All better!

Here's Channie on her first sick day! Looks like a bad case of playing hookie to me.

Here's the face I get when I tell Channie "No". I think she's pretending she doesn't yet understand English.

Too cute for words

"Look Mom, No hands!!" Channie watching one of her shows and standing on her own like a big girl.

Channie at school with her buddies Leah and Turner.

Chandler is officially back in business! We stayed home on Wednesday to ensure she was fever free for 24 hours and then we were back to work/school on Thursday. I have to admit that even though I worked from home on Wednesday, it really was so nice to have the day with her. It was pretty comical when I think about how I changed a VERY dirty diaper and participated in a conference call at the same time. I'm sure I'm not the first to do this but it was my first for sure. Chandler was so good and occupied herself with her shows and toys when I couldn't be right there to play with her. All I can say is Thank God for the mute button during some of those calls. Chandler is quite chatty at times and that day was no exception. Most importantly of course is that she's feeling well again. Unfortunately, we seem to be swapping these colds back and forth. By last night my voice had pretty much left me and the icky achy feeling was back. Oh well, I know this is just part of being a mom and I wouldn't trade this runny nose for anything!

Thankfully, no more incidents at day care to report of. Channie continues to love it there which makes me so happy. I stopped over to see her on my lunch hour on Thursday and Friday to give her some meds for the cold. I just love to see her beautiful little face light up when she sees me peeking through the window. Yesterday I stayed for a while and TRIED to play with some of her little friends. Chandler made it clear I was HER mommy and NOT theirs. As she pushed Little Addison and Jerry away from me I could imagine her saying, "Go get your own mommy!" Too funny!!

She is still not entertaining the thought of taking any steps on her own. She will stand now for quite a while but if she needs to get anywhere she just plops to the ground and takes off crawling. I look forward to seeing her walking one day soon but in her own time, of course. I have a feeling once she starts I am going to be in BIG TROUBLE! :)

Chandler's first sick day:( + 2 incident reports

Booooooo! Last night Chandler's little nose started to run and she was sneezing like crazy. When she woke up this morning she didn't have a temp but wasn't her happy girl self. When I dropped her at school this morning I asked her teachers to keep an eye out for her. Sure enough, I received a call from school at about 3pm today that our little pumpkin was running a 101.5 temp. Miss Tonya, one of her teachers, said she was having a blast as usual but burning up. This was my first call FROM school so I booked out of work like the building was on fire. I'm sure this is normal for new mom's but it was pretty fast and look back on it, probably pretty funny, I must admit. Anyhow, after I called the pediatrician who assured me that she'd be okay, I was at school to pick her up. She is back to her happy self as usual tonight but now with rosy cheeks and a runny nose. Poor sweetie! Looks like Mommy will be working from home tomorrow so we can keep an eye on her fever.

Now I must share about Chandler's two back to back incident report days. This is actually quite humorous. These reports are completed by the teachers at school any time the children get hurt, even the slightest bump. Well, yesterday was Chandler's first incident report. Apparently she and another child bumped heads, literally. I do this all the time at work, but not literally usually! Anyhow, no biggie on that one. She recovered instantly and quite honestly if we kept incident reports at home, we'd have at least 5 a day with this wild girl! So today was THE big incident. When I called in to check on Chandler this morning and before we knew about her fever, they said she had another "incident". This time while she was playing with a toy another child tried to take it from her. When Chandler wouldn't give it to the child, he/she bit her. I say "he/she" since the school doesn't disclose to me which child bit her. I can't tell you how bad I wanted to ask but I was good and did not. :) I thought it was cute when the teacher said normally Chandler will just walk away if someone wants her toy but this time she must have wanted this one bad. Anyhow, no serious injury once again, just a cute story for the scrapbook.

And lastly I must ask, what happened to our beautiful Summer weather or even Fall weather for that matter? We woke up yesterday morning to a brisk 36 degrees. This is very cold for Charlotte at this time of year, especially considering it was in the 80's last week. I see only one good thing about this which is of course that Chandler gets to wear all these cute winter hats. I think she likes them too!

Thank you Auntie Kelly Jo

Bummer! Unfortunately, Auntie Kelly Jo had to return to her home in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday. We were sad to see her go but can't wait for her to return for Spring Break in '09. And as an added bonus, Uncle Bob and Cousins Dustin and Tanner will be coming then too. Yay! As you can see from the photos, Chandler and Auntie Kelly Jo bonded instantly. I loved coming home from work each day to see the two of them into something new. The best was when Auntie taught Chandler to blow kisses in just one day. The next morning when we left for school, immediately when Chandler saw Auntie she knew what to do....blow kisses! What a smart cookie she is!!

