LABOR DAY COOKOUT

My parents had a cookout today with some of their friends and invited Heather, Chris, Mark, Hayley and I over for dinner! I was at Target earlier in the day and saw a kiddie pool on clearance for six bucks!! I thought today would be a great day to use it!! We could all be outside and Hayley could be entertained! Heather's neighbor Shannon also came over with her little girl Kiley who will be one in two weeks. Hayley and Kiley just sort of looked at each other, but didnt know what to do. Kiley didnt get in the pool, but Hayley was in for a good 30 min!! The water was quite cold but she didnt seem to care!! We didnt even bother with a suit, just put her in with a swim diaper and she splashed and played and had a big time! I think this pool could become my new best friend! It will be hot here at least for another month and we should be able to get some good use out of it since she is sitting up pretty well now! Hayley is growing up so fast and is loving some of the freedom she has learned. She wants to hold her bottle on her own, she wants to crawl and gets into her yoga pose (downward dog) often. She also loves sitting up and being able to play with her toys without the assistance of mom or dad! I know that this is just the first steps of many and while it is very exciting to see her learn and conquer new things, it is a little bittersweet knowing that we will never get the newborn days back! IT was funny, Mark is also realizing how fast she is growing. This mroning Mark got up with her and tried to rock her in the chair to get her back to sleep and Hayley wanted no part of it. Mark said that he misses falling asleep with her on his shoulder when we first brought her home!! So with that said, I think Mark and I plan to slow down a little and take it all in!! Before we know it, she will be starting her first day of school. AHHHH!!!

GAME DAY!!!!

Well folks...it is that time again!! Fall is no where in the air and Georgia Football has offically begun!!! As most of you all know this is Mark's passion and we were lucky enough to be able to attend the game together on Sat. Georgia beat Georgia Southern! We had a good time, but Mark is a little shook up that one of the defensive tackles was injured and may be out for the season (gee, I almost sound like I know what I am talking about). He said that this could really mess "US" up!! We got to see a lot of our tailgate friends that we only see during football season due to time, schedules, and distance!! Mark is fired up about the season as Georgia is ranked NO. 1 in the SEC!

Wedding Bliss

Sat. August 23rd we had the honor of attending Jessica Waynick and Chris Mucha's wedding!! I have known Jess since she was little (she used to come into Baskin Robbins when I worked there almost everyday for a scoop of vanilla on a cone), and she is the daughter of the owner of Lizard Thicket (the store that I work at and Heather manages). Anyway, she made a beautiful bride and we had a fabulous time! Everyone looked amazing, especially one of the bridesmaids (Heather)!!! Here are a few pics from that day!! I just LOVE weddings!!

SEVEN MONTHS AND RARING TO GO!!

Hayley is officially seven months old! She is still such an awesome, happy baby! She has a smile that can light up a room! She brings such joy to our hearts. I cant say enough about what a great little girl she is! Not much on patience...but still a wonderful blessing (Gee...I wonder where she gets that from?????). Her seventh month b-day was uneventful as I had to work. She did get to go out to eat with Grams, Gramps and her daddy! They had pizza of course (what else would Gramps want on a Friday night???). Sat she got to spend the afternoon with Nana and Papa so that her daddy and I could go to a wedding. Mark and I had a great time and I got to dance...(which I love to do). Heather was in the wedding and she looked beautiful as always. I will have to share some pics later.

Yesterday I had to work all day and Mark played Mr. Mom! The love you have for you husband is amazing in itself, but when you see him interact with your baby and love and care for them in a way only a father could, it makes you love them even more! I am so grateful to be married to such a wonderful man. I may not tell him enough, but I think he is a wonderful dad.

Well..nap time has come to an abrupt end!!! Gotta run!!!!

Whew....

Well last night we got a full nights sleep and so did Hayley! She had a full days worth of meds in her and she seemed to do much better. She was a very happy girl yesterday! She had a friend come over....("Cousin Lauren" as she likes to call herself) to play while I got some much needed house work done! Lauren is a girl that I work with at Lizard Thicket! She loves Hayley to death and has been begging to come over and watch her, so I took her up on the idea. She did great with her and Hayley really seemed to have a good time! I heard them both laughing a lot! Then Mark took Hayley to little Mark's flag football game! Hayley loves to watch the game and be with everyone. Mark said that her and little Mark just love each other so much! Hayley just looks at Lil Mark with such admiration! It is so cute! I was at work, so I was unable to go with them, but I am glad that Mark was able to spend some one on one time with her, plus get more comfortable at taking her places! It is also great that Nana and Poppa, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Kenneth and Maggie are there to help him and entertain Hayley. Well today Hayley is officially seven months old. She is growing so fast. Now I understand it when all moms say that the time goes by too quickly. I will post a picture of her today on my next post. Hope everyone had a great day.

Trial and Error....

I just have to vent my frustration with medicine and doctors!! As I have written about before, Hayley is not a sleeper!!! Never has been since we brought her home! We finally discovered that some of her problem were due toAcid Reflux . We had to take her to a specialist at downtown and she was put on Prilosec! She has taken it for four and a half months now....! Still not sleeping. So.. when we were on vacation at the beach.. I wasnt as religious about giving her the med. We were busy and totally off schedule. She seemed to start sleeping better. I decided to wean her off of it and amazingly she started napping and sleeping better through the night! Well after four weeks or so of not taking it she slowly started showing signs that she needed to be put back on it. She started coughing alot, grunting and making really sour faces, as if she tasted something bad! She also started getting the hiccups like she did when she was tiny (lasting 20 min or longer). So I decided that she needed to go back on it despite the lack of sleep!!
The prilosec is a compound that only certain pharm. can make. I always knew it was made with Cola flavoring. I finally starting thinking that the cola flavoring could have caffeine in it which is keeping her up! So I asked my pediatritian and he was certain it didnt have it in there. Then I went to get her refill and asked the pharmacist. Sure enough it is a ingredient in the flavoring. So after all this time I have been thinking that my child is a horrible sleeper... it really might just be the meds!! I feel like a horrible parent for not noticing this sooner!! I am going to try and have them remix her meds in a different flavor and hope for the best!!!

