Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful time this Thanksgiving season. Izzie spent the night Wednesday with her Grams and Papaw. Greg and I came home, so I was real apprehensive about leaving my baby somewhere else over night. It really was a blessing, though. We got some much needed rest, and Grams and Papaw got some extra Izzie time.

Greg's grandfather and his wife came all the way from Georgia to celebrate with us. We had a wonderful meal-(thanks Jim!) We had a big time visiting with Great Papaw and Great Helen. They are wonderful people. We enjoyed them immensely.

Thursday afternoon we went to my grandparents' house to enjoy Thanksgiving feast round 2. Unfortunately my DH had over done it on round 1 and could not participate in round 2.

Friday was a hoot. My mom, sister, and I were up at 3:30 to battle the crowds at Wal-mart. We were successful, and G will be getting the mixer he wanted for Christmas.

Friday afternoon it was back to G's parents to visit more with Great Papaw and Great Helen.

Saturday we came home and crashed.

Here are some of our holiday pics.
Izzie and Great Papaw and Great Helen

Izzie with Great Helen
Izzie with Cousin Angie and Great Mamaw

Izzie with Aunt Heather

Season of Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving, and I can't help but reflect on the things I have been Thankful for this past year. So here they are in no particular order.

I am thankful for my salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. I deserve the death he endured on the cross. I deserve eternal separation from the Father and to suffer for all of eternity in a lake of fire. But... I don't have to. Jesus paid the price for my sin. He that was blameless took my place. Want to know how to get this free gift? click here http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps-english.html

I am thankful for my adoring husband. He is not only my partner in life but also my best friend. He is my accountability partner. He makes me laugh. He holds me when I cry. He supports me in my career. He helps me with my homework. He eats the food I cook (even when it's not so good.) He helps me in the house. He makes me a better person.

I am thankful for my daughter, Isabella. She has been a true blessing. I never knew that I could be so thankful for anything. I have been praising God and giving thanks every day for exactly 9 weeks today. She is my little ray of sunshine. She has given my life new meaning. She has helped me to see a little deeper into God's love for me.

I am thankful for my job. I enjoy my students. I enjoy what I do. It pays the bills and a little bit more.

I am thankful for another year with my parents. My dad had a stroke back in May. This could have been devastating, but God fully restored him.

I am thankful for Greg's parents. Many people don't like their in-laws. This is a foreign concept to me. I love his parents as much as mine. Getting married, for me, just expanded my family.

I am thankful for my sister. She has turned into a beautiful young lady. She is smart and kind-hearted. I can't wait to see what the Lord will do with her as she enters college next year.

I am thankful for Greg's sister, my other sister. She has been a great friend over the past 4 years. She has been a tremendous help with Izzie, and she has helped me create this cool blog.

I am thankful for my church family.

I am thankful for my friends.

I am thankful for the food I have to eat.

I am thankful for the home I live in.

There are so many things to be thankful for that I cannot possibly sit here and name them all. Thank you Lord Jesus for the bounty of blessings you have given me this past year.

2 Months Old

Izzie is 2 months old today. Part of me says "Wow! It's already been 2 months?" The other part of me says "Wow! It's only been 2 months?"

It seems like just yesterday that I was pregnant. One of my favorite things about Izzie when she was in utero was the morning. I would wake up about 5:00 a.m., and she would still be awake after kicking and squirming starting about 4:00 a.m. I would get into the bathtub and talk to her as I laid there watching my stomach move in all kinds of odd ways. I felt a special kind of closeness with her then. I was actually afraid that I might lose some of that when she was no longer "part" of me.

Mind you, though, I have not lost that closeness. It is even better. I know that she knows that I am and will forever be her "mommy." She trusts me completely, and I feel like the most blessed person in the whole wide world every time I look at her, feed her, play with her, dress her, dry her tears, and clean up her poop! I enjoy her more and more every day. I love the fact that she is interacting with me and other things around her. I really like that I can distinguish her cries from one another. (I hurt sounds alot different than I'm sleepy!)

She's holding her head up with good balance and is on the verge of crawling. She is reaching for things in her sight; although, most of the time she misses! She smiles! (I love that smile!:) She "talks" not just cries. Rolling over is a piece of cake.

She sure has changed alot since last month!
Izzie at 1 month

Izzie at 2 months

Not Me Monday

This is my first Not Me Monday post. Thanks to MckMomma for organizing this theraputic contest where we can be brutally honest about what we did not do this past week.

This week I did not avoid houswork like the plague. I did not see the cat hair on the rug and sofa yet convince myself that I did not need to vacuum.

I did not freak out when I learned that the new hypoalergenic formula cost twice what my baby's other formula cost. I also did not look at my husband with discontent when after he insisted that we buy the "other" brand, and Izzie would not take it. $30 down the drain. (literally)

I did not say "wow" on Wednesday when I counted the 10th poopy diaper I changed on my child.

