The Williams Word

Thanksgiving 2013

2013-12-01T11:13:00.000-06:00

Before heading to church on Sunday night for our "First Family Feast," Shelby had a blast opening her gift from LoLo.

It was "The Christmas Angel." It's an alternative to the "Elf on the Shelf" that helps teach children about giving and serving others during the holiday season. For now she enjoys reading the book and kissing the angel. Next year it will be fun to really get her involved in activities around town and at home.

We headed down to LA on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with Brett's family. Thursday morning we to Grandma's for our big Thanksgiving meal. It was most definitely a feast and so very yummy! Judy, Rachel, and I did all of the food. Even though there were only three cooks, I can safely say that no one left that table hungry... and there were lots of leftovers {my favorite!}.

Dustin, Noah, Grandma, Rachel, and Emme

Brett, Grandma, Me, and Shelby--You can't see it very well but I made her Thanksgiving dress. I didn't have a pattern so I just used an old dress for the style and a dress that currently fit for the size.

After taking a ton of pictures and trying to get Shelby to smile, she immediately starts smiling and laughing after we move from our family pose. Typical.

Noah posing with his hands in his "pockets"

Judy wanted us to take some Christmas pictures for her to use in her Christmas card... and because everybody love sweet cousin pictures!

Money shot. All three with eyes open, almost looking at the camera, not crying, and sort of smiling.

Noah--21 months, Emme--2 months, Shelby--14 months

Noah and Emme

Mommy made her Christmas dress too! I think it's my favorite yet. It was suppose to be a knot dress, but it looked a little too busy with the knots in front so I just flipped it around and added buttons. Once again, I didn't have a pattern. When I got the idea in my head to make it, I thought I did, but it was for sizes 3-7. I found a tutorial online so I used the tutorial, a dress that fit her, and some of the measurements from her birthday dress to come up with this. And since it has a sash that can tighten it up, I made the bodice a little big so she can wear it at least one more year with leggings/pants.

During the weekend, Shelby took a book over to PawPaw's recliner and climbed in his lap close to a hundred times. She would only sit there about 15 seconds, but it was so sweet, and he loved it!

The whole Williams crew--Dustin, Charlie, Brett, Rachel, Emme, Noah, Judy, Laura Beth, Shelby

November Scottsboro Visit

2013-11-17T11:10:00.000-06:00

Since we hadn't seen Justin and his family in almost two years {besides their day visit to Vicksburg} and we won't see them again for close to a year and a half, Brett took off so that we could be in Scottsboro for over a week!

Even though Mom and Billy have a four bedroom house, our family has multiplied and there just wasn't enough room for everyone to stay there. Once all the cousins are old enough, they can all pile up in one room, but for now the babies and need to be seperated. Thankfully, we have some awesome family friends who live just down the road. Brett, Shelby, and I stayed less than a mile away from Mom's every night. They had an extra bedroom with a queen size bed, extra bathroom, and office where we kept Shelby's pack-n-play and bedtime stuff. Every night, I loaded Shelby up, let her play with the Tidmores while I got everything ready, did our bedtime routine, hung out on the couch for 10-ish minutes to make sure she was asleep, then went back to Mom's to hangout with the rest of the crew before taking Brett back there for the night. Such a blessing to have the extra rooms and the fact that they "babysat" every night for a couple of hours while she slept!

As I was looking for pictures for the blogpost, I realized that for being there ten days I really don't have very many. You say, how could that be?! I was too busy playing with those six sweet babies. Who wants to interrupt a sweet moment with four kids sitting in your lap while you read to them to yell at someone to take a picture, while they're all lined up to take turns flying on your feet, while your curling your nieces' hair, while you're napping with your baby niece, or while you're holding a niece or two and running away from Uncle Brett/"tickle mon-ser"...

I was able to capture some sweet moments, but the majority of them are right up there in my memory.

They all spent so much of their time at that window. Looking out and playing with Kelty.

Abby is such a little mama. She was often right beside Shelby making sure she had something to play with. We would catch her and Sadie just randomly patting her back, kissing her cheek or giving her hugs.

Outside playtime

All the big cousins wanted to take turns giving Shelby a ride.

Poor Brod-man. All these girls. He's so over it.

One morning while the others were visiting with friends, we took Shelby out to the park down the road to take a few pictures.

We had an early Thanksgiving with Daddy's side of the family. I think I've mentioned this before, but because there are so many of us we have to meet at their church. We eat in their fellowship hall and let all the kids run around in the gym.

Nanny and Paw had seven children. Six of them married and then there were 14 grandchildren. Nine of us are married and have kids. There are 15 great-grandchildren ages 8 months to 6 years!

This is about as good as it gets with 15 little ones. A few are crying, most aren't looking, and very few are smiling. But they are all in one picture!

Nine of the grandchildren with their kids {Layne and Kyle had to help Justin with his girls since his back was hurt}

Out of 14 grandchildren, Carrie and I are Nanny's only granddaughters {All of Daddy's siblings with kids had two boys first. Only Daddy and Uncle Larry had three kids so they are the only ones with girls.}

A little Sunday morning cousin swing time before church.

This is Abby getting Kelty to sit for the picture

What a loud, fun, memorable week that was!!!

