President's Day Weekend

Wow, can you believe it’s been a week now? After this past week’s events (as detailed in the post below), President’s Day weekend seems like it’s been a month ago.

Mom and Dad Scott have been planning this trip down for a while to see Luke, and it worked out because I had a four day weekend from Friday to Monday. They drove down to Augusta from Maryland (a 9-10 hr drive) on Thursday night, the 15th. Luke greeted them by waking up when they arrived at 10:30pm, and then cried when he didn’t remember them. He’s been really clingy lately since he’s stuck here with just us, and we don’t quite have the same amount of friends to hand him off to. We’re pretty much just a couple losers. And I think we’re ok with that.


Mom Mom and Luke


Grandpa Steve (1 of 2) and Luke

We spent Friday just hanging around home and the Augusta area. Mom has been walking to a workout tape, so she and Mindy both “walked” two miles in our living room. We then went on post since they’d never seen Fort Gordon - I tried to tell them that it wasn’t that great, but they wouldn’t listen...I showed them when we all agreed it was a pretty boring post. We took a walk there (another two miles or so for Mom and Mindy), and then decided to head out to get something to eat. We all went out to re-celebrate my birthday at the Outback. Luckily we beat the crowd and got right in (and also just as lucky, in my opinion, that I didn’t have to do PT the next morning. The week before, I did, and we did wind sprints – I almost had Outback three times that week). Everyone had a good time, and those jerks told on me and all the waiters and waitresses came out and sang; I did, however, receive free ice cream out the ordeal, so I had that going for me. After we ate, we went out to the mall to walk off our steaks. Nothing too exciting to report from that…I think Mindy got some jeans or something out of it, and Luke got some things from Mom Mom. I got nothing, so it doesn’t really stand out.


Mom and Mindy "walking" - yes, we made fun of them


Luke decided against the steak


My free ice cream

Saturday we wanted to take a road trip to see the sights. We were debating whether to hit Atlanta, Savannah, or Charleston, and ended up deciding on Atlanta. There’s a ton of stuff to do there, abut we were trying to be realistic and decided just to go to the World of Coke and then to the CNN tour. Not too much, right? Well, you know us. Our directions were crap - thanks for nothing, Coke and CNN websites - so we spent a ton of time we could have used sightseeing by driving around downtown Atlanta (we did discover that the new Aquarium looks pretty nice…from the outside). We had just enough time to go to Coke, which was ok, if you like looking at Coke paraphernalia for an hour and tasting the deliciousness of the Beverley bitter aperitif. Sorry, Wolf, maybe next time. There was a funny anecdote while we were in the Coke gift shop: I was carrying Luke, and Dad was pushing the empty stroller that was now full of our coats and bags. The place was packed, and with all the racks there was no room to maneuver. He accidentally lightly bumped into an old lady’s foot, who exclaimed in a nasally old lady voice, “Oooww, my foot!” He tried to joke about it and say that it was crowded, but then she told him it wasn’t funny. He said, “Well, excuse me” and she told him “Well, you’re not excused.” We spent the entire rest of the weekend imitating her. Thank you, cranky old lady, for giving us hours of comedy. We salute you.


Enjoying the ride to Atlanta


Are we there yet?


The capitol


Some Atlanta skyline


The closest we got to CNN..Mom and Dad said they were Fox fans anyway


It felt like the huge Coke ball would collapse and squash us all


My dad can't get enough coke...er, Coke


We're happy because they just gave us an unexpected military discount


Not a vending machine, by the way


How sweet


Anyone thirsty?


Coke and golf...Georgia in a nutshell


Any Lost fans out there?


My favorite part...free samples


Also Luke's favorite part


"I would like the Momma's Pancake breakfast."


The next Michael Jordan? Not if he's got Daddy's skills...


