Tales from Waters Edge

Embrace the Camera - One Year Pictures

2011-06-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

So, my personal computer is in need of a new hard drive! This means it is totally not working, and I am working on a borrowed computers. Therefore, I do not have not uploaded any pictures to use for Embrace the Camera this week. Luckily, we had Scout's One Year Pictures made this past Sunday, and out precious photographer, Jessica, put up a sneek peek for us. Anyway, for this week's Embrace the Camera, I am just posting a link to Scout's One Year Pictures. Check them out if you like!

Scout's One Year Old Pictures

Happy Thursday and Don't forget to Embrace the Camera!

Scout's Flower Birthday Brunch

2011-05-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, this sweet baby girl turned one!!!!! We had her party on Saturday. I am going to share a few of my favorite pictures from my big girl's birthday brunch! The theme for the party was flowers in the colors of pink, purple, orange, yellow and green. We had her party in the gym at our church, and we put out riding toys at one end of the gym and basketballs at the other. Needless to say, there was no lack of entertainment!

This was the welcome table and view of other tables. I ordered the book It's Your Birthday from Amazon for everyone to sign for Scout. We also had the party favors on this table as well. We used little flower pots filled with treats for the favors to go along with our flower theme party.

A Close-up of the Party Favors

A few of the guests signing Scout's book

The Present Table (With and Without Presents)

Since the party was at 10:30, we did brunch foods. Our main course was pancakes with all the toppings. Here is a picture of the boys cooking the pancakes.

The Food Table (minus the Food)

A Close-Up of the Banner (It said Happy Birthday Scout)

Makayla feeding pancakes to Scout and her Best Buddies

This is what each table looked like with the decorations. Each one had two pictures of Scout on her monthly birthdays from throughout the year, a flower or oval doily for each place setting, a lantern, a gumball machine or planter and balloons. I stole the idea for the gumball machine from Sarah over at Life Sweet Life. She has a little boy who is only a few days older that Scout!

Here we are giving Scout her cake. She wasn't really interested at first, but then decided to dig in a little. You can't really tell from the picture but it was polka dots with a big one in the center. Also, take a look at her outfit. Did you notice the 1 on her shirt with pants to match? This was specially made for her by her Mama!

Scout had two sweet helpers to help open presents. It is a good thing they were willing to help because Scout was sort of getting tired by this time and decided she wanted to sit in her new car.

I still can't believe our baby girl is ONE! It has been such a fun and exciting year, and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us during Year 2!

Celebrating One Year

2011-05-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are ONE YEAR OLD.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you are doing so great sleeping at night. You usually go to sleep between 7:30 - 8:30 and get up between 5:45 - 6:45. You don't usually wake up during the night. We still do a bedtime routine of dinner, cereal, bath, pajamas, books, eat and then bed. I nurse you with the light on, but sometimes you still like to fall asleep while you eat. If you don't fall asleep, when you are done eating, I lay you in you crib and turn off the light and you will go to sleep on your own! Naps are going pretty well too. You still sleep on a mat on the floor for all naps except when you nap in the car which you love to do. For one week, you decided to try taking long naps (like an hour and a half to two hours). I thought you were turning into a napper. But, I was wrong, you are now back to napping about 45 minutes once a day. Sometimes, you will take two naps. But usually by the time bed time rolls around, you are exhausted.

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, you are always on the move now but only crawling. One of your most favorite things to do is swing. You love it. You also love to walk but only if someone is holding both of your hands. You usually won't go if we let even one hand go. You love to follow Chipper around and want to be where he is in the house. You even are learning a few tricks from him (like going around the baby gate though the piano legs to escape). You love going to your new school with mommy and playing with your school friends. They are a little older than you, but you don't you don't seem to mind. I love to hear them say your name and so do you! You are so good at school even though you are still adjusting to our school schedule. You love to play at home now even more. It is so fun to see you pick out what toy you want to play with next. You are still very musical and love the instruments. Tapping is your most favorite thing to do with all your toys. You don't really have a favorite toy, but love to play with things you are not supposed to play with like the remote, my phone, cords, vents, etc. During the week, you love to visit Daddy at school. All the little girls are always so excited to see you.

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, you really haven't done too much new stuff this month. You are just continuing to do the things you already do much better and faster. One new thing you have done this month is switch to whole milk. I began weaning you on Mother's Day, and you now take milk in a cup for two feedings a day, which means I still nurse you in the morning and at night. Everyone keeps asking me if you are walking, and I have to say, "No, not yet!". You are too scared to let go. You will walk all day if someone is holding you hands but will not move a muscle if we let even one finger go! Maybe that will change before next month. You have added a few new words to your vocabulary this month. You say shoe, mama, chipper, dada, good, kitty, chip and a few other words. I think you are now starting to put meaning with a few words besides mama and dada too. You also know the signs for more, eat, and milk.

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a great eater. You eat all table food. In the morning as soon as you wake up we nurse and then you have table food such as a nutri-grain bar, fruit, or yogurt. At lunch, you eat all table food and totally feed yourself. At dinner, you have whatever mommy and daddy are eating. In addition, you nurse one other time a day for fifteen to twenty minutes and drink regular milk from a cup throughout the day. Your favorite foods at the time are peanut butter sandwich, sweet potatoes, cheese sandwich, tomato puffs, graham crackers, nutra-grain bars, muffins, pancakes, and mixed fruit with cherries.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, you dislike having your nose and face wiped still. Also, you are not a big fan of veggies right now. You will eat them if they are mixed in with something, but not very often by themselves (you feed them to Chipper). You dislike having your hair washed. Mommy and Daddy dread this at night. You like the bath, just not the hair.

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 3 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear size 9 - 12 months, 6 - 12 month clothes, and 12 month clothes. It depends on the outfit as to what you can fit in still. Your pajamas are all 12 months.

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, your eyes are a beautiful brown. Your hair is dark red and is getting longer each day.

Scout,

You are ONE YEAR OLD!
We can't believe it!
You are amazing!
We love you!

Embrace the Camera

2011-05-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

For this week's Embrace the Camera, I chose a few totally random pics from the last few weeks. First up is a picture of my sweet girl totally cheesing it up for her cousin Makayla. Makayla can always make her do the biggest smiles. Too bad I didn't get Makayla in the picture as well. She must of been doing some crazy stuff to get Scout to smile so big!
Next up is a picture of Scout visiting Daddy at work. We generally go visit at least once or twice a week. Scout enjoyed getting Daddy's nose this particular day. I don't know if Daddy enjoyed it though!

Last is a picture of our family taken on Easter. Unfortunately, the self-timer on my camera didn't do such a great job of getting Scout to smile. But, oh well, it is still a pretty decent shot.
Now, hop on over to The Anderson Crew and check out all the other entries. Happy Thursday, and don't forget to Embrace the Camera.

Embrace the Camera - Easter Egg Hunting

2011-04-21T05:39:00.000-07:00

Today for Embrace the Camera, I chose some fun pictures of Scout at her first Easter Egg Hunts. These were all taken at the MOPS (in the gym) and church (at park) Easter Egg Hunts . Don't forget to head over to The Anderson Crew and check out other entries.

Happy Thursday and don't forget to embrace the camera!

Celebrating Eleven Months

2011-04-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are Eleven months old.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you are doing so great sleeping at night. You usually go to sleep between 7:30 - 8:30 and get up between 5:45 - 6:45. You don't usually wake up during the night. We still do a bedtime routine of dinner, cereal, bath, pajamas, books, eat and then bed. I nurse you with the light on, but sometimes you still like to fall asleep while you eat. If you don't fall asleep, when you are done eating, I lay you in you crib and turn off the light and you will go to sleep on your own! Naps are so much better, but you have sort of had a rough time napping this week. You are now sleeping on a mat on the floor for naps. Usually, when I see you are getting sleepy, I lay down with you on you mat. It usually takes you about ten minutes to fall asleep, but you might sleep anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. I don't know what to do while you are sleeping because you have never laid down for naps. But, I do have to check on you every five minutes, because you are ready to move when you wake up and don't always make noise. I think you look like Sweet Pea from Popeye because your blanket is still usually wrapped around your legs as you crawl to find me.

(Again this month, this is what happened when I tried to get you to lay down beside your bear !)

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, you love to play outside. You would swing in your swing all day if we could. Your newest thing is to play in your pack and play. You love to move around in it, and you are finally tall enough to reach the sides to pull yourself up in it. You also love to walk around it using the edges for support. You really love your playroom, but your favorite spot is on the carpet in front of the door. You always crawl there when we are playing in the floor. You also love to crawl all over the house. You always try to go in the laundry room where Chipper's food is, and I am so afraid you are going to get it before I can catch you! Another thing you like to do is tap on our computer. Sometimes, you pull the keys off though. Riding in your front carrier has become a favorite activity of yours. I take it when we go shopping or walking because you love it as long as we are moving. I think you would stay in it all day. You also like to aggravate Chipper. You think he is so funny! You laugh at him all the time and grab at his hair. You have also gotten to where you like to ride in the car and will fall asleep in the car seat. We have spent some time riding around or sitting in the driveway waiting for you to get up. You love to jabber all the time. You talk to your animals, and it sounds so sweet.

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, you took your first trip to Florida and did such a great job riding in the car. You spent some of the trip using your blanket to play peek-a-boo. This was something new this month. You also got to go to Gulf World and see ocean animals up close. You enjoyed the dolphin show. We took you in a swimming pool for the first time ever. You didn't love it, but you didn't hate it either. You didn't cry in the water. Mommy was able to put your hair in a ponytail and pigtails for the first time. So adorable! For the first time, you got to go on the baseball field. You loved crawling around on the grass and even messed up the chalk on first base. You also had your first Easter Egg Hunt and trip to our local park. Two big things you have done for the first time this month are blow kisses and drink from a straw. You have stood alone for a few seconds a few times, but don't like to do this. You want to hold on to something or you want us to hold you up. I think you are a little scared about standing on your own. You have tried many new foods this month. You seem to like most everything you try.

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a great eater. You eat all table food except for a half of container of baby food in your morning and evening cereal. In the morning as soon as you wake up, you have cereal mixed with fruit and some kind of table food such as a nutri-grain bar, fruit, or yogurt. At lunch, you eat all table food and totally feed yourself. At dinner, you have cereal mixed with a fruit and some of what mommy and daddy are eating. In addition, you nurse four or five times a day for fifteen to twenty minutes. Your favorite foods at the time are peas, cheese sandwich, yogurt, graham crackers, nutra-grain bars, muffins, pancakes, and mixed fruit with cherries. You just recently started drinking juice mixed with water and have tried pear and apple prune. You are so good at drinking from a sippy cup. You can also drink from a sippy cup with a straw.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, you dislike having your nose and face wiped still. This makes cleaning you up after you eat fun, because you are a messy eater. You also dislike Macaroni and Cheese - we have tried to give it to you several times. You don't really like your jogging stroller. It sits back too far and the bar is too high for you, so you don't like to ride.

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 3 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear size 9 - 12 months, 6 - 12 month clothes, and 12 month clothes. It depends on the outfit as to what you can fit in still. Your pajamas are all 12 months.

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, your eyes are a beautiful brown. Your hair is dark red and is getting longer each day.

Scout,

You are eleven months old!
We can't believe you will be one soon!
You are a precious girl!
We love you!

