Welcome Melody T (and Sammy T, too!)

Where we've been in a year

2009-12-27T18:46:00.003-05:00

Wow! Just checked the date on the last post and saw we've been remiss in our updates....so here goes:

In January 2009, we moved to Georgia for Daddy's work. It was an awesome house and neighborhood. They had sooo many places to visit and parks to play in! Sam and I even started going to the Little Gym to do gym stuff. It didn't feel like exercise because we had soooo much fun! We weren't too far from the mountains either. Mommy really liked being that close because we got to visit them a lot. There was a freak snowstorm and we got to play in the snow for the first time and make snowmen! In March, after Daddy finished the job he was working on - the place shut down and we moved to Kentucky.

We got to stay with Miss Judy and Mister Charlie in their house. It was soooo cool there! Not like Florida, where it's hot all the time. They have two puppies - Gracie and Bear - and they were fun to play with. They like to run in circles and bark and kiss you! Mommy calls them Cha hua hua doggies. We got to go to our first Easter egg hunt, too. It was raining on Easter so they had the hunt inside the church and had bounce houses in the gymnasium and everything. Sam has been climbing on everything and I talk for the both of us. Sam and I got to help plant the garden and play in the backyard on real grass. Daddy got a job back in Orlando and was staying there while we were in Kentucky. We didn't like being away from him so much so we moved back to Florida!!

In August, we moved back to Palm Bay and have been here since. I use the potty all the time and wear big girl panties. Sammy is still a baby because he wears diapers, be he likes to go on the potty too. Pretty soon he will wear big boy panties and go on the potty all the time like me! I'm 3 now cause my birthday is in November like Mommy and Sam will be 2 in January. Daddy and Neil have birthdays in August. People say I'm really smart because I can count to 17, know my ABCs and the sounds they make, can spell my names, Sammy, Mommy, Daddy, Neil, and Kirk. I got a camera for Christmas this year so hopefully I can put up some of MY pictures. Mommy is going to help me put up some pics now until I learn how.

I'd better go for now. Neil is home from California where he's a Marine and I want to play with him. I'll try to post more later...

Love ya!

Melody

It's been a long time...

2008-12-09T20:38:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone,

Well, Sam and I are looking at the blog and have to say that we have been quite negligent in keeping it update. The last post was in June - almost 7 months ago! Now, Sam and I both take blame for not posting anything, but we have to say that in the past 7 months NO ONE has emailed us to say, "What's going on? How come you haven't been blogging?!?!"

With that said, I think Sam may have a point. In June, a couple of different things happened. First, Daddy started traveling for work. He was the one that was always leaving the computer logged in, so we were able to sneak online and throw together some posts. Also in June (July?) Mommy started using MySpace and has been posting all sorts of pictures on that.

Well, I still like blogging, but between not being able to get on the computer and spending a lot of time playing with Sammy, I think it will probably be awhile before I get back online.

So, for now, if you want new pics, email Mommy and ask about our family's MySpace site.

Love y'all,
Melody and Sam

New Pics from Yesterday

2008-06-07T10:08:00.002-05:00

Daddy took some pictures of Sam and I while we were eating snack yesterday and posted them here: http://www.mnsHosting.com/sameandmel

He posted all of the pictures he took and didn't delete the bad ones so some are good and some are not so good.

Neil leaves for the Marines in 8 days, so I will try and post some pictures of him (with Sam and me) later tonight.

See ya later,
Melody

New spot for Pictures

2008-05-18T15:39:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone!

Melody here. Daddy just finished putting up a couple of photo gallerys including one from the fires in Palm Bay, as well as one for Sam and I. The link is http://mnshosting.com/photos.htm

See ya later.

Melody

Happy Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-11T14:21:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone,

Sammy here. I know Melody and I haven't been very good at keeping the blog updated. For that we apologize. Life has been pretty hectic. However, some is better than none. With that out of the way, here is the real reason for the post today.

Today is Mother's Day and Melody and I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to the best Mommy of them all - our Mommy. Even when she is feeling tired, she always takes great care of us, makes us smile, and somehow is able to handle both of us all day long! (Daddy can handle the both of us so long as one of us is sleeping!)

Melody and I took Mommy to brunch at the Crown Plaza earlier today. It was pretty cool, but I got the short stick! With the incredible buffet with everything you can imagine (include lots and lots of desserts) I wasn't allowed to eat anything! Everyone, including Grandma Paula and Gloria who came with us, thought the food was very good and had a great time. Here are some pictures of Mommy and us. (Melody is eating a chocolate covered sugar stick!)

Mommy, Melody, and Me

Mommy and Me!

I realized that I made a mistake. Because Melody gave me a kiss, I did get to eat some chocolate!

Melody's Kiss

The evidence of the kiss!

Even though Melody and I never got to meet her, we want to say Happy Mother's Day to Grandma T. If it weren't for her, Daddy wouldn't have been here and the our entire universe would be different. SO Happy Mother's Day, Grandma T.

Daddy, Grandma T, Uncle Paul B, Aunt Paulette (back row)

On a different note, yesterday would have been Grampa T's 97th birthday. Mommy and Daddy have been trying to scan in a bunch of the old pictures and I saw this one of Grandpa T. Happy Bithday Grandpa T!

Well that is it for now. Again, Happy Mother's Day Mommy! We love you and appreciate everything that you do for us! Happy Mother's Day to all the other Mom's out there!

We'll blog to ya later!
Sam and Melody

Just a few quick pics

2008-04-05T22:48:00.005-05:00

I'll post more tomorrow...

Melody

Paybacks are coming!

2008-03-31T07:03:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone!

I just finished reading Sammy's post and I can't believe that he actually put up that picture of me! No one was suppose to ever see me with my hair like that! Oh well, paybacks are coming and I will get the perfect picture of him sooner or later.

Anyway, I decided to post some of the cute pictures from last nights dinner. I'm sure you can figure out what I ate (and wore!)

Talk to y'all later!
Melody

My Turn!

2008-03-30T09:14:00.004-05:00

Good morning all,

I decided that I would simply put my posts on my sister's blog. It seems that she has more of an established following than I do. Logically, this makes sense as she has had 14 months longer than I to develop her following.

First, an update on my health. I had another slight ear infection late last week. The doctor ordered a flu test to make sure it wasn't the flu which apparently he had been seeing quite a few cases of. He also had the nurse draw some blood to take a look at my white cell count. When all was said and done, he came to the diagnosis that it was a viral infection and I would just have to let it run it's course. I am happy to say, for the most part, I have gotten all better.

I have also decided to give Mommy and Daddy a break. While not really the first time, I did sleep the longest stretch last night - from around 11:30 until almost 8:00am! I think I might like getting that much sleep at night because am I happy (so far) today! Normally, I like to scream for what seems like hours. However, in the few hours I have been awake, I have not felt the urge to scream at all. I've just spent the time having breakfast (Thanks Mommy!), being held by Daddy and Mommy, getting kisses from Sissy, and spending some time in my bouncy chair. Ahhh, what a life.

I asked Daddy to take a few pictures of me this morning and here they are:

Here I am just chilling, think about all of the world's
problems and how to solve them.

Here I am blowing some bubbles while staring at the
zebra's butt.

Yes I can smile!

After all of the comments about my "model" sister,
I thought I would post what she really looks
like first thing in the morning!

Well, that is all for today. I will try and post some more pictures later tonight.

Have a great day.
Sam

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T13:23:00.007-05:00

Surprise!

Here's another post with MORE pictures! Mommy said I could hop on the computer (get it - like the Easter Bunny!) for a few minutes to post some of the pics we took on Easter. Sam got a new outfit and I got a really pretty dress.

We didn't do too much for the day, just found our baskets (I helped Sam) and ate LOTS of good stuff. Daddy cooked his awesome ham for dinner and Papa, Neil, Mommy and I ate lots. Sammy got his after a few hours. Mommy tried to explain it to me but I was more interested in my Nose Book that the Easter Bunny brought for me.

We couldn't wish Miss Judy and Mister Charlie happy Easter because they were in Asheville visiting with Uncle Scotty. He's in the Marines and is going to Iraq in a couple of weeks and they are spending time together in the mountains. We sure will miss him and pray that he stays safe. I hope he knows how much we all love him!

I need comments from whomever is looking at my pictures!!!! I don't know if you like them or not or if I should even continue with my blog..... Sammy is fun to poke at and he's sleeping less and less now that he's getting bigger.

Anyway, here are some pictures - hope you all had a great day!
Love,
Melody

Sam smiling

Me in my pretty dress

Sam on Sammie the dog - he's not too happy about not being able to see Sammie the dog's face...

My handsome baby brother (looks like Daddy, doesn't he?)

See - Sam's happier when he can see Sammie's face

Now they are snuggling and BOTH Sams seem happy!

My modeling face shot - what do you think?

Papa, me and Mommy

Me and my Nose Book

PS - don't forget to comment!

2 months later...

2008-03-14T00:41:00.014-05:00

Hey everyone!

As usual, I apologize for not posting more often. Things have been a tad hectic since Sammy was born, and being the big sister that I am, I haven't had much time to put into the blog. I'm real helpful to Mommy and Daddy. For example, when they change Sam's diaper, I will take it and throw it away for them! Sometimes, if I'm feeling extra helpful, I'll even bring them back something from the garbage pail!

Anyway, let's see if I can update everyone on what has been happening for the last couple of months. I'll also post some pictures of both me and Sammy, eh, Sammy and I. Finally, Sammy and I have been talking and we are thinking of combining our blogs. Sammy doesn't really have much interest in keeping his blog current, not that I'm much better, but between the two of us we should be able to get at least a couple of posts a week. We'll keep you updated on what we decide. Until then, you will have to keep checking both our blogs. Daddy gave me a link, http://www.blogger.com/profile/05614970948446699702, which you can use to get to both blogs.

Now for the updates: Brother Sam was born on January 20th and came home about a week later (see his blog for birthday pics). Mommy stayed in the hospital with him after he was born because he was pretty bruised up and had jaundice and he's nursing. That means he doesn't use a bottle unless Daddy is feeding him. See...I know stuff....

He came home and I admit for the first couple of weeks I didn't want anything to do with him. If Mommy or Daddy put me near him, I would try and smack him! I was going to show him who was boss. But the little bugger grew on me and now, when I wake up from a nap the first thing I want to do is go look at him. I gladly give him hugs and kisses and am always trying to help with him. If he is crying, I will go searching for his pacifier and will give it to him if he is in his bouncy chair or bassinet! I really do love him and there will be a long term bond with him.

Big brother Neil moved out of the house in December. I don't know all of the details (I am just a toddler!) but every once in a while, Neil would come over and see me. I always got excited when he would come home and am always very happy to see him. He moved back into the house about 10 days ago (yeah!!), so I get to see him a little more often! He is still planning on joining the Marines, and is set to leave for basic training at the beginning of June.

