6 month check up

Lucy had her 6 month check up yesterday. She weighed in at 15 lbs, 1 oz. and 26 inches long. She is growing right along her curve - still a little smaller than average, but just perfect for her! The circumference of her head has actually grown a little larger than expected . . . probably thanks to her band! :) Dr. Bernstein seemed very pleased with the growth she has made with her band and didn't think she would need it for much longer! Everything else looked great and she is right where a 6 month old should be.

Lucy also got four shots and an oral vaccination. She did so well, and hardly cried. She slept for a few hours when we got home, then went to bed about 9:30 and has slept soundly since then. (It's 8:00 AM and she's still snoozing!) Hopefully, when she wakes up, she'll be feeling good.

Lucy also has been sitting up by herself this week. She can sit on her own for a few minutes, unless she is reaching for something!! The first time she sat there on her own, I just teared up . . . .she is growing so quickly! This past 1/2 a year has flown by and she has come so far from that tiny little baby we brought home. That tiny baby has now become a little girl full of joy, laughter, and personality. Next thing I know, she'll be all grown up!

Gingerbread Houses

Gramma, Pappy, Aunt Lauren and Uncle Joe got here on Monday to celebrate Christmas! We had a great dinner on Monday night followed by lots of wonderful presents. Lucy wasn't sure what to think with all the excitement, so she just went to sleep! :) Oh well - next year I imagine that Lucy will join her Uncle Joe in prowling around the tree, trying to guess which ones are for her!

Today we took a Flack/Hout family trip to the Grove Park Inn to see the Gingerbread houses. We had wanted to take Lucy earlier, but it was nice to get to go with everyone. Here are a few of our favorites . . .




Make sure to look in the 6 month folder for more pictures from our holiday fun!

Christmas time

We wanted to get a picture of Lucy in front of the Christmas tree. . . This was the first or second one we took . . . it went downhill from there. :) You can see all of our tries in the Lucy - 6 month folder. Oh well, we'll try again another day!

It's snowing!!!

It has been snowing here in Mills River since around 8 AM this morning. The snow is falling very steadily now and is supposed to continue throughout the evening. We had to go outside and get Lucy's picture in her first snow. . . . who knows when it will snow like this again??

Wearing a "Crown"

Last Thursday, we went to Charlotte where Lucy received her DOC band. ( Or "Crown" as many other DOC parents like to call it!) We had postponed getting it a while ago, but after realizing that it wasn't going to get better on its own, we decided to go for it. Lucy will wear this band 23 hours a day, hopefully for no more than 8 weeks. It's purpose is to correct her plagiocephaly - a big fancy word for "flat spots." Because she was born a month early, her head was still very soft and she spent most of her first month sleeping. Those factors along with her stubborn need to sleep on the right side of her head have caused a flat spot to form. This flatness causes the rest of the bones on the right side to shift forward. Many people say that it isn't obvious to them, but if you were to study her head, you would notice. Our biggest concern was that she might have jaw alignment issues down the road. This condition is easily fixed at her young age - after she reaches a year old, it becomes almost impossible.

We will drive to and from Charlotte once a week to see our friends at Cranial Tech to adjust the band as needed. At this age, her head grows rapidly so with the band applying pressure to certain points and allowing other areas room to grow, the plagiocephaly should quickly correct itself. Lucy doesn't seem bothered by wearing it at all. She has done very well with it so far and she loves Miss Shalon, her therapist! :) Hopefully we will have time in the next week or so to decorate her band so it looks more exciting then just white plastic!

Baptism

In the craziness that is the Christmas season, I forgot to mention Lucy's baptism on November 29th. It was a wonderful day with lots of family. Lucy's Great Granddaddy, Great Aunt Cheryl, Great Uncle Phillip and Great Aunt Bindy, Mamaw, Grammy, Poppa, and Uncle David were there from my side of the family and then Mimi, Asa, Mama Mae, Great Great Uncle Jerry and Great Great Aunt Linda, Great Aunt Tanya, Cousin David, Gramma, Pappy, Uncle Joe, and Aunt Lauren were there from Michael's side of the family. Erin and Melissa drove up for the day also. Michael preached that day so it was nice that so many family members got to hear him. Lucy behaved very well during the whole thing. She was a little fussy in the beginning because she wasn't a fan of having her legs tangled up in a long dress, but once Paul took her she was fine. After church and lots of pictures, we all had a nice lunch at Frankie Bones - it was a wonderful day!

Lucy's dress (Which is difficult to see in the picture above because she's blocking it!) was made by Joyce Gorgas, a member of Mills River UMC. This was her gift to us and to Lucy and we are so amazed at her talent. We met with her about a month before to discuss the dress - we wanted to keep it simple, but there is a beautifully embroidered cross on the front of the dress with the vine and branches wrapped around it. The slip underneath the dress was embroidered with Lucy's name, date of baptism, the church, parents' names, and grandparents' names. What a special gift that we will treasure always and hopefully, will one day be able to use again with the next one!

The sacrament of baptism is something beautiful. It was a great reminder to me that while this is my little girl, ultimately she belongs to her Heavenly Father. In the Methodist church, we believe that baptism, as a means of grace, signifies God’s initiative in the process of salvation. John Wesley preached “prevenient grace,” the grace that works in our lives before we are aware of it, bringing us to faith. By having Lucy baptized, we gratefully acknowledge God's gift of her to us. We recognize that He is present in her life, even now - He knows what each day holds for her and will help us to meet her needs; we are called as her parents to nurture her in this love, helping her to grow until she can one day confirm this truth for herself. Baptism reminds us to look forward to how God will use this precious little girl to change lives for His kingdom. A great responsibility has been given to me and Michael to "raise up a child in the way she should go" - what an awesome task that I am only worthy of because of the grace He has given to me.

You can see more pictures from Lucy's special day in the 5 month folder. I will have more once I get pictures from Pappy and Uncle Phillip.

Christmas Pictures!

I love Christmas time - the lights, the decorations, the music, the time with family and friends, and the celebration of Christ's birth. I remember thinking last year how fun it was going to be to get to share these things with Lucy this year. Well, it's only December 1st, but so far, Christmas as a parent has been so much fun!

Yesterday we took Lucy to the mall to meet Santa Claus. She didn't cry at all and is even laughing in her picture. She also didn't seem to pay any attention to him. I sat her down on his lap and she looked at him and then back at me like, "What's the big deal about this guy?" Oh well, she will learn soon enough.

It was also about time for 6 month pictures of Lucy, so we decided to get a family Christmas photo as well as some pictures of just her. If you look in the Christmas portraits album, you'll see that they were all so good! Lucy LOVED the photographer and she smiled and flirted and talked to him the whole time we were there. It was so hard to choose which photos to order, and I will probably end up ordering more . . . .

We have started to decorate the house for Christmas, and hopefully will get our tree today or tomorrow. Uncle David walked Lucy around the house on Sunday evening, showing her the different decorations. Her face lights up with each thing she sees and you can tell she is thinking to herself, "How can I get a hold of that?" I guess next year, we will have to be a little more careful about how we decorate. I can't wait to see what she thinks of the tree! :)

If Michael feels up to it (He has a sinus infection), we are going to the Grove Park Inn tonight to see the Gingerbread houses. Check back for pictures from there!