Scarlett is TEN months old!

At ten months, Scarlett:
*weighs 19 pounds 8 ounces (50%ile)
*is 29 inches long (75%ile)

*has FINALLY started sleeping through the night, but only on occasion.  The nights she does wake up it is for a bottle and then she goes right back to sleep.  First night to do it was July 22!
*naps great - usually 3 hours a day, sometimes one nap and sometimes 2

With Nana and PawPaw at the Arkema Company Picnic

*has 4 teeth - she got her top right on July 15 and top left on July 22
*is on the move!  She started army crawling on July 28 and is trying to figure out crawling on all fours.  Due to pushing off on ONE big toe she got a pretty bad sore which then got infected. Took her to the Dr and after a round of antibiotics she is better!

*can hold a bottle by herself but sometimes is too lazy to do it!
*uses a sippy but only the ones with straws!
*says "hi" and "ball" along with Mama and Dada
*gives open mouth wet kisses!
*drinks 3-4 bottles of Alimentum formula.  We tried to switch to soy but she woke up screaming 2 nights after that.  Now we are trying to add "sensitive" and she is doing ok so far.

*no longer eats baby food but eats lots of things we eat - tortillas, avocados, rice, beans, chicken, ham, toast, puffs, cheerios, waffles, pancakes, bananas, etc.  There are not many things that she refuses...in fact, I can't name anything!  Girl likes to eat!

*is working hard to pull up on furniture
*wears 9-12 month clothes and size 2 shoes
*size 2 diapers
*eyes still light blue and hair is dark blonde/light brown with soft curls forming

*doesn't like Bible class, especially if you take the hand held mirror away from her!

Trying to get a picture of her Bible class was difficult to say the least!

*is still a snuggly girl, which I love!
*throws a hilarious fit when you take a toy or don't feed her fast enough.  She is a spitfire - quick to cry but even quicker to dry it up, thankfully!

I can't even remember what this fit was about, but isn't she pitiful!?

*I went back to work this month and you stay home with your Nana.  You love her and she loves you - but I MISS YOU!

Scarlett Jean,
You make everyone around you laugh and smile - especially your Sissy.  We love watching you grow and trying to keep up with you!  It is so hard to believe we only have 2 more months of babyhood!!

Scarlett is NINE months old!

Sweet Scarlett Jean, you just won't stop growing!

At nine months, Scarlett:
*weighs 18 pounds, 8.5 ounces (50 %ile)
*is 28 inches long (65 %ile)

*sleeps 12 hours at night, getting up 2-4 times each night.  She wakes for a pacifier plug or bottle and goes right back to sleep.  Some nights are better than others!  Every night I go to bed thinking "this could be the night she doesn't wake up for a bottle!" - so far it hasn't happened!
*takes 2 naps, each 3 hours after she wakes.  They are usually 1-2 hours each.
*has starting really cuddling with her blanket and takes a paci while in her crib.  She moves all around her bed and I'm going to take her bumpers out soon!

 
*takes 4 bottles of Alimentum formula a day, each one is around 6-8 ounces.
*doesn't eat much baby food, but loves anything from our plates!  She especially loves plain waffles and pancakes and pieces of green beans.  We gave her carrots this week and she loved them but had some nasty diapers, so who knows!?
*drinks and LOVES water from a straw (thanks to her PawPaw)
*has 3 teeth - the top right popped through on July 15 and the left will be in any day now.
*said "Hi" for the first time on the 15th, as well. She now says Mama, Dada, Hi and "baba" which I think means bottle?

*is on the move!  She can't crawl on all fours yet but she is trying and getting close! She rolls fast each way and moves backwards.  She can get to the ground from sitting up and can almost sit up from being on her back.  She is getting frustrated because she can't crawl yet so I think it will be very soon.
*pulled up to her knees on her own to play with her piano
*dances when I stand her up at the piano and she plays the keys, it is adorable!

*wears 9-12 month clothing, size 2 shoes and size 3 diapers
*is a great snuggler.  Lately she has started burying her head in my chest and it is my absolute favorite thing.  I love to hold her and know that soon she won't want me to!


This is such a fun age! She is changing every day and doing new things all the time.  I want to go back to when she was a newborn but I love seeing her grow and interact with her sister.  She is happiest when Lilli is playing with her on the floor!  

