Just when it seemed like the plague couldn't get worse, I went ahead and tried to drown in my own lung nastiness last night. I've had asthma my entire life, but it hasn't been triggered in over 5 years...leave it to chasing Henry around while pregnant with #2 while trying to fight off a horrible virus. It wasn't a scary attack or anything, just a gradual 'hey, it's getting hard to breathe' while Jared and I were internet shopping for Henry's Christmas presents. Thank God for my OB...he called in an inhaler for me at 11:00 p.m. as a last ditch effort to avoid a trip to the emergency room. Within 5 minutes of taking my two puffs, I was a new woman...and spared the motley crew that we all know hangs out in the ER late at night.
Today, I still feel like crap - just not like suffocating crap, so I guess that's good. Now, if only I could figure out how to make a full recovery by tomorrow morning...this labored breathing is SERIOUSLY affecting my ability to eat like I need, ahem, want to for the holidays!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Disney holiday...
Guess who got to go to Disney World for the first time in his whole entire life????
This handsome little man...
His Grandpa came along for the fun...isn't it cool how a castle grew right out of the backs of their heads? Weird, right?
Henry thinks his Grandpa is hilarious...
...and he loved riding the train with him.
Mommy and Henry at the most magical place on earth...
Despite a crazy cold front coming in and a little rain hiccup in the early morning, our trip to Disney was exactly what we hoped it would be. Henry loved everything (except the scary Snow White ride...picture omitted for the sake of all parties involved), but his very favorite ride was It's a Small World. The look of awe and amazement on his face going through it definitely made up for the song being in all of our heads for the rest of the week.
He also loved the carousel and the Dumbo ride. The whole time we were in line for Dumbo, he would just look at the flying elephants and make his big elephant sound while waving his arm around like a trunk. So cute. He is still a little apprehensive about meeting characters (who can forget our Santa Claus experience last year?!?!), but he was thrilled to watch them from afar signing autographs for other kiddos. Maybe next year for us...
Looking back on our memories from it all, we feel so incredibly thankful that we were able to take our Henry to Disney this year. We knew it would be a long day (weather, pregnant, AND a stroller-hating toddler), but we pushed through for the sake of making just a few more memories with the little man before his baby brother comes along. As the third trimester approaches, it's amazing how much more aware we are of savoring every single second we have with him by himself.
Since the day he was born, he's been our very pride and joy...and he always will be...it's just becoming so bittersweet for Jared and I to watch how quickly these days are flying by. Our baby is growing up so fast. Our new baby is almost here. We wouldn't have it any other way and we love the adventure - always have - but we know there's a part of us that's really going to miss this.
*Sniff, sniff*
This handsome little man...
His Grandpa came along for the fun...isn't it cool how a castle grew right out of the backs of their heads? Weird, right?
Henry thinks his Grandpa is hilarious...
...and he loved riding the train with him.
Mommy and Henry at the most magical place on earth...
Despite a crazy cold front coming in and a little rain hiccup in the early morning, our trip to Disney was exactly what we hoped it would be. Henry loved everything (except the scary Snow White ride...picture omitted for the sake of all parties involved), but his very favorite ride was It's a Small World. The look of awe and amazement on his face going through it definitely made up for the song being in all of our heads for the rest of the week.
He also loved the carousel and the Dumbo ride. The whole time we were in line for Dumbo, he would just look at the flying elephants and make his big elephant sound while waving his arm around like a trunk. So cute. He is still a little apprehensive about meeting characters (who can forget our Santa Claus experience last year?!?!), but he was thrilled to watch them from afar signing autographs for other kiddos. Maybe next year for us...
Looking back on our memories from it all, we feel so incredibly thankful that we were able to take our Henry to Disney this year. We knew it would be a long day (weather, pregnant, AND a stroller-hating toddler), but we pushed through for the sake of making just a few more memories with the little man before his baby brother comes along. As the third trimester approaches, it's amazing how much more aware we are of savoring every single second we have with him by himself.
Since the day he was born, he's been our very pride and joy...and he always will be...it's just becoming so bittersweet for Jared and I to watch how quickly these days are flying by. Our baby is growing up so fast. Our new baby is almost here. We wouldn't have it any other way and we love the adventure - always have - but we know there's a part of us that's really going to miss this.
