Thankful 30 - Thanksgiving recap

It was a good run doing the Thankful 30 for the month of November, but once Thanksgiving hit things were so hectic I fell of the wagon. This will be my last thankful past with a Thanksgiving weekend recap.
For Days 20-30, I am thankful for my family! I could go on for hours about how lucky I am to have such great parents, fantastic siblings, loving inlaws, and awesome sister-in-laws. I have always been blessed with a great family and have never taken it for granted. Hearing stories from friends whose parents are divorced, or never had grandparents around, or sisters they hate, makes me realize how lucky I am. At the drop of a hat, I know anyone of them would be there instantly for me. They are always willing to help around my house, help with Delainey, take us out to eat or feed us dinner, listen if  I need to vent, offer great advice, or just spend quality time with us. I have never been more than 2 hours from my family, and I hope I will never have to. I love seeing them at least 3-4 times a week, going to Church on Sundays with them and just hanging out whenever we get a free chance. In this crazy world filled with so much greed, selfishness, and desire to be the best, I am glad I can sit back and honestly say none of that matters without family by your side and I am lucky enough to have them right next to me!

So lets retace through the past week:

On Wednesday, Kelli, Delainey, & I headed down to St. Augustine for lunch and to walk around. Then I went to get a pedicure with my friend Andrea who was in town to catch up.

Then Thursday was Thanksgiving, We did Thanksgiving at my parents house first. Delainey got to try her first mashed potatoes and stuffing and she loved it! Then we headed over to David's parents house for round 2. After dinner, I got a wild hair and went out Black Friday shopping. I headed out at 8:30 pm and made it home at 3:30 am. Boy did I get some great deals!!

Then Friday, Mom and I went out for a little bit more shopping. I would like to note that everyone except my father was finished within 24 hours! Not to shabby! :) David & Dad went fishing so we just hung out at the house once they got home. Then I got a wild hair and said lets go to Tallahassee tomorrow for the FL vs. FSU game!

So Saturday morning, we dropped off Delainey at my mom's house and headed to Tally. The game itself was a bust, but we had a great time catching up with old friends who also came in town.

Sunday we just laid around the house and caught up on some laundry. Yesterday I watched Dean and he didn't feel well. Turns out he had an ear infection, but then today I woke up to a sick Delainey. She is coughing and has a runny nose. Hopefully it will go away soon! Tomorrow, we are taking Christmas pictures so hopefully she feels better by then! SO that's the past week in a nutshell. I will try my best to do better this week! :)

Thankful 30 - Day 17, 18, & 19

Sorry for the lack of posts. We were out and about for the majority of the weekend and spent last night hanging out with Dave once he got home. It is difficult to make posts everyday. So...

Day 17- I am thankful to have a sister who could quite possibly be the best party planner ever! She always has the greatest ideas and throws the best parties. I mean look at my baby shower and surprise birthday party! Hopefully one day we can start a business together, and I will do the business side and she will be the designer. I will be enlisting her help on D's 1st birthday which is going to be a mermaid theme. The annual Christmas party is coming up so that's next on the agenda for parties to plan.

Day 18- I am thankful for my husband being home and not being a single mother. Delainey is the easiest baby ever and there were times I wished Dave was around so I could just sit down and take a break or a shower for that matter. I don't know how these single moms work and raise kids on their own. My hats off to them and I'm glad I am not in that boat.

Day 19- I am thankful for Pinterest! I am not sure how we ever survived without it. I will be cooking 3 recipes that I found on pinterest for Thanksgiving and I think I will be doing a little bit of DIY Christmas presents with the help of some pinterest tutorials. If you guys aren't using pinterst, you are really missing out!

We went out to dinner and Costco on Friday night with Grammy and Pops. Then on Saturday we did some shopping at the Town Center and went to couple's supper club at Kelli's. And Sunday was church, lunch, then some quality time with Dave when he got home. I actually put him to work a little bit yesterday on baby-proofing the house. I had him install a gate on the stairs and some latches under the kitchen sink where the chemicals are. Today, I babysat Dean so we needed the house to be safe for a crawler/soon-to-be walker. It was acutally really great having 2 babies at once. Busy but good!
 Here are a few pics from the weekend & today:

