6 Months - and wondering where time went...

Today, my Wiggles turned 6 months old. It's strange to think that this time last year - I was in my first trimester, wondering what our baby would be like. And now, we are half way through her first year and she is even more wonderful and perfect than I dreamed she would be. She really is a dream come true. To say that we are (still) smitten with Blair, is well, an understatement. I do my best to enjoy every breathing second and to live in each precious moment.

I will confess that I had to work late so I didn't put Blair through her monthly photo shoot. I figured one day wouldn't make too much of a difference - so we will do it tomorrow before dinner with Grandpa George.

Blair hasn't done much sleeping for us the last few days. After being sick this weekend, she has slept terribly. Monday night she was up every 2 hours and each time, she was awake for about 20 - 30 minutes. It. Was. Brutal. Last night, Travis took baby duty and got up with her - every 3 hours. Not much better. She is still going to bed between 6 and 7pm (usually closer to 6pm) and getting up about 5:30am. I think she has been giving Ligia 3 (ish) hour naps during the day, so I am glad she is getting some rest (though it would sure be nice if B would throw us a bone!). I actually don't mind getting up with her in the middle of the night - it's quiet and you can feel the stillness and it feels like she and I are the only ones in the world. It is a special time. For as much as I love the time, my body does not like the lack of sleep. The 6 months of sleep deprivation is really catching up with me.

She is getting better about putting herself down. Not too much fussing and after a few minutes of rolling around, she generally falls asleep. Now if she would just stay asleep...

Blair does really well at meal times. She eats most veggies and fruits and this past week I started her on yogurt. Bananas are her favorite! We buy a mix of brands so that she will like all mixes and textures. They have some really cool food for babies... "Earth's Best" have really neat blends (right now she is eating the Whole Grains and Antioxident varities). I love the convenience of the "pouches" for when we are out to eat. You can attach a little spoon on the end and you're good to go with a free hand to eat. Brilliant. Blair still takes bottles in between meals - when she wants one. Sometimes she is interested, and sometimes she is not. She always has a bottle before bed.

B is still working on both the sitting (she still needs pillows for support) and the crawling. She's got the leg movements down, but coordinating the arms and legs - well, it's a work in progress. Once she takes off, everything will change. I really need to get to baby proofing. I mentioned in my last post that Blair lifts her arms to be picked up. I don't know why it is so darn cute. Maybe because it's a physical way of her communicating that she wants me (even if it is to be held). Everytime I pick her up, she wraps her arms around my neck / shoulders and squeezes. It makes me melt every time, without fail.

Blair continues to be a happy girl that always has plenty to say (and even more so if she is showing off for company) and smiles to give. The smiles are hard to capture with my camera, but that's ok. Her are some of her favorite things: bouncing in her jumper, anything Raleigh does, baths, songs like "The Wheels on the Bus" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," Sesame Street (and God help me from singing the "Flying Fairy School" song in public / at work!), reading books and putting anything her mouth.

Speaking of, we still have no teeth. There is always plenty of drooling and chewing on stuff, but no teeth. (Sigh). Since Blair is now 6 months, I have finally accepted / decided that I have a blue eyed daughter. Not to sound like I don't absolutely love those eyes... I was just afraid to say, "her eyes are blue" until she got old enough and we were sure. Well, we are sure. They are this fabulous shade of blue / gray with a navy ring around the outside of the iris. She gets those baby blues from her Grandpa and my late grandmother Janie. I never thought we would have a baby with blue eyes, but we do.

Let's see... other stats. We have her 6 month check up in another week and a half, so we'll find out her height and weight & percentiles. B is still in size 3 diapers. We have started putting her in night time diapers because her usual day time ones leak. Actually, sometimes those leak too. Oh well.

Blair is still wearing size 9 month clothes... but I can tell they are getting a little more snug. I am hoping that they will hold out until we get into fall (yes, it is still 100 degrees at the end of September!). Then it will be time for a whole new wardrobe. Yay!

Fall. Wow. It's nearly time for cool weather, pumpkins, Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I am excited to think of the special memories we will make as our little family of three. I am also excited about carrying out our traditions with Blair. How blessed we are to have so much. So much love. So much laughter. So many things to be thankful for... most of all, our little Blair.

