I LoVe LoVe LoVe....

The Olympics!!!!

I have been anxiously awaiting these 17 days for months now! Watching all these sports with such awesome athletes competing is so cool. I even watched the USA qualifying trials a few weeks ago :)

The Olympic rings are so pretty hanging from the bridge. 

Here's a fun fact about the Olympic rings: Every countries flag has at least one of the colors of the rings in it. 

I really like the opening ceremonies and watched the entire thing. My favorite part is actually when all the countries teams are announced and enter the arena. I love to see what each countries outfits are like. My favorite outfits: Nigeria! The women's outfits were so pretty. They were white, green, and ruffley! 

Now USA, your outfits were disappointing. I will say that I liked the men's outfits but not the women's...at all! Their skirt number looked like something I wore in 3rd grade minus the blazer but down to the scrunched white socks and Keds! Really Ralph Lauren?? 

I enjoyed watching them walk in anyways :)

I think it was on Friday that I watched Team USA win their very first medal and it was in Archery. I have never sat down and watched archery before but it was so intense. I have played a little Archery on the Wii so I kind of knew what was going on...haha. It was a real nail biter and USA took the Silver! 

The US archery team

I have really enjoyed gymnastics and swimming so far. The swimming relays are my favorite. Brent and I are watching right now and waiting for Team USA gymnastics( men )to come back on. I'm hoping that they will medal. They haven't done their best tonight. 

USA men's gymnastics

Now the girls did awesome last night. They have a very strong team and I am hoping they will win the gold. All their performances last night were amazing. 

USA women's gymnastics

Last night was the men's 4x1 swimming race. Talk about intense, this race was! I remember that our team upset the French in 2008 and they were super close to doing that once again. They fell short in the very last 100 and came up with the Silver. 

With their Silver medals! 

Cullen Jones, second from the left, not only wins Olympic medals but is very involved in the Make a Splash campaign in his community and all over the US. Read about who he helps learn how to swim here.

Brent and I just watched Missy Franklin's amazing 100m race. She came from behind to grab the gold! Those are the most exciting races...the ones where the athlete starts inching his/her way closer and closer to the leader and then finally passing them to win the gold. I know, I'm a huge fan of sports! It's probably b/c I played school sports from 7th grade through my Sophomore year of college. 

Missy Franklin

I am looking forward to watching track, diving, and a ton of other events. Can't wait to watch this trio blaze around the track in a few days...

I watched them in the US qualifiers and they can FLY! Can't wait to see their races.

So here is the medal count as of this morning

I know we have won some medals in the past couple of hours so maybe we will be leading by the end of tonight's competitions! 

             

A new wardrobe

Yesterday started the crazy, fun, exciting times of consignment sales! I became hooked on them last year. It's so fun to find great deals on really cute clothes and Nashville has a ton of sales. Mom and I hit 2 yesterday. We met at a church right down the street from me for the first sale. It was called Once Around the Block Consignment and they had a ton of stuff. The sale started at 9am but mom and I got there around 8:30am and were the first shoppers in line. I strapped the baby carrier to me and put Rowen in and he loved riding around in it. He had only been in it once before and he always seems to love new things so he was a happy shopper yesterday! I peeked in the door before they opened and saw one red flyer wagon that my mom was wanting to find so when they opened the doors we headed straight for that. It was a good price so my mom snatched it up quickly. Then we looked through the 12-18 month clothes. As I was looking through stuff I was thinking "gosh, this stuff looks so big"! :( He is becoming such a big boy. We found lots of items! Play clothes, some church clothes, pj's, 2 winter coats, puzzles, and we even got him a Halloween costume! It was a success for sure. Here are just a few of the items we bought at the sales:

Smocked crab outfit for now

 A few of the casual long sleeve shirts

Navy blue pants with a Polo

Smocked Christmas outfit 


AND....of course we had to get Rowen some UT clothes!

Jacket and pants

Light weight sweater

Rowen with his goodies including the wagon!

