I Need YOUR Help....

I am in need of some help and thought this would be a great place to come. Below is a picture of Tatum's nursery before she was born. Notice the pink rocking chair and ottoman....
I would love to keep this chair in the nursery for Baby Boy Simpson so I can use it when I am feeding him, but it is pink. Does anyone know where I can get a chair cover (that's not going to cost me an arm and a leg) that will fit the chair and ottoman??

I had debated on just getting rid of the chair or moving it into Tatum's new room, but then that means I have to buy a new one for the nursery and I would rather save the money.

If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Baby Boy Simpson Update

Well, this pregnancy has been a little more difficult than it was with Tatum. It is still going well, I am just having some hiccups along the way. Let me see if I can update a bit...

I went to L&D on Oct 14th with contractions. They stopped them and sent me home. Since then, I have been having tons of contractions (pretty sure they are Braxton Hicks since I am not dialating) since then. To go along with this, I have also been having tons of back pain, sciatic nerve issues, problems with my migranes again, and horrible ulcers in my mouth. None of this is fun, but it is a part of pregnancy so I have been trying to take it in stride and do what I can.

Work has been pretty hard on me since I am having these issues. It is all I can do to get my work done before I have to head home and lay down from the pain. My manager has been in close contact with me and we even talked about me going on Short Term Disability early since work has been hard.

Saturday was Tatum's birthday party and I overdid it, majorly! As soon as everything was over and we were headed home, the back pain hit me like a ton of bricks. I was hurting and there wasn't much I could do to help. I finally found some relief in a hot bath, laying down the rest of the afternoon, and tylenol.

So Monday, I had a regular checkup with my dr. and talked with her about everything going on. Long story short, she decided that she agreed with my manager and she put me on modified bedrest for the rest of my pregnancy. So, I am off work til the baby comes. She also wants me to start physical therapy for my back pain. I am ALL FOR the PT 'cause at this point I am desperate to find some long term relief for my back pain. (HAS ANYONE DONE PT WHILE PREGNANT???? IF SO, DID IT HELP IN YOUR OPINION???) I know that probably won't happen until after I have the baby, but I am still hopeful. She also told me that while I was on modified bedrest, she would allow me to do things as I felt up to them....aka take Tatum to Chick-fil-A for her birthday and church. At this point, I am taking Tatum to school everyday and that is pretty much it. I am trying to clean up the house little by little, but I haven't felt too well this week.

I know this may sound bad or whatever, but it could be much worse. Baby Boy Simpson is healthy and growing and doing well. He kicks like CRAZY (hard kicks and very often). Since there is no concern about his health or well being, I am okay with whatever comes my way. We only have just a few more weeks, so it won't be too much longer before he is in our arms. I can already tell he is going to be a night owl....that is when he kicks the most and is most active.

Antonio has been AMAZING with Tatum. He always was before, but he is REALLY picking up my slack since I am not supposed to be picking her up or anything. It is amazing all he does with her and has done since the day she was born. He does bathtime every night, and now reads to her in her bed before she goes to sleep. It is precious and I love to peak in on them during story time just so I can see them.

Finally, at my weigh in on Monday, I was up 22 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. I did leave on my shoes for the weigh in since i was too lazy to take them off, but that is only like a 1/4 of a pound so it wouldn't change things much. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so I am anticipating packing on some pounds when I eat my grandmother's YUMMY food! I will not deprive myself there or anywhere during the holidays (unless my dr gets on to me).

That's it for now. Please keep our growing family in your prayers and I will keep everyone updated on any changes.

****Please check out the blogs below for updates on Tatum.*****

2 YR Checkup

Yesterday, Antonio and I took Tatum for her 2 yr check up. Normally, this would mean no shots, but she got her flu shot yesterday. Antonio got one too and I think he cried more than Tatum (Just kidding).

Here are Tatum's stats...

Weight: 31 pounds.....90th percentile....she feels like a ROCK when you pick her up.

Quick, funny story. When we were a Chick-fil-A for her birthday dinner, Antonio was playing on the playground with her. This lady was helping Tatum get to the next leel of the playground and when she lifted her up, you should have seen the expression on her face. She then turned to Antonio and said, "How much does she weight!?!?!?"

Height: 34.5 inches...75th percentile...

My sister said you are supposed to be able to double her height at 2 yrs and that is how tall she will be when she gets older. If that is correct, then she will be 5'9" when she grows up.

Tatum has had major drool issues lately, so I was pretty sure her 2 yr molars were coming in, or at least one of them. The dr checked and ALL 4 are already in! With all this teething, she has had a major runny nose which usually leads to other stuff with Tatum.

