Go Titans!!

Maddy wanted to show off her new Titans sleeper, and I put on my mom's jersey to pose with her. Doesn't Maddy look just absolutely adorable?!?!





Let's hope the Titans make it to the Super Bowl!! This baby is ready to show her support the night of the big game!! She has 2 more onesies to choose from that day!! :)

We hope that everyone has a good new year's eve!! We may sleep through it. I decided that this year it will happen whether I'm awake or not, and sleep is becoming more and more precious these days!! HaHaHa!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! :)

Love you guys!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to give everyone another update on our Christmas vacation.

Since I last blogged, a few things have happened...

On Friday my friend Catherine (a very good friend from college) came to visit us. Her sister lives in Charlotte, so she and her husband were coming to visit her sister and family. While they were in town, Catherine drove to my parents' house for a visit with us. It was so great to see Catherine! It's always nice to be with friends that you haven't seen in a while. Thanks for coming to visit us!! I'm so glad you got to meet Miss Maddy!!

Yesterday another friend came to visit. My friend from Mississippi, Megan, and her mom drove up from Columbia, SC. It was also VERY nice to see them! I don't believe that I've seen them since my wedding. Megan is in law school at the University of Florida, so she doesn't make it home very often. It was great that her Christmas visit overlapped with mine!!

Other than that, we've just been hanging out... Trying to relax. The last 2 nights Maddy has gone to bed relatively easily. I'm hoping that this is a trend that will continue. Now that I've said it, though, I'm sure I've jinx'd myself!!

I would like to end this blog tonight by asking for prayers. The girl that took our maternity portraits and her husband have been working hard on adopting a little girl. The baby was born the day after Christmas. She and her husband made it in time for the birth and were absolutely elated with their little girl. Once the baby was discharged from the hospital, the happy new family started their journey home to begin their new life. About 2 hours into the drive home, they received a phone call that the birthparents had changed their mind. They had to turn around and take this child back. As you can imagine, they are absolutely devastated. Please keep them in your prayers as they grieve their loss. Thank you!

I think that's all I have for tonight. I'll try to get some more pictures of us to post soon. Love you guys!

I LOVE YOU, BRYAN!

Catching Up...

Hi everyone! Contrary to popular belief, we are still alive and kicking!! We've had a CRAZY couple of weeks... I'll try to give a quick run-down of the last week and a half... Since I tend to get carried away, I'd suggest you get comfortable with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine (whatever suits you), and hunker down... Here goes nothing....


:::MONDAY, DECEMBER 15:::

Maddy, Nash and I loaded up the car in Abilene and drove to the airport to pick Grandmom up. Her plane was about 30 minutes late, but once we hit the road for day one of our grand cross country adventure, the GPS said that we should arrive at Little Rock Air Force Base around 10 PM. TOTALLY do-able, right?!?! Would be, but... Shortly after passing through Dallas, Texas, the weather began to turn sour. Our 8 hour drive turned into 13 hours of trecherous driving conditions. I've never driven on ice before, and I'd be happy if I never had to do it again. On more than one occasion, we sat with the car in park for over an hour on the interstate for crews to clean up accidents. We passed over a couple of bridges that were so icy that we couldn't even consider touching the gas pedal without losing control. We finally arrived at the base around 3:30 AM. Unfortunately, the GPS took us to the back gate where you can not get a visitors' pass. The "kind" gentleman at the gate offered us a map showing us how to get to the front gate. Thanks, pal. By the time we got to the hotel room and got everyone settled in, it was 4:30 AM. UGH. What a day!!!

:::TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16:::

We woke up on this day to see how bad the roads really were in the daylight. We're still not sure how we made it in one piece, but we're VERY thankful that we did!! Upon seeing how bad the roads in Little Rock were, we called the front desk of the hotel to inquire about staying an extra day. They let us know that our room was still available, so we were allowed to stay another day. We ordered a large pizza and cheese sticks for lunch and ate the leftovers for dinner. After the drive on Monday, we really needed a day off. Poor Nash was going stir crazy in the hotel, but he and Maddy were both troopers during our delay. We found out later that the bridge over the Mississippi river was closed, so we would not have made it into Tennessee this day even if we'd left the hotel. THAT would have been a disaster!!!

::: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17:::

We got up this morning and started packing the car. I got one load out to the car and organized. Just as I was entering the hotel again to retrieve the second load, the fire alarm went off. REALLY?!?! So, we had to evacuate. Grandmom, Maddy, Nash and I sat in the car for almost an hour while the rescue crews checked the building. I'm assuming there was nothing to speak of because they eventually let us back in. We hit the road, FINALLY, and made it to Nashville around dinner time. We went to Bryan's parents' house (Grandpa Jay and Gi Gi) for a visit. Bryan's Granny, his sister and brother in law were there to visit with us as well. We had a very nice visit. Maddy and Nash had been through the ringer by this point, so around 9:00 PM, our little troopers were fading... FAST... We loaded everyone into the car and headed south to Columbia, TN to stay with Chris and April. Once I finally got Maddy to sleep, I hit the hay. I think my mom and Chris stayed up chatting well into the night. I knew that I had another long day of driving ahead of me, so I had to settle in for the night.

:::THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18:::

Happy birthday Mom!! Yep. We had planned to be at my mom's house in time for her birthday. Instead, we were STILL DRIVING. Maddy woke us up around 4:45 AM, and didn't seem to want to fall back asleep. I was trying to get her quiet by bouncing her and walking around the bedroom with her. Maddy was so upset that she dropper her pacifier. I, naturally, squatted down to pick it up for her. When I tried to stand back up, however, I could not straighten my leg!! UGH!! Remember that torn meniscus I had a couple of years ago?!?! IT'S BAAAAACK!!! So, now, we've been on the road for DAYS. We've driven in some of the worst weather I've seen in years. We're TOTALLY exhausted. And, now I'm out of commission!!! My poor mom. Happy birthday, I tell ya! She was now left to schlep everything to the car (with a little help from Chris. THANK YOU!), get the dog in the car, carry Maddy's car seat. I couldn't do ANYTHING to help! We stopped at a CVS on the way out of town to get a knee brace for me. It did a little, but I was still in quite a bit of pain!!! We hit the road to Lancaster, and made it here about 8 or 9 hours later. Boy were we all ready to be at our destination!!

:::FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19:::

But, wait... There's more!! We got up this morning, and headed to the ER!! Yep... That's right!! I woke up this morning and my knee was KILLING ME!! Our trip to the ER was in and out in about an hour, which I think is pretty good. After a couple of X-rays, a prescription for Tylenol with Codine, an immobilizer leg brace and crutches, I was told that there was nothing that they could do for me. The best they could do was to tell me to see an orthopedist. Oh boy!! That's exactly what I wanted to hear!! Now, it was time to load poor little Maddy back into the car and head to Atlanta for Christmas there!! We drove straight to my dad's parents' house, and had a nice visit. On our way down, we got a phone call from my aunt who suggested that we could go visit Dr. Levengood at his house (he's an orthopedic surgeon and a family friend). We JUMPED at that opportunity!! Dr. Feelgood... er... I mean... Dr. Levengood gave me a pretty stout shot of Lydocane (sp?) and some form of cortizone. He told me that I could do no additional damage to my knee, so walking on it was A-OK as long as I could tolerate the pain. Once the shot kicked in, I was feeling quite a bit better. THANKS FOR THE HELP AUNT DO!!!

:::SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20:::

We got up this morning and hung out with my dad's parents for a bit longer. Later in the afternoon, we went to my mom's parents' house. We just hung out there for the evening, and turned in early... FINALLY... an early night!!!



:::SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21:::

We got up and went to church. Later in the afternoon, it was time for the annual Towhey Christmas Extravaganza!!! We had a BLAST!!! Everyone, as far as I could tell, LOVED meeting Maddy. I think she learned a lot that day about her family. I don't think we scarred her for life or anything, but she was pretty overwhelmed by the time we left. I'm so glad we got to be a part of that this year. I believe there were 27 of us there in all. Bryan was the ONLY one who missed out this year... Hence the sign!! Once the extravaganza came to an end, we piled everyone back in the car to head back to Lancaster. Maddy had a bit of a rough time settling in the car (go figure, right?), but once she settled down, she was down for the count!! She was such a trooper through all of this!!




