Smells...Er, Looks...Like Christmas Spirit

Once again this year, we have gone all-out decorating our house for Christmas. We have multiple Christmas trees inside, and we have the columns and the overhang of our front porch decorated, along with the Christmas yard flamingo. This year was especially nice, as we held the annual Shealy family shindig at our house, so we actually got to share all of our decorations.

Inside the house we have:

The "family" Christmas tree:

Blue/white/silver Christmas tree:

Small M&M Christmas tree:

And, just for me, a tree with pink lights decorated solely with flamingo ornaments:

A Lego Christmas village:


And of course, our stockings are hung by the chimney with care:

7 Months Old

So Gemma was officially 7 months old yesterday...which I realized last night as I was lying in bed not falling asleep. Pretty much, I rarely even know what the date is these days, so I missed it. :( But I tried to make up for it by taking an official "7 month photo" with Gemma and her giraffe this morning.

She is getting so big! (For her, that is. She is still pretty tiny. She has moved on to wearing some 6-9 month clothes now, but they are all still too long and kind of baggy.) She has 2 teeth now and it seems like she might be working on a top tooth. She is learning new stuff all the time and is just getting more and more fun every day. She has recently started waving (sort of), can sit up really well, and is pushing up really high when on her tummy and trying so hard to get moving! She loves to sit and read (and eat) books. She is doing great with solid foods - I made a big batch of pureed fruits and vegetables a few weeks ago and she consistently eats apples, pears, peaches, sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans. Right now, she is constantly in awe of the many Christmas trees and decorations that have recently appeared in our house. This morning, she was mesmerized as she got to observe her first fire in the fireplace. She is fascinated by anything new, and extremely observant.

She is so funny, and so sweet. She is more amazing than we had dreamed possible, and as usual, we are looking forward to what the next month will bring!

5 Years of NaNoWriMo Completed Successfully!

This year was my 5th year in a row successfully completing NaNoWriMo - yay! 50,000 + words accomplished in the space of 1 month. And this year came with its own set of challenges. I had to get adjusted to writing on a very weird schedule this year. I couldn't just write whenever an idea popped into my head - I had to save it for whenever Gemma was napping. And when she was napping, even if the creative juices weren't flowing, I knew I had to get to work anyway, because time was short! Another difficulty came when my granny passed away and I had to spend most of a week traveling to and from Kansas City for the funeral. I fell behind while I was out in the Midwest, as I knew I would, but managed to catch up and actually get ahead some when I got back. I was glad I got ahead, because just a couple of days after I got back, we were on the road again, heading up to Bedford, Virginia for Thanksgiving. At which point I fell slightly behind again.

But after all of that, I managed to finish up yesterday - with approximately a day and a half to spare! I'm not sure I've ever finished before Nov. 30 before, so that was a new milestone for me. And, like last year, I was somehow able to wrap up the plot at the end of my 50,000 words too, so I have a completed story as well! Now I am going to try to do some fast (but careful) editing in hopes that I can maybe have printed copies of my newest novel, Lunatics and Lycanthropy, to give as Christmas gifts!!!

Gemma's First Thanksgiving (and other things)

I'm finally getting around to writing another blog post. Things have been a bit crazy here of late. The week before Thanksgiving, my Granny (my dad's mom) passed away. Because the funeral was going to be in Kansas City, we had a hard time figuring out what to do. We really wanted all three of us to be able to go, but we didn't want to take Gemma on a plane, and we didn't really have time to do the incredibly long car ride to get there. So, in the end, I flew out with my parents and sister and Cy and Gemma stayed home. It was a very hard decision. It was the first time Cy and I had spent a night apart since we got married, and it was definitely my first time away from little Gemma. I was so worried that she wouldn't even remember me when I got back, but fortunately that was not the case! She was so excited to see me! It was a quick and difficult trip to Kansas City and back, but I am glad that I went. My Granny had been through some very awful suffering in the last few weeks of her life, and I was glad that she was finally at peace, and glad that I was able to go to her funeral. While there, I was very touched to see that she had pictures of me, Cy, and Gemma on display in her house. I do regret that she did not get to meet sweet little Gemma in person.

