Lillian & Co.

Justin is playing in the member guest tournament with Jason this weekend, so the whole family packed up and headed to Winder to hang out.  We don't have any plans (YAY), but I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about Sunday!

Swimming with Herman!

OH.MY.GOODNESS.  Hardin loves loves LOVES the pool.  Yesterday I got home from work really early and daddy was about to go work out.  He suggested I come with, and take Hardin to the indoor pool that just opened at the Y.  I honestly have never seen the boy so happy for so long.  He laughed, he squealed, he splashed... and laughed some more.  He grinned ear to ear at every person that told him he was cute.  It was adorable.  When I would walk up and down the lane he would kick and paddle and dive his face in the water.  He really had it goin' on.  Not to mention how cute he looked in his reusable swim diaper from Mimi, I love how old school it looks! 

A lady was watching her kids swim and asked if I happened to have a camera because I had told her it was his first time.  For the first time in years, allowed someone to photograph me in my bathing suit.  You know I must really want to remember this day, because there aint no way I'd post pictures of me even holding a bathing suit any other time.  I also ran extra hard today on my C25K program.  I'm on week two, it has been good so far.

H was also the biggest hit with all the kids in the pool.  One little boy in particular took a liking to him and followed us around the entire time.  When he asked what his name was I told him Hardin, and he said "Awe... Herman, that's so cute!"  Every time he said Herman, I politely said "It's actually Hardin."  I might as well have been talking to the moon, because that boy was dead set on Herman.  I look forward to running into him a lot this summer at the Y.

Finally, the picture below is big for two reasons.  One, my mom texted it to me from her phone today after she set it up.  Anyone who knows mom knows this is a huge technological advance.  Second, I have crossed the line and now have one of those houses.  You know, the kind I feared.  The kind that houses an inflatable crab pool filled with 100 balls.  Needless to say it was a gift.  I'll keep you posted on how many days I can tolerate it.   

We love our mamas around here.

In honor of Mother's Day, here is a picture of us with our wonderful, beautiful and quite hipster hot mamas!  Our moms are awesome and we love them more than anyone in this world (except the little fella asleep in the nursery of course).  

One funny story from our very funny weekend of lazy nonsense.  I put Hardin down at 7:30, and as usual went to lay down in my bed to make sure he went to sleep okay, nothing I hate more than an extra trip up the stairs. Lazy. Lazy. Lazy.  I fell asleep myself and Jason came grumbling up the stairs about 8:45.  "What's wrong baby?" I said, he looked at me and very seriously said, "Hardin's butt cream was on the floor, you know, right where it belongs.  I stepped on it and that sh*t went everywhere.  I've been cleaning and mopping the floor for 35 minutes.  I'm done with this day."  

I was so sad, but laughing so hard.  I hated that he hadn't had a great day.  He woke up early with the baby and cooked me breakfast in bed.  This afternoon we went to the mall to get him a new suit* and then I went to an early dinner with my mom, maw maw, sister and her husband at Cracker Barrel.  Jason went to my mom's house to load up her lawn mower and drop it off at Ace Hardware before they closed, and then go back to her house to edge her yard that has a TON of edging between driveways, walkways and sidewalks, that hadn't been done since last summer so it was like sawing through straight sod.  He burned the heck out of his hand somewhere between the edger and using her blower to clean up his mess (I must mention, he would rather do yard work than a family dinner at CB for the most part).  Then he came home to the "butt cream" incident.  God love him, he did his best to be perfect today, and he literally ended up burned for it. 

*Let me just tell you, Jason is looking good.  Between the working out for the past year or so and quitting smoking, he is up to 195lbs.  At 6'2" that is just about right.  He has a big work conference next week and there was no way he's getting into his old suits.  He has worked his tail off at the gym and at quitting smoking and I am so very proud of him.  He has not quit 100%, he slips up when there are drinks involved, but he's doing great.

While daddy was getting measured at Macy's, Hardin and I played on the other mirror platform.  He was cracking me up, I really think he thought there were a bunch of other babies there.  Of course he has no idea what he looks like, so it must have been a blast for him to have all these other people doing exactly what he was doing!    

Our first Mother's Day

Lazy day.

For mother's day Jason took me to eat at Flip, a restaurant that one of my favorite Top Chef contestants owns, and to see Zac Brown last night. I also used the deep tissue massage gift certificate he gave me for Valentines Day, 2010. I found out I was pregnant a few days later and couldn't use it, and I've been meaning to find the time since going back to work. To say that I loved every second of all of it would be an understatement.

