A Sad Farewell...

to my wonderful grandmother, Tissie. Tissie passed away last Sunday night after a hard fought battle against cancer. Cancer is a nasty thing and I really don't like it right now. It took someone away from me that I loved so very much. It makes me sad to think that my cheerleader on the sideline for so many years, my shopper at heart, my traveler of the world, and my crazy but loving grandmother was taken away from all of us. I never really thought the day would come that I had to say goodbye to someone that I love so much. Well last Sunday was that day. My family and I had been at the nursing home that morning and we decided to go get some lunch. We went to Sweet Tomato's (my mom and grandfather's all time favorite) and enjoyed a nice lunch together. After Da's 12th time to the dessert bar, we decided we should head back to visit with Tiss. When we got back, it was kind of a disaster in my eyes. I could tell she wasn't doing good at all. We just sat there and talked to her, even though we got no response from her, I knew she was listening to us. I told her that I loved her and that Landon was there to see her. That made her come to life!! :) For the 2 previous weeks, she really couldn't talk at all. But last Sunday, she clearly said, "Hi Landon" and smiled! Oh how that warmed my heart!! She touched his foot and rubbed his leg for a little while. Landon was getting a bit fussy and finally fell asleep and I decided that it was time for me to take him home after his long day. I said my goodbyes knowing deep down inside it was probably my last time seeing her. We got the call that same night telling us Tissie had past away. Ugh...that day was here. I didn't want it to be here, but I knew that it was for the best. She was in so much pain, and if anyone knew Tissie, you know she liked to be up and out and not stuck in a hospital bed. None the less, it was hard. The following days were kind of a whirlwind now looking back. I don't think any of us knew which end was up. Family calling, food like you've never seen arriving, my family coming and going, etc. Let's just say my house was CRAZY!!! So for the next couple of days family started coming in. We had the visitation on Wednesday night and the Memorial service was on Thursday. It was a very nice service. It finally hit me as I walked down the aisle to the front of the church with Da on my arm, that Tissie was gone forever. Only the memories we had made were left. It such a sad feeling. As these next couple of months go by, it will get better for me, for my mom, for my family, and especially for Da....I am determined to think so.

I said from the time that she was hospitalized 2 months ago that under these unfortunate circumstances, it brought tons of family in that I either had never met before or hadn't seen in a long time, and it was nice to catch up. But it makes me sad because now that everything is done with, family won't be coming in every other week or so. Please understand what I'm about to say...I by no means wanted to see her sick, but I liked her holding on to life because it made family come and see her and therefore, I got to see them. Now I'm sad because I won't get to see them near as much. So as I finish writing, I must say Thank you to Tissie...Thank you for being the grandmother that came to every sporting event no matter how far away, thank you for all those crazy outfits you wore (we secretly liked them no matter how crazy they were), thank you for all those pajama sets from Hong Kong even though we never wore them, thank you for all those Christmas presents wrapped in the newspaper comics because you ran out of wrapping paper (Christmas won't be the same anymore), thank you for all those times you wanted to take a roll home from a restaurant so you wrapped it in a napkin, thank you for all the crazy jewelry you gave me, thank you for eating all those rolls with me :), and thank you for all the thank you's I can't remember, but most of all....thank you for loving me no matter what!! You are going to be missed more than you will ever know! I can't wait for the day that we will all be together again!!

I LOVE YOU!! 11/18/28-07/20/08

This was her crazy self!! :)

Our last picture together...I love you Tissie!

