Soccer Game #2

Today was Camden's second soccer game and we were hoping for a better display of the grasp of the game from Camden. Well let me just say, that just did not happen. Once again he had a great time chasing his friends around the field. At one point he and Landon, the coaches son who is his best friend on the team, were hugging on the field while everyone else was playing soccer. Pretty much after that point, the coaches decided that their son and Camden probably should not be on the field at the same time. : )

Landon and Camden chatting prior to the game

My #11 running after his friends

Now while they were playing, there were some dark clouds in the sky, but honestly I was not expecting it to really rain. Well, the game was over (which we won - even though we aren't keeping score) and we were passing out the snacks and no sooner had we passed them out and it started pouring rain. We quickly packed up all of our belongings, but by the time we got to the vehicle, we were all soaking wet!

A wet, but happy boy

A drenched Casen 

I can hardly wait to see what our next game brings!!!

Friday Favorites

It has been awhile since I have posted some of my favorite pictures, so what better time than now?

 



Casen has his own way of sitting in a chair

Camden has his own ideas of dressing up

Having fun playing together

Comfy sleeping

 

Casen attempting to cut his toenails

 

Fun with bubbles in the bath tub

 

 

Tooth #9 and #10

Tonight as I was brushing Casen's teeth, he tilted his head back and what did I see? Two new teeth!!!! His top molars are coming in and from what I could tell, they probably cut in a few weeks ago. Just the outer part of the teeth are showing at this time. I would share a picture, however I can not even get him to let me take a picture of those new pearly whites!

15 Month Appointment

Today was Casen's 15 month appointment which meant time for shots. He weighed in at 24 pounds 7 ounces, which makes him in the 69th percentile and was 32.75 inches in height, which is the 90th percentile. I knew as I daily carry him around since he STILL is not walking that he was a chunk and today proved me right! Dr. Worrall felt like it was time to try and stop his reflux medicine again, which I expressed to him my concern of doing that since the last time we tried he just flat out quit eating and drinking. He said the dose he was on probably was not really helping him. He recommended I wean him off of it and that due to his age, I should not have too much of a problem. At the end of the visit he asked if I had any concerns and I nonchalantly asked him if I should be concerned that Casen is not walking. I told him I was not overly concerned since Camden did not walk until he was 17 months, but he told me I should start getting a little concerned and recommend I call in a referral to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) to allow them to come out and evaluate him and assist us with helping Casen walk (as they did with Camden). Casen then received his three shots and we headed home. I guess tomorrow I will call ECI and start the weaning process - let's hope this goes better than last time.

Sportin' his orange bandaids

DIY Yard Crashers

Several weeks ago my wonderful co-worker, Ann, informed me that Yard Crashers was going to be at a local nursery, Arbor Gate. I was so excited - I mean do you know how many times I have watched that show and said to myself, "I would love for my yard to be crashed!" Now they were going to be there at 9:30, so I figured if I decided to go, I would only need to take 1/2 a day off of work. So, knowing just how hard it is to find a substitute nurse to cover my shift, I decided that I would email the two sub nurses that are willing to come to my school and see if either of them were willing to cover half a day for me. If they were, I would go to Arbor Gate and see if I could get on the show, if not, well apparently it was not meant to be.

 

Two days later, I got a call from one of the subs telling me he could cover my shift! Woo Hoo!!! I did not tell a soul, except of course Ann, what I was doing. I just told them I had an appointment. So this morning, I got up, put on my scrubs, and took the boys to daycare. Afterwards, I headed to Arbor Gate to stand in line. I got there about 7:30 and was about 18th in line. Luckily I was by some great people and the two hours went by quickly because we talked and chatted. I found that one of the ladies was the next door neighbor of one of my great friends Lorrie Dillon - small world! By 9:00, over a thousand people were in line, and they had to close the gates and turn people away.

 

Finally, 9:30am arrives and Matt Blashaw comes out and addresses the whole crowd. It was a muggy, humid morning and to say the least we all were sweaty and can I tell you, my hair was a hot mess!!! He went through the whole crowd just giving everyone a high five. He told us that he would speak to everyone of us and look at every one's pictures and then they would pick a yard. He made his way to me and I showed him my bag of rocks and gave him my spiel about how uneven our back yard is, and that we have rocks on one side that I am continuously digging out. I of course threw in that I have a 3 year old and 15 month old. I was in my scrubs, but he asked me what I did and of course I told him I was a school nurse. He asked my name, and then moved on. Apparently when he asks someone their name, that is the producers clue to get the person's information. So after a few minutes, the producer comes up to me, gives me a golden ticket and takes some of my information. She asks me to hang around for the final round. I was the first they had given a ticket to. I was elated!!!! But oh no - I had only taken half a day and there was no way I was going to make it back. So I called Ann and asked her to see what she could do - of course, she took care of it and told me to just worry about getting on the show!

