The dreaded visitor...

No, I am talking about the person that you dread seeing over the holidays or the neighbor that stops by to bring you goodies when you haven't seem them all year. I'm not even talking about a little rodent running around your house. The visitor I am speaking of creeps in slowly and secretly, it wrecks havoc on your family and causes any planned activities to come to a screeching halt. It is the STOMACH BUG!!!! AGGGGGHHHHHH!!! So, I thought we had escaped it until I woke up at 5:30 this morning. I went to check on Caleb and when I got back in bed I could just feel it coming on. I sat there and prayed that it wasn't what I thought it was, but by 6:30 I had been confirmed as I spent my first of many moments today with Mr. Toilet. He and I have had a bonding expereince like no other today!! Sweet Chad had to take care of all Caleb's morning routines - giving him his bottle, feeding him his oatmeal, giving him a bath and dressing him - and he did a great job. And he even arranged for Caleb to spend the day with his mom. As much as I hate getting up early sometimes, I really missed doing all our routines this morning. But more than that, I missed not being able to hug Caleb or Chad. I definitely don't want them catching this right here at Christmas....or ever for that matter. Please be praying that they will avoid it. OK...off to find the Lysol!!! :)

Teething BITES!!!

Seriously, I am about convinced that I would rather Caleb just have some dentures later in life. These two top teeth coming in have been AWFUL!!! This is by far the worst days I've had with him. He is a really good baby and has been so easy and I am just not used to all this screaming. Let me give you some scenarios:

Pre-Teething: At naptime and bedtime I rock Caleb for 3-5 min max, lay him down semi-awake with this paci. Somtimes he will babble, etc but then he falls asleep usually within 15 minutes or so. Naps last about 1.5 hours and he sleeps soundly at night from 8ish - 6:15ish.

And then there's The Teething Experience: Rock Caleb for his 3-5 min, put him down and he instantly starts fussing. I leave him there to fuss it out.....25 min later, still fussy. I pick him up, his eyes close before I can even get to the rocker. I rock him some, he seems asleep, I put him down....he starts screaming again. Finally after 45 min - 1 hour of battle he falls asleep...BUT, not for long. He's been waking about 45 min into naps and last night he was awake from 12am-3am crying away. I have given him tylenol, teething tablets, oragel....people, we have tried it all. It's so pitiful because he seems to miserable and there's nothing I can do. Oh...and today his eyes were all red and irritated looking because of lack of sleep. From the looks of him, people probably thought I was one of those moms who carts their kid in pj's to Wal-Mart at 11 pm and then heads on to the Waffle House for a little midnight snack!!

Anyway, all I keep saying is that I sure hope his teeth are really cute. And I also remind myself that this too shall pass - well, until I have other kids - oh my I can't even think about that right now, I'm likely to reconsider!!

We've been ELFED!!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sweeter with Time...

...that's certainly how I feel about these two friendships!!! Last night, I had the fun opportunity to go out to dinner with two of my high school friends and their husbands and we had such a great time!!! We ate at Longhorns and then came back to our house for dessert; but even sweeter than the dessert, was just getting to hang out and chat and laugh. Although meeting new people great and forming new friendships is wonderful, it's always nice to go back to your "comfy friends" - you know the ones who have known you longest, know more about you than most people shoud and yet still love you the same...the ones who you can laugh with and if you snort, it's ok...the ones who you can let in your house even when it's a wreck and they understand...the ones who you don't hesitate to ask a fovor from....etc, etc, etc. Their like an old, comfy couch you can just snuggle down in and be completely yourself; no impressing needed. Let me tell you a little about my two "comfy friends":

Lacey (in black) and I have been friends since 6th grade. We met in the lunch line at Hillcrest Middle School and were basically inseperable until we went to college. She was the one I considered "my best friend" - and still do. We called each other every night to discuss the days events at school, homework, what we were wearing the next day.... whatever. We had numerous sleepovers which hosted a variety of activities from playing M.A.S.H. (remember...masion, apartment, shack, house) to painting our faces with lipstick (really!). She was one of the first people I called to laugh with or cry with about anything.

Brooke (in red) and I met in high school and I don't even remember where or when, but she became a great friend also. Although I didn't do as much with Brooke outside of school as I did Lacey, she was still a great friend and remains one to this day. Brooke and I became closer when our brothers also became best buds.

