Our sweet baby girl turned 7 months old yesterday.
It's so cliche, but time is really moving so quickly. I started this post before Christmas but never finished it. We've been very busy since the 22nd of December. We left that Sunday evening around 5:30 to drive down to Sylvester. On the 23rd, I realized Donald and I had been together twelve years. We celebrated via text since I was at my parents and he was at his. We stayed in Worth County until the Saturday after Christmas. We rang in the new year cozy and comfy in our house, then New Years Day, we went over to Justin and JP's like we've been doing for years. We have a ton of pork, collards, black-eyed peas and cornbread and everyone watches football while they nurse their hangover. Well, almost everybody. I left for my Aunt's cabin in Blue Ridge the next day and returned around lunch on Saturday.
Side note: I found these socks at one of my favorite stores, Love Street way before I was even pregnant, or talking about being pregnant or possibly even engaged/married. They were on clearance and I couldn't pass them up.
Prior to Thanksgiving, I had been thinking about what to get Stella for her first Christmas.
She would be 6 1/2 months old for Santa Claus so I knew she'd only be mildly interested. My thought was that she'd mostly just be into the wrapping paper and boxes like any kid's firstand probably second Christmas. I didn't want to overwhelm her with gifts for that reason, plus the truth is, she doesn't need anything. She didn't need clothes because we've been so blessed with not only new clothes received at my baby showers, but a vast selection of gently used hand-me-downs from from friends and family. She also didn't need toys since my mom got quite the stash at a yard sale back in September and she's fine playing with the minimal toys she does have. Really, just give her Sophie the Giraffe and something wooden to chew on and she's fine.
I read this story in the December issue of Family Circle and instantly fell in love with the idea. Basically, the mom would get overwhelmed around the holidays trying to do everything and she decided to simplify gift giving with her kids. She told them to make a list of four things:
Something You Want/Need
Since Stella wasn't able to verbalize her wish list, I decided to combine the first two things into one. In November, I noticed Stella was really getting into bouncing. I thought an Exersaucer that bounces would be the perfect thing for her. We have a small house and something big and permanent is a turn off when it comes to her toys. I wanted something I could easily move from her room, to the living room, to the kitchen, to our back screened porch and even outside if I wanted. I decided to look on Craigslist to see if anyone was trying to sell a gently used one before looking for something new. I found the perfect one for $25.
It was blue and green and the seat was a frog. It had other bug details (butterflies, bees, dragonflies, etc) on it which would go perfect with her nursery theme (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and could be reused again if we have a boy the second time around. The family was also getting rid of a musical walker-type toy for $5.
I"m not sure what it retailed for, but the Exersaucer retailed for almost $90, so I'd say I got a great deal. It looked brand new so I was very excited about my find. I'm so happy Santa was able to deliver this present early (the Sunday after Thanksgiving) because she really enjoys it. It has three height settings and even with it on the lowest setting she can just barely reach the bottom. We put a pillow under her feet and now she can bounce like mad. The butterfly/dragonfly thing is her favorite part of the Exersaucer. She is obsessed with gnawing on it. It must feel good on those two front teeth she got just before Christmas.
Over Christmas, Nini and Grandaddy introduced her to puffs. She fell in love. The Exersaucer has what I can only assume is a snack holder on it. I just ordered a 6 pack of puffs from Amazon which arrived today (love Amazon Prime!) and I put a handful in here for her to feed herself. Pure bliss! That may become her new favorite part since my little piggy loves to feed herself.
Something to Wear
As mentioned above, she absolutely didn't need any clothes, but I thought her tootsies could use some covering up. I got the cutest pair of fake brown Uggs at Goodwill before she was born, but due toher having huge feet one velcro panel on the heel of her foot they don't stay on good. They seem to fit fine without socks, but this makes it easier for her to yank them off. She's also figured out how to pull off socks pretty well so sometimes her poor little piggies are cold. She has a pair of black 'boots with the furs" my best friend gave her, but due to the same Velcro issue, off they come. I cannot squeeze her feet into the fake Uggs with socks on so I knew she'd need something for the upcoming cold months. Turns out this was a great idea since the Polar Vortex decided to move in for a few days and blanket most of the US in snow, ice and brutally cold temperatures. Interesting side note: Today, I heard on The Today Show where on Tuesday, somewhere in all 50 states experienced freezing or below with temperatures. And now, we're back on topic. We have a K-Mart down the road that was having a "buy one, get the second pair of shoes for $1" sale so I was all over that. I got another pair of camel brown Ugg-type boots which has two Velcro flaps on either side, plus a light brown pair of these furry lined moccasin type slip ons. So freaking cute! I got them in a bigger size so hopefully she can fit in them until it starts warming up.
