Just A Swingin'

Well, our baby boy is finally over his illness. It took 8 long days to get over, but he's back in action now. We still don't have him around children for another week in case he's contagious but we are so glad that he's back to his old self. He's doing some new things these days. If you ask him if he's hungry, he'll head straight for his highchair. Ryder has a purple squeaky toy and Renner loves grabbing it and then having Ryder chase him. It's their little game they play. It's precious. He's very independent. He would much rather do things and figure things out on his own. He's also quite stubborn (hmmm...I wonder who he gets that from...sorry, Renner...that's Mommy's trait). We are trying to learn what type of discipline to use when we need it. We know it's a time of learning on both parts, but he just doesn't get it a lot of the time. He grabs wires from the tv and we tell him no and give a little spank and then remove him from the situation but he just keeps going back. It's so frustrating. Something else is that he doesn't like mushy food and meat. We try to give him a variety of food all the time but he does have his favorites...breakfast bars, apple, pancake, toast, etc. Recently we tried carrots, pork & rice, egg fritatta and bacon, but he wasn't too keen on those things. I guess we just keep offering until he tries things and ends up liking them.
This past weekend we put up his new swing in the front yard. He loved it! Then we pulled out his John Deere ATV into the front yard and let him play. His favorite thing had to be walking/crawling up and down our sidewalk. That's about it for now. Thank you so much for keeping Renner in your thoughts and prayers during his illness. Much love to you all!

Gastroenteritis

Okay...so what's with the big word right? Well, if you've heard from me or seen me in the past 5 days you know that Renner is really, really sick. He started vomiting Saturday evening. By Sunday night he had a fever of 102.3. So, we loaded him up and took him to an E.R. clinic not too far from our house. He was given an IV to help him rehydrate and he was diagnosed with Gastroenteritis. Mike took him to the E.R. once more Monday afternoon but didn't stay as Renner began to perk up a bit. Well, fast forward to tonight, Wednesday and he's still a sick little boy. Today Mike took him to a new pediatrician. (We loved our old pediatrician and nursing staff, but due to the fact that the receptionist kept double and triple booking people, it was taking us an hour to 1 1/2 hours each time we went there just to be seen so we decided to find a new doctor for Renner.) The new doctor told us everything looked good but that this could continue for a few days. I guess I should say that the vomiting only happens once a day, but now he has diarreah. He probably went through 10-20 diapers today!!! He has also lost 9 ozs. That may not sound like a lot but to a baby, it is. Needless to say, Mommy, Daddy & Gran are exhausted. We are ready for our very active little boy to feel better, stop pooping and play with his toys. He hasn't even had a chance to enjoy all of his birthday presents. Please keep him in your prayers and I'll post another blog when he starts feeling better.

And then there was "1"

Well, our baby boy has turned the big O-N-E! Can you believe it...one! It just seems like yesterday that we never thought we'd have a little one of our own, then we got the news that we were having a baby and then there he was in all his glory.
This little boy is quite a handful I tell ya. He is so unbelieveable. He is extremely independent and headstrong. Talk about being funny and having a way of making us laugh. I guess it's time I get a notebook together to write down all of the funny things that have been happening.
I guess I better write about his birthday party. It was awesome! Thank you so much to everyone that was able to make it out as well as those who sent birthday wishes. On Friday, Jan. 30th Renner's Nana & Pop from Georgia flew in for the big occasion. After a yummy lunch at Chuy's we, along with Daddy, went to Aunt Stephanie's hair salon where he received his first big boy haircut. Mommy got choked up, but held it together. I made sure to keep his beautiful locks that were cut off.
The next morning we were busy getting ready for the party. It was a Winnie the Pooh theme and way cute! After getting all of the decorations & food together it was time for the party to begin. Renner received all types of bath toys, pool toys, clothes, books, DVDS and $ for his car seat. We had about 40 people in attendance. We are overwhelmed by the amount of love that was shown by our friends and family. Along with our family from Georgia we also had friends come from as far away as Austin & Bossier City. Some of Renner's friends were able to make it as well. Thank you Jayden, Alex, Buzz, Colton, Delaney, Sadie & Alyssa for coming to Renner's party. He hopes you had fun! Okay, so the funny parts. Renner received this purple vibrating ball that rolls on the ground. He got scared and all of the little ones starting crying. Poor babies. Then I was thinking Renner would get so messy with his cake, but he didn't. He didn't know what to think about his cake. He ate a little bit of it but it pretty much looked the same as when he started eating it. Who knows...he may be like his Daddy and not like sweets that much.




A couple of weeks before Renner's birthday we took him to the duck pond in Summerwood. He had so much fun looking at and feeding the ducks. We hope to take him back soon. Ryder liked it too!




This weekend we are looking forward to Renner's 1st Birthday party out at his Gran & Pa's in Hardin with his Van Dorn/Rawlinson family! This boy is going to be partied out...but we know he's loving all of the love. Until next time...

