Updates!!!

    Well. It has been forever it seems like since my last post. So much has happened since then - I don't even know where to begin. For Thanksgiving, Austin, the kids, and I went to Nana and PaPa's house to eat and visit. (Dossett and I spent the morning in the morning at the After-Hours clinic with his first ear infection). That night we let Addison go spend the night with her "ReRe and PaRee", and Austin, Sarah, and I (&D) went to WalMart at midnight to begin Black Friday shopping. Dossett and I stayed in Hattiesburg shopping until 11 am that Friday, and then we came home and crashed!! The next few weeks were basketball games for Austin and finals for me! Austin's team has done a really great job this season. They have played hard for him, and he has been such a great coach to them!


    I am now almost finished Christmas shopping. The kids and I came to Jackson last Saturday to spend some time with my parents. Yesterday and today we went to Greensboro, AL to see my grandparents. We had a great time visiting and catching up. When we got back this afternoon, we took a nap and then Addison and I had a "Mommy/Daughter Date" to Fat Cat Ceramics to paint some pottery pieces. She had so much fun, and I had a blast watching her face light up!


   Speaking of Addison, she is just a doll. Completely full of herself these days, but so sweet. She loves her baby brother and hates for him to cry. She loves sharing her kisses with him to comfort him, and she can make him smile so quickly! She is very loving towards us and her grandparents. Her favorite word is still "No", but we are working on at least turning that into "No Ma'am"! Lol! :)


    Dossett is beginning to slowly get better. His tummy still seems to bother him daily, but he doesn't scream as long as he used to. He has begun smiling, cooing, and even letting out a laugh every now and then. It is the most precious thing. He loves his Mommy - and prefers any woman holding him to men. We are seeing Dr. Paul Parker, a pediatric gastroenterologist at UMC, next Tuesday, and hopefully we will get some answers from him.


   This year for Christmas, traveling will be the norm  for us. We will be back in Poplarville on Tuesday evening the 21st, where we will visit with family. We are spending the 23rd with Austin's parents and spending the night and having "Christmas morning" with them on the morning of the 24th. Christmas Eve we are eating an early dinner with Austin's grandparents and exchanging gifts with them. Then we will load up, travel to Jackson and spend Christmas Eve (night) and Christmas morning with my parents and brother/sister.

Ice Cream Sandwich!

Addison has decided that she LOVES dessert (who doesn't). But, I can't justify candy, cookies, or "junk" after every meal. However, I remembered something my mom used to make for us and we thought it was awesome and it was actually not too bad for us either! I call them "Ice Cream Sandwiches". Here is the EASY recipe!


1 container of light/fat free cool whip
1 pkg honey graham crackers
1 Lg. Ziploc bag


Break the graham crackers in half. Spoon a generous amount of cool whip on the cracker and top with the other half. Put into a large ziploc bag, and repeat. Once the Ziploc is full (or you have run out of the "goods"), zip the bag and place in the freezer. Let the sandwiches freeze for about 2-3 hours, and ENJOY! They are only like 1 or 2 Weight Watcher points, and you & your little ones (and husband in my case!) will be none the wiser!
Addison REALLY loves these and they are a great "bribe" to get her to eat more of the actual meal.
Here are a few pictures of her enjoying her sandwich.

Halloween

This weekend was the official "Trick-or-Treating" weekend for Poplarville. Friday was when the festivities began, with trick-or-treating on main street at all the stores from 3:30-5:30. Mom and Dad came down, Nana, PaPa, and ReRe came by, and Austin even cut practice short to come home early! Addison was the most precious butterfly I've ever seen! She loved her wings and her antennae! Dossett slept through the whole thing, but was definitely the most adorable caterpillar ever. Addison wasn't so sure about all the people at first, but when she realized that these strangers were filling her bucket up with candy, she changed her tune! We took lots of pictures on Main St. and then came back to the house. Aunt Gin (Add calls her Gi-Gi) and Alysha came by to visit. Gi-Gi dressed up as a butterfly, too!! Everybody ate WAY too much candy... especially Addison who was on a sugar high until today at lunch. It was great though, all in all. Addison loved dressing up and getting candy. More than anything, though, she enjoyed all the attention she got from everyone. I am posting just a very few pictures now, but when I can get the ones off the camera I will post some more (better) ones.

I'm also putting a few up of Grandaddy and Grammy with the kiddos. They happened to be in the same email file, and they are precious, so I'm sharing them with you!

WE'RE HOME!

Well, we are back in Poplarville. We had a great visit with my parents -as always. I just wish we hadn't all gotten sick! Dossett and I went to the Doctor on Monday and found out that we had the same virus that Addison had. But, the GOOD news was that D had gained TWO pounds! He weighs 9lbs. 8oz now! Such a little chunk!

The Grandparents and The Fair!

