Milestones

Milestones take on a whole new meaning with an *almost* six month old (tomorrow to be exact, but who is counting). I had personally decided to not take Piper's milestones too seriously regarding on when they occurred and really try not to compare her to other babies. But I have been surprised by how much I love each stage and each new milestone that we hit. Piper will turn 6 months tomorrow and I do worry that I haven't written in her baby book enough and I don't write down every little thing that she is doing, but I can rest assured that I am living in the moment with this sweet girl. My favorite milestone so far has been her belly laugh.

 It's even better than her smile and that's really hard to beat. I can be having a crummy day and as soon as I hear that uncontrollable laugh all else is lost in the world, perspective is brought back, and I quickly forget about the insignificant issue that has me selfishly in a bad mood. Her life, short as it has been, has brought so much perspective to my life and I am so thankful for that. My next favorite milestone has been her ability to sit up. She seems to enjoy playing with toys more and she is now so observant and is content just looking around.

We got to visit my friend Brannon and her daughter Reagan in Atlanta on July 21st. It is so fun and special to spend some times with my friends and their kids. It is still very surreal! Seems like yesterday we were in college.

On Saturday, July 26th we enjoyed just being home in Columbia. We started our day at Soda City with Julie, then we went for our first boat cruise, and ended our day in the pool at Gma and Gpa's house. It was a busy day, but it is so nice to spend some quality time with this sweet girl. 

 Piper's first boat ride was obviously a success, but only after the boat stopped and we took her life vest off. She hated it and it did fit her awkwardly. We tried 3 different ones so we will probably wait until she is a little bigger for our next boat ride. On Sunday, we just relaxed and I took in some extra snuggles with my girl. We did go over and swim at Birdie and Bogey's house. Piper is really enjoying the pool!

 When she is not in the pool, she does a great job of just hanging out with us outside!

 Piper loves her toes! They are in her mouth more than they aren't right now.

 July 31st was her last day with KatBird who has been keeping her this summer. I am so thankful that God brought us KatBird. I wasn't sure what this summer was going to look like and I really didn't want her in daycare at 3 months old when I had to return to work. KatBird was a perfect fit and Piper LOVED her. Each morning when she arrived Piper would smile so big that it made my heart melt. We are excited that KatBird is a senior at Hammond this year and can come sit for us anytime! Look at our big girl who enjoys standing with some help.

Piper started daycare on Friday, August 1st. The daycare-admission struggles are real. We have not gotten into any of my top choices for childcare since getting on the wait list last August (when I was 12 weeks pregnant) so we are at Incarnation Lutheran. Honestly it wasn't a top choice because of the location (it's about 10 minutes from our house). We have now completed a full week and we love it! Ms. Georgette is her teacher and she Piper sent me a text message on the first day letting me know things were going good. Piper has maintained her normal 'schedule' except she sleeps from the moment we pick her up for about 2-3 hours. Girl is exhausted from playing so hard. I miss being able to spend time with her during those hours, but we still play before bedtime.

 We headed to Charleston on Saturday, August 2nd-Tuesday, August 5th for a pharmacy conference. I really didn't want to be away from Piper that long so I begged Grant to come down and he is so wonderful and did. Before we left, I took some sweet pictures of Piper. She is changing sizes so we are officially wearing new clothes daily. It's so fun to pull new things out of the closet.

I played around with a bow (yes, so obnoxiously big), but Piper was having none of that! She ripped it out almost immediately. We will try again soon! 

 Birdie and Bogey came down to join us and we are so thankful that they did. It made our trip more enjoyable. We spent some time in downtown Charleston and spent one afternoon out at Bull's Bay Golf Club. Piper loved being out there and watching Daddy golf!

 Packing to stay in a hotel with a 5+ (yes I refuse to use that 6 number until I have to) month old is not terribly fun, but we made the best of it. Daddy even got on the floor and played with Pi.

 Piper is now standing up. She isn't pulling up yet, but she will stand at her play table. (August 8th- 5 days shy of 6 months)

 On Saturday, August 9th we had a cookout at our friends', Shayne and Lindsey Hilton, house out in Chapin. Our friends Adam and Meredith Bugenske joined us with the sweet boy Leo who has SMA Type 1. August is SMA awareness month and we lit a candle (along with many people in the SMA family) at 8:00pm and Grant led us in prayer. What a special moment for our friends. We love Leo and he could not be any sweeter!

 Sundays are my favorite day of the week. We enjoy spending some quality family time together at church and brunch...and Piper gets to wear her sweet bonnet. This week we had brunch with Gigi and Pappy and Grant's Aunt Elaine and Uncle Paul.

I put you to bed tonight, Piper Grace, and kissed you at least 1000 times. You make my life brighter and make me a better person. You make momma and daddy so happy and we are so thankful God chose you to be ours!