Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!!

My sweet baby girl is ONE YEAR OLD!!! It's so hard to believe, but it has been one of the absolute best years of my life, and I would not change a single thing.

 

I just wanted to do a quick recap of what all is going on with Miss Sibley these days... She weighs 23 lbs., 14 ounces and is up to 29 inches long. She's a very fast crawler and thinks it's fun to try to "run" away from mama and daddy. But speaking of running, we're not really close. She's standing on her own and cruising along the furniture and behind her walker, but she won't take any steps by herself. Oh, well... I'm not rushing it.

 

She waves and claps and holds the phone to her ear and says "mamamamamama" a lot and "da" for everything.

 

A week before her birthday, on a HOT and MUGGY Sunday afternoon, we met my photographer friend Melanie out on the Natchez Trace for Sibley's one-year photo shoot. We loved, loved, LOVED all the pics! Here are just a few...

 

We were fortunate enough to have her birthday party on her actual birthday this year, and what a party it was! She had so much fun, and we were all worn out afterwards. :)

I have to say I waited a long time to see this girl's reaction to her very own birthday cake, and it was so well worth the wait! She dove right in with her mouth. It was priceless.







Sweetest Sibley, I know I've said it before, but we could not have special-ordered a more perfect fit for our family. You absolutely complete us, and we are so proud and blessed to be your parents.

Happy FIRST Birthday, my beautiful baby girl!!

VEGAS!

Good grief, it's been way too long! I'm a horrible blogger these days, but just for the record, I wanted to write a short post about our trip to Vegas.

This was our first "real" adults-only vacation post-Sibley, and we truly lived it up.

We flew out of New Orleans EARLY on a Friday morning two weeks ago and were in Vegas by 8:30 a.m. their time. Crazy. First thing on the itinerary was a poolside cabana that we had rented for the day. We felt like such VIPs! It was incredibly nice and so relaxing.

We stayed at the Flamingo, courtesy of a comp room from our friends Marc and Jarrod, and our room overlooked Caesar's Palace and the Las Vegas Strip. It was amazing. We could even see the Bellagio fountain from our window. What more could you ask for? ;)

After lounging by the pool all day, we headed to the Venetian and the Palazzo for dinner at Lavo, followed by a spin above Vegas in The Linx, a very slow-moving Ferris wheel high above the city. The views were absolutely amazing, and it was a great way to end our first (very long but fun) day in Sin City.

Saturday morning started with a walk down the Strip for lunch at the Sugar Factory inside Paris Paris. This place was so cool. I had a Reese's Martini with my lunch, which tasted just like a peanut butter cup. Their candy store was amazing, and it was the perfect way to really kick off our Saturday. After lunch, we walked through Paris Paris (one of my favorite casinos, I've decided - I love the themed ones) and through Bally's to catch a cab to the Stratosphere.

The guys rode the crazy ride at the top of the Stratosphere while Allison and I were too chicken. It was insane. You couldn't pay me a million bucks to do it, but I got some great pics! :)

After our top of the world adventure, it was back to the hotel to get ready for our night out on the town. We had early dinner reservations at STK steakhouse inside the Cosmopolitan, and this place was by far the best meal of the trip! DELICIOUS! Our reservations were at 5:30, which gave us plenty of time to get over to Planet Hollywood for a cocktail before we saw Britney.

Britney was the main reason we planned this trip, in addition to one free flight and free rooms, so it was fun. I probably would have picked a different show to see, but it was high energy, and two of our five-member party got to move down close to the stage due to a ticket snafu, so they had an amazing view.

After the show, we went "out" and the rest of the night is a little fuzzy. It was a lot of fun based on the pics though! :)

On Sunday, we all needed some recovery lunch at Gordon Ramsey's BurGR inside Planet Hollywood. This was the best burger I've ever had. And we were starving. It gave us all the energy we needed to walk the 1,000 miles that the afternoon had in store for us. We did it all - the Bellagio fountain, Caesar's Palace, Mirage, MGM, New York New York, Monte Carlo, Cosmopolitian, then Fremont Street for dinner and the laser light show. I probably even left out a few. We walked for miles because it was our last day. We had to see it ALL!

What a trip! It was a quick long weekend, but I missed my baby girl so much and was so happy to return home on Monday. One thing is for sure... three days in Vegas is plenty for me. :)

Spring Break

We've had a busy few weeks here at the Grey House.

Sibley's spring break (who knew daycare closed for spring break??) coincided with Derek's work conference in Chicago. So I took a few days off work and stayed home with her, then we made a little road trip to get her all settled in at my parents' house for the second half of the week. It worked out well since she was on the mend from her ear infection. We had some lovely mommy-daughter down time and plenty of cuddles.

I came back to Jackson Wednesday night and went back to work on Thursday. Derek was supposed to come home from Chicago that night but got delayed in Atlanta for the night because of weather.

After a LONG trip, he finally made it home safely on Friday, just in time for us to have a little belated anniversary date night (8 years!) and to get real for the St. Paddy's parade on Saturday.

It was a long week, but it was good timing for there to be so much going on, and we had a great time at the parade and were super excited to get the munchkin back on Sunday.

My parents even took her to the Hattiesburg parade. I think she had fun, despite the unimpressed look on her face.

This past weekend we went to the lake for a little family time and some R&R with our good friends, the Gorneys.

I sadly didn't take many pics, but Sibley had so much fun playing with sweet Ella Grace and cousins Cash and Frances. It was perfect, and a much needed relaxing getaway.

Spring is always a busy time of year, and this year is proving to be no exception.

I'm heading to Atlanta next week for work, and Derek will be a single parent for the first extended period of time, so here's hoping for a happy baby and happy daddy when I return. It's going to be a very long five days for mama, too. :(

Nine Months

Sweet Sibley,

I promise I blinked, and all of a sudden you're a big girl!

You turned nine months on Friday, and we celebrated with your first ear infection and pink eye. :( But the good news is that the medicine seems to be working because you feel much better!

You started crawling about three weeks ago, and in the past week you've gotten faster and faster. On your 9 month birthday you pulled up to standing for the first time, and yesterday you took your first steps holding our hands or holding the furniture. It's happened so fast!!

We really can't let you out of our sight now because it doesn't take you long to find some trouble. Guess we really need to start baby-proofing this house!

You've been eating pick-up foods yourself, and you're down to three bottles a day most days. You're officially in 9-12 month clothes now, and we have plenty of outfits to choose from thanks to some sweet hand-me-downs from Aunt KK and pajamas from "Aunt" Melanie. :)

You're now up to 22 pounds and 28 inches, keeping you in the 90th percentile for weight but up from the 37th to 66th percentile for height! Thank goodness for growth spurts!

You babble all the time, but you'll occasionally say Dada, and on Thursday you said Mama for the first time. ❤️❤️

You're SUCH a happy baby, and you love to go places and be social! You don't meet a stranger, which makes us proud.

We love you so very much, Boogie/Nugget/Munch/Punky Brewster! You make us happier than we ever knew we could be (and busier too!) :)

Poor Blog

My dear blog, I promised I wouldn't forget all about you once I had a baby, and apparently I lied. Gosh, it feels like we've had so much going on, but really very little at the same time - probably because it's been a month and a half since I last posted! Shame on me.

 

So here's what we've been up to...

 

We hosted a Bon Voyage party for our friends Claire and Jeremy in preparation for their trip to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. We made up a little skit and went to dinner. It was a lot of fun, and I think they truly enjoyed our silliness!

 

We've had what feels like a solid month of "winter weather." It almost always has happened on a Tuesday, and it's rarely any real snow, just slushiness and enough ice to cancel or delay school or work. We have spring fever big time!

Derek and I were extras in another movie - "Get On Up," the biopic of James Brown, directed by the same director as "The Help." This time we were concert-goers in Paris 1971. It was fun enough, but our first movie debut was much better. I don't think we'll get any screen time this go-around, but I guess you never know. ;)

The real reason I need to catch up is that my sweet munchkin is over EIGHT months old! She now has two bottom teeth, and I feel like we all deserve a medal. That first tooth gave her an awful time with fever and fussiness, but we survived.

I swear in this past week (which happened to coincide with a work trip for Derek and the only time I've single-parented since I've been back at work), she's gotten SO active. She's creeping, which is not quite crawling - more like dragging herself and strategically rolling to get where she wants. She's into everything and starting to pull herself up. We can't turn our backs for a minute, and I know it will get even crazier. She's a mess, but a sweet mess.



Today it was actually warm and sunny, so we spent some time playing in the front yard. It was lovely. We've had a wonderfully low-key Valentine's weekend at home with our little one, and I think we are all feeling recharged and refreshed.



Life is good! I promise to not neglect you anymore, dear blog. Even if we don't get out of our pajamas for the whole weekend (which seems to happen a lot around here), I promise to write about it for documentation purposes. Until next time...

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.