:::THIS WEEK:::

This week, we've tried to just stay a little low key. Maddy and Nash are recovering nicely from their cross country excursion. We've been relaxing quite a bit. Maddy took quite a nap today, which was GREAT. She's been getting to sleep a little easier every night, and seems to be adapting well to staying at Grandmom and Grandpop's house for a while. We're hoping to have another couple of quiet days. We all need to relax.

:::TODAY:::

Today we got up and had a little breakfast then got ready for church. After church, we came home and got the turkey in the oven. My mom let me do most of the cooking this year since I've never prepared a holiday meal start-to-finish on my own. She babysat while I did most of the cooking. I think it all turned out pretty good... if I say so myself. Of course, I had a GREAT teacher, and a pretty supportive audience!! :) After the turkey was in the oven, the adults opened their gifts (Maddy was napping). I think everyone was pretty satisfied with their "loot". My mom got a beautiful necklace from my dad. Dad got some pretty kewl tools, and I got a sewing machine... among other things. Once Maddy woke up from her nap and had a little snack, she opened her gifts. Now, everyone other than myself and my mom have gone to bed (even the dogs). Once I post this, I think I'll head to bed, too. I'm exhausted just recapping the last week and half... which, by the way, was 2000+ miles!!! WHOA!!







I hope that all of you had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I know that we did. We miss Bryan like crazy, but he'll be home soon enough. When he gets home, we'll do the Williams family Christmas in Abilene!!!

Love you guys!!

Chris's Challenge

Ok... Here goes... Page 56, huh? This could be difficult... Picture books (a) don't normally have 56 pages, nor do they (b) have sentences... I had to dig, but here's the first one I came across:

"Her only saving grace - the only positive thing to come out of the whole experience - was that she'd apologized in his office.

It was getting harder to keep it up, though. At first, all she'd had to do was park her car in the garage, but now that Molly was getting close to her due date, Gabby had to start parking in the driveway so Molly could nest. Which meant that Gabby thenceforth had to come and go when she was certain Travis wasn't around."

I must admit that I have not yet read this book, so I have NO CLUE what's going on. This is the beginning of chapter 5 of the book The Choice by Nicholas Sparks. My mom bought this while she was visiting after Maddy was born. Once she was finished with it, she sent it to me to read. Needless to say, my "boss" doesn't allow me a whole lot of leisure reading time, so I haven't had a chance to even crack it yet. Maybe while I'm on my "vacation" (which starts Monday, by the way), I'll find some time to read!!

Thanks for the challenge, Chris. It's always fun to be given a "topic" of discussion!!

Maddy and I will be heading to Atlanta in about a week!!! We are about to turn inside out... Ok, so I'M the one that's ready to turn inside out. Maddy has no clue what's about to happen. We'll start our big journey on Monday!! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we make this big cross-country trek... (We includes: My Mom, Maddy, Nash and Me)

We love you guys!! See you soon!!

:)

SURPRISE!!!

Maddy and I got a HUGE surprise tonight!! We had a couple of very unexpected (but, very welcome) visitors!! Bryan's sister Patty and her husband Micah have been taking a cross-country trip. They began their journey on October 24 and have been ALL over the country. They even ventured into Canada for a short jaunt. This evening, I received a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. I was changing Maddy's diaper, so I missed the call, but, luckily, they left a voicemail. (Anyone that calls me very regularly knows that I rarely return calls if no message is left...) I listened to my voicemail, AND IT WAS PATTY!! Patty was calling to tell me that they were about an hour west of Abilene and wanted to know if they could stop by for a quick visit. I, of course, agreed that it was a GREAT idea!! Here's a picture of the travelling couple with Maddy:


Patty and Micah, if you read this, I just wanted to let you know that we had a very nice visit with you, and I am THRILLED that Maddy got to meet you tonight!!! I hope you have a very safe rest of your trip!

