Quick As A Cat

It fits! Neely gained four ounces since last week and can almost fill out her newborn clothes…I’m a proud Momma! Aunt Nena got her this little outfit for Halloween but we couldn’t resist putting her in it yesterday.

Yesterday was an event! She was an angel all morning. She slept, played by herself and slept a little more. I took complete advantage of this short amount of time and got a few things done around the house. Derrick is off again this week so he is a major help. He put away clothes from six loads of laundry while I tried to clean. We grabbed a few of our fall decorations and slung them around the house as quick as a cat. Halloween is one of our favorite times of year so we normally get really into decorating for it. This year we are going minimal. Just enough to make it feel like fall but with the least amount of time and effort…

Then I made a quick lunch. Actually, I made this soup the night before and then warmed it up and added some hot turkey and cheese sandwiches. This soup is the best tortilla soup ever. I never order tortilla soup out anymore because I am always disappointed. And it is really easy…

Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of celery
1 can tomatoes with green chilies
1 can cheddar cheese
1 can chicken broth
1 small onion chopped
2-4 cloves garlic minced
½ C Pace Picante (mild)
1 tsp chili powder
2 chicken breasts boiled and shredded
¼ C cilantro chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and bring to a slow simmer for 30 minutes or longer. Top with fried tortillas and Colby cheese.

Unfortunately, we got about half way through lunch when Little Miss decided she needed to be held. After throwing a major hissy fit after another, we were worn completely out. Too bad Chewmomma had to go home. We could have used the help yesterday more than ever.

Girls Day Out

Yay! We went to see Dr. Kries again today for a weight check-in and Miss Neely Jo has gained one ounce. I know that is not much, but she just started eating really well yesterday so hopefully by Wednesday she will have gained a few more ounces and we will be free and clear without supplementing! I was a little more pumped about this than neely Jo...

We had to do a little celebrating. I know that I have passed judgment before on people that take their babies out too early. But usually it is when I see tiny babies at a smoky bowling alley or laying in the nasty shopping carts at Wal-Mart without even a shred of a blanket underneath them. I will never pass judgment again because we (Chewmomma and I) hauled Neely Jo to the mall today. In my defense, nobody was at the mall and we weren’t there that long. Just long enough to grab a few necessities. Like boots. And winter coats. And a bedspread. And some nail polish. Okay, maybe these were luxuries except for the nail polish. We need it for the celebratory Mani-Pedi’s! Just like these ladies…

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Chewmomma used “A to Z-urich” and I picked “Vodka and Caviar” (since I am not actually partaking in either I figured I might as well have it on my nails) and Neely Jo, being more of a natural beauty, just got some moisturizer and a light buffing of the nails.

Our girls day out was tons of fun and poor Derrick had to miss it because he had to go back to work today. We did swing in Barnes and Noble and Neely Jo picked him up a few books that he had been wanting. And we (or at least our nails) looked nice and polished when Derrick made it home and we handed him his present. Surprisingly, he would rather hold his baby than read the books...

Check out Chewmomma…she was like a proud peacock showing off Neely Jo and teaching her how to use a debit card at Macy’s. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

Dr. Kries Meets Neely Jo

We had our first appointment with the pediatrician Friday and everything went great! Neely Jo has already grown from 19 inches to 20.75 inches but she has lost a few more ounces. She only weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces when we left the hospital and now she is at 6 pounds 8 ounces today. We are going back on Monday for another weight check so hopefully she will have gained a little.

And our pediatrician, Dr. Kries, is the best! She let me snap pictures the whole time. She did a great job checking Neely Jo over, answering all of our "first-time parent" questions and even managed to do a little posing for the camera…

Let me just say, I don’t want Neely Jo to suck her thumb, but I couldn’t help but to be a proud Momma when she found it for the first time and started sucking it to death. I keep wondering if the excitement wears off but as of right now I get overly excited each time she does a new “trick”. I am sure that if she takes up thumb sucking I will re-read this one day and regret thinking it was so stinkin cute. But for now I am just going to enjoy her and every little thing she does.

All is well with our happy little baby! We are trying to fatten her up before Monday and hoping we don’t smother her with kisses!

Home, Healthy and Happy!

Finally our little baby girl has arrived…Neely Jo! She was born Sunday, October 3rd at 1:40 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 7.5 ounces and she was 19 inches long. She surprised us by coming a week early but thankfully we were almost ready.

 

Neely Jo had a couple of visitors that came by to give her some extra lovin and we were so happy to get to share this with a few of our close friends and family.

Brooke…

Elizabeth…

Coach Compton and his sweet wife Nancy….

Aunt Nena and Corbin (I couldn’t resist using this picture- hehe!)

Derrick’s Aunt Elaine and Uncle Greg…

And of course her Nana (Derrick’s Mama)…

Neely Jo’s Grandpa (Derrick’s Dad, James) and Mamaw are on vacation in Florida this week and haven’t got to meet her yet, but are very anxious to come over when they get back home. My Momma (affectionately known as Chewmomma by her other grandchildren) is coming in town tomorrow for a week worth of hugs and kisses. Aunt Katie, Uncle Mike and Amelia and Jack will hopefully be able to make a trip up at the end of the month. Amelia has been asking to see Baby Neely since I was about 7 months pregnant and Jack liked to raise my shirt and pat my belly so we cannot wait to see their reaction to their new cousin!

Our little family happily left the hospital on Tuesday afternoon…

And as excited as we were to get her home, we had to take at least fifty million pictures of the process.

After all the excitement of coming home, our sweet baby wanted nothing more than to yawn and take a nice long snooze in her new home…