new talents

Baby R can sit-up for minutes at a time now before she topples over! She is enjoying her new form of independence. She has also decided that rolling onto her tummy is not such a bad thing anymore and does it much more frequently now! Also, in her jumper she has figured out that if she jumps really hard for a little bit and then lifts her legs up that the momentum allows her to continue to bounce without any effort on her part! (A bit lazy if you ask me, must get that from her daddy!) On a side note, Baby R gets her last synagis injection (RSV vaccine) tomorrow - hooray! After tomorrow no more shots once a month!

da-da

It is official, Baby R can now say "da-da!" Well it is more like "da-da-da-da-da" but it is cute none the less. She also says "ba-ba-ba," but still no "ma-ma." I am glad she learned "da-da" first, it makes it more fun for Papa R when he gets home from work and she babbles to him.

we made it

Baby R went on her first road trip to surprise Great Grandma Firebaugh on her 74th birthday! Great Grandma was surprised and thrilled to let Baby R (and Mommy), Austin, Aunt Molly, and Grandma take over her house for three days! The weather was beautiful, so we spent plenty of time outside. We went to the park, went on walks, and even went to the zoo in Asheboro! It was fun, but too short! Grandma wasn't super cooperative with the pictures, but here is one of her with Baby R. Thank you to Jodi and Kevin for the super cute sunhat!

I also got to meet Uncle Rob, Aunt Nancy, and Cousin Julie when they came over for Grandma's birthday celebration! In June they will become Grandparents (and Julie will be an Aunt) when Joe and Martie have their baby boy!

Uncle Jon and Cousin Emily let us have the party at their house, so I got to meet them for the first time! Aunt Karen couldn't be there because Josh and Julia had their baby girl, Maya! Hopefully I can meet her sometime soon!

Austin and I had a fun time together! Here we are after a long day at the zoo, sporting our new hats! We were so tired that we napped on the ride home.

I did really well on the trip. Especially considering the car ride was 12 hours! We drove at night so Austin and I would sleep most of the trip, but it wasn't very easy sleeping all night in my car seat. By the time we finally got home monday morning I was pooped! I napped for a total of 5 hours on monday and still slept all night monday night. I guess all the excitement just wore me out. Happy Birthday Great Grandma Firebaugh!

getting ready for spring

Mommy and Daddy went shopping for me on their date night and picked me out two cute swimsuits to get ready for summer. I can't wait to wear this surfer suit at Sue and Jack's pool!

Afterwards they gave me a new 'do for spring! I can't wait!

P.S. If you look really close then you can see the freckle in my right eye. It's the left one when you look at me, right under the pupil.

one of those days

Ever have one of those days where you just want to go back to bed and sleep off a bad headache? Yeah, me too...

she loves to jump!

Baby R sure does love her jumper! She also likes that I put pictures of smiling babies on the wall for her to look at while she jumps. That is why she keeps smiling at the wall. Let me know if you have problems viewing the video... ENJOY!

then and now

In less than two weeks, Baby R will celebrate her 6 month birthday! As Grandpa was reminding me of this fact I started to look back on the past 6 months of life, and of course got sentimental. It is exciting to see Baby R growing up, but at the same time it is sad, she grows too fast! Molly called me yesterday because there is an opening for Austin to start school, no way! No longer is he the baby of the family, instead Baby R has taken that spot. How long before she is no longer considered the baby? Here is a picture of her sleeping in her boppy when she was one month old...

Now take a look at this picture of her at 5 1/2 months old, she no longer naps in the boppy, but instead she uses it to help her sit-up without toppling over!

I can no longer remember life without my miracle baby. Even our month in the NICU seems like a distant memory. I always pray that I will be blessed to know how to help her develop, but instead she teaches me new things every day. I love her more every day, which seems impossible. I love Papa R more every day, and am so thankful that he works and goes to school so I can stay home with our precious baby. I even realize how much more I love and respect my parents and siblings for all that they did and do for me. It always amazes me just how many ways she can bless our lives, countless ways. I lost track around number 9,122,006...