Cousin Time!

This past weekend, we headed to Mimi and Papa's house to visit with the WHOLE family!  It was great to see everybody and even Uncle Andrew was there!  Abby Ruth and Caroline got to spend some more time together and see who could coo the most!  They did look at each other some, but not a whole lot yet.  

Abby Ruth looks like she is doing some karate move on Caroline!

Sweet girls

3 Months!

Yesterday, Abby Ruth was 3 months old.  3 months sure seems like a short amount of time but that hospital trips feels like it was years ago!  We are loving every minute with her!

Here is her 3 month picture and you can see the rest if you click the "Watch Me Grow" link on the right of the screen.

 Abby Ruth at 3 months:
-no doc. appt so no weight/length updates
-sucks her hands all the time, esp. the left one
-often rubs her head with her right hand while falling asleep (and sucking the left one)
-holds her head up very well and is doing more and more of it during tummy time
-has rolled over 4 times now (though I'm not sure the first two really count b/c I think she was placed in a way that helped her)
-smiles a lot and even makes a noise that seems a bit like she might be laughing
-coos and talks to us all the time and does it in response when you talk to her
-seems to be batting at toys a good bit
-still eats ever 3 hrs and she seems to be able to start going about 3 1/2 hrs
-sleeps from b/t 10:30 & 10:45 until 7/7:30 (8+hrs!!)
-is fussy in the evenings but also most alert and often in a great mood after her last feeding and goes down awake but rarely fusses
-she has also started holding her hands together often

She really is a great baby and while I don't have another child of my own to compare her to, I do realize that she is fairly "easy" as my mother says!  We look forward to seeing what she starts doing over the next month (though each new "trick" is exciting, it is also bittersweet as I realize just how fast she's growing).

I wanted to show the back of her head now as her head is growing much faster than her hair.  I'm sure that she has also lost a good bit due to sleeping on her back.

Holding that head up!

Holding her hands

We decided to try out the jumperoo a little early...  I believe once she can hold her head better as well as grab things, she will love it!  She loves to kick which is the reason I got it out.

Below you will see my latest present from my husband... 3 1/2 pairs of shoes (the other flipflop is under the ottoman).  What made me realize all of these shoes were out??  Could it be that I tripped on one of them?!  Then this morning he couldn't find his boots... were they under the kitchen table where I kicked them when I tripped over them as well??  I really can't complain if leaving shoes anywhere and everywhere is my husband's only fault!  I do love him! :)  I just find this quite funny... when I'm not tripping over them that is!

Heather's Wedding Weekend

So this past weekend was a very fun and eventful one, but also very bittersweet for me - Heather and Benjamin tied the knot!  While I am sad that she will be not within a 30 minute driving distance anymore, I'm so very excited for them!  While on this earth, I can't think of anything that tops marrying your best friend... other than having a family with that person.  I know that Heather and Benjamin will have a wonderful marriage and will be a blessing to one another.  Most importantly, I know that their marriage will have God in the center of it. 

Thank you Heather and Benjamin for letting me be a part of your special day!  You may name your first daughter after me too if you want!

Well, let me share with you the events of this past weekend up until about 20 minutes ago.

On Friday we headed out at about 8am and arrived in Florence right in time for the bridal luncheon.  It was held at this cute little place where you can have actual tea parties.  I'm pretty sure my mother-in-law would absolutely love taking her granddaughters to this place and getting them all dressed up in their finest!  The food was very good too!  I'm not a tea fan so I didn't try any, but they had all kinds of flavors.

William and Abby Ruth then picked me up and we went to our hotel and got settled in.  AR got some much needed rest and hand sucking in while there. 

AR sucking all 4 fingers and grasping her blanket (which apparently is a good sign according the the screening my mama did on her last week!:) )

Friday evening we had the rehearsal and then the dinner.  We ate at this really neat place called The School House that was located on a pond that had all of these almost frogs in it!  The food was great and Elizabeth made this "to die for" peach pound cake that I will be making in the future!

All of the frogs!

Saturday morning, Abby Ruth started a new game called, "Where am I?"  She'll be ready for real camo in no time!!

Then it was wedding time!!  All the bridal party had to be at the church at 11:30 to get pictures started.  I really enjoyed being around all of Heather's and Benjamin's family members and getting to know some of them better!

The ceremony was so very nice and everything just went smoothly. The reception was very pretty and they had lots of yummy food. We got to see some people we haven't seen in a while, mainly Kirkley! AR was super excited to finally meet Kirkley and has been talking about it a lot!!

Abby Ruth and I went the beautiful bride!

Girls from Clemson!

Us with Kirkley

Spending some quality time with Kirkley



My family minus Katie and Clint



Totally out in Grand Daddy's arms!

Our little family

It was also nice to have my parents there with us as well!

