Race for the Cure

Race for the Cure is held every year in Birmingham. This race is close to our hearts because it supports and raises money for breast cancer research. Our mom passed away from breast cancer almost 3 years ago and this race is one way we honor and remember her. I's so lucky to have the support of my family in order to do this every year.

Warming up for the race

That's right...we're running with this pretty water behind us :)

We ran for our Mom (that's what the pink papers say)

Isabella did not want to ride in the stroller. Here's how she demonstrated that:

Hello blue eyes

Sweet girl - loves her Mama!

Beach Trip

We went to the beach for a few days with Christy, John, Isabella and little Cole. We had a great trip! I don't know when we turned into the people who have kids alternating crying through dinner or carry their babies in carriers on their backs / chests, but we are and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Me and Cole just hanging out

Daddy and Everleigh on the beach

Everleigh's first time to touch the sand - she liked it :)

Mommy and Everleigh

Happy Birthday to me! I turned...well, old. We'll leave it at that.

Isabella after enjoying some birthday cake...looks like she liked it!

My little ballerina!!

Playing putt-putt

Such great form!

Do you think Everleigh is enjoying herself?

She was!

Isabella putting...it was sort of always her turn. So cute!

Christy and Cole at the beach

7 months

Here's a little snapshot of Everleigh at 7 months:

• She gives the best kisses - they are more like open mouth slobers but they are so sweet
• She will suck on your nose and get drool all inside your nostrils. I know it sounds gross, but I laugh so hard every time she does it
• She is expressing her emotions a lot more lately - she gets frustrated with her toys if they aren't doing what she wants. She gets frustrated at her cup if she can't get it in her mouth. She cries if I leave her sight and then smiles really big at me as soon as she can see me again.
• She sleeps great at night - still 11-12 hours. Her naps have gotten shorter - usually 2 hours a piece or so and she doesn't act sleepy while she's awake any more.
• She is so active!!
• She is an amazing eater! Wow, I did not know her tummy could hold so much food. She now eats baby food 3 times a day (as of this week) and nurses 4 times. When she eats her baby food, it's usually 4-6 ounces and a few tablespoons of cereal or oatmeal. It's a lot for a little baby and for a baby who just started eating a month ago.
• She eats rice cereal, baby oatmeal, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas, banana, apples, pears, mango, avocado, and peaches. She has loved everything except the carrots and peaches and she loves both of those now too. It just took a few tries.
• She is in a size 9 month clothes, I think a size 2-3 shoe, but I don't put shoes on her very much, and size 2 diaper.
• No teeth still - she's just a late bloomer I guess!
• She rolled from her back to her tummy at 6 1/2 months and now does it often. Still not crazy about her tummy though.
• She sits very well on her own and really doesn't fall over now unintentionally.
• She talks constantly. She has said ga-, ma-, da-, ta-, ...well, a lot of them and she combines the different noises to make her own sweet language. I can't wait until she means me when she says mama. I still get excited now when she says it even though I know it doesn't mean anything. A girl can dream... :)
• She's a very happy little baby!!

First trip to the Zoo and Cody's Birthday

Last weekend, Cody's sister, her husband and their 3 kids came in town along with his mom and dad. They all stayed at our house and it was so nice to be able to have that many people under our roof. I can't say we had a ton of room or that we even had that many beds, but I think everyone was ok and we had a lot of fun. It was Cody's birthday and also Labor Day (3 days!!) weekend. We decided to get out of the house for a while (there were 4 children stuck in the house on a beautiful day) and decided to go to the zoo since it was so nice out. We had so much fun! Everleigh, of course, could care less that we went any where, but we got some cute pictures of her. :)

Cody and Everleigh at the zoo

Timpy and Skylar

Marcus and Ethan

Whole fam!

Granna and Pappy with the youngest little girl

Mommy and Everleigh - I love that face. :)

Skylar and Everleigh - such a big cousin holding her!

