Rocking the first tooth...ouch!

AB/CD shirt courtesy of Auntie Brittany in Vegas!  She gave her all black onesies with awesome white something on them, plus 2 cute bibs, and she's finally big enough to rock them.  :)

She is also trying to use her new tooth!  It's coming in, and it's pretty sharp now.  There's definitely some biting going on...ouch...so I pull her off "No bite" in an authoritative voice with a straightface.  But she's started smiling back at me and has done it repeatedly some days, and it's so hard not to smile back at her...even though she's hurting me.  I only give her 2 chances, and then the feeding is over for a while.  Crazy teether!  Such a cute little monster!

We got our taxes done today (finally), and are getting quiet the return with an added dependent...pretty cool...wasn't expecting that. 

It didn't stay in the 80s long, back to 40-50s for a little while longer.  And Nana is due to have her puppies tomorrow!

7 months old!

There is our big smiley girl who is 7 months old today!  She's getting so big!  She is still trying lots of new foods, playing (mostly chewing) on lots of toys, and trying to figure out how to crawl.  She's either doing her arms or her legs, hasn't figured out the logistics quite yet.  ;)  But soon!  She can grab at anything from any angle, and she's pretty strong.  Practicing using a sippy cup with a little water in it at dinner.  I think I feel her first tooth that's about to pop through too!  She's still sleeping well (10-12hrs) at night, very seldom waking for a feeding, and she's now taking 2-3 (30mins-2hrs) naps a day.  We went to the grocery store today and she tried to lean up to see everything from her carseat the whole time, so I guess pretty soon she will be able to sit in the cart.  My mom found us a cart cover, it even has velcro straps for toys.  We can start feeding her meat this month, and will probably start with chicken.

I have so many friends that are expecting babies right now!  It's gonna be a big year for a lot of people.  Sarah Faye Hooie turns 2 in a couple of weeks...can't believe it.  We're pretty sure Nana is pregnant too, and puppies are expected this weekend.  Exciting, but I'm a little nervous. 

My sis still lives in NYC, and my brother graduates from Alabama this May.  My mom is still recovering from breast cancer.  She got a pretty bad infection and it has to heal before too much progress can be made, and she's not sure they'll do the chemo with her, but she's still recovering. 

And....it's officially spring!  This past weekend we planted our garden, had date time on our balcony under the supermoon (biggest moon in 18 years), and watched movies together.  The weather is nice, but we have itchy eyes.  Dave is still working at Home Depot, but hopefully not for too much longer.  Getting our taxes done next week.  Can't believe it's almost April!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

Marlee's first Mardi Gras we spent at home, but hope to get her to NOLA someday soon.  I made a king cake and we had red beans & rice on Lundi Gras, and had jambalaya tonight!  My parents went to New Orleans on Friday night and go back home tomorrow.  We (Marlee and I) are heading to Centre on Thursday.  We plan to visit my Grandma, see other family, and help and go to Kadie's and Beverly's baby showers on Saturday.  Dave is coming on Saturday and leaving Sunday.  We will probably come back home on Sunday too.  Can't wait to see all of their pictures from carnival!

Marlee is now making coughing noises to get our attention sometimes...pretty cute...she's also making a motorboat sound (blowing air through her lips) a lot the last 2 days.  Those sounds along with her ahh's and mmm's she makes looking directly at you, wanting you to imitate.  She has been playing the game with David mostly, and I got some of it on video.  Adorable flirtiness!  She's now reaching her arms up when she wants us to pick her up, getting more stable sitting up, and studying everything...including her hands with or without holding something.  She'll just turn her hand in all directions looking it over.  I'm pretty sure her first teeth are going to make their appearance soon.  The drooling continues, she's chewing on her fingers a lot, and biting my chin a lot (which my parents have pics of me doing that to them).  We've officially taken the bassinet part out of the pack in play in the living room so she can play in the bottom of the pin.  She's now eating green beans, broccoli, and spinach as other greens.  We had her try avacado for a new fruit, but she wasn't really a fan...will try again another time.  Apples and pears are pretty much her fruit staples.  We did let her try our strawberry real fruit bar/popsicle and she loved it.  So I'll be trying some berries with her soon. 

Dave is still working at Home Depot, but hopefully this will be the last month.  Haven't heard anything from America's Got Talent yet, but hope to soon!

Mom is doing pretty well...she's just ready to be done with the procedures and get on with the recovery process.  She has opted to do chemo, but won't be starting that for another week or so.  She had to have one expander taken out of one side due to an infection, and they are still waiting to hear from a lab in TX as to what exactly the infection was.  They did start putting some saline in the other side, and she only has some stitches left and one drain.  My parents got a hotel room for the last 2 nights in NOLA at the Hilton for mom to have a place to rest.  Glad she got to go, but I'm sure she's gonna be exhausted.  Excited to see them this weekend!

Growing everyday...and not without growing pains!

She's wearing the scarf Auntie Leah made for her!  So cute and should fit her for a while.  :)

The doctor visit was Friday...Dave did not get to come to this one.  She weighed 14lbs 9oz and 25in long.  Her pediatrician said she looks great!  She had to get 3 shots and 1 oral vacc.  She only cried for a second due to the shots and didn't cry when she had her ears looked at this time.  Nothing too much changes except for some foods that she can now have, and that she might be crawling soon.  Meeting her sitting milestone is the biggest for this age - yay! 

Speaking of sitting...while we were playing on the floor yesterday, she was sitting and I wasn't too far away from her with my legs on each side of her to keep her from falling all of the way over, but she spit up on her clothes & when I turned to grab the burpcloth I had to move my leg, and in that split second she fell back and hit her head on the floor!  I was terrified, but she only cried for a minute and had a tiny red spot that went away quickly.  I think it scared her more than it hurt.  I know the mobile she gets, the more bumps and bonks will come, but it's so sad to see her cry! 

She is sleeping longer than 30mins for some of her naps now, they have been closer to 1.5 or almost 2 hrs sometimes.  It's thrown her eating routine off a little bit, and seems like she might be getting closer to only 2 naps a day.  Most days she only nurses 5 times, and some days it's only 4 times if she sleeps a lot.  She is still nursing and eating solids 2x/day, usually cereal mixed with fruit for breakfast/brunch and mixed veggies for dinner.  We've still been sitting at the table altogether for dinner around 7pm before Dave goes to night job at Home Depot.  After dinner he leaves, then Marlee and I start the bedtime routine and she's usually asleep by 9pm.  She usually isn't up for the day until 8:30 am or so, most night being in bed 12hrs total (probably only sleeping 10-11 b/c of wake time).  We'll be starting meat next month and finger foods at 8-9months.  She's loving sharing our strawberry real fruit bars/popsicles.  Don't see any teeth yet, and she's still in size 2 diapers.  Still hasn't been sick...KNOCK ON WOOD...but she does have a pretty good rash going around her mouth.  Her doc said it was from contact (toys, saliva, food, etc.) and maybe a food sensitivity, but we've been putting cream on it daily to try to block out the moisture.  Hope it gets better soon!  Such a big girl!