Fun with Photoshop

I decided to start getting a little creative with pictures to keep things fun. This was the result this week. I wonder what Gracie will think of this picture of her when she gets a little older.

Just Some Random Cuteness

Gracie does not like things in her hair these days, but I was able to snap a few pictures of her before she yanked out her cute flower hair clip.


Daddy's the coolest!

She is very interested in momma's camera!


Hi everybody!!!

The Run Down at 9 Months

What is her newest trick? She has been crawling and pulling up for a few weeks and she is in to everything! She is now walking around all of the furniture. She'll fall down, bump her little noggin, and get right up again. Another thing she is doing now is giving kisses. She will lean in and give me a slobbery, but absolutely perfect kiss!

What words is she saying? She is saying "da da" like crazy! She says it for almost everything, but she has a cute little intense way of saying it when referring to her Daddy. She also says hi and ball.

What is her favorite toy? Her favorite toy right now is her sleep sheep. It is a stuffed animal that has soothing noises that she falls asleep to. When she wakes up, she no longer reaches for us first. She reaches for her sleep sheep and hugs and kisses it. I'm a little jealous of that thing! :)

What makes her sad? She has been really clingy lately, so sometimes she gets really sad when momma puts her down. She has been teething which makes for some hard nights. I hate that she is in pain, but that toothy grin is too cute for words!

What makes her mad? She gets the most mad when she is confined. The carseat, the shopping cart, the stroller, the changing table are all horrible. Oh the changing table! She hates it the worst because she is on her back.

What is her favorite food? Her absolute favorite are puffs (basically Cheetohs for babies). Her other favorite foods are oatmeal (which she eats twice a day), turkey from the deli, biscuits, and macaroni and cheese.

What is her least favorite food? She hates green vegetables. Usually I mix them in with the mac and cheese to get her to eat them.

How is she sleeping? She usually goes down between 7:00 and 8:00 which we LOVE! She might wake up once during the night, but it has been pretty easy to get her back down. She wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning, so her momma is getting some good sleep! Yay!

One Big Fat Adventure

I often wonder what Gracie will be like when she is older. What will she be passionate about? What will make her laugh? What will make her cry? What will she be when she grows up? When I was a child, I wanted to be either a veterinarian or a McDonald's employee (they got to push the cool buttons on the cash register). I ended up becoming a personal trainer/teacher/wife/photographer/mother. I am so thankful life doesn't always end up the way we plan. This life is one big fat adventure and I am just hanging on trying to document in pictures along the way!

Free as a Bird

Our little bluebird is growing up. She can crawl now and she pulls up on everything, giving her a new found freedom that she is LOVING! A part of me is sad to let go of the baby that, when in our arms, was perfectly content. But another part of me is so excited to get to know this perfect little person God has so graciously put in our lives. Our baby girl has her own desires, her own agenda, a mind of her own. I am just trying to learn her and keep up! I already adore her personality and she can't even talk yet. She loves to laugh! She loves to make people laugh. She has been doing the fake cough for a while now, but she has started fake sneezing (head motion and all). I laugh everytime she does it, so she does it quite often! She is funny like her dad, animated like her mom, and crazy passionate about life. What a ride!

Teething Bites!

Wow! I really underestimated the whole teething thing! Who knew that one little tooth could create so much chaos - runny nose, fussiness, fever, sleepless nights, and chewing on everything! It has been kind of crazy around here lately with her little teeth coming in, but one look at that cute little toothy grin makes it all worth while (I am going to miss that gummy smile though)!

1.1.11

(this is a fun pic from 2010; I miss her crazy hair!)

Happy New Year! I can't believe it is 2011! I can't believe this time last year we hadn't even met our little girl yet. I can't believe how much God did last year. Here are a few big things that happened... Jungle Sunrise was published, Raspberry Rain became official, lots of very helpful baby showers, we moved into a house, we became minivan owners, Gracie was born, Gracie started crawling, Gracie got her first tooth, and there were 5 baptisms at BodyLife! What a year!

I am so excited for this new year and all God is going to do.

Some New Year's resolutions I have (keep me accountable people!!):

1. Go on a mission trip
2. Run a half marathon
3. Expand our photography business
4. Learn to snow board or get pregnant again :)
5. Blog more regularly