Burt's Pumpkin Farm

We made our way north to Burt's Pumpkin Farm in Dawsonville for our second annual pumpkin picking adventure as a family. It was colder than I would have liked, but it was a beautiful fall day. The pumpkin patch was packed, and I think next year I might ask Nick to take a day off so that we can go pumpkin picking without hundreds of other people.

Charlie LOVED running through the rows and rows of pumpkins. You will notice that he is not looking at me in any of the pictures. That is because he was constantly looking around at all of the pumpkins and deciding where he wanted to explore next. His favorites were the huge pumpkins and the small ones that he could pick up. He liked running in between the big pumpkins and even gave them hugs. The small ones provided loads of entertainment as he tried to collect them and take them with him.

We also took a hayride through the mountains while we were there. Charlie loved standing up to look over the edge of the wagon and seemed to really take in his surroundings. He was very quiet during the hay ride as he looked around at the pumpkin patch, trees, creek, and autumn displays. It was a nice way to wrap up our trip.

After our hayride, we bought a few pumpkins, some yummy treats to share on the car ride home, and Burt's Pumpkin Bread Mix for another baking adventure. Then we packed up and headed home. It was a great way to end the weekend - spending time with my boys!

There's a Baby in Your Belly

I fully realize that Charlie is only 19 months old, and he really does not understand that he is about to be a big brother in less than four months. But, we are trying to prepare him for the transition by talking about babies and teaching him how to take care of them. Lucky for us, we have a lot of friends who have recently had babies, so Charlie has been around many newborns in the past few months. There are two newbies in playgroup that he often sees every week.


I hold the babies every chance I get so that he can get used to seeing me with a little bundle. So far, so good. He has never shown any signs of jealously when I am holding a baby. He is just very curious about them. He LOVES to touch their heads, and really I can't blame him. What smells sweeter and feels softer than a newborn's head? He is also eager to help. He finds their bottles and pacifiers and tries to give them to the babies. We have taught him to say "shhh" when the baby is sleeping and are working very hard to show him how to be gentle with his toys and the poor dog.


In addition to being around babies, I have started to tell Charlie that there is a baby in my belly. The other day I was telling him about all of the fun things that he will do with his baby brother, and I mentioned that he will give the baby kisses. Before I knew it Charlie was leaning down to kiss my belly. I know that this must be a confusing concept for him because many times during the day he will pull my shirt up or peek down into the collar of my shirt looking for the mystery baby that I keep talking about. I just can't wait to see his reaction when the baby in my belly is finally here!

XOXO

Charlie has turned into a little hug-a-bunch these days. He will come up out of nowhere and hug me. He usually rests his head on my back or gives me a big squeeze around the neck. I am crying as I type this because it just means so much to know that he understands what it feels like to love someone and want to show them affection. Sure, he will kiss Elmo and hug a teddy bear if I ask him to, but that does not mean he understands the feelings behind those gestures. To get a hug out of the blue from Charlie is like the best thing that I could have ever imagined. He may throw his food, pull my hair, and test my patience a hundred times a day, but he loves me. As cliche as it might be, that little hug really does make up for the tough times.

The 2-Day Breast Cancer Walk

As you know, I participated in the Atlanta 2-Day Breast Cancer Walk recently. I was so excited to be a part of this wonderful cause, and I am proud to say that I was able to raise $1,600 thanks to the generosity of my friends and family. I am sad to say, however, that there was an unfortunate turn of events right before the walk took place.


The founder of the walk, Randi Passoff, was asked to leave the organization by a handful of the board members. This occurred less than a month before the walk was to take place. All of the walkers received an e-mail from Randi telling us that she had been asked to leave, and a few days later an e-mail from the board of directors telling us about Randi's departure but providing no further details. Needless to say, this created a lot of confusion amongst the walkers, crew, and numerous vendors who were only weeks away from participating in the walk. The board knew people would be very upset about the sudden turn of events so they asked Randi if she would stay on to be the face of the walk but not actually have a part in the organization. Randi declined their offer.


Randi's daughter, Stephanie, has been a close friend since high school. So, I know Randi personally. I was so disheartened to learn that she had been asked to leave an organization that she started from the ground up. Randi is a two time breast cancer survivor and one of the most determined, positive, and inspirational people I have met. She turned her struggle with cancer into hope for others and has helped raise well over $6 million for research, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer in the local community. All of the money raised this year will still go towards the same efforts, but the organization itself will surely suffer because of the decision to ask Randi to leave.


According to my friends, who have participated in the walk before, the mood was very different this year. It did not seem as organized, and we were certainly sad to be there without Randi. You could tell we were not alone. One group of walkers carried a sign that read TEAM RANDI, and one of the vans that drove around checking on walkers had her name posted on the back.


I know that most of you read this blog to hear about Charlie, but if you have a minute, find out a little bit more about Randi Passoff and what she has done for our community. I promise you will hear her name again. She has assured me that she already has plans for another non-profit that will benefit the local community.

Blank Canvas

Our guest room furniture found a new home the other weekend. We gave it to our friends, Paul and Abby, who drove from SC to pick it up. I now have a blank canvas for Baby Boy Shaw's nursery. Unfortunately, the bedding that I want is on back order until 11/29, so the room will not be done as soon as I had hoped. We can't paint until the bedding comes in so that we can make sure they match. But, we are going to go ahead and order the crib and dresser in the coming weeks. It should only take a couple of weeks to get the furniture, so we are on our way to decorating a new nursery.

