See Mommy, I can sit up

I never thought I could be so happy, and so sad when Allie meets her little milestones. I get so excited when she does something new, and then the sad realization that she is going from my tiny little baby to my precious little girl hits me. People have told me from the beginning, this is going to fly by so enjoy every minute with her. I knew that was true, but now I am living the reality of that and sometimes I wish I could just freeze time and keep her my little baby for just a little while longer. What a wonderful, rewarding, and fullfilling experience being a mother is. Sometimes I feel like I give all of myself for her and nothing is left over for me, but you know what, that's perfectly ok with me! Seeing this precious jewel right before I go to bed, two times in the middle of the night, first thing in the morning, and all day inbetween is exactly what I want to be doing. And before I know it, she will be gone living her own life. I will try to cherish every moment and thank God for the precious times that He has blessed me to spend with Allie!

Our Little Ganster!

Oh if Allie has ever been fussy, this was the time. It was about 6:30 and we were getting ready to go to church. Well, she is used to getting ready to go to bed at about this time, so she was giving her daddy a hard time. He finally decided to harass her by putting her bow in the middle of her forehead. I am telling you, she is the cutest baby ever even when she is fussy. By the way, she ended up being great at church and didn't give us any trouble at bed time, even though it came about two hours late!

A Tribute to my Precious Husband

Every once in a while, a girl lucks out and marries a man that she has always dreamed about. A handsome, caring, loving, nurturing, understanding, precious and did I mention handsome man. Michael is not the man I thought I married, he is SOOO much more. First of all, he supports Allie and me without a second thought. He came home after a tough day at work and said, "It makes me feel so much better to come home and know that you and Allie had such a great day together." Not, "well I am glad you had a good day cause mine stunk!" Just when I need it, I find a letter of encouragement on the kitchen table that he left when I wake in the morning. Everyday he comes home and says, "the house looks great baby. You just do too much around here." When I am really tired after a few nights of sleeplessness, he comes home after a hard days work and cooks supper while telling me to sit down and take it easy. There is not a day that goes by that I don't feel like the most loved woman on the face of the earth, and I still get butterflies when I hear the car pull up in the carport after not seeing him all day! And just when I thought I couldn't love him anymore, I had his little girl and the love that he has for her intensifies my love for him even more. So, not only am I thankful for my precious little girl, but I have been blessed with the best husband of all times. I love you Michael, for all eternity!!

My Little Precious

Everday, our little Allie grows a little, changes a little, and reveals to us a little bit more of who she really is. The girl has personality, she is infatuated with her mommy, and loves her daddy just a little bit too :) . She is determinted to get what she is reaching for, even if you try to hide it, and she has a smile and laugh that will absolutely melt even the hardest of hearts. She can sit up by herself, and can pull herself up when holding on to my fingers. She still loves to be cuddled, and sings right along when I sing Amazing Grace. I love my Alice Kaytlin Hataway, and wouldn't have her any other way. Thank you Lord for our precious gift!

Allie's Last Ditch Effort to Fight Sleep

This was hilarious! In the beginning of our "crying it out" adventure, Allie would flip onto her back and scream thinking that I would come to her rescue. Well, I usually did, but just to flip her back to her tummy. Well, this time I decided to let her stay on her back for a little while, and she fell asleep!! She didn't sleep like this for long, but I could't resist the photo shoot opportunity! Michael and I both just cracked up at her. Our little turkey, you just have to love her!

Finally

Finally, the pictures I promised from our trip to Florida! We had such a good time. I am missing several people though because stupid me didn't make sure to have my camera with me half the time. Allie has another cousin Layne, who we had lunch with at her school and has such a good time. Layne was the line leader, oh yeah, you read that right, the bigshot line leader! We love you Layne! All of the uncles, Adam, Forrest, Randy, Jason and Chris are not in the pictures. Kelly, Layne's mama is probably ready to kill me because she thinks she looks fat in the picture I posted of her. Kelly, you are almost eight months pregnant and you and Nolan look FABULOUS! Now that you see how HUGE my family is, you can better understand the look of awe that is on Allie's face in most of these pictures. Lets just say she was a little overwhelmed, but she had a great time for the most part! I love you guys and miss you terribly! Can't wait for our next visit!

