7 Months!

My baby girl is 7 months old! 

I have no idea how that happened.  I know that's so cliche, but it's truly how I feel.  She's now closer to 1 than 0.  But at least she doesn't have any teeth yet!  She keeps going through phases where they bother her, but none have popped through yet.  So I still get to see that sweet, gummy smile for a while longer.  That makes me happy.  Every time I think that darn tooth is going to come through, I get all emotional about never seeing her tooth-less smile again.  I mean, just think about it.  Once she gets that tooth, everything will be different.  She'll be like a little kid and not a baby.

Smile!

No more baby, gummy smiles.  Ever.  Again.  Ugh, ok I have to stop before I start having emotions again.

Ok, so she's been doing awesome since she got over that growth spurt, haha!  We now know that it was a growth spurt PLUS teething pain.  So she was a lot better once I finally gave up and gave her some pain medication.  I have no idea how much she weighs or how tall she is because we haven't been to the doctor all month.  That's a good thing :-)  

We've been introducing one new food a week, mostly fresh fruits because they're in season so we might as well do them now!  Her favorites include: cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, and prunes.  She was OK with the applesauce, but it was unsweetened and made with kind of a tart apple, so she didn't LOVE it like all the others.  She's really, really into the prunes, though.  Like, she opens her mouth and grabs the spoon.  I can't believe it.  Anyone else have a prune-happy baby?  At least it makes it easy to take care of any constipation issues, I guess.  Next up: probably bananas or maybe pears!

My sunnies finally fit!  Now let me put them in my mouth!

We've been doing a lot of fun things over the past month!  Here's a review, in pictures!

First, we had a fun picnic/pool party with a bunch of college friends!  There were 9 of us adults and 3 kids!

Just chillin' with my new friend Audrey, who is only a few weeks younger than me!

It was so much fun.  We're so blessed to have such wonderful friends.  Again, sounds super cliche, but it's true.

I'm irresistible, even to Micah!

We stopped by our favorite thrift store one Sunday after church and I found her the CUTEST shoes!

Pretty Piggies!

I know, I know.  She doesn't really NEED shoes right now.  But they were only $1 and they're in perfect condition and they're SO CUTE!  She likes to try to eat them.

Then we went to a [very] extended family reunion.  We weren't planning on going (since we haven't gone since getting married), but Andy's dad talked us into it with the promise of free food.

Mmmmm cantaloupe!  

Who can turn that down?  So, we went.  Hardly anyone even knew who we were!  I don't know how many times that I had to explain that my husband's GRANDMOTHER was a member of this family, so that's why we're there.  Anyway, it turned out being pretty fun!

Hanging out with Grampy while he shows me off to the relatives.

We didn't stay very long because *someone* got cranky and needed her afternoon nap.  Yes, in this case *someone* is me.  What can I say?  Sunday afternoons are MADE for naps!  But I'm glad we went.  Ellie got to have some fun time hanging out with Pat, who is her first cousin, three times removed.  

Cousins!

She also goes to church with us, but doesn't often get a lot of time to actually hang out with her cousin.  So that was nice.

My family also came down one weekend in July just to hang out.  Us girls went shopping for a bit and took Ellie along.  She did AWESOME.  I parked the stroller a little too close to the flowers in Hobby Lobby, though, and she got a hold of them.  But I caught her before they went in her mouth, so it was all good.  She's super sneaky like that.  My sister brought along her ukulele and serenaded Ellie for a while.

Um, that's nice, but I'd really like to put it in my mouth, please.

She was entranced.  Then, this happened... (I already posted this on facebook, but thought I'd post it here, too in case someone didn't see it before)

Hmmm, what else happened?  Oh, Ellie still hates sleeping.  UNLESS she is sleeping on her Daddy.

(this is what I found when I came home from praise team practice last week)

I guess I can't blame her - I like snuggling with him too.  

