thankful

This week is a short work week and short daycare week for us.  This is our Thanksgiving with a baby... her first Thanksgiving ever! The Mr & I just LOVE all these firsts.  This year we will spend Thanksgiving in NoVa (Northern Virginia) with Miss O's paternal grandfather + family.   I am anticipating a lot of changes with our little girl over the next few days.  Whenever she goes to visit family she likes to do something new.  We will have so many family members around and she will put on a show, I'm sure.  Yesterday was our 9 month check up at the pediatrician.  We had to find a new pediatrician because our original doctor {who I loved} retired from medicine to be a full-time mommy to her 3 kiddos.  Can't be mad at her for that.  Our new pediatrician is fabulous {so far} and she sings, whistles & hums.  Miss O is attracted to music... she will stop whatever she is doing to listen to the music.  So this is a fabulous distraction technique for the doctor to use while she is trying to check her out.  And of course, I love singing myself so it is fun for me! :)  At our visit Miss O received her HepB shot and a toe prick for iron.  Her iron is 12.5, which is fabulous.

Weight: 19lbs 12oz
Height: 27 3/4 inches

We seem to be suffering for a slight fall cold right now... our home along with every other household in Kershaw County, SC it seems. So hopefully it won't turn into anything serious with Miss O- like sinus infection, ear infection, respiratory infection... catch  my drift?! :)

This Thanksgiving has already been so humbling for me, personally.  I have everything I could ever need and for that I am SO thankful.  I have an amazing, fabulous, wonderful & supportive husband; a fabulous baby girl, who is healthy, active, smart, funny & a beautiful mess;  we have a great life, wonderful family and friends, jobs, a house, cars, food to eat....    Things we take for granted every day.  I am so thankful.

I am unloading my phone pictures.  These are all from the blackberry {aka- Miss O's favorite toy}.

Be Happy! 

Go Gamecocks! 

Helping with the laundry {Really she was pulling the wet clothes out}

playing with her blocks. 

blurry but it captured her top tooth...  she has the 3 to the left of that tooth
coming in too!! 

daddy swinging his baby at the doctors office

yogurt is so good. she is still learning the spoon thing. 

bunny slippers. love. 

adventures continue

It is so difficult for me to update like I should.  On top of working, we have to take care of our big girl, take care of ourselves, our house, our cat.... there just is not enough energy for everything!  But I try to snap pictures as much as I can.  I have a wonderful new camera that makes picture taking a lot more fun. Our little punkin is just so smart.  Sometimes I forget she is only 9 months old and I expect her to walk, talk, sing... I know it will come with time.  We have been so blessed by this sweet girl.  At times she can be frustrating but I never take that for granted.  She dislikes her car seat so much that she gets straight like a board and doesn't want to sit down- that is very frustrating.  But I try not to get worked up about it.  Sometimes I miss the days of a baby that doesn't move around but I am grateful to have a baby that is mobile.  One thing for sure- I am SOOOO excited about her first Christmas! We are taking Christmas pictures this weekend! Can't wait!!

morning mohawk

she used to fit in this boppy... now she is a big girl. 

baby jeggings are my love. 

polka dot princess eating her bow

so lucky to see this face in person EVERY day! 

soft apples- no bueno.
it's like she is saying "what IS this?"  

worried she has to eat more of it. 

a little outside fun

Things have been busy with us lately {I am not sure if i say that every time I post but it is the truth}.  I managed to get some pictures of Miss O outside playing with her fun slide. A sweet friend from church gave it to us and she loves it.  She will figure it out on her own one day but it is fun to go outside and let her play every now and then. xo

she may have tried to eat a leaf or two. 

drooling on the leaf

yum. yum. 

trying to figure out this slide thing. 

so much fun!! 

my amazing, fabulous, smart big girl.

Halloween {Snow White & a few Dwarfs}

Miss O was a fabulous Snow White.  Holidays are so amazing now that Miss O is the center of them! We had a wonderful time at our church trunk-or-treat.  We did a joint costume with my sister and brother-in-law.  We had 4 dwarfs and one fabulous princess.  I'm already thinking of ideas for next year!

confessions of a new mom

I wanted to take a moment to document some of my new mom confessions... even some of the new parent things the Mr and I have discussed before.  We so enjoy being parents to Miss O. Let's face it... we think she is pretty darn amazing and we can't get enough of her.  Since she has been here (8 sweet, sweet months) there have been times where I think I NEED TO REMEMBER THIS... so here I go.

