So Long Christmas...Happy New Year

From our family to yours.....

We started our Christmas celebrations at home on Christmas Eve with the immediate Smiths. We were unable to see the rest of the Smith Family as they celebrated on Christmas day which we celebrate with my mom's family at my aunt's. After an early awakening at 5 and a return to slumber I had to wake Carsyn up at 7:30 to get her to come see Santa presents! We had to leave by 11 for dinner at my aunts! So afer we all opened our gifts off we went!

Carsyn's closet is now officially packed with new clothes due to birthday and Christmas gifts and I have EVERY FisherPrice, Leapfrog, and Playschool song in my head! Her playroom is PACKED! Yet she still enjoys to play with the phone cords or boxes etc etc.....

Enjoy some pics of our Holiday festivities! I did more videotaping than photographing so there are only a few!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Wake up Carsyn Santa came!"

Carsyn in her "I LOVE CHRISTMAS pjs!" And on her new fave toy!

Lounging around the next day....

I was trying to get a nap in but to no avail of course....

Some Funny Times

Carsyn has been cracking me up lately......

She never had any baby dolls until her birthday but now she has 3 and she loves them. If you tell her to get her baby dolls she knows what they are and brings them to you. In fact the other day she carried one with her on our errands! Sometimes she will bring them to me and hand them to me individually to which I cradle each one and say "Oh sweet baby" Repeat, Repeat, and the she puts her arms up in the air for me to pick her up and say "Oh sweet baby!" She doesn't want me to forget who the REAL BABY is! I fear if there ever is a 2nd child it will be a bittersweet transition for Miss Carsyn Belle! HA HA!

Also she received a beautiful rocking horse for her birthday. We were skeptical as to whether she would get it on it now or wait 6 months or so, but she is already riding! She knows what "Ride the Horsey" means and loves to hear it "Neigh". (Aunt Ann will be soooo proud!)

Carsyn loves my jewelry..she broke 2 necklaces already this week! While she hates to wear her clothes she loves to pull her pretty dresses down and carry them around and look at them!

Carsyn is climbing over EVERYTHING and created herself a juggle gym out of boxes! I turned around and she had climbed up them onto the window seat! AHH! You can't turn away for one second!

She has been doing well with the Christmas tree...she still gets tempted but if you tell her NO she usually looks at you and says something in Babynese (probably like "But I just want to hold it!) and then backs away. The Christmas stockings and Nutcrackers on the fireplace mantle are more tempting and we have to get those down everyday numerous times.

There are many words and phrases that I know she understands yet can't speak. It is funny to see this little person emerging trying to communicate!

She makes us laugh so much!

Here is story that happened today....I am not laughing yet but maybe in a year or two..WARNING not for the uneasy stomach!
We are babysitting my mother's dog for a couple of days (if you recall from an earlier post I gave it to her) and Lilly still is not completely house trained. This morning I thought I smelt some dog poop but I couldn't find it....well a few minutes later I heard a scream and Carsyn had found it and sat it in and smear it all of herself. GAG! UGH! What a way to start the day!


On another note...Carsyn got to attend another buddy's first birthday and I photographed the milestone. Wanna see go HERE
:)

Beyond Ridiculus

Okay just beware...I am going to vent. I am glad I waited until now to write this because if it had been earlier I was REALLY PEEVED!

You know I think I have been pretty understanding throughout this whole moving process even though every time I attempt to change something it never seems to get done correctly the first time...ie checking account, insurance, driver's license, etc etc. If you recall the previous posts I slightly expressed some frustrations dealing with this process.

WELL TODAY BEAT IT ALL! It took me 5 phone calls before I could get an appt set up with a new OBGYN here in Mccomb because they kept telling me to call back so I finally switched to a different doctor and WHAMO got an appointment.. Even though I was supposed to go back in August.