The dr. checked her ears and Tatum has DOUBLE ear infections AGAIN!!! SHe had a double ear infection about 3 weeks ago, and we aren't sure if she ever really got over them or not. When Antonio took her to the dr 3 weeks ago, the dr told him if she had one more ear infection, it would be time for tubes. Yesterday, she decided to give us "one more time" since she was sure the teething was the cause of this one. The dr. gave her some stronger medicine and we have started giving it to her.

Other Tatum news....

Tatum is transitioning into the 2 yr old room this week and will be in there officially this coming Monday. She LOVES being around all of the "grown up" kids. Her moving up also means that the teachers will start working with her to get potty trained. We are DEFINITELY not pushing this too quickly since we have the baby on the way, but the teacher assured me that it will take a while. So, no big girl panties just yet, but maybe in 6 months??? Teacher said maybe by Jan, but I think that is a little too soon unless she is really ready.

WHen she moves up into the 2 yr old room, she will also not be allowed to use a sippy cup anymore. Only a little Dixie cup with not lid. This worried me at first, but I picked her up early yesterday during snack time and she was doing GREAT! No spills or anything. Not sure if this will be the norm for us when we got to restaurants or anything, but we may try it.

Tatum is really getting into baby mode these days. She got a few baby dolls for her birthday and she carries them around with their little bottle and feeds them. She is NOT gentle at all with them, but it's a start, right? She will also point to my belly and say "baby" all the time. When she gives kisses to the baby, she lifts up my shirt and kisses my belly button. I am wondering if she thinks my belly button is the baby? Also, when we are out and see a baby, she always points and says "BABY!!!"

I think/hope/pray that as long as we still give her plenty of attention, she will transition pretty well. When we tell her to go to her room for bed or anything, she ALWAYS goes to her big girl room. I can't tell you the last time we have gone in the nursery with her. I try to change her and everything in her room.

She does like to be mommy's big helper, so I will have to be careful when she wants to help with the baby, but we will take it one day at a time.

I guess that's all for now. Tatum is at such a fun age and she is growing up so fast. I love that she can communicate back with us these days, sleeps through the night, takes her medicine without any problems, loves her school and her teachers, etc. She is REALLY into using her manners these days. I wish I could count the times that she says "THANK YOU!" everyday. If you give her something, she will say "Thank you!!!" until you say "You're Welcome!" She also says "Please", "LOVE YOU!", and "Bye" while blowing kisses. She is a bit independent, which is good most of the times, but sometimes it can cause a little bit of a struggle when in public. You momma's know what I am talking about, right?

Tatum is GREAT and Antonio and I are BLESSED to have such a wonderful daughter!

Tatum is TWO (continued)

Monday was Tatum's actual birthday, so I decided to take some quick pictures of Tatum before we headed to school.

These are in our front yard before we loaded up in the car. Notice that Amigo Bear is in hand as well. He goes to school everyday.
"Tatum, how old are you?"

"No silly, you're not 5...how old are you today??"

"Okay Mommy, let's go to school!"

After school, we decided to take Tatum to Chick-fil-A to celebrate her birthday. Her hair was a little crazy, but please overlook it. We went straight from school to Chick-fil-A.

Tatum really didn't eat much at all 'cause she wanted to go play on the playground and didn't want to take time to eat. Good thing I got some early shots of her eating.

After letting her play a little bit on the playground, we decided to share some ice cream instead of giving her cake with icing late at night. Here is Daddy and Tatum....she couldn't look at me cause she was busy...

Tatum is really doing well with using her fork or spoon. She does make a little bit of a mess, but she is great at using a napkin too.

Tatum decided in order to get me to put down the camera she needed to give me a good smile. CHEESE!

Getting to the bottom of the ice cream cup (don't worry, we shared it between the 3 of us)

After Chick-fil-A, we headed home to open some presents. She had a few from some of her teachers that sent them home with us. Antonio and I also gave her presents and Uncle Clif and Aunt Jennifer also sent some presents in the mail, so she had quiet a few to open.

We gave her some bands that go around her sippy cups that have her name on them.

Next, she opened her presents from Uncle Clif and Aunt Jennifer...

She got a Care Bear DVD and....

The Little Mermaid DVD..

We didn't have either of these movies, and she was very excited about them both. She wouldn't even put them down to open her next movie...

As you can see, she took the gift receipt off the back of her movie. I think she was telling us, "These are KEEPERS!" These are great 'cause she has movie day at school every Monday, so we will have some new ones to send with her now.

She also loved her card. She immediately said "ABBY!!!" Huge thanks to you guys. We sure wish you could have made the party, but we will see you soon and hopefully you will be able to meet the new baby too while you are here for the holidays.

Her teachers got her several great presents. She got a baby doll with a bottle and bib, 2 balls, a movie, coloring book, and pom poms. Here she is with her pom poms.

Antonio and I got Tatum a NEW Amigo Bear...

