6 Month Report Card

Yesterday, Anderson had his 6 month check-up and here are his report card results:

Weight: 15lb, 13oz--10 to 25%

Height: 26 inches--25%

Head Circumference: 17 1/2--50 to 75% (must have a large brain!)

Everything is on track and there was no weight talk so I was very glad about that! It seems that he is just fine now and has caught up with himself. I do not know what I would do, I mean this kid eats like crazy. He gets bottles 4 times a day and solids with 3 of his bottles! I do not know where he puts it all :) And, he has not had something in his mouth that he did not like (except for the jarred prunes I tried to give him). I have made him (yes, I am still making his food--impressed??) peas, green beans, squash, broccoli, zucchini, pears, peaches, apples, bananas, prunes (ate the ones I made him), cauliflower, carrots, sweet potatoes, and we are going to try butter beans soon! It is still unbelievable to me that it has been half of a year. Sweet baby showed off and performed all of his newly mastered motor skills, talked up a storm, and laughed/cooed at anyone who would pay him any attention!

Here are some of Anderson's new 6 month tricks!

What are these? They look good enough to eat...

Great party trick!

For my next trick....

He was doing the "worm" here trying to scoot--I did not capture it very well! He gets his knees under his belly and inches forward.

Getting good at the sippy cup--it is nearly the size of his head! And he is starting to do up and down chewing with his solids!

I can prop on my hands to sit up!

Then I slowly fall to the side!

I can bear weight on my legs for over 15 seconds!

Please...not again!

Don't Miss the Boat!

Embarkation begins at 12:30 and you better believe that we might actually be the first ones in line to get on the Carnival Sensation come March 12! This boat is going to take us to the Bahamas on a 3 night/2 day cruise for Paige's bachelorette party! Only 3 short weeks left until the bon voyage party :)

In the meantime, I have got to find a bathing suit that I will actually put on without cringing!

My Poor Baby.

I tried and tried to prevent this from happening, but unfortunately he caught a cold. He started acting funny on Tuesday, and on Thursday I took him in for his first (of many I am sure) sick child visit. I know this sounds dramatic, but I was devastated. I just knew he felt horrible and there was nothing I could do to make it better. The MD confirmed that he has a little cold and things should clear up in 7 to 10 days. That seems like an eternity. We have been laying low at home trying to get him well giving him his prescription medicine, saline spray in his nose, using that bulb snot sucker like crazy, refilling the vaporizer, and putting him in the steam shower like 3 times a day so he can at least breathe easy for 5 seconds. Brad and I never used the steam shower until Anderson got sick, and it really has provided him some relief! Brad and I had some obligations this weekend so we have been tag teaming. Brad had a rotary fundraiser most of the day Saturday and then I had volunteered to watch the 2,3 & 4 year old class at church during the 11:11 service Sunday morning. He woke up feeling better this morning, all smiles (thank you lord!), and appeared to feel better but he was still coughing some. We did not want to risk him passing his cold to the other babies in the nursery so Brad stayed home with him. Overall, he has been a fairly easygoing sick baby and I am grateful b/c I know things could have been a whole lot worse!

I AM READY FOR HIM TO GO FROM THIS ANDERSON:

not so happy in the exersaucer--actually not so happy anywhere this day

TO THIS ANDERSON:

Happy, Healthy Boy!

SATURDAY, not Sunday!

How did I mess this up, I do not know. Charlie's promotion was late afternoon on Saturday, not Sunday as the previous post said (I changed it). As the old saying goes....Sorry Charlie!

The Major!

Late afternoon Saturday was Charlie's promotion from Captain to Major! We are all very proud of Charlie for this honor and, of course, all that he does serving our country. For those of you who do not know, Charlie is a pilot in the United States Marine Corps and is stationed in Beaufort. Charlie most recently flew F18 Hornets and just a few weeks ago received orders to remain in Beaufort, but now he will fly the C12 Huron.

