Gobble Gobble!!!

What a great Thanksgiving!! We celebrated the holiday at The Michael's house this year. My brother is in town and it's so nice to have him here visiting! Chuck cooked a D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S fried turkey. It was so juicy and yummy. There was tons of other food.....PEAR SALAD ( just for my Ohio friends!! ha!), veggies everywhere, sweet potato casserole, dressing, pecan pie, apple pie, it was just deliciousness everywhere :) Whitley Claire enjoyed eating the dressing. Cornbread is her new food obsession. She was double fisting.

After a relaxing afternoon, we came back to our house and just hung out! Turkey sandwiches were for dinner and we watched I Love You, Man which is absolutely hilarious. I haven't laughed so hard during a movie in forever.

Today we are decorating for Christmas. It's going to be so much fun since I haven't been able to decorate in 3 years because of moving! We'll see what all we can put out since we have WC crawling everywhere these days. The Christmas tree at the Michael's didn't phase her, so we shall see :)

I am thankful for so many things. Most of all, my wonderful family, a beautiful daughter, a caring husband, and awesome friends. I am learning not to take things for granted and to always praise God for everything that I have...because I would have NOTHING if it weren't for him! He is so good!!! Everywhere we have moved, God has provided us with more than we could ask for. I hope that all of you have had a fantabulous holiday! Now off to the gyms folks!!!

9 Month Well Baby Appointment

Today Whitley Claire had her 9 month well baby with Dr. Powell!! At her weigh in, she was only 17 lbs 11ozs. More than a whole pound less at her last visit....which was 3 months ago. She is 28 inches long. So that puts her in the 20th percentile for her weight...she was in the 90th. BUT, that is A OK because she is one active kiddo! She is crawling around like crazy and getting in to everything that she's not supposed to have. Dr. Powell is a little concerned about her weight...considering that it was that much of a drop. So he suggested that I try and supplement formula every now and then. But there is a problem with that. WC won't take a bottle!!! Or sippy cup! I tried tonight to give her a bottle before bed, and she kept shoving my hand away :) It was cute how she just wanted to nurse! For me personally, I didn't want to ever use formula (no offense to any formula users whatsoever!). I hope to be able to nurse for 1 more year. We'll see though. If using formula means a healthier baby because I cannot keep up with my milk supply, then that's what I'll have to do...supplement! I'm going to call the lactation consultant tomorrow to see what she thinks! She's a great gal :)

As far as everything else with WC, the Doc said she's doing great. He's happy with her two teeth and her cruising around. He says that she'll probably be walking soon! Heaven help me.....

Whitley Claire has been eating table food for 2 months now. She loves to feed herself and if I try and feed her baby food in disguise, she turns her nose up at it. Right now her favorite meal is Broccoli and Cheese soup with some peas and carrots in there. Not too bad right?? She also loves french toast and pancakes :) Oh yeah, and chocolate! But I don't let her have a lot of that! I want it all for myself! I am so thankful that the Lord invented Cheerios and Graham Crackers. WC LOVES them. I mean loves loves loves them. It keeps her occupied for a while and keeps her happy!

We go back in a month to see a nutritionist and then in for a weight check. I am blessed that God has given us a healthy baby. I know that her weight will be fine!

My Second Child: Mr. Lucian Sterling

This little boy lives next door to us and I cannot even tell y'all how much I heart this kid! And Miss WC is infatuated with him. He's one goofy kid, and WC will just laugh and squeal when he comes over. I've seen him a lot this week and he is so fun to be around.

It's so sweet when he says my name. He pronounces it "Air-ine" and Whitley Claire is his "Bee-bee". I can't spell out how he says her name, but it's pretty funny. His daddy's deployed right now, so he is all worried about what "Shrish" is doing. "Shrish!!" "Shrish do it!". That's what I hear when Lu's over hear. Forget about Air-ine, what's Shrish doing??? It's so sweet :)

Lucian just said the cutest thing. We are sitting at the table eating breakfast and he heard the planes outside and said, "Daddy work plane.....sky!!!!". He does know that his daddy went to work in a plane. Oh what a deployment can do to a kid! He's a trooper!

Just wanted to share my morning.....isn't that picture just the cutest!!

Dear burnt granola,

I am not happy with the turn out today. I've made you many times, but today was a disappointment! Was is the lo mein noodles??? Do you miss the coconut?? Please tell me so you don't burn the next time!

