Developments as of late

With all the pictures I’ve loaded of our cute little girl, I figured I’d take some time to blog, in text, some of her development and discoveries over the past few months. She’s currently 20 months old and growing everyday. Luckily, she’s finally growing hair, and we no longer are concerned she’ll be bald going into kindergarten. But hair bows and clips are a different story. I’ve tried a few clips in her hair, which she promptly removes. She’s a child of order, and since she isn’t used to a clip in her hair, it doesn’t belong there. Same goes if she finds a crumb on the floor, or a leaf or stick on the sidewalk, they must be removed, and she’ll let you know it.

Playtime – She LOVES her jumbo blocks, aka oversized legos. We got them for her at Christmas, and she will daily pour them all out, yet build a tower at the same time. Please don’t try and pick out a specific block for her to use, she’ll find the exact on that needs to be used, and put it in its proper place. She is also very aware of which toys go together, such as her tea set, or train set with blocks, or mailbox with letters to put in it, she knows what is paired with what, and will pull
it out when asked. Back to her “methodical” ways, if she opens her toy box, the lid can’t be just propped open; it must be at a 90 degree angle before she’ll get anything out. A little OCD!

Shoes – these are becoming my worst nightmare. She recently got a couple of new pair of summer sandals, which are adorably cute, and she can put them on herself, and get the correct feet about 90% of the time. Our issue is, we continually take them off, just to be able to put them back on again, or if we spot another pair we would prefer, whoa be it if she can’t reach them and put them on, at that very minute. We have a shoe-aholic on our hands!

Love – Although she’s been blowing us and everyone else kisses for a while, she’s recently taken on “loving” us. My favorite part of the day is when we go “night-night”, she runs to give Chris a hug, and will start on one side of the room with her arms stretched out as wide as possible, running towards him. She gives hugs and kisses (some slobbery), and is getting better at petting Millie gently. She’ll also gently pat your back as you hold her, just to let you know she’s there.
She’s never been a child that wants to be held or rocked, but is starting to take a little more time with us, which we are both enjoying.

Talking – I think we learn a new word every day, but we know our grandparents, mama, dada, a version of Millie and other family dogs, body parts (nose, eyes, toes, ears, arms, etc), clothes, night night, steps, and a host of others. We are working on our animals, but mostly she has her own version of chatter, and it’s all day long! She knows the oven and grill are “hot”, and who knows what she’s already learned today.

Doors – I spoke about her need for order above. Doors must be closed, always. She’s obsessed with going through the house and opening cabinets and closing them. Good luck getting into the house before she closes the door, and when she leaves a room, she must shut the door. When Millie needs to be let out, she's the first one at the door "helping" to take Millie out, and will shut the door when everyone is back inside.

I’m sure I’ve missed something, but this should give you an idea, and it provides a record for me, during this crazy time we call life!

Easter

We visited the Collierville Square before church on Easter Sunday for our family pictures.

March 2010 - Happy Birthday to Chris!

We celebrated March with a trip to Columbus for Chris's birthday. Other than that, and a surprise birthday party for our friend Cager, March was spent at home with me enjoying the final stages of the first trimester. Chris purchased a new camera with his birthday money, so here are a few pictures from the month.

February 2010 - Big changes

So unless you also follow me on Facebook, you might have missed some big news in our little world. We are expecting baby number 2 at the end of September! Unfortunately, we didn't get to share the news as we would have liked.

I got sick the very end of January, with what I thought was the flu, which the test came back negative, and then more sickness seemed to come each day. Nausea, nausea, more nausea, stomach cramping, more cramping, things just weren't right. One doctor said I had a bladder/UTI, and the other's disagreed. We knew at this point that I was pregnant, but hadn't spread the news, since I was only about 5 weeks along. We ended up making 3 ER trips over the course of a 2 week span, and they ultimately hospitalized me and finally figured out since I hadn't miscarried in those 2 weeks it was something else, which ended up being severe bladder spasms. This misery finally ended around the 15th of February, but needless to say, we didn't get to spread the news like we may have wanted to. And for anyone out there who has ever had to endure bladder spasms, you have my utmost and deepest sympathies, because I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

Luckily the baby has been healthy, and made it through all of that fun with flying colors. We also had lots of help during that whole nightmare, including my mom coming to help twice, and Chris's family kidnapping Riley so Chris could get some relief. Neighbors and friends also pitched in, and to everyone, we greatly appreciate all your support.

I still hate the first trimester of pregnancy, and hold a grudge against Adam and Eve and that whole apple incident.

So, all that being said, now it's April the 28th, I'm in my 18th week, and we find out if it's a little brother or sister for Riley on May 10th. Or as my brother says, "shotguns or hairbows!"

So, back to February. We managed to get outside on a pretty weekend with our little girls.

January 2010 - Gatlinburg, TN

Better late than never, right??? After a continual reminder from both sides of the family, I'm finally getting around to updating this blog. And yes, I'm aware of the title, let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

So, remember back in January when it snowed, and snowed, and then a blizzard hit Tennessee? Yep, it was the first week or so of the new year, and we packed the new Honda Pilot (yes, it didn't get an honorable mention on the blog) and headed east to Gatlinburg. Chris's family had rented a cabin for a winter vacation, and we experienced Old Man Winter himself.

The cabin was great, with plenty of room for the 7 adults to spread out, along with Riley, and the 8 dogs. We played pool, played with Riley and all her toys, did some shopping around town, and enjoyed some quality family time.

Here are just a few pictures of our fun times, in no particular order.

The 3 amigos - Sharpie, Millie, and Cobol.

We took a trip out to the Apple Barn, had a great lunch, and Riley enjoyed getting to run around outside some. Due to the snow and ice, she was limited in her outside running around, but luckily managed to sit still long enough for this picture.

We took a trip one afternoon through the Smokies as far as we could with the icy roads.

Riley discovering "snow". She wasn't sure, but investigated it closely.
Beautiful waterfalls along the way.

Another activity we all enjoyed together was a trip to the aquarium. I had been about 10 years ago, but it's more fun sharing it with your own child for the first time. She was mesmerized by all of it, so I know this will be an activity for us to do again. The rest of the family enjoyed it as well.

I've said it before on here, but she LOVES Sharpie. They are best of friends as you can see.
The happiest great-grandparents! They love us and our little girl so much, and we love being able to spend time with them.