Well in October I called to set up Carsyn's appointment for her 1 year check up because I knew they would be busy this time of year. I made the appointment for today at 3PM which is a week past her birthday but it was the first appointment they had with my chosen Dr. I started at the end of November trying to get her medical records from the Mobile Pediatrician office and have yet to receive a returned phone call or my records sent! Today I called the Mccomb Pediatrician to verify the time and they had no record of my appointment and refused to see her and made me reschedule for Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was NOT HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is my child's health you are dealing with. Insurance, Checking account, car tags, driver's license I can deal with but screwing with my child's health is NOT OKAY! Besides the fact that she has a cold and I wanted her checked out and I have some questions to ask I expect that if I make an appointment 2 months in advance that I will be fit into their "OH SO BUSY SCHEDULE" if they make a mistake such as this! Do they know how difficult it is to get a baby to an appointment in between Chirstmas to dos and playgroups etc etc.

GAH! They totally ruined my HOLIDAY spirit today!

My husband bends overbackwards, often times at the expense of family time, to ensure that every complaining customer has their whiney needs met even if it means working longer hours making deliveries himself and I can't get ONE SINGLE person to do their job correctly the first time to save my life!

This Dr office relationship is NOT starting out WELL!

My Birthday girl!

What a wonderful and event-filled year this has been with Carsyn Danielle! She has taught us so many things and brought so much happiness to our lives. To see yourself in another human being is mind-blowing! I know my husband LOVES to hear how much Carsyn looks like him and we joke that she has my strongwilled personality! One never fully grasps what it means when people say your life will never be the same until you have your own. I sure didn't!



Here is a look back at the last year of her life and some of our favorite moments!

Also here are some pics from our snow day the other day....

PHEW This has been a CRAZY WEEK

I had intentions of writing a post on Carsyn's actual 1 year birthday December 11th but we ended up with 4 inches of snow and no power all day! Needless to say out trip to the zoo got cancelled! You never know what you are going to get with the weather in Mississippi. I think today is supposed to be 70!



Anywho we ended up going to the inlaws who had power and staying there until the afternoon. That night was Danny's company Christmas party and my mom was supposed to come keep Carsyn, however, she was nervous to drive with the weather conditions so Aunt Ann and Hannah came to save us so we could attend the party. The party was at the new Caboose restaurant in downtown Mccomb in a renovated old building. It is an awesome new venue if you haven't tried it yet! So Friday and Saturday were spent hurrying around making up for lost time to get ready for Birthday PARTY TIME!



I have failed to mention to you that starting last week Carsyn has been going to Ms. Sharon's house 3 days a week from 8-11:30 to play with some kids and allow me some alone time. It has worked out great. Surprisingly she naps GREAT over there and it is has allowed her to be a little more adaptable to different situations. It has also allowed me to learn to roll with the flow a little better. We both enjoy our time apart and it makes our time together that much more precious! There were some days I would hardly get a 1 hr break before bedtime at 8! I was losing my mind!



So back to the party on Saturday, just as Carsyn fell asleep for her afternoon nap before the party she had an unexpected bowel movement and had to be changed and put back to sleep....hee hee so she had to be woken up for her own party! She didnt know how to react when she awoke and there were tons of people wanting to talk to her! After a while she got into the swing of things and got to open ALL of her wonderful gifts. When it came time for cake she wouldnt eat it or smash it! I guess she knows Momma does not like messy eating! I never used to eat my cakes as a baby/child either! Anyway I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story. It was a great end to an unexpected week! I will post the year in review Birthday post later that I was planning on posting on her birthday!

Also here are some updates I keep forgetting to mention as they never seem to "fit" into a post...

Teething...Carsyn now has 6 teeth. They all have come in 2 at a time about every 3 months starting at 6 months. She does NOT do well with teething! She becomes an entirely different irritable child who can't sleep!

Sleeping...She is still sleeping 8-6AM and 2 naps a day. I think we will probably be down to one nap in a few more months. She prefers to go to sleep on her own in her crib with her stuffed cow and blanky.

Milk... for months I have been trying to get Carsyn to drink milk or formula from a sippy cup but she would only drink water then all of the sudden when she began going to Ms. Sharon's last week no more bottle and milk in the sippy cup ALL of the time! AMAZING! Also I had worried about our morning wake up routine without a bottle but now it is even better because when she awakes I give her a cup of milk and she drinks it while I hold her and we cuddle for about 30min to an hour...sometimes she even goes back to sleep for a while. This is my favorite part of the day.

