Here's why...

OK, so here's why I have been awful at updating my blog and posting pictures...

I am pregnant again!!!!!!

Yes, it was planned, but, as I get further along, I am wondering what the heck we were thinking! I am due October 27th, and am about 9 weeks along now... we had our first ultrasound Friday, and everything looked great! I am EXTREMELY tired (partly due to Sam, partly to baby #2), but I figure that I need to learn to function in this state of tiredness for the next few years!!!! I have had morning sickness again... all day!!!! It's not quite as bad as when I was preggy with Sam, but it's harder, I think, because I am chasing Sam constantly! I have actually been napping (hence, no computer!), and Mama and Daddy have been AWESOME!!!! I go out there one or two (sometimes 3 or 4) nights a week, and they take care of both me and Sam! I am so incredibly blessed to have such loving parents!!!!! They are DEFINITELY the busiest retired people I know... between me and Sam (Mama has done laundry and cooked and all that fun stuff), going and helping Bo with stuff, both of their mothers at different ends of the state needing something or another, and keeping up their own home, they are BUSY!!!! BJ says he's the lowest maintenance of us all.... yeah....

Anyway, that's my excuse! I'll still try for updated pictures soon - right now, I need sleep!!!!

Bad Mommy!!!

Oh, what a bad mommy I am!!!! I have promised pictures, but, in all honesty, I haven't TAKEN that many lately!!!!! What's my problem????

Well, last week, when Sam and I went to Mama and Daddy's for Thursday night, because BJ had a late meeting; it turned into Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights!!!!! (BJ came out there after work on Friday) We went to the farm on Saturday... and I think Mama MAY have gotten a COUPLE of pictures on her camera!!!!! I'll post those when I get them!!!

Sam FINALLY clapped... we have been trying this patty-cake thing for awhile, but, what got him to do it, you ask???? GOING 30 MPH ON THE 4-WHEELER!!!!! It was SO CUTE!!!!! Mama was driving with Sam in front of her; Daddy was behind Mama holding onto Sam, and he was just laughing and clapping the whole time they went fast!!!!! Now, I'm sure that's all kinds of breaking the law, but it was worth it for that smile and that clap!!!

Now, he plays patty-cake all the time!

And another thing that just makes him giggle and smile (Pop Pop discovered) is brownies!!!! When he gets a little bite, he just goes nuts!!!!! Again, SO CUTE!!!!

Well, here are the pictures I have...

Sam discovered that he can 'open' doors - it's just SO FRUSTRATING when they're locked!!!

Here's his first 'big boy' boo-boo... can you see it? It's on his chin! He fell after he flushed the toilet for me, and decided he wanted to go un-roll the toilet paper! His mouth was bleeding, and I didn't even know he hurt his chin until the next day!!!! It was scary for both of us, but we survived!!!He's SO MUCH bigger than the last picture we have of him doing this! Which will probably be the last picture of him drinking his bottle, since he's ALMOST ONE!!!!!! I can't believe it!!!

That's all for now!!!

Sam-date time!

With Sam, there is always a need for an update... so, here we go!!!!

• He is walking around with his walker and all around the furniture! Last night he 'accidentally' took his first step alone - he was walking between furniture and had to let go of the couch to get to the chair! Won't do it again, though!
• He pushed his plastic toy box over to the couch the other day, climbed on top of them and onto the couch! I was right there just seeing what he was going to do with it, but he looked like he had been doing it forever. He later thought he should push the boxes over to the baby jail wall and tried to climb over to the fire place... oh, what he learns SO QUICKLY!!!
• He called 911 yesterday morning! The Gwinnett county police called me back, and I had to explain that my baby called them and there was no emergency! They probably thought I had a 2 or 3 year old!!!!
• Sam fell and got his first bloody lip and chin... it was so sad (and scary)!!!!! He then scratched over his eye after his morning nap, then got the other eye after his afternoon nap... needless to say, he looks abused!!!!
• He has now started pointing at EVERYTHING!!! We were in the grocery store and pointed at every balloon we saw... Mimi and Pop Pop got him three, and he LOVES playing with them!!!
• He has an arsenal of words now: balloon, Mimi, Pop Pop, Big, Ba for bottle, bana for banana, hi, bye, ball, bang, Rock, puppy, , EEEEE and AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
• He also doesn't want to be rocked to sleep. He pushes me away, I lay him down (for nap or at night), and he lays there and, sometimes he plays awhile, and sometimes he just goes right to sleep!
• He's so smart, obviously, but he is so much fun to watch explore and discover things!

