8 months and Christmas

Blakely turned 8 months on December 6th. She is growing like a weed, is so curious about everything and just a sweetheart!

We took some "normal 8 month pictures" and then I took a few in front of our Christmas tree! 

Surprisingly, she wasn't really interested in the lights. She did try to pull the bows off of several gifts!

At 8 months Blakely Kate:

~ weighs 18 lbs. 8 oz.
~ 28 and 3/4 inches tall
~ wearing 9 month and 6-12 month clothes
~wearing size 3 diapers
~is officially crawling and on the move!
~is more curious about things than ever!
~got her first ear infection
~eating anything her Nana makes her (mom has been making homemade baby food for a while now and Blakely and Penelope love it!...I love that we know exactly what she is eating and mom is a great cook, so it has been great!)
~drinking apple juice and about 24 oz. of formula a day
~pulling anything and everything out of the wall
~Saying "ma-ma" a lot! (Don't tell Travis but I've really been working on this with her ;))



I love Blakely's curiosity! She is really taking everything in in the world around her and while that puts us on the move keeping up with her, it is amazing to watch her little brain process it all! She is such a snuggle bug and sweet as ever.

As you may be able to see, taking the rocking chair pictures we have taken each month has become much more of a challenge as Blakely is on the move! She wants to play with mommy's camera rather than let me use it on her!

She loves her teddy...Her daddy says she is fulfilling one of his life goals- to wrestle a bear (~sigh!)

 Christmas

For Christmas, Blakely got a few toys and some clothes and some money for her college account (yeah, we're trying to get ahead of the game!). She got a precious little swing and slide for our backyard, a "grow-with-me" tricycle, a play camera and phone and several other things! We knew she wouldn't really know what was going on and so we asked everyone not to do too much for her first Christmas! She pulled a few pieces of tissue out of some bags, but other than that, she napped most of the morning and then played with her toys! We had a great first Christmas as a family and Travis and I know the greatest gift we received this year came back in April! It's a gift that keeps on giving to us each day!

Playing with her camera

Blakely and her Daddy

Riding Cousin Penelope's elephant...B wasn't so sure about it at first. She really enjoys it now!

I'll have more Christmas pictures and 9 month updates when we go to the doctor in a few weeks! We pray you and your family have a fantastic 2014! We are excited for what the Lord is teaching us and leading our family to do this year! Blessings to you~

Peace and Love,

Kristen

Pictures with Santa

Yesterday, we went to have the girls' pictures made with Santa Claus. We visited him in Birkdale Village in Huntersville! Blakely did great! She stared at him, was very interested in his beard and then started smiling. We think she may have even whispered a few Christmas wishes in his ear. We were so glad she didn't cry! These moments are so special and we know that we won't get them back! We can't wait for Thanksgiving this week and are so very thankful for this precious gift! 

Blakely and Santa

Blakely and Penelope- First Santa Visit

Our family Christmas pictures are coming soon! We had a good time taking a few in downtown Lincolnton! 

Peace and Love,

Kristen

Halloween and 7 Months!!

Halloween was a while ago, but this little sweetie keeps this mama busy! We dressed up the girls as Thing 1 (Penelope) and Thing 2 (Blakely) from the book The Cat in the Hat. This was their Nana's idea and it was a HIT!! We took them to Trunk or Treat at FBC Lincolnton. They sat on the back of the truck in their Bumbo seats, drank their bottles, played with toys and grinned at all of the trick-or-treaters. Everyone wanted to take their pictures and they had a ball!! The weather was great and Jordan and I had a good time passing out candy! 

Here a few pictures from their first Halloween: 

Thing 1 and Thing 2 before Trunk or Treat

Blakely thought Penelope looked so hilarious. She was dying laughing. If only she knew she looked just like her!

On the truck!

Sweet girl at Trunk or Treat

Our first Halloween as a family of 3!

Blakely turned 7 months on November 6th. Here are a few updates and pictures from this month!

Blakely is:

-Growing! She weighs 17 lbs. 8 oz. and is 27 1/2 inches long (60% weight, 90% height)

-Sitting up all the time now and doing it all by herself

-Pulling up onto anything she can (her crib, the ottoman, shelves)

-eating 3 meals a day. She loves just about anything!

-getting a few tastes of table food (apples, mushed bananas, icing, nibbles of a cookie)

-drinking 4, 6 oz. bottles

-wearing size 3 diapers

-wearing 6-9 month clothes

-staying with Nana everyday!

