Caylen is Finally Walking... For Real!

So I waited a few days to write on this one, just to make sure that it 'stuck.'  On Friday, exactly 2 weeks after she initially began walking (i.e. taking more than 2 steps at a time), she was at home with Daddy while Mommy was at work. He brought her there and he put her down and BAM she started walking! Like 10 steps or so, not a stumble at all; like she had been doing it forever! She kept doing it, doing it, doing it, and I figured it would stick this time. I really hoped. Saturday morning, she kept walking, and kept progressing! She was getting up by herself, walking, and she would initiate walking by herself to get from one place to another! Sunday morning, she woke up and didn't want to walk, but I think it was the footed pajamas that got her off track there. Once I changed her clothes, she was walking. Now, she is still crawling a little; it seems to be her preferred form of transportation, but I think that she really is enjoying how much she gets praised for walking and she is doing it more and more every day! She does such a good job at it-- I guess she just acquired all the walking skills at once! She can walk fast, turn corners, she walks fine in shoes, and she barely stumbles! I am so proud of her! Although I knew she would walk sometime, the waiting was just so hard! I was so afraid that she was unable to walk for some reason, but she is just on her own time!
To see a video of Caylen walking, you can visit my youtube site and watch it here.

We Have Arrived! (In Blairsville)

So, I guess I will make this short and sweet, as it is not too complicated.  We packed up our stuff just in time to move on Saturday. We barely got everything out of the UHaul by dark! Major thanks to Josh Stanford! We have been unpacking like crazy, so by now, 4 days later, we finally have everything out of the boxes. Now, as far as being organized, we are not there so much.  We have also had my mother in law and brother in law here with us so it has been pretty hectic overall, but I think we are gonna make it! Our renters are moving in tonight, and I hope everything goes smoothly with them. I gotta give it to them for doing a D-it-Y move from Fort Drum!

Yeah, it feels great to live not only in Blairsville, not only a short walk to work, but in town! We are close to everything and we have saved so much time not having to drive 45 mins each way every day! Our town house is a little smaller than our Dahlonega house, but the price was right and it is beautiful so we love it. It only has one full bath, but we are adjusting! I do miss having our yard too, but we have a porch in back and it has been great to use.  I have already potted a few flowers for out back, and we fit all our outdoor furniture and a playset for Caylen (courtesy of her Nana) outback. It is cozy, but it all fits-- even though it was somewhat challenging!

Well I guess that is all I have to say about that, but I just wanted to let everybody know that we survived the move, we weren't sure if we would, but we are settled in now and loving being so close!

We Are Moving to Blairsville!

Part 1
So, the other day when Brandon came home from work, Monday it was, he came up to me and gave me a great big kiss and said , "You are a genius." Uh, ok. It happened, coincidentally, to be the day that marked him being home for a year. I had made him a homemade angel food cake, with lots of cream cheese icing, and it said "<3 Welcome Home <3" I thought he might have been really glad that I made him a cake? Yeah I had no idea why he would be calling me a genius.... He followed this with telling me that on his way home, he had received a phone call from a military couple PCSing from Ft. Drum. They wanted to rent our house!

We had just put it up for rent about 10 days prior!! The guy came by and took pictures and put it up on his site, which would cost us a little $ if we went through him. However, I had an idea, since I was a former military wife myself, that I could put it on the site I always used to find a house: ahrn.com (automated housing referral network). It is a site that has rental houses specifically around military bases, and there is no fee! I put up the pics and gave a good description of it and BAM we get this call. SO awesome. Now. It is not like me to just get excited at the prospect of tenants; I don't get excited about something unless I know it's gonna happen. However, they did sign a 1 year lease yesterday! They were really sweet too-- they have one child, a 9 month old boy, and they were about our age. I talked to the wife for a while yesterday and I think this is going to be a great blessing! We have been praying for a way to get 'over the mountain' so we wouldn't have to live so far away from family, friends, church, etc. God truly answered our prayers!

Part 2
So if Part 1 is about getting our house rented, Part 2 I guess is us trying to find a place to rent ourselves. Why rent and not buy? Well, for one, we need it immediately and we don't have time for closing, even if we could get a loan. However, the fact that we already have a mortgage and even though we are renting it out, most lenders are not going to count rent as income... blah blah blah, boring loan stuff.  So, of course we are going to rent for a while until we can find a place to buy that we will live in until we rot. yuck. So we looked at a couple of places... the first place was an old house with a great yard, but a very outdated oven (stone age), no overhead lighting in bedrooms, and a little dirty with a funky smell. Hmm. Also a little pricey for the included dirt bonus. Place #2 was a great townhouse, small, but great. All wood floors, with some tile, basement, all new-- including appliances and granite countertops. Breathtaking! But, small. 2 Bedrooms, 1 whole bath, 1 half bath. I guess I need to get used to showering with Caylen's Boon Frog Pod.  The price is super duper too! Yes, it is a little small, but it is temporary.  I arranged to sign the lease on Friday. Woo hoo, right? Well, I looked over the lease and saw that it said the ever dreaded "no pets" clause. We have a cat. So, that is a problem. I emailed the lady I had been talking to and asked her about it, but she hasn't got back to me yet. I really hope they can work with us on this one, because there really isn't anywhere else to rent in Blairsville. and oh yeah, we move on Saturday.
THIS Saturday, the 20th. Whew!
We have already packed up a lot, but some stuff we are just gonna leave out and pack into our car. We are luckily very used to moving so this is not as painful as it would have been if we hadn't moved four six times already. This will be seven. I am so happy that we will be on the other side though so I am just trying to see the silver lining in packing all these boxes. We are one step closer! Just please keep us in your prayers as we go through this transition, and that we find a place to live soon! I know God brought us these renters and He will find a place for us to live!

