Georgia Is Ten Months Old!

Georgia-you are TEN months old! Double digit months! You are quickly becoming our big girl.

Here's what your life as a ten month old looks like:

• You weigh 18 pounds and I would say around 28 inches long. You are wearing 6-9 month clothing, a size 3 diaper, and size 1 shoes. I've bought you real shoes with a sole (shown in pictures) for fall and you look so big in them. 
• You have two bottom teeth and two top teeth! The top two are just coming in so they are harder to see but the bottom two are very visible and you like showing them off :)
• We started you on a new feeding schedule last month that seems to be working well. Solid foods have gotten MUCH better and you can use a sippy cup pretty good now. But you still enjoy your breastmilk bottles (I have weaned myself so you are getting all frozen breastmilk now), especially when you're sleepy. And this momma has no plans to take that away anytime soon!

• Your favorite foods are carrots, pancakes, apple juice, scrambled eggs, whole grain puffs, and water. You don't care for bananas and oatmeal. We have nixed baby food completely and switched to lightly-seasoned table food per pediatrician orders. You are very happy about this!
• Your sleeping schedule continues to be 9pm-7am most mornings with a long morning nap and a shorter afternoon nap (usually one hour). On Thursdays when I am home with you we sometimes take your morning nap together. I hope you never get too big to let me nap with you and hold you while you sleep.
• You have found the kitchen cabinets and you LOVE to explore inside of them. You like to trace the design on our big area rug in the living room with your pointer finger (so funny!). You like to push the buttons on the carbon monoxide detector and set it off about once a week which scares your doggy brother to death!

• Your significant daily events:

August 1st: first time trying avocado-LOVE

August 8th: pushed your walker for the first time unassisted

August 9th: ate dog food....................

Augus 10th: first bouncy house experience and first nibble of cupcake

August 11th: two top teeth!!! And first time trying pancakes-LOVE

August 12th: stood for 30 seconds unassisted!

August 18th: first kiss-Ace Russell Hankins<3<3<3

August 19th: first haircut

August 23rd: first football game

August 29th: first nibble of meat (roast)-you forgot to chew and just swallowed it ha!

• You have started "biting" us which is actually more like nibbling and you get the biggest kick out of it! You will just squeal and squeal. You seem to enjoy inflicting pain...
• You LOVE blankets. Love. Our new bedtime routine is I snuggle you up in a blanket and you take your night bottle while I rock you to sleep. It is amazing the effect a blanket has on you. If you are upset we go grab a blanket. Blankets to the rescue! Now I'm waiting for the day you determine your favorite and you become inseparable with it.
• As far as your mobility you are a super fast crawler and are showing all the signs that you will walk before you are one year old. You have excellent balance. You never fall, if you are standing and want to sit down you gracefully just bend your knees and have a seat. This gives us a lot of comfort for when you do take off.
• We are starting to tell you "No" and you are learning that no means you shouldn't do it. You don't always like hearing it but so far that has been enough to correct your behavior. 

And this is reality y'all! Non-blurry pictures don't come easy these days. Or forward facing pictures for that matter. You can tell the chalkboard has been through it!

Happy ten months, Georgia Grace Harrison! You make our lives so full and fun.

Document Document Document

A phrase I heard over and over again as a nutrition undergrad at WKU. We were demanded encouraged to chart every little detail that we could and then some it felt like. The more information and specifics the better.

In the medical field if things are not documented it is as if it did not happen. Making decisions based on your memory or from verbal communication just doesn't cut it.

And what always seems tedious at the time pays dividends in the longrun when you can look back and find detailed, extensive notes that give a clear history of the patient. I always feel like patting myself on the back when I leave a good note that helps me in the future.

Which brings me to my point of why I blog (and why I love it). I was reading a blog post the other day from a grandmother about the week she kept her granddaughter and she did such a wonderful job of documenting the whole week with pictures and written details. I found myself in the granddaughter's shoes reliving the same memories that I have had with my grandparents. And not only does the granddaughter get to enjoy precious time with her grandparents but she can remember the memories for years to come thanks to blog documentation.

This is exactly what I want for my children. I want them to know their story and to be able to refer to it whenever they want. I want to answer the questions like "Wonder where that picture was taken?" or "Was that Halloween of 1995 or 1996?". This may seem trivial to some but when it's your life history it is important.

