December

Goodness, where to start?? December was a huge whirlwind, and I, for one, am glad it's January.

Around the same time we lost Grandma, Sibley was fighting RSV. It was a rough few weeks of breathing treatments twice a day. She was pitiful. :( I guess the good news was that we made it to 6 months before having to go see the doctor for any reason other than well baby checkup a and shots.

In other Sibley news, she's up to 18 pounds and is sitting up all by herself now! That was exciting. She started doing it the weekend before Christmas, which was perfect timing. She's so very close to crawling now I think it will happen any day.

Christmas was busy, but Derek and I were able to sneak in an overnight trip to New Orleans while my parents babysat. It was a quick getaway but a lot of fun!
 

Sibley was SUCH a trooper over the holidays. We dragged her all kinds of places, and she was the sweetest thing. I took the whole week off work, and I'm glad I did. It was a good break for us to be home together.
 

Another reason I'm glad I was home was Bentley. We picked him up Thursday after boarding him for a few nights, and all was well. Then Friday he just wasn't right. He wasn't eating or drinking, was dry heaving, drooling, and shaking. He would hide under the deck and didn't want to come out. I took him back to the vet, and they did an X-ray and found that his stomach had twisted. I had JUST watched Marley and Me the night before, and this had happened in the movie.

We had to take him to the emergency animal clinic for surgery right away or he would not have made it through the night. It was a scary few hours, but he made it out like a champ and is now doing well with his recovery at home. Bless his heart. It wasn't his time just yet. He still has several good years of being chased by Sibley!

The vet said it happens a lot in bigger dogs when they eat or drink too fast. The stomach can bloat and then (like a balloon that you use for balloon animals) get completely twisted if they even lay the wrong way. Thankfully the surgery he had will now prevent that from happening again.

Phew, what a crazy few weeks! 2013 was a memorable year with the birth of my child and the death of my grandmother. It's hard to compartmentalize my feelings about it except to say bittersweet. We look very forward to this bright new year.

Happy 2014, friends!

Grandma

We said goodbye to my Grandma Bice today. She was 90 years old and ready to go join my grandfather in heaven.

It's very bittersweet. She will be greatly missed, but she has been ready to leave this world for a better place for a while now.

My family is at peace and has said our goodbyes. Sibley and I actually made a trip down last week while she was out sick from daycare but still feeling well enough to smile and play. I had a moment with Grandma by myself and told her I loved her and that we were ok with her leaving us. She really and truly has missed my grandfather so incredibly much the past seven years, but I'm so extremely glad she stayed around long enough to meet Sibley and spend some time with her.

She was a very strong, smart, and stubborn woman (and I say that with love). She taught high school English and taught me everything I know about grammar. She would bring real grade books and seating charts home for me to play school with, and would even let me rearrange all the desks in her classroom some Saturdays so my dolls could learn.

I have many, many wonderful memories of her, and I'm very blessed to have had her in my life for 33 years.

It's always sad to lose a loved one, no matter how prepared you are. I know she's in a better place and is reunited with her sweetheart, but prayers for comfort for my family are appreciated.

My dad is the youngest of two, and he lost his mom today, on his 59th birthday. A friend told me today that hospice patients are finally in peace on their most peaceful of days. The irony is not lost on me, and I hope my dad can take comfort in that.

Peace and love to you, Grandma. Give Grandpa a big hug from all of us, too.

Five Months

Sweet Sibley,

I'm a little late in writing this, so you're now five and a half months old!

This has been a huge month for you! You're now holding your own bottle, and just last week we gave you baby food for the first time. You LOVED it! So far we've tried peaches, green beans, and apples, and you love them all. It's a whole new world for you, and it's so fun. :) You even make this "mmmm" sound when you want more.

The time change has made you go to bed a little earlier, but you still sleep like a champ. Bedtime is usually at 6:30 sharp, and you'll sleep a solid 12 hours if we let you! (And we can't thank you enough for that, seriously.)

Just this weekend I was looking at you and admiring what a wonderful big girl you've become. You smile 90% of the time now, and you're so happy (most of the time!)!

You're really working on trying to crawl, although you still haven't quite figured out how to make your arms and legs work together. You just kind of swim on your belly or play superman. It frustrates you sometimes, but you'll get there soon enough.

It has been an absolute joy to watch you grow each month, and we really can't wait to experience the holidays with you as a part of our traditions now.

Life is so good, and we love you so very much, our little Munch.

"It's So Southern..."

Last weekend we headed off on a highly anticipated girls' weekend to The Grand Hotel and Spa in Point Clear, Ala.

I've probably mentioned it before, but I truly cherish my girl time, and this one was extra special because we all got to just ENJOY and no one had to play hostess.

What an incredibly wonderful weekend! This place was spectacular and "so Southern" as my friend Allison put it. The resort was amazing, and we even caught a history lesson about the place and its military past.

We relaxed around the firepit with some cocktails before heading to dinner.

We decided on dinner at Gambino's in Fairhope. This place had great Italian food, then about 9 the DJ came out, the disco ball came on, and it turned into a dance floor complete with the corresponding music video playing on the projector screen. HILARIOIS. We had sooo much fun line dancing and requesting some old school rap. I think we were the life of the party! Hehe

After dinner and our impromptu dance party, we went to this hole-in-the-wall bar called The Jub. Whoa... We had even more fun, played some pool and sang some karaoke.

Let's just say our relaxing morning at the spa was well deserved. :)

The spa there was LOVELY. I fully enjoyed my 80-minute hot stone massage and wish I could have one every weekend!

Saturday afternoon was spent shopping in downtown Fairhope, then we had Mexican and margaritas Saturday night while watching the Alabama-LSU game. We were in Roll Tide country, after all.

It was such a wonderful weekend, and I've always felt that girl time is good for your soul. 

I feel refreshed and all caught up, and I can't wait to do it again soon!!

Homecoming and Halloween

I've abandoned my beloved blog! Time to catch up...

Last weekend we headed to Hattiesburg for Southern Miss homecoming, one of my favorite weekends all year. This year was a little different because our usual crew didn't come to set up a tailgate, so we improvised.

We met some friends at a new restaurant in town for lunch, Patio 44, then my parents met us to take Sibley home for the afternoon/night.

We drove over to campus and made a last minute tailgate on some benches. We still had a lot of fun, despite not having a tent.
 

After the SAD game, I called it a night while the rest of my friends went out downtown. I needed my beauty rest. ;)
 

I still love my Golden Eagles, despite not winning a game since 2011. :(

Halloween was Thursday, and it was a total washout. Most neighborhoods postponed trick-or-treating to Friday, which worked out much better.

We went one clock over to our friends Melanie and Trey's house for a hayride (minus the hay) on a trailer for all the kiddos to trick-or-treat. Sibley loved it, even though we just watched the whole time. Fun night! Can't wait until she's a little older to actually have fun with her daddy's favorite holiday.

Isn't she the cutest Snow White you've ever seen?
 

And last but not least, we had a lazy, cozy Saturday night at home this weekend and made our first real fire of the season.

This baby is loving some tummy time these days, and she LOVED watching the fire. Welcome to winter in the Grey fam, little one!
 

Four Months

Sweet Sibley,

You are now a little over 4 months old! (Eighteen weeks today, to be exact.)

What an eventful month it has been! You LOVE going to school, and we love the school, too. Ms. Mary and Ms. Carolyn take great care of you, and it's so funny to watch you and the other four babies in your class just watch each other. 

You got your second round of shots last week, and you did great! You are now 15 pounds, 1 ounce and 24.5 inches long. Big girl!

The biggest news lately is that you've learned how to roll over onto your tummy. You did it for the first time at the doctor's office and have since perfected it this past week. Now pretty much any time we put you down on your back (except at bedtime when you're too tired) you immediately flip over an start trying to scoot. You can work those legs like crazy now and can push yourself up on your arms. You just haven't figured out how to move your arms to make you go forward just yet.

I think I'm close to winning my bet with your dad that you'll be crawling by Christmas!

Speaking of your dad, he is your FAVORITE person in the world. He cracks you up, and you think he hung the moon. It's so very sweet to watch, even though I have to admit it makes me a little jealous. I am still the one who can comfort you when you cry though, so I suppose that's fair. :)

You're starting to teethe now, and we've added rice cereal in your bottles. Next comes trying it in a bowl with a spoon! 

You keep us busy, but we love it. When you crash at 7:45 for the night, we struggle to stay up much later than that.

We can't imagine life without you, sweet girl. It's so amazing to watch you learn how to do new things. Every day is a new adventure, and we love you so very much.

Introducing Mr. And Mrs. Grey!

I'm a week or so behind on blogging, so please forgive me. On September 28th, I turned 33, but more importantly I gained another sister-in-law!

Ryan and Beth Ann got married in an absolutely beautiful rustic, country wedding on Zach and Jennifer's land. Everything was just perfect, and both the rehearsal dinner and wedding were wonderful.

Beth Ann's sweet mom even had some special birthday cupcakes made to celebrate my day, too. It was a wonderful wedding weekend!

Congrats to the newlyweds! I had a great birthday celebration. :)