Pretty Pink Piggies and a Big Girl Chair

I've been waiting forever (literally!) to paint my little girl's toenails! ha! Today it was so warm that we had the windows open and no socks on. MG was sitting in her new big girl chair in her bedroom so I quickly grabbed the polish and she sat there still as could be and let me paint them! It's so stinkin' cute I can't stand it!

On another note, the big girl chair that's in her bedroom now is an old blue velvet chair that used to be in my Mamaw's bedroom. I always loved that chair! After she passed away, I wanted to keep it, but had nowhere for it. It ended up in my aunt's storage shed. A few years ago, I got it and brought it home. It was in horrible shape. It was dirty and ripped and just plain ugly! I took it to my Mother-in-Laws to store with big intentions to get it recovered. My sweet MIL surprised me with it for my birthday! She had had it recovered in a beautiful pink velour material! It looks so super cute in MG's room! And I love that it has a special meaning. And she is crazy about it! All afternoon she has whined for us to put her up in the chair. She sits there and reads her books or looks out the window at Sophie! I love it!

I love being a mommy and I love my little girl!

Tummy Bug

Molly Grace has had her first real stomach virus. My poor girl is miserable! It all started yesterday. She's been out of sorts most of the week - cranky, clingy, etc so I knew something was up! Yesterday it all started with some loose diapers. At 3am this morning she woke up crying and when I went to get her she was on fire. Her skin was so hot, it was uncomfortable to hold her. Her temp was 103.3. We gave her Motrin and put her in bed with us. She tossed, turned, moaned and groaned for a couple hours then finally settled down. I stayed home with her today so I could keep an eye on her and I knew she would rest better at home. She slept in until 9:15 - which was a first! Went back to sleep from 10:30-12:00. Then went back to sleep from 2:30-5:30 and went to bed at 8:00! I'm hoping she's catching up on some much needed rest. She wouldn't eat anything all day and refused to drink. I finally got her to eat a little Jello and she ate a little banana for supper. She took about half of a Pedialyte popsicle, but wasn't really interested in eating anything! I think she's finally on the downhill slope, though. Her temp. is finally down to 101.7 tonight and she hasn't had an explosion in a few hours!

I can't complain at all about her being sick. We've been so blessed to have such a healthy 1st year. Other than her string of ear infections and getting tubes, she's been perfectly healthy. There could have been so many health issues stemming from her being a preemie, but the Lord has surely blessed us!

Walking and Talking...constantly!

I can't believe I'm officially the mom of a toddler! MG is toddling all over the place! Not only does she walk - she RUNS! And she runs from me! Saturday we were in Mt. Home eating with her grandparents and she took off in the restaurant running from me! Yesterday she ran from me 3 times in the dollar store! And she is MAD when you catch her! ha! It's so funny and precious to see her walking all around. I still just can't get used to looking up and seeing her walk towards me! I love it and hate it at the same time! I will say that she's developed a little bit of a sassy attitude since she gained some independence! She's soooo my child! ha! Poor Jamey has to pay for my raisin'!

Not only is she walking all over the place, all of a sudden she jabbers non-stop and LOUD! I don't know how we got such a loud child! We're pretty quiet people! She's finally saying Mama pretty regularly. But only on her terms and usually just when she's tired and wants to be held! That's just fine with me, though!

The poor girl has a little tummy bug today. She doesn't want to eat and she's had several diaper blowouts tonight. She's sleeping like a log now, I hope she feels better in the morning. She's fighting a snotty nose and cough, too. I'm betting she's got some molars trying to make an appearance.

Lead Me...

I love this new song by Sanctus Real. It's words are so powerful and really speak to my heart about parenthood. The message has never been more real to me, though, than it was tonight...

"So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I am called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't you lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love
Chasing dreams that I could give up"

I take my role as a mom very seriously. It's my most important "job" in life.

My sweet little girl is officially a walker now! She's been hesitantly taking a few steps the past few weeks. It started with 1 or 2. Then for a week or so she would take 3 to 4. She's worked up to taking several now. The sweetest part of it is that she'll reach out to hold my hand before she'll walk on. She needs my hand to steady her, to balance, to lead her. I know it's such a simple gesture, but it has such a deeper meaning. Yes, she needs me to hold her hand so she can walk a little better and to help her until she builds up that confidence. But she also needs my hand to support her, to steady her, to guide her...I could go on and on.

It's my job to lead by example. I pray that I can show her how to be a strong, independent woman who isn't afraid to be vulnerable and humble. I pray that I can be an example of a Godly woman. I want to show my daughter how to love Jesus with all her heart. I want to show her how to be a good wife and a good mommy. I hope she learns from me how to be a good friend, a good sister, a good employee and a child of God.

