February Fun

Uh' Oh'! Irelynn's new favorite word. Her vocabulary has expanded a little and DaDa and Uh'Oh are among her favorite new words.

She is starting to eat many new foods. Her favorite so far...anything from K&W. She ate green beans, pintos, mac n' cheese, ground beef, and a couple of bites of mashed potatoes. Another night, she had blueberries. We will never do blueberries at night again. I think she is having a little bit of reflux, but she loved them while she was eating them. We are trying to work on the sippy cup, which is going ok. Irelynn is starting to get the hang of it, but she still wants someone to hold it for her. Her newest hobby is walking the dogs. She sits in her stroller and holds the dog leash. She pitches a fit when we have to take it away from her. Last night we let her bring it inside and play with it beside Rocky. She was entertained for about 30min, which is a lot for my baby.

The last weekend in Feb was really fun. Katie and I had our NCL tea party at the art museum

in Raleigh. The mom's dedicated a tea cup to their daughters that represents them. Katie's is in the

shape of a bright pink rose and the saucer is also a bright pink rose. It is bright, beautiful, and full

of life, just like my favorite teenager.

We are looking forward to March and Irelynn's first birthday!

January

January has been a very busy month. Travis and I took a weekend ski trip and left Irelynn to play at Grana and Pop's. She had a blast, and so did we. Travis and I both slept 8 hours... rejuvenating. But we also missed Irelynn and Katie. Katie has been driving all over the place (with an adult in the passenger's seat), of course. She is applying to volunteer at Rex Hospital this summer, and she made all A's on her report card this semester. Now she is getting geared up for new classes and softball season.

Irelynn is driving all over the place too! Well, she is driving her walker all over the downstairs. We moved the furniture to give her a pretty good race track, and she is pushing that thing all over the place. She leans forward and those little legs just go and go. She has started saying "hi" to people and gives us a "baso" (kiss in spanish). She gets really excited over the pictures on her wall and will even kiss the giraffe when we hold her up to it.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

First white Christmas I've ever seen. It was a truely beautiful site once we were all safely in Conover. Christmas eve, Irelynn attended her first church service and behaved better than I've ever seen her behave. She played quietly and with the help of the puff cereal, we made it through the entire service...what a blessing! Then, we went to the Puff's for some family time, food, and gift giving. Irelynn got a great train that she can now use to balance her as she walks. She also got a really cute car and some other toys. Katie got black Uggs, which she loves and some other clothes and accessories. Christmas morning was filled with the tradition of Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas," breakfast casserole, and present's galore. Then, we were off to the Myers' in Winston-Salem to see the Boone/Myers family. We started seeing snow about half way, and hurried through a fabulous meal, to make it safely to Conover. There, Irelynn got a play house from her Grana and Pop and a keyboard from her Nannie. She also got some of the cutest clothes I've ever seen. We are so lucky to have such wonderful families! We arrived home on Monday and Irelynn was so tired from all of the playing that she has slept all night long for 2 nights in a row. This is a first for my baby girl. Go Irelynn!!

A few new things that Irelynn has started doing:

Playing peek-a-boo like a champ and pulling the pages back on her peek-a-boo book all by herself.

Playing "chase" where we chase her around the room and she crawls as fast as she can giggling all the way.

Clicking her tongue and making a fake coughing sound.

Making all kinds of talking noises and taking turns talking with someone.

Mommy is finally starting to feel like a real person again. This baby thing was way harder than I ever thought. There are so many things to worry about and so many things to do! Mommy guilt is something that I never gave much though, but it is as real as any feeling I've ever known. Being a mom opens up a whole new area of your soul, one that was rarely entered before the birth of your child. Once Irelynn was born, my world felt much bigger, much fuller, much more wonderful, but much more complicated and I'm pretty sure that that feeling is here to stay. As I watch my baby grow and change, I realize how quickly time passes and how precious each moment of every day truely is. I feel a richness in my life, a love so deep that it aches, a responsibility so encompasing that it is, at times, utterly overwhelming. With all that said, month 9 is my favorite yet! Baby I is growing and learning and mommy is starting to figure some things out.

Sleep

Last night, Irelynn gave me the best birthday present I could ever imagine, a good night's sleep. She slept from 9pm to 7am, only waking one time to feed. Now this may not sound like much to many mom's, but our nightly rituals have been less than pleasant lately. We have had several middle-of-the-night crying sessions and a couple of feedings. So, clearly, last night was nothing short of a miracle in my eyes. I am hoping that this becomes our new nightly ritual, but I won't get my hopes up yet. Sleep is just one of those things that I never fully appreciated until Irelynn was born. I think I have learned the definition of sleep deprivation and how it can be used as torture in some settings. Thank you, Irelynn, for giving your mom such a wonderful gift.

I just got back from a 3-day, overnight, work conference. I was so nervous about leaving. The night before I left, Irelynn cried for almost 3hrs on and off before I finally put her in the bed beside me. I left the next morning for the airport at 4;45am. Irelynn, Katie, and their daddy had a blast while I was gone, but I know they all missed me....

Irelynn is starting to really be a talker. I love her coos and sounds. It sounds like she is singing a song. When we talk to her, she coos and makes sounds right back at us. Lately, she has found a lot of entertainment looking at herself in the mirror. She will talk and talk and just stare at herself. She has also started to gain strength in her arms and legs. She can put most of her weight on her legs and pull pretty hard with her arms. She is so cute when she looks at her hands and tries to get them into her mouth. She just hasn't mastered their movement yet. She saw her feet the other day and was amazed by them! Even though she kicks and kicks, she doesn't quite understand that they are part of her body.

Irelynn attended her first wedding this weekend. Well, it is more like she sat outside of her first wedding. My cousin Jason married his high-school sweetheart in Charlotte this weekend and we had the pleasure of attending. Irelynn looked so so cute in her dress! We decided to stay outside in the lobby during the wedding so that Irelynn's beautiful voice wouldn't be the thing that people remembered about Jason's special day. We had a wonderful time with family and friends.