Recipe Monday-Chicken Enchiladas

Today I am joining in on Recipe Monday with Heather at The Road Less Traveled.  I think this is a great idea as I really need some inspiration when it comes to cooking.  






These chicken enchiladas are pretty easy and taste great.  I love that they have the slivered almonds in them.  When I first made this I wasn't sure about the almonds but having a little crunch in the enchilada goes perfectly.  Here ya go!  I got this out of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and I'm making it tonight.  I'll post a picture them :)

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cups chopped onion

2 tablespoons butter

1 4oz can diced green chilies, drained

1 3oz package cream cheese, softened (I use fat free)

1 tablespoon milk

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I usually use the already cooked whole chicken)

12 7in flour tortillas or 6 inch corn tortillas (I go flour here)

1 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup (I use reduced sodium)

1 8oz carton dairy sour cream (I use light)

1 cup milk

3/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

In a medium skillet cook the 1/4 cup almonds and the onion in hot butter over medium heat until onion is tender.  Remove from skillet and from heat.  Stir in 1 tablespoon green chilies and reserve the remaining chilies

In a medium bowl combine cream cheese, 1 tablespoon milk, and cumin.  Add nut mixture and chicken.  Stir. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla near one edge and roll up.  Place filled tortillas, seam side down, in a greased 13x9 baking dish

For sauce, in a medium bowl combine the rest of the green chilies, soup, sour cream, and 1 cup milk.  Pour evenly over the tortillas.  Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until heated through.  Remove foil and sprinkle cheese and 2 tablespoons of slivered almonds onto tortillas.  Bake for 5 more minutes.  

Enjoy!  

You can make this ahead of time and then just throw it in the oven when ready!

Three Months!!!

Sweet Blakely Ann,

You are three months old!!  I can hardly believe that...it sounds so grown up.  Just this morning I was looking back at all of the photos of your birthday and oh my how you have changed!  You are a baby now and not just a newborn.  I know I say this all the time but you have brought so much joy into our lives.  Daddy and I love you more than we even thought possible.  You get more fun and sweet as the days go by.  I always think I couldn't possibly love you more and then you give me that smile and I do!  You have started smiling at me in the mornings when I come in to feed you.  You fuss until it wakes me up and then when you see me you are all smiles.  I make you happy sweet girl....and that makes mommy over the moon happy.  I love you so very much...Happy three month birthday!
Love, Mommy

Firsts this month:

Blakely laughed out loud for the first time on 12-30-11.  I actually got it on video...I couldn't believe it!  She had been sort of giggling for a few weeks so I knew that she was close and that is why I had the video on.  She would smile real big and then say heeeee after the big smile.  But this was a total LOL.  I'm pretty sure it is the cutest thing that I have ever seen.  

I hope the video works and if it does ignore my crazy mommy voice.  Although you can hear my surprise when she laughs!

Blakely had her first Christmas!

Lonnie celebrated his first birthday as a daddy!

she's singing happy birthday.....yeah, not really ;)

She celebrated her first New Years...and no she wasn't awake at midnight, although Lonnie and I went down and kissed her :)  Lonnie's brother, his wife, and their two kids came to visit us on New Years weekend.  Here are Collier and Syble reading to B...

She slept without being swaddled (or half swaddled as we have always had her arms out) for the first time.  We just started this two days ago and she seems to do fine.  The first night she did wake up at 1230 but I think she was just super hungry.  

She stuck her tongue out in response to my Grand for the first time on 12-26-11.  They did this for a while and it was really cute.  She has done it a few times since then but not very many.  

It was her first time cheering the Razorbacks to a bowl win :)

Blakely took her first bath in her bath tub.  She had just been taking a bath with one of us but that was getting old as sometimes neither one of us would want to take one.  She seems to like her tub and only screamed the one time daddy dropped her little head on the hard plastic :)

after bath cuteness....

She fit into her first 3-6 month pajamas.  I nearly cried.  The only reason I tried them was that they were so stinkin' cute!  

see...so cute right??

