[BiG GiRL]

Maeleigh is getting to be such a big girl lately! She is walking and trying to run all over the place and doesn't even really crawl anymore. She has also started eating with a fork and she does it very well I might add. She can show you where her nose and her mouth are, we are working on her other facial features one at a time. But she learned those two so quickly I'm sure she will know the others in no time. She also likes to "honk" your nose, which sometimes can hurt because of her little finger nails. She has also learned that a rooster says cock-a-doodle-do and it is the cutest thing when she does it. She is still loving her gym class and has really gotten over feeling shy with her new teacher and new friends. She still loves her prune juice, milk and regular juice and when she has drank all of her drink she turns her cup upside down and brings it to you so you can fix her more. She is definitely my little country girl and is loving her stroller rides more then ever! Most days it is the only way that you can get her to go to sleep. She gets SO excited when she sees her stroller and points to it and tries to climb in it. She also points to the door when she wants to go outside and starts squealing when you ask her if she wants to go outside or for a stroller ride. Not that I'm complaining because I can use the exercise and I enjoy being outside as much as she does :)

On that note, I started my new lifestyle today. I'm not calling it a diet because that is not what it is. This is my last first day of losing weight. I am going to do it this time, no ifs, ands or buts about it. I am ready to feel better and look better. And I owe it to Maeleigh to be healthy just as much as I owe it to myself. So anyway, my goal is to lose 65lbs. and I WILL reach that goal! :) Its going to be hard for a while but it's going to happen.

[WE HAVE A WALKER!!]

As of this evening it is safe to say that we officially have a walker on our hands!! Maeleigh has been walking more and more and more recently but today she has been walking all over everywhere!! I am so proud of her! I think that she learned how to walk pretty quickly from the time she took her first step to now. She looks so cute and such like a big girl walking around. Now she just has to learn how to walk with shoes on because she definitely doesn't know what to do with them on. I got her some walking shoes from Stride Rite a while back so I guess its time for her to start wearing them when we go out now. :)

We have been trying to teach her to say "more" but she refuses. She must more prefers to do her own sign language for more which is where she puts her hand out and does a grabbing motion. She has been doing it for a while but now she REALLY does it a lot. She is also learning a lot from her gym class lately. She LOVES to do forward rolls and has even done 2 of them by herself. If she wants to do one and you try to pick her up she will put both of her hands on the floor and tuck her head, which is what she learned she is supposed to do in class. Another example of something she has learned is how to swing on the bar. The other day we were at a clothing store in Madison and there was a clothes rack that didn't have any clothes on it (it had 2 bars 1 on the top and 1 on the bottom), well as soon as she saw it she had a fit and we were not really sure what she was wanting so we stood her up on the floor to see what it was that she saw, well she immediately reached for the bottom bar and was trying to hang on it. It was so cute and we were so amazed that she saw it and remembered that she plays on one of those in gym class. She is just so smart! I cant say it enough :) She has loved to dance for a while now but now she has started copying what you do and I must say it is the funniest thing ever to watch her break it down and shake her little booty! She started giving high 5's about 2 months ago but she does it really good and every time you ask her to give you a high 5 now. Its so cute!!

Maeleigh is an outdoors kind of little girl. She LOVES to be outside and would much prefer it to being inside. Since I had my surgery I still cant carry her for long periods of time, I cant go up or down steps with her and I cant stand up with her if I am sitting down. This being said, I cant get her to sleep, I would always rock her to sleep but since I cant stand up while holding her the job of getting her to sleep is up to MiMi. Now back to the part about being outside, 9 out of 10 nights Maeleigh will only go to sleep outside, literally. I will either push her around outside in her stroller and MiMi will get her out and put her in her bed or MiMi will rock her or swing her on the back porch until she goes to sleep. I think it is so nice that she loves to be outside, I love to be outside too. Even when she was a little baby and was crying if you walked outside she would stop crying almost instantly. She is definitely my little outdoor baby :) I guess Daddy is going to have to put a swing up at our house so that when I am fully recovered and we go home I can stroll her, rock her or swing her to sleep. 

