That time it became semi-impossible to take photos of Baby E...

There was a day -- not too long ago -- where I could plop my little one anywhere I wanted and get a great shot with ease. All by myself, at that!

Gone are those day?! Who knows.

Shots like this:



or this..



Well those were easy peasy. Ya know, just randomly amidst changing her or in between switching activities, we'd lay down quick to snap some monthly photos, and a few minutes later I was pretty happy with what I was able to capture in that short amount of time.









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Now, I looove me some candid photos! Don't get me wrong. Really, that's all I ever take these days, aside from the occasional "oooh, let's take some real photos of her" here and there.

And it seems candids are pretty much all we'll be seeing for the next 4 years or so until I can potentially get her to pause for a millisecond to take a slightly-posed photo-- if that happens then haha. But I'm okay with that!

As I've said, I do loove me some candids, especially mid-play when having fun or exploring.



But...as much I'm okay with mostly candids, we've gone the first 10 months of her life taking these monthly photos.



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So, it only seems appropriate to finish out the year.

Meaning: only 2 more sweat fests-- full of millions of shutter clicks, rolling baby girl back into position a gazillion and 4 times, having her laugh her butt off at us for moving so dang quick and looking back to see how close we are, and tons and tons of roars, laughs, and giggly screams that make us lose our voice to get her eyes to look at us at the same time as a smile out of her. Wish us luck. Ha.

After all, this is all for HER to have for when she's older, right?! Ha....yea. okay.


'Look, guys, I can hula dance' (last pic on the right)


'Hahaha, you want me to sit still? Suckers!'

'Tell me to smile one more time...see if it works!'

'I'm ready, ready, ready to take off. Try and get a pic, ma!'

'I'll just schmooze Daddy a bit..try and distract him, you know..'

'Maybe I'll empty this entire basket and pretend like I like to play with this stuff that I never touch'

'What, you guys are giving up on takin' my picture? Oh, by the way, I love you Daddy!'

'Booooring!'

'Muahaha -- while these fools are laying on the rug resting up after sweating their butts off, I'll have me some fun. What's up here?!'

'Ooh, Momma gave up on takin' my pics and decided to play with my blocks. Let me go mess them up!'

'....and then proceed to climb my chair!'

Yes, yes, these were fun photos to take, as you can see! Haha. And just take a look at what her sticker looked like by the time it came off. Most of her other stickers are pristine!


And perhaps the saddest end to the photoshoot....that beloved blue frame she decided to push over? Well, it broke :(


Despite the (fun) craziness these monthly photos may have entailed, I will at least attempt 11 and 12 month photos. Daddy is actually going to be gone during the 11 month photos, so don't be surprised if it's just a photo of her in a downward dog yoga position. We can't just skip the next 2 months, can we? I mean, can't you hear it now 'Mom, you took 10 months worth of these pics and really couldn't do 11 and 12..really?..Awesome."

If she were the 4th child like myself and barely had any photos of her, then yes, perhaps that's what I'd hear. But let's be honest, this gal -- the first child -- will have the complete opposite outlook. "Mom, did you REALLY have to take THAT many photos of me...?"

Yes, baby girl, yes I did!

Say cheese!

Baby E {10 month photos & favs}

Double digits. Ahh! Our girl turned 10 months on September 13, and we, yet again, had a busy time in between 9 and 10 months! It's safe to say this entire year will be pretty busy -- especially seeing as though hubby is leaving again for the month of October and baby girl and myself will once again be all over the place! It sure is fun at the moment, but at the same time we look forward to the time we will have our little 'normal' life again (but not trying to rush anything as we are enjoying ourselves day by day!)

And this 10 month old girl? Well she wants nothing to do with pictures! A post will follow with how difficult it is becoming to capture these pictures of our always-on-the-go little one.

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The 10 month favorites! (which are prettty similar to both 8 & 9 month favorites, with a few new additions)


bath letters & numbers // clip-on umbrella (which clips directly on the go-pod -- perfect for the beach!) // little swimmers // gerber lil crunchies // BOB jogging stroller // go-pod // freshly picked moccasins // think baby sunscreen // amber teething necklace // fsu cheerleader dress // baby board books

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10 month stats :: I don't have exact stats but at 9 months, 1 week, she was 16lbs 7oz., so hopefully a little bigger than that!

Milestones ::

{Taking little steps} This gal attemps to take about 2 steps at time (before she gracefully face plants into the rug or uses that diaper as a butt cushion). She's taking lots of risky steps and getting so close.


{Freakin' fast child} Ha, I know I'm not in the minority here with having a child that travels faster than the speed of light, but seriously - she cray cray. Girl will flyyy through the house!



