Last weekend took us all by surprise.  Let me give you a little background information.  My grandmother has been hospitalized with the flu. She also came down with pneumonia while there.  In the meantime, my dad got pneumonia too.  My grandfather was taken from the nursing home with a kidney infection and severe dehydration...probably a result of overmedication at geriatric psych.  He went there during Christmas to regulate his meds.  My sister and I have been loading up on Tamiflu as a precaution since Kristin spent the day with my grandmother the day before she was diagnosed, and I slept in the same bed with Kristin during our Nashville trip.  My mom traveled to Jackson to help care for my grandfather, who was deteriorating fairly quickly.

Now that you have that background information...let's fast forward a few days.  It appeared that Pops was not doing well, and his prognosis was not very good at all.  So, Kristin and I decided we should be with my mom since my dad was sick and wasn't able to go.  Millie Janalee and Lee went along for the ride.  Kristin and Lee came through town to pick me and Millie Janalee up.  I'm terrified of the flu, so Lee graciously offered to stay in the car with Millie Janalee while Kristin and I gowned and masked up to visit Pops...who at this point was unresponsive and had pneumonia.

We're not taking any chances!

Playtime in the car!

After leaving the hospital, we ate supper at Keifer's and brought Mama some real food back.  She had not had a real meal the whole week she'd been staying at the hospital.  After visiting one last time on Saturday, we traveled to my cousin's house to stay for a day or two.  We joined them for church at Pinelake on Sunday.  Russ and I attended there during our time in Jackson, and I was excited to worship there again.  I also decided...because of my flu paranoia...that Millie Janalee would join us in "big church."  She did fantastic!

"How big is this church?"

"I'm excited about 'big church!'"

"Let's GO!"

"I promise to cross my legs like a lady during church."

Millie Janalee was a natural in "big church."  She was completely silent during the sermon, and she was wide awake the entire time.  She did let out one big burp, but other than that...she was perfect!  Ha!  We stood at the end to sing, and she started singing at the top of her lungs.  So cute!  And funny!  Then, the pastor asked everyone to hold out their hands as he prayed while many accepted God's grace.  Kristin and I looked over, and we were in LOVE with what we saw...

Even Millie Janalee felt His presence!

I joked that she was thinking, "My Paw Paw is a preacher.  I know what I'm doin'!"  Ha!  It was a sweet time with my baby girl, and I wish Russ had been there to see it.  After church, we met Mama for lunch at a local Mexican restaurant.  This was her first outing since she'd been there.  And her first change into clean clothes probably...which Millie Janalee christened immediately.  [sigh]  We took Mama back to the hospital afterward and spent some much needed time with Pops.  At this point, he still wasn't opening his eyes.  It seemed that he was trying to communicate, but he just couldn't.  We also suspect he had a stroke that wasn't showing up on the scans.  The doctor concurs with us.

Pops and his girls

We left the hospital a little deflated and very sad.  The rest of the afternoon at Jack and Clancy's was filled with watching Millie Janalee and ordering pizza while watching the Golden Globes.  We all received updates from Mama as things stayed the same or changed.  Millie Janalee pulled out all the tricks.

Let's walk around, "Aunt Clancy!"

Millie Janalee and Clancy played and "walked around" a bit on the floor while everyone made fun of me for putting these shoes that are still too big for her on her feet.  Millie Janalee kept tripping and stepping on her little shoes.  Ha!  I didn't care.  They were cute, and I know everyone else thought so too.

These shoes are made for walking...

Kristin and Lee

Waking up to "Uncle Jack" after his shift at the fire department

Monday, the doctor discharged Pops back to the nursing home to continue his treatment there.  Dr. Loper's outlook wasn't very good for Pops' recovery.  We all decided to pay Pops a "welcome home" visit.  I'm always very protective when Millie Janalee visits Pops in the nursing home, so she stayed her distance during our visit.  But, we told him she was there.  He could hear us, we're pretty sure.

Me, Millie Janalee, and Uncle Howard

Pops and his children (Mama and Uncle Howard)

Kristin, Lee, and Pops

Pops with his first great-grandchild

We left...still not seeing Pops open his eyes.  Uncle Howard got him to flutter his eyelids once, and we think he called Howard's name and said "Hey baby" to Mama.  It was all very difficult to decipher, but we're sure he knew we were there.

