DF + Parade = Disaster

Just arriving and lining up for the Parade.

A quick shot with Meme (at beginning of the night)

Me waiting for my boys


Still waiting, but spotted Cliff!


Last night we went downtown to Bridge St. for the "World's shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade." This is because in the 1940's Ripley's Believe It or Not designated Bridge Street the "Shortest Street in the World." This is a big deal in Hot Springs but this was my first time to go. They go all out; green fireworks, Elvis look-alikes, Irish belly-dancers, and a Pub Crawl. They even get celebrities to come. This year the Grand Marshal was John Ratzenberger or better known as Cliff Claven (sp?) from Cheers.

Franklin walked with the bank and was planning on strolling DF along too. Being the most naive parent in the world, I thought to myself, how precious will this be on his first St. Patrick's Day? In my mind things worked out totally different than what actually happened. For one thing, "the world shortest parade" would be- short! Secondly, I pictured Franklin pushing a content or possibly asleep David Franklin in his stroller both in their green--with us cheering at the sidelines. Nope, I had to push myself to the front row of TONS of people. (I guess everyone in neighboring Arkansas towns come to this parade) and waited and waited for them. I eventually got a text from Franklin that DF had "had it." I thought, sleepy or hungry but was not expecting to find him in the state he was in. I have never seen him so beside himself. He was inconsolable. I felt terrible. My vision of this nice little outing was ridiculous in hindsight. Of course he was probably scared to death- there were some scary characters! The belly dancers, Elvis, and there were even green dogs.Plus it was SOO loud. Why did this not dawn on me before?

We got him home and somewhat settled but he was keyed up... we had a LONG night. He would wake up every couple of hours and whimper or cry. I don't know if it was just a lethal combo of sleepy/hungry/afraid or if he saw something that scared the daylights out of him. He was so good for the 2 hours they were waiting in line (again...shortest parade???) but once they got to the actaual parade he was finished. Franklin had to walk in it pushing an empty stroller. Luckily Meme and Grampe came with us to watch and were there to scoop David Franklin up and get him out of the chaos. He is all better now, but we learned a valuable lesson- David Franklin does NOT do parades.

We have a new home!

I haven't wanted to talk about it on this blog yet, but since we closed on our new house on Friday it's a done deal!! We have a new home! Condo living no more- or only for 2 more weeks :)

We are SOOOO excited and our patience and prayers have paid off. God is good and so faithful! It was hard for me to not have a plan for 2 months with a brand new baby- extremely hard. I like having things settled. I've actually gotten pretty ticky about things being neat and orderly and having a "plan" in my older age- I used to not care at all and be a total slob! Weird how things have taken a 180.

I get to put back together David Franklin's nursery which is most exciting to me. I get to see our dishes and furniture again and start building our new home for our family!! We will be pretty busy for these next 2 weeks doing things here and there (paint, hardware, taking down some interesting bathroom wallpaper, etc). I think it will be a wild but also a very exciting adventure!

Someone is feeling better!!

Thank goodness for antibiotics! We had a much better night last night and already he is back to playing and not needing to be held nearly as much! He is doing better with the breathing treatments too. I hope we won't have to continue those for much longer, but whatever makes him feel better. Look at what a little stinker he is with that tongue out- I love him.

My baby is sick!!

Well, the cough has taken a major turn for the worse. David Franklin started running a low fever and I called the doctor and went straight in yesterday morning. I was feeling so sad, worried (and guilty) about his cough when I went in but thought they were going to tell me to go home and keep using the humidifier. I didn't expect them to find an ear infection in his right ear, and almost one in his left, hear wheezing in his chest and send us home with an inhaler! I totally lost it at the doctor's office and Franklin being the wonderful husband and father he is, dropped everything and came straight to the pediatrician's office. He found me bawling and rocking DF who didn't really seem too fazed. We are having to do breathing treatments for him and the bubble gum antibiotic 3 times a day. Not to mention the additional Tylenol and saline nose drops. It has been a hard few days here. He is still smiling and laughing some and such a sweet little guy. He has been VERY clingy though and is wanting to be held all the time. I feel so terrible for him I will hold him all he wants if it makes him feel better. I can tell the medicine is starting to work and he is already starting to feel a little better. My POOR baby!

1st Family Vacay!

We are back from our trip to Colorado and I am doing heaps of laundry today :) We had SOOO much fun! I won't go into all of the details but we had yummy food, good skiing, (well, it was a little icy), we heard great music, and enjoyed being with our dear friends, each other and our baby. I know that sounds ooooy-goooy, but it's true. It was the perfect match of fun and relaxation. One day the guys skied and Mary Elizabeth and I hung out with the babies. We made chocolate chip cookies and got in the hot tub while the boys took their afternoon nap. It was a pretty perfect day in my book!

I really grew as far as babysitters are concerned, too (which I needed to do). We went out to dinner one night and long story short -our routine and schedule were shot. He went to bed about 2 hours early without milk, had his diaper on backwards, but did amazingly and slept through the night!!! We were so proud and shocked! He was also quite the little traveller. He did great on the plane, a few fussy spells, but nobody was throwing things or seemed too aggravated, so I was happy. Everyone was actually very nice and understanding.

It was a truly wonderful first family vacaction! The only downer is that David Franklin has developed a cough. It sounds pitiful and breaks my heart to hear. I called the doctor first thing this morning and went and got the humidifier up and running. I hope it goes away very soon!!

Baby Sam came to visit

Cassie and Sam came over and had lunch with us today. Isn't Sam sweet and teeny tiny next to big bruiser, David Franklin??? I hope they have a lot of fun together one day. Hopefully they will stay out of trouble better than their mama's did when we were younger!!

Lazy weekends

are so nice!! Franklin had to work this weekend so we stayed in Hot Springs and took it easy. We ran errands yesterday afternoon while Gammers watched DF and we were all in bed by 8:30 last night! Yes, 8:30!! We rented Vicky Christina Barcelona, ate in, had good wine, I took a hot bath and it was all in all a wonderful night. We got up and went to early church this morning. Franklin is playing golf today (in this COLD weather) and I am lounging and hoping to take a nap. These are some good, lazy, happy days.

I have some serious laundry and packing to do tonight. We leave for Colorado and our very first family vacay on Wednesday. We are going with our good friends, Conner and Mary Elizabeth. They have a son, Will, that is almost 2. Its going to be such a fun trip with the baby boys!! It will be David Franklin's first time to see snow, first airplane ride, and lots more! I'm SO excited that we are getting to take him along. It's special for us to watch him experience all of these new things through his big expressive eyes! I can't wait!

These are some pics I took this week- trying to capture those expressive eyes but I'm so upset with my point and shoot camera. It used to suit me just fine but it just doesn't anymore. Not when I'm trying to capture precious moments that are gone in a flash, literally. The one I have flashes orange light in his face, making him change from a smile to a scowl and making me miss the shot! I would love to have SLR or SRL but they are expensive and I am such an amateur- I don't even know what they are called!! I want to learn though, taking his picture has become one of my very favorite things to do.