Get Ready...december count down

2012 Christmas Count Down begins tomorrow. i just finished our first annual 25 days of things to do in december advent calendar. 

i kinda just made this up myself with a combo of ideas from the infamous PINTREST. stephen and i came up with 25 things to do this winter as a new family starting our own traditions. so i decided to make it even more fun by turning it into an advent calendar where we open the little baggie every day and see what it tells us to do! kiah makes me wanna be crafty. i bought my very own hot glue gun too! oh the possiblities. i plan on getting some help from my BFF jessica jones on some stockings for kiah, stephen and i out of an old sweater!
    having kiah has justified my desires to decorate and start traditions. before, when it was just stephen and i, i always wanted to do things like buy a pumpkin or buy a tree or decorate for holidays but since he could care less about it i just didn't do it. but NOW...things are different. this is the beginning of a beautiful thing. we have to start off right. gosh, I LOVE TRADITIONS! 
    the other thing that we have decided to do as far as the gift giving stuff is the, "something you want, something you need, something you wear, and something you read." 
for me-
want: some type of good work out clothes
need:
wear :maybe TOMS, or sunglasses or a new scarf
read: subscription to REAL SIMPLE
for kiah-
want:
need: a warm hat
wear:
read:
for stephen-
want:
need: luggage for thailand
wear:cleats and indoor shoes for his trip to thailand
read: i'm sure this won't be too hard, he loves getting new books

if anyone has any gread ideas, i sure could use them because i'm not getting very far with this list.

1st THANKSGIVING

        i always look forward to "FIRSTs" ;you only get a first time once! EVERYTHING!!! FROM KIAHS FIRST CAR RIDE, to her first giggle, to the first bottle, the first tear, the first taste of cereal, her first time on an airplane, her first bath= so this year we are enjoying and celebrating EVERYTHING! every month we celebrate and this month is a big milestone.    6 Months OLD. i remember thinking about when she would be 6 months old way back when she was only a few months old and feeling like 6 months would take forever but here it is before our very eyes.

..........the funny things that kiah does these days are roll around the floor all over the place, suck on everything, she kind of growls and smiles and it is sooooo cute, she hates getting her diaper changed in the middle of the night so we don't do that anymore, she almost jumps herself out of her little activity bouncy center, she laughs at PEEK-A-BOO, she is SO curious, she goes to anyone who wants to hold her, she loves listening to stories, she loves the bath, she has a bit of a temper..-thats just a few things that i don't want to forget 

       thank God i have been able to simply breastfeed kiah through this whole time and she has been growing beautifully. feeding her other things is going to take some extra work. she has been sleeping through the night since Nov. 12. this has made a huge difference in our lives. i believed in my heart that she would get it before or around her 6 month point and sure enough she did. it just clicked for her and i am so glad i did not have to have excruciating nights of letting her cry it out...which i was prepared to do by her 6 month birthday. thank you God!

       this has been an amazing thanksgiving family vacation with Stephen's family down here in sunny florida. on thanksgiving day stephen, his dad and i ran the 10k turkey trot in the morning and then in the afternoon we boiled and mashed some carrots for kiah to try for the first time. she was a great sport about it but defiantly didn't love 'em. its gonna be fun introducing her to more foods now and entering into THIS NEW SEASON! a new season of being able to be away from kiah for longer periods, a new season of CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS that we start as a family, a new season of teeth and crawling and changing and growing. wow! its so good!

kiah. im soaking you up.

oh kiah lily 

ok we have officially decided that kiah cant grow up any more. she is at this age that we just love so much and she is rolling onto her tummy almost every time i lay her on the ground. this makes me excited but sad. if she is rolling on her tummy now then next will be crawling soon and then before i know it walking and talking and before our very eyes she will be going off to college ready to start her own journey, ahahhahhaaa! so, i haven't read any self help mommy books or studied from great baby whisperers but i have decided that its better for kiah, stephen and i to continue this way, trusting holy spirit to be my helper and trusting my heart to lead me. otherwise i am just too overwhelmed by what everyone else has to say about things. i mean, of course i am asking for advice when i need advice. but mothers in africa don't have books telling them when to do what. for example, right now i am soaking up every time kiah sleeps in my arms extra long. i see the light at the end of the tunnel and i am pretty positive i wont regret spending more quality time close to my baby girl instead of cleaning the house or doing other things. she is just so amazing.

fall

summer

lots of babysitters here in the neighborhood

pumpkin muffins.