Feeding: We are still exclusively breastfeeding which, apparently, means I have bronze boobies!  I didn't know this until I read Shannon's post.  Honestly, she sums up exactly how I felt/feel about breastfeeding.  I worried about that so much and I am ecstatic that it is working out for us.  We seem to have worked out all the kinks and are settling into a nice routine.  I love it....

I am still pumping even though Blakely won't take a bottle.  I feel like she will get it eventually?  And, if not, (Lord help me) then I will just use the milk I have stored to mix with her baby food.  I am storing it in a deep freezer so, from what I've read, it is good for six months.  I pump when I go to bed at night and then after her first feeding in the morning.  Sometimes I pump a few other times during the day and then some days (when I am lazy) I only pump those two times.

My supply is doing really well right now.  It did drop a bit over the holidays when I was stressed out.  This also coincided with B sleeping 8-9 hours a night.  I just pumped after she ate every time for like 4 days and it came back up.  And, oh the engorgement when she started sleeping longer at night.  WOW!  It is better but I am still pretty engorged in the mornings....

As far as the bottle goes I will do an entire post on that once the whole 10 days of OPERATION: Baby must take bottle is over :)

and this is what she looks like after crying herself to sleep after a bottle attempt...

Sleeping: Blakely has been an awesome sleeper from the very beginning.  I know some people hate me for this and that it totally ok ;)  She sleeps average 8-9 hours at night.  She wakes up to eat after this and then goes right back to sleep for another 3-4 hours.  It is awesome and I feel like a completely new woman.

Her naps during the day are getting better.  She will take a decent nap (45 min-1 hour) in the morning anywhere I put her.  Her non-existent afternoon nap has always been the problem.  I started putting her in her swing for this one about a week ago and I think she has decided to like it.  Granted, I have to turn the vibrate on, swing it like crazy, and blast the music.  She will sleep for an hour.  Then in the early evening she will take a little 20 minute cat nap.  She is very sleepy when it is time to put her down for the night.  I have put her in her crib for naps a few times and she does pretty good...never more than 45 minutes though.  We are making progress!!  The first time she slept in the swing for an hour I didn't even know what to do with myself!

this is still her favorite place to nap...

Diapers:  She is still in Pampers Swaddlers size 1-2 diapers.  I am thinking of buying a few cloth diapers to try.  I told myself that I was going to attempt to start cloth when she was 3 months old....but I'm just not sure it is for me.  We will see....

Clothing:  All 0-3 months clothes fit her now.  Like I said above I did put a 3-6 month pajama on her the other day and it fit.  I have since tried just a couple of 3-6 month things that work.  Most of the stuff that size is still way too big for her.

Weight: she weighs 12 pounds 12 ounces on our home scale

Height:  23 inches

Hair Color: Her hair is brown and she hasn't lost any of it from birth.  It is getting much longer and she has a couple of strands that hang way down over her ears!  It does seem to be getting lighter than it was.  I had a dream that Lonnie cut her hair and it was all uneven across her forehead.  I was sooooo mad!!  I asked him if he saved the hair and he said no...I flipped.  When I told him about this dream he told me I was crazy.  He might be right ;)

Eye Color:  Her eyes were a very dark blue to start with and they are getting lighter and lighter blue.

A few other things I want to remember:
Blakely has been so so smiley this month.  She just smiles all the time and we love it!  She will smile at anyone but she smiles the most at Lonnie...she just loves him!  She still loves listening to him sing or even just listening to him talk.  She gets so happy when he gets home from work.  

She is getting such a personality now.  She is a little stubborn and wants what she wants.  We can be holding her and when she is tired of that she fusses and wants to be put on the play mat...then she is happy.  Sometimes it takes us a little bit to figure out what she wants and she will get real fussy.  But eventually we figure it out and she goes back to totally happy.  I think her stubborness is the reason we are having such bottle issues.  

