Random Thoughts

Today I wore my favorite jeans from before I had Abby Grace for the first time since I had Abby Grace.  Yay!!! I am stills struggling to lose weight, but I took a little break and am feeling much better about proceeding now.  I didn't break because I wanted to, but I had some school work and an ear infection that left me without the will power to work at one more thing. 

I am back in school for the fall.  The first eight weeks I am taking 3 classes!  I must be crazy to do this, but the more I take the faster it will be over! 

Today was a beautiful day!  In the 70's most of the day, blue skies, slight breeze.  You couldn't ask for a prettier day.

Recently we started attending my childhood church again and I love being back there.  I love that the people who loved and supported me through my awkward teenage years still love me in my awkward grown-up years and that I can now appreciate that and that my daughter is learning the same love from these people.  I also love that we are meeting new people.  I still feel like I am in that weird I know your name and I see your Facebook posts', but I really don't know what to talk to you about, so lets just sing louder.  It's hard to come into a tight knit group and "fit."  I understand that this will take time, but I look forward to the friendship that is to come instead of trying to force it today. 

Our new pastor, of 4 weeks now, preached about being a servant in church this Sunday.  I love this lesson.  I think that if more people thought this way we would see changes in our everyday life that we couldn't imagine.  Little things that seem insignificant now, but in the end would make life so pleasant.  I think the biggest example of this in my life was when I worked as a server in a restaurant.  I always tried to literally serve those people to the best of my ability because it was not only my job to bring their food and drink, but it was my job to determine their entire experience in that establishment.

When I was in the third grade I stayed after church one day to help a woman named Beth Rhoads, my Sunday school teacher at the time, organize an area.  I remember it having a lot of books, but I don't think it was the library, maybe a children's play area.  Anyways, my dad came to pick me up and Mrs. Rhoads let him know I had been such a good helper and asked if I was this helpful at home.  Daddy responded that I wasn't always the best helper, being truthful, and Mrs. Rhoads looked at me and kindly said, "until you learn to serve at home you will never be able to serve anywhere else the way you should."  I was impacted.  I wanted to help people outside of my house, I just didn't want to set the table or wash the dishes.  I don't know that I changed my actions at that moment, but I remember shortly after that seeing a video by Psalty the Singing Song Book that had a song (sang by a girl wearing red overhauls and a purple shirt, worst color combo ever!)  that stated, "if you want to be great in God's kingdom you have to learn to be the servant of all."

I know Psalty can be a little creepy, but I can still hum the tune of this song in my head today.  I am so glad that we heard this lesson from Matthew 20:26.  Imagine if we were all the servant of all in our lives in and outside the church.  No one would ever want for a teacher, an actor, a singer, a musician, a prayer partner, or a friend.  Filling a role God has selected you to play is a small step in being a great servant.  Look at those around you and ask yourself the same question you get asked every time you sit down at your favorite restaurant, "How may I serve you today?

The Path Less Taken....

So, I began a journey on May 15th that I haven't really shared with a lot of people.  I figure most will notice in time and if you are close to me you have already noticed and are encouraging me as I go.  This girl is going to lose 100lbs if it kills me.  Today I am officially at the 19lb mark and I feel great!  I am so excited to continue this journey and cannot wait to be my old self again.

 

It may sound wrong to say my old self, but when I was 20 I weighed in at a whopping 120lbs soaking wet.  Now days, well, its a little more.  One day I may be willing to share how much, but for today that's between me and the big man.  On May 4, 2013 I woke up a college graduate (I graduated the 3rd), unemployed, and ready to host the best Tinkerbelle birthday party ever!  I also weighed more than I had ever weighed in my entire life and didn't see a problem with having a couple of cupcakes prior to everyone arriving.  The worst part is I have the knowledge to beat this thing, I just have been too lazy to even attempt to try and tackle the issue. Lets start with college...

 

In 2001 I graduated high school and headed straight for Young Harris College.  At that time I had been informed that I had border line hyperthyroidism, the kind that can cause you to lose weight.  I was living life, eating what I wanted and never gaining a pound.  By 2004 I had started to see the weight coming on and weighed around 197lbs.  I was able to maintain that weight for several years, but then I found a job I really liked...in a Country Club with a fabulous chef.  Around this time I started to really put on the pounds making my way up to 231lbs and learned that I had hypothyroidism and was at extreme risk for diabetes.  I managed my issues with medication and didn't even begin to understand the implications of what could happen if I didn't take action.

 

In 2006 I went to a real OB/GYN for the first time in my life, I know its a little late, but I had issues with doctors looking at my lady parts.  Anyways, at that time I had already been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and I learned I had PCOS, poly cystic ovary syndrome, which is also a known risk factor for diabetes and weight gain.  I learned with an A1C blood level is and in my mind had every intention of beating this thing.  Alas, life got in the way. 