Thompson Family 2013

2013-11-11T11:09:00.000-06:00

Our main goal while Justin was in Alabama was to get a family picture. The last one we have is from 2010, and there were only three little ones at the time. We asked a family friend who is in college and enjoys taking pictures to meet us at the park and snap some for us. Anna did an amazing job for us! With six little ones, I couldn't imagine how it was going to work out, but it did. She even brought a friend to help out and try to get all of us looking in the right direction.

The whole crew

Me, Shelby, Brett, Brooke, Briley, Kyle, Brody, Billy, Janet, Justin, Hannah, Abby, Faith, Sadie

The siblings with our spouses and kids

And these beautiful dresses. Specially made by Grammy.

Briley--6, Brody--3, Sadie--4, Shelby--1, Abby--2, Hannah--8 months

Sweet cousins are finally reunited and having so much fun!

My brother Justin's family

My little family

My brother Kyle's family

Grammy and Papa with the crazy crew

Gorgeous Sadie {with her long Rapunzel hair}

Baby Hannah

The baby cousins sharing leaves

My girl.

I will forever cherish these pictures. So thankful!

Halloween 2013

2013-11-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

This year Shelby dressed up as a bumble bee. I figured we might as well keep with the bee theme through the first year.

Mom called me one day to tell me that she picked up a bee costume that Shelby could use for playing dress-up when she's older. It was a steal at a consignment store and couldn't pass it up even though it was a size 2-4. I figured I could either use a part of it to make her a new one or just alter that one so I got her to send it to me.

I was able to just take it up at the bottom and in the back by the straps {please excuse my uneven stitching, there was a lot of tulle getting in the way}. I also had a black turtle neck for her to wear underneath the costume, but it ended up being too hot. I was in a pickle and didn't have any other black or yellow top that would fit. I found an old 6 month onesie that wouldn't snap anymore. So I cut a paci clip that we never used and used it as a "onesie extender." Ta da.

And yes, I wore black and yellow to match on purpose. Brett was home sick, so Shelby and I loaded up to hang out at church for our "pumpkin party."

As much as I loved carrying around newborn, sleeping Shelby last year, it was even more fun this year to have her little hand hold my finger and walk around the whole gym pointing, babbling, and even trying to play some of the games.

P.S. She wore those antennas the whole two hours! I had back-up ponytail holders and bow, but I never needed to use them.

At the end, some of the workers cleared out all of the big kids so I could get in the blow-up jumper with Shelby and some of the other smaller kids. She loved it!

On the day of Halloween, it was rainy and yucky outside so we went over to visit Brett at work and ate lunch.

Shelby made the rounds to visit all of his co-workers and they couldn't believe how big she was {most of them hadn't seen her since last year's Christmas brunch}.

I bought this little outfit right after Halloween last year on clearance. It's an 18 month outfit and I remember thinking how HUGE it looked when I bought it. Seriously can't believe she can wear it.

They're here!!!

2013-10-25T10:23:00.000-05:00

As most of you know, my brother Justin and his family have been living in East Asia for almost two years now. In that time, I have had a baby and they have had a baby. We have seen each other over Skype and FaceTime, but it's obviously not the same as getting to hug and kiss those sweet babies in person.

Well, Faith's brother is getting married so they were able to come back to the states for a few weeks. Since we live closest to the airport, we had the unbelievable pleasure of picking them up and getting them for the first night. I can't even explain the excitement. I was cleaning and cooking and getting things ready the whole week. I counted down the days and hours. The night they were arriving, we got a friend to sit at the house so that we could both drive to the airport to get them and all their luggage. I felt like a little kid. My stomach started getting anxious. I couldn't stop smiling.

We got there just in time. We walked up the stairs and within minutes, I saw a glimpse of Faith with a baby strapped to her. Then, I saw all of them. All five of those sweet faces. Justin and Faith each pushing a stroller. Those smiles. Those big waves. They made it!!! I seriously thought my heart was going to explode it was so full.

I immediately got to hug Faith and Justin and kiss sweet Hannah's head for the first time. I make sure to keep my expectations low for the big girls because I knew they might be a little shy at first. Faith said, "Can you give Aunt Laura Beth a hug?" And they jumped right out of the strollers and hugged my neck so tight. Que the tears. They were so big. And so sweet. I couldn't believe the day was really here.

After a LONG day of traveling, we loaded up one more time to take them to our house. I had all the girls with me, and Brett had Justin and all the luggage with him. We stopped by Wendy's for a midnight snack and talked and sang in the car. Faith asked Sadie what her favorite part of the day was. Her response, "when I saw Aunt Laura Beth at the end of that hallway." I melt.

I had every intention of spoiling them for the few hours that I had them, and I'm pretty sure that I succeeded. Pancakes {with syrup because they have to use honey over there} and BACON {Sadie and Abby kept asking for "more bacons"} and coffee for the parents.

Then the big girls were off to watch the Little Mermaid while the babies got to know each other. There was lots of playtime, random hugs and kisses, reading, singing, dancing, and of course, a little ice cream snack.

I missed getting any pictures of Justin and Faith, but they were so sweet loving on Shelby. Hard to believe she is one and just now getting to meet them. Shelby adored Faith. While we were getting ready for lunch, I had Shelby with me in the guest bathroom. Faith came in to borrow something and then we started talking for a little while so she got down on the floor and played with Shelby too. Out of the blue, Shelby just looked at Faith and gave her a big slobbery kiss. Que Faith's tears ;) Then, when Faith walked out to finish getting herself ready, Shelby walked to the door, threw her hands up and started to cry. Aunt Faith was back in no time and Shelby "helped" her finish get ready.