*Sniff, sniff*Friday, November 20, 2009
TAGGED
My friend, Jenna, tagged me this week on her blog. This means I've got to answer 5 questions for all the world to read on mine. Here goes...
1. What were you doing ten years ago? Ten years ago, I was in my very first semester at Ole Miss. I had just transferred there from TLU that fall to play golf for the Rebs. I was loving my roomie, Sue, who is still one of my very best friends. In many ways, I was a fashion disaster...wore my jeans too tight, belts with everything, didn't know the meaning of an untucked shirt (including 'going out' shirts), my roots were always too long, and I still had braces on my teeth. Sexy, I know.
2. What are five things on your to-do list? 1. Finish Christmas shopping; 2. Do the many many loads of laundry piled on my bedroom floor; 3. Get a trim & highlight for the holidays; 4. Christmas cards; and 5. decorate the house for Christmas.
3. What are snacks you enjoy? Too many to name - I especially love french fries, flavored coffee creamer, anything sweet-and-salty, and I've really been craving a peppermint milkshake from Chik-fil-a (even though I've never had one and I usually don't like peppermint).
4. What are the places you have lived? NOLA, Kingwood, Seguin, Oxford, Cambridge, Jackson, and Orlando.
5. What are five things you would do if you became a billionaire: 1. Build our dream house; 2. Buy Fiddler's Green for Jared; 3. Pay off my student loans; 4. Give a ridiculous amount of money to cancer and EB research; and 5. take my entire family on an amazing vacation to an exotic, remote place.
Now, I tag Kate, Sara, Karen, Kara, and Mandy. Copy the questions, and post your answers, girlfriends!!
We're still sick, sick, sick over here, so pictures will have to wait a few more days. Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend before the Thanksgiving insanity begins!!
1. What were you doing ten years ago? Ten years ago, I was in my very first semester at Ole Miss. I had just transferred there from TLU that fall to play golf for the Rebs. I was loving my roomie, Sue, who is still one of my very best friends. In many ways, I was a fashion disaster...wore my jeans too tight, belts with everything, didn't know the meaning of an untucked shirt (including 'going out' shirts), my roots were always too long, and I still had braces on my teeth. Sexy, I know.
2. What are five things on your to-do list? 1. Finish Christmas shopping; 2. Do the many many loads of laundry piled on my bedroom floor; 3. Get a trim & highlight for the holidays; 4. Christmas cards; and 5. decorate the house for Christmas.
3. What are snacks you enjoy? Too many to name - I especially love french fries, flavored coffee creamer, anything sweet-and-salty, and I've really been craving a peppermint milkshake from Chik-fil-a (even though I've never had one and I usually don't like peppermint).
4. What are the places you have lived? NOLA, Kingwood, Seguin, Oxford, Cambridge, Jackson, and Orlando.
5. What are five things you would do if you became a billionaire: 1. Build our dream house; 2. Buy Fiddler's Green for Jared; 3. Pay off my student loans; 4. Give a ridiculous amount of money to cancer and EB research; and 5. take my entire family on an amazing vacation to an exotic, remote place.
Now, I tag Kate, Sara, Karen, Kara, and Mandy. Copy the questions, and post your answers, girlfriends!!
We're still sick, sick, sick over here, so pictures will have to wait a few more days. Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend before the Thanksgiving insanity begins!!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
And we're back...
We've had a rough go of it this week, folks. We made it to Disney as planned, but the rest of the time we were in Florida didn't play out as we had hoped. Henry. Stomach bug. 5 days straight. Enough said.
All of us are some degree of sick right now, so bear with us while we recover. I'll try to post a few pictures by the end of the week.
All of us are some degree of sick right now, so bear with us while we recover. I'll try to post a few pictures by the end of the week.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The best made plans...
Just when I was getting excited about the possibility of taking Henry's Christmas card picture at Disney this week, he went and ate pavement in front of our house. Seriously, I had the outfit planned and packed...the good camera ready to go...and now, this. 
Ugh. The photo does not even begin to do the road-rash justice. It's swollen, red, goes from the top of his forehead into his mouth, and it's definitely NOT going to be healed up in time for our visit to the happiest place on earth. While we're moping about this together, let's go ahead and add insult to injury - look how great his face was looking just a few hours earlier (he has discovered sock-puppeting this week). Again, ugh.
