We went to feed the ducks today at a gorgeous park...

The three little girls. They are becoming such good playmates! I love having them around.
Very mysterious.

Bek feeding the ducks... she is the only one who remembered the bread! Smart chic!

LOVE this smile! Very serious.

Great things brewing...

I am so overwhelmed by the goodness in our lives, especially all the new things that are just getting going.

I have joined up with 5 other moms in the neighborhood and we have organized a "mommy time" swap. Basically two moms stay and watch all 6 mom's little munchkins and 4 moms go play (or go to the dr., or clean house, get a pedicure... you get the idea). It is starting Monday and I am in the first team of mommy's to watch the kiddos, so I get the next two Monday morning off. What will I do with myself for 3 hours?

That brings me to some more goodness! My Mom and Dad are coming to Charleston week after next, SOOOO I will be dropping LM off that Monday a.m. so I can carry our luggage, etc. out to the car and get dressed and packed and all that good stuff. I will be staying by myself with LM at a different hotel :( but will be able to hang out with Mom (aka Mimi) every day for 4 1/2 days! Praise the Lord for this wonderful trip!

On top of all this mommy stuff, when I moved here I joined a playgroup and it has grown to almost 20 moms, from about 5!!!! Praise God. We all get together one morning a week and it is madness. We love it, the kiddos love it and I am sooo thankful for all of these other SAHM's! It is great to have somewhere where your child can go and learn daycare-type principals like sharing, following guidance and direction from other adults, etc. in an at-home type environment.

More goodness? Well, yes there is! Me and 4 other ladies are starting a Beth Moore study, Believing God, at my casa late night once a week. We decided to do it late night so me and another mom could get our little ones in bed, take a shower and eat some dinner and the only rule is you must come in your jammies! Yeah! I am so stoked. I absolutely love all of the new ladies in my life. (in addition to the ladies that are already in my life, of course!)

So we have some goodness we can't share, but know that it was/is a blessing from God. Only he could have oriented it! (with the help of some really cool humans- you know who you are!)

Yes, there is more! Can you believe it? Blessed is what I call it, but I digress. Babies! Babies! Babies! All around me the stork will be dropping off babies! YEAH! My neighbor is due with her second little girl at any moment. My other neighbors daughter is due in May and a lady in my playgroup is due with TWINS in May but will probably deliver in April. I am SOOO stoked.

Oh yeah, on top off all of this I have finally found a doctor who is helping my back. I am awaiting a MRI to be scheduled but she has given me something to help me sleep at night. I had been laying up at night for ~3 hours trying to bear the pain and fall asleep. I am SOOO glad that this may all be behind me soon.

On another note, LM has started waving bye-bye. It is adorable. She doesn't do it for the words "bye-bye" she only does it when she is going to bed or if she sees someone leaving or if we are leaving. It is amazing how fast they pick up on things. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS AGE! She is so much fun.

Love you all more than we can say!

P.S. On another note, there is more that I want to share about yesterday's posts, but I need the other person who was involved (she knows as we had coorespondance about it) to give me permission to share our coorespondance off of facebook. I do not want to do it without her permission. So, ____ if you don't mind, please just leave me a comment or a note on facebook and let me know I can share. Thanks!

More to say...

(editors note: If you haven't read the judgmental people post, scroll down and come back to this one immediately after reading it. Otherwise, it may not make any sense.)

Okay, the fact that this is still causing mental clutter tells me I have more to say, so here it goes:

I was speaking with someone the other day about my decision to vaccinate my child and she said that she didn't agree with parents that don't vaccinate. I think the reason that the comments I saw about "people like me" being so "horrible" bothered me because I defended parents who choose not to vaccinate. I vaccinate because I would be unable to live with myself if there was a preventable disease via vaccination and I didn't vaccinate, but do understand the possible trauma that can be a result of all the needles. So, I got so fired up (and still am) because I defended other parent's choices to refrain and all they can do is make general comments that people like me need a pet. Really? Couldn't I turn that around?

Also, the sad part is as moms we need each other. We need to team up, learn from each other and then make our own ways using pieces of what we learned and do our best. That is all I want to do. To raise a God-loving, kind-hearted, happy and healthy little girl.

