6 month photos!

Next up baptism photos and stories!!

The Big Half Year Mark!

I can hardly believe I have a 6 month old daughter. Where has the time gone? If the second half of her first year goes by as fast as the first I am terrified to blink! It has been the fastest but the best 6 months of my entire life. Morgan brings us more joy than I ever imagined. The infertility journey and rough pregnancy seems like it was decades ago. They are just distant memories as this little blessing just fills each day with so much love and joy. We are so excited to wake up each day to see her smiling face and just soak up every second with her as she is such a joy and so much fun!

Eating

You are still sort of a finicky eater. You eat anywhere from 5 to 6 oz and about every 3 hours. I recently have started to notice you may be going from 5 bottles to just 4. You go to the pediatrician on Friday so we will find out what to do about your feedings. You still love baby food. You love all the fruits. I think apples and pears are your favorite but you love them all. You kick your legs, open your mouth like a little birdie, lean forward and say "mmmmm"...its quite cute! Veggies, you like squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes. You did not like green beans or peas. Not surprising!

Sleeping

You still go about 12 hours at night, but sometimes we have to wake you up for early. It is cute how you roll around and rub your eyes as you try to wake yourself up when we get you up. You still fight sleep at night because you just want to play. But as soon as you hit my shoulder you are out. You take 3 naps still. A hour and a half in the morning, 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon and a 30 min. nap in the evening, usually while I cook dinner. If you miss a nap, it is ugly! Girlfriend you love your sleep!

Stats

You are 12 lb 8oz and 24 3/4 inches tall! You are in the 2nd percentile for weight and 5th for height! Your head though is in the whopping 48th percentile, hehe! You are a tiny peanut but very porportionate. And people do still comment on your size but you are developmentally on track and even ahead of the game and very healthy, so we are not worried. In fact, I LOVE that you are so small. I have had the joys of being able to cuddle with a sweet little baby much longer than most and I just love the cuteness of a small baby. But you do have some leg rolls, arm rolls and some under your chin. So there is plenty of chub to love on, its all just porpotunate. You are in size 2 diapers and can wear some 0-3 month but fit best in 3-6 month clothing. You do wear some 6 month but it is still a tad big.

Milestones

- rolling all over the place, both ways

- eating more solids

- sitting up fully on your own

- able to get your knees up and arms up but not at the same time to crawl...I have a feeling you are close

- you show frustration now when you are trying to grab something (you reach for EVERYTHING) but can not reach or can not have. And when you have a toy taken from you

- you love peek-a-boo

- you said "ba ba"

- before "ba ba" your first consonant/vowel combo was "ma ma" which makes my heart melt even though I know its not directed at me

- you now slam your toys to make noise

Peronsality

You are so sweet. You are a snuggler and love to just rest your head on our shoulders or chest, even if you are not tired. You are a ham too, you love attention. Sometimes you grunt just to get daddy or I to notice you if we are not paying you attention. You love to stick out your tounge and you shake your hips in a proud way when you do something you think is neat. You love to laugh and babble. But if you are around new people or a new place you are very quiet and it takes you a while to warm up. You are extremely observant. You take everything in. I have had numerous of people, many strangers, comment on how smart you seem. You always look like you are exploring and trying to figure out new toys or things. You love to play with your toys. You can self entertain. You are just as happy as can be. You rarely cry, love to play and love to snuggle. You are very easy to make smile.

New Friends

This month you met so many new people! You met your Gigi (great grandma in Dayton) and all of my Dayton family! We took a trip down to visit them and they also came up for your baptism! You loved all the comotion from the Savino boys! And sweet Ella and Evy were just so kind to you! Little Michael also thought you were funny! This month you also had a new friend start at CLP. Little baby Ryan! You like to show Ryan you are a big girl. You are gentle but you love to touch him. I think you like to let him know you no longer are the baby! Ryan is 9 weeks, so quite a bit younger than you!!

The biggest and most important people you met finally were your godparents!!! AKA Uncle Kevin and "Aunt" Meryl! You and Uncle Kevin are going to be trouble in your toddler years! You just love him. You laughed and smiled and flirted with him. He loved playing games with you. In fact, the two of you created your own special game, similar to peek a boo kind of, when I tried to put you to bed...he is already fulfilling his uncle duties! You two already have a very special bond and relationship. You also formed a special bond with aunt Meryl. Meryl was in town for a month and it was so special having her here. You two had a blast together! She took such good care of you and helped me out a ton. You two even had a special song you sang together...the bee song! Meryl took you to come eat lunch with me which was so sweet! I was SO excited you finally met these 2 special people in your life and they will only continue to be so very special in your life!

Dearest Morgan,

I can hardly believe you are half a year old! Where has the time gone?! You fill our lives and hearts with so much joy and love. You truly are a blessing! I thank the Lord each day for blessing us with you, you are the best gift and we are so greatful for you! You are such a sweet girl and you are also very silly. You love to laugh and do your grunt laugh. You are very proud of yourself and you think you are just the coolest little girl the way you roll and sit up and stand. I am convinced you want to walk soon the way you always are standing. We are just loving watching your little personaility form each day. We feel as if you are changing daily and growing up so fast! You are such an easy baby and so much fun. We love you more than you will ever know you are and forever will be our little girl! Can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring my sweet angle!

Love,

Mommy!