Like always, I don't think I left anything new out but if I did I will include it in the next post. We hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend, even though it is supposed to start raining tonight : /  blah. My little outdoor baby is not going to like all of this rain coming in. 

[ALL GONE]

This morning when I fixed Maeleigh her daily prune juice she was so excited to get it, as usual. Then when she was done with it she put it down, put hands out beside her with her palms facing up and said "all gone". It was so cute! It was the first time that she had said it. Then after she got done eating her waffle she said it again with her hands put to the side. I forgot that I hadn't posted 3 other important very smart things that she has been doing for a while. She says "hot hot" and points at things that are hot. Some things just amaze me that she does and how she knows that different things are hot. The things that she knows are hot are the stove, coffee maker, coffee mugs, the toaster and the microwave. She will also hold up one finger when you ask her how old she is. We taught her how to do that right before she turned one and she does it so good. Then after she does it she claps for herself. She also wipes her mouth off after she eats or drinks something. I know I have said it a million times but she is just so smart and I am so proud of her!! She is getting braver and taking more steps here and there, usually going from one piece of furniture to the next. I think she will be walking in no time! I also forgot that I haven't posted that she has 2 top teeth now. It is so cute when she smiles and shows off all of her 4 little teeth! I'm pretty sure that she is working on some more though because she still drools a lot. She also likes to ride Jett as well. She dies laughing while he walks around with her on his back. And she laughs when he gives her a big kiss right in the face. I have tried to let her color with her pretty crayons and coloring books that she got for her birthday but she doesn't really get it yet, she just tries to eat them and tear the pages so we will try that again later. I already said that she loves to ride on her riding toys but I think I forgot to mention that whenever she gets in her car or rides on her other toys she will wave bye bye and blow kisses as she rides away. It is so cute, its like she is telling you bye because she is leaving and going somewhere.

It is supposed to be pretty hot today so it looks like Maeleigh is going to get to go for a swim. She LOVES swimming in her pool. I cant wait until the big pool is warm enough for her, and me, to swim in. We hope everyone stays cool today with the 94* forecast!

[BORED BORED BORED]

Bored does not even begin describe how I feel. I have been confined to the recliner, except to go to the bathroom and the occasional trip to the kitchen when no one else is around, for a week now. I have seriously never been so bored in my life! However, I went to the doctor today for my post-op check up and everything was great! My post-op swelling is minimal, which is good, and I got my stitches out but I am still having some pain. As a result of this I have to stay on my crutches for 2 more weeks, 2 MORE WEEKS! I seriously don't know how people use these things for any extended period of time. I literally have bruises from them. But he did give me the go ahead to start walking more normal with them and actually putting most of my weight on my leg. But anyway, I'm sure that nobody really cares about all of this but I'm just so bored I needed something to do, you can only play on the internet and watch TV before you run out of things to look at and watch. I really need some new books...

Maeleigh is doing good, she is enjoying her new foods that she has been trying. She also loves her prune juice and gets very excited when she sees you fixing it. She is trying to walk more and more but she is still scared to just go by herself, she lunges for whoever is near her when she lets go. She has also been playing with her baby that she got for her birthday, she gives her love and kisses and feeds her her bottle. It is so sweet to watch her pretend like she is a little Mommy, giving her baby a bottle and then rocking her. She plays pretend so good already. Hopefully Nanna and Pape's pool will be warm soon and we can start going swimming (she gets bored sitting in the house after a while too). This means that she gets mad more often which in turn results in her biting herself. Still not sure if this is normal or not but I really hope that she stops doing it soon. He little arm looks pitiful after she does it :( 

Nothing to exciting but that's all for now :)

[MiSS PRiSS]

