Life as a Mom at 21: 2008

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Our 2008 in Pictures

I love this idea. It has been going around all day and it's great. We've had a very very stressful year. LOL! It's been full of blessings, but has also been the toughest year of my life.

The bad: Cami and her terrible twos, pregnancy blahsays, post partum depression, anxiety attacks, Carrah's vision

The good: I got pregnant quickly, Cami turned two, Cami started being hilarious!, Cami was PT in only 3 weeks!, I only gained 29lbs during my preg, we went on Vaca, My business is awesome, and obviously CARRAH!!!

The good outweighs the bad by far. Thank you God. :)

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January 2008

Just learning about Blogging
Started TTC baby #2

February 2008

Found out I was pregnant!!
Spent night before Valentine's Day in ER with "bronchitis"

March 2008

First{1 of 2} snow of the year. Cami loved it!

April 2008

Cami's first time at a Minor League Baseball game
Planted our first "garden" of flowers

May 2008

Cami turns 2!!
We found out we were having another GIRL

June 2008
Chris redid our roof
I started PrissyMiss Boutique

July 2008

Celebrated the 4th at the lake

August 2008

Cami started potty training
We painted her room

September 2008

Took our first family vaca to Branson
I turned 22!
Cami played at the fair

October 2008

Cami and I did multiple crafts. Trying to spend as much time with my only girl as much as possible
My first craft show :)
Carrah Reese is born!!!!

November 2008

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of 4

December 2008

Carrah smiles!! :) LOVES it!
Our first Christmas as a family of 4

..and in Cami News

Rambunctious as EVER!and..

Well, yeah, that's about it. LOL!

She still cracks me up daily..hourly even.

This morning she was walking out of her bedroom and started sniffing and said "You smells good!" haha! I had just sprayed perfume.

She has her blue princess makeup all over her face

At my grandma's house.
Her FAV thing is to play in the water..crazy girl.

Thank You

Thank you for all of the awesome support {once again}

I'm always so humbled and touched by the generous outpour from all of you.

To answer some of your questions..

Carrah was not diagnosed by her pediatrician. I just *know* something isn't right. I've never really had that "mother's instinct" with anything other than Cami's heart problem. I just *knew* something was wrong when she was 2 weeks old and getting out of breath while eating. I was right and she has a heart defect.

I am almost positive that Carrah will have some sort of vision problems. While she may not be completely blind {I pray!}, something is different. She saw a nurse practicioner at her 2mo check up{grr! I was mad ab that} and she said "Oh her pupils are responding to light, don't worry right now", but I wasn't satisified with that answer..so I will be asking again.

I will say though, that her eyes have improved a teensy bit over the last week or so. They aren't moving back and forth as dramatically as before, but they still do when she looks to her left.

Also, her head tilts to the left side. It's very hard for her to turn in to the right. She also hates tummy time and will not hold her body up. When I hold her out to get her to try and look at me, she will hold her chin way down to her chest and try to focus, but seems to fail and look away.

Today though was an emotional day for me..I guess because I finally admitted it to all of you. I just hugged her and played with her so much and she actually looked me right in the eye and smiled back at me when I smiled at her! I didn't say a word, so I know she must have seen me for that minute! Praise God,I needed that :)

{Yawn}
It's rough being a baby

btw..Cami wore that exact outfit when she was about 4-5mos old. That should tell you the difference in their size. Ha!

Not Sure..

if i'm ready to openly talk about this, but I would just like some input and thoughts.

Carrah cannot see.

She may be able to see a tiny bit because she responds to light and moves her head and eyes *like* she is looking, but i'm pretty certain she can't actually see.

Obviously, i'm heart broken, but I know that God gave her to me for a special reason. I love her so much already. I instantly bonded with her, whereas it took me a very long time with Cami.

I'm so sad that she cannot see me. Every once in a while, when i'm giving her a bottle, she seems to be looking right in my eyes, but the next second she is back in her own world.

The happiest time for her is when she is laying on her changing table. There are two canvas pictures on the wall, that I could almost swear she sees because she gazes up toward them and smiles..every single time we change her diaper! But that's pretty much the only time she is happy. She never really smiles. However, she does coo and "talk" a lot.

It brings me to tears just to type this, but I wanted to let you know why she is always sort of "off" in all of the pictures of her. I think she is beautiful and otherwise completely healthy. I will be talking to her pediatrician about it soon to see what she thinks. Until then, please pray for my baby girl and our family. It's a really hard time right now, especially for me. I'm begining to find peace with it, but I just want her to have the best life possible.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Bring On the New Season of TV!!