Edit:

The landlord emailed me back and told me that pets are accepted on a case by case basis, and then told me she would meet to sign the lease, so I am assuming we are in the clear :)  YAY!

Too Good to Be True!

So last night, right before Caylen's bath and bedtime, after we had drove home from work, her screaming the whole way, Caylen walked! Yes, she walked. At 16 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days, she walked. Yay!  My heart was so full; I couldn't even believe that she had done it!
Ok, back it up a little bit... I was so excited that I had to share right away! So yesterday, we were getting ready to leave work, waiting for Ava to be picked up. Caylen Loooooves to be around Ava!! I am guessing it was partly her who inspired Caylen to stand up on her own.
Ok, back it up a little more.... Caylen has been 'bear crawling' or 'crab crawling' for a while now. She crawls on her hands, and instead of on her knees, she is on her feet. You get the idea, right? Well, anyway, she has known how to do that for a long while, but here in the last few days, she has been deciding that she wants to either be mobile by 'crab crawling,' cruising, or walking with her walker. Given that information, I guess we are ready to go...
Soooo, I guess I can get to the standing by herself thing. Caylen has been able to stand by herself for a few weeks by now, but she always got to that point by pulling up. Well, last night, when she was playing with Ava, getting ready to go home, she went from a 'crab crawl' to standing, all by herself! I couldn't hardly believe what I saw! Then, we get in the car to go home, she doesn't want to go in her seat, cries (screams) all the way home, and we get home and chill out-- brains fried from the ride. I throw together a peanut butter sandwich for her, she eats really well, and we let her watch the Goodnight Show until it is bathtime, like usual. Well, Caylen starts doing her funny crawl thing again, and she stands up! Again, again, again.  Woo hoo! Brandon stretches out his arms and says, "Come here, Caylen" or something to that effect, and voila, she does! Like she has been doing it forever. Didn't even have to think twice. Just went. I couldn't believe it! She took at least 4 steps to him like it was nothing! Then, she proceeds to do it again, again, again. Wow!!! We have been waiting for sooo long for this! And, here it is, happening!! Right now! Well, she decides that she is tired, and she doesn't want to do it anymore, so she 'crab crawls' to the tub. Ready for a bath. I was so excited for her, I could barely contain myself!........
 Next morning (today):
I was so excited about her feat from the night before I couldn't wait to get her out of her footed jammies and put her in something easy to walk in. Would she do it again? Of course, right? She did it last night like she had done it all of her life! Piece of cake.
Nope. Not by 8 AM, not by 10 AM. She takes a nap. Maybe she was tired? Nope. Eats lunch; maybe she was hungry? Nope. Not a single sign that she ever did walk in the first place. She is not even standing up by herself today! She is not even standing alone as much as usual.
Wow.
There is the real shock. I allowed myself to get so excited over her walking, just to see that it was a fluke? I feel ashamed at myself for thinking that this stubborn child would ever actually walk. I should have known better. I shouldn't have thought for a second that those first steps would be anything but short-lived.  Ok, I guess I know somewhere deep inside that Caylen will eventually walk someday. I think/hope? But when, I don't know. One thing I have learned from this child is that you can't count on anything she ever does to ever happen again. So, who knows? I just feel so let down and foolish for actually thinking she would still be walking today.

Is this normal? Is it normal or 'average' for a child to pick something up and forget about it? I just feel so jaded, and like I never want to get excited about anything she ever does again. Sounds horrible, right? But if any of you moms have gone through the same ups and downs with your child that we have, you probably can relate. I just want to know, should I be worried? Or, is this just a stubborn child trait that we just have to overlook?

Milk Sensitivity?

