Birthday, Toddlerhood, and Tubes

Hayden had a wonderful birthday party last weekend. We decided to have it at Gran's house and enjoy a sunny day in the country with some grilling out, presents, cake, and of course, a swim in the pond. We kept his birthday small after learning some valuable lessons from Hayden's cousins, so it was Chris, Hayden, me, Gran, MaMaw, Tracie, Lindsey, Kristopher, Kris, Kelli, and Brianna.

True to the Twinkie incident, he thoroughly enjoyed his cake, and after some short observation, he dug right in. The cakes were made by DreamCakes MS in Flowood, MS...I thoroughly recommend them for making cute, cute cakes that taste yummy! Hayden thanks all of his guests for attending and said he had such a fun birthday and loves his gifts!

Well, we had an exciting event yesterday...July 30th will forever live in infamy as the day Hayden left infancy and entered toddlerhood. That's right. He took his first steps yesterday. Just a few steps from one object to another object, but he did it about 7 or 8 times last night. Who knows how long it will take him to begin walking, but we are on our way within the next couple of months, I guess. So exciting! I will no longer have to carry around a 26-pounder. :o) I'll try to catch it on video sometime soon and add it to the blog.

Hayden got so many wonderful presents for his birthday - a lion hand-made by Gran, some blocks, clothes, an ice cream bowl, bath toys, a dolphin, books, his first plate, a ride-on Radio Flyer turtle, and a Pottery barn chair. And today, he got another birthday gift - ear tubes! Hopefully, his tubes will help those nasty little ears stay clear. Hayden was such a big boy and never cried when they took him back and didn't cry at all in recovery. We were in and out in no time. He looked so cute in his hospital gown that I had to snap a quick picture.





On Sunday, we leave for the beach. Hayden has made one trip before when he was 6-weeks old, but he will be able to enjoy it much more this year. I am so excited about going to the beach and just relaxing.

Here he is during the observation stage.



As you will see in the pictures, he warmed up to the cake after a very short while.

Hayden's First Birthday

At 2:14 pm a year ago today, Hayden Kristofer Davidson came into our lives and has blessed us so much throughout the year. Chris and I have been privileged by the gift that he is in our lives and have enjoyed so much watching him grow up throughout the year.

I've had work training part of this week, but I did leave a little early this afternoon so I could spend some time with the birthday boy. Chris was able to help me out by working from home today, so I was so glad they got to spend some time together. A terrible diaper rash has made him extremely unhappy for the past couple of days, but we managed to have a little celebration anyway.

After eating some dinner, we gave Hayden a Twinkie. Since we are having his birthday party this weekend and didn't want to steal the show and give him any cake today, I decided to buy something that would be cakelike so he could at least have a little treat on his birthday. And, what is more cakelike or wonderful than a Twinkie.

If the Twinkie was any indication of how much he will enjoy his birthday cake on Saturday, we should be in for a good show. After a few moments of observing, he went right into the process of getting rid of the Twinkie. The whole process didn't take more than a couple of minutes, because he accomplished the goal by sticking most of it in his mouth at one time. Pretty funny stuff.

I'm including a slideshow of some pics from the year to show how much he has grown. It is amazing to look at old pictures now.

The funniest part is getting to see him engulf the Twinkie. Here are some pictures of that.

And, here he is in action.

A Fabulous Trip to New Orleans

Chris and I made a trip to New Orleans this past weekend to celebrate an early anniversary. Our actual anniversary is on July 24th, but since Hayden's birthday is on July 22nd, we thought we'd go ahead and celebrate our anniversary a little early. We had a wonderful trip and some much needed rest and relaxation.

We stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast called Ashton's Bed and Breakfast. We stayed in the Creole Queen room, and our bathroom was almost as big as the bedroom...it was really nice. Breakfast was always wonderful, and I would definitely recommend this as a place to stay if you ever visit the area. It's not too far from the French Quarter, and you avoid the massive hotel tax you get if you stay at a regular hotel. We loved it!

We were worried that we would get rained on the entire weekend, but the only rain we got was on Friday on our way and for a little while when we got there. We ate on Friday night at a restaurant neither of us had ever been to before called Mulate's. The food was excellent, and they even have some live cajun music and dancing every night. They have two what-you-might-call good cajun dancers, but anyone and everyone can join them. After we watched for a little while, we ended up joining in, too...we looked like idiots, but we had fun doing it.