2008-2009 at a glance...Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Pictures of Our Renner from Christmas

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Gyros, Snow Angel & Patty Cake

I know, I know...what has Renner been up to? Well, we are in Georgia right now and I left the cord to download pics from our camera so...check back soon for pics. The updated picture from the carousel was taken with Mike's cell phone, so that's why you see that one on here.
So now, here's what Renner has been up to in the past couple of months.
First, Renner has celebrated his first Thanksgiving & Christmas.
For Thanksgiving he had lunch at his Gran & Pa's house in Hardin. He had a blast playing with all of his cousins and falling asleep on his cousin Stephanie's shoulder. That evening we went to his Mimi's house for dinner. He had a lot of fun there with his Mimi, aunts, uncles & cousin Jayden.
Then after Thanksgiving he was busy getting ready for Christmas. He has since learned how to say "My Momma" "Dada" "hu for hush" and "bye". The "hu" is the only word we know for sure that he knows what he's saying. He's also started to wave bye, bye now. The first command that he has responded to has been "pattycake". His Gran taught him that one. Everytime we say "pattycake" he starts clapping his hands. Since we've been in Georgia he's learned 2 more things. First he's learned to tilt his sippy cup & bottle up in order to get out the liquid. The other thing is that he is now dancing to music. We went to his cousin Audrey & Emma's house tonight and he was dancing to the Tigger toy that made music. He also loves Rudolph. We are staying at his Nana & Pop's house and they have a Rudolph & Santa toy that sings and he loves listening to it.
Backtracking a bit, we took Renner to his first Christmas with my folks side of the family. He has definitely learned how to ham things up for everyone. He received all kinds of great toys & clothing for Christmas. My side of the family definitely took care of the John Deere presents. His Pa & Gran gave him a John Deere ATV that he LOVES! We have the most adorable pics of him playing on it.
A couple of weeks before Christmas we took Renner to the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens in Galveston. It was so pretty, despite the nasty rain. He even was so brave & sat on Santa's lap giving us a really great photo.
On Christmas Eve we took Renner to his first Christmas Eve church service at AHS through the Fellowship of the Woodlands church. While we attended the service, Renner went to the nursery. When it was over, we went to pick him up and he was fast asleep in a stroller. I guess he was tuckered out from the excitement.
Christmas Day we opened presents at home and then went to Mimi's house for brunch & to spend time with Daddy's side of the family. Renner racked up on toys and had so much fun playing with Jayden. Then we went home & Renner's Gran & Pa came over to watch him so Mommy & Daddy could sleep before the big drive to Georgia. We left that evening around 9:45pm.
Renner did really well on the drive and slept most of the way. Since we've been here we've had a lot of fun with family and have run Renner ragged. He's not eaten well at all. We're thinking it's either because he's overstimulated when it's time to eat or he's outgrowing baby food. I'm going for the second idea because today at the mall I ate a gyro and gave him some of the meat and he loved it! Who wants nasty, mushy baby food when you can eat the real stuff.
Okay, last thing for this blog. Last night we took Renner to Stone Mountain for the Christmas Holiday celebration that they have going on. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! They even have a woman called a Snow Angel that flies above the crowd & makes it snow on you. Well, Renner experienced that and even sat on her lap before her performance. It sure was cold last night, making it a perfect evening for a winter outing at Stone Mountain. Better run...Renner's fast asleep in bed and Momma better hit the hay too. Sweet dreams...

November Happenings

This past weekend I took Renner on a little outing Saturday. We first met up with one of my family friends from Hardin, Jon and his girlfriend Bri and her son Kayden at Chuy's. Lindsey met us there and we all had a nice lunch together.

After lunch Lindsey, Renner & I went to the Hardin HS football playoff game at Turner Stadium in Humble. After just about 30 minutes of being there, not knowing anyone and feeling out of place we decide to leave. So, before we left I called my brother because he was at the game but sitting on the other side. So he talked me into walking down the length of stadium to see if I knew anyone. That's when I ran into my good friend from high school, Morika. We chatted with her for about 10 minutes and then left.

Then Renner and I went home to rest. A little while later Erik calls to tell me that he and his girlfriend and her daughter were going to Olive Garden if we wanted to meet up with them. So Renner & I jump in the car and head to Olive Garden for a yummy dinner.

If you are wondering where Daddy was during all of this, he was at a UH football game with his brothers. Mike's been so busy with his football season at work that he hasn't had time to enjoy quality time with his brothers and his much loved Cougar football.

Some updates on Renner:

1. He's now clapping his hands

2. He has found the door stop. He likes hitting it and making it go "BOINGGGGG" and then clapping.

3. He likes drinking out of big boy cups.

Last but not least for today, Renner's Gran surprised us Friday with doing an art and craft project with Renner. They finger painted and created Renner's first turkey. It was so cute and I have to go have it laminated! Happy Thanksgiving y'all!