Dear Callie...

 Please don't think for one moment that because I don't write here as often as I did with your sister that I am not as enamored with you as I was with Mia, or that I don't hang on to your every expression or achievement. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am so absolutely smitten with you, to the point where I have to watch Mia's jealousy. She's used to being our only child and the only one who captivated us, so we have to be careful that you girls know we are head over heels for you both equally.

One of the differences in my posting is that blogging simply isn't the "popular" communication format anymore. Now everyone uses Facebook for quick, daily updates to family and friends. I talk about you on there ENDLESSLY! :-)  Also, I was alone more when Mia was a baby. Daddy had his store, so once Mia was in bed I had a lot more time to reflect and write. Now I have two girls to keep me busy and we do so much more as a family. We are always together having fun, so there isn't so much free time to write! I was also less confident as a mother with Mia. I was figuring it all out and to a degree I felt pressure. Aunt Miss and some friends also had babies, so I used my writing to build confidence in my abilities and almost to reaffirm that I was making the best decisions for Mia. Now I'm secure in my skills as a mother and don't need to write about them for confidence.

Regardless, I am so afraid I'm going to forget timelines that you will one day be curious to know. So I'll try to jot down a few thoughts now, before I go pick you girls up from school and the party gets started!

• You had a wonderful first birthday party! All your grandparents, your cousins, aunts and uncles and friends (Macee, Dylan, Grayson) were here. You wore little ruffled pants with "Birthday Girl" on the bottom, an adorable pink dress that Nana got you and a big tulle bow that Mommy made. You ate yummy cupcakes made by Emie, and had so much fun opening your presents. Some of your "big" presents were Hershey stock given to you by Nana and Papa and an heirloom ring that belonged to your great grandmother, Helen, that Mamaw gave to you. Mommy cried when giving that to you. What a special gift. Many of your family members also pitched in for a swing set for you girls, but Mommy and Daddy have since decided to use that money to join the neighborhood pool this summer, to get you girls swimming and socializing.
• By your first birthday you could say mama, dada and "hi dih-dih", which means "hi doggies".
• At nearly 14 months old, you still only have your bottom two teeth. However, I can see your top left front tooth about to poke through any day!
• It sure doesn't stop you from eating though! You have a great appetite and love to try new foods. Mamaw fed you your first Cheeto this weekend and you loved it. Some of your favorite foods are bananas, blueberries, edamame, and waffles. You don't really care for the texture of pasta, and often spit that out. You are also very generous in dropping food to the doggies during each meal. :-)
• You have had one illness after the other! In the past couple months you've had bronchitis, strep, pink eye and numerous ear infections. You got tubes inserted in your first surgery on May 15. Dr. Murphy (who did Mia's tubes) performed the surgery and you did very well. Mommy and Daddy were both with you and stayed with you that afternoon. You definitely seem to hear and walk better since getting them.
• You took your first steps the night before your 1st birthday. You walked about 5 steps between Mommy and Daddy. You love walking to us, and especially to Mia. You get close to us and just fall into our arms, laughing and smiling. We all love you so much and just hug on you and swing you around.
• You moved to the Toddler room at school May 12. You now eat your meals at a table, in bowls with spoons (that you may or may not use). You also nap on a cot and not in a bed. You make artwork and Mommy, Daddy and Mia all go nuts over it. We think you're quite the artist!
• You are walking now, really with confidence just in the past couple days. You still love to come stand in front of us, turn around with your back to us, grab our fingers and start walking. You make us walk you wherever you want to go, and we get a kick out of seeing where you take us.
• You love playing with your kitchen and will occupy yourself for very long periods of time, opening and closing doors and putting items in and out of the cabinets. 
• You and Mia are so wonderful to watch. She adores you and you want to be right next to her. You go fall into her arms for her to hold you, and she can't get enough. She loves to pick you up, play games with you, read to you, etc. The other night when she and Daddy weren't here, you walked me around the house looking for her. When you realized she wasn't here, you started crying, saying, "Meeeee!" over and over. It was so sad to see how much you missed your sissy!
• You can now climb and are giving us a run for our money keeping you out of danger. You like to climb on the couch and try to get over the back. Mia is wonderful in helping us keep an eye on you.
• You can now say "Me" for Mia, "ssssss" for sissy, "bobby" for baby, bye-bye, up, all done, duck, "bok bok" (what the ducks say), and "uf" (what the doggies say). You also point wherever you want to go, so you certainly know your mind!

We are crazy about you, baby girl. I feel blessed every single moment of every single day to be your Mommy.

She knows her name!

