Nana came to visit!

We are fortunate to have flight benefits because my mom works for Delta. With the benefits she is able to come out and visit a lot more than she would otherwise and we are always glad to have her! Reilly has come along way since my mom had seen her last so it was great for the two of them to catch up.

Just hanging out!

I set her down and she finds something to put her mouth right away. Never fails.

The new thing Reilly started doing this weekend is stepping around her play table all by herself (hanging on, of course)!

Cheers.

Two Teeth!

I thought that the teething process really wasn't that bad. It wasn't a lot of fun, but it was going to be way worse in my head. It was a relief to finally cut her first tooth a couple weeks ago, and then five days later we had another! Since she was working on two teeth at once I really think Reilly was a trooper. It is really nice to have two teeth over with.

Reilly still army crawls some, but it is mostly regular crawling now. She can also pull herself standing! In the video you'll see her doing both of those things plus a glimpse of her two teeth right at the end (sorry the middle part is a little slow). And the rest of our big news is that Reilly's Great Grandma Sharane gave her a whole new set of diapers. In the video you'll see her picking out the ones she likes best. I have the diapers in the wash right now and I can't wait to use them. Our old diapers were leaking a lot (which isn't normal) and Grandma came in and saved the day! We are so thankful for new ones.

On that same note, it is actually already time for Reilly to upgrade to a new car seat. We hadn't thought that much in advance, so it was time to read reviews and buy one. I feel like this whole baby adventure has been a testament of how the Lord provides. Just in the last couple of weeks we got two more gifts from people, apologising for being late in coming. They really weren't late at all but right on time because they paid for our new car seat. The Lord provides for us and loves us!

Blessings to you all!

New Things Everyday!

Reilly is learning so much right now. It is exciting to see what each day holds! Just recently Reilly has learned to clap. At first if you started clapping with her she would stop to watch you, and then she realized that she was doing the same thing! Now we just clap and clap. Who knew it could be so fun?

It has also been so nice having Reilly sit up on her own and not having to worry about throwing herself backwards. She also can get herself into the sitting position from being on the floor. She is a master scooter and SO CLOSE to crawling. We keep encouraging her to try - not remembering that once she crawls we will constantly be on our toes.

We are also trying a variety of foods now and some things are a real hit! She really enjoys sweet potato (who doesn't though - they are amazing) and any fruit she can get her hands on.

Big booty jeans I made for Reilly. I wanted something that fit over her cloth diaper a little bit better!

This is how we knew that is was (past) time to lower her crib! If they can look over the edge you've waited too long. We went from the first to the third setting just to save time.

Thanks to my calendar I have a reminder to take a picture with Raggedy Ann every month. We have enjoyed seeing how she's grown! This is her seven month picture, and as you can tell, it is getting harder and harder for her to just sit there. After many tries we got a few decent ones, but it just had to be good enough!

Thanks for reading!

Our First Cold

Four generation picture!

Considering she is almost seven months and this is our first sickness, I feel like that is pretty good. Her little nose is a snot factory though. At first she was very curious about the aspirator, but now she knows what is going on and doesn't want any part of it. Can't blame her! Her nose has been so stuffy the last two nights that I have actually put her to sleep in her car seat to keep her more upright. Luckily it worked and we all were able to get some rest.

Snuggling some blankets

Play time with the mirror. She sat here for about 20 minutes today! I tried to get a picture of her kissing herself, but that just didn't work out. I am glad she thinks she is so entertaining!

Helping with the laundry

Not sure what she was eating here, but she wasn't so sure about it!

Little sweetie!

Playtime after her bath. She is a BIG splasher now. We might have to move to a baby pool.

Reilly with her Great Grandma Sharane

We took another trip to Arizona last weekend and had a great time with my grandma Sharane and Dick. It was nice to just get out of the routine for a couple days and enjoy some different scenery. We had to come back a little sooner than planned because the flights were filling up fast, but we made it home so that's all that matters. And, we stopped at In-N-Out burger for our last meal so that really rounded out the trip.

A little trick Reilly learned today is how to pull at her diaper tabs and take off her diaper. So, that's wonderful. One of the days I'm sure I will have a little surprise all over the carpet. The next round of diapers might need to be snaps.

Peace to you and yours.

Six Months Today!

Here Reilly is six months old and all bundled to face the -25 degree wind chill outside!

Showing off the dress my friend Rachel made for Reilly. So sweet!

Six month old picture with raggedy ann!

One of her first banana experiences. I think tomorrow we'll try another food. Reilly loves this whole eating thing!

Hello all. I should have updated sooner because now I’m afraid I won’t remember everything, but I’ll do my best. Reilly is a scooting, rolling machine! She also stays on her hands and knees for a while, so I am guessing it won’t be long until she figures out that she can MOVE like that! Luckily she is content being in her play yard, so I won’t have to be running after her ALL day. We’ll see though! She loves sitting up in her bumbo chair (and not in the chair. Just sitting in general) and we even graduated to the actual stroller – she no longer needs to be in her car seat in the stroller. That’s a pretty big deal! I am excited to be able to put her directly into the grocery cart as well because that will save me a lot of space. We also thought it was time to work in some solid foods so we started on some bananas yesterday. She loved them! So far so good, but we were told to only introduce one new food at a time just in case she reacts to something. It will be very fun seeing her explore all the amazing foods we get to eat and hopefully she will like them all! Chris and I love trying new foods and hopefully Reilly will grow up loving that too. It keeps things interesting, that’s for sure! I am turning into a full blown health nut, and we have been experimenting with whole grains and unusual foods when I can get my hands on them.

Reilly and I faced our fears last week and flew to IA just the two of us! She did really well (especially once I got her to sleep) but it was harder having to do it all by myself. We had a row to ourselves on the way out and that gave us lots of room, and the woman sitting next to us on the way back was very patient! We were definitely up in her space a few times, so it was a relief to be sitting next to someone so nice about it. We made the trip to IA so my family could enjoy Reilly for a few days and it was a great time. All of Reilly’s aunties and uncle were able to come down for a little bit and Reilly loved all the attention. I also got to catch up with some friends and it was so good to see them. Chris missed us though and he’ll probably think twice before he lets us do that again…but of course he’ll let us. JI want to get to IA a few more time this year just so my family doesn’t miss out on sweet Reilly. I didn't dare try and bring our pack and play, so we had to get creative with Reilly's sleeping arrangements. I didn't want her on the bed with me because she rolls so well and I wouldn't get a wink of sleep! The alternative:

We covered the biggest tote we could find with a sleeping bag. It looked very comfortable! I made a deal with Reilly that since she had to sleep in a tote with a bunch of pheasants, I would give her the pacifer right away. That is what she is smiling about.
This was Reilly's first experience with the piano. What an expensive toy! Chris and I already talked about starting her with piano lessons whenever she's ready. Hopefully she grow up to play as well as her aunties and nana! Either way, a musical foundation is what we're shooting for and I'm sure she'll appreciate it one day.

Thanks for reading!

I think that Raggedy Ann must have gotten smaller because there is no way Reilly is this big already. To compare sizes, go to the November 5th post and you'll see an older picture!

We have a lot of problems with this hat but it is always very funny!

Ready to rock and roll on a cold winter day.

Christmas dinner.

Hanging out in the moby during Sunday worship rehearsal.

Here we have Reilly laughing because of kisses on her tummy and fun in the play pen.

Reilly loves her Jumperoo!