 

I decided I wanted to have a baby in 2009, weighing in at 251lbs by then, and by 2010 was frustrated, but my OB/GYN assured me it was possible in 2009 so it had to happen, right?  In March 2010, or there about, Matt and I went to the OB and got the news that it was likely we would never have children, but there were options.  I opted for drugs.  I took Metformin 3 times per day for 4 months and now we have Abby Grace.  It sounds super simple, but if you have ever read the side effects of this drug, know that they are true and you should buy extra toilet paper, you will need it.  I went in for the regular 7 week check up at 4 weeks and was told to not get too excited because of the chances I would miscarry. However, a fabulous side effect of this drug is that prior to taking it you have a 58% chance of a miscarriage, while taking it that is reduced to 11%.  I read that on the internet so it might not be true, but I remember it being a reliable source, like maybe the drug information page??? Also, not an easy thing, I spent the first 20 weeks of my pregnancy looking for any sign of a miscarriage every time I went to the restroom.  A slight cramp caused a serious midnight melt down at about week 11.  I have continued to take metformin in efforts to continue ovulating on the chance that we do decide to have another baby at some time.

 

In March this year I had some pretty scary issues, or what we thought we issues with my thyroid.  I went in for a sore throat and was told at the local quick care that my thyroid was swollen and pressing on my wind pipe and that was why my throat hurt and I was having difficulty swallowing.  I immediately scheduled a visit with my endocrinologist and went for an ultra-sound of my thyroid.  Turns out this must have been the little guy giving it all it was worth because when they did the ultrasound it was the size of a raisin and is essentially gone at this point.  I will have to continue to take replacement therapy for the rest of my life, but at least it is regulated now instead of surging all the time.

 

A common misconception is that if you have hypothyroidism you are fat, not true.  My endo studied at a lot of fancy schools and has worked at the Mayo Clinic, I trust her.  On my first visit with her I asked if this was what made me fat and she informed me that unless my levels were over 30 and had been for some time that this was not likely the cause of the weight gain, however with PCOS it was contributing factor.  A normal patients level, or mine anyways, should be between .3 and 3.  I am currently at .064 thanks to losing almost 20lbs, but have altered my dose and will have labs redrawn in 6 weeks. 

 

Back to my journey, so I am just going to tell you, I weighed 271lbs when I started this thing and today I was 252.8.  I am so excited.  I have been walking, taking personal training classes and Jazzercising while counting my caloric intake using www.myfitnesspal.com, a free calorie counter program.  I also just got a polar heart monitor to make sure I am always in the fat burning range!

 

I eat about 1400 calories per day, sometimes more if I worked really hard that day, but the calorie counter keeps up with net calories so you can see what it takes to maintain a 2lb per week loss if you want to hold to that.  Right now I am estimated to weight 233.8lbs in 5 weeks according to the counter!! So exciting. 

 

I hope that by sharing I can help someone out there to know that they too can do this. I  haven't been successful yet, but I know in my heart that I can do this.  I went to the doctor Friday and he assured me that I was doing great and that should I stall that I could meet with him to figure out what changes I needed to make to jump start my loss again.  He also told me my A1C, average blood sugar over three months, was down to a 5.8!!!  When I started it was at almost 13.  I am so excited.  I wake up everyday ready to conquer and I am teaching my daughter to take care of herself in the long-term.

Bad Days Aren't All Bad/21 Months

I haven't bragged on my little smarty pants lately.  This kid, I tell ya.  She has to be the smartest kid in the world.  As of late we are using 3 word phrases such as "me do it" and "no, mine mama".  Fun little phrases that keep you on your toes.  And let me tell you, Abby Grace is a coloring machine if it has a point and will mark on paper she is drawing with.  I caught her drawing a lovely picture in my rented Capstone text book yesterday, yay!  Gotta love how she knew that was the only book I rented this semester. 

 
Speaking of books and Capstone, this is my last semester!!! I will graduate with my BA with an accounting concentration in May.  I am super excited, but am also considering going ahead and getting my masters while I am already in the habit of studying and test taking.

I was starting to worry about AG and lego's a while back.  One of the milestones a few months ago was being able to stack at least 3 blocks, well Abby Grace knew that they could be stacked, but she wanted nothing to do with blocks other than to knock over what someone else was building, until recently that is.  Saturday she brought me a 20 block structure that she declared "prippy" before destroying it.  (***Disclaimer***I know every child is different, but we have soared through milestones and we totally missed this one, I do not freak out about these things.)

We do a lot of cooking together, mainly because she chants "pancakes mama" or "beans" every time she wakes up or feels a hunger pain, thankfully we are getting really good at adding fruit and other goodies to our pancakes to help with the bland, carb filled, piece of goodness they are and she will eat pretty much any bean and rice combo you give her. 

My favorite thing that this little bitty does right now is try and change her own diaper, it is hilarious to watch her try and position it just right to sit down on.  She hasn't managed to catch one yet, but we are working on potty training!!

