Aloha to Hawaii

This past week, David, Drake, and I (and the whole Men's Basketball Team) spent time in Honolulu. We went for the Diamond Head Classic Basketball Tournament, which is played at the University of Hawaii. Because school is not currently in session, my duties on this trip were very limited. I was asked to keep the official score book for our team, so I had about six hours of work to do in the five days that we were there. The rest of the time, David, Drake, and I had time to explore.

We arrived in Honolulu in the late afternoon of December 20th and stayed at the Sheraton at Waikiki Beach. Waikiki is very commercialized with a lot of tourists. I was actually surprised how many people were on vacation during the Christmas holiday. This was Drake's first plane trip and he really did great. He slept much of the way and when not sleeping, was pretty content. We did learn what fun plastic cups can be for a ten month old as they provided almost an hour of entertainment.

Wednesday, the first full day were were in Hawaii, we just hung out by the pool and walked along the beach. Our family friend, Jill, and two of her children, are living on that island right now, so they came to the hotel pool to meet Drake and hang out. Leslie and Oliver loved the pool and were able to play on the slide and in the hot tub. It was great meeting Leslie and Oliver and catching up with Jill. Wednesday evening was the welcome reception for the teams, which was a luau dinner and show. The show was pretty cool, demonstrating the history of Hawaii through dance. One of the last dances was a fire dance, which was really quite amazing.

Thursday was our first basketball game against UTEP, at the bright hour of 9:30am local time. The team did not play well at all, and lost the game. After the game, David, Drake, and I walked down to the Honolulu Zoo for Drake's first zoo experience. Drake was more interested in the other kids walking around the zoo than the animals, but we had a great time.



Friday was our second game, which was a late start, 10:00am local time, against Southern Illinois. The outcome of this game was much better, with an overtime win. After the game, David, Drake, and I decided to hike Diamond Head Crater. I think it was about .8 of a mile to the top and we made it easily with Drake in the Ergo Carrier. I was amazed at the shoes some people were wearing on the walk...it is not a fashion show people! The views from the top really were amazing. After the hike, we headed out to dinner with the team.

Saturday, Christmas Eve, was an off day for basketball so David and I decided to do a tour to see other parts of the island. We went to the Dole Plantation (total tourist trap), North Shore, the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC), a coffee and nut plantation, a temple, and a few scenic overlooks. I am so glad we did this because that side of the island was more of what I thought Hawaii was going to look like. The beaches were beautiful and empty, the mountains were beautiful, and the landscape was rich. I wish the team had the opportunity to see Hawaii outside of Waikiki Beach. The PCC was a pretty cool place also, with each Polynesian island having a little "village" with shows and activities of that island. We only had three hour there, and it was not quite enough time to see everything.

Sunday was our last day in Hawaii and started with a late morning game against the University of Hawaii, which we lost. After the game, David, Drake, and I went to lunch and then spent some time of the beach. Around 8:00, we left the hotel for our red eye flight back to the mainland.

Mele Kalikimaka

On Christmas day, we were in Honolulu with the basketball team. Here are a few pictures of out Hawaiian Christmas.


Polynesian Santa



Drake on the beach in his elf hat. Everyone loved him on the beach, strangers even took pictures!

 

This is a sand sculpture that was in the lobby of our hotel

**More to come on our Hawaii trip tomorrow

Christmas #1

This year's Christmas is very unique for us because we will be in Hawaii with the basketball team, returning on the 26th. Because of this, David and I decided to exchange gifts this weekend rather than traveling with gifts or waiting until we got home.

As we thought about Drake's first Christmas, we discussed what, if anything we should get him. In the end, we decided that we would just put money in his bank account and not give him a gift to open. Our thinking is that 1) he is not going to remember if he got a gift or not, and 2) he will get plenty of other gifts from family. As people have asked me what we got Drake and I have told them our plan, some have totally agreed with me while other have criticized me for this decision. After opening gifts on Saturday and seeing his excitement over paper, a box, and the id card that came in David's wallet, I think, for us, this was the right decision. He helped us open presents and loved it, would then crawl away and play for a few minutes, and then come back.

Trying to open the outdoor table and chairs from David's parents. No more camping chairs on the front porch!

