9 Month Atley Jane

Atley is 9 months old today!  Where have those months gone?!  She is such an amazing baby.  I love watching her learn and do new things everyday!
Here is some of what she's doing these days...

• She's mobile!  Crawling on all 4's now.
• She is transitioning to 3 feedings a day.  Along with breakfast, lunch and dinner
• She loves finger foods.  Her favorites are cheese, watermelon, puffs and yogurt melts.
• She has 2 teeth (both lower central incisors)
• She can clap (I'll try to get a video soon)
• She smiles and chatters all the time.
• She says "mama", "dada", "nana" and lots of other sounds!
• She is getting on her knees all the time and trying hard to pull up.  Sometimes she succeeds.  We've found her standing in bed several times.  
• Goes to bed around 8-8:30 and wakes up around 7-7:30 (except the last couple days it has been WAY too early!)

Up on her knees!  She loves this piano- all 3 have loved this toy.

Sweet girl

On the move

Crawling everywhere

 It was a beautiful day and evening today, so we went out to the deck for some pictures...

Atley Jane, we love you so much!  You are the perfect #3!

(I'll post weight and length stats after her doctor appt on Thursday)

Party!

We {finally} had Ethan's 6th Birthday party yesterday!  We had a few friends over for lunch and some water fun!  We had an inflatable waterside set up, water guns and water balloons.  It was a great time!

Ethan- coming down the slide!

Atley and Olen had fun too!

Some of the kids coming down the slide :)!  (Notice the head first child...that's Nora)

They all loved the slide!

Party kids! (minus the babies)
Kelton, Liz, Case, Nora, Soren, Jaxson, Zach, Ethan, Camden & Callynn (in front)

Cupcake time

He's 6!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

We moved inside for present opening

Such a fun time with great friends!

Atley's Baby Dedication

Atley's baby dedication service was on Sunday, June 7.  We promised to pray daily for our sweet girl and raise her to know Jesus.  She's such a blessing to our family and I can't imagine our life without her.  Without her sweet smile and giggle.  Without the joy she brings to each person who looks at her.  She is an absolutely amazing baby and I love watching her grow and learn.  We look forward to seeing the woman she becomes (in a long long time :) ).

Grandma Karen and Grandpa came up for the ceremony.  And we were so happy to have them there!  Atley is very lucky to have the grandparents she has!  All 4 love her (and the other 2) so so much.  Sandra and Roger also came.  Sandra and Roger are like our kids 3rd set of grandparents.  We are so blessed to have them in our lives and I was honored they were a part of this special day!

Atley Jane

Baby D ceremony with daddy

Ethan enjoying the gummy worm from the cupcake bar

Oh Nora ;)! 

Roger and Sandra with Atley

Grandma Karen and Grandpa with Atley

We love you so much baby girl!

Atley at 8 Months

Atley was 8 months old last Saturday (May 30).  She is changing so quickly these days!

• She finally has a tooth!  Her first tooth (lower left central incisor) popped through on May 23rd.
• She is still nursing 4 times a day.  And eating 3 meals.  Breakfast- baby yogurt & some banana (sometimes pancake/waffle or eggs)  Lunch- lately it's been peas, shredded cheese and applesauce.  Dinner- a veggie of sorts and  something else...depends.
• She's mobile!  She can army crawl all over and is very close to crawling on all four's. 
• She can also go from sitting to belly and back to sitting.
• She weighs 19 lbs (according to the bathroom scale)
• She goes to bed around 8:30pm and sleeps until 6:30-7:30 am!
• She has started standing with support a lot more.
• She has made 2 road trips to Arkansas and was such a good traveler and hotel room sharer :)!
• She's such a happy girl! And a great baby!

Happy 8 months baby girl!  We love you watching you grow and we love YOU!

Big girl! 

She's on the move!

Got it  :)

How has she grown so fast?!

This shows how she moves..pushes with her toes and pulls with her arms.

Standing with daddy!

Grandpa Bob

Last Sunday (May 24) very early in the morning, my Grandpa passed away in Arkansas.  He was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of May and we lost him less than a month later.  I'm so thankful that he didn't have to go through a lot of pain, but saying goodbye was/is hard!

Here he is in Panama...not sure the year.

He was always such a strong, active man.  He loved to travel and I was lucky enough to join him on countless trips- always in the camper.  I remember picking blueberries in Michigan, watching the wildlife from the camper window in the smokey mountains, and about jumping out of my skin when he banged on that window and growled like a bear.  Grandpa also took me in the first wave pool I'd ever been in.  He was the best!  Not only did we travel with our grandparents, we spent weeks of our childhood just being with them at their home in North Little Rock.  He would pay us 1 penny per pinecone we picked up, and we thought that was awesome!  

I'm thankful my kids got to know him and that he was a part of their lives, even for a short time.  They called him Grandpa Bob :).

Ethan and Grandpa Bob

Nora and Grandpa Bob

There are so many things I will miss about him.  I will miss his witty humor- One of the last things I said to him, "I'll be back in the morning."  His response from his hospital bed: "I'm not going anywhere!" With a big smile.  I will miss his hugs.  I will miss listening to him tell stories of his travels.  I will miss seeing him keep up with technology- he was taking pictures on his iPhone last time I was with him!  I will miss seeing him sleeping in the chair and him denying it by saying "I was just resting my eyes!"  I will miss playing dominos with and getting beat by him.  I will miss walking into his house and seeing cat related decor everywhere.  

(I asked my mom to look for pics of me and Grandpa...this is what she found!)

Playing Cards (circa 1995)

Grandpa and my dad in a serious game of chess (Christmas 2013)

This was Christmas 2014 :)

4 Generations of "Blair" Boys

1st Annual Blair Family Ping Pong Tournament (Christmas 2014)

Father/Son Team

I love you Grandpa and miss you terribly!

We have a 6 Year Old!

Yikes!  How is Ethan 6 years old already?!?  His birthday was on Thursday (May 28).  He is such a joy.  He is so smart and funny and sensitive.  He loves being outside.  He loves Legos.  He loves sports...ALL sports.  He loves his family- especially his baby sister.  They still have a special bond.  I can't imagine our family without our 1 and only sweet boy!  Happy 6th Birthday, Ethan!!

Continuing the birthday donut tradition! Age-3, 4, 5 & 6.

Ethan's school puts names and birthdays for the month on their sign, so we had to go get a picture by it!

Ethan and his sign!

We are also continuing the tradition of birthday presents under the bed.  It's so fun!  And they now know to look under there on their birthday mornings!

Ready to open!

But not before some birthday spankings from Nora :)

Pirate legos!

Atley got in on the spanking action!

She's excited about it!

There was one more present in the living room for him! (Do you think he needs new pi's :)??)

It's a new BIG bike!!

Birthday donut :)

Hopping up on the bike!

He can ride it!

Unfortunately, we had to jump in the car soon after to head to Arkansas.  This isn't how I expected to spend Ethan's birthday and Jared and my 10th anniversary :)!  We had a long drive, but dinner and an ice cream cake were waiting for us when we got there!

Happy birthday Ethan!

Can't you hear the singing :)

He was happy!

Yummy!

Happy birthday sweet sweet boy.  We love you so much!  And we can't wait to see what the next year brings!