The BIG 3-0

 In anticipation of Daniel's 30th on the sixth, we had a small party in Pennsylvania on Monday night! It was originally planned as a surprise party, but he ended up finding out about it at the last minute! Oh, well!  I did manage to keep the theme, cake, and his BIG gift hush hush!

We had the party at our home church's new building! After five years of renting various meeting places, we are praising the Lord for a permanent place of worship for them. 

I went with a Michigan football theme and a sweet family friend 

made the amazing cake!

It was so realistic that a few people were wondering where the cake was thinking it was an actual helmet!

Although very different from the frilly pink parties I'm used to planning, I enjoyed planning this one for my sweet hubby!

We had the party later in the evening so we served cake, ice cream, chips and salsa, pretzels, and watermelon. 

Londyn Grace seemed to enjoy herself!

She even helped Daddy blow out his candles!

His BIG gift was a new bike along with a trailer for LG to ride in! He was surprised and loved it!!

After a rainy day, it turned out to be a gorgeous evening celebrating my amazing hubby!

Happy Birthday, Babe! Lovey Lou and I love you more than words could ever say! We couldn't ask for a better husband and daddy than you! 

Nine Month Portraits

Last Friday night, LG and I ventured out to a nearby park to take a few nine month portraits. 

It's better to have someone with me when taking her pictures to help with smiles and such, but Daniel had some church things he needed to take of. I wanted to get them taken while the weather was nice and since we had a free evening which doesn't happen very often!

I love having these reminders of my sweet baby girl at nine months old!

Her sweet smiles melt me every single time!

She was busy watching a woman walking her dog as I was taking this one, but I love how it turned out!

Her serious look is still stunning!

She was smiling at the ducks swimming in the pond.

Love how her little hands are together in this one and how the sun is shining on the blanket.

I'm going to have a hard time choosing which ones to frame!

I love this little lady more than I ever thought possible!

Nine Months!

nine months, already?!

Nine months. 3/4 of a year. Two hundred and seventy days. She's been out longer than she was in. I'm still having a hard time believing that I am typing this. Her last single digit month. Ah...this getting close to one thing is not so easy on this mama's heart, but praise the Lord she is healthy and growing!

Anyways...Londyn Grace is nine months old today! She spent this month growing like a weed (a very pretty weed!) weighing in at 16 pounds 13 ounces and measuring 27 inches long. After gaining slowly for the first several months, she is really catching up! This is the first time she has worn the clothing size that corresponds with her age. She is wearing all 6-9 month dresses and 9 month onesies. So many times, I've pulled something out of the closet thinking this is way too big only for it to fit!!

This month was full of firsts! 

LG went on her first vacation which meant taking her first airplane ride! She was an awesome traveler! She also put her toes in the sand and surf for the first time! She collected her first shells and went on her first boat ride!

Back in Jersey, she bounced on a trampoline with Mama's help! She really liked it!

Just yesterday, she got to meet her cousin, Andrew, who is just two months older than her, and cousin, Caroline who were visiting Maryland  from Georgia! (Andrew's mom, Amanda, was a HUGE help to us in our early days of nursing!)

Sweet Londyn girl learned to clap her hands and give kisses this month! She doesn't give kisses very often so we soak up the lovin' when she does!

She also learned how to "sing" in church! Whenever we are singing congregational songs, she joins in! It is so

sweet baby

precious!

This past Monday, she helped Daddy celebrate at his 30th birthday party! His present also came with a gift for her! We are going to enjoy biking together as a family! The bike trailer is a perfect place for her to ride! Her little helmet even has owls on it!

We have had a bit of a sleep regression this month. She is fighting naps and bedtime lately, not wanting to be rocked but not wanting to be put down. She is still taking 2-3 naps it just takes longer to get her down unless she falls asleep in her carseat while we are out and about. She is still starting the night in the crib, but waking up once. I am still bringing her to bed after that because I like her with us and sleep better with her near!

Nursing is still going great! Praise the Lord!!! Our pediatrician is pleased with her growth and said she can start trying things from our plates at dinner just to expose her to new textures and flavors. She has tried broccoli, black beans, potato, tiny bites of bagel and muffin and a few other things. Mamal's milk is still her main food source, though. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to have made it this far!

