Help

One of William's new foods is pumkin. He seems to enjoy it pretty well but occasionally it comes back up. So now we have pumpkin stains on several items including MY clothes, which is where I am drawing the line. I am going to forbid my son to eat anymore of this very nutritious fruit unless I can figure out something to get it out. I have soaked the items a couple times in Oxiclean but it doesn't seem to be helping. So if you know of anything that could possibly help, please pass along the info.

High Chair

I am pretty excited to announce Will's high chair arrival. Funny the things I get excited about these days, but this is definitely one of them.

I picked this chair out and had it on one of my registries. Billye and Haley actually got it for us via gift card given back in October. Since we didn't need it right away, I hung on to the card and waited for the day when I could start experimenting on William's palate. I ordered it Monday and it came on Wednesday. Patrick put it together in no time and I absolutely love it! Patrick thinks it's a little girly, but whatever...okay, okay. I know it has little green bows on it, but I really like it, and hey, at least they are green...

I wanted a wooden high chair that was very simple and easy to clean. The plastic ones seem to take a real beating, and I didn't want any places where food could and would become hidden. The pad removes very easily and is machine washable as well as the tray. It doesn't take up too much space either and is easy to move.

My mom had a wooden high chair that all of her 6 children used. That's what got me thinkin' about finding a wooden one. On the card Billye wrote that the gift card was for the high chair and that she hoped it would feed all of my babies--me too.

Anyway, Will has since had a few taste testings in this baby, and at the moment it still looks new. He hasn't quite started to "experience" his food- meaning it's not running down the legs of the chair and all over the floor and wall just yet.

Today we tried Avocados. Will liked them pretty well, and what he didn't eat I finished because I LOVE them!

Yard Work

While Patrick's been off from school, I've been keeping him busy working on his "honey do" list. We worked in the yard quite a bit last week. Olivia came over to help. Tuesday, Patrick trimmed some trees with the chainsaw and Olivia and I supervised. When he would step back, Liv and I would grab the branches and pull them away.

Olivia usually grabbed smaller ones, but when she came to this one and pulled on it without any luck she said, "I think I need a little some help please." She is pretty handy to have around.

Liv also brought me a flower for Mother's Day. She picked it out herself. I hear it was her most favorite of all the flowers she saw. For those who don't know what a Tobacco plant looks like(I didn't either)--this is it.

So now we have a tobacco plant soakin' up some sun on our deck. Olivia planted it herself. She informed me that I must water it or it would die. If I didn't think it was so funny I probably would let it die, but it makes me smile every time I see it. By the way, apparently 'Tobacco' means 'Thank You' in Spanish. I did not know this either, but Olivia is just a wealth of information.

I'm also attempting a garden this year. Scary, huh? You betcha! Joe came and plowed up a place for me in our back yard. Then last Wednesday he came to show me what to do next (Mom and Liv came too). We planted corn, tomatoes, lima beans, okra, watermelon, and a few herbs. So hopefully some of it will survive and be tasty. We'll see...

These were taken on the day we planted the garden.

Olivia is "helping" Will with his hat. You have to keep your eye on this one.

Progress

Ok, I have been wanting to update for a while, but we've been busy! I kept thinking I would have time but Julee is a master at keeping us busy! So now we are home and I have finally found a few minutes to give an update. It's actually pretty amazing what all we were able to get done during our stay. Julee's house is clean. Her laundry is caught up as well as Ceseley's. Her shopping is done(for the moment). Her flowers are planted. Lawn is mowed and seeded. Garbage disposal repaired. A laundry basket is stained. Ceseley's furniture is finally up and her clothes put away and all of her baby bedding in it's final resting place. And thanks to Mom, a few meals in the freezer. WHEW! My Grandpa Miller used to tell my Grandma that she could keep 40 strong men working around the clock. I'm pretty sure Dan believes the apple does not fall far from the tree. Julee gave us several list of what needed to be taken care of and I'm happy that we were able to help. It was fun, busy, and exciting stay, and we were sad to leave.

Now for Ceseley's report. Ceseley is doing better! She has been moved to the "intermediate" part of the NICU. She is still having some trouble regulating her body temperature and that affects her eating. She has been able to nurse and is doing really well with that. So now they are just waiting for her to keep that temperature regulated and hopefully she will be able to go home soon.

On Saturday night, me, Mom, and Will went down to see her. Mom went in first and helped feed Ceseley via holding her feeding tube up so it could drain properly while Julee held her. I went in after while she rested under the lights with her "shades" on. She looked much better I thought. She looked healthier and very dainty. Mom and Julee said that when the nurse mentioned feeding her, Ceseley stuck out her pinkie finger. What a little lady!

Julee sent some pictures that she has taken over the past week this morning. I thought I would post a few...