbin' his eyes - which is what he does when he gets tired - but it's just so cute. You kind of have to put up with the noises to get to that part... but it's worth the wait. He was actually doing those noises for the longest time before I even started recording. Not sure why. Silly guy. He just looks like he's tellin' someone all about it! And he's gonna be heard! (Doggone it!) Enjoy... ;)

Well, there you have it. That's our day in a nutshell. Sometimes I've wondered if I should have gone back to work full time... but then I look at this and say "Nah." I wouldn't trade this for the world!

Strollin'

Mac and I went for a walk today! I don't know why it feels like a major accomplishment... but it does. I think because I've been telling myself to get out and walk... for at least a week (maybe two by now) and I finally did it today! It's the first time I've been out on the Nampa Greenbelt with Mac. It was fun! Although, for some reason, I thought it was more shaded than it was. I guess the section of pathway that runs through the Middle Creek sub isn't so shady. I don't know why I didn't remember that. Mac's little legs were getting lots of sun. Too much, I thought... so I kept trying to cover them with one of his burp cloths. Of course, he'd just kick it off as soon as I set it there! I guess it's time to invest in some sunscreen! We were told he had to be 6 months old before using it but, since he's only got about a week to go, I think we're safe. He is technically past the 24 week mark anyway. In fact, I just realized... he's 25 weeks tomorrow! Yipeeee!!
Ok, so since it was fairly bright outside, I couldn't really see the pictures I was taking until I got home and put them on the computer. Some of them really crack me up. This first one is funny because all I had done was stop for a moment (in one of the few shaded spots there are) when all of a sudden, all these ducks exit the water and start running toward me! I waited. And watched. They wanted food, to be sure... and I didn't have any for them! As they got closer I got a little nervous but then they just stopped. They waited for half a minute, looking at me longingly... then they just sat down, right at the edge of the path. The next couple of pics are just of Mac's cuteness. ;)

Good thing I brought his water bottle along - it was so hot out! This final photo is toward the end of our walk. The hat had come off, the cloth over his legs was kicked out of the way, the shade was pulled down as far as it could go while still allowing Mac to see out, his little cheeks were so rosy from being so warm. Then, of all things, he decides to kick his leg up and "rest" it on the under side of the stroller shade. Cracked me UP!! And he rode like that for maybe the last quarter mile. Love it! That's my little guy! I'm thinking he'll be kind of a ham - like his dad. :) And speaking of daddy... after our walk we were so hot and thirsty, we just had to get half-priced drinks from Sonic to cool down... so we decided to take one to dad today too. He appreciated it. And he likes showing Mac off to his co-workers as well. What a fun day! Of course, Mac fell asleep on the way home and, once inside, he must've slept a good 2 hours! He even slept through the ringing of the doorbell about half a dozen times (by a cute little kiddo I didn't even know who decided to toddle up our front stairs and push the button)! Turns out, his mom had parked in front of our house to attend whatever it was going on across the street... but the kiddo thought he was gonna visit us! Ha! Kids.

Back in the Swing

I put Mac back in that bouncy, door-swing (what is that called, anyway??) this morning and he seemed to dig it... again. I kinda think he didn't want me to take him out of it! I even lowered it a little so that he could stand flat-footed on the floor. I think he liked that better. Yesterday he had to be on his tip-toes to swing around. But he was checkin' things out today and just looking all around! He touched the wall and pointed to the ground... even had his back to me for a while. It looked like he even wanted to bounce a couple times! Took loads of pictures again. And one video, which I'll share. I think he was pretending to be Frankenstein toward the end of it! Pretty funny. These next 2 pictures are my faves out of all I took. Enjoy...

A Mover & A Shaker!

I must say, I'm kinda surprised I didn't feel this kiddo kick more when he was in the belly... 'cause he certainly moves around a LOT now! In fact, the only time he's not wiggly (much) is when he's eatin' or sleepin'. I suppose that's what babies do. Wiggle and stretch and grow and make all sorts of interesting sounds. These days he's been making this funny sound with his nose... like he wants to blow it. Adorable. And he likes using his feet for all sorts of things: kicking, pushing things, as table ornaments, etc. He'll truly just hoist his foot up onto the table if he's sitting on someone's lap nearby, and he's close enough to reach it.

