I guess you can tell by looking at these pictures that Carter is feeling better. Before we knew it, he had gotten a hold of a box of tissues!

We went to the doctor yesterday and luckily he does not have an ear infection or strep. He has a viral infection. He is also teething. He definitely feels better today and was running around acting like his old self. Hopefully tomorrow the fever will be all gone.

We leave Saturday to go to Gulf Shores, Alabama for vacation. I cannot wait to see Carter and the ocean and how he reacts to being at the beach. I will post many pictures of course!

Friendships

You have heard of the saying "waxing poetic", well today, I am going to wax sappy! LOL! I am going to be sappy because we had some dear friends in from out of town this weekend and it was WONDERFUL having them here. We had just visited them three weeks ago, as you might have read in a previous post. I have permission to post pictures of their beautiful daughter. Which I will do in another post.

Remember, we had pictures of Carter and Anna, their daughter, done while visiting them. Anyhoo....I will try and post Carter and Anna's pre-engagement pictures!!! HEE HEE! We are planning their marriage. Yes, it will be arranged. Ha! Don't believe me for a second. But it would be cute if they did get married and they had their first portrait done before they were age 2.

Anyway, the weekend was full of emotion and exhaustion! Friday we spent time at Sean and Heather's house with our other friends visiting from out of town. When we got home from that party, Greg had to go back out and fix a flat tire for a friend, then, he got voice mails regarding some incidents that occurred at some property that we own. It was after 1:00 when we got in bed. Saturday, we decided to let Carter stay at Grandma and Grandpa Mayo's overnight so we could re-charge. Then Sunday, I taught my parenting class, and we came home had lunch and then prepared for Steve and Marsha's BBQ/baby shower.

Everything went well except for little Carter. Greg picked him up from his parent's Sunday afternoon and he immediately went down for a nap and he did not wake up happy! In fact, Carter was not himself the whole party. It was quite frustrating, we could do nothing to please him and he cried a lot and was inconsolable. Let me tell you, there is nothing more frustrating when you child can not communicate to you what is going on.

Well, it turns out that Carter had a high fever. Once the majority of the party people left, I checked on him and he felt really, really warm. I took his temp and it was 103.5. Needless to say, I freaked out. He has never had a high fever in his life, even with an ear infection. We called the doctor's office and of course, it was not an emergency and they told us what to do. He got up once in the night but overall, he is back to his old self. He does still have a fever so I guess we will go to the doctor tomorrow.

After the party we were able to say goodbye to our friends and pray over some of our other friends. We are commanded to love one another and to carry each other's burdens and intercede for each other. It was a wonderful experience overall.

As exhausting as the weekend was it was filled with wonderful memories! Memories that will last a lifetime.

Thank you God, for wonderful friends!

It's official

I gave birth to a monkey. My mom will be so pleased!

The reason she will be pleased is that she, too, gave birth to a monkey--ME!

Carter is climbing on everything. He is tall enough to reach just about everything. Let me give you a run down to our morning...

1. Carter is in our bedroom throwing all the books on the floor. He pulls down his clothes off a chair and finds the loud metal trashcan and empties it. Mommy steps in and throws away all the potential deadly suffocating material from the trashcan so that he can bang it on the hardwood.

2. While I am downstairs, Carter apparently climbs on my chair at my desk in the kitchen. I know this because when I came back up stairs 2 minutes later is carrying two picture frames from the back of the desk.

3. I am cleaning off the table and the only things left on the table are his diaper bag and my purse. Being the wise woman that I am I put them in the middle of the table to keep tiny fingers from pulling them off the table. I am so wise, I think. I turn my back for a second and come back and my child has turned the chair sideways and climbed onto the kitchen table and is digging through my purse.

4. I go into the bedroom to clean up the mess that Carter just made. I eye my wedding ring on the floor.....hhhmmmm....where is the band? Yikes. I frantically look for it thinking we are going to have to go to the ER so that I can see my diamond wedding band on X-ray in Carter's stomach. Luckily, he had placed it in Daddy's tennis shoe. Guess I will be moving those up to my dresser now.

5. Carter successfully pushes the trash can back in the pantry after I emptied it. Good boy!!!

6. Carter is obsessed with the dishwasher and has now figured out how to open the door even when it is locked.

All of this has gone on before 10:00 am! And you wonder why I am tired! I haven't even attempted to share all the times of redirection, snatching inappropriate objects he carries around the house. Things he can ingest. Toothpaste is his fav!

Greg comes home at lunch time and fixes himself something to eat. He goes downstairs to get a coke and comes back up as Carter snatches the chips off the kitchen table! Carter brings them to me. I tell him I don't want any but I think Daddy does!!!! Carter then goes back to the dishwasher and Greg asks me, "how exactly do you put childproof locks on a dishwasher?" I replied, "You don't!"

I think that is it, for now. My little monkey is taking a nap. Thank you, Jesus, for nap time!!!!!

New Bible Study class

Sunday was not only Mother's Day, it was also the start of a new Sunday School/Bible Study class at my church, Two Rivers. Since it was a holiday weekend we really didn't know who would be in there. A lot of people were out of town. Some people had told us they were interested but we really didn't know what to expect.

