Bickel Family Blog

Narcotictics Anonymous..here I come!

2010-03-28T15:23:00.003-04:00

So, had a run-in with a over-bearing pharmacist lately. (Mama referred to him as the Barney Fife of Pharmacies)....

I have a long-term prescription of darvocet. I take it for headaches only when needed. Well, with the lovely doses of Vicodin I have been given since breaking my leg, I haven't had any headaches...so no need for headache medicine. Needless to say, it is dangerous to mix the two in a dual dose and I am not stupid - neither is my primary doctor and the surgeon who are both aware of the two prescriptions.

Ryan went in to pick up my Vicodin and the refill of Darvocet that had been sitting up there about a week. "Barney" decided to give him a lecture about taking the two and it was a Federal offense for me to be prescribed both...yadda yadda. He gave Ryan the Vicodin and told him the Darvocet had not been called in.

After talking to my doctor that had called it in 10 days prior, she were a little perturbed and called the pharmacy. Of course, it was there. Long story short, the "Barney" lied about the prescription being there and took it upon himself to "deny" me of a prescription.

Now, I completely understand the need for him to practice the "CYA" method and state a disclosure of the danger of mixing the two drugs....But denying someone a prescription and lying about it is kind of a no-no in the pharmacy business world. Needless to say, he got in trouble...not sure how much....I take it that wasn't a happy day in Mayberry.

ScoreCard:

Bean Counter - 1
Pill Counter - 0

:)

Grace

2010-03-27T00:23:00.003-04:00

My mama has always called me Grace, sometime after I grew out of the "wonky punk" name she gave me but not some of the others my daddy came up with.

Well...I have lived up to my name by breaking my leg. Carrying my "punky wonky" MaryRyan, I missed the last step and twisted my right ankle...in being a mama bear I tried to protect her and turn to land on my back. Fortunately, she didn't notice a thing...Unfortunately, my left leg snapped on the way down.

So, after a Saturday trip to Urgent Care, a Tuesday trip to an Orthopedic, I was celebrating St. Patty's Day in surgery. 8 screws, a plate, 7 stiches and what will be a lovely 6 inch scar on my lower leg.... I am laying in bed with a Gator blue cast with a couple Bat Man bandaids. (Carter takes good care of me).

Between, a husband that takes care of everything, a mother that dotes on all of us, and some awesome church friends. I am finally comfortable and well feed for the past week.

God is good...even if you are clumsy and lacking Grace.

Big Events - Part One

2010-03-27T00:16:00.004-04:00

My "baby" brother got married in October so that was a great opportunity to have my kids looking cute. My hubby looked cute as well....I felt like a beach whale, so no pics of me :)

I must selfishly agree with the statement I hear often...Ryan and I made pretty babies :)

Slacker Mom

2010-03-27T00:10:00.001-04:00

So, it's been close to a year. At least I'm consistant. Ryan, Carter and Papa Jeff will soon attend the Gator's Orange and Blue game in a couple weeks (see last post). Our lives have consisted of other adventures as well.

Boy's Weekend

2009-05-30T22:24:00.003-04:00

Back in April Ryan, Papa Jeff and Carter took a trip to see Tebow.

They went to the "Orange & Blue" Game...which is Florida's Spring game.

The intramurals had their championships prior to the game and the women's was the ZTA's vs. a non-Greek team. Ryan was quite please to see that Tebow was the coach of the ZTA team. Ryan can relate since he coached his ZTA football girls in college as well.

Needless to say, they won :)

One Year Pics

2009-05-30T22:17:00.004-04:00

Mary Ryan and I met Coleen (our in-house photog) in Downtown Roswell for a lunch date and photo shoot. Can't wait to see our pics... will post them.

In the meantime check out some of Coleen's awesome work:

http://littlebutterbeans.blogspot.com

xoxo

Mary Ryan's First Birthday

2009-04-26T16:17:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Soccer

2009-01-07T23:28:00.002-05:00

Carter will have soccer lessons at his school starting next week and that is all he is talking about which is great... but he won't sleep b/c all he wants to do is talk about soccer. I'm hoping an hour of soccer on Tuesday mornings will wear him out a little. He can come up with any reason not to go to bed.

Lucky for us, he is about 90% potty trained... he also has to go "peepee" in the potty every 15 minutes after he gets back in the bed. I have to fight the urge of telling him to go in his pull-up...that would undo our progress, but would keep us in the bed longer!!

Hopefully his enthusiasm for the potty and soccer will continue!!

xoxo

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-06T08:43:00.003-05:00

Here's to hoping 2009 is much less eventful but as rewarding as 2008. We had a rough year, but are so happy Mary Ryan and her big brother are both doing great.

We appreciate all the wonderful family and friends that made 2008 bearable!!

xoxo

Holidays

2008-12-11T17:01:00.003-05:00

I love the Holidays more and more each year. I think it is having kids and especially this year...Carter is thrilled with everything. We hung out shopping (window variety) all day and had a blast today. This has been an extremely rough year for us, but filled with many blessings. I look forward to what all next year has to bring and I am extremely thankful for my wonderful family and friends!!

xoxo

Busy, Busy

2008-11-14T15:54:00.003-05:00

hello....

Time flies by. Halloween is over and it is high gear to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We plan to get the Christmas goodies down this weekend, so we can have some time for Carter to enjoy it. Mary Ryan will love the lights.