I absolutely love how easy it is to document memories now. In thirty minutes or less I can whip up a post with pictures and links and boom I'm done! And what a fun outlet I must add that my friends and family can enjoy too.

Blogging is therapy for me. I get to do what I enjoy (writing) and chronicle wonderful times in our lives. I know my "charting" will provide "a detailed history" for years to come. I guess all that undergrad nonsense did provide some quality life applications :)

And thanks to all my readers for the words of encouragement and support! The blogging community is another reason I love my new hobby.

1st Football Game And A Sleepover

Friday night we took Georgia Grace to her first football game. Our high school team's first game of the season was at home so we thought this would be a great opportunity. My friend Paige snapped this picture of us when we got there and I have been in stitches! Look at that #1 sign HA! And not to mention the attitude on that face. If you remember we are not strangers to displaying our pointer finger.

But she had it right because the Bears won 47-0!! It was a good ol' tail stomping. Georgia Grace wasn't crazy about the game at first. I think all the noises (PA system, cow bell, sirens) spooked her but after the first quarter she was fine. She loved the band performance and being passed around throughout the stands to our friends. And you can probably tell from the picture it was a hot night! No need for jackets and blankets just yet.

After the ballgame we had a mini slumber party with our cousin Keagen. Keagen went hunting with Marcus and the other men in the family Saturday morning so he stayed the night with us.

We loved having him over, especially this girl. She was wild! At eleven o'clock she was still going strong and Keagen was starting to fade ha! I would put her down in the floor and she would immediately crawl over to him.

"Ahh, this is the life"-Keagen Grubb after kicking back on our couch

He had big plans to stay up all night (with Owen) but changed his mind about an hour after we got home ha! Smart boy. He needed his rest for the big morning hunt. They killed 11 squirrels and had a great time. We look forward to many more slumber parties with this guy in the future.

Georgia Grace enjoyed a fresh peach Saturday morning out in the yard. I've learned that anytime you can eat sticky foods outside and naked-do it. Clean up was a breeze! And she loved being outdoors. And naked :)

Saturday night we had a small cookout at our house and my sister Paige took this of her after she finished her Greek yogurt. I can't get enough of that grin. She's perfect y'all.

Hope your weekend was great! Looks like the dog days of summer are back for us this week-ugh. But hopefully (fingers crossed!!) my mom's pool will be open this weekend. I wouldn't mind a few more warm weekends of swimming before we say goodbye to summer.

Five On Friday

FRIDAY! It is so good to see you again, you're my favorite by the way! My Five On Friday is about our transition to the new season. We're welcoming football and the school year back, switching out seasonal clothes, gearing up for the big winter wedding, and enjoying our favorite summer fruit before they are gone until next year. Such a fun time for change and progress!

One

Football

Tonight we are taking Georgia Grace to her first football game! Our high school team opens up their season at home and it's a blackout to compliment their new black uniforms this year. We LOVE all things football-Friday Night Lights, SEC Saturday, and NFL Sundays. Tonight should be a lot of fun-Go Bears! 

Two

Back To School

Wednesday night our church had a Back to School Bash that we attended . It was geared more for school-age kids of course but we still had fun fellowshipping with everyone and enjoying some good food. And this is what happens when your dad watches your daughter for you-she sits in the middle of the table and eats homemade ice cream! You think she's just a little doted on? 

Three

Winter Wedding

I found Georgia Grace's shoes for Aunt Paige's wedding yesterday!!! Oh these tiny pieces of gold awesomeness make my heart so happy. No dress yet, but the shoes are a done deal. You know you are a girl mom when you buy the accessories before the outfit ha! I'm hoping this purchase is a sign that we can start making some decisions. My sister (and the rest of us) have been so indecisive. And we have less than four months...

Four

Ruffle Pants & Cardigans

This week I set out to organize and sort through ALL of Georgia Grace's clothes. I had not developed an effective system for storing bigger clothes I have bought for Georgia Grace to grow into and clothes she has outgrown that I'm storing for baby #2. So I decided to start from scratch and develop a new system which meant hours of work and lots of piles. I had a wonderful little helper who quickly destroyed neat, labeled piles for me :) Really sped up the process.

But it was all worth it when I came across outfits like this that I've bought and forgot about! It's like buying them all over again. I'm going to have a hard time waiting until December to put this on her.

