The last few days of our Florida trip were pretty hectic, so I was unable to update. On Thursday, Justin drove down, so that he could ride home with me. (He brought a trailer to tow my car back!) Michelle also came back to Orlando that day to hang out. We took Davis to class, brought Justin back to the house to rest, and headed to a fun little bar called Lizzy McCormack's in downtown Orlando. From this trip, I think Davis gained a lot of balance and strength in his legs. He's taking more and more steps at a time and we have a NO CRAWLING rule now.

On Friday, Justin, Davis, and I walked to the Southern Live Oak Tree in front of the Mennello Museum of American Art. It looks like a giant spider, with its branches growing down into the ground and coming back out. It was here that I received the sad news about my grandfather passing. His long, painful battle with cancer finally ended on Friday morning.

Saturday was spent in the car, driving and driving and driving. We left Orlando early in the morning, got to our house at 2:30 pm, unpacked, repacked, and headed to Kentucky, arriving around 8 pm. His viewing and military funeral took place on Sunday. We'll do whatever we can to make sure Davis grows up knowing what a wonderful Great-Grandfather he had and how much he loved his great-grandson.

Big thanks to Grandma and Aunt Teresa for coming to the viewing. That meant a lot to us!

OH! I knitted another Christmas stocking. This one's for Davis. And Justin tiled the backsplash in our kitchen while we were in Orlando! I love it!

Get Crafty

Last night, a group of elementary school teachers and their families brought fun holiday crafts to the House.

The new tv....

Davis enjoying the new tv...

TV Debut

Aaron's donated 22 32" flat screen tv's to the Ronald McDonald House this morning. So, every bedroom will have its own tv. I, for whatever reason, was asked to be interviewed about this wonderful contribution by Fox 35 News. Wow. The news anchor asked me why my son and I were here (he asked my permission first), what the House means to us, and what the new addition to the bedrooms would do to improve everyone's stay. Everything was going great until Davis started grabbing the microphone attached to my shirt. "Ok, let's start over." Nooooo....I felt so good about that take! The second go at it went well, too. I guess. And the third and fourth and 37th. Just kidding. Only twice.

It airs tonight at 5. Again at 10 pm. And once more in the morning. No one watches the news anymore, right?!?!?

And, for participating, the House manager gave us 3 Sea World tickets! Wew Hew!

Ronald Meet And Greet

Yesterday, the Ronald McDonald House held their annual fundraiser event called 'Share a Night, Light a Light'. They had lots of fun things for Davis to do (meet Ronald McDonald, bounce house, bean bag toss games, etc)...


And it was pretty entertaining for me, as well...

Meet Orlando's own Menudo boy band...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr4aiTQ6jbQ

...and then these guys...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7QBrNPIXrg

This wasn't a joke, either.

With Auntie Michelle

Therapy is going well. Davis' balance is improving every day. He's able to take up to 30 steps at a time now and it seems like his legs are a lot stronger now.

My Favorite New Place!

Rethunk Junk

Day 4

I'm just gonna go ahead and give myself the Best Mom of the Evening Award. I took Davis to the Magic vs. Knicks game last night...all by myself! And, let me tell you, it wasn't an easy task. I navigated my way through an unfamiliar city, located safe parking, walked to the arena, waited in lines for sodas, snacks, and souvenirs, went to the bathroom, etc...all with a nonwalking, 3 and 1/2 year old! I'm pretty bad ass, thanks.



He was OBSESSED with Stuff the Magic Dragon. I would've given a thousand dollars just to let Davis give him a high five.



I've been spoiling this kid like I don't have custody of him. Like I stole him from his legal guardian or something. But we're having so much fun here!


After the game, Michelle came over to the House. We put Davis to bed and sat up chatting for hours. High school style.

It was 85 degrees outside yesterday! And the Olive Garden brought lunch to the House for everyone! I love this place!

