Before/After and Snake Update

Finally we have a yard! After several months of playing on our driveway and realizing that most kids in public housing have more greenspace than our child we decided we HAD to do something so she had a place to play outside. When we bought this house 3 years ago it was a plus that we had a really big wooded lot with basically only a small yard area. Our needs have dramatically changed since then so we had to improve the yard to fit our growing family. The side area you see above has always been an unusable overgrown mess that we have basically ingnored. It was the only way to expand our yard and so we had a retaining wall built and sod put down and there you have it . . . we have a yard! We still have a lot of finishing work to do ourselves as far as mulching and doing some planting (you can see a picture of the yard boy planting my hydrangeas) but the basic canvas is there. We can't wait to play out there and get a little picnic table so we can eat lunch outside too! We were a little nervous about laying sod during the worst drough in almost 20 years but about 10 minutes after they laid the sod it starting raining and it poured all day on Saturday and we got a good soaking again today! Free water is a big deal when you start talking about watering as much as we need to the next few weeks so we were really excited.
Ok, everyone wants to know about the snake so I should update you on that saga. It ends happily for us and not so happily for the giant snake. It was about a month ago, we were getting Claire ready for bed when I heard someone knocking at the door. I went to see who it was and found my neighbor standing there barefoot, in his swimming trunks, goggles on his head, holding a dustpan and broom - I opened the door and he said "I found your snake!". I figured by the way he was dressed that the snake was in his pool but it turns out that his girlfriend pulled up to the house and found the snake laying across his front steps. The snake slid into a drainage pipe where he was hiding. We all went out there and the men attempted to get the snake out of the pipe and into a garbage bag by running a hose into the pipe. Our neighbor really didn't want to kill the snake - he wanted to take it to the creek or something. Since it was on his property I couldn't really argue although I told Rhett to go get the ax and have it handy. The garbage bag idea obviously didn't work (I could have told them that) so they tried to get the snake into a big garbage can. They managed to do that but as soon as the snake got into the can it literally stood up (all 6.5 feet) and started coming out of the can. By this time it was getting angry and trying to slither away so FINALLY they chopped the snake's head off and it was dead. So that is how the snake story ends. Hopefully, I won't have anymore snake stories in the future to share.

Happy 4th!

We spent a really relaxing 4th of July up in North Carolina at "Shirley Ridge" - Rhett's parents place near Bryson City. Rhett and I got to sleep a lot and Claire got to play with her grandparents a lot so we were all happy!
The second picture is of our PICU playgroup - Addie, Claire, Sydney and Emily Anne. I worked with all of their moms in the PICU (we are all in various stages of retirement at this point!). We all had babies within a year of each other and they were all girls. Two of us are expecting boys now which is fun and perfect for playgroup!
We had some 18 month pictures taken of Claire. I have decided to accept the fact the my daughter does not like having her picture taken. There, I've said it. I've been in denial for a while but I really just need to accept it and move on. Something happens to my laughing, giggling, happy child when a photographer shows up with a camera - usually tears are involved but mostly blank stares and no smiles. I tried so very hard to make these come out great. We even went to the botanical gardens the day before and "practiced" taking our shoes off (she loves wearing shoes, hates being barefoot and does not like walking in the grass with or without shoes). Of course I had my heart set on pictures of her barefoot walking through the gardens in a flowing white gown so I tried my best to prepare her but it didn't really work. Of course the fact that was June in Alabama and approximately 94 degrees didn't work in our favor. At some point Claire saw her beloved Bunny that I had tucked away in her bag in case of an emergency and that was basically the beginning of the end. As soon as she saw Bunny she wanted her paci (they kind of "go" together for her) and a fierce battle ensued between the two of us in the middle of the botanical gardens. I knew that if I was paying the sitting fee then I was going to win that battle and Bunny was going back in her bag and she was going to go frolick in the garden. That being said the photographer did manage to get some really great shots although our slideshow is not as stellar as some of the other ones I've seen that she's done. Here is a link to the slideshow: www.erinnolenphotograpy.com/shirley Next time I think I'll have her come to the house so at least Claire will be on her own turf and maybe she will smile!
18 months is the best age! The difference between 12 months and 18 months is staggering. It really is where they go from being a baby to a full fledged toddler or big girl as we say around here. It's like I blinked my eyes and Claire is eating with a fork, remembering everyone's name, saying big words like blueberry, delicious and peekaboo. She says "bless you" when you sneeze and is learning her shapes (her favorite - "oval"). She helps me do everything from emptying the dishwasher, putting on my makeup and mopping the floor. She gives the best kisses and hugs in the world - they absolutely make her Daddy melt into a puddle on the floor. She still sings all the time and sometimes at the end of a song she says "Amen!" and starts clapping. It's so cute. As much fun as it is to see her grow up it makes me sad that she is growing up so fast too. I guess that it is good timing with Ford on his way so we can start all over watching a little blob come home from the hospital and grow into an amazing little person.

