Faith's 1st doll!

On Friday, we spent the afternoon with some of Faith's friends. Her friend, Bailey, has a special doll named "Baby Faith". She was kind enough to let Faith play with her. I've never seen Faith take to a toy so much. She held on to "Baby Faith" the rest of the time we were at Bailey's house. Bailey's Mommy, Mrs. Emille, said Faith could take her home with us for a couple of days. Bailey reluctantly but graciously agreed. We found a sweet little shirt that we thought appropriate for "Baby Faith" to wear (see pic). Faith continued to hold onto "Baby Faith" the whole way home. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever. Murray agreed and we decided to make a run to Toys 'R 'Us so Faith could pick out a doll of her own. I just love watching her hold her doll. She "lights up" when she sees her. It's the cutest thing ever!!!
This is how Faith holds her baby dolls...both hands on the doll's head. She's happy as can be!

Faith, Daddy and "Baby Faith" outside Toys'R'Us.Here's Faith admiring her own baby. We decided to name her "Libby".
Faith and "Libby", Friends Forever!!

No more tears!

Well, our sweet little one is now an "independent sleeper". Thanks to Dr. Ferber, Faithy now goes to sleep on her own. We were told this would take 4 nights but being the "advanced learner" that she is, Faith mastered this skill after night #1! Our first night was ROUGH....I nearly caved in but Murray encouraged me to let her figure this out. It took her 1 hour to stop crying and fall asleep. On the second night, Faith nearly lept out of my arms during our nighttime routine so I said a quick prayer for her and put her in her bed and left. After about 5 minutes of playing she went to sleep....with no tears at all!!! I tried our new sleeping plan this afternoon during naptime...thinking there's no way it would work b/c she never sleeps longer than 30 minutes unless I'm holding her and I am sitting very still....but I went through our "routine" and again she tried to get out of my arms so I put her in her bed and left. Not a peep out of her for nearly 2 hours!! Wow!! Tonight makes night #3 and we had another tear free night! Why did we wait so long to let her learn to fall asleep on her own?? (the books say you can start around 4 months but sometimes kids aren't developmentally ready until 6 months). Well, we are believers in Dr. Ferber's method. I hope that typing this post doesnt' undo all our progress!!!

P.S. We haven't been able to post any pics for the last several weeks. One reason why I haven't been blogging much. Anyone else having trouble or have any suggestions on what to do???

Special Visitors Part 2!!

Grrrr....after NUMEROUS attempts, I couldn't get blogger to post the rest of the pictures from my sister's visit IN JUNE!!! Sorry Faulds family for the lenthy delay. Here's the rest of our recap (without pics). We REALLY enjoyed your visit!

Monday, June 26th: We called Grandman and sang Happy Birthday! We went to the indoor pool at our neighborhood rec center because the rain wouldn't go away!

Tuesday, June 27th: We went bowling! I watched Aunt Kimmie and the boys throw lots of strikes and spares!

Wednesday, June 28th: The rain finally stopped!! But the damage was done....we had planned to go see some dinosaurs at the Smithsonian but it was flooded and there was no power inside so they had to close the muesum. Plan B: We went to Splashdown Waterpark instead. It was so much fun. My cousin Anthony rode down some really big slides by himself and made it all the way across the lilly pads by himself. He's so amazing!!

Thursday, June 29th: We went to Hershey Park and Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. Daddy got to join us. It was a lot of fun. I rode the choo choo train and watched the boys ride rides. My favorite part was the simulated tour of the Hershey Factory. We got a yummy treat at the end!

Friday, June 30th: It was time to say goodbye. We had so much fun, I hated to see them go. Aunt Kimmie had a hard time getting home (her tire blew out about half way home). She was a trooper though and made it safe and sound. We were so glad!! Thanks, guys for the great time!! I love you so much!! Baby Faith

**Stayed tuned for my next post and learn about my 1st trip to Toys'R'Us to purchase my new favorite toy!!

Special Visitors...part 1

At the end of last month we had some special guests at our house. My younger sister, Kim and her two boys, Anthony and Andrew came to stay with us! We had a lot of fun with them and got to do lots of really cool things. Here's a quick recap:

Saturday, June 24th: Aunt Kimmie and the boys arrive! They drove 9 hours to see us. Aunt Kimmie made great time and surprised Mommy before the house was cleaned!
Sunday, June 25th: We went on a special tour of the White House!! It was really cool. Later Mommy, Daddy, Anthony and I got flooded in at The Holmans house. We had to wait an extra hour or so before the firemen would open up the roads and let us drive home.