Well... where do I start? Since Caylen was born, she has had a problem with reflux, and seemed to be a 'colicky' baby. I didn't want to label her as having colic, so I was constantly trying to find something that would make her feel better. She was a breastfed baby, until 1 year, and she was constantly nursing. And crying. It seemed like around the time that she ate, she was fussy at the breast and irritable. The more she ate, the more she fussed, and the more she wanted to eat, so on and so forth.  It was a vicious cycle.  She was on reflux meds until about 7 months, then it subsided enough for her to decrease them, until she really needed them on occasion at least. She was still fussy though.. Hmmm. She seemed very dependent on nursing, and I don't mean that she was dependent on eating; yeah ok duh. She was just constantly wanting to nurse and was, here is a prefect word: fitful.  She always seemed to be in a fit when she was nursing, like she wanted to, but for some reason she didn't. My dad told me to put her on soy formula, since that is what they did with my sister, and it worked. I, the breastfeeding maniac, wanting to do what was 'best,' didn't want to gamble that my daughter had lactose intolerance. which is rare for a baby.   So, I continued to nurse, of course, and things stayed pretty much the same. That cycle I mentioned earlier just continued-- it lessened at about 6 months, then greatly reduced at 12 months: the point at which I weaned her. After I weaned her, of course, I switched to cow's milk.

Cow's milk... She likes it okay, I guess, but she has never been so crazily addicted to it like she was the breastmilk. What does this have to do with my point? Oh nothing really, I am just stating the facts, and the fact is that Caylen never drank much cow's milk, as compared to mommy's milk.  And, as I mentioned earlier, her tummy issues lessened a great deal after weaning. She has always had, seemingly, upset tummy issues, but I never really zeroed in on what it could be as much as I have been lately. I guess that is because I can see more of a direct correlation between the cause and effect, now that she is older and more expressive, and now that I am a more experienced mom. So I feel really bad about what I am about to say, namely because I feel like a bad mother for not having noticed such a correlation before now. Caylen has a milk sensitivity. No, we haven't gone to the Dr. yet, but it is pretty much a no-brainer when she throws up and has terrible, sour diarrhea every time she eats milk, milkshakes, ice cream, cheese, etc. Is is lactose intolerance? I don't know-- I kinda hope. Is it short lived, or will we be buying soy and almond milk and dairy free products forever? I really don't know. I don't even know if it could be an allergy. I guess I need to ask the Dr. about that. However, for now, we have figured out what has been bothering her, and that is completely wonderful!

Since we have taken Caylen off of dairy, she has been happier (less grumpy/ grouchy), she has been more active, she eats more!! And, she sleeps pretty well, too! That may not sound like much, but her being less grouchy is a blessing in and of itself. She has always done, eh, horribly, at restaurants. Ya know, like the ones that take forever to get your food.  She is the screaming, crying baby sitting next to your family while you are trying to have a quiet meal.  We are the parents, and family members, you see 'walking' the baby in the front of the restaurant. And, yes, it still happens, even though she is 16 months old..... However, since she hasn't had milk or dairy, today when we went to a restaurant, she did great! Not even like the same baby! I guess it just took a long time for my thick head to get it through that this is the problem, but I am so much happier to know that she is feeling visibly better!  So, I guess for now it is soy milk and no dairy until we go to the Dr. and get some more info on what we can do!

New Hair!

So, I got a new haircut on Saturday! I wanted to get something that would be different, but easy to manage and cute as well, of course. I have had the same hairstyle for a while now, which is not normal for me since I loooove to get haircuts and try new things.

I have had my hair just about every way but... with bangs! Well, that is not entirely true; I had bangs in elementary school. The radar full-on 90's bangs thing going on. My mom was sooo mad when I asked her if I could grow my hair out in 5th grade.  My dad finally convinced her to let me! So I had one length hair for a while, then I got a pixie cut in high school, which I loved, but Mom didn't. So, to continue in the trend of tension between mother and daughter for haircuts, my mother was mad when I told her I wanted to get bangs! Wow, make up your mind, eh?!She actually said, " bangs are a pain in the A$$ to grow out!" with no money symbols by the way. Wow! My mom never cusses, ever ever, and she gets mad at me when I do! This must be a HOT button for her. SOoo, I considered, very closely, not to get bangs because of the fact that mom might be mad at me. But, I decided to do it anyway! Heck, I am 25, I have my own child and husband, and house! I decided to do it (as you may have guessed). Weeeelll, it turned out looking so good, in my opinion, that mom had no room to be mad, I guess, because she liked it too!

Another facet of this new haircut is that it makes me feel so much more confident about myself! I feel pretty, I have to say, and that is not normal for me. Not since I was pregnant with Caylen, anyway. There's something about taking care of a young child that will make a woman abandon her beauty.... It just wasn't important to me anymore! However, it all changed when my wonderful husband took me shopping for Valentine's Day at Myrtle Beach. He got me some Estee Lauder perfume that I looooved; it smelled soooo good. He bought that for me , out of the blue-- we never get each other anything for Vday... But, the perfume also came with some makeup and stuff, which made me feel so special I just can't describe. Like good special, not the humiliating kind of special.  I knew that I mattered to him and that I was special to him. Aaaahhh. My wonderful hubby, I love him so much! So, all because of that perfume, and free makeup, I feel like a whole new woman!