First babble and other fun stuff

Heather and I were supposed to be studying today (we actually DID study a great deal, we were taking a break) and I was folding laundry. I decided to throw them on her and see what she did and the following is what she did. She did CUTE! This is what we do when we're here0 bored, haha. Everyone needs a study break to throw laundry on a baby! She didn't mind, obviously!

Maybe she even liked it a little!

We also went to the beach yesterday for a day trip to see Laura and Lawrence while they were in NC visiting her family. We had a lot of fun. Laura held her most of the time and she was soooooo good! She was a little champ. She literally slept only an hour from 6:30am until 7:00 pm. There was just too much fun stuff going on around for her to sleep. We just hung out with them and had a great time. Laura got some much better pictures of her, including one where you can see her teeth! So hopefully soon I'll be able to post that.

Playing with a new rattle

Lawrence finally held her right before we left when she was in a terrible mood but she did enjoy looking at his cards as they played spades. She also loved Laura's brother, Matthew. I think she misses Mike because when Matthew and Lawrence were holding her it seemed like she just ate it up.
Laura informed me that Bailey always has her arms out like she's flying and this picture seems to prove her point. I hadn't noticed it but I suppose she is right about it, lol.

Bailey made her first official "babble" today! She was watching Heather eat a pumpkin cream cheese muffin and licking her lips about it and she just made this sound we've never heard before. It was very exciting because it was a real sound with letter sounds and everything! She's getting so big!

Mike is doing a little better and we've talked to him on the phone recently, which was very nice. It was great to hear his voice. They had the memorial services for both of the fallen soldiers this weekend and he took that rough but I think he's coping and healing. We're still very much praying for him and would appreciate any and all prayers!

6 month check up

Yesterday was Bailey's 6 month check up. She is now 15 pounds, 7 ounces and 26 inches long. She jumped from 25th percentile in height to 50th! I think that's a first for our family, lol. She also went from 75th percentile to 90th percentile in her head circumference so they said they're "watching that," whatever that means. Hopefully she doesn't develop exploding head syndrome from it getting too big too fast, hehe.
Our pediatrician started off by asking me "how do you feel about the flu shot?" to which I replied, "she hasn't been vaccinated at all so no flu shot for her." She seemed surprised so I just went all the way and told her that we are delaying until a year old. She didn't try to talk me out of it and asked why. I told her because of personal preferences and she said "does it have anything to do with the autism link?" DING DING DING! Of course that isn't the only concern, but it's interesting that she brought it up. I told her that we had done the research and that the "autism link" does have something to do with it and we just feel more comfortable having her not vaccinated until a year and even then it would be selective. You could tell she didn't like it and she did suggest getting vaccinations at her next appointment (9 months) but she did not argue with me at all. So I feel very good about our new pediatrician and am happy to have her. Thanks Ashley for recommending her!
In other news, we talked to Mike this morning via AIM. Yesterday we found out that two soldiers had been killed, both from Mike's unit, one from his company. I was really afraid that he knew them and was sad to hear today that he did. One of them was a friend of his and he's highly upset. Apparently they weren't killed in action, it was an accident with the truck they were in that could have been prevented. It's still very sad and Mike is really angry at the people who made the decision to use the faulty truck. He and the other soldiers there need our prayers now more than ever.

Three weeks down, only approximately 49 more to go! Take that, deployment! Haha, to some that may not seem very hopeful but somehow to me it seems alright. Nothing much to report here. Bailey's doing awesome.
Tomorrow is her 6 month well baby visit. Hopefully they won't give us any trouble about waiting until a year to vaccinate. Thus far, we've been blessed with little to no problems about it. The cold and flu season makes me nervous but she's not exposed as much as she would be if she was in daycare so she should be fine.
She's happily eating her two meals a day and nursing about four times a day now. Naps are still a sore spot with all of us that have to be around her but sleeping through the night *almost* makes dealing with naps worth it. All in all, she's great to have around.

She's growing toooooooo fast

First time eating yogurt

Us at the beach

Well it's only been a week since I've written and so much has happened. She's too big! It's happening too fast! We went to the beach with my parents over the weekend and had a great time. She didn't much like the water, or the way Poppy threw her in the sand face down, because it was kind of chilly but she enjoyed just walking around on the beach. Being carried around on the beach, I should say. Last week we had all noticed that she had some white places on her gums that looked like she might cut a tooth any time. Then over the weekend she had actual little bubbles where you could see that two little bottom teeth were about to pop through. Then last night Heather and I were feeling in her mouth and there they were! Two bottom teeth, just popping right out of my baby's gums! Ahhh! It's exciting but makes me realize how fast she's growing up. I can't believe she's six months already. And you may all be wondering if she gave us a fit as she was cutting teeth. The answer is of course not, she's perfect! No, really, she's perfect. She's an angel and hardly has been fussy about it at all. I'm so blessed to have this baby that barely cries, especially since Mike is gone. She's just wonderful.