It's so adorable!! For the first time, this morning I knew Callie understood I was talking about her when I said her name. It made me so happy!! Her back was to me and I was talking to Mia. Then I said, "Cal-lie" and she turned around and smiled at me. It was so cute!!

Where does the time go??

These past two months have flown by so quickly! On my last post, I noted I was home with the girls on a snow day. That trend has continued as we've had an unusual winter. Last week the girls had two snow days and another early dismissal due to ice. In one week there was a snow day and school was delayed every other day that week due to snow or severely cold temperatures. We've been cooped up a lot this year and if Mia didn't have gymnastics, I think she'd be losing her mind!

Looking back to December, Callie turned 8 months and started eating table food. She gobbled up everything we tried, including edamame, which she loved. She saw Santa Claus twice. She saw him when he visited her classroom. Mommy, Daddy, Nana and Papa came to take pictures of the big event. She also saw him with her sissy at a Christmas party with Nana, Cara and Ramsey. She also became very sick. The night of Mia's Christmas play we ended up in the Emergency Room and she was diagnosed with the flu. Two days later, we were back and added RSV. She was one sick little baby. But she made it through in time to enjoy her first Christmas. I can't even begin to describe how overcome with happiness I was on Christmas morning, as we sat there opening presents with our two beautiful girls. It was a whirlwind of visits, since we had so many places to go, but that didn't mean I wasn't silently giving thanks all day for the blessings of our family.

When she turned 9 months, Callie began using a "big girl" sippy cup at school and at home. She also got her two bottom teeth and began crawling, pulling up and clapping her hands. She always has that big beautiful smile on her face through it all. She's such a happy girl and we can't get enough of her. Other adorable things about Callie:

• She loves to grab onto her diaper when she's being changed. If I don't watch it, she'll grab ahold of the front, yank down then pull up, ripping it off. This seems to happen most often when the diaper is full of poop.
• She hates just laying on her changing table. She likes to roll side to side, put her legs up on the wall, hang her head off the side, or use her feet to push herself backward until her head and neck are hanging off. She thinks these things are hilarious.
• She loves the dogs! She's constantly crawling to them, trying to grab their hair and "pet" (hit) them. The other day she crawled up to Grace and layed across her neck, petting her and squealing. I guess all the squealing was too much for Grace because she stood up and Callie's feet went flying into the air and she flipped right over onto her back. It was so unexpected and funny that Mia and I began laughing, so Callie did too. She always follows her sister's lead. :-)
• As much as she is crazy about her mommy, she's even more enthralled with her daddy. She gets so excited to see him, kicking her legs, squealing and now clapping her hands.
• She is now saying "bye bye," "dada" and "mama." She's also saying "dada" for the dogs.

Mia is doing great in school and in gymnastics. She's reading up a storm and does great with art, writing and math too. We're signing her up for soccer tonight so she'll have that and gymnastics going on. It's difficult for her to walk around the house without incorporating a cartwheel or handstand into her movements.

Snow Day!

Home with my girls today because of snow and ice. I'm working but get to play with them in between emails and calls.

Mia is so wonderful with Callie, playing with her, talking to her and entertaining her. Callie just babbles away at her sister, "Dadadada, mamamamama, bababababa". It's adorable!!! Callie is getting close to crawling, so she is trying her best to climb all over Mia.

Callie is the little light in our world. She is so happy, always smiling, talking and laughing. We are all desperately in love with her. Every struggle we endured was to bring her to us and my God, she is so worth every moment. She is what we waited for and our hearts are so full now that she's here with us.

Some things about Callie:

• She loves to eat. She eats about four containers of food each day and only drinks her milk out of her sippy cup. She also eats yogurt bites and puffs and does well with picking them up. She just still has trouble getting them into her mouth, as she pushes them back into her fist after she grabs them.
• Callie's a very consistent sleeper, unless she's sick or going through a growth spurt. She goes to be right around 7 each night, after her bath and Mommy or Mia reads her a book. She typically wakes up once around 4 or 5, plays and talks for a bit, then goes back to sleep until about 6:30. We all get up at that time for school/work anyway, so it works out perfectly.
• Callie also falls asleep very easily. She rubs her eyes when she's tired, doesn't really want to snuggle much, just arches her back and you know she wants to be put down. I rarely put her down when she's already asleep.
• She's super ticklish on the little fat rolls on her legs. She will squeal and belly laugh if tickled there.
• Callie had her first ear infection last month. She barely made a peep about it, although looking back, we're pretty sure she had it for awhile. We ended up at the doctor because she had a fever and kept tilting her head to the side.
• Callie LOVES her rattles! She will play with rattles more than just about any toy. She loves to shake them and say, "Dadadadadada". She also plays a lot with the little people and toy house at Nana and Papa's. She puts the people on the shelves, then takes them down, then puts them up again. She just may be getting one of those for Christmas!
• That girl is obsessed with jewelry! If she sees a ring, earrings, necklace, etc., she will pick at it and get super excited, kicking her little legs. She knows where my rings are and if I'm close, she's looking for them.
• She saw Santa for the first time last week. She was not afraid at all. She just sat there with Mia, smiling and staring at him. She did try to take some of his beard with her as a souvenir, but otherwise, it went very well.

