New Year's Resolutions...

1. Lose Weight! I want to fit back in my clothes and look good for our summer cruise.

2. Family Time! Spend more time together as a family and developing a plan so David and I can have a night out alone once a month.

3. Pay Bills! Pay off Greenville Memorial Hospital.

4. Eat Healthier! Less junk food and more fruits & vegetables.

5. Life Lessons! Continue to teach our boys important life lessons (like yesterday...giving to the less fortunate).

6. Patience! Keep my patience with both boys!

Happy New Year!

HGTV...Here we come!

Lately, David and I have been watching shows on HGTV about remodeling your home. We have painted the downstairs and are going to put in granite counter tops and crown molding. I have learned that "less is more." So today we spent all day winter cleaning. We took two loads to Goodwill (Our time is too valuable to go through all the work of a yard sale), one load to the landfill and two loads to the dump. We cleared out what we are not using and reorganized. We even cleaned the boys rooms and better organized their things. We have so much stuff that we never use so we figured we ought to give it to someone who needs it. We also asked Zachary to give some of his old toys to "the poor children." He donated a few trucks and a tool box...and he rode with me to Goodwill saying "we are giving to the poor children." It was so cute and is teaching him good lessons. Believe it or not, we have several more days of work to do...especially in the attic.

Family Visit

Today, we had a visit from Aunt Kay and Zachary's cousins Jesse and Savannah from Georgia. Zachary had a great time playing with both of them. Savannah loved feeding and holding Will - too bad she does not live closer and she could be my mother's helper!.

Will's First Bath...

This morning, I told Zachary that Will would get in the bathtub with him tonight and Zachary has looked forward to getting in the bathtub with his little brother all day. It would be Will's first bath beyond the typical sponge bath because it took almost a month for his umbilical cord to fall off. Overall, think they both enjoyed it. Zachary was so gentle with Will. He used a washcloth and bathed him. Will just gazed at Zachary. The best part was while Zachary was bathing Will's stomach, Will started peeing like a fountain. Zachary was surprised and keep laughing.





After their bath, Zachary wanted to "hold Will." He asks all the time and loves to hold and cuddle with his little brother! I think they are going to be great friends and brothers!

5 WEEKS...

Today marks five weeks for Will! He is definitely growing and not really fitting in his newborn clothes anymore. This week, he started sleeping 7 (yes, seven) hours each night. Sleep makes Mom feel GREAT!

Notice the "Police Badge" on his onesie...friends of ours, Jamie & Heather who are both in Law Enforcement, gave that outfit as well as another outfit with a police car on it to Will. Jamie & Heather are expecting their first child this summer (should I tell them what they are really getting themselves into?!).



I took some pictures of Will today while Zachary was sleeping. You can tell he is growing!





His eyes remind me of Zachary's...



Looks like Will's Belly Button is a swirlie!

Morning after Christmas...

This morning when I went to Zachary's room to get him up I was surprised at him. I opened the door and he was standing there in the middle of his room. He had picked up all his toys, made his bed and got himself dressed. He said very clearly "Mom, ready ride voom-voom" (what he calls the four wheeler). He was so adorable and had not forgot about his four wheeler!!

Christmas Day!

What it looked like BEFORE the excitement...


Merry Christmas! We had such a wonderful day, especially with Zachary who now understands "Santa Claus." We all woke up around 7am and immediately ran downstairs to open presents! By much surprise, Santa and his reindeer ate all the snacks that we left for them (cookies and milk for Santa / carrots for the reindeer)!


Zachary's BIG gift from Santa was a four-wheeler. He spent most of today riding it around the yard! Before riding it outside, he had four-wheeler schooling with Dad on how to use it. He listened carefully and took everything in. He fully understands forward, reverse and stopping. We were surprise to see that he caught on so quickly! Somehow, Mimi & Popi knew to get Zachary a spare battery and Grandmother and Granddad knew to get him a quick charger!!







Santa surprised Zachary with many other things too. He got new play dough, play dough toys, Thomas The Train PJ's, a new jacket, a sleeping bag, new music CD's, a new CD case for all his music, MatchBox cars, a ramp for MatchBox Cars, a carrying case for all his cars, a new game, a baseball bat, and much more!



With a new baby, we told our families we were staying home but they were more than welcome to come to our house. This morning, Mimi & Popi McIlwain and Uncle Michael came to visit. This afternoon, Grandmother & Granddad Philpott and Uncle Michael & Aunt Christine came to visit. We loved seeing Madeline! We had a good time with everyone. We are blessed to have such a wonderful family.


New Frog Raincoat and Matching Rain Boots from Anything Joes!


William had a wonderful First Christmas too. Santa and family gave him lots of formula! He also got a Piggy Bank and Bible. Most of his day was spent relaxing with his eyes closed!





