One Year!

Lela, you are one year old!!

• You are 17.9 pounds (according to thedoctor, not my scale. Yay!).
• You wear mostly 9 months clothes and most 12 month clothes are too big for you.
• You are still in size 3 diapers.
  
  
• You are a full time walker and I'm having a hard time keeping up with you!
• You love to open the cabinets and pull out all the things you shouldn't play with.
  
  
• You babble all the time and you already have a big sense of humor.
• You love an audience and you know how to keep everyone's attention.
  
  
• You have a habit of finding pacis and keeping them in your mouth ALL THE TIME. But fortunately it doesn't seem to bother you when we take it from you. I guess we have to be better at hiding them from you.
• You are continuing your big girl approach to bed time and nap time and I can lay you down with minimal rocking and you don't cry, even if you're awake (which is always the case since my the combination of my height and my baby bump prevents me from getting you all the way in your crib without dropping you the last couple inches :/ )
• You are also taking two naps in the morning and afternoon.
  
  
• My prediction about breastfeeding was right and you gave it up completely a few weeks ago. We started you on whole milk a couple weeks early since you weren't getting the breast milk.
• You're not as crazy about food these days (thank goodness) but you do have a tendency to be picky. But as long as I've got bananas around, you're happy.
  
  
• You still have separation anxiety when we leave you in the nursery but the reaction doesn't seem to be as intense.
• You are beginning to understand a lot of what we say to you and you respond appropriately. Like I can say "Go get the ball," and you'll get it and bring it to me. When we say "relax" you lean all the way back and lay your head against the wall.
  
  
• We have added brushing your teeth to your daily routine and you love to hold the toothbrush and suck all the toothpaste off of it.
• You have proved to be a bit of a climber. You always trying to figure out how to get on top of things. You got a stool for your birthday and instead of sitting on it you try to stand on it and use it as a step to get on top of other things!
• Taking your picture was a bit of a challenge this time around and our first attempt was a complete failure. This is the best we got.
  It ended immediately after this picture and I'm fairly certain I caught you in the very act that ruined the photo shoot. For some reason your diaper didn't hold all your "deposits" and when I picked up after this picture, the bed and the teddy bear were all wet! Somehow your clothes stayed dry, but after changing the sheets I was not in the mood to take any more pictures % )

It's amazing to see all the things you've accomplished since you came into the world and I can't believe it's already been a whole year. I know you will be a great big sister and I can't wait to see the girl you will become.

Eleven Months Old

Lela, you are eleven months old!

• You are 17.5 pounds (you are apparently not gaining significant weight despite the fact that you eat everything in sight!)
• You wear 6-9 month and 9 month clothes, some 12 month clothes fit you.
• You are in size 3 diapers
• You have two teeth peeking out under the gums on the bottom!

• You love to walk and you're getting better and better at it but crawling is still faster for you.
• You are very expressive when you talk and I can tell you try really hard to repeat the words we say.
• You have begun a new stage where you don't cry when I lay you in your crib! You have ALWAYS cried when we lay you down to go to sleep. We would have to wait until you were asleep to lay you down. But I guess you've realized that sleep is inevitable and you've stopped fighting it. We'll see how long it lasts ;)
• You take two naps at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm like clockwork everyday; without tears!

• You have always thrown your pacis out of the crib when you wake up but this is the first documentation I've acquired of the paci graveyard (how many do you see?).
• You only breastfeed once or twice a day and I have a feeling your last feeding is right around the corner.
• You eat three meals a day and you would snack constantly if I didn't stop you. If you any food or anyone eating you have to have food right then!

• You have begun to cry when we leave you in the nursery at church but you calm down quickly once we're gone (so we're told!).
• You have started shaking your head "no" when we try to make you do something you don't want to do. You will reach for things you want and if I give you the wrong thing, you shake your head.
• You love to play and you're always into to things you shouldn't be. Anytime we tell you not to play with something, you always laugh and continue doing what you please.