Washington, DC

We just got home from our short trip to D.C. for the annual POW/MIA meeting. Rhett's Mom is the president of the League of Families of those missing from Vietnam (her brother is missing). We were really excited that we were able to go to support her and we had a great time too. Claire is a great traveler and loves going out and doing fun things. It was a pretty long weekend because we crammed so much travel and activites into about 48 hours but she hung in there. We did have one minor incident on our last flight home from Charlotte to B'ham. As we were oh so patiently waiting for them to refuel our aircraft (after being told to run -yeah right- to make our connection!) Rhett and I were trying to entertain Claire as our 1 hour flight was turning into a 2 hour flight. Suddenly we both look up at each other and say "what's that smell?". We look down at our precious little girl and she looks up at us and says for everyone on the small plane to hear "STINKY!!". Yes, she was referring to herself. Then the ohsofamiliar "poopey face" appears as she concentrates to finish her business and throws in a few grunts in case someone wasn't quite sure what was going on. This is not a situation that can wait so I grab my now "stinky" daughter and head up the aisle to the lavatory. The flight attendant sees me and says "you need to sit down we are about to leave" and I politely began to explain that it was in everyone's best interest that I change my child's diaper. We have flown with Claire a few times before but somehow managed to avoid the diaper-change-in-the-lavatory situation. Obviously I was about to break that tradition as I began to change my sweet baby's extremely messy leaky diaper (I won't be too descriptive but she hadn't gone in a few days - enough said). It was everywhere. All over her, the changing table and yes even the wall. In the midst of all of this she is screaming "Daaaaaaddddddy!" which is kind of funny because that is exactly what I wanted to scream too. We ended up making it back to our seats with out too much more commotion and eventually made it back to Birmingham. We are happy to be home today as we try to recover from the trip and get ready for another one this weekend. We are looking forward to going to Mac's first birthday party in Atlanta, then on to a wedding in Athens and then up to North Carolina for a few days. Whew. I need a nap already.

Summer Buzz

We've had a really busy couple of weeks around here. I taught Vacation Bible School one week and it was a doosey. I had 20 first graders to keep track of and it stretched me to my limits. God bless teachers. I don't think I have it in me. It was a fun week though. It was neat to be around kids who really understand and can learn pretty complex ideas. It was a fun age too because they weren't in that "too cool" stage and they weren't boy or girl crazy yet so they were all so sweet.
We also had to say good-bye to our dear friends, the Mareks, last week. Ironically enough they moved to Augusta where we moved from! They will be there for 3 years for fellowship. We will miss them so much. It already seems strange here without them. It seems funny to think back to when we met right after we moved here. We were just two couples - my how times have changed. We helped each other out through all the ups and downs of residency and managed to have lots of babies in the mean time! As you can see from the picture Claire is pretty upset about Cole leaving too.

Ford McKey Shirley

We are happy to announce the name of our new baby boy . . .