My Mom (Ninny,) Kelly, Tracy, Me and Toni

Ninny and Kendall

Mommy & Allie

Kelly ( and Nolan, she's 7 mos pregnant!) & Allie
Toni & Allie

McKayla and Allie

Allie and Bayli

Bayli, Jake and Allie

Toni, Allie,
Luke and Emma

TGFS

Gone are the days of TGIF (Thank God its Friday!) Now are the days of Thank God for SLEEP!! I do not remember the last time I got more than about 5 hours of broken up sleep because my little darlin wasn't sleeping too good. About every hour I would have to get the poor little thing back to sleep, and then get me back to sleep! I tried sleeping with her, didn't work. I tried patting her back to sleep, didn't work. She still didn't sleep good. So, I have reverted back to letting her cry it out. We got out of the habit because we went to Florida and Allie slept with me. It wasn't nearly as painful this time, probably because I was so darn tired! I walked around here huffing and puffing at the littlest things that needed to be done, and playtime with Allie was much less cheerful. I realized I needed to do something though when I looked at her and saw the same tired eyes that I saw when I looked in the mirror. She was pitifully tired, and I had to do something about it. Well, last night was WONDERFUL!! I put her down at 8:30, and she slept until 7:30. There were two feedings inbetween, but spaced out 4 hours apart. I loved the sleep so much, I really could have cried!! And little Allie had a little bit more pep about her too! She has been talking and smiling like her normal self, and that makes Mommy extra happy!!!

So Sorry for the lack of Posts

I know it has been over a week since I have posted, but there is good reason! Allie and I went to Florida to visit my family for 9 whole days, and we had a blast! My sweet ever to be adored mother came to get us, and my precious, loving, understanding husband (he let me go with relatively no pouting) came to get us. Allie is so used to peace and quiet around here, but that is a rarety when my family gets together. I mean with all five of my brothers and sisters, throw in their kids, and a few cousins to pop in and out and we have a HOUSE FULL!! Allie is always a little taken back by all of the action, but by the end of the week she was just one of us! I have some great pictures to post of our trip, but ofcourse the camera is in the car which is in the parking lot of the school that Michael teaches at, so I will have to wait til he gets home. In the meantime, I have some cute pictures that I have not posted yet to keep you entertained!!

Poor Baby! I wish I could just get her teeth for her!

Allie on our bed. She absolutely loves our pillows!

Four Month Check-Up

Well, Allie's four month check up, which actually occured at four and a half months, confirmed what I already knew. I HAVE A BIG GIRL!! She weighs 16 pounds, and is 25 1/2 inches long, putting her above the 90th percentile in both length and weight! She got my thunder thighs, but her weight and height didn't come from me. At the rate she is going, she will be bigger than me when she is four! J/K. The pediatrician said she will probably taper off within the next couple of months. She said that I can start her on solids on a regular routine and maybe that will cut out our nighttime feedings. She said Allie is right on track and is doing great! Poor baby got four shots, but only cried during the shots and calmed right down when I picked her up. She was a champ!!!

There is just nothing cuter than a baby in just her diaper! It has been so hot even with the air conditioner running all day so I decided to let Allie lounge in just her diaper. She is such a joy to play with. I think her dimples get a little bigger every day!

Baby in Red

Ok, so I know the song goes "lady in red" but I just can't bring myself to call Allie a lady. She is just my little baby Pumkindoodle. I tell you I have so many nicknames for her she is going to think her name is sugarbear, pumkindoole, pumkinhead, little butt, dollbaby, and the list goes on and on. I don't think she hears Allie except for from other people. Well anyway, this was the most precious outfit so I had to capture it on camera. I am finding that she just looks beautiful in every color!!

Finally, no Red Eye

I was so tired of contending with red eye in all of Allie's pictures. Those beautiful big blue eyes of hers almost always produced red eyes in pictures, so I tried my hand at some black and white pictures of her. And do you know, she is just as beautiful in black and white as she is in color. These pictures are sweet because they are right after a nap so she is still a little sleepy. I was vacuuming while she was playing in her exersaucer, and she kept a close eye on the big red thing coming towards her. She was spinning in that exersaucer like you wouldn't believe!!

Some Things Never Change

When I was expecting Allie, my doctor and his nurses always got tickled because little Allie always had her booty poking up in the air. There was always a spot in my tummy that was as hard as a rock when I was being examined, and my doctor told me that it was her little hiny. Every time I would see my doctor he would just laugh because it was like she was sticking her hiny up at him. Well, she still sleeps with her little booty in the air. I know this is probably exactly like she was laying in my tummy. This is just her comfy position.

Mr. Hataway

Well, it is finally official. My sweet, precious husband who worked so hard to become a teacher now is one. This morning was his first day as a teacher at Clifton Ridge Middle School. He is teaching 7th grade Geography. Allie and I went with him yesterday to help set up his classroom and that is when it hit me that my sweetie is actually MR. HATAWAY. I am so proud of him for what he has accomplished through the Lord's help, and am so thankful that he is willing to work hard for his family. I can't wait for him to come home so I can hear all about his day!