What a great weekend! Brian took Friday off so we could go to the beach and meet our friends, Roney and Susie in Siesta Key. It was a beautiful day and so relaxing... it helps to have a condo right on the beach to take your tired toddler inside when she is hot and tired. I told Brian that we need to get one in Clearwater so I could go to the beach more! Blythe had so much fun this time. This is only the second time this summer she's been to the beach and the first was not much fn. She was hot and scared of the ocean and didn't care much for the sand. This trip was totally different. She LOVED playing with her sand toys both in and out of the water. She thought it was hilarious when she got hit by an incoming wave and would laugh and laugh (of course we didn't let her get knocked down because that would have been the end of the fun). She even sat in the shallow water with her bucket and shovel and played in the water until we made her leave.



Saturday was my 29th birthday and it was great. We didn't do anything special, but it was fun relaxing and spending time with Brian and Blythe. Of course it helped that they, along with my mom, bought me a new lens for my camera that I absolutely LOVE! Brian also went with me to scout out a tree branch for my next photography project (more to come later on that...). We got attacked by mosquitos in the middle of the day in the woods while he tried to cut down a branch. Meanwhile, I played with my new
camera lens on the nice, mosquito-free path (though it was probably 100 degrees on the hot pavement). Blythe stayed with Poppy while we searched (after we surprised him by walking into his house while he was in the back yard - we didn't know he was home from North Carolina!) After getting attacked by the woodland insects, Brian found an even better tree branch right next to Meme and Poppy's house! So now we have two options and a story to tell about it once I complete my project :-)



Finally we went to dinner as a family which was pretty uneventful (other than running into some friends we haven't seen in awhile). It was relaxing and the perfect way to spend a birthday. Of course the day wasn't complete without a photoshoot of Blythe with my new toy! We stopped at the park on the way home and took some pictures. She's a total ham and gives me a big goofy grin as soon as the camera comes out. You would never know that she's been having thousands of pictures taken of her since she was born 16 months ago ;-) I hope Keller loves the camera just as much!



Sunday was pretty normal. We visited a new church and spent the rest of the day being lazy around the house. It's fun to spend time as a family of three and watch Blythe run around in her flurry of activity. I cherish these times before Keller arrives (in only THREE more weeks!) and want to spoil Blythe with all the attention she can stand! Things for Keller are slowly coming together, though I realized this weekend how little time I have left and kept making a list in my head of all the things that still need to be done. Maybe the nesting is starting to kick in, or maybe it's just the procrastinator in me since my list hasn't even made it on to paper yet!



Here are a few of the pictures we took on the way home from my birthday dinner... The first shows what it would be like to have twins... oh my!

These are just Blythe being silly... she had so much fun running through the bike racks!

A fresh look for a new start...

I have neglected the blog for such a long time... I didn't even make it through Blythe's first year! Hopefully this time will be different. In the past few months I have gotten much more interested in photography and learning to use the camera we got before Blythe was born. I've spent more time playing with those pictures and less time posting them! Now I hope to share what I've learned with my friends in blog-land. I am by no means a professional, but am having lots of fun learning!

For those who haven't heard, we are expecting another baby girl in just seven more weeks! We have decided to name her Keller Crestyn (K.C.). We are excited to be adding to our little family, though I'm a little nervous about having two girls 17 months apart! I just can't imagine what life will be like in about 12 years... and I don't even want to think about the boys! Blythe isn't really old enough to understand what's about to happen but she will have to learn quickly once Keller is here!

Blythe has developed quite the personality. She's such a happy girl but is equally as independent-minded. She knows what she wants and will go to great lengths to get it! She is at such a fun age and has begun learning new words. She loves to show us "balls" and "dogs" as well as saying "mama" non-stop... sadly, it usually refers to a picture of herself, not me! She definitely knows "dada" though and gets so excited when her daddy walks into a room. We are having a relaxing summer though it's been tough to keep our little busy body occupied when it's been so hot outside! We have had several day with a heat index of over 105 this week - and Brian and I thought we'd left that in Texas - guess the joke's on us! Blythe has been in the pool a bunch but is just now starting to like it. She has developed an attachment to her two blankets that she sleeps with no matter how hot it is. Just last week, Brian forgot to give her a blanket when she went to bed (I was out) and she was up throwing a fit for an hour before he finally realized what was wrong. We now know not to underestimate the value of that comfort item for her.