(and this is what I saw when I came upstairs after teaching a lesson the other day)

But seriously, it's getting harder and harder to get her to stay asleep laying by herself in her crib.  I just don't know what to do anymore.  For example, last night she got up at 12:30.  I tried for a half hour to get her to settle back down and go back to sleep.  She would fall asleep in my arms and then start to fuss as soon as I laid her down.  Eventually, she just wouldn't relax until I took her out and fed her.  Not that she was hungry.  She just wanted to suck.  So back to bed at 1:30.  Then at 2:30 she was at it again.  And again, she wouldn't stay settled until I fed her.  Back to bed around 3:15.  Then at 5:00 it was the SAME THING.  I laid her back down at 6, but she promptly woke up for the day at 6:10.  No big deal, I was already up.  But I know it's not the growth spurt anymore as she doesn't really EAT a whole lot.  She just won't fall soundly asleep (to the point where you can put her down) without sucking.  On me.  Don't even think about trying to trick her with a pacifier.  She's not buying it.  Anyway, it's just getting really exhausting.  I'm really not sure how much longer I can keep getting up multiple times in the night and still come to work and be a productive human being.  I'm not asking for her to sleep THROUGH the night.  Maybe just only wake up once?  I would take that.  If anyone has any advice, I'd be willing to hear it!  But please don't tell me that I will miss these middle-of-the-night cuddles someday when she's all grown.  I know that.  I fully appreciate every moment I get to cuddle her sweet little body.  Heck, I have serious emotions over a TOOTH.  You think I don't know to appreciate her snuggles?  I do.  I really, really do.  But Mama needs to sleep.  And so does Baby.  It can't be good for her to be missing out on so much sleep, ESPECIALLY when she doesn't nap well during the day.  Maybe I should just get over it and let her grow out of it on her own.  I don't know.  Anyway...

She is loving being able to sit up on her own and play with her toys.  She's such a goof.  She takes all the rings off of this stacking toy, just so that she can put the center part in her mouth....

Who needs the rings?  This is the yummy part!

One day, she was playing on the floor and scooched herself over to her toy basket, toppled it over, ripped all the toys out of it and threw them behind her, and then gave me this look...

Mama, there's NO MORE TOYS!

And just this past weekend, my good friend Sarah came over and we went to a nearby town for a county-wide library system book sale!  It was awesome.  An entire Middle School cafeteria and gymnasium filled with over 60,000 books.  So we packed up Ellie and the stroller, and off we went!

This is SO much better than that stinky car seat I used to have to ride in!

Aside from a little bit of trouble getting there (road closed for construction and NO marked detour!), we did great!  We had a lot of fun and Ellie did really well the whole time we were there.  Eventually, she got tired of being strapped in her stroller and wanted out.  So I carried her.  Then she decided she wanted to grow right up and PUSH the stroller.

Mama, I can do it MYSELF!

Well that was just the cutest thing ever.  She really did push it, too.  We walked around and I didn't have my hands on it.  It drove the little old lady volunteers wild.  She just wants to be SO independent.  I hope she grows out of that or Middle School is going to be a nightmare!

And on Saturday I went wedding dress shopping with my sister and fellow '-Of-Honor', our cousin Emily.  I can't show you any pictures, but we had a blast.  Emily and I actually found dresses that looked good on us (shocking!) and made us FEEL GOOD about how we looked!  It was great.  And we had so much fun critiquing all the gowns that Andrea tried on.  It's going to be such a fun wedding.  I'm glad we have a whole year to enjoy the planning and preparing.  AND I drove myself around the city beltway without getting lost OR having a single panic attack!  That's a big accomplishment for me.  I must be growing up.

This past Sunday, after getting Ellie all dressed and ready and showing off a pretty new dress to Daddy, he promptly said, "She looks so cute today!  Can you take our picture?!"  Andy HATES getting his picture taken.  Usually, if I try, he makes a strange face or does something else crazy to ruin it.  But not for her.  

Me & Daddy, ready for church!

Oh he is wrapped right around that tiny little finger!

So that's our 7 month update.  Friday we are going on a mini-vacation to a botanical garden where Andy and I got engaged.  Be on the lookout for a post full of pictures sometime next week!

And seriously, if you have ANY advice about our sleeping problems, let me know.  Don't be shy.  I might not try what you suggest (or I might have already tried it and failed), but I want to hear it anyway!  My idea well has run completely dry!