After traveling in cars and planes and sitting in airports the whole week before Thanksgiving, I wasn't feeling terribly excited about getting back in the car and driving 8 hours each way to visit my mom's parents in Bedford, Virginia. But I definitely wanted them to be able to meet Gemma, so we piled in the car and headed on up. We split the trip in half by spending the night at my parents' house each way before finishing up the trip.

Even though I am still exhausted from so much traveling, I am so glad that we made the trip. Gemma did fantastic with all the time in the car, and with meeting so many new people and letting them hold her. She is such a sweetie, and I am so thankful that she is so laid back. My grandparents were absolutely thrilled to meet her! I practically had to pry her away from my Grandma a few times because she enjoyed holding her so much!

While in Virginia, we also got to see two of my uncles and aunts, and my three boy cousins. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my uncle Jeff's house, and it was a huge feast! There were even three different kinds of meat - turkey, duck, and capon. Everything was delicious. We enjoyed the food, but mostly we enjoyed getting to see family that we hadn't seen in a couple of years.

Before we left, we got to take a "four-generation photo" with my Grandma, my mom, me, and Gemma. It was a very sweet moment.

Though we had a really good time seeing anyone, we were so incredibly relieved to be home. We are looking forward to not having to travel again for a very long time, hopefully! We are enjoying being back at home and are focusing most of our efforts now on getting the house ready for Christmas!

Six Months Old!

Gemma officially turned 6 months old yesterday, and went for her 6 month checkup this morning. She is doing great - a lot of things have happened for her just in the past week. She has suddenly gotten the hang of eating solids and is just scarfing down everything we give her. She seems to take after her dad - she seems to particularly love her green beans! In the past week, she has also gotten much closer to being able to sit on her own. As of yesterday, she could do it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute before she sort of toppled over. Also yesterday, her first tooth finally broke the surface! She has been working on it for a while and had a kind of rough week, and though you can't really see her tooth too much yet, it is definitely there now!

This morning, we took Gemma for her 6 month checkup. Cy and I both made guesses on how much she would weigh: he picked 13.6; I picked 13.10. She was 13.13 (10th percentile), which was good. . .she almost made 14 pounds, but not quite! She was 24.5 inches long (10th percentile), and her head was 16.2 (25th percentile). Surprisingly, she was still on the growth charts! Then she had to get her shots. . .she cried pretty hard, but just for a few minutes. Still, I hated it for her. :( I am looking forward to her 9 month checkup - I was promised she would not have to have any shots! Anyway. . .the point is that she is doing great, for which we are very thankful. Time is just going by so fast - I can't believe how grown up my little girl is getting already! :)

Gemma's First Halloween

Yesterday we celebrated Gemma's first Halloween. Being only six months old, she of course really had no idea what was going on, but Cy and I had fun. We finally got around to carving our pumpkins. Cy carved a creepy scarecrow on his, mine was a pumpkin in disguise, and Cy carved a cute little cat on Gemma's baby-sized pumpkin. (We like to say that Gemma is like a little cat because she likes to use our couch as a scratching post. Also, she likes to lick stuff like a cat.)

When it was time for trick-or-treating, we suited Gemma up in her strawberry costume and headed out to the porch. She was very sweet and cooperative and didn't seem to mind the costume at all, even the hat. And she looked soooooooo cute!!! All the moms of trick-or-treaters kept running up to see Gemma and just exclaiming over how cute she looked.

In the past couple of years, we have always bought way too much candy and had very few trick-or-treaters. I think it is because we live so far back in the neighborhood that not too many people bother walking back to where our house is. This year, someone across the street had tons of friends visiting from other neighborhoods, so we ran out of candy in about 20 minutes as I had only bought 1 bag this time. Oh well. We still had fun seeing a few kiddos in costumes (none as cute as Gemma of course).

So yes, Gemma's first Halloween was more for us than for her, but hey, she looked cute and we had a good time. Can't wait until next year when she is more aware - how much fun will that be?!

Pumpkin Patch

I just realized that I forgot to post pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch last weekend. I post tons of pictures to Facebook and then often forget to put them up here as well. We had big plans for last Saturday that included taking Gemma to a pumpkin patch and then a date night for us. Things ended up not going quite as planned since Gemma ended up on a weird nap schedule on Saturday, but on Sunday afternoon we made it out of the house in search of pumpkins.