She has also started "talking" so much more.  She and I have had a few conversations that go a little something like this.
B: goo
mommy: agoo
B: ahhhh
mommy: ahhh goooooo
you get the idea :)

She is getting so much better at tummy time.  She still doesn't like it but she doesn't instantly scream when I put her on her tummy either.  The main problem I am having with it is that she spits up when we do it.  I don't do it after she eats or anything but, since she hasn't figured out how to prop herself up with her arms, all the pressure is on her tummy.  Literally sometimes only her tummy is touching the ground...no legs or arms...it's actually pretty cute!

this light up toy helps a LOT

she doesn't hold herself up like this for very long...

please, woman!  No more tummy time!

She for sure found her hands this month and she loves to suck on them.  She balls them into a fist and slowly raises her hand to her mouth.  Sometimes she misses her mouth and hits her forehead but then slowly slides it down to her mouth.  She tries to get the whole fist in there to the point where she gags.  It must not bother her because she keeps on doing it all day long!  She seems to favor her left hand...not sure if that means anything but I wanted to note it here.  

She has started looking at her toys more this month as well.  She got lots of new things for Christmas and really enjoys looking at them while mommy dangles them in front of her.  She still wants to look to the left more than the right so we have been working on that.  She is able to look to the right and does it a lot...she just prefers to turn left!

We call her our little heater.  She is always so warm!  I have our temperature upstairs set on 72 or 73 and I could just leave her in her diaper and she would not get cold.  When she goes to sleep I have been having it set on 73 (cold for me) and that was perfect for her. I have now  turned it up to 75 since taking off the swaddle.   It is actually about 3-4 degrees colder than this in her room because we keep her door closed.  When I get up to feed her in the morning she warms me up because I am cold.  I have taken her temperature a bunch of times because I am a worrier like that!  

A funny story.  I was getting her bath ready one night while Lonnie was getting her undressed in the bedroom.  All of the sudden I hear her start SCREAMING and I am wondering what the heck??  A few minutes later she stops.  Lonnie walks into the bathroom with her and they both look a little bewildered.  He is holding up the shirt he just took off of her and said "you should have told me there were snaps on the back!".  He pulled the thing over her head without unsnapping it!  Poor thing!  I honestly don't know how he did it....it was so tight!  He hates changing her clothes.....

I have started sleeping with her little lovey.  I read that if you sleep with it for a few nights and then give it to them when they are in their car seat they won't hate it so much.  I guess because they can smell you and it comforts them?  She doesn't mind the car seat but only if the car is moving..HA!

Daily Routine:  I stick to this routine pretty good.  The times may vary but are pretty close to the same every day...within 45 min to an hour.

9-930 am:  wake up for the day.  Change diaper and put on new clothes (some days we stay in our jammies).  First feeding.  
930-1030am:  she plays in the bouncer in the kitchen and watches mommy wash all the pump parts and bottles from the night before.  For some reason she loves this.  
1045am to 12-1230pm: morning nap.  She usually sleeps 45 minutes to an hour and a half....  If I have errands to run this is when I do them.  She will sleep the whole time if we leave the house.  
12-1230pm: diaper change and feeding.
1230-200 pm: play time on the play mat or just talking to mommy
2-3 pm: hopefully a nap :)
3 pm: diaper change and feeding
330-500: play time on the mat or we take a walk outside in the stroller
5 pm: diaper change and feeding
530-7 pm: daddy gets home and sings and plays with B...sometimes a small nap in here
7 pm: diaper change and feeding
730-9 pm: play with mommy and daddy or get a bath.  Usually she is ready to go to sleep about 830 and we have to keep her awake for a little while longer.  I do this because the difference in her waking up at 430 rather than 530 is HUGE difference to mommy :)
9-930 pm: diaper change and last feeding for the night
5-6 am: wake up for a diaper change and feeding but go right back to sleep
9-930 am: start all over!

Mommy:  I am doing pretty well.  I have been totally sick (sore throat, cough, headache) the past few days and that is pretty horrible.  It is hard to take care of her when I feel like crap...thank goodness Lonnie has been off a few days this week.  I also am scared to death for her to get sick so I have been staying away from her which kills me.  I haven't kissed her in 3 days!

