blessed…

Labor day weekend began with a trip to Keith and Becca’s home…but sadly, Rich stayed home to work on an album design. We missed him very much, but Alana and I enjoyed good friends, glorious sunshine, and delicious food. 

I was sad not to have gotten a group photo, since well, you all know me…I love to document fun times for the sake of memories! I’m already getting so nostalgic when I look at photos of Alana when she was a newborn…and that was only last year! I can’t imagine how much I’ll appreciate photos years from now! 

But alas, that was a rabbit trail. I do like hopping down rabbit trails on my blog…and I comfort myself with the knowledge that at any time, you, the reader, can simply stop reading if you are bored, disinterested, or otherwise :) Of course, I hope you are not! 

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It was only Alana’s second time in a pool, so we were back to square one with the apprehension. Soon she warmed up to the water (after a pensive mood and some adorable whimpering), and started to enjoy herself! 

Contrary to to the get-the-bright-sun-out-of-my-face expression she is making, she really did have fun. She splashed around, and even let me put her in a baby floating tube…thing. :)

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Out of the water and trying to understand why there is cold wet stuff all over her body. So cute. 

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Then on Wednesday night, Rich and I (along with Nathan and Amber) got a babysitter (thank you so much to Meleah!) and headed downtown for a Chattanooga Vendor’s Meeting.

The meeting was hosted by a fabulous new venue in town, The Mill, that we are all so excited about! Rich had the pleasure to take the photos that appear on their website as well as their recent grand opening, and we are thrilled to continue working closely with them as brides come our way! 

Tonya Lytle and Lisa Fontana have worked tirelessly to get The Mill where it is today, and I am confident that it will be bustling with activity in no time at all. Rich and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with these two ladies, and so, here is the self-portrait! 

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Here we are with the incredible staff of Elea Blake Cosmetics! Rich loves to refer brides to Darin for their wedding day makeup, as she creates a masterpiece each time with her custom mineral makeup. Personally, I can’t wait to go have Darin do my makeup soon! 

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Another self-portrait, this time with our dear friends, the Holritz’s! Or should I say Nathan and half of Amber! We were having issues with the point-and-shoot, which made me wish that Rich incessantly carry his pro camera for times like this! 

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Me and my wonderful, amazing man…

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Thursday was a fun and relaxing day as I got to spend time with one of my favorite people! Kristy invited Alana and I over to enjoy a delicious lunch with her wonderful family! Lily Kate is just ten days older than Alana, and it was SO cute watching the girls together. They did great and even stayed up past naptime to let Kristy and I catch up! 

This is the fabulous play room where everything is baby-proofed and completely conducive for little ones to explore. I am so jealous of this room! 

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Laini helped so much with the babies and she and her sister Lyssa are two of the neatest girls I have ever had the pleasure to know! 

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Alana was in toy heaven! I am sure she is tired of seeing the same toys every day at our house, so this was such a pleasant new environment for her to naviagate.

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Thank you to Kristy for this fun picture of me with the little ones! 

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Friday lunch was Tobi time! Originally, the plan was to get Tobi, Brittany, Shannon and myself together for a girls lunch, but then Shannon couldn’t come, and then at the last minute Brittany couldn’t make it!

So, despite missing the others, Tobi and I had a great time catching up and chatting about all things life. Tobi is such a fun, uplifting, awesome person to be around, and now due to her, I may have a lunch-at-Greenlife addiction in my future. :) 

Side note: If you haven’t already checked out Tobi’s blog and Etsy store, you must do so! She is so talented! 

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Saturday afternoon brought with it a baby shower for sweet Amber Read! She and Jeff are having a baby girl soon, little Tori, and we are so excited for them! 

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Alana enjoyed the shower, and, I do not exaggerate, had everyone’s attention the entire time with her little smiles and waves. It is becoming oh-so-apparent to Rich and I that she is a VERY social baby, who is not the least bit shy, and genuinely wants to be friends with everyone.

