Reason #287 why I love living here. We can be here in less than 3 minutes...love it, just love it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETIE!!!!!!!

• 20 years is a long time!!!!!
• "Mr. Big Stuff........whodoyouthinkyouare....."

9 month pics

It only took me a week to get them up, but these are the latest pics. We took Rory to Old Towne Helena the other weekend and took her down to the water fall on the Cahaba. I am definitely going to have to take her back there again and get some pretty pics of her. She was not really impressed with the grass. It was pretty funny actually. She WAS impressed by the swings though. Rory and Daddy. Rory was still reeling from her encounter with the grass. This is a terrible pic of me, but whatever. Hopefully, I will have more picture posts this week. She is doing some pretty cute stuff now. Well, have a good week!

9 Month Stats

9 month pictures coming soon. For now, here are the stats from the doctor

• 20 lbs
• 29.5 inches long
• 15 month old level on verbal skills

Happy Birthday Dad

Today was my Dad's Birthday. This day has been hard for the last 2 years for a number of reasons. Today though, is different. Today it is hard because of the space. The spaces left unfilled by him. The empty space in my life. The empty space on the phone line. The empty space where his voice used to be. The empty space on my couch that used to be filled with his physical being. The resounding echo of the nothing that used to be filled with his life. Of course, these spaces have been here for over 2 years, but like I said earlier, this year is different. These spaces have been bridged, although the spaces still exist. The empty space in my life has been bridged by a beautiful little girl who has filled me to the brim. The empty space on the phone line has been bridged by friends, new and old, who are happy to take my call when I need to talk over something that I normally would have called him for. The empty space where his voice used to be is filled with squeels and giggles and a sweet mouth that says "Mama" alot. The empty space on my couch is occupied by my own little family of 3. That resounding echo of nothingness has competition in the peels of laughter and smiles that now inhabit my life. I still miss him more than I could ever express in writing however, I am accutely aware of what I have been given, and how precious it truely is. I wouldn't trade a thing in my life right now for him, not because I don't love him, or miss him, but because all those empty spaces that were left when he left us, have been bridged by something much more permanent than life, something that can never be taken away only to leave a gaping hole again. Love. Happy Birthday Daddy...I miss you, I love you.

As if a Monday Holiday isn't enough....

I know that this picture isn't of her smiling or even looking at the camera...but it LOVE it. It is SO "Rory" right now. Very inquisitive, very curious about the world around her. She is so much fun. Last weekend, we were home for Candi's shower so Rory and I went to church with Mom and Tim. Rory wore, again, my 1st Easter dress. It took quite a few pictures to get this one. Most of the pics looked like this...check out the scrunched up nose. She is such a stinker! Oh my Gosh...I love her so much..

Chirp

When Kevin and I got married, I registered for both fine and everyday china. I have used the mess out of my every day china (Sausilito Square from Pottery Barn) and it has really begun to show. I told Mom and Tim that for Christmas, I want to start a new every day set. I am going with something a little more colorful this time. I found this Lenox pattern and I am IN LOVE with it. It is called "Chirp" and it has all kinds of fantastic serving pieces. Oh my gosh...I don't think that I could ever have too many sets of china (or bed linens). Seriously, it is an illness.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.

Top 10 Helpful Baby products

Ok, so I am not including the major things like: Crib, Diaper containment unit (although for what it is worth...our Diaper Genie Elite broke after 2 months and we now have a diaper champ), car seat and stroller since those are all rather personal choices.

1. Reusable Sterilizer bags - these things are GREAT! They come in a box of 10 at T@rget and you can reuse them up to 20 times. We use them A LOT! I also left one at each grandparent home so that there is one there at all times. It is SO easy...just put some water in it, throw your items in, and microwave for 2 minutes. Then you pull it out by the cool touch edge and pour the water out the drain and open the bag and VOILA! sterilized stuff. Seriously can't live without them.2. YoBaby spoons: Ok, I got one of these as a freebie in a packet of coupons and free stuff. When we started solid foods and cereal, I went and bought some of the normal rubber tipped spoons. After using the YoBaby spoon once and one of the rubber tipped ones...I called the YoBaby people and begged them to send me more of these. Turns out you can buy them on their website. They come in lots of 10 for like $3.00. Seriously, they are AWESOME! They are kinda flat so they are really easy to get into baby's mouth, especially at the beginning when coordinating the "open mouth, insert food, close and swallow" is hard. Kevin and I both prefer them and at 10 for $3.oo, you can't beat them!

3. Mesh feeders - there are a lot of different varieties of these. We use them alot. When I am slicing the fruit to make Rory's baby food, I usually have some little slices of peaches or apples that are kinda skimpy and so I throw them in a ziplock and put them in the freezer and then pull them out when I am trying to entertain her. Also, when she was majorly teething, the frozen fruit helped with that, and she was getting a yummy snack. We also put some table food in them when we go out of course (warning, it can be messy), but I like giving her a good wholesome piece of fruit too. She loves them too!

4. Chicco Hook On Highchair - we keep this in the car and use it ALL THE TIME now that she is a free sitter. Also, Rory and I travel a lot so it is handy when we go somewhere for a night or 2 and I don't have to worry about a highchair. We get compliments on it everytime we use it. People are amazed! Also, have you looked at the nasty high chairs in restaurants? They are gross. This thing folds flat and slides under the seat or you can detach the arms and it has a carry bag that it fits in.