Russ and I had a meeting at Bethany the next day, so I stayed around town and decided to visit some dear friends while I waited on Clancy to get off work.  My first stop was the yogurt shop to play with Clark, Griffin, and Kelly.  We were the only ones in there the whole time.  Probably because it was threatening ice the remainder of the day.  Ice storm warnings were all over north Mississippi.  Ha!  Millie Janalee was enthralled with these boys and all their energy.  She just stared and watched them running back and forth.  I got a glimpse into what I have to look forward to in the coming months.  I need to rest up!

Millie Janalee and her arranged marriage husband, Griffin

Clark telling Millie Janalee all his secrets

"Mama, what are they doing?"

Love this sweet face!

After our visit with Kelly and her boys, we made a quick stop by Pat and Felicia's so I could feed Millie Janalee and charge my phone.  Only dear friends would understand such a drive-by.  I got a piece of Felicia's divine lemon cake, and left in time to pick up Clancy from work.

Nate loves to kiss Millie Janalee!

Toby thinks Millie Janalee is just "soooo cute!"

I love that my friends have so many boys for us to choose from.  Haha!  I also love these friendships that drop everything for a last minute visit and always have an ear to listen and folded hands to pray. 

Mama gave us all an updated report last night.  It truly is a miracle that Pops is opening his eyes and talking some.  Mama talked to him on the phone yesterday.  His speech is very slurred, but this is improvement.  We are all thankful for the time we have left with Pops and grateful that God's plan for Pops isn't finished quite yet.  Please continue to pray for Pops as he continues his treatment and hopefully improves.  Also pray for our family as we cherish this time with him.

Sleeping Beauty

The new year brought one more new experience right off the bat.  We moved Millie Janalee from her nice and cozy bassinet to her big girl crib!  That's right.  She's nearly six months old, and I still woke up each morning looking at that sweet face.  I would be happy to have her sleep there for the rest of her life...but it was time for her to sleep in her own room.

She did a GREAT job with the transition!!  We moved her little sleeping bag over to her bed to help her transition.  Our next job is to move that out.  She only woke up once during the night a couple of nights, but I just put her paci back in and she was asleep.  Now, she's sleeping all the way through.  She's also sleeping later.  Like much later!  It's 9:00 now, and she's just now starting to stir!  While we were in Jackson this weekend, she slept (or laid quietly) in her pack 'n' play until 9:40 one morning until I just went in and got her up.  She's her Mama's girl for sure right now!  We love our sleep...especially in the mornings.

Millie Janalee also takes most all her naps in her crib now.  Her naps are much more predictable now...depending on what time we get her up.  She usually naps right after her solid feeding around 10:30 or 11.  She naps again between 2 and 3, and her last nap is around 5 or 6.  Her naps still range between 45 minutes or an hour except her morning nap.  Her first nap usually last close to an hour and a half.  Yay!

When we decided to move her to her crib, we realized we needed to move the video monitor also.  We couldn't figure out the best place for the video.  Ideally, the best view was on top of her crib.  I didn't want it to fall on her, so I put Russ in charge.  This is what he came up with...

Saran Wrap!  Ha!  A temporary fix since she's not pulling up yet.

I think Millie Janalee enjoys her big bed.  I still rock her to sleep (which really only takes about 5 minutes) before I put her to sleep.  I have friends going through "sleep training," and I know that I would be horrible at that!  Maybe I'm too laid back.  Maybe I'm just right.  I'm thinking that as long as I have time to rock her to sleep, I will.  Ha!  I'm picturing her as an 18 year old sitting in my lap.  When she was in her bassinet, I would lay her down drowsy and let her fall asleep on her own.  I haven't done that yet in the big crib.  I miss her, so this is my night cap I guess you could say.

Posing with some of her many stuffed animals

Where's Millie Janalee?

There she is!

So far, 2013 has been a big one!  We had our final post placement home visit yesterday.  It was just a formality since our adoption is final, but it was a great closing for this journey.  It felt so funny telling her all the things we are doing that I never thought we would...making my own baby food, just now letting her sleep in her bed, and traveling all over with a baby in tow!  We're crazy.  We know.  And we like it that way! 

Happy Birthday Nashville Style

A couple of weekends ago, Russ and I took our first out of town overnight trip without Millie Janalee.  Of course, she was in great hands.  But that doesn't mean we didn't missed her the whole time we were away.  And we may have checked in on her one too many times!  Ha!