Just to brag a little more...Abby can also count to 10, recognize a square, circle, triangle, star, and diamond, we are working on rectangles, and sing the first 4 letters of the ABC song.  She recognizes an A, but no other letter, all the other letters are E's when you ask her.  Abby will choose the right color if you ask her to, but if you ask her the name of the color everything is "geen" or "bu".

I taught my daughter something the other day that I didn't realize she didn't know.  Saturday morning I snatched open the kitchen curtains and declared that it was "sunshine time".  Abby has been talking about sunshine all week.  I love the bright light that comes through our back door and now my little bitty is loving it too.  My favorite part about these doors is that they are right where I stand to fold laundry so the floor is warm on cold days while I stand there. :)

I am so excited for Abby's 2nd Birthday!!!  I think we are going to have a Dora (Dorry) ice cream party.  A recently watched episode with ice cream hill is our inspiration for now...have you seen how people make cute ice cream cone cupcakes by turning the cone upside down on the frosting?  Too cute.

I am blogging to distract myself right now so I am sorry if this seems random.  I had a bad day.  I missed a step in one problem on my advanced accounting test and completely missed another problem, there were only 4 so that's kind of a big deal for my grade.  I stopped by work and was told that in 4-6 weeks we will be downsizing.  And last, but not least I received the diagnosis of enlarged thyroid and was sent for a prompt ultrasound. 

Yesterday I went to my NP because my throat was so tight I just knew I had an infection of some sort.  I had been feeling this way since Monday, but didn't think anything about it because I have constant sinus issues. Well, by yesterday, Wednesday, I would rather mop my drool than swallow and it was difficult to turn my head.  My neck was also very tender to the touch.  I actually had to think about swallowing to be able to do it, scary right? 

When I got to the NP my blood pressure was slightly elevated and my resting (10 minutes sitting still) heart rate was 106!!  A little high.  I was examined and swabbed for strep.  The NP returned and let me know that I was fine other than she was pretty sure that the problem was my thyroid.  Her prediction was that my thyroid was so swollen that it was pressing on my airway and causing me to have difficulty swallowing. I already had an OB appointment today for my thyroid, so I wasn't too worried about follow-up.

 I took some ibuprofen for the swelling and was immediately able to eat my lunch without struggle.  I started to freak out a little bit, so Dr. Google and I made an appointment to read about this issue and  I went to my OB today.  He listened to my page long list of issues and diagnosed me with enlarged thyroid and sent me for an ultrasound and more blood work.  That is scary business.  Who knows whats going on in that little blurry picture that the woman is measuring and clicking on all while silently eye balling you.  Never racking!!! 

So, now I wait.  I have a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks.  Please say prayers that everything is fine and my thyroid can be helped with steroids.  I talked to a Dr. friend tonight and he said that because my airway was affected that they may have to remove it, but that may not be the case.  I have had issues with hypothyroidism for years, I think I was diagnosed 6 years ago, but should have had treatment much earlier.  Since having Abby Grace my levels have been uncontrolled, needing lab draws and dose changes every 6 weeks so I knew something was wrong.  Waiting and waiting...

As for a job, I feel a weird sense of ok-ness about that.  I don't know what the answer will be, but I have some good letters of recommendations from my current boss and professors and I am excited to do something new that I wouldn't have left my job to do otherwise.  However, this does affect my health insurance, again pray for no serious problems with my thyroid. 

I am excited to have some good leads, via professors and friends, that I can follow-up on next week.  It is all still a little stinging and fresh right now.  I feel for my boss, she has worked so hard to now have to downsize.  She is one of the hardest working people I have ever met and I admire her determination. 

And my last contributing factor to this bad day...the advanced accounting test, well let me tell you, when you are liquidating a company, and working on a distribution schedule, you should make final distributions prior to recognizing withdrawals by the partners.  Lesson learned.  The other problem I missed, well, I wasn't the only lost student.  I got a call from a friend later and as he said "screw it" I don't know how to do that one.  I think that is fitting.  I had no clue and did what I could.

I finished out my day at the March of Dimes kick-off for 2013.  It made my day much better to be 60+ people who are excited to raise money for a wonderful cause.  I love working on the committee and helping the community realize just how much each and every baby benefits from the MOD.

Now that I have finished my long drawn out ramblings for the night I do feel much better.  I haven't cried all day and I need a place to put all this. I am good now, I am focused on finding a new opportunity for myself.  I will better myself through this opportunity. 

**This post was not written to gain pity, just to get my feelings out.

***Odd thought, I just felt the urge to sign my post LYLAS.  What grade am I in?  Must be about 4th.

15 weeks and counting....

Well, we have had a long week.  Abby Grace has started fighting sleep and this makes everyone miserable when it's time for bed.  However...she has started sitting up on her own a good bit and smiling like crazy, especially when you sing silly songs to her.  Her favorite is the song about Annabelle going blub, blub, blub in the bathtub from Camp Pinnacle.  She now recognizes the names nana, nesie, papa, and daddy.  When you say these names she beams.


