Fourteen and (Almost) Fifteen Months!

Two more months have passed and there are a few moments that I want to jot down so I can remember and few that I would love to forget. :-)

- I had to go to Barnes & Noble to pick up a gift and I decided to take MB to the kids section. I had in mind that we would read some books and enjoy looking around at all the fun toys. We passed by the Sesame Street section and she started going crazy! She was pointing to the Big Birds and wouldn't stop pointing and grunting until I gave her both of the Big Birds that were there. She hugged them so tightly and carried them around the rest of the time that we were in the store and kept saying Big Buh, Big Buh. It was getting time for us to go and I returned to the aisle so we could drop off the Big Birds and say good-bye to them. No such luck. I managed to pry one of them out of her tiny little hands and she was not happy about it at all. To avoid embarrassment, I came up with the plan to ditch the other one at the counter so I could make a run for it. I totally chickened out when I got up to the cashier and decided to buy the stupid bird. The cashier could hardly get the thing scanned because she had such a tight grip on it. I had no idea that I would be that parent that would buy something to keep their kids quite. I was caught totally off guard by the whole encounter and will try not to give in next time. :-) She has really enjoyed her Big Buh and he is a new favorite although I have no idea how she was so fascinated by it. She may have seen one or two episodes of Sesame Street but whatever they are doing must be working.

- MB has had really bad separation anxiety these past few weeks. She doesn't want to go to anyone that she doesn't know really well and she cries when we put her down around strangers. This is such a new stage for us because she normally goes to anyone around and isn't really picky. She even gets anxious when it is just the two of us at home and she doesn't want me to be in another room or very far away.

- The thirteenth and fourteenth months were really hard for MB. She had several weeks where she didn't eat hardly anything and survived on Gatorade and goldfish. We think it was a combo of a stomach bug, teething and maybe even the regular milk she was drinking. She stopped drinking milk for a week or so and we started giving her soy milk again. I am going to wait and try dairy again at some point but I am enjoying this healthy time.

- While we were at the beach, she sent her monkey for a swim in the toilet. Her timing was perfect as I had just flushed it. Fortunately, I was able to grab it by the tail before it went down too far. She was then horrified that I wouldn't let her play with it until it was washed. It was hilarious!

- When we pick MB up from the church nursery, we always watch her for a few seconds before we call her name. She always is happily playing and enjoying the new toys and other kids. That is, until she sees us. Once she lays eyes on us she loses it and wants us to believe that she has had such a miserable time and puts on quite the dramatic show. One of the last times we picked her up, the nursery worker told us that she was such a compassionate child. She said that every time another child would cry, MB would start crying too. I would like to believe that she is compassionate but have a feeling other kids crying make her think that she must have a good reason to cry too. The good part is no one has to cry alone when she is around.

- MB took her first ride on an airplane last week. The two of us flew from Jacksonville to Atlanta. I am so put out with myself that I didn't take a picture but that didn't seem important at the time. 100% of my focus was on keeping her happy and keeping her from grabbing the hair of the old lady in front of us. She was dying to get her hands on it! She did great on the flight and we were seated next to a lady that absolutely loves babies so she helped entertain her. The flight ended at the perfect time as we were getting close to a meltdown. I think she fell asleep before we left the parking deck. I was thrilled with our choice to fly instead of me driving seven hours by myself. That could have gotten ugly.

- While we were on vacation, MB ate desserts after every meal. You wouldn't believe the appetite that she has for sweets, it's seriously impressive. She would eat whole pieces of dessert without blinking an eye. I have since bought mini ice cream sandwiches and she has been eating one almost every night after her supper. We are hoping that will beef her up!

- We bought a new car seat since she was getting too long for the infant carrier. She is still facing backwards but we are hoping to be able to turn her around in the next month or two. The last time we went to the doctor she weighed 17 pounds and 10 ounces.

- MB will be the perfect contestant for the 92nd season of Survivor. Smells do not seem to bother her. She seems completely unaware when she has a dirty diaper yet I can smell her just by walking by her room. She also will eat anything and everything. She even likes to chew on my sweaty socks after I exercise. And yes, I do stop her when I see her doing this and make all kinds of gross sounds to discourage her.

- She is learning more words and seems to understand a lot of what we say. We are amazed with how much she is learning and how grown she seems now. Something about wearing shoes and asking for juice makes her seem like she's twelve.

