I've got some learning to do...

While I was in Austin, I wanted to take Kate's 9 month portraits because there are SO MANY amazing places to do it! My sister-in-law let me drag her and my nephew along to get some pictures of the two of them while I was at it!

Well, I've got some serious learning to do. It's a piece of cake taking a kid's picture who just sits there, or maybe can crawl away, but can be easily distracted by a song. Taking a pictures of a very active little boy is a WHOLE NEW project.

A lot of the pictures look like this...

My mom & Kristin trying to set the kids up, then run out of the picture as fast as they could. I would start snapping pictures fast in hopes of getting one before Connor could run away.

But he was just too fast for me...

I haven't had time to edit them yet...but we did end up with some really cute ones. We found this perfect place where we could sit Kate, and Connor ran back and forth b/t Cole & Kristin in this gazebo. I would be ready to get some really cute pictures when he ran back my way.

Just as a preview, here's one of my favorites...

And even better...

He wanted to touch both of them at the same time so bad! So cute! I just love that little boy! He's growing up so fast!!

Stay tuned for more pictures very soon! For now, my house needs to be cleaned!

Here goes nothin...

About a week and a half ago a friend of mine from church sent me an email asking if I'd be interested in selling some of my bows at the city-wide children's consignment sale that she organizes. Of course I said yes! Unfortunately, I was not even close to having enough bows to put in a sale like that. So I spent MANY hours last week making bows (many nights of staying up til the wee hours of the morning). My house was covered in ribbon!

My friend Jaime also decided to sell her amazing creations there also! (Be sure to check out her photo pendants...I love them! I've already bought my mom two!) I was so glad to have her to help me figure out this whole process (she's a pro at these things!). I feel like I learned so much just by watching her set up her stuff!

Here's our little corner...

My bows are on the shutters (Jennie Coleman's great idea!). Jaime's things on the left & my headbands & burpcloths on the right.

This is one of my new bows that Jaime supplied the bottlecap for...
I love it!

It's a little strange putting myself out there, and I'm not sure if anything will sell...but it is fun to do this anyway! You should definitley head up to the sale if you weren't planning on it. It's called Once Upon a Closet. It's in a building off of Judson Rd. in the building with DeHaven Eye Clinic. I was up there while people were dropping their items off & I was very sad I wouldn't be in town to shop. In fact, I've already emailed Jaime and asked her to pick up a dress I want for Kate! The sale is Thursdayfrom 8-3 and 5:30-7:30 & Friday from 8-6.

And because no post is compelte without a picture of my adorable bow model...

Look at her go!

I've been wondering if Kate would be able to use one of these since she started cruising around furniture. I found this one at the Tyler consignment sale for 4 dollars! and decided it was worth a try...

I think she did pretty well! Still working on that balance :)

I'm excited to see what I find at next week's sale in Austin!

9 Month Stats

We went for Kate's 9 month well-check on Tuesday. It was supposed to be her first check-up with no shots...but she ended up getting the flu shot. She handled it beautifully...barely wimpering.

Dr. McCrory was very proud of how much she had grown & of her development. She cleared her to move on to more table foods - meat, cheese, yogurt, bread, etc. She also cleared her to start trying some new veggies - broccoli, spinach, basically anything! We'll see how she likes that! So far, she's tried turkey & cheese. She loves both!

Here were her stats for 6 months:

Height: 27 3/4 in (97%)
Weight: 16lbs 6 oz (56%)
HC: 17.25 in (84%)

And now at 9 months:

Height: 28 3/4 in (88%)
Weight: 20lbs 4 oz (74.54%) I think adding solids chunked her up a bit!
HC: 17.22 (70%)

I think I hear a drawer opening in the kitchen...guess it's time for some latches!



Where did my baby go?

Happy 9 Months Kate!

I am so far behind! Between starting MOPS, a new Beth Moore bible study, a new small group for David & I, and a new business last week, somehow, I just didn't sit down to write this post! I did remember to actually take her picture on the 12th though...so it's legit!



This month Kate...


