11 months!

Dear E,
Oh my sweet girl, I can't believe you are one month away from being one! Time is going by so fast. I just want to freeze everything right now because you are just so fun and so precious. You are so loved by your daddy and me, and we have had so much fun with you with this month. We thank God every day for you and we are blessed by you!

YOU ARE A WALKER!! You walk everywhere and you keep me busy busy busy. You go from one thing to the next and can go from one room to another in no time. I look away for 2 seconds and you are gone! Ha! The only time you really sit still is when I put you in the pack and play so I can get dinner cooking or something. I wouldn't have it any other way. You are so curious and just want to engage and get into everything. I love that about your personality. You are full of life, spunk, and energy1 You definitely have to be told "no" with things during the day (the dog food and plugs are major ones) because you want to try everything out but most of the time it doesn't end up with a complete meltdown. You have even started to attempt to climb on things. The only thing you can get up on without help is your rocking chair in your room. You climb up and turn around and sit down and smile because you are so proud of yourself.

You still LOVE to dance and LOVE music! Taylor Swift music (especially the Enchanted song) can calm you down in a snap. You will just lie your head down on my shoulder and be completely chill while that song is playing. It is sooo precious. You love it when mommy or daddy dances with you too. You still love your books and now will bring us books and then look at us and wait for us to read them to you. Sometimes you will stay and listen to the whole book and sometimes you don't =). Your favorite books are Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?, Doggies by Sandra Boynton, and the baby version of Pride and Prejudice. Favorite toys this month: your push/ride toy, shape sorter, and stuffed animals. I have a given you a play remote that doesn't work and you still love to look at my phone too. You LOVE to take things out of boxes, containers etc. You can now open all your drawers in your dresser and you will pull out all your socks and pajamas. You are starting to put things back into containers but you will only do about 1-2 things before you start taking them back out or move on to the next thing. You are really into hugging things. People, stuffed animals, and Lucye are things that you hug all the time. You will run up to us and grab our legs and just hug our legs really tight. You will also give us hugs when we hold you too. We soak them up and absolutely love them! I hope you never stop giving us hugs!

We didn't try a lot of new foods this month but you are pretty much completely on finger foods now. You get oatmeal with a fruit puree in the mornings for breakfast but other than that you eat finger foods. New foods this month: watermelon, strawberries, kiwi, and pumpkin bread. I made some vegan pumpkin bread and you absolutely love it. Sometimes you will even skip over the meat to eat it first! You almost have a tooth! You have been teething a lot this month and we noticed a little opening in your gums a couple of days ago. You won't have a toothless grin much longer. You are "talking" a lot this month. Lots of babbling and attempts to imitate. You said "quack, quack" after me one time when I was making the duck sound. You now say "da" for Daddy and it is purposeful. Your daddy eats that up! You continue to amaze me with how much you understand. You now point to things constantly so I can tell you all the things in the room.

Your separation anxiety has gotten better this month but you still like me to be nearby if possible. You have started playing peek a boo this month by actually putting something up to cover up your face first and then making noises until I ask you where you are and then you take it down. It is so funny and cute! You love to go outside and stare out the back door often. You haven't decided if you like the grass or not but you will walk all around our back porch for as long as I let you. You have even brought me your shoes because you want to go outside. You can now put the stars on the stalker but you only like to do one at a time.

Cute things you are doing this month:
- You will run away if we say that we are coming to get you and laugh and laugh. Then you will fall down and roll over onto your back to wait for us to tickle you.
- You kiss the phone during our morning FaceTime with Daddy
-You try to turn on your sound machine with your foot because you have seen me do it countless times.
- Love the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse hot dog song. I don't let you watch TV but I put that on to distract you while I pump in the mornings.
- Love to show me things and sometimes you will let go of it and sometimes not
- Play peek a boo with curtains, blankets etc.
- You were doing this last month but I forgot to write it down: you will lie your head on me or your dad's shoulder (whoever is holding you) when someone says hi to you and you want to make it very apparent that you do NOT want to be taking from our arms.
Firsts this month:

Your first swim

Your first fourth of July

You have gone down to 2 naps and they can last 30 -90 minutes. You aren't the best napper but I think you think you are going to miss something if you sleep. You go to sleep around 7:30 and wake up at 6:30 every morning. You are nursing every 3- 3 1/2 hours. You are 29 inches long and about 21-22 pounds. You wear 9 month and 12 month clothes. Your 9 month sleepers though you are almost busting out of so we are switching you soon to 12 month ones.

Oh E, you are so special to us. You are such a blessing and we love you oh so much! 

Love, 

Mommy and Daddy

Five On Friday!