For now, I will relish in the moments that she wants to hold my hand. I will lead her around the living room as many times as she wants until she feels confident enough to let go. Then I will hold her hand from afar. I hope she can always feel my hand in hers, because it will always be there! Just like she will always be in my heart.

My Little Valentine is a WALKER!!!

Happy 2nd Valentine's Day, Molly Grace! You are the sweetest little Valentine ever! I always thought we'd be celebrating your birthday at Valentine's Day! You showed us! Ha!

Today was a wonderful day! The best Valentine's day yet, by far!

My mom was coming up to my school for my nephews' VDay parties, so Little Miss MG got to come see me! They came up around 12:45 and she stayed with me until I left at 3:30! She was SO super good! I'm so blessed with such a good baby! We hung out in 2nd grade at J's party for a little bit and she snacked on some ice cream! Then we walked (and I do mean walked! She held my hand and we made laps around the school! Up and down the hallway!) down to my room. She was mesmerized by all the kiddos we met in the hallway! She even turned around and started waving and saying "guys..guys" at a 1st grade class walking the other way! She really wanted to follow! She had a great time hanging out in my room and playing with my kiddos. She got right up in the middle of them on the carpet! She thinks she's so big! The best part of today was that she WALKED!!! All by herself. Mom said she took 7 steps this morning. Then this afternoon she walked down the hallway all by herself! I thought I caught it on video, but I didn't! :-(

Today was a beautiful day, weather-wise, too! When we got home I sat MG in the grass while I unloaded the car and she wasn't too sure what to think! She got a little dirt on her hand and wasn't happy about that!

Once we got inside, she crashed! Kindergarten wore that little princess out!

When she woke up, she had a delivery from a local florist. Her Mamaw and Papaw sent her balloons and a stuffed dog.

When her daddy came home we exchanged Valentines and she gave him his new book and a card she colored all by herself.

Then we had a nice, quiet Valentine dinner! It was the best date I've ever had! Comfy clothes, music on the tv, lasagna bread and salad (my favorite meal!) and my 2 favorite people!! There's no one else I'd rather be with!

God has been so good to me!

Goodbye formula!

I usually hate goodbyes, but this was a great one! We've been down to just 4 oz of formula in her bottle at night (mixed with whole milk). Tonight we finally finished up the last of it and I got to throw away the container! I'm so excited not to have to buy a $20 can of formula every week or 2!

Snow Day (again)

We have another snow day today! We don't actually have any snow yet, but they cancelled school in anticipation of a storm we're supposed to get! I know it will stink going to school in June, but Molly Grace has a cold and I'm more than happy to be home with her! Our plan today is to do nothing!

The girl loves to eat!

My child just ate a package of instant oatmeal, a cherry NutraGrain bar, a handful of blueberries and a sippy cup full of whole milk...all for breakfast! It amazes me that this is the same child we had to feed through a tube a year ago just to get less than 2 oz of milk in! God is so good!

Snow Day Fun

They'd been calling for "winter weather" for late Sunday night/early Monday morning all week. This morning I got up at 4am and looked out the window and there was NOTHING! So I just accepted the fact that I was going to work! ha! Well at 6am I got a text saying that school was closed! There was snow covering the ground and still coming down hard! Yay! I turned off my alarm, went back to sleep and prayed MG slept late! We both slept until 8am! It was great!

We had a fun day full of nothing! When Jamey came home at 5pm we were both still in our jammies! We took 2 naps, ate a bunch of rice krispie treats (my kid can put away some rice krispie treats!ha!), played, did laundry and vacuumed. It was a good day! The snow started melting around lunch and by afternoon most of it was gone. We went out late this afternoon to play with Sophie and just get out of the house! We played until MG's little nose turned red! She doesn't care anything about the snow!

Smooches, Steps, and Words

Molly Grace was smooching all over her daddy and me tonight! It was so sweet! I puckered up and said, "give me kisses!" and she bit my lips! Then she gave her daddy a nice long, slobbery kiss! I asked for another kiss and she gave me a movie star kiss! ha! I love my sweet, loving girl!

She's taking more and more steps! Last night she took 3 and 4 steps several different times. She has to be distracted, though, so she doesn't realize what she's doing! We've been putting her squeaker shoes on her when we got out and letting her walk between Jamey and me holding our hands. She loves to do that! It's really made her want to walk more. Her Pap said she took 4 steps this afternoon, too! Yay!

It's so funny to hear actual words come out of her mouth! Especially when they're in the midst of a bunch of jibber jabber! I'm sure no one else would recognize them if they weren't around her a lot, but we know what she's saying! She's crazy about playing ball and will say "ball"! "Na-na" has several meanings! It usually either means me or bite!