Cereal

Case tried out rice cereal for the first time last week. Needless to say he was less than enthused with the introduction of additional foods. He wasn’t excited but we had fun watching his face change with every spoonful.

Open Wide! What's going on? I don't understand what's happening.



OMG, What is this junk? I don't know what to think.


Okay, I'm done. Someone stop them....please.

Only in Oklahoma

Only in Oklahoma do they shut down bridge overpasses to clear off the tumbleweeds with a snow plow. I saw it with my own eyes.

Liquor and Condoms

We went to the doctor today and Case weighed 11.5 lbs. The doctor said one reason Case might be waking up more frequently at night is because he could be teething! Teething, oh my! Then he told me to start giving Case a couple spoonfuls of rice cereal a day. Cereal?! He is just a baby! Teething and cereal. What’s next liquor and condoms? Sigh. I’m not ready for him to grow up.

My New Secret Obsession

Okay folks I am going to tell you a secret. I have a new obsession. It’s kind of sick, but I just can’t seem to help myself. I am obsessed with things that come out of my son’s body. Mainly earwax and boogers. For example, I check his ears every day while he is nursing so imagine my surprise when one day I found a ball of ear wax the size of a Roly Poly! It wasn’t in there the day before, but there it was, blocking his whole ear hole. I am pretty sure his hearing will be delayed because of the massive obstruction. And don’t get me started on the boogers! Sweet Jesus some of these boogers must reach all the way back into his frontal lobe they are so long and big. Just this morning he had what I thought was a small little ‘hanger’ dangling down in front, but when I started using the nose sucker I realized we were not dealing with anything small. The extraction practically turned into a surgery and I think the final product was at least an inch and a half long. I was gagging and mesmerized all at the same time. So now every morning and every night I am relentlessly probing my son’s nasal cavity and ear holes with q-tips and a sucker thingy wondering with trepidation and anticipation what I might find next. Gross, I know, but I can’t seem to help myself.

New Bag of Tricks

Case is getting to be a big boy and learning new things every day. He is sucking on his hands and has learned to pout. Pouting has to be a ‘nature’ thing because I am relatively certain that neither Cody nor I stick out our bottom lips when we don’t get our way. I never like to see him cry, but when he makes his pouty face I can’t help but laugh. Here are some pics of his new bag of tricks.

I can bring my hands together and suck on them. I love hands. Believe me if I could cram both hands in my mouth at the same time I would. Fingers….yum.


Look at me, sitting in a chair like a big boy.


Mom just thinks I’m just so darn cute she had to throw this one in for fun!

I tried to get a pic of him in full pout, but couldn't catch it in all its glory. However this is a close second for most adorable pout ever.

Hectic but Fun

We managed to make it to Oklahoma for the holidays and back to Colorado without any major incidents (aside from getting pulled over 3 times!). We drove at night to reduce the car seat trauma which helped Case because he ended up sleeping most of the drive both ways. Of course Cody and I are still suffering from sleep deprivation but we will eventually recover. When we got to Oklahoma grandma had Cases room all put together with a crib, stuffed animals, rattle, changing pad, wipes, powder, rocking chair etc, so his environment was as close to home as possible. Aren’t grandmas great?

The visit was hectic but fun. With so much driving, activity and people to see our little man was all turned around. Poor guy didn’t nap for 2 days straight and therefore wasn’t in the best of moods. That means our little circus monkey didn’t perform as well as expected. We had more cries, pouts and fusses than giggles, coos and smiles, so the last couple days we just stayed at grandma’s house, worked on getting back on schedule and had all visitors come to us. We missed seeing a couple key people who couldn’t make it to the city which was regretful, but hopefully we can catch everyone at Christmas.

Here are a few pics from our cross country trek. Hanging out with both sets of great grandparents.

Proud Uncle Jason and Case. Of course my camera went kaput after one pic over at Cody's familys house, so I will have to include some pics from Cody's side after our Christmas visit.

The house divided. The OU vs OSU game was another stressful part of the visit. I sat between my husband in orange and my dad in maroon. I just wanted to keep the peace! Fortunately everyone was a good sport about the game and we left on speaking terms. Case was also trying to be a pleaser so he wore orange the first half and red the second. He was covered no matter which way the game went.

