Thatcher's Story

Thatcher's Story
I didn't want this to get lost in my list of posts, so I am creating a place so that everyone can easily access this link. Please read this touching story about baby Thatcher, our friends son who was born with a rare liver disease and is in need of a liver transplant. Jessie has worked closely with Brad for over 4 years and I became friends with her while working at WSA until I left last spring. Thatcher was born a month before Braden and this story really hits home for me. When I look at Braden I think about how incredibly lucky I am. This could just as easily be our him going through this. Jessie will most likely be the living donor for Thatcher and they are in need of our prayers! I promise you will be touched by reading this story. Thanks!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Our First Family Vacation



Well, we survived our first vacation with Connor, first plane trip and Disney World with a toddler! Connor couldnt have been better! He loved the plane ride and totally entertained himself. We went the cheap route and didnt buy him a ticket. It seems like every time I fly the planes are packed with not an empty seat to spare, but both of our flights were half full so Connor was able to have a seat all to himself. Of course we held him for take off and landing, but the rest of the time he just played in the seat beside me and the window. He loved looking out and seeing the clouds and land below. The tray table and apple juice cup with a straw that the stewardess gave him were a hit! He played with those most of the time. Our flight down there went off without a hitch, it really couldnt have been any easier. It went smoother than our flight to Vegas just months ago, and it was just me and Brad on that one. I will say that it was a very short flight to Orlando and I think that 2 hours is Connors limit because he started to get restless at the end. Connor was the best little boy the whole time we were there! He did great with napping in the parks in the stroller and sometimes no naps at all. This is coming from a boy that still takes 3-4 hour naps ever day! I was so shocked because Connor usually doesn't do well in the heat and boy was it HOT! The temp was only 91-93 everyday which is normal here in TN, but the heat index with the humidity was around 105. Needless to say, you wont find very many good pictures of me because I mostly pulled my hair back and wore no makeup the whole time. We learned quickly that Connor is scared to death of fireworks, dark theatres, witches, bright lights in the dark, and Disney characters with large hands. However his favorite things to do at Disney were riding the "tea cups", Dumbo, Aladdin Magic Carpet, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Its a Small World, the Carousel, and Mickeys Toontown Fair! Here is a rundown of what we did while we were there...

Saturday- (Travel day) We landed in Orlando around noon and got the rental car a.k.a "the minivan" and fell in love with that. Not that particular one, but the van in general. So much easier! We then traveled to Disney's Polynesian only to find out that was not where we were staying! OOPS! This was just miscommunication between Brad and Amanda (long story) so we then found the right Polynesian Resort only 5 minutes outside the park. It was very nice and homey! We then went to Wally World and got groceries for the week. We went out to dinner and called it a day.

Sunday- (Disney's Magic Kingdom) We spent the whole day in the park. We rode most of the rides and left for a nap. After dinner we went back to MK later that night for the fireworks. We missed the parade but still had a great time!

Monday-(Animal Kingdom) We spent the entire day at the park, went on a safari saw all kinds of neat animals and saw the 5:00 parade before calling it a day.

Tuesday- (Epcot) We spent the first half of the day at Epcot, then at 3:00 we left for Connor take a nap and the guys (Brad and Pete) went to play golf at one of Disney's courses. Connor and Pops napped, while Grannie, Amanda and I went to the pool to even out that farmers tan we got at the park. We went out to dinner and met back up with the boys later that night. We were all pooped!

Wednesday- (Universal Studios/Beach) No, before you think it...we didnt go to the beach and Universal all in one day. Connor, Pops, and Grannie went to the Daytona Beach, while An Am, Pete, Brad and I went to Universal Studios for the day. They were so sweet to keep Connor for the day while we went to Universal. We didnt really think it was too kid friendly there since there were lots of roller coasters we wanted to ride, etc. I hated to miss Connor's first beach experience, but I knew it would be a short one because Connor does not like the sand and still hasnt become relaxed enough in the water. I thought the waves would scare him, and from what Grannie and Pops described, I was right. We all met back up at the condo to get some dinner that night. It was another very busy day!