Lesson for mommy this month...they don't call them babysteps for nothing, just when you think your baby won't change into the next phase they do it on their own time. Also the saying "worrying is like a rocking chair...it will keep you busy but not get you anywhere" is definitely true. I have wasted so much of this year worrying and now I feel I can actually enjoy my child more.



Enjoy our pics!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

So Here is what is going on

The Smith family (including inlaws) have been scurring around this house trying to get it ready for party time. I still was lacking in some furniture (I know the irony, right) AND had to get Christmas decorations up! AHHHH! In addition to the continuous list of "fixer-uppers" that continue in this ole house!



Carsyn and I did make a trip to Southwest Community College for their stage band Christmas production. She only made it through half-way before she started going down for nappy time, but the time we spent there she was thrilled. She had a little Jinglebell necklace on and she shook it along with the music! CUTE! She also enjoyed the lights. I was skeptical as to how she would do during the program but she seemed to enjoy it. I guess we have our first Mccomb Christmas tradition! The same day we attempted to see Santa but I didn't know he had a schedule and would not return until that afternoon! :( So we will have to re-visit! We returned to SWCC that afternoon to have our family Christmas card pic taken by a friend of ours. Here is the one we will not be using....You will see the winning picture on your Christmas Card in the mail!



Also here is our prized couch that I have been waiting on...up until now we have been sitting on a recliner and lawn chairs!


In addition to party preparations I have been finishing up some Christmas portraits for some families...if you want to see go to http://reflectionsphotographysite.blogspot.com/. Everyday I learn something new and I am very excited to share in everyone's memories!

Well I have to go string some Christmas lights on the tree with a toddler! FUN!

Getting Ready for a Party

We are in party mode....Only 1 week until her 1st Birthday! *tear* More to come later......

So where did we leave off

So let's see what have we been up to lately in the Smith house! When I ended my last blog Danny and I were heading to Hattiesburg to do some Christmas shopping and catch up on some alone time.

Carsyn in no way can feel unloved this month with all of the attention she has been receiving!

For her first Thanksgiving we headed to Clinton to visit Danny's grandparent's new home and Grandfather Smith as he is still recuperating from his very successful surgery. Carsyn slept the entire 1 hr trip there and about 45 min home so good travels when she snoozes! She was kept entertained by the family at all times so no fusses from her. At Thanksgiving we went around the room and told what we were most thankful for this year and of course mine was Carsyn but more importantly that she has had such a healthy and pleasant year. In fact I have been feeling almost guilty with all that we have to be thankful for this year. It seems we do not lack for anything we desire lately whether it be material objects or having the ability to eat out at nice restaurants it makes me feel almost like a glutton.

On Friday my mom came to stay as she was supposed to help watch Carsyn while I took christmas portraits but I got rained out ALL WEEKEND! :( Saturday night Danny and I headed to Baton Rouge for our first night away to celebrate our anniversary (3 years this week!) We had dinner at the Melting Pot which was an awesome experience and good food then we headed to the movies to watch Four Christmases (pretty funny but not a must see). We stayed the night at the Hampton Inn which is Danny's fave hotel (I must say they do have great mattresses and comforters!) and I got my first 8 hours plus sleep in at least a year! It was nice to get away but I was ready to see my princess when we got home. My dad has come to visit several times this trip home (he works off 30 days at a time.) Check out the pics.... I greatly appreciate both of the grandmother's helping to watch Carsyn so that Danny and I could get some quality time together.

I will post Carsyn's birthday pics that I took on my next blog along with her birthday invite and a look back at the last year of her life. It is amazing how quickly the year went by! This time last year I was begging her to hurry up and come see us! Yes all of the attention is on me!

Camo twinkies....atleast its pink!