Sam and I are at Mama and Daddy's, so I don't have my recent pictures, but, I promise to post some soon!!!! He's gotten so big! He weighs 25 lbs, and he's tall now!!! He needs to be able to walk so I can quit carrying him everywhere!!!!!

It's been a week...

Quick update on the Laterveers...

• My dad's mom fell and broke her hip and her wrist up in Rome last Friday... Mama and Daddy had to go up there that night and were up for over 40 hours - not a good thing, so they were then sick!
• Mama, Sam and I went to Albany to see the other grandmother and take her to one of her doctor's appointments on Monday... we got back Wednesday, but it was so late that Sam and I just spent the night with them and came home Thursday night!
• Daddy had to pick up his plane in the midst of all of this - so Mama and I were able to pick him up at the airport on our way home from Albany (oh, yeah, and he was on his way home from Rome).
• BJ's brother is on Spring Break this coming up week, so he is here staying with us this weekend! He loves seeing Sam - they're so cute together!
• I wanted him to have a yummy home-cooked meal when he came home from college, so I cooked yesterday (huge feat with Sam pulling on my leg!!!)
• Friends are coming over for dinner tonight, so I'm cooking again... good, though, because Brandon will get another home-cooked meal, and he and BJ can take care of Sam while I cook!
• I haven't even been able to look at my email, MySpace or Face Book until today!!!!! I believe it's been over a week... yes, major withdrawals... rivaling those of caffeine withdrawals!!!!!

Busy week, but all fun things... except for the broken bones, of course! She's doing better... they should be moving her to rehab today or Monday, so that's a good sign!!!!!

I have some pictures, but not the time to upload... stay tuned!!!!

Our weekend...

This past weekend, BJ and I went to Gatlinburg while Sam and Stormie went to Mimi and Pop Pop's!!!! Everyone had a great time (well, Stormie and Rocky wish Sam had let them sleep a little more!)

It snowed in Gatlinburg while we were there, we went to the Ripley's Museum, the Aquarium, The Guinness Book of World Records Museum, and on a Haunted Adventure! There was plenty of shopping too!!! It was great to get away and relax and to be on our own schedule! I dare say, though, that four nights was a long time away from our little man!!!! I missed my little guy, and every kid we heard or saw made us think of him and wonder what he was up to now!!!

Here's the snow...

BJ in the snow...Me in the snow... (can you tell we're from GA where it doesn't snow that often!!!???)

At Mimi and Pop Pop's, Sam has accomplished even more: he now RUNS in his walker, chases the dogs with NO problem, flushes the toilets, drinks through a straw, and has even stood by himself (he didn't realize he did, though!)!!!! He is taller and heavier, and he cried when we got him back in Athens yesterday afternoon!!!!!!! =( He has not one, but TWO new pairs of shoes, new clothes, and loves any food Mimi and Pop Pop offer him!!!! When I offer new foods, it gets spit back out at me!!!!! I don't know what their trick is!!!!

Sam "talks" all the time now... he has developed his own language! Sometimes I know what he's trying to say, other times I know he's trying to say SOMETHING!!! We'll get it down soon!!!!

Here we go with the pictures...

Sam and Stormie nose-to-nose...

Sam eating his first banana...

Sam eating a banana for breakfast at Mimi and Pop Pop's...Oh! Look at the mess... and notice the bed-head!!!!On the move...And up the stairs...Where is everybody????Stormie and Rocky playing... kind of... Rocky is trying to tell Stormie to leave him alone!Mimi and Sam ready for a ride on the mule...

Sam and Pop Pop on the mule...Sam flushing the toilet... isn't it cute????Oh! My! He found the toilet paper...Awww... Mimi and Pop Pop just let him go and go...

And GOOOOOO... Really... that's enough, don't you think????

He needs to flush all of that toilet paper on the floor there!!!!

All in a days.... SOMETHING!

So, now SAM has a confession to make... he would be JUST AS HAPPY if we would just shop for his toys at PetsMart from now on, let Stormie (or any dog for that matter) chew on them a little, and hand them over to him!

I swear... he will only play with his things for MAYBE five minutes. Stormie's toys, however, he will crawl around with all day - and cry if we take them away!!!???

Also, today, he said Banana... well, it was Bana, and it was only once - I can't get him to say it again!!!

AND, he found out that the toilet has water in it, and, since he loves baths, the toilet is a bath anytime! Baby hands are really hard to wash with soap and water!!!!! OK, note to self: keep toilet lids down!!!! Now, with the lids down, I bet that makes the toilet paper fair game!?

