In memory

Just a quick post in memory of Emery Kate- It has been one year today since that fateful doctor's visit. It's amazing how just 22 weeks of a short life can impact someone's life. This time last year we were faced with such uncertainty about the future. Now we can look back and see what a little miracle Adalyn is. When I think of that day I am also reminded of how petty some of the things we let bother us. The day before we lost her, the engine on my SUV blew up. The morning of my appointment the kitchen sinks were backing up. Driving to my appointment that day I was so stressed about having to pay for a new SUV and a plumber to come out. In hindsight, neither of these things were important. These things always work themselves out in one way or another.
I often wonder what could have been- when Adalyn reaches a certain milestone I wonder what it would have been like for her sister to share in that moment with her. There is no dwelling on the past, however. Life must move on. While I think there will always be a piece of the puzzle missing it will be fun to watch Adalyn grow. Maybe one day she will get the chance be a big sister.
In closing, I have 2 points to ponder.
1. Don't sweat the small stuff
2. Enjoy every moment with those you love

That's all for now

It's all about balance... right?

It's 3 am.
So yesterday was my first day back to grad school in 9 months! We had orientation for Nurse Practitioner clinicals and one word comes to mind... OVERWHELMING! I am wondering when I am going to have time to do anything between 240 contact hours and 10 hours of coursework- in addition to my family and part-time job- something may have to give! It is crazy that in reality I am on the homestretch of being done- If all goes as planned, in less than one year I will be able to assess, diagnose, and prescribe medication for patients...crazy! Frustrating that I should have been done last month except a little thing called bedrest had to interfere with that last spring.. Adalyn is totally worth it ;). I know in my head the extra time and effort will all be worth it. After all, this is a goal I have been working towards for awhile- it is just going to be a few months of craziness trying to balance it all.. I am sure it will all fall into place.. I just may miss a few more hours of sleep or long runs.. oh well as long as I still have time for my babies.. it's all about balance ;)

Adalyn 8 months

So what exactly is Adalyn doing now? Just about everything! Not bad for my baby who came into the world a month early after a very rough and tough pregnancy on her!

Here are her 8 month stats:

15 lbs 14 ozs

25 inches long

2 bottom teeth

Milestones:
-Rolling over (started at 3 months)
-Sitting up (started at 5 months)
-Crawling (started last week)
-Pulling up
-Laughing

-sucking her thumb
Saying Dada, momma, bubba, and bye-bye (while she waves) too cute!

When I tell her No about something she also says huh? Like she doesn't understand me!

She also LOVES to take baths with Connor! When she hears the water running she takes off crawling toward the bathroom!

Favorite foods other than her milk supply ;)
- sweet potatoes
-bananas
-pears
-green peas
- Gerber vegetable puffs
-Olive garden bread sticks

Songs she loves:
If you are happy and you know it

Head, shoulders, knees & toes

She loves dancing around the living room with Connor & I :)

Is she sleeping all night... that's a different story! She still believes it necessary to wake up and have a 2 am snack of milk... however, after working with her this weekend which included hours of staying awake, downloading the sound of the ocean waves on my IPOD, and patting her booty non-stop- she has slept through the night (8:45 pm to about 6 am) 2 out of the past 4 nights so we are 50/50... I really don't mind a 2am snuggle fest though! I know she won't be this little for very much longer!

New Years Resolutions

I am going to try to get in several posts while Adalyn sleeps and Connor is occupied playing with Lego's... So what are my new year's resolutions... hmmmmmm....


1. Keep my kids (and Tray) top priority
2. Try and maintain my 4.0 GPA
3. Minimize my sweet tooth- seriously... I have the worst sweet tooth ever! Really that is my only bad nutrition habit- I don't like fast food, french fries, chips, fried foods, etc.. but I love some ice cream and ice cream pies!! Thank goodness for running and breastfeeding (which burns 500 to 600 calories a day. I am going to try and eat more protein (that supposedly helps) We will see- I am not a meat person..yuck.. but maybe a piece of chicken a day will ward off that sugar habit.. I don't know.. what is so wrong with having a bowl of ice cream or 2 for dinner? Lol!!

4. Cook more- I admit- I am not a" typical" housewife.. I definitely do not cook- Tray usually does all the cooking! I know.. pretty bad- so I am going to attempt to cook at least one gourmet healthy meal per week this year.. I will let you know how that goes :)


Tray's new year goals are to get in better shape- and run a half marathon with me in March! He has never been one to pace himself so we will see- I think it is kind of funny that I can beat him now, considering this time last year (when I was on bedrest) he thought it was rather funny to taunt me with how nice and relaxing his run was... ha ha! We will see who has the last laugh come March!!
Toodles for now :)

Fresh Start to a New Year

As if I don't have enough to do, I thought I would get in the swing of things and try blogging. Since a lot of my family lives in Texas, I thought this would be an easier way to keep them up to date on everything... So here we go......

The new year started with a fresh cold start...literally.. try 20 degrees and 6 inches of snow. This may not be a big deal if we lived somewhere in Colorado, but for outside of Memphis, TN- it was like a blizzard! Everything- schools, businesses, etc. shut down for half of the week! Meanwhile, we enjoyed getting to spend some family time in the cold stuff. Tray's parents have a golf cart, so he thought it would be a grand idea to sled behind it on a plastic sled! Needless to say, he ended up busting it on the curb (due to my driving)! We had a great time though. Connor and Tray even built an enormous snowman! Adalyn wasn't too sure what to think about the cold stuff- it must have wore her out, because she took a loooooong nap that afternoon. She did look pretty adorable in her pink snow suit though!! Check out the pics below!