#1:  On two separate occasions, we have left the baby monitor in the living room instead of by the bed. On another occasion we left the monitor off.  I slept through the night and felt AMAZING and thought it was crazy Miss O hadn't woken up yet... well, she was awake and she was crying.  YIKES!

#2:  My house is a M-E-S-S! It takes everything inside of me not to flip out at the way my house ends up after a week.  Honestly, after working all day and taking the last precious hours before bedtime to play, read, eat and play more with Miss O we don't really think about cleaning the house.  There are times it looks like a tornado destroyed our home.  I have really struggled with it and I'm sure will continue to struggle with it.

#3:  Miss O has been hurt several times as she is learning to move around and things like that happen.  But the first time she got hurt, the first time she cried a blood curdling scream was my fault.  When she was a brand new little baby... like a month or two old... I dropped the remote on her forehead by accident.  If you know me well, you know I am a klutz.. I spill lots of stuff and I drop lots of stuff.  I will never forget that day. I was sitting on the floor and she was sleeping in my lap and I dropped the remote and made a boo-boo on her forehead.  The cry was not one I had heard before so I KNEW it hurt her bad.  I cried with her and called the Mr in a panic.  Here I am, a mother and protector of this sweet, innocent baby and I am the first person to hurt her! After a few minutes of both of us crying, she calmed down and I felt better.  

#4: There are days when I regret not being a stay at home mom.  There are days when I drop Miss O off at daycare and just want to stay and play with her instead of go to work.  Honestly... I know we work hard to provide for her the things we want her to have so that keeps me motivated when I get down about it.  By the time she gets to college we will have to mortgage our house 7 billion times... so we work to save for her future.  I work to ensure she has everything she needs {and let's face it.. some things that she WANTS}.  But there are days when I wish my whole day revolved around her.  Then there are days when I'm thankful that even in those days, I love my job. I love what I do and I love where I work.  I think it would be a lot more difficult for me if I hated what I did and where I went after I dropped Miss O off at daycare.

Being a parent is not easy.  We make difficult decisions that impact our family, our children, our futures... it takes a lot of work.  But it is so completely worth it.  I can say with confidence I am not ready for more at this time... definitely want some more children but not right now! Now I feel better about getting all that off my chest... I know everyday can't be a perfect fairy tale with a spotless house! :)

Here are some pictures from our trip to the park last weekend!! {And by trip to the park, I mean her first time on a swing}

sweet Carolina girl

we tried to get down so she could see us while she was swinging

swinging can be fun!

besito. kiss kiss

i could stare at this face all day

the Mr, Mrs & Miss O
I love my Gamecock family! 

walk. walk.

We bought Miss O this walker from Target last week.  Originally when she used it she would stand up and push forward so it would roll up really fast and she would come crashing down.  So we have started holding the front of it a little... just kind of guiding it so it doesn't go so fast.   She is doing well with her walking.  A lot of people are always shocked to see her standing or find out that she is very close to walking.  They tell me constantly how with baby #2 I won't rush these things and I will encourage them to stay down (like a baby longer).  I don't know if that will be the case.  But I do know I only encouraged Miss O to do something she clearly wanted.  If you have ever met this girl you know she is a wiggle worm to the max; she does not take long to figure things out if SHE wants to do it.  When she is doing what the big kids are doing she is in heaven.  I will say that with the news of her moving to the baby room  {the move will happen officially next week} that I was very sad with how much she has changed and growing up... not that she did those things but that she isn't a baby, baby anymore.  I'm sure other parents can understand how bittersweet this sadness is.  But I do have a sweet friend who reminded me that this is just the beginning of her moving up & on stages and it will continue for the rest of her life... it is something I will have to get used to.  We are thankful that she IS able to do all the things she is doing... we definitely don't take that for granted. Here is a video of her using her walker. {please note- there is music being played... if you are wondering what the noise is.  we were listening to the Disney pandora station}

