Things and stuff

I am very aware that I am overdue for another post. However, I feel very scattered at the moment, so this might be a I'm-totally-rambling-in-efforts-to-catch-up-but-go-to-bed-soon post. Here are the important items I feel warrant mentioning tonight:

• Casey's seizures have gotten worse this week--so much that he hasn't been able to go to work since last Friday. We went to Little Rock to see his neurologist today, and it looks like we're going back to the Seizure Investigation Unit at Baptist in 2 weeks. The doctor is concerned that the seizures are more frequent and severe, and he wants to make sure we're still dealing with the same thing.
• I somehow miraculously created 120 tile coasters in 3 days and delivered all of them this past Monday. 24 sets went to Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis, and 6 sets went to Aunt Janet to give as gifts to her Tupperware managers. In the rush of it all, I forgot to take pictures of the new floral set, but I hope to make it again and post it on my Etsy site.
• Throughout the insanity of this past week, I have also been trying to prepare and pack for a week long trip to Kentucky to visit Kyle and Melissa Vath. I'm SO excited to visit them now that they're back from Tanzania, and I can't wait to see Mel as a beautiful pregnant woman! My friend Lindsey and I are packing up everything we own along with our baby girls and making the long drive to northern Kentucky together. It should be quite an adventure!
• I am currently searching for peace. I usually thrive on being busy, but I'm feeling a little overloaded/overwhelmed right now. Too much to think about and do--not enough hours in the day. Hopefully, things will calm down soon.
• Abby now thinks that she can stand up all the time, and she is driving us crazy with trying to pull up on everything! She almost has the crawling thing down, and the poor girl just can't sit still! There's always something across the room or higher up that she just has to get to. I know I will regret this later, but I really am looking forward to her being able to stand and move on her own without having to cling to Mommy and Daddy constantly. Here's my little crawler:

See that last picture? She just has to get that box! :) Ok, I'm sure there are other things I could mention on here, but it is definitely past my bedtime. I hope this was enough to appease the masses (*ahem, Becka*). :)

Early morning

Abby was having a hard time breathing at about 4:45 this morning (time for another cold, I guess), so I got up to give her some more medicine, clear out her nose, and rock her back to sleep. After I had her back in the crib, I realized... I was totally awake! Since I knew there was a Zumba dance class at the gym at 5:30 this morning, I decided I was just going to get up and GO! It is now almost 9:30 a.m., and these are the things I have accomplished so far:

1. Folded 2 loads of laundry and started another load
2. Worked out at the gym--I love Zumba!!!
3. Taken a shower
   
4. Put dishes away
5. Prepped Abby's bottles for the day
6. Made a pot of coffee
7. Changed 2 diapers
8. Talked to Dad
9. Fed Abby breakfast (yum, rice cereal!)
10. Had waffles and coffee for breakfast
    
11. Rocked Abby back to sleep for a nap
12. Washed tiles for sample coasters I need to make today

Hmmm.... maybe I should be napping, too! I'm afraid if I stop going, I might not be able to get back up! I also have to work from 3 - 8 p.m. tonight, so I'm sure I will crash when I get home from that. This is the week Abby turns 6 months old, so I can start taking her with me--more hours! This is going to be a very busy week, so I guess I'm just trying to start it off well. I'm working 25 hours at the gym nursery, and I also got another order of coasters from Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis. I have until this coming Monday to make nearly 100 coasters--yikes! Looks like I don't really have time to keep blabbing on here! :)

Too Fast!

My daughter will be 6 months old as of this coming Wednesday, and I have to tell you that it is entirely too early for her to be doing this:

What's that? Did we put her there?? Did we prop her against the crib railing??? Oh, no. She definitely pulled up there on her own. Actually, this is the third time she's done it... after we had already lowered the crib mattress following her first time. And now we're going to have to get one of those teething rail thingies because she just wants to chew on it! Plus, she now thinks she can stand all the time and wants to pull up on everything, so she's no longer content to sit around. Noooooo...... you just try to sit her on the floor with a bunch of toys and see how that works for ya. Good luck, friend. The crying is getting to be a bit much, actually, but I know I should be thrilled that she's working so hard to get mobile. *It's only a phase, it's only a phase...* Oh, and the talking has turned from mostly vowels to lots of consonants since she found her tongue a few days ago. Here's the current favorite face:

Love it! My world is totally changing (every day, it seems like!). She is such a joy, and I cannot believe how quickly she is growing up!

