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!