Happy 1st Birthday, Keely Star!

It's official, although we all already knew it . . . I am a slacker! This blog comes up as one of four homepages every time I click on the Internet, which lately is no less than 10 times a day. Yet for some reason, I haven't even considered posting. We're now four months past my last post, which makes this Keely's first birthday post. Yes, I promise to complete this with pictures.

I'm not going to write a long post to tell you everything K has been up to lately. It's most of the same, talking, signing, laughing, singing, crawling, and just generally being a baby. She's gotten so big lately. I weighed myself, picked K up and weighed again holding her, and found that the difference was roughly 19 pounds 5 ounces. Depending upon the accuracy of this, we will be changing car seats from our cute polka-dotted carrier to a big girl seat. I for one am really excited about this transition, as it means I can lower my rearview mirror and see Miss Sunshine in the backseat. Not that she needs to be watched back there, but I just love looking at her adorable face. I want to look at her as much as possible. K is also ready for this transition, because she now cries pretty much every time we put her in her car seat. She gets hot in the car, despite us having the AC all the way up. I guess the air just takes longer to get to her. Makes sense.

It is amazing to me that one year has come and gone with so much as a blink of my eyes. I look at myself and realize I am the mother of a one year old beauty, who lights up my whole existence in ways I never dreamed. She's my shining Star and always will be. Being her mother is my absolute greatest joy. Knowing that God picked her out for Carl and me is the ultimate gift, one that I will always acknowledge and appreciate. I pray God continues to bless our little girl as she continues to grow and develop into the amazing person she's already becoming. I pray this next year is filled with many memories, laughs, and even a few tears. Most of all, I pray Keely remains the happy little peanut she is, love of my life, my little princess, my sweet Keely-kins. May the good Lord always bless you, and may you always know the goodness of His love.






This is from our short trip to Conroe for Nathan and Erin Cooley's wedding on April 3. We had so much fun just being with each other. It was awesome that we got to share Nathan and Erin's special day, too.

This is Keely and Evan and Eleni's baby, Jackson. He's about to turn two on July 30. We set up K's baby pool in the yard last Thursday, and the two of them just had a blast! It was adorable!

And here's the birthday girl destroying her strawberry shortcake cupcake. Happy birthday, sweet peanut! We love you!

Slacking

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had the chance to blog about the past month. Our little girl is 8 months old! Yes, eight. Isn't that crazy?! They say time flies when you're having fun, and whoever "they" are have made a believer out of me. I've been enjoying every second I have with Keely. I wish I had so many more seconds with her. So, what has she been up to?