There is a lot more to update but that will have to do for now. But of course I wouldn't leave without showing off my new found photography skillz, so here you go. This picture is from Father's Day. Enjoy!

Moving Right Along

Now that Blythe is getting the hang of crawling, I made her some babylegs. I got a bunch of neat socks on clearance this week at the mall and it took me less than 5 minutes to sew each set. For those who haven't heard of these, they are like leg warmers.






All the floors on the first story of our house are either wood or tile and her poor knees have been very red for the past few weeks. Now, not only are her legs nice and warm (even though it's fall, it's still in the upper 80s every day), she also has some cushion and her cute little legs. And of course, as always, she's making a fashion statement!

In other big news, her first tooth is finally coming in! Tonight I stuck my finger in her mouth and felt something sharp coming through her bottom gum. Sure enough I looked later and saw a tiny red hole. She hasn't been any fussier than normal, but then again, normal has become going through every day with a runny nose and congested breathing since she's had a cold for almost three weeks. You wouldn't know it by the big smiles on her face all day though!

7 Months Old

GO GATORS!!!

A Weekend Away

Brian and I took a much needed trip this weekend. We went down to Ft. Meyers to a conference and Blythe stayed in Tampa with Meme and Poppy! We are so thankful to have family close by that love to help us out and give us time to spend alone together. We are even more thankful that they'll do it for three days with a baby who still doesn't have regular nap times! This weekend was such a blessing to us as we were reminded that God has given us such a gift in each other and there's nothing better we can do for our baby girl than to be thankful for that gift every day!

Meme and Poppy had so much fun with Blythe!
They put up a new swing for her to enjoy and she had a blast! They got her laughing every time she went in it!




She also watched the gator game with Poppy and was so sad that we lost! Meme and Poppy have made their house so fun for their grandbabies that soon they won't ever want to go home!

Fall is Here!

Ok, so we do live in Florida so fall means it's in the 80s instead of the 90s. But we are loving it! We can finally enjoy being outside in the yard and at parks! It gives us so many more options for things to do during the day. Blythe has finally discovered the grass and is fascinated by it. When she's sitting in the grass I can't do anything to get her attention!

Today was our first trip to the aquarium with some friends. It was fun though Blythe really had no interest in it. She was more fascinated by all the other moms and kids that were there than she was by the fish. I'm sure there will be many aquarium visits in our future though!

Big Girl!

Blythe got her new carseat and she loves it so much! I don't hear crying from the back of the car anymore which is such a relief. It's awful to have an upset baby behind you when there's nothing you can safely do about it. Since she's had this seat int he car she's been so much happier - and she'll even fall asleep in it!

Going, going, gone!

Blythe will be crawling soon. I'll be mourning my loss of freedom while she is gaining hers! Guess we'll be doing more babyproofing soon!

6 Month Appointment

I made the doctor see us a week earlier than our original appointment (which was three weeks late anyways) because there were lots of questions I wanted to ask.. mostly having to do with my child's lack of daytime sleep - which he had not answer for! Well, she's still growing, but not as fast. Blythe now weighs 17lbs 4 oz (76th percentile) and is 26.5 inches long (95th percentile!!!). She is one long baby! The chart could be a little off though since our appointments are running behind. She is eating a whole lot though so I'm not surprised at her growth at all.

She is finally sleeping through the night thanks to her daddy's gentle nudge. Against my will, we (as in BRIAN) used the Ferber method to train her to sleep at night and it worked quickly. It wasn't easy, but it sure is nice to get a decent amount of sleep at night. My body has had a hard time adjusting and I still wake up from time to time. I don't think it knows what to do with so many hours to sleep. Also, Blythe is going down at 7pm instead of 9 so we finally have some quiet in the evenings which is so needed!

Now, this is what we see when we go into her room in the morning... How can you not smile at this face?!?!

Growing so fast!

