It's True What They Say.....Time FLIES!

I have realized that Tatum is growing so fast, but I have not wanted to admit it. Tonight I was looking back at some picture of her and decided to post several so everyone can see how much she has changed over the past 4.5 months. Enjoy.....

There are of course many more picutres, but that is all I am going to post for now. I hope you have enjoyed watching Tatum grow through pictures as much as I have enjoyed watching her grow everyday. She is the highlight of my and Antonio's lives. We love her so much and are amazed at how fast she is growing. We love to see her develop and learn new "tricks". Her newest one is fake coughing. I have helped out lots in developing this talent. Over the weekend, I would fake cough and she would smile. Now she fake coughs with me. I just love it!

Christmas in March

Antonio and I put Tatum to bed, as ususal, at 8pm Friday night and decided to put together something new for Tatum. We got out her JEEP walker(Thanks Brandy!) and put it together. Saturday morning was so exciting! Tatum woke up at about 7:30am and we fed her. After she eats she is in the best mood, so we brought her in the living room and put her in her new walker. She is still a little small for it because her feet don't touch the ground, but she still liked it.

In the next picture she is checking out the horn. It isn't very loud when you push it, but it was loud enough to get her attention!

So, if you see this face cutting you off in the streets, please call Antonio or me and we will take away the keys!

After the newness of the car wore off, I put some bunny ears on her that I got from Target. I just wanted to see if they would fit, but I had to snap a picture too.

Then we moved on to the flower headband. I had to capture a picture of that too! I plan to have a photo shoot and take more pics with the flower and bunny ears headbands sometime this week.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have an embroidery machine now. While I love it, I am still a little limited in what I can do because I can't sew things with it, so I haven't been making burp cloths. Well, I got some fabric glue this week and went to work. Here is a picture of just one of the 4 burp cloths I made.

Something to Think About

I know I JUST posted a blog, but I found this and wanted to put it on here for you guys to read.



Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take usto McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers And fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers whoare in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day.............

Bittersweet

Today was my last day of work at Cintas. I went in about 8:30 this morning and took all of my stuff in and placed it on my desk. I talked to a few people, cleaned out my desk, and left around 10:30. I went and watched Memphis play basketball and then went back at 3pm to do my Exit Interview. I am so glad that today is over and I never have to think of Cintas again. The past 4 weeks have been the worst 4 weeks since I started at Cintas THREE years ago. However, at the same time, I made some great friends there and I just can't imagine not seeing these friends anymore. I hope that we stay in touch, but also realize that staying in touch with so many people in the future will probably not happen. We shall see...

On to another topic...As you all know, it is MARCH MADNESS time! I LOVE baskeball and especially Memphis Tigers basketball. However, I have never made out a bracket to pick who I think will "win it all"...well that was, until this year. Antonio and 3 of his co-workers decided to form a group on the Fox Fantasy website and invited me to join the group and compete with my picks. I did my bracket on Monday and finished it in about 10 minutes.(I didn't put much thought into it.) As of today, I am #1 in the group! I am beating ALL of the guys and I think it is SO FUNNY!! I have gotten 24 out of 28 games correct. I am even number 8014 out of 314,209 total participants!! I am just loving it. I will keep you posted on how the bracket finishes out because we are all so close that anyone could win it in the end.

Finally, I haven't taken pictures of Tatum in a while, so I decided to take some pictures of her last night when Antonio was giving her a bath. Here they are below....

I just LOVE her beautiful BLUE EYES!!!

I think this is my favorite picture of her that I took last night. Her little personality is growing so much everyday and she just cracks me up!

Bathtime really makes Tatum sleepy and one of her new habits is to rub her eyes when she gets sleepy. I just think it is THE CUTEST THING ever!! I know, I know, I am so cheesy, but if you have a baby, you understand.

This next picture isn't the best one of her, but it does show off her beautiful eye long eyelashes. Plus, she is really using her hands these days to reach out for everything. I was talking on the phone yesterday and she kept grabbing it. Her age right now is so much fun. I love to watch her discover new things!