Other things have been happening, too.... Unfortunately at the end of February, Daddy lost his job. The company he was working for ran out of money and he was one of the late casualties. He is currently looking for a new job, so if you know anyone hiring, give him a call. He can do anything!

A few weeks ago, Sammy got an ear infection. Because of his age at the time (5 weeks old), he had to be admitted to the hospital for about 5 days to get an IV with antibiotics. That was not fun for anyone. Daddy and I spent most nights at home while Mommy stayed in the hospital with Sammy. I didn't like being apart from Mommy and Sammy but he is all better now and home. Sam is already reaching some milestones like holding his head up, smiling, and starting to try and "talk". I just wish he would do something with his hair! Mommy always put a bow or pony tail in my hair - do you think she would notice if I did that to Sam?

I actually started writing this post from the hospital myself. On Tuesday the 11th of February, I had another febrile seizure like I had in September of last year. This time we believe it was caused by a virus that's going around with high fevers and a barking cough. I got to ride with Neil in the ambulance to the hospital. This time the hospital was closer to home so it was easier for Mommy, Daddy, and Sam to spend time with me. Once again, Daddy stayed with me at the hospital most of the time and Mommy and Sam had to stay at home. (He's such a great dad!! I would have been very scared without him by my side.) Our doctor -Dr. Farid- said there were more germs at the hospital that Sam could catch so since he just got home himself, Mommy and Daddy decided to keep him home as much as possible. They didn't want us BOTH sick at the same time. Sammy must have missed me something fierce cuz Mommy brought him to see me for a little while - what a great brother! I felt much better getting to see everyone.

Well, I'm home now and still trying to shake this cold thing - I've even given it to Mommy and Daddy so that we can all get better together so I'd better go and rest for now. Mommy says since Daddy is looking for a job so much, she'll try to help me put the pictures on the blog. We just have to get them off the laptop (? Whatever that means).

Love, hugs, and kisses!

Melody

PS - Here are more pics...

I love my bath time!

Hey!! Wanna share my cookie?

Here I am at the playground waiting for the swing.

I love blueberries! They make me laugh!

Sam and Mickey Mouse

Hey look! I found my hand!!

Aren't I cute?

See...I fit in the bassinet now!

I love my daddy!

Kisses for Mommy!

I'm sooooo big!

Melody likes to climb the rock wall.

I'm Almost a Big Sister!

2008-01-20T01:37:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

The time has drawn near! Hopefully in the next few hours I will be a big sister! Around 7:30pm on Saturday night, Mommy's water broke and her and Daddy went to the hospital. They left me locked in a closet, but I was able to jimmy the lock and get to the computer. (Actually, Carrie is spending the night with me at our house!)

I just got word that BabyT2 is a copycat and started his own blog. The website is http://welcomebabyt2.blogspot.com/ (Man, he couldn't even come up with an original web address!)

Regardless, I am excited about the prospect, and ultimate reality, of being a big sister. I know that for the first six or seven months I won't be able to really play with BabyT2. After all, for the first four or five months all the rugrat is going to do is eat, sleep, and poop! But as soon as he gets mobile....ohhh, the things I will be able to teach him. I can't wait. By the time he starts crawling, I'll be able to talk to him.

I already have a few words down pretty well including Momma, Dadda, Thank you, Excuse me, and ouch. More importantly, I can use all of these words in context. For example, when I cough, I cover my mouth and, when I remember, I say excuse me. Granted it comes out sounding like "cuse me", but it is fun to see the look on Mommy and Daddy's faces' when I do it. Also, when Mommy or Daddy hand me something, I say "tank you." There expression is still one of amazement. What will their expression be when I start reciting the Constitution?

Well I have to sneak back into bed before Carrie sees that I am on the computer. I'll post more as soon as BabyT2 shows up. Again, his blog address is http://welcomebabyt2.blogspot.com/ . Check it out.

Love ya!
Big Sister Melody

Pics

2008-01-06T09:15:00.000-05:00

New Pics

2008-01-04T08:18:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T09:18:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

I've decided that for now, I am just going to try and post a couple of new pictures everyday. With Mommy pregnant and Daddy working lots of hours, I just don't seem to get as much computer time as I would like. I will try and post some of my "firsts" or other important events (like when my baby brother finally gets here!) but for the most part I will simply be posting pictures. So with that said, here are some of the latest!

Well that is all for now. Check back later for some more pics and an update on my (soon to be) baby brother!

Love Ya,
Melody

Quick Pic

2007-12-28T14:23:00.000-05:00

Just a preview....

2007-12-27T15:20:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

I know I said that I wouldn't get these up until this weekend, but I had a few minutes so I thought I would put a few of my First Birthday pictures up for everyone to see.

Bye for now!

Mel

It's been a long time!

2007-12-27T07:53:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone!

I know that I haven't been keeping up on the blog. It's been months and months since I posted anything. But Life has been busy. Between walking and practicing talking, I just don't have a lot of time.

Things have been going well. Over the New Year's weekend, I will try and post some of the thousands of new pictures including some from my first birthday party, from my trip to Tennessee, as well as my picture with Santa!
But first, I got an email from my Uncle Paul and Aunt Kim and I am very excited! Here is the email:

Dear Melody,

We have some friends that would love to come live with you. One group of friends came from the 100 Aker Woods. Their names are: Pooh,Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl and Eeyore. Mr. A. A. Milnehas written stories about their adventures, so they are kind of famous.

The other group of friends are also famous and Sandra Boyton has written books with them as characters. We will send you the books too,so you can see for yourself. We thought your new little brother would especially enjoy the dinosaurs and monsters.These friends have been living in our attic and have been enjoyed by our other nieces and nephews who are now older and don't seem to be as interested in them anymore.

We would love to have them spend time with you.How soon can you make room and find them a place to live in your new house? They would love to be in your room with you because they are fun, cuddly, cute, and love being around children.If you don't have room for them, that is ok - we will find another home for them.

We love you -Uncle Paul and Auntie Kim.

Well, talk about cool! Thank you soooooo much! Daddy just put up some shelves in my room, so I definitely have somewhere to put my new friends!

As soon as my friends get to town, I'll take some pictures of them in their new home and post them to the blog! Thanks again uncle Paul B and Aunt Kim!

Well, as I said earlier, I will be posting a bunch of pictures this weekend!

Love Y'all,
Melody

2007-10-18T21:11:00.001-05:00

Check out my new blog!

http://MelodysBear.Blogspot.com

More Pictures coming Soon!

10-18-07 Trip up North!!!

2007-10-16T07:49:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Well, as promised, Mommy and Daddy have made sure that I got some computer time to update the blog. We drove to Atlanta late Friday night and I got to see Uncle Kurt and Aunt Karin. We stayed with Kurt and Karin until Satuday afternoon and then drove to Gatlinburg.

Uncle Charlie and Aunt Judy came up for a couple of days when we first got to the condo in Gatlinburg.

Daddy didn't bring my regular bathtub, so I got to take a bath in the kitchen sink!

We hiked up to Laurel Falls in the National Park.

We also visited the Ripley's Aquarium. It was really cool. Mommy took all sorts of pictures and I saw all sorts of really cool fish!

Well, time for bed. I'll post some more tomorrow!

Love ya!
Melody

10-11-07 Over Three Months!!

2007-10-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Well it's been a long time since I made a post, and for that I appologize. Who knew the life of an infant could be soooo busy. The worst part is I don't really have a lot of time to give a complete update now, but I wanted to get some new pics posted. We are going to Tennesee next week and Mommy says that I will have time to update the blog then. In the mean time, here are some pics of me and Big Bro Neil.

Love all Y'all! (Practicing the talk for when I'm in Tennesee!

Testing Picasa! A bunch of pictures

2007-07-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

Just signed up for picasa hoping it will make keeping track of all of the pictures Daddy takes of me. Here are the 40+ best ones to date...

http://picasaweb.google.com/WelcomeBabyT/ACollectionOldAndNew

6-08-07 My First Shuttle Launch

2007-06-08T19:11:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!
Well, mark up another first for me. I got to see my first space shuttle launch! After having to wait because the shuttle got damaged back in February, the launch went off as planned at 7:38pm this evening. One minute, Mommy is feeding me (I'm eating nearly 2 containers of solid food each evening for dinner, and then my bottle!) and the next minute, Mommy is whisking me out to the back yard. At first I didn't know what was going on, but then I saw this big trail of smoke and a red dot at the top of the trail. It was really neat.

Well that's it for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Love ya,

Melody

06-06-07 More Pictures

2007-06-03T15:45:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

Well, yet again, I have to apologize for not getting to the blog very often. Mommy and Daddy have been kinda busy, which cuts down on my computer time. Lots has happened in the past couple-few weeks since my last post so I'll try and give you some of the highlights.

For Memorial Day, the 4 of us went to the beach for the day. We went to a little inlet/tide pool which is about a 45 minute drive from the house. Originally, we were just going to go for a couple of hours, but then after we were there, we decided to make the day of it. Daddy drove home and got my pack and play, the pop-up awning, and lunch. I didn't really like the water all that much because it was pretty cold, but I got to wear my bikini!

The following weekend, I got to go to the movie theater for the first time to see Shrek the Third! Mommy and Daddy took me to an early show (5:00pm) and sat on the isle in case I started to fuss. Well, being the good girl that I am, I sat and watched the movie without any fussiness! The movie was funny, but, like Daddy, I kept dozing in and out towards the end!

Well, got to go! I'll try and post more pics later!

5-13-07 Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T07:48:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

Well, it's Mother's Day and Mommy is sleeping in. I didn't realize that she was suppose to sleep in, so I woke her early this morning, but then Daddy got up around 7:00am and Mommy went back to sleep.

Daddy is getting breakfast all ready and I helped him stuff the turkey for tonight's dinner.

Mommy is the best Mommy there is and she loves me and hugs me, makes me happy and takes care of me. I hope that she knows how much I love her and I hope that she knows how happy she makes me. I couldn't have picked a better Mommy.

I love you Mommy! Happy Mother's Day!

Your Daughter,
Melody

2007-05-06T13:09:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!
Well, I've finally got a few minutes to post some more pictures...Here they are!

Here is Uncle Paul B. Mommy and Daddy, Neil and I took a road trip to St. Petersburg to watch Uncle Paul B and his friend Marco compete in the St. Anthony's triathlon. I got to put my feet in the sand for the first time on the beach. I wasn't too sure at first, but I think I ended up liking it!

It was good to see Uncle Paul B, and we had a lot of fun at the race. Of course, after the race we had to go to TooJays for lunch. If you are ever in Florida, you have to check out TooJays.

Here are some more pictures...

