totally random...

well, my summer is half way over and i am sad! i like being home, but i have also worked a lot this summer and i am still not done. they money is good and it is hard for me to turn it down. owen is getting taller and sweeter by the day. god i want more...however, its not the right time. bummer! there is nothing more important to me than being a wonderful mommy. its hard, but i manage to do it.


just recently has owen started telling me "mommy, i love you" want to talk about making your heart melt...those 4 little words are all i need to hear. other than that, not much is going on. i did make a visit to see nanny this weekend and its something i have not wanted to do for a few months. she is in the later stages of alzheimer's. she didn't know who i was...talk about being crushed!

last month we converted owens crib into a toddler bed and he loves it. he doesn't get up until someone goes in there and gets him. he is wonderful.

the other day i was outside watering my flowers and tony comes out and tells me i need to come in. when i walked in owen told me he "was shaving"

at school throughout the summer the weeks are themed and this week was sports. got to love the titans!

we were blessed to be invited over to beth's house to play one day & owen fell in love with her girls...addison & campbell. not to mention the dogs! he had a blast dancing too...

when its hot outside we like to be out and playing in the water and cooling off with a popsicle.

he would much rather waste the water than enjoy it!

i guess the concrete needs water too...

a few weeks ago they have a weekly play date here in providence and we joined at the pool house for some music. owen really enjoyed it and he cant wait till the next play date.

he seemed to love looking at the bugs more than dancing! :D

this was taken at pawpaw and nana's house.

once again....he would rather waste the water than to sit down.

few weeks ago at tonys parents owen wanted to go outside and play in the puddles...

Bilingual...

Yep, that's correct...Owen is officially bilingual. At his new school they could to 10 in Spanish and last night he was looking through his new books and I hear "cuatro...cinco" and I listened closer and he said it again. Wow! He knows more Spanish that Mommy. Oh well, at least one of us will be bilingual.

I am back to work and I have worked a full week...Yippee! Milestone. :D It was not easy returning to work, but I guess I didn't have a choice. Owen seems to be 100%, but today when I picked him up his cheeks were so red. I asked Mrs. Logan what happened & she said it started about 245. It looks like he had an allergic reaction to something...what I have no clue. I will check it tomorrow and we might head to the peds on Saturday.

This weekend is going to be very eventful...Saturday BestBuy will be buy to check out our TV, we are going to get landscape items, T's friend & girlfriend are coming over for dinner, and to the in-laws on Sunday.

The day I have dreaded the most will happen tomorrow. My Nanny is going to be placed in a nursing home. She has Alzheimer's & had been in Vanderbilt for the last month. She still knows who we are, but needs to be monitored 24/7. On a positive note she is 4 minutes from my work and I will be able to check on her weekly. My father has taken this hard, as he should, but it makes it harder he is doing this alone. He is the baby of 5, but one has already passed, another is in worse shape than Nanny, his sister helps when she can (not in great health), another one is not worth killing. So, that leaves my Dad and Mom to take care of her.

How could I forget...I am going to see Brandi Carlile (www.branicarlile.com) in concert on May 19. If you are thinking correctly that's my 4 year wedding anniversary & I am spending it with Elise & Cori. Wow! I am not even sure T remembered it was a special day, but I would rather enjoy the concert with peeps that love her as much as I do.

In exactly {9} days I turn...30! Yikes! I have a big weekend planned. Two of my friends are coming into town from NC & KY to celebrate. Friday ML and I are going to have a spa day. She reminded me to shave my legs...how sad is that? Then we are going to dinner. Saturday I am sure I will be with my girlfriends.

Oh well, I am going to relax for a bit and read a good book thanks to Robin. :D Here are some pics of Owen from this week.

Owen in his new boots from Nana

Preparing for his driving test

Playing with his new weed eater

Owen's new toy from Nana

Owen's "beetle" on his face from school

Playing outside after school

Until Next Time,
SWL

Vanderbilt's Childrens ER X's 2...

My sweet monkey has been SO sick. It all started on Wed. morning @ 345am. He had vomited in his sleep & it was all in his hair. I cleaned him up & he went back to bed only to be woken up {AGAIN} vomiting. Needless to say it has been pretty much downhill since then. ALL day on Wed. he slept & vomited. He would take a sip of something and immediately would throw it up. I got concerned about noon when he hadn't had a wet diaper since 345am.

I called the pediatrician and they wanted to see him. I picked up T on my way to the doctors and I am glad I did. Owen got sick twice on the way to the Dr. Couldn't determine if it was because he was sick or my driving. :) When we got there all he did was sleep on the examining table. They did manage to weigh him and he is a whopping 23lbs. The doctor decided they were going to do a suppository and try to hydrate him with 5cc. of Gatorade every 5 minutes. He managed to keep it down, but started throwing up on the ride home. Still {NO} wet diaper...

