Updates from Holder Haven

I've been bad at blogging lately, but I thought I would write some updates of what has been going on over here at Holder Haven. We have been enjoying the dog days of summer by being lazy on the weekends, getting in some last bit pool time and chasing our little Dubs around. Above is a picture from Chad's cousin Tiffany's wedding. Getting W to look at the camera is always a task. Ha!

I'm headed into the 2nd trimester now! Baby B is not causing too much trouble except for feeling a little icky in the mornings and tired around 4pm. It's all good. Headed to the OB Friday for another check up. Really have not gained any weight and I'm not showing. I still don't "feel" pregnant, but I'm getting more excited each week to meet this new little Holder.

I did buy some furniture for the new nursery. It's white with crystal knobs! Love it, but definitely going to have to man it up if it is a boy. We officially have no adult beds inside our home now except for ours. So if we have any house guests...um...the couch is all we have. Doh! The thought crossed our minds about possibly selling our house and buying a larger one, but then the thought of MOVING again put us both into a cold sweat and we put that idea to rest quickly. I love our house and it is a perfect layout for new parenting, but having an extra bedroom or even room would be nice!
 

Here is Dubs chilling in his vibrating chair. We had a bunch of things stored in the guest bedroom and he was happily reunited with his "Ocean" Playmat and this chair. He was very curious about all of the throwbacks.  Walker has been busting out some new words...added to the list: Dada and Go. He's working on Book and Panda really hard. Or wait...maybe I'm working on those. Ha! :) He's so freaking cute right now. He's a happy little guy and enjoys books, anything with wheels and going to lunch/dinner. I'm trying to keep him adjusted to that so he will always be cool with being mommy's date!

We are trying to plan some fun things for fall to really enjoy as much great weather as much we can. Cornfield trips, visiting a local dairy farm, Chattanooga weekend trip, Alabama game...ah, bring on the cooler weather! I'm craving chili, pumpkin anything and crock pot meals.

Another cute shot of W...Chad really wants to cut his hair and when it is wet it is a little "Achy Breaky" (Billy Ray Cyrus reference), but I'm standing my ground on keeping it the same for now. He can't look too much like a hippie if he is in Polo all the time, ya know?

I'll try to be better about blogging...just been enjoying the last bits of summer. Hope everyone else is as excited about fall as I am! :)

The Big Bad Allergy Appointment

You might have read before my post about eggs being the devil...well today we went to go figure out if we need to stay away from any more devil foods. Our pediatrician suggested we go an allergist to learn more about W's food allergy situation. Appointment made and off we went to see Dr. Keegan Smith with Heritage Medical Group.

Now I have been what some may call "a girl in the bubble" type my whole life. I'm allergic to everything under the sun...except for food. I've been through the drill with allergist and skin tests. So I opted to accept this mission alone with no moral support. MISTAKE! Now I can carry all the loot (see picture above) and I can soothe W when he needs it, but I needed someone to sooth and carry me! It was quite horrendous.

 The skin testing was 10 pricks on his back and he had to stay still for 15 minutes. W is not one for anyone to hold him still or mess with him. So we had a lot of crying, but I expected that somewhat and thank goodness for the iPad! It helped him after the pricks were over. After the 15 minutes was up the doctor came in and said the test didn't work that well and he only sees this happen probably twice a year where a patient doesn't respond in a normal fashion. So...we had to get a pediatric phlebotomist to come draw Dub's blood.

Holy crap. It took 2 nurses and myself to hold my crying child down. He was NOT HAPPY! I was sobbing singing the ABCs and sounded like a unstable weirdo. It is hard to see your child hurt, even if you know it is for their own good.

The good news now...

Walker has only a slight egg allergy and will probably grow out of it by the time he is 3 or 5 years old. He can eat things that are cooked at 350 degrees for at least 15 minutes. So muffins, cornbread...all that is good.

We should know more in a week. My advice to anyone that has to endure this would be to have a daddy, grandmother, life coach, etc there to help you cope with the sad child you will have on your hands. It took my little guy 20 minutes to settle down. They told me I could leave the room, but I wouldn't let him go through that alone. I dug down, didn't look and sang to him the whole time.  My little brave guy was over it all before we left the parking lot. As long as we can keep those evil eggs away for a couple of years we are all good.

Walker's Latest Happenings

Here little W is showing off his guns in the front yard. Ladies...watch out. Our little man has been quite busy lately and I thought I would share some of his latest developments/tricks/skills. He's walking...umm, almost running. He will actually chase us now and also run into our arms. It's quite cute. Most of the day when we are home consists of W walking from room to room and occasionally he will stop for a nice read with his picture books. He just flips through the pages and contently sits for a good 20 minutes browsing at his favorite books.

He's started trying to talk. His words he almost has down: Baby, Momma and Ball. We are working on Dada so Chad won't get his feelings hurt, but as you can imagine...I've been working hard on that momma one. He even tried to say quack yesterday...which was hilarious. I think this has been our favorite thing to watch...the babbling and trying to learn words. He also will wave hi to you...bye bye we are still working on.

Smiles! Our little W has finally decided he likes to smile and pops it out quite a bit now. He started off as a pretty stoic child, but now has started showing off his 6 teeth. He has 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. He finally decided to let us brush them now also.

W had a run in with a spider and mosquito last week. The spider bite kept looking worse and worse so we headed to Harpeth Pediatrics where Dr. Huss proceeded to tell us he was fine. I am the hypochondriac mom...it's been like that since birth with Dubs. I'm glad I am too...I am usually right when something is wrong.

We went to his best bud Fenn Graham's birthday party last weekend...here is a shot of W looking up girls skirts and checking out Fenn's toy scores all at the same time.

In other news I am so ready for fall it's crazy! I'm ready for more outdoor activities where it is not 1000 degrees, pumpkin candles and other pumpkin related goodies and SEC Football! I've already jumped the gun and started buying fall scented things from Bath and Body Works. I can't help it...I'm over summer and ready for my favorite season.

I'm Pregnant! Yep, you read that right! :)

We will be welcoming "Baby B" around March 10th! We all headed to the doctor's office Friday and confirmed that yes...I have a bun in the oven people. Whoa.

This time has felt completely different and I have to admit that I did not believe it at first. Our plan was to wait until November and then start trying, but I guess when we went to ATL for Phish our little Baby B decided he/she was ready to bring it on. So...bring it on. We are both super excited about everything and it feels surreal. Recently, I went through all of Walker's clothes/toys/items for the consignment sale and I couldn't believe that we were going to do this all over again. Whoa.

I'm not going to lie...I hope this one is a girl, but if it isn't Walker will have cool little dude to show the ropes to. If he has a sister...lord help us all. We are good either way though and I can honestly say that. I wanted a girl the first time and I got this amazing sidekick that I love more than anything in the world. So...pink or blue...we will love you Baby B. Can't wait to meet ya.

Keep us in your prayers please and email me if you want to know where to send donations! Ha Ha!!