Tiger Wonderland

Each year, the Clemson Men's Basketball Team hosts a community service event called Tiger Wonderland. This is an evening with children from disadvantaged homes have the opportunity to hang out with the basketball players, eat dinner, and then Santa arrives with gifts for all of the kids. It is a great event and this year was expanded so the Women's Team participated as well. Rather than the normal 20 kids that have participated, this year, 35 were able to come and share in the festivities.

All of the basketball staff are invited to attend the event as well with their families. We just stand to the side as the kids are doing their crafts with the players and eating dinner. When the kids start to open their gifts, I usually walk around and share in their pure joy! This year, one of the girls asked me if their parents had to pay for all of the gifts? I told her, no, Santa brought them and pointed him out to her. She was just amazed!

Some pictures of Drake that evening. I knew Santa would be there, so I just planned to take his picture there and avoid lines and paying for a picture.

Not a fan of the Tiger Cub that evening

Did ok with Santa

10 Months!

Drake, you turned 10 months old yesterday, December 11th. I know I say this every month, but I can't believe that you are already 10 months old! Just two more months and you will be a year; how is that possible?

New Tiger hat from Ritamay. It just came in the mail but you wore it yesterday and everyone we saw commented on it!

You have a great appetite and I have not once seen you turn down food. I really think you could keep eating at every meal if I continued to offer you more. You are a pretty good self-feeder, although I still have to help you some. I have realized that when you feed yourself, the meal can last a good hour and you might still not be finished, so I help you along some. We are going to work on you using a spoon and sippy cup more this month. Yogurt is one of your favorite foods (not the Trader Joe's version) and lately you have really been enjoying blueberries. You still nurse in the morning and at night and then get one milk bottle a day and one formula bottle a day (although today, we had enough for 2 milk bottles!).

You really love to dance. Currently, your favorite dancing music is to the "bumpy bumpy" song on your Einstein's Learning Playground and any commercial jingle. Almost all commericals jingles get your attention and you start dancing. When you hear the "bumpy bumpy" song, you stop what you are doing, smile, and start dancing.

This was my rocking chair was I was little (looks like it needs to be dusted!)

Lately you have been twurling your hair a little when you are sleepy. I have also noticed that when you are trying to go to sleep, you either wiggle your feet or rub them together, somthing that I do as well.

You love to be on the move. If you are awake, you want to be on the floor playing or crawling somewhere. You are starting to get really fast with your crawl and have learned to open cabinets...time for you to put the locks on those!

You are a pretty good sleeper, although I think you could still improve in that area. You have been taking pretty good naps for us in the morning and after lunch. You go to bed around 8:00, but I have to rock you to sleep most nights. Some nights you sleep all the way through, others, you wake up sometime between 12:00 and 5:00. You go right back to sleep when we come yo get you, but let's try and start making it all the way through the night, ok?

You now are working on your third tooth. The top right tooth started to come in on Friday, December 9th. I'm sure the other top tooth is close behind, although it has not started to come through yet.  

The rest of the month is going to be very busy! This week you'll attend your first community service event with the basketball team. We leave on Monday night to go to Hawaii for basketball and Christmas and then we go staraight to New Orleans. I just can't wait to see what this travel will do your your schedule!

We love you so much little buddy!

Aunt Genevieve Came to Town!

This past weekend my sister, Genevieve, came to visit and get a Drake fix. She had not seen him since the beginning of September and I think she was a little surprised at how much he had grown! Drake had fun playing with her and showing off with everything that he can now do. He especially liked to show her how he can dance.

Genevieve got in late Friday, so Saturday morning we ventured to Belton, SC to eat breakfast at Grits and Groceries. For my New Orleans readers, this is a restaurant that is owned and operated by Elizabeth, of Elizabeth's Restaurant in Bywater. She and her husband (and former pastry chef for Emeril) decided that they wanted to raise their son in the country, so they moved back to South Carolina and opened a little breakfast and lunch restaurant in the middle of no where. It was pretty tasty food and worth an occasional 45 minute drive for a Saturday brunch.