I think it is safe to say that "Miss Priss" is a very appropriate name for Maeleigh these days. I just have to brag on her a little bit :) She has to be the smartest newly 1 year old I have ever seen! She has learned and started doing so many new things just in the past week. She blows kisses and waves bye bye to everyone when they leave without have to be told to, she rocks her "babies" (which so absolutely loves), she gives her babies love (hugs) and kisses, and now when you tell her that you love her or she is just being sweet she does the sign for love (she learned it in her gym class), it is by far the SWEETEST thing I have EVER seen in my whole life! You just cant help but smile when she does it. So it has definitely been helping me feel better since I haven't been feeling to good at all the past 2 days. She has also taken a few steps!! She dies laughing while she does it because she knows that she is doing something new. Back to the name "Miss Priss", my 1 year old talks back to/fusses at me. When she is doing something she is not supposed to be she says "Anh anh!" (not sure how you spell that) while she is doing it. She also says it back at me when I tell her "no". And earlier she was standing up in her chair and I told her "no no" and to sit down and I'm pretty sure she said "bad" to me. MiMi heard her so I have a witness. haha. However, I'm not sure if she was telling me that I was bad or if she was saying what she was doing was bad. Either way it was hard not to laugh because it was so funny and out of the blue even though I know it is very bad to laugh when she does something bad. But I'm pretty good about keeping a straight face when I am telling her not to do something. She loves playing with all of her new toys that she got for her birthday. She is doing 100% better with trying to walk now that she has her push toys and not just a walker. She pushes them all over the house, and she goes pretty fast sometimes too. She also likes to give her babies a ride on her toys. She loves to "read" her new book as well. She also points at things that she wants, she has been doing this for a few months now I just cant remember if I ever said anything about it. MiMi says that she is bossy, the way she points and says "uh uh". Its cute though, right now. haha. She has also started biting herself on the arm when something makes her mad, I have no idea why she has started doing this but I really wish she would stop because it leaves all these little red marks on her arm and wrist from her little teeth. She also enjoys sharing her snacks with Jett and Bullet and I'm pretty sure that they enjoy it too. She will give then one and they will take it out of her hand and then she laughs, eats one and then gives them another. I think it is so sweet that she already shares so well. And last but not least yesterday she started doing what we call the "crab walk". It is so cute and she does it all over the house. I think I got everything new that she is doing, if not I will put it in the next post. It is just so hard to remember everything!

Maeleigh has been doing good drinking her whole milk. I wasn't sure how it would agree with her tummy since she could never have milk based formula because it would make her spit up but she has been fine. We are also trying to get her to eat more new foods because all of the milk she has been drinking has been causing problems with her going to the potty. She I have to start giving her prune juice and Miralax everyday and cutting her milk back to only 1 cup a day and then she just drinks regular juice the rest of the day. Her doctor said to work her back up to the full amount of milk so that her tummy and everything can adjust to it gradually. So we are trying to get her to eat more foods that are high in fiber. So far it is going pretty good, she has just been eating whatever MiMi has around the house since I haven't been able to go to the grocery to get her some new stuff to try, but hopefully I will feel better and be able to go tomorrow so we can get her started getting better by her diet and be able to cut out the Miralax before to long. However, the Miralax is not habit forming so I am okay with her being on it even if it is for a little while and I completely trust her pediatrician. If you know me you know that I am really weird about giving Maeleigh medicine, I say its because I know to much about it haha, but like I said, if her pediatrician says she needs it then I will give it to her, because she is the same way I am with giving her medications. 

I want to start doing some different learning activities with Maeleigh because she is so smart and learns things so fast. So that is my plan to start this summer, I just have to find some good activities/websites that have good activities for 1 year olds, so if anybody has any they want to share I would greatly appreciate it. We are also going to start potty training soon, I just have to get her a potty and we are doing it!! I know people will probably think I am crazy for starting so early but Maeleigh's pediatrician said to go ahead and start so I am. The sooner we are diaper free the better! 

MiMi, Pappy, Uncle Thomas, Nanna, Pape and Laura have all been trying to keep Miss Priss occupied since I cant do anything. She has had lots of playtime, stroller rides and rides in her car that she got for her birthday both in the house and outside. I feel so bad that I cant take care of her but I am SO thankful that I have such a wonderful family that is willing to help me out so much. I don't know anyone else that would take care of a 1 year old and a 25 year old. haha. Chaz has been working very long hours because is has been so hot so we haven't got to see him much. That is another reason that I am so thankful for my amazing family, so that Chaz didn't have to take off work to take care of us. Since I don't work (which is another thing that I am very thankful for) he obviously has to work for us to be able to live. 

