Lead

At Jubal's 12 month checkup visit, his pediatician sent us to the lab for a lead test. He told us that they do this test when the child turns one & then again at age two.

Ok. No big deal.

We went for the test & I never really even thought any more about it.

On Thursday, July 21, the nurse practitioner called me and said Jubal's levels were slightly elevated. I was standing there on the other end with my jaw on the floor. I couldn't even speak up & ask questions. I just listened while she spoke and answered her questions. All kinds of things were going through my mind. As soon as we hung up the phone, I sent a text to Larson letting him know. When he was able to call me during his lunch hour, he had all kinds of questions.

Fortunately, since I didn't ask questions while on the phone with the nurse, I had researched it online so I was able to answer some of his questions (and mine). Other than that, though, we would have to have more blood work done & wait.

We went back for the blood work this past Monday, July 25. Jubal actually done very well. There was no blood slinging this time, thankfully.

And then we waited.

I just received a call from the nurse & she said she was just calling to let me know that all of his blood tests came back NORMAL! Yay!!! 

I am a happy mama! I just thank God that my boy has been given a clean bill of health.

It may not seem like anything that most moms would have been worried about, and maybe I shouldn't have worried so much, but that's my baby & I want to make sure I protect him with everything in me.

I'm sure every mommy out there feels the same. :)

Thank you, God.

Great Grandmother

Jubal's last surviving great-grandparent passed away yesterday evening.

Mrs. Vina Lee Morgan Stanfield, Jubal's daddy's paternal grandmother, was a wonderful woman.

She raised six children of her own & helped raise several of her grandchildren.

My husband, Larson, was raised in Mr. J.E. & Mrs. Vina Lee's home.

He has a lot of very fond memories of his childhood with them that he plans to share with Jubal.

That is how we intend to keep our family that has gone on before us alive.

We want Jubal to know them. What kind of people they were. The good things they done.

Larson just lost his Papa, J.E., on June 12th. I posted about that here.

He also lost his maternal grandmother, Ruby Kate, earlier this year on April 26th.

We have lost some important people in our lives in less than a year.

I lost my daddy on September 5, 2010. Jubal was one day away from being 8 weeks old.

It makes me so sad that Jubal will never get to know some of the people that mattered the most in my life & Larson's life.

One day I'm going to sit down and write a post about my brother, Bobby. He was the most influential person in my life growing up. He was my brother AND my friend. I miss him so much. He died suddenly & very unexpectedly on November 29, 2003. :(



Larson & I both truly believe that Nanny is at home, in Heaven, with Papa now. We're sure she ran through those beautiful pearly gates right into his arms. What a wonderful feeling that must be.

Rest in peace, Nanny. You left behind a lot of people who love you very much.

Sweet dreams forever.

The Quilt

My best friend, Darla, gave Jubal the sweetest gift for his birthday.

A beautiful quilt.

Darla picked out all of the fabric.

I contributed 3 of Jubal's favorite onesies, per her request.

One newborn, one 3-6 months, & one 6-9 months.

Her wonderful brother-in-law, John, made the quilt.

How precious is this quilt that will be a keepsake forever and

hopefully be passed down through the generations?!

I was so surprised!

She didn't tell me what she needed the onesies for.

I knew it would be for some type of keepsake, but certainly

never imagined a quilt.

It means so much to me

because I didn't think Jubal would have his own quilt.

My grandmother, "Moner", my daddy's mother, passed away a few

years ago & she was the quilt maker in our family.

She would have made sure Jubal had a special quilt,

but without her here, I just thought that was out of the question.

I'm so happy!

It is such a thoughtful, from the heart gift.

Now I can't wait for the cooler months to arrive

so I can wrap him up in it & snuggle.

It will be like wrapping him up in love, because that's exactly

what this quilt was made out of.

Pure love.

Always & forever.

12 Month Checkup

Well, my little one year old toddler...

You now weigh 20 lbs. 15 ozs. and you are 29 1/4 inches tall. You're in the 25th percentile in weight and the 27th percentile in height. Your head is 17 7/8, also in the 25th percentile.

Yes, you are on the small side. It's fine, though. Your pediatrician tells me you are perfect, just built like your daddy is all. :)

You hated taking your shots yesterday! You had a finger prick to check your glucose, three shots, and then we had to go to the lab for some blood work. Evidently, they run tests for lead poisoning on you when you turn one & two.

You refused to let them draw blood from your arm, so they had to prick your finger again. By the time it was over, you, me, and Daddy were covered in specks of blood. You pitched a fit and slung your arms all around slinging blood everywhere. Literally! Poor nurse.

You are still not walking independently. However, you do walk where ever you want to go with the assistance of your little "stroller". That's what I call it anyway. As long as you have it or Mammaw's walker, you go anywhere.

You stand on your own only when you don't realize you're doing so. Once you realize it, you sit down.

You eat mostly table food now. You still love green beans. You eat anything, though. It's fun to watch you try new things. You do still love your Stage 3 Gerber foods. We keep you stocked up on those because it's easier to send something like that to daycare with you on Tuesdays & Thursdays.

You are on whole milk. We had a couple of cans of formula left, so we're still giving you formula at bedtime. You stayed on Similac Sensitive the entire time you were on formula and never had tummy troubles and never had to be switched from this formula to that formula, etc.

You drink your juice from a sippy cup like a big boy. It won't be long and we're doing away with your bottles all together.

I'm so proud that you haven't taken a paci since you were nine months old. You just put it down and never acted like you wanted it again. You were never that interested in it anyway. Usually, you would take it throughout the night when you didn't have a bottle.

