Four Flemings

Thanksgiving/Christmas

2012-01-13T13:11:00.000-08:00

It is very clear now how little time I have to do things on my to do list now that we have two little guys around. I have been meaning to write a blog with updated pictures since...well Thanksgiving! Even this one has taken me two days to get to.

Duke is now 9 months old and is the happiest little man. He is always smiling and giggling. He has started crawling and is into everything. All things and areas that you don't want him in he is drawn too. He is pulling himself up on furniture and in his crib which is great except when he is a little unstable and bites it. Mike or I have to keep an eye on him constantly. Perfect example is Mike was on a biz trip, I was home with two solo. Duke had pulled himself up holding on to his little activity block. While sitting right next to him, I took my eyes off him to help Bishop take off his shoes and Duke toppled over hitting his cheek on the corner. The longer version of this story is 15 minutes later Duke started vomiting which immediately triggered...CONCUSSION! Being home alone and not having Mike talk me off the ledge, I scooped up both kids and jammed to urgent care. On the way, with Duke crying in the back seat, Bishop starts to cough and then proceeds to puke all over himself. I am hauling ass down the freeway with two kids covered in vomit crying! I stumble into Urgent Care on the verge of tears myself and simply blurt out, "my husband is on a biz trip, I am by myself...help!." Cut to the summary of the story. Duke was fine, no concussion although I had to check on him every hour while he was sleeping to make sure he was responsive. Bishop had caught a 12 hour bug. Uncle Timmy and Grandma Jeri were my saviors coming over to help especially when I started to vomit at 2am. Needless to say, Daddy got a text at 2am pleading for him to be on the first flight home in the morning. By the next afternoon, all was better.

Crawling everywhere - and super fast!

Bishop and Duke are total buddies. Don't get me wrong, I am already hearing, "no Baby Duke that is mine" or "no Baby Duke I am playing with that." But it is always precious when Bishop says, "I want Baby Duke to play with me." Or, when we drop Duke off at daycare in the infant room and Bishop says goodby and gives him a kiss. Last night I told Bishop Duke was going to bed he said, I am missing him already." Too cute.

Bishop feeds Duke a Cheerio

Duke comforting Bishop (actually pulling his hair) as Bishop is laying on the ground having a tantrum

For the holidays we didn't venture onto any airplanes to visit family. Who chooses to do that with two kids? We stayed home for Thanksgiving but the day after heading out to Palm Springs to feel at least like we had a little vacation. Even just driving a few hours away it was amazing how much we had to pack for these guys. We had beautiful weather which allowed Bishop to ride his bike around the resort, jump in the pool multiple times and catch a few games of tennis. His form is a little impressive. May need to look into actual lessons to perfect his technique.

Now onto Christmas. These picture may be a tad out of sequence. Christmas was fun this year because Bishop is starting to get and enjoy it. We had an Elf on the Shelf and Bishop enjoyed looking where he "landed" every morning. It was sort of sad when Mike and I put him away and Bishop asked where he was we explained that he went back to the North Pole to be with Santa until next Christmas.I thought Bishop was going to start to cry. He said, "no I want him to stay here." Then asked if he could come back for his birthday. So I think this weekend we actually might write him a letter to tell him Bishop misses him.

The boys xmas morning in the xmas pjs.

Duke in a different pair of xmas pjs (actualy Bishop's from when Bishop was 11 months) because he got a little "wet" in his first pair

In front of the LMU xmas tree

Xmas morning, somehow Bishop ended up in Mommy and Daddy's bed at some point during the night.

On xmas eve Bishop got to open up one gift from Mommy...one of his favorite books they read at school all the time. The title "Trashy Town" gives adults a different idea of what the book is about. However get your mind out of the gutter, Mr. Gilly goes around town and picks up the dumpsters.

Xmas morning Daddy is reading another new book "Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site" an immediate new favorite

While on Christmas break we did what everyone else does that time of year....go to the beach, right? The weather in Los Angeles seemed so far from the what you expect for the Christmas season but we won't complain.

Now as we are into January we have Bishop's 3rd birthday to look forward to at the end of the month. The amount of drool coming from Duke's mouth would indicate we can expect to see a tooth or two coming soon. By this age Bishop already had 2-3 so I have been expecting teeth for probably about 3 months now but nothing yet.

Busy Busy

2011-11-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

I just realized I haven't done a blog since AUGUST! Talk about busy! During that time we have been trying to perfect our ability to juggle two kids (still a work in progress), complete a kitchen remodel along with all sorts of other life transitions. Not sure whos bright idea it was to do a kitchen remodel but I can tell you; no kitchen for 5 weeks with two children right after going back to work, trying to remember how to juggle a job and motherhood, and trying to conquer the dual daycare drop-off/pick-up was probably not the best. Again, lots of transitions.

Some transitions have been: getting Duke to sleep in his bed and out of our room, sleep training him so Mama can get some sleep now that I am back at work and don't have the luxury of napping after a bad night of sleep, starting Duke on solids and getting Bishop into his toddler bed. Duke also starting rolling around and is working on his army crawl so he is becoming quite mobile.

Not all have been successful yet. Duke is finally going to sleep like a champ in his bed and sleeping through the night with an occasional wake up for a feeding. A large improvement from waking up every 2-3 hours while laying right next to me because he refused to sleep in his portable crib in our room. Duke is also sucking up the food. He will scarf his cereal and demand more and has been totally into his squash. This weekend it is on to peas.

Bishop's transitions have been a bit more difficult. Ahhh, a strong-willed child. We converted his bed to a toddler bed. Make a long story short, he has been sleeping in our room on a toddler cot for the last week in a half and my nights that were previously sucked up by having to bounce and rock Duke to sleep are now spent negotiating and continually walking Bishop back to his cot. We had to move him out of their room because he would protest going to bed and ended up waking Duke up multiples times during the chaos. I am happy to say last night we had a somewhat successful night on the cot without too much getting up. We plan to transition him back to his bed hopefully next week as soon as his Disney Cars sheets I ordered arrive. Damn I should have had those things overnighted! He has no idea they are coming but I am hoping they spark some excitement to get back into his room and bed....QUIETLY!

Halloween. I am not a huge Halloween fan. I don't like scary movies and scary things but now I don't like it even more because it is so damn difficult to get decent pictures at the pumpkin patch and of the boys in their costumes. Bishop didn't want to get into his costume until we finally got some kids at the door so the only option was a few crappy night time photos in the dark. At the pumpkin patch there was too much going on and too many distractions to get Bishop to sit still or even look at the camera.

I happy to say the boys still have a very cute relationship. Bishop is very considerate with his little brother and Duke is enamored with his big brother. But, I can see what my future is going to quickly become with two boys and the potty humor (3 if you included Daddy in this). Farts are a hot topic right now and Bishop can often get Duke laughing...at anything.

And of course Bishop still loves music and to dance. His dance moves consist of a lot of jumping with mixed with some actual dancing. Still pretty funny.

I still can't remember to hold the camera the right way.
That is all for now. I am sure there is so much more I can share. Again, always lots going on.

2011-08-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

4 months
14lbs 8oz

Lots has been going on over the last 3 weeks so I have included some pictures...of course! What is the point of a blog with no pictures. Duke and Bishop both had check ups with their doctor. Duke had his 4 month check up appointment. I have only listed his weight because his height numbers were inconsistent. At his 2 month appointment he was in a giant in the 92% percentile now all of a sudden according to his numbers he has stopped growing. 54%, what?? Numbers are clearly off. We will see what happens at his 6 month appointment.

Duke has a lot of growing happening. He is close to rolling over but just can't quite make it over. Poor guy. He is drooling like a fountain so we are convinced teeth could be coming soon and he seems to have hit what they call the 4 month sleep regression. All of those things = a little less sleep for me. And wouldn't you know all that developmental stuff and lack of sleep for me coincided with me going back to work. FUN!

The Brothers are total buddies. Duke loves to watch Bishop and Bishop has a great time making Duke laugh. It is heart warming. Here is a little video of Duke's precious giggles. Clearly I can't remember to flip the camera the correct way. Sorry for the lean video!

Cool Guy
2 1/2 years
28lbs 4oz (32%)
38 inches (88%)

Bishop's numbers clearly he is still the skinny, tall guy that he has been at every appointment since birth. I don't know where he puts all the food he eats!

Water play at the park. Not sure why he enjoys water in his face this way but not during a bath.

Watch Bishop get some good contact on the T-ball.

ALSO within the last 3 weeks, we set up Duke's bed, with help from Uncle Timmy. Of course now that the bed is up I couldn't bear to put him in there and move him out of our room. I know I shouldn't project my issues on my child but I figure we will take baby steps and start with the naps for a few days.

Duke's bed in case the name over the bed didn't give it away.

Bishop's bed.

We haven't moved Bishop into a big boy bed. He isn't climbing out on his own yet so I figure I will milk the crib as long as we can. He doesn't seem to mind.

That's all for now. Until next time.

Three Months & the 4th of July

2011-07-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

The months are flying by and Duke is starting to show a little personality. I think he takes after me, mellow and always happy. Some of you may laugh at that because these days I am not sure I would consider myself "mellow" but I was told by my parents that as a baby I just chilled. They would take me to dinner parties and I would just sit in my car seat and observe. Often they would forget I was there because I wouldn't make a sound. That is Duke. He is the best to go out with. Low maintenance! Give him a full tummy and a clean diaper and he will either sleep or take in the sights with wide-eyes. He is also the happiest little guy ever. He wakes up with a smile every morning which is refreshing sometimes when the rest of the family may wake up on the wrong side of the bed some mornings. He rarely cries unless he is hungry. In the middle of the night when he wakes up and wants to eat his only alarm to me is to suck his hand so hard and loud that I wake up. He is too adorable I could just eat him up. Sometimes I do, literally! I will changes his diaper and then nibble on his neck to which his response is to give me the biggest smile (and sometimes a giggle) and turn his head bashfully.

13lbs, 3oz

4th of July weekend was a packed weekend of parks and play. The weather was sunny and hot (as was the house) so we did a lot outdoors. The latest favorite is taking a little dip at the LMU pool. Mommy and Duke haven't jumped in yet. Mommy won't put on a bathing suit but is using the excuse that Duke is too little for the pool. So for now it is just Daddy and Bishop fun time with Mommy and Duke on the side.

On the 4th of July we had Bishop's buddy from school, Lyla, and her family over for some pool fun and a BBQ. Lyla and Bishop enjoyed LOTS of watermelon and pool time. The two play so pleasantly together that we all just sat back and smile from ear to ear at how considerate and funny they are with each other.

This week we are gearing up for a visit from Papa Robertson. He will get to feast his eyes on Duke in person for the first time. Lots in store for the long weekend with him. Daddy is out of town so Papa will help provide an extra set of hands while we head to the Aquarium, hit the park for our sports class and make pizzas. He is in for a treat and I am sure will zonk out at night once we are done with him!

Month 2 & the Climber

2011-06-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

We have entered month 2 with Baby Duke in our lives. I have told Mike we need to stop calling him "Baby" Duke so we don't give him a complex but it is such a habit already that is hard to break. Duke is a delight! He sleeps like a champ at night. First stretch is typically 6 hours (8:30ish -2:30ish) then up for a quick snack and back down for 2-3 hours more. During the day I am trying to get out of the habit of letting him nap on me since when he goes to daycare he won't have that luxury but it is so damn hard not to let the little guy snuggle in. Last week he had his 2-month doctors appointment (see stats below) and got his first round of vaccines (a modified schedule of course)t. He has started to smile, although catching that moment on camera is pretty challenging but I am trying. We are starting to here a few "coo" sounds but I think over the next month is going to bring on some big developmental jumps. He no longer looks like the itsy bitsy newborn.

2 Month Stats:
11.13 lbs (50%)
24.5 in (92%)

I had to put this pictures on because it is creepy how much it looks like one of my baby pictures. I know exactly which picture I am thinking about but I believe it is in a storage bin I made Mike put in the attic (which weighed a gazillion pounds) and he might cringe if I ask him to get it down so I can rummage through it for a baby pictures.

Bishop likes to help me change Duke's diaper in the morning. Really the help is just to hand me a wipe or lay down and say "HI Baby Duuuuke". You will notice at the bottom of this pictures my hand on Bishop's arm preventing an arm spasm or a quick back hand to Duke's noggin.

