The Countdown to One is On! 11 Months!

As usual, I am writing this entry late as Al will be one next week. Say what?

I seriously am dumbfounded as to how this year has gone by so fast. I know people say that all the time and it sounds cliche but when you have little ones, it is really important to hold on tight to every moment because they grow so fast! 

We were staying at International Palms on Cocoa Beach when she turned 11 months old so we took most of her monthly photos there. We had a mini family vacation and Rosie even came out one night so that Mommy and Daddy could go to dinner alone. Allie had a great time at the beach and resort. They had a little Treasure Island splash area with water slides. She seemed to enjoy it but I know she'd enjoy it more when she was more advanced with her walking. We also had a great time at the beach as she loves splashing in the waves breaking on the shore.

Our little one has been quite busy this summer. I kept saying that I wanted her to be walking by her first birthday because I just felt like her party would be more fun for her if she was walking. Well I'm happy to say she is now a walker! She has been taking steps for about two months now but for the past couple of days, she's been mostly walking and only crawling a little bit. Her walk is very similar to her crawl where it sometimes is kind of sideways like a crab. She's starting to take off though, that's for sure! She's now saying Mama as well which makes me so happy! Just this morning she walked over to me, reached her arms out, and said Mama. It was the sweetest thing! She also loves the sound of her voice and can be quite loud when she wants to. She loves clapping her hands to "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!" She absolutely loves her dogs and can almost always be found terrorizing at least one of them. Her favorites are pretty much the same as last month except for favorite snack I'd probably say has changed to goldfish.

Daddy just finished her swing set which was one of her first birthday gifts and she loves it! She also enjoys her new bounce house which was another first birthday gift. She had her first Build-A-Bear experience at the mall last week with me, her Aunt Mel, and Stella! She got a puppy with red bows and a red apple dress that we named Ruby for her birthstone.

She's in 6-12 month clothes, some 9 month and some 12 month. Her hair is still growing more in the back than in the front but she does have some little curls. It also seems to be lightning up some as it sometimes could look a little blonde. Her eyes are still blue and she has six teeth (4 on top, 2 on the bottom). She's in size 3 diapers.

We are busy planning her first birthday party which is a Mickey Clubhouse theme! I'm so excited to celebrate the biggest blessing in my life! Love you sweet baby girl!

Nine, Ten, Wait…Shall I count again?

Our darling is ten months old! WHAT?! That means it's time for me to start planning her first birthday. This is really not funny. Time is flying!

I haven't updated my blog in a while so I am going to update for nine and then ten months today. She will be 11 months on the 22nd.

9 months: She had her 9 month check-in on April 22nd. Luckily, she did not have to have any shots for this appointment. She weighed 16.4 lbs and was 28 1/2 inches long. She also cut her first tooth (front bottom right) on April 5th. She cut her left bottom tooth just about three weeks later. She started to test her balance more during this time too by letting go of objects supporting her while standing. She said shit constantly during this month. I promise we don't use this word on a regular basis at our house. It was just a sound she made. She also loved clapping and waving at 9 months!

10 months:  I'm not sure of her exact weight but I weighed her with myself recently and I'd say she's between 17 and 18 lbs. She now has four teeth (she cut both top teeth on May 26th). She even tested them out by biting me while nursing a few times. She'd smile up at me deviously while doing it too. Luckily she hasn't been doing that lately. I sure am going to miss that adorable gummy smile though! Once her front two teeth came in, she didn't want anything to do with the pacifier so I guess I won't have to deal with trying to get her to stop later on! She's in mostly 9 month and 6-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers. Her eyes are still blue and her brown hair is getting lighter by the day; sometimes in the sun it looks strawberry blonde. She's also developing some curls in the back but we haven't seen much growth in the front so she is currently rocking a little mullet. She's taken 7 steps but isn't quite walking on her own yet. She's also stood up by herself without holding on to anything.

Current Favorites-

Activities:

• taking all of the books off of her bookshelf
• splashing the water in the dog's water dishes
• crawling into Kenzie's cage
• playing with the magnet boards and kitchen set at Nan-Nan's house
• sharing her food/water (she has such a sweet personality!)
• pushing mobile items around the house (like her lion or car)
• climbing up on things and climbing out of things

Books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Ten Little Ladybugs

Food: Macaroni and Cheese, Mommy's milk

Snack: Cheerios

Toy: Fisher Price Roll-a-Rounds Swirlin Surprise Gumballs

TV Show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

I'm anticipating that we will have a walker any day now and I'm looking forward to spending the summer chasing her around!

