Howdy,

My sweet baby girl was 8 months old on March 9th, and I feel like this past month has been a big one. She's turning into such a tiny person, and I just love getting to know her personality more and more each day. Belle loves to laugh deep deep belly laughs and thinks Daddy's burps are purely for her entertainment. She hasn't started crawling yet, but she rocks so hard, it's only a matter of time before she tumbles forward onto her hands and knees. She just started pulling up on things this past weekend, even though that technically happened after her 8 month birthday, I just had to share! Every day is definitely a new (and sometimes sleepy) adventure with this little one!

Belle is still a huge fan of basketball, especially if she gets to watch it from her daddy's lap. The lights, all the people, and the interesting noises keep her very entertained. She of course loves the cute outfits she gets to wear as well (even if they are burnt orange)!


She is also still fascinated by her toes, and never ceases to amaze me with her flexibility! If you need to keep her entertained for a few minutes, simply rip of her socks and she's good to go!


Annabelle would still rather eat books than read them, but we are working on that! I like to think she's still soaking up the knowledge right?

On the other hand, baby girl DOES NOT like green peas. I've tried them a few times, and each time results in some version of this face or gagging. Looks like we are going to have to skip these for awhile! I know I shouldn't laugh, but the faces she makes when she doesn't like a food are just hilarious. She can be quite dramatic.


She is also not the biggest fan of sleeping these days. I'm not sure if she's going through a sleep regression or if her top teeth are about to pop through, but the past 4 nights have been pretty rough. Last night, she did a little bit better so hopefully we are on the upswing. Whenever she decides she is not tired, she turns her bumper into a jungle gym and goes to town. We have to pull it out of her crib so it doesn't distract her most days.


Belle may not like peas or naps, but she LOVES  puffs. It was amazing to watch her master picking up those little guys with her fingers in less than a day! Don't stand between this lady and her puffs or you might get spit up on!


She also still loves giving slobbery kisses. She'll often attack you when you're least expecting it, and I love it! I'll take a slobbery snotty kiss from this tiny human any time!


Although you might not guess from the picture on the left, Belle loves going shopping. So many cool things to look at and people to talk to. Plus, mommy usually caves and buys super cut things like pink baby aviators. Who could pass these up, seriously?


Lately, Annabelle has been a busy girl helping mommy with Pilates MatchMatness. It's hard work modeling for a new picture every day, but Belle handles it like a champ. She loves showing off all of her cute accessories like this beanie!


Most days with this one are lots of smiles and giggles, but she definitely has her rough days as well (just keeping it real). I think she's ready to be on the move, but hasn't quite mastered crawling yet so she gets bored and frustrated easily. I also think those top two teeth are going to pop through any day which can't be comfortable. You have to capture the good times and the bad right? Side note, Belle loves to try to eat the button off of this pillow which explains the massive drool mark to the right of her head.


Overall, baby girl has had an exciting month full of learning, new adventures, giggles, and lots of cuddles. She is absolutely the light of my world, and I feel so blessed to get to be her mommy!


I can't wait to see what the next month has in store for us! I hope you all have a great rest of your Tuesday!

Mommies, did your kiddos go through a sleep regression? If so, how long did it last?

In health,

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Howdy Friends,

As I grow another year older, I think back on all of the wonderful things that have happened in my life, the beautiful memories that are being made right now, and all of the hopes and dreams that I have for the future. As a constant planner, remembering to stay in the present is definitely something I have to work at constantly. So in honor of living in the present, and creating joyful memories, I am going to keep this post short and sweet so I can get a few things done around the house and then play with my tiny human when she wakes up!

Relish The Past:

I have many many happy memories that make me smile, but there are definitely two that stand out.

1) The moment they opened the doors at the back of the church and I saw Eric waiting at the end of the aisle for me on our wedding day is something I will never forget. It literally took my breath away and was the first step towards the rest of my life. I feel so incredibly blessed to be married to such an amazing, loving, and smart man!





2) The first time I ever held Annabelle in my arms had the be one of the most awe inspiring feelings in the world. There are literally no words to describe how much love I felt at that very moment. After I thought my heart couldn't handle much more, seeing E with Belle literally made my heart explode. She has completely changed our lives forever and taught us to love on a whole new level.