But anyway, I am about to attempt to go sot outside while Maeleigh plays in her pool. I hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe Memorial Day! And don't forget to stop and take a second to remember and thank those who fought and are fighting for our country!

Oh and my project for tonight is to get my Shutterfly share site up and going so that I can share all of Maeleigh's pictures. :)

[MAELEiGH DENiSE iS 1!!]

This time 1 year ago I had a 7lb.10oz. 20 1/2in. long precious baby girl, I now have a 19lb.1oz. 30 1/2in. long big girl! I still cant believe that my little sweet pea is 1!! This has been the best year of my life so far but I have no doubt that each year will only get better and better. Maeleigh had an AMAZING birthday party!! It was exactly what I wanted and I'm pretty sure that she had a great time too! We has almost all of our whole family and almost all of our good friends here to help us celebrate Maeleigh's special day. She got TONS go great presents and she loves all of them very much. She was so cute opening all of them and making sure that she gave every single one some love, there were even some cards and wrapping paper that she gave love. She is just so sweet and gives love to everything! She also very  much enjoyed her birthday cake! She had so much fun playing in and eating her cake, it was very obvious by her hands and face. haha. We are so thankful for everyone that was able to come and celebrate with us! And I just want to say thank you to everyone one more time. 

Just a quick update about me, I had my surgery this past Wednesday. Everything went well and I am starting my recovery now. It will probably take a good 8 weeks before I am able to do everything by myself again. I am just so thankful for all of family (that includes you Laura :) ) that has been helping me and Maeleigh and will continue to do so. And I also want to say thank you to everyone that has been praying for me, it really means a lot.

I guess that's all for now. Sorry this wasn't long, I'm just still very tired and don't have a lot of energy. I will do a better update when I am feeling a little better. I'm working on setting up a share page on Shutterfly to share pictures since I am really bad about putting them on here. 

[QUiCK CATCH-UP]

I'm just going to do a quick catch up because for one, I have a ton of stuff to do and two, I'm very tired and would LOVE to get in the bed a little early and get a good night sleep. So here it is...

Maeleigh now smacks when she blows kisses and some she just smacks to give you kisses without actually blowing them. She is standing up by herself a lot more and it getting really good at it. She LOVES to feed herself these days and always has to have her own fork or spoon. She also likes to put her food in her lap and eat paper. haha. 

Today was Maeleigh's last gym class for the season and they had a little awards ceremony. Maeleigh got her first medal for all of her accomplishments this season and she is soooo proud of it! It is so cute how she holds it and shows it to people. I am so proud of my little sweet pea! She is so smart! She had another really good day in gym class today though, crawling all around and squealing like she did this week. And she even let Mr. Paul help her swing around the bar and she usually cries! Me, MiMi, Mr. Paul and everyone else in the class was so proud of her for doing so good and not crying! I just LOVE taking her to the gym and I know that she loves it too. 

Our beach trip with MiMi and Nanna was soooo much fun!! We decided that we are going to make it a tradition and we are going to do it every year. The weather could not have been more perfect! It only rained, well poured, one time and it was in the evening so it didn't really matter. I wasn't sure how Maeleigh would like the beach, I thought that she might be afraid of the water. Needless to say she was not scared the least little bit! She would crawl all around in the tidal pools and even tried to crawl out in the ocean! It was so funny! She absolutely loved everything about the beach! She also had a little bit of sand to eat, which she tried to hide from me as she had her back to me and was eating it out of her bucket. She also liked playing in the kiddie pool and loved the breakfast at the hotel. We also went to lost of good restaurants, went shopping, went to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and went to St. Simons Island too. Maeleigh also came home with the best tan out of all of us even though I put sun block on her every 20 minutes, she has her Daddy's skin (thank goodness!). haha.

