8 Month Pictures

You know, Jason and I talk a lot about how hard it must be NOT to have the cutest baby in the world.  Like it must really suck to be those other kids parents and then Blair shows up and steals the show :)  So I try to be humble about it so others don't feel bad but....

THESE ARE THE CUTEST PICTURES EVER!!! 

So there you have it; proof that our child is THE best!!!

you can see all of them HERE

Every girl needs a little BLING!

We had debated it a long time but we finally did it, Blair got her ears pierced for her 8 month birthday!  We hadn't really been debating it, I knew I wanted to do it and Jason did too but I just hadn't been able to bring myself to do it.  The longer we waited the more worried I was about her messing with them during the healing and cleaning phase though so I figured either do it or we were waiting until she was 12.

We picked out some simple plain clear stones with some safety backs on them so they won't poke her.  I listened intently to the lady's instructions about what was to come and cleaning care.  Then it was time!  I was too nervous so Jason had to hold her.  The piercer put the dots on her ears and asked me if I liked the placement... say what!? I can't make this decision right now, we are talking about something that will be there her whole life, I didn't even research the correct placement.  I begrudgingly agreed but continued to worry that they were off. 

 No idea what is coming...

 This is so fun...

 Why is this lady coloring on my ear...

 I don't know about you...

 Woo hoo!  I love the mall!

 What the.... What the.... Screaming!!!

I stopped taking pictures so we wouldn't have a record of the screaming... believe it or not, I do have my standards :)  She cried for about 3 minutes and then seemed pretty good.

 I am NOT ok with what just happened!

 Yeah, you better cuddle me mom!

 Bling Bling, money ain't a thang!

We tried later to get some better pictures but she wasn't having it and it was time for bed.  There are better pictures coming in her ADORABLE 8 month pictures!

I was pretty upset about doing it afterwards. I felt like I took her baby purity away and scared her for life.  It took a few days before I decided I like them and she looks very cute and girly :)  I think she will forgive me for those 3 minutes; she will have plenty to hate me for in her teenage years I am sure, haha!

8 Months

Another month goes by closer to having a one year old... I swear I was just in the hospital.  I don't know where the time has gone and she is just getting bigger and bigger all the time. 

• She has mastered pulling up.  It doesn't even need to be something she can grab onto now, she can pull up on the wall if she wants to.  It makes me very nervous, especially since she loves to use the cabinet nobs in the kitchen on the hard tile floor.  She stands on her tippy toes, already practicing to be a ballerina and she is cruising along the couch more and more now.

• Since she now knows she can pull up anywhere, I suddenly heard her mobile one day while she was supposed to be napping; turns out she figured out she could do it in her crib too.  That is now lowered but she still likes to stand and cry at the edge to break mom's heart.
• She is eating so many things now and has finally gotten better at finger foods.  It is still pretty funny to watch but she does manage to get most of them into her mouth at some point.  We are thinking she is left handed because she definitely favors and better uses her left hand.  She is a very impatient eater, if you put her in the high chair she expects food NOW!  She gets one bottle of formula a day and 3 meals along with her breastfeeding.

• She is brave enough to explore as she wants to and likes to go to the sliding door to watch the dogs outside and she always goes straight to the dog food dishes.   Daddy may have even found her one day with a spare piece in her mouth, yuck!  I swear she finds everything even if I don't see them. 
• I mentioned last month that she was getting more clingy and she definitely wants mommy if I am around.  She more often wants to just be held again or just climb on top of the fun jungle-gym-mommy.
• She had her first overnight stay at Grammy and Papa's house when we went away for our anniversary.  She did great and let them sleep and everything.  I was a little worried with her clingyness but as long as I am not in the room, she does fine with other people.

• She is a little talker (screamer as soon as we go into any restaurant) and her favorite sounds are ba-ba and ma-ma but she doesn't say it at me yet.
• She now does a scrunched up face smile and laugh that is so funny.  I can't believe she has a different smile now!  She also is looking different to me.  She is slimming down a little as she is moving and I think her cheeks may have even gotten a *tiny* bit smaller!

Random Month 8 Pictures:

Blair's first camping trip!

We survived!  It took a long time to actually commit to doing this and I was worried about it so much.  I was worried she would cry all night and we would end up shut in the car trying not to get the entire campground to throw stones at us.  Luckily friends Scott and Rita graciously allowed us to borrow their little trailer and it was AMAZING!  We had air conditioning and sound insulation for her naps and that made me feel so much better about the whole situation. 

We had almost the same group as last year and armed with a 36 pack each of Coors light we made our way to the rugged outdoors (and by rugged I mean we promptly hooked up our refrigerator, plugged in the air conditioner, and ran the hose from our in-site water).  Look I like to camp but I need certain things!  We had a good 10-12 ice chests between all of us and we made a pretty nice little kitchen and camp set up!


Blair did so well playing.  She played pretty good in her pack and play which she had never been in before.  I was really surprised that she would play alone in there.

Grammy and Papa brought these cool mats to play on so we could put them on the ground wherever we were.  She would actually crawl to the edge of the mat and then stop when she got to the dirt... what a good girl!

Grammy and Papa were awesome.  I don't think we will ever camp without them.  They took Blair on many  "she really needs to fall asleep" walks and stayed back and camp with her while Mommy and Daddy went out to the lake to have fun adult time. Thank you guys so much!  We couldn't ask for better support!

We hung out talking, drinking, eating great food and playing games.

 

 Our family camping picture!

Blair hung out in the pack with dad for our beer pong baseball game.  We will go ahead and pass by discussing the implications of playing beer pong with your baby strapped to you... I guess we can kiss the "Parent-of-the-Year" award goodbye!

 I was worried about keeping Blair cool enough and out of the sun and am happy to report that she never even got pink!  We played only once in the splash pool and she also went in the lake to float.

 This is her new laugh/smile face.  She gets it all scrunched up, it is so funny!

Penny stayed home because she can't relax (wait, how did I get allowed then?) but Winston had a great time and was such a good boy.  I just love when he is all cute and muddy.

Blair went out on the boat just one time.  She was not a fan of the life jacket since it really scrunches up the face but she ended up relaxing and falling asleep... so peaceful! 

We had a great time again. Thank you to everyone who came!  We have such great friends and family and we are glad to have survived our first camping trip with her.  My favorite childhood memories are camping so I look forward to making lots of them with Blair too! And thank you again to the best grandparents ever for all their help!!!