Georgia is Four Months Old!

Georgia-you are FOUR months old today!

Wow! That month went fast. So what have you been up to?!?

• You are wearing 3-6 month clothing and a size 2 diaper. We go for your 4 month well baby check-up next week. I'm predicting you are 14-15 pounds. Your legs are pretty rolly and you have the cutest poochy belly!
• You rolled over for the first time this month! You were 3 months and 1 week old. Now you roll over all the time. It makes my heart happy to see you reach your developmental milestones!
• At 3 1/2 months you rolled from back to belly to back! Way to go baby! You seem to be advancing quickly. I think you are going to be an over-achiever.

• You had rice cereal for the first time last week. You LOVED it! We give you a small serving every night. We thought you seemed ready to start using a spoon and we were right. 
• You are still drinking 6-7 breastmilk bottles per day. I know this is the best nutrition for you so I am hoping we can hold off on the baby food for a couple more months. You may think differently ha!
• You continue to sleep through the night like a champ! A typical night is 10pm-7:30am.
• You have found your feet! You are a challenge to change at this stage because all you want to do is grab your toes
• You have learned to grab - you are most interested in hair, toys, and your feet.

• You love to be talked to and you smile and/or try to talk back. Your coo is the sweetest sound on earth! (I watch your rolling over video several times a day when we are separated)
• You also love to squeal! It seems you have discovered your voice and you are letting us all know about it :)
• You recognize voices. Funny story- daddy was called on to pray one Sunday at church. You were sleeping and as soon as you heard his voice your eyes popped open and you had a look like, "I know him!" Ha! You are such a smart baby.

• You continue to enjoy riding in the car. We took you on a long drive last Sunday and you fell asleep and slept the whole time.
• You still use your paci some but not a whole lot. You pacify yourself by talking, grabbing your feet, and rolling.
• Your eyes are still blue. I'm wondering now if they are going to change? We shall see.

Every day with you is such a blessing. We love our little southern belle.
Happy 4 months Georgia Grace!

2/26/12

On February 26, 2012 we found out that I was pregnant! I remember that Sunday morning so vividly just like it was yesterday. We rejoiced and thanked our Savior for this blessing we had asked Him for.

One year later He has blessed us with the perfect child for us. Georgia Grace is the light of our lives. She's beautiful, healthy, loving, and full of personality.

I read this the other day and it has stuck with me:

"You are the perfect mother for your children. I have been called to "my" children."

I love that. God knows and provides accordingly.

As we celebrate such a special day, I pray for those that are still waiting. I pray they will be at peace with God's timing and use this journey as a way to draw closer to Him.

I've enjoyed a rainy day at home with my little gift from God. My heart is happy!

Family Time

We devoted Sunday to spending time with our family in a variety of ways. We have been wanting to take Georgia to visit some of my relatives in the nursing home but we wanted to wait until she was a little older with a matured immune system and when all the sickness had subsided.

So we decided Sunday we would take her for a visit. Here is GGH with my great-aunt Gladean. Aunt Gladean was having a great day when we visited her. She said that Georgia looked like my mom and she told my mom, "Don't make her cry" ha! We had a good visit with her and I could tell it thrilled her that we stopped by. She has always loved babies.

Then we went and visited my great-uncle Charles. He had just moved in and seems to be adjusting well. He gave us the biggest smile when we showed Georgia to him!

While we were out and about we visited "Meme" Harrison. She was so tickled that we stopped by. She gave Georgia Grace a piggybank with some change in it. Georgia has really started to grab things so she was really interested in the pig.

Georgia did so well. She was wide awake and just smiled and even talked some. I hope she was able to brighten their days!

Late Sunday afternoon we went over to my sister-in-law's so Marcus could do some shooting. It was a beautiful, pleasant afternoon and it felt good to be outside in the country after being cooped up all winter. Two of their calves greeted us as we pulled up their driveway-what a good southern welcome! :)

I had no intention of participating before we got there but look who got talked into it ha! The last time I had shot a gun I was in 5th grade....I told them all they better get in the house until I was done. I did surprisingly well and even hit a can or two. It was a fun adrenaline rush!

I am off tomorrow instead of Thursday and I am so excited about it! I have a few sewing projects I would like to tackle and of course cuddling my sissy girl! Speaking of that, for some reason I had started calling her "sis" and "sissy" a lot lately. I guess we have said "brother Owen" for so long I am just in the habit. And there is a song that we sing to her about sisters. I hope she doesn't mind :)

My Baby Is A Rockstar!