Cases Nana made him the little go pokes burp cloth. It doubles as a baby blanket and he loves to have with him at all times.

Nightmare

Case had a baby nightmare last night and it was so sad to see. He was upstairs sleeping and all of the sudden he started screaming like he was hurt. I flew up the stairs and he was in his crib eyes shut screaming his little head off. He wouldn’t stop even when I picked him up. I tried to wake him up and that helped a bit, but he was still clearly upset. So I went to the rocking chair in an effort to settle his little nerves, but even while nursing Case would drift off and start to pucker up his little lips and cry out. It broke my heart! Finally after about an hour of comforting, he finally settled into a peaceful sleep and woke up this morning with a smile on his face. Thank goodness! So my question is, what do little babies have nightmares about?

Just can't wait

Not much going on in Colorado. We are getting ready for the big trek home for the holidays. Just thinking of all the stuff we are going to have to bring is making my head spin! Case is going to be busy meeting family and friends for the first time back home in Oklahoma. We are looking forward to seeing everyone. For those of you who just can’t wait a week to see him here are a few new pics.

Lover not a fighter

Case is sooo over his pacifier! Now the only thing that will sooth him is to suck on a soft piece of fabric such as his little doggie blanket. He loves his doggie blanket and we take it everywhere. The other day Cody commented on how Case fell asleep ‘kissing his doggie.’ Just thinking about him 'kissing' this little stuffed doggie blanket makes me giggle so I took a picture of this intimate moment for all to see. Watch out little baby girls, I may have a lover on my hands!

Halloween fun

Isn't that the cutest little Dalmatian you have ever seen?

Cody and I carve pumpkins ever year. Check out our 2008 Halloween masterpieces. The first pumpkin is a haunted house with scary moon and bats and the second one is of howling Halloween wolves.

I think Cody and I enjoyed Halloween just a little bit more than Case this year. Even mom and dad got into the Halloween fun with costumes.

Hopefully when Case gets a little bit older he will like to dress up more. Until then here are some of his best screaming pics.

Starting to Smile

Case is starting to smile. Now we spend part of the morning and afternoon looking at things, getting tickled, cooing and smiling. I love it. Nuff said.....

Time Moves Fast

As some of the “what the heck am I doing with this baby” nerves have begun to ease up a bit I am faced with a new form of nerves. In the beginning when people said, “isn’t being a mother the greatest thing in the world?” I would look at them and say, “You obviously have a child who sleeps through the night.” Well now that I am getting at least 4 consecutive hours of sleep a night a new feeling is taking over my previous sleep deprived state. Suddenly time is moving just too fast. Don’t get me wrong, when the Case has been up for 13 hours straight, times seems to move really slow, but in the grand scheme of things time moving too fast. I’ve had a pretty amazing life up until now, but nothing compares to holding your baby in your arms as he sleep. He is just so beautiful and words can’t describe the feeling. There aren’t enough hours in the day to hold him or enough pictures in the world that would do his serenity justice. I know our time will just get more and more amazing, but it’s hard to imagine him getting bigger and not being able to hold him like I can now. I dread moving him into his own room. And I don’t even want to think about the day he eats on his own and doesn’t need dear old mom anymore for breakfast. I want him to stay just like he is forever! Geez, if letting go after 2 months is this hard, I’m afraid my boy is never going off to college.

New Pictures

Here a a couple new pictures of my little cutie.

This is my best lion impersonation


I'm already a deep thinker. What should I ponder today....


What? Haven't you ever had a bad hair day?


Working the binkie.


I don't know what face this is, but he makes it all the time. We call it his hoo face because it looks like he is making an owl noise.

