Top 10 Baby Must Haves

10. Feeding Teether (mesh bag)

This thing is fantastic! Fill it with any fruit/veggie (preferably frozen) and Sydney goes to TOWN on it. I usually cut up bananas, put them in a baggie in the freezer, and when she's ready for a banana popsicle and I have time to bathe her afterwards, she chows down on this feeder. She sucks the banana through the mesh so I don't have to worry about her choking. Very messy, but very delicious.

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9. Diaper Pail (Genie, etc.)

Hides diaper odors, need I say more. But, should be emptied at least twice a week.

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8. Razberry Teether

This rubbery, bumpy teether is perfect to chew on when a binky just won't cut it. Wish I had a dozen more.

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7. Crib Soother

I LOVE the crib soother. It has a projector in it that shines a revolving night time show on the ceiling that Sydney can control. 4 different settings with nature sounds, music, a singing lady, or classical diddies. If she wakes up in the middle of the night, it has a sound sensor that makes the unit come on, so I don't have to get up and turn it on. Wahoo! This crib soother is the reason I can plunk her down in the bed when I get good and ready to do so. She just plays with her "juke box" until she konks out. Oh yeah, baby.

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6. Doorway Jumper

Contrary to popular belief, No, it won't make your baby bow-legged. It is a great way for Sydney to exercise her legs, bounce, and just "get her groove on." She loves to DANCE!

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5. Exersaucer

I compare the exersaucer to a satationary, rotating, merry-go-round of fun, fun, fun. Her exersaucer has light up toys, motion activated music, and all kinds of interactive gadgets. She is happy as a clam in this thing, and it allows me a few minutes to go to the bathroom.
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4. Pack'n Play

This is one of the most versatile things Sydney has. It can be a bed. It can be a changing table. It can be a safe spot to play. It is a great place for her to sit when I trying to unload groceries. 3 Cheers for the Baby Cage!
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3. Outdoor Swing

Sydney was never to hip on the musical swings that you keep in the house. But, she loves to be outside and her outdoor swing makes her terribly happy.

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2. Bumbo

Helps a baby sit up so they can play, eat, be a part of a family activity, watch the tube, watch the world around them, or just feel involved with whatever is going on because they can SEE everything and everybody. Love the BUMBO!
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*******DRUM ROLL PLEASE***********

& the 1 item that I can NOT LIVE WITHOUT is...

1. Camera Baby Monitor

What peace of mind it is to be able to SEE your baby at all times. I can HEAR her breathing with this thing. I can move the camera around remotely in case she relocates to a different part of the crib. I can ZOOM in if I want to see her chest rising up and down or the tiny freckle behind her left ear. I can turn the volume way up or way down. It is in color (in the day time) and uses infrared at night - so even in pitch black - I can see my little critter. It's also a great form of entertainment to see what she up to when she is making all of her crazy sounds. Every once in a while, she will notice the green light, and just stare up into the camera and smile! TOO CUTE and a must have. It is the size of a walkie talkie, so I can take it outside and still see what she is doing. Spend the extra money, just GET THIS monitor.

Wonderful Weekend

Saturday night sunset - beautiful!
Doc & Kay's fat squirrel who raids the feeders and feeds all of his tree rodent friends

Sydney and Memaw Kay on the back porch

Syndey is strutting her stuff in her new house shoes

Chris, Sydney and I spent the weekend with our dear friends, Don & Kay Rudasill in Nacogdoches. We came to know this fabulous duo MANY (20+) years ago when I started seeing "Doc" for my crazy eye issues. He is a wonderful therapeutic optometrist and helped me tremendously. I HIGHLY recommend him if you want to get the first REAL eye exam you probably have ever had. When you see an eye doctor for over 20 years, you get pretty close, and so we've pretty much adopted Mama Kay and Papa Doc. They've been there for us through thick and thin and we're so thankful to have them in our lives.

Doc is "King of the Grill" and can cook just about anything (especially meat). So, we had pork kabobs (4 different flavors) on Friday night. DELISH! Then, on Saturday night, we had sirloin and cajun shrimp. YUM!

Sydney played and played and played and played and played. Kay has baby toys in house since she is a Memaw, so it was very convenient for Syd to take advantage of all the accessories. Sydney gets her best hand-me-downs from Memaw Kay, and sure enough, she had a box of goodies for her. She LOVES her new houseshoes.

Chris and Doc played in the "man cave" which is Doc's end of the house filled with all of his big boy toys... Doc is a gun collector and they went shooting and many rounds and guns later, came back feeling very tough and accomplished. Doc did a trigger job on my 9 mm and now it is not nearly as hard to pull!

Here's to good friends, good food, and good fellowship!

It is Finished!

Custom caterpillar quilt made by Grandmawmaw

dresser/changing table

diaper caddy courtesy of Grandmawmaw

THE crib! Bumper pad courtesy of Ganny

butterflies are fluttering around the room

the most comfortable glider/rocker/recliner in the world!

