5 years and counting

Last Friday Chuck and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. I worked all day and he was sick at home in bed. It was a heck of a celebration, but we are together, we still love each other, he's still my best friend, we have a beautiful daughter, and we're trying to make the positive changes in our life that we need.
I'm happy we have something to celebrate. I'm not sure a year or so ago I would have thought we'd be here to celebrate it. But I'm very happy we are. Marriage never gets easy, it becomes manageable.
Here's a new pic of baby girl....she's growing way too fast for my liking. She's walking all over now, trying to say a couple of words and she absolutely knows she's the center of all of our hearts! Exactly where she should be!

Homeowners!

On yesterday, Chuck and my offer on a house was accepted! Our first home. The Boyles have a residence! And I think it's a great house. I spent most of my life trying to get out of Pinson and where did we buy our first home?? Pinson, of course! I can't wait to close on it and have the keys in my hand to actually feel like a homeowner. I can't wait to paint a wall and know that I didn't just break some cardinal rule in rental land! I can hang a picture without the fear of leaving that dreaded hole in the wall! Yes I'm aware with a house comes all the other challenges: the stopped up toilet, the yard needs mowing, the door is broken...etc......but we're ready for it! My goal was for us to be in our own house by Maleigha's first birthday and looks like we're gonna make it! I hope to be moved in by mid October, but now it's just a waiting game for the paperwork. I hate waiting, but now I know it's coming! It's not just a dream anymore! Now we also have to buy some furniture, and it won't be any time soon. The little bit of money we had saved is going to have to be spent on movers and some repairs that need to be done. Who really needs to sit in the living room right? hahaha, Floors are just as comfortable!
I hope to be able to post pics soon.
Update on Maleigha.....she has two teeth on bottom and I think some top ones are coming soon. She's crawling everywhere and starting to take a few steps here and there. She'll be walking very soon, then there is absolutely no rest!

WOW!!! Where have I been????

I realized today that I have not been tending to my blog so I wanted to update a bit.
I had a revelation today. A friend from high school and I were chatting today on facebook, she just found out she is pregnant with her 4th child and is having a hard time coming to terms with her pregnancy. Not that she doesn't want her child, or doesn't believe that a child is a pure blessing, just that her youngest is about to start school and she thought she was ready to have a "side life" other than being mommy! She told me she feels guilty because of her feelings since she knows so many couples who desperately want children and can't have any and she has now been blessed with 4 miracles. This made me realize that we, humans on earth, really have no control of our lives, only God does. Who knows how are little lives would be if it weren't for Him? He knows what we need, what we are, who we are, and what we can handle. And He will never give us any more or any less.
I know that Chuck and I have truly been blessed with our little girl. We were chosen for her and she for us. I hear other mommies stories of how their baby cried incessently, colic tales, earrache horrors, etc. We've been extremely lucky in that the only times Maleigha has seen her doctor in almost 9 months have been well baby checkups. She had her first prescription filled this past week, for a cream for a heat rash, and frankly, it's 100 degrees outside, I'm not shocked she needs it!
Milestones in the past couple of months have been many. She crawled, or at least her version of it, July 5. She gets up on her hands/arms, rocks a bit and then just kinda slides her legs. She doesn't quite get the motion of pulling her legs up under her and crawling. But, it gets her where she wants to go. And she gets just so excited when she gets there! Her face just lights up. She is also standing and walking with help. She has stood a couple of times unassisted, after someone has helped her balance. But, only a second or so. Then she plops on her bottom! She pulls herself up if she is sitting next to something. Her booty does not like to sit! She wants to be standing or walking. She has started saying "mama" some. Chuck and my mom both say she is saying momma for me, but she only does it when she wants a bottle or is mad. But if I get within her sight when she says it, she stops and smiles, so maybe she is saying it. I really hope so! She also cut her first tooth July 27 (Aunt Sue's Bday). It's on the bottom. Just a little sliver of white. She loves rubbing her tongue across it. She is developing her own personality. We've learned things she likes and dislikes. Likes--Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, being naked, bathtime, Bella, riding on the lawnmower with Pawpaw, cantelope and watermelon, and bread, dancing, singing You are My Sunshine (with Mommy only) and Daddy singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Dislikes--glasses or hats (take 'em off if you want to talk or hold her!), going to sleep without cuddling with Daddy, being hot, putting clothes on, mashed potatoes. We're working on the mashed potatoes part, sometimes she likes them, most of the time, not so much!
I was lucky enough to spend the last 3 solid days with Maleigha, and these have been 3 of the greatest days of my life. I love being with her and experiencing life with her. Can't wait to see what each day holds!