Ford McKey Shirley

It's exciting to have a name for the little guy and makes me even more excited about meeting him. Rhett and I see almost eye to eye on baby names which is nice. It took us about 30 seconds to name Claire. We never had a list or anything. When we found out she was a girl we both just looked at each other and said "so I guess it's Claire Louise" and that was the end of it. We held off on telling her name but decided to mix it up this time and let his name out of the bag.
The name Stafford is a family name on my side. We wanted to call him Ford so we decided to just name him Ford instead of having it as a nick name of Stafford. Rhett is big on naming them what you are going to call them so I was fine with that. McKey (pronounced Macky) is a family name on Rhett's side. It is his middle name and his Dad's middle name which is really special to Rhett. Ford will be the third generation of McKey middle named boys and the second from father to son and father to son which really means a lot to Rhett. Rhett always felt a neat connection to his Dad since they shared that middle name and now Ford will share that bond with his Dad (and Grandfather) too!
We think that Ford is a really strong name for a little boy. It passed the presidential test (Would this name sound good if he were to become President) and the ballfield test (can you hear this name being yelled from the outfield?) so we are confident that it will serve him well. We are also glad that it will be easy to pronounce and spell which is something Rhett and I will envy (he is everything from Rick to Rex and I was always "Mee-gan Swindle"). Of course having Shirley for a last name throws people off a little bit but all of us Shirleys deal with that - just ask Dr. Shirley Rhett. HA!

Last Call!

Rhett had his last Resident call this past week. We celebrated by making cupcakes as a surprise for him when he got home. It's kind of hard to believe and imagine a life without overnight call. It's something that Rhett has been doing every 4-5 nights most months of the last 3 years. We are looking forward to our "new life" as he starts his infectious disease fellowship in July. He will still have call but there aren't too many ID emergencies. The worst will be an occasional weekend that he will have to go in to round be we can handle that. Now any nights he spends away from home will be for moonlighting - which although we hate not having Daddy at home at night occasionally - at least he will be getting paid!

We went swimming the other day at the Slappey's house. We had a lot of fun in the pool and visiting with their family. Claire still really enjoys the water and is a little daredevil like her Dad. We are settling into a summer routine which is nice. We've got a lot of cleaning out and reorganizing to do before our new baby arrives this fall. We have to really maximize the space in our little house - definitely a challenge with two kids! When Claire was a baby we had all of the standard baby gear (bouncy seat, swing, playmat etc.) but none of the toys that we have now. So it will be even more crowded when we get out the baby gear again on top of the toys we have managed to acquire the last 17 months! We are trying to minimize our stuff and maximize the space we have. It's actually really good going through everything and asking "do I really need this?". You can see how easy it would be to accumulate a lot of stuff over the years if you're not careful. Rhett is currently going through several boxes of things that his parents brought after cleaning out his room at their house. I think he is enjoying his walk down memory lane but come to me and asks what he should do with his trophies from middle school. I think unless it is a Heisman or an Oscar it can go!

It's a Boy!

Here are pictures of the newest Shirley! We were excited to get the news that our baby boy is healthy and doing great! He is a little skinny (he weighs about 8 oz!) but we've got plenty of time to fatten him up before he gets here. It's hard to believe he will probably gain 7 1/2 lbs before he's born!! Rhett "knew" it was a boy from the very beginning (he was also right about Claire being a girl!) so he wasn't surprised. I kind of thought it might be a boy but it seems so strange that I could make a little boy! Girls just seem so natural to me (I guess because I am a girl and I've already had a girl) so I boy is a different experience. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to experience all of the fun things that go along with each sex. I can't wait to go to the ballet recitals and to the ball field. I would be sad if I missed either one. I'm excited about being there for Claire on her wedding day and watching her become a mother and I'm equally excited about raising a little boy into a wonderful man to give to a special woman one day.