Happy 6 month birthday my sweet baby... Mommy and Daddy love you so much! ♥

Pictures will be posted soon!

Date Night 3 : Pinot's Palette

Just a little back story, in case you are new to the blog. Travis and I decided to do a date night once a month - doing something different that we have never done before. Last month, due to our trip to N.O. and B getting sick, we decided to skip date night. I think we made up for it this month.

I had seen an ad in Katy Magazine about "Pinot's Palette". It is a social type of outing where you come to their studio (and with about 60 other people) and paint one of their selected pieces. Each day has a different piece. On Friday, it was Van Gogh's Starry Night - a favorite of ours so we had to sign up. Plus, Trav and I both love art and to paint, so we knew this would be perfect.

We typically try to keep our date nights on a budget, but this one was too neat to pass up. It costs $45 / person, but they provide you with all of the art supplies, and glassware, ice buckets and bottle openers. That's right - you can BYOB and food too! I will warn you that space is limited (they set up 8 canvas / easels per table so it's tiiiight), so I don't know if I would personally recommend food. We decided to grab a quick bite at Mission Burrito beforehand. We did bring our own alcohol and as I mentioned before, they have ice buckets to keep your booze cold (and wine glasses and barware). Very cool. People brought everything from beer to wine to liquor.

We weren't quite sure what to expect with this event - whether you would be given your tools and left to paint on your own, or if it was like a class. It turned out to be an informal class. I suppose when you mix adults, alcohol, and a time limit (the class is from 7 - 10pm) - you need someone to keep them on task. :)

We had such a fun time would DEFINITELY recommend this to anyone (they even do adult and children birthday parties!). It is true that painting can be very therapeutic! Like I mentioned before, it was a little costly, but such a fun experience. I think I would have to say that Date Night #3 was a success.

Our version of Starry Night

Love them!

Now we just need to decide where we are hanging our masterpieces! :)

26 Weeks

Tomorrow, Blair will be 26 weeks old - and on Wednesday, she will turn 6 MONTHS OLD! So hard to believe. Here's what our little girl has been up to this past week.

She is now doing the adorable act of holding her arms up when she wants to be picked up. It is really cute and of course I oblige her. I don't feel you can hold your 6 month old baby too much. 3 year old - maybe, but not a baby!

Lately Blair has been pretty rough on herself. She is pretty good at banging herself with toys (in the face, usually) and falling over on toys. She is still working on the balance, which I know we'll 'get,' it's just not easy being a little bear.

This past week she has also begun splashing in the tub, which is pretty funny considering she doesn't like water in her face. It always startles her, but she seems to get a kick out of it. She also finds is hysterical whenever I yawn (which happens frequently) or mimick any sound she makes. Pretty funny.

Yesterday, Blair got her first cold. It started with a cough and being a little clingy to Mommy and progressed with a runny nose and a low grade fever. Ever since Blair got that viral infection a month ago - I am terrified of fevers. I am worried that if it gets too high and we take her to the ER, they will want to run labs to find out where the infection / fever is coming from (and we are not over that traumatic experience - not by a long shot). So basically, the sight of a rising fever sends me into an anxious mess - which I was yesterday. Her fever remained low grade all day and we kept her on Tylenol to contain it. She spent the first half of the night in her room (with her warm air humidifier running), then spent the second part of the night in our bed. Today, she seems to be better. Definitely not 100%, but she seems much better. Big relief. I hate when she doesn't feel well (what parent doesn't?). With some fluids, rest and lots of TLC - she seems to be on the mend.

Time to put the little one down for a nap. I will blog about Date Night #3 when she is napping...

Chef's Surprise

I was given the book, "The Girlfriend's Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood," by a friend (THANK YOU AMY!). Do yourself a favor - go out and buy it. You'll sympathize, cry, and laugh-so-hard-you'll-cry throughout it. It's a hysterical, yet oh so true, storytelling about how your first year of motherhood will go. It talks about baby euphoria and sleep deprivation to 'recovery' and thinking about Baby #2. My blog post is titled after one of the topics about getting your baby to sleep in her own bed (crib). I highly recommend this book to new mothers, soon to be mothers and even spouses (talk about giving them a peek into our world!). I am definitely going to buy the other books in this "series" - esp the Toddler one. I can only imagine how funny that one will be!