He started out in the middle of this blanket - with his feet pointed the other direction - but he shimmied himself around... all the way to the corner! And in this little video clip, he looks like he's about ready to thrust himself out of the bouncy chair - too funny! Crazy kiddo. Never a dull moment here, for sure!

New Bouncy, Door-Swingy... Thingy

Ok, so it's not really new. It was given to us by my friend, Gayle, amongst all the other items she so generously gave us. I just happened to remember where I stashed it and got it out to see if Mac would like it. He does. So yay! A new "toy!" I gotta say though: it's a little tough getting him in and outta there. And I didn't want to keep him in it for too long in case it got uncomfy for his legs. But, until the novelty wears off, we'll keep working with it. Unless, of course, either one of us just gets too frustrated and can't stand to deal with it any longer... in which case I suppose that would mean: the novelty has indeed worn off. :D But until then... just another fun thing in which to take pics of Mac. Poor little guy. I hope he doesn't have a permanent blind spot in his eyes from the camera flash going off all the time! :)

The "Swingy-Thingy" collage

It looks like he's turned almost completely around just to look at the camera! Love it!!

My favorite Mac-smile!! What a cutie!!

Just 2 Cute Pics from Today

Happy 1st Father's Day, Babe!

Wow, this has been quite the whirlwind of a day! After church, Mac and I had to run a couple of errands. While we were at Wal-Mart, we ran into my sister who happened to mention that she was throwing a surprise birthday party for my niece, Jessica, this afternoon. (Her 14th birthday was yesterday but they didn't get to celebrate yet.) She invited us to come. I called Brent to check if we'd be able to make it and then picked up a card for her, too. After our errands, it was time to eat lunch and Brent decided that he'd like to eat at Golden Corral. Well, of course everyone and their FATHER would be at this place! And why not? It is Father's Day after all and what father doesn't love a buffet?? But by the time we got done there, it was time to go to Jessica's party! We stopped by the house for some things I said I'd bring and then zipped over to Jodi's place to help her with some final touches before Jess was to be there. We ended up staying at least a couple hours before finally going home to actually celebrate Father's Day with Brent! Whew! Of course, then I had to wrap a few gifts and sign a couple cards... Mac even "helped" sign his!... Only to have everything UNwrapped again in a matter of minutes. Whew, again! NOW we can all relax for a little bit before heading off to bed! .....

I hafta say though... I enjoyed watching Brent this day. He is so proud and thrilled to be a dad! He thoroughly enjoys Mac and loves to play and interact with him... even just holding him is something that he treasures. I happen to think, even in the busyness of today, that it was a grand day! And I know Brent would say the same. You're finally a dad, babe! Isn't it the best? :)

Boo Boo

Mac had his first boo boo today... well, not really a boo boo... just a loud, scary bonk on the noggin that probably sounded worse than it felt... but hurt, nonetheless! He cried. :( Mommy consoled. We got through it. The reason for the bonk? Let me explain... He's been doing pretty well with sitting up on his own - not for long periods of time, mind you - but we've been practicing lots. Well, mommy thought we was ready to sit up for a picture. Um. Nope.... (Oops.) I sat him down and he was leaning just fine on his little drums. Then all of a sudden: TIMMMBERRRR! Down he went. I already had the camera in hand so what I thought was a great picture of him sitting up, turned out to be a nice shot of him half-way between sitting upright and the infamous bonk. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep that picture or not... in fact, I almost deleted it. I think because I felt bad for having put him in that predicament. And he just looks so sweet... unaware of what's about to happen. Poor little dude! Perhaps pillows would make for a softer landing?

The Best News

We did go downtown last night but we didn't stay long... and I didn't take any pictures. As it turns out, once we got there, both Brent and I decided that it was too crowded to suit our moods for the evening... the risk alone, in trying to maneuver the baby stroller through the masses, was all the convincing I needed to nix this idea. We ended up walking around the less occupied blocks of town and then stopped at a local diner for a bite to eat. And we could still hear the music while we were walking... which I would characterize as more of a "classic pop" sound than jazzy. It was still a fine evening. Just not what I had envisioned.

