Future Mary Lou Retton?

Today Emma Claire has officially been out in the world as long as she was in my belly! That's right we have a NINE month old! And today we had a big day! Emma Claire went to her very first gymnastics class. Who knows...maybe she's the next Mary Lou ;-)

She didn't know what she was excited for but she was ready to go!

Baby pull-ups! I still can't get over how strong she is. 

Hmm...maybe gymnastics won't be her specialty. Here she is up in relevé...future ballerina?

Love this face. 

She really had a great time and so did the hubs and I. Today was his day off so he got to come too! He was the only Daddy at baby gymnastics! Emma Claire loved being with all of the other babies and had so much fun crawling around with them. She even let the instructor use her as an example baby. My favorite memory from today happened at the end of the class. Our instructor got out the bubbles and came around and blew bubbles on each baby. Well Emma Claire figured out pretty quick that the bubbles were all being blown into the corner of the room {by the air ducts} so she crawled over to where the bubbles were floating and camped out. She waited for the bubbles to float over to her. Smart cookie. Everyone in the room was cracking up at how observant she was!

This next picture may not mean anything to most of you...but this was a HUGE deal in our little world.  

Emma Claire rode around in the buggy WITHOUT her seat cover.

The seat cover was in the wash and we needed some things from the grocery so we just had to go with it. Now I know most people don't use cart covers but I'm somewhat of a germaphobe so this was a big deal! In true Mallorie fashion we had to get a picture {or ten} to document this "momentous occasion" ha!

The other big event that took place today was that we turned our keys in for our other house! We had a final walk through with the owners and we are officially DONE with that house. I haven't shared a lot about that situation but even after moving into our home we had a lot of things left to do at the other house. I am so glad that I can say that we don't ever have to go back there and can now focus all of our spare time and energy on OUR house!

"As much time as you put into it, that's what your achievements are going to be when you come out of it." Mary Lou Retton

The One Where I Talk About All of The Bows

If you have read my blog for any length of time then you know I love a big bow. Emma Claire rarely goes without a bow to match her outfit. I get asked about Emma Claire's bows often so I thought I would do a little blog post dedicated to them.

When I was pregnant I knew that if I had a girl I wanted to put bows on her pretty little head. Well when I found out that I was having a girl I was tickled pink and couldn't wait to start on her bow collection. Before I knew it I had assembled quite the little collections of bows. Some made by me and some purchased. I was all set to adorn Emma Claire's head with any type of bow.

Emma Claire started wearing bows at birth...

Her hospital hat was special ordered with the bow on it. We had to start off right!

Her newborn photo shoot included several different styles and sizes of bows.

When she was itty bitty she wore a few "big" bows. 

She wore these smaller bows for the first few months of her life. 

Then we graduated to mostly BIG bows! They're our favorite. 

Just recently we "downsized" and bought some small bows for ponytail and pigtail purposes!

I mean come on, how cute is this?!

We have a rainbow assortment of bows. 

As you can tell we LOVE our bows! And so do most people. We get some of the funniest comments and most are positive, although some aren't. You wouldn't believe some of the things people have said to me about Emma Claire's bows.

- "Oh my goodness..that bow ATE your baby!" 

{My personal favorite}

- "It takes a certain personality to be able to pull off that look." 

{I didn't even know how to respond to this one...}

- "She is just going to hate you for putting that on her head when she grows up." 

{I've heard this one about 100 times and it is by far my LEAST favorite comment. It's a BOW people. On a BABY. Get over it.}

- "Wow...she doesn't try to rip that off as soon as you put it on her? I would..."

{yes. Seriously.}

-  "Why would you put a bow on a boy?"

{Yes someone honestly said this to me. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not...}

- "If you don't stop putting bows on her head she won't have any hair, or she will have a bald spot from the bow."