Let me just say that I have been awful at taking pictures of Blair this past week. She has been so active that we are in her face, playing and learning every second she's not in her bouncer (her favorite thing to do!). Plus, we still have to watch her like a hawk since she tends to lean / fall over or bonk her little noggin with a toy. Needless to say, picture taking has taken a backseat, so there aren't a lot to post. It is already Thursday and I am very behind for this week. Every passing day (and chore left undone) leaves me feeling more and more like a Mommy.

What is B doing... hmmm... she is doing well with her earlier bedtime. It just seemed to make more sense to move her bedtime when she really wasn't taking naps. So far, it has her sleeping from about 6:15pm until 5:30am. She wakes up about 1 - 2 times and isn't up for much longer than the time to change her diaper and take down about 4 ounces of formula. It does mean a little less time we see her, but trying to keep her up until 7pm was making her last waking hour miserable for all of us. She seems to like it, so we'll take it.

Wildfires spread across Texas so badly about 2 weeks ago, that a park close to our house caught fire. It burned over 1,500 acres in no time at all. We began packing our things, grabbing our most treasured items and baby gear into suitcases and bags in case we were forced to evacuate. Scary! Firefighters were able to contain the fire and with a little help from such needed rain last weekend, our homes and those even closer to the park, were spared. Prayers were definitely answered!!

We spent last Saturday celebrating Hudson's 1st birthday. We met for lunch at Potbelly's, catching up and listening to some good live music. Hudson is such a sweet little boy and I cannot believe he is already one! Blair gave him a lego firetruck that she thinks he is going to like a lot. :) Again, I didn't have my camera (I had left my purse in the car since we were having a thunderstorm - thinking of the 8 different items to take into Potbelly's, that was one item I didn't really need = no camera). Ally got some cute ones I will have to post a little later.

Ok. I have to get into bed... tomorrow is going to be a long day. We have our date night tomorrow so we will be out a little later than usual (no, no... nothing really crazy - I am talking like 10:30pm. Yeah, I said it.). Then we have lunch on Saturday to celebrate Mimi's birthday (which is actually tomorrow). Happy Birthday Mimi!

As I put in my disclaimer above, I was lacking in the photography department this week and last. Here's what I did get!

Boucing in her bouncer (this is actually an action shot)

Playing with her new activity toy (and oh my God - sitting like a big kid!)

Drinking her juice


Being my big girl at 24 weeks ♥

Letters to Blair

Today, Travis and I created an email address for B. We did it in hopes that our friends and family would send her letters that she could read one day. We hope people will write her to tell her how much she is loved, or to tell her something funny, or encouraging letters for when she needs them later in life. Every two months, I write an "old fashioned" letter to B. It goes into an envelope, is sealed, and tucked away for when she is grown. Or maybe in those really rough teenage years when she thinks I am being unreasonable and we are going head to head. Either way, I think they will get the point across. This is just another way to create a sort of time capsule for her future. If you would like to email Blair (the emails will remain unopened and not read until she reads them), message or email me and I will share it!

So Blair has been pretty into her toes lately. She's got them, and she definitely likes them. It would be helpful to her mother if she wasn't the most fascinated with them while I was changing her diaper - but what can you do? When you discover something neat, it's hard to put it (or them) down.

Yesterday, Blair successfully drank from her sippy cup. I had taken a break on working on it for a few weeks, but I bought her a Dr. Brown's sippy cup and she figured it out! Pretty big stuff. We only let her have water, or very diluted juice. Today Ligia said she pushed away her bottle - wha? My bottle-chugging baby? Maybe she's just enjoying the sippy cup too much to trade it in.

Blair has been making lip smacking sounds when she is hungry. It's kind of silly, but I am glad that she is able to communicate when she is hungry. We are still experimenting with different blends of foods and I make sure she gets a decent sized helping of rice cereal for dinner. I need all of the help I can get while trying to get her to sleep through the night.