Something to Read
I'm very into reusing and recycling so I headed to a favorite used book store down the road, The Book House. I knew I had a credit from bringing in previous books, plus I had a few more I wanted to turn in for credit. She has a great selection of books and a cute children's section. I found a book called Clap Your Hands. It's an interactive book that's very cutely illustrated. It turned out to be the perfect find since I'd just discovered if Stella is upset, all I have to do is start singing,"If You're Happy and You Know It" and she calms down and start laughing. I also found a book called Nursery Rhythms for a One Year Old and snagged it. I later decided instead of giving it to her for Christmas, I'll wait until her 1st birthday.
I mentioned doing a Christmas Book Advent in this previous blog post about starting new Christmas traditions with Stella. She won't get this idea for a while so I have some time to build up the supply of Christmas books. While browsing the children's section, I noticed she'd carved out a holiday section. There, I found The Nutcracker and Moostletoe to add to the Christmas collection. While in K-mart, I also found a kids version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Kate Toms. We have another book by her, Itsy Bitsy Spider and it's just adorable. The illustrations are my favorite. Christmas Eve I sat her on my bed in my old room and read this book. The story is a bit different from the traditional one. It's sort of 'Twas the Night met Rudolph the Reindeer. I like it and it's cute, but I also googled the original version and read it to her when we finished the book. I love that we coincidentally had on reindeer attire. Me, with my reindeer socks and Stella in her Reindeer footie PJ's from Grammy.
Stella's first Christmas was great and, as I suspected, she was gifted wonderful things such as clothes for the present and future, a stuffed Snoopy dog from Great Aunt Peggy since Stella has such a deep love for puppies), baby dolls (one from each Grandmother; Nini gave one that's soft and rattles and Grammy gave her one that sings "I'm a Little Teapot") and electronic toys (Alphasaurus, Play and Learn Tambourine and a Fisher Price Laugh & Learn i-phone teddy bear), rubber ducky bathtub, plus a few items from Uncle Mikey and Aunt Jessica that can be put to use such as her first toothbrush, eating accessories and a chewy necklace type toy.
She was also given money from Grammy and Grampy and both Great Grandparents (which I think is a wonderful gift for a person of any age) that was deposited into the savings account I opened shortly after her Baptism.
Photo recap of the week and gifts below:
On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we celebrated out at Don and Wanda's. Here is Stella with Mema and Papa.
On the left is Stella and Bandit in front our partially decorated tree. And the right is Stella in front of Grammy and Grampy's tree on Christmas morning. Can you tell she loves to suck her thumb?!
Prior to Thanksgiving, I had been thinking about what to get Stella for her first Christmas.
She would be 6 1/2 months old for Santa Claus so I knew she'd only be mildly interested. My thought was that she'd mostly just be into the wrapping paper and boxes like any kid's first
I read this story in the December issue of Family Circle and instantly fell in love with the idea. Basically, the mom would get overwhelmed around the holidays trying to do everything and she decided to simplify gift giving with her kids. She told them to make a list of four things:
- Something you want
- Something you need
- Something to wear
- Something to read
Something You Want/Need
Since Stella wasn't able to verbalize her wish list, I decided to combine the first two things into one. In November, I noticed Stella was really getting into bouncing. I thought an Exersaucer that bounces would be the perfect thing for her. We have a small house and something big and permanent is a turn off when it comes to her toys. I wanted something I could easily move from her room, to the living room, to the kitchen, to our back screened porch and even outside if I wanted. I decided to look on Craigslist to see if anyone was trying to sell a gently used one before looking for something new. I found the perfect one for $25.
It was blue and green and the seat was a frog. It had other bug details (butterflies, bees, dragonflies, etc) on it which would go perfect with her nursery theme (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and could be reused again if we have a boy the second time around. The family was also getting rid of a musical walker-type toy for $5. I"m not sure what it retailed for, but the Exersaucer retailed for almost $90, so I'd say I got a great deal. It looked brand new so I was very excited about my find. I'm so happy Santa was able to deliver this present early (the Sunday after Thanksgiving) because she really enjoys it. It has three height settings and even with it on the lowest setting she can just barely reach the bottom. We put a pillow under her feet and now she can bounce like mad. The butterfly/dragonfly thing is her favorite part of the Exersaucer. She is obsessed with gnawing on it. It must feel good on those two front teeth she got just before Christmas.
