Baby Birds

So, my family has decided to get together once a week for supper with the stipulation that all of us will help with the cooking. This is Mom & Dad's busy time of the year with picking and selling peaches and we don't want Mom slaving away in the kitchen for us, but we DO want to spend time together. Last night we ate supper together and about an hour after the meal Caroline came running into the living room saying she wanted a peach! Paw Paw said he did, too and then Mary Katherine piped up and said she wanted one, too! Before they could all get in the kitchen Georgia Claire was crawling and squealing behind them, probably saying "ME TOO" in her own little language!

Paw Paw put all three baby birds on the island and Grandma got busy peeling peaches. Georgia got so excited she started waving her arms...enjoy the pictures of the baby birds...

Our One Year Old

I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones, or just the joy of watching Georgia Claire grow, but I have been OVER-THE-MOON with love for our one year old. Just when I think I can't love her more she proves me wrong! We went to the doctor last Monday for her 12 month check-up and she is still a big girl! The doctor thinks she is going to be tall! She is 31.25 inches long (in the 97th percentile) and she weighs 23 pounds (72nd percentile). So, she is slimming up, but still has those chunky thighs that I love so much!

She's really enjoying whole milk and I am loving the ease of making a whole milk bottle (or W.M.B. as Shelby calls it). She's down to one or two formula bottles a day now and is doing great! She loves to eat at the table and will immediately start kicking her legs and waving her arms when we put her in the high chair and she sees the food on the table! Her favorites right now are corn on the cob, peas, potatoes, applesauce, Gerber Puffs & Lil' Crunchies, Goldfish, most meat-chicken, beef, & hot dogs, rolls, cinnamon toast, grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, peaches, blueberries...and the list goes on and on! =) I've been teaching her to put her head back and say, "mmmm" after she takes a bite of something she really likes. Here she is eating a bite of cantaloupe...

And here she is trying to say, "mmmm"...

Georgia Claire is so proud of herself when she crawls...and I love watching her! She usually squeals or hollers while she's crawling and she is fast! Her poor little knees stay red and calloused, but it doesn't seem to bother her. She loves to follow me into another room or crawl away from me and try to get to another room before I can. She and her daddy have a game they play around the furniture...he crawls and hides from her and she goes to find him. It's so cute to watch them play together. I am so happy that she is crawling and I'm really not encouraging walking, although I am not discouraging it either. I know that studies show crawling is very good for the baby's brain development, so I am happy with having a crawler right now! Besides, her feet are still so small I don't know how they will hold up those chunky legs! =) She is pulling up and taking a couple of steps beside furniture, so it probably won't be long.

Shelby & I want to know who "Loody" is because that is her latest word...she says it over and over and it's hilarious! She still loves books and likes to sit in her floor and "read"...

She loves to "sort" things...laundry, toys, burp rags, plastic bowls in the kitchen...she will move them from pile to pile! It keeps her very busy and it's so funny to watch her do it! Here she is sorting her burp rags...

I'm loving being a mom more than I ever thought I would. Thank you, Lord, for the incredible opportunity to nurture and love and care for this precious little life...I don't take the responsibility lightly!

Still a QUALITY Peach!

Today was opening day at the farm and Georgia Claire & I worked...and she made LOTS of friends! The peaches are absolutely beautiful this year. All of Dad's hard work this year paid off...and thank goodness, the Lord held off the hail and the late freezes that affected the crops the last two years. Here's what's in my fruit bowl right now!

A year ago Mom & Dad had a small crop and Georgia Claire made her farm debut when she was just 2 weeks old. For those of you that have been following the blog since the beginning, you will remember this picture of our "Quality Peach"...all 7+ pounds of her !

And what a difference a year makes. I had to put the little chunky monkey on the big scale...all 23+ pounds of her!

Several times today I heard Dad, or Paw Paw, introduce Georgia Claire as our "miracle"...that she is! She is so sweet and loving...her latest thing to do is to put her face right in your face and let you love all over her. This morning at the farm she put her arms around me and just melted into me...ugh! SO STINKING SWEET! Yes, it brought tears to my eyes...and my mom's! I will never take this precious little baby girl for granted! Thank you, Lord!

Corn...and CAKE!

Georgia got her appetite back on Sunday, the day after her party. It was Father's Day and we decided to stay home from church that night and have family night. Vacation Bible School has been this week so last Sunday afternoon I worked at the church for a couple hours or so getting my room ready for my Bible Story. Georgia went to sleep around 12:30 and Shelby got in bed shortly after 1:30. I worked for a little while at home and then headed to church...left home at 2:30, thinking that Georgia would probably be waking up soon, but hoping Shelby would get a good nap. When I got home at 4:30 I was shocked to see that the house was dark, and there was no sound when I opened the door. I went quickly to Georgia's bedroom and she was STILL ASLEEP! I went into our room and Shelby was STILL ASLEEP! Happy Father's Day to him! =)

So, I started supper soon after everyone woke up...Shelby decided he wanted fresh vegetables again. We had purple hull peas, corn on the cob, new potatoes in white sauce, tomatoes, cucumber pickles (all from mom & dad's garden) and cornbread...YUM! Georgia is really starting to like a lot of food. Her favorite veggie is Paw Paw's sweet corn....