Bishop is becoming quite the climber to my chagrin. We were at a birthday party held at an indoor play gym and Bishop was on anything he could scale. He would climb anything and then swan dive off. This is the one time I wish I had girls. I love my boys but the rough and tumble I would swap for an intimate tea party or playing with dolls. He is getting braver and braver and the heights of what he will climb and jump off are getting higher and higher. YIKES!

At the birthday party I turned my back for a second only to turn back around and find him halfway up the wall. He did reach the top and worked his way back down. I was torn whether to take a picture or run over and put my arms up to help him from falling. I am desperately trying to not become a helicopter parent that hovers over him every minute at the playground but instead let him learn and tests his skills the hard way. You will notice I didn't take the time to accurately focus the camera. I quickly got it documented and then quickly ran over to his side in case he lost his grasp. I am still a work in progress.

Bishop (or rather Mike) has been getting his little play house all set up. Inside there are 2 little chairs to sit on and now just in time for the 4th of July Bishop has a little picnic table with umbrella.

Lastly, Bishop's has been saying the funniest and sometimes sweetest things. So many things, I want to start writing them down so I can quote him. Here are the latest two that are fresh in my head. Bishop, probably like most men, has discovered Home Depot. When you ask him what they sell at Home Depot he says, "BBQs, weed whackers, leaf blowers, and lawn mowers. So one day as we talked about how he and Mike would make a trip to Home Depot he says, "I love it...I love Home Depot.

This morning we had a morning treat and stopped at Jamba Juice on the way to school. When we pulled up he said with enthusiasm., "Jamba Juice!!! Oh, I am sooo happy." The kid cracks me up.

Bishop - LAFD/Duke's Stats

2011-05-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

Check out some photos from the LAFD Open House we went to. Bishop enjoyed checking out the fire trucks - what 2+ year old wouldn't.

I know I showed a 1-month picture of Duke in a different post but we hadn't been to the doctor yet to get his updated measurements. So here is a mini redo with complete info.

Weight: 10lbs 2ozs (53%)
Height: 22.5 inches (79%)
He still looks so tiny but is definitely growing! I am pretty sure he is going through his 6-week growth spurt as I type. When I looked back at Bishop's stats at 1-Month, Duke is already 2 lbs heavier and almost 2 inches taller. Bishop better watch out for his little brother!

Videos Galore

2011-05-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos from the last few weeks, all of Bishop because, well...Duke isn't doing much yet. But he will and I will be sure to capture it on video and share.

Here Bishop is singing his ABCs almost to the end but he gets a little impatient because he knows I am recording him and wants to approve it. It is amazing how much he is learning and growing every day.

A little soccer practice.

And I saved the best video for last. Mike finally found his audience!

**sorry for the crunched up screen. Forgot to turn the camera the right way. Not sure how to correct it post shot.

2011-05-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

I had planned to do a "Catch-up" part two blog but things got very crazy for a few weeks - Duke was in the hospital for two days, Bishop got a stomach virus, all while Mike was gearing up for an extremely busy work week out of town for Cinco de Mayo. Thank goodness Grandma Kelly swooped in to the rescue with some extra hands and to keep me sane. To get caught up, below are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

Duke @ 2 weeks old - photos by Lori Fusaro - www.fusarophotography.com

Duke - 1 month

Bishop - Easter

Bishop's new house from Grandma Jeri

A Game Of Catch-Up - Part 1

2011-04-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

I have obviously been a tad behind on my blog postings. Guess you could say I have been a little busy. So lets do a little catch-up. What can I say, call me bias but I have the best children ever! Bishop is being an amazing big brother. He is gentle with Duke, likes to show Duke the ropes and at the end of the day when he is doing the goodnight rounds before bed "Baby Duke" gets his goodnight kiss as well. Bishop will be playing when we here, "Baby Brother, watch." Today Duke sneezed and Bishop said, "Bless you Baby Duke." Precious things like that can be heard all day.

Bishop has been adjusting so well to our additional family member we decided to give him his Easter gift early, a barbeque. He has been grilling every since.

Grandma Fleming was here lending a pair of extra hands from the day we brought Duke home from the hospital, and boy was it helpful! She left last Sunday and I can tell you we feel her absence in more ways than one! Last week was week 1 of it just being Mike and I. Damn, the man on man defense is tough with a 27 month old and a 2 week old. I am praying we get the hang of it soon or else it is going to be a long, rough road for us.

Duke has been eating like a champ and after dropping some weight before leaving the hospital (he went from 8.5 down to 7.13) he is back up to his birth weight and then some. He started off sleeping like a pro with a few nights even pulling a block of 4.5-5 hours. Between that chunk of sleep plus my afternoon cat naps I as feeling pretty rested. Now he has settled into getting up every 3 hours and I must admit I am feeling the difference. I am hopeful he will bounce back and throw me a little bit more sleep otherwise I am going to start looking more haggard than I already do.

The weather over the last few weeks has been wonderful so we have been playing out in the backyard daily. Duke has been chilling under the covered patio while Bishop has been having some water play in between his basketball games. As you can see, Daddy can get a little carried away with the sunblock but better to be safe than sorry.

Clearly a photo showing how draining the sun and water play can be.

We decided to change up our usual Friday pizza night and instead of ordering in Bishop rolled up his sleeves and made some very gourmet pizzas. Unfortunately that night Bishop was the chef who snacks while he is cooking and when all the food is ready doesn't want to actually eat it. He chowed down on handfuls of cheese and black olives. What a well balanced meal.

You will notice there aren't many picture of Duke solo on this post. Really, in most of the pictures he is doing the same thing - sleeping in the bouncy seat, sleeping in the bassinet, sleeping while laying on Mommy or Daddy's chest. But stay tuned - pictures of Duke will be coming soon in A Game Of Catch-Up - Part 2!

It's Official - Baby Fleming #2 is Here!

2011-04-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

Baby Fleming #2 is here.

A little blurry. Was using my iPhone instead of my nice camera which was sitting in my bag.

Duke Ryan Fleming came quickly into our lives on Thursday, April 7th at 11:42am in a rapid pace delivery of just over 6 hours. 8lbs 5ozs and 20.5 inches. Thank goodness I can say regardless of the quick delivery I did have enough time to call in my favorite drug dealer and get an epidural. Funny enough it was the same anesthesiologist that hooked me up with when Bishop was born .

Here is roughly how it all went down. Saw my doctor on Wednesday for my weekly appointment. To both of our amazement I was already dilated 4-5cm. Thursday morning at 5am started to have mild contractions. I think Bishop had a six-sense because he woke up super very early and wanted me to just hold him and rock in the chair. He must have sensed he needed to get some QT with mom. Jammed off to the hospital and arrived at 6:30am. By 9:30ish was dilated to 6-7cm but contractions stopped being rhythmic so had to get up and start pacing the hospital hallways to see if that helped. After an hour of doing laps around the hospital floor, checking out some of the new artwork and saying hello to the postpartum nurses telling them to get ready for me, I had to hit the pitocin to help with pacing the contractions. Oh yeah, and the epidural! Side note...I know it is preference by why on god's earth would anyone want to miss out on an epidural. It is pure heaven-sent. Euphoric!!! The pitocin quickly had contractions lining up at every 3 minutes. Epidural was flowing nicely, and I was 70% effaced. The nurse predicted that the way things were moving along the baby would be here by 1pm. Perfect, I wanted Mike to be able to pick up Bishop from daycare! I told the nurse, "if we can do this by 12-1 that would be fine by me because I would love to have some lunch. I am starving!!" She laughed and said, "finally a woman that likes to eat. Let me bring you the lunch menu for today so we can get an order squeezed in for you." By 11am I was almost 10cm but my water hadn't broke. I called the nurse to tell her I was feeling a lot of pressure and she so she went to call my doctor. The nurse quickly came in and said - "don't push, your doctor will be here in 10 mins!"

A little of this, a little of that and per my request little Baby Duke joined us in time for mommy to have some lunch and for Mike to pick up his big brother, Bishop.

Mike had picked up some cupcakes and told Bishop we were going to Baby Duke's birthday party. When Bishop came in he said, "where is the party?" He checked out Duke but was quickly distracted by the present Duke had gotten for his big brother. A leaf blower like the one the gardner has. After that it was about his piece of cake and his new gift.

Baby Duke is the greatest! I have more to share but motherly duties are calling me away from the computer. More to come...

Birthdays and T-Ball

2011-03-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

Ever since Bishop's birthday he has been in birthday mode. There are constant birthday celebrations at his school and everyday when we walk in and see a birthday celebration noted on the "Daily Notes" board he says, "Mommy, birthday....Bishop...cake". Yes, you will get some cake today. He eats cake the way I did when I was little, or probably like most children, finger scoops of frosting and then deposits the cake in the trash. Now that I am older I am the opposite - all cake, with just a tad of frosting. Bishop and I make the perfect cake eating team. Frosting to Bishop - Cake to Mommy. He also loves to sing the Happy Birthday song. Sometimes he will even sing it to himself as he is nodding off to sleep at night. Here is a video of Bishop singing. He sat having some independent play time and seriously sang happy birthday over and over for 5 minutes. Enough that I watched him, realized the camera moment and was still able to catch some footage of it before he moved on.

In February Bishop's Grandpa Fleming was out for a visit and arrived with a T-Ball set under his arm. Here are a few pictures of some male bonding time over a little T-Ball set-up and instruction.

The Instruction

CONTACT!

Next, he is calling his shot. Going deep to right field.

Baby #2 update. I have been having weekly appointments with my OB along with Non Stress Tests at the hospital to make sure I wasn't having any pre-term labor contractions. Um, I don't think I need a test to tell me if I was having a contraction or not. Don't you think I would know that? Anyhow, nothing happening. Bishop was born when I was 35 1/2 weeks. On Friday I will be 36 weeks so safe to say he won't be earlier than Bishop, which was an initial fear. Today's appointment showed that #2 is currently 6 lbs 11 ozs. When Bishop was born at 35 1/2 weeks he weighed in at 7 lbs 6 ozs. So, while #2 is currently in the 78% for size, Bishop was bigger so maybe that was why he wanted to come early. My OB says this one might just want a little more time "to bake". It is still any one's guess when the big arrival will happen but for now we are preparing for anytime. We have all the clothes out of the attic and almost all washed. I am currently trying to organize everything and get it into it's proper place which is difficult in a house that is already consumed by Bishop's stuff. Our house was already filled but now it is simply going to be overflowing. So much for the nice Pottery Barn picturesque living room. It is now just straight kid zone romper room. What can you do. No sense looking at the Restoration Hardware catalog. It is tough to make a large train table look chic.

Year 2 Recap

2011-02-22T20:22:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

A Big 2 Year Old Boy!

2011-02-10T22:04:00.000-08:00

How time flies! Bishop is 2! Big Boy! 2-year check-up stats. Bishop is in good health - tall and skinny. 26.5 lbs, (28%), 35.5 inches (78%). His head circumference is....well I think I have said this before but let's just say I can fit into kids baseball hats so apparently he may have gotten my genes when it comes to head circumference. But, he is proportional! Even though he is on the skinny side he has been consistently skinny so his doctor is not concerned. We will keep him drinking whole milk since he can use the extra fat. mmm, yummy. On to the birthday celebrations.

We went to Bishop's school to have lunch, cupcakes and to read a book during circle time. Bishop loves to help out. Here is a video of him passing out the cupcakes to the different lunch tables. I love how he is so proud and comes running back for the next round of cupcakes to deliver. He is good at sharing. I had to eat a cupcake on the drive to school. I just couldn't wait!

Unfortunately I don't have many pictures because I got wrapped up in the festivities. I didn't make the same mistake with his actual birthday party. I had my friend Lori come and take pictures so I didn't miss a thing. We had a train-themed party with a few of his friends over for some afternoon fun and cupcakes! Funny how your "small party" all of a sudden turns into almost 40 people.

Those are just a few highlights. If you would like to see all the birthday pics here is a link to check out.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=M.LissaR&target=ALBUM&id=5570808812562301377&authkey=Gv1sRgCK-I34nU--zo6wE&invite=CIys36gE&feat=email

I realized Bishop had a whole blog dedicated to him before he was born and this blog has solely been about him as well. Meanwhile, Baby #2 hasn't had much representation so I figured I would do a quick update.

