Lilly Grace at 7 Months

It's hard to believe that my baby girl is already 7 months and getting ready for her first Christmas! She is growing by leaps and bounds, and amazes us each and every day. Since my last entry, she has learned, tried, and experienced so many new and wonderful things.

She can sit up completely on her own and thinks that she is such a big girl! She loves the world from this vertical view!

Lilly is also on the move (sort of)! Although she is not crawling yet, she still manages to get to where she is going. She rolls over and over like a roly poly, she scoots on her bottom while she is sitting down and she digs her heals in while she is laying on her back and pushes herself backwards.

She started solids about a month and a half ago and absolutely loves them! We are very lucky that there really hasn't been a food that we've tried that she hasn't liked. She loves all of the fruits and the sweeter yellow & orange vegetables, but she also eats her green vegetables pretty good too. She wasn't too sure about green beans and peas at first, but after a few bites, she figured out that they aren't that bad! We have been giving her tiny nibbles of softer "big people" food recently, but she still isn't so sure about them yet!

She has said a couple of words now, with her first word being "mama"!!! (Manuel was soooo jealous)! She did finally manage "dada" too, so Manuel is happy! Even though she has only managed these couple of words, she "talks" all of the time!!! It makes my heart so happy just to listen to her.

She is so happy and smiles and laughs all of the time! She loves to play with us, but is also completely content to play by herself with her toys or in her exersaucer. Her bubba's can make her laugh and smile like no other, and she absolutely lights up whenever she sees her daddy. It is the sweetest thing!

She also loves her nanny! It is nice to have someone come to our house to watch her, and Brandy is so good with her. I love knowing that my baby is so well taken care of when I am not here and that she is completely being catered to!

These are her 6 month pictures that Brandy's husband took. He is just getting started with his photography, and did a wonderful job! Thanks Chris!

Play Time

Lilly loves playing in her exersaucer at night! She stands, spinns around, jumps, plays with the toys and laughs the whole time! She especially likes it when Rocky comes over for Lilly to pet him! Thanks to our cousin Harper for letting us borrow such a fun toy!

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Gabriel's ATA Belt Test

Gabriel tested Friday for his decided purple belt. He did a great job and received his decided stripe today during the belt ceremony. Ryan skipped out on this testing period but will be ready come December 12 to test for his black belt!

Lilly hanging out with Aunt Laurie during Gabe's test.

Purple Belt decided - woo hoo!!

Sweet Lilly waiting patiently during today's ceremony.

Fun With Family

We spent this afternoon out at Justin and Hayley's house hanging out. While me, Hayley, and the babies stayed inside crafting and playing, the boys were outside with my brother working. They put together a trailer for Justins lawn mower, took a quick trip to Home Depot, and planted 2 trees. It was a fun afternoon!!!

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"gr" Blend Expert

Gabriel was named the "gr" blend expert for his class this week. We had to come up with a list of thing that start with his blend, write a sentence using at least 2 words with his blend, and take a picture of him holding something that starts with his blend. Gabe came up with 5 "great" words and the sentence: "The green grass is great!".

Gabe with grapes and a groundhog sitting on green grass!

Lilly at 4 Months

Lilly turned 4 months old on Sunday! It's hard to believe my baby girl is that big already!!! We went to see Dr. Mercer today for her 4 month checkup, and she is doing great! She weighed 14 lbs. 5 oz. (75th percentile), and was 26 1/2 inches long (97th percentile). I am also proud of the fact that she is still strictly on breast milk! I wasn't able to nurse the boys, so I am really enjoying this aspect of motherhood with Lilly.

Lilly loves to talk! She babbles all day long. I can't wait until those babbles turn into words. She drools like crazy and loves to put everything in her mouth and gum it to mush. She can sit with a little bit of help and loves to jump up and down! Since this tends to make our arms really tired, I am glad the Manuel's mom bought her a jumper! She loves it! She gets her feet and legs kicking really fast and laughs. It's really cute!

Lilly spins herself around on her play mat like a clock. You can set her down one minute, and then the next she is turned all of the way around! She has also rolled over a couple of times, more on accident than anything. She can make it over to her side pretty well, but hasn't figured out how exactly she made it all the way over before! Give her a little bit more time, and she will have it down like a champ!

Lilly is such a joy and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!

Gabriel's 1st Lost Tooth!!!

Gabriel lost his first tooth on Sept. 2nd!!! The tooth was soooo ready to come out, but any time I would mention pulling it, he would start crying and freaking out! He was so scared it was going to hurt that he wouldn't let me near it. Finally, when his tooth was nearly horizontal, I was able to bribe him to let me pull it. It cost me $2 to pull that tooth on the first yank, but we finally got it out! Gabe was totally shocked that it didn't hurt. He told me, "Mommy, I was just scared because I didn't know". It was really cute! Between the $2 he got for letting me pull the tooth, and the $5 the tooth fairy brought him, he thought he was rollin' in it! That money was burning a hole in his pocket, so we had to take a trip to Wal Mart so he could buy something!