Great Christmas!

It is four days after Christmas and our house still looks like Christmas exploded! But it is a good explosion. We had a really good and relaxing Christmas. Everyone got a lot of presents. And we still managed to find time to relax. I was tired at the end but not over tired. Riley had an absolute ball. He got so many things for Christmas and he honestly has enjoyed playing with each item. He is learning and growing so much. We found a fifth tooth coming in on Saturday. He is starting to repeat or try to repeat many words and phrases. "I see you" and "Love you" are two new phrases from this weekend. Total he can say about 35 words and 4 phrases. He goes tomorrow for his 15 month checkup. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Until then...
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

Historic Night!

Although the polls predicted the result, I still sat in amazement tonight as Obama won! I am so proud of my country that we were finally able to move past our racial issues and elect a president of African-American heritage. I am saddened that it took almost 150 years after the Civil War and Reconstruction period. I truly thought that McCain's speech tonight said it all - America has spoken and it is time to move on and accept our new leadership. Unlike in previous elections, it appears that Obama won both the electoral votes as well as the popular vote! I hope that any remaining race issues this country has will go by the waste side. I don't want to raise my son in a racist society and I hope that the election of this new president will resolve remaining issues for our country. Though I live in county that still has a majority of white Americans, though the numbers of non-whites is rapidly growing, I don't want to raise my son in society filled with racial issues. I grew up hardly knowing anyone that wasn't white. I had a African-American roommate in college and I used to work with many African-Americans and have grown to have several close friends that are African-American. I moved onto a street with neighbors that are from a diverse group of ethnic and racial heritage. I hope that my son grows up in a world much more diverse that I have done so. I sat almost stunned tonight as Obama won. I expected it but still it was amazing to watch! My only regret is that I didn't actually vote for Obama. Though I agreed with almost every platform he had, I voted for McCain in order to give a women a shot at getting near the White House. My husband voted for Obama, though! Well I guess I better get back to preparing for a motions hearing tomorrow. I was in court until almost 9 pm Monday night and did not get home before my son went to sleep. And then this morning I had to leave early in order to be back in court by shortly after 8:30 so I didn't see him too much this morning either. Then after work today, which I didn't leave until 6:30, I ran by and picked up my son and husband and went to a local restaurant to wait with a friend that ran for mayor (and lost unfortunately) of a small town up here (app. 1000 residents with about 200 registered voters only 100 or so which voted!) for the results of the local election. My son fell asleep on the way back from the restaurant and didn't wake up when we got home. It is trial week this week so there was been a lot of extra work this week and not much Mommy time so far. In addition to a motion, I will likely also to to trial on a separate case tomorrow. My son's body still hasn't adjusted to the time falling back so he has gone to sleep earlier in the evenings. He grew up a lot this weekend, though. When he got back from Grandmommie and Granddaddy's house on Sunday, he was walking all over the place and he was refusing bottles! No more bottles! He drinks all his milk from a sippy cup. I just posted on Sunday that he wasn't walking very far just yet and was not very willing to take milk from sippy cups yet and then we arrive at my mother's house to pick him up and he walks down the way towards us! And it wasn't a fluke, he is walking everywhere! And all the bottles I sent for him to use on the weekend went unused! He refused to drink from a bottle! Both mornings this week so far I have given him milk in a sippy cup and sat him on the couch and he drank all his milk, gave me the sippy cup when finished, and got down the play! I no longer have a baby - he's a little boy now! Hopefully I'll get more time later in the week to spend with him before he grows up anymore! Until later...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

13 months old!

My son Riley turned 13 months old on October 21st. I don't know where the time went. He is definitely a toddler now! He can walk but chooses not to as he is still unsteady and would rather crawl and get there faster. But he did walk about 6 feet on his own at a party on Friday night. He can communicate well, just not in understandable words! He points a lot at things he wants and he just keeps pointing until we get it right. If he wants milk, he'll go and sit by the fridge and point at it. If he's hungry, he'll sometimes go and sit by his highchair. He definitely understands a lot of what we say. If we say something that he wants, he'll stop dead in his tracts and look at you. But if he doesn't want it, then he won't respond at all. Yesterday he dropped something on the floor when he was playing and he understood me when I asked him to pick it up and give it to me - he picked it up and gave it to me! If he's mad at you, he'll face you directly and growl at you or make a terrible screeching noise to your face. He babbles all the time, too. He can say dog and Daddy pretty well. He is working on saying ball. He is so cute. He is almost drinking milk out of a sippy cup. He has been drinking water out of a sippy cup since the summer but he just envisons that milk comes in a bottle! We are working on getting him to drink his milk out of sippy cups as well and we are making good progress. He did, though, manage to break the drawer underneath his crib the other day. Apparently while his Daddy was using the restroom, Riley pulled out the drawer underneath his crib and then tried to climb on top of it which bent the metal guide on the drawer! So the drawer is now on the floor waiting to be fixed! What can I say, he's all boy! I certainly miss him everyday when I go to work but I also know that as tired as I am when I get home from work, if I stayed at home with with, I'd be exhausted by noon! Currently Riley is at Grandmommie and Granddaddy's house (my parents). Grandmommie picked up Riley yesterday and he spent the night there. This allowed my husband Tony and I to do some Christmas shopping and to get some much needed cleaning done (or at least we hope to get the cleaning done today!) I can't believe he's old enough to have a sleepover already! From what I can tell, he's having a ball! She had to move a few fall decorations and pull him out of the fireplace! Well, I guess I better go and help my husband finish our cleaning before our little monkey comes back home! Until later...
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night.