Both my mom and I volunteered one shift to shop early at the second sale that we went to...Little Sprouts. We got to shop before the consignors, new moms, and the public. It's a smaller sale. This is just the second year for the Nashville Little Sprouts. Apparently the Franklin sale is quite a bit larger. We found a few good things. We still have 3 more sales to shop in the next 4-6 weeks! We will be looking for specific things that were not at the sales yesterday. I just love consignment sales!


And on a side note here is a cute video of Rowen. He has learned to clap and I had to get it on video of course! 

            

Rowen is 9 months old!!

These past 9 months have gone by so quickly! I can't believe Rowen is 9 months old today. We headed to the doctor this afternoon for his 9 month check up and to our surprise, he didn't have to get any shots! More will come at 1 year but at least he didn't have to get pricked several times today! 

At 9 months he is:

29 1/2 inches tall ( 85th percentile )

21 pounds ( 60th percentile )

and his head circumference is 18 3/4 inches ( 95th percentile )

Heading out the door to the doctor's appointment

Playing with toys while waiting for Dr Brady

He loves sitting on the paper and crunching it up in his hands...sooo funny! 

Dr Brady said he looks great! We discussed his eye appointment on Friday. His tear ducts are still a little blocked so we have an appointment with a doctor at the Vanderbilt eye center on Friday afternoon to see what they have to say. We also talked about all the new foods he can start eating like puffs and meat! I don't know how I feel about pureeing meat but I'll give it a shoot. My cousin, Angie, said she just couldn't do it b/c of the smell and how it looked! haha. He tried a new food today...turnips. He likes them :) 

Such a big boy

Since he has 6 teeth, Dr Brady recommended that we start cleaning his teeth. And we want to go ahead and start him on a good habit. So tomorrow I am going to go to the store and get the little finger brush so we can start cleaning them! Next week, we will try the meat thing. Not sure which meat we will try first...probably turkey or chicken. I'm curious to know if he is going to like it or not! 

As far as motor skills go, he can push himself up to a sitting position from laying on the floor. And of course can go from a sitting to lying position by himself too. He isn't pulling himself up to a standing position yet but I know that's not too far away. He can put weight on his legs and can stand up if Brent and I are holding under his arms. I'm in no rush for him to start standing yet! He'll do things when he wants to!! 

Happy boy :)


I feel like he is going to start spitting out words any minute now. haha. He is constantly making sounds and "singing".  He can say "mama" and "dada" but I don't think he knows that those words are who we are yet. Oh I can't wait for that day! He can imitate the rising and falling sounds when I talk to him. He is getting close to being able to wave. We are working on it :) We give him tons of praises when he shares with us or does something good like sitting up from a lying down position or opens and closes books...things like that. 

He likes banging toys together and even throwing them. He really studies his toys still especially if he notices something on a toy that he hasn't seen before. He has the cutest little face when he is really studying something. He has started resisting diapering and sometimes it's exhausting. He thinks it funny, Brent and I on the other hand don't! haha. We just want to get a diaper on him but he would rather wiggle and twist and turn. He doesn't do it all the time...once or twice a day. I have tried telling him "no" in a nice gentle voice but he thinks that word is even funnier than twisting and turning...great! 

He always tries to figure out what the sticker is and why it's on him.


He is a great eater and a great sleeper! Brent and I got blessed with a wonderful wonderful baby!! He rarely ever cries...still. He'll get fussy at some points during the day but tears don't come with the fussiness. He still loves reading and usually will grab a book before grabbing a toy. He has graduated from many of his toys and I hope to get him some new toys for his age at some up coming consignment sales. 

We are truly blessed and love that we are parents to Rowen. He makes our lives brighter and puts an immediate smile on our face first thing in the morning! We love our sweet boy so much.

            

Saturday night s.p.a.r.k.l.e.s!

Saturday night was the 36th annual Statesmen's Dinner. It's a political thing for all of you that aren't in to politics! For me, it's a night to dress up fancy and schmooze with big political names like Bob Corker, Lt Gov Ron Ramsey, Diane Black, etc etc...oh and talk to tons of state representatives that Brent is friends with. Since I have been going to this event with Brent for a few years now, it doesn't really phase me when I see political figures that most people just see on tv. 

Car picture. On the way to Opryland Hotel. 

