Hiiii!!!! I'm not one to have New Year's resolutions but today seemed like the perfect day to start Amelia's journal again. Amelia came into her room the other day and picked up the binder of journal entries from when she was in the NICU and said, "Mommy, read pweeze." She sat between my legs on the floor and listened while I told the "story of Amelia." She didn't understand what I was saying but she knew it was about her.

I remember one journal entry written while she was in the hospital where I asked if, once the journal entries became further apart, if she'd realize it was because I was spending time with her, savoring every single moment. When I wrote that, I remember thinking I'd keep writing each day just as I had done for the weeks or months prior. Eh, not so much. Somewhere along the lines, I began to use Facebook as my journal, but it's just not the same. I enjoy having my memory refreshed about things I swore I'd never forget and I hope she'll appreciate reading about her and all her antics. :)

That said, this entry isn't so much about her as it is her room. If you don't read it, you won't miss anything important. If you do read it, you might wish you hadn't. ha!

If you've followed along for the last, whoa, almost THREE YEARS, you probably know what a bone of contention it's been for me to have not been able to "do" Amelia's room before she was born. I came to terms with the fact that there really wasn't much of anything I could've done any differently considering I was 18 weeks when we found out we were having a girl and then my water broke at 23 weeks.

I did manage to pick out her bedding, which arrived a day or two before I went into the hospital. Yay me!

With all intentions of creating the most amazing nursery EVER while she was in the NICU, I picked out the most beautiful shade of blue for the walls, fittingly called "Blue Booties" that matched her bedding perfectly. As you all know, I spent those three and a half months AT the hospital, either looking at or snuggling with our little miracle girl. Of course, when she came home, I continued to start at and hold her every possible second.

Sometime around her first birthday, or maybe it was her second, I abruptly changed THE color to a beautiful shade of turquoise called "Aqua Chiffon." I painted one corner of her room and kept it that way for the next year/year and a half. Apparently, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

Beautiful color. Just not what I was looking for.

A couple months ago, I had the bright idea to completely finish Amelia's room as part of her Christmas gifts/surprises. By "finish" I meant painting the walls, converting her crib to a toddler bed, and making room for her new toys and belongings that she would get at Christmas. Just imagine, fresh paint, bright trim, her very own white Christmas tree with sparkly ornaments and a room full of exciting, new things! What's not to love?! A coat of paint, unscrewing a few screws, going through the toy box and trading out some furniture? Easy-Peasy!

*eyeroll*

Nothing I do is "easy-peasy." I could complicate the simplest of tasks, all in the spirit of perfection. David says I'm too, um, "anal." I prefer to think of myself as detail oriented although my dear mother *cough* says I've always been "picky." Yes, they love me.

The first decision to be made was the paint color. Imagine David's surprise (ha!) when I went back to my original "Blue Booties" color. Bless his heart, he took the two gallons of blue paint we'd had sitting in the garage for the last couple years back to Lowe's to have it shook up, came home and never even hinted at saying, "I told you so." I cleared the room of everything but her bed and painted the room while Amelia stayed at Nana's. We love, love, love the color! David because it's "Carolina Blue" and me because I can throw as much pink in there as I want to and it not look like a Pepto Bismol factory exploded. Score!

Below, you'll see the Aqua Chiffon on the left and Blue Booties on the right.

Up goes the Christmas tree! Oh, wait. My white tree doesn't have lights and I can't find any lights with white cords. That's ok, Walmart had a prelit white tree. I'll just go pick it up. THREE Walmart's later and not a single prelit white tree to be found. I checked online and started calling the stores that had inventory listed. I found one 3o minutes away and it became mine! So...

Up goes the Christmas tree!

Amelia's special "ornament" for this year:

Oh dear. Do you see it? The contractor standard "antique white" on the trim just won't do. I'll have to slap a coat of white paint over that, you know, since I'm painting anyway. Off to Lowe's I go, arriving ten minutes before closing. That's PLENTY of time to grab a gallon of white paint and browse the mini-chandeliers while it's being mixed, right? It's just white paint...Who in their right mind came up with fifty-eleven-hundred shades of white?! With four minutes to spare, I tossed one of the random white paint chips I had collected in the span of minutes to the nice and falsely patient paint dude behind the counter. He mixed, I paid and was running out the door just as they locked them. Woohoo! I have white paint!

