10 months and finally getting the hang of it!

It has taken a GOOD 10 months, but I think I'm JUST NOW getting this mommy thing together. Someone please tell me I'm not alone. Did any other new mommy's out there find themselves at 2pm still in their pjs and their hair not brushed b/c you've devoted the last 8 hrs to your kid and NOTHING else has gotten done?!?! WHEN THEY'RE NOT A NEWBY anymore?!?!?! I have struggled and struggled with the multi-tasking vs. how I WANT to spend my time battle since she has been born.

*For one, I WANT to spend every waking moment, playing with her, tending to her needs, and teaching her new things (and the snuggle/nap time) is A MUST!

*Secondly, I have HAD to come to the realization that I DO need to get dressed and do the dishes, and the laundry DOES have to get done by someone, and my husband must have something to eat for dinner at night.

How to combine those two astriks...has been SO difficult for me!! I would get so frustrated when I go pick Jaycee up from Josh's mom's house after spending the night, and Jaycee is playing in the floor and she's doing dishes...and I would have the thought, "How do you do that!?!" hahahaha. Sounds so simple, but it's like now that she's here, for the longest time, I feel like I can't get anything else done. Sometimes it is b/c I don't want to do anything else, and then sometimes I feel like I just don't have the ability to multitask and I CAN'T get anything done when she's starting to go EVERYWHERE!

But over the last month, I have MADE myself change. I have a list of at least 2 things around the house that need to be done every day of the week. (i.e. the bathrooms and doing 2 loads of laundry). And I make sure that I do those things BEFORE Josh gets home. And I don't do this out of laziness, b/c these things always get done, but I've always waited until Josh got home and then I'm in a cleaning/cooking frenzy the rest of the evening.

I can successfully say that I am doing so much better with this, and it has made the evenings when Josh IS home so much more enjoyable. It's just getting used to a different life, with different responsibilities, and adapting. (sounds like I've had therapy about it, doesn't it!!) I was just getting so frustrated!! :)

ANYWAYS, so now that months 9-10 has helped me dramatically, my little girl is a growing/discovering weed!!

10 month stats:

*We've had some sleeping trouble this past month...I was terrified...but thanks to a sound machine that actually stays on all night, we are back to sleeping through the night again! who knew a fan wasn't enough noise...

*We are still working on the walking thing. She is VERY proficient walking with her walker toy, and when we hold on to her, she doesn't hold on NEAR as tight...so we are getting there. (everytime we stand her behind her walker/push toy) as soon as she takes off walking with it, she throws one hand in the air and says "bye bye" SO STINKIN' CUTE!!

*Is it sad that I find it sad that instead of the stage 3 foods, I'm now buying the gerber GRADUATES!! hahaha, something about that word has me emotional already. We buy their little microwavable meals and she loves them...they have little spaghettios, mac and cheese with chicken...mmmm. They even have graduate nutri grain bars that she LOVES for breakfast!!

*She says, "hi" "dada" and "bye bye" I was so excited b/c she actually looked at Josh the other day and said "dada" I think that was the first time she understood what dada meant and who he was!! I was so excited!!

*We now can roll a ball back and forth in the floor. She hasn't quite figured out how to roll correctly...she just takes both hands and hits it until it rolls and then I say "yay!" And that's how we roll!!

*We still only have 2 teeth...hahahaa. But one of her teachers at the daycare said that she was impressed at what all she can eat with only 2 teeth. I told Josh, "she's MY daughter, they shouldn't expect anything less...if it's food, we find a way!"

I will leave you with some pictures of her at the pumpkin patch that we took her to yesterday! She HAD A BLAST!!! I think though, I had just as much fun as she did, but I'm always excited if I see her having a good time!!!

Her and daddy painting her pumpkin

My little pumpkin in the pumpkins! :)

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Her Brothers from another Mother!

Here below are her Brothers from another Mother (aka one of my best friends, Julie)

From left to right is Zach, Jaycee and Noah. Here in a couple of months these three will be the

ages of 1 (Jaycee), 2 (Zach), and 3 (Noah).

They already act like family. Her name to them is "baby Jaycee." Julie and I joke that when they're in high school together that she will still be referred to as "baby Jaycee."! hahaha.

They play, laugh, and today at the fall festival, her and Noah even started fighting (from stroller to stroller!)

I cannot wait to see the three of them grow up together and go to school together!! At least I know there are two boys that are going to have her back! :)

Baby Dedication weekend!

We had one FULL weekend!! I feel like it was event after event this weekend and it FLEW by, but sometimes as hectic as they are, they are still the best!! This weekend was "jaycee's weekend!" Jaycee got dedicated at church this morning and it was such a WONDERFUL experience!! We are sooo incredibly blessed to have filled up a pew and a half at our church full of family and friends that were there to support us as parents and Jaycee in her walk with God. My heart was so full of gratitude looking around Josh and I at the people who were there and love us and care about us the most! I almost cried! We had friends and family show up that I didn't even know remembered that this was the "dedication" weekend! So if you were there and you are reading this, Thank you so much for taking a week away from your home church to be with us. We are so thankful and we love you all!

