Kal-el 9 Months Pictures

Here's a peek at some of the 9 month photos we have seen so far. My friend Bailey did an awesome job once again!

Meet the fur kids

Our family would not be complete without our beloved fur kids. Three of them to be exact. We love animals, always have, but we are definitely partial to dogs! They make our lives much more meaningful and I'm happy that Kal-el will enjoying growing up in the company of pets. We wouldn't trade our zoo for anything in the world!
Introducing......
 Tuggs
 AKA Sissy, The gentle giant
 Has been in our family the longest. Mimsy got him when I was still in college after much research on the breed. We had him flown in to Birmingham from Ohio.His Daddy Arnold was a show dog! He is now 8 years old and I couldn't be happier that our baby boy gets to grow up with a newfoundland. I consider myself very fortunate to have loved and shared a home with this unique breed and I'm glad he will get to experience the same thing just at a younger age.. They are such noble creatures and Tuggs fits the description of the breed to a t. He is truely a gentle giant. Even with his massive size he is so good with Kal-el.  He is a beautiful dog with a beautiful spirit. He and Mimsy have such a special relationship. When he was younger he was mischeivious and into everything. He would bring rocks in from outside and make us chase him around the house until he dropped them. When he was a young pup he had lots of little tantrums. He even once knawed a hole in the wall all the way through to the sheet rock! We doted on him constantly so he is pretty spoiled and high maintance at times but we dont mind he is the most loveable 175 lbs of fur and drool that you could ask for!

Next up:

Ginger AKA Gangsta velcro dog

Please dont for 2 seconds underestimate this golden retriver. We adopted her from our local pound. She was brought back a total of 3 times before she made her way into a safe loving family. It was painfully obvious that even at her young age she had to defend herself alot. She has so much heart and is very feisty and doesnt mind standing her ground. Her tough side is not without softness though. We playfully call her velcro dog b/c she falls in love with you and is stuck like glue for ever and ever. She is so underfoot that sometimes she has to be pryed off of us! She is very good with Kal-el. She would of been a great doggie mommy! She gave us such a huge scare this past summer. Ginger got outside and ran off . It took her two days to find her way back home. We all thought she was gone forever. We should of known better we dont call her gangsta for nothing! She survived in the rough terrian and dense woods surrounding the area we live in and made it back home 3 days later lightly scratching on our door.  I was resting in the living room all hope lost on that third night and I hear Chris say "Ginger?" I thought to myself there is no way! We were so happy to have our girl back safe and sound never to be taken for granted again!

And last but certainly not least :
Maxx AKA Scientist
I love this little man. Maxx is our baby. We had to have many talks with him before Super arrived. We got Max when he about 6 weeks old. He was so cute with all of his black and white fur. I wanted to name him Panda. Chris informed me this was the most gay thing he had ever heard which let us to agree on the name Max. He is a wolf hybrid/ husky mix. He is the most peculiar intelligent little wolfy. I gave him the nick name scientist b/c he is so smart like Moms here lol. He has the funniest little quirks. Maxx loves to watch tv. His favorite movie is 8 Below he swears that the dogs are running out of the other side of the tv. He patiently waits for them. The most endearing memory I have of Max is when he was a puppy and his wolf side came out alot. Chris and I would howl up at the moon like morons and our sweet fur baby would follow suit and howl with us. I think we tried to demonstrate this for the vet once but we abruptly stopped upon receiving the "look" :) When Max is not solving equations he can be found following Chris around. He's a Daddys dog. I'm jealous :)

This time last year...Kal-el in 4D!

Last January was a very special time in my pregnancy. It marks the month that I got to see my baby's features for the very first time via 4D ultrasound. Technology amazes me. Funny thing is by the time my little one is grown this method will probably be totally archaic and some new found technology that we cant even fathom  will be in effect but for now this is the neatest thing ever :) I eyeballed 4D pictures online for months before my  scheduled appointment. I loved to see all the pre and after birth pictures to see how close the 4D resembled the baby after birth. Some of them were just so clear and this of course made me so very excited to see Kal-el. I kept wanting to bump my appointment ahead so I could see him sooner but I forced myself to wait so I would have better pictures of him. Just when I thought the day would never arrive it finally came and Chris and I were headed as fast as we safely could to the OBGYN to see our baby boy. Mimsy and Aunt Shane meet us there as well. We were all so excited. I was a complete spaz! There was only one other woman with a large bump in the frount ahead of us so not much waiting thank goodness. When they called my name I had to force myself not to sprint haha they would not have been a pretty or safe sight! We were all cramped and huddled in a little room staring at my gargantous belly and praying that Kal-el would pose like Mommy...well maybe not exactly like Mommy...lol We held our breath in anticipation for the first glance. When munckin came into view you could clearly see a sweet little hand over his face...Everyone let out a series of "awwwwwww's" He played coy for most of his photoshoot and kept his little hands stubbornly blocking his face. She tried to gently coax him to move by pressing on different places on my tummy. Well this child has his Daddy's stubborn gene and he wasnt budgeing. After several efforts in vain she brought out the little but very loud bell they clang against your tummy. Its amazing how God's little gifts can react to such a big world on the outside all while still being insideyour tummy. Its such a surreal thing you cant begin to fathom it until you have experienced it. The bell did the trick long enough for Mommy, Daddy, Grandmothers, and Aunts to see the most adorable baby in the whole world (yes we are biased) and here are the pictures to prove it!