We're all packed and ready...flight leaves mid-morning tomorrow. Fingers crossed for a sleepy, calm, pain-free-eared child. See y'all next week!
Ugh. The photo does not even begin to do the road-rash justice. It's swollen, red, goes from the top of his forehead into his mouth, and it's definitely NOT going to be healed up in time for our visit to the happiest place on earth. While we're moping about this together, let's go ahead and add insult to injury - look how great his face was looking just a few hours earlier (he has discovered sock-puppeting this week). Again, ugh.
We're all packed and ready...flight leaves mid-morning tomorrow. Fingers crossed for a sleepy, calm, pain-free-eared child. See y'all next week!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Halloween Photos, part 2
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Skype us, baby.
Hi Jared. Here's your obnoxiously obtuse hubsy blog shout out. Hope you likey.
The big man in our house...the daddiest daddy in all the land...best husband in the whole, wide world...provider of fabulous, creative, and much-needed/desired things...has recently presented me with the mother of all just-because presents. Wait for it...wait for it...and....it's a brand new laptop!! This thing is the Rolls Royce of home workstations (especially compared to what I was workstationing with before), and it came complete with internal webcam, microphone, and many other sweeeet features that I haven't even discovered yet!!
I mention the webcam and microphone, in particular, because it brings me to the subject of this blog post. See, one of Henry's best friends (his Paw Paw) left for a work assignment in Miami for six months starting last week. The separation has not been easy on either of them. On our end, this has led to setting up search parties for 'paaaaaaaawwww-pawwwww' as soon as we enter the front door of my parents' house, inconsolable weeping as we pull out of their driveway, and random running over to Paw Paw's bye-bye window at our house just to see if he's out there. All of this, as you can imagine, is sad to watch. We needed an interactive way for Henry to see his Paw Paw, stat, and this is where the title of this post comes in.
Prior to this week, we had heard of Skype, but we didn't have the webcam and other stuff necessary to start up. Now, thanks to the awesomely amazing Daddy Pants, we do. So, after trudging through the somewhat tedious set-up yesterday, we are now proud owners of a Skype account. It took us awhile to figure out what the heck we were doing, but we have also now figured out how to have a video conversation.
In our one practice session, we also learned a few things about Skyping with a 1-year old. First, when he's done with Skype, he's DONE. No amount of calling him back or trying to engage him is going to work. Also, when he's ready to get up, my tummy bears the brunt of his efforts to do so - which is obviously bad for business. Two, 1-year olds cannot keep conversations going. No, that's got to come from the other side...and it's got to be damn good to keep him into it. Hand puppets, songs, dances, and lots of easy questions highly recommended. Lastly, he totally doesn't 'get' that you can see him. He stares like a zombie at the screen...and he's completely engaged by it...but it probably doesn't look that way from the other end. Do not be dismayed. If and when he is no longer interested, he'll tell us.
So, there you have it. The man of our house is THE MAN, and we're up and running. Our contact name is elizabeth.chesser. Skype us, baby!!
The big man in our house...the daddiest daddy in all the land...best husband in the whole, wide world...provider of fabulous, creative, and much-needed/desired things...has recently presented me with the mother of all just-because presents. Wait for it...wait for it...and....it's a brand new laptop!! This thing is the Rolls Royce of home workstations (especially compared to what I was workstationing with before), and it came complete with internal webcam, microphone, and many other sweeeet features that I haven't even discovered yet!!
I mention the webcam and microphone, in particular, because it brings me to the subject of this blog post. See, one of Henry's best friends (his Paw Paw) left for a work assignment in Miami for six months starting last week. The separation has not been easy on either of them. On our end, this has led to setting up search parties for 'paaaaaaaawwww-pawwwww' as soon as we enter the front door of my parents' house, inconsolable weeping as we pull out of their driveway, and random running over to Paw Paw's bye-bye window at our house just to see if he's out there. All of this, as you can imagine, is sad to watch. We needed an interactive way for Henry to see his Paw Paw, stat, and this is where the title of this post comes in.
Prior to this week, we had heard of Skype, but we didn't have the webcam and other stuff necessary to start up. Now, thanks to the awesomely amazing Daddy Pants, we do. So, after trudging through the somewhat tedious set-up yesterday, we are now proud owners of a Skype account. It took us awhile to figure out what the heck we were doing, but we have also now figured out how to have a video conversation.