Tomorrow we are planning to work in the yard if it is pretty, so Tatum will have to play in her swing, exersaucer, or something outside while we get a little work done. I will be sure to take some pictures if it is nice.

We also took Tatum on a walk last Sunday after church because it was so pretty outside. She LOVED it. We dressed her up and put some sunglasses on her and off we went. (Sorry I forgot to take pictures.) She loves the outdoors (I think every child does) and I can't wait for it to get warmer so we can spend more time out there.

Finally...

Well, after much waiting and keeping quiet, I can finally announce that I got a new job!! I no longer have to talk about toilet paper and paper towels everyday or look down everytime I walk in a building to see what kind of mats they get. That's right, my days at Cintas are over forever after Friday!

I got a pharmaceutical sales job and I am just so excited about it! It is with an awesome company with amazing benefits!

How did this happen? Well, I returned to work and walked into a bad situation that I just didn't know if I could deal with and a situation that I DEFINITELY did NOT want to deal with. I did LOTS of praying (and so did many of you) and tried to be very optimistic about my situating because I knew God was not going to throw anything my way that He didn't think I could handle. Well, I worked and did my appointments and recruiters started calling. Long story, short, I went to an interview and got an offer I could not refuse. God ALWAYS has a plan. It was the answer to my prayers for many reasons. Don't get me wrong, I know that I am going to be working my butt off, but it will all be worth it. I will actually be appreciated as an employee. No overnights! My territory is small with the most time in my car will be an hour. I am SO excited!! YAY!!!

My last day at Cintas will be this Friday and I am taking next week off then I will be starting my new job on March 26th. I will be doing home study for two weeks and then I will go away to training in New Orleans for three weeks. The three weeks will be the hardest because I won't get to see Tatum and Antonio everyday. However, they will fly me home the second weekend which happens to be my birthday weekend! Then I have to go back for one more week and I will be home. It will all be worth it in the end. I know that Antonio is going to take great care of Tatum. He is already an AWESOME help and they will be fine. It is me that I am worried about. I already plan to do lots more scrapbooking next week in my free time so that I can take my book with all of Tatum's pictures in it with me to training. I also told Antonio that he better send me picture messages on the phone so I could see Tatum. I am just scared that Tatum is going to start sitting up or something while I am gone and I am going to miss one of her BIG firsts.

Anyway, that's my big news! When I returned to work I felt like i was going through a Quarter Life Crisis and now I feel like I just landed my DREAM JOB at 25! What a roller coaster these past few weeks have been!

New Pictures of Tatum

Here are some new pictures of Tatum that we have taken since Sunday. Sunday in Memphis it was pretty cold, so we put one of Tatum's coats on her and she was too cute, so I got the camera out before church. The coat was a little big, so she was having to "peak" out at the camera...

I think she definitely has my color eyes. Her eyes are SOOO blue and I just love them!

Next are some pictures of Tatum's new talent. She now tries to hold her bottle every time she eats! She does pretty good, but eventually she pulls it away from her mouth and gives me or Antonio this horrible look like we did it. After the look, she breaks down and cries until she gets the bottle back in her mouth.

Finally, when I was getting her ready for daycare this morning, I decided to put a hat on her because she was having a VERY bad hair day. As you can see, she liked the hat, but it is still a little too big for her.

That's all for now. I will try to be better about updating with some pictures.

Just Our Luck....

Since Tatum has begun to eat a little bit of solid foods, Antonio and I decided it would be fun to get the high chair out of the box and put it together. We put Tatum to bed and started working. He started on one half and I started on another. I finished mine and looked up to see Antonio's not so happy look on his face. He then said we would have to be done for the night and would not get to finish the high chair. I was about to get mad and I asked him why. He then showed me that they(the packaging company) put 2 of the same parts in the box so we were missing a key part (one of the legs to the high chair). So, it looks like I will be calling the 1-800 number tomorrow to request the right part to be sent.

