today!

today, on the last day of may our little angel 

pulled herself up onto her own two legs.

she was obviously so very proud.

i have to say i am too.

 thanks to papa requesting proof of this new skill, 

we also have pictures of her standing up 

all 

day 

long.

even during nap time.

naps today were a little bit different because she wanted to stand up and play. . .

 and chew on her crib.

 you can do just about whatever you want little doll baby.

sweetest angel.

stinker pot, i'm proud of you!

i feel like you're changing every second of every day.

you're the funnest thing alive and i want to eat you up.

favorite 10 seconds.

the best ten seconds of my entire day are seeing

 this little face after she wakes up from a nap.

i love you so much!

life as we know it.

life as we know it is sweet as pie.

june has always been very curious as to what is going on around her.
are all babies like this?
probably so, but it seems that june is like really into everyone
 else's business and i love it about her.
so one day at the grocery store i made the mistake of getting one
 of the smaller baskets because we weren't needing to get that much stuff.
mistake noted.
i had no clue what i was in for!
sweet girl, couldn't keep her hands out of the back or
 off of all of the goodies inside.
no big deal, just made our quick in and out a little bit longer.

terrible picture but little sweetest girl so eager to get outside.

love that she is on the move!

last friday we got the rare opportunity to visit our cousin

 benjamin in his kindergarten class for a little story time.

we were so proud of all of his "published books" and so impressed with

 how well this guy can read.

look out first grade, you've got a genius headed your way!

what's a post without a swing picture?

never gets old.

we knew the day was coming.

right after i snapped this picture she reached her little hand up

 there and yanked the camera down into the crib with her.

andy calls her his little raccoon.

i look at him in disgust and ask him not to refer to our daughter as a nasty varmint.

he smiles and i smile too

but really, she's too sweet to be a raccoon.

life as we know it gets better by the minute with this little monkey girl.

hope your life today is just as great!

handy andy & talented terry.

thanks to my husband and my mom my house

 is a constant revolving door for new ideas.

isn't that so true for any home?

my mind is constantly contemplating new touches to put here

 and there to make this house 'ours'.

nothing is by any means wrong with the 'befores' or even terribly atrocious 

but the 'afters' sure make the place a little bit cozier. . .

 a little bit more like home.

this bare and sad looking wall has been telling me it needed a 

little bit of lovin' for a while now and probably any normal and sane person would have

 hung pictures or a huge painting but of course i had to dream up 

something a bit more difficult.

so late one night my mom sent me the link and i laid in bed next to 

my handy man dreaming about my new wall.

you can find board and batten treatments all over the blogosphere,

 handy andy followed this one to a T and i am in love with the outcome.

our wall feels totally loved now.

the next little bit of love went to something we now call our nook.

i was watching an old episode of sarah's house when she

 redid a room for two teenage girls and in between their two closets 

was just an empty space that sarah saw as an opportunity for a built in desk. . .

wellllll lucky for us we had that same little opportunity right in our very own hallway!

the inspiration.

the before, halfway finished actually.

the true before i can't find but just imagine that mirror hanging

 with nothing else there.

get the idea?

the glorious after!

handy andy had an electrician out to add an outlet for a lamp

 because what nook is complete without a touch of light

 and the rest he did with his own two strong hands.

brilliant.

terry's turn: 

my mom really is the greatest

 and always so giving of her time and talent.

she made us some fun new things for our backyard

 patio and for the couches inside.

it seems that everything she touches turns to gold, thanks mom for

 making our house a little bit shinier.

i love you so much.

now get back down here so i can put you to work, ha!

so a big thanks goes out to my mother and my husband for making

 my dreams come true and helping me turn this house into a home.

i love you both.

8 months old!

my angel girl, you are practically a grown up.

eight months old. . . eeesh!

you're the sweetest little eight month old in all of this world, i'm so glad you're ours.

it seems like a lot has changed in your world since last month. . .

let's tell 'em all about it.

the biggest change by far, is that you crawl and explore

 and want to go on adventures all over our house.

you will sit sweetly for a while on the rug and entertain yourself with your

 toys and then off you go to see what new thing you can find.

you love to go to the back door and sit on the rug, i think you are like a puppy dog in this way. . . 

just begging to go outside and swing.

i almost always give in.

daddy can't believe how fast you can crawl.

you really are speedy, you can get to things pretty quick and it's so cute 

to watch your little booty scoot.

i love that you can crawl now and want to see the world around you, 

i hope you will always want to explore.

you also have two bottom teeth that have come all the way through!

you've had them for over a month but we see them all the time now,

they are so pretty and white and you have started to grin from ear to ear with them.

proud baby!

another thing you're very proud of is your hair.

you were born with a headful and then lost quite a bit
 but now it's coming in so pretty and thick and dark and we love it.

so do you. . .
when i put your bows in you lean foward so
i can get it just in the right place.

