9 Months!

Bailey turned 9 months old this past Saturday! I know I probably say this every month, but my goodness how time flies!

In the last month Bailey has more than mastered crawling and pulling up on things (i.e. the side of her crib, the coffee table, the couch, etc.). She is literally all over the place and in to everything which definitely keeps Craig and I on our toes.

At her pediatrician appointment this morning she weighed 16 lbs. 15 oz. (25th percentile) and measured 27 3/4 inches (50th percentile). Dr. Marlow said she's right on track! Can't wait to see what she'll do next!

Cheerios

Bailey loves her Cheerios!

She also loves her puppy!

I was amazed yesterday to watch Bailey as she snuck a Cheerio to Sydney with her right hand every time she fed herself a Cheerio with her left hand. It was hilarious!

I wonder if Sydney will still be excited when it's broccoli that she's trying to sneak him.

2010 Kidspo!

This Saturday we headed down to the Meadowview Convention Center for the 2010 Kidspo. There were all sorts of kid-friendly things to see and do!

We had been invited to the Kidspo by Craig's boss, Wayne, to be a part of a fashion show sponsored by his store... As We Grow Children's Clothier.

Now... I must admit... I was very torn over whether or not to agree to do this.

All I could think about was the show Toddlers & Tiaras on TLC! All of those babies with big hair... lots of make up... and even more attitude! Oh my God do we really want to do THAT to our child!!!

But, after a brief moment of panic and doubt, we decided to give it a shot and try to have fun with it!

And fun we certainly had! Bailey looked so adorable in her little outfit!

We suggested Maelen as another potential model for the show and she was also invited to participate. She too looked adorable!
The girls had a little help from Wayne's two, very sweet daughters when it was their turn down the runway! They handled it like pros!

We were certainly a bunch of very proud "stage parents"!

I wonder if we will be asked to do it again next year...

Labor Day Fun!

Our friends Jared and Melanie decided to pay a visit this past weekend. We were very excited to see them and let them meet Bailey!We kicked off our weekend of fun Saturday afternoon with a visit to Duffield, Virginia for the Duffield Daze festival. It definitely provided opportunities for some very interesting people watching.

We were quite sad that we missed the tractor pull and slow tractor race. However, on the bright side we did get to take in the antique tractor show...
...petting zoo...
...and craft tables.
On the way home Craig decided to make a pit stop at the Natural Tunnel State Park where we rode the chairlift down to view the tunnel.

Later that night our friends Erica and Jason (along with their daughter Teagan) joined us for some home-made BBQ...

...and fire-roasted smores!

Melanie loved her birthday smore!

We ended our busy day by hanging out by the fire.Sunday, we dropped the kayaks in the Holston River. We decided to try a new fork of the river this time. We had a great time with the exception of Craig being ticketed ($198) for not having a life jacket in his boat... stupid Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency! That's my tax dollars at use?!?

That night we took Melanie out to dinner for her birthday (which had been the previous day) and then surprised her with a cake back at the house. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera handy for any of the festivities.

We loved having Jared and Melanie visit for the weekend, but I must admit that we were all a little tired after such a busy weekend.

We hope to do it again soon!

8 Months!

What an exciting past couple of weeks it has been!

Bailey is now crawling in both directions! While this milestone is certainly cause to celebrate, it has also presented us with some challenges. We can no longer put her down in the floor to play in one room and trust that she will remain there. Also, all of the many things around our house that she has been eyeing over the past several months have now become her "play things". Along with the crawling has come attempts to pull herself up on the coffee table, kitchen cabinets, sofa, and any other spot in the house that looks interesting. Needless to say we've had to do just a little bit of baby-proofing.

When she's not crawling, Bailey simply loves to cruise around the house in the walker that Maelen let her borrow! It really didn't take her long to get the hang of it. We now refer to her as "hell on wheels" as her new favorite thing to do is chase poor Sydney around the house. She, of course loves to do this... Sydney on the other hand is a little underwhelmed about the whole thing!

I guess this is where the whole parenting thing can get exciting!

Heading to Murfreesboro...

...for the next 3 1/2 days for the Habitat State Conference.

Boy am I going to miss her!

But then again... who wouldn't miss this sweet girl?!?

Please say a little prayer for Craig!

7 Months... Or So!

Okay... so I realize that this post is more than 2 weeks overdue, but we've been pretty darned busy lately! We've gone on 2 big trips (each a 10-12 hour car ride)... thankfully Bailey was terrific on them both!

Anyway, Bailey is now 7 1/2 months old! She's had another big month full of new things! She's started saying "bye-bye" and "Da Da"... Craig was quite pleased to say the least! She's now crawling... at least in reverse that is. The little monkey hasn't quite figured out how to go forward... it's so funny to watch! Bailey tries to go forward. Bless her heart she really does try... but she just never quite makes it. Another first is that she can now toddle around the house in the walker that Maelen so kindly let her borrow... however, 90% of the time she's going in reverse in the walker too. What a goober! Bailey now has 3 (and 1/4) teeth on the bottom... still none on the top. She's still a really good eater! She's started feeding herself some beginner finger foods. Sure half of them end up on the floor where Sydney is eagerly waiting, but her aim is gradually improving! We're still working on perfecting the sippy cup. Her schedule has changed a lot in the last month. She's now taking one less nap than she used to and spends a lot more time playing... sometimes she plays so hard that she completely wears herself out. Some of you know that once she started teething around 4 months she began having a lot of trouble sleeping through the night. Well, in the last week she's started sleeping the whole night through again! I can't tell you how happy this makes craig and I!!! Hopefully she won't change it up on us too soon.

Here are a few pictures from over the last few weeks... enjoy!

Her sassy pose!