Sadie--3.5, Shelby--1, Abby--2.5, Hanna--8 months

Then we got to meet Brett for lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Yummy food and fun in the PlayLand.

Funny story: Brett said something about the buffalo sauce he was eating. Sadie and Abby both made a funny face, and one of them said, "Eww. Buffalo." {Buffalo is one of the meats that they eat in South Asia and apparently, it's pretty yucky.}

As they were walking over the playground, they saw another little blonde-headed girl eating with her family. Abby said, "Look Daddy, she looks like me!" In South Asia, they are like movie stars because of their blonde hair and blue eyes.

Sweet, happy, content baby Hannah. So excited to FINALLY have my Hannah/Aunt LB pic!

After lunch, Faith's mom and aunt came by to pick them up.

Man oh man. What a happy and jam-packed 15 hours that was. I am forever thankful for the time that I was able to have with them one-on-one before the craziness of the huge family gatherings. I am now looking forward to seeing them in Scottsboro in a couple of weeks and having everyone together for the first time!

Shelby's 1st BEE-Day

2013-10-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

Before I was even pregnant, I remember seeing pictures of a little girl's first "BEE" day party and thinking that was exactly what I wanted to do if I ever had a little girl. As soon as I found out we were having a girl, I started pinning things on Pinterest for her first birthday.

A few months ago I borrowed my mom's Cricut machine to start cutting out banners, I started sewing Shelby's dress, I ordered invites, and I nailed down the "menu." Brett made fun of me as I spent my nights cutting, taping, and tying things together. I have a tendency to procrastinate and I knew that if I wanted to enjoy her birthday party day {and week} then I needed to do as much ahead of time as possible. And oh man, did I enjoy it--the planning and the actual day.

The week leading up to the party, it looked like it was going to storm, but the rain held out until late that night and everything was perfect! I have tons of pictures but I'm not even going to apologize. We had sweet friends who took some amazing pictures for us--which was such a blessing and one less thing for me to do that day! {And I'll probably point out almost everything that I did... I want to make sure Shelby knows just how much I did for her ;) }

So here we go...

A few of the tissue poms were leftover from a baby shower but I made most of them from tissue paper. The top row of pictures is Shelby throughout the year, the second row is her month-by-month, and the last row is Shelby with family members.

The drink station had bottle waters with adorable labels from my friend who's a graphic designer, lemonades, and canned drinks on the ground.

For the outside food there was "Bar-BEE-Que" sliders, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, sausage balls, "bumble bee chow," fruit, and chips.

Inside is where most of the sweets were. I made the cake and cupcakes, and I dipped the pretzels and Oreos {you can't see them in this picture but they looked like bees...kinda}. My mom and her home-ec girls make the cookies. The invitation is in the frame on the sweets table, and my friend also made the little food labels.

I made the high chair banner and "happy 1st Bee day" banner using Mom's Cricut. And I was even able to find the exact bee on the Cricut that was used on her invitation.

The frame with her name is what I have hanging over her crib so I just borrowed it for the afternoon!

One bouquet of Wal-Mart flowers and some sprigs from our bushes out front made 5 mason jars of mini-bouquets.

Finally got a decent picture of the two of us!

These are three out of four of the sweetest sisters you'll ever meet... and Shelby's best friends/Vicksburg cousins :)

Daddy and Mommy with the birthday girl

This is the dress that I made. I really love it. The first fabric that I bought was the main fabric and I just built around that with some that I had another one that was from the same collection. It took FOR.EVER. to find that main fabric. I wanted something with bees and pink it. Most everything I found was either old lady-ish or there was no pink. This fabric was labeled under ladybugs and not bees {even though there are ladybugs AND bees on it}. I didn't make the bow, but I added the pink knot to the yellow bow that she already had. And for the table cloth on the table behind them I used the leftover yellow and white chevron fabric and sewed the ruffled up tulle to it.

Party guests:

Shelby and LoLo

Shelby and Meg

Shelby's GiGi's :)

Shelby with Papa and Grammy

Most of the crew {a few of the kids were either watching tv or playing in the back yard}

Sweet cousin Noah made the trip with PawPaw and JuJu--isn't this picture wonderful?!

These shoes. I love them so very much. I have been looking at them for several months and she finally got to wear them! These shoes were the very first gift that we got after we found out we were having a girl. And they just happened to be the exact size that she needed at 12 months old! {and they were from LoLo which made them extra special}

And yes. I was that mom. I didn't give Shelby a real smash cake because: 1. I didn't want her to have that much sugar {she's never had any besides the natural sugar already in her foods} and 2. she doesn't really like to have messy food on her hands so I thought it would be a waste.

She seemed a little unsure of the candle and people staring at her...

Once we started singing, she go really into it...

And then she even tried to help blow out the candle...

She was SOO not into it... until I gave her a taste of the icing {well, it was actual yogurt and cool whip}

She mostly stayed away from the icing and just ate the bit of the cake that I tore up for her... I'm not complaining. It was much easier clean-up!

So this was my first cake. It tasted great but I wasn't super impressed with how it looked. I was trying to make it look similar to the bee hive on the invitation... can you even tell?

