One Year Pictures

A few months before we moved I joined one of those buy/sell/trade sites for North Raleigh and after a few days of stalking the wares I noticed a post from a woman offering mini-sessions for $50! I knew we wanted to take pictures for her first birthday so I quickly messaged her and set up a time. Despite it being super close to her bedtime, Amelia Grace was the ideal model and allowed our photographer (the wonderful Amanda Conrad!) to take some fantastic pictures. They all turned out FANTASTIC so picking just a few to share with y'all was hard!

These are just a sampling of the almost 50 images she captured!

Happy first birthday, little love!

First Birthday Shindig

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to celebrate our little love's first birthday with family and friends! It's so hard to believe that this sweet girl is already one year old. They aren't kidding when they say you blink and your baby is gone. Our precious nugget has been replaced by a wild, child toddler with no fear. Don't get me wrong, I love every stage, but I definitely wouldn't mind if she decided we needed a day of cuddles like old times ;-) Anywho, enough mommy sob time and onto the pictures!

We did an owl theme and my mom really went above and beyond making that possible. I don't have any pictures of the decor but it was impressive! We are so thankful for all those who pitched in to make this such a wonderful day!

Owl fruit tray

Owl veggie tray 

Owl cupcakes 

More cupcakes

The SUPER impressive cake TJ's sweet girlfriend, Rebecca made!

 3/4 of the baby date crew 

(We missed you, Adah and Rachel!)

And when it came time for the cake, Amelia Grace definitely showed that she belonged to us by diving headfirst into her cake!

Here, momma, you get a bite too 

The yummy cookies Aunt Lisa made! 

The babes loved the water table and bubble machine 

My heart is so full!

We were truly blown away by all those who came from near and far to celebrate our precious girl's first birthday. And this truly was a group effort. We are so thankful to all who made this wonderful day so special! I think it's safe to say she had a good time. . .

My Lighthouse

Every morning while I'm making breakfast and Amelia Grace is playing, I put on music in the background. She has always loved listening to music and since music is great for a baby's development it's a win-win. For a while we were rocking out to a Raffi station on Pandora, then it was the Kids and Family station on iTunes Radio before we switched to my personal favorite-Rend Collective. (Rend Collective is an AMAZING contemporary Christian band who remind me a lot of Mumford and Sons-kind of folksy.) 

Much like Pandora, when listening to iTunes Radio you can identify songs you like and they play other songs similar to that one. Well, the first song that came on was "My Lighthouse"-a personal fav. I quickly told the minions inside our AppleTV I liked it in hopes they would play it again soon. As I danced around the room with AG she laughed and giggled and we certainly got our praise on!

The next morning we turned on the radio and "My Lighthouse" came on again-whoo! This time, before I could even pick Amelia Grace up to dance she crawled over to me and lifted her arms to be held. She then nuzzled down on my shoulder and hugged me tight. 

*Cue the tears*

We danced around the room and sang as loud as we could the entire song. When it was over she motioned to get down to play and we went about our day. Fast forward to the next morning-she did the same thing! Y'all my sweet, wiggly, wild toddler willingly nuzzled down on my shoulder for the entire song. Amazing. How precious it is to worship our wonderful Lord and Savior with this incredible gift in my arms! I know she doesn't understand the weight of the words yet, but with prayer and His guidance we will one day be able to raise her to.

You better believe we now own that album and will be playing it until all our technology dies and it no longer works ;-)

Thoughts on House Hunting

Do you know what's stressful? House hunting is stressful. Yea, sure, it's fun. Or, at least parts of it are fun, but as it continues it becomes stressful. A month and a half into our hunt and we have driven countless miles, lost track of how many houses we have seen, and put in four offers to be back at square one. 

When we put our house on the market we loved the fact that the market was so hot. It meant fourteen showings in three days and multiple offers. We were riding high! Now, on the other side of coin, we are drained. We have seen houses in immaculate condition and houses that are falling apart. We have been to the top of our price range and to the bottom. We have waited outside houses to go in (because so many others are there) and have been some of the first. It's exhausting, but has taught us a lot. A few things we have learned:

pictures can do wonders

There are some really good photographers out there who can make a rough house looks amazing. Unfortunately for them pictures can only take you so far. . .

asking price just won't cut it

In this market you better be prepared to go above and beyond asking if you really want a house. 

not all realtors are equal

Our realtor is AMAZING. She has been so helpful and has truly gone above and beyond. If it weren't for her I'm pretty sure I would have lost it already.

the TV shows are not realistic
"Reality" is definitely not what those "reality" house hunting TV shows are. There are WAY more than three houses to see and usually takes more than one day to see them all and make a decision.

we are very fortunate
We are so fortunate to be able to go on this crazy/fun adventure!

