7 months...

I just cant believe it has honestly been 7 months. I feel like I Just had her in my belly kicking around and that we were then just bringing her home from the hospital! Those nights of late night feedings and a still, quiet baby are gone! I am so thankful for those moments we had with our sweet baby Mae, but the Lord has totally allowed us to enjoy this time so much, too! We are loving watching her grow and change each and every day! Seriously, every day something new happens and it is OH so fun!

 -In this past month, you have learned to crawl! You were up on all 4's rocking and ready at 5 months, but had us waiting impatiently until 6.5 months for you to make your move! We cant believe we had a crawler at 6 months! Now you can get anywhere you please! Sometimes you forget you can crawl when we put you on our bed while we are getting ready, but we still surround you with pillows and you sit playing perfectly!
-At your 6 month checkup you were 16 lb. 10oz. You are probably in the 17 lb range now. Healthy baby girl!
-We switched your pediatrician to one in Montgomery and so far so good! He came highly recommended! He was very impressed by how well you can sit up and your temperament!

-Sept 12 you got your 3rd tooth (your top right) while we were at the beach with your BB and Buck! Now you are a snaggle tooth! The other tooth on top is trying to come in and mommy can feel it but it just has not made it's appearance yet!

-You love to yell and scream in a happy and fun excited way! Sometimes its on a play date when other babies are trying to sleep, or out to dinner when people are staring, but you are so happy when you do it, we cant help but laugh! We tell you nicely to shhhh, but laugh at ourselves knowing thats a joke! We are just glad you are happy!

-Sept. 11-14 we went to the beach with your BB and Buck! We had SUCH a great time in the water, sand, pool, relaxing, eating, shopping, strolling, and more! You were such a sweet baby and stayed right on your schedule! You loved having your grandparents with you waking up and all day long! What a treat!
-You are still in size 2 diapers. Mommy went ahead and bought the next box size 3 but still have enough 2's for this month.
-You love going to AU games and love to tailgate! Mommy and daddy love showing you off!
-You have learned to 'pat pat' anything. Mommy, daddy, the floor, pillow, etc. If we say pat pat you get on it!

-For a week or so you were moving your hand when we would say BYE BYE but we havent seen it lately, so maybe it was just a fluke!

-Just yesterday, the day before you turned 7 months, Sept. 24, you said MAMA! You dont know what it means but you said it! Such a fun day! 

-While at the beach you started leaning in for kisses with your Buck. We would say " Kisses" and you would lean in! So sweet! You have done it a couple of times since then! 

-Your schedule is pretty consistent each day, but if for some reason we are out and about and you get off, you are pretty flexible. Wake at 7, Daddy feeds you and lets mommy sleep! (round of applause for daddy!) Nap around 9. Lunch at 11, nap around 1. Snack at 3, cat nap around 4:30. Dinner at 6, bed time at 7. 

-On Sept. 24 you sat up for the first time in your crib! I was shocked to walk in to get you and see you like this! You did it again this morning holding on to the crib like you were in jail! You are growing up so fast! You thought it was so funny when I came to get you and you were just sitting there like a big girl!

-You LOVE your brother Eli! He is so good with you and love to stare at him or 'pat pat' him. If you are every fussy, daddy brings him in and you get so happy! He goes on family walks with us at night and you stare at him the entire time!

-Your BB and Buck got you your very own radio flyer wagon! We love to take you around in it on the driveway for rides! 

-You have started reaching out for us and we love it! So neat to see you actually act upon your wants and needs!

-You are eating like a champ! You love mommy's homemade baby food but do great with packaged if we are out and about. There isn't any particular food you wont eat as of now. Mommy can mix it with cereal and you dont care! Sometimes you make funny faces and we just disguise it with a yummy fruit to make it go down better. 

-Books are still your FAVORITE! You would chose them over any other TOY. When I say toy, let me clarify. You would much rather have non toys: hangers, remote control, cell phones, paper, or bags. You love it all!