I have been reading a book on Christian leadership and was really convicted about my prayer life and the place prayer has in ministry. Through confession and in reading the scriptures this week I have made some changes in not only my prayer life, but also life in general. This past week has been awesome! I feel the Lord is growing me and molding me and even though I don't really like everything He is doing, I know the changes are from Him and they are ultimately for my good.

Anyway, I felt a total peace about Sunday. Greg asked me Saturday night if I was nervous or not and I replied "no". And I meant it. I haven't felt peace like that in a long time. But I have to also say that part of me thought that no one would really be there and there was nothing to worry about -- ha!

Well, we had one couple come in and we started chatting. We had decided to let them go to the service at a certain time if no one else showed up, given it was Mother's Day and all. Well two more couple eventually showed up. We were so excited. The first couple of weeks are basically an introduction and I am figuring it will take about a month for everyone to get settled in. We are really looking forward to this and seeing what God is going to do in the lives of these parents!

I am finishing up a parenting class on Wednesday nights and it has been really fun. It was an intimate group of four couples and we all knew each other but I think we have really grown in the past six weeks. Next week, we are having a panel of parents come in and we are going to ask them some questions about raising kids.

So, lots going on here but it is all good.

I am continuing to receive my supervision toward licensure and over the summer we are going to be able to meet every week. I think sometime in the fall all of this will be wrapped up and I will be able to take my big, fat state test.......YIKES. If and when I pass, I will be a licensed clinical social worker, or, LCSW. In Tennessee, LCSW's have a lot of respect within the mental health field. When people ask me what an LCSW is, I tell them to compare it to an LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) or a Psychologist. The only thing about the Psychologist is they have a Ph.D and LCSW's are not required to have one, although I am sure there are many out there that do.

The technical deal with being licensed is that I am able to receive third party reimbursements. Basically, I can take insurance and be in private practice. The goal of being licensed for most people is credibility and the ability to be in private practice.

I told Greg that when I get licensed we are having a HUGE party cause I think it is a pretty big deal. He agreed!

Black and White

We celebrated Mother's Day Sunday. It was a very special day for me, as a mom. I still have to sit back and remember that I am a mom, that this very special blessing was bestowed on me. I can really hardly believe it because for so long I just thought motherhood, or being a wife, for that matter, would never happen for me.

Now, not only am I a mother but we just celebrated four years of marriage!!! Where has the time gone?

We met some friends at the mall later on in the day and we had to let Carter out of his stroller because he was tired of being confined. We sat on the stage at Opry Mills Mall and let Carter go 'round and 'round. He came over to us and I was holding him when a little girl made her way across the stage to tell Carter 'hello'. Her name was Kayla. She looked a little bit older than Carter but not by much. She was ecstatic to see Carter. Her mom was trying to get her to repeat his name. She wanted to give Carter a hug. Then Carter wanted to kiss her. It was too sweet. Then Kayla's mom took her back to the other side of the stage. Carter followed suit and started following her around the stage. I don't think she quite knew what to do about Carter. Then they just started acting like toddlers playing around.

As I sat there watching Carter and this little girl it struck me that Carter had no idea that that little girl was a different color than him. She is black, he is white. She, also, was oblivious to the skin color. They were just happy they had met each other and wanted to have some fun.

It got me thinking about a song in the musical South Pacific called "You Have to be Carefully Taught". I have only seen the 1958 movie version and have the soundtrack.

Prejudice is, unfortunately, something that surrounds us even today. It will always be with us. I think each of us are prejudiced in some way. Some more than others. It is a very sensitive subject for some people. It always amazes me how some people love to hate. And for the most ridiculous reasons with many justifications and rationalizations.

Some of us that think we are liberated and educated enough and have "come into our own" so to speak. But racism meets us in the face every day. How we treat people. How we refer to them as a 'color'. Like that needs to proceed a description, as if that will help describe the person better.

Greg and I have talked about teaching Carter about racism. I feel extremely strongly about it and so does Greg. We have talked about the 'what ifs'. What if Carter falls in love with a woman of a different color? Are we that comfortable with letting go of racism and preconceived notions to 'allow' that?

I feel very strongly that is it just as much racism to say you can be friends with someone of a different color but you can't fall in love and marry someone of a different color. I believe that is a double standard. Kind of like another movie I once saw, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". Those parents were 'liberated' in their thinking and thought they had taught their daughter well. Until she brought home a black man.

Does that mean I am encouraging Carter to marry someone of a different race? No, I am not going to worry about that. If Greg and I teach Carter and train him in the way he should go, I believe the Lord will tell him who he should marry, not me. I do want my son to grow up with diversity and I welcome any friendships of any nationality. That is something that was made clear to me that was not permitted growing up.

I won't get into that for respect to my family. I will leave this post with the lyrics from the song from South Pacific. It is something to think about. If you are raising children today. Please think about racism and the impact it has on how you treat other people and what you think about other people.

