First Haircut

Big stuff got her first haircut today. The sides of her hair were looking pretty stringy and needed some help. Lainey constantly pulls her clips out and messes up her hair, so the length was really showing. It looked like she had out of control sideburns. :)

Brian and I went round and round on this because he did not want his little one having her hair cut this early. Once he saw what it looked like when I left it without a clip he agreed to let her go. :) She did not love having it done, but she was not too terrible either. She did have a death grip on my arm and wanted me right by her side. They used a bumbo in the chair she sat in and she started trying to escape as soon as they set her in that. HAHA We haven't used that since she was about four months old. She is way too squirmy!

We went to snip-its in Vintage Park and they really did a great job! She got to watch a movie, play with a toy remote, they saved her hair for me and she got a prize. :) It was a cute place. Hopefully her hair will begin to grow evenly so she won't have to have it cut again for a while. I want her bangs to grow out so they didn't cut much there, but it really does look better. Her hair is starting to curl up tons, I can't believe how much it has changed in just nine months.

Bye, bye stringy hair. :)

playing with her "TV remote"

Finished and ready to go! :)

Happy Birthday Joyz!!

Today was my mom's 49th birthday and we spent the day celebrating at their house in Magnolia. It was so great to spend time with them. We see them at church, but since we see them there don't go out to visit very often. My mom has been re-doing rooms for a few weeks and just finished "Lainey's room." She pulled out some of our old toys as well as bought some new ones. Needless to say, Lainey had a blast. She loved playing blocks with Joyz and Papa, loved the doll house, the fun balls that Joyz just had to get her, the new cabbage patch doll that has hair like her friend  Julia, and really liked the old pull around puppy that was my mom's when she was a little girl. My mom has spent tons of time carefully watching what Lainey loves and made sure she had all of those things to play with. It was so cute! Lainey is a little obsessed with her three friends Julia, Zeke and Sabastian's hair. They all have very curly hair and Lainey always reaches out to grab it. She loved having a doll to stroke without us immediately pulling her hand away. :)

I am so glad that we have my parents close. They adore Lainey and she has so much fun with them! I can't wait for more visits out to the country to see them. The pond, the ducks, the trees, and the turtles and fish were so much fun for Lainey to look at. She loves to be outside! Here are a few of my favorite pictures of today. Missy was so happy that it is hard to just pick a few. Happy Birthday precious mama! I love you so much!

Feeding the geese!

Splash pad fun on our way home! 

They adore each other!

Block tower fun!

She doesn't get any attention. :)

This toy was my mom's and Lainey thought it was so funny!

Making a mess

Loving the blocks

Reading with Joyz!

Papa being silly!

Sweet Mimi and Grandaddy came to celebrate too

Nine Months Old

Lainey is now nine months old and such a stinker. She is a joy, very strong willed, super funny, loving to those she trusts love her, into everything and finally sleeping through the night! WOO HOO! This month Lainey got three teeth, started saying, "up" on a consistent basis, started saying "de de" when talking to her daddy, took her first steps (although she is not walking yet), and started eating several new foods. She also got roseola and was sick for about a week. That was tough. She is much better now and looking forward to lots of fun in the next few weeks. It has rained a lot lately so we haven't gotten to swim as much as mommy would like. After her doctor's appointment today we plan to go. At her doctor's visit last week she was 18 lbs. I thought she weighed more than that, but she is so busy all of the time I guess she has slowed down. She wears a size three diaper and nine month or six to twelve month clothes. We still have not bought diapers since Lainey was born, but if she doesn't grow soon we may have to. We are almost out of size threes. I am so glad we stockpiled diapers and wipes before she was born! It is been wonderful for our weekly budget and being on one income.

Lainey eats 3 meals and a snack of baby food/finger foods each day and nurses 4-5 times. Our naps have gotten worse rather than better. I have been making Lainey have "rest time" for almost a month now for about an hour a day. I put her in her crib asleep, but she wakes up as soon as I lay her down. I set the timer for an hour and our super strong willed child screams for an hour. I feel bad, but that is the only hour I have a day so I have to shower, clean, make baby food, work for Dr. H, etc... it is what we have to do at this point. I'm hoping she gets used to being in there soon and starts sleeping. However, it's been a month so I don't know that it's going to happen. As soon as I pick her up she usually falls asleep on me again and I just hold her. At that point in our day she needs to rest or we are all miserable so I just hold her. She always wants to nurse and I refuse to give into that. This girl is going to be so hard to wean.

I pray daily for wisdom when it comes to raising her. She is such a precious girl, but needs very little rest and tons of love and affection. I guess all babies do, but if she is not walking or playing I am holding her all day. We have started time outs for fits and I've had to pop her on the hand or foot several times already. She knows she is throwing a fit and  stops as soon as she gets her way. This is not something I thought we would be dealing with this early, but it needs to be dealt with so we don't have a terror as a toddler/older child. 

We love the blessing of being parents. It is so wonderful, but it also challenges us more than we ever imagined! It is so great to have the Christian friends that we do because our village is the best around! We are truly thankful for them and the love they show us. Here are a few pictures of our big nine month old girl! Love her to pieces!

Time with Daddy!

This week has been wonderful!! We have had so much fun having Brian off of work all day! We have picked blueberries, been to the Y tons, played and the splashpad at market street, shopped, spent the 4th of July with friends at the lake, slept in, and spent time with cousins! It has been so nice to have daddy home all day! (He is coaching sports camp from 7-11 most days and has had his last few classes for his masters two days a week.)

Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the past week! Thanks Jess for the cute ones from the splash pad and the lake! We love them!!

Our little blueberry fan! She loves blueberries!

I can't believe she didn't have a tummy ache since she ate the whole time we picked!

If I stopped feeding her she would start chewing on the branch. :)

"More please mama"

We loved spending the fourth of July with sweet friends on Lake Conroe! Their lake house view was beautiful!

Precious girl!

Lainey only napped once in the pool so by the end of the day she was exhausted! Her  eyes look so sleepy, but she was still having fun!

Sweet kiddos! I just love all of these kids and am so glad Lainey has them in her life! Their matching outfits just made them that much cuter! Thanks Jess!!

The daddy's kept the kiddos busy while the mama's got to play for a little bit! So fun!

Fun time at Market Street with friends!

Lainey loves the water much more now than she did this Spring. :)

So thankful for her daddy who let her "walk" around! She loves it!

Lainey loved her first 4th of July!!