You prefer daycare over going to Mammaw's now because there's so much more activity for you there. Maybe at re-registration, we will sign you up for full-time. I'm not sure about that yet.
You do love it there, though.

You're still in size 3 diapers. You wear a size 3W in shoes. You wear some 12 month clothes, but still fit pretty good into most your 6-9 month clothes. You definitely have to wear 6-9 months in shorts & pants. Bless your little short-legged self. :)

You can drink through a straw and love to share your daddy's vanilla coke. You like sweet tea, too, but we don't give you much of these drinks. I want you to have beautiful, healthy teeth and I'm afraid those sugary drinks aren't good for your teeth, or your body for that matter.

You received so many new, interesting toys for your birthday. You especially love the walking "popper" toy that Aunt Gena got you. I have no idea what the name of it is. It pops little balls up when you walk with it & you want to do it so bad, but just can't take that first step without falling. It really frustrates you, but I know you'll get it soon.

Your vocabulary is increasing daily. You are a very vocal fellow. I can't wait to hear you say "I love you, Mommy." Mostly, your words right now are Da da, Ma ma, Ba ba, Lan na, Bye Bye, and Hey. You throw that hand up when you say hey, too. It's so cute!

There are so many things that I'm sure I'm leaving out. I want to keep up with things the best I can here, in your journal. I do know that you are one loved little boy. You are the little boy that my heart has been set on since I was a little girl myself.

Your daddy & I love you so very much, Jubal. I hope that I raise you the way God wants me to & you grow into a fine, independent, respectful young man.

We love you,

Mommy & Daddy

One year ago today...

...a sweet little baby boy changed my life forever!


"Happy FIRST Birthday to you, my precious son."
You are everything I've ever dreamed of.
You are exactly what I wanted all my life.
You have made me whole.

You can look at me in such a way. It makes me fall in love with you over & over. So sweet. So innocent.
This time last year was such a happy time in my life.
I didn't know what to expect when I went into those hospital doors that morning, but I know I was at peace.
I knew I would soon hold my greatest blessing from God EVER.

You have made this year so special by just being here with us. Life before you seems to have never been. What did we do without you?


We had your first birthday party on Saturday.
I hope if you could talk you would tell me you had an awesome time.

Your cousin, Lacy, made your cake. She did such an awesome job! I showed her a picture, told her what I wanted & she took it from there. It was actually the inspiration for everything else. 

The cupcake toppers and favor tags came from Just The Cute Stuff. I really like how they went with your cake.

On the back of your favor tags it also reads "Love, Jubal". I like how she personalized them for you. Sweet.

Your party hat & shirt came from Southern Junebugs. They both will be treasured keepsakes.

Your commemorative plate came from Little Moments Pottery. There was also a special little message on the bottom of your plate that said "May you be jubilant today & always." The woman that made your plate said she just loved your name. :)

These are some things I wanted to make your day just a little more special & also have to keep for memories later.

Now, on to the rest of your party!

We had a backyard barbeque. Boy, was it hot! It was fun, though. We had hamburgers & hotdogs, chips & dip, and lots of cake & ice cream.

We let you open some of your presents while Daddy was cooking all the food.

We had so much food! Daddy even threw some sausage on the grill. Yummy!

Then, we let all the little ones play in little pools, with a beach ball sprinkler, and eventually just a plain ol' water hose.

So much fun!

After you & all of your friends were played out & your cousin, Lyndsay, made it, we moved the party inside and let you "smash" your cake.

You didn't like your party hat at first, but you were okay after a few minutes. 

You did so good...until Daddy smashed your face in it. Never fear. Mommy made sure Daddy got his payback!

Looking at this video & hearing how we all really sound...yeah, we're country! Goodness gracious! Ha!

We put you back in the pool to rinse you off so we could let you open more presents. You got all kinds of goodies.

I will say this. It was a very good day. I didn't think we were going to be able to pull it off, but everything worked out perfectly.

I hope one day when you look back that you will be proud. It wasn't much, but it was all for you.

____________________________________________

Thank you, Jubal, for being such a blessing to your daddy & I.

The angels sang the day you were born.

Happy Birthday, Baby! We love you so much more than you will ever know.

The best day of our lives.

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Wordless Wednesday

First Family Fourth

We had a great Fourth of July weekend. I wish it had lasted longer, but it was fun nonetheless.

Saturday, we got together with friends we don't get to see very often. We went down to the river and enjoyed a day in the water & sun.

Sunday, we spent the morning being a little lazy. The afternoon was spent visiting family. Our evening consisted of us going to my mama's house for some good ol' grilled hot dogs & chicken. We also got to see our own fireworks. It's something we've done every year for awhile now.

It was also a "test run" for Jubal. The noise didn't scare him at all & he loved the light show! I'm glad, too, because we were taking him to a bigger fireworks show for the fourth.

Here's a few pics from our 4th of July festivities.

First pic of the night. My favorite guys!

It's so hard to get them all to look AND smile at the same time. :)

See what I mean? ;)

At least they're all looking! HA!

Waiting on the fireworks to start.

I probably shouldn't post these, but...Jubal has found his nose. Ha! Awful!!

We're going to be working on this.

It was so hot & humid that we ended up stripping Jubal down so he could be comfortable.

My beautiful boys watching the lightshow.

Even Bozley got to watch the fireworks! :)

I also got a little video. It's not the best in the world, but oh well. It's memories, baby!

Now, I'm just getting ready for Jubal's FIRST birthday party this Saturday. It has came along quickly. I'm kind of stressed about it because I want it to be perfect. As long as it's fun, I'll be satisfied. 

So much to do. So little time.