10 Months

My sweet baby turned 10 months old on Friday.  She is such a little ham and we just get so much joy from having her in our lives! 

Here's what she's been up to lately:

• just got her first tooth about a week ago!  She has another one coming in right beside it now...I was beginning to think she wasn't going to get any teeth before she was a year old.
• sleeping all night IN HER CRIB!  I did NOT let her cry it out.  I don't really know how I got so lucky with this.  I started to put her in her crib for naps and she did cry but no longer than a couple minutes before she just tuckered out.  I just made this a pattern and then started doing it at night too. It's like she just realized that she needed to sleep in her crib!  She does get better sleep in there too.
• cruising around the living room, holding onto to all of the furniture.
• standing for a second by herself before falling down
• eating solids 3 times a day, with 4 bottles 
• laughs really hard whenever her daddy says "poopy" to her
• really loves her baby
• went to the pool for the first time today!

We love you sweet baby so so much!

Love, Mommy

Baby Names

This week's Show Us Your Life is baby names!  When I was pregnant with Emmie this was such a hard decision for my husband and I to make! We went through so many baby girl names and were pretty set on her name being Kennedy Lane.  For whatever reason it just didn't fit and we changed it to: 

Emerson Lane

We already knew we wanted her middle name to be Lane because we were pretty sure we were going to call her Laney (we don't, we normally call her Emmie).  I had come across Emerson at some point in a baby book and just loved it.  It's a unique name and we immediately decided that we would call her Emmie Lane.  

There are quite a few names that I really like for future children!  I'm pretty sure that we won't stick to "E" names, but instead will probably choose names with the same sound as Emerson.  My favorite name for our next baby if it's a girl is Anniston, but my husband is not too crazy about this one!  For boys, my husband and I both like Jameson and Anderson.  I wish we had some cool family names, but unfortunately we don't.  I'm also a big fan of one syllable middle names.  Can you tell I have thought about this?!  Haha...babies are too exciting!

Food Products

I've been wanting to do this post for a while because people ask me ALL the time..."what do you eat"? and "Just give me a diet and I'll follow it".  My advice for those people that want to just "follow a plan" is this:  you won't be able to stick to the plan forever because you will surely get tired of the same foods over and over.  I try to give my patients/clients education so that they can understand food labels so that they may begin to build their own plan:)  It really is about lifestyle change.

I'm a dietitian, not a magician!

I have no secret!  But I do have the knowledge and education about food and food products and try to use this to the max to get the most nutrition out of foods!  The truth is, I try my best to make healthy choices, but just like everyone else, I am a busy wife, mom and I have a full time job.  So I will keep it real here and be the first to let you know that we all eat junk from time to time.  But, I do try to eat healthy foods and wanted to showcase a few products that we eat here in the Rushing house!  (And no I am not being paid for this!...I wish I was though...hint hint, Morningstar!)

Morningstar Farms Meal Starters.  Specifically these crumblers.  They are about the price of a 1 pound package of ground beef and serve as a decent replacement.  We use them in spaghetti and lasagna.  I'm also a big fan of Morningstar breakfast sausages every now and then.  They taste like the real deal!  Another favorite, Morningstar black bean burgers.  These are great.  I usually saute these and then cut them into strips for quesadilla night.  They are so good.

Greek Yogurt!  Not any brand specifically, but I've tried Oikos, Chiobani, and Dannon and they are all good.  I'm not crazy about the honey flavor, but again, I don't really like honey.  Greek yogurt is very thick and has about 15 grams of protein per container and no fat!  You can use the plain flavor as a substitute for sour cream. 

Sandwich thins!  Again, no specific brand, we have tried Arnold's and I think Nature's Own.  These are 100 calories each and come with 5 grams of fiber!  They taste good too.  We use these instead of hamburger buns and obviously for sandwhices. 


These are just a few items that we like and are relatively healthy choices.  Obviously we also eat "real" food, not in the form of products!  

Happy Thursday!

Tiffany

Moving on up

This is my husband's second week at his new job and because we couln't get childcare lined up for this week for Emmie, I am staying home for the rest of the week.  It has really been nice to have a little bit of a break from work and spend more time with Em.  It has also been hard.  I'm not so sure that I could be a full time stay at home mom!  I think part time would be perfect though.

