Baby Jesus

Ivy Jane made her acting debut last night during our church's Christmas musical as baby Jesus! She did SO GOOD! We were just on stage during one song but she sat in the trough, in nothing but a diaper and blanket, and looked around happy and content! =)

We had to go a little early to get into costume...here are Daddy & Georgia (and her doll that Ms. Janice gave her) walking in. She LOVES being able to walk.

Georgia enjoyed playing on the steps before the performance...

Baby Jesus himself, I mean herself...
And here we are...Mary, Jesus, & Joseph!
The song we sat through was titled "The Manger Held it All" and it spoke so much to me! Ivy Jane, although no Messiah, is a miracle baby! I actually teared up and thought I was going to "lose it" at one point, but then she started trying to eat the hay and my tears changed to giggles. We have SO VERY much to be thankful for...such a blessing to have these two baby girls, both miracles to us!

While our Babies are Still Babies...

Shelby works so hard and I love him so much for it! He was gone all of last week, was home Saturday and Sunday, and then left again on Monday. He arrived home again on Thursday and was ready to get his hands on these girls. Ivy Jane doesn't look very happy, but she is actually very relaxed! She's liking Daddy more and more these days. We're all looking forward to his week of vacation next week...we started it tonight by eating breakfast for supper at Mom & Dad's. That is one of my FAVORITE things to eat on a cold winter night...homemade biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and gravy! =) You could call it a celebration of sorts...

Several weeks ago (sometime in October) Shelby was asked to apply for a job with his current company, which would be a huge promotion, in OKLAHOMA CITY. I can remember asking Shelby, "Who wants to live in OKLAHOMA? I sure don't!" In the beginning I was sad...sad to leave my parents, my sister Kathy & her sweet family, etc. Soon my sadness turned to determination to find out all that I could about the city. I've learned that about myself...my way of "coping" is to inform myself...I was online every chance I got checking out schools, churches, neighborhoods, things to do, etc. I've only been to OKC one time before...Shelby took me to a John Mayer concert for my birthday a few years ago. It was lots of fun, but I didn't really remember the city. Shelby goes a lot with work and says that it's a really nice place. Other people had told me the same thing. A friend of mine even told me that she lived there for about 10 years, said it was a great place to raise a family. Then my November subscription of my "Parents" magazine came in the mail and on the front was "10 best cities for babies". Number 9 was...you guessed it...OKC! A few weeks later we heard a lesson at church about letting God take us out of our "comfort zone". It seemed that God was leading us to make the move, and I was really OK with it. I was still sad to think about Georgia not being able to go see the cows or see her cousins at church every week or attend MDO, and I was sad to think that Ivy Jane wouldn't ever know those things, but I was willing to move, to support my husband, and his career. After all, his career is the whole reason I can stay at home with our sweet baby girls! God had changed my heart.

I started searching out new houses and new cars. If I was going to live 5 hours away from my family, I would need a bigger, more comfortable car to make all of those trips back to East Texas!

Fast forward to yesterday, (skipping LOTS of negotiations, phone calls, a very successful interview, meetings, etc.), and Shelby called me to say that the "big bosses" were working on another offer...it looked like we were going to OKC on Monday to see the city. When he finally got home, we talked and I told him it was ultimately his decision because it was his career. He knew I would support him in whatever decision he made. After our discussion, he officially declined the position. The negatives outweighed the positives. For the first time in SEVERAL weeks he seemed relieved and comfortable with making a final decision. He found out that the first couple of years would be A LOT of traveling and time away from us & that I would essentially be a "single mom". These next two years are so very important in the life of our girls. He doesn't want to miss out more than he already is. He also told me that he hadn't felt good about the job all along...he knew it would be a high stress position, making it even harder on all of us. SO, while our babies are still babies, we're staying put! (I'm still working on getting that bigger car, though!) =)

18 months old...could it be?!

Georgia Claire is 18 months old today...hard to believe! It was even weirder at the doctor's office scheduling her next appointment-her 2 year check-up! YIKES! Our baby is not going to be a baby for long! She is still about 25 lbs...thinning up the more active she becomes. AND, she is TALL...33 1/2 inches (93%)!

She's changing more and more every day. I officially threw away all of her bottles as of today. She has FINALLY mastered a sippy cup! She's been taking juice from a cup but wanted her last milk of the day from a bottle. Tonight, she took her milk out of a sippy cup...YAY! It really is almost ridiculous how good she is about things that she shouldn't like...the other night she took medicine, used her inhaler, and brushed her teeth with a huge smile on her face! She's still not eating as great as I would like, but lately she's eating most fruits, and she LOVES corn on the cob. Shelby was out of town again last week so we ate with Mom & Dad one night. They also had my nephew & nieces, Luke, Mary Katherine & Caroline while Andy & Kathy were at a Christmas party. We had ham, fresh sweet potatoes, corn bread, purple hull peas, and corn. After Luke ate two ears, Caroline was asking for another ear, and Georgia Claire was sucking every last kernel off her ear, Dad looked at Mom and said, "looks like we're going to have to plant more corn next year!" =)

Some of her favorites...

She loves to read. We hear the words "Buh" (book) and "peas" (please) at least 10 times a day!

She also loves to play with the nativity. I put it down low for her to be able to play with it. We usually find Mary, Joseph, and the wisemen laying on the floor. She looks sad in this picture but she is actually telling me "shhh" as she holds Baby Jesus. She knows he's sleeping.

Caught her about to get in Daddy's nightstand...another one of her favorite things to do!
She is almost running, still wobbly at times and falls a lot, but she is doing SO well!
Have I mentioned that she likes to read? You can usually find Georgia by the trail of books (and sometimes bread crumbs) she leaves behind.
Being silly...
Precious baby!