I WAS actually planning to blog tonight to share a couple of new pictures of Maddy, so here they are:

Maddy had a little "tummy time" today. While she's not usually a huge fan of this activity, I realized that she is not EVER using her arm muscles, so I thought a little tummy time might help to develop them... As you can see, she didn't really use them, but we'll take it one day at a time!! At least she's smiling in the picture, though!! :)


And this picture is Maddy getting a "kiss" from her big brother:



Finally, Maddy was watching Ellen while having her tummy time... While Ellen is certainly not the best entertainment for an infant, I was pleased that she held her head up to watch the show!! :)




Well, Maddy is sleeping, and we have a very early morning to drive a friend to the airport, so I think I'll end this and go ahead to bed... In hopes of getting some good sleep before the alarm goes off at 5:30... Talk to everyone later, and SEE YOU SOON (it's sooner now than it ever has been before)!!!

Love you guys!! :)

2 Month Check Up

Can you believe it?!?! Miss Maddy had her 2 month check up today!!! The doctor said that everything looks great!! He said that she's doing well, and that we, as parents, are doing well. It's always nice to hear that from an "outsider"!!

Maddy weighed in at 11 pounds, exactly, today. :) That's a gain of 3 1/2 pounds since birth. While I didn't think that seemed like much, the doctor said that was GREAT. She is in the 50th percentile in both her length and weight (meaning she's right at average). She is in the 25th percentile when it comes to the size of her head. I wasn't sure what this meant, but after talking with a credible source, I learned that means that while her head may not be as big as most babies her age, she also may not go through the "bobble head" stage. That makes me VERY happy!! My mom said that Chris and I never went through this stage, so maybe it's genetic!

Maddy also had to get 3 vaccines today. She wasn't very happy about that, but she's no worse for the wear!! She's slept quite a bit since the appointment, but she's awake and happy now!!

We're going to a friend's house tonight for snacks for dinner. I'm taking some little frozen, needs to be heated and served things. I'm sure they'll be great!! :)

Oh well... just a little update on Miss Maddy! We'll see you VERY soon!!

Love you guys!! :)

Checkin In...

Hi everyone! I put Maddy's new headband on her today for our outing to Lunch Bunch, and she wanted to show it off:


Also, we played on the floor last night for a bit:



Finally, we took a self portrait:


We hope everyone's having a good week!! We'll see you SOON!!!

Love you guys!

I LOVE YOU, Bryan!! :)

HALLELUIAH!!!

MADDY IS TAKING A NAP!!!! After about a week of absolutely NO NAPS, Maddy has been sleeping for the last 2 hours in her crib!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't be more excited!!!!! My excitement may give Heather a run for her money on the use of !!!!!!!!!!!!!'s :) I have been struggling to get Maddy to nap AT ALL... let alone in her crib. This, however, is a good news/bad news thing... The good news is that she's napping. The bad news is that I'm not sure what made us successful today!! :( Oh well... I'll take what I can get, and RUN WITH IT!!! I just had to share my news!

Other than our EXCITING NAP TIME, there isn't a whole lot going on. We've just been hanging out... doing a little shopping... you know, the usual. We went to church this morning and sat with our friends Alyssa (my friend) and Will (Maddy's friend). After church, we went for donuts (per Will's request... he's almost 2). We met a couple of our friends there. Our friends go to church AFTER donuts... and we go to church BEFORE donuts. It's nice that it works out that way!! :)

I'm just working on some laundry today. I have a good feeling about how today is going to go now that we've gotten a nap!! I should be wrapping Christmas gifts, but I'm LOVING sitting on the couch with no one attached to me, so gift wrapping will have to wait!! ;)

Oh well... I think I'm going to continue relaxing until Maddy wakes up. Who knows how much more time I have?!?!

Talk to everyone later!

Love you guys! :)

Did You Ever Realize...

... that Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the ABC's song share the same tune?!?!

Crazy what you notice when you're a little sleep deprived, huh?!?!

I'm Still Here..

