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!

Christmas!

Christmas vacation is over and it was lovely (Chris and I both felt like we could have easily sat around for a few more days though). We had a great time in Winter Park staying in a lodge with about 30 of our relatives. Reilly got plenty of attention to say the least! She did a great job with everything although nighttime sleep was a little challenging. Too bad that is the most important one! There were lots of chances for naps and when we weren't napping we were eating food, playing games or both. Here are some picture highlights:

Girls photo! Calee, Nicole, Lori, Jane (Melissa's mom), Melissa and Reilly

Photo shoot with Auntie Calee

Christmas morning

Relaxing by the fire

Cousin Zoe's hat

Reilly got lots of sweet bows for Christmas. The nicest thing about them is they cover up the bald spot in the back!

As we look back on this very full year we are not sure where the time has gone! Tomorrow we say goodbye to 2010 and welcome the new year (I am not expecting to make it to midnight though. Sleep is too precious anyway). We are excited to see all the great things God has in store for us! Cheers!

We've got a four month old!

Reilly "sitting" in her buzzy chair.

Time with family in Iowa.

Reilly lounging on her boppy.

Tummy time with Sophie the giraffe.

Reilly's new favorite toy is her saucer!

Turning four months included getting more shots and starting solid food! The shots went pretty much the same as last time. A couple hours after her shots she wouldn't stop screaming so we gave her some Tylenol. She was much happier after that but too exhausted to stay awake any longer. We were definitely fine with her going to bed! At the appointment we learned that Reilly is already 26 inches long, which puts her in the 96th percentile. It looks like we might have a tennis player on our hands! She weighed 13 pounds, 7 ounces, and that is average. She just looks skinny because she is so long. The pediatrician always comments on how strong Reilly is and she loves being in the exam room because she gets to watch herself in the mirror the whole time.

Solid food has been fun for all of us. We started her on some oatmeal cereal at night and she is enjoying the new adventure. She wasn't quite sure what to think about the spoon but she is getting better each time. I am hopeful that it will help her sleep a little longer during the night but, so far, we haven't seen a change. It is possible that she wakes up just because she is in the rhythm of waking up at night, so we will be doing some experiments (anyone with advice?) to try and figure it all out. It does feel like once we figure one thing out, something else changes! It keeps it very interesting to say the least.

We had a great trip to IA and Reilly was exceptional! It was a long 9 hours in the car (one way), and we could tell she was frustrated with her car seat, but she did really well. It made the trip so much easier and enjoyable for us. My family was more than happy to hold her, burp her and change her diaper and I never fought them for it. It was so nice to be with my family and catch up on life face to face! We also had a special guest over thanksgiving, and it was so great to spend time with him as well. We ate a lot of food and played a lot a games. It was too short though, and got me even more excited for Christmas vacation.

My grandma and her new husband Dick made it out here as planned and we had a great weekend with them. It included a lot of really good food and dominoes! To my shame I realized after they left that we didn't get any pictures! We have been pretty bad about getting pictures taken lately, so it might have to be my New Year's resolution.

Another resolution of mine is to try to eat less cold cereal. This is going to be very difficult because I LOVE me some Special K and red berries. We are going to try to eat hot grains M-F, so we'll see how that goes. It will be a nice healthy way to start our day, so I hope it sticks. It might balance out though, because I have been making a lot of desserts at night! Blueberry Buckle and Upside Down Cranberry Cake have been two of the favorites. Tis the season!

Sophie the giraffe!

Fall is here to stay!

Yay for fall and sweatshirts and raking leaves. Although I am loving this fall weather, it sure makes our house freezing! Why don't we turn up the heat? We'd rather stick it out, that's why. It's on a little...but Reilly and I are always bundled up just the same! I have been in the fall spirit though, with roasting my own pumpkin for bread, and munching on the seeds all day long!

It's been awhile since our last post, so I'll try to catch you up on all that has happened!

We had a Bradley class reunion! We all took a 12 week class together to prepare us for childbirth, and here we all are as parents! We were missing one couple and baby, but we'll see them soon because we already have another get to together planned (not to mention all the moms trying to get together every other week). All of these babies were born within a few weeks of each other, so hopefully they will all be good friends!

I love that they are all looking at the camera. So sweet!

Reilly's Nana was here to visit! We had a good time just hanging out, playing cards, and enjoying sweet Reilly. She had just started cooing a lot, so it was perfect timing for my mom to be here.

Pumpkin carving party.

We've come a long way since her first picture with Raggedy Ann. Raggedy Ann might have received a stink eye the first time.

If you look at other posts with bath pictures, you can really see how much she's grown. She always holds her head up now, is cooing a LOT and knows how to respond to your smile with a smile! She has gone back to only sleeping around 6 hours at night before needing to eat again. She's just a hungry kid. I appreciated those weeks of sleep though, and can't wait for them to come back. We also graduated a snap on the diapers this week. That's a big deal.

Reilly and I spent the morning learning how to can tomatoes. It was very nice of our friend Rachel to show us how! The goal is to also make all of the baby food from scratch, so I am hoping to acquire a food processor somehow. I am planning on doing all the pureed fruits and veggies, as well as the rice and oat cereal. Wish me luck! I am also keeping myself busy making homemade bread, and really whatever else I can think of. I wonder if I could home make Velveeta because that would be super delicious.

Our next adventure will be this Thanksgiving as we drive to IA to be with the family! Hopefully we won't have to stop too many times, but we'll just do what we need to. It will be great going back home for a couple of days and I am sure Reilly will get to meet so many great people! A couple days before we leave for IA my grandma will be in town, so we will also get to catch up with her and her new husband!

I guess that's it.

Peace to you and yours.