Dadda is Home!

Shelby finally came home after being gone for 5 nights on a work-related trip. We all MISSED HIM! BUT, Georgia Claire wins the prize for missing him the most! He came home on Friday for lunch before having to head to the office for the afternoon. Before we could sit down to eat lunch, she had to read a book with Dadda. We really love what a fun, happy, smart, silly little girl Georgia Claire has become. Don't get me wrong...she has her moments (had one tonight on the way home from church, in fact) but she is a GREAT baby girl! Meal time and car time are not always the most fun right now, but we're working on our manners! =) She is walking (almost running) around the house now. Shelby couldn't believe how much she had progressed in the week he was gone. Her favorite thing to do right now is read books. She will lie down on the floor and "read" or she goes to her room and pulls out all of her books out of her basket or she climbs up in our laps with a book...LOVE IT!

Here she is with Dadda as soon as he walked through the door on Friday...I love this picture, especially her little feet...

Here she's saying, "Shhh" as Shelby reads a page with a baby sleeping. She ALWAYS does that on that page...so cute!
Does she love this man or what?!
Long evening of playing with Dadda wore her out. I found her asleep like this...
And one with Momma...after church this morning. I love the smiles.
Everyone always wants to know how Georgia Claire does with Ivy Jane. She is SO SWEET to her! This morning we were getting ready for church and Ivy was getting sleepy and started crying in her bouncy seat. Before I could get to her Georgia had gone over and was bouncing her and saying "bebe"...precious times with precious baby girls!

Girl Time

I've been having a blast with these two girls this week. Shelby has been out of town, so we've had a lot of "girl time". Randomly throughout the day Georgia Claire will say "dada" and look at me...I think that's her way of telling me she misses him! :( Shelby will not be able to get out of the child's sight when he gets home!

I captured this picture of GC yesterday playing in her Sonic shades...

She makes me laugh out loud!
This morning when I went to get Georgia Claire out of bed she had taken off her pj pants. When I went over to get her she sat on the bumper pad and started moving her little diaper booty back and forth across the rails of the crib. Then she would stop, put her hand over her mouth and laugh and do it again! Hahahaha! Once again, I was laughing out loud. So, fast forward to getting her out of bed after her nap and this is what I see...

doing her dance...
Tonight we played in Georgia Claire's room for over an hour, reading books, working puzzles, playing with her babies, playing with the nativity, dancing to music, etc. She wanted Ivy (or I-ee as she says) to sit beside her so that she could "read" to her...as you can see they both THOROUGHLY enjoyed themselves!
Every time Ivy started laughing she would look away...

Ivy Jane laid back after being read to...
Georgia looked at me and said, "no no!"...she knows what she's supposed to play with and what she's not!
Miss Fashionista...as her Aunt Heather says, Georgia Claire LOVES accessories!

AND, walking all the way down the hall with the popper...
Sweet big sister giving little sister a kiss. These babies are what I prayed for and having this time with them is priceless.

Four Months Old

Today marks four months that Ivy Jane has been a part of our life. What an incredible blessing this baby girl has been to us! She has THE BEST disposition...happy & content (if momma is close by) and is growing and changing every day. Saturday morning she rolled over for the first time! Today she started laughing and smiling at Georgia...and the more she smiled and laughed the more Georgia wanted to perform. Oh what fun times are in store with these two little girls!

Asleep in her carseat tonight...

And she fell asleep again while I was on Facebook...WITH her thumb in her mouth! =)
Ephesians 3:20 "Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope." God has done MORE for me in the last two years than I ever thought was possible! I give him the glory and I am excited about the opportunities to serve him with Ivy Jane & her big sis as they grow older and learn more and more about him.

Milestones

Georgia is having a BLAST walking all over the place. She still falls down a lot...it's like her ankles buckle and she goes down, but she gets back up and tries again and again! She still crawls and knee walks, but I think it's more out of habit than anything else. My brother-in-law Andy (the Principal) tells me that Georgia Claire is going to be a good reader. Studies have shown the longer children crawl the better readers, etc. they are...has to do with left-brain right-brain development and how the body uses both sides of the brain to work together. Crawling is really all about coordinating the two sides of the brain with every forward movement-right arm to left leg etc. This apparent whole brain physical activity teaches the 2 sides of the brain to work together which is important when it comes to reading ability, speed, and comprehension. After all we have 2 eyes that are each governed by a different side. Interesting, huh? She LOVES to "read" already...I find her in her room many times sitting with a pile of books around her. As a former school teacher, that makes me SO HAPPY!

She's wearing her braces A LOT and I know it's helping. I'm SO glad that my sister Angie (the Occupational Therapist) suggested I look into physical therapy for her. Those braces have been the best thing for her! AND, she's SO good about wearing them! I didn't know how that would go over but she sits patiently and lets me put them on...not an easy task!

This first picture is blurry because she was coming so fast that I had to back up quickly! I love the expression on her face...

Ready or not...here she comes!
This is HUGE...her hips and knees and ankles are all weak. In the past when she wanted to get up she would knee walk over to a piece of furniture and pull herself up. Now, all I have to say is, "Stand up and walk!" and she pushes herself up from the floor! That tells me that she's getting stronger! (notice Baby Jesus on the floor...we got out the nativity from Shelby's childhood and she LOVES IT! I found Mary in her dirty clothes basket tonight!)

Ivy Jane is also doing lots of tricks! She is on her tummy a lot and is holding her head up SO WELL! She's VERY close to rolling over. Does she look like Shelby or what?!
Happy Baby...Momma can get the best smiles out of her...