PS: If you are doing some Christmas shopping here are some websites I have been visiting that provide you coupons etc via email when you join their mailing list....I am almost half way finished!

http://www.crazy8.com/
http://www.childrensplace.com/
http://www.thechildrenswearoutlet.com/
http://www.kohls.com/
http://www.jcpenny.com/

Hopefully next time I blog i will have some family pictures to show you that a photographer friend of mine is taking this week so I can ACTUALLY be in a picture! :)

PSS: Go see my blog about my Gracie http://reflectionsphotographysite.blogspot.com/

Adventures of Carsyn

I know the bow doesnt match I was practicing getting her to keep her Christmas headband on!

Well it has been a while since I wrote because I swear life has gone in overdrive.

The smarter Carsyn gets the dumber I get! SERIOUSLY! I think my mommybrain from pregnancy has come back tenfold! In the last week I have lost the keys to the car (which I HAVE NEVER DONE!) and had to get new keys made to a whopping $125 to which I found my keys the moment the dealership left my house! SERIOUSLY?! I sat down and started bawling in the driveway! And I left the stove on today and forgot to turn it off with a pot sitting on it! Don't worry no burns LUCKILY! My vocabulary and spelling is getting worse and worse....I will be in mid-sentence and just completely forget what I am saying or the right word for what I am trying to convey. Just little things that are SO not me and my personality keep occuring and I dont like it! Any way to solve it other than calm down and stop stressing?

But Carsyn's intelligence is gaining each day. The toddler years are definitely upon us and MY GOODNESS is it a challenge to keep up with her. She can now open all doors by herself, anything from cabinets to outside doors. If I show her how to write with a pen or crayon she can do it herself. She is really into the whole nesting thing where they put things inside of things and take them out and REPEAT. She is trying to figure out shapes and on her own she will grab a top to something and try to put it back where it belongs. If I am in another room she walk throught the halls yelling "AGAHH" to which I think means "Momma where are you" and I yell back and she follows my voice until she finds me. (Don't worry its not like I leave her alone for long.) She can assoicate now the sequence of events which is cool if she hears the front door squeek open and looks to see who is there but not cool when she knows bedtime follows bathtime! HA HA!

Carsyn now goes to bed at 8 and sleeps until 6 with no problems so apparently she doesnt need the "required" 11-12 hrs at night. So far so good this week. Naps on schedule also.

Carsyn and her puppy Trey have become best buddies. They play all the time and they console each other when needed. Trey has started going into her room to check on her by himself which at times has caused him to wake her as she is an EXTREMELY light sleeper.

Along with the frustrations of entering toddlerhood I find myself being nostalgic lately as we wait for her 1st birthday party to arrive in less than 3 weeks!

Well lots to do as we head to Hattiesburg tomorrow! :)

I just keep repeating what my mamommy used to say "This too shall Pass!"

Sleep

Ahh sleep I wish I could remember what it was like. After 11 months and 2 weeks I am at my wits end. I give up I surrender I will never know the answer.

I have read every sleep book; Babywise, Healthy sleep habits, Healthy child, The Sleep answer. NOTHING has WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The "EXPERTS" say babies need 11-12 hrs at night and 2-4 hrs of naps. Well not my child. What we have been dealing with lately is waking an hour before she is supposed to wake which makes it around 5-5:30. Sometimes I can get her back to sleep with a bottle but what happens in 4 weeks when I take the bottles away?! I have let her cry and cry to no avail. I have put her to bed earlier because the EXPERTS say sleep begets sleep to no avail. I have put her to bed later because ALL family members including husband and gparents think this is the answer to NO AVAIL! Then if she does go back to sleep we are off of our schedule all day!

Naps are usually only an hour if we are lucky. I am almost ready for her to get to one nap a day so I dont have to struggle with getting her down 2X. Most of the time she does go down for the naps and bedtimes without a fuss but it is keeping her asleep that is the problem. And "They" say that when she goes to one nap she will sleep longer for this nap...yeah I will bet money that it will still be one hour.

Yes I crave routine and I can only get things done with a schedule but more importantly I want my baby to get the rest and nutrition she needs and I just dont feel she is. I haven't obsessed over it like I have in the past but it still upsets me and I still cry right along with her when she cries. She is the most restlesss sleeping baby I have ever known and it would make me feel better if there were any other mothers with this same problem.