Gemma was hilarious at the pumpkin patch. There was so much to look at, and she was completely overwhelmed. She has been extremely observant pretty much since the day she was born, and she spent most of the time at the pumpkin patch whipping her head back and forth taking everything in.


We picked out a daddy-sized pumpkin, a mama-sized pumpkin, and a little baby pumpkin for baby Gemma.

Gemma was dressed like a pumpkin and totally blended in with her surroundings.

Before we left, Gemma got to sit on a super cool horse made of hay that was pulling a wagon full of pumpkins.

It was so much fun watching her taking in this new experience! She is more and more fun every day!

And on a happier note. . .some recent pictures of my supercute child!

In the Same Boat (Literally)

An update on my dizziness/vertigo/boat-rocking-sensation issues: This past Monday (Oct. 25) I went for a follow-up with an ENT at MUSC. It was. . .interesting, to say the least. The doctor was a bit weird, for one thing. For example, he went off on this really long rant about how he's stocking up on incandescent light bulbs and we should too, because before you know it, they're all going to be gone! And then what will we do! Stuff like that. Anyway. . . after sitting in a germ-infested waiting room for forever freaking out because I couldn't find my hand sanitizer, I finally got in to see the doctor. He came in and made me do some weird things, like marching in place with my eyes closed (during which I veered sharply to the left), having my head whipped around in different directions while lying flat on a table, and having a tuning fork vibrated against my head (?). And yeah, that last part felt really bizarre.

We tried to explain the situation to the doctor, but he really liked to hear himself talk and wasn't so good with the listening. Also he had apparently convinced himself ahead of time that my problem was not an ear problem, but that it was somehow caused by migraines (which I get pretty infrequently these days). He actually wanted me to see a neurologist about this, which I am not doing, because that would be stupid, since I don't have a problem with migraines.

In the end, I left feeling very frustrated because this appointment was similar to so many others. The conclusion was that my dizziness "could be caused by this, or it could be caused by that" and "this might help, or that might help" but "there's not much we can do." I was sent home with a sheet of Cawthorne-Cooksey exercises for my eyes. (I have done these before, though not as extensively, so maybe the extended version will help.) I am also supposed to be going back to physical therapy, and the doctor suggested I try the PT for at least 6 months (in the meantime, there was of course some sort of confusion about the referral so now I have to sort that out).

I left feeling very downhearted. (My mood did not improve when I was nearly mugged in the MUSC parking garage, but that is a whole different story.) I manage pretty well these days, but living life on an imaginary boat is not really ideal and it does restrict me and cause problems with certain tasks. It also makes me worry about being inadequate in taking care of Gemma. I really fear that one day the room will just start tilting and I will drop her or something equally bad will happen. I also worry that people think I am a hypochondriac because there is nothing tangibly wrong with me, and I function pretty well. Anyway. . .still very frustrated and could really use some prayer that the PT and the eye exercises will help. At this point, even the slightest improvement would be a welcome relief.

How Fast Does This Little Tree Twirl?

Today I experienced yet another phase in my ongoing, epic battle with vertigo. I haven't mentioned it in a while, but it's still never gone away; it was merely pushed to the sidelines while I dealt with all the ups and downs that pregnancy threw my way. I knew that there wasn't much anyone could do for me while I was pregnant, but now, at 5 months postpartum, I figured that it was a good time to go back to another doctor. I'm not terribly hopeful that they will be able to fix my problem completely, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try. So I made an appointment at the MUSC ENT clinic.

This morning, I went in for a battery of ENG tests. When I called to make my appointment, the assistant I spoke to was shocked to learn that I had never yet undergone these tests. They are apparently pretty standard for diagnosing balance disorders, yet I have never had them although I have been suffering from vertigo for over a year. If nothing else, I at least felt that the MUSC folks were much more on top of things than the last ENT I saw (who did no tests and diagnosed me on the basis that I exhibited "classic textbook symptoms" and then simply referred me to someone else).

I was really dreading the testing this morning, as they warned me that they would be trying to aggravate my symptoms and that I would quite possibly leave feeling worse than when I arrived. After being dizzy for over a year, I was not excited about someone making me feel worse. (They even told me not to eat this morning as I was likely to vomit. Good times.)

For the first test, I was strapped into a harness and had to stand on a moving platform. The platform tilted different ways, at times the background scenery moved, and I had to do this alternating between having my eyes closed and having them open. One time I fell and we had to stop the test and start that part over. I had a very hard time keeping my balance and felt a little bit queasy. After that, they did a hearing test, which was fine.

Then it was time for the not-so-fun part: the rotational chair. I was strapped into a chair wearing weird goggles with a camera in them to track my eye movements. Then I was spun around various ways at various speeds. Then the chair stopped spinning, but for me, the room kept on spinning. I managed not to throw up. After that, I was laid back onto a table (still wearing the sweet headgear) and water was sprayed into each of my ears for 20 seconds. This made the room spin even worse than the spinning chair.

After that I was finally done. The audiologist said the tests were showing that I definitely have a vestibular problem (no kidding) but it will be up to the ENT doctor to make a definite diagnosis and decide on treatment. I will see him on Oct. 25. Right now, it is looking like I might have vestibular migraines, mal de debarquement syndrome (which I have suspected from the cruise I went on, and which is incurable), or possibly some neurological vestibular vision issue of which I can't remember the actual name. The treatment is most likely going to be to send me back to physical therapy, and possibly a special migraine diet too if the diagnosis is vestibular migraines.

Even though I still don't feel like I made much progress toward feeling better at this point, I was extremely relieved that I made it through the tests without regressing. I even felt well enough afterward to reward myself with an apple bagel and pumpkin spice coffee from Bruegger's. I have felt a little queasy and shaky the rest of the day, but much better than I expected.

Anyway. . .that is the latest update in my ongoing battle to debark my invisible, personal cruise ship. We would really appreciate prayers that this doctor will make an accurate diagnosis and that any treatment will be effective. It has been a long year and a half, and although I've learned to cope, the constant dizziness is very frustrating to live with (especially as it fluctuates in intensity) and there are occasional meltdowns.

5 Months Old!

Gemma is officially 5 months old today. I thought this month's picture turned out extra cute, as she gave her giraffe a great big hug right as I snapped the picture. As you can see, she is definitely growing! (Although she is pretty tiny compared to other babies her age - she just recently outgrew her 0-3 month clothes!) It has been a crazy fantastic 5 months - it has gone by so fast!

First Time Eating Cereal

A couple of nights ago, we fed Gemma some rice cereal for the first time. Because she has already displayed some food allergies, her pediatrician wanted us to wait until she was around 5 to 5.5 months old before starting any type of solids.

So the other night we fed her some rice cereal. I use the term "fed" very loosely here. She's not so good with closing her mouth and swallowing, so mostly the cereal just came dripping back out down her chin. (We made the rookie mistake of not having any plastic bibs on hand--the cloth one she was wearing was dripping with cereal by the time she was done.) She actually did much better than we were expecting--she gave us such a hard time transitioning to formula that we were expecting more of the same behavior in this situation. But when we "fed" her the cereal, she actually swallowed a lot more of it than we were expecting. We also got some really good laughs at her facial expressions. Can't wait to see what happens when we start her on some veggies!

The Flack Attack

Last week, my roomie from college, Laura, her husband Michael, and sweet little daughter Lucy were vacationing at Litchfield Beach, and drove down to Charleston one night to meet us for dinner. We hadn't seen Lucy since she was about the age Gemma is now, and Michael and Laura hadn't gotten to meet little Gemma yet at all! We met up at Vickery's on Shem Creek for some yummy food and some hanging out time.

Lucy was so much fun - she was "dancing" in her high chair the whole way through dinner. It was so cute! After we ate, we took the girls outside on the porch that overlooks the creek. Lucy had a great time running and crawling around out there. Gemma behaved in typical Gemma fashion and just chilled and looked around a lot, taking everything in.

It was soooo great to catch up with the Flack family - we miss them so much and don't get to see them nearly often enough! And Lucy was so sweet with Gemma - she even gave her a kiss!

