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Millie's New Trick

The other morning Chad went into Millie's room in the morning to get her up and as soon as he went in her room he called out to me "uh...she's standing up!" So, I hopped out of bed to see the amazing standing baby. There she was looking about as proud as can be.

Calgon Take Me Away

Millie has started doing something pretty cute during bath time. She lays her head back on the tub and puts her feet up and just chills out. Yep...it's rough being a baby....gotta soak those troubles away:)

Our Little Bunny

This Easter was really a special one being Millie's first Easter. Plus, she got to see both her Gramma and Grampa and her Nana and Pop Pop. We also were joined by lots of out of town family at our church for Easter Morning for a very moving Easter Service. Here are a few pics of our little Easter Bunny girl. I actually made her dress with my mom's help and I have to admit it turned out pretty cute.

Nine Months?!

9 months....that's how long I was pregnant and NOW that's how old my little girl is! It doesn't seem possible that we are nearing that 1 year milestone. It feels like I just found out I was pregnant and so it seems like just a blip of time since she was born. Now, there is the occasional day that seems to never end and I do remember those 1st few weeks when people said to cherish every moment because it goes so fast....I really thought they were insane when I felt like every day was a marathon. But, now that our little family has found our groove, time just clicks on by.

Amelia is our little sunshine. She just makes me smile and laugh all the time. I'm blessed and so thankful for a baby who wakes cheerful and ready for the day. I peek in the crib and there's her smiling little face. Well....now sometimes her little smiling face is peeking over the top of the crib since she's figuring out how to pull herself up. She's been doing all kinds of new things lately....she learned to crawl 2 weeks ago. My mom and dad actually got to see her do it for the first time while they were visiting! And, in 2 weeks she has gone from timid, slow crawler to zipping around when she sees something she wants. For awhile she was very suspicious about crossing over from the living room into the dining room, but now she's a full on little explorer. This morning she zoomed right through my bathroom and into the walk in closet without hesitation. And, as cute and fun as the crawling is....I can no longer even take a bathroom break without securing the baby:) Another new thing she has been doing is yelling and screaming (happily) at the top of her lungs. Kind of cute....but also kind of annoying:) Very stressful in a restaurant and when I'm trying to feed her. But, I guess she's just testing her limits...and mine. My strategy is to completely ignore her. At first...you know..you respond and laugh and smile about it...but this is a phase I'd like to pass quickly...so I ignore her. Her other not so fun habit is being totally spastic on the changing table. You know how you like to get the diaper just in position before securing it nice and tight....well...no chance at that working out for me. She arches and rolls and flails...so she's usually in a baggy lopsided diaper.

Her 9 month sleeping habits haven't changed too much lately. Her bedtime is around 7:30 and she sleeps until about 5:00 when she wakes up and starts playing and talking in her crib. I give her a quick snack and back to sleep until about 8 ish. I'd love advice on how to get rid of that 5 o'clock snack...but it does work great now. Then she naps at about 10:30 for 1 - 1/2 hours and then the afternoon is when we go out and have some fun or play at home. Afternoon nap at about 3:30 and typically she sleeps for about 2 hours and when I'm lucky for 3. Then it's time for dinner....which is often Chad's job to feed her and then she gets in some more playing with daddy before bed.

Another fun thing about Amelia now is that she really recognizes us. The other day I met Chad for lunch and his car pulled in and he was aways across the parking lot, but Amelia spotted him and broke into a huge grin. Moments like that could just make me cry. I know she isn't always going to grin when she sees us. I know there will be plenty of eye rolling in our future. But, for now I love knowing that we are her 2 favorite people in the world:)