I've been working a little the last couple of weeks which has been nice for the wallet, but stressful. Lucky for me, my hubby is awesome and it turns on Mr. Mom mode easily and takes care of everything. He can get things done so much faster than I can... he impresses me often!!

xoxo

Long Time Gone

2008-10-20T20:59:00.004-04:00

We have returned from a 10 day visit to Americus and Thomasville. The kids and I headed down on Friday the 10th and went to Cowpoke. Ryan joined us on Sunday to play golf and he and Carter went to Thomasville for several days. Friday, we joined Southland's first graders at the Pumpkin Patch then headed back to Thomasville. We went to our Uncle Brian's house in Lake City for a Bickel Family Reunion. We had an eventful trip, but it was nice to finally be home on Sunday night. We have lots of pictures to post and I will get along to that soon!

Busy Weekend

2008-09-22T11:53:00.002-04:00

We survived our busy weekend in Americus. Mary Ryan's Baptism went great, she was perfectly behaved during the ceremony. Lunch was fun and we had lots of friends and family stop by. Carter enjoyed his birthday party and really had fun once he found his presents. I was happy to see some of my friends and look forward to going to Cowpoke in a few weeks.

Busy Busy

2008-09-17T05:43:00.002-04:00

As usual things are exceptionally busy.

Coleen came over for a girl's weekend which was great!

We have so much going on in the next several weeks it is mind blowing.

Mary Ryan is being Baptised on Sunday and we are having a 3rd Birthday party for Carter that afternoon as well. It is important to divy up the attention!!

I'll have details on the Birthdays and Baptism soon!

New Paint

2008-09-07T13:39:00.004-04:00

I forgot to mention that one "bonus" in the upstairs pipe bursting was that I got new paint downstairs. The living room and halls are oatmeal. I was so impressed with the color, then I realized I painted our bedroom the same color 3 years ago... at least I'm consistent.
The kitchen is a granny smith apple green.. very cheerful. I'm just ready for some new countertops to go along with it.

Life's a Blur....

2008-08-13T04:36:00.002-04:00

The lack of posting should demonstrate how life has been such a blur lately. The summer has flown by and I couldn't have made it without my mom basically living with us half the summer. She was the biggest help and it was so enjoyable to have great meals, folded clothes, happy babies, and good company. We enjoyed having her here, but were told my father that we couldn't afford her as a full time nanny. So she begins school next week... although I'm sure she'd rather be here as we would rather her be!!

Love you Gigi.

Carter and Mary Ryan's Picture...sort of.

2008-05-23T12:31:00.001-04:00

This is as close as I've come to getting them posed together...oh well.

Mary Ryan's First Bath

2008-05-21T12:15:00.002-04:00

Okay..I've bathed the child in the two weeks we've had her home, but used the "spit" bath method as my Nana would call it. This is Mary Ryan's first bath in her own tub. She did very well. She's not very fussy at all, but when she does fuss she sounds like a cat....a very angry cat.

Baby Weigh In

2008-05-20T20:29:00.002-04:00

I took Mary Ryan to the pediatrician's office for a weigh in today. She topped the scale at 7 pounds even. That is a 6 oz gain from last Wednesday. We have our 1 month visit next Tuesday and will get more measurements. I'm curious to see how long she is now. 18.5 inches seemed really small at birth, but she's got some long froglegs. If her hiccups are a sign, she is growing like a weed!

Carter's Baby

2008-05-18T11:02:00.002-04:00

Several people have asked me how Carter is doing with the new baby. Most of the time ignoring she exists is his strategy, when he does acknowledge her it can be cute:

He has been getting in the bed with us in the middle of the night. Mary Ryan sleeps in her basket on a bench by the bed, so I'm sure he thinks he is missing out. The first night he did this I was feeding her and he slyly moved his hand over to hold hers. As I got Ryan to look and see what he was doing, Carter moved his hand and acted like he was asleep.
He can handle the basics like telling her bye in the morning, kissing her goodnight, etc.
A few days ago, Ryan and I were in the kitchen and she started fussing (which sounds like a cat). Carter came and grabbed my hand and said "Baby Needs Help". I was glad to know he cared.
We've been piling on the couch with Carter in the middle and I will hold Mary Ryan. She has some very long froggy legs and feet and will stretch them out when he touch them. Carter thinks that is hysterical. Last night she kept batting him with her hand and he thought that was too funny as well.

We still haven't gotten a picture with them together, that would be too easy. Ryan grabbed the video camera last night to get shots of Carter "playing" with her, but Carter started playing with the camera and ignoring the rest of us.

I know the perfect picture is out there with the two of them and I will capture it... I just hope it is before they start high school.

3 weeks Old

2008-05-18T10:46:00.006-04:00

Mary Ryan is now 3 weeks old and taking it all in stride as you can see. She is keeping us on her toes with her feedings. Her schedule for the first week at home was at least 55 mL (60 = 2 oz.) every 3 hours. Now she will get fussy and want to eat after an hour and a half, but not quite as much as a regular feeding. She basically ate an extra time yesterday afternoon, but then skipped four hours between eating during the night. Normally, I would be pleased with her stretching out her night feedings, but we've had to be some compulsive about keeping up with it (had a spreadsheet going and gave that up a couple days ago) we're always second guessing ourselves. I'll take her to get weighed again this week and as long as she is gaining I'll be happy.

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Happy Mother's Day to everyone, I'm only a week behind. I'll be about 3 weeks behind sending gifts and cards to our moms, grandmas and "other mothers", but I'll get there.

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Mary Ryan's first batch of stationary arrived so I am excited about getting thank-yous done ( I love stationary). I'm also finalizing birth announcements. I didn't get Carter's out until he was a month old, I was trying to be better with her but I don't think that will happen.

