Rolling, rolling, rolling...

My sweet little peanut rolled over for the first time today! I'm so thrilled that I got to be there with her to witness it.

I knew it was coming soon because she has been rolling over on her sides for a while now. Today, while visiting her Auntie Alexas and cousins, she finally got up enough momentum and made it all the way over.
She was lying on her back as we looked thru clothes (Can't believe she is in 3-6 months already! Time flies) and she rolled over on her left side.

She rolled back and forth from her back to her left side. She finally gave up on that side and swung over to the right. Once she was on her right side, I placed a toy in front of her. Alexas and I cheered her on and it only took a couple strong pushes for her to get over onto her belly. She looked shocked once she finally did it.

So amazing to watch her achieve these milestones! We hope to get it on video soon.

tiny fingers & toes...

Recently, Isla found her hands and feet. She loves starring at them and putting her hands in her mouth! It was funny to watch her progression. She first started starring at her hands, then they made their way to her mouth.

Next, she discovered she could open and close her hands and then began to chew on her fingers. She turns her little hands around in amazement looking them over from palm to finger tip, back to front. She then began to reach and grasp her toys and somewhere in between she noticed her feet. She holds her feet up in front of her body and stares at them. She hasn't learned how to reach them yet or get them into her mouth...we know that is coming next!

I love to watch her discover new things. It's so amazing to watch her eyes light up when she learns something new!

Hey Daddy

Sweet summertime...

I've had a lot of great summers in my life time. Summers spent mostly on the beach, summers spent on lake Norman, summers spent traveling, summers spent living it up with friends...but no summer has ever been as wonderful, as great, as gratifying, as challenging or as rewarding as this one.

This summer has flown by. Time was not used up at the pool, getting a tan or taking a road trip. Most of my days were spent at home...not leaving the house for days, sometimes weeks...and to some this might sound like a nightmare, but it has been some of the best days of my life.

Spending every minute of every day with Isla has taught me so much. An unstoppable love fills my heart. Having a child has brought me closer to God, gave me a new appreciation for my parents, and  strengthened my marriage.

I'm so thankful I have been given this time to spend with my daughter. To focus on family and our home and remember each day God gives us whether rain or shine is a true blessing. I am truly in awe of God's blessings and plans for my life.

Love my lil book worm!

Story time...

Once upon a time, there was a little baby who loved for her mommy to read to her...

Isla loves story time already! I try to read at least one book to her a day. She loves the books her Uncle Mike gave her that were his favorite childhood books, and she loves the bright colors in all the Dr. Seuss books, but most of all, I think she loves all the silly noises and voices I use.

I think it's funny that when you have kids, you no longer care what you sound like or if you are making a fool out of yourself. You'll say and do anything to get a smile out of them or make them happy.

I try to change it up and use different accents for each character. I'm sure my husband is going to get it on video one of these days and my silliness will go viral, but I don't care. Isla loves it. She sits on my lap so content and engaged. She studies each page relentlessly, taking all the colors and shapes in. I love to watch her eyes light up as a turn the page and change my voice.

This week, we read one of my favorite childhood books, "Corduroy." It made me remember all the times my mom would read to my brother and I.  I hope story time will always be a special memory for Isla.

Hey Daddy

Isla Rae 11 Weeks

I've really noticed a lot of changes in Isla this week. New faces, noises, interests and just overall adorableness. :)

She is still cooing a lot, but in addition to that, she has started squealing and screaming. Sometimes they are sad squeals, but mostly, she is just finding her voice and learning she can make new sounds. She has also started laughing more, especially when I tickle her.

She has also learned so many new facial expressions. She raises her eyebrows up when something catches her eye, she wrinkles her nose up when she smiles and she makes lots of faces with her cute little mouth.
She notices Bella now too. Every time she sees her, she smiles.

One major development this week, is her interest in toys. She loves looking at all the bright colors, the squeaky noises her toys make and she loves putting them in her mouth. Once she grasps on to something she pulls it straight towards her mouth. I love watching her reach for her toys or study something in depth for several minutes. You can just see her little wheels turning as she takes it all in.

It's amazing (and scary) how fast she is growing. A sleeper she wore just a few days ago, didn't fit her today. It's hard to believe ah is growing that quickly. Everyone always tells you how time flies by and how fast your baby will grow, but its so hard to fathom until you experience it yourself. Isla will be 12 weeks on Monday yet I feel like I just held her in my arms for the first time yesterday.

Here is Isla's many faces at 11 weeks and her studying her toys. :)

Baby Milestones: 11 Weeks

Hey Daddy

Tickle, tickle, tickle

This week Isla really started laughing more. She laughed at her cousins, she laughed at my silly noises and faces and she really laughed when I discovered her ticklish spots!

So far, she is ticklish under her chin, or chins rather, under her arms and on the back of her legs. Yesterday was hilarious. I had her going for at least 5 minutes and once she heard me laughing back at her it made her laugh even more. I was in tears.