SCREAMER

OK, so I gave Sam a bath today, and was 'lotioning' him down (lathering the Eucerin that's like OIL), and he just started SCREAMING!!!!!!!!! It scared me at first, but it was just because he was MAD that he couldn't get up and play!!!! OH MY.... what to do with little screamers?

Later on, we were in the living room, and I guess something frustrated him, and he SCREAMED again!!!!!!!! Oh Boy!!!

So, onto something else! Sam naps, MAYBE two hours total in a day... what do I do? Oh, I get on the computer... I blog, I email, I go to My Space, and I go to Facebook!!!!! You could literally spend HOURS doing this - I bet at least eight hrs could get by before someone would even notice they were gone! I have to re-learn balance, I suppose! My "time off" is spent on the computer! I can't keep going this way!!! =) There's a new video/song out on You Tube that says "25/8 I check the My Space" They're not kidding! At least I have Sam to keep me grounded!

What do these people do that spend HOURS, literally, on the computer??? Do they have a job? Definitely not kids!!!! And these kids need to get outside!!!! Well, not today... it's too cold!!!! =) OK, I need to get off the computer... I'm self-governing here!!!!! =)

Happy weekend!

OH! MY! GOSH!

He climbs stairs now too!!!! He usually can be distracted away from them, but not today... so, I just let him go to see what he would do!

And he climbed ALL THE WAY UP!!! He stopped a couple of times for about .2 seconds... but he was SO FAST!!!! And so proud when he got to the top! We went back down, I got the camera, and he did it again!!!! Then, I put him in his crib, and he was OUT!!! Such hard work!!!! I am TIRED, but at least he's wearing himself out better now too... and I get a little breather here and there!

Here's some more walking pictures...Checking out these rims...Awww... it's so tough!!!!Gotta get back up and try again...And here we go again...Hoping no one noticed we ran into the wall... so, we'll wave to whoever may have seen...Uh! Oh! The wall didn't move for him!!!! Crash and Burn!!!

He walks!!!

Oh, Yes, He does!!!!

Just out of the blue, BJ put him behind this lawnmower thing on his feet, and he walked... well, ran to keep up with it, but he has caught on now, and he walks, stops (tears something down or off), and walks on!!!!

Kudos to Mimi and PopPop, who have been letting him walk around their house in a walker... I really believe that taught him what to do... we just had to give him the opportunity to do it!!!

What a cutie!!!

Daddy

He said it... he said daDDY - not DaDa, but DADDY!!! Multiple times!!! It was so unbelievably CUTE! He stood there, holding onto a table with his fingers in his mouth saying Daddy! We would say it back, and he would say it again! He has since said Mommy, but not as many times as Daddy!!!! And, of course, it's only when he feels like it!!!! =)

Yesterday, after a late morning nap of 1 1/2 hours, there was no other napping, and Sam went to bed at 7:30 last night (we kept him up as long as we could... he would have gone to sleep at 6:30 if we had let him!)... he STILL didn't wake up until 7:15 this morning, and he's down for a nap again right now!!!! SLEEPY BOY!!!! Hopefully this means there is hope for an afternoon nap!!!! We shall see!!!

Pray for the Beverlys as they are awaiting a phone call to fly to Guatemala this week... it HAS to be THIS week, or the fingerprints run out....

What's he doing now?

Time for the age-old question...

What's Sam doing now????

• He crawls SO FAST, is into everything, and is there and into it before I can catch him!


• He pulls up on everything, which means that things on the couch, table (yes, he has rubber arms), desk, etc, are fair game!


• He climbs stairs... but only when I'm not looking, and he only gets to the second one at most!


• He looks at me and calls me "Mama" and he also calls me from the other room - usually when he's in baby jail/grotto.


• He is constantly talking... yes, he says "Mimi" now!!! Whew! But not before he looked at Rocky (their dog) and called him "Big"!!!!


• Sam and Stormie play pretty good together now... when SHE'S in the mood!


• Sam eats pretty much anything... but not without a funny face. And, if he doesn't like it, he can potentially spit it back out on you!


• He has experienced his first hematoma... i.e. bruise...


• You can ask him a question, and he'll shake his head "NO" at you!!! For instance, his first time doing this, Daddy was holding him, and I asked him to come see me... he put his arms around Pop Pop and shook his head "NO" at me!
  
• Basically, he has attitude!


• He is almost impossible to change... diapers or clothes!!!!


• He takes little steps holding onto us! YIKES!!!