The crazy thing about life and the way God works it out is that we have all ended up living in the same city!! Brooke and I both married guys from here and I guess Lacey just liked the city enough to live here!! Because of this, the three of us have been able to continue to develop our friendships and it has been so neat watching God at work in these girls lives as they've gotten married, started families and just continue to grow in their Christian walks. What a blessing their friendships have been to me over many, many years. I can only hope and pray that we will be able to maintain such a strong friendship in the years to come...and that we have many, many more nights like last night!

P.S. Isn't the photo editing above cool?!?! Go here to try it on your pics!!

Top 8

8 TV shows I like to watch:
1. American Idol
2. Cosby Show
3. Friends
4. Today show
5. Rachel Ray
6. Seinfeld
7. I Love Lucy
8. The Brady Bunch
( I am SOOOO... old school. I just can't seem to get into any of those "new" shows!)

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Brick St. Cafe
2. Flatrock Grill
3. Lieu's Chinese Bistro
4. Olive Garden
5. The Peddler
6. California Dreaming
7. Smoke on the Water
8. Chick-fil-A

8 things that happened today: (keep in mind I am typing this at 7:54 AM!)
1. I woke up
2. I got Caleb up
3. I feed Caleb a bottle and some oatmeal
4. I made Chad breakfast (bacon, egg, cheese sandwich...yummy)
5. I made a pot of coffee
6. I checked my email
7. I washed dishes
8. I am drinking my coffee!

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. shopping with my mom in Gaffney on Thursday
2. my brother coming home on the 19th
3. our house closing on the 28th
4. my renewed Y membership
5. Christmas!
6. my SS/C4 party next weekend
7. dinner with some good friends on Friday
8. wrapping the presents I have bought

8 things on my wishlist:
1. to loose about 10 more lbs VERY soon so I can fit back in my pre-preggo pants.
2. to be completely debt free (including the house!)
3. a maid for my house
4. to become a pro at keeping up with my husband's business accounts
5. for an extra burst of energy at about 7:30 when Caleb goes to bed
6. to visit Janelle very soon and meet Cayden, who I have yet to meet and she's 15 months!!!
7. a sister-in-law named Kristen (hint, hint Corey)
8. for Caleb to have a wonderful first Christmas

8 people I tag:
1. Lacey Councill
2. Brooke O'Neal
3. Lindsay Stovall
4. Lindsay Powell
5. Emily Jennings
6. Dana Reeves
7. Amanda Cassidy
8. Lauren Stoddard

It's Christmas at the Byce House...

...and here are a few pictures to show you some of our festiveness!! I LOVE getting ready for this season; although, it took me a little longer to decorate this year with a little one on my hands!!

The tree

Dining room centerpiece

On top of the piano (oops... the pink broom handle made the picture too!)

The mantle

Shelf in the dining room

The nativity - my personal favorite

The breakfast area

Centerpiece in the breakfast area

Yay! for christmas cards!!! And boo! to the sad looking plant. I guess I need to pay him some attention!

The front door.

Need Help, Fellow Bloggers!!

If you are Brooke O, Meghan C, Jennifer B, Brooke M or Lindsay P could you send me info on how to get the big picture at the top of my blog like y'all have? I can't seem to find out how to do it!!! Thanks fellow bloggers!! By the way... I LOVE reading y'alls blogs. :) Keep 'em coming!

YAY!!!!

OK...so as soon as I posted that last entry my mother-in-law called. She was over near Office Depot and drove by and FOUND THE FLIERS!!! YAAAAAYYYY!!! They were in their bag laying in the parking lot, just waiting to be found! Maybe this day is looking up!

One of those days...

Ever have one? You know the one where it seems like your pretty much doomed? Where every single thing goes wrong - even the little things. Well, so far today has been one of those. Thankfully they don't come along very often so when they do, YUCK! Here's how it's gone so far:

1. Caleb is teething therefore he seems to be an insomniac. He's decided the past two days should start at 4:15 am and then today he only took a 30 minute morning nap!! Usually I can let him lay there if he wakes up and he's fine, but oh no, not today. Today leaving him there followed with wailing and screaming. No fun. Sure hope these top teeth are cute! :)

2. After the 30 minute nap, I got Caleb's bottle ready to feed him at 11:00. Before I gave him his bottle I decided to change his diaper and somewhere in the course of that diaper change my mind ran out on me because as soon as I changed him I loaded him in his carseat and headed out for some errands...WITH NO BOTTLE, I might add. As I am driving across town I started thinking to myself..."Did I ever feed him?" and the bad part is that I seriously couldn't remember!! I deduced that since I couldn't remember, I must not have. I FORGOT TO FEED MY CHILD!!