In the meantime, here are pictures of the bedding and the furniture we will be ordering as well as the empty nursery waiting to be decorated. The bedding is just a multi-color stripe, so I am going to decorate the room in a transportation theme. A former co-worker from Big Creek painted the artwork in Charlie's room, and I am so excited to ask her for her help with this nursery too. She does exquisite work and is VERY reasonable. If you ever need custom art work, please e-mail me for her information.

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

I love to cook, but I hate to bake. I think it is like having a green thumb - either you have it, or you don't. When I bake, it is bound to be a disaster. I either severely under or over bake. But, I have been wanting to bake with Charlie for some reason lately. He loves helping with everything, and I knew he would get a kick out of pouring the ingredients and helping me mix. So, I decided to make some banana nut muffins with the Little Guy the other day.

I set everything up like a cooking show. All of the ingredients were measured and ready to go, the oven was preheated, and I had everything that I needed out so that Charlie and I could get right down to business. It was very Rachel Ray.

His little face lit up as soon as I lifted him onto the counter. I let him pour everything in the mixing bowl resisting the urge to help. We both got spoons to mix, and he even allowed my help at that point. He continued mixing while I spooned the batter into the muffin tins. He was so pleased with himself, and he looked so big pouring and mixing. I am so proud of my little man!

We watched the muffins rise in the oven, and then it was time to taste test. He has recently become very concerned with whether or not his food is too hot to eat. He often hands me a piece of food to blow on it or tries to blow on it himself, which usually results in the food being blow half-way across the kitchen. So, he was a little hesitant at first, but then he dove right in. He couldn't finish the entire muffin (Samson got to help since the unwanted muffin hit the floor), but he sure did look cute chowing down.

No Name Shaw

This is how I lovingly refer to the baby. Nick and I have hit a baby naming wall, and we have not really talked about any new names in the last couple of weeks. I think we are both just burned out. The next step might involve picking a name out of a hat at this point. It would be easier than trying to come up with a name that we both like.



As always, I will keep you posted if we do stumble upon a name worthy of Baby Boy Shaw.

24 Week Baby Update

Last Thursday marked 24 weeks. I had a doctor's appointment and all looked well with the baby. His heartbeat is in the 150's and he is measuring about two weeks ahead of schedule. Not sure what that means, but if it means I get to be done two weeks earlier, that is fine by me.

I, on the other hand, feel like I am falling apart. The pressure and pain in my hips and pelvis are really beginning to affect my day to day life. If I stand or sit for too long in the same position, I am in terrible pain. Nights are the worst because it hurts to lay on my side, but I am not supposed to sleep on my back. I try to fall asleep on my side but always seem to wake up on my back. In an effort to elevate my head while laying on my back last night, I fell asleep in a nest of 6 pillows. In addition to my aches and pains, I have developed some other strange symptoms. The palms of my hands and soles of my feet become VERY itchy at night. My hands actually started to bleed this weekend from scratching. Lastly, I have a lovely red rash all over my abdomen. I ran through my long list of aches and pains and other strange symptoms and was assured that it is all normal for a second pregnancy. My OB gave me a prescription for maternity support hose (no thanks) and told me to drink 8 oz of water each hour that I was awake (no thanks again). I mean, seriously??? If I drank that much water, I would either have to move into the bathroom or start wearing Depends.

-Side note-

When I was teaching, I always had children coming up to me with complaints of headache, sore throat, stomach issues, etc. To see if they were really sick, I always encouraged them to drink some water and wait a while to see if it made them feel better. 9 times out of 10 the water magically healed whatever seemed to be ailing my students. My recent visit to the OB made me wonder if they are pushing water to see if it magically cures me too.

I also found out that I put on another 5 pounds since my last visit. This had me fighting back tears as the toothpick of a nurse recorded my weight in the computer. I have put on 15 pounds total so far, which is average. But, I only gained 20 with Charlie, so it is depressing to realize that I am probably going to gain more than that this time around. Let's face it, the baby is only about a pound now, so that means I have to put on at least another 6 pounds of just baby. That puts me right over 20 pounds!

We're Back!

Yes, I know it has been a very long time since the last post. Life has been busy, Nick has been traveling a lot, and the computer has been S-L-O-W for some reason. So, that has meant no blogging or checking other friends' blogs for the past couple of weeks. Nick is back out of town tonight, the house is decently clean, and the laundry is done. So, I am going to spend a little time getting the blog back on track. Enjoy!

18 Month Well Check-Up

We visited the pediatrician the other day for Charlie's 18 month well check. I had a list of questions a mile long. I asked about discipline, eating, language development, and much more. According to Dr. Douglass, Charlie is right on track and sounds like a very normal toddler. It was such a relief to hear that she was not worried about any of my concerns. She is a mother of three young children (her youngest is only a few months older than Charlie), so I figure she knows what is normal for a toddler. Not only was I relieved to hear that he is meeting all of his developmental milestones, but I was shocked to find out that he made some big jumps on the growth chart in both height and weight. Our practice does not give exact percentiles. Instead, they give you a range that your child falls into. The nurse told me that Charlie was at the top of the range for height, which makes this shrimpy mommy very happy. I am always worried that I have passed my short genes on to Charlie. Finding out his weight was equally as shocking. Considering most of his food ends up on the floor, I was half expecting his weight to have dropped. Anyway, here are the stats for our growing boy:

Charlie at 18 Months

Weight - 26.5 lbs (50-75th percentile)

Height - 33 and 1/8 inches (50-75th percentile)

Head Circumference - 50 cm (95th percentile)