Pretty as a Picture..{Six Month Portraits}

Londyn Grace had her six month portraits taken yesterday by our sweet and talented friend, Miss Lindsey! (Lindsey also took our maternity photos which you can see here!)

I am dying over how precious they are and will cherish these images for years to come! LG did so well and never fussed at all! Since we live in the North East, it has been bitter and cold pretty chilly for most of Londyn's six months so she has never really been outside unless she was covered in her carseat, but yesterday was a beautiful spring day! We were able to do the shoot outside and watching her react to the sunlight and breeze for the first time was so adorable!

We have several more poses that she is her wearing a sweet smocked dress in that I will share with her six month post tomorrow! (How is she half a year old already?!!!!)

Hippity Hoppity...

Easter's on it's way!

 

We took a few fun Easter pictures with my cousin's bunny today!

 

It was quite the feat trying to get a baby and a rabbit to cooperate at the same time, but we managed to get a few pictures!

 

Londyn Grace looked so precious in her dress and matching rosette headband!

{We have also have a bonnet that matches for Easter Sunday!}

 

happy girl

silly baby carrots are for rabbits!

the bunny was not thrilled!

 

{Special thanks to Mimi, Becki, Elijah, Isaac, & especially, Bounty Hunter the bunny!}

 

5 Months...

Londyn Grace at 5 months old

Five months. I'm not sure why I am having such a hard time with this one?! Maybe because its so close to six? And six means we are closer to one than newborn?!

Anyway, sad mama vent over... Londyn Grace is five months old!

This month has been so much fun as we've watched her little personality start to blossom!

She has found her voice that's for sure! She "talks" so much when we are at home or in the car, but doesn't seem to be as chattery when we are around other people. She isn't shy by any means though. She is quick to smile at anyone who talks to her and especially loves interacting with people at church on Sundays. She and Mama always make our rounds greeting every one before service begins! Everyone makes over her dresses and bows!

Speaking of dresses and bows, we have been busy adding to her collection this! We've or rather Mama has had so much fun putting outfits together and having daily photo shoots! She is growing out of 0-3 month clothes but still a little small for 3-6 so we mix and match depending on what it is. 3 month dresses are too short, but 6 months are too big body wise. We need an in between size! 3 month skirts still fit well though and some are even too big in the waist! We haven't had to move the snaps on her cloth diapers yet, but it won't be long! If she does wear a disposable, she is wearing size two!

At five months, she weighs 11 pounds 13 ounces and is 25 inches long! We are so thankful for her growth and for how much better nursing is going! She is nursing so much faster only taking about 20-25 minutes to eat! This is a huge improvement! It still seems strange though after months of hour long sessions! Most days she eats every three hours.
She is now taking three naps a day pretty consistently! She takes a morning, afternoon and early evening nap.  Within the last week or so she is usually staying asleep when I put her down to nap as opposed to only napping in my arms! This is quite an accomplishment!

happy girl

At night, Londyn Grace is sleeping from around 10:00 to around 4:00 in the morning. At four, she eats and then goes back to sleep until Daddy gets up to go to the church at 7:00. She eats again around 7:00 and usually goes back to sleep until 8:30 or 9. She is still with Daddy and Mama in their room though. We like having her close and she is sleeping so well, but we will probably start to transition her to her own room soon.
She has mastered rolling from belly to back, rolls from her back to her side constantly but has yet to roll back to belly.

She is recognizing her name now! It's so sweet to watch her look around for whoever is calling her name! Daddy will call her name and she'll look until she finds him and give him a huge smile! She is so aware of her surroundings now and will fuss if Mama leaves her sight! She is learning to sit in her swing in the kitchen while Mama washes dishes and cooks dinner. She will also sit in her bouncy seat in the bathroom while I shower. She is generally a very smiley, happy baby but is starting to grunt when she is impatient or wants to do something different/move on to a new activity!

Londyn Grace has a new found love of peekaboo. She also loves playing with a receiving blanket (don't worry...she is NEVER left alone with a blanket) She will roll around and wrestle it and chew on it. She'd rather have a blanket than a toy! Mama has found her tickle spot and she will crack up when tickled under her chin! She still loves playing with hands and feeling faces. We are working hard at teaching her not touch and grab glasses, hair, etc.

so beautiful

We fall more in love with her everyday and wonder where the time is going!

Londyn Grace,

         You are our sunshine and bring such joy to every day! What a privilege it is to be your parents! It's hard to believe that around this time last year, we saw you for the first time on that ultrasound screen and now you are five months old! 

       You have taught us so much in your short little life and we pray that we will be able to teach you as you grow (with the Lord's help, of course!)

        We can't wait to see what the next month holds as you learn and grow, but at the same time we are searching for the pause button because we'd love to keep you a baby forever!

       We love you, ALWAYS and ALWAYS, FOREVER and EVER, NO MATTER WHAT!

