what talent!

This girl is AMAZING! She has so much talent- I just know every time she takes Hannah's pictures they are going to turn out so pretty! No matter how hot it is or what kind of mood Hannah is in- her work is always beautiful! Enjoy this little sneak peek!!
I cannot wait to see the rest!

www.amandagravesphoto.blogspot.com

Can you believe her baby blues? I sure hope she keeps them :)

what a face!

Someone got a little taste of a pickle yesterday!!

She seems excited about it! (Of course she will try anything!)

6 FAST Months!

I dont realize how big Hannah is until she is around another baby or I look back at pictures of her in our arms. At over 20 pounds- she has more than doubled her birth weight and is one wiggly-squirmy little girl! I was able to stop by my moms house yesterday during my work day and I got not just one- but TWO times to hold her as she slept on my chest. My nana said- dont you want to lay her down? Not one bit. 4 or 5 months ago I would have tried to lay her down so she would get acclamated to her crib- but I absolutely LOVED this moment. It is a RARE day or she has to be extremely tired for her to sleep on my chest anymore- and I love it. Ill take it any day!
It is amazing to watch a baby grow in just 6 months. I remember saying how big the changes are from 6-8 weeks, then 3-4 months and now at 6 months its incredible! She is ready to go! She does not sit still for one minute-she is so wiggly and squirmy! I have a feeling she is going to follow my nickname of "Busy". And even now I have a hard time of just sitting around and relaxing. Crazy I know. She'll probably get that from me! She is so darn sweet- like my mom said- you cant pick her up without kissing her. And its true- this might be the most kissed baby I know :)
Right now she is sleeping great! It was a little rough during the double ear infections but she has had this antibiotic for almost a week and she is feeling SO much better. We usually put her down around 9 and she wakes up after 6:30.
This girl keeps us laughing and there is absolutely NO Better sound than a baby's laugh. Its contagious! She laughs all the time and has started this screaming thing (I think once she starts talking- she is not going to stop!)
She is sitting up so great right now and even sat in her first highchair in a restaurant. Lets just say the days of dropping & picking up toys have just begun! She gets a little bored and restless but we will just have to come prepared! I love that she sits up now (I think 6 months will be one of my favorite ages!).
She is so grabby these days too! She LOVES jewelry- loves it! I have this beautiful "H" necklace that I bought in NC and she LOVES that thing. She'll spot it and smile then go in! I took her into work one day and she grabbed everyones bracelets and necklaces (She has good taste!)
We have worked in carrots and squash so far and she loves them. She gets so excited when she sees a bib! Ha!
She weighed 20.2 pds last Friday and we will go on Monday for her 6 month. I have had to go through her closet to box up so many clothes- Im sure you can imagine what size she is wearing :) Of course most brands size their clothes differently so when 12 months is only 15-18 pounds then we have to get bigger sizes :) Im thinking once she starts crawling she will thin out a little bit and we might even go back to some of her old clothes.
She makes this HILARIOUS sound- usually when she is happy, but it sounds like a growl! Its SO funny! When Im getting ready in the morning and I hear her waking up- she starts growling. I always just listen for 10 minutes or so and laugh. Then I go in there and look at the SMILIEST face I have ever seen. There is no better feeling than to see her smile when you walk into a room (of course I think she'd smile at anyone who would get her out of her crib!)
Life is great these days- Hannah couldn't be more fun! I cant wait for more :) (Of course my bank account can!)

This is the poorest quality video (I promise we get real video and real pictures that are not taken from cell phones) but it is the sound that matters :) This little girl can squeal!

every time...

every time we have Hannahs pictures taken by Amanda it makes me want to be able to take beautiful pictures- I know Ive had several posts on this but I would give anything to be able to do what she does. Her pictures are absolutely gorgeous. The angles, the colors, the way she edits them. Its a true talent. I feel like I could learn it- I just need to find the time and patience (patience is key) to sit down and really learn how to use my camera. I feel like its a great camera- its not an slr or anything but its a pretty big cannon camera. It is my GOAL to learn to take better pictures. Either that- or I am going to spend a small fortune on having someone else take her pictures of all her big milestones :) Half of the time pictures of Hannah are taken with a cell phone or one of my point and shoot cameras I have used over the years. Pictures just speak to me- for some it may be music or reading but for me its photography. I think- just like the saying- a picture is worth a thousand words. It may take me a LONG time to read those words but Im going to learn. Either that or Ive decided to start making my own headbands. Maybe one day I can have beautiful pictures of headbands....