I have gotten her on a pretty good schedule and I am quite proud of myself for that.  I'm not sure how it happened.  One night I just said Ok, I am putting her to bed for the night at 900.  I didn't care what time she woke up to eat.  I just needed some time to myself and some time for my husband.  She did great with this!  The problem is that I have become a frickin' drill sergeant when it comes to the schedule.  I should probably be a little more laid back but it is working so well that I don't want to change a thing.  

Just a little note that is probably TMI but I haven't really talked about it in a while.  My lady parts feel back to normal now...thank goodness!  I was really getting worried that things would never be the same down there but all is well now :)  I started feeling back to normal around 8-9 weeks postpartum.  

Daddy:  Lonnie is doing great and he is just the best father.  He had a bad cold (that's where I got it) a week ago and it was hard for him not to kiss Blakely too.  He is slowly getting better now and back to singing or reading to her every day.

I just have to share this.  I was looking through his phone the other day and I came across a text where someone asked him about fatherhood.  This was his response exactly.  

Hard to explain.

It's more than any other love I've felt.

It's cliched.  I know, but it's like having your heart walking around outside of your body.

Love at first sight.

I wish it wasn't true but I am certain that she's going to break my heart one day.

But I'm also certain that she's worth it......

Is that not the sweetest, most honest thing you've ever heard?  I cried when I read that and I cried when I just typed that.  Blakely and I are so lucky to have him!

TVT

1. I'm posting this from my
iPhone for the first time...pretty sure I hate it.

2. I'm having to do the above because my mom fell and broke her ankle this morning and she is in surgery right now. I'm in the waiting room...waiting... She called me at 800 and I didn't answer because I was in that weird sleep dream state. Then she called Lonnie and he went and helped her. She broke both of the bones and dislocated it. She fell outside...thank God she had her phone! It was like 25 degrees here this morning and she would probably have been there for a while :(

3. Getting Blakely to take the bottle isn't going very well. She screams, we somehow pour and ounce or two down her throat, I feel terrible, the end.

4. I have been sick as shit for the past four days. It is some sort of awful chest cold thing. I've been hacking up my lungs. I haven't kissed my baby in 4 days!! I'm just hoping that she doesn't get sick...I'll feel terrible. My hands are raw from washing them and using hand sanitizer so much.

5. I'm absolutely starving right now but too scared to leave this room and miss the doctor. I want to know how she did and how long he thinks it will take for her to heal. She has 17 steps up to her front door so I'm thinking she'll be moving in with me for a while :)

6. I hate to see my mom in pain...

7. I was supposed to go back to work today. I'm so glad I'm not but, at the same time, being here at the hospital makes me miss it a little. I keep running in to people and they ask me when I'm coming back and I have to say I quit? I retired? I changed jobs?

8. I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed. I am hosting two baby showed at my house in the next 6 weeks. There is so much I want and need to do for them both...thank you Pinterest for all the great ideas and for making me feel like they have to be Pinterest-worthy.

9. Blakely will be three months old tomorrow! Super long post with adorable pics coming up :))

Bottle Saga

The bottle saga continues here at my house...

Let me just give you a quick rundown of this....and also so I can have it all in one post ;)

We gave Blakely her first bottle of breast milk when she was 4 1/2 weeks old.  It was a Dr. Brown's and she took it great.  We started giving her one a day or every other day after that.  She would take it from Lonnie, my mom, my dad, my mother in law, and even from me.  

Well the day she turned 8 weeks old she decided that she HATED the bottle.  You would have thought we were trying to put razorblades covered in alcohol into her mouth.  She started screaming, crying, arching her back, flailing her arms, and kicking her legs.  It was a show.  A horrible make you feel like the worst mother in the world show....with real tears people!

I thought this was just a short phase and maybe she was just revolting for a few feedings...ummm NO!  She is now12 weeks old so this has been going on for a month.  

People have told me "Oh she will take it when she gets hungry enough".  This is not true.  She will just cry herself to sleep and skip a feeding.  I am not willing to let her go 24 hours without the food...and I think that is just what she would do.  