Weekend at the Lake

Cy's dad's family has a large piece of property on Lake Murray with a house on it, and they have been wanting us to come for a while. This past weekend, we decided to try a weekend at the lake (we had been putting it off until Gemma was a bit older). Gemma and I picked Cy up at Blackbaud on Friday afternoon with the car all loaded up and we took off. We made it to the lake around 7 pm. We were a little wary at first as we passed a rifle-toting shirtless old guy just up the street from the lake house. But when we got there, and saw all the work they had done on the property, we were amazed. Tons of brush had been cleared so you could see the lake really well. (The house sits on a small peninsula and is surrounded on 3 sides by water.) Cy's parents had done a really great job of fixing up the inside of the house as well.

It ended up being a really relaxing, peaceful weekend getaway. The Shealy land is in its own secluded little cove, so it was very quiet and there was no one else around. We had fun sitting on the porch swing and reading, playing Frisbee in the huge yard, going on many walks beneath the shade of the tons of tall trees, and we definitely enjoyed the many rounds of Mexican Train dominoes! I of course, enjoyed taking gazillions of pictures as usual. Even Gemma seemed to have a really great time - she was super happy the whole trip. (As exhibited by her huge smile in this picture - she especially enjoyed many walks in the Baby Bjorn with her daddy!)

Gemma even got to dip her toes in the lake. . .she wasn't too sure about it, but she didn't cry, so it must not have been too bad!

It was a really great weekend, and we can't wait to go back to the lake!

Four Months Old

Today we took Gemma for her 4 month checkup, and she is officially 4 months old today. The past 4 months have gone by incredibly fast - it is so hard to believe that she is this old already. And everyday with her is crazy and new - she is changing so much and is so much fun.

Not surprisingly, Gemma didn't even make the 25th percentile on everything this time. . .she is a tiny girl. (She still has yet to outgrow her 0-3 month clothes.) Here were her stats:
Head size: 16" (25th percentile)
Length: 23" (10th percentile)
Weight: 12 pounds 4 oz. (10th percentile)

Poor little Gemma had to get another round of shots today. I vowed I wasn't going to cry this time. I failed. Last time she had shots, she wasn't fussy but just slept most of the day. Today she slept for over an hour right after we got home, but when she woke up, she cried and cried for almost a solid hour. Then she fell back asleep and slept for two hours straight. That seemed to have done the trick - she woke up her normal happy self after that second nap. I really hate seeing her feeling so bad, but I know it is better for her in the long run.

While at the appointment, we spoke to the doctor about some issues Gemma has been having with eczema ever since her last incident with milk-based formula. We have a treatment plan in place for the eczema now so hopefully we can get it cleared up soon. At long last, we also have finally found a formula that works: Similac Alimentum.

Because Gemma has already had some issues with food allergies, the doctor wants us to wait until she is 5 or 5.5 months old before starting her on any solids, and then to proceed very carefully with what we feed her. He also said that she will have to avoid allergen foods longer than what is normally recommended for other babies her age.

Other than allergy-related issues, she was doing great. The doctor was not concerned about her small size, since she is growing well. She is just not going to be a very big girl (no surprise there!).

She seems to be doing great with the developmental milestones too. This past week, she fully mastered the art of flipping onto her tummy from her back without getting her arm stuck. She immediately flips over pretty much anytime we put her down now. Hopefully soon she will be flipping from her back to her tummy on her own (she has done it a couple of times by accident).

We are excited to see what the next few months will bring!

A Fun Labor Day Weekend

We had a really fun Labor Day weekend together. Gemma and I both really enjoyed having Cy home for an extra day. On Saturday morning, we drove down to Brittle Bank Park and took Gemma for a stroll (I of course took my camera and snapped some pictures). Then we did a little shopping, then went home to get some lunch and continue our Vampire Diaries season 1 marathon (we received the blu-rays on Friday). On Sunday, we took it easy with some more Vampire Diaries and hanging-out together time. We got to play a few games, which we enjoyed. On Monday, we went to The Park Formerly Known As Sunrise Park for more strolling/picture taking time. We took a towel and let Gemma roll around on it in the grass while we enjoyed the nice weather. Then we met up with the rest of the Shealy family for some burgers. After we went back home, Gemma snoozed for a bit and we took the monitor outside and threw the Frisbee around in the backyard. It was pretty hot, and neither one of us is in Frisbee shape, but it had been such a long time since we had thrown the Frisbee, and we really really enjoyed it. We finished off our fun weekend with a nice walk around the neighborhood, and some reading (with a few more episodes of Vampire Diaries thrown in here and there). It was so nice and relaxing - all three of us really hated it when Cy had to go back to work this morning!

