The Baby Who was NOT Dedicated

Well, Grayson did not become a Christian today.

Ha! Actually, we don't believe that babies become Christians when they are baptized or dedicated at church, or in some countries, when they are born and they list it on the birth certificate. But it sounds funny.

Today was supposed to be a great big day of fun, food, and friends. They had a baby dedication service at church this morning, and Grayson, Joe and I were going to be a part of it. We had invited many of our friends to the service and lunch at our house afterward. We had planned what everyone was wearing, where to sit, where to meet everyone; we had soups, salads, breads, and incredible desserts. We had the most beautiful day of the past week. We had just about everyone in town- even my parents. We were expecting 25 for lunch! We had never brought all of our friends up here together at one time so they could meet each other...until today.

However,

We did not have a healthy, happy little boy. Grayson has been running a low grade fever for a few days which we attributed to teething. As evening came on last night his temp. jumped to 102.5 and he started a night of screaming. He couldn't sleep, he wouldn't eat, he was burning up. I think it was around 1:30 am that Joe mentioned the possibility of cancelling today's events. (*I say think, because we were up all night and everything ran together) By 5:30 we were fairly certain we would have to. He finally slept a few hours in a row until 8:30 am. When he woke up he had a fever of 104!!!!! (Oh my heavenly stars! Isn't that dangerous? Apparently not, the nurse on call says. Not until 108 degrees. WHAT?! Didn't even know that was possible.)

So we cancelled. Sadness.

Even sadder was my little boy today. Worn out, limp, hot, listless, fussy boy. He spent the day being passed from chest to chest where he laid his head down and sucked his thumb. He didn't move, he didn't sleep. Just laid there pitifully. It just about broke our hearts.

We had been going on the assumption all day that he has an ear infection; until someone informed us that their baby had a 104 fever while they teethed. Oh my goodness- that is awful. So we're not sure. We will head into the doctor first thing tomorrow and I'll post an update.

Til then-

UPDATE:

He does have an ear infection...in both ears. Poor baby. "Terrible" in the words of the doctor, in fact. Antibiotics to the rescue!

The First Annual Dickerson Turkey Trot

Turkey trot, trot, trot
Across the lot, lot, lot
Feelin' fine, fine, fine
Until Thanksgiving Time!

The Wheats and Dickersons were up at 6 am for the Lansdowne Turkey Trot this morning. My dad has not been looking forward to this event since we signed up a month ago. We had to drag him kicking and screaming into the cold morning air to go running (those of you who know him can imagine this). Of course, he was the one who probably enjoyed the race the most- I knew he would! And Dad and Joe ran at a pace of less that 9 minutes a mile. We ran with our sweet friends Chris and Noel, who actually invited us in the first place. (Well, not technically ran; they run much faster than me.)

Grayson getting ready- he was not too thrilled with the 6 am wake up call
(Robbie- we saw you wore the same hat in your Turkey Trot!)

The fam pre-race; Joe ran with the stroller. It was about 45 degrees.

The whole group- Noel is the turkey in the hat. Ha! Chris is right beside Grayson.

Mom and I crossing the finish line

Post-race. I think this is when dad said that "He was sweatin' like a cat burglar at a highway patrol convention." Oh Dad, you slay me.

Grayson was so cute that the officials couldn't resist giving him his own medal!

We hope to make this our annual Dickerson family Thanksgiving tradition
(Running in the morning makes you feel better about eating that extra piece of pie!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not Me! Monday

I realize I have been absent from the blog other than Not Me! Mondays lately, but there hasn't been too much going on. I tried to get Joe to write a blog about Bonfire this weekend to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the fall, but as you will read, he was a little bit busy. I'm still hoping he'll do it. A few upcoming posts will be about our family photo shoot on Sunday, the Turkey Trot we're running on Thursday, and Grayson's baby dedication at church next weekend!

But for today, another round of Not Me!s. Not Me! was created by Mckmama to share what has really been going on in your house in the past week. Thankfully, this post is not as exciting as last week. However, I will be cooking for Thanksgiving, so make sure to tune in next Monday.