I few weeks ago I posted about Blair wanting to stand (a lot). We've moved on from just wanting to stand. We want to bounce and we want to do it a lot. If she isn't working out the bouncer, she is trying to jump while you are holding her in your lap. You'd think my arms would be a little more toned, but no such luck. You would also think that all of this exercise would make her tired enough to sleep all night. Nope. Speaking of sleeping (again), we have decided to move B's bedtime to 6m, if she needs it. Since she isn't really napping in the afternoons, she is exhausted by 5:30pm. We are still flexible in that if she's happy and not rubbing those baby blues (showing her classic sleepy sign), then we put her down later. Give and take.

I have a co-worker that is due in about 2 months with her first baby. She asks me lots of questions (and for those of you that read my blog know I don't mind sharing) about babies and today, we discussed sleep - or lack there of. I warned her that the first few months, you run on pure adrenaline, excitement and unbiding love for your baby. By month 5 - you are running on fumes and the fatigue sets in. She thought it was pretty funny - little does she know! Share the responsibility... that's your best chance of survival. Ha!

Today, Ligia took the cutest picture of Blair and Zoey. They were sitting on the floor (oh my goodness they are getting so big!), playing with toys and reading books. Ligia said that Blair was babbling like she was reading the book to Zoey. That made me so happy and proud that my girl likes books. For as much as we read to her, I am glad she seems to like it.  Check out this adorable picture here.

Alright, time for me to watch this LSU - Mississippi State game. GEAUX TIGERS!!!

24 weeks and SiLLy fAcEs!

And... she's back!

Our little girl is back to her old self. In the last week or so, she hadn't seemed like her self. I knew that her teeth were really bothering her and thought that she might be going through another growth spurt. She has been in a really good mood, making her silly little faces.

Last week we celebrated Grandpa George's birthday with dinner and cake. Mmmmm... cake.... Ok, now where was I? Celebrating birthdays. She was all smiles and being silly.

We are pretty interested in those candles.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Alright, like I said, she's making her silly faces again. And I have come to the realization that my sweet baby girl... is a Daddy's girl. She is always watching her Daddy and is very intently studying his movements, face and voice. Cuteness.

She makes this face in the Excer-Saucer and when she's in her bouncer. Classic.

This weekend, we purchased Blair's high chair. I have to admit that she could have been sitting in one for a couple of weeks (and sits in one during the day). We just feed her in her Bumpo chair (with the tray) for meals. I have been putting off the purchase because the one that I liked wasn't in the store and I kept holding out. We'll, I am proud to say that my waiting paid off. When I went into BabiesRUs this weekend, they had one super similar on clearance for $90! I was expecting to pay at least $30+. Score for Ashley.

Big Girl High Chair (thanks to Daddy for assembling - more pieces than you'd think!)

She's having a hard time understanding why we are taking pictures during dinner time
(she'll understand why in 25+ years, ha!)

Confession. Blair doesn't have any smocked outfits. She is growing so fast and the jury is still out for me if I really like the look, so I've haven't bought her any. While we were in Baton Rouge, walking around the LSU gift shop, Mom and I saw these adorable smocked onesies. Oh my, it is too precious. It is unlikely she'll be able to wear this next season, so she will get plenty of wear out of this little thing.

On Sunday, September 11th, Travis and I went with my parents to the season opener of the Houston Texans. We dropped Blair off early on Sunday morning with Grandpa George and Grandma (Gammy) Roslyn and headed to the stadium to meet up with our friends that were tailgating before the game. Lots of fun and I was exhausted by the time we got home (which was early since we were beating the Colts pretty bad!).

Family of Texan fans!

A beautiful September 11th tribute, which got me thinking that I will one day have to explain to Blair what this special, significant day means. She will learn the realization of evil and hate in the world. So sad to think about. I still cannot watch any of the news footage or news specials about it all. I never watched the movie they made, it just seems so fresh, I am not ready to relive that all again. My heart goes out to those families who lost loved ones. I truly cannot imagine.

A few beers deep and having a great time!

I better get to bed. Blair is still getting up at least once a night, but we are no longer swaddling her, which I am very happy about. And she sleeps best on her tummy, which is fine with me. I am up checking on her throughout the night.

Oh! I am pumped! T and I just planned our next date night. We had to skip August date night because of the trip to New Orleans, then B got sick. So much was going on last month, we called August a wash. But we have a really good one for this month. It's scheduled in about a week or two and I will blog about it soon after!

Labor Day Weekend

A few pictures first!

