Tales of Leland

Pictures to come soon, but Leland is now in a big boy bed! His crib converts into a full size sleigh bed, so we moved him into the bigger 2nd bedroom in our house and his nursery is now my office. We went ahead and made the move because I knew I was getting the commercial size embroidery machine, which does not need to be moved once it is set up!

Leland has slept with us for 19 months. I thought that we were going to have a nightmare trying to get him to sleep in his room. We have not had one problem! He goes to sleep without a single tear and sleeps ALL night in his bed! He has been in his bed for almost a week now and I think he enjoys it as much as we do. He still takes 1 or 2 good naps in his bed as well each day.

His new words are:
Oh We
Uh Oh
Apple
Shoes
Socks
Go

He now shrugs his shoulders (Have no idea where he got it from!)

He blows kisses and will give you a kiss

He gives hugs

He tries to put his clothes and shoes on

He has learned that the mega blocks are a lot of fun and will sit and play with them forever.

He finally holds his own cup of milk and will sit in the recliner by himself (of course with blankie) and drink it.

I was laying with him this morning to watch cartoons and he handed me his cup and blanket and patted my head saying, "Night, Night"!

He is obsessed with the broom and dust pan!

Prayers for Stacy!

Last Sunday, I received a phone call about another best friend that was in the hospital and it was not looking good. You may remember Danielle that was diagnosed with cancer just months after my wedding. After a 2 year horrible battle, she is a survivor and doing fantastic! I am the matron of honor in her wedding this September and she is now a RN in the ER.

Stacy has been my best friend and more like a sister since our Sophomore year of High School. She is seriously the healthiest person I know. I know you never expect anyone close to you to get a serious illness, but I really never expected her to get sick.

Stacy got walking pneumonia about a month ago and just never seemed to recover. About 2 weeks ago, she started experiencing memory loss, numbness in her right side of the body, slurred speech, and bad headaches. Last Sunday, she was driving to meet her Mom at church, and her entire right leg went numb as she was driving. She made it to the church (Thank God) and told her Mom she needed to go to the hospital.

Her Mom took her to the ER, where they were told Stacy had a brain tumor the size of a golf ball. She was sent to UAB and placed in the ICU. Late Sunday night they did an MRI and it showed even worse news. The tumor was really the size of a tennis ball. The neuro surgeons evaluated her case all last week and they performed a 3 hour procedure Friday. They inserted dye into her main vein through her leg. The dye went up into the brain and tumor to map out things for the doctors. She had full brain surgery today to remove the entire tumor. After a very long procedure (6 1/2 hours) I am so happy to say that she is resting. The doctors got all of the tumor, but were worried about her speech and use of the right side at first. She was moving both sides in the recovery room, but her speech is still not determined.

Either way, she will have to go through rehab and weeks of recuperating. She has a long road ahead, but she is a very strong woman and will make it through. The doctors are sending the tumor off for testing, but at this time do not think it is cancer.

Please keep Stacy and her family in your prayers. She was just married back in October and her Dad just recovered from prostate cancer in December. God has worked miracles with her so far, but she needs all the prayers and support she can get!

It really puts life in perspective when you have 2 27 year old best friends that are battling for their life. It really makes all the petty bull crap worthless. At the end of the day, all you need is love, faith in God, your family, and friends. You need family and friends that are there for you and don't bring you down. The older I get and the more experiences I go through with good friends, the more I realize how true this statement is. As hard as it is, you have to learn to let go of those people and things that are not bettering your life and relationships with the one's you love.

Busy, BUSY!!

I have neglected the blog once again and I hate it! I love to blog, but I have been so busy with work that I have not had a chance to sit and post pictures, as it is very time consuming!

You can go here:

http://www.lilmonkeydesigns.blogspot.com/

to see all the projects I have been up to!

I got my dream, 10 needle machine last Wednesday and love it so far. It is going to take a few days to get used to working on it instead of the single needle, but I have done good so far! This machine will allow me to have a much faster turn around time with orders and I no longer have to babysit t-shirts on the machine, PRAISE GOD!! I really could do cart wheels just knowing that I can put a shirt on the machine and work on something else while it is going. On my single needle, I have to sit and watch each and every shirt to make sure it doesn't go under the needle. So take all the shirts I have done in the past 15 months (200 +) and account about an hour or more for each shirt= A LOT of time sitting at a machine!! It was all worth it and I have very high hopes for the business now that I can monogram anything!!

The goal is to get a few school orders each month and continue doing custom stuff on the side. So far I have an order to do baseball hats for a t-ball team, so it's a start!

Tales of Leland

I am way behind on blogging! I love to blog, but I have been so busy with orders for the business and I also have to keep the business blog and facebook page updated.

I keep this blog as updated as possible so that friends and family are able to see updated pictures of Leland, but also to keep a record of Leland's childhood. I have already had one blog book made and the second one will be done soon!

I want Leland to be able to look back at his books years from now and show his children how he was as a child. Now that he is becoming more independent and learning new things daily, I wanted to create the Tales of Leland to document all the funny stories and new things that he learns.

So here we go with the "Tales of Leland"!

Leland you are such a funny little boy. You are FULL of personality and keep Mommy and Daddy smiling! Just in this past week, you have learned how to blow kisses complete with a kissing noise. Every morning this week, you have rolled over and kissed Mommy on the cheek and completely melted my heart!

You have found a new favorite food, salad! You LOVE it!