Wildflowers & Whimsy: Skye Reve Fabrics Giveaway

2011-04-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,
As most of you know, I am really into sewing right now! Over at Wildflowers & Whimsy, you can find a great giveaway! Check out this beautiful fabric. I would love to make something for Miss Scout out of this adorable fabric which can be found at http://www.skyerevefabrics.com/

Who would like to win it too? Well, head on over to Wildflowers & Whimsy for your chance!!!!!!
Wildflowers & Whimsy: Skye Reve Fabrics Giveaway

Celebrating Ten Months

2011-03-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are Ten months old.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a great sleeper at night. You usually go to sleep between 7:30 - 8:30 and get up between 5:45 - 6:45. You don't usually wake up during the night. We still do a bedtime routine of dinner, cereal, bath, pajamas, books, eat and then bed. Nursing you with the light on and putting you to be awake is working nicely, but sometimes you still like to fall asleep while you eat. If you don't fall asleep, when you are done eating, I lay you in you crib and turn off the light. I rub you back until you fall asleep. Sometimes this takes a while, because you now like to sit up and then I have to lay you back down. I might have to do this ten times, but eventually you get comfortable and fall asleep. Naps are so much better. You are now sleeping on a mat on the floor for naps. When I see you are getting sleepy, I lay down with you on you mat. It usually takes you about ten minutes to fall asleep, but you might sleep anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. I don't know what to do while you are sleeping because you have never laid down for naps. But, I do have to check on you every five minutes, because you are ready to move when you wake up and don't always make noise.

(This is what happened when I tried to get you to lay down beside your bear . . ha!)

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, you love to play outside. You would swing in your swing all day if we could. We borrowed Calleigh and Easton's wagon, and you really enjoy riding in it. You love playing with Calleigh and Easton. You guys enjoy being together. You smile and clap when you see each other. You love to look at yourself in the mirror. You laugh, giggle, and talk away to yourself. You love music. You like to dance whenever anyone sings to you, and you try to sing back. One of your favorite toys is your piano at Janny and Granpappy's house. You love to crawl around in your toy room. Recently, you have started crawling toward to carpet in front of the door. I think you want to go outside. Kindermusik is something you really enjoy. You get so excited during class. You love to talk and chatter all the time. You sound like Pebbles from the Flintstones. Riding in your Baby Bjorn carrier has become a favorite activity of yours this month. I started wearing it when we were asked to be a substitute at the preschool at church, and you enjoyed it so much that I carry you in it often now. I have also discovered that you love puzzles. You love to pick up the pieces and put them down again. With daddy, you love to wrestle on the bed. You just giggle and laugh when daddy does this with you.

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, this has been a another big month for you! This month, you attended your first surprise birthday party. It was for Makayla; she turned 16. You also had your first Kindermusik class for the semester where you wore you very first hand-made outfit. Ms. Lisa and I made matching outfits for you and Calleigh. You girls looked adorable. You also had your first bath in the big tub, but you still take your baths in your little duck. You attended your first candle party where you sported another hand-made outfit. You have been army crawling for a while now, but did your first hands and knees crawl on March 1st. You have been pulling up for a while also but now you are doing it so much more. You don't get to do it too often, because we hardly ever leave in a spot where you can do it. This month, you have really started feeding yourself all the time. It is so fun to watch you pick up the food. On March 12th, you went to your first baseball game to watch daddy coach. We also took you to the Discovery Museum for the first time. You had a great time playing the baby room, but your favorite activity was the water. You have had many new food firsts this month, including your first cookie and juice. You also celebrated your St. Patrick's Day for the first time, and you didn't get pinched because you wore green!

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a much better eater. You eat Stage 2 foods and several different kinds of table food. In the morning as soon as you wake up, you have cereal mixed with fruit and some kind of table food such as a nutri-grain bar, fruit, or yogurt. At lunch, you usually eat a veggie (asparagus, peas, and squash are favs) and some kind of meat. At dinner, you have rice cereal mixed with a fruit and some of what mommy and daddy are eating. You have tried so many new foods this month, but trying to figure out what to feed you is challenging. You are doing so much better and trying new foods. You totally feed yourself most of the time. You will not do this if you are extremely hungry or tired. If this is the case, mommy or daddy feed you, and you usually want baby food then. In addition, you nurse four or five times a day for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, you still don't like having you nose wiped. It makes you so mad. Finally, you don't like to have your diaper changed. You would rather be on the move!

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 3 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear size 6 - 9 months, 9 - 12 months and 6 - 12 month clothes. I have even pulled out a few 12 months things for you to try! It depends on the outfit. Your pajamas are all 9 months or 12 months.

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, your eyes are a beautiful brown. Your hair is red and is getting darker and longer each day.

Scout,

You are ten months old!
In two short months, you will be ONE!
You are so cute!
We love you!

Celebrating Nine Months

2011-02-20T11:11:00.000-08:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are Nine months old.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a great sleeper at night. You usually go to sleep between 8:00 - 8:30 and get up between 6:00 - 7:00. You don't usually wake up during the night, but you have the last few nights because you have been sick. We still do a bedtime routine of cereal, bath, pajamas, books, eat and then bed. Nursing you with the light on and putting you to be awake is working nicely. When you are done eating, I lay you in you crib and turn off the light. I rub you back until you fall asleep (usually less than ten minutes). You also tend to stay asleep longer and put yourself back to sleep if you wake up. We also had to lower your crib because you can now pull up and go from laying down to sitting. Naps are a still hard. You still hardly ever let me put you down for a nap. I have been able to lay you down a couple of times on your nursing pillow, and it felt like heaven. When you get well, I might try to rock you on your pillow and then lay you down. But, for the most part, we just hold you so you can rest during the day, and you will usually sleep for about an hour to hour and a half. When you are just waking up, you are a little grumpy. It takes you a few minutes before you want to play.

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, you love to play outside. You would swing in your swing all day if we could. You also have a little riding car that we can push you in, and you think this is fun. You love to play with your buddies, Nathan and Tara. You guys are really starting to interact with each other and seem to enjoy being together. You smile and clap when you see each other. We let the three of you ride in a wagon together, and you all seemed to really enjoy it. You love to look at yourself in the mirror. You laugh, giggle, and talk away to yourself. You have also really started to like to aggravate Chipper (the dog). You pull his hair and touch him as often as you can. You love music. You like to dance whenever anyone sings to you, and you try to sing back. Your new thing is to sit in you Pack and Play. I think you like to play with you toys by yourself. Right now your favorite toy is your Vera Bradley wallet. You used to like to chew on mine, so Janny and Pappy got you one for Valentine's Day. I think Vera Bradley should consider making teething products because this seems to help your teeth more than anything. You still like to play with your food. Sometimes, if you are not eating good, I will put your baby food on your tray and let you play with it. You enjoy this! Brushing your teeth is also something you really love. You just smile and giggle while we are brushing.

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, this has been a big month for you! You have really started to enjoy your Pack and Play and even took a short nap in it. You got a new car seat this month. I thought it might help you enjoy riding in the car, but I was wrong. You don't like it any better than your old one. Your first ride in your new car seat was to Big Shannon, Makayla, and Uncle Randy's house to visit Makayla after her should surgery. Drinking from a sippy cup by yourself was something new you did this month. You don't do it consistently but try often. You went to your first Super Bowl party on February 6th. You were pretty good, but we still left at half time. On February 9th, you did your first continuous "crawl" forward instead of backwards. You tuck left arm under and use your right arm to move you along. You have gotten pretty fast in just one week. This month, you have really gotten better at feeding yourself. You started out just being able to do puff but now you can do carrots, green beans, peas and some other stuff. You also can do the sign for "more". I don't think you really understand what it means yet but at least you try. You celebrated your first Valentine's Day this month. Everyone got you all kinds of balloons, stuffed animals, and other goodies. Your daddy picked out your Valentine's Day present from us: a stuffed dog and a big heart balloon. We made brownies to give to Daddy for Valentine's Day. You were able to go from laying down to sitting on your bottom this month. This makes bedtime fun because you want to sit up instead of laying down. You have also had your first major illness - a yucky cough with a runny nose. You have had to do breathing treatments three to four times a day. When we took you to the doctor for this, you weighed 18 pounds 15 ounces.

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a picky eater. You eat Stage 2 foods and several different kinds of table food. In the morning as soon as you wake up, you have cereal mixed with fruit. You usually eat it all and finish the left over fruit as well. At lunch, you have a fruit and a vegetable and sometimes yogurt (which you love). You now have both a table food vegetable and fruit instead of baby food at lunch. At dinner, you have rice cereal mixed with a fruit. Your favorite table food vegetable is peas (I think you like them because you can pick them up), and you favorite table fruit is cherries. You still don't really care for any green vegetables (table or baby food) except peas . In addition, you nurse four or five times a day for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, you don't like having you nose wiped. It makes you so mad. You also don't like to ride in your jogging stroller. It doesn't sit up quite high enough for you yet. Hopefully, when you get a little bigger you will like it better. Since you have been sick, we have had to give you breathing treatments which has been no fun. You don't enjoy this at all. Finally, you have gotten to where you don't like to have your diaper changed. You would rather be on the move!

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 3 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear size 6 - 9 months, 9 - 12 months and 6 - 12 month clothes. It depends on the outfit. Your pajamas are all 9 months or 12 months.

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, your eyes are a brown color, and I think they are going to stay brown. Your hair is red and is getting darker and longer each day.

Scout,

You are nine months old!
Your first year is going by so fast!
You are such a sweetie!
We love you!

What Have We Been Up To?

2011-02-16T19:13:00.000-08:00

The Wiggs's family has been very busy the last couple of months, and this is really having an effect on my blogging. Perhaps, your family has been busy as well. Maybe you have been out playing on your wooden swing sets since the weather has been so beautiful or attending basketball games since it is playoff time! Well, we have been doing a little bit of everything around here. Here are a few pictures of some of the things we have done since the beginning of the new year!

Swinging
Playing with My Buddies
Hanging Out with the "Dawg" at Basketball Games
Checking Out the 8 Inches of Snow We Got
Loving on Momma After Church
Ridin' in My New Car Seat
Visiting my KK who Had Shoulder Surgery

Loving My Toothbrush

Attending My First Super Bowl Party

Celebrating My First Valentine's Day

There ya have it! What have we been up to? This is it! So much fun!

Christmas Day

2011-01-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

Oh my . . . . . . It is almost February, and I am just now blogging about Christmas Day. Wow! This is going to be a picture overload and the words are going to be few. Ha!

This is what we woke up to Christmas morning! I love that Scout is 1 for 1 on having a White Christmas.

Here is where Santa left Scout's goodies and stockings. I think Santa was going for a pink theme this year.
Scout spent a few minutes playing with each toy before moving on to looking at the next thing.
But, her favorite was defintely her rocking horse.

Scout and Granpappy had to do a little bouncing.
After looking at what Santa had brought, we braved the snow and headed over to my dad's house for breakfast and to open our presents. Can you tell what we are doing below? We had a good, old-fashioned snowball fight!

And then, we built a snowman.
But, Scout had to stay inside where it was warm.

After all that fun, we ate and opened presents. We had yummy breakfast burritos and grits. Scout tried a little of the grits and liked them. She also opened her presents. She got some ABC blocks, overalls, a savings bond, and some other things.
After finishing up at my dad's house, we headed home to cook our Hamburger Stars before heading over to the community center to have Christmas with all of Daniel's family. Scout got to open a few more presents which she enjoyed very much. We had a great time eating all the yummy food and playing dirty Santa.

Scout loved opening her presents.