A few updates...

Even though my shot was very painful and my hip is still sore, I am feeling MUCH better. I have been able to keep what little I have eaten down and I hope to be working again tomorrow.
I have now lost 17.5 pounds since Christmas, but I lost lots because of being sick, so I am guessing that I will gain some back when I get my full appetite back. I liked seeing the smaller number on the scale, but I think I would have preferred not getting sick!

Also, my cousin got discharged today from the hospital. The doctors apparently ruled that he just had a REALLY bad sinus infection gone wrong(?). Sounds crazy, but hopefully he is back to normal soon.

Thanks for all the prayers!

Happy 4 Month Birthday Tatum!

I can't believe my little girl is already 4 months old!! Where is time going?? Tatum is growing so much. She is constantly "talking", laughing, smiling, etc. She is such a great baby. I love the fact that she snores when she sleeps, I love that she has a little double chin, and I just love her little chubby legs. (Don't worry, she is not over weight or anything, she is a baby.) She loves her exersaucer(Thanks Grandmommy and Granddaddy). I love her so much and I can't even remember what life was like before Antonio and I had her. I can say life is never boring. I can honestly say that I can still just stare at her all day long and not get bored, but unfortunately I am back at work so that is not possible. I do miss that little 7 pound baby, but I do love the age she is currently. She is so interactive and we have even given her bananas this week since the dr told us we could start some solids on Friday.

Here is a before picture with Tatum wearing her FIRST bib ever.....

And of course, I had to take an after picture so everyone could see just how much Tatum enjoyed her food....

Update on me.....I went to the dr today at 9am. The nurse asked me if I had a fever and i told her I didn't think so. She checked it and it was 101.7! I guess that just means it has been WAY higher since Friday night. They checked my pee, took blood, swabbed my throat, and swabbed my nose. The dr finally told me that she thinks that I just have a really, really, REALLY, bad UTI. Who knew that a UTI could make you run a temp as high as 103.3, not be able to keep ANYTHING down, feel like you are going to pass out at any moment, etc??? The dr told me I could not go back to work until Friday. This is a bit of a problem since I JUST went back to work last week. Luckily I have 5 sick days and 2 weeks of vacation still to use, but I knew my mgr wasnt going to be happy, so I had her write me a dr's note. I felt like I was like 16 again. She then told me they were going to give me a shot. She told me this shot was to help me be able to eat and keep things down, but if I did get sick after having this shot to go to the emergency room right away. SCARY!! The nurse came in and I admitted to her I was a baby when it came to shots, so to comfort me she proceeds to tell me that "This is one of the MOST PAINFUL shots I give!" and "Oh yeah, it has to go in your hip." I asked her if I could opt out of it and she said nope. So I layed there and took the pain. YOu would think after childbirth I could handle anything, but nope. I had to stay for 15 minutes to make sure I didn't have a reaction. The nurse came and told me I could go and to come back on Thursday, so I proceeded to checkout. I got there and this lady was the SLOWEST lady ever! She was doing everything, but tending to me. I told her I needed to make an appt for Thursday and she goes into this spill about how this dr doesnt work on Thurs so it would be friday. I don't really know what else she said because I looked up at her and told her that I was going to sit in the waiting room because I was about to pass out. She freaked out. I went to the waiting room and sat down and put my head between my legs. She came out and brought the nurse and they took me back again to a room so I could get to feeling better. I finally left against their will because they wanted me to stay until someone could come pick me up, but I knew that was not possible. I had already been there 3 hours and I didn't want to stay any longer. Anyway, I am home and my hip HURTS!!

Once again I need to sing Antonio's praises for him...He has done EVERYTHING dealing with Tatum because I have felt so bad and I was scared I might have the flu too. He gets her up every morning, feeds her, dresses her, gets her bottles and diaper bag ready for daycare, and takes her. Then after daycare he gives her a bath at night, feeds her bananas, plays with her, changes her into PJs, gives her a bottle, and puts her to bed. He has been such a life saver!! I love him so much and he is such a great dad! Tatum just lights up when he walks in the room! Thank you Antonio!

