Happy Halloween from our Little Pumpkin!

Happy Halloween!

It will be a little quiet here on the blog for the next couple of days b/c my mom just got into town this morning..yay! And we have a busy, fun-filled weekend ahead of us! We picked her up at the airport this morning and hit the ground running. We headed straight to one of Shelby's friend's first birthday party...we are now cheering on the Dawgs before heading to the ZBB concert tonight :) Tomorrow will bring a trip to the NOLA aquarium, and then lots of trick-or-treating fun on Monday! Fun, fun! So I wanted to go ahead and wish you a very happy Halloween weekend from our little pumpkin! :)

Sweet Spider Halloween Card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Halloween photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Family Photos

As I mentioned before, we had some family photos taken last week by Many Moons Photography. The photographer actually lives here on base, so we were able to get our pictures taken along the back bay in our neighborhood. I love that these photos were taken in a place that we spend so much time as a family...the pictures will always be a special reminder of our time here on the Gulf Coast.

I was so worried these pictures were not going to turn out good at.all. Lately, Shelby hasn't been napping in the afternoon..she just has a quiet "rest time" for about an hour in her crib. But don't you know this was the one day she actually fell asleep, and I had to go in and wake her up to get to the photo shoot on time. This was also the same day that cooler weather decided to visit Biloxi (don't worry though, our highs are back in the 80's again!), so Shelby got a little chilly outside and her nose started to run. And then the bugs started bothering her. Oh, it was a mess! She was just so grumpy the whole time! But the photographer was amazing {and oh so patient!} and really got some good pictures that I know we will treasure for years to come! Without further ado, here are a plethora of pictures for you :)

Wordless Wednesday: DIY Halloween Wreath

{the inspiration via this blog}

{my wreath}

Why, hello there!

Sorry for the silence on the ole blog lately. There's really no excuse or reason as to why I haven't blogged other than the fact that I simply haven't made time for it. :) But let's catch up, shall we?

We are still battling the constipation (and the picky eater syndrome), but I think the hardest part (pun intended) is behind us. It's times like these that I am so thankful for this blog...I wrote that last past with the purpose of venting and getting all of those frustrated feelings off of my chest, and then in return I received so many helpful tips and people reminding me that I'm not the first mama to go down this path. It was so reassuring!

I have lots of stuff to blog about...our trip to a local farm for some fall fun, a DIY halloween wreath I attempted, Shelby's 13 month post, but for now I will leave you with a sneak peek at some family pictures we had made recently and a promise that I'll be back again soon! :)

{picture taken by Many Moons Photography...if you are local, I highly recommend them!}

Reality Blogging

I just read this post by K.Law yesterday, and it inspired me to share some real life with you on this little blog of mine. Now I will warn you that reality TV is oh so fun...but reality blogging in the trials and tribulations of raising a one year old? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and says it's probably not quite as entertaining, but this is our life right now. Don't say I didn't warn you....

Shelby is constipated. And when I say constipated, I mean as constipated as a poor little baby could ever possibly be. And we have tried everything under the sun to remedy it, and we have seen absolutely no results as of yet. Can you say FRUSTRATING? I hate it for her. And in the spirit of keepin' it real, I HATE IT FOR MYSELF. Oh my word, the past week has just been miserable. I have tried changing her diet {and with the pickiest eater ev-er, this was no easy feat. I now dread meal times. Dread. With every fiber of my being. Are you getting the picture??}, tried giving her juice {per recommendation of the pediatrician at her 12 month appt, but she.will.not. drink it}, increased her activity level..you name it, we've tried it. We've even gone so far as to give her a suppository and a laxative...and NOTHING.

I think part of the constipation is a result of her recently switching from formula to whole milk. And another part of the problem is probably that she is still drinking more milk than is recommended for a child of her age, but the girl will not eat solids to save her life...so what's a mama to do? Her diet basically consists of milk and snacks. If I let her, all she would eat is yogurt melts & those Gerber Lil Crunchies {which are basically just cheetos for babies that are fortified with vitatmins} & goldfish. And who am I kidding? Despite my relentless attempts, that is pretty much all she is eats. I literally sat at the kitchen table yesterday morning while the two of us ate breakfast in tears. Tears. I know you're probably thinking I am crazy and wondering why I was crying...what's the big deal? Well, let me tell you what the big deal is. Since I have the privilege of staying home with Shelby, she is my one and only concern..my only responsibility right now. And with nothing else to worry about, it leaves me with all the time in the world to obsess over this. And it is literally driving me bananas {which is funny b/c Shelby loves bananas, and I haven't been letting her eat them with the diet change..sadness}.

As frustrated as I am right now, I know I am not alone. I know I am not the first mama to fret over her baby's diet and her lack of poopy diapers. And there is so much comfort in that. I have made some new friends on base recently that have really enriched my life. Two of these sweet people who have befriended us are also UGA alums and even from our hometown...what a small world! As soon as I mentioned Shelby's constipation to this friend who also happens to be a first-time mama, she immediately told me of her struggles of constipation with her son and shared some of their stash of prunes with us. :) Shelby and I have also joined a really great playgroup recently, and it has been so good for both of us. Shelby is getting some great interaction with other kiddos her age, and I am getting the adult conversation that I crave during the days and the camaraderie of going through this journey of motherhood together.

