Only 3 weeks to go!

Mommy is over 35 weeks now! I went to Dr. Deed today and everything is perfect. Your heart rate was 140-150 and Mommy measured over 36. The Dr. thinks you will be a good sized baby since your brother was 3 weeks early and weighed 7lb 5oz. Also we know the date of when I'm going to be induced. It's now offical....Mommy will be induced with you on May 31st!!! I will be 38.5 weeks since my due date is June 10th. So you will be full term and only about 10 days before your due date. The reason we are being induced is because just like with your brother Mommy has problems with her ribs. Your big brother broke Mommy's rib when I was pregnant with him and it didn't heal right. Also they said the bigger you get the more damage that could occur. Daddy and I can't wait to see your pretty little face. Your Daddy worked all week at putting all of your furniture together. It is finally done. Your lighting came in today and so did your duvet. So as soon as we get that put up then I will have to post some pics of your room. Only 3 more weeks to go. Our next apt. is May 22nd. They will ck to see if I'm dialated and if so then I won't have to go to the hospital until the 31st. If not then we will ck in on the 30th. Dr. Deed said it's possible you could come on your own before that since I'm having so many contractions which by the way hurt. With Jackson they didn't but with you it is a different story. Now that your room is almost done it seems that we only need you in it to make it complete. I have enjoyed preparing for your arrival. I have bought you so many cute little outfits, bows, and shoes. Even though it is has been a tough pregnancy I will miss many things about carry you safe in my tummy. It can be a scary world out here but it also has so many wonderful things to offer like a personal relationship with Christ. I hope to pass on a legacy to you and your brother that will live on forever. I have so many things to share with you and teach you. All of the aches and pain will be worth it once they put you in my arms. I already day dream about all of the fun things we will do together. See you soon sweet-heart. Love, Mommy

14 Days and Counting

A lot of family and friends have been asking about what your nursery looks like. Mommy is finally ready to show pics of it. It still isn't complete, but I only have a few more finishing touches to add. I just can't wait to see you in it. Only 14 more days to go! Daddy and I have worked very hard at making it the perfect room for our little princess. Your big brother already loves to be in your room because he has seen the changes it has made over the past few months. Everytime he walks in..he says baby! Your bedding was custom made back in Jan. and I have been anxiously waiting until your furniture came in to see the final results. Just so I can remember where I got all of stuff....Your lighting came from Tuck and Cover. Your furniture from Kids Furniture, and your bedding is by Lulla Smith from Charlie's. Your Nanna Shannon made your lamp shade and your painting above your bed along with other little accesories to match. Daddy did the stripes and your Aunt Neely helped get the painting madness started. It is an amazing feeling to stand back and look into your sweet little room and think of all the neat memories we will create in there. From tea parties to dress up....Mommy just can't wait. I hope it is a magical place for you that you will always treasure. Love, Mommy

June 2, 2006

Here are some pics of you getting to come home with Mommy and Daddy. We left the hospital around 2pm. Then we stopped and got Daddy some food and dropped off some prescriptions at Walgreens. You didn't make one sound the entire time. This was quite a different experience the what we had with your brother. I remember feeling so nervous especially when he started crying in the car. This time it was much more laid back. It was wonderful to pull up and see the beautiful sign Danielle made and bring you into your home. Mommy took a couple of pics of you in your bed and then anxiously awaited the arrival of your big brother. He heard you crying in your room right when he walked in and his eyes got bigger than I've ever seen. He then smiled and said baby! It is a day I'll never forget.

I can't believe you are already a week old but then again I can't remember life without you. You have had a big first week. You had your first bath, your first swing ride, your first car ride, and much more. Mommy gave you a pacifier for the first time today and you loved it!!! You took to it like you had been doing it forever. You are eating every 2-3 hrs and sleeping when you're not eating. You are such a good baby. The only time you cry is when you are hungry or sometimes when we change your diaper. You love to be in the car. We went out yesterday for a couple of hours and you were awake for most of the ride. You just took in all of the sights and sounds especially your loud big brother. You have had lots of visitors over the past week. There are already so many people that love you. They have taken such good care of us with good food and company. We love you princess! Here are some pics of you over the last week. Love, Mommy

Bath Time Fun

Here are some pics of you enjoying your bath. It will be a lot more fun when I can get your little tummy wet. When we saw these pics the first thing it reminded me and your Daddy of was your little brother when he was this age in the bath. Even though when we look at you we don't see a lot of Jackson, it shows up so much in pictures for some reason. They made us flashback to almost two years ago and it is amazing how fast the time has flown by. I find myself savoring every moment of the newborn stage. With your brother I remember feeling a little more up tight and nervous and wanting him to grow,grow,grow. I guess seeing how fast it goes by I wouldn't mind you staying this little for a long time. Your first bath wasn't as enjoyable because you were asleep when I put you in and I was trying to wake you up. However your second bath was a different story. You loved the warm water on your little hiney. You have had a diaper rash since we were in the hospital and it is finally getting better. Butt paste works great by the way and so does Arbonne diaper rash cream. It is probably because your first 24 hrs. you had 6 big jobs when the goal was only one. You are the cutest thing ever!!

Last Friday was your first check up with Dr. Johnson. You acted like an angel. Mommy and Daddy both took you and couldn't wait to see if you went back to your birth weight. We knew you were a big eater and hoped it showed on the scales. You weighed 6lb and 13oz when you were born and when we left the hospital you were at 6lb 5oz. We were so excited when they put you on the scales because you weighed 7lb and 5oz today!!! This means you gained one pound in only one week. Dr. Johnson was very impressed with you Miss Bailey! You also have already grown an inch. You were at 20 inches today. Everything else looked great he said. Here are some recent pics of you sweet-heart. Keep up the good work. We started baby wise a couple of days ago and so far so good. You wake up at night and eat and usually go right back to sleep. You are still breast feeding every 2.5-3 hrs. Also you love to just watch everything around. You can lay by yourself or in your swing content which is wonderful. We love you!

Your Big Brother can't seem to get enough of your kisses!!It is the sweetest thing ever and makes me smile every time.

First Time at Church

Here are some pics of you and your brother before church on Sunday. You looked adorable. We love our church, Fellowship Bible Church-Little Rock,and hope one day you will love it too! We took you to the special newborn care room. This is a place they have for new Mommy's and Daddy's so we can stay with you the entire time. They also have a place for nursing moms so we can still see the sermon while we nurse. You will be in there with us until you are about 4-5 months old. God has truly blessed our home. Love, Mommy

Thank you Daddy for being so wonderful!! One day soon Bailey will know just how blessed she is to have you. Today was great. Bailey will be bringing you arts and crafts like Jackson did today this time next year which is hard to think about. She will always be your little princess. We love you so much!

Here are some recent pics of you. You are now almost 4 weeks old which is hard to believe. It has flown by!! We have kept you very busy since week one and you just seem to be taking it all in. Your cold is starting to clear up already which makes me so happy! Your brother seems to be giving you extra attention these days. He wants you in sight at all times and you can tell he gets sad when you cry. He hollers "Mommy Baby" when you get upset. He also likes to give you your pacificer and even tried to feed you a cracker this week. We tried explaining to him that all you need is milk but he doesn't understand that very well. Hopefully I won't find any crumbs on your lips any time soon. Today I took you and Jackson to the park since you started feeling better. I can already tell you love to be outside just like Jackson. You also love to be in the car. Baths are another enjoyment of yours. You prop your feet up and it makes me laugh everytime. Your brother would kick his feet like crazy and you just sit back and relax. You are a very content baby and just love life right now. Nothing makes me happier than to hold you in my arms and cuddle. That would have to be your favorite thing to do too! I guess since I'm consumed with chasing your brother I love any quiet time we can get. So after Jackson goes to sleep or during his naps is our "cuddle time". I also already enjoy playing dress-up with you even though most of your bows are as big as your little face it is so much fun. I love you sweet-heart! Love, Mommy

Mommy just couldn't wait to see you respond to us with a big smile! Just yesterday we know for sure you are now smiling. When we talk to you or make funny noises at you, you start smiling. Yesterday you smilied at me for what seems like forever. I only wish I could have had my camera. I did capture you smiling at Nanny today though. You also started cooing today at Nanny. It was precious. I forgot how sweet little milestones like this are. You are such a sweet-heart! Love, Mommy

So you are now officially one month old as of Saturday! Words can't describe how much I love you. You are my little angel and make me smile everyday. You are now smiling all the time. You love it when anyone talks or sings to you. You also love to be in the car, your swing, and anything else that moves. You have started to make those sweet little cooing noises that melt my heart. I thought adjusting to two was going to be the hardest thing ever but because you have been easy on me so far it has been a smooth ride. Thank goodness for grandparents or it would be a lot harder. You sleep great, eat great, and are for the most part a content baby. You weigh 10lb and 3 oz as of today. You are in a size one diaper and 0-3 months clothes. But if you keep gaining over a pound a week that will change soon. I had to take you back to the Dr. today because you have been doing some throwing up and coughing really bad. The Dr. said you have reflux. I'm not putting you on meds just yet, but will wait and see how you do on your own over the next week or so. Last night was the first night that I had to be up with you and I flashed back quickly to how hard not getting sleep could be. I was up from 3-6am because you couldn't sleep because of coughing and crying. The Dr. said that the acid is coming up and then going into your lungs and you aren't strong enough yet to just cough it up so you are having to work hard to get rid of it. I hope this clears soon because I hate to see you in pain. It is a good sign that you are still gaining so much weight and getting everything you need. Mommy is going to try a few tricks like sitting you in your car seat or bouncer seat every time after you eat to see if that helps. I love you sweet-heart. Here is a pic of you at your first trip to the lake over the weekend and some from the holiday. Love, Mommy

You turned six weeks old on Wednesday. We had a busy week. We went shopping to get you ready for baby dedication and you were such a good girl for me as always. You love to be on the go. We also have been spending a lot of time at Nanny's house swimming. You love to be there with your brother. We also got to see Maggie and Mimi on Friday. I can't wait to see you and Mimi playing together since you are so close in age. Our Mondays and Thursdays are girl only days while brother is at Mother's Day Out. Mommy can't seem to hold you enough on those two days. The biggest milestone this week is you are sleeping through the night!! I know...I can't believe it. It took 6 months for your brother and you did it before six weeks. It has now been 6 successful nights of sleeping 6 hours...eating...then going back to sleep for at least 3 to 4 more hours. It's is wonderful. You also started sleeping in your room last week which was the exact time you slept through the night. I would have to say that reading "baby wise" and taking the parts out of it that I liked helped. You put yourself to sleep and your schedule includes eating...playing...then sleeping. I always know when your hungry, sleepy, etc..With your brother I think I would try to feed him to sleep or think he was hungry when really he was just tired. You usually go down around 9pm, then wake up at 4am to eat, and then sleep until 7am. It was so cute because for the first time this week you and your brother woke up at the same time. I first went into his room, and then we both came to your room to greet you for the day. Honey, I'm so proud of you. You make life much easier then it should be with a newborn. You smile all the time. You love to be in your bouncer seat and watch everything going on around you. Here are some pics of you smiling at Mommy and your toys. I love you sweet-heart. Love, Mommy