30 weeks and ticking. Dr. appt this week and all looks good. I go back in 2 weeks when things start to get serious. My doctor said she is going to start monitoring me closely. Bishop was 3.5 weeks early and the likelihood #2 will be early is high. Bishop being early was a surprise but this time with monitoring we will hopefully have a heads up if we are looking at an early arrival. I like to have things planned out so this whole early thing is not working with my calendar. Right now I am chanting "April 11, April 11" because that seems like a good day - a tad early, but not too early, not late, and not on my birthday. It is likely she is going to put me on limited activity at the next appt so I will have to keep it cool. She said I would have to scale back my exercise to which Mike and I both laughed! Exercise? What is that? I will need to start using the elevators at work instead of the stairs (which is the only exercise I am doing these days) and limit how much I lift up Bishop, which will be difficult. He is constantly saying, "Mommy - uppe" which is a combo word of "up" and "please". But, you have to do what you have to do.

I can't be any early then the end of March! I have work commitments I need to see through and I would like to have a few days of alone time that I didn't get before Bishop was born to get organized around the house. I have scheduled weekly acupuncture appts with my man Dr. Dao so hopefully he can put a few needles around to slow down the clock. April 11th, April 11th, April 11th PLEASE!

Noah's Ark

2011-01-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

The Skirball Center has a fantastic exhibit called Noah's Ark that is perfect for Bishop's age. They built a floor to ceiling wooden ark that you can play, imagine, build and completely explore. These pictures really don't do the place justice. Bishop's favorite part is putting the animals on the "escalator" and helping them get into the ark.

Bishop is cranking the wheel to help move the giraffe up.

The giraffe made it onto the ark.

Looking inside the ark. They even have little brooms and mops so you can clean up the animal poop. Yup, when you have that many animals in a boat you are going to find poop places for sure. They actually put out fake rubber poop on the floor. I will get a picture of that next time we go!

Bishop moved into the "kitchen" area for some pretend cooking. He is quite the chef.

Bishop saying hello to the alligator on the ark

That is all for this blog. Gearing up for this Saturday's birthday party. Choo Choo Bishop is 2! In case you didn't catch it, it is a train-themed party. Stay tuned.

What a Christmas!

2010-12-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

Last year Bishop was just a tad under one and didn't really get the whole Christmas thing. (Bishop @ 11 months).

What a difference a year makes, and a little bit more hair.

This year being almost two he is starting to get the hang of it. By next year I have a feeling he will be in full swing with the holidays spirit.

On Christmas Eve Bishop's cousin Madeleine arrived in town with Uncle Brennan and Aunt Amanda. Madeleine will be 3 in April and Bishop will be 2 in January. Bishop and Madeleine had quite the time together; Chasing each other around, playing together and playing duets on the piano. I have a fun video of them playing the piano (see below) but I accidently shot it sideways. Such an amateur! Feel free to kink your neck if you so desire.

On Christmas morning Madeleine arrived in her pretty christmas dress.

Bishop lounged in his Christmas pajamas most of the morning.

Unfortunately I didn't get many picture during the chaos of opening presents.

For Christmas dinner we went to Grandma's and were immediately surprised to walking in a see Bishop's first present right away from his friend Vicki!

Bishop gets ready for the Kentucky Derby.

After horse time we sat down to enjoy a nice Christmas dinner.

With a full tummy it was back to opening presents.

Whoa!

All in all it was a great christmas with fun family time and new presents to play with! Next year I think Bishop will be even more into it! Yikes!

Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we headed up to the great Pacific Northwest for some nice family time and good old Washington rain. Instead, we were met with a nice dump of snow. Definitely made it feel like the holiday season being in a winter wonderland. Bishop called it "rain".

The family time included meeting Bishop's first cousin from my side of the family, 2 month old Jemma. Even after we got back to Los Angeles he kept asking, "where's baby?" He has been getting more and more into babies (thank goodness) and now repetitively wants to watch a Yo Gabba Gabba episode called "Baby" where you meet Baby Go-Go, Mono's brother. When I ask him if he would like to have a baby come live with us he says, "yes". I am sure one day that will change once the new baby gets settled in but for now I think it may be time to start talking to him about the baby that is coming TO STAY.

"Pops" sent Bishop a DVD about all things great about trucks; trash truck, fire trucks and trucks in general Bishop has been obsessed with the DVD since receiving it. Here they are watching it together. This DVD is a lifesaver on an airplane! Mike and I have seen it so many times we are about to burn it and cringe when Bishop requests to watch it.

We returned from Washington with rain boots! It has been hard to find rain boots in LA but in Washington there they were front and center and ON SALE! Of course we had to go with the fireman look-a-like rain boots. We haven't needed to wear them outside yet so Bishop has been sporting them around the house.

Here Bishop quietly flips through the Toys R' Us ad which started his xmas list. There was a trash truck among the pages that he constantly flipped back to.

We took a quick trip out to Las Vegas to see the Fleming Family since we will be sticking around LA for the Christmas. Bishop was welcomed by a HUGE fire truck upon arriving at Grandma Kelly's!

While in Las Vegas we explored a park. This park was an instant hit when we pulled into the parking lot and there was a trash truck! Bishop learned to say the word "stinky" when we walked towards the back of the truck.

Another huge hit at the park was the train.

Bishop's new thing to say when he sees a "man-a-mal", (aka motorcycle) is "LOUD" and puts his hand up to his ear.

Lots of exciting things coming up over the next few weeks. Next week we have the Festival of Lights night at Bishop's daycare. We are going to explore Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo. Great -Grandma Craig arrives followed by Grandma Kelly, Uncle Brennan, Aunt Amanda & Cousin Madeleine and...Christmas! It is all going to be quite exciting and I am sure there will be good pictures to share.

November

2010-11-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Bishop ended October not liking Halloween all that much. Yet another costume that will go back into the closet without even a piece of cat hair or dirt mark on it. Hopefully the new baby will like giraffes because that is what he gets to be at 2, oh and a dinosaur at 1. Maybe next year will be the year Bishop gets into it but I guess I should be thankful we don't have to deal with the whole candy overload.

We kicked off November with a visit from Grandma Kelly. Bishop had so much fun with her! We all went to the aquarium (after a rough night of sleep from 2nd year molars rearing their pearly whites). Bishop had fun petting the starfish and sharks. I wasn't brave enough to put my hand in a pool of sharks but he doesn't know any better.

More from the aquarium

Bishop also liked to show Grandma how he used his lawn mower around the yard. He is very domestic too. Inside he uses his pretend vaccum and goes around the house making vaccum sounds. He must realize there is lots of cat hair to always get.

After we dropped Grandma off at the airport we went for some time at the beach, one of Bishop's new favorite places. It was a tad chilly that day but had a beautiful sunset.

We have found a new park that has a firetruck that Bishop loves to play on and drive. There is a whole play structure but he focuses much of his time on the firetruck.

Well, this was a quick blog because there is so much to do. Monday we leave for Washington to visit Grandpa "Dub" and the rest of the Robertson and Craig family. My "to pack" list seems to be a bit out of control but with a toddler on a plane for 2+ hours I seem to want to bring everything but the kitchen sink. Yikes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween, Olives & Trash Trucks

2010-10-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

So much to catch up on. Most likely you have read the latest blog and saw the good news that Bishop is going to get a little sibling to beat up on...I mean show the ropes to. I realized there is lots to catch up on from the month of October back through the end of September. Let me start with the most resent since that is fresh in my memory.

Halloween! Mike hates halloween and scary things and while I am not a huge fan mainly because I hate dressing up (especially since I can't get away with wearing the sexy nurse or sexy police lady costumes) I do like to decorate, carve pumpkins and hand out candy. Who am I kidding, I probably eat more candy than I hand out on Halloween. This weekend we went to a pumpkin patch that was just down the street which was a pleasant experience compared to last year. Last year we trekked up to West Hollywood to the pumpkin patch where all the celebrities and paparazzi go. I didn't see one celebrity, got a $65 parking ticket, all while it was 90 degrees outside and we were sweating. Not much of a fun fall-like feeling. This year...free parking, a train we could ride on, nice chilly weather and more reasonably priced pumpkins.

After roaming around for a bit we checked out with our pumpkins and away we went. We will probably carve pumpkins sometime next week so we will see how Bishop likes to get his fingers gooey. (Some of these are Uncle Timmy an Gianna's pumpkins. We didn't buy 8 pumpkins for ourselves.)

We also got our decorations up with Bishop's help.

So the pumpkins are purchased and the decorations are up. Now if we could just get Bishop into his costume and get a decent picture. He has wanted to put it on a few times but once we put it up over his head he doesn't like it anymore. Hopefully we will get a decent picture of the giraffe in our house.

Moving on to other topics. Bishop has mastered the art of eating a black olive off of his finger. Is there any other way to eat an olive? Much like his Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Timmy, he would easily polish off an entire can of olives if we would let him.

Grandpa Walt sent Bishop a dvd all about garbage trucks (aka "trash trucks") and fire trucks. HE LOVES IT. We are definitely taking the dvd and my laptop on the plane with us when we head up to Washington for Thanksgiving. I think we might just survive the flight with the dvd playing on repeat. He gets mesmerized by it (hence the picture) and now, trash trucks and fire trucks are his obsession. Last week on our drive home from school he was a broken record asking me over and over, "mommy, where's trash truck?" I tried everything from "trash truck is in the garage" to "trash truck is at home sleeping". I even tried to explain the days of the week and that it was Friday and it isn't trash day until Monday. None of my answers satisfied him. The one highlight to a Monday morning now is the sound of the trash truck and thank goodness we saw probably 8 on our drive in this morning.

Well I have lots more but realize I am writing a blog entry not Bishop's biography. I am trying to get a picture/video of him in the music class we started on Saturdays along with a video of how much he is talking. Of course either I don't have my video camera with me when he starts chatting it up or when I grab it he clams up. One of these days.

Three Flemings soon to be Four

2010-10-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

I had plans to do a big blog tonight with lots of updated pictures but forgot my photo card at work. So for now we will just share the biggest update...

Bishop will be a big brother in April, or maybe the end of March. The due date is April 22nd but since Bishop was 3.5 weeks early the probability that this baby will come early is high, possibly even earlier than Bishop. My doctor says she will start closely monitoring me around 30-32 weeks to make sure nothing seems to be kicking into gear. I have been seeing my favorite acupuncturist that I saw my whole pregnancy with Bishop. He definitely helped kick the icky stomach feeling I had for a few weeks and he will be working the needles in all the special places to help out with all the aches and pains along the way.

After today's appointment my doctor thinks she saw what looked like a "3rd leg" on the ultrasound, which we know probably really isn't a "3rd leg". So at this point it would appear that I will have a house full of testosterone. Lord help me! We will get a better look in a few weeks and see if that "3rd leg" still appears.

I will do another blog this next weekend with some more photos showing what Bishop has been up to.

19 months - Big boy and big shoes

2010-09-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

It has been a pretty quiet month hence the reason I haven't been doing any posts. I finally downloaded some of my pictures taken over the last few weeks. August was mellow but September started off with a fun Labor Day weekend along with celebrating Mike's birthday.

To take Bishop's obsession with basketball further than just shooting around he also likes to try on Mike's basketball shoes and try to walk around in them. Really, it isn't just basketball shoes he likes to try on. It is shoes in general.

Two weeks ago we took Bishop to his first carnival. He enjoyed some corn on the cob, some ice cream and a spin on the merry-go-round. We couldn't get him interested in a pony ride or the petting zoo which I have to admit I was sort of happy about. The freak in me always looks at the animals and am convinced I see their pain. Bishop's first trip to the zoo might be sans-Mommy. I just can't do it.

Here he is taking a few spins around. A few...this ride went FOREVER! I cropped the video so you only have to watch 3 rounds but I swear originally it is around 23 times.

Bishop found a pair of mommy's shoes and one of daddy's hats.

Over Labor Day weekend we hit the beach to play in the sand and watch the surfers. It was a bit hazy but a comfortable 65. Bishop points to the water and says "faafa" which is a combo word of water and aqua.

On Monday the sun came out so we hit the mini pool and got our toes wet.

Well, that is all for now. This weekend we have a play date with one of Bishop's friends from school, Lyla. Mike has been quiet on the travel front but that all changes this Sunday when he has two trips with only a few days in between. Boo. Otherwise I am just trying to figure out what Bishop will be for Halloween this year and whether or not he will get into a costume. Last year he was having no part of his dinosaur costume. Adios for now.

