If you see me....

...and my hair is pulled out in patches, please don't say anything.

As of Wednesday night, we're going on Day 5 of what we hate to call "Scream Fest 2011." No, I'm not pulling out my hair because I've been scared at Six Flags... I'm pulling out my hair because Wednesday was day 5 of Auggie screaming for at least 2 hours during the day. Well, Saturday wasn't too bad, but it was just the beginning.

I took Auggie to his pediatrician at 2 Wednesday afternoon. Of course, he was so happy and such a smiley baby the whole time we were there. She checked his throat, eczema, stomach and lungs. All checked out great... well, except for his eczema. It is always there in some form. She recommended Miralax to get his tummy on a regular schedule again (I don't need to spell that one out, right?) and then Benadryl to see if his eczema was itchy. The Miralax worked (but if you talked to Tim, it was the applesauce... he thinks it was).

I figured since he was in a good mood, I'd take him to Wal Mart. I was disappointed I couldn't find the Benadryl- and I was a little wary of buying something along the same lines because everything was for kids at least 2 years old or older. Just as I was heading to the toy aisle to check out Christmas presents, he started getting cranky again. And that got him started up all over again.  I'll be taking him out this morning or afternoon to see if I can make it to CVS.

I wanted to pull out my hair so bad last night. People keep telling us to put him in his crib, close the door and walk away. If we did that every time he was unconsolable, he would've spent the past 5 days (minus like 6 or so hours) in his bed.

I feel horrible neither of us can do anything about it. Tim keeps suggesting to call friends to watch him for an hour or so just so I can get out but I don't want to put anyone else in the position of trying to calm him down. Auggie will calm down for a bit and then if something goes wrong (if he plops down too hard or loses his grip on a toy, etc), he gets so upset over it.

But on a lighter note, we did make it out to the park Wednesday morning with a few other moms and their little ones. We got to enjoy the cool weather! Yes, I said cool weather! I know it isn't as cool as Ohio or anything but 70 for a high and 42 for a low sounds like awesome weather to me! Auggie went down the slide for the first time. He wasn't too sure about it- his shoes kind of got caught on the slide so it wasn't too smooth.

Well, I'll leave you with some pictures from the past few days....

Enjoying his pinwheels while the cold front came through town 

Standing up to show Daddy

Look at our big boy! He stood up all by himself!

Enjoying Wednesday morning at the park

Miss Ruby attempting to take off her bow

Auggie at the bottom of the slide

He wanted to go up the slide

Auggie looking up at Zane

Mis Paxton trying out the ladder

Auggie wasn't too sure about the poles

Trying to pull himself up into my lap

October 18, 2011

Tim had his surgery on Thursday. It went well. He was in by 7 am and out around 10:15 am. He was a little "woozy" for a few hours after the surgery but according to the nurses it was just the anesthesia  wearing off. He hadn't eaten since 8 Wednesday night so we both figured if he ate, he'd feel better. Since it was an outpatient surgery, he wasn't supposed to stay too long after but he didn't want to go home feeling miserable. The nurses kept saying he felt bad because of the pain killers and it seemed like they were trying to push him out. Even though he still felt terrible, he was discharged and we went home around 2:30. He was able to eat a chocolate and Nacogdoches blueberry scone (Thanks, 'Stine!!! He really enjoyed them) and he felt so much better after eating 3 of them. Tim hasn't been sleeping well since he came home but he's comfortable now. Friday, he had a lot of pain in his knee that wasn't being helped with the pain medication. His ice pack had shifted onto one of his staples and was causing the pain. Sunday he was able to removed his Ace bandage and got to see the damage. And today, he's starting to hobble around a little bit without his crutches. He goes back in a week and a half for a follow up appointment and then he'll start physical therapy.

We had 2 great friends, Joanna and Ramona, watch Auggie on Thursday while I got Tim situated at home. Joanna and Ramona along with Jen P and Jen A made some food for us. It has all been so good! Thank you, ladies! We really appreciate it. I don't think our fridge has been that full in a while.

Joanna said Auggie was perfect on Thursday. I'm so glad he was good for them... Now, I just wish that good mood had extended throughout the weekend! I think he knows something different is going on but he has been very needy and will hardly let me do something without him right at my ankles. Sunday, after all our company left (thank goodness), he screamed until bedtime. Monday he was in just about the same mood. I feel bad because we don't know what he needs or what is bothering him but man, can he scream? Most of the time I wanted to scream right there with him. He spent most of Monday morning in his crib because he wouldn't stop crying when I held him or played with him. When he was in his crib, though, he played by himself and calmed down. I know most babies enjoyed their alone time but sometimes I feel like it is too much but he is so much happier alone.