We took our first family Christmas picture including Scout.
And Scout waited patiently with Uncle Avery and Aunt Amanda for the Dirty Santa exchange to start.
After all the fun at the community center, we headed home. Daddy built Scout a snowman, and we took her out in the snow for about two minutes so that she could see it. We also took a few pictures. Don't you love the blue snowsuit? Her Janny and Granpappy got that for her before we knew she was a girl!

At the end of the day, we relaxed at home. Daniel and I opened presents from each other, and Scout opened a few more of her presents and her stocking. Christmas Day was certainly exciting!

Celebrating Eight Months

2011-01-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are Eight months old.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a great sleeper at night. You usually go to sleep between 8:00 - 8:30 and get up between 6:00 - 7:00. You don't usually wake up during the night unless you have a belly ache. This month we have stopped swaddling you and are a full-time crib sleeper (except for morning snuggles with momma). We still do a bedtime routine of cereal, bath, pajamas, books, eat and then bed. This month we have tried something different. Instead of letting you go to sleep while you are eating, I feed you with the light on to try to keep you awake. When you are done eating, I lay you in you crib and turn off the light. I rub you back until you fall asleep (usually less than ten minutes). This works better, because I don't have to try to put you down and keep you asleep. You also tend to stay asleep longer and put yourself back to sleep if you wake up. Naps are a different story. You still hardly ever let me put you down for a nap. We just hold you so you can rest during the day, and you will usually sleep for about an hour to hour and a half. When you are just waking up, you are a little grumpy. It takes you a few minutes before you want to play.

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, you love to play with all your toys you got for Christmas. You love the basketball goal and mailbox so much. You also like to sit in your chair and look at (chew on) books. You are really starting to enjoy having you friends over to play or playing at your friends' house. You are all starting to interact with each other, and it is so fun to watch you play. You still love to swing outside. We have not gotten to do this much because of the yucky weather. You love to visit Daddy at work and wrestle with Daddy at home. You also enjoy attending all Basketball games. You really like to watch the game and take it all in. You really like it when we let you play with your food. Sometimes, I put a baby yogurt on your tray and let you play with it with your hands. I think you think its fun to make a mess. You have seemed to enjoy being in your exersaucer more this month. Most of all, you like to bounce.

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, this has been a big month for you! You had your last kindermusik class for the semester but will start back at the end of February. You saw your first musical Christmas lights display and enjoyed watching the lights twinkle very much. You survived your first holiday season with flying colors. You opened presents from December 20th to December 31st and loved all the special celebrations with family. You attended your first South Christmas Classic Tournament and loved watching all of the ballgames. This month, you spent your first night with an egg over your crib. This is an old remedy that is supposed to help with teething, and it has worked great for you! You did a little traveling this month to Alabama to meet your Great Aunt Betty and Great Aunt O'nita. You did great on you first New Year's Eve. We even let you stay out a little past your bedtime to attend a New Year's Eve party. You were such a good girl! This month, you did your first army crawl forward (you have been scooting backwards for a while now) but have only done it one time. You also got your second tooth on New Year's Eve. On January 10th, you got to go out in your first big snow. We took you out in the 7 1/2 inch deep snow for about five minutes. It came all the way up to your behind! Speaking of behind, you now know how to pull yourself up off you behind. You have done this totally unassisted about five times. This month was the first time you attended Trivia at the Mexican Restaurant. You didn't know many answers. Ha! January 14th was the first time you were able to consistently feed yourself puffs and you drank from a sippy cup with mommy's for the first time on January 11th. You got your teeth brushed for the first time this month, and you don't seem to mind it. Finally, for the first time this month, you were able to wear a hair bow without a headband. You now have enough hair to keep it in place. This month, you have really started to say more sounds. You say uh-ma (mama), da da, and gu gu (good girl, we think). You have also started to want momma more this month and are starting to realize when I am not around or in the room with you, and you don't really like it. You will also reach for momma, daddy, and other people. You also make a singing sound like an owl. Today was the first time we used your umbrella stroller, and you did great. You have been a busy girl.

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you have sort of become a picky eater. You eat Stage 2 foods and small amounts of table food. You have tried Mum-Mums and puffs, and you now like to eat the puffs and Mum-Mums and can feed them to yourself. In the morning as soon as you wake up, you have cereal (your favorite is wheat) mixed with fruit. You usually eat it all and finish the left over fruit as well. At lunch, you have a fruit and a vegetable. You have also tried turkey and chicken at lunch. Your belly didn't really like either one, and you liked the chicken better than the turkey. If you have a baby food fruit, I give you a table food vegetable and vice versa. You have tried cottage cheese, peas, green beans, peaches, bananas, pears, avocado and carrots. You have also had small bites of grilled cheese, a blueberry muffin, and bread. This totally stresses mommy out trying to make sure the pieces are small enough that you won't choke. At dinner, you have rice cereal mixed with a fruit. Your favorite food vegetable is squash, and you favorite fruit is apples. You don't really care for any green vegetables (table or baby food). In addition, you nurse four or five times a day for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, you don't really have much that you dislike. You don't love getting your nose wiped.

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 3 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear all size 6 - 9 months and 6 - 12 month clothes. Your pajamas are all 6 - 9 months too. But, I just bought you some 12 months pajamas.

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, your eyes are a brown color, and I think they are going to stay brown. Your hair is red and is getting darker and longer each day.

Scout,

You are eight months old!
We can't believe it!
You are a precious little girl!
We love you!

Super Bowl Ready?

2011-01-15T19:44:00.000-08:00

Do you know anyone who is ready for the Super Bowl? I know we still have a few more weeks before this glorious event takes place, but I am excited about it already. Perhaps you are enjoying the playoff games; Daniel and I are watching the Packers and the Falcons right this second! The best place to watch the Super Bowl is somewhere that has a gigantic flatscreen T.V.! Did anyone you know get one of those for Christmas this year? If you did, perhaps you might be interested in TV stands for flat screens. Unfortunately, we have a built-in entertainment center that limits the size T.V. we can have in our living room, and we don't really have any other area in our house that needs a T.V. So, no T.V. stand needed here. Even without the big T.V, the Super Bowl should still be fun to watch! Are you ready?

I know these two cuties are ready for the Super Bowl. What about you?

Christmas Eve

2011-01-14T11:39:00.001-08:00

O.K. . . . . . . .I am really slow at getting up our posts about the holiday season! But, finally, here is what we did on Christmas Eve.

Both of our families came to our house on Christmas Eve. We had a small houseful of 13 people. Everyone brought finger foods to eat. After eating, we let Scout open her presents. This took forever because she would open a couple and then take a break. Makayla helped her open most of them. Here are a few pictures from our evening.

Do you notice the wrapping on this package? Makayla figured out that it is easier to use a stapler instead of tape to shut you packages. And no use wasting those scraps of wrapping paper anymore! As you might have guessed, there is a story behind this fabulous redneck wrapping job. Maybe I will write about it another day.

Me, Makayla and Scout opening a present from Nana - A fun Melissa and Doug Nativity.
Makayla and Scout opening another present. This went on for a long time.
Scout sort of opening a present by herself - her cookie jar. My plan next year is to encourage everyone to take things out of the packaging before wrapping, because I think Scout will want to play with them immediately. Don't you think that is a great idea?
Scout sitting in her Pink Dinosaur Ball Pit. Scout opened most of her presents from Janny and Granpappy at their house on Christmas Eve Eve, but we saved this one for our house on Christmas Eve. I love this picture of us.
Here are Daddy and Scout baking cookies for Santa. Santa seemed to enjoy the Wal-Mart Chocolate Chip Cookies just fine, and I think Scout had fun helping lay them out.
Scout and Daddy read "The Elf on the Shelf" for the last time. I can't wait until next year when Scout will actually understand to look for the elf.
Scout and daddy put the cookies out and then Scout went to bed. Daddy stayed home with Scout so I could go to Christmas Eve Midnight Service.

Hopefully, that covers what happened on Christmas Eve. Coming soon - Christmas Day!

Baby Jesus and Christmas Eve Eve

2011-01-08T19:31:00.001-08:00

I have totally been a blog slacker over the last couple of weeks. This is partly due to the fact that I got a Kindle for Christmas and have been reading it so much. But, I have had several people comment that they have been waiting to read about Scout's first Christmas, so I figured it was time to get back on the blogging wagon, and I will start with Christmas Eve Eve and hopefully will add Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve pretty soon.

First of all, our Christmas season was such a blessing. Back on December 13th our family was chosen to participate in a special tradition at our church. Each year, the Baby Jesus is passed from family to family during the advent season. He comes with a little journal where you can reflect on your time with Him. We received Him, and I let Scout hold him. I love the joy on her face in this picture. This will be part of her first Christmas season that I will never forget and was the start of many exciting days for our family.

Now on to Christmas Eve Eve. Christmas Eve Eve morning, Makayla, her BFF Corrina, my mom and my sister came to my house. Of course, Scout got to open a couple of presents with Makayla's help.

But, the real reason everyone came to visit was to bring my Christmas present, a new camera. They thought it would be nice for me to have it early so I could take some good pictures of Scout's first Christmas.
Here is my first picture with my new camera, Scout and Makayla.

Corrina helped Scout open a present too - A Little People Nativity. She also got the Little People Wisemen and Stable. I look forward to getting these out each Christmas.

Christmas Eve Eve's afternoon was spent at Janny and Granpappy's house with Janny, Grandpappy, Tanner, Uncle Avery and soon-to-be Aunt Amanda. Scout was so blessed with so many fun presents including an adorable piano, a precious pink polka-dot chair, two little riding cars, a Fisher Price Giraffe, and so much more.

Here is Scout playing Giraffe with Uncle Avery.
After opening a few presents, Scout was tuckered out. She needed a little nap before she could go at it again. This was perfect because it gave us time to eat.
Daniel's mom and dad got Scout this precious pink polka-a-dot chair. Scout absolutely loves it. When she opened it, she played in it and patted it like it was the best thing ever! And, it looks so cute in her playroom next to her pink lamp Janny and Granpappy got for her. She has her own little reading corner where she enjoys chewing on her books, Ha!

Uncle Avery and Aunt Amanda got Scout the cutest little Christmas storybook with a little hand puppet. This will be another thing we treasure getting out each year at Christmas.

Scout was so blessed to receive so much from Janny, Granpappy, Avery, Amanda and Tanner. Daniel and I racked up too with hunting stuff for Daniel, a gift card for me, and both getting money from Daniel's parent. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve Eve!

Santa Pictures

2010-12-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

Since we have a little inside connection to Santa, we have had our picture made with him several times, and he even came to our house.

First, we had Scout's sixth month picture made on November 20th, by Fairytales Photography. They turned out so cute, and I can't wait to get them back. Here are a few we took with our camera that day.

Second, Santa came to our house to take some pictures with Scout and Makayla for the Marion County basketball program. Here are a few of my favorites.

Last, we went to see Santa at my uncle's real estate office. I haven't got the pictures back from this, but Scout had on the cutest Santa look-a-like dress. When I get them back, I will have to post them. I hear they are really cute!

WE HOPE YOU HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Celebrating Seven Months

2010-12-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are Seven months old.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a great sleeper at night. You usually go to sleep between 8:00 - 8:30 and get up between 6:00 - 7:00. You don't usually wake up during the night (except for the couple of nights before you cut your first tooth). You still like to have your bottom half swaddled and are a full-time crib sleeper. We still do a bedtime routine of cereal, bath, pajamas, books, eat and then bed. You usually fall asleep while you are eating but if you don't, we might rock you until you go to sleep or sometimes, you will lay in your crib until you fall asleep. Naps are a different story. You hardly ever let me put you down for a nap. We just hold you so you can rest during the day, and you will usually sleep for about thirty to forty-five minutes. When you are just waking up, you are a little grumpy. It takes you a few minutes before you want to play.