Shelby with her parents and grandparents

The infamous GiGis :) Wonderful friends, parents away from home, Vicksburg grandparents to our Shelby, cooks, and photographers!

We are most definitely blessed beyond measure to be the parents to this girl. What an amazing year it has been. Shelby girl, we love you more everyday. Thank you God, for letting her be our daughter.

Twelve Months

2013-10-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

Shelby is 12 months old!

Weight-- 21 lbs {50th percentile}

Length-- 30 1/4 inches {80th percentile}

Shelby is wearing mostly 12 month and 18 month clothes, size 3 diapers and size 4 night time diapers.

Welp, Shelby's walking. She's not officially a "walker," but she is trying so hard! If she concentrates, gets herself balanced, and doesn't have any toys in her way, she will take up to 10 or 12 steps by herself. She still crawls if she wants to get somewhere super fast, but I see her trying much more often to walk places now.

This month we borrowed a push toy from a friend. Shelby pushes that thing all over the living room and kitchen. The first couple of times she used it, I was so scared that she would push faster than her little legs could take her {so I was doing major hovering}, but she got the hang of it pretty quickly and I can just watch her go!

She has gotten even more obsessed with books lately. I keep a basket in her room of small board books that she can play with {this keeps her away from the nicer books}. If I'm doing chores and can't read to her, she will sit in the middle of the room, pull out a book, flip through it, put beside her, and repeat with the whole basket.

Eating is still going great! One bite could be cinnamon apples and the next bite could be turnip greens and she doesn't even make a face. Seriously, how is this my child? I didn't start willingly eating veggies until Junior High.

Nursing is great too. This may sound weird to some of you, but it makes me sad to think of weaning. Shelby takes so long to nurse at each session, but I enjoy that one-on-one quiet snuggle time. She is getting so busy these days and definitely won't just sit in my lap for a long period of time. My goal was to not have to supplement any milk during the first year, and we did it! Now, I'm planning to wean her over the next couple of months by dropping one feeding every week or two and replacing it with Almond Breeze's Coconut-Almond milk.

Shelby's tooth count is up to six. You can even see them when she smiles now, and it makes her looks much less like a little baby :(

7:30-8:00--wake, nurse then solids
10:00--nap
12:00--nurse, then solids
2:00-2:30--nap
4:00--nurse
5:30-6:00--solids
7:20-7:35--start bedtime routine
7:30-7:50--bed

Is this really our last "monthly photo shoot"!? I may start doing these every two or three months now... we'll see.

Emmerson Ashley

2013-10-02T15:45:00.000-05:00

Emmerson "Emme" Ashley Williams made her arrival September 29 at 3:24 pm.

Because of Brett's work schedule, we weren't able to be there right away but we got down there as soon as we could!

She is such a sweet little bundle of love!!! If you're keeping count, this makes me aunt to SEVEN kiddos and Emme is niece number FIVE. I mean, seriously, how blessed am I?!

We were only there for a couple of days so Brett and I tried to get in as much snuggle time as possible.

Shelby wasn't super interested in the baby while we were holding her, but when we put her in the chair before supper, she just kept looking at her and smiling. Shelby and Emme are almost exactly a year apart so it's crazy to look at the two of them together and see just how much they really change in that first year.

We went back the next day for more Emme snuggles and Noah playtime.

It's pretty funny to watch Shelby and Noah "play together" these days. Shelby was on Noah's territory at his house this time, and he was not too keen on her messing with his stuff. But she just kept going back for more so apparently it didn't bother her too much!

{This picture cracks me up. Noah didn't want to Shelby touching the chair while he was sitting in it. So after them going back and forth--Shelby put her hands on the edge, Noah pushes her off--she finally gets frustrated enough to just get away ;) }

A few of the Williams ladies

I LOVE this one! They're not looking at the camera, but you can see their eyes, and they're even cheesing it up :)

After a long morning of playing, Noah finally crashed. How sweet are these little sleeping siblings!?

It was a wonderful couple of days to meet our newest niece and spend time with family. Looking forward to seeing them again {but especially little Emme, I know she will have grown so much!}.

Eleven Months

2013-09-03T15:41:00.000-05:00

Shelby is 11 months old!

Weight-- 20.2 pounds {50th percentile}
Length-- 29 3/4 inches {85th percentile}

Shelby can wear most anything from sizes 9 month to some 18 month... so many clothes! Still in size 3 diapers but moving up to size 4 in her night time diapers as soon as we finish this pack.

She is crawling {so fast!}, pulling up, cruising along all the furniture and walls, and standing up on her own. Now when we walk around with her holding her hands, she can book it down the halls. Brett comes home from work and almost immediately starts "practicing walking," but I find myself pretty much never doing it unless she initiates. She'll walk when she's ready, and I don't want to push her to grow up any faster than she already is.

Playtime is so much fun these days! Putting blocks in and out of the box, playing with purses and stuffed animals, giving baby dolls kisses, reading, squealing, following me from room to room, dancing to music... I love it!

Mornings have come to be such a special time over the last couple of months. After nursing, we go to the kitchen to eat our yogurt {mine with granola and hers with cheerios and fruit} then read our Bible story for the day and go over the first couple of catechisms... she still doesn't say them with me, but I know that truth is already sinking into her little mind, and I look forward to the day that we can say them together.

And her kisses. I love her kisses!!! When she gets up from the crib, now she immediately comes at me with an open mouth for a kiss. She'll do it pretty much on cue and sometimes just randomly. Brett and I are obsessed!