***Another draft, geez what happened!!!"

Week 16

Abby Grace went on her first boat ride today!  She loved it and had so much fun she went right to sleep afterwards!  I love that Matt's finger is in the corner of the photo...it makes it a family portrait.  Just kidding.

***Found this one in drafts too!***

13 months

I have 4 followers!! 4...in January I only had 3.  I don't really know how I gained 1 follower since then because I haven't posted, but thank you.  I am really bad at this.  I think about blogging and then I decide to sleep or play outside or something else way more fun that being on the computer. 

I started this blog to keep folks up-to-date on my sweet little tato.  (pronounced like the last part of potato)  She is 13 months old now and a blast!  We are having so much fun already and isn't even officially summer yet.  Since I got out of school in mid-April (and don't have to go back until August, for only 8 more classes!!!!!) we have been staying pretty busy.  We've had Abby Grace's first birthday party, been to two weddings, had strepthroat and herpangina, are getting two incisors, have been to the "beach" at Lake Hartwell with cousin Layla, went to the awesome Mountain Laurel Festival, and so much more.

I am going to hit on a few of these items right off.  First and fore most, Abby Grace said  Mama for the first time last Saturday morning.  I was so proud.  Since my last post Abby Grace has grown a good bit.  She is now 22.6lbs and tall enough to reach the top of the kitchen and bathroom counters, unfortunately.  She is in to everything, but understands what "put that back where you got it" means, thankfully.  She does not understand the word "no".  "No" essintially means keep doing what you are doing and run away from any adult as fast as you can.  How fun!  Abby Grace as you may notice from my 11 posts in 1 year (that's almost 1 a month, except most of them were right in the beginning :)) stays sick a good bit of the time.  We watch her for any little symptom at this point, but for some reason, despite breast feeding, an awesome diet, and other factors she still is a human sponge for germs.  Her latest germ was herpangina.  A virus much like hand, foot, and mouth that causes white patches in the mouth and high fever.  She didn't eat or drink for about 3 days and we almost had to go to the hospital, but she gave it up and took a sippy cup full of gatorade right after we left the doctor's office and being told she HAD to go to the bathroom again before bedtime. 

We are all better now, but still on antibiotics after round of strep throat this week.  We both had it, yay!  On to more exciting things.  Abby Grace LOVES the water.  She plays in the sprinkler and we recently invested $11 in a kiddy pool for the front yard.  It's a big hit and helps us to stay out of the house on the weekend when Matt needs his beauty sleep.  Abby Grace also got a new sand box for her birthday and that keeps her pretty busy.  At our 1 year check-up the Dr. reminded me again how smart she is and how hard I am going to have to work to keep her stimulated.  Currently we are working on colors and shapes, however she is much more intersted in running away with whatever I am using as an example and hiding it than she is in picking out the "red one".  She can show you her nose or your nose, but will not point to the mouth, noses are just way to distracting I guess.    The game we play most often is putting one object into another object and putting the lid on containers. 

I am going to stop boring you with details and get on to the fun part now...pictures! 

At Abby Grace's 1st Birthday Party with Layla and Kasidee

Eating Cake at her 1st Birthday

 

***I just found this in drafts (8/23/2012).  I think I stopped working on it b/c the pictures were making me so mad. ***

I kind of suck at blogging...

but, I am really going to make an effort to do better.  I have completed a lot of really cool projects over the summer and I am planning to share about those.  I also need to do better about keeping up with my Abby Grace, or Abby Kadabby as she now refers to herself. 

This kid blows my mind.  She is so smart!  At her 15 month check-up the doctor was most impressed that she feeds herself with a fork or spoon.  Since she has been walking for a good long while now we are into things like: learning to jump, "poo" pool time, swinging is a daily must, jumping on beds, and lots of other fun activities.  She also has more words than any child her age should.  She refers to everyone in our family by their name, except for the aunts and uncles, we haven't gotten those yet, but she did call her Aunt Caitlin "Cait" this morning so that's progress.  She does however know: mama, daddy, matt (oops on my part!), nana, papa, and nissie.  Other words we use on a regular basis are:
- teetee (potty training!)
- poo, shoooo! (said while shaking her head at the terrible smell)
- woof woof (dog)
- mow mow (cat)
- oooooo (cow)
- eat eat
- nack (snack)
- wawa
- dink (drink)
- me me (milk)
- baby
- car
- go
- Melmo (elmo)
- Mimmey (refers to Mickey or Minnie Mouse)
- oes (shoes)
- nana (her favorite blanket...it's odd to me that this is what she calls it ??)
- nigh nigh (night night)
- ook (books)

There are lots more, but it is late and I am tired.  I made a video of her saying most all of these last weekend.  She also identifies all of her body parts in it.  Sooo stinking cute, but Matt is a little offended that when she pokes him in the chest she says "boobies". 

My absolute favorite thing she does right now is call herself Abbykadabby, as in the little pink and purple girl off of sesame street.  The best part is that she is in no way confused about who she is referring to as she points to herself while she says it.  (This mostly occurs in a situation as follows, "nack?  A-A-Abbykadabby?"  Hilarious!