You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught from year to year,
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear—
You’ve got to be carefully taught
You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a different shade—
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late—
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate—
You’ve got to be carefully taught!
You’ve got to be carefully taught!

Wow! It's been a week already!

We went out of town last weekend to visit some dear friends in North Carolina. We had a great time visiting with them. The used to live here and were married in the same year we did. They have been gone for 3 years. We sure wish they lived closer, but they are in seminary. They have some decisions to make and I hope it brings them closer to us. But above all, I pray that they would be completely in the Lord's will. They have a 19 month old little girl who is just precious!!! We had Carter and her picture made together. I meant to ask them if it was okay to share it online. I will ask and if they say yes, I will post some pictures later. Baby number two is on the way for them in July! Wow! We have been married only five months longer than them. We have other friends that got married less than a month after we did and they are expecting their second baby in June! I guess we are a little behind! That is okay with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speaking of marriage, Greg and I celebrated our fourth year of marriage last night. It wasn't exactly romantic, but it was supposed to be. Greg's mom and dad picked Carter up from school and we had reservations to a swanky place for dinner. Swanky, I guess, is a southern made up word for "fancy" --hee hee. Greg was not feeling well when he got up and had a headache with some aches and pains. Well, by the time I got home in the afternoon, I found him laying in bed burning up with a fever. Needless to say, we cancelled our reservations and will try again tonight. Greg is feeling much better this morning.

We did exchange cards last night and my romantic husband *created* a gift card for me. It is so sweet. We are going to go shopping for deck furniture for our anniversary. I have been desperate for deck furniture since we got married so I was happy to see the "gift card"!!!! Very sweet that he took the time to make that. I love you, honey!!

Carter is feeling much better and so am I. We are back to sleeping well and it seems like old times and Carter's sickness a distant memory. I am sure there is another road block up ahead but at least we are getting some good rest in between.

Two blogs in one night!

Wow! That has to be a first!!! Well, I made some changes to my blog, added some photos, mixed things up a bit...so I hope you like it. If this is the first time you have viewed my blog, please take a look around and let me know what you think!!

It's been a while...

We were sick last week. I finally went to the doctor today and got antibiotics for a possible sinus infection. Carter is NOT SLEEPING through the night. We have maybe had one or two nights where he has slept through since he was sick last week. We had one night where he was up three times. The past two nights he has awakened around 5:00 am. We are very spoiled. Carter is a GREAT sleeper. He has slept through the night since he was 8 weeks old. He only has issues with waking in the night when he is sick or teething. Believe it or not, the ear infection has caused very little of his waking. He has been teething like a madman. He drools more now than he ever did when he was first cutting teeth. I guess I would too if I had molars splicing through my skin. Ouch!!!

Today he woke up at 4:50 and my wonderful husband got up. I had my earplugs in blocking the noise from the annoying birds so I didn't wake up until Greg was already out of the bed. Then I rolled over and went back to sleep. Remember, I told you about those annoying spring time birds? Somewhere between 4-5 AM I wake up, reach over on my nightstand and search for a bright orange ear plug. I can do it with my eyes closed. Good thing, since it is still dark with only the light of my digital clock radio shining in my eyes. Then I stick the ear plug, only one, in to block the incessant chirping outside our window. If I happen to roll over, I actually change the ear plug from one side to the other in my sleep. Yeah, I know, that is really sad. But what am I to do? I can't go outside shooting the birds like the Julia Robert's Father character in Steel Magnolias. Although, I really wish some birds would just DIE.

Anyway, I digress. This morning Greg got up with Carter. Carter did not go back down. On the way to mother's day out he fell asleep in the car. I rode around for 10 extra minutes so he could get some sleep. He took an 1 hr and 40 minute nap at "school" (AKA: mother's day out). I went to a health food store to get something someone recommended to help Carter get back into the routine of sleeping through the night. At this point, I will try anything for SLEEP!!!! So we'll see if it works. I will keep you posted.

The wear and tear that the lack of sleep has on a person is beginning to show on Greg and I (ie: GROUCHY). We get 'short' with each other. But it is all okay, because we always put a 'honey', at the end of what we are saying. Tonight I was trying to print a file from our newly updated Microsoft Office. I attempted to print and it printed blank. Greg came over. We each had opinions about how to fix it. I asked him why it printed the way that it did. He replied, "That's what I am trying to find out, honey", with a sigh and the sound of irritation in his voice. Then I got all frustrated when he had to sit there and figure out how to get it to print. I thought he was taking too long and wondered why he just didn't take my advice and highlight the material, hit print, then click 'selection' to only print the highlighted section. Seemed simple to me. But no, he had to sit there and dissect the problem. Instead of communicating my impatience to him I simply walked away and started working on my project with the information I had already. I knew if I said anything it would be with a 'tone' which would only lead to more frustration and ill words when we don't really mean them. Eventually, Greg brought me my file printed. The only thing is, next time I have to print, I still don't know how to do it. Hmmmm...oh, well, maybe we will have had more sleep the next time I have to print something and I won't get all impatient when he has to show me how to do it.