Auggie began to do a few new things over the past week or so:

• "Ma Ma Ma Ma" started last week
• Smacking his lips together
• The sign "milk" more consistently
• Waving "bye bye" 
• The sign "all done" a few times
• The sign "more" once or twice
• Using his fist to nod "yes" (the muscles in the neck that control nodding yes are harder to control than the ones used to make the "no" head shaking)

As I sit here and try to figure out what to type, I'm thinking of so many other things I should be doing (dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc) so I'll leave you with pictures. I'm sure there are things I wanted to type but I've forgotten about them. I haven't had the time or the attention span to edit any more pumpkin patch pictures so these are just from my phone. Sorry if this is another jumbled post... I am so ready for another nap.

Playing with his new blocks

Looking like such a big boy 

I had to change his sheets on night so he
had to sleep on the floor for a few minutes

Watching the rain

Pretty kitty I cat-sat for a bit last week

Chewing on a sunflower

Somebody likes to play with clean diapers

He tries to put so much down the hole of this toy

Tim hanging out Thursday afternoon

Auggie checking out what Daddy's doing

Looking like a big boy in his Vegas shirt and Vans

He plays with the buttons on his musical stuffed toys now

He smacks his lips together now

The straw was one of few things that made him happy Monday

Walking out of his pants

Finally got to sit in Daddy's lap Monday

Chilling out with Daddy

The Day is Finally Here!

As you're reading this, Tim is probably just getting out of the hospital... hopefully. So this will be a super quick post (1. I'm tired and 2. I need to get Auggie's bag ready for the day... procrastinate much?)

Before I forget to announce it to everyone... Auggie took TWO steps Wednesday morning!! I was so happy I almost cried! He's getting so big way too fast!

Wednesday afternoon we went out to the Pumpkin Patch organized by the Texas A&M Habitat for Humanity. I took almost 300 pictures.. now, that doesn't mean all 300 are printable... I just had to take a lot to get a few smiles... or in Auggie's case, a couple smiles and a lot of wrinkly-nosed looks. But here are some of the photos from our hour or so with the pumpkins. I'll post more when I have the time to edit them next week... Enjoy!

I can flip back and forth between these 2 photos and it is SO cute!

Walking with Daddy

I liked how he's giving his best imitation of the Jack O'Lantern on his shirt

"HMMMM... I've never seen that kind before!"

preoccupied with the grass

this is the same face he gives us when he lays down in the bath tub

P.S. Sorry for the spacey post... ;)

MMMMM MMMMM MMMMMM

If you're on Facebook, you already know... but we officially have a 

Babbler!!

We are very happy Auggie started babbling with M's. And as you can tell, it sounds like "Mama." I know he's not saying my name and its just him getting used to being vocal but it makes me oh, so very happy to hear more than a squeal or "ga ga." I get a little teary-eyed every time he does it. We got an appointment with a speech therapist through ECI (early childhood intervention). I'm glad we were able to arrange that.

We also have an appointment with another therapist to help in between the speech therapy appointments. I'm hoping they'll meet Auggie and say he's doing great and we won't need to see them much. We'll see in November! It's hard to believe November is coming up so quickly! I don't even want to think about that... just yet.

We're still working on getting him to eat more "solids." I guess persistence pays off in the end? I hope so! So there's nothing new the "eating department." He has his good days and bad days. I think he ate great 4 days in a row and the minute we thought about going up to two times a day, he didn't want anything to do with food. Baby food, our food, finger food, mum mums, pinwheels, chocolate syrup, chips, Dr Pepper! You name it, we've tried it. If he likes it for a few days, the next, he could hate it. We'll just keep trying.


Our weekend went well. Friday night we had dinner with family. Kayla made burgers for all of us to eat. Melanie, Corey and the kids came over since they were in the area. We all had a great time in the duplex! There were 11 of us! See, no Siegmund get-together is small!


Saturday, Kayla and I met up with some of the moms I've met in the area to paint a Habitat for Humanity house. It was a great morning. I was so glad we were able to help out a family! That evening Sherwin and Jane came in and we all went to the Texas Reds Festival in downtown Bryan. It was nice to get out as a family. 


Sunday was a lazy day! It actually rained! and most of the day, too. It is only a slight relief from it being so dry, but hey, at least it was wet! 

Kayla gave Auggie some rootbeer while we were at the Texas Reds
Festival Saturday night. Combined with the powdered sugar
and cream sauce from dinner, I was surprised he went to bed easily!