Mmm...applesauce


Luke was smoked

Sunday we went to church, and then afterwards we went up to visit some relatives of ours in Columbia, SC. That’s where my Mom Mom, my Mom’s mom, grew up and where she met my grandfather during the war (that would be WWII for those of you who are not historically inclined). Her family still lives there, even though she and her brother and sister are all passed away now. Mindy met Jan, Mom’s first cousin, during my Mom Mom’s illness and funeral, so she knew them too. We had a good time with them in the afternoon, and went out to eat at a seafood restaurant. Sunday night we ordered pizza and a movie.


The SC crew (and Mom...dirty Yankee)


Watching a movie with Dad

Monday morning Mom and Dad took off around 9-10am, but not before Luke puked all over us. Little did we know… Mom and Dad never did get sick, the jerks. We guess he probably got it at the church nursery or while we were out and about – the virus is flying all around Georgia; two other classmates of mine and their families have also gotten sick. Mindy has also landed a cold, which Luke has too, and I am sure to get as soon as it’s as inconvenient as possible.

It was a good time had by all. We have a few other visitors headed our way over the next few months here, so we’re going to try and hit some more sights around here. Maybe we’ll get them sick this time. Here's some random Luke pics:

Going for a shoebox ride

Tight cornering

Evidentally this is called cruising...not the same meaning I thought of when I first heard it

Blue-eyed boy

Can he change himself now?

Rough Week

Hey all!

Forgive my lack of communication these last few weeks. Last week was pretty busy and last weekend we enjoyed a great visit with Mom Mom and Grandpa Scott. This week has been filled with sickness. All that added together equals a lack of communication on my part. =) I’ll write more later about the fabulous weekend we had when I have a little more time to post pictures.

Monday morning Luke wakes up and is fine and then out of the blue starts throwing up. Not spitting up, but throwing up. It was incredibly sad and pitiful. He stopped throwing up midmorning and was sleepy (with lots of yucky diapers) throughout the rest of the day. We tried to keep him pumped full of fluids and I nursed him as much as possible. He ate great that night and we thought the worst was over.

Tuesday morning Luke refused to eat and I was starting to feel queasy myself. Since Luke refused to eat, I tried to nurse him often throughout the morning and continue filling him with as much water as he would take. Then I got sick…really really sick. Lot's of throwing up and such. I couldn’t hold anything down. Luke was feeling icky so in the midst of it all, I’m still trying to take care of him and nurse him as much as he wants. By the time afternoon came, I was texting Chris practically begging him to come home. By the time he finally got out of class, he promptly came home and got sick himself. So we were a pitiful bunch.

By late afternoon, I was in so much pain it was about all I could take. I knew I’d become really dehydrated, but there was nothing I could do since I couldn’t keep anything down. So I’m on the loveseat writhing in pain trying to convince Chris to take me to the doctor. With each passing minute the pain got worse and worse. Finally I convinced Chris to take me in. At this point I can barely walk without collapsing. We get to the ER and it was PACKED. I swear everyone from Ft. Gordon was there. Some really nice man did let me have his chair since I couldn’t even stand up and Chris checked us all in. It took forever and with each passing moment I became more and more dehydrated and the pain became more and more unbearable.

So they finally triage us and the nurse says there are no beds available and we’ll just have to wait. At this point I can’t even sit up anymore so I’m laying on the nasty floor and they finally let us go into a separate waiting room so I can lay down on a couch like thing since I wasn’t “allowed” to lay on the floor. Yeah, looking back I’m completely grossed out and embarrassed by the fact that I laid down on the floor, but at the time I literally couldn’t sit up. So, we wait and wait and I’m moaning and groaning and Chris and Luke are just trying to put up with me since they don’t feel the best themselves.