Thursday- (Seaworld) We all went to Seaworld together and started the day by watching a Elmo LIVE show in the park. This was quite a treat, as we didnt know he would be there. Connor loves his Melmo (as he calls him). We were just expecting to see Shamu and the usual suspects such as sea lions, seals, otters, fish, etc. We had a great time and it was nice to be in a more relaxed park where not everything was rush, rush. It was a long day but we went for our last dinner together that night.

Friday- (Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios "MGM") Grannie and Pops left bright and early for their car ride back to TN. The rest of us decided to split up on our last day. Since we were the only ones with a child, we knew that we wanted to take Connor back to MK and ride all of the kiddie rides but knew that Amanda and Pete would want to ride more "adult like rides" so we went our separate ways. When we got to the park we noticed that everyone was gathering for what appeared to be a parade or something. Since it wasnt time for a scheduled parade, we asked and they said that Micheal Phelps was about to make his 1st public appearance since returning from Bejing in just a few minutes!!! Since we were glued to the TV every night watching him in the Olympics you can imagine how excited we were! What a great surprise! We then made our way to Fantasyland and Mickeys Toontown Fair where we spent the rest of our morning. We went to see Mickey and Minnie finally and Connor did much better than I had expected. He didnt do too well when the characters would come up to him to try and touch or shake his hand. I really dont blame them, their hands are pretty BIG! Ha! I was very impressed by the characters though as they always knew just what to do. They must be trained very well to work with all ages. Connor had a blast playing in Toontown at their playground and we had to drag him away for lunch. We saw a few more attractions before heading home to nap. I laid by the pool (fell asleep- my first time for relaxation on this vacation!). By the time we woke up, got ready to go and got to the park it was 7:00. To our surprise Hollywood Studios was only open until 8:00. Needless to say we strolled briskly through the park! We were so bummed that all of the shows had closed for the day. We did get in to see The Little Mermaid though. It was great! We walked by the entrance to Disney's Playhouse and Connor pointed to all of the characters he has come to know so well. (We have been watching this a lot at our house to familiarize him with Mickey, etc) We were so disappointed that we didnt get to take him to the show. It put a damper on our day. Oh well, we will be back! Probably later rather than sooner though because we are now broke from this trip! LOL!




Saturday- (Travel day back home!) This day was more eventful than we had planned but I am hoping we can look back someday and laugh! We woke up very early to get to the airport since we had to return the rental car, etc. I finished showering and putting the final things in the suitcase when I discovered that my engagement ring was MISSING! Immediately I went into panic mode when I had looked everywhere I could think to look and it was nowhere to be found. We took apart the kitchen sink drain, looked underneath and behind every piece of furniture in the place, Pete even went dumpster diving to see if it had gotten knocked off in the trash. Thanks Pete, I know it didnt seem like I appreciated it at the time because I was so stressed but that meant a lot to me that you were willing to do that! We looked over every square inch of the place and even in my suitcase. Brads had gotten packed and his suitcase was put in the car the night before so we figured if it was in there we would find it when we got home anyway. I cried and cried and just knew that it was gone forever. Everyone agreed that we would change the flight if I wanted to but I also agreed that we had looked everywhere possible so we decided to leave. We were 45 minutes later than we had planned so we were late checking in our baggage by like 5 minutes and practically ran to the gate. We boarded soon after we got there. As we took off, I cried again thinking that I had lost my ring in Orlando. I kept trying to stay positive thinking that it was just a material possession, but of course it meant a lot to me so it was hard. It is a one of a kind, since Brad practically bought two rings and combined them just to get what I had wanted. We knew we had insurance on it but didnt know if it covered a loss, etc. I kept telling Brad that I didnt want a new ring, I wanted MY ring! You can imagine how nervous and on edge I was all day just to get home and go through all of our baggage. When we landed we discovered that Brad and Petes golf clubs AND the most important thing "the car seat" didnt make it! So we go to Southwest to file a missing baggage claim and they tell us to come back at 1:30 which is when the next flight from Orlando comes in and it will be there. They wouldnt give us a loaner car seat because it was our fault because we checked in late (all because of the ring). We try to rent one from the car rentals but they wont do it without renting a car. After going back to SW they agree to make an exception. FINALLY, we get a break! We go to my parents to hang out for an hour, drive back to the airport and in this time we learn that one of Brad's parents dogs is dying. Amanda and Pete headed back to Knoxville at the time, swing by Brads parents house to pick up Forrest to take him to the emergency clinic and expected to put him to sleep. We get to the airport and they have really lost our stuff because it still isnt there. We have to install their car seat for the second time and finally start going home. As soon as we arrive I start pouring through our stuff. Two carry ons, and my purse and nothing... Brad and I head upstairs to start looking through our suitcases. I open the first outside pouch and pull out the bag of diapers that we had been using throughout the week. There are only a few left inside. I turn it upside down and my ring falls out into the floor!!! Praise the Lord, I found it! Brad should have had the camera ready because the smile on my face must have been priceless! I then had a flashback of the night before. While Brad and I were packing to leave, Connor was walking around the room playing with that bag of diapers. He was taking them out, one by one. I was flying around the room doing this, that and I took it from him and put the diapers back in and packed it away. He must have picked up my ring from the dresser and put it in the bag! I had to laugh. Of all things that he could have gotten and he chose this! Ha! Let this be a lesson to all of you Moms out there! Learn from my mistake!!!! I am just so thankful that I got it back, I feel extremely lucky! Needless to say even though the day was stressful, it ended pretty well. We were back home, safe and sound with my ring in tact! On a bad note, Forrest did get put to sleep but he lived a good long life. RIP, buddy. We will miss you! Cooper said to tell you he will be there someday to torment you again in doggy heaven.



Here are a few things I learned from this Disney Family Vacation....


DO confirm your hotel prior to arrival. There are several Polynesian's in Orlando!


DO print off directions from the airport to your hotel/resort. Trying to drive and pay road tolls while getting directions from Google Maps on your Blackberry isnt a good combo!


DO watch where you are going at all times when driving motorized scooters at a theme park approaching a ride. You should look at the ride instructor while she is talking to you but NOT when you are close to an approaching wall!


DO decide what restaurant you want to eat at, AND where it is before loading into a van with 7 people or it is likely that you will find yourself driving around for an hour trying to find a place to eat!


DONT always assume that the wait times for rides are always correct. They arent! Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes very bad!


DONT even think about trying to look good touring the parks in Orlando in August. Waterproof mascara is a must or you will come out looking like a raccoon at the end of the day!


DO take lots of bottled water and naaaakkkss (snacks) for your child at Disney! You WILL need them.


DONT always think your child will think the characters are as enchanting as you do. Mine didnt.


DONT think that having that body builder chest is always a good thing. (this is an inside joke for the family only, sorry!)


DONT always assume that your child will be difficult and ruin your much needed vacation. Ours did not! Connor was great the entire trip! Something I definitely wasnt expecting for as much as we did while being there.
and finally...


DONT leave your valuable, precious, sentimental diamond ring on a low piece of furniture for your child to pick up and put into a diaper bag only for you to find it 24 hours later after you have made yourself sick over thinking you have lost it forever!


Enjoy this last video of Connor riding the "teacups"...


Friday, August 22, 2008

So I lied...

Ok, I lied about it being my last post but I had to tell you all to check out Ms. Betty's blog (The Apple House). You can find her on my links on the side of my blog. It says (Connors Ms. Betty on the side) or find her link below. You have to read her posts titled "A Day in the Life of Ms. Betty". She is simply hilarious and of course it is even more funny for me since I know these kids first hand. The things they do just crack me up. You will get to see all of Connors best buddies! Check it out...Apple Antics

Let the magic begin...



This will be my last post until we get back from vacation. It has been a crazy week trying to prepare and I have been packing and making all kinds of trips to different places to pick up all of those needed supplies for theme parks...panchos, snacks, disposable bibs, travel size sunscreen, hand wipes the list goes on and on. I feel like I have seriously packed the entire house in my suitcase and it will be an act of congress for it not to exceed the weight limit at the airport. We may just have to tack on that $25 fee! Despite the dreaded packing which I never like doing, we are so EXCITED about our vacation! Connor is really into Mickey Mouse now and gives his Mickey doll a big kiss every night! There are pictures below of that. It is always open mouth and planted right on his nose. Ha! I have made out a schedule for every day and I think Brad is beginning to wonder who the real Planner is in the house. For those of you who dont know, this is Brads occupation... city planner. I guess you could say, we are ready! Be ready for plenty of pictures when we return! Bye for now. I will miss all of my blogger friends!

