6 Months Old!

Our Ellie-bug is half a year old! No stats yet b/c our doctor's visit isn't for a couple weeks. She can sit up (still a bit wobbly) but doesn't seem very interested in the thought of crawling. She's a drooling mess who puts EVERYTHING in her mouth to chew on, but no teeth yet. I've been saying "they're about to come in" for weeks now.
She is the SMILIEST little thing on the planet. Chris & I agree that one of our favorite times of the day is seeing her huge grin when she sees us peek over the edge of the crib when she wakes up.
Bedtime is around 8pm and she sleeps through until about 6am...once every few nights she wakes up and needs her pacifier replaced or a re-swaddle, but other than that she's out all night. Takes 3 naps a day (two mini-ones, and one longer one), and eats two cereal meals a day in addition to her bottles. I think pureed fruit may be in the near future!
Not an especially big fan of being rocked, but she loves to be held and bounced. Loves to hang out in her exer-saucer...especially when Red decides she will spin Noelle around. Red can be a little vigorous with Noelle, and it's hard to convince her to "be gentle" when Noelle is giggling and clearly having the time of her life.

Hangin' with Papa H

Happy with pretty Aunt Amy

Noelle, you just keep getting cuter!!

Party Pics

That last post ended up being pretty wordy, so I thought I'd give the pics their own entry.

Chris's parents came to town, so Delilah's birthday started with them, then we headed to Rockport for Easter weekend with my family...so her birthday was definitely celebrated all weekend!

-Grammy Di put her to bed the night before...what a treat!

 

And in the morning, Delilah developed a new art form: Strawberry Art. She noticed her strawberries were making marks on the paper towel, so she started creating. It was pretty cute.

The first gift opened in the morning was from Laura & Makinley...an Ariel dress! Perfect

Brief present break to play some puzzles with Papa H

And here's one of the presents from Grammy Di & Papa H

What's this? Another fairy dress?

I must put it on now!

 
(And the rest of the weekend was spent alternating between these two dresses...there must have been 200 costume changes)

Then we headed to Rockport, and had a party for Delilah the day after her birthday. The party was small and just family, but it was pretty great. During Delilah's nap, Aunt Amy & I put up streamers & balloons & a table cover. Extra balloons were put on Delilah's chair, and a princess tiara 'party hat' was waiting for her. Delilah was SO excited...for her, an event is not a party if there are no party hats, and if the party hat is a tiara, so much the better.

And, sadly, the pictures abruptly stop here. The camera battery died and we forgot to pack the charger. Trust me when I say there were a ton of presents, a tasty but not-so-pretty cake, Easter egg hunts, and lots of fun in the sun. We'll end with a pic that pretty much sums up how Red spent the weekend. Can't wait 'til next year!!

My 3-Year-Old Angel

The Little Red One turned 3 a few days ago, and although '3 year old' and 'angel' don't often go together, this post's title is not sarcastic at all. Delilah, you have your share of tantrums, but you really do have the biggest heart of any little kid I know. You are sweet and caring and seem to think of others in a way far beyond your years.
Here's a snapshot of you these days:
--wild hair, wild spirit, usually naked, covered in dirt
--a strong love of princesses, yet your favorite movies are about dragons and bats (except the princess movie Tangled...you could watch that on endless loop)
--a LOVE of puzzles and the game Memory. You often beat your dad & I at Memory, and we really are trying. We turn over the wrong card and you gently say, "No, Mommy, the match is over here"
--You don't sleep past 7am. Ever.
--Bedtime is around 7:30. You pick one new book every night, & after we read that book, we read Goodnight, Moon & One Sleepy Baby. Followed by prayer, songs, and lights out. You always ask for one more "kiss and a huuuuug" before we go, and we kiss you and say, "Goodnight, sweet dreams, see you in the morning when the sun comes up"
--You love Ariel because (as you say): "She has red hair like ME has red hair!!!"
--You are in LOVE with your sister and always refer to her by the run-on name 'Babynoelle'.
--If Babynoelle is sad, you will do anything to fix it. You go to her and say, "It's okay, Babynoelle, I'm here, and mommy's here". Then you try to give her your toys, or tell me she's hungry, or do whatever you can to make it better.
--You have always been a mommy's girl, but lately I see a little bit of a daddy's girl sneaking out. You love to dance with him.
--You love to dance and start twirling whenever music comes on. You have a special way of jumping that we call 'fairy leaps'.
--You still love Curious George and Dora (but Dora is slipping in status a little)
--You prefer to be naked or in a costume at all times. If those choices aren't viable, you put on p.j.'s. I don't know why we buy you clothes.
--You have an amazing sense of rhythm, but can't carry a tune to save your life.
--You know all your letters, your right from your left, and all sorts of things that no one remembers teaching you.
--When you get tired, you climb onto my lap and say, "I want to take a breather."
--Your favorite time of day is bathtime with Daddy.
--You are quirky, and different, and funny, and beautiful, and a free spirit. I call you my little woodland sprite b/c I feel like you would be happy living outside with nothing but a few sand toys and a bottle of bubbles.

Happy Birthday, Delilah, I don't know how your tiny body holds in such a big soul. We love you.

We Love Greyson!

Cannon and I realized it had been waaaaay too long since all of us had hung out, so the Huntleys headed to San Antonio to spend a weekend with the Cliftons. Chris & Cannon got a round of golf in and the rest of the time was spent playing and swimming. This is the first time that Greyson has been old enough to really play with Delilah and she LOVED it!!!! After we got home she spent the next few nights telling us that she wanted to see Greyson in the morning because she missed him. Red & Greyson are fifteen months apart, and Greyson & Noelle are fifteen months apart, so I predict many fun years ahead!

The hammock was definitely a hit!

Greyson's first bath with someone else!

I love this pic b/c they have the exact same exasperated expression.

Noelle sat in this bouncer often, and G & Red were determined to make sure it was always vibrating and playing fun songs for her

Uncle Cannon is the best!!!!
Hope we play again soon!

Bubbles & Baking with the Bighams

Okay, days and weeks are flying by and I have no idea when we actually visited the Bighams, but I think it was a couple weekends ago. We went to get the last of our furniture from our Austin house, and spent the night with Laura, Scott, & Makinley. We had SO MUCH fun--I think the pictures speak for themselves!!!

These last two pics of Delilah playing dress up crack me up. She just came downstairs this way and I thought Laura & I were going to die of laughter.

And for those of you who are wondering why Red is in diapers in these pics,let me explain: Delilah is prone to car sickness and vomited profusely as we were turning into the Bigham's subdivision. We bathed her immediately, but when she got dressed, she promptly had a potty accident b/c she was still so out of it. Needless to say, I was DONE with bodily fluids at that point, so diapers it was for the rest of the day. :)

Wordless Wednesdays: Check Out the New Wheels

Rice, Rice, Baby!

The pediatrician said I should start Noelle on solids between 4 and 6 months. I was determined to wait as long as possible b/c I just don't want her growing up, you know? But the baby bird was knocking 8 ounce bottles back like they were nothing, so I figured I should probably start really feeding the kid. :)

Okay, Mom, I'm ready!

Hmmmm, what is this stuff? Big sister is helping, but Noelle still isn't sure Okay, maybe it's not so bad YUM! Noelle now has one cereal meal a day and LOVES it...reaches for the spoon and can't get it in fast enough!