Wrong Address!?!

Well today God used the mailman to lead me to a new friend! A package was delivered to 127 Darmondale instead of 827 Wells Point! Coincidence? I think not! So our neighbor from Darmondale brought the package to us and after meeting her she began to tell me about a program called MOPS. It is a group for Moms of preschoolers that meets at First North on Tuesday mornings twice a month. They also do Mother's Night Out and playdates, etc. We discussed what an awkward time being a new Mom is and how you lose and gain friends. Needless to say, I believe God let our package be delivered to her house on purpose so that not only could I make a new friend in her but hopefully some new friends at MOPS because pretty much every other Tuesday just so HAPPENS to be the day I'm off of work! And also while we were talking I found out that there are alot of young children on her street and they meet in the cul-de-sac around 3:30 or 4 on sunny days to play so now I'll just start walking Riley up their street around that time since our street has all older kids! Another conincidence? I doubt it...probably yet another God Thing!

Baby Steps

We finally have a walker on our hands!! And what a cute little swagger he has! It just goes to show that Baby Steps are just that, BABY STEPS. A baby learns so much in such a short period of time and as a parent you worry and want to be sure they reach milestones on time. Riley has reached all of his milestones and the Doctors said it was normal for a baby not to walk even up to 18 months but needless to say we're relieved that he is officially walking at 16 months! On an interesting note, I didn't walk until 15 months myself so I guess not only does Riley look like his Mommy but he's following in my foot steps (literally) too!

We've tried everything from squeaky shoes (a great Christmas present from Riley's friend Lilly) to moving Riley up to the toddler class at school early. And Riley required a wide shoe so finally this weekend we bought him a pair of white size 4 1/2 wide Stride Rite walking shoes. We were so excited because overnight he went from 2 to 4 steps at a time to 8 to 10 steps at a time! Then when Jeremy picked him up from daycare on Monday they were RUINED! I'm talking the toes were not only scuffed completely black but the sides and all, including the laces were orange-ish. Jeremy marched back in and asked what happend and the director was FURIOUS! She kept the shoes and the next day offered to pay us back the $45 that his shoes had cost. Jeremy was all for that until he asked how that would work (thinking that we'd deduct $45 from our weekly $130 tuition check). They were going to split the amount and take it out of Riley's individual daycare workers' checks. Of course we refused to let that happen. But Riley will be wearing the shoes that in the directors words: "can't be worn in public" because of the "negligence of his teachers" to daycare ONLY.

Needless to say our experience with walking has been all about Baby Steps!
Lessons learned:
A child will walk when he is good and ready.
All hardwood and tile does not make it very easy for a child to gain confidence in walking (b/c it hurts so bad to fall).
Never EVER let your child just "cry it out" in the crib because even though he can't walk he can figure out a way to fall out.
No shoe is better than a Stride Rite Walker;but I do love the Robeez hard sole shoes and the squeakers.
Don't let your child wear anything too nice to daycare!

Sick Days?

Each time I get sick I'm reminded that Mommy's don't get sick days! It makes me so thankful for my Mom and makes me realize the sacrifices that she made for us when she was sick! Prior to parenthood when I was sick Jeremy would go to every take out until he found me some vegetable soup and cornbread. Then he would proceed to heat it up for me and I'd probably even get a foot rub! Today I was sick and when Jeremy got home he went upstairs to run on the treadmill while I cooked our supper of Seafood Chowder. As I cooked I also had to get Riley out of cabinets, be sure I didn't splatter anything hot on him as he was standing right under me, and he spilled all of Garnet's water. Oh and I even had to clean up Garnet's vomit as she got sick twice while I cooked dinner. The life of a Mommy is WAY different and you especially notice it on days like today but I'll tell you what I wouldn't trade anything for seeing Riley's sweet innocent smile when he got home today!

Sisters

In life I have basically always had bad luck in finding faithful, loyal, true friends. Don't get me wrong I have a lot of friends and acquaintances. However, the one person who remains solid and true is the dearest person to me of all. She is way more than any friend could ever be, she is my SISTER. Like any sibling relationship we have our ups and downs and still occasionally even get mad at each other. But we always get over it and when it comes down to it, other than my husband, Jeremy, she's the closest person to me!
She has blonde hair; I have brown. She has blue eyes; I have brown. She's tall and slender; I am short and not slender. She is bold and speaks her mind when necessary; I am way too sensitive. She is often quiet; I don't stop talking. She tans really easily; I burn now. In so many ways we are opposites but we share the common bond of sisterhood.
When I'm happy, excited, sad, upset, stressed, or need reassurance, she's the first person I call. She is the one person I talk to almost everyday. I feel blessed to have such a strong, special person in my life that is not just a friend but even more than a friend could be, she's MY sister! Happy Birthday to my dearest Sissy, Carly!