Mary Ryan's arrival

2008-05-18T10:43:00.001-04:00

I forgot to post my "delivery" update to the blog. So here is an entry from our first few days:

My uterus and placenta held out as long as they could and finally gave up Saturday night at 9:30. We were at the hospital at 10:08 and Mary Ryan Elizabeth was delivered at 11:38 PM. My doctor plus a wonderful team was ready and waiting on me when we got there. I had to be fully put to sleep for a speedy C section. Carter's delivery was scary, but this one was indescribably terrifying. I was lucky and under anesthesia for the scariest parts, but poor Ryan had to sit outside the operating room and wait. Mary Ryan "coded" and they had to resuscitate her and Ryan had no idea if it was her, me, or both. Luckily, a friend of ours got there a few minutes later and she was able to sit with Ryan and wait.
I had the best anesthesiologist possible and he did a great job of keeping Ryan informed of everything he was doing, but telling me just enough. According to him, I came through the surgery much better than he expected. They had me prepped for blood transfusions b/c they anticipated alot more blood loss than what actually occurred. Neither Mary Ryan or I had to have a transfusion.
I got to come home today and Mary Ryan is still in the hospital. She is doing wonderfully well and progressing faster than I expected. This morning the last of her IVs were removed, she was taken off oxygen, and her feeding tube was removed so she can eat fully from a bottle. Amazingly she weighed 6 lbs and 1.9 ounces for being 4 weeks early. Her lungs were giving her problems and she had a lot of fluid build up. She is doing very well now and hopefully we'll be able to bring her home by the first of next week. Ryan and I got to hold her at 5:30 this morning and it was a treat. We can't wait to hold her without all the monitors.

Mary Ryan Elizabeth

2008-05-09T12:59:00.003-04:00

After an exciting couple of weeks, we are happy to be home as of Tuesday the 6th and getting into a routine. Mary Ryan is eating well and is a very content baby so far. I understand most preemies are. The past two weeks have been a very large blur and eventually everything will sink in. Until then, I will continue to stare at her often and take pictures.

Tomato Soup - Part 2

2008-04-18T09:42:00.004-04:00

I rambled on about my tomato soup conflicts with Carter not too long ago. Well, soon after he proved me wrong. I was eating at the table in the kitchen and he took my bowl away and ate some himself. It was a huge mess, but he seemedto enjoy it. At least he let me put a bib on him, he usually protests that.

Baby Bickel Update #3

2008-04-14T12:10:00.002-04:00

Here is a quick update, b/c I am very tired today and going to try to nap (not good at napping).

The baby's "breathing" is really good. She has gained almost a pound and a half. When they told us two weeks ago that she was about 4 pounds, she was actually only 3 lb and 10 oz. I think the doctor was trying to not scare us. She is right at 5 pounds now. If she keeps gaining at that rate we may have a bigger baby than expected...which is fine. I had gained three pounds over the last two weeks and most of it went to her. So, I get to keep eating alot for now.

We found out last week that from here on out we can have her at Piedmont Fayette hospital which is on the other side of Peachtree City from us...that saves us another 30 to 45 minutes of driving to Southern Regional. Piedmont has a neo-natal unit as well, just not as advanced as Southern Regional, but she is far enough along that she would be good in their neo-natal unit if necessary.

We get to skip our regular OB visit this week and I'll have another update on Monday after our visit with the specialist again. Thursday will be 35 weeks, so we are slowly getting there.

Pictures

2008-04-08T08:21:00.003-04:00

I noticed most of my blog entries end with "will post pictures soon." If you click on the "Bickel Family Pictures" link on the left side of the homepage, you'll be able to see all our pictures. Maybe not all, but a lot! Each picture on the first page is an album of more, so happy browsing.

Baby Bickel Update #2

2008-04-08T08:07:00.003-04:00

Monday (4/7) was our visit to the specialist. They tested the baby's lungs again and she was "breathing" very well. We won't get her weight checked until next Monday's visit. While we were doing the ultrasound, we got a really good view of her face. It looked like she was facing the camera and showing off. She acted pretty silly and made fishy kiss faces at us. (I know she was just practicing sucking, but it was really funny!)

Other than that, I'm still bored and still sitting around. Daytime TV is terrible and full of reruns and there are only so many websites you can look at!

Above is Carter in his new room, he has done quite well sleeping in his big boy bed. He had breakfast in bed that morning...

Little Butterbeans

2008-04-08T08:05:00.001-04:00

Coleen has updated the Little Butterbeans site: http://www.littlebutterbeans.com/

It has a new look and is very cute.

Here is a picture of Carter modeling a lounge wear set Coleen made him...it is full of monkeys of course.

Baby Bickel Update #1

2008-04-01T10:38:00.001-04:00

Some of you are aware that our little girl has been a trouble maker from day one. Our latest complications have me on complete bed rest. Technical term: I have a placental abruption. ( I asked for more definitive rules last week on bed rest- I was told choose upstairs or down/couch or bed. And no, I can't go to Babies R Us).

We spent a few days in the hospital and this is my 2nd week at home. We are at 32 weeks now (33 is Thursday) and my doctors are hopeful that we make it to 39 weeks. We are now going to our specialist every Monday and our regular OB each week. Yesterday our doctor ran some test to see how the baby is progressing. She is only up to 4 lbs now, which is the 11th percentile. They also check to see how her lungs are progressing. I learned yesterday that even though babies don't breathe until the are born, they practice breathing at this age. She started hiccupping and that counts as practice breathing. With her being too skinny, I have to eat a lot more. I am supposed to eat alot of extra dairy and protein. That sounds like fun, but not so much. I haven't gained much weight yet, but the next few weeks I think I will become a beach whale.

