Inner Circle Reunion 2010

So, it is now a yearly tradition that we get together with all of Jason's college buddies (who have also become dear friends to me) for a weekend. Their group in college was the "Inner Circle" and they have allowed me to be a part of this elite group, and for that I am so grateful ;) So, this year was our first year with a child....we were the last to join parenthood.....and this is the first year that several did not bring their kids, so it felt a little backwards. My amazing boss let us use his house in Destin (well, technically we used someone else's house because of a double booking, but that is another story). It was an amazing house with 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms and a PRIVATE pool at the BEACH! It was incredible! So we had an awesome time just hanging out, catching up, talking about our favorite topics (I won't share what those are) and just being together. It was one of the most relaxing and fun vacations I have ever had. I LOVE these guys....

We had a great dinner out together one night at the Back Porch.

Kaylie had her first taste of sand....and she seemed to think it was a snack, so we had to give her a real snack to keep her from eating it.

Family photo....

Family photo part 2......

Kaylie and her new friend Lydia....and the matching dresses we realized they had.

There are more pictures on Facebook if you'd like to see them. We had an awesome time, at an awesome house, with awesome people and an awesome baby, thanks to our awesome boss. We are so blessed! Can't wait until next year!!

May, June, and July....

Sorry, I know I am a day late, but here is a recap of May....

May 9 was my birthday.....AND my first mother's day. What a special day it was! I woke up to breakfast in bed made by my sweet hubby, then I was off on a "scavenger hunt" for my presents. Jason was so sweet to plan out this whole special morning for me. I never really fully grasped Mother's Day until this year. What an amazing experience it is to be a mother, and how amazing is it to have a day to celebrate just that. I also had a completely new appreciation for my mother this time. I never really knew what a mothers' love was like until I experienced it first hand, and to know my mother loves me like that, well, it's pretty cool (that's all I can say, or I will start crying). I could seriously kick myself, because I did not get one single picture of this special day! So, instead I will include the first picture of me with my mother and my daughter...

At the end of May, my sweet friend, Brandy, took Kaylie and I on Kaylie's first trip to Disney! It had been a trip planned long before Kaylie was born, and I had no idea at the time what I would be getting myself into taking an 8 month old to Disney.....but it was worth it! We had a blast!

We started her out right and took her on a Star Wars Weekend...

Our towel Mickey in our hotel room...

First Mickey Ears :)

June wasn't quite as exciting. Although, June did hold Daddy's birthday and first father's day. I have to say, usually I am the one planning special things for birthdays and such, but Daddy way out did me this year. I got him a new video game for his birthday and father's day, and made him a cake.....I gotta do better next year. And once again, no pictures, so I will just include a picture of our girl and the daddy that she loves!

July....

4th of July was spent with my best friend, Leah, and her family at her dad's pool. This was the first time Kaylie seemed to really enjoy the water! She just lounged around in her float forever!

Ok, so I didn't get a picture of that....what is wrong with me? But here are some before and after pictures...

She really thought she was cool.....

After a nap....

Later that night, she went for her first fireworks show downtown and she was MESMERIZED!!

We had so much fun with all the kiddos running around this year!

There, I think we are all caught up now. Let's see if I can keep it up now. I need a new camera, so I can start taking some better pictures....maybe that would keep me in the mood to blog ;) Someone tell my husband....

It's been a while....

I swore I was going to keep up with this thing better.....obviously I am failing. So, here's a little recap of these last 3 months.

April....

Uncle Roy (Jason's best friend) came for a visit from Alaska to meet Kaylie finally. He loved her and she definitely loved him! We loved having him here. It just felt more like home having him around. I had to work most of the time that he was here, but Jason was able to take off. So, the boys were on mommy duty for the week. I crack up thinking of what people must have thought seeing these 2 men carrying around a baby and taking turns with her.....I think they got a few stares ;) But, they did a great job, and Kaylie even matched everyday that daddy dressed her! That's a huge accomplishment! Roy got to see the Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills mall just weeks before they were destroyed in the flood. He thought the Opryland Hotel was the coolest place ever! We are really trying to talk him into moving here.....Roy, if you are reading this, we are waiting!! Here are some pictures from his visit....