Jeremy snapped this with his phone during her pictures- we hope amanda doesnt mind. but just look how beautiful the setting is. Amanda showed me a few while she was shooting and I wanted all of them!!

still smiling...

even though she has double ear infections! I feel like such a bad mom- she had been fussy a few nights- not even a temperature so I just figured she was teething and those things were getting ready to pop through...nope she has ear infections in both ears! Poor girl! She started a little cough on Thursday so Friday we called the nurseline (I work in insurance so I always know to call the nurseline before rushing to the doctor) but what I have been finding out- is that they always end up telling you to come in anyways. At least we try to keep insurance costs down...ha! The doctor looked in her left ear and went- Oooh yep- that doesnt look good, then she looked in the right and said- oohhh that looks worse! So we have our first antibiotic and have been loading up on tylenol too. She still smiles though and is sweet as ever! Most interesting thing about the whole visit is this...she weighs 20.2 POUNDS! Holy Cow! We have almost officially moved up to her big car seat- I have both of them in the car but the infant carrier is way to heavy to carry! And she is doing great in the shopping cart with her little cart cover holding her in. She looks so darn cute in it! I cant believe this has all happened so fast. I was just making a snapfish book of her first month and I just cannot get over the pictures of that tiny little girl :)

we have 6 month pictures today! Im probably a little too excited :)

Are we supposed to be in Virginia?

Our vacation started off EARLY & with a LONG drive to say the least! Its about an 11 hour drive to Topsail- so we left around 3:30 am figuring we'd get there right in time for check in at 3. However, when the three co-pilots fall asleep and the driver doesnt really have a clear sense of the directions- you end up in the WRONG State!! Right before we fell asleep I remember the conversation my mom and dad had- something like this- Mom- we need to take I-74 to I-77- my dad (who lost part of his hearing to radiation) says-so I-77 right? Mom says- yes. We did need to get to I-77 but we needed to get to I-74 first. So we all woke up and my dad says- Are we suppose to be in Virginia?? We all missed the interstate! So FIFTEEN hours later- we made it! Thankfully Hannah is an awesome traveler! Between bottles, naps and smiling at Alex she did an awesome job!!
We had an awesome trip. Too short- as always! But the weather was beautiful and the company was even better :) We missed Jeremy a TON so it was good to get home too! Hannah enjoyed the beach as well but loved the pool even more! We really didnt do too much- Topsail Island has grown but its no where near a Myrtle Beach. But its perfect for us. We love going. We already looked at houses for next year :)
Our drive home was almost as long as our drive there. We all made sure we had plugged the directions into our phones and gps but we got stopped in the WORST traffic!! Between I-40, I-77 and I-74 we hit standstill traffic for almost 50 miles! An RV caught on fire and put us behind almost 3 hours again! Needless to say we might not go through Virginia again!
Im hoping Jeremy got some sleep while we were gone! Hannah did pick up a new schedule in NC- which WORKS for us!! I would put her down about 8:30 or so and she would wake about 5:30 or so (then I would put her in bed with me! Hey we were on vacation!) and she would sleep til almost 7 or 7:30! We have finally gotten past her 5 am feeding! YAY!! She still loves her cereal and we will probably start vegetables this week. She is one hungry little girl :)
Jeremy painted our kitchen while we were gone- it looks GREAT! We also decided to put up some crown molding which we think will look great too! Pictures to come!
Jeremy noticed how much she had changed in one week! I know there is a tooth coming- she let us know SEVERAL times- and she is SO close to sitting up!! She sits totally by herself for awhile but tips over a couple times- she's almost got it! She became so much more vocal too. She laughs, shrieks and giggles all the time now! Sometimes she'll even just laugh at herself :) That truly is the BEST sound I have ever heard!

Here is a snapshot of Hannah's first trip to the beach!

First time in the Ocean!
Jet Skis!

This was as far as I got into the ocean!

Bikini Day!

Hangin with Gramps-Dont you love his shirt :)

First Trip to the Zoo!

Usually I spend week nights cooking dinner (ok- I try to cook most nights!), laundry, vacuuming, and trying to fit in a few minutes to relax. But yesterday was the MOST gorgeous day- we had to get out!! No, I am not packed. I have our bags out, Hannahs clothes laying all over her floor and laundry still to do but I couldnt pass up this beautiful day to get out of the house. Most summers 81 degrees would be hot to us but with temperatures near 100- it felt like a fall day! We decided to head to the zoo and try out our membership for the first time. It was so beautiful and alot of fun. You can only guess who was really having the most fun :)

Can you find the hippo in this picture?

miss twinkle toes might like cereal?

When we were at Disneyland in April I bought this adorable “Twinkle Toes” Minnie Mouse onesie. It has this adorable little tutu around it! I totally forgot about and now its almost too late. I put it on her the other morning and it was a little tight! So I had to get a few pictures out of it!

And we tried cereal again and she was alot more interested this time! Of course Jeremy had to do airplane with every bite :) Maybe that’s why!