Taking Risks

For those of you who don't know me personally, I graduated from Samford University with a BSN (Bachelors of Science in Nursing). I started my nursing career on a 45 bed Medical/Surgical unit in Birmingham, Alabama, then "traveled" home to Baton Rouge where I worked on a Cardiac Telemetry unit, then found my nursing passion in Houston where I began working as a Labor and Delivery nurse.  I have definitely tried my hand at many types of nursing, but I came to love L&D.  When Marvin and I moved to Houston I was hired to work nights (7pm-7am).  I had worked only a month of nights in Birmingham when my unit was short staffed and swore I would NEVER do it again.  The Lord quickly reminded me of that when I accepted the night position in Houston!!! I came to love nights and have been a "night owl" for the past three years. Marvin works nights too, so we had a pretty different schedule from the rest of the world...but we loved it!!!
...Then along came Mary Grayson!!! Everything worked out well in the beginning when the little princess slept most of the day.  Since she has gotten older and no longer sleeps throughout the day... there was nothing like coming home from a 12 hour night shift to an awake little ball of energy who wanted to play. We were depending on friends and neighbors to keep our daughter overnight while we worked.  Our days became shifts of watching her while the other napped and vice versa.  It made for exhausting days and even longer nights. 

My Little Tennis Munchkin at the club with me while I teach!

So...after much prayer and consideration I decided to start looking for something with a little more "normal" hours!  12 hour shifts, especially night shifts, were not really conducive to a baby's lifestyle.  I have since cut back my hours at the hospital and have been hired as a Teaching Professional (tennis pro)  at Walden Country Club.  Never in a million years would I have thought about teaching tennis for a living.  Tennis was such a huge part of my life as a kid and then a teenager and then a collegiate player, but that was over.  I had put tennis off as a part of my past and only played occasionally on a team when I could.  When this opportunity presented itself I was hesitant, but the benefits (MG being with me during the day) outweighed the risks! So I did it!  Well...WE did it!!! Marvin has been so supportive throughout this whole transition, taking care of dinner, baths and MG's bedtime routine while I teach late a few nights a week.  We are confident the Lord is going to take care of us as we take this journey.  Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding..." We are looking forward to seeing how the Lord works through us as we find a new "normal."

8 Months

This past month has been extremely eventful for our little monkey!!! She has taken the plunge and has finally began crawling.  It has given her such a new freedom and we are enjoying watching her discover new things on her own. We are not scheduled for another check up until 9 months so we aren't quite sure on her exact weight, but we are guessing she is around 19 pounds.

Happy 8 months MG!

Yes..we are also standing and pulling up on EVERYTHING.

Contagious Smiles!!!

MONTH 8 HIGHLIGHTS:
-wearing size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes
-CRAWLING!!!
-loves watching Sarge
-went on her 1st vacation
-yelling...she's gotten really good at it!!!
-still drooling....NO TEETH YET!
-loves food...anything we eat she will try!
-started eating cheerios and LOVES puffs
-finished Summer MDO and looking forward to the fall MDO!

We are so in love with our little girl.  It's hard to imagine our life before her!! We love you MG.

Ty Douglas Ferguson

Earlier this month our sweet friends, Sarah and Tommy Ferguson, welcomed their first son Ty Douglas into the world.  Marvin and I went downtown to meet him but left little MG at home.  So...we had a fun opportunity this past week for MG to meet her future friend, Ty! (and for us to cook dinner for Sarah and Tommy).  I don't think Mary Grayson really knew what to think of him.  Ty is the first baby MG has ever been around. In these pictures Ty is 3 weeks old and MG is 7.5 months old.  I think the size difference is amazing.  I still have a hard time remembering MG being so small...so sad.  They grow so fast!

MG and Ty's first meeting.

I think she liked Macy (the dog) more than Ty.

Sweet Ty

Ok...maybe I'll touch him...



No...what I really want is his passie...it's just like mine!!!

Yep...she went straight for Ty's pacifier!  I thought she was going to scratch his sweet face, but apparently he didn't mind.  We are so blessed to have such awesome friends with little ones for our baby girl to grow up with.  We are certainly looking forward to a fun future with Ty and Mary Grayson around!!!

MG's First Vacation

Let me start by apologizing to some of my readers for not posting sooner.  I admire some of you fellow bloggers for the punctuality of your posts, but I have not yet mastered the art of timely updating :) BUT...I will work on that!

We had a blast at the beach for our first of many getaways!  Overall the trip was a huge success and Marvin and I learned quickly vacations are much different with a new addition to our family!!! We started off the 9, yes NINE, hour trek to Orange Beach early Saturday morning.  MG did well up until we reached Mobile...and so did the traffic!  WORD OF ADVICE...never travel to the beach the Saturday before the 4th of July!  We finally made it to our condo around 6 and settled in for 5 nights of fun in the sun!

My sweet family enjoying the pool!

Sunday, the entire side of my dad's family got together for lunch.  It had been such a long time since we had all been together in the same place.  It was neat to have everyone there with Grandmother.  She finally had all her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren together at the same time.  My cousin Lauren has a little girl, Lilly, that is five weeks younger than MG.  It was very interesting watching the two of them play together!

Grandmother with all 7 of her great grandchildren! (What a crew!!!)

The entire Mckey side of the family!

Lauren and I with Lilly and Mary Grayson

Lilly isn't quite sitting on her own yet...so she used MG for stability!!

4 Generations

Monday came and we decided to let MG experience the sand!  Needless to say, it really didn't phase her and she seemed to really like how it tasted;)  She did however, really really really not care for the ocean water!

Trying out our sunglasses.

Smiling for Daddy in our patriotic bikini!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

MG is sooooo close to crawling.  It is hard to keep her sitting on her bottom because she flips so fast to her belly and begins stretching for the nearest toy.  I know as soon a she begins to move we are in trouble; because this little lady will be into EVERYTHING!!!

Almost...

Almost got it....

Nah...that crawling is too much work.  I'd rather suck on my toes!

We spent the rest of the week at the pool, playing with the cousins, listening to good country music, and eating.  Mary Grayson seemed to really enjoy the limes from our Margaritas and the pickle that came with our fish sandwiches by the pool!

Limes

Pickles

Playing with Blaine in the FREEZING indoor pool.

Trying to knock over Blaine's blocks.

With Daddy on the lazy river!

Floating with Sarah Claire and Aunt Linnie in the big pool.

Fun with the cousins, Sarah Claire and Blaine (Anna Britten was too busy dancing to take a pic!)

 Marvin went deep sea fishing in Wednesday with Mom, Caroline, Tyler, Logan and Mark. They had a blast and brought home tons of Red Snapper to eat!  MG, Dad and I hung back at the condo, went for a long stroll and napped while the crew was away catching dinner.

The catch!

Mom, Tyler and Marvin with their fish.

 Wednesday night we took the opportunity to take some family pictures on the beach.  Here are a few of our favorites.

We are learning to enjoy everyday we have with MG because she is growing so fast!!! We had a wonderful vacation and hope for many many more fun times with family and friends!