Don't let Shelby's "skinny {for her length}" frame fool you. Girlfriend can eat! I am always shocked when I fill up her plate before meals and then she cleans it up pretty much every time. Here's an example of a meal these days--grilled chicken, baked sweet potato, green peas, avocado, cinnamon apples, and Shelby mac-n-cheese {veggie noodles, organic mozzarella and almond milk}. And she will often end with half a piece of cheese toast {wheat bread and mozzarella}. This is all AFTER she has nursed for about 20 minutes!!!

Since she eats so much and takes so long at the table, we usually turn on Pandora on my phone. She loves it. My little dancing queen :) She has gotten a little better with self-feeding. She'll do cheerios, cheese toast, pasta, and blueberries. Just nothing sticky or squishy. She is also doing great with a sippy cup. If I know we are going out to eat after church, I can pump the night before and she'll just take a sippy cup of breastmilk at the restaurant before she eats. She also drinks a lot of water from her sippy.

Shelby's top two middle teeth have broken through, and you can see the next two top ones right at the surface of her gums. That makes four teeth in right now. It seems like her teething pain has subsided and she's back to being a good napper

7:30-8:00--wake, nurse then solids
10:00--nap
12:00--nurse, then solids
2:00-2:30--nap
4:00--nurse
5:30-6:00--solids
7:20-7:35--start bedtime routine
7:30-7:50--bed

Labor Day Weekend

2013-09-02T15:40:00.000-05:00

Another fun, long weekend in Alabama. My brother Kyle and his family came for the whole weekend so got to enjoy hanging out with them and playing with the kiddos. Briley and Brody's fascination with Shelby hasn't died down so it was super cute to watch them interact. Also, Brett hasn't seen Briley in a while so she made up for lost time and wore him {and all his muscles} out... but he loved it :)

Sunday morning:

Sunday afternoon trip to Scottsboro's annual "Art in the Park"

Poor baby. So hot!

Supper then after bath playtime at Grammy's

Monday morning family breakfast at Jack's

About 5 minutes down the road:

Sweet girl napped for 2 hours the first part of the trip and at least another hour the second part. Very unusual for her... these days it's usually only a couple of 45 minute naps.

Fun was had by all, but after lots of travel and visitors lately, we are looking forward to some quality family time at the house!

Shelby and Noah

2013-08-26T15:37:00.000-05:00

Did yall hear about the governments furlough? Well we were a part of that. Brett had 6 days {down from the original 11} that he wasn't allowed to go to work and didn't get paid. The not getting paid part sucks, but the getting off of work wasn't too bad. Brett got lots of little projects done. Brett's brother also got furloughed, so they used it as a time to help each other out with projects. Dustin and his family came up here for an extended weekend, and we went to their house for an extended weekend. While the boys worked, the ladies and babies played and shopped. It was a lot of fun AND we got so much stuff done here that I didn't want to have to help with!

Once again, the camera didn't come out much. It's kinda hard with a one year old running and a 10 month old crawling. Plus, I seem to enjoy the moment more without a lens between me and the action. BUT, we did manage to get a few.

These babies love to read!

Sweet, sweet sweetness!

Pooltime fun at LoLo's

Cousins having fun while the parents play disc golf down in Ocean Springs

Kelty girl just made herself at home on their back patio

We wanted to badly to get a good picture of the cousins in their outfits that JuJu bought for them at the zoo, but it was supper time and getting two babies to sit still and smile and the same time was much more difficult than expected. I still think they are adorable though.

Shelby doing "the Kelty"

So thankful for the relationships we have with them and for the sweet growing relationship between the cousins!

Ten Months

2013-08-03T11:35:00.000-05:00

Shelby is ten month old!

Weight- 19.5 pounds {50th percentile}
Length- 29 1/2 inches {90th percentile}

She can still wear just about anything in the 6 month to 12 moth range but also has a few 18 month things that already fit. Still wearing size 3 diapers.

Shelby is crawling, pulling up, and walking around all the furniture. She has mastered getting up and down from standing position and doesn't crash nearly as much.

I started back running this month and she has been a champ in the stroller. I got her a little stroller fan to help with the heat, but she never fusses. The back of her head is usually damp from sweating when I get her out. It makes her hair curl up and I absolutely adore it!

Shelby's wave. It's my favorite. It's like she just has a limp wrist, and it is oh so prissy. And she loves dogs! If she hears Kelty or a neighborhood dog bark or if she sees one or sees a picture of one or if we talk about one, she smiles SO big, sticks her tongue out, and pants like a dog. I promise, I tried to teach her to bark, but Kelty doesn't bark, she only whines and pants so Shelby is actually more accurate when does that after being asked, "What does Kelty say?"

Still only the bottom two teeth, but I can see the top four trying to come in. Teething has thrown naps off a bit this month :( But nighttime sleep is still great!

We introduced meats this month, and she has loved it all. She's had chicken, steak, ground beef, fish, BBQ pork, and pot roast. Still so very thankful for a happy and healthy eater!

7:30-7:45--wake, nurse then solids
10:30--nap
12:00-12:15--nurse then solids
2:30-3:00--nap
4:00-4:30--nurse
5:30-6:00--solids
7:15-7:30--start bedtime routine
7:30-8:00--bed

Best Friends

2013-07-31T11:35:00.000-05:00

Shelby and Kelty. BFF.