Finally, I wanted to ask you guys to pray for my cousin. He is in the hospital and the doctors are not really sure what is wrong with him. Here is what his sister said...

"Okay so for those who didnt know, my brother went to Napaul (which like the other side of Asia or something) in Jan. for a mission trip. Well before he left, he had a slight cold thing, but he got alot sicker on the trip. Once he came back, the sickness never went away. He went to our family doc, and the guy gives him some meds and sends him on. Well Mitch never gets better, so after about a month or so, mom took mitch to a diff doc to see what he thought. Well this doc told Mitch to stay home and not go back to school or work for a week or so and gave Mitch some serious meds. Yet Mitch still wasnt doing much better. Tonight as i was leaving a basketball game, my mom calls and says she is at the ER with Mitch....i sorta flip, cause those who know me well know the word hospital or ER scares me (Justin!) but she tells me he is fine and that it is just he keeps coughing but that the doc will probably give him something for the night and be on his way. Well so i think okay, i'll not freak and go on out. Well about 20 minutes later, my grandmother calls and tells me to come pick her up from the ER because she's gonna stay at our house. I get there and she tells me that Mitch and mom were about to finally go see the doc and that they might admit Mitch in the hospital. We don't know anything yet, mom is suppose to call me when they know something.But to fill in some pieces, apparnety Mitch's cough had gotten really bad, like they said basically every breathe he took, he was coughing. And he came home to see mom or something, and told her that he almost stopped at the ER himself it hurt so bad, so mom took him. And the part that kills me, is they said he was crying. Anyone who knows me brother, knows he is tough and does not cry much at all, unless he is in MASSIVE pain, or he had an amazing touch from God. This is long, i'm sorry, but I'm really scared cause i don't know what exactly is going on and i hate to see my brother in any kind of pain. So please please keep him in your prayers tonight. Thanks"

Please remember him in your prayers. I know I feel like I am so sick, but he really is. I will add pictures to this blog soon, I promise.

Rough Weekend

I have had a rough weekend. Not because Tatum has been bad or sick, but because I have been SO SICK!! I have been throwing up, running a fever as high as 102.3, and the worst headache ever. Antonio helped out so much and even took Tatum to church with him yesterday so I could get some rest.

Needless to say, me being sick right now is not the best timing in the world because I just started back to work last Monday. I have to take off already for being sick!?!!? I have a dr's appt tomorrow morning, so maybe there will be some relief in sight.

Last night I woke up at 4am and I was running such a high temperature that I was sweating and my sheets were soaked. Don't worry, Antonio played it safe and slept on the couch so hopefully he won't get sick. I took some Tylenol 2 hours ago and just took my temperature again and it is 100.2. I don't think I have been this sick in a while!

Please pray for me that I will get to feeling better VERY soon, so that I can get back to work and sell some accounts this week. Also, please pray that Tatum and Antonio don't get whatever I have. I don't think I have really cuddled with Tatum since Friday night and it is KILLING ME!! However, I know that it is best that I not be around her too much.

Until next time...

4 Month Check Up and More

Tatum went for her 4 month check up today and did great! She weighs 13 lbs 7 ounces. She is 24 and 1/4 inches long. Both are in the 50th percentile. She is growing fine and the dr told us we can start SLOWLY introducing rice cereal and fruits and vegetables when we are ready to. She did great with her shots too. Tatum got 3 shots and was done crying before the nurse could even put the bandaids on!

Feb 23rd will always be remembered by Antonio and me for two reasons...

1.) Feb 23, 2006 was the day that I found out for sure that I was 4 weeks pregnant. Antonio and I were both very excited!! At the time I couldn't imagine life with a baby, but now I can't imagine life without Tatum. Good thing I don't have to I guess!