{Climbs Anything & Everything} We have a climber! Can't keep our eyes off her for a minute these days.

{Says} Dada, occasional Mama (starting to say it more), she has repeated 'Get!' when telling the dog to get outta here (maybe not so good?!), and says 'Uh-Oh!' with the cutest little 'o' face after dropping things. Like so:

{Has 4 teeth} All 4 front (2 top, 2 bottom) have cut through the gums.



SLEEPING :: This has taken a slight turn. She decided to start waking up earlier and earlier. Mama no likey! But our cuddles and falling back asleep together certainly make up for the early riser our daughter has become.

Her favorite places to sleep? For sure the stroller and the car!

EATING :: Nurses about 4-5x a day and has expanded her little palette. She has begun eating more 'people' food such as fruit (strawberries seem to be her favorite - just like her momma!) and waffles, breads - actually, just about all carbs!



Not at the top of her 'favorite food list'? Peas and carrots, apparently!


Hold the peas, ma!

Although she does enjoy her baby food peas. Who knows!

MISC. ::

{Started Brusing Teeth} And she loves it...



{Dog Lover} --or troublemaker? These 2 get into shenanigans together :)



{Jogging Queen} Baby girl loves going on jogs with Daddy. Best part about it? They run by the park each time and stop for a swing!

Veryyy sleeepy!

These two looove each other :)


{Toilet paper obsessed} If you can't find her due to silence, we know where she is. In the bathroom -- pulling the toilet, paper ripping it up, and shredding it into teeny tiny pieces. Why not?



Sure do love her 'oh crap, I'm busted' face.





{Celebrated her first Labor Day} At the beach, of course! And got to hang out with all of her family :) Including Aunt Maggie who came to visit from Memphis!


Our early riser allows us to witness some amazing sun rises :)

{Park Lover} Baby E loooves the park - swinging and playing in the water, and going down the slides with momma, cousins, and friends.

{FSU baby} Enjoying fall and football!!

Our curious, beautiful, and adventurous 10 month old is keeping us on our toes, as well as keeping us laughing non-stop.



Our bed time ritual reminds us that even after the craziest of days, we are a family full of love and laughs -- and her smiles, hugs, and back-and-forth crawls to mommy and daddy to give kisses leave us all going to sleep happy! We are so in love with our girl.

Happy 10 months, sweet Baby E!

Mommy, Daddy, and Puppy love you so so much!

Come back shortly to see some of the outtakes of her less-than-stellar 10 month mini photo shoot :)

Baby E // 8 & 9 month {photos & favs}

Just another couple of months -- slipping sneakily behind us, leaving a trail of memories and milestones to last a lifetime. Our sweet baby is 10 days away from turning 10 months old. Oh lawdy, let me backtrack here and say that our sweet baby is 9 months and 2.5 weeks old. Sounds much better to  me!

July 13, 2013 -- 8 months
August 13, 2013 -- 9 months

This summer has been full of family, fun, and milestones. Baby E's first summer has been one for the books. And by the pretty little smiles and cheerful little laughs, I'd say she is pretty dang happy to have done all that we have this summer!





Dare I warn you of the photo overload? No, right?! I mean, we are talking 2 months combined into one post here. Keep in mind that these photos and stats are from in between 7-8 months and 8-9 months. Next post (10 month post) will be for 9-10 months. It gets a bit confusing when I'm so far behind here, but better late than never. Right?!

8:

9:

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Shall we get things started with a little 8 and 9 month favorites?!


slipon tom-style shoes // raspberry teether // little swimmers // earth's best pouches // bath time foam letters & numbers // go pod // fisher price walk along stroller // baltic amber teething necklace // happy baby puffs // shopping cart and highchair cover // mini board books


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8 MONTH STATS :: Not sure :( Let's just go with little!

MILESTONES ::

{Walks along furniture} Baby girl will walk holding on to anything, and gets brave once in a while and moves from one piece of furniture to another.



{Speed Racer Crawler} If she hears you coming after her, Girl will crawl away like there is no tomorrow. She's a speedy lil one! And then she turns around and laughs like she just burned ya.



{Says} Dada (all day long), and Mama only once in a while. And when we tickle her and repeat 'tickle, tickle, tickle!', sometimes she does a 'ticka, ticka, ticka' sound.




SLEEPING :: Between 7-8 months, waking up around 7:30am. Sleeps great at night and randomly throughout the day.






EATING :: Nurses about 4-5x a day. All baby food (except for meat).



