4 months old

Rylan's Dedication 8/23/2009

Rylan's Dedication Day was Sunday, August 23, 2009 at New Life UPC in Birmingham, AL. Bro.Sutton preached an amazing message! We will always know that Rylan has angels watching over him and following him where ever he goes. He has no need to be afraid of worried because he is in the hands of God.

We had a lot of family come to be a part of his dedication. We had the Sulligent crew: Grandma, Melinda, Dillon, Brianne, Caitlyn, David & Sonya. Then there was the ones from Calera: Glen, Dialyn, Nathan, Kai & Kamilah. Bessemer, AL: MawMaw & PawPaw. Centreville, AL: Neida & Shelby. Atlanta & Brunswick, Georgia: Deb, Meg & Kain. Then, of course, my parents and Chase. So we definitely had a big bunch!! It was great. We took lots of pictures. I wish I had time to post all of them. It took about 45 min. to take Rylan's picture with everyone. We did have one interruption though - A GOOD interruption. Kai wanted to be baptized, so we paused and watched him be baptized in the precious name of Jesus. So it was an awesome day!! We are so glad to be a part of an ON FIRE church!! God is good!

After we left the church we went to eat at Crackle Barrell on 280 and we were there for a while. I don't think we got out of there until 3:00. But we had a great time seeing everyone and having them be a part of a special day that we are not ever going to forget!!

What a Milestone..

He loves a blankie over his face!!

My little man

Yes, he finally grabbed his bottle and held it (with a little help)...what a milestone. I am in awe...Grandma was holding him and she told me to come look at him cause he was holding his bottle. Yep, he was. He has finally learned how to use both hands and coordinate them to work together.

"I can't get it to button right!!"

I was taking a shower last night and Butch was getting Rylan ready for bed. When I got out I heard Rylan fussing so I went to the bedroom and Butch threw his hands up and said "I can't get it to button right and he's getting frustrated with me!" So I looked at his pajamas and saw that he missed a button and I was like, what's so difficult about that...and Butch said "I can't get his feet to do right in it." I looked down and the feet on the pj's were backward and I realized Butch had put the pajamas on him backward!! I laughed so hard...well we both got a good laugh out of it. He didn't believe me at first but I showed him the tag (shown below in the pic) and then he believed me. Rylan just looks like he's puzzled at what's going on. It was hilarious!! Butch never ceases to give me a laugh..I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and father to Rylan. I have a feeling Rylan is going to have a few laughs because of his daddy when he gets older...

These were taken before our trip to Wal-Mart yesterday. The little hat was from Nonna and it looks so cute on him!! My baby boy is learning to "talk". He really is just blowing bubbles and humming, but he thinks he's carrying on a conversation. I love it. At 3:30 when I was feeding him this morning he was just smiling and talking to me. It was so sweet and precious. He's learning so many new things. He can definitely move all over the bed if he's laying on it. Rylan doesn't know how to be still at this point - unless he's asleep! But that's a boy for you. It's just a little glimpse of what he will be like when he's very mobile. I have a feeling it's going to be a 100 times worse! :) But that's ok, cause I love playing with him now that he is becoming so interactive! It's a blast. I love being a mommy!

Prunes!

Last night Rylan and I decided to take a bath and spend our time having fun! Rylan has gotten to where he realizes he can splash in the water and have fun at bath time. He's always loved to have a bath, but he is finally interacting with the water and toys. It's a lot of fun. We stayed in there so long that our fingers and toes were prunes! We would have stayed in longer, but hmm.....how should I say this...Rylan had a blow out while we were in the tub! How gross. I was calling for Butch to come and help hold Rylan so I could clean the tub out and he got in there and was asking what was wrong and I showed him the tub - he almost vomited. He was gagging!! haha. I said "At least you weren't sitting in it like I was!!" It was bad. I dont know if we'll take any more baths together. I might just let him take a bath alone and I'll hang over the tub to bathe him. I knew one day that was bound to happen....I just didn't know it would turn my stomach so bad! Ewww....phewww...!

Can't Sleep...Just thinking About 16 weeks ago....

16 weeks ago, I was very excited, nervous, frantic, worried, in pain and just wanting Butch by my side because we were about to have the ride of our lives.....