Five

Bye Bye Peaches

I live in a small town. A small town where a fruit/vegetable stand is sat up in the middle of town that is ran on the honor system. No one mans the booth, you just put your money in a slot and take your farm fresh goodies! I LOVE this. When people ask me why I want to live in a small town this is one of my reasons. I bought probably our last bushel of peaches for the year yesterday and they were oh so juicy and delicious. Our family will definitely miss having fresh peaches in the house.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Georgia Grace's First Haircut

We celebrated another first yesterday as we gave Georgia Grace her first haircut. This was probably long overdue (despite her age) considering she had some strands that were about eight inches long. But this momma just wasn't ready.

 

And then I remembered some words of advice that my mamaw Carolyn has told me for years and years. She encourages us to be happy and thankful for the good things in life, not sad and mournful. As bad as I wanted to shed tears because this meant she was growing up I fought back the temptation and instead thanked God for allowing us to reach this milestone.

Such strong, convicting words for a mother that is trying to savor every moment of my life with my baby before she is no longer dependent on me. I have to write those words on my heart because I forget them so easily!

Georgia Grace was such a good girl and just sit and let gram trim away (until the last few seconds when she decided enough was enough ha!). I've heard horror stories of first haircut experiences so I'm glad ours was uneventful.

We mainly just trimmed everything up to make it all even and cut her bangs so they will stay out of her eyes. She will greatly appreciate this!! 

Her first locks

Georgia Grace and her new 'do! We are calling it "the bob" :) It amazes me we cut her hair at just nine months old and she still has enough hair for a bob. This girl was blessed with the hair gene.

A back view. It is soooo adorable! We love it. But it does make her look older and her face looks rounder and fatter ha!

Our first haircut is in the books. Grandmomma did a great job and I'm so thankful she was the one that gave her the first trim. I'm hoping by cutting her hair so early it will make it healthier and thicker when she is older. Not that she needs any help in the thickness department!

My baby has reached another milestone and we have so many more to look forward to! I can't wait!

Nashville and Birthdays

It's only been three days since I blogged but it feels like forever. I have so much to get caught up on! We have kept busy and had a lot of fun. I had a three day weekend (following a half day trip to the spa on Thursday from the best boss in the world!!!) and we filled it to the max.

Friday night we went with the Ross' to Nashville to eat and to do a little shopping. We ate at one of our all-time favorite restaurants Cock of the Walk. They are known for their catfish and housing the largest rocking chair in the world. Their fried dill pickles are little pieces of heaven no lie. And they will flip your cornbread for you before they serve it which is always a crowd pleaser. So. Good!

I have a lot of childhood memories at this place. My grandparents loved to eat here and then we would spend the weekend in Nashville going to Opryland, shopping, and sightseeing. I'm so glad I can take my daughter now.

Love these two very much!

The girls shopped in Opry Mills while the boys hit up Bass Pro. She typically loves strolling but I caught her mid meltdown. I can't even remember the reason for the frustration so it must have been something minor. It was too cute not to share! :)

She loves her Aunt Rachel! She is so comfortable with her, gives mommy a break every once in a while.

Saturday afternoon we went to Embry's first Birthday Bash! I cannot believe all of our baby friends are turning one which means we are getting closer and closer to that milestone. Slow. Down. Time.

The birthday girl diving into her smash cake! She was so fun to watch!

Embry Caroline and Georgia Grace

We tried so hard to get a picture of both of them looking at us but this was the best we got. I love how Georgia is trying to feed her toy candy ha! I'm so glad we could celebrate the special day with this sweet girl!

How big does my baby look in this outfit?!? Oh my goodness. She's big enough to fit into Matilda Jane clothing now so I picked up this little top for her last week (at a consignment store-seriously!!). And I'm in love with it! We will definitely be wearing this in the fall with a little cardigan or blouse underneath.

Sunday we went to Ace's 2nd birthday party. It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone and seeing how all the babies had grown. Abby did a fantastic job (as always) decorating for his Thomas the Train birthday.

Let's just talk about this picture for a second. Georgia Grace and Ace decided it would be a good idea to kiss at his party. I should add that this wasn't provoked or even talked about, they both just did it! And my daughter would be guilty of making the first move HA! Her teenage years are going to be fun I can feel it......

