Christmas Card Rejects

Yesterday, I forced Tyson into helping me get a picture of Jake for our Christmas card. Oh my gosh, why does it have to be so difficult? I can't imagine what next year is gonna be like trying to get 2 kids to look at the camera, be still, and smile at the same time when I can't even get my 1 child to cooperate!! After many, many, many BAD shots, I did manage to get one really cute shot for the Christmas card. The lighting wasn't perfect and it was kind of out of focus (the photographer shall go nameless), but cute nonetheless. Either way, all 3 of us were so over it by that point, so it's just gonna have to work.

Jake was exhausted when we got home from taking pictures. We took the pictures at the "Choo Choo Park," so Jake thoroughly enjoyed playing on the train and in the creek in between snaps. I didn't know just how exhausted he was until Tyson walked in to find this:

....poor baby fell asleep in the chair. How pitiful is this?

I'm glad I have a picture of him in this chair; I've been meaning to blog about this chair, but I just never had a good picture to go with it. This is the chair that sits directly in front of our TV; this is the chair where I have predominantly sat for the last 3 years..."Mama's chair" as it's known. Anyways, Jake loves sitting in the chair with me; he always sits on the left side and I always sit on the right. No matter what I'm doing, he will go sit in the chair on his side and call for me to come sit on "this side." It is just so darn sweet. I don't know how much longer he and I will fit in the chair together, but I just love sharing that seat with him. Oh and he usually won't let Tyson sit with him; Jake will tell Tyson "Mama's seat." Ha!

Here are two stories from today: 1) I took Jake and Ryan to school this morning and my mind was in a thousand places. I pull up to the school, go to get Jake out, and see that Jake isn't wearing any shoes. I search frantically around the car and NOTHING! I had to take my poor baby to school with no shoes on! How redneck is that? The teacher thought it was hysterical and promised not to report me to DHR (aka DFACS), but I felt like the worst mother EVER! 2) Jake and I were at Target today and I was unloading my cart at the check-out when Jake yells "Ho ho ho! Ho ho ho, Mama! Ho ho ho!" I look up at my child to see that he is frantically pointing to this sweet little bearded man behind me; apparently Jake thought he was Santa Claus. I was so embarrassed, so I explained to the man that Jake thought he was Santa Claus. The man was so nice and just played along...he even asked Jake if he had been a good little boy. Jake promptly answered, "No...bad!" Ha! Maybe he was actually listening to me when I was telling him he was being "bad" in Target!

UAB's Last Game

Jake and Jill

My silly boy
My sleepy boy in the 4th quarter...
he was just so excited he couldn't stand it!

Is it just me or am I really THAT short?

Jake is too cool for the UCF Knights!

Well, our hopes to making it to a bowl are over; UAB lost to UCF today 34-27. I have to say, though, that these past few weeks of football have been the most exciting I've ever been apart as a coach's wife. I'm already looking forward to next season!

One of my best friends, Jill, came over from Athens this morning to come to the game with us, and I am soooo glad she got to come. Not only is it always just good to see her, but she was a huge help to me! Jake actually sat through the entire game in the stands (which he has never done before), and it's all because Jill was there to help. Thanks so much Jill....you have no idea how much your support means to us!

I'm sure y'all are wondering what this means for us now that football is over...RECRUITING! Yep, no rest for the weary; Tyson starts recruiting first thing Monday morning. Yuck...I despise recruiting with a passion. I'm just so ready to have my husband home! Anyways, thanks for everyone's support this season...Go Blazers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I accidentally swallowed the turkey! :)
I couldn't get enough of taking pictures with my big boy!

Yes, mom, I actually had butter and sprite on the table!

With football season winding down, Thanksgiving Day at the Summers' house isn't your typical Thanksgiving. Our first year at UAB, our head coach had Thanksgiving catered for the players and the coaches' families. I really enjoyed that Thanksgiving (especially since I didn't have to cook at ALL), but we've never had it catered again for some reason. Last year, my sister got married the weekend after Thanksgiving, so we ate at our Offensive Coordinator's house and then Jake and I took off for the wedding. Well this year, I decided it was finally time for me to cook Thanksgiving for my family.

Yes, I am almost 30 years old and have never cooked a Thanksgiving meal by myself; luckily, I've watched my mom and helped her however I could. I just had no idea how to prepare it ALL...man it is so much harder than it looks! I survived, though, and I think it turned out to be a success! I made sweet potato souffle, dressing, a vegetable casserole, cream corn, and rolls; I totally cheated, though, and bought some pecan and pumpkin pies and a ham (I'm not a big turkey fan). I guess I haven't quite mastered making the WHOLE meal, but it's close enough!