Over Christmas, Nini and Grandaddy introduced her to puffs. She fell in love. The Exersaucer has what I can only assume is a snack holder on it. I just ordered a 6 pack of puffs from Amazon which arrived today (love Amazon Prime!) and I put a handful in here for her to feed herself. Pure bliss! That may become her new favorite part since my little piggy loves to feed herself.
Something to Wear
As mentioned above, she absolutely didn't need any clothes, but I thought her tootsies could use some covering up. I got the cutest pair of fake brown Uggs at Goodwill before she was born, but due to
I love her face in both of these pictures. She all "Oooohh" with her lips.
Something to Read
I'm very into reusing and recycling so I headed to a favorite used book store down the road, The Book House. I knew I had a credit from bringing in previous books, plus I had a few more I wanted to turn in for credit. She has a great selection of books and a cute children's section. I found a book called Clap Your Hands. It's an interactive book that's very cutely illustrated. It turned out to be the perfect find since I'd just discovered if Stella is upset, all I have to do is start singing,"If You're Happy and You Know It" and she calms down and start laughing. I also found a book called Nursery Rhythms for a One Year Old and snagged it. I later decided instead of giving it to her for Christmas, I'll wait until her 1st birthday.
I mentioned doing a Christmas Book Advent in this previous blog post about starting new Christmas traditions with Stella. She won't get this idea for a while so I have some time to build up the supply of Christmas books. While browsing the children's section, I noticed she'd carved out a holiday section. There, I found The Nutcracker and Moostletoe to add to the Christmas collection. While in K-mart, I also found a kids version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Kate Toms. We have another book by her, Itsy Bitsy Spider and it's just adorable. The illustrations are my favorite. Christmas Eve I sat her on my bed in my old room and read this book. The story is a bit different from the traditional one. It's sort of 'Twas the Night met Rudolph the Reindeer. I like it and it's cute, but I also googled the original version and read it to her when we finished the book. I love that we coincidentally had on reindeer attire. Me, with my reindeer socks and Stella in her Reindeer footie PJ's from Grammy.
Christmas Morning
I got adult sized footie PJ's. Yay, now Stella and Mommy match. Donald said he'll probably leave for work and I'll be in these and he'll return and I'll still be in them. So excited!
This is one of my favorite photographs from Christmas!
Stella's first Christmas was great and, as I suspected, she was gifted wonderful things such as clothes for the present and future, a stuffed Snoopy dog from Great Aunt Peggy since Stella has such a deep love for puppies), baby dolls (one from each Grandmother; Nini gave one that's soft and rattles and Grammy gave her one that sings "I'm a Little Teapot") and electronic toys (Alphasaurus, Play and Learn Tambourine and a Fisher Price Laugh & Learn i-phone teddy bear), rubber ducky bathtub, plus a few items from Uncle Mikey and Aunt Jessica that can be put to use such as her first toothbrush, eating accessories and a chewy necklace type toy.
She was also given money from Grammy and Grampy and both Great Grandparents (which I think is a wonderful gift for a person of any age) that was deposited into the savings account I opened shortly after her Baptism.
Photo recap of the week and gifts below:
Of course, she did love playing with the tissue paper.
Grammy's handheld mirror ended up being one of the things she was most content with. It was covered in hand prints when we left, but if I have to guess, they are probably still there.
Nina and Stella with her singing "Teapot" doll
Stella and Silver hanging out by the fire.
On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we celebrated out at Don and Wanda's. Here is Stella with Mema and Papa.
And here's the whole family below.
On the left is Stella and Bandit in front our partially decorated tree. And the right is Stella in front of Grammy and Grampy's tree on Christmas morning. Can you tell she loves to suck her thumb?!
Sunday night when we got into town, we stopped by DQ and grabbed the must have burger and I tried a pumpkin pie blizzard. O.M.G. Delicious! Then we visited with some family friends down the road from my parents. I sat Stella in front of their tree and snapped away. I thought she looked so pretty in front of the lights. Of course, she was obsessing over this piece of ribbon and refused to look up at me. The snowflakes and twinkling lights is the Auto Awesome photo option on Google Plus. Love that it does cute stuff like this.
In front of the fireplace at Grammy and Grampy's.
Our first family Christmas photo! My shirt says, "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal." Home Alone is one of my favorites. I was so excited to find this online!
Michael, Nina and me
Awkward family photo time!
Bandit got a new bed for Christmas, but Stella decided it looked comfy enough for her.
Daddy caught him a good reindeer!
Me and Bandit, my first child
Nothing like an Christmas afternoon nap on the couch with my best girl on my chest. At one point Donald was asleep with his head on my shoulder. Beautiful family moment right there.
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