We can clap!

Riley learned a new trick yesterday. He can clap! He claps a lot now. But he will also clap upon request. Just say Riley can you clap for me and he'll stop doing whatever he's doing and clap! And this is not even something we have worked on! He just started doing it and clearly understands the meaning of the word clap! I think we are working on some more teeth as well as the dentist said that his gums were swollen and he hasn't slept well recently. He got a good report at the one year visit at the doctor on the 25th of September. He weighed almost 22 lbs and was almost 30 inches tall. The doctor did suggest that he drink 24-32 oz of whole milk each day! This seemed like a lot to us. We working on adding more milk into his diet but it is difficult. One day he had 17 oz between what he drank and what we used to make cereals with and that was a record for him! He is still nursing in the mornings and the evenings so he isn't totally on whole milk yet anyway. He usually eats a yogurt each day so he gets other dairy in too. He just so cute but boy is he a handful! I played with him yesterday for about 30-45 minutes outside near the sandbox and I was exhausted! I think we definitely underpay our nanny! Although I miss being at home with my child, I think I am still exhausted after working all day and being in trial than I would be chasing after my little monkey all day long! Well, I better go. My husband just came in from the store (we forget to buy whole milk) and brought both dinner and flowers! What a wonderful husband I have. Well until later...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

One Year Old!

My son turned one year old on Sunday! I can't believe it has been a year already! I really don't know how that happened. We had a Curious George themed birthday party for him. It turned out really good. We didn't get back from vacation until late the night before but we still managed to get everything together on time - decorations and food. We just had cake, bananas, popcorn, animal crackers, trail mix, and M-n-Ms. It was pretty good. And he got soooo many gifts! We really are going to have to set limits for Christmas or else we'll need a new house just for all the toys! He goes to the doctor on Thursday for his one year check-up so we'll find out how much he weighs and how tall he is. I am sure that he has grown a lot. We were at the beach last week and he got in his fourth tooth! His smile looks so different with four teeth! I definitely need to update the photos I have on here. Well, it is late and I better get to bed. Until later,
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night.

Almost a Year Old.

My son is going to be one year old on the 21st. I can't believe that time has flown by so quickly. This time last year I was on bedrest anxiously anticipating the arrival of our baby. In fact, I was particularly anxious on this day last year because we had gone to the hospital a few days before when I thought I was in labor and was sent home. I had contractions that started at 10 minutes apart and then went to 7 minutes and then to 2-3 minutes apart starting around 7 pm. I called the doctor at 11 and arrived at the hospital at midnight and was sent home by about 2 am! It was very disappointing! It was a Thursday night/Friday morning. I had a complete meltdown on that Saturday! My poor husband didn't know what to do so he finally just started a bubble bath and figured that if that didn't work then nothing would. And all of this seems like yesterday, not a year ago! We have my son's first birthday party all planned out. It is a Curious George theme and we have the decorations bought and the goody bags made. I am at a conference this week - came in Monday night for all day conference Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then, my husband, son, and parents are picking me up for vacation and we won't be back until the day before my son's birthday. We are having the party on his birthday. So we actually had to plan and prepare in advance. We didn't invite everyone we knew; just the closest of friends and the immediate family. We didn't want to overwhelm my son and with being out of town we didn't want to come back from vacation and have this huge party to stress over. Still with limiting it though, I invited 14 families! I know that some of the family we invited will not be able to be there (my brother and my husband's sister) but we hope that everyone else will be able to. It would be really great if all my son's grandparents and great-grandparents are at his party. But the indication from my in -aws so far is that they are not coming for his party. I don't know why exactly - they are retired! Not sure what else they have planned - but must be something really pressing!