Well, it's mostly one-sided, but Kelty puts up with her. Shelby gets so excited when she sees her. She loves to pet, hit, grab, and kiss her. Sweet Kelty girl just takes it all.

"Mom. She licked me again."

Playing ball together.

Looking so big standing in her big girl shoes.

Waving to Kelty and to me.

Alabama in July

2013-07-15T11:28:00.000-05:00

After our little stay in Birmingham, Shelby and I went back home to see Brett and go to her 9 month doctor's appointment. Then we got right back on the road to north Alabama again. Brett had some work to do in Huntsville so we tagged along. He was booked to stay at Embassy Suites and with family so close by we figured it was a win-win!

Shelby and I ended up staying at the hotel most of the time but went to Scottsboro over the weekend.

While in Huntsville, we went out to supper with my brother, walked around Big Spring Park, visited with a high school friend, visited with a college mentor, went out to supper with Mom and Billy, went to lunch and shopping with Mom, went over to my brother's house to hang out/eat with his family, swam in the hotel pool with Kyle and Brody, ate at the Ruth's Chris in the hotel, hung out in the hotel room, spent lots of time eating breakfast and hanging out downstairs. It was really nice to have a change of scenery--not at home, yet not in Scottsboro where I felt guilty if I didn't go visit every family member around.

Of course when we got to Scottsboro we visited with lots of family, and that was fantastic! But I enjoyed not having to share Brett and Shelby for a little while when we were in Huntsville.

While in Scottsboro, there was a party for three of my little cousins so we got to see a ton of family at once!

Enjoy the plethora of pictures from the week...

Shelby and I enjoying Big Spring Park right next to our hotel.

My mom was packing to go see Justin and his family in South Asia and Shelby enjoyed playing in all of the suitcases.

Splash pad party fun:

Seth

Dawson

Drake

Kolton, Jack, Kolby

On Sunday we tried to get a decent picture of Shelby in this dress that Mom bought her. See, Mom bought for matching dresses for all of the girls, but at the time there were only four girls. Now there are five girls. So Mom wanted to take this dress to Hannah over in South Asia so all the sisters could have matching dresses. After a long morning of church, no nap and lunch with the family, this was as good as it got. Shelby was trying to hard to keep busy so that she didn't fall asleep.

Mommy/Daughter Travels

2013-07-08T11:26:00.000-05:00

Shelby and I had our first hotel experience alone. We went to our friends' wedding in Birmingham on Saturday night. There was no way I was going to travel into the night alone with her so we booked a hotel for the night. Thankfully we were able to use Brett's hotel points to get it free :)

We drove to Scottsboro to the hotel. Checked in, unloaded, nursed, changed clothes, went to the wedding, went to the reception, and got back to the hotel in time for her normal bedtime. I did hate to leave the reception so quick, but I figured a piece of wedding cake wasn't really worth having a cranky baby on my hands all alone.

Another plus is that we stayed at the Embassy Suites. Because parts of Birmingham can be kind of sketchy, I decided to be safe and pick a nice hotel instead of trying to save some money {or hotel points}. I love Embassy Suites for many reasons, but the top two are having separate room for Shelby and the breakfast!

Things were too crazy trying to get to the wedding on time to get any cute pictures of us, but here are some of Shelby exploring while I got all of her bedtime things together

Even Shelby enjoyed the breakfast. I was so glad they had high chairs so I could enjoy my delicious breakfast as she ate Cheerios and fruit!

As much as I missed having Brett's company and helping hands, it was kinda fun having this little adventure just the two of us! {we left Kelty at Mom's because we're heading back up there soon}

July Fourth Weekend

2013-07-06T11:25:00.000-05:00

Since Brett was in El Salvador, Shelby, Kelty and I headed up to Scottsboro to hang out for the Fourth. Thankfully, Kyle and his family were able to come over for a couple of days too! Briley and Brody are still completely obsessed with Shelby, and I think it's adorable. They were so impressed with her crawling and pulling up on things. And whenever she would say "Ba ba," Briley would say, "She's trying to say Briley!" and of course Brody would say, "She's trying to say Brody!"

Cousins! {this is as good as I could get of Shelby, she was more interested in crawling around than sitting for a picture}

Fishing at County Park the night of the Fourth

More Shelby sillies the next day...

Playing dress up...

Nine Months

2013-07-03T11:24:00.000-05:00

Shelby is nine months old!

Weight-18 lbs 8 oz {50th percentile}
Length-29 inches {90th percentile}

She is still wearing anything between 6 month and 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

Shelby is now crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. Seriously everything... door frames, walls, all the furniture. She's gotten better, but she's still working on getting down without crashing. Poor thing has gotten her fair share of bruises.

Right now her favorite thing to do during playtime is to stand at her activity table and play with everything. She has recently gotten interested in little box with the different colored and shaped blocks. She hasn't quite figured out how to put them in the box but she loves to empty it after I put them away. Since she's so active on the floor these days, we've started reading time in the glider or recliner. I love how much she loves to read. She can be on the other side of the room, but if I hold up a book to her she will crawl as fast as she can and pull up on me to start reading.

The Jumperoo and Excersaucer are still pretty entertaining, but they don't get used quite as often any more. They are great when I need to keep her contained for a little while when I'm vacuuming or something, but I actually prefer her to be down on the floor and exploring.