Thankful 30 - Day 16

Today as my husband goes out of town for the weekend, I am thankful that my family lives so close! I'm saving the family for another big post, but today I am thankful for the location of my family. My parents live 5 minutes south, my in-laws live 10 minutes north and my sister lives 10 minutes southeast! At the drop of a hat we have family all around to help us with anything we need. David left today to go camping/kayaking for the weekend with some friends so D & I are all alone this weekend. And by all alone I mean, we will be hanging out with my parents today/tonight, going to Kelli & Jeff's for dinner tomorrow night, and doing church and lunch on Sunday with my entire family. Not so alone, and I am so thankful for that!! :)

On another note, I am going to start babysitting a little boy named Dean on Mondays and Thursdays. His mom, Tessa, works at my mom's school 2 days a week and needed someone to watch him. They came over today to meet us and play and I am really excited about it. He is 11 months old and I think it will be great having another baby around to play with D. He's almost walking so Operation Babyproof the house is in full effect this weekend! I'm heading off to Babies R Us to buy a baby gate and some other items to make the house safer. Have a great weekend and I will be back on Sunday with a few pics from the weekend.
Here's some pictures of my 2 favorite girls to leave you with!

Poor Lilly's tongue doesn't stay in when she sleeps. I think it is so cute!

Thankful 30 - Day 15 & 28 Weeks

I am thankful for Girls Night out! I  love being home with D, but it is nice to occasionally get together with the girls and have some adult interaction. Tonight we had our supper club at Jessica's house. The theme was Breakfast for Dinner, and it was delicious! We all dressed up in our pajama's which was nice not having to get ready! I look forward to it every month and can't wait for December bc it is also going to be our Girl's Booze & Panty party! I'll explain more later!

Delainey is 28 Weeks! We are so close to crawling, but nothing yet. I am hoping it happens within the next week or 2. This week she has had avocado which she LOVES, and finished off the squash. She does not like oatmeal for some reason though. So every morning we have rice cereal for breakfast, a Mum (like a rice cake) for our snack, and avocado for dinner. Tonight we are moving on to sweet potatoes! She has been drinking water really well out of her sippy cup. I think I need to get her to drink more though because it seems like she is alittle constipated with all this new food. Boy have we been going through some diapers. I actually prefer these poops though because it doesn't explode all over, it's just a little nugget. haha Enough about her bowel movements! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thankful 30 - Day 14

I thankful for Mom to Mom providing me with ladies my age who have kids around the same age as Delainey. It is nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and have someone going through the same things that we are. There are a few ladies that I really like and I think we will become great friends. We are all going to the zoo at the end of this month to have a playdate and learn more about each other. I'm hoping more of my friends have babies so we have more people to hang out with, but in the mean time I am really glad met some other moms.

Thankful 30 - Day 13

Today, I am thankful for all the fantastic baby products that are available nowadays. Yes, I know kids don't need much to be entertained...Give them a cardboard box or pots and pans and they will have a field day. However, it is nice to have so many things that will keep their attention and teach them something as well. I don't know what we would do without some of our key items. Here is a list of our large must have items that we can't live without!

1. Baby Einstein Jumperoo: She will spend hours playing in this thing and the best part is she will be exactly where I left her.

2. Summer Infant BestView Video Monitor: I love putting her down for a nap or bedtime and being able to watch her roll around for a little while. It is so cute and it really gave me piece of mind when she was really young.

3. Fisher Price SpaceSaver High Chair: Dinner time is by far my favorite part of the day when all 3 of us sit around the table and enjoy each others company. We usually eat dinner while D plays then she is fed her meal. It is very easy to wipe up and doesn't take up too much space.

4. Chicco Table Chair: We eat out a good bit at restaurants or at our parents houses. I love having Delainey at the table and this chair is so easy to set up and take down. I usaually keep it in the back of my car so we are ready at the drop of a hat.

5. Britax Baby Carrier: Love this thing! I wear it around the house, at the store, for walks down the street. Delainey loves to sit in this thing!

These are just a few of the items I love. I could go on and on about the best bottles, pacifiers, toys, diapers, sippy cups, spoons, bibs, and tons of other things. Feel free to ask if you are needing any advice in the baby items department.

Thankful 30 - Day 12

Today I am thankful for naps. Delainey took such a good nap today. She slept for almost 3 hours and I got so much accomplished! First thing I did was make Delainey some food. I made her sweet potatoes, carrots, and avocado. The Beaba was so easy and quick to clean up. It steams and purees all in the same container. 2 carrots , 1 sweet potato, and 1 avocado made 18 meals for Delainey. What a deal, only $4 for 18 meals not to mention they are all organic!