Paint that sat in Amelia's room for another two weeks before I could paint the trim. In the meantime, I find some plans for another "easy-peasy" and cheap project for the most perfect book shelves ever! Yes, everything is "the most...ever" when I get excited, but y'all know that by now. Christmas comes, wood is bought, drill breaks halfway through making shelves, trim is painted in the meantime, progress is being made.

That's right, I said Christmas came and we're still working on her room. Have you ever tried to paint, build, fix....BREATHE with a two year old helping every step of the way? Here's a little video to better describe the works of my little helper: (click on the words for video)

We had decided to wait to do our Christmas with the three of us until sometime after Christmas anyway since the day before, day of, and day after were completely booked and I didn't want to feel rushed. I want to be able to make a big deal about leaving cookies for Santa and carrots for Rudolph, make a special breakfast the next morning, open presents, watch "It's a Wonderful Life", play with toys and just spend time together without having to run here and there. I don't think it matters what day it's done as long as we do it. We love spending time with our extended families but we want to make our own traditions and special moments, too. :)

That said, we didn't intend to wait quite THIS long, but as I've mentioned, nothing is ever easy-peasy when I'm the mastermind. Trust me, Amelia has no idea that we've not had our Christmas, and honestly, it's probably better that we have waited because she STILL hasn't had the opportunity to play with everything she received from grandparents, aunts and uncles! We could go ahead and let her open her gifts but I think it'll be easier to wait until her room is set back up, with a place to put everything once it's opened. That way she can just play and enjoy! There really is a method to my madness. lol

A couple days after Christmas, I painted all the trim except for the baseboards. Our 2 bedrooms are the only rooms remaining with carpet and we intend to replace the carpet with some hard-surface flooring as soon as possible. No sense in fighting the carpet to paint the baseboards when we're going to be ripping up the carpet soon anyway. I'll just paint it when the carpet comes up.

*light bulb moment*

A couple years ago, Mom and I were at a consignment store that had a million and two brand new rag rugs for cheap, so I bought a huge one for Amelia's room for a whopping $12.00. Since I changed the paint color in her room, shall we say...more than once, I never used the rug.

David seemed to remember the rag rug being big enough to cover Amelia's entire floor, so hey, why not rip up the carpet in her room, leave the padding and tack strips, and use the rug as carpet. Awesome!

After the carpet was thrown out the window, Amelia and I stopped for a rousing rendition of"Simon Says." (Click on the words to take you to the video)

I painted the baseboards while David and Amelia took a nap and then I got to play with power tools while everything dried. Remember those shelves? You can take a peek at their awesomeness here. I must warn you, though. That site is highly addictive and may create the desire to build even in those that have no idea what the difference is between a flathead and a phillips head screwdriver.

As luck would have it, the drill broke halfway through the last shelf, but thankfully, David had a corded drill hidden in the garage somewhere. I have six shelves in total but I may only use 5 of them. I don't think I want to go quite as high as up the wall as they did, but I'll just have to see what works best when they're installed.

We get up this morning, eat breakfast and David goes to Amelia's room to lay the rug down on the floor. Oops. He remember incorrectly. It wasn't big enough to cover the floor. I giggled - with my inside voice, of course - because I've been wanting to paint the subfloors of at least one room ever since I saw it featured on a blog last year.

He groaned with his outside voice while I showed the proper amount of regret. The tack strips and padding are up, the staples are removed and the subfloors have been swept, shop-vac'd, wiped down and shop vac'd again while David and Amelia took their afternoon nap.

Thankfully, the rug does cover a huge part of her floor and since this is a temporary solution to a permanent issue, I doubt I'll fill in the seams and properly sand the subfloors before priming and painting them. Don't worry, they'll be smooth and perfectly safe for cute little toesies, but just not perfect. In other words, I'm attempting to let go of my, um, attention to detail just a little bit since it really doesn't matter in this instance. IF, and this is a huge IF, he actually likes it, I'll go back and fill the seams, sand, and seal it. If not, at least I got to try it out!

Once I get the floor done, we'll do Christmas. I can accessorize and all that fun stuff afterward, but I want to get the big stuff done while everything is cleared out. Depending on how long it takes the primer and paint to dry on the shelves and floor, I hope to be done in the next couple days. David can't help with a lot of the physical stuff but he does a great job of keeping Amelia happy and entertained while I get to "play." It works!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to an incredible year ahead. I'm excited to see what God has in store for our family and pray that it's a great year. I asked David what he would wish for for the upcoming year and he simply stated, "for things to keep getting better." I second that motion.