It is about 6:30 AM where I am here. I am getting ready for my conference. I rode down with an Officer so I didn't have to drive since my family is picking me up from here. I have to meet him outside at 10 'til 7 to go the conference. I got up at 5 am so that I could shower and get dressed and leave plenty of time of my motherly away from baby duties! My goal is to make it until at least his first birthday with nursing so I am almost there. I really should have invested in some good nursing bras! I only bought 3 and those were the ones that I looked at briefly and said that yeah, they'll probably do, because I was rushing back in August '07 to buy everything the books said I'd need and I had this instinct kick in that I had to get all the shopping done ASAP in case the baby arrived early! Of course I was induced and he arrived 8 days late though! And then every time I thought about buying more I talked myself out of the idea since they are expensive and I didn't know how long I would be able to keep it up while working. Anyway, I guess I better go and finish getting ready for the conference.
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

I survived the last 2 weeks!

My husband Tony got back Friday morning from being in Manila for 2 weeks. He was only able to call part of the time but we e-mailed a lot. And he made videos for Riley before he left and he sent videos for us directly from Manila to the home computer one day. We still missed him though! Mom and I took photos of Riley during each day and sent Tony an album each day so we didn't feel like he missed anything. The time went by faster than a I thought. It helped that that the first week was a short work week because of the 4th of July and that the second week was jury trial week so it was very busy at work.

I had my first jury trial at my new job! And I was successful in getting a conviction. It was my first straight misdemeanor trial, my first DUI, and my first trial in Cherokee County. The same result happened though as when I was a PD - someone went to jail after the trial. The difference is that it means I won instead of loosing!

Riley is doing so much now and growing fast. He got a second tooth that came in recently. He eats tons of food! He is starting to eat more table food now. He eats anything and everything we give him. Tony and I will have to change our diet when Riley goes to all table food because the boy is used to tons of variety and he'll get bored with our diet! Riley will be 10 months old soon. I don't know where the time went! It is so fun watching him grow and learn new things but I definitely miss the little baby stage too! But it is cool that we can take him to restaurant and be able to feed him some of what we eat. He ate a couple of bites of a pancake but I don't think he was too thrilled with it. He definitely really still likes his rice cereal and oatmeal because when he is really tired he just wants to eat a lot of oatmeal for dinner and he gets sooooo excited when he sees that you have made oatmeal for him. I guess rice cereal and oatmeal are his comfort foods!

The best thing with Riley that happened recently is that he twice waved bye to me as I went to work. It is so cute! But it definitely makes it harder to leave! We neither need to win the lottery or we need to use technology to conduct a jury trial from home via webcam! Wouldn't that be cool - the lottery cooler but webcam would be awesome. With the price of gas these days, even the 8 mile roundtrip to week really adds up!

I am tired so I think I'll go to bed now. Here's to hoping my son doesn't wake up before 6 am tomorrow morning again.
Until next time...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

Father's Day and Cutting Teeth

We had a pretty good Father's Day. I took my father out to breakfast (our favorite meal together) and we had a good time. My husband liked the gifts I have him - a new float for the pool, tongs for the grill, and candles for the patio table. Riley got his father a cool t-shirt (it's too small but all Wal-Mart had last minute so it will just have to do). Riley gave my father a t-shirt too and he liked it.

The best part of Father's Day, though, was realizing why Riley had been so fussy the last couple of days and hadn't slept well for two nights in a row. It's because he's teething! One tooth broke through the skin and you can feel it in his mouth! And we can see where the next one might come in soon! No wonder he woke up two nights in a row crying, seemed hot during the day, was fussy, won't eat much, and had a little bit of a runny nose! It finally hit me Sunday morning that maybe he was teething and a little while later we could see/feel the tooth! So my poor baby was trying to tell us for 2 days that hit mouth hurt! After all, he's almost 9 months old, it's about time those teeth started coming in!

We have about a week with my husband before he goes on a business trip for 12 days. He goes to Manila, Philippines (not Milan as previously posted - I can't spell!) It takes forever to get there. He'll be exhausted! And we will certainly miss him. No telling what Riley will look like or what he'll learn to do in 2 weeks time. He is starting to make more sounds - adding for constants to his vocabulary. He seems to learn a new task and then master it very quickly. He can sit up from lying down in about 2 seconds flat!

Well, that is about all for now. I am trying to get to bed at a decent time. I am always so exhausted everyday. We have jury trials again starting on July 7th and there is much to do at work. So until the next time...
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night.

Long Week.