David and I also had a great Christmas too. We received many things but from our families...From my parents we were given two tickets for a cruise to Nassau, Bahamas in July with our entire family (16 people). From David's parents we were given a portrait of Zachary - they had surprise pictures taken of him in Greenville. And for each other...new paint downstairs with crown molding and granite countertops with a new sink! We are still in the process of all these renovations. With two kids, it is a slow process but so far it looks great!



This last picture is of Zachary in bed. He has his new Diego Story Book Pillow, new Cars Sleeping Bag, new Turtle night light (Zachary named Tommy Turtle) who shines stars on the ceiling, new Thomas The Train PJ's and several new MatchBox cars. He had to go to bed with all these things!



Merry Christmas Everyone! Thanks to all of our family & friends for making this Christmas so special. Bryan & Leslie - Merry Christmas and hope you had a great time in Florida. Jennifer - Merry Christmas...we missed seeing you all today!


Our greatest gift of all is our two healthy children!

Homemade Ornaments & Cookies

Today, Zachary and I went to Haley's house for a play date. We made adorable snowman cookies with Twizzlers, Gummy Lifesaves, Chocholate chips and M&M's. I think the kids did more eating than decorating...but they had fun.


This afternoon, we finished our homemade ornaments. We made the dough from flour and water, cut out shapes, and let them dry. Today, we finished them by painting them and writing "Zachary" on the back. Zachary will put one on all the family gifts as an ornament for next year.

Christmas Fun...

This week, Zachary and I have had quality time together doing many things...

1. "Twinkle," our Elf, has been a big hit with Zachary. He runs around the house every morning looking for Twinkle. Every night, he makes drawings to send with Twinkle to Santa. Last night, David and I caught Zachary standing on the kitchen table putting the folded up drawings with Twinkle.

2. Homemade Play dough ornaments - we made the play dough, cut out Christmas shapes, let them dry and painted them for family members

3. Peanut Butter Balls - boy, did we get our hands sticky. They sure are good!

4. Hand prints with paint

5. Sugar Cookies in all different Christmas shapes

6. Watching Charlie Brown Christmas together

7. Giving Will daily baths and dressing him in Christmas clothes

8. Made goody bags full of Chocolate and delivered them to Zachary's teachers - Zachary filled the bags and was caught eating several pieces

9. Night time walks down the driveway to look at all the neighbors lights

10. Tomorrow, we are making snowman cookies with Haley

11. Wearing our Christmas PJ's each night and keeping them on as we play inside all morning

12. Talking and reading all about Santa!!

I can not wait for Christmas and to see the look on Zachary's face. This year, he fully understands "Santa" and is very excited!

Four Weeks Old

Today, Will is four weeks old. He is still pretty small but definitely filling out. He lifts his head up well and rolled over several times this week from his stomach to his back. He is sleeping about five hours straight during the night and is very alert during the day.

Zachary's First Ear Infections

Most of this week, Zachary has been sick with the typical preschool cold (runny nose & cough). This is the first time he has been really sick and this is the first winter he has been in school. He has woke up crying during the night almost every night since Sunday. Starting Tuesday, his right eye was red with watery drainage. By Thursday, both eyes were red and he had crusty green drainage. Not once did he complain of feeling bad. He was eating, drinking and playing as usual. So, being a nurse, I was trying to wait it out. Well, today we took him to the doctor. He has ear infections in both ears (that looked pretty bad) and bacterial pinkeye in both eyes. He is now on antibiotics and eye drops twice a day (try giving eye drops to a toddler!). Hopefully, Will will stay healthy and Zachary will be well before Christmas! I have invested in Clorox and Lysol this week!

Potty Training Update

All day yesterday and today, Zachary refused to wear a pull-up but instead wanted to wear big boy underwear. When he does wear a pull-up and he is playing, he will just pee-pee in the pull-up and go get a dry one. So I was not too sure how it would work without one on. Well so far, he has not wet his underwear. He wears a pull-up for nap time and bedtime but not throughout the day. Maybe he has finally grasp the concept of potty training.

Preschool Christmas Program

Last night, Zachary had his first performance in front of an audience. He has been practicing all week (but we were not always sure what he was practicing). David, Will and I met Mimi and Popi at the church for the big event. The two year old class was dressed as snowmen and sang some cute songs. All the songs had hand movements with them. The whole thing was very entertaining. Zachary was not sure what to do at first but quickly started participating. Afterward, the children were able to visit with Santa Claus. (If I can figure out how to put some of the video on the blog, I will later tonight).

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Lacey Councill to list my "8 Things". So here it goes...