Blythe is 6 months old today. I know everyone says it goes by quickly but it's still so hard to believe she has been here that long. At the same time, it's difficult to remember life without her here. We are so thankful for her and the joy she brings to our lives.



Our doctors appointments are off by a few weeks because of the way we are doing Blythe's shots. At 5 1/2 months, she weighed 16 lbs 4 oz! She is just getting so big! Her six month appointment isn't for a few more weeks. I'll have to et out the scale at home and weigh her tomorrow. She is getting so much more active and never wants to sit still. She wants to get into everything but hasn't quite mastered how she should do that. She's not crawling yet, but she moves to get to what she wants. We're afraid she is going to start walking first...


This is what I saw when I was setting up the camera this afternoon. One minute she was sitting and playing with her toy, the next minute she was using it to stand up! She does that all the time using us, but that's the first time she did it completely on her own using another object! We've got to find a way to slow her down!

4 Month Stats

Our 4 month appointment was about 10 days late but here are the stats:

Height: 25" (85th percentile!)
Weight: 14 lbs. 6.5 oz. (74th percentile!)

So I can't see it but our baby is getting so big! The doctor said she definitely needs to eat more solids to get enough calories. I just hope she holds off on crawling and walking!

First Solid Foods!

Our baby sure is growing up fast. At her 4 month appointment, her pediatrician asked us to start solids. I had planned on waiting until 6 months, but because of her reflux, and the fact that she is waking up more during the nights, the doctor asked us to start now. We started her on rice cereal and she ate it up! Blythe has never been a baby to refuse food, ever. They say babies only eat until they are full, but my child will eat whatever, whenever! She didn't mind the spoon in her mouth and by the end she was grabbing it to put in her own mouth! It's so fun to see her doing new things and learning, but sad at the same time as we watch her grow up so fast! We'll see how this continues this week...

Lots Of Catching Up To Do

So I have been taking pictures, but I haven't been posting them. Now that there are 2 months worth, I feel a bit overwhelmed and keep putting it off. Today is the day I plan on catching up!

So here we go...

Beach Baptism

Our church, Church at the Bay, held their baptism at Honeymoon Island State Park this weekend. It was neat to see so many new believers as well as so many new members since the last time we did this! Blythe got to put her feet in the water for the first time. She didn't seem to notice that her feet were sinking deeper and deeper into the sand. I think it just helped her stand up better!

4 Months Old and July 4th

We spent all week getting ready to move and spent the holiday weekend moving. However, I couldn't let her 4 month birthday go by without her special outfit (which I dug out of a box!) and a few pictures! Think I'll do things like this with my other children or is it just the first?!?







Blythe and Logan are becoming friends now that she is more mobile. Logan is very gentle with her and has let her touch his nose a few times. He was feeling left out during the pictures so we tried to get shots of them together. Poor Logan probably doesn't know what he has coming as our little one grows up...

She's just so darn cute!

I bought this outfit before Blythe was born and it has been too big. Now it's too hot to wear it so I put her in it on a day I knew we'd be home all day. I had to take some pictures before I packed it away. She is just showing so much personality lately and it's so fun!

I'm a Big Girl Now!

Blythe is now using her umbrella stroller when we go for walks. She likes to sit up and watch everything as we go by. Even if I try to lay her back in her stroller she pulls her body forward and sits up! She seems to love being in it though.

What a Big Girl!

Blythe is sitting up pretty much by herself now. She does not like to be laying down and holds her head up in a mini-crunch for as long as she can when we put her down on her back. While I was folding laundry in her room, she sat next to me on the bed watching. Next thing we know, she'll be folding laundry with me!

Go Business Sox

Brian is playing in a summer softball league with a bunch of guys from church. Blythe wanted to support her daddy's team so she got a matching t-shirt!

Leaving on an Airplane...

Blythe took her first plane trip to visit my mom and friends in Jacksonville. I was a little nervous but figured not too much could go wrong on a 45 minute plane flight... I learned differently.

