9 month stats

It's been busy around here! Alison is 9 months old, crawling EVERYWHERE and cutting her first two teeth. Given the pain of teething she's been handling it pretty darn well. I know I've neglected to update so I wanted to bring everyone up to speed.

9 month Stats

 This post is incredibly late, I know. Due to Spring Break and scheduling conflicts we just got Alison in for her 6 month check up & shots on Friday. The Pediatrician was very impressed by her growth and her sitting posture :) 

• Age: 9 months & 9 days/ 40 weeks and 1 day
• Weight: 18lbs 4 oz (25%) as of 7/2/13
  
• Height:  28 3/8 in. (75%) as of 7/2/13
• Head Circumference: 17 in. (25%) as of 7/2/13
• Hair Color:  Light Golden Brown
  
• Eye Color: Blue  
• Diaper Size:  Size 3
• Clothing Size:  9 - 12 months 
• Teeth : Bottom 2 have broken through the gums
• Mommy's Favorite:  Playing "So big", reading books together (she really loves to read!!), mealtime, nursing
• Daddy's Favorite: mealtime,playing "so big", chasing each other in the walker, when I get to put her to bed at night :)
• Favorite Toys By Month:

• October= monkey rattle

• November= giraffe music box stuffed animal

• December= bumble bee toy
• January =  knit doll
• February = wooden teethers
• March =  her "box of fun" (Thanks Megan!!)
• April = bunny book 
• May = Baby dolls
• June = Her walker
• July = books with baby faces

• Sleep: Wow, what a wonderful sleeper we have! Last night she slept through the night *truly*, not waking before 6:30 am, even to eat! Normally she goes to bed anywhere between 6:30 pm & 7 and sleeps til 4:30-5am, gets up to eat and sleeps til 7:00-7:30am. She's taking two naps, between 1 1/2 hours long and 3 hours at 9am and 2 pm. She wakes talking and goes to sleep all on her own. What an amazing difference from a few short months ago. We know nothing of sleep deprivation and, like I noted above, she's even handling teething well. Way to kick butt, Alison!!
• Feeding:This girl LOVES to eat. We know that solids are just for fun before one, but she has really taken to them. We've stopped the purees and are doing strictly finger foods three times a day. Some of her favorites are bananas, turkey, peas, blueberries, and sweet potatoes. I have to place food one at a time on her tray otherwise she shovels it all in! Breastfeeding is still going SO great and she's even become less distracted. Feels so good to still be nursing!

I'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures from the past few months :)

Visiting Grandpa (my dad)'s bench for the first time 6/1/13

Hanging out with mom 6/12/13

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! 6/16/13

Happy Fourth of July! 7/4/13

Having fun at the Children's Museum 6/28/13

 

On the Move!

Just this morning our girl started a full on army crawl. I knew it was coming soon and I am really proud of her but I know I'll miss the days of putting her on a blanket while I get some chores done.

Here she is, just this morning. Of course I filmed just a short snippet of her army crawl but trust me - its on. Just two days ago this was her trying to move around -

She had been "stuck" at this stage and so frustrated she couldn't move any further. She wanted to move but couldn't quite figure out the logistics.

And for laughs - here is video I "accidentally" captured on her 7 month "birthday" of her back-scooting to me. It was the only time she ever did this and as you can tell from the video, I found it hilarious. She booty bounces all the time during a diaper change, this was just the first (and only) time she used it to move.

Look at me! 6-9-13

Lastly, she started standing her her crib over the weekend. My little containable baby is no more. She's getting bigger by the minute!

Hitting the books.. again.

I thought all of my baby gear research was over now that Alison has been here for 8 months. This week I learned that's not the case. Although she still fits in her infant seat, I have started to look into her convertible seat and that's when I hit a goldmine of new information.

It didn't take long before I realized that our car seat, installed and inspected by a "trained" car seat technician (local firefighter) was IMPROPERLY installed. That's right, Alison is now 8 months old and she has been cruising around her entire life in a car seat that was not properly installed. Worse still? It sounds like its a very VERY common issue.

I won't go into the intricacies as to how it was improperly installed but I will urge you to re read both your car seat and car manuals because, although we followed them to a T, the wording was a bit confusing. Apparently our car seat was okay to be installed the way it was (with LATCH in the center of the vehicle) but our car wasn't compatible with that installation (are you confused yet?)

