Christmas Portraits

We had the girls Christmas portraits made last week. We were VERY pleased with how well they turned out. Both girls did good at the session. This has been the easiest session thus far.

7 Months Old

Aaryn is 7 months old today. Happy 7 months, baby. We LOVE you!!!

Milestones

Aaryn has reached so many milestones in such a short period of time. She can now roll over both ways, sit unassisted, "army" crawl (all over the house), and even pull up on things to stand herself up. I'm going to work on getting pictures of this today to put on the blog. She is growing up so so fast and it's making me a little sad. I am so proud of her though.

Dear Sleep,

It's been a while since I've seen you. Thank you for visiting my baby and me. Make yourself comfortable and stay a while, because when you are here, everyone feels better.

Love Your Biggest Fan,
Shalonda

LOL! Aaryn has slept through the night for FOUR days in a row. We both feel so much better now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this keeps up.

Thank You, God!

Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever.

Psalm 37:27-28

My husband's job is about an hour away from where we live. He usually gets off work between 1 and 2am. Monday morning around 2:15 am, I was awakened from a terrible feeling that something was wrong. My husband wasn't home yet, so I called him on his cell phone. He told me that he had fell asleep at the wheel and had run the car into a guardrail on the highway. He walked away from the accident without a single scratch. Thank God! Things could have been much worse and I could be without a husband; my girls without a father. This confirms the power of God, prayer, and faithfulness.

Thanksgiving (Late)

Man...I've really slacked in keeping this blog updated. It seems that the days are getting shorter and shorter. Both girls have been sick over the past few weeks, but hopefully, that bug has left our home for good. Between taking care of the girls, working, and the Thanksgiving holiday, I've had very little time to spend on the computer.

Thanksgiving was great! If I could rewind time, I think I'd go back to this past Thursday and do Thanksgiving again. Thanksgiving really makes me reflect on all the things that I am thankful for. Here are my top 5:

1. My family. My family means the world to me. I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband and two beautiful daughters. I'm thankful too for the rest of my family who are always there when we need them.

2. My friends. Though they are few, I am thankful for those who have been true friends to me and my family.

3. My job. I know I gripe and complain and don't look forward to going to work everyday, but I am thankful to have a decent job. It's not hard work and it allows me to help take care of our family and give my girls a good life.

4. My health. I am relatively healthy and I am very thankful for that.

5. My upbringing. I am thankful for person that I have become. My mom raised my brother and me as a single mom. She taught me to be kind, honest, and obedient. From her, I've learned how to be a good mother to my children.

There other things that I am thankful for, but there are too many to list. We should all be thankful for people and the things in our lives everyday...not just on Thanksgiving.

Since my husband and I have been together, we've had Thanksgiving dinner twice (with both families). We had dinner with my husband's family at 1pm. We all get together at his grandmother's house and everyone brings a dish to make up the meal. This year, we were responsible for the deviled eggs and drinks. Everything was good. I had to force myself not to go back for seconds because we still had another dinner to attend.

We had dinner with my family (at my aunt's house) around 4pm. We were responsible for the mac and cheese and a dessert. I found a great recipe for pumpkin cheescake and it turned out really delicious. The mac and cheese was good, but it could have been better. I really stuffed myself. I think I gained at least 10lbs, but Thanksgiving only comes once a year. I can always work on losing the weight tomorrow...or next week...or at the beginning of the year. Ha!

6 Months and 1 Day ago...

I gave birth to my sweet baby girl, Aaryn! The time is passing by much too quickly. My baby is growing up before my eyes. I googled development milestones for 6-month olds and found this list:

Begins to speak single (hard) consonants, like "dada" (sorry mom!). NOT YET
Rolls over both ways (front to back and back to front). YEP!
The baby will begin to look for a toy dropped out of sight. YEP!
Has no head lag when pulled to a sitting position. YEP!
Begins to "tripod" (sits with one hand on the ground for support) and soon will begin to sit without support. YEP! (can sit for a short period without support)
Continues to grasp and mouth objects, but now can transfer small objects from one hand to another. YEP!
Six-month-old babies begin to rake at small objects but cannot pick them up yet because their finger coordination is not yet precise enough. I don't know. Too scared to give her small objects
Shows displeasure with loss of a toy. YEP!
Is able to recognize each parent and may even begin to show some stranger anxiety. YEP! (she prefers Mommy)
Makes attempts to feed himself or herself. YEP!
Smiles, laughs, squeals and begins to imitate sounds. YEP!
Can be content in a playpen for a while playing with one or two toys. YEP!
Can bear weight on his or her legs when held in a standing position (no, it will not make him or her bowlegged). YEP!

She's even scooting and turning to navigate towards objects. I predict she'll be crawling pretty soon.

As far as her growth rate, she has more than doubled her birthweight and she's grown at least 5 inches since birth.

I'm glad that she's reaching all of these milestones, but sad too. My little baby isn't so little anymore (sigh). They grow up waaaaay too fast.