Vintage, Values, & Ventures: Seven Spectacular Months with Eloise Marie

I think each month that I will post these on time, but they get longer in length by words and pictures! So it's late again, but this post finds me happy and content with getting half what I hope to get done each day, because I'm with my girl, and that 's what's most important here. She gets cuter by the day, and we are getting better at being parents. Or Ellie is just cooperating more. :) Either way, we are good, we are happy, and we loved sharing our favorite season with our first baby this very first time. So grateful.

7 Months Old!

Weight: 15 lbs. 13 oz.

Length: 28 inches

1. Eating? Ellie continues with her endeavors to *try* to choke down some baby food, but she is really still not a fan. I am a bit traumatized (haha) because the last three times she's eaten baby food, she's thrown it ALL up. On me. On the couch. On the floor. In her bed and rolled around in it all night. In her jogging stroller that DOES NOT have a removable/washable seat. Who makes baby stroller seats that aren't washable??? But we'll keep trying with the veggie baby food and cereal, and I'm thinking fruit will be my next one to try.

2. Sleeping? Still sleeping good at night, usually 10-12 hours. YAY! But now naps are not her thing again. It's like she's too tired to sleep if I wait to lay her down too long? Either way, she's been wearing me out! But she did FINALLY take a good nap today, after little to no naps the past 5 days.

I love how she's started sleeping...With her little bum in the air!

3. Milestones?

Our big girl is now sitting up! By herself! She first sat up and surprised us at OU by the mums. She must love them too. :) She enjoys sitting up so much, and loves playing with her toys. She can "wallow around" quite a bit more now too, so she's learning how to get to the places she wants to go.

Because she is sitting up so well now, she can use her highchair/shopping cart cover when we go places, and she is so darn cute sitting up in it. She seems to love it, and her little personality is shining through more and more. This weekend at dinner with my Dad she started getting sleepy and tippy her head to the side and smiling. It was like she knew she was being cute! She reaches for us and holds on to us more when we hold her too, uses her hands and feet to get things she wants (which her grasp is fast and strong!), and bucks like a little horse when she gets excited by bobbing her head and kicking her legs. She is pretty funny now. All these things are so fun to watch, but it also somewhat makes this momma sad...Each milestone means she's growing up!

First time in a highchair at Grandpa Tom's birthday dinner!

First time in a shopping cart! She got really tired at the end, but I think had fun!

4. Activities and adventures?

This month started with a shower for our soon-to-be-friend, Cash Lewis, and his momma, our already good friend, Beth. We loved celebrating a new addition to our Tiger family!

Afterwards, we headed over to OU to check out the beautiful mums. We took several pictures, of course, and let Lucy chase the squirrels. And then Chris sat her down by the mums, and she sat up all by herself!!! She looked so pleased with herself too. What a cutie pie. This was a beautiful day for the mums on campus!

We went to the zoo again that following week with Mimi, the Harris family, and the Buller family. It was a much more beautiful day than the last time we went, and we got to see the baby giraffe, and it's momma, Ellie. It ended with our first ride on a carousel thanks to Mimi! We chose a Tiger, of course.

Part of our many adventures this month was going on a picnic with the Gilstrap kiddos on their fall break to the Myriad Gardens! It is always so beautiful up there, and we were happy to take it all in for the day.

We celebrated another birthday in our family this month, Grandpa Tom's 65th! At dinner with Tom, Tess, and Ashley, we decided to try out her highchair cover for the first time. She was cracking us all up as she did her little "bucking", and charmed the whole table.

Wearing her "Grandpa Adores Me" shirt!

Because this past month was mostly in October, there were many pumpkin related events and outfits. We visited Pumpkinville at the Myraid Gardens with Joellen for the first time, and Mimi, Aunt Jennie, and cousins, Jacob and Hazel, came too. What an awesomely decorated playground for the kiddos! It was beautifully decked out in all things fall, and even had some crafts. Chris and I also got to check it out last week, just before Halloween, and picked out our pumpkins to carve. We definitely hope to make this part of our fall tradition!

The cute kiddos of Jennie and Joellen! I love seeing them become friends and play together.

Our little pumpkin!

We survived our first weekend of OU's Alumni Band this past month too! I always love all the events and catching up with old friends. It's everything fun and good that we loved about being in the Pride, and despite the rain, we had such a great time. We had company, Eva and Kim, and since it was Darin's 30th birthday, we all got to celebrate with him too!

Celebrating Darin's 30th birthday!!! (And Tai & Joel's too!)

Another pumpkin event that I have never gone to, but had always hope to, was a Pumpkin Patch! We went with Mimi and Papa, and brought Lucy too, so that we could take our Christmas card pictures. It was such a beautiful fall day, after a long week of Chris working nights, and so refreshing to spend time outside, celebrating fall with our family.

My favorite one of all! Look for it on a Christmas card coming to YOU!

