This blog was created for Scarlett Conley, daughter of Brandon and Yanci. Conley was born on Saturday, November 12, 2006 at 2:25 in the morning. She weighed 7 lbs., 5 ozs. and was 19 1/4 inches long.
We had so much fun a few weeks ago when our friends and family gave us our 1st baby shower to get us prepared for your upcoming arrival. We didn’t want to leave your Daddy out so we made sure that his friends were invited too. The Cooper’s opened up their beautiful home and with the help of Misty, Aunt Scarlett and Uncle Jason; they provided quite the spread by serving a fajita bar along with some homemade margaritas. Of course, it would not have been a party without your cousin Bowden there. In fact, he was so involved that I still don't think he realizes that the shower wasn't for him. He woke up from his nap the afternoon of to tell us that he was "Weady to go to his pawty." When Aunt Scarlett told him it wasn't his party he set her straight by informing her that "Yes it is." I can't wait for you guys to meet.
One thing is for sure, just from this shower alone you will be one well dressed baby. You got a ton of outfits of the pink variety and a fabulous diaper bag that Mommy can’t wait to carry. Between Gigi and Aunt Scarlett, I don't think we will have to worry about your wardrobe not being in style.
Now the hard part is being patient and waiting for you to make your debut. I am certain it will be on your own terms, but hopefully we will only have 5 weeks left!!!! Your Daddy and I can't wait to meet you.
I can not believe we are only weeks not months away from having a new addition in our family. I was 37 weeks on Friday and after my check last week I am dilated to 1 1/2 cm and 50% effaced. I got a little excited at first but Scarlett reminded me that she was at 2 and 75% effaced, running everyday and still had to be induced. So unless Conley decides to come on her own, Dr. Wyatt has said we can go ahead be induced on November 14th. I am going back this coming Wednesday so we will see if we have made any progress.
Last weekend we had a church social/baby shower at the Kendrick's home. Andrea organized a game that tested each couples recollection of details of their first child’s birth. Some of the dad's found themselves in the doghouse but it was all in good fun. We are so grateful and feel so much more prepared now that we have had that shower. It was an “Around the Clock” shower so everyone gave us things that they needed when their children were born. So now our bags are packed and we are set on go just in case.
I have also attached some random photos that document some of the memories Brandon and I have made during our pregnancy. Here was Conley's first Razorback game. Arkansas went into overtime against Alabama and by the grace of God pulled out a win 24-21. It almost sent me into preterm labor.
I know, I know, I am in trouble with most of you for not getting this updated sooner; I promise we will do a better job from now on.
Well, as I predicted Conley came on her on terms, to catch everyone up on the blessed event, we were scheduled to be induced on Tuesday, November 14th. However, on the Saturday morning before around 10 am I woke up to find that I either lost control of my bladder (which was quite plausible considering the last few weeks) or my water had really broke. Brandon and I had made a dry run earlier in the week because I thought my water had broken while taking a bath only to be sent back home a couple hours later. So we called the doctor and took our time to make sure we had everything we needed. We walked into Baptist looking like we were going to stay for week. Little did we know that we eventually would, but more on that later.
For you Razorback fans, you know what a big day Saturday was to Brandon. He had just gotten his big screen fixed and was looking forward to watching Tennessee and Arkansas go head to head. Brandon’s first reaction to my big news was “I know your water hasn’t broken, Conley wouldn’t do that to me.” We got to Baptist around 11:30 and this time this was not a drill. My water had indeed broken and I was dilated to 3 cm and 80% effaced. We thought things would go fast, I got my epidural by 1:30 and by that afternoon I was dilated to 5 cm and that is when things slowed down to a halt. I think Conley knew her Daddy really wanted to watch the game. I finally was able to start pushing around 11:30 that night and 3 hours later Conley made her appearance on November 12, 2006 at 2:25 a.m. in the morning. She weighed 7 pounds, 5 oz. and was 19 ¼ inches long. As you can tell from these photos she has a head of black hair and looks like her Daddy.
We are so excited and feel so blessed to have this little miracle in our lives. This whole experience has been like taking our hearts out and putting it in this little body with arms and legs. We know our lives will never be the same and we look forward to sharing all of these memories with you along the way. Here are just a few pictures that captured the whole experience.
For those of you who don't know we had to be readmitted into the hospital last week to treat Conley for jaundice. We came home on Tuesday afternoon and tried to treat her at home with supplementing but her counts were up the next day so Dr. Rose had her admitted back into Baptist. I think it was harder on us than on her, she seemed to enjoy lying out. Luckily we only had to stay there for 24 hours and got to come home.
We have been pretty busy since we brought you home. I didn't know somethng so small could eat and poop so much, but I am not complaining I wouldn't trade you sleeping in y arms for anything.I would write more about our experiences so far but I hear you in the other room and right now I am the only one that can feed you. So duty calls!