At some point during our wait I knew I was going to be sick again, so Chris tries to help me find the bathroom. He practically drags me there. By the time I get out, Chris is no where in sight and I pretty much just collapse on the floor in front of the men’s room thinking Chris was in there and that he would find me. Lucky for me it was a nurse in the bathroom. I was pretty incoherent at that point and he was asking me questions and I know I didn’t make any sense, but in my mind I thought I had to find Chris to help me up because I wasn’t “allowed” to be on the floor. The nurse got me into a wheelchair and finally into a room. So I’m lying on the bed in intense, constant, persistent pain, moaning and groaning, wondering why in the world no one is coming to help me. Finally 3 hours after we checked into the ER a doctor finally comes to see me. He was actually really nice and even got me a blanket since I was freezing. Probably another 30 minutes goes by and they do lab work and finally start some fluids. Another 30 minutes pass and they finally start some pain meds and anti-nausea meds through my IV. Of course this makes me throw up right away, but then it all kicks in and knocks me out. Finally some pain relief! I was way out in left field and when they took me to X-ray (to run some tests) I was so far gone that I couldn’t even stand up without someone coming in to hold me up. Of course standing up made me sick, so these poor X-ray techs are trying to be helpful-frantically trying to get me a bucket. I feel bad for them now, but at that time, I was just completely incoherent and pretty much unable to do what they wanted me to do. I know there was a lot of wheeling around the hospital, there was a CAT scan and finally by the time I got back to my room, a doctor was talking to Chris and Luke about their symptoms and I was coming out of my haze a bit. They give me another bag of fluids which brings more life back to me and I can actually think semi-straight again. Finally all the tests come back and the diagnosis is what I could have told them the minute we got in there. Severe dehydration and a stomach virus. Uh, hello Army hospital, had I had fluids when I first got there, I probably would’ve been fine. Yeah, so needless to say we got out of there around mid-night (after checking in at 4pm.)

I had to check back in to a doctor on Wed, so we spent all afternoon waiting in the waiting room for that. He said I was hydradted and sent me on my way. Yet another thing I could have told them...maybe I should become a doctor? =)

Neither Chris or Luke got hit as bad, but they’re still on the mend. Luke refuses to eat anything solid, so we’re still trying to push as much fluids and nursing as he’ll take. He doesn’t like juice so it’s hard to get even Pedialyte down him. We finally had to syringe it into his mouth so he wouldn’t get dehydrated too. So pray that he’ll start eating again. If he doesn’t eat today, I’m going to have to take him in tomorrow (it's been since Monday that he's eaten solid food.) Hopefully if that happens I can get an appointment.

Chris is still feeling tired, but he’s doing better. I’m still really shaky and weak and still haven’t been able to hold my food very well, but thanks to all the fluids, I’m still hydrated. I lost almost 10 pounds after coming home from the ER – and that was after I had the fluids! Craziness.

Anyway, I just wanted to ask for your prayers – especially for Luke to eat. Alright, I’m off to lie down. I’ll post pictures of our weekend hopefully this weekend. I hope all is going well for everyone!

Have a great day!


UPDATE – We’ve had some internet issues, so I wasn’t able to post the above blog after I wrote it. So I thought I would tack on an update. I’ve been able to syringe some food into Luke, so that’s really good. Also I have to go back in for a scan because of some enlarged lymph nodes one of the scans picked up. Nothing to worry about, it’s probably due to the severity of the virus and dehydration. So I’ll go in for that next week. Whooopee, more time to spend at the hospital. Blah! Oh well, at least they looked at the scans! =)

Luke is crying, so I must go. I'll update more this weekend if I can!

1 year from 30...

Hello all!

Let’s see, not much news to share, so this won't be too long…=)

We tried a new church on Sunday. It’s in South Carolina, but it’s only about a 20-30 minute drive from our apartment. The minute we walked in we were greeted with such friendliness and smiles - I felt like I knew the people already! Right off, someone asked if we were new and showed us where the guestbook was, took us to the nursery, showed us the sanctuary – it was great! The nursery was amazing so we were both really excited about that. I don’t know how excited the nursery attendants were – when we picked him up after the service they said he was fussy and they tried everything – feeding, changing his diaper, giving him his bottle – finally they found a rattle that he liked to chew on and he calmed down. I felt bad that he was fussy for them…but it’s not going to stop me from dropping him off next week! =) The music was very uplifting and the message was good. We felt good about the church from the start. I really felt like it was where we were supposed to go when right before the sermon; they sang the same exact song I had been listening to during my devotions all week long. Some may think it was just coincidence, but I think it was God reassuring my heart that this was the place he wanted us to be. I’ve been dealing with a lot of guilt about leaving the first church we started attending here in Georgia. The pastor is a friend of the family and the people are great. However, we just didn’t feel like it was where we were supposed to be.