We just finished a long week of jury trials. I didn't try one but I came close! We had 3 attorneys out for various reasons so we were all expecting to be pretty busy. There were 7 trials, I think, this week. And lots of pleas and other dispositions. I worked late several days this week. Hopefully this upcoming week won't be as busy. Tomorrow is Father's Day. I hope my father and my husband like the gifts I purchased for them.

In other news, Riley (our son) has gotten on all fours a couple of times this week. He might start crawling soon. He also learned to sit himself up from laying down. So he is pretty mobile now. We've already lowered the crib mattress to the lowest sitting because he is siting up in the crib now and it will only be a matter of time before he learns to pull himself up on the railing. He turns 9 months in one week. I can't believe it has been that long. Where did the time go? We have his 9 month old appointment a few days after his birthday. We can't wait to see how much he's grown. We think he'll be about 20 lbs. No shots this time!

At the end of the month, my husband leaves for a long business trip to Milan. He'll be gone for a total of 13 days. I am NOT looking forward to it. It's the longest he's been gone ever that I can remember! And certainly the longest he's been away from our son. We will miss him dearly. My husband is such a great father. Just today he said that he'd rather eat at home instead of going out to dinner for Father's Day because he wanted to spend time with our son and although Riley is pretty good at restaurants that going out wasn't any fun for Riley. So we'd rather stay at home where Riley could play and not have to sit in a high chair being a good baby for a long time! I never thought I'd see the day my husband voluntarily gave up an opportunity to go out to eat!

Well, I better go and get some sleep so I can help the fathers in my life celebrate Father's Day.
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night.

Assisted Walking and Other Fun Activities!

Last Friday when I was at work, Tony called to tell me that Riley started walking when you hold his hands. So when I came home, instead of Tony meeting me at the garage door with Riley in his arms, Riley walked to meet me! He was really unsteady at first but he is getting better at it everyday. He still isn't crawling yet so we are beginning to think that he won't. He'll just be a roller and a walker! You really should have seen how fast he walked once when his father put his bottle down on his exersaucer, pointed it out to him, and then asked him if he wanted it! He speed walked then! My child doesn't let anything come between him and his bottle!

He is getting so big and growing up so fast. I can't believe he is already 8 1/2 months old. Where did the time go? We weighed him on his 8 month birthday and he was 18 lbs and about 12 ounces. He just weighed him again tonight (he seemed bigger and we were just curious) and he weighed in at about 20 lbs! (This was about an hour and a half after his dinner, though). So it's no wonder that his new pjs seemed a little small!

He is still such a good baby. I had a few things to pick up at Publix today (sale ended today) and Tony had an appointment so Tony meet me after work at Publix and left Riley with me. Riley slept part of the time and sat in the car seat in the cart the rest of the time. It ended up being a much longer trip that I thought it would be and he was good the entire time. But when I came home, I had a surprise waiting for me on the family room floor. Last night, you see, I straightened up (I know a shocker!) and put most of Riley's toys back in the basket, with only a few toys left on his blanket. Well, when we got home from Publix, the basket was empty and all the toys were on the floor! I asked Riley what happened and explained that it wasn't this way when I left for work! He just grinned from ear to ear, though! Finally his father explained that Riley was playing this morning by the basket and he went down the hall for something and when he came back Riley had tipped the basket over and then one by one in the 20 minutes between when I left for work and the Nanny arrived he pulled every toy out of the basket! My child was grinning at us the entire time his father told the story! What a cutie! At least it was his toys and not the DVDs again! There are only a few DVDs that were pulled down from the shelf today. I guess Riley didn't want to pull them all down. All this from the child that can't crawl! It is amazing what you can get to when you can roll well! Last weekend he rolled unto the kitchen and had fun for a long time opening and closing the drawer underneath the ovens that holds the pie pans. He also tried to help unload the dishwasher. I had a plastic bag on the floor of plastic baby food containers waiting to go to the basement. He took them out one by one and then a few at a time 'til he good pick the bag up and empty it completely. He loves playing with plastic or paper or anything that crinkles. And a plastic bag won't crinkle when it's full! Silly Mommy!
He is always such a happy baby. Each day with him is such a joy! I am so blessed to have him in my life and to have such a wonderful husband to assist me.

Well, I guess I better sign off for now so I can try and get a little sleep before Traffic Court in the morning. Until then...
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

Great Week!