What is the rest of our family up to you ask?  Well, Daddy works 3-5 days a week (40-72hrs) depending on the week, so Mommy and Abby Grace spend a lot of time together when they can.  Mommy works all week doing lots of interesting things at the office and is taking three classes this semester: cost accounting, auditing and entrepreneurship.  I really am going to enjoy auditing.  I love getting down to the nitty gritty of things!

Well that's all for tonight. I promise to do better, I have a little better grip on life now than I did last year so hopefully I can stick to it this time.  I have also decided that I am going to start sharing my projects and other things that interest me on here outside of Abby Grace. She is my little love, but I can only write so much about how cute she is before everyone gets bored.  ♥ Cassie

These are her 1 year pics, but since I haven't blogged in 7 months...

Ooops...9 months (in a few days)

Well, it seems that I have left my three devoted blog fans hanging and I didn't realize that I haven't been on here since October!  Wow, I feel like such a slacker now.  I was going to be a great blogger and have lots of fans.  I will do better, probably.  Now, onto what you really want to hear about...my little sweet po-ta-toe. 

Abby Grace will be 9 months old on the 20th.  I can hardly believe that this much time has gone by.  I am just going to talk about her and then post some pictures at the end...hope that works for ya'll.  My girl is getting so big.  She weighed 19.6lbs in December, but due to sickness lost down to 18.1 in just 2 days.  I feel like she is doing a good job of gaining it back though, seeing as she eats anything you put in front of her.  When I say anything, I mean anything: eggs, cabbage, carrots, peas, crackers, potatoes, especially black olives, onion, tomato, she loves steak, literally anything. 

Since the last time I posted her hair has gotten 99% thicker.  I just glanced at those photos and it is amazing how much it has changed in just these short months.  We have also been through 4 holidays.  We skipped Halloween this year (she will never know and it was too cold to take her out). 

I tell you this child is racing through her milestones.  At 9 months she is walking about 10ft., sometimes more, at a time, eating mostly table food, drinking out of a straw, transferring items from one hand to the other like she has always known how, and generally rocking it.  I wish that you all could see her crawl and those that have know how funny her little crab walk is.  The crab walk originated when this little mover couldn't get good enough traction on hardwood floors and since everywhere she goes has hardwood...the crab crawl emerged. 

Abby Grace loves to give kisses.  I am going to try my hand at uploading a video at the end here where you can see her give mommy kisses while eating a marshmallow (horrible I know, my dad gave it to her, she loves her papa's!).  She will grab my face with both hands and plant on right on my cheek and then blow a big raspberry as a follow through.  Today she gave me my first hug.  It was by far one of the sweetest things I have ever experienced. 

We had a good Thanksgiving and Christmas, although we spent the day after Christmas at the doctor's office and the rest of the week working our way through three different viruses and two teeth.  Yes, Abby Grace got her two front teeth for Christmas and now she is a cracker eating machine.  That child is going to turn into a Ritz.  We kept Christmas very low key this year and carried on a tradition from my childhood that I hope we can use to help instill God's love in our little girl.  On Christmas Eve we hosted the first ever Head household Happy Birthday Baby Jesus Party.  It was a hit as far as I could tell, we ate taco ring and rice and beans then we sang happy birthday and blew out about 20 candles for Baby Jesus.  The girls (cousin Layla came over) loved it! 

We spent Christmas morning with Matt's family and the afternoon with mine.  It was so fun to see Abby Grace enjoy the holiday.  Although, we could have bought her a bag of press on bows and she would have been happy for weeks.  She tore the bow off of every present under our tree.  I know you are all saying...WHAT!  You used press on bows?  I can't believe such a wonderful house keeper and trendsetter like you would do that...to say the least my present wrapping skills have failed me in recent years.   I used to spend hours wrapping gifts and fashioning bows, but that was my past.  Maybe in the future it will return, for now, press on bows make my baby happy. 

Matt gave Abby Grace her first piece of jewelry for Christmas and I adored it, a silver bangle that she now wears 24/7. In case you were wondering....we are waiting until she is old enough to ask to have her ears pierced before embarking on that adventure.  That is the way my mom did it and we all had our ears pierced around the age of 4.  We will see how long it takes.

We spent the new year with good friends having a cook out and telling stories about years gone by.  Abby Grace was still working on those two front teeth so she wasn't too thrilled about the whole experience, but a little potato salad made that better.  She had gas for two days, but it kept her quiet while we were in a crowd. 

We have spent the first 16 days of the new year living life.  In that time Abby Grace has started walking farther and farther.  She is getting really brave and loves the cheering that takes place after she makes it across the room.  She is showing more and more interest in dolls and stuffed animals as the days go by, currently we are attached to a rabbit and a red corduroy bear, but favorite of all it the blanket.  We take it every where we go because all she has to do is see it and she is calm.  I love the blanket. 

