Pictures, Pictures, Pictures....

Winnie had a blast this morning getting her 6month pictures taken. We were so pleased at how much she smiled and put up with us changing her clothes over and over again. Yesterday we played dress-up trying to figure out what she was going to wear for the pictures and at one point she looked at me thinking "mom, are we done yet?". Of course I was trying to find the "perfect" outfits to bring out her eyes, look good with the backgrounds and be sentimental...goodness! One of the outfits is the dress she wore for her baby dedication in March, and very sentimental (my Grandfather Saylor and mom both wore for their christenings). The little blue dress was mine as a child and she is actually wearing it backwards, it looked better (haha). She is also styling one of the headbands that Mary made her, too cute!! LOVE the beachy dress, my friend Jaime gave it to us at our baby shower.

Thankfully, they turned out awesome and the people there were super nice....





This is one of the funny ones, she was on her way off the chair...

Celebrating Memorial Day in PA...

Winnie traveled to PA for the first time this past weekend and was such a trooper. We drove up on Friday and she slept about 90% of the ride (PTL!). We were so excited to introduce her to a lot of our family and she loved everyone (but did cry when my male cousins, Albert & Stuart, first held her...poor thing). My Aunt's house is like home and I had some of the best memories of my childhood at her home (I even called her Grandma as a kid, since all my cousins did).

Winnie with Cousin Albert's wife, Ellen

Cousin Albert holding Winnie for the first time...think she is a little upset...and Albert finds it funny!!

One of Cousin Stuart's doggies (either Blackjack or Gamble)...she is too cute!

On Saturday I woke with an amazing craving for pancakes and sausage... My Aunt Mary Ann makes the best pancakes and an all-time favorite when you visit her. Oh was I excited to have those for breakfast! After lunch we headed to some of our favorite places to shop....Gabriel Brothers and Ollie's!! Now if you have never been to these places I HIGHLY encourage you to visit some day and be prepared to find some deals. Gabriels sells clothes, shoes, housewares, etc and its hit or miss.... this time was a HIT....my mom & I found Ann Taylor Loft clothes for $5 a piece...no joke...$5 each!! I've gotten PB housewares there before too, very cool. Ollie's on the other hand sells housewares, food and books...very cheap. They have a HUGE section of Christian books, cookbooks and kids books.

My mom had her 45th high school reunion on Sat night so we grilled out with some family at my Aunt's house. Winnie was too cute starring at her cousin, Amy, during dinner...she was eyeing up her cheeseburger!
On Sunday after we put flowers at my Grandparents (and other family members) gravestones we had a visit from some of Tom's family. His mom, sister Mandy, Aunt Margie & Uncle David spent the afternoon with us, enjoying Aunt Mary Ann's back porch. Was so nice to visit with them unexpectedly...

Aunt Mary Ann's porch...so relaxing to sit out there...

On Monday we celebrated Memorial Day starting with a parade down their main street. Winnie was bounced around as everyone was excited to see her reactions to the band and people. She didn't even flinch when they shot the guns and the sweet girl even fell asleep on her way back to the house. We had an All-American lunch of grilled chicken, baked beans and macaroni salad!

Here she is with her Great-Aunt Mary Ann...

She loves her cousins, Ashley and Amy...they were so fun with her all weekend...
On our way home Monday we stopped in Woodbridge, VA for a little shopping at IKEA and a quick visit with our friends Stephanie, Tom & Ava. We've been dying for them to meet little Winnie! Ava was excited to see the baby and has gotten so big! We haven't seen them since our beach trip last Sept...way too long!

Wow that was a mouth-full....what a weekend!

A bear...A WHAT!!

Our neighborhood was all over the news on Sunday when a bear, a real BEAR, was seen walking down our street...really OUR street!! They think it was a mother Black Bear and her cub that had gotten a bit lost. Luckily we were out of town, since we would've encountered this BEAR while we were leaving for church. Now our neighborhood is total suburbia with lawn care service and white picket fences...not the forest! After our neighborhood they were seen behind the Wal-Mart at Brier Creek, still not sure if they have found/caught them yet.

This blows my mind.... In the last picture he totally is headed to our house.

Our neighbors Mary & David captured the moment from their front porch... CRAZY!!!

YUM...

Winnie had her first bites of real food this morning....

She wasn't too sure what mommy was mixing up but looked excited to find out...

This was after the first mouth-full, wasn't too sure what to think about it all.... After a few more tastes she was asking for more....
She was seriously fighting me for the spoon half way through....
See what a fight she put up....
I think "Winnie likes it!!!"