Then I opened up my new Brother Sewing machine I got for my birthday and tested that out! It was very easy to use. I sewed some strings on my duvet and comforter so they would stay together. I also mended a hole in some of D's pants, and sewed some velcro back on my diaper carrier. I can't wait to start making Delainey some items. I am going to try a pillowcase dress first.

Then lastly I played around with my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine. It can do the most intricate details. I am thinking people will be getting some homemade gifts this Christmas. I have my own little craft corner now upstairs. All I need now is a table and chair to put it all together. I'm putting Dave on that project soon!

Thankful 30 - Day 11

Today, I am thankful for my church. We have been going to Christ's Church in mandarin regularly since David and I moved back from college. There are so many good things I can say about this church. 1. I love our pastor and feel like his messages are relevant to what is going on in society and can be easily applied to your own life. 2. I love the worship music. They are songs you can hear on the radio so it is much more fun to sing to them since I know the words. 3. We have great programs for adults. I can not say enough good things about Mom to Mom. I love hearing a message each week about parenting in society today and how to raise Godly children. 4. We have fantastic children's programs. Delainey has only experienced the nursery so far, but they have such great sunday school classes, camps, sports programs, and youth groups that I can't wait to have D involved in. I look forward to Sunday's and get upset when we miss a lesson. The upside if you miss a Sunday is all of the messages are online and on podcasts, so I can keep up with what I missed. I can't imagine a better church and am hoping to get more involved in it over the next few years.

Here's some pictures of D from church today. I love dressing her up in her Sunday's best!

Thankful 30 - Day 10 & 27 Weeks

I am thankful for the weekends! David has a pretty flexible job, so we get to see him a good bit during the week (probably more than other Dad's). But I still wish we were able to see him more, which is why I am thankful for the weekends! It allows us to spend ALL day and night together as a family. I also especially love going to our church on Sundays and enjoying lunch afterwards with the entire family. I will share more about Church tomorrow!

On another note Delainey is 27 weeks! The weather here has been pretty chilly, so dressing D has been so much fun because we can finally bust out our winter clothes. Of course I think we need a ton more winter clothes, but we are good for a little while. Before Delainey was born, a lot of moms recommended that I buy D some legwarmers called Babylegs. They are good because you don't have to pull any pants down to change a diaper. Well when she was born it was so darn hot that we never used them. Today we were able to bust them out for the first time and I think they were so cute with this outfit! I thought it looked weird with just the onesie so we added a few other items to make this outfit. I am off to go make some baby food in my Beaba!! We went to whole foods yesterday and bought organic carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, and avocados. I'll let you know how it goes with the veggies! :)

 

We tried squash for the first time last night and she did well! We made enough for about a week so we will continue trying it for the next few days.

 Here was her outfit today. We went out to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and to watch the Bartram Volleyball game. They won and are headed to the state finals. I'm hoping they make it to the final game. If so, we are going down to Orlando Thursday to watch it!

 

 