If anyone could ever believe that it doesn't hurt one of us "horrible people" to hear our babies cry and that we have a hard heart, you are more wrong than I could ever say. It hurts SOOO much. I feel like I have the flu (you know that achy I can't even move b/c it makes me want to crawl in a ball and cry). It is the most pain I have ever felt next to giving birth. So, just know, we don't do it for pleasure, we do it because we feel like it is the best thing for our babies and we endure the pain for their good.

I also want to clarify, I TRY to not be judgmental. I am not saying I am perfect and never have or never will, but it is something I try to avoid daily. I struggle just like every other human being. There was only one perfect son and He has come and is at the right hand of the Father.

I do not mind that not everyone agrees with us. I am okay with that. I wish others could feel the same way and realize that their way is not necessarily the "right way" either and just be quiet instead of putting people down that don't do it their "right way."

Our love to all!

Ugh! Judgmental people!

So, this post is only to vent, please ignore it if you are not in the mood to hear it. :)

I try to be non-judgmental when other moms tell me how they handled sleep, pacifier, discipline, feeding, etc. because as the mother of our little blessings we are given free reign. Does the bible not command me to not judge others?

"Judge not, that you will not be judged. For the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." Matt. 7:1-2 (ESV)

Why then, do others feel the need to turn their nose up at me or make snide remarks about my style of parenting. No, I didn't need a pet! I live my days to take care of my child, what more am/was I supposed to do? I love this little girl more than life itself. I have only done what I have felt was right for our family and our little girl, with the support/love/agreement of my amazing husband.

When my child had not taken a nap and never slept more than 30 min. at a time at night and was almost 4 mos. old, we were desperate and took desperate measures. SO WHAT! I didn't ask you to do that with your child, I only chose to do it with mine because I knew she needed sleep and we were not helping her by assisting her every hour on the hour every time she cried out. I also did tremedous research (reading 4 different books, seeking input from other mothers, and PRAYER) and came to a conclusion and put it into action. No, we didn't choose to put our baby in our bed, or even in a bassinet next to our bed. Instead, I got up and down as many as 40 times a night in the beginning to go to my child. You know, a bassinet or co-sleeping would have been much easier, but easy was not what my goal was. It was getting my child comfortable sleeping in her crib and it was the way we chose to go about it, cold turkey. It was extremely difficult to put her in a crib when she was three days old and walk down the hall to my room and leave her, but eventually we would have to do it, so we thought we would do it from the beginning. I can remember for the first couple of months spending my entire night running back and forth all night to soothe her and as soon as I would get into my warm bed, she would cry again (within a couple minutes of me being in there) and I would go back. Does it sound like I need a pet, I mean, really? I am a horrible, mean, unattentive mother who doesn't deserve her child, right?

(note: about the above paragraph, I think it is 100% fine to put your baby in bed or in a bassinet, I just didn't have one and figured eventually we would have to transition, so we just started with a crib instead of buying one... if I had had one, I may have put her in my room too :)

Also, I hear all the time how great my baby sleeps at night. People are in awe of how I can just lay her down (when she is not sick or teething) and she just goes to sleep. Everyone says we got lucky. I think it had much to do with our "conclusion" and "action" when she was younger, but either way, we obviously did what was best for her because she sleeps now! She is a much happier, attentive child now than she was when she not sleeping for more than 30 min. at a time.

On another note, I wore my child too. Just not 24/7! I wore her when we were out and about she loved it, but she also loved to be put down. Really, is that a crime? I am not given the freedom to put her down after I have carried her for 9 mos? LOL I don't see anywhere in my "book of instruction" (aka the Bible!) where it tells me if I don't put my baby in my bed and don't carry her on my tummy for a year 24/7 that I am a bad parent. Please, send me scripture if you find it and if I am in violation of God's word, not only will I try my best to fix it, I will ask for forgiveness and STILL will not judge you!

Please, don't judge me for being the best mom I can be. The ultimate judge knows my heart (and yours) and knows that I would give my life for this child (as I am sure you would for yours) so just let me be a mom and I will let you.