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, you love to swing. It has been too cold to go out, but the few times we have gone out to swing, you have loved it. You love to sit in your playroom and play with your toys. I can only imagine what it will be like on Christmas. At bedtime, you love to be read to by Daddy. You guys have developed a love for several Christmas stories. Most nights, you love to take your bath except for having your hair washed. You have really learned to splash and usually get whoever is giving you your bath all wet. The Christmas decorations are very exciting to you. You love the train at Janny and Granpappy's house and all the lights at our house. We have several pictures of you watching the train go round and round. You love to be rocked and snuggled, and you have one certain position you like to get in to go to sleep. Your newest interest is Chipper. You love to touch his hair and rub him. He doesn't really like it that much though. You also love to clap for yourself and are very encouraged to do this if we say "Yeah, for Scout!"

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, you have done so many new things this month. You celebrated your first Thanksgiving and had a good time playing BINGO. You also helped put up Christmas decorations for the first time. You love to look at the lights on the trees. You pulled yourself up to sitting for the first time in your Rock-n-Play and now we don't put you in there anymore. Luckily, you were buckled in, but we officially retired the Rock-n-Play that day. You also had your picture taken with a Guiness Book of World record holder and helped daddy teach his math class for the first time. Mommy took you over to visit Papaw at his house for the first time, and it just made his day. He loves it when you come to visit. You had your picture made in your first snow (it was really just flurries), but the first real snow was this month also. We didn't get a picture because it was too cold. This month, we took you to your first "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on the square. We didn't see Santa, but we did see the Grinch. You really liked him. You smiled and grabbed his nose. You also attended your first two Christmas parties and housewarming party and were really good at all of them. You tried your self-feeder for the first time. You knew to put it in your mouth but didn't really like what was in it. You pushed up on all four knees for the first time by yourself on December 11th and got your first tooth on December 17th. It was your bottom left tooth (from mommy's point of view). Your new talent is clapping for yourself. You can really get those hands together. It is so cute.

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you are a pretty good eater. You have now moved to Stage 2 foods and small amounts of table food. You have tried Mum-Mums and puffs, and you don't care for either of them. In the morning as soon as you wake up, you have cereal (your favorite is wheat) mixed with fruit. You usually eat it all and finish the left over fruit as well. At lunch, you have a fruit and a vegetable. If you have a baby food fruit, I give you a table food vegetable and vice versa. You have tried cottage cheese, peas, green beans, peaches, bananas, and carrots. You have also had small bites of grilled cheese, a blueberry muffin, and bread. This totally stresses mommy out trying to make sure the pieces are small enough that you won't choke. At dinner, you have rice cereal mixed with a fruit. In addition, you nurse four or five times a day for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, you don't really have much that you dislike. You don't love getting your hair washed but are getting better about the water trickling down in your face.

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 3 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear all size 6 - 9 months and 6 - 12 month clothes. Your pajamas are all 6 - 9 months too.

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, right now, your eyes are brown color, and I think they are going to stay brown. Your hair is red and is getting darker and darker each day.

Scout,

You are seven months old!
You are so special!
You are growing way too fast!
We love you!

Christmas Home Tour

2010-12-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday, I will be linking up with The Nester for her annual Christmas Tour of Homes.

Hop on over to her blog to find new and exciting Christmas decorating ideas. Here is what our house looks like decorated for Christmas. My favorite addition to this year's decor is my little girl, Scout!

Let's begin . . . . . . . . . . .This is the dining room tablescape that matches the Christmas tree. It was made by wrapping garland around a gold poinsettia with a big bow tied around it, the angel tree topper and Winter Santa. After I did this, I added some wired ribbon, pearls, peace ornament, and snowballs. I love the way it turned out.

This is the tree that is in our dining room. It is in the window so people can see it from the road. It is decorated with all gold and ivory ornaments with ivory pearl stands and a big gold bow on top.
This is our breakfast table. It just has a Christmas table cloth with two beautiful candle holders that Daniel's mom got me for my birthday a few years ago. I hung three holly ornaments from the light fixture.

I have a collection of nativities. This is the Willow Tree one (my mom got it for me for Christmas), and it is one of my very favorites. Please ignore the laundry basket, bag of socks and Cosmo magazine in the background . . . . . .lol!

These are two very classic Santa and Mrs. Claus decorations. They belonged to my grandmother. I love the way they look with the candle tower in the center. I got the cute reindeer stocking holder as a gift a few years ago from my cousin. You are supposed to put little twigs in the two holes on top for antlers. I need to find the perfect twigs.
Here are a few more nativities. One was a wedding gift, one came from my grandmother, others I have just found here and there. I can't wait to add the Little People nativity that Scout is getting for Christmas to this collection.

I can't remember where I got these, but I think they are soooooo cute! They are little candle holder and if you look carefully, you can see the S-A-N-T-A. When the candles are lit, and the lights are out, it looks really neat!

This sort of our Charlie Brown tree for the year. I purchased this last year at the Dollar General to put in my classroom. This year, I wanted a special tree where Santa could leave Scout's gifts. I figured this would work. Well, it is really pitiful. It is not very full and the beautiful Christopher Radko ornaments I have collected over the years just take over and look kind of silly. They are too big. I am definitely looking for a new tree to put in this spot for next year.
This is the Nutcracker-filled mantle. I wanted to get Scout a nutcracker stocking, but I bought the stockings several years ago and now I can't find any with nutcrackers that are not priced unreasonably. I think I might just go to Wal-Mart and get three plain stocking and have them embroidered. Also, I really want to have ones that say Momma, Daddy and Scout instead of Holly, Daniel and Scout.
This might be my favorite Christmas decoration in our house, and I made it all by myself. I added the ribbon, bows, holly, and ornaments to a piece of lighted garland. I love the way it looks going up the staircase.

Santa came to make an appearance at our house to take some pictures. Do you see him peeking through the window. My niece Makayla and Scout were surprised to see him!
This is the tree that matches Scout's room. Daniel's mom saw these at Wal-Mart and told me about it. I decided to get Scout one for her room. It is decorated with pink and white balls, little white Christmas candies, and little white stockings. It has a few glittered Merry, Christmas and Joy ornaments on it too! The snowflake on top finishes it off.
And here is the new addition to our Christmas decor, our sweet little Scout! She loves her pink tree in her room.

Thanks for stopping by my Christmas Home Tour.Leave me a comment if you see something you like or if you have a suggestion for something new to try! And don't forget to stop by next year to see if anything changes or daily to see the adventures of Scout.

Past Few Days

2010-12-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

The Wiggs's Family has been taking it easy for the last few days. Scout has had a runny nose and been feeling a little yucky, so we have been just hanging out at home for the most part. Tomorrow, we will be heading bright and early to see Dr. Mangru for our 6 month check up. I can't wait to see how much Scout weighs and how long she is. I am not looking forward to her shots. Until I have an update from our doctor's visit, here are few pictures from what we have been up to the beginning of December.

December 1 - Nathan and Tara came over to play. Instruments were a baby favorite that day! Look at the little band member enjoying the egg shaker, rainmaker and tambourine.

December 2 - Since the day after Thanksgiving, Scout has had the pleasure of being read the Christmas story, The Elf on the Shelf. The story tells that each night the elf flies to the North Pole and tells Santa if Scout has been naughty or nice. Each morning, he is in a new place in the house to watch again.

December 3 - We began our day by heading over to MOPS for a playdate. I didn't get any pictures, but the theme was "Birthday Party for Jesus". The little ones played in the gym and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas while enjoying pizza. After MOPS, we went to visit Papaw. I totally think this was the highlight of his week. He really didn't want us to leave. When we got home, I took Scout out to swing for a few minutes, but it was sooooo cold. She probably would have stayed in the swing forever. She loves it! For dinner, we went to a fantastic Bar-B-Que restaurant on the square with some of Daniel's family. Going out to eat with them has sort of become a weekly event that I really look forward to each week. We always have such a great time.

December 4 - Uncle Avery and soon-to-be Aunt Amanda opened up their new house for a housewarming party. Scout enjoyed visiting with everyone. I enjoyed the yummy food and punch. We finished up the afternoon with a great BINGO game. Unfortunately, I didn't win and neither did Daniel.

December 5 - Do you see the snow in this picture (HA)? Yes, it is there. We bundled Scout up to take her out in her first snow. It was really flurring, but you just can't tell. The weathermen are calling for a little more snow this weekend.

December 7 - Scout officially outgrew her Rock-n-Play today. I put her in it to watch a little TV for a minute, and this is what happened!!!!! She set straight up. Thank goodness for the little buckle!

December 8 - Today, we ventured over to Tara and Nathan's house to have lunch and play. Nathan took a nap so the girls could have a little play time by theirselves. They enjoyed chewing on their toys.

Hopefully, I will have an update on Scout tomorrow and on December 13th I plan to link up with The Nester for the Christmas Tour of Homes. Stop back by and check it out if you like!

Embrace the Camera

2010-12-02T05:31:00.001-08:00

Today for Embrace the Camera, I chose some fun pictures of Scout and her daddy! These were all taken on Tuesday. Don't forget to head over to The Anderson Crew and check out other entries.

Daddy competed in a shooting competition against basketball star Jack Ryan as part of the conclusion to his school's fundraiser. We went to watch. Here is Daddy, Scout and Jack Ryan.

Scout helped Daddy teach class. She put on a show for the boys and girls.

Daddy held Scout while he was eating lunch.

Scout was excited to hang out on Daddy's belly when he got home.

Happy Thursday and don't forget to Embrace the Camera.

Daddy vs. Jack Ryan

2010-11-30T19:27:00.000-08:00

Today, Scout and I ventured over to daddy's school to watch him complete in a basketball shooting competition against Jack Ryan. He was there to perform as a special conclusion to the school's fundraising campaign. Unfortunately, we didn't get there in time to see Daddy shoot against Jack but did get to see his fantastic display of basketball skills. He did a great job of involving the students and interacting with the crowd. He also had a great message of following your dreams, etc. In case you are wondering, Daddy lost the competition. But that is understandable, just take a look at Jack Ryan's biography (from Wikipedia). You can also click on his name to take a look at his website.

Jack Ryan, aka "Black Jack", aka "Water", is an American streetball player from Brooklyn, New York. Ryan's basketball exploits began at John Jay High School, where, as a senior, averaged 26 ppg. Ryan later took his game to East 5th St. Park in Brooklyn, where he mastered the tricks and shots he became well known for. In his first season in a recreational league at West 4th, Ryan played one game against former Detroit Piston Phil Sellers and scored 44 points.^[1]

Ryan is also known for his very proficient 3-point shooting. According to an article written by Bobbito Garcia about Ryan in Slam Magazine Streetball Special Collector's Issue, Chris Mullin once described Jack as the best shooter he'd ever seen who hadn't played in the NBA.^{[citation needed]} The article also states Peter Vecsey got Ryan a tryout with the New Jersey Nets in 1990, but was the second-to-last man cut, ending Ryan's NBA aspirations. Yet, Ryan still proved his mastery of the 3-point shot when he won the 2005 City Slam 3-Point Shooting Championships, which aired on ESPN. In a close final, Ryan edged out fellow streetball sharpshooter Deshun "Father Time" Jackson to take the title. In the media, Ryan was featured on the cover of the New York Times Sports section on December 3, 2003, and in May 2003 was named as one of "Slam Magazines Greatest Playground Ballers of All Time."^[2]

Aside from streetball, Ryan is also known for performing during halftime shows at NBA arenas with the basketball performance group "Project Playground".