I know her little laugh is going to grow and get bigger and bigger. Hopefully, we can get it on video soon. Her laughter brings me pure joy. Ahhh, it's the little things in life that make it all worth while.

Hey Daddy

giggle giggle

Today I found Isla's ticklish spots... all of them!

Hey Daddy

Togetherness...

Isla went to the beach for the first time over the weekend! We were able to take a mini vacation to the beach with my family for 4 days. It was so nice to be able to relax with the family and spend some quality time with the hubby.

Grandparent love!

 

Macie and Emery are head over heels for Isla and Isla LOVES them too! She laughs out loud at all of Macie's silly faces and can't stop smiling at Emery. It warms my heart to know these girls are going to grow up to be the best of friends.

Cousin love!

While the trip was short, I feel we really got a ton out of it. I got to have girl time with Alexas and mom, Joel had his guy time with my brother and dad fishing and playing games, Isla got to spend a lot of time with her grandparents, Joel and I had a date night, I got to have one on one time with dad and some brother/sister playtime or rough housing with my brother. We also had a family game night which made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. I think we were all in tears!

Daddy love!

It was so awesome to be able to spend some one on one time with Joel. We had an amazing date! It was also so reassuring to have Isla with the family as we were away for a couple hours. She took her first bottle for her mamaw and she did wonderful. Dad spent a lot of time with Isla too. He whistled "Sweet Caroline" to her until she fell asleep and was able to get her down for a good long nap! Way to go papaw! 

Mommy love!

Isla started responding more to her toys this week too. She loves starring at the bright vibrant colors and listening to all the rattles. This week she started reaching for things. She reached out and grabbed her first toy, held on to it and shock it. Once she let go, she tried to do it again. It's so amazing to watch her developing so quickly. She is such a smart girl. I was thrilled that both Joel and I could be there to experience a new development with her.

I love the trips when we make lifelong memories. We are already looking forward to the next beach trip in November with the Bradbury family! Joel and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful loving families!

Sweet Families

Hey Daddy

Hey Daddy

Isla's Many Faces

I love our playtimes in the mornings and afternoons. She is always so smiley in the mornings and it's so easy to get her to shoot a big smile my way.

She also has a lot of very serious faces that are pretty funny... I can tell all ready she is going to have a big personality!

Major milestone...

Yesterday, Isla slept all through the night, took a morning cat nap and then slept for FOUR hours in the afternoon. I thought for sure she wouldn't sleep through the night last night, but she did...catch is she half way woke up to eat every two hours last night. Verdict....growth spurt!

My little baby it's growing so fast. It seems like everyday I notice a new little roll on her precious little body. She us now in size 2 diapers (all though they are a little big). I'm amazed at how much her feet have grown since we did the ink foot prints in the hospital. Her hair is growing too. She has a perfect little hair line...it even looks like she has had a haircut. It's perfectly even all around. She loves to twirl her hair right behind her ear as she is nursing. It's so sweet!

I can't believe how fast the weeks go by. Pretty soon she will be out of the infant stage. Every day she reminds me of how truly blessed we are. Her smiles, giggles, oohs and ahhs fill up my heart with love like I've never known before and I have a new appreciation for all the little things in life.

Thank you God for our special little girl!

Hey Daddy

Renewed Strength

Some of my favorite scriptures are below. When I feel like I just can’t keep up with my life or handle what lies ahead, I find strength and hope in the Lord. Hope these verses will help you too…

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. – Isaiah 40:31

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. – 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. – Hebrews 13:5

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. – Mark 11:24

LORD, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God. – Psalm 38:15

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Letters to Isla Rae

Dear baby Isla,

You are 10 weeks old this week and getting such a personality! I'm amazed at the personality you are already showing at just 10 weeks! You are so smart. You catch on to things quickly and love mimicking me. You notice your toys and objects more now and have started to reach for them. You are loving playtime with mom more and more every day. You also love to sit on my lap while I read a book to you. You love staring at the colorful pages.

Your favorite thing to do is blow spit bubbles, coo at mom and sit in your bouncy seat. You hate your swinging chair, the car seat and being cradled. You always want to be upright, sitting up or even standing so you can see what is going on. You are sleeping through the night well, but still haven't mastered napping during the day. You are getting better though. I can tell you are going to fight sleep already.
Your hair is getting thicker every day and you have long eyelashes that have started to curl up...just like your dad's. You are so beautiful. You have also started to fill out more. Your thighs keep getting chunkier and chunkier and I love it!

Your Gigi and Papa came to visit you last week and you visited your Mamaw and Papaw over the weekend. You also got to see your dad's best friend, Uncle Mike, and Pookie (your aunt Sandy). Everyone loves you so much. You are such a happy girl when you are not gassy. Its so easy to get a big smile out of you and I love how you smile with your pretty blue eyes.

You are growing and changing so quickly and your dad and I couldn't be more proud of you.

