Thursday, March 12, 2009

Best of Days is moving!

I am moving Best of Days to my new mac website: 
web.me.com/charltonw/Best_of_Days

I'm loving all the new things I can do on it, but I also decided to change blog sights to beef up our security.  So, while you are all feverishly typing in my new web address so as not to lose contact with me, please also make sure that if you have us linked to your new blog that you use only our first names.  Thank you!  I will be taking this blog offline in a few weeks.  Talk to ya later. 

Friday, February 27, 2009

Somewhere it must be freezing over...

because Steven ate bell pepper last night with his dinner.  Charlton and I watched with bated breath as his dipped it in his ranch and ate the first piece.  When he didn't spit it out and actually smiled and said, "mmm," I did a little dance in my chair.  He ate all different colors- red, yellow, green- but green was his favorite.  Couldn't see that one coming!  I know that it probably doesn't seem like a big deal to you but like every mom, I'm on a quest to get him to eat more veggies, and although he has tried them a few times, he always always spit them out after one bite.  I had some leftover sliced bell pepper from a party platter I made so I've been putting them out during dinner because I figured what do I have to lose.   "They" say that if you keep veggies out and keep offering them, eventually your kids will eat it- so in this instance "they" were right even though I had little faith that he would.  Oh ye of little faith, I know.

  Steven discovered a few months ago that he likes eating raw carrots when he can dip them in ranch dressing (he didn't like ranch for a while), and boy, does he love ranch.  So, I'm hoping that he'll eat anything as long as he can dip it- next up cucumbers (yes, I've tried this one unsuccessfully too).  Drum roll please...Steven now will eat a total of 4 vegetables (not including corn and other potatoes): carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, and now bell peppers.  I wonder if I can count the last one as three because of the different colors.  Never-the-less, I am a very happy mom right now. 

 Anyone have good ideas for introducing a vegetable I didn't mention?  My favorite is how I get him to eat sweet potatoes.  It's not original- I got it out of a baby/toddler cookbook.  You slice a peeled sweet potato into 1/4 inch slices and bake them tossed in a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.  We call them french fries and Steven loves them.  I just stick leftover fries in the microwave for 15 seconds to heat through and then place on foil under the oven broiler for a few minutes to crisp them. 

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Steven to the Rescue

Relief is finally in sight!  The three week period of illness is hopefully coming to an end and we are feeling much better.  I'll admit that I started the ball rolling because I've been sick that whole time- I just keep catching something else before I'm over the last thing.  Charlton was the most recent casualty last week and got Bronchitis mid-week that lasted the entire weekend.  Because I have been feeling less than healthy, I never posted these pictures of Steven playing with his big firetruck that Lindsay and Kyle gave him for Christmas.  He loves trucks and cars, and one that is big enough to ride on (not that he doesn't try with the smaller ones) is too awesome for 2 year old words so I'm posting it for him.  


The last several weeks have not been very fun for any of us and so when I felt close to 100% this morning, I decided that it was time for Steven to have a fun day with Mommy lest he forget how wonderful I am.  It was kind of gloomy outside so rather than promise him outdoor adventures and then get rained out, we went to an inflatable bouncy house.  We had a blast (sorry no pictures-- I was having too much of a good time for that) and it felt good to get out of the house for a little fun.

Ka Chow




Check out Charlton's mad Play-Doh skills and if you haven't seen Cars yet, you're missing out!  It is Steven's favorite movie by far; he even says the lines in the movie now when we watch it which is cute and scary at the same time!  It makes me glad we restrict what he watches.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The party's over