 Here are a few photos from our trip to Ray and Molly's last week. After our tractor ride, Auggie got to sit in the driver's seat. He knew exactly what to do! He was really excited about it

We'll see if I can squeeze in a post before Tim gets into surgery on Thursday. We're all hoping it goes well but a little extra prayer couldn't hurt!

Squeezing in Family Outings!

Only one week left until Tim's surgery. I can't believe its been 3 months since he tore his ACL. Of course, its getting to be that time of year- pretty weather and lots of family related events around town.

We went to Edelweiss Gardens for "National Night Out" on Tuesday. Their HOA catered Rudy's BBQ for the night. It was nice getting out. A truck from the College Station Fire Department came by for the kids to visit. There weren't too many interested in it, though. I was surprised. Auggie was more interested in smiling at the firefighters! The ambulance pulled up after we were all walking back to our friends' house. Apparently, College Station had 47 parties set up for the event. It was nice. Too bad our neighborhood doesn't have something like that- oh wait, we probably wouldn't live in it then. Tim is not a fan of HOA's.

Wednesday morning, we drove out to Gause (about 30 minutes from College Station). Molly & Ray own some land out there and Tim has been helping them coordinate projects to clear their underbrush on their property. They haven't seen Auggie since April when we went to the Milam County Nature Festival so they were very happy to see him- well, Tim and I, too! We enjoyed a nice tractor ride around their property and relaxed the whole day with them. I really enjoyed going out there. Hopefully we'll be able to do it again soon.

He wouldn't look up at me but he loved to rock in the chair... until he scooted to far forward!

Molly and Auggie

Auggie loved being held by Molly

Here are some pictures from last weekend when we went to Giddings. We went to La Porte Friday night, went to Katy for a family reunion on Saturday and then headed to Giddings after to celebrate Sherwin's birthday! I should have had more pictures but my Canon wouldn't read any memory cards last week (I just about died). My dad looked at for.. what? 5 minutes? and it was working again! I LOVE my dad! 

Libby showing how strong she is on the rings

Laci swinging on the rings

I just loved this pictures but I caught someone's flash as
they took a picture, too. This is the best I could get it to look

MMMM... Icing!

PawPaw (Sherwin) and his grandkids
(Missing Jacob- he wasn't there- and Auggie- he was sleeping)

Hello October and Cool(er) Weather!!

Okay, highs of low 90s are cool, right?? It has felt amazing in the mornings in College Station the past couple of days. We have enjoyed it. Of course, I would enjoy it much more if my stuffy nose and cough were gone.

I've been counting down to Tim's surgery and we're in single digits now. I can't believe its almost here. 9 more days. I'm not too sure if I'll have time to post much those first couple of weeks after his surgery so it'll most likely be picture only posts. I'm not even 100% sure what time he has to be at the hospital! I guess I should figure that out, huh? I'm not too nervous about it (I mean, I'm not the one going under) but I am nervous about getting things done for him and actually having to be a housewife! Maybe I should wear a dress and pearls and an apron and address him as "Honey" or "Dear" when he comes home. I'll have snacks on a tray ready for him and serve him breakfast, lunch and dinner in bed....

HA! What am I envisioning!

Hopefully, Auggie doesn't want to be too close to him since he'll be using an exercising machine (I don't know what its called). I'm just praying everything (surgery and recovery) goes smoothly for Tim.

It seems like since Tim's walking days are numbered (at least for awhile), we're trying to squeeze in some family time. National Night Out, dinner with friends in Hearne, Texas Reds Festival, and a day at one of Tim's landowners' house. And then Tim will squeeze in some hunting while I get together with some of the moms from the group to help Habitat for Humanity and then have a mom's night out! Can't wait. The next 9 days will fly by!

And now on to the star of the blog- AUGGIE!

He's doing great! He's getting so big and more confident crawling and standing up. 1 month and 6 days until his birthday. His invitations are out in the mail (only a few remain behind because I didn't order enough.. oops!) and I have a few more things to buy for decorations. I've gone out twice this week to try to price things for decorations and food but Auggie hasn't been interested in sitting in his stroller or the basket in the cart. Its frustrating but I should have some time this weekend to do it by myself (hopefully).

Well the Augster is up and wanting to crawl around so I'll leave you with a couple pictures... sorry its not more.. I'll definitely have more for Thursday

All snuggled up in the living room

on our way to Katy for a family reunion

Kayla's and Darren's dogs are missing :(

2.5 month old Australian Shepherd at the Brazos Animal Shelter