11 months old

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's the penultimate Monthday post. This year has absolutely FLOWN by. Grace looks so grown up in this picture, and even though I'm so proud of her, it hurt my heart a little! She's no longer my tiny baby.

Big girl!

Watching our neighbor mow his lawn.

  We've ben going to Mr. E's softball games, and Grace has SOOO much fun running around, playing with Nate, and hanging out with her new friend Maleah (13 year old).

Buddies.

Ever since she got the helmet off, I've been enjoying putting bows in her hair!

Ever since Great-Grandpa move to assisted living, we've been going to visit him twice a week. Grace loves to run around his apartment. She especially loves the A/C unit!

Just chillin' with Great-Grandpa.

Speaking of running, Grace is on the run all day, every day. She no longer crawls, she only walks and runs. It occurred to me that this means she's no longer a baby but a toddler! Crazy!

Of course all that running means lots of bumps and bruises. She got this nice goose egg after taking a dive into one of our dining room chairs :(

 There are certain funny things that Grace does that I don't want to forget, so I am just going to write them down:
-Loves to growl.
-Dances for any and all music. Even if that "music" is actually a fire alarm.
-Favorite song is "Wheels on the Bus"
-Waves "hiiiiieee" at people, animals and passing cars.
-Puts her hand in front of her mouth an goes "babababa". Sometimes she forgets to make the sound and then looks confused with she doesn't hear anything.

Enjoying a day at the lake with dad.

This picture is from last month but it's so cute that I wanted to post it. I think it perfectly exemplifies her sweet, happy personality! Words cant describe how much I love this girl!! My heart is filled with joy just from looking at her. Some days I just can't believe I got lucky enough to be her mommy. 

Planning for the big O-N-E

In a little over a month our sweet girl will turn one! It's hard for me to wrap my head around that concept, but I'm trying!

I've been having so much fun planning her birthday party. The invitations went out last week (we just did e invites through Pingg). Here's what they looked like:

Super cute! As you can see, we're doing a "Bee Day" theme, since Grace's nickname is "Bee". We call her that because she's little and busy :)

Today I ordered her party dress and hair bow off of Etsy:

By Sacha's Creations, via Etsy

I love it! Can't wait to see little miss Bee in it.

The thing I'm most excited for are the decorations and treats!

Here are some of my party decor inspiration pics from Pinterest:

Via Hostess With The Mostest

Via Catch My Party

Via Hostess With The Mostest

Via L Studio (Etsy)

More details in the coming weeks...right now I need to put my baby girl to bed <3

10 months

What? I'm 10 months old?

How bad of a blogger am I?! Grace is nearly 11 months old and I'm just now getting around to writing her 10 month blog post. Whoops.

The thing is, life is crazy busy these days, and we are having so much fun, i'm finding it hard to make time for life online.

Playing with Mr. E at a friend's wedding.

Me and my girl.

Grace is growing up so, so fast. One day before she turned 10 months she took her first steps. It happened in our back yard on a warm Sunday evening :) We even managed to catch it on video. Since then she's been doing a mixture of walking and crawling. She is constantly on the move.

The day she learned to walk.

Cruising around the yard.

Grace has 7 teeth now - 4 up top and three on the bottom. And they. Are. Sharp. I have been bitten many times. You'd think that with all those teeth she'd be into eating solid food, but no. She only wants to nurse. I guess she's just not ready, and really, I'm ok with that. She does love to have a sippy cup with water in it, but it's really more a form of entertainment for her than anything else.

See that one tiny piece of food on her lip? That's all she ate.

Grace, or "Bee" as we call her, is really babbling a LOT now, and just this week she started referring to me as "mama". It absolutely melts my heart. She says "Dadadada" but we're not sure if she's directing it at Mr. E just yet. Soon. She also LOVES to play peekaboo, and will wave and say "hiiiiiieee" on demand. It is so adorable. She has such a range of sounds - from high pitched squeals, to big, low growls!

We've been spending loads of time outdoors now that summer is here! It's so fantastic having Mr. E home with us. We go on lots of walks, and spend time in our kiddie pool most days. Grace loves to watch her dad play in his softball games. We're lucky enough to live about 1/2 a mile from the lake which has an awesome beach for kids! Grace loves to charge through the water. We really have to restrain her. She has no fear. She loves the sand as well. She covers herself with it. So cute.

Just chillin' at the lake.

At the end of June we spent a week on Long Beach Island, NJ with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, (who is pregnant!!) It was such a blast. Grace was so, so happy the whole time. She loved the ocean, and she loved spending time with my parents and siblings. She really, really loves my mom a lot. It's very sweet. 

 She wasn't sure what to make of the ocean at first! She shrieked when we let a small wave wash over her toes.

Hey, what's this thing? 

 Uncle and Aunt :)

With Daddy on the beach. 

 I heart sand!

Crazy Uncle Steve

Snuggling with Daddy

Hangin' with Papa

Loungin' with Nana

 Me and Bee!

Grandparent love 

Our little, happy family <3

I can't believe we're closing in a on a year! I have some much to be thankful for. I love this little girl with all my heart and soul. I can't imagine how I ever lived without her.