Every Monday we will run tests and if she is gaining weight and practicing her breathing, we will stay pregnant. If not, I'll have to go back into the hospital. Our next milestone is 36 weeks, which is April 24th. If we make it that long she probably would not need neo-natal care at the hospital.

I'll send pictures later, but when we got home we were still in the process of moving Carter to his new room and then painting/decorating/setting up the baby's room. Ryan has gone into over drive getting everything done. Carter's room is done and the baby's room isn't missing much at all. He also has all of her clothes 0-6 months ready and waiting in the closet or dresser. He has been great! And it has driven me crazy that I can't help. On his request, I do bark orders, but even a bossy person like me feels guilty for doing so! Thanks for all the well wishes we've received. I'll update again soon.

New Pictures - okay not so new

2008-03-03T19:15:00.004-05:00

With all the chaos we live in, I don't keep caught up with my picture downloading and taking. I have added a couple new Christmas time pictures. Some are Carter with the gingerbread house he built with Gigi.

Gigi believes the house is worth keeping, so I have it wrapped up in the attic. I am just worried what else climbs in and inhabits the house between now and next Christmas!!

The Vacuum

2008-03-03T19:11:00.003-05:00

Carter is quite fascinated with the vacuum and has been since he was quite small. This picture is from back in December. I had the vacuum out and Carter wanted to help. I went down the hall to hang some clothes and unplugged the vacuum for him. I told Carter he could roll up the cord for me. I thought it would keep him busy and be a never ending task.... after two minutes he was done and rolled it up just as good as I could. He was quite pleased with himself as was I.

Tomato Soup Ramble

2008-03-03T15:36:00.003-05:00

It seems that people either love it or hate it. I LOVE it. It is my go to food. In case you don't know me well, I'm a little quirky (obsessive/bossy) about certain things...tomato soup preparation and consumption is one.

Preparation: I do not like the little lumps that you get in tomato soup, will not eat it if it is there. Also, do not like it if it has started to cook to much on the sides and it gets a film....must be smooth. Ryan has perfected the preparation of tomato soup over the years as well. He falls into the don't like it category, but he volunteers to fix it for me. My Nana and I have shared many cans of tomato soup (Campbells only, I don't care if the WalMart brand is the same..will not try). After Ryan and I got married, Nana gave me a tiny sauce pot that is the perfect size along with a tiny wisk that is also the perfect size. Ryan always uses them and I always think of my nana when they are in use.

Consumption: I'm guessing that Carter falls into the don't like it category. When I was pregnant with Carter, I was very lucky and never sick. EXCEPT, the two times I attempted to eat tomato soup. Carter will not try it but he is so fascinated by my consumption that he tries to participate. I share food with Carter all the time and try to be quite patient in letting him feed me and himself very messily....I have put my foot down with tomato soup. Reason being, one of my other quirks is my saltines in the soup. I take one cracker, split it in half and half again. I let the little fourths swim very briefly b/c I do not want soggy crackers. Four bites in the soup at a time is perfect timing for me. Carter, his wonderfuly helpful self, would try to put as many crackers that could fit in my bowl (which has to be a large Blue Willow vegetable serving bowl, b/c the soup does not wait well on the stove if I use a normal person bowl). I cannot handle soggy crackers in the bowl it freaks me out.

I am thinking my daughter will be a fan. She has allowed me to enjoy my bowls of soup even when everything else made me sick. She and I will just have to consume it while her big brother is not around!!

"Why Parents Drink...."

2008-02-26T14:39:00.001-05:00

This is a cute email I received recently. I hate forwards...but this one is worth sharing!! Why Parents Drink was the title.

The boss wondered why one of his most valued employee had not phoned in sick one day. Having an urgent problem with one of the main computers, he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper. "Hello ? "

"Is your daddy home?" he asked.

" Yes ," whispered the small voice.

May I talk with him?"

The child whispered, " No ."

Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?"

"Yes."

"May I talk with her?"

Again the small voice whispered, "No ."

Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?"

" Yes ," whispered the child, " a policeman ".

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?"

" No, he's busy ", whispered the child.

"Busy doing what?"

" Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman ," came the whispered answer.

Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background through the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?"

" A helicopter " answered the whispering voice.

"What is going on there?" demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.

Again, whispering, the child answered, " The search team just landed a helicopter ."

Alarmed, concerned and a little frustrated the boss asked, "What are they searching for?"

Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle...
" ME ."

Peepee in the Potty

2008-02-14T14:14:00.002-05:00

All three of us are under the weather to some degree. Ryan has basically recovered but Carter and I both have sinus infections. I had to go do some work today, so Ryan stayed home to hang out with Carter. He called me on during my long drive to tell me that Carter went peepee in the potty for the first time. We have been practicing for months, but up to this point we sit, put toilet tissue in the potty and flush. This time he added a step. I don't expect a miracle and a diaper burning ritual over the weekend, but we're making progress...especially for a stubborn little boy!!

Moving on up...

2008-02-12T14:18:00.000-05:00

Finally, we were able to move stuff upstairs on Sunday. Poor Ryan had to move it while I supervised. The space was larger than I expected once we got the bed, etc up there. Ryan thinks he and Carter will use it as boy's getaway...I think I may just hide up there myself. We laughed last night as we all piled on the bed up there and watched news on a 17 inch tv while we could be downstairs looking at an obnoxious one in HD. The newness is exciting. So we are now open for visitors. Guests have there own bedroom and bathroom, but Carter comes along with the package.

