Things I am Thankful for....

Being its Thanksgiving I thought I would post a sappy/honest post about what I am thankful for!

1. Lily! Uh Duh did you think anything else would be number one. I am so thankful that I was blessed with this beautiful child. She has changed me so much. Everything good about me I can see through her, which in turn only makes me want to be better. Everyday it is something new and she brought something to my life that I did not realize I was missing. Everyday is now an adventure.

2. Michael! How lucky am I that I have a husband that loves me to go home to every night. He may not be perfect but neither am I and that's why we work. He is always there for me and does everything he can to take care of us. He is a good father and my best friend. I could not ask for more than that.

3. My family and friends! Who else has to listen to me go on and on about Lily? I am blessed to have such a great family and friends that are like family. Even better it has grown substantially since I got married. Actually probably quadrupled. Do you know that not once have I not been able to do something because of Lily. Most of our friends jump at the chance to watch her. I am an only child but now I have three brothers and sisters! It's great. And now I am an AUNT! I would never have thought that would be so awesome. But it is. The great thing about families? They have to love you. Even if you are a spoiled brat. The great thing about our friends? They love Michael so much they put up with me!

4. That I have a job! Many of you know I would rather be at home with Lil E but it is hard economic times! I am so thankful that I have a job, because at this point a lot of people don't. Even if it does pay less than I am worth!

5. My home! It may not be my dream home but it's ours. We work hard for it and we can still pay the mortgage (see #4). Lily has plenty of room (for now!) and at this point has not been too needy on repairs (other than the dang HVAC)

6. My Daycare workers! I feel like they really love her ya know? I may have to fuss occasionally because something is not done just right but they take really good care of her. They give her lovies and treat her like one of their own. Loving her is all that matters to me!

7. My puppies! I almost forgot my other children! Oops. I feel so bad for my dogs right now because my level of patience is smaller with them. And they seem to be taking a back burner. But they take it in stride and they seem to really be taking to the new addition. I was telling Michael we needed to make a conscience effort to give them a little lovin everyday. I think getting them a fence would help the situation too. But you know why they are great? It's called DDTs, automatic vacuum cleaners to all food that is dropped, and false sense of security. I would like to think if someone broke in to kill us that we would be protected but honestly they would probably lick you. Watch out for Charlie though he is fiesty.

8. My Breastpump(Medela Pump and Style/boppy! TMI I know. But I really heart the breastfeeding even if I hate pumping. These two devices make my life easier. Do you know how much money I save breastfeeding wow! Lily goes through one can of formula a month. That is to make cereal and back up bottles when I go shopping etc. Most months I pour out the rest of the can (its only good for thirty days after opening). Even better? I have only bought one can...the rest are samples from the hospital/mail.

9. My bed! I wish I could see you more comfy bed. We have been drifting apart lately. I love you so much but stress, crazy schedules, and baby make our time together limited. I promise to start giving you more personal attention in the near future.

10. DVR! Bed the reason I cannot see you on a regular basis is directly related to my DVR addiction. I recently converted to DVR and I LOVE it more than my husband. Just kidding but I do love it alot. It is great for watching all my shows after Lily goes to bed.


There are tons of other things I am thankful for like cheap gas prices, online banking, spanx...but who has time to go over them all. I will end with a have a happy and safe thanksgiving and I will update everyone on my first weekend away from Lily, her first thanksgiving and a miserably cold trip to Chicago next week.

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SIDS Violations

This weekend was a mess of errands, social obligations, Chi Omega obligations, and just STUFF! Lily was an angel all weekend. She is not crawling yet but instead rolling to wear she needs to get. It is quite entertaining actually.

Not only is she rolling everywhere but she is rolling to her stomach to sleep. I debated about this at first. The first night she started doing it she was fussy and then rolling over. Since she was fussing I got up and check on her. I rolled her back onto her back and then went back to bed. She started fussing again. Went in...on her stomach. I repeated this vicious cycle a total of three times. I would not say I am a crazy worry wart but SIDS scares me. I know she is past the point of that, etc. BUT I can still worry. So I had an internal debate on whether to keep flipping her over. I finally realized as I looked around her crib at the other SIDS "hazards" I was being ridiculous. List of bad things I do that would kill her if you listened to everything they tell you:

-Bumper pads! This is currently a hot debate in baby world. To Bumper or not to Bumper? I bumper. Not for safety but honestly I am a vain biatch and like the way my crib looks with them. SIDS violation #1. But don't worry next week there will be an article that says you have to bumper pad your crib to save your babies life!
-Blankets! When Lil' E was very small she was swaddled. This was the only way I could get her to sleep. Not only did she love it but she slept through the night. Once she started rolling over I had to wean her off of the swaddle though. She has always had an attachment/likin' to sucking on her blanket. So I cover her with her soft cuddly blankets: SIDS violation #2. It soothes her back to sleep most nights without me even getting up. She will roll to get to it in her crib!
-Stuffed animals! This is the only one I know I should change. I admit she has two stuffed animals in her crib. A little lamb blanket/stuffed animal combo and a baby owl. She reaches for them in the middle of the night so I don't have the heart to take them out.