Hardin spent the night with Gigi and I went and picked him up this morning. He slept until 9:30 in his mini-room... we are really considering boarding up his windows. After staying up a little too late last night, we had a lazy day around the house.

My new trick when H gets fussy is to take him into a room we don't normally spend time in. Today was the white guest room that is home to my old furniture, bedding and Cabbage Patch Kid. I still have a few of my old CPKs, most of them look a lot worse than this one. This little guy was given to me by my dad for Christmas when I was in my early 20s. He was tired of buying electronics and adult stuff so he bought me a doll. Of course it's my favorite, his name is Fred, after my dad's nick name for me.

Hardin and his perfect head.

We had Hardin's 6 month well check today, and as always, he's 50th percentile in everything...  except that head.  90% again.  26.5 inches, 18lbs, and 18.5 inch head.

Obviously, I've always known his head was big.  The size and the fact that he was in the opposite position, trying to come out with that flat top facing out, instead of that nice little round back, was the main reason I ended up having a c-section.  They filled me up with fluids, flipped and massaged me every which way you could imagine to get him to turn around... for over 6 hours, and It just wasn't happening.  Ironically, the only milestone he hasn't mastered is rolling over.

The doctors and nurses at the hospital measured his head a lot, and his pediatrician does too.  The nurse always measures, and then the pediatrician measures many more angles.  Bottom line, we've known it was an issue for a while.

Today we went from issue to concern.  Anyone who's ever opened a baby book knows that a large head is an early sign that there is too much fluid on the brain, and possibly even Autism.  I know I'm not just being a proud mama when I say that there is no sign of Autism in that boy.  I asked the doctor point blank if she saw any signs, and she said absolutely not.  He is alert, very affectionate, he hears, he sees, and he follows everything he hears and sees.  He also has impressive motor skills according to her.  She said the fact that he's sitting up well on his own, reaching, holding, and standing (with help), are all great signs that there is no extra fluid interfering with any of his brain function.

BUT, his head is big, and growing, and we have to start taking it seriously.  We have to go back in 4 weeks, and if it's grown again, she will most likely order a CAT scan to make sure there is nothing going on that shouldn't be.  Part of me wishes she would have just sent us straight to the hospital so we could rule anything out and get on with our day, but she said there is no reason to put him through the experience or the radiation if things stay the same.  We'll see about that.  I may be begging for that test come 4 weeks from now.

I really really really don't think there is a thing in this world wrong with my boy.  I actually feel a little guilty that I'm not more worried than I am, but my baby is just fine.  I'm no expert, and certainly no doctor, but I just know it.  Jason hardly even thought about it, he knows there is not anything wrong.  I also get the feeling from the doctor that she knows it, it's more of a precautionary thing.  Besides, four weeks of extra prayers never hurt anyone. 

This is one of the only angles I actually think his head looks bigger than a normal big bald baby head.  Still looks PERFECT to me!  I'm sticking with the theory that he'll grow into it, and for now it's just more to kiss and house his super smart brain.

Cawley's Three!

This weekend was a ton of fun.  Mimi is in town for Cawley's third birthday.  Saturday we went to Justin's for C's party, then Mimi came home with us.  We went to breakfast at Waffle House, Jason and his mom's favorite, and lounged around all day, another McWhorter favorite!  We met Justin at Olive Garden late this afternoon to take Becky back, and had an awesome dinner outside in this perfect Georgia weather.  Now we'll start the countdown for all of us to go see her in Ft. Myers in July.

I need to keep this to show L to keep her out of the sun when she's older.  Look at that PERFECT skin!  Me not so much.

Believe it or not, this was the BEST picture of the duo in their adorable birthday party outfits!

Cawley LOVES playing with his cousins!

H was ecstatic to learn there was more than one type of exersaucer. 

ESPN will thank me for these pictures one day... ha.

I found the shoes that match the bib daddy bought H for $1.60 at Goodwill.  Couldn't resist!

J's golf shoe tan line is perfectly fitting for this picture.  You should see it at the end of the season!

Oldies but Goodies

I am so excited Mary Ellen just emailed these pictures from her surprise 30th birthday party from the beginning of March.  Her brother in law was taking them, and we didn't want to be those girls that hand him 10 cameras to take more pictures...  we must really like him, because we do that to everyone else!

We missed Shauna and her family, but had a great time with everyone else!  I think I have this right, the babies ages at that time were...  Aubrey (almost 3), Liddie (2y2m), Halle (11m), Hardin (4m2w), Olivia (3m,3w), Lucas (3m,2w).

Mimi is in town for Cawley's THIRD birthday.  Can't wait for the festivities this weekend!