F18 Hornet

C12 Huron

The ceremony was a bit unconventional b/c Charlie really wanted Paige to be involved in the process and take part in the promotion. Since she is in Columbia and during the week she has classes, the only option was to hold it on the weekend. Evidently, it is usually held at the Officer's Club and the tradition is for the newly promoted to have an open bar tab! Charlie's wallet is probably thanking him that it was a bit more low key and held in his living room instead!

Paige puts on one of Charlie's Major pins

Hal, Charlie, and Pete (Lt. Colonels who performed the ceremony)

Brad, Me, Major Charlie, and Paige

We joke with Charlie and say he is going to be the ultimate uncle. Now, let it be known that I have only one sister and Brad is an only child! When Anderson is old enough, he can take him on the planes, on the airfield, and let him play with all the gear that pilots use--little boy paradise!

Again, we are very proud of Charlie! Support our Troops!

What a Whirlwind Weekend!

We were busy, busy this weekend but had a great time! I stayed out too late on Friday night--I actually think that I got home (well, to my parents house!) Saturday early morning--as the date on the camera says so??!! I tell you, I just cannot do it anymore. I know I have said this before! It seems like such a good idea at the time, but then I am exhausted for the next week. Many say this feeling actually never goes away once you have children, but that you just get used to it! We packed up and headed to Beaufort late afternoon on Friday to attend the rehearsal dinner, that was an oyster roast, for an old childhood friend of mine--Don Sanders. It was held at the Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club. That place is really a great venue to have a party of any type, but with the large deck they have out back and huge yard area there is plenty of room for oyster roasting, shucking tables, fire pits, picnic tables, etc.. with room to spare. Brad and I ate our fair share of oysters! How lucky that my pal Jodie who lives in Baltimore came to town after taking Murphy to visit her grandmother in Clemson! That, of course, calls for an after party. So after the party it was off to downtown Beaufort we went...

Me, Christie, and Jodie at WREN

Saturday morning, we had to drive back to HHI to bring Anderson back home for the babysitter, get ready, and be back in Beaufort for the 2pm wedding. Regrettably, I do not have any pictures of the wedding for the blog! It was a nice wedding and Don married such a genuine person, Ashley, who is a Presbyterian minister in the church that I grew up in!

There are other events in this weekend that deserve individual posts including Charlie's promotion ceremony on Saturday evening, Anderson is 6 months old today and I have some fun pictures to post, and a Valentine's Day gift! Check back soon :)

Anderson's Big Day!

Sunday (February 8) was Anderson's baby dedication at church! We are so blessed to have such a sweet boy and he did better than we could have ever expected! I, of course, had the normal anxiety about him crying through the whole dedication, him spitting up on his nice outfit, having a dirty diaper right before we are to stand in front of the entire congregation---things that do not matter at all in the grand scheme but I still could not help but think about. I am happy to report that none of that happened and it all went flawlessly. Unfortunately for me, I woke up early Sunday morning with a sore throat and I felt as if I had been hit by a bus. This came on so sudden and I felt just terrible. What was worse, was that I could not be 100% as much as I tried for Anderson's special time. Brad and the rest of our family made up for my shortcoming and all turned out great. My momma and daddy, my sister, and my grandmother Meme all came for the service. Brad's parents were unable to make it down due to Brad's grandmother's health. We were sad about that and they were missed. Charlie is in Alabama for training--he was missed as well!


We did not know Pastor Keller was going to have the whole family join us up front! From left to right: Daddy, Momma, Meme, Paige, Me, Brad w/ Anderson, and Pastor Keller.

Anderson w/ Pastor Keller. He took Anderson up and down the aisle allow the congregation to get a close look.

After church, we came back to our house and had BBQ from Jim and Nick's and a delicious cake from Signe's Heaven Bound Bakery!

Poor little guy was worn out! I put him down for a few minutes after we took some pictures and this is what I came back to! He did not get a morning nap and was so tired. I thought he would be cranky, but he held it together to stay up a couple of more hours to visit with everyone.