I have tried four different kinds of bottles...Dr. Browns, Tommee Tippee, Born Free, and Playtex Natural Latch.  All of these with the level one nipple and also with the level two nipple.  I have a pretty fast let down so I thought maybe she was just getting frustrated with the slow flow.  Not the case.  She screamed at all of them except Tommee Tippee.  She wouldn't scream as much with that one.  She would just play with it.  Roll her tongue around on it, chew on it, make herself gag, etc....  Then after a little bit of that she would flip out and realize she was hungry...

Now let me be clear.  I LOVE that she loves to nurse.  I love it as well and I am so happy that we are able to do it.  I worried so much while I was pregnant about breast feeding.  I wanted it to go well so badly.  I am very thankful that it is and I plan on continuing to do it until she is at least nine months old maybe even a year.  I LOVE BREAST FEEDING....ok, just so you know ;)

BUT, momma wants a cocktail!!!!!  Actually, I really need a cocktail...or three.  I would also like to leave baby with a grand parent so I can get a massage, have lunch with a friend, or just whatever without totally stressing about getting a call that she won't eat and is screaming.  I want her to spend time, without me, with her grand parents.  They want to spend time with her and get to know her without me running around always taking care of things.  Is this too much to ask?  Am I being selfish?  I don't think that I am.  But when your husband has been trying to give your child a bottle for 3 hours and then you get home and feed her and she latches on and eats vigorously, all while staring up at you with leftover tears in her eyes, you feel like shit...total shit.  I have cried about this.  Should I just give up?  Some people tell me that their kids never took a bottle and went strait from boob to sippy cup.  OMG.......

I started pumping pretty early to help with my supply and also because I thought I was going back to work.  I have a ridiculous amount of milk frozen.  So whenever I do decide to stop nursing she will still be able to have breast milk for quite a while after....IF she decides to take a bottle!  Surely I haven't worked this hard just for the milk to go to waste???

We have always tried letting anyone besides me give her the bottle.  Although, I did give her a few in the early days.  Well I think that she has learned now that if anyone else tries to feed her she doesn't want it.  She starts screaming immediately.  I also think that trying with the bottle and then giving up and giving her the boob is totally reinforcing the fact that if she cries at the bottle she will get what she wants.  Smart girl...gotta give her that.  

I also really don't want to mess up the great routine we have going.  Refusing the bottle and not giving the boob means missing a feeding, less calories for the day, and I feel sure that will lead to not sleeping through the night.  So I haven't been trying very hard the past two weeks to give her the bottle.  

Well that changes today.  Lonnie is off next week and it is going to be OPERATION: BABY TAKE THE BOTTLE around here for the next 10 days.  I am not going to worry about messing up our routine...I can always get her back on it.  She must take the bottle....


If she isn't screaming at it then she is just playing with the nipple.  It almost looks like she can't figure out how to latch on to it.  Do y'all think that is possible?  What can I do to help her?  Please please please give me any advice or tips you can think of.  I have tried putting gripe water on the nipple to help her take it and that hasn't worked.... It also seems like the nipples are too long and she gags a lot...I don't have a clue what to do about that.  Help!


Wish us luck!  I am pretty sure we will need it...


And I hope this post makes sense because I don't have time to go back and proof read...baby is waking up!   

Excuse me??

So, like I said before, my husband's birthday was Tuesday.  He says thank you for all the birthday wishes by the way ;)  I really wanted to get him something great for a couple of reasons.  

1.  He is awesome....

2.  He pretty much hates the holidays and, since his birthday is so close to them, it gets hated by association.  

3.  He gets super down, depressed, sad, blue, agitated, irritable (and any other synonym) during the winter.  Something to do with the cold and gray days....

4.  He is awesome...did I already mention that?

I set out to find the perfect surprise for him.  I thought about taking him on a little trip.  Had to throw that one out the window because I can't leave our child over night and I don't see me getting over that anytime soon.  I thought about buying him something great.  That was thrown out because he doesn't really like things...

