Tommy has 2 teeth now btw

Just wanted to make sure I document that

Tom and Shawn went on a road trip

So,  once again I'm in Columbus while family goes elsewhere.   Tom and Shawn went to Bowling Green, Kentucky to the annual Buick meet.   This year is the 100th or something.   Obviously, Little Tommy and I didn't go because the racetrack and such wouldn't work out for us so we decided I would stay home.   I made plans with Erica and had a great day with her.   Then i had MCL with mamaw.  It was after that it was weird to come home to a dark empty house.   Tommy though is the sweetest baby ever even though he's fighting a small cold right now.   On the plus side other than waking up a few times wondering where Tom was the baby and I slept fine.   Today we didn't do much but did visit Tom's family at Worley terrace.   Now we're home and waiting on Tom and Shawn to get here.   I pray for safe travels as they make it back to us.   Last I checked they were 3 hours away in Louisville.   Thanks to my mamaw and my awesome friend Erica these few days haven't been terrible.   Having my baby boy with me always makes things better, too.  That's all for now.

Diaper rant

Tommy was having a problem for a while of peeing through his diapers overnight.  He sleeps from 8 to 6 sometimes so I wanted to make him more comfortable.  I wasn't worried about the mattress because it's waterproof.  I tried a few different brands but he was too small to wear most of the actual overnight diapers.  I talked to my friend Emily who advised me to get the Pampers Baby Dry diapers.  Her reasoning was that the characters were wearing pajamas so therefore they're for night time.  LOL.  Well, needless to say we haven't had a problem since so thank you, Emily!

When Tommy doesn't like a kind of food he gags

I was trying bananas for the first time and he started gagging.  I thought hmm, that's weird and I looked at the ingredients.  It was bananas and lemon juice.  I thought hmm why lemon juice.  I figured ok I'll try bananas without the lemon juice added and sure enough he loved them.  No more baby food for us with added lemon juice.

Tommy's first photo shoot went well. Here is the proof

Tommy got his first tooth

I was checking his gums and he bit down and sure enough a tooth is through the gums.   Just wanted to document this so i wouldn't forget when it happened.   Well,  off to bed.

So appreciative of my aunt and my grandma

When I was a really young girl I didn't know who my dad was or my dad's family.  Luckily around the age of 7, my cousin told me who my dad was.  I actually knew of him because he hung out at my aunt Ann's house.  I later found out that she was my great grandmother, not my aunt but that's another story altogether.  It wasn't long after my dad found out I knew who he was that we started hanging out all the time.  We went to races, worked on cars, and took little road trips.  I really loved hanging out with him even though he was sick a lot and we worked on cars and talked to his friends a lot.  He was very fun to be around.  I really loved it when we would go to Rocky and Bridget's house in Circleville, go swimming, and go to my dad's family's house.  My grandma Kathie and aunt Stephanie were exceptionally funny.  My dad introduced me to one of his friends I frequently talked to and we started dating.  In 2005, we were married and my dad stood up with him as his best man.  All three of us continued to hang out and my dad actually lived with us for a time.  Dad passed away May 29, 2014 from complications like pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and lots of other illnesses.  Shortly after we buried my dad, I found out that I was pregnant for the 4th time (see other post about my pregnancy).  I was starting to worry about child care and my grandma said that she wanted to watch him.  This made me so happy because I want him to grow up around her and my aunt Steph.  They frequently watch him now and he gets to see his little cousins as well.  I'm so appreciative and hope he gets to stay with them for a long time.  I love them so much and hope we are closer than ever now that dad is gone.  They are a true blessing because I don't have to worry about him.  i know he's just fine and being spoiled over there.

Today Tom's mom turns 73 wish I didn't have to work all day

I am really happy that Tom's mom has made it to her 73rd birthday. It was scary there for a while with all of her health issues. She had 2 strokes that we know of in early 2014. We really were wondering how things were going to go and if mom could continue living on her own. As it turned out Nona, mom's best friend from Schottensteins was able to come and stay with her. She stayed with her night and day and only went home on the weekends. I don't know what we would have done if it wasn't for her being there for her while we worked. After a while Nona was dealing with things at home and told us that she would have to go back home. Mom would have to live on her own again but was she capable? She was one of the very lucky few who had God on her side because her strokes weren't bad enough to impair her too much. She did have a pretty severe case of Aphasia which was from the damage the stroke caused in the part of her brain where language is affected. She was very frustrated and seemed to get out of breath a lot after she came home. She has since started crocheting again and is one of Little Tommy's favorite people. He loves her so much and has really given her a whole new reason to live. This is just an opinion but it comes from my heart. I just saw this today 8/24 and realized I didn't publish it. Oops, but it worked out because now I can update with how her birthday went. We took her a gift and pizza after work and all hung out together. She was very happy. I love my mother in law a lot.