After a late sleep in on Saturday and some very good breakfast, we headed out to the Creole Creamery...a local ice cream shoppe with tons of yummy flavors. Because of a late breakfast, we ended up calling our ice cream lunch, and that is my kind of lunch. Both of our sundaes were good, and we even got a little entertainment. The Creole Creamery has what they call the Tchoupitoulas Challenge, which involves 8 scoops of ice cream, 8 toppings of our choice, and more whipped topping than you could want in a lifetime. It is a $22 concoction, and you have to finish the entire thing by yourself to get your name on a plaque. Two guys came in as we were finishing our ice cream, and they took on the challenge. I took some pictures of their bowls (mixing bowls) of ice cream. I have never seen something so huge in my life. Don't know if they were able to finish it, but I'm sure they went into diabetic shock after it.

We've been to the zoo and aquarium in New Orleans a couple of times, so we wanted to do something a little different on this trip. So, we went to the WWII museum. The WWII museum is in New Orleans to honor native Andrew Higgins, who invented the Higgins boats that were used to unload troops at Normandy. It was super interesting and something I would recommend. I took lots of pictures, but you couldn't use flash...so I only included a couple of pictures.

Saturday night, we enjoyed a super good anniversary dinner at Emeril's NOLA. This is about our 6th trip to an Emeril's, and it never ever disappoints. This was our first trip to Emeril's NOLA, and we sat at the chef's bar, because you can watch the chefs prepare the food. After that, we walked off our food at the Riverwalk (by the Mississipp River). Oh, and as if we had not had enough food already, we went to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets...you just gotta do it.

After breakfast on Sunday, we left the bed and breakfast and headed to the French Quarter to walk around some of the shops down there. People down there are selling anything and everything. It was very interesting just to walk around and watch people and look at all the stuff they make and try to sell. After a good walk, we headed to Court of Two Sisters Restaurant for our traditional Sunday brunch. I would definitely recommend this brunch if you are in the area....such a wonderful buffet, and I'm especially fond of the omelet station.

So, with full stomachs and rested and relaxed bodies, we left New Orleans and headed north to get our Little Man. It was a wonderful weekend.

Blessings from God

I sent my mom an email this morning, and at the end of it, I said, "Little boy will be a year old a week from today. Wow! I was on steroids at this point last year and praying for a miracle. God is so good." I feel compelled to tell you all that story and about just how good God is.

I've been thinking back to a year ago today, and I can remember it very well. I was totally off bedrest, 37 weeks pregnant, just starting steroids, and as I said in my email, praying for a miracle. And, I had a lot more people praying for a miracle for me, too. Apparently, some women's immune systems take a little beating when they get pregnant resulting in low platelets of pregnancy, and I was one of those women. Having low platelets during the pregnancy wasn't really ever all that big of a deal, because the platelets never got dangerously low so that there was a threat of me free-bleeding. It became more of a deal when it was closer to time for Hayden to be born.

Since the platelets were so low, there would be risks involved in having an epidural or spinal...so I was either going to have him naturally with no pain medication or be completely put to sleep by C-section. I was prepared to have him naturally if that is what had to happen, but there was always the chance that he would be hard-headed and wouldn't want to come. And, I didn't mind having a C-section, but I wouldn't be able to be awake to see him being born...and I really wanted to see him be born and see his first breaths outside of my belly.

So, my doctor put me on steroids at 37 weeks pregnant, because occasionally, the platelet levels will rise with steroids. The last woman my doctor put on steroids for the same condition came back in a week later, and her platelets levels actually got lower. I was nervous during that entire week but confident that I would be taken care of no matter what, and when I returned for my 38-week checkup, my platelets were high enough for me to have an epidural or spinal. I would return to the hospital the next day, July 22, 2008, to be induced and give birth to my son. Yay!

I was hooked to Pitocin early the next morning and was in labor for 7 hours with no pain medication and a very hard-headed son that didn't want to do anything at all other than stay in my belly. The decision was made to have a C-section, but because the platelets were high enough, I would be able to have a spinal and be AWAKE to see our son born. Hayden was born at 2:14 pm that afternoon with both Daddy and Mommy watching behind our little curtain. :o)

I cannot begin to tell you all how blessed I have been to see God working in my life. You see, I was praying for a miracle and hoping I would be awake when my son was born, and God allowed me to do just that. From a disappearing nodule in my lung to completely curing a stomach issue that nearly put me in the hospital with feeding tubes, I can't even begin to tell you story after story of the miracles God has performed in my life and the ways He has placed His protective hand over me.

There have been some rough times along the way, too. Chris and I have both been through some very difficult family situations, and we've had lots of heartache along the way. Through all of that still, God's invisible hand was guiding and turning the situations and taking care of us beyond belief. From the timing of it all to the people involved and so much more, all of the "coincidences" that have happened along the way have been 0% coincidence and 100% God. You have no idea.

