Update on the Little One

Yesterday Sydney had her 18 month check-up. She's 19 months old now, but because of vaccination timing, we had to wait. Anyway, she checked out great. She's a little above the 50th percentile for her height & a little below for her weight. The doctor said all is well & she is performing at the 21 month level! Whoohoo!!! Yesterday was a great day to celebrate the healthy little girl we have!

Today was a different kind of day. We woke up to a COLD house due to leaving windows open in Ryan and my room. While trying to get one of the windows down, I about broke my elbow. I pulled & pulled trying to get the window down. When it finally came down, my elbow crashed into our headboard. It hurt so bad I cried & felt like I was going to be sick. Luckily, I didn't break it & am much better now.

*This part is not for the weak stomach!*

Later in the day while Sydney was trying to nap, she started coughing & coughing. She coughed so hard that she threw up twice all over her bed, clothes, Tigger, pillows & self. I immediately rushed her to the bathtub & stripped her down (while getting sick myself). Normally, I'm ok while taking care of her. Today was a different story. Anyway, after getting her in the tub & water run, I ran the clothes to the washer so that we didn't have to smell them. When I got back to the bathroom, she had gone #2 in the tub! (You know, I didn't realize kids did that before I had Sydney...naive, I guess. 'Cause before they're potty trained, when they gotta go, they gotta go!) So, I got her out of the tub, to clean it. While standing by the tub, she pottied on our bathmat. At that point, I just started laughing. I wasn't going to catch a break & I could tell it. When I started laughing, she started laughing. It was a fun moment. Although, it wasn't much fun getting to that point, it will be a memory I will hold forever.

Mother's Day Weekend

These are a few pictures of our weekend. We had such a GREAT weekend with our mothers. 

Saturday we played with Dita & Pops (Ryan's parents). We played out back with Buster, their dog, and the Backyardigans ball that was a huge hit with Sydney. It was a very relaxing & enjoyable day!! Next week we get to spend Monday night-Thursday afternoon with his parents & siblings!! We haven't all been together in 2 1/2 years!!! I'm quite excited to be able to see & visit with everyone!

Sunday we played with Grandma, Gigi, and Pawpaw (my parent's and grandmother). We went to church that morning. Kacey, Nathan's gal, kept Sydney with her during church. I couldn't believe how still she was!! It was nice to have a Sunday without having to worry about her. Thanks, Kacey!! After church, we went to Kentucky Dam Village Resort for lunch. Let me just say...yum! Thanks, Dad, for treating us to a special lunch! After lunch, we headed home to hang out for a while.

 

We truly loved every minute of our weekend. We didn't get in until after 10 pm last night & we were exhausted, but it was worth every minute! We have such great mothers (and fathers). We are blessed by their faith in God & love for us!! Thanks, Moms, for being such great mothers & grandmothers! Love you!

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers & Mother's-to-be ;o)

I am forever changed because I am a mother. I see things differently. I feel things differently. My life has a meaning and importance that it never had before. I now get how much of a miracle it is to see a child come into this world. The word "hero" now fits every pregnant woman who is doing everything she can to have a healthy baby. My world and everything in it has changed. For that I am thankful. I cannot imagine my life without my baby girl. My mom asked me one day if I could remember my life before Sydney. Although I can, it is quite a different world! 

So, thank you, Mom for all the many things that I could not see before I was a mom. Thank you for the love that you feel towards Nathan & me. Thank you for being a "mean" mom & not one that gave us everything we wanted. Most of all, thank you for being the definition of a good mother.

I love every day that I get to wake up and be a mom. I praise God for our beautiful, healthy little girl. I am thankful to be called "mom" and hope that I can live up to all that really means.

To my husband, I thank you. Thank you for giving me the chance to be a mom. To my God, thank you for blessing me with the family you have. I am not deserving, but am forever grateful.

New Bed!!

Last night we converted Sydney's crib into a full-size crib. I didn't realize I would be emotional about it, but I was a little sad. It confirms that my baby girl is growing up. That part I'm ok with, it's how quickly time is flying that makes me sad. ANYWAY, here are a couple pictures, the before & after.

