happy (belated) father's day adam!

we had caleigh's hand and footprints made when she was 5 months old and we saved it to give to adam on father's day... caleigh is unsure of her gift to her daddos...

i guess i will pose now mom actually let me just double check that this think is pretty sturdy Her handprints came out so perfectly and we love them!  One of my friends from our women's bible study volunteered to print all of the kids hands so we got Caleigh's done.  She does this as her business.  Check it out at http://www.handfulshandprints.com

Happy Father's Day Adam - your girls love you!

just because cal's almost 7 months!

hi mom, i'm a cutie...

wait, what was that over there how big is caleigh grace?

answer: SO big wait, let me see that camera

pool adventure

caleigh had her first pool adventure last week.  we went over to carrie's pool and visited with maggie, carrie's sister, and brody (who is only 2 weeks older than caleigh!).  it was fun but a short trip - not much to do with a baby in the pool.  i am really looking forward to those long lazy summer days where we can go to the pool in the morning, eat a picnic lunch there, and hang out all afternoon.  i love the pool!

caleigh really liked playing with her toys in her little flower float. but she especially liked lounging in her float - wishing she wasn't wearing 50 spf sunscreen so that she could work on her tan... she is just exhibiting her extremely chill, laid-back personality. she especially loved chewing on the toys and got her second tooth last week!  now she has 2 pearly whites on the bottom. momma and caleigh shot - tough to get a family photo in the pool as the water was so much more fun to look at than the camera.

sleepsters

caleigh's favorite thing to do

she recently decided that she prefers sleeping on her stomach and it is super cute.  we never know how we are going to find her when we go in to get her up.  

laughy daddy

from time to time Caleigh really does laugh alot and it is really cute but for some reason she turns it off for the camera... here is another attempt...

and it is true - pretty much only Adam or other babies can get her to laugh

dad...

dad, you're really getting on my nerves...

6 months

Caleigh was 6 months old on Memorial Day.  We had a busy memorial day but didn't get any pictures!  Here are some from church...As a 6 month old Caleigh is so fun and so cute.  This is my favorite age/stage so far (but I think I have said that about all of her stages).  About a week before she turned 6 months she started rolling all around the floor, her crib, etc.  Before that she could roll but choose not to.  Now we can't really leave her on the floor in her room because she manages to wedge herself either head or feet first underneath her crib.  In addition to rolling she is sitting up with no help, laughing, and cutting her first tooth!  You can see the little white razor - it just broke through on 6/2 and she wasn't too happy about it.  That gave me a glimpse of what it would be like to have a high maintanence baby.  She is nursing 4 times a day: 7:30, 11:30, 3:30, and 6:30 and she eats baby food after breakfast at 7:30, lunch at 11:30, and dinner at 6:30.  At breakfast she eats oatmeal and a fruit - she loves peaches, banana-cado (banana-avocado), and banana-prunes.  At lunch she has a fruit and a veggie and at dinner she has rice cereal and a veggie.  I have adventured into making her own baby food and it has been so fun!  The only thing I don't really make are peaches, apples, prunes... most of those fruits that don't freeze well.  Otherwise I bake or steam the veggie, add a little water, and puree and then spoon that into ice cube trays.  After they freeze I pop them out and put them in the freezer in freezer bags.  It has worked great so far.  The other day I packed up most of her 3-6 month clothes and it was so sad!  It makes me really sad to think that I might not use them again and that she is really getting so big.  At her 6 month visit she was 15 lb. 11 0z. (50th%), I forget her height but it was 50th% and her head was 25-50th%... this is what she has been all along.   I'm sure that is much more than you cared to know but there it is. :)

watch out on memorial day...

be careful of the sun on memorial day... check out rhett and link's warning video

and imagine my trumpet solo at our wedding.

just kidding, we actually did not have a trumpet solo.  but adam loves to tell the story to people that we have just met that i played the trumpet for 8 years and that i actually played a solo while he walked down the aisle.  and he says it with such a straight face and so seriously that you would swear he was telling the truth.  i inevitably blush everytime because it is not true!  well i did play the trumpet for 8 years but not at our wedding. :)

sittin' pretty

some of Caleigh's adventures in sitting - she is getting good!  she can sit for about a minute unassisted

mom look, i'm a big happy girl!

woah, this sitting is some fun stuff... thankfully i'm got this big belly to help me balance my weight... i really don't know how i feel about sitting up... you're way over there and i'm all alone here a little help here... like a sweet little bump on a log

waking up

waking up then...

waking up now...

happy mothers day

happy mothers day to me!  caleigh got me these pretty pink flowers (our favorite color) and Adam got me a rose.  Adam got up early before church to make me pancakes, bacon, and a fruit salad for breakfast... we had a great mothers day!  I have been blessed with such a beautiful, healthy, happy little girl...

and an amazing husband!  caleigh is stealing daddy's hat... who me?  i didn't take that hat! notice the chunky legs - so sweet

sweet thing

who would believe that this sweet thing...

could do something like this...  after 3 days of no poop and lots of solids we got this... happy mothers day to me... as a fun bonus - it was all over the car seat too :)

wachovia tourney

2 weeks ago (yes it has been FOREVER since I have posted on the blog) Adam and I took Caleigh and went to the pro-am day of the Wachovia golf tourney.  Adam and I have been a couple of times before and it was so fun this year to go with Caleigh.  It was the most beautiful day and the weather was perfect - if even a little cool.  I love it that spring is dragging out this long.  I dread the long hot humid oppressive summer.  The sling came in handy once again - the hotsling is for sure the must have item.  Here is our cute family!

