A Christmas "Miracle"

While visiting her Conley grandparents in Virginia, Tanner decided that she was tired of just laying around and rolling from side to side. The day after Christmas she sat unassisted for the first time! I was so excited, you would have thought she had recited the pledge of allegiance. Geez, how will I act when she takes her first steps?

Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Conleys

The Kid Can Eat

After being told that I could start giving Tanner baby food at 4 months, I waited a month or so and then decided to give it a try. Our pediatrician recommended that we skip rice cereal and go straight for the good stuff. So squash in hand, we sat her in her high chair and went for it. Trying not to overwhelm her newly discovered taste buds, I tried to stop feeding her after 4 bites or so. She screamed for more, so we gave her half of the jar.



She has continued to devour all things vegetable and literally shudders when given fruit.

An Attempt at Fall Fun

We attempted to have a fun family outing to the pumkpin patch on Saturday afternoon, but we were greeted by a pouring, cold rain that shut down the hay ride as we pulled into the parking lot. So, we took a few pictures, bought a pumpkin (which didn't feel the same as actually picking it out of the patch) and headed to dinner with our friends Anna and Brian (yes, that's right, their names are Anna and Brian, too) and their kids Sophie and Chase.

We ate at Claudia Sanders Dinner House - the Colonel's wife apparently didn't want to be left out of the chicken frying fun and opened her own place. It was finger-lickin' good.

We plan on making another attempt at the pumpkin patch later in the month - hopefully, the rain won't get the memo.

A Weekend in the Mountains

Last Thursday we packed the car and headed to Asheville, NC to spend a long weekend with the McDonald side of the family. Tanner got to spend time with Gran and Grandaddy, Aunt Erin and Uncle Skipper and she got to meet her cousin Hunter for the first time. Those two will be quite a pair in a year or so! We ate a lot, watched football (can I get a War Eagle?) and ate some more. The Conleys are hoping our fall family trip to the mountains becomes an annual event!

Ready for Winter!

Thanks to Aunt Tanner's trip to the Labor Day Patagonia Outlet Store sale in Salt Lake City, Super T is ready for some chilly weather!

Back in the bluegrass...

After spending almost a week in Sweet Home Alabama, T and I are back in Louisville - surrounded by laundry and clumps of dog hair that have gathered in my absence. We miss Birmingham so much, but were glad to get back to our routine ... and our puppy dog, no matter how much she sheds. Brian's plane arrives at 11 p.m. tonight and we can't wait to see him!

To The Parents Of: Tanner Conley

Who's that? Oh wait, that's us! We are the parents of Tanner Conley. Yikes.

Brian and I went to Tanner's Parents' Day Out Open House this morning to meet her teachers. She will be spending Tuesday and Thursday mornings with Miss Veronica and Miss Maureen at Second Presbyterian Church so I can concentrate on work or run some hands-free errands. I know she'll be in good hands because Mrs. Miller, the PDO director is an Auburn grad.

I'm sure she'll enjoy some social time with the other 5 kiddos in her class and I'll enjoy a little time to myself. I'm such a wuss, I'll probably go pick her up early everyday because I miss her.

3 Months

Tanner has been with us for 3 months today! She finally fits into a few of her pretty dresses, so she and I had a little photo shoot this morning in one of them. Almost 500 pictures and a worn out camera battery later, I got a few winners. If I'm done with my chores this afternoon, we're going to do another one in evening light.

Are You A Newbie?

In the Walgreen's check out line today, I was busted making a surprised face when I overheard the mother of two little girls in front of me mention that their toothbrushes cost $12.99 each. She smiled and kindly asked, "Are you a newbie?" as if to say, "oh, you poor dear, you ain't seen nothin' yet!" Her children proceeded to hover over Tanner, while I held my breath that they wouldn't touch her or breathe some strange childhood illness on her.

Today I've learned to keep my surprised expressions to myself, that I need to start saving now for my child's toothbrush fund and the fact that I'm a newbie is written all over my face.

Bless her heart, she looks like her mother...

...at least for now, she does. These pictures were in my baby book and are eerily familiar. I'm still hoping she'll have her Daddy's beautiful dark brown eyes.


December, 1978

Don't miss the fabulous mid-70s tweed plaid couch in the background of the first picture. Those things would scratch you something awful.

A good night's sleep

After receiving a prescription for her acid reflux, Tanner surprised us by sleeping through the night Tuesday night, and has done so since. It's amazing what not seeing the wee hours of the morning can do for you.

Blog Neglect

We've been pretty busy lately, so here are a few pictures.