Live In The Present:

There are so many amazing things happening in my life right now, I could go on forever; however, I really want to focus on soaking up every moment I can with Annabelle. They really do grow and change so fast, and I can never get this time back. So for right now, it is ALL about her and I love it!



Dream Of The Future:

I have too many dreams for the future of my little family to write down in one post, but I'll just start with a few. I dream of all of the wonderful and exciting moments that are going to happen in Belle's life.... first steps, first words, going to school, her first crush, homecoming, sporting events, prom, family trips, graduating high school, going to college, getting married (officially tearing up as I type now), and one day babies. I am so excited to see her grow through all of these stages, but I hope she grows very very very very slowly. I truly wish there was a pause or rewind button on life so it didn't fly by so fast.

I also dream of continuing to improve as a fitness professional and hopefully positively impacting my students and future fitness professionals. My goal is that each person that walks into my class leaves feeling better than when they came in. Additionally, I feel so blessed to have found a career I am overly passionate about, I hope to be able to help other individuals looking to pursue a career in fitness.

Memories are beautiful, and the future is fun to dream about, but don't forget to enjoy the right here and now every single day!

Share with me your favorite memory, what you are thankful for right now, or something you are dreaming about for the future. 

Wishing you a beautiful Tuesday!

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Howdy,

It's that time again already. Time for another monthly update on sweet Annabelle! Baby girl turned 5 months old on December 9th. How is it possible that she will be half a year old next month? I say this every month, but I really can't believe it!

She is growing into such a fun and sociable little girl full of giggles and smiles. I swear the funniest things make her laugh! Once you find something that cracks her up, she wants you to do it over and over and over again and will reward you with the biggest gummy grin and belly laughs around.


She is extremely animated, and you can usually tell exactly how she is feeling by her facial expressions and the noises she is making (aka grunting or giggling). This month, you could really tell she is starting to recognize those that around her the most and gets excited when they walk in a room. She also just started to notice champ, our dog, and loves to watch him from her play mat or bumbo.

She is still sleeping pretty well most nights (only wakes up once), and is even getting better at napping. On a normal day, she naps for about 45 minutes in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon, and 45 minutes in the evening. Now that I just typed that, she isn't going to nap at all today. :) Baby girl is still exclusively breast feeding for now. We are going to wait until she turns 6 months before starting solids. Her chubby cheeks and cute chunky thighs indicate she is getting plenty of nutrients just from mom's milk.


Annabelle is still not a big fan of tummy time. I try to entertain her as best I can, but she usually gets tired of it pretty quickly. She is oh so close to rolling over, but usually gets stuck on her side. I think she actually likes laying on her side because it is easier for her to see champ. Normally, once she gets there, she is pretty content to just stay on her side.


Belle also experienced her first basketball game this month. She seemed to be very entertained by everything that was going on around her. Daddy was very proud that she seemed to like basketball just as much as football. The game we went to was at 7 PM, so I was a little afraid of how she would hold up past bed time, but she did beautifully. Minimal fussing towards the very end of the game and went to bed and slept like a champ!


She has almost mastered sitting up by herself as well. She much prefers this over tummy time, so we spend a lot of time sitting on the floor with all of her toys around her. She can usually hold herself up pretty well for awhile and then she slowly starts to lean forward. We started out using her pillow for support, but now she can pretty well manage on her own. The "mute button" pacifier is still her favorite (which is why you see it in almost every picture). :)


Over Thanksgiving, Belle got to practice her modeling skills when we took our Christmas card pictures. She did great throughout the entire shoot, and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. A big thank you to Uncle Greg for taking the pictures and Aunt Meredith, Grandma George, and Grandpa George for jumping around and getting Annabelle to smile!



My sweet baby girl is another month older, and I fall more in love with her every day. She truly is the light of my world. I feel so blessed to get to watch her grow up and kiss those sweet cheeks each day.

How old were your kiddos when they rolled over for the first time?

In health,

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Howdy Friends!

