19 Months

Shelby turned 19 months old today. To celebrate, Jeremy took the day off from work. Not really, he got a snow day because of the "ice storm" we had, but it was awesome to have him home all day.

It is amazing to me how much Shelby learns everyday. Her sentences are getting longer and clearer. She is learning her ABC's and how to count to 10, and it is so cute to hear her.

Somehow, even though the only Disney princess movie we own is The Little Mermaid, she can identify Ariel, Cinderella (or, Rella), and Belle. She also now likes Elmo even though she doesn't watch Sesame Street. I think this is all part of some big conspiracy theory. The doctors are paid to implant some sort of chip in them at birth.

Shelby is very sweet and friendly, and loves to be around her friends at church. However, she is developing quite the attitude with Jeremy and me, and isn't afraid to tell us no. This week I had to introduce her to time outs. Hopefully this is a phase.

Clearing Out the Memory Card

I realized that I had a bunch of stuff on the camera that I hadn't uploaded yet. Feast your eyes on the random pictures and videos. Kind of gives you an idea of life at our house the past couple weeks.

We aren't typically Gators fans, but had to cheer on the SEC in the National Championship. Shelby had fun watching the game with Daddy.


"Isn't my picture pretty, Mommy? What, I thought the washing machine could use a little color!"


"You have to taste them first to see which color will be next."


Our trip to Ft. Worth was totally worth it just for this.


The most comfortable position to sleep in.


"Today class, we are going to learn about..."


This is what happens when I have a conference call. I end up giving her anything and everything to keep her quiet, and it all ends up on the floor (Or on her lips, as was the case with the blue marker!).

So much to post, so little time...

So here it is...the SUPERPOST. The holidays seemed extra busy this year. Not only were we busy traveling to Bastrop and Hattiesburg and entertaining visitors here at home, but the last two weeks of December are the busiest for me at work. (Most companies' insurance policies renew at 1/1 so that they line up with their fiscal year. You're welcome for that bit of trivia.) Anyway, I have so much to post about-Christmas, Shelby turning 18 months, New Year's...so here goes!

The Saturday before Christmas we woke up really early and drove over to Bastrop, LA to visit Jeremy's grandparents (on his dad's side). I wanted to bring Christmas dinner to them at the nursing home, so I stayed up late the night before cooking a turkey, whipped potatoes, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing and rolls. I am totally like my mom and always make way more food than is needed. We had tons of leftovers! Shelby always loves seeing Mamaw and Papaw, and really enjoyed walking through the nursing home with them and looking at all the Christmas decorations.







We just stayed in Bastrop for the day and drove back that night. The next day we made Christmas cookies. Shelby loves helping out, and she was more than willing to help us bake, decorate, and eat the cookies!









After a busy three days of work, we left on Christmas Eve for Hattiesburg. We were so tired the next morning, but we were excited to see family. We ate, opened presents, and Shelby got to meet her new cousin, Jonah.







We even taught everyone our favorite card game, Golf. We had a McGrath-sized game going, but I don't think things got as rowdy!



We got back late Sunday night and it was 3 more hectic days of work for me. After dealing with a leak and the plumber cutting two large holes in our walls, we headed over to the Majoue's for New Year's Eve. We are such boring people. We ended up leaving about 20 minutes to 12, because Shelby had had it. It turned 12 while we were driving back. We laughed though...it was better than the year we were in Walmart when it turned 12! The next day our friends Andy and Michelle drove up from Austin. Of course we had to Top Golf it with them. I had to take a picture of the scores from the first game we played...







Jeremy said that night was worse than any Christmas Eve when he was little. For Christmas I got him tickets to the Cotton Bowl. He could hardly wait to cheer on Ole Miss as they whooped Texas Tech.











After the guys got back, we all geocached. We thought it might be difficult in the dark, but we found every one we were looking for. It was fun. While out, we stumbled upon this awesomeness:



Shelby was mezmerized. She was hanging out of the window (don't worry, we were parked) and shaking her booty to the music. The next morning we ate breakfast at Ham and Eggs. Why am I telling you about breakfast, you ask? Well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.





So much for our resolutions to eat healthier!

On December 28th, Shelby turned 18 months old. We were still in Hattiesburg that Sunday, so today was her first official day of nursery. We didn't get any god pictures before church, because I was running around getting some last minute things ready for Primary, so we just snapped a quick pic before sending her off on her own. The nursery leaders said she did great! I figured she would since she had been in there with me for so long when I was a nursery worker. I looked in on her a couple of times, and even though I was used to seeing her playing with all the other kids, it was still a bit sad for me today, I guess because it was "official"...she is so big!



Well, there you have it. Whew, I am completely caught up. Now off to bed to rest my eyes. They are burning from looking at this screen so long.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

We kicked off the Christmas season Monday night by baking and decorating sugar cookies. I think Shelby's favorite part was the sprinkles. Just as we were cleaning Shelby up, we heard a light tapping outside. I looked out, and it was lightly snowing. It only lasted about 10 minutes, but it was a perfect way to kick off Christmas.