2.) Feb 23, 2006 I came home and went to bed after working. About 10pm, Antonio came in the bedroom and woke me up to tell me that Lisa (our other chocolate lab) had gotten run over. Maggie and Lisa were outside in our fenced in back yard and managed to dig out. They apparently headed for a busy street which is where she was hit by a car.

Because of these 2 events, Feb 23rd with always be remembered as a bitter-sweet day in our lives!

Tatum goes back to the dr on April 20th (my birthday) for her 6 month check up. We are praying that she doesn't get sick or have to go back for any other reason until then!!

Until next time....

3rd Day Back to Work

Today at work was good again. It is so funny how people can try to really mess you over by being selfish and greedy, yet God laughs and makes everything for you turn out okay. I must admit I was at a new low on Monday, but I just kept thinking God knows I am strong and I believe He is not going to put me through anything I can't handle. This kept me strong when I needed to be. And sure enough, God took care of me and now I have the best territory in my eyes and the least travel time! I had 2 HUGE appts today and they were both AWESOME! Everyone I had appts with, cold called, etc was so nice. I am used to expecting to get a big NO every once in a while during the day, but I didn't hear that a single time today.

On to Tatum news...I went to pick up Tatum today from Ms. Gail's house and she was napping. She woke up for a minute to smile at me and look at me and then we left to come home. We got home at 5pm and she was asleep. She slept until 9pm and we finally woke her up to eat and then she went straight back to sleep. I guess daycare is really wearing her out! All of the kids there are so cute. I stayed today for a while to talk to the kids and play with them. I had fun, I think they did too.

2nd Day Back to Work

Well, I figured I better be quick to update everyone on the latest with my work situation since yesterday didn't go so well. As I posted yesterday, I did lots of prayer for strength and I think everyone else did too. I was determined to have a good attitude today and not let ANYTHING or ANYONE ruin my day. I had a good day. Of course I still didn't get my territory back, but I do have a new one coming my way and I don't think I want my old one back anyway.

The good things about my new one is that I have a whole new territory to sell in unlike my old one where I was just tired of looking at the same old businesses every day. Also, for my new territory I don't have to drive more than 20 minutes from my house to get ANYWHERE!! In my old territory I could spend 3 hours of the day on the road which means I wasn't selling but half of the day. I also had a phone block today and already set up a face to face appointment with 2 target(big accounts) accounts in my territory for tomorrow and Friday, so that is definintely great news.

Thanks to everyone that prayed for me. Please continue to pray for me because there are some other things I am still dealing with, but I am trying to only focus on the positive things at this point.

Also, Tatum did great again with the lady that is keeping her. She was smiling when I left and smiling when I got back. It makes life so much easier knowing she is happy and well taken care of.

Finally, I have to do some bragging on Antonio. He has been so helpful for the past two days with helping me with Tatum in the mornings so I can get out the door by 6:45am. He gets her up around 6:10am, changes her diaper, dresses her, feeds her, puts her in her carseat, and even loads her in the car. Tatum and I have managed to get up and out the door in about 45 minutes thanks to Antonio's help. Tomorrow I get to sleep in a bit and not leave here until almost 8am!! YAY for Daddy-O(Antonio) and other helpful daddies in the world!

I will keep my blogs updated this week for sure so everyone can know how life is going. We will also try and take some new pictures of Tatum so I can post them this weekend.

FINALLY....last thing, I have officially lost 14 lbs since Christmas. I am almost half way to my goal for the YEAR!! The treadmill hasn't been used since I went back to work, I must admit, however, I think the real secret is STOP eating when you are full at mealtime and NO snacking. It is working for me at least right now.

Until next time....

1st Day Back at Work

Well I can honestly say that I was hoping for the best when I returned to work today, but needless to say it was the WORST!! I was fine with leaving Tatum at the daycare, but when I got to the office the work situation was not great. In fact, it was not even good. I don't know which was worse....losing my territory or being backstabbed by someone that I called a friend.

