She's getting bigger!

I know that Meredith is a little squirt, but she has gained another pound and is up to 17lbs!

Fun Afternoon

So today I got off early after a staff development day. This was my first one at this job so it was a nice surprise to get to go pick up my baby early. We spent the afternoon playing with toys on the floor with Meredith sitting up. She is doing a lot better with this and I thought she was going to crawl last night, but not quite yet. I want her to so bad, but I know as soon as she does I will long for the days when we could keep her in one spot. After her dinner we went down and spent some time in our new hammock that we finally got put up this weekend. I love it so much and want to spend all my time there. I just wish we had more shade in our yard so we could use it more without it being too hot. Oh well!

Babies Can't Wait- Part 2

Today I met the physical therapist and another therapist at the daycare to do an evaluation of Meredith's skills. Of course, Meredith decided to do things she has never done before while they were there (little show off), but they both were able to see her areas of need. I really liked Susan, the physical therapist, she really has a way with children. She has met Meredith before because she comes weekly to work with another child in Meredith's class. Poor little guy had his therapy earlier in the day and when he saw Susan again he turned his head away like oh no she's back.

Neither therapist had any doubts that Meredith would be accepted into the program, but it will all depend on when the paperwork comes in. Meredith is very stiff and only likes to move her legs together, not independently. Susan should me a few things that I could do with her in the mean time while we wait to get started. I learned today that Meredith should be crawling. As a new mom I don't really know the signs, but Meredith has been able to get up on all fours for a couple months now. Usually when babies do this they crawl within two weeks of starting that, so basically Meredith is stuck. Susan thinks this is because of her stiffness and I hope that with us doing this exercises and starting the therapy she will quickly progress.

I was so proud of Meredith today. She did great with all these new people messing with her. I thank the Lord for her everyday.

A note to mother's though, I think you should do little exercises with your babies everyday. We started out doing this but have been lax about it since I returned to work.

Babies Can't Wait- Part 1

Last night Bill and I met with a coordinator for Babies Can't Wait, which in a nut shell is a program for babies and children to get all kinds of therapy they might need. We have been concerned with the fact that Meredith still doesn't sit up by herself, the longest she has done has been about 10 seconds. I got mad at the doctor because he pretty much wasn't concerned with the fact that Meredith could not do this at her 9mo. check-up and didn't offer any advice.

Well God is looking after us, because the next day at daycare her teacher approached me and said that a physical therapist working with one of the other babies thought that therapy would greatly benefit Meredith. The daycare provided me with all the information and I called to get the process started.

Last night we basically signed paperwork, but the coordinator evaluated the 10mo. developmental questionnaire, you know the ones you fill out at the doctors office. Based on our answers, there were 3 areas of need, but she said that not all needed to be addressed at this time. We are set up for the physical therapist to come and test Meredith at the daycare on Wednesday and then hopefully in a couple weeks she will start on therapy.

I am very excited about this program and want to spread the word. I was told it is free, but it is based on income (adjusted gross income) and family size. At the most we are only going to have to pay $12 per session and of course Meredith is well worth it. If you want to information please let me know and I will keep you all posted as to the progress.

My First Mother's Day

To celebrate my first Mother's Day (and to get a little vacation in) we went to Florida to see my mom. We love going down there and it now usually provides us with a chance to visit Bill's family in Albany to break up the trip. We headed out Thursday evening to go to Bill's sister's house and after getting much needed haircuts (us, not Meredith) we headed to FL. The weather was great, nice and hot, except for Mother's Day which was very windy. My mom, her friend Kathy, and I all got pedicures on Saturday morning and I was also able to finish reading Memoirs of a Geisha. On Mother's Day, Bill made my mom and I breakfast and I also for an iPod from Bill and Meredith. That afternoon we went to my Uncle Jack and Aunt Toni's house for dinner. We were able to have Meredith's first pool experience, which didn't last long since the water was so cold, but she did seem to enjoy it, so we will definitely have to plan another short trip this summer. Below are some pictures.

Now that I am a mother I realize I am even more grateful for my own and all the mothers in my life. Motherhood is a blessing! I cannot wait to spend many more with my family as it will hopefully continue to grow.

Happy Mother's Day to all!!

Going Green

I wanted to post on our efforts to help our environment and our wallets. Bill and I started recycling over a year ago and continue to do so. In addition to that we replaced all the light bulbs in the house to CFLs. I really like them, they are a lot bright too. We have had to replace our washer and dryer and got a front loader. We can definitely tell a difference there, we do way more laundry now with Meredith than ever and our water bill has either stayed the same and even gone down a little bit in some months. On the water note, we have a Pur filter on the faucet and fill up Nalgene bottles daily. I have used a Nalgene since graduate school, but that was because I like water and I have never believed in paying for bottled water. Why pay for something you already get?