So like I mentioned I have LOTS to blog about and much I want to write about our life as parents, about little Morgan and just about memories we are making a long the way. One perfect, BIG, and amazing memory was Morgan's first trip to my home in Atlanta! This memory will always be a cherished one and one I will tell Morgan about when she is a bit older. Not to mention, we have a couple hundred photos to also tell the story! It was the best week and so much fun. It was SO special to have her come to the place I call home, the place where I was raised and to meet the people that mean the most to me. There are so many people and places in Roswell, GA that have had an influence on who I am today that it meant the world to me to share the person I love most with all of those places and people. Words can not describe how special it was for me. I am so proud of where I come from. I am proud of my home town, proud of the familiar places, proud of the home I grew up in and most importantly proud of the family and friends that helped shape me as a person. I love my home. When I think of my childhood and upbringing there are many emotions that instantly pop into my heart and head and the main few are safe, warm, caring, loving, fun, happiness and full of support. My childhood memories are woderful there. I had so many great times with family and friends (a few trouble some ones in my teenage years!) and I always felt so much love and happiness. And what is so wonderful is taht I still feel all of these things and more today. It will ALWAYS be home to me. I LOVE visiting, cry when I leave and always look forward to the next trip. No matter the distance, home is always home and the people that make it home will always be my family. I love the safety feeling they always provided me with. I hope that I can provide Morgan with all of these feelings about here "home". Thank you mom and dad for such a great childhood and thank you for always making it feel like home...even to an almost 30 year old..yikes!!I do miss living there and who knows where our future will take us but I do believe that we are closer than ever now and always will be. I will always be your little girl and you will always be my parents. And best of all, I get to share this wonderful place forever with my daughter! I can not wait for her to experience all the fun times and happy times my home holds!! But back to her first Roswell experience!

Oh little girl you had so much fun! You were spoiled rotten, loved on nonstop, and just had so much fun. Where do I even begin?! I guess the plane ride. You rocked it! You slept the entire way! The best was my mom waiting at baggage claim with her camera ready to capture every single moment, it was so special!! Not only was it great to be home but it was so nice to have my parents to help with you so much...it gave this mommy a much needed rest! We spent the days playing, loving on you and sharing all the special things about Yaya and grandpa marks house (aka big mark!). The first night there Grandpa Mark got Yaya, me and Yaya Lauri Rascal Flatts tickets! Now, grandpa claims this was to be kind to Yaya and me and I do tink this was it but really we think it was all part of his scheme to get you all to himself!! So Grandpa Mark babysatt you for the first time! It was so cute, you even had an I Love Grandpa shirt on for him!! You two spent the night playing, bonding and just enjoying some special grandpa and Morgan time. Now, you have a very special relationship with Grandpa Mark. He LOVES to play play play with you. You two would play airplane, bouncey bouncey and much more. He helped teach you how to reach and grab toys.

Now I would be in remiss if I did not mention the special bond you have with Yaya. You instantly took to her. I think you could sense how close her and I are. You loved to snuggle in her shoulder and on her chest. She spent endless hours singing to you, rocking you, playing with your toys with you and snuggling with you. You just light up when she says "Hi, it's Yaya!".

You also met some VERY special people. You met one of mommy's oldest and dearest friends, Aunt Hillary. Now, do not listen to a single story she ever tells you about me, and she will be the fun aunt that says "I won't tell your mother as long as you don't". But in all seriousness some of my best childhood memories were with her and with she is a very important person in my life. She just loves you. She asked me to write a letter to you when I was pregnant and after you were born she printed it and but some beautiful graphics to it and framed it in a beautiful frame. It now hangs in your room and I constantly read it to you. It is one of the most special gifts we have ever received. Aunt Hillary had so much fun playing with you and you instantly fell in love with her. Now Aunt Hill brings me to the other Yayas! Yaya Laurie and Yaya Carol. They helped your Yaya throw your baby shower. They are Yaya's best friends and they are my second moms. They love you as if you are their own and they just loved snuggling, playing and loving on you. They are 2 VERY special women and they will always be a very important part of your life. I was so excited for you to meet them. Yaya Carol lives at the Crooked Cabana (where mommy had LOTS of fun in high school) so it was a momentous time when I took you there for the first time. We put you in the swing under the cabana with a fan and you fit right in as if you have been a cabana girl all your life! You had your bottle, mommy and the Yayas and Hillary had theirs and we were all happy girls! It was a fun day at the pool and mommy even took you into the pool!

You also were able to meet Dick and Pat Lindgren, Yaya and Grandpa's neighbors. They are also family and love you like family. You met Aunt Lacey and Mrs. Marietta, Mrs. Kearns, Ms. Jan, Katie and her 2 sons, Mrs. Healey, and many more.

We spent the week playing and showing you off. It was such a big help to have my mom and dad helping with you. I got some rest! It also was so special for me to show you the place I love and the place I grew up and to show you off to my nearest and dearest friends. We did plenty of shopping with the girls too ;). You were very spoiled to say the least! Yaya and Grandpa had a bedroom all set up for you with a bed, toys, clothes, diapers, towels, a bath tub, your favorite blue pillow, a swing, a bouncy chair, and about every baby item you could need. Yaya even bought your sleep machine for you and she hand painted beautiful letters to hang above your bed which now are above your crib. You my love have your room at Yayas house!

This was the first of many trips to Yaya and Grandpa's. I can not wait to watch you fall in love with it as I did. I am so excited to watch it become a special place for you and for you to develop your own memories there. We already are planning your vacations to camp Yaya and Grandpa's house in the summer. There are so many people waiting there with loving arms to support, guide and love you and there are so many fun thigns to do I ahve no doubt you will learn to lvoe it just as much as I did and it iwll hold a special place in your heart too! I have about 500 pictures to show you of your trip and can not wait to share them with you!