July 16, 2006

Bailey,

Sunday was your baby dedication at our church which is Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock. We had some what of a stressful morning trying to get out the door with two little ones but it was a beautiful service. I will never forget this day. Bill Parkinson did it and he is also the same pastor that married Mommy and Daddy. They put a big picture of you from when you were 10 days old on the screen and talked about who you were named after and what our hopes are for you and your life. Jackson was up there with us and he did great for the most part. Daddy was a little nervous because Jackson is not known as being calm or still. Then we all went out to eat for pizza. We had to leave a little early because it was your brother's nap time. Your Me-Me, Mam-Ma, Mamaw and Barry, Pops, and Nanny were at church and went out to eat with us. You were a little angel and looked like one too. We got some great pics. I laughed out loud when I saw the pic of Jackson grabbing your headband and putting it over your eyes. I guess you better get used to it! We were proud parents and always will be. I can't wait until you can know the Lord like I do, but until then I will try my best to lead you by example. I love you sweet-heart. Mommy
This was what was said about you:
"Bailey Grace was born May 31st, 2006 weighing 6lb and 13oz and 19 inches long. She is named after Brooke’s Grandparents that raised her since she was four years old, Pat and Calvin Bailey. The Bailey’s led Brooke to Christ at an early age and Brooke and Josh couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to honor them. Grace comes from Brooke’s Great Grandmother, Ester Grace. Their hope for Bailey is that she will be a Godly woman honoring the Lord in everything she does. Their verse for Bailey is 3 John 1:4 “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

You are now two months old. Where does the time go? You are still a little angel baby. You are still sleeping through the night, eating great, and growing like crazy. You also are cooing, smiling, and trying to laugh when anyone talks to you. You are also starting to watch your little brother a lot. You smile at him when he talks to you and enjoy just watching him. It's precious. You had your shots on Monday. You are a tough little girl. You only cried for a second. I think it hurt your feelings more than anything. It's amazing already the difference I can see between a little girl and a little boy's emotions. You weighed 11 lb and 8 oz and were 23.5 inches long on Monday, July 31. You are in the 75% for height and 75% for weight. You are also starting to watch your hands a lot. You suck on your fingers when you loose your pacificer. You love the bath like your bubba. You also love for Mommy to hold you and sing or talk to you. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with how much I already love you. It brings me to tears in a second just thinking about how blessed I am to have you. You are such a trooper to put up with your Brother picking on you already. You usually don't cry even when he is poking at your eyes, head, etc...Daddy says you don't have a choice but to be a tough little girl. Well...I guess that is enough bragging for one day about how special you are. We take you on your first vacation in just two more days. We will be gone for an entire week. I'm very nervous about not having your crib since you are doing so great. But I know we need to get away and relax so if your schedule gets off we will just work hard when we get back to get you back on track. Love you sweet-heart!!

No, I'm not sweet-heart. But just like everyone else, your brother can't get enough of you these days. He wants to hold you and love on you all the time. He especially doesn't like it when you get sad. He comes and finds me and leads me to you. You seem to handle it very well considering how rough and tough he is. I can see in your little face you aren't too sure about all of this...believe me Mommy is just as nervous as you.

Mommy is so proud of you sweet-heart. Thanks for being so great while Mommy was sick. Mommy is feeling so much better now and almost like myself again. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and to those that helped us so much!!

I swear you grow and change every day right now. You are starting to look like a baby instead of a newborn. Mommy loves your little leg rolls and cheeks. I could play with you for hours...too bad big brother doesn't let us. I guess that is what our M & Th's are for while he is at Mother's Day Out! Here are some pics of you over the weekend. You are starting to make all kinds of cute noises at Mommy. I can't get enough of them. You get so excited that you don't know what to do with yourself or your tongue for that matter. You stick it out because you smile so big!! It's the cutest thing ever. It's ironic how the little things can make Mommy's entire day!! Love you bunches!!

3 Months Old

You will be three months on Thursday. Mommy is so happy getting to spend every day at home with you and watching you grow and change and develop. You are trying to talk to Mommy now by making the sweetest little sounds I've ever heard. You really think you are the stuff...which you are!! You still are nursing great. Sleeping around 7-8 hrs. sometimes more before a feed at night then sleeping again until your Big Bro has to wake you up. You love your pacificer and security blanket already. You also love to eat!! You are still eating every 2.5-3 hrs during the day. You don't like the bottle at all. You have had to have pear juice a couple of times since you go a week sometimes with out using the bathroom. It seems to help you. This week you are being much more regular and haven't needed anything to help you use the bathroom. You are now just on zantac for you belly. It helps so much. You like your bouncer seat, swing, mobile, and baby mat. However if you get over stimulated it is very easy to tell. You can go from happy to mad in .5 seconds just like every other woman I know. I told Daddy to get ready! You are always happy unless you are ready to go to sleep or hungry. You also love to snuggle with Mommy. You are the most amazing daughter I could've ever dreamed for. I love you more than words can say. Here are some pics of you just being your happy self. Love, Mommy

Bailey...you are full of it all the time it seems. You know how to melt Mommy's heart that is for sure. You laughed out loud for the first time on Sat.(Sept. 2nd) because Mommy was tickling you. It was the greatest thing ever. Daddy was home so we called him in to show off your new trick. Now you can't stop laughing at your crazy parents. I've already found all of your tickle spots. My hair also can make you laugh. You also like to smile at yourself in the mirror. You had a fun Labor Day weekend. We took you for a good stroll along the River Market Sat., then Sunday we went to the lake at Papaw Don's cabin, and today we had a great lunch at Mamaw's. You were an angel as always for it all. You just seem to go with the flow. Here are some pics of you showing off your new trick of sitting in your bumbo seat. We got this from Mam-Ma Goss as a baby gift at your shower, and it is wonderful. You just started trying it out over the last couple of weeks. Your head gets stronger and stronger each day. You are already holding your chest and head up when you have your "tummy time". Before I know it you will be rolling over. You also are moving around in your bed a lot now. You are never in the same position from when I put you down. Mommy picked you up by your heels the other night because I wasn't expecting you to be all the way backwards. Your little brother still likes to love on you all the time. You smile a lot at him. I can already tell you are going to be tough by how well you handle him poking (he calls it lovin) on you. You are gaining so much weight. You have already outgrown a lot of your 3-6 months clothes and are already wearing 6-9 months. You are also ready for a size 2 diaper. You have little skinny feet and have a hard time keeping a size 1 on. I love every inch of you sweet-heart! Love, Mommy

Your Aunt Raain loves playing with you already. She asks every day when are you going to talk, walk, and be able to play with her like Jackson does. When I walked into the living room yesterday she had you dressed up with the parts from Jackson's Mr. Potato Head. I couldn't stop laughing because you looked so funny. You just sat there and didn't mind at all her dressing you up. I'm sure this is the first of many dress-up parties.

Bailey you have been watching your big brother play since birth and last weekend was a new miestone for you. You started playing with your toys!! Over the past few weeks you made attempts for them. Then last weekend you can now grab and reach for things which makes Mommy so proud. You love your baby Einestein mat the most because it has so many things for you to reach for. You also can grab your toys hanging from your bouncer seat. Today you laid on your mat and played for 20 minutes. This was longer than your brother ever thought about being content. Tonight we took you and your big bro to your first football game. We went back to Mommy and Daddy's high school, Sylvan Hills. You loved the music and loud noises. Everyone thought you were the sweetest thing ever. Tomorrow we are going to a baby shower for one of Mommy's friends that had twins. We will let your brother and Daddy go to Gym class while we do our "girl" things. Having a daughter is the greatest thing ever. You make you smile every day. I love you pumpkin.

On Monday you had your four month check-up. Even though you won't be four months until the 31st it was better to go now instead of later for us to get the apt. day we needed. You had to get your shots and ran fever Monday and Tues. because of them. You didnt' act like the fever bothered you though. It hurt Mommy to watch you get so upset when you had your shots. I think it hurt your feelings more than anything. It is the sadest thing ever when your lip sticks out. Dr. Johnson said you are one healthly girl!! You weighed 14lb and 15oz and are 24 inches long. You are in the 70%-80% for your height and weight and you aren't even four months old yet! He said we can start cereal and applesauce in it or pears in with it too. Yeah! You are sleeping around 7-8 hrs. before needing to eat at night. The goal is 8-12 so we have some working to do. You are still nursing and obviously doing great with it. You are the happiest thing in the entire world. The Dr. couldn't get over how much you talked to him and smiled. You are doing better at taking a bottle since I switched you to the venti-air bottle with the natural latch nipple. You also only like your avent pacificer when trying to go to sleep. You are getting attached already to your blankie. You are wearing 6-12 months and a size 2 diaper. Mommy's favorite thing to do is cuddle with you and make you smile....which isn't hard to do. Love you more!

Miss Bailey you always look too cute in your little bracelets made by your Great Aunt Connie. A lot of friends that have little girls have asked me where I get them and I promised to get them the info so they can have some too. I can't remember who all has asked so here you go:

I talked with Connie and she said she sells them in stores locally but would sell them out of her home to my friends for $20.00. Her company is called Poppy Designs and that is all she does is make braclets for babies & toddlers They are sterling silver and she can put together anything you would like for colors and size. We just ordered this cute pink and silver one for her and it is adorable. She got the newborn size first which goes up to 3 months then this pink one is a size 4 that is for 3-12 months. They also make great shower gifts and come in a cute little package. You can request one at stork116@aol.com or call her at 501-425-9001. Just tell her I sent you and you can get the $20 rate. Hope this helps.

You had your first experience with rice cereal this week and aren't too sure about it. We have tried it once with you and at first you would smile and then make the funniest faces ever because you weren't too sure about. Daddy and I couldn't stop laughing at you.

Happy four months! You are the best thing in the entire world and I couldn't say it enough. You are starting to take your rice a little better but still aren't too crazy about it. You are eating every 3 hrs. and taking 3 naps. You are still breastfeeding great. You are just having a problem with your afternoon nap. After about an hour you wake up crying with your eyes closed and act like you are starving. If I feed you you eat a full feeding and then go right back to sleep. I'm thinking it is a growth sprut. Time will tell I guess. Over the past week you and Daddy are bonding so much it seems. Your little eyes follow him where ever he goes and all he has to do is make a silly face at you and you light up all over. He made you laugh so hard last night that is sounded like you were crying. Priceless moment for sure. You already have your Daddy wrapped around your little finger and it shows by the way he looks at you. You also love for your Aunt Raain to hold you and play with you. You are crazy about your brother and already watch his every move. Today we took you on a stroll and you cooed the entire time. We are blessed to have you. You have been a real trooper while Mommy has had to work with getting your brother potty trained these past three days. It's like you know what is going on. Here are some precious pics of you over the past few days. Love you sweet-heart.

It seems like every second I'm kissing you, lovin on you, enjoying your sweet smell, and I could go on and on. Here are some recent pics of you. You rolled over for the first time on Wed. Also you started loving your cereal this week too. Today you would try to grab the spoon from me and put it towards your mouth. You also still love the water. When I start running your bath you get so excited because you know what is coming next. You start kicking your legs because you just can't wait. You also love to look at yourself in the mirror..you can't help but giggle and smile. I've also noticed you want anything you grab in your mouth. Jackson never did this so Mommy is going to have to be more careful about what I leave lying around. You are the most amazing little girl in the world. Love you princess!

Baby Mozart

Mommy let you watch some of Baby Mozart yesterday and you loved it. You would kick and smile and most of it. Your brother didn't know what to think about you watching a movie...so he had to go get his chair and put it beside you so he could watch it too. Even though he was bored with the baby movie he was determined to not let you do anything with out him. Let the fun begin....

A couple of weeks ago we got your pictures made along with some shots of you and Jackson and a couple of us four. This was our first family photo...exciting stuff! You were almost four months old in these. Of course you look like a little doll! The first one I think is my fav along with the black and white one of you where it looks like you are praying. One of your Me-Me's friends, Amy Kelton is a photographer on the side when not teaching and she did such a fantastic job. We will for sure go to her again around Christmas time and get you and your big brother some shots together in your Christmas outfits. By then you will be sitting up which is crazy to think about. You can see the proofs by copying and pasting on the following link.

http://www.amykeltonphotography.com/Verdell/album/index.html


Love you baby girl!