- I don't know how this happened but I didn't take one picture during the month of August. I guess since we spent several of those weeks with a sick baby, pictures were far from my mind. We have done much better in September and hope to post those soon.

- We love you Mary Beth and are enjoying your adventurous spirit, determination, love for life, your amazing laugh and your funny sense of humor. You are a little lady who knows what she wants and doesn't want and it is nice that we do not have to guess how you feel. We pray that you channel all of your strength, honesty and determination to do amazing things in your life. We will be there cheering you on all the way!

The first few steps are a doosy!

MB has finally started walking! Here are a few videos that show her progression over the past few months.

Starting to stand on her own.


A little dancing to celebrate.


Wild driver


All the encouragement in the world has helped.


The first few steps.


Finally getting the hang of it, albeit a little slow.

Risky Business

Risks from my past: Skydiving, pilots lessons, starting to date someone in another state one month before they leave to live in another country for two years.

Risks of today: Going out to eat with Mary Beth by myself in her new active state! I ventured to Chick-fil-A with her for the first time by my lonesome and I was more nervous than when I jumped out of a plane. I am pleased to report that we survived and only left behind a trail of waffle fries, two shoes, a few melt downs and spilt apple juice. Not too shabby! I even risked this knowing that she didn't have a full nap and that I needed to run to the grocery store after lunch. Call me a crazy woman!

Oh how my life has changed but it is still just as fun and as adventurous!

So in love

with this little girl...

Mary Beth's slide show

Thanks so much to the FABULOUS Lisa Butler (the better half of Mathew) who took these photos for us. She was able to capture so many of Mary Beth's expressions and mannerisms and I can't help but smile when the song says that I will hang my head and cry! I sing this song to her often so that made it even more special. I can't wait for Dan to get home from the lake so I can see the photos on the CD that Lisa made. The gorgeous scenery is from Mimi and Papa's house in Cartersville. We will treasure these pictures forever!

Thirteen Months!

One of the purposes for this blog is to capture all that MB has been up to so we can enjoy looking back on some of her milestones. I also reference this blog when I update her baby book because I am months behind on that sucker! Here are a few updates for our future reference, feel free to skip to the pictures. The little lady is so busy these days!

- She finally took her first step on 7/15/10. Dan was mowing the grass so he sadly missed it (thankfully she stepped for him the next day) but my friend Ivy was there to serve as a witness to this great feat. We were so excited for MB and she was soooo proud of herself. She has taken up to four steps at a time but definitely still prefers to crawl. We think she is a bit of a perfectionist because she gets really frustrated when she falls while we are watching. She often will stand up in the middle of the room and try to take a few steps when we are not looking to get some practice in. She has been cruising around furniture for a while and standing up in the middle of the room without pulling up on anything so we were waiting for this day. I have a feeling that she will be walking all over the place in a few weeks. We have a video that I will hopefully post soon.
- I spent my first night away from Mary Beth this past month. She stayed with Dan's parents and we ventured all the way to downtown Atlanta for the night. Dan and I were both sick with a fever and cold but still managed to have a great time. We went to Dante's for fondue which was fun and were in our pajamas by 9:00. I am heading to DC for work tomorrow and will be away from Dan and MB for three days. Although I am looking forward to seeing all of my coworkers, I am going to miss them like crazy.
- MB has four teeth and two additional upper teeth are on their way in. She is starting to chew her food better and we are working on getting her to bite things.
- She is a good eater and eats pretty much everything. She really likes meat, blueberries, pancakes, biscuits and spaghetti.
- We took her to the doctor and she weighs 17 pounds, 1 ounce and is 29 and 1/4 inches tall. She is in the 3rd percentile in weight and 50th percentile in height. Her head percentile is 75th!
- When she turned one, she stopped drinking formula cold turkey and went straight to soy milk. She also started drinking all of her milk out of a sippy cup without any problems. She is so independent and is always ready for the next phase in growing up. It makes me a little sad that she is growing up so fast but I am thrilled to be finished with the formula and the bottles!
- The pediatrician told us to slowly start mixing in regular milk with soy milk and she has done really well. I think in the next week or so we should be able to have her drinking 100% cow milk. We are so excited that she is no longer allergic to dairy but we are still being really careful with how much dairy she is eating. This is an answer to prayer!
- MB is a little (or a lot) bit sassy. She tries to get into pretty much everything that she shouldn't and she doesn't want to be told no. When I am trying to discipline her, she starts shaking her finger at me like I am the one in trouble. The first time she did it, I was in such disbelief that I started cracking up. The cuteness didn't last for long and now it really gets me fired up when she starts mocking me! Oh my, I'm afraid we have a pistol on our hands!
- The girl has got rhythm. She is a good dancer and that definitely came from the Milam side of the family.
- MB can imitate pretty much anything. She loves to try and imitate different faces that we make and she thinks its hilarious too. She is easily entertained!
- Around the time that she turned one, she started saying a few words. Banana was her first word besides mama and dada. She also says uh-oh, bye-bye, night night and mooooo. She repeats please and thank you but hasn't said those words on her own yet. She can repeat I love you, amen and hi too. I can't wait to hear all that she has to say and what's been going on in that little (or should I say large) head of hers. :-)
- Some favorite activities have been swinging, riding in her wagon, pushing her walking toy around, being thrown up in the air, swimming and trying to turn on and off the ceiling fan.
- Each week seems to get more and more fun! We love you Mary Beth!

