Sick Day

Shaw has been feeling "under the weather" since this weekend. But, with two more teeth coming in, I just figured it was teething. Sunday, he woke up with a rash on his face and it has steadily gotten worse. Last night, he started having fever so I figured it was time to take him to the Dr. To say he has been cranky is an understatement. I think the baby has done more crying in the last four days than he did from months 1-12. The Dr. confirmed he has a fever virus. She said there is a possibility it could be Fifth Disease, but since the rash is only on his face she doesn't think that is it. One ear is on the verge of an ear infection, our second one to ever have. His throat is also really red. The swab tested negative for Strep but she went ahead and sent it off for other cultures. Also, to top things off, she heard a slight heart murmur. She is going to listen again next week at his well child check up to make sure he doesn't need an echo done. His weight was also under from his last visit about a month ago. He hasn't eaten well in a few days, with eating little to nothing the last two days. He is staying hydrated so she didn't seem too concerned and said it was probably because his throat hurts. Even though I am almost 6 months pregnant, sometimes I wish I was still nursing him. His whole first year of life, he only got sick twice! Now, he has gotten sick twice in 2 months! Yuck! Not only is he the sickest he has ever been, the baby boy is missing his first Halloween party today at his sitter's. We are just hoping he feels good enough tomorrow to celebrate at our church festival and maybe do a little trick-or-treating to see family!

 

 

Close up of the rash. Can you tell his teeth are bothering him? Chewing on that finger!

 

First thing I could get him to eat all day. At least he slurped down two sippy's full of milk.

 

Sweet baby could still smile about something. He is into saying "cheese" and smiling when I get my phone out to take a picture of him :)

He has now been asleep for over an hour. Praying he can sleep, start eating, and get over this mess really fast!

Fall Fun

This weekend has been low key for us. After a crazy busy month it was what we needed. The only thing missing was Josh. You know, it's that time again where men venture into the woods, sit in trees, and stare off into the wilderness for hours on end. Not only does it make me jealous that they have an acceptable way to completely escape reality, we really miss him when he is gone. Shaw and I went and ate with my parents last night and went over to my grandparents house to visit. This morning we had a bridal shower to go to for my sister (forgot my camera!) and then we went to our town's Halloween/fall festival which is always entertaining.

Back tracking to last weekend. I was in my friend Natalie's wedding. It was such a beautiful ceremony and probably the sweetest one I have ever been a part of or seen. The preacher's way of doing things was really neat and the message he sent along about marriage really pulled at my heart strings and was something I needed to hear. The weather was perfect and I got to spend time with some of my best friends. Natalie, Natalie, Joanna, and I all bonded in OT school and have kept up with each other since. Even though we only get to see each other a few times a year now, I can truly say they are some of my closest and best friends. After the wedding festivities Friday and Saturday, we still had Sunday to celebrate my birthday! The only thing I requested was to eat good food and take Shaw to the pumpkin patch. That is exactly what we did!

Joanna, Natalie, Me, and Natalie (by the way Natalie is having her baby as I type this. She has been a trooper and I can't wait to meet Miss Ruby tomorrow!)

 

Drew's cake was a big S'more and looked so real!

 

Their first dance!

 

Fun on the dance floor!

 

Checking out the animals at the Pumpkin Patch

I'll take this one, and this one....

 

CHEESE!!!!!!!

 

Climbing the hay pyramid like all the big kids

Going to eat dinner for my birthday

 

I could just eat him up!!!

 

 

This is the view I see a lot...

 

 

With Raeleigh at Spook City

 

I love this time of year and all the fun festivities. Shaw is at such a fun stage where he loves to go and do, play with other kids, people watch, or just soak in everything around him. He is my kind of boy :)

Nashville Weekend



Weekend before last, my immediate family headed to Nashville to meet up with my brother, SIL, and nephew. My SIL was in a wedding there and since it is only about a 5.5 hour drive for us we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get to see them. Last time we saw them was last year around the holidays. Easton, our nephew, was only one and Shaw was only a few months old at the time, so this time together was quite a bit different for them. They played and interacted a lot, which was fun. Sadly, our nephew had a little stomach bug while we were there but was still a trooper. We had a great trip spending time with all my family and exploring the city. The only negative was the one room sleeping situation. I knew it was more than likely not going to work. Shaw took about 30 minutes worth of naps the entire weekend (when he is used to two plus hours a day) and slept in the bed with us one of the two nights. This was only the second time in his life that he has ever slept with us. This time it was all three of us in a queen size bed and it was TERRIBLE! I have never seen a baby move around as much as he does while sleeping. I think I woke up three times that night with him literally laying on top of me sound asleep. He would then gently roll off and roll on top of Josh. Wild night for all of us. For future trips, we will either be getting two adjoining rooms, a suite, or a condo. No more single hotel rooms for us for a while.