Hoop Dreams

2010-08-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

A little behind and lots to share. Bishop is in love with basketball. LOVE! He sees a basketball hoop on the street as we drive by and says "BALLBALL", which is his lingo for basketball. There have been many times I look around and say, "Mommy doesn't see a ballball. Oh wait, you saw that one half way down the block?" This Sunday we had a full day of ballball. After breakfast we went to the park to shoot around a bit then after nap time, we went to the Spark's game. I know you are saying, "the WNBA is the first basketball game you take him to? Is that even real basketball?" You could not have dragged Mike to a WNBA game before this but we figured it would be perfect. NO one would be there. No obnoxious drunk fans yelling at the refs. No out of control ticket prices for nose bleed seats. It was perfect. We went early and got tickets for $16 for 20 rows from the court and watched them shoot around. It turned out to be kids day so there were tons of kids around. They had the Spark's mascot (it is a dog) on the sidelines which Bishop may have been more into then the basketball game. He kept saying, "puppy". An adult size puppy was probably a shock to him. We actually only ended up staying for the first quarter, (yup - that is 15 minutes) because we had to get home for dinner, bath time and bed time. We now look forward to LMU hoops to start up. We will stay longer and it will probably be more exciting. Actually, LMU sort of sucks so maybe not that exciting.
At Playa Vista's basketball court

We hit the swings at Playa Vista for a bit after the basketball courts.

Bishop at the Spark's game.

Besides ballball, Bishop's other favorite past time is dancing. He points to the radio and will say "more, more" as he puts his fingers in the air and turns them clockwise as a gesture for or us to turn it up. He is a big fan of the Black Eyed Peas (the non-explicit versions). His favorite dance move is the 80s Flashdance running in place move. He dances to everything - when Mommy sings, or when any toy makes a noise. A while back we went to Toys R Us and ended up standing the truck aisle for, no joke, 15 minutes while he played with the Super Sport Haul Truck. It had a button you pushed that played this sort of hillbilly country song which he pushed over and over again. I told Mike there was no way we were going to take that thing home so we may as well enjoy it for as long as he wants at the store. Feast your eyes...

Since the World Cup aired, Bishop has enjoyed soccer and is getting pretty good at kicking the ball. So much so that we have to soon restrict kicking the ball to only an outdoor activity.

Switching gears. We had Bishop's 18 month check up a few weeks ago. All was good, he is getting really tall but still is pretty skinny but all in all is progressing very well. Our pediatrician mentioned some people look to start potty training anytime now. However, we really don't need to be concerns with it until he starts showing potty interest, which he only slightly has and I am in no rush. She did suggest we just get a potty seat so he can see it and start to check it out. So feast your eyes on Bishop's potty. I didn't want anything with bells and whistles on it - just plain and simple. My potty doesn't clap and cheer for me when I use it and I am sure it would boo when Mike "uses" it!

That is it for now. Bishop is becoming such a big boy and can look like quite the sophisticated man - sometimes deep in thought.

Transition & the Test

2010-07-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

It is official - we have a toddler. Bishop transitioned our of the baby room into the toddler room at daycare just after the 4th of July. Despite his longing to be with the bigger kids for months, his transition came with a few adjustments. Drop-offs were met with some big tears as I would leave (I would also have tears in the car when I was out of his sight) but now we are two weeks through the transition and Bishop is getting into his grove. He is so active and discovering so many new things that he is pooped and taking some great naps. How long does he look in this picture??? Next week we have our 18-month appointment and I swear he has jumped into the 90 percentile.

Wow, I can't get over how much he is becoming a big boy. Nah, not time for driving yet to his disappointment but it is clear that he watches what we are doing and how we do it. Now that I think about it I do drive with my hands at 4 & 8 on the wheel.

His attention to details is amazing. Maybe Mommy should keep her eyes on the road a bit more and less on changing the channels.

He is all over the place running around the yard. Well, really he is running everywhere. He is in that phase where he runs from point A to B even when a sprint isn't necessary. It is too cute.

Not only is he all over the place, he is exploring and into everything. In case you can't tell what this is, he has crawled into the little basket attached to the stroller. The picture after this would be me yanking on both his legs and he wiggled and squirmed in protest.

Mike and I are into some new parenting territory we haven't had much experience with - the tantrums and discipline. Wowzers! I have pulled out all of my parenting books to read and re-read chapters. They all say he is taking in so much stimuli that sometime he just can't process it so he has meltdowns. The teachers at daycare said he is also testing us. Testing us? Hope it isn't on geometry because I had issues grasping that! All in all, we have one smart cookie on our hands who is apparently expanding his knowledge along with giving us a little test on how much he can get away with. Mike and I are working on the strategy with our game face on and keeping our patience in check.

May the force be with us!

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic 4th of July weekend with lots of activities. Saturday morning Bishop decided after his banana a fresh tomato was the best choice. Nope that isn't an apple, that is a tomato he is sinking his teeth into. Mmmmm, he loves him some tomato.

On Saturday Bishop sported his swim trunks along with his new hat. Only problem is he hasn't committed to just one team yet. Here he is giving representation to both the NY Yankees along with the SF Giants. Not a good call in many fan's eyes. One event I didn't get a video or photo of was Bishop climbing the ladder Mike had out to hang up our flags. Talk about no fear! Maybe Aunt Katie will take him rock climbing soon. He may just be ready for it!

Bishop got a new lawnmower he took for a spin. Ahh, a nice loud toy! It is in the house right now so we might have to restrict it to an outside toy and explain the carpet and hardwood floors inside don't need that kind of maintenance.

On Sunday it was all about the red, white and, blue! Every year our street has a fabulous block party. There is so much for the kids to do; a bike parade, bouncy house, mini swimming pool, games, and a band. Yup, a band! Apparently there was a comedian as well but we called it a day before the comedian came on stage. I snuck into the bouncy house with Bishop even though a sign said adults weren't allowed? WEAK! What company says no adults? I kept a low profile while Bishop enjoyed himself. Great way to tire him out! We might need to get a permanent bouncy in our backyard for that purpose.

There were lots of things just laying around to play with as kids attention quickly got distracted. Bishop picked up this Razor scooter and had to take it for a spin. He also discovered a hula hoop and tried to figure out what it was for.

When all was said and done it was a fantastic block party and Bishop was wiped out. He slept through the neighborhood fireworks that blew up right above our roof, and I am not talking about silly little fountains or sparklers. Theses were borderline stadium-grade fireworks. HUGE and I am sure highly illegal. Who knows where they get them but either way Bishop was O-U-T! Not only was he out that night but he slept in until 8:00am on Monday. Normally he is up sometime between 5:50-6:30am so I didn't know what to do with myself. I did check to make sure he was breathing multiple times.

The Weekend in San Francisco

2010-06-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a trip to the Bay Area for a mini vacation and to see the Luceno's, who made a wise decision to come back to the West Coast from NYC. We had to get our fill of the city before heading to the Luceno's in Burlingame. I quickly was reminded of my time living in the city - the summer is not quite summer at all. Who is wearing scarves and jackets during the end of June!

Day 1 we flew up in the morning, walked a few blocks around Union Square, grabbed some lunch, and then we were on our way to...that's right, to the hotel for a nap! Have to try and stay on the some sort of nap schedule even when traveling.

After Bishop's nap we walked around Chinatown and over to the Willie "Woo Woo" Wong Playground. Willie "Woo Woo" was a Chinese America from San Francisco that played basketball at USF under Pete Newell (that all doesn't mean much to me but Mike seemed to know something about Pete Newell). Anyhow, Willie "Woo Woo" has a nice little park named after him that Bishop scouted out for a bit. We ventured into the mini rec. center and watched some mean games of ping pong with players varying many different age groups. The old Chinese men still had some mad game!

After some play time Bishop and Mommy took a mini snack break and grubbed on some blueberries.

Before taking off Bishop had to of course go down the big slide.

Day 2 we were up nice and early (despite a rough night of sleep and teething) to try and get some good stuff in before nap time and before we headed down to Burlingame. It was a wee-bit chilling so we had to bundle up. Bishop being into the World Cup these days borrowed Daddy's England scarf. We took a ride down to Pier 39, walk around and saw the sea lions, then it was back to the hotel for a nap, some lunch and then off to Burlingame to see the Luceno's.

Once we arrived in Burlingame, Bishop and Maddie became fast friends over a bowl of gold fish.

We had a fun pizza night with the Luceno's and the Hunsaker's

Bishop had a lot of new experiences that weekend. The best discovery was an ice cream sandwich.

He sucked down his ice cream sandwich before Maddie knew where it went.

Before bed the kids had some fun jumping on the air mattress. Well, the other kids jumped, Bishop liked to do face plants.

Day 3 was a beautiful day in Burlingame. A good time to read a book. Bishop quickly realized the book he grabbed was slightly long for him and didn't have any pictures.

Before we took off it was time for some more jumping on the air mattress. Maddie is the cutest jumping and giggling but I couldn't help posting this video because Bishop came over and fully took Mommy out.
*sorry my videos formats are funky. User error, of course.

Haircut/Father's Day/New Shoes

2010-06-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

Bishop's hair started to get a bit out of control. He did have the cutest little flippies in the back but they started to resemble the "party in the back" of a mullet so it was time to get a trim. I have to admit I got a little misty when the flippies were gone. Bishop was very cooperative for the first few minutes.

Here is the finished product. Sides and back all cleaned up. But no flippies left :(

Bishop and Mike have been enjoying the World Cup every morning before we start getting ready for our day. Bishop has started kicking balls around and saying "gooaaallll" all the time to the point that his teachers have asked if we have been watching a lot of soccer around the house lately. He definitely processes what he sees.

Bishop and I had a great time celebrating Daddy's day with Mike on Sunday. We took Mike to MOCA to see an exhibit he wanted to see, went for a dip in Grandma's pool and then out to dinner. I love this picture. You can see daddy and sun have similar mannerisms.

At the end of the day Bishie and Daddy looked at the Eric Carle animal/alphabet flash cards we picked up at the museum.

I almost forgot to point out Bishop's new Adidas he got that morning. We had to do a quick outing in the morning for some new kicks because his other shoes were getting tight. Turns out he has gone from a 5 1/2 to a 6 1/2 so we had to buy a few pairs of new shoes to get us through the next few months. How is it that Bishop's shoes can cost almost as much as mine? And, he needs to get new ones every few months! There goes any sort of shoe allowance Mommy had for herself.

Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime

2010-06-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had some nice SoCal weather and decided to blow up the backyard pool. Yes, you read correctly - blow up pool. Above ground. Need I say more, no lame $14.98 plastic pool from RiteAid here. No sir! We kicked it up a few notches. Feast your eyes on the boys living it up - Corona Light-style.

Bishop loves basketballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, footballs, etc. When we take him to the park he would rather go to the basketball court and watch the guys play then run around on the toys or jump on the swing. Our next door neighbor has a basketball hoop in her driveway and every morning he runs up her driveway and yells, "ballball". I am sure she loves hearing that in the a.m. To feed his interest we got his very own hoop. Here he is showing you his mad skills. I am not sure what he is saying at the end during his conversation to the camera, but it cracks me up .

Update

2010-06-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

No pictures or video just a quick blog with news. Yesterday Bishop had to go back to the allergist to have his egg allergy retested because we have had a slew of test results ranging all over the board.

First test. Blood test @ Lab #1. Results showed highly allergic to eggs, significantly allergic to nuts, slightly allergic to wheat and dairy. All that had me freaked out and rushing to cash in the prescription for an epi-pen in case of anaphylaxis shock. No flu shots allowed and MMR vaccine will need to be given at the allergist office to carefully monitor his results (flu shot and MMR are grown in eggs or something).

2nd test. Skin test at the allergist office. Results show egg allergy is moderate, nut allergy moderate, no allergy to wheat or dairy.

3rd test. Blood test @ Lab #2. The allergist didn't like Lab #1, the lab our insurance company makes us use. Since we had such drastically different results between the first two test she sent us to Lab #2. Of course Lab#2 was out of network. The lab tried to get me to cough up $1200 on the spot until I won the battle of how our insurance deals with out of network stuff. (Actually now that I think of it, I am not sure I have ever received a bill for the out of network portion we owe - sweet!). Lab #2 test results said no eggs allergy at all and slightly allergic to nuts. Next step wait three months, do another skin test and then call it game over.

SOOO, all of that brings us to yesterday's allergist appointment. Test #4 - Skin test. Results confirm Lab #2 blood test - no egg allergy. Next step: Omelet for breakfast, egg salad sandwich for lunch and quiche for dinner. No, just kidding. We are going to ease back into the world of eggs.