It all started on April 23. I had my OB appointment scheduled for that afternoon and had on a beautiful maternity dress (that I had only gotten to wear once!!) and had plans to go eat lunch with Mom and her friends from work after my appointment...but my day didn't turn out as planned. Mom accompanied me to my appointment with Dr. Kennedy that afternoon...it always calmed my nerves to have someone with me to talk to! So we got into the examination room and the nurse checked my blood pressure and it was 146/92 - uh oh! Dr. Kennedy had been telling me to watch my BP cause when it gets high it puts me and Rylan at risk and if it got over 140/90 to call her office immediately. So when the nurse told me what my BP was I knew Dr. Kennedy was going to do something...I just didn't know what. She had already put me on "house arrest" mostly. I was only allowed to go out and about for a very limited amount of time. When I went to Wal-mart I got to ride in the automatic wheel chair!! :) Ok..back to the story. Umm...Dr. Kennedy came into the exam room, checked dilation & effacement - and I had not progressed at all...so that disappointed me big time. She then sat down and told me that my blood pressure has not been perfect the whole time I've been pregnant and that what she would like to do is get me admitted to Labor & Delivery right then and let them check some blood work and induce me that night or the following day. That was a lot of news at once and she saw my jaw drop practically. She then said that if I didn't want to be induced that was my call, but that if we waited, we would only be waiting for Rylan or me to get sick. I told her I was not at all fighting her on that..I was ready to have him! I was 38 weeks, so that wasn't too early. So after we left there I immediately called Butch and told him that I was being admitted and told him we were gonna have a baby either that night or the next day...and guess what - he didn't believe me. Honestly, I had to get my mom to tell him before he would believe me. It was really bad because out of all possible days, he had picked that Thursday night to work over and do a special job that was going to take him all night. He asked if I wanted him to come up there then and I told him no; Dr. Kennedy was running test and she was going to come talk to me at 5 pm and tell me whether they were gonna induce that night or the next day.So Mom and I went down to L&D and got admitted in my pretty pink and white maternity dress that I was so proud of...and got a lot of compliments on in L&D by the way. Of course they made me replace that beautiful dress with your typical hospital gown, hooked me up to all kind of monitors for the baby's heartbeat and one that showed contractions and the strength of them. I then got an IV, well let me rephrase, I had a wonderful nurse, but she blew the vein on her first try, the second try it stayed in my left hand for a while until the needle got out of the vein and swelled my hand up, and then the third times a charm. :) And I guess from the stress of the day, my body started having contractions - OFTEN, but they were not unbearable, YET. They took some blood to run the test that was going to determine whether she would induce me that evening or Friday. In the meantime I was starving because we were going to eat lunch after my appointment and obviously didn't get to. Nurse Jessica told me that we had to wait and see if the test showed up normal before I could eat. They did - and my mom's friends, Pam and Tammy, brought me my favorite - chicken salad sandwich from Zoe's in Homewood! I enjoyed that meal more than anything! So by this time my mom and I are making a list of what all I need for the following days at the hospital. I had my hospital bag packed, partly, and we were staying at their house for the remainder of my pregnancy so she didn't have to go too far since all the stuff was at her house. She left me at the hospital for a while by myself to go get my luggage plus Butch's luggage since he was going to be coming straight from work. I don't know how he got any work done because he kept calling and checking on me!! Haha. So I was quite anxious and couldn't rest comfortably for a while. I was wanting my hubby with me so bad. This was the day we had been dreaming of. So at 5 pm, Dr. Kennedy came in and they did a procedure called a cervical ripening balloon. I won't go into explaining exactly how they did that, but what it does is help your cervix to dilate and soften. I have never felt such pressure and pain in my life! After they did this I started having major contractions and I told Mom that I may end up having a baby that evening, but I didn't. They gave me Nubaine (sp?) for the pain and it made me really woozy. I attempted taking a shower after my mom got back and I barely could stand up and almost fell in the shower! My mom had to shave my legs...how embarassing. My dad, Chase, Aunt Melinda and Grandma came and visited for a while and were really excited about what was to come. By about 9 pm my wonderful husband showed up and I could not have been happier. I was drugged up, but I still