Thank you so very much Auntie Kelly Jo for coming to stay with us my first week back to work. We love you so very much and can't wait to see you SOON!

Here are the girls getting to know one another over a nice Mexican dinner

The best part of dinner is of course DESSERT!! Just like her mama, Chandler loves her ice cream!

This one's my favorite! A match made in Heaven, these two!

You've never danced until you've danced a jig to the dualing Elmo's with Chandler. Hokey Pokey anyone?

Chandler LOVES school and Auntie Kelly Jo!!

I am so proud of my sweet little girl. She is doing great at her "school" in the mornings and playing with Auntie Kelly Jo in the afternoons. I am so proud of her. I was so nervous driving to school on Monday morning but I should have known she'd love it there. SHE didn't shed a tear while Mommy just a few. The minute we walked into her room I set her down to play and the rest was history. She never looked back and waved when I said goodbye. The teachers were all so nice and assured me I could call as many times as needed. I only called once and they said she was doing great and ate a very big breakfast and lunch. Once again, no big surprise there. Her little classmates will be lucky to get a full meal now with Channie there. :) When I went back at 11:30am to pick her up, I watched her through the window as she played in cubby with toys. When I knocked on the window she looked over at me and smiled and then went back to playing. I am so happy she loves it there. Yesterday was just the same. They all commented how good she is but of course we all knew that already! :)
Her afternoon with Auntie Kelly Jo are no different. She falls asleep on the ride home from school and wakes up at home ready to play with Auntie. From what I hear, they're having a blast and Chandler is sharing all of her funny tricks with Auntie. Yesterday Kelly called me at work laughing hysterically. She said she and Chandler were playing the game where one will scrunch her nose then the other in return. Apparently this went on for quite a while until Auntie broke out in a roar of laughter with Channie following. I am so happy to have Kelly Jo here with us and its obvious Channie is also!
Gotta run. Thanks all for thinking of us during our transition week. The calls and emails have been very much appreciated!!

NY trip continued, Auntie Kelly Jo Visits, Back to work

Well, our trip to NY sure was fun. I've been home to visit many times and always have fun but never quite as much as this time. Despite the unseasonably cold temperatures, we enjoyed every minute of our time there. It was so nice to see friends and family and for Chandler to meet them all. Mom had a beautiful gathering at her home on Sunday to welcome Chandler. I was so touched that my aunts, uncles, cousins and many of my mom's dear friends drove from miles away to meet my little pumpkin. She loved all the attention and even gave up a nap so she wouldn't miss a thing during the party. I couldn't believe how she hung on. It wasn't 5 minutes after the last guest left and she crashed. :)

The flights back were perfect. She slept on the first flight and entertained the second. She's so much fun to travel with so since she flies for free until she's two, it looks like we'll be taking a lot of trips between now and next September 25th!

The rest of our week was fun as usual. Knowing this was our last full week together before I go back to work, we played extra hard. She's saying a lot more words now and is standing on her own with perfect confidence. She is still seriously contemplating the walking thing but to date still opts for the safer alternative of crawling at record speeds. I have a feeling as soon as she's around the little one's at day care, she'll skip walking and move straight to a slow sprint!

Speaking of day care, the time has come. I won't write much about it right now since it is late and I'm about out of Kleenex but needless to say, I'm sad. I've enjoyed these seven weeks with her and am very grateful for this time. It's been the time of my life. There's not been a day that has gone by when she doesn't make me laugh until my stomach hurts. Sometimes my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. She's such a joy and I know that day care will be good for HER but it still hurts. The wonderful part of this week, is that my very dear friend (Chandler's Auntie Kelly Jo) has flown in from Cleveland to spend the whole week with Chandler. This is something that Kelly has wanted to do since I first mentioned my idea of adopting back in Early 2005. She's left her beautiful children, super husband and very busy job back in Ohio to come help Chandler and I through this transition of going back to work. Chandler will go to day care 1/2 days and spend the rest of the time with her Auntie Kelly Jo. They're going to have so much fun together and I am forever grateful for such a wonderful friend.

Well, here it goes. I am off for a few hours of sleep before we embark on a new journey of work and day care... oh and by the way, Chandler and I refer to her day care as school. I believe this makes her feel more grown up. :) And if you hear crying about 7am tomorrow, don't worry it's NOT the baby!