Goose is still friendly at church and will usually go to anyone as long as I'm not in her line of sight. The separation anxiety thing is in full force though! She is always wanting Mama! (I don't mind!)

She still hasn't figured out the crawling thing, still lots of rocking on her hands and knees. Poor Lovey gets so frustrated that she can't get around like she wants to! She is pulling up a lot more lately, especially in her crib. She loves to stand with the help of one of her walker toys. She also loves to climb on Mama and Daddy!

She has a fascination with faces, especially noses! It is too funny! She still loves little kids!

We have started to see a bit more of her temper and strong willed side. This is something I feel so unprepared for, but am asking the Lord for help to teach and train her in His ways! 

We fall more in love with her every day and praise Him for the precious gift of our sweet Londyn Grace! Even though this growing up stuff is tough on me!

Goosey,          What a wonderful nine months we've had! Next to our salvation, you are our most precious gift! Your smile lights up our days and your laugh is the sweetest sound we've ever heard! It's so hard to believe you've been with us for nine months now while at the same time it's hard to recall what life was like without you! We can't wait to see what the coming weeks hold and are especially looking forward to your dedication at the end of the month. We pray that your physical beauty (and you sure are beautiful!) will shy in comparison to your spiritual beauty and that you will fall in love with Jesus at an early age! I could go on and on about how much we love you! You are indeed our pride and joy! Keep growing, Lovey Lou! We will be watching with tears in our eyes and thankfulness in our hearts!                                                                                                                                                                                                             Love, Mama and Daddy

Through my lens...

I have lots of vacation pictures to post and want to write out the details of our trip to Marco Island, but I wanted to share a few of the recent pictures I've taken of LG first. She is getting SO big, and I have been watching her a lot lately through the lens of my Canon.

Her sweet smile.

The way she chews on her fingers!

How beautiful she is!

Those two little teeth poking out when she's really happy!

That tongue! 

I don't ever want to forget the little things about her at this age! I cannot believe she is almost 9 months old!

Beach Baby!

I have so much to share from the last few days here on Marco Island. It has rained a lot due to Tropical Storm Andrea, but we have had the best time anyway! It has been so nice just to enjoy family time together!

Today, we saw the sun and were able to walk down to the beach for pictures! I wanted to share a ton few of them with you! 

This morning, Londyn Grace was too interested in the shells and sand to look at the camera! We saved the first little shell she picked up! Watching her discover new things has been so amazing!

Then Daddy helped her feel the water. It was cold!

Watching these two play together brings my heart such happiness!

Then Daddy took a few pictures of Mama and LG together!

A sweet lady walking by offered to take a family picture for us!

After that, Sweet Pea was ready for a nap. She was out before we even made it back to the house!

Tonight after dinner, the sun was still shining!! We were so excited to be able to go back to the beach to enjoy the beauty of low tide and of the blue skies that were finally peeking out from behind the gray clouds.

Lovey Lou wasn't as distracted by the sand and shells so we snapped a few more pictures!

These pictures are so precious to me! I can't wait to have some of them framed! I can't stop thinking about the fact that she will only be this small for such a short period of time and how this vacation will be the only one where she isn't walking and talking and wanting to do her own thing. She has been such a joy this week! Not that she isn't always, but getting to see her in a new environment, without all the distractions and busyness of home has been so special!

I will share pictures from Tuesday through Thursday later, but I am too impatient and LG looked too adorable to save these!

Eight Months...

this smile still melts me!

I think each month passes quicker than the last. Londyn Grace is eight months old!

I still can't believe how fast she is growing!  She is still a lot smaller than the average 8 month old weight wise, but she is getting so big! She weighs 15  pounds 11 ounces. I'm not sure on her length because I can't get her to stay still long enough to measure her! (Her doctor's appointment isn't until mid-June, but I will try to measure her today!) She wears mostly 6-9 month clothing! She has come a long way from the tiny preemie outfits she wore back in October.

This month, LG cut her two bottom teeth! The first started peeking through the day she turned seven months and the second wasn't far behind! You can see them when she smiles really big and they just make her already precious smile even cuter! She took the pain that comes  with teething really well! Other than nawing on everything she really wasn't fussy through it at all!