{I can honestly report that there is nothing wrong with Emma Claire's hairline and she has a full head of fluffy blonde hair.}

I usually don't mind getting comments about her bows but I never thought that I would get SO MANY. We cannot go anywhere without being approached. Sometimes we feel like we're with a little celebrity from the amount of chatter we cause. As for the negative comments they don't bother me and never have. What does bother me is that people choose to have such a negative outlook on something that doesn't affect their life at all. I mean seriously, it's a bow on a BABY people. If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. And it's not just strangers that have said negative things to me. I have had family say somewhat rude things as well.

All in all I love our bows, the Mr. loves our bows, and I'm pretty sure Emma Claire loves her bows and that's all that matters!

I mean how cool does she look in her big bow? ;-)

So you want to know where we buy our bows?

"Tiny" Ponytail Bows- Polkadot Posies 3" Pinwheel

"Small" Bows- Pokladot Posies 4.5" Solids

"Big" Bows- Polkadot Posies 6.5" ABC

As you can see we LOVE Polkadot Posies! Their prices can't be beat and shipping is incredibly fast. Erin, the owner, is a mommy to two and an awesome lady! She has a cute little video you can find HERE if you want to know a little more about her. I also follow her on twitter and facebook. She holds sales often and sometimes announces special deals!

Polkadot Posies did not compensate me in any way for this post. I just love them and get asked where we buy our bows so often I wanted to share! 

SO there you have it! A little bow background. What about you, do you put big bows on your little ladies? 

Emma Claire Eight Months

Well Miss Emma Claire another month has gone by! You are as busy as ever and getting close to crawling! We spent half of this month in Texas with Grammy & G-Pop. You also have two teeth now, both on the bottom. Mommy and Daddy also bought you a house this month! A pretty big eight month present ;-) This month was so fun!

 

Here's what you've been up to this month, Emma Claire!

 Eating: You're still loving solids. Just like last month you didn't have much of an appetite when teething but as soon as your second tooth popped through you got your appetite back. You also started eating pouch baby food this month. In Texas I was tired of you refusing pureed food so I thought I would see if it was just MY pureed food you didn't care for. The first night I gave you some Ella's Kitchen pouch food you ate close to SEVEN ounces. Before that you were eating a few bites at most. So you are now eating mainly pouch baby food. And it goes without saying that you are still nursing like a champ!

Sleeping: Not stellar. But you are so close to crawling and still teething I don't blame you for not sleeping well. Luckily when you wake I can nurse you for a few minutes and you are back asleep. I'm not complaining.

Firsts: In Texas you got to meet your cousin arbor again and your newest cousin Gavin. You also went to Grapevine Lake for the first time during this Texas trip! You went to Georgia for the first time and met your Great Granny Lucy and Great Grandpa Russel. In Georgia you also got to meet Mommy's best friend Rachel and her fiance Matt. {AKA Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matt!}. You also bit mommy while nursing this month for the first time. It didn't hurt TOO bad and I'm hoping it doesn't happen again! I didn't panic when you did it and just gently plugged your nose like I had read to do and you popped right off. Funny part of this story? We were on an AIRPLANE when it happened! ha!

Clothes: Some 3-6 month, mostly 6 month. You weigh about 16 pounds and are in size three diapers now!

Mommy Moments: We did lots of traveling together this month sweet girl! We went to Texas on our own again and you did great as always. I am so glad you're a good traveler! We finally got to travel with our favorite guy, Daddy! Our little family went to Georgia for the fourth of July celebration. I am so excited for you to finally start crawling! You are SO close. You will get up on all fours and rock back and forth! You're going to crawl any day now!

"Heyyyy, I'm EIGHT months old!"

Emma Claire Seven Months

So I got just a tad behind on Emma Claire's monthly updates ;-) But we went to Texas, then moved, then went to Georgia and Emma Claire became truly mobile so I figure it's okay. So tonight I'm catching up and posting her seven AND eight month updates. Seeing as she will be nine months in TWO days I'd say it's about time I catch up!

So here we go...Emma Claire, this is what you've been up to this month!