I took this at Asher's birthday party a week ago-- I will leave the other party pictures I took to be posted by Jamie if she wants to.  I never thought Steven would leave that hat on long enough for me to get a picture but he loved it and wore it the whole time he was eating.  Although, he's usually pretty content when eating Chick-Fil-A nuggets and fruit.  The party was exactly between my sickness and Steven's; Asher even came down with something at his own party so this is just a depressing time of year.  Two weeks ago I had a bad cold accompanied by a cough that took (what seems like) forever to go away.  It was only documented on this blog by my absence since I figured you didn't really want to hear about that.  Steven, as you know, got sick this weekend and poor guy is still battling the mentioned bronchitis.  I don't know that we had the same thing but it does seem like quite a coincidence even though there was a fairly healthy week in between.  This is by far the worst thing he's had so far.  Usually he won't feel good for a day or two but nothing until now has kept him from playing and being close to his usual happy self.   Saturday, Charlton and I were beyond what to do as we all three laid on Steven's bed while he cried because his throat hurt and he couldn't nap.  He has been beyond crazy the last few days due at least in part to the steroid they put him on for two days.  So even though he is still not feeling good at least he is able to play some and rest.  He was feeling bad enough yesterday that he asked to go back to the doctor. I had already made an appointment and they gave us a something different so hopefully this medicine will clear all the mucous out- isn't that a lovely word.  That's what we're dealing with here around here.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Debuting Lala's Design

A friend from church offered to teach a few of us how to sew and we try to meet once a week.  We all have had some experience sewing but I'll admit that my sewing machine only came out of the closet a few times a year when I could no longer avoid doing a simple repair to our clothing.  For our first project, we all made little girl dresses and this is the one I made for Saige (my nieces call my "Lala" FYI).  Cheryl made one for Meadow and I'm sure that she will put up a picture of her dress any day now, right, Cheryl?!  I was afraid that it wouldn't fit her during the right season since it took me so long to finish it (I won't say how many months).  But it looks so cute- just in time for spring!  It's funny the looks and comments I get from some people when I tell them we get together to sew...like it's incredibly obscure.  It's a lost art I guess.  I'm now working on some curtains for Steven's room-- which has become a "race car" room because of the cute fabric I found to incorporate his obsession with them.  They should definitely not take me as long as the dress...at least I hope not.  

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day

I posted these pictures-- last week, 17 months, and 5 months-- old to show what he is and was doing every year around Valentine's Day.  He's so big!

Our Valentine's Day has been interesting so far.  Thankfully, Charlton and I decided to beat the rush and go out for dinner and a movie last night.  We dropped Steven (who we thought was perfectly healthy) off at my parents' house and then had a wonderful evening together-- I'd say one of our best Valentine dates.  We picked Steven up from Mammaw and Pappaw's at 10:30 and put him straight in his bed-- maybe 5 minutes.  Every thing's normal and then he let out this cough that sounded like a barking dog just like that.  We pretty much knew from that first cough that he wasn't just clearing his throat.  So after a night of not much sleep and lots of coughing, I took him to the ped. office this morning.  He has a type of Bronchitis.  The doctor gave us a prescription and said that he would be over it in two days; although, today and tonight would be hard.   Hopefully, he'll take a long nap since he didn't sleep much last night.  We wish everyone a healthy Valentine's Day-- especially you, Kristi.  =)

Let's Go Fly a Kite

How many adoring family members does it take to help Steven fly a kite...6.  Lindsay and Kyle came into town and we celebrated my mom's birthday with her last weekend.  It was her idea to fly a kite on Saturday morning and it was a great one!  Steven had seen a kite at our neighborhood park last spring but we have never gotten around to getting one ourselves.  Mammaw got one and was ready when we had beautiful, windy, 70 degree weather last weekend.  Charlton and Kyle were responsible for the actual kite flying.  

And we ran into our buddy, Jackson, too.


















































Running in the wind





























Cool sunglasses, can I try them on?