Garage Makeover

2008-02-05T10:29:00.000-05:00

Still have a few ticky things to finish upstairs, but went ahead and made a little progress in the Garage. We decided to make our garage an organized and kid friendly place. We have a large storage closet that now runs along and below the new stairs. This is to house all the non-kid friendly junk.

As far as fun stuff, we (Ryan) framed out a large portion of the front wall and we painted it with chalkboard paint. Our next steps are to get some cabinets on the sides so we can get everything off the ground.

Making slow progress, but will be done eventually. If I can locate the camera... I'll take pics...

The Alphabet Song

2008-01-29T15:06:00.000-05:00

After months of looking at Ryan and me like we are crazy when singing the Alphabet Song, Carter busted out with his version this week. He is about 80% correct on it.

He sings letters...we are proud!!

Carpet

2008-01-24T11:20:00.000-05:00

Love the carpet....

Room looks liveable now...

Other carpet in my house is quite jealous and afraid for it's life....

Ugly Builder Basic Carpet beware, I will replace you eventually!!

Updates..

2008-01-23T12:16:00.000-05:00

Life has been hectic as usual..do I sound like a broken record?

Carpet is being installed on our new stairs and upstairs as I speak (type). I'm quite thrilled to know I can start moving furniture, okay bossing Ryan around as he moves furniture. It will be nice to start getting my house in order.

We've been very busy since Christmas. Mama came up for a playdate with Carter while Ryan and I went to the doctor Monday. She is still a girl..we had them double check. We had an EKG done on her heart and she shows no abnormal beats...Ryan has a heart condition so we have to be cautious with our babies. She weighed 15 oz on Monday and looks to only be in the 6 pound range when she gets here. I had a very slow start gaining weight and stayed very sick for the first 4 months. She is doing very well according to the doctor.

Hopefully, I'll get around to taking pictures of our new room and bathroom to show off. After the carpet is done, we are probably 95% complete. Ryan has just been touching up some paint, etc.

Gretchen and Chandler came for visit yesterday and today. Chandler (Ryan's step-brother - 15) spent the night with us so Carter kept him busy playing. Chandler is now on carpet watch for us while the workers...work.

Will update more frequently as time frees up...hopefully soon!!

Picture Updates

2007-12-23T13:08:00.000-05:00

I have updated our picture link to finally include our Halloween pictures. I've included the picture of the monsterous blow-up that Ryan and Carter picked out. Hopefully, I won't be too slow to add our Christmas pictures.

Quick Baby News

2007-12-20T12:45:00.000-05:00

Life has been so hectic lately that I don't know which end is up. Luckily, our doctor's do and we found out on Monday that we are having a little Girl!!

My Bi-Lingual Child

2007-11-30T15:08:00.000-05:00

We have been working on numbers lately. We will count anything and everything. Carter has said "two" for probably a year now. As in "one" , "two"...being the number of anything he wants; cookies, crackers, etc. He recently added "five" in the mix, but surprised me this week with several others.

This is how he counts now: "one, two, three, four, five, ocho, nueve".

Even in the one year room at school they teach them Spanish numbers and colors, so he's been learning this for a year now. This is the first time he has recited any of it to us. It's quite funny.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-21T12:01:00.001-05:00

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

We will begin our several days of travel tomorrow. We go to Americus to eat lunch with my family (Ryan's mom is joining us), then on to Thomasville. We will stay with Ryan's mom for a visit and eat dinner with Ryan's dad and his crew Thursday night. Probably going to a football game Friday night, Thomas County Central is playing in the state playoffs.

It will all be a blur. Sometime during my travel I will have to complete a power point presentation and begin/finish a research paper that is due Tuesday.

Wish me luck!!

Luckily we began the tradition last year for Carter to be home for Christmas at his own house. No traveling makes life much easier on us, especially me being pregnant. I am still getting sick alot so nothing is too much fun right now!

Enjoy your turkey!

Ho, Ho, Ho...

2007-11-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

My wonderful husband (whom my mother lovingly refers to as the Grinch this time of year) has jumped head first into the Christmas spirit. Last night, he cranked up Christmas music, put up the tree and decorated it completely... bows, ornaments, ribbon, lights, etc. He did a wonderful job too. He said he planned on doing it Saturday to surprise me ( I was at Coleen's for the day), but he was nervous pushing a 10 foot tree out of the attic while he was watching Carter.

We bought Carter a blow up igloo with Santa and Frosty (don't remember) popping out of it. They'll put that up soon along with the wreaths outside. Ryan suggested a couple weeks ago, actually asked if he could, get a bunch of cotton from some farmers and cover the yard to look like snow. We'll see if he still goes with that plan.

I'll post pictures of his work when I get a chance.

Bed Issues

2007-11-15T15:42:00.000-05:00

We are about 6 weeks out from having everything in the house ready to start the shift. Guestroom/office to the upstairs, Carter gradually to front room, getting Carter's room reworked for a nursery, etc. Carter has been great about not trying to escape his crib until now. Night before last, Ryan caught him with one leg hiked over the side. I may have to go ahead and get his mattress on the floor for a trial run for a little while. I was hoping to gradually get into this, but Houdini may not allow for that.

Ryan and I went on an internet hunt for beds. We want to go ahead and get a twin size bed b/c a toddler bed would not last long with him. I found this cute Step2 brand bed that looks fun, but the shipping is half the price of the bed...big waste. I think we've decided on a cute sleigh bed that resembles the bed Ryan and I have. It will work for a boy or a girl as a hand me down later. Once we get to steppin on the redesign...I'll have pictures.