Nursery Timeline:

July 13th - Found out I was pregnant!
October 2008 - Decided on the Hungry Caterpillar theme for the nursery and bought my first Eric Carle accessory

December 28, 2008 - Ordered beautiful Cocoon 1000 nursery furniture in antique vanilla

January 2009 - put on bedrest and was not able to work on nursery

Feb 19, 2009 - Sydney came into the world

Feb 23, 2009 - Brought Sydney home to a room filled with gift bags and laundry baskets -used a card table to change her and she slept in a bassinet and a pack & play

March 14, 2009 - Called the furniture store to complain about having a baby but not having furniture

End of March - got the dresser, night stand, and glider chair

April - no crib

May - no crib (borrowed a crib from a dear friend)

June - borrowed crib

July - borrowed crib

August - borrowed crib

Sept 9, 2009 - CRIB is here! Mama was inspired to finally finished decorating the nursery, and it is finished!

Those of you that know me, know I am a planner and organizer. Not having her nursery ready just about did me in, but, I learned valuable lessons. Don't pray for patience unless you want an opportunity to practice it, AND, a baby does not have to have a decked out nursery to be healthy, happy, and safe.

And yes, I know it looks like Rainbow Brite threw up in this room, but I promised to not subject my child to a room full of pink (due to a pepto bismol pink room I had in junior high - I still have night mares) I figure she has a life time of wearing pink and having pink stuff, so her room didn't have to be! Hope you like the pics - and keep in mind - I have zero decorating savvy, so I may have overdone it.

Wal-Mart Fall Apart

95% of the time Sydney is a joy to be around. She has been a happy baby from the very beginning. I guess I knew it was coming. How many times have I been in the store and pitied the poor mothers who have a squawling, inconsolable child yanking on them. I think to myself, "I'm glad my baby is so happy." Well, eventually, even the sweetest and most content child is going to have the Wal-Mart meltdown. My day was Friday afternoon around 3:30, you know, one of the busiest times you can be in Wally World. She was her regular, content, babbling self and for whatever reason (I still cannot target the trigger) she began to scream like a banchee. Nothing I did helped...binky, bottle, toys, taking her out of the floppy seat and holding her, talking to her, whispering in her ear...nothing. I still had 4 things left on my list, but ignored them and headed straight for the checkout. I grabbed the Puffs that were in the cart, ripped those bad boys open (something I SWORE I'd never do) and started shoveling them in her gaping mouth. Well, she couldn't scream and chew at the same time, so the noise leveled off and she begin to gnaw on the Puffs. With a sigh of relief, I dumped items on the belt while at the same time keeping the Puffs coming, fast and furious. By the time we got to the car, she had calmed down, but as I'm driving down the road, I'm reaching into the backseat trying to find her mouth in which to drop a piece of instant gratification. Good heavens. I had never been so happy to see my driveway.

I survived our first Wal-Mart Fall Apart. (I'm sure it won't be the last.) New mothers...if it hasn't happened already, GET ready...your day is coming.

Busy, Busy Girl

For the last 2 weeks, Sydney has been sliding, rolling, and scooching in order to get from Point A to Point B, but last Friday, she decided to find a more efficient method of movement. We are CRAWLING! Everywhere!

The Glorious Toy Tub

Simmy thinks that there MUST be something in there for him.

Love the way...

Sydney,

I love the way...

- you smile and coo when your daddy gets you out of bed in the morning

- you touch my face and look at me intently when I sing to you

- everyone you meet gets your sweet smile

- we rock and snuggle in the overstuffed glider chair and then fall asleep

- my life has changed in such a wonderful way

- I get to share the testimony of your birth with people who need encouragement

- you say, "hmmm" after each bite of your food, like it is the best stuff you've ever eaten

- you squeal with delight when you see Rowdy, Rags, or Simeon

- you sleep ALL night long

- you've brought out the sweet, soft side of your dad

Even though there are many challenges of parenthood ahead, I will always love being your mom and will thank God everyday for bringing you to our world.

"Labor" Day Weekend

You won't believe this, but on Sept. 7, 2009, exactly 9 months from the date it was ordered, Sydney's crib arrived! Woo hoo! It took longer to get the crib than to get the baby, but it is here and it is beautiful! I'll post pictures of the FINALLY complete nursery soon. We spent Saturday morning tearing down the borrowed crib (thanks Georgia) and putting together the new crib. Chris, king of all things technical/mechanical, rapidly constructed Sydney's gorgeous bed. In the meantime, Sydney took a nap on our bed, and to our horror, fell OFF the bed! She was okay since the night stand broke her fall, but it still gave me a heart attack. She is crawling, pulling up to a stand, cruising, doing the splits, drinking from her sippy cup, and eating Puffs. It's hard to believe just six months ago she weighed 6 pounds and fit in the crook of my arm.

On Sunday, we rode the new Ultra to church and left Miss Prissy with my folks. Got a little crispy fried on the way home, but it was a great day to ride. We spent Sunday afternoon doing yard work.

