New Word Wednesday

It's been a long day. I can't wait to put my head on my pillow tonight. Maybe it just seems especially long because I got very little sleep last night. I JUST HAD to stay up and watch the rest of the College World Series and then all the press conferences that followed.

It's also been a day full of decisions, decisions, decisions. But in the end it's been a good day and I couldn't be happier. I also couldn't let Wednesday pass by without a "New Word Wednesday".

-boo-boo (MK has acquired numerous boo-boos this week.)

-Jesse (Ashley and Jonathan's doggie)

-fork (She has been eating like a champ with her new forks.)

-drink (dink)

I'm not doing so well keeping up with all of MK's new words. I promise to try and be better.

I don't consider myself to be a "girly" girl and I think most who know me would agree. Well, my husband might disagree just a tad because he knows I hate bugs and that I hate getting dirty. He thinks those two thinks alone equal total girl.

I grew up with two brothers and numerous boy cousins. And many of my closest childhood friends were boys. I grew up asking for a BB gun for my tenth birthday and wanting a Swiss Army pocketknife for Christmas. And for the record, I got both. I hated wearing dresses and sometimes still do. I, along with my cousin, Leigh Anne, once went practically an entire summer without brushing our hair. And who could forget the bonnet story?

But one "girly" thing I especially love is having my toenails painted. I like to paint them. I like others to paint them. I like pink toes and red toes. I especially like a "french manicure" on my toes. Or would it be called a "french pedicure"?

And now, I am passing that love on to my little girl.

I was sitting on the back porch earlier today painting my toenails. Morgan Kate was very interested in what I was doing. Once I was finished, I scooped her up, brushed off her little toes and began painting. She had the BIGGEST smile on her face! She was so still and seemed so content. The tricky part was getting her to leave them alone long enough for them to dry.

As you can see, I wasn't very successful with the "tricky part". But regardless of the smears she loves her new painted toes. And so do I.

This past Friday we had a special play date with new baby boy Nolan.

I suppose it was more of a "sleep/play" date. Nolan took care of the sleeping part and MK handled the playing.

MK was quite fascinated with this tiny little bundle of joy. She was really good about being careful and quiet and gentle. Kind of. And she didn't seem to mind that I held him the entire time. ENTIRE. TIME. Oh, he is so sweet and yummy. I knew she wouldn't mind though. She could care less about me when Aunt Rae is around. She thinks Raven is "hers".

It felt like such a full circle moment for Raven and I. We have been waiting for quite some time to be together with our little ones. We have known each other for years and years and years. We attended the same elementary, middle and high school. We also went to the same college and even lived together through our first jobs. She was in my wedding and I was in hers. We have sat on many back porches and had long, in-depth conversations about husbands and marriages and money and friends and of course, babies. We have been rocks for one another through good and bad times. And we have dreamed of the day when we would both be mommies. And that day is finally here. What an amazing feeling!

As always, the time flew by and our "sleep/play" date was over much too soon. Nolan and Raven had only been gone for about ten minutes before I began missing them again.

Thank goodness I got lots of lovin' before they left.

Fall Back Friday

Another edition of Fall Back Friday. Where I fall back into the archives of our 10,000 plus pictures and share an "oldie".

This picture was taken last year around the end of June. It was Morgan Kate's first boat ride and first outing on the lake. Now, she's a pro! She loves all things water, boat and sunshine related. And her parents do too!

Dear Morgan Kate,

Today you are twenty-two months old. That may not seem like a big deal to you, but it is to your mommy. You are only eight weeks away from being two. Two whole years old. I still can't believe how fast time is passing. People always said it would fly by. Your grandaddy once told me, "It will all go so fast. One minute she's wearing diapers and then you blink your eyes and she's leaving for college". I didn't believe him or anyone else. Until now.

There are days where I am eager to see what the future holds. I want to see what you will look like and how you will act. Will your hair stay light or turn brown like your daddy's? Will you grow hair? Ha, ha! Just kidding. Will you be a procrastinator like me or will you get things done quickly like your daddy does? Will you have his legs or mine? Will you like shopping or fishing? And then there are days where I just want to freeze time and keep you this way. Keep us this way. You are just the most precious thing ever. I love you more than words or actions could ever show. You make me smile like never before. You make me think and worry about things that I have never imagined. I love how you love me. I love how you want to hug me and snuggle me. I love how you play in my hair and surprise me with kisses. I love how you cling to my leg when we meet someone new and bury your face in my shoulder. I even love how you call me "Bah-bee". (Well, kind of.) I love how you are a total mommy's girl. And I revel in every single minute because I know that someday you are going to be a daddy's girl. You are growing and changing so much. Not only in size, but in personality and attitude. You definitely know what you want and you don't stop until you get it.