knew to appreciate the fact that he was there and holding me in his arms. My family left with the promise to return by 6 am for D-Day. Butch and I rested pretty good, with the exception of the cervical ripening balloon that was a PAIN that increased my contractions. But 6 am came quick and the Pitocin was started, the cervical ripening balloon was taken out, the "bag of waters" was snagged and on your mark, get set, go! Except....over the course of 2 1/2 hours, lots of visitors and as much pain as I could handle I asked for the epidural. That didn't turn out so bad and I felt really great afterwards. Then I started shaking uncontrollably and it wasn't because I was cold, because I WASNT. It was completely involuntary shaking that I had no control over. The nurses put warm blankets on me, but it didn't help. The only time it would stop would be if I closed my eyes. So I did that as much as possible. I was embarassed to talk to the nurses or visitors cause I couldn't help it. But after another 3 hours passed I had not dilated any more past 5 cm. I was getting anxious to meet my little one, but we were not progressing! Dr. Kennedy came in and told me that I could try for another hour to see if I would progress or go ahead and have a C-section. I asked "well if I were you, what would you do?" She laughed and said that I had gotten up to 5 cm, but I was actually reversing back to 4 cm so she didn't see me progressing any more and plus if I waited another hour she wouldn't be able to do my c-section and it would be another doctor. Well when I heard that, my mind was made up - C-section it was! I was very upset and scared and everything happened so fast after we made that decision. My parents barely made it back in there to see me before we left for the OR cause they had went to get some lunch, and I told them what we were having to do and I was crying, Butch was crying....and we were all crying I think! So they got Butch put in his scrubs and face mask and hairnet cover, and slippers for his shoes and they gave me a boost on my epidural to numb me even more for the surgery. They didn't let Butch come into the OR with me at first. They rolled me in and there were 4 nurses that lifted me (I'm completely dead weight at this point) and put me on the operating table and I almost fell off! The nurse at my head had to tell them that I was leaning to the right so they pulled me back up in the center. Haha. They got the curtain put up in front of my face, the anesthesiologist was at my head walking me thru all they were doing and I kept asking her where Butch was...and she finally told them to bring him in right before they started. The moment Butch got to my head and immediately asked him if he had prayed because I was scared to death. I was a nervous wreck and he was too. He just kept encouraging me and telling me everything was going to be fine. The anesthesiologist walked me thru everything the doctors were doing and then she mentioned that she saw the baby and they were about to get him out and told Butch he could start taking pictures....and then I heard the most precious sound in the whole world...the cry of my baby boy. Dr. Kennedy pushed the curtain down and held him up for me to see and I looked at him and thought, his nose is as wide as his head! Isn't that horrible?? Haha. Oh well..can't take back first thoughts! They told Butch he could go to where Rylan was and I of course was stuck to the table and only able to watch what they were doing to Rylan on a TV screen that was up on the wall - that a nurse had to block my view of by watching it herself! Why couldn't she just go over to where he was and see it there instead of blocking my view of the first minutes of my child's life! That irritated me so bad. But I got over it real quick when the nurse brought him to me wrapped up tightly and blinking his little eyes and seeing his mommy for the first time. They told me what he weighed (6 lbs., 7 oz.)and how long he was (20 1/2 in) and I was so proud. That was the sweetest moment of our lives. Butch and I were both crying and then I felt like I was about to pass out and vomit so I told the nurse and they got him from me and sure enough, I vomited. I was so sick...it was horrible. Butch went with Rylan and the nurse to the nursery where he could show him off to the family thru the nursery window. I imagine there were a lot of happy faces! Mom told me that Butch was crying, awww..I wish I could have seen that moment. They took me back to the recovery room where I still wasn't feeling well, but I watched them bathe Rylan and then he came to me and I looked at his sweet little face and was so captivated and I hugged and kissed on him and hugged and kissed Butch. :) We had our little family finally...God's greatest gift to us. The next few days consisted of lots of visitors and trying times with learning to breastfeed and soreness from the surgery, but we came thru it with flying colors I think. We could never be more proud of our little one. We are so thankful for the blessing God has given us and how God took care of us on April 24, 2009, 16 weeks ago......