On Saturday we walked at the Relay for Life, but I forgot my camera battery... My neighbor, Stephanie, and I went to "man" the tent from 4-6:30am so can understand why the battery was forgotten when we left the house at 3:30am. Stephanie and I walked for a good hour and 15min later in the morning before our husbands came with our munchkins. Luckily they came with Bo's bfast biscuits...we were hungry girls! The event was awesome and as we walked around the track we kept looking for the luminary that I put in my dad's name...but sadly couldn't find it. He was definitely honored though, and I was so glad to hear that the relay raised over $175K towards cancer research!! Next year Winnie and Eden will be walking with us and supporting such an important cause!!

Oh, SHOUT OUT--- If anyone is interested in buying the flower headband (like the picture below) let me know. The girl, Mary, who makes them is starting to sell them at boutiques and they are going to be BIG, very BIG soon!! The med ones are $6 (like below) and large ones are $12, you can pick out the colors.

6 months old!!

On Wednesday Winnie turned 6 months old!! We cannot believe time is flying so fast.. .soon she will be crawling and then walking. Everyday we thank God for her and can't imagine life without our precious little girl.

At her doc appt she weighed 15lbs 10oz (43%) and was 25 1/2 in long (42%), her head was a little big... 17in (72%). We are starting her on rice cereal this weekend and are excited to see her reaction. We've held off because she isn't the biggest eater. As you can see too she loves to pet Morpheus the cat, she giggled the first time she touched him and couldn't take her eyes off he or Neo.




Enjoy this little slideshow of her so far since birth...

A Baby Shower & bonus room update

Last night we had a baby shower for our good friend, Heather, who is expecting her second boy in just a few weeks. All the ladies had a blast catching up, eating yummy food (including an amazing cake by Jenna!!), and celebrating with Heather. All of these girls have been part of our Women's bible study that meets 1x month, which was a stem off of our CRF Couple's bible study. We are all so blessed to be surrounded by such sweet Christian sisters, especially through all our joys and trials of the Lord.

View Album

Get your own

On another note, our bonus room is progressing right along... Two weekends ago Tom got the framing for the closets done and prior to that finished the can lights. Its so exciting to start to see our dream to have this room done finished... Hopefully it will be done by the end of July!!



Today Winnie turns 6 months old!! Check back tomorrow for some pics...

First Mother's Day recap...

Over the weekend we travelled to South Carolina to visit Jenn & the boys. It was a perfect time for Tom to finish up some handywork on the enclosed porch and spend Mother's Day with family. Sue came down to visit too, which made it extra special for us all.

Tom spent all day Saturday in the backyard working on the porch. Jenn and her boys love the porch and spend a lot of time outside now. This year she even started a garden in the backyard, there were lots of veggies coming up -- corn, tomatoes, peppers and even pumpkins! I LOVE to garden so this got me itchin' to have my own garden in the backyard some day...when we have a backyard (haha)! When we first brought Winnie out on Saturday morning she started laughing and giggling outloud at the boys... of course they started doing crazy things to make her laugh and she continued. Too cute to watch them bond!!
As I said the boys love playing in the backyard... Their grandpa gave this John Deere ride to Landon for his 2nd birthday (I think) and its so fun to see them enjoying it so much now. Of course Landon the big kid always drives while Ben holds on for dear-life (he makes the best faces!!).
This picture is so dear...they are great brothers and enjoy each other so much!!
Sue has her hands full here with the Grandkids on Mother's Day...
Winnie smiley before going to church on Mother's Day (Jennifer, thank you for letting us borrow such a cute dress!!)...
Mommy & Winnie on Mother's Day... We got home late last night and realized we hadn't taken a picture of she and I yet so snapped a few real quick before putting her to bed. On Saturday we had some professional pictures taken with the mom's/grandma and the kids, I cannot wait to get those back- they turned out awesome!
So all and all it was a perfect first Mother's Day weekend....was able to spend lots of time with my sweet little one, and family!

Fun new things...

A few days ago (haha last Friday, I'm a little late) we played in the front yard. The "patch" of grass out front is small but I've always pictured putting a blanket out and letting Winnie just play. She loves being outdoors and smiles when the wind blows in her face. Now that the weather is nice we can go outside more often and enjoy our front yard.

Over last weekend Winnie tried drinking out of her first sippy cup. At church on Sunday she was starring me down as I drank from my water bottle....I could keep it from her any longer, so I gave her a few sips from it. Her little face lit up when she got her first swallow and had so much fun "playing" with it too.

Kit Kats and a Little Dress-up...

In the past few days Winnie has started to watch the "Kit Kats" Morpheus and Neo. She stops whatever she is doing and wants to see what they are up to. They have been great with her, most of the time they watch her and lay on her toys when she gets up. Unfortunately this has caused us to already replace the water filled part of her surfboard toy. In the coming months pretty sure they will be hiding under the bed...

This afternoon Winnie and Eden played dress-up....both had on their fairy skirts and crowns. They are starting to interact more too which is so fun to watch. Of course Winnie stops what she is doing and watches Eden too! Little Eden is saying "Winnie" and trying my name too, what a big girl!