She usually nurses every three hours, but is doing a lot of snack nursing these days! She loves her milk! Goosey goes crazy when it is time to eat! She is so curious though! Nursing with the cover when we are at church or out and about is a challenge because she wants to see what's going on! She is becoming quite the little monkey, trying to sit up, playing with her feet or anything else she can get her hands on while eating! It's so sweet when she plays with my hair or my

see those teeth?

necklace while she eats! Such precious moments!!

As far as solids go, we've tried a few new things but are really feeling like "solids before one are only for fun!"  (Don't worry our doctor is on board and in favor of this!) She seems very satisfied and is growing very well so we plan to keep Mama's milk her main food for now. Some days we do a fruit for breakfast while other days we do a veggie at dinner. She is most interested in playing with the spoon though! She has tried bananas, strawberries, watermelon and If you follow us on Instagram you saw her reaction to the lemon Auntie M. let her suck on! She can't seem to get enough carrots! She usually eats two cubes of food (since we make her food) but eats three cubes of carrots! She also loving sweet potato happy puffs (gluten, wheat and diary free) once in awhile while she sits her high chair watching mama work in the kitchen! She is doing really well with her pincer grip!

Her hair has grown a lot this month so she wakes up with some crazy bed head every morning! As far as sleep goes, she is now going down around 9:00-9:30 and waking up around 11:00 to eat. We are rocking and singing to sleep each night. I try to change the song up, but this little stinker has a preference because she only falls asleep to a song I made up for her! :) She loves to "sing" along! She has been staying awake when Daddy leaves at 7:30! Mama is missing sleeping in until 9, but i love how happy she is in the mornings! Naps are still going really well. She is still taking three a day and they are lasting longer than they used to, sometimes over an hour. I feel very blessed that she is sleeping so well!

This month, Londyn Grace went to the zoo for the first time! Pop Pop, Mimi, Auntie M and cousin, Alyssa, came for a visit and we decided to check out the Turtleback Zoo! It is a hidden gem here in Essex County! We will definitely be frequent visitors! She also watched her first parade on Memorial Day! Our church had a float that the kids choir rode on, but we opted to help Daddy pass out lemonade to the participants instead.

Little Goose is starting to love music! A sweet lady at church gave her a piano/music table and she is starting to move her body when the music plays. She also loves mirrors! It's so funny to watch her interact with herself! She eats up attention from anyone and is so quick to flash a huge smile, but she gets super happy when children talk to her!! She has many adoring fans in the kids at church!

Within the last week, someone has started pulling up and getting into the crawling position with lots of rocking back and forth! I don't think it will be long before we have a crawler on our hands!

Londyn Girl is getting such a little personality! She can be so silly! She does this fake cough for attention! It is too funny! She also discovered how putting her hand over her mouth and taking it off and putting it back on while "talking" makes a really funny sound! I haven't caught it on video yet, but I will post it when I do! She loves waving to everyone, but will only do it when she wants to! It is incredibly adorable and looks a lot like a Miss America wave! Unfortunately, she is also starting to showcase the strong-willed side of her personality a bit. She will get frustrated if she can't get a toy in her mouth just so or if she can't have something like our cell phones or something we're eating. We are working hard on teaching her boundaries.

Yet again, I am amazed by the fact that it is even time for me to be posting another monthly update! I am trying my best to savor every moment because I know how quickly her baby days will pass!

In some ways the newborn stage feels like forever ago while in other I can't believe it's already gone! (It's crazy how having children changes your entire concept of time!)

Happy eight months, Lovey Lou! You become more precious to us with every passing day! Watching the world through your eyes has been so neat! Seeing you grow and learn new things has been such a joy! You wore your flip flop smocked dress today in honor of our first vacation as a family of three. We are so excited about taking you to see the ocean for the first time. I wonder if you'll like the sand and water? I'm a little anxious about your first airplane ride, but I think you'll do great! We leave bright and early tomorrow morning so I better go get packed while you are napping! 

     We love you more than words can say, Londyn Grace!

                                                                                         ~ Mama and Daddy