You are such a sweet girl and you are a joy to be around. You take everything in stride and there's not a whole lot that bothers you. Many things have changed since last month including a new home and a new life! I know you'll be a great big sister!!
Meet the newest member of the Clardy family!
Due August 7th!

Ten Months Old

Lela, you are 10 months old!

• You weigh 17.5 pounds (according to the bathroom scale which has been proven to be somewhat unreliable).
• You wear mostly 6-9 month and 9 month clothes.
• You wear size 3 diapers
• You are getting really close to walking and you took four or five steps yesterday for Miss Linda and Miss Sara at the church.
• You sleep good at night but bed time is not your favorite time. You are also waking up earlier in the mornings which means I have to get up extra early so I can get ready for the day :] But you still typically take two naps a day.
• You breastfeed four or five times a day.
• You are doing good eating three meals with snacks and you love to feed yourself.
• You don't have separation anxiety and you always smile back at a friendly face.
• You love to talk and you're getting better at imitating the words we say.
• You are getting better at communicating with us by reaching for things you want and putting your hand over mine and Daddy's mouth when you want us to stop talking.
• You put everything in your mouth including bugs you find along the baseboard.
• You've always loved to dance to music and now you've started to sing along with the music.

Taking your monthly picture has become somewhat of a challenge since you automatically think I'm putting you down for a nap when I put you in your crib . . .

. . . that's why you have a pin drive in your hand. For some reason holding the pin drive made everything ok. But if I took the pin drive away . . .

. . . it wasn't ok anymore.
I am proud to say I got one good picture without the pin drive, although it's not very smiley.

You are such a happy girl and you love to have fun and make everybody smile. I can already tell you are a little performer and you love to be at the center of attention. You are so smart and you're always looking for an opportunity to learn more. You are so loving and my prayer is that you'll learn to love Jesus just as much.

































































































































































































P. S. Yes, I took a nine-month crib picture but because she was crying, I didn't post it until now.

Nine Months Old

Lela, you are 9 months old!

(Let me say I realize this is extremely late but I figure its better late than never!)

• You officially weigh 16 lbs 9 oz. That's only a 5 ounce gain in two months! But it is apparently fairly normal for babies' weight to fluctuate between 6 and 9 months because they have become more active. I have to admit I was worried but Dr. Shirley said it's normal and just to increase her calories. You are growing well in all other areas.
  
• You wear some 6 month clothes and some 6-9 month clothes.
• You are in size 3 diapers.
• You are crawling fast and easily walking around furniture with support. You are more comfortable walking around while Daddy or I hold only one of your hands.
• You are a great sleeper. Sometimes you'll wake up in the night but you will put yourself back to sleep. We have even put you down for the night while you were still awake and you put yourself to sleep!
• You have started staying up after your 6:30 feeding though and not going back to sleep until 10:00 or 10:30.
• You are breastfeeding less and less.
• I have started feeding you three meals a day and giving you snacks twice a day. You have learned to feed yourself Cheerios!
• You usually take a least one nap during the day and then you'll get sleepy around dinner time but we try to keep you awake because you won't sleep well at night otherwise.
• You do good when I leave you in the nursery. You are only really clingy to me after we get back from vacation and you haven't had as much attention from me.
  
• You are babbling a lot and seems like you respond to our words like you know what we're saying sometimes. Every now and then it sounds like you say "hi"
• You have starting waving "hi" and "bye" and you love to shake your head "no" every time we tell you "no."
• You love to play with all the things you're not supposed to play with and you are so busy all the time!
  
• You love to dance every time you hear music and you are such a fun loving personality.

I know I didn't do the crib picture this time around. I figure I've missed it so badly that I'm actually closer to her 10 month birthday so the picture will not show much progress. I might change my mind later but this is all I've got for now.

30 for 30 - Day 18-31

I apparently can't count. I thought for sure I had a day or two left of 30 for 30 when we arrived home from Christmas vacation but then after further review, I realized I had gone one day past the required 30 days. Actually the first time I counted I thought I had gone 2 days past, so take some free advice and don't trust me to do your taxes!