Okay so I wanted to make a post sharing some of my new information and hopefully someone will read this and be inspired to check their child's seat. Even if to make sure they are harnessed correctly.

1) Federal law states that all children under one AND twenty pounds or more need to be in rear facing car seats. Not one or the other BOTH.
2) Further, it is highly recommended by the AAP to continue to rear face your children for as long as possible - 4 years if you can, because it truly is the safest way for children to ride in a vehicle. 
3)  When rear facing, harnesses are to be at or below baby's shoulder, when forward facing, they are to be at or higher than their shoulders. 
4) (Probably the most shocking to me) It is highly HIGHLY recommended that baby's who travel on airplanes do so in a carseat. Does that sound over the top? Think about it - most aircraft crashes or issues happen during take off and landing and also include turbulance. "Lap babies" are basically projectiles waiting to happen. I never thought that we are told to stow laptops and even our peanuts - but baby is to stay in our lap and we'll just hope for the best if we crash going 150mph on the runway (yikes!)

There is a ton more info that I have been gobbling up and I still haven't landed on our will-be convertible car seat. I know its uncouth to tell other mothers to check and recheck matters that concern their children's safety (no one wants to offend a momma, right?) but please, look into it. Spend an hour researching at some of the links I provided and find some on your own. You may be set but you may need to make adjustments. Either way, its better to know your sweetie is the safest they can be when traveling.




Helpful links:

• Car Seats for the Littles: Their facebook group is also really helpful and knowledgeable
• Find a certified car seat technician near you here
• The importance of rear facing
• The picture guide to car seat safety

First La Leche League Meeting

Tuesday night I went to my first ever La Leche League meeting. I have been meaning to go to one since I was pregnant (whoops!) and nearly 8 months into parenthood I finally took some time out to go and I'm glad I did.

The main reason why I hadn't gone before was timing - the closest meeting to us starts at 6:30pm which is around Alison's bedtime. She isn't keen on bottles still (totally my bad) so I wasn't comfortable leaving her for an extended amount of time. I would have loved to bring her but I feared she would get too fussy and the thought of that made me too anxious to try. Needless to say, we're now comfortable with our routine enough to know that after I feed her (for the night), she won't be up for at least 5 hours, but usually 10 (I know, we're lucky!!) So Tuesday night I fed her, crossed my fingers, and let daddy take care of bedtime. 

I happened to be the only mom there (out of half a dozen) who didn't have a child with them. The rest of the women mentioned that their children have a much later bedtime so this meeting time suited them and they enjoy spending this time with them - made me miss my girl that much more! It was nice, however, to have some "me time" away from the house.

The meeting went great - we talked about how breastfeeding has made us a better mother and then moved on to troubleshoot a variety of issues that had come up. I asked about Alison's distracted nursing, while another mother lamented her low supply, and yet another mom, pregnant with twins, came to start the support early. Each woman had a different experience with breastfeeding and was truly unique. One of my favorite things about nursing has been the "sisterhood" that it brings and being able to help other mothers. I really did enjoy myself and can't wait for the next meeting at the end of June.

Currently

Making me Happy: My sweet family. Alison is currently hugging (and "kissing") us and it just about melts my heart every time. When I rock her to sleep she puts her head on my chest and holds on to me so tight until I put her down. Moments like these are what I live for! Thanks to the long weekend, we got to spend a lot of time as a family. Becoming a mother and seeing my husband as a father has really strengthen our marriage. Hard not to smile all the time! 

Excited For: I know I talked about this in my last "currently" post but its finally arrived: I'm excited for this weekend's trip to see my mom and for a friend's baby shower. Embarrassing confession: The furthest I I have traveled with Alison since she was born has been 40 minutes from the house (for another baby shower) and I was with my husband. This trip is just shy of 2 hours and we'll be at it alone. This will be the first time she has slept somewhere other than here in our house so that gives me a little anxiety. Overall, however, I couldn't be more thrilled. Additionally, I finally will get to visit my father's "grave" (he was cremated so instead of a grave he requested a bench at his parent's grave site, where we scattered his ashes). And I am worked up daily about that. I miss him immensely. 