In our one practice session, we also learned a few things about Skyping with a 1-year old. First, when he's done with Skype, he's DONE. No amount of calling him back or trying to engage him is going to work. Also, when he's ready to get up, my tummy bears the brunt of his efforts to do so - which is obviously bad for business. Two, 1-year olds cannot keep conversations going. No, that's got to come from the other side...and it's got to be damn good to keep him into it. Hand puppets, songs, dances, and lots of easy questions highly recommended. Lastly, he totally doesn't 'get' that you can see him. He stares like a zombie at the screen...and he's completely engaged by it...but it probably doesn't look that way from the other end. Do not be dismayed. If and when he is no longer interested, he'll tell us.
So, there you have it. The man of our house is THE MAN, and we're up and running. Our contact name is elizabeth.chesser. Skype us, baby!!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Halloween Photos, part 1
Here is a start to Halloween '09. My family got better pics on their cameras, so I'll update with those as soon as I get them...
The evening before Halloween - Henry loving the firetruck that showed up at our Fall Festival.
Mommy and Henry (after he got annoyed with the costume but before he was ready to leave).
Halloween night...with Uncle Jonathan!
This little lion loves Snickerdoodles...and also loves his great grandmother for having them ready for him instead of candy (which she knows he doesn't love at all).
Mommy and Henry on Halloween night.
For those of you who came to my bridal luncheon on the morning before our wedding, you may recall this delightful couple hosting it at their home. I trick-or-treated at their house every year of my childhood...and here's my little lion keeping that tradition alive. Is it just me or does my mom look my same age?? I think she does...
Same pose as last time, but I wanted to prove to you that this child actually smiles from time to time. It's just that if he's smiling, he's usually moving...so all of my smiley pictures from Halloween are blurry. One day, when we grow up, we're going to get a really bitchin' camera that can outsmart wiggly toddlers. On another subject, there's my 21-week bump. I know, not impressive...I'm sure it'll really pop in the next couple of weeks (it was around Week 27 with H).
More pics to come soon!
The evening before Halloween - Henry loving the firetruck that showed up at our Fall Festival.
Mommy and Henry (after he got annoyed with the costume but before he was ready to leave).
Halloween night...with Uncle Jonathan!
This little lion loves Snickerdoodles...and also loves his great grandmother for having them ready for him instead of candy (which she knows he doesn't love at all).
Mommy and Henry on Halloween night.
For those of you who came to my bridal luncheon on the morning before our wedding, you may recall this delightful couple hosting it at their home. I trick-or-treated at their house every year of my childhood...and here's my little lion keeping that tradition alive. Is it just me or does my mom look my same age?? I think she does...
Same pose as last time, but I wanted to prove to you that this child actually smiles from time to time. It's just that if he's smiling, he's usually moving...so all of my smiley pictures from Halloween are blurry. One day, when we grow up, we're going to get a really bitchin' camera that can outsmart wiggly toddlers. On another subject, there's my 21-week bump. I know, not impressive...I'm sure it'll really pop in the next couple of weeks (it was around Week 27 with H).
More pics to come soon!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Crabapple McNasties
See the title of this blog post? That's what I have today. Leave me alone, stay out of my way, and don't DARE mention the word Jared invented earlier this week.
Well, do so at your own peril...heehee.
Henry has been awake since before 2 a.m. Again. That's right...he slept for almost 5 hours...total. This is two nights in a row (the first, he was up for 3 hours with a low-grade fever)...and at least 15 nights since the first week of October.
He refused to be put back in his crib.
He refused to fall asleep next to me in the guest bed.
He wasn't hungry, wet, dirty, cold, or hot. He was Motrined before we got him down for the night.
After three hours of failed rocking, singing, snuggling, an episode of Sesame Street, and a bottle, I finally gave in and let him sleep (or, more appropriately, thrash around, whine, and climb all over me) in our bed at 5:30. At around 7 this morning, he had the stinkiest, most horrible diaper of his worldly existence, and at 7:30, Jared gave me his support and permission to have a breakdown.
Instead, I threw some water on my face and put the coffee on (all you don't-drink-caffeine-while-you're-pregnant haters can eat the aforementioned diaper as far as I'm concerned).