Seven, Eight, Milestones Great!

It's been awhile since my last post but Allie's been keeping Mommy busy!

Seven Months:

• On the day Al turned 7 months, I was taking pictures of her for our monthly photo shoot and all of the sudden, she achieved two milestones! She put herself in a sitting position and grabbed onto the crib rail and stood up for the first time!
• She had an appointment earlier that day to receive her booster flu shot. She weighed 15.3 lbs. As a result of this shot, she ended up with a fever for a few days and wasn't as active.
• For weeks, she had been doing somewhat of an army crawl and rocking back and forth on her hand and knees. However, she finally began fully crawling at about seven and 1/2 months.

Eight Months:

• Al went to the pediatrician twice on Mommy's spring break. At first, we were sent home and told it was viral. We went back about four days later because she had a major coughing attack and mucus in her eyes and running out of her nose. She ended up having a bacterial infection in her right eye and right ear. She got antibiotics and while she still has a cough from the post-nasal drip, she is feeling much better! At this appointment, we also found out she was 16.1 lbs. 
• She is super active and has to be watched constantly! She not only likes to grab onto things and stand up but she also is already trying to climb on things. Futhermore, she is crawling all throughout the house. I can't just keep her on a quilt anymore. She wants to roam!
• Recently, our girl has also become a clapper, especially when her favorite show comes on!
• She has upgraded from a size two diaper to a size three and is wearing 6 month, 6-9 month, and 6-12 month clothes. 
• Her sleeping patterns haven't really changed in months. I usually nurse her to sleep around 8:30 or 9pm and place her in her crib. She typically will wake up between midnight and one and I'll nurse her briefly before she falls back asleep. When she awakes again at 4 or 5am, I just bring her to our bedroom and she snuggles with us until we get up for work. 
• She is still our little gummy bear. She doesn't have any teeth physically poking out yet but we can see the white behind her gums. They look like they are going to be big!
• When napping and sleeping, she'll still suck on a pacifier but when she's awake, it's a lot less frequent.
• UPDATE: She cut her first bottom tooth on April 5th!

Current Favorites:

• Foods: Breast milk, pears, and puffs.
• Show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• Book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• Toy: Fisher Price Puppy and Friends Learning Table and Little People Pink Bus 
• Babbles: Da-da-da, na-na-na, and a tour (kind of sounds British)
• Teether: Baby banana teething toothbrush

Current Dislikes:

• Diaper changes! I have had to become quick like the roadrunner when it comes to changing her diapers. She wiggles and will crawl away naked if I'm too slow. 

As much as I want time to slow down, I do love watching our little one achieve these milestones and seeing her sweet personality blossom!

Half a Year!

On January 22nd, Allie turned six months old!

All about Al:

• Dislikes being on her back so much that she does crunches when you lay her down
• Can rotate 360 degrees when on her tummy
• Has full head control and can almost sit up unassisted (we still have to be near her to make sure she doesn't topple over but she can do it)
• Has started eating solids but still has no teeth
• Hair has grown a ton in the past few weeks
• Weighs 14.5 lbs and is 27 inches long
• Still in size 2 diapers and 3-6, 6, 6-9 and 6-12 outfits/sleepers
• Transitioned from pack n play in our room to crib in her nursery (still working on getting her to sleep through the night though)
• She now reaches for me!!!
• Sucks her thumb sometimes and babbles da da da 
• Tearing up paper is hilarious to our Allie
• Uncle Dirk has coined her with the nickname of Albert 

2015 First Holidays & Important Occassions!

Since we are about to say goodbye to 2015 and embark on a new year, I've been thinking about all of Allie's first holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years), her Baptism and first beach trip. These were such treasured moments for us and we were just so busy living them that I hadn't posted about them here so I will just recap them.