Our Weekend

Friday Capt. Pappy (my dad) came to visit. He brought us a ton of fresh shrimp yumm yumm! Anybody who wants some HUGE Fresh shrimp let me know! We can get you some! Friday night Danny and I went to eat dinner with his parents and grandparents at the Country Club...good food, good company, and a night out! That is TWO Fridays in a row people! Ms. Mary Lou was kind enough to sit at the house. I know it is not fun to babysit when the baby is asleep!
Capt. Pappy always the goofball

What is THAT?



Getting the shrimp ready to freeze

Saturday was uneventful except for some Christmas portraits I took that afternoon. Aunt Mo came to watch Carsyn for me.

Sunday the usual church, lunch, and then my mom came to visit for a bit. At church Carsyn saw Addison (the 18mo old in her baby class) and she waved and said Hey to him during Church. HA HA!

Here is our weekend in pictures....
Helping Daddy on the tractor

Just out of church with my shoes STILL on!
I CAN NOT believe my baby actually laid down on her own!
BUT HERE I GO AGAIN!


Carsyn got adjusted to the daylight savings time pretty quickly, however, it seems she might be going through a bit of seperation anxiety again. One of my MANY baby books on sleep discussed how when children reach a MAJOR milestone such as walking that they begin to wake up again at night. Well for the last 2 nights she has done so at 2AM. Danny was so excited he got her to go back to sleep last night for the first time ever without my intervention. I had failed at my attempt, even after letting her cry for a while. Finally he went and laid down on the floor in her room and she fell asleep knowing someone was there. She also is switching from a mommy's girl to more of a daddy's girl these days...which makes Daddy EXTREMELY happy and proud! She loves to make him feel bad when he leaves.

Carsyn's walking has progressed so much in the last month. She now practically runs (well as quickly as an 11 month can run)from room to room! Her chubby thighs are going to disappear soon! :( This also comes with LOTS of bumps on the head and many tears! As you will see in her pics she got a strawberry on the forehead today!

ALSO I have found shoes that she will actually keep on her feet! PEDIPED brand! They are a bit pricey but worth there promise to stay on your children's feet! Go check out their website. They are great for new walkers! I have been able to keep a couple of other shoes on her lately but these are by far the best!

Okay time is flying by on to another week!

Life is Flying BY!

Today is November just the other day it was August! Where is the time going?! Fall is such an exhilerating and fun time yet it makes life fly by! I loved our cold snap that we got early this year(however I also enjoy the average 75 temps too!). I love opening my door and watching the leaves float down from the trees. But I have already been to my first Christmas open house of the season! I recall last year being painfully pregnant during this time and becoming aggrivated with the early celebration of Christmas before Thanksgiving but this year I enjoy seeing the decorations already adorning the store windows! As many of my readers know...I was not thrilled with Carsyn having to share her birthday with Christmas time but I guess it just adds to the excitement because in December we will celebrate everything exciting in our family; mine and Danny's anniversary, Carsyn's birthday and CHRISTMAS!

Not to get a head of myself and totally skip November because the reason for this post is to reflect on how quickly life is flashing by. When I worked at the magazine in Mobile I worked 2 months in the future on monthly issues so I understood why life went quickly but now my weeks are just disappearing watching my baby. She is learning so much so quickly! She mimics a lot of what I do and say which causes you to look at yourself and realize that you better be a good role model because she is already watching everything. Carsyn's walking has gone from a few wobbly steps to practically trying to run in 3 short weeks. It is so cute when she walks towards me and just as she is about to reach me she starts running and laughing excited to have arrived at her destination!

Carsyn will also now start a game of peek-a-boo on her own by hiding behind the chair and poping her head out with a squeal. She also has learned how to turn around and stand in her stroller if she is not buckled in(which I now have to do all of the time now!) She and I have a new game where I strum my finger across her lips and she realizes that if she makes a hum noise than her mouth makes that funny vibrate noise...hope yall know what I mean.

Anyway life is fun but it is going by quickly at the moment. As a planner I have to tell myself to slow down and enjoy the present sometimes.

Carsyn's 1st Halloween

We have been playing dress up for the last few days and Carsyn Belle (as we like to call her) was a BEAUTIFUL butterfly! I had her wear the costume pretty much all day Halloween to get my money out of it! And it looked SUPER CUTE! Nonny came over on Friday night to go trick or treating with us. We only hit up a few houses. It was past Carsyn's bedtime!

Speaking of Bedtime this daylight savings change is YET another bump in the road to sleepiness that we are dealing with. My lovey hasn't had a great nap in ages and now this has really sent us into a tailspin! She awoke at 4:30 this morning!

Back to Friday night...since Nonny was here, Danny and I hightailed it out of the house. We went to Dixie Springs Cafe (AKA Mallard) and then to see the movie Fireproof. Great movie! Very touching and a must see for all married couples. If you can get past the low-budget film making and actors the plot should touch anyone with a heart! Since we didnt make it in until 12 I paid for it the next day since my body is used to going to bed at 10ish. I was in bed by 8 Sat night! Saturday was spent goofing around with Nonny and a brief trip to the Mccomb mall (yes we have one) where I found Carsyn TWO precious Christmas dresses! I CANT WAIT to take her pics in these! (Speaking of Christmas pics if you want me to take her Christmas family picture you better grab your spot!)

Today we traveled to Clinton to see Danny's grandparents. They bought a new house we wanted to see (their other is still for sale in Crossgates if anyone is interested!). Gpaw Smith is not in the best health and we wanted to visit before his operation. Keep him in your prayers. The most gentle man on Earth! Traveling with Carsyn is always a challenge. Enough said! Poor angel needs to get back on her routine!

Enjoy our Halloween pics!


Trick or Treat Ladybug I am Butterfly Can I have your lollipop?!
Time for BED!

I got a ball from Ms Donna instead of candy!

Check this out too!

Top 10 Things that Carsyn did that made me smile this weekend

10. When Carsyn takes her little waddle steps towards me
( she now goes about 4 steps before kapoot)

9. When Carsyn hanks at my pants legs and trys to climb up my leg saying
MAAA MAA MAA MAA especially when I am making her meals.

8. When she giggles when we tickle her.

7. When she gets excited and flaps her arms like a bird...usually when she is getting to go outside.

6. When she cries out for her daddy when he is in another room..I am happy she is now more receptive to him and it means I get a brief break and it makes him feel good!

5. When she hears the phone ring and puts her "pretend" phone up to her ear and says HELLO

4. When she (FINALLY) snuggles and pays attention when I read her a book at nap/bed

3. When she plays tug-o-war with Trey (family pet) and his toy and goes after him laughing

2. When she starts crawling like a mad man when I go behind her saying "I'm gunna get you...I'm gunna get you."

AND


1. When I am holding her and she turns and looks at me deep into my eyes like she is trying to ingrain my face in her mind and smiles at me.



Here are a few pics from the last couple of days. We really didn't leave the house much this week since the wreck on Tuesday. For one, I couldn't walk much less drive, and two, I was a little scared to go anywhere. On Friday we both never got out of our PJ's...it was also COLD!

Carsyn HATES socks, shoes, and bows. Why do I waste my money?! She had them all taken off by the time we got to church!!!!!






Looking at her Get Well Soon balloons she got from Becky after the wreck


Aren't fuzzy footed-PJS ADORABLE?!


Feeding herself with the spoon

Taking fall pics in the yard

Playing with the pets

PS: Go see http://reflectionsphotographysite.blogspot.com for Chrsitmas Portrait info!

Okay here goes

So to catch up I was going to post a blog about our weekend which was pretty uneventful. Sunday my mom came over to go with me and Carsyn to the pumpkin patch which we later found out was not open on Sunday. So we ended up just hanging around the house and taking some fall pics in the yard. What is ironic is that I take tons of pictures of children which I LOVE to do, yet my own child does not cooperate. The entire time she was wanting me to pick her up which I can't do since I am holding the camera. Also she wanted to hold the camera herself since she sees it so frequently. So needless to say we did not get very many good shots but here are a few.






