8 Months!

Our beautiful little girl is 8 months old! It's so fun to get to know her little personality more each day and we are constantly amazed at how fast she learns.

• P is really enjoying her solid foods, especially those that she can feed herself. It didn't take her long to master the "pincer grasp" once she realized that there was usually a tasty treat at the end of it! New this month was: pineapple (one of her favorites), grapes (in a little mesh popsicle, of course), watermelon, kiwi, nectarine, apricot, cheerios and toast with jam. She really loves her cheerios!
• Presley loves to ham it up. This month she started wrinkling up her little nose, giving a little smile, and snorting in-and-out. Too funny!
• Our little P became mobile this month! It's not quite crawling--she belly-surfs around and is getting pretty quick at it! It's especially easy on our hard floors and I am increasingly aware of how dirty my floors are. She's our little mop!
• She is very social. She started waving and saying her "hey!" noise and does this alot! I can't breeze through Target or Publix anonymously anymore. We have to say hello to everyone! She gets especially excited when she sees other little people.
• My favorite toothless grin is toothless no more. P cut her first tooth! She was a little cranky for a few days before the tooth broke through but, otherwise, it wasn't too bad.
• P loves to "fly" around the house with her Daddy. I think the feeling is mutual ;-)
• Presley loves to swim and goes a few times a week with her Daddy. It's our favorite FHE activity!
• We have story time several times throughout the day. So far, her favorite books are "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," "I love you through and through," "I love you more," "Brown Bear, Brown Bear," and "First 100 words." I can now recite them in my sleep and love that she grabs her books and plops down in my lap for some stories and cuddles.

I just love being her Momma and am so grateful for the opportunity to have such a sweet and happy little girl. Every day I have at least one moment where I smile and think, this is what it's all about. In the midst of the endless diaper changes, picking squashed cheerios from my toes, and having very little time for myself, I've never been more happy.

Fru-Fru Tu-Tu

Pinterest, $5 worth of tule, and my DSLR provided 15 minutes of fun this morning. It is increasingly difficult to capture our little one with a smile.

Out of 100 frames, we had one with her toothless grin. But, it sure is cute!

Just Because

Our Little Inch Worm

Crawling is just around the corner!

Charlie's Got Moves

Remember when I mentioned that my nephew Charlie showed us his dancing skills while we were in Key West? At long last, here's the video evidence that he's got his Daddy's (Kyle's) moves. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

A Much Needed Reunion

Jeff just finished a 2 week vacation, I mean rotation, in Naples for school and boy are we glad to have him home! We missed him so much and were so glad that we were able to meet him in Tampa and spend the weekend at my mom's house in the middle of his time away. Presley was so excited to see her Daddy and spend some time with her Grammy, Grandfather and Auntie Greer. There's just no shortage of love and attention for our little one! While we were there, they got out this old wagon and blocks that Dave and his siblings played with when they were little. I thought it was pretty neat!

Of course, we had to take a dip in the pool. And Presley was very excited about her new, gigantic hat!

She also discovered her new favorite place to play...the laundry basket! I think this is Harley's favorite place for her to play too. That way she can't get him. Poor dog, he doesn't stand a chance now that she's increasingly mobile!

A Summer Evening

Someone Turned 25 (Again)!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart! We enjoyed a lovely weekend celebrating Jeff! We took P too the Santa Fe zoo for the first time, ate a few delicious meals out, went swimming, and enjoyed lots of relaxing family time!

It's a little disconcerting to have the things you love most in this world so close to a poisonous snake--even if it is on the other side of glass.

P really got a kick out of watching the monkeys. I think she even picked up a few of their moves!

She is teaching us really how to feast upon the scriptures.

Jeff awoke to a birthday surprise of gifts, balloons, and his requested breakfast (hootenannies, maple sausage, strawberries, OJ)

Per Tobler tradition, we took turns sitting on his lap and telling him why we love him.

P was pretty excited to help him open his gifts

Both were really excited about his new iPad.

Which Presley still thinks is better to eat than play with.

Then it was time for birthday pie!

 Happy Birthday, My Love! I say it every year but, at least we get to grow old together! We sure love you!

7 Months!

I say it all of the time but, my goodness, can time just slow down a bit!?! My little girl is just growing up too fast! Presley is about 27.5 inches long and weighs about 17 pounds. She had a big month with lots of new foods, adventures and accomplishments!

• Presley has really taken to her semi-solid foods and has experienced many new foods, including green beans, peas (which she did not like one bit), peaches, bananas, oatmeal, squash (not a big fan of that eaither), chicken and apples, beef with vegetables, mixed veggies, blueberries, and pineapple. She definitely seems to prefer her veggies mixed but, if it's just a single veggie, she likes green beans best (just like her Momma). We bought her a little mesh fruit holder that we put some fresh pineapple in and she LOVED that! She sees me coming with her little fruit popsicle and gets really excited!
• P's still a little chatterbox. She now uses consonants, saying "ba-ba-ba" or "da-da-da" and much to my delight, "ma-ma-ma." She's even managed to use "ma-ma-ma" in a few appropriate situations, which has me hopeful that "momma" might be her first word--we shall see!
• Jeff taught her to growl and for a few weeks I found them frequently looking at each other and taking turns growling at each other. She's a ferocious tiger ;-)
• She "likes to move it, move it." I chant this song and we dance. She thinks it's hilarious.
• Presley is also getting pretty strong! She's starting to push-up in preparation for crawling. Although, she hasn't quite figured out that being on her hands and knees is her mobile-future. She likes to move from sitting up to laying on her tummy but frequently forgets that she can roll over onto her back and just starts yelling for help when she's ready to be off her tummy.
• She's also getting really good with her hands. She's very curious and grabs everything. If you wear glasses, watch out! They'll be off your face and in her mouth in the blink of an eye!
• We've started playing a new game while I change her diaper. She thinks it's hilarious. She rolls over while I try to clean her bottom and put a diaper on her. It's especially tricky when she has a poopy diaper! The first time she did it, she looked up at me and said "ha-ha!"--as in "Ha-Ha! I did it! Try and get that diaper on me now, lady!"
• She's also started to play "big girl!" and peak-a-boo. Peak-a-boo is especially fun while I'm trying to change her diaper, in between attempts to roll over on me.
• Presley loves other kids! Jeff and I are in Primary now and P loves it--singing time and a whole room full of little people. She's in heaven! She also really enjoyed meeting her cousins, Charlie and Greta, this past month.

I wondered how long these little months old signs would go unnoticed. I barely got a couple of frames before she realized what was next to her...

...and it found its way into her mouth.

She's still just the most beautiful thing we've ever seen. She has such a happy spirit and it's so easy to love her with everything you have. There's just nothing better than being her Momma.