Chris took an unprecedented day off on Labor Day, so we decided to catch up on all those things you never get around to doing... House work, Mr. Fix-It chores, paperwork, etc. Sydney decided she would relax the day away as evident in the following pics...

Miraculous

I usually share many pictures of Sydney, but lately I've been wanting to share Sydney's story. This story is lengthy because this was quite a journey...

Many of you know that Sydney is a miracle baby, but I wonder how many people realize just how MUCH of a miracle.

Chris and I never imagined that we would be faced with infertility. We just figured that when the timing was right, we would have a family. We were married in 2001 and it was not until 2006 that we finally faced the facts and realized that there was definitely a problem.

That's when the infertility specialist visits began and the, "let's try this and that" began. We did the normal stuff: BBT, (basal body temperature) and OPT (ovulation predictor tests). My doctor checked my blood for progesterone and discovered that my levels were extremely low. Progesterone is absolutely necessary for an early pregnancy to survive. It is what keeps the embryo's home intact. Normal progesterone levels range from 5 (minimal ovulatory activity) to as high as 20. My levels hovered anywhere from barely detectable to 2. Needless to say, EVEN with supplementation, my progesterone was nonexistent.

I also had a diagnostic surgery performed in order to find any other factors affecting my inability to conceive. This surgery concluded that I had endometriosis in a critical area. That's when the lupron shots began and I wouldn't wish these horrible things on anyone! Lupron puts you in premature menopause with all the side effects that accompany it. MISERABLE. My dear friend Janette, who is an experienced nurse, gave me my intramuscular Lupron injections, bless her heart.

Needless to say, I was getting discouraged. I was praying that the Lord would have His way in regards to our future family and to just give us the strength and patience to endure the process. I know He has the perfect plan in mind, it is just up to us to let Him have control. I wish I could say I was upbeat and full of faith during this trial, but there were many nights when I cried myself to sleep thinking I would die childless. I received prayer on MANY occasions at church and was desperate to have the Lord hear our cry for a child.

It was during my Lupron cycles that my friend Ashley told me about IVF. (in-vitro fertilization) I thought, "That's the ticket!" Since I have low progesterone and endometriosis, we'll just let the lab rats perform their magic. So, off to Houston we went and began 3 months of torture. My hats off to those women who have endured more than one IVF cycle. It is unbelievably difficult. After giving myself many shots in the stomach (I lost count) and numerous trips to the doctor, we were ready to begin the IVF cycle. I went back to the specialist so they could ultrasound my ovaries to see how many eggs were forming as a result of the highly potent drugs I was injecting into my body daily. Guess what? There were no eggs. The nurse was shocked and she said, "We'll just up your dosage."

We upped the dosage for a few days (more painful tummy injections) and returned to the doctor a second time. The nurse said, "I can't believe this, but you have no follicles. There's got to be SOMETHING in there. I've never seen this before. We'll up your dosage to the maximum amount you can have without ODing."

At this point I was injecting nealry 900 units of Gonal F into my body. I returned to the specialist a third time. She shook her head in disbelief and said, "Sweetheart, there is nothing there to withdraw. You are not a candidate for IVF. I have no idea what is wrong. I almost never have patients who are completely non-responsive to this treatment. There are no eggs. You most likely have premature ovarian aging, which means you have the ovaries of a 65 year old woman. We can try other things, but my suggestion is to go home and live your life." IVF was out and we were not able to complete the cycle. My doctor gave us a complete refund...doctors do not do that. We had even signed paperwork that said there was no way we could get our money back. That is how astounded she was at my results from the IVF treatment.

Those words hit Chris and me like a ton of bricks. We had reached the end of our rope. There was nothing else to do, nothing else to try, nowhere else to go. I think that is where God wants us sometimes. He wants us to realize that we ARE nothing, HAVE nothing, and can DO nothing without HIS power. I was completely broken into the tiniest pieces you can imagine. Chris did not know what to say to comfort me. My tears were my only solace.

A precious woman of God prayed for me the following Sunday. I didn't want to go to church because I felt let down and discouraged, but I went anyway. She told me about Deuteronomy 28:4 "The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand and in the fruit of your body." She told me to repeat that scripture during my prayer time and to stand on the Word of God. I did just that.

It was exactly 3 weeks later when this same precious lady came up to me at church and said, "You have conceived." I didn't know what to say to her. My first thought was, "What? Don't you dare say that I am pregnant! Don't get my hopes up! Have you lost your mind?"

It was exactly 2 weeks later that I discovered I was pregnant. Yes, that's right. A woman with no eggs, nonexistent progesterone, and endometriosis, was pregnant. It is only by the power of Almighty God that I was able to conceive a child, NATURALLY.

Without a test, there is no testimony.

Without a trial, there is no victory.

Without tears at night, there is no joy that comes in the morning.

He looked past my sorrow and saw an opportunity to bring Him glory.

It is because of His great mercy, unending love, and incomprehensible glory that we are sharing our home with a child who is truly.....

miraculous.