Got him home and he was still sick throwing up. T was working over and about 530 I phoned the doctor and gave her an update...only to hear the three words I dreaded to hear ...{HEAD TO VANDERBILT}. I packed our stuff, waited for T to get home, and we headed to Vanderbilt. When we arrived you can imagine what was in the waiting rooms...

When we went back O had a fever of almost 103, they gave him a suppository to get the fever down, and sent us back to "wait on a room to open up." In the lobby I had a blanket over O and you could see I was holding something, but you couldn't figure out what I was holding...reminded me of the baby Michael Jackson held over the balcony with the blanket over him. :D If you forgot, heres the pic...



The nurse said "you might not want to cover him with the blanket b/c it acts as aluminum foil. My response was "I understand, but I don't want {ALL} these germs on my baby!" Fever broke while we were "waiting on a room to open up." You would have though nothing was wrong with O.

FINALLY when "Lankford" was called Owen seemed to be his normal self. He was playing, talking, eating teddy grams, and being really silly. The doctor gave him some juice, a Popsicle, and he chomped away. Oh, I forgot to mention they gave him some wonderful med to help with the nausea. To make a long story short...he was dehydrated, but they were confident he would hydrate at home and get better.

Thursday he was the same sick little boy. He was begging for milk and I finally gave in. It wasn't an hour later he was vomiting AGAIN. Back on clear liquids and crackers. I did give him some of the medication from the ER the night before.

Friday my parents came down and kept him while I returned to work. He was still pretty sick, but we thought he was showing signs of improvement. Boy how I was wrong. I picked us up Chili's that night and I thought for sure O would be able to eat a french fry. WRONG. Gave him about 4 and within 5 minutes he was throwing that up. After vomiting he was saying "fries, more fries, Hungry" Talk about breaking my heart.

Yesterday my parents came down to hang out, Dad and T did this amazing work in the bonus room, and we just hung out. Owen was definitely still sick and we were very concerned b/c he still was not keeping things down and was drinking very little. I contacted to doctor AGAIN and this is what I heard...{HEAD TO VANDERBILT}. Although this time was a little different...she called them to put our name on the list...kind of like a reservation at a restaurant. :) When we got there is was a HOT MESS. Boy, oh boy the sights you see there. Not to mention as we were headed to the room I hear "Stephanie" I turned around only to see a friend (Josh Weber) I teach with, in the waiting room with his child.

Got back fairly quickly, but Owen was acting like he was OK. Walking around, touching things...don't worry, I went through about 100 germ wipes while there, and he was looking "fine". We went back and they tried to get him to eat & drink. He did eat another pack of teddy grams, but refused to drink apple juice or eat a Popsicle. :( Then we heard the much dreaded words..."he needs IV fluids". Owen was severely dehydrated.

Let me say this has to be the worse day of my life. Having to hold him down while he is screaming "mama/dada hold you, hurt" My heart literally broke in a million pieces right there. They attempted to put the IV in the bend of his arm, but something weird happened with his vein. So, then they moved on to the hand. Success, but not really. He was sweating so bad the tape wouldn't stick and it was "coming out" but they managed to make it work. He got some fluids and he was literally a new child. On the way home we stopped and got a pizza at 9pm. Owen wanted some & we didn't deny him. He ate a piece and drink milk. If you are wondering, he kept it all down.

Today we are back to the normal Owen. However, he has horrible diarrhea. He has already gone 5 times...twice this morning, once in the tub, once during nap and it was everywhere....even on his face, and two more times. He will be home with my mother until this stops. He eating and drink are back to normal and I HOPE we are done with illnesses for the whole year. Nothing better than 3 baths in one day. :D

Well, I am off to rest. I am so tired. I am just glad my baby is better.

SWL

hello spring break!!!!!!

I thought I was going to start Spring Break off with a bang...little did I know I would be cleaning up puke. Yes, that's right, Owen is sick AGAIN!!! I was home with him on Thursday b/c he threw up, my mom kept him home yesterday and he was OK. He woke up this morning and was very fussy. I took his temp & it was OK. I just knew something wasnt right. He wanted juice...I gave him some. He drank one cup full, wanted another, drank that one, and a little of another cup (thats three totaly if you are confused). He came in the bed with me, T was still asleep, and seemed better. He wanted to go play in the computer room with the saw. We did that & then I had to "mommy hold you". Well, that was all she wrote. Next thing I hear was splatter of puke all on me, the computer table, printer, and floor. He threw up all the apple juice. :(

I called the doctor and they said it was a virus going around...Thanks!!! Welcome Spring Break! He seems better, but who knows. I just pray we are over this and T & I don't get it. The other day while I was home with Owen we played with the saw. Here are the pics...