--learned how to climb

--started crusing around furniture. I need to get this on video!

--still sleeping the same. I just won't complain about a quiet dinner during that 45 minute night time nap!

--bounces when standing "dancing"

--still just 2 teeth. I swear...the next ones have GOT to be coming soon!

--can briefly (up to about 15 seconds) stand alone

--still a great eater - but has more opinions about things. She'll still eat everything I give her, but gets tired of green vegetables (peas & green beans) & starts turning them away. Oh well, if that's the worst of it, I'll take it!

--eats mostly finger food instead of pureed food

--holds her own bottle

--says "ma-ma" & "da-da" - sometimes actually associated with us (mostly with Daddy), but also just says it while babbling

--did I mention the babbling??? This girl talks ALL THE TIME. And this month it got LOUD! She just yells for the fun of it!

--still such a "studier" - here she is checking out Daddy's eyes. She picks a different part of his face all the time & just looks at it and touches it over and over. So cute!

--mimics even more - when asked to make a noise she will

--is so happy. Everywhere we go people ask if she's always smiling. I love it!

--sits with her toes pointed. She's been doing this for awhile, but I always forget to blog/take pictures. I just love it.

--said her first word...

haha...not really. I am NOT counting that as her first word. She has no idea what it means. I have no idea why she started saying it, but now she will say it anytime you ask her to! So funny!

Just in the past 4 day since she turned 9 months old she's started waving and eating all table foods so hopefully I'll get those posts up soon!

I just can't believe we're 3 months away from having a 1 year old. Seriously. It's just too fast.

A New Adventure!

Everywhere I take Kate I hear at least one comment about her bow - how big it is, how cute it is, etc. I love keeping bows on her! When she was first born, she wore ones that were given to her as gifts, or that my mom or I found shopping.

After awhile, I wanted bows to match certain outfits & I love to do crafty things, so I decided to see if I could make them. I have really enjoyed having such a fun, creative outlet. After some encouragement from friends, I've decided to start selling my creations!

I started an Etsy store. (For those of you who don't know, Etsy is a website where people can set up their own "stores" to sell all things homemade - and then people shop from them!). I am still working lots on it - adding new items everyday. I also still need to create a banner for the top of my store - David's going to help me with that next week. I am super excited about getting this started - I had my first sale today!!! I will even be doing a couple craft shows next month.

I wanted to share with you some of the things I will be selling on my site....

Along with bows, I'll also be selling my calligraphy frames. This is one I made for my cousin Matt's little boy...

Depending on my success I plan on adding other things as I go.

So...go check it out!

The website is...

www.amyslittlebowtique.etsy.com

I hope you enjoy!

What a weekend!

This weekend my family - my parents, my brother, sister-in-law & 1 year old nephew came to visit! We took advantage of a long weekend for them to come up & got to celebrate my Mom's birthday.We had so much fun getting to just hang out with each other & not have anything we just had to do. We stayed up late talking & laughing, played with kids, ate, took pictures, and just enjoyed being together. Kristin & Connor got to our house on Friday evening, and the rest of them came to town late that night after Cole got off work.

Saturday morning we relaxed & ran some errands while the kids napped.

Kate wearing Poppa's hat

Connor feeding himself - such a big boy!

Kristin with both kids!

Connor got his first busted lip & enjoyed a popsicle to help it feel better!

My mom had told us that what she wanted for her birthday was for us to have family pictures taken, so I asked my friend Jennie to come take a few. She did such a great job!

This was our favorite...everyone smiling...everyone facing the same way.
And then there's Kate...

Finally...she smiles

Poor baby...her little blue eyes just can't handle that sun!

On Sunday, after church we headed over to Jason's Deli, then home for some much needed naps! After we were well rested, we headed over to the Mitchell's to swim.

My dad going down the slide

Cole's family

On Sunday night we celebrated Mom's birthday (which is actually today!) by going out to dinner at the Olive Garden (yum!), then back to our house for cake, presents, and games.

It was a great weekend, and we really enoyed having my family here. Hope you have a great rest of the day Mom! Happy Birthday!!!