But anyway...I guess that's all for now. I just wanted to catch up on all of the big stuff before I forgot it, but I'm sure that I forgot some stuff anyway. The big day is only 4 days away now! So needless to say I am going crazy trying to get everything done! I will catch up on her birthday and everything else at the beginning to the week. Oh and I almost forgot, I am having my knee surgery next Wednesday the 23, I go for my pre-op on Monday. So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers next week. Oh and one more thing, I asked everyone to pray for my Mamma and I just wanted to let everyone know that her tests came back perfectly normal! God is good!! Ok I'm done now :) We hope everyone has a great weekend!!

[FUN & NOT SO FUN]

We got some fun and not so fun news in the past few days. We will share the fun news first :) We are going to the beach next Wednesday!! Me, Maeleigh, MiMi and Nanna are taking a girls trip to Jekyll Island for 4 days. I am so excited!! I cant wait to see what Maeleigh thinks about the beach this year. When we went last year she was only 4 months old so she enjoyed it as much as a 4 month old could. She really likes getting in the pool though and the hotel we  are staying in has 2 big pools and a kiddie pool so I'm sure we will have lots of fun in the pool. And I have a feeling there will be some sand eating going on too, it happens :) haha. So we are super excited about that and cant wait to get down there! 

The not so fun news is that I am going to have to have knee surgery, again, for the 3rd time. Hopefully, fingers crossed, this will be the last one. I go for a MRI tomorrow and then I go Tuesday to go over everything and schedule my surgery. I am hopefully going to be able to get it done the week after Maeleigh's birthday so that I can get it over with and recover from it before the end of the summer so me, Chaz and Maeleigh can go to the beach for our family vacation. So all thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated because Dr. Robinson said that this knee is worse than my other one which means the surgery will probably be worse because there are more problems and the recovery time will be longer. The second surgery that I had on my right knee (the one that actually fixed it) took me about 2 months or so to get to where I could do normal activities and about a month or so more of physical therapy. So since my left knee is worse, recovery will be longer. Luckily I have the BEST Mamma EVER to take care of me and Maeleigh. Have I ever said how much I love her?! :) Because its A LOT! In case you didn't know :) She is my best friend and I have no idea what I would do without her. While I am talking about my amazing Mamma I just want to ask for thoughts and prayers for her too. She goes Tuesday for a cyst aspirations so pray that everything comes back normal, even though I have faith in God and I believe in my heart that everything is going to come back completely normal.

Anyway...enough about me, lets talk about my little sweet pea and the new things that she is doing just since my last post. One thing that she used to do when she was a little smaller and has started doing again is whistling. She just whistles away while she plays! It is the cutest thing EVER! It also absolutely amazes her Uncle Thomas. She is also blowing kisses now (I cant remember if I already said that or not), it is the sweetest this EVER! Aside from her hugs, kisses and love :) She also makes the indian noise, that's what we call it, where you pat your hand on your mouth while you say "Ahhhh". She has started trying to feed herself with a fork and spoon. It gets a little messy but that's okay. She has also started trying to push and walk (with help) behind her little toy stroller, which is really exciting! She also had a really good day in her gym class this week. She was very outgoing, playful and vocal. This is a big change from last week which was her first week in her new class, I think she was feeling a little afraid at first because last week she didn't want me to put her down. But then this week she didn't want to be held! She did the climbing challenge GREAT! As well as everything else she did. I have also started giving her milk so that she can get used to it. So far she doesn't really like it that much but she is starting to do better with it because we act excited and crazy when she drinks some so she keeps doing it. But for right now that's all I can remember, she does so  much these days I forget things sometimes.

I have been busy working on birthday decorations as usual these days. Invitations are in the mail so be on the look out for them :) Her birthday is in only16 days now!! I just still cant believe she is going to be 1 so soon! Where has the time gone...

