We have a WALKER

Last Sunday, January 24th, Grant and I witnessed Piper take 4 steps completely by herself. She has been standing up, pushing toys, walking around holding onto furniture, but these 4 steps were all by herself. Her teachers have been telling me that she has been taking steps every day and my mom, Birdie, witnessed about 5-6 steps a couple times over the past couple of days, but she hasn't shown off like she did tonight.

As of today, February 3rd....WE OFFICIALLY HAVE A WALKER (a little over 11 and half months old)!! And I couldn't be more proud or excited. People say that life changes when you have a walker, but they also said that about a crawler and I only found life to be more fun and entertaining at that milestone. Tonight, she first walked to me while I in the kitchen. She took about 15 steps and I couldn't believe it. I didn't have my camera, but offered big hugs and a cookie. Not sure that's allowed in the proverbial parenting handbook, but this Momma didn't care (and neither did Piper...girl has a sweet tooth like her Momma).

We are so proud of you, Piper, and we look forward to more fun milestones. You continue to make us smile and laugh so hard every. single. day. We look forward to celebrating your first birthday 1 week from this Friday.

11 months- What will probably be the last monthly post

As I previously stated, I'm not a writer and I don't enjoy writing. I force myself to write these posts so that I can look back over the past year and remember some particular moments of Piper and where we have been. It is quite amazing how fast things change and how quickly memories that don't seem so old are replaced with new and equally as wonderful memories. I just knew that I would remember her first everything and there was no need to write it down, but the truth is I couldn't tell you when she started sitting up right now without pulling it up on this blog (I have a baby book that I have neglected...even though I promised myself I wouldn't). So my guess is that this will be the last 'monthly' post-  I know, it's only 2 weeks late so who am I kidding anyway?

My next post will be about our 1 year old! There is a part of me that doesn't understand how that has happened, but another part that thinks back to the tears shed over not getting into any daycare and the uncertainty of what it would look like to go back to work. And that seems like 10 years ago. To say that I don't miss my baby would be a lie, but I LOVE, LOVE each day now. There is something new that happens each day. She is learning at an enormously high rate and her little sponge brain expresses itself through her eyes. There are some days that I could just sit and watch her take it all in. It is simply amazing. Julie and Katie came over to play with Piper on Sunday, January 16th and she showed them her drawer in the kitchen. She then wanted to show them her cabinet in the kitchen, but quickly realized that the cabinet couldn't open with the drawer out. To watch her figure that out and then problem solve to close the drawer in order to get the cabinet open left Julie and me with our jaws on the floor. How does she know that? It's those little things that you don't necessarily write down that I enjoy the most. Like how she has figured out how to get into her Pottery Barn chair and is so proud of herself or how she can now hit all of the balls through the holes (even without the mallet) on her block toy that Gma and Gpa gave her at Christmas. Or how she decided she wanted to hang out with us while we got ready one morning, but really wanted to play her grand piano so she pushed it from the den to our bedroom so she could play it for us. There are so many wonderful memories that didn't make it to this blog, but my hope and prayer is that between me and G we can remember and regurgitate these to each other at some point.

Piper continues to be a wonderful sleeper and we get her out her crib each morning around 7:30am. She generally is awake around 7-7:15am, but enjoys playing with her blabla dolls and waking up by herself in her crib until we come and get her. In a perfect world, Piper would get a morning nap around 9:30am, but that only happens on Saturday mornings as she is normally in daycare by that time on weekdays. She typically sleeps about 1-2 hours at Noon each day and is ready to pass out when we pick her up from daycare each day. She rarely makes it home awake and this new carseat is keeping me from not interrupting her afternoon nap. Some days she lets me move her to her crib and some days she will pop right up and be ready to play. As you can see, she still has little interest in wearing socks and usually can pull at least one off before passing out. 

She officially has a first word now...'Ball'. She loves a ball. She can throw it, put it on her head (to roll away), and to play with. Excuse the nudity in this video, but she was being a complete ham this night and I couldn't resist. 

She is now into EVERYthing. Cabinets, drawers, trashcans, you name it, she wants it. And what she doesn't want is you to clean out your bathroom cabinet and put her toy box in there because that is just not interesting enough. We daily play this game of 'Mom gets ready, Piper pulls everything out, Mom puts everything back into drawers and cabinets, time to go to school'. It's exhausting, but it's better than teething on the toilet (refer back to an earlier blog because that really happened) and for that I'm thankful. I am also thankful that these days I have decided that 'dirty hair, don't care' isn't just a fun saying and I only now wash/blowdry my hair a couple of times of week (okay, that's generous). 

 We have continued to love our new church (and by 'new' it's only because we just received our charter in December, it's not 'new' to us). Piper has always enjoyed getting dressed up, and I like it more. A couple of weeks ago when we got to the nursery (late) they told me they had just talked about how disappointed they were that Piper wasn't there. Welp. My heart grew more in that moment than our amazing preacher, Amos, could have made it grow with his sermon. They know she can't handle shoes and appreciate that I no longer force the issue. They didn't judge me when I forgot to feed her before church (and you shouldn't either) and had to run in during the service to tell them it was okay to feed her puffs if she fussed. Needless to say she didn't need any puffs. While the girl likes to eat, she rarely likes to fuss.

