Picture Post

Just because I haven't posted pictures of my little guy in a while...

I love the way Michael is looking at his Daddy!

Michael loves his new slide!

Michael and Coleman showing us where their heads are

Michael doing a little reading after dinner

Watching his Daddy cut the grass.
He stood there like that for about 20 minutes!

Toby is hoping Michael will drop some of his snack on the floor.

Thrift Store Friday

I'm back with another edition of Thrift Store Friday!! I haven't posted in a while because I really haven't found any great deals lately. Well I racked up this week! Check it out!

- 4 new board books for Michael - $.25 each

- A paid or Polo Ralph Lauren shorts for Michael - $1

- A pair of Children's Place Linen Pants - $1 (I don't thing these have ever been worn)

- 2 Pairs of  Circo Pants - $1 each

- A Swim School Floating suit thing for Michael - $3.50

A Tori Richard Hawaiian Shirt for my Dad - $4.50 (It was actually made in Hawaii)

Total: $13.00

Don't forgot to check out Miracle Hill's Facebook Page, HERE!

Something I never wanted to do...

I had to do something today that I was hoping I would NEVER have to do. I had to give my child the Heimlich Maneuver!

I was feeding Michael some fruit this morning and I notice him start to make a strange face, and get a very worried look. I talked to him, and kept watching him, and realized that he could not breath! I stayed very calm through the whole ordeal, which I am surprised that I was able to do so. All of my CPR training came back to me, and I quickly pulled him out of his high chair, and turned him over and started hitting his back. I did it several times, and turned him over. He was still choking. I turned him back over, and hit him a few more times. At that point, he started caughing and up came the piece of pear that had been stuck. The whole thing happened so quickly, that after it was over with, I was able to catch my breath, and realize what had happened. Michael was fine, and went right back to eating, like nothing happened, but Mama was a little more cautious about what fruit he ate.

I'm not sure how many people read this blog, or if any of you have children. Please take the time to learn how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver / CPR on infants and children. Especially if you have children, or are around children. Knowing how to do this just may save a life.

There are several youtube videos showing what to do.  Here is a link to an article with step by step directions of what to do.

Hopefully I will never had to do that again, but if I do, I know that I can handle the situation, and that I will stay calm.

Michael's ABC Book

I have been wanting to make Michael his own ABC book for a while, and I finally sat down this weekend and did it. I used my Creative Memories Storybook Creator program to layout the pages, and then uploaded them to Picaboo, and had it made into a book. I have bought a LivingSocial deal a few weeks ago. I got a 20 page 11 x 8.5 hard cover story book from picaboo for $10 (regular price, $40)! You can still get that deal, just click the link above.

Anyway, I'm really excited about how it turned out. I searched on pinterest, and google looking for inspiration and ideas to go with each letter. Some letters were a lot harder than others and some I had a ton of ideas for. Like the letter "M", I could use Michael, Mommy, Molly, Mimi, Mickey Mouse etc... In the end, I chose Mickey Mouse, since we have such good pictures from the cruise with Mickey Mouse.

Here are just a few of the pages.

Now I just have to wait the 10-14 days for my book to be printed, and then another 4-6 for shipping!! I really hope Michael likes it. He loves his other alphabet book and his book with pictures in it, so this is like a combination of both of them.

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18 Months

So, I have a 1 1/2 year old!! Crazy!!

Here is what is going on with Michael these days:
- He had a good check up at the doctor. He weighs 27 lbs (67%) and is 32.5 inches tall (54%)
- He can say 38 words and sign 14 words. One word he says really cute is Molly. He calls her Lolly. He will walk around the house calling out Lolly. He loves his dogs! Another word that is really funny to hear is the way he says milk. He calls it "gooah" (no, I did not count that as one of the 38 words). When I walk into his room in the morning with his milk, he is signing milk and saying gooah. If I ask him if he wants some milk, he responds by saying gooah. If I ask him if he wants some gooah, he signs milk. I'm not sure how in his mind milk sounds like gooah, but it does and it cracks us up every time he says it.
- His favorite book right now is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. He loves to make all the animal sounds and gestures as we read it.