MISC. ::

{Traveled the state of Florida between 7-8 months} South Florida > Jacksonville > Tampa > Tarpon Springs > Cocoa Beach > South Florida all in one trip with Mommy & Puppy!

Also spent a weekend in The Keys with Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Catherine, Uncle Donnie, and Arianna & Kristina :)

{Celebrated her first 4th of July} We spent the 4th of July down at the condo on Deerfield Beach, watching the fireworks at eye level. Beautiful day!

{First trip to the Zoo} Daddy was away for the month of July and we went to visit him in Jacksonville, so we brought Baby E to the Jax Zoo! First time seeing elephants, zebras, giraffes, and much more!



Yes, that hat has been destroyed by the ocean! But that's okay..I'll take it.

 {LOVES to read} She loves being read to and flipping through books herself. Sometimes she'll crawl to her room and I will peek in on her going through a book, then moving on to the next. Adorable!

{Curious Lil Girl} She people watches like it's her job. Whether looking out the windows or chillin' in the stroller. She's content when there's much to watch!

We love this beautiful girl with all of our hearts! 8 months flew by, especially after a move and traveling so much, but the memories are rackin' up!

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9 MONTH STATS :: 16 lbs, 7 oz (10%) & 29" long (90%)

MILESTONES ::

{ Runs along furniture} She started out cautiously walking along furniture last month, and has progressed to basically running along furniture and in between furniture and from couch to couch. She lunges herself from certain pieces of furniture to another.

{Climbs} I have a picture of it somewhere, but can't find it at the moment! But we sure do have a climber. I've caught her literally hanging, feet off the ground, on a tall nightstand. She will climb to the top of anything that she can -- probably just to scare her momma.

{Still a speed demon} We're just not quick enough sometimes.





{Her first tooth popped through} On August 13, 2013, the day she turned 9 months, her first little bottom tooth popped through her gums. (And another on the top since, but that will be for next month's post since it was in between 9 & 10 months!)

Clearly, I'm slacking, because I still don't have a picture of it :(



{Took A step} Yes, just one, that I've seen at least! She stood on her own and put one foot forward and fell. She is certainly getting braver, though!

SLEEPING :: This gal has decided to start waking up a little earlier each day. Mommy no likey! But I can't complain TOO much, because she does sleep all night, so oh well. And her naps are really hit or miss! We are lucky that she doesn't get really cranky if she doesn't nap as her little car catnaps seem to get her by. Some days I get lucky and get (2) 2 hour naps out of her, though!


So sleepy this night..she fell asleep on the changing table!

Oh, and she has also fallen asleep twice in her high chair. Silly girl!

EATING :: Nurses about 4-5x a day, and eats all fruits and veggies baby food, puffs, cheese curls, wagon wheels, etc. I try over and over to feed her real food, like fruit, veggies, and more recently waffle pieces, muffins, and little pieces of chicken, however we still need to work on the real food thing! We'll get there.



MISC. ::

{Points} Baby E has become quite the E.T. She points at anything and everything, and loves if you point back at her.

{Belly Laughs} She can crack up quite easily and we love getting it out of her! She's pretty good at getting belly laughs out of us herself. While reading 'Baby Cakes' every night, I think we all crack up just because of how funny she thinks it is. Before I even start reading, she sees the book and starts laughing. It's awesome!



{LOVES swimming} This girl has swam more times in the Ocean and pools than some do in their lifetime! She kicks and splashes and gets excited about it all. We love that she loves the water and now it's time to teach her safety! Let's get this girl swimming :)

{Baby proofing like crazy} Cabinets, outlets, central vac sockets, sharp table corners, etc. -- she is into ALL of it! And laughs at everything. Which makes it very hard to tell her no. We're in trouble with this one ;)

...Which is what every woman and man alike tell us when they take one look at our girl.




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It is truly amazing to watch her grow -- to see the changes that occur with each stage as she transitions into a communicative little human. Her personality is shining through and it really has sunk in just how much she has grown. Each night, I hold her a little tighter and tighter and tell my husband just how much I want to remember all these moments of her as a baby while she still is one.

This momma has been blessed with a sweet and loving, sometimes gentle little soul who loves us just as much as we do her.



We have two (very opposite in the looks department) charming, funny, wonderful little bebe's!





It has been 9 1/2 months of the most love we've ever felt as a little family, and God knows the love can only grow from here!



This baby -- this giggly, cuddly, on-the-go, curiously pretty baby -- has been outside of my belly for longer than she was in it now and is showing us all that she has to offer us in this great big world. Which is a WHOLE lotta LOVE -- unconditional love at that!

Baby E {7 months} - a little late!