So for our Thanksgiving meal, we had over 3 of Tyson's linebackers and 3 of Tyson's graduate assistants who lived too far to travel home for the day. Those boys usually eat a TON, as you can imagine, but they were going to another coach's house for supper, so they ate pretty lightly. Well, that or they just didn't want to hurt my feelings and tell me my food was bad. Ha! We had a great day (but definitely missed our families), and I think we may have started a new Summers' Thanksgiving tradition. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Two Little Turkeys

It was a bittersweet day in the Summers' house; today was our last day keeping Ryan. We are going to miss Ryan so much, but I know he is gonna have so much fun going to school every day. That little boy LOVES going to school! Whenever I drop the boys off, Ryan cannot get to the classroom fast enough! :) He is such a little social butterfly!

I had such great plans for Ryan's last day with us, but of course, things never go as planned. Between disinfecting and cleaning my house, preparing for our Thanksgiving feast and a house full of folks, and taking care of a sick baby and mama, I just didn't have the energy to throw a farewell party. Fortunately, I don't think Ryan even noticed! The boys did get to have one last bath together and had a blast....well, Jake did but not-so-much Ryan. Jake thinks it's his job to wash Ryan's hair and back...poor Ryan. He is just the best sport and tolerates Jake's shenanigans so well!

We'll miss you, Ryan! Good thing you live next door so we can still see you everyday!

A Weekend of Football...and Sittin' on the Potty?

Jake loves seeing his Daddy on TV...even if it's not always his Daddy!

"What has my Mama got me dressed in?"

Her two favorite teams of course!
Who's your favorite team, Jake?

Well, UAB lost this weekend to East Carolina 37-21, so we are out of the race for a Conference title. We can still become bowl-eligible with a win this weekend to UCF, but it looks as though there are too many bowl-eligible teams in Conference USA for us to be considered for a bowl with a 6-6 record. Needless to say, the loss this weekend was a tough one. We're still so proud of Daddy, though!

The look of "Why are you taking my picture while I sit on the potty?"

The look of concentration...

I'm not even gonna tell you what this look is for! :)

First of all, let me just say that I have had no intentions of potty training Jake until this summer...at the earliest. I'm just not ready to rush into it or rush him into it, especially with a baby coming in 4 months...that will be enough of an adjustment for my little boy! However, we have been trying to make him "aware" (so to speak) of some things (trying to spare my dignity here), but I really didn't think things were clicking. Long story short, Jake said several times today "Jake tee tee" as he led me into the bathroom and asked to sit on his potty. I wasn't gonna tell him no even though I had a feeling nothing would come of it. Sure enough, he sat on the potty several times and tried really hard, but to no avail. I'm still really surprised that he has shown an interest; I'm sure he'll completely forget about it tomorrow, though! To be honest, I hope we can avoid this for a couple more months. First, I'm not even sure I know how to potty train him (guess I better read up); and second, it's just bad timing with all the holidays coming up. Any suggestions? I'm just totally caught off guard by all of this!

Just Another Day at the Park

"Hey, Mama!"

It's a ....

healthy baby...

BOY!!

Yes, another little boy! I'm still in shock! Almost like I dreamed, the first thing I saw when the baby flashed on the screen was the penis...no joke. Now granted, it was definitely a scaled down version of the penis in my dream, but it was definitely a penis; however, it took the tech a minute to tell us anything, and in that minute, my eyes wandered around and I spotted the classic "3 lines" (which indicates a girl) and I said, "I see 3 lines! It's a girl!??" Ha! The ultrasound lady looked at me like I was crazy and said, "that's the umbilical cord...it's right next to the penis." How funny is that?

I'll write more later; I'm just still feeling pretty crummy right now. But praise the Lord for a healthy baby boy! I can't believe I'm gonna be a mama to two little boys! I hope baby boy #2 is as cute, sweet, and loving as his big brother! We're so lucky.

Here are some pictures of my oldest son finding out about his baby brother:

"What does 'B-O-Y' mean?"

As you can tell by the picture, Jake was really excited about having a baby brother! Ha! (He had just gotten in from school and was ready for nap). I'm so happy for Jake to have a little brother so close in age...I just hope he will be, too!

Thanks for the flowers, Mom and Dad! They are beautiful!

Wow!

Tomorrow is the big day...we find out the sex of baby #2! I can't believe it is finally here! I didn't think I'd make it, but to be honest, the last week or so has flown by. And while I'm being honest, I might as well admit to all my attempts at convincing people to do ultrasounds on me these last couple of weeks. First, I fibbed to this place in Macon when I was 14 weeks and told them I was actually 16 weeks to see if they could tell a little early; unfortunately, there were no spots left for that weekend I was in town. Then, I begged everyone I know at my hospital to find a hook-up in the ultrasound department, and then I begged my OB to just "check for possible ovarian cysts" when I went in for another UTI 2 weeks ago. Speaking of UTI, I visited a urologist last week where I begged her to perform my renal ultrasound early instead of waiting til this Friday. I tried really hard, but it seems it was in my cards to have my ultrasound tomorrow.