I'm so seriously bored!! {Whiner over here, I know!}

The only thing on is cop shows..flipppin' Law&Order x3!, NCIS.. wah..wah..wah..wah..wah{that's Charlie Brown's teacher's voice}

I just read that Dirty, Sexy, Money is being cancled. Please NOO! I'm crazy obsessed with that show, as well as Lipstick Jungle, which is rumored to be cancled too. WHY? These are my FAV shows.
I LOVED Las Vegas and they axed it.
October Road. Axed.
Cashmere Mafia. Axed.

Do I pick cruddy shows to get sucked into or what? I guess everybody wants to watch the cop type shows..ugh, not me! I guess i'm a dork and like girly and funny stuff!
{Love me some reality tv too. Catch Momma's Boys last night? Ha! I thought Michelle was a goner, but guess JoJo thinks more like his momma than the girls would have hoped.}

Anyway, guess i'll go watch a girlie romantic DVD. I bought "The Wedding Date" with Dermot Mulroney and Debra Messing for..get this..$5 at Wal Mart!!
{I got "Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason" for only $5 too!}

btw.. Chris is watching the Razorback basketball game{blah!}, Cami is watching a Curious George DVD{no thanks}, so i'm hanging out by myself...while Carrah snoozes.
{Who can spot the baby?}

Spirit of Sunday {on Tuesday}

I feel that i'm not being the witness that God wants me to be. I haven't done a Spirit of Sunday post in two weeks and there is no excuse.

I wake up, read my Bible, and jump on the computer without sharing the word. I know some of you out there could care less if I post or not, but there could be that one person that it touches and that's why I do it.

Who do I think I am, you may ask. The answer is, noone without God in my life. He has truly blessed me the passed few months {and all of my life}

I haven't shared everything i've been going through because I didn't want to bog down my blog with more negativity. It's been a rough couple of months. I've been to the doctor more times in the past two months than I have in the last 3 years. I struggle daily with severe panic disorder that i'm having to learn to control. God has given me the strength to get through it. I finally made my mind up that I wasn't going to sucuumb(sp?) to Satan's wrath and God has guided me through. I would be a puddle of nothingness without Him in my life and I feel that I need to share His greatness with whomeever will accept it.

My mom sent me this devotional in my email. It's such a great message for me with all that i've been going through.

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The angels proclaimed, "Peace on Earth" when the Baby Jesus was born. Today we wonder as we listen to the evening news... is peace possible?

We all need two kinds of peace in our lives. We need inner peace, but we also need peace with others. God addresses both. He tells us what to do to find that peace.

Inner peace begins with a relationship with God and it continues as we focus on His strength and allow Him to fill us. We can exchange our weakness for His strength in any area of life. God's Word says, "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is focused on You because He trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3). Personalize this verse with your own name in it. "God will keep me in perfect peace as my mind focuses on Him and trusts Him." Inner peace hinges on my trust in God.If inner peace is eluding you these days and anxiety spills over in your life, choose to trust God.

You can choose to put your hand in His and draw on His patience and wisdom as you take each step. He will guide you through the maze of life if you ask Him. Choosing to trust God with those blind corners in your life will take you down the road to inner peace. Choosing not to trust Him will take you down the road to stress and worry. Inner peace is there for the choosing.

Peace with others begins as we understand that God has called us to be peacemakers in our world. "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9).

Is there somewhere in your own world where you can be a peacemaker this Christmas?

Is there an invitation that needs to be extended to smooth over a fractured family relationship? Is there an apology to be made or a silence to be broken that has stood as a barrier for too long? Don't miss the blessing God promises in your life as you respond to His call to be a peacemaker in your own circle.

We can help bring peace to our world one heart at a time.

Lord, "Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; and Where there is sadness, joy... Divine Master; Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen." (Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)

Clipping Fingernails

is for the birds!

I absoloutley hate trying to clip the girls nails. Notice I said *try* because I usually fail! I always do it while they are sleeping, but either I end up catching a piece of their finger or they wake up, yanking their finger away from me. Grrr!!

To make it worse, their fingernails are ridiculously sharp!! They're like little daggers. Oh and don't count on Chris doing it. He has never clipped Cami's, heck I have to remind him to clip his own. Ugh!

Monday, December 29, 2008

Joey Doesn't SHARE Food!!!

Have you seen that Friends episode? It seriously makes me laugh so hard.

Ha! That is what I want to tell Cami, except it would be "Mommy doesn't share food!!" That is rude, I know, but I never get to eat a meal without her taking my plate away! :( She says "I wanna eat dat" and takes off with it before I can even blink.

