McLeod Family Blog

Take Two

2009-07-26T08:38:00.002-05:00

Blog Makeover in Progress!
Stay tuned for further updates...

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

2009-05-09T14:32:00.001-05:00

Check out how awesome my Mom is!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there!

I suck at blogging.

2009-05-01T19:59:00.002-05:00

enough said.

(LOTS of Ash pics to come...soon?)

School Pictures!

2009-03-05T17:55:00.004-06:00

Here they are! Enjoy!

Asher Thomas McLeod
4 months old

It seems like my little Newt has grown so much in just the past week. He is now 5 months old and I cannot believe how big he is getting. Quick update:

Asher can now roll over from his back to his tummy. We're still working on going the other direction; for right now, he rolls to his tummy and is very frustrated when he gets stuck like that.
He now has TWO TEETH! He had a fever on Monday of last week so he got to spend the day with Nana instead of going to school. When he got home we realized it was because he was teething. Within a day he went from having just a white spot on his bottom gums to cutting two teeth. I think the top ones will be following soon.
He is starting to use his hands more and more. He can hold his binky now and sometimes even get it back into his mouth. He likes to hold just about anything you give him (especially Mommy's hair and earrings...ouch!)
He LOVES standing up (with someone holding him, of course). His new favorite toy is the Exersaucer. He gets so excited when you put him in there are starts giggling and talking to himself.
Yesterday, when I picked him up from school, I walked into the baby room to find three of the girls who work there fawning over him. Apparently he had been sitting there just giggling to himself. I think he's their favorite.
He is thisclose to being able to sit up on his own.

Next week is Spring Break. We will be hanging at home and doing some much needed spring cleaning. Hopefully your plans are more exciting than ours!

Plinky

2009-03-03T20:47:00.003-06:00

I joined Plinky.com today. It's kind of a cool site that gives you ideas of things to write about on your blog. The one today was not-so-interesting but I went ahead and answered the question anyway because I wanted to see how it worked. So...if there are some seemingly random posts on the blog from now on, you can probably blame Plinky.

Call Me Mrs. Fix-It

2009-03-03T20:46:00.001-06:00

...that's because I am married to Mr. Fix-It, not because I myself am in any way capable of fixing anything. I am by no means a handywoman. Kyle laughs at me because I would much rather just buy something new than spend the time trying to fix it, whereas he is the complete opposite. Sometimes Kyle will try to explain to me how something works and he gets frustrated when I just give him the blank stare...then he starts using hand gestures, etc., trying to get me to understand. After a while I just pretend that I get what he's talking about. It's easier on both of us this way.

Just For Fun

2009-02-21T13:51:00.005-06:00

On the off chance you missed this one:

Or this one:

And if those didn't keep you entertained, Kyle's cousin Michael sent him this and I am already addicted (read the directions below before clicking on the link).

Directions:

1. Wait for "3, 2, 1" to tick. Numbers will flash on the screen. Pay attention to where they are!

2. Click the circles where the numbers were in order from least to greatest.

3. After several rounds the computer will tell you how old your brain is!

Enjoy!

To Whom It May Concern

2009-02-18T17:33:00.002-06:00

Dear Jackass Who Stole Our GPS,

I hope that our crappy GPS drives you over a cliff into a bottomless ocean and you die feeling nothing but regret for being such a terrible person. You suck.

PS--Thank you for realizing that everything else we own is too crappy to bother stealing.

Yesterday Morning

2009-02-17T17:11:00.004-06:00

7:15 am Head out the door actually on time for once. Excited that I will be at work by 8:00 like I am supposed to be.

7:16 am Get out to the car only to realize that Kyle has removed the Mazda key from my keychain.

7:17 am Go back inside to ask Kyle WHY he removed my key. Turns out it was to "remind me to take the Civic today."

7:18 am Go back outside and load my school bag, Newt's school bag, my lunch box, my pump, my purse, and the baby into the Civic.

