Summer of 2013

Dear baby girl,

Mommy is having so much fun spending the summer with you! We have been using sidewalk chalk, splashing in your new pool, and running errands together. We've also had plenty of fun play dates with friends and gone on some fun trips and have some to come still.


You went with Mommy for a week to see Grandmommy and Grandaddy in Florida.  We played in the pool, took walks, and went to see the Manatees. You were spoiled rotten and played with every second of the day!! On this trip you started to say "tickle tickle" as you tickled everyone's feet!

We also went to Uncle Mitch and Aunt Stacey's new house in Columbia, SC and are headed back in a few weeks.  You loved swimming in the pool, going out on the boat, but most of all you LOVED playing with Rocky the dog. You chased him and petted him all weekend long!

Last weekend we went to see Grammy in Darlington, SC. You had so much fun! You spent Friday and Saturday morning playing with Grammy and Tom. You also loved their dog, Bella and their two cats! The cats were not big fans of you chasing them and hissed at you. Now when we ask you what sound a cat makes you hiss rather than saying "meow." It's precious!! Grammy spoiled you rotten and played with you and you loved every minute of it.  Saturday afternoon we went to the splash pad with our cousins, Cameron and Erin and their girls, Kayden and Lilly. You loved playing with the girls and LOVED the splash pad. You had no fear and even when you fell several times and scraped up your head you just kept popping up and running through the water over and over again! We went back to their house and grilled out for dinner where you got to play some more with the girls and their dog, Prada! I think we have to get a dog soon based on your love of every single one you've met lately!

We are hoping to go see Uncle Jon, Aunt Mandy and cousins Brooks and Tate soon in Franklin, TN. We will then head back to the lake one more time before summer is over.

Mom and dad are going to get a new camera soon and vow to take more pictures of you. Out of all these trips, the above pics are all we've taken. We get caught up enjoying the moments with you and then realize after the fact that we didn't take many or any pictures. I hope you will enjoy the time we spent with you and not be too upset that we don't have a billion pictures!

We love you so much and enjoy spending every minute we can with you!!

Mom and Dad

Mommy's favorites...

Tonight while you were eating your dinner, Mommy had so much fun playing with you and caught you doing some of the cutest things that are her absolute favorite right now. Mommy's computer and phone are not cooperating, so you'll have to go to this link to see the video:

http://youtu.be/keYYPS-dXqI

One year old!!!

Sweet baby girl,

On May 4, 2013 we celebrated the first year of your life! It's hard to believe that you have been in our lives for one full year- time has flown by! You have enriched our lives more than we ever thought was possible! Your unique and fun energy has kept us on our toes and entertained us all year long. We look forward to many more happy birthday celebrations in the future!

For your first birthday, we had planned a teddy bear picnic in the park, but the weather had different plans so we had a teddy bear picnic inside Uncle Mitch and Aunt Stacey's house.  It was so much fun!

You loved the cake and cried when it was taken away- you would have eaten the whole thing!

April Catch up

What you've been up to lately:

Seeing: Everything that you didn't notice before. You walk very well and want to get into everything. You see drawers that you didn't notice before, cabinets doors to open, cords to pull on, windows to tap on, chairs to push around the floor, anything that the vacuum doesn't pick up, etc. You keep us busy and sleep well at night!

Smelling:  Sunscreen and chlorine from the pool at Grandmommy and Grandaddy's house where you loved to splash around and ride in your float.

Touching: The sand on your toes for the first time when we visited the beach over spring break.

Hearing: New sounds from your mouth each day. You recently said "hello" and "hot dog" and sometimes say "mama" and "dada" (usually sounds more like "dadaz" and you only say mama when you are crying out- I'm going to choose to believe that this is because you associate mama with comfort and not that I make you cry).  You babble and make different sounds just about everyday and it is adorable! Your laugh remains the deep "throaty" chuckle that it has always been and dad and I always say that if we could bottle it up we could live off of it- it is that precious!!

Tasting: Everything that is put in front of you and then everything that mommy and daddy or anybody else is eating. We are so happy that you are a good eater and don't seem to be picky so far.

Picture Catch up:

You like to move it move it!

Well, we knew it was coming and it happened a few weeks ago. You started walking all over the place at 9.5 months and get faster and steadier every day! Above is a video of you moving all around!

Happy New Year!!!

After Christmas we headed to Gatlinburg, TN to spend time with Grandmommy, Grandaddy, Uncle Jon, Aunt Mandy, Brooks, Tate, Uncle Chris, Aunt Nikki, Taylor, Brooke, and Grant. We had a great time! Uncle Chris was nice enough to take professional quality pictures of all our adventures for us. Here are some of them:

One sick January...

Well, baby girl. You have had a rough month! You were diagnosed with RSV/Pneumonia and were out of daycare for a full week! You took your first round of antibiotics which upset your tummy and had to do awful breathing treatments every four hours. You screamed and cried at first and it broke our hearts to give you the treatments, but eventually you got used to them and would snuggle up and watch tv while you were treated.  Thankfully you got better quickly and your cough is completely gone now.  Unfortunately, Mom caught the flu from your RSV so Daddy has been running the show around here this week.  We are both so lucky to have him in our lives as he has taken care of both of us without one complaint! We were nervous that all the illness around here would knock you back a bit, but you are as strong as ever. In fact, you crawled all the way up the stairs for the first time all by yourself yesterday! We couldn't believe you made it all the way up. You giggled and thought it was the coolest thing.  You have also been really into dancing/music lately, and you love to push your walker toys that you got for Christmas all around the house. Here you are in action: