New Adventures & New Shoes

Aren't these shoes just the cutest?! Josey had been taking a few steps at time but would get nervous and sit down. I thought just maybe that getting real shoes (not her soft soled ones) might be the confidence booster she needed. I was right. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find shoes She doesn't mind wearing her shoes. She even does quite a bit of walking when she isn't wearing her shoes. Another push to walk was daycare moving her up into the older infant room where all the kids are mobile and almost all of them are walking. They couldn't believe at daycare how she quickly went from just walking around holding onto things to taking off around the room by herself. 9 months was the start of our walking. Josey has now decided that she needs to climb up onto anything possible. She loves to climb on the entertainment center and the bookshelves. I also had a decorative ladder downstair which her father forgot about and she was on the second rung before he caught her. She even attempts to climb up on the furniture. If there is a toy near the furniture, she'll try to step on it to get on top of the couch or chair.

This is a picture of Josey trying to walk outside. Believe it or not but this picture was here at the end of November. The weather has been exceptionally nice so we've been able to go outside a little more than normal. She's even been able to swing on her swingset a few times which she absolutely LOVES to do! I just love her little stocking hat. She's so darn cute in it!

This is Josey wearing her Christmas dress. I was trying to get a few pictures of her by the Christmas tree for cards but she wasn't into cooperating much. :) I'm hoping to have some professional pictures taken soon so hopefully we'll have decent pictures of her in her little dress. She's such a little model!

Here are a couple of videos for you all to enjoy:

Josey walking. It goes quickly so pay attention. She will walk around like crazy but when I want to take a video of her then she keeps falling. Figures! She's walking even more since I took this video. She has excellent balance and is able to turn around sometimes.

Josey loves her bathtime. She let all of the water out of the tub b/c she was playing with the drain so I was filling up the tub again. I was laughing b/c Josey kept trying to grab/pinch the water coming out of the faucet. She couldn't figure out why it wasn't working.

Frustrated

As many of you know, we've been battling ear infections since July with Josey. Most the time she has double ear infections. We were at the doctor on Thursday at 3pm and the doctor said her ears were clear. Oct 29th, Josey went to the doctor and had double ear infection and was put on amoxicillin. Just over 2 weeks, she has a right ear infection! It came up in less than a day and a half!!! I feel absolutely awful about it all. There is a light at the end of the tunnel b/c we are seeing ENT on the 27th to discuss tubes. I know they might not recommend them or the tubes might not even be our saving grace but it's worth a shot. I mean she's on the 4th or 5th antibiotic since this all started. It can't be good to keep giving her antibiotics. The antibiotic that Josey's on this time is giving her one hellacious butt rash. She screams anytime you lay her down to change her b/c she knows what is coming. She doesn't even like when you put cream on her bottom.

Josey also has a bad case of eczema. We've been putting hydrocortisone cream with a ton of lotion on her before we dress her. It is looking a little better but not much. The doctor said eczema puts her at a higher risk for asthma and seasonal allergies. She also said she isn't surprised with my history of both and Brian also has season allergies. I was a little broken hearted when she told me that information. I guess I was just praying Josey would not have to deal with them; only time will tell.

Enough gripping for today. After reading my sister's blog I figure I better put something in here I'm thankful for today. I'm extremely thankful for my family and having a job during this bad economy.

Flashback: Josey 2 weeks old

Georgia Trip

Josey and I ventured down to Georgia on Halloween sadly without Dad. I was extremely nervous flying by myself with Josey but we met nice people willing to help us along the way. Coming back was a different story...help wasn't in people's vocabulary in Atlanta. We had a very enjoyable trip visiting with family and friends. It was a long week for Josey since she was teething trying to get her top two front teeth. Aunt Christie and Granny picked us up at the airport. Josey was entertaining us all by giggling almost the whole trip down to Tifton. Here's the first picture of our trip. Josey just woke up from a nap. It was a long day since I woke her up at 4am to head to the airport. It must not have been all bad because she was still able to give me a smile. How do you not just LOVE that face ?!

The first night we were there was Halloween so we went trick-o-treating with Uncle Randy, Aunt Cassidy, and cousins Taylor & Tate. Josey wore her costume like a champ. She was a little bothered by the wings but quickly forgot about them as soon as she saw kids running around the neighborhood. She LOVED trick-o-treating! She was clapping, jumping in my arms, and screeching almost the whole time we were out and about. Not one costume scared her and trust me there were some freaky looking ones :) Josey was a fairy which just by chance her costume was Georgia Bulldog colors.

Here is a picture of all the kids before we headed out trick-o-treating. If I remember right, Tate made it a whole 2 houses before he crashed :) It was just too much excitement for the little guy. In the picture is McKenzie (Butterfly, a friend of Randy & Cassidy's child), Josey, Taylor (Hannah Montana), and Tate (Giraffe). They were too cute!

Josey hanging out with Randy because it started to sprinkle pretty good while we were trick-o-treating.

So I didn't realize that I was depriving my daughter of a baby doll! Granny Gloria had one and so did Nellie Dean (Monty's mom). She would go crazy over them. When she'd get the baby doll, she'd hug them and kiss them squealing the whole time. This picture is her trying to suck on the paci that came with Granny's doll. Notice the cute little jammies :) She even had a pumpkin hat to complete the outfit.

This was the day we were leaving and Josey was helping me pack. Somehow she was doing a better job taking stuff out of the bag than putting it in the bag. We didn't have a scale to weigh my bag before taking it to the airport but believe it or not I was so good it weighed EXACTLY 50.0 lbs. Woohoo! Sadly, these about half the pictures I have from Georgia b/c my camera decided to die the second day I was there and I couldn't find a charger for my battery right away. I was extremely disappointed but that's my luck.