I love ya, Mickey!

Connor is reading his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book intently.

Purses, Dum Dums and good manners

As you can tell I am getting all of my posts out of the way before we leave for vacation. A lot has happened since I posted last. We got over the sickness that had taken over our household! Thank the Lord! I returned to work on Monday. Brad never got it which was good and I had a very mild case compared to Connors. My blisters never got very big and only lasted about 3 days before they started healing and they never went to the tops of my feet like they did Connors, so I am good to go for wearing all of my sandals in Florida! Yahoo! As you can tell, I was pretty worried. Connor still has signs of having it because his poor little feet are still getting better but it doesnt seem to bother him any.

To explain the title of this post on Tuesday Connor went into the laundry room and found one of my old purses that I wasnt using. He was carrying it around the house on his shoulder saying "bye bye". This doesnt bother me too much yet because he doesnt realize it is a purse that only little girls should carry. All he knows is that whenever Mama and Nonna go anywhere they carry a decent size bag with them. He had emptied the few remaining contents in the floor and entertained himself with that for quite a while. I was in the kitchen with the vacuum and he came towards me holding an unwrapped dum dum sucker that he apparently found in my purse. It must have been saved from the last doctors appointment that we had because I never carry these. Connor had that Im not sure if I am going to get in trouble or not look. I quickly said, "Connor, did you ask Mommy if you could have that?" He paused. He looked at his sucker and then back up at me and said...


"Tank Yu"!

At least he has some manners! LOL

I immediately started laughing. I just couldnt help myself. This next picture is the look I got when he got the feeling that it was OK.

Cooper gets a phone call

Apparently Cooper wasnt in the mood to talk on the phone on this day...

Connor gets an unexpected gift from Daddy!

As many of you know, Connor has really taken to golf and it seems like it is all he wants to do. For example-last night Connor found a pen on the floor that I had been using and picked it up and swung it like a golf club! He watches golf and even his plastic baseball bat is a golf club to him. My Dad is trying hard to correct this! LOL Since Connor knows the difference between real clubs and plastic clubs and definitely has a real interest in it, we had decided that we would get him his own set for his birthday or Christmas in December. Well, Connor got them a little early because Daddy who placed second in a golf tournament this week got a gift certificate at a golf store and decided to spend it on him to get his first official set of golf clubs. Brad was so excited and proud and couldnt wait to get home to give them to Connor. We kept telling Connor he had a surprise and he was so excited when Daddy was pulling them out of the box! I told Brad that we were going to have to make a rule that the plastic clubs could stay inside but these would have to be used ONLY OUTSIDE. I can just see my hardwoods dented and scratched and the glass being broken out of our TV cabinet and patio door. Needless to say we immediately retreated to the front yard to have a little golf lesson by Daddy for Connor. Connor had a blast! Here are some pictures of our night.
My skinny boy and his low riders!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

My favorite summer treat!

Since May I have been growing or "trying" to grow 2 tomato plants in the backyard. When my Pawpaw died several of us in the family took some of his potted tomato plants home to plant in the ground. He never got to plant them before he went into the hospital, so my Dad planted most of them at my grandmothers and each of us took a couple home. You see, most people knew my grandfather for having a very plentiful garden. One of his most prized vegetables or actually a fruit (which I learned recently) were his tomatoes. They were the best! I remember all of the times that he would cut them up for me and try to get me to eat them and he definitely got me hooked because to me there is nothing better than a fresh homegrown tomato! Pawpaws tomatoes had the best taste and can not be replicated. He created his own method of watering them by placing a PVC pipe down in the ground next to them so he could water them and it would go straight to the roots. I have learned so much about growing them such as pulling the suckers off so that you will have bigger tomatoes, and that the term "green thumb" comes from the fact that when you are pulling these suckers off you will literally have a "green thumb" and fingers and whatever else has touched the vine. It is actually very hard to get off. A couple of hand washings usually takes care of it.
I planted my tomatoes and gave them lots of tender loving care and was so excited when the first tomato blossomed. Then... nothing. My leaves started to curl and the plants looked pretty pitiful. I simply couldnt figure out why they were doing so poorly. I planted them with good soil, watered them, and fed them. I searched online to figure out what it was and they said it was something called "tomato leaf roll". Apparently it is caused by over watering, which makes sense because Brad planted a strip of sod right beside the plants and had been watering it alot plus all of the watering I had been doing. My one tomato grew and grew and I pampered it as much as I could. Then came the day to finally pick it, it was big and red. I couldnt wait to eat it. I grabbed it off the vine, only to find that it had split and there were ants all over it. I was so upset that I threw it down and cried. Sounds pretty silly to most of you I know, but to me it meant that I had let my Pawpaw down and to be able to have some part of him after he was gone was very important to me. Plus, did I mention that I LOVE them! I pretty much gave up on the plants at that point. The leaves were still curled and no new tomatoes were appearing. More than a month went by of no watering and then they suddenly started to appear more healthy and a few green tomatoes came out to greet me! Last night I went out to check on them and I counted 92 on the vines! Yes, that is what I said...92 tomatoes on 2 plants and I had none just a few weeks ago. It is just incredible! Mom, told me that it must have broke Pawpaws heart when I cried so he made sure that I was blessed in the end. I plan on saving some of the seeds so that I can carry on these tomatoes that my Pawpaw started from his own hands. Here are some pictures of them. Not quite ready for picking, but it wont be long!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Ta..da..finally it arrives!