 



Easton and Shaw playing ball together



 

Checking out the fish at Rain Forest Cafe. He loved it!

 

This is the best we could get with all three of them.

 

Ganna and Pops with their grands! In just 4 months there will be two more to add to the group.

 

At the Gaylord Opryland Resort.

 

Once again, checking the fish out.

 

Siblings and our kids

 

 

You would have thought the escalator was a carnival ride. They rode it at least 10 times!

 

Pirate, balloon artist on stilts at Margaritaville

 

 

He was trying to figure out what the big, tall guy was!

 

...and he made Shaw a balloon dog. Too cute!

 

Sunday morning before we all left town we ate at this family style restaurant by the airport, Modell's. It was amazing! Highly recommend eating there if you are going to the Nashville area.

 

Outside the restaurant before our long drive home. Even though we had a rough time in the hotel room, Shaw couldn't have been more perfect on the drives going there and coming home. If you can imagine, he slept most of the way home.

Great weekend! Can't wait until they come home in two weeks and we get to spend more time with them!

Gender Reveal #2

On October 11th, we found out the gender of baby #2. With Shaw, we did a gender reveal party with family, so we were with out a doubt doing one for this baby. I am really big on trying to do everything the same for each child. I want all my kids to have the same memories to look back on and I want the same traditions with each of them. We had our ultrasound at 9 that morning and we had people over that night. It was difficult to keep a secret all day long but I managed to do it!

**For the record, Josh did not keep a secret and somehow my brother got it out of him for the second time in a row. I think their conversation went something like this:
Brother: "Do you prefer Kenny Rogers or Dolly Parton?"
Husband: "I like Kenny way more"
Brother: "If you had a pet deer would you want a buck or a doe?"
Husband: "definitely a buck!"
Brother: "hehehe"
I laugh about it now, but I do think there were a few other family members that had their feelings hurt!

 My mom tried to talk us into finding out the gender with everyone at the party but I just can't fathom the thought of 40 people looking at me as I find out the gender of my child, so we found out during the scan. For Shaw's, I did the cupcakes with colored icing to reveal boy or girl. Since then, it seems like everyone else has also done that idea along with a few others popular ways to reveal the gender so I tried to think of something original.

I found this cute, free font online and printed on these envelopes. I knew I wanted a picture of the ultrasound to be inside, and then I thought about using either a hair bow or bow tie to identify which gender the baby is.



I hung this sign up behind the food table so everyone would get the idea of what to look for when they opened their envelopes.

I added this little "boy or girl?" chalkboard behind my fall wreath for a little extra flair :)

We served different soups, which turned out to be a great idea! I made taco soup, my mom made potato soup, and Josh's mom made white chicken chili. It was an easy and affordable way to feed about 40 people. Also, since I made the party fall themed, my friend's mom made some amazing cake balls that looked like pumpkins. I sadly didn't get a picture of them before they were all gone!

Some of our family and friends waiting to see the news!

And, this is what they saw......another boy!!! Baby boy #2! We still can't believe we are having another son.

This baby boy sported his "big bro" shirt and is beyond excited to be getting a baby brother!

I had a feeling all along we were having another boy. We have always dreamed of having two boys and think it couldn't be more perfect with them being so close in age! Just like the first time, I was more anxious about seeing a healthy baby than anything else. We have some birth defects that run in our family, so knowing this baby is healthy is the biggest blessing we could ask for. What will his name be? His name will be Sutton McCrae Hendricks. Sutton is actually the name I wanted to name Shaw, but after much debate :) Josh and I decided (obviously) on Shaw Michael for him and it couldn't fit more perfect! McCrae comes from the movie Lonesome Dove. Josh and I both grew up watching the movie so the idea of using that name came up early on in the pregnancy. I've always liked the idea of my kids  having the same initials, so we thought it would be perfect! We can't wait for Mr. Sutton to get here....but praying for at least 16 more weeks! God has blessed us beyond imagination with these two boys and we can't wait to raise them together!

Daddy Day

Josh had a Monday off a couple of weeks ago so I left for work that morning with everyone still in bed. He had told me he would take care of Shaw and get him to the sitter's so he could get some things done around the house. I get a text after I got to work that said, "I am going to keep him with me today....we are going to go to the zoo and eat lunch with mom". I was automatically jealous and seriously contemplated on leaving work. I knew they needed a good daddy/son day and was super happy we have a daddy that would take a day he had off to spend time with his young son at the zoo. I got text and picture updates throughout the day and they seemed to be having a blast. Josh said Shaw's favorite animals were the monkeys, giraffe, and elephants. After they got done at the zoo they went and ate lunch with Josh's mom which I know they all loved.

 

 

I saw this picture and said, "oh he was trying to stand like them" and Josh said, "no he was trying to climb the fence!". haha

 

This picture is so funny to me. Obviously, this penguin was just as curious as Shaw was.

 

Sweet baby!