Baby Ellie Byrd Pulley

Here is a preliminary round of pictures and a few details. I'm sure more details and pictures will follow by Sheri.

We decided to name her Ellie shortly after she was born. Sheri had her middle name picked out for a while. It's Byrd, which is a family surname on Sheri's side of a great great grandma or something. So Ellie Byrd Pulley is her full name.

She was born yesterday, 5/2/2013 at 5:36 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and is 21 1/4 inches tall. Both Sheri and Ellie are doing great and she's totally the best baby girl ever.

And of course, here are some pictures:

When It Rains

I was thinking about the past year or so today after getting like 5 medical related bills and such in the mail.  And holy crow has it been a silly year for us.  I think the saying goes, "when it rains, it pours".  Between June 2011 and June 2012 we had the following medical fun to pay for.

- The birth of James and everything that goes with that (hospital, doctor, anesthesia, circumcision, etc.).

- I had my Gallbladder removed.  Was supposed to be outpatient, I stayed the night and had an Endoscopy the next day.

- Jameson had to get surgery for his toenails.  While not major, still painful and kind of expensive.  Also, they took forever to heal because of the next thing...

- Jameson got on Accutane and went to the dermo A LOT.

- James had his surgery to make him a 'real boy'

And I'm so glad that year is over.  Sometimes I'm amazed at how the Lord is blessing us.  We're having plenty of trials, but plenty of blessings too.  We had some financial assistance from the hospitals, which helped some.  All of us or now in proper working order, which is fabulous.  And we were blessed to have enough to pay for it, which really is a miracle.  But we should have it all paid off by the end of year.  And now I just pray that we are done with this for a long while, cause my savings account could use some lovin'.

James 1st Visit to the Zoo!

Last week Jamo's sister came into to town with her boyfriend Oscar.  So on Saturday we went with them and Mike and Tracy's family to the St. Louis Zoo.  And did you know, that if if you go the first hour the zoo is open that you can get into things for free.  I mean, it's free to get into the zoo, which is awesome, but some of the attractions cost moneys.  So for the first hour you can do the children's petting zoo, Caribbean Cove (stingrays and sharks), and the carousal for free.

So before the summer ended, I wanted to go see the Stingrays.  I didn't get a chance the last couple of years and I've wanted to since they brought the stingrays.  It's pretty cool, they have this little shallow water area the stingrays swim around in circles and you can put your hand it and touch the tops of them.  Although I think the guy next to us must have been grabbing their tails or something cause they hated that dude and would splash like mad.  James and I got pretty wet.  They also have sharks swimming around, you can't touch those though.  And when your done you come out smelling all fishy and covered in salt water.  It's pretty much fantastic.  Also, James loved splashing in the water and trying to attack the stingrays.

The Zoo also has this new sealion exibit.  We've had Sea Lions for years, but they got an upgrade and it's pretty much awesome.  They're exibit is larger and you can now walk through it, in an under water tunnel to watch the seals go by.  It was super awesome!  Of course, since it's new, we had to wait like half an hour to walk through the tunnel, but it was so worth it.  Also, it was cool under and this weather has been so stinkin' hot this summer.  James thought it was cool anyway.

 

So I do believe that our first Zoo adventure with James was a success.  Next time we go, he's going to see the penguins.  I love that exhibit.  And maybe if he's not a wienie about animals we'll take him to the petting zoo.

James' 1st Birthday

My boy turned 1 a month ago.  So I figure I should post some of those photos from the festivities.  It was fun times with family.  And James of course, is spoiled, and we love him.

Birthday breakfast... Banana Pancakes!

Birthday presents he opened on his actual birthday.

We got little cupcakes for his birthday, since would be having a big cake at the party with friends and family.  This is the red velvet cupcake, we also had mini smores cupcakes.

James Sock Monkey cakes.  Sandy did a super awesome job!

The boys hanging out at the party.

Food.  We had a grilled cheese buffet.  And I loved it.

Hanging out at the party.

Some of his many sock monkeys.

He wore is long enought to take this photo.

Me making my grilled cheese.  I think mac n cheese and sloppy joe was involved in this one.

Sandy eating soup, yum.

Balloon fight, as usual.

Unwrapping presesnts!

More presents.  That's a swim diaper, ps.

Cake time.

Eating of his cake.  It was funny to watch.  He's was such a dainty boy.  Probably one of the only time when food is involved.

So Happy Birthday to my dearest not so baby James!

My Life Will Be Here Now

Some days you just have to close your Facebook account.  I'm over it for now.

So any and all life events, photos, and general us-ness will be found here.

Also feel free to txt or call.


Cute baby photo now? Ok.

 

Every time I pull out the camera he tries to eat it.

I can't even describe how cute he is when he's sad.

TT Day 2

Day 2: Bike 5 Miles

I think that biking is going to be my favorite event.  I haven't tried the swimming yet, that comes tomorrow, but this biking thing I can do.  There was a point around mile two that I kind of wanted to die, but by mile 4 I felt really good.  I'm glad this program that I'm doing isn't making me run everyday.  So today went a lot better than yesterday I think.  And all my muscles are properly sore.  I think I'm going to need to stretch a lot more, and find some good stretches for muscles I didn't even know existed.  I'm also thankful that this thing is easing me into it.  I tend to way overdo things on my own, and so it's nice to set a limit to it.  Of course, in a few weeks when I'm biking 15 miles and running for an hour I might feel different.  But for now, totally good.

As far as life goes?  I'm in one of those phases where I want to buy a house, SO bad.  Silly thing is we just signed a year lease for this place.  So we're stuck here for another year.  It's probably a good thing, but totally annoying.  It would probably be good to pay off the car first or something.  Or when Jamo gets that promotion at work.  Sigh.  Patience.  And stuff.

Also, I hate grocery shopping.

Triathlon Training (TT) Day 1

Day 1 - Run 15 minutes

So I waited another week to start.  Something about my son having surgery and recovering.  But he's doing good.  He also was teething the past few days, which added to the fun around this place.  But today, it was time.  And so I went to a local park here that has a loop that is 1 mile around.   I made it around precisely once.  And wanted to die.  And that was with walking the last half maybe?  I will add in my defense, that there are some huge hills in that park.  Also, I had already walked the loop once with Jill this morning.  Then I came home, died up three flights of stairs, and stretched.  And now I can't walk.

Consensus of the day: I'm SO out of shape.

And for those of you here to look at my cute baby, here you go...