One of my friends, Keiliah has a friend that works for Steve Madden Corporate and one of her jobs is naming children's shoes. She had asked Keiliah to help her come up with a name for a pair of cowboy boots that they were introducing in their Fall 2013 line. She wanted it to be something southern so she suggested my daughter's name and....

Here are the Steve Madden "Georgia" Cowboy Boots!!!

How neat is it that my daughter has a pair of boots named after her?!? Wow! I told them to let us know as soon as the line is released so we can get a pair for her. My baby is a rockstar! :) 

Thank you Keiliah for making this happen! We are so honored!

In other news, Friday night we went out to eat at my favorite restaurant Mariah's to celebrate the end of a LONG week. Joint Commission has been in my facility and if you are familiar with acute care hospitals, you completely understand my lack of blogging this week. I have been working longer hours and I come home mentally and physically exhausted. I am so thankful our survey is behind us! Hallelujah!

Our favorite server waited on us! Love you Liv!

We also stopped by to visit my sister while we were in Bowling Green. Georgia had a big time watching her and laughing at her. She loves her aunt Paigey!

I have no idea where this weekend went. How can it be Sunday night already?! I am looking forward to a slower, more normal week. 

First Bites

I had planned to wait for a few more weeks but Georgia has seemed very interested in eating lately. Everything that she handles goes to her mouth. And with her rolling over early and being so alert and attentive, we decided that the time was right to start rice cereal...

And it was a hit!
The first couple of bites she was confused on what to do. She kind of looked at us like, "Ok what do I do now" ha!

But she got the hang of it and started attacking the spoon. We have a video of her doing it and it looks like she is about to bite Marcus' finger ha! 

We were giving her a bath next so we just stripped her down to her diaper and bib which she loved. If you remember in the early weeks she did not enjoy being naked. Well that has all changed. This summer there may be a struggle to keep clothes on this child!

Ready for some more! Owen was supervising as you can see :).

(And our neighbor Rhonda had the bib made for her. I love it!)

I think this girl is going to be a good eater. She ate a whole serving! I have learned you can't always go by the books, you have to trust your motherly instinct. We have made this a nightly routine for the past three nights. I think Marcus and I look forward to it as much as she does.

My baby is growing up! Next thing I know I'll be writing about her first car :)

"Good Rolling Girl"

We recorded Georgia Grace rolling over this weekend and she sure put on a little show for us. This video is the sweetest! I think she is going to be a little ham. I hope it's viewable, this is my first time uploading a video and I am ashamed about how long it took me to figure it out ha! And please ignore my silly mommy voice-that is probably why she is laughing. :)

She is a rolling machine. And this weekend she rolled from back to belly to back! We couldn't believe she already did that. She is hitting her developmental milestones early which is great. She may be an over-achiever!

She is really starting to chew and put things in her mouth so we are going to try rice cereal this week. My goal was to wait until she was 4 months old but we may start just a little early. She seems satisfied with her bottle but I think she is ready for a little variety. We shall see-updates soon!

Valentines Day 2013

Happy Valentines Day!

Our little princess in her new tutu. The tutu is so precious. I am so glad we were able to make this purchase-thanks #teamtutu! I actually think she enjoyed wearing it. I see a girly girl in our future!

(I posted this on facebook and one of my friends said the warning label on the carseat was from her daddy to her future boyfriends-YES.)

(And yes-my child already has full length bangs. She may have the most hair of any 3 month old EVER! And I love it.)

Wednesday night we went to the Valentine banquet at our church which is always a fun event. Marcus and I were chosen to participate in the newlywed game and we won! We beat our pastor and his wife and two other "seasoned" couples. The question that sealed the deal was "What was the worst thing that happened to you on your wedding day?" If you know us very well, you understand. We have a honeymoon story like NONE other. But that's another day, another post.

They had a photo booth set up which was a big hit. Marcus and Brother Raymond had to get a picture together in their matching bow ties. We love Brother Raymond!

Sweet cousin Delaney took care of Georgia Grace while we played the newlywed game. I have always said that I hope Georgia's hair stays dark because I want it to look just like Delaney's! Love these two!

And Georgia with her "stalker" Rachel ha! Funny story-Rachel loves looking at Georgia's pictures and so her family called her out on it which prompted the nickname Georgia's stalker. We have fun with it! And let me tell you this girl has an AMAZING voice. I would not be surprised if we hear her on the radio someday. I could listen to her sing all day!

Having a conversation with friends :)

Oh, it's so funny!