See y'all tomorrow! ♥

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

17 months old

Can you believe our Baby Bear is 17 months old? I can't for the life of me figure out where the time went. Each day is full of new experiences and wonderment as I relive life through the eyes of a toddler. When else will I get to spend 30+ minutes playing "put the crayons in the bucket, take them out, and do it all over again?" Everything is so exciting and new with nothing taken for granted. Shouldn't we all live this way?


With that said, our miniature philosopher is developing her own little attitude. I can't figure out where it comes from but David seems to think he has an idea. :-D She had been in the tub for 5 minutes or so when, ah, shall we say, things got a little stinky. It wasn't one of those situations quickly remedied so I had to get her out of the tub. Thankfully, I had already bathed her and she was just in the playing mode of bath time. That didn't stop the kicking and fussing, though! Her, not me.


I get Amelia to her room and onto the changing table, drying her along the way. She flings herself back, pushes my hands away, starts shaking her head hollering, "no, no, no, no." Ok, I found that highly amusing since it was the first time she'd shaken her head "no" and the first time she'd actually said, "no." I cracked up, and of course, that went over like a lead balloon. How dare I laugh at her!



Once I start acting stupid, she forgets why she was ticked off and gets down in the floor to play. I sat down behind her and pull her pajama top over her head, of which she jerks back off and says, "no!" Ok, so it wasn't quite as funny the second time but it didn't really matter if we put her PJs on right now or not. I begin to inwardly chant, "pick your battles. pick your battles. pick your battles."



This is when we started playing "put the crayons in the bucket, take them out, and do it all over again." Fun-filled game, but I warn you, not for the beginner. :-p I started out trying to get Amelia to scribble on a box of wipes but she preferred her game - and we all know she's in charge. She made one or two marks but I guess she's just not into that yet. On a positive note, she only tried putting a crayon in her mouth a couple times. Progress.



I've also recently realized that she knows what,"sit down" and "lay down" mean AND will actually comply most of the time. "Stay" isn't in her vocabulary just yet, though. lol She leads me to the fridge for cheese and her bottle, will take me to her room for a diaper change, and will take me to our bed for naps. Some days she's more adventurous than others but she usually prefers to stay right there with me, rarely crawling to where she can't see me.



I still can't go from the living room to the kitchen without the waterworks flowing although she can see me every step of the way AND she's more than welcome to follow. She hangs onto my legs 99% of the time I'm standing and have the audacity to not hold either her or her hand. lol You know what? It's frustrating sometimes but I will miss feeling her little hands on my calves when she decides she no longer needs me. There's something sweet about the gentle tugging on my pants as she clumsily walks beside me and the proud grin she gives me when I look down. It's the whining I can do without. ;-)


Amelia helped me unload the dishwasher the other night and her favorite toy is my Swiffer. She's constantly bringing me her toys and imaginary lint out of the floor. I just say, "thank you!" and wait for the next treasure she wishes to bestow upon me. She helped me unload the dishwasher today...and then tried to help me unload it again as I was loading it. We may need to do a little more training.


We have steps! She'll take a few steps on her own before her sea legs take over but she's getting there!


Amelia had her first "hair cut" earlier this month. I can tell it was cut but it isn't drastic. She sat so still and quietly. ♥♥


Mom, Amelia and I went to visit my grandmother last weekend whom I've not seen in 10 years. She is such an amazing woman, and I can't begin to describe how much I hate not knowing her like I should've been able to. That's a whole 'nother blog, though. LOL!

Funny story: I told my mom a month or so ago that I was actually going to have to buy Amelia some Fall clothes and that this was really the first time I've HAD to buy her anything to wear. Amelia has been abundantly clothed between the baby showers, Christmas and her birthday. As a matter of fact, she still has a couple dresses she's never worn! We didn't even have to buy wipes until a couple months ago. lol

We have been so blessed by such love and support over the last 18 months. I can never say "thank you" enough nor can I produce the words to describe the feeling I have when I think of the generosity shown on our behalf. Whether it was the gift of time to pray, gifts for Amelia, or a simple email or phone call to let us know you were thinking of us, we've been surrounded by support. Thank you...