    Today was a busy day! Addison, Dossett, and I woke up bright and early and headed to Madison. My grandparents, MawMaw and PawPaw, drove in from Greensboro, AL for the day to meet their new great-grandson! (Also, to see their precious great-granddaughter). It was a really good  visit! We don't get to see them very often, so the visit was welcomed. Addison warmed up to them pretty quickly and, of course, Dossett was just glad to have more arms to hold him! I hated that it was such a short visit, but hopefully we will see them again soon!

  

 After they headed back home, Mom (Grammy) and I loaded up the kids and headed to the state fair. Since Dossett is so tiny, we don't get to go many places, but since the fair is entirely outside it is one of the few places we can safely take him. I kept him in the moby wrap and covered him with a blanket to keep any curious fair-goers from getting to close. We weren't sure just how Addison would react to the noise and the lights at the fair. SHE LOVED IT. She hit the ground running when we got there. She rode the rides, fed the animals in the petting zoo, and enjoyed the yummy fair food. Her excitement was contagious - I had more fun watching her than anything! For now, I'm going to bed. SHE WORE ME (& Grammy) OUT!!!

Moby Wrap

So... I was encouraged to get a Moby Wrap. And I did. And now I can't decide if it is the best or worst purchase I've ever made. Haha. Dossett LOVES it, which is great. He loves it so much that he ONLY wants to be in the wrap. He doesn't want to be put down, doesn't want in his car seat, doesn't want in his bouncy seat... but he LOVES the moby wrap! Which is really, really great --- except that he is attached to me all the time now. Literally. On a serious note, the Moby is great. I had him in it today for two hours and was able to clean the kitchen, make up the beds in the house, cook supper, and run bath water for Addison.

Also, this afternoon, I decided to clean out the 4 runner. I had LOTS of good help in the form of a feisty two year old! She had so much fun climbing over the seats and pretending to "rive" (drive). Then she found my change holder and said, "Look Mommy is u mummies" (moneys). I had a great time with her today!

PaRee and ReRe

Addison has spent the last few days (Saturday and Sunday) with her PaRee and ReRe. She did NOT want to come home and was very upset when her Daddy picked her up. She calmed down ONLY after we put on her Dora nightgown AND her tutu. Then, we had to put in a bow and get on her rocking horse. After that, she seemed much better. Haha, I am not sure why I found this so funny, but I did! I took a picture to share!

My Beautiful Princess

Last week, Justin Daniels came by to take Dossett's newborn pictures. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, he is a phenomenal photographer. Anyway, he took some great pictures of Dossett, and we tried to get Addison to cooperate in a few... but, it wasn't a huge success. BUT, I got my camera out while she was still in her dress and took a few pictures of just her. Here is one of them...

ALSO, go check out Justin's website: http://www.jdanielsphoto.com/ (the password for our pictures is ALEXANDER2010)

Update on Dossett

This is the official beginning of The Alexander Blog. Hopefully, I will do a much better job of keeping this one updated! So much has happened in the past few weeks! August 7th our sweet Addison Reese turned 2 years old. She had a great birthday party that was beach themed. It was very hot, but lots of fun! Just 4 short weeks later, Addison's baby brother made his arrival. On Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 3:40 pm, Andrew Dossett Alexander made his arrival! He was 4 weeks early and weighed 7 lbs., 8 oz and was 20 inches long. He had a rough time in the beginning; the cord was wrapped tightly around his little neck leaving severe swelling on his head and leaving his face bruised. Because of this bruising, he was severely jaundice. He was discharged on Sept. 9th, with me, but had to return the next morning to have his bilirubins rechecked. They had sky rocketed to a dangerous level of 22. He was readmitted to the newborn nursery at River Oaks and put on a bili-bed; they kept him for 24 hours. We left on Saturday evening and went back to my parent's house since the pediatrician wanted to keep monitoring his bilirubins every 24-48 hours. We went again on Monday to have him rechecked and then again on  Wednesday morning. From Monday to Wednesday he held steady at 16 and had started refusing to eat early Wednesday. By Wednesday night he was lethergic and not eating and this Mommy was beginning to really worry. I called the newborn nursery and they suggested I take him to the Pediatric ER @ Blair E. Batson hospital just to be on the safe side. Mom and I were certain they would send us back home - we figured they would say we were just being overprotective! However, they admitted him because he had dropped almost 4 ounces of weight since that morning. My little man was severely dehydrated and after 24 hours it was determined that he had a virus (most likely a stomach bug). When he was admitted, they were concerned that he had menengitis, and were forced to do a spinal tap and push antibiotics to be on the safe side. They also had to give him an IV of fluid and potassium to counteract the dehydration. He was a pretty pitiful sight. He spent 2 nights at Batson and came home a different baby! His bilirubins dropped four points, he gained a pound, and he became much more alert - all in 24 hours. Now, he weighs almost 8.5 lbs, and is a healthy -and hungry- baby boy! He loves to be talked to and he LOVES to be held and snuggled. Addison has decided that he is "her baby" and, although she doesn't want to hold him yet, she gets very upset when he cries! She immediately comes to let me know that her baby is crying. Looks like she is turning out to be the great Big Sis we all knew she would be! 
Well, that is all for now. I will try to post again soon!