Well, here are my latest milestones. I've started eating "real" food. Right now I'm eating peas and next week I get to try carrots! I'm almost rolling over on my own and I will probably do it sometime next week. I've still haven't gotten over my cough and for the next week I have to use a nebulizer. It seems to be getting better and I don't feel all that bad.

Well, Mommy wants to eat some lunch, so I guess I have to go.

Love y'all,

Mel

4-28-07 My 5 month Birthday!

2007-04-28T11:35:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

I know, I know! I haven't updated the blog in forever. I've been real busy and Mommy & Daddy have been pretty swamped (Go Gators!) themselves. I don't have much time right now to fill in the last 6 weeks, but I will post a couple of pictures with a promise to post some more later tonight.

Mommy & Daddy are packing to go see Uncle Paul B this weekend in St. Petersburg. This morning, brother Neil ran in a local 5K run. Here are the pics!

I given up trying to not smile for pictures! I am just so happy all...most of the time!

Here is Neil running along side one of the kids from another school. Neil is on the left with the big "M" on his chest. His team was called "Team Quit!"

And finally, after the race, Neil was hanging with some of his teammates. I guess they are an item!

Gotta go for now. Mommy is looking at me like, "Come on, you can help too!"

Love y'all,

Melody

3-19-07 Very Cool!

2007-03-19T21:48:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

If you remember from a previous post, I was expecting a "Welcome Baby" card from President Bush. Daddy said that it would happen, but Mommy didn't believe him! Well, it showed up today!

I have to get to bed. See y'all soon.

Melody Elizabeth

New Pictures!

2007-03-17T12:43:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

Just thought I would post a few new pictures! Mommy has stayed home with me the last week so I've gotten use to having her home. Hopefully, Daddy's job will start paying more so she can stay home with me all the time!

Last Sunday, we went to brunch with David (Mommy and Daddy's friend) and his mom. We went to see David's grandmother who is 90+ years old but acts like she in in her 60's! Just full of energy and one of the nicest people I've met.

Also, I can kind of admit I made a mistake. In one of my earlier posts, I said that Daddy wouldn't get a picture of me smiling until I was three. Well, he was pretty quick the other day and was able to get a picture of me smiling, but because he had to rush to take the picture, it is a little out of focus!

Also, I am still trying to hold my own bottle when I eat. I'm up to using a larger bottle because at least once a day, I need to eat a full 8-9 ounces! I remember when I would barely eat 1 ounce just a few months ago.

Here is another picture of me with my Mona Lisa look. Am I really smiling? I'll let you decide!

Finally, I will leave you with a quote from Uncle Paul B.

"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything."

- Bishop W.C. Magee

See y'all later!

Love ya,

Melody

P.S. I forgot to say it in the actual post, but Go Gators!

Contact Information

2007-03-10T08:04:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Before I begin, I want to repost my email address so everyone has it. Send me mail to WelcomeBabyT@gmail.com. (Jamie it was good to hear from you, but Mommy and Daddy need your email address. Send me`an email and I'll give them your address!)

Not much to really update everyone on. I know that my pictures don't show it, but I am smiling and Mommy says that I am even laughing! As soon as I see the camera though, I put on my "game face" and I make sure that I don't smile for the camera! Here is a perfect example. I was sitting in my swing, smiling, laughing, and talking to Daddy. As soon as I saw the camera, boom - game face time!

I'm thinking I can make it to about 18 months old before they get a picture of me smiling!

Talking is coming along pretty well. I've got the Preamble of the Constitution down and I'm working on Article I this week. Seriously, I am a much better thinker then I am a talker, but I sure do like trying. I'm making all sorts of sounds and as soon as I figure out how to turn my thoughts into words, look out!

I'm sleeping through the night more often, but I make sure that if on a particular night Mommy and Daddy are both really tired that I make sure I wake up at 3:00am so I can have a small drink. On average, I'm sleeping through 4 nights a week from about 10:00pm until 5:00am!

I'm not really crawling yet, but I am standing when Mommy or Daddy hold me up. I get my legs to support my weight for a few seconds. I will even sometimes pretend to walk. I'm sure that walking and talking is going to take a little while but I will be doing both within the next 6 months!

I LOVE tummy time and Mommy and Daddy bought me this really cool tummy time mat.

Thursday was my 100-day birthday! I believe that I accomplished more in my first 100 days then the democrats did in their first 100 days but Mommy says that I'm not suppose to "go all political" on my blog, so I won't get into any details.

I don't really like basketball very much, but I will say congrats to the Gators for beating Georgia yesterday! I'd love to believe that they will be the number one seed for the tournament, but I don't know that they will be able to pull it off. Either way, it will be nice to see the Gators win a consecutive NCAA basketball championship. And remember, only about 5 months until the next Gator football game!

Well, that's it for now. I have to go help Mommy and Daddy clean the house. I'll leave you with this quote:

"The best thing about the future is that is only comes one day at a time."

- Abraham Lincoln

Love y'all,

Melody

Finally, some pictures!

2007-03-07T23:18:00.000-05:00

Hi All Y'all!

Well, I'll keep it short and sweet. Here are some of the most recent pictures from earlier tonight!

Obviously, here is Mommy and me...

Here is one of the funky faces I make...

And lastly, here the latest addition, Ottawa....
And I'll post more tomorrow or Friday. I have to get some sleep otherwise I'm grumpy in the morning!

Love y'all,

MET

3-3-07 It's been awhile...

2007-03-03T11:12:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Well, it is time once again to appologize for not posting as much as I would like to. I've been sleeping through the night more often, so I don't have the time at night to post. Mommy and Daddy are both working, so I am at Ms. Bonnie's and she doesn't let me use the internet, so I can post during the day. Obviously, there are just not enough hours in the day. What's a 3-month old to do?!?!!?

Yes, that's right, I am now officially a three month old. Mommy, Daddy, Neil and I went to the local steak house for dinner to celebrate my 3-month birthday. Actually, I think we went because neither Mommy or Daddy felt like cooking, but if they want me to believe that it was for my birthday then I'll play along!

The reason I haven't posted any new pictures lately is because the battery charger for Daddy's camera is missing. Actually, I got tired of all of the pictures Daddy was taking, so I hid the charger. He doesn't know that, and I'm not going to post where I hid it, but eventually he will either find it or I'll give it to him...in a couple of weeks.....

We have a new addition to the family. Last night, Ottawa came to us and it looks like he is an official member of the family. Ott is about 6 years old and is a chocolate lab. He's HUGE!! Daddy told me he would buy me a pony, but I though he was joking! As soon as I can hold my head up, Daddy is going to put a saddle on Ottawa and I'll be able to go for a ride!

Let's see what else is new? Not much really. I've grown quite a bit and I weigh close to 15 pounds. Like I said earlier, I'm sleeping through the night more often, about three to four nights a week.

Well, that's it for right now. I'll try to get better at posting more regularly.

Love ya,
Melody

02-17-07 Moving into the 21st Century

2007-02-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

Happy Saturday! Well finally, thanks to Daddy's work, our house has entered the 21 century and we now have wireless Internet access available. That means I can now snag Daddy's laptop and go out to the porch to post onto the blog! Plus, Daddy's work bought him a new laptop, so not only do I have a really big screen to look at when I post, but I can do it from the patio or my bedroom!

Yesterday, Daddy told me about him and one of his bosses going up to New Symna Beach to look at some of the tornado damage from about a week ago. He went into the one neighborhood and was amazed at some of the damage. Now the area was not where the major tornado went through, as that was farther to the west in Lake county, but rather it looked like a smaller tornado went through this neighborhood. At first, you couldn't see any damage, but as you got farther back into the subdivision, you could start seeing the "blue roofs." It was very reminiscent of the hurricanes, but what was really amazing was that you could see from the damage the exact path that the tornado took. For example on one street, there was a house that lost it's patio and had broken windows on the back of the house, and then diagonally across street, the house had substantial damage to the front of the structure. The house next door had no damage. It was just amazing how selective the damage was and how the path was so easily defined. In the one subdivision of 400 houses, 69 of them ended up with damage!

I didn't get to see Daddy for but a few minutes yesterday because he didn't get home until almost 10:00pm! I'm know that he missed me, but he has to work so I won't complain.

To answer Aunt Patti's question, I look like both Mommy and Daddy! Everyone says that I am "a spitting image of Daddy" but I don't really spit much so that doesn't make much sense to me. My hair is thick like Mommy's, but unruly like Daddy's. My cheeks are Daddy's. No doubt about that.

Time for another quote from Uncle Paul B:

"If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it.

If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't

step forward, you're always in the same place."

- Nora Roberts

Well, I will try and post some new pictures later today (now that I can do it from the patio.)

Love y'all,
Melody

2-16-07 Quick Post and Quote

2007-02-16T13:32:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've kinda started sleeping through the night! In the last week, I've slept from about 11:00pm until 4:30-5:30am on three different nights. Mommy and Daddy seem to be happier when I sleep straight through.

Anyway, another one of Uncle Paul B.'s quotes for you...

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
- Herman Cain

Have a great weekend, and I'll try to get some updated pictures posted in the next couple of days!

Love ya!
Melody

02-11-07 It sounded like my swing!

2007-02-11T19:57:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!
.
Today was a day full of firsts! Last night, I slept from about 11:00pm until 5:30am straight through! Mommy and Daddy were really tired, so I thought I would give them a decent nights sleep. I know I woke up a lot happier!
.
Then late in the afternoon, Mommy and Daddy took me to the beach! The first thing I noticed was that the beach sounds just like my swing. The waves crashing on to the shore is the same sound that my swing makes. It was also real cold and windy! It was too cold (60 degrees) so I couldn't go in the water. Daddy says maybe in April :-(

After we left the beach, we walked down the boardwalk to Starbucks! Of course, Daddy made me pretend I was a gnome again so he could take my picture!
.

This past weekend, another really cool thing happened. A flock (gaggle?) of sand cranes came walking down the street in front of our house and then just stopped, right at the end of our driveway! There were about 5 of the birds and Mommy grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. The neighbor girl next door came out and started feeding them some bread. It started to look like something out of Jurassic Park, but eventually, the birds got full and just went on down the street...

Well, that's all for now because I need to go take a bath (No, that's not another first!) Next post, I promise I'll tell you about Mommy's new car!

Love y'all,

Melody

02-11-07 Quick Quote

2007-02-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Uncle Paul B just sent out one of his "Quote of the Day" emails, and I thought I would post it here. I will only post the ones that I think are really good. If you want to receive the QOTD directly, send me an email and I'll tell you how! (WelcomeBabyT@gmail.com)

"Playing it safe is the riskiest choice we can ever make."
- Sarah Ban Breathnach

Well, Daddy has to go do some work stuff and seeing as I'm using his laptop again, I guess I gotta go. Next post, I'll tell you about Mommy's new car and try to post some new pictures!