Summer (so far!)

Hey friends!

I have taken a bit of a break from the internet (well, I still check in but I haven't been spending nearly as much time online) and we have been enjoying summer!  I wanted to come here and give a little update on what we have done so far and share pictures of the girls!

Summer is such a fun time when you are a teacher.  Obviously, I have been staying at home since Scarlett was born in October.  But I love summer and all it has to offer and look forward to the years ahead with the girls. 

Lilli played her first season of t-ball.  She only cried for a tiny bit in the first few games.  Jason DID have to run the bases with her and stand with her on the field, but we all thought it was adorable.  Even Jason commented that he is sad because next year she probably won't need him out there!  I cried and made my sister run the bases with me the entire first season of t-ball when I was 4 so she gets it honest :o) 

Here is a link to their team and individual photos - adorable! Bill Murphy Photography

Little lefty!

Standing in the outfield can wear you out!  Check out those shades!

PawPaw gives her a dollar every game that she hits the ball and we get ice cream to celebrate.  She loved getting her snacks after each game and her medal at the end of the season!

A rare family shot!

We have had lots of HEAT and little rain this summer, but we did get to play one night with our rain gear-

We celebrated my 28th birthday at Lilli's favorite place, Mr. Gattis. (Who am I kidding, I wanted the smore's dessert pizza!) The girls were coordinating in their outfits so we headed to the park for some pictures.  Too bad my camera battery was dead!  So an i-phone pic is all I got -

We've spent many days in our PJ's watching Disney princess movies and playing puzzles because of the heat -

Lilli insisted I take a picture of her doing this!

Scarlett thinks Lilli is hilarious!

We haven't been all lazy, though...I have started training for the Women's Half Marathon in Nashville on September 22.  I plan to do a walk/run program.  So far I am on week 4 of this training schedule.  Sunday I did 5 miles and it was tough but felt great!  It is something I have always wanted to accomplish.  I typically get up and run at 5:30 am and while I HATE getting up (because Scarlett still wakes 2-3 times a night) it is the only time I can be outside due to the heat.  Jason gets ready for work and is inside with the girls so I enjoy some "me" time. 
I did start running with my double jogging stroller - but the runs are too long and both kids got tired of it pretty quickly!

Running with 2 kids and this bus = quite the workout!

Something else that I have started that I have always wanted to accomplish is reading the Bible from start to finish.  I have this -

And I am enjoying it so far.  I really hope to finish it in one year (it has daily reading suggestions to do that) but I am just happy to be reading God's word so I don't want to feel stressed about it.


I donated blood last week to the Red Cross.  I have always been afraid to do it (not because of needles, but because I hate blood) but it was totally nothing to be nervous about!  It didn't even compare to the time I was stuck 5 times at the hospital to get an IV started when I was pregnant with Lilli and dehydrated...THAT was horrible! :o)


I did a little painting project here in our kitchen.  We had the side of a  this tall cabinet that was made of plywood.  It just didn't look great so I was using it as a place to stick Lilli's school work and art projects.

 I decided to paint it with chalkboard paint!  The girls can draw on it and I can write love notes to Jason ;o)

Then I got the idea that I would use it to put a weekly Bible memory verse for Lilli.  I have wanted to work with her on memory verses for a while because she has entire princess stories memorized and I knew she could do it.  So one night, we rolled a ball back and forth in the playroom saying each part of the verse below.  She had it memorized very quickly and asked to do it again the next day.  So we will change up the verse weekly (I used what was in her handout from Wednesday night class) and start memorizing!

We have been spending days at the pool with friends and eating lots of yummy fresh fruits and veggies.  I love summer food! :o)

Watermelon!

Lilli goes to Summer Fun Days at her preschool on Tuesdays for 3 hours so that gives me time to spend with Scarlett (and blog today!) I only have 4 more weeks of summer/maternity leave left and I am going to try to enjoy every second of it! 

Happy summer!

Scarlett is EIGHT months old!

Every time I start a new blog entry about Scarlett I think to myself that I cannot believe she is this old.  And tonight is no exception.  She is growing at a warped speed.  I wish time would slow down so I could enjoy it a little more!