Thinking About: Our summer plans. We aren't a beach going family but I have a feeling that will change some now that our girl is here. I want to start making plans for us to visit different places as well as sign us up for a class or two. One thing about staying home with our girl that has been a struggle is trying to vary our day some. It has gotten better the older she has gotten but I am so excited to be able to do some fun, interactive things with her. 

Reading: I'm reading Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and I am waiting for it to pick up. To be honest I put it down about two days ago and need to start reading again. I like it alright (my favorite genre is biographies) but this book hasn't started to interest me quite yet. It has great rating so I am hopeful.

Watching: We just started watching the new season of Arrested Development. I think we're about 5 episodes in and so far I think its alright. Some reviews aren't buying into the new season at all but I don't think its been THAT bad. We're trying not to "binge" watch it - which is easy to do with Netflix - and I think that has helped us from being too cynical.


Another blogger note: I've been having trouble adding photos to posts from my desktop. Not to mention the formatting issues which are SO ANNOYING. I swear its one thing after another with this blog. 

Playing Catch-up

first things first - sorry for the horrible mess that is my last post. I am running into difficulties making posts from my ipad. The fonts have to be tweaked manually and its been tedious and annoying. I've tried using blogger's app as well as updating through the website via my ipad and virtually nothing helps. I am frustrated because I much prefer using my tablet over our desktop but the mess that it churns out makes me not want to post. That being said... Hello! We have been in such a great groove lately and its been difficult to want to sit down to update. Alison is not sleeping so well - down at 6:30pm, up at 5am to eat, sleeping again until 7am. Her naps are also beautiful. Two 1 1/2- 2 hour naps at 9am and 2pm. I can finally cook and clean and READ. If it weren't for my silly ipad issues I would also be updating more frequently. Lately we have been enjoying the park, going to the library, seeing friends, and have even made a few trips to our Children's Museum. I am loving the freedom that scheduled naps gives us, not to mention our girl is so happy and full of curiosity now that she is getting wonderful sleep. My husband and I love that we get grown up time to be with one another now that she sleeps soundly, too. I'm making a list of posts I'd like to make within the coming weeks now that I have time (and will) to do so. Any blogging momma can attest to those times when there is nothing she wants to do less than blog. When our days were erratic I was definitely one of those mommas. Here is to another great week!!

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day (weekend) was simply wonderful Saturday, my Mother-in-law AND my Brother-in-law graduated from college (different local universities), so we had the family together to celebrate both their great accomplishments as well as Mother's Day. As with other holidays, my mother came down and I was so happy she did. My husbands grandparents were also in town which is always a treat. The weather wasn't the best, but we did get some sun along with the rain. All of us hung out on the porch and marveled over Alison's growth and accomplishments - Shane's grandparents had t seen her since Christmas so it was especially great for them.

Sunday we went with my mom to a local county park to have a picnic. It didn't go without some issues but it was wonderful all in the same. I received some beautiful cards, flowers, and even a cute bunny rack from my momma. Once my mom left, Shane, Alison and I enjoyed our time together as a family.

Family of Three - Mother's Day! 5-14-13

Mom and Me 5-12-13

It was fun to reflect on the day one year before. Mothers Day 2012 was wonderful - we hosted a BBQ for our family and revealed Alison's gender and pre-picked middle name (still hadn't landed on Alison, though :) ). I remember anticipating what Mother's Day would be like once our girl arrived and I can verify its even better than I expected. 

I hope you had a wonderful Mothers Day, too!!!

Currently

Making me Happy: Oh what isn't making me happy!? I am so thrilled that my little one can finally put herself to sleep and is sleeping through the night and having wonderful naps throughout the day. Any mom knows how amazing it is to get over the crap sleep hurdle. Its so nice to spend quality time with my husband at night once she goes down. He always makes me happy :)

Excited For: We're still more than a month out, but I'm excited for an upcomming baby shower for a friend that is due with her first, a girl, in July. Not only will I get to see some good friends but it will be the first trip that I've made home with Alison. I know my mom is excited to finally get to show off her granddaughter to a few of her friends. I can't believe I'm admitting this but we have yet to go further than 40 minutes from the house since she was born. YIKES!

Thinking About: Tomorrow our girl will be 7 months old and we're just two weeks shy of my first Mother's Day. I (re: Shane ;) ) ordered this necklace with Alison's name on it for Mother's Day and I'm looking forward to a nice visit with my mom, too. I am lucky to say my relationship with my mom has always been good but I think since I've become a mom we've become even closer. I just wish she didn't live so far away (even if it isn't all THAT far).