On Thanksgiving we made our first trip to the Gibson's house where Conley got to meet her cousins, Audrey and Taylor. As you can tell from the pictures Conley didn't open her eyes for very long but we had a great time getting to see Crystal, Cory and the girls. We wished we all lived closer! I was going through old boxes of pictures last night and found lots photos of Audrey when she lived with him and from our wedding. It seems just like yesterday when she was that small and makes me sad to know that Conley will grow up just as quickly.
As you can see from these photos, Taylor is a very happy baby but what was so hysterical was that she would start smiling when she thought her picture was being taken. We told Crystal she needed to sign her up for modeling because she is a natural! So cute!!!!!!!!
At 3 weeks old we already are trying to indoctrinate you. Your Daddy couldn't help himself; he made a special trip to the Razorback store just to buy this cheerleading outfit. You have worn it for both the LSU game and the SEC championship, unfortunately those games were disappointing but we had a good time dressing you up anyway.
This was your reaction to the fumble that Arkansas had on the punt return that gave Florida the lead!!! Your Daddy reaction was very similar.
Apparently, men can multitask too they just don't want us to know it. Here is an example of how they can make it work for them if they really want too. I found Brandon holding Conley while playing some shoot it up game on his X Box 360.
We went to Little Rock today to eat lunch with our friend Phyllis and then we also went by her office to see everyone Mommy calls on for work. People commented on how much you have changed over the last week and I haven’t realized it because I am with you everyday. They also think you look like your Daddy and I couldn’t agree more. I was worried that you would not fit in the Christmas dress I bought for you but you have grown into it. I guess all of the marathon feedings at 2 a.m. have finally come in handy.
Here is a sweet picture of Conley and Brooke Jeane. I don't know if you can tell but Brooke, who is six months old is trying to give Conley a kiss. So sweet! Jayme, Brooke's mom and I have already destined them to be best friends. Conley is already borrowing Brooke's clothes and we already are having playdates. Okay, Jayme and I are holding our kids so we can visit but it won't be long and the girls will be playing with each other. When that day comes we will be wishing they were still small enough to sit still for us to hold them.
Here are some of the memories we made over Christmas. It is always crazy trying to rush around to see everyone over Christmas so we went to Mom's a few days earlier so we could spend a little more with everyone. I also wanted to get to spend time with my first baby, Bowden. This is the first Christmas that he has understood what was going on. He told us all about Baby Jesus’ birthday and that Mary and Joseph were his parents and that Santa was going to bring him Donald and Douglas (Thomas the Train characters). I won't elaborate anymore because I know Scarlett will want to share this on her blog. But the best part was seeing how much Bowden already loves Conley. He refers to here as Baby Conley and was constantly asking to hold her the entire weekend. What was hysterical is that he would say, "Conley is weddy to get down" when he was ready to go back to his trains. I can't wait until both Conley and Bowden can share in the true meaning of Christmas.
One of the only Christmas traditions that hasn't changed over the years is that I continue to celebrate every Christmas Eve at my Meme's house. It is just about the only time during the year that the entire Suttle clan is able to come together in one place. For the longest time the youngest children in our family were Katie and Ben and then just in the last several years the grandchildren started having their own children. Now I believe Meme has thirteen grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren so you can imagine the chaos that ensues when the gifts are passed out. And even though Brandon and I will be starting our own family traditions as our children get older I hope that it will always include going to Meme's house for Christmas Eve. As you can see from these pictures, Conley got passed around a lot.
Conley, you have been changing so much just over the last couple of days. Our first big milestone came last week when Daddy put you in your crib in your own room. He let you cry just a little bit but we all survived it and now we are getting a little more sleep. A couple of nights you even slept for 7 to 8 1/2 hours, Mommy felt like a new person. With all the travel over Christmas we have had to start over getting you back into a routine. Some of the other things that you just started doing this week is responding more to people and the things around you. I think you are seeing more than just an outline of our faces and maybe you are realizing that those to people who feed and change your diaper all the time are actually your parents. You have been cooing, smiling and we have even witnessed even some giggling. I only have a month left before I go back to work and I am trying to just focus on the now and not when I have to go back to work. I am already so sad just thinking about it. You are the most precious gift your Daddy and I could have ever wished for.