Kids Care Center Nightmare

My jeans have motivated me to hit the gym because for some strange reason all my clothes fit differently since the baby was born. So my first day back with my trainer, I went to drop Case off at the Kids Care center at the gym. Seeing as how I have never had kids before, I never paid a lot of attention to the Kids Center. However, this is a small, small gym. I could probably hear Case cry if I listened close enough so I thought I would feel okay leaving him 100 feet away with someone else for 45 minutes. That is until I walked in the center. My jaw dropped as I saw one woman surrounded by at least 15 toddlers and 2 other babies. Picture this…children darting all over the place. A group of slobbery tots surrounding 2 other babies sitting in car seats lined up against the wall. Some of the toddlers were rocking the car seats back and forth wildly, others patting the babies hands and heads and one generous tike dropped a nasty no telling where its been beany baby in the lap of a wide eyed baby. In my head I’m thinking , you’ve got to be shi*#ing me! For those of you with toddlers I mean no offence. I am sure your pint sized people are perfect precious angles, but these were stranger children and I have no idea where they have been. Needless to say I know why people don’t want to leave their children in child care and I will only be using the Kids Center as a last resort for now.

The same day as our gym outing we went to the pediatrician. Case is now 21 inches long and weighs 8lbs! I almost cried. He’s practically out of his newborn clothes and getting so big. I know, I know, 8 lbs is not necessarily big for a baby, in fact most newborns are bigger than he is at 6 weeks, but I like him in itty bitty baby form. The doctor also gave him his first shot. It was heartbreaking. His little face turned beet red, he screamed a high pitched glass breaking squeal, and giant tear drops fell from his little eyes. Poor baby! However, we survived both adventures and are looking forward to daddy’s return from his first week of travel to spend a non-eventful weekend together.

Toe Jam

My stinky little Case had toe jam! I was lotioning up my little man the other day and discovered baby toe jam in between his little toes! It was the funniest thing I have seen in a while. Maybe I need to get out more, but just the idea of something so small having toe jam was hilarious to me.


On another note, we recently discovered Case has apparently been stealing from the family. How can a baby steal from someone you might ask, let me tell you. First of all he has stolen our love, hugs and kisses all the time, but last week he took his thieving one step further when he stole his fathers credit cards and ordered flowers for me. Needless to say, I didn’t mind him stealing from his pa if he was going to buy me presents.


Here are a few pics depicting the whole crime. I though my little man was just catching some zzz's but really he was plotting the whole event.


Dad and Case are discussing how to pull one over on mom.


How pretty. The sweet gesture and surprise almost make up for all the sleepless nights.


Case even sent a card.

Surviving Colic!

Colic. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the word, colic is when a baby cries for at least 3 hours straight without being consoled for no apparent reason at least 3 days a week for at least 3 weeks. Colic is hell and Case has it. He gets, as we loving refer to as, “fussy” at least 3 days a week. His fits start around 8 pm and last until around 1-2 am. Believe me there is nothing worse than listening to a baby cry for hours on end despite your best efforts to sooth. Its mentally hard and hard on your heart because no one wants to see someone you love cry for hours on end. Its even worse when the parents have differing perspectives on how to handle colic. A) Try to sooth and comfort or B) let them cry it out. I’ll let you figure out who practices which preference.

We rock, sway, swaddle, unswaddle, pat, rub, lay him on our chests, hold him up, down, sideways, put him in his swing, bouncy chair, snuggle pack, car seat, feed, burp, change, read, sing talk, and even sometimes ignore but nothing keeps the crying away for more than a few minutes at a time. Needless to say these crying fits are beyond a mere challenge to our mental health and marriage so any tips or tricks on how to survive, handle, or cope with a colicky baby are greatly appreciated. If anyone needs me, give me a call. I'm up 24 hours a day.

First family photos

Here is our attempt at a family photo. Case was quite fussy that day and didn't want to "hold that pose" but we managed to get a shot or two.

Week of firsts

Well Case has been around for almost 2 weeks and he has had a lot of firsts: first bath, stroller walk, car ride, professional photographs taken, he has peed on the wall, projectile barfed on mom, and had an explosive poopy diaper that went all the way up his back (dad got to handle that situation because mom was at the grocery store-He-He-He). Here is what we know. He likes his swing but doesn’t like his bouncy chair. He can’t lay down flat on his back after eating or else he gets sick. He is a little angel during the day and a little devil at night. He likes sleeping on peoples chests and makes adorable faces (some resembling Yoda).