The new camera! She is tolerating it much better. :)

Engrossed in Barney, sitting on her zebra from Auntie Rach!
Showing Daddy some love. She is so cuddly and gives LOTS of kisses and hugs! We are enjoying her so much and are more in love with our little blessing everyday. She brings a smile to so many faces.

Hello everyone! Greetings from afar...

*Edit: So ladies (and gents), so far LM has taken 3 naps without her paci and 1 night. It is not killing her which helps my sanity. She threw 5 out last night and kept 2. She kept all her "babies" in with her last night, her 4 or 5 stuffed animals, including her glow worm, which she loves. This morning she woke up and played with them for a while. I got to sleep later than 6:30! Yeah!!!!

Well, we got some really good news on Friday. Since LM was born we have been concerned with her right eye turning in slightly. The pediatrician back in FL told us it would clear up by about 5 mos. but then it didn't. She told us that she felt like it was an optical illusion caused by a large bridge. When we moved the doctor here made an appointment for a childrens eye specialist in Savannah so we went to see him. I had heard horror stories about him because a mom in our playgroups little girl was born blind and he was the one who had to come in and break the news. He is known to not have a good bedside manner, but after meeting him I think he just doesn't like to have to break the bad news to parents. He was super nice to us and did his best to just get the exam over with quickly and try to make LM laugh before and after the uncomfortable parts (she had to be dialated and then have the bright light... that even makes me want to cry, so I could understand her meltdown). In saying all that, he confirmed what the pediatrician told us and we don't have to see him again for 2 years! Praise God!!!! He also checked her vision and said it seems normal so no baby glasses either.

So, that was Friday. On Saturday she woke up with a green nose and pretty much was up all night. She was as happy as could be but tired and all stuffy. We went two days without her humidifier last week because it was leaking and she woke up with the beginnings of a sinus infection. We went to the doctor yesterday (Monday) and he said we would watch it for a week and if she was still green we would treat with antibiotics. Until then, he gave us some pink-eye drops to put in her nose. CRAZY!!!! So, he told me to get my three biggest friends and hold her down 3 times a day for drops in her nose. Fun stuff. She hates them!

When we went to the doctor yesterday she completely lost it when he came in the room. She has never met him before, but he assured me that at this age, until about 2 1/2- 3 she would not like the doctor and that this is completely normal.

On another note, we decided that since she has been using the pacifier to lure us back in (she throws them all out - sometimes 7 or 8 of them- and screams while she watches the door until we come back) we will not be going back and if she wants to throw them out, she can sleep without them. So, for an hour during the day she goes to bed and if she throws them out she fusses until the hour is up (usually this means 45 min. and then she falls asleep) and at night we don't go back until morning. Well, last night she slept without her pacifier! You got it, she threw 3 out and after 45 min. realized we weren't coming back and she slept all night (actually til 6:30 a.m.) without one! Yeah!

Don't get me wrong, I don't care that she has a pacifier. If she wants it, I don't mind her having it, it is just not going to be used as a weapon to get us back in there when she is supposed to be napping. Who knows, maybe she will wean herself off out of stubborness. LOL

Want some pictures??? Here ya go. We had a fashion show this week and I have a new video for you. She is able to get up on her bouncy zebra now. I am certain she will be able to bounce soon. :)


Picking out some tea since she has found the perfect scarf. She thought it would be a fun idea. :)
She has made her choice... it will be lemon!
Almost forgot... Mom, do these shoes go with my scarf and dress?
Seriously, LM has a shoe fetish! She carries our shoes all around the house. You should see when she carries her daddy's shoes, they are as big as her.

The new camera wars...

So, we finally broke down and bought a dslr camera because I have taken about 10,000 pictures in the last 10 mos. and we thought it would be an investment that would pay off in sentimental ways. Well, it has not gone over too well. We ordered it on December 27th and just got it on January 20th or 21st. Was it worth the wait? Well, the picture quality is better and I LOVE IT, but LM on the other hand has a different opinion.

She hears the shutter and runs in the opposite direction. I tried to pull it out again yesterday and she threw herself down on the floor and crawled in "super speed" away. I would get back in front of her and she would turn around and crawl the other way. All of the pictures I took were... wait for it.... OF HER BACKSIDE CRAWLING AWAY!