So that is my list of why I should not care if she starts sleeping on her stomach. Am I a horrible mother? Its debatable but I am leaning towards no. Do I spoil her rotten? Probably.

This weekend we got a babysitter on Saturday. Thanks Morgan and Hunter! So that I could chaperone a semiformal for my Chi Omega chapter. We got Lily down before we even left so they really just had to come sit with her. I think they were kinda sad! But they did get to hang out with her for about an hour prior to that. Chaperoning the event just made me realize how old I really am. Surprisingly though I did not get tired even though the event was from 9pm-1am. But it was CRAZY! Was I that way six years ago? WOW!

Tonight I am PACKING! Ugh. As many of you know I will be spending the weekend away from my beautiful baby. Sniffle Sniffle. It is going to be SO hard. Everyday I wonder if I will actually be able to get on the plane Friday morning. Lily will be staying with Grandma while Michael and I fly to Chicago for Mike and Becca's wedding. We will be gone Friday-Sunday morning. Two and a half days and two nights. Will I survive? Stay tuned......

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23 Weeks

I don't know why I am so cute Mommy?!

This past week Lily went for her 5 month shot appointment. She weighted in at 16 pounds 15 ounces. Wow. Which jumped her from the 50% to the 90% in weight. And here I was worrying she wasn't getting enough milk. Here is a good body shot of her in her crib playing. She is getting so big!



This was the first doctors appointment without Mommy. It will also be the last. Not that Michael didn't do a good job (I am only saying this because he may read it-haha!), but I might be too much of a control freak to not go. Apparently she has an ear infection. So they prescribed Amoxocillin. So here is the thing. I am not a person that believes in taking medicine for every little bump along the way. I believe the body has an amazing way of healing itself. I also think that because culturally we hand out antibiotics like sweet tarts we are breeding superbugs. Call me a conspirecry theorist if you want but seriously don't you wonder why bugs become resistant. So I believe that since she wasn't feeling bad, there was no change in eating, demeanor, etc. it probably would have cleared up on its own. I would have questioned the need for the antibiotics. But Michael did good. He did say that she definitely knows whats going on now. When the doctor gave her that shot she got this look on her face and screamed! Smiles to pissed off in two seconds.

Also in the last week I noticed daycare had been writing down that they give her a cup with water at lunch. Um excuse me??! First I wanted to be the first one to give her a cup. Second she is five months old! She doesn't need water. Give her some formula or milk people. We double checked with the doc and she agreed. On the same note we also had our first boo-boo report. She hit her head on the highchair. She had a little bump it was so sad. But they said she was a big girl and hardly cried and just started playing again.

They also told Michael that she would be crawling within weeks. YES WEEKS! On one hand I am happy. On the other I have not babyproofed ANYTHING!!! Does anyone else think this is early? I mean she is not even six months. And worse we leave for Chicago next week and I just know she will crawl for the first time without me there.

On Saturday we took her to her first NCSU football game! She has been to tailgate but she got to go in this time. She was an angel. The weather was squirrelly so we left at halftime but it was still fun. We even put our big girl pants on and went over to Jenna and Dave's afterwards where she was up until about eleven and yet very well behaved.

Its all about teeth. I have been trying for weeks to get pictures of Lily's teeth. This is not easy! Not at all. And then this week I was looking through my pics from the past few days and found several where her bottom teeth are apparent. Also her top ones will be in by the end of next week. Here are some pics from this week.

Sitting pretty and playing the Piano

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5 Months Old

My beautiful baby girl is five months old today! What a big girl. She is currently working hard on sitting up strengthening all those stomach and back muscles. She has two bottom teeth through the gum and it cutting her top two now. She changes so much everyday, and amazes me more and more.

We had a good weekend. These pictures are from our Sunday afternoon. We had visitors. Cousin Morgan came with Aunt Tanya and Uncle Wayne for a visit. Trying to take pictures of two girls under six months is not easy. One is always not happy. The first time Morgan was mad, then Lily was mad, and our latest attempt had Morgan mad. The things we do! But we did get some cute pictures.

Daddy Time!

mmmm Pumpkin

Sitting up so pretty with the Pumpkin

Lily hugging Morgan

Mommy looking much happier than Lily

the girls

Morgan hates being on her stomach and immediately started crying. Lily looks so concerned!

