oh, BOY!

A boy it is - Uncle Jamie and Aunt Nat Nat are having a BOY!!!!!  We are sooooooooo excited we don't know what to do with ourselves. 

They did the early 15-week 3-D ultrasound and got the good news on Thursday morning.  Of course most people had it pegged by guessing ahead of time that it was going to be a boy.  I, on the other hand, tried to be different and say girl but was WAY WRONG!  It's the first little boy in the Thurmond family so I guess we're all gonna learn together! :)  Natalie will be WONDERFUL with a little boy - and all of the fun that comes along with him!!!  And he'll having no trouble knowing what he needs to do next because SYDNEY will let him know exactly what's up, I'm sure! :)

Here's their "finding out" gift from Cousin Sydney.  It turned out totally cute so I had to share!

(pic is kind of blurry, it says Summers Farms Newest Addition)

YAY....we are so excited for you Aunt Nat and Uncle Jamie.  We can't wait to meet Jackson Lain Summers in February (and feed him ice cream like you tried to do Sydney....hahaha.  I told you about pay backs)!

Miss Beach Babe 2010

As promised, I have to do a beach post to show off our little Beach Babe! 

We took a week long trip with my family (Grandma, Grandad, Aunt Nat Nat, Uncle Jamie, Corey, Sydney and me) to Panama City Beach, FL last week and man did we have a big time!  And I can't help but brag but.....Sydney was absolutely perfect!  Really!!!  She was a trooper from the time we got her up on Friday morning @ 3 am until the time we got home the next Friday afternoon @ 5 pm and that is no joke!!!

I was so worried about the 9 hour car ride but we were armed with every possible toy she has and a mini DVD player. Those two things mixed with a sleeping baby most of the time helped us make it through the 9 hours with ease.  We did pack EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink which required our little family of 3 to have to borrow one of Mom and Dad's vans and this is what it looked like..........

While we were there Sydney totally got spoiled to someone being in her face 24/7.  She LOVED the attention...and she was definitely the center of it.  And her Mama and Daddy LOVED the HELP!  Without the help I'm pretty sure we would have called off every future vacation we ever thought about taking because MAN it's hard work! :) 

I was thankful that Sydney doesn't really have a SET schedule for napping, eating, bedtime, etc. or else she would have been hard to deal with!  That definitely wasn't the case though.  She rolled with the flow and hung in there with us the whole time. 

Sydney got to swim for the first time and absolutely loved it.  She also took her first trip down to the beach but no sand between her toes, this time, at least!  Her Daddy set up her canopy and she napped in that one day and then took over Grandma's chair the other two. 

Overall it was a WONDERFUL week and a much needed break from our normal routines!  Thanks for sharing in our fun times Grandad, Grandma, Aunt Nat and Uncle Jamie!

4 MONTHS!

She wore her overalls in honor of Daddy's 1st day of corn shelling :)

Oh goodness, my baby is already 4 months old!  Once again, it's hard to believe.  I can still close my eyes and play April 20th (ugh) and 21st over again in my mind like it was yesterday.  I hope I always remember her arrival as vividly as I do now!!!!!

But anyways, as Granny would say, here's what's been going on with Miss Sydney over the past month......

Growing, growing, growing...and if you don't believe me just hold her for a while. :)  I don't know exactly what she weighs but we've got guesses floating around.  Guess we'll find out at the doctor on Thursday.  She has grown into a new clothing size.  She's now wearing 3-6 month clothes which is sad because she's getting bigger but SO MUCH FUN because she gets to wear new clothes - and what girl doesn't love that?!  She's also in size 2 diapers now which we thought would just swallow her - wrong!!! 