Daddy gets to dress Piper some (very few times if I have anything to do with it) mornings. Below is a product of such morning. Yes, her LeBron 'kicks' made their official debut on her 11th month birthday and her teachers couldn't have been more proud. 'Oh Piper Girl' They said just about every teacher from each room had to come see Piper's shoes that day. Hysterical to me. Piper ate it up, certainly. 

She found her burp cloth drawer and it's her favorite for the obvious reasons. Look at the velocity in which she can throw these things. And then a pile that big! My OCD tendencies have been tested in the most wonderful ways and she wins each time. If you were to open this drawer, for the first time in 10.5 months, these burp clothes would not be perfectly folded. And who the heck cares? Surely not this LeBron-shoe wearing girl. 

G has been helping his best friend, Jason Cochcroft, coach the White Knoll Varsity boys basketball team this season. While I have missed having him around in the afternoons to help with Piper and most Tuesday and Friday evenings I can see how much G loves being on the court. I think more importantly he loves working with these boys and helping them work towards their goals. I decided we would go watch Daddy's team take on Irmo on Piper's 11 month birthday (since it's such a special occasion, right?). She loved the excitement of it all...still sporting her LeBron's...in her Birdie's lap. Sounds like a perfect evening to me! 

Piper's new found loves are the swing, slide (a little unsure still), her Pop! Pop! Piano (her Nanny gave her for Christmas), clapping her hands while saying 'clap clap', and climbing up the stairs, She has started to wave and say 'byyyyyyye'. 

She has started to clear her plate onto the floor when she is done eating. It's so frustrating, but I try to just play along and just laugh with her. We spend quite a bit of time cleaning up now after every meal. This is new because she used to eat it all. Seriously, I would have to cut her off. She would have never thought to waste a calorie on the floor. I guess her belly is starting to get more normal (more like Daddy's and less like Mommy's).  Laundry is one of her favorite things to do with Momma, but she isn't very productive (quite the opposite). Good thing she looks cute hanging out with Momma on the floor to fold clothes. 

January 22nd weekend- we joined 13 friends and their 8 kids in Beaufort at The Glenn's family house. It was an amazing weekend to hang out with friends and their babies/kids. Piper, Graham, and Thomas were each sporting their favorite Baby Boden outfits so I couldn't resist a picture! 

We took this time to 'relax' without any plans. I feel like I got to spend some much needed quality time with Piper as well as my friends. Win-Win! 

Piper enjoyed playing with everyone's kiddos including Aunt Courtney and her Sadie. Kemper (5 months older than Piper) was obsessed with Piper and couldn't get enough of her. I LOVED watching them even if Piper wasn't so thrilled. Collins was such a big helper with Piper making sure she got her bottle. My heart seriously grew watching these kids interact. It was almost as good as the momma-time that we got both nights! 

All EIGHT kids five years old and younger. 

Collin, Lochlan, Kemper, Piper, Collins, Graham, Harper, Thomas

This girl makes me smile every single day and for that I'll be forever thankful. She very clearly said 'Mom' this morning while crawling into the bathroom looking for me. I heard it, but then really smiled when I heard G say 'did you just say 'Mom'?'. In full disclosure, she's been saying 'Dadadadadada' for a while now, but that doesn't count. Because it just doesn't. 

Piper continues to love bath time (every other night) and has SEVEN teeth (4 up top and 3 on the bottom). She enjoys playing with her toys and doesn't miss a meal (obviously,..that belly though). She loves to click/clack her tongue to make noises, crawl into our closet, watch Momma shower, unroll the toilet paper, crawl through tiny spaces (and 'fake baby cry' when she can't get through), and stand at the windows at the front door. Pi- you have already given us so much and we know there is so much more to what you have to offer. We talk about how much we love you everyday and it makes Momma and Daddy smile so much! We love you more than we could have ever imagined....even after the past few AWFUL diapers. 

New Year's Eve #BahamaMamas

Dad and Cyndi hosted another wonderful party in the Bahamas over NYE. It was a wonderfully relaxing time and I really enjoyed spending time with my family (including The Epps). One of my most favorite things about heading to the Bahamas is that I cut my phone off in Charlotte before we take off and I don't have phone, internet, or emails while gone. I did manage to get on Wifi on the boat one night to facetime with Mom and Piper.

 Signing off from Charlotte. Longest 4 nights away from Piper yet. And we made the best of it! 

We attended the NYE party hosted by the Atlantis. Dad and Cyndi gave us this for Christmas and it was a great gift. One of the biggest (700 people-ish) and craziest parties that I've ever been to! There were dancers and jumpers and roller skaters and bands and talent every direction that you could look. 

It was a sit down dinner and this was our dessert, which was edible. Picture worthy!

Then there was dancing, dancing, and more dancing. I actually danced so hard that I lost the sole of my shoe. Literally!

What a fun family to bring in 2015 with. 