Doctor's appt and other info.

2007-11-12T12:13:00.000-05:00

We are heading back to the doctor this afternoon b/c we are tired of wiping a snotty nose. Carter has been sickly for a couple of weeks now. He had an antibiotic to help with his nose, cough, and ear infection...but the nose and cough have remained.

Ryan gets a well-deserved holiday today from work. He and Dwayne cleaned the upstairs, made 36 trips up the stairs with drywall that was very heavy (I cheered them on), and cleaned out the garage and reorganized all their junk. We have the downstairs storage/stair area to finish framing and the upstairs wall to finish framing. (They had to hold off until they got the drywall up there.) There is a couple more light fixtures to "create" and they will be done until the drywall is complete. Then comes the fun stuff; carpet, tile, installing bathroom stuff, painting then decorating. With all the changes, I will have basically 5 rooms to "do" or "redo"...it could be fun, or not...we'll see. Volunteers welcome!

Halloween

2007-11-05T11:21:00.001-05:00

Carter's Friend

Halloween was alot of fun in our house. Carter was extrememely serious about handing out the candy to the trick or treaters. (We see between 150 & 200 each year). He was not at all scared of any of the costumes. He did tend to stare at some of the girls though. He loaded up his hands full of candy and was quite the politician telling everyone "bye" and "night/night". One little girl gave him some candy back.

We went to about 5 of our neighbors houses during a break so Carter could trick or treat. He took candy at 4 of the houses, but decided he didn't need any at one. He did very good walking along with us, carrying his bag, and not running ahead. I was quite pleased.

The day before Halloween was a Tuesday so I had class. Ryan took Carter to get a new blow up for the front yard. We bought a small ghost last year but it is in one of the boxes that is blocked in our garage by 100 sheets of dry wall. When I got home from class there was a 12 foot Grim Reaper in the yard. He made Skeletor look loveable. Carter loved it and saw it when they pulled in the parking lot at WalMart and wanted nothing to do with any of the friendly pumpkins. The stupid thing has demonic light up eyes that are motion sensored. I didn't believe Ryan at first until I turned it on the next day to get ready for the trick or treaters and Carter was hugging all over it. I'm really glad he doesn't scare easily...I was a little freaked out too.

Big Boy Shopping

2007-10-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

We went for a doctor's visit yesterday (our pediatrician is great he saw us at 6Pm last night). Carter's sniffles and cough have gotten worse so he has a little bit of an ear infection now too. It doesn't seem to bother him.

Afterwards we went to walk around Babies R Us and Carter did surprisingly well. Let me preface by saying that Carter behaves fine, it's just difficult b/c he thinks he is a big boy and should be able to walk on his own and check out the fun stuff himself. We were able to let him practice that last night. He looked at certain toys, then came when we called him to follow us. I was quite happy. We took his umbrella stroller in and he pushed it around as he shopped.
We are trying to let him be independent as he likes...but he just doesn't understand the difference between a store with 5 people and a busy setting with a hundred. For some reason I can't trick him into wearing a baby leash either!

Monkey Update

2007-10-23T12:19:00.001-04:00

I found a monkey costume for Carter at Target. I asked if he wanted to try it on and he said "No". Which is his answer to many questions now. We'll keep trying!!

Please tell me it is normal for two year olds to use the word "no" like a weapon and completely tune out their parents. Except, of course, when they know they are in trouble and the charm gets turned on full blast.

Monkey Ransom

2007-10-18T11:04:00.000-04:00

Back in August (check my posts for proof, okay maybe early September) - I decided that Carter should be a monkey for Halloween due to his personality and climbing ability being that of a monkey and his love for George (Curious and his Grandaddy). I went to Old Navy and thought they had the cutest, but just not the 2T size...tried several times...never came in. Tried to buy online, they are sold out. Looked on ebay and found the 2T size. About 200 freaks have bought them out and are now selling them at $30 buy it now prices. Crazy!! They were only 19.50 at the highest price. I thought I was doing good by not waiting to the last minute... I didn't realize the were so many monkey kidnappers in the world holding MY (ok, Carter's) costume for ransom.

Out of spite, he and I will go costume shopping and he can be anything he wants...even if he chooses to be a Pink Pig!

Not so green...

2007-10-17T13:46:00.000-04:00

After a couple of weeks of feeling extremely green - not the Al Gore shade of green - the last two days have been okay. I've decided part of it is going into the office. Once I hit the perimeter I get nauseous.

That being said, I'm ready to find a job closer to home. I'm actively searching for a organization that could really use my intellectual prowess and experience in their work environment. (heehee)

I bombarded one of my classmates with resume copies last night. He made the mistake of telling me he was Director of Finance at one of our local companies...so game on!!

This time last year I started a 7 or 8 month sabbatical of not working that often. Time sure did fly, b/c I don't remember that luxury. And I certainly did not accomplish anything around the house - except dwindle our savings. Guilt mode has kicked in lately. I'm also in a time crunch with baby dos on the way. Companies do not want to hire pregnant women to work in their finance departments. So, it is only a matter of weeks before I began to "whale-up" and baby dos is no longer a secret pudge.

Any suggestions are good ones!!

Growing Bigger...

2007-10-10T14:35:00.000-04:00

We are expanding in more ways than one.

I personally am expanding.... we are expecting baby #2 in May. We found out a few weeks ago. I now am experiencing morning sickness, all day sickness, etc. I never had that with Carter. I haven't expanded yet, but with baby #2 I'm sure it will come much quicker than with Carter.