This is about as good as it gets with C in a non moving stroller. He was not a happy camper for these pictures but somebody had to be the model!


Connor modeling the reclining feature hating every minute of it.

Connor loves playing with buckles right now. I think he has them figured out so we will see how much longer we can keep him in them!

Connor would rather push the stroller than ride in it. It looks like I will have a Mommys helper to push the next baby around. That would be super!

FINALLY, we have a umbrella stroller. Why do I say, FINALLY you might ask. Well we received it about two weeks ago. I quickly opened it up, only to find that when it rolled the right wheel clicked over and over. Very annoying and not what I was expecting when I ordered a highly recommended and top of line stroller. I mean, I paid some good money for this thing! This is the story of my life it seems. In the past 2 months I have had to so many things to stop working such as our camera, and others. It is frustrating because we always spend so much time researching to find the best so we dont run into these problems. Oh well, it just goes to show that doesnt always pan out. I am very happy with the stroller now that it is fixed! It glides like it is on ice. We chose the Maclaren Quest. Thanks to my friend Jen, we found a website that sells brand new 2007 models and we were able to afford the nicer stroller for the same price as a 2008 Triumph that doesnt have as many bells and whistles. I know we are just going to love this for our Disney trip and we will be able to use it for many many more years and kids to come! We hope!

My adorable son!


What a boy for ya! He looks like he is up to something!


He was determined to get "unstuck".This is my old wagon from my childhood. Mom and Dad drug it out of the attic and we washed it down. It is a little noisy rolling down the road, but it works! I love it even more since it has so much sentimental value! I have many memories in this old wagon. Darby, do you remember any?
Taking it apart.



There's the tongue again!



I LOVE this one!

And this one!
Are you taking pictures of ME?





Do you see what Connor is doing with the football? Golf, golf, golf... It has been so long since Connor has worn shoes because of his blisters, that he couldnt quit looking at them.
Picking up rocks...
and taking them to his compartment on his 4-wheeler. Back and forth he went for like 20 minutes. He was hard at work!

After returning from my exciting outing today (read the latter post) Connor and I got out of the car and decided the weather was too beautiful not to enjoy! What is with the weather lately? It is the best August that I can remember. It feels like October. There was a cool breeze and almost no humidity. It gets me thinking about fall, birthdays, and Christmas! I know it is a little early, but fall is almost amongst us and that means Brad/Connor's birthdays will be here before I know it. I have already started looking into what kind of party C will have. I know, can you tell I LOVE to plan things! Ok, back to what I was saying...Connor started playing in the rocks and I decided to get a few cookbooks and sit out there and decide what to fix for dinner. This will be the first time in several days that I have cooked. Dont worry, my hands are fine. The bumps are only red dots under the skin that tingle and prick but nothing like Connors.

I decided that I needed to grab the camera because I havent taken many pics lately. It is so hard for me to get pictures of Connor smiling these days. He is just too busy. I did get some pretty good ones though. Here are some of my favorites. Sorry if there are so many, I couldnt decide which ones to post!