I have this really sparkly pair of earrings but have never had any place to wear them to...until Saturday night! I saw them in my closet and got excited about wearing them :)

sparkles!

There were a ton of people at the event. I'm guessing it was sold out. When we first got there we talked to quite a few people. I got to meet Tre Hargett, Secretary of State, and his wife Dawn. Lots of Brent's bosses asked about sweet little Rowen which I thought was so nice of them! After about 10 minutes of mingling, everyone moved into the main ballroom. We were sitting with State Rep Debra Maggart and her friends who Brent of course knew but I did as well. Debra is who Brent is helping campaign right now...it ends on August 2nd and I really couldn't be happier. Hopefully she pulls out the win and will keep her seat in the house! 

Us with Debra

Theme for the evening

Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and 2008 presidential candidate, was the main speaker. He did a great job...kept my attention the whole time! 

Mike Huckabee...our table was about 50 feet away from the stage( great seats! )but it was just easier for me to take pictures of the screen. Senator Bob Corker and Governor Bill Haslam also spoke.

Senator Bob Corker


The food was good. A large delicious salad was before the main course. The main course was herb crusted chicken with mashed potatoes, and broccoli. It was sooo yummy. And key lime tarts and chocolate fudge cake were for the dessert! After dessert the congressmen and women each talked for a few minutes and then we ended the event by singing God Bless America. I had never met Congresswoman Diane Black and when I turned around to look at who was at the table to the left of us, there she was! I really like her so I knew I had to get a picture with her before I left. Brent thought I was so funny! He introduced me to her and I got a picture with her and then she and Brent talked about early voting. I stood there and smiled :) She is a really funny lady as well as her husband. 

Here we are!


It was a really fun night. All of these State/US leaders are working really hard right now to keep there positions come November. Diane will be back for sure...Lou Ann has nothing on her as previous years have shown :)

           

Poor baby Rowen

Wednesday morning after Rowen ate breakfast we made a run to Dunkin Donuts so I could get some iced coffee! I have become quite a fan of Dunkin Donuts :) When we got back home and I got him out of his car seat, I noticed that he was pretty warm. I was thinking that he had just not cooled down in the car since we weren't in there that long plus his new car seat is very plush and fuzzy! So I just assumed his car seat was making him a little warm. He took his usual morning nap around 9:00am but instead of sleeping for an hour or so he slept for almost 2 and a half hours. At this point I was thinking something was not right...he NEVER sleeps that long. I went in and checked on him before he woke up and noticed that his face was a little pink and it looked like he was kind of sweaty. When he woke up, he was on fire! His face and neck were pink and his entire body even down to his feet was very hot. I immediately took his temperature and it was reading 103.8! I started worrying just a little bit plus he was very lethargic. Yawning and looking sleepy even though he had just slept for over 2 hours. 

Before heading to the doctor. This is not the look of a happy camper!

I called the doctor and they were able to get me in right away with a little bit of squeezing. They always take their temp and weigh them no matter what you come in for. Side note...he weighs 20 lbs 14 oz! The nurse took his temperature and it was 102.6 which is definitely a fever...anything over 100.4 is technically a fever but they don't start to really worry about the baby until the temp is 104 and over.  Dr Brady checked him out and everything looked pretty normal until she checked his throat. She said it was "flaming red". Which I knew couldn't be good! He got swabbed for a strep test and they pricked his toe to check his white blood cell count since he was being very lethargic. They did a quick strep test which came back negative and his white blood cell count was fine. Sooooo she said it was a virus and we just needed to get his fever down by giving him Tylenol and Advil...at different times of course! They gave him a dose of Motrin before we left and she just told me to watch him at home and make sure he was acting normal and also to call if anything like a rash turned up on him. 

Resting :)

When we got home all he wanted to do was lay on my lap and watch cartoons. I was ok with that! Love snuggling with my boy but hated that he was sick :( 

I did know that he had a smidge of enery b/c he had enough to laugh at the cats...