[MORE NEW STUFF]

Lately I think that Maeleigh does something new everyday. Some of these things she had been doing for a while but I just forgot to put them on my last post because there are so many different things that she does that sometimes its hard to remember everything. But anyway...the things she has been doing got a while are fake washing her hands (after she eats, when she sees someone else doing it, if you are putting on hand sanitizer, etc.) she doesn't actually "wash" her hands but she rubs her hand together like she is really doing it. She also copy's a lot of stuff that people do these days like coughing (which is hilarious) and making different sounds with your mouth. She can also pitch a fit like a 2 year old, I'm hoping that she is just getting the terrible 2's out at 11 months :) haha. She also whistles, a lot! She does it constantly while she is playing and it is so cute! It amazes people at how good she does it! When she drops things she says "uh-oh" and then picks it up or points at it for you to pick it up for her. She is starting to stand up more by herself and getting better at it. I got her a little plastic pool last week and she loves to play in it. She splashes all around in it and plays with her toys. This past week I was talking to one of my friends who's little girl just turned one and is drinking milk now. I noticed that she was using a cup that was insulated with a straw in it so I asked her when she started giving it to her and she said about 2 months ago so that she could get used to using it so she could put her milk in it to keep it cold. So me being the overly prepared Mommy that I am, I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought that I should give her one already! So the next day I went to the store and bought her one, thinking that it would take her a little while to get used to it. So I put her juice in it and acting all silly and excited about it I handed it to her...well after about 30 seconds she was drinking out of it!! I couldn't believe that she picked it up so fast! I was so proud of her! So we are now using only sippy cups with straws :) Just another indication that my baby girl is quickly turning into a big girl. Sad and happy yet again...

Maeleigh will be 1 in 20 days!! Yes 1 days away from being in the teens for my countdown!! I just still cant believe it! But anyway...I have been very busy making birthday decorations, planning things, ordering and making presents and who knows what else! I have so much stuff to do I cant even remember it all sometimes.

I guess I'm going to go to bed now. Chaz has been working late since it has been so hot, I try to stay up until he gets home but man I'm tired! Chasing an 11 month old around all day can really exhaust you :) I put up some new pictures, I'm still missing a few (on another memory card) but I will try to remember to get them on here this week :)

[HERE WE GO AGAiN...]

So I am most definitely the worst person in the world about keeping this thing up to date. But I'm going to try REALLY hard to do it this time and hopefully I will be successful. So for now I will just catch up on all of the things that Maeleigh is doing now.

For starters, she is into EVERYTHING! haha. She is crawling, pulling up and anything that she possible could and cruising. She definitely "talks" a lot too. She says MaMa, DaDa, no no no, bye bye, hey (sometimes) and coo coo (if you don't know, that is what she calls cats) and she knows what sound a cow and a dog make, we are still working on the others. She also waves hey, bye and at everyone we pass in the store or at restaurants as well as people in the cars beside us at red lights. Needless to say she is a very friendly little girl :) She also points at things that she wants weather it be food, a toy, her beloved blankie, her sippy cup, an animal or other people. She will shake her head "no" when she doesn't want something or when you ask her questions like is she spoiled, which she is not by the way...she is just loved :) She claps her hands when she is excited, when she wants Uncle Thomas to sing her a song so that she can dance to it or just because she feels like it. By the way, she love love LOVES her Uncle Trey and Uncle Thomas. And she loves to play peek-a-boo with her blankie. She gives love and the sweetest kisses EVER. Every morning when I get her out of her bed she gives me the biggest kiss to tell me good morning, it pretty much makes my day...every day :) She feeds herself very well and has been completely off of  baby food for about 2 months now, she did this on her own. She loves drinking out of her sippy cup so I'm hoping that taking her bottle away in a month wont be such a big deal. She loves her snacks too, and I don't blame her, those little things are pretty good! Her favorite foods are fresh corn from MiMi and Pappy's freezer, chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese, orange sherbet and cheese sticks, oh and anything sweet but we limit those :) Some of the things that she likes that you would'nt think an almost 11 month old would are cabbage, broccoli, and peas (sometimes). She absolutely LOVES to be outside so that is where we spend most of our days lately. She loves finding the dead leaves, not the green ones, and tearing them up into little pieces and trying to feed them to you, she also loves swinging in her swing and watching Pappy work in his garden. She will also point to people and animals when you ask her where they are by name. And I have to brag on my little sweet pea :) She has to be the smartest 10 month old I have EVER seen! She pretend plays, the correct way, she tries to put her bows in her hair, she puts her lid on her sippy cup, and the lid on her puffs container. She also loves to put smaller things inside of bigger things, for example, the other day she was playing with measuring cups and I turned around and she had stacked them inside of each other biggest to smallest and put the lid to her sippy cup on top. I can't help but brag...I am such a proud Mommy :) On Wednesdays we go to The Little Gym in Snellville for her to play with her friends and learn lots of new fun things. She absolutely LOVES going to the gym and is by far the loudest one in her whole class. haha. I am sure that there are SO many other things that she is doing that I just can't remember right now because she is doing new things everyday it seems like.