We stayed at The Cove at the Atlantis and this was our view. Each day I tried to spend sometime being thankful for everything. Sometimes life gets too crazy and I don't always sing the praises that I should, but I tried to focus on this bringing in the new year. 

We took the boat out so that we could ride the jet ski and get away from the Atlantis one day. I'm not sure who suggested that we jump off the top of a perfectly good boat, but we did and I'm not sure why. It was crazy high and I was scared to death! But Grant did it and he is afraid of heights and I couldn't be shown up by him. 

Thank you, Dad and Cyndi, for an amazing trip to the Bahamas to celebrate New Years. Thank you, Birdie and Bogey and Gigi and Pappy, for taking care of our sweet pea so we could have some grown up time. It was much needed! 

Piper did start standing up by herself while we are gone. 10 days shy of 11 months and you never cease to amaze us. We love you, Pi. 

Christmas has a new spirit

They say kids make Christmas more fun and I agree, but there was a new spirit that surrounded our family this Christmas. The miracle of a baby somehow made a lot more sense to me. A baby alone is so miraculous, but born in a manager to a virgin mother to save us? Absolutely amazing and I have never been so thankful. I felt my spirit restored this Christmas every time I looked at Piper and that is what made Christmas more fun for me this year.

Piper didn't care about her presents. Not to say she hasn't enjoyed them now, but she didn't open a present and her face light up like I watched her cousins do (especially when I gave Avery a microphone on a stand- you would have thought I gave her a sparkly unicorn that flew in from Antarctica), but Christmas was more fun for me this year than it ever has been. From picking out the tree to Santa coming 2 days early.

As Christmas approached, I loved capturing Piper sitting by the Christmas tree each morning. It made me stop and thank God each morning for my many blessings. 

Piper enjoyed rocking in the rocking chair that my mom had when she was little when celebrating Christmas at Nanny's house. 

On Dec 20th our high school girlfriends got together to enjoy each other and have our kids play together. I'm so thankful for these girls even though our lives have taken us in different directions. Shannon hosted us in Blythewood where we all grew up and it was just like old times. Tripp and Piper 'flirted' with each other all night....it was hilarious to watch. Piper loved playing with Allie because she made her feel like the big girl at the party. Absolutely adorable.

Piper finally got to meet Santa for the first time at the Riverbanks Zoo. Mom had Brady and Avery so we took advantage of a cold/rainy night that had the zoo almost empty. Luckily we had Santa to ourselves because the only way Avery was getting anywhere close is if Grant sat on his lap!

I had to work in Charlotte on Christmas Eve so Santa came to visit a couple of days early. Since I was interrogated by Brady about how Santa comes early I'm super glad that it was because I wrote a letter asking him to come to make sure Piper didn't miss her first Christmas since we would be spending the night at Gigi's house. 

I think Santa did pretty good, but Piper's favorite was the tags on the clothes. That's about right. 

Our Christmas Eve tradition has been to go to Mama and Papa's house for as long as I can remember. It is has evolved and changed quite a bit, but I couldn't love watching these kids play together more! 

We left Mama and Papa's to go Gigi and Pappy's house to spend the night. We had a great time celebrating with their friends and catching up with family. We went to mass (Piper slept most of the time with her candy cane) and came back to open presents. Again, Piper wasn't overly excited about presents but LOVES Gigi's library room. 

Christmas Day we headed to Charlotte to celebrate with my Dad, Cyndi, Cross and Gillis

Piper and Gma

One of Piper's favorite toys is this flying hamburger that she got from MeeMaw (Cyndi's mom). She laughs so hard when it goes everywhere. She also loves her rocking dragonfly. Brady enjoyed showing her how to use it.

Piper loves being tickled. Aunt Sassy was getting her and then Avery wanted in on the action. Too cute not to post! 

Friday morning (the morning after Christmas) couldn't have been any better. It was 7:00am and we had a bed full of the cutest kids in the world. They love being together, but apparently Piper doesn't like sharing her morning momma snuggles. 

Birdie and Bogey came up to Charlotte on Friday and we enjoyed even more Christmas. As usual, they spoiled us all completely rotten, but Piper can't wait for her Daddy to take her on a bike ride in her new seat. 

Piper's favorite toy was actually given to Avery. (Luckily she agreed to 'store' it at our house in Columbia so Piper continues to play it). 

We gave Avery a trampoline (thank you Ben and Bogey for putting together the next day). All 3 kids loved playing on it! And it was thankfully exhausting. 

On the way home from Charlotte we got to hold another sweet gift of Christmas. My best friend Jennifer had her sweet Anne Stuart on December 22nd and what a gift she is. I couldn't even remember holding Piper when she was this tiny (well she was never this tiny....born at 9lbs 3oz)

We were spoiled rotten by all of our wonderful families, but what an amazing Christmas this was for our family. Grant and I talked and reflected many times over the month how thankful we are that our Lord and Savior sent his only Son to be born in a manager to save us all. To allow us to live this life. I can't wait to continue to tell Piper about her Savior and read the Christmas story to her each year. 

We love you, Piper Grace. Thank you for renewing the spirit of Christmas!!