7:23 am Realize that the carseat base is no longer properly installed in the Civic. Have a disagreement (okay, fight) with Kyle over which car to take. Decide to take the Mazda, afterall and unload bagsX5 plus baby from the Civic and load them into the Mazda.

7:27 am Head to work. Stressed that I am now late.

7:35 am Drive over speed bump getting out of the neighborhood. Hear/feel annoying "thump thump thump" coming from tires.

7:36 am Pull over to check for a flat tire (oh yeah...its raining). Don't see one so get back in car and restart.

7:38 am Car is still making "thump thump thump" noise. Call Kyle and decide to turn around.

7:42 am Get home and get out of the car to hear "hissssssssssss" coming from rear tire. Find enormous bolt stuck in tire.

7:45 am Unload bagsX5 plus baby from Mazda and reload them into Civic afterall. Kyle must drive me to school.

8:35 am Finally arrive at work after fighting Stone Oak traffic and dropping Newt off at school.

9:15 am Angry email from parent wondering why I was not there to tutor her child before school in the morning. Ugh.

Hope your day went better than mine. :o/

Announcement!

2009-02-14T17:45:00.002-06:00

Ahem...

My little man rolled over for the first time today....not once, not twice, but THREE times! He has been so close for the past week, and today he finally got it!

Also, he just graduated to size three diapers. The package no longer says, "New Baby" on the front. I don't know if this makes me happy or sad.

Big Little Man

2009-02-04T18:52:00.003-06:00

Little Man had his four month (FOUR MONTH?!) check up today. He weighed in at a whopping 16 lb 2 oz, which puts him in the 70th percentile for weight. What a chunky monkey! To be honest, he has grown so much and seems so big now that I thought he would weigh even more than that!

Tomorrow is school pictures--will post whenever I get them.

Valentine's Day is coming and Kyle and I are having a disagreement about whether or not to get the babies in Newt's class a valentine. I think that we should get ALL of the babies a little something (there's only 6 other babies) and something for his three teachers. Kyle says that he should only get valentines for the girl babies. Maybe we should just forgo the valentines all together? Thoughts, anyone?

Sorry no pics now. Kyle's sister and her little girl are coming to visit this weekend, so I'm sure we will have lots of pics from the weekend coming up soon!

Newt

2009-01-19T17:40:00.002-06:00

I was talking about Asher the other day and said something along the lines of, "Oh the other day Newt did such and such..." and the person I was talking to looked at me like I was crazy.

"Who's Newt?" she asked.

It was then that I realized that my son's nickname might be a little confusing to the casual observer, so let me explain.

When Kyle and I got our first sonogram, Kyle and I looked at the pictures and thought, "Our son looks like a lizard!" The picture showed his spine all curled in the fetal position and he looked like, well, like a lizard. Kyle said, "There's my little Newt!"

Since we weren't telling anyone his real name we had picked out, "Newt" stuck and we always just referred to him as our little Newt. I guess old habits die hard.

Now Kyle likes to tell people that he's named after Newt in Lonesome Dove. I guess that works too.

Abilene

2009-01-19T17:01:00.003-06:00

I've been a bad blogger lately (sorry Stephanie) so to make up for it here are the latest and greatest bunch of Newt pics. We spent the long weekend in Abilene visiting Kyle's family. They hadn't seen Ash since Thanksgiving so of course he is about twice the size he was then. He gets more and more fun every day. Lately he has been babbling a lot and when he gets really excited he makes the most adorable squeaking noise. Nothing makes me happier in this world than seeing my little guy smile!

Here's Newt in his Mr. Roger sweater that Daddy bought him for Christmas.

is it bad that this pic makes me laugh?

ahh much better. this is more of what we were going for.

newt and grandmommy. look at that smile!

Kyle's old roommate Adam was in town and got to meet Asher for the first time. We haven't seen him since our wedding two and a half years ago! A lot has changed since then!

life is good.

beautiful smile. is it just me or is there a tinge of red in his hair?