Love,
Momma

Baby Milestones: 10 Weeks

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Hey Daddy

Baby Milestones: 9 Weeks

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Hey Daddy

Photo Editing - Baby Pictures

If you are like me and love pictures, you will love using Pixlr! Pixlr is a lot like PhotoShop, but free and easy to use! This is the program I have been using to document all of her Baby Milestones. You can easily make your images black and white or add text. They also provide tutorials on all the features in case you need help.

Happy editing!

Baby Isla's Growth Chart

It's astonishing how much Isla has grown and changed since June 4th! She is going to grow out of the frame soon!

Church for the first time...

On Sunday, we took Isla to church in Charlotte for the first time. She also went while we were in Georgia visiting family a couple weeks ago, but we stayed in a separate room for the service.

This Sunday, while I didn't get to hear a chunk of the sermon due to her fussiness, it felt so good to go and be present in the church...AND take her for the first time! We normally go to Elevation Church, but this past Sunday, we visited my brother's church, Exodus in Belmont. It was a great sermon. You can check it out here! We loved the music, friendliness and how connected everyone is.

Church is so important to us and we look forward to raising Isla in the church. Some of my favorite memories as a child involve church some how. Whether it was going to church with my grandma, attending VBS (Vacation Bible School) or camp Caswell (my favorite when I got older), church was always a place I could call home. It is so important to us to raise Isla to be a Godly little girl and always make sure God is at the center of everything. I pray that I can always set a good example and live my life for Him.

Here is Isla wearing my dress from when I was a baby...love that she can wear my old clothes!

Letters to Isla Rae

Dear little Isla,

You are now 2 months old...9 weeks this week. You are starting to laugh more and smiling all the time. You've finally worked through most of you gas issues and I can see improvements in you everyday.

You love to go outside. Whenever you get fussy, all I have to do is take a stroll with you outside and you immediately calm down.

You are liking your toys more now. You love the rattle your cousins gave you and you love to get kisses from your stuffed animals...it makes you smile every time.

Your doing better in your car seat, but still don't like riding much and you let us know it with your powerful vocal chords! Yes, you have a very big voice for such a tiny girl. We can tell already that you are going to be a talker. You love to coo and you are making all kinds of noises. You love to mimic me and you love face time with mom and dad.

The past two months have been the best months and the most important time of my life. We love you so much peanut!

Love,
Momma

9 weeks old today!

We had our 2 month check up today. So happy to report that Isla is indeed one healthy baby! We feel so blessed and fortunate that she is in good health and besides being a little gassy from time to time she is perfect.

She weights 12lbs and 10ozs now and is 23 3/4 inches long. Her head circumfrence is in the 25-50%, weight is 50-75% and length is 75%-90%... maybe she will be tall!?

The shots were hard on both her and us today. Joel couldn't even watch. She did farely well though. It took a long time to get her calmed down afterwards, but once I got her calmed down, she slept for most of the ride home. She's definetly been fussy more than usual this afternoon so we have spent most of the day in the rocking chair.

I can't believe how fast she is growing and changing. She laughed her hardest laugh so far before bedtime last night! She loves looking and laughing at my crazy hair.

We can't wait for more giggles and less crying. We love you Isla!

Here are some snap shots of her from last week and over the weekend:



Baby Milestones: 2 Months Old

Here are the days of motherhood

Gone are the days of wearing accessories, spending hours shopping, making last minute lunch plans and unplanned dinners. Gone are the days of buying dry clean only clothing, spending more than 10 minutes a day on my hair and getting a manicure whenever I want. Gone are the days of landscaping for hours at a time, spring cleaning and closet organization. Gone are the days, or nights rather, of partying until the wee hours, last minute planned road trips and spur of the moment vacations.

Here are the days of pure joy, heart melting laughter, and endless smiles. Here are the days of learning to let the cleaning go, adapting to change and gaining a new found patience. Here are the days of love like I've never known before, worry like I have never felt before and a new sense of purpose. Here are the nights of more books being read, songs being sung and time spent in the rocking chair. Here are the days of more planned vacations, more road trips spent in the back seat with a new crying companion and more time spent with the family. Here are the days of finding another reason to be a better me every day.

Here are the days of motherhood.

Buttons...

It's so fun to have a baby and see your favorite childhood things resurface. For my husband, it was his blanket... or blankie. His mom kept it to pass down to him. I'm sure Isla will be carrying it around before long.

For me, it was Buttons the bear.... well I always thought it was a bear, but now that I'm older she looks more like a cat. I used to take Buttons every where with me and I will admit, I think she was still riding in the basket of my bicycle when I was 9 years old. She was my favorite toy. A toy that was never new, a handy down from someone else, but new to me. I'm not sure why I was so drawn to this worn out bear, but even still today my favorite color is yellow. I can't wait until Isla gets older and can love on Buttons just as I did as a child.

Here's some pictures of Isla with Buttons. Look how much she is growing!