Whoops...6 AND 7 months.....

At 6 months old : PRESLEY MAY OTWELL
Weight: 17 lbs 0.6 oz (68%)
Length: 26 1/4 in (66%)
Head 16 7/8 (60%)

SOOOOO......well ya see....what had happened was....I promise I was really busy...I had every intention, BUT.....

Call it what you want, wrap it up in a pretty package, put a bow on it...no matter how you look at it, an excuse is an excuse. And sadly, I have MANY as to why I missed a 6 month post on our baby girl! Well, here's the deal, Presley turned 6 months on 1-31. We were getting ready for my 30th birthday and our big trip to Las Vegas to celebrate it. Celebrating my mom's birthday. Battling sickness for a few weeks before that. Planning and packing. Finally the BIG trip comes. I thought no big deal, I'll tackle it when we get back. Well, naturally I spent a ridiculous amount of time just soaking up as much Presley as possible since I missed her SOOO much while we were gone.  Then there was Valentine's Day. And Presley's 6 month photo shoot, which required my usual, unnecessary, overly stressful planning. And just the general overall challenge of getting back in the swing of things. It just slipped through the cracks. But I have to be honest, a part of me feels like missing making a post of the lately happenings in Presley's 6 months of life is very humbling. I mean of course it's all cute to have the same exact photos to compare side by side for each month leading up to an entire year. Obviously that was my intention. But the fact that I failed to perfectly lay out the baby and the chalkboard for a photo to commemorate 6 months, sums up our life more than the picture itself would. To me, it shows imperfection. And yes we are so very imperfect. Our life is busy. It's chaotic. It's hard for me to remember my own name some weeks. We are a family on the go at all times. Trying to be parents and maintain successful careers is more work than anyone can imagine. It takes dedication, discipline, and four helping hands. Not to mention the furry family member who still deserves lots of attention and play time. So yeah, we missed a month in the documentation world. So what? We're not perfect day in and out in our home and I certainly don't intend to make it look that way on paper either. I'm sure in the future, there may be lots of times when I fail to hit the nail on the head.  I may be a couple days late behind the deadline, I may plan an event or occasion with 75% of my drive instead of 100%, and LOTS of times I may let laundry stack up beyond belief while I let the dust bunnies wait for when there is "more" time, but that's all ok to me.

The good news is, the important things that need to happen, definitely do happen.  Presley turned 6 months old on 1-31 and we had a sweet little celebration of her half birthday with a cupcake and her first taste of frosting : ) OHHH SO SWEET!

She didn't exactly love it but I know she will...in due time my dear, after all, you are MY child!! Other than this moment, 6 months would have been quite possibly the most boring blog post yet. January is always VERY low key for us. Coming straight off of Christmas all we are really looking for is a big slow down. 

On the other hand, sweet little Presley is celebrating such a big milestone. Our little duck is one half of a whole year. I'd say I can't believe it but you've heard that before right?!? I really always thought time went by way too quickly (except when I was pregnant that is!) but I definitely think it flys when you have kids. Wouldn't it be great if you could go back and re live every single little moment whenever you wanted. Even just for a minute or two. I sometimes imagine what it would be like if I had a little remote to back and relive memories in person that were captured in pictures. I would relive her ACTUAL birthday at least once a month. I would go back to the first week home when she slept like a little angel constantly and we spent most days snuggling and napping. I would go back to when she was two months old because she was just a tiny little duck with a head full of hair! So many moments I'd like to put myself in. I guess all you can do is enjoy each moment, document it, and look forward to the next step. 

Speaking of documenting, another reason I decided to lump 6 and 7 months together is because Presley has REALLY changed so much in months 6 and 7.  Conquering a few milestones in notables. First of all, as a Welcome Home to mom and dad after Vegas(don't ever leave me again) Presley decided to show us how she could roll over. We both took off the next day after we got home to spend with her and while we were having play time in the floor with her she finally decided not to let her big belly get the best of her and to just roll on! And that she did. Here I was thinking, she won't do it, she gets too lazy about it. Well, she sure showed me up! I squealed with delight because I was just so proud of her. Then I wanted to cry because I remembered that this was her first sign of mobility.  I know it won't be long until I'm gonna need a hammer and nails to corral this kid to one place. The baby days are slipping through our fingers as we know it. I have to say I am MORE than excited about where we are headed but I wouldn't mind a little tiny baby newborn maybe once every two weeks or so!

Right along with that, Presley started sitting up so well on her own. She already did that pretty well but now I feel more comfortable not staying by her side with all hands on deck anticipating a baby topple over.

We are steadily working our way more and more into solid foods. I made the mistake of insisting that she eat green beans and she was not at all interested. I took it as though she wasn't interested in foods at all. Then I thought well, might as well try something different. So we bought some sweet potatoes to try...NAILED IT! The kid ate them up like there was no tomorrow! She was literally laughing her head off while she slurped down every orange, messy bite. At one point I thought she was gonna rip Jason's hand off trying to direct the spoon into her mouth. There is no doubt my little duck will be a healthy eater for sure!

Proudest mama moment right here: At P's 6 month checkup, Dr. Holmes said she would probably start working on a consonant sound soon. Ya know like dadadadadada or mamamamama....Wanna know which sound she's been making, like, A LOT...you guessed it! MAMAMAMA!! Not sure if this is to classify as her first word but I'll def take it. She just mamamamama's all day long...most especially when she is real mad. Like when she has to get dressed after bath (baby streaker).

