I'm still here!

We've survived our first stomach virus. Hampton's diarrhea and diaper rash started off our week, and we finished it with his right leg covered in a rash from spider bites, his fever spiking again, and exorcist style vomiting. Hampton was a little trooper, but I sure do miss my perky baby. He's just been pitiful, whiny, and only wanted his mama. That last one's not a terrible problem to have, but poor Jordan felt useless (which he wasn't AT ALL!). We've paced and rocked and cuddled and swayed and paced some more, and we have finally made it! Today was a much better day. The little monkey is still a little whiny, but I can tell he's feeling better. I hope this virus is out of our house and stays far, far away!

we're having a bad week

Poor little Hampton is sick. He has a stomach virus, which is causing diarrhea. Yuck. With that, has come his first diaper rash (sent straight from the devil I am sure). Bless his heart, he is miserable. It's not keeping him from having fun playing, it's just keeping him from sitting to play. He stands there or squats and if he gets tired, he carefully falls forward onto all fours. I'm giving him pedialyte for the next 24 hours and am hoping it will work it's way out soon.

friday night entertainment

...and I wouldn't trade it for the world!! :)

the rat race known as mommyhood

WOW!! I had no idea what I was getting myself into by having a baby. I mean, I thought it was all about having a little one to love, teach right and wrong, and share our lives with. Ha! Recently, I've realized what an insane competition it is here in mommy-land:

My baby did *this* by X months!
My baby doesn't even need to use *enter whatever "baby" product your child is too good for here*!
My baby walked, crawled, ran, sat up, talked, did a somersault, you.get.the.idea. before your baby did!
My baby has slept through the night since day 1!! (P.S. I don't believe you...!)
I could go on, but do I really need to?? 9

Why are people so anxious for their babies to grow up so quickly?? Or at least quicker than the other children their age? Stop worrying so much about what everyone else is doing. Enjoy it! Your baby walks? Great! Go outside and play with him/her! Your baby doesn't walk? Great! Go outside and play with him/her!!

I love getting advice from other moms. If I have a question, moms of little ones around Hampton's age are the first I turn to, but I'm not asking to compare my child to yours. I'm asking because I need help. Encouragement. A friend to say, "You're not alone!" Not one to say, "Wait, is Hampton already *enter whatever action your child isn't doing at 10 months here*?!?!" (with a shocked look on their face). It's so funny how people give compliments and throw in a random question in order to not seem competitive, but they obviously are checking to see if your child has done something their child has yet to do. I don't get it. Who cares?

But then again...I think Hampton has done well by hitting most of his milestones around a normal time, but it's hard to not say, "Is he behind? Is he ahead? Should I be doing what she's doing? WHY is she doing that?? I would never!!" See? I'm pulled into it without even realizing it! It's craziness, and I am trying to get away from it! I don't want to compete with all these other moms! I want to enjoy raising my little monkey and not care if he didn't do something at the same time as someone else's child or if he did something much earlier. Whenever he decides to reach each milestone is the perfect time!

I'm up for a competitive sports game or some friendly competition amongst friends on game night, but I'm over this rat race. Find someone else to play!

Love me or hate me, that's what's on my mind.

picture perfect

I am so excited to finally have my hands on these!! I had such a tough time choosing which pictures to get (remember we won 10 images on a CD and 2 5x7s), and I took forever to narrow it down! I could have ordered many more b/c Amber did such a wonderful job (oh, adorable naked baby pictures--how I wanted thee :( ), but I just couldn't afford to. I can't thank Amber enough for this generous gift and the opportunity to get some pictures of my little monkey and our family. And, of course, thanks again to all of my readers who took the time to vote!

If you're in the Charlotte, NC area, and you are looking for someone to catch some great images of your kids, you and your spouse, or whoever, definitely check out Amber Herlocker Photography. She is so easy to work with, does a FAB job, and is such a sweetie! Thanks again, Amber! Hope to see you again, soon :)

Beach vacation: part 1!

We had a wonderful time at the beach last week. We spent the week in Isle of Palms, SC, with my parents, brother, sister & her boyfriend, and my grandparents were even able to make it for a couple of nights. This was our first time there, and I really loved it. We weren't right on the beach (which we usually are in Hilton Head), but my dad got a house that was a four minute walk from the beach, so it wasn't bad at all. We spent time down at the beach every day. I was so hoping that Hampton would love the beach, and he absolutely did! I mean, from the second we put him down, he flew to the water. He crawled around, splashed, & went face first into waves. Seriously, he must have been a fish in a former life! ;) He also loved the sand. He loved to eat it. He loved to fling himself into it (face and all!). And he loved to smash Jordan's sand castle. Most of all, though, he love love loved...the umbrella pole. Yeah, it was captivating. HA! Jordan and I talked a lot before the trip how we would go about our day: Would we go out and let the monkey nap on the beach? Would we go out and then come back in for nap time, then go out again? Should we do one day at the beach and the next at the pool? Etc, etc, etc... You know, really important stuff! It worked out that we stayed up at the house until after his morning nap, fed him lunch, and then headed down to the beach. Once we could tell he was exhausted from playing, someone would put him in his stroller, and take a walk. Usually he was out within minutes, got parked in the shade, and mommy got some QT in the sun. And we didn't go to the pool even one day! SO not like us, but we were having such a great time! (and Jordan and I both got in the ocean, which we don't do. Ever. This whole parenting thing really has changed us-hehe!)

Mom has many more pictures on her camera, so when I get my hands on those, I'll post about our oh-so-fun family pictures (decked out in khaki and white, no less!) and some crazy happenings while we were away! Oh, and the adventure that is packing a car for a week long trip with a baby (& all the crap that he needed)!

csn stores 2nd chance giveaway winner!!

Congrats to...
#11: Jen J. said... I'm a follower!

Jen, thanks for following!:) You have 48 hours to claim your prize! Shoot me an email at toinfertilityandbeyond@gmail.com to get your $40 CSN stores gift certificate! Thanks to everyone who entered and to CSN stores for this great giveaway!