8 months

Sweetest baby is 8 months old already!! Where oh where has the time gone?

This month Lil started pulling up to things... coffee tables, couches, stairs, mama's legs :)

Look out world, next she'll be running!

She has also decided that she LOVES food!

Among her faves:

bananas, Mum Mum wafers, blueberry puffs, tofu & rice

(anything she can feed herself)

Things I never want to forget about right now:

How soft those squishy little cheeks are when I smooch them.

The little "monster" noises she makes when she eats. mmm mmm mmmm

The laugh that uncle Tyler swears could soften evil dictators :)

It is truly the sweetest sound I've ever heard.

Lily isn't much of a snuggler.

She's way too busy exploring & finding things to climb.

But those rare sweet moments when her eyes get heavy and her head drops to my shoulder are some of my very favorite.

We finally won the good fight and have a baby that sleeps!

A little Rainbow Connection or Amazing Grace & a smooch and we can put her down without a fight :) It usually takes a few minutes of jabbering to herself and she's down for the count (12 hours at night & a 2 hour a.m. nap!)

Favorite things: peek-a-boo, standing, Milo's food bowl, bath time

Un-favorites: headbands & hats, having her face wiped

6 months

Happy 6 months Lily Belle!

16 lb 5 oz (58%)

27 3/4 inches (98%)

You love to smile, eat (peas, carrots & rice cereal!), roll and giggle.

You have 2 bottom teeth and more on the way!

You're so close to crawling already. It seems so soon, but girl when you set your mind to something, you get it done. I hope you stay that way forever :)

You are by far the most beautiful thing I have ever had a part in creating.

The past 6 months have been challenging, stressful, precious, amazing and FAST.

I can't wait for the rest of this incredible first year!

I love you more than I ever thought possible.

Baby Dedication

Sunday December 11, 2011

We dedicated miss Lily Belle at church a couple weeks ago. It was such a sweet reminder that we are committed to raising our blessing to know and love Jesus.

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Sweet Baby

My sweet baby is 5 1/2 months old already. It is so fun watching her grow and learn more every single day, but it's killing me how fast she is changing! My brother's gf Beth took these amazing pictures the other day. I'm in love :) Beth has her own photography business, Yellow Feather Photography. She is so talented! Thank you Beth :)

Sweet baby has a tooth already!

As you can see, she's also sitting up like a pro!

Love this sweet booty :)

This one is my very favorite. I bought this getup on after-Christmas clearance last year when I was pregnant! I was SO excited to snuggle a little baby in this year and holy cow, here she is! I could have never imagined how perfect my little reindeer would be :)

Field Trip Friday:The ZOO

Hunter has been working, and studying, and leading the worship at church, and going to night class, and going to early morning class before work... I just haven't seen a whole lot of him lately that's all. So last weekend when he had Friday off we were all over it! Our day start off with some sleeping in and snuggling- my FAVORITE :)

This picture is our lucky moment shot: 11.11.11 @ 11:11 Lily was getting a new diaper. It's a glamorous life we live.

Next up, lunch at Las Delicias our very favorite Mexican restaurant. So so good. So so cheap. Good as it gets. You like that action shot of Hunter munchin' on some amazing chips? :)

Now for the main attraction: the zoo! I can't even tell you the last time I went to the zoo. For some reason having a baby made us feel like we should go to the zoo... even though she's really not old enough to enjoy it at all. Look how excited we are... and how Lily is not nearly as thrilled. ha!

These next two are nice and awkward... Enjoy!



Our favorite part was definitely the BIG FISH. For some reason it really gave Hunter and I the giggles comparing Lily to the giant fish. She even put on a little show for us.

Clearly no perfect day is complete without froyo. I loooooooove Pinkberry. But to make it even better, they now have peppermint for the holidays! YUM!

11.11.11= best day ever. I <3 Field Trip Friday!

Sleep

I'm thankful for a baby that sleeps. Honestly, the girl really is a champ.

One of my biggest fears when i was pregnant was that I would never sleep again. Silly, I know, but I really like sleep. I mean it's not that I just want to sleep all the time, but 8 hours a night is good, thank you.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't seen a straight 8 hours of sleep in a while. Fortunately, the Lord has changed my priorities a bit and shown me how I can in fact still function without it :)

But I know that I get more sleep than many new moms and I'm very thankful...

Yes I'm thankful Lily sleeps. I'm also thankful that she doesn't quite sleep all night yet. I don't know if I'm ready. I really really love bringing her back to our bed at 3:3o to snuggle for the rest of the night.

I like that she still can't quite make it a whole night without her mama :)

Get your craft on: 10 minute onesie

Yesterday I was in super productive mode. I took an internet vacation and it was good! My house is clean, laundry is done AND I did a craft :) So here it is. The 10 minute onesie (and a headband too).

*Quick side note before we get started. I seriously glue gunned this bad boy together & I have some doubts about it surviving the wash. I think I'll add a few stitches for reinforcement so I may have to call it a 15 minute project. If you're real fancy you could even use your sewing machine.