The day after Mother's Day we left to go on conference with my job. Luckily, my husband and son were able to join me. We drove down on Monday and came back on Friday (a week ago). It was great week. We played together on the beach and in the pool. And my husband and son got to hang out all day with some of my co-workers while I went to the conference. The conference started Tuesday afternoon and was on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for a half day each. Each night we ate seafood - my favorite! We stayed on St. Simons Island and I really enjoyed it. The house we rented was pretty spacious and very comfortable. It was right on the beach. There was only a protected sand dune between us and the beach. The views were really nice. There were lots of good restaurants on the island. There were several shops near the pier, which also had a great playground. It really was a great time. I am so lucky to work somewhere that not only sends me to a conference at a cool location but also allows me to bring my family with me! Everyone had a great time. It was a fun, relaxing week, and it was one that was much needed. Our son was so good at the house and everyone time we went out. We'd been there about half the time when someone said that they finally heard that baby cry. Someone else said that our child was deceiving - that everyone would have lots of babies if they were all as good as my son. He is such a cutie pie. We just love and adore him. I'll have to post some pictures later from the Beach Week. Until then,
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night.

Happy Mother's Day

Today was my first Mother's Day and I had a great day. My husband "helped" my son fix me breakfast in bed. And then we just hung out most the day and prepared for our trip that we leave on tomorrow. We've put a big dent in the preparations for the trip and hope to be finished in not too long. We finished the Mother's Day celebration by eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant up the street - my favorite food. All in all, it was a great Mother's Day. I got great presents too - my husband gave me a Mom locket where I can put a photo inside and my son published a note to me in a local newspaper. It was a great relaxing day, even though we have been packing off and on all day.

In fact, the entire weekend was pretty relaxing. We rearranged some furniture, mostly the stuff we had at the loft [we got a renter in finally on Friday so we brought up the furniture that was in the loft. After a year of double mortgage payments, we finally have some help on the financial end]. After rearranging the furniture, we walked to the clubhouse and swung on the swings and slid down the slide and walked on the trail that leads to the reservoir. Later, Grandmommie kept our son so my husband and I could go out and run several errands and eat dinner, celebrating the arrival of a renter. So, overall all we had a great Mother's Day weekend. I better run now and finished preparing for our trip. Happy Mother's Day to everyone.
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by night.

Good Night

We had a good family time this afternoon after I got home from work. My husband feed the baby while I got ready to go on a walk. Then we went on a really long walk. We walked down to the clubhouse where there are swings and a playground. I think it is about 1/2 a mile away or a little more (and 2 big hills away!). We swung in the swings and Riley just laughed and laughed. We also slid down the slide together. He liked that. He also laughed when we walked on the swinging bridge. It was a very nice time together. We were gone about an hour and a half. I love it when I have good Mommy time like this.

Long Day in Court

Yesterday was a really long day in court. We started at 9 am and I finished after 6 pm - close to 6:30 pm. Some of my co-workers were there any longer. It is hard when we are in court that long because that means I don't get as much time with my little guy once I get home. I miss my little guy a lot during the day. Sometimes I see babies in court and I always think of my little one. I am glad that I work only 10 minutes away now. I used to work 40 miles away and it took much longer in commute time. It is very tough being a mother and having a full time job. I am often envious of my husband who works full time from home. Our little guy stays at home with his Daddy and there is a nanny that comes in for a few hours each day. So my husband gets to see him a lot during the day. I love my job, I love being a lawyer, but it is difficult being a mother and a lawyer. I am very proud of my own mother - that she was able to be so successful in her job and be a mother at the same time. I am proud of the fact that she was three college degrees, all obtained while working full time and being a mother. I can't say that I always felt that way going up, but I am very proud of her now. I can only hope that one day my son will be proud of the work that I do. It will all be worth it then. It's time to sign off for now. See ya!
- Lawyer by day and Mommy by night.

Great Birthday Party!

I had a great birthday party! Current co-workers, old co-workers, neighbors, family friends, etc. all came. The weather was nice and everyone had a good time relaxing. Riley's such a good baby and he went to everyone who wanted to hold him. He only cried when he got really tired and wanted to go to sleep. My mother and husband prepared some really great food. We have plenty of leftovers so we'll be be able to partake for days to come. I had a great day. You only turn 30 once and I wanted a nice party and that is exactly what we had.

Happy Birthday to Me!

My husband set up this neat blog for me for my 30th Birthday. What a great present! Now I can share my life with the world!

Today is my 30th Birthday. It has been a good one so far. My son, Riley (7 months old), gave me a digital picture frame for my office. And my mother gave me some new clothes to wear to work and some new spring placements for the kitchen table. I am having a big party later to celebrate. We are pretty behind in our preparations so I better go and get back to assisting our caterer, aka my mother!

Happy Birthday!!!

Present: One blog, comes with free tech support (as in I won't complain too much).