1st day

Surprise, surprise, Alley had a wonderful time at her first day of daycare. What's more surprising is that I survived as well:) Andy went with me to drop Alley off and had to drag me away when it was time to go...When I left she was still asleep in her car seat, which was good. I think it would have been much harder on me if she was awake because I would have wanted to snuggle and give her plenty of kisses and not let go! The great thing is that Alley has some fantastic teachers who clearly love every single child there like they are their own. Alley had so much fun at daycare that she was worn out that afternoon and evening! She napped right when I brought her home (I sat there staring at her because I wanted to hold her so bad since I had missed her all day, but I knew she needed to sleep!) and woke up a little bit before dinner to play. She ate and then on our way to the basketball game she fell asleep again...and she slept through the whole first half of the game! After the game I was concerned she wouldn't sleep since she had slept well at daycare and at home, but after she ate at 10pm she slept all night! I even had to go in and wake her up at 6am to eat!! Fantastic!! I hope she continues to sleep like that:)
Anyway, her first day was wonderful and she seems to be doing just fine on her second day as well. I am enjoying my last day of freedom before I start work tomorrow. I struggled yesterday with what I should do because I missed Alley so much (I'm not use to being by myself!) and today I've decided I really need to clean the house...this way I'll be too busy to worry or to want to jump in the car and go pick Alley up! We are slowly making the transition...I can't wait to go get her!!!:)

But I don't want to...

Well, This is the week I go back to work:( I have enjoyed my time off from work so much that I'm really struggling with the fact that I return to work on Friday. This means I have to wake up (and really get up!), shower and get dressed in "real" clothes and leave my daughter behind at daycare for the day. It's not that I think she'll have a horrible time at daycare, I know she'll do great there...it's just that I wont be there to give her kisses, snuggle with her, hold her (way too much!), babble with her and just stare at her. (Sigh)...
I'm starting Alley in daycare on Wednesday so that I can adjust to the drastic change of not being around her all day and to pull myself together before I have to go back to work on Friday. I really wish that we were in a position where I could stay home with Alley, but until we are there, I'll continue to push on and trust that Alley will be just fine, and that I will be too.
Keep me in your thoughts and prayers this week, it's going to be really tough for me!!

Changes

We've been trying to get a video clip of Alley talking (okay, gurgling!) for awhile now. She will talk up a storm and then the moment we get out the camera, she stops and stares like she has no clue what's going on. Anyway, here's a little clip of her talking a little bit. She's in her highchair and it's after we've had dinner. She's so cute! Every time she talks she moves her legs and arms a mile a minute! We'll continue to try and get a better video of her "chatting".



Here are some other photos:Sacked out baby and sacked out dog...what a good guard dog;)

Life...

It's beginning to hit me that I am going to be going back to work in 2 weeks. I have enjoyed my time off just getting to know my little girl. It's going to be very hard for me to return to a demanding job at a very difficult time of year. I'm just not sure I'm ready for it...it might be caused by the fact that I took 2 1/2 months off instead of just 6 weeks. It was worth it though! These past several weeks have been a joy for me. I have seen Alley grow and change and it's just been amazing. She is an incredible little girl! I just can't stop loving on her and kissing her...when she gets older she's probably going to be embarrassed by me kissing her so much...she's just so darn cute though!! Anyway, I'm trying to prepare myself now for my return to work...ugh!
We have been having some issues with our cat Reese. She has been acting really crazy lately (not that she's never acted crazy...she is a crazy,odd cat!). Just last night she was running around with Alley's pacifier in her mouth!! I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but she was too quick. She's also been getting into Alley's crib and car seat when Alley isn't in it, and she's been dragging around a blanket of Alley's like she's a dog...she is just sooo weird and very jealous! She's even gotten in my lap while I'm holding Alley and tried to sit on top of us...crazy thing. Anyway, she's odd. Maybe I'll be able to get a picture of her with the pacifier in her mouth! Then there is Maggie our lab...she only has eyes for Andy and I swear has no clue that we have a baby in the house. She's so clueless! All she wants is to be with Andy and to be in his lap (she acts like she's a lap dog...all 60lbs of her!).
Here's a picture of my little turtle sleeping.

Update...

Alley had her 2 month appointment this morning and it went really well:) She is 9 weeks old and weighs a healthy 11 lbs 12oz ,which is in the 50th percentile, and is 22.5 inches long, which is also in the 50th percentile. So she's a healthy little butterball!:) She has pretty much doubled her birth weight, which I'm told breastfed babies do much faster than formula fed babies. They're given 6 months to double there weight...my girl is competitive and wanted to get there first;)
Alley also had 4 shots this morning. It wasn't as bad as I had expected. The nurse was super quick with the shots and Alley of course screamed bloody murder all the while. Once the shots were given and she was bandaged up she immediately fell asleep...that's my girl! We'll see how the day goes. The nurse said it's typical for babies to run a fever and be fussy for 24-72 hours after shots...this is when I'm going to need your prayers!!
All in all it was a successful trip. The doctor said she looked great, which is all a mother can ask/hope for!

Andy's little girl...

This morning I had a moment with Alley were I could just see my husband in her so clearly. I have always thought that Alley resembled Andy, but this morning while I was working on her scrapbook and she was napping in her swing, I really saw her resemblance to Andy.Things are still going well here. Alley goes for her 2 month doctor's appointment tomorrow. So we'll find out how much she weighs (we think she is close to 11 lbs!!!) and how long she is. Plus she'll be getting 4 shots..ugh!! Good thing Andy is coming with me, I might not survive! We'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow! Pray for me:)

Bigger and bigger...

Alley has begun to puff out over the past few weeks. She has turned into an adorable little puffalump. I was looking back at pictures of her during her first few weeks of life and it's amazing to see how she has filled out and turned into a little baby. I fear she is beginning to get my checks, but I don't think they'll ever get as big as mine were when I was a baby (my nickname was pumpkin, so that should give you an idea of their size!). Anyway, here's our little girl:)

Another birth for the McAlley clan...

This morning at 3:56am Owen Charles Alley was born to my older brother Will and his wife Jessica!!! This will be their second child (they already have an adorable 2 year old). Congratulations Will and Jess!!!

The New Year

It's been awhile...Life in the McPherson household has been crazy since Christmas! We had a fabulous Christmas with Mimi and Papa and were sad to go, but Andy had to go back to work on the 26th...boo! Andy went back in full force with the HSC basketball team. They had a home tournament the 29th and 30th, the on the 31st they left for Atlanta to play in a game on the 1st. They came home the night of the 1st (well, really it was 3am the morning of the 2nd!) and then proceeded to leave for another tournament on the 3rd and came back the night of the 5th...whew, it's been busy!!
We did have a wonderful visit from Andy's mom while at the CNU tournament this weekend! She was finally able to see Andy's mini-me in person! Alley had tons of smiles to show G'ma and we even got a couple pictures of it!
Alley has been changing daily, she can hold her head up for long periods of time (then she suddenly remembers she's still under 2 months of age and drops it), she is standing up in my lap and on objects with almost no support from me (except to keep her balanced) and she started smiling for real right around Christmas...she has been lots of fun. Here new favorite position to be held in is on my shoulder so she can hold up her head and see everyone and everything...she is a piece.
Alright, here are some pictures from the past week:Papa and Alley loving on each other:)G'ma and Alley checking each other outDaddy and Alley smiling at each other before a gameAll smiles:)