Kaylie and Uncle Roy at The Aquarium

Kaylie and Daddy

Kaylie all tuckered out from a day with the boys.

The day Roy left, we headed out to Arizona for a little vacation with Jason's family (minus Chad). It was Kaylie's 2nd plane ride at only 7 months old, and she was a trooper! Everyone commented on what a good girl she was. We stayed at this amazing little house just outside Phoenix. Our neices, Lili and Ali loooooved seeing their cousin, Kaylie. We went to Sedona one day, which was BEAUTIFUL! In true Thornhill fashion, we did a LOT of shopping. We went swimming. The boys even went to see the Phoenix Suns play in a playoff game! Mostly, we spent some much needed time together. Wish we could see each other more! Thanks, Karen, Dave, Judy, and Allen for making our trip their possible! We love you and miss you terribly!

On the plane!



Kaylie and her Gamma

The cousins had fun taking a bath together

Papa giving Kaylie her first taste of a popsicle

The best picture we could get of all three in their matching dresses!

Sedona was AMAZING!

Kaylie's first swim!

Family picture at the zoo.

Aunt Karen and Lili rode a camel!

Kaylie's first Carousel ride!

Lili wanted to hold Kaylie all the time :)

Poppy and his girls!

Kaylie loves her daddy!

She fell asleep like this after a long day of shopping

There are actually cacti in Arizona....a fact that I was surprised by for some reason....and they are HUGE!!!!

Ok, so that is April. I will catch you up with May tomorrow. Good night :)

Easter and a milestone....

Easter is a big deal in the Bozman family. Our entire extended crazy family gets together for a big meal and several Easter Egg hunts. Growing up, this was my favorite thing. See, the eggs we hunt for are worth money. Each egg is assigned a certain amount, like 25 cents or 50 cents. Each age group has their own hunt. Littlest kids, Little kids, Middle Kids, and Big Kids. Each age group also has a prize egg. For the big kids it's worth $20. I was known for always finding this prize egg, although some try to say that I cheated, I didn't, I'm just that good ;) So, this was Kaylie's first Easter and first egg hunt. She hunted (with a LOT of help from me) with the littlest kids, and just like her mother she is an expert hunter of eggs.....she found the prize egg! For the littlest kids, the prize egg is worth $3. She walked away with a total of $5.75! This girl is already making us some money :) Here are some pictures from the day...

Loves her Grandad, but a very, very sleepy baby is a cranky baby!

At least she was happy for a moment to take a family photo at church....

So in love with my baby girl.....

And she crashed as soon as we got home from church...

Done with her first egg hunt!

Looking at her prize egg!!

She LOVES her daddy!!

And she looooves her Mimi!!!

So, one more thing to write about.....she finally rolled over today, I almost missed it....I put her down on the floor on her back and I turned around for a second and when I turned back she was just finishing her roll onto her tummy. Now, she has done the feat about 4 more times....luckily I got one on camera.....

And I almost forgot.....her first painted toes....

Fun with the Williamson's AND a first tooth!

So, last weekend our friends Wes and Elizabeth, and their adorable sons, Jackson and George, came to visit us. We were so happy that they came all the way up from Florida to visit us and meet Kaylie. We had a blast. We went to the park, hung around the house, played some games, went to church, and then on Sunday afternoon Kaylie, George, and I stayed home and took naps while everyone else went to the Science Center. I can't believe we didn't get ANY pictures from this weekend....I really need to get better at this picture thing, I am SERIOUSLY slacking! Even though, we have no pictures to prove it, we had a blast! Thanks for coming to visit, and we can't wait to see you guys again (very soon)!

We also had some big news this week as Kaylie is getting her first tooth! It is popping through, and suprisingly, she has been relatively calm through it all. We are so thankful that she seems to have been spared the pain and trauma that can sometimes accompany teething. It has, however, caused her to put everything, and I mean EVERYTHING into her mouth and start chewing!!