Note to self: Any future blood work, skip Lab #1 that has a terrible reputation, go straight to the Lab #2 and keep your fingers crossed you won't receive an out of network bill.

The Month of May

2010-06-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I have posted any pictures so I will do a quick bit of catch-up. On Mother's day Uncle Timmy and Gianna came over for a BBQ and we finally had some nice weather we could enjoy outside. Bishop kicked it on the swing set (no, the Corona Light is Daddy's). Mike and I take Bishop to the park where he has tackled the slide so on this one at home he thinks he can do advance kamikaze moves and go down head first. No pictures of that because Mommy quickly drops the camera and says, "ON YOUR BOTTOM!"

We bought Bishop his own little man yard chair. Unfortunately we also have to bring it inside so he can enjoy it in the living room as well. He used to hate it when we would put this hat on him but now we can't get him to take it off and he can put it on himself. Here he hams it up for the picture.

Uncle Timmy is multi-tasking while playing ring toss. However, Bishop likes to put the rings on his head

On Memorial Day we headed up to Grandma's pool for a quick dip.

I have a mild obsession for sunglasses. Apparently Bishop has acquired his mom's enjoyment of sunglasses also. When he puts them on we say, "COOL GUY"

Apparently he has acquired Daddy's habit of texting/emailing on his Blackberry, although here apparently Bishop likes to do it in the nude.

There it is short and sweet - the month of May. Mike had to travel a bit for work in May so there wasn't much fun going on at home without him. June is looking to be a fun month - hello summer! Stay tuned for some stories and pictures of the cutie patootie.

15 Months - BUBBLES!

2010-05-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

Bishop had his 15-month wellness check-up this week so here are some updated stats in comparison to his 12-month check-up:

Weight: 21.10lbs at 12-months - now 23.4lbs (was 30% now 31%)

Height: 30 inches at 12-months - now 32 inches (was 53% now 75%)

Head circumference: Lets just say he is reflecting his mother's genetic heritage. (I can sometimes fit into kids baseball hats).

All in all, he is growing at a great rate and is developmentally on course. He is supposed to be saying at least 5 words right now which I guess he is doing according to the pediatrician but I questioned whether they actually counted as words if they aren't phonetically accurate. Does "mo" really count for more, "bau" ball, "ish", for fish, "dau" for dog? Apparently it does. He should be up to 20 words by his 18-month check-up. I am guessing his favorite word by then will be "NO" which I am sure will be said phonetically correct. He didn't get any vaccines because he is on the verge of yet another ear infection. Seriously!? Since this now marks his 5th ear infection...you guessed it - time to go to a specialist. Our pediatrician actually felt bad even suggesting we see an Ear,Nose,Throat specialist since she has already sent us to a fair share of specialists (an allergist specialist and a pediatric cardiologist.) Boy, my flexible spending account for health care reimbursements is quickly dwindling. She simply said when they hit their 5th or 6th consistent ear infection they suggest the specialists just for a consultation. Hopefully they won't recommend putting tubes in his ears to help with drainage. Fingers crossed.

BUBBLES are a favorite these days. I can't describe the word he uses to indicate he wants bubbles (it is the same sound he uses for balloons) but when he says it and points to where the bubbles are - it makes sense what he is asking for.

Ahh bubble enjoyment!

Viva Las Vegas

2010-04-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last week we went out to Las Vegas to visit Mike's family. Along with all his family that lives there, Brennan, Amanda, & Madeleine were there from Dallas and Timmy came in from LA. Mike drove out on Sunday so he could get some work done now that he has clients out there and so we could load up the car! Being the snob that I am I preferred to fly so on Wednesday I battled the airplane with Bishop ... ALONE! A little side note, I find during my day to day dealings with Bishop sometimes I stop and think - DAMN, if I were a single mother - that would be so hard! Being at the airport brought on one of these moments. Since I sent Mike with everything in the car all I really had to deal with was Bishop, my diaper bag/purse and another bag I loaded up with books, toys, and anything I forgot to send with Mike (um, this bag ended up being about 30 lbs).

I threw Bishop in the Ergo and battled the airport. First, there was a special line just for families traveling - GENIUS! I breezed by the long ass line of people trying to get through Southwest's security and thought - "ah, one of the benefits to having a child. See you at the gate in an hour suckers!" This traveling with a child alone isn't so bad." Then we got to the gate to wait and wait. If you know me, I am very anal about flight travel, partially because I have a moderate fear of flying but also because I hate to be late, hate to be rushed. So here we are at the gate, Bishop is eating his snacks - all is beautiful. Stress level is about 10 due entirely to my flight anxiety. Then he is over the snacks and he is up and mobile. My thought was, "sure cruise around, get all your desire to walk around out now since we will be sitting for an hour on the plane." He didn't just walk around - he was all over the place. Stress level has now climbed from 10 to 50 just like that. Thank god I chose to sit next to a nice man who tells me he has a grand-daughter that is 2. He notices I am trying to keep one eye on Bishop and the other eye on my purse. He nicely said he would watch my stuff while I haul ass to grab Bishop out of the way of the mob of people getting off a plane. Bishop almost got laid out flat a few times by someone not noticing a little guy under their feet Note: I broke a TSA rule, never leave your items unattended. Sure hope sweet grandpa didn't dupe me and is really a terrorist looking for some unsuspecting sucker to slip his liquid explosive into their carry-on. Sorry this post is getting long so I will speed it up.

I scoop up Bishop, who now seems to have a ton of energy after running around (plan backfired, I thought he would be pooped out). We get on the plane and of course, sitting doesn't sound remotely fun to him. Luckily the flight wasn't full and the thought of sitting next to a mother and her child seemed like a bad idea to people coming on the plane so we got the three seats to ourselves. He was interested in his books for all of two seconds so the whole flight went Bishop in my lap, Bishop in the seat next to me, Bishop sitting on the floor in front of me, and on and on. I guarantee I broke a few FAA rules but we survived. Oh the flight home was more of the same except it was nap time so he was extremely tired and didn't fall asleep until about 3 minutes before we landed.

Now to some photos. Bishop got to hang out with his cousin Madeleine.

Bishop got to spend some time with Grandma and Great-Grandma

Lots of fun was definitely had at Grandma's

Year One in Review

2010-04-20T10:27:00.001-07:00

I put together some pictures of Bishop's first year and made a Shutterfly photo book. I have done these for many of our family trips. They are a great way to save memories and serve as fantastic coffee table books. Take a look.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Updates

2010-04-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

We have some good updates to share.

Update 1 - Pediatric Cardiologist Follow- Up Appointment:
We had a positive appointment at the pediatric cardiologists last week. When Bishop was 7 months old they found he was having extra heart beats consistently between every 5th & 8th beat. 6 months later it appears that his little body is correcting itself. We did another EKG and no extra hearts beats were present. The doctor did listen to his chest for an extended period of time and said he did hear an extra heart beat randomly but they were no where near as frequent and with no pattern as before. So, instead of having to go back in another 6 months, we don't have to go back for a recheck for a year and a half!

I will say this. If you are smarter than I am and have the knowledge of how to build medical equipment I would love to set up a partnership and build a new pediatric EKG machine. Bishop actually did better this time but still, putting 14 pads on his chest and stomach, then connecting long wires to the pads and making him lay there for 2-3 minutes...you have to be joking. Last time he wiggled the whole time refusing to lay down and continually pulled the wires off faster than we could put them back on which made us have to start over every time one came off. Not to mention the nurse seemed frustrated that he wouldn't be the model patient and lay like a dead fish (he was more like a flopping trout out of water). This appointment he didn't pull on the wires, thank god, and laid on the table while I danced around and tried to distract him from all that was going on. At one point I did have hold his hands and act as if I wasn't really trying to pin him down. Seriously - the whole process is a joke. This could be our golden ticket.

Update 2 - Transitioning from a crib to a cot at daycare.

Day one of sleeping on a cot was a little struggle. The first teacher worked with him for 20 minutes with no success. FYI - I don't know exactly what "worked with him" means in this context, strapping him down, laying him down every time he sits up, or chasing him around every time he jumps off and runs. I am sure they have their methods - I just choose not to get the details of their method.. So, after the first 20 minutes they let him go back into the playroom because they didn't want to force anything on him. After a few minutes of more playing then another teacher "worked with him" for about 20 minutes until he probably was so exhausted he just gave in and crashed. He slept for an hour and a half, didn't fall off and didn't jump off and run. They said when he woke up he simply sat up and waiting for someone to come and get him.

Day two when I asked how it went the head teacher told me, "Bishop doesn't like change", with a slight smile. Since then it has gotten progressively better. For the first week I asked every single day how it was going without getting much detail so I decided to give it a rest for a bit. They probably already think of me as the overbearing parent that wants the minute by minute detail. Yesterday I asked one of the four teachers how it is going and she simply replied, "Good." She smirked and said, "It depends on who is putting him down. Certain teachers he knows he can get away with things. When Patty puts him down, he flirts with her to try and buy himself some time. When I put him down he puts his head down and goes right to sleep." HA! Guess he is learning at an early age the power of flirting.
Here is a picture the site supervisor sent me this week of Bishop sleeping peacefully on his cot snuggling his lovey bear.

Here is a video of how Bishop is helping Daddy around the house. I think Mike will love it when he can finally ask Bishop to go and get him something, uh...I think you will see what I mean.

Springtime Family Photos!

2010-04-06T15:41:00.000-07:00

We haven't had any photos taken of Bishop since he was 9 months old, which seems like ages ago. So, this last weekend we had some new family photos taken with our springtime duds on. Lori put together a nice little sneak peak for us (see below) along with a video which contains a lot more of the day's photos. Click the link below to go to her site and watch the video. Please note, I have not edited out photos that I am not looking my best in so if a few scare you, send me your therapy bill. :)

http://fusarophotography.com/blog/2010/04/mr-bish-takes-culver-city-la-kid-photographer/

2010-04-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

Bishop had his first day sleeping on a cot instead of a crib at school. Big Boy! The teachers said they had to work with him "for a while" but once he was asleep he slept well. When he woke up he simply sat on the cot, just sat there. He is having so much fun. When I dropped him off the other morning, he was sitting on my lap and his friend Lyla came up to him and gave him a big hug and patted his back. She did it three times. The third time she hugged him he leaned his head into her chest and just embraced her hug. It was the cutest thing. Another morning he and Lyla were dancing while one of the teachers clapped and chanted, "go Bishop, go Bishop, go, go, go". Bishop loves music and loves to dance. Here is a video of him starting to get his groove on. Again if you can't see videos in your email notice, go directly to the blog site.

Bishop is climbing all over the place. You have to constantly watch him. He tries to climb up on everything; all the chairs, the ottoman and has perfected his climbing skills onto the couch. He climbs up on the couch and starts jumping up and down and sometimes then throws himself backwards onto the pillows. Then Mommy of course immediately chimes in with, "Bishop on your bottom. You have to sit on your bottom." To which he just looks at me and starts to giggle. Yeah, we are working on following instructions but it is coming along very slowly.

Now that Bishop can walk around he LOVES to go outside into the yard and cruise around, play with balls, or simply pick up rocks and move them from one side of the sidewalk to the other. Here is Daddy and Bishop playing some sort of football in the yard.

This week we head back to the pediatric cardiologist to have Bishop's 6 month follow-up appointment and see if they can still detect an extra heartbeat they found a while back. Hopefully it is gone, and if not, we will probably have to go back again for another check in another 6 months.

2010-03-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a month since my last posting! I have delayed because I have been trying to get some great video footage of three things; Bishop brushing his teeth, Bishop going down the slide, and lastly Bishop shaking his tail to Lady Gaga. All are adorable to watch but for some reason the minute the video camera comes out he stops doing what I am trying to catch. So, I couldn't delay any more and will continue to try and get some footage to post. In the meantime the big boy has been having fun.

Why is it boys and girls naturally gravitate towards those items that are sterotypically for their gender? All of a sudden Bishop has gotten into trucks/cars. He loves to push them around on the floor. He starts in one room and then cruises the truck all through the house scooting it on the floor. On Mondays, which is garbage day, the minute he hears the garbage truck outside he wants to crawl up on the couch and watch the garbage truck come by. He will watch it go all the way down the block until he can't see it any more pointing and saying,"dat, dat, dat" which is how he refers to a lot of things right now.