Paige came on Saturday from Columbia and babysat Anderson while Brad and I went to the American Heart Association Heart Ball at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saturday night. Thanks so much Paige! That was the last ball for us for the season and we can retire Brad's tuxedo until Paige and Charlie's wedding!

Designer Flaw.

Wedding planning has its bumps along the way--that goes without saying. However, and some of you may disagree, when your gown is the glitch it has to be one of the worst things that could go wrong. My poor sister (Paige), went for her fitting last Saturday in Savannah and she could not even get the dress on at all---it was way too small. The bridal shop was mortified and after some measuring it was determined that the bridal shop ordered the correct size and the gown designer did not make it to the measurements! WHAT! I cannot even begin to think how that happened. Did they not put it on the form to make it? Was the dressmaker drunk? Per reports, my momma had smoke blowing out of her ears--is there enough time to get another, get it altered, and have her portrait done?? Now, she is concerned for good reason as the dress comes from Spain made from the designer Pronovias (fantastic designer if I do say so myself, but since my gown was made by them I might be a bit partial!). Well, to get to the point, the dress is being rushed and sent directly from Spain instead of going through New York. I have no idea why it would go to New York, but I am sure there are good reasons. Nonetheless, it should be here in a few weeks--thankfully!

Momma picked out her MOB dress recently. Thanks to my Aunt Fran Sanders for going with her to Charleston and sealing the deal! Momma tried this dress on shortly after Christmas and kept coming back to it. This is the actual color she is going to wear..... ice blue.

This is a much better picture of the bridesmaid dress than an earlier posting that showed it in black (and we could not get it zipped up!). This is not the color we are going to be wearing--Paige picked out a sage green.

Let's hope that these dresses come made to the correct sizes!!

All Work and Some Play!

Anderson and I enjoyed our stay in Charleston and are are so grateful that my meme took such good care of him while I went to my continuing education class! There is no debating that he was spoiled to death :) I felt like the trip was over in a flash. We left HHI about 7pm Thursday night and arrived at meme and papa's house about 9pm. It was easier to leave after Anderson was bathed, fed, and in his pj's ready for bed. I think he was asleep before we got out of the neighborhood! Friday morning it was off to downtown Charleston for day one of the conference. I think almost every school-based OT was there and it was great to see some of the therapists I worked with in Charleston County Schools and others I knew from other districts and also other practice areas. Unfortunately, I would rather socialize than pay attention--but I refrained for the most part. The material was a bit dry, but it was helpful and worth the time (and money) to go. The class was from 8:30 to 4:30 and really made me remember how glad I was to not have to sit in class anymore! I have recently toyed with the idea of going the additional 2 semesters that I would need to get my PhD if MUSC ever offers the extension of the program, but if requires sitting in class I believe I will pass on that. Friday night after I put Anderson to bed, I headed back downtown to meet up with some of my girlfriends from Mt. Pleasant! We went to a bar/restaurant called Pearlz on East Bay Street---it was evidently a very happening place b/c there were a ton of people there. A few cocktails were consumed and extremely interesting conversations were had--let's just say I learned quite a few things! I tell you what, getting up the next morning for class from 8:30 to 4:30 again was quite the challenge. I was exhausted! I just can't hack it anymore! I hope I come back alive from my sister's bachelorette cruise next month!

Charlotte, Mary Catherine, Me, and Ginny

We got home about 9pm Saturday night and I was like a zombie! I did not want to unpack a thing. Lucky for me, Brad unloaded the car like the sweet husband he is! I tried to recover some sleep today--after church I napped while Anderson did.

My happy boy! This was taken a few weeks ago while at my parents house. He is sitting on Paige's lap. I did not take a single picture at meme's house. I never thought to bring the camera out of my purse. But I know all of you faithful blog readers don't really want to see pictures of me, so I included this one of him :)