First Tummy Bug :(

On Tuesday around noon, Will started feeling really warm so I decided to take his temperature and the arterial thermometer read 101.6 degrees. And, due to being a first time mom, the waterworks started. I knew he would be okay, but the idea that your baby is sick makes you feel terrible because they can't verbally tell you what's wrong.

Of course I immediately called the doctor, and they told me to give him Tylenol as I suspected they would say. As the day progressed, I noticed Will had quite the tummy issues, and without having to give you too many details realized he was on the verge of his first tummy virus. (I know technically it's a stomach, but tummy is way cuter.) From Tuesday through Thursday Will's little tummy virus did not let up, and it being Thursday evening now, has not gone away completely. Wednesday evening was definitely the worst as he was up until about 2:00 am with various symptoms, and then up again at 5:30 am again. Even Ben was up at 12:30 am on the phone with me just making sure he was okay. (He was still in Alexandria.) Needless to say, Will and I had a great nap today.

So there you have it...3 days so far of Will's first little tummy bug. The funny thing of it is, our sweet baby boy smiled throughout the whole thing, and never let it get him down. But, I must say he required a lot more snuggle time with mommy (as if he doesn't get enough already...) But, as I can recall from my childhood when you're sick all you want is someone to love on you and just hold you until you feel better.

Zoo Trip

Over Labor Day weekend, Ben and I decided to take Will on his first trip to the Acadiana Zoo in Broussard. We went with Grammy, Nonna, Beebee, Eli, Ezra, and Elena. The weather was overcast and a little under 80 degrees, which is not bad in south Louisiana. It was perfect. Will was a great the whole time. I think he enjoyed the time just walking around as much as he enjoyed the animals. Ben and I look forward to taking Will on many more zoo adventures in the future.


Will and Grammy are intrigued by whatever is over the fence.


Will and me on the train.


Will and Elena looking at something over to the right.


Will starting to get sleepy.


And he's out. The Zoo can be exhausting!


Ditto


Nanny and her sweet boys.

Mmmmm...Tasty!

I cannot believe it is already here, but Will is a little over 5 months and is starting to explore solid foods beyond rice cereal. So, this will be an ongoing post as he tries out different foods.




9/9/09 - Carrots
Verdict: He sucked them down. However, he didn't even react differently when he ate them so I don't know if he could even tell the difference between the carrots and his rice cereal.


9/20/09 - Sweet Potatoes (sweet taters)
Verdict: Loved them. Notice the thumb going straight to his mouth. He does that after the spoon is pulled out of his mouth.


9/25/09 - Squash
Verdict: Thought about it for a minute, but then decided he liked them.


9/29/09 - Green Beans
Verdict: He made a sour looking face for the first few bites, but once he got used to the different flavor, he sucked them down.


10/2/09 - Bananas (nanas)
Verdict: Could've licked the jar if we let him. Every bite was accompanied by "MMMmmm," and he had his mouth opened before I could fill the spoon each bite.

Siblings

As most of you know, Lulu is still in Lafayette living with her grandparents because our condo doesn't allow dogs. For the most part she hasn't been very interested in acknowledging Will's presence when we go home on the weekends, and pretty much goes about her own business. Also up to this point, Will has not shown a real interest in Lulu either. However this weekend, both Will and Lulu have turned over a new leaf and acted more like brother and sister (hehe) as you can see in the pictures.


Will thinking that she is an awfully hairy person :)


"If I stare at her long enough, she will have to look at me." (Notice Lulu trying to avoid his eyes.)


"Hmmm, how can I get this without her noticing me?"


Sibling rivalry

Toledo Bend Country

Hanging out at the park with our little Gilligan.

This past weekend we went on a random, spur of the moment trip with my family to Toledo Bend, and was it fun. In order to get the true gist of the weekend, I must start from the beginning.

Well, in true Holles form, what should have been a quick 3 hour trip (for those from Lafayette) turned into about a 6 hour trip (due to taking me forever to get packed, thus taking us a long time to leave Alexandria, a stop off at Shoney's to have some pie, a trip to McDonald's for the boys mid-afternoon snack, then a trip to back to McDonald's to get the right order, and then playing a little game of who will actually make it there because Mom and I are the only ones with maps, and everybody else who is coming behind us just assumes we will have cell service out there, which we did not.) In fact, Ben was the only one who made it there with no complications at all. Good job Darlin!

