The Man In Black

Jack's new love is, yes that's right, Johnny Cash. Every once in a while, he rides with Craig in his pickup to go places. A couple weeks ago, Craig played a Johnny Cash CD. Jack wanted to bring it in the house. He now wants it played when he goes to bed instead of lullaby music. Craig showed him a Hee Haw DVD with Johnny Cash and he wants to watch it a lot. It is getting kind of old to go back and forth to the two places on the DVD where Johnny sings. ( We are also working on obeying when Mommy and Daddy say to get down off of the coffee table.)

Who Needs Toys?

Jack doesn't play with his toys that often. Lately he has had a lot of fun playing with the gift bag that came with my mother's day present. He tries to carry it on his arm like I carry my purse.

Lessons

I am looking for more piano and flute students. It can be just for the summer months, or continuing on into the fall. I have some students taking a break for the summer and need to fill in the gaps. I also think I could handle a few more when school starts. Let me know if you would like lessons or feel free to pass my name along. Thanks!!!

What do you mean, ketchup isn't the main course?

Our good friends Andy and Jody are so close to bringing their precious adopted twins, Zeke and Kora, home from Africa. Jody is holding a very cool silent auction to help raise needed money for all of their expenses. Please go to her blog to check it out here.

For Ann

This year I spent some of my Christmas money on these adorable shoes. I probably wouldn't have looked at them before my stepmom, Ann, came into our lives. This Mother's Day I am thankful for her and that God brought her to my dad. She is fun and LOVES animal prints. As soon as I saw these shoes ( they were a great bargain, by the way,) I thought of her. I love the shoes and have worn them a lot. I wish we lived closer to each other so we could shop together :), and spend more time together.

I Gotta Go!!!

Jack and I have been walking a lot lately. He loves to be outside and I love the exercise. Yesterday afternoon and this morning, he fell asleep in the stroller. By the time we got home both times, I had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad. It is quite a trick to get him out of the stroller, shoes off of him and me (since we just cleaned the carpet), and him up the stairs and in bed to finish his nap while having to dance around until I can get to the bathroom.

This n' That

We've had a very busy last few days. Craig's grandma passed away this last week so we had the visitation Thursday evening and the funeral on Friday. Jack did well. He and I spent a lot of time in the family lounge with "Baby Einstein," during the visitation and funeral.

Today Jack and I tried to keep ourselves occupied away from home while Craig shampooed the carpet. When Jack was sick a couple weeks ago, he vomited on the carpet. We have tried everything we know of to clean the spot and it still smells bad. We decided all the carpet needed cleaning, so we did it today and it looks so much better! We'll have to wait for it to dry and see if it smells better. Jack and I spent time at the park today and he loved it. The only problem was that I forgot my camera. Craig has requested French toast for supper, so I am off to clean the kitchen and make supper.

The Blankie

For several months now, Jack has been very attached to his blankie. He has been easy to wean from other things, but I'm afraid the blankie and pacifier will be the last to go and will be more difficult. He has two knitted blankets that were baby gifts and they are his preference. Lately he has been wanting to wear his blanket as a cape.

Like Grandpa Clayton

This morning before we ran to the store, Jack reminded me of Grandpa with his overalls, hat, and hooded sweatshirt. Grandpa doesn't have the "weasel" (pacifier) or crocs of course. I'll have to find a picture of Grandpa so we can post them together.

Our Weekend

When I don't play at church over the weekend, I always have grand plans of great accomplishments. I didn't play this weekend because I needed to get caught up after Jack had been sick the last week and Craig was in the nursery this weekend.

Last week, it turned out I had won a drawing for a free dinner at Button Factory. I was very surprised. I had signed up for free groceries a couple places in town, which is where they got my name. When the lady called, she said we got free dinner and just had to watch a fire safety video at the end of dinner. I was excited to get out with Craig and have free dinner! The phone call was a little misleading. When we got to dinner, we were guided to a room full of other winners. Dinner had already been ordered for us and we listened to an hour presentation about fire safety. It was very informative. We set up an appointment with the presenter to have a walk-through of our home. He came Saturday morning at about 8:15 and was here until 10:30. We did end up with some new smoke detectors that detect fire much faster than what we had.