My mom's friend Charlie has a little boy a few months older than Ash and has been kind enough to give us some hand-me-downs. Our favorite item by FAR has been this baseball hat--have you ever seen anything more adorable?!

We hope that everyone has enjoyed their long weekend as much as we have. Thank you MLK!

Back to School

2009-01-05T20:14:00.003-06:00

Today was Asher's first official day of school and my first day back at work since September. I cried when I dropped him off this morning, but other than that the day was pretty uneventful. I swear he grew since this morning. Here are some pics of his first day; his shirt is courtesy of "Aunt" Stephanie and doesn't he look handsome in his big boy jeans?!

handsome boy

Ash and Mommy...not sure what is up with my hair

so good looking

These aren't from his first day but I just thought they were funny. We tried to put him in his Bumbo seat the other day. His head is still a tiny bit too unsteady to use it on a regular basis, but Ash seemed to dig it. He makes the goofiest faces!

not so sure about this....

what are you looking at?

Why am I surprised?

2009-01-03T20:14:00.003-06:00

Wow. I've been doing some blog-stalking lately (let's call it "research" for my own blog) and I have to say that I am surprised by the eloquence of some of my friends (and friends of friends....and friends of friends of friends). This should not surprise me as I tend to associate with fairly smart people...but they like, use big words and stuff when they write. I have to admit that I am a little intimidated.

I have a long way to go in the blog-o-sphere.

Goodbye 2008...Hello 2009

2009-01-02T16:27:00.004-06:00

Happy 2009! I hope that everyone had a fun (and safe!) time ringing in the new year.

As for the San Antonio McLeods, we had a good time celebrating with some old friends we hadn't seen in a while. Nana was kind enough to babysit, so Kyle and I had a night out for the first time in a while. An old friend of mine from college, Bethany (she lived across the hall freshman year), and her husband Caleb, were gracious enough to host a New Year's shindig at their home here in SA. There were a lot of old faces from ACU that were good to catch up with--plus, any chance I get to brag about my beautiful baby boy is a chance I'll take :o)

In honor of the end of 2008 and the start of 2009, I thought I'd put together a list of highlights from the past year, as well as some resolutions for the coming one. Here goes:

Best of 2008 (in no particular order)

peeing on a stick and watching that little blue plus sign appear.
reading the responses after Kyle sent a picture of that plus sign to everyone in our phonebook.
not needing to keep a Bill Miller bucket in my car after the first four months of pregnancy.
Melissa's wedding
ASHER THOMAS MCLEOD
knowing that Kyle now has only one semester left of school (!)
no longer having a car payment
maternity leave
ASHER THOMAS MCLEOD
having Kyle surprise me with a new MacBook
Kyle taking me on a date to see this guy ...wow.
Monday night pizza nights
standing in the shower after my water broke in the middle of the night while Kyle runs around yelling, "What do we do?! What do we do?!"
the second epidural
ASHER THOMAS MCLEOD
seeing my son for the first time
bringing Asher home for the first time
seeing Asher smile for the first time
watching Kyle play with Asher
taking Asher to Abilene to meet Kyle's family for the first time
ASHER THOMAS MCLEOD, ASHER THOMAS MCLEOD, ASHER THOMAS MCLEOD

Resolutions for 2009:

Kyle:

"I don't really have any...it's your blog, you put your resolutions up."

Asher:

sleep for eight consecutive hours through the night on a consistent basis
roll over
sit up
eat solid food

Jamie:

keep up with the blog and get better about taking/uploading pictures
continue nursing for a full year
stick to our budget...okay, first make our budget, then stick to it
actually make it to church on Sunday
lose the last 10 (okay, 15!) lbs of baby weight

So there you have it...out with the old and in with the new. Here's to wishing everyone a FABULOUS 2009!

A few more...

2008-12-30T14:08:00.003-06:00

little man

our attempt at a family pic...didn't work too well

one hot daddy!

look how tiny he was just a few weeks ago!

