New Orleans

This past weekend, we went to New Orleans for the weekend with John's family!  One of John's college friends got married on Saturday, so we decided to make a mini vacation out of it.  We had such a great weekend (despite the heat)!  Perry was amazing the entire time and slept perfectly (which is always a source of anxiety anytime you travel with a baby, amiright?!). 

We left Thursday morning and were on the road for 7.5 hours.  Perry was having too much fun staring at Uncle Peter in the backseat to nap, so we set up this funny baracade with a blanket so that she would hopefully sleep.  It worked like a charm!  She was amazing the entire ride. 

When everyone arrived at the hotel, we went out for dinner at a place down the street.  The next day, we did some shopping on Magazine Street.  It's a 6-mile long street with shopping and restaurants the entire way, so it is a little overwhelming trying to figure out where to go.  We probably only walked up and down a half mile stretch, but managed to stop into a few cute shops!  We went out for pizza for lunch, then headed back to the hotel.  John stayed up in the room while Perry napped, and the rest of us hit up the pool.  The afternoon was spent walking around the French Quarter before heading to dinner.

On Saturday morning, John and I got beignets for breakfast while his parents watched Perry at the hotel.  Baby girl wouldn't nap, so John and I walked around with her in the French Quarter for a couple of hours in the stroller while the rest of the family went to the pool.  Then after lunch, all three of us took a 1.5 hour nap! 

The wedding that night was beautiful, and I know John enjoyed seeing his friends and catching up with them.  His parents, Perry, and I left the wedding around 8 to head back to the hotel.  Perry had a poop explosion at some point on the ride back, but was such a trooper despite that!

It was a wonderful weekend making memories with family!  Perry loved being the center of attention all weekend.  I pray that she always know how loved she is! 

First steps!

Perry Frances took her first steps on May 16th, at 10.5 months old!!  Huge milestone!  She is so proud of herself when she does it, and almost scares herself a little bit!  We are having lots of fun practicing with her.  She has only taken a few steps at a time, but I'm sure she will be zooming all over the house in no time!

Mother's Day weekend

This past weekend we celebrated my very first Mother's Day!  Becoming a mother has changed the way I look at my own mom.  I understand the countless sacrifices she made, hours of sleep lost, showers untaken, and personal time vanished.  I understand how she must have felt exhausted, overwhelmed, unappreciated, and like a hot mess at times!  But I also understand the endless and unconditional love and joy that she must have felt that this little person calls her "mama".  Nothing compares.  I have never felt more loved or in love, more blessed, more humbled, more happy, more FULL, and more undeserving of it all.  I love you, mom!  Thank you for creating the best life for our family and teaching me how to be a mommy!

Perry made this little artwork at school for Mother's Day, and I couldn't love anything more!

On Saturday, we went to Katy to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom and family.  John, Perry, and I stopped at Panera Bread on the way out there for some lunch, then we swam and played at Mumsie and Popsie's.

Heading home with a Mohawk!  My mom used to do our hair like this when we were babies. :)

On Mother's Day, John got me Shipley's and Starbucks for breakfast, and then we skipped church (sh!) to head to the zoo!  We met up with our friends the Boudreauxs.  It was Ellen's first Mother's Day, too!

Perry loved the carousel at first, and then started fussing.  She wasn't so sure!

Perry LOVED the gorillas!  She got so exciting and started hollering at them, kicking her little legs, and waving her arms.  It was presh!

 

It was a very happy Mother's Day, indeed!!!

Perry Frances is TEN months!

Our baby girl is 10 whole months old!

Perry's two top teeth popped through this month, and the two next to those are about to come in, too!  It looks like she will have a massive gap between her top middle teeth, just like her momma. Sorry, baby! ;)   

She is so active and so curious!  She is constantly moving, trying to get into something new, playing with a new toy, etc.  On the flipside of that personality trait, she is also a bit ADHD.  Haha!  Perry is not cautious when it comes to trying new things.  We could have some bumps, bruises, and broken bones in our future (fingers crossed that I am wrong!).  She literally cracks herself up all the time.  She just randomly laughs a lot, and it makes me smile.  Girl knows how to have a good time. ;)  She is so smart, and you can just see her taking it all in!

She stood without holding on for about 3 seconds on a couple of different occasions, but she isn't too interested in doing it.  She has started walking all over the place while holding on to her walker.  She smiles so big and is so proud of herself when she does it!

She started waving this month!  We are still practicing, but she is usually pretty good at it.  Sometimes, she will accompany her wave with a "buh" sound to say bye!  Her wave is more of an opening and closing of her hand, aimed towards herself.  It's adorable.

She has started eating more and different kinds of food and is a pretty good eater!  She gets so excited with anticipation when we put her in her high chair for mealtime.  Her favorite foods are strawberries, bananas, yogurt, and veggie patties.  She also really likes meat and cheese.  She will eat almost anything, except squash, peas, and sweet potatoes for some reason.  I've tried making her blueberry muffins before, and she was not a fan at all.

Perry is really a social butterfly!  She loves her teachers and friends at school.  When we go to music class, she is always crawling over to the other babies and wanting to play, while some babies sit in their parents' laps the entire time.  She loves people!  It will be fun to see her little personality transpire as she grows up.  I have a feeling she will be quite the extrovert!

She LOVES books now!  She likes to turn the pages.  I think she would prefer it if we didn't even read them, but just let her turn the pages back and forth.  We usually read her 2-3 books before each nap and before bed.  She always gets sad when we stop and turn off the light because she wants more!  Her favorites right now are Where's Spot?, Bedtime Blessings, and anything where she can lift up the flaps and see what's behind.

Perry Frances, you are such a joy!  We love you, big girl!