OK... six hrs later I am getting back to this entry after having jinxed myself complaining about DRS. Hayley had some type of reaction today where she broke out in hives, had watery eyes and runny nose!! It scared me so bad that I immediately drove her to the Dr. office! We had to wait about 2hrs for her to be seen, but I felt better being there in case something went really wrong. Well, the Dr. doesnt seem to know what is wrong, or what caused the reaction. He said that they could do a blood test to see if she is allergic to cows milk, wheat, or corn, but they have to draw blood from a vein. He said that it is very hard to get blood from veins of babies, but we could try it! I really hate to put her through all that and then ot get enough! Not to mention that it would break my heart to try and hold her down!!! I have decided to take her back to the specialist on Sept 2nd to see if they can figure it out!!! I have been playing detective with all of this for six months now and I just want to make her feel better.....and sleep!! I will keep you all posted!!!

I LOVE BITER BISCUITS!!!

Well...I decided to see what Hayley would do with a biter biscuit (these are new since my day). They are like a sweet cookie!! I gave it to her and at first she just kind of looked at it, then she really got into it, then was mad when I took it away when it got too soggy!! She loved the experience and I loved watching her make a complete mess!! It was in her hair, up her nose, all in her fingers and under her chin!! I gave her a bath right afterwards!!


Last weekend one of my best friends (Jennie) came back into town. She moved back to Iowa last December and she hasnt seen Hayley since she was six weeks old!! She and her boyfriend Drew came over for dinner and we had a great time! She loved seeing Hayley and couldnt believe how much she had changed. It was also great to catch up with her...although the visit was way too short!! I dont know when we will be able to see her again, with the holidays approaching! Perhaps she will have luck and sell her house here.....I know it has been hanging over her head!!

Well, my short break is almost up..as Hayley will be ready to get up from her am nap! I appreciate

Wonderful Weekend!!

Our family had such a great weekend! Although I worked all day on Sat, I was able to relax and spend quiet time with Mark and Hayley! It was fun to play with her!! The best part of all is that Hayley slept for two hours for each nap!! We are so proud of her! Hindsight being what it is, I am starting to think that the reflux medicine we had her on might have been keeping her awake!! It is made with cola, and cola has caffine!! I havent given it to her for two days now!!! We will see! She is a little restless at night, so we will just have to watch her and see how it goes!! Since she napped like a champ, Mark and I were able to clean out our closet!! For those of you who dont know...my closet is like my worst enemy!! I hate it!!! It may be big in size, but as far as actual usable space..we are limited!! Anyway, I finally had the time to throw out PJS that I have had since high school (why I was keeping them..I have no idea), socks with out a match...and of course the famous high school jeans that you just swear you are going to fit back into at some point!!! Well after having Hayley, my hips are wider and I have offically resolved myself to the fact that those size 6 gap jeans...are just hanging there laughing at me...saying.. AS IF!!! So, I said goodbye and packed them up for goodwill!! I feel like I have accomplished a huge undertaking!! It feels good! Now.. if I can just get the rest of my house as organized I will feel great!!

I am getting ready for my first consignment sale!! My sister in law is a pro at them and I am going to follow her lead!! I am excited to be able to get rid of stuff and maybe find some great things for Hayley!! She is growing so fast and it would be nice to find some gently used things for her to wear and play with!!!

Tomorrow is Hayley's six month check up!! I am excited to see how much she weighs and how tall she is!! I think she has lost a little weight since she is moving so much!! She also has to get her shots!! Poor thing..it breaks my heart to see her crying!! She usually is such a trooper though!!

Till then...here is a cute picture of Hayley!!!! She is always so happy!!

FAMILY FUN!!!

Yesterday Hayley and I had the pleasure of spending some time with Mark's family! Hayley and I had a fun filled day at the GA Aquarium with Nana, Poppa, Aunt Lisa, Mark and Maggie! I had never been to the Aquarium and it was FANTASTIC!! I loved it....too bad Hayley wont remember it..but we will show her pictures! It is a great venue and I recommend it to everyone! Luckily it was not very crowded..so we manuvered fairly easily through it...(strollers and all). Hayley had the best time with her cousins!! She was such a good little girl! No peeps from her! She slept great...and couldnt take her eyes of her cousin Mark!! With each bite of her lunch (Sweet Peas) she had to look at Mark to make sure he was still there! I think we all had a great time!! I wish big Mark could have been with us to make the trip complete. Next time we will go on a day he doesnt have to work! Here are some pictures of our day!!!

FIRST TOOTH!!!

The time has come....Hayley is cutting her first tooth! Unlike the books say..she is actually getting the top right one first!!! She is drooling like crazy ( I thought she wet the bed but it was actually drool from her mouth while sleeping). She is also attacking anything and everything that fits in her mouth!! Bless her heart...I can totally understand why she is not sleeping good!!! This is a very exciting time...but sad too! She is growing way too fast. I hope that as she gets bigger she continues to love cuddling and accepts all my kisses as she does now!! She is such a sweet girl and I just love her so much!!!