Despite my best efforts to get her to sleep while we were waiting on the gate. I was excited cause I figured she would stay asleep the whole plane ride! Instead, she woke up right as we were getting ready to take off... The flight didn't bother her though, she just got very fussy when she woke up before we landed. On the way there, Blythe was awake until right before I got on the plane. She actually fell asleep while I was pushing her stroller down the ramp,Thankfully we had a row to ourselves and some very understanding people around us!


Blythe adjusted well to being in a new place. She slept in my room in a pack and play and was great! In fact, I think she slept better than she does at home. She loved her new room, especially the mirror!





She also got a new toy while she was in Jacksonville. Since she doesn't like to sit down and loves standing, the jumperoo was a hit! At first she wasn't sure what to do, but once she figured it out, she loved it!


Blythe got to hang out with Jaime a few times. Since Jaime is moving to Atlanta, we're sad that we might not see her as much! After all, who else is going to teach Blythe all about being southern? It does gives us a great excuse to go to Atlanta a lot though! Still, we're going to miss seeing Jaime whenever we visit Jacksonville. In this picture we were having lunch at Chick-fil-a... which is Jaime's new employer. You would thing she wouldn't want to eat there anymore since I'm sure she'll get more than enough!





Since my dear daughter is so curious and observant, sometimes she doesn't like to nap (note- that's most of the time...) When I was checking out at JoAnn Fabrics, they had this cute little sleep mask for $1 so I thought I would try it. It worked for about 10 minutes until my smarty realized she could turn her head back and forth and get it to move!







While we were there I got very sick (probably from being on the plane) so we stayed in Jacksonville longer so my mom could help take care of Blythe. Since they spend so much time together, they have really bonded. It was a sad goodbye at the airport, but not to worry... JJ will be back in Tampa next week!



The trip back to Tampa was awful! As soon as we got on the plane, the pilot informed us that the Tampa airport had closed due to storms and was rerouting flights to Jacksonville. As a result, not only would we be late, but we had to sit on the runway and wait for the go-ahead instead of getting off the plane! Needless to say, this was not a good thing with a 3 month old on board! Blythe got very agitated and upset (because she was overtired) during our wait on the runway and there was nothing I could do about it! We ended up sitting for an hour and a half (all the while, Brian was waiting in Tampa, telling me that the skies were blue and sunny!) Finally, my sweet girl just fell asleep on my lap and all was well in the world! Hopefully our next plane trip in August will be less eventful!

Happy Father's Day!

Of course Blythe wanted a special outfit for her daddy's first Father's day... she's such a Daddy's Girl!

Flashback...

My mom kept insisting that Blythe needed to wear the dress that I wore home from the hospital. I guess I'm just not sentimental, or have different taste than my mom used to, but I really wasn't in a hurry to have her wearing my old clothes! Well at 3 months old, she finally fit in my old dress (what does that say about my size as a newborn???)

3 Month Stats

When looking at the handy dandy growth tracker, it appears that the nurse measured Blythe's height incorrectly last month. Here is where she is today, 6/5/08:

Weight: 13 lbs. 1 oz. (72nd percentile)
Height: 23 inches (46th percentile)

Here's a look at her charts:

Three Months Old

Blythe is 3 months old already! It seems like every day she does something new. Here are a few pictures from today - she is definitely very strong! Tomorrow we go to the doctor so I will update her stats then. We are so blessed!

Swimming, Swimming, In the Swimming Pool

Memorial Day was eventful for Blythe. We had a barbecue with some friends and Blythe got to go swimming for the first time!

Here is her before picture... she was happy and content doing her own thing.

But mom and dad had to go and change her into a swimsuit...

Then pose her like she was trying to get a tan... (note: We aren't bad parents - she had on lots of sunscreen and was only out for about 15 minutes) Then there were the steps of the pool. This is where she began to become concerned...

Then we tried to put her all the way in. It was at this point that she realized that this was more than a normal bath...

Finally, we put her in a float - she was more concerned with what she was sitting in than the water that was surrounding her!

All in all, she didn't seemed too phased by the whole experience. She just took it in stride as she tends to do with everything. As parents we were hoping for more of a reaction to her first pool experience! At least we learned that she didn't hate it like her daddy did when he was a baby. Our little water baby is going to have much more of this to come in the coming months!