Following the service, we headed home so Luke could take a quick nap and we could grab a light lunch. Since it was Chris’s Birthday, we had decided to go out to eat for supper. After Luke’s nap, we dropped by the mall where Chris picked up some much needed clothes and socks (they had a sale at JC Penney that just happened to fall on his birthday – what are the chances of that?!) =) After that we headed to Outback and savored some yummy steaks. All in all I think Chris has a good birthday.

Chris’s parents are coming up for a visit today! We are really excited! They should get here late tonight. Chris has a 4 day because of President’s Day, so we should all be able to spend some good quality time together. Of course I realize that this visit is mostly to see Luke and spoil him…which we’ll take advantage of and benefit from as well. =)

I think that’s about all. I'll post pictures from the weekend next week. Oh yeah, one more thing. I’m thinking of getting my hair cut. I can’t decide how I’d like it cut, so I’m posting two pictures of possibilities. Let me know which one you like. I go back and forth.

Hope all is going well for everyone!

Here are pictures to enjoy!

Chris's B-Day cake

These pictures were taken for Uncle Randy.

Luke is already a Yankee's fan!

Hair cut 1? Or


Haircut 2?

8 months

Hey ya’ll!

I thought I would post a few quick pictures while Luke is down for a nap. I’m hoping he’ll sleep awhile (ha ha! – we’ll see if that actually happens!) He’s exhausted and I’m exhausted. We went out to a buffet last night and I gave Luke some chocolate pudding. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal; I give him bites of pudding I’ve made at home. I think, however, that this pudding was made with whole milk, and Luke’s tummy just isn’t ready for that. SO that made for a VERY uncomfortable night last night. He was up constantly – shrieking and curling up. Even Chris woke up to his cries a few times, and if you know how Chris sleeps, you know it had to be bad. This morning I was so exhausted I literally couldn’t keep my eyes open. I put Luke down in his little play area and allowed myself to lie on the couch and drift in and out while keeping a keen ear on Luke – not my favorite way to sleep, but it helped take the edge off. Today his tummy is doing much better, but he’s pretty tired...which means bouts of crankiness. I’d rather have the crankiness than the pain he was in though - it was so sad to see him in that much pain - poor little guy!

Before that though, we had a lovely day. The weather was amazing so we got both Luke and Riley out for a long walk. I know I needed the fresh air, and I’m sure they did too.

Today Luke is 8 months which is just so hard to believe. Where has the time gone?

Alrighty, I’m off to get as much work done as I can before Luke wakes up. Hope all is going well for everyone! Here are some pictures!


Luke LOVES his highchair! The first time I went to take him out, I was pulling off the tray and he was trying to pull it back in place. It was too cute! So I put the tray back on and let him sit and play in it for awhile longer.


Cruising in his stroller on our walk...



Luke hasn’t had a pair of shoes that fit for a few months now. We finally got him some at Babies R’ Us the other day (size 3 – he’s got some big feet for a baby!) It was 2 pairs for $12.00 – can’t beat a deal like that! He was enthralled with them to say the least.

Luke has started sticking out his tongue – which looks hilarious. His tongue is actually smaller then it appears in this first picture – I think it’s the angle - but I thought these turned out really funny.

Highchair Happiness!

We just got a highchair and I’m SUPER excited! We had a booster seat that worked great while we had a table and chairs, but our table and chairs are in storage. We had been setting the booster seat on the couch when we fed him, but he’s just gotten to strong and can tip it just by leaning over. So it was time for a highchair. =)

We also found the baby bath seat from our unpacking, so tonight was the first time Luke went in the tub with his seat. I still feel a little uncomfortable having him in the big tub by himself, but he was splashing so much in the kitchen sink that all of our appliances where getting covered in water, so it was time for that move as well.

Alrighty, I’m off to do a few household chores and then head to bed. I was just so excited about the highchair, I wanted to share!