4 Months Old!

Dear Haven,

4 months?!  Seriously?!  You're getting too big too fast!  You are SO much fun.  I told Russell a couple weeks ago that no offense to him, but I don't think I've ever enjoyed hanging out with someone so much for a consecutive amount of time!  You are so smiley all the time and have just the sweetest spirit.  Daddy or I can just smile at you and instantly get a smile back.  And wow, is it the most beautiful smile I have ever seen.  You have a little chuckle that you do when we play peek-a-boo with a burp cloth, or move your legs like you're running.  No big belly laugh yet, but just the cutest little chuckles with big grins.  You definitely know your Mommy.  You watch me walk through the room, lock eyes with me all the time, calm down almost instantly after crying with someone else, etc.  You know Daddy too.  You can be passed out asleep in my arms and if he comes home from work or walks in the room and says something, you instantly open your eyes.  You rolled over a week or so ago, but haven't done it again since!  You've had (still have) your first cold and Mommy has become a pro with the snot sucker!  You actually don't completely hate it, but if I keep coming at you with it you eventually get fussy.  You slept 11 hours a couple nights ago!  You typically sleep anywhere from 8-11 hours a night.  You're still a great eater!  You are wearing 3 months or 3-6 months clothes, depending on the brand.  You are a petite little thing!  You love your hands and they spend a lot of time in your mouth!  You still love the pacifier too and have managed to put it back in your mouth a couple times by yourself.  You still don't have much hair, and what you do have looks kinda red at times!  We went to the doctor today and you were 12 lbs 10 oz and 23.2 in long (she didn't stretch your leg out though!  So I think you're longer :)).  You got more shots and screamed your little head off.  Broke. My. Heart.  But you calmed down quickly so that was good.  We'll see if they affect you later today with fever or soreness or anything.  Overall, doc says you are perfect!  I could have told him that. :)  I love you!

Smiley girl!

Happy girl!

Loving those hands!

My long girl!

I just love you SO much!

    

Weak Stomachs Beware

It's moments like this that make me think...

...man, I'm glad I have short hair.

Hope I didn't cause you to do what Haven did to me yesterday morning.  Happy Sunday!

This Is How She Rolls

Last night I propped Haven up on her tummy on this little stuffed whale.  To my surprise, she rolled over!  She did it 3 times in a row!  I figured being propped up was giving her an advantage so I moved the whale.  By that time, she was so over tummy time that I knew an unassisted roll wasn't in the cards.  Then this morning, I put her on her tummy... no whale... and seconds later... she ROLLED!  I was so excited I think I scared her with my squeal.  She did it 5 times in a row and at the end of this video said, "that's enough!"  You're welcome for the Mommy translation.  I can't believe my sweet baby girl is old enough to roll!  This is the first step toward mobility...God help us all, especially Copper! Ha!  For a super fun fact about this special event, scroll down!

SUPER FUN FACT:  I am keeping a calendar for Haven's first year.  I have it on my dresser so right before I go to bed at night, I write a little something about our day.  From things she did to places we went to who she met, etc.  My mom also kept a calendar of my first year and gave it to me when Haven was born.  I have it sitting right next to Haven's calendar so I can kinda follow along with what I was doing at Haven's age.  It is SO fun.  I love reading about what my mom was doing at 25 and what I was doing as a baby.  Here's a pic of our scribbly calendars...

Well... after she rolled over this morning, I went and checked my calendar.  Turns out Haven and I rolled over at the EXACT same age, to the DAY.  My mom even included "7:10am" which is within 30 minutes of when Haven rolled over.  How crazy is that?!?  I told you it was a super fun fact.

First Ballet Slippers

You may remember me blogging about these sweet little handmade ballet slippers that a Tippi Toes mom made for Haven.  I absolutely love them!  We used them in her newborn photos by Oliva Carlson, but they were way too big then and kept falling off so this is the only shot where they make an appearance.

I figured we needed more pictures of her wearing them before she grew out of them!  Trouble now is, she's such a little wiggle worm that she kicks them off!  So this was a short little photo shoot but definitely worth sharing! :)

Seriously Mom?!

Check out that pointe! :)

Still so tiny compared to my hand!

Pretty little feet!

Who Looks Good in Orange?

My sweet baby girl, that's who!  And I have a confession to make... before Haven was born, I vowed to not put a huge flower on her head.  To be completely honest, I thought they were cute on some babies, but most of the time I thought they were ridiculous.  However, this huge flower matched her awesome tutu (which I'm sure others find ridiculous) so I went with it... and I loved it!  I broke my vow, and Haven had an adorably cute orange evening with a huge flower on her head.  I imagine she will wear more huge flowers now!  I stand corrected, people.  Anyway, last week our life group got together to watch the OSU game and I was SO excited to finally get my girl in some orange.  Go Pokes!  I love our little orange family!  Enjoy the Haven/OSU photo shoot...

Tutu stuffed in car seat = outrageous looking.

Blurry but cute!

Go Pokes!  He taught her some cheers here. :)

Orange family!