Beach Trips

I feel like I've been so out of touch the past couple of weeks, but it's been a crazy past couple of weeks. I left you last with Landon and I on our way to the beach!! :)
I loaded up Saturday the 5th with Landon, my grandmother, my aunt, and my three cousins all in one minivan!! That was a sight in itself! haha. We were trying to all go together to save on gas and we were pretty determined to do it. I was ok with it, but you have to understand that my three cousins that went with us are all between 5'10" and 6'2", and they were all cramped in the backseat. I felt bad for them, but I needed to be by Landon on the ride down so I sat up there with him. On the way down, we always go in two days just to make it easier on the little kids. We stop in Thomasville and get a hotel. All the little kids play and swim and we always make our anual trip to Ruby Tuesday to eat and get dessert! :) This year was a very smooth ride down with Landon and the gang. He did very good and really was a good car rider! We got up on Sunday and headed to the beach! Our beach trips are not like any other family beach trips. There are about 22 of us that go and everyone basically knows what room they stay in and what food they are going to cook. I definitely won't go in to every detail of the week, but it was a great week to be with family and "relax". It was just nice to just get away from the house. I didn't go down to the beach expecting to go out to the beach everyday, but I did make 2 appearances on the beach! The second one...probably a little too long for my pale little body and boy did I pay for it. But it was worth it now...I at least have tan lines to show for it! Landon did make 2 evening outings to the beach to put his feet in the sand and water. He loves the outside, so he was so happy to be out there looking at all the news things! All my family was so helpful with Landon and really made the week fun for me too!
I got a call on Wednesday that my brother was going to be having his baby sometime in those next couple of days so I started to prepare how I could get to them in South Carolina without having to go all the way back to Atlanta and then drive up to Myrtle Beach. I decided to fly on Saturday from Tallahassee to Charleston so that I could be with them when the baby arrived. This would be Landon's first airplane ride!! I absolutely love airports and love to fly so I was so excited to take him on one so early in his life! He did so good on both flights. I fed him before my first flight left and then he slept the whole plane ride to Atlanta. I had an hour layover and he ate then and then slept the whole way to Charleston. He was such a good trooper. My parents and brothers met me at the airport and then we made the 2 hour drive back to Myrtle Beach. We hung out on Sunday and then Monday was the big delivery day! I will post more about precious Adalyn Paige soon!! :) We stayed through Wednesday and then mom and I made the 6 hour ride home with Landon. He did very good on that ride also! It was so fun to take Landon on his first beach trip! I can't wait for next year when he will actually be able to play in the sand and water! :)
Several people mentioned to me that I needed to update the blog, but I don't have the pictures from the beach yet, so as soon as I do, I will put them up! I will also put pictures up soon of Adalyn!!

Sunglasses

I really don't have much to say, but definitely had to update you on one certain thing! First off...pictures went great on Monday! :) Got some really cute ones and can't wait to get them on the 17th! Secondly...still waiting on the neice of mine! She needs to hurry up. But now that we are already to Wednesday, she needs to wait until I get back from the beach next Sunday. If she would only cooperate with all of us! Thirdly...(is that even a word? I guess I should know since I'm going to be a teacher...but I don't. Who cares anyway....besides my mom?) Anyways, I met my roomate and her boyfriend today at the Avenue in Snellville. We ate lunch at Urban Flats and then went to Target to get some last minute things I needed for Landon at the beach. I got everything I needed and then came across the cutest things I have ever seen for a baby. And very practical too!! I know these have been around and didn't think I would ever use them, but I gave in! So below you will find the most adorable little boy ever with his awesome sunglasses! :) Now he can see in the sun! You can find them at Target for anyone who needs them! I must run now..just wanted ya'll to see my cute find! I will post pictures of his first beach trip when I get back!! Have a great 4th!

His first pair of sunglasses!

He loved them!! (And his tongue)

We're ready for the beach!

They stay on top of his head too!