And in conclusion, I must ask you all to pray for some poop. Seriously.

A Fun Family Morning

Derek has been working the night shift at the hospital lately, so we don't see a lot of him these days. Usually our only good chunk of family time where we're all in the house together & awake is 5:30-7:30pm, which also happens to be the time when we are scrambling to get dinner on the table, Shelby is starting to get a little fussy (afternoon naps have been a struggle at our house for the past couple of days), and Shelby needs her bath/bedtime routine right around the same time that Derek is getting ready to head out for work....so needless to say, it's not really quality family time! Ha! But Derek had a night off the other day, which meant Daddy was well-rested and we were able to spend a wonderful morning together as a family!
So we loaded up the stroller in the car and headed to the beach. We walked along the beach a bit and took a stroll down the Lighthouse Pier. It was such a nice Fall morning with a hint of chill in the air, which is a rare treat on the Gulf Coast! Since it was cool enough, we just left Shelby in her jammies for the morning to keep her tootsies warm. :)

{view of the lighthouse & visitors center from the pier}

Being Touristy

When we lived in Northern VA, we would always make a trip into DC whenever we had visitors...there was so much touristy stuff to do & see! We lived there for three years (Derek for four), and there's still stuff we didn't get to see. Biloxi is definitely a change of pace from DC, and there's not nearly as much touristy stuff to do here...but we all know this is the main attraction when people come to visit. :)

{Shelby getting into the Halloween spirit with her new shirt from BooBoo & Pop-Pop!}

But even though Biloxi is far from DC, we still love our new little town! When my parents & sister came into town for Shelby's birthday, we took them to the lighthouse & new Biloxi Visitors Center one morning.

{via}

The original visitors center was destroyed by Katrina. The lighthouse did endure some damage, but it has survived Camille & Katrina and countless other Gulf Coast storms. The new Visitors Center just opened a couple of months ago and sits right behind the lighthouse.

{looking up the staircase of the lighthouse}

{Grammy & Shelby watching from as the rest of us went up the lighthouse}

{all six of us in front of the lighthouse}

{the rest of the pictures below are taken from the balcony of the Visitors Center that overlooks the lighthouse}

{Shelby found buttons on Grampy's shirt..she loves buttons!}

{tongue sticking out...you can tell she's thrilled to be taking pictures!}

{classic picture...if you know my Dad, this picture probably doesn't surprise you in the slightest!}

We had a great day! Hopefully we'll have more visitors soon who we can show around Biloxi...hint, hint! ;) We heart visitors! And speaking of visitors, my mom is coming at the end of the month and I am SO excited! :)

A Photo Dump....

Here are a few more random pictures from Shelby's birthday weekend that haven't made it to the blog yet, but I thought they were definitely worth sharing/remembering...

{sweet cousins}

And I'm pretty sure that is the last of Shelby's birthday posts..thank you for indulging me! ;)

Another milestone!

We have an official crawler! Shortly after Shelby's first birthday, she suddenly started crawling! She has been doing her "Air Force crawl" for a little while now, but recently she started to stay up on all fours a little longer before dropping down to her belly when she was ready to start moving. But all of a sudden, she started to crawl this way right after her birthday! Like I've said before...this girl does everything in her own time! Ha! Some kids start walking around their first birthday, and ours has just started crawling! ;) But we are so proud of her!

And just for good measure, here's another video for you of Shelby's preferred method of mobility. :)

The Birthday Girl on the Move!

As promised, here is a video of Shelby doing her version of the "booty scoot." This isn't the best video, but it's the best one I've got right now and I figured it goes with the birthday theme of my recent posts. :) Enjoy!

Shelby's First Birthday Party!

Shelby's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so we were able to have her very first birthday party on the day of her actual birthday. We were so thankful that our immediate family {my parents & sister as well as Derek's mom, step-dad, sister, brother-in-law, and our sweet niece} were all able to make the trip to Biloxi from GA/AL to celebrate with us! We were also blessed to share this special day with a few of our neighbors and friends here at Keesler.

Here is our little family of 3 right before the party got underway...
You can tell Shelby wasn't too thrilled about wearing her birthday hat, so it didn't stay on for very long! Ha!
Shelby did not know what to think when I put the cupcake in front of her and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. I think she takes after her mama...doesn't like all of the attention on her! She's usually the loudest little girl when we're at home, but whenever we're at playgroup with friends or in a large group setting she always gets quiet...it's so neat to see her little personality starting to come out more & more.
This next picture is so Shelby. Whenever she sees something new, she always inspects it with her one little pointer finger.
After several minutes & a little help from Daddy, Shelby finally realized that birthday cupcakes are pretty fun after all! :)
Next up...opening presents!
Shelby wasn't too interested in opening the gifts, so I had to do most of the work..haha! But Shelby {and cousin Elly, too!} did have fun playing with the tissue paper and bags!
After the gift wrap got old, we finally moved on to the new toys :)
Grampy is reading Shelby one of her new board books :)

These next two pictures were taken the morning after Shelby's birthday party...can you tell these sweet cousins were enjoying playing with the new toys?!