Some things about Mia:

• Mia is doing very well in school. She's gotten a free dress pass for her reading, and has all As in school so far. Her first report card was excellent. We just need to work on how she writes her letters (for example, sometimes she starts at the bottom when she's supposed to start forming the letter from the top) but otherwise all was well.
• Mia has had some trouble at after school care. She and Cara are getting into it, saying mean things to each other. Missy and I aren't sure if they're just acting like normal kids or if we need to be concerned. We've told them if they can't get along better, they aren't going to be able to play together as much outside of school. Mia has an odd reaction to Cara. All she talks about is wanting to play with Cara, then when she sees her she's cold and/or mean. I don't get it and am not sure what to do about it. She's like that with her daddy too. We'll have to see how this develops. I've kept her home from after school care the last week or so to give it a rest.
• Mia continues to have recurring UTIs. Plan to take her to the doctor to investigate further.
• Mia is learning a lot about religion at school and is very interested in Jesus and his mommy. We say our prayers together each night and I'm going to church with her and her class on Wednesdays. We were all at Dad's the other night for dinner and took a walk to see the Christmas lights. Every time we saw a nativity scene, Mia and Cara would make the sign of the cross and say the dinner prayer. :-)

Callie - Six Months Old

Words can’t begin to express how in love I am with my little Callie. Her infectious smile lights up the whole room, and Mia, her daddy and I can’t get enough of her. Our little baby turned six months old yesterday. I can’t believe how quickly she’s growing up. It’s been a blur, there has been so much going on. I’ve had to travel a lot with my new job, and I feel like each time I come home, she’s even more alert and has changed significantly in just a day or two. • Callie’s now sitting up very well. She loves to play with her “stage” toy, which has a mirror, music and buttons for her to push. She smiles a lot at the pretty baby she sees there. • She’s eating baby food such as carrots, squash, green beans, prunes and mixed vegetables, and tries to take the spoon from me to feed herself during dinner. • She is really doing well picking up objects (particularly her paci) and getting them to her mouth. The other day she picked up her paci with one hand and realized she had picked it up on the side that should go into her mouth. So she switched it to her other hand so she could pop it in. So advanced!! • Callie loves her feet, and they are constantly in her hands. She tries to put them in her mouth but her chubby baby legs won’t let her get them up that high. She isn’t daunted by it though, and just smiles and waves her arms and legs up and down in happiness. • She’s also ticklish under her arms. Her little baby laughs fill the house when I hit the right spot! • She’ll stand for a couple seconds at a time holding onto furniture. She loves her jumparoo, and I think that’s really strengthened her legs. • She’s making many more noises now. It sounds like she’s saying “hi”. But her favorite is still to blow spit bubbles. She does that ALL THE TIME!  • She’s sleeping very well lately, only waking up once at night, around 2. We put her paci back in her mouth and she goes right back to sleep, not waking up again until 6:30 or 7:00. She is such a happy girl, smiling and laughing all the time. She and Mia are nuts about each other. Mia reads to her, plays with her, tickles her, sings to her, and the other day, even played school with her. Callie is captivated by Mia and just hangs on to everything she says. I think Callie may be a Daddy’s girl. She absolutely lights up when she hears Mike’s voice. I am trying not to get my feelings hurt by it. I think about all the years I spent struggling to have her, and everything I put myself through physically and emotionally just to bring her into the world, and I’m just so grateful we have her at all. But Mia was such a Mommy’s girl that it’s noticeable Callie prefers Mike. It’s a new experience for me. Regardless, I am captivated by her, and find myself just staring at her in awe. She is beautiful, healthy and happy, and I just can’t get enough of hugging and loving on her. She’s a blessing to our family and my world now feels complete with her in it.

