Back to blogging!

To anyone who has been wondering where in the world I have been...HERE I AM! I am terribly sorry I have neglected my blog for two weeks. Just so you know, we did make it through the stomach virus! That seems like so long ago! After the stomach virus, I spent spring break week at my mom's house, and ever since I have been home I have been too busy or tired to blog! So, my goal is to quickly bring you up to speed on what has been going on with us, and THEN I want to start blogging a little something every day. Korben is just doing SO many funny things now, I have got to type out a few things every day so I will have record of all of these fun times!


On Sunday the 22nd, Korben and I headed off to spend spring break at my mom's house. After Aaron missed a few days of work due to the stomach virus, he said was going to be working double time during spring break. He said he would miss us a lot, but he would use the alone time to work twice as hard on ministry work and spend time with students while they were on their spring break. (Apparently he was playing basketball twice as hard with his students on Wednesday night because he has one heck of a sprained ankle. It has been 9 days since the sprain and he can still hardly walk!)

We made a stop in Heber Springs to see Mopsy and Poppy, and spent all afternoon playing with them. Korben showed them all of his new tricks. He can now throw a ball (Side note: It is the cutest thing in the world- he just holds it up high in one hand, flicks his wrist, and drops it! We discovered he had this talent during the stomach virus week. He and his daddy had their father/son first ball-throwing experience on Thursday of that week, and it almost brought tears to Aaron's eyes.) Korben pointed out the Don and Julie's dog and said "Dog" multiple times. He will always say "Arf" after saying dog. I love to hear him bark! HaHa! We also went on a walk and let Korben drive his little red car. He loves his car.

Korben had a great time playing at his CC's house. To our surprise, he even learned to say "CC!" He loved going up the stairs, standing at the coffee table playing with his toys, and playing the piano! The highlight of my week at my mom's was getting to spend time with my three favorite little cousins in the whole world: Carson (6), Jackson(4), and Anderson(2). It was Carson's spring break, and they spent two nights at their MeeMe's house across the street from my mom's. We spent all of Monday playing together and we had the BEST time. Carson absolutely ADORES Korben, and Korben mutually ADORES him. Korben thinks everything Carson does is the funniest thing in the world and he tries to lunge out of my arms for Carson. You will see a picture below of Korben's uncle PawPaw taking Korben for his first ride on the Mule (not the kind that HeeHaw's). He absolutely loved it. He just grinned the entire time as the wind blew in his face!

My grandmother has been in a nursing home for the past several months. She has Alzheimer's and has not been doing very well. My mom brought her home for the day so she could see all of the kids. Even though she was not doing very well, she seemed very happy to see all of the kids. I'm so glad we were able to be there for this homecoming.

Time just FLEW by, like it always does when I'm home. Naps and mealtime take up so much time, it is hard to figure out when we can run around and see people. We spent Monday and Tuesday just playing with the boys. On Wednesday we rode with my Aunt Tommie Sue and Uncle John to Georgetown, AR to meet my Aunt Althea and Uncle Jim for dinner. We went to the best catfish restaurant in the world in Georgetown, AR. My Dad loved this place, and he would have been so proud of his little grandson because he absolutely LOVED his first bites of catfish. He ate SO much that night... Catfish, all the french fries off of my plate, an entire pickle, peas, crackers, and a piece of birthday cake. His tummy handled it all perfectly. I guess he is just a growing boy.

Speaking of Korben's tummy...I will spare you all of the details, but I am 99.9% sure that Korben is lactose intolerant. We had more evidence of this while I was at my mom's, but in my heart, we've had evidence of this since he was 2-3 weeks old. So, if you are ever around my child, please don't give him dairy. We will all pay for it! As for now, we are thanking the Lord for giving us soy as an option!

On Thursday my mom and I went to park plaza mall. We didn't really "want" to go to the mall on spring break, but we had some things that needed to be returned. Well, I only had room in my car for Korben's little red car. I didn't bring a stroller, so I decided to just push him around the mall in his car. Y'all, all of the little kids heads were turning! All of the kids being pushed in their strollers were so jealous. We were even in an elevator with a little boy (who looked wayyy too big for his stroller, I might add) who said, "Momma, I want to ride in a race car." She said, "you wouldn't sit in it!" to which he replied, "I would tooooo!!!" My mom and I cracked up every time we passed a little kid, because they were all staring Korben's car down. He was having the grandest time pushing all of the buttons (blinkers, radio, turning key) all through the mall! Great memories!

He is now saying: Uh Oh, Uh Huh, Puppy, Poppy, Baby, Dog (Arf!), Thank you, Here ya go (I think), CC, and of course Mommy, Daddy, and Hey. I'm not saying that he says these things everyday, but he definitely has said them! He goes through phases where he says the same thing all day long and may not say it again all week. On Saturday, he said "baby" about 5,000 times. I haven't heard it since.

We headed home on Friday morning, anxious to see the daddy. Korben nearly jumped out of my arms to go to see him. It did all of our heart's good to be back together as a family. It probably did Aaron's heart the most good, considering he now has some help!

Here are a few pictures from our family time:

Stomach Virus Part II

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. By yesterday afternoon I thought Korben was 100% better. The nurse said if he went 6 hours without having any sort of "episode" I could give him watered down milk. I know what you are thinking "milk is the worst thing for someone with an upset stomach." Well, I did what the nurse said, and gave him milk last night before he went to bed. I felt good about it, because I was convinced that he was hungry and needed some calories to fill him up before a long night's sleep. Well, he did sleep great. Seriously, for about 15 hours. He woke up this morning, and I fed him some toast while he drank another sippy cup of milk. Everything seemed normal and I was thinking he was 100%.