I jumped in for a quick pic since I am never in the shots while mom took the pic.


So then Monday came and we went to the Mccomb library to hear Miss Maddy storytime. It was GREAT and even though it was the toddler session there were 3 other 1 yr olds present. Carsyn had a great time and guess what the story was about? SQUIRRLS and ACORNS!!! Carsyn's FAVE! The activity that went with the story was to go downstairs and collect acrons in your container. Well we do this EVERYDAY at our house! The mothers of the other babies were very friendly and inviting and were excited to meet us. They want to set up some playdates! :) YEAH!

Next came Tuesday...oh yucky Tuesday the day before my birthday. We were being lazy and not doing much. I didnt even wash my hair or put on makeup which I usually do everyday. I wanted to run an errand so I dropped Carsyn off at the store for 30 minutes with daddy while I went. When I returned we started heading home for a nap and then a walk. When I got to the intersection directly in front of my house about 50 yrds, I came to the stop sign. I went on through the intersection and just as I make it through WHAM and I watch as we shoot straight across the road nosediving into a 9 foot ditch that runs along my house. After picking myself up off the passenger side I jump up and unfasten Carsyn's car seat the fastest I have ever done! She of course is crying and I start yelling for someone to come to the ditch to help me get her out because I am afraid the car is about to topple over or blow up or something. We are pretty much vertical. A black gentleman who I had just waved to that was walking down the street runs over and grabs Carsyn up for me. I climb out of the ditch and grab her up. There is blood dripping from her mouth and she has abrasions on her neck from the car seat straps. I instantly start to panic and cry. After about 10 minutes she is fine but I am still crying. I get a bystander to call Danny who arrives about the same time as the ambulance. The other driver was fine just a little bruised. I am in very much pain in my left leg and nose. Carsyn and I take a ride in the ambulance to the hospital. I had to be put on one of those boards and a neck brace for saftey precautions. They tried to do the same to Carsyn but she wasnt having it so they put her in the built in carseat in the ambulance. After arriving at the hospital Danny's aunt Ann (from previous post) is an anestiologist and she is working and meets us in the ER to takes Carsyn while I get x-rayed. Luckily I only have brusies and swelling and from the looks of my vehicle it looks like I would be more hurt. Carsyn just has that cut from her car seat and that is ALL! She was playing pattycake in the ER! :) So needless to say I am pretty bruised up and sore but atleast that is all. My car is totaled. I of course am getting the blaim for accident since my street has a stop sign and the other driver didnt but there are not skid marks from her putting on brakes so I believe she must have been looking down and didnt see me as I didnt even see her. So when they say accidents happen close to home it obviously is true because I was not even a few yards from my driveway! While I hate this incident happened the day before my b-day atleast I learned some valuable lessons! Please be careful as you go through your day- you never know when it can happen to you!

I did receive 3 arrangements of flowers on Wed for my birthday from friends. I appreciate the warm thoughts and well wishes! It helped to brighten my otherwise dreary day! My mom is still here helping take care of Carsyn because I am still extremely sore.

Franklinton Fair

Yesterday afternoon Daddy left work early and we headed to the Franklinton Fair in Washington Parish La. It is about an hour drive from Mccomb. We went with our friends the Taylors, Jason, Dawn, and Hannah (16 months). Unlike the MS state fair in Jackson this fair is like the old timey country fair like you see in Charlotte's Web...we even found Wilbur! The little piglets were sooo cute! We went to the petting zoo and Carsyn also rode the Carousel and Choo Choo train! I think she liked the train better see the pics for yourself! We made it home just in time for bath and bed and boy was she needing to go to BED! It was fun and should be even more enjoyable next year when she can ride more! Maybe next year it wont be hotter than Haites!

More milestones...Carsyn grabbed the spoon out of my hand yesterday and began feeding herself her oatmeal! Not to say that it isnt messy but I was proud she knew what to do with it.

Well I will let the pics speak for themselves..be back after we see what the weekend holds for us!