Mother's Day 2011

Mothers sacrifice a lot for the ones they love. I learned this lesson firsthand from a young girl named Julia two years ago. She chose LIFE for Georgia and placed her with us. I am eternally grateful for her tremendous sacrifice & I pray for her daily...that God would richly bless her life for the incredible gift she gave us, Georgia Claire. We love you, Julia!

I had a great 2nd Mother's Day! As my sister-in-law Heather put it, 2 Mother's Days down and 2 babies in! Another reminder of how blessed I am! I got myself a gift...with Shelby's permission! It came in the mail on Monday and I L-O-V-E it!

Paula, my mother-in-law, works at a flower shop that does BEAUTIFUL arrangements. So, when Shelby walked in with these beautiful flowers I was so surprised and so excited!

Ivy Jane is my precious little baby doll. I love her so very much...such a great addition to this 2nd Mother's Day!
Georgia Claire watering flowers with her Aunt Heather & Mimi...she is my first little angel...I cannot believe she is almost 2 years old! I love this little girl SO SO SO MUCH!
Can't I just get ONE good picture of myself with my girls?
PLEASE?!
Just one?!
I guess not...
My mom, the living, breathing example of Proverbs 31...she is one of my best friends and I love her SO much! She is an awesome Grandma, too!

Another mother that I love dearly, my mother-in-law, Paula. She gave birth to and raised my husband. AND, her granddaughters LOVE their Mimi! I love this picture of Shelby & her...

Will CRAWL for food!

Ivy Jane's physical therapists came today...they hadn't seen her in 3 weeks. When they came in I told them how excited I was for her to show them all of her tricks. I said, "She's doing all kinds of things, but she's not crawling yet!" YET was obviously the key word because about 30 minutes later SHE WAS CRAWLING! We put toys out for her to go get & played with her on the floor, but she just sat & smiled at us. When we put puffs on the floor, she immediately started crawling! Sue, our PT, said that I needed to make her a shirt, "Will crawl for food!" She would crawl, grab a puff, and sit back and start clapping and waving her arms! She knew she had done something BIG!

Here's her progression...

Licking her lips...thinking about going...

And she's off!
I can ALMOST reach them!
YUMMMM!!!!
Did you see what I just did?!
Sue told me that she would be "graduating" from ECI soon! I asked her if they had ECI in Louisiana, and she said yes but Ivy Jane wouldn't qualify! Since she is now crawling, she is developmentally where she should be! WOW! Her trunk rotation, neck rotation and other movements are perfect. We're still working on the slight head tilt. Dr. Adams, her chiropractor, is still seeing her once a week. Today he was VERY happy with her progress and said, "We still had a slight head tilt, but that just makes for really cute pictures!" =) I'm so proud of our big girl...9 months old tomorrow!

Busy Busy!

This Momma has been soooo busy! I can't believe the last time I blogged was April 19th. The girls continue to get more and more fun as the days go by and I seem to get busier and busier! Ivy Jane is on the verge of crawling...she has actually made a couple of forward movements last night but I wouldn't call it crawling-just yet! She is becoming "Miss Personality" and really becomes alive after meal time! The child loves to eat! My favorite thing is to watch her laugh at Georgia. Every night after supper we put them in the bath together. I always sit on the edge of the tub with Ivy Jane in her diaper while the water is running. Georgia will run down the hallway when I say, "Go!" and run right up to Ivy Jane. Ivy Jane cackles and throws herself backwards in a back bend. It is HILARIOUS! =) They are becoming best friends and I LOVE IT!

Ivy Jane now has three teeth...I just love her sweet smile!

Last night we were enjoying playing together as a family in Georgia's room. Shelby & I were watching Ivy Jane, thinking she was about to crawl when Shelby looked at Georgia and said, "Oh my gosh!" Thank goodness I had the camera close (imagine that!)...I snapped this picture of Georgia...22 months going on 16! She had my cell phone and had her feet kicked up in the air just talking away!

This is the definition of a 22 month old multi-tasking...fireman's hat, coloring page, and pushing her baby in the stroller!

Little Easter bunny...
Another little Easter bunny...
Two little Easter bunnies having technical difficulties with their ears...

Easter morning dresses...

Girl cousins...Mary Katherine, Ivy Jane, Caroline Leigh, & Georgia Claire...
Georgia was definitely into the egg hunting this year...

