Finger Painting

Mallorie finger painted for the first time the other day with her babysitter and it appears she had a blast!  I haven't seen her paper yet....maybe that's because no paint got on the paper!! hehe

Gir's trip

Two weekends ago us girls went to San Antonio to celebrate my sister's 30th birthday!  We had a blast.  Mallorie was such a trooper and is defiantly like her Aunt Lauri and Aunt Kim.....those girls can shop till they drop!!! We got Mallorie one of these cows in purple and she loves it!!

 

Mal and her Daddy!

Well in this last month Mallorie is really starting to turn into a Daddy's girl.  I'll admit at first I was a little jealous, but now I have decided it's WONDERFUL!  That day he stayed home with her created lots of new habits...that are AMMMMMAAAZZZING!  So, one of those things his he just walks into her room at bed/naptime and they read a quick story and she will just lay right down and close her eyes.  But, if I do it...oh no ...lots of crying is involved and it just breaks my heart!  So, I am so thankful that she goes to sleep so easily now for him!  She will also wake up in the mornings saying DaDa in her crib. ( those are the times I don't have to wake her up) It's super sweet. It has been amazing to see their relationship grow.  I think that first year is hard on the Dad's.  They don't have much they can do with them yet.....or so some of us think.hehe....I look back now and OMG I think I was a baby hog for at least the first 4 months! I am happy to share now and I'm so glad I did. 

 

Also, Mallorie's babysitter started teaching her sign language and she can now sign eat and more.  It's really cute!

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What's Mal up to?

Well Mallorie is really coming to life around these parts.  She jabbers all the time and is really trying hard to walk EVERYWHERE!  She will take about 5 steps then fall or grab ahold of the wall.  I am guessing any day now she will not be holding on much anymore. 

She also has 10 teeth now.  Her top molars finally broke through. I'm not sure when this happened, but I just felt them this weekend.  I try not to poke around too much in her mouth b/c you WILL get big!

She is weighing in around 17 1/2-18 lbs.  I think she is hitting a growth spurt though because she ate a TON this weekend!

She is going to bed around 7 and sleeps until I have to wake her up in the morning to get ready which is by 6:30.  That's right....I'm a working woman now.  This is my 6th week back at work and I am proud to say that we are making it!  Mallorie still loves me just as much (which is what I was so fearful of).  So silly!  And we are in the routine of things no

Isn't that kinda ironic....my baby hardly slept at all her first year and now that she's sleeping I have to wake her up!!!haha....oh well...I'm just glad she's sleeping now!

w.  It is still very hard to be away from her and I miss her dearly, but honestly the month before I went to work was the hardest b/c of the anticipation.  I would just cry and cry in fear of how it was going to be.  I still have those mornings where I cry, but I just pray ALL DAY LONG that she is happy and safe and then when I get my arms around her I know we made it! 

I'll tell you what though, that saying ,"It takes a village...." is absolutely true!  We have had to rely on everyone (friends and family) to help us in this transition. 

My first week at work my Mom kept her and everything was great!  Then, the second week she had to start her day care...and well......let's just say NOONE was happy!  I gave it about 2 weeks thinking that she was just adjusting to being away from me.  Well then disaster struck and needless to say we pulled her out on a Tuesday and she was NOT going back to that place! 

Thankfully God had a plan and Nathan and I met with this wonderful couple who has 2 kids and she was so willing to start keeping Mallorie that next day (rash and all....that was not contagious).  Everything has worked out wonderfully and I am so thankful she is in a place now where she is happy and being loved on while I cannot. 

Then Mallorie got sick with a little cold and it turned into an ear infection (poor thing)...all while cutting those molars!  So, thankfully Nathan was able to take off as well as my aunt and Mal was taken care of.  That was actually the first time Nathan and Mallorie had been alone together for more than like 15 min. all year long!  hehe....and they did great!

This experience has defiantly had me put my trust in others for sure!  It's not just me taking care of Mallorie in our bubble anymore...it's "HELLO WORLD, I'm HERE!"....and I think she truly is liking it!

So, as we start a new week say a prayer for little angel that she has an absolutely wonderful week!

I'm back.....

Well, so I have absolutely neglected the blog this past month.  A lot has happened too, so I decided I wanted to get on and share.

First things first though.....Mallorie's First Birthday!  I still cannot believe my itty bitty baby is now a ONE YEAR OLD!

Her party was absolutely perfect.  It was filled with delicious food, bright colors, water-play, and lots of friends and family. I am so thankful for everyone who helped me prepare for the day and for everyone who came to love on my baby-girl!