Our unwanted visitor

Your eyes are not deceiving you - that is a snake. It is located approximately 8 feet from our front door. It was not a very good day.
Let me start over - Claire and I were headed outside to water our plants. When I opened the front door I startled a cute little chickmunk (Theodore, I think) who scurried through the brush right into the clutches of this giant snake. I proceeded to watch in horror as an episode of National Geographic Live unfolded in front of me. Little Theodore never had a chance. The snake struck him with his fangs then constricted him until his last little breath left his little lungs. It was quite graphic and quite sad but it got worse. The giant snake then proceeded to swallow the chickmunk whole. I watched as the little tail disappeared into the beast's mouth and a large bulge appeared in the body of the snake.
You may be wondering how I handled this whole situation. Well, I'm ashamed to say not well. I'm a little disappointed in myself honestly. I have worked in a pediatric ICU for 5 years now and handle life threatening emergencies without breaking a sweat. I love that part of my job - the training I've had in that setting keeps me cool and collected in most circumstances in life - or so I thought. I have to tell you that there is something about walking out your front door with your baby on your hip and seeing a six foot long, 6 inch thick SNAKE attack and eat a chickmunk that rattles you a little bit. I failed the snake test.
In three years of residency I have never called Rhett with an emergency. I thought this was a good exception. I called him in the middle of a busy afternoon at the hospital freaking out and yelling about a snake. Of course he thought I was exaggerating and it was probably a little garter snake or harmless little black snake. I was giving him the play by play as the snake snuffed the life out of the chickmunk but he still didn't understand the scale of the emergency or how close it was to our front door. I ran next door hoping our neighbor's son (who is a Marine) would have a weapon of some sort at his disposal and kill the snake. When they weren't home I told Rhett he had no choice he had to come home immediately and kill the snake. At this point Rhett is chuckling a little bit but perhaps a little concerned since I am really loosing it. I told him we needed to buy a gun (his response: "I'd be a little bit more concerned about you wielding a firearm right now than having a snake in our yard" then I told him we should consider moving (his response: No.). Once the snake had his fill he slithered off around our house - that's when I really saw how big he was and started freaking out again.
I started looking up snakes on the internet to identify it then - I found it! It was a Burmese Python I emphatically told Rhett (who had ignored my pleas and was still at the hospital). He informed we that we were not in Calcutta and the chances were slim that it was a Burmese Python. I called Critter Control and left a desperate message. I told them I didn't know whether I should call them or the Birmingham Zoo (this is the kind of snake you go to the reptile building to see). They ended up coming on Monday and told me that it was probably some sort of rat snake and he was a "good" snake. Apparently I should be happy to have this monster creeping around my yard - he eats rats and other varmits (I can testify to that) and keeps other not so nice snakes away. I was told not to worry because he probably won't bite me and if he did it wouldn't be a big deal. Mr. Critter Control searched our yard to no avail. Had he found the snake he was going to take it to his farm - that's how great this snake is! I had him spray our yard with snake repellant so now our yard smells like garlic. I think I am going to get a string of garlic and make Claire a "necklace" to wear in the yard when she plays.

Zephaniah 3:17

We have finally found Claire's life verse! After almost 16 months we finally found a bible verse that we will teach her and encourage her to claim as her own. This will be her special verse that she can hide in her heart and lean upon.

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

Above is a family photo from Easter (Claire's little brother or sister is also starting to make his/her presence known too!) as well as a few from our recent vacation to North Carolina. We took our first family car vacation - we packed our car to the brim and hit the road for a week! Claire did great in the car - she is a great traveler (thank goodness - she doesn't really have a choice considering who her parents are). We definitely had a our Griswald moments but overall it was a wonderful time and we made some great memories. Claire loved the pool! I was a little surprised since she hasn't been in the pool since last summer and she tends to be scared of big bathtubs but she jumped right in (literally!) and had a blast!
It seems like all of a sudden one day she seems so much older! Her newest word is "more" which she uses when ever she wants anything as in "more, more, more" which really sounds like "mo, mo, mo". Hmm. She also says a lot of "no, no, no" or if she is very serious just "NO". She loves to give kisses especially to her Daddy. She starts asking for him as soon as she wakes up in the morning and doesn't stop until he comes home in the evening. Every so often during the day she looks at me and says "Da Da?".
Claire is a great eater now and likes some pretty interesting things. A few of her latest favorites : pickles, black olives and hummus. She loves Chick-fil-a (just like her mommy) and is so cute as she dips her chicken nuggets in ketchup very carefully and says "mmmm" after each bite. Too cute!

The newest Shirley

Here's the latest picture of the newest Shirley. This was at about 10 weeks gestation. It's not the best scan but you can see arms, legs, cord and even a little face. I can't wait to see that face for the first time in person! That was one of my sweetest memories of Claire - seeing her face for the very first time. I'm feeling physically a lot better this week but I'm still worried about the health and safety of the baby. I guess that just goes with the territory of being a mom. I should be able to feel him/her in the next month or so that that will be reassuring. Thanks for all of your prayers for a healthy baby and pregnancy.

More Pictures!