Although these pictures look so all American family and happy go lucky. Sunday was a nightmare. Lily started getting a cold on Friday and had a fever of 100.8 of Saturday. If this sounds familiar your right it is. This is the same exact thing that happened when she cut her bottom two teeth. So I felt around and sure enough I felt a bulge on her upper gum. I have a teething machine. She might have a full mouth of teeth by eight months. Who has four+ teeth before they are six months?! I could not get her to eat anything solid and nursing was hard because of the congestion. Anytime a spoon came near her mouth she screamed bloody murder. I felt so bad for her. I knew it must have been hitting her sensitive gums. She was a pill all night as well. Just randomly waking up and screaming nonstop. My poor baby. And here I was thinking I got my good child back. God is laughing at me....

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So Close!

What did I say? Then end of next week? It can only get better. She is still leaning forward a little if she doesn't have a toy to hold onto. And I am not confident to let her sit without me REALLY close.

Other Pics from this past Sunday.

I am not sure if it is this outfit or what. But she always seems to pass out in it. This was after a walk on Sunday since it was so nice outside.

Little Wolfpacker in the making!

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21 Weeks

I got a little misty eyed today. Michael called me on the way to work and told me that Lily had rolled from her back to her belly. I missed it. I missed it because I was at work. So instead of being happy that my baby accomplished such a great milestone, I was sad. We had been working with her all week because she has been so close. As least Michael got to see it. But of course he didn't get a video of it. I would have gotten a video. If I was there.




Ok seriously how sad and pathetic did that sound? Onto the good stuff. She is doing so much. I noticed over the past week she is starting to switch toys from hand to hand. She also mimics me when I smile or make serious face at her. She is soooo close to sitting up. I feel it! She can kind of sit up with her hands in front of her but it normally ends in a face plant. I am predicting by the end of next week we will have her sitting up for short periods of time. And of course the roll over that I missed. All of this in a week! Wow!

The time change is seriously messing with our household...mainly Lily. She usually goes to bed between 8-9 and ever since Sunday a monster is unleashed at about 7pm. Argh its frustrating. And this morning she woke up for the day at 4:45am. So an hour early. I am barely getting a veggie in her let alone her cereal at night. It has been an interesting few days. I have never had to hold her to feed her but Sunday night we were trying to get her to eat and she was screaming!! So I held her but it did not get much better. She wouldn't even stay awake long enough for a bath. Then last night she started falling asleep in the bathtub again and only took like three bites of cereal. I am moving to Indiana with Steve and Michele were they choose to ignore Daylight Savings Time.

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Election Day 2008

I voted early on Saturday with the family so I did not have to fight the crowds today. But every election day I have the same feeling. How lucky am I that I live in a country where this is even possible?! I was telling Michael as we walked up to the early voting poll how in some countries people are being shot and bombs explode in attempts to keep people from voting! And there we were walking to the polls pushing our baby in a stroller to go stand in line. Amazing. In a time when the country is in economic turmoil we must remember these things. Through all the bad we must see the good. I voted! I am a woman! I am black! (well I'm not, but somebody that voted is). And all of these things have not always been possible in this country. Look how far we have come as a country. I mean there is a black man running for president! We can survive these crisis and move on to be even better. And you know why? Because we can vote! So go out and vote today...for whoever you choose.

Disclaimer: This patriotic mood is mainly due to the fact I filled up my SUV for $40 dollars @ $2.25/gal! HOLLA!

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Happy Halloween

We had a busy Halloween! First we had the parade at daycare. I decided to take the day off and hang out with Lily after that. So we went home and I got her out of her costume and cleaned up. Then we went to meet Daddy for a late lunch.

Finally we came back home and got recostumed (for the third time in two days!). We went over to the Steph's to visit Aubrey (aka chic). We got some great pictures of the girls. This was the first big event I had used my camera at and I was impressed!

What should we do?

I have a plan

You listen to me!

After that we tried to hand out candy but did not get many kids. We left at about eight to go see Aunt Brookie and as we are leaving I notice tons of kids in the neighborhood. Of course! Oh well. Lily finally got out of her costume at Brooke's and into her Halloween pajamas. She pretty much conked out over there within the hour. But of course once we got home (midnight) she was up until after two. I can't be mad because we should have brought her home earlier but we had a good time.

The next day we had a chili cook off at a neighbors. We got to judge since I had no time to make chili (life with a baby). It was nice because we have lived in our house three years and did not know any of their names. The chili was good! I got some good recipes. It felt like such a 'family' thing to do! Awwww what a good weekend.

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