Daddy put together your Jumperoo today and you love it!! Pops got this for you right when you were born and we couldn't wait to see you jump in it. You started standing a lot by holding on to my hands and pushing off with your feet when I would stand you up so we knew it was time to bring your new toy out. You also rolled over in your bed on Saturday for the first time. You are getting so strong!! Love you baby girl!

Mommy took you and your brother to the Pumpkin Patch today at Hidden Valley Farm. You loved being outside! It is crazy to think about that next year you will be running all over the place chasing after Jackson. Your brother pulled you in the wagon today and you just enjoyed the ride. You are loving your feet right now...in fact you would rather play with them sometimes over your toys. It seems like you are growing every day. You will always be Mommy's little pumpkin no matter how old you get. You are now eating your cereal everyday. You love it and start kicking your legs with excitement when you see me making it. You also starting blowing bubbles at me this week and making funny noises with your mouth. You think it is hilarous when I do it back at you. Here are some fun pics of you today at your first trip to the Pumpkin Patch. Love you!

You are becoming a Mommy's girl! You now are reaching for me and trying to jump out of arms to get to me. Daddy was holding you the other night and I was on the bed and you literally tried to bend down out of his arms. We both were amazed! You get so excited when ever you see Daddy too! You start kicking your legs and grinning ear to ear. You will always be my little girl. We love you honey!

Mommy's Little Puppy

Since every fireman needs a dalmation we couldn't think of anything better for your costume for your first Halloween. Your brother was a fireman and your Aunt Raain was a Dalmation Fire Dog. I must say you are the cutest dalmation I've ever laid eyes on! You didn't know what was going on much but did enjoy all of the extra attention you got for looking so cute. You didn't mind being in your costume one bit which was a good thing since you pretty much lived in it all week. From two school carnivals, to boo at the zoo, to visting your Aunt's church for their carnival, to last night trick or treating you played the role of puppy lots....but did a fantastic job. You loved riding in the wagon at Boo at the Zoo the most I do believe. You love to be around big crowds with lots of excitement. Last night we first we to see Mam-ma, then Mamaw and Barry, next was Pops, then Me-Me, Nanny, and last was Pap-paw Don and Bobbie where we ate the best junk food ever...Pizza. Then you stayed with them while we took your Big Brother, Aunt Raain, Aunt Savanna, and Uncle Luke trick or treating all over the place. It is hard to believe that next year you will be there right along with them getting your own basket full of goodies. Jackson loved seeing you in your costume. He would say "my puppy" and pat on your little head. Mommy took lots of pics of you over the past week to capture all of our adventures. You are also five momths old as of yesterday. Will have more to come on what you doing and liking soon. Happy first Halloween sweet-heart!

Over the weekend we let you try a cup with some juice for the first time. You made a funny face but loved just holding on to it and bringing it to your mouth. Once you figured out you could suck and get something out you tried it a few more times. Still in the learing process of it for sure. With some more practice you will have it down in no time. Here is also some pics of you in the bath. You love to sit up like a big girl now in the tub. You kick and splash like crazy.

Over the weekend you started to get the sniffles and now you just aren't your usual self. You aren't sleepig good and having a hard time nursing since your nose is stopped up. We took Jackson to the Dr. yesterday and he needed antiboitics for an upper respirtoary infection and we were scared you were getting it too. So Mommy took you later in the day to the Dr. and thank goodness it wasn't anything serious. Looks like a virual cold as of now. Mommy is giving you some tylenol for your low grade fever and drops to just to help you not be so misarable. Get better soon. Turkey day is almost here and we leave to go out of town for our annual Branson trip soon. Can't wait.

You had such a great first Thanksgiving. Even though you didn't get to enjoy the food just yet you sure did love all of the extra arms and attention. You still had a cold over the holidays so it helped having so many people to help keep you happy. I was reminded yesterday of how blessed I am to have you. I was talking to Raain about Thanksgiving and what all we have to be thankful for and she said to me "O' yeah remember Thanksgiving is when the baby is safe." At first I was confused but then remembered what she was talking about because last year at Thanksgiving I was exactly 12 weeks pregnant with you and my Grandparents told her that at Thanksgiving the baby would be safer. Kind of hard to explain to a six year old but it did make me think of how this time last year you were the size of a peanut and now you are this beautiful little girl that makes the sweetest sounds I've ever heard. Happy Thanksgiving Princess.

I can't believe my little girl is already six months old. You are growing and developing so fast right now. You can sit up for longer periods of time and keep your balance better everyday it seems. You also are trying lots of new veggies and fruits. To my surprise you like veggies better than fruit right now. You love sweet potatoes and think green beans are just okay as of now. You also are starting to like your cereal with applesauce or pears better too. You roll all over the room now. Just the other day I heard you whining and came into the room to find one of your legs stuck under our entertainment center. You also get all tangled up now on your play mat. You love the freedom to roll all over the place. You also always have to have something in your hands. In fact most of the time you would rather your pacifier be in your hands than in your mouth. You love your purple blankie and pink and white blanket. These are must when going to sleep for you. Over this past weekend you got very sick and ran 102 fever. It is the sickest you have been and Mommy took you to the Dr. today. We went two weeks ago and they said it was a virual cold but your symptoms changed over the weekend. You didn't sleep much all weekend and developed a bad cough as well. The Dr. said you have a double ear infection and an infection in your nose from all the drainage built up over the past week. Mommy started you on antibiotics for the first time today but can already tell it is helping after only two doses. I can't wait to have my happy little girl back. I was relieved to hear that it was only ear infections and nothing serious. Today you weighed 17lb and 6oz and measured 26 1/4 inches. Your head measured 16 3/4. You are in the 75% for height and 75% for weight. Perfect proportion and taller than average. You are still nursing 5 times a day (around every 3-4 hrs) and taking 3 naps. You go down around 8pm. You were sleeping great but since you have been sick over the past few weeks you have been up more at night. Once you get over your ear infections hopefully we can get you sleeping through the night again in no time. At least that is what I pray anyway. Mommy misses her sleep. We go back to the Dr. in ten days to make sure you have cleared up and to get your shots since today you weren't up for it. Also we are going to get your flu shot then too. Dr. Johnson said we can start to do introduce any veggies and fruits we want and even the meats as soon as you show interest. I have a feeling it will be a while before you are ready for that since you still aren't too sure about most of the things you have tried. I gave you a Gerber fruit puff today and you loved it and ate the entire thing like you had been eating them forever. I wasn't sure how you would like it or if you could figure out how to eat it but you caught on very quickly. Your brother started eating these at around six months and would still eat them if I let him but he would eat anything that didn't eat him first. You are going to be a little bit more picky I can already tell. It was nice to see you happy and enjoying something since the past few days have been tough on you. Get better soon sweet-heart. Mommy is so proud to call you mine. Love you!

Mommy

You love to eat Gerber teething biscuits. You also love to make a mess with them but look so cute doing so. Here are a few pics of you having fun and also from this past weekend. We went to two Birthday parties on Saturday and you had such a great time. Love you!

You have been such a trooper with all of our family gatherings over the past week. We had six different family parties for the holidays and as soon as Mommy can resize all of your pics I promise to tell you all about your first Christmas. We started the holidays off right because last Friday we had a party for your Uncle J (Jordan) at Me-Me's house. He graduated from UALR with a degree in finance. We are so proud of him and he is such a blessing in our lives. Here are some pics of you at Me-Me's. Merry Christmas sweet-heart. Your first Christmas is one that I will never forget. Love, Mommy

Christmas with Poppa & Gigi

We started the holiday season off by having Christmas with my Dad and Step-Mom last Tuesday. You looked so adorable in your little Santa Dress. Mommy just loves dressing you up. You just took it all in as always and laughed anytime your Uncle Luke or Aunt Savanna would make funny faces and noises at you. I can already tell you love them so much. You got an awesome Fisher Price Gymnastics play wall thing that you can't seem to get enough of. You were more interested in the paper then anything else though when opening your present.

Your first Christmas Eve was a very memorable one. You made it complete just by being my little girl. You were such an angel at church. Then you slept through most of the excitement at our house with all of our family over. But not to worry your brother helped you out and opened your presents for you. Then that night you were so good at Mamaw's house. You let everyone hold you and even tried to open a present or two. You got so many cute outfits and fun toys. You got two sweet little baby dolls. You also got a walker that turns into a car, some beautiful jewlery, savings bonds, a cd player for your room, tricycle,and much more. You are one blessed little girl. I will always tresure you. You are such a wondeful gift to us this season. Love, Mommy

The past couple of weeks you have been working on holding yourself up while standing. You are getting to be such a strong little girl. You can stand for longer and longer periods of time while holding on to something. You are also learning how to use those lungs to your advantage. If you aren't in the mood to play with your brother you start screaming if he even comes close to you. Sometimes he will be just coming up to give you a hug or a toy and you start hollering like he is hurting you. Other times you let him lay on you while laughing. I say typical girl. You want what you want and when you want it. You are trying lots of new foods these days. Tonight I let you try a little bite of my pototoes and purple hull peas. Texture on food is a big deal to you so you didn't know what to think. I also mashed up some grapes I was eating today and you loved getting the juice out. You would have a little then turn your hand and make the funniest face ever but then come back and whine for more. You also tried your first meat this week...chicken noodle dinner. You weren't too sure about it at first. You love fruits more than anything. Still not up on all fours yet but you don't let it stop you from getting around. My Nanny said I never crawled but did a monkey crawl kind of thing where I was up on all fours. Right now you do a kind of scoot thing on your tummy or just roll to get to where you want to go. You also love my cell phone. I don't know what it is about Mommy's phone...I guess since it is the only toy I have both of my kids want it. The play ones just aren't the same to you. You especially get excited when someone is talking to you. Your next love is bottled water. Anytime you see me drinking it you reach for it and get so excited. I guess it never hurts to learn how to drink from a cup this early because you are getting to be a pro. Of course Mommy has to help you. You like to play peek-a-boo and think it is the funniest thing in the world. I just can't get enough of all your little rolls. According to my parents you get it honest. When I was born I weighed 9lb and 9oz and was in the 80% until I started walking. You are such a healthy girl!! Your Daddy has big number 28 on Thursday. Can't wait to celebrate his special day. Okay enough rambling for one night. Love you sweet angel. Mommy

Happy 28th Birthday Daddy!! Bailey...you were very happy to see Daddy last night. You even got to try a little lick of his cake. You didn't care for it too much to my surprise. You enjoyed seeing Uncle J and Me-Me too. I can't believe that in almost four months you will be having a Birthday. Mommy got some cute pics of you from Daddy's party. Love you princess!

Mommy just had to see your reaction to your first snow so I took you outside for just a minute right when it started. You were very curious and couldn't keep your eyes off the falling flakes in the sky. Too bad it didn't stick much but winter isn't just over yet.

Bailey the snow was a little bright for your sleepy eyes this morning but you sure were fascinated by it. We didn't think it was going to snow much but it snowed more while we were sleeping. You can't play in it just yet but this time next year you will be chasing after your Big Brother and throwing snow balls at him. Love you baby cakes!