Tracking Shawn and Chris on their road trip

So, Shawn and Chris are going on a road trip to pick up Rosemary from badger camp in Wisconsin. They are on the road now and I've decided to track where they are. Here are the check ins I've seen so far: 1/ I-70 west at the Indiana state line 2/ Indianapolis, Indiana 3/ Montmorenci, Indiana (210 miles away!) (11 am) 4/ Wolcott, Indiana at the rest area (220 miles away) (11:32 am) 5/ Remington, Indiana (230 miles away) (11:50 am) 6/ Midlothian, Illinois (270 miles away) (1 pm) 7/ Western Springs,Illinois (290 miles away) (1:20 pm) 8/ Schaumburg, Illinois (300 miles away) (2 pm) 9/ Gilberts, Illinois (320 miles away) (2:30 pm) 10/ Machesney Park, Wisconsin (350 miles away) (2:53 pm) 11/ Milton Junction, Wisconsin (370 miles away) (3:32 pm) 12/ Utica, Wisconsin (380 miles away) (3:44 pm) 13/ McFarland, Wisconsin (390 miles away) (3:50 pm) 14/ Beloit, Wisconsin (4:20 pm) 15/ Madison, Wisconsin (390 miles away) (5:05) 16/ Dekorra, Wisconsin (410 miles away) (5:15) They're almost to the Wisconsin Dells! They went to Green Bay and toured Lambeau Field. I'm super jealous and can't wait to take Little Tommy and go on a road trip up there. They picked up Rosemary yesterday in Prairie du Chien and checked into their hotel in Northbrook, IL. Today they are visiting Chicago and then coming on home. I've really missed my brother and can't wait to see what he brings home for us. I will also be happy to see Rosemary and to have all three of them safe here in Columbus.

Little Tommy is 5 months old today

I put his 5 month sticker on his onesie this morning to take his picture and he tried to eat it.   Hmm that's something I didn't consider.   LOL.  So, I ended up sticking it to the chair.   He's amazing me more and more everyday.   He rolls over and back all of the time now.  
I worked at the Whetstone Library today to help them out.   I really liked it and could see myself actually moving to another branch.  The manager was very nice and let me have my own office.   I am ready to be a rover.   I hope they post that position soon.  After work I met up with Shawn and Tom and of course little tommy at Dans drive in and we had dinner while Tom was waiting for the car show to end.
After that mamaw and steph agreed to watch baby boy so we could go to Land Grant to meet my Franklinton peeps for drinks.   Little did I know that they only serve beer.   Yuck!   I was planning to try a melon ball like what Melissa Mccarthy always talks about on Identity Thief.   Tom and I had a great time but now I'm thinking how much I'd miss Franklinton and our great team.   Baby boy and hubby are asleep so good night.

Tommys stats so far

Tommy's stats from day 1: Thomas Robert Hayden Jr. Born: Sunday, March 8, 2015 on 4:42 AM @ Dublin Methodist hospital via C-section. He weighed in at 8 lb 3 oz and 21 inches long. He ended up in the NICU unit for low blood sugar and ended up leaving the hospital weighing around 7 lb 12 oz. He went to the pediatrician (Dr. Rob at Hilliard Pediatrics) a few days later and had picked weight back up. The following are his stats as of now: March 16, 2015- 8 lb 5 oz and 20 1/2 inches long with a 14 3/4 inch head circumference. Dr. Rob was happy that his weight was above his birth weight and told us we didn't have to wake him for feedings in the night. April 9, 2015- 11 lb 4 oz and 22 1/2 inches long with a 15 3/4 inch head circumference. Dr. Rob was very concerned about his flat spot on his head on the right side and suggested we try to keep him turned to the left as much as possible. I removed his rocker at home which parents were saying online were attributing to their baby's flat heads as well. May 8, 2015- 13 lb 8 oz and 23.8 inches long with a 16 3/4 inch head circumference. Dr. Rob took a photo of baby boy's head to make sure we see improvements or he may have to see a neurosurgeon to see if he needed a corrective helmet. We were sad about this. July 15, 2015- 16 lb 15 1/2 oz and 26 1/2 inches long with a 17 3/4 inch head circumference. Dr. Rob was very happy with his growth and his head shape progress. He said that by his 6 month visit he we have to make a decision about his head just in case he needs a corrective helmet. Because he is sitting up more frequently it has improved drastically. We are confident that he will end up being fine without going to the neurosurgeon or wearing a helmet. On a side note Tommy was dedicated at our church the Hilltop Church of God. This basically says that we will raise him to follow God and his teachings. That also charges the church family with guiding him along his path. I love our church and no matter where we end up moving to we will continue to attend that church. That's it for now. Little Tommy is a thriving little guy that we are so blessed to have in our lives.

Monday already!