Adam got to meet John Fox (Carolina Panthers coach for those not in the know)... well not really but we did manage to snap this shot in passing. This is the 17th hole with the island green where we watched much of the play. Here is Adam watching some Nascar player on 18. The 18th hole - it has been said that the last couple holes at Quail Hollow are some of the hardest on the tour.

5 months

Caleigh turned 5 months old this past weekend!  She is such a big girl.  Here are some pictures of our week last week.

At 5 months Caleigh has learned an important skill - drinking out of a sippy cup, though here she is only knawing on it...  the only think she drinks out of there is a tiny bit of water - maybe up to 1 ounce on a hot day.   And as for solids, we gave those up a while ago.  I think she just wasn't ready yet, and the rice cereal made her constipated.  We will probably start up on solids again in a week or 2 and then we will start introducing everything - veggies, fruits, etc. She has also gotten so much fun for Adam to be with.  She is just so interactive and is sure to laugh when he is around. And she has found her legs :)  The first time she found her legs and stood on them she just laughed.  It was hilarious.  

Other things she is doing as a 5 month old:

-she laughes from time to time - mostly with Adam

-she sleeps 7p-730a with no interruptions and takes 2 2-hour naps and 1 45 minute cat nap

-she loves screaming - not crying - just shrieking at the top of her lungs for fun - it is her favorite mode of communication

-she hardly ever cries but has perfected the whine... she whines when she is hungry or when she wants out of her particular position

-she has only rolled over front to back once over 1.5 months ago and she has only rolled over back to front once and it was about 3 weeks ago... she is SO laid back

-she pushes up high on her arms and puts her legs up under her like she wants to go somewhere but can't

-we aren't making much progress on sitting up either - she can sit up for about 30 seconds before falling forward on her face

All in all she is a fabulous baby and is so much fun.  She is an easy baby and a great sleeper - we are so spoiled!  

playdate

The other day the Dirks came over for dinner and Maggie decided to show Caleigh the ropes on her Exersaucer.  Here Maggie is teaching her about the red rocket toy with much expression.

Here Maggie wants to know why we are interrupting her by taking a picture. And lastly Maggie decided walking away was much more fun that playing with a boring baby.  Cals clearly doesn't want her to go. :)

park here we come

We have been taking advantage of some of the nice weather lately by going walking and heading to the park.  Notice Bailey on the left giving me the sad eyes (which mean you better take me with you).  We did not take her with us b/c I'm not sure I can single-handedly push a stroller and hang onto a dog who is a maniac for squirrels (who also love the spring weather).   Cals really isn't the biggest fan of her stroller but being the laid-back baby that she is she tolerates it with no complaining.

Hanging out at the park... On our balcony - clearly refreshed after enjoying one of her super long (2.5 hours!) naps.

caleigh's real baptism

Caleigh got baptized on Sunday.  It was such a special time for us.  This is a picture of Adam reading our blessing for Caleigh.

Caleigh's blessing:

"Caleigh Grace, you are more precious than we could have ever imagined.  You have blessed your mother & I so much over these past 4 months!  We have loved experiencing all of the firsts with you, whether it is rolling over, smiling, or eating solids.  You are truly a gift of God's grace to us.  We named you Caleigh, loosely after your mother whose middle name is Leigh, and we named you Grace because of the incomparable riches of God's grace, expressed to us through Christ Jesus.  We pray that God's grace would truly be the undercurrent of your life & with that in mind , your mother & I choose Ephesians 2:8-9 as your life verse.  "For it is by grace you have been saved , through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."  God's grace is defined as the undeserved favor that God shows on us as sinners.  Our prayer for you is that you would know that God's grace is sufficient for you in all things.  We pray that you would never try to add anything to grace, instead that your trust & faith will always be in Him alone & not in your own works or success.  As you grow up we pray that you would be a woman of grace and that you would love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, & strength."

Here is the entire family after Caleigh's baptism and reception at our condo. Caleigh with her special bonnet - a gift from her grandparents - and her Daddy. Congrats Cals.  We are so excited for you!

baptism

yesterday we tried on caleigh's baptism outfit... see below...  (ps i don't know why this part is blue and underlined - it is driving me crazy) actually we are getting excited about the summer and i couldn't wait to try on her summer stuff...  croakies so early in life - she is a carolina girl at heart. and the solids are going so much better!  we are up to 1 tablespoon of rice cereal once a day and she seems to like it!  as you can see it is still a messy process.

some pix from this week

big girl - she looks so much bigger in this than she used to!

outtake #1... baby on my shoulders (could you tell we were a little stir crazy?) somebody has found her feet!  they are her new favorite toys.  and with the help of those feet she rolled over from front to back this week (on thursday while i was at work!)