As I mentioned above, we had a family photo shoot on Sunday. My former camper, Bethany, goes to George Washington University. We see her occasionally to feed her (her fam is on the west coast) and enjoy her company. It just so happens that her major is photography! I am always impressed with creative people that have a good eye, because I am definitely not one of them. Seriously. That's not a not me. Wow, this is confusing. Anyway, she came out to the house to snap some pictures of us. I did not spend all day Saturday picking out outfits for the three of us to wear. I would never do something so cliche as have us wear matching clothes in a family picture. Hopefully, I can post some of them soon and one special photo will make the Christmas card!

Since my parents will be here for a week over Thanksgiving, Joe planned to spend a significant amount of time doing schoolwork over the weekend. To make sure I supported him in that, I did not decide at the last minute to redo our master bath, thinking I could do it all: removing old towel rods, spackling, painting, light fixtures, hooks, etc. Nope! Not me! Joe did not have to come behind me and fix my mistakes, as well as deal with the electrical work, because if you remember, I am no longer allowed near the wiring. And of course it did not take hours for him to do these things because it's an old house and I underestimate the time to fix everything. I have a very kind husband.

That is all for this week. We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! And now for my favorite Thanksgiving greeting:

Gobble, Gobble!!

Not Me! Monday

Boy do we have a doozy for you this week. Not Me! Monday is a place to discuss a few times during the week that you cringe when you think back on and instead try to laugh about them! To join in the fun head on over to Mckmama.com.

This afternoon when I laid Grayson down for his afternoon nap, Hank and I laid down too. I plugged in the monitor and turned on a fan in our room. The next thing I know, it is an hour and a half later, Joe opens the door to our bedroom and I hear a little boy screaming at the top of his lungs. I had not plugged in the monitor's power source incorrectly, so that it was off, and slept the afternoon away while Grayson woke up and screamed until his dad got home from work. The fan in our room drowns noise out and in my defense, Hank slept at my feet through the whole thing. My husband was definitely not a little upset with me over something that was completely an accident. Of course Grayson was none the worse, as soon as he was picked up he was all smiles again.

Grayson is almost 9 months now, and even though I know that babies reach milestones at all different ages, I do not spend my day wondering why Grayson isn't interested in scooting/crawling in the least bit. Yes, I know that I should be a little thankful that he isn't mobile yet, as it is easier on me. And on this topic, someone once mentioned that there are lots of people in prison that crawled at 7 months- just to show it doesn't really matter when it happens. While Ami D, Joe's mom, was here last weekend, she did say that Joe was just like Grayson, he just sat on the blanket and happily played with his toys. However, Joe also walked at 9 months. Hmmm.

And now for the ULTIMATE not MY husband. I must first apologize to our sweet guests this weekend, the Seefeldts. I know you are reading this and I am sorry you are finding out this way. It's just too good, although a little controversial, to not include in Not Me! Oh wait, Joe has just decided to make a guest appearance just now and type this up himself-

Joe: Well, it all happened on Thursday. I was heading to the restroom, and I needed some reading material to help pass the time. Luckily (actually unluckily) I spotted, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die on our bed. It is a great travel book where you can find all kinds of information. For example, if you are ever in Namibia, you have to see the Etosha National Park, and while there, you should stay at Huab Lodge.

Later in the evening, Ashleigh asked if I had taken 1,000 Places to the restroom. I said yes, not thinking it was big deal. Then she asked again, holding the book. "Did you take THIS copy of 1,000 Places to the restroom?" Again I said yes. And she said one more time, "Did you take THIS copy of 1,000 Places to the restroom - the one I am giving to Sarah and Josh as a gift?" And then it hit me. I had defiled the gift that Ashleigh had so thoughtfully choosen for our friends.

Ashleigh: I had left the book out on our bed before placing it in the guest room. A couple hours later I walked into the master bath and found the book. Surely my husband had NOT taken their gift with him into the restroom. I was leaving to pick them up from the airport in just a few minutes and I REALLY wanted them to have the book since I know they love traveling as much as we do. I would have given them our copy (that hasn't been in a restroom as far as I know), but we have marked it all up. So I went ahead and wrapped it up and placed it in their room.

