Gwen's first cold

Well, it had to happen at some point... Miss Gwen caught her first cold this weekend. She was up every hour Friday night, and then Saturday woke with a runny nose (but no fever). I thought maybe it was just her newest symptoms of teething, however with another sleepless night Saturday and a fever of 101.7 degrees, I decided it was more. Thank goodness she is a bit older now because the pediatrician did suggest some cold medicine which has helped. At least we got some sleep last night! She is a trooper though; still playing and smiling away! As well as, leaking from her nose and mouth like a faucet! I too have been battling the cold and fever since Sunday, but unlike Gwen, I don't get to stay home and nap (I wish I could though).

Food for thought

I hope all of you enjoyed Gwen's video...I can't help but laugh when she does!

I heard some interesting things these last couple of days and I thought I would share them with all of you.
First idea: I was talking to someone about Gwen, surprise surprise, and they were asking about how Gwen compares to the norms (for developmental milestones and for height/weight). This then branched into a discussion about what if our doctors, meaning the doctors of us moms or dads, gave us percentiles for our height and weight at every visit just like they do for the babies. Could you imagine? "Well, Ashley, you fall into the 5th percentile for height and about the 75th percentile for weight..." Oh my gosh, I would hate it! So, to all the doctors our there...thank you for stopping that information at pediatrics!

Second idea (again not related to Gwen--sorry): So driving to work this morning, the radio guy was talking about an idea he had to solve the economic crisis, what the president's address last night talked about...etc. I LOVE his idea! I don't understand how he came up with the numbers, and now a few hours later I can't remember the exact numbers he said, but this was the proposal: The government is discussing bailing out AIG and other companies that are going under. AIG's bail out alone is about $83 billion-which the government is going to give them to keep them afloat. Well this guy's idea is that instead of giving the money to AIG, the government should give it to the American public (already liking the idea?) Basically, with $83 billion, the government could give every American citizen 18 and up $400,000! (again I don't know how he came up with this number, but honestly I don't care). Of course the government would put tax on that, so it would come out to only $295,000 per person (about $590,000 per family without including the older kids)--not too bad. This money would solve a lot of the problems. Think about it. With that "free money" we could pay off mortgages, school loans, cars (helping the banks too), the government would make money from taxes, people would spend money (helping the economy grow), with people spending they might buy cars which would increase demand and therefore create jobs....it would be positive ripple effect! And, to top it all off, I am sure people would invest some of that money- which, you guessed it, would help Wall Street! Obviously this guy has some great ideas! If only it could really happen.

GIGGLES!!!!!!!!

Crazy Winds

So many of you had some crazy weather this past weekend.  I just heard about the flooding up north--I hope all of you and your houses are okay.  Down here we have not had rain since maybe a week and a half ago, however we had category 1 hurricane winds Sunday morning.  Not one drop of rain, or lightning, but an insane wind storm.  The news has said that winds reached around 60 mph here and up to 80 mph just south of here in Kentucky!  Fortunately for us, all the trees/limbs/branches that came down were in the yard and hit nothing.  Our neighbors had a tree limb (about half of the tree really) fall on their door step!  Another neighbor had a tree fall on top of their barn!  We were very lucky to say the least!

Our neighbors most recent visitor was so close, it could have knocked on the door (no pun intended!)

Our shed still stands, but is surrounded by fallen limbs from the trees in the backyard

When you need a laugh

Today I sat down at the computer and thought that some of you may need a laugh, so...

Here I am getting attacked by the Tickle Monster!

Me just being goofy! I think it is so funny to stick my tongue out at people and blow raspberries! It really gets them laughing!

One more...my mission to get the cat...

6 month check up

I completely forgot to mention how Gwen's check up went the other day.  For those of you who care...Gwen weighed in at 17 lbs. 6 1/2 oz. (73rd percentile), is 26 1/4 inches long (58th percentile), and her head circumference is 43 1/2 cm (97th percentile).  Basically...she is still perfect :-)  Gwen's next round of vaccinations is Thursday and hopefully that will go well too.

Gwen is 6 months old!

That's right, Gwen is half way to a year old! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was sharing the news about being pregnant, but it was a year ago already! I also can't believe that in just 6 months she could learn so much, grow so much, and change our lives so much. I wouldn't have it any other way! To celebrate we put Gwen in a pretty dress (one that I am sad to say will not fit by the time we have another party to go to) and took her monthly picture.  She is beautiful! We had a busy day yesterday too because the Dale Fall Fest was going on.  There was a parade that went right by our house, we walked over to the park and visited with family and friends, and we even ate pork chops, elephant ears, and lemon shake ups (even Gwen enjoyed them!).  I hate to cut this short, but Gwen is about the delete the whole thing, so I have to publish it fast!

"You heard right!  I am 6 months old!"

"I like to eat, eat, eat green beans for dinner..."

"My first parade!  The Dale Fall Fest is AWESOME!"

Happy Labor Day!

I know it is a few days late, but Happy Labor Day!  Gammy and Gampy came to visit us on Sunday after a trip to Miami and it was wonderful to have them even if it was for less than 24 hours.  Gwen crawled, played, laughed, and smiled up a storm!  She loved showing off what she can do for them!
Gwen also went swimming again this week.  Not in a big pool, but we did blow up the baby pool again.  She loved splashing around and chasing her ducks.  It's a good thing they are rubber ducks and can handle being chewed on.  I guess that is Gwen's version of kidding now.  This just gives you a taste of what Gwen is like in the tub!

Look for another post tomorrow--Gwen turned 6 months old today!