New Video: Leah's 1st Vacation!!!

Leah’s 1^st Vacation

June 2013 - 6 Months Old

Another short video put together by my sweet husband capturing our special memories as a family of three :)

Leah's First Vacation :) from Rachel Wood on Vimeo.

Click HERE to see more of our videos

Leah's 1st State Fair

8.7.13

I’m still working on a lot of backed posts and updates (Vacation, Vacation video, Father’s Day, Leah’s 7 month post, Our Anniversary, etc. etc. etc.) but I was too excited to share these photos from Leah’s first trip to the Indiana State Fair! David was on call yesterday and ended up not having any emergency patients so we were able to spend the day as a family. Leah and I love when we get to spend our weekdays with daddy!

Growing up I had never been a huge fan of the fair and probably hadn’t been since I was seven up until last year. One of my best friends insisted that our group of friends go and I’m so happy she did! We all had the best time eating entirely too much and making great memories. From that day on I became a fan of the fair :)

This year David and I were excited to take Leah. She loves animals and being around a lot of people so what better place than the fair?! We were going to take the train but decided last minute that we would wait until next year when she is older and can enjoy it. These are the little things that make me all giddy inside! Thinking of all the fun things that we get to look forward to! I especially can’t wait to take her on the Polar Express train this Christmas, not to mention all the other fun festivities that come along with Halloween and Christmas!

Okay, back to our day at the fair

We had the best time! Leah loved all the people and was so focused on everything that was happening around her. She loved the animals, especially the goats. She would look up at them with a big smile and would sequel out of excitement. David said that moment alone made the whole trip worth it and I couldn’t have agreed more :)

 

 

                
 

We had the best time walking, eating, seeing the animals, and spending quality time as a family. I love my little family so much and cherish these memories that we continue to make :)

Until next year :)

Letters to Leah: 6 Months

6.20.13

              

Dear LeLe,

This post has been sitting as a draft for a little over a month now. I'm actually currently working on your 7 month post, which I am also a little behind on. We've been so busy having fun this summer I haven't made the time to sit down and blog our little life adventures as much as I should. I've been sure to take lots of pictures, videos, and notes on my phone so I don't forget any milestones and updates before they make it on our little blog. I'm so thankful I do this because it makes me remember all the little details even if I haven't made the time to sit down and write it all out. At times I think I will just forget the blogging all together because I am just too busy having fun to sit down and blog, but then I remember how important it is for me to document all of these amazing memories with you. I've been working on turning the blog into a series of books, to serve as our family scrapbook, and it makes me smile when I go back through and realize all the memories we have documented for our family to look back on. That makes me so happy and motivates me to make time for blogging. I've been playing catch up and plan on posting some important posts that I've missed in the coming weeks. 

Okay, back to your 6 month post. These months are flying! I mean flying! I feel like I blink and you are a month older. This month you celebrated your half birthday on mama and daddy's 4 year wedding anniversary. The 20th is a special day for our little family!

Walking towards a future I never knew could be so amazing

We recently got home from our first vacation as a family of three, which was such a fun, relaxing, and unforgettable vacation. I'm planning on doing a vacation post with lots of pictures here soon. The picture at the top of the post is a shot from vacation. You were our little beach diva! Daddy also put together a sweet video of our first family vacation which I plan on posting this week!

6 Month Stats:

Weight: 18 pounds 14 ounces (90th percentile)

Height: 26 1/2 inches (70th percentile)  

Head Circumfrence: 17 inches (80th percentile)

This month has been filled with so many milestones and lots of "growing up". By growing up, I mean you are growing out of the baby stage and turning into a little girl before our eyes. You are discovering the world around you and becoming more independent as the days go by. You are so fun and interactive these days and your little personality continues to unfold with each passing day. 

The biggest development this month is crawling! You aren't hands and knees crawling quite yet but you have the whole army crawl thing down! It was like you went from stationary to on the go overnight! You are constantly on the move now that you have discovered your new found skill. If you see something you want you make sure to get it! You are a determined little thing :)

Even at the ripe age of 6 months I can tell you love to learn. You love to grab, feel, and explore everything around you...and I mean everything!  Your mind is constantly working. You love to grab objects in front of you to see what they are and you are fascinated with cell phones and ipads. You still love mama and daddy's faces. You love to grab our noses, cheeks, and mama's hair. You love to feel all fabrics and textures. You love the feeling of the carpet, the couch, the wicker chair in our office, and the fabric on your rocker. 

