Playing real life dress up

So it's true what they say about how fun it is to dress little girls. I spent last Saturday cleaning out and packing up all of Piper's Newborn, 0-3 months, and 3 months clothes (she is already out of most of them). I realized how crazy it is to spend good money on these clothes that she grows out of so fast. I feel like we almost missed all of her 3 month clothing because she grew like a weed. Her torso is so long that she is already a little snug in 3-6 month items that snap at the bottom. But boy do I like putting new outfits on her. It is just so fun and she is a great model. She continues to grow so fast and I want to document all of the fun things that she is doing. My friend, Brannon, had her little girl on May 29th at 33 weeks!! Reagan Elizabeth was 4lbs 10oz and she and her sweet mom are doing well. Since she hasn't even had all of her showers yet, she hasn't gotten a baby book so I put one in the mail to her to receive on Tuesday. I told her it really is true how much you forget. But the more I thought about it, you don't forget it, you just replace those memories with all of the new 'firsts' that they are currently doing. Piper changes literally EVERY day and I love to see her do new things, but I want to make sure that I can remember all of the things she used to do, too.

She is 'chewing' on everything. Hands, Leila, my finger, her wirey toy that she loves. Doesn't matter. It's going in her mouth.  I don't think it's teething yet, but I could be wrong. 

Monk Monk was the first toy that she deliberately would pick up and play with.

May 23rd (3 months, 10 days) at Birdie's house Piper does her first push-up. Okay, not really, but look at our strong girl who HATES tummy time! 

Our morning routine changes everyday depending on my work schedule. She always eats at 7:00am. Some days I'm ready before that and some days I get ready after that. Either way, she gets into bed with Daddy and plays. It never gets old watching these 2. 

 I'm currently on my 2nd FitBit. I lost my first one and Grant gave me another for my birthday. It's like a sophisticated pedometer, but now that me, mom, and Ashley each have one and we can track each other online it seems to have become a competition! Piper enjoys walks so it's a win-win. We like to walk and meet Birdie especially when Birdie is keeping her that day. I love living close to my mom!

The first present that Piper received was from Julie and Katie Jones and it was this sweet onesie. I paired it with some jorts and she officially looked like a boy. Daddy said never again. Jorts are in the garbage.

 (it's amazing how many people call her a boy even when she is in a pink dress. what's up with that?)

 I had to work on Memorial Day, but we spent the afternoon by Birdie's pool. This is a 6 month bathing suit that I bought her from Target for July 4th. It obviously won't make it until then as we had a tough time getting in and out of it at 3 months 13 days (May 26th). Nanny came to visit with Piper, too!

 And when the sun went down, we finally climbed into the pool for the first time. She didn't really cry, but didn't seem over excited about it either. I think she was trying to figure it out. I sent Ashley a snapchat of Piper in the pool and Brady sends us the video back. Melt my heart. Seriously, he is THE cutest.

Piper is still taking down 6oz bottles in less than 10 minutes (easy) and she is holding onto the bottle now. Girl likes to eat. And drool. She is sleeping on her stomach 100% now. She adjusted to the crib with no swaddle with no problem. I still put her on her back and she just rolls right over to her stomach. She either hikes her right leg up (which is how I sleep) or she tucks her knees up under her and her bottom is in the air. I could watch her all night! We rock at night and read some books. She seems to enjoy looking at the colors in the pages. She goes down anytime between 9-11pm depending on our schedule and starts stirring around 7am. THANK YOU, PIPER, FOR BEING A GOOD SLEEPER!! (Yes, I'm screaming that)

 While she still takes a paci to soothe, she consistently sucks the outside of her hand (side of pinky). Mom says this is exactly what I did. It never ceases to amaze me that she is my child. I still pinch myself. It's these little things that she does that I did as a child that make me stop and thank God for the gift of new life.

 We stroll to Za's for dinner at least once per week. Piper does great and it is nice for Momma and Daddy to get out (and increase my steps on my FitBit).  Our sweet girl is getting so big. She 'talks' a lot now too.

                                     We love you more than the whole world and back again, PG.

Birdfest!!

Birdfest is one of our favorite Saturdays of the year and this year was no exception (May 17th)! Birdfest is a celebration of a mule named 'Bird' who passed away 12 years ago and is celebrated every year with blue grass music, libations, and fellowship (no we are not nerdy bird watchers and this festival has nothing to do with birds....unless you are with Jay Keck). It's hosted at a hunting farm in Pinewood, SC which is about 5 minutes from Birdie and Bogey's farm in Rimini. Birdie took all 3 kids on down to GeeChee Cottage on Friday morning and we came down after work. Saturday morning, we were joined by Ashley and Ben, Jay, Natalie, and Rowan, and Valerie and Tim. The weather was beautiful and the music was great!

Piper enjoyed napping most of the day which was fine by me. I got to enjoy some time with Brady and Avery and visit with friends. It's always great to see friends that we don't get to hang out with regularly like Amy, Aaron, Emory, Watson, Boland, and Anna West Dupree. Piper also got to meet Boo's daughter, Katherine Marie Kubas, who was born on Piper's due date and Piper was born on her due date! Love the Beaufort Bonnets!!

We had such a great time. And by SUCH a great time, check out Grant's leg when Natalie told them to pose for a picture. 

 Rowan and Brady hit it off and played so well together. It was so fun for Brady to have a friend to see the horses, dogs, and dance with. And they included Avery a lot...not that she would have it any other way!

Avery is quiet the dancer (and the 'bird flap' is a her thing). Brady...not so much. Apparently he has 2 left feet. Love these sweet kiddos! 