Another example of good intentions. ;) I think it will be like the packing tape dispenser, drill, blowdryer, electric toothbrush, the list goes on. We have had to "break" her of her fear of all of these things and I am guessing the camera will just be another thing to break her of this new fear.

I am hoping by her birthday she will not be afraid and I will get some good pictures. Stay tuned.

What a great day!!!

Oh my goodness, could this day have been any better? If so, I think I would have had to pinch myself.

You are all probably thinking we won the lottery or something and are getting ready to call us for a visit, but I assure you that is not the case! We still have two houses to sell and the hubby is working longer hours because they got the green light to start moving dirt (praise God), but as a mom I could not have had a better day.

From this point on, my checklist, is only for my own sake, not bragging. I just want to be able to look back at this post on a bad day and smile because today was so good.

I started the morning with Little Miss (I think that may be her new blog name) crying at 6 a.m. I ignored the crying for what felt like only 5 or 10 min. and she fell back asleep.... til 8 a.m.!!!! Whoo hoo!! Oh yeah, and she woke up happy... it has been ages since she hasn't woken up crying. I got up, started a load of clothes, fed her and the dogs and then myself, checked my email, started another load of laundry, dressed her, dressed me and RUSHED out the door to meet a friend at storytime at the library at 10 a.m. I left about 5 min. late but still made it in time.... to be told that it was cancelled today! Ugh! But, we made lemonade out of lemons and the 4 of us- 2 moms, 2 babies, braved a boutique sale and Wal-mart. I came home and fed Little Miss and put her to bed. She didn't cry at all and slept for 2 hours and 15 min. I did not know what to do with myself. Her humidifier broke last week and I haven't taken it in for exchange, so I have to be more quiet than usual and the laundry room is right next to her room so I sat down and watched 7/8ths of a movie. It has been FOREVER since I sat down that long. It felt great. She woke up, I turned on Barney and got back to laundry and got a wild hair to reorganize her closet and move all the "baby" stuff that she will never use again out and (mom, where are you??) I am about to go through all the baby clothes and put them in bags by size in case we are blessed with another little girl in the future. On a side note, I really want LM to have a sister. She ate dinner at 4:30, bath at 5:00, played until 5:40 (which allowed me time to watch the last 1/8th of the movie) and was in bed at 5:50! I just had to blog and give thanks to God for an amazing day... playtime and work all rolled into one.

Today was the first time in ages that LM was not fussy. She didn't fuss at all (you know, more than a wimper when she wanted something) until after her nap. I was very concerned that naps were ceasing to exist when, for the last two weeks, she has screamed everytime we lay her down for naps, but has been doing fine at bedtime. I am hoping that it is just her teeth coming through that were causing so many problems.

So, I am headed to the kitchen to make some soup for dinner and the hubby will be late soooo I may be able to sneak in some Y&R (Young & the Restless) before he gets home.

Our love to all!

If you read this...

Please leave me a comment and let me know! Tell me something I do not know about you. (That you don't mind having others read. :)

Please, play along! I am just trying to see how many of our friends and family use this site to keep up with us.

Love you all!

P.S. In order to leave a comment, just click on the word "comment" below.

Which was taken with which?

I would like your help with this post.

2 cameras -4 pictures

Which one took which? Please comment and tell me which 2 were taken with the better camera.

A)

B)

C)

D)

Yeah, yeah, yeah for Baby K!

I know, cheesy title, but I am so excited for my little girl today. She is busy exploring her surroundings and is learning so many new things from all her little friends in the neighborhood and at church.

Saturday she started trying to wave.
Sunday she started making the kissy sound (the smacky noise)
Today- boy oh boy, today she surprised me- She has two (it appears, she won't let me examine) new teeth on top, she started making a sound that sounds alot like da da AND she drank an ounce from her sippy cup! YEAH!!!

Okay, so I know the sippy cup thing doesn't seem like much, I mean, an ounce??? Yes, it is a very big deal. I have been wondering how we would get her to like a sippy cup by March when we have been trying on and off for 6 mos. and she would just bite on the bottom of the cup. The doc told us to just put it on her dinner/lunch/breakfast (LOL- must be thinking backwards today) tray with a little milk in it so she would get used to it. Well, I confess, I haven't been as consistent as I should have been, but it has been appearing more and more times each week and last week she started tasting the milk. Today, she actually drank it! Yeah for Baby K!

Starting to feel like home...

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't written in a while. Between my many trips (4 to be exact) to the Department of Motor Vehicles and doctors appointments and chasing after Little Bit, we have been quite busy! We miss you all though and think of you daily. I am sorry I haven't stayed in touch very well lately.

For a while I have felt like (more like KNEW) we were moved here in God's will, but it still didn't make it "feel" like home. Quite honestly, materialistically, we missed our house in Florida. It (the house) was home. My hubby and I would talk about it daily. One of us would have a bewildered look on our face and the other would ask why and that was what he or I would have been thinking about.... the house! Okay, I am being serious when I tell you that it is Satan that makes us miss a house! Come on, follow me for a moment. Home is where the heart is and my heart is in what I do everyday... be a wife and a mother to two fantastic people. This house is just a house! That house was just a house! I say all of this to tell you that I, actually WE, took steps last week, major steps to make this house a home... and it's working! Praise God.

We hung 29 pictures last weekend... family pictures, photos and things that take these walls and turn them into memories. I walk in and see all the smiling faces from memories in the past and am covered with HOME! It is amazing what bringing pictures into an emotionally empty place will do for you.

We also had six of our friends over for dinner and had a really good time. Don't get me wrong, when there is food involved, I always have a good time, but the girls got to watch a chick flick and guys played some playstation 3! Fun times!

So, getting to the why we know we made the right move part. We have met (more like God has put in our path) sooo many amazing people. The funny thing is, there are so many for so many different needs. We have awesome neighbors and an amazing playgroup as well as a mom's group at our church. Our sunday school class is filled with so many hearts for God and we are just really enjoying it here. I already have 5 or 6 people that I could call to watch Little Bit if an emergency arose. There are so many wonderful mothers with the same goal that I have... to raise my little girl the best way I know how... with help and guidance from people who have gone through it before me.

Well, the whole house is up now, so I am going to go play with my family. Have a wonderful Saturday!

Doctors office...

She went in for her second flu shot today.... this was us at the doctors office keeping busy before the nurse came in. :)

Some pictures... since I hear I haven't posted lately. :)

Happy Girl!

Did I do that?
She has gotten very busy and is LOVING her new freedom!

Her 10 month chair pic... it took over 100 shots to get this one... not that great, huh?
This one was worth it!
This is what she looked like in about 85 of them!
Thank you Nanny for this adorable dress! She has already worn it 3 times.

Lots of videos....

A few Christmas pics.... (hoping for more!)

Pappa did ALOT of holding of his two youngest grandbabies...

She was running 101.5 fever, but was well enough to give some head-butts! She kept butting her Pappa in the head and grinning. Too cute!

Aunt Yvonne introducing the girls...

The Berry girls getting excited!

The aunts!

Precious niece...

More precious nieces!

What's been going on around here...

Okay, so let me start here:
I am going to let myself believe that we have been jinxed. LOL My daughter is having trouble (my version) keeping her bows in her hair now. She is pulling them out. Oh well, at least I had 9 1/2 mos. of bows. This news comes 2 days after I made her this wall hanging to organize all her bows. Go figure! We will keep perservering though. She will come around again, some how! :)
I love this outfit and am in mourning that is is getting too small. Just thought we would have one more pic in it! Oh yeah, and this is my absolutely favorite bow... what could be better than pink with pink polka dots??
Daddy and Little Bit, she was a tad bit sleepy.
All smiles!
This was at Jason and Lizzie's wedding. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Small!
On the way home from church... she had been up for 6 hours and I was trying to keep her up for 20 more min. until we got home. Didn't happen. I was tickling her, singing to her and shaking a rattle to keep her awake. She passed out anyway! She did go back to sleep when we got home though... bonus!
This is my diversion... she goes into the pantry and gets out all the sweet n low packets when I need to get some stuff done in the kitchen.