Along with the smile and wave, she now spits at people. It’s a game we’ve played at our house for a few months now (click here for a video), but suddenly, she is including complete strangers in the little exchange. Needless to say, I have to walk around explaining that the spitting is in fact, a good thing, and a game that we play at our house. Then I proceed to apologize for my daughter spitting at their child, and so far, thankfully, we all end up laughing about it. 

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Okay, whew! Then on Saturday night, excited for some family time, we headed off to our brand new Red Robin at Hamilton Place Mall! We’d heard people rave about the burgers, fries, and milkshakes, but we’d never been to a Red Robin.

Since they just opened on Labor Day there were balloons everywhere. So, I grabbed one and handed it to Rich for Alana. She’d never touched one before, and we cracked up watching her try to apprehend the pesky thing! It just kept popping out of her hands and bopping her in the face! 

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Family love! 

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Then it was into the mall for shoe shopping for Rich! As a photographer, he spend hours upon hours on his feet and we are on an extensive (perhaps never-ending) quest for ultra-comfy (but still cool-looking) shoes for him!

Our first (and only) stop was Aldo, and the Canadian based company can seriously produce some sweet shoes! 

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While Rich looked around, Alana and I played around with some self-portraits! 

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Then Alana decided she would help her daddy pick out his shoes! He totally appreciated her input and got the shoes that she is picking out here: 

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She was very helpful :)

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He is such an amazing dad, and I seriously MELT watching him with Alana. He’s in love with her. 

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Alright. That was SO fun catching up on my blogging! That’s all for now, but I’ve had all kinds of things floating around in my mind, so I am sure I will feel the need to blog more soon, pictures or not! 

mobility, happiness, and not much weight gain…

I wanted to give a quick update on Alana’s weight….we had her 9 month pediatrician visit last week and sadly, she went from the 7th percentile in weight (which was obviously already very low) to being off the chart (on the low end) altogether. This poor little girl just doesn’t gain very much, or very fast. At 9 months, she is only 14 pounds 2 ounces, which doesn’t even reside on the curve of average infant statistics.

I just keep telling myself that as long as she looks and acts normal and healthy then she probably is. The Dr. gave me formula to supplement, but I am already giving her solids and I’m still nursing, so she is always full after that and won’t take the formula (nor do I really want to give it to her, as I feel nursing and solids should be sufficient). 

Anyway, if I have any blog readers who want to give me their 2 cents about Alana’s age and weight, please feel free to share your experiences! Is the scale of average/healthy weight on the high end in America because we have lots of fat babies, or is truly a legitimate indicator of healthy ranges for babies? Either way, I know that all babies are different and I am not too concerned. It’s just that this is my first time dealing with these issues and it’s all so intriguing! 

Okay, moving on! I have pictures to post! 

Did you all know that Cheerios are very serious business??? Check out the unwavering focus here! 

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I really think Alana is a much happier baby now that she’s mobile. She laughs and smiles about ten times more than she did when she was confined by her developmental level! Now, with strength, balance, and honed motor skills, she’s just basking in the possibilities!  

(Notice the cheerio chillin’ on her bum) :)

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Mouthful of cheerios! 

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A couple photos of Kellie time from this past week! 

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(hats are so fun)

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This was taken at Kellie’s house in a pile of fabric. We were crafting, and since Alana was so interested in all of our fabric, we let her sit right in the middle of a pile that had just been washed. 

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The next thing I knew, she had the tape measure in her mouth and was making a hilarious face. Ah, so cute. 

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A few days ago, Alana attempted to crawl underneath her Exersaucer to retrieve a Gerber Puff (that I didn’t even know was there, and it was probably completely stale). As soon as she reached it, she put it in her mouth and then realized her plight…

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…she was stuck! She started crying immediately, and I could tell she was scared. So I quickly snapped a photo and then carefully extracted her. I think I am her hero now. Now, if I can just figure out a way to maintain this status throughout her childhood and into her teen years… :)

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Just some mommy-’Lana time from a couple of days ago…

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Then on Wednesday we had a lunch date with Steve, Shannon, and Baby Foy. We enjoyed good food and even better company! Foy is just two months younger than Alana, and the two of them were so cute. Foy even tried Cheerios for the first time! Now that is monumental! 