8 TV Shows I Like to Watch:
1. Survivor
2. Biggest Loser
3. CSI
4. ER
5. Gray's Anatomy
6. Doctors
7. Criminal Minds
8. Big Brother

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Outback
2. Flat Rock
3. Atlanta Bread Co.
4. Cracker Barrel
5. Chic-fil-A
6. Atami Express
7. Mimi's Japanese
8. Brick Street Cafe

8 Things that Happened Today:
1. Fed Will his bottle
2. Put Will back to bed
3. Was woke up by Zachary crying
4. Feel asleep with Zachary in his bed
5. Took several naps
6. Drove to Greenville
7. Attempted to do some Christmas shopping
8. Visited Uncle Michael and Aunt Christine

8 Things I Am Looking Forward to:
1. Christmas!
2. Will sleeping through the night
3. Watching the Clemson Tigers
4. Our family Cruise in July
5. Fitting back in my pre-pregnancy clothes
6. Zachary's First Christmas Program at School
7. Sleep & a Silent Night
8. Will's umbilical cord falling off, finally!

8 Things on My Wishlist:
1. Losing 30 lbs FAST
2. Healthy children
3. Debt free
4. Extra energy
5. Sleep
6. Finish our downstairs remodeling
7. Granite countertops & new sink
8. Another great year!

8 People I Tag (the only people I know with a blog):
1. Mariko W.
2. Tina M.
3. Tina S.
4. Hope G.
5. Todd C.
6. Katy

Zach & Will's Baby Pictures...

David and I think that William looks a lot like Zachary. Can you guess which picture is Zachary and which picture is William? Both pictures are take at about the same age...










The picture on the top is Zachary and the picture on the bottom is of William. Don't they look a lot alike. Look at their little noses! The obvious difference right now is that Zachary had blonde hair and William has dark hair!

3 Weeks Already!

Check out that cute smile!

Today marks three weeks old for Will. He is growing very fast and already eats four ounces every three hours. He is finally fitting in some newborn outfits that have previously swallowed him. His favorite thing to do is to sleep on mom's chest...I guess that is from ten months of constantly hearing my voice and heartbeat. He is so precious and we are so fortunate to have such a healthy baby boy! Here are some pics from this morning (looking back at Zach's pictures, I do not always know his age...so we will try to make this a new tradition with milestones).

Welcome "Twinkle"

We have heard alot about this "Elf on a Shelf" and today we will start this family tradition of our own thanks to Zachary's cousin Emily. The box arrived from the North Pole and Zachary could not wait to open it. We looked at the Elf and read the book about her. Zachary named her "Twinkle." We will see over the next few days how much he understands. Thanks Emily!

Santa Claus

Zachary visited with Santa Claus today at Chick-fil-a in Seneca. He sat on his lap and told him he wanted trains and a dirt bike like Dad (haha). Enjoy the pictures!

Today's Pics

It is hard to believe Will is almost three weeks old...he is growing and changing every day.




Zachary still remains a great Big Brother...

Another Trip To The Hospital

Well, you are probably wondering why I have not posted in almost a week. Here is a quick update...we did great last Mon & Tues. The misery started Wednesday night when I became febrile with severe chills and sweats. It came on suddenly that night and no one got sleep with me feeling so horrible. As a nurse, I thought I had a virus so I tried to wait it out. By Thursday afternoon, my fever was 102.4 and I thought I was on my way to death row. I could not care for myself, Zach or Will. I called my MD around 4pm and was told to come in Friday morning at 9am. I cried on the phone and told them I may not make it until then. Of course, they told me to go to the ER. I took more Tylenol and decided to wait some more. Teresa Philpott had my on call OB doctor call me and she was nice enough to call me in an antibiotic. I thought I was getting better and finally ate food Thursday night. But of course, Friday morning my temp was now 103.1 and I was forced by my spouse to go to the doctor. We took Zach to school and David drove me to Greenville. I went into the doctor's office while David and Will waited in the car. That is when I got the dreadful news and cried with my OB doctor...she felt an admission back to the hospital was absolutely necessary.

I sent David and Will home to avoid all the hospital bugs and spent Friday and most the day Sat alone. I was put on three high dose IV antibiotics, was told to rest but also told to pump breast milk every two hours around the clock...AND get rest (kinda confusing). Anyway, I had a high fever and an elevated WBC count in my blood so I had an infection, but where? I was admitted with endometritis (an infection of the uterus) but the doctors all disagreed and it was never decided where the infection originated (uterus, breast, kidneys, etc). I was sent home today with oral antibiotics every 6 hours! I am just glad to be home. I have to see the doctor in one week and if any fever reoccurs, I have to call immediately. This hospital stay was not as exciting and fun as two weeks ago. Sorry, I did not even call and tell my siblings but I just wanted to get better so I could go home to care for my boys, and husband! Hopefully, this is all behind us! The holidays are ahead!

Today's MD Appt

Today, Will had another visit at the doctor's office to recheck his weight and jaundice. His weight is 6lbs 11 ozs which surpasses his birth weight and his jaundice has resolved. He also had blood redrawn to test for genetic disorders - there is a SC state law that requires every child to be tested at birth & Will's original blood sample was not good. Otherwise, the doctor said he looked great!