This year we got to have Christmas at with Brandon's Mom and Dad (aka Granna and Grammpy) twice because Crystal, Cory and the girls went to Wisconsin to spend the Holidays with his parents. So they came in this past weekend and not only did we get to see the girls but also our extended family Brenda's brother Michael, his wife Cathy, and their daughter and son-in-law Katie and Justin, and their grandchildren Zach and Savannah. We had a wonderful time catching up and of course ate way too much. Michael will have to send me his pictures from this weekend so I can add them to the blog because I didn't get any good photos of them. We were almost afraid we weren't going to get to come down because Taylor had been very sick and we didn't want to expose Conley but we hated to miss seeing everyone since it is not that often we get together. So we were very careful to keep the girls apart and so far I think we are in the clear. Audrey was quite the little diaper changer unless she thought it was a poopy diaper then she would pass. I suspect she has seen her share with her new little sister. I have had to include a photo that was take a few weeks earlier of the girls playing dress up because it was just way too funny. I don't know what is bigger Taylor's hat or pacifier. Grammpy is also the official baby rocker. He would take turns rocking Taylor and Conley to sleep. One of the Gibson traditions is getting our picture made in front of the tree as you can see Conley was not into this year at all. I don't think Conley was put down all day and she was so tired when we got home she didn't even fuss when we put her down and she slept almost until 7:30 this morning. We loved seeing everyone and we only wish we could do it more often.
Here are some pictures I have taken over the last couple of weeks. Conley is almost 2 months old and I can't believe how fast time has flown by and how much she continues to change. She is cooing and smiling more and more. She is actually sleeping better through the night, she will usually sleep from 9:30-4:30 and if we are really lucky until 7:00 am. We have to watch her though, she will move all over the place if we are not careful. One morning I came in and she was turned the opposite direction in her crib. Another time I saw her fussing on the monitor and while I was making her bottle somehow she was able to turn herself over. I have had the opportunity to capture some really sweet moments between Conley and her Daddy. Just when I think I cannot possibly love this precious child anymore than I do at that moment she does something that just steals my heart even more.
I hope you saw my previous entry of Conley in the Razorback cheerleading outfit that Brandon got her. Well in addition to that he also bought her a Razorback decal for her face hoping it would bring the team some good luck in the Citrus Bowl. See we are very superstitious fans and if she hadn't looked so cute in her little outfit we would have burned it after the 2 losses to LSU and Florida. We will have to invest in a bigger size next season so that problem will resolve itself on its own. She looks rather irritated that we made her wear it.
Conley and I had a wonderful time going to visit Gigi and Papa Will last week while Brandon was out of town. I am going back to work in a couple of weeks and thought I would spend some time in Dierks. We got to visit the girls at the Suttle Equipment and walk with Mom's crazy friends Julia and Nancy after school. If you see Julia or Mom ask them how I beat them running up Murry Hill pushing Conley in the stroller.
Yesterday, I took Conley to get her 2 month shots and let me just say she handled it a lot better than I did she was such a little trooper. They had me hold her hands and blow in her face while they stuck my baby girl 3 times. She cried so hard, I know it hurt her but I think it ultimately hurt her feelings that Mommy would let someone do that. Next time Brandon is going to get to come with me. We introduced Conley to her bumbo today she sat up like a big girl and she is holding her head up so well. She is growing up too fast. Conley now weighs 10lbs 9 ozs and is 22 1/4 inches long. She is hovering right around the 50-55% range in height and weight. I always worry too much about whether she is eating enough because she falls asleep so often during feedings. But you can tell by her sweet little cheeks she isn't starving.
Brooke and the girls came down from Fort Smith to see us before I went back to work last week. As you can see from these photos her girls are beautiful and have gotten so big. Brooklyn is 5 and Brady is 1 and you can't tell it but Brooke has one on the way and is due in August. We had such a good time catching up. During our visit we realized from now on if we ever want to go anywhere together we would have to be able to fit 4 car seats in one car or take separate vehicles. Oh well!
Last week was a hard week because it was my first week back to work and our first time to leave Conley with anyone besides family. She is staying with Heather and Nate Law, who we know through our church. I really feel strongly that God brought them to us. Brandon and I have both been praying that God would show us his will for our family, whether it was going back to work full-time, part-time or staying home all together. There are so many things up in the air about my job right now we don't know the answer to that yet, but in the meantime he answered our prayer about sending us someone who we would feel 100 percent comfortable leaving our most prized possession with. Heather is a stay at home mom who keeps children in her home. She and her husband Nate have two boys, Nathan who is 2 and Aiden, who is 5 months. Nate and Heather are both apart of a campus ministry at UCA called Student Mobilization. Their ministry is to bring college age kids to Christ and train them to be disciples for Him. I don’t worry for a second about her being there it is when I get home that I struggle feeling guilty for being away from her all day. This week was also eventful because we experienced our first snow. We got several inches over a course of two days and we took that opportunity to dress Conley up in a razorback toboggan that Brooke Ray gave us. It was way too big but it served its purpose by keeping her warm when we took her out. The photo where she has it pulled over her eyes is what happened on the way over to Heather's house. Brandon said she was asleep until he tried to take it off. Conley also wore shoes for the first time this week. Brandon had bought her the cutest pair of pink boots that he picked out before she was born. Lots of firsts this past week and this week Brandon is leaving to go to Chicago for a few days of training. So it is going to be just the two of us. We will sure miss him, so hopefully it will go by very quickly! We will be also praying for safe travel and that he stays warm while he is there. It is suppose to be zero degrees during the day and below zero at night. Burrr
For the last couple of years we have been going with the Jeane’s to the Chocoholic’s Banquet benefiting the Humane Society. See you thought we were going just to be gluttons when our real motivation was saving the dogs. This year was a little more challenging because our husbands didn’t come but out of sure determination Jayme and I still went with the kids in tow. I am sure people got a big kick out of seeing us eating a plate full of chocolate with one hand and holding a baby with the other. It just goes to show you once again we are the superior sex. At one point I had both Brooke and Conley in my lap while Jayme went to get Fisher a plate. Several people asked if they were sisters or twins. I guess it was all the pink and the matching hair bows. As I mentioned before, Brandon has shown real promise by playing X Box 360 and holding Conley at the same time and here is another example of his multitasking abilities. You see he is holding her and talking to Todd Kendrick on his cell. Amazing!! Just kidding, anyone who knows Brandon knows he is a very hands on Daddy.