After breakfast, we dropped David off and then Genevieve, Drake and I headed to Commerce, GA to do a little outlet shopping. After finding a few deals, we drove home and Genevieve and I went to see Hugo. It was a pretty cute and entertaining movie. One the way home, I noticed that a traffic light was out and sure enough, the electricity in the whole city was out. We walked in and David had just started a fire, I opened a bottle of wine, and we made s'mores while listening to the ACC Championship game on an app on my phone.


Emergency Supplies

Sunday we went to the little cafe in Pendleton where something is always spilled on David (he escaped this trip) for their Sunday buffet. This was out first experience with the buffet and I am sure it will not be our last. After brunch, we hung out at the house and then Drake and I took Genevieve back to the airport for her flight home. It was a great visit and I think that Drake really enjoyed seeing his Aunt Genevieve. We are looking forward to seeing her and the rest of the family soon when we join them the day after Christmas in New Orleans!

I think this picture is so cute and funny...Drake laughing and Aunt Genevieve checking him out!

The Time Has Come...

Well, at 9 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days, I no longer have enough milk to exclusively breastfeed Drake. Today he will have his first bottle of formula. This is very hard for me because I was so good at producing milk. Initially I had trouble and Drake lost a little over a pound in the first few days after birth. Then we found our groove and at the ultimate high, had 63 six-ounce bags of milk in the freezer. In the last couple of months, my production has drastically dropped and in order to keep up with his needs, we have depleted the freezer supply.

I am still going to nurse Drake in the morning and at night and then pump three times a day as I have been. This should produce enough for one milk bottle a day and one formula bottle a day. Some days he may just get formula; I doubt there will be any days when he just gets milk.

I did not realize how upsetting this would be for me. I have already made it past my goal of stopping in November. I know that only about 8% of babies are exclusively breastfeed at 6 months and we made it well past that. I just feel like I have somehow let him down; I feel like I have failed. I know he needs to eat and this is the only way that he is going to get the nutrients that he needs. Just like when I was told that I was going to have to have a c-section due to placenta previa, it was not what I wanted, but in the end I realized that it was what was what had to happen.

Actually, just writing about this makes me feel a little better; I know that I am doing all I can. Just as a side, formula smells really bad! I do thank our friends Jermile, Haley, and Caleb who had a canister of formula left from Caleb's baby days that was still good which they gave us. We can make it two months of formula eating...

The Lost Art (for me) of Exercise

Since Drake was born, I have wanted to try and find the time to start exercising again. When I moved to Clemson 10+ years ago, I was in the best shape of my life. Prior to moving, I was coaching field hockey and would pretty much do all conditioning and lifting with the team. When I got here, it was a little more difficult because I had to be self-motivated and find time to fit a workout in. I would go through cycles where I would workout and then be lazy, train for a marathon (which I never ran but got up to 17 miles) and then be lazy. Prior to getting pregnant, I was at an all-time high for weight and laziness.

I have learned that breastfeeding is one of the best weight loss plans that one can be on (sorry it cannot work for everyone!). I am now 15 pounds lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight and this is without watching what I am eating or exercising. I really would like to get back on an exercise routine, but I am finding it very difficult to fit it into my day. When I travel, it is no problem to fit a workout in; we usually do not eat breakfast until 10:00 and there is no way I can sleep that late! 

Where it is hard to find time is during my everyday life. As it is, we only get to spend about 4 waking hours a day with Drake during the work week. If I try and fit-in a workout, that would be even less time that I would get to spend with him. I know I need to do this for myself, but I really haven't figured out how to fit this in. I keep telling myself that when I stop nursing, I will get up earlier and go to the gym in the morning a few days a week.

I just need to get into a routine and stick with it. The time has come for me to stop talking about the need to start working out again and start doing it.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year, even more so than in the past, David and I have so much to be thankful for. Drake has just been an amazing addition to our family. Already at 9 months old, he has so much personality and I can just imagine what a ham he will continue to be as he grows older.

My First Thanksgiving (Drake just started to eat blueberries)

To celebrate Thanksgiving day, we went to Greenville to have dinner with David's family. It was great having all the cousins in the same place for the first time since Drake has been born and watching our nieces and nephews play with Drake.

The cousins put on a puppet show for Drake after dinner. There was a script and everything, although Logan had to whisper Mary Kate's lines in her ear, as she cannot read yet!