Improper Use of the Bumbo

THIS OBJECT IS NOT A CHEW TOY. . .or is it?

I put Gemma in the Bumbo and I looked over and saw this. She was pretty much folded completely in half, so I wondered what in the world she was doing.


When I got closer, I saw this:

Yum. . .

Norfanger Plantation. . . now on Kindle!

I finally finished up everything for the Kindle version of Norfanger Plantation and uploaded it to Amazon.com. I saw just a few minutes ago that the page is up and running and the Kindle version is now for sale! To try to expand my pool of readers a bit, I am going to be selling the Kindle version for only $0.99 through the end of September.

If you are interested, you can purchase the Kindle version here.

While I was proofing the Kindle version, I noticed some mistakes and typos (not just formatting issues), so I am now working on updating the print version. I uploaded a new file and the publisher said I had to order another proof copy and approve it before it could be made available for sale again. I got the proof this afternoon and unfortunately, all the page numbers had disappeared from the latest version. Also, some of the fonts on the cover looked weird. So I am now working on yet another new file and will then have to wait for another proof. Hopefully by the end of the week or the beginning of next week I can have the print version back up and running.

By this point, I am pretty much so sick of Norfanger Plantation that I never want to see it or read it or think about it ever again.

Hula Monkey

I had to take some pictures of Gemma in this cute little hula monkey outfit. It has a little terry cloth jacket that matches which is also super cute, but since it is blazing hot here today (although significantly cooler than it has been), I opted to skip that part of the outfit.

When I dressed her this morning, I remembered picking out the outfit before she was born, along with a bunch of other cute outfits. It seems so funny to look back on that now -- picking out outfits for her while wondering just what she was going to look like. Now it is so much fun to put those outfits on her and finally get to see her in them. Especially since she is infinitely cuter and sweeter than I could have ever imagined!

In Which Gemma Makes Pterodactyl Sounds. . .

A few days ago, Gemma learned to make a lovely, indignant grunting sound. I am not a fan. But now she has also learned to make high-pitched, squealing, pterodactyl noises, which I like a lot better. Here are a couple of really short clips of some of her strange (and funny) new noises.

Playing Halo with Daddy

Last night was video game night, so I was entertaining Gemma while Cy played Halo with some friends from work. (In exchange, he entertains Gemma one night a week while I get some work done on my current novel.) I had to run to the bathroom, and when I came back, Gemma wasn't where I left her. I looked around and this is where I finally spotted her:


So much for making sure she doesn't start playing video games too young. I love how they both look kind of guilty in the picture.

Actually she seemed to enjoy sitting there watching her daddy shoot everyone. When I tried to take her away to sit on my lap instead, she started fussing. Oh boy.

This is why feeding Gemma is so difficult:

Or at least in part - passing out asleep just after starting a bottle is only one of the many issues Gemma has with eating. . .

Tummy Time

I've tried to be a good mommy and make sure that Gemma gets plenty of tummy time, but until about a week or two ago, tummy time has been pretty problematic. Every time I would place her on her floor mat on her tummy, instead of keeping her head turned to the side so she could breathe (since she wasn't yet able to support her head), she would do what we call "pigging around." She would bury her face in the floor, twitch her head around, and make snorting noises. Then pretty quickly, she would start screaming because she was having trouble breathing. If we turned her head back to the side, she would just put it right back where it was and start pigging around again.

Lately, she has gotten much better at supporting her head, so tummy time has now turned into a productive exercise rather than a time of frustration for both mom and baby. Each time Gemma is on her tummy, she is able to hold her head up higher, and keep it elevated for longer amounts of time. And when she's not lifting her head, she's at least leaving it turned to the side so she can breathe. She has made drastic improvements just in the last week. I am so glad - I was starting to get a little concerned that she might just keep pigging around forever!