                                   My favorite! He still sleeps with that little hand pulled up sometimes

Grouchy face b/c of the mean bell :)

Looks like Mommy in this one!

No Bite Super..no bite :D

Ouch! Kal-el has a new interesting habit that we have to work on breaking. He bites us. lol Not out of frustrastion or aggression but his other teeth are popping up everywhere..I'm sure he has a mouth full now and the biting sensation feels good. So he practices on our shoulders when we pick him up. This of course HURTS. If we cry out in agony he laughs b/c he thinks we have just played a game. He's so cute but we have to stop this! It's a safety issue to b/c your first instinct is to release whats hurting you and I'm afraid this may startle another person into dropping him and of course I care if there are injured shoulders running around lol So we have been pulling out the good ol' behavioral therpy and simply putting him down (which he isnt fond of) and simply saying "no bite". I think we will have a recovering bitter in a matter of days if not I'll be passing around alot of shoulder pads! :)

Princess Kitana watches Super take his first steps!

What good could possibly come out of being home from work for two days with an absolutely horrendous tummy virus you ask? Well for the most part it was terrible b/c I was home with my sweet baby but didnt get to spend quality time with him b/c I was too weak to even leave the sofa. Not only that I had to wear one of those dang masks so I couldnt pass this gross bug to family making me bear a striking ressembalence to princess Kitana from Mortal Combat. "Get over here"  lol. If you get this reference I heart you! Believe it or not there was actually something wonderful that I got to experience during this time. Chris got home from work and started playing with Kal-el . I enjoy watching them so much so I gathered all my strength to sit up on the couch so I could feel like I was part of the living lol. Thats when it happend Kal-el was crusing along the couch in his new Jordan's and Chris held out his arms for him. Thats when our sweet man took his first three steps just shy of 10 months old! Mommy is sooo proud of you! It amazes me how brave he is. His little falls scare me much more than they do him. He gets right back up and goes at it again! So I'm very happy that God chooses to work in mysterious ways b/c while I would never ever choose to have a virus if I hadnt of had one I wouldnt of got to witness one of the most special milestones in my little boy's life. First steps!

Kal-el's First J's

Who is fly? Who is the baby with the most swagga? Umm that would be Kal-el in his very first pair of Jordans. :) Lock up your toddlers!

Bailey, Beth, and Bridge Street

Saturday was a busy day for us. We scheduled Kal-el's 9 month pictures that morning at 10am. My friend Bailey, who lives in Decatur, has been taking his pictures ever since he was born. Its really funny to watch Chris and I on road trips. Even though Decatur is only an hour away our methods for getting there were totally different. Chris plugs everything into his nice little phone and lets it lead the way. I am very old school and actually Mapquested the directions and printed them off and of couse got made fun of.We were really looking forward to getting some awesome shots b/c Bailey has always captured him perfectly. Kal-el was in a great mood for shooting but he was in a new place and eager to see everything. In the past we had always done our shooting outside but the cold weather prevented it this time. I knew we would be in for some exhaustion with little guy when we arrived and it was just a background and him! I was thinking oh boy there is no way he is going to stand still on a piece of paper and not move! We will all have to plan better next time if we are going to get the shots we want. Looking back I wish we would of brought his little red wagon at least we could of sit him up in it! I'm was really hopeing to get some standing shots of him since he does it so well now! I'm anxious to see the pics hopefully we got some great shots in spite of everything. After we wrapped up the shoot we starting making our way to a shopping center by the name of Bridge Street in Huntsville to meet up with my good friend Beth. She and I go way back. We have been friends ever since high school and have made some really fun filled memories together. I was glad that Chris and I finally got to meet her boyfriend Jason. I had heard so many nice things about him. Mimsy came along with us and Zac, Jason's cute little boy was there with he and Beth. It made for a really nice family get together. Bridge Street is really neat but so much better in the summer time since its pretty much all out doors. During summer they have gondola rides in the area beneth the shopping center. Its a great little get away close to home. As soon as we arrived we realised that we didnt pack a jacket for Super. So Mimsy suggested we stop in a store and pick him one up. She found a precious superman zip up hoody and the size that fit my big little boy was suprisingly a 3T! After layering Super up we met Beth, Jason, and Zac at Red Robin to fill up on yummy burgers. Kal-el dined on french fries. We managed to save room for dessert and walked over to Molly Moo's for ice cream afterwards. I love cotton candy ice cream but I'm apparently the only adult who does. Also unbenounced to me that particular ice cream turns your entire face blue so for the next half hour I am ridiculed and called a smurf lol it was so good I didnt care! We walked around some more and took Chris by the theater . I really want us to come back and watch a feature but we had little people and were running short on time. We made one last stop on our way back home. Beth and Jason invited us to stop by their place. They have a lovely home and we enjoyed the rest of our visit. I really do wish Aunt Beth lived closer but I am totally fine with making frequent trips to the Huntsville area!

