6 Months Old

Our Sweet Kayleigh Grace,

I looked at the clock today at 1:22, and ran over to where you were playing happily on the carpet to swoop you up and cover you with kisses.

Six months ago, right at that minute, you came into this world and made our hearts overflow with love.

As much as I loved you that moment, with your blotchy pink-blue skin and sticky hair, how could I have imagined how much that love would change--deepen--in the next six months?

The first time I saw you, I loved you because you were mine.

I loved that you were a physical representation of the love between your daddy and me.

I loved you for the potential of what we could have together.

I loved you because for nine months, I had countered every wave of nausea and every pain with the reminder that a baby would come from all of this.

And here you are.

Now, when I look at you, I love you because you are you.

I love every giggle, every squeal, and every belly laugh.

I love every crease and roll you have.

I love your curiosity, your excitement to try things out yourself.

I love that expression which tells me that you're so gosh-darn proud of yourself.

I love the way you smile at passersby, that you're just as social and friendly as your daddy. 

This month, you have changed the most out of any month.

It wasn't even a month ago that you rolled over for the very first time,

and now you're on a blanket next to me, singing to yourself as you rock back and forth on all fours.

Crawling is just days away, Sweet Girl.

And you're so excited about it!

It seems like overnight, you went from toppling over when anyone tried to sit you on your bottom, to being able to sit as long as we let you.  And now, you wave your hands and kick your feet if we leave you sitting somewhere and move away.  Like you're offended that you can't follow us on your own yet.

It's not far away...

You have been exclusively breastfed up to this point, but in the last week, we've let you sample (more like suck on) a carrot, broccoli stem, banana, and apple.  You've also tried rice cereal twice now, and we were amazed with how you knew just how to open your mouth for the spoon and slurp it right up!  Now you feel entitled to eat whatever we're eating, and we just have to smile and shake our heads.  No cheeseburgers for you, yet!

You started reaching for people this month, and you have completely melted some hearts!  I'm glad that you're so happy to visit with other people now (too much interaction with people other than Mom and Dad used to leave you overwhelmed and frazzled).  All of the sweet grandma ladies at church have adopted you, and you're completely happy being passed from loving arm to loving arm.

What a fun age this is, Baby Girl.  We are loving every minute of watching you grow, grow, grow.  You're not just a helpless infant anymore.  You have a will of your own.  It's so much fun to see you sitting up and playing with toys, laughing at Daddy and the funny games he plays with you, and hearing your squeals of joy.  And yet, I'm just as happy and thankful that one of your favorite things to do is still cuddle up in our arms.

Daddy and I look at each other all the time and ask, "How did we receive such a wonderful, happy baby?"

We didn't do anything to deserve you, Kayleigh Grace, but our God is good, and He has blessed us far beyond what we could have imagined.

Stay as sweet as you are!

We love you!

Love, Mom

Biting Daddy's Nose

Our silly girl has a new favorite thing to do.

She loooooves biting noses, especially Daddy's!  

We've started kissing her nose back, and she thinks it's the funniest thing.  Such a cute little sense of humor! 

Tabhair póg dom, táim Éireannach!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day from our kissable little lassie!

Swings and Smiles

Kayleigh and I had a wonderful afternoon.

We met a friend and her two little boys at a park after lunch, and spent a few hours enjoying the beautiful spring  weather.  Kayleigh can't do quite as many things as the active little one year old and three year old boys did, but she enjoyed watching them play in the woodchips and would nibble on a shovel or bucket when it was handed to her.  Her eyes really lit up whenever the boys came near.  She just loves "playing" with other kids!

Brecken and her boys headed home before we did, so I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Kayleigh in the sunshine.  I think more trips to the park are in order!  I loved how much she loved our time outside today.

Kayleigh's first time in a swing!  She loved it.  I knew she would, since she loves it when we swing her around in our arms.  She's fearless.  And tons of fun :)

Every little detail about today was just beautiful

Especially that happy little smile on my sweet girl's face!