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our little visit.

Sweet Scout and Daddy Watching the Show

Jack Ryan Spinning Nine Basketballs

Daddy, Scout, Jack Ryan
(Scout's First Picture with a Guinness Book of World Record Holder)

Daddy and His Buds Hanging Out with Jack

Scout Teaching Class with Daddy
(She put on a show for them)

Lunch with Dad

Have a great Wednesday!

First Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T15:43:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week celebrating with both our families. We have so many things to be thankful for this year!

Daniel's family gathers at the community center for their Thanksgiving. Everyone brings two dishes and a dessert. There is so much food to choose from, and it is so good. This year, we played Bingo. It was wonderfully organized by Daniel's cousins Celina and Sabrina. It was so fun, and I actually won for once! I am already looking forward to Christmas.

Sweet Scout

Me and Scout

Pappy and Tanner Playing Bingo

Celina and Scout

Sweet Girl in Her Thanksgiving Dress

My family gathered at Cracker Barrel on Wednesday night for a family dinner for Thanksgiving. I had some yummy Cider Roasted Pork (Amazing!) We had a nice time visiting and eating, but I didn't get too many good pictures because the lighting was terrible.

Scout and Grandaddy

Makayla and Scout

Shannon, Me, Makayla and Scout

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

Christmas Cards

2010-11-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

I always love getting Christmas cards! My favorites are usually the ones with the adorable pictures of everyone's children. I am so excited that I will be able to participate in the sending of that kind of Christmas card this year. As I received last year's Christmas cards in the mail, I noticed that my friend Jodi had used Shutterfly.com to make her cards. The design she chose was so cute and the quality was amazing. Well, right then, I decided I would use Shutterfly to make my cards this year! Luckily, Shutterfly is doing a fantastic promotion for Bloggers. Adrienne, over at Our Journey of Love, did a little blog commercial for this fantastic deal, and I decided I would get in on the action. Just take a look at the great products Shutterfly has to choose from in the Christmas Card area.

Here are few of my favorites. You can click on them to find more adorable designs.

Sweet Monogram Ribbon - I love the simplicity of this one!

Cool Peppermint Dots - So cute!

Swirls and Dots - Wouldn't this be sweet with a Santa picture?

Want to get in on the action - http://bit.ly/sfly2010. Follow this link for more information.

And just for fun, here is a picture of Scout at her first FC basketball game.

Celebrating Six Months

2010-11-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are Six months old.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you slept in your crib for the first time last night! Mommy slept in your room with you. You woke up seven times. Usually, you go to bed around eight and wake up between six and seven. The time change really messed up your sleeping patterns. You were starting to recover from the time change and then you got sick. So, we are still struggling with sleep at night. Last night was the first night you have not been swaddled at night. As for naps, you have started taking those in your crib as well. Mommy reads you a book, rocks you for a minute, and then puts you in your crib (awake). If you fuss, I pick you up, calm you, and then put you back down. It may take two or three times, but you will go to sleep. Your naps have been around 45 minutes. This is a long time for you.

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, your favorite thing is when mommy and daddy make a turkey noise at you. You laugh really hard at this. You also like "This Little Piggy" and have a doll that says this rhyme for you. Your new favorite toy is you Jumperoo. You can jump really high in it and will sit in it for a long time. You still like to watch T.V. but not as much as you did. You like Yo Gabba Gabba and The Price is Right. You love all your toys. One of your favorite is a little princess doll that rattles. You also enjoy playing with stacking cups and sucking on your toes. Sometimes, you like your bath and sometimes you do not. It depends on what mood you are in and how tired you are. You love to be rocked and will scratch if you are tired. You have one certain position that you like to cuddle (facing right, right thumb in mouth, left arm tucked). If mommy holds you like that you usually go right to sleep. Sometimes, mommy rocks you eventhough she should lay you down. You like to watch Chipper. You even like it when he licks you, buy mommy doesn't like that too much. You like to visit daddy at school. He takes you around to visit everyone, and you seem to think this is really fun. You seem to like going to Daddy's basketball games; You have not fussed once at any of his games. Swinging is something else you like to do. Our church has playground with a baby swing, and we have been to swing there two times. You love it!

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, you have done so many new things this month. You went on your first vacation to Charleston. You were so good the entire time. During that trip, you had your first time in the ocean, first horse and buggy ride, and first college football game. You had your first Halloween this month. You dressed up like a dragon, pumpkin and flower. You didn't go trick or treating but gave out candy with daddy at his baseball team's Trunk or Treat! You attended your first basketball game this month. I think this will be the first of many. You seem to love watching basketball. You rolled over from back to front for the first time. You have only done it once though. You don't show much interest in rolling but really enjoy sitting up and playing with your toys. You also took your first nap in your crib this month and slept all night in your crib. You said "Mama" very clearly for the first time. Stage one foods have all been tried now. You really like squash, bananas, pears and applesauce. Your least favorites are prunes and green beans. You are really pushing up tall and sort of lifting your belly. No luck with all fours yet! You can get where you want to go by scooting backwards. You can go backwards really fast.

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you eat 5 times a day ( 6:30ish, 10:00ish, 2ish, 5ish and 8ish). You nurse every three hours (woohoo!) for about fifteen minutes. You usually do not eat during the night. You are doing a great job with your solid food. You eat cereal with fruit at 7:30, some kind of baby food about 1:00, and cereal with fruit at 7:00.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, sometimes you dislike when it is time to sleep. You will fight sleep so bad. You fuss until you find you comfortable spot. You also dislike Wal-Mart. The two times I have taken you, you have fussed the whole time. You also seem to dislike having a poopy diaper now. That never bothered you until we started solid food.

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 3 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear some size 3 - 6 months clothes and some 6 - 9 month clothes, and 6 - 12 month clothes. Your pajamas are size 3 - 6 months with some 6 - 9. I probably will change to all 6 - 9 months and 6 - 12 months clothes sometime in the next week or so.

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, right now, your eyes are a green/brown color (different on different days), but I think they are going to turn brown. Your hair is red.

Scout,

You are six months old!
We can not believe it!
Your first 1/2 year has gone by so fast!
We love you!

Embrace the Camera

2010-11-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

Yep . . . It's that time again! Take some pictures of you and your child or your spouse and your child and join in the fun!

Mommy and Scout playing in her room.

Scout visiting Daddy at school.

Happy Thursday and Don't Forget to Embrace the Camera!

Winner

2010-11-13T04:40:00.001-08:00

The

winner

COMMENT

#6
Congratulations to Tiffany from Tiffany Talks!
An e-mail is coming your way, Tiffany!

Show Us Your Life - Bathrooms

2010-11-11T20:09:00.001-08:00

****I am currently doing a giveaway****
Click here for a chance to win a $45 Gift Certificate to CSN Stores.
All you need is an e-mail address; No blog necessary!

Scout's Bathroom

Welcome to Scout's bathroom. It is painted the same pink color as her bedroom. The cute dot decor was purchased from Target. It is a Jack-and-Jill Bathroom that connects the two guest rooms.

Half Bath

This is our Half Bath. I absolutely love having a half bath in our house, and I hope I don't ever have to live in a house without a half bath for guests to use. It is so nice to have a space that can stay pretty neat and tidy all the time. My favorite part of the half bath is the wine rack that holds a nice selection of magazines. Fun, right?

We have a big bathroom in our Master Bedroom, but I wasn't able to make pictures due to a little angel sleeping in our bedroom. It's okay, tho, because it is really a mess.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of our Bathrooms. Check back next week for another room or daily for adventures of our little girl!

Embrace the Camera

2010-11-09T14:09:00.001-08:00

Hello All . . . . .yes, it is Thursday! Embrace the Camera day! So check out these fun pics of Scout and me and Scout and her daddy!

Also, I want to let you know that I am doing a GIVEAWAY. Check out this post to get in on the action! I would love to have a few more entries!

CSN Stores Giveaway

Scout and Me Outside the Doctor's Office

Scout and Daddy at a Basketball Game

Happy Thursday and don't forget to Embrace the Camera.

CSN Stores Giveaway

2010-11-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,

Jingle all the way!

Don't forget to enter,

This fantastic giveaway!

Woohoo . . . . . . It's time for a giveaway - Just in time for the Christmas holiday shopping rush!

CSN stores is a wonderful place to address all your shopping needs. I wish I needed a new end table because CSN stores has many beautiful ones. I also can't wait to check out all the baby and kids toys to find many fun things for Baby Scout for Christmas. So, would you like a little gift certificate to buy the perfect holiday gift for your sweetie or best friend? Go ahead and enter this giveaway to win a $45 DOLLAR gift certificate to any of CSN 200+ Websites.

Here's how you can enter:

One entry for leaving me a comment with your favorite item from the baby and kids store (I am trying to get good Christmas present ideas for Baby Scout).

Two entries for being a public follower and leaving your email address as two separate comments (I love new followers!).

Three entries for blogging about my contest and leaving a link to your post as three separate comments.

Don't be afraid to enter one, or all 3 ways (I sort of used to be afraid to enter giveaways)! Contest will run through November 12, 11:59pm CST and is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents. I will select one winner using random.org, which will be announced on Saturday, November 13. The lucky winner will have their $45 gift certificate shipped directly to them from CSN Stores.

Baby Scout says, "Good Luck!"

Embrace the Camera - Halloween Style

2010-11-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Embrace the Camera - Halloween Style

Today, over at The Anderson Crew, is embrace the camera day. The pictures are supposed to be of you and your child or your spouse and your child. I decided that I would do a few Halloween shots.

Scout dressed as a dragon.
Scout dressed as a flower.

Scout dressed as a pumpkin.

Happy Thursday and don't forget to Embrace the Camera.

Halloween Fun

2010-11-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic Halloween weekend filled with so much fun. Here are a few pictures of what we did (in reverse order).

Nana came over last night and brought a few Halloween treats including these fun teething beads.

We went to "Trick or Treat" over with Daniel's family. Scout enjoyed playing with her toys from her Great Aunt Shellie and listening to her Fisher Price Halloween C.D. from Great Aunt Susan. Thanks to all who had special treats for Scout!

Our costume for Sunday - a little flower.

Daddy and Scout carved her pumpkin on Saturday morning. We took pictures with it Sunday after church.

Scout was ready to go Sunday morning in her adorable smocked ghost dress.
Here she is Sunday morning in her "My 1st Halloween" pajamas. Another week and these would have been too small.
Saturday night we went over to my dad's house. He is a Halloween fanatic (can you tell?). He was dressed like a clown and made balloon animals for all the trick or treaters. He also had his whole house decorated.
Makayla enjoyed helping Scout open her Halloween gifts from her family. Did you notice Scout in this picture? She is looking at the huge bat that is hanging from the ceiling fan.
The baseball team that Daniel coaches does "Trunk or Treat" at the baseball field. So, we dressed up, decorated our trunk and gave out candy to the little ones. Big Shannon, Uncle Randy and Makayla came to help too. Another family had this pumpkin with a ghost that popped out with music and Scout loved it. She and Big Shannon spent about thirty minutes watching it.

Tanner and Makayla helped us pass out candy. Makayla was a good sport and put on the witches' hat for this picture.

What a sweet little dragon!