This month we also celebrated daddy's first official Father's Day! The love you and your daddy share is indescribable. You have him wrapped around your little tiny finger and seeing you two together just melts mama's heart. He is the best daddy I could have ever hoped for and I think you are well aware of this too because there is no one you give a bigger smile to :)

You continue to love tummy time, especially now that you are crawling. However, you did spend little less time on your tummy and more time sitting this month. You love to sit and play with your toys. You sit pretty well but I still make sure to put the boppy behind you incase you get excited and lean back too fast and lose your balance. Speaking of toys, you love toys! You love playing with blocks, rattles, baby paper books (the kind that have a crinkle sound), and teething rings. You still like Baby Einstein but not quite as much as you did.



You are fascinated with buttons. You love keyboards, remotes, and anything you can push on. You have started to take to your exersaucer and bouncer. You don't really bounce yet but you love to play with all of the little colorful gadgets. You especially like the toy on the exersaucer that spins.

You are not a fan of the car. I'm not sure if it's the actual car ride or the carseat. Daddy and I are pretty sure it's the carseat. You don't like the feeling of being restrained and it frustrates you. We look back and you are trying so hard to sit all they way up and get upset when you can't. We hope this is just a stage that you grow out of because it breaks my heart {and my ear drums} to hear you cry the whole car ride. 

You are still a babbling machine. You love doing peek-a-boo and patty cake! I have the sweetest video of you doing peek-a-boo that I need to post.

You still love bath time. You are in size 3 diapers and wearing clothes from 6 months-12 months. You still have your beautiful blue eyes and your hair is still light brown. 

You are still a great eater and sleeper. This month we introduced you to solids, which has been so much fun! You love sitting in your high chair and eating with mama and daddy. You aren't a huge fan of bananas alone but love pretty much everything else you have tried. You don't mind bananas mixed in with other foods but you're not a huge fan of them alone. You love veggies just as much as fruit and I hope that continues as you get older. I'm excited to keep exploring new foods with you as you continue to get older!

This month we took you to our neighborhood pool for the first time. And? You LOVED it! A cute little tid-bit that I don't want to forget: We were headed to the pool with friends during the week while daddy was in class. This was your first time to the pool so I took the photo above of you in your swim suit before we left and sent it to daddy. As soon as he realized we were headed to the pool he left class and drove home so he wouldn't miss your first time in the pool. I couldn't help but smile and think that you have the best daddy in the world. We had the best afternoon.

Daddy also celebrated his 27th birthday this month and finished his third year of Dental School. Only one more year until daddy graduates!!! We sent him the photo below on his last day of class, which happened to fall on his birthday!

This month's firsts: 

1. Trying solids  

2. Father's Day

3. Army Crawling

5. First time in the pool

6. First time in your exer-saucer/jumper

7. First time in highchair

So here we are! Another beautiful month with you, baby girl! Daddy and I continue to love watching you grow, discover, and explore new things each month. We're making sure to soak up every minute because it goes fast.  We are excited to continue watching you grow and living this beautiful life with you.

We love you so much, LeLe. You bring us more joy and love to our life than we ever thought was possible. We love you to the moon and back, baby girl!

Love,

Mama and Daddy

Stay tuned for a new video of our first family trip to Florida!

Letters To Leah: 5 Months

5.20.13

Dear Leah,

Another month has come and gone and just like that you are five months old. I sit here and think how you can possibly be five months old? It just blows my mind. It feels like yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. I can easily say these have been the best five months of my life. I thank God everyday that he chose me to be your mama. There is nothing I love more than being your mama and watching you grow, learn, and discover the world around you every single day. I am so thankful that I have a career that allows me to be home with you and not miss a single moment. I will never take that for granted.

5 Month Stats:

We didn't have a wellness appointment this month so these are according to our home scale and measuring tape. This past month you haven't put on much weight from last month but you have continued to just get longer and longer! 

Weight: 18 pounds

Height:  26 1/2 inches (you wouldn't stay too still, so I'm not sure how accurate this is)  

This month has been filled with so many milestones and lots of fun and laughter. This is the first month I have really felt like you are no longer my little newborn baby, but turning into a little girl right before my eyes. Your little personality continues to unfold with each passing day. You are even starting to get a little sass. It's so cute and I love it...I'm sure I won't be saying that when the teen years roll around ;) Even with the little bit of sass you still continue to be the sweetest little thing around!

Your biggest milestone this month has been your transition from our room to your room. You now have a bed time and sleep in your crib every night without any fuss. It took a good two days of coming in and comforting you but you quickly started to love being in your crib and having uninterrupted sleep. You now get cranky if you aren't in bed by your bedtime. I miss having you right beside me at night but I love that you are now on a good schedule. You sleep from 7:30 pm - 6:30 am. At 6:30 daddy gets you and brings you in our room where I feed you and you then fall back asleep for another three or so hours. Here is a picture of you the first morning after sleeping in your crib like a big girl...happy as a clam!