Update on the 6 ft rule!

Prayers were definitely answered this morning as all went well with Poppa's surgery. We were even blessed with additional unexpected good news! Dr . Holcome informed the family that the six foot distance was over kill and the only precaution he wanted Poppa to take was simply not holding Kal-el in his lap. Which means they can sit as close to each other as they like! We couldnt be happier. Today is a good day :)

Poppa's Seeds

Back a few months ago Poppa discovered that his TSA was too high and he was having prostrate issues that needed to be addressed. Initally he was given light rounds of radiation to try and shrink the prostrate so a more effect method known as Radioactive Seeds could be implanted. He has done really well with all of this so we really anticapate the same results for this last phase of the process. With all of this wonderful news there is a downside. The seeds are of course radioactive hense their name and they are emmited from the body in traceable amounts making it dangerous for prolonged exposure esp if you are an infant or an expecting Mommy (which I'm not lol) BUT Kal-el certainly falls under the infant category. We have been given pretty specific instructions on the do's and don'ts of exposure and it is much more strict than what we initially believed. Poppa and Kal-el have to stay at least 6 ft from one another for a 2 month duration. Talk about a heartbreaking challenge! It's going to be equally hard on both of them b/c Poppa loves his Kal-el and Kal-el loves his Poppa! Six feet may not sound like alot to some people but when you have a close knit family the way all of us are you understand the frustration that comes with a request as this. On a postive note he will still get to look at him, be in the same room as him and interact in other ways and hopefully this time will pass fairly quickly for both of them. His surgery is Friday so they are spending as much time together as they possibly can these few days before. I 'm so grateful that by the time Kal-el's 1st Birthday celebration arrives in March that there will no longer be any restrictions, making this day even more special. I love you Poppa and I know everything will go well Friday! Kal-el and I will be counting down the days with you :)

Kal-el and Carter

Kal-el has reached the age now were he has a favorite toy! I'm delighted at his choice for several reasons. First of all we have lots of back ups for Carter the lion. Back when Mom was throwing my baby shower I didn't tell anyone I was registered for anything. I've just always felt a little weird about the idea of signing up for your own gifts I know that everyone does that now and its considered the norm but I've just never liked it. I did however at least answer questions regarding the nursery if anyone asked me. So most everyone knew his nursery was being done in a jungle theme. We received three or four of the same adorable plush lions. I was happy about this from the start knowing how important a spare can be when raising little ones! That and the fact that it matched his nursery perfectly! Kal-el absoultely loves Carter the lion..named by me since his little tag says made by Carter. I always tell him to "kiss Carter". He grabs his face, squeals in delight and starts chatting Carter up. We are on Carter #2 at this point and I'm so happy to have #3 and #4 safely put up for hard times! I bet I know a little lion that ends up on a little boy's first Birthday cake!

This time last year...Getting our first baby's nursery ready!

A year ago around this time we were preparing Kal-el's nursery for his big arrival. This period of time holds such a special place in my heart b/c we all pulled together and contributed something different to the nursery. We turned my old bedroom into the nursery. I remember like it was yesterday the day that we started working on it. Aunt Vicki and Harold came over and helped us peel the victorian wallpaper that I grew up with off the walls in preperation for painting. Poppa and Chris completely redid the flooring replacing the old carpet with lovely dark wood floors.They worked so hard and I'm sure there were injurys I don't even know about. Mom was sooo much help she has an absolutely AMAZING  talent for drawing and painting so I couldnt wait to turn her loose with a brush so she could work her magic on the walls. I decided early on that if I were to have a little boy that I would do his room in a jungle theme. Mom and I put our heads together and found some beautiful ideas for a jungle themed nursery. I found the perfect bedding online. The little animals were absolutely perfect. Mom used them as a model for some of the mural she painted. She even incorporated an extra special personalized suprise on one of the little characters. We didnt let Chris see it until it was finished b/c Chris is the one who picked the name Kal-el which if you don't know by now is Supermans real name.  Nannie and Poppa found us an absoultely beautiful crib and got it for my baby shower. My Aunt Shane came across an incredible treasure of a dressor at an antique store across from where she worked at the time. It needed some work she told me but it was an otherwise very nice piece. I had Chris go pick it up. He got to work and began sanding it. I even trusted him to paint it in the right colors and did such a wonderful job. I remember wearing masks over my face while I helped paint even though I was assured the paint smell was non toxic. A mom in the making already. I must say that I am ever so happy with how his room turned out. Not only do I think that hard work and alot of talent went into it but the best part is how much LOVE from everyone went into it, the fact that it turned out so awesome is just an added bonus. Now if we can only get him to actually sleep in there a little more often!