So I have to go back to work in 4 days. I AM NOT looking forward to it. Even though Deaner has been sleeping thru the night for several weeks and Rodney will be home with him, I can't help but have a feeling of abandonment. I've become very acustomed to being at home, watching cartoons, singing silly songs, reading books about talking cars and tractors. I know I will EVENTUALLY enjoy being back at work, just not ready to go back yet. Maybe I can hold out till he's 13. By then he will know EVERYTHING and I will know nothing. Until then, I will hold this little guy super tight.

So this past weekend, in honor of labor day, we didn't labor. We instead, packed up the Tahoe and loaded the dogs and started our way up highway 44 towards St. Louis. Dean did really well on his first road trip. He slept most of the way until we got onto hwy 270. Thats when he started getting fussy and crying. I suppose his rump was getting sore after sitting in his car seat for so long. I introduced him to Veggie Tales on YouTube via my iPhone and he was mezmerized by it. Granny and Pops were super excited to see Dean. I don't think they even noticed Rod or myself.

There wasn't too much planned for the weekend, go see a couple of close friends, maybe hit one of the malls. One such close friend we went to visit was Aunt Mary. She's not really my aunt, but at one time she could've been my great aunt. Long story short, Aunt Mary is:

1. My high school boyfriends great aunt
2. A lady that bowls in the same league as my parents
3. My moms housekeeper
4. A fantastic woman

Aunt Mary is a spitfire of a woman, and at the young age of 75, she still is as active as ever. We went to her and her husband Franks house so they could meet Dean.

We sat and visited with her and Frank. Mary just went goo goo over Dean, and well, who could blame her. He's so stinkin cute! I think she's in love! Dean now has an Aunt Mary. Everyone should have an Aunt Mary.
Sunday we took Dean to his very first St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. Pops bought party box tickets for the very special occasion. Dean got dressed up in his Fredbird/Pujols outfit and Rodney got a new Matt Holliday jersey, courtesy of his favorite mom-n-law. Dean enjoyed the game very much and got excited when Holliday hit a 3 run homer to give us the lead.

This is the best spot for taking pictures, section 140. You can see the Arch in the background.

Earnests' at Busch Stadium

Dean watching Pops make funny faces at him

Dean with Granny and Pops

Daddy and Dean

Dean also got a certificate certifying him as an offical St. Louis Cardinals fan at his first game. I think we will do this again next year, and every year after that until Dean actually plays for the Cardinals. Then we will sit with all the other players families. I have high hopes for Dean already.

I love my Tricia! She is always so fun and makes me laugh all the time. She is a nurse in the newborn nursery and if it weren't for here guided hand and patience, I prolly would have self imploded weeks ago. She has been there for me since we brought Dean home which I can't thank her enough for. The very first night Dean was home we were unsure on how to "put" him to bed. I sent him to the nursery every night we were in the hosiptal so I could try to get some sleep (I was unfortunatly still on my night schedule so sleep evaded me). What they did with him in the nursery I will never know. So that first night we dressed him in a cute sleeper and laid him in his crib.... and then stood there..... staring at him. He looked so tiny in his crib. We were both scared to just leave him there...all by himself.....alone. All these thoughts went thru our heads. What if he's confused? Does he know where he's at? What if he wakes up scared? What if he gets cold? What if he gets too hot? Do we swaddle him or cover him with a blanket? We both started crying a little, unsure about what to do with our little man. So I took this picture:

and sent it to Trish with the question "Is this how you put them to sleep?" I know it is a stupid question but at that time we were clueless. I didn't want to leave him but at the same time I knew that I more than him needed to get use to him sleeping in his own bed.

I can only imagine what was going thru Tricias mind when she got that message. "OMG, they are so dumb!" Yes, yes we are. But she was kind enough to suppress her laughter and just responded with "You can put him down like that or swaddle him, either way is ok." So we kissed him goodnight, laid him in his crib and left the nightlight on just incase he were to wake up and not know where he was. We both went to bed. Rod was out like a light in just a matter of minutes. The last 5 days had been rough on him. I laid in bed, sobbing and clinging to the video baby monitor for dear life.

There were many other nights when Dean would cry and I just couldn't get him to bed. Trish was there on the other end of the phone texting me answers and telling me everything was going to be alright. One evening as I was changing Dean into his pj's, I noticed one of his nipples was red and hard. I thought he had an abscess in his little nip. I gave it a gentle squeeze and a white liquid came out. Lo and behold my male child was lactating! Now I had read before that both male and female newborns can lactate due to the increase levels of female hormones the mother passes to the babies while still in the womb. I just had to have some reassurance from Trish that this was ok. And I needed to share it with her cause it was kinda funny and I knew Rod would flip out. She of course laughed and said it was fine and would go away over time, and she wished she could see Rods face when I told him. When I did tell Rod, his eyes got wide and his jaw dropped. He called Trish too. Then he Googled it.

Needless to say, I really would have imploded if it weren't for Tricia. Your like the sister I never had and I love ya dearly. Thank you so much for being on the other end of the line night after night answering my stupid questions. Thank you for resting my fears, I trust your advice more than most others. And thank you for being a true friend and not laughing directly to my face! Mmmmwah!

The Proud Grannies

These two ladies pictured below are the two proudest Grannies ever. They love their baby Dean!
This is my mom, Cathy. She will be known as Gramma, Granny, Grandma, whatever Dean decides to call her. She came down to stay with Rodney and me a week and a half before Dean was born. Thank the little baby Jesus for that, cause as many know, the last month of my pregnancy was very painful. I was as big a red barn! Mom cooked for us and cleaned the house, did some sewing and rubbed my poor swollen right foot. They day that my water broke she had a smile from ear to ear and glowed! Mom stayed with us for another week and a half after Dean was born. She says it was to take care of the house while Rod and I bonded with Dean, but I think she really didn't want to leave her Dre.

This is Rods mom, Betty. She has a been running a day care out of her house for 30 years! Every single kiddo she has had has called her BB. Braden, our nephew calls her BB. So this is Deans BB. On the day that my water broke, Rod called her to tell her that Dean was coming early. An hour or so later, when she still hadn't arrived at the hospital, Rod called her again to tell her they were taking me to the OR and to see where she was. She only lives HALF A MILE from the hospital! What could possibly be taking so long? She said she was putting on her jacket and would be up in just a few. A jacket?! Its the end of June and 100 degrees outside! Why would one wear a jacket?! Well because she's BB and she must always look her best, especially when she will be meeting a very important young man for the first time.