Around 5:30 he still had a fever of 102.6 so Brent called Dr Brady and she said to give him some Advil and then again before we went to bed and then to wake up and check him/his temp around 2 or 3am! He was able to eat and drink just fine all day. Dr Brady wanted to make sure that he was able to at least drink so he wouldn't become dehydrated and I let her know that he was eating and drinking just fine. He had a hard time falling asleep and I think that's just because the fever was making him uncomfortable. He woke up every 2 hours during the night! Yea, we really got no sleep Wednesday night! But it's ok b/c we wanted to make sure he was ok and comfort him when he woke up sad. He woke up around 2:30am and I went in and checked his temp and it was down a little to 100.1. 

Yesterday morning when he got up I gave him another dose of Advil because his temp was still 100.1 and then I noticed something on his feet and then I noticed his legs! He had broken out in a horrible rash! 

His poor body was covered in these little tiny red dots

His leg

Up close of one of his legs

So I called the doctors office again and told them what was going on and they got us in within the hour. Dr Brady is off on Thursdays so we saw Dr Keffer. After looking at Rowen's leg for about 5 seconds he said "oh yea he has the coxsackievirus". This virus can cause hand foot and mouth disease and after looking at Rowen's throat not only was it still bright red, he had little tiny blisters on his throat as well. So he has the mouth part of the hand foot and mouth disease. The word "disease" makes it sound so horrible...it's really just a virus. There is no treatment for the virus so we just have to let it run it's course which could take anywhere from 7-10 days. The good news is that the rash isn't painful and it doesn't itch. It's just there! Dr Keffer started asking me if Rowen went to daycare...no, did he go to childcare anywhere like the YMCA...no, when I started to see where he was going I told him that Rowen goes to Sunday school class with 7-8 other babies. He said "ah ok" and he never said that's where Rowen officially got the virus but that's what Brent and I figure. Babies at this age including Rowen are just slobbery and that along with snot is how the virus is spread.  Rowen is actually doing so much better today. His fever is gone and he had all of his energy back even though he wanted to read a ton more books today while we rocked. 

He even enjoyed reading some books on his own :)

And we ran some errands together! If he looks a little drowsy to you, it's b/c it was just about his nap time! 

It's good to see that he is back to his fun self.

             

I see it, I want it, I'll get it!

Rowen really started moving last week. He is army crawling everywhere. He can get around pretty quickly now so I have to keep my eye on him constantly! Last week he was pulling himself around by his arms and just dragging his legs behind him but this week he has started using his legs more. He can get up on his hands and knees but hasn't quite mastered the coordination it takes to crawl in that position yet...it will be any day now! I love when he sees something across the room and his eyes light up and you can just tell he is thinking "ohhh I want that toy and I'm going to go get it". 

Crawling to get a book

So I guess it is time to "baby proof" the house. There isn't much on his level that we will need to move for now at least. 

He loves crawling towards books! This baby loves reading :)

Sleepy army crawler. He crawled a long way which wore him out! 

I am loving this age right now. He is figuring things out everyday. He keeps me on my toes and lights my life up with his smile and laughter. Brent and I have such a fun fun baby!! 

          

A little bit of fresh air

It's probably been a good 2 weeks since Rowen and I have been on a jog together. I am fine when I go by myself. The heat really doesn't bother me! I love being super exhausted after a hot run...I know, it's not normal! haha. But Rowen on the other hand does not need to be out in the heat especially since we have high humidity too. Well, today felt a bit cooler and when we headed to Percy Warner it was about 88 degrees. The part of the park where I go running is completely shaded the entire way. So off we went! I love living so close to the Warner parks. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the park where we went running today. The road loop that we jogged is probably 2 miles. I didn't use my app to measure it but will do next time. I love that the road winds all through the woods. It's so peaceful and cool. We stopped throughout our run to take some pictures. 

I was sweating almost instantly and it felt so good! Row had a nice breeze blowing through his hair while I was running. During the picture stops, he had a water break too :)

A bit occupied with his toys!

What our view looked like most of the way.

I love that Rowen likes going on jogs with me...he's a good running buddy!!

Hopefully we will get to squeeze in another run this week...weather permitting. Here is a cute little video of Rowen laughing this afternoon. I had to get it on video. I love his little giggles!!