        ~ Mama and Daddy

Growing Girl

Londyn Grace had her well visit with Dr. Schlachter last Monday. He is pleased with her growth and development! She gained over 2 pounds and grew 2 inches in six weeks. 

Due to her growth and from his experience, he predicts that she will be tall (probably between 5'8" and 5' 10")

 

He also said that her motor skills are advanced (a few weeks ahead!) and her core muscles are well developed in that she holds herself up very well when sitting supported. 

After his exam, we talked about starting solids! He recommends that we start with yellow and orange veggies! I am excited to see how she responds to these new tastes and textures, but we will wait until the six month mark to introduce them. In the meantime, I will work on preparing and freezing  different options for our Sweet Pea! 

We are praising the Lord for our growing girl! It is so hard to believe that our tiny six pound newborn has now doubled her birth weight! It seems like she is learning something new everyday!

We can't get enough of her sweet smile!

LOVE from our little love...

We mailed valentines to grandparents and family and gave them to Londyn's friends at church yesterday so we wanted to wish our blog friends the same!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S WEEK, SWEET FRIENDS!

The bigger the bow...

Auntie M made Londyn Grace this onesie! It is perfect for her because she is never without a bow or headband! (You can find more adorable onesies in KreationsByDesign's etsy shop!)

        

                         

She has lots of BIG bow and flowers, but has several smaller ones, too!

Her Mama might have a slight obsession! :)

Four Months!

LG at 4 months old! 

Londyn Grace is four months old! 

January began with a terrible virus, a sick baby, and a scared Mama but thankfully she recovered quickly! It did however disrupt her pattern of sleeping through the night since she was having trouble breathing from the congestion. 

Since then she has yet to return to December's sleeping habits, but I'm pretty sure it's because she has officially entered the distracted while nursing stage! She will frequently pull off to look around or smile at me!  It is the cutest thing, but also means she's not taking in as much milk during the day. She makes up for it when the house is dark, quiet and a lot less interesting during the night! Currently she is sleeping for a five hour stretch from around 10:30-3:30 and will feed again at 5:30 and 7:30 and sleep until around nine each morning.

sweet smiles and smocked dresses

Over the past few weeks, we have slowly started to get into a semblance of routine when it comes to naps! She is now taking about three naps a day which is a huge accomplishment! After fighting hard against it, she will usually sleep around 11:00, again around 2:00 and then take one more nap after dinner (Granted I still have to hold her for the nap to last more than five minutes) but I've determined it's better for me to hold her and let her get her nap out (usually about 30-45 minutes) than for her to be really grumpy because she didn't! She is such a light sleeper and the slightest movement disturbs her thus making it really difficult to transfer her from my arms to the crib or bouncy seat without her waking. I know this is just a season and one I will miss dearly so I will hold her and cherish every moment.

loves her hands

In her awake time, she has been busy learning how to grasp her toys and place them promptly in her mouth! Her favorites are Sophie the giraffe and a butterfly toy that has crinkly wings, but as you can see from the picture her hands work just fine if no toys are available! She is definitely discovering texture. She also loves to feel and hold  my hands and face. Some days she is really vocal while others she is quietly taking it all in! Today in the church nursery, she was cracking up laughing! You can see it on video here! (I took it with my phone so not the best quality!)

Londyn seems to prefer her blanket over her bouncy seat and swing for playtime! She loves to kick her legs and flap her arms freely! She is very very close to rolling over and can wiggle herself from one spot to another fairly quickly. If I lay her down vertically she can work her way horizontally in no time! Daddy recently put her exersaucer together and she seems to like it. When held, she prefers to be facing out so she can see what's going on. She can put weight on her legs and stand on the lap of whoever is holding her, too! Just recently she has started to tolerate tummy time and is holding her head up well!

how can she be four months old already?

Nursing is getting much easier for us! Praise the Lord!!  Even with the new distraction element added she is now taking about 30-40 minutes versus the hour-hour and half of months past. Her tiny mouth/jaw must be growing and helping her to become more efficient. She is still eating every two hours unless she's napping and will go two and a half to three (three is rare). Mama is so thankful that she didn't give up though there were many times that she almost gave in to the exhaustion and emotion that our nursing challenges brought. Daddy was so good at encouraging Mama to keep going. When she wraps her tiny fingers around mine while eating or stops to smile at me, it makes it all worth it!

looking at Daddy!

All that milk is making her grow long and lean! She has almost doubled her lowest weight of 5lb 13oz weighing in at 10 pounds 14 ounces! She still weighs a good bit less than most babies her age but is measuring 24 inches long (the same length as babies a few pounds heavier than she is) 3 month clothes are fitting well on her body but her 3 month dresses are getting a bit short! :) 

She is doing well with baths and getting her clothes and diaper changed as long as we're quick! Miss Squirmy Worm doesn't want to be held in one spot too long. 

We are excited about all the new things she will learn in the month to come and loving each moment with our Londyn Grace!