Click for September pictures

Click for October pictures

♥♥♥♥♥(((((((((((((((((((((((Big hugs)))))))))))))))))))))))♥♥♥♥♥

Beach Trip!

Hi there! I know I say it every single time, but it's true...I can't believe it's been a month since I posted! Where on earth does the time go???? I really hate myself for not doing a daily update because there are so many little things I've forgotten. Yeah, I know, you're hearing the teacher from Charlie Brown right about now - "wahh wahh wah wah wah wahh wahhh." hmph!

Guess what! Amelia went to the beach AND she was gracious enough to take us with her. Oh my goodness, she LOVED it! Well, except for the part where she was sick the entire time. Yes, that was fun. Let's break this down: three teeth coming in at once, allergies, unfamiliar surroundings, AND a double ear infection. Yayyyy! Eh, it really wasn't all THAT bad and the ear infection didn't likely happen until we got home. She really and truly did well considering she felt crummy. ♥

****Click here for beach pictures****

We arrived Saturday and then took her down to the beach on Sunday. She squealed and laughed, walking further and further in the water. She has no fear. None. She held my fingers and just kept walking, giggling when the water would splash up on her! When we walked back toward the shore, she plopped down and started digging in the sand. Then, she'd want to walk back out in the water. She's a real beach baby!

She started feeling crummy on Monday and was seeming better when we got home Saturday. She slept well Saturday night and then was terrible Sunday and Sunday night so off to the doctor she went Monday. That's when we found out she has a double ear infection but it didn't "look too bad" whatever that meant. Apparently, it was a fairly new development.

Amelia isn't quite walking on her own yet but she will hobble along while holding onto just one of your hands instead of needing both. She still crawls on one knee an one foot, which I think is the cutest and funniest thing I've ever seen. She's as much of a Daddy's girl as ever and has shortened her "Daddoo" to "Daa!" It doesn't matter what she calls him, he'll come running. Then again, I'm usually not far behind! lol

She really has us wrapped around her chubby little fingers. I admit it and I'm not a bit ashamed. Her smile lights up our world and it seems like we'll do just about anything to make her laugh. While we were at the beach, my mom finally got Amelia to consistently clap to "If you're happy and you know it." It's so cute!! Every once in a while, she'll throw both arms up, slightly wave her hands and then bring her hands back down and clap. It looks like she's having her own little church service!

She also randomly exclaims, "Lordy lordy lordy lordy." We've tried and tried to capture that on video but she won't do it on demand. ha! Imagine that! Her? Do something/anything on demand? pfffft! This is where David says, "She's just like her Momma." *smiles innocently*

I think we're going to have to get her hair trimmed. We don't want to get it cut but it needs to be trimmed and shaped up some, especially in the back where it's been broken off due to her rubbing against the mattress in her sleep. Even if I put some sort of product on that part, it's all fuzzy again as soon as I take her out of her carseat.

We took Amelia to Amos Cottage earlier this month for her 12-month-adjusted evaluation and she's still doing well. They think it's time to take away her bottle but Amelia disagrees. They suggested we put her in her crib without her bottle and let her cry, even if it meant we go outside to make it easier for us. Yeah, um...no. Y'all know how I feel about that.

She only takes a bottle at nap/bed times and has been that way for a while now. I know she can't keep her bottle forever, and trust me, I'd love to be done with them, but does it have to be so abrupt and mean? It's not her fault she's grown accustomed to "nursing" to sleep. That's just what happened. When she was tiny, eating absolutely wore her out so she would fall asleep halfway through. As she grew and became stronger, that's just what happened. We'll eventually be done with bottles. It's not like she'll still want one when she's 20. Oh well, at least we don't have to deal with taking away a pacifier! LOL

I started this post 6 hours ago, then Amelia woke up and I fell asleep while getting her back to sleep. Needless to say, my brain isn't functioning properly right now, so I'm going to stop while I'm ahead. If not, there's no telling what will come out of my, um, fingers!

Don't forget to click on the link above to view Amelia's beach pictures! Have a grrrrrrrrreat day! ♥♥

Hugs,
LáLa

I hate coming up with titles...

Hello!!!

