I've been tagged!

Okay, okay, I’ve been tagged by Natalie, so here goes…

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Registered Nurse in Trauma Surgical Care Unit in SC
2. Registered Nurse in a 19 bed ICU at Baylor Garland
3. Stay-at-home mom to Tallon
4. Being a wife to Reeves Cannon ( does this count?!)

Four places I have lived:
1. Birmingham, Al
2. Florence, SC
3. Clemson, SC
4. Dallas, Tx

Four favorite tv shows:
1. NCIS ( I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!)
2. The Amazing Race
3. I just started getting into 24 thanks to my sis and bro in law
4. Mickey's Playhouse in the mornings- seriously- wait til you have a toddler- this show is awesome!

Four favorite foods:
1. Anything Italian
2. I LOVE Stoneyfield Yogurt
3. CHOCOLATE!!
4. Roast, Mashed potatoes, Green beans and homemade rolls- YUMMY!

Four places I’d rather be:
1. Hanging out with my hubby
2. Abico Islands, Bahamas
3. On a visit to see friends in Dallas
4. On vacation ( anywhere) with a good book to read!

Four favorite movies:
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Anything with Harrison Ford!
3. ?
4. ?
(sorry- I am pretty boring- since having a child- we have not watched too many movies!!)

Four friends I’m tagging:
1. Katie
2. Emily
3. Chrys
4. Elizabeth

OPERATION BIG BOY BED

My dad made me a toddler bed years ago and my parents had it up in the attic so they pulled it out and Dad painted it yest- THANKS DAD!! We got it last night and tried it out- Tallon seemed pretty excited about it but was not too happy about sleeping in it! Well- we survived the night- it was long- but he stayed in his bed the WHOLE night! I was curious how he would handle nap time today. We read a few books and he really wanted me to lay down with him but I don't want to keep that habit up so I told him night and night and left- about 5 minutes later- this is what I found...

Happy Little Boy

.... and Happy Mommy and Daddy- I think the virus has finished its course! YEAH!!!!!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!! My mother-in-law was kind enough to come get Tallon yest afternoon for a few hours so I could clean and SANITIZE my home and than Reeves and I had a nice dinner out- just the 2 of us without any fussy kid!! Thanks Linda!! Short of a few times out of the house to go visit Pop and Papa and Nana, and than some short time periods in the car with Mimi while I went to an inservice for work- Tallon and I have been inside our home for a week and a half- Talk about going crazy- I think both of us are soo glad this virus is OVER. We did find some fun things to entertain us though- we spent hours- HOURS reading- Tallon would bring me one book and we would read it and than he would go get another book and so on.... and on.... and on.... it is kinda fun to see your child enjoying books but after reading the same ones over and over- it gets a little old for mommy! We also watched a Boz video that I had gotten Tal a few weeks ago- I have some friends whose child LOVES Boz and so I got a DVD to check Boz out well Tal seems to really like him and it would give me a "break" from trying to entertain Tal some! Totally recommend BOZ!! very catchy songs and great Christian principles! We have some super duper friends and family and I soo appreciate everyone's calls, words of encouragement and the finger paints and crayons that Miss. Julie left on our doorstep- THANK YOU ALL!! I do not think I would have survived without ya'll!! Here are a few pictures of us "hanging out" at home (amongst tons of watery poop and frequent vomiting!)

oh and ANOTHER huge thing that still makes me just GRIN- Tallon told Reeves " I wuv you too"- they were hanging out on the floor just playing and Reeves said "I love you" and Tallon just kept saying " I wuv you too" back to him- It was sooo sweet!!! Of c ourse- he would not repeat it once I pulled out the video camera!Tallon coloring with chalk on his little chalk board- this came in very handy Aunt Liz!

Reading Peek-A-Boo book with Daddy!
Hanging out with "Blue Bear"Tallon's first time finger painting!
It was a HUGE HIT- HE LOVED IT!
I took this last night- Tallon has not really eaten anything except for popsicles, toast, jello and water. A neighbor called and had made some tortellini soup with yummy veggies from the Farmers Market and she had more than she could freeze and eat so she sent some over- well Tallon asked for it last night (not knowing what was in the container)- 3 BOWLS LATER- HE WAS A HAPPY CAMPER!! I was soo fearful that his stomach would not handle to food but it did and he woke up this morning bright and early at 5:45 asking for cheese toast and milk!! Thank you soo much for the yummy tortellini soup Dee!!!