Tyler, Drake, and Granddaddy

Drake and his Uncle Rusty

We also went to the men's basketball game this weekend and some of the women's players babysat Drake for the first half of the game. They really are very good with him and he had a great time playing with them.

Drake with Pauldo

Drake with Chancie

I leave tonight for my second trip of the semester...to Iowa. David has a little help this time around while I am away with his parents in town. David's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer right before and began treatment 4 days after Drake was born, so Drake has not really gotten to spend much time with his Mammy and Granddaddy. This is a great opportunity for all three of them to have fun together!

Leaf Fun

This weekend was our first real taste of the crispness of fall. Other than watching sporting a Clemson football game on TV and going to the Men's Basketball game, we really did not do very much. As I have mentioned before, we live on a large lot that is surrounded by a lot of trees, which equals a lot of leaves. David spent a lot of the weekend making piles of leaves and then moving them to the curb. I couldn't resist putting Drake in the leaves!



Watching David rake



Crustacean Love

Drake first encounter with a crustacean (no, he did not eat lobster, just played with him for a minute)

First Night Away

For my job, I have to travel quite a bit between the months of November and March (maybe one day April!). The trips are just overnight trips, but I do not get back until the middle of the night on the second night. Yesterday I went on my first trip pf the season; my first night away from Drake.

I knew that I would be ok (as long as I had my friend Medela) and I knew that David and Drake would be fine also. This knowledge did not prevent me from obsessing preparing to help make things easier on David. I realized that I needed to make sure that David understood that my preparation in no means indicated that I had a lack of trust in him. I was just thinking to myself, what would make my life easier if David wasn't around and I did that for him.

I have many more trips in the months to come and I know that David and Drake (and me) will all be fine. It is good to have this first trip under my belt though. David's parents will be in town while I am away after Thanksgiving and then just one more trip before our big trip to Hawaii for Christmas. More to come on Drake's first plane trip, which also happens to be a 10+ hour trip.

Backyard Campfire

We live on a pretty big lot (almost 2 acres) and are surrounded by trees. The trees that we have tend to create a lot of branch debris. While we could put said limbs on the curb and the City will pick them up, it is more fun to have a campfire. A couple years ago, I used the cinderblocks left in teh backyard by the previous owners to create a very ugly, but functional, firepit.

Saturday we decided to have a little backyard campfire, complete with fire roasted hotdogs and s'mores. This was Drake's first, of many to come, campfire experiences and while he was not able to partake in the hotdogs or s'mores, he did enjoy his dinner of pork with apples by the fire.

9 Months Old

Drake, you are 9 months old today. This week is the week that you have been been alive for the same number of weeks that I carried you. Everyday you learn new things and it is amazing to watch your wonder when you seen something new or imitate something that we do.

You now have 2 teeth. The bottom right tooth came in first on Friday, October 28th and the bottom left tooth was quick to follow. They still are not all the way in and I can tell that they are giving you some pain. You just like to have something in your mouth all the time now.

You continue to be a great eater. I have found that proteins are not always your favorite food, but I have found the perfect ratio of protein to banana and you eat it like a champ. This month you started to eat yogurt and in the last week, I have increased your fruit/veggie intake by 2 ounce. I think starting tonight, I am going to have to increase dinner by 1 ounce. You love yogurt melts, which make for a nice dessert or snack for you.

You fell asleep last Sunday while eating your lunch. This is the first time this had happened...I am going to put the fault on the return to standard time. You took a little nap and finish lunch a little later.

You are still exclusively a breastfeed baby. This has been a challenge and I have been a pumping fool to make this happen, but it is worth it for me to continue to give this to you. We will see what happens next week when I go on my first overnight trip without you.

You are still wearing 12 month clothes, but everyday when I put something on you, I tell your daddy that today is the last day you can wear that. We bought you some new clothes last weekend and got 18 months, which are slightly big but at this rate, they will be too small soon! You were only in the 12 month clothes for 2 months! Monday you have your 9 month doctor's appointment, so I will post your height and weight stats then.

You are becoming a very fast crawler and like to follow us all around the house. You are continuing to cruise on furniture and can transition from one thing to another. I have tried to hold your hands and have you walk forward, but you are not ready for that yet.

