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!!!