Bailey you had so much fun at Savanna's Party on Sunday. You took in all the sights and sounds and even played some too. Mommy let you sample a little bite of cake..which you loved and couldn't take your eyes off it. I couldn't help it..you were drooling at your brother's piece and were trying to jump out of my arms to get to it. You already have much more of a sweet tooth than Jackson does. He won't eat cake, ice cream, or sweets much so I have a feeling you will show him what it is all about. Today you did a new trick of going on all fours to a sitting position. You also pulled up in your bed unto your knees by using your bumper pads for help. You aren't feeling to great from teething right now and Mommy can't wait until you are back to your happy self again. You need lots of comfort and I feel so sorry for you. You woke up last night every three-four hours crying which isn't like you at all. Here are some cute pics of you at the party. I even got one of you waving Hi to me. Love, Mommy

Today Mommy let you try fruit puffs for the first time. You loved them from the moment you put them in your mouth. In fact for dinner when I got out your baby food and sat down to feed you, you started crying and were so mad. So I got out the fruit puffs and put some on your tray to let you know you could have some of those too. Then you ate your entire jar of food and kept wanting more and more puffs. You were so proud of yourself for being able to pick them up and get them in your mouth. You like these much better than the fruit wheels or bitter biscuits which is funny because your brother didn't care for the puffs too much. Now since you are eating them he thinks he has to eat them too. I have to watch him close or he takes all of yours and eats them. As you can see you are loving getting to eat big girl food. Not much longer and you will get some good table food soon!! Love, Mommy

Yesterday you said your first word....Bye-Bye and even did the wave to go with it!! Then you said it over and over again today. Then you also yesterday figured out how to crawl backwards. You are all over the place. And another first for you is sucking out of straw which you did today. Mommy always lets you pretend like you are drinking from my cup but today you immediatley sucked on it and got a mouth full of Dr. Pepper. You made the most awful face because I don't think that is what you were expecting. So Mommy got you some juice in a cup and let you try out your new skill. You are so proud of yourself and start smiling everytime you drink out of a straw now. It seems like you are learning something new every second. You also are doing this new thing about when you get excited..which by the way is anytime you look at your Daddy....you close your eyes and grin so big, almost like you can't contain yourself. Today Mommy took you, Jackson, and Aunt Raain to the park. It was beautiful. You loved going for a stroller ride. I've now offically got the spring itch and can't wait for it to get here so we can be outside all the time. Over the weekend we celebrated Uncle J's B-Day. Here are some pics of you. Mommy is so very proud of you princess. Love you!

Today while you were sitting in your high chair you looked at me and as plain as day said...Mom-ma!! It was the most precious thing ever. You were ready for me to get you out and wanted to make sure I heard you loud and clear. I said did you say Mom-Ma and then you said it again!! Since saying bye-bye a few days ago you have said it over and over again especially when we are in the car. I wonder if you will start saying Momma all the time too. I hope because you sounded so cute saying it. Daddy is a little jealous but I'm sure you will start calling him my name soon. Here are some pics I took of you playing today. Love you baby girl!

Mommy is a little behind at getting this up but we have been very busy over the past week. You are now nine months old and just the sweetest thing in the entire world. You said Dada last week and have been saying that a lot too now. Now if I leave the room or put you in your bed you will pull up and say "Momma, Momma" over and over. It's is the sweetest thing in the world. Or if Jackson gets too close for comfort you will call for me by saying Momma. You also love to say Bye Bye all the time. You started crawling all over the place over the past week and seem to be getting faster at it. You also love to stand while holding on to something. You still love for me to sing "if you happy and you know it" and start clapping your hands. You also love music and to dance. You also love to be on the go and are always to good to be ture in public. I can take you out to eat, shopping, grocery, you name it and you are just an angel. You don't try to get up or get mad about the high chair or stroller. This is all very new to me since your brother never wanted to sit still. I get compliments on how sweet and cute you are everywhere we go. We are selling our house and so I told Daddy to get the paint back out because Mommy wants your new room to look as close as we can to the way it looks now. On another note...last Saturday you got another staph infection in the exact same spot where it was before and only this time it was worse on your cheek. Mommy was so very sad for you. We got back on Bactrim and two different ontiment antiboitics for it. You can't have regular baby wash anymore and we are having to do a lot of preventive things to help fight if off. It finally started looking better today (day six) and we go back to the Dr. on Monday to get an update. For all of those who read this please keep Miss Bailey in your prayers.
Now back to the fun stuff. You can drink great all by yourself from a cup. You also love to drink Mommy's bottled water. You still love to eat but only certain things. You had cheerios, grahm crackers, goldfish, real bannans, and cheese crackers for the first time over the past week. You are doing great. You also have two teeth in and more on the way because you still act like your mouth hurts. You don't like veggies at all so Mommy has to trick you into eating them. The only one you like is Sweet Pototes...you could eat them for every meal. You love fruit, rice cereal with fruit, Apples and Chicken, and fruit puffs. Mommy also has been weaning you of nursing over the past week...well really you weaned yourself. You couldn't stay focused long enough to eat and wanted to look around the entire time at your brother over the past month. So Mommy over the past few weeks would give you a bottle after trying to nurse because you weren't full but wouldn't nurse long enough to get that way. So we went to just one feeding a day (the 5am one) the one where you did do better at eating since no one else was awake to every other day to now you are just drinking bottles. Mommy was a little sad just because it seems like the past nine months have flown by and it doesn't seem real that you have almost been here a full year. You drink 4 bottles a day (every 4 hours). You also eat food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You take two naps a day and are going through a stage right now where you play in your bed until you fall asleep sitting up sometimes because you fight going to sleep during the day. You are the easiest thing in the world to put to bed every night (between 7:30and 8 is your bed time). You love your pink blankie and have to have it. You still cry out some in the night but usually put yourself back to sleep in minutes unless you dealing with teething or tummy problems from your meds. You usually wake up happy and love for me to play peek-a-boo before I get you out. You are one smart girl and sometimes I look at you and can't believe you are all mine. Love you princess. Love, Mommy

Last week you went for your nine month check up. Yes we are a couple of weeks past due. You weigh 20lbs 11oZ and are now 28 1/4 inches long. Your head is 17 1/4. You are in the 75% for height and 75% for weight. Perfect proportion!! You now say Nan-na, Momma, Dadda, Bye-Bye, and today you said Ba-Ba (for your bottle)!! You are into everything....especially the bookshelf, fireplace, things that Jackson never thought about...you want to explore. You also love to pull up on his train table and play with all the tracks, trains, and people. Anytime Raain or Jackson comes into the room you stick your hand up and move your fingers to wave hi. Too precious!! You hate meds right now. Anytime I go to the med. cabinet you start crying. It is so sad. Mommy had to take you to the after hours clinc at Baptist this weekend because you weren't eating and running fever. You have an ear infection and staph again. It is the kind of staph that resists antibiotics so now they are trying Cleocin..sometimes the third try does the trick. This makes it after this round...34 days of antibiotics starting just in Feb. Your poor little body. You are also cutting your first top tooth right now and are so extra sensitive. It is half way broke through. Your little two bottom teeth are very noticeable now and too cute. Love you baby girl!! Get better soon. Love, Mommy

Pops came over to visit later in the day. Here are some cute pics of you enjoying all the attention.

You looked too cute sitting next to your big bro last week (well for a couple of seconds anyways). These pics are of us shopping for Me-Me's cake and our groceries for the week. It was the first time I let you drive the big car....which is a joy to push with two in it. Then Jackson decided to aggravate you and you didn't like sitting next to him for too long. It made for an interesting grocery trip...carrying you on one hip, pushing Jackson with one hand...in the big car...then balancing the cake with the other hand...so don't let these pics fool you....might I mention they were taken within the first few moments of a 1 hr. grocery trip. I'm sure other mommy’s' can relate.

Today since both of you were feeling better we started the day off with a play date then headed to the park for a pinic and fun. It was hard to get all of the babies still enough to get a shot of you all together. After an hour you guys were either hungry or tired so our photo opp had expired. But to say the least you loved watching all of the other kids and interacting with so many close to your age. We surprised one of the little boys and his Mommy with a B-Day party for him. Barrett, William, Mattie Grace, Parker, Kate, Noah, and you and Jackson were all there. Then Mommy took you and Jackson to a park in Sherwood that I grew up going too right down the road from Nanny's house. As soon as Mommy put you in the swing you started dancing and shaking your legs in excitement. Your brother insisited on pushing you and both of laughed so much together. Very fun times for us all...which we needed after a long week of being sick. Then we picked up Daddy and came home and turned on a cool bubble machine outside that Daddy brought home from his trip. Both of you loved it. We ended the night with dinner on the deck and now you are sleeping peacefully in your crib. Love, Mommy

In less than a month you will be one...which is so crazy to think about. I swear it goes by so much faster the second time around. Probably because we never stop! What a little ham you are these days. You thrive on adventure. You are into it all and now are trying to climb the walls...literally. You love to get into every drawer, cabinet, shelf, etc...that you can find. You love to play with your brother. You favorite thing is when he comes into your room after you have woken up from a nap and plays in your bed with you. You also like to take baths with him too. If he has a cookie...then you think you need a cookie..it is hilarous. I already see the sibling rivalry thing coming out. If he is drinking out of a barney cup then not just any cup will do for you...you are becoming quite the observer. Mommy is missing you right now. You stayed at Me-Me's last night so we wouldn't have to wake you up to take your big brother to the hospital. You love being with your Me-Me and that makes me so very happy. You still are a picky eater. You won't eat meats, veggies (except sweet pototoes), real fruit, really any food with texture. You love cheerios, crackers, yogurt, baby food fruits, fruit puffs, ice cream, ice, juice, and water. I tried frozen grapes the other day and you would eat those but then suck out everything and spit out the peel. You do the same thing to fruit that is in your yogurt. You eat four bottles a day and couldn't live with out your pink blankie. You also get your pacificer while going to sleep or in the car. You wear 12-18 months and also a lot of 18-24 months. Your feet are so tiny..you still wear like a 2 or 3. You say Momma, Dadda, Nanna, bird, hi, no-no, and bath. Any time I say give mommy kisses you come at me with an open mouth and make the kissy noise as I call it. You also blow kisses and wave hi and bye to everyone. When Daddy gets home from work you get very excited and think he has to hold you right when you see him. You weigh 22 pounds and are still in the 75% for height and weight. I can't wait to turn your car seat around so you can see more of what is going on. We have decided to have a family/close friend party for you on June 2! This is the Sat. after you turn one. Of course "Princess" will be the theme and we can throw in a few swords for your brother so he doesn't have to dress up! You love to look outside. Puppies are your new fasination...really any animal in sight. Jackson never was the this way at this age but you don't act hesitant at all. You just can't stop touching them and squealing. I told Daddy the day will come before he knows it when you say "Daddy please please please can I have a puppy!" I just love this age you are at and am treasuring every moment. Love you! Mommy

You love it when Daddy gets home. The other day he came home for lunch and you couldn't stop laughing and smiling at him. Of course he loves every second of it!!

Mother's Day 2007

Bailey you are such a Mommy's girl these days and I love every second of it. We had such a wonderful Mother's Day. You went with us to Me-Me's church, then to eat, and then took the longest nap every. You were tired from all the Mommy Day excitement. Love you sweet-heart!

Bailey we are starting to give you whole milk to get you used to the idea of no bottles soon. I can't believe you will be one in just a little over a week. Mommy can't wait for your princess party. We have invited some family and friends to help celebrate. Mommy knows how much you love the water so we are going to set up a few baby pools and some other fun water activites for you and the other kiddos to play with. You haven't felt too well this week and had a touch of the yucky virus Mommy has had since Friday. Daddy even had to take off work to help Mommy because I was so sick. Me-Me watched you and Jackson on Saturday night while Mommy and Daddy went to Hot Springs. Too bad Mommy was sick but at least I got lots of R&R. Thanks Me-Me. You just love your Me-Me and light up every time she is around. You are starting to walk around lots by holding on to furniture. You still love to explore everything. You also aren't eating much these days. You are the pickest eater I've ever seen!! You know what you want..that is for sure. We will be taking you to the lake this weekend. Mommy can't wait to take you on your first boat ride..hopefully you will love it like Mommy does. Love you baby girl!!