ER

Yes- we hit a breaking point last night and after some throwing up and dry heaving- we carried Tallon to the ER and we are so glad we did. He was dehydrated- talk about miserable- I felt so bad for my little boy and he looked soo sick. We arrived around 10:30 PM and thankfully the ER was not busy and I recognized the nurse who triaged us and he got us a room quickly- THANK YOU LORD!! ( I had been praying the whole way to ER that I would recognize someone working and we would not have to wait long) soo, an IV stick, iv fluids later and a popsicle- around 4 AM we were discharged home- exhausted but alive. My parents were kind enough to come pick up our home and finish washing and drying our bedding (that Tal had vomited all over) so we had a clean house and clean bedding to sleep in. Tal slept well. I woke him up at 7 and he ate a popsicle, some toast and drank some water, and then he and I fell back asleep until 10. Poor Daddy- he went in to work today- I know he will be ready for some rest tonight. So far, Tallon seems to be acting more like himself today and has definitely had more of an appetite although he is still on basic food- jello, toast, saltines, popsicles! He is just starting to wake up from a great 2 1/2 hr nap so we will see how the evening goes. The evenings have been the worst with this GI bug so I am praying that he will do well tonight and continue to progress. We did not carry the camera ( we were just in a rush to get to the hospital with him dry heaving) and although he was so cute I am sort of glad I don't have any pictures to remind us of how aweful the past week has been!! Thank you again Lord for our health- I so often take it for granted!!

Just for Fun

Who does Mommy look like

People have always told me I look "just like my mother" and seriously... I take this as a HUGE compliment because my mom is a beautiful person inside and out!! I would LOVE it if i could parent as well as she did ( although some days I have no clue how she did it!!) Anyways. YES it is 2 am and yes I am on the computer- why you ask?!?! because it has been a LONG 6 days in our household- Tal has some HORRIBLE, DISGUSTING GI Bug which consists of 12 plus liquid diapers a day and a couple times of vomit so it has been a long week- we went to Dr this AM and he confirmed that... YES.... it is a bug and there is nothing we can do- it does not matter if we feed him jello or mac and cheese- he will vomit it all up and poop it all out because he has a bug- just let it run its course. I am praying that the Lord will soon heal Tallon from this dreaded illness bc it is wearing me out. We had a much better afternoon and... once again... I thought he was getting better but he just woke up at 1 am with vomit everywhere.... so Reeves cleaned T up and I cleaned carpet and bed and just as we go to get in bed ( Tal is now in ours), He throws up again. SO I am currently waiting on the washer to finish so I can put our sheets in the dryer in case T gets sick again and we need this set of sheets! All that to say- I LOVE MY LITTLE BOY and am so thankful for his health!!!!!!!

now, on to how much I evidently really do resemble my mom!

Who Does Tal look like?

A friend of mine did this with her little girl and I was curious to see what it would show with Tal. I have always thought he looked more like Reeves- maybe its the smile and his good looks and the fact that he is ALL BOY- nothing girly about my son at all!=)

Always an Edventure

I feel like anytime I go anywhere with Tallon these days- it turns into an adventure of some sorts- watching him explore his surroundings, climbing whatever he can find to possibly climb and running. Today- we went with a group of mom's and their kiddo's to Edventure Children's Museum in Columbia and it was... an ADVENTURE. 6 kiddos under 3 and 5 adults- We all had a blast and I decided to take the day off from trying to capture Tallon's expressions of curiosity and fun on camera and simply enjoy playing and interacting with him!! Jennie , Julie, and Courtney both got some great shots so head over to their blogs to see pictures from our day!! Tallon definitely enjoyed the museum this time alot more than he did when we took him when he turned 1. He loved the exhibit on brushing your teeth and we had to go back to the dentist chair several times so he could practice brushing the fake guy's teeth with the dentist tools!! They have lots of cool exhibits that are hands friendly for toddlers so if you are near Columbia- I encourage you to go! We also played in a life-sized fire truck, built lots of towers, played with bubbles, listened to our heart beats, played hopscotch while listening to the notes of the piano, went across a cool swaying bridge and lots more! It was definitely an exciting and exhausting morning. After lunch and a quick stop at Target and Michaels, we headed home- Tallon napped in the car and for a little while on the couch while I studied some for my ACLS class.

Reeves is out of town tonight for work and Courtney and Olivia (Jeremy is out of town with Reeves) invited us to hang out at the pool this evening with pizza so from 5:30 until 8:00- we went down the slide,ate, laughed, swam, went down the slide, swam, went down the slide again (notice a theme here) and hung out! Thanks for inviting us guys!! The plan worked because both of our kiddos were completely exhausted from their exciting day. Tallon was asleep by 8:30 so i have had a chance to refresh my memory for my class tom AM!! Now I am heading to bed- exhausted but Thankful for the time I got to spend with my precious son and friends today!

As we were packing up the kiddos to head home after swimming- Tallon still had some yogurt left so I started to push up on the yogurt to help it get to the top so Tal could take a bite- OOPS! With all this heat- the yougurt had gotten very liquidy and squirted out ALL OVER Tallon- soo sorry sweet boy!

Bye Bye Paci

Tallon woke up from his nap yesterday afternoon very cheerful- hip hip hooray and although he still occasionally says "paci"- I just tell him Paci went Bye bye and he will wave bye bye and go on with playing!!! I was worried about how he would do when he saw another child with a paci but today at lunch Luke and Lilah had their paci's (very similar to Tal's old paci) and Tallon did not even try to take it and hardly acknowledged the paci!! Yeah!!