Our house is continually expanding as well. Hopefully, by Christmas the upstairs bonus room and bathroom will be done. We dove into this project with the intention of having an extra room for toys, games, etc. Now it is becoming a necessity for a guest room. Carter will eventually take over the current guest room.

I will keep everyone posted as we progress.... literally.

October Market Days

2007-10-05T11:50:00.001-04:00

Coleen will pack up the car tonight and head down to our house for our monthly slumber party.

Tomorrow is Market Days downtown and we are gearing up.

The Fall months are our favorites, not only b/c the weather...but they are just the most fun.

Here are some new goodies she made and is bringing down.

I'll have to refrain from keeping them myself.

If you need any Halloween/Fall decor, let me know.

Coleen is super talented and super cheap...in a good way!!

More Pictures...

2007-10-03T15:08:00.000-04:00

Sara has posted Carter's pictures online....all 97 of them. We can't decide what we like the best, so I think we are going for a package she offers that you can everything on a disk to do with what you like. No worries about copyright infringement, etc.

Take a look and enjoy!!

(I removed the link...the pictures are no longer on line. I will publish them on the Bickel Pics page soon. )

PEDOODLES

2007-09-26T10:13:00.000-04:00

Have I told you about Pedoodles? They are the cutest little shoes. I found some for Carter (the golf like shoes in his photos) and I love them. They clean with a wet wipe..but I let him wear them without socks, and they are leather so we get some stinky two year old foot action!!

They have a huge selection of very cute shoes...free shipping too!!

www.Pedoodles.com

Picture Day!

2007-09-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

Carter had his 2 year photos done on Saturday with Sara Anthony. She is photographer I found that is actually in our subdivision. She chased him around for an hour and took some adorable pictures. She featured some on her blog...I've attached the link.

Click on "Picture Day". I can't wait to see the rest of them.

Bump in the Road...

2007-09-17T12:18:00.000-04:00

Last week was a bump in the road. Mama's daddy died early Tuesday (Carter's birthday), so we headed to Americus for several days. It was good to catch up with alot of family friends. We don't have much real family around from Mama's side and her dad's side is made up of a large amount of steps. (I digress...)

Alot of people did some really sweet things for us last week and we greatly appreciate it. Lots of good food was made and eaten!! Although Miss Brenda made chocolate delight for me and me only, I reluctantly shared with many - which was appreciated.

This week we are attempting to get back to normal. I missed many hours of work last week...which equals missing many hours of pay. I'll be working to make up for that. I have class on Tuesday (did I mention I have class... the educational kind -smarty). Carter has school pictures on Thursday...we have Carter's 2 year pics on Saturday where we will attempt family pictures.

Oh, I forgot. When we got back to our house...our wonderful neighbor Cindy and her brood had cleaned our house. We're talking vacuum, dishes, making up the bed, etc. It was wonderful to come home to a little less chaos!!

Unfortunately, Carter and I missed Rachel and Ashley's Ice Cream Social birthday party. I always enjoy the chance to not only see Coleen, but also see her mom. So I was bummed.

BIRTHDAY....

2007-09-09T20:44:00.000-04:00

Birthday weekend 2007 has come and gone without incident. We had quite a few people come to celebrate on Saturday and we had lots of fun!! Thanks to Coleen for dragging her three monkeys down here early and helping me out a bunch!!! Luckily, we split the birthday up on consecutive weekends so I'll be able to return the favor at Rachel and Ashley's bday next weekend. I've loaded the birthday pics online. Above is a picture of Carter trying to light his own candles b/c his mommy couldn't keep the wind from blowing them out before he could. That is Rachel and Ashley supervising.

We are winding down from all the cake and excitement... we are still having fun with the leftover balloons!!!

Personality Change

2007-08-29T16:11:00.000-04:00

It amazes me how much Carter has changed in the last few weeks and days. He talks a good bit, albeit in "Carterish". He has gotten so good at going to bed and telling us he wants to go "nightnight". School has gotten better, especially if they are outdoors when I drop him off. We jump on our bed (he jumps, we sit) and sing the "No More Monkeys...." song. He is hilarious b/c he will make a serious face and jab that pointy finger around as if he is telling us to behave.

One of my favorites is that he loves and knows his two "nanas". He will go to the kitchen and reach/ask for a "nana" and then is brilliant enough to go look at the picture of Nana and point and call her "Nana". They may be more things in the world that he calls nana, but knowing he's got these two straight is very pleasing!!

Carter's Big Day

2007-08-28T12:37:00.000-04:00

We took a weekend trip to Thomasville, which was fast but fun. Carter got a lot of advanced birthday goodies from his Papa Jeff & Gre Gre. The big birthday #2 is coming on 9/11, but we are having his party the Saturday before, 9/8.

Since he is great in impersonating a monkey on a daily basis, we are having a Curious George/monkey themed party. I'm working hard to get those last minute plans squared away. It doesn't take much to entertain a 2 year old, but let's hope for no rain. I have a terribly unorganized house and a garage full of building supplies due to the upstairs rebuild. I don't know where I'd put everyone inside!!

I'm sure it will be a fun day, and I'll post lots of pictures!!

Slacker ...

2007-08-20T10:17:00.000-04:00

I have been a slacker at posting lately. Last week was a blur and this week won't be much better. The weekend flew by. Ryan and Duane (neighbor) were working upstairs most of the weekend. We are adding a small playroom and new bathroom upstairs in the area that is empty attic space. It has been an adventure. Everything I would have normally stored in the attic is now in our guest room and/or garage. We are drowning in stuff. It is coming along great, but it is very time consuming since we are doing it ourselves. Luckily, Duane is quite talented and Ryan is a trusty assistant. I'll post some pictures on the status. Everything is framed. Plumbing and electrical are next. Hopefully we'll be all done by Christmas and can move onto to more projects. Next up, a very kid friendly and organized garage.