Luke and Alice are still your best friends. You love to be near them and try to pet them, although they are not always fans of this arrangement. Most often they run off and you start to crawl after them. Last night though, Alice let you play with her tail for a minute.

You went to your first basketball game last Saturday and have a men's/women's double header tonight. I think you enjoy watching everyone at the games and people love seeing you!

Watching the men's basketball game against Queens very intently

You have not been a great sleeper lately. For the last month or so, you have woken up in the middle of the night almost every night. Can we please go back to sleeping through the night?

You are very talkative, but you still only occasionally will say dada. Mama is constant, nana, baba, and all sorts of noises. You smack your lips to make a popping sound and your enjoy making your lips make a vibrating sound.

You now hold your arms up when you want to be picked up and you are starting to give kisses. You love beating your hands on any surface to make a drumming sound and you think fist bumps are so funny. I have been trying to teach you to clap, and while you really like the sound it makes, you are not too into this yet.

You have a great personality and love to be around people. You smile at everyone you see and that just makes them feel so special. We are so lucky to have you in our lives and get those smiles everyday.

You love to play with the water bowl. It is more fun with water in it, but you'll play with it sans water also.

With Helen when she and Jason visited from Arizona

First Downtown Clemson Halloween event

David wants to make this a reading nook for Drake with pillows (it is a firewood storage area)

The State of College Athletics

The recent events that have transpired at Penn State have had me thinking even more about the current state of college athletics. Please remember that I am an athletic department employee at a releatively large university. I have always participated in sport and enjoyed watching those that I did not play. Having said that, I think Penn State has shown us what can happen on college campuses when the football program is the most powerful department on campus.

Was it because the allegations involve football that nothing was said? What if the same situation had involved a swimming or tennis coach? My guess would be that the incident would have been reported to the police, saving potential future victims. I now know that there needs to be reform in college football. I do realize that football bring a large sum of money and national recognition to universities. This does not make them above the law or even codes of ethics.

When I first heard about what was alleged to have happened at Penn State, I felt like Paterno had done the right thing; when informed of what the GA saw, he told his direct supervisor and expected it to be handled from there. Throughout this week, I have continued to think about this and have read the Grand Jury Report. I have come to the conclusion that, as the most powerful individual on the Penn State campus, Paterno had an obligation to a potential victim to report what he had been told to the proper authorities. If he was not comfortable reporting second hand information, drive the GA to the police station and hold his hand while he made a statement. Turning a blind eye has done nothing but tarnish the reputation of this legendary football coach.  

I will continue to watch college football and all other sports but I do think such a terrible situation needs for us to reevaluate the power, privilege, and protection that football programs are sometimes afforded. Stop this abuse of power before more innocent people are hurt.

Puppy Love

So much of our focus has been on Drake and I wanted to make sure that our dogs, Alice and Luke got a little attention as well. Drake loves the dogs. He laughs at them, he crawls after them, and he just wants to pet, lick, bit, and play with them. Alice and Luke have other ideas...they generally want to be away from him, although Alice has been allowing Drake to crawl on her and Luke occasionally will come up and lick Drake and then run off.

Alice is a 12 year old husky/lab mix. She is a very sweet dog with really bad breath (she has broken teeth, which contributes to this problem). She has been around kids before and typically has a lot of patience. She does not like her tail pulled or to be sat on, but otherwise, tolerates Drake very well. Over the last few months, Alice has been pretty lethargic. She will sometimes have a spurt of energy but generally she just lays around. Now that it is cooler outside, she has started to want to go outside again, where she used to spend all her time.


We have a firewood storage area in one of our fireplaces that David wants to make into a "reading nook" for Drake. In the meantime, he has put one of the dog beds there.

Luke is a four year old german shepherd mix of some sort. He still has a ton of energy and would chase a ball or frisbee all day long if someone is willing to throw to him. David has tried to continue to give Luke the attention that he needs, but it really is just not possible everyday. He stays outside during the day, so he does spend plenty of time running around, ensuring that no squirrels or chipmunks enter our yard. Luke has been a bit scared of Drake. We think he is under the impression that he will get in trouble if he gets near Drake. Drake crawls to him and he runs off, so Drake crawls after him and then play a little game of tag (Drake is always "it" and never wins!).