Now for my awesome news! I got a phone call from the case worker at Health & Welfare today telling me that they are approving retroactive medical benefits for me for the month of January AND they're also approving Mac's medical benefits beginning from his date of birth rather than the original March 1st start date!!! YAAAYY!!!!! That means I just have to call the hospital with our new info/ account numbers and they should be able to submit the claims and get paid for the remaining balance for my labor and delivery! We are so excited!! That is such an answer to prayer! I thought it would be a long shot because, when I first applied, we were denied for any retroactive benefits. Their reasoning: I already had insurance and they somehow determined we made too much money. I appealed their decision and requested a "fair hearing" and stated my case on their hearing application. I was told that I would be contacted by a third party to discuss my case, after which a "judgement" would be made. I had never heard from the third party - or anyone, for that matter - and had written it off, thinking they were still not going to approve it. (In fact, I had started another process, which I felt was a last resort... application for financial assistance from the hospital. Their Patient Financial Services Dept clued me in to this process and felt I'd be a good candidate.) Until today... You can't even begin to imagine how thrilled I was to get this call today!! It's such a blessing from the Lord!! And quite a burden lifted off our shoulders! Thanks Jesus! :)

Here's a couple of Mac shots from today:

Time Warp?

Well, I'm not sure what happened with Tuesday or Wednesday! Did I misplace them? Because now we are here into Thursday and I don't know where the days have gone! It may have been Tuesday that Brent needed to get out and go for a drive. So that evening, we drove almost all the way to Ontario, OR! I think we turned around at the New Plymouth exit to come back though. We're so accustomed to trekking the Nampa-Meridian-Boise corridor, we needed a change of scenery! And all that driving actually put the kiddo to sleep! Good job! Then Wednesday we were supposed to go exchange Brent's new phone for a different model. But when we got to Boise (where there's the only Qwest "store" in the whole valley) the dude remembered, quite inconveniently, that they sold their last one earlier in the day!! There was, unfortunately, no exchanging of phones yesterday... and I think Brent was bummed, to say the least. So then he was told that he has to wait until next Monday or Tuesday for his phone. *sigh* Oh well. Now we have a reason for yet another trip into Boise!

But today... today is a new day! And it's nice outside! The sun is shining and Mac's in a great mood! I think he's pretty much done with the whole rashy-congested-coughing sickness that he had. Everything's groovy once again. There's even a community event that I wouldn't mind going to this evening. I think it's called "Downtown Nampa Nights" where every Thursday they have a free music concert and some not-so-free food in make-shift, slightly caddywampus booths. Tonight it's a band called High Street and a few of the guys in it go to our church. They're kinda jazzy so that should be fun! I'll have to see if Brent would like to go. Perhaps I'll get a few pictures to post later.

Anyway, here are today's pictures:

Cute Baby Playin' His Tunes:

Mac is doing so much better today! Still a little congested and the coughing has almost completely subsided. His rash looks a lot better, too! Yay! The Dr said the rash might be there for up to a week... thank goodness it's disappearing quickly! Like I mentioned before, he's been a relatively happy baby throughout this entire ordeal. Thank you, Lord! It's bad enough when you know they don't feel well and you can't do anything for them... but worse yet when there's continuous crying and it's keeping mom and dad up all through the night. Cranky baby makes for cranky parents. I'm so glad we were able to sleep! No crankiness here! :D Whew!

Trombone Practice

Here's just a glimpse of the future Jackson trombonist! Or trumpeter... whichever he prefers. :) First, the much brighter picture:Then, the ridiculously dim video:

I've gotta say, I wish I had a night-time video feature on this camera! It would certainly eliminate the need for all this squinting! Grr. I'm not sure why it shows up so much darker on the blog than it is on my camera. Sure is frustrating though!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Just wanted to wish my mom the happiest birthday! I hope your day was blessed!! I love you. ~Pam

Btw, Mac is sounding a little better today. I think we've made it through the hardest part without any unnecessary trips to the ER. And I was afraid one of us would have to stay home from church with him today but we all went and he was fine. In fact, he slept through most of the service. Sleep is good for sick babies. And it's better than loud noises during church at any time. :)

Still.