Bailey...you had so much fun at the lake exploring new territory. Mommy took you down to see the water and let you sit on the boat but we didn't take you for a ride. Daddy got really sick so you stayed with him at the cabin since it was your nap time. Maybe next time! You liked staying the night at the lake house. You slept so great and kept a smile on your face most of the time. Then on Sunday we went to church and just had a lazy day at home then Monday we went to Romance and you loved seeing all your cousins. Mommy can't believe you will be one tomorrow. My little baby is growing up too fast!

Miss Bailey you are offically one now! Happy Birthday Princess. Mommy can't wait to celebrate your special day with you. We woke up and let you go outside and eat on the deck which is your favorite place to be right now. Mommy and Daddy got you your very own play house for your birthday. You already love it! I'm sure you and your brother will have lots of fun in there. Tonight we are having a special dinner for you and of course cake then on Saturday is your fun Princess party. Your brother ran into your room this morning when you woke up and yelled "Happy Birthday Sissy" in the cutest voice ever. He is so happy you are now one and I'm sure will tell everyone for you just how old you are now. You have made the past year so wonderful for me and Daddy and we couldn't have prayed for a more perfect daughter. God has truly blessed us by giving you to us. Hope you have a special day. Love, Mommy

Saturday was your big Princess Party. Mommy had princess decor everywhere and you were the star. You looked too sweet in your little tutu and your top said "Princess Bailey" on it. We had lots of candy, fruit, snacks, and Stephanie made you a beautiful Princess cake. We had lots of fun stuff for the kids to do outside like a blow up bouncer, slide, baby pools and more. Then we had a treasure chest filled with goodies like swords and purses for your guests to take home. Also we had little pink bags of Royal Ritz crackers since so many had a 30 min. drive back home. Mommy made you a little throne to open your gifts in. Everything was ready and then 20 minutes before the party started it started to pour down rain. Luckily it stopped after about 30 minutes so everyone still got to enjoy outside play. We invited all of our family and our closest friends to celebrate you turning one. You had around 40 guest come and everyone had fun playing together. Mommy loves Birthdays and can go a little crazy with parties but I figure why not put all of those event planning classes in college to work. You didn't want to take a nap that day which wasn't like you at all so you were a little tired during the party but managed to sneak in a nap while all the big kids played outside. You then woke up and opened your gifts. You got some beautiful clothes, swimsuits, dolls, and toys. You also got a very cool swing set from Papaw Don, Bobbie, Poppa, and Gigi. It is also for Jackson's B-Day too but he didn't mind at all getting an early present. Daddy has lots of work to do to get it set up for you both. Mommy can't wait for you both to play on it. You were very tired once it was all said and done. Mommy and Daddy loved having all of our family and friends under one roof in honor of you. We love our little princess. Love, Mommy

Your Aunt Autie had one of her friends who is a photographer come to the house and take some pics of you eating your cake. Mommy can't wait to see them. You sat there literally for 45 minutes and enjoyed every second of it. You would have sat there all day if we would have let you. I couldn't stop laughing. You kept going "umm"! I took a few pics with my camera but as soon as I get his I will post. They will be ones we will treasure forever I'm sure!

You get very excited as soon as we pull up at church because you know you will get to see the fish pond. You fuss a little right when I drop you off at the nursery but then stop after a few seconds. You love seeing all of the babies and they said you play the entire time.

On Friday Mommy took you swimming in the big pool for the first time. You didn't act nervous at all. You loved sitting in your boat and splashing in the water. It was still a little cold so Mommy didn't let you swim for too long but you did great for you first time.

Today was your 12 month check up. You weigh 21 pounds and 10 oz and are 29 inches long. Your head is 171/2. You are in the 50% for height and 50% for weight. You also got all your shots today which hurt your feelings more than anything. Daddy met us on his break and you were so excited to see him. You are right on target with all your developments and can already say lots of words. You also love to try to do forward rolls when I tell you to do a flip. You get so excited and start clapping. You now say Bubba, Bird (anytime you see one), Nanna, Momma, Dadda, Bye-Bye, Ba-Ba (bottle), No-No (and shake your head), Hello (while putting the cell phone to your ear),Bath, Nit-Nit(night-night), Bunny, Pupa (puppy), you make a snake sound when I ask you what a snake says (ssssss), and today started making a horse sound. You love love love animals of all kinds. Very different than what mommy is used too. Tonight in the bath you tried to say duck when mommy was making quack quack noises at you. Every time we walk by our fireplace you insist on letting you touch the pics and point to the bunny in an Easter pic with you, then you say bubba and want to pick up his picture. You get so excited that you almost jump out of my arms every time. You are down to one bottle at night before bed. Mommy has gone from three to one with you over the past month and you are doing great with the change. You still love your blankie and your pacifier (ne-ne). You love to go to bed and most of the time get excited when I put you there. You now have 7 teeth with one more on the way. You still don't care that much for textured food. You still love fruits of all kinds and just this month starting liking bananas and grapes. You still eat baby food but only the fruits and sweet potatoes and squash with apples. You also love dried fruit, fruit puffs, sweets of all kinds, crackers, yogurt, pretzels, cheerios, cheeto puffs, and dried strawberries. I still can't get you to try noodles, veggies, beans, bread, peas, mashed potatoes or anything else like that. I talked with your Dr. today and he said that it is very common and hopefully by 16 months you will expand your food selection. I also took you to your dermatologist today because since it has gotten hot outside you have had some eczema on your legs and arms anytime we go outside. He said it isn't serve at all and you should out grow it by age 4 or 5. He gave me meds for it to manage it so hopefully it won't bother you anymore. You wear 12-18m and 18-24m clothes. Size 3 Diaper. You still have tiny little feet...size 2 and some 3's. You love to watch Praise Baby movies, Curious Buddies, and some Disney Movies when there is songs playing. You love it when we play music in the car and dance and have even started to try to sing over the past week. Your favorite song is "Our God is an Awesome God" and start kicking your legs and squealing every time it comes on. You love to be outside and ride in the car Pops got you. You also like to play with your water table and play house. You are always very content and happy. Love to go shopping with Mommy and on the go. You also love to explore and play. You play independently all the time and just love to get in drawers and dig stuff out or dump everything out of my purse and then put it back in and then take it out all over again. You love your baby dolls and animals though more than anything. You go to bed at 7:30pm and wake up around 6:45am. You have also already decided that you don't want much to do with your morning nap anymore. It is hit or miss with it depending on the day, but always take an afternoon nap the same time as Jackson...from 1-3. Mommy just wanted to post everything you are doing right now since it has been a while. I love you princess. Mommy is so proud to call you mine and your Daddy is just crazy about you too. You are our little angel. Love, Mommy

Huge favor to ask. Please go to the following link scroll down to the where you see the pics of the babies. Then vote for Bailey. It will only take a second. She is the one with her B-Day cake all over her face. If we win we get a huge wall portrait and much more. You can only vote once per computer. We would appreciate it so much.

Here is the link to vote:

http://www.ontheroadtosomethinggreat.blogspot.com/


Thanks,
Brooke

Miss Bailey made it to the finals of the Baby Face Contest. Now there is one more round of voting for the top 8 babies over the past three 3 weeks. Please vote for her one more time. Voting is only open this M-Th. You can only vote once per computer. This time you can vote for two babies. You can vote for just Bailey or if you would like to vote for two my little cousin Koston is also in the finals. Bailey thanks you a bunch. There is prizes for 1st-3rd place. Please tell all those you know with computers to vote. It only takes a second. Copy this link to take you to the site. Thanks to all that voted for her last week. We will know the winners Thursday!!

http://www.ontheroadtosomethinggreat.blogspot.com/

Just wanted to give everyone an update on Brooke.  For those that don't know yet Brooke was in the hospital most of the week. I guess I'll just
start at the beginning and explain what has occurred over the last
couple of days.

Brooke got a bladder infection about two weeks ago and was treated with
three different antibiotics and none of them took care of the
infection.  The infection spread to her kidneys and that is when the pain
became worse.  On Tuesday Brooke was in more pain than I have ever seen
anyone and couldn't keep anything down including her antibiotics, so I
took her to the ER.  In the ER they gave her some meds for the pain
and started an antibiotic in her IV. Around 1:00 AM when they checked
her vitals, her heart rate was 170 and increased to as high as 194 - she
was basically in cardiac arrest and they couldn't slow down the heart
rate (the nurses there told us that they personally have never seen a
heart rate get that high and the person survive it).  They had to give
her a medication that stops her heart temporarily (flatline) to slow
down the heart rate. Brooke said this was the most painful thing she has ever experieced. They had to give it to her four times and it
only slightly decreased it.  Their last effort was running it through
an IV bag instead of a direct injection into the IV.  This did work but
very slowly.  It eventually decreased to the 150-170 range and they
finally got her in a room around 3 AM (yes, that is 12 hours in the
emergency room).  We went in for a kidney infection and ended up in the
cardiac unit, but on the other hand if we wouldn't have went in, it could
have been very bad.
 
Wednesday morning they performed an Echocardiogram and several EKG's. On Wednesday her heart rate ranged anywhere from 125-175  Brooke was pretty much out of it most of the day and was having a lot of chest pains, but the kidney pain and infection was healing.
 
Thursday morning we spoke with her Cardiologist and she indicated that
Brooke has a minor condition called "Mitral Valve Prolapse".  This
condition allows for the heart rate to increase anytime any significant
pain or infection is in a person's system.  Luckily, Brooke's heart
rate dropped below 100 most of Wednesday night while she was sleeping and they discharged us Thursday afternoon.
 
Brooke's heart rate as of right now is hovering around the 120's-130's and
she is really weak, but she is very glad to be home.  Today the doctor
indicated that she suspects that there may be kidney stones involved,
but that they may have already passed - keep this in your prayers. 
 
Thanks for all the prayers and support received over the last couple of
days.  Also thanks to our family for stepping in and taking care of the kids. It really was a tough week for us.  I am just thankful that we got her to the ER when we did instead of waiting it out. Please Pray that God will continue to heal her.

Thanks,

Josh

Just wanted to give everyone an update. Brooke is recovering and still isn't feeling well. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. She can't wait to get better. Thank you to all of our family and friends that have helped with the kids, meals, e-mails, calls, prayers, and everything else. We are blessed.

Your Me-Me caught you playing in her goodies and you just thought you had to put all of them on. Mommy thinks you might have one to many on but you sure don't think so. You sure do love to go play with your Me-Me!! You also get excited when Mommy puts your bracelet on and you then have to show it to everyone. Today you came into my room with a rubber bracelet you found in your toy box. You were so proud of yourself because you put it on all by yourself. You have been taking a few steps over the past two weeks. Last week you took three steps from Daddy to me. You also walk from the couch to the chest. You also stand for very long periods of time. You still aren't too sure on just taking off though for more than a few steps. You are one cautious little girl which I love!!! I don't have to worry near as much about you getting hurt as I do with your brother. However you love the big slide at Nanny's pool. You cry to go down it over and over again...that is all you want to do while we are there. You also don't mind going under water. You love to be in the water more than anything right now. I love you princess!!

Thursay was Mommy's B-Day! We celebrated by getting everyone together to go out to eat. We went to a Japenese place that cooked in front of you. The food was wonderful. You weren't too sure of what to think so we had to keep you busy. It was a very special night!!