-You started bouncing and jumping like crazy in your jumperoo on Sept 16! Its so funny to see you get so excited! I think its helping with some of the rolls, too by giving your some exercise! ;)

-Our 7 month photoshoots are getting more and more difficult! You love to play, crawl off the chair, play with the bunny, and grab the paper! So, enjoy the next photos! We love you Mae Mae and cant imagine life without you! Cant wait for many more memories!

First Impression...

The front door of a house leads to a first impression. Good or Bad. Currently I have up our "WAR EAGLE" burlap decor, that my sweet friend Elizabeth gave us when we moved to Auburn. But, when football season is over, I am going to put this baby up! I love neutrals, with a pop of color in our house, so I feel like this wreath gives an impression of what might be inside!

I crafted this baby in about 30 minutes. Super easy and followed a pinterest tutorial after another sweet friend, Rachel, inspired me to make one like hers! Thanks Rachel and Hobby Lobby 50% off sales! Happy Crafting!

Driven.

I have been more driven lately with my weight loss than ever before. It was almost a game for me to see how quickly I could lose the baby weight. Total, during the pregnancy, I gained 31 lbs. I was trying to shoot for 25, but towards the end it just packed on! (I like to say it was water weight, ha!)

As soon as I came home from the hospital I had lost 15 lbs. which was nice to see a quick drop. It took another 2 weeks to lose about 8 more. It just fell off. I ate EVERYTHING in sight and we had TONS of food brought to us. I still can not thank all of the people for ALL of the food! It was heaven to eat whatever I wanted and lose weight! Those last 7 lbs. hung on until about Mae was 3 months old. Then I was back to pre-baby weight. PTL.

HOWEVER, I always said that was not where I ideally wanted to be! So, I set a goal to get healthy and toned. I started realizing that I was eating WAY more calories than I ever needed. I was eating, was full, but kept eating because I needed to clean my plate. I never really TRIED to make healthy choices or eating habits in the past. Now was my chance! I started making sure breakfast (oatmeal) was the way I started off my day. I would have a granola bar mid-morning. Mae and I always start the morning with a walk, too. So that broke up the morning. Then for lunch and dinner, I would honestly eat what I wanted, just listened to my body to see when I was content, not overly full. There have been some nights that I just want a bag of popcorn and a coke zero. While breastfeeding, that wasnt an option, but as of last month I am done (sadly). I wish I could have kept nursing, however when we moved my milk supply went down, way day, and fast. Sad day. So in total with gaining weight during pregnancy, I gained 31 lbs. (Mae was a whopping almost 9 lbs of that, 8 lb 11oz to be exact) Since Mae was 3 months, I have lost another 6, so a total of 37 lbs since Feb. 25.

So here I am as of this week.

I really want to tone up and maybe lose about 5-6 more lbs. I have always been self conscious of my arms, but thanks to the weight of a baby and a bucket seat, they are starting to get more toned! I have been walking with Mae lots, but running pushing a stroller is a WHOLE different story. A few times I have gone running when Ryan gets home from work. Now that the weather is hopefully going to cool off soon, I am going to make more of an effort. I want to start running in some more 5k's soon, too. Hopefully, I can recruit my partner in crime, Ryan, to join in! (The last race we did together was a 10 k in the pouring rain and freezing cold. It was miserable. Hopefully, he has erased that image from his memory!) We have talked about joining a gym, but the one we love the most does not have childcare, so we are still back and forth on that. Stay tuned on more progress! Hopefully posting this on here, will keep me more accountable!

Travels.

We have been hitting the pavement lately in traveling. From Auburn games, Birmingham, Kiawah Island, Charleston, and most recently to Seaside. To document a few:

Kiawah Ocean Course Golf Club, dinner our first night: 

Morning Breakfast Trip: 

Hitting the pool for the day: 

A night out:

Sneaking in the Player's Lounge, where all the PGA players hung out last championship:

A day out on the beach: 

Then to Charleston: 

Sprinkled in some more Auburn games: 

And some fun in Seaside with the Harbucks: 

So thankful. 