*more pictures to follow later...blogger is'nt letting me add any pictures now! (grrr!).

Thanks, Mrs. LeaAnn

I am now living my dream!! I am a stay at home mommy!! I've longed for this job since I was a little girl playing house with my sisters and dressing up our cats in baby clothes, taking them for rides in our baby stroller, etc. This past March I had to do one of the hardest things ever. I had to go back to work after giving birth to the sweetest baby girl. I dreaded the day before Faith was even born. I knew it would be hard and it was. The only comfort I found was knowing it was temporary (3 months) and that our daughter would be staying in the very loving arms of our dear friend, LeaAnn. We had the "ideal" situation for any working mom. I worked half a day Monday and LeaAnn kept Faith in the morning. Murray kept Faith all day Tuesday. LeaAnn kept Faith all day Thursday. Her daughter Joanna was there in the morning until time for Kindergarten. Her niece, Shannon was there in the afternoon after her preschool let out. The three of them loved on Faith the entire time they were with her. It was so fun to see her watch the "big girls" as they tried to get her to smile! LeaAnn was the biggest blessing to us during those three months. She loves babies and is EXTREMELY gifted with them. Faith enjoyed her time with Mrs. LeaAnn. We enjoyed knowing that she was in the care of someone who loved her almost as much as we do! Thank you, LeaAnn!! You made that last stretch of work bearable!! Now we can do playdates together!! You are a blessing to us still!!

Here I am with Mrs. LeaAnn. She's the best babysitter!!
The girls! L to R: Joanna, me, Shannon. I loved playing with them!!
Joanna is so sweet and does such a good job holding me!

Shannon gives me really great hugs.

July 4th!!

We went downtown to the National Mall to watch fireworks this year. We watched them from the Pentagon last year but wanted a closer view this time. When the Hinckleys invited us to join them we eagerly said yes! It was such a neat experience....a "must do" for those that live in the area because you not only saw the amazing fireworks show with the Washington Monument in the background, you FELT the fireworks!! It was so cool!! We set up "camp" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial...
When we first arrived, Faith decided to catch some zzzzs to make sure she didn't miss the big show.She was all smiles after she woke up!
She played with her friends George and Gillian for a little while.
Here we all are from L to R: James, Gillian, Ramona, George, Murray, Jaime and Faith. What fun to experience this with great friends!!
The Hinckleys (they are veteran firework show watchers...they've been making the trek downtown for many years!)
The Sandersons (we are standing at the same spot where Murray proposed in November 2003. It was fun to share that story with Faith)
Watching the fireworks show with Daddy!

She couldn't take her eyes off the show!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful experience as well. We love our country and are so thankful for the freedoms we enjoy. We love to celebrate our nation's birthday each year!!

Confession.....

I am overweight.

I have been feeling fat (like almost every other American girl past the age of 13) for the last few months. However, the mirror began confirming my suspicions so I decided to investigate. I went to the following website http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ and had my body mass index calculated. Sure enough, my number fell in the "overweight" section. Now, this post isn't an attempt to fish for compliments. I SERIOUSLY don't want those. In fact, please don't say, "but you look fine", or "you just had a baby" because I may be tempted to believe you and catch some more couch time and stack on even more weight. The reason I am admitting my weight status is for some accountability. In all honesty, I don't feel like I "look" that overweight with clothes on. But I know that I am. I FEEL overweight. I can't walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath. I feel a lot more body parts jiggle when I move. I am tired a lot more than I used to be. So for those reasons I have decided to take action. Murray and I have developed a "body awareness plan" to help get us back in shape. I wanted to start it on July 1st so that I could track the duration easier plus I think all diets, exercise plans, etc. should start at the beginning of the week (or month). I started off with all these rules (mostly inspired by Oprah's 12 week weight loss plan) but realized that just wasn't realistic for me. So I trimmed it down and decided to commit to the following:

1) Eat breakfast every day.
2) Eat one healthy snack between lunch and dinner.
3) Eat mostly healthy meals (one day to indulge a little).
4) No food after 7:30 pm
5) Complete five 30 minute workouts a week.
6) Drink six 8 oz. glasses of water a day (build up to 8 glasses).

That's it! So far I am doing great (as of day 2). #s 4,5,6 are proving to be the "tough ones" but I am determined to follow through!!!