This past Saturday we took you and Jacks to the zoo. We couldn't wait to see you there because you love animals so much. You also live to be outside. You loved all of the animals and haven't stopped making lion noises since we lft. It is hilarous. You also got to ride your first train ride and enjoyed it as well. Such a fun day!!

Bailey,

You love to swim!! If it is the back yark pool or Nanny's pool or the bath you would stay in it all day if I let you. You cry every morning to go outside to the pool and say "outside". You have even thrown your first temper tantrum over not getting to swim! You don't mind going under, going down the big slide, Jackson dumping water over your head, or anything else when it comes to the pool...which kind of makes me nervous but I love the fact that you feel so comfortable in the water. We have lots of fun times to look forward to little girl!!

Bailey,

You loved our trip to Branson. You did great away from home for seven days. You had a little cold that has now turned into an ear infection but meds are taking care of it. You got on antibiotics a week ago and seem to be doing much better. We already can't wait to go back with you because you loved it so much. It seems you grew up so much on this trip. To our surprise you loved the rides. You would cry if your brother could ride something and you couldn't. Your fav was the baby swing ride. You also liked the train. You also enjoyed the water park and swimming. Nothing seems to scare you these days. Mommy couldn't ask for a sweeter little girl. You did great sleeping away from home and loved the ducks at our condo. Everyone day that was the first thing you would greet. Mamaw came up for the first two days and then Daddy joined us on Tuesday and we stayed until Saturday night. You also loved getting to eat cake on your brother's b-day. It was too cute. We will take you guys back around Christmas time because it is so pretty that time of year. Love you baby girl.

Miss Bailey...what can I say...you are the sweetest thing in the entire world. That is until your brother makes you mad. You are such a delight. You love people, to cuddle with Mommy, to give kisses, to go Bye-Bye, anything outdoors, braclets, bows, shoes, dolls, Mommy's make-up and finger nail polish, sweets, popcorn, climbing, slides, rides, swinging, wagon rides, animals, babies, songs, dancing, The Wiggles, popsicles, your princess car, books, your purse, balls, playing chase with your brother, the silly faces Daddy makes, praying with us before bed time, your Ne-Ne (pacificer) and pink blankie are a neccesity these days, you love your bed and never cry when I put you there, and I could go on and on about everything you are into these days. You are more of a dare devil than I first thought and love to try anything your brother does. You are very girly and so full of sweetness. You love to lay on my shoulder which is the most precious thing. You for sure know how to make me smile. You are still very content and can entertain yourself like a champ. You say lots of words...momma, daddy, bubba, ball, car, bath, baby, bye-bye, outside, juice, eat, bite, no-no, me-me, mamaw, nana, J, mine, and you can scream louder than anything I've ever heard before. You walk, run, climb, dance, and can even do a forward roll. You still are the pickest eater in town and nothing has changed on that note since the last entry. Mommy is very proud of her princess as you can tell. O'yeah...your hair seems to grow everyday. Finally mini pig-tails. Love you@@

Mommy is about to wake you up so we can go to the hospital and get tubes. You have had seven ear infections in the past year and don't handle the antibiotics very well. Mommy is praying this will help. They said it doesn't take very long at all to do so you shouldn't be put under for very long. Please say a special little prayer for her this morning.

You did great getting your tubes. We arrived at 7:30am and got to go home around 9:30am. Everyone at the hosptial couldn't get enough of you. You insisted on having a bow and braclet on and weren't too happy when I had to take off your braclet. You are all girl that is for sure. The procedure only took about 10 minutes. They had to drain one of your ears because it had a lot of fluid in it. You just got off antibiotics so I was surprised it was still yucky. You had one ear that was bleeding some for 24 hrs but other than that you wouldn't have ever known anything was wrong. You weren't too happy when you woke up and it took you taking a good nap to feel better. You also hate it when I put your ear drops in. Only one more day of that! We are hoping this will help your ears. When you woke up from your nap today you had 102 fever with no other symptoms so I'm thinking some type of virus. Hopefully you will feel better soon. Love you pumpkin!

Miss Bailey you are now 16 months old which is just so hard for Mommy to believe. You weigh 22 pounds. You are still in a size 4 diaper, size 3 shoe, and 12-18 month clothes. You have had a pretty hard month. First you got your tubes and then three days later got very sick. You ran 102-103 fever for five days and ended up with an awful ear infection. The fluid in your ear was so thick and full of puss that they had to probe your ear and then suction it out. You were awake during all of this so it was traumatic for you and Mommy both. After another round of antibiotics you got well and now have had a cold since Friday. I'm praying that it just stays a cold and doesn't turn into anything more. Besides all of the sick stuff you are doing great. You are such princess. You love bracelets, necklaces, shoes, fingernail polish, dresses, purses, bows, and anything else that has to do with dress up. You already carry a purse around. The first thing you go to when you wake up is your bracelets, bows, and shoes. You think this is a must to have on even at breakfast time. You are almost running. You also love to climb. Sliding and swinging are new loves of yours. You still eat the same as last month and refuse to even try anything new. You love your Daddy. You also love to cuddle and give kisses. You still do great with bedtime. In fact you walk up to everyone and give kisses and then say Night Night and walk to your bed. Your favorite place to be is still outside. You say so many words. You love to point to everyone's eyes and then say "eyes". You can also find your ears, nose, toes, head, and hands. You love books. You also like to dig into everything. You are such an explorer. You pull out everything but then will usually put it up when I ask. You are very very obedient. If something hurts you or you fall down..you say "no-no". Some words you say all the time are...bath, bird, juice, bubba, daddy, momma, me-me, mamaw, nanna, snack, shoes, ish (for slide), ne-ne (for pacifier), milk, side (for outside), puppy, light, blankie, bite, uh-oo, night-night, no-no, and much more that I’m probably leaving out. You also make animal noises. You can do a horse, dog, and my favorite is your tiger sound. You've got some great dance moves. You love to sing the song "pat the bible". You also know what Jackson's favorite songs are in the car and as soon as they come on you look at him and start clapping and grinning ear to ear. You guys are so cute together when you are actually getting along. You have already started to play catch with him and the other day I came in and you were sitting in his lap and he was reading you a story. I really needed a camera for that one because those moments are sometimes hard to come by. You already think you have to have the exact same thing as your brother when it comes to drink selection, snacks, toys, etc...At the mall on Saturday I told you to come back because you were walking away and you literally laid out in the floor and started kicking your legs on your stomach. You didn't cry or scream but it was definitely your way of saying you didn't like what I said. But you did come back and got over it really fast. If your brother trys to take something away that is a different story. You can scream louder than anything I've ever heard before. I think it even scares him. It is amazing to me that when Daddy and I tell you not to do something you listen even if you don't want to. You don't like Tv much only when it includes popcorn. Okay as you can tell we were in much need of an update. Here are some pics from last weekend.

A few weeks ago we went to Chuck-E-Cheese. Bailey you love to go around and ride the rides and push every button in site. We with with some of our friends. We also ran into the Boyds' while there. It was so great to meet them in person. You think you are just as big as your brother and insist on doing every game he does. Here are some pics.

We went to the zoo for a playdate and you and your brother had a blast. You loved the train ride and seeing all of the animals. In fact you haven't stopped making all of your animal noises since we lft. Noah, William, Kate, and Parker all joined us with their Mommy's. We then ate lunch and then you guys came home and took great naps.

On Sunday we took you guys to the Pumpkin Patch. Mommy just loves this time of year and all of the fun things that come along with it. You really enjoyed riding in your wagon and the hayride. You got your very own little pumpkin. You have got to enjoy a lot of exciting things over the past week..first the zoo, then the fair, and then we ended the weekend at the pumpkin patch. Halloween will be here before you know it. Mommy can't wait to see you all dressed up.

Disney World was just wonderful. We made it back home Saturday. We stayed seven nights and you were very excited to see your room and toys again. Bailey...what can I say except that you had a blast. You rode almost every single ride your brother did and loved every single moment. You were such a good girl. You slept great, ate great (lots of ck nuggets and dried fruit), loved being outside so much, and enjoyed getting to be with Me-Me, Mommy, Daddy, and Jackson so much. I will post more pics and details when I can upload them all...I took almost 400!! It was the best week with my babies to date!!

As you can see in the pics you had so much fun. Mommy already got all 400 developed so we can look at them all the time. We all are having withdraws and still wish we were there. You loved the water rides the most...especially the ones with drops. You also liked the rides that went up high in the sky. You are for sure a dare devil and like adventure. You seemed to really bond with your brother and loved playing chase and loving on him. He now tells everyone that you are his best friend. You loved Minnie Mouse...you also liked to blow kisses at the all the other characters but didn't want them too close in your space. All in all it was a wonderful week and I honestly wouldn't change one thing about it. Thanks Daddy for such an amazing trip and thanks Me-Me for all your help. I couldn't have done it with out the both of you! Love, Mommy

Halloween 2007

Bailey...you loved getting to be Minnie this year. Me-Me got your outfit for you while we were on our trip. Thanks again Me-Me!! You kept pointing to her on your dress and saying '"Minnie". You had fun trick or treating and to my surprise would go up to the doors carrying your bucket and say "Treat" and even "please". You love candy so you were all about it. You also had a blast at the Halloween party. A lot of the kids are your age and some are babies so you enjoyed getting to love all over them. You are very friendly and affectionate with other kids. Here are some pics of you from Halloween and Jackson's carnival at his school.

We are in much need of an update. You have been keeping Mommy busy these days. It is hard to believe that at the end of the month you will already be a year and a half. You are one little dare devil. You are cautious when doing things but not afraid to do much. You are a climber. You love to do anything Jackson does. Your favorite game with him these days is chase and you also like to pretend that you are a monster getting him. You are very social and love babies and other kids. You never meet a stranger. You still eat the same. You love to be outside and have started playing a lot of pretend with your play house and picnic table. You also love to take care of your baby dolls and carry them around. You still love bracelets, bows, shoes, dresses, hats, Mommy's things, etc...very girly girl but also don't mind getting dirty with your bubba. You love to play catch with Jacks and tackle and wrestle with him. You can identify your belly button, eyes, ears, eyebrows, nose (you can even blow it by yourself), toes, feet, hands, fingers, legs, arms, tummy, mouth, and just about anything else. You talk a lot!!! Words you are good at include...Daddy, Mommy, Ride, Bow, Juice, Bubba, milk, eat, snack, Bye-Bye, outside, puppy, no, yes (shake head and all), more, please, sorry, kiss, bath, baby, eyes, nose, ears, cracker, Amen, Night-Night, Luke, Nanny, Papaw, Me-Me, Mamaw, Pops, J, Boo-Boo, Slide, Ho-Ho (for anything you see that is Christmas), Ne-Ne (is what you call your blanket and pacifier, Oh-NO, Ahhhh (when you see something exciting or cute. You usually wake up around 7am and go to bed around 7:30pm. You still love bed time. You love to give every kisses and have even started praying with us at dinner and before bed. You always say "Amen" and put your hands over your eyes. You are very observant and Mommy's little helper. You like to help me with the dishes, laundry, dusting, etc...It is so cute. You also like to dance and sing. You are for sure a Mommy, Bubba, and Daddy's girl. Everyone says you are a mix of Daddy and Mommy. I see a lot of Goss in you. You can give the most serious face. You also love to walk up to me and make funny noises with your mouth on my legs. You learn a lot from your big brother. You guys are playing great together and he is really starting to be a big helper with you. He doesn't like to see you upset so you usually get your way with him. You have to show off every time you get dressed and run to your Daddy so he can see you. You will start the toddler class at MDO next Thursday and just be going one day a week. It is the same class Jackson started in. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. You also love books. We seem to read all day long. You are one smart little girl and Mommy is very proud to call you mine. Here are some pics of you from this week. We kept Uncle Luke and Savanna Saturday and you could not keep your hands off of them.