Here are some cute pictures of Gemma enjoying tummy time. (Though it looks like she's sucking her thumb in one of them, she's actually just gumming it. Yum.)

Unconditional Love

Gemma made my day yesterday afternoon. She was playing around on her little floor mat in the living room while I was taking care of a few things in the kitchen. After a few minutes, I walked over to take a peek at her. I leaned over the top of the mat and said "Hi!" to her. She was so excited to see me that she let out this loud, high-pitched squeal of delight, accompanied by a huge smile and some flailing limbs. It made me so happy that she was that excited to see me.

Life with Gemma is teaching me so much. I have a much better understanding these days of what the whole concept of "faith like a child" really means. Gemma is so innocent and trusting. She loves Cy and me, and her love for us is totally unconditional. She hasn't yet developed any room for doubt or fear. And her love is such a gentle reminder to me of how I should be. When I have moments of frustration with her (usually while trying to feed her), I try to stop and remember how she loves me so much even though I am so far from being a perfect mom.

When she squealed at me yesterday, Cy said something along the lines of "Wow, you're her whole world. How does that feel?" and it really made an impression on me. I (and Cy too) am Gemma's whole world right now and that is a huge responsibility. But it is also a huge blessing, and it really struck me that this is how my relationship with Christ should be. He should be my whole world, and each moment of my life in Christ should make me shriek with happiness because I have as much faith and love as a child. And here I thought I needed to worry about what I will be teaching Gemma, when so far, she has been the one teaching me!

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 18:2-4

Celebrating Four Years of Marriage!

This past Thursday, August 5, was our four year anniversary! Neither one of us could believe it had been four years already. In some ways, it seems like it has been longer, and in some ways, it seems much shorter. So much has happened since we got married four years ago - we bought a house, I finished grad school, and of course, we have now added beautiful Gemma to our family!

Last week was a rough week for Cy, so we didn't do much on our actual anniversary. I cooked a type of chicken that Cy likes - it is breaded with crushed-up cornflakes, and we had some macaroni and cheese, green beans, and banana pudding with it. Unfortunately, Cy got stuck at work late, and then when he got home, Gemma was hungry, so we didn't even get to eat our meal at the same time as each other, but it was still yummy. Then Gemma woke us up at 3:30 in the morning that night hungry. But such is life with a three-month old.

We were finally able to really celebrate our special day last night. Frank and Andrea watched Gemma and Cy and I went out to dinner at Oak Steakhouse downtown (our favorite Charleston restaurant). We had our usual delicious 7 oz. filet with gorgonzola cream sauce for me and balsamic barbecue sauce for Cy, along with the family-style sides of mashed potatoes and mac n cheese. We finished off dinner with a towering slab of "Chocolate Indulgence," an amazing six-layer chocolate cake (most of which came home with us in a box). We really enjoyed our evening out, but we were happy to see Gemma again when we got back. We got a halfway decent picture of the three of us last night too.

All in all, it's been an amazing four years! There's been a bit more of the "in sickness" part than we would have hoped, but we wouldn't trade a moment of our time together. Cy said the other day that he hopes for at least 40 more anniversaries together, and I totally agree!

Three Months Old!

Baby Gemma Natalie Shealy (her full name, according to her daddy) is three months old today! She is growing a lot, but is still a pretty tiny little girl! She's been around the 25th percentile for everything in her past couple of checkups, but we're guessing she probably will be less than that at her 4 month. At 3 months old, she's just barely over 11 pounds. But she is very proportional, and we have no illusions that she will ever be anything but small. :) Can't believe it has already been three months. She is growing so fast, and has changed so much already. And for such a small person, she has so much personality already! Here is this month's growth picture:

It's a bib. . .and also a cape!