I have become addicted to reading anything about going green. We only buy baby food in jars so that it can be recycled (Gerber needs to get with the program). Now we are "making" our own food for Meredith. What I mean by making is using the food processor to finely chop fruits, veggies, and meats for her to eat. This is definitely helping the wallet. On the baby note, I have decided that I will use cloth diapers for the next baby. If we do that we will eliminate one bag of trash at least. We didn't do it with Meredith because she came early and I didn't fell educated enough on what was out there and how to do it.

Now we are even going as far as considering starting a compost pile. Not to have the compost necessarily, but because it just seems so wasteful to put food scraps in the garbage. I never in a million years thought I would be the one doing all these things for the environment, but it just seems crazy not to and it has not put any burdens on us. No more plastic bags, no bottled water, recycle everything you can, use cloth napkins, everything you can reuse, do so. That is the way we role in our house.

Please let me know if you are doing things to go green because I like learning new things.

Pictures

Bill and I waiting to go into the delivery room.

I see Meredith for the first time.

Meredith and Mommy.

Meredith and Daddy (look how small she is).

Meredith's birth announcement picture.

Norton and Meredith. He loves everything that is hers.

First trip to the beach at just over a month old. She slept through most of it.

Cheering on her favorite team! (Don't tell Daddy I like Clemson better than Tech)

Bath time with Norton. They both love the water.

At Meredith's Baptism.

Hanging with Daddy watching TV. She loves her Daddy.

First Halloween

First Thanksgiving

One of her first solid meals.

Checking out her goodies from Santa.

First Snow

Hurry Up, its cold!

Daddy and Meredith in the snow.

Happy Valentines Day

Easter Dress

I gonna get you.

Meredith's favorite toy, the Jumperoo.

Pants on Head! She loves this game.

This was taken this morning before going to Daycare. Love this outfit!

Hello

Hello all in blog land! I never thought I would do this, but I have so much fun reading me friends blogs, I thought why not. My name is Stacie and my husband is Bill. We had our first child, Meredith on July 20, making her 9 months old. She is a joy and we are the most spoiled parents in the world. Meredith slept through the night at 9 weeks, eats everything you give her, isn't fussy, even when teething (she has 7 teeth!), and has a great temperament overall.

A little more back story for you to catch us up to today...

Bill and I met through his sister-in-law in Albany, GA, which is where I had my first job out of grad school, in November 2004. We liked each other right away, but didn't have our first real date until February 2005. I moved back to north GA in June 2005 and started working at NGCSU, my alma mater. In October 2005, I made a huge sacrifice to move in with Bill in Bethlehem and started commuting an hour and a half to work, one way. Not that he has it any easier, he works in midtown Atlanta. Bill proposed in April 2006 and we got married on November 25, 2006.

We found out we were pregnant on the day after Christmas and started preparing right away with a to do list that to this day is not completed (but we are done with probably 90% of it). I had a great pregnancy with no morning sickness and average weight gain. I felt good until the end, but at my 34 week check-up my blood pressure was through the roof. I was put on minimal activity for a few days, then the hospital, then home, then hospital, then complete home bed rest, then finally delivered at 36 weeks.

Meredith Jane entered the world at 5:11pm on July 20, 2007 (due date of Aug. 19) weighing in at 5lbs. 6oz. 17.75" long. She had to go into the NICU for a couple days, but she was great. To this day she is a little squirt, at her 9mo. check-up she weighed 15lbs. 12oz., but otherwise she is right on track. My friend Amanda's son is 4 mo. and weighs more than she does, but he is a big boy (and a cute one too!).

I changed jobs in January and started working at Gainesville State College- Oconee Campus as the Coordinator of Student Life. Changing jobs was really hard because I loved the students and people I worked with so much. But the decision has been one of the best choices I have made. I am now closer to home and Meredith isn't in the car so much. I have great co-workers and students to work with everyday too.

Right now we are working with Meredith to sit up on her own. She can do what has been referred to as the gorilla sit (with her hands for support), but she still won't sit unassisted. We are trying to work out getting her into Babies Can't Wait to get some physical therapy. She is trying to crawl though, so we are slowly getting things baby-proofed. Meredith loves our cats and like to grab them whenever she can. Our cat Norton likes to take baths with her.

I will post some pictures of our journey to this point tonight.