 

The golden ticket

 

So I stand around and wait and wait. I end up talking to another girl who had to receive a ticket and in the meantime had to do a 'mini commercial' for the people that do the commercials for Arbor Gate. I tell you I looked like total crap due the humidity and was ashamed to even be on camera. So after awhile the producers came over to us and told us that we needed to go to a different place and they would come and talk to us. There were about 15 or 20 of us and the producers went down the line, relooked at our stuff and got it down to about 5 of us. She came back through and when she got to me she asked where my husband was and if I could get him to meet us at the house. So I immediately texted Shane and he told me he could meet me when needed. The last thing to do was to interview with Matt. The producers gave us the instructions to be very upbeat, don't give your story, just act excited. So we waited around a bit and then, my name was called. It was starting to drizzle now, so can you imagine just how great I looked? The cameras are rolling and here we go!!! He asked me about my yard, and again I show him my rocks. He laughs and starts looking at my pictures. He asks me what I have envisioned for my back yard and I tell him I would like some seating, a place to relax, a place the boys could play and I wouldn't mind having an outdoor kitchen. He commented about my Texas accent and also had to comment about the University of Alabama grill cover. He was so darn handsome - more so than on T.V. Can I tell you, I was a nervous wreck and could not think on the fly!! Then he asks me what I have to bring to the table that the other people don't have. Uh, uh, uh well I am fun, a hard worker and honestly I don't remember what else I said. It was all a blur. I was told to go stand in another area and wait - ahhhh more waiting!

 

So once again we are standing around. Now by this time, we 5 finalists have really gotten to know one another. The five finalists were me, a girl name Kaitlyn who lived pretty far from Arbor Gate (so I didn't expect her to get picked), a couple that didn't really talk to all of us, another couple in their 20's who were referred to as Lash and Stache, and then another girl named Emily who was really sweet and honestly, her yard was a hot mess. We knew it was between the five of us and we could hardly wait. Then Matt arrived to address the crowd and announce the winner. He said that his choice had a lot to do with the yard, and I automatically knew it was Emily - and it was. Then he said that he had a second winner to announce and he said he could not leave Houston until 'he crashed the stache'. I will tell you, I can hardly wait to see Emily's crash. However I can not comment on the other couples because we never saw pictures of their yard. I do know they that will be interesting due to the lack of filters the possess. Those two will say anything!

 

My understanding is they will be back in November to do the actual crash, so it won't be until sometime after that that it will air. As much as I don't want to be on the show due to looking HORRIBLE, I am thinking I might be on at the beginning when they show the people winning since we were all standing together. As sad as I am that our yard was not picked, I enjoyed the experience and would do it all again!

 



Camden's First Soccer Game

I have been waiting for this day since I knew I was having a boy. My nephews have played soccer since they were about Camden's age and I have loved watching them. Shane and I knew Camden would play and I couldn't wait. So, honestly, I think I was as excited as Camden. I will back up to Tuesday, when Camden had his first practice. He was so excited, however when we got to practice his shy side came out and he really did not participate in the warm up exercises. After Shane talked with him a minute and assured him, he was in the swing of things.

Feeling a little shy

Practice was fun and Camden was so excited. He made friends with the coaches' son and even stayed after practice to play soccer with him. They received their uniforms, which was hilarious because the shorts are waaaayyy to big and the shirt is a youth S, so obviously hangs off of him. We were a tad late, so he was able to choose between being number 0, 3 or 11. He choose 11 - good choice I think!

So today was the big day. Nana and Poppa Ron came to watch. It was going to be so exciting, I just knew it. Camden has practiced for years -okay, maybe only a few years since he is only 3 but needless to say he has played soccer many, many times with his daddy. I knew he was going to be the one that would just get the ball and head to the goal because he is an aggressive little guy when he is playing at home. Well, needless to say, what I had envisioned was soooooo not the case. There are 10 kids on his team and they play four quarters, so doing the math, we knew he would play 2 quarters. Well he got to start the first quarter - how exciting!!! The ball is placed in the middle of the field, the whistle blows, the other team gets the ball, I am already screaming at Camden to get the ball. What do I see??? My child running with his friends, chasing his friends, laughing, having a good time, but he never once laid eyes on the ball. Hello??? Camden - do you know why we play soccer? At every break Shane had a talk with him trying to explain the whole concept (yet again).

One of many pep talks

Sometimes he would see the ball and kick it, but chasing his friends was so much more fun! Now I must say this was better than some of his team mates who would not even get out and play, or if they did they would just sit there on the field and cry. And I should say in his defense, at their practice they did not even practice 5 on 5 for the kiddos to see what it would look like when they actually played a game.