Sewing 101

Last night me and Greta and Tara all went to a sewing class at Joanne's Fabrics Store. It was really great to get out and give Millie some time with her daddy and get to hang with my sisters while also learning:) The class was Sewing 101. I've been wanting to learn to sew and have done a bit of sewing before. I actually sewed myself a jogging suit in the 7th grade. Oh, how I wish I had saved that to laugh at later. I also made a lop sided dress in Home Ec class in high school. I'm really excited to sew some little things for Amelia. The class was great! We learned straight stitching, flat felled seams, french seams, sewing darts and using interfacing. We also sewed a tiny quilted coaster. My mom is coming to visit for a whole week on Sunday and we are going to make a little dress for Amelia. I'll be sure to blog about that and show the results. Here is a pic of my coaster...don't be surprised if you get coasters for Christmas next year:)

Smiling:)

I've noticed lately just how contagious smiles are. When Millie are out and about we get a lot of smiles from strangers. I guess it's because Amelia is smiling and me and so I'm smiling at her and then that makes people smile at us. I'm really lucky...Amelia loves riding around in a shopping cart. Her favorite part is riding in it across a parking lot...I think she likes the bumpiness and she just beams with joy:) Her smile just melts my heart and makes me so happy. Speaking of smiles....Millie now shows 6 teeth when she smiles! It's adorable!

Scootin' and Rollin'

Millie is quite good at getting about anywhere she wants to go these days despite not quite yet being able to crawl. You can see the determination in her eyes and she decides she wants to get somewhere. She might roll a couple times and then get on her back and scoot a bit and then roll over and analyze the situation and then scoot and roll some more until she gets to what she wants. Her scooting skills apparently are hereditary:) Most people that see her scoot on her back think it's pretty funny and unique and the funny thing is that I scooted around when I was a baby, too! I actually just got a video of me scooting that I'll have to post soon. Millie also does sort of a Cirque De Soleil move where she balances on her head and her feet and arches her back. It's quite impressive I must say. Here are some pictures of the "Amazing Amelia!"

Where were we?

Ok, so I see that it's been 2 months since I've posted on my blog! I have no idea what happened and there has certainly been things to blog about...what with the Holidays and a constantly growing and changing little girl. I guess maybe the growing and changing little girl leaves me little time for blogging:) But, I'm going to do better. Once I realized how long it'd been I kept thinking I should go back and blog about the holidays and everything that has happened since, but I think it best that I just start fresh from right now. We had a wonderful holiday season, but goodness...that was in 2009 and here we are in 2010! So...this post is just to tell you that "I'm back!"

Little Piggy in a Blanket

Today Amelia was rolling around on the floor on this blanket and she was being so cute:) I didn't get my camera fast enough, but she rolled all the was over where she completely had herself wrapped up like a little burrito and with no help from me. When I snapped this picture she was halfway unwrapped, but still such a cute little pig in a blanket.

6 Month Check Up

Today, December 14th, was Amelia's 6 month Dr. appointment. It's the kind of thing you sort of look forward to because you want to make sure she's doing fine and growing, but then you remember....oh yeah.....those darn shots. We've been really happy with our pediatrician and haven't had to wait at all for our appointment which is a huge blessing with a little one. Today Amelia seemed to be in a really good mood and was wiggling all over the exam table. She has a trick she does where she arches her back and scoots. It's really funny to see. I guess I thought all babies did it, but I'm learning that it's pretty unique. My parents said that I did that when I was little, too:) The nurse and the Dr thought that was pretty hilarious, but they were impressed with her strength. Everything checked out just perfect with her. She weighs 16 lbs 13 oz and is 25 3/4 inches high. That is 51% for her height and 75% for her weight. She did really well with her shots, too. In addition to her normal 6 month shots she also got her H1N1 and her seasonal flu. That was a lot of little pokes in her leg. But, after screaming for a minute or so she has been just fine. I know how sore my arm was just from my flu shot this year, so I can only imagine her little legs will be sore. Here is a picture of her waiting....you can really see her little teeth in this picture.