Brandon is in Chicago this week and Conley and I have been solo since Monday. Things were going smoothly until Conley came down with the stomach bug Tuesday afternoon Since then I have been trying to keep fluid down and her fever under control. I thought we were making progress but her temp got back up to 101 and when I tried to give her Tylenol she threw everything back up that she had eaten today. Brandon hopefully will be home tonight but my Mom is also coming to help me take care of her. Say a prayer for us.
We are now in the hospital at Baptist having to hydrate Conley with IV fluids. It has been tough they had to try 3 different times to access her veins and finally the NICU nurses were forced to put an IV through the vein in her scalp. We are just glad they were able to do something we almost lost it during this whole process. Anyway, we will probably be here at least 24 hours to make sure she is going to be okay.
It has been a very eventful week for us. Conley turned 3 months on the 12th and got admitted to the hospital for dehydration the very next day. Then I also found out on Wednesday that they are eliminating my territory in order to cut cost but I have been anticipating this for the last month. So now Brandon and I are trying to decide what we want to do. I have a full- time and a part-time option but I just don't want to rush into anything. Unfortunately, the full-time opportunity will probably want an answer by the end of the week. So pray for us that we hear God's voice in all of this.
These are some of the photos from the last few days. You can tell by Conley's eyes that she doesn't feel good. I still can't look at these pictures without tearing up. As a parent this has been the first time I have been really scared for her. One minute she was fine and we were just putting her in the hospital just to be on the safe side and by the time they tried to put in the first IV she was really, really bad. We spent two nights in the hospital just to make sure was good and hydrated. We came home on Thursday afternoon and Conley is gradually getting back to being a happy little baby. Hopefully, this week will be a little less challenging and we can get caught up on our rest.
Well, my life has changed completely since my last entry. I am now staying at home with Conley and planning to work part time 3 days a week. Since I have been home she has started rolling continuously and she also has a modified crawl. She keeps her head down the entire time so it is no wonder she is losing her hair. I am so thankful I have a chance to spend this time with her. God works everything out! I am so thankful I will get to spend this time with Conley.
The last I reported Conley had had come home from the hospital after having the stomach virus for 2 weeks. She started rolling that following Monday and now I can't lay her in the floor without her trying to roll across the room. She also has this modified crawl. She keeps her head down and pushes with her back legs. It is no wonder she has lost a lot of her hair!
We haven't been out of the woods yet. We got the stomach virus again two weeks later and then followed that up by going to a pediatric gastroenterologist. He ordered an upper GI on her and everything came back fine. She has some swallowing issues and severe acid reflux, which can be treated with medication. We were so relieved!
We went down to Mom’s last week for a few days. Conley and I made the rounds in South Arkansas. Of course, we went to Meme’s and then went out for dinner….you guessed it at the Palace. Nothing has changed except it is totally smoke free. Marsha, who has been a waitress there ever since I was little waited on us and when Conley started having a meltdown she walked her around so I could actually eat. I left her a big tip! We also went to school and saw Gigi and all of her crazy friends. And our trip wouldn’t be complete without at visit to the shop to see the girls and have lunch with Papa Doug. He carried her around the Mexican restaurant showing her off to all of his friends. It made me a little sad because I thought about my Daddy doing the same thing if he was still here. But overall we had a wonderful time it was nice to be home with Mom in our old house.
Some other milestones Conley has made this past week are that Sunday night she ate real baby food for the first time. We tried squash first which she ate but everyday since then she hasn’t wanted to try it again. I hope this is not a sign of a picky eater because her Daddy will have to eat his words about his kids will eat what is on their plate. Will see!!! She also has found her tongue and bottom lip. She is constantly sticking her tongue out and biting her bottom lip. She looks like an eighty-year-old woman who doesn’t have teeth. At her 4 month appointment she weighed almost 14 lbs. and is 24 ½ inches long. She is 50% in weight and 75% in height. She has out grown all of her 3 month sleepers because her legs can’t straighten out. So we have graduated to 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.