Our family

Granna with all of her grandkids

Happy Birthday, my sweet, amazing husband!!! (The headpiece is b/c he was grilling and came in to blow out candles)

Everleigh helping Daddy open his presents - getting practice for Christmas and her birthday

Strike a Pose!

My cousin, Meredith, took some pictures of Everleigh while we were in town last weekend. She did such an amazing job! We were so happy with these pictures. It was hard to pick which ones to even post. Thank you, Meredith, for the wonderful pictures!

1/2 a year!

I'm tired of my own blogging about each month, so I'm sure everyone else is if you read that part. I started doing it as my own personal record of what she was like at each different age and I still want to do that, so here goes:

My sweet little Everleigh is 1/2 a year old. There are mixed emotions on this. I get so happy for her for every step she makes and of course want her to grow and change, but at the same time it's all a reminder that she gets bigger and further away from being a tiny innocent baby every day. Such a hard balance, but all good. My nephew, Cole, was born 2 weeks ago and seeing him next to Everleigh was an even bigger reminder that she is no longer a little infant - still small, just not that small. And she looked so big compared to him! I'll post a picture of him soon. I'm just waiting on my sister to post it first. I figure she should get to make his debut for him, not his aunt. He's a cutie though!!

Here goes:

• She laughs after every time she sneezes and then looks at you to see if you think it was funny, too. It's so cute I think we really do laugh every time.
• She gives hugs. I don't know if she knows that's what she's doing, but she wraps her arms around your neck and it feels like a hug.
• She loves Dublin, our dog, and laughs at him even when he is just laying there
• She is still an amazing sleeper. 11-13 hours at night and 2 naps of 2-3 hours each during the day. One even went 5 hours when I had to wake her up. She gets it honest from both parents. :)
• We tried rice cereal a few times during the 5th month and it didn't go over very well. By the 3rd try, she seriously stuck her tongue out and held it there. Didn't budge when the spoon hit her mouth. I figured that was her cue that she was done trying for a little while. We tried again when she turned 6 months and she ate all of it! Not a drop on her bib. I think it was all about waiting until she was ready.
• She is in size 2 diapers, 9 month clothes and size 2 shoes
• She still has no teeth, but is teething ALL the time!
• She has been rolling from tummy to back since 4 1/2 weeks, but still won't roll from back to tummy. She will roll over and then her arm gets stuck and I've seen her get her arm unstuck before seperately from rolling over, but she won't do all of it together in one step. I know she has the strength to do it, but she HATES her tummy. I think that is from her reflux. She spits up quite a bit if she is on her tummy for a long time and cries after a few minutes.
• She pushes up on her hands when on her tummy and kicks her legs a lot, but I'm still not sure she'll crawl b/c she hates being on her tummy for very long
• She sits up pretty well and for a while on her own
• She still loves to stand, but I think now that she can sit so well, she prefers that
• She was 16lb 6 oz (57th %) and 25 3/4 inches (49th %) at her check-up
• She LOVES her daddy! She makes so much noise when he gets home at night.
• She has become the little babbler lately. I never get tired of hearing her sweet voice!
• She is still the happiest baby!

1/2 a year with our baby girl has been amazing. I truly have never felt more blessed. I have an amazing husband, the sweetest, happiest baby girl, 2 great dogs, a house (finally!), a job I love, the best family ever... I have everything anyone on Earth would ever need. I couldn't ask for anything more. I thank the Lord for all of my blessings and my amazing life! I hope you all feel the same way about your lives.

Half Birthday!!!

That's right...I'll say it. I am the biggest dork on the planet - I threw my baby a 6 month birthday party. It was fun. I don't care that I'm completely silly and ridiculous. Moving on.

As evidenced by the pictures below, she liked her party and that was the goal, so mission accomplished! She didn't really get the cupcake she is staring at so lovingly. Sorry, baby. She did get rice cereal! Not quite the same, but she loved it and made cute little "Mmmmm" noises the whole time. I"ll update later with everything she is up to at this age, but here are some pictures from her little party (Cody and I were the only people that were invited, so don't be offended. :) )