So, in the midst of Easter celebrations and playing with and raising our two precious girls, we've been getting our house ready to SELL! Shelby was hand-picked by one of his company's big bosses to be the new District Technical Manager for the ArkLa district...working on projects dealing with the famous Haynesville Shale (largest natural gas field in North America)! The catch is, we have to move. It's not a huge move, but it is an hour away and in LOUISIANA! For the first time ever I will not be a citizen of the great state of Texas! I am BEYOND proud of Shelby and his accomplishments with his job in just the last 2 1/2 years. He is providing for our family and allowing me to stay home, something that I CHERISH! So, we are waiting for the "green light" from the relocation company and then we will officially start house hunting. The best news about the move...Shelby will NOT be traveling (an occasional night away, but no week-long trips)! I am VERY thankful, although I'm afraid I'm about to get A WHOLE LOT BUSIER! =)

Peek-a-Boo

My phone rang yesterday at about 5:30. My Dad said that he and Mom were going to Luke's baseball game and they would be by in about 20 minutes to get Georgia. I hung up the phone and asked Georgia if she wanted to go bye-bye with Grandma & Paw Paw and she looked at her Daddy & me and said, "Yeah yeah. Bye-Bye Momma! Bye-Bye Daddy!" Uh-you think she loves her Grandma & Paw Paw?! When they picked her up she RAN to the door and started yelling "PAW PAW...BYE BYE!" She left with her folding chair & back pack full of snacks and came back with dirty crocs & a big smile on her face!

Shelby & I had almost 2 whole hours with Miss Ivy Jane. That doesn't happen often & we knew GC was VERY HAPPY, so we enjoyed our one-on-one time with IJ. After she ate supper she started playing peek-a-boo with me in her high chair. She was laughing and smiling SO big...I had to capture it!

Hi Momma...

And laughing hysterically...LOVE this baby girl!

What We've Been Up To...

I went to get my hair cut & colored today. Georgia was at MDO and Mom watched Ivy for me, so I had a whole TWO hours at the salon reading the trashy gossip magazines...HEAVEN! It's my guilty pleasure...I love seeing the pics of the celebrities out and about all over town! After listening to my stylist talk about her week-long Disney trip with her husband & daughter and her tanning appointments and going out with friends, she asks me, "So, what about you? What have you been up to?" I simply replied, "Me? Oh you know, BABIES!"

That got me to thinking that the last few weeks have been busy with these babies of mine. Georgia Claire is A HOOT! Her new favorite word is, "No!" Sometimes even when she means yes, she says no! Can you say almost TWO?! She's saying lots of words...Momma, Da-ee (Daddy), I-ee (Ivy), Paw Paw, Yamaw (Grandma), Mimi, Kathy, Yi-yine (Caroline), Kate, Luke, peas (please), tank to (thank you), bye-bye, hi, ni-ni (night night), pooboo (peek-a-boo), milk, juice, shoes, bag, ball, cook, ket-ket (blanket), paci, essets (bracelets), poo-poo, pawee (potty), book, house, sing (swing), puppy, cat, bebby (baby), bath, toys, sit, yay, and all of the animal sounds. I was starting to worry because she wasn't saying any two-word phrases like she should be at her age. And then, what seems like overnight, she has started! Her favorite phrase? "No no I-ee!" I was feeding Ivy breakfast the other morning and Georgia was already done but standing beside me watching. Ivy started spitting and I said, "Ivy, no no!" and then Georgia chimed in, "No no I-ee!" She also says, "Momma, shoes!" before we leave the house. As we are pulling out of the driveway I usually hear, "Bye bye house!" She also has learned to say, "Momma peas" or "Da-ee peas" when she needs help or "Tank to Momma" or "Tank to Da-ee" usually when prompted. She's also started taking us by the hand and leading us to her toys. Then she'll look at us and say, "Sit!" Sometimes Shelby will lie down on the floor and try to play but she won't have it! He has to sit up! Tonight during bath time she stood up and was playing peek-a-boo in the shower curtain. Shelby & I were saying "Where's Georgia? Peek-a-boo!" and she started saying "Whes Jo-gia? Pooboo!" After some our normal family play time after bath, Shelby & Georgia settled in to the glider with her blanket & baby, and she looked up at me and said, "Ni-ni, Momma!" and waved bye!