Things are going good at home. I’m amazed at how the smallest task may end up taking two days to complete! I don’t know what I would have done without the help of my mom and family that first week and a half. Having family around was defiantly a help especially since Case came early. I had a huge check list of things to get completed before his arrival. Things like: having the house and carpets cleaned, nails filled, hair cut, yard mowed, car washed, car seat installed, groceries purchased, etc… Needless to say nothing was accomplished when Case came but amazingly everything got done. For now we are just enjoying holding him, kissing him, and just looking at his sweet little face.

Case Gary Gray

Here are a few pic of the most adorable baby boy in the entire world. I wish everyone could see what I see when I hold him in my arms. He's the most amazing thing in the entire world. My heart swells with love.

My first photo





Pa and me



My what big eyes I have



I bit the doctor...twice



Our first family photo


Snug as a bug in a rug


My first bath....ain't I a cutie


I surrender!

Underwater pic

Here's the last underwater pic of our baby boy. The picture is a close up of Case's face. Even though the picture is black and white and grainy, I can already tell he looks exactly like his pa. What a handsome devil!

Possible name change

Cody has recommended a name change for the baby, Justin Case. I’m open to your feedback. Wadda ya think? He-he-he. Maybe we’ll keep the name Case Gary for now.

3 weeks left

We are counting down. 3 weeks left. Here is the most recent pic.

Leave a Comment

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1 More Month and Counting Down

Okay folks, we are counting down 1 month until Cases grand unveiling, but in the mean time, being pregnant isn’t cute anymore.

First of all, there is no more room. I’m busting at the scenes. My pregnant belly is no longer round perky, but grotesquely deformed. The belly has morphed into a multiple lumps and protruding bumps. One lump is for Cases rump, another bump for arms and legs, and a final bulge for his body.

Second, I have officially gotten cankels. It doesn’t matter if I am standing or sitting, by the end of the day if I haven’t propped up my feet every 3-4 hours I am sporting Sherek hooves. I don’t know how people take pictures this late in the game, because there is no way I could possibly produce a flattering pose. Everything is too swollen and disproportioned.

Third, as if swelling wasn’t enough, I’m sore. It feels like people have been whipping the palms of my hands and souls of my feet. Plus my body is preparing for birth so things are spreading, stretching, and hurting. Believe me, no one ever wants to associate themselves with the word spreading. Sigh.

Fourth, it is hot. It’s been in the upper 90’s all week long and I am about to die from heat stroke (no AC sucks). Cody came home the other day only to find me sprawled out on the couch, legs propped up in the air, laying in my skivvies, fan blowing full blast inches away. Believe me folks, if I could have physically dragged the refrigerator over to the couch to prop open the door and catch some coolness, I would have done it. Needless to say Cody found the whole scene funny. I did not. Never laugh at a pregnant woman’s ailments.

Finally, my emotions are in overdrive. Overall the entire pregnancy has been relatively normal. I admit, I have had a couple freak-outs, but life changing, world altering experiences will do that to a person. This month is different. I’m emotional for no reason and don’t see an end to the periodic tears until this until the baby is born.

Of course I don’t need to mention the heartburn, sleepless nights, constantly peeing, not being able to eat or the overall physical discomfort. That’s just part of the package deal. However, with all that said, being pregnant isn’t cute anymore. I am ready to carry my bundle of joy in my arms instead of in my belly and move on to the next phase of life. One more month and counting down!

Case’s room

Case’s room is finally finished. My parents came up for the weekend of the 4th and helped move the office into the basement and bring baby furniture upstairs. The bulk of the work was done that weekend, but Cody and I put the finishing touches on the room today. We hung curtains, pictures, and put the rocking chair in. It feels so good to have the room completed. I find myself walking by just to sneak a peak. I may be biased, but I think it is a picture perfect room for a little baby boy. Only one thing could make the room any more perfect than it already is, the day we bring baby Case home.

Double rainbow

Ever seen a double full rainbow? We got to see one over the 4th of July weekend. Pictures don’t do the rainbow justice, but we tried to capture its beauty anyway. Nubbs the bunny was also outside enjoying the view. Nubbs is our earless rabbit who eats our weeds in the evenings. Isn’t she a cutie.