Blessings

Welcome to Register Ramblings! Of course mostly Leslie's ramblings! I have wanted to start a blog to document the "happenings" in our lives but have procrastinated, mostly due to a lack of not knowing where to start. Jeremy and I cannot begin to count our many blessings. However, I would like to begin our blog with some of our many blessings. It is amazing how God can use tragedy, people, and places to create blessings in others lives. We have had many dear friends to endure difficult pregnancies and deliveries yet we have been so blessed by them and through their experiences. One of these couples I would like to tell you about, Lindsay and Joel, just gave birth to their 2nd son, Seth, this week and I am thankful to say that they are all happy and healthy! This blessing of Seth's birth is special in so many ways and has put a lot on my mind this week. Lindsay and Joel lost their first son, Luke, on Mother's Day 2008, which happened to be in my first trimester of pregnancy. When I heard the news bright and early that Sunday morning Jeremy and I were on our 2nd day of our vacation to Destin, FL and I was crushed. This along with other friends experiences had a major impact on our pregnancy and our beginning to the journey of parenthood. You see through these friends and their experiences, God used them to strengthen our relationship with Him in many ways. The largest impact was our prayer life. I'll admit there were times in our pregnancy that I just could not be happy and would worry. I even waited until the very last minute to wash Riley's clothes and blankets because I was so afraid of something bad happening. We did not have an easy pregnancy but rather than feeling sorry for ourselves we felt so blessed for each new day that we had. And the beginning of Riley's precious life was so precious and special to us. I know we would have prayed for him anyway but due to our friends' experiences our prayer life was and is so much stronger than I imagine it would have been. I feel that instead of taking every day happenings in our lives for granted we now KNOW what these blessings are and thank God each and every day for them!

So I guess obviously our most cherished blessing is our son Riley! He is 14 1/2 months old and into EVERYthing! He has been sick lately beginning with a 6 week experience with RSV which involved breathing treatments and lots of Doctor visits. He has had a double ear infection that 2 rounds of oral antibiotics, Augmentin and Omnicef did not cure. Last week he endured 2 Rocephin shots a day for 3 days. Now we are in a wait-and-see mode for 2 weeks until his 15 month "well" visit for more shots! Please keep him and us in your prayers as he is in a lot of pain between his ears, the 4 molars, 1 incisor, and 1 side tooth that he is cutting right now! He usually wakes up in the middle of the night screaming and then screams off and on in his sleep. We just want him to get some good rest (and us too)! A little more about Riley...he is not quite walking yet but is doing a lot better with it! He loves anything related to sports, especially the Gamecocks or basketball. And right now his favorite thing to say is "Uh Oh."

Another blessing in our lives is our beloved dog, Garnet. We got her 3 years ago and until Riley got here she was our "baby"! But I must say after seeing her interact with Riley makes me love her EVEN more! Riley pulls on her and is very rough with her but she has not bit him or growled at him once! Right now she enjoys coming up to Riley and letting him grab her ears and lean in to give her some "Love"...it is very sweet!

We are also blessed that it did not work out for us to stay in our beloved college town of Columbia, SC. Oh how we LOVE to go visit Columbia though! If Jeremy had not gotten a job back at home in Spartanburg,SC we probably would have never moved back. We have been blessed through moving back home to grow our relationship with our families, particularly our parents and siblings. We're so blessed to have grown closer to all of them! In fact, Jeremy and I were blessed with a special little niece, Ava-Reese Painter (daughter of my sister, Carly and Trent Painter) 5 months after Riley's arrival. Getting to raise Riley and Ava-Reese together is yet another blessing of moving back to Spartanburg!

Jeremy and I are both blessed with good jobs. He is at a small accounting firm, which provides alot of leniency when emergencies pop up such as Riley getting sick. I am a pharmacist with a small pharmacy, Carolina's Upstate Pharmacy, located at North Grove Medical Park. My job is yet another blessing God led us to during my maternity leave. The former pharmacist, Sandra, was getting her haircut and told Jeremy's hair stylist, also named Sandra about the availability of her position. So when Jeremy came in that very same week the hair stylist Sandra told him about it and the ball got rolling! Now I know I'm where God intended for me to be working!

As you can see, in the past 2 years we have majorly grown...spiritually as well as literally with the addition of our son. It is amazing in reflecting back how God has used people, experiences, and timing to bless our lives!

Please continue to pray for us through our adventures of Parenthood!