Birthday With My Buddy

It seems like the older I have gotten, especially since I have had Sam, the more my birthday just isn't that big of a deal to me anymore. Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly thankful to keep having them, but I just enjoy it now for different reasons than I did as a child. Phone calls from friends and family and waking up to this smiling face....

I can't imagine a greater birthday gift!

However, you won't ever find me turning down a strawberry cake - especially one from That Special Touch.

I had a really cute helper that worked very hard to blow out all of my candles and then we shared some yummy cake. I wish I could say I was able to eat the entire cake but unfortunately most of it is in the freezer until Baby Jack arrives - then I'll be eating cake for HIS birthday! I found out yesterday that I have gestational diabetes again so I only had a small piece of cake and had to pass on the rest. By the looks of the sweet, handsome man in this photo, the next 12-14 weeks with no sugar will be well worth it when I finally get to snuggle with my second sweet boy.

Thanks to everyone that helped make my birthday a great day!

Breakfast with the Elephant

Yesterday at the circus we got a snow cone in this elephant cup. Sam and I thought that it would make a perfect bowl for cheerios this morning and it certainly made eating breakfast more fun!

Circus Fun

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has been in town for the past few days performing their "Zing, Zang, Zoom" show and we were so excited to be able to take Sam to his first circus this afternoon.

He was all smiles while we were waiting to get in.

We arrived about an hour before the show was supposed to start for a special ringside performance.

Some of the clowns and performers came out to do their tricks...

...and they had some amazing little dogs that were Sam's favorite.

They invited the kids to come into the ring and dance but Sam was pretty happy watching all of the action from his daddy's lap.

We were all in for quite a surprise at the end of the ringside performance. One of the elephants walked out and was so close that we could almost reach out and pat his leg! With the help of some trainers, the elephant did some "feet painting" and then ate an entire loaf of bread in one bite as his treat for doing such a good job. The show itself was really great and was full of different animals, music and dancing and even some motorcycle tricks.

Of course, we couldn't leave without stopping by the souvenir stand so Sam could pick out something to help remember his first circus. Shuffie and Lili bought him this cute little stuffed elephant that he fell in love with and he was all smiles as we left. What a fun day at the circus!

Tooth #17, #18 & #19

Lower Left Second Molar, Lower Right Second Molar and Upper Left Second Molar

Ouch...three big teeth coming in all at once!

Don't Forget the Blessing!

Tonight, the three of us sat down at the kitchen table for dinner together. We usually always start our meals by letting Sam say the blessing but for some reason we slipped tonight and forgot. It didn't take Sam long to get us back in line. He reached out and grabbed both of our hands, bowed his little head and said "Dear Jesus." Adam and I just looked at each other and couldn't believe it. We felt awful for forgetting to say it in the first place but couldn't believe how sweet it was that he had remembered on his own - it definitely warmed my heart!

Still Under the Weather

Strep Throat

Today started out like any other normal day....that is until my cell phone rang while I was driving to work. It was my mom and I could hear Sam in the background saying "belly hurts" over and over. We thought maybe he just had an upset tummy and would feel better shortly but less than 5 minutes later she called back saying he had thrown up everywhere. Bless his heart!!! I whipped my car around and flew home to check on my baby.

She had changed him out of his yucky clothes and was about to give him a bath when I walked in. He still had a smile on his face and acted fine - he was even asking to wear his rain boots. Silly boy! As the morning went on he really slowed down and just wanted to sit in our laps. This was very unlike him to be so still and not long after he started running fever. I put a call into the nurse at Dr. Sherwood's office and she mentioned that we might want to bring him in for a strep test if he didn't start acting like he felt any better this afternoon.

Around lunch time his fever started to creep over 100, even with Tylenol, so I called to get him an appointment. Poor little guy didn't even make it to the doctor's office before he fell asleep in the car. We saw Dr. Cook since Dr. Sherwood doesn't work on Mondays and she suggested a strep test first thing. Within fifteen minutes it came back positive and I was having to decide whether I wanted to give him a shot or oral antibiotics. I felt so sad about signing him up for a shot but I knew it was really the best thing to do so he would start feeling better soon.

Some tears were shed over the shot but they dried up quickly when the sweet nurse mentioned a sucker. Since it was Sam's first penicillin shot we had to go out and sit in the waiting room for a while to make sure he didn't have a reaction. He savored every moment of that sucker while we waited and was such a good boy. I hope he feels better soon - it makes me so sad to see my baby sick!