So, I'm having issues. Ha! Go figure! David is on his way to drop Amelia off at Nana's for the day AND the night AND part of tomorrow. I know I should look at this time as time to get things done that I can't do when she's here, and I do...BUT, and there's always a "but...." I have this irrational fear each time she leaves that something will happen to her while she's gone and I'll never see her again. The feelings aren't nearly as bad if I'm the one dropping her off or if she's only for the day and this isn't the neurotic thoughts of a first-time parent. I've had these feelings about four other people in my life; my mom, my papaw, my granny and David. Do you see a pattern?

Considering only one of those four are gone, I'd say the odds are in my favor that she WILL come home tomorrow and that God will continue to "protect Amelia, growing her healthy, strong, perfect and whole, inside and out." Yes, I still say that prayer over her each night as I put her to bed. If David is the one that's taking her to her crib, then I have to say it before he takes her. Hmmm...OCD much? nooooooooooooooooo, not me!

Ok, now that you know for a fact that I'm completely loony, let's change subjects.

Amelia crawls funny. She crawls with one knee on the floor while pushing herself off with the other foot. hehe! Hey, at least she's crawling..or whatever she's doing! lol She's pulling up on things with virtually no effort and and will "forget" to hold on while playing. She has taken a couple steps here and there but she didn't mean to. ;)

One day last week, Amelia crawled over to where I was sitting and started climbing up my leg. I knew she wanted to take a nap and that there's no way she was going to take one without her blanky.



Before she made it to my lap, I asked, "Where's your blanky?" not expecting her to know what on earth I was talking about. She stopped climbing, dropped back down to the floor and crawled over to where she'd left her blanket. She picked up the corner and said, "anky!" then crawled back to me, handing the blanket up for safe keeping, then reaching to be picked up herself. Of course, I got a little misty-eyed 'cause I'm a dork like that...

Now, each time she wants to be picked up, she'll lift her blanket up to you, say 'anky!" and then reach for you. Could she possibly become any cuter?!

Oh! You've GOT to see this if you haven't already! Amelia Laughing

She's growing up on us and seems to favor little bursts of temper tantrums, complete with high pitched squeals and kicking of the feet. We're not impressed.

I've not taken nearly as many pictures lately as I was before, but here's what we have:

July Pictures
August Pictures

I'll be glad when it cools off some so we can get back outside on a more regular basis! The mosquitoes are terrible this year and they LOVE Amelia. We were outside for 10-15 minutes the other evening and we each ended up with over 15 bites in that short amount of time. David, of course, wasn't bit one single time. I guess we're just sweeter than he is. :-D


We had our first "blood accident" a couple weeks ago. Amelia tried to cruise from the couch to her Harley and miscalculated, resulting in a nice, solid face-plant to the wooden rocker on her Harley. Her gum bled some but she was fine after a minute or two.

Speaking of gums, we have a million teeth! There are four up top in the front and three on the bottom, not to mention the molars are coming in, too, and the little white dots over the remainder of her gums. Let's just say some days are better than others... ;-)

Well, Amelia has been safely delivered so I think I'll go take a nap then hopefully prime and paint today.

Bunches of love!

Growing Up

I guess we all have to grow up sometime but does Amelia's time have to be now? She pulled up on the couch yesterday and started walking down the side of it. That lead to pulling up on any and everything humanly possible throughout the day, leading into today. She scooted across the bathroom floor this morning, tugged on my capris, and when I looked down to see what she was doing, she was peeking up at me between my knees, grinning with pride at her new found skill of standing. She's becoming a little more brave about walking and will sometimes take a few steps while only holding on with one hand.

Amelia has started scooting on her tummy and pulling herself across the floor but isn't quite crawling yet. She still prefers to be escorted from place to place but will get mad enough to relocate on her own if left to her own devices. Yes, I'm evil.

She was super-duper whiny and clingy yesterday, not wanting to stand, sit, lie down, crawl, walk, sleep, stay awake be held, be left alone...nothing. I took a peek in her mouth and she has no less than THREE teeth coming in at one time. I think there's at least one more but I'm not 100% positive. I'd be cranky, too! Who am I kidding? Some days, it takes a LOT less than that to make me an unhappy camper. No comments from the peanut gallery, please.

