Grandma Wanda is in France!

Grandma Wanda is spending this week in France doing a sleep study on the effects of jet lag! Poppa Jim was disqualified from the study at the very end when he was diagnosed with sleep apnea - which he is now being treated for.

Wanda flew out Sunday on a private jet owned by Netscape. The pilot, co-pilot and flight attendant were the Greg Norman's personal crew. In Wanda's career as a flight nurse she's ridden in many private jets, but she said that this was by far the most posh! She will return Thursday evening.

They are being treated like royalty - but have not been allowed to sleep yet. They have lost an entire night of sleep so far.

Will post next week how she did! :)

Week from H E - Double Hockey sticks!!!

We had a very rough week last week, so we are looking for this week to be great!
Monday was not so bad. I signed up to be an Avon representative and Jason went to his Masonic meeting.
Tuesday when Jason picked up Nathan from daycare he was informed there was an "incident". Nathan was fed 5 ounces of another mother's breast milk! When Jason got to the parking lot he called me and I went into action mode. I called the pediatrician, poison control and my lactation consultant. The pediatrician was the one that was useful in this situation. I also made some calls to have people saying prayers for Nathan after I got the information from the nurse.
Basically anything that can be passed through bodily fluids can be passed through breast milk! So I was advised to get the "donor" mother's name and plead with her mother-to-mother to submit blood tests to Nathan's doctor. All I can say is thank goodness she did and she was healthy! We got those result Wednesday morning - so you can imagine the crying and worry and praying that went on until that time! If she had not - we would have had to submit Nathan to an array of blood tests and keep doing so as some things would not have shown up immediately. We kept him out Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
We had a meeting with the daycare director and owner Thursday afternoon. They had already reported themselves and were having an inspection the following day. We met with them and expressed our concerns and what we wanted to see change so that this would never happen again - it was the first time ever at that daycare. The response we got allowed us to feel comfortable returning him there on Monday. They asked for a copy of my suggestions and ideas and will be implementing several of them. They would also like for me to come and speak to their staff and show the emotional side of what I went through so that they understand how very important it is for them to never make this mistake again.
If that was not enough.....Jason came down with a GI virus Thursday morning - which I got by that evening and may have given it back to him Friday or Saturday as he got a re-lapse and I got over it. GI virus = 48 hour stomach virus. Nathan got a small dose of it, but the nurse did tell us that it would be different in him. He's fine now too. And finally - Jason's work truck was burglarized and his work digital camera (with all the work photos) was stolen. We are looking for this week to be better. :)

Pumpkins, Pumpkins!

This weekend was a low-key weekend for us. The most exciting thing we did was attend a "pumpkin painting" with our HOA. Nathan was a little too young to get into the painting - but he enjoyed chewing on a little pumpkin and watching the other kids. We traced his hands for eyes and a foot for a nose for his first pumpkin - so he did contribute.

He's also sitting up on his own really well now. We still put pillows around because he likes to cry a little when he takes a tumble.....especially face first!

Columbus Day Weekend Cereal & Croup!