A few of our favorite things. . . 6-12 months

A few months ago (6 months to be exact;-) ) I put together a list of some of our favorite things for parenting Amelia Grace from birth to six months. There are SO many lists out there suggesting what to buy to help you parent and even more products to choose from so I narrowed it down again for the next six months! Here are a few of our favorite things. . .

Jog Stroller

We were gifted with this AMAZING tool and we couldn't be more thankful. We use it at least once a day, but most days even more. This thing has gone to the beach, walked to grocery stores, strolled to Starbucks, and helped us explore our new digs. If you are at all active, I highly suggest adding this to your list of must-haves!

High Chair

I fought this for a while. I thought we'd be just fine with a little booster we could just strap to a chair and call it a day. Not so much. We ended up going with the Graco Dubliner 3-in-1 high chair and couldn't be happier. It allows us to have a highchair AND a booster to strap to a chair all in one. Definitely a win!

"Stand Up Thing"

I know there is a better name for it, but that's what it was referred in the Mobley house. She spent hours in this thing. First it was just standing and staring, then it was twisting and turning, and finally it was jumping and screaming. She loves this thing and I loved that it kept her trapped entertained.

Bath Seat

This little gem became so helpful as she started to sit up and become more active. We were able to have her sit unassisted in the tub as we cleaned her. Super helpful! 

"Eating Jacket"

This too has a fancier name, but we just referred to it as the "eating jacket". These were wonderful when she was first navigating the waters of food introduction. They helped save quite a few outfits there at the beginning!

Fourth of July Fun

Our family has always loved cookouts. I mean who wouldn't love an excuse to drink, eat grilled yumminess, and play fun yard games?! We congregated at my parent's house for this shindig and managed to capture a few (okay, okay, A LOT) of pictures of our fun!

Our first family photo in a while since Daisy has been hanging out with my parents. 

4/5 of the Wardlets with their compadres and Amelia Grace! Oh, and Trout too;-) 

Gigi and Pop Pop with the littlest princess. 

Gigi's impressive creation! 

Pop Pop's impressive creation!

We had a great time hanging out and catching up while also celebrating this great nation. An incredibly large thanks to all the servicemen and women who made this relaxing weekend possible!

Florida Fun

We are blessed to have so many family members who love our little girl SO much and this past weekend we were able to take her to Florida and spend time with them! We got to introduce her to David's wonderful Grandpa and GrandBobbie, uncle, aunt, and cousins while also taking her to visit his sweet grandma at the rehab facility she has been in since suddenly completely losing her sight a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, David has most of the good pictures on his phone so I'll just share the few that I have of our girl loving the time she had on the beach!

What better way to kick off a road trip than with Chick-fil-A? It was an all outdoor Chick-fil-A too! 

 Sitting in the same high chair that Grandpa grew up using!

 A beautiful morning on Jax Beach.

Enjoying the tide pools.  

What's that thing flying over there? 

Pondering the world of babyhood.  

 David and his mini-me. 

Hey, ma, how come we're this close and not at the beach?!? 

She loves her daddy!

 When some random guy at the beach offers to take a family photo, you let him!

Enjoying her very first balloon. I'm pretty sure she would have been over the moon if it had been a red balloon ;-)

11 Month Update

Happy 11 months, little love!

Falling off the ottoman now! 

What is this thing on me? 

You want one? 

Hmmm, I wonder what this tastes like. . .

Height/Weight: Not sure about exact height and weight measurements, but when we took her to Urgent Care a few weeks ago she was 21 lbs, 13 oz and 29 inches.

Clothes: A few 12 months, but more 18 months. This girl is long!

Likes: She is such a happy baby it's hard to pinpoint just a few likes. She is still interested in my keys. In fact, they kept her occupied for an hour and a half in the car on the way to Florida! She likes unpacking any bag that I pack and making big messes, then crawling away. I suppose that's just a part of toddlerhood! She seems to really like the beach too-yay!

Dislikes: Not a ton of dislikes since she is such a wonderful little one!

Milestones: She is scooting around the furniture standing up now. She has also stood for a second or two on her own without holding onto anything before she plops back down.