Trial Run #2...SUCCESS!

2008-12-30T13:07:00.003-06:00

Well I did it! I successfully abandoned my child to a complete stranger for a full hour and a half today.

We dropped Newt off around 9:00 this morning and met his other teacher, Ms. Mary, who I liked a lot. Because of the holidays, he was the only baby there today, so I felt really good that he was going to get lots of one-on-one attention.

Anyway, Kyle and I went to breakfast at Magnolia Pancake Haus (yum!) and I did not cry the entire time. I can't even remember the last time we ate a meal with just the two of us, and it felt a little strange not having to bounce a crying baby or pop a binky back in his mouth every five minutes!

When we picked him up his teacher was holding him and rocking him, which was nice to see so that I know he's not just going to be sitting in a bouncy all day. He had eaten his entire bottle and was already on his first change of clothes. All in all, I feel really good about it. I am glad that we had this trial run today because now I think that I will be much more comfortable leaving him on Monday.

Now I just have to accept the fact that I have to go back to work...ugh.

Ash Pics!

2008-12-30T12:37:00.004-06:00

Since this is what everyone REALLY wants to see on here...

my little man looking very tiny in his crib

one happy baby!

daddy teaching Ash to play guitar

not the greatest pic, but doesn't he look cute in his hoody?

oh my gosh!

This is just a few of many. More to come!

Trial Run #1

2008-12-29T08:34:00.003-06:00

My little boy starts school (for some reason, "daycare" sounds better when you call it "school") next week when I have to go back to work. The director had suggested coming in for a "trial run" before his actual first day in order to make sure that he has all of his supplies, paperwork, etc. completed. So, this morning we got up at 6:15 and managed to get fed, dressed, and out the door by 7:05--not an easy feat with an infant.

We arrived at school around 7:25 where the director introduced us to Ash's teacher (Sandra) and helped us to pick out his crib and load up his drawers with supplies. She checked to make sure that I had filled out the stack of paperwork correctly while I wrote out a check for an astronomical amount (you don't want to know) and Ash stared wide-eyed at the other two babies in the room. Then she said the most horrible words I have been dreading for three whole months: "Do you want to leave him for a little while?"

About this time my eyes started welling up and the panic set in. I feel silly for being so reluctant to leave him. After all, I've known this day was coming since last May when we reserved his place. It's just that for the past three months I have never been away from him for more than a few hours at a time, and then at least I had the reassurance of knowing that he was with his daddy or nana. Now I'm going be leaving him with relative strangers for the better part of an entire day. Don't get me wrong; I love the daycare that we picked out and I am very confident that he will be well taken care of. It's just that he's MY baby and I don't want to leave him!

Anyway, I'm guessing the director is used to overprotective moms by now, because she just laughed at my panic-stricken face and said that we could try again tomorrow, and I should plan on leaving him for at least an hour--for my sake. Soooo...tomorrow we will be trying for trial run #2. The plan is to drop Ash off and then Kyle and I will go to breakfast while I try not to cry into my tacos. Wish us luck.

Mommy Guilt

2008-12-28T12:00:00.000-06:00

Apparently there is an unwritten rule now that when you get married, get pregnant and/or have a child you are required to have a blog. For some reason, I never got around to creating a Knot page when Kyle and I got engaged. I bypassed the whole "Pregnancy Blog" thing because, let's face it, no one really wants to hear about my bouts with morning sickness or the phenomenon known as "Shrek Feet." However, now that Asher is a full three months old (THREE MONTHS?! where has the time gone?) I am starting to feel guilty every time I blog-stalk other new mommies and read all about how adorable and perfect their little ones are. This "Mommy Guilt" has grown in me a sense of obligation to create my own blog with tales of my own adorable and perfect son--even if no one will read it but his grandparents. Besides, I think blogging is a great way to keep in touch, share pictures, and keep everyone up to date, especially now that Asher is here. Enjoy!