No Break November

I can't believe it is the beginning of December... This month has flown by, and we have been very busy. Unfortunately Dean was practically sick for the whole month :( My poor baby... Like I said in my last post, he had a fever and ear infection the weekend of Halloween. He was on a new antibiotic for it, but after his fever went away he started waking up with this rash all over his body with a slight temperature.

After researching it and calling my doctor, we came to the the conclusion it was probably Fifths Disease which is just rash that isn't contagious after you have a fever. It would come and go every morning... He stopped having it after about a week. That week, he started tugging on his ears, so I gave him the antibiotic again thinking his ear infection might not have gone away (I know now, you aren't supposed to do that). The next morning he woke up with the rash again but this time his hands were swollen. He had had a cold the whole month (runny nose, cough, etc) which didn't help the situation. Andrew and I took him to the Immediate Physician close by. He had an ear infection, tested positive for strep, and the doctor said his rash was not Fifths Disease. It has been an allergic reaction to the antibiotic which is known to cause rashes in children. We came home with a load of drugs... which I don't like giving my little guy. He is completely better and off the medicine, and is finally back to his normal self!

At the beginning of the month, I had a fun girls night with some friends from church. We went to downtown Atlanta and completed a 5K and then out to eat. It was a lot of fun, and the first time I had really gone out without being with Dean or Andrew.

And this is what happens when I am gone... his daddy makes such a mess when feeding him... haha 

Dean is now ten months old! He is so funny and hasn't seemed to change too much since I last posted. His new trick is blowing kisses which is just so precious. He still thinks he can pull up onto everything and walk around that way. I really do think he will just walk first, because he has no desire to crawl (except he has started to army crawl occasionally but he really has to be in the mood for that). He has a little feisty attitude that shows once and a while. It is really embarrassing when it happens at church, but we hope he grows out of that when he understands it is naughty. 

These pictures are getting much harder the older he gets.

He loves to help pick out what he is going to wear with Mommy in the morning. 

We still love bathtime! What a little goof :) 

Thanksgiving was a nice break, but too short and really busy! My mom and brothers had the whole week off from work/school so we spent some time together. Andrew only had Thursday and Friday off. My brother Blake flew in from Idaho to spend the holiday with us. It was nice to have the whole family together again. The boys went to play football with some guys from church Thursday morning while my mom and I got to work on putting the food together. We ate a delicious lunch, watched the Macy's day parade/football, took great naps, and went Black Friday shopping. Dean tried his first meat on Thanksgiving and wasn't a big fan. He would spit out everything he tried for the first time (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, ham) but did like the sweet potatoes, carrots, and rolls. 

Loved his Thanksgiving outfit this year "I AM STUFFED"

What a ham?!? We love him!

Dean felt so big sitting up to the table with all of us :) He loves to show off and be silly at dinner.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I would like to end this long post with the things I feel especially grateful for this year...

• I am grateful for a loving, hard working husband who cares about being a great provider for our family. He studies so hard in Chiropractic school and still makes time to spend with Dean and I. He is an amazing Dad to Dean. 

• I am grateful for a healthy, happy baby boy who has been such a blessing in our life. His timing to come to earth was perfect, and we don't know what we would have done without him. God has truly blessed our lives.

• I am grateful for all of our family. My parents and brothers help out so much and give up their space to let us live in the basement while Andrew is in school. My in-laws are just so amazing too, and I know they are always there for us and love us even though they are far away

Some of our family pictures which were also done around this time (including some from the Douglas family pictures):