This was what the church gave us. It is the picture that I had to turn into the church for the bulletin in a frame that states: "Let the little children come to me...for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as thee."

This was Jaycee right after we got her ready before church. She looked so darn sweet!

And I had to save this picture for last!! As much as this girl smiles and loves attention...I feel this picture is priceless!! Such proud parents and one OVERLOADED. EXHAUSTED. baby! hahaha. And of course, she broke down ON STAGE!! I told Josh, she was just making sure that everyone noticed her! hahaha.

After that we had EVERYONE over to eat at our house which I think was around 15 people, and enjoyed the afternoon of family and friends!! God is so good!!

AHHHH.....9 months!

Yes, we are nine months old, and yes I'm going deeper and deeper into "not so baby" depression. As I was putting her to sleep the other night (yes, I still do that and probably will until she is in middle school!) I just started crying while she was sleeping peacefully in my arms. It was the night before her 9 month "birthday" and I was just thinking back at nine months ago and then 8 months ago, and then 7 and 6 and so on....and it just amazes me what all can transpire in 9 months!! She wasn't even here 9 months ago and now I don't remember my life before her...literally....I feel pathetic looking back at my life before her, sad, maybe...but she is all we know now. I go out shopping with her and she's so cheerful and lovey and happy and actually lets me shop...and I look to my left and there is a woman who looks like she could beat the crap out of her tantrum filled 2 year old and I look at her and say, "you're never going to act like that are you?!?!" hahahaha, I know I'm dreaming, but in all reality I know that the days of her being pure joy for the WHOLE time she's awake is not going to last forever either, and I'm trying to soak up these days in hopes I've implanted them so much that they are all I can think of when my child is laying in the middle of the mall one day kicking her legs and screaming at the top of her lungs because I'm not going to buy her ANOTHER build a bear!! :) So now that I have updated everyone on exactly how obssessed I am with my daughter, the only logical thing to continue is to post this pretty little picture taken while we took her to the park a couple of saturdays ago:

Do you see the stance....do you see how big that looks!??! Kills me. So now on to her 9 month stats:

*She weighs 19 lbs 5 oz. (60th percentile)

*She is 28 and 1/4 inches tall (in the 75-80th percentile) SHOCKING!

*She loves loves loves saying "Bye Bye" and waving her hand...it cracks me up b/c its the most southern voice sounding bye bye I've ever heard!!

*She will say "dada" and "ball" but EVERYTHING is bye bye. And STILL no mama. :(

* We still ONLY have 2 teeth!! Whats up with that!??! Lets get these teething days done, shall we?!?

*We are now walking as long as we are holding onto something. She will go from one side of the couch to the other holding on to it and we have a push toy to help her walk and she will now go a short distance pushing that and walking behind it!! WE'RE GETTING SO CLOSE!

*She has accepted that her paci is only at bedtime now. We have even starting doing without it at nap time so hopefully bedtime is next!! We have always immediately removed it from her mouth and out of site when she's awake, so hopefully since she's not sooo dependent on it, it will help this transition.

*She's not a fan AT ALL of the 3rd stage foods...so much that we are now doing more table food with her than anything and Dr. Hurlock said that was completely ok. We do eat oatmeal for breakfast but the other two meals are usually a little baby food a little table food. But restaurants don't seem to have HEALTHY kid menu items. I was shocked. Looks like she will eat off our plate until she's old enough to see a kid eating chicken nuggets and fries. I just don't want to start bad eating habits...and you would think restaurants would offer healthy items for these growing little things! Another shocker! Sorry, had to vent....

*Peek-a-boo is our game of choice!! We do it to her, but then she will take her "blankee" and throw it over her head herself and she will hold it there for what seems like minutes on end with daddy and I going "where's Jaycee, Jaycee where are you!?!" before she pulls it down!! She plays tough! :)

I think that's it for now. I can't believe she is getting so close to being a year old! And yes, party planning is already in progress, and I am too ashamed to admit for how long!! (hey, you only turn ONE once, right?!?)

xoxoxoxoxoxo!!

Do I dare?!

Oh geez. Etsy gets me in all kinds of trouble!! Look what I have stumbled across and can't get off my mind:

It's a headband with FAKE hair to make it look like it's in little pigtails!! I am completely in love with this concept! :) And for 20 bucks, it just might be worth a try! I mean how stinkin' cute is this!?! But at the same time...I'm promoting hair extensions in an 8 month old! :) Do I dare?!?

(I'm thinking so....)

First Haircut!

It was time...

for the mullet to go!! :)

She got to sit in a purple jeep and watch Dora while she was getting it cut while mommy took a ton of pictures and actually, cried a little!! (I wouldn't let Jaycee see, so I kept the camera to my face, so I had to keep snatching shots!)

Just like someone commented on facebook:

"Looks like she is going to enjoy getting pampered!"

Her first trip on the river!!

I think we may have just found a new river rat!! This was her first day out and it was a success! Grandma Jo Jo and Steve bought a boat, and we were so excited to go out with them today and to see if Miss Jaycee would like it.

She definately enjoyed herself!!

Look at this girl and her personality!! We're gonna have our hands full when she gets older!! No fear!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! :)