I haven't updated our blog in a while so I thought while I had a few minutes I'd post of few more pictures! These were all taken in the last month or so. Claire loves to go to the park and enjoys the thrill of the slide and especially loves to swing! She's pretty brave and never really acts scared of anything (except the vacuum cleaner - she is terrified of the vacuum!). Her days are filled with exploring anything and everything. She like to flush the toilet too! Her favorite word right now is "Uh Oh!" she says it when she drops something, when I drop something, when she sees something on the ground that someone else dropped at some point . . . well you get the point - she says it all the time! She like to eat with a spoon like a big girl and she has finally started drinking milk! She loves all sorts of yummy treats that her Daddy lets her have like cookies, m&ms and ice cream. The last picture is her "ice cream face". She takes a bite, makes that face, walks away then turns right back around for another bite!

Big Sister!

It's true - Claire is going to be a big sister! We are happy to announce that we are expecting another baby October 15! It's hard to believe that Claire won't be the baby anymore and it's crazy to imagine another little Shirley! We are so excited and ready to see our family grow a little more.
This is how I broke the news to Rhett- we were getting ready to go visit a friend in the hospital when I put Claire's "Big Sister" shirt on her and sent her into the bathroom where Daddy was brushing his teeth. He turned around and saw her and said "Hey Big Sister! Who's big sister are you?" Then he realized what was going on and nearly choked and said "What? Really??". It was fun! We were happy that we could tell both of our families together at a family celebration recently. Once again, Claire donned her Big Sister shirt and wondered into the living room at Rhett's parent's house (picture above) needless to say there was a big ruckus and let's just say some people caught on sooner than others! Please pray for us and the baby as we await his or her arrival. The number one question I'm asked these days is "are you as sick as you were with Claire?" and thankfully the answer is no! No don't get me wrong I have spent my share of time laying on the bathroom floor between getting "baby sick" this time but it's no where near as severe as it was with Claire. It may sound strange but I'll find my self worrying if I don't feel particularly bad since that was my constant reassurance with C that everything was OK. But just about the time I start to worry a huge wave of nausea takes over and I feel better :)

Happy Birthday Girl!

Can it be true? Can my little-bitty-snuggly- bundle of baby joy really be turning one? What a difference a year makes. This time last year I had a one week old and this year I have an official toddler. I can't believe that a year ago I had just met Claire. I knew her movements well from nine months of toting her around but as I look back and think about the first moment I saw her face - the little face that I have kissed and nuzzled countless times since - it still remains the sweetest moment of my life. We fell in love with Claire those first minutes of her life in the delivery room but the past year that love has exploded into a love that in almost to great to comprehend. We are amazed by her everyday. The way she says "Da Doo" for thank you and sings "la la la" almost constantly, how she loves to be chased around a chair until she laughs so hard she falls down, how she hates to put her pajamas on after her bath, how she loves to bark at dogs (and anything with 4 legs), how she loves to empty the cabinet and play with all the dishes - stirring and stacking and pretending, how she loves cheese and refuses to drink milk, how she loves to throw balls and how she says "hello" when the phone rings. So many things to be amazed by and the list grows every day.
We celebrated her birthday on January 7th by having a Polka Dot Party. She wore a pink polka dot dress that I made her and had a polka dot cake. She had lots of friends and family here to celebrate with her and we had lots of fun. She loved her cake but did not like her party hat! She and her cousin Mac had fun together (pictured above). He is getting old enough to interact with her and they actually play together (or at least next to each other) now. It is fun to think about the fun to come with the two of them. When we try to get pictures of them together they generally just poke and pat each other which is turning into jabbing and pushing as they get older and want to check each other out. All of the pictures of them together pretty much look like that one except occassionally Claire has her finger in Mac's ear!

Merry First Christmas!

There has been a lot going on at the Shirley House since our last post. We had a wonderful holiday season with lots of celebrations with family and friends. In December we made a trip to Dalton from Claire's Great Grandmother's (better known as Gamma) 90th Birthday Party! It's amazing to think about celebrating Gamma's 90th as we prepare for Claire's 1st! A lot has changed in ninety years! We were also excited to spend our first Christmas as a family of three in our home in Birmingham! It was very different from Christmas of 2005 when I was waiting to have "the baby" at any moment! Claire decided to hang out for a few more days and just missed her first Christmas last year. It was a wonderful celebration this year and she was able to participate and really have fun which was neat. My mom and dad came for a few days at Christmas and then we headed to Dalton a few days later to spend time with Rhett's family. Claire now has more toys than she knows what to do with and has fun playing with them everyday!