At 8:30, I remembered that some of my girlfriends have told me bad diapers and low-grade fevers can be teething...so I allowed my finger to venture into the only two remaining toothless spots in his mouth. Sure enough, we've got one top molar through and the other one working its way. I guess I'm thankful for an explanation. I guess.
So, grandparents, there you have it -- we're at 15 1/2 now. If we make it to 16 before I lose my ever-loving mind or actually turn into a crabapple mcnasty, it'll be a success by any measure.
Well, do so at your own peril...heehee.
Henry has been awake since before 2 a.m. Again. That's right...he slept for almost 5 hours...total. This is two nights in a row (the first, he was up for 3 hours with a low-grade fever)...and at least 15 nights since the first week of October.
He refused to be put back in his crib.
He refused to fall asleep next to me in the guest bed.
He wasn't hungry, wet, dirty, cold, or hot. He was Motrined before we got him down for the night.
After three hours of failed rocking, singing, snuggling, an episode of Sesame Street, and a bottle, I finally gave in and let him sleep (or, more appropriately, thrash around, whine, and climb all over me) in our bed at 5:30. At around 7 this morning, he had the stinkiest, most horrible diaper of his worldly existence, and at 7:30, Jared gave me his support and permission to have a breakdown.
Instead, I threw some water on my face and put the coffee on (all you don't-drink-caffeine-while-you're-pregnant haters can eat the aforementioned diaper as far as I'm concerned).
At 8:30, I remembered that some of my girlfriends have told me bad diapers and low-grade fevers can be teething...so I allowed my finger to venture into the only two remaining toothless spots in his mouth. Sure enough, we've got one top molar through and the other one working its way. I guess I'm thankful for an explanation. I guess.
So, grandparents, there you have it -- we're at 15 1/2 now. If we make it to 16 before I lose my ever-loving mind or actually turn into a crabapple mcnasty, it'll be a success by any measure.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Great Name Debate
Baby #2 remains nameless. 21 weeks...nameless. 19 weeks to decide...tick, tock, tick, tock...
It's just so much pressure!! We knew Henry's name before he was even conceived. It has soooo much family significance, and for that reason (and the obvious cuteness factor) it was such an easy choice for us. I just knew from the moment I met Jared that I wanted to name our first son after him, and I have known forever that I wanted my first son to 'go by' the name of his great-grandfather (my grandfather), Henry. It was added bonus that Jared's grandfather was also a Henry, and he was also a person of enormous influence on Jared's life. Hence, Jared Henry Chesser.
Now, for this new sweet babe, we don't have a family name that we love (and, believe me, we've considered ALL of them)...we don't know his face, personality, etc...and we're just so 'guck.' We've thought we had it a few times, only for me to change my mind a few days later. Sometimes I just think we need to check into the hospital armed with our favorites, and once we see him, we can give him the name that seems to fit him the best. But, but, but...if we do that *sniff, sniff*, how will I satisfy my positively sinful love for all things monogrammed?? heehee. I kid, of course.
19 weeks...4 1/2 months...surely we can figure it out in that time...
Halloween pictures forthcoming...uploady wire missing...again.
It's just so much pressure!! We knew Henry's name before he was even conceived. It has soooo much family significance, and for that reason (and the obvious cuteness factor) it was such an easy choice for us. I just knew from the moment I met Jared that I wanted to name our first son after him, and I have known forever that I wanted my first son to 'go by' the name of his great-grandfather (my grandfather), Henry. It was added bonus that Jared's grandfather was also a Henry, and he was also a person of enormous influence on Jared's life. Hence, Jared Henry Chesser.
Now, for this new sweet babe, we don't have a family name that we love (and, believe me, we've considered ALL of them)...we don't know his face, personality, etc...and we're just so 'guck.' We've thought we had it a few times, only for me to change my mind a few days later. Sometimes I just think we need to check into the hospital armed with our favorites, and once we see him, we can give him the name that seems to fit him the best. But, but, but...if we do that *sniff, sniff*, how will I satisfy my positively sinful love for all things monogrammed?? heehee. I kid, of course.
19 weeks...4 1/2 months...surely we can figure it out in that time...
Halloween pictures forthcoming...uploady wire missing...again.