Saying Goodbye...

I never leave this house without Amelia. Seriously. I've left her here with David 3 times since she came home. I'm not kidding when I tell y'all she goes everywhere I go. I had to run into town to pick up a few things this afternoon and decided to let her stay home and play outside with Daddy. Of course, her idea of playing outside is pulling you by the hand, picking grass, flowers and weeds.

First things first. We're not allowed to run water without her stopping what she's doing, running to us with hand outstretched, saying, "Han....han..." So, I thought I'd sneak a shower while she napped and was almost finished when I hear, "MOMMMMYYYYYYY!!!!!" followed by the pitter patter of chubby little feet. Then I hear her little taps on the bathroom door through the screams of, "Mommy! Doah! Wa! Han!" Translation: "Mommy! Door! Water! Hand!" Short, sweet and to the point.

David entertained her while I finished my shower. Once I opened the door, she had to help me dry off with the "tow-ell" and assisted me while drying my hair by holding the hair dryer. Don't worry, I've only been whopped a couple times as she waves the dryer back and forth. Thank you for your concern.

When I went to get dressed, she made sure I knew what each of my body parts were: "le, knee, fuh, han, ahr, and most importantly, boob." Translation: leg, knee, foot, hand, arm and boob." Nana taught her that one. David taught her "butt." At least she didn't feel the need to point THAT one out to me. I guess she figured if I didn't know what that was by now, there was no hope for me. She then proceeds to tell me what each article of clothing is.

Then it starts. "Mommy, go." as she walks over to her changing table and attempts to climb up to the top so she can have her hair put up in bows and clothes changed. My heart cracks just a little.

As I walk down the hall, away from her room, she toddles behind and takes a right toward the kitchen as I took a left toward the living room. "Mommy. Baa!" (Mommy. Bag.) She was going to get her cooler bag that we carry her bottles and snacks in. Add another crack to my heart.

When she notices I didn't follow her to the kitchen, her entire tone changed from certainty to uncertainty. "Mommy? Baa? Mommy....? I'm within an inch of not leaving at this point and she's not even all that bad! LOL

She went straight to the door when she came into the living room, reached for the knob and said, "Mommy. Doah. Go." I picked her up to get my kisses and my hug but had a hard time putting her back down. Not because I was having an emotionally rough time but more because she had leeched herself to me. David decided to take her outside while I left in hopes that it would be easier for her.

Yeah, um...no.

I got in the van, put the window down, and after blowing kisses, she came up to the door and reached for the handle, "Mommmmmyyyyy. Doah. Mommmmmyy! han! Mommy! Go!" "Mommy, open the door! Mommy, get my hand! Mommy, take me!) She didn't start crying until I pulled away. I didn't either...

When I called a little later to check on them, David said she ran to the end of the driveway and screamed, "Mommy!!! Noooo!!! Mommy!!!!" over and over while crying her little eyes out. She was still whining in the background and I had been gone over 2 hours. Needless to say, he was ready for me to come home. My heart ached as I imagined the sound of her little bare feet pitter-pattering on the concrete as she ran to the end of the driveway. I told him I didn't want to hear anything else, I was on my way home. lol

I'm impressed that he didn't call me to tell me what was going on. He knew I'd stop whatever I was doing to come home to make her stop crying. Yeah, I'm a sucker when it comes to this precious child but I'm not a bit ashamed of it.

We had our final "preemie evaluation" last week. They were happy with her progress and said she's somewhere between her actual and adjusted age for development. In other words, she's great but not quite caught up. :)

Can you believe our little Miracle Girl will be TWO next month?! Her party is at the same place as last year. If you'd like to come be a part of her special day and need directions, just let me know. Just as last year, we'll have food and no gifts are necessary! We just want those of you that want to be there to feel comfortable in coming and we don't want to impose on those of you that would rather watch from afar. ♥

It still amazes me that so many people prayed for and cared for our little girl. If you could see her in person, you would know your prayers were answered. She is such a sweet, loving, affectionate, funny and caring little girl. I've never seen such compassion in such a young child before. She kisses MY boo-boos and even pulls my blanket up around me when we go to bed. Not always, but enough for me to take notice. She almost always kisses me goodnight, first on the lips and then on the forehead, and nothing melts my heart like hearing her say, "lu oo." Of course, that translates to "Love you."

She's a lot like her daddy in that she's more affectionate in private and more of a ham when there's an audience. When it's just her and me, she often sits beside me on the couch, holding my hand. Every once in a while, she lean down and kiss my hand and then smile up at me like she's just done some great deed...and, of course, she has. She has melted my heart.

Apparently her molars are coming in because she likes to chew on my finger like a puppy. She takes my finger in her little grasp and says, "tee" (teeth) while moving my hand closer to her mouth. She opens her mouth and then when I get my finger back there, to the side of her other teeth, she bears down a little. Then she moves my finger to the other side of her mouth and does the same thing. She hasn't bitten me...yet. I take that back! She bit me yesterday but that was completely my fault. I was feeding her something and she took a bigger bite than I anticipated. When she did, she bit down into my thumb and I just about went to my knees. She came up to me the rest of the day and said, "owwie" while kissing my thumb. LOL!

She's not always the perfect angel but those "bad" days are still good to me. When she has a temper tantrum, I rejoice in the fact that she has the ability to express her feelings and emotions. When she screams and cries, I thank God for giving her healthy lungs that work perfectly. And when she acts like she doesn't want to leave her grandparents, I'm grateful for the relationships she forging with people that love her as if she were their own.