Lots, actually. Lots and lots and lots. She grows so much each and every day. She laughs constantly and plays with her toys. When she is frustrated or not getting what she wants, she screams or does something to get my attention until I give in. Take this morning, for instance . . . I wanted to sleep just a little later, not even late, but Keely made up her mind that she was not going to let me. She was in the bed with me, because she woke up crying at 6:30 and I went ahead and fed her. So, when she decided she wanted me to get up, she started lifting her head up and smacking it on mine. Then, she would wiggle and wiggle until her feet were by my head and start kicking me. As if she didn't kick me enough when I was pregnant! It was kind of funny. I got onto her for it, though. She does know the meanings of the words "No" and "Quit." This went on for a little while, until I finally caved and got out of bed. Her favorite things right now are her toys, stuffed animals, mirrors, homemade oatmeal, and people food. She loves it when I make something for dinner that she can have, too. When we are eating, she throws a fit if she is not, even if it's not quite time for her to eat. She started feeding herself last month; not with a spoon or anything, just picking up little bits of food and putting them in her mouth. I was extremely proud when this started. She is very smart, has 5 teeth (fifth broke through on Thursday of this past week), and is defintely the sweetest little baby I have ever met. Of course, I am likely biased. Just a little while ago, I walked out of the bathroom after my shower to see Carl holding her, with her head laying on his shoulder and her eyes shut, completely asleep. I grabbed my camera right then. She's been sleeping through the night for several months, since she was four months old, but she has difficulty when she's teething. I am certain her fifth tooth broke through at around 1:00 AM on Thursday, because that is when she woke up crying and kept crying for a little while. I noticed the tooth when I was getting her ready that morning. I'd been keeping my eyes on it for a few days prior, knowing it would break through soon. At her thyroid appointment on January 25, she had her regular lab work. We found out she had not gained much weight, only an ounce actually, which sort of freaked me out. So, we started feeding her more and giving her food basically whenever she wanted it. She still has a schedule, but we just didn't really refuse her if she appeared to want a snack or something off our plates. Apparently it worked at least some, because when we had to take her to Dr. Stripling on February 9, she had already put on 9 oz, making her weigh 16 lbs. 3 oz. Still on the small side, but I'll take it. Also, we received notification that her dosage of thyroid medication needed to be increased. She now takes 1.5 tablets every night. I was pretty sad about it, but at least they know what's best for her. I am hoping and hoping that they won't have to up the dosage again for a while. Her next appointment with Dr. Varma will be April 20. I've already called in a sub for that day. I mentioned she had to see Dr. Stripling on the 9th. That was because she was sick. She was coughing this horrible, deep cough for a couple of days. Sounded like an adult coughing. I felt so sorry for her! Then, she was running a fever, so Carl picked her up from Carrie's and spent that Monday afternoon with her at home. I called in a sub for Tuesday and Wednesday, took her in on Tuesday, to find out she had bronchitis. No wonder she was miserable! Carl's mom stayed with her that Thursday, so I could get back to work. After 10 days of amoxicilin, she got over it. Her last dose was this past Friday, and she's doing great. It's always sad, though, when little ones get sick. We finally cleaned out my car at Quick Quack and took it to get a much needed oil change yesterday. Keely loved the Quick Quack. She was laughing and squealing in the back seat the whole time. It was adorable! Then, she got really tired of being in her seat, so I took her for a quick walk while Carl got the oil changed. She loved being outside on such a beautiful day. It was nice, and the breeze was catching her hair, which she really liked. Her hair is pretty blond, no curls yet, but getting long, considering she's only 8 months old. Carrie and I have put it in a little ponytail on top of her head, which is absolutely so cute. The other day when Tonya was keeping her, she was looking in the mirror and kissed her reflection. Carl and I were on a mini-date, seeing "Dear John," and Tonya called to tell me about it. Speaking of, if you haven't seen "Dear John," it is wonderful. I loved it, but of course, I was a huge fan of the book prior to seeing it on film. That's one of the best books I have ever read, and I was not at all disappointed by the movie, despite the few changes made. Just a side note. Back to Keely. She still takes a pretty long nap in the afternoons, ranging anywhere from 1.5 to 4 hours. That's what she's doing right now, actually. If we go anywhere in the evening, she typically falls asleep in the car. I've been reading to her a lot, and she seems to really like it. As you can imagine, she wants to grab the book out of my hands, but she does listen to it. We have sing time everyday in the car on the way home from Aunt Pete's. We sing all sorts of songs, and I swear, Friday she was singing with me. Not real words, but that doesn't really matter--they were real to her. Our repertoire of music includes: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Keely Star," "ABCs," "Jesus Loves Me," "Jesus Loves the Little Children," "Blue Skies and Rainbows," "Fuzzy Caterpillar," "Little Birdie in the Apple Tree," "Keely Star," "Hey, Little Keely Girl," "Beautiful, Beautiful Keely," "Hello, Little Keely," "I Love You," "Tiny Little Keely," "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians," "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," and probably some more that I can't think of at the moment. Somehow I convinced myself that I can teach Keely the ABCs by the time she is two. We'll see, but I do attempt to sing the ABCs every single day at least once. Then, I expanded my goal to include counting to ten by the time she is capable of saying the numbers. I set crazy goals for myself and our daughter. They don't mean anything, but they are things to work on.

We absolutely love our little peanut. It is amazing that we are capable of such deep love. Being her mom is by far the greatest feeling I have ever experienced. I thank God for the opportunity every night when I lay Keely in her crib for bedtime. We're not quite ready for number 2 yet, but we will be someday, because I know I want to do this at least one more time. So, here's to you, my Keely Star, my light. May you grow healthy and strong and lead a life in Christ's glory. Thank you for being everything I ever hoped for.

