Silly Day

Wahoo- what fun!

She loved it!

Caroline tentatively checking it out...

Princess partners posing...

On Tuesday I watched my neighbor's little girl. Caroline turned two in May and so I was able to practice what it would be like to have two kiddos. It actually was way easier than I expected and Caroline was absolutely perfect. Melanie was fascinated with just watching Caroline. At work I let my kids play in shaving cream so I thought it would be a fun idea for Caroline. So, I set up shaving cream on the kitchen floor. Caroline thought I was insane- she had no desire to get shaving cream all over her but Melanie thought it was fabulous. Here are pictures of the two princesses together.

Fun Family Day

Melanie with her new piano
She loves money...uh oh!
Is this a face or what?
Showing off her two teeth
Our little chunk
Her pouty model face
And one last happy pic for the camera...

We had a fun family day. My parents came and we went to lunch, the park (Melanie loved the swings) and to the pool. Melanie would stay in the pool all day. Anyway, here are some cute pictures my mom took.

6 month pictures

There is a picture similar to the above one that we bought and for whatever reason it did not come through on the email.

We got the above pic. in black and white (way cuter than green!)

She was a modeling super star! We couldn't have been any happier and boy did they suck us into buying soooo many pictures! So, take a look and see why.

6 month doctor's appointment

Melanie went to the doctor today and was a champ. She showed off all of her rolling and sitting skills and was quite vocal. She acted like a perfect child until he checked her ear and then she was sooooo pitiful during her shots. She weighed 17 lbs 1 oz (69th percentile) and was 26 1/2 inches long (73rd percentile). The doctor said she is eating great and growing perfectly-wahoo for Melanie.

New Pictures

She loves sitting up and putting toys in her mouth.

Isn't Shelby a good sport. Melanie is constantly crawling all over her, pulling her hair and sticking her hand in Shelby's mouth.

Are they cute together or what....

Our six month cutie!

I just returned from a three day girls weekend for Brooke Burger's bachelorette party. Clint brainwashed Melanie while I was gone and I came back to her babbling "dada." I better stay home so she will continue to say mama. She is now six months old and has her next doctor's appointment on Thursday and her next set of professional pictures this coming weekend. I will post after both of those events. Here are some cute new pictures from this morning.

Our Trip to Mississippi

Melanie with her great grandmother.
Melanie with her nanna and her great grandparents: Papaw and Memaw
Hello friends!
Okay- I know this is not the greatest picture of her but it shows her sitting up pretty well.

Melanie was an angel on our trip to Mississippi to see her great grandparents. She slept the entire way there and the entire way back only waking up to eat. She was so good at her great grandparents house and enjoyed the constant attention she was getting. She began babbling "ma ma" when we were there. I don't think that she has any type of meaning attached to saying it. I think now that she has figured out how to "talk" that she doesn't want to stop. The other day we were out to eat and she just wanted to scream VERY loud. Not because she was mad or because she wanted anything- she just thought it was funny to hear herself scream so loud that it would echo. Needless to say we had to leave the restaurant. I don't think I need to even write that I enjoy "ma ma" much more than screaming. She is continuing to enjoy her baby food- there does not seem to be much that she does not like. She also loves playing with blocks. She will put them in a container pour them out and knock them over when I stack them up. She also loves to pull on Shelby's fur and I think Shelby secretly enjoys it as well because I can't separate the two of them.

I can sit!

Our 5 1/2 month old daughter can sit- wahoo! She started balancing pretty good a couple of days ago and now she can hold herself upright. We still stay close to her because she does not catch herself too well when she falls but she can hold herself upright for a minute or so- yeah Melanie! Here is a picture for proof- she is kind of hunching over because she is trying to get close to me as I take her picture.

New Pictures and a New Tooth

Father's Day Fun.

Well, Melanie has 2 teeth now! The first one is about half way in and the second one popped up right beside it about a week ago. She is continuing to love her baby food (except peaches). She also is acting much better in the gym daycare. She loves to "talk to" and watch all of the other children. She is so funny at trying to crawl. We will put toys right out of her reach and she will scoot herself to them or roll in the opposite direction and then gear up for a big roll back towards the toys. If she could just get her big old booty all the way up she would be off and going. Anway hope you enjoy the new pics!

Vacation

Could she be any cuter?This was her touching a fish my dad caught.

We just returned from vacation and had a wonderful time. But, going on a vacation with a baby is quite different than the vacations I am used to. Melanie loved the water. We would put her feet in the ocean and she would watch the water come up towards her feet and just wiggle away. She also loved the pool. We had a float for her but she preferred to have us hold her (what else is new?). She did not like sleeping in her pack and play. She sleeps very well at home in her crib without putting up a fuss or anything but she HATED sleeping at the beach. So, the princess that she is, she cried loud enough and long enough to convince us to let her sleep in our bed 4 of the nights. Luckily when we got home she went right back to sleeping in her bed like normal (thank goodness!). She is also getting a tooth. It is soooo sharp. It's one of her bottom front teeth. You can barely see it but boy can you feel it if you stick your finger in her mouth. Other than that she is just getting bigger and more fun by the day.