Love y'all,
Melody

02-09-07 Wireless is Cool!

2007-02-09T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

Daddy and I are sitting outside of McDonalds waiting for Neil to get off work. Seeing as Daddy had his laptop in the backseat, I decided to see if I would be able to put together a quick post. I figured I could get it typed up and then when we got home, connect to the internet and post it. Surprise, surprise! Someone has a wireless network nearby and I was able to connect to the net! Wireless is cool! Of course, McDonalds has a wireless network, but you have to pay to use it. The moral of the story from a 10 week old: Check your security settings on your wireless network. Unless you don't mind if someone uses your wireless connection, you should make sure it is set up to require some level of authentication.

Well, here comes Neil. I'll try and get some new pics up on the blog soon!

Have a great weekend!
Melody

02-04-07 The Wolf

2007-02-04T22:38:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

Just going to take a moment to post a story that I received. Very true and worth a few moments of reflection. Also, my blog reached the 350 visitor milestone today (Over 700 pageviews!!!! ) The chart below also shows that people all over the world are reading my blog!

The Wolf (Author unknown)

An elder native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me...it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed,arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, humility,kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth,compassion and faith.

The same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied... "The one you feed."

Love y'all and remember - feed the right wolf!

Melody

PS - Go Colts!

02-3-07 Waiting for the President

2007-02-03T20:24:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Well it's Saturday and I got to meet a new doctor today. Long story short, I still had my cough and congestion this morning, so Mommy and Daddy took me to the doctor that is on call. He basically said that I have an ear infection in both my ears. He said that it "wasn't real bad, but they're not just slightly red, either." He gave me a prescription for some amoxicillian and after the first dose I still feel yucky!
.
I can't seem to get comfortable and I don't sleep for more then 30 minutes at any one time. Daddy stayed up with me last night until 3:00am and then Mommy took the 3:00am until morning shift! Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get some sleep..
.
Daddy sent an email to the White House this evening. It will be interesting to see if President Bush sends me anything. Below is the email that Daddy sent to comments@whitehouse.gov :
.
Good Day,
I know that if I mail a baby announcement to the Office of the President, the President will send a personalized message back. We did not actually print announcements for the birth of my daughter, Melody Elizabeth, when she was born on November 28, 2006. All of the announcements have been posted on her blog at http://WelcomeBabyT.Blogspot.com

I would love for her to receive something from the President. Below is all of her contact information:Melody Elizabeth
(address cut out).

Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Erik

Well, I'm sure President Bush will send a nice personalized congrats letter. I just hope that he does before he leaves office!

Well, that's it for this post. Keep the comments and emails coming.

Love y'all,
Melody

2-2-06 Another Apology!

2007-02-03T00:44:00.000-05:00

Good evening everyone!

Once again, I need to apologize for not posting lately. Everyone in the house has been really, really busy the past couple of weeks, and the busier they are, the less time I have on the computer.
.
I've caught my first real cold and have been pretty fussy the last few days. It all started Sunday night when I was running a fever and just could not get comfortable. No matter what Mommy or Daddy did, I was not going to be happy. Finally, around 4:00am I fell asleep. Then later on Monday afternoon, I got my two-month shots! The needles on the shots were like 8 inches long! I got a total of three shots (2 in my left leg and 1 in my right!) as well as an oral vaccination. The doctor said that one of the side effects of the shots might be fever and generally crankiness but I actually slept pretty well Monday night. I've been a little congested for the past couple of days but Thursday I started getting worse and then today, Friday, Mommy stayed home with me. I haven't had a fever, just coughing and congestion.

Mommy and Daddy have also caught my cold. They've both continued to work, but today, like I said, Mommy stayed home with me both to take care of me as well as herself. At least Mommy can take some NyQuil to help her sleep!

Well, that's it for now...

Love ya,
Mel

1-25-07 Titan has left the building

2007-01-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

I know it has been a few days since my last post. I was originally averaging a post a day, then a post every two days and now it seems that if I get a post every 4 days, I'm lucky! (Or you're lucky!)

When Mommy went back to work, I slowed down on my posts, and now that Daddy is also working, I just don't have the time to post as often as I would like. Plus, with them both working, I don't have as much interesting stuff to tell y'all about.

I do have a few things to share. Fist, I spent a few hours the past couple of days at my new babysitter. Unfortunately, she doesn't have Internet access so I can't update the blog while I am there. But she does have about 8 other kids and a second teacher so I get a lot of attention. Daddy interviewed her last week, and then on Tuesday afternoon Mommy met her and they both decided that she seemed pretty nice and trustworthy. So now, when Daddy has to go to job site or the office, he can drop me there for a few hours (for the low cost of only $15-25 per day!)

Daddy was kinda bummed out the first time he dropped me off, but promised that he wouldn't be neurotic. He definitely understood how Mommy felt when she first went back to work. Wednesday, I spent a few hours at Miss Bonnie's while Daddy had to go to a jobsite. It was a Spa/Salon that had caught fire and while the building didn't burn down, one section of it had heavy fire damage. Unfortunately, the area that had the fire also contained the AC units, so the smoke went throughout the entire 8000 square foot facility. Plus, the fire burnt off all of the hose fittings for the washing machine, so there was extensive water damage as well. All told, there is probably close to $900,000 worth of damage and the owner wants/needs to have all of the work done within a month. While Daddy is still working out the details, it looks like his company will have people working 3 shifts-24 hours a day to meet that schedule!

Last week, Daddy brought me down to see Mommy's office. I got to meet all of the people Mommy works with and all sorts of people held me and at least 14 times I heard, "Look at all that hair!" I'm really starting to get annoyed by that. I never heard anyone say to a parent, "Wow, your kid doesn't have any hair!" Oh well, I guess I am just unique.

On Monday of this week, Daddy brought home a cat. His boss had three cats that he needed to get rid off and Daddy said that we would take one of them, a five month old ragdoll. He was a really pretty and soft cat whose name is Titan. Lisa let people she works with know that we were looking for a home for Titan and great news: She went to he new home earlier tonight!

Oops! I actually wrote this last week but forgot to post it!

Sorry,

Mel

01-21-07 Frog Leg Festival

2007-01-21T15:36:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Before I tell you about my day today, I need to apologize. Mommy told me that I shouldn't use my blog to "zing" my big brother. Apparently, when I was talking about his grades in my last post, I wasn't very nice. So sorry, Neil. (I don't know how well my sincerity will come across, but I do mean it and I will try to be nicer towards you in my posts in the future. Now, on with my day!
.
We just got back from spending a couple of hours at the World Famous Fellsmere Frog Leg Fiesta Festival in downtown Fellsmere. It is a festival that is held every year in a town about 15 minutes from our home, but Mommy and Daddy had never been there. We were suppose to go yesterday to the see the rodeo, but we went shopping instead. Mommy was reading the paper and saw that they were having another rodeo so we decided to go see that. The rodeos were part of the Frog Leg Festival.
.
When we got to the "Rodeo Grounds," it was basically a open field that they had set up a rodeo ring. There weren't but a handful of people and it just looked pretty cheesy. When the lady said that it cost $15 per person to see the, "Hispanic Rodeo" Mommy and Daddy both looked at each other and said, "Nope, we'll pass!." (Not because it was a Hispanic rodeo, but that it was going to cost $30! They took Neil to his first rodeo in Dayton and it was an actual NRA-sanctioned event and it was only $8 or $10 per person!) From there we went to the actual festival area.
.
Being it was a Frog Leg Festival, I keep looking for all of the frogs in wheelchairs, but I didn't see any. No of us were actually going to eat any frog legs, but that is the big draw of the festival. People wait in a line of 50-60 people to buy a ticket to go wait in another line to get their frog leg dinner. The things people will eat. Unreal!
.
We walked around the craft area and several people stopped and called my name, "Look at all that Hair!" they would shout. There were some pretty neat vendors selling some pretty neat crafts. Uncle Paul B would have liked one of the booths. They were selling Hematite necklaces and bracelets and they purportedly offer some of the same benefits as magnets! (Uncle Paul B - Their website is http://wwwtandmholistics.com/ if you are interested!)

The best part of the whole festival was that I got to meet Ronald McDonald! Yep, without any connection from Neil, I got to meet the famous guy myself! He even held me and let Daddy take our picture! Of course, he gave all of the older kids some cookies, but I didn't get any. Oh well, maybe next time!

After looking at those pictures, I feel like I am that gnome in the Travelocity commercials. Maybe someday I'll be able to post pictures of me in far off places like Tennessee or Ohio!

Daddy and I just finished watching the Colts beat the Patriots. What a good game. Uncle Paul B says that I'm not allowed to talk about football on my blog so I can't get into my prediction about the Superbowl. According to Paul B, it would be wrong for me to say anything about the Colts beating the Bears by a score of 31-24. Maybe I'll start another blog for all of that!

I'm going to be setting up an eBay account shortly to help Daddy and Mommy get rid of all of the extra stuff that they have but don't use. Daddy was in the garage earlier today and realized some of the stuff in there hasn't been used in over 5 years! As soon as I set it up, I'll put a list of my auctions up here on my blog. Look for that in the next few days.

Just a quick update on my sleep patterns. I'm usually eating around 11:00pm and then falling to sleep between midnight and 12:30a. I try and sleep until around 5:00am and sometimes I make it and sometimes I still wake up around 3:30am. All-in-all, I guess I'm closer to sleeping trough the night. Mommy and Daddy would love it if I could sleep from midnight until 6:00am and I'm sure I'm close to being able to do that.

Well, I guess that is it for now. Love y'all and keep those emails coming. Remember to keep hanging by your thumbs and write if you get work!

Love ya,

MET

01-21-07 Changes are a comin'

2007-01-20T14:28:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

As I have said before, things have been kinda crazy around here the past few weeks, but it looks like things are going to be changing some more. I'll get into the details in a little bit, but I thought I would share some of my latest pictures.

First, Mr. David and his mommy, Ms. Paula, have stopped by a few times in the past couple of weeks. Ms. Paula is really great and likes to hold me, feed me, and in general has as much fun visiting me as I have when she visits me! Ms. Paula's mom, Ms. Gloria, knitted me some really cool booties that hopefully I fit into in the next couple months! Here is a picture of Ms. Paula holding me:

Next, Mommy snuck in while I was typing my last post and took a picture of me. The only reason that I am posting this picture is because so many people seem to give Daddy credit for my blog, as though he were typing it and not me. Granted, it takes a while for me to type out a post, but as the picture shows, I do it all by myself. So this should prove to all of the people that I, Melody Elizabeth are solely responsible for the opinions and content of my blog.

It sure is tough picking a topic!

Obviously, my eyesight is still a little weak!