It's so much fun watching Sydney as she does new things almost everyday.  In the past month she has really started LOVING her toys.  She now reaches for them, holds them, and then, of course, sticks them in her mouth almost immediately.  One of her favorite spots is on a quilt in the living room surrounded by tons of toys!  Her two favorite toys (Ellie, the stuffed elephant, and her purse) go EVERYWHERE with her and most of the rest of them stay at home on her quilt.  She also likes to watch cartoons every now and then between playing with toys.  We don't do it a whole bunch because I don't want her to get addicted to the t.v. BUT it doesn't hold her attention for a little while when Mama needs it the most! :)

Sydney has added a new mearning to LOL!  If you catch her in the right mood and act EXTRA silly she will absolutely crack up laughing at you.  She did it the first time at Aunt Nat Nat and of course, I was without the video camera.  Sorry Nat!  I did catch her another day with Cousin Katelyn though but can't figure out how to get the video on here.  I'll put it up sometime when I figure it out.

We had another photo shoot, this time for her 3 month pictures, and thank goodness these went better than her newborn pics!  It wasn't the most wonderful experience by any means, but at least she stayed awake so we could see her pretty eyes!  The picture drama this time was her hands in her mouth - she wouldn't take them out!  Needless to say - Grandma, Aunt Nat and I were pooped by the end of the photo session!!!!  One of us would talk to her, the other would dangle toys in her face and the other would take her hands out of her mouth at the last minute.  Shew!

Sydney is still eating and sleeping wonderflly.  I am still breastfeeding and it's still going great - as long as it's quiet! :)  She eats great and goes down to sleep great as long as there's not much else going on, otherwise she HAS GOT TO SEE what's going on.  Some people say she gets that from her Mama but I'm not sure what they're talking about?!?!  She sleeps through the night (9-10 hours) about 1/2 of the time now and the other 1/2 she might wake up around 4ish to eat but goes back to sleep.  Still no complaints here!  She's also napping twice a day - once in the morning and once in the afternoon for 2-3 hours at a time.

We've been staying busy, busy, busy this month and she's an absolute expert at hanging in there with me while I drag her in and out and in and out!  She also doesn't mind a bit when I drop her @ Grandmas while I do my running around, which happens a lot too!  And speaking of Grandma...she spent her first night away from home (and her sad Mama and Daddy...ha!) and stayed with Grandad and Grandma!  Apparently they all 3 had a wonderful night. 

And last but not least - she took her first family vacation last week to Florida.  I'll do a whole "beach" post later but we did have some FIRSTS that I have to share.  Not only was it her first time to the beach but her first time swimming and she's in love! :)  But that's not the best part....while we were there she decided she was going to break out a new trick....SHE ROLLED OVER!!!  It was wonderful!  She rolled from her tummy to her back (not sure if this is what's supposed to happen first or not??) and we ALL got to watch!  Daddy even caught it on video.  All I have to say is picture this.....Grandma, Grandad, Uncle Jamie, Aunt Nat, Corey and I ALL rooting her on and doing stupid human tricks.  It was hillarious and you really should have heard us after it happened!  Priceless!

Sydney Diane: Daddy and Mama love you so much and look forward to EVERY SINGLE day with you because you bring us more JOY than we have ever known before!  The past 4 months have flown by and we are loving every minute!  You are such a happy, sweet, laid back and loving baby and if you don't believe us just ask your Grandparents, they remind us daily of how lucky we are! :) 

We love you always - Daddy and Mama

Just peachy!

On Saturday, Corey, Sydney, and I had a wonderful family afternoon in Bowling Green.  Corey has finally figured me out - if we plan something to do away from then house then we get to forget the "to-do" list at home.  Smart man!

Our first stop was Jackson's Orchard.  I had never been there, (except a few weeks ago on a Sunday when it was closed! :( ) so we headed out on a mission for some peaches for mama!  I love fresh peaches and haven't had any this year and guess what, I was in luck!  And man are they yummy!  We had a nice visit looking around, strolling Sydney, and hitting the jack pot on the peach "hunt". 