The RIGHT Way

We had two biscuits left over from dinner last night, and I decided that was going to be my breakfast this morning with butter and jelly. This is not necessarily anything of importance to blog about, but I always think of Papaw when I eat biscuits with butter and jelly because he knew the right way to eat it. If you are a Curtis cousin (or aunt, or uncle, or any other relation) you know exactly what I'm talking about. It was just a happy thought as I ate my breakfast this morning. I will make sure Abby grows up knowing how to eat her biscuits with butter and jelly appropriately. :)

Play Date

Abby loves to go play with her friend, Claira Tittle. Claira is 9 months old, and Abby just thinks she is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Joy (Claira's mother) and I laugh so hard at how tickled Abby gets just watching/pestering Claira. She will watch Claira cruise around the furniture and crawl around the room, and she just smiles and laughs. Ah, to be a big girl like friend Claira. :) Abby does kind of act like the little sister, though--she can be such a pest! She's just curious and wants to play, but so far that includes reaching out to grab or pull any part of Claira she can get a hold of. Claira is not such a fan of this game, but I guess she'll catch on and pop Abby one of these days. I am thankful Joy and I can get the girls together because they have so much fun, and I really want Abby to learn how to play well with other kids. Plus, it never hurts to have some adult conversation (and maybe a Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic!) during the day. :) Here are our big girls:

Confession

Ok, I have something to admit:


My Christmas decorations are still up.


There it is. Go ahead, say what you will. It's not that I'm hopelessly clinging to the holiday season... I just really haven't had the time or energy to put everything away! Plus, the Christmas tree (that's right, our sad little fake tree is still up, too) makes a wonderful night light in the living room when I'm feeding Abby and rocking her to sleep. I suppose we could just invest in an actual night light, but this one is so... festive. :) I am very aware that it is mid January, and I really need to get on the ball. Maybe this weekend?? Oh, well. Perhaps we'll just celebrate Christmas year round this year.

In other news, I have started my new job in the nursery at Health Corp (local gym/spa), and I love it! There isn't anything overly exciting about it, but I am glad to be working with kids again. Here are the perks:
1) The shifts are only 4 or 5 hours long, depending on the day.
2) I make more than minimum wage.
3) When Abby turns 6 months old in a few weeks, she can go with me every time I go to work.
4) I get free gym membership.
5) I am actually using the free gym membership!
6) I spend my work day coloring, building with blocks, reading books, and tossing balls and bean bags.
7) I get to wear workout clothes and tennis shoes to work.
8) The parents are only allowed to leave their kids for 2 hours max at a time, so there's a constant rotation of children.
I think that about covers it. Right now I'm only subbing for people on the weekends or evenings since I can't take Abby yet. The good news: one of the regular girls put in her 2 week notice today, so I'm going to fill her spot starting in February--more hours! It was looking questionable for a while whether or not I would have many hours to work, but this helps a lot. She said she would try to finish out the month, and then they're mine!

In true fashion, I will now leave you with a couple of recent Abby pictures. Here's my big 5-month-old girl:

Would you like to eat this block?? Trust me, it tastes great!

Can I play with the camera, too, Mommy?

Where to start...

Good grief, I don't even know where to begin. I feel like so much has happened since I posted last, and I just can't get it all in to get caught up.

I guess the most important thing to mention is the passing of my amazing Papaw. He struggled for so long, but he was finally able to rest on Christmas day. He was such a wonderful person, and the best representation of a Christian man/husband/father/grandfather I have ever known. I am so glad he is not in pain anymore. I really am happy for him, but that doesn't make me miss him any less. I am also so grateful he got to meet Abby. He was there the day she was born!

All 12 of the cousins were able to come for the funeral, and it was so good to see everyone. Word on the street is we hadn't all been together since 1995! We somehow all managed to make it through singing a song at Papaw's funeral, and I'm so glad we could do that. Here we are... all grown up. :)
Casey, Abby, and I started our Christmas break in Ohio with Casey's family. We had "fake Christmas Eve" with Casey's Aunt Lana, Jeff, and Grandma Jean. That night after everyone went home, Abby decided she was ready to sit up by herself! It was so cute, and I actually got it on video! She's been sitting and playing nonstop ever since she realized it was a possibility. Then the next day was our big Christmas lunch, and Abby got to try her first vegetable: sweet potatoes! She loved them. We've eaten some here at home since then, and this is how Abby usually looks after a few bites:
She's not quite as messy now that she's had a little more practice, but she usually manages to get quite a bit on her face. Now that she knows she likes food, she lunges for the spoon when it gets near her mouth. We've had quite a bit of squash end up in her nose. Lovely. :)

There are many more pictures I could share from the holidays, but I'll leave you with my 3 favorites:

It's just so stinkin' funny--look at that face! haha

Abby in her Ohio State cheerleader outfit, playing with Daddy and a new toy

She's sitting up and so proud of herself!

That was really long, but I had a lot to make up for. I hope you had a good holiday break!