In your crib is where I discovered your other big milestone this month. One day after your nap I looked on the monitor and this is what I saw!

You rolled over! I always put you to sleep on your back and you managed to roll over during nap time. You are now a rolling machine! If I place you on your back you immediately roll to your stomach. Speaking of naps, you are now napping in your crib 1-2 times a day. If you nap once you usually sleep for two hours and if you nap twice they are both about an hour long. You usually take your first nap around 12:00 pm and your second around 4:00 pm. When we are out and about you will end up napping in your car seat or at friends/grandparent's houses in your pack and play. You are very flexible, you just like to be able to sleep at these times during the day.

More sweet moments caught on the monitor. Now that you have a
bedtime mama and daddy are able to have our quality time together at night, which mainly consists of talking about you :)

Daddy and I continue to love watching you grow, discover, and explore new things each month. You continue to love tummy time! I would say you are on your stomach 60% of the day You are so content on your stomach. You will stay on your stomach for up to an hour several times a day and play with your blocks/toys or watch Baby Einstein. 

Speaking of Baby Einstein, you still love those DVD's! I'm excited to keep introducing you to new ones as you get older. You no longer need your arms under you for support while doing tummy time. You now look like a little airplane with your arms at your side in mid air. You are pretty much over your swing. You will sit in it from time to time and play with the mobile above but you prefer it to not be moving. You also continue to love your bumbo! It has really helped you get the hang of sitting. On your 5th month (5.20.13) you sat in the tripod position on your own for a solid couple minutes before loosing your balance. I'm pretty sure you will have this whole sitting thing down soon! I'm excited to see you sit in the sand next month when we head to Florida. The bumbo has also made you discover your little feet! You will sit in your bumbo and reach down and play with your little toes. 

This month you have discovered mama and daddy's faces. You love to grab our noses, cheeks, and mama's hair. You love to grab anything that is in your sight. I have to be much more aware now of what is around because you will just grab something in a matter of seconds! When you sit on my lap at the computer you love to pull out the keyboard drawer and press on all the keys. You also love touching the iphone and ipad. You have also mastered holding your toy keys/rattles and shaking them as fast as you can.

This is the first month you have really started to notice the dogs. They will be in front of you and you will really focus on what they are doing. You look so fascinated with their every move. And the dogs? They continue to be very protective over you. I look forward to the day you can actually play and interact with them. 

You are still a babbling machine. You have also added in some screeching this month. That's where some of that sass comes in! Ha! Daddy and I always say that you sound like our little pterodactyl. You will just start screeching and will then flash a big smile once you get our attention ;)

You still love bath time. We can't wait to see you in the pool and ocean this summer. You are now in size 3 diapers and wearing clothes from 3 months - 6 months (sometimes bigger - just depends on the brand). You still have your beautiful blue eyes and your hair  continues to lighten. Right now it's a really light brown.

You continue to be a content baby. You are still a great eater and sleeper. We're still breastfeeding and it's going great! This month we also introduced you to baby oatmeal. We mixed it in with some of mama's milk to see what you thought. You weren't too sure what to think. You made some pretty funny faces! I'm looking forward to making your baby food in the coming months!

We continue to get out almost every day. We are both loving this beautiful spring weather! We have so much fun on our weekly lunch/play dates with your aunties (my girlfriends)! We have picnics at the park, go on play dates, go to the zoo, and have lots of walks. We also spend a lot of time at Aunt Andria's house this month! We blow up the inflatable pool and just hang out all day on the back deck with you and the boys. We are counting down the days until our neighborhood pool opens and we can take you in the baby pool. I can't wait to put you in your little swim suit!

Celebrating your Aunt Jenny and Aunt Tara's new houses!

You continue to love walks. I love our walks together and as a family. I used to daydream about pushing a stroller around the neighborhood before I was pregnant and it's everything I used to imagine and more. I love taking in the beautiful spring air while looking at your sweet smiling face as you take in all that is around you.

I also love running all my errands with you. Sure it's a lot more work and preparation but there is nothing I love more that having you as my little side kick. I love driving and looking back and seeing your little face smiling in your mirror :)

This month's firsts: 

1. First Time Trying Baby Oatmeal 

2. Rolling Over Back to Stomach (May 6th)

3. Mother's Day

4. Sleeping in your crib

5. Napping in your crib

6. Grabbing objects
7. Shaking your rattles/keys
8. First Bridal Shower

Cousin Rachel's Bridal Shower

I love this picture below. You and daddy made mama breakfast in bed and those are the beautiful roses you gave mama