Josh and Sarah, if you no longer want to be friends with us, I understand. However, if I know you like I think I do, you are probably laughing hysterically.

So there you have it, folks. Hope you had a good laugh on us! See you next Monday.

Not this week

I have opted out of Not Me! Monday this week, because yesterday I was way too busy following along and praying as MckMama's (creator of Not Me!) son's heart stopped, had emergency heart surgery, and experienced a MIRACLE as his heart came out practically perfect. What a great day! You can read all about it here. My Not Me! will return next week.

For today, I thought I'd post some recent pictures of our goings-on; especially since I get an earful from my mama when I write a blog without posting a new picture of Grayson. I say that lovingly, mom.


Grayson and Mama's new stroller- we are SO proud of this thing and walk and run all over town with it. It's like a cadillac!

Three weekends ago the leaves peaked. Too quickly- these trees are bare already!

My sweet boy finding his thumb.

Unfortunately, Hank found the herb planter in the backyard while chasing a squirrel. We hadn't planted anything yet, but now he knows there is a huge box full of loose soil for him to dig in. Awesome!

Grayson and Jonah sitting in big boy high chairs for the first time. Of course, Grayson has to have all sorts of things tucked around him so his little body won't fall out. And for those of you wondering, he is 8 months old and 16 lbs 6 oz. (Still solidly in the 5th percentile!) Jonah is 7 months and in the 95th percentile.

First time completely bundled up for an evening stroll to Whole Foods with Dad. Our friend Nick calls it "Whole Paycheck". Ha!

Ami D came this past weekend!

We visited a beautiful winery, Chrysalis Vineyard on Saturday. We've been doing a lot these outings this fall because the vineyards are always gorgeous, the tastings only $5 and you can bring a picnic to enjoy. There are at least 20 wineries within an hour from us. A very affordable day trip!

Grayson loves sitting in the grass.

Team D at the winery

Thanks for a great weekend, Ami D! We miss you!

Not Me! Monday

And Monday brings my second installment of Not Me! Monday. Mckmama, who created this blog carnival will not be doing her Not Me! today because her sweet baby is sick in the PICU this Monday. To read about her Stellan, click here. I will be doing my best to bring this post to you every Monday that I can, just so YOU will start your week feeling better about yourself!

The past 7 days made quite the week in the Dickerson house. Joe came home sick from work on Monday and was diagnosed with swine flu on Tuesday morning at the doctor's office. When I found this out I most certainly did not grab my baby, tuck my tail, and run away to our friends' house for the rest of the week, leaving my husband to fend for himself. Nope! Not me! On Saturday morning when our pediatrician called and said they had H1N1 vaccines and to bring Grayson in ASAP, there was no panic in me! Nope! After reading my super smart microbiologist friend Dr. Jenny's post about it and knowing she is vaccinating her 10 month old daughter I was totally on board with no reservations! I certainly wouldn't allow my thoughts to be swayed by misinformation. Grayson did get the vaccination on Saturday and we were very thankful that we have such a great pediatrician.

For Halloween, I bought a pretty awesome bag of candy at Costco. All chocolate like Snickers, M&Ms, Milky Way AND Reese's Cups. Reese's are Joe's absolute favorite. During the day on Halloween, Joe kept begging me to open the bag of candy. When I finally opened the bag for the trick or treaters at about 5 pm, Joe grabbed one. At the end of the evening, most of the candy was depleted and we sent some home with Hope. I certainly did not accidentally give away the last Reese's cups to her, breaking my husband's heart in the process. Nope! No matter how many things I have on my mind, I always notice the little things like that and make sure I am taking care of everything! For the mini-party, I did not spend ALL my time making my beautiful pumpkin cheese ball (see previous post for a picture) and make all of my other food by moving it from Costco to the freezer to the oven to a plate. Nope! Not me!

A BIG thanks to Chris and Noel for taking care of Grayson and I this past week. They definitely did not try to convince us to stay longer and leave Joe alone just because we were having such a great time!

Have a great week everyone!