As I was pondering this, a wonderful song came on the radio.  That song was Margaritaville.  It hit me!!!!  I could take him to see Jimmy Buffett!!!  He LOVES Buffett and has mentioned multiple times that he wanted to go see him.  I remembered hearing that he was touring so I went online to look and see where.

Enter sad face.....He wasn't coming anywhere close to here and I'm sooo not ready to leave Blakely and fly to Florida to see JB.  :(((((

BUT, while on Ticket.master I saw that the Zac Brown Band WAS coming somewhere close to here!!!  He LOVES them too.  So I bought us tickets to go see Zac Brown Band on March 10.  I am so excited and he was very excited too.  He told me it was the perfect birthday present.  I thought so too because now he will have something to look forward to during these dreary months.

Then this morning the most amazing thing happened....

Jimmy Buffett announced a few more concert dates and one of them is just an hour away from us!!!!!!!

Are you kidding me???  How crazy is that??  SOOOOO we will most definitely be buying tickets for that one when they go on sale next week.  I'm thinking that can be his present to me since my birthday is in March...my 30th birthday by the way! 

Didn't that all work out so well?

2012 rocks so far :)

Now, if only I can get Blakely to take a damn bottle by then....what is up with this girl???

Shhhhh....

Shhhhh......She's finally figured out the awesomeness of the swing...

Mommy is excited!

She is wearing her I love Daddy shirt because it is his birthday today.  He is going to love my present!  I'll post about it later because he reads my blog :)

Happy Tuesday!!  It is Tuesday...isn't it?

A Year to Remember

2011 has been, by far, the best year of my life.  I started the year off with so much hope for the future.  2010 was a horrible year...for many reasons.  I was so ready to see it go.  I tried really hard to shut out all of the bad things that happened in 2010 and just start the new year off with hope and happiness.  I feel like I did a pretty good job of that.  

I am more thankful than I even know how to express for this wonderful year and all the joy it has brought into my life.  I am so grateful to have experienced the miracle of pregnancy.  I had such a wonderful pregnancy and I enjoyed every second.  I actually miss being pregnant.  Then, to get to go through the absolute miracle of the birth of my healthy daughter...well, that was just amazing and it makes me tear up every time I think about it.  This year has brought my husband and I even closer together.  I always knew that he would be a great father and he has proved me right a million times over.  I love him more than I thought possible and I know that we can make it through anything.  I look forward to 2012 with much anticipation as we will get to experience a ton of "firsts" with Blakely.  I can only hope that it brings us as much happiness as this year has.

And with that, I thought I would do a little reflecting on 2011.  Enjoy :)

January

• I started this blog on 1-20-11...I am so so so happy that I did.  I have made great friends, learned so much, and been supported when I needed it the most.  Thank you all so much!
• I started IVF #3 at the beginning of January.  I remember thinking surely the third time is the charm.  I forced myself to be positive and hopeful.  
• My lovely little embryos were made on 1-25-11.  (I posted about this here and here)
• Two of my lovely little embryos were transferred on 1-28-11.  (I posted about this here and here)
• My super sweet husband turned 38 in January also :)
• We went to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl and I got unbelievably sick with a stomach bug....never been so sick in my life.  At one point Lonnie even mentioned taking me to the emergency room (which, if you knew him, is HUGE) and I told him no, that I would rather die in our hotel room than go to the ER in New Orleans the night before the Sugar Bowl.  This was before starting IVF meds.  Unfortunately I didn't get to go to the game :(

February

• I found out I was pregnant on 2-8-11.  Definitely one of the best days of my life!  My BFP post is here. 
• I found out we were pregnant with one sweet baby on 2-17-11.
• My husband scanned me and we saw Blakely's heartbeat for the first time on 2-24-11.  That day was so very special to us both and I will never forget anything about it.    
• February was an awesome month!!!

March

• I turned 29 on March 17th.  It was a great birthday because I was pregnant but I felt awful!
• We started telling people about our pregnancy on 3-27-11...that was super fun!
• I started my Kelly Belly posts!
• Spring officially started...my favorite season!