Holiday Fun

This Holiday we have tried to take in as many fun experiences as we can....it's really been a fun season so far. For over 5 years working in real estate I had to work nearly every weekend and so now that I am staying home with Amelia I am LOVING having weekends to do fun things. Having little Amelia makes us want to start new traditions and makes the Holidays even more special. This past Sunday afternoon we went to a Charles Dickens Festival in downtown Franklin. It was really fun! There was music and food (although not worth the fortune we paid for it) and we even took a horse and carriage ride. Amelia was quite the little Christmas girl that day with her red and green and she had reindeer socks to match her reindeer headband. She got a lot of attention as we were walking around.....no complaints here:)

Sweet Potatoes for my little Sweet Potato:)

December 11th was Millie's 6 months Birthday. We never did give the rice cereal a try, but we figured now that she is 6 months old we better start with some food. I'm planning on making our baby food and so I'd baked some sweet potatoes and made a lovely puree for her to try and froze the rest in ice cube trays. So, the evening of the 11th we set her up in her high chair and got a bib on her and gave it a whirl. It was pretty funny! I just loved the looks she would have when the food went in her mouth. She actually eagerly opened her mouth for the spoon, but seemed very confused about what that was in her mouth. Then...spit...it would come out and run down her chin. Then I would scrape it up with the spoon and try again. So, after recycling that same bite for quite a few times we figured she gave it a good try and we could call it quits for her 1st night. We'll get there.

Babies and Latkes

My friend Anna and her family had us and my friend JJ and her family over on December 12th for a Hanukkah Party. This is the 2nd year we've gone and we are looking forward to it being an annual thing. Anna's husband, David made the most yummy latkes...sweet potato, pineapple, chilies...yummy:) The food was amazing and the company even better. It was a house full of babies and Anna's little girl Lily who is 3 just loved that! Here are some pics from the night:

So Snuggly

Normally Amelia wears pajamas or some soft clothes for napping...but I was snuggling her soft little body and she was so warm and sweet with nothing but a diaper. She is so roly poly and looked so cute when she woke up from her nap today:)

Making Marshmallows

On friday night Chad and I ate out at a place called Cha Chah and for dessert we had their specialty which is hot chocolate. They bring you 2 mugs with homemade marshmallow in it and then a teapot filled with hot chocolate which was more like a chocolate sauce. It was amazing! So, I got obsessed with the idea of making my own marshmallows. Turns out it is super easy! Here are my pics of the process:
1. Put Millie in her highchair to hang out with me in the kitchen:)

2. This is all it takes to make them.

3. Heat the Corn Syrup, sugar and some water.

4. Then mix it with gelatin, water and some flavoring....I actually ended up making these coconut flavored.

5. Then you spread it in a pan and wait 8-10 hours. Well, I got impatient and had to try it a couple hours later...so they were still a bit sticky. I put a big one in the mug and made some cocoa to pour over it.

6. And....enjoy. Yum Yum:)

Amelia's First Thanksgiving

I'm feeling especially thankful and happy this Thanksgiving holiday. My dear sweet Grandma is still with us, but the past week of knowing she is most likely in her final days has really given me a different perspective. It's fine to be thankful for the material things that we have, but it's the relationships in our lives that make us rich. I'm very thankful for my wonderful friends and family and especially my precious little Amelia.

We had a wonderful and quiet Thanksgiving at our home with Chad's parents. It was a very relaxing day hanging out together and playing with Amelia. And...of course there was plenty of eating:)

Fun Filled Weekend!

Gramma and Grampa came to visit this weekend and we did lots of fun things!

Walking at Radnor Lake....Amelia fell asleep:)

Played with Grampa.

Chilling with Grampa and ready to cheer on the Huskers!

Enjoying the beautiful weather at "I Dream Of Wienie" in East Nashville.


Getting a thrill ride from Uncle Adam!

Wishing Uncle Jeremy a Happy Birthday at his Birthday Dinner.

Looking at Leaves with Gramma.

Getting a Kiss from Mommy.

What do we have here?

Some Teeth!!!! Here are my attempts at photographing those little teeth....pretty tricky with a not so cooperative little tongue getting in the way. I got one where you can see those little tooth buds. They seemed to appear out of nowhere, however considering the river of drool we've been noticing lately I'm not too surprised. Such a cute little toothy smile she has:)

Cuteness Overload

Just a few random pics that are just too cute not to share:)