We have our 9 month check up on Jan. 30th.  I will try and do better about posting stats and not rambling so much next time I post.  Enjoy the photos!

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!

Stick on bow thief.

Climbing the stairs

Just too cute!

"Good things come in small packages"

Her Christmas dress.

Such a happy girl to be waiting to see the doctor

What I find when I go to get her from her naps now.

A few smooches for you...

This one really shows her personality and you can see how much she has changed from late October to now in it.

Our Happy Birthday Baby Jesus home-made decorations.

Almost 6 months!

This was my girls view last Saturday as we played outside.  She love being outside, especially at her Nana and Papa's because they have DOGS!!!!  Abby Grace loves her some dogs and can spend a good 30 minutes watching them and trying to get a couple of good handfuls of fur.  She is so sweet these days with her bubble blowing and nose wrinkling. 

She is sitting up so good by herself and yesterday she was on all four's and tried to stand up!  Of course she made it about half way and then face planted, but it's the effort that counts.  My mom says she will be walking by Christmas, Oh My!  I can't believe how fast she is growing and how quickly she catches on to things.  She can now chase you across the house in her walker when she could hardly get the thing moving two weeks ago.  She has also learned how to operate toys at my mom's house that are made for children much older than her thanks to cousin Layla.  If only she could get her hands on that singing chair, you should see the looks she gives that chair, it's gonna be in double trouble soon :)

We play pretty hard these days, especialy right before bed.  I used to just carry her upstairs and lay her down, not anymore.  This girl is smart she knows her room and that her toys are in it.  She scooted across the entire room the other night and across my mom's living room on Monday.  I love that she is gaining some independence, but I don't know that I am ready for the task of having a mover and a groover.

If you see us at the grocery you will get to see a very happy baby.  I took this picture her first time sitting up in the cart and she LOVES it!  I have never heard a child giggle their way through the entire store just because they are sitting up in the buggy.  Such a little cutie pie!

I asked Matt to take this sweet picture so that I can always remember these nights of nestling down before bed time with my sweet girl petting my face.  I want her to know her mommy loved on her everyday and that is why she is such a confident person today (when the day comes of course).

Here's the little terror on wheels...she chases me around the kitchen and bathroom every morning while I get ready. 
I guess that's all I have for tonight, I just wanted to share those few picture and make sure that when Abby Grace looks back she see's that she was loved and growing up so fast!

Almost 5 Months...

Almost 5 months....that's how long it took for this super-dee-duper cute outfit to finally fit my child, we got to wear it once which makes me sad because it's mudpie and some of you know that = $$$.  I didn't pay for it, but someone did.  And, no, it doesn't have a random snap on it, there is a rather large flower that goes there and we took it off for play time purposes.
Anyways, my big girl started sitting up unassisted this week.  She thinks she is all that and a bag of chips when she does it too.  So cute!  She has also started scooting backwards and pulling up on everything (fingers, pants legs, the front of your shirt when your not paying attention, etc...).  I can't believe how much she has grown. 

We all enjoyed a wonderful cookout for a wonderful couple last weekend and last night we had dinner with our friend Bejamin.  His mom made THE BEST dinner that I have had in a while, homemade pizza that was dairy and soy free, a major accomplishment on her part, but oh so delicious on mine!  I can't thank Naomi enough for her thoughtfulness.  Benjamin is a real cutie and I am working on teaching Abby Grace to call him Benny Bear, like Kate Hudson in how to lose a guy in 10 days, just cause it's funny.  We are really encouraging their friendship because we as mom's of kids 2 weeks apart like to hang out and compare horror stories and triumphs.

Bad picture, but you can see how cute they are together.  It's hard to take a picture of someone who isn't very good at sitting up (wobble, wobble). 

Hope ya'll have a great weekend!  We will be back with the 5 month update next week!
~Cassie

Weary

It's been a while, mostly because not only am I working full time, but I am also in class two days a week and have the homework to prove it.  I managed to escape homework this evening, but will return to it shortly, aka tomorrow.  This mama is weary.  No one told me that there would be days and nights that I would want to just hand my child to someone else, but after last night, I felt that way.  Abby Grace woke up at 2AM and after having gone to bed at 11PM, I was not ready to be up.  We fought, we screamed, and we slept...a little bit.  Until at 5:45AM I called her daddy and asked him to please hurry home from work so that I could have a break.  To say my nerves were rattled from listening to her scream is an understatement.  You probably could have put them in a jar and and shook them like a polaroid picture and I would have been less frazeled.  To say the least work and class were interesting.  But, at the end of the day, after she had napped all day, and I had had a short nap myself, I got that one smile that reminded me why I wanted a to have a baby and that I love her.  I was also showered with open mouth full face kisses that left me soggy, but so over joyed with her.  (That's her newest thing.  She places both hands on your face and brings you to her, then she slobbers all over you and giggles.  This girl loves her some kisses.)