After breakfast, Korben snuggles up my lap, lethargic, sucking his thumb. This was working well for me since I was still so weak from the evening I'd just had (I'll explain later). I'm thinking, aww, he is still getting over his virus. He's sleepy and he wants to snuggle. Perfect. ***DO NOT read this next sentence, if you have a weak stomach***When about 10 minutes later he sits up and vomits up what appears (and smels) to be about a gallon of feta cheese on me.***Don't get mad at me, I warned you*** So, apparently the milk was a bad idea. At this point, I feel terrible for giving him milk! I cleaned him up and just laid him in his crib. He passed out with exhaustion.

He really seemed to be better the rest of the day. He drank about two sippy cups full of pedialyte in between 10 and 12, but he wouldn't drink anything else the rest of the day (I couldn't even get him to eat a popsicle!). He just lightly snacked on bananas, crackers, and toast. It really stressed me that he wouldn't drink anything else, but the pharmacist assured me that he would be okay through the night. It was really hard to put him to sleep tonight because he was having obviously having some stomach cramps.

I'm really praying that he will be virus-free tomorrow...ready to eat, drink, and be merry! It worries me when he doesn't eat, but it REALLY worries me when he doesn't drink.


So, If I was going to get this virus, I couldn't have gotten it at a better time. Aaron walked through the door yesterday around 4:30 when I just started getting nauseated. He was able to take over Korben duty while my stomach virus kicked into high gear. While Korben was asleep, basically all night, I was as sick as I ever remember being. I will spare you the details...but it was rough. I was so weak I couldn't even lift my voice to get Aaron's attention in the living room. I seriously had to text him. I never would have dreamed, even at 3 in the morning, that I would wake up being able to even lift my body...much less, lift Korben and take care of him by morning time. Well, praise the Lord, I woke up much free from stomach virus symptoms, and was able to take care of my baby all day. I knew that Aaron didn't need to stay home with us because he did not need to catch it, or miss work!

Well, tonight, the poor husband caught it. He has been sick for the past couple of hours. Not good timing on his part considering tomorrow is the most important day of his week.

I am praying that we do not all pass this virus back and forth to each other. Now that we've all been tagged, hopefully it will die!

I promise to do a happy post soon, sharing all of the cool/funny things Korben is doing now that he is one. The list of cool/funny things does not include vomiting, just so you know.

Stomach Virus

Korben woke up yesterday with the stomach virus that is floating all around Fort Smith. He threw up several times yesterday, and it took all I had to get him to swallow enough liquid to make sure he didn't get dehydrated. The nurse told me to give him a tablespoon of water or pedialyte ever 5 minutes. He managed to do that, thankfully.

He has only thrown up once today, but now he has diarrhea. Bless his heart, he is so restless! He wants to be in my lap, but no position can make him feel better. I totally know how he is feeling. Haven't we all been there before? I just feel so bad for him. He is actually down for a nap right now, so I'm going to try to go be productive.

I'm praying he is better SOON!

Korben's Birthday Playdate

Today is the day! My baby is actually ONE! It is just unreal. That is all there is to it.

I am currently without a car while it is being fixed, so we invited the fun to come to us today! We invited over Korben's best friend Brayden and his mom Christy. Brayden and Korben had a great time trying out all of the new (and old) toys! They finished off their playdate with a whole lot of birthday cake and ice cream! Brayden sat in Korben's high chair, and Korben sat in his red car. Why I didn't get a picture...I don't know!
















































We had a great time! Korben is having a great birthday! Just FYI, we started whole cow's milk yesterday and so far he is doing great. I'll keep you posted.(For those of you who don't know, we have previously had Korben on soy since we thought he was intolerant of dairy)

Day after the party...trying out the new toys!

On Sunday afternoon Julie (Korben's Mopsy) and I had a great time playing with Korben in the backyard. The weather was so nice, and I was just dying to see Korben play with all of his new stuff!! Here are some fun pictures we took!




































































































































































































































I was sharing with my friend Linda Cain (Hi Linda!) on Sunday about how many cars/transportation devices Korben got for his birthday. I said, "Linda, he got a red car, blue car, yellow bus, and wagon!" She said, "He'll need to be on MTV cribs to show off all of his cars." I thought that was hilarious. So, here is my own mini-episode of MTV cribs, right in our bedroom. Now this is a boy who has options.

Korben's First Birthday Party!!

We had Korben's first birthday party on Saturday. It was everything we were hoping for! We were so honored that so many of our family members would make the trip to and from Fort Smith in just one day. This was the first time some of our family had seen our new home, so it was extra special that they came to visit.

Korben was so sweet and excited. He loved playing in the backyard with his cousins, eating every single bite of his birthday cake, playing with the party favor (blower) while mommy and daddy opened his presents (haha), and trying out his new toys! Not only did Korben get incredible gifts for his first birthday, he also got some special things to open when he is 18. Everyone brought something to go in a time capsule for Korben to open on his 18th birthday. I just know that will be special for him, 17 years from now!

We weren't without food! Aaron grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and I prepared a fruit and dip tray, as well as cheese dip and salsa. Our cake was from Sweet Boutique in Van Buren, and it was delicious! From my perspective, the party went way too fast!! But, it was SOOOO much fun! Thank you everyone that came for making it so incredibly special.


























































































































































































































































































































































SEEE!!! We had a wonderful time! I hope the naked booty picture doesn't offend you. I just wanted to share how Korben likes to take a bath...standing up! I keep trying to explain to him that it is really relaxing to "sit" in the bath tub, but he insists on standing. Thanks for checking out the party pictures!