Last night we went to see Santa. Shelby was not scared of him at all. In fact, she didn't want to wait her turn to jump in his lap. She kept saying, "Claus! Claus!". However, despite her liking for Santa, we could not get a very good picture of her. She kept looking at the photographer like she was nuts for waving this stuffed reindeer above her head and yelling, "Shelby! Shelby!". So this is what we got. I think it is still pretty cute, but I'm biased.

17 Months

Between Thanksgiving, work, 8 trips to the doctor, and cutting a molar, I missed posting about Shelby turning 17 months. I kept meaning to, but then somehow it would already be 3 am, and I would say, "I'll do it tomorrow".

Shelby is so much fun right now. She can definitely have her moments, but for the most part, she is so sweet, loving, and fun. She loves to play Ring Around The Rosie and Patty Cake. She still really loves her books, and isn't too much into cartoons or movies. The only time she will sit still and watch a movie is during breakfast or while eating a snack. She will sit in her little papasan chair, prop her feet up, and eat her food and watch the movie on the laptop for about 15-20 minutes.

Thanksgiving

Things have been so crazy since we got back from Utah that I am just now able to post. We had a great time visiting family. It was the first time in years that all 9 kids have been together at once. Everything was kind of chaotic, as it normally is when my family gets together.

We kicked things off on Wednesday with a birthday party for my niece, Olivia, and my nephew, Parker, at Jump n' Jacks. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of all the guys wrestling at the top of the huge slide. I wish I had video of Jeremy and Nolan tumbling down the slide on top of each other. Thursday we had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner at mom and dad's house. Shelby didn't like the turkey so much, but she did me proud and loved the brussel sprouts.

Saturday was my brother's wedding. Tristan and Ana were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. It was my first time actually going inside this temple. It is more beautiful inside than I could have ever imagined.

Tristan and Ana McGrath




Not sure what Tristan was looking at...



The Guys



The reception was a lot of fun. Since Ana is from Venezuela, they had Latin music playing, and people really got into it.

Our friend, Wesley, and my brother, Sean, were cracking us up...


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic


Shelby Dancing With Her Baby


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic


My Mom made the cake (sorry the pic is grainy)



Of course, while we were in Utah, we had to stop by and see some special friends. Actually, the Materns were kind enough to watch Shelby while we were at the temple. We just love this family!





Sunday was also special, as we got to go to this cutie's blessing:

Mia Kate


We also celebrated Claire's birthday on Sunday. We didn't have birthday cake, since we had the middle tier of the wedding cake left.

So, as you can see, our trip to Utah was jam-packed with family and friends. We had a great time and we can't wait til we can all get together again.

1 Sick Child = 2 TIRED Parents

We are exhausted.

Tuesday afternoon, when I went to pick Shelby up after her nap, I noticed she was super warm. Warmer than usual after someone has been sleeping. So I took her temperature. 102.2. I gave her some Tylenol and hoped the fever would go down. It didn't. It just kept going up and up, til it peaked at 104.5. Finally, at 4 am, after a blessing, lots of crying and restlessness, we decided to take Shelby to the ER. That is where we met the meanest doctor on the face of the planet.

After waiting a ridiculous amount of time (considering we were the only people in the ER), the doctor finally came in to see us. This doctor apparently never heard the Primary song "Smiles", because he had a permanent scowl on his face. He said he was going to check Shelby out and lunged at her. Yes, he really did lunge. Shelby jumped back to me and started whimpering. I calmly started to explain to her that the doctor was going to look in her ears, and that it would be ok, when Mean Doctor cut me off and told me to hold her arms. "No", I replied. "If you just explain to her what you are doing she will let you do it". "Ma'am", he said in his foreign accent, "let me do my job. Hold her arms." And so began the kicking and screaming.

Mean Doctor said Shelby's ears and lungs were ok, and her throat was a bit red. He simply sent us home with an antibiotic.

The next day, Shelby's fever broke around noon. "Hooray!", I thought. I could not go through another night of that. Well, I jinxed myself. Sure enough, around 5 PM, her temperature started rising. Again, Jeremy gave her a blessing, she cried, we gave her a bath, etc. Her fever finally spiked at 104.9.

So I took her to her pediatrician today. She calmly showed Shelby the otoscope and, without Shelby moving one muscle or uttering one whimper, checked Shelby's ears, nose, and throat. Then she listened to her breathe. She said she wanted to order a chest x-ray and urine sample. (Getting a urine sample from a baby is fun stuff, let me tell you. She was so dehydrated that after an hour of waiting, checking the urine bag, and waiting some more, I finally stuck her hand in warm water and that did the trick.) After everything came back, we got the diagnosis: pneumonia and a possible bladder infection (sample is going to the lab for further test).

Hey Mean Doctor, maybe I don't have an M.D., but I know my own daughter. I know that she hates to be held down, and that if you try to hold her down, she will scream so loudly it will pierce your eardrums. Maybe that is why you couldn't hear the crackling in her chest and accurately diagnose her. So maybe next time, Mean Doctor, you could come down off your high horse and listen to what the mother is trying to tell you.

Hopefully the new antibiotics will help. So far she is sleeping and her fever is down, so that is much better than the past two nights. We are going back for a follow-up on Tuesday to make sure it will be ok for us to fly out to Utah that night. I sure don't want to take a sick child to be around 13 cousins, all of whom are 7 and under.