You had such a great Thanksgiving although you didn't eat much of the food. You loved playing with all of your many cousins and Aunts and Uncles. If everyone's family keeps growing we will have to rent out a place soon to hold us all. We had dinner Wednesday night at Mam's and then lunch on Thursday at Me-Me's. Then Thanksgiving night we went on our annual trip to Branson. Mommy as always took forever getting these up since we have been out of town and I've been under the weather. I can't believe Christmas is almost here again. You have been helping me decorate and are really into it this year. Mommy can't wait.

You loved being back at Branson. You would ooh and ahh over all the lights. You loved Silver Dollar City, the Dixie Stampede and the Train of Lights. You are always so easy on trips and seem to adapt to where ever we are. You started doing so many funny things on our trip.

We went for your 18 month check up last week. You didn't like being at the doctor much since you remembered having to get your ears drained right after your tubes. You would barely let them weigh or measure you. The good news is that you haven't had any ear infections since September..which is such a blessing. You got your flu shot and will get your other shots next month. The Dr. is pretty sure you have allergies so we started you on an allergy medication and it has already made such a difference. Your verbal, motor, and social skills have developed great. You can say lots of words and understand just about anything that is said. You love music and to dance. You also love it when we sing to you. You are starting to get very head strong and I have a feeling we are entering into the two stuff. You don't like it though when Mommy or Daddy has to get onto you. You let your brother get to you the most as far as your temper goes. You can already say "Sorry" "Please" and "Thanks". You know how to use the words to your advantage too. If you upset your brother you run after him blowing kisses and looking at me saying "sorry". I took you to see Santa and you loved blowing kisses, saying Hi, and watching your brother talk to him. However when it was time for you...You started saying "no" and shaking your head. So you didn't sit on his lap this year but were content with just seeing him. You are very excited about Christmas and love all of the decorations. You also love to play dress-up already and pretend like you are getting ready when Mommy does. You love to play in my purse, wallet, make-up bag, etc...You also like to carry around a baby doll anytime we go somewhere. You are going to be a great big sister soon. Mommy loves you.

Weight: 24 pounds
Height: 32 inches
Shoe Size: 3-4
Clothes: 18 months
Diaper: Size 4
Fav Food: yogurt, nuggets, anything sweet
Fav movie: Polar Express, Old McDonald
Fav Book: Twas the night before Christmas, Noah's big boat

Bailey...what a special time you had all week celebrating Christmas. You are such a sweet little girl and make the holidays more special than I ever thought possible. You were all about opening gifts and hanging out with all the big kids. You already act as big as your brother most of the time. You loved going from house to house to see everyone. We also went to the capital and you loved running around and up the stairs. You loved all of your girly gifts and Mommy had such a blast playing with you. You got a My little Pony that sings and dances, lots of dolls, all of the accessories, Pops got you your very own vanity, You got a Little Mommy doll that tells you exactly what you need, stroller, car carrier, doll swing, bracelets, clothes, play food, dishes, animals, books, and more. You are very into being a Mommy right now. I don't see you too often with out a baby and bottle trying to feed it one hand and pushing a stroller with an animal in the other hand. You also got a play purse with lots of girly stuff that you can't seem to let go of. Me-Me got you a shopping cart and you put all your food inside it. We had so many wonderful memories the week leading up to Christmas and Christmas Eve. You were such an angel in church and stayed memorized the entire time. You also loved doing our "what God wants for Christmas" every night. We named your favorite dolls..Anna, Natalie, and Mattie. You know which one is which and also have been taking very good care of your fur real kitten that Uncle J and Steph got you. Nanny got you a big girl Barbie motorized ride on. Daddy took you outside today and said you were going everywhere on it. We turned our dinning room into a play room this week so we could make room for #3. This is the first place you and your brother go now when you wake up. You kiss my tummy almost every day and say baby. You are going to be such a great big sis. Love you!

You loved every second of Christmas. Santa brought you a Kitchen which you haven't stopped playing with since it arrived. You cook me stuff all day!! Your other favorite part was the goodies inside you candy...you would oooh and ahh over it. Mommy and Daddy got you some fun stuff to go with your kitchen, clothes, and some fun dress up stuff. You love to do art so we got you a few things of your own since you are starting to want to take over some of your brother's things. You are very good about putting things back where they go. You loved going to the farm on Christmas. You didn't stop playing and your Cousin Cailey who is three took good care of you while Mommy and Daddy just watched you guys have a ball. It was a very special day. You and Mommy's Pjs matched and you kept pointed to them and smiling. You don't miss anything these days. Daddy and I can't get enough of your sweet kisses and hugs. Merry Christmas!!

Here are some pics this week of you playing with Jacks and Daddy. You think you are just as big as your brother and always try to do the same tricks as he does. You seem to be the happiest and just in plain laugh mode when you are playing with the two men in your life. I just love it.

You now want to wear your tutu all the time. You insist even on putting it on over clothes. You get so excited and run straight to a mirror. It is amazing the difference between girls and boys. Your serious look at me is something that you know cracks me up. I will say to you "Don't you look at me like that" and you will try to hold that mean look for as long as you can and then we both start laughing.

Since Daddy is Mr. Mom now on the weekends you guys are getting lots of quality time in and Daddy is loving every minute of it. Well...except for maybe the dirty diapers. You and Jackson went to Abby's 2nd B-Day at Gymboree Play and Music and loved it. It was your first time there and you were so excited. Then Sunday Daddy took you and Jackson to church. You looked so cute and now have decided that you have a say in what you wear. In fact today I was helping Nanny find you something to wear and you turned up your nose at your tennis shoes and grabbed your pink squeaky shoes instead. You know what you want that is for sure. You love to play dress up already. You said "bow" and "braclet" today and made sure you had both on before going bye-bye. Since Mommy can't do much right now you are going to go to Mother's Day Out also on Mondays. Nanny said you walked in today and didn't even say bye because you were so excited to see all your friends. I asked you today if you wanted to go to school and you started clapping your hands and dancing and saying Yes!! Your Pops is going to be picking you guys up and Nanny will be taking you both for now. Also your Me-Me is going to be able to help Mommy take care of both of you on Tuesdays. We feel so blessed to have so much support right now. Mommy hopes that PT will help soon so I can start to do those fun Mommy things again. We have gotten very creative and play lots of games, stories, and books in the bed. You also love to look at photo albums and prefer to look at them over and over again. You are becoming a helper and can assist Mommy with lots already. I'm very proud of you sweet-heart.

20 Months Old

We haven't got you guys pics taken in a while so we thought it would be a fun surprise for your Me-Me and Pops for V-Day to do a vintage style pic. You and Jacks loved dressing up but then you weren't too sure about having your pic made by someone you didn't know. I offered you a hash brown from McDonalds if you did it and of course that did the trick. Once you realized we weren't leaving you were happy as could be. Amy Kelton Photography did an amazing job as always. I miss taking care of you so much. Even though you are here most of the time I have to have help around the clock. Mommy sometimes can't stand very good. I just can't wait to pick you up again. I'm counting down the days until March. Speaking of your new Baby Brother or Sister...I forgot how much the baby grows every day from this point on. The baby feels so heavy now and strong with every movement. My heart is handling the pain better than expected which is such a blessing. Physical Therapy keeps me from getting much worse but the best thing is when I get those hugs and kisses from my babies and man. We get to spend lots of cuddle time..reading, coloring, singing, watching home videos, puppets with your socks, and I could go on and on. I'm hoping to be able to get out soon since I haven't got to go anywhere this week expect to assist you at the Dr. with your shot. You were such a good girl. You are going to be such a great big sis. You are so fascinated with my growing tummy. You always love on my tummy and put your drinks, pacifiers, food, and anything else you can find up to it. I will say were is Mommy's Baby and you immediately start loving on your little sibling and then lift up your shirt to see if you have a surprise in your belly. You are starting to climb more and more. This week you have been found in the bassinet, on the bar stools, on the kitchen table, on the bar, on top of your play kitchen and on top of the toilet. I also caught you trying to drink from the toilet with a cup this week. I screamed as if someone were dying and then you threw the water across the room. You also have started to sit on the little potty and think you are so big. This was about the time Jackson started to play with it so I know you will let me know when you are ready just like he did...or at least I hope. It is hard to believe that in four short months you will be two. You are so sweet, funny, caring, affectionate, melt your Daddy's heart, love to play dress up, love babies, pretending like you are a Mommy, picky eater, love to sing and dance, shy at times, loud at times, all girl, love shoes and jewelry, purses, ball, rough play with your brother and Daddy. You are the daughter of my dreams...literally.

Today we went back to the doctor. As of now I will be induced on March 10th as long as I don't go into labor before then. The 10th will be easy for us to remember since we got married on August 10th. In six years…three kids…three years and under and I must say I love your Daddy now more than ever. He has shown his true heart through all of this and been the rock I needed for support and the strength of our family. He hasn’t missed one Dr. apt and leaves work early regularly to take care of us. Then works late nights at home to make up for it. He helps me with Physical Therapy every night and makes the best milk shakes ever. You are one lucky baby! Mommy is still measuring a week ahead (over 35) which means you are a growing boy or girl. Your heart rate was in the 140's and you are still moving like crazy. You are head down and I feel those little arms and legs all the time. Your Me-Me has helped me get all the boy and girl clothes ready and we got the bassinet out. Other than that we will just take care of the rest once you arrive. Your brother and sister are both very eager to meet you. My blood pressure is getting a little high with the bottom number around 90. I go back in two weeks and then one more time and then you will be here. Only 2 more Dr. visits! Still on bed rest and not really able to walk much at this point. I have to have help with just about everything and haven't driven in two weeks. My hips are both out of joint along with the pelvis, spine, and SI joints. My left rib cage is also jammed. The Doctor feels that after the baby arrives and with physical therapy along with other medical help I will recover hypothetically....what ever that means. I must admit that this is the most pain I've ever endured. And just as hard emotionally as physically. I miss taking care of our family. Now the count down begins...27 days left! Your Daddy and I can't wait to find out if you are a boy or a girl. The anticipation is killing us both. I have to say I've enjoyed not knowing a lot more than I thought I would. I can see our family with either or and be perfectly complete. If we both had to guess we would guess boy just because of the similarities with Jackson's pregnancy. I have bought a security blanket for a girl and a boy for your siblings to give you. I can't believe that in less than a month I will be a Mommy of three. Love you Baby Verdell!

Happy V-Day sweet-heart. You got to go to Mother's Day out and have your first V-Day party. You came home with a bag full of goodies and cards. You also got to make a puppy at Build A Bear. You picked it out all by yourself and now sleep with "Sugar" every night. You even picked out a dress for your pink poodle and high heel shoes. You already are very very proud of your creation. Daddy came home on V-Day with you a cindrella toy since that is your favorite thing these days. It is Mommy's favorite thing to hear you say right now because you say it so sweet "D-Rail-La". You are really becoming a Daddy's girl and love for him to hold you and love on you all the time. You also like to curl up with Mommy and watch Tv or read a book. We also got you a special surprise...your very own pink chair. You wanted to take over your brother's red chair so we thought it was time for your own. You love it!! You and him always sit by each other and you point to your name letter by letter and pretend like you are spelling it. I think this is because Jackson knows how to spell his name and you see him doing this with his name. He is already teaching you so much. We just can't get enough of you. Happy Valentines Day.

