Visiting North Cacalacky (aka North Carolina)

We left for Union Mills on Friday afternoon once Travis got home from work. What's in Union Mills? My mother's grave. And my Papa's grave too. Dad, Eddie, Nana, Kevin & family, & Harry & family were all there Friday afternoon to remember Mama, but we were all able to stay in the same hotel that night, so we were able to visit. It took us right at 6 hours to make the trip. We made one stop the whole way, which was amazing. Tyler slept for the most part. We stopped outside of Greensboro and fed ourselves and the little one too. Tyler decided to make the trip more interesting at this point by producing a poop like we had never seen before. Seriously, it was so bad that after I changed his outfit, we made the executive decision that we were moving him to the next size up in diapers upon our return home. (And we did.) Anyway, once we got checked into the hotel and got the boy fed, we were greeted by our family. All of the above mentioned individuals came by our room to visit or meet Tyler. Tyler did a pretty good job when you consider that he was in a new place and it was his first hotel visit.

Saturday morning, we had breakfast with the family and then the 3 of us made our way up the mountain to Round Hill Baptist Church in Union Mills. Travis strapped Tyler into his stroller and we walked around the cemetery and spent some much-needed time at Mama's site. I hadn't been there since my Papa passed away in late September. It was a beautiful day in the mountains of NC. We also stopped by the old Homeplace, as we call it, the house where my Papa grew up and where my Mama spent many weekends as a girl. The picture at the top of this post is from that house. The land is about to be sold finally so Travis thought it would be a good idea to get one last picture, especially one with Tyler in it. What a wonderful idea!!!!!Once we were ready to go, we made the 2 1/2 hour trip to Lexington & High Rock Lake, where we spent the night with my Uncle Kevin & Aunt Debi. Tyler got his first glimpse of the lake, and even had his first boat ride.

Note: Well, it was more like a "boat tease" as Kevin called it. The boat kind of crapped out on us a few hundred feet from the dock. Poor Kevin rowed us back. But it was still fun and Tyler still had his first boat ride......and we think he LOVED it!

Travis got to fish for crappie for a while and I got a little break to just enjoy the nice lake weather while Debi & Amy watched Tyler. Again, though he was fussy at times, we think that Tyler did pretty well, considering that he was once again in a strange place with new people.

Sunday morning, we had some breakfast with the family, fed Little One, and got in the car to make our trip home. Since we decided to make the stop in Lexington the day before, we shortened our car ride home to just 4 hours. And once again, our Little Man did a great job. We made just one stop to feed the adults and baby. However, we knew that the weekend away was going to wreak havoc on the next couple of days in the Snead household.

As I type this, I can hear my precious little boy screaming at the top of his lungs as his poor, defenseless father tries to calm him down to go to sleep. Travis has been working on this for a while now.....only 30 minutes or so after he got home from work. Tyler has decided that he does not want to go to sleep when we think that he needs to (and believe me, he needs to....he's fighting sleep like you wouldn't believe). In addition, he has decided that he no longer wants to take a bottle with the ease that he has been taking it for WEEKS. Go figure.....2 weeks before "Day Care Doom Day" and he won't take a bottle anymore. Not from me, not from Travis, not from anyone. Change the nipples, change the temperature of the bottle, change it all. It doesn't matter. We really thought that we had missed a huge hurdle with the fact that Tyler had been taking bottles since he was only hours old. Not the case. 2 freakin' weeks before he enters day care. Go figure.

Tyler has his 2 month appointment in the morning. I am not looking forward to that. To those of you that have children, you know the worry that accompanies the 2 month visit. To those of you without, the 2 month visit is when your little one receives his first big round of shots. He'll be getting about 4 shots tomorrow. Ugh. So I have asked (make that DEMANDED) that Travis take some time off of work tomorrow to be with me, um I mean US. I suspect that Daddy will be the "holder" while Mommy will be the "comforter". I'm taking the Tylenol just in case........On a more positive note, I can't wait to see how much Tyler weighs and how tall he is. I know he's becoming such a big boy.

We love you, Mama.....

Tomorrow at 5:55 p.m., it will be one year since my Mom passed away. I still miss her every single day and I know that I will for as long as I live. I know that she is watching over all of us, especially her new grandson. We will tell him all about her as he grows. He WILL know his Oma.

Mama, we love you very much and miss you. Please continue to watch over us from above.

Field trips

This week we had a few outings - too bad that it was still a chilly week!!! (Thank goodness the nicer and WARMER weather is finally here!) On Wednesday, we headed downtown to introduce Tyler to my co-workers. It was a very strange feeling to be back in that building. I hadn't been there since February 5. And being there made me realize that going back to work is going to be a lot harder than I originally thought. But it was nice to see everyone. And they were all happy to meet Tyler. Tyler showed his excitement differently - he slept the whole time he was there!!!