And I finally snagged a good picture of my big girl's bottom teeth (and her freshly painted piggys-thanks cousin Payt!). They are shining big time now. Her top two teeth have barely broke the skin but somehow she has already learned to grind her teeth?!? It is a crazy sound coming from a little baby. Only my child. (I am a chronic teeth grinder)

It was a wonderful three day weekend that I hated to see come to an end. We are enjoying some perfect weather right now that I hope sticks around for a while. Here's to the last few weeks of sweet summertime!  

Georgia the Explorer

We have a mobile and curious baby at our house that is keeping us on our toes. She is into everything and loving every minute of it! We are too-it's exhausting but we love it.

She has started biting nibbling on things and thinks it is so funny! She likes to chew on our ears, chin, and toes. And then she will just cackle with laughter! She loves to explore facial features. If you hold her expect a finger in your mouth or up your nose.

She is also loving to climb. Here she is giving me attitude after I would not let her lunge from the couch. Seriously sis?!?

I made a photo timeline of Georgia Grace trying to get in her trash can last night. Notice the placement of the basket. I had to put it up there to keep it out of reach however I actually just made it more appealing to her ha!

"No Georgia, that's nasty."

But mommy this is so much more fun than ALL my toys!

"No, Georgia Grace! Stay out of that."

Mommmnmmm!!!

"Georgia the Explorer", "Curious Georgia", she has a lot of new nicknames these days. It is amazing to watch her as she notices new things every day. Her favorite things to do right now are dump and sort through my purse and pull every tissue out of tissue boxes. She is never still. And that goes the same for us!

We love our Georgia peach so much it's crazy! Even though a lot of nights I feel like all I do is clean up messes my heart is full to see her happy and playing. She is such a blessing!!

Healthy & Happy

After a sicky week we were so glad to see the weekend. I'm happy to report everyone is feeling much better! I'm thankful for a slow-paced weekend of rest. I didn't cook one meal (besides Friday night-thanks family!) and spent lots of time playing with my baby doll. It was lovely!

Saturday we went to our buddy Thomas' 4th birthday party. Isn't Thomas the cutest thing ever opening his gifts shirtless HA! He is all boy. Georgia Grace experienced her first bouncy house and first cupcake! Of course she loved both of those things. She had several little mommys (and little daddys) there that helped me take care of her. Even though she is just nine months old I'm thankful for the friendships that are already forming. I pray for her future friends daily and I know we are richly blessed with a wonderful group of children for her to grow up with.

I tried to get a picture of Georgia Grace's teethies this weekend but wasn't successful. I will settle for this cheesy goodness though! I was trying to get a picture of her bottom teeth because her two upper front teeth have broke the skin! Bless her heart no wonder she felt so crummy the past few weeks being sick AND teething. She seems to feel perfectly fine now though. She was back to her "Georgia the Explorer" self this weekend.

We were at grams visiting this weekend and she left her trail-baby, baby's bottle, flower (from outfit), and then her bow. I guess they were holding her back and she needed her freedom ha!

Georgia Grace has recently not been a fan of anything that has to be spoon fed to her. She much prefers things that I can feed her with my fingers or that she can feed herself. So after several failed attempts at oatmeal I decided Sunday morning I was going to try some pancakes. While I was feeding them to her she reached over and grabbed my hand to hold it. That answered the question for me if she liked them or not :) My heart melted. These are the mommy moments I live for.

My big girl after church on Sunday. That smile gets bigger everyday! She was such a happy girl this weekend. Her little personality is just precious. She lets everybody hold her and loves to "talk" to people that show her attention. She loves to play with the Colton and her cousins that sit on the pew behind us. We kept her in church this Sunday because my sister was home and she wanted to see her. She only squealed out a few times. I was so proud of her!

I promise I put shoes on her but she throws them so quickly we finally give up and leave them off. This girl loves to be bare foot!

Sunday after church we watched an old episode of Kentucky Afield where they had interviewed my great-great grandfather for being 97 years old and killing a deer with one shot. He was still alive when I was born so I was a 5th generation baby. He passed when I was little but I feel like I know him from all the pictures and stories about him. I loved watching this video again.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Today will be the first Monday of the school year. I'm sure we will be racing to see who can get in our pj's first tonight!