……. to forget my camera! This morning Will and I met his friends Javen & Liam at the Brentwood Library for story time. This is seriously the coolest library I have ever seen – at least the kids section! They have a talking owl, trees, a fire station and a train track among many other things. Well, the boys made it through song time and when the story started they lost interest rapidly. And then Liam got hungry. So, story time was more like “let your kids run wild through the library looking at all the cool things while baby is eating” time! But it was fun And I didn’t have my camera so I don’t have any pictures of the little cuties.

After story time Will and I headed off to get the oil changed in the Honda. I first stopped at Jiffy Lube because they weren’t busy and I thought it would be wonderful if I only had to wait 20 minutes or so. So, I pulled up and he began explaining their “signature” package that cost $40.00. I then politely asked what their “basic” package price was – he said that didn’t exist. I said, “Ok, thank you but I’ll pass.” Seriously, they didn’t have anything under $40?!?!

So, I went to American Tires in Cool Springs where I have gone several times before – I love their service but usually have a long wait because they are always SO busy. I usually have a coupon for an oil change there too but I couldn’t find one this morning. As usual, there service was exceptional! I got my oil changed in under 30 minutes and they even gave me the current coupon price (20!)  since I had driven from Antioch. Yay! While we waited another mom came in with her 4 kids – ages 2 to 10. They were so well behaved and very nice to Will. The little girl read him his “Wheels on the Bus” book, and the 2 year old shared his toy cars and legos. They were all so cute playing together. Again, I wish I had my camera!

We took a quick lunch break – at where else?!?! Taco Bell. Then headed to Target to get some diapers for our upcoming trip and few baby snacks. I had found a couple of Target giftcards in a drawer and I asked how much was on them at customer service before shopping. The answer? $55 – whahoo! I don’t know how long I have had these – I have had one at least 15 months because it was a “New Baby” design

Anyways, it was only about 12:45 and Will usually naps at 2:00. I was perusing the aisles and the next thing I know Will is fast asleep with his arm propping him up against the buggy! He looked so adorable but I felt like a bad Mom since everyone probably thought I was out shopping instead of letting him take a nap. Oh well! Once again, so cute but I didn’t have my camera.

Did I mention that I baked a cake this morning before story time? No? Well, I did – a strawberry one from a box. We are having dinner with Abbas Girl & The Gent tonight and my responsibility is dessert. So, this afternoon while Will has been doing this……..

I have been making this………

I made some cream cheese frosting that is so yummy! And then {finally} used the cake decorating things I got for Christmas and from my Mimi. This was my attempt at a basket weave on top – I was afraid I didn’t have enough icing so it is a spaced out basket weave Pretty good for my first attempt, if I do say so myself. Reminder to myself for next time: make sure the icing is not so thin. Notice, my piping around the bottom just pooled in the plate.

Wow! This was a long post – we had a busy day! Hope you had a fun day too!

Wasn’t the weather today just beautiful!! It made us SO happy – I could get use to warm temps and sunshine I’m also glad it was pretty since PaPa drove up to fix the station wagon. Will was such a good helper – so I’ll let him tell the story.

First, we had to jack up the car. It was funny to see the car up in the air like that – it was even funnier to see PaPa laying under it.

Next, we had to figure out what was wrong with it. I told PaPa it was something with the brakes. PaPa said it was something with the rear wheel cylinder (or something technical like that). So, we had to run to the parts store to get the part.

While PaPa was fixing the brakes I got bored and had to take a break from brakes. Mommy let me play in the front yard, “blow out” the neighbor’s yard lights, and walk up and down the sidewalk.

Then all the men had to clean and sand some part of the wheel. It looked really cool!

I REALLY wanted to help but PaPa said it would make my hands too dirty. Look how dirty PaPa’s hands are! I would have REALLY liked to get that dirty.

Finally, we had to pump the brakes. I couldn’t reach them so Daddy had to do that part. Yay! The car is fixed. We celebrated by eating some yummy bar-b-que. I stuffed so much in my mouth that I started gagging It was such a fun day!

So, yes our car is now back to perfection. It is amazing how fast we got use to having 2 cars and how inconvenient it felt to have to take Bill to work on Wednesday morning (even though we shared a car for 1.5 years)! So, thank you PaPa for coming up and fixing our car!