Photos of our trip to NY

We're at Nana and Grampie's

We made it to the North Country! Our flights on Wednesday were easy and right on time. Chandler is such a good traveler and especially enjoyed the second leg of the trip where the flight was packed. This allowed her A LOT more "flirt time" with perfect strangers. She played peek a poo with the couple behind us the entire flight. She's quite my little social butterfly!

Nana picked us up at the airport and the rest has been just lots of fun and playing. Grampie came to meet Channie that evening and we all went to the diner for dinner. Chandler is almost as good of an eater as her Grampie. Definitely a clean plate club girl like Mommy! Grampie spent the rest of the evening getting her new car seat secured safely. I tried myself for hours without any luck. What a hoot! Thanks Grampie for coming to our rescue.

Here are a few pictures of Chandler playing with her grandparents. It's easy to see that she already loves them both very very much.

Chandler's 1st Birthday!!

My baby girl is now 1 year old! We've had so much fun celebrating her special day(s). On Thursday which was her actual birthday, she and I had a special lunch at Chuck E. Cheese. We were so fortunate that it was nearly empty in the place so we had a blast checking out all the rides and play areas without any wait. I only cried a handful of times as I watched this little monkey laugh and explore all the neat things there.

We later went to my friend Kelly's parents for a special birthday celebration for Channie. It was so nice of them to have cupcakes, balloons and gifts for Channie. She just loved playing with the Floyd Family and their sweet granddaughter Kaitlyn. We all laughed hysterically when we realized we were like the baby paparazzi photographing the two girls together. Chandler had such a fun day that she was asleep before we even pulled out of their driveway.

On Saturday my sister Yvonne and her family drove in from Raleigh for Chandler's party on Sunday. This was the first time they met Chandler and she took to them all very quickly. She enjoyed Natalie reading her stories and Ethan holding her. Aunt Yvonne and Uncle Chris were a huge hit too. Chandler just loved all the excitement and attention. We're hoping to visit them in Raleigh at the end of the month.

Sunday was Chandler's party. We had a great time and were so happy to have our friends and family here with us. I had a smaller cake made just for Chandler; she really enjoyed digging into the frosting. Actually, I think I'm still scrubbing that pink frosting off of her. She played for as long as she could and then finally just fell asleep in my arms during the party. I guess even party girls have to sleep!

It's hard to believe my precious baby was handed to me for the first time over a month ago now. This little muffin has brought so much joy into my life in such a short period of time. I am forever grateful to God for this treasure.

Only 1 more day and we're heading up north to see Nana and Grampie. We can't wait!

We've been home more than 2 weeks now....

It's hard to believe we've been home for over two weeks now. I've never had so much fun in my entire life. Chandler is doing great! She's learning new things every day. She now says "Mama" when she sees me and also chants "bear" when she spots her giant teddy bear. She's an eating machine and this week firmly declared that she wants nothing more to do with baby food. She's all about grown up girl food now. If it doesn't require a spoon then she wants it and NOW! :)Chandler loves to be on the go and is such a great travel companion. She still doesn't love the car seat but if I time it right, she will sleep through most short trips. On Monday afternoon we went over to my friend Debi's house. Chandler had such a great time with her family. She just loves her new bouncy seat she "inherited" from their kids.
Oh and last weekend we ventured down to the Spartanburg area to visit the Stephens, Johnsons and Helms families. As usual, she loved all the attention and enjoyed playing with everyone.

That ought to do it for our road trips for a while. Our next BIG trip is in less than two weeks to go visit Nana and Grampie in NY. Yay! We can't wait and will be sure to pack lots of WARM clothes. Us Southern Girls don't do cold well! :)

Thanks for reading along and please stay tuned. Chandler's first steps are right around the corner. I just know it! Have a great week!

Auntie Debi showing Chandler around their home. She loved getting to know all of their pets too! I do believe Chandler will be HUGE animal lover just like her Auntie Debi and Cousin Erykah.

Kevin and Kyle make Chandler laugh BIG TIME! This jumpy seat used to be theirs when they were babies. They gave it to Chandler and she just loves it but I think she wishes the boys were here each day to bounce her around and make funny faces with her.

Chandler loved playing with the Johnson and Helms "big kids" and as you can see, she really warmed up to Jessie Johnson.

Clowning around with Uncle Chad while his mom and grandmother cheer them on.

Great Grandmother Taylor loves Little Channie and Channie loves her too!!