Bishop isn't talking clearly yet but he does say regular sounds while connecting them to certain objects. He is big into dogs, probably so over our many cats. He loves to see the dogs at parks or walking down the street. He points and says, "daw, daw". There have been two times when I asked him what a dog says and he replied, "woo woo woo", but that is not a regular thing. He says "nana" when in the kitchen and points to the bananas on the counter. He can also tell you he wants, "moe moe" for more. I am just waiting for the "NO!" phase to start.

The Lucky Charms shirt was a nice gift from Great-Grandma Fleming that Bishop wore to school on St. Patrick's day. Bishop continues to love his little school. When he arrives he has smiles for all the teachers and there have even been times he reaches for one of the teachers before Mommy is ready to hand him off and say goodbye. (Ouch, but I try not to let that hurt deep down). Bishop is gearing up to move into the Toddler room sometime in July so the teachers are helping him get ready for that transition. Next week is a big week. He will start napping on a cot instead of a crib at school. WHAA? I am not sure how that is going to work but I keep reminding myself the teachers know what they are doing so if they think he is ready...well...we'll see. I, of course probably asked the rookie parent question I am sure they have been asked a gazillion times - if they put pillows around the cot in case he rolls off on to the ground. They assure me all will be good. The cots are low to the ground, but still. Mike isn't concerned about him falling off the cot but instead is interested to see how they get him to actually stay on the cot at naptime and not get up and walk around when he is suppose to be sleeping. Stay tuned for the details about that.

This weekend Bishop had his first face plant on the ground since he has started walking. While I was running errands I talked to Mike while I was out and he told me there had been an accident with a little blood. Bishop took a spill on the driveway and got to smell the concrete a bit. He has a little raspberry on his nose and upper lip but was ok. I think Daddy was in worse shape. Mike felt horrible that he wasn't able to catch him in time.

That is all for now. Maybe a video and a crazy cot story sometime next week.

Spoon Man

2010-02-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

This morning Bishop was working on using a spoon like a big boy. It makes for a messy meal but practice makes perfect I guess. Although it is far from perfect at this point.

Before picture: The face before the spoon and cottage cheese invasion.

Cue the music from Soundgarden - SPOONMAN! VIDEO

This weekend Bishop went shopping with Grandma J and got some new big boy shoes. He is pretty excited about them and I am sure if he could talk he would ask if they will make him run faster.

Checking out the tread to make sure they will work off-roading as well as on hardwood and carpet.

*A side note. For those that are reading the blog from within their email notification, I have heard that some people don't see the videos. If you can't see the videos from within your email you will need to go directly to the site to see the blog with the videos included. Sorry! http://threeflemings.blogspot.com/

One Small Step

2010-02-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

Bishop is walking around and there is no stopping him. The weekend after his birthday he gave up holding on to furniture as a crutch and yelled "charge!!!" Well, not really because he can't really talk much yet, but that was what his body language was saying. That weekend, and every weekend since, he has been walking in circles. He would walk as far as he could go then turn around and walk back the other way. Here is a video of Bishop walking around at the park getting some grass under his toes.

Bishop is loving his car so we towed it to the park so he could cruise around and check out the chicks at the playground. Maybe he can pick up a cute play date.

This is the first time Bishop has gotten into the swing of things. Clearly he isn't sure what the swing is all about. We couldn't get him to crack a smile. Maybe we will try again next week.

Enjoying the sun and the fun that goes on at the playground.

Grandpa came for a visit to enjoy some Bishie time and he came with some birthday gifts.

Enjoying time with Grandpa, reading one of my new books he brought with him about penguins.

Bishop got a little wild while we were changing his diaper so we decided we could let him "breathe" for a few minutes. Here he is riding bareback on his elephant.

Mmm...Bishop loves Grandma's spaghetti

Bishop is 1!!

2010-01-31T20:34:00.000-08:00

Can you believe Bishop is now a big boy - 1 year old! We sure can't. It seems like just a few months ago Mike and I brought him home and were looking at each other hoping we got the swaddle correct. We started his birthday celebration at his school sharing in story time and snack time. Bishop wasn't sure what to make of the candle but he did explore the flavor of his cupcake. I had to get him a vegan cupcake since he is allergic to eggs but didn't think I would torture all the other little friends with that so got regular full flavored cupcakes. I have to admit the vegan cupcake was pretty darn good!

Here is a picture of all the friends Bishop has at school. It is pretty cute how they all sit at the tables during snack time but also provides some comedy when you watch them eat and get the food everywhere. Good thing they put a drop cloth down. Maybe I should take a note from them so I don't have to pick up dried pasta and Cheerios off the kitchen floor every night.

Bishop's birthday present from Mommy and Daddy was a ball pit much like the one the have at Chuck E. Cheese only much smaller and without the urine and who knows what else floats around in those balls.

Bishop is enjoying his new wheels from Grandma!

Right out of the gate he was alert and focused on the road with his hands at "10" and "2"

Maybe we are bias but we think he is the cutest damn kid! I only wish he would stay in this car forever. Lord help me when he gets his license and we give him keys to a real car.

Bish Bash 2010 took place on Saturday with a few friends. This year was really for the adults since most likely Bishop won't remember it and didn't really understand what it was all about. We had games like Bag-O (aka Corn Hole) and Ring Toss but next year those will be replace with something like pin the tail and a pinata and there will be more juice boxes than beers.

Cupcake experiment round two. He still wasn't quite sure about it so Mommy finished it for him later that night (along with a few others). One year is over and we haven't broken him yet. Ahh, there is always tomorrow.

Watch out, here he comes

2010-01-05T06:56:00.000-08:00

Over the last two weeks Bishop has done some exciting things. First, and most important to me, is he said "mama" and seemed to mean it. I walked in one morning to get him out of bed and he just stood there, put his arms up in the air for me to pick him up and said, "Mama" clear as could be. Oh melt my heart kid! The other big thing is, BISHOP TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS.
Here is the big video. He isn't all that graceful yet, in fact he clearly resembles a mini Frankenstein, but it is a start. We took this video 3 days ago and already you can see signs of improvement. He still prefers to crawl since it can get him from point A to point B faster. Most of the time when he takes steps he is whining a little because it is when he wants us to pick him up. I tried to get a video where he is taking steps and giggling but no luck.

(Cue Lou Reed, "hey kid, take a walk on the wild side...alriggght."

The videos of Bishop eating are always my favorites...clearly, since I think there are about 10 of them on this blog.

His laugh and giggles are too precious.

Over our holiday break, we took Bishop over to LMU. Here he is checking it all out and covering some ground.

Christmas Time

2010-01-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been a long time since the last blog posting. Christmas sure came up fast. What is really coming up fast is Bishop's 1st birthday but I won't get into that during this post. All I can say is where did the time go? I know they say when you get older the years go by faster but really, this is ridiculous. Feels like only a few months ago we were taking pictures for our Christmas card with my belly all wrapped in a bow.

Ok, I will spare you all the minor details that led up to Christmas and just get into the real holiday goods. Here are lots of photos from Bishop's 1st Christmas. He didn't quite understand what all was going on but I am sure next year will be a completely different experience for us so I welcomed what was probably the last low key christmas attitude from him this year.

On Christmas Eve Bishop received his first present from Mommy & Daddy.

Here he is giving the elephant a kiss, or maybe trying to take a bite out of his head.

After all the Christmas Eve fun, "Santa's Helper" crashes hard...while visions of sugarplums danced through his head no doubt.

Christmas morning...BLOCKS!

This photo just makes us laugh. I feel like he is grabbing the camera as if to say, "it is Christmas! Are you getting all this on camera?!"

Other wonderful Christmas presents were our visitors. Grandma Kelly came from Las Vegas.

And Great-Grandma Marge came from Oly.

That is Christmas in a very small nutshell. Of course I probably have 75 photos but these were just a few. Stay tuned for tomorrow! I have another blog posting coming with some videos of some VERY exciting stuff Bishop did within the last 2 weeks. Ooo the suspence is killing you I know. Now I am off to plan a 1st birthday party...good lord!

2009-11-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

We have signed Bishop up for 7 swimming classes (although we have missed one already but that is another story). The goal is not to make him the next Michael Phelps but simply to get him comfortable in the water and have a little fun. Mike and I are trading off weekends getting into the pool with him so we can both experience the fun as well. The first class Bishop was a bit reserved, not scared but just trying to figure out why he was in a huge bath tub with all these other people. He kept his hands in fists close to his body most of the first class, only relaxing a tad for the last 5 minutes. This week with Mike, he was more at ease cruising around the pool.

So Bishop missed his 2nd swimming class because as we were getting him in his swim trunks we noticed a rash and hives all over his body. Clearly an allergic reaction to something. I called the doctor and they said we needed to bring him in, of course. Well, after drawing some blood and doing an allergy panel it turns out Bishop has a pretty significant allergy to egg whites, a moderate allergy to nuts and a minor allergy to milk and wheat. GOOD TIMES! The milk and wheat allergy is so mild that she said I don't need to remove those from his diet (thank god!) but he needs to avoid nuts and definitely egg (SHIT!). She prescribed us two epipens, one for home and one for daycare that we need to jab him with should he ingest some eggs thus causing his throat to swell and difficulty breathing. SWEET! So it is off to an allergist for more in depth instructions. Our fingers are crossed he will eventually grown out of this otherwise I am going to be making birthday cakes and cookies with some lame alternative egg solution.

Bishop's daycare was closed for a few days this week so Mike and I decided to both take the days off and have a "staycation". For those that don't know what a staycation is, it is simply a mini vacation where you stay relatively close to home. We decided to head 30 minutes south of us to check out the new Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes. We got a ridiculous rate on the usually expensive suite so we loaded up the pak n' play and headed out. We checked out almost all of the restaurants and bars on the property and walked along the bluffs with views of the amazing ocean and sunset.
href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LNaN0y8gS0w/SwjFBzL8v0I/AAAAAAAAHEQ/knEg1R0a4Ck/s1600/DSC_0351.JPG">

This is Bishop the morning we woke up at the hotel enjoying his time in the Pak n' Play. I wish I woke up this chipper at 6am!

Bishop has taken a liking to the piano. Do we have a prodigy on our hands? Mike always wanted me to play the piano while I was pregnant (which I rarely did) so it must be the classical piano CD we play for him while he goes to sleep. Now of course I do play for him while he sits on my lap and adds his own melody in.

2009-11-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

Lots has been going over the last month. At the beginning of the month Bishop had to go to a Pediatric Cardiologist after his primary doctor thought she heard something a little off with his heart beat. Sure enough Bishop has an extra heartbeat that shows up between the 5th and 8th heartbeat. So far it is nothing to be concerned about and most likely he will grow out of it but we do have to go back for another appointment in 6 months to recheck his rhythm strip.

Grandma Fleming came out for a visit and brought some fun Halloween books signed by the author. One of the books was about the "Pumpkin Patch Cats". Ahh, we continue to live up to our reputation as a cat family.

We checked out Mr. Bone's Pumpkin Patch which is where all the celebrities go for festive Halloween times. While it was a cool place, it didn't feel like pumpkin season since it was 85 degrees outside. Bishop wasn't sure what to make of the pumpkins and wasn't keen on getting down and dirty with them. We did a quick walk through, and then called it a day. Unfortunately, we didn't see any celebrities although I did see some photos in People that showed some there later that afternoon. We picked up a $20 pumpkin, then got a $60 parking ticket so when all was said and done, we walked out with an $80 pumpkin and no celebrity sightings. BOO!

Halloween day, we decided to head down to the beach for a walk in the 80 degree heat. I would love to get some good chilly October weather, some rain, some wind, or at least temps in the low 60s. Anything to make it feel like fall instead of summer. We walked down to the pier and checked out some of the marine life.

I would love to post a picture of Bishop in his dinosaur costume but he was completely anti costume so we had to settle with a Halloween onesie. Maybe next year.

The excitement never ends. During Bishop's 9 month check up we discovered he had an ear infection and got a prescription for Amoxicilian. Well, basically we finished the bottle the pharmacy gave us in 4 days instead of the 10 days it was suppose to take to finish it. When I called the pharmacy to tell them they didn't give us enough they told us that the new "student" that input his prescription put it in wrong and the pharmacists that should have caught the mistake didn't and signed off on it. Bishop was getting over double the daily amount of antibiotics he was suppose to get a day. After calling and talking to the pharmacy manager, the regional pharmacy supervisor, our doctor who was luckily on call, and one of the doctors at mom's office I finally started to feel better about the situation. The pharmacy manager asked that I make a complaint, um duh, because they have had problems with this particular pharmacist and she hoped this would be the final incident that would finally lead to his termination. Yeah hope so. But either way, we are done with that pharmacy. I am sure when we go for Bishop's follow-up appointment next Monday the ear infection will be gone after the blast of antibiotics he got.