During the last week in particular, Daddy and I have been spending a lot of time in his office. Even though he does much of his work at home, he has been having to go into the office for a few hours everyday for meetings and such. Yesterday, we got to the office about 10:30am, left around 1:00pm, and then visited a couple of job sites, went to a couple of banks, and then stopped back at the office. We didn't get home until nearly 5:00PM! What a long day. Luckily, Mommy got home shortly after that and I was able to snuggle and spend some really good time with her. (She even got up last night at 3:00am to feed me!) I love Mommy very much, and even though I like spending the day with daddy, I definitely get happier and more animated when Mommy gets home!!!

As some of you know, Daddy has been working as a construction manager for a small general contractor. Much of his responsibility has been estimating jobs and putting together bid proposals. Recently, his company has been working with a larger building contractor and somewhere along the way, Daddy started doing some of their estimating, usually on jobs that Daddy's company was going to be involved in. Well, after some discussion over the past couple of months, and a meeting that I got to sit in on earlier in the week, it is official that Daddy will be working directly for the contractor. This is good because within a couple of months he will be making more than double of what he had been making with the general contractor. The bad news on all of this is he won't be able to work from home as much and I don't think I'll be allowed to go to the office with him every day, so I may end up needing a babysitter for at least part of the day. :-(

Neil is working about 25 hours a week after school. The picture below should let you know where he is working at. Everyone that knows how to get hold of Neil should call him/email him and ask him about his grades for last semester! At 17, he knows best and he knows what is important for his future, so Mommy and Daddy can't really explain/convince him that grades are important. Mommy and Daddy say that he will have to learn it himself and pay the consequences. (Whatever that means.)

Yesterday, Mommy, Daddy and I went to Target and Babies-R-Us and bought me a bunch of stuff I needed, including a swing and (finally) a mattress! Pretty soon, I will be sleeping in my own room in my own bed and not the Pack-and-Play that I've been sleeping in! Below is a picture of me in my swing and as soon as Daddy gets my room set up with the new mattress, I'll post a picture of it.

Well, that is all for today. Keep the emails coming and the comments posting

Love ya,

Melody

1-19-07 Daddy and Me Picture

2007-01-19T17:55:00.000-05:00

Uncle Paul B took a really great picture while he was visiting!

Opps, wrong one! Here is the right one:

1-14-08 Daddy and Me

2007-01-14T05:02:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

Once again, sorry for not posting regularly as late. Things have been kind of crazy at home lately. Lots has been happening and computer time is just hard to come by. I check email more often then I get to post, so keep the emails coming as well as comments on the blog.

Mommy went back to work last week. She went back on Wednesday and Daddy and I have been hanging out together during the day. Mommy usually leaves about 7:00am and then it's Daddy and me for the rest of the day. We do all of the things that I did while Mommy was home: Eat, sleep, poop (see my previous post) but I also get to watch Daddy work and I even got to go to the office with him a couple of times. Daddy is working as an estimator for a general contractor, so most of what he does can be done at home. I get really excited as the afternoon winds down because I know Mommy will be home soon. I miss her a lot during the day, but she makes up for it in the evening.

Uncle Paul B is here visiting for a couple of days. I gave him my room to sleep in seeing as I'm still sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's room. He got here late int he day on Saturday and has to leave in the evening on Sunday, but at least I did get to meet him. He seems like a cool guy! I think he is a little jealous of all of my hair, though!

In case anyone didn't know, the Gators ended up winning the game the other day. I normally like to watch ESPN and the talk shows to hear what the analysts say about a game, but I didn't get a chance to. So here is my take on the game (and keep in mind I'm a 7 week old girl!) The Gators played one heck of a game and compared to OSU, the Gators came to play football. OSU, coming off of a 51 day break were simply not prepared to play a competitive game. The Gators showed their speed on the ground and Chris Leak showed that while he can be inconsistent sometimes, he has the maturity to make the right decision whether he is playing a Div. II team of playing for the national championship. Where ever he ends up in the NFL, if he is utilized correctly he will be as good as, if not better than, Rex Grossman. Also, Urban Meyer has without a doubt proved himself as one heck of a coach. Next year's season is still a long time away, and I would never get to cocky and say the Gators will repeat next year, however, they will still have a very strong team, a very good quarterback, and hopefully a very strong recruiting season, it is possible to say that the Gators COULD do it all over again in 2007. Doubtful, but possible. Well, that is the last of the Gator talk until September! Time to put away the soapbox.

Anyway, here are a few pictures for the past couple of weeks:

Well, time to get some sleep before I wake everyone up!

Love ya,

Melody

1-08-07 Go Gators!

2007-01-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. Things have been a little hectic lately and I just haven't had a chance to post anything, let alone any pictures. Daddy has been taking pictures, but not as many as when I was first born. There are still a lot of good ones, and hopefully I will get around to posting them.

By the way, I am now convinced that my name is "All that Hair." The reason being is because everyone that sees me says, "Look at All that Hair!"

Anyway, the boys (Daddy and Neil) and I are watching the BCS Championship game and it is currently half time. The Gators are winning, and while Daddy is happy about that, he is equally surprised. He expected the Gators to lose...and lose big. It loos like if they hold on and make a few adjustments during half time they might have a chance to win. Even though they are winning 34-14, they have shown in past games this season to blow the big leads by not answering the adjustments made by their opponent during the second half. Ohio State is a good team and they have the talent to come back and win during the 2nd half. Anyway, that is my current commentary on the game. We'll see how it ends up.

Oh yeah, what is the deal with fox starting to show the halftime marching bands, and then cutting away to commercial. That is just soooo wrong!

Well the game is on..I'll try to get back to posting more regularly.

Love ya,
All that Hair

1-04-07 Happy New Year

2007-01-04T17:40:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. The holidays and all, plus the internet was down at home.
.
I will get back to posting shortly.

Thanks,
Melody

12-26-06 Merry Christmas Everyone!

2006-12-25T18:01:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well, Santa snuck into the house at some point because when I woke up at 5:45am Christmas morning, there were lots of presents under the tree. They weren't there at 12:25am or at 3:00am so I've narrowed down that Santa came to the house sometime between 3:30am and 5:45am. After a few years of this, I'm sure I'll be able to catch him in the act!

I got a bunch of really cool presents including lots of diapers (Thanks Paula, Gloria, and Papa) as well as a couple of really cools bibs! More importantly, everyone loved the gifts that I got for them! I got Daddy a pillow, Mommy a new pocketbook, and Neil a bib that says, "I love my big brother!" I also got Neil a shirt that shows just how well I already know him. (See if you can read the saying on the front of the shirt.)

Here is me in one of my new bibs:

Here is Neil in his new T shirt:

And here is my in the Bib I got for Neil:
Did anyone else notice that the bib is almost as big as me?

Daddy made a really great Christmas dinner but I had to have some formula instead of the ham and all of the fixin's. Oh well, maybe next year. Mommy made a really good looking apple pie, but we haven't had any yet. I doubt I'll be allowed to have any, though.

Papa and Uncle Les came for Christmas dinner. Each time Papa comes over, I get to hear a whole bunch of new stories! It is really interesting, but something that I have noticed. Even though he tells a few stories each time I see him, he somehow always repeats at least one story he has already told me. I wonder if he knows that he does that?

Papa also got me this really cool hat:I actually started this post on Christmas evening after dinner and after we opened up presents. Then, as I was typing, I got really, really tired and fell asleep. I slept until about 11:00pm and then kept Mommy and Daddy up (in shifts) pretty much all night. Daddy got up with me around 1:00am and then Mommy got up around 5:00am. Obviously, Mommy and Daddy are pretty tired today.

Well, that's it for now.

Love y'all,

Melody

P.S. In case you couldn't read Neil's shirt, here is a closeup. Tell me I don't know him!

12-25-06 Happy Christmas!

2006-12-25T00:24:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

I just snuck out of my bassinet to see if Santa had stopped by the house yet. He hasn't so I figured I would just log on and check the NORAD site. According to them, he should have been here already, but what does a 3+week old know.

Well, I better get back to bed. I'm probably going to be waking Mommy or Daddy in a couple of hours.

Love y'all,
Melody

12-23-06 It's been a few days..

2006-12-23T14:28:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Sorry it has been a few days since my last post. Daddy is putting some limits on the amount of time I'm allowed on the internet!

Seriously, I've been kinda busy with Christmas coming. I've been shopping, (I've been to the mall at least three times!) and shopping at Target and Wallyworld, and I even got to go to Starbucks! (FYI - My favorite drink (just like Daddy and Neil) is a triple venti 6 pump extra hot white mocha.)

The best part of the last few days was that I got to meet Santa! Yep, the big fat guy (not Daddy or Papa) actually held me and asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told him world peace and the fall of Islamic radicals, but that I would settle for some smaller things like new socks and diapers! He said he would see what he could do.

After I met Santa, I was pretty tired.

Mommy's friend Pam stopped by this morning and I let her hold me and try to feed me. It seems like every time one of Mommy and Daddy's friends are holding me, Daddy takes a picture. 20 Years from now when I'm looking at all of the pictures, I'm gonna have no clue as to who these people are! Well, here is Pam and I standing by the Christmas tree!

Someone sent me an email asking just how big or little I am. Mommy took a picture of me sitting in our Lay-Z-Boy type chair. It is a standard size chair and it puts my size into perspective.

I have my Babushka but where is my camel?!

Well, that is it for today. I have to help Daddy cut down the bushes. Maybe he will let me use the chainsaw this time! Actually, I get to make Christmas cookies with Mommy. Much more fun!

I'll try and get a post in before Christmas, but if I don't Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. (Hey that sounds pretty good!)

Love,
Melody

12-19-06 Update - Opps

2006-12-19T12:50:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

I made a little mistake. I didn't remember waking up last night, but Mommy got up with me around 2:30-3:00am. So I didn't get the full night sleep that I thought, but at least Daddy did.

Melody

12-19-06 Decent Night Sleep

2006-12-19T06:11:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

I wanted to let everyone know that I let Mommy and Daddy have an almost full night sleep last night. That's right, I slept through the night from about 11:15pm until 5:00am. I'm not sure that I liked getting that much sleep, so I might go back to waking up around 3:00am, but Daddy sure seemed happy when he got up to feed me this morning.

Other than that, yesterday I became a legitimate baby. Mommy and I drove about 30 minutes north so she could pick up a sheet of paper that said I was born. What is up with that? Did Mommy and Daddy need proof that I am really here? Somethings just don't make sense to me.

Well, time to get a new diaper put on!