Getting away from my sobbing...Abby Grace took her first trip to the lake a few weeks ago, and she LOVED it.  She really likes to be outside and this was icing on the cake for her.  Daddy invited us to cruise around while he and his friend went fishing, so we said, "why not!" and went for a ride.  She slept like and an angel all night. 

My big girl is really starting to enjoy the world around her, she is lifting her head up and turing cicles on her belly, won't be long and my little miss will be into EVERYTHING!  Right now her favorite thing to check out is her daddy's "man-mote" also known as the tv control.  She thinks it is amazing.  It is also really cool to drag your hand over mommy's smart phone while she is using to impersonate her and call people.  If you get a random call from us, it's probably Abby Grace.

Matt is not the best with the camera.  Note the finger in the top corner :)

We had our 4 month check up last Friday.  Our girl weighs 15.9lbs and is 25.5" long.  She is getting so big so fast.  At night she eats oatmeal with butternut squash or peaches and is doing so well with keeping everything in her mouth.  I have really enjoyed making her baby food and saving the money that not buying the store bought stuff costs.  I bought 1 butternut squash and 4 peaches and made 15 ounces of each as baby food.  She only eats 1 ounce at a time right now so I spent maybe $5 and made 30 meals.  Fabulous! 

I had said I would give a helpful hint for those mama's out there are eating dairy and soy free each post and here ya' go for this week....Blue Diamond Dark Chocolate Oven Roasted Almonds.  They are the best sweet tooth fix I have EVER found!  And they sell them in a 1lb bag at walmart.  A serving of these babies and you'll wonder why you ever needed another sweet.  They ARE that good.  I have lost 10lbs doing this and hope that it continues.  PCOS has kept me from losing weight for about 3 years now and it is very discouraging so this weight falling off has been a really encouraging change.

If you have read this far, thank you for listing to my babbling.  It is nice to have an outlet sometimes.  I am so excited for Labor Day....Low Country Boil!  I know that God would never give me anything I can't handle and I try to remember that when this little girl is trying me, slapping me in the face, and screaming.  She will out grow it and I will forget all about it.  Sorry for the lack of pictures, I took the camera out of the diaper bag and this is what happens.  Ya'll have a great long weekend!

~Cassie

4 months, going on 4 years...

We have had such a busy few weeks!  I went back to school 2 days a week and it has really put a hitch in our giddy up.  I lost most of my spare time to Intermediate Accounting Principals and Global Economics for the next 16 weeks.  I have been so bad with pictures this week.  I took the camera out of the diaper bag and guess what...no pictures for the most part, but since I haven't posted in 2.5 weeks I have plenty of "older" pictures to share, but it is getting late and I have to get up way too early.  So, for tonight, we will just say "Peace Ya'll!" I'll be back tomorrow with more to share since I don't have school on Tuesday nights...see you then! ~Cassie

Life in General...

We have had a very exciting week.  Abby Grace has started sitting up straight with little or no help and she can now  blow with her lips togther to make a new noise.  On the down side, she has started fighting sleep, so no more snuggles before bed, I just take her in there and lay her down.  It is much easier for everyone this way.

Check out her new hair-do.  I prayed that her hair would be more manageable than mine, but her new mohawk type look is making me think we may be facing a long road as far as learning how to stye her hair.  I had to wet it 5!!! times to get it to lay down one day last week.

This is how AG will look when you see her most all the time now days.  Fingers in her mouth, bunny at her side.  I have given her several stuffed animals over the past few weeks, but bunny seems to have won.  She has been showing him some major lovin's for  three days now and he has the slober dried fur to prove it.
I guess I should apologize for the quality of my pictures.  AG hates the flash and that makes it very hard to take a decent picture inside the house, but I think you can get the idea most of the time.

This kid loves her some daddy these days.  Check out that stare last Sunday before church.  Also, note Matt's super healthy breakfast...homemade wheat bread with peanut butter and bananas.  My friend Abby has taught me how to make my own bread and it is delish!  I don't know if everyone knows, but AG has some pretty heavy food allergies: dairy, soy, strawberries, tomatoes, and one other thing that I haven't figured out yet, but since I am breast feeding I have stopped eating all these things.  It makes for some really interstesing shopping trips trying to find something I can eat, and I pretty much can't eat out at all.  Most every restaurant cooks with vegetable, aka soybean, oil.  I have been thinking about adding some little hints about how to make this lifestyle easier if anyone out there is interested. (If I figured out how to do key words in my blog someone who needed it might actually find it huh?)  Well, here is the first hint.  Call ahead.  If you know where you are going to be eating call ahead and let  them know  your dietary restrictions.  Most places are more than happy to help you out.  Also, a lot of deli meats (especially Hormel) have dairy in them...read every label!

Whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread.  No dairy, no soy.  Yummy!!! We ate a whole loaf in one afternoon it was so good, whoops!  I also learned a little something about canning this week and ended up with 14 jars of pickled okra.  We havent' tried it yet, but it looks delish!