Oh...and it only gets better!

3. Our errandS, turned out to only be an erranD because of neglectful mom who forgot to feed her child, but the errand didn't go so well either. We went to Office Depot so I could make some color copies for a party tonight. $15 later we came out and loaded up to head home. Shortly after we got home, I realized I couldn't find the copies. My brain went in rewind mode and I remembered that I had put them in the basket in the bottom of the stroller. I went to check for them and...NO COPIES TO BE FOUND!! I suppose they fell out when I folded up the stroller. Talk about throwing money to the wind?!?!

And the terrible part about all this is... IT'S ONLY LUNCHTIME!!!

The hum of the dryer...

...is the only thing I can hear at my house right now and it is very weird. Caleb and Daisy spent the night at mom and dad's last night, Chad left this morning to help our friends Cam and Lyn move back home after being in Raleigh for Cam's bone marrow transplant, so that just leaves me and the sounds in the house. I honestly can't remember the last time I had the whole house to myself. So, you ask, what am I going to do?!?!? Well, I'm leaving!!! My friend David says you should always have something to look forward to and this week I have been looking forward to my shopping trip today. My friend Jennifer and I are heading out this morning for Commerce!! YAY! OUTLET SHOPPING!! I am so excited. I haven't been shopping for a whole day since before Caleb was born. I love my son to death, but boy do I miss shopping trips. BUT, it's probably been for the better since we've had two mortgages lately!! Oh...little side note - our house had a showing last night and Chad spoke with the realtor this morning and he said he will be putting in an offer! PTL!! Please pray that it's decent. Anyway, I have my Christmas list in hand and ideas for my shoe supply that needs to be replenished. (FYI...a whole huge box of my favorite shoes were somehow lost in our move!!) So, we are off this morning for some good fellowship and hopefully some good deals. I'll be sure to post any bargains I find. Later, peeps! :)

Fhoto Friday!!!

WHEW...one more hour until 12 midnight; I barely got this one in!!

Caleb with his new ball.

Being a helper with the mantle installation.

Playing with Papa (the mantle builder!!!)

YAY! It's in, it's beautiful, it's yet to be painted!

Caleb testing out the hearth

Making peach cobbler with Mama. Yum!

Happy (Belated) Halloween!!!

Halloween has come and is long gone and I am finally getting around to posting!! Caleb had a great 1st Halloween. He decked out in a frog costume and we attended Trunk or Treat at our church; it was a blast. The only downfall was that it started at the time he is usually starting to wind down so he was a wee bit sleepy throughout it. Note the solemn expressions and paci in the pics. It also didn't help that he had a Dr's appt earlier in the day and did not get his normal afternoon nap. We took him around to all the booths at trunk or treat to show him off - I mean, isn't that really what his 1st Halloween is about anyway?!!? I kinda felt bad taking candy because obviously HE can't eat it!! This year was a lot of fun, but I can't wait until next year when we'll probably have to chase him around and he may actually know what candy is!

Chad's "trunk"

Two new things...

Caleb has recently acquired to new things in his life: his helmet and his doorway jumper. Although it seems as if the two may go together, they don't! Caleb got his helmet last Friday and it has not seemed to phase him at all. Now, other people....that's a different story. It's amazing how many looks you get when you put a helmet on your child's head! I would just rather them come ask, than stare!! I have had a few very nice people say things like "Now how long will he have to wear that?" or "My niece, nephew, family friend, etc had to wear one of those too!" Anyway, other people's reactions is whole other blog for a while other day! Like I mentioned before, he has transitioned well. He has never cried when we've put it on or taken it off and he just acts normal as if nothing is any different. My biggest fear was his first night sleeping in it. Since he's been pretty much sleeping through the night since about 11 weeks, I just wasn't ready to go back to those long, sleepless nights, BUT he did beautifully! He never made a sound all night long! WHEW!! So, we are 1 week into it with hopefully only about 12 more to go. We had a check up today just to make sure the helmet wasn't rubbing him anywhere and we go back again in 2 weeks for some measurements. I suppose we will know more about the length of time after that appointment. I'll be sure to post an update.

And as for the doorway jumper...well, let's just say him being a frog for Halloween was a GREAT choice!! I'll post pics of that too after this evening's festivities are all over.