I then ran a couple errands and a lot of my Saturday was gone already. Yesterday I was tired and spent most of the day playing with Jack. Craig accomplished a lot outside.

Now that Jack is well, and we could go outside, it is cold and we may even see some snowflakes today.

100%

Things are back to normal around here. Jack has been happy, playing, and eating like a horse, for which I am very thankful!

A LOT BETTER

I think Jack is over the hump. Yesterday and today he has acted totally normal and is eating well. I did go ahead and take him to the doctor yesterday and they wanted me to collect a stool sample. I was thrilled. :) A watched pot never boils...Jack hasn't had a dirty diaper since we were at the doctor. I was so hoping he would while Craig was here so he could do the collecting. Of course it didn't happen that way. I am loving the weather and hope to get outside with Jack today.

Exhausted

We are tired here at the Butler house! After talking to a friend this weekend that is a nurse-practitioner, we are pretty sure that Jack has Rotavirus. He still is vomiting once in a while, and having A LOT of dirty diapers that are very nasty very often. I am constantly doing laundry. She said there isn't anything we can do for it other than make sure he doesn't get dehydrated. He acts fine most of the time and is drinking liquids and eating a little. We are just ready for it to be over. My friend said that it can last 9 days. We are pretty sure he picked it up at the nursing home last weekend while visiting Craig's grandma. You can't tell from these pictures today that he feels any different than usual. He's been a little trooper!

Wishful Thinking

Jack seemed to be much better yesterday. Craig came home from work last night sick and was sick throughout the night. He went to work this morning. Since Jack had been better, he and I dropped off things we have cleaned out of closets at Stuff. The more he rode in the stroller, the more I didn't think that he looked like he felt good. As he was eating a snack this afternoon, he threw it up all over the high chair tray. He is taking a nap now. Grandma called and she has the bug too. I hope it all ends soon!

The Last Couple Days

The first couple pictures are of Jack looking for a certain toy. The last picture is of Jack feeling better. Yesterday morning, I thought he was feeling much better. He vomited again yesterday afternoon and then wanted to sit on my lap or lay on the couch. He slept well last night and seems MUCH better today. He has an appetite which is a good sign. Maybe we can take a walk today and enjoy the weather!

Long Night

Last night, at about 12:00, Craig and I woke up to the sound of Jack gagging and vomiting. This continued until about 5:30 this morning. He never did have a fever. He wanted so badly to go to sleep. He was having dirty diapers too almost every time he vomited. I felt bad carrying him to the changing table when he was half asleep. He seems to be better this morning. He is just a little weak. He is sleeping now and I am tackling the mound of laundry while enjoying the sunshine from inside. :)

Our internet was down for the last week which resulted in no blogging. I have my camera ready to catch some cute pics of Jack this week. He is doing a lot of very cute things. We are excited about the warm weather this week and plan on spending some time outside!!!

Content!!!???

In the last few weeks or couple of months, God has really worked on my heart in several ways. One way is that I have reached a place where I am content in our current house. Craig on the other hand, has had a new resolve and motivation to get all the projects done so we can move on. We live on an alley and have some neighbors that can be pretty rowdy. A sign of the change of seasons and warmer weather are gatherings at the neighbors. It already started last night! They were pretty loud until about 12:00 am. I know I shouldn't be shocked but there are always several little kids over there too. We even had some of the older ones looking in our windows last night before I pulled the blinds. I'm working really hard to love people and allow the Holy Spirit to change my heart. I have to admit I wasn't feeling much love last night.

Trying to Get It Together

Why is it so hard to go to bed early? I want to get there early so I can get up early. Each night, when the time comes, Jack is in bed and then I want to get more done, or have some time to myself. I end up staying up too late. Then I can't get up when I would like to go work out. Then I end up going to work out during the day and grandma watches Jack. This isn't that big of a deal but takes a lot of time out of my day when I could be accomplishing more at home. I know all of this in my head and each day resolve to make it different and it still hasn't happened. That's where I am today - working on self-discipline!