I am so thankful for this precious little girl that God has blessed us with. I truly never knew that I could love like this. It brings such a new understanding and appreciation for God's love for us. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for entrusting me with this perfect child that You created. Thank You for allowing me to be her mother. Thank You for giving me Jason to share this wonderful adventure with. Thank You for giving Kaylie the wonderful Daddy she has. You have blessed us beyond anything we could ever deserve. Lord, I pray that you will give us the wisdom, patience, and strength to raise her in Your will. Amen.

Bringing Home Baby (The first 6 months)

So, we get home with our sweet Kaylie, and the first night was HORRIBLE, I mean I'm talking TRAUMATIZING!!! We had this plan to put her in her crib right from the beginning....no sleeping in our room and absolutely no sleeping in the bed with us! We were so naive!! The first night we put her in a crib and I slept on the extra bed in the room with her, after this traumatic experience, she spent the next 3 weeks sleeping in our room and many nights in bed with us.....we were in survival mode and just did whatever worked! The first 3 weeks were very difficult, between the hormone and life change caused anxiety and the fact that I was not producing enough milk and was going to great lengths to try to increase my milk production, I literally thought, many times, that I wasn't going to be able to do this mom thing. At every feeding I was breastfeeding 20 minutes on each side, then pumping for 10 minutes on each side, then supplementing with a bottle of formula. So, basically I was only getting about an hour and a half of sleep at a time. 3 weeks after she was born, my in laws came in town from Alaska....this was a huge turning point for me. Having them around all day every day for a week helped ease my anxiety considerably! This was the week also that I decided to stop going to extreme lengths to produce milk and just work with what I had and supplement with bottles. This was life changing for me at this point! I also decided it was time to put Kaylie back in her crib, and I finally had the confidence to do so. After 4 weeks of not knowing what I was going to do each night to get her to sleep, I finally had a plan. She did wonderfully the first night in her crib! She only woke up to eat once! After 2 weeks in her bed (about 6 weeks old) she slept through the night....and we've never looked back! Now, she will sleep until 8:30, 9:30, sometimes 11:00 in the morning! It's HEAVEN!!

Oh, funny story I should share about those first few weeks when she was sleeping in the room with us....one night I had woken up to feed her and change her diaper. Because of all the weight I lost while I was pregnant, my wedding ring was a little big and would slide off my finger very easily. After feeding her, changing her, and putting her back to bed, I noticed my ring was gone. I looked all over the bed for it, but I couldn't find it. I figured it had to be somewhere in the covers, so I thought I would just wait until the next morning to find it. The next morning, the first thing I did was search the entire bed and surrounding areas....the ring was no where to be found. So, I got Kaylie and went in to change her diaper before I did some more searching. I opened up her diaper and guess what I found....yep, my ring, stuck to her tiny little tush. I'm talking STUCK to her tush....an imprint was left behind when I pulled it off. I laughed until I cried....no wonder she was so fussy that night! Ha!

Ok, so these first 6 months with Kaylie have been so amazingly wonderful, she is learning so much everyday and growing like a weed!! She hasn't quite rolled over yet, but she is sitting up by herself (most of the time) and she is learning how to grab her toys (which go straight into her mouth when she gets a hold of them). She is smiling ALL THE TIME and has recently started to truly belly laugh. She loves her daddy the most, I mean her face literally lights up when ever she sees him. She looks at him like she doesn't look at anyone else, it is the sweetest thing! I went back to work about 8 weeks after I had her and we have an amazing woman who has been willing to watch her during the day. She lives just up the road and she loves Kaylie as if she were her own....could we ask for anything more. Thank you, Molly, you are truly a blessing from God! Kaylie has already been on a plane ride (at 3 1/2 months) and will be going on another one in about a month. She is just the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. If you haven't met her, you should! She is the prettiest, cutest, sweetest, smartest, funniest, happiest, best baby ever in the history of ever....but I might be biased ;)

So this is our first 6 months...and I can't wait to share our journey from here! Stay tuned, it's going to be a fun ride!