I love you so much and I am so thankful for everyday with YOU.

Love you muches and muches,

Your Bah-bee

New Word Wednesday

Morgan Kate is repeating so many new words that I can hardly keep track. I've tried writing them down on the refrigerator, in the journal beside my bed and even in my daily planner. But I still can't keep track. These were the new words she repeated this week (that I can remember). Either she heard us use them in conversation and she repeated them or she heard them while we were reading to her and then repeated them.

Cupcake - (cu-cay)

Moon - (oon) She seems to be protesting words that begin with M.

All better - (ah-ber)

Bump - She seriously nailed her head on the corner of our island in the kitchen. We freaked out about the "bump" on her head and she just kept saying, "Bump, bump".

She's also using words on her own, without our cueing. She usually does this when requesting food or pointing to objects in a book. She is also talking and singing a ton in a language that we are not familiar with. Hopefully we will catch on soon!

Speech

The only thing I can think of to compare speech to is a roller coaster. Or that's how it is for me. One day we are up and having a great time and learning and then the next session we come crashing down. One session MK is working and talking and the next session she is throwing herself on the floor and will not cooperate. I don't mean to whine or complain, but it can be quite draining. Really draining. And frustrating.

Here's my theory on why speech is so hard for us. Just my opinion. Speech, at times, requires MK to sit down and be still. MK is not really good at sitting down and being still. She's a mover. Always on the go. So getting her to sit and be attentive and complete a task is pretty difficult right now, especially if she's not 100% interested in it. I'd like to think it's that way for most soon to be 22 month olds, but I could be wrong. It might just be a problem we have.

Monday's session went really well and I was so thankful. Instead of having MK work the entire time, the therapists (our actual SLP and then our student SLP) had MK work for a little while and then "play" for a little while. And the therapists were sneaky. The "play" was really work, but it was so much fun that MK didn't have a clue she was actually working. For instance, we would sit at the table and work on a puzzle or book and then we would all stand up and dance and sing "Ring-a-round-the-rosie". Mk thought it was fun and she loves to dance, but it was also motivating her to talk and make sounds. Perfect. I hope we have many, many more sessions like Monday. Because days like Monday make the roller coaster seem a little less scary.

Occupational Therapy

We only see our OT once a month and I may have updated since we last saw her. Personally, (and I may be a little biased) I think MK's fine motor skills are right on. She can complete puzzles, put shapes in the shape sorter, use a spoon (to the best of her ability), stab food with a fork, pick things up with her pincher grasp, brush her hair, etc. It's funny though. We first had MK evaluated because of her fine motor skills and now they seem to be her strong point and she really hasn't had that much therapy. We see our OT again this week so I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Physical Therapy

MK loves PT and her therapist. She works really hard and I think it's because she doesn't know she's working and because she gets to move, move, move. MK is walking very well and very fast, running, kicking a ball, throwing a ball and trying her hardest to catch a ball. She can walk up and down the stairs with assistance. And she is trying so, so hard to jump. She wants to so badly, but she can't quite figure out how to get her feet off of the ground. It's the cutest thing ever. I really need to get a video of that.

Early Intervention

We are now on our third EI and we have only been in the system for a year and a half. It seems we get a new EI every 6 months. Our new EI is really good. She has a lot of great ideas and seems really motivated. She's fresh out of school and I think it really makes a difference. She has a great attitude and MK seems to already love her. Lola really likes her too and that says a lot. While she's here we work on PT things, OT things and even speech. We do it all. We used to see our EI once a week, but we have now moved to once every two weeks. I am really liking our new schedule.

In August our EI will evaluate MK again. She gets evaluated every six months. At that time we will see where she is in regards to gross motor, fine motor, language etc. And we will decide what she still needs, if we need to make any changes or if we need to make any additions. I'm anxious to see what the evaluation shows and what our next steps will be.

Mondays can be exhausting!

Fall Back Friday

Yet again I am stealing borrowing an idea from another blogger. I get so inspired reading other blogs. This idea came from Stefanie over at Lexie Loo and Dylan Too. Stefanie did a "Way Back Wednesday" and since I already have a theme for Wednesday's I decided to tweak it a little. If you remember I stole borrowed Talyse's idea for Wednesdays. I told you I was inspired. Anyway, I decided to do a Fall Back Friday, where we fall back into older photographs. Thanks to Stefanie and Talyse for the inspiration!