Shelby got a hair cut this month. Crazy, right?! She had a little bit of left over baby hair that was SUPER long. It would curl up on the sides and looked like little wings. Brett was so annoyed by it so I finally broke down and trimmed it. It's crazy, it actually makes her hair look thicker now.

No more teeth. Only the bottom two. I think she's only bitten me two or three times while nursing since she's gotten her teeth. It hurt so bad that my reactions scared her super bad... but maybe that's what's keeping her from biting anymore.

Shelby is completely on table food and eats three meals a day. She has pretty much eaten every fruit and veggie out there and has yet to spit anything out. So thankful for a good eater! She will feed herself puffs and Cheerios {organic, of course ;) }, but nothing else. I put other foods on her tray by the Cheerios, but she is just not interested. Sometimes she'll pick them up, but she never puts it in her mouth. I think she's too much of a prissy girl, and doesn't like to get her hands messy.

7:30-7:45--wake/nurse, then solids

9:45--nap
12:00--nurse, then solids
1:30-1:45--nap
4:00-4:30--nurse
5:30-6:00--solids {whatever time we are eating supper}
7:15-7:30-- start bedtime routine
7:40-8:00--bed

JuJu and Granddaddy Visit

2013-06-30T11:22:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had a quick visit from Brett's parents. They needed to pick up the swing that Brett made for them, and I think they were also itching for some Shelby time.

Brett left for a mission trip to El Salvador Saturday afternoon, so they took Shelby girl and me out for a special supper downtown. They couldn't believe how much table food she was eating and that she actually stayed in the high chair and happy the whole time.

Sweet, sweet baby girl!

Sweet Senorita

2013-06-26T11:21:00.000-05:00

Brett's sweet cousin Amy sent her this adorable little Mexican dress. We love getting happies from her in the mail, but this is probably my favorite. Isn't it adorbs!?

My Watermelon

2013-06-24T11:20:00.000-05:00

It's another "my mom made this outfit for me when I was a baby" outfit :) What makes it extra special is that Briley and Sadie also wore it when they were little. I can't find the pictures of Sadie, but I did a blog post of Briley wearing it.

I love these little bubble outfits, especially now that Shelby is crawling everywhere.

Father's Day 2013

2013-06-16T14:33:00.000-05:00

Father's Day. It's always so bittersweet for me. For so many years, I just spent the day in tears. Missing Daddy. Jealous watching my friends with their dads. Then Billy came into my life. I still missed Daddy, but I was proud to have Billy as my step-dad. I grew to love Billy more that I could have ever imagined, and I was happy to celebrate Father's Day with him. But there was part of me that still missed Daddy. It was like this awful battle in my heart.

This year was different though. I have accepted the fact that I will always miss Daddy on Father's Day. But the amazing thing is that I now get to help Shelby celebrate Father's Day with her daddy. There was a new sense of joy and excitement this year that I haven't felt in 20 years. To know that Shelby is blessed with Brett as her daddy, brings such a big smile to my face.

I even went super cheesy with the Father's Day gift. I couldn't help it. I wasn't able to really do any of these things during my "little girl, crafty days." We would do things at church but they always made me cry because I was giving to them to my grandfathers instead of my dad. But now I get to do them with Shelby and actually enjoy them :)

Brett was in need of a little something for his office, so hopefully this will bring him a little joy during the day when he looks at it.

VBS 2013

2013-06-14T14:34:00.000-05:00

VBS is always a fun part of my summer. This year I had twenty-five 3rd and 4th graders to keep up with. Man were they a big bundle of energy. And on top of that, 18 of them were boys. That's a LOT of little boys! But they were surprisingly well-behaved. So thankful for a church that invests time and energy into all of the sweet, young lives.

Something different this year was have a kiddo to take with me. Our VBS is in the mornings, so Shelby and I had to be up, fed, ready and at the church by 8:15. It definitely made me appreciate our normal slow-paced mornings at home. Then having to drop her off in the nursery for 4 hours made me REALLY appreciate getting to stay home with her and not have to take her to daycare. The ladies that kept her were so great, but I still just wanted to play with her myself :) Just like Sunday mornings, Shelby decided that she wasn't interested her morning naps. They said she only slept 30-45 minutes each day {much different from her normal 2 hour naps}. When we got home, we had just enough time to eat lunch and then she was ready for her afternoon nap... which usually lasted 3 hours, and then she was ready for bed by 7:15. Poor baby was so tuckered out, but they told me everyday that she was so sweet and happy the whole time.

On Friday, they even made her a little "craft" like all the big kids did during their craft time. I might have teared up a little... I love it!

Photo Dump

2013-06-10T21:40:00.001-05:00

I think I've said this at every "stage," but Shelby is so much fun now! Growing like a weed and doing new things every day. Here's a glimpse into what she's been up to lately...

Swimming at LoLo and Meg's pool. {So thankful for this awesome pool and open-invite to play in it at any time!}

Shelby is crawling everywhere and had definitely started to notice Kelty. Shelby gets so excited now when we let her inside. I'm so glad that she's not scared of her and that Kelty lets her "mess" with her without getting upset.

No more laying around for this little girl. She goes from laying or crawling position to sitting up no problem. I kinda miss seeing her laying down when I get her from nap... but this is still pretty cute ;)

Shelby got all dressed up for Uncle Richard's wedding {only a fuzzy phone picture :( }

Highchair time is super fun these days. Shelby loves food {most of the time}, and it's been more fun than I expected letting her try new things.