After a standard trip in the car such as this, we all finally arrived in one piece, and when we got there I must admit were slightly taken aback. Let's just say we traded in our Asheville rental homes with jacuzzi tubs and pool tables for a little place on the lake appropriately named, "Da Camp," that came with a fish cleaning table and a motorboat, minus the motor. For those of you who know me, I'm not typically a "camping" kind of girl, but we had kick butt air conditioning, running water, a full kitchen, 3 bedrooms, & 2 bathrooms, so I wouldn't exactly say we had to really "rough" it.

The majority of the days were spent relaxing outside on the swing, rowing in the boat, and fishing off of the pier, and the nights consisted of a lot of eating (the food supply looked as though we were going to be there for a month) and poker, and of course watching Will and Elena play around on the floor. Ben also got to get in some good photography time. (Surprise, surprise.)

On Saturday we also drove to Cypress Bend, and the little ones swam in the lake there and Will went down the playground slide for the first time with Ben. Speaking of Will, he and Elena both were so good, and just fun to watch. They really seemed to enjoy sitting out on the swing taking everything in. The Hoover boys also always provide them both with great entertainment.


Will's first trip down a slide with his Daddy.

All in all, the weekend was a success. The only thing we wanted to change was the amount of time we were there. We wish we could have been there one more day. It would be perfect for a 3 day weekend. Considering it's proximity to all of us, I see many more trips to "Da Camp" or other camps on the lake in our future.

Oh and by the way, many props to Mom and Dad for deciding to go, booking the house, and basically making the trip happen all within a 30 minute time period. Impressive.


Dockside with Little Bean.


Eli got up extra early to fish.


Morning with the boys.


Ezra fishing with his second favorite uncle.


Stat of the weekend: The boys caught 10+ fish each. Ben caught zero.


The gals at the park.


Last day on the dock.

Happy Birthday to Me!

On Thursday, August 20, Ben and I celebrated my 27th birthday in Alexandria with the Byrds at our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Los Portales. Then we got to go home to Lafayette to celebrate with the families. As I was sitting down for my birthday dinner on Saturday evening, and looked around the table at all of my favorite people in the world, I thought about the previous year.

As most of you know 2008 into early 2009 was a challenging time for Ben and me. I know to some it may not seem as though it was that rough, but for us it was the first time we really had to make some tough, life changing decisions as a married couple regarding career choices, finances, location, living situation, selling the house, etc. Not to mention also dealing with emotions from sadness and apprehension about our move to joy and elation about our upcoming arrival and being closer to our families. And of course I always had the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel," in my head, but must admit that sometimes I never thought that would come or that everything would be okay.

And that's exactly what I thought about in the middle of my birthday dinner on Saturday night...That everything is okay. It was a heck of a ride, and I must admit we acquired some bumps and bruises along the way, but we're here and still standing. We have made it through the sad losses of Paw Paw and Grandma Jo, went to Austin, moved to Alexandria, left Lulu in Lafayette with her grandparents, sold our home (after nearly 11 months), and most importantly added a sweet, precious, snuggly, funny, cute, adorable, huggable, lovable, dear baby boy to our family. I couldn't be any happier and feel life just doesn't get any better than this. We now know that we can get through anything that comes our way, especially if we have each other and the support of our families.

After writing such a long blog, I guess I could just put it simply and safely say...

My Birthday Wish(es) all came true!


The birthday weekend started out on a perfect note during a photo shoot with Will.


Will is looking over at the yummy cookie cake, and wishing he had teeth to eat it.

Little Bean

Okay, so I know Halloween is still a couple of months away, but we could not pass this costume up. Plus he will probably be too big for it by October and we will have to get something else, but it was so worth it for this photo op. And yes for those of you who are thinking it looks like a pea pod, it is, but we figured it could pass for a bean.

We present to you our sweet Little Bean...


I could just eat him up!


That smile looks kind of sneaky.