This week is the last week before I go back to work part-time for Arkansas Cardiology. I have been going in some off and on for a while but not a full day. It has been good for both of us. She loves Heather and I need some adult interaction.
Today Conley and I are flying to Dallas to visit Scarlett for the weekend so say a little prayer for us. She is very aware of her surroundings so naturally I am a little nervous that she might have a meltdown during our flight. I am keeping my fingers crossed if she makes it today then we will try to fly to Crystal’s in Austin.
Everyday is a new adventure at our house and every time I think I can’t love this child anymore than I already do she does something else that just steals my heart. I thank God everyday that he has given us this precious gift.
Here are some precious moments we captured when Conley was asleep. She has started rolling on her back and sleeping with her hand over her eyes. And then Brandon caught her asleep in her swing. So CUTE!!!!
Conley and I have been making a lot memories lately. We traveled to see Scarlett, Jason and Bowden last week making that her first plane ride. First let me say what a pain it was going through TSA security in Little Rock. They made me wake Conley up to put her carrier through the x-ray machine and then to top it all off they made me take her little shoes off and send them through too. Conley was an angel during the flight she just drank a bottle the entire time.
Time just seems to fly by! You will be six months old on May 12th and you seem to be doing something new everyday. You have been crawling for almost a month but now you are all over the place we can't keep you contained to just one room. Just this week you have started pulling up on the couch and standing up in your crib when your ready to get out. We will hear you screaming from your room and the minute we walk in to pick you up you start smiling from ear to ear and pulling back and forth because you know you have won!!!!
I can't wait to take you to the doctor next week so we can see where you are on the growth chart. We took you to the church nursery a few weeks ago and you are as big as all of the one year olds.
Most of the photos are from Easter when you saw your cousins, Audrey and Taylor. As you can see from these photos,you and Taylor are about the same size but Taylor is a year old and you're just 5 months. We were able to get some really good pictures of you smiling because your cousin Audrey kept you laughing for us. You had a ball!!!! Can't wait to see what trouble you and Taylor can find when we go down to Austin at the end of this month.
Here are some really cute photos of you in your little sundress and matching hat. We spent the afternoon at Toad Suck Daze listening to one of Mommy's favorite groups, Avalon. I was so afraid you might burn that I think I reapplied sunscreen at least 4 times. We were joined by our good friends, the Cooper and Walker families. You were so good you even took a little cat nap on a little palette in the shade during the concert. Eli Cooper told me several times that you liked him and Colin kept you entertained at the resturant after the concert.
Conley and I went down to Dierks Thursday night to spend few days with the Grandparents and to also meet Scarlett and Bowden. Bowden still doesn't know what to think of Conley but was starting to warm up to her right about the time we were leaving or maybe he was excited for us to go home. Who knows? I asked him if he loved her and he said no, when I pushed the issue he said "I wheel luv hur tomawow." I also asked him if he wanted a little brother or sister one day and he said "I don't want anything."
Poor baby, it is not easy sharing attention with a six month old when it has been only you for so long. I have reassured him that he was our first baby and I love him very, very much!
We also spent some time at Meme's house and enjoyed the afternoon out on the back porch watching the ducks. I don't think that there is a more serene or peaceful place to relax. But like always, it ended up being a very short trip, I have found that driving at night when Conley is suppose to be sleeping anyway is a lot easier on both of us.
We made it home for just in time to spend Mother's Day with Daddy. I woke up this morning to find a sweet card from each of you, thanking me for taking care of you even if you hate it when I try to clean your buggies. I keep reminding you that life's not fair when you’re a kid. I used to hate hearing that from Gigi when I was little.
You and Daddy also gave me a digital photo frame for my office. I absolutely love it and I can't wait to show your precious smile to everyone.
Conley, you have given us such joy, I go to get you in the morning and you are looking through the slats of your crib with a smile on that sweet little face. You keep us entertained with your laughter and jabbering. I really am trying to cherish every small moment that I have with you because I know it won't be long before it is your handwriting I will be deciphering on a Mother's day card and not your Daddy's. Thank you for making everyday special!!!! Love, Mommy
Last week Brandon, Conley and I flew down to Austin to visit Cory, Crystal and the girls. We had such a good time and the girls really enjoyed playing together. We even got the girls pictures taken together in matching outfits. The boys were working in the backyard but Crystal and I were just as exhuasted after the painstaking efforts we took to get the girls to cooperate for the photo sesson. Here are the fruits of our labor. Aren't they adorable!!!!!