Reading: I've been reading The Interestings By Meg Wolitzer and let me just say how nice it is to have time to read again. Not only has this book been a delight so far, but getting the opportunity to actually read more than a handful of pages a day is pure bliss. If you're looking for a good novel to read I would definitely recommend it.

Watching: Over the weekend we watched Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Django Unchained. I had seen OUaTiM before but Django was a great watch as well. I was honestly skeptical that I wouldn't like it but it was a fun watch, given the subject matter. Christoph Waltz totally killed it.

I am so aware how behind I've been but don't worry - I'm not apologizing. Now that I've had time to clean during her naps I actually have time to do things for myself (like blog! and read!) so I expect to have another update or two before the weekend is up. 

6 month Stats

 This post is incredibly late, I know. Due to Spring Break and scheduling conflicts we just got Alison in for her 6 month check up & shots on Friday. The Pediatrician was very impressed by her growth and her sitting posture :) 

• Age: 6 months 21 days / 28 weeks 6 days
• Weight: 16 lb 9 1/2 oz (50%) as of 4/19/13
  
• Height:  26 1/2 in (50-75%) as of 4/19/13
• Head Circumference: 16 1/2 in (25%) as of 4/19/13
• Hair Color:  Light Golden Brown
  
• Eye Color: Blue  
• Diaper Size:  Size 3
• Clothing Size:  9 months
• Mommy's Favorite: Her laugh, The way she "spit-talks", How she looks like a pretty little flower when she sits up,her hugs, our nighttime routine. 
• Daddy's Favorite:  Feeding her new foods, her smile,going out to eat with her, When she laughs at "play yelling" (its so cute - he'll say I told you not to pull my hair with a smile, and she'll just laugh and laugh)
• Favorite Toys By Month:

• October= monkey rattle

• November= giraffe music box stuffed animal

• December= bumble bee toy
• January =  knit doll
• February = wooden teethers
• March =  her "box of fun" (Thanks Megan!!)
• April = bunny book

• Sleep: We seem to be in a good spot with her sleep patterns. Ever since we got a sleep sack she's more or less sleeping through the night again (thank goodness) baring a quick wake up once or twice just for a pacifier. Still not wonderful, but it only takes a moment to get her to back to sleep. Naps are still a thorn in our side - she just wants to sleep on me and is very persistent on doing so. We've almost broken her of it, but not completely. Our big girl only naps twice now - around 9:30 and again around 1 or so, for anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours a stretch. UPDATE - She is now napping in her crib after minimal fussing. Still not LONG naps, but they are gradually getting better :)
• Feeding: She's an efficient little eater for sure! She nurses every three hours (or so) and only for about 4-8 minutes. I used to worry that it wasn't enough, but she sure is growing! We started solids a week before she turned 6 months and she eats a meal of peas, carrots, or avocados once a day, before bathtime at night. She loves trying to feed herself!! UPDATE: We're now feeding solids twice a day mixed with a little oatmeal. 

Tiny Buttons

Alison has another guest post on Tiny Buttons! Go check her out :)

Sleep Training

Its no secret that getting our wee one to sleep has proved problematic. I know we're not alone, but it sure can feel that way when you're in the midst of it. Recently we've noticed that Alison is much fussier and less attentive during the day, and I attribute this shift to her lack of naptime sleep. She's been doing worlds better on nighttime sleep for about the last 2 weeks, even sleeping up to 11 hours on most nights. Its those pesky naps that have us pulling our hair.

I'll admit that I have been pretty relaxed on having any sort of schedule, be it for feeding or sleeping. I thought it was working for us but, at close examination, it really wasn't. I let Alison tell me when she was hungry and I would wait until I saw a sign that she was sleepy to start my (pretty much) non-existent nap routine. No wonder she couldn't fall asleep!

From what I've been re-reading in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child she's unable to coax herself to sleep for naps because she is so overtired. A particular passage really resonated with me and sounded EXACTLY like what Alison has been going through. So, we're going to try out the advice of putting her to bed a bit earlier than normal (5:30) for a bit and really hammer out being home for all of her naps and getting that ROUTINE down.