Friday, January 30, 2009

Pray for my friend, Jen, today

My life-long friend, Jen, found out Tuesday that she lost her second child at 34 weeks gestation.  They do not know why Baby Ty's heart stopped beating on Monday and might never have the answer.  He was 4 pounds and 3.5 ounces and measured 18.5 inches long.  Please pray for Jen, Brendan, and their 2 year old son, Tegan, while they grieve-- especially today at 4:30 pm as they bury Ty Gary.  I can not imagine the pain of losing a child; my heart is very heavy today.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Saturday at the Aquarium

Charlton went took a guys' trip to Dallas Friday and Saturday with some of his college friends.  So, Steven and I went to the Downtown Aquarium with my parents Saturday morning.  Charlton and I  had taken him on Memorial Day and he loved it, but we hadn't made it back there since.  It seemed like a good day since it was cold and gloomy with a chance of rain.  He had such a good time that it was hard to get him to really focus on any of the tanks for very long...
...that is, until we got to the tiger exhibit at the end.  Memorial Day he went right up to the glass and seemed upset that he couldn't pet them.  Saturday, he was scared to be anywhere near the glass and wanted me to hold him for a while at first.  He finally got down to watch more closely, but when the tiger walked close and caught him by surprise his reaction was pretty funny (to us).  We've noticed that since his 2nd birthday he's become a little more cautious and aware that things can hurt you.  He talks daily about things that "can hurt you" like the stove, oven, cars (in the road), his seatbelt (I explained we wear them to protect us from getting hurt).   

He did enjoy this area where you could "touch the starfish and sting rays with one finger," and stand behind the scuba gear.  We don't know the "big boy" in the picture above but he's cute too. 
I always wait to the end to take a picture of Steven and I, and of course as usual, he's done taking pictures by then.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Cadence

Charlton's sister, Jenn, delivered Cadence Elizabeth on Friday around 1:00 pm.  We went to see her after she got home from the hospital yesterday.  She is so tiny (6 pounds and 2 oz.) and precious- very alert not wanting to miss a thing.  Another niece to enjoy girly things with- I love it!  Steven was napping at Mimi's and so has not gotten to meet Cadence yet.  I am so glad we didn't take him because last night before bed his diaper gave evidence to the fact that he has a virus.  We are staying in today and tomorrow but so far he's been fine today- not happy I'm enforcing a BRATS diet- but healthy.  Needless to say it will be a little while until he gets to visit her- I should has known because he got a virus during Meadow's birth too and I didn't get to see her for at least a week.  

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Leave of Absence

Sorry about the break I've taken from blogging.  I've been working on setting up my new apple website and blog.  I'm not sure what happened but I was doing something else on my computer over the weekend and a box popped up.  I glanced at what it said and then remember hitting a "Relaunch" button.  Stupid.  I lost everything I set up and it was ready to go, I just hadn't published it yet.  So, I guess I'll keep using this one until either Charlton can recover it or I do it over.  Pictures coming soon.   

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Christmas Family Pictures at Mimi's

The trend on Charlton's side of our family is that there's a new baby every year.  We didn't actually have a baby born in 2008 but Meadow was born in November of 2007 and Jenn's due in 4 weeks so it certainly was close this time.  The kids change so fast we try to get family pictures every year around Christmas.

Christmas Day at Mammaw's

After a few hours at home we headed over to my mom and dad's house (all the way down the street) and had tons of fun with them, Lindsay, and Kyle all day.  Steven and I made my mom this plate with his handprints on them.  [We made one for Mimi too but I forgot to get a picture of it- remind me to next time we're over, Brenda.]  I took him one morning to Mudpie Company, a paint your own pottery place, and an employee helped us do the handprints.  Then I went back that night with girlfriends from the neighborhood and did the rest.  It was so much fun!

Steven yelled "BIG present" while he was opening this one from Lindsay and Kyle-- next picture...










The "big" one was a Tonka fire truck- pretty cool!











Kyle (and Lindsay) picks out great presents but the reason Steven loves him is because he reads and plays with him.   Though, Steven says you can still keep the presents coming, "Kycle" and "Insey."  =)



























Mammaw and Pappaw got Steven a t-ball set (among many other things), 










and a picnic table for the back yard.