Looking forward to the holiday season!

Fall is here!

2009-10-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

It is a funny complaint to make but it is nice to feel a chill in the air as opposed to the hot weather we had a few weeks ago. Give me a few days of rain, just a few, and I will be in heaven. The one thing I don't like about L.A. is the lack of seasons. Then again, when people on the east coast are stuck under a bunch of snow and it is 75 in L.A, I will be happy for the lack of seasons. Anyhow, Bishop was ready for the cooler weather!

Bishop took his first spill at daycare this week. He has been climbing the one stair we have in the house but when he tried to tackle a thing at daycare that has 3 little stairs, he lost and got a nice little shiner above his eye. He has been tackling tons of milestones over the last month. He quickly went from the army crawl to getting around crawling on his knees. He can pull himself up and stand while holding on to a piece of furniture or his crib. Mike and I have become jungle gyms as we sit on the floor and he crawls around and over us or uses us to pull himself up. The bump above his eye doesn't look as bad in the picture as it actually was. The next morning after the accident at daycare, I went to get him out of bed and he had a little cut on his nose. No clue how that one happened but I can guess it had something to do with pulling himself up in his crib. I know, I know - these are just the first of many bump and bruises to come now that he is mobile. Sweeettt.

2009-09-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Things have been crazy the last few days/week. Bishop is growing and becoming such a big boy. Since my last post, Bishop has perfected his army crawl and will now actually get on his knees but then drops back down to his tummy realizing he can get where he wants to go faster with the army crawl he has master. And let me tell you, he is fast. He also loves to climb up and over anything. Hopefully he stops there and down the road doesn't decide to climb Everest. He pulls himself up with a little help from us or from the table. We even walked in on him standing in his crib. It only happened once though, thank goodness. But, every time I walk into his room I brace myself for what I might find - him standing with a big grin.

I am posting this picture below, not so you can see where I am at with my post-baby weight loss (which is no where good), but so you can see how long Bishop's legs are! He is getting so tall.

Here is some evidence of Bishop standing. This toy is one of his favorites. He actually pulled himself up to this standing position by himself with no help. Right after this pictures he tried to put his foot up on the keyboard to climb up and over it.

Bishop has started to eat more food. I started him on the jarred baby food but with in two weeks I believe he has gotten bored with the watery baby food. His day care even mentioned that he was showing more interest in what the bigger kids were eating at the table for snack and wanted to know if it was ok with me to start giving him real food. They would still try the baby food but give him the option of some real food. On Friday they gave him rice, a real banana (not the mushy baby food stuff) and a cracker. The day before he had pea soup! Here I was afraid to give him anything thinking he would choke on it. This weekend I guess I need to head to the grocery store and start looking at food with a different eye - what can I make Bishie for dinner now! I have to admit the jarred babyfood was so easy!

This photo is showing the prunes he tried. Hey, you never know when you are going to need to add a little prune to your diet to help the pipes. Had to make sure he wasn't alergic.

I finally got a picture of the chompers he has on the bottom. I think the last few days he has been teething again so we expect to see something possibly come in on the top. Unlike when the bottom ones came in, he has had every teething symptom in the book; chin rash, diaper rash, excess drooling, diarhea, slight fever, runny nose, cough, cranky, not eating well, not sleeping well - GOOD TIMES!

This picture I just wanted to share to show off my two handsome men!

Baby proofing is near

2009-09-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

Looks like Mike and I might be in the market for some outlet plugs, cabinet locks, corner cushions and all the rest of the home safety products soon. Bishop is perfecting his army crawl. And, is rapidly getting better at it. I am sure it will progress to a full on crawl shorly. Lord help us. Lord help the cats! He is going to be chasing them around sooner than they know.

Check out his little pose at the beginning and end of this video. Still trying to capture it on the still camera.

Bishop - Yo Gabba Gabba

2009-09-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

For the most part we don't let Bishop watch TV. Well, that is not entirely true. We have started letting him watch some sports with Mike, mainly golf, baseball, and now some football. But in general we don't turn on the TV until after he is asleep. That is when Mike and I get our fill of trash TV. I have had friends tell me how their children love Yo Gabba Gabba. I had never heard of it before however Mike had because they make reference to it on The Soup. Earlier this week I went to the Yo Gabba Gabba website to check it out and see what age it is appropriate for for future reference.

Long story short - yesterday I had Yo Gabba Gabba on my laptop and showed Bishop one of the videos. He started hysterically laughing. So I showed it to him again. Same thing - giggles and giggles. I showed him a different video and he didn't laugh once. Something about this certain video made him go nutty. I grabbed the video camera thinking I had missed my opportunity since he had already seen the video 4-5 times. Thank god he was still into it - here you go.

Here is the video he was watching. Not sure what he was finding so funny!

http://yogabbagabba.com/#/cool-tricks-dancing-and-turning

Where does the time go?

2009-08-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

7 months already. Can you believe it?!? Someone asked me recently if I started thinking about what I was going to do for his 1st birthday party! WHAT? Of course the planner in me thought I needed to jump on it - what's the theme going to be, where are we going to have it, who will be invited, do I invite all the kids from daycare or just his friends? Friends, does he even have "friends" at daycare yet? The realist in me said to take a step back...for now. Bishop is paying more and more attention to the cats and their every move. As they chase each other through the house (or rather as Bumble chases everyone else) Bishop watches them and sometimes makes a grunt or smile to show his approval. I have been trying to teach him about petting with an open hand and to be gentle. We will go up to one of the cats and I will take his hand and stroke their fur and say "gentle". Of course his first reaction is to grab a fist full of that soft furry stuff he is enjoying. We will keep working on it. Thank goodness he seems to enjoy the cats since we have a gazillion of them.

Here is an older video from this month. Mike and Bishop have a special relationship already. Whenever Daddy walks in the room and says, "BIISSHHHIEEE", Bishop's face lights up with a smile.

This picture represents pretty much what Bishop does all the time now. Things go straight into his mouth. His two front bottom teeth have broken the gums and are coming in. We had a few brutal nights while he was in pain. I actually called the doctor to make sure I wasn't OD'ing him on Tylenol. I am overjoyed (yeah right)to have read that between 7-9 months we can look forward to him getting another 6 teeth. I would show you a picture but Bishop isn't very cooperative in flashing his pearly whites quite yet. If I try to put my finger in his mouth he promptly bites down on my finger. Those buggers are sharp!

Here is an older video from this month showing what he has learned at daycare. He is now Mr. Independent holding his own bottle. I stopped the video a tad too soon so you miss him sucking the last drop up and then handing me the bottle back with one hand.

This pictures just makes me smile. He definitely doesn't look like an infant anymore but instead like a little man. Bath time has gotten a bit more interesting because the wiggle worm no longer wanted to lay in his infant bath seat and would try and roll out of it. So for now I am sitting in with him and being very cautious about his every move until we figure out our options.

Everyday He Is Growing

2009-08-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

I know I just did a post yesterday but we had some more fun stuff happen when I got home and didn't want to wait to long to post it. While at the doctor's office she asked if Bishop was sitting up on his own yet. I told her, "Well sort of but only for 2-5 seconds and then he tips over but, we are working on it." People say all of a sudden in a matter of days they pick up something new. Yesterday he sat up by himself for 1 minute! Of course he did it multiple times before I grabbed the video camera. Take a look.

Also this morning I hear Bishop in his crib talking to himself. This is what I walked in a found. It brings a smile to my face every morning! Oh by the way, when he was asleep his head was at the other end of the crib.

Sorry the photo is a little blurry. I was half asleep

6 months - Getting to be a big boy!

2009-08-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

We just had our 6 month appointment and wouldn't you know it, Bishop is growing by leaps and bounds. I could have told you that because the man is up all night eating so he has to be doing something with all those meals. Here is a rundown on the progress he has made since his 4 month appointment.

Head measurement at 4 months was 16", now he is 17 1/4. He went from being in the 20% to the 50%!
Weight at 4 months was 13lbs 14oz, now he is 15lbs 11oz. He was in the 35% and still is. I have been concerned about his weight because he is eating so much I am afraid he wasn't getting enough to eat during meals but the doctor said she is please with his progress and that he is just a lean child. She also said he has enough fat on his bones but not so much or so little that she would be concerned.
Length at 4 months was 23 3/4, now is 26 1/2!! He went from the 20% to the 50%!
The doctor gave him a great check-up and said despite his frequent sicknesses since starting day care he is a healthy boy. The above photo is Bishop chillin in his robe before he hits the bathtub.

This weekend when we went to Target I figure he is a big boy now and is probably at the size to ride in the shopping cart so I didn't have to carry him or put the carrier on. To my shock when I put him in the seat he was still so small in it that he could lounge across the whole thing. He cruised around Target with his arm out the side as if he were on the strip cruising for chicks...too cool. BTW - the cart cover my friend Sam loaned us and when I showed her the picture she informed me that I actually had it on backwards - whoops!

With those long legs Bishop now has found some joy in bouncing around in the jumperoo. At first I had hesitations about putting him in the jumperoo because I had read it encourages them to be tip toe walkers. But like everything else, there is always some reason people are saying you shouldn't let them do something. I think I had a jumperoo of sorts when I was little and I walk just fine so I got over that idea. Plus, he is having too much damn fun now (once he figured out what it was). Here is a video of one of his workouts (or spazz sessions). *I am working on my video shooting skills - they still need improvement so I apologize for the shaking camera.

Sleep Consultant coming tomorrow night so I am hopeful we will have our plan in place and be executing that plan this weekend which will hopefully result in so more sleep for all of us...please oh please oh please!

3 weeks at a glance

2009-07-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

3 weeks ago Bishop started day care. Here is a snapshot at how it is going.

Day 4 - Get home and he starts vomiting before bedtime. We are talking out the nose exorcist-style.
Day 5 - Keep Bishop home but all seems well after 6am.
Day 6-8 Bishop is adjusting and starting to take better naps and not be as difficult for them to get down.
Day 9 - Stomach virus again right before bedtime (throwing up bile this time). Bishop refused to take any fluids so it was a family trip to the ER for rehydrating. After waiting and being processed (and vomiting all over the waiting room floor), Bishop hears the threat of IV hydrating and decides to start nursing. At the ER for 4 hours only to head home and rehydrate ourselves.
Day 11 - A runny nose, followed by day 12-14 of sneezing, hacking cough, lost his voice and very little sleep at home. Good thing they got him adjusted to napping at daycare since that is the only place he is sleeping these days.
Day 15 - A trip to the Dr. who says he may be on the verge of an ear infection.

I mean really...

That is it in a nutshell. Currently Mike and I are both sick with the cold Bishop is getting over. I lost 5 lbs after I got the stomach virus he had, although I am not complaining. Great way to lose the last of the baby weight. So other than being a complete germ sponge right now, they say he is really enjoying himself. He has started to interact more and all in all is much more opened to being there. I know, I know, everyone tells me it will get better. He is building up his immune system. I just didn't realize we would get hit so hard right off the bat. The hardest part is the wonderful sleep schedule we had in place has now been completely thrown out the window. We are keeping our fingers crossed it is due to his illness, otherwise as soon as his nose dries up it is going to be Sleep Training 101 which I am D-R-E-A-D-I-N-G! I told Mike I would seriously contemplate giving up our life savings to have a sleep coach come in and do it for us. We'll see. For now we are both exahusted beyond words from the long nights and Bishop is resting nicely at daycare during his afternoon naps. We love the little bugger.

Ok, there is the Debbie Downer in me about daycare. The great news is I think we are going to really like it. The teachers are wonderful, very supportive and genuinely seem to care how he feels about being there. He is watching the other kids like crazy and is observing everything they are doing. Bishop had been working on rolling over but after the first few days of being at daycare he figured it out. Here is a video I took at the beginning of the month of him rolling over. Now he is a pro and doesn't have problems getting his arms in place. More videos and photos to come.

Bishop Eating

2009-07-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Bishop eating and enjoying his cereal.

Bishop is transitioning into daycare this week and so far is doing very well. This week I have been with him most of the time that he has been there (which has only been for a few hours at a time). Today they had me stay with him for a while and then hide out in their office to see how he did without me. Tomorrow is a big day - I will drop him off and leave him for almost a full day by himself. I am sure it is going to be harder on me than on him. I will share more after the week ends and we have both successfully completed transition week.