Picture Disaster/Cookout

I went and had Landon's pictures done at JC Penney when he was 4 weeks old and loved how they turned out. My mom bought me a subscription to Parents Magazine and every time one comes, there are tons of different coupons for pictures from different places. This last time there was a coupon from Olan Mills for $10 that expired on 6/29. I skipped his 8 week pictures for some reason and decided that I would have them done again when he was 12 weeks! (Which is today!) :) So I knew I had to use it soon. I made an appointment for this past Friday at 12:30. Normally that is when he is awake for a while and in a good mood. So I feed him at 11 and we head out about 12:15. We make it there with no crying (praise the Lord)!! We were the only ones there because there were no more appointments for Friday. So we sign and and head over the picture taking area. Well wouldn't you know that Landon decides to start screaming when I sit him down. So I pick him up and get him settled. He smiles while he's in my arms so I think we're ready. Nope I was wrong again! He starts crying again, but I decide to get him settled without picking him up! So then he just stares at the camera. No expression what-so-ever! We try everything. She takes some pictures but they are horrible. He looks like he could kill someone if he wanted too! She looks at me and says "I think we better quit. Maybe you should come back on a different day." I pick him up and he falls right to sleep. Grrr....every other day he is wide awake and happy at that time. I guess he had other plans! haha So we have rescheduled for tomorrow. Let's hope that it works this time!

He was so worn out from taking 6 pictures that he fell asleep on the way home and slept for 3 hours and 15 min!! Seriously?? He never does that...I guess I should take him to get his pictures done more often so that he will sleep! :)

That evening Sara Lynch had invited us over for a cookout! We gratefully accepted since my mom was in Atlanta at the Beth Moore conference and I had no clue what my dad and I would do for dinner! We went out there about 5:30 and I helped them get everything ready! We had so much fun just being completely silly and goofy! Sara loves her some Landon! :) She is great...she will always take him right when she sees him and will hold him until he is hungry or sleepy! Nancy, Sara's mom, loves him too! They crack me up with him! So we ate burgers and some tasty potatoes that Sara made and had watermelon for dessert! I had every intention of coming home at a normal time, but Landon had other plans! He wanted to stay and play with them!! After he was finally done flirting with them we left around 11! Totally didn't mean to stay that late, but they didn't mind! So the night was fun! Thanks Lynch's for having us over! Love ya'll!

The Tomahawk Chop

He really did have fun!

(Sorry it's a little blurry)

So for those of you who don't know, I am slightly obsessed with the Atlanta Braves! I love any kind of baseball, but put me in front a TV witht he Braves on or at Turner Field and I am set! I feel like it is the one sport, besides soccer, that I really know what is going on and feel like I can talk about it with people and they don't look at me like what is this girl talking about!?!? I have always followed the MLB, but I really have followed it this season since I've been at home so much more. I think I've seen almost every Braves game this season....but don't get me started on that...I'm very sad at how bad they are doing! :( Anyways...I normally go to Braves games once or twice a week during the summer, but unfortunately I haven't been able to because of Landon. Although, I did get to go to Opening Night this year thanks to my father who gave me an extra ticket that he had right before Landon was born! So there I was huge as ever, doing my favorite...The Tomahawk Chop!

So I had been waiting for the day that I could take Landon to his first Braves game! The time finally came last Friday night! (If I could have, I would have taken Landon when he was 4 weeks old...but I knew I had to wait a little while longer!) My brother, Ben, surprised us last Thursday night and called and said he was coming home from Myrtle Beach with his friend Kent that also lives here in Conyers. My brother is expecting his first child in the next couple of weeks and he wanted to see my grandmother! (That will be a whole different blog) So on Friday, we decided to go the Braves game. Kent was already going with one of my great friends, Sara, but we decided to crash their party and go with them! So me, Landon, my brother, Michael Edwards, his girlfriend Krista, Kent, and Sara all went to the game! We met at Ruby Tuesdays first for appetizers and then all took the minivan downtown! :) We had 6 free tickets and got great seats on the third base line under the overhang. The Braves have been in an unfortunate slump and we were playing the worst team in the league, so we figured this game would be a great one to go to since we were bound to win. Haha. That was a joke since we lost! I've had this crazy luck that every time I go to the Braves game, I am on the big screen. Because I used to go so much and sit in the same area, one camera man knew me and all I had to do was wave to him and he would put me on there. We were not near him this time and were up under the overhang, but I still had every intention to be on there with Landon. He even has Braves onesies and I wanted everyone to see how cute he was. Unfortunately, we never made it on there, but I'm blaming that on our seats! Overall, we had a great time watching the Braves, doing the tomahawk chop, and most of all eating funnel cakes! It was super fun to get out and go somewhere with friends! I can't wait to take him to more games as he gets older! I am hoping with all my heart, that he wants to play baseball and maybe will love it as much as I do! :)

Just hanging out at the game! We were a little closer than the picture makes it look!