I've just got to say how much I appreciate all of my mommy friends for their words of wisdom, encouragement, and honesty.

Love this new smile 4-2-13

My silly sunshine girl 4-1-13

Starting Solids

Its now been two weeks since Alison started solids and I believe she's starting to get a hang of it. So far, she's tried avocado, carrots, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and various combinations of them all. I decided that I wanted to give making her food a go and so far that's been manageable, too. Now that spring is in full swing I can peel potatoes in the back yard while she plays on a blanket and we listen to music. Little moments like that just warm my heart.

She appears to like everything we've given her, although it took a few tries to get her to warm up to carrots. My husband wanted to do the puree thing for a bit before we try any whole-foods. Eventually, I'd like to do a combination of the two - leaning more toward whole foods. When it comes to parenting, we all know that its a compromise of both parents' wishes and ideals. This has probably been the first decision we weren't totally on the same side so we decided to try both. Makes for a happy home. I didn't think I'd get as much enjoyment from making her food as I do and although its pureed - I can breathe a sigh of relief that I at least know its fresh.

This video of our pup Rudy licking her hands after a meal of avocado gets me smiling.

I'm waiting for her 6 month appointment (which is incredibly late this go around due to spring break) to post her stats - Last I weighed her she was 17 1/2 lbs!




I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Hoppy Easter!

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter with our family and hope you did, too.

Our girl will be six months old tomorrow - can you believe it? Big post coming soon :)

Peach's first Easter Basket 3-31-13

Alison and her Grandmas- Cathy (left) and my mom, Kris 3-31-13

Mom & Daughter 3-31-13

Like mother like daughter

My mom kept my 1st Easter outfit and I thought I'd try it on Alison for a few smiles and laughs. On the left is me, Easter of 1987 at about 8 months old. To the left is Alison, just shy of 6 months. She's a much bigger baby than I was (but I had more hair ;) )!

Weekend update - Milestones galore!

There is really nothing better than having a fantastic weekend.

Saturday we met up with a few friends to watch my alma mater,VCU play in the second round of march madness. They didn't do so well but it was great to see our friends nonetheless. We even got to see Adeline, our friends eight month old daughter. At one point, Adeline was playing with one of Alison's toys and our girl tried her best to steal it back (which she eventually did) and we all had a laugh about that.

Adeline and Alison interact 3-23-13

Dads and their daughters 3-23-13

After the game we headed to Shane's parents house and hung out a bit while we watched even more basketball and discussed our Easter plans for next weekend. Always a good visit. We finished up the day at the dollar tree getting some everyday objects like measure cups for some sensory bins I'm working on for Alison. To date, this was the longest amount of time we've been out of the house since Alison arrived - only took up (almost) six months to be gone about six hours.

Video Saturday

I just wanted to make a quick post before I get ready to watch my alma mater play in the third round of march madness (GO VCU RAMS!!)

Alison is so super close to sitting up unassisted and this quick video makes me smile. She just loves her "box of fun" (thanks Megan!!)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Currently

Making me Happy: Getting out of the house!! Thank goodness Spring begins this week because we've been so cooped up. Lately we've been able to go to a few story times at our local library and we've also taken a lot of walks around our neighborhood. Alison's also gotten so interested in the world around her and it just makes me beam with delight. 

Excited For: We're getting ready to convert our under used office into a playroom for Alison and I'm thrilled to dig in. She's going to really mobile before we know it and this room is just what we need. I'm thinking a trip to IKEA is in order - and soon!!! We'll need storage, a craft table, and a good kid-friendly area rug. We probably should get an actual computer desk while we're at it - our computer is currently sitting on an old door and bar stools. Not exactly kid room friendly. In our defense we made a built in desk at our last house which is why we're desk-less at the moment. We will get there!

Thinking About: Alison is going to be six month old in less than two weeks and she's so close to sitting up, too. Shane and I have talked and we think she's just about ready to start solids. We've got to bring in her highchair from the shed and clean it off and decide what her first meal will be (Avocado? Peas? Sweet Potatoes?) I just can't believe she will be eating solids! Definitely bitter sweet. 

Reading: I'm back to reading some baby books like the No-Cry Nap solution and I'm going to start thumbing through Baby Led Weaning again now that we're getting ready to start solids.  