Can't you tell?!
And she finally got to eat a piece of her birthday cake! First taste...
"YEA" for strawberry cake...
And nothing but crumbs left...yummy!

Happy Birthday, Georgia!

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to..." became the theme of Georgia Claire's first birthday party! She is teething and ended up throwing up after lunch and going to sleep before she could even eat her strawberry cake! So much for planning a 1 year old's party! As Shelby's Grandma put it, "The baby that never cries cried during her party!"

I took these first three pictures on her actual birthday, which was last Thursday. We had a pretty low key day but enjoyed our day, nonetheless! She was VERY happy baby on that day...

Fast forward to Saturday, the day of her party...Shelby's parents (Georgia's Mimi & Grandbarry), his Grandma, and his sister Heather & her boyfriend Julian came for the party, as well as my parents (Georgia's Grandma & Paw Paw), my sister Kathy, her husband Andy & their kids, Luke, Mary Katherine & Caroline came to celebrate the birthday girl.

The birthday girl...
Family picture with her birthday cake...homemade strawberry cake made by yours truly...
I put her on the table and she really like all the tulle...
...AND the cake!
Cousins Mary Katherine & Caroline anxiously watched as Georgia opened the gift from their family...her first American Girl Bitty Baby...Georgia LOVES how her eyes open and close!
She REALLY enjoyed the wrapping and the card envelopes...

During lunch she started gagging and actually ended up throwing up a couple of times. We think it MAY have been from teething and her massive amounts of saliva or possibly it was something she ate...who knows?! SO, we made the decision to go ahead and light her birthday candle, sing happy birthday, and let her go to bed. While we sang, she cried the entire time. And while she cried I CRIED, too! It wasn't because of her crying or that I was worried about her (although it DID make me sad), but it was more about what was happening. I stood there and looked at our precious baby girl and listened to the beautiful singing of "Happy Birthday" and I got emotional! It's like the year flashed before my eyes...and it hit me all at once just how special that day was. A year ago the day of her party was the day we brought her home! What an incredible year and what an incredible blessing Georgia Claire has been to our life! Here are a couple of pictures of the sad little birthday girl...needless to say, she didn't eat any cake at her party!

When everyone went home, Shelby & I took a nap and Georgia awoke after sleeping about 2 hours or so. She was happy, and seemed to be feeling better. Shelby put her in her new wagon (a gift from us and Mimi & Grandbarry) and gave her the Bitty Baby. Here is the happy little girl with a serious case of "bedhead"...
Soon her other babies made it in the wagon, too...
After awhile, she decided the wagon was getting too crowded and dropped the baby on the floor...(let's hope this is NOT a sign of things to come when Baby Sister joins her one day in the wagon!)
Grandma & Paw Paw bought her a swing and it is a DEFINITE hit....
And Great Grandma gave her money, but also brought this old rocking horse...Georgia decided today that she liked rocking on it!
Thank you, Lord, for Georgia Claire and the WONDERFUL year we have had. We look forward to year #2 and the addition of a baby sister...oh the FUN we will have! =)

ONE YEAR ago today...

One year ago today we got the phone call that changed our life. Julia, Georgia's birthmom, called to tell us it was time. There are NO WORDS to describe how we felt as we drove the four hours to the hospital...anxious, happy, nervous, excited, worried, joyful...you name it, we felt it! It's hard to believe a year has passed since that blessed day Georgia Claire was born.

Oh the JOY that she brings to our lives each and every day. Thank you, Lord, for the precious gift you have given us! Your love for us is truly indescribable!

Happy ONE YEAR birthday, Georgia Claire!

Ahhh...weekend!

Great weekend...relaxing, hanging out with family, eating good food, watching movies, napping...ahhh! Thank you Mimi & Grandbarry for having us for the weekend!

We started our weekend Friday afternoon with one happy Georgia Claire...

We watched game 1 of our nephew Luke's t-ball all star tournament...they won 29-28. A whole lot of offense and not too much defense! =) Georgia enjoyed cousin Mary Katherine's build-a-bear that was dressed like a cheerleader to cheer on Luke!
Luke, #8, ready to go in and bat...he was SO excited when he found out they had won!
It was hot...there was a breeze, but it was VERY humid. Georgia enjoyed a snow cone with Aunt Kathy...
Mary Katherine & Caroline didn't do a WHOLE lot of watching the game. Instead, they enjoyed playing with Georgia's stroller and playing...cute girls!
We got to Mimi & Grandbarry's house at 10 PM and Georgia woke up and was ready to play. After a bath, Aunt Heather and Georgia played "Peek-a-boo Barn" on her iPhone. It is THE CUTEST app ever! Georgia loves it and has learned to touch the screen to make the animals come out!

On Saturday we enjoyed just hanging out, not doing a whole lot but just being lazy. Mimi got out some of Heather's old Fisher Price toys and they played "tea party". It was really cute...

So intent on what Mimi is doing with the "tea"...and just look at her little ankles crossed! =)

Mimi wore her out...watching "Finding Nemo" in the terrific media room...those comfy chairs ALWAYS make us sleepy...even Georgia couldn't stay awake!
After church today we had lunch with Grandbarry and Great Grandma before heading home. Georgia was SLIGHTLY relaxed after drinking most of her bottle!
One of the many hundreds of kisses she got this weekend! So sweet...
Playing with Momma...
And sound asleep on our way back home...