Busy Weekend :)

We visited Sulligent again this Thurs-Sat. Rylan got to visit with Great Grandma, Great Aunt Melinda and his cousins. We had a yard sale too and did pretty good. It was super hot though so we stayed inside until someone drove up. Haha. I feel like all we've done is eat since I got here! That's what you are supposed to do when you go to Grandma's I suppose.

Rylan's thrush is a little better. Hopefully it will be completely well very soon. Just going to give ya an update. :)

Rylan's 1st Infection -THRUSH :(

Sunday I noticed little white spots on Rylan's tongue and associated it with leftover spit up or milk on his tongue at first. Then when I saw them later Sunday afternoon I talked to my mom about it and she said it might be thrush. I didn't know what that was, but I just completely forgot about it and we went to church and got home late Sunday evening and I looked in his mouth again and the white spots or "patches" were still there. So I told Butch about it and he said we probably needed to call the pediatrician Monday morning. Monday morning rolled around and Rylan was still asleep and I had not looked in his mouth yet to see if it was worse so I pulled out a book that Blue Cross sent me that's called Taking Care of Your Child (great book for new moms by the way.) This book covers more than a 100 healthcare problems and symptoms, and it's even easy to use. You simply look up your child's symptom, and you'll find a complete explanation of probable causes, how serious the problem is, and how you might quickly relieve your child's symptoms at home. There are easy to follow charts that provide clear guidelines and tell you exactly when to contact or go see your child's doctor. So I simply went to "mouth sores" in the book and the first paragraph says this, "...In infants, large white spots may appear on the roof or sides of the mouth or the tongue due to a monilial yeast infection commonly referred to as thrush. Thrush can be treated effectively by medication, but it often disappears by itself." ok....So now I have an idea of what it is and that it is treatable! whew! On the chart it says if there are large white spots on the roof of the mouth or tongue to suspect thrush and call your medical advisor. I called Rylan's pediatrician and they called him in a prescription for nystatin which kills fungal infections. After he woke up I looked in his mouth and it was even worse. He has the spots on the insides of his cheeks and the inside part of his upper and lower lips as well. So we are starting the meds today and hoping that it will clear up. Other than him being a little cranky during the day, the patches of sores in his mouth don't seem to hurt him when he's eating. So I'm glad for that. So keep him in your prayers!

Sleeping All Night - HOW SCARY?!?

kicked back relaxing in his bouncy seat

sleeping the day away as daddy would say!

Mommy and Rylan Jude

14 weeks old

Kisses for Rylan!

I know all you newer moms are going to be completely jealous when I say that Rylan has slept thru the night the past few nights! (*cough*Casey*cough*)lol. But your day is coming sooner than later, hopefully. The first night, which was this past Saturday, Rylan really scared me because we went to bed at 10:00 pm and I evidently went out like a light and did not get up til 6:30 am to get ready for church and I realized that I had not gotten up during the night to feed Rylan!! I immediately went to the bassinet to check to see if he was breathing (this fear is a VERY SCARY thing) He was still breathing, thank the Lord, and so I went ahead and got dressed for church and figured he would be awake by the time I got finished - nope! By this time it's like 8:00 am, so Butch woke him up and we got him fed and headed out the door for church. So all in all he slept a whole whopping 10 HOURS without waking for a feeding...WOW! I thought that it was just a one night thing, but on Sunday night, he did the same thing, only for 8 hours between feedings...but hey, I'm not complaining. I do have to admit that I do miss our time together during the night, even though I'm barely awake! It just makes me realize he is growing up already. How bittersweet can it get? On one hand you want them to sleep thru the night and then the other wants that sweet precious time during the night when he is smiling at you while he's being fed and you know he loves you just by the look in his sweet little eyes...and they are also saying "thanks Mom for taking care of me"...I guess???!!? I'm pretending that's what he's saying..haha. Babies are truly a gift from God. I love Rylan more than anything in this world. I am just not ready for his next big boy steps....whatever it might be.

We Went A Visitin'

My best friend from high school , Megan, just recently had her little boy, Xander Gage. He was born on July 30, which also happens to be his mommy & daddy's birthdays as well! How ironic is that?? So on July 31 Rylan and I went a visitin' to see the new mommy and baby. He was so precious and teeny tiny. He weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz - which was a whole pound more than what Rylan weighed at birth and I can not remember Rylan being that small! It was mind boggling. We had a great time while we were there. I got to see Megan's mom and her grandparents, whom I have not seen in a year. They were tickled over Rylan (but I have a feeling they were tickled a lot more of Xander..hehe..which is normal for grandparents!) Xander Gage is a very beautiful baby boy - so congrats to the Megan & David! Love you guys. :)