Quick Update

Her first taste of green beans!

Her first experiement with rice cereal.

Goooo Braves!

We had Melanie's appointment for shots yesterday. She did quite well. But, her temperature went up to 100.9 when we got home and after a phone call from the doctor we gave her some Tylenol and it finally went down. Melanie is LOVING eating baby food! She so far had tried rice cereal, green beans, sweet potatoes and applesauce. She thinks they are all wonderful. She tries to grab the spoon and feed herself. She is quite funny and will stick her foot in her mouth while we are feeding her and then baby food is EVERYWHERE. But, I guess that is half the fun. She also is almost able to hold her own bottle. There are sippy cup handles that you can attach to her bottle and she can hold those and put the bottle in her mouth but has a hard time tilting the liquid to her mouth and she is working on just holding the regular bottle. She also has taken a few sips of water out of a regular cup. It is quite funny. She will reach for any cup (or food) that we have and try to take it. She is also finally "playing" with her toys. She will press on toys to make music and bring rattles and stuffed animals to her mouth. She continues to love to roll over and is still working on sitting by herself. She can now take her pacifier out of her mouth with her hand and is getting accurate at putting it back in. She can also sit in her stroller like a big girl and doesn't need to be lying down in her infant carrier at all times. So needless to say she is a GENIUS :) But seriously we are excited to see each new step and I am loving summer time! We took her to the pool and she enjoyed the water and the float that her nanna gave her. I am so happy that teachers have summers off and I can stay at home and enjoy all of her new abilities.

Doctor's Appt.

Well, Melanie's 4 month doctor's appointment did not quite go the way I intended. Unfortunately on the way to the appointment we got in a pretty bad wreck. There was an older couple trying to cross 4 lanes of traffic by taking a left from a residential road across Five Forks heading back to Lilburn in front of Five Forks Library and they had stopped in the middle of the road in their attempt to turn left and I ran straight into them (I was going straight down Five Forks toward Lawrenceville). Thankfully everyone (including the older couple) was okay and that is what is important. Melanie slept through the entire event. I immediately got her out of her car seat as soon as my car stopped and she was still asleep and I didn't know if this was a good or bad thing. But, as soon as she woke up she seemed alert and fine. The paramedics came to check her just because she is so little. They gave her the okay and I eventually got her on to the pediatrician so he could check her also. They were very kind and stayed late to wait for us even though it was a Friday afternoon. The pediatrician said she looked fine. She weighed 14 pounds 5 ounces. She was given the all clear to eat rice cereal and in about a week baby food- hooray! She didn't get any shots because if there were injuries that we didn't notice he didn't want any reactions to the shots to mask the injuries that may have occurred. Clint stayed with my car during the whole ordeal and watched it get towed away :( Ironically enough I came home to a car payment- not quite what you want to pay when you don't even have your car at home! But, the older couple was very kind and they have insurance that should cover it all and I am just soooo thankful no one was injured. The car behind me (which would have run into the older couple had I not been there) was being driven by a pregnant woman so I guess in an odd way it was a good thing it was me that was involved in the wreck and not her.

Mother's Day

Thanks to Clint and Melanie I had an amazingly wonderful Mother's Day. The morning started off relaxing with my own family then lunch with my mom and dinner with Clint's mom. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate with everyone. My grandparents came to town on Monday and here are some cute pictures from their visit. Melanie has a doctor's appt. tomorrow so we will see how big she is and hopefully get the okay for solid food....keep your fingers crossed!

Melanie with her great grandparents.

Melanie loves her great Papa

She thinks it is sooo funny when someone blows on her back!

Daddy's girl!

Daddy's are so much fun!

Boy have we been busy!

Well, Clint, Melanie & I survived Hawaii. Clint and I had a blast though I cried the entire way to the airport and each time I called and heard her cooing in the background. I think our parents enjoyed spending extended time with her but I think my parents were glad for us to be back also! Melanie has been spending some time with babysitters as we get more and more busy. Elizabeth (one of my co-workers) watched her when we went to Brian & Dawn's wedding shower and my bosses daughter watched her for an entire day when my dad was sick. It is a good thing we have such an extended group of people I trust to watch her. Otherwise I don't know what we would do. I can't wait for this summer when I can just spend time with her and not worry about work and everything else on my to-do list. Since she is growing so fast I think we might actually be able to "play" some this summer. Melanie loves to turn over and will roll back and forth the minute she is put on the ground (especially in her crib-she is in constant motion in her crib). She also loves to grab things and pull on them. She is drooling up a storm- I wonder if teeth are in the close future-AAHHH! She can sit up by herself if I hold her hands or support her lower back. It will be so weird when she can sit completely unsupported. She goes to the doctor again in about 1 1/2 weeks so we will see how gigantic she has become. I hope that the doctor gives us the go ahead to start her on some food (at least rice cereal). She will be 4 1/2 months at her appointment so surely so. Anyway- I have to get back to work. Here are some recent pictures. Melanie 14 weeks

View from our balcony

Our pool

On the coast of Hawaii