Hey Daddy,
Mommy and I sure miss you and are ready for you to come home from Las Vegas. I haven't felt good since you left, I have had that stomach bug again and both of my ears have been hurting, but Mommy got me some medicine (Which I don't like at all!) and I am feeling much better. I keep waking up during the night thinking your going to be home to rock me, but Mommy makes me lay back down and won't let me play with my toys. It is so not fair but she says life isn't fair when your a kid. She is so mean!!!
So hurry home so I can start having fun again. I love you very much!!!
Oh and here are some cute pictures of me I knew you would want to see.
We were all set to go to the pool but the weather didn’t cooperate, but we tried your new bathing suit on anyway. You were a cross between Pebbles and Jane of the Jungle. So Cute!
We also got a wonderful surprise yesterday. Uncle John, my father's older brother was coming through Conway and we got to take him to lunch and let you charm him with your sweet smile. He saw first hand that you have inherited the Grady appetite, we couldn’t keep the crackers coming fast enough.
Conley,
You are growing up way to fast for me. Daddy and I were reading the Sunday paper this morning and looked up to see you standing up without any support chewing on your comb. We have had to put up baby gates to try to contain you; you’re such a fast crawler that we can't take our eyes off you for a second because you will be gone. You have been giving high fives and babbling a lot lately. Your eating habits have improved; you’re eating turkey and vegetable dinners and finally fruit. The funniest thing (which may not be for long) you have started doing is shaking your head no. I know you probably don’t understand but you have done it a few times when we have asked you things that would solicit a no. As we were leaving for work last week, Daddy asked you if you were going to be good for Ms. JoAnna and you shook your head. The next day when I got home I told your babysitter that your Granna was keeping you the next day so with all that spoiling you would probably be rotten. You shook your head no again!!!
You are such a blessing to Daddy and I, you make us laugh and have stolen our hearts.
July was pretty a busy and exciting month for us, Conley has reached several milestones, she not only has her front four teeth in (upper and lower),just today she started walking behind a little bus that Granna bought her. She is drinking from her sippy cup and eating some grown up food. But the biggest milestone wasn’t for Conley it was for her parents, we took a vacation without our baby girl. She didn’t miss us at all, the first half of her trip was spent at her Granna’s and Grampy’s with her cousins, Audrey and Taylor. Conley still starts laughing when I point to a picture of Taylor on the fridge. They had a big time swimming and playing, you can see from some of these photos that they love hugging on each other and fighting over the person who was holding the other one. Conley discovered she likes popsicles desipte the awlful faces she makes and that she wanted to eat Taylor’s big girl food. The next half of our trip she stayed at her Gigi’s house with her cousin Bowden and Aunt Scarlett. Bowden showed her how to play with his trains and by the end of the week was giving her hugs. It was a trip of a lifetime for Brandon and I but when I stepped off the plane and saw how much Conley had grown I started crying. Over the 12 days (I know we are horrible parents for leaving her that long) we were gone she had grown so much, no amount of phone calls home could (which was totaled $400 and that was just the 4 days that Brandon’s company didn’t provide us a phone) have made up for the time we were gone and what we missed.
Since we have been home we have started joking about Conley’s hair, she at times looks like the character from the movie X-Men, Wolverine. When I take her hair out of a ponytail or pigtails it stands straight up and it is even worse after a night of sleeping. She has become her own little person with her own personality. Out of all the toys that she has her favorite toys are her comb, a bottle of lotion, and a stuff puppy dog. She has found a way to travel without leaving any one of them behind she has perfected her crawling technique while holding the comb and bottle of lotion in each hand all while carry the stuff dog by it’s ear from her mouth. This week she has been slowed down from a nagging ear infection and a viral infection with translates into having a horrible cough. Friday I had to take her back to see the doctor and that afternoon she was so miserable the only way she would sleep is if I would rock her and so that is what I did all afternoon. Mommy enjoyed every minute of it and even though it doesn’t make up for the 2 weeks we were gone, when Brandon got home because she was sick my little Daddy's girl still wanted her Mommy.
This was a definite impulse buy. Mom and I checked out this new children's store in Conway and found this little skirt that reminded me of a dress that Scarlett and I had when we were very little. So I had to get it! Right?
Conley,
I have been waiting patiently for you to say my name since I first saw your beautiful face. You have been calling your Daddy, Dada for a while now and he has been just eating it up. You already know how to work the system because you have him wrapped around your little fingers. You light up whenever you see him, especially when I put you in bed with us in the morning you get so excited and love to wake him up by crawling over to him and grabbing his nose. But yesterday was the very first time you have ever called me Mama. I just thought your smiles made my heart melt. Your Daddy tried to say I was imagining things but I have video to prove it. We will let everyone view it and decide for themselves. I did show this to him tonight and he conceded that Mama was right but he does that a lot. See your Daddy is a smart man!
I love you, Peapie
Love-Mama
She says it when she crawls to me and wants me to pick her up!