• He will also feed us... but he has to have a minimum of three Goldfish in his mouth first - THEN, he'll hold one out to you, but you have to be quick!!! And, if there's Cheerios and Goldfish to choose from, he'll feed himself the Goldfish and you the Cheerios... little Turkey!!!! =)


• Just today he started laughing at me when I tell him "no"... uh oh!!!!!!

We laugh all the time - he is SUCH a GOOD baby... talking to friends, I realized how blessed I am that he sleeps as well as he does, and, so far, he's really good! High maintenance, but good!!!

Here's some pictures...

This is when we went to the farm... two dogs, me, Mama and Sam... ALL on the 4-wheeler!!!

Sam DRIVING the 4-wheeler!

Sam swinging in the swing that MY Granddaddy made for me!!!The only way we could get him to sleep while at the farm...The fam...
Sam being mischievous! That grin... I'm in for it!Watching out the front window for Daddy!!!He didn't like it when I went out to get this shot!!! =) He looks so pitiful!

YVEH

I learned something interesting yesterday and wanted to share...

YVEH is the Greek name for LORD. In some cultures, they say it is unpronounceable, because it is all vowels. So, when you say each letter, it is like a breath... hence, every time we breathe, we are speaking the name of the LORD.

Also, we take about 6 breaths a minute - when we breathe correctly (from our guts). Breathing incorrectly (from our chest), we take more like 16 breaths a minute... that's usually when we're stressed and breathing shallow breaths... funny how we speak the name of the LORD more the more stressed out we are! You do the math for how many times we speak the LORD'S name in a day!!!!

Do you think this was a coincidence that we are designed to speak the LORD'S name every time we take a breath? God breathed the breath of life into Adam... and each of us... coincidence that he spoke HIS name to us and we became alive? Is it coincidence that the first thing in life is take our first breathe (speak the LORD'S name), and the last thing we do in life is take our last breathe (speak the LORD'S name)? Do you think it's a coincidence that these people that tell you God doesn't exist are literally BREATHING His name as they speak those words?

I think not... I don't think any of this is coincidence!!! This just proves to me and shows me that God has thought out every little detail, and is involved even in our every breath!

So, breathe happy... and breathe deep - you are speaking the LORD'S name each time - so do it right!!!!

My Name is Tammy...

... and I am a Target junkie!!!!

I am in the midst of balancing bank and credit card statements from this past year (between my usual putting-it-off and procrastination and Sam, I am at least 12 months behind --- SO NOT LIKE ME WHEN IT COMES TO THIS STUFF!!!!).

Anywho... I have realized that I have gone to Target at least once a week since I have retired!!! And they're not little runs!!!! So, here, I am admitting the problem (although, the last few months I think I have been better - but the statements don't lie)... I have a Target problem!!!!!

BJ - honey, I am sorry... I realize it now and promise to be better!!!!??? =)

Beth - I am sorry we ever gave you a hard time - this must be God's way of telling me to watch out for giving others a hard time!!!!!! =)

Christmas... Finally!

In my current state of procrastination, I decided to put some pictures from Christmas on the 'ole blog... finally!!!

Sam's 1st present... he liked the paper more than the actual toy! =)

He really gets into his work!
Sam telling Uncle Bo thank you for his zebra... Bo and BJ 'golfing' off the point into the lake (Bo's Big Bertha head flew off) SO, the got the Zodiak out to go retreive it!Meanwhile, Sam was being cute and telling Santa what he wanted...
Sam ready to open presents... THE FOOD....Happy Boy!Before gifts were opened...
AFTER gifts were opened...

Sam LOVED opening gifts... he was in the middle of everything!

This is pretty much how the gift-opening went... Stormie in lap (a little scared), Rocky looking for his stuff, and Sam crawling all over the place (some of the pictures are like the "Where's Sam" version of "Where's Waldo")!!!!This must have been a good one...
THEN Santa Clause came... Sam got a Power Wheels Hummer... Fully equiped with a machine gun and working blinkers... but the best part ---- he can drive it himself, OR, we flip a switch, and we have a remote control so WE can steer him!!!!!Sam being properly appreciative...

Watch out!!!!Sam in his stocking that Mimi made... now BJ and I have to fill it up every year!!!???? YIKES!!!!

We needed some new teeth...Awww... poor Stormie!!!Sam going for a BIG ride... and NOT liking all that "freedom"... YET!!!!Pop Pop feeding Sam again... =)Family picture time again... out of about 100 pictures, these were the 'keepers'... amongst a few others, of course!!!! Always a comical sight, that's for sure!!! But we sure are glad we have them!!!OK, so that took a WHOLE nap time!!!!!