More spoons please...

I was talking with a client today who pointed me in the direction of the following website. I think this is one of the best descriptions I have ever read for people suffering from life long diseases. Whether it be lupus or depression, from my limited understanding, this explains well what my clients often describe to me. I hope you all read it. The address is:
http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/2004/11/the_spoon_theory.php

Here's to more spoons...

Carrots and Thanksgiving

Here is Natalie at Carole's for Thanksgiving. She had carrots for the second time and was fairly impressed with this new taste. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Much love!

A few more pictures

A sleeping baby, is a wonderful baby. She slept almost 11 hours last night, except for one quick 5am feeding. And when she sleeps, we all sleep. Night night.


Now let's see Dad, I need to think about this for a second.

My cool exersaucer

Hey everyone,

I'm sorry I haven't written for a while. Our digital camera was broken and I didn't think you would want any more of my ramblings without a picture of Natalie. :) We purchased a new camera this weekend and I think it is smarter then we are. But we are learning how to use it. This is a picture of Natalie in her new exersaucer that Papaw and KK got her for Christmas. Now, we know it's not Christmas, but she doesn't. And since she can use it now, she got it early. As you can see, she loves it. She is able to push the buttons to start the songs, she can roll the balls all around it, and every time she turns around she is captivated by this beautiful baby in the mirror. She grins and grins at this baby. She is starting to reach out for things and is trying to move forward. She can raise herself up on her arms and she can get her butt high in the air. She just has to learn to do both at the same time and we are going to have a mobile baby. She is giggling a lot now and thinks the dogs are the funniest things in the house. Mocha is getting a hair cut tomorrow because Natalie has started really pulling her hair and Mocha isn't smart enough to not get close to her. Never a dull moment in this house. :) Natalie gets to start eating vegetables this week. We figured we would start her on sweet potatoes on Thursday as we are thanking God for her life. I pray that each of you have a Happy Thanksgiving. I think of people around the world and know that I am truly blessed. More pictures soon!

Tired and sad

I'm home early today because I needed to get Natalie from day care. She's fine, she just woke up early and needed to eat early which meant I needed to be home early to feed her again. She woke up early because my parents needed to leave. Chris is coming home today, which is wonderful. My parents had to go home today, which is sad. I miss them so much more since Natalie has been born. I grew up next door to my grandparents and have an amazing relationship with them. I absolutely hate the fact that all four of her grandparents live half-way across the country. We will do everything possible to ensure she knows them well and they know her. I'm also sad because whenever Chris (or any pastor) leaves town, someone will die. I think it's Murphy's law. This weekend, two people did. He is coming straight home to meet with a family, doing a funeral tomorrow and attending one on Thursday. He will be tired too. We need to get some food made for the family and to be honest, I'm not sure when that's going to happen. Hopefully Natalie will cooperate with bedtime tonight, and after Bible Study I can cook. So you ask yourself, why is she sitting there typing a blog instead of cooking now? Well, for one, I'm sad. And for two, I need to go to the grocery store, but I can't do this until she wakes up...so I have things to do, but can't do any of them...yet. I know this is scattered, but such is my life right now. I hope things in your part of the country are calm...have a great week everyone!

DSL

Ahhh...We no longer have dial up at our house. :) We have spent most of today playing on-line and watching how fast all the pages come up now. Of course, now that we can send pictures faster, our digital camera isn't working. Such is life. Everyone here is fine. Natalie had more shots this week, but she handled them better this time around. And, she started cereal a couple of days ago. Tonight was the first night that she swallowed more then she got on us. She has learned to "spit" things. She finds it quite entertaining. If she spits up a little, she holds it in her mouth and then spits it out like a fountain all over everything. It's quite a deliberate act which brings laughter from her heart. Mom, however, is not so enthused or impressed with this new trick. But, there isn't much rationalizing with a four month old so I just carry a burp cloth. She especially loves to spit the cereal back out and watch it fly. Real food should be interesting.
We are also in process of teaching her to fall asleep without our help. She is getting much better, we aren't bouncing or rocking her anymore. We have our routine and when she hears her favorite song, My Wish, by Rascal Flatts, (a whole other story) she starts settling down. We lay her down and right now, she is letting me just stand beside the crib and she eventually goes to sleep, usually after grabbing my finger. I'm slowly moving further from the crib. If anyone has any other advice, we'll gladly take it. I think that is most of our exciting news for now. We'll chat more soon. Remember God loves you and has amazing plans for you today, ordinary day or not. :)

Halloween

We had a good halloween at our house. It was fun to get dressed up and pass out candy. Of course, we have candy left, which I have been munching on all day long. I'm just hoping Natalie doesn't mind me eating it. She slept well last night. It's the first night since her cold that she slept all night again. I never knew how much I loved to sleep until having her. Now I think I could make it a hobby. Anyways, I need to keep this one short, just wanted you all to see us dressed up. Have a great week!
Allison