April

• We went to Chicago and I am still craving The Melting Pot.
• We had lots of crazy weather here and a bunch of tornadoes.  I spent quite a bit of time in the closet downstairs.  

May

• We found out we were having a girl!!
• I went on my family florida trip in May and had such and excellent time.  I was hoping to be pregnant on this trip for three years and it finally happened.  
• I celebrated my very first Mother's Day, although I think it will be even sweeter in 2012.
• Lonnie felt Blakely move for the first time!  

June

• Lonnie and I had our six year anniversary of our first date on 6-25-11
• We had such a wonderful summer!  We didn't do much but we did get to enjoy going on the lake before it got too hot...and boy did it get hot!!
• Collier and Syble came to stay with us for a weekend and we took them on the lake...which they LOVE!

 July

• We named our princess in July.
• We registered for our baby showers in July...that was so overwhelming but still super fun and something I had been looking forward to for a long time.  

August

• I had my first baby shower!  It was more than I could have asked more.
• We did our childbirth classes in August.
• I had my 4D ultrasound done In August by my friend....this was when we saw that B had a dimple in her chin just like her daddy :)
• I found out my very good friend, Katie, is expecting her first child in March!  Little Eli will be 5 months younger than Blakely.  
• Not too soon after that I found out my good friend Courtney was expecting!  Sweet Jayda will be 6 months younger than B!  

September

• I had three more baby showers!
• We had maternity pictures taken.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to have them done but I am so very happy that I did!
• We finally finished up Blakely's nursery.  My mom and I had so much fun planning her room!
• Fantasy football season started in September!  We had so much fun this year.  I don't think I've talked about this much but me and my girlfriends all play in a league together.   My husband hates it!
• I had the pleasure of scanning my friend Katie and telling her that she was having a boy!  What a wonderful treat that was :)

October

• Lonnie and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on 10-6-11.
• We welcomed our sweet little Blakely on 10-13-11.  The birth story post and part two are probably my favorite posts ever....I have gone back and read them many times.  This was the best day of my life.  I became a mommy, made my husband a daddy, and got to kiss this sweet girl for the first time :)

• We had Blakely's newborn pictures taken.  Which reminds me...I think I only posted a few and forgot to post more after I ordered them.  Well here are a few of my favorites :)

This is the one when she pooped across the room...it was awesome!

• We celebrated Blakely's first Halloween.

November

• I was an emotional wreck for the first few weeks of November...might have had something to do with just having a baby??
• We celebrated Blakely's first Thanksgiving.
• Blakely turned one month old and I got to see her smile at me for the first time.  
• I wasn't able to scan my friend Courtney to determine the sex of her baby since I was on maternity leave.  But I had a friend of mine that works somewhere else do it and we were able to tell her she was having another little girl...that is always so much fun!  
• My dad celebrated 8 years of no drinking on November 19th.  I am so so so proud of him!  

December

• We celebrated Blakely's first Christmas.
• Blakely turned two months old!
• This month has been wonderful.  Blakely is so smiley all the time and just a happy baby overall.  
• I have started to get comfortable with this mommy thing this month.
• I also decided to quit my job and be a stay at home mom.  I'm pretty sure this will be the best decision I've ever made...besides marrying my husband :)  ...and starting my blog ;)
• Blakely laughed at me for the first time and I got it on video!  She has giggled a couple of times for Lonnie, my mom, and her grand cousin, but this was major laughing..and at me!  If I can figure out how to edit the video and post it then I will because it is SUPER cute.  

I hope I haven't forgotten something major...it is very likely...I seem to be quite orgetful these days! 

I have really enjoyed going back and reading some of my posts...especially some of my very first ones.  I included a ton of links and I totally don't expect y'all to go back and read all of those posts.  I just thought if there were some new readers that wanted to know more about me then they could check some of them out.  Except you mom...you are supposed to go back and read them all ;)

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope 2012 treats us all well!