Halloween already...

2007-08-13T13:24:00.000-04:00

There is Halloween stuff everywhere. So I'm having to go ahead and decide on a theme for this year. Daddy chose last year...so Carter was Albert the Gator. I'm leaning toward a Monkey... b/c he acts like one anyway.

Practice makes perfect...

2007-08-13T10:52:00.000-04:00

Carter has a little plastic golf club that we let him practice around the house with. It has been so terribly hot outside we haven't let him play out there for over a week. Until recently he basically would putt inside, now he goes into full drive mode. I bought some new plastic practice golf balls so every window in the house would not need to be replaced. He hits them so hard and high off the ground, we really have to duck and dodge while he practices. It sure does wear him out and get him ready for bed though. Ryan filmed him playing last night, so if I can get very tech savvy I'll try to post the movie. Try being the key word!!

My monkey

2007-08-10T09:16:00.000-04:00

We were a little reluctant to leave mom at school this morning, but I left him with the Director (who loves him) and they were going to do some office work (he loves that). I think he was mad with me for a minute, but I'm sure he got over it quickly. Hopefully, he'll have a better day in the big boy room... after all, they have a slide in the middle of it...how fun is that!

UPDATE: Monkey ended up having a good day. He even gave his new teachers kisses and hugs when we left. So far so good.

Terrible Almost Two's

2007-08-09T11:44:00.000-04:00

We have another month to go, but the Terrible Two's have been going strong lately. Today was expecially rough. Carter is unsure about the teachers in his new room at school, I can tell. He wanted to go to his old room today, and he certainly didn't want me to leave (separation anxiety has kicked in big time in the last few weeks.) Needless to say, I became unsure about one of his teachers when she told me it was easier on both of us if I left him screaming. Sorry, I can't do that. So I hung out for a while myself and expressed my displeasure with that comment. Now I've come to the office to do a little work and I'll go back to spy on him a little more. I'm going to try that room out two more days then I'll have him moved to another 2 year old room. I only want him around people that have BIG HEARTS!! I've been more than pleased with his school but this one person barked up the wrong tree.

Etsy & Oka b ( no, not on drugs )

2007-08-08T15:13:00.000-04:00

Etsy: This is the creative chicks Ebay. You will have to check out some of the stuff on here. Everything has to be home made, etc. Here's a link to Coleen's goodies she has on there, but after that check out the other stuff...

http://littlebutterbeans.etsy.com/

Oka b: This is the grown up Crocs. Oka b is a company that is from the Atlanta area. I found these shoes about a week ago and they are made from a similar but heavier material than the cute kid Crocs, PLUS they have "massaging beads" on the top of the flip (or the flop). The kind I got is the open toe with the interchangeable bow. It comes with a grosgrain ribbon bow, but you can change it however often you like. I tried them out last Saturday when Coleen and I "worked" and weren't 100% sold b/c it was 150 degrees outside and they are black. But I've worn them in the office twice and they are great. They also have a closed toe with ribbon coming out in the Fall. Those would be great for teachers...I'll have to let Gigi give them a try. The run small, so you'll feel you are getting a huge size. I had to get their Large which says 10/11 in size, but I'm a 9 to 9.5 now. Check out the great website name!

http://www.shoesthatloveyou.com/

Bitter Blogger

2007-08-08T14:58:00.000-04:00

Okay....I introduced Coleen to the blog world...and she has successfully created her own. And with her creative prowess it is much cuter than mine. To use one of her favorite words, she's a "Punk."

Regardless, check it out b/c she will update you on some of the "work" adventures we have experienced.

http://littlebutterbeans.blogspot.com

Pictures...

2007-08-07T10:31:00.001-04:00

Check out the Bickel Pics link on the top left... I will be updating pictures as often as possible. I have to get organized...

Well Rested.. or so

2007-08-07T10:25:00.000-04:00

We all had a full, great night sleep for once. We all have varying degrees of severity with our smokers cough and frog like voices... we will soldier on.

Carter is transitioning into the 2 year old room at school. His birthday is a month away, but his "buddies" are both about 2 months older and they like to move them up together. Carter is their ring-master and his teachers rather not separate them. Suits me, I'd rather him learn as much as possible...although, he is already a genetically gifted little monkey.

No sleep for mommies

2007-08-06T09:31:00.000-04:00

I have been up since 2:30 AM and I am now in the office. I will refrain from posting any ramblings today due to the fact they may never stop nor make sense...

Update from the Carter Tour...

2007-08-05T12:57:00.000-04:00

Not to brag...but my child will make Tiger's ability look like chump change. Carter is quite the professional. Currently he is mastering his posing skills on his follow through. Quite impressive. He also has ventured into the area of teeing up the ball. He takes a little assitance from his caddy to get the tee in the ground, b/c he just doesn't have the time to handle the small stuff himself. Gigi has purchased a bag for his growing collection of clubs. He is quite the organized golfer. We have pefected two foot putts. He will start giving lessons soon to the golfers he sees on tv missing those shots. He gets quite frustrated with them, and tends to yell toddler explectives such as, "Oh NO" and "Uh OH". We are working with him to improve that temper!!

A Blog Beginning

2007-08-01T15:21:00.000-04:00

I've decided to upgrade on the Bickel Baby log we started last year. The Google world is much better. I will be updating soon with stories, pics, and more.