Margaret Tanner Conley

After some wild days of high blood pressure and other lab tests, on Tuesday, May 18, my doctor decided to go ahead and induce for the safety of the baby and myself. We left the doctor's office to pack our bags (I know, it should have already been done) and headed to the hospital. My mom and dad hopped in the car, not knowing if Tanner would make her arrival that night or a few days down the road. After 36 hours of induction drugs, labor began on Thursday morning and Tanner joined the world at 2:35 in the afternoon, weighing 5 pounds and 10 ounces.

We are so excited and proud to name our daughter after two remarkable women. My paternal grandmother, Margaret Corinne (May 20, 2010 would have been her 83rd birthday), and my childhood best friend, Tanner, who is named for her mother's dear friend, Tanner Musso. She will go by Tanner and we can't wait to see if she's a adventuress like her Aunt Tanner, or a comedian like her great grandmother.

We've enjoyed having family visit and help for the past two and a half weeks. Now it's just the three of us (and Baker, of course), trying to adjust to our new life and the absence of sleep.

Privileges

Now that I'm 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I finally took advantage of "Expectant Mother Parking" at Best Buy today. It still felt a little wrong. Maybe once we're a "Family with Infant", I won't feel so bad.

P.S. If Kroger had such parking I would be all over it, instead they have about 52 handicapped spots so I get to walk even farther.

The Nursery is Finished!

This is my nerdy, font-loving designer project.

I have to give a shout out to Dad and Brian for hanging these...all 28 of them.

Sitting in the glider is like being hugged by a teddy bear.

The 14th Time is a Charm

Ever since the day I found out I was pregnant, I've had a working file of potential birth announcement layouts, there are 14 potential designs. I have a hard time designing for myself. I toiled and stressed over my own logo and business cards for weeks, as if I were trying to create something brilliant like the Nike, Apple or FedEx logo. I have to remind myself that it is just me, not some hot shot million dollar client.

Last night I finally came up with the announcement that I consider the front runner, lucky #14. I slept on it, re-opened the file this morning and actually still really like it. It incorporates her nursery colors, stats and a photo or two. We'll see what actually ends up in your mailbox, hopefully there won't be 14 more layouts. Thankfully, it is one more thing to cross off the list.

An Old Friend Joins the Nursery

I know, he's scary looking. But, if you had been around since early elementary school, survived junior high and high school, gone to camp many times, lived on a dude ranch in Colorado and lived through 4+ years of college, you might show a little wear as well. My dad bought Leo the Lion for me at the circus long, long ago. Leo wreaks of drool and his eyes and nose are missing and his head doesn't quite sit straight any more, but according the The Velveteen Rabbit:

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

I'm not going to actually let the baby play or sleep with him because I would be devastated if something happened to his ratty self. He's just there for decoration for now, she'll make her own thing real.

Family Wall

Since we live far away from all of our relatives, I thought it would be a good idea to include their pictures in the nursery so the baby will know who's who. I limited it to immediate family and spouses, otherwise, the entire wall would be full. There's also a few frames for baby pictures of Brian and me.

And true to form, as I was hanging them, I dropped one, breaking the glass and the IKEA frame. I'm pretty sure I've salvaged the frame with wood glue, but when I'm done here, I'll be googling "pre cut glass" to replace what broke into several pieces.

The Nursery Just Got A Little Smaller

After a great Saturday spent with friends from college, our church in Birmingham and various other places, we returned home with a car full of goodies for the baby. The best part was catching up with dear friends and spending time with family. On Saturday, I saw all six of my bridesmaids from six years ago-which is no easy task!

The nursery that previously felt huge, seems to be a little smaller now that it's filled with a pack and play, rocking seat, clothes and many other brightly colored baby necessities. We received a perfect balance of practical and cute, girly gifts. It now looks more like a nursery and thanks to our generous friends, we're almost ready for her arrival.

The drive home on Sunday was fun, with a loose rattle jingling in the backseat every time we hit a bump. Now, if we could have somehow bypassed the UK fans and SEC basketball tournament traffic in Nashville, it would have been about an hour and a half shorter.

We are so grateful for all our friends who have supported us along the way and are celebrating the upcoming arrival of our little one with us.

The yellow bookcase made the trip to Louisville from Birmingham.
In its previous life, it was in my childhood room.
It will be painted white in the coming weeks.

This tasty treat is a Sara Marsh original and was delicious - leftovers
didn't last very long, especially after learning that I passed my glucose test.

Aunt Tanner made the trip!

Seeing my favorite little man was another highlight of the weekend.