on the days that i don't get go to my "super important as if i have an appointment" athletic conditioning class at the YMCA Mon-FRI 9:45-10:45 i usually have no idea what to do. its so weird because i have more than enough to do but don't do much. i love my friend caroline who tells me, "oh yeah" you are just keeping another human being alive thats all. i mean if i had a day to do all the things that i think about doing-wow, that would be a good day. but today was VERY VERY VERY close

woke up around 6:45am to feed kiah and put her back to the land of nod. i was sneezing like crazy and my nose was running so i decided not to try to go to the gym and to just take a nice hot shower while stephen was still home so i didn't have to worry about the little princess. so fist things first...down stirs i go to make coffee. i took my cup of coffee into the shower with me, sit down in the tub and drink it. why haven't i done this more often? i have no idea!!! our tub doesn't stop up for me to ever take a nice bath so this was VERY VERY VERY close. ahhh, decided...i'm not going to look cute today. i am going to go for a comfortable athletic mom on the go look. i like that look.
then i whipped up some yummy pumpkin muffins for breakfast, played with the little sweetie, said tata to stephen, vacuumed the upstairs and down stairs, gathered all of our dirty laundry and loaded kiah up in the car to drop it at our friends house who (YES) blesses us by doing our laundry.
kiah just looked so cute today with the little leg warmers on that jessica jones made her. before i knew it it was almost 2 and i needed something to eat. i was meeting jessica and anna jubilee down by the green way so i made an executive decision about how to feed my belly and it was a good one!!! i had exactly 6 dollar bills in my wallet so i decided that it had been such a great day already why not try out the new which wich place near the greenway with kiah. wow!!! my new favorite place. for just like $5 and some change i got a loaded veggie sub sandwich with a black patty and tons of veggies. it was a really fun place! i highly recommend it!
   then to top it off jess and i took our little daughters for a stroll in the sun on the greenway!

4 months gone by already

dear kiah lily, how u make me laugh and how u make me cry. i love you. u are so amazing.
you are officially 4 months old. i have been a mommy for 4 months...16 weeks. it has felt like a lifetime but still new all at the same time. you are sleeping in you crib so well now for naps but i think tonight i might introduce a taste of rice cereal to see if you will let me sleep all night long.

i took you to the pediatrician this morning and it was so sad. they gave u 2 shots and you cried so hard you face almost turned purple. its good that you daddy isn't there when this happens because he would probably cry too.
 kiah lily jackson you are 13.5 lbs and 25 in long now
you have been doing some amazing things lately.

1. last weekend when morgan came down from Pittsburg to visit you slept all night long! until 6:30 am! it was amazing!
2. yesterday morning after the 3-5 wake ups through the night i woke up to a bright sunny room at grammy and papas house in VA wondering what time it was because i could tell it had to have been late. i was like, IS KIAH STILL SLEEPING? nope, u were ever so cutely and contently playing with yourself in the pack and play below my bed. i was so happy that you let me wake up on my own!
3. then yesterday afternoon, you just put yourself to sleep again at nap time. all of this told me that you were inevitably growing up
4. you are holding you head up really well
5. might be teething
6. love it when kailer jumps up and down like a frog in front of you
7. you are great about taking a bottle
8. you laugh sooooo much, play so much and are so great about being passed around most of the time
9. you are sucking on everything! you gave me a serious hickey the other day

there have also been a few words given to you already too
"a preacher and teacher of the WORD"
"a worshiper"
"strong"
"alert"
"content"

you always fold you hands like you are praying

waller wedding

all the eagle girls

all the eagle boys

wow, what an incredible weekend this was! do u all remember this?!?!?!
can corbin and sarah get married every weekend please!

sleep.zzzzz

sometimes, i just want kiah to sleep all day long. #1 because she looks like the most adorable little angel when she sleeps. #2 because i want to get things done.
    my last 12 hours have been hilarious to say the least
as i said bye to stephen while he literally crammed into Juan Guzmans tiny mini cooper with Ul and the other Juan and all their bags for the big wedding weekend and some golf clubs i embraced the night with my sweet baby girl. i rocked her to sleep as i regretfully ate a big piece of chocolate cake with a big glass of milk. i knew i shouldn't have done that. she has not been sleeping so great in her crib. she was up every 2 hours, 12:00  2:00, 4:00 6:00 and then i go down stairs to turn the air on because it gets crazy hot in this apt i had to kill a giant cockroach. ewww.
up the squeaky stairs to try to get some more sleep.
         KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on the door
normally, when kids miss the bus stephen will get outta bed and take them to school
   well, stephens not here
so i get outta bed again and go to the door and tell kiran that i can not take him to school
then i go back upstairs to bed
then again about 1 hour later
      KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCk on the door
mandalyna, sorry no i can not take u to school
   at this point, whenever i am trying to sleep i get woken up so i figure i will just get up, make coffee and start this day