precious angel.
just this week you have started doing something that i have
been wishing and hoping for for a good while.
you are back to cuddling, you know when it's nap time. . .
when we're getting your sound machine on and your blind closed in your room,
you put your paci in your mouth and lean your sweet head on my shoulder and i melt.
i mean melt.
i cuddle you for a while, lay you down and asleep you go.
you are doing so great with your sleep.
two naps a day, one just over an hour and the other almost always two hours long.
we've pushed your bedtime back a little,
which really menas mama is trying really really hard not to be such a pyscho about your sleep.
so now you are going to bed really close to eight or a tiny bit after and you sleep all night long!
you had your first cold the first week of being eight months old and it broke my heart,
that gave you a little bit of trouble when it was time to sleep.
i was so worried about you but now you're good as new and my healthy baby is back.
i am praising the Lord that we have only had to worry about a tiny cold.
thank you Jesus for our healthy girl.

you are eating three meals a day while nursing four times a day.

it has truly freed up some of our time and we are really liking how our little days play out.

your favorite foods are carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas and peaches.

you also love oranges!

i mean, you get absolutely so excited when you see me cutting one up. . .

we like to share them and you think it's so interesting

when i eat them after you.

cute girl.

you are wearing 9 to 12 month clothes and this

season's wardrobe is my favorite thus far.

i want you in little bubble rompers at all times, they are the cutest on you.

you are wearing size three diapers and you love to grab each and every

 one of them while i am changing your diaper on your changing table.

the art of distraction is key.

my word, what would we do without you.

you are growing so fast and changing so much right before our eyes.

i am so glad that i get to spend each and everyday with you.

you make my days complete.

happy eight months angel baby!

great minds!

when we all came out dressed and ready for church on sunday

 i noticed a picture perfect moment.

blue was the color of choice for everyone's sunday best

and best part was it all went unplanned.

great minds truly do think alike.

the boys moaned and whined about having to partake in the photo shoot

 but i'm so glad we insisted they hold off from changing into their comfies

 because look at the gems we captured!

of course christopher threw the biggest fit about having

to sit with his niece and smile.

such a miserable task. . . i know.

but after all of his complaining they recieved the best picture of the day award.

see proof below.

love her little grin.

now boys, wouldn't you say this was well worth our time?

i think so too.

thank you!

andy took a few days off here recently and we had a nice little staycation.

it was four days of perfection.

we figured it was not worth the money to actually go anywhere and have to tiptoe around a sleeping baby and be in by 8,

so we lived it up in the comfort of our own home. . .

best decision we've ever made.

we talked the entire time about how we could figure out a way for him

 to get to stay home with us. . .

we have yet to come up with anything.

so back to work he went monday morning and we were sad to see him go.

it's just so nice to have a another buddy 24/7.

for months andy has been wanting to do something for

 our troops and our staycation was the perfect time to do just that!

if you live in the area or your local airport welcomes troops home you should

 totally look up how to be a part of it.

it was the sweetest two hours of our entire staycation.

dfw airport puts on nothing short of a welcome home parade

everyday for troops returning home for a little r&r.

they ask everyone to dress in patriotic colors, love that, and come with signs and flags, a smile and a handshake.

we are expert at smiles and handshakes so we loaded up!

the very best part was seeing families welcoming home their daddies, talk about emotional.

i cannot imagine.

as we were leaving i heard a troop tell another man,

while he was hugging his baby, that he left when his son had just turned two months old.

so glad that daddy is home to enjoy his baby, bless him.

another thing that tugged at my heart was how the troops thanked us for coming out to welcome them home.

are you kidding?!?

i wish i could be there everyday and

i wish we could have done so much more than just stand there, smile

and shake their hand.

we are grateful for what you do for our country.

my mom subscribed to this grown up magazine for me.

thanks mom!

it was perfect that the first issue arrived on our staycation because

i got to flip through the entire thing in one sitting.

isn't looking at magazines so very staycation-y?

i thought so.

can't wait for next months.

we enjoyed lunches together at places better than our kitchen table. . .

 that only knows how to serve sandwich

after sandwich

for lunch during any ole normal week.

staycations deserve lunch at mi chulah and yogurt for dessert.

staycations are the best.

andy and i took a little time to ourselves one afternoon and

spent some time in southlake at the town center.

we picked these up for the bug girl, i love them and am a teeny bit envious.

wish they had some for mama.

such cutie staycation shoes!

she was pleased with her treat.

***

all in all, staycation gets 10 stars.

hoping for another staycatoin on down the road!

maybe we've started a new jeffrey tradition.

on the move!

our lives are forever changed by this little darling once again.

she's on the move and there ain't no stopping her!

she's been moving around for about a month now but just last week really started exploring.

it's the best thing to watch and you can just tell that she feels so proud!

one of my favorite mama moments yet:

i had left to run an errand and she and andy stayed home,

walked in the door, she spotted me and took off towards me, so excited to see me

 and couldn't get to me fast enough.

melt my heart!

oh the places you'll go sweetest love!

fun in the sun!

"keep your face always

towards the sunshine

 and the shadows will

 fall behind you." -

walt whitman