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that we are still here... alive and kickin'!! Here's what's happened since I last blogged:

:::MONDAY:::

Maddy, Nash and I just hung out at the house for the day. About 4, my friend Jess came over to hang out before our big dinner out. We went to dinner, which was pretty dang good, at Texas Roadhouse. By the time we got home, it was almost bathtime, then bedtime.

:::TUESDAY:::

Not a whole lot happened on Tuesday. We stayed at home all day. About 5 PM, we went for a walk with Jess. It was nice to get out in the fresh air. That could be our last walk for a while, though. It's still only 22 degrees here right now. The high for the day is 47, so I'm not sure that we'll venture out into the great outdoors too much. On our walk, though, Jess had a good suggestion for my mom and me for our trip to South Carolina. She suggested that if we were going to stay in a hotel in Little Rock, that we should look into staying on the Air Force base there. I thought that was a GREAT idea!! So, we actually have some pretty concrete plans now. My mom will fly in on Monday (the day after my dad's birthday). I will pick her up at the airport, then we'll start our 8 or 9 hour drive to Little Rock. We'll stay on base in the hotel there (where Nash can stay with us too). When we get up in the morning, we'll start our 5 to 6 hour drive to Nashville. Depending on what the Nashvillians have going on, we'll decide how early we want to get started. Then, we'll visit with the folks there and stay with Chris and April (THANK YOU). Then, Wednesday morning, we'll hit the road again for another 8 or 9 hours to South Carolina. We'll be in South Carolina for just a couple of days before we hit the road once again to visit all you fine folks in Atlanta!! After the Atlanta trip, I think we might be able to relax a little before doing the cross-country trek again, in reverse. I was very pleased to get some sort of "final" plans mapped out...

:::WEDNESDAY:::

About 2 PM yesterday, we still had not left the house, and Maddy was getting a bit of cabin fever. I was pretty content with vegging on the couch for another day, but she needed to get out of the house and have a change of scenery. I couldn't figure out where to go (that didn't involve spending money), so we went to the "Y" to visit some of my former coworkers. Everyone LOVED seeing Maddy, and I LOVED having a few other people hold her for a little while. It was a nice break. While I was there, Jess called to see if I wanted to go on a quick shopping trip with her. I, of course, jumped at the opportunity. So, Maddy and I loaded up in the car and joined Jess while she hunted for a new sweater. Maddy and I finally returned home so we could have some dinner. Maddy wound up falling asleep in my arms off and on starting at about 7:30 PM. At 9, she was still sleeping, so I had a big decision to make... Do I still do a bath, or do I just skip the bath and feed her and put her to bed. We opted for no bath. I think it was a good choice. Maddy slept until about 4 AM, then again until about 7:30 AM!!! I almost forgot to mention... Maddy's passport got here on this day!! Isn't that EXCITING?!?!?! She's all ready to be a world traveller now!!!

:::THURSDAY:::

Maddy and I are just hanging out on the couch. She's, again, sleeping on me. I love her to pieces, but I wish that she'd nap in her crib. My mom tells me that she's going to get this kid to sleep in her crib during the day while we're visiting. She's got a lot more Mommy experience than I do, so I hope she's successful and can help me out with this!! Once Maddy wakes up, we're going to go to the Post Office to get stamps for our Christmas cards... which should be here ANY DAY NOW!!! Then, later this evening, Bryan's friend Marshall has invited Maddy and me to join him for dinner. He called yesterday just to make sure that we were hangin in there since Bryan had to leave. I thought that was really sweet. He offered to come over and hold Maddy if I needed to get anything done. I appreciated the offer, but we're doin A-OK. When he asked us to join him for dinner tonight, though, I couldn't pass that up!! I'm all about some food!!! :) It's also good to just get out every once in a while!!

The rest of the week doesn't have much in store for us. I have made a to do list of things that must get done before we leave, and I've spaced it out over the days leading up to our trip. Now, the real challenge is to make sure that I do everything on the days that I've assigned them, and not let them pile up until the last weekend!!

