Holidays are here!

So it's been since 2009 since I last posted on this blog. I actually forgot I had it and I was trying to post a question on a speech therapy blog I found on Pinterest and had to login through the Blogger website. Wa-La! I was reconnected! It was so amazing to read about life 3 years ago and my oh, my has it changed! Finley is now 45 months old (just 3 months away from her 4th birthday, attends St. Michael's Episcopal Pre-K in Mandeville, Garland is in his 1st of 8 semesters at LSU in the CRNA program, and I am now working at a brand new elementary school in St. Tammany Parish, Mayfield Elementary. We have a new family member, our puppy Ellie Sue. She was given to us by Finley's godparents last christmas. She is part Shitzu and Westie or as we like to call her, a Shitzie! Oh, I almost forgot! Garland took a 12 week travel nurse assignment at in Sonoma, CA over the summer and we got to join him for 5 weeks. It was truly a trip of a lifetime. We visited San Francisco and Lake Tahoe and of course... the wineries. It was a trip of a lifetime that I will never forget. I really hope Finley remembers this trip as well. We just finished up the Thanksgiving Holiday and are preparing for Christmas. Hopefully, I will do better with my blogging and it will be less than 3 years before I post again!

and I forgot...we celebrated our first Father's Day as well

I forgot to mention in my previous post that Garland celebrated his first Father's Day. We celebrated by going to church and having a barbeque. We love you "DaDa" and wouldn't know what to do without you in our lives!

Sweet, Sweet Summertime

Hello everyone! I am finally updating my blog and boy, do I have a lot to blog about...let's see.... since the summer has begun, Garland and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary, my 28th birthday, had Finley's christening, we took our first family vacation to Destin, FL, we lost the most precious member of our family, my Grandmother Griffin, celebrated the 4th of July, and watched our baby girl reach so many of her developmental milestones that I thought would be delayed due to her being a preemie. Wow, life is really on fast foward now! With a blink of an eye, time has just vanished! I hope things can slow down just a bit so I can savor my every moment with my husband and baby girl!

First of all I would like to dedicate this blog to my sweet Grandmother, who left this earth to be with the Lord and all of her beloved that she has yearned to be with again for the last 2 years or so. I will be sure to pass her legacy on to my child(ren) and even though Finley only met her Great-Grandmother once, she will hear lots of wonderful stories about her for the rest of her life!

We shared Finley's christening with our closest family and friends on June 7, which coincidently was Garland and I's 1 year anniversary. Fr. Thang officiated the ceremony and it was so beautiful! There is nothing sweeter than a child's innocence! We have initiated Finley's ever-so important relationship with Christ by having her christened. We are the stepping stones between her and the gift of salvation that Christ has sacrificed for all of us! What an awesome and huge responsibility! We are up to that challenge and have been very vigilent at getting Finley to church each week. The reception was held at our home and it was HOT! We enjoyed jambalaya, meatballs, a beautiful cake, chocolate covered strawberries, shrimp pasta salad, and so many other delicious treats but most importantly the fellowship with our family and friends was the biggest treat of them all!

The family vacay....how bittersweet....upon leaving we knew my grandmother probably would not make it through the weekend but my parents decided to proceed with the vacation because it was what they had promised. We would have totally understood if they decided to cancel but they said, "Let's go! anyway" They ended up leaving early to be by my grandmother's side whether she was aware if they were there are not and just be with my aunts and uncles...Me, Garland, and my sister stayed and awaited the news. But in the meantime, we enjoyed hanging out on the beach and pool, having Alaskan King Crab almost every night, and just spending time as a family- we took professional pictures while we were there and I'll be sure to post those as well!

Finley has grown like a weed... She is now 11 lbs and 23 1/2 inches long! She is now rolling over (as of today!!), eating rice cereal from a spoon, laughing out loud, reaches out for objects, tracks incredibly well, responds to her name, babbles and mimics sounds, can sit and stand with support, is sleeping 12 hours through the night, and making progress every day! She loves to watch tv, listen to music, be read to, and take walks in the stroller in the evenings...She never ceases to amaze me!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this updated blog entry!



I have excactly 1 month until I return to work, so I will be soaking up all my time with my sweet baby girl! Until next time, enjoy these pictures!