See his cute onesie!! It was just a little hot, so we opened it up to get a little air! :)

* A quick side note. For any of you that want to go to the Braves game sometime...go on a Friday night. It's Friday Night Fireworks!! They do an excellent fireworks show after the game. They turn all the lights off and do them over the outfield! It might be better than the 4th of July show at the Horsepark! ;)

Catching Up

So much has happened since Landon was born. I didn't really know how to jump from the day he was born until now, but I'll just do some filling in to get caught up.
It was such a crazy first week with him. We came home on a Tuesday and he had his first doctors appointment on Thursday. If I would have known what that was going to turn in to, I'm not sure anyone could have made me go. I absolutely love my pediatrician, Dr. Jattan. She is an amazing woman who truly cares for each of her patients! (And their parents too :) ) We went Thursday and she checked him out, and realized that he had lost too much weight; therefore, he was dehydrated and he was also jaundice. So for the next 5 days we were up and out of the house by 9am and on our way to the hospital to have heel pricks. Some people might think that 9am is not early, but when you have a newborn and don't feel so good, this is a HUGE thing. I think my mom and I started getting ready at the 4am feeding! :) Emotions were definitely soaring that week. Landon's jaundice levels kept going up and I started freaking out! I guess when ever someone else has a baby that has jaundice, I didn't think much of it and knew they would be ok, but when it's your own child...it's a totally different story! We made it through that week...Whew!
After all that I got a little stir crazy by week two and had to get out. Thankfully my dad thought of this great idea to go to Arabia Mtn. and go hiking after church. Mom and I met them there in the afternoon and hiked about 3-4 miles. I only did 2 and that was probably too much, but I survived!
Nothing other major happened after that except he got his 1 month pictures done! So fun!! My great friend and roomate, Whitney, came and went with me. We went to JC Penny and he definitely knew how to perform. :) He had just starting to somewhat smile. I didn't think he would smile for his pictures, but he did! We got some cute ones and I was very pleased with how they turned out!
Since then he has learned how to smile for real and laugh! As long as he is not hungry or mad, if you just look at him and talk he loves it! He will smile from ear to ear! He has also been working on rolling over. He did this for 3 days straight about 3 weeks ago while my parents were out of town, and as soon as they got home...he conviently forgot how to do it. But today he rolled over and my mom was actually watching so she believes me now!
There have been other exciting things happen in his life so far, but those will come in another blog all by themselves! I really can't think of anything else that is super exciting that has happened so far. These past 11 weeks have been so much fun and I can't believe he will be 12 weeks on Sunday! It's crazy how times fly and I can't wait to see what else he will do soon!!
Well I will write more about the "major" things that he doesn't remember in a little bit. I must go feed my crying child!!
Until then,
B

04.06.08

I've so wanted to start a blog, but never really thought I had the time or the energy for this, but have finally decided to give in and try it! I guess I'll try to start at the beginning and fill in a little.