Me and my hubby

Lee planned a surprise Nashville trip for Kristin's birthday!  Russ, me, Lee, Kristin, Dustin, and his girlfriend all joined in the fun.  Lee got us a hotel room at Opryland Hotel, and we all stayed in the same room!  Three to a bed to be exact!  Now, that's what you call a close knit family...and we are.

The birthday girl and her goofy hubby

They began their weekend Friday night, but Russ and I didn't travel north until Saturday.  We spent the day shopping.  All day.  Millie Janalee has now added to her swimsuit collection, and she is set for the summer.  Ha!  After a full day of shopping, we all went back to the hotel to freshen up for a night out.

Dustin and Sheila

Russ called some local Nashville friends to find some new spots for our evening, and they were fantastic!  We ate hibachi at Goten near downtown Nashville, and we finished up the night at Honky Tonk Central for fun...and a little sing-a-long with the band, apparently...

Yep.  That happened.

Sisters!

What happens when Dustin and Sheila take over my camera.

Don't ask.

Fun times!

We headed back to the hotel a little early since the birthday girl was tired.  And by early, I mean 12:30 or so.  The boys and I weren't tired yet, so I joined them outside for a little "birthday cigar" without the birthday girl.  No, I did not participate!  But, it is amazing what you can learn when you join a group of guys outside for cigars.  Too bad I'm sworn to secrecy.  Haha!

Cigars on a silver platter

Russ bought these cigars when Millie Janalee was born and forgot to pass them out.  It's never too late to celebrate, right?

The next morning, we leisurely showered and packed back up to leave town.  We stopped by Walgreen's to get Kristin a preventative prescription for Tamiflu since my grandmother was hospitalized the day after she spent the day with Kristin.  Then, Russ called on his Nashville natives again for a fun lunch location.  We scored again, because we will definitely visit Puckett's Grocery on our next visit!  Fabulous food and great atmosphere!

Russ and I quickly loaded up and headed toward home!  We couldn't wait to get our hands on our sweet girl!  We knew she was having a great time, but we wanted to kiss those sweet cheeks.  We are so thankful that Will and Elle took a weekend to babysit for us!  We tried to make it worth their while.  Hopefully we did.

Will, Millie Janalee, and Elle

It was a fun birthday bash...Nashville style!  And we are glad to be home...FAMILY STYLE!

Hairbow Shmairbow

I guess you've figured out by now that we love hairbows around here.  Ha!  I always swore I would not put one of those big, gaudy looking hairbows on my baby girl.  But, then Millie Janalee came along.  And she looked so precious in those hairbows.  Well..let's be honest.  She would look precious in a potato sack!  I realize there are two totally different groups of thought on the whole big hairbow on babies phenomenon.  My dad would much rather see her sweet head of hair, and I just recently learned that Russ's mom hates them.  Ha!  But, OUR group of thought is...she's cute!  And Russ agrees (in case you wondered how he felt about the subject).

I've gotten so many emails, texts, and Facebook messages wondering where I get her hairbows.  I LOVE these grosgrain headbands from TessieLou!  Everywhere I looked for cute hairbows, all they had was a neutral band and you changed out the colored bow.  I'm a little OCD, I guess, about her headgear because I think it all should match.  Thankfully, I found TessieLou on Etsy and orderd hairbows in nearly every color!

I've also had Facebook messages asking how we keep these headbands on Millie Janalee's head without her taking them off.  To which I proudly responded..."She probably doesn't know any different.  She's worn them since week one!"  Ha! 

And then, this started happening...

Going...

Going...

Gone!

Millie Janalee has started this new "trick" where she covers her ears with her hands.  Or holds both hands on the sides of her head.  It is so cute!  Then she feels something while she's up there.  Anytime these busy little hands feel something, they grab!  And pull.

We still wear our bows.  She only does this occasionally, and it's not because she hates her bows.  I'm thinking she's pretty neutral about the whole situation.  The funniest part is when I park the car and get ready to get her out...then I realize she's been wearing her hairbow around her eyes for who knows how long.  No crying or fussing.  Just blindfolded.  Haha!

It's at THAT point that I'm sure she's thinking, "Hairbow Shmairbow!"