Mother's Day Weekend

Since we have been given the green light to finally get out in public (but with caution of course with all of this "swine flu" going around), we have really been on the go! This weekend was one of our busiest yet. We had Madison's birthday party at the Jazzy Bear build a bear workshop, out to eat with MawMaw Cedes, Aunt KK, Uncle Ry, Lucas and Kaylee, the Strawberry Jam festival in Ponchatoula with Nanna Erin, and lunch with MiMi,Papa, and Aunt Manna at Petunia's. Even with a broken foot, I am managing to get around quite well in my ever so stylish boot. My first Mother's day was very low key but so relaxing and enjoyable. Because Garland worked all weekend, we scheduled to eat breakfast at The Broken Egg on Sunday morning but my baby girl was sleeping so peacefully I hated to wake her to drag her to a restaurant so Garland cooked a big breakfast here at home which was so delicious and romantic. I didn't even have to get out of my PJ's! Then, my parents and sister came and went to eat at Petunia's place here in Mandeville. Not exactly my favorite place to eat, but one of my mom's favorites! The spaghetti and meatballs were delicious! Just hate I left my take home box on the table! Motherhood is really getting the best of my brain by the way. Just this week alone, I have been paged over the Target intercom for leaving my doors open to my car! My brain is definitely one track lately. Well, that's all for now. We may take a trip to Jackson this week to meet baby Caroline. I'll post some pics soon!

So it's been awhile....

After signing in today, I realized it's been over a month since I blogged last! Wow so much has gone on in that time! Finley is growing like a weed (now up to 7lbs 12 oz) and is starting to be more interactive (we get a smile every now and again!) what else...oh Garland installed hardwood floors in our entire house with some help from his Uncle...Did I mention how talented my husband is??? I totally underestimated his carpentry skills!, let's see... we decided we are taking a family vacation to Washington, D.C. in July with my parents and sister, Finley took her 1st road trip to MS for Easter and met her great grandmother, Finley's nursery is 90% complete-all I need to do now is hang her valence, Garland got a grill for his birthday (complete with a few dents in it as it flipped over in the truck on the way home from Lowe's-Garland said it was my fault because I complained about a dent in the grill that already had been loaded so they had to unload it and re-load it with a dent-free one---Oh well, Garland said those dents won't make those steaks any less tasty!!!, I broke my foot while tring to get back in shape at BodyPump class (which was my first day back in the gym in 8 months!) and will be out of pocket for the next 4 months, we completed our classes for Finley's Baptism which is set for June 7th which is our 1 year anniversary-how special that day will be-now we just have to plan the reception which will be at our home....well I think that's all for now...I'm going to try to do much better and post atleast once per week!

Finley is here!

On February 18th, I was admitted to the hospital after a routine prenatal dr's appt. Dr. Plaisance determined that my amniotic fluid levels were low and wanted me to go straight to the hospital to be hooked up to IV fluids. I was so upset because this was on a Thursday and my baby shower was set for Saturday. I was scared I would not be out of the hospital in time for the shower --little did I know I would have the baby 24 hours later! The dr thought for sure I would be discharged the next day but God had different plans. After receiving IV fluids for 12 hours, my levels were checked again via ultrasound and they actually dropped !! He made the call to do an emergency c-section and he was leaving for Belize for vacation in 2 hours soooo Dr. Steen (whowas on call that weekend) would take my case. I was shocked and upset that my dr who had followed me for the entire pregnancy was not going to be there for the delivery. It was actually a blessing in disguise as Dr. Steen performs a state of the art c-section- she does not cut through any abdominal muscle-she just kind of shifts it around which makes recovery so much easier. It all happened so quickly- I didn't have time to process what was going on.
Garland had worked the night before so he was running on pure adrenaline. At 1:24 pm on Feb 19, 2009 Finley entered the world and our hearts. She weighed 4lbs 1 oz and was 16 1/2 inches long. When I heard her little cry, I knew I was in love! I got a quick peak at her before they rushed her to the nursery. She ended up in the NICU shortly after birth due to her low birth weight and difficulty breathing. She remained in the NICU for 25 days (discharged on March 13 -Friday the 13th!) to gain weight and stabilize her breathing. She has been diagnosed with apnea and is on medication to minimize apenic events and also on a monitor that alerts us of low respiratory rate and heart rate. It is extremely loud and goes off quite frequently just due to the leads slipping off or moving around. However it gives us peace of mind. She is expected to outgrow it in a few months and won't require the medication or monitor any longer.