In the last week or so she has really been into her Bitty Baby. Yesterday she hardly put her down. I especially love how she carries her by the foot...poor baby! She pushes the baby in the stroller, we change her clothes (she was wearing one of Ivy's dresses yesterday), we change her diaper, she feeds her, she gives her a bottle, she puts powder on her, she rocks her, etc. It is so very sweet to see a tiny little girl being a little nurturing Momma already! I love it! Here are some pictures I've captured in the last week...

Trying to take her bib off after she fed her...

Putting her in bed & giving her a bottle...
Pushing her in the stroller (notice the upside down shades-she ALWAYS puts them on upside down!-and the bubbles in the other hand!)...
Pushing another baby instead of getting in the bathtub...

Ivy Jane has been busy, too! Between therapy & chiropractor visits, she's quite popular! We go every Wednesday morning for an adjustment and the physical therapist comes to our home every Wednesday afternoon for therapy. We're still not seeing much improvement in her head tilt, but her neck rotation is MUCH improved. The chiropractor said he doesn't expect to see a change this quickly. She still has 8 more weeks of adjustments. She is eating up a storm, has cut her third tooth (one of the top ones is poking through!), but is still not sleeping well. I really think she just gets stiff & uncomfortable because when she wakes up I turn her to a different side or position and she immediately goes back to sleep. The chiropractor assures me that this WILL improve! I'm keeping my fingers crossed! One thing that has improved DRAMATICALLY is her bowel function! Poor baby! She has been constipated for most of her 8 months, and in the last week she has been VERY regular with very little or no strain! Praise the Lord! I never thought I would be so happy to change so many dirty diapers! She is so happy and has the most hysterical laugh. When she sees GC she throws her body out with laughter...it is so funny! I know they are going to be best friends!

I've been doing "therapy" with her each and every day...a few times a day. She's getting better at rolling over and we've been working on reaching over to get a toy and coming back up, getting on all fours and rocking, and playing as she kneels beside a couch cushion. She is doing so much better with ALL OF THESE! I can't wait for Sue to come so that I can show her what we've been doing!

One of her new favorite things is to play the jingle bells...

Tummy time...reaching for toys, rolling over...
Up on all fours rocking...
Lunging forward and face planting! This therapy business is HARD WORK!

So, that's what we've been up to! I haven't had the time or the money to go tan, or go out with friends, or go to Disney World, but I have all I ever wanted right here in my own house! Thank you, Lord for these little miracles that I love so dearly.

Funny Bunnies...

I've started calling the girls my little funny bunnies at times...times like tonight after church when I was trying to get some new pics of them. It's quite comical, really!

I think you can see Georgia's tonsils in this picture...

Georgia decided to put her arm around Ivy...
I LOVE Ivy's expression...
And we're leaning...
And laughing at Momma! I LOVE my little funny bunnies!

Two Years Later...

The month of April 2009 was a BIG month for Shelby & me. On April 3, 2009, we found out that we were officially on the list with our agency for birthmothers to see, and about two weeks later (I still cannot believe that!), we were chosen by Julia! Our journey to Georgia really was an amazing one...one that only God could orchestrate. And since her birth, I am continually amazed and awed by how I personally have been blessed in these last two years. All I ever wanted to be was a stay-at-home mom and take care of my home, my children and my husband. My mom was the best stay-at-home mom when we were younger and is still an incredible example of what I believe God wants a mother and wife to be. Granted, I still have a lot to learn (namely how to get the laundry FOLDED & PUT AWAY before I start washing again!) UGH!

Two years ago I was dreaming of having a baby and now God has blessed me with two! Two years ago I was dreaming of giving up my teaching job and now my days revolve around meal time, play time, and nap time! Two years ago Shelby took on the role of being the sole provider for our family and God has blown us away with Shelby's success...He keeps blessing Shelby with raises and promotions...I'm so very proud of him. Two years ago I told my principal that we had been chosen by a birthmother and that I would not be returning the following year to teach. Thinking back he probably thought I was crazy...Georgia Claire had not been born and we had not even met her birthmother, yet I was resigning?! I can remember him saying something like, "Why don't you give it a little time? There's really no need to be in a rush." Now here we are two years later and, as of today, I have an 8 month old & a 21 month old! WOW! How I love my life! Granted there are days when I'm tired & sometimes overwhelmed, but then I capture moments like these and it makes my heart melt! Georgia LOVES giving Ivy kisses...

I'm so thankful that here we are, two years later, loving on two baby girls and loving this life that God has blessed us with. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." -1 Corinthians 2:9