On Friday, I had my first hair appointment since January. I was really looking forward to this. I had to cancel my previous appointment because I had been on bedrest. So we packed it up and headed to the salon. Everyone there just adored him and commented on his hair and asked when his first haircut will be. (For the record, I'm not rushing to cut it anytime soon, but if it keeps growing like it has been, Baby's First Haircut will be sooner rather than later. Travis laughs and says that he is getting a "Baby Mullet" - fitting for Mechanicsville.) Again, Tyler behaved very well on this outing. He slept right through it. He started to stir a little bit towards the end, but as soon as Ken (my hairdresser) turned on the hairdryer, he was out like a light again. Thank God for "white noise".

After the hair appointment, we met up with my friend Lori and her little boy Evan for lunch. Evan is 6 days older than Tyler and it's so nice to have a girlfriend that is going through the same things that I am. We compare notes and use each other as a sounding board. This time, we put the boys together in the pack-n-play to see how they would interact. Tyler was fixated on Evan, but Evan wasn't really "into" the meeting. In any event, it was fun to watch the boys together. We can't wait to do this as they get older! We hope that Tyler and Evan will become friends, as their parents have. Eventually, Lori and I were able to get out to lunch after this play session, and the boys slept the time away. We were both very lucky!! We both kept commenting that we were definitely on "borrowed time". That's a very popular phrase when it comes to outings with an infant - especially a breastfed infant.

And speaking of that, we have started to introduce a bottle of pumped milk to Tyler's day in order to prepare him for what's to come at daycare. Last week was one bottle a day, we started two bottles a day tonight, and we will progress to three bottles a day in about two weeks. He'll be getting three bottles a day in daycare and we want that transition to be as smooth for him as possible. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to get used to pumping that much during the day (aka feeling like a cow). So when we go out for a few hours, I pack a bottle of pumped milk for him. I tried to give him some of it while we were at Lori's and he wouldn't take it. I chalked it up to the fact that he wasn't hungry, probably because he was in a new place with lots of new things to look at and listen to (they have three dogs and they were barking and playing around). I didn't force the issue and went about our visit. So when we finally got home, I tried to give him the bottle again so that it wouldn't go to waste (throwing away pumped breastmilk is enough to make any breastfed mother weep - loudly). He screamed. And I mean this was an ear-shattering, glass-breaking scream. And it kept on and on and on. No matter what I did, he wouldn't take the bottle from me. Now, I had read about this and saw that some breastfed babies will all out refuse a bottle from their mother, as they can smell the milk on her and know that the "real thing" is there so why bother with a bottle. And I had also read that breastfeeding mothers should try and get the baby to take a bottle from another person in the beginning so that they don't associate the mother with the bottle, as opposed to the breast. So, Travis has been feeding him his nightly bottle and it's gone really well. It gives Travis a chance to bond with Tyler and it gives me a little break (though I'm acquainted with my pump during these times). Anyway, back to the screaming-while-Mommy-is-trying-to-give-me-a-bottle-of-milk story. He wasn't buying what I was selling. So after about 15 minutes of this, I finally caved and put the bottle away and let him nurse. He nursed like a champ. He nursed quietly and happily. He just wasn't about to take a bottle from me. Guess all that crap you read in the parenting magazines isn't all crap, huh? Better renew that subscription to "Parents".....

Friday was also Hokie Hope Day across the nation, as you probably know. Our neighbors are Tech fans (Seth is an alum), so I called ahead and asked if I could borrow a t-shirt for myself. Not only were they able to let me borrow a shirt, they produced a VT romper, socks, and bib for Tyler! Their kids had worn this ensemble when they were his age, and it fit him pretty well! So as we were out and about that day, many people commented on my "Little Hokie". I was so glad that we were both able to show our support. We continue to keep the VT family in our prayers.

We have another week of outings ahead of us. I hope to get to Genworth to visit Travis and his co-workers this week and then we have the big outing on Friday. We head to Union Mills, NC to visit my mother's gravesite on the one year anniversary of her death. Tyler will get to see his great Nana Scoggin again, as well as Grandpa Ed & Uncle Eddie. We will also be spending Saturday night with Uncle Kevin & Aunt Debi at the lake. I am very excited about this because I haven't been to the lake in years and Tyler will get to meet this family as well as my Uncle Harry's. So wish us luck, and I will be sure to update next week!!

Starting to have some fun

As you can see, we are smiling now!!! The first one came about a week ago, and I have been desperately trying to capture the toothless grin on camera ever since. Just today I was successful. And that grin makes it all worth it - the sleepless nights, the fussy afternoons, the unbelievably poopy diapers, the spit-up, everything. We've even started to get a few "laughs" here and there. It's kind of hard to tell what's truly a "laugh" and what's the beginning of an all-out breakdown, as the sounds are pretty similar. But we think we're getting the hang of it. When we get Tyler on the floor and play with him, his face lights up and he just has the best time. It's amazing how this just kind of developed overnight. And we're loving every minute. And we think Tyler is too!