Halloween: Because one of Allie's nicknames is Allie Cat, we decided it would be fitting for her first costume to be just that. So I bought a black long sleeved onesie and my mom used her new sewing machine to embroider "Allie Cat" on it. We also made a tutu and headband fit with ears and bought some black tights. A few weeks before Halloween, Chadd and I bought foam pumpkins to decorate because we knew they wouldn't get gross and we could use them again for years to come. He carved Jason and I carved a skull baby to represent little Al. Since we carved pumpkins already, we didn't exactly need to visit the pumpkin patch but I, of course, wanted to get some cute pictures of Allie there and also wanted to get a pumpkin big enough for Allie to sit in. On Halloween morning, we cleaned out the pumpkin and set her inside (with a towel because I know it was cold) and she immediately screamed. Needless to say, it was a pinterest fail and we took her out right away. I still think it makes a cute picture though and it will be something for her to laugh at as she grows older. On Halloween night, after dressing Allie up and painting a nose and whiskers on her face, we went over to Nan-nan's house and enjoyed her traditional chili and baked potatoes while Allie posed for some pictures with Stella. The mosquitoes were awful so we didn't get to walk around and see all of the trick-or-treaters but I think Allie still had a great time!

Thanksgiving: We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal at my mom's house and were thrilled to have Rosie and Cameron join us over there this year! We had a smorgasbord of turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, twice cut corn, carrot soufflé, green bean casserole, and more. Mel made some really tasty pecan bars for dessert and mom made some delicious hot apple cider that I could not get enough of. Allie was dressed in a turkey outfit with little turkey booties and Chadd took the picture of her below (due to her head looking monstrous compared to her body she dubbed another nickname: Tweety bird).

Baptism (December 13th): It was important to us that Allie be baptized to show our commitment to raising her in a Christian home. We want to show her God's love and beauty through our relationship with each other and our relationship with her. We want her to feel His presence at home, at church, in nature, etc. I hope that she chooses to be baptized again when she's older and has accepted Jesus into her heart. We invited family and friends to witness this special event for our family and everyone came over for BBQ sandwiches and Brunswick Stew to continue the celebration. Thank you to all who were able to be there. I know you all will have a positive impact on Allie as she grows older and closer with the Lord.

First Beach Trip (Weekend of 12/18-12/20): Rosie, Chadd, Allie, and I went to visit Papa Grande and Judy in their hometown of Englewood, FL the weekend before Christmas. Englewood is about three hours away and so we were a bit nervous about the drive since Allie had never been in the car longer than an hour. She did awesome and slept almost the entire way there and entire way back. We stayed in a beach bungalow which was awesome because we could hear the waves crashing to the shore as we slept there those two nights. The weather was actually quite chilly so we didn't get to put Allie's toes in the water. However, she did get to play in the sand and she was highly entertained. We also enjoyed a nice dinner and breakfast with Papa Grande and Judy.

Christmas: On Christmas Eve, Chadd and I exchanged gifts. He got me a necklace with two charms to represent Allie (a July ruby heart and one with footprints that said "Our family just grew by two feet"). I've been wanting something to represent her and he did a great job! We also let Allie "open" a couple of her presents including an awesome blowfish bath toy her daddy bought her and a moving crab. Around 4pm, we went to the children's service at our church with Nanny, Nan-nan, Papa Bob, Melissa, Sean, Daisy, and Stella. Afterwards, we went to Pops and Meme's house and had sandwiches and fried chicken. We also exchanged gifts and Allie was introduced to a lot of new people, including her Linda Pie. On Christmas morning, we went to Nan-nan's and had a delicious breakfast. Allie was reaching for food and staring at everyone as they ate so I felt pressured to let her taste something. We mashed up some bananas and she tried them but only took about two bites. We exchanged gifts and as always, Daisy's were the most humorous. Stella and Allie got lots of similar toys which I'm sure they will enjoy for years to come! We celebrated Christmas evening with Linda Pie, Rosie, and Cameron and devoured Linda's traditional pork roast, scalloped potatoes, and carrot soufflé. Allie's favorite present of all was the cellophane wrap that Linda had included in one of her gifts to us.

New Year's Eve: The three of us went over to Mom & Dad's for a little bit to visit with Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jimmy before they traveled back to South Carolina. Melissa, Sean, Stella, and Dirk also came and we lit up some sparklers and small fountains. One of the fountains was quite loud and it scared Allie so much that I had to go back inside to calm her down. After we went home and put Allie to bed, Chadd and I went outside to enjoy the new fire pit that he built with his bare hands. The fireworks outside woke Allie up so she rang in the new year with us!

We are looking forward to many more "firsts" (holidays and milestones) in the coming year!