Man, with working every Saturday it seems that there is no TGIF lol and the weekend flies by. In September I am taking off Saturday which will give Tom and I 4 straight days with baby boy together. I am trying so hard to conserve PTO because Tom is going to have to have his knees replaced in December. They have gotten so bad that he really can't even walk through Wal-mart to do grocery shopping. I can't wait until his knees are all better and we can start taking little road trips and walking a lot more. Tom just had his first check up this morning since the last one where his sugar was sky high. It has been consistently lower since he cut out the pop and sweets and he has lost 8 pounds by just changing that alone. I am going to join him soon and try to lose some of this baby weight. Tommy is growing so fast and is loving the sweet potatoes so much. My next post will be all of his stats so far. I want to put them online somewhere so I don't lose them. So much to write but I'll write more soon. Just using some break time at work to sit and write things out. It really helps.

I can't believe how blessed we really are

Today's been great.   It was very hot but we got up and went to lunch with cousin Emma.  After that we went to the store and home.   Baby boy got upset in the way home because he got hungry.   He ate and is now sleeping in his swing.   I've got a lot to do when hubby gets home so I'm lounging right now.  Also,  we might have to stop or show down the rice cereal and oatmeal because it seems to be making little tommy constipated.   Sorry if that's TMI but it's true.   I'm wondering if the baby food would be better.  I'm going to go work on the family tree while baby boy is asleep.   Until next time I'm signing off.

2014 and part of 2015 in review

I have been horrible about posting updates but will try to be better about it. Maybe I can get the blogger app if that even exists. So 2014 was a huge year of ups and downs and definite surprises. Dad lost his long battle with his horrible health. He ended up passing away on May 29, 2014 after a bout of pneumonia. He also had COPD and emphysema along with congestive heart failure. Long story short he was ready to go. He also didn't qualify for life insurance so Tom and I footed the bill. He begged us not to cremate him and we agreed. He's buried in Grove City Cemetery West in Grove City, Ohio. My grandma Kathie and I have ordered his headstone and he will soon have that on his grave as well.

In July of 2014 I found out that I was expecting and was extremely terrified. It had been 6 years since my last pregnancy and I was terrified to even tell Tom that I had a positive pregnancy test. He was of course so happy and I called first thing Monday to schedule my first appointment. My due date was March 8, 2015. Long story short I had a perfectly healthy pregnancy except for the extreme nausea. We found out through the CVS sampling at 11 weeks that we were expecting a boy and decided we should call him Little Tommy and he would take his dad's name. I waited around for the CVS sampling test to come back to show if Tommy would have the chromosomal imbalance like I do and it turns out he has the same balanced translocation as me. It just so happened that Tom and I were in New Jersey visiting my best friend Nancy and her kids when I found out that everything was good. We had a pretty terrible winter with a lot of snow and ice. One day while taking my lunch break and driving on the freeway I slid on some snow and crashed my car into the embankment. I was so worried something happened to the baby boy and ended up in the emergency room. He was fine and I didn't end up going into labor. Of this I was very thankful. Fast forward to the weekend of my due date. I felt miserable from Friday night on. I ended up going to the emergency room with severe back pain. I was dilated 3 almost 4 and they sent me home early Saturday morning. That whole day I was miserable and ended up back in the Emergency room that night and was dilated up to 5. They had me walking and I managed to dilate to 6 and they admitted me. By this time the contractions in my back were so bad they were coming every 2 minutes or so but my water hadn't broken. They gave me my epidural and broke my water. At first I was feeling no pain and everything was progressing nicely. Then the epidural moved and the numbness went away. Wait a minute. Isn't this supposed to happen after the baby comes. So at this point I'm feeling 100% of my contractions and have dilated at least to 8. Little Tommy's heart rate kept dropping and I ended up signing papers to have a c section done. I also asked that they tie my tubes. One is it for us. We're going to count our blessings. They took me into the operating room and gave me the spinal block. Right away I felt nothing from the neck down. They started cutting on me and the next thing I knew I was hearing baby boy cry. Tom got to hold him shortly after he was born. I got to see him, too. He was so perfect and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect miracle. Thomas Robert Hayden Jr. came right on his due date March 8, 2015 at 4:42 AM weighing 8 pounds 3 ounces and 21 inches long at Dublin Methodist Hospital. He ended up having to go into the NICU unit because of low blood sugar but eventually on March 14, 2015 we took our baby home! He is such a miracle and is now almost 5 months old. I plan to use this to record all of the daily things Little Tommy is doing. I love him and Tom to the moon and back. Oh, and it worked out that my grandma Kathie (my dad's mom) and my aunt Stephanie (my dad's sister) watch him Monday-Wednesday and Tom watches him every Saturday. It makes for a crazy work schedule but I'm so thankful. I thank God for everything!