I am so overwhelmed right now thinking about it all. It's not about the miracles God has performed in my life or the tough times He has allowed me to go through. It's not about seeing Hayden being born or having something really tough happen at just the right time. All of that is wonderful, but it is about God in his sovereignty weaving it all about to accomplish His good and perfect will. And, I am lucky enough to sit back and watch Him do it. There are so many times when I wonder why God allowed me to see so many miracles in such a short span of time and so many other times when I am wondering just what He is up to when I seem to be going through a huge mess. Sadly, I believe so many times it took something huge to knock me off my feet and put me on my knees. But, it is not up to me to understand God or his sovereignty. It is up to me to trust Him and to use each situation as an opportunity to glorify Him. So many times, I make a mess of the situation, but God doesn't give up on me and never will. I am so thankful for that.

So many people love the verse Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God..." You see, I love that verse, too...but I prefer to keep going. Pick up your Bible and continue reading through verse 31. That verse that so many people use applies only to those who are called or to the elect...in other words, it applies to those who have salvation by trusting in Jesus ALONE as their Savior and Lord. In each and every situation that you go through if you have trusted in Jesus ALONE, God is "working" it for your "good" or for your benefit.

So maybe you are seeing one of God's many miracles, or maybe you are going through some tough times. Rest assured that God is in control of the situation no matter how wonderful or how difficult it might be. He is using it to weave and mold you into the person he wants you to be. Trust in Him alone. Lean not on yourself. These are the sweet words He is whispering to you.

Do you know Him? I pray that you do. I may be a huge mess, but I am God's mess. And one day, I will trade this mess for a perfect body and will live in a world just the way God intended it to be - perfect! I can't wait. Hope to see you there!

A Great Summer So Far

We've had a wonderful summer so far...and it's not even over! :o) It didn't take long for Hayden and I to figure out our summer routine, and after I saw how much he loved the pool, the pool is in our routine almost every day. He is an absolute water bug. I started off with a ring float, but he didn't like it and spent most of his time trying to climb out of it. I bought him some floaties thinking that he wouldn't be ready for them, but he took to them after about 30 minutes. He isn't walking on land, but he can walk all around in the water like a pro. The YMCA in Clinton has a large kiddie area in the pool that is about 2 feet deep and just perfect for him to walk around by himself and play. He is blowing bubbles in the water now and can recover by himself when he accidentally goes under (and doesn't cry either). He is just now beginning to relax enough to float for a little while in the deep end. It really is amazing to watch him in the water. Here's a short video of him walking over to one of his pool friends, Courtney...she's there more than we are! :o)



I never would have believed he wouldn't be walking by now since he crawled and started pulling up so early, but he doesn't seem ready yet. He has just now started letting go of the furniture some, and there are times when we can stand him up in the middle of the floor and he will stand there by himself. He's also beginning to walk while holding on to our hands some, too. But, he definitely has a mind of his own and knows when he wants to do certain things, so I'm just going to let him figure it all out. He can get around well enough and fast enough by crawling. :o) He's also begun climbing things...climbing into drawers, climbing into cabinets, and trying to climb furniture.

Recently, I made a trip to Jellystone water park in Pelahatchie, MS with Hayden, my mom (Gran), Tracie, Lindsey, and Kristopher. We had a great time. Having a Ward's (I do love their breakfast so) was about as big as I thought the Hatchie would ever get, but they have their very own little water park. It was perfect. It has an area with shallow water (shallow enough for Hayden to crawl around in) with a couple of slides and water fountains. It also has a pool, but the kids were never too eager to get in the pool since the area with the slides was so much fun. It was really cute...no sightings of Yogi and BooBoo...but maybe next time. :o)

Hayden has a new friend, and his name is Eeyore. When Lindsey turned one year old, I gave her an Eeyore ride-on with the understanding that it would be kept so that my children could use it one day. Tracie passed it on to me recently, and I pulled it out this week. I didn't think Hayden would be ready for it, but he loves it. He rides it around the house. He's not too directionally smart yet, so he runs into a lot of walls and furniture, but he just looks at one of us to turn him around and keeps on going. We're getting him another little ride-on for his birthday since he loves this one so much.



This weekend, Chris and I are headed to New Orleans for an early 5-year anniversary celebration. I'm excited to get away and have some time for the two of us. And, in a little over a week now, Hayden turns 1 year old....and we are having a little family party for him that next weekend. So, I'll be posting pictures along the way.

Here are some pictures. There are some from a recent swimming trip...Dad got to come with us recently, so I could take some pictures. There are some from around the house, and there are some from Jellystone.