Our little family all dressed up for Halloween.
Scout and daddy carving the pumpkin on Saturday morning.
Hope you had a Happy Halloween. We sure did!

Show Us Your Life - Guest Rooms

2010-10-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Guest Room 1

Guest Room 2 (My Favorite)

Guest Room #3 now looks like this . . . . .

Scout's Room

Which one do you like best and why?

And for fun, one picture of my little cutie . . . . . . . .

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our guest rooms. Check back next week for another room or daily for our adventures with our sweet girl!

Embrace the Camera

2010-10-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

You know the drill . . . . . . .
Pictures of you and your child or your spouse and your child.
So, go ahead, link up at The Anderson Crew!

This week, my friends Lisa and Jane took some cute pictures of Scout and I at Kindermusik.

Just Hanging Out

Playing the Drum

We usually always go visit Daddy after Kindermusik, and Scout falls asleep in the car. This week, she couldn't wait and fell asleep at the end of class.

Asleep

This picture is for our teacher, Jane. My friend Lisa and I made these shirts for Scout, Tara and Nathan on Monday night, and she asked if I would post a picture. I think the shirts turned out Super Cute!

Happy Thursday and don't forget to Embrace the Camera.

Charleston

2010-10-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we took a little trip to Charleston, SC. One of the boys that Daniel coached plays football for the Citadel, and we wanted to support him by attending one of his college football games. He is a freshman but gets some playing time. His parents are also dear friends of ours, and we enjoyed spending time with them and their sweet daughter and granddaughter. Here are several pictures from our trip. Enjoy!

On the beautiful Citadel campus, the buildings are so unique. The students were all dressed alike and walk like soldiers. We got a kick out of watching them walk to class, because they have to walk so many steps per minute.

This building is in downtown Charleston. It is called the slave market. There were many people in the market making baskets. I wish I would have gotten one, because they were beautiful. There were many other booths as well.
It was recommended to us that we take a carriage ride through the city, so we did. Scout was fantastic the whole time. I was so proud. Here we are on the carriage. Each carriage had a tour guide that told different things about the city as you rode. It was very interesting.

We saw many houses on our tour. Most of them had this layout. Did you notice the porch on the side? All the houses had this because this type porch could cool the entire house before Central Heat and Air. The breeze would come off the rivers (Charleston is on a peninsula.)
This is Clint Eastwood's daughter's house. She is married to a doctor in Charleston. Neat, huh?
After exploring downtown, we took Scout to the beach for the first time. Here she is with Journee strolling down the beach.

I thought this was an amazing picture. I am really not a beach person, but I think this could be a place of relaxation for me.

Our first beach picture as a family. Daniel's brother is getting married at the beach next July, so hopefully we can get some better beach pics then. It was cold and windy at this beach.

Scout's first time in the ocean. She loved the sand and the cold water on her toes. She laughed when we let her touch it. Maybe she will be a beach person.
On Saturday, we loaded up and headed to the game. Before the game, all the students march into the stadium in a parade.
Here is part of the stadium. It is as beautiful and unique as the campus.
Mommy and Scout at the game. She was perfect. Notice her little Citadel shirt. We had to get a 2T because there wasn't any other cute baby clothing in the bookstore. Hopefully, she will get to wear it to a game next year. There were many other things we wanted to do in Charleston but didn't have time, so we plan to try to attend a game next year too!

Some football pictures - Terrance is # 25. The Citadel lost 20 - 0. They turned the ball over ten times. I think we were bad luck.
Journee and Scout got to see the bulldog. Of course, I didn't get a cute pic of them together. This one of Scout and bulldog is pretty cute.
This bulldog is outside the stadium. I love this picture because both girls are sort of looking at me. All weekend long, we tried to get pics of both girls looking, and it hardly ever happened. One would look, the other would turn and vice versa.
Daniel and Terrance together after the game. We are very proud of this young man. Attending the Citadel is very tough (lots of rules). He is doing a good job.
Our family with Terrance after the game. We were so glad it worked out that we could attend. We had a little vacation and enjoyed supporting our hometown athlete.

Show Us Your Life - Kid's Rooms

2010-10-20T15:32:00.001-07:00

Scout's Nursery

I pretty much looks the same except for the hanging of a couple of pictures and all the toys are now scattered all over the floor all the time.

Do you see that big empty space below the picture above? This collage goes there! It has pictures of our maternity and newborn sessions.

Here is our cutie playing in the floor of her room and sitting in her crib.

Hope you enjoyed seeing Scout's room! Come back next week for the next room or daily for adventures of our little girl!

Celebrating Five Months

2010-10-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are five months old.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you have finally gotten into a good sleep schedule at night. You usually go to bed at 8:00 and wake up between 6:30 - 7:00. We have started a bedtime routine which really seems to work nicely for you. First, you eat your cereal, then you get a bath. Next, we change your diaper and put on your pajamas. We read two or three books and then I nurse you. Most of the time, you fall asleep while you are eating. Sometimes, I have to rock you a little. As of right now, you are still sleeping in our room in your "Rock and Play". During the day, you don't sleep much at all. You are a cat napper. You might take two or three thirty minute naps in your "Rock and Play" or your car seat. You will sleep longer if someone is holding you. Even though you are a cat napper, you sort of sleep on a little schedule during the day. You first nap is somewhere around nine. Your second somewhere around 2 - 3 and your last one somewhere around five.

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, you love to play in your room and in the floor on your Dora playmat. You like to sit in your exersaucer. It is a jungle theme, and you love the music. You still enjoy being read to. Right now, we are reading Halloween books. You are usually a very good listener. You still like to play airplane with me and daddy. You like to play in the bathtub and will kick and splash in the water. You love to watch T.V. eventhough I try not to let you watch it much. You would seriously watch it all day. You also love to play "Where's Scout" and Peek-a-Boo. You really let out the giggles when we play these games with you. You also love to listen to music. I always turn on the music when we play in your room and we do the songs we have learned in Kindermusik. You love to be outside. At your Janny's house, you get to swing on the swing and you really enjoy it. I am thinking about asking Santa to get you a little swing for Christmas. Makayla and I took you to the park, and the swing was your favorite.

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, you have done so many new things this month. You have become a thumb sucker. You suck your thumb ALL THE TIME! You sat up for the for the first time on October 7th for about 10 seconds and now you can sit for longer periods of time. You love to sit up in your room and play with your toys. You also tried solid food for the first time as well. We started you on rice cereal on Wednesday, September 22, and you loved it. To date, you have tried squash (your favorite), bananas, avocado, and pears. You attended your first wedding this month and were really well behaved. You also have had your first trip to a park, a pumpkin patch, and a Fall Festival. We also attended MOPS for the first time, but you were able to stay with me in the meeting. This month you began taking baths in the big bathtub with your duck tub inside. You love it because you can really splash and play with your toys.

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you eat 5 times a day ( 7:30ish, 10:30ish, 2ish, 5ish and 7:45ish). You nurse every three hours (woohoo!) for about fifteen minutes. You usually do not eat during the night. You have also started solid food. You eat cereal at 8:30, some kind of baby food about 1:00, and cereal with fruit (yum!) at 7:00.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, I can't think of a single thing you dislike. Sometimes, you do get upset though. Mostly, you fuss when you are sleepy or have a belly ache. You won't let anyone besides me and daddy hold you for too long and cry if you are hungry. You can be a little high maintenance sometimes, but I think you get it honestly.

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 3 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear size 3 - 6 months clothes, your pajamas are size 3 - 6 months, and your onesies are 3 - 6 months. All these are starting to be a little snug. I think you will be in 6 - 9 months clothes soon!

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, right now, your eyes are a green/brown color (different on different days), but I think they are going to turn brown. Your hair is red, and I think you might end up a red head. Your great-grandmother would have loved this as she always wanted a red head. You also have little curls starting to form.

Scout,

You are five months old!
You are such an happy girl!
Mommy and daddy could just eat you up!
We love you!

Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Scout has been very busy the last two Saturday afternoons. Last Saturday, we ventured off to the school where I used to teach for their Fall Festival. Scout was only able to play a couple of games but had fun visiting with everyone.

In the Car on the Way

Picking a Duck

Picking a Ghost

Visiting with Friends

This Saturday, we visited the local pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin. At our pumpkin patch, there are so many activities for kids to participate. Scout was a little small to do much but will definitely be ready next year.

Showing Our Sitting Skills in Front of the Pumpkin

Looking at the Animals with Dad

Swinging with Mom

Hayride to the Pumpkin Patch

Cutting Our First Pumpkin

Ridin' the Wooden Tractor with Makayla

Do you have a pumpkin patch in your area?

Show Us Your Life - Office

2010-10-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

The stairway going up to the office area. This is one of my favorite things in my house.

The view from the top of the stairs.

In our old house, our office used to be a golf theme. We brought a few of those accessories to this house.

The bookcase that matches our desk.

My niece Makayla and I already have spent some time crafting in this area and
hopefully the other little cutie who will enjoy crafting with me in this space too!

Happy Friday. Have a great weekend!

Park

2010-10-14T11:33:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Makayla and I took Scout to the park for the first time. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Happy Thursday!

Random Stuff

2010-10-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be full of random stuff so get ready!

First, I have been contacted by CSN Stores to do a give-a-way in the near future (like next couple of weeks). I am really excited as this is my first give-a-way, and I hope I have many entries! This give-a-way will be for a electronic gift certificate to CSN Stores. Click on the logo below to take a look at some of the things CSN Stores has to offer and check back here for more details in the next couple of weeks.

Look at this adorable picture of Scout meeting Ollie the Otter at our MOPS meeting on Friday. Ollie is the mascot for car seat safety and took time to meet all the kids at the MOPS meeting. So fun!

We have a sitter at our house. Scout sat unsupported for the first time without falling over on October 7th for about 10 seconds. She has been adding time to that each day and now sits without help for about two or three minutes at a time. Of course we are always close as she might tumble at any second.

We went for our four month shots on October 7th. As you can see Scout weighed 15 pounds 9 ounces and was 25 1/2 inches long. She is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. She did great with her shots. She only cried when she was getting them and then stopped. The doctor said she was perfect (of course, we already knew that, Ha!)

Scout has been eating rice cereal for about three weeks now, and the doctor gave us the O.K. to start real baby food. So today we tried our first real food, avocado. Scout really seemed to like it! Makayla fed it to her. We will do this for four days and then I think we are going to try pears. YUM!

Speaking of Makayla, she is on Fall Break this week. All I have to say about this is lucky me and lucky Scout. She is staying with us this week, and I probably won't let her go home. Scout has had constant entertainment, and I got to take a nap this morning. Bliss! She has already been such a big help!

Since we are starting to add a fruit or veggie at lunch time, I am giving Scout rice cereal in the morning now! I haven't been doing that! This is what happened this morning during breakfast. Isn't that the cutest thing? I think I will send it to Gerber!

That is all for my randomness today. Happy Monday!

Our Friday

2010-10-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

Whew! We had a very busy Friday! This morning Scout and I traveled about thirty minutes to attend our first MOPS meeting. Unfortunately, there is not a group closer to us, so I decided to try this group in the next county over. It looks like it is going to work out perfectly. One of my sweet friends that I know through church is the hospitality coordinator and was so sweet to make me feel very welcome and everyone was so nice. I really had a great time and look forward to going back next month.

The speaker was very dynamic and talked to us about car seat safety. Many great questions were asked and answered. I really learned so much about what is and is not safe in the car.

Scout was soooooo good. She really seemed to pay attention and didn't fuss much at all!