Well, daddy finally came to bed at 2am after staying up to keep an eye on Mac... and, really, all Mac did was sleep with some congested snoring and all daddy did was check on him every 5 minutes or so. I had gotten to bed a little after midnight so was able to get some good rest. I ended up getting up at about 5am after hearing Mac cough and start to fuss. He's still sick today and sounded a little more congested so I decided to call the weekend clinic to talk to a nurse again. She confirmed that what we've been doing is good. She also recommended a saline nose drop called Little Noses that would help clear some of that mucous out. We could also give him some warm water to drink... it might help with his cough. At this point, we'll try anything! The nurse didn't think we needed to bring him in again though... unless we wanted to. There's really not much, in the way of medicines, that's recommended or beneficial to give a 5 month old baby. The nurse I spoke with last night also said that we should try and keep him somewhat cool since a rash can tend to get itchy when too warm. We kept him in just a onesie (he tends to sleep hot anyway) and put a light receiving blanket over him... which he promptly kicked off! Silly guy. This morning, however, after talking with the nurse, we opted not to go back to the Dr but decided to give these other home remedies a try. I think the nose drops helped a lot! And he didn't care too much for drinking warm water but I'm pretty sure the little bit he did drink helped too. We kept his upper body elevated today so, rather than have floor time, we put him in his infant seat instead. And it didn't look like he was sick at all with how much activity he was doing! You can kind of see the rash on his legs in the picture. And in the video, he's just goin' to town workin' out his legs! He didn't really get too fussy, even being sick! And for that we're grateful! We've got one happy baby boy! :)

Uh-oh...

It's Mac's 23 week "birthday" today but we had to make a trip to the Dr's office this afternoon because he has a rash on his legs. Ugh! I noticed what appeared to be a few small reddish splotches on the lower part of his legs yesterday but I didn't think anything of it until I saw that it had spread. There were more splotches and they were a little more red after his morning nap. Then I remembered... I had given Mac a couple bites of my ice cream the other day! Maybe this is an indication that he still has his intolerance for dairy products? I thought we should probably see the Dr to be on the safe side. The Dr said that it could be a viral rash and asked if Mac has been coughing or more congested than normal. No, not that I'm aware of. We concluded that it was a slight reaction to the dairy, after all. Well... after we got home from the clinic, I did notice that Mac was a little more raspy and he seemed to have developed a little cough now. And it seems to be getting progressively worse. I looked at the time: 8 o'clock. Shoot. That means even TVP's after-hours clinic is closed! I called the number anyway to see if there was still a nurse triage option. Whew, there was! I ended up talking to the nurse - who was very helpful, by the way - for about 30 minutes, going over symptoms and home cares and what to do should he get any worse. Well, he's not feverish... thank goodness! Daddy ran the hot shower water and sat with Mac in the steam for a little bit. We put his crib mattress at an incline and ran the cool mist vaporizor. It's tough to see my little Mac-a-roni sick! I wish I could do more for him! It's his first sickness! Daddy said he'd stay up with him for a little bit so we'll see how he does. I must say, I'm glad it's Friday night... otherwise I'd be the only one staying up through the night. And thank goodness the clinic has weekend hours as well. If he's not any better by morning, we'll call again to see if he should be seen again. Until then...

Remember?

I wonder if G'ma Nelda will remember this outfit? It's the one that Aunt Shirlee set on top of him when he was maybe just a month old! And it looked so huge against him. The tag said 3-6 months and... guess what?!? It fits him now!!! I thought for sure it would still be too big! But we tried it on and it fits! Wow!! He's lookin' more and more like a little boy and less and less like an infant! The yellow label near his left shoulder says: Mommy's Prince. And that's what he is!! Such a sweet boy!

Haircut 2009

I finally did it! I just had to cut the hair. I was getting tired of:

a) Post-pregnancy fall-out!

b) Not having an actual "style"

c) Always feeling like I had to keep it pulled back because of "a" and "b"... And believe me when I say: I had it pulled back ALL THE TIME. (Even at night, which I know is not good due to breakage.)

and...

d) If I had it down, even for the slightest moment, inevitably a few strands would fall out onto my shoulders and then Mac would run the risk of finger-entanglement or hairy-mouth... and that's just no good!

So...

Here's the new "do" ---

p.s. I'm really glad my favorite hair gal is back in town!! :)

p.p.s. Now I just need to get rid of the gray! ;D