1. I watched the Goonies for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and I absolutely loved it! I can't believe it took me 29+ years (ahem ahem) to actually see this movie. I now get all the quotes people have been using from the Goonies for so long.  Baby Ruth?!

2. Jason and I have gotten hooked on 24 on Netflix. How did I not watch this show when it was on TV?! This show is so intense and good. We have about 6 more episodes in the first season left and then I'm pretty sure we will start the second quickly after that. Something is fishy about that Nina character but then I'm probably just paranoid. No spoilers if you have seen it!!

3. Ok maybe I shouldn't admit to this next one but I'm kind of excited about this Disney movie premiering tonight. (Please don't judge me) Teen Beach Movie looks so cute and who doesn't love a clean, wholesome, corny movie once in a while?    "I'm looking for corny in my life" (name that movie)

I just realized my first 3 things have to do with TV and movies. Oy vey. I promise I have a life.

4. I've been looking into new car seats for E since it won't be long before she needs to move up. I was thinking about the Chicco Nextfit. We like our Chicco car seat we have now but I'm open to suggestions. Any moms out there have any car seats that they  just love??!



5. I found a recipe for vegan pumpkin bread and I can't wait to try it out. I think I've mentioned on here before that we think E is allergic to dairy and soy so that means she and I are on a soy and dairy free diet. I really do miss bread so I was really excited when I found this recipe. E will probably get a bite of it too!

Have a fabulous Friday!

A Walk to the Mailbox

So you say that we are going to get the mail huh? 

It's all the way down there at the street? 

Ok. I think I can manage that. Good thing I have my new shoes to get me there. 

Hold on. I see something interesting that I need to check out. 

Look at this green stuff! It feels funny when I touch it. 

Alright. Everything checked out up here. Let's go get the mail!

Oh wait. I need to stop and touch and smell the flowers. 

What were we on our way to do? Oh that's right. Getting the mail. 

Um, this sidewalk is starting to go downhill, and I don't like it. I need you to carry me, Mama.

That's better. 

 What? You said I got mail?! Well that's fun!

Can you open it for me? And also read it to me? I can't do either of those things just yet. This was a fun trip. Can we do it again tomorrow?

Weekend Fun

How was everyone's weekend? Ours was pretty great. Not too busy but not too boring. Just perfect. Jason had a course that started on Thursday that lasted all weekend. It was in town but he didn't get home until after 7 every night so it was just me and E most of the time.

On Friday, we started our morning with saying hello to Daddy when E got up. This was right before she face planted herself into the phone to give her Daddy a kiss.

We didn't really do much except run to Target on Friday. I did come up with this brilliant plan to let her play in some baking pans with a little bit of water in it with some toys. It lasted about 10 minutes until she discovered to dump the water out. Ha!

On Saturday, E and I went to a birthday party of one of my friend's little boy. It was a Mickey Mouse themed party. There was a HUGE Mickey Mouse balloon, and Elyanah loved it! She hugged it and kissed it and played it with it a lot while we were there.

All the kids got Mickey Mouse ears to wear. I snagged a picture before E took hers off.

On Sunday, we had the most wonderful weather come to Texas in July. It was in the 70's and rainy!! It was glorious! My favorite kind of weather! It was so nice out that we went outside on our back porch so E could look around and play in her new shoes. I got several new BOB shoes for half off on this baby website and they came in last Thursday. She looks so cute in them!

Daddy came home that afternoon from his course and we had some good quality time with him.

It was a great weekend! Can't wait for the next weekend!

Our 4th weekend

We had a very relaxing 4th of July weekend. Nothing really planned, but it was so great to be together. We didn't do anything really exciting on the 4th. E is way too young for fireworks,  and we know better than to stay out past her bedtime with her. (In case your wondering sleeping DOES NOT go well if that happens) It's ok though. I know there are going to be many more years for us to celebrate fireworks as she gets older. Even without fireworks, it didn't stop me from dressing my little girl up in the red, white, and blue.

We did eat BBQ for lunch at Dickies because nothing is more American than BBQ =).  

I just love the 4th. I love all that it represents. We live in a great country with freedoms that for others is only a dream.

In other news, this little one pretty much became a full time walker over the weekend. She is walking everywhere now!! WHERE DID MY BABY GO?!?!?! 

10 months!

Dear E,
You are 10 months old!! You are in the double digits. Only a couple of more months for me to call you my baby. You just get more and more fun with each month that passes. You make your dad and I laugh every day!

