Hello? Is this thing on?   I’ve still been in my post baby blog hiatus (not really intentional… more of a necessity) and haven’t posted in a while, because things have been CRAZY.  But I do want to keep up the monthly posts for Taylor and will hopefully be jumping back on the blogging train very soon… my brother and sister-in-law have been doing some AMAZING things at their new casa and I can’t wait to show you some of those.

Milestones: Oh man, she has had a lot of milestones in the last month! She can roll over from front to back (mostly because she isn’t a fan of tummy time!), she loves to blow raspberries, she laughed, she is grasping toys much better and even reaches out for things that she wants… sort of. Right on target she moved out of her 0-3 month clothes and into 3-6 month, which made me sad to move all of her cute tiny clothes into the attic storage! 8 weeks marked the end of my maternity leave, so she started at daycare, which has gone pretty smoothly and she seems perfectly content there.  Although you wouldn’t know it from her first day of school picture:

She also had her first trip to the arboretum and during this month got to be much more of a social butterfly since we could go out in public post shots.

She got to go swimming for the first time… and she didn’t hate it! It did however WEAR HER OUT. 

She also got baptized at our church by her Uncle Arthur and Papa Scott (my dad).  It was such a sweet ceremony and she looked awfully precious!!

Likes: My little nugget still loves to eat and is growing fast, she is over 13 lbs now! She likes holding onto fingers and standing up. She loves people, and very much dislikes being left out of a group of people.  She loves to crane her neck and watch the world around her.  She loves my dad, so far he’s been the only one to make her laugh, but mom-win I got it on video!

Dislikes: Being alone, having a dirty diaper (I mean seriously, who wouldn’t), shots–the first time I heard her TRULY ANGRY.  She doesn’t like being cold and wet, so post-bath time isn’t very fun. She also doesn’t like when you wipe her nose.

Mom loves: her crooked smile–she now smiles whenever you smile at her and it is SO FREAKING CUTE.  I love when she blows raspberries and mimics you doing things.  I love that she is a pretty good sleeper and that she is a very calm, chill child!

This has been a pretty fun adventure so far, I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Today is our little nugget’s 2 month birthday! I cannot believe how fast these two months have flown by! The husband and I were looking back through her pictures last night and were just amazed at how much she has changed in such a short amount of time!  Two months is sort of bittersweet for me since it means I go back to work full time and she goes to daycare.  I have absolutely loved the time at home with just her and me, but I also feel like its the right amount of time for me to go back to work.

But she also gets to celebrate this milestone by getting her shots today and I hear that can be quite traumatic (for mothers and babies alike!).

I love this precious little smocked onesie, Taylor however prefers soft and comfy clothes… so no shock there, she is going to be like her mother! But since she looks so dang cute in these dresses and uncomfortable clothes, I’m going to keep dressing her in them! 

And this little black and white number was a hand me down from our good friends, but I think she looks precious and it might be one of my favorite outfits on her! Plus I love her little smile in this picture and that she is looking at the camera!

And this little Navy outfit was the first thing I really bought for her and I think it is really cute! I know these pictures are going to get harder and harder to take as she gets more and more active, but I love watching her little legs kick around as she figures out how to use them!

And Mom brought Taylor little onesie from her trip to Krakow this spring! And baby jeans might be the most impractical but cutest thing EVER.  I am kind of in love with them. Seriously, how cute is she?!

And this isn’t one of her ‘weekly photos’ but I couldn’t resist posting it… I just love her! Look at that face! But you know… I’m biased and so in love with her little expressions!

This stage of her life is so fun, she learns new things every day! She has started smiling a whole lot and following us around with her eyes.  You get to start to see a personality which makes those middle of the night feedings WAY more bearable!!

Milestones: She can smile spontaneously, lift and hold her head up (mostly), and she follows objects with her eyes and has started batting at the objects on her play mat. She has also started sleeping a 5-6 hour stretch at the beginning of the night.  We went on our first road trip and had our first hotel stay!

Reese was in a wedding outside of San Antonio last weekend, so we took the 5 hour road trip to San Antonio.  My dad was kind enough to fly down to San Antonio to babysit during all the wedding festivities.  But while her daddy was doing wedding things with the groomsmen, my dad and I took her to visit the Alamo like every good Texan should! I was a little worried about how she would do in the car, but she was a champion and slept almost the entire way down and back.  And she even had good nights of sleep in her pack n play in the hotel!

Likes: She still really loves eating, but she also loves reading books… she lays with us every night and watches as we read them, very attentively! Her favorites are Farmyard Beat and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. She loves talking walks and being outside.

We also got a hand me down Mommaroo which is AWESOME.  When she is fussy it is one of things that calms her down most often. Its a little rocker thing that simulates different movements and you can change the speed and direction and all that… it is MAGIC.

She has started sleeping longer stretches at night, so I’m really only waking up once in the middle of the night to feed her and she usually goes to bed without much of a fuss.  So I’m crossing all of my fingers and toes that this lasts and that she will always be a good sleeper!

Dislikes: tummy time, being alone in a room (even for a second), bedtime, changing clothes, and 7pm.  I’m not sure what it is about that time, but she gets fussy and grumpy and nothing will console her.  We’ve started moving her bedtime up and that has helped.

Mom loves: her smiles, how she looks at me from a little ways away even if someone else is holding her, and how when I stick out my tongue at her she will mimics it back to me.  I’m sure I’ll regret teaching her that when she is 3, but it is pretty precious now.  And she thinks it is really funny, so I get great smiles while we do that.  She also loves when we say ‘how big is Taylor’ and put her hands up to say SOOOO Big. And really, these days I’ll do just about anything for a smile.

As I was nearing the end of my pregnancy, all I could think about was Taylor and what she would be like… what kind of personality she would have, what she would look like, what her likes and dislikes would be.  So I did what I always do when I can’t get something out of my head… I wrote it down.  And as I went back to reread it, I realized that these are the same things I want for my own life and for all of the people I love, so I thought I would share! Happy Friday, I hope you all have fabulous weekends!

Baby Girl- What I want for you:

I want you to grow to be healthy and strong.

I want you to feel loved.

I want you to know God in a deeply personal way.

I want you to be smart, hardworking and driven,

But also to know how to have fun and let your hair down.

I want you to skin your knee, and then get up and brush it off.

I want you to have lifelong friends- and new friends- and friends that you would do anything for.

I want you to feel beautiful, inside and out.

I want you to know that pain is inevitable, but persevering through the pain and heartache of life will lead to a richer existence.

I want you to know and love and treasure the feeling of home,

But also to explore the world with unceasing abandon.

I want you to love others and treasure what they have to teach you.

I want you to find your passions in life, to try out new hobbies and find things you love to do

I want you to try new things, but also to be bold in defending what you love.

I want you to stand with conviction for the things that are important to you.

I want you to celebrate things… big and small.

I want all the things in the world for you, but I also really want you to know that the things that matter most require hard work and perseverance.

I want you to be YOU.