Here is Shannon with Alana…

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And Rich with Foy…

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And the hideous parking lot self-portrait! But hey, we document regardless!!!

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Okay! Tomorrow we are off to a Labor Day pool party with friends and then off to his parents house for a cookout, so I am sure we will have more fun photos to post soon!

Until then, everybody have a great Labor Day tomorrow, and we will see you soon! 

quick tidbit…

Alana Mackenzie at nine months old…

I think words would just distract from the inherent cuteness of these photos :)

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Thank you honey, for beautifully documenting all of the various stages and seasons of our little Alana’s life. This, the stage of exploration! 

hey, I got my new shoes on…

Today Alana and I spent a fun, relaxing day with Kellie (I will be blogging about it later tonight on my craft blog!) It was a nice change to the busy week we had…and we even bought Alana’s first pair of shoes ever! 

Kellie took this photo when we got back to her house…she’s been taking lessons from Rich and she’s getting SO good! 

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Then Rich took some photos when he got home from work this afternoon, and well, she was just TOO cute!

We sat and played with some grass because Alana didn’t want to stand up…I think she will need to get used to the feel of shoes on her feet…all she’s ever known is barefooted freedom or warm cozy socks! But since I know she’ll be walking VERY soon, I thought it logical to go ahead and introduce some soft pliable shoes, letting her get accustomed to them before they are a necessity!   

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Target came through for us once again! :)

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She really started to seem more open to the whole idea before too long…

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Grass is very enthralling! 

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Looking at her daddy with her big blue eyes! 

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Happy Birthday, Dear Honey…

Tuesday was my sweetheart’s birthday. It was also little Alana’s 9 month birthday!

When Rich got home from work, he experimented a bit with a new lens he got in the mail. Alana was the subject, of course! He also had some fun with the post-processing, using some really cool texturing and I love the result! 

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To celebrate Rich’s birthday, we took our sweet friend Dawn up on her offer to come babysit while we enjoyed dinner out. I fed Alana and put her down, and Rich and I headed downtown to try a new steakhouse we’d never been to. Rich brought his camera and set the timer to take the photo below. I love the photo, because it really captured the mood of the evening for us. We were both pretty tired, pretty low-key, and just enjoying each other’s company.

Special events are a bit different this year than they’ve ever been, with dates being fewer and farther between and most of our time spent at any given meal is focused on Alana. We almost find ourselves wondering what our lives consisted of before the baby and before the business! I feel that this is somewhat a redefining season for our marriage, and we are attempting to balance all of life’s new demands.

To be honest and fair, I don’t think we’re doing a great job. Don’t get me wrong; we love each other like crazy…it’s just that it looks a little different than it used to. But the point is, we want to learn from this season. We want to walk away with more wisdom, more patience, and more love and laughter. We want to love our little one with our whole hearts, but to make sure that we love God and each other first. We are doing Alana a huge disservice if we fail to love and prioritize each other…to work to make our marriage the best that it can be. We fail to live up to our vows if we let the stress and craziness (of the business and new parenthood) get the best of our appreciation and devotion to each other. 

And so, when I look at this photo, it inspires me to cherish my husband. It challenges me to strive for what we have. It encompasses the love that we have for each other, but it also spurs me on to rediscover love in this season of life as well.

And so, this concludes my musings on the evening. :) Thank you again to my mom for the awesome birthday shirt that Rich is wearing!

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These are a few detail shots that Rich took while we were out. The food was delicious! 

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Back at home, we chatted with Dawn, thanked her profusely, and after saying goodbye to her, we ate our dessert and Rich opened his birthday gifts.

