It All Started with a Little Skittle...

Anyone who knows us well, knows that we had "difficulty" becoming pregnant with Gabby.  After a year of trying (and praying) we were really disappointed, so we decided we would try anything at this point (besides fertility drugs).  My doctor tested both of our fertility (by the way our insurance didn't cover this so find out before you get tested so you don't have $1000s of dollars of surprises).  The procedure I had done, called an HSG test, was very painful, like more painful than labor pains! Also, my doctor did not tell me this, but when I was researching online a lot of people stated that the HSG test cleans out your fallopian tubes and a lot of people get pregnant quickly after the test.  I also started taking cough syrup twice a day that had guaifenesin in it because my mom had mentioned once that it helped her get pregnant with me (I told you we were desperate). Finally, we more mockingly than anything made a vision board (my mom was always trying to get us t...

Apparently Gabby officially lied for the first time last week.  I don't mean she said "yes" when she meant to say "no", or "no" when she should have said "yes," I mean she came up with a story to get her way! I am in trouble if my barely 2 year old has figured out that there are ways around the truth, especially because she found it quite amusing that her fib achieved the goal she desired.  Every time my Aunt Ellen comes to see Gabby she brings fruit snacks because Gabby warms up to her instantly and it's entertaining to see her all sugared up (normally I don't allow her to have sugary snacks like that but special occasions are fine). This time when Gabby was grubbing down on her sugary treat Aunt Ellen asked if she could have one.  Gabby looked at her with her sweet chubby cheeks and said, "No, Gabby medicine."  Aunt Ellen could not contain herself and laughed hysterically.  Really can you blame her?  Have you ever heard ...

Since Gabby was very small we've had difficulty getting her to go to sleep without a lot of tears from her and heartache for us.  We've tried Super Nanny tactics, my doctor's recommendations, a thousand ways we've read about on the internet and still it's the same fight every night even though Gabby has had the exact same routine for a year and a half (which is 75% of her lifetime) and the result is always the same, a crying baby.  (There is one way to get her to soundly go to sleep and that is allowing her to go to bed with milk, but I would rather her cry a little each night than to have teeth with cavities.) A few nights ago something finally clicked in my head. I try not to be too much of a speech pathologist to Gabby because I am her mommy and she is developing normally so I try to think in mommy mode rather than SLP mode.  Desperate I thought what would I recommend to another Mom at work and it clicked.  Any time a parent is having a serious difficulty wi...

It's hard to believe that Sunday was the third time I've been able to celebrate Mother's Day.  This Mother's Day was especially special because I became a godmother to Aiden and Addison, some of our closest friends two children.  We woke up that morning got dressed and headed to church to watch the baptism of some of the cutest kids I ever met.  They church had us sit in the front row for ease of baptizing, but it made it far more difficult for us to contain our kids.  The baptism was at the very beginning of the sermon.  Less than 5 minutes after the baptism Gabby made a noise talking to Daddy, (I doubt the people next to us could even hear) the minister came up to me and offered to show me where the day care was.  She was very polite and sweet, but I knew I could not exactly refuse.  I have never left Gabby with a stranger, not for 30 seconds, so I walked in to the nursery and Gabby instantly began coloring.  Once Addison appeared (because the m...

A friend's infant's chiropractor recommended this video. Apparently we've all been changing babies ages 0-6 months incorrectly.  Rather than lifting their legs we should roll them from side to side because 80% of their learning (I am assuming he means neurologically) is through their "gut."  He says that this technique reduces colic significantly. It' amazing that such a simple change (once you get used to it) can change you from having an extremely fussy baby to a happy baby. I will definitely try this with my next little skittle! If you have a baby that's not yet crawling pleas take a moment to watch this video and you will make your life a lot easier!

My sister, Lacey, has been telling me for months, maybe even a year that I need to start writing about all aspects of my life, not just Gabby.  It’s difficult to expose all parts of your life on the internet for the world to see so I have resisted this suggestion.  Finally I think I have convinced myself that I am going to attempt to talk about various aspects of my crazy, beautiful life.  Hopefully I can do this in a way that you can relate to and is still entertaining.  I know Gabby is fun and interesting ALL of the time, but me…not so much.     I figure I will start with a simple background, because the point of blogging is for you to feel like you are here to experience my life and relate to my “adventures.”  Obviously my world revolves around Michael and Gabby.  They are my world and are always in my thoughts no matter where I am or what I am doing (which I believe sometimes drives my friends crazy).  Apparently once y...

Easter Eve Easter weekend was a spectacular time for Gabby.  Saturday we went to a crawfish boil at my parents house.  Michael set up the bouncy house in the back yard and Katie and Carley (Gabby's second cousins) jumped with Gabby all afternoon.  After a while, Aiden and Addison also came over to visit and play.  While I was eating crawfish Gabby came over to inspect them.  She was appalled and scared of the cooked crawfish, but very curious about them.  I was wearing gloves (that way I could get to Gabby if there was an emergency), so finally I convinced Gabby to touch a crawfish by putting gloves on her hands.  Catie, Carley and Gabby were the only kids who was brave enough to touch the crawfish (I guess it was the Cajun in them!). Aiden and Addison were highly concerned about the "monsters".  Gabby picked one up and said "bite you."  She is a little comedian. Easter Day Okay so Easter was more like Christmas in the Monties' house....

Good morning from Gabby and her buddy Kit. She got baby Kit a pillow because he needed one if she had one.

I woke up at 4:10 this morning thanks to a small bladder and I have been awake ever since.  My mind was wondering thinking about all of my “big plans” in life and I was annoyed with myself that I could not fall back to sleep knowing that I had to be up and at ‘em by 6:30 on my day off.  Then I faintly heard Gabby scream, not cry….faintly?  I have a baby monitor in my room so I should have heard her screeches clearly, but apparently managed to turn it off somehow for the one time Gabby woke up shrieking in the middle of the night.  When I entered her room I was guessing her diaper leaked and that was why she was upset.  I picked her up and consoled her for a moment and realized her diaper was contained so that wasn’t the reason for the shrieking.  So while looking around her room (and changing her diaper) she started whining “get get” which is what she calls her blanket.  I saw the blanket I covered her with laying outside the crib.  She is very ...