6 month photos! (for real this time)

We are back from our Pure Michigan adventure and baby girl is finally starting to feel better so we got to work on those long overdue 6 month photos in a hurry.

This little lady is seriously my favorite person to hang out with these days.

She has me laughing all the time. She's been doing lots of babbling (especially to her puppies or other little peeps) and has taken more of an interest in learning to crawl. We aren't there yet, but motivation is 75% the battle, right?

She's now tried numerous foods, mostly purees but also a few treats that she chews on. Big girl in tha houuuuuuuse. She officially has bananas, apples, pears, pineapple, squash, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado and a few sauces and other condiments under her belt (or should I say - all over her face)!

Mak loves variety in her day. She likes us to switch out the toys and change up her environment often. She is so curious and you can just see her thinking and figuring things out non-stop. It is super fun, and also exhausting at times!!

She has also figured out how to take selfies. The girl is a natural. Just say NO to duck-lip-selfies in public restrooms please. C'mon say it with me. 

And she has discovered that playing some toys with her feet is just as fun, possibly even more fun than playing them with her hands. 

She has made some major leaps and hit some pretty cool milestones lately that we can't wait to share as soon as possible!!

Things I loved about this photo above....OBVIOUSLY the out of control mullet, those big honkin' feet, and how her baby onesie (the same one used for all of her monthly photos) can hardly hold her empty size 3 diap.

Your daily dose of cuteness :)

She is such a weirdo. She must like the way that screetch tickles her throat. Gotta love that baby!

First day of Daycare

So I guess this title is a little misleading because Mak's first day of  real daycare was actually back in August and since then she has gone a couple more times. (She's been babysat a few hours here and there with family and friends ever since she was itty bitty).

We are fortunate to live only a 3 minute drive from the daycare. In fact, if I stand in my driveway I can actually see the building from my house!

The daycare offers hourly care so it is perfect for what I need it for....dropping her off when I have meetings or appointments or heck, if I just want to get a pedicure.

I like the daycare and feel comfortable leaving my little girl there. There are several adults in the room at all times, and cameras running 24/7. They give me a sheet upon picking her up that details every diaper check, every bottle and every nap. They also give me verbal updates when I pick her up, which is sweet.

If a child takes formula, they offer several kinds that they supply for you. Since Mak is a breastmilk girl, we just bring labeled/dated bottles of breastmilk for her.  They also offer age appropriate food for your kiddo if you're interested. All included in your hourly charge.

Before I took her the first time they told me I have to label EVERYTHING of hers. So I put together a "daycare diaper bag" and labeled her bottles, her pacifier chain, and her clothes.

After I picked her up, I saw they had also labeled her LOL. Guess I didn't know she was included in the "everything."

By golly, gotta label that baby!

The first time I took her she did GREAT, but this most recent time she struggled a little. She's been a bit of a mama's girl lately, so she didn't like mama leaving her. But I have decided that daycare is good for her and for me. I like that she gets used to being around other adults and children alike.

After I picked her up last time she was "talking" much more than usual. I like to think she gave me a run down of her day. She gets to socialize and see how other babies and adults work, which is great. The added bonus is I get some time to do my own thing.

The plan is to start taking her at least one day a week for 2-3 hours. Independent woman, holla.

6 month photos! (but not really)

These are going to be more like 6.5 month photos. My little girl had the sniffles on her 6 month birthday, and I just couldn't stand to make her do a photo shoot. She looked miserable and pathetic. We'll get some great shots when we get back from our MI trip though. Wish us luck on my baby girl's first flight!!

Sensory Sunday Funday: At the Beach!

This weekend we took a little day trip down to Destin, FL (which is right on the Gulf) to enjoy the sun and the beach. It was one of those last minute trips where you wake up in the morning and decide to go for it. See you can still be spontaneous with a kid, hahah.

I do love that we are only 1.5-2 hours away from some really great beaches. The drive is just the right length for a Makaela car nap :)

Last week we played in fake sand (brown sugar) and this week she got to play with the real deal. Man did she love it. She picked it up, dumped it, pushed it around and ate it, of course. 

The weather was great. Warm water, a nice breeze, quite sunny but not too hot. We rented an umbrella so we could seek refuge from the hot rays. We didn't explore the area TOO much because it was just a quick trip, but we'll definitely be heading down there again. I did notice lots of places that cleverly had "destin" incorporated into their name. "Destin-y's Landing" "Destin-y Villas" etc. Har har har. 

We tried going to a restaurant that had been recommended by several people but that was a total fail. Wah Wah. Apparently on Saturdays they don't serve food? Bummer! So it was basically a bar and people looked at me awkwardly as I fed Makaela applesauce while Daddy finished his beer, lol. 

So...we ended up elsewhere for dinner. When in Rome Florida....

I mean, if you're going to go to Hooters you may as well do it in Florida where it all began. Notice how Makaela is not looking at the camera....just like Daddy she was checking out the umm hooters. And can I just say I don't think this will be Mak's last time here. Those Hooters girls swarmed the table like flies to play with my girl! Daddy was in heaven. I must say, they all were really sweet and the food was actually quite delicious.

Destin, I can't wait till we meet again. I want to get to know you inside and out. 

Baby mullet!

Since she was born, most people's first reaction upon meeting Makaela is "oh my gosh look at that hair!" I totally expected to have a baldy, but this girl has got.some.hair.

Because I see her every day I didn't notice how much it has really grown since she popped out. Here she was in the early days...

And this is what we wake up to now...

Talk about bed head! Truth be told I think the messy look is adorable. I often take her out in public with crazy-girl hair. I do have to be careful to brush it every day though because it gets knotted. She's got fine hair like her mama.

I didn't think I would have to worry about knots until kindergarten....sheesh! I see some detangling spray in our very near future.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that we can even style the nugget's hair into pigtails. I mean...come.on.

Long hair, don't care. 

 Baby mullet for the win!

Sensory Sunday Funday: Edible Scented Summer Mess

According to the ol' calendar summer is over, and even though I don't think summer ever ends in Alabama we decided to do a summer themed project.

We decided to get dirty in the "dirt," "mud," and "sand."

It was the most delicious smelling and tasting mess I've ever played with. We used chocolate pudding for the mud, cookie crumbs for the dirt and brown sugar for the sand. 

It was definitely sticky and messy but oh so fun. And don't worry I took on the awful task of eating the oreo creme to free up the cookies to be smushed into dirt. 

Makaela loved smelling the delicious scents (who wouldn't?!) and had fun feeling the different textures. We even pretended to exfoliate our hands with the course brown sugar and cookie crumbs. Girls rule.

The brown sugar was similar to the texture of perfect sand castle building sand. At first the coldness of the pudding took her by surprise but she got over that in a hurry. And of course, she immediately dumped the cookie crumb dirt....just on the blanket, not on her head. Victory. 

I like doing these projects and making them edible because she is very much in the everything-goes-immediately-to-the-mouth stage. I wouldn't let her eat gob-fuls but I may have encouraged her to get a little pudding in that mouth of hers. 

After this adventure she just went straight in the bath and got hosed down, which she thought was great. Thank goodness the girl loves water. 

Did I mention that I reserved some pudding and cookie crumbs beforehand so I could indulge in a delicious dirt cup later? Yes, that happened. I stand by my judgement that dirt cups are NOT just for kids. 

Edible Scented Summer Mess

Chocolate pudding

Chocolate cookie crumbs

Brown Sugar

At least containers or bowls

A don't-care-if-it-gets-messy-blanket, or something similar to cover the area you are playing on.

I like using clear containers because it is easier for the little one to see into and I also prefer shallow containers so she doesn't have to reach to deep!