Life with He-man...

Well, we've had an eventful last week! Last, Thursday we had dinner with friends then headed to Berry to see the baseball team in the opening round of the playoffs. Berry won and earned their first trip, ever, to the NAIA World Series! AG wore his Berry onesie proudly. Friday, we had family come to town to celebrate cousin Stephanie's graduation. After the ceremony everyone came back to our house for food and fellowship. We took a picture with Clint and AG together. I found this humorous because AG looked so little next to Clint! (The picture doesn't show you how tall Clint is and how little AG is. 6' 6'' and 2' 2'' respectively.)

Later in the weekend AG came down with his first cold. We were fortunate that it did not prevent him from having surgery on Wednesday. We spent Tuesday night at GiGi and Granddad's so that we could get to Scottish Rite on time the next morning. On our way down we were able to see the Fullers at Will's baseball game vs. Cartersville. They enjoyed meeting AG for the first time. We got to Gwinnett late and slept very little. AG was really cranky before surgery because he didn't feel good. He did great and everyone was wonderful at the surgery center! They loved taking care of the little He-man. Afterwards we stopped by to see our friends Daniel and Amanda Lomax at their Chick-fil-A for breakfast before heading home to Rome. AG's arm is looking better and we are hoping this was his last treatment. We'll know in a few weeks if he'll need another one or not.

Friday, we met AG's cousin Ronnie J in Calhoun for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. Ronnie and AG are both getting so big. We enjoyed catching up and talking about how much fun the holidays are going to be this year with the two munchkins running around. They both enjoyed staring at each other from across the table. After lunch we headed to the outlets to pick up some new clothes for AG. He continues to grow like a weed! On Wednesday they weighed him before surgery and he was 16.28lbs. We also needed to get him a couple of swim suits for the beach. We decided to try AG in his stroller for the first time without his car seat. He did great and loved being able to watch everything.

After a rough night last night we decided to take AG to Immediate Care today. (This is the office that is open when we can't be seen at the pediatricians.) We were concerned that his cold might have developed in to an ear infection. I'm glad that we went because poor little guy did have ear infections. Needless to say we will be glad when AG is recovered from everything! Life is not fun when you have a sick child. We haven't had a whole lot of sleep the last few days. Hopefully, this next week will be better!

Lastly, AG's friend Hannah Caroline Withers was born yesterday morning! We are looking forward to seeing the Withers family in 3 weeks when we head to Florida for our family vacation. The last time AG and Hannah Caroline "saw" each other was New Years. (See below) This coming New Years will be even better now that they are both here!

What a day!

           

Well, today has been a long day. Yesterday, afternoon I received an email response from AG’s surgeon saying that we needed to schedule another treatment for his arm. (Which is totally fine and I had been expecting he would say this.) However, the logistics of scheduling it was going to be tricky. I was told we could do it next Wednesday, the 20^th. (I requested the earlier the better because I want him to have recovered and his arm scabbed over by the time we leave for the beach on June 13^th.) Now, AG turns 4 months on Monday, the 18^th, and had an appointment for his next round of vaccines. I decided that was a lot to put his little body through in less than 48 hours. So I requested to move his vaccine appointment and the earliest I could get him back in is June 9^th. Which was fine when I scheduled it and then I remembered several hours later that I had wanted to discuss starting AG on cereal. (He’s hitting all of his milestones and has started teething. Milk just isn’t cutting it anymore and he gets frustrated after he finishes eating!) So I had to call the pediatricians office back and ask the nurse if we could start him on cereal. We were given the green light to start and so I went out this afternoon to pick up some cereal. I also had to call and rearrange my appointments that I had set up for next Wednesday so that we could plan to be in Atlanta for AG’s surgery. This evening after dinner with J.Michael and Greg at Schroeder’s we came home to feed AG his “first meal”. While the boys rocked out on Guitar Hero AG had a bedtime snack. It was funny to watch because he didn’t know what to think about the spoon or the cereal. What a day, what a day!

            This week we’ve been busy with saying goodbye to seniors. Due to the weather on Saturday they moved graduation inside and so we didn’t have tickets to get in. However, Berry streamed it live over the net and we watched it at home before heading to campus to see everyone once graduation was finished. Afterwards we headed to a graduation party for a group of our seniors. AG enjoyed being passed around and “chatting” with everyone. Some friends of ours have a little boy and he is in love with “Baby AG”. He came up to me while I was holding AG and told me that he loved Baby AG’s chunky legs and feet. Yes, an almost 4 year old used chunky correctly in a sentence. We were all cracking up at the party. Sunday I had a wonderful first Mother’s Day with my boys! We had lunch after church with two other families that each have a little boy. AG will be playing with them before we know it.  Monday, we had breakfast with Meghan and Lauren before they headed to Charleston. We had a wonderful time chatting and talking about life now that they are both college graduates. On Monday night we had friends over for dinner. AG’s cousin Stephanie spent the night and they enjoyed “playing” together. Our friend J.Michael has also been staying with us these last few days post-graduation. One last visit before he moves to L.A. for grad school later this summer.