My baby girl turned 7 months on June 13th.
(So yes, this blog post and the photos that go along with it are really all about her from the day she turned 6 months until she hit 7 months on 6/13 -- we're just a little late, and she has started a whole slew of new things since she hit 7 months on 6/13, but for now -- her 7 month update that should have happened over 2 weeks ago...)

For a 6 1/2 month old baby, she was one busy, busy bee! Our little Georgia peach took the plunge (er, rather, climbed the tree) to become our lil Florida orange! A cross-state move to Florida, shortly followed by her first plane ride up to Ocean City, NJ combined with sun, fun, family, oceans, BBQ's, swimming, sand, and more, this gal has been soaking up the sweet smell of summer time!

 That 'on-a-mission' little smile with the bottom lip sucked in surely sucks me in every time -- it's the cutest, and it's only when she's in deep thought or determined to get something or somewhere. I love it ;)

{The 7 month favorites will be combined next month with 7 & 8 month favs}

I sure do love this little swimmer baby!


7 MONTH STATS ::
Not sure, no doctor visit for 7 months. I'm just going to assume she is still around the 18th percentile! Kapeesh?

MILESTONES ::  

{Officially Crawling} She had been making her way around, via army crawl, getting on all 4's and lashing herself forward, etc. But while on vacation in Ocean City, this girl made some real moves. As in, full on arms and legs going at the same time to make her way around. And from there, whew -- there is no stopping her. She will throw her one leg out to push herself even quicker. The girl is fast and she will follow you ALL around. You can tell she gets proud of herself too! Ha ;)



{Sits up steadily now} She was sitting at around 5 months, but it was sometime in between 6 and 7 months where she started sitting without plopping over after a few, which makes me feel much better! I can now leave her be without being the mom right on top of her and she's good ;)

{Pulls up on things and stands up} Speaks for itself. This started right after officially crawling. She stands in her crib all.the.time. now and momma doesn't really enjoy that during those times when I try to put her down for a nap!

{Babbles Dada} The girl will babble 'dada' like it's her job -- to which I kindly respond with 'what about mama?!'

SLEEPING ::  
Same as last month. In her crib, sleeps in til about 7:30-8ish. One day she slept until 8:45 and you can imagine how much I enjoyed that ;)

EATING ::
She nurses about 5x a day and eats veggies & fruits. She decided to boycott the greens for a little while, but now she's back on track. I've also given her some fruits in her mesh feeder. Yummy!

MISC. ::
{Moved from Middle Georgia to South Florida} J and I have moved entirely too much. Lately, it has been every year. Gotta love the med school life! Grizz has become a pro at moving with us and Baby E did great. Get ready...it will be happening again next May.
Here is she helping Daddy in the garage...love that scrunchy smily face she makes ;)


{First plane ride} To her daddy's favorite place in the world OC :) She went in my belly last year and this was her first time taking in the views and touching the ocean with her toes.

{Celebrated her first Memorial Day} Hopefully she's getting used to how much I love holidays!

{Swam in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and lots of pool time}

This wears her out!

She's spent lots of time with family! Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, you name it! Her daddy has been gone for about 12 hours a day, but we are able to make up for it on the weekends!

And we are a bit sad about him leaving this weekend for a month :(


She still loves her books


And I must say, I officially have had to tell her 'No!' or 'Don't do that!' several times. First time I said it, I paused afterwards thinking 'Whattt? Did I really just have to tell her no already?!' Hard to believe based on this innocent lil face, but baby girl is lovin' getting into things she shouldn't ;) From playing with the outlets, to tearing mail and magazines off shelves and making her biggest messes yet, this momma has got her hands full these days! (And yes, I know it will only get crazier! ha)


Ma, you talkin' about me?!  I certainly couldn't get mad at this face!


This girl loves her Doggy. She now crawls to him and reaches out for him in excitement. I'm not sure he gets very excited, though.


Apparently these two have a love-hate relationship.
She comes to him, he tries to get away. He comes to her, she tries to get away. Typical brother/sister relationship?!

Don't worry, I picked her up right when she started fussing ;)

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Baby E is surely growing up right before our eyes. I may have been slacking on the posts lately, but I'm doing my best to make summer memories and embrace each moment with our baby, while she still is a baby!


This girl makes life wonderful. Waking up to her cuddles every morning is the best start to the day.

She's changing every moment, and no matter how hard I try to make our time together count, it still slips by and leaves me wondering where the first half of her babyhood has gone! I'm cuddling her tightly at night, kissing her baby toes, laughing back harder at each little laugh, and tickling her baby thighs as much as I can, all while trying to let her explore on her own. I'm loving my 7 month old with all I have :)



I sure do love you, little beauty!