22.5 weeks

Love those baby blues!

Travis and Blair

Silly girl

Geaux Tigers

Our "tough" dog laying with his baby. So cute!

Sitting - and surrounded by pillows! 23 weeks!

Enjoying Mimi and Pop's pool on Labor Day

Working on some water (with a splash of juice)

Bouncer? Check. Fans? Check. Cuteness? Check and check.

This week has gotten away from me! I cannot believe it is already Thursday night (thank the Lord!). Gotta love those 3 day weekends. Tonight is also the first NFL game of the season, which means I have a very excited and happy husband. We got his favorite, Brother's Pizza, for dinner to watch in front of the game. Now if we could just keep that cute little snuzzler in her bed. Speaking of...

My unhealthy obsession with my daughter continues to grow. The other day I was rocking her and realized how long her hair is getting. The front is getting longer so I can actually use just a clip in her hair (as opposed to using a headband). It just made me realize how big she is getting and how we are on the brink of a whole new world... mobility.

Blair is nearly sitting on her own. I mean, she sits on her own, but after about 10 or so seconds, she leans and kind of rolls over. It is so interesting to watch these changes in her. She still tries to wiggle and army crawl, but not much happens. She tries though. That determination... I see it rearing its ugly head when she is 15, but it is so darn cute right now. Just watching her try to do anything, or studying something intently makes me so proud. Just for the record, I don't (happy) cry near as much as I used to, but I still have my moments. I am in awe of that little girl.

Ok, moving on... other things that Blair is doing. She is trying to hold her own bottle, but has not quite mastered that. We've got her back in her crib (after a few week stint of sleeping with Mom and Dad), however she is still not sleeping though the night. Last night, we celebrated Grandpa George's birthday (Happy Birthday Grandpa!!), and although she fell asleep in the car after a long evening of playing, she still woke up at midnight and 3am. At 3am she was pretty awake, and after about 20 minutes of rocking, I laid her in her crib and turned on her mobile. She never cried, and I fell alseep - so all was well. Naps are still pretty hit or miss (afternoon naps are a 'miss' 98% of the time).

I am SO ready for this teething process to be over. B has been teething since she turned 3 months and still no teeth in sight. I continue to buy any kind of teething toy I can get my hands on to help her out, but still nothing. I am praying for some teeth to come through soon to give her some kind of relief.

We very much enjoyed our long holiday weekend. Although we had nothing "big" planned, we took it easy hanging out together. Saturday night was the first LSU game. In honor of the exciting day, I did a photo shoot with Blair in her LSU cheerleading outfit (as you can see from the pics above!). A big thank you to Mimi and Pops for the special gift! That night, Grandpa George and Grandma Roslyn wanted to see our girl, so we dropped her off for a few hours and Travis and I made dinner together and watched the game.

On Sunday, Blair and I had brunch scheduled with Court, Cheryl and Kylie. Courtney was gracious enough to host us in her new home (which is awesome!). Blair kept busy in her excer saucer while Mommy caught up on the gossip. :)

We spent Monday afternoon saying good-bye to summer, by my parent's pool. Blair bounced in her bouncer the entire time. I had her stroller fans on her and had every available link attached to another Lamaze-type toy. Girl had it made. In the shade. After awhile by the pool, we had a big family dinner and were back home so Travis could do a fantasy football draft (did I mention he loves football?). I think I failed to mention that B also slept to 8:30am on both Sunday and Monday mornings! She still woke up a different points of the night, but the 8:30am wake-up was very much appreciated. It definitely beats the 6:30am wake-up.

On a much more somber note... wild fires claimed much of Texas this weekend. Thankfully, the farm (out in Columbus) was spared. They lost the barn and the front yard, but the house is still standing. George and Roslyn were telling us that the mulch would turn into flames and that bales of hay would burst into flames. They think that running the sprinklers helped save the house and keep the fire from coming any closer. Scary to think about it because the barn is close to the house... luckily not close enough. Many people in the area and all around Texas have lost their homes, land, and animals to this spread of fires. We have had such an incredibly dry and hot summer - the fires spread so quickly. We are saying prayers for those still dealing with the fires and for those that have lost everything.

Well, that is all I got. I need to put this computer down so I can watch the rest of this game... it's a good one!