Ayda Jean : One month

 My goodness how time flies! Ayda Jean had her "one month birthday" on the 9th and I can't believe it! I never believed people or never understood what they meant when they said time speeds up as you get older, but that is finally starting to sink in!

Here are just a few highlights of Ayda Jean's first month.

- Mommy was in labor after being induced for about 9.5 hrs and when Ayda was ready to come out... it took one push, literally.

-She weighed 8lbs 7oz and was 21 inches long

-She was back to exactly her birth weight at her 2 week check up.

-She grew .75 inches in the first 2 weeks.

-I have had to wake her to eat in the middle of the night since she was 3 days old.

-She sleeps 8 hours almost every night.

-Her eyes are already turning blue and she seems to have blonde hair. (with my dark eyes and super dark hair I would almost think she wasn't mine, haha!)

-She loves the sound of her Daddy's voice and smiles almost every time he speaks.

-She has been consistently holding her head up since about 2 weeks after she was born.

-She is soo soo alert and always seems to be taking everything in.

-She loves music. (yay!)

-She doesn't mind the car unless it stops, even for a second.

-Her big brother is absolutely in love with her and asks for her every morning

-She may hate me by the time she's 3 because we play dress up all the time!

-She went through a phase of ridiculous amounts of spit up... not her finest moment, but definitely a big part of the first month.

-I think she looks like her Daddy and her Aunt Maci most of the time.

-She has captured our hearts and we can't imagine life with out her!!

That's just a list of the highlights mainly to help me remember. :) This is something I didn't do every month with Gabe and I wish I would have. We did pictures and I have all of his firsts, but I didn't write down the little things. :(

Here are just a few shots I got last Saturday in her bedroom. Her room lets in the most beautiful light and I am in love with these pictures!!

Will, Shannon and Eli

Will is my older brother. He has a beautiful wife, Shannon, and an amazingly sweet little boy, my nephew, Eli! I love them all and wished they lived closer so we could see them more often. They live in Miami, Fl which isn't too terrible but it's definitely more than a day trip!

This sweet family is going to be growing from a family of 3 to a family of 4 in January! We are so excited to be welcoming a new baby to play with Ayda Jean and to make it even better it's going to be another sweet baby girl!! I can already see Gabe and Eli (who are 6 weeks apart) and Ayda Jean and Lillian running at our Mom and Dad's farm, pure sweetness! The only downside to this sweet bundle's arrival date is that it puts it so close to Christmas that Shannon's dr. has told her no traveling for the holidays. BOO! Of course we all want the safest option for Lillian and Shannon's health so we of course are complaining too much. With the news of them not getting to come for Christmas, they decided to make a long weekend trip 2 weeks ago to see everyone and make one last trip before Lillian is born.

While they were here we all had a great time but I'd say Gabe and Eli took the cake! They ran and played and rode their matching tricycles all over the place! We went for a visit to our Grandparents house where they chased the ducks and saw the chickens, which I have to say is a 2 year old little boys' heaven! On Saturday they went fishing with their dad's while the ladies threw a shower in honor of Miss Lily and Saturday night they got to go on a hay ride at our towns fall festival. Needless to say, by Sunday they were worn slap out! It is such a sweet thing to get to watch our kids run and play just like we did (without the bickering of siblings, of course).

Sunday afternoon I too the annual family pictures of Will, Shannon and Eli. Our Dad is a hay farmer and has about 80 acres of land to choose from when we get the urge to do pictures and that's the beautiful landscape you will see in these photo's. I love getting to be the photographer for these guys and capture the playful and curious nature of my sweet nephew. They are a beautiful family and it's so easy to capture great shots of them. I hope you enjoy their photo's on the farm!

Aren't they beautiful?!? I can't wait to make the trip to Miami to see that beautiful baby girl!!