I decided to start this week with a photograph from last year around this very same time. I think it's an amazing look at how far we have come in just one short year. If you look closely you will see wires. At this time last year Morgan Kate was still sleeping with her apnea monitor, not only at night, but during naps as well. We also still had our oxygen tank. We weren't using it on a daily basis, but were hanging on to it in case of an emergency. You have probably already noticed I have a hard time letting things go. And you can't really tell from this picture, but MK didn't have any teeth yet (that came in July) and she still wasn't quite sitting up by herself (that would be a few more weeks). Amazing, huh? I surely thought so.

Oh, and this picture proves to me that MK's hair is indeed growing. Certainly at it's own pace, but indeed it's growing.

Things That May or May Not Surprise You...

1. Morgan Kate still really likes her exersaucer. She loves to sit in it and watch TV while I am drying my hair or folding clothes.

2. Morgan Kate really likes TV and I let her watch it. My parents let me watch TV and I think I am pretty normal and fairly smart. She loves Cailou, Barney and Franklin. I love the Backyardigans, Wonder Pets and Little Bill.

3. Sometimes when Morgan Kate is throwing a fit at home, I just sit back and watch. Sometimes I laugh out loud in my head. I let her throw herself on the floor and work it out herself.

4. One of Morgan Kate's first words was bad. We would always say, "Bad dog", whenever Lola growled or barked. I guess we said it a lot more than we realized.

5. Sometimes I have to leave the room when Travis is disciplining Morgan Kate because I know I will laugh and I don't want her to see me. Sometimes I even start to laugh when I am disciplining her. I'm not sure what I think is so funny.

6. Some weeks I love all of MK's therapy. Others weeks, like this one, I don't. I'm tired. I'm exhausted and I'm ready for a break from therapy.

7. We still give Morgan Kate a bottle at night. We read to her, rock her, give her the bottle and then put her to bed. And we will probably continue to do it until she tells us otherwise. After all, at this point it's not really for her, it's for us. It's the only time of day that we can still hold her and rock her and love on her.

8. Just recently she has begun to take her diaper off. We don't usually encourage this, but last week after the afternoon rain shower it was just too funny. Especially when she took the diaper (and just for the record, it was clean) and wrapped it around her head. What are we going to do with her?

New Word Wednesday

At this point Morgan Kate will pretty much repeat anything we say. Or at least try to repeat what we say. (When she wants to.) However, this week she has started saying some words without us saying them first and then pointing to those things.

Examples:

corn - "cone" She will point to the corn on my plate and say, "Cone please".

poo-poo - She will now tell me when she has gone "poo-poo".

She is also singing a lot. Now, most of her songs don't make sense, but she is definitely singing and even attempts gestures. It's the sweetest sound ever.

And she is trying to say names. Of course she knows Daddy, Kaky, Gaga (for my dad), O (for Owens) and Ky (for Kyle). Oh, and don't forget "Bah-bah" for yours truly. But this week she has also said Ah-ee (Ashley) and Ah-er (Asher).

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Thank you all for the potty training tips and suggestions. I seriously don't think we are going to attempt it any time soon, but the tips and suggestions will be very helpful once we do. In my little head that seems like a very BIG "project" and I have to really sit and think and wrap my head around every piece of it.

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Please say a prayer for this sweet girl.

Ella is our neighbor and she is just the sweetest little girl. She had a seizure last night, very unexpectedly, and had to be taken to the hospital. They are currently running various tests to see what is going on.

Please pray for her, her parents, her little brother and all of her family.

Potty training.

Not something I am ready for.

Not something I want to conquer or even think about right now.

But, when do you begin to think about that? Or when do you attempt to conquer that?

My mom thinks Morgan Kate will be easy to potty train. I think back to our days of not napping and refusing to drink from a cup and I think potty training will take at least four or five years. Maybe more. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But I do think it will take quite some time. And right now, it's not really on my list of things to accomplish. However, there have been some new conversations/episodes around our house lately. And those conversations/episodes have got me thinking. Today's conversation/episode went a little like this:

Morgan Kate: (turning beet red, deep in concentration, shivering and then turning to me) Poo-poo

Me: Morgan Kate, did you go potty?

Morgan Kate: (grabbing her diaper) Poo-poo

Those conversations/episodes are happening more frequently. (And yes, I allow our twenty-one month old to say "Poo-poo".) Of course I have googled potty training and even viewed this "Ready for Potty Training" checklist, and MK does meet many of the "qualifications". But, again, I'm not so sure it's something we are going to attempt any time soon. I could be wrong. And just in case I am wrong, I was wondering.....when did you start potty training your child? And do you have any tips or suggestions?