Pics to come later. In the mean time, check out my recently published article on Bright Hub at http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/63847.aspx. Expect to see another link in the next couple of days, as I have submitted my second article and expect publication around that time. To my readers, thank you and please keep reading. I am now writing for five different channels on Bright Hub, including Parenting Infants and Toddlers, K12 Education, Preschool Education, Special Education, and Homework/Study Guides. I've only submitted in K12, but I plan to work on the other channels as time allows. Remember I claim to be no expert on anything. I am merely conveying my findings and experiences to people who are interested. Thanks again for being my audience. And, check back in a couple of days for the pics. I promise I will get them there. I just need to find my USB.

Updates and Pics as Promised

I know, I know. I am such a slacker these days! I should've done this over a week ago when K turned 7 months old. Plus, I promised pics that I didn't post. To my defense, I've been kinda busy. I've written curriculum projects for my 6th graders, played my latest obsession, a computer game called "Coconut Queen," and been a wife, mother, and chef all in one. Busy. Okay, so I probably could've given up some of the time spend on my computer game. You don't understand . . . it's so fun to play and you just have to keep playing to see what task you'll have to complete next. I love strategy games!

As promised, I am posting a new Smilebox with pics from K's 6th month in our world. It was a wonderful month. Christmastime is always my favorite time of year, and I must say that having a daughter of my own made it even more special.

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The above Smilebox is of our family pictures. We got them done at Portrait Innovations on December 08. K took some fabulous pics, and we ended up spending a lot more than planned. We didn't regret it, though. My sister, Carrie, took some more individual shots for Keely's 6 month pics on December 11. They will be in the upcoming Smilebox. As for Keely, there's not much new to report. She's still nursing 4 times a day, not really crawling, although she does scoot on her back and can get pretty far that way. She's super smart and a TV-addict. We're trying to work on that last one. LOL. Her best friends are her cousins, who are so sweet to her. I love it when Ella Jean walks up to her and starts jabbering jibberish. K loves it, too. And Branson and Ally will start jumping up and down just to make Keely laugh and smile. It works every time. But, perhaps my favorite is when Bran will get really squeaky and right up in her face. Keely just lights up. Adorable. Jilli, Xander, and Hadley are also really good with her. Since they don't get to see her really often, each visit with them is special.

I'll conclude by asking for prayers for some girls I know who have lost their babies due to infections that caused early deliveries. I don't exactly know what happened, and I don't know these girls on an extremely personal level. I just know they are hurting and in need of kind thoughts and prayers. I cannot imagine laying eyes on something so precious, someone you thought you'd get to watch as they learned to laugh and crawl and talk, only to have it gone in a matter of seconds. It is a constant reminder that we need to appreciate every moment we have here on earth and look forward to a time when we'll be reunited with those who have gone before us and bask in the glory of our creator. Also, pray for a friend who is only 24 weeks pregnant and already having contractions. She lost her firstborn due to early delivery, and her second son was in NICU for something like 80 days for the same reason. Now, it's anticipated that she'll deliver her third child within the week. The survival rate for a 24 weeker is right at 50%. But, I know God works miracles everyday.

Have a good week, all.

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Whew!

I finally have some time to write. I mean, I've actually had time, but I've been playing the new computer game Carl got me for Christmas instead of blogging. Flo on the Go. Sequel to Diner Dash, only it takes place on a variety of sea vessels . . . cruise line, submarine, and everything in between. So close to beating it. Since K's down for a nap, I decided to write today and not play my new obsession. I will beat it by the end of the week, though. I'm very likely going to get on right after I wrap this blog up. Those that know me best know that I cannot stop playing a new game until I beat it completely. And, with Carl being a big computer nerd himself and my new computer crashing and having to be sent back one week after I got it, I don't get to play games very often. Even when K's sleeping.