I hope you all are enjoying some lovely weather this week, too!

Featured on The Mama Diaries

Back in December, as my friend Kayse and I were making baby hand print ornaments and talking about Christmas gifts for our husbands, she mentioned that a brand-new blog was looking for moms to include in a parenting survey.  Even though my "experience" only went back about three months, I offered to put in my two cents as well.

Jeannette sent me the survey, I filled it out, and she wrote me back with a thank you and "I'll post it on my blog on March 7th."

Fast forward to March 12th.

Whoops.

I really need to start putting my calendar to use so that I can keep on top of things like this!

When I quickly clicked over to www.mamadiaries.com this morning, I was surprised to see that my answers hadn't just been taken into account, but that they had been shared in full on her blog.  Wow!  So some of it is not quite as well-worded as I probably would have been careful to do if I had realized that I wasn't just going into an anonymous pile, but now that I better understand what Jeannette's blog is about, I'm honored to be part of it and excited to read about other mamas.  Isn't it fun to learn about different parenting styles and get ideas from more experienced moms?  I love it!

So, if you're curious to read about what motherly thoughts flutter around in my head, hop on over to Bethany on The Mama Diaries

Thanks, Jeannette, for putting together a wonderful place to learn and grow together!

Jeannette is always looking for more mamas, so if you would like to share your thoughts with her, read this and then write to her!  Be sure to say hi :)

Pinterest Party Link-Up #2

***Today is the last full day to enter the Dayspring Giveaway!  Don't miss out!***

Welcome to the second month of our Pinterest Parties!

Happy Homemaker Me hosts one on the first Sunday of Every month, and we'd love for you to join in!

<center><a href="http://www.happyhomemaker.me/2012/02/pinterest-party-link-up.html / "><img border="0" src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa471/HappyHomemakerMe/PinterestPartyButton125.jpg" /></a></center>Please add this button to the bottom of your post so that others know to come here and check this party out!

I'm away from home this weekend, but I want to tell you about an incredible recipe I found on Pinterest this month.

This little beauty is from Our Best Bites.

Baked Chicken Penne.  Could anything be more amazing than this creamy blend of chicken, mushrooms, cheese, and pasta?  I think not.  Oh my.  I've made it three times this month, and each time, it's been greedily gobbled up before the thought of snapping a photo ever enters my mind.

The best part is that the recipe is created so that you make one dish to eat, and one to freeze {except that none of mine actually ever made it to the freezer...}  It's a great idea, anyway.  But self-control doesn't come with the recipe.  That part's up to you.

I hope you'll give it a try!  It really is a truly amazing dish.  My sister said it channels Macaroni Grill.  And it's so easy.  I love it!

Ok, now it's your turn!  What have you pinned lately?  I'd love to see anything you've got!  Remember that you can link up with recipes, craft tutorials, organizational tips, style ideas, decorating designs, printables, whatever you want!  Do you have something on your blog you'd like to see on Pinterest?  Link it and we will happily pin it for you!

Let's Play!

My all-time favorite photo publishing company, Paper Coterie, is hosting a photo scavenger hunt for the month of March.  The theme is PLAY, and they've got a great list of photo prompts set up!

I've never done a month-long photo event, but I think this will be a lot of fun!  Especially with the addition of our sweet and smiley little subject.   5 month old Kayleigh's favorite thing to do is PLAY!

March 1st's prompt was "Laughter."  This is what I submitted:

I think this is going to be so much fun!  Would you like to join me?  Go to Paper Coterie's blog and leave a comment letting them know that you want to play, too.  Then use the list above as inspiration for your pictures, and upload them every day to Paper Coterie's Facebook page, or use Twitter or Instagram.  Just be sure to use the hashtag #takingtimeforplay (for all three ways of entering).  

As if this wasn't fun enough already, Paper Coterie will choose a winner every week and give them a $150 Visa card!

I'm in, are you?