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Sams, Target, and Barnes and Noble - not as much fun as Jackson's Orchard FOR SURE!  We were hoping to end the evening with some O.G. Baby (Corey's slang for Olive Garden) but with an hour wait ahead of us and a fussy baby creeping fastly approaching we decided to take it to the house before we all 3 had a meltdown in the middle of the oh so crowded O.G.!  Good decision, don't you think? :)

We called Grandma on the way home to see what she had left from the supper she was having downstairs and we were in LUCK!  And it gets even better - Grandad and Grandma babysat Sunday night so Corey and I could fulfill our O.G. craving at last!  Ahhhh!  Thanks bunches!

Bad at Goodbyes!

For the past couple of weeks Mom and Dad have spent many hours at Grandaddy and Granny Thurmond's house (Syd and Carol) preparing for a yardsale that we had this past weekend.  Grandaddy died almost 9 years ago in November and Granny has been gone a little over 5 months now, which is still hard to believe.

Corey, Sydney and I have stopped in several times to help go through things or move stuff out.  Natalie and I both brought home several things that were special to us or reminded us of being at their house and of course, Dad and Mom did too.  As the "cleaning out" continued it was sad to watch it get a little emptier and a whole lot less like Granny's each time we stopped by. 

Last weekend we put lots of stuff in the yardsale, kept even more, took some to Goodwill, and still kept some more because we couldn't bare to part with the things that meant so much to them over the years.  Now all that's left are a few odds and ends to clean up, a few pieces of furniture that the renters bought to keep there, and thank goodness, the familiar smell that we all remember Grandaddy and Granny's house smelling like.  Kind of funny how you never even think about stuff like that until now!?

(Sydney tired from yardsaling.)

I'm so thankful each day for sweet memories AND this precious girl who keeps reminding us of Granny with her "pocketbook" held tight and her neck turned around gawking!  We love and miss you two, Grandaddy and Granny!  It's almost like saying goodbye again and unfortunately I'm TERRIBLE at goodbyes!

Happy Birthday Cousin Kate!

Corey, Sydney, and I took Katelyn to Green Hills shopping to celebrate her 17th Birthday.  She turns 17 tomorrow (Wednesday) and we couldn't do anything with her then because SHE STARTS HER SENIOR YEAR TOMORROW...AHHHH!  Hard to believe!  So, we went shopping a few days early. 

She entertained Sydney in the car on the way down..........then we shopped for a few hours........then we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and we convinced Katelyn to try cheesecake for the first time.  I assured her it tasted nothing like cheese! :)  She opted for the Oreo Cheesecake and our waiter (Leland, who totally had a crush on her) even put candles in it and wrote Happy Birthday in Chocolate!  Awww, how sweet.  ha!

We had lots of fun with you on Sunday Katelyn and we hope you have a WONDERFUL 17th Birthday.  We love you!

Playin' Hard

Sydney has been playin' hard during the last few days.  We've broken out some new toys because she's starting to reach for and grab them.  Her favorite is a little cloth purse (why, of course) and she LOVES playing with it.  I wonder if she'll need a new one for the fall??? ha! 

She also has been trying out her Bumbo seat for a few minutes every day and doing GREAT in it.  She's really starting to hold her head up and I LOVE IT!  My favorite thing in the world is watching her do new "big girl" things every day......I just don't want to think too hard about it because I know that means she's growing up! :(

A new treat for her are her frozen teethers.  Man she loves them.  It's like BABY CANDY!

Overnight at Grandma and Grandad's

A couple of weekends ago we had a night out - and Sydney had a night at Grandma and Grandad's.  We didn't really have any big plans but Mom kept offering to keep Sydney for the night so we met met Natalie, Jamie, Kacie and Brent at Brickyard for dinner and then went to Josh Gent's birthday party for a little while.  And speaking of party...I've totally forgotten how.  I felt like such a boring MOM there! :) 

Needless to say, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be....the BEST part was the company. :) Other than that I missed Sydney, couldn't handle staying up very late and didn't even sleep in because I was ready to get to church early to see her!

Sydney, on the other hand, had a wonderful evening and was in WONDERFUL hands.  She played good and slept all night for Grandma and Grandad!  I worried all night for nothing!  They're ready for her again...but I'm not so sure I am! :)