Love y'all,
Melody

12-17-06 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2006-12-17T22:34:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

Yesterday was a pretty cool day. Mommy, Daddy, Neil, and I finally had some time to decorate the Christmas tree. (Papa calls it a Hanukkah Bush!) I don't know why we put off decorating so long - it was pretty quick and easy. Well, easy for me. Neil got frustrated with trying to fix a strand of lights, and Daddy threw away the Star that normally goes on top of the tree, but other than that it was pretty easy. Here is Neil with the lights:

After the tree was done, Mom went to my bedroom to get my jammies, so I thought. After she changed me, her and Neil started laughing like crazy and Daddy just stood there shaking his head in disbelief! Talk about giving a girl a complex! Apparently those of my readers who knew Neil as a baby will get a an extra kick out of the next couple of pictures!

Today has been pretty fun also. Mommy and Neil went to Disney again but Daddy just wanted to pretend he's a carrot (he kept saying he wanted to veg.) Anyway, Daddy and I got to stay together all day! We watched football, slept (well I did), pooped, eat, slept, and watched some more football. Daddy actually did some work around the house while I slept, so he's pretty tired right now. going to try and get some sleep before Mom gets home. I sure did miss her today.She will be home soon.

Well, I guess I better get a little sleep before Mommy gets home. Keep the comments coming and I'll keep the posts posting.

Love y'all lots,

Melody Elizabeth

12-16-06 Another First!

2006-12-16T08:58:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

The Melster here. Just wanted to let everyone know that my bellybutton finally fell off. At least that is what Mommy and Daddy are saying. However, when I look at my bellybutton I can still see it. What's that? Hold on....Ohhhhh, Mommy just explained that the scab over my bellybutton is what fell off. Huh, I didn't feel a thing.

So the fact that my bellybutton fell of means that I was finally allow to take a real bath! No more sponge baths for this girl. I got to sit in the real tub and get a good, clean, relaxing bath. It was GREAT. As you are reading this if you listen real closely, you can probably hear all of the noise I made when Mommy and Daddy gave me the bath. Can you hear me? What, you don't hear anything? Well that is all of the noise that I made. Not a peep, not a cry, not a sound! Daddy was wondering if I was going to freak out and start crying, but I liked the bath. Like I said, it was relaxing. Of course, Daddy had the camera out during bath time, so here ya go:

I also had a doctors appointment yesterday for a weight check. The doctor is happy with my current weight gain and I am almost 9 lbs! After my appointment, Mommy went home and picked up Daddy and then they loaded up the foster dog and puppies and they finally were returned to the rescue group. It sure is nice and quiet in the house now! If only the birds would learn to be a little more quiet, life would be even better.

Well that is it for now. I'm going to take a nap and let Mommy and Daddy get some rest before I want to eat again..... hmmm......do I need a diaper change?

Love y'all,

Melody

12-14-06 Quick Pic and Video

2006-12-14T05:30:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to post a quick picture and to put up a link to a couple of cool "Internet thingies." First here is the picture of me with my first puppy:

(Now before everyone starts sending Mommy and Daddy emails about an infant sleeping with a stuffed animal, they moved the puppy in place for the picture and then moved it away.)

Now the video below I'm not sure what is so funny about it, but Daddy said that you had to have been around in the 80's to understand it.

Finally, Uncle Paul has a "Quote of the Day" email that he sends out to some 500+ people every day or two. The quotes are usually motivational in nature and they are nice addition to your inbox. He never sends ads or junk mail and it is a good, clean list. Here are some examples of the more recent quotes that he has sent out.

"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way."- Dr. Seuss

"A goal properly set is halfway reached."- Zig Ziglar

"To be good only to yourself is to be good for nothing." - François Marie Arouet (Voltaire)

"I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning." - J. B. Priestley

and finally,

"Determine never to be idle...It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing." - Thomas Jefferson

If you are interested in receiving the QOTD, email me and I will let you know how to get it.

Well that's it for now. See y'all next time!

Love,

MET

12-12-06 Taking Disney by Storm

2006-12-12T17:17:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Before I begin today's post, I realized that I never posted a post that I typed when I first got home from the hospital. Thank you to everyone that sent flowers and came to visit Mommy while we were in the hospital. Also, the biscuits/cookies were a great snack! (Thanks Paula!) It was all very appreciated. Thanks again!

Now on with the awesome news! As most of you know (if you have been reading my blog for any length of time) my brother Neil's high school chorus was selected to sing as part of the Candlelight Processional at Disney's Epcot. This is a nightly show that runs around the Christmas holidays. Neil's chorus has gone a few times already this season and yesterday, Monday, was the day that they spend the entire day (and much of the night) at the park.

Mommy had to chaperon and seeing as they were going to be there the whole day, Daddy and I followed the bus up and spent the day at Epcot! That's right - Only 13 days old and I got to go to Disney! Mommy and Daddy kept asking other parents how old their infants were and they couldn't find anyone even close as young as me! So I'm pretty sure that I was the youngest person in the park!

We got to the park around 10:30. It took a few minutes for Daddy and I to actually find Mommy but we finally did right up front near the ticket area. We had to wait a few minutes for all of the kids that Mommy was chaperoning to get through the line. She told them that they could run the park on their own, but that everyone had to check in at 1:00pm at England in the World Showcase. (This is how Mommy has done this in the past. Her thinking is that if they are in high school, they should be old enough to have enough responsibility to be on their own.) Usually a couple of the kids end up hanging out with Mommy. Yesterday it was Nina (who actually graduated last year). So anyway, everyone was going to meet up at 1:00pm in England.

Ten minutes after all of the kids left (except Nina) Lisa's cell phone rings and it is one of the girls in here group. "Ms. Lisa, there is no England." "What do you mean," asks Lisa." "There is no England on the map and if we are suppose to meet in England how can we do that if it's not on the map?" Lisa looked at her copy of the map and told the girl to meet us at the United Kingdom. I guess that is way Mommy and Daddy don't want me to attend school in Florida.

Daddy took lots of pictures and because Nina was with us, she used Daddy's camera to take some pictures of Mommy, Daddy, and me. One of the coolest ones was the three of us with "Spaceship Earth" in the background.

I was in the park from 10:30am until 8:30pm and I have to say that the 25 minutes I was awake were the most fun 25 minutes of my life! Another highlight was that I got to talk to Mary Poppins! Daddy did embarrass me, though. Ms. Poppins was talking to the little boy who went before me and asked him what he did so far in the park. He told her in a voice loud enough for all to hear that he went on Spaceship Earth, and rode the Nemo ride, and that he went to the bathroom. Now Ms. Poppins found that very funny, as did several of the parents waiting in line. So when Daddy and I get to go sit next to her, the first thing Daddy does is tell her that I went to the bathroom also! Everyone laughed and I think Ms. Poppins actually blushed! I have a feeling that Daddy is going to be doing things like that my entire life, so I best get used to it.

After went met Ms. Poppins, we went over to the Nemo ride in "The Living Seas." It was pretty neat and it was like they made the ride just for me! Mommy, Daddy, and I all sat in a Clam shell and it went nice and slow. There were a lot of different color lights and contracting things that I actually stayed awake for most of the 3 minute ride. Of course, Daddy was holding me in his arms so it was real easy to fall asleep. I did wake up for a few minutes and got scared because Daddy and I were in the mouth of a shark! They Mommy and Daddy took a picture with me with a couple of little fishes...

I'll have to finish telling you about my Disney trip tomorrow, or later tonight. Daddy has to use the computer so I have to go.

Love y'all,

Melody

PS - One last picture of me (because I'm soooooo cute)

12-10-06 Quick Pic

2006-12-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone - Just a quick picture of me holding my own bottle!

12-10-06 What a couple of days!

2006-12-10T07:24:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

I've been busy the last couple of days. Yesterday, Friday, we went to the local city "Tree Lighting Event."

One of Big Bro Neil's chorus members form school last year was invited to sing at the event. He asked Neil to get some of the current chorus members to help him sing a few of the Candlelight songs. They were suppose to start at 8:00pm, so Mommy and Daddy loaded me up and we headed to the park. Now last night was the coldest day of my life. I know people say that but in my case I am being literal. (Being only 10 days old, it's not that hard for that statement to be true!) Normally, it gets down to the 60's at night, but last night was in the 40's with the wind blowing and good golly it was COLD!

Mommy and Daddy bundled me up and while I was toasty warm, I know they were cold. We got to the park and I got to ride in my stroller for the first time! Here is a picture of Darius singing his solo: Here is a picture of the whole group that sang some of the songs from Disney Candlelight. (Neil is wearing the Santa hat.)

Saturday was even better! It started by me waking daddy at about 2:45am and we got to spend some quality time until almost 6:00am! Oh yeah, here is another picture of Daddy and me:

I finally fell asleep around 6:00am and then let everyone sleep in late Saturday morning. Aren't I so thoughtful! Neil had chorus rehearsal around 11:00am and then Mommy and Daddy and I went to Bob Evens for lunch. The restaurant had a really cool thing that they put up to the table for my car seat to sit into (Check it out here). Anyway, after brunch Mommy and Daddy had planned on going to get our Christmas tree, but Daddy forgot to bring the camera, so we had to go back home. By then, it was time to pick up Neil so the whole family got to spend the afternoon together!

One of the stops was at the mall. I don't know why everyone says the mall is so fun. I slept through most of it (imagine that) but something that I did notice: Why don't the stores that sell baby clothes make the isles big enough for a baby stroller? Makes no sense to me. And it wasn't like it was just one store; Macy's, JC Penny, Dillards, Baby Gap, and a couple of other stores we went to all made it very difficult for Daddy to push my stroller through the racks of clothes. It's no wonder that retail stores are losing business to the internet! (Don't you just love my economic perspectives?)

We left the mall and I agree with Daddy. We won't be going back there anytime soon. Way to many people - grumpy people at that!

Finally we went to buy our Christmas tree. Mommy and Daddy have bought it at one of the local churches for the past couple of years so we went back there. One of the guys working was nice enough to offer to take our picture!

Of course the tree we are standing in front of is not the tree that we bought. Daddy and Neil went and picked out the tree while Mommy stayed in the car and nursed me. I was hungry after leaving the mall and I needed to eat! So after Daddy and Neil picked out the tree, paid for it, had it loaded on top of the truck, and I had my diaper changed, all of us went back to the tent and posed for the picture. I guess that is what they mean when they say photo manipulation!

Finally we were headed home. A quick stop at Little Caesars to pick up dinner and then it was a relaxing evening at home. After dinner Daddy made one of his comments that just totally confused me. He said he was going to set up the tree so it could fall. Well duh. Why not set it up properly so it doesn't fall.

The tree looks good and hopefully we will get it decorated later tonight. We looked for my first ornament but couldn't find one that anyone liked. Maybe well find one today.

Well, time to go for now. I appreciate the email that everyone is sending, but also leave me a comment on the blog. I like reading those also!