(We had already moved furniture around to prepare for the arrival of the mattress. So, this isn't exactly where the crib sat in the room.)

Here's the new bed! She absolutely loved it. As we were putting the mattress & box springs down, she would climb on them and crawl around like she just got a new favorite toy. Ryan made the comment that he didn't think he'd ever seen anyone quite so excited over box springs before!

As soon as Ryan gave her the OK to go back into her room, she ran up to the bed & climbed up. She immediately laid back & started drinking her drink. It was cute. It was like she knew exactly what it was.

Through the night, she did great. We wedged her crib mattress between the chair & her bed to keep her from falling out the first night. She absolutely loves her bed, so it looks like we made the right choice! :o)

Joy-filled days

Life with the little one has been quite fun lately. She has started trying to repeat words back to us. Most of the time, she can't say the word exactly. However, she almost always has the tone correct. It is so cute to see & hear. She now can say: "mama", "dada", "gigi" for my mom, "naanaa" for Nathan, diaper, juice, "no", "no" for nose, "mou" for mouth, "mam" for Sam (our dog), and "momo" for Elmo. She can roar like a lion & quack like a duck. It's not bad for a 15 month old, if you ask me.

It is really cool seeing her learn these new things. She's actually beginning to start "conversations" with us. The other night Ryan got up with her. She started saying "diaper, mama diaper". Then she realized it was Ryan. He got her to lay back down (because he didn't know what her version of diaper sounded like). I got up and told him what she said. He changed her diaper. Afterwards, she quit crying & tried to go back to sleep. How cool is that?! She told us what she wanted!! It was a very cool moment in this mommy's night.

Another thing she has been doing is singing. She will sing all kinds of songs. No telling what she is actually singing, though! It is all in her language.

So, my days lately have been fun days of anticipating what cool thing she is going to do next. I thought I would share with you the joy that I have been experiencing.

Oh, and my spell check isn't working so please ignore any misspellings that might be in this blog. Thanks!! :-)

Thoughts at the moment

While growing up, I heard many women say that being a stay-at-home mom wasn’t easy. I heard them say how hard it was to feel equal to a husband who has a paying job. That when times were tough financially, it made it hard for them because they would feel responsible for the hard times. I COMPLETELY relate to that now. I am not a full-time stay-at-home mom. I have a part-time paying job, but we have had to cut back quite a bit so that I could stay at home part-time. I know that we could save more money and be better off financially if I was working full-time. So, right now I am dealing with those emotions.

I’m also trying to figure out who I am. I know that sounds silly. But, just like getting married was an adjustment, becoming a mom is too. I LOVE my little girl. She’s the greatest thing! I don’t mean any of this in a bad way. I’m just trying to figure out how this new aspect of me fits in to the old me. It is not sounding on this blog like it does in my head. Hopefully those of you who have been here before will understand what I mean. Those of you who haven’t, just know I love my little girl & am figuring out this new path that I’m on.

As for the 4 days a week that I get with her, they fly by!! I guess it is true that time flies when you’re having fun! Right now, she’s hitting Ryan in the mouth while he acts like he’s going to eat her hand. Either she’s telling him to hush or having fun! They’re cute together…off subject. Sorry. Anyway, I wish those days with her would slow down a little. They probably never will.

I hope the rest of this week flies by. I can’t wait to see family this weekend in Paducah!!!

Oh, we are boarding Sam (our dog) at the PetSmart Hotel. The only reason that we are boarding him there is because he goes to the vet at PetSmart. Anyway, one of the things they offer as a free service is a Phone booth. Because they know how much you miss your pet while you’re gone, they will allow you to call and check on them. When you call, they will go and get your pet, take him/her to the phone booth & let you talk to him!!!! They said they know that hearing your pet meow or bark will let you know that they are ok. How crazy is that?! Do you think people actually use it? Ah…our society. If you are one of those that would call in…please forgive me for not understanding.

Sorry for the long blog today. Thanks for reading it all if you got to this point!