Check out Will eating this “pea soup!” This was when he was sick and couldn’t really eat many solids. He is so cute!

Will had his 15 month well child check today.  He weighed 21.6 lbs (5-10%) and was 31 inches long (75%). He is keeping right on track with his growth curve. Dr. Swarr was also pleased with his overall development like teeth, words, and activity. Will also had to get 3 shots today – but he did so good! When the nurses were done Will sat up and gave them each a high five and then blew them a kiss

This weekend I did ALOT of eating and sleeping. Oh, it was so glorious!

Friday night we ate at J. Alexander’s on West End. It was very nice and relaxing. We had a leisurely 1.5 hour dinner and didn’t even realize it! We had so much food – chips, salsa, spinach queso, salad, ribs, & fries. We shared an appetizer and entree and still had enough left over for lunch on Sunday. After dinner we walked around the Mall at Green Hills where I thought we should buy some chocolate covered strawberries at Godiva. Then I came to my senses and went to Wal-Mart and bought strawberries, pineapple and chocolate instead!

We’re so classy – Bill is microwaving our chocolate!

I had Bill take my picture before we went out Friday night! It’s not the best picture but notice that I DON’T have on jeans, I DO have my hair fixed, I AM carrying a purse, and I DO have on heels Impressive.

On Saturday we mostly slept! We didn’t make it to breakfast at the Pancake Pantry until noon – and we still had to wait in line for an hour. And yes, this is what the chocolate chip pancakes look like! Yummy!

After breakfast we took a nap! I told you all we did was eat and sleep. Then we had dinner with the Metcalf’s and played the Wii. It was a fun night!

On Sunday we went to church, napped(!), and then had a special Valentine’s Day dinner. We had herb stuffed chicken, green beans, rice, salad & cresent rolls. And, drum roll please, we used our fine china for the very first time!! It was fun!

Please don’t notice that we are drinking Dr. Pepper and Mtn. Dew out of our stemware!

Today we woke up with MORE snow! I am tired of snow this winter – it is fun once and exciting twice but this is getting ridiculous. This afternoon, Will came home. We missed him so much! But it was nice to have a weekend to ourselves. And PepperAnn enjoyed a little undivided attention

Who wants to take Will next weekend?

We took Will to see his pediatrician this morning as a follow-up to our ER visit. We have had to tell “the story” about 100 times and I will be glad to not have to tell it ever again! It was scary and I don’t like re-living it!

Dr. Swarr checked Will out and when he looked in his throat – he said “I found the answer!” And he looked relieved about it so I think Bill and I took a huge collective sigh. Dr. Swarr diagnosed Will with Coxsackie virus – specifically herpangia (sores in the mouth and throat). This virus also causes hand, foot & mouth disease. The symptoms probably only developed in the past 24 hours which is why they were not able to diagnose it at the ER. This was such a great diagnosis! The “prescription” is Tylenol to keep his temperature down and lots of hugs, kisses and popsicles!

They also believe that the shaking he experienced on Monday night was not a seizure but just a reaction to the virus – riggers (sp?).  Thank you Jesus!

Thank you for all your prayers these past 48 hours! They have probably been what has kept us sane the past few days

As most of you know we ended up in the Emergency Room with Will last night. Here’s a brief synopsis of what happened (copied from an email I just sent a friend):

“Well, we ended up having a scary night! We got to the dr. office and they sent us to the ER because they thought that Will had had a seizure.

So, we were at the ER for several hours and they did a lot of bloodwork/XRays/IV/urine tests. But everything they checked at the hospital came back pretty normal – he had elevated while blood count but that was probably due to the high fever.

We got released and had to drive to COLUMBIA to get an anti-seizure medicine. We got home about midnight and he started shaking again. So, we called our dr. and he then said that it might not be a seizure since he was alert when it happened.

Will woke up this morning with a 102 fever again but it has gone down with Tylenol – so I am headed to the store for more Tylenol so we can keep the fever down!”

So, at this point we are trying to control his fever(when the medicine starts wearing off his temp. goes back up) , he is eating and drinking like normal and seems to be doing ok. We go to see his pediatrician tomorrow morning at 8:45.