Photo Book

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Here is  a photo book of Blakely's first year! I have severely gotten behind on her monthly updates, but you can see she has stayed right on track! She is now 1 and walking up a storm! She is one busy girl and we love it. She is in to every cabinet, likes to flush the toilet and attempts to play in the toilet water. She's a little bit of a picky eater- sweet potatoes and mac n' cheese are her favorite! She continues to weigh in around the 50th% and her height is at the 75th%. She wears a size 3 shoe on average and is right on target with 12-18 month clothes! She loves to snuggle still and is just the sweetest thing! I promise to update more soon- we recently went to the zoo and I want to post those pictures ASAP! :) 


Peace and Love,
Kristen

9 months Old and a few more Christmas pictures

Well, as I write I am thinking about how Blakely is actually 10 months old today!!! That means I am a month behind, yikes! But...we just went to the doctor on Monday and I wanted to wait until we had her "official" weight and height before I wrote the blog post (yep that's my story and I'm sticking to it!).

This past month Blakely had an episode of RSV. It was so miserable for her and I pray that she never has it again. We pulled the old handy swing back out (at the advice of the pediatrician) so that she could sleep upright. Girlfriend is going to bed most nights at 6:30! It's great for mommy and daddy time, but it means we don't go many places at night. Blakely wakes up with the sweetest smile on her face and those first 5 minutes of morning snuggles are the best part of my day. I just love this little girl absolutely to pieces!

So, at 9 months:

~Blakely weighs 19 lbs. (she actually lost a little due to nasty RSV) ( 50th %)
~She is 28 3/4 tall (75th%)
~ Blakely is beginning to wear more 12 month clothes for the length, but wears mostly 9 month clothes.
~ She wears size 3 diapers (new mommies reading this--this is the size I would stock up on! :))
~ She is eating many more whole foods (loves potatoes and zucchini, mangoes, oatmeal, baby goldfish,  carrots and so many other things)
~ Blakely drinks around 24 oz. of formula
~She is pulling up and walking around on furniture almost as much as she is crawling
~She pushes her puppy and other walking toys.
~Blakely experienced her first snow this month!
~ She loves her cousin Penelope! They chatter, chatter! She went to Penelope's first birthday party this month!
~Blakely does not like for you to leave the room. She has to know where you are at all times!

Since she is 10 months today, I will share some pictures soon! We are looking forward to her first Valentine's Day in just a few days. We surely do LOVE this sweet baby girl!

First Snow!

She didn't really care one way or the other about the snow.

With Nana in the snow!

Loves bath time (that hiney!)

Full of Joy! Even in the rocking chair!

On Martin Luther King, Jr. day we took a family trip to Boone/ Blowing Rock!  It was such a fun day!

B with Daddy!

A few more Christmas pictures just for kicks and giggles!

Mostly interested in the wrapping!

Cuddly blanket from Aunt Jordan, Uncle Logan, and Penelope

That face about sums up Christmas morning for B! 

New Slide!


10 months and Valentine's Day soon!


Peace and Love,
Kristen

T's first Bird Hunt

For Christmas, Travis and I gave my dad, his dad, and our brother-in-law a guided bird hunting trip in the area. Of course Travis went too! They hunted for quail and had a ball. They shot 26 of the 30 birds that they were after and enjoyed watching the dogs flush the birds out and collect them! Their guide said they did awesome for their first time. We have a quail dinner coming up really soon if you're interested in joining us! Here are a few pictures from their shoot...I know they are hoping to go again really soon! 

I love that Travis has a hobby that he enjoys and shares with the other men in our family! SO fun!

More soon!~

Peace and Love,

Kristen

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