I was so looking forward to my 3 day weekend - it never turns out how you plan does it?
Friday when I picked Nathan up from daycare he had a 100 degree temp. So I took home a fussy & fevered baby. He was very cuddly and DID NOT sleep that night. We were up so many times we lost count. The next morning he still had a slight fever but seemed to be feeling better. This whole time we are thinking - teething. So we take him to get his Halloween photos Saturday morning (which were adorable!) and then come home. Still has a fever that is getting higher! It was rainy and cold so we stayed in Saturday and Sunday. Nathan was irritable, feverish, crying and needy all this time. So Monday he was acting much better. I took him to day care for a 1/2 day and painted our downstairs bathroom. I got him and we ran a few errands and then came home to get ready for work and school on Tuesday.
Tuesday morning arrived and during the night he developed this awful dry cough. He was crying and you could just tell feeling rotten. His temperature then dropped from (101 to 99)to 97! Jason and I decided that it was time that he saw the doctor. So I stayed home with him and we saw the doctor Tuesday - it was croup! I didn't even know this was a real medical condition. Thankfully the treatment was exactly what we had been doing - Tylenol. His temperature at the doctor was 96.7 and he weighed 16pounds even. Since the fever was gone he was no longer contagious and was able to return to school Wednesday.
He was still up during the night - so we have yet to get any decent sleep since last Thursday. We are pretty much walking zombies. I had a co-worker mother console me because she thought I was crying out of exhaustion when it was really my eyes were so tired they were watering! It was an amusing moment for me! Thanks for the humor Lindsay!
On a better note - Nathan started rice cereal this weekend. After the initial gagging on the first feeding, he's been doing much better. I was told that the first few weeks of "solids" is more "practice" than anything - I think it's practice to spit it out! He's getting most of it down in the end though and is learning to open his mouth when the spoon comes at him. It's messy business though!

Go Gamecocks!!!

Despite his Dad's scandalous Clemson background (and current alliances)- I am doing my best to raise him Garnet and Black right!

What a cute little Gamecock! Maybe he'll follow in the steps of his mom, aunts and niece and go to USC one day!

Gooooooooooo COCKS!!!

Nathan is 5 months old!

Last Thursday Nathan turned 5 months old!! (Photos are from that day.) This past Monday he weighed 15 pound 13.7 ounces. He seems to be trying to get his top eye teeth now and is ready to start cereals. I got the go ahead from the pediatrician last month and the lactation consultant said he was ready this month for food- so we are going to start him this weekend.

Despite a small amount of fussiness over the teething - he's all smiles, giggles and belly laughs. He also loves giving his special kisses - that are usually wet and painful (from the hair pulling that occurs)!

He had a wonderful weekend with his grandparents and I know will be missing them today - since they left this morning.

Holbert visit, wedding, dedication, etc.

Nathan stayed home with Grandma and Poppa Monday. I have been blessed with wonderful in-laws and grandparents for Nathan - I could not have asked for better.

They arrived Saturday morning and after Nathan and Jason picked them up we headed straight to Estes Park for Chris (real estate agent) and Susan's wedding. We had to hike about 10 minutes UP! I started with Nathan and about 1/2 way had to give him to Jason because I thought I was having a heart attack - turned out it was asthma! I got up there and still could not breathe, I was wheezing and coughing. This did not go away until 3 hours later when I got home and used my inhaler. Well on the way to Estes Wanda got car sick and had to stop to throw up! Then we about killed both of them taking them straight into high elevation and hiking! Wedding was very informal and simple - they have been together for almost 22 years - very beautiful and sweet.

Then we headed back home and got ready for Nathan's dedication. Everyone from our home group showed up to support us - it meant so much to us! Then we all went out to eat afterwards. It was a long day - especially for Jim & Wanda who got up at 1am ET!

Sunday we slept in and went to a later breakfast - (not quite late). Then Jim & Jason went golfing and Wanda, Nathan and I went shopping. She brought me and bought me a few tops. We skipped lunch and had an early dinner and Ci-Ci's pizza.

Monday Wanda put a ham in the crock pot and make corn on the cob, deviled eggs, Le Seur peas, rolls and banana pudding of course! Nanny and cook - I could learn to love this! We won't talk about how they didn't lock themselves out of the house!

Monday I left work at noon to pick up Wanda and Nathan to go to breast feeding group. Nathan weighed 15 pounds 13.7 ounces. We discovered that he is cutting his top eye teeth first! This is very unusual but as the LC said, "Nathan can't be ordinary!" She also said he was ready for cereal - so we'll start that this weekend I guess.

It's so nice having a live-in Grandnanny! Nathan just loves them. He's been giving them his special kisses all weekend and has smiled and laughed all weekend. I'm so thankful he's easy going and not clingy to us - so they can enjoy him too.

Until next week!