The past few weeks have been crazy to say the least. Cora came down with a nasty cold a few days after we visited Samoset. She was really congested and labored for each breath. Hearing her caugh over and over was heart renching. She was so helpless and perplexed about why everything she was in pain. She would stare right at me as she’d caught her lungs up as if to say, “Why Momma, why?” AHHH. So stink’n sad. While Cora was sick I had a small medical “procedure” that ended up being futile and I had to fast for 24 hours. This was no easy task, especially when nursing a sick 9 week old baby. Luckily Grandma came to the rescue and stayed with us for a night to help out. Then as if that wasn’t trying enough, Cora got over her cold and needed to get the dreaded 2 month immunization shots. Thankfully, Andy came to the appointment with me and was brave enough to help hold her still while the nurses gave her the shots. It wasn’t quiet as bad as I was imagining. Although I can say that I have never heard Cora cry that way before. It was a gasping-for-air kind of cry.  She seemed OK a few minutes after the shots and ran a low fever for a few days. The best part was the silver glittery Band-Aids they put on her thighs that made her look like a little roller derby mama.

On a happier note, Gram and Cracker, Andy’s grandparents from Maryland, drove down last week to see their first great grand-daughter. There trip was complete with keys stuck in their cup holder, a broke down Lincoln, a lost pair of prescription sun glasses, buying a new Lincoln, and some of the hottest weather Florida has to offer. While they were here it was Father’s Day and I suprised Andy by taking him to Lee Roy Selmon’s, his new favorite BBQ place. Cora is giving her Dad the gift of golf next weekend with his good friend Chris. Andy doesn’t know how to golf and has been saying he wants to learn. He also wanted to learn how to play the guitar and that is just sitting in the corner collecting dust, so we’ll see how golf goes. Andy has been such a great Daddy and it is so much fun watching him love on her. My favorite things about watching Andy become a father: have been; the way he lights Cora’s face up when he talks to her, he changes diapers, he can’t wait until he gets his “Cora on the Cob” after work, he’s always telling her how beautiful she is, he loves waking her up, and the best of all is listening to him when he prays for her!

Happy Father’s Day Andy! We love you!

On Sunday  morning Andy and I sang Happy Birthday in unison to Cora. She was grinning ear-to-ear, most likely because of how awful we sounded. She is growing so fast (last week she was 10.12 lbs,) smiling all the time, and moving her arms and legs like crazy. She also discovered her hands in the last few weeks. She was obsessed with the left hand and could hardly take her eyes off it most of the time. We tried to show her that there was another hand on the right side too but she would have nothing to do with it until just a few days ago. Now she’s very aware that there are two hands attached to her and she usually has them in fists in front of her face while she goes cross eyed staring at them. Too cute!

On Friday Andy and I celebrated our 5th year of marriage and unlike other anniversaries, we needed a babysitter! Thankfully my mom jumped at the chance to watch her and cousin Rachel was able to join her too. Andy gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and took me to the Chart House on Siesta Key for dinner. I was really excited to fit into one of my favorite black dresses for the occasion. We spent most of the night reminiscing some of our favorite vacations and milestones from the past few years. We tried really  hard not to talk about Cora the whole time and we were pretty successful, but we couldn’t resist talking about how in love we were with our new baby girl. We are overwhelmed with how blessed we are and we can only image what God has planned for our next 5 years!

Then… and now.

We have been busy the last few weeks visiting with family and introducing Cora to lots of new people. Cora got to meet some more of the Wells family and she even go to see her great Grannin. We spent Momorial day with the Botts family and I got to enjoy some pool basket ball since there were so many extra hands to take care of Cora. She was able to meet some of the Armour family including cousin Rachel and Aunt Paula who came to visit from California. I also took Cora to visit my kindergartners at Samoset Elementary about a week ago where she was a huge celebrity. Most of the students liked Cora but were far more excited to fill me in on what I had missed. The kids had so much to tell me, from losing a tooth to the zoo field trip I missed they were talking a mile a minute. I really enjoyed seeing my co-workers and it was nice to go back and see the kids.