All in all, I think Rich had a very enjoyable birthday. I just hope he knows how much I love him. 

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wedding travels…

Hooray for weekends in Atlanta! 

Rich had a wedding in Atlanta this weekend, and since last week was our anniversary, Alana and I happily accompanied him to be able to spend some time together! 

The bride and groom were Monique and Jeremiah, a beautiful, super fun couple that we have had the pleasure to get to know this year. Rich will post a wedding blog soon, but you can see their engagement photos here if you would like! 

We drove down on Saturday morning and spent a leisurely day together, checking in to our hotel, catching some Olympic coverage, scouting out the wedding location, and then grabbing dinner at a nearby restaurant! 

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Alana cracks me up…she sees the camera and immediately looks at me to see what I am doing ;) 

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Sweet Pea…

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Sleepy Sweet Pea ;)

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Alana found this mirror in the hotel room and, after smiling at herself, decided to give a slimy, wet kiss to her new friend. So cute. 

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Since Rich was shooting all day on Sunday and Alana and I didn’t need to be at the wedding until 4, we stopped at a local Target (one of our favorite places!) to grab some baby things we needed.

We also had a chance to sit and enjoy Starbucks together. Okay, Alana had Gerber Puffs while I savored a Decaf Soy Latte. It was fun girl time. I truly love spending time with little Alana. She is so sweet, and incessantly makes me laugh out loud! 

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The wedding was beautiful and I can’t wait to see the photos. We flopped into bed late Sunday night, exhausted and ready to sleep!

On our way home this morning, we stopped at a Chick-Fil-A for some quick breakfast, and it turned out to be the original location, called the “Dwarf House.” So, being the self-portrait-obsessed people that we are, we knew it was time to snap a few photos ;) I love Alana’s face in this photo! 

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I don’t know the story behind the name of this Chick-Fil-A or why this dwarf door exists, but I am sure it has an interesting tale. We were in a hurry to get back so we didn’t spend any time reading all the literature inside about the history and origin of the restaurant, but it was a fun stop nonetheless. 

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And so, that was a recap of our weekend, and I would like to give a shout out to Monique and Jeremiah! Congratulations on your wedding! We are so happy for you two and were so honored to be part of your day!

four years ago today…

Four years ago today Rich and I stood and promised each other forever.

In light of our anniversary, I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite (cheesy and non-cheesy) photos of our years together. :)

This first photo was taken my our sweet friend Kate soon after we were engaged. I think we look like little kids! 

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This is a sampling of the engagement photos we had taken. Rich and I laugh SO hard when we look at these. This is (obviously) prior to Rich becoming a photographer, before we even knew that lifestyle photography existed. Sigh.

So here we are in front of a multicolored pastel drop-cloth in the JC Penney Studio. Wow.

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A photo from four years ago…

Rich and Heather at Fountain 

One from our honeymoon cruise…

Interior of Ship 

And these are just a random sampling of the past four years…

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(Two photos below by Holritz Photography)

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(Photo by Davina Fear)

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(Photo by Charles Bordner)

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(Photo by Holritz Photography)

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(Two photos below by Holritz Photography)

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Happy Anniversary my love.

My best friend, my encourager, my soul mate.

I love you. 

as of late…

If I was being graded on frequency of blog posts lately, I think I’d deserve a “C.”

Thankfully, blogging is on a post-when-you-have-the-time basis, and that’s just one of the things that I love about it.

Things have been crazy around here with a highly mobile baby, out of town visitors, loads of bookkeeping catch-up, and just the general day-to-day tasks that vie for one’s attention. Forgive me, mom! I know you want bi-weekly blog postings of your little ‘Lana!

I feel tired just thinking about the havoc that Alana has imposed on the house! Ha! But I’ll start with a photo of her sweet little innocent face! She is becoming very social, and now smiles waves at everyone she sees in public! 