I expected the territory deal, but not the lying and backstabbing from this person. I guess it just goes to show that you really can't trust anyone anymore. I can honestly say that I would have NEVER done the things that were done to me. I didn't ask for this person to defend me or stick up for me, but I did ask that this person not lie to me. I mean, is that too hard? I guess it is for some people. It just shows the true character of this person I guess.

Anyway, I have done my part and I am over it. I spent most of my day praying for strength to get through this and some way find a positive aspect of everything that happened. This is pretty hard considering all that I was faced with today, but I am trying. There were so many other things that happened, but I can not go into details. I will take it one day at a time and remember that this is out of my hands and in God's hands. I can not make people "pay" for what they did or didn't do, but God can and will as He sees fit. I just don't understand how people can be okay with being unethical in life. I guess I never will understand it and that is fine with me.

Please pray for me to have LOTS of strength and courage to face these things that I am going through with a good attitude. It will be hard, but I figure if I can give birth, then I can do this. I am WOMAN....hear me ROAR!! LOL

This reminds me of a story.....

There once was a sparrow who was flying through the sky and came upon very cold weather. His wings began to form ice on them and this finally took him down to the ground because of the weight of the ice. The sparrow realized quickly that his life was over and he was prepared to die. Just when he had given up all hope, along came a cow and pooped on the sparrow. Needless to say, the sparrow was very unhappy about this. Not only was he going to die, but he was going to be covered in cow poop and die. A minute or two later he realized that the cow's poop was warm and it was melting the ice. As he warmed up he could move about and was very happy. He was so happy he began to sing and churp very loudly. He was singing so loudly that a cat in the barn heard him that he came out to see what was going on. He saw the sparrow and pulled him out of the cow poop and ate him.

What is the moral of this story??

Not everyone that poops on you means you harm.

Not everyone that pulls you out of poop is looking out for your well being.

Those that sing the loudest shouldn't because it will catch up to them in the end.

Until next time.....

Back to work

Well the day has arrived when I must go back to work, so tomorrow morning I will be getting up early, dressing in my "professional dress clothes", and heading out the door to interact with adults all day. I think I went thru my sad phase last week, and now I am really getting excited. I figure I can't change it, so I better have a positive attitude and be ready to jump in with both feet, right? I will let you know how it goes after tomorrow though.

I also have been dealing with a bit of craziness this weekend. Everything went down Friday. First, I was headed to the movies with some other girls and their little babies and I got a phone call from the daycare that we have been on the waiting list for since Feb 23rd (that's right, the one that didn't have room for Tatum) and the director told me that she would have a spot for Tatum on the 26th. I told her I would have to get back to her. As soon as I hung up the phone I just kept thinking that I had JUST called my company to tell them that I was going to return back to work on the 19th. I didn't HAVE to return until the 26th, so if I had gotten this call just an hour earlier, I would have taken my last week of maternity leave. Next thing on my mind was what we were going to do. Should we move Tatum to the daycare or leave her where she is starting on the 19th with the lady at her house? Well, I called Antonio and we decided to talk about it at home. Long story, short, we decided to move her after she goes a week at the lady's house because the lady only keeps kids til they are 3 and the daycare is more structured and keeps them until they get ready to go to school. There were many other reasons, but I don't feel like typing them all out. If you really want to hear them, let me know.

Next, I went to the movies and Tatum did great!! We headed home after that and I wasn't feeling to great. Antonio got home from work about 6:30pm and I told him I was pretty sure I had a UTI. If you know what that is, or if you have had one, you know how uncomfortable they can be. Everytime I have thought I had one in the past, I just drank TONS of water and it went away, well not this time. I was up until about 3:30am in pain. I finally took some Tylenol PM and took a HOT bath and went to sleep. Saturday I woke up and I was just getting worse. I started running a fever and finally called the on call nurse for my OBGYN's office and she called me in a perscription. Once again when all of this was happening I kept thinking that maybe I should just go back to work on the 26th. I am glad to report, however, that I am feeling much better and I can go to work now tomorrow.

