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.