Love y'all,

Mel

12-07-06 Big Bro's Concert

2006-12-07T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Mommy, Daddy, and I just got home from Big Bro Neil's winter Chorus concert. It was really, really, fun! Everyone was singing and dancing and having a good time. Neil did great and there were a couple of songs where you could hear just how well he sings.

Not much to really tell you about. I have my day down pretty good now. Let's see if I can remember my schedule:

Eat, poop, sleep, poop, eat, poop, sleep, Eat, poop, sleep, poop, eat, poop, sleep, Eat, poop, sleep, poop, eat, poop, sleep, Eat, poop, sleep, poop, eat, poop, sleep, Eat, poop, sleep, poop, eat, poop, sleep

Yep, I think that's right. I might have forgotten a poop somewhere in there.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know I was doing well and really loving my family.

Hope to see y'all soon!

Love,
Melody

12-04-06 Doctor Visit

2006-12-04T17:06:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!

Just got back from my first doctors appointment! Doc says that everything looks good and I'm doing everything that I should be doing!

Even though I weighed 8 lbs 11 ounces when I was born, today I weighed in at 8 lbs 4 ounces, so the diet is working! Just kidding. Doc said that it is normal for babies to lose up to 10% of their birth weight during their first week, and that I should start putting on between 1/2 and 1 ounce every day!

Just wanted to keep everyone updated.

If you have any specific questions for me, feel free to post a comment and either Mommy, Daddy, or myself will try and answer them for you.

Love y'all,

MET

P.S. Here is a picture of Daddy carrying me out of the hospital room

12-4-06 Home Life

2006-12-04T13:05:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone...

Just a quick update and some more pictures. I'm trying to do a posting every couple of days at least - more if I can. As you know, I came home Saturday evening. I've got a pretty cool house and a really cool room. I'll try and get some pictures of my room, but I don't know if Daddy will let me use his camera yet.

My first weekend at home has been fun! Saturday after we got home, I got to watch the gators play for the SEC Championship. I know I said it in an earlier post, but I say it again. They won! Even better, on Sunday, the were ranked #2 and will get to play Ohio for the National Championship! Go Gators!

I am soooo happy to be home. Mommy and Daddy have me all set up in my bassinet next to their bed. It seems that Mommy and Daddy take turns feeding and changing me, and I especially like when they are both are awake and talking to me and giving me kisses and they both are soooo happy.

It seems like when it's light out, I like to sleep, and then when it gets dark, I am awake more. I still sleep when it's dark, but it takes me longer to get back to sleep. For example, yesterday I slept through a lot of new things for me (more on my first outing in a moment.) I ate at about 6pm (finished by 6:30), again around 9:00pm (again about 1/2 hour) and then at 12:00am. That one I finished eating and got changed by about 12:20, but instead of falling asleep by 12:30, I was awake until almost 1:00am! Then I woke up around 2:00am and was hungry. Daddy stayed up with me until after 3:00am! After he fed and changed me, he tried to put me back to bed, but as soon as he put me down and pulled his arm away, I let him know that I was still awake. After a few times of this, Daddy was afraid that Mommy would wake up, so he took me out to the living room and watched some TV out there. Around 3:15, I finally fell asleep and slept until 5:30 when I woke Mommy to feed and change me!

Yesterday, I got to go to Neil's school, the library and to Wallyworld! Everyone in Neil's chorus were looking at me and smiling and it seemed like I made them happy. Neil had to sing at Disney yesterday, so we had to drop him off. I even got a real pretty outfit from Terri and Beth! Thank you soooo much!

We left the school and then stopped at the library. Apparently, Mommy and Daddy think that I'm gonna let them read. They will find out soon enough that when I sleep, they are going to want to sleep and when I'm awake, they will be paying attention to me! They got a couple of books each and we were all headed to Wallyworld (Walmart.)

Walmart was fun! You're not going to believe what I did! I slept! That's right, I don't even remember being there! Like I said earlier, I sleep quite abit during the day but put me in a car and I am content. Doesn't matter where I'm going, in a car I can sleep.

My Papa came over to visit me today. He fed and burped me and basically helped Mommy keep me awake. Daddy wasn't here because he had to go to work for a few hours. I guess now that I'm home, it is back to reality for him. Daddy got home just in time to see Papa feeding me and to get a picture. Then Papa had to go back to work as well.

Well, I have to go and get ready for my first Doctors appointment. Just a regular check up and a chance for Mommy and Daddy to interview my new doctor. Hopefully, he has warm hands!

'till next time,

Melody

12-02-06 - Coming Home!

2006-12-02T14:30:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

I'm still real busy, but I thought, "Melody," (that's what I call myself), "you never really told everyone what's going on and why you can't come home." So I answered, "You know what Melody, your right! I'll do it just as soon as I get a chance to put a new posting."

Here is the deal. When I was born, I had really low blood sugar levels. Within a hour after I was born, they hooked me up to an IV and had me on some fluids with a small percentage of glucose. I stayed on the IV and had my sugar levels checked every 2 hours. At first, the little lance in my heal hurt like crazy, but after getting stuck about 3 times, I learned to ignore it completely.

After a full day on the solutions, my sugar levels were still too low. The neonatologist's nurse, Teresa (who I like to call Terry), decided that the best thing to do would be to put a line in through my belly-button so a stronger solution could be used. They also started me on a steroid treatment. I heard Terry tell Mommy and Daddy that once the steroid treatment is started and is showing results, they would have to wean me off of it and that I would be in the hospital for 2 weeks! Two weeks before I could go home. That stinks!

Because of the line in my belly-button, I wasn't allowed to stay in Mommy's room; I had to stay in the nursery. It wasn't that bad because Mommy and Daddy would come down every two hours to feed me. Some times I would eat a lot, sometimes not too much, but everyone was happy with the amount that I would eat. At first, I couldn't eat when I was being held. When Mommy or Daddy held me, I was just so comfortable I would fall right asleep. They figured this out pretty quick and started feeding me by holding me upright in my bed and I would stay awake long enough to eat! During the entire time I was in the nursery, I was pretty quiet and didn't really cry all that much.

Back to the steroids, which I am calling my Barry Bonds hours - I did really well after the first dose and my sugar went from 20 something to over 110! That doesn't really mean much to me, but Terry said that that was actually too high, so she stopped the steroids completely (I only had the one dose so I didn't have to be weaned). This was potentially good news because if I didn't have to pretend I was Barry Bonds (and take the steroids) then hopefully I wouldn't have to be in the hospital for 2 weeks extra! The line still had to stay in my belly button and they were still taking my blood every three hours, but at least there was a chance of going home sooner rather than later.

I stayed in the nursery Tuesday through Friday and each feeding they slightly lowered the amount of IV fluids, thus lower the amount of sugar, that they needed to give me. Finally on Friday morning, they stopped the glucose fluids and put me on just regular fluids! This was a major milestone! After one more blood test, they took out the line in my bellybutton and then after about an hour I was allowed to go hang out in my Mommy's room.

Now remember, I was on fluids and in the nursery from Tuesday through Friday. Mommy was officially discharged on Thursday morning. However, the great folks at the hospital told her that as long as I was not allowed to go home, she could actually stay in her room as a boarder. The nurse said as long as they had room, she could stay where she was at and that they would even continue to feed her! That was great news because we live about 30 minutes from the hospital and I was still being feed every three hours. Daddy did leave and go home a few times in between feedings and he said that it made for a long trip.

On Wednesday afternoon, the nurses tested my Billy Reuben levels. When Daddy heard this, his first thought had to do with sauerkraut but that's not what I was being tested for. Basically, the nurses we concerned that I was jaundice. I won't try to explain the specifics of jaundice and bilirubin. If you want to know click here. Unfortunately, my bilirubin levels were to high and I was in fact jaundice. They ended up having to keep me under special UV lights 24 hours a day. I had to wear a funky sunglasses held in place by either my hat or a piece of tight gauze. Here are a couple of pictures:

Jaundice in someone my age is pretty common and is treated with the UV lights. Finally on Friday, the nurse said that they would test my blood at 6:00pm and again at 6:00am Saturday morning. If my levels were where they needed to be, I could go home Saturday morning. All I kept thinking was that I got home early enough to watch the Gator game! My levels on Saturday morning were still high, but the doctor came to see me around 8:30am and said that while the numbers were high, they were coming down steadily and that we would test one more time at 6:00pm Saturday evening and if they were at at certain point or lower, we could go home that evening! They other good news was that he said we could turn off the lights! Finally, I could sleep without having the brightness shining down on me!

Mommy and Daddy were so excited about finally being able to take me home. Even though it wasn't 100% for sure we were going to be able to leave, they packed up all of their stuff in the room and got ready to bring it home.

The nurse on duty Saturday was a wonderful woman named Madona. She told Mommy that if Mommy wanted to leave for a couple of hours she would watch me. Mommy and Daddy loaded everything up and went home for a couple of hours. They got back around 3:30 and waited for the test. The leech (the lady from the lab) came in around 5:00 and took some blood and finally around 6:00pm Madona came in and told us we could leave! Finally, we were able to go home!

We got home around 6:30 this evening and I am sooooo happy to finally be out of the hospital. Mommy and Daddy showed me my room and I just love it! Right now, I'm sleeping in a bassinet next to Mommy's side of the bed. She wants to be near me so when I get hungry she can feed me. I'm not complaining at all because after all the time I spent in the nursery at the hospital, I would rather Mommy and Daddy be close by.
.

Well this is a really long posting, so I will end it now with plans on putting new posts up every day or two. Mommy and Daddy said that they will put some posting up also. I'm sure we may even see some things from Big Bro Neil. Bro is going to Disney tomorrow to perform with his chorus at the Candlelight Processional. Marie Osmond is going to be the narrator for the performance. I wonder if she is going to narrate is with a little bit of country or a little bit of rock and roll? The things that go through the mind of a 5 day old baby!

Well, I better go. I'm starting to get hungry and I think Mommy is almost asleep. I'll wait another 15 minutes or so and make sure she is asleep before I start "asking" for food!
.

Love y'all and will see you soon!
.

Melody

P.S. In case you were wondering, the Gators ended up winning! Now hopefully the fools over at the BCS will do the right thing and let them play for the national championship. (Just a little commentary.)

12-01-06 Quick Comment and Pictures

2006-12-01T22:49:00.000-05:00

Just a few pictures....More details later. Hopefully, I can come home sometime on Saturday afternoon. I most definitely want to come, but I hope that we get there in time to watch the Gators beat the Razorbacks!

See all y'all soon!
Melody

Grrrrr!!!!!!

I'm ready to hit the beach!

Just chillin under the lights!

Daddy and Me!

11-30-06 Some of the Details about my Birthday!

2006-11-30T12:58:00.000-05:00

Ahhh...Things have calmed down a little bit. Sorry that I didn't have a chance to give some more details on my birthday. I'm sure you understand that things were a little hectic. Plus, while the hospital is great, they don't have any public internet access!