The reason I am posting about this is for a little accountability. I have tried to start up something like this for awhile (always on a Monday) and by Tuesday I had quit and was saying, "maybe next Monday".... and so on. So now that more than one person knows I have more motivation to actually follow through this time! I plan to give a weekly blurb to help me chart my progress.

Here's to a healthier me!! Anyone care to join me????

P.S. A special thank you to my sister, Shellie, for finding us a nearly new jogging stroller for $20. She's the QUEEN of finding deals at rummage sales!!! I now can get out and go with Faith which will make #5 a little easier for me.

Faith goes to W's House

Here are a few pics from our special tour of the White House's West Wing. Special thanks to my Mommy's college friend, Jenn G. for leading us on such an incredible tour!!

Here's our group in the rose garden. From L to R: me, Mommy, Daddy, Anthony, Aunt Kimmie, Andrew, and Mrs. Ramona. We had so much fun!

This is another picture taken in the rose garden. The oval office is right behind these pillars. (Seeing it was my favorite part of the tour.)
I finally woke up and posed for a picture with Daddy & Mommy.

Next, we were off to the press pool. I had a lot to say to the media...

And now it's time to get down to "business".

I'm having a great visit with my cousins, Anthony & Andrew and my Aunt Kimmie. I will try to post some more pictures later but we've got a busy week planned!

6 Months of Wonderful....

Here are the monthly pictures we've taken of our sweet Faith Kinder... We can hardly believe it's been 6 months. Please tell us that things slow down soon....she's just growing faster than we'd like (although we REALLY enjoy watching her reach all the appropriate milestones!)


Faith Kinder Sanderson, born December 20th 2005 at 7:45 p.m.

We love you precious daughter! These past 6 months have been filled with so much joy! We thank God each night for blessing us with the gift of raising you and knowing you! We look forward to many many many more months (years, decades..) of celebrating you!

Sure Do Love You,

Daddy& Mommy

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

I wanted to make my Daddy's 1st Father's Day extra special. I made matching photo buttons for Daddy and I to wear to church. I wanted all my friends to know how much I love my Daddy and how happy I am to be his little girl!
After eating breakfast for lunch at one of Daddy's favorite restaurants, Bob Evans, we came home and I showered him with lots of gifts!

I have the BEST Daddy around. I already know that God loves me so much because he gave me the perfect Daddy. Here are the top 6 things I love about my Daddy (there are SO MANY MORE but I figured I would list one for each month I've lived)

6. My Daddy makes his whole face light up when he sees me. I can't help but make mine light up too!

5. My Daddy loves to dress me in clothes that are comfortable. Sometimes Mommy gives him a hard time because the outfit doesn't match but it doesn't ever poke me or make me feel uncomfortable. I love soft clothes, thanks, Daddy!

4. My Daddy has lots of sweet, funny names for me!

3. My Daddy holds me, bathes me, changes me, feeds me...loves on me EVERY chance he gets!

2. My Daddy sings funny songs to me. I hope I can remember these songs when I am older cuz they really make me laugh and make me feel special!

1. My Daddy protects me, provides for me and LOVES me PERFECTLY!! Thanks for all you do to make me feel like the most special little girl around!

I am proud to be a Daddy's girl! I love you, Daddy!!

Faithy

Old Friends & New Friends!

On our way home from our Flowers Family Reunion in Sweetwater, TN, Faith got to meet some of her new friends and Mommy got to see one of her old friends. It was fun and such a wonderful blessing to spend some time with Candice and her beautiful girls!


From L to R: Anna Kathryn-almost 5, Candice-newly 30, Isabelle-barley 2, Carrigan-almost 4 months, Jaime-almost 30, Faith-almost 6 months

Here's Faithy with her new friend, Carrigan. I hope that these girls will someday share a similar friendship as their Mommies do. If so, Faith will be so blessed!!

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this sweet little one! We love you (and your sisters)!

What a gift for me, to introduce my daughter to one of my dearest friends! We love you, Stites family. Candice thanks again for driving to meet us! We really enjoyed the visit!

Faith's feet...

Faith has very active feet.... they are almost ALWAYS moving. When she decides to give them a rest, she likes to prop them up on whatever is nearby. We think it's really cute!


We will soon have to teach her not to put her feet on the table but for now we let it slide!Asleep in the stroller, you will rarely find her without her foot propped up on the tray.
Unless it's time for her synchronized swimming practice...She put on quite a performance. It was so cute to only see her feet sticking out as she did her "routine".
She likes to practice standing....and acting like a flamingo (I almost dressed her in an all pink onesie that day...wish I had now!)