In addition to Presley getting good growth marks at the doc, Dr. Holmes commented that for Presley being a daycare baby she is definitely lucky to be so healthy. So far, in her 7 month little life I can say that she has had about 2 bad colds and one short case of stomach virus. Apparently Dr. Holmes was surprised that she hadn't been more sick and thankfully we have had no ear infections. I have to say, for her to be so small through flu season, I am more than happy about all this. At the same time, I realize that once she starts to be more mobile and touching things and children more we may not continue to be as blessed. But for now, it seems she is rising above the odds for her situation. Praise The Lord!!!!!!

Also my big baby pretty much moved into size 3 diapers...I say pretty much because I still want the 2s to fit. But let's face it, they look ridiculous. So 3s it is : ( Big Baby wins again!

Still no teeth yet and no crawling quite yet. I'm actually thinking those things can wait as long as possible in my book. The second I see teeth popping out of those little baby gums it will probably just set me into a tailspin! Nothing I love more than those big baby gummy smiles!

So the synopsis is: P baby is healthy and happy. She has a WONDERFUL schedule. Oh how blessed we are to have a sleeping, happy baby. Presley wakes up anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 am and on days we are at home she stays pretty consistent on a 3 hour schedule of eating, playing, and nap. Most of her naps are usually close to an hour or longer and she mostly naps in her crib. Occasionally in her swing.  At night she eats dinner (baby food and a 6 oz bottle) about 6 pm or so, gets a bath, another couple of ounces of a bottle and usually down for the night between 7:00 and 7:30. Out for the night in her crib till morning time! I can't tell you how blessed we feel that she is a good sleeper. I know we are bound to go in spurts on this but I'll count my blessings for now.  Like I said, this child is so happy most all of the time and never fails to let you know just what she needs. I think the lord knew how much I needed this for my first child while I was figuring this all out. She is definitely easier to read and more manageable than I ever expected. These days her cries have become very readable.  In other words, I can tell what each one means....seriously...I thought that whole thing was a big lie...a mother's intuition is nothing short of amazing.

Mama and daddy are doing great as well. Staying SUPER busy with work and play ; ) You know that whole exercise topic I addressed in my last post, well I've been diligently working on that and trying to get back into routine as Spring and Summer approaches. In January I started going to a boot camp two nights a week and I absolutely love it! I love to exercise as it is but was worried about finding something that would fit into my nightly routine and still allow me not to miss out on my P baby time. I found just the fit and it has really been an eye opener for me. I have worked on changing all of my terrible eating habits and have cooked more protein and veggies than even I can believe. Thankfully Jason is a huge help to me by always joining in on these endeavours with me even though he doesn't have to. #skinnyasarail #wishhewouldeataboxofgirlscoutcookies  His efforts definitely keep me on track and allow me to stay motivated. My boot camp starts about the time Presley is getting ready for bed so that works great. When the weather gets nicer we plan to strap the mini in the stroller and resume our running routines that we did before I got pregnant. To say I AM MORE THAN HAPPY for Daylight Savings Time would definitely be the understatement of the YEAR!!! I HATE WINTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bring on the longer days! 

Other big news on our home front is that Presley's Nettie (my mama) has decided to retire at the end of this school year!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! I could dedicate a whole post to this amazing woman and how much of a hard worker she is. Instead, all I will say is, no one deserves it more. She has been a mother, a care taker, a friend, and countless other titles all while juggling a full time job and consistently excelling at it. I'm BURSTING with pride. I hope I will teach Presley all the important values that our mom taught us. I'll never forget, as a student in high school, her philosophy, "The question is not IF you are going to college, it's WHERE. You will learn to take care of yourself so you won't ever have to depend on anybody financially" Absolutely! We are so excited for her and know that she will enjoy retirement so much, and hopefully be getting a lot more Brady/Aiden/Presley time!

As always here are some picture updates on our little duck and all her 6-7 month happenings!

 During the months of January and February we spent A LOT of time in soft fuzzy outfits
: )

Pressy got a really bad cold early February!

Went to see all my family in Louisiana! This is me and my cousin Ella! I Love Her!

Me and Ella and Addi!

Oh I sleep so hard!

Playing with my favorite toys, I decided to dress like my toy giraffe!

Brrr...it's cold outside, my cousin Eddie hat got me through some tough days!

FEBRUARY!! Time for lots of dressing in RED!!

BATHTIME IS MY FAVORITE!!!

I had my first visit to the GPC on the weekend. My temp ran up to 103!

Look at me and my big puppy!!!!

Going to eat for Nettie's birthday!

Went to my 6 month checkup! 

I was SOOOO sad, it hurt!

And mama and daddy left for Las Vegas! 

This was my last morning with mama

Here I go to Nana and Nettie's!!

Mama came back!! I was soooo happy!

 Kickin it in my PJs!!

IT'S VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!!! WE LOVE HOLIDAYS!

My gifts!!!

I got a little sick, so pedialyte it is!!

Presley Officially eats solids!!!!!!!!!! She LOVED sweet potatoes!

Last Heart outfit for February!!

More food for me to love!!

Sweet baby sleeping in mama's arms!

7 MONTHS OLD!! We're back!!

This pic couldn't be more perfect!! My happy little girl!

 In honor of the fact that there is no 6 month chalkboard pic....here's a ton of 7 months : )

 

In case you noticed from the pics, yes, we got a new rug for Presley's room. BUUUTT In order to keep consistency I am continuing to take her pics on her old rug....Plus, I REALLY miss that rug, and I keep thinking it IS going to live another day, I refuse to get rid of it no matter what anyone says! Now if I could just find a little time to work on that......

Until next time! And maybe, JUST MAYBE, I'll be a little more efficient!

Cheers,

Presley's absent minded mama