We've hit another mile marker as well. Tyler is 6 weeks old (well, 7 weeks tomorrow.....I'm a little late on this). And we think he's hit a bit of a growth spurt. We were getting about 3 to 3 1/2 hours between feedings during the day, and getting about a 5 hour stretch at night between feedings. All of a sudden, that changed. This past weekend, our little man decided that he couldn't stand to go more than about 2 1/2 hours without some milk and wasn't going to go more than 3 hours at night. We seriously felt like we had just brought him home from the hospital. But he's gotta grow!!! Luckily it seems as if his growth spurt is slowing (lucky for me, that is!). However, according to all of the books and websites and doctors, we're in for another spurt here in a few weeks. I'm trying to prepare myself now!

Oh, and on the 6 week mark, I had my post-pardem appointment last week. All is well with me. My incision is healing very nicely, and the doctor says that it won't be too long before I won't notice it at all. Also, my blood pressure has FINALLY stabilized. I am now off of the meds that I've been taking since February 6 (when I started bedrest). I left my appointment feeling pretty happy and "recovered".

And on a sad note, a date has been set for me to return to work. May 14th will be "doom day". I am not looking forward to this, but unfortunately those lotto tickets haven't paid off (probably because we haven't bought any). Tyler will be going to a daycare center less than 5 miles away from the house. We looked at several centers and this one was by far our favorite - not to mention the most convenient. We struggle with the idea that he will be in the care of other people for 9 - 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, but you do what you have to do. And we feel very good about the facility that we have chosen. The owners and instructors all seem very dedicated and we had a positive experience when we visited there. And he'll be able to interact with other children, which will be good. Not to mention the germs. Everyone always talks about how great it is to expose your kid to all the crud that goes around a daycare. (We'll see how true that is.....) But it still doesn't make the idea any easier. If we could, I would stay home with Tyler, at least for the few couple of years. Who knows.....maybe I'll really play the lottery one night and we'll win.

One last note: Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire community of Virginia Tech. It's very unnerving to know that this tragedy took place at all, let alone in our great state, or at one of our best universities. We pray for the students, faculty, staff, families, and friends to heal from this horrific event.

Road trip!

Well, we did it! We survived our first road trip with an infant! We went to Lynchburg to visit with Grandpa Ed and Uncle Eddie for Easter weekend. Tyler got to meet LOTS of people: his great Nana and great Grandaddy Woody, Diane & Wendell, Snookie, Lawrence, & Terry, "Aunt" Angela & "Uncle" Jim, "Aunt" Bridges and her family, Robert & Debra, and many more!

The trip wasn't bad at all. We left almost immediately after Tyler's morning feeding on Friday. As soon as the car was moving, he was out like a light. And he stayed that way until we got to Dad's house. He even slept through our mini-stop in Madison Heights to see our friend Davina! So it was a very peaceful trip. Once we got to Grandpa's, it was time for another feeding and then we headed to visit with Nana Woody. Tyler was very well-behaved and Nana was absolutely in love with her very first great grandson. Back at Grandpa's house, Tyler was greeted by Grandpa Ed and Uncle Eddie, as well as the Leamons (Grandpa's wonderful neighbors).

Saturday was a very busy day for everyone. Tyler had lots of visitors and was very well-behaved once again. He was passed around like a little hot potato and he loved every minute of it. We've been (kind of sort of) joking that we will have a rough couple of days ahead of us as we try to break him of being held 24/7. I think we can count on one hand the number of minutes that he was put down on Saturday. He had no complaints! But it was wonderful to have so many friends and family stop by to meet our little man. So many people love him! And we're happy to share him with them all! Oh, and Tyler received his first Easter bunny this weekend as well! It was a very thoughtful gift from Robert & Debra - THANK YOU!

We packed it up and left Grandpa Ed's on Easter morning. We once again left right after Tyler's feeding and he did a great job in the car again. He slept all the way home, and only started to stir once we were less than a mile from the house. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and we look forward to the next trip home so Tyler can meet more people and show the others how much he has grown.

Once we were home, Travis took Tyler to his Grandma & Granddad Snead's house where he was given his very first Easter basket loaded with his very own Peter Rabbit and book! We're looking forward to reading this book with our son! (A very thoughtful Easter Bunny also got Mommy & Daddy some nice gifts too - gift cards to Applebee's and a pedicure!!!!) Tyler also visited with his Aunt Jenn and soon-to-be Uncle Brian. Busy, busy day!!!

Our next road trip will be here very soon, as we are planning to go to Union Mills, NC at the end of the month to celebrate my Mom's (Tyler's "Oma Woody" - what Mom had once told us that she wanted to be called when she finally had a grandchild) life on the one year anniversary of her death (that's a whole separate blog). That will be a much longer trip - an almost 6 hour drive from our house. But we will let Tyler dictate when we need to stop and will travel on his schedule, not ours. We are hopeful that he will do just as well on this trip. It will be good preparation for our summer vacation to Emerald Isle in July. We need all the practice that we can get packing this little guy up! It's a wonder that one little 10-pound baby requires so much stuff to travel! Good thing we bought that Highlander last year (though now it's feeling quite small)!!

Happy Easter everyone! Hope that you were able to spend it with family & friends!