We got back late Saturday evening and took it pretty easy today. 

AR chilled in her little seat this morning before church

All dressed up and ready to go to nursery!

Lastly, William had been so kind as to agree to train for a 5k with me.  You see, I can't even run a mile... I did get to the point where I could last year but that has long passed.  I want to do this so that I can say that I did and I want to get in shape and maybe lose a little weight?!  So tonight we did our first day of Couch to 5k.  It's going to be rough when the heat goes back up but I really want to do this... I figure if I blog about it I'll be more likely to stick to it.  So... here we go!  Wish us luck!

This past week, we...

Abby Ruth and I just got home this morning from a visit with Lovey and Grand Daddy so I figured it's time for an update!  This could be a long one!!

Saturday:

Abby Ruth rocked her first pair of jeans.  I know, it was very hot outside, but b/c it's so hot we stay inside and therefore she wasn't sweating or anything!  She looked too darn cute though!

We also practiced holding our head up.  Tummy time is not always her favorite and she seems to like it better on the couch... I just have to stay right there beside her the whole time then.

Sunday:

Abby Ruth decided she needed a pre-church nap to help her prep for more napping in the nursery!

AR and I then headed to Lovey and Grand Daddy's house that afternoon and hit the big 100,000 mile mark on my car! 

Monday:

In the morning, I ran some errands and Lovey stayed with AR.  It was nice to get some things taken care of!  The rest of the day we just hung out and took it rather easy.

AR wanted to show off her 4th of July outfit again and have some more tummy time with Lovey!

Tuesday:

We visited with lots of family on Tuesday.  It had been over 1 1/2 months since we'd visited with our extended family and it was so nice to do so!

First, Nannie came and ate lunch with us.

Between visits, AR needed to rest some and ended up falling asleep on one of our old blankets.

For supper, my mom's family came to eat with us and see Abby Ruth.  Nana held her first.

Then her great aunt Carole rocked her.

JJ was nice enough to hold and feed her too!

Wednesday:

On Wed. morning my daddy and I went skeet shooting and mama stayed with AR.  I had a great time even though it was pretty hot!  My shoulder is def. feeling it today! 

That afternoon Jessica came by to meet Abby Ruth and we had a great time visiting and catching up! 

Mama had given Abby Ruth the first 1/2 of her bottle when I took her to give her the rest.  She had fallen dead asleep and this is what I got:

Lovey and I gave AR a sink bath, which always takes 2 people!

All clean and in her pj's, ready to snuggle with Grand Daddy.

Thursday:

Today we headed back home and AR got to wear her new outfit from Jessica.  How cute is she?!?!  Love the hat!

Saying goodbye to Lovey and Grand Daddy.

What a great few days!  Time to get ready for a wedding weekend!

William, Wake up

4th of July Weekend

Friday:
Our church had a big concert downtown on Friday evening that we went to last year and wanted to attend again this year.  It was really good again this year and we enjoyed hanging out with some friends and getting ice cream afterwards!  Abby Ruth also got to wear her cute 4th of July outfit!

Getting her supper while at the concert... it's all about her schedule!

Sitting with her mama at the concert

Saturday - Monday
On Sat., we packed up and headed to see Mimi and Papa.  While staying with them, we were able to spend lots of time with Grandmama and Daddy Mac as well and as you can imagine, Abby Ruth got lots of attention.  Her mama also got lots of rest! 

Studying Daddy Mac

Playing with Grandmama

On Sunday we finally got to go to church with Mimi and Papa and meet so many of the wonderful people who have been sending lots of fun and adorable gifts our way for AR.  We also got to meet baby Collier, the newest addition of the Morgan household.  Collier was 10 days late and took Abby Ruth's due date and AR was 8 days earlier and therefore beat his due date! 

This was one of my outfits when I was small.... you may see it again in a few weeks!

Snuggling with her daddy

So apparently her daddy thought she'd be more comfortable without her top on...

Entertaining Mimi and Daddy

Papa obtained a permit to shoot squirrels in his yard which I believe was the highlight of William's weekend.  As you see above, he's out hunting down a squirrel!

On Monday, we mainly took it easy which was nice for us.  Abby Ruth got to wear her 4th outfit again, however she had a blowout in it and then had to go to the back up (with the boats) while Mimi was nice enough to wash it.  So she put it back on for the rest of the day.

Back up outfit, whice was very cute too!

Loves her daddy!

William asked me if there weren't anymore buttons on this dress... I think he thought it was a bit too showy for his little girl, haha.  She looked adorable in it!

We needed an updated family pic... the shadows are a bit strange looking though.

A few new videos:

Hiccups

Abby Ruth has a lot to say these days.  And it's looking like she might be a thumbsucker if she can get that thumb out of her fist.

The song in the background just happened to be on the music station and I thought it fit perfectly!