Thursday I was home so we made red velvet cupcakes for Marcus' 3rd graders. I put Georgia in her moby and she was able to watch everything I did. She LOVED it! She was so content and would flail her hands in excitement. Marcus walked home on his lunch break to get the cupcakes so that was a nice Valentines treat getting to see him. 

We went and visited mamaw Carolyn and took her a few cupcakes too. Sweet girl was super clingy yesterday so the rest of the night we just chilled at home and played. Georgia got a new cradle swing for Valentines day along with her tutu. It's funny because this is the exact swing she uses at grams (and loves) but yet for some reason she has not taken to ours quite as well?! Babies are funny sometimes, especially ours.

I hope everyone had a good day full of love!

Sassy Tutu

We are getting excited for Valentines Day at our house! Our amazing friend Rhonda got her this little outfit and it is absolutely adorable! It is a 3-6 month and she is filling it out. I can't believe how much she has grown in the last 2-3 weeks. Oh, and I love that I can get her to smile for pictures now. She is the best!

See what I mean ha! She's striking a pose in this picture with some at-ti-tude. She looks so sassy!

Speaking of sassy-whoa! That's a strong-willed baby shaking her fist at her momma but looking mighty cute while she was doing it. I can't even remember the reason for the scowl, it probably is related to her lack of patience :). She is definitely my child-patience is not a virtue for us ha!

If you follow me on instagram, I posted this picture concerning a debate the husband and I had. I wanted to get her a tutu for Valentines Day and he didn't think she needed one. I let the people speak and #teamtutu won by a landslide! Sorry dad, majority rules! :) I can't wait to see her in it. Maybe she will be a dancer like I was for 7 years and have all kinds of tutus, leotards, ballet slippers, tap shoes, costumes, and all the other girly fun things. This momma can hope!

We hosted bible study last night at our house. We were good christians and tivoed the UK game so it wouldn't interfere. If I had known the outcome we wouldn't have wasted our time-blah. Praying Nerlens can make a full recovery and continue his basketball career.

Nathan gave an illustration that he heard from a pastor about sinning. The pastor stated that there were three times that he was more likely to sin. Those times were 1. when he was traveling, 2. when he was tired, and 3. when he was angry. I can definitely identify with 2. and 3. I am going to try to remember this during those times so I can remind myself of my sinful actions. "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it." Gen 4:7

Tonight is our Valentines banquet at church which is always a fun night. And tomorrow is Georgia's first Valentines day and I get to spend it at home with her-yay!! Pictures of the tutu coming soon :)

Rolling and Shopping

Watch out world---this girl is rolling over!

Georgia Grace rolled over for the first time this weekend! We were giddy with excitement! We had the video going and filmed for probably 15 minutes and she wouldn't do it. We put the camcorder up and there she goes ha! Isn't that the luck? Oh well, we will try to get footage of the next one. We are so proud of you, Georgia!

We went to one of our favorite restaurants the other night and Georgia Grace was such a good girl!

I love that she is easy to take places. We had a hard time eating with everyone oooing and ahhing over her :).  

Saturday I went to Bowling Green to do a little consignment shopping and pick up GGH's Valentines present. I hit the jackpot at one of my favorite stores! They had just marked all of their fall/winter clothes and shoes down to 75% off. I got all of this for $40!! I was thrilled! I mostly shopped for next season but I got a few pieces that we can wear this season to finish us out before spring arrives. And I have learned you always need a few more fall/winter pieces than you think you do because spring doesn't arrive near as quick as we would like ha! 

Georgia Grace had to model one of her new pieces. This little jacket is too much! I could just eat her up.

Yay for my big girl rolling over and bargains!

100 Days

Today marks 100 days since I became a mother. My husband read in the book Rules For My Unborn Son, "Make time for your mom on your birthday. It's her special day too." I can totally see where this author was coming from. It is probably the biggest and absolute best change you will ever go through. I take so much pride in being a mom and taking care of my family.

In the past 100 days I have learned:

• God's Grace. It is so unavoidably obvious throughout pregnancy and delivery. How anyone could doubt that there is a God after having a child is beyond me. His hand is on everything and was on me throughout this entire experience. I find peace in knowing that He was with me in the first 100 days and will be with me everyday here after.
• Enjoy EVERY moment. The good, the bad, the ugly. Despite the hardships we experience as moms, I wouldn't trade them. These are the best days and I cherish all aspects of this stage.
• My new name is "Georgia's mom" ha! But seriously it is. And I am 100% fine with that. I am now in the background as she takes center stage and I wouldn't have it any other way. That's what being a mommy is all about!
• Breastfeeding is HARD. Working in the healthcare industry and counseling breastfeeding mothers daily you would think I would have a decent grasp on how it would go. Wrong. I'm happy to say that we found what worked best for us and Georgia Grace continues to receive breastmilk exclusively-yay! And we probably have a 3 month supply frozen (I am a milk cow). I know for certain I am a better breastfeeding educator now after going through it. And it is all worth it.
• Pregnancy changes you. I am lucky that I have not suffered from a myriad of changes but I didn't escape without developing a few. The most recent change I have seen is my hair is now oily?! I have always had the driest hair on the planet which was GREAT because I would only wash my hair about every 3rd day! That has gone out the window (temporarily, I hope). And right now when my getting ready routine is being condensed with every time saver I can come up with, dry hair would be super nice to have. But there are much worse things than oily hair- I think I will live. :)
• Sleep when you get the chance. I have never been much of a napper but I have adapted. I am very lucky to have a baby that sleeps through the night so the sleep was more crucial in those first 4 weeks (aka the zombie stage). A well rested mommy is a better mommy!
• Plan, plan, plan. Every night I probably spend an hour getting things set for the next day. Clothes (for me and Georgia Grace) picked out, bags packed, bottles ready to go, breastpump ready to go, car seat in house...and the list goes on. The more I plan and have things ready, the smoother our morning/day goes. I guess I already knew this but having a baby definitely reemphasized this lesson.
• And the biggest and best-the love of a mother. I have always heard you will never know love like the love you have for your children. I know exactly what they are talking about now. It's indescribable until you experience it for yourself and I am so thankful God allowed me to experience it! 

And I have this little angel to thank for giving me the title "mommy". What a blessed 100 days it has been. I love my life and the lessons I have learned.

Georgia Grace Days

Even though I am not able to be with Georgia Grace some days, she is well taken care of by our grandmas. They email me at least one daily picture of her which is so wonderful! Along with the pictures, I get daily briefings on how she is doing, what activities she has done, how she has eaten, etc.

A typical day for her (and I say that very loosely because no two days are the same) starts between 7-8 after she has slept ALL night! :) She will eat and take a long morning nap. This is her best nap of the day typically.

She usually wakes up between 10-11 to eat again. This time she stays awake for a while. She likes to swing in her cradle swing, "talk" to everybody, visit with daddy when he comes over for his lunch break, and watch TV! 

Here she is "watching cartoons". Why does she look grown?!? She is getting too big for her britches!

Daddy picks her up after school around 3:30 and then they come home and wait for me. The best part of my day is being with her in the afternoons. We stay in most nights because we would both rather stay home and be with her than to do anything else.

So that's a typical day for Georgia Grace at the 3 month mark. She is a blessed baby to get to spend the days that I am not home with her great-grandmothers. And I am a blessed mommy to have such an easy and healthy baby.

Speaking of being blessed, our cousin Payton won homecoming queen for our high school! She is beautiful on the outside and inside. We were so thrilled! She is an amazing role model for Georgia Grace. Way to go Payt! We love you!

Snow & Super Bowl

We FINALLY got the snow we had all been waiting for on Sunday! Granted it was only 1-2 inches and was 90% melted by the time we left for church we will take it! I am hoping we can have one big snow before winter is over. It feels like a waste of a season without it ha!

So here's the story on this picture. She woke up at 7am to eat and went right back to sleep so we decided we would take her picture in the snow when she woke up. It was time for church so we had to wake her up and by that time the snow was quickly melting. So, when you mix a woke-up, sleepy, hungry baby---you get this picture! Isn't it hilarious? I thought about not posting it but I want this blog to be real and I want Georgia Grace to remember her first reaction to snow. I do take the blame for the crankiness since we woke her and rushed her outside to snap a picture in the last little bit of snow that had not melted. So daughter-of-mine if you are reading this 10 years down the road, I sure hope your feelings about snow have changed! :) 

Sunday we also attended the baptism of our best friends Nathan and Rachel. It was such a special service and I am so proud of their commitment to God and public profession of faith. I am so thankful for our christian friends!

And finally Sunday Night was SB XLVII. Neither of our teams made it so we weren't that into it but it's the American thing to do to watch it so we did. Our alma mater WKU was coached by Jack Harbaugh back in the day so it was neat to see the his sons coaching against each other. I wonder how Momma Harbaugh handled it?

Georgia Grace sported her football leggings that gammy bought her. Doesn't see look thrilled? So much cuteness I can't stand it! 

And Happy 23rd Birthday to Aunt Shanna! We love you very much!