The company Christmas party...

Last night was the company's Christmas party. It was not only our company at Ft. Meade, the 53rd but our sister company 327th. It was so nice that they combined for the party because I have made friends with the ladies in the 327 and they are great! What was also nice is that they offered free childcare from 6 to 9 that night so us parents could have some fun without having to worry about our little ones. Luckily for me, I had a dress and could figure out something to do with my hair so we didn't feel the need to spend money on the night. The event was held at the club house at the golf course on Ft. Meade. First was a cocktail hour as well as a place where we could get our photo taken and then we sat down to a very nice dinner of chicken, carrots, rice, potatoes, salad and of course dessert. I can't say that Miss Mikaila enjoyed her evening, since she was sick and very tired when we dropped her off but I do believe that she was ok with it. Here are some pictures from the evening.

Looking back....

A year ago today I found out that my life would change forever. I was going to finally be a mommy, something that I had looked forward to for a long time. Until I found out I was having a girl, I knew that I was having a boy, I just knew it. Actually, I didn't believe she was a girl until she was born. Anyways, to celebrate the day, here are some pictures of my little sweetie.

A house full of colds

It's that time of year again, not only is it cold outside but all of us inside have colds. Stuffy noses, mounds of tissues and counting down the minutes until we can take another dose of medicine. Zeb and I have decked out the house for all things cold related. We have Emergen-C, Day Quil, Sinex, Sudafed, and Cold-eez drops. Oh and for Mikaila, since she is getting to share in all the fun, has a humidifier and a Vick's plug in that shoots out straight menthol. Needless to say, her room smells amazing.
On a side note, I must explain the difference in which Zeb and I take our Emergen-C, which for those of you who don't know what it is, it's a fizzy powder that is mixed with water that you drink. So, in true girly fashion, I have to suck mine down with a pink bendy straw while Zeb downs his in two gulps in a very manly shot. He makes fun of me.....not nice. Luckily for us, Zeb has the rest of the week off and I hope we are all better before Friday's company formal/dinner/Christmas party thing.

A 3 course meal.

Recently I have been re-reading a popular diet book called "French Women Don't Get Fat". The author gives tips and hints on how to eat for pleasure as well as lose weight. I know it sounds too good to be true and luckily she includes some of her recipes in the book. Everything from chicken to fish to homemade yogurt to apple tart without the dough which Zeb and I tried last night and I will say it was delicious and a lot less fattening without the dough. Zeb also made whip cream and added vanilla, cinnamon and sugar in it and it was so yum!
So, the reason for even mentioning dinner last night is that one of the author's main points in the book is to enjoy your meal. Eat at the table with napkins and everything. Anyone who knows Zeb or I know that we usually watch TV while we eat which can invoke eating on autopilot and not only not enjoying your meal but also eating more and not knowing that you are full. So, last night Zeb and I had a 3 course meal, salad with a Zeb made dressing, main course of steak, homemade mashed potatoes and steamed green beans, desert was the apple tart and Zeb made whip cream. It was beyond delicious and we ate less than we normally would. We also ate on our scmancy pants china which made everything new and fun.

It snowed today!

Mother Nature in all of her confusing and usually glorious nature decided to surprise all of us at Ft. Meade with some snow flurries that actually stuck to the ground. This made me nervous since I had to drive down the road some but luckily, it wasn't bad at all. Usually this type of weather would have shut Charleston down, everyone scrambling to find provisions thinking that they would be stuck inside for just an eternity. Luckily for us, Mikaila was awake and very happy so we got a quick shot of her and Zeb outside in the snow. Don't worry Aunt Kathy, she had socks on!

Sleep....or lack there of

One of the things that I knew that I would be signing up for when having a baby is a lack of sleep. It doesn't mean I would like it but it's part of the package deal. Ever since I was little, I loved my sleep, loved it! My mom was concerned how I would handle the school days when there wasn't a nap time. My brother Joey apparently was the same. This continued into high school with me getting up at the last possible second to get out the door in time and then in college where I would do extra credit not to boost my grade but to counter act all of the classes I missed due to naps. Needless to say....I love my sleep. So, I have been getting beyond spoiled with Mikaila lately with her not only sleeping pretty much through the night but when she does wake, give her a bottle and she would sleep for another hour or so. However, nothing could have prepared me for last night.

Let me premise this with that Zeb and I had a deal, since today is his day off. He would get up for feedings and I would get up with her in the morning. Pretty sweet deal. So Mikaila goes to bed without a fuss, then Zeb and I. Around 10:30, Mikaila starts to fuss so I tell Zeb just to put her paci back in her mouth, problem solved. Sometime after that, she gets up again and Zeb feeds her. After that our cat Seamus starts to mess with our closed bedroom door making a lot of noise. Eventually I get up, thinking something could be wrong. I go downstairs and our Christmas tree has been knocked over. Thankfully it's not real or I would have had a giant mess on my hands. I stood there in shock for about a minute trying to think of how in the world it could have gotten knocked over. So I had to make it right and put all of the ornaments that fell off back on. Then I realized I couldn't find Audrey. Luckily she was in Mikaila's room and was ready to leave as soon as I opened the door.

So, Zeb nor I got the best sleep last night but I'm sure it won't effect our day! To counter this whining about sleep, here are some beyond cute pictures of Mikaila sleeping and of her new favorite thing in the world, her Little Giraffe blanket.

First trip....

This past weekend, a lot of events were happening and Mikaila and I were very fortunate to attend them. However, only Mikaila and I could go since Zeb had to work. He missed us very much and was very ready for us to come back as quickly as possible.
The first event for the weekend was my sweet cousin Kam's wedding shower. She and her handsome Navy man Jim will be getting married next month on January 15th in Charleston and all of us are very excited to take a trip back home. And yes, all of us will be coming, including the cats. Cooper, my parent's dog, will be beside herself with two new playmates, whether Audrey and Seamus want to play or not. Mikaila got to spend some time with her Grandma Melanie, Grandpa Bret and Uncle Jacob and Sarah during the shower. The other occasion for last weekend was my sister-in-law Page's baby shower. Miss Dalton Meyer is due January 25th and we all can't wait to meet her! The shower was very lovely and Mikaila loved her Aunt Page and her Aunt Abby so much!
Mikaila did so well on the airplane ride there and back. The noise from the airplane put her right to sleep the whole time so traveling was kind of a breeze.   :) 

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Hello...

Since all of our family and friends live so far away from where we live now, I decided to try and keep everyone up to date on our lives, especially Miss Mikaila, so no one misses a moment! So our family consists of Zeb and I, Mikaila and our two insane kitty cats, Audrey and Seamus. Those two keep me on my toes on a daily, if not hourly, basis.
Right now we live in Ft. Meade, MD and hope to move back to Charleston as soon as possible. Mikaila is now 3 months old and is showing her personality all the time with smiles, coos and generally being talkative and talking to anything that will listen. She has started eating cereal and we are trying different foods with her. She also loves to sit up whenever she can and she is trying to roll over....any day now she will be a little lady on the move.