She is now pulling up on anything that she can reach. Makes Mommy a nervous wreck, but I know that the tumbles are all just part of it.

And she wore some super cute skinny jeans :) I love little people clothes!!!

Lunch at GiGis'

2013-06-04T11:07:00.000-05:00

We seriously have the sweetest families here in Vicksburg who have adopted us into their families. I am so thankful for the love they show us and especially our Shelby. I just love walking out of the nursery and seeing all of the sweet faces that have been waiting to see/hold/play with Shelby.

Probably 2 or 3 Sundays a month, we go over to the Rhetts' house to eat lunch. They are IN LOVE with our Shelby girl! They are very ready for grandkids so they have decided to just claim Shelby. Both of their grandparent names are "GiGi" {which stands for Grandpa Glenn and Grandma Gail}, so they are hoping that will help her say their names sooner ;)

Glenn loves to take pictures so he pulled it out again last time we were there...

Family shots--I love how she has her sweet little hand touching me in these even though Brett is holding her

Playing in the floor with Uncle Richard and showing off her latest tricks...

I'm sure I've said it before, but I'm forever grateful to the Rhetts {and the other families at our church} for taking the time to invest in our little family. They are the reason that Vicksburg now feels like home.

Eight Months

2013-06-03T11:06:00.001-05:00

Shelby is eight months old!

Weight-17 lbs 11 oz {50th percentile}

Height- 28 1/2 inches {90th percentile}

She can wear anything from 6 month to 12 month clothes. Size 6 month bloomers and shorts fit best since she's fairly skinny for her height, but can wear most anything else in any of the sizes. She is wearing size 3 diapers.

We officially have a crawler. She is slow and steady, but she can get exactly where she wants to go now. Just a couple of days ago she also perfected going from crawling or laying down position to sitting up on her own. She has started reaching up on top of the coffee table and things like that so I see pulling up in her near future.

She now spends most of playtime sitting up playing with her toys. One of my favorite parts of the day is right before naptime. She gets more cuddly and likes to play in my lap. Now when I go get the books to read right before nap, she gets so very excited. She'll crawl over to me smiling really big, and I lay down beside her on the floor to start reading. As soon as I hold the book up to start reading, she kicks her little feet like crazy. I love it!

It hilarious to watch her in the Jumperoo now. She giggles and squeals and jumps up really high and really fast!

It's hard to pick because I just really love everything about being a mom, but probably my two very favorite things right are kisses and giggles. Sometimes she gets in a really silly mood and will just start cackling at anything that we do. Those sweet, baby belly laughs are the best! And now, when I say, "Kiss!" and pucker up my lips, she will come right at me with her mouth wide open and give me a kiss :)

We have teeth! Her two bottom middle teeth are in. One day I was feeding her avocado with my fingers and when she bit down I thought it felt a little funny. When I took a look in her mouth, there they were. Thankfully there wasn't a horrible teething phase with these teeth, but I know it could easily happen with any of the many teeth that are left. But has become a drool monster! I try to keep a bib on her or have a burp cloth handy at all times.

Another slight change in feedings and schedule. The catnap is completely gone. So a lot of the time she is ready to go to bed early. Just starting offering solids after her morning feeding, so solids 3 times a day and nursing 4 times a day. Morning and bedtime feedings still about 30 minutes, lunch and evening feedings are about 20 minutes. She is quickly making her way through all the vegetables and fruits, but not in baby food form. Apparently she prefers chunks of soft food instead the purees, so now I just slice up bananas and avocados and cook most everything else until soft. If I ever need her to eat "baby food" {like prunes or some of the food I already have frozen}, I just get a spoonful and drop a chunk of food on top for her to eat it. We are starting to work on her self-feeding. She can now feed herself puffs {organic, of course ;) }. She doesn't always make it to her mouth, and it takes her a while to eat 5 or 6 of them, but we've definitely seen lots of progress.

7:30-7:45--wake/nurse, then solids
9:45-10:00--nap
12:00--nurse, then solids
1:30-2:00--nap
4:00-4:30--nurse, then solids
5:30-6:00 {depends on when Brett and I eat supper}--solids
7:15-- start bedtime routine {read, change, nurse, pray, sing}
7:45-8:00--bed

For some reason, I feel the need to defend our "schedule." I get eye rolls and rude comments about us having Shelby on a schedule. It works for us, and Shelby and I thrive on having a schedule. Yes, she can function when she's not on a schedule. That's the beautiful thing, she can bounce back very easily. On Sundays the schedule is completely out the window. Her morning nap ranges from no nap to only 45 minutes. Sometimes we don't get back from lunch until 2:30 so her afternoon nap is late. She is rarely fussy and just rolls with the punches. Things definitely get off when we travel and visit family. During the week, our schedule is just a guide. Naptime is based on the clock AND her queues, not the clock alone. So it can vary up to 30 minutes either way from the above schedule. We do try to be home for naptime as much as possible because she naps best in the crib. So yes, there is a sacrifice there sometimes, but it is definitely worth it. A happy, growing, rested baby is worth it every time :) If you and your family work differently, that's fine. Great! Do what works for you. But this works for us, and works darn well. Ok. Off my soapbox ;)