So, onto more exciting news. The part people actually want to read. Of course I mean the kid. She's growing and growing more everyday. Literally. I think she's in the midst of a growth spurt because she's been eating more and trying to get into our adult food more. So far, she eats Cream of Rice cereal, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, bananas, and has recently been introduced to peaches, blueberries, and carrots. I haven't found anything she refuses to eat, although she is not much of a fan of sweet potatoes. I am going to introduce her to peas sometime pretty soon. She still nurses four times a day and is doing great with that. Her six month appointment was on December 18, and she weighed 15 lbs. 5 oz. and measured 27 in. in length. She's tall! She's in the 87th percentile for length, but only in the 45th for weight. That's okay. She's gaining, so they weren't worried about it. Her next appointment is with the endocrinologist on January 20. We're already praying it will be a good appointment. I'm sure it will be. After watching K refuse to take her medicine and us having to force it down literally, we decided to adjust the time she takes it. Instead of taking it at 6:15, she now takes it right at 8:00. I am toying with the idea of nursing her right after and putting her to bed right after that. It would make her bedtime 8:30 instead of 9. Last night we tried it and were successful. However, I didn't exactly plan to attempt. K missed her nap because we took our niece, Ally, to see The Princess and the Frog yesterday. She was grumpy and fussy all afternoon, leading me to believe she can never miss another nap. It ended up being Carl and Ally watching the movie, while I walked around the theater trying to calm her down. The people in the theater probably hated me. Oh well. So anyway, Ally loved the movie and Carl told me it was seriously a cute one. I was glad we left K with her grandma Christmas Day when we went to see Sherlock Holmes, which TOTALLY ROCKED by the way. I just love Robert Downey, Jr! That was one that I didn't want to miss. I did feel guilty, though, that we left our only child elsewhere, while we took in a movie. I remember making the comment to Carl that families are supposed to spend the holidays together, yet we were leaving a third of our family. It was only for a little bit, though. K got tons and tons of presents. The kid really raked it in! Amongst them were an Exersaucer, giant pink teddy bear, many clothes, and many other toys. We actually had to get her toybox out of the closet in order to have a place to put all of her toys. (She didn't have very many before.) It was so much fun watching her open presents and play with the wrapping paper. She actually assisted with the openings of a few presents. I opened most of them and looked at her with a giant smile, saying "Look what you got, Keely!" I have to say that Christmas is so much more fun when you have a little one to share it with. I've been sharing Christmas with the nieces and nephews for a long time now, but sharing it with my own daughter was even more fun. I promise to post pics of the event soon. My camera went kaput, and I cannot get any of the pics off of it. Sucks, but fortunately I uploaded them to Walmart.com and ordered a CD with all 600 pics that were on the camera. We then got a new, much cooler camera. It's an Olympus. Big thanks for the cash we used to buy it goes out to my Momo. So, we'll be using that camera from here on out. I said I would post pics, and I will when I get the CD from Walmart in 7-10 days from the day before yesterday. It only cost me $2.50!

On a much sadder note, although people will likely think me silly for saying so, our dog Cyrano ran away a week ago last Friday. I miss him. He was my best friend for a long time. I don't think I would have gotten through Carl's 80s Combat tour days without him. I just hope he's out there making some other family happy. He's good at that. We checked the pound, posted multiple MISSING DOG ads, checked the papers, made flyers. No go. We also gave up Apostrophe, our beloved cat, who was having bladder issues. We'd taken him to the vet to get the problem fixed, but it was temporary. We knew that the vet would tell us he can do the same thing as before, which he made sure to say was temporary, or we could put him through surgery. We couldn't afford either (or decided the temporary fix was not smart considering it only lasted one month). He seemed to get a lot better for a while, but then he started leaking urine all over the place, which included on K's blanket. We took him to the pound. I told Carl that he owes me two new animals now, and he agreed to get me one. Then, I told him I didn't want any new animals. I just wanted my old ones back. We'll see what happens. I am not totally giving up on Cyrie yet.

Well, all, check back for pics sometime this week. I have them, promise! I will post them, promise! I hope everyone had a happy Christmas and enjoyed all of the crazy snow!