 Then Mommy got really camera happy after a diaper change...  hence the photo shoot.  I love this precious little girl so very much!

4 Generations

So are these totally frame-worthy or what?!  Thank you Uncle Spencer for taking our 4 generations pictures!  A group of pretty awesome ladies if I do say so myself!

Gran, Gammie, Mommy, and Haven :)

My mom and grandma are not Thetas... but I made them do the Theta family pose!  Can't wait to do it again when Haven can hold up a "1" for herself! :)

Haven Meets the BFFs

If you write a blog, do you find yourself thinking in blog posts?  As the following was happening, I kept thinking "omg this blog post just keeps getting better!"  Haha!  As you know from my last post, Haven and I made a trip to my hometown in Louisiana.  My parents grew up there and so did I... we moved to Tulsa when I was 14.  All 3 of us are blessed to still be in touch with our best friends from there.  They are all the kind of people that no matter how much time has passed, we pick up right where we left off.  We've known them forever, they were in our weddings, and now all of them have held our babies (and now grandbabies!)

This is Joey, my dad's best friend.  They have been friends since their sophomore year in high school.  When I was little, we used to go over to "Uncle Joey's" house all the time.  I love this guy!  When I was young he used to say, "Hey good lookin'!  Whatcha got cookin'?!"  I got a kick out of it every time and it has stuck with me all these years!  Such a sweet man and a great friend to my Dad.  I love watching them interact and laugh together... I can just picture them as high schoolers having a blast.  What a cool thing that after all these years, "Uncle Joey" got to hold my dad's granddaughter?!  Awesome.

This is Donna, my mom's best friend.  They have been friends since kindergarten!  That's like 45 years people!  I remember getting to see Donna several times growing up, however she moved to Massachusetts so the visits were few and far between.  I do distinctively remember many times growing up that we would ask for Mom and Dad would say, "she's on the phone with Donna" and we just knew not to bother her (except we probably did and got the "I'm on the phone" look! Haha!)  Such a sweet lady... my mom prefers quality over quantity in the friend department so this lady is so special to all of us!

And last but certainly not least, my best friend Keri.  We have known each other since we were 3!  We were in preschool together, took dance class together, went to all of each other's birthday parties, were in the gifted group at school together (yes, we are nerds), did Halloween together (I wish I could show you a picture of the phone and caller id box, genius!), were cheerleaders together, made secret handshakes together, and the list goes on and on.  But we only had 1 class together in all our years going to school together!  Crazy!  I have seen her almost every time I have visited my hometown since we moved.  We both have Accounting degrees (yes, that is my degree, believe it or not!).  Then she was in my wedding.  And one of the first people I told I was pregnant.  I was so excited to introduce Haven to her and she was so excited to meet her.  It was surreal introducing my baby to my best friend and thinking that Haven is just 3 years shy of when Keri and I met!  I hope Haven can find this kind of long-lasting friendship.  Keri, you are so dear to me!  I am blessed to have you in my life!  I love you!

How cute are we?!  Just sayin.'

Haven Does LA

No, that's not Los Angeles, but my great home state of Louisiana!  Over the Labor Day weekend, Haven and I traveled to the Shreveport/Bossier area to see family!  Russell and my sister had to work so we made the 6 hour drive by ourselves!  I was nervous but hopeful that she would sleep the whole way and she did! So far, I've got myself a great little traveler.  We'll see if that changes as she gets older!  Ha!  Since my parents live far away, my mom prayed that Haven would like the car... and so far that prayer has been answered!  I had a moment taking Haven into my grandparents' house... just thinking about how my family has gathered there for as long as I can remember, how I used to walk there from our house right around the corner, etc.  So fun to bring Haven to my hometown!  I can't wait to tell her all about it one day!  Here's some pics from our trip...

Smiling with her great-granpa

Bozzy and the Jazzer - stinky breath?

sweetness :)

Gran and her great-grandbaby

Saturday night we went to my Aunt & Uncle's house to watch the LSU game.  Geaux Tigers!!!  We got to see the Wenzels and meet precious Zoe, and silly me didn't get a picture of the babies together!  Kicking myself!  Anyway, here's some pics from that night...

Great Uncle David!

Great Aunt Martha!

Gotta have some Gammie time!

Coppin' a feel with Jessie! Ha!

Sleepy girl with Lara :)

She turned and looked at me, but before this she was all eyes on the LSU game!

And some more family and fun!...

Uncle Spencer getting some cuddle time :)

He loved that she was holding his hands.

I was in the other room and caught this happening... melt my heart!

She met her Great-Great Aunt Florence, Denise, and Great-Great Uncle Leonard!

We do a lot of admiring each other :)

Pretty girl!

I wish her hands were down bc I love this of Grandpa!

Talking to Bozzy!

Hangin' with Uncle Spencer!

It was a wonderful trip and so good to see everyone!  A couple more blog posts to come out of the trip... Up next, Haven meets the BFFs!  I am anxious to write that one!!