I know I've put a lot of emphasis on my excitement about finding out the sex of the baby, but I am really nervous about this ultrasound. I've been doing well pregnancy-wise with this baby, but I've had a lot of other issues that concern me. You see, I am on my 5th urinary tract infection of this pregnancy; like I said in the previous paragraph, I am seeing a urologist, but they are still trying to figure out why I've had so many. I've researched it quite a bit, and I've found that frequent UTI's in pregnancy could be caused by a problem with the baby's kidneys. I'm trying not to worry about it, but how can I not? Also, I've been really sick these last few days and been on lots of medicine (more on that later), and it just freaks me out that the baby could have been harmed in this process. And speaking of being harmed, do you know how many elbows, knees, kicks, punches, and blows I have taken to the abdomen by a certain feisty little boy? If this baby comes out in one piece without a deformed head or something, I will be pleasantly surprised. (insert comic relief here) Seriously, I'm not usually a worry-wart, but I think it's just natural to worry about the health of your baby...especially given all my issues.

As far as me being sick, I can honestly say I thought I was going to die yesterday. It all started Saturday night when we got home from Memphis; I started sneezing and having lots of nasal congestion that night. I thought it was just allergies, but when I woke up Sunday, I was feeling worse. Like a dummy, I went to work Sunday (and exposed everyone in my path I'm sure) and started feeling worse as my shift progressed. I started running fever early Monday morning and left work crying my eyes out because I didn't think I was going to make it. Long story short, I went to the doctor where I tested positive for flu and strep. My doctor also thinks I may have pneumonia, but she held off doing a chest xray since I'm pregnant. She loaded me up on tons of meds, but by Monday night, I was feeling worse and had trouble breathing. I went to the ER that night (where I consequently lost my phone or had it stolen from this crack head who was eye-balling it) and got some IV fluids and sent on my way. Oh and I also asked them to do an ultrasound, but no such luck. :( Anyways, I am feeling a little better today, and I no longer feel that I'm on my death bed. It's been rough, though, I'm not gonna lie.

If y'all don't mind sending some prayers this way, I'd appreciate it. I know what's done is done, but a few last minute prayers wouldn't hurt. Thanks!

Oh, and thanks to all who voted in my poll! It looks like 19 people think it's a girl and 3 people think it's a boy. We shall see tomorrow! I will try to post something on here tomorrow as soon as I'm able to!

UAB vs Memphis

Our very talented QB scoring a touchdown with NO SHOES ON!

So I've really tried not to post too much about football on here lately, but I'm just too proud of my husband and the Blazers not to talk about it! UAB beat Memphis yesterday 31-21 in the "Battle of the Bones" to improve our record to 5-5! Yep, one more win and we could potentially be bowl-eligible...2 more wins and we are definitely bowl-eligible and will even win the East in Conference USA! (I'm sure there is still a possibility of winning the East if we only win 1 of the 2 remaining games, but I don't try to get into all the technicalities of "if so-and-so loses to so-and-so and so-and-so loses to so-and-so, we might still win the East.") I'm sure that's a possibility, but I would just prefer to win both games so we can secure a bowl game and the East on our own!

Needless to say, we have a lot riding on these next two games! I know Tyson would appreciate all of your support, so please send him some love if you get a chance. UAB plays at East Carolina this Saturday at 2:30 Central, and we host UCF at home the Saturday after Thanksgiving at 12:30 Central. Go Blazers!

I wish I had more pictures of this weekend; my mom came to town and kept Jake so that I could go to Memphis for the weekend and cheer on the Blazers. I had so much fun but got so stinkin' sunburned! Who'd a thunk it? I missed Jake so much and wished he could have been at the game, but it was so nice not to have to worry about chasing my wild man around the stadium! Thanks Mom!

We're so proud of you, Tyson! Go Blazers!

Homeboyz

Jake "The Snake" Summers and Ryan "Mad Dog" Madden

No matter how much they fight, Jake and Ryan will always be "homeboyz."

Yes, believe it or not, these angelic faces fight...and fight hard. In fact, most of my days are spent refereeing between the two boys and making sure they don't kill each other. Well, maybe "kill each other" is a little bit of a stretch, but I'm telling you, I have never seen 1 year olds (well, almost 2 year olds) fight so hard. You would think they've been allowed to watch WWF or Ultimate Fighting Championship instead of Barney. Where do they learn this stuff? I've been warning their teacher at school about it, and up until this last week, they've been pretty good at school...until now. When I went to pick the boys up on Monday, Mrs. Leigh told me that Jake and Ryan had been fighting all day. She said they had been sent to time-out so much that day, they just automatically knew to put themselves there after a fight!

Don't get me wrong, they fight a lot, but they really do love each other. I think half the time they fight it's just so they can give each other a hug and say I'm sorry. I'm sure this is just yet another stage in life for the boys, but I am so ready for it to be over! Can't they just be sweet, loving homeboyz all the time?