Look how tall I am! 32.5 inches!

- He loves to pray at meal time. We have prayed with him before meals since he sat with us at the dinner table. We all hold hands and Andrew prays. At first he didn't want to hold hands, and then one day, at dinner, we put our hands out, and he grabbed them. Then he started saying "Amen" at the end. Now, after we get done praying and we say amen, he lets go of our hands, and then signs "more, more" and wants us to hold hands again and pray. I love then fact that my son loves to hold hands with Mama and Daddy and pray. This is one of those things that I hope he never outgrows!
- He is sleeping anywhere from 13-14 hours every night and takes a 1.5-2 hour nap every day.
- He loves to take a bath. Since we are home during the day, we usually save bath time for after breakfast. Anytime I say, Let's go upstairs, he responds with "Bath...Bath..." While signing the word for bath. He will stay in the tub forever, usually 30-45 minutes.

Showing Bob the Builder how tall he is

- I bought him a little potty this month just for him to get used to seeing and sitting on. No, we are not anywhere near ready to potty train. But when I sit him on it, I say "Pee Pee in the Potty" And he repeats, "pee pee...potty...pee pee." And just in case you were interested, we won't be starting until after we get back from vacation in September. I really don't want to deal with potty issues while on vacation.
- He has been eating, and eating and eating... He used to not like any fruit except for grapes and applesauce. Over the past couple of weeks, he has really started eating a lot more fruits and veggies. He loves peaches, pineapple, strawberries, green beans, peas, corn, and tomatoes. We just keep trying new things, and if he doesn't like it the first time, we wait a while and try again. I'm so excited that he is finally eating more fruits and veggies.

Blowing a kiss to Mama

- We have really enjoyed going to story time this month. We go the library every other week, and to Chick-fil-a every week. He loves to play on the playground at chick-fil-a and will climb up without any help.
- We also went to the park and he loved the slides and swings. Love 70 degree weather in January/February!
- We usually go to see Daddy once a week at work, and as soon as we pull in the parking lot, he says, "Daddy!!" He loves his Daddy so much!
- He has come to love his Binky and Blanket. He only gets them as naps and bedtime, but When he gets a hold of his blanket, he hugs it and loves it! (I think it is one of the cutest things)

Right after nap time, loving on his "Be-Be"

- Usually every night, after Michael goes to bed, Andrew and I say to each other, "He is so cute..." And then talk about all the cute things he did that day. We are so blessed to have Michael and I can't imagine my life without him!

Canvas storage box

I found this idea on Pinterest, and loved it!

So, last week, I went to JoAnn's and found some cute fabric, so I could make some boxes for Michael's closet. This weekend, I made this cute storage box.

Since This Blog already did a great job with the tutorial, I won't post how I made it. Just follow her steps and you will be good to go.  

The only thing is, I should have got more fabric. In her tutorial, she said she was able to cover the box using 1/2 a yard of fabric. So, I got a whole yard, thinking it would be enough for two boxes and it wasn't. So, now I have to go back and get more for my second box. So, made sure you measure your box first, and measure the fabric you are getting, just to make sure you get enough.

But anyway, I love how it turned out, and I'm thinking about where I could put some more of these. They are great and so practical for storing so much!

I also have to give a big THANK YOU to my Mom, who helped me sew the lining. Thanks Mom, you ROCK!

Beautiful day in South Carolina

Today it was absolutely beautiful outside! For it to be 70 degrees on February 2nd, is wonderful!! We have had such a mild winter this year, which is great, since I have a little boy who loves to play outside.
Today, we went to the park to play. This was the first time going, where Michael could climb up on the playground by himself. He had so much fun on the slide and on the swings. Hopefully we will have lots more days like this for those next "6 weeks of winter"