Let's start with the headband. I cut some cute ribbon that I already had and glued it to a little but of elastic. Ta-dah! A headband :) Then I added a rosette of course. (They're so easy! Just cut a strip of fabric. Tie a knot in one end. Twist and glue!) For those of you who like nice & neat projects, I'm sure there is a much nicer way to make a headband, but for those of you who want to take cute pictures of your baby girl in a new headband in a minute and a half-do this!

Now for the onesie. First I did this cute ruffle on the butt! It was so simple and I really would recommend gluing it first even if you're going to add stitching because it seems like it would make life easier that way. You just find a cute ribbon and basically loop and glue all the way across.

Next I made a larger rosette (by twisting a longer strip of fabric) and glued it to the front of the onseie with a ribbon stem. It's a little heavy and the part I'm most worried about falling off. Anyway, that's it. Pretty cute huh!? And now, my lovely model.

{Field Trip Friday} #3: Airplane Park

Last week was the most beautiful Field Trip Friday!!! The weather could not have been more perfect for an afternoon in the park with Auntie Hayley :)

We got to sit in the shade and talk, go on a walk and take LOTS of Lily pictures (luckily Hayley has a great camera and is a WAY better photographer than yours truly)! I love these so much!

I asked her to take these when Lily fell asleep on our walk and they are so precious to me. She falls asleep like this several times a day and every time I stare at her and wish I could capture the moment. No, my baby can't self soothe yet. And yes, that means I could be getting more sleep/ more done if she did. But she loves to snuggle in here mama's arms and I know that won't last forever. So I sing and sway and walk around the (messy) house and stare at this perfect face. Sometimes I tear up. What of it? :)

Thanks for the amazing pictures Hayley! I can guarantee someday I will be sad that my little baby is all grown up and I'll look at these pictures and thank you again... Then I'll make her snuggle with me. Even if she's 15 and hates my guts. I'll tell her she has to snuggle or she can't go out. That will go over well I'm sure :)

Field Trip Friday is the greatest! Who else did something wonderful/ has fun plans?!

Get you craft on: Leg warmers!

Baby leg warmers might just be the greatest craft.

The other day fall decided to make itself at home in Denver. It has been nice and cool (I would even say chilly today) and I realized Lily doesn't have any warm clothes. Sun dresses? Sure. Probably enough for 8 baby girls. But, no pants. So she wore her Baby Legs that my sweet friend Julie gave her. They are wonderful and we need more! But why buy leg warmers when you've got a perfectly good pair of scissors and some $3 socks from Target?

I just chopped the feet off of some $3 knee high socks and hemmed them up. (Actually Bekah and I both did while our husbands played war video games.) We whipped up three pairs of these babies in about half an hour. That's a good craft... quick. easy. cute.

Honestly, what's not to love? SO much easier than taking off pants every time you change a diaper too! Hurray leg warmers!

Beauty

The other day I was reading a daily devotion from Reflections for Ragamuffins by Brennan Manning. {By the way, have you ever read Ragamuffin Gospel? I think you should. Brennan Manning is so in LOVE with our Jesus and it's absolutely beautiful the way he writes about grace.} Anyway, I read this:

The narcissistic obsession with weight watching in North America

is a formidable ploy of the impostor. Despite the valid and

important health factor, the amount of time and energy devoted to

acquiring and maintaining a slender figure is staggering. No snack is

unforeseen, no nibble spontaneous, no calorie uncharted, no

strawberry left uncounted... To paraphrase Cardinal Wolsey, "Would

that I had served my God the way I have watched my waistline!"

All of a sudden it hit me. It is going to be hard raising a woman of God in this society of ours! My sweet daughter will be bombarded with image after image of an unattainable, airbrushed, worldly "beauty". How am I going to help her desire to be "clothed with strength and dignity (prov 31:25)" instead of expensive designer labels? How will I teach her to truly believe that she is "fearfully and wonderfully made (psalm 139:14)"?

I prayed about it a lot. And do you know what? It's my responsibility to SHOW her! Do I desire God more than the opinions of others? Do I genuinely believe that God creates beauty and that He created me exactly the way I am. On purpose. To be honest, not always. But I'm definitely working on it.

I've made a rule not to ever speak negatively about myself in front of my daughter. No weight comments, or unaccepted compliments. Don't get me wrong, I think it's very important to teach her to eat healthy and be active, but she needs to grow up seeing that I believe this body is wonderful. Without this body I wouldn't even have my precious Lily Belle, so I forgive it for not being a perfectly toned size 2. I pray that she will grow up so focused on Jesus and loving others that she doesn't even notice all of the unrealistic images telling her what she "should" look like.

And I pray that you will consider making yourself a similar rule. Thank God today for beautiful body he has given you. Show your kids what it looks like to pursue Jesus instead of an unattainable body image.

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who loves the Lord is to be praised."

Proverbs 31:30

What I love Wednesday

More than anything in the whole world.