Fall is here!!!

Happy 5 1/2 months to Alston today! Here are a few recent pictures. I'm sure most of you have seen these from Facebook. I have more to come, of course, but they are on my actual real camera instead of my iPhone. What would we do without camera phones? Alston is growing so fast and yet, she's still petite. People always think she's younger than she is. I promise I'm feeding her! Having a girl is dangerous for my pocketbook, I've come to find out.

This was from our stroll yesterday. I'll admit it was kind of fun bundling her up because we pretty much couldn't stroll this summer since it was so dang hot.

I took this before I took her to school this morning. She was getting impatient, of course, because she always wants to go, go, go once you put her in her car seat.

Yesterday again.

This weekend strolling. She was looking at her daddy whom she loves a lot!


I just thought the hood was funny.

Her first attempt at holding her own bottle. Her aim was okay, but she couldn't figure out how to tilt it up in order to get the goods out. Nevertheless, I'm still proud.

We bought her a jumper and she's just not big enough to weigh it down so she can actually make it jump. She likes the toys up top, but she would rather rip them off and put them in her mouth.

My tiny girl.

This was taken at the farm while we were watching the game.

At mom's house. Not sure what the look is about.

Daddy and baby. This was taken one morning recently.

Well, hello there, Mr. Rabbit. She loves this thing.



We are officially sporting a bald spot. I hope it grows back in fast!!

She LOVES her feet and puts them in her mouth whenever she gets the chance. Lately as I'm feeding her baby food, she would rather have her foot in her mouth than the baby food. She also likes to tell them hello in the morning (with them in her mouth) once I take her pajamas off.

She is really loving her veggies these days, thank the Lord.

Strolling again. She was so exhausted from school this day.



Yummy carrots.

I have no idea what we were doing here.


And finally, my cool cat.

More to come later!!! JoJo, this one was for you!!!

We are (slowly) growing

Here is a breakdown of Alston's growth:
Birth day: 7 lbs 10 oz. (Length was 20 1/2 inches)
Check out day of the hospital: 7 lb. 1 oz.
First well-baby doctor's visit five days after birth: 7 lbs 4 oz.
Four-week doctor's visit: 9 lbs.
Eight-week doctor's visit: 9 lbs. 15 oz. (Began putting rice in two bottles a day - doctor ordered.)
Four-month doctor's visit: 11 lbs. 9 oz. (Length was 24 inches). Dr. Tommmy decided to start her on baby food and put rice in every bottle so we can get some weight on this girl. So far she has had squash, which she hated, applesauce, which she hated, and carrots which she hated but then decided she may like them. She had bananas at school this morning so I can't wait to ask them how she liked them. Hopefully, she'll like something soon!

Below are just some photos from the past couple of months.

"What the heck are these things I'm holding?"

"So that's what the floor looks like."

Checking out her surroundings from a new perspective.

Nails by dad.

Laughing at me.

Playing on her favorite playmat.

Happy girl.

Right after she figured out she could get her hands in her mouth.

She LOVES her hands in her mouth!

Sweet girl.

This was the first time she reached - at least that I saw!

Reaching.

Talking to Meme.

"Hi, Mom."

Riding the Bye Bye Buggy at school. I'm so glad I finally got a picture of this.

My little beauty.

"Mom, you're so funny!"

Watching mom and dad get ready.

Right before bath....

This is sometimes what happens after she has one of her rice cereal bottles.....

Sleeping with her favorite bunny. Thanks, CC!

"I can't believe you would feed me this stuff!"

"Blech!"

"I hate squash."

From this to that

Many of you know our living history over the past year, but I thought it would be fun to show some photos. In September of 2009, Jeff and I put our house on the market. We had a contract within a few days and had a move-out date of October 15, 2009. In the meantime, Jeff and I, along with the #1 real estate agent Manda Luccasen, combed through quite a few homes in the Vestavia area. I was pretty sold on Liberty Park, but Jeff was not. Anyway, we ended up purchasing a lot in a new development in Vestavia near Jeff's old stomping ground and began the building process. Boy did it take a long time to get this thing built! After a brief stay with my mother-in-law, and once we had bought the lot, we moved into a corporate rental apartment. Side note: All of our own furniture had been put into storage since we had nowhere to go and we weren't even toying with the idea of building a house yet. So off we went to our new home. The below photos were what it looked like the day we moved in and the day we moved out WHEN IT HAD BEEN CLEANED BY A PROFESSIONAL. The chaotic mess that it became during my pregnancy and after Alston was here could have possibly qualified us to be on an episode of Hoarding: Buried Alive. Needless to say, the walls of the apartment were closing in on us fast, once we became a family of three. It is laughable looking back on it now, but it was a stressful time. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not above apartment living, but leaving what you had called "home" for the past five years, throwing a pregnancy/new baby with acid reflux and building your own home into the mix, well, let's just say we took on two of the biggest challenges a marriage can face. Thank the dear Lord he kept one of us sane when the other was going crazy! I can finally now say it was all worth it.


Our building.


Our front door.


A view of the kitchen.


The amount of time I spent here washing bottles because the dishwasher was a piece of junk...


This was the dining table. It did NOT look like this except the day we moved in and the day we moved out. Once Alston was born, it became her changing table/baby gear area.

A photo of the den. I can't tell you how many hours I spent on this sofa during my pregnancy. I'm surprised I didn't break it! After Alston was born, Jeff and I logged many more hours on it being up with her in the middle of the night. She and I sometimes slept on it together. The coffee table was also mine and Jeff's dining table.


My bathroom.


Our bedroom minus Alston's bassinet and all the other crap.


What was once my office.


This was the bedroom that Jeff basically used for all of his stuff.


Our stairwell.



Our balcony is the middle one. From this.....


...to that. Finally, we are home.