Truly yours,
Caroline

Yes....I was very saddened today when I pulled my homemade granola out of the oven. It was burnt to a crisp. But I will still be eating it. I can't waste the chocolate chips that are in it! I absolutely love this recipe. The oats are sweet, yet a little salty, and the pecans and chocolate chips are just outta this world! Just in case anyone wanted the recipe, I'll copy and paste the link!

www.amateurgourmet.com/2009/01/easy_homemade_g.html
I added the chocolate chips and coconut. There were a few things I didn't want to add just because I didn't have those things!

I hope y'all enjoy it! And don't burn it....it's not as good!

My baby is 9 months!!

Can y'all believe it!! It's already been 9 months and she is growing up every day! This month hasn't been the easiest for me. She is resisting naps and not sleeping well. It must be this 9 month growth spurt that everyone is telling me about! It was REALLY stressing me out...but I've decided that there is nothing I can do about it except pray when I get stressed. It's been a blessing having friends that are moms. It's good to hear their stories and advice because it makes me feel like someone understands! And WC can put up a good fight....she has cried for as long as 2 hours before finally going to sleep. Some days I just pray for a little cat nap just so it's quiet for a little bit! I am trying to turn those moments into something positive by just thanking God for my strong willed child. It's just part of her personality and one day this will be a great thing! I hear strong willed children make great leaders :)


Whitley Claire is a blessing in every way. No one said that parenting is easy! Even though I am cherishing every moment with her, I am looking forward to the day when this stage has passed.



Things WC likes:
All books.... Especially ones with flaps and touchy feely pages.
Crawling around and chasing Rosie.
Getting in to EVERYTHING she's not supposed to have.
Cheerios.... Thank the good Lord for that big yellow box.
Watching people and little kids. She thinks it's so funny to watch kids playing!
Bath time
Playing peek-a-boo with Daddy.
Any food that she can feed herself.
Going on walks.

WC's dislkes:
Sleeping
Being buckled in the carseat
Getting dressed
Having her diaper changed

As you can see, she has many things she likes!!! Every day is a new adventure! We are having to make sure that the things we have out she can't choke on. And I have to keep up with Rosie's shedding because WC likes to put Rosie's hair in her mouth. I don't want my human child to cough up a hair ball!!!

Whitley Claire will be one before you know it....I am so excited to watch our baby grow!!

San Antonio

So we're back!!! And what an eventful trip it was!!! We left Monday afternoon, and we were all able to fly together. Whitley Claire did GREAT! She was a busy body the whole day, then crashed when we got to our room. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Riverwalk and it was amazing! We had never stayed down there before, since we used to live in San Antonio! Chris had to work during the day, but Whitley Claire and I kept busy visiting old friends! On Tuesday, we went to Rainbow Station where I used to work. It was so weird seeing all of the kids that used to be 2-3 years old and now they are 5 and getting ready for kindergarten. Most of my kids remembered who I was, they were just a little shy! One little boy asked me where I got my baby. Then asked if I was the mommy and if there was a daddy. I wanted to joke with him and be like, "Yeah there are 3 daddys!" or "No, but she does have 2 mommies!" but I thought that was inappropriate! tee-hee
On Wednesday, we spend the whole day with Jan. She used to be the nurse at Rainbow Station and it was so nice to be able to spend a lot of time with her! WC really took to her. It was sweet :) We went to this super nice mall called La Cantera. It was a beautiful day, so different from Ohio, and just enjoyed walking around and looking at all the nice stores :) This is Jan:
Thursday I had brunch with another friend and Chris got off work early so we just relaxed the rest of the day! We ate at all of our favorite restaurants and now I feel like I need to run every day this week.
On the way back, we weren't able to all fly together, but that's ok! I've flown by myself before! Except this time, WC cried all the way to Houston. She was so tired she didn't know what to do with herself! Poor baby! Luckily, the people next to me understood and were very helpful and trying to focus her direction on other things. She just wouldn't have it though! Once we were at Houston, I was able to get her to take a short nap, and she was happy all the way home! We were so lucky to have two seats to ourselves the way home and we were sitting in the front of the plane, so we had extra leg room! WC loved playing peek-a-boo with the people on the plane. It was a VERY small plane, so everyone could see her. She just started getting shy when strangers say hello to her. She'll bury her face in my neck or chest and just act so weird! It's cute though :)
We are very glad to be home! WC wouldn't nap in the hotel room because she new we were in there, so it will be nice to have her own room back where I can just shut the door and let her fuss if we need to!
I already want to go back. It was nice visiting there, but I DON'T miss the traffic!

ADIOS!!