6 Month Update

Height: 27 1/4 inches...90th percentile
Weight: 15 lbs 14 ounces...50th percentile
Head Circumference: 17 inches...75th percentile
Vision: Your vision is pretty much fully developed. You can see things near and far and are definitely recognizing people and objects. You get very excited when you see Sophie the giraffe.
Movement: You can roll all over the place and you now sit up by yourself for quite a long time. Occasionally you will tumble over which often times scrares you. You get on all fours and push yourself forward and back like you are about to move, but then you just drop back to your stomach. No rush on the crawling. I like you staying where I put you :)
Eating Habits/New Foods: You are still eating every 3 hours during the day. And once at night about 7-8 hours after you go to bed. You are getting between 4-6 ounces per feeding. We do an extra 4 ounce bottle at night to help you sleep a little longer. As far as real food goes, we have started eating rice cereal this month. You are pretty good at eating off of a spoon until you see something funny and smile and spit all your food out. We do rice cereal about 3-5 times per week. We also feed you MumMums which are similar to rice cakes that dissovles in your mouth. You love both the original and banana flavors. We just got the ok to eat normal food so next month we will have lots to share!
Sleeping Patterns: You are still doing great with the routine and fall asleep anywhere between 10 & 11 pm. You sleep a good 8 hours till 6ish when I feed you and you go back to bed for another 3 hours. As far as naps go, they are all over the place. We realized if we put a nice soft blanket over you, your naps are much longer. Anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours during the middle of the day.
Sounds/Words: You can say Ba Ba! I'm pretty sure I've heard MaMa in there as well, but Daddy says you haven't said it yet. You are constantly making noises and saying baba over and over it's so cute. You still laugh a lot when you enjoy things.
New discoveries/accomplishments:
-You are sitting up by yourself
-You ate rice cereal for the first time
-You can sit up in the grocery cart and help mommy shop
-You also sit up in the stroller without the carrier. You've done this before, but now you can actually support yourself
-You can now go in the swing at the park
-You got your first rash, which was actually Roseola. You handled it fine, and it went away within 2 days
- And most importantly, you grew 2 teeth!! On Oct. 27th, your 2 bottom teeth came in together at the same time. The first day you made the funniest faces and kept feeling them with your tongue. The 3 days before they popped through the skin, you didn't sleep that well, but other than that there were no bad side effects.
New Friends I've made: You met Lindsey & Mark this month, some of your dad's friends from high school. You also met a lot of Mommy's friends at Ms. Erica's pumpkin carving party. You were the highlight of the party.
Places you went/Adventures: This month we went to the corn maize and took some pictures in the pumpkin patch, you went to Erica's pumpkin carving party,  you went to Savannah for a second time to meet Lindsey and Mark, you watched FL vs. GA on TV because it was too windy to go tailgating, you dressed up in your Halloween costume (a strawberry) but we did not go trick or treating because we went out of town that day, and you traveled to Cashiers, NC for a 4 day vaction that included hiking through the mountains and shopping at the local shops.
Clothes: You are still in 9m for sleepers. They are a little large These are your current sizes: Gymboree-6, Target-3/6 (The shirts are 12 month, but the pants are 3/6), Carter-3, Old Navy/Gap- 3-6
You are still in a size 2 diaper! We really like the huggies better. We have not had nearly as many blowouts! :)

Thankful 30 - Day 9

Today I am thankful for technology. However, It is a double-edged sword. If used properly it is the greatest thing in the world. Technology allows me to capture special moments of Delainey's life, it allows me to document what she is doing and when, and it allows me to research what I should be doing as a parent and make sure she is getting the best things possible. I would be lost without cellphones, TV, computers, cameras, videos, and now blogs for documenting her life.
I am nervous though about raising children with so much technology around them. More often then not it is used in bad ways. I am going to have quite the challenge on my hands over the next 20 years trying to figure out when to allow her to use certain technologies and how to monitor what she is doing with these things. So like I said I am thankful for technology, but it's going to put alot of pressure on me as a parent! Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Thankful 30 - Day 8

As we head out for Delainey's 6 month doctor's appointment, I am thankful for competent, caring people in the medical field. I am not sure how Obamacare will effect our healthcare in a few years, but right now I couldn't be happier with the Doctors we go to. I can't not say enough good things about Dr. Mary, Delainey's pediatrician! She is old fashioned in her ways, she is so knowledgeable, and has been doing it for over 25 years. It is a great feeling to be able to trust your pediatrician.  With the ever changing opinions on how to raise your kids or what to feed them or what side they should sleep on, it is nice to feel confident that she knows what's best since she has been doing it for such a long time. If anyone is looking for a good pediatrician, I highly reccommend Dr. Mary!

On another note, we will be back with Delainey's 6 month update after I get all her vitals. Big Day of shots! Pray for us! :)

Thankful 30 - Day 7

Today I am thankful for my job. In societies eyes, I no longer have a job. But I think I have the best job in the world, staying home with my daughter. There is nothing more rewarding than watching a child learn and succeed in school. I have had the privilege of helping students do that for the past 5 years. I can't wait to have that influence in Delainey's life. Right now I am doing the little things to teach my daughter what she will need as she grows up. I think my job as a mother will have even more significance when she gets a little bit older and I can start teaching her things like words, how to read, how to play sports, manners, and all those other things. I'm so very thankful that we can financially allow my job to be a full-time mother. It's the best job in the world!

Thankful 30 - Day 6

Today on this election day, I am thankful for our freedom. Freedom to choose our president, freedom to say what we want, and freedom from oppression like so many other countries. I am especially thankful for all the men and women who serve in the military who fight for our freedom. I could never marry a man in the military, but someone has to so thank you to those people. Hopefully this election will turn out the way we want. If not we are in for lots of changes that will ultimately affect D. Either way God is on control so I will probably be asleep before the results are in. Hope everyone gets a good nights rest!