Eating: You have been teething like CRAZY this month so solid foods haven't been your favorite. However the day after you got your first tooth you had a voracious appetite! Understandably so!

Sleeping: You typically take pretty good naps. Two a day, morning and afternoon. Nighttime sleep has been on and off this month. Before we went to Texas you were sleeping pretty good only getting up once or twice, but while in Texas all bets were off. You had a really hard time sleeping there at night.

Firsts: YOU FINALLY GOT YOUR FIRST TOOTH! The all caps was to emphasize my excitement! This was a lot of work for you and me both! I was quite excited to see it finally break through! We celebrated yours and my first Mother's Day. We FINALLY took you to church. About time ;-) Shh don't tell anyone it took us this long!

Clothes: 3-6 months and 6 months. Size two diapers.

Mommy Moments: Celebrating my first Mother's day was just wonderful. This time last year I was pregnant with you and anticipating the next year. Getting to celebrate with you, Emma Claire, was so fun. And you getting your first tooth was probably a bigger moment for me than you. I feel like I worked just as hard as you for that little sucker! ha!

When I was going back through pictures from this month I found some funny ones that I hadn't shared yet...

ha! This hat was given to us by a dear friend and I used it in her newborn pictures. It's a little small now!

Who says we need water in the pool to have fun!?

She makes the best faces. 

This just makes me giggle.

Teething much?

Sweet angel baby. I just love her so much.

...and they lived happily ever after

Today my best friend got married. I am beyond excited for her! I still remember several years ago when she texted me that she had met a really great guy. Who knew we were texting about her future husband!?

A few weeks ago when we were in Georgia I was able to take their engagement pictures. We spent an entire day doing their "shoot". There were several locations and outfits. It was such a special day. Even though I wasn't able to make it to the wedding I am so glad I was lucky enough to spend the day with them and take their engagement pictures.

I am just in awe of all of their pictures. They were great subjects and we had so much fun! We took pictures off the back of our mountain house, in the front of the mountain house, at a local river, and during a firework show! I will share more soon! 

Great Deal Alert!

Y'all know I love a great deal AND I am obsessed with Paper Coterie. Well today I'm going to share one of Paper Coterie's current deals with you.

 They are having a Christmas in July sale. And in this heat, who doesn't need a little Christmas?!

ALL of their gift cards are 70% off right now! That means you can get some awesome Christmas gifts for friends and family OR stock up some for yourself! I mean a $100 gift card for $30?! That is amazing!

Here are some other PC deals going on right now:

- If you're a first time customer you will get a FREE journal! Who doesn't love freebies?!

- All wall art is 40% off right now.

- You can have this adorable download for FREE!

{via}

 

 I just had to share some of these great deals with y'all! I hope you find something you love. I have loved PC for a long time and just recently became an affiliate. {More info on that HERE}  I hope to share more with you in a future post! I need to show off all I've made with Paper Coterie! 

In case you were wondering PC did not ask me to write this post or compensate me for writing it. 

I just seriously love sharing good deals!

"Weekend" Wrap Up

First off...I have written my FIRST EVER guest post for my friend Kayla! 

Go check it out {HERE}

We love our daddy days around here. Seeing as lately they are few and far between. This "weekend" we had a low key couple of days. 

We went to the grocery...

 

I am loving her new bows I have gotten for her little pony tails. 

Someone decided to sit backwards in the cart. She loved facing the other way!

Mommy found some YUMMY dairy free ice cream that is seriously SO GOOD. Even if you don't need to stay away from dairy you should try this. It was amazing. Emma Claire even got some. She LOVED it!

We had family bedtime routine

Since the hubs was home for dinner for once we COOKED!

This hasn't happened in a looong time.

We had wild rice, grill foil pocket veggies, and pan fried catfish. So yummy. 

The hubs came up with the most interesting pie for dessert!

We love our "daddy days" as I call them. Thankfully he is usually home with us in the morning but we have really missed having him around. It was nice to just hang out at home, cook, relax, and not worry about cleaning or house.