June 8 Pics/Video

Maleigha is doing her best to start walking and she's only 6 1/2 months old! She does not crawl! Here's video of her "walking". Those little chubby wobbly legs are adorable!

It's been a while.....

Sorry for the delay in writing. A lot has been going on.
May 10 Chuck started his new job at TruGreen. He's an inside sales rep and is doing great! He's met all his goals and made commission his first week, placing 7th out of 20 for sales. I'm so proud!
May 15 we moved out of the apartment in with my parents and Lisa. It's a temporary move until we can find/buy a house that we want and can afford. I hope to have a preapproval within the next couple of weeks so we can seriously start looking. There is 1 house we definitely want but it's a bit out of our price range. The agent told me to let her know when I have the preapproval and she'll offer what we have and hope they take it. So we'll see!
This move has left us all exhausted. I can't seem to get any energy back, plus it doesn't help that I have to get up earlier and drive an hour to work, work all day and then an hour drive home. I only get to see Maleigha about 1-2 hrs every night. But I'm thankful to have a healthy baby girl, a job, and nice home to come home to.
May 17--Maleigha turns 6 month old today! Wow! Where has the time gone?? My baby is growing up. She also started staying with Holly today. Holly is a God sent person and we are very blessed to have her willing and able to keep Maleigha for us during the day.
May 20 Maleigha's 6 month old check up. She's healthy and happy. She weighs 21 lbs and is 28 inches long. She got 4 more immunizations. She took them like a trooper. She's now up to Stage 2 foods. She also woke up this morning with a cold, sneezing, runny nose and coughing. Dr Hamm says it's basically a summer cold/allergies and told me what medicine to get for her. Plus she's teething! No teeth yet, but feel like it will be soon.
May 21 We spent a good part of the previous night/early morning with her very congested, running a slight fever and not able to sleep while laying down. So she laid on Mom for a while and then came to me. I stayed home from work. She slept a good bit and you could tell she just didn't feel good. It was so sad to see her sweet little sick eyes.
May 22 Tony got married so we spent the day out in the horrific heat. Maleigha is getting over a cold/allergies so she and I spent a good part of the afternoon in the house. She still had fun just being silly! The absolute greatest thing she did today was she kissed me ---- I've been working with her for 3 weeks trying to get her to, and today, I just said, "give Mommy a kiss" and puckered my lips and she leaned over, mouth wide open and landed on my lips! Now granted, this is not a "kiss", it's the greatest kiss I've ever gotten! Yes, I teared up! And got her to do 6 times before she got busy doing something else! She then kissed everybody around because everyone was laughing and cheering her on!
May 23 Maleigha went swimming for the first time today. We took some great pics but, in the move, I've lost my camera cord so I'm going to try and find one this week and will post them later! She's definitely a water baby!

Well, that's all I have for now, it's way past bedtime and I want to try and sleep a little bit tonite. Sleep is not my friend lately but I'm trying to get better with it!

Bath Time

Bath time is always a hit at our house. So I made a video to prove it. The part you don't see is just before I started filming, she had grabbed her right foot and almost had to her mouth when it slipped and slapped the water. She looked at it as if to say "get back up here!", grabbed it again, and it slipped again. This time, the water splashed on her and she giggled. But of course when I get the camera rolling, she wants to watch me and the camera and not continue on with her foot issue! But it's still cute, at least I think so!

Easter

Here are some pics from Maleigha's first Easter. She received 6 Easter baskets and an Easter gift. Spoiled? Just a bit!