Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Nanna & Papaw visit

We just LOVE family time because its rare for us to see each other very much these days. Speaking of family I am so excited about the new addition Aiden Howell (my great nephew). My sister Karen became a Grandma for the first time and we couldn't be more happier for my nephew Rob and Joi. The joys of being parents to a beautiful healthy baby is priceless.

Mom and Dad visiting with their great grandson Aiden



Mom and Dad with Coral



Fun boat ride ;)



Justin finally talked me into taking Coral camping on the boat last week. I really didn't think taking an 8 1/2 month old camping would be that much fun but it turned out that she slept better on the boat than we did ;) She had lots of fun during the adventure as always and we look forward to many more.





Coral found the sliding glass door very entertaining, and Rusty found it to be a very safe place ;)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

8 Months and Counting!

We have a very independent little girl on our hands. She has taken a liking to feeding herself and doesn't seem to want to be spoon feed much at all. She will bang her hand on the highchair between bits. I usually give her one piece at a time because she will shovel the food with vengeance and I am a little worried she will choke but she is getting better with the finger foods with much practice. With out fail every dinner is followed up with bath time of course to wash the food from her hair. See Daddy & Uncle Tim, Coral caught a shark bare handed ;o)


As you can see Coral has taken over the house and thanks to Aunt Dawn (Justin's sister) we have theses awesome gates to keep Coral in and Rusty safe from his little admire


She loves to pull up and balance on all her toys ;)



This video was from about 2 weeks ago, but for the past 3 weeks she has been couch walking and learning to balance herself. She has gained a lot more confidence and I think we may have an early walker on our hands.




Play time with Daddy is always so much FUN!



She has also mastered crawling after 2 months of army crawling around the house, Rusty doesn't stand a chance ;)

Friday, September 24, 2010

Learning about allergies and staying BUSY!

This morning (2/26/10) we decided to scrabble some egg for Coral and quickly found out she is horribly allergic to eggs!!!!! We researched it on the internet because I've read some websites saying to wait till 1yr and some saying its no big deal if there is no family history of it so we decided to go for it unfortunately she swelled up really bad scaring us to death and got a horrible rash. The lessons we learn are some times very scary but THANKFULLY it was easily taken care of with some meds from the urgent care down the road.



We are feeling so very thankful and blessed that we were able to get Tricare (insurance company) to approve Corals formula. We got our first shipment in and now have a little over $1,000 dollars of formula sitting in the house right now ;o) The military and the insurance company really do take great care of us. It just took a about 2-3 months and a lot of paperwork but we finally got it and couldn't be happier!


During Justin's 2 weeks home we had a wonderful surprise of an extra 5 more days off. He always has projects and a long honey to do list when he comes home that it has really helped out. His latest project was drilling a well and putting a pump with a pressure tank. This will not only save us money on water but on sewage as well. We can water the lawn, wash the cars, boat and many other things with this new pump. He is always trying to think of ways to help out around the house and I LOVE him so much for this wonderful trait.


We had a wonderful visit to the Zoo and Coral feed her first Giraffe.


Coral's tooth cut all the way through last week and she is about to get another one any day now, sigh were did my baby go? We are trying to figure out were to store some baby gear to make room for more bigger girl items and it just makes me sad / excited for the journey ahead.

She is working on her next dance moves for Dancing the Stars ;o)




Saturday, September 11, 2010

So Much So Fast!

It's amazing how many things can happen in just 2 weeks! She cut her first tooth last night!!!! The only signs she had was a swollen gum, got up a few extra times at night but went back down fairly easy, and a little more clingy. We haven't even had to used any meds to numb it. She will have a pumpkin smile by the time Halloween gets here ;o) She has started waving Hi / Bye, and also pulling her self up on anything and everything (caught her standing up in her crib, sigh) and army crawling all round the house and actually adventuring away from us in order to visit with her fur buddy Rusty. She will never be able to sneak up on him since she squeals when she finally approaches him.

Coral's cold passed finally and she was allowed to get her immunizations on her 7 month visit and she did so much better now that she is a little older (no tears were shed). She weighed 17lbs 6oz and 27 1/2 inches long. She gained a pound and grew 1/4 inch in 1 month.


We were so excited to see Justin's uncle Mark. He came to Jacksonville to visit Coral for the first time. We always love visiting with the family and are truly blessed to have such a wonderful one.




She got her first BIG girl car seat so that she can stretch out better! (Thank you Mackenzie)


She is starting to really like her Sassy Jumper (Thank You Auntie Roxanne)

She can pretty much pull herself up on anything (crib, couch, our legs).


Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Loving Family Time

The month of August was bitter sweet. We had a wonderful time visiting with Tim and Jennifer and its always sad to see family leave. We had some difficult decisions with child care, major yard work and a cold to battle. I was fortunate to have a stay vacation for 2 weeks which was perfect timing. During those 2 weeks Justin and I re-sodded the front yard (well he did all the work with day labor helpers). Coral's first cold didn't pass so we ended up putting her on antibiotics for a sinus infection and she now only has a cough still lingering (total of 3 weeks). I never knew that babies first cold was such a long process, but I guess it has to happen at some point in their life and we have been luck thus far. It was actually good timing since Justin and I were home to comfort her during this time.
We finally decided on hiring a nanny to come to our house to watch our little angel so that we no longer have to wake her up at 4am on my shift days. She seems to be very happy now that she is on a much better schedule and she can hang out with her fur buddy Rusty. Justin and I have also armed the house with cameras so we can now view her 247 ;o)

We had a wonderful visit with my brother Tim and his wife Jennifer. Despite some rain storms we had a blast on the boat here in Jacksonville and up in Amelia Island where they stayed for the week. We visited Cumberland Island and got to see Ft Clinch from the river side.


Coral loved her Uncle Tim and his beard, she couldn't stop touching it.



Daddy's little Boat Captain



Coral is getting around "Doing the Worm"





She LOVE's her puppet, Thank you Mima "Gail"





Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Coral Is On The Move

We have had an exciting few weeks in Corals development with new found determination to get things that are out of her reach. She is a VERY determined little girl ;)


We also had our first encounter with a clown at the Riverside Arts Market.


On the not so bright side we had a trip to the Dr for her first cold today ;( They put her on some antibiotics and will see her in a week for a follow up and shots. She is surprising still in good spirits despite the runny nose, sneezing and coughing. Mommy got a touch of whatever she has so we are more than happy Daddy is home to take care of his girls. She is currently 6months and 1 week old weighing 16lbs 7 oz and 27 1/4 inches long. The Dr said she is in the 90% for her height so we all know she got it from Justin's family ;o)





Friday, July 30, 2010

Corals 6month stat's

She is turning 6 months this week! Where has the time gone? She really has amazed us each week by learning so many new things. She found her voice last week and has already learned how to get our attention with it. She went to the Dr yesterday and weighs 15lbs 14oz. She has almost doubled her birth weight! She is as healthy as can be so we couldn't be more blessed. She gave her Daddy her first kisses just before he left to go back to work. I was a little jealous but so happy that he could take those memories with him back to work ;o)
She is starting to eat solids like banana's, sweat potatoes,and carrots. You can tell by the picture below she loves them!


She has learned to sit up very well as long as she is doesn't get distracted as you can tell Rusty is her new captured audience.