Today Mommy went to Dr. Deed. Only 13 more days to go. I will be induced on March 10th unless I go into labor. I am dialated to a 1 and still on bed rest. Mommy can't do much but hoping that after the baby arrives I will be back to normal. I will have to go through physical therapy and no telling what else but I know as soon as the baby is in my arms this will be a thing of the past. I measured over 37..I've measured over since 32 weeks. The Dr. said you are doing great with your growth. Your heart rate was 128-138. We would do the 7th but our Dr. is going out of town that afternoon so the 10th it is. I have had two false labors so far over the last week. On Sat. night I had strong contractions every 5 minutes for 3 hrs. It finally stopped at midnight. Mommy had a long talk with you and made sure you knew that you needed to stay put for at least another week. Daddy is our hero right now and taking very good care of all of us. Only one more Dr. visit to go. Miss Bailey...You are so into babies right now. You give your dolls baths, stroller rides, cook for them, change them, feed them, etc...It is amazing to me. You are such a little Momma. You loved having Uncle J over last week for his B-Day. I think next to Daddy...he is next on your list. So very sweet. When it was cake time you turned up the plate and licked every inch of icing off...it was too funny. Happy B-Day J.

21 Months Old

Miss Bailey...you are just too cute these days. I gave you the nickname "little momma" when you were about 12 months old and it fits you so well. You are about to be a Big Sister and seem to be more ready than ever to take on the task. You are into singing these days and your Daddy. You want him to do everything with and for you. Here is a few pics I took of you before Mother's Day out. It was pic day and this is what you picked out to wear...even down to the bows on your shoes. You shake your head no at a lot of things and seem to have a mind of your own even when it comes to what shoes you wear. You also have started carrying a purse. You are starting to fight back with your brother and won't let him get away with much anymore. You love to play with baby dolls and your kitchen. You want to put everything you can find in your stroller with your doll and get so mad if it starts falling out. You love to go bye-bye. You are saying so many words..to many to count. My favs...please, jackson, love you, thank you, sorry, daddy's girl, baby, nuggets, the sound you make for tiger, bible, hello, and all time favorite word you say...Cindrella. You can sing Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABC's, Pat the Bible, Itsy Bitsy Spider...just to name your favs. You have the cutest little singing voice. You still are picky about food...only yogurt and ckn nuggets. You've started to eat a little bit of pudding and jello along with bananas. Not into tv...too busy for that. Favorite snack is probably popcorn. Your tubes in your ears have been a lifesaver. You still have some ecezma every now and then but should out grow it. You also love to be outside and playing with your bubba. You are learing to count to 5 and can say a lot of the ABC song. So proud of you. Love you baby girl.

You couldn't believe what you were seeing outside. So full of wonder. Mommy just loves moments like these.

3 more days

It’s a Girl!!!

Brooklyn Annelise

1:49pm

7 pounds 10 oz

19 inches

March 10th

Please keep Brooklyn in your prayers. She is in NICU. Labor only lasted around 3 hours once my water broke and no pushing was involved. Once I was at a ten and leaned forward she made her way into the world. They weren't kidding about the hyper moblie thing. She swallowed a lot of fluid that as a result got deep in her lungs. The good news is that is was clear fluid and they said it was a good thing she was born at 38 wks vs. 40 wks. When she was born she never let out that loud cry that expels all of the fluid and had a hard time breathing. Mommy will catch up later on the details but just wanted everyone to know that you are just beautiful and doing better every hour. You haven’t needed any help breathing today and are the biggest baby out of 29 babies in the NICU. I had one of those moments as a mother that is the ulmitate fear….you turned completely blue and stopped breathing after you were done with your second feeding. We didn’t think you were going to get to nurse for the first 48 hrs. because of the complications but you did better than expected with recovery that I got to start nursing again in the middle of the night. You are the best eater Mommy has had. You take around 45 minutes with each feed which means since you aren’t in my hospital room I have only slept about 2-3 hrs total since Sunday night because I have to come to you to feed. You aren’t in the same room as me which is the hardest thing to accept even though I know that is what is best for you. Talk about hormones going hay wire. We hopefully will get to go home together on Thursday. You have to continue to be on antibiotics with your IV until 5pm tomorrow..we should get back all cultures then and know the results of the beta strep results along with every thing else. Your chest x-ray looked about the same today as yesterday however you aren’t grunting as much. You still haven’t given us a good cry so we are awaiting to hear you do this. The last 24 hrs. have felt like two weeks and I’m so very thankful for all of our family and friend’s prayers and support. She finally got to have her first sponge bath tonight and Jackson got to watch. He had the honor of telling everyone yesterday that it was a girl. He walked in and looked at her and said "Mommy it is a girl like Bailey." It blew my mind that he knew right when he saw her. Bailey of course can’t stop touching her. She says “mine” and doesn’t like it much for anyone to hold her but me or her! I will fill in all of the details later…nursing duties call. So excited to have another daughter.

I can't believe I can say "the girls" or "my girls"!! So so fun. The first time I said it I started giggling like a three year old and of course Josh thought I was crazy...probably was a little a that point in the hosptial. I always wanted a sister close to my age and am so excited I can give that gift to them. Once Brooklyn is sleeping better I will let the girls share a room. Bailey can't stay away from you Miss Brooklyn. She follows me around the house and mimics everything I do with you. Including...breast feeding! She gets a little jealous not of you....but of anyone that wants to hold you. She is already very protective of her little sister. The first day we spent at home Mommy was in your room putting up stuff and Daddy was in our room. I got Bailey up from her nap and told her to go say hi to Daddy. About 10 minutes later I decided that it was just too queit on that side of the house and walked into our bedroom to find Bailey in the bassinet with Brooklyn. Of course my first reaction was to scream..then laugh...then almost cry to think what could have happened. It was a relief to know that you were in there with her for such a long time and didn't hurt her. You were just looking over her and touching her so sweet. Also every baby wipe was out and I guess you were cleaning her up. Daddy was asleep so I know you had to have been quiet not to wake him. Jackson walked in and said "Bailey...what have you done...that is a no,no." I swear I don't think their will ever again be a dull moment in our home. We have gone over the rules...but you just can't seem to let go of the idea that you aren't the Mommy. I'm just thrilled to see you so in love with your new baby sister. Every pic is of you loving, hugging, kissing, or taking care of her. The pic of Me-Me holding you and you are smiling ear to ear was when we walked in the door with Brooklyn. You were so excited you didn't know what to do with yourself. You just kept giggling with amazement. Just precious.

Here are some pics that Me-Me got of the kids the day of Brooklyn's birth. She took them to preschool that morning to get their class pic made and then off to the hospital they came. Jackson shirt said "I'm the big brother Jakson" and Bailey's shirt said "I'm the middle sister Bailey." Me-Me is keeping up with them like a 20yr. old I swear. I couldn't have made it through out the week with her. Just knowing that she and pops had the kids and that they were happy made everything a thousand times better. Thanks for the cute pics and even thinking to take them. Me-Me said that when Jackson woke up that day...he said "Do you know what today is? The day our new baby is born!" Also when Jackson first came in the room he looked at Brooklyn and I said " Is it a boy or a girl Jackson" "Cooper or Brooklyn?" and he said "Mommy it is a girl!" I couldn't believe he could tell by looking at her first...no clues...not a bow...not pink...nothing. He then ran out and told everyone it was a girl and her name was Brooklyn. Bailey also marched into the hospital like a five year old...ready to take on big sister duty. So cute!

Bailey you have fully embraced the big sister role. You want Brooklyn to be able to play with you so bad you can't stand it. I watch you with her every second because you are always tringto be the Mommy. From finding you in the bed with her with every baby wipe out to trying to buckle her in the car seat and swing to wanting her to eat the same thing you do, to putting toys all beside her because you want her to play. The other day when she was in the swing you put beside her some of your play kitchen stuff and was prentending like she was playing make believe with you. It was so so cute. Then I walked in to find a bus by her while she was in the bouncer seat. You then started reading her a story so I had to take a few pics. You try to change her diapers and everything. We have tried and tired to distract you from the new role of sisterhood but you aren't having it. You are making Daddy and I work overtime making sure that the baby doesn't get hurt. You don't quite understand that you could hurt her. Jackson tells you all the time how to treat her...he is in Big Bro mode and thinks he is running the ship half of the time where you are concerned. I'm so happy that you love your sister so much already. You don't seem jealous at all however I know that could change. Here are some pics over the past few days. Love my girls!!!

Papaw Don and Grandma Bobbie came over today to visit. You were so excited because they came bearing easter candy. Then Papaw took both of you outside. It was so cute to look out my window and see him swinging with both of you. You guys are very exctied about Easter tomorrow. Mommy is very sick so I'm hoping it won't rain too much on your parade. I guess that is were all that acting experience can come in handy..lol. You aren't feeling too great either and have a cold..not to mention you bit through your bottom lip yesterday and fell off a chair on your head. You think you can do what ever your brother does right now and more! Here are some cute pics of you guys.

We didn't get to go church Sunday since I was so sick which made Mommy so sad. Especially since I haven't been able to go in two months and was looking forward to my first time back being Sunday. But....you guys all enjoyed waking up and finding eggs all over the house and your easter basket full of goodies. Then Daddy took you all over to Me-Me's for Easter lunch and then Uncle J and Steph took you to the city Easter Egg hunt. Then when you guys got home Mommy requested you dress up for a few minutes so I could get Brooklyn in her Easter dress since this was her first Easter. Bailey..you loved showing out for everyone in your dress..thanks Nanny! And Jackson you loved putting on your "Sunday Shoes" as you call them. Mommy did the Resurection Eggs with you guys every night for last week to talk about the real meaning of Easter. You loved it and got so excited about it every night. Hopefully next year we can maybe have a sick free Easter...but who knows..with three I'm sure it will always be something I'm learning. Here are some pics from the day. It is true work tyring to get a pic of all three right now. Love, Mommy

Sunday we took Brooklyn to church for the first time. She wore the same dress that Bailey wore on her first visit and reminded me so much of her. Mommy was so so excited since I haven't got to go to church in two months. It was just wonderful to be there with my family. I'm getting better and better each day and am able to do more and more. Today I got to drive for the first time since Jan. so it was a very exciting day. I took Bailey for her fitting for her flower girl dress and we had so much fun. She didn't want to take off the dress and stayed in it for almost an hour. I'm not joking. Then she found some heels and put those on with a crown. She is all girl! Brooklyn...you just slept through it all. I just love time with my girls!

Mommy and my girls got to have some girl time last Saturday. Daddy's family had a diaper and wipe shower for Brooklyn and it was wonderful. You loved helping Mommy open them and then would pile them all up for me to the side. I can already tell that having two girls is going to be a dream come true.

Last Saturday after the diaper shower we went to Mayflower for a family reunion with all of my Nanny's brothers and sisters and their families. It was my Nanny's brother Jack's 80th B-Day. The next day was when Nanny had her aneursym so it was very special to think that all of them got to be together the day before with us. She had 10 brothers and sisters and all but one is living so it makes for big get togethers. My Nan is one of the youngest so they are all devastated as well. This was the last time we saw Nan and she was in her element. Nothing made her more happy than family. I talked to her while she was walking into Ashur's ball game where it happened and all she could talk about was the reunion and how much fun she had. Here are some pics of us their.

Finally our new site is up and running. Thanks Brady for making it just how we wanted. So from now on all entires about Jackson, Bailey, Brooklyn, and anything else about us will be at www.theverdells.com.

This site will remain up at least for another year until we can get it printed and made into Jackson's baby book.