You are doing so well eating by yourself with a spoon or fork and insist on having one or the other before you will eat.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful all week (in the mid 70's in February!). You have enjoyed going outside to play every day. We will have to make a trip to purchase you a small play house for the back yard soon!

Valentine's Weekend

We had a laid back Valentine's weekend. The weather was SO pretty! We spent Sunday afternoon at the park and Leland loved every minute of it! Leland and I made some yummy cookies for Daddy and we all three enjoyed a steak dinner at home Saturday night!

3rd Haircut!

Leland went to visit Mr. Clay last week for the 3rd time. He sat in my lap and talked to the fish while Mr. Clay cut his hair. He looks so much more like a little boy, instead of a baby now!

Leland thinks that Dutchess is his personal recliner!

Potty Training Update!

I originally bought a potty seat that fits onto the big potty after several friends recommended it. When I first introduced it to Leland, he loved to sit on it, but never did anything. However, after a week or two of sitting and nothing, he started screaming when I put him on the potty, so we stopped.

I thought that he may like a small potty of his own better because he likes to "copy" Mommy and Daddy. When I introduced it to him, he immediately picked it up and toted it out of the bathroom, to the living room, and sat in it to watch TV!

I waited another couple of weeks and the past few days every time I go, I ask Leland if he can potty like Mommy. For the past 3 days, he has sat on his potty when I ask him, so beginning this week, I am going to start trying to potty train again!

"Say Cheese"!

Leland's new thing is saying, "CHEESE" anytime he sees my camera! I take pictures of all my orders, so he'll jump in front of the camera with a huge smile and saying, "CHEESE"!!

Madmen Party!

2 weeks ago, we were invited to one of our best friends 30th Birthday party. Treacy decided to do a 1960's Madmen theme. It was SO much fun! All the guys wore suits and all the girls wore cocktail attire from the 1960's. She hired a bartender, had 1960's music going, and the party was catered. We had a lot of fun!

The party was in Anniston, so it gave us a chance to catch up with good friends and Jason's old roomate, Warren and his wife Amy. We stayed at their house in Jacksonville and left Leland with his GiGi and Pap for the first time overnight ever!
The week before the party, we were in Newnan and Jason raided his Grandad's closet to find this sweater green tie! It was perfect for the 1960's theme!

My dress was not 100% 1960's, but it was a steal at Belk for $17 and I will get a lot of use out of it this Summer and Fall. Sadly, all the popular styles from the 1960's are coming back in style, so it was perfect! I hot rolled my hair for the first in years using my old hot roller set that was under my bathroom sink at my parents house from High School!!

Me with the Birthday girl!! Happy 30th Birthday Treacy!!

Visiting with Grandparents!

2 weeks ago, Leland had the rare opportunity of seeing all 8 Grandparents in one weekend! He is so blessed to have 8 Grandparents that are still around to watch him grow! Jason and I have so many memories from our childhood with our Grandparents and love that Leland gets to make memories with his! We went to Newnan to throw a couples Bridal shower for 2 good friends, Trey and Amanda. Together with Jason's parents, we threw a great shower and had a lot of fun getting together with everyone!

Saturday, we went to visit with Jason's Grandparent's, Granny and Grandaddy. It was so beautiful outside! Leland rode the 4-wheeler with Daddy and LOVED it!

They have a huge back yard and Leland probably made 10 to 15 laps around it!

We came home late Saturday night and went to my parents Sunday morning. Leland stayed outside with Mom and I for almost 2 hours watching Pap and Daddy cut trees.

Later Sunday afternoon, my Dad came into town to help Jason fix his truck. Leland and Paw Paw had a chip and dip party!

Sweet Valentine!

18 Months!

Our sweet boy is 18 months old! Time seems to fly by faster the older he gets! He got a special treat on his year and a half old Birthday....a cream horn! He loved it and went straight to the bathtub afterwards!

Leland is growing like a little weed! At his check-up, he weighed 26 lbs 12oz (50th percentile) and was 34 3/8 inches tall (95th percentile). His doctor said that he is on schedule to be at least 6 ft 2"! I have always known that he would be tall and have big feet. He will take after my Moms side of the family in this area! He is moving into 24m clothes. The 18m shirts and pants are a little short, but the 24m shirts and pants are too long and big in the waist, so unfortunately he is in between sizes and it is kind of aggravating when baby clothes are not made with draw strings!!

Leland is definitely more of a toddler now and is becoming independent. He is talking more and more and completely understands everything you say. If you ask him where something is or to go get something, he does it! I know I am a little partial, but he is very smart!

He is beginning to love to play pretend. He loves getting all the pots, pans, and spoons out of the cabinets and pretend that he is cooking. The other day he had a piece of cheese toast. He went to the drawer and pulled out a pan, a spoon, and 2 bowls. He first put the toast in the pan and stirred it with a spoon. He then broke it in half and placed a piece in each bowl. He sat the bowls on the table and patted the chair wanting me to sit. I could tell that he was so happy he "made me dinner"!! There is never a dull moment our house, that is for sure!

Leland loves books and for us to read to him. He is good at pointing at objects on command. He knows where his body parts are now and will pull up his shirt to show you his belly button!

He is such a joy! He is the best child and still enjoys riding in the car, shopping, and eating at a resturant. He pitches a fit like most kids do every now and then, but most of the time if you ignore him, he will stop!

We are so ready for warm weather to get here so we can play outside and are looking forward to watching our little one continue to grow into a humble little boy!