I have work to do tonight for my second job.  A grocery store tour with some physicians and clients.  I hope it goes well...I have been trying to prepare between naps.

Yesterday, Emmie and I went to meet Shan on his lunch break, then she and I headed to the mall and target.  She was so good for me!  I'm always a little nervous to go out with her by myself but she is always well behaved and attracts a lot of attention.  She pulled a lady's hair who got to close...haha!

We had her 9 month well check this morning and I wanted to post her stats:

• 22 pounds 11 ounces (>95 %)
• 27 1/2 inches (50%)
• 18.5 inches head circumference (>95th%)

She is doing great and reaching all milestones.  We did have a discussion about Emmie not sleeping through the night in her crib.  Her doctor told me that we needed to let her cry it out and the first night it could last for 6 hours!  I really don't think I can do that.  Does anyone else have any suggestions!?

Tiffany

9 Months

Emmie, you are 9 months old today!  Here's what you've been up to:

• wearing size 4 diapers
• wearing size 9-12 months clothes but some of your PJs are a little snug!
• you really like to feed yourself, Puffs and yogurt melts are your favorites
• you are a crawling machine!  You will follow mommy and daddy all over the house

• pulling up to stand...this is a new thing, but you are learning quickly
• waving bye-bye (just learned this)
• clapping your hands
• taking 8 ounces about 4 times a day, plus some table foods.  Purees when I can get you to eat them, but you really just like to spit them out at me now instead of eat them
• like to stand at the doorway and watch daddy cut the grass

2 things we are working on and hope to achieve by next month:  sleeping all night in your crib and getting some teeth!

We love you baby!

Mommy

Clean Up

I had to work this morning and have to go back again in the morning but for whatever reason I tend to have more energy (or maybe it's motivation)! when I work the weekend. 

So, I made dinner, White Chicken Enchiladas and now we are trying to clean up this house!  How does it get so cluttered/filthy?  We officially have a "mobile" baby now, so we are trying out best to keep it clean.  It is so hard!

We have tried to baby proof, but I have to admit, she is a little more into everything than I though she would be.  I can sit her down and the next thing I know she has crawled across the room and is trying to pull up on something.  I just don't want her to get hurt! 

What does everybody do to keep the house clean?  I'm thinking that we might need to implement some sort of schedule...Mon-dust/vacuum, Tues-laundry/bathrooms, etc?  Does this actually work?  I just don't know how working moms do it.  There are dishes and laundry every day, not to mention fixing dinner each night and feeding Em each night, which takes a while since she is learning table foods.  Give me some tips!

Gotta run....Hubs starts work on Monday!  Pray for him!

Tiffany

How I Met My Hubby

I'm so excited to finally be able to participate in one of Kelly's "Show Us Your Life" posts!  I've been waiting on one that I can participate in and also have the time to post about, so here we go...

My husband Shannon and I have known each other since middle school and went to the same high school as well.  Shannon was much more "promiscuous" than I was in high school.  He dated around....a lot.  And I was more of a nerd, really just wanting to make good grades so I could get into college.  We both were in serious relationships all throughout high school, never quite making our way to each other.  I left for college at North Carolina State University and a year later he graduated and went to the opposite end of the state at Western Carolina University.  In the summer of 2004, I had broken things off with my boyfriend and he had done the same with his girlfriend. We somehow found our way to each other and fell really hard.  We started dating on July 28, 2004.  (Our first daughter was born exactly 5 years later!).

We continued to date long distance for the next 2 years and when I graduated from college in 2006, I made the decision to continue my education at Western Carolina University, to get my masters. 

We had so much fun together at WCU and really spent that time together "growing up". 

On December 18, 2006 (Shannon's parent's wedding anniversary), Shannon asked me to marry him and of course I said yes.

We were married on May 31st, 2008 and have been living happily ever after since then! 

We have been through so much together.  I was so attracted to Shannon's charm, bright eyes and generous heart.  He is probably the funniest/wittiest person I know.  And he gave me a precious daughter that looks just like him! 

I love you very much! 

Tiffany