Other big news, she's started eating a second meal. Her second meal is really the first meal of the day, breakfast. We started with banana yogurt. It's organic and whole fat and looks disgusting. But it's good for her, I guess. She loves it, of course. As always. It's been a while since she's eaten rice cereal or anything like that because I just realized it's just a filler that serves no real purpose to her as far as nutrition goes. So I just decided not to give it to her anymore. But since she's 6 months old now, she's ready for real brown rice. I ground it into a fine powder in my blender (since that stupid Magic Bullet kicked the bucket, grrr) and cooked it on the stove and it's in my fridge ready to give to her tomorrow morning. It seems kind of gross to give her rice for breakfast but lots of people do it so whatever. It actually has the consistency of grits. I'll be sure to update on how she likes it. Anyone care to guess how that's going to go?

She's just about gotten the hang of sitting up now and is well on her way to crawling. She can go forward on all fours once before she falls down. And she can go backward like a champ, haha, but that won't get her very far. I'm sure she'll get the hang of it quickly. Oh, we're all about to be in trouble!

She's almost sitting up!

Well the weekend was very good. I was productive. We got sooooooooo much baby food made, Heather was a HUGE help to me! I also did some school work for my online class. Heather and I also went bargain shopping on Saturday and got a portable high chair for Debbie's house (where Bailey stays while I'm at work) and a little umbrella stroller. Sunday we went to church and my quest to have a clean house started. It is now Tuesday and I can say that it is successfully clean! I am so glad it's done. Now I can just maintain it because Mike isn't here to dirty it all up (sorry babe, I love you but you're sloppy! ;))
Bailey has tried butternut squash, which is new for her and she enjoys it. My parents asked, "what doesn't she enjoy??" to which I had to reply, "well, nothing." She's just gaining a lot of weight in her face, lol. It goes straight to her cheeks, which is my fault since my cheeks are the same way. She's also beginning to sit up all by herself. I clap and praise her and she just smiles so big. What a blessing she is to us.

New foods for the weekend

A sweet picture of Mike rocking Bailey to sleep on a fussy night

The first weekend is here without Mike. It's gonna take some getting used to but we'll manage. Tonight Heather is coming over so we can make some baby food. I'm nearly all out of her veggies. I have to make some sweet potatoes, prunes, avocados, bananas, and newest additions butternut squash and nectarines. I'll also probably start giving her a second meal this weekend. Until now she's really only had one meal a day at dinner time. I've decided to give her yogurt for breakfast. I didn't really want to do cereal or those foods because they're not really that nutritious and serve no real benefit to her but yogurt will be good for her. I've tried to find plain, whole fat yogurt but can't seem to find any so I had to buy the yobaby kind, which is ok but it's got more sugar in it than is necessary so if anyone knows where to get plain, whole fat yogurt, let me know please! I was sure Harris Teeter would have some but they didn't.
Nothing else going on this weekend, really. I have to finish (as well as start) watching my videos for my online class but that's not fun. I will probably hang out with Heather for much of the weekend and hopefully be productive. My house needs to be cleaned, I have to mow the grass (ick!), and baby food must get made. Then church on Sunday. We'll see how it goes. Next weekend Bailey and I are going to the beach with mom and dad so I'm looking forward to that big time since we didn't get much of a beach trip this summer!

The D word

Bailey and Daddy before he left

Our family pic in the neighbors front yard because they have a tree and we don't, lol!

Well Mike's gone. We're ready to start this deployment though and it's not going to be all bad. A lot of things have transpired since I last wrote. I withdrew from grad school because I realized how much work it was going to be and how little time I was going to have with Bailey. Isn't wasn't what God wanted for me at this time. I just wasn't listening. But I'm listening now, God! I'm so much happier now that I made that decision. I want to be there double for Bailey while Mike is gone and this allows me to be able to do so. I'm still working doing ABA and I have no idea what the next step is but I'm confident that God will lead us where he wants us.
We also got Bailey dedicated last Sunday at church. Heather recorded it for us but I couldn't get it to load. It's basically us getting up in front of the church and the preacher prays over us to raise her right and prays that she will become a good Christian little girl. It was so sweet because there was another baby being dedicated too and he was just laughing and flirting with her and she was smiling and cooing at him too!
Bailey and I are getting into a routine with Daddy gone. Bedtime now has a couple new steps. First we eat dinner, then she gets a bath (depending on the night), we watch Daddy on TV (he made her a dvd of him reading a bunch of different books), play a little, we read our own story, say prayers, get a goodnight kiss and an "I love you sweetpea" from the Daddy Dog (stuffed animal Mike made for her at Build-A-Bear with his voice) and then we say goodnight. She also has been sleeping with one of his t-shirts and his woobie (an army blanket we had made into a baby blanket). I always find her on top of or near his t-shirt. She likes that stinky daddy! hehe