My tall petite little sweet pea is about 18 1/2lbs. and pushing 30in long these days. She has her 2 bottom teeth and is working on 6 more, literally. You can see them trying to come through her gums and they just won't. So naturally that makes for lots of drool and so fussy moments, which is understandable, I think I would be fussy if I was trying to cut 6 teeth at once too.  

I am having a hard time believing that my sweet little baby girl if going to be a year old in 34 days... yes, 34 DAYS!! We are no longer counting down in months. I am sad and happy at the same time. I am sad because she is supposed to still be my little baby but now she is very quickly becoming be sweet, smart, fun, loving and beautiful big girl. So that makes me VERY happy as do all of the new things she is doing and learning.

So these days I am very busy chasing her around, planning her birthday party and making things for her birthday party, on top of everything else I have to do. I will be sending out invitations but go ahead and mark your calendars for May 19 from 2-4pm (tentatively). 

I will try to post some updated pictures tonight :)

[I LIED]

So in my post about new years resolutions...I lied. I said that I wanted to get in shape but not necessarily lose weight...that was a lie. Every year I say that I am going to lose weight and it never happens so I wasn't even going to say it this year, but I changed my mind. I do want to lose weight. Not just to look better but to feel better and to hopefully help my knees from hurting. I started my new diet today and if all goes well, which it will because I am DETERMINED to do this, I will have lost 54lbs. by April 30. Sounds like a lot I know but that's what I want so that's what I am going to do. I know its not going to be easy but I am doing it for Maeleigh too for many different reasons. Its going to be hard so I will take all of the support and encouragement that I can get. But I think once I start seeing results that I will only be more and more motivated to keep going. I'm going to do it and that's all there is to it. I'm tired of being fat and this is the year that I am going to change it because I have someone else to do it for since I can never do it just for myself. And when I DO lose my 54lbs. I am going to go and buy some of the outfits that I have fell in love with on Pinterest :) haha. since I will actually be able to wear them then since I will be able to get them in my size.

So other than starting this year off with a lie, haha, everything has been going good! I am trying to introduce a sippy cup and stage 2 1/2 and 3 stage foods to Maeleigh. She is learning how to drink from her sippy cup pretty good, she was just confused by it at first but she is starting to get it now. She likes the stage 3 breakfast foods but is still unsure about the others since they have bigger pieces in them. She will eat the fruits and veggies but she wont eat all of them, but its a good start. She has also attempted to get up on her knees a few times in the seconds that she will lay on her stomach without screaming. So she is starting a lot of new things for the new year too. Its hard to believe that now I can say she will be a year old this year! Which brings me back to her birthday party AGAIN! haha. I plan on going to Hobby Lobby this week and getting some stuff to start working on her decorations. I love doing stuff like that anyway so I cant wait to start on it :)

Chaz had to go back to work today after being off for a week. Since it is going to start getting really cold now that means that one week he will probably get called into work in the wee hours of the morning and not get off until the evening and the next week he will go in in the mid morning and not get off until late at night or very early in the morning. I am not looking forward to this but its part of his job and I like to have my heat on when the wind chill is 14* like it was this morning and in order for that to happen he has to go to work. So will will survive, and be warm :)