I've said for nearly 2 years that I'm just grateful and I still am. Unfortunately my actions and words don't always reflect my honest and true feelings of thankfulness but I am humbled by ALL that God has blessed me with: my family, my home, and my salvation. What more is there?

Three and a half months?!?!

Merry belated Christmas! I had no idea it had been such a long time since I'd blogged until someone said something to me the other day. Over THREE months?! I may never shut up!



This last time we visited, Amelia had taken a few steps but we couldn't quite call her a full fledged walker. Of course, that has changed, making shopping a whole new experience. She likes to help push the cart until she sees something she MUST have. Then, she'll do her best to pick it up, no matter if it's as light as a feather or a shiny red washing machine. True story.



She's jabbers constantly with quite a few real words thrown in. Her first three syllable word was, "Abigee" for David's mom's little yorkie named Abigail and she says "Mommy" and "Daddy" with a very distinct British accent. I have NO clue where that came from, but it's super cute!


After a bazillion ear infection diagnosis, she'd finally had enough within a 6 month period to qualify for an appointment with an Otolaryngologist to discuss his recommendations. After the second to last ear infection, I really started researching and had come to the conclusion I wouldn't use antibiotics the next time she had one. Less than a month later, she was diagnosed with another DOUBLE ear infection but we waited on the antibiotics. The next day, she was perfectly fine.


That lead to even more research and I began to think she may not even be having ear infections. I kept my thoughts to myself, waiting to see the ENT specialist. Nine days after her double ear infection diagnosis, he says her ears look perfectly normal but discusses the option of having tubes inserted into her ears. Without any form of rational thought, I instantly felt that would be the wrong decision, but we watched the little informational video anyway. Half way through, David looks at me and shakes his head.


When the doctor came back in, we asked him a few questions and have come to the conclusion that we may have been right; she may not have been having ear infections. We think the pain and discomfort was coming from teething, and the ENT confirmed, the redness in her ears could have just simply been from crying. Munch like our eyes and nose get red when we cry, the inside of our ears will, too. Since there was never any fluid associated with the "infections," it's not likely there really was an infection.


Part of me feels completely stupid for taking her in for being cranky and unbalanced, when she was "just" teething. The other part of me knows I would've never done that had they not been diagnosing ear infections each time. It upsets me so much to think of all the antibiotics Amelia was given, possibly unnecessarily! The next time she acts in the manner that lead us to take her in to be examined, we're going to wait it out and see if she's better the next day and see if she feels better with a little Motrin or Tylenol like she usually does. Ugh.

The ENT appointment was yesterday, so this is all still a little aggravating. lol



This is our Santa Picture for last Christmas. We were at church and David's grandpa sat down in a chair beside the Christmas tree. Never one to pass up a photo op, I grabbed my camera from the van, David's mom plopped Amelia down on PaPaw's lap and this is what happened. She knows him and had just been playing with him in church. I have NO idea what her problem was, but I took full advantage of the comedic value!



We actually took her to visit the Mall Santa a couple days before these pictures were taken, but he was skinny, had bad teeth and just looked creepy. We stood in line for about 15 minutes, then chickened out when it was our turn. I'm a sucker for sentimental things and moments that will become fond memories, so I think we ended up with a MUCH better picture(s)!

I told my mother-in-law (MIL) the other day that there were 3 main things I wanted instilled in Amelia from the very beginning. She needs to know how to act in public, she needs to have good table manners, and she needs to be taught responsibility appropriate to her age and abilities. In other words - I'm her mother, not her maid and she needs to act like she has some sense both at home and in public.

Surely that's not too much to ask. If she takes something off the shelf of a store, she needs to put it back instead of throwing it in the floor. I've learned that I have WAY more patience than I ever thought imaginable, and I will stand in the same spot until they kick me out of the store, waiting on her to pick the item up. I've also learned that she is just as stubborn as I am! Thankfully for all involved, she really does listen well and wants to please.

*sigh* I love my Bunny! She's such a smart and funny little girl. That's right, she's more little girl than she is baby BUT she will always, always, always be MY baby. ALWAYS. If she wakes up in the night and I'm not there, she cries for me, even if David is lying beside her. She'll either reach up for me to hold her for just a minute before we lay back down or she'll lay back down, waiting for me to join her. She quickly drifts back to sleep and then I can get back up to do whatever it was I was doing.

David tries to put her to bed, but 9 times out of 10, I have to lay down with them for her to go to sleep. Some of you are probably shaking your heads, thinking to yourself that she should be in her own bed, putting herself to sleep and part of me agrees. The part of me that was taught that very same way of doing things, but with all my heart, this just FEELS like the right way to do things for now.

I think we're going to go ahead and convert her crib to a toddler bed so she can become accustomed to the idea of it. Just like every other human being, she does things in her own time, and I think she'll want to move to her room, to her big girl bed, whenever it feels right to her. I'll sure miss her snuggly little self, though! :D

I asked her for kisses last night. She cocked her pretty little head to the side and said, "ay peeze." So of course, I said, "PLEASE give Mommy kisses." She grinned, wrapped her chubby arms around my neck and gave me the best slobbery kisses EVER! At least she's been listening!


These two pictures are just funny! She confiscated my bowl of sour cream and commenced to bathing in it!

This past Sunday at church, our pastor let out a "whoo" in the middle of his sermon. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you've never been to a Pentecostal/Church of God church, have you? LOL Anyway, Amelia heard him, "whooed" back at him, raised her little hand and exclaimed, "Amen!"

I'm back, 10 hours later. lol I'm going to post this one and then start another one tonight.

Bunches of hugs,
LaLa