When we got home, we ate our cereal and then headed up to Scout's room to play. Scout is starting to sit up a little on her own. She actually did it long enough today for me to turn the camera on and take three pictures.

In our Kindermusik class, we sing a song called "Ridin' in the Buggy", and the babies get to get in the buggy (laundry basket) and ride. Well, I decided we needed a buggy at home. So, I turn on the "Ridin' in the Buggy" song and pull Scout around her room in the laundry basket. She seems to really enjoy it, and it is good exercise for me.

When daddy got home, we rode over to the new Mexican restaurant to eat dinner. This restaurant is right next to the trains, so we decided to walk Scout over for a look.

After dinner, we stopped by daddy's school to see what was going on at the fall dance. We didn't stay very long because the music was loud. But, I think Scout enjoyed her first middle school dance.

Hope you enjoyed reading about our Friday! What did you do today?

Show Us Your Life - Kitchen

2010-10-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

This is the view of our kitchen from the side of the family room. I love the white cabinets.

The theme of my kitchen is lemons. Here are a few of my lemon accessories, the lemon pitcher, cutting board, and salt and pepper shakers.

This dishwashing liquid dispenser is one of my favorite lemon accessories. It is so handy when washing dishes. I love the handpainted lemon and lime on the bottle.

These are my everyday dishes. My old kitchen was blue and these dishes matched perfectly, but they fit in this kitchen too. I really love the way they look when they are stacked.

A couple more lemon accessories - a wipe-off board and lemon tower.

Don't you love this pitcher where I keep my utensils?

Another perfect match for this kitchen - a lemon print.Last, but not least, here is my little cutie at our breakfast table. Our breakfast room is right beside the kitchen.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our kitchen. I hope it wasn't too sour for you! Check back next week for another room or daily for pictures of our little girl!

Embrace the Camera

2010-10-07T04:32:00.001-07:00

You know the drill . . . . . . .
Pictures of you and your child or your spouse and your child.
So, go ahead, link up at The Anderson Crew!

Visiting Daddy at Work

Watching Baseball with Dad! Go Braves!

Happy Thursday and don't forget to Embrace the Camera!

P.S. Say a little prayer for us today, because we are going for our four-month well visit which means we have to get shots! Yuck!

Swing Set

2010-10-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

Do you see this little cutie?

I put her in the floor today right in the middle of her Dora mat,
and she managed to scoot herself back this far!

But then she decided it was not far enough, so she kept scooting backwards,
and this is where she ended up!

I guess she thought that if she could scoot that far she might as well scoot to the chair,
and she did! There is no telling what she picked up off that floor. Yuck!

So, I think she will need something to entertain her a little more in the near future.
I was thinking of talking to Santa to see if his elves could make one of these for Scout for Christmas.But then I came across this and thought it looked really fun!

So, does anyone out there in Blogland have either of the two little swing sets? I would love to see what you think. I have read reviews of both, and they each seem to have pros and cons. Maybe I will leave it up to Santa!

One Year Blog Anniversary

2010-10-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

One year ago today, I wrote my very first blog post. This post was to announce to our friends and family that we were expecting in May. We had obviously already told my parents, Daniel's parents, and our siblings but that was all. You can check our our first post here: Happy Faces.

It has been a really exciting year for our family. Here is a little picture scrapbook that shows some of the exciting things that have happened since our first blog post one year ago.

Weeks 6 - 11

Weeks 12 - 17

Weeks 18 - 23

Weeks 24 - 29

Weeks 30 - 35

Weeks 36 - 38

Week 39
This picture was taken on Wednesday before Scout arrived on Thursday night.

The night Scout was born.
May 20, 2010

Elizabeth Scout
A healthy baby girl
6 lbs 10.6 oz.
19 1/2 inches long
Delivered by Dr. Rivero

May

June

July

August

September

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of the last year of our lives. We have enjoyed it so much and know that we have so much to look forward to in the future. Wonder what our post will look like on our Two Year Blog Anniversary?

Show Us Your Life - Dining Room

2010-09-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

This week, Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is continuing her "Show Us Your Life" Friday. This weekly linking party began as "Show Us Where You Live", so Kelly is revisiting this idea over the next few weeks. This will give those who missed the home tours the first time to have a chance to get in on the action. This week is dining rooms. So, hop on over to Kelly's Korner and sometime tomorrow (I am posting Thursday), and you should be able to find a nice tour of dining rooms.

Here is the view of our dining room from the door that goes to the kitchen.

And this is the view from our formal living room.

Here is a close up of the arrangement that sits on the table. We remove it when we eat at this table (which is hardly ever - we eat at the breakfast table or in front of the TV).

I have two of this kind of print. They hang of either side of our middle window. The colors match the room perfectly.

This china cabinet belonged to my grandmother, and I love it. It is maple. Unfortunately, she didn't have a table to match. So, when we moved into this house, I searched everywhere for a table. After looking at about ten furniture stores, I found one that matched beautifully.

My china is Fitzgerald by Noritake. I think it looks beautiful in the china cabinet (this is where it gets used the most).

And if your name is Holly, and this is your china pattern, you have to have these salad plates.

This is the corner next to the the china cabinet. This chair also belonged to my grandmother. It fits perfectly in this room.

Many people ask me how I came up with the name for our blog. Here is part of the reason for the name "Tales from Waters Edge". This is the view from our dining room. It used to be a better view before a house was built across the street, but it is still a nice view from our upstairs and gazebo front porch.

You might have noticed a chair missing from our dining room table. Well, our breakfast table only came with two chairs. Now that we have this little cutie, we need three chairs. So, I stole one of our dining room chairs for our breakfast room table. I guess we could get a regular high chair, but the little one we have seems to work great for Scout and doesn't take up much room.

Hope you enjoyed our dining room! Come back next week for a tour of our kitchen (I think its kitchens next week) or daily for sweet pictures and adventures of our girl.

Embrace the Camera

2010-09-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, over at The Anderson Crew, is embrace the camera day. The pictures are supposed to be of you and your child or your spouse and your child. I decided that I would try to take some of me and Scout together since we have very few mommy/Scout pictures. I really didn't do too good but here is what we got!

I love the first one with Scout's tongue sticking out! I love the second one with her thumb in her mouth! She started consistently sucking her thumb this past weekend. Many of her pictures from this week are of her and her thumb.

Scout loves to grab my face, as seen in the first picture. I love the second one; Such a sweet face looking back at mommy.

Happy Thursday and don't forget to Embrace the Camera!

TPIR

2010-09-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

I feel the need to tell you about something I love . . . . The Price is Right. Crazy? I know!!!!!! My love for The Price is Right started right at birth! I would watch it over at my grandmother's house, and my love for it started right then. At that time, it came on during the day and at night. Bob Barker was the most fabulous host. At one time, we even had tickets to go to the show but didn't get to go. And, I know two people who have been contestants (One won and the other lost). Now, as an adult, I would TIVO this fantastic game show during the day when I worked and watch it at night. But, when Drew Carey took over as host, I quit! It just wasn't the same. Well, I am totally giving this favorite of mine another shot and have recently discovered it not only comes on once during the day, but twice!!!!!! My TIVO is set, and I am enjoying TPIR once again.

If you are bored, jump on over to The Price is Right website. There is some neat information about the games and other stuff!

Why do I tell you all this? Because I want this little girl to love The Price is Right. Right now, we don't watch much T.V. But, in the future this will be on our viewing list! Ha! Ha!

Do you love TPIR too? What do you love?

First Wedding

2010-09-25T19:47:00.001-07:00

Today, one of Daniel's former baseball players and friend to out family got married by the lake in a very sweet outdoor ceremony. Timmy, the groom, looked very handsome in his tux along with his brothers, Nick and Jimmy. Both brothers were former students of Daniel. Scout was fantastic during the ceremony. She enjoyed hanging out with her daddy. She slept during most of the reception (we only stayed a little while) which was good. We decided to head out when she woke up. It was a good thing, because she let us know she was hungry as soon as we got home. Here are a few pictures from Scout's first wedding.

Timmy, Scout, Daniel, Nick, Jimmy

Our Little Family

Before the Ceremony

Waiting on the Bride

Beautiful Bride and Handsome Groom

Hanging Out

Congratulations Timmy and Lori! We are so excited for you!

Embrace the Camera

2010-09-23T07:13:00.001-07:00

Today, over at The Anderson Crew, is embrace the camera day. The pictures are supposed to be of you and your child or your spouse and your child. I decided to use our pictures from after church this week! I think Scout looks so sweet in her little smocked dress.

I hope you have a great Thursday and don't forget to embrace the camera!

Show Us Your Life - Master Bedroom

2010-09-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

This week, Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is continuing her "Show Us Your Life" Friday. This weekly linking party began as "Show Us Where You Live", so Kelly is revisiting this idea over the next few weeks. This will give those who missed the home tours the first time to have a chance to get in on the action. This week is living rooms. So, hop on over to Kelly's Korner and sometime tomorrow (I am posting Thursday night) you should be able to find a nice tour of Master Bedrooms.

Our master bedroom is a little plain and simple. The beautiful furniture was from Daniel's bedroom. The sleigh bed is my favorite piece. I love the wall color. This picture doesn't do it justice. It kind of looks sponge painted, but better!

This is the view from the closet. It is a really nice size closet. I would love to show you a picture, but it is way too messy for that!

This is a close up of the picture beside the T.V. I have another print similar to this one, and I would really like to put them above the bed. Our bed used to be in front of the window, so I didn't need anything above it. But, now I do!

Here is Scout's section of our room. Since her room is upstairs, I kind of set up a little area in our room for her. This keeps me from having to go upstairs everytime I need to change her.

This is the view from the master bathroom door. I would love to show you it, but it is messy too!

In the first picture, you can see the little yellow thing beside the bed. This is Scout's "Rock and Play". This is where Scout sleeps at night (If you are a regular reader, you know Scout doesn't sleep during the day), and it has been a lifesaver. If you have a little one, you should check it out. Here she is just hanging out in it in her cute polka dot pajamas!

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our Master Bedroom. Come back next week for a tour of the dining room or daily for fun pictures of our little girl.

Guess What I Did Tonight?

2010-09-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Guess what I did tonight?

Yep! I had rice cereal for the first time! Yummy!

Celebrating Four Months

2010-09-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today, Baby Scout, you are four months old.

Sleeping Patterns: Baby Scout, you really have not gotten into a good sleep schedule. Mommy talked to your pediatrician about this, and he said this was okay until you are six months. Right now, you usually go to bed sometime between nine and ten. Your normal wake-up time is between seven and eight, but you are getting up once during the night to eat. The time you wake-up during the night is very inconsistent. The last couple of nights, you have woken up more than normal with a belly ache. Each night, we swaddle you, and daddy rocks you to sleep. As of right now, you are still sleeping in our room in your "Rock and Play". During the day, you don't sleep much at all. You are a cat napper. You might take two or three thirty minute naps in your "Rock and Play" or your car seat. You will sleep longer if someone is holding you.

What You Like To Do: Baby Scout, you love to be outside. We walk two or three times a week, and you really enjoy this time. You might look around or fall asleep in your car seat when we are walking. We also go outside at least once a day to blow bubbles. You get mad when I have to dip the stick to get more bubbles. You like to go over to your Janny's and Granpappy's and swing on the back porch. You are a T.V. watcher. I think you would watch it all day if I would let you. I usually put it on for you when I get in the shower. You like Nick, Jr. I usually try to shower during Jack's Big Music Show, because you seem to enjoy that program. On the weekends, you watch football with me and your daddy. You still enjoy being read to. I bought two of my favorite childhood books (The Monster at the End of this Book and Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree) for you on Ebay, and I enjoy reading them to you. You are usually a very good listener. You still like to play airplane with me and daddy. You have also added "Where's Scout?", peek-a-boo, and get her to your favorite games. Bathtime has brought more excitement because you are now starting to splash and kick.