-saying ba, ba, ba,...ma, ma, ma and so on

-playing patty cake when we play with her

-giggling all the time at her daddy and mommy

Growing too fast!

Pulling up!

Peace and Love,

Kristen

It's Pumpkin Time!

Last weekend we took Blakely and Penelope to the pumpkin patch at Carrigan Farms in Mooresville, NC. We couldn't believe it, but it was 89 degrees!!! We had a great time despite the heat and got a few pictures!! We picked some pumpkins and went on a hay ride. Carrigan farms is a great place to go if you're looking for fresh fall items- corn stalks, pumpkins, apple cider, apples, etc. We loved the time spent together!  Here are a few pictures from the patch!

At the Patch with Daddy

 

Looking at the goats

Our family

Sweet Cousin Penelope

                   

The next day, we went for a girls outing to Boone. This was Blakely's half birthday! (October 6th) We went to Julian Price Park and Bass Lake and hopped a few fences (with the government being shutdown the parks aren't open) to take some fall pictures of the girls. We went for a stroll around Bass Lake and then of course Aunt Jordan and me had to run into the outlets and to get some Kilwins. Penelope even had her first little taste of ice cream!!
Here a few pictures:

Penelope and Jordan

 Nana and the babies

Blakely and me

Blakely at 6 months is:

Still wearing size 2 diapers

Finally getting some sweet little rolls on those legs

wearing size 6 months clothes

eating stage 2 baby food (loves it!)

 "creeping" across the floor

sitting up on her own

"chatting" up a storm

having a ball playing with Penelope

loving things that light up and make noise

cutting her 2 front bottom teeth

6 month pictures: 

We could just kiss those little cheeks off! We love this girl absolutely to the moon and around the sun and back! 

Peace and Love,

Kristen

 I'm behind on blogging so I'm combining Blakely's 4 and 5 month blogs! We've done a lot since she was 3 months old! In July we took Blakely on her first beach trip to Hilton Head Island. She loved putting her feet in the water and playing in the pool. She didn't, however, love the wind and sand being on her so much! I'll have more beach pictures soon, but here's a teaser : 

At our favorite restaurant The Old Oyster Factory

 At Harbor Town

 Family picture- told you she didn't like the    wind :)

Nana lost her camera card with the beach pictures on it so I have to load some on a flashdrive to add to the blog later! There are some real cuties of Blakely and her cousin Penelope! 

I went back to school around mid-August and have left Blakely with my mom (Nana). Nana takes great care and plays all day with Blakely. She is doing great, but this Mama is having a hard time leaving her girl everyday. Those smiles and giggles are missed during the week, but sure are savored on the weekend!!! 

 Blakely has been doing so much in the past two months. Here's an update:

At 4 months Blakely:

weighed 13 lbs and 9 ounces (36%) 
was 25 inches long (65%)
is rolling over from back to front
wearing size 2 diapers
still wearing 3 months clothes and some 3-6 months (little squirt!) 
sleeping all night (most nights!- we are so relieved that we finally have a sleeping baby!)
loves to talk to us!
began eating solids (we started with rice cereal and apples!- she loved them!)

At 5 months Blakely Kate:

weighs around 14.5 pounds (give or take)

is around 25.5 inches long

is eating 3 meals a day (loves pretty much everything we give her, but apples and sweet potatoes seem to be favorites)

is rolling from back to front and front to back

is propping up on her elbows and trying to get her knees underneath her

goes after toys she wants on the floor

wearing size 2 diapers

wearing 3-6 months clothes and some 6 months clothes

is saying things like ("ya, ya, ya and ba, ba, ba)

still loves being outside and going for walks

follows Beacon (our dog) around with her eyes

First bites of carrots

 The result- haha! She loves them now!

Happy 5 months sweet girl!

This month we also took Blakely to Cranial Technologies in Charlotte to check to make sure she did not need a DOC Band. This was at the suggestion of our pediatrician considering Blakes didn't want to sleep anywhere but the swing the first 2 months of her sweet little life. Laying inclined in the swing helps with reflux, but can flatten the back of babies heads. The bands are used to help shape babies whose heads may have flat spots or are  more cone shaped. After we had some images taken and met with a physical therapist, we learned that Blakely is just fine! Her head is super round and she's as cute as ever.

 The past 5 months have been some of the happiest and laughter-filled of our lives! We love our little family. :)

Peace and Love, 

Kristen