 

So to say the least, Camden pretty much played every quarter due to some of his team mates not wanting to participate. By the fourth quarter after much side line coaching from his daddy he made a goal, which of course I did not get on camera or video and then he made another goal, however it was in the opponent's goal - OOPS, but I did capture that on camera! The other team had a little guy who pretty much got the ball every possession and headed towards their goal, so even though I knew in my little head I was going to keep score (even though we are not supposed to keep score) I couldn't keep up with it! Oh well, probably for the best.

My #11 scoring in the opponent's goal

Shane and Casen enjoying the game

So what did  I learn from this first game? I am THAT mom who sits on the side line and yells to their child what to do - basically I am my sister! Second, Shane is the far more patient one, the one who reminds me that my child is 3 and it will take time. Third, Camden is a great sport! He never once was upset that they lost or that his team didn't score much. (Perhaps that is because he didn't have a clue what was going on?) Basically, he just had fun! But really, isn't that why we are doing this??? Yes, it is - regardless of how competitive I am, it doesn't really matter, just so long has Camden has fun. So perhaps the next game I will close my mouth, sit back and enjoy watching Camden have a great time, regardless.

Look Who's Crawling

Today I received a text from Casen's teacher with a video of him crawling. I was excited to say the least. I knew he could do it because he crawled across me and Camden on the couch, however every time we have tried to get him to crawl on the floor he would just get mad, cry and then lay there and suck his fingers. Once we got home, that boy was crawling everywhere. He would scoot on his hiney and then start crawling. Perhaps this means we are getting closer to walking????? A girl can hope . . .

Tuckered out after crawling

Happy Grandparent's Day

Hand Foot Mouth = Misery

Well folks, it has been a rough one around the Hood household lately! Let me back up to Monday, August 26th. That was the first day that all the kids started back to school. It is a hectic time for both Shane and I at work as well as at home since we were all trying to get back into the swing of things. When I picked up the boys from daycare that Monday, I received a note that there had been a case of hand foot mouth in Casen's room. My immediate thought was that I knew we would be getting it because his little classmate who had it was one of Casen's favorite friends, and since he loves to stick his fingers in his mouth, his chances of getting it were high. I prayed for a week he would not get it.

That Thursday, Camden started having a lovely croupy cough. When Shane went to put Camden to bed, he commented at how hot Camden felt and sure enough he had a fever. I medicated him and the next morning he seemed better, however when I picked him up at school he met me in tears telling me he did not feel good. By the time we got home, his temp was 102.6. Great!!! Here we go, the sickness begins since starting back to daycare. But, on the bright side, we had a three day weekend to recuperate so that was a good thing. By Saturday, he was 100% better, aside from the nagging cough.

So Saturday was a good day, everyone was ready to watch some Alabama football, and with all the great cheering from my boys, the Tide won.

Sunday, we went to church and that afternoon Shane's parents came over to spend the night and spend some time with the boys. By the evening, Casen had a fever and was rather fussy. Well, don't you know this was about the incubation period for hand foot mouth. By Monday, his fever was as high as 103.9 and despite using Motrin and Tylenol, I could not get his fever below 100. Poor Casen was so miserable and fussy. All I could do was just sit on the floor and cry with him. I felt absolutely helpless! It was obvious his throat was hurting him and he did not want to swallow so he was steadily drooling. By this time I assumed it was hand foot mouth, however he did not have any blisters yet. Tuesday, I called into work and that morning went ahead and made him an appointment for 11:30am because I felt like his fever was higher than what it should be for hand foot mouth, however by 10:30am the blisters started showing up. I went ahead and cancelled the appointment, knowing there is nothing that can be done. I knew this meant Casen was going to be out of school for the rest of the week, and I knew there was no way I could already use up my sick time, with it only being the second week of school, so Shane called his mom and she was able to come over and keep Casen all week! Whew!!!!!

He never falls asleep on my lap unless he is feeling bad.

Casen basically ended up with blisters in his mouth, one on his chin, a few on his fingers and a few very small ones scattered on his legs. The blisters in his mouth were the main problem and even though I did not force him to let me look in his mouth, I could see them on his tongue and it was obvious that it was difficult and painful for him to swallow. It was so hard to watch him being so miserable. Luckily by yesterday he was improving and honestly, probably could have returned to school today, however I wanted to make sure he was not at all contagious because gosh knows I don't want any other child or mother to have to go through this!!

A big thank you to Nana for coming and watching Casen for us, as well as entertaining Camden after he got home from school. I can assure you we would have been in a huge bind had she not been able to come and watch Casen!

Nana playing soccer with Camden

Casen finally feeling better