Anyway, here's the full story on my birthday: Mommy, Daddy, and Neil all treated Monday as a regular day. Little did they know! Mommy and Daddy went to work and Neil went to school. Around 4:30, Mommy and Daddy went for their usual walk around the block and then came home and Daddy started making dinner. Big Bro Neil had to be picked up from chorus practice around 7:00pm. They got home about 7:15pm and Daddy took dinner out of the oven. Just before they sat down to eat, Mommy said that her water broke. I won't give all of the minor details here, but it wasn't a big mess like those shows on TV. Everyone seemed to be pretty calm about it and Mommy called the doctor and we all waited for him to call back.

Mommy and Daddy started packing the "to-go" bag. Now most Moms and Dads probably pack their bags several months before they even had to consider going to the hospital. Not my Mommy and Daddy! They got everything picked out and packed and were ready to go in about 15 minutes. Mommy made a few phone calls while waiting for the doctor to call back. Daddy was relaxing(that's what he calls it) on the patio. Big Bro Neil was probably the most nervous of everyone! So to calm himself down, Neil did what Neil likes to do. He sat down in front of the TV and watched "Wayne's World!"

The doctor called back and said to, "Come on Down. You're the next contestant on 'Let's have a Baby!" Actually he didn't say that because his sense of humor is pretty dry, but he did say that he was at the hospital already, and to come in and get checked out.

We loaded up the car, and got to the hospital about 8:25pm. Everyone was still pretty calm. Mommy was having some contractions, but nothing real bad. The nurses hooked Mommy up to a monitor and let her listen to my heart beat. The monitor showed that my heartbeat was good and strong, and that Mommy was having contractions, but while they were strong, mildly painful, and frequent, they were still irregularly spaced.

The doctor showed up around 9:00pm and said that we still had a few more hours till I was born and that they would probably end up inducing Mommy's labor around 4:00am and that he thought I would be born around 7:00am. He told Mommy to just hang in there and he would be back later in the morning.

At this point, Big Bro Neil is starting to get a tad touchy because he hasn't eaten anything for several hours and the hospital cafe closed at 6:00pm. He is starting to get bored sitting around waiting, so Daddy takes him to Papa's house which is just down the street. Of course, they have to stop to get Neil some food because, "Papa never has anything good to eat!"

Daddy got back around 11:30pm and the contractions were getting stronger and stronger. Mommy has a pretty high pain tolerance, so if she is complaining about pain, you know that it is hurting. (I tried to give her some baby kissing from the inside, but they didn't help as much as I hoped!) Mommy asked the nurse for some pain medication and that seemed to help for a little bit.

Around 1:00am, I could tell Mommy was hurting real bad. The pain medication wore off, or at least it wasn't helping anything anymore, and the nurses couldn't give Mommy any more until 2:00am. I finally said, "Enough is enough!" If Mommy's gonna hurt, I'm gonna try and help her feel better." I just started heading towards the light (like they taught me in Babyland). At 1:30am, I heard the nurse tell Mommy she was going to call the doctor in. He showed up about 2:10am and worked with Mommy until 2:40am when I was finally born!

Mommy and Daddy were both there, along with the Doctor and two nurses. They quickly wrapped me up in a blankie while Daddy cut my cord! After I was somewhat clean and crying just a little, they placed me on Mommy's chest and I knew that my life had just begun!

I have to go, but I will try and finish this later tonight. Long story short, the sugar in my blood is a little low, so I'm gonna have to stay in the nursery at the hospital for a little while longer. Mommy got discharged from the hospital, but she is actually allowed to stay in her room (at the hospital) so she can still come down to feed me every three hours. Daddy seems to be here for almost every feeding also. I know that he has stayed with Mommy and me at the hospital all along and has taken care of everyone waiting at home for me, too. He's the bestest Daddy in the world!!

Before I go, I just want to say how great the nurses and staff have been to all of us. They have been very helpful, educating, loving and we are all so happy with them. We might go so far as to give them a 5 star! (Guess we'll just have to wait for that survey) For real, we are so glad that we decided to go to Wuesthoff for my birthday.

Anyway, I gotta go. Like I said, I'll finish some more thoughts later tonight.

Love ya all!

Melody Elizabeth

11-28-06 Tuesday Morning, 2:40am - My Birthday Has Arrived!

2006-11-28T12:48:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I don't have much time to leave a full post. I'm kinda busy right now celebrating my birthday! Yep, I decided that it was time to meet Mommy, Daddy, and Big Bro Neil! I'll leave all the details in a later post but here is the important stuff:

Birthday: November 28, 2006 at 2:40am

Weight: 8 pounds, 11 ounces

Length: 21 inches

Brain size (well, head diameter): 13 inches

10 toes, 10 fingers, 2 eyes, 2 ears, one nose -

All around a healthy looking and acting baby girl!

.
I haven't had a chance to look at all of the pictures, but this is just one of them that Daddy took at 3:48am:

Also, about 12:25pm on Tuesday, we took our newest family portrait!

Well, time to get back to Mommy. She's trying to catch some zzzz's so I'm gonna start crying - just a little to see just how loud I have to be to wake her!

Mommy and I will be staying in the hospital (Wuesthoff Medical Center, 250 N Wickham Rd Melbourne, FL 32935) until most likely Thursday morning, then we get to go home.

See ya'all later!

P.S. I know my name and you don't! I know my name and you don't! (That's me getting back at each person who saw my picture and thought or said, "Wow, that's one chubby baby!)

Then again, I'm not mean so here it is: Melody Elizabeth. All sorts of nick names, and it just sounds good.

11-26-06 What a Day!

2006-11-26T19:02:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone - Baby T here again.

It's Sunday night and I thought I would tell everyone what happened today. Don't get all excited. It wasn't my birthday yet, but Mommy and Daddy did spend a couple of hours at the hospital today. Mommy started having some pretty strong contractions Saturday evening, and they continued into Sunday. They were considering going to the hospital Saturday night, but a friend was in town from Atlanta and they wanted to spend some time with him. Plus, the contractions were pretty bearable.

Sunday morning, Mommy was still feeling the contractions and they felt a little stronger than Saturday. Daddy didn't want to come off as the "worry-wart" so he didn't really push the issue. Mommy can be pretty stubborn and he knew that when she wanted to go, she would say something.

Around 1:00pm, they went shopping at Target and Babies-R-Us (to buy me some things! Woo-Hoo!) and Mommy was starting to feel worse and worse. Between my punching and kicking, and the contractions which were still going pretty regularly and pretty strong, Daddy suggested that maybe we should just stop by the hospital. Mommy agreed.

Oh, before I finish the story, I did promise to post a picture of Big Brother Neil. This is his 11th grade chours picture:

He might be good looking, but I'll be cuter! I'll post some of the really good pictures soon. Anyway, back to the story. The three of us got to the hospital and after they hooked me up to the monitor which measures my heart beat and Mommy's contractions, the nurse started asking Mommy all sorts of questions. I wasn't really paying attention because I was just sitting back listening to my heart beat - which was cranking! I did hear the nurse tell my Mommy that the baby is pretty amp'ed and that she probably shouldn't drink Coke Slurpees! They were joking about it, so the speed of my heart beat wasn't really an issue, but I guess I have to wait quite a while before I get more of those Slurpees.

The monitor showed that the contractions were happening, and the nurse did a quick exam of Mommy and told her she was 2-3 cm dilated. She also poked me in the top of my head! Anyway, the nurse told Mommy to walk the halls for about an hour and see what happens.

The hallway in the baby unit isn't that big. It's got two corridors that connect at the nursing station. The one end is about 70 feet long, and the other is about 50 feet long. Not a lot of walking room and I think my folks walked it about 40 times. From one end to the other, turn around, and walk it again....Pretty boring!

After the hour passed (Daddy gave up walking after about 50 minutes and waited for Mommy in the room!) the nurse did another exam and said that nothing had really changed. To sum it all up, Mommy is in what is called early labor. That can last hours, days, or weeks. No way of really knowing. Right now I am at Station Zero. (Sounds like a sci-fi flick, huh?) If you don't know what that means, don't worry - Mommy had to explain it to Daddy. Station is how far the baby is "down" in the pelvis. Minus 3 or minus 4 and I (the baby) is floating. Station Zero means that I am engaged in the pelvis and +3 or +4 means that I am crowning.

Well, we got home, ate some dinner and now Mommy is just chilling out. Don't have anything else to really tell you so I guess I 'll say good night. Chances are I'll see ya'all within a week or so, if not sooner.

Oh yeah, one last thing. At the bottom of each post, there is a link called comments. If you click on that, you can leave me a message. I really like getting stuff sent to me, so this is a good spot to leave me a message. (Keep in mind that any message you leave me will be seen by everyone, so if you would rather send me a message in private, you can email me at WelcomeBabyT@gmail.com) Daddy will be putting together a scrapbook with all my messages so I can read it when I get older. So send me a message now and I'll read it in a few years! Thanks!

See ya'all later!
Baby T

11-25-06 Finally, my own site!

2006-11-25T07:37:00.000-05:00

Hi! My name is Baby T and to the left is a picture that was taken on September 15th. I guess I'm pretty shy and don't like my picture taken because I sure don't look happy!

My daddy was suppose to have created a web site for me back then, but I guess he got too busy fixing up my room and just getting ready for me. I got tired of waiting on him, so I went ahead and created my own site. You're here, but the web address is:
http://WelcomeBabyT.blogspot.com/. Feel free to pass it on.

Anyway, I'll try to keep it updated regularly and I will also make sure that Mommy and Daddy (even big bro Neil) contribute at least every couple of days. So be sure to check back every day, because you never know what they will post, and you certainly don't know what I might post - I have some really good pictures of Neil!

I'm not suppose to be delivered until Christmas Eve, but I don't think I can wait that long. Not only am I ready to see the outside world but think about it - I am going to get jipp'ed when it comes time for Christmas! How unfair would it be for my birthday to be on Christmas Eve? I can hear it already, "This is your birthday slash Christmas present." Nope, not gonna happen. I'm coming out early.

I am so ready to come out, that I've got Mommy convinced that I'm gonna be delivered sometime this weekend. Between the contractions I'm making her body do, and the exhaustion I'm causing, she is 100% sure that I'm coming this weekend. Of course Daddy is concerned because of the Florida/Florida State game is on later today! I told him not to worry though. Every delivery room in the hospital has a TV. He won't miss the game. Go Gators!

Well, that's it for right now. I see a couple of ribs that I think I want to grab hold of. Maybe I'll just kick em! I know Mommy just loves when I do that.

Keep checking my site. I'll make sure that this is gonna be the official spot for all things Baby T!

See ya Soon!
Baby T