I am sure there is more that I should blog about, but I dont know what. Below are some pictures of Tatum. They are pretty random.

We thought that Tatum might like the big bathtub since she is getting older, so we tried it. She still can't sit up on her own yet, so I put her bumbo seat in the tub. This was a major failure and she hated it. We now give her baths in the big bathtub, but we put her little tub in the big tub and she loves it.


This next picture is after her bad bath in the big tub.


Here is a random pic of her getting in her carseat to go out somewhere.

The next pic is before we went to church one Sunday.

The next pics are of Tatum's new talent. She can sit up on her own for a few minutes, but she is almost folded in half because she leans so far forward right now. She is sure trying though and will be sitting on her own upright in no time.

I keep telling everyone how I have to change Tatum's sheets EVERYDAY because she sleeps so long that she wakes up and is soaked because her diaper won't hold enough, but here is a picture so you can see what I see every morning.

Tatum has another new trick. She was "napping" on the couch the other day and I was doing a little cleaning in the kitchen. Here is a picture of her napping.

About 5 minutes later I peaked around the corner to make sure she was okay and what did I see??? Tatum was watching TV. She wasn't crying or making any noise, so I think she was fake sleeping...lol. I am sure she wasn't, but it sure was funny.

I will try to blog tomorrow or Tuesday to let you all know how work is going. Tatum is also going for her 4 month check up on Friday!! I can't believe how much she has grown! She is also giggling more(out loud giggling) which is the funniest thing. She has also started blowing raspberries which is HILARIOUS!! Finally, she snores like her daddy! I will try to capture a video of her doing these soon and I will post them when I do. Until next time....

Long Blog (Sorry)

I haven't posted in a while so I will attempt to catch up on everything.

Saturday, Tatum attended her first birthday party and she had a great time. Her friend, Mackenzie, turned 1!! I can't believe she is already one. Time is just flying by.

Sunday we went to church and we kept her with us because she would have been the only baby in the nursery. I was a little nervous about this, but she did GREAT!! She "sang" when we sang and she went to sleep when the preaching started. I think she might get this from her Granddaddy? LOL Sorry, I had to say that! After church, we went to each with our Pastor's family and some other friends. Then, we went home and we all took naps! It was just a great day.

Monday, Brandy came over and we ate frozen pizza and pretended it was Pizza Hut. I can say that maternity leave has taught me so much. Going 10 weeks without a paycheck has meant that we have really had to watch what we spend. I find that it has been easy, but I just hate to think of all the "stupid" things I spent my money on in the past that I didn't need.

Wednesday was Tatum's first Valentine's Day and we had fun. We got up and just hung out and played all day and then Daddy(Antonio) got home at 6:30 and he had picked up food from Macaroni Grill (salads, lasagna, and dessert) and we ate dinner over candlelight! We had already decided not to go out and fight the crowds and it was kind of romantic just eating at home just the two of us. Tatum sat in her exersaucer the whole time and played too!

I have 3 days left total until I have to go back to work. I am very excited, nervous, scared, torn etc about going back. I have enjoyed being at home with Tatum, but I know that staying home forever with her is just not the best thing for me or her right now. However, I don't want to miss any of those milestones in her life either! She is growing so fast and I don't want to miss anything. Like right now she is beside me on the couch just talking away and I am going to miss that! It has also been so great being at home and not stressing out from time to time over happenings at work. On the other hand, I miss the interaction with adults and the feeling of signing those big accts at work. I miss the paycheck and some of my customers too. I guess we will have to see how it goes when I get back out there. I feel like being home so long has really given me a litttle boost and now I have more drive and motivation to get back out there and do well.

Anyway, I also wanted to talk about what I have learned while on maternity leave....