5. Baby legs - I have already told you that I like these. Enough said. After the 400th diaper change where you have unsnapped and resnapped 645 snaps, you will see the need. Also, 3am is no time to be messing with a bunch of snaps. The less you have to mess with on a sleepy baby at 3am, the better. And they are cute and come in all different patterns.

6. Bath seat - we had a baby tub...I hated it, Rory hated it, it is a pain in the tushie. I got this bath seat and it is great! It folds flat and travels well. Also, it has 2 different positions so it reclined more when she was itty-bitty and sits up more for her now. Again, I hated the baby tub...with a passion. The only drawback to this is, it requries a full tub of water, unless you use it in a very deep sink. It is worth it though.

7. Baby Swing - We have the Little Lamb swing and I couldn't be happier. It goes both side to side and front to back and worked great! Some babies don't like the swing, but Rory did and it was a life saver for us. She had acid reflux so it was helpful to keep her elevated after feeding her for a half hour in order to keep her from spitting up. We just recently quit using it, when she discovered that she could lean over the edge and watch the ground go by.

8. Sophie the Giraffe: OK, so I asked about her in a previous post. I finally broken down and got her and wow is she worth it. Rory LOVES her and plays with her a lot. She is really easy to squeak and she is easy for her to hold on to. Admittedly, she is really cute too.

9. Avent Bottles - We use both the Playtex drop ins (which I love as well) but if I had discovered these earlier, we would have just used them. Avent is genious! All of their lines are interchangable. Since we use a sippy cup sometimes, it is helpful to be able to put a sippy cup lid with spout and a set of handles on a regular bottle. You can buy extra handles, which fit on the bottles, which makes it WAY easier for her to hold on to. They are pretty pricey, but they are worth it.

10. Quick Mix Pitcher-When making tons of bottles, it is helpful to have a pitcher. This pitcher has an agitator in it that you move up and down to mix the liquid. It really helps to get the lumps out, which you wouldn't think would be that big of a deal, but once you have had one get stuck in the nipple and you have to break and very hungry baby's rhythem, to unscrew the cap, dig out the clump and then replace the top at 2am, you begin to see that anything that you can do on the front end that makes it easier at 2am, it worth it. I got the smallest one that P@mpered Chef offers. Love it.

11. Bouncie Seat - Ok, so there are 11. The first 5 months of the kid's life, we couldn't live with out this thing. We didn't get a bouncie one, but we did get one that played music and vibrated and did calculus...just kidding. When she was little and sloth like, it was nice to have to put her in and take somewhere (like the bathroom-so I could soak in the tub) without having to wake her up or mess with taking the baby moniter and then walking my wet, towel clad self across the house to her room when she lost her pacie in her bed. We had to quit using it when Rory started kicking a lot and would bang her heels on the frame, it didn't seem to bother her, but it drove me crazy. Also, she figured out how to sit straight up in it, and I could just see her leaning too far forward and tipping over the front.

• Ok, so I left off the Bumbo, which was really helpful, but we only used it for a short period of time since Miss Bee figured out how to arch out of that pretty fast. We still use it some times, but not a lot.

10 on Tuesday

1. Kevin and I made Chili last night to have tonight. I can't wait!
2. Rory is thisclose to crawling...if she can just figure out how to coordinate her hands and knees in motion...she will be a speed demon!
3. We have been getting pretty consistent sleep from 7:30ish to 5:30ish. We still have to go in and put a pacie in her mouth sometimes, or move her back down to the bottom of the bed since she pushes her self up into the corner in her sleep. She will usually take a bottle and sleep until 7:00ish and then she is up for the day. YAY!
4. We have transitioned to the convertible car seat since she out grew the length of the baby seat. She is no where near the weight limit (30lb weight limit, 30in length limit) but she was right at the length limit.
5. We got the Britax Decathalon. I was going to get the Marathon but I have been bargain shopping for the Britax seats and I got the Decathalon on sale, in a discontinued fabric pattern, with an online coupon and wound up paying $15 less for it than the Marathon. I wound up saving about $120.00 off the original Decathalon price and got free shipping. Not bad!
6. Rory LOVES the new car seat. It sits up higher and she can see out the window...she likes it.
7. I am beginning to start planning for Rory's 1st birthday party. It is going to be fun!
8. Rory and I will be in Decatur this weekend. I don't know which days for sure, but we will be there at some point.
9. I turned on Mickey's Clubhouse the other day for Rory, hoping that it would entertain her long enough for me to go to the bathroom. I sat her down on the palate and came back after I had gone to the bathroom and put a load of clothes in the washing machine and another load in the dryer and she was sitting in the same position, eyes glued to the TV. HOLY COW! It is like crack for babies. I promptly DVR'd an episode...just in case I ever need it in a jam.
10. Pics coming soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITNEY!!!!!!!!!!!

• I can't believe that you are 11 already! You are one of the brightest, most caring children that I know. You can do anything that you put your mind to and DON'T YOU EVER FORGET IT!
• All my Love,
• Lauren