Watching: I know I'm a little early, but I'm really excited for March Madness to officially begin. This year my alma mater, VCU, is dancing again - this time as a five seed! We should even get to see their first  game in its entirety since its at 9:45 Thursday night! (Knock on wood) GO RAMS!!!

She makes my heart smile. I can't get enough of her little chatter.

A Visit from Grandma

This weekend was nothing short of great. Actually I should amend that statement - Saturday was nothing short of great.
My mom came down for a visit and us girls went on a trip to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. She is a horticulturist by trade and I am embarrassed to admit that in the 8 1/2 years that I've lived in Richmond, I hadn't yet taken her to this wonderful place. The forecast was ominous but thankfully the predictions were wrong. We had a fantastic time checking out their Orchid exhibit in the conservatory and walking the grounds with Alison in tow. I only get to see my mom about once a month and this was a particularly good visit. I could tell Alison loved seeing all of the beautiful flowers and plants as well as her wonderful Grandma!

She loves to grab faces now :) 3-16-2013

My two favorite ladies 3-16-2013

My world 3-16-2013

Sunday, however, was no walk in the park. Alison was refusing to nap and I was feeling down about my mom's return home. The weather was overcast and added to my sad mood. Alison tried to refuse a nap this morning but I pulled out my secret weapon, the Moby wrap, and she has settled down and is sleeping on my chest now. Hard to believe that my girl will be 6 months old in just two weeks - Where has the time gone?!?

Tiny Buttons

Today, Alison has a guest spot on the baby fashion blog, Tiny Buttons. Hop on over to check her (and her friends) out!

A Week of Firsts

This has been a great week & another one for the record books.

Monday we went to our first ever story time at our local library. The story time for her age group is 9:30 am but we never get to go since that is (usually) smack dab in the middle of Alison's morning nap (ugh). Thanks to the time change,however, she was "off schedule" and not ready to nap until much later so we were able to go. It was so much fun!!! Unfortunately, she adjusted her schedule by Tuesday and the chances of us making next weeks story time is slim. Honestly, I was shocked there were so many "regulars" able to make the 9:30 time. All the baby sleep reading I've done suggests babies around this age form a morning nap beginning around 9 or 10. Beats me! There is another library closer to a friends home that has the same program at 10:30 which would better suit our needs. Hopefully we'll be able to go with them sometime soon ( or just on our own ).

Equally (if not more) groundbreaking, last night was the FIRST time Alison has gone to bed in her crib "tired but awake". A little voice inside my head said to really give it a good shot, which I did, and the pay off was phenomenal. As I've mentioned before, we've had to rock her to sleep and VERY carefully put her in her crib, otherwise there were countless tears. It pulled at our heart strings - we just couldn't let her cry like that. So, instead we followed her lead and gave her what she wanted. It appears there is a change in the air, now at 5 1/2 months old. Slowly, I shifted from rocking her to just holding. From letting her nurse to sleep, to pulling my breast away when she was done but still awake. It took about a week but I finally got her to go to sleep just by holding her, which I had been doing for naps as well as night time sleep. I seriously felt like a rock star. I got her to go to sleep without crying it out (not to say she didn't protest) and at her own will. The benefit was immeasurable - she didn't wake up several times before finally nodding off, which had been her habit since that dreaded regression some 8 weeks ago. She only woke up when her white noise turned off (but we fixed that problem) and gave us a nice 7 hour stretch. I can't remember the last time she did that!

What's more? We just did the same routine just now for a nap. She fought it more than she did last night (My guess is because she's not as sleepy as she is before nighttime sleep), but she still went down awake in her crib. I'm typing this entry now from her rocking chair as I promised her (yes I know.. It's not like she understood the promise, but I'm a mommy of my word) that I wouldn't leave her room as she slept. It's been 30 minutes now and I feel like I can mark this go a success, too. I'm one proud momma!

Also making me incredibly happy is reflecting on my love - I met my fantastic husband in a bar with good friends five years ago this evening. That man is one in a million- the most amazing spouse and the best father I could have hoped for for our Alison. I'll try not to be too mushy - but Shane is seriously the B.E.S.T. :)

My mom is coming down this weekend and I am really looking forward to it. Perhaps ill get to clean some during Alison's afternoon nap. I can dream, right??

Have a great weekend, friends!!

A girl and her Daddy 3-11-13

Big Girl! 3-14-13