Day 3

Therapy went well today. After it, parents and students came in for a short demonstration to display what goes on during all of their programs. Davis was asked to participate, so between that and his regular school hours, he was EXHAUSTED. He was screaming to go back to the Ronald McDonald House and basically dragging me out the door.

We donated our big bag of can tabs today! Thanks to Elle's Mom for helping us collect so many!

Day 2

Someone handmade this blanket and gave it to Davis last night.

This morning, Davis and I went to the Orlando Science Center. It was the coolest place EVER! The first section was filled with fun, hands-on science centers that displayed things like electricity, tornadoes, magnetic fields, etc.

Making music Then, we walked through the Sea Maze.

We had to stop by the transportation room. Next, was the dinosaur exhibit, but Davis was terrified the entire time we were in there.

They also had a really cool swamp and forest area.

This tree was planted in 1689 and cut down in 1979!

Davis' first day of class went really well. His private therapist seems really experienced and had a lot of positive things to say about Davis. He was really energetic the whole time and, for the 30 minutes that I sat in the waiting room, all I could hear was him talking and asking questions the whole time. When we pulled into the parking lot of the facility, he asked about Micah (a therapist from the summer). So, he remembered that, also!

We met up with an old friend that moved down here from Woodstock for dinner tonight. Thanks for such a fun time, Laura!!!

Back In Orlando

We made it to Orlando! Davis and I pulled out of Hunt Road at 6:00 this morning and followed my girlfriend, Michelle, and her cousin, Natalie, down there. The drive wasn’t too bad; just a few minor traffic jams here and there.

When we walked into the Ronald McDonald House, the first person I saw was a woman I met the last time we stayed here, 5 months ago! She was the lady who had her son at 23 weeks and had no idea she was pregnant. But she said that he’s doing well and can come home just as soon as they have a home for him to come home to. I know. I didn’t ask.

The front desk volunteer checked us in and told us we’d be staying in Room #6…same room as last time! Getting the car unloaded and everything unpacked was much more difficult without Justin around. Although, Davis was a big helper by pushing the luggage cart all the way from the house to the parking deck and back.

After getting situated and going to the grocery store, I asked Davis if he wanted to go to the playroom. He said, “Yeah. I wanna play with Thomas Table.” He totally remembers being here!

Bigger Is Better!

Justin, Davis, and I drove to Talking Rock on Saturday to get our Christmas tree from Lowry's Tree Farm. The Farm doesn't officially open until after Thanksgiving, but they were nice enough to let us come up early! They only charge $5 per foot and you get to cut down your own tree!

One of the best parts about Christmas is the fun family traditions!

I don't know what we were thinking when we picked out the biggest, widest tree. It's seriously, like, 7 feet wide and takes over our entire living room. But it only cost $40!!!

National Lampoon's Style...
And to go with the biggest Christmas tree on the planet, I finished the biggest Christmas stocking on the planet. It's over 2 feet long!

Tree climbing...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Holidays Are Here!

Since I'm taking Davis back to the Conductive Ed facility next Sunday for 2 weeks, I went ahead and put up my Christmas decorations yesterday. I totally feel like I'm getting jipped since I'll be gone for so long during the holidays! After all that, I got motivated to pick up Justin's stocking that I've been working on since SEPTEMBER! It's freaking gigantic. Justin keeps saying we're going to put Davis in it for our Christmas cards. Does acrylic shrink in the wash???

Today, Justin and I had lunch at Davis' school to celebrate Thanksgiving. His class made laminated place mats to display what each of them is thankful for. Davis' has Spiderman, Thomas the Train, Momma, and Dadda on it...in that order.

P.S. Cafeteria lunch hasn't changed a bit...

"Look, Momma! I'm a cowboy! I will need a rope. Pease."

Davis is sick again...cough, runny nose, no appetite, wheezing. We saw a new pediatrician and she prescribed him with a month's supply of steroids and asthma medication. She thought it might strengthen his lungs through the winter and hopefully keep him healthier. Because she gave us liquid forms of both, we had to get a $200 firetruck-shaped nebulizer.