04.06.08 was by far was the best day of my life! My little man, Landon Reid was born!! It definitely was a surprise for him to come on the 6th, considering that he was not due until the 18th. I had gone in for my weekly check-up on Friday, April 4th, and the doctor was concerned that I had high blood pressure. Let me first inform you of how the doctor visits normally went....I tried so very hard through my whole pregnancy to see the same midwife, Laurie. The other ones were great, but I just felt like I clicked with Laurie. Normally she was there on Wednesdays and I had to go in the morning since the office was next to Northside Hospital and we had to deal with morning rush hour. What fun!! haha So anyways, normally Mom, Isabella, and I would load up and head to the doctor. It would include us checking-in and every week someone asked if Isabella was mine or my moms. We would reply "No, we just keep her." Then we would sit in the waiting room and Isabella would climb on the chairs a few time and then it would be time for us to go back. We would get in the room and Isabella always had a look of fear on her face. She never really caught on that the doctor was not there to see her! She would look at herself in the mirror for a few minutes and then she all of a sudden would look at my mom and you could see her thinking, "I'm missing something." And then the never ending asking/begging for crackers would start. And that is how she would entertain herself in the doctors office...by eating crackers. So, back to the last visit. This time my dad decided he wanted to go since he never had gone before. So we all load up and go. We get there and they take us back and they do my blood pressure. They don't act like it is high, but I really don't even ask. We go back to the room and the doctor comes in. (I had to see the doctor because there were no midwives that week.) She says she is worried about my blood pressure and checks it again and it is still high. She informs me that I am to go on full bed rest for the weekend until Monday when they get the blood work back. So now we have Isabella scared of the doctor, my mom looking looking a little nervous, and dad trying to entertain Isabella by saying loud things that I don't even remember, and me sitting on the table going "But I'm going to the Braves game tonight...I can't be on bed rest" and all in a 7 by 7 room. And we all wonder why my blood pressure was high!! haha Well I preceded on by going to the Braves game, against doctor and moms order, and it gets cancelled. Saturday morning I wake up and call the midwife on call to ask her a question. And yes, when she calls me back it's Laurie! YAY!! So if anything does happen this weekend, I get my favorite midwife there with me! She tells me that she is going to get on her work computer and check out my blood work and let me know if I need to come in or if I can be off bed rest. She didn't want me wasting my weekend sitting if I didn't have too. So needless to say, she calls back about 2 hours later and tells me that I need to come in that day because they are going to induce me because my blood work doesn't look good. She said that they were worried about Toxemia. The Montgomery's were here at that point and we all of a sudden went in to overdrive and frantically got everything together. As we are leaving, Andy and Tom Hudgens pull in our driveway and we all stand in our kitchen and pray together. Thank you all for that!! Definitely calmed my nerves down!

Mom and I drive to the hospital and get checked in and get set up in the room! Those rooms were amazing! They were so big and had lots of room! They got all the paperwork done and then gave me Cervadil. It is something that can help you go in to labor on your own, but it didn't work for me. We finally go to bed around 11:30 and anxiously wait for the next day!!!

The next morning they started Pitocin at 8 am and at 9am they break my water! Good lord, the pain that started then!! I had every intention of going natural until that happened. I labored for about 3 hours without anything and then couldn't take it anymore, so I got an epidural. That was my saving grace. I don't think I would have survived without it! The rest of the day I just layed there and visited with friends and family. I wanted anyone that wanted to be there to come. I am so the person that loves to have people around and I really wanted all the ones I loved to be there for this! I think there were close to 20-25 people there! It was so much fun! Around 6:30 PM, Laurie came in and said at 7 I was going to start to push! So she came in at 7 and at 7:02, with everyone in there that was going to be, the pushing began!! At 7:39 PM, Landon Reid was born!! He was so precious and HUGE!! None of ever believed that he would be that big. He was 8lbs 15oz!! I never dreamed that I would have that big of a baby. Once he was out, everyone forgot about me and focused their attention on him! At one point I looked over and everyone was crowded around the scale, with just me and the midwife in the background, all screaming "Look how huge he is", "Bailey, he's so big", etc but could I see a thing...Nope! I could only see the back of everyone...they finally brought him over to me and I got to hold the most precious thing ever! He was so sweet from the very beginning. I couldn't believe that he was finally here and I was holding him. The rest of the night is all really a blur. We got upstairs to our new room sometime around 10 or 10:30. I then just got to sit and stare and love on that sweet baby. It's crazy now to think back on that night. The time has definitely flown by and I can't even imagine how fast it will continue.





I can't wait to post more about him, but for now that is how he entered the world!! More to come shortly....I'm kind of already liking this a lot! :)