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall

Next up project: Mirror rehab! I picked this lovely jewel up at a furniture consignment store in Birmingham when I bought my first house. I love big mirrors. To be honest, this one could stand to be even bigger! But for the price of 30 bucks I am pleased! I did find a tag on the back for $225, so extra pleased! This mirror is made of of some sort of metal, so I wasnt sure how it would finish, but I thought I would give it a try. I have been seeing lots of slate gray and gold lately so I thought this mirror would be the first piece I would try it on.

This is the before: 

I picked out some slate gray paint at Home Depot: 

Trimmed with Painter's Tape and applied first coat: 

Let Dry, applied 2nd coat and had a nice chat with Mae Mae: 

Took some sand paper and tore the newly painted piece apart by stripping some of the paint off and Voila! 

Cleaned with Windex: 

Before and After: 

I think it turned out great! I am still struggling with leaving it alone or sanding a little more? I love a sleek finish but also a rustic...TBD. 

ShopKick

Want a $20 gift card to Target? What about a new Kate Spade purse? If you said NO, we have a problem!

I have a new app that I am obsessed with that my sweet friend Laurie introduced to me! It is called ShopKick. Everytime you go to Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. you can get shopkick points from your phone JUST by walking in and opening the app! You can also scan items and earn even more points! All of this for FREE! No purchase necessary! My kind of app! You earn points and then can cash them in for gift cards to different places! Sephora, Ritz-Carlton, Lowe's, gas cards, Starbucks, Macy's etc! Great places and who would not want some free money there! Click here for more info. Also text me, and I will send you a link! I earn points for referring someone and YOU can too! Let me know what you spend your shopkick points on! I can not wait to hear!

Chair Facelift

For those of you that know me, know that I love sentimental pieces and furniture that has a story behind it. We have been blessed to have almost all of our furniture handed down to us from our parents, which was handed down to them from theirs. Therefore, we have some great antique pieces that ALL have a story!

These beauties came to us via the late Glenn Jackson, Ryan's great aunt. We have renovated her house and have rented it out since she went into a nursing home and passed away. She was one fiesty, fun lady and always kept us on our toes never knowing what would come out of her mouth. I think Becky said they were Max's grandmother's before that?? Even better! While renovating, we came across some fun antiques pieces and divided them up among family members. Four of the great pieces that we were able to bring home were these:

The picture does not do them justice. The bones of these chairs are amazing. They are a deep espresso stain and I am in love. When we received these chairs, these were their covers: 

I think they are actually a pretty cool design, just not my colors. I want to leave them on there because one day I might like them enough to use them! (Plus my mother in law nicely asked that I don't ever get rid of this cover, since it was so sentimental.) So I covered them in that trusty chocolate brown that I think I went WAY overboard with in the first years of decorating! 

Well, as mentioned in previous posts, the chocolate brown must go! So I began by removing all of the staples and I found a nice cream burlap I wanted to use. This cream burlap was given to me by my amazing aunt Debbie! Just one more touch to another reason I love these chairs! 

It was too thin, and showed the other fabric through, so I put a solid white fabric underneath: 

Got my trusty staple gun and got to work. 

and...FAIL! The cover turned out horrible! It was bumpy, not smooth, even though I pulled SO tight on each staple puncture! I was so bummed, because I KNEW this would look so good. 

This picture does not even show the worst part. Because these cushions are so old, the batting, stuffing, whatever was under this fabric, was battered and bruised...

 So time for plan B. Plan B: Ryan. 

He came to the rescue and helped me decide to take the cushions all off. Put them in a trash bag for safety, and stick them in the attic for later use. 

We then decided to build our own seat cushions! So we took a quick trip to home depot, with our trusty helper: 

We bought 1/2 inch mdf (wood) (oh and some paint, for another soon to be blogpost) and went to hobby lobby and got some foam. 

Ryan got to measuring, excuse his tube socks: 

And Voila!

I am SO pleased! And so thankful for my 2 helpers! And BOY, do these chairs have even more of a story! ;)

Makes this rental house and temporary living a little more do-able! More projects to come!