Here is a picture of Tallon enjoying a snack in his chair after he woke up yesterday afternoon!

Success

I did not really want to write "success" yet but Tal is doing very well. He woke up this morning, asked for Paci twice and I told him it was gone and "broken" and he let it drop!! Then I picked him up from mothers morning out and his teacher said he had a great morning - no tears and NO asking for paci- YEAH!! then I went to put him down for nap- he asked for paci and I told him it was gone bye bye- he waved bye- cried for maybe 5 minutes in his crib and was out sooo.. I am thinking success but guess I better wait and see how bedtime goes!!!

just want to say a big thanks to all my friendly blog friends all over the US for your words of encouragement and support!!!!!!! I had no clue how often people look at our blog (atleast I know I am not the only one who loves to daily check blogs... is that called an addiction?!?! maybe I should ask my counselor (AKA hubby!)

update

so far..... we are still asleep (its 7 AM here) and I did not hear Talllon wake up crying and asking for paci all night!! sooo.. hoping for a much smoother day and that maybe "paci, paci" (in a pitiful cry) is out of his vocab!!!!!! we shall see!

now- I am off to make blueberry muffins from scratch! YUMMY

YIKES

so... a few months ago- we started to try to only let Tallon have his paci in the crib at night and during naps and well... it worked.... for awhile- except there were those days when he did not feel well or was tired and I am trying to cook dinner, etc, etc and so I would let him have his paci- anyways - all that to say- Yesterday evening Tallon brings me his paci except the paci is missing the nipple (evidently he has used this paci so much he either A- bit threw the paci nipple or B- somehow the paci nipple came detached (only problem is you could still see part of where the nipple was attached so who knows??!)- THIS WAS THE LAST PACIFIER IN OUR HOME!! Yes- you read right- no more pacifiers located here and I figured that with Tallon turning 2 in a few weeks- now might be the chance- to get him totally off of his paci-

so...we are less than 24 hrs out from the last time Tal had a paci and it has been slightly stressful- Tallon did not fall asleep until 11 last night (and that was in bed with his mommy) and he just spent 48 minutes crying... well... SCREAMING... but hey- he is finally asleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so... I am hopeful and praying that this transition will cont to go well and that I will stand Tall (and not buy anymore pacifiers!!!!!!!)

Lake Fun with our Small Group

Our Parenting Small group had family day at the lake this past Saturday. We had a blast! The more I get to know these couples and their children- the more I feel so blessed to have moved to SC and had the opportunity to get to know them. My biggest fear in moving was how we would lose all of our close friends in Dallas and would we ever find even 1 or 2 friends in SC. Well- God has blown us away. Yes- I definitely miss our friendships in Dallas but atleast a lot of our Dallas friends have blogs so we can keep up. We are just about to finish our 2nd study with this group (we have been studying Tommy Nelson's group study on Ecclesiastes and it has been very challenging and encouraging! This group of families have become our support system- friends we can share prayer requests with, laugh with and cry with and for that I am so thankful!

We had over 20 adults and 13 plus kiddos- we missed the Severance and Smith families though!! We all enjoyed splashing in the water, eating a TON of food, laughing, riding in the boat and jet skiis and just hanging out!! Hope you enjoy the pictures- we had a blast everyone!!

It is always fun trying to grab a group shot with kiddos!!

Connor ready to go tubing!

Luke loved the slide!

Tallon with Mimi in the water

Luke and Tallon were fast little "water bugs"-
these 2 boys are only 2 weeks apart and they are soo alike- they both love the outdoors and keep their mommy's on the go!

Brandon and Jeremy surveying the crowd in the water

Snack time with the kiddos

Connor going down the slide

Parson, Mrs. Jessica, Luke, Mrs. Julie and Tal heading off in the boat

The Emert family cruising the lake on the jet ski!

Sweet Carlisle

Lilah repositioning her beach chair

Splashing in the water

Grant and Gus

Jessica and Parson

Maddie enjoyed the hammock

Just hanging out...

Olivia splashing in the pool

My precious little boy-
ready to go for a ride!

Sweet Luke just up from a nap- cuddling with his mommy

Siblings Connor and Callie

Tallon and Callie playing in the float

Parson - full on energy!

Dr. Brian getting ready to take the boat out!

Sweet sisters- Maddie and Lauren

the kids LOVED playing with Mr Gus and the float- he actually pulled them around in the yard- THANKS for the entertainment Gus!

Ryan is ready to go

Anna's first tubing experience!

Anna and Tallon both rode the tubes with their Daddy's!
They were too cute- these 2 are 1 month apart and they were waving too each other and Anna even blew Tallon kisses while on the float!
Olivia's turn on the tube!
My parents were so gracious to let this huge group come up and use the lake house, boat and jet skiis- thanks a bunch Mom and Dad!!!!
Ryan LOVED the tube! He kept asking to go faster!
Part of the crew lounging on the shore!

Thanks for coming everyone!