At eight months, Scarlett:
*weighs 17 pounds 9.5 ounces (50%ile)

*is 27.5 inches long (75%ile)
*sleeps a 12 hour night - we aim for bedtime at 7:30.  She still wakes about 3 times now and takes one bottle in the middle of the night and sometimes a small bottle around 5:30 AM. Her sleep is improving, I hear her cry out but soothe herself back to sleep and that is a big deal!

*Naps are GREAT!  She is consistently napping 2 times a day, each one 3 hours after waking.   Naps can be around 1.5 to 2 hours.  YAY!
*Sleeps on her side or belly, sometimes takes paci

*Is no longer breastfeeding.  We weaned on June 12.  I ended up sick and needed to take some medicine which I didn't want in her system.  It has been ok, I miss it but I don't think she realizes the difference.  The sleep improvements help me feel better about it!  Overall we lasted 3 months longer than with Lilli and made our 6 month goal so that is something to be proud of.

*LOVES to self feed - puffs and rice cakes are her favorites.  She loves apples, pears, avocados, bread, basically anything we give her.  She still doesn't love to be spoon fed and is quite messy.

*Still just 2 bottom teeth but I expect the two top teeth to pop through any day now because she is fussy and chewing on everything!
*Babbles a ton.  Tonight at church she got pretty loud but it was adorable!  I notice she is using "Mama" quite a bit and I think with purpose.

*has light blue eyes with dark blonde hair

*wears 9-12 month clothes, size 1 shoe and size 3 Pampers
*sits easily on her own, rolls EVERYWHERE and is trying to crawl.  She doesn't get on all fours but she is trying to...when she does she goes backwards!  It is cute and she is getting fast at rolling/moving around.  I am constantly picking up little things on the floor that she wants to put in her mouth!

*loves to be held and has separation anxiety when I leave the room, starting to get upset at strangers.

*is happy 99% of the time, aside from teething!

See how she has grown?

A Snow White Party!

Lilli LOVES Snow White.  It was the first princess movie she ever watched (my old VHS - saw it with her PawPaw) and she has been addicted ever since.  She probably watches it 5 times a week, which means I have seen it MANY, many times!  Jason had the idea of a Snow White 3rd birthday party and I knew she would be thrilled!

I am going to post some party details.  It was hard finding inspiration on the internet that wasn't ALL the Disney Princesses - but I found one good blog and got a vision from there.   I loved the idea of doing something NOT Disney related but it proved to be harder than I thought!

The invitation was designed by bnute on Etsy and was my starting point.  Betsy was GREAT to work with and I would use her again in a heartbeat!

I loved the woodland feel and knew I wanted to head that direction.

To start, I took Lilli out in a field and took her picture to have framed at the entrance -

 I bought this birdhouse at Hobby Lobby and thought it would make the perfect cottage - which my Mom painted.

 

We had the party in between lunch and dinner so we just served cupcakes, green "witches brew" punch and finger foods for the kids.  The table had lots of burlap and little animals (bunnies, squirrels, birds.)

 

I made the cupcakes to look like red apples.  Just regular cupcakes with red liners and red icing.  Then some red sanding sugar with chocolate and fruit tootsie rolls for the stem/leaf.  They were yummy, too!

I wanted to have a "Candy Mine" like I saw in the blog.  We had jewel toned ring pops and rock candies, along with gold Reeses cups and silver Hershey kisses.  I needed more crates and a wheelbarrow, but couldn't find any cheap enough!  In the end, the kids seemed to like it and that is what mattered!

For favors, the kids had individual burlap sacks and they were able to grab candy (and jewels) to put inside

We had the party at our church (instead of our house, where we had her other two birthday parties) and that was a great decision.  Lots of room for the kids to sit together and adults to socialize at the big tables in the back.

Each table had a burlap sack with a dwarf diecut from here on Etsy, jewels from Hobby Lobby and a little mirror from Michaels.

 The kids' tables matched the colors of the party - I love when that happens!

We played "pin the nose on Dopey" with a large Dopey poster made by my mom.

 

We sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cupcakes 

and opened presents

Scarlett was partied out!

 Thankfully she woke in time for some family photos!

 My parents and sister (seated because she broke her leg the week before!)

 Mom made Scarlett's outfit - including the ruffle bloomers

Sweet sisters!  (and Lilli with her hilarious fake smile...)

Overall it was a great party.  Lilli is still talking about it, almost 2 months later.  I think that is a sign of a good time! :o)