xo

a big move

Our sweet baby girl is growing so fast... ridiculously fast.  When I went to pick her up from daycare Friday, the ladies asked if I had spoken with the director of the daycare yet.  I told them I had not and they notified me that she was thinking of moving Miss O to the 1 year old room {she is 8 months old}.  I cried inside a little.  It is so hard to believe she won't be in the "Baby Room" much longer.   It is hard to believe she has grown up SO much in just 8 months in this world. I was pretty sad about that... where did my baby go??  Monday morning is here and sure enough... I went to drop off Miss O and the director asked me if I was ready for her to move.  I may not be ready but she clearly is.  They aren't moving her right away, all day.  We discussed a transition period... moving her in the afternoons to see how she does.  I don't doubt she will be fine.  She is strong and very strong willed.  She is determined to be a "big kid" and you can see it in her eyes.  Last week we took her out of the nursery at church and went to the gym where all the big kids were playing.  She was in HEAVEN! She was laughing and smiling from ear to ear watching all the kids run around, play basketball, kick balls around, etc.  She is such an incredible baby... and I know I'm biased because she is mine.  But I really get blown away with her.  She very much takes after her dad.  You can see her processing things in her head.  If you take some time to explain to her what to do... she will have it down in no time. Gosh... I just love this girl of mine.  We have a very health obsession with our fabulous baby/big girl. We hope you are enjoying the fall weather, pumpkin everything, leaves changing... we certainly are!! I can't wait to celebrate all the holidays with Miss O- her first Halloween {just WAIT for her costume}, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years & Three Kings Day!!!  It will be her birthday before we know it because the holidays always come and go so quickly.  We will enjoy EVERY moment as it comes.  The following pictures are strictly from my phone... it takes me a while to get them off the phone but here they are.  Love, Love. xo

PS- Miss O did watch the Gamecocks destroy the Georgia Bulldogs {35-7} this weekend.  She will have the cheers down in no time! ;) C-A-R-O-L-I-N-A! GOOOOOO COCKS!

A rare moment I did not take for granted. Sweet baby girl

Ready for the Fall Weather!! Dress, tights & boots!! 

Grandma's couch is so much fun... an endless play yard! 

Dinner & First trip to IKEA {dinner was a bottle.. nothing fancy}

my obsessions <3 <3

she saw herself in the mirror... but I think she thought it was another baby.
 She smiled then was confused. 

so many things she can pull out onto the floor... she was in heaven. 

Master the Stairs: Check.
We don't have stairs at our house... but they aren't an obstacle for this girl.

she loves books... turning the pages {she really loves paper}
she pulled several books off the shelf. 

On the way home from NC and she grabbed her bottle and started feeding herself.
She literally would not drink if I helped her.  

8 Glorious Months

Every month that passes is still like a surprise. I don't know how to explain it... Our little button is probably the best part of my life (and I can definitely her daddy's too!).  We are SO excited about these next few months with the holidays.  They will be so much more special with Miss O here.  We have her Halloween costume- CAN'T WAIT  for her to trick or treat (aka- dress up & look darling). And then Christmas, New Years & Three Kings... I just can't wait!!!  I have done terrible with keeping up with this blog... I will try to do better.  I snap pictures like a maniac but I just don't update them on the blog.  Eight months has passed with this sweet girl in our lives.  Hard to believe but we've LOVED every minute of it.  We are already planning her first birthday party (and by we, I mean me!)  I just get really excited thinking about it. Here are some pictures... enjoy! xo

This girl is very silly... here she is playing with her toy- making noises and blowing on it. 

This is definitely a daddy's girl... but he is equally wrapped around her little finger.

Brushing our teeth... all 2 of them. :)

 playing around with daddy.

Never gets old.  We never know how we will find her. 

Mornin'! 

Playing with Poppy.

Lunch date with a baby friend. 

Penguins are semi-entertaining.

She was more interested in people watching. 

Fish everywhere... she LOVED them! 

sharks

my sweet girl & me. I LOVE HER! 

8 Sweet, Sweet Months!!