Today was Conley's nine month well baby check up. She actually enjoyed it because there were no shots. According to the growth charts she is in the 78 percentile in height (30 inches) and 40th percentile in weight (19 ½). Brandon left today for Chicago for an entire week and we are really missing him. Conley and I got home from dinner tonight, I changed her, and she fussed to get down. She went straight for his office looking for him and looked back at me like “Were did he go?” We went to a shower tonight for our friends Todd and Shannon Milam, who are having a baby any day now. Conley was such a trooper, although she did gnaw on the table.
Anyway, Daddy if you are reading our blog we love you and miss you bunches and can’t wait for you to come home. LOVE and KISSES – Conley and Mommy
P.S. Scarlet has some exciting baby news check out her website for the 411. www.bowdenluce.com
Conley is just less than a week shy of being 10 months old. She is just soaking in everything around her, noticing things for the first time. Today she sat and looked out the window mesmerized by the dogs and the rain. When she isn’t tackling her stuffed doggy she is taking all the magnets off the refrigerator. Today Conley and I went over to our neighbor’s house while she was in the middle of making peanut butter no bake cookies. Conley was so disappointed when she couldn’t have one but how do you explain to a 9 month the risk of a peanut allergy. She was so funny though she kept looking at Sheri opening her mouth as wide as she could just in case Sheri didn't know where the cookie is supposed to go. I have a picture posted that shows her doing it to me when she wanted more stars, so much for the sign language. We found her a popsicle instead. Throwing food and her sippy cup from the highchair is another one of her new favorite pastimes, but she has started holding her bottle again which gives Mommy just enough time to get her waffles ready in the morning. As you can see from these pictures she is also trying to stand on her head, don’t ask me why. She is becoming more and more dramatic everyday, new faces and new sounds. Here are the many faces of Conley Gibson. I am also posting a photo of her first real play date. Our cousin Katie baby-sits a little girl named Amelia and a few weeks ago she brought her over for a little playtime. We are going to have to work on her sharing because anything Amelia played with Conley made a beeline to take it out of her hands. When it is just us I can't get her to play with her toys. I have no idea where she gets that either. You can kind of see in some of the photos that her hair is getting long enough to put in pig tails that is if I can keep her distracted long enough.
I say it everytime but I cannot believe Conley is 1 year old today and I know it is a cliché but this first year has flown by. Just over the past month she has changed so much; last week she just took off and now she is walking everywhere we just thought she was into everything. On Sunday we ended the week by participating in the baby dedication at church and spent the afternoon helping Conley open all of her wonderful gifts. Although she had a two hour nap she still had a minor meltdown when we set her down to get into her cake. Here are some photos from her big day!!
These are few weeks old but I had to go ahead and post them. These are photos of Conley's visit to the park with her Daddy and our visit to Johnson's pumpkin patch. Too cute!!!!
It has been a while since I have had an opportunity to blog and with the Holidays it has been a roller coaster. We traveled to Austin for Thanksgiving and then around the world for Christmas. My sister, Scarlett gave birth to a beautiful baby boy; Dillon Pierce Luce was born on December 27th at 4:45 pm. He weighed a whopping 6 pounds, 3 ounces and is 18 inches long. He is a little sweetie!! We even got some pictures of Conley blowing him a kiss. Here are few photos from our extensive travels.
I am not sure how we entertained ourselves before Conley got here; she is doing and saying something new everyday. She is trying to copy everything we do (scary). Conley and I dance in the car to and from places and her new thing is to try to snap her fingers while she is getting her groove on in her car seat. I always blow on her food after I heat it up and she has started blowing or I should say spitting on everything if it is hot. She points everywhere and says "there" or gives us things and says "here." She just started pointing at our Christmas tree (yes it is still up) and says "tree." We put her in bed with us every morning and a few mornings ago both of us swear she told me to "Get Up" twice. Anyway, I know I sound like another one of those obnoxious Mothers but Brandon and I are enjoying watching our little one develop her own little personally. Did I mention she is a ham, I have no idea where she got that trait from. No comment from peanut gallery!!!!! Check out Bowden's website there are some more photos of Bowden and our new little man.
For some reason Conley thinks it is hilarious when her Daddy throws her blanket at her. It makes me laugh everytime I watch it. Don't you love her hair?
I am so sorry it has been so long but since I last updated Conley's blog but I thought I would post some photos to get caught up. As you can see she isn't a baby anymore she talks nonstop and runs nonstop. We are just trying to keep up!!! As you can see these photos are from Conley's first Razorback basketball game. She loved it but she konked out with 7 seconds left to play in a barn burner against Vandy. There are also some of her first offical haircut! She was a angel. Enjoy!