Not sure wether I should be happy that she is finally eating or be sad that I have no food! LOL!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

800, Randamity, and a Little CUTEness

This is officially my 800th post
{Can we say CHATty!}

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I finally got a few songs downloaded onto my Zune! Yippie!! All of the ones i've been listing lately made the list. Kanye's "Love Lockdown" is number one followed by Taylor Swift's "White Horse" and Britney Spears "Circus"

I'm in a HairBow mood tonight. I finished almost all of Mel's order {thanks girl!} and made a few more, so keep an eye out for New Products from PrissyMiss Boutique. I need to update the website tomorrow too.

The Dallas Cowboys sucked BIG tonight{or all season, one might say} So, no playoffs for them. That kinda stinks. I was begining to like them a bit.
My Colts and Giants {love me some Manning boys} will be in the playoffs though. Go Colts..and Giants!

Anyone watching "Momma's Boys"? I'm kind of obsessing over it.. sadly. I just find it interesting that these boys would allow their "mommas" to come on a show like that with them. Must be getting paid some dough. One of the "boys" is pretty dang fine. ..Michael, I think. He likes the cheap, skanktastic looking girls though. Bah..he would not be into the old navy clad, small boobed, mommy of two, that is myself.

I HATE bills!! Grr.. they're so depressing and they only get worse during the winter. If we used our fireplace more, our heat bill wouldn't be so danged ridiculous.
I remember when we first moved in, I was so excited to pay bills. LOL! I felt like a real housewife and adult!
I will say, though, that gas is $1.36! That helps tremendously!!

Today, I boxed up all of the newborn clothes, as well as a ton of other baby items i'm not using to give to Chris' cousin that is preg with a girl. That's how I know i'm totally done with babies! I kept everything of Cami's, but i'm SOO over it this time!!
Don't get me wrong, I love my Care Bear, but yeesh, my body does not like the aftermath of having a babe.

'nough talking eh?
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Could anyone use a smile?! :)
Thanks so much to Janet for this adorable little outfit!!

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Cami's room has transformed yet again. Look at that TV {lucky little thang}
Her room is so much fun now! She loves it in there..
*Here's to hoping she will want to SLEEP in there soon!!*

Me and a Crayon Would be Going Round and Round..

..if it didn't melt all over my girl's BRAND NEW clothes!!!!

Apparently Cami put a black crayon in the pocket of one pair of her pants. I never check them before throwing them in the washer {I will now!} and it melted and got all over a huge load of both girl's clothes. It's probably about $300 worth of clothes ruined! I'm enraged!!!

It's my own fault though, can't blame her, she doesn't know any better :(

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Edited: Thanks SOO much for the suggestions. I'll be all over it tomorrow. I have {almost} all of that stuff on hand, I just need to run to Wal Mart for some OxiClean and Borax{what the heck is that anyway?lol!}

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Our Christmas in Pictures 2008

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas!! It's taken me a couple of days to recover from all of the Christmas events, but i'm back now :) I'm sure you all noticed..lol, jk!

Our Christmas was a lot of fun. We all got so many things, I was blown away! Money has been so tight for everyone. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get anything, but it was the complete opposite. Praise God! Things came together for us and we all had a wonderful Christmas. We told Cami to wish Jesus a Happy Birthday first thing, before presents and she did. It was precious.

I can't even begin to list everything the girls got because it would take up the page. I'm beyond thankful. I will say that our parents listened to us and didn't buy a ton of toys{YaY} Both girls got clothes, which is always helpful! My inlaws bought Cami a flat screen, digital TV! Now she has the best one in the house. LOL!

Christmas morning was chaotic. We didn't get our traditional "pajama picture" or "family picture" :( , but it was a ton of fun! I loved watching Cami tear into her presents. That was her favorite part! She wasn't as interested in the gifts as she was ripping them open. She opened all of Carrah's as well because Carrah wasn't in the best mood{and obviously can't open them herself}

Chris bought me a Zune giftcard so I can download some music, a photo album for Carrah's pics, and an armband for my Zune. Now I don't have to stuff it into my bra anymore..lol! We both got a bunch of nice stuff from our parents too.

How adorable is she?!

Sleepy little elf

After I {Santa} sat everything out

SOO excited!! She was tearing into that one!

This thing is wayyy to advanced for her, but she loves to act like she is playing it.

The aftermath..ha!

She falls asleep like this ALL the time!

LOL! We heard her saying "I got it!!" so we went downstairs to see what she was up to. She had set up that fishing game on her table and was playing all by herself.