Summer is...

Sweaty babies wearing nothing but diapers.

Boiled peanuts.

Tank tops and flip flops.

Going barefoot.

The smell of Mama Jean's green beans cooking on the stove.

Adorable bathing suits.

Days on the lake and a week at the beach.

Late afternoon rain showers.

Fresh fruits and vegetables.

Mammie sitting in the black iron chairs in her backyard. Barefooted.

Late nights.

Deep blue skies and bright sunshine.

Car windows down.

Sitting in my parents' backyard for hours.

My anniversary, my hubby's birthday, my birthday and our sweet girl's birthday.

HOT.

Green grass and sprinklers.

My favorite time of the year!

Wednesday afternoon while we were sitting on the back porch we had a typical late afternoon rain shower. Morgan Kate immediately made a mad dash for the uncovered patio. She loves water. My first thought/reaction was to grab her and pull her back under the covered porch, but then I stopped.

Why was I stopping her? Why couldn't she play in the rain? It was warm. It wasn't thundering or lightning. And I could see by the look on her face that she was so happy and that was the only place she wanted to be. So I let her go. And I watched.

Let me just tell you that it was the best ten minutes that I have had in a long time. And I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

I'm not sure what I enjoyed most. Watching her play as the rain dripped off of her nose and tiny fingers. Or watching how carefree she was in that moment.

She didn't have a care in the world. She wasn't concerned with who was watching or that fact that her clothes were soaking wet. She didn't care that her hair was a mess or that her feet were covered in "sticky rain covered grass". She wasn't in a rush and had no where to be. She was smiling and laughing. She was living in the moment and enjoying every second of it.

In those short ten minutes I learned so much from her. I'm the adult and should be teaching her, but I can assure you than in her twenty-one months she has taught me much, much more.

When's the last time you danced in the rain?

New Word Wednesday

Morgan Kate's new words for this week include:

-Gamecock (ga-ka) She actually said this last week, but I forgot.

-green (geen)

-red

-yellow (yeh-o)

-blue (boo)

-cookie

-Amen (men)

-elbow

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Here is a piece of our conversation from dinner last night. Travis thinks it's hilarious. I really find no humor at all.

Me: Morgan Kate, where is your nose?

MK while pointing to nose: No

Me: Where are your eyes?

MK while pointing to eyes: Eye

Me: Where is your head?

MK while patting head: Head

Me: Where are your teeth?

MK while pointing to teeth: Tee

Me: MK, where's Da-da?

MK while looking and pointing at Travis: Dada

Travis: Morgan Kate, where's Ma-ma?

MK while looking and pointing at me: Bah-bah

(Then Travis proceeded to do this like 10 more times. Thanks, Trav, thanks.)

Bah-bah?!? Seriously?!? I am MAMA!

This has been going on for quite some time. I don't know where it came from or why she does it, but she does. She can make the "M" sound and she can even say "Mama", but I am still "Bah-bah". What the heck?

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Oh, and just some clarification for my wonderful family and friends, who tend to be a little protective of me and of this blog, I did not delete any comments. To my knowledge there was nothing inappropriate or mean. Someone obviously decided to delete their own comment, but I did not. Just wanted you all to know.

It's not a decision I take lightly. But it's a decision that has/had to be made. The decision to return to work.

Oh, how I wish I could stay at home with Morgan Kate forever. I never expected to be at home. I never thought it could be a reality. It was never in the plan. But then, having our daughter come fifteen weeks early really wasn't in the plan. And bringing our daughter home 107 days later on oxygen and a feeding tube also really wasn't in the plan. So Travis and I have learned that things don't always go as planned. I wasn't sure that I would enjoy staying at home, but I do. I definitely miss my co-workers and I miss adult interaction/conversation (bless the hearts of all who get stuck with me on the phone), but I LOVE being at home with Morgan Kate. It is a dream I never expected to come true and it has been complete bliss.

I always expected to work up until the point she was born and then return as soon as my maternity leave was over. Maybe I would be teaching and start having contractions. Maybe my water would break in the middle of the night and I wouldn't be able to return to work the next day because I would be giving birth. Maybe she would come right before Thanksgiving or right after. She would be born and I would take my maternity leave. I had nine weeks of paid time saved up, plus the two weeks we get for Christmas break. I was looking at eleven weeks of paid time OFF. I already had my long term sub set up and was looking for childcare for when I would to return to work. It was all planned out. Never in the plan was staying at home an option or even something I thought about doing.

