Did You Hear that Sound?

It was my heart. Exploding.

She kissed me.

After nursing her when we got home yesterday, I was giving Ali kisses. We have a game where I'll say "kisses!" then kiss her right cheek, and then "kisses!" and kiss her left cheek. Back and forth. Quickly. So, "kisses!-smooch-kisses!-smooch-kisses!-smooch-kisses!-smooch-kisses!-smooch..." She loves it (especially when she has a nice full tummy) and it inevitably gets her smiling from ear to ear.

Well, yesterday, after about four kisses, she leaned her head toward me with her mouth open and planted one on my cheek. I thought maybe it was just a fluke--this kid puts everything in her mouth these days, so why would my cheek be any different?--so I did our kisses game again. Sure enough, after about four kisses, she leaned forward, mouth open, and planted another kiss on my cheek. We went back and forth, giving each other kisses, for a couple of minutes.

My heart? Ka-BOOM.

Wordless Wednesday

48 hours later...

Just 48 hours after our lovely day spent at the park and lake . . .

I think maybe Texas weather is controlled by a magic 8 ball.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da

. . . my oh, my what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine, headin' your way. Zip-a-dee-doo-da . . . well, you know how it goes.

We enjoyed mid-70s and PLENTY of sunshine in central Texas today, and we made sure to get out and enjoy every second! After a mother-daughter trip to the county park in the morning, Alex joined us for an afternoon walk to the lake by our house in the afternoon.

Here we are enjoying the GORGEOUS weather

Ali's first feel of sand on her feet
And then . . . water!
I think she likes it! Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time at the lake this summer!

On the way back we ran into three very adorable black cocker spaniel puppies. Ali put her hand right out to pet them--brave little girl!Ah, mid-70s in February. I love it! I am ignoring the fact that there's a chance of snow on Tuesday. Crazy Texas weather!

Da-da It Is!

I'm not really sure what qualifies as a "first word." I tend to think it's the first time she says a discernible word that is actually connected to the concept it represents . . . like saying "ball" when pointing at an actual ball.

If, however, a first word is simply the utterance of a discernible string of sounds that we recognize in English as a "word," then Ali's first word (not surprisingly, given how much she adores the guy), is Da-da!

5 months

Five months! My favorite age so far, hands down. She is developing such a charming, entertaining little personality. She is inquisitive and quick to be delighted by everything she sees. She loves pulling her socks off. She loves exploring her daddy's face and grabbing his nose. She can hold her own bottle. And she taught herself how to sit independently in only three days! She amazes us every.single.day!

Enjoy the pics!

Wordless Wednesday

Betcha can't help but smile...

Family Weekend

Last weekend was filled with family!!!

Thursday night, G-Mommy and Munna came into town. We let Ali play hooky from school on Friday so that she could hang at the house with the girls!

Then Friday afternoon, Granddaddy and Poppy joined the party.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to San Antonio to celebrate Grandpa Studly's 60th birthday. Also in San Antonio were Uncle Brian and Aunt Ragan, Great Uncle Calvin and Great Aunt Elaine, and Great-Grandma Daigle!

Don't these two already look like they're up to no good?

On the way out of town on Sunday, we swung by to see our cousins and introduce our little girls (2nd cousins). Ali was very curious about this mobile, slightly bigger version of herself.

Here I am getting some Addison snuggles.
Doesn't Addison look like she's giving a thumbs up??
Ali and Cousin Mike
"Who, us??"
Can you see the family resemblance?

It was a wonderful weekend. So much family. So much love.

20 weeks!

It's hard to believe that Ali is already 20 weeks old! When I was pregnant, 20 weeks marked the halfway point. It seemed like it took an eternity to get there, and it seemed like there was still an eternity to go once I reached it.

The last 20 weeks, however . . . I never knew how fast 20 weeks could go! It seems like we just brought baby girl home from the hospital yesterday . . . but when I stop and think about it, we have come SO far in the last 20 weeks and have learned SO much!

20 weeks then:

And 20 weeks now:

And I realized it's been entirely too long without a video. Here's our spazzy-magoo during some tummy time. Enjoy!