All about those Pearly Whites!

We are leaving for Hawaii soon and are so ridiculously busy  super excited! Rick is about to start a new job, so this is our last vacation before we make some (ahem) changes to our daily routine. To top it off, Sloan has decided to cut FOUR TEETH at once. As if the top two coming in weren't bad enough - here, let me remind you how bad it was:  Her gums were looking like shredded meat.

But just the day after she turned 9 months old, Sloan was blessed with her two front teeth! And her face will forever be changed!

I KNEW there were more to come, as her upper left side is again, looking like cooked shrimp. Saturday, Sloan went on a hunger strike refusing to eat very much of anything most of the day. We finally got her to eat dinner on Saturday.  Sunday morning was a bit of a repeat, breakfast and lunch were just so-so. Sloan is typically a big eater but this weekend, all she wanted was to nurse. Sometimes i think nursing = comfort and I am more than ok with providing comfort to my baby. But then sunday night hit, and while we were playing, i decided to grab a flashlight and take a look inside. 

If your baby is anything like mine, peeking inside that mouth is something like opening a raw clam. I finally made a game into it where i stuck out my tongue and shined the flashlight into my mouth, then she would stick out her tongue. I finally got a good look and the tip of her second incisor on her top left has poked through. This was not a surprise to me, Nor was the lower left One Year molar that is well on its way, as a small dot has poked through. What DID surprise me is that her lower right second incisor broke the skin and her lower left second incisor is just below the surface.  Where the heck did those come from? Her upper right second incisor doesn't seem to be coming anytime in the near future, but what do i know? My child is about to have four bottom teeth (and a fifth when the molar comes in but i presume those take FOREVER since they are HUGE) and at least three top teeth, with a fourth to surprise us any time. We just went from a gummy baby smile to a full on toddler.... BITTERSWEET!

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: College Graduation

Exactly 10 years ago today, the 4th of May 2002, I graduated from Charleston Southern University! It is such a memorable day for me.  I remember waking up feeling nervous. Not sure why but i was nervous so i went for a run. My days prior to that were filled with lounging at the beach and working a part time job, Oh and finishing up my Art degree (the math degree was in the bag). My childhood best friend Anna was there as well as my parents and siblings. I wasn't the Valedictorian like my older sister was (of her LARGE graduating class at NCSU)  but i was a leader and a scholar. I received an award for being the outstanding mathematician of my school. Woo Hoo. I also received the FCA leadership award and the R. L. Wynn Christian Leadership Award for the entire senior class of graduating athletes, an award that was handed out a week earlier, and was put on the spot to give a speech (It was completely ad-lib ) but i remember the gist of what i said.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2482&dat=20020418&id=eCtJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lQwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6081,684889

I came to CSU for the same reason as most of you, to play sports. What i didn't expect was to find a relationship with God in the way that I have over these past four years. The one thing i want each of you to take  home from me today, is that I am not perfect. The example I set before you is completely flawed and imperfect. If you knew me when I first got here, or even at times over the past few years, you would know that I am not the best example of Christ. But that is the entire point isn't it? Jesus wants a relationship with each and every one of you, just like me. Don't do what i do, but be who He wants you to be... None of us are perfect, I most certainly am not, but thank God for Jesus because I don't have to be.  (Can i get an amen?) 

ha, ok so I didn't say that (last bit), but that's about what i said. And i meant every word of it. I can be as mean as a snake, or is it a hornet. Just ask my family. I have a protective bit about me that will come out when i think it needs to, you'll never push me around that's for sure. But i can also be the most gentle, patient, compassionate woman. I am still a work in progress, aren't we all?

I can't believe it has been 10 years! I am very pleased with all that I have accomplished in both my career and personal life. I must say God has truly blessed me upside down and inside out.

Freshman Year. Can you spot me?

BUSY BUSY BEES

Are you one of those people who rise to the occasion or do you shrivel up and die under pressure?

I have always been more productive the busier i get. I think its the fight or flight in me. So for me it is FIGHT. When i get busy i am much more productive that's just the way i react! The days where I have nothing to do, i have nothing to prioritize and I can sit around and watch tv. Oh how i miss those days. I don't think I'll get another one like that until either my children are teenagers and decide to start sleeping in, or I take a vacation away from them. Of course with so much to do, who has time to sit around and watch TV? I am lucky to get to watch ONE tv show a night, but that is ok with me. I have a DVR and the summer of reruns will be a great time to catch up. One show at a time.

Life for the Beemans (Or are we Bee-men?)  has gotten  extremely busy. We took Sloan to the beach for the first time and it was our first real family vacation! Sure we went to Houston in October, but it most certainly was not a vacation. More of a family visit. Rick and i had so much fun together, almost like a second honeymoon. I now understand why so many people have babies 18 months apart! Sloan is at such a fun age. My friend jessica who has SIX boys told me her favorite age was 9 months. I can see why. From my nanny/babysitting days i always like 18 months where they can walk and talk a little but being the mommy makes this age so special. Sloan is definitely a momma's girl though she absolutely ADORES her daddy.

This weekend we are going to my grandfathers house for the day on Saturday. Then Sunday we have a potluck after church and then a BBQ.

We are currently doing swim lessons on Monday and Wednesdays before school and Sloan is a little waterbug. She puts her face in the water without me asking her to and even swam from the teacher to me under water!! She is awesome and we are so proud. Next week Rick will come too so that she can swim back and forth between us!  Today is Thursday which means it is a music day. Sloan loves it!

She now giggles all the time, sometimes just to hear herself laugh. She even laughed herself to sleep in the car after our last swim lesson. It made my day, and even now thinking about it, i get a big smile. Sloan now waves bye bye and hello and she can say HI. She is very funny and her personality is really emerging.

I am really looking forward to the summer to "relax" though I hardly think any relaxing will take place anytime soon. 

On a sad note,  I had the opportunity to spend about 6 hours with Junior Seau at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas in October of 2008. He saw me at the pool and asked if I wanted to join his group of friends so i hung out with them one October afternoon. He was very entertaining and i must say that in person, he was larger than life. I remember holding his hand thinking this man could squeeze and crush me with such little effort. Dont' go getting any ideas, i was just checking out his hand size because he is Junior Seau, NFL great linebacker and will be inducted into the hall of fame. He actually played ball with a former classmate of mine Tremayne Stephens. I am glad I had the chance to meet him - it is very sad news that he took his own life.