{9 months}

Out beautiful boy is NINE months old! He weighed in at 21 lbs.13 oz. and measured 27.5 in. Good thing we put him in the big boy car seat a few weeks ago!

He is sitting independently with such ease at this point. He had to work harder than most babies to reach this big milestone, but he reached it!

He is feeding himself puffs at snack-time, using the Pincer grasp perfectly. We started with a new OT and PT this week through the Easter Seals Early Intervention program and the OT thought his arms and hands looked really good! That has never really been an area if concern for us.

The main area of concern are the tight muscles in his legs. Because of the spasisity, he stands on his toes, so we are working daily, helping him stand more flat footed through assisted weight baring. Thankfully, he is not so tight that he can't do it. But he does have to work for it. We'll get there!

We were having a great family moment today playing on the floor with a new toy John brought in from the garage storage-- it was an old favorite of Lola's. Anyways, we are all sitting there playing and out of nowhere, Johnny starts trying to pull himself up on the toy!!! This boy's potential is limitless. Do I expect him to pull himself up tomorrow? No. But whenever he's given us a glimpse at the next milestone, he's always reached it.

9 months in, this perfect boy has already established an awesome track record...

How we roll...

Locks of Love

I've had a bob 'do once every decade in my life--when I was 10, 20 and now, 30! I have been wanting to chop it all off for awhile now, do something fun and different. And I've always wanted to donate to Locks of Love. Yesterday, I went to Mario's where fellow Maid-of-Honor Keli chopped it all off for me, then cut it to perfection. I pray the people at Locks of Love can make good use of it.

I have to do a double take when I walk past a mirror--Is that really me?! John and Lola loved it, Johnny seems to still know who I am :) Washing it in the shower this morning was SO weird. That's going to take some getting used to. I couldn't put it in a pony if I wanted to--but thankfully, I don't. It's been in a pony way too much recently!

First Day of Nursery School

Well, the first day of nursery school is in the books! It went off without a hitch. Lola was excited to put her uniform and backpack on and head out the door this morning. Her teacher, Miss Carrie, was waiting for her at the door when she walked into school. We pulled out of the parking lot, laughed in shock at the fact we just sent our baby off on her first day of school and then my laughter turned to tears of joy.

The 3 hours went pretty fast--Johnny and I had some nice one-on-one time at home--and then before we knew it, it was time to go pick up sister. She didn't have much to say when she got in the car (she was kind of upset I'd forgotten to have juice waiting for her--bad mommy!), but she finally started talking about her day. I looked in her backpack while sitting at a stop light and found a picture she had colored of Taffy Apple (see Open House post), a cutting practice sheet (she cut perfectly along the line) and a certificate of completion commemorating her "First Day of School". Sweet things to go in her memory box.

Grammy was waiting for us when we got home, which was so nice. She couldn't wait to see Lola all dressed up in her uniform--the same one Brittany wore for 8 years. A wonderful day!

Baby brother looking up to big Sis.

Getting her special backpack from Ireland on.

Wait for me, Daddy!
Lola & Miss Carrie, her "homeroom" teacher. There are 2 other teachers, as well, in the Nursery program.

Open House

This evening, we went to Lola's new school to meet her teacher and some of her classmates! She starts Nursery school on Monday--we are so excited for her. She loved being in her classroom, exploring the new surroundings.

She found her name on a little fish.

And in her cubby.

Some familiar friends were in the classroom. Like Jesus, Mary, Joseph...
and Thomas!
Fun fact: Mommy learned how to read with "Taffy Apple" 25 years ago. Mom brought over my reader from preschool last year and I love that they are still using these characters and stories to teach the children to read...
Washing her hands for, oh, the 5th time. Things scaled to her size are such a novelty!
Reading an "Arthur" book about opposties.
All right! Is it Monday yet?

The Art of Sharing--or NOT...

Lola's 3rd Birthday Party!

We celebrated Lola's 3rd Birthday with a huge bash at Mimi & Papa's Castle last weekend. It was a beautiful afternoon spent outdoors, surrounded by friends and family, celebrating 3 awesome years with our girl. She is so blessed to have so much love in her life.

My dad & Sue again worked hard to make sure their yard looked extra beautiful for the party. And as a very special treat--Nonna & Titi baked the goodies--delicious cupcakes and a VERY special Belle cake for our princess.

Enjoy the pics...

Lola's 3rd Birthday Party

{mr. & mrs. herman}

Head over to Vrai's blog...and check out the beautiful moments Molly Grace captured. Stunning!

VRAI BLOG

baby foo

We were sure to have Johnny in his Foo Fighters onesie from Titi when she arrived this week!

baby foo

{Photography}

Yesterday, I had the joy of shooting the Z family--my first paying clients! They are friends with my cousins Sue & Mike and after seeing Sue's maternity session, they contacted me and asked if I could document their family. Awesome!

They were such a great family to work with--a young loving couple with two adorable, handsome and personable young boys. The above photo might just be my favorite pic I have ever snapped...here are some of my other favorites from the session:

{the z family}

{brother & sister}

these pics are a few months old already--but here are some sweet moments between brother & sister...

{brother & sister}

Spelling

We've told Lola how her name is spelled (L-O-L-A) but we've never actually taught her how to write it. She's been practicing writing the Letters on the iPad for the past few months. Tonight she was coloring in her Barbie coloring book and on the inside cover, she wrote her name.

How's that for putting 2 and 2 together?!

Gifts & Cake, oh my!

Last night was so much fun--Lola had ALL her Grandparents, as well as Auntie Brittany & Uncle Ronnie, over to celebrate her 3rd Birthday. Nonna made a delicious chocolate cake with fresh whipped cream and pink sparkle sprinkles. And then there were presents! She had so much fun being showered with love, sweets and goodies!

(Lots of pics--I can never narrow them down!)

Lola is 3! {Part 2}

Leah & Phil's First Dance

This is what I was talking about...

Lola's 3rd Birthday

We had such a fun day celebrating our sweet Lola's 3rd birthday today! It was even more special because we got to spend it with Nonna & Papa :)

We headed out to Oakbrook to eat at the beyond delicious Labriola Cafe, a favorite of ours we had to share with Mom & Dad. It was such a nice, relaxing and very yummy lunch. It was topped off with complementary gelato and cookies (such nice perks when you've got a birthday girl at your table!)

We then headed over to Oakbrook mall, straight to the Disney store. Nonna & Papa picked out a few special things for their Princess and the Cast Members gifted Lola with a special crown and pin to commemorate her day.

We popped into The Land of Nod to play a bit and then hung out in the pretty courtyard. It was a great day and we are really thankful to Grammy for letting us use her roomy van 7 passenger minivan!

Enjoy the pics:

Lola is 3! {Part 1}