3 Can't hold her back

The doctor said this might happen, but I didn't believe him. I was wrong! I went in to get Leighton this morning and she had rolled onto her stomach IN HER BRACE. I wish I had seen her do it...it seems like it would be a difficult undertaking.

Every night around 5:30 we still take her brace off and let er rip. Tonight, Chad got home from work in time for all the fun, which was really exciting for Leighton (and me).



Ok, so maybe naked time can get a little messy. Leighton loves it so much, and there REALLY IS a difference between having the diaper on and having it off. Tonight Chad called a ban on naked time after Leighton tinkled on the rug, but I can tell you already I will be lifting the ban tomorrow. Now don't worry...our house isn't going to smell like pee. Usually she gets it on a blanket, which I just throw in the wash!

I thought this was so cute...Chad reading Leighton Knuffle Bunny and Leighton is just lounging there with her hand behind her head!


Here's a couple of cute shots of Leighton with Aunt Fara last week when Fara was visiting. Clearly, Fara is her favorite aunt! (I can say that without hurting anyone's feelings because Fara is Leighton's only aunt.)



As far as food goes, we've now moved on from peaches (wow-who knew they cause SO much gas?) to blueberries. I take great pleasure in all the food exploration we're doing and look forward to each new thing she tastes. So far, she likes everything she's tried. It might have taken her a few times to like it (hello, peas), but she's there.

3 Swimming!

This is the third time Leighton has been in the pool...and wouldn't you know when we got there, once again I had forgotten the memory card. Thankfully we were just at our neighborhood pool, so Chad ran home and got it. Here's some shots of Leighton swimming (for the record, she loved it).

0 More pictures from the weekend

Aunt Fara came to stay with us yesterday and I got some of her pictures from the Baptism weekend off her camera.

2 Happy 7 months!

I CANNOT believe that Leighton is 7 months old today. Time has just flown by. It actually makes me a little sad that it's passing so quickly. I'm really trying to live in slow motion and enjoy each and every second with her. I can say for certain that I've never experienced such happiness in my whole life. I can feel the wrinkles forming around my eyes from smiling so much. Every morning, I can't wait for Leighton to wake up. And every night, I'm a little sad when she goes to sleep. LIFE IS GREAT.

Here's what the girl is up to recently:

• Squawking like a bird.
• Making lots of other strange noises.
• Trying lots of new foods (we're currently on peas, which I have to sneak in with sweet potatoes because she won't open her mouth for peas).
• Inching around the floor (this is whenever I take her out of her harness; you can tell she's ready to move around).
• Putting anything and everything in her mouth, including my hair, her diaper...whatever she gets her hands on.
• Looking in the mirror...every time we pass a mirror I stop and wave hello and give her a moment to check herself out.
• Sleeping through the night (still). We are L-U-C-K-Y in this area. Leighton sleeps like a champ. Hasn't woken in the middle of the night ONE TIME since Easter.

This is about the point in time when Leighton figured out I'd been smothering peas with sweet potatoes to get her to eat them. BUSTED!
A big moment happened here yesterday: Leighton graduated from Pampers Swaddlers to the Cruisers. I know, I know. You can't contain your excitement. Neither can I. (And I'm serious!)

0 Baptism

Where to begin. We went to San Antonio Friday for the weekend because we had Leighton baptized on Sunday. We stayed at the Fergusons house, which was Leighton's first time there. The biggest gotcha of the weekend: Aunt Fara flew in from Portugal to surprise us! Saturday morning she just walked in our room and Chad and I couldn't believe it. We had no clue she was coming in. Sneaky girl!


Don't ask about the bowtie Chad has on.

Saturday afternoon, Chad's mom had a little get together at the house for some close friends to meet Leighton. She had ice-cream sundaes and we had so much fun showing Leighton off! Here's some pics from the afternoon:








Leighton puts anything and everything in her mouth these days, including hair!



Here's Granddaddy giving Leighton a bottle. By the way, Granddaddy had knee replacement surgery this morning...get well soon! We love you!

When we got there Friday night, it seemed like Leighton was experiencing a little separation anxiety. Thankfully on Saturday, she was back to her social little self and was passed around to everyone at the party with no crying. Whew! Here, Nonny has fun feeding Leighton apples:


Leighton loves to read books. We read to her every day. Here she is with Aunt Fara reading "Pat the Bunny":

Leighton had a little trouble napping while we were there, so I gladly rocked her to sleep a few times. We've been putting her in her crib while she's awake so she has learned to put herself to sleep, so I haven't been able to do this as much as I'd like. All the parenting books make you feel like you're really screwing things up if you rock your baby to sleep, but I had a lovely time doing it. (I think it's ok every once in a while!)

I love this kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday was the big day. We had her baptized at my church in San Antonio, where we got married. Chad and I took Leighton to meet with Reverend McNitzky before the service to go over the meaning of baptism and how things would go. Our sweet little girl decided that was a good time to have a blowout in her diaper. Reverend McNitzky thankfully let us change her in his office. (I have to say, I was happy she did it there and not up at the altar!) The rest of the morning was very smooth.



That's us up at the altar. We had both sets of grandparents and Uncles Matt and Brad and Aunt Fara standing up there with us.



For the record, Leighton did not cry at all, not even when he put the water on her head. We were very proud!

Now THIS was really special. This is the minister who married us (almost 6 years ago) and she carried Leighton around the church to show her to the congregation. I really love that she was the one to do that!


There's Uncle Brad with Leighton:

My friend Erin came in from Austin with her mother-in-law Louisa and Erin's two children David and Mary Louisa. Here's Uncle Matt holding David:



Here's our group, including all my aunts and uncles (who live in San Antonio and Austin), my grandmother (and Leighton's only living great-grandparent), Chad's great aunt and a close family friend, some of my cousins, and the Donoghues.



After the baptism, we had a lunch at a Mexican restaurant in San Antonio called La Fonda. It was a great time, and once again, Leighton was passed around and although she was a little weepy (I mean come on, she skipped over her morning nap and had quite a big day, so we were shocked she didn't have a complete meltdown), she had fun seeing everyone. I wish I had a picture of her with her favorite guest...David Donoghue, who is just 6 days older than her. Once again, our little flirt had her hands all over him!

We changed her out of her baptism dress into this sweet little number. I have to say, there's nothing more fun than dressing a little girl!

Chad and I have been on the South Beach diet all week, but I could not resist having a piece of this delicious cake! Vanilla cake with raspberry filling and butter cream frosting...I'm salivating right now just thinking about it.