Then Morgan Kate arrived. Much sooner than her original due date. And with much different circumstances. Which left us with many, many decisions to make - one being whether or not I would return to work or stay at home. Decisions, decisions. And not easy ones. In the end, as you all know, we opted for me to stay at home. We paid off some debt, made some changes to our finances and learned to live on a budget. Let me rephrase that, we are learning to live on a budget.

And now, it's almost two years later. I have been at home for two years and I have loved every single minute of it. Okay, maybe I didn't love the whole feeding tube thing or all the doctors appointments we used to have. But other than those few things, I have been as happy as a clam. Being at home with her every single day makes my heart happy. It makes me content.

But, I think it's time. Time to make some new decisions. Time to return to work. Not so much because I am really dying to, but I because I know it's right. It's right for me (I think). It's right for Morgan Kate. It's right for my family. And, it's right for my checkbook. Or at least those are all the things I tell myself each morning and each night when my mind is consumed with all of this.

I thought the hard part would be actually making the decision. And believe me, it's definitely been hard. Lots of tears and crying and moping and thinking and praying and wondering and worrying. But now the hardest part is proving to be actually finding a job. I just may have picked the absolute worst time to return to work, especially as a teacher.

One of my greatest lessons since becoming a mom has been patience. I have learned it over and over and over again. And even though I have learned it over and over, it still proves to be one of my greatest weakness. I hate waiting and wondering. So waiting on this job thing and wondering what's going to happen is hard. But I know I must continue to have patience and continue to believe that I will indeed find something.

Until then, I plan to soak up every minute I have here at home with my baby girl.

This weekend we finally purchased a pool for Morgan Kate. And so far, she loves it. Sunday evening we couldn't get her out of it.

What?!?

Doesn't everyone let their kids swim and drink the water?

A sunny Saturday on the lake...

New Word Wednesday

I totally stole borrowed this idea from our friends over at The Burkett Bundle. Talyse has been doing "New Word Wednesday" for the past several weeks. Each week I look forward to reading her post and seeing which new words Kyran and Karyssa are using. It's such a great idea and such a wonderful way to keep up with all of their new words. Here's my first attempt....

Here are a few words MK has used just this week:

-All done

-Thank you

-Daddy

-I love you (luh-u)

-All gone

-Good girl (goo gul)

There are more, but my brain has failed me. I'm going to try and do a better job of writing the words down as the week goes on. And of course, she says most of these only after we have said them first. And she usually never says anything on command - just whenever she feels like it.

Thanks to Talyse for the inspiration!

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We went today for MK's well visit. We had our eighteen month back in February and our two year is in August, but our awesome pediatrician wanted to see us in between the two visits just to see how things were going. And they were going great! I love our pediatrician and all of the staff there. They are amazing!

MK's 21 month stats:

Weight: 20.5 pounds (still not on the growth chart)

Height: 31 1/2 inches (25th percentile for 21 month old)

Head: 18.5 (50th percentile for 21 month old)

I was thrilled about her height and head. We've never been on the growth chart like that. Ha! As for her weight, I was expecting her to weigh a little more. Travis and I even had a running bet about her weight. And he won. I thought she would be closer to 21 pounds or possibly even more. I am happy with whatever her stats are as long as she is happy and healthy. Dr. G says she looks great and is doing great developmentally. She was so pleased with Morgan Kate and how well she is doing. I love appointments like today!

This past weekend we traveled to Georgia for my sweet, sweet cousin's high school graduation. It was a short trip, but a great one. Maggie, my cousin, is such a beautiful person inside and out and I was so excited to be there and share in her graduation.

After graduation we attended a fabulous reception for some of the graduates. We all had a great time, but Morgan Kate, by far, had the most fun. You would have thought the party was for her. She danced, ate, played and even met some of Maggie's wonderful friends.

This was MK's first "real" road trip. We have traveled before, but not ever that far. We weren't sure how she would do in the car since she HATES the car seat. I made sure to pack lots of DVDs, food, books, games and toys. I am happy to report that she did AWESOME! She was such a little angel and really did a great job.

Not only is Maggie beautiful, but so very, very talented. Several months ago, right before our March of Dimes walk, Maggie presented us with this painting of Morgan Kate.

The painting was inspired by this photo. I think the painting is absolutely amazing and it now has the most perfect spot in Morgan Kate's nursery.

We love you Maggie! And wish you nothing but the absolute best!