1.) It is true that you will never know what you will do until you are actually IN the situation yourself....ex I always thought that I would breastfeed for 6 months minimum and I also thought that any mother that DID NOT do this just didn't want the best for their child. However, after being in this situation, I have learned that Tatum loves her formula bottles and I love them too. I was stressing myself out trying to breastfeed and it just didn't work. After I stopped, I went thru feeling like I had failed, but after that, I just felt good. I could sleep longer, I didn't have to rush home to feed every 3 hours, I didn't have to disappear every 3 hours while we were at people's houses to go feed, etc.

2.) I always said that Tatum would NEVER get to sleep in bed with us. While we kept true to this a little bit, she does make her way into our bed from time to time. She did the bassinet thing for 3 weeks and then we moved her to her crib. She would do well in there for the first 4-5 hours of the night and then she didn't do so well, so we would move her in bed with us and she would sleep "like a baby"! It is hard having to get up every 10-20 minutes in the middle of the night to calm her down. Now, I am happy to say that she is sleeping in her crib full time and LONG HOURS usually 12 hours.

3.) I can stick to a tight budget! While I will stray a little bit, I think I have been pretty good about not spending too much on things that I don't need.

4.) Losing all of this baby weight is HARD!! I knew this from the beginning, and I have done pretty well, but my body is just different now. I am down 12 lbs since Christmas, but my clothes still don't fit like I want them to. It is kind of frustrating because I am determined not to buy "big" clothes, but I am kind of down to no options since work is right around the corner.

5.) Traveling with a baby, even just going to my parent's house, feels like you are MOVING! I have made this trip several times since Christmas and even though I am only going to be gone for 3 days, I still have a packed car! It is amazing how much has to go. I won't even mention the weekend my sis, her two girls, Tatum, and I all went to Nashville!! I only wish I had taken a picture of us in the van!

6.) I thought the phone calls from our friends stopped when we got married, but after Tatum arrived, they have REALLY stopped. We still like to go out to eat, hang out, etc. Tatum can come or we can get a babysitter....just keep the calls coming because parents like to go out too! However, I am so happy everyone is having their own babies, so now we will all be in the same boat! YAY Babies! We are also getting season tix for the football season and Tatum is going to be there, so we are looking forward to that. She was good last year at all the games, but she was still in my tummy.

7.) I could really just look at Tatum all day and not get bored! I have been told this many many times and I thought the people were a little crazy, but it is in fact true! She is just so funny even at this age. Her personality is coming out and she just thinks I am the funniest person (which I love), so we just have a great time!

8.) Stay at home mommies are my heroes! While I love being at home now, I still find it hard to get the house clean, wash clothes, etc when Tatum is crying. She doesn't like it right now when she can't see me. Stay at home mommies work HARD and work 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It doesn't matter if they get sick, they can't call in. They have to be PATIENT and KIND and ENTERTAINING and ORGANIZED and LOVING and SELFLESS and HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR, etc. You all are amazing!

9.) Working mommies are my heroes too! You guys are STRONG and GIVING and SELFLESS and ORGANIZED and also work 24/7! You guys work a full day out of the house and then come home and cook, clean, take care of kids, etc. Okay, MOMMIES in general are my HEROES!

Bottom line, if you are a mom, or when you become a mom, do what works for you!! Don't worry about what others think, it doesn't matter as long as you are taking care of your little one the best that you see fit. While I was pregnant, EVERYONE had advice for me...some of it I asked for, and some came on its own. Some advice has worked great, and some of it didn't. I LOVED getting the advice, but because all babies are different, all advice just doesn't work.

AND if you are NOT a mom, don't judge us Mommies!!! You may THINK you know, but you have no idea!! I know I was once a childless person and a big judger. Boy, I have learned lots!

It may seem as though I am venting, but I really am not. I love being a mommy and I think I have learned lots about myself in the process. I just want to let everyone view a little bit of my life being a mommy.

I still don't think that it has fully sunk in that I am a mommy and Antonio is a daddy. It is still a little bit scary, but SO MUCH fun! Sometimes I look at Tatum and can't believe she is really ours! I think she is SO BEAUTIFUL and would really do anything for her in the world!

I have a few random pictures that I will post later!