Enjoying her first Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a and her first kid's meal! It is so strange to be able to order off of a menu for her.

Lucy was precious as usual, I loved her monogrammed cow bow.

Say what??? This was her expression when she caught site of the CFA larger than life cows walking around. She was terrified and I ended up holding her for most of the lunch. Looks like we don't have to worry about going to Disney World any time soon.


Still trying to get over the trauma of meeting the cow face to face. Yes, I dressed up too, with Leigh's help, and we all enjoyed our free meal.

We have taken so many laps around our driveway in the wagon and it is one of our favorite things to do after supper.

Faster, faster!

Lap 562

She loves having her very own swing that we can use rain or shine!

Twelve Month photos (way late)!

Am I the only who thinks that time is flying by? Wow! I'm behind with my updates so bear with me as I start a super long post!

June was such a busy month and July is proving to be no different. Here are some of the highlights and I couldn't remember the order so it may be random.

Poor baby. This was the morning of her birthday. I took the day off so we could have lots of fun together. Too bad she was recovering from being sick with the perfect storm (stomach bug, teething and a cold) and not her normal chipper self. This was the face that greeted me after singing Happy Birthday. Was it the singing or the hat that made her so sad?

Wondering why she wasn't eating rice cereal for the 100th day in a row. Birthday cake is the breakfast of champions. Since she couldn't tell me what she wanted to eat,

I just guessed and thought that she would enjoy some cake for breakfast.

Proof that I know this girl so well.

Seriously, can I eat this?


Right on Mom!

Mind blowingly delicious!

This is shaping into a good day already! We then went to lunch with her

BFF Lucy and Lucy's family and enjoyed Dan coming home early from work to play.

It was a great day even though she wasn't feeling well.

Taking advantage of a little snuggle time. It is rare that we get snuggles

like this so we did enjoy that part of her being sick.

A week before MB's birthday, our nephew Sam was born! He is adorable and

such a sweet baby. Sam already is quite the jet setter and is in Maine and Connecticut with his family waiting for the heat to pass. :-) We can't wait for his parents and brother Owen to come back home after they are finished working.

G-Mother made a little family of bunnies for MB and she loves them!

Papa bunny and twin baby girl are seen in this photo. She drags them all over the house and loves to pull them out of the carrot, their "home".

Love the wings that my sister gave her!

Do these wings make my butt look big?

My little buddy. We have so much fun together and I look

forward to many more years of spending fun times together!

What a cutie. Her two top teeth have come in a lot since this picture was taken.

This is one of their favorite games. It's almost cute enough that I

don't mind all the tiny hand prints on the door....almost.

G-Mother also made this beautiful pink dress! I think she likes it.

June also was the first time that MB went out on a boat. As you can see, she was a fan!

Loving it!

Cheryl, the super nanny, always puts the toys in different poses before

she leaves every day. This is one of my favorites.

Dan and MB reading his father's day card.

Dan cracking up because MB snatched the card out of his hand and flung it on the

floor. One of her favorite things to do.

The pool has been a hit this summer!

This is one of our favorite faces that she does, we love our little fish!

Lamb Photos!

Here they are in order by month. I love each one and they all bring up great memories of the past year. Since the first year is over, I think I will take an 18 month lamb photo and then take a yearly photo after that.

5 Days:

1 Month:

2 Months:

3 Months:

4 Months:

5 Months:

6 Months:

7 Months:

8 Months:

9 Months:

10 Months:

11 Months:

12 Months: