New Pictures...finally

Big Smile!

Hanging out with Dad on Father's Day!



Meredith sweatshirt on a chilly rainy day! !




Meredith's first cereal!

New Discoveries

Meredith has made a few new discoveries in the past week or so. She has found her favorite new noise to make. She kindof purses her lips together and makes this mmmm sound over and over and she gets really excited about it and kicks her legs. It is really funny because it almost sounds like a moo! She has also discovered her feet! Seems like that was really a big one last night. I had a hard time changing her diaper because she kept holding onto her toes and then that is almost all she did during her bath was play with her feet! She has also officially discovered the fine art of napping! All week she has been taking these long naps in the middle of the day and it kinda freaked me out when Chris told me how long she has been sleeping, but then I thought about it and that is what babies are supposed to do…she just never napped well at all up until now. She has slept through the night for two nights in a row, so maybe the naps are actually helping her have a better sleep pattern now. The only thing I know for sure is that as soon as I think I have her figured out she changes again! I guess that is the joy of parenthood!

I promise I’ll post some pictures soon….I had 5 minutes last night and gave up after I couldn’t find the cord in the office.

Oh yeah, class went pretty well last night. Very cool professor, but looks like a lot of busy work. Only 6 weeks though!

Nice weekend

We had a really nice weekend. Saturday was Meredith’s first food experience. I gave her some rice cereal and she did pretty well. I’m not too sure how much of it actually ended up in her belly since there was a lot on her face and hands, but it was kinda fun! After her first bite, she just made this weird face like what in the world is this? I actually tasted just a tiny bit and I can see why she made such a face…it really tastes like cardboard! I told her that it only gets better from here!! She sat really well in her high chair (we got the type that just straps into a kitchen chair since we don’t have a lot of room in the kitchen for a big ol high chair). I took some pictures, but I haven’t uploaded them yet…they are pretty cute!
Since we were on a plane for the majority of Father’s Day last week, we ended up doing ours for my dad & Chris yesterday. We grilled some yummy basil chicken and had a nice spread at our house. Otherwise, it was a pretty low key weekend. I got some things done around the house and we ran a few errands and most importantly…Meredith was a really good little girl this weekend. She really put on a good show yesterday with everyone over at the house with all of her grins and giggles! We are still having some sleep challenges though. Friday night she woke up like 4 times and then she was really screaming by the 5th time and would not go back to sleep without a bottle. Saturday night she only woke up once, but then last night she woke up twice between 1 & 2 and then by 5:45 I had to give her a bottle. Not sure what’s going on, but might try giving her a bigger bottle before bed since she seems to be hungry. Today is Chris’s birthday (36!), so Mom is going to babysit and we are going to dinner and a movie. I think we’re going to Michael Dean’s…yum! Tomorrow is the start of second summer school session…goodie. I did ok, but not great on my final exam last week, but hey, at least that one is over!

Cancun

So, life has been a whirlwind for the past week or so. Meredith had her 4 month pediatrician appointment last Tuesday and she weighs 15.3 lbs and is 25.5 inches. She gained 2 lbs and grew over 2 inches in the past 2 months! She had to get 4 more shots this time. We gave her Tylenol this time, which seemed to help. She definitely was much grumpier with this round than the last. She was just so unhappy that it broke my heart. The Tylenol at least helped her sleep, but it took over 24 hours to get her back to normal. Not looking forward to that again at 6 months!
The other fun thing that happened last week was that after leaving her appointment, I was heading back to work and a lady rear ended me at a light on Blue Ridge and then she drove off! I had tried to get out of traffic since it wasn’t a serious accident, so I wouldn’t be blocking traffic and off she went. Fortunately, a Bell South employee was on the corner working on a phone line and got her license plate. So, we had to wait for the police to file a report and all that fun stuff. The damage to my car really wasn’t that bad, but it is just enough to be annoying. The cop said that the plate matched the description of the car (big ol black Mercedes), so they will be tracking her down along with my insurance company.

That was just a day before Chris and I were heading to Cancun for my reward trip with work. Dropping Meredith off with my mother-in-law was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do! I cried like a baby and I think Chris was getting a little annoyed with me! The trip was a lot of fun, especially since it was free! We got a little bit of spending money as well, so we literally spent maybe $50 total! That is what I call a vacation. We had to have a meeting so that it would be considered a business trip, but it wasn’t too bad. Then we did ‘team building’ on the beach by building a boat out of cardboard and duct tape! It was actually a lot of fun and the Corona made it even better :) I got a little fried on our free day, but nothing too terrible. I was ready to come home and see my little girl! She was sleeping when we got home, but she looked so different! In 4 days she has grown so much! She is sleeping on her tummy now because we can’t keep her on her back anymore and she is rolling a lot now.

The doctor gave the go ahead to start her on some cereal with a spoon, so we’re going to give that a shot this weekend and see how she does. She definitely seems hungry these days, so maybe something more filling will help her. I swear, she is growing before my very eyes…..although, I’m hardly seeing her these days. I had to work on a project last night, have a presentation in class tonight, need to study tomorrow night and have a final on Thursday!! We go to the beach over the 4th of July and I can’t wait to have some good quality time with her…..I feel like the absentee mom lately :(

18 weeks

Meredith is turning into a little ham. Last night we had to run out to the store and we ran into a parent from Chris’s school. Meredith just grinned and giggled at her and was all kinds of cute. I just look at her sometimes and can’t believe she is the same child because not only has she physically changed so much, but she is just so much happier now. We also took her for her first true studio pictures last weekend and they should be awesome. The photographer was great, but Meredith was also in a really good mood and gave some of those huge grins and cooperated perfectly. I can’t wait to see them!
She is really doing a good job of holding onto toys now and her pacifier has really just become a toy. It helps when she is really tired and needs to get to sleep, but otherwise, she just pulls it out of her mouth, chews on the side, and can even pick it up and get it into her mouth on her own now! I don’t know how long it will be before her teeth actually cut through, but there is no doubt that they are pushing on her gums. I can see the raised area where it is kinda swollen in her mouth and absolutely everything goes in her mouth. I’ve heard that this can go on for months, but I have a feeling hers aren’t far from cutting through…I could be totally wrong though!
She has actually been sleeping quite well lately. Her napping pattern is getting a little more clear these days, which I think is helping her night time sleep. We can actually put her down in her crib while she is awake and within a few minutes, she is asleep. I never thought we’d actually get to that point, but she seems to be doing great! She still wakes up at night sometimes, but will go back to sleep fairly quickly with a pacifier.
Today is Chris’s last day of school, so he has a workday on Monday and will be at home with Meredith for the summer after that. I am quite anxious to get her back home. The babysitter will start keeping her again in August, but she will be so much older by then that I probably won’t worry quite so much…..doubtful since I am such a worrier! Chris and I leave for Cancun next Wednesday for my reward trip from work. I am excited, but having serious anxiety over leaving Meredith. She is staying with my mother-in-law in Tennessee and I know she’ll be just fine, but once again, I’m a worrier. I’m almost done with the first summer school session, so I’ll be glad when that’s over. I have a pretty good A right now, so hopefully I don’t blow it on the final, which is 3 days after I get back from Mexico…goodie. Just checked the weather for Cancun and it says its going to rain the whole time…perfect for my tropical getaway.