Today

Keely got her second tooth sometime this afternoon. When I picked her up from Aunt Pete's, she had been crying. She looked pretty cute with a tear-stained face. Is that horrible for me to say? Keely looks cute all the time. Really, she does. Ask anyone. So, I decided it's okay for me to think she looked cute with a tear-stained face. And, I am not changing my mind. Anyway, we had our family pictures scheduled for tonight, and I was pretty worried that K wouldn't do so well. She cried in the car on the way home and fell immediately asleep after I nursed her. Then, I had to wake her up after like 5 minutes because we needed to get ready for the pics. She didn't do what I thought she'd do. She didn't utter a sound on the way to our appointment. She stayed awake, too. She didn't utter a sound when we changed her clothes and put her in a very frilly, too-big dress. Or when we put on tights for the first time. She smiled and laughed during our photo session. She didn't cry even once, despite my ESP plea for her to stop doing so well so we wouldn't have such a hard time choosing and end up spending a ton of money. We spent a ton of money. But, we got good pics. I was planning on getting one good shot of our family and that's it. I wanted the $9.95 package. K didn't let that happen. Instead, we walked away with a bigger package, having spend 8 times that amount. Whatever, though, it was worth it. We are getting K's 6 month pics made by CT Photography on Friday, when she'll actually be 6 months old. For those of you out there that don't know, CT Photography stands for Carrie Tungate Photography, and she's affordable and great. If anyone is interested in getting some freelance photos made of their little ones, you should consider her. Plus, she's got a brand new camera! So, I walk away from my experience in the studio thinking that it's okay we spent more than intended. We're getting great Christmas photos, and we'll get great 6 month pics on Friday. Congrats on the new tooth, Keely Star. You're getting so big, and we couldn't be more proud of you. Way to go, kid!

To My Husband

Tomorrow we will celebrate our 7 year anniversary. It has been one heck of a ride. Not smooth, although not overly rough. Mostly enjoyable, although not always. It's been exactly as it should be. Marriage is not easy. These days nothing really is. But, people tend to believe marriage is easy because you love each other. They see it in black and white, and seldom see the grey. These seven years have brought many lessons. We are not the same people we were when we got married. We're better. We're wiser. And, we continually learn from each other so that we continue to get better. Continue to get wiser. I love you, Carl! Thanks for being the greatest husband. Thanks for helping create the greatest daughter. We will have many adventures in our lifetime. But being married to you and raising our daughter is my greatest.

Our Girl's 5!

Months that is. As of yesterday. Crazy how much time has gone by since Carl and I set out on this venture of transforming into Mama and Daddy. Yet in many ways, it seems like Keely should be this old. 5 months feels fast but right. She's grown so much over the past month. I would be willing to bet that she weighs 15 pounds. And, she's gotten tall. Her 3-6 month pajamas are close to not fitting, not because they are too tight but because they are almost too short. She's got chubby cheeks and thighs, but that is about all that's chubby. She gets prettier and prettier everyday. I could just stare at her all the time, if I had nothing else to do that is. I tell my little girl all the time that mamas need to get paid for loving their babies so that I wouldn't have to work anymore. Not that I dislike my job. I love what I do. I just miss her all the time. Being away from her is hard. But, I rest assured knowing that she is in great hands at Carrie's.

I am posting a new Smile Box, which has a ton of pics. You may notice that not all of them are of our sweet girl. I threw in some of Evan and Eleni's son, Jackson, who was a pirate for Halloween, and of course, I had to throw in some of the nieces and nephews, because they continue to make me smile every time I see them. Keely loves her cousins, and they are so cute with her! We finally decided to buy a Bumbo for Keely, and she loves it. We feed her and let her play with her toys in it. She's close to figuring out how to sit up on her own, which is funny because I don't think she rolls over completely yet. Would've thought that would come first. She can hold her own bottle for a few seconds, and she loves to hold things. She still loves to cuddle with her frog, like she has since she was less than a month old. She laughs and smiles constantly. She inherited my loudness, which can be good and bad at the same time. I think it's funny, but Carl gets frustrated when he's trying to talk on the phone or watch TV and she's just talking away. Carl and I feel so blessed to have such a sweet daughter. We thank God for her everyday and pray that he continually blesses her as she grows. She'll always be our shining Star.

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