I did not worry when I found out that the daycare we had chosen did not have a place for our baby. I also did not cry when we found a daycare that would take her. I do not think anyone else can care for her as well as I can. I do not want to go back to work on December 1st, but we cannot eat if I don't.

I did not flip out when Greg's cat peed in my bathtub again!


I did not feel extremely guilty when my baby got her first case of diaper rash. I also did not cry with her the first night she had it.

I did not have baby puke all over me twice this week.

In light of a current family situation, I did not look at my beautiful 8 week old princess and wonder "Will you love me or hate me in 30 years?"

Gearing Up to Crawl?

Ready.... Set....
Go!!!!
Whoops... too far!

Today was one of those "trying" days. We discovered that Izzie had diaper rash yesterday afternoon, and it has only gotten worse since. It hurts so bad. She cries and cries. Neither Greg nor I could get her to eat tonight. She would "suck suck suck" scream!!!! It breaks my heart into a million pieces. I feel totally responsible even though I change her constantly. I think the problem rests in the fact that her new formula makes her have up to 10 poops a day. When she wakes up from her naps she is covered in poop. (No, she is not nursing any more. Yes, I am still pumping so that her bottles can be at least 1/2 breastmilk.)


On a lighter note, I think she is getting ready to crawl soon. She has gotten pretty good at rolling over tummy to back. Right now she gets in the crawling position and pushes with her legs. She's nto so good at pulling with her arms yet, but I think that once she gets a little stronger she'll be unstoppable. Yes, I know she is naked in the pictures. I was trying to let her little bottom air out for a little while this afternoon.

Devoted to God

Back in April when Greg and I found out that we were having a girl, we had a hard time agreeing on a name. Names that I would like, he wouldn't and vise versa. I scoured through countless baby name websites, but nothing seemed to fit. Until...I came across the name Isabella. Isabella is, in itself, a pretty name, but the meaning makes it more beautiful. Isabella can be translated from many different languages. The translation from Hebrew means "devoted to God". Greg and I both agreed that this would be the perfect name for our little angel.

This morning we dedicated our daughter to the Lord God Almighty. In a small service during the morning worship, Greg and I promised to raise our child, teaching her all we knew about the Lord. It is truly the desire of our heart to raise our daughter to be as her name says, "Devoted to God". This seems to be a very intimidating task. What if we mess up? What if we fall in our own personal walk? What if we fail at setting a good example for her? There are no easy answers to these questions. It all comes down to faith. We ask God every night to help us to be good parents-to teach her the ways of the Lord and to love her as Jesus does. Every ounce of our success as parents is owed to Him.

Here are some pictures of this morning's service.
Izzie in her christening gown.

Pastor Keith giving the charge to church family to help Greg and I raise Izzie up in the Lord.

Pastor Keith reading Mommy and Daddy the responsibility of Christian parents.

Izzie's family who came to help us celebrate!
One pooped child of God.

Lord Have Mercy, Baby's Got Her Bluejeans On

Check out Izzie's first pair of bluejeans! Ok... they are pretty big in the waist, but she is almost too long for them. Although Daddy thinks that baby pants in the house are just a hindrance to diaper changing, Mommy thinks that they are quite adorable.

Master of the Rattle

Today Izzie held her rattle for the first time. I'm not sure that she knows what she is doing, but she actually held the rattle up air several times today. She has discovered that she has hands. She will grab onto things when placed in her hand, and she likes to suck on her fists when she is upset. Isn't she cute?

Ouch!

Izzie went for her 2 month check up yesterday; although, she won't be 2 months until the 25th. We had a very good report. She is in the 75 percentile in weight and head circumference, and she is in the 95th percentile in length! The Doc said that everything looked good. On a sad note, he said that the best thing for nap time was to soothe her then put her in her crib without her being asleep. He said she would soothe herself to sleep. I am not so sure about that as I sit here typing listening to her soothe, or maybe scream is the correct word.

She also got started on her immunizations yesterday. The scream she let out took a little piece of my soul with it. Now she is fussy and just doesn't feel good, but she has to have the immunizations before she can start daycare:( Believe it or not, I don't even think the Daffy Duck bandaids make her feel any better.

Precious

I took these pictures Friday, and I think they are the most precious in the whole wide world!

Do You Like My New Hat?

Mommy does, but Izzie isn't so sure about it.

Good Morning

Good morning from the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world!

Fall Festival

Here are a few pics of Izzie the Leopard from tonight's church fall festival.
First a little snack before we left.

Then a little Leopard burp.

Time for a quick pose.
Ready to go.

Izzie and Auntie E-Beth.

First pony ride with Pastor Keith.

Izzie and Madison all tuckered out.

Bouncing Girl

Izzie enjoyed her bouncer again this morning.

Love ya, Aunt Mer

Aunt Mer kept Izzie last night so that Mommy and Daddy could have a date night!! Izzie loves her Aunt Mer. She spent hours curled up asleep on her shoulder. Thanks Aunt Mer for all you do!