She wasn't sure what to think...

She now officially has 3 Amigo Bears. Why? you ask....well, this Amigo Bear (scented, floppy, and fluffy) has been discontinued. She takes Amigo Bear everywhere with her, so if we lose him, we will be in trouble!! Two of her bears are worn out!!! so I got this new one on Ebay. Here is a side by side conparison of one of the old ones compared to the new one.

Tatum opening more presents...

And now Tatum's BIG present from Antonio and me....

We got her the ELMO LIVE and she LOVES it!!! This Elmo is supposed to be one of THE gifts for this holiday season and I got it the day they went on sale....Oct 14th.
Tatum had to give him a kiss...
Here are more side by side pics of OLD Amigo Bear and NEW Amigo Bear...

As you can see, Tatum had an amazing birthday this year. She has so many close family and friends that love her so much and we are truly blessed to have each one of you in our lives!

Tatum is TWO!!!

I can't believe Tatum is TWO today!!! My how time flies! I will be taking pictures of her tonight when we give her presents from us, but I wanted to go ahead and post pictures from her birthday party that we had this weekend. These pictures are VERY out of order, but I am too lazy to fix them....warning, there are TONS of pics!

We rented a bouncer for her party and it was the BEST money spent for sure. The kids LOVED it!
Here is my niece, Mckayla, diving out of the bouncer...

Mckayla, Tatum, Natalie, Avery, and Avery's dad...

My dad, Mya, Laurie, and Mckayla eating some food...

Natalie, Tatum, and Avery....These girls go to school with Tatum

Some of the others eating lunch...

A picture of the set up during the party.

Ashley and her kids, Camryn and Coleman...

Me, Tatum, and Antonio getting ready to light the candles...

Tatum looking at her cupcake while we all sang to her...

Tatum about to dive in!

I think it is safe to say she liked the icing...

more?

me and my sister, Laurie...

Me helping Tatum open her presents...

me, Tatum, Katie, and Gabby...

Chris, Benardo, Robert(Antonio's dad), Amanda, and Eliana(Antonio's sister)...

Laurie, Mya, and Brandy...

more presents....

Mckayla, my niece...

my dad, Laurie, Brandy, and Cyp(bro in law)...

opening presents....Jennifer was writing down everything for us...

Eliana, Tim, and Camryn...

Antonio and his sister, Eliana...

Tatum playing with her Elmo slippers...

Eating Cheetos...

Tatum and Natalie(notice Tatum's eyes are glued to Natalie's candy)...

Tatum giving Mya a hug...

This next picture is Tatum before the party. Antonio and I went out early to set up everything and Tatum was awake, so she joined us in her PJs with her milk.

The food table minus the hotdogs...(chips, pretzels, animal crackers, fruit chews, and goldfish)

Goodie bag table....the cake went in the center...

Tatum trying to put 2 fingers up....my mom was helping her...

Tatum's "2" fingers....she is having a little trouble, but will get it soon...

Tables before the party....

Bouncer before the party.....aka...the biggest hit at the party

2 Craft tables before the party...

One of Tatum's cakes(I ordered 2 because I thought we would need both, but we took a whole one home)

I managed to knock part of this cupcake off and thought this little pumpkin looks bald on top...

Mackenzie coming out of the bouncer...

Jeremey and Sydney...

Katie coming out sideways from the bouncer....

Avery coming out...

Tatum keeping an eye on everyone/everything...

Perms and Antonio...

Tatum talking to Nicki and Sydney...

Tatum in the bouncer...

Ashes, ashes, they all fall down!!

Afton...

Some of the parents watching their kids jumping...

Mya...

My mom walking with Mya to the bouncer...

Tim and Jennifer were such BIG HELPS with Tatum's party! They came over early to help set up things and they were in charge of the hot dogs...they were YUMMY!!! A HUGE thanks to you both and I can't wait to help out with your little one's birthday parties in the future!

You know the party is over when the bouncer goes down and gets packed up...

Ashley and Jennifer

Afton giving Tatum a goodbye hug. He goes to school with Tatum too.










As you can see, Tatum's party was a blast! There were 17 kids there and I think 46 total people. I managed to not get pictures of several people that were there, but I am hoping that when I get other pictures taken by people there, that maybe some have captured the ones that I missed. Taking pictures at parties is hard when you are trying to do everything else!

I LOVED planning this party and it was fairly easy since we had it at Antonio's parent's house(no cleaning for me, we did easy food(all individually packaged except hot dogs). It was worth all the work to see Tatum and all of her friends and family having a blast.

It would not have been possible to do this party without everyone's help! Thank you to everyone that came early to set up, stayed late to clean up, or anything else. I appreciate all of you!

I will try to post more pictures from her party later and also more pics that we take tonight.