You took your first steps without falling this month!! Your first step was on June 9 and then you walked about 5 feet on June 24! Now you will walk small distances and get braver by the day! You still crawl everywhere but I don't know how much longer that will last. You are getting better at standing for longer periods and even play with toys while standing by yourself now. You are such a mover and still don't stay still for very long. I think that is definitely your personality though and I can't wait to see how it evolves as you get older. You definitely test your limits and I have to tell you "no" with unsafe things often during the day. Lately you are even going to something you know you shouldn't touch and look at me and then reach for it. Oh goodness my sassy girl!

You love to dance!!! You will dance with or without music and it is so cute. Sometimes you will be sitting on the floor and you will shake and rock your body back and forth and then look at me and wait for me or daddy to do it back. You think that is so funny and this will continue for a couple of rounds before you go off to do something else. You still love your books and like to open and close them all the time. Reading books to you is one of the only things that keeps you still for a few minutes =) You love to take all your books out of your basket. Favorite toys this month: shape bucket with the shape blocks, anything that you can push in front of you, dragon ball pop up toy, and the laundry basket. Oh you love that laundry basket. You love taking clothes out of it, you love pushing it across the floor, and you love riding in it. We pretend it's a train and you have so much fun! You still love Lucye. I don't think you could ever get tired of her. You think she is so funny and you love to "chase" her. You love your baths and cry when we take you out of them. You still play peek a boo with me and now you try to cover me back up after I say "boo!"

We tried a lot of new foods this month. You also started finger foods (besides puffs) this month! Finger foods were a big hit with you. You love to feed yourself! You would prefer finger foods over some of the purees and the oatmeal I give you in the mornings.  We introduced you to chicken and turkey. You LOVE chicken.  Love it! If I could just give you chicken for your entire meal, you would be happy. You pick out all the chicken on your tray and then will eat the rest of whatever we have given you. Other new foods: pasta, quinoa, nectarines, cherries, and blueberries. You are getting really good with your pincer grasp. So good at it that you will pick crumbs off the floor. Somehow you manage to find the one thing that the vacuum didn't pick up =). You still have NO teeth my cute little toothless 10 month old!! You have definitely found your voice this month. You do lots of excited screams and babble a lot. Lots of ma, ba, da, ga, and ssss. We think that you may have said your first word on June 16 - "mama" but we aren't for sure because you don't do it all the time. You definitely understand a lot. You will clap when I sing "if you are happy and you know it". You can wave hi and bye to people and give high fives too. You come to us when we ask you.  You do not like it when we tell you "no."

Separation anxiety is in full force this month. It is breaking our hearts. You especially don't like it if mommy leaves you especially in new places. I got called back to the nursery for the first time. They said that you kept crawling towards the door anytime they put you down. So sad. You and I just hung out in the cry room, and you ate puffs while I listened to the sermon from there.

Cute things that you are doing this month:
- You have a fake cough. If you hear us cough, you will make a fake cough sound. So funny!
- You also will laugh if we have laughed at something.
- If I'm in the kitchen, you will come pull up on my legs and put your body and head in between my two legs. Then I will have to walk somewhere else like the sink and you will just walk along with me with your head poking out between my legs.
- You do a cute scrunchy face when you get excited or think something is funny.

Firsts this month:
- First Father's Day

- First move from a house

You are napping 2-3 times a day. I think you are trying to transition to two naps but you aren't napping very long. You have definitely been resisting your naps this month. I am hoping it's just a phase.  You go to bed between 7-7:30 and now will wake up around 6:30. There have a been a couple of days where you slept almost until 7. You are eating every 3- 3 1/2 hours and have a dropped a feeding so now you are nursing 5 times a day. You eat 3 solid meals. We don't have official stats this month but I'm guessing you are at least 20 pounds. You wear 9 month clothing and can fit into some 12 month clothes as well.

We love you E. Looking forward to this next month!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Photo Dump Catch Up

I know. I know. I have been a little absentee from this blog for a little bit. But I have a good excuse. I have been busy packing up my house and then we moved last weekend into our new house!!! It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I plan on getting back into the groove of blogging soon for those that really care. For now here are some the things that we have been up to:

 Practicing with our sippy cup

Pushing her rocking chair in her room. She is really into pushing things right now. 

 Wearing Papa's hat. She looked so cute in it. 

The day we closed on our house! Love the Texas flag in the background. 

 Playing with Papa

 Getting pulled around in the laundry basket or the "train". A new favorite thing. 

Playing with our cousin Blake

 Enjoying our new push and ride bike. She loves the buttons on it and loves to dance to the music.

A little sneak peak of her nursery in our new house

 Eating lunch in our new house. She is really into finger foods and loves to feed herself. 

Be back soon!