This week is going to be a busy, yet fun week. Monday Owen will start his new school...The Gardner School. Praise the LORD!!!!! I will work him in that week and he will start full-time on the following Monday. I just hope it all goes smoothly.

Tuesday-Thursday we are having tile installed in our bathroom & laundry room. I am going to spend the majority of the day outside, at the playground, and hanging out with Owen.

Oh well, I am off to bed. The last two pictures are of Owen up in the bonus room walking in his "boots" or his blocks. Please ignore the mess...we are redoing our new TV/wall unit. That's why the bootleg, old, TV stand is randomly placed in the pic. :)

Night Night,

Stephanie

sPRinG?!?!?!?!?!?!

Isn't this weather beautiful? Well, if you are NOT in TN, the weather was roughly 70 today and SUNNY. For a brief moment I thought it was {SPRING}. However, after watching the 7 day forecast, I was quickly brought back to reality. I guess all good things must come to an end.

Today was a busy day...it was Owen's cousin Katherine's birthday party. I knew it was going to be a good day when I woke up at 8:45 & Owen was STILL asleep. At that point I got nervous & went in there to check on him. He was just laying in bed & sucking his thumb. He popped right up and was ready to rock & roll.

We went to the party and boy did he have a blast. I knew it was going to be a day of play, fun, little eating, and NO nap. I was absolutely RIGHT! Here are some pics from the day.

Last Monday Owen and I stopped by Target as we do on a weekly basis. I need diapers and wipes, I believe. As soon as we walked through the door Owen says "get something". WHAT? As if he doesn't have enough {JUNK}, & we were going to get "something" else? As we are walking he continuously says "get something". As we walked by this cute little kids gardening section he sees a {SHOVEL} & he MUST have it. So, I was suckered into getting it. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into. Needless to say this shovel never leaves his side. In order to get Owen to bed we have to rock him & the SHOVEL. He also has the shovel sleep with him.

And I saved the best for last. This is what Owen looks like going on NO nap, but still wanting to play outside.

Until next time,

SWL

Photo Session...

Do you love the work of Angela Crutcher http://www.angelacrutcherphotography.com/ and want her to photograph your child? Now is your opportunity. Angela has agreed to allow me to have a mini session with my friends. The location has not been determined yet, but it will be outside. Here are the pricing details.

Mini Session Fee $50

You will have the option to get the pictures on CD.

"Mini Digital"10 files/10 5x7's = $250.00
"I want them ALL"20 files/20 5x7's = $350.00

This is a wonderful opportunity to have a wonderful session with Angela and get a CD with your photos on it. If you are interested, please email me at stephanielankford@comcast.net. I plan on doing this in May.

Stephanie

there is a god...

today was a total melt down. i got to owen's daycare about 730 & he would not let me go..."hold you mama, hold you, no mama" i literally had to walk into another room so no one could see the large crocodile tears in my eyes. my heart had just broken into a million little pieces. on a typical day i stay with owen a minimum of 15 minutes and today was no different. his teacher had to peel him off of me, i walked in the hall, signed him in, and told elise if he doesn't stop i am taking him with me. well, he stopped and i went on to work.

once at work he crosses my mind a million times. i arrived at work and i talked with josh, a father of three, and a once stay-at-home dad. he reassured me once i get owen moved and felt better about the care things would get better. throughout the day it didn't and i continued to think about him.

i didn't eat lunch with the normal crowd and when i met with my team all i could do was complain about " i want to be at home, i hate owens daycare, i need to not work, i want to raise my child, and the normal complaining i do". i went back to my class and emailed another parent at owen's daycare who is also on the waiting list for tgs, i wanted to touch base with her and see if they were planning on moving there over the summer. we i put owen on the waiting list they told me it would be more than likely the late summer or august. so, i wasn't worried about it.

right before 6th period i checked my phone and there was a call from melanie, blake's mommy, letting me know tgs had called he about a spot open. i called them to check about ours seeing we were ahead of them and he has a spot.

i know this is the best place for him and he will learn so much, but there is a lot of reservations. i currently pay 160 a week for care and it will go up to 217 a week. it will go down to 197 in may when he turns two. there is so much about this preschool i love. they have a wonderful curriculum, structure, and have educated teachers. i just pray this is the right move. god has ways of answering prayers. owen will start the week i am on spring break. i will ease him into the new environment. i will take him on monday and stay with him an hour or so and work up to the full day.

i pray god will watch over owen and me through this transition. not to mention the money difference. i noticed i will not pass a starbucks on my way in to work. that will save money. :) i am sure the tears are not over, but i hope i will feel like owen is safe at the new PRESCHOOL!!!

swl