I hope you are all having a Happy Halloween! Someone once told me that holidays become much more fun when you have kids, and after this morning, I totally believe them. Dressing up a baby for Halloween is 1,000 times more fun than getting dressed up yourself. The only thing that might top it is matching said baby!

I went to the store a few weeks ago to buy Annabelle a Halloween costume; however, there weren't many things small enough for her. I purchased a super cute bumble bee outfit that was a size too big hoping we could make it work. Not even close. It swallowed her and looked pretty uncomfortable so back to the store it went.

It's her very 1st Halloween so it wasn't an option not to have a costume! I had already planned to dress up as an 80's aerobics instructor for my classes (to be honest, I've done this for about the past 6 years), so I decided Belle should get in on the fun!! I hadn't ever seen "baby aerobics instructor" at a costume store before, so I had to get creative.




I used a onesie and leggings we already had. Her leg warmers are actually an old pair of socks I just cut the toes out of to turn them into leg warmers for her. I used one of E's sweat bands (washed) for her belt and then bought her a reguar sized sweat band for her head. Piece of cake.

After she was all dressed, it was time to head up to the studio where she continued to ham it up in her stylish outfit!










By the time class was over, she was worn out and ready to head home for a nap. Let's pray she will stay asleep a little while longer so I can get a few things done! I hope you all have a wonderful day and a Happy Halloween!

What are you dressing up as for Halloween?

If you have kiddos, what are they going to be?

In health,

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Happy Friday!

TGIF for sure! I am looking forward to a fun and relaxing weekend celebrating E's birthday! This is one of our few weekends without a football game so we are going to enjoy spending some quality family time together and of course watch a ton of football on TV. :)

I seriously can't believe I am already writing Annabelle's 3 month update (I'm even writing it 2.5 weeks late and I'm still saying that). How the time flys. I am trying my hardest to soak up every giggle, gummy smile, and snuggle I can!

Home girl smiles and laughs all day long, but the second you whip out the camera, she's a stone cold killer with super pouty lips! Oh well, she's cute whatever face she is making.

Three months have flown by at lightening speed and she is changing more and more every day. Overall she is a super happy baby and loves to laugh and talk to mommy & daddy all day long. She get's bored easily, so she prefers to be constantly entertained but luckily she is pretty entertaining herself so everyone is happy to oblige.




Growth
She is growing like a weed and has already moved on to 3-6 month onesies and even some of those are too short. She has a very long torso like her dad. She weighed 13 lbs last time we went to the doctor and still loves to eat!



New Skills
She learned how to stick out her tongue and thinks it's the funniest thing ever. She also loves to blow bubbles and make all kind of crazy noises when she's talking to you.


Belle wasn't a fan of the pacifier at first, but she is loving it lately. I can't decide if it is a good or bad thing, but how cute is she with those lips? They kill me.



New Experiences
Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa George came into town and we took Annabelle to the pumpkin patch. She way WAY more interested in watching all the cars zoom by than checking out the pumpkins, but she seemed to enjoy it non-the-less. Notice how she is looking to the right in every picture. That's where all the cars were.







Football
Belle loves watching football with daddy. She gets pretty upset when the Aggies or Cowboys make abad play and likes to yell at the TV. Game day is  definitely her favorite show (I think Kirk Herbstreit might have something to do with that), which she watches religiously every Saturday of course. We might be creating a bit of an identity crisis in our child since we go back and forth between dressing her up in Aggie gear and Texas gear. She can cheer for the longhorns, but when it comes down to it, I know she'll be a little Aggie! :)






Sleep
Naps are still a daily struggle but we are improving each day. We are trying hard to get her to fall asleep on your own, but there is just something so sweet about rocking them to sleep with their head on your shoulder. She is still sleeping pretty well at night and usually only wakes up once or twice between 3 AM and 5:30 AM. Hopefully, she will make it a full 10-12 hours soon, but I can't complain!

Working Girl
She is getting more used to hanging out in babysitting at the studio while I teach my classes. She likes to greet everyone when they come into the studio and never minds all the extra attention. She'll be teaching class by herself in no time!


I am beyond blessed to have this little bundle of joy in my life and I can't wait to watch her grow (although if she wants to slow down, that would be great). I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

In health

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