Goodbyes are never easy, but it takes the sting out a little when they are dressed alike :)

Thank you, Birdie and Bogey, for hosting us for such a fun weekend! We look forward to next year already! 

I was wrong....

She is my daughter.

She just wanted to prove me wrong and busted out of her swaddle last night. So there. She will be unswaddled tonight and we'll see how this goes.

(She did great in her crib again last night. She woke up at 5:45am and cried for about 5 mins and went back to sleep. She did that again at 6:38am. We don't want to go in her room until after 7:00am. It's currently 7:02am and she is back asleep and has turned completely around in her crib)

I'll take it!

3 months (1 week late)

Tomorrow Piper will be 3 months and 1 week, but better late than never. Just yesterday I was with mom and Ashley and we went back to through her blog of Brady and Avery to see what all they were doing at 3 months. It was so fun to be able pull up those sweet faces and remember those fun times when they were just wee ones like my sweet Piper. It does, for real, happen SOOO fast.

We've stayed so busy and she hasn't missed a beat. She spent her first night last night in her crib. She was still swaddled, but it was the first night out of her rock n play and she did GREAT! She woke up at 6:00am but went right back down and slept until 7:00am. We will be dropping the swaddle shortly, but we didn't want to disturb too much, too fast. She is rolling from her back to her stomach almost daily now. Her favorite way to sleep for naps is on her side. We lay her on her back and she immediately rolls to her side. This morning, she rolled right over to her stomach and had a great nap. (I know this means we must drop the swaddle, but she is actually in the miracle blanket and we wrap her so tight that I don't worry about her busting out of it in the next week)

A rough estimate of her current daily schedule:
-Wakes up between 7-8:30am (slept until 8:45am the morning after Birdfest. Bless her little heart)
-Eats immediately (she is currently still breastfeeding in the morning and night...we will hold onto that for as long as we can)
-plays, tummy time (which she HATES), and watches mom blow dry her hair
-Naps about an hour and half after she wakes up so 8:30-10:00
-11:00am- 6 oz bottle of breastmilk
- plays with either Katbird, Mary Shadler, or Birdie
-Nap
-2:00pm-6 oz bottle of formula (I'm only pumping twice per day for a total of about 7 ounces)
-more play time
-Naps for a LONG afternoon nap. Usually 2-3 hours.
-5:30-6:00pm- 6 oz bottle of formula
-plays with momma and daddy, more of that dreaeded tummy time
-quick nap
-8:30pm- breastfeeds
-plays, quick nap
-10:30- breastfeeds plus is offered a 2 oz bottle of formula which she usually takes at least an ounce.We will be dropping this feeding anytime now and start offering the 2 oz at 8:30pm and putting her down then.
(PLEASE DON'T CURSE FOR ME FOR WRITING THIS) And then she sleeps through the night!

She is still such a smiley girl and loves her hands. She has started to babble so much and loves talking with momma and daddy. She still loves her bath and her daddy! She is now sitting in her bumbo seat (much better than she did at 10 weeks- it's amazing the difference 2 weeks makes). Grant and I often talk about how good she is. She just has the best personality and seems pretty laid back...must have gotten that from G.
4.24.14- 10 weeks old
First time in the bumbo seat. Not quite ready.

4.25.14- Friday night at the ballpark to cheer on the Gamecocks

Ray Tanner and his daughter Maggie loved Piper!! They couldn't get enough. Piper was supposed to go back the next day with her daddy since I was hosting a baby shower for Brannon, but she refused the bottle and Grant was too frustrated to get there. The bottle fight was tough, but we won and I was able to go to the Bahamas after all. Apparently she was picky about the temperature and is now over that as well. Bottle issues are now a thing of the past-THANK YOU, LORD! But she was the cuter bottle fighter ever (see picture of her dressed and ready to go to baseball game below)! That Saturday night, we hosted a cook-out and we had 13 kids! So much fun and all of the little girls loved watching Piper in the swing. I just love our group of friends. They are all simply amazing and such a support system for us. Grant was in charge of the grill all night. After the last people left and I had cleaned the kitchen I found him upstairs in the nursery like this. 

Being a daddy and a grill master is hard work! 

4.27.14- First time wearing mom's outfit to church

4.29.14- My 31st birthday. G and I went to dinner at Cellar on Greene while Gigi and Pappy kept Piper

 I left Piper overnight for the first time on May 1st for 2 nights in the Bahamas. It was a great trip and I did just fine knowing Piper was in great hands with her daddy, Birdie, and Gigi. I couldn't wait to get home and visit with her. I kept she and Avery up in Charlotte while the boys enjoyed the Wells Fargo golf tournament. Avery loves Piper (which sounds like 'Bubble' when she says her name)

5.4.14

5.5.14 My first day back to work. I couldn't wait to get home to this girl! 5.8.14 - 12 weeksP and A modeling their Yala PJs

I had such a GREAT Mother's Day! We spent Saturday by Birdie and Bogey's pool and then Sunday by Gma and Gpa's pool. We got to spend a lot of time with Bravery (Brady and Avery). I noticed Brady playing with Piper and overheard him say 'Piper, I love you so much' MELT MY HEART

Piper got to spend some time with her great grandparents- Mama and Papa. 

May 13, 2014  THREE MONTHS OLD

We celebrated Piper by walking to Za's for dinner. She enjoys being outside just like her momma and daddy. This has been the most amazing 3 months of my life. I'm so thankful that God chose me to be Piper's mom. And her daddy loves her more than I could have ever imagined. I love watching their interactions. 

Piper Grace- we love you more than the whole world and back again.