Oh! Amelia is "talking" with two-syllable "words!" Her most common is "Dah-Doo," complete with the cutest little puckering of the lips when she says "Doo" that you've ever seen! We were at the post office today when another little girl came in with her grandmother. Amelia exuberantly greeted them with, "Hey!" and a wave. Does she know she's saying "hey?" I don't know for sure but she seems to say it at the right times. She DOES know "DaDa" and "MaMa," though and that's alllllllllllllll that matters! hehehe

You know how most relationships start with the blind infatuation, complete with butterflies and total adoration? As time goes on, you spend more time with the object of your affection and begin to notice their quirks and oddities. This is usually when the decision is made to continue with the relationship or to call it quits. If you move forward, you're likely to find yourself falling into a completely different sort of love.

It's the kind of love that sees ALL "faults" yet doesn't hold them against you. It's a stronger, more real sort of love that gives you a safe place to land when the world is against you, even though there are times you think the last place you want to be is "there." I found this sort of love with David years ago but I never realized he and I both would feel the same sort of progression of love with our child(ren).

When Amelia was born, and even for months after she came home, I was on Cloud 9, in my own little world of euphoria. As time passed, the head-in-the-clouds feelings went away to be replaced by the realization that I'm not always going to like what Amelia is doing but I will somehow wake up each morning, loving her more than I did the day before. Every day will NOT be a good day, but it WILL be a blessed day. There will be tears, hers and mine. There will be frustrations and days that can't come to an end quickly enough. There will be ear infections, teeth coming in, sleepless nights, grumpy moods (again, hers and mine), and just downright crummy days.

There are also those moments when I look at her and am still amazed that I was chosen to be her mother. Those times when I look in my rear view mirror to see her holding up her blanky in hopes that I will see her and play Peek-a-Boo. How about the times she leans in, mouth wide open, for a kiss? I can't even begin to explain the feeling of pride I felt yesterday when I watched her pull up on the couch all by herself. My heart melts when Amelia smiles and there's no sweeter sound than her laughter. THESE moments are what we'll remember. THESE moments are what we strive for, and those others? Well, those other moments are just a little thing we call being human.

I ran across this in one of my inboxes tonight and thought I'd share. I wonder what it smelled like to Amelia....

It Smells Like Rain
A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the
Doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still
groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced
themselves for the latest news.

That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana,
only 24 weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency cesarean to deliver the
couple's new daughter, Danae Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and weighing
only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously
premature.

Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. I don't think
she's going to make it, he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a
10 percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if
by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel
one."

Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor
described the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived.
She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind,
and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from
cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on.

"No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their
5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a
daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that
dream was slipping away.

Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest
thread, Diana slipped in and out of sleep, growing more and more determined
that their tiny daughter would live, and live to be a healthy, happy young
girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of
their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less
healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable.

David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral
arrangements. Diana remembers, 'I felt so bad for him because he was doing
everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't
listen, I couldn't listen.' I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no
way! I don't care what the doctors say; Danae is not going to die! One day
she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"

As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life
hour after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her
miniature body could endure. But as those first days passed, a new agony
set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's underdeveloped nervous system
was essentially raw, the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her
discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their
chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae
struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and
wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little
girl.

There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger. But as the
weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of
strength there. At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were
able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months
later - though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances
of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero.

Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother had
predicted. Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl
with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She shows no
signs, what so ever, of any mental or physical impairment.

Simply, she is everything a little girl can be and more - but that happy
ending is far from end of her story.
> > >
One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in
Irving,Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a
local ballpark where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As
always, Danae was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other
adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms
across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and
detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells
like rain."

Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell
that? " Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get
wet, it smells like rain. Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head,
patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No,
it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His
chest." Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to
play with the other children. Before the rains came, her daughter's words
confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family
had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days
and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too
sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest and it
is His loving scent that she remembers so well.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will happen. It is the evidence
of what we cannot see, so you see it is impossible to please God without is.
Believe in the Lord by faith and don't doubt it. If you want to come to God you must believe that He exsists and that He rewards the ones who come to Him by faith.
~Hebrew 11:1&6~

---source unknown

July Pictures - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070460&id=1378911125&l=8219271a36

David says he likes Amelia's hair down better than always being in a bow up top. I told him we'd need to get her hair cut if we were going to leave it down and he wasn't going for it. He said we can't cut her hair, she can't stand, she can't walk, she can't GROW UP! hahahaha! He's going to have such a hard time in a few years.....

Thank you for still checking in! ♥♥♥