Poor Allergic Little Gemma

Unfortunately for her, sweet little Gemma seems to have inherited her mom's extremely allergic tendencies. A few weeks ago, when we tried her on some Enfamil formula for the first time, she got very red and swollen around the mouth, and a little blotchy on the arms. We thought it could potentially be a milk allergy, but we weren't sure. And she has never reacted to any dairy or anything in my diet, so it seemed odd. Then we tried her on some soy formula. She absolutely hated the soy formula - she gagged every time we tried to feed it to her and never really got used to it. And for 7 days, she didn't have a bowel movement. We switched her back to straight breast milk in hopes that would get things moving. We tried dark Karo syrup for a few days, but that didn't work. We eventually had to give her a suppository.

Since we weren't sure what caused the allergic reaction in the Enfamil, it was suggested to us that we try Similac since the composition of the two is a bit different. We bought some of the basic Similac, but I was pretty scared to try it. I finally worked up the courage yesterday. I gave her 2 oz. Similac with 2 oz. breast milk at 8:30 am. She didn't even seem to notice the difference - she gulped it down, and I didn't see any reaction. I was feeling very encouraged. At 11:30, we tried another half-and-half bottle and she did really well again. It looked like we finally found something that would work. Then around 2 pm, I noticed her mouth was looking a little red. Then her whole face. Then her arms. By the time Cy got home from work, her entire body was red and splotchy, with some swelling.

I called our pediatrician but they were already closing for the day so they sent us to a pediatric after-hours urgent care at St. Francis. When eventually we got in to see the doctor there, she pretty much refused to believe that it was an allergic reaction because she'd never seen such a strong allergic reaction in a small baby before. We were like, Here is your first. Deal with it. She kept claiming that it was eczema, but we kept telling her that this had happened mildly before with the Enfamil and that it clearly correlated with the Similac this time. She still kept mentioning eczema, but did finally agree that poor little Gemma is one super-allergic baby. She gave us a prescription for some special cortisone cream to put on her. She also said that Gemma would probably develop an allergy to soy protein eventually too, and said that she should be on just breast milk (although she wanted me to eliminate dairy in my diet, even though Gemma has never had a problem with it), and if we really needed to supplement, we needed to try the Similac Alimentum or another comparable hypo-allergenic, protein-free formula (which is basically the most expensive formula around).

We got the cream, got her home, and let her roll around under the fan in just her diaper for awhile to help her cool down since her skin was so hot to the touch. I got a cup of cool water and sponged her off. Then we applied some of the cream. We put it on just one part of her face to make sure that it worked (and that it didn't cause her to break out even more). When it seemed to help, we applied a thin layer to some of the worst spots. Then we put her down for the night in her lightest sleepy-time outfit. We got up a couple of times to check on her and make sure she was doing all right. This morning she seems much better - her skin has cleared up a lot.

We are just going to have to be very careful with this poor little girl as she unfortunately appears to be as allergic as her mom already. The good news is that she weighed around 11 pounds 4 ounces yesterday, so she is still gaining weight despite all of her feeding issues. For now, she is back to exclusively breast milk and the latest scare has given me the motivation to suffer through at least a little more of the pumping. I may just try to hang in there until next May despite all my issues. But hopefully in a couple of weeks I will be feeling brave enough to try her on the hypo-allergenic formula. Next time I will just give her a very small sampling and then wait an entire day to make sure no reactions occur. Poor little Gemma. I really hate it for her. Being super allergic is definitely no fun.

All Dressed Up for Church!

Just realized I hadn't posted any cute pics of Gemma on here lately (not that there aren't any. . .I've just been posting them all on Facebook), so here is a picture of her all dressed up for church yesterday! (I wish I had a picture of her cute little bottom - she is wearing little pink bloomers with a big flower on the butt under her dress!)

During church, we sat on the back row next to a couple who is expecting a baby girl - scheduled to be born this coming Thursday. They were highly entertained by Gemma's bobble head impression. We could tell they are really excited to have a baby girl of their own. And I don't blame them - our baby girl is so much fun! She is growing so fast too. In the past couple of weeks, she has started grabbing some toys. When I put her on her little floor mat, she will grab the dangling toys and try to stuff them in her mouth. She has been doing the same with a little rattle toy I gave her to play with yesterday. And she is getting better and better at holding her head up all the time. She is almost 3 months old now - can't wait to see what month 4 will bring!