6th folder, 6th picture

I was tagged by Jennifer, so here's the 6th picture in my 6th folder. This is a graph that I did with my 1st graders the day I was going to find out if I was having a boy or girl. Looks like they did a pretty good job guessing!!! The next day I put it on the smartboard "IT'S A.....BOY!!" and I revealed each word painfully slow. They were dying in suspense. It was so fun!!

Ok...so now I tag Lindsey Powell and Lindsay Stovall. Follow these directions.

1. Open your pictures
2. Go to the 6th folder, 6th picture
3. Post the picture and the story that goes with it
4. Tag 2 other people.

Fab Fall Fun @ Denver Downs

Caleb on his first hayride. You know you live in the South when you document 1st Hayrides!!!
Our little fam (minus Daisy Dog)

I think this is the one!

Playing in the corn box.

Mom, look what I found!

Petting daddy rather than the nasty sheep.

First of all, you know you love the alliteration in the title!! HA!

Second, I am like many others and absolutely love the fall! I love how refreshing it is to feel the cool, crisp air outside. I love how beautiful the trees are! I love knowing (since I taught 1st grade!) how and why the leaves change colors and marveling in the awesomeness and creativeness of our creator. I mean, wouldn't it have been easiest to leave things the same year round? But He delights in us so much he wanted our eyes to be able to feast upon his greatness and goodness. I've never understood how people can look at creation and say there is no God because to me it just scream his name.

So....since the seasons have been changing we've been hanging out doing some "fallish" things and one of those things included a day trip to Denver Downs Farm right here in our little town. It's probably one of the neatest things I've found in Anderson...well... there are other neat things, but if we ever moved this is something I might actually drive back here for (besides seeing family, of course!). So, take a gander at the pics above and if you have time you might want to consider driving out this way and enjoying a day at the farm too!!

R.I.P Mr. Coffee

Mr. Coffee passed away on Sunday, October 26 at 7:30 am from unknown causes. He was the ripe old age 3 and a half. Mr. Coffee brought joy to many and is survived by many coffee cups. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Starbucks. Please keep his family in your prayers as they do their best to replace him.

A new "hat"...

Caleb wearing the gauze for the scanning.

Having the StarScan done

He had to be really still.


The random child wearing a Star Band. Caleb's will be light blue.

Since Caleb was born we have been watching the shape of his head. He's always had a "flat spot" on the back right side that we've been concerned about. After his 6 month check up we were referred to a physical therapist for a consultation. We had that appointment on Monday. She took some measurments, diagnosed him with mild torticollis and also felt his measurements were severe enough to warrant a visit to Orthopedic Services. We had that appointment today. Here he had more measurements taken and it appears that our little guy does have severe enough plagiocephaly that he will be gaining a new accessory for approximately 13 weeks - a helmet. Because there is a difference of 17mm between the lowest part of the back of his head and the highest part, because his ears have moved slightly, and because the longest part of his head is diagonal rather that front to back the orthopedist said that he would highly recommend wearing the Starband for correction....so we had our StarScan today to get the exact measurements of Caleb's head, picked out a nice light blue color to match his eyes, and the new "hat" should arrive toward the end of next week - just in time for him learning to crawl which is pretty perfect timing for a little extra head protection! Above are a few pictures of the scanning today and also a picture of random child wearing a StarBand so you can get an idea of what it will look like.

WHY???? (by Caleb)

Why play with toys when there are clearly much more interesting things in the house - you know, folks.....remote controls, plastic strips, and mommy's bracelets. Please! Toys are so overrated!! We kids aren't that hard to please. Save your bucks and just give us household things; we love them!! Later taters!

Love,
Caleb

P.S. See I TOLD you it was hard to get ahold of the computer in this household!!!

Fhoto Friday...

...at least it will probably be Friday by the time most of you read this! Here are a few pictures from the things that we've been up to lately. I just can't believe how quickly time flys. Since I don't have time to write about every event, I thought a few pictures would suffice. Enjoy.

We've been...

Watching Caleb grow like a weed! 17 lbs, 14 oz at his 6 month check (but he was closer to 7 mo. old)

Playing with anything we can get our hands on

Decorating the house for fall. Above is the wreath I made and below is the picture I found in Southern Living that I copied!!

Hanging out at Falls Park

Playing outside in the incredible weather

Sitting up like a pro!!!! And doing some adding and subtracting with the abacus!! HA!

Being dedicated a church

Learning to share with my bestest, Ella Claire!

Still sitting up!!