I posted on FB that I would share about my gallery wall, well here goes...
I started by researching and realized that I liked a little more structure than some of the fancy pants designers out there who just hang everything haphazard and call it cool.  So, I needed a plan.
1. I collected all of the black frames from around the house that I wanted to use and purchased a few more at the family $$ for around $3-5.  They are a great deal and I bet you can't pick them out from the pictures here!

2. I needed to layout my design so I brought home a couple of outdated desktop calendars from work.  I traced each picture frame and then measured how far from the top the actual hanger was.  I marked this and then found the center so that I could just pound away once I got my design layed out.

3.  I layed my design out on the floor and included these wooden shelves that I have had for a while.  I love small bottles and this like a great way to include them.  (See that collage frame in the background?  I hate those things, I never can figure out what to put in them.  I got that one at a white elephant and I guess that is where I will use it next.  Merry Christmas!)
4.  I used regular old scotch tape to put my design up on the wall and then I hung the shelves to make sure that it actually worked.  I tried this once before and just started hanging things and ended up with a lot of holes to patch.

5.  Since I had already measured out where the hangers were on the backs of my frames all I had to do was make sure my templates were on the wall where I wanted and get to work.  I love the finished product and our living room doesn't echo anymore :)

Content?  I didn't worry about it.  I used pictures I like to see and remind me of those I love.   Aren't my little bottles cute?  I love them so much, and I think they add character!

I am sure we will have another busy week.  I will be sure to take plenty of pictures :) I am getting a new chair from Jessamie at http://www.birdandbranchredesign.com/ this week and am sooo excited!

~Cassie



Curiosity Killed the Cat...

Abby Grace is really starting to realize that her world is big and full of things, like boxes of Kleenex that are fun to play with. This morning I set her on the counter in her bumbo and the next thing I know she is throwing tissues and playing with my deodorant.  This is all new for me.  I am used to putting her somewhere and not really worrying about her getting into anything around her...so much for that!  I knew it was coming to an end last Saturday when I turned around and she had picked up the Prevacid syringe I left lying in front of her on the exersaucer and proceeded to give it a good gnawing. 
I can't believe how fast she is learning about everything around her!

We had our first trip to the ER this past week.  Last Thursday AG started having a lot of congestion and woke up at 2AM unable to catch her breath and having some stomach problems...we had a lot of these this week...as evidenced by the picture above...at one point I didn't even realize it had happened thanks to my own congestion.  I took her in and of course by the time we got there she was full of smiles and had the hiccups to share with the staff.  The doctor told me what I already knew...she was congested.  Really?  We came home and went to see our friendly doctor on Friday.  The doctor said that we probably had a virus that is going around right now and to just load her up with fluids.  Well, whatever virus it is must be fast moving.  By Saturday me, my mom, both sisters, my dad, and Matt all had it.  We are doing much better now, just a little stuffy still.

See that can of nuts in this one?  Abby Grace has spent a good bit of time conversing with it this week.  I am not sure what it is about it, but every time I put her down in her highchair to wash dishes or cook dinner she automatically looks to the side and starts babbling.  I'm kind of scared to put the thing away for fear she will fuss when I sit her down.

Family...look for photo's in the mail this coming week!

3 Months Old...

Well, my little sweetie turned three months old yesterday.  She is growing so fast, nearly 25" long now!  We had her 3 month pictures made on Sunday and they are so sweet.  Brooke Gragg at Artistic Images takes all of the professional photos you will see on my blog, inlcuding the header.  Speaking of headers how do you get them to be little and cute like I see on other people's blogs?  Back to Abby Grace...she is trying so hard to sit up by herself.  You can hardly lay her down for a second before she is straining to sit up again. 

She is a laughing machine and talks through most conversations.  If you have talked to me on the phone recently then you have probably witnessed this yourself.  She loves other kids and gets to play with cousin Layla a couple of days a week.  I think that there is more playing on Layla's part, but Abby Grace loves to watch her roam around collecting toys and then shoving them in her face.  I know that always keeps me entertained. 

Abby Grace LOVES her daddy.  He stays up at night with her and gets to enjoy the 4AM play sessions on nights he isn't working.  Matt thinks it is hilarious to teach her things like dinasaur calling.  What is a dinasaur call you ask?  Well a good example of what I hear around my house is this...7AM sitting at the kitchen table with the baby in the high chair.  I send Matt upstairs to get her outfit off the changing table for me.  Over the baby monitor you hear the loudest burp you have heard in a while, and then, "hear dinasaur, dinasaur, dinasaur".  Abby Grace thinks it is hilarious.   Abby Grace also LOVES her rattle.  She has learned to hold it and is bound and determined to get it in her mouth, but if you see us in town and she has a bruise on her face, don't think badly of me, she can't help but hit herself in the face with the thing when she is playing.  I am just waiting for the black eye.

We have big plans this weekend.  We are going to a wedding shower and a first birthday.  Ya'll enjoy!  Hopefully I will be back a little sooner next time, school is out for summer break!