:::SPEAKING OF CHALLENGES:::

Here's my response to my mom's challenge... I know that this is not an original answer, but the thing I'm the most thankful for is my family. This includes my immediate family, extended family (Atlanta folks and those up north), my in-laws, my Air Force family and my friends. It's truly a blessing to know that pretty much no matter where I am, what the situation is or what I need, there is SOMEONE there who loves me and will be there for me. Even if that just means an ear to listen on the other end of the phone!! I've met some pretty amazing people in my life, and the vast majority of those people still pour out love and encouragement my way!!! I am also VERY thankful for the events of this past year!! I made it through a deployment (February through June), God gave us an incredible little person (October) and now I get to spend my favorite time of year (Christmas, New Year's and my birthday) with some of my favorite people!! I also have a husband who takes very good care of me... even when he's not able to be right here by my side. So, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for standing by me (even if it's just figuratively) through all the ups and downs!!! I couldn't imagine my life any other way!! You guys are the BEST!!

I guess I've gotten more wordy than I had planned (shocking, I know), so I'll end this!! I hope that everyone has a great ending to their week!!! I can't wait to see you all VERY soon!!

Love you guys!!

P.S. I love you, Bryan... I'm not sure if you'll get to read this, but I LOVE YOU!!! :)

Big Girls Don't Cry

Bryan often tells Maddy that "big girls don't cry". I remind him every time that she's not a big girl yet, so that phrase has no real meaning. Boy did THAT bite me in the butt!!! Last night, when I got all weepy about Bryan leaving, he told me that "big girls don't cry". Already obviously upset, I responded with "well, this one does!!!" Again, this morning, I was reminded that big girls don't cry. I no longer care! I got my tears out this morning (more than once), and am doing MUCH better. I have dropped Bryan off for his big trip (Uncle Mike, this means that you can start including him in your prayers now). I had a very difficult time leaving him at work, but we've known this was coming for almost 2 weeks now, so I just had to put my big girl panties on and go into "survival mode". After dropping Bryan off, I saw a couple of other wives in the parking lot, so we all stood outside (in the freezing cold) and chatted for quite a while. (It was apparent that none of us were ready to leave and go on about our days...) While chatting, we all realized that today was not going to be easy for any of us, so we made dinner plans. Tonight is Military Monday at Texas Roadhouse (10% discount for anyone with a military ID), so, we're all going to meet for dinner later this evening. Once our evening plans were firmed up, Maddy and I went shopping. I bought her a new fleece sleeper, a new pack of cotton sleepers (she doesn't have any in the next size, and she's starting to outgrow her 3 month ones) and a new hat and pair of socks that say "I Love Daddy!" Maybe I was just being mushy and sentimental, but I thought the hat and socks were cute (and for $3, I could justify it)!! I also got April's Christmas present. I hope she likes it!! :)

On to other news... Maddy is pretty dang amazing! Just when I think I can't handle anything else, she pulls out all the stops!! The last 2 nights, SHE'S SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!! She hasn't been napping during the day. I can get about 20 minutes out of her at a time, then she's wide awake and ready to go. She, however, gets so tired (from lack of napping) that she's extremely fussy from about 2 PM until bathtime at 9. While she didn't nap the last 2 days, she DID SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! To make it even better, she woke up this morning at 5:15, I fed her, then she went back to sleep until I woke her up to get her ready to go to base at 7:45. When we left the house around 8, she fell back asleep and slept until we got home around 10:45. Now, she's napping AGAIN!!!! The only unfortunate part is that she's laying on the couch in her boppy, so I can't leave (I really could use a potty break). I'm afraid to move her, though because I don't know if she'll fall back asleep. I guess I'll just wait until she's awake, then put her in her crib long enough to take a potty break, then hold her some more (which seems to be her favorite past time)...

Sorry I don't have any new pictures to share today. We weren't really in "picture taking" condition earlier today. I'll try to get some new ones soon!!

Please keep Bryan and the rest of the guys in your prayers. Especially today and tomorrow while they're traveling. The countdown to my trip can officially begin now!!!

Love you guys, and we'll see you soon!!!!

Have a good week!! :)