Day 18:

I wasn't sure if I was feeling this brown/black combo but I obvious felt ok enough to go with it. Either that or I just didn't care considering I'd see about 2.5 people that day.

Day 19:

Let me take this moment to say, please ignore the faces I make in these pictures. I did my best to look pleasant but I usually didn't remember to take pictures until the end of the day and sometimes I would forget all together and have to do multiple outfits in one night so more often than not the smile was less than genuine.

Day 20:

Using this cardigan as a shirt was a brave choice considering it was already missing three buttons (safety pins used as replacements) and I lost another button that day. I think it is missing more buttons than it has left at this point!

Day 21:

Do you recognize that shirt? Well it's not actually a shirt . . .

Here's my outfit from day 13:

Yes, I wore the skirt as a shirt. I think I felt bad that I had only worn it once and it's such a cute skirt. I think it may even be better as a shirt. Ultimately, I thought it would be fun and creative. It didn't help that it was a windy day though. I don't know what it is about skirts and they're tendency to fly straight up in any kind of wind. This apparently makes no difference if you're wearing the skirt as a shirt. Good to know.

Day 22:

This is what I wore to Andrew's graduation from DBU. I thought the pink cowl would be overkill since it really wasn't that cold outside but I forgot that DBU is in it's own climate and no matter the weather anywhere else it is more extreme and more windy at DBU. So while everyone else in the family was freezing in the gale force winds, I was nice and cozy.

Oh, by the way, I've noticed I have a total of three poses in my modeling arsenal. 1. Hand on one hip, 2. Both hands on hips, 3. No hands on hips. Wow, I'm a natural, if I do say so myself.

Day 23:

This pose obviously falls in to the "hand on hip" category but I apparently thought pushing my hips forward would make it more attractive. I think looking back, it was a poor choice.

Day 24:

This was a traveling day so I didn't feel the need to accessorize. I suppose I could've thrown something on for the picture but I'm all about being upfront and honest ;)

Day 25:

Danielle helped me pick out this outfit and she also let me borrow her circular scarf/cowl thing. I'm not sure of the correct name for it.

Day 26:

Then I was inspired to get creative and wear my scarf like a vest. I have to admit this was not my original thought. In fact, I should probably take this moment to confess the skirt shirt was not my idea either. This girl inspired me on both accounts:

http://tandsdaybook.blogspot.com/2010/12/take-it-to-max.html

http://tandsdaybook.blogspot.com/2010/12/story-about-my-16th-birthday.html

I might say that she's got the modeling thing down a little better than I do, but I wouldn't take it that far ;)

Day 27:

I'm apparently partial to the "one hand on hip"pose. I think I've decided it's the most flattering.

Day 28:

I chose Christmas Eve to redeem the green shirt and I think it was a success. But I will say this picture looks like I'm about to sing at a karaoke piano lounge. I blame it on the angle of the picture and late hour that made me think posing next to the piano was a good idea.

Day 29:

This look was also inspired by Sydney at the Daybook. She also inspired me to do the whole 30 for 30 thing so she has been my guide through the whole journey.

I got this brown belt from Stephen for Christmas. I think it helped that I picked it out for him ;) Thanks Stephen!

Day 30:

You can see here I braved the nearly buttonless cardigan as a shirt. I think it's more from laziness rather than bravery.

Day 31:

I was so proud to call this my last day (I thought) of my 30 for 30, but little did I know that I had gone one day past my commitment 30 outfits. But this was our last day in San Antonio and I only brought 30 for 30 clothes so I suppose I would've had a superfluous outfit whether I wanted to or not.

I will now add an unprompted picture of Lela to please the masses:

This is sadly the only picture I have of Lela at Christmas. She loved Christmas at Grandma's though. She would open one present, put it in her mouth and then she'd move on to the next present. We also took her to a movie for the first time but I don't think she enjoyed that as much :/

We are now spending Christmas with Grammie and Pawpaw. But I'm already getting grief for spending so much time working on the blog so guess I'll talk about that later.