It makes this loud washing machine sound when you turn it on. Cool, red firetruck or not, I knew there was no way in hell Davis was going to go for this. I turned it on and tried to put the mask over his head. Ummmm...wow. He leapt off the kitchen counter and darted for my bedroom. When I walked into my room, he was curled up in a ball, crying. I said, "Davis do you wanna do the firetruck medicine, now?" "No, no, no thank you." He thinks that if he uses his manners, then he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't wanna do. Like, 'Did you hear me? I said it nicely. So just go ahead and throw that stupid firetruck/washing machine out of the window. Thank you.'


And...Enter 5:30 this morning...

"MOMMA! MILK! I need milk. Milk. Pease. Pease, Momma. Milk. MILK! I need milk. Pease. MILK, MOMMA!" He chugged a 10 oz cup of milk like he'd been sleeping out in the desert for a week.

BOYS!!!

Davis has been such a handful lately...

I was flying him around the house last night on my shoulders and he projectile vomited everywhere. It landed on the walls, the fridge, me, and all over the floor. The night before that, as we were tucking him into bed, he did the same thing all over the bed and himself. I thought we were done with the puking?

Right before school the other day, he unscrewed the top of his cup, poured milk on the floor, and wollered in it until I walked into the room. "Momma, look at this mess!" was all he said.


At Aquatics on Tuesday, he sang "Papa Paparazzi" for the entire hour. Yes, I let me kid listen to Q100. So, what.

He found this doorway jumpy toy thing in my pile of donations and managed to get his head stuck in it... While I prepared ribs for dinner last night, Davis prepared a nice, big mess...And I don't know where those blue plates came from, but Justin refuses to let me get rid of them.

His 'What?' face...Found himself a new hiding place.

Our newest home purchase. $350 for armoire and TV on Craigslist! Deal of the century!

Diaperless

Davis pee-peed in the potty twice this morning!!! YAY! He was so proud of himself. As a reward, we threw him some mini parties, gave him two whole M & M's, and let him flush his 'business' into the big boy potty. What a treat!!!! He did, however, have a couple accidents in his Tow-Mater underwear in between the potty sitting. But...we're getting there!

Pee Pee in the Pot-tay!

Pee Pee in the Pot-tay!

Pee Pee in the Pot-tay!

Halloween

Hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween weekend! Cowboy Davis had so much fun trick-or-treating with his buds.

Justin (Dog, the Bounty Hunter) and I (the other half of a pillow fight) went to a costume party after we dropped Davis off at Pa’s house.

The Halloween spooks continued into last night for us Nunleys. At about 1 in the morning we woke to the sound of pounding on our front door. This is, mind you, the second time this has happened in the past few weeks. So here I am, already beat up from Saturday night’s lack of sleep, thinking I’m about to get murdered. I’m reaching all over the floor next to my bed trying to find my glasses (in hind sight, they probably wouldn’t have done much to aid in the situation. I’d probably prefer to be blind while my killer lunges at me.) and cell phone while Justin gets our gun ready. Then I’m like, “Why the hell didn’t our dog bark???” Thanks, Doc. Thanks a lot.

We waited and listened, but nothing else happened (just like the first time). I made Justin get Davis while he was creeping around the house. My 48 Hour Mystery watching a** just knew this mass murdered was about to bust into Davis’ window at any moment and snatch him.

Needless to say, I’m exhausted today. We laid in bed for about an hour trying to figure out who would do something like that. Finally, Justin passes back out. He’s on one side of me twitching and snoring while Davis is on my other side kicking his legs and grinding his teeth…yeah, I didn’t know he did that, either.

First thing this morning, I went to Home Depot and bought outdoor motion lights and alarms for all the windows and doors. Safe and sound now…

New Nunley

Davis skipped school yesterday since he has a cold, so I took him to the pet store to get a fish. He picked this one...

...and named her Dory (from Finding Nemo). Hopefully Dory stays alive for at least a couple days!