New Things You Have Done this Month: Baby Scout, you have done so many new things this month. You rolled over for the first time on September 11th. You rolled from front to back. You don't show any interest in rolling from back to front yet. But, you are showing more and more strength in your back and neck. You hold your head up so high and use this new talent to move yourself all over your Dora playmat. You can turn yourself in a complete circle by moving one hand and then the other. You will do this to get closer to a toy. You can usually pass your toys from one hand to the other, too. Your new favorite thing is to pull up to standing while holding someone's hands. You are so proud when you get to the standing position; Your legs are so strong. You also laugh out loud so much and have started to do a fake cough to get attention. You also do very good sitting up in your Bumbo. You like to sit in your Bumbo and look at yourself in your mirror. You have started to become a drool monster and are very aware of your hands and other objects. You have finally developed the coordination to get them to your mouth. You have tried two of your new big toys this month - The Jumperoo and Exersauser. You love the Jumperoo but are not quite strong enough for the Exersauser, yet! Chipper has become your new attention getter. You like to watch his tail and grab his hair. This month has brought us your first sickness - a yucky little cold that seemed to last forever. We took you to the doctor, but you were already better. We also take you out a lot more now - every Tuesday, we go to Kindermusik and every Wednesday, we go to the library for storytime (this is new this month).

Eating Patterns: Baby Scout, you eat 4 to 5 times a day. You nurse every two hours for about fifteen minutes. You also are now waking up to eat once during the night. You still spit up quite a bit. You don't hurl as much as you used to.

Dislikes: Baby Scout, I can't think of a single thing you dislike. Sometimes, you do get upset though. Mostly, you fuss when you are sleepy or have a belly ache. You won't let anyone besides me and daddy hold you for too long and cry if you are hungry. You can be a little high maintenance sometimes, but I think you get it honestly.

Diaper Size: Scout, you wear a Size 2 diaper.

Clothes Size: Scout, you wear size 3 - 6 months clothes, your pajamas are size 3 - 6 months, and your onesies are 3 - 6 months.

Eye/Hair Color: Scout, right now, your eyes are a green color, but I think they are going to turn brown. Your hair is brown with a little red tint to it. I think you might end up a red head. You also have little curls starting to form.

Scout,

You are four months old!
You are such an active girl!
Mommy and daddy wouldn't know what to do without you!
We love you!

Football Game

2010-09-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Our girl loves a good football game! Today, I was playing with Scout, and she was in her Jumperoo. It is positioned right in front of the entertainment center where our TV is located. Unfortunately, the Arkansas/Georgia game was way more exciting than I was, and I would catch Scout turning and staring at the TV.

So, if you take a look at the TV, you will notice that the score was 24-24 with 54 seconds left as Scout was intently watching. It really was a good game. I don't know who Scout was rooting for, but I will tell you that Arkansas won by a touchdown. Guess our girl will be a sports fan like her daddy!

Homecoming

2010-09-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

Homecoming is sort of a big deal for our high school and community. Each year, there is a parade and so many of the kids check out of school to attend. The parade comes to the square, and the children line up to catch the candy thrown from the floats. Yesterday, I decided that I would take Scout to the parade since I will not be able to take her after this year, because I will be back to teaching. The theme for homecoming this year was Mardi Gras, so some beads were thrown as well! Then, last night we had dinner at a little place on the square and went to the game. Scout usually does pretty good at the football games but was a little fussy last night. We did make it through three quarters and listened to the fourth quarter on the way home. The final score was 24 - 14; The Rebels won! Here are a few pictures from our fun day . . . . . . . . .

Scout Wearing Her Beads

The Football Team

One of the Many Floats

Our Friends Elizabeth and OliviaScout at DinnerScout at the GameScout was Loving the Pom Pom

What does your town do for homecoming?

Show Us Your Life - Living Room

2010-09-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

This week, Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is restarting her "Show Us Your Life" Friday. This weekly linking party began as "Show Us Where You Live", so Kelly is revisiting this idea over the next few weeks. This will give those who missed the home tours the first time to have a chance to get in on the action. This week is living rooms. So, hop on over to Kelly's Korner and sometime today you should be able to find a nice tour of living rooms.

Our formal living room is probably the most unused room in our house but is also one of my favorites. The decor is of a musical theme. The focal point over the couch is a framed piece of music. The piece is a flute solo (I play flute). It is special because it was debuted at a concert that I attended and is signed by the composer.

Our living room houses our old church piano. This was given to us by our church when they were replacing the pianos. It has lovely details.

On top of the piano, I have framed baby pictures of our parents. I was going to hang them, but they seem not fit right on the wall, so I have just left them on top of the piano.

Our living room has two tall windows. Here is a picture of the window treatments above each.

This is what hangs out on our coffee table. I love the Party Lite Candle Tower. It looks so pretty when all the candles are lit.

This view from the foyer shows the living room and part of the dining room. Right now, the couch is my sorting spot for Scout's fall and winter clothes. I have got to get them hung up or folded and put away. I know the clothes look like one big messy pile, but they are actually sorted by size and are ready to be worn.

The two coffee tables on either side of the couch have some framed pictures. As you can see, the pictures probably need to be updated (no pictures of Baby Scout).

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our living room. Check back next week for another room of our house or daily for pictures of Baby Scout! Until we see you again, here is a picture of our sweet girl to make you smile!

Embrace the Camera

2010-09-16T06:21:00.000-07:00

Today, over at The Anderson Crew, is embrace the camera day. The pictures for today are supposed to be of you and your child or your spouse and your child. Well, you know there are no shortage of pictures over this way, so I just picked my favorites to share today.

Mommy and Scout the night she was born, May 20th.

Daddy and Scout the night she was born.

Daddy and Scout at Daddy's favorite place, September 7th.

Mommy and Scout at Daddy's favorite place.

Wow. . . . . . . . .I can not believe how much Scout has grown! She looks like a different little girl. And now for a few random pics from the last four months.

Reading at Home

Visiting Daddy at School

Storytime at the Library

Ready to go out to Dinner

Newborn Pictures (10 Days Old)

Happy Thursday and don't forget to embrace the camera!

Golf Course

2010-09-08T16:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Scout and I went to visit daddy at the golf course. He was watching his players compete (he is the girls' golf coach for the high school) and since he can not talk to them during their match, we were able to ride around the course and take a few pictures.

I think Scout will be a golfer . . . . . .she is already pulling the flag.

At our golf course, you can get up close and personal with the wildlife. This is one of the many deer we saw along the course.

Scout looks right at home . . . . . she loved to sit on the grass.

Along with the wildlife, you can get a beautiful view of the lake from many of the holes.

Can you see the deer in this picture?

This little guy posed for the camera.

Riding around and watching the girls made Scout tired.

We had such a fun time at the golf course. We hope we get to go back soon!

Fantasy Football

2010-09-02T21:39:00.001-07:00

I had planned to update the blog last night, but the computer was occupied. Have you ever seen such concentration? All for the Fantasy Football draft! I sure hope all your husbands worked as hard as mine to get the best players. HA!HA!

And now for a few pictures of our sweet girl from yesterday . . . . .

Our First Visit to Storytime at the Library

Having Lunch with Our Friends at Wendy's

Waiting for Mommy's Car at the Car Dealership

(Which I totally forget I was supposed to have serviced today!)

Tummy Time

I know that everyone is probably so excited about the beginning of football season. Scout was supposed to attend her first college football game this weekend, but Mommy and Daddy decided it was going to be a little too hot. So instead of traveling to the Citadel, we will be cheering on Franklin County's own Terrance Martin from home. I know he will have a fantastic start to his college career. Hooray for Terrance! Happy Friday and Happy Football!

Our Tuesday

2010-08-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

This morning we attended our Kindermusik class with Ms. Jane. It wore Scout out! She had to have a little nap after class.

After Scout finished napping, I fed her, and we went to lunch with our friends Adelyn, Nathan and Tara. We ate at the coffee shop on the square. While we were there, we saw our friend Ms. Suzie from church. She was playing Bridge with some of her friends. I wonder if Shannon, Lisa and I will be playing Bridge with each other in a few years? Ms. Suzie did take a little break and spent some time holding Adelyn. Maybe next time she will get to hold Scout, too!

Ms. Suzie, Adelyn, Scout, Me

Lisa had to take Tara to the doctor after lunch, so Nathan came to our house to play and Shannon came over too! Lisa came with Tara when she was done at the doctor. She brought us yummy smoothies from Mcdonald's. If you haven't had one, you should try it! The babies had a fun time with playing with Sara (Adelyn's older sister).

Nathan

Sara and Tara

Adelyn and Scout

To finish off our playdate, we took the little ones for a walk. We have been walking three or four times a week, and it makes exercise more fun. Scout enjoyed most of our walk. We did stop a little early, because Scout's two hours were up, and she was ready to eat! We can almost tell time by Scout and her two hour time limit on eating.

Last night after everybody went to bed, I put together Scout's exersaucer that her Great Aunt Susan bought for her. So tonight we tried it out. She seemed to like it alot. I need to get some more AAA batteries for all the toys, and I think she will spend a good amount of time in it.

Scout was quietly rocking in Daddy's arms by 8:45. I think she was exhausted from our exciting day. Tomorrow, we are headed to the library. Should be fun!

Happy Wednesday!

Get Her

2010-08-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

Scout loves it when you "Get Her"! She just laughs up a storm. Here is a short video of her laughing at me.

Isn't that the funniest thing?

Sick Baby

2010-08-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

For the last few days, Scout has not quite been herself. She has been a little more fussy than normal and has been waking up at night, which is a little unusual too! I took her to our church Circle meeting Thursday, and she was really fussy and acted like she couldn't get comfortable. When we got home, she got sick (hurled) and had a pretty upset tummy. Yesterday morning (Friday), she woke up a little upset and sounded a bit congested. Throughout the day, she fussed quite a bit. By Four O'Clock when Daniel got home, she had a full blown runny nose, cough, and sneezing. So, I guess I can say that Scout is having her first official sickness.

We did find a little time yesterday to play. Scout enjoys laying on her back and looking at herself in the little mirror on top of her playmat.

She also like working her puzzle with the animals who have different textures on their bodies.

Here she is in her bouncy seat. She is trying to eat her baby doll.

She also likes to sit in her Bumbo and look at herself in the mirror. She does pretty good sitting for a short time.

Luckily, she did sleep pretty good last night (from ten to five), so I think she feels better. Today, we are going to spend our time rocking, cuddling and wiping a runny nose.

Football Game

2010-08-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, Daniel and I took Baby Scout to her very first Franklin County football game. She visited with many friends, and we were able to stay through the third quarter. Here is Scout getting changed in the car in the parking lot. We were afraid to put her FC onesie (Thank You, Ms. Lisa!) on her to early because she has been known to spit up!

Daddy and Scout all ready to head in . . . . . Don't you think this onesie is sooooo cute? Go Rebs!

Here is our team out on the field. We think Scout is good luck for the Rebels because they are 1-0 with her in attendance. We also have a new coach; Maybe this has something to do with our big win!

Scout hanging out with Daddy at the game. She watched very intently for a good while.

We hope this game was good practice for our first college football game next weekend!