            Later, this week we are looking forward to celebrating AG’s cousin Stephanie at her graduation on Friday night at the Forum downtown. We are so proud of her and are excited to share in her special day. This weekend Andy will coach his kids in their final two games of the season. If the weather cooperates on Monday, we’ll head to campus to take AG’s 4 month pictures in his rocking chair. We are staying busy and looking forward to heading to the beach in a few weeks. 

Movin' right along...

Hard to believe that the school year is winding down. Sorry we haven't posted new pictures in the last two weeks. Life has been hectic as students are preparing to leave Berry. We've been spending a lot of time with them. (Senior banquets, graduation parties, dinner dates, etc.) Tomorrow AG and I will head to campus to watch graduation on the lawn in front of Greene and Memorial Library. (Andy has to coach.) Should be a wonderful afternoon to celebrate some of our favorite seniors.

Last week AG had a visit from his Nanny. It was great to see her and spend some time with her before she headed up to TN to see AG's cousin Ronnie J. We are looking froward to heading to the farm for Thomas Jefferson Academy's (TJA) graduation at the end of the month. (And showing AG off to all of his Smith relatives at the farm!)

In the midst of all that is going on AG is movin' right along. We go for his 4 month shots and check-up in a week. We are so grateful to have such a wonderful baby. He is sleeping 10+ hours at night. (He did his first 12 hour stretch last weekend.) Goes with the flow during the day and loves to play. He has figured out how to move himself around by kicking his heels/toes in and pushing. He moves around on his play mat on his back and in his crib on his belly. He's quite the chatter box already. (Just like his Daddy.) He loves to chime in when we have people over and the other day he was "singing" along to the music in the car. We are loving life and looking forward to a wonderful summer.

Thankful

Thankful 

So, it has been a few days written and I’ve had several ideas for different blog entries come to mind since my last entry. (We’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to write anything down.) Well the idea for this entry came to me tonight on my way home from campus. I want to take a moment to write about being thankful for my change of heart.

Three years ago this past Thursday, Andy and I were married. When we were first married we felt that we would be in Rome for the next two years tops. So in the first two years we got somewhat involved but still kept our sights on moving away. However, in the last year things have changed in more ways than one. We’ve become involved with different ministries at our church and the people there. We decided to start a family and welcomed AG in January. Andy was given the chance to coach two teams this past fall. We’ve put countless hours of work in to our house. We decided that I could stay home full time. We got involved with our local elections this past fall. And as we’ve done each of these things over this last year I would stop and wonder why we wanted to leave Rome? Why were we so set on leaving town? The longer we stay the more I never want to leave.

These are some of the things that I love about our life. I love the fact that we live so close to Berry. I love the fact that when I’ve had a long day I can retreat to the campus that I’ve loved since I was a little girl because somewhere in those 28,000 acres my soul finds rest. I love the fact that we are involved with college students and that we have the opportunity to watch them grow and change over their four years here. I love the fact that these students are now involved with my child’s life. I can’t wait to explore campus all over again through the eyes of my child. I love the fact that we know who AG’s kindergarten teacher will be. The teacher in me eagerly waits for AG’s first day of kindergarten because I know that it will be one of the best days of his life! (And it will be one of his best years of school.) I love the fact that each of the women in my bible study have some tie to Berry and our stories over lap in more ways than one. I love the fact that AG will have so many wonderful friends to grow up with. I love the fact that living in this small town has given Andy the opportunity to be a head soccer coach for three years now. I love the fact that we didn’t just vote for our elected officials this past fall…we know them. We worked and campaigned for them. I love that we’ve built incredible relationships with people. I love the fact that Samson gets groomed just down the street and that his groomer really cares about him. She appreciates Samson and loves to laugh with us when we tell her about his latest adventure.  I love the fact that through my horrible sciatica, during my pregnancy, my physical therapist became one of my close friends. I love that we can get from one side of town to the other in less than 20 minutes. I love that with each day that passes I’m so glad we stayed in Rome. I’m so grateful that my heart is happy and content with the life our family has here.