Where to begin.... We have had so many things going on at once I really don't know where to start. Most of you know that we bought a lot here in Conway in January and put our house on the market a few months later. While we were trying to sell our house I also went back to work at Baptist four days a week. After 4 months of trying to keep the house spotless, we finally sold it and had a month to be out. Last weekend we moved into a rent house in "Old Town" Conway and closed on our old house. We have at least 5 months before our house is finished. (We Hope) As you can see from these photos Conley is not a baby anymore and is doing new things everyday. This move has been a rough transition for her as well. Just recently Conley has started throwing fits and time outs have ceased to work. So I have resorted to buying more books and implementing the spoon on her diaper as a last resort Last weekend while we were moving she had an episode that called for me to bring the spoon out. I didn’t use it but just showing it to her got my point across. I laid the spoon on the table where my Mom and Sherri (our neighbor) were visiting and went outside. When I came back in they told me they had watched her pick the spoon up and put it in the trash. At least I know she doesn’t like the spoon!!! She talks and walks non-stop, Brandon and I can hardly keep up. Here are some photos from her weekend with Granna and Grampy at the Robertson Family Reunion. I have also included some recent photos of our home construction project.
We haven't had good luck lately with our doggies. I wanted to post some photos of Buddy and Tucker so we would have them documented. I will spare you the sad detials but both have passed on. Here are some recent photos of them.
Conley never took a pacifier, she does love her milk but the one thing she can’t go without is her puppy dog. She has to have it to go to sleep and anytime she is upset. Of course it is just a little stuff animal that she has had since she was about 2 months old. Lately instead of just saying “puppy” she has added “dog” to the end of it. Just listen to her southern drawl on this video. After listening to myself on this video no wonder she sounds like she does. We need to be calling the Georgia BullDawgs instead of calling the HOGS!!!!!
We are going on week 3 in the rent house and things seem to be settling down somewhat. Conley is still keeping us entertained in fact she is sitting by herself in our oversized chair flipping through the pages of my latest Runner's World magazine while pretending to talk on our cordless phone. I really better watch what I do!:)
My child is so full of herself!! I know that doesn’t surprise most of you. She is still going to Mrs. Heather’s but now Conley is the only girl besides Bella (who is 5 mths) and it seems to have helped her develop new habits. Some of her new things are growling a lot, I have caught her trying to pick her nose in the last week, she is constantly wanting to wrestle with us and when she isn’t giving high fives she is giving “knuckles.” Who needs TV when we have a vivacious 22 month old to entertain us?
She has also become a big helper she loves to help us throw things in the trash without even asking and she is always wanting a wipey to wash her hands, her face and anything else that she thinks that needs to be wiped down. She is mesmerized with our socks. As soon as we are taking clothes out of the dryer she picking out all the socks and trying each of them on. Brandon’s socks look like knee highs, it’s a hoot!
This weekend we took it easy but we did manage to set up a fabulous pool and slide for Conley outside. We had to drag her out when we were ready to go back in! She has been a little more defiant recently but I think we are learning to be more consistent with our expectations and instruction and things seem to be going better. We actually were able to make her take a 3 hr nap with us Monday afternoon. Anyway, this age is more challenging, no doubt but to be able to see her personality develop and her ability to communicate with us ever evolving it makes it all worth it!!
I know I am in big trouble with Gigi and Julia B for not keeping this updated. Conley will be 2 years old in about 10 days and I am in total denial. Just last week she started getting out of her bed by herself and I found her lying across the threshold of our door. Here are some recent photos of our trip to the Pumpkin Patch and our recent Halloween Parties. As you can see from these photos, Conley already has an admirer, Aiden. He belongs to our babysitter, Heather so at least we know and approve of his parents!! He loves Superman so I hoping it was just the costume!:)
Stay tuned I am working on a slideshow of pictures documenting the week that Taylor and Conley's spent at Granna and Grampy's.
Also, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the newest member of the Gibson family, drum roll please..... Bella Gibson. She is a 9 1/2 week old English Bulldog. I know everyone is going to flip out that we got her considering our house situation but we knew what we were getting into.
Well, I was hoping by Jan 1, 2009 to be able to say we spent our first Christmas in our new house, but atlas it was not to be and we are hoping that maybe by the end of the month we will finally be moved in.
Of course, Conley cleaned up over Christmas. She wasn’t as interested in the gifts at first as she was with ripping open the presents. We tried our best to keep her contained but it didn’t do us a lot of good. We all enjoyed watching her anyway. Here are a few photos from the Holidays and some of the house.
I don't have updated pictures yet but the hardwoods got laid last week and our carpet should be laid this week. So what we have left is our plumber, the appliances and a driveway and a couple of odds and ends that the electrician didn’t finish. I am hoping that can all be done this week. Oh, did I mention that the granite folks drilled 3 holes for our one hole faucet in our master bath even thought the faucet was lying on the counter the whole time. It has been stuff like that the entire time and people wonder why we are almost going on a year.