Ellie experienced her first pumpkin carving this month, in other pumpkin related news, and she mostly wanted to chew on the pumpkin itself. She was hilarious! Here's a few from our little adventure where we discovered that it is much trickier with a baby!

She did what she does with everything else...Put it in her mouth for a little taste!

Our finished pumpkins! Chris, Ellie, & Me!

Since this was Ellie's first Halloween, we contemplated what she could be for weeks, until we finally agreed on a soft and fuzzy strawberry. She was so cute and sweet! Growing up, Chris always went to his godmother's house, Nanny Johnnie, on Halloween, but instead we met up with her for lunch during the day. It was so nice to see her, and Eloise was as happy as she could be! For her first trick-or-treating experience, we started on our street and got to meet some of our neighbors. We then headed up to Moore to see Chris's family, and do a little trick-or-treating on their street! Tess, Tom, and Ashley enjoyed seeing our sweetie all dressed up. Finally, we surprised Grandma and Grandpa by trick-or-treating at their house! We had gone in the past with Janae's girls, and it was so fun then too. She was a good baby and happy for them too! It was a good day to start new traditions with our family, and carry on ones from our past. And we got plenty of candy for us to eat too. :)

Funny girl!

Don't worry...We only let her chew on the wrappers to the candy!

This last weekend before Ellie turned 7 months old my Dad came to visit from Nebraska. I was hoping we had good weather, since the last several times he's come, it has been unusually drizzly and cold. It was a beautiful weekend though, and I loved seeing Ellie be more interactive with him this time around. I think she's stolen his heart like she has stolen ours! We did simple fun things while he was here: a walk at OU, lunch at Midway, drove around looking at houses and the beautiful fall leaves, playing at home, and dinner at Dad's favorite, Charleston's. Ellie's personality shone the whole time too, and was a really good baby. The funniest part was when she got sleepy at dinner, and started tipping her head to the side and grinning at us all, as if to say, "Look how cute I can be!" What a sweetie.

5. Favorite baby item? Now these items aren't necessarily my favorite ever, but have proven to be very helpful to our little congested baby this past month. We have used a humidifier and baby nose aspirator. They have helped her sleep better, even when she doesn't feel too well. Poor baby...She probably has some allergies.

6. Favorite moment this past month? There are many simple and seemingly insignificant moments that I'd like to remember this month. Her morning smiles and crazy hair on the weekend in our bed, the sweet way she snuggles with me while she nurses, the kicking legs when she gets excited about something, and the big grins she lovingly gives when I look over and find her looking back at me. I am in love with this little girl, and sharing everyday is such a blessing to me.

7. Looking forward to this next month? If you haven't figured it out yet, I LOVE this time of year. I am looking forward to our anniversary this weekend, and spending time together just as our family. I am excited about our 4th Annual Fall Festival too, and then a fun date night out with my sweet husband. Thanksgiving is a special holiday to me too, which I am so looking forward to, and then...It will be time to decorate for CHRISTMAS! I am getting butterflies in my tummy just thinking about the fun we will have watching Ellie this first Christmas.

8. Visitors?: No new visitors this month, but re-visits from loved ones. We got to spend time with friends from all walks of life, and time with all our family too, even my Dad who visited from Nebraska. It was a great month making memories with the people we love.

9. One thing I've learned:

Hmmm...This is a hard one this month. There is so much I feel like I've learned, but like I haven't learned a thing, all at the same time. Most of all, I've learned that being a parent is a big ol' guessing game. Why did she not take a nap? What made her cry for an hour instead? Why isn't she eating the same baby food she ate last night? Why is it making her throw everything up tonight? Is this decision going to "screw her up" in the long run? Does she not feel good? Or is she just wanting me to hold her? Anyway about it, most days are still guessing games. I go through the list of things I think will work, and sometimes they do, but many times not. She is not perfect, and I am far from it, but we are trying to figure it out together. And praying that I do my best for by her each day.

10. My message to Ellie:

You get more and more beautiful each day, or at least it seems so. I have so enjoyed sharing my favorite season with you this month and your very first one - FALL! Your personality has really begun to shine through this month: you interact with everything around you, and kick, squeal, smile, and giggle to show us you know what's going on. You are a very friendly baby to everyone who meets you, and they tell us that you seem to be such a happy baby, because you really are. Public places and social outings are your forte, and you usually only get grumpy at home with us. I hope I am measuring up to being a good enough momma for you, because you deserve the best. All I ever want to do is hold you and play with you, and even though I am with you everyday, I feel like I still don't ever have enough time with you. We are in the middle of our favorite time of year, and we can't wait to share more of it with you and watch you experience your firsts. As your Dad and I tell each other many times each night after you're in bed, "Oh I just love her!", we truly do. I love you so much; I can't even tell you how much I love you!

Here are a few more of our favorites from this past month:

Our house is finally getting to how we have envisioned it looking!
Love the new paint, and the flowers were amazing this year.
This is what Heaven looks like to me; it's my favorite place to be.