California Girl!

We went on our first family vacation in November to San Diego! We had such a wonderful time! Claire is already a world-class traveler (lucky for her since her parents have been known to go to some crazy places!). We went to the San Diego zoo, went hiking at Torrey Pines and went on plenty of long walks on the beautiful southern California beaches! Claire had lots of firsts on the trip including her first plane ride and her first time to see the ocean! The picture above is when she first saw the ocean and tried out the sand (she's not a fan!). We made so many precious memories on the trip!
We are now looking forward to her first Christmas this week! Her most recent tricks are barking like a dog (she barks at anything with 4 legs!), showing you where her toes are and taking a few wobbly steps behind her walker!

Our little Pumpkin

Fall Greetings! Above are some recent photos of all of our fun fall activties. The top one is of Claire at the Great Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago. We had a great time riding the tractor and playing in the patch with our friends. You may recognize the babies in the next photo from an earlier post - those are Claire's buddies Sydney and Connor! It is so much fun to see them grow up together and amazing to think that we were all pregnant this time last year and didn't even know our precious little ones! The next one is one of my favorites of Claire with some pumpkins here in Birmingham. And the next one is of our little Piggy! She was dressed up here getting ready to go to the Costume Parade that we hosted at a local park for our friends (that's where the picture of Sydney, Claire and Connor was taken). We had a great turn out of about 20 kids with lots of parents and grandparents there to take part in and watch the parade. We are making it an annual event and hope it gets bigger and better every year!
Claire is moving all about these days. She was thrilled to figure out that instead of yelling when we leave a room she can just follow us! She waves bye-bye but instad of saying "bye-bye" when she waves she says "da-doo". Hmmm. She also loves to clap and make noises by strumming her lips. She talks or sings constantly! What a fun age with so many priceless moments every day!

A Lovable Face

Fall in the Gardens

We recently had Claire's 9 month picture taken at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham. They turned out great and really capture this precious age. She is busy throwing everything she can get her hands on, creeping and crawling around and trying to eat everything but babyfood! We got the green light at her recent Dr. appt. to start trying different table foods - this is music to Claire's mouth. Her favorite so far is blueberry pancakes! She also likes chicken and rice! She is trying to pull up and we look forward to seeing her take off any day now.

Go Dawgs!!

Goooooooooooooo Dawgs sic 'em . . . woof, woof, woof!! Yeah, a new little Bulldog is in town! Claire is all decked out in her new game day attire (which her mommy made!) and ready to cheer on the Dawgs today! I'm not sure who is more excited her or her Daddy! Claire is 8 1/2 months now and the sweetest baby in the whole world (seriously!). Everyday is full of fun and joy for all of us. She rolls all around (no crawling yet) and babbles and sings all the time. She has 4 teeth now and I think a few more are on the way. Her most exciting achievement is that she now can catch and throw a ball. She and her Dad play catch for hours now which makes him very happy. I can't believe how fast she's grown . . .

Vital Statistics

Name: Claire Louise Shirley
Age: 7 1/2 months
weight: about 20 lbs.
height: about 28 inches
Nicknames: "C", Ti Fe, Claire Bear
Favorite Color: Red to play with and pink to wear
Favorite Food: oatmeal and Cheerios
Least Favorite Food: peas (YUCK!)
Favorite Beverage: Breastmilk - is there something else?
Favorite people: Mommy and Daddy
Favorite game: Peekaboo
Favorite time of day: BATH TIME!
Favorite past time: singing
Favorite accessory: hair bow (now that I have enough hair!)
Favorite exercise: rolling around on the floor
Favorite activity: my Kindermusik class - I like playing with the drums and scarves
Newest tricks: saying "da da", playing peekaboo, drinking from a straw
Number of teeth: two (two more on the way)
Favorite toy: my Bunny (I sleep with Bunny every night - I LOVE Bunny)
Favorite Friends: Sydney and Cole (Mommy calls Cole my boyfriend but I call his mommy Aunt Shanan so wouldn't that make us cousins? Is that legal?)
Thing I'm looking forward to the most: crawling so I can check this place out!