Callie - Four Months Old

What fun we are having with our little Callie Girl! She is getting so big! At her four month check up she weighed 16 pounds, 8 ounces (95%), and was 26 1/2 inches long (95%). She now sleeps on her side, all laid out in a "C", just like her mommy. She has mastered the art of grabbing her paci and pulling it out of her mouth, which pisses her off to no end! We go in numerous times a night, because that "other, mean baby" keeps taking her paci from her. :-) She has rolled over once that I've seen, and is nearly sitting up on her own. She loves to play in her Jumparoo, this week finally learning how to jump. She is starting to grab anything and everything and pull it into her mouth. Today she starting trying to get her feet in there. I'm sure she'll have it worked out by week's end! We're eating baby food with our evening bottle now. Green beans, carrots and squash have all been hits so far. We're still adding oatmeal cereal to all her bottles to help with the reflux. Callie is the happiest little baby. She lights up when anyone talks to her. The only time she really cries is if she's hungry or tired. Or sick. This weekend she's had a low grade fever so when the Tylenol wears off, she gets a little grumpy. Otherwise she's laughing and smiling all the time. I took advantage of her not feeling well to stay home with her and snuggle. I let her sleep in my arms, whispering sweet mommy love to her. I also sang my favorite Callie song to her, "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker. She always calms down when I sing that song! She loves playing with Mia. Today we were giving her airplane rides on my legs while Mia gave her kisses. Yesterday Mia played library with Callie, letting her pick out four books to take home. :-) They are so precious together and I whisper to Callie all the time that she was worth every moment of struggle I ever had to get her here. She and Mia are the most amazing gifts I've ever gotten. I just can't say that enough. I'm crazy about those girls.

My greatest joy is being their mother...

I sit here today feeling overwhelmed by my blessings. I have a new job I enjoy and that allows me more free time to devote to my family. My family and friends are healthy and happy. I have an amazing husband. He is a true partner, encouraging me to realize my dreams, while supporting our family with his presence and involvement in a way many men still don't. I love him more today than I ever have. And I have two healthy, sweet, funny, beautiful girls. I am overcome with emotion at the depth of my love for them. Knowing I brought these two amazing creatures into this world is my greatest joy. The other day I heard Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" and I cried as I listened to the lyrics. Although they are meant to describe a romantic love, they describe how I feel about my girls. As a child, teen, and young adult I had trouble picturing my life, what I wanted to do, where I wanted to end up, and whether I would end up married or single. The only thing I've ever know for certain from the time I could form the thoughts is that I wanted to be a mother and I wanted little girls. So in my heart, I have spent all my life waiting for them. All along I believed I would find them. I have loved these girls for a thousand years, and I will love them for a thousand more. There is so much I hope for them in life. I am graduating tomorrow with my MBA. I absolutely struggled to finish my education while enduring miscarriages, working full time, caring for Mia, being pregnant with Callie and finishing while she was just weeks old. I did that for them, so they will know the tremendous value in education. It will open doors and create paths for them that never will appear otherwise. I want them to know that even if they are unsure where to head or where they want to end up, they will find answers simply by getting their education. They will learn so much about their strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and they will have a piece of paper afterward that will grant them more respect and possibilities than without it. If they are uncertain what they want to be, I believe you can't go wrong with a business degree. After all, any job they could possibly perform will in some way be a business. Those skills will be valuable anywhere life takes them. I want my girls to be sure of themselves. Mia already demonstrates high intelligence, wit, kindness, spirit and leadership skills. I will do everything I can to help her use those skills to her advantage and for the good of others. She has the support and encouragement of a loving, extended family who believe in her, and she should listen to their advice and use it to guide her. She's a bit boy crazy right now, so I hope she learns to reign that in and focus on strengthening herself and her female relationships. I hope she develops interests and skills because they are what she enjoys, not because they are what others are doing or what she thinks others would like her to do. I hope she stays silly. That girl can make me belly laugh in ways I never imagined a child could. She is old enough now to get my silly side and sometimes it's like we have our own little comedy show together. My sweet Callie will be four months old tomorrow. She's beautiful and smiley. I hope she continues to find joy in things like smiles and tickles. She adores her sister and her sister adores her. I pray they will maintain this beautiful love and friendship throughout their lives. The love of my sister is the very reason I wanted two girls. They will always have one another. I hope they can follow our example and also develop a strong network of girlfriends. Not mean girls, who judge and criticize others, but good-hearted, funny girls who value kindness and generosity. I hope my girls are able to find lasting friends like we have, who become their extended family. I also hope Callie doesn't feel like she has to stand in her sister's shadow. She is her own person and will have her own strengths and talents. I can't wait to see where her interests lie, where she finds joy and happiness. Sometimes my anxiety gets the best of me, and I worry something will come along and take away all these blessings in my life. I spend my prayers now thanking God for the life he has given us, and praying that we will always have one another. We worked so hard for many years to get this family. It's so precious to me and I will never take it for granted.