5 months - New Experiences

2009-06-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today Bishop was introduced to a whole new world. A world with real food. Well sort of, if you consider mushy baby oatmeal real food. He was exposed to a meal other than breast milk. He did a very good job getting the food down but of course not without getting it all over his face.
A few hours after eating the oatmeal he hasn't vomited and seemed to keep most of it down. Now I look forward to seeing how it comes out the other end.
Here is Bishop enjoying the sites at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino.
Mike thinks that sometimes Bishop's profile resembles Harold from Harold and the Purple Crayon. I see a slight similarity with the exception of the turned up nose.
Last week Mike played Mr. Mom and stayed home with Bishop for the whole week while I was at work. Mike got a little glimpse into the world I experienced with Bishop for the last 4.5 months. Bishop - all day! I think he has a new found respect for the days I asked him not to work too late out in the field. This week we are happy to have Mike's mom back for one more week taking care of Bishop. After the 4th of July Bishop will be starting daycare.

This weekend we went to his daycare for one of the get-together meetings they have had for new parents. It is the first time I was a bit embarrassed by Bishop because he decided to show everyone how he has found his voice and can scream. Very loud. I am sure they are questioning whether they should have accepted him. Guess he will have to daze them with his baby blues.

Jinx!

2009-06-11T12:51:00.001-07:00

I am learning when discussing Bishop and any sort of schedule he is on, never say it out loud. Verbalizing it is a sure way to disrupt it or throw it completely out the window! Example - Bishop had his latest appointment with Dr. Fisher for some shots and wellness check-up. Two questions she asked me, "How much is he sleeping at night?" Stupidly I through the words out into the air, "6-9 hours, we love the 9 hour nights". JINX! Since then, Bishop has reset his internal clock to just 6 hours. Of course now that I am back at work, he doesn't know what 9 is anymore. Second question, "How often is he pooping?" Again, I should have known - "Oh, he is very regular - we get at least 2 poops a day, like clockwork - 20 minutes after he eats." DOUBLE JINX! He then was constipated for 4.5 days. We are still trying to get that good poop rhythm back. It was a very eye opening event for Mike and I when we realized that our lives have now come to the point that we discuss Bishop's poops over the phone and are excited about it. When he finally did poop I was tempted to have Mike take a picture and email it to me at work but I didn't. I DID go and dig through the diaper hamper to examine it when I got home. Oh, sorry TMI.

Bishop is a growing boy and new things and interest are always popping up. He now weighs 14lbs, still on the smaller size for his age but this is probably due to the fact that he was 3.5 weeks early. He is still playing a little catch up. I am not concerned since Mike and I are pretty big people. As you could see from the first picture, Bishop likes to stand up. He holds your fingers as you help him get his feet under himself and then by himself he pushes up to the standing position and will stand there forever! He is holding and shaking rattles, making lots of sounds and will even giggle sometimes with a little game of peek-a-boo or airplane. I should call it a bomber instead of airplane. I have gotten nailed by numerous streams of drool as he is flying up over my head... and mouth.

Speaking of drool, he is a DROOL MONSTER. He is in the pre-teething stages and I swear one pearly white is going to pop out any minute even though I have read it will be a bit longer before that happens. He drools all over the place, loves to stick his fingers and sometimes his whole fist in his mouth. We are working on getting him exposed to teething rings and yesterday I gave him a cold, wet wash cloth to go to town on.

Bishop loves when Grandma Fleming reads to him. This is a photo from our Las Vegas trip but we are blessed to have Grandma Fleming visiting us in Los Angeles for the next few weeks to help out on the childcare front. Bishop is starting daycare but his spot is not available until July and I had to go back to work on Monday. Being back to work is a post all on its own but I will simply say I shed a lot of tears over the weekend and then on Monday morning as I pulled out of the driveway. I was so worried he was going to be traumatized that I wasn't there. But, Grandma Fleming made the transition seamless for Bishop. When I walked in he was all smiles. Guess the transition was the hardest on me.

Mike and I have an ongoing battle over bath time. Not the actual time of the bath but the logistics. We have "my bath" and "your bath". "My bath" consists of this nice blue seat he reclines in. I jump in with him, throw in some bubbles and we splash around for as long as we like. Mike's bath consists of...

a small white bucket inside the tub that Mike is standing in while holding Bishop in the bucket. Mike likes to think of it as a jacuzzi. Don't be fooled that Bishop is smiling in the bucket and not in the reclined chair photo. Mike took the previous photo so I think some selective photography was going on. Bishop gives lots of smiles in "my bath".

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2009-05-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

Lots has been going on the last few weeks. We took Bishop on the Great-Grandma tour. First he took his first plane ride up to Washington to meet Great-Grandma Craig over Mother's Day weekend. Then five days after that trip Bishop took his first long car ride to Las Vegas to meet Great-Grandma Fleming. Ok he hasn't taken a train ride yet but the Disneyland Christmas train was in town. Good thing we didn't go check it out. Not sure Bishop would have been down with a 3-hour wait.

Bishop has been working on sitting in the Bumbo seat. As you can see he hasn't perfected it yet but his posture is getting better.

Here is Mike and Bishop at my mom's beach house in Washington. Bishop loves the fresh air!

Bishop with Great-Grandma Craig.

Bishop in Las Vegas with Great-Grandma Fleming. He has found his fingers, hands and fists which always seem to be in his mouth. He is also a drool monster right now so we are anticipating teeth in the next month or two.

More to come soon.

3 Months!

2009-04-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here is Bishop chillin' Rico Suave-style. Yesterday we saw Mike's favorite Victoria's Secret model and her daughter at The Ivy. Mike of course wanted to hold Bishop because he has quickly learned that holding a baby attracts woman saying "ah, he is so cute". When Alessandra came up to Mike with her 8 month old daughter and asked how old Bishop was Mike was in hog heaven. Too bad he didn't hook up any future play dates.

Can you believe it has been 3 months already! Little man is growing like a weed. Not sure how much he is weighing in at these days but a month ago he was a 11 lbs. This photo Bishop is bundled up for a brisk walk on a nice spring day. We didn't match our outfit very well - dinosaurs and stars?

Bishop's first tanktop. We had to bust this out on a 95 degree day in LA. Yup - 95 and it was April. Didn't want to have little man baking. The best part was I bought three of these little shirts and by the end of the day we had gone through all of them because of...um some accidents.

Bishop has started to smile and giggle. The best spot to get him to smile is of all places on his changing table. Boy likes to have clean drawers.

Bishop finally got to meet Grandpa Robertson and the rest of the Robertson crew at the beginning of April. Wonder what great thing Grandpa was talking to him about here.

Clearly I haven't gotten better about blogging more frequently. Maybe I will get to it more when Bishop grows out of his "I have to be held all the time and walked around the house to look at everything, in every room over and over again" phase. At least it is helping shed some baby weight.

Long overdue

2009-03-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

I have totally slacked on updating the blog, not that there isn't enough material. It is simply hard to find the time to sit down and be witty while juggling Bishop on my hip and being tired. I also keep forgetting that my camera is fixed and haven't been snapping shots often enough. I need to get better about this because he is growing up quickly. We did do a quick photo shoot for St. Patrick's day and Bishop was such a trooper while letting me have a little fun.

Mike's mom came out for a nice visit. Here is Bishop with both his Grandmas (my mom of course being the baby hog - she can't get enough of him).

I once talked about how the greatest invention was the epidural. Well, that was the greatest invention for a specific time and place. Now, I find the greatest invention is the hair dryer. Not for vanity purposes - Bishop loves it. When he is fussy and we can't console him after doing Dr. Karp's 5 S's, changing his diaper, feeding him, bouncing on the ball, etc, we pull out the hair dryer. Well, we don't pull out the hair dryer because it is all ready out and permanently plugged in ready to go. Flip that sucker to on and Bishop stops mid scream and is in a trance. Wow! He also likes the sound of the vacuum cleaner so I put Mike to work vacuuming the den. :)

A little snuggle time with Daddy.

Another post coming shortly with photos from the Robertson family visit along with our trip to the doctor for Bishop's 2 month appt and his vaccinations.

4 weeks and counting

2009-03-02T18:16:00.000-08:00

Mike thought when Bishop wore this shirt he looked like Luke Skywalker so we decided to have a some camera fun and do a mini photo shoot. Funny how the little lightsaver fits perfectly in his hand (with some help from daddy of course).

Today Bishop had his 1-month appointment with the doctor. He is now up to 8.9lbs, a pretty good weight gain considering he has been trying to rebound from the significant weight loss during the whole high bilirubin drama (he had dropped down to 6.2lbs from his birth weight of 7.6lbs) and from being born 3 weeks early. He is eating like a champ and I am sure he will be able to take down Darth Vader any day now. He is still the cutest thing, or as Grandma likes to call him,"Cutie Patoodie". Not sure what he is smiling at here. Mike doesn't think he is really smiling in this pictures but instead it was the calm before the screaming storm. I am sure he is smiling because he loves to snuggle with his mommy so much...that or probably so good deep gas.
When you are looking at this, it is hard to be mad that you are awake at 2am.

Bumble and Laszlo got the memo about how important it is to sleep when the baby is sleeping.

Today I went to my first support group for new mothers. I thought the whole mommy and me type classes weren't my style but when you don't know what the hell you are doing half the time, going to a group set up for mothers to ask each other questions proved to be not such a bad idea. Today, I walked out with my head held high and the feeling that Mike and I are doing a few things right. Maybe we aren't complete parenting idiots and won't damage Bishop. Ahh, but tomorrow is another day. I am sure we will do or not do something that will have him end up on his therapist's couch when he is 20.

No More Planning, It's All on the Fly Now

2009-02-20T20:21:00.001-08:00

Well as you all probably know Bishop Blake is here...3 weeks early. Not exactly according to schedule. I wasn't done transitioning my job and didn't get my planned 2 weeks pre-baby leave for a little R&R and baby prep. Most importantly, I didn't even have my hospital bag packed, a task that was literally on my to do list the very night my water broke. Oh well, things are probably better with some spontaneity. So, on to the long overdue update. Bishop is adorable and completely unpredictable, from the time he wants to eat to when he decides to pee. Just when I think we have a routine down he changes it up on me. One day he eats like clockwork, every 3 hours, the next day he is a bottomless pit and eats ever 50 mins. One day he loads his diaper right on time, the next he strategically plans a pee shot right when he feels the cool air hit his wiener - a nice surprise water willie for mom and dad.

People had been asking to see photos of the nursery, something I was waiting to post until I had the nursery done.

I was going to finish it during my 2 weeks off before Bishop got here. Needless to say the nursery got finished after his arrival.

We are slowly introducing Bishop to his crib during some of his daytime naps. I told many people he would be in his crib from the moment he came home from the hospital. That was easier said than done. We are trying to monitor how the cats will respond to him. No, Bumble's behavior in the above picture is not being condoned. He gets in trouble for this and Mike and I are keeping a close eye on him. He just wants to be Bishop's friend so bad. The other cats are not a problem - Sophie is too selfish and into her own daily activities (sleeping, cleaning herself, eating,etc) to be concerned with him. Laszlo explores him a little but doesn't care much. And, Ewok hates to hear him cry so pretty much leaves the room when Bishop enters.

This photo is of Bishop's first walk in the neighborhood. His outfit left a lot to be desired but the So. Cal weather has been a bit unpredictable so we were going for functionality and warmth. It had many colors and patterns so we will just tell him he was starting a new trend - dragons, dinosaurs, strips and circles don't clash.

My nice new camera I bought to take the oh-so wonderful picture got damaged. While we were at the hospital the cats were running laps around the house to let out their excitement that Bishop was coming home and during those laps someone (I am sure it was Bumble) knocked the camera on the ground and the lens got damaged. So I am back to the old point and shoot until I get a replacement lens. However, our trusty photographer friend, Lori came over for a mini photo shoot when he was 1 week old (and brought mom some pizza - thank you Lori!). If you want to view her photos you can access them at the ling below. We are planning another photo shoot maybe next week so I will have more for your viewing pleasure. Here is a sneak peak at what you will see on her site (and oh yeah, she did the announcements too of course!)
Go here: http://www.fusarophotography.com/ Click "Order Prints" - Find Bishop's gallery (scroll down) - Access Code: bishop