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This is how I am able to cook dinner. This ExerSaucer has been so good to me…it maintains her attention just long enough to allow me to get a meal on the table, and then she’s done. It is serving us well :)

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This wonderful little contraption has also elicited it’s fair share of entertainment. Alana seems to laugh more readily when she’s in this swing for some reason. I put her in, get down on my hands and knees, and it doesn’t take much to get her cracking up. 

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We’ve had loads of “firsts” lately also. This is Alana a couple of weeks ago with her first teething biscuit and sippy cup. She’s come to love both, and I rely on them often when I need an occupied baby. :)

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About two days after she started crawling, she began pulling herself up on any and all furniture and balancing incredibly well. I think she’ll be walking…um, soon ;)

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Another first: Cheerios! It was love at first taste. Now they’re indispensable to the diaper bag. 

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…And she LOVES lemon! No funny faces, no reaction except to squeal for more. It was anticlimactic the first time we gave her one, as we had the video running, waiting for a hilarious reaction. It never came!

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She’s also been getting into our trash can whenever she can…why, oh why is this appealing? Empty bottles and used tissues and toilet paper rolls…

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And here she is in the kitchen, so proud of herself for traversing the house. 

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And she’s found the DVD collection! So now my daily chores consist of picking up dozens of DVD’s from all over the living room floor. 

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Moving on for more destruction! 

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She’s trying to master the steps in our home but so far seems to think she can’t maneuver them. 

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My loves…

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Hanging out at home… 

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Friday night was Ben and Shanika’s wedding. It was fun and beautiful, and we are so excited for them. Shanika was a beautiful bride, and Ben such a loving groom. For those of you who know Ben and Shanika, you must check out their wedding blog that Rich just posted!

And a special thank you to Jason and Kellie for staying with Alana so that I could fullly enjoy the wedding. It was wonderful!!!

And thank you so much to my honey for these shots of Shanika and I :) 

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I was happy to get quick self-portrait with the busy photographer ;) 

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Then on Sunday, Jeff and Jackie had baby Adeline dedicated and we were happy to join them at their church for the special occasion. Thank you to my wonderful mother in law for these photos! 

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Baby Alana: 8 Month Session!!!

Once again, here is a view of our family through the lens of Amber Holritz. Alana has changed so much since her 6 month session that we knew it was time to document her again! 

Enjoy just a few here, but then be sure to head on over to Holritz Photography to see the rest! Click through the gallery view and then turn up your speakers and enjoy the slideshow!  

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Yes, that is another canvas gallery wrap of one of Amber’s photos…we absolutely love displaying Amber’s work in our home! It’s my favorite way to decorate! 

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Rich offering Alana a Gerber Puff - a newfound treat!

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She’s crawling!!! Now, if I can just keep her from destroying herself…and the house! 

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Amber and Alana :) The necessary self-portraiture! 

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nap shenanigans!

oh, wow. 

You may remember my last blog post; I was talking about Alana learning to sit up in her crib last week, and Rich lowering it to keep her safe.

Well, the very next day, I walked in the nursery to comfort a crying Alana and this was what I found: 

Oh ya, she is standing!

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And so, for the second time in two days, Rich lowered the crib a level.

Who knew that she would sit up in her crib (for the first time) one day, and then stand (for the first time) the next? Apparently, we are on the baby mobility fast track, and I’m a little flustered! 

Then, today, I came in the nursery to find her standing again, this time, looking for the paci that she had thrown through the crib slats. Oh, this should be a fun new game. I feel tired just thinking about it :)

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And just minutes ago I checked on her and this was what I found:

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How sad! I carefully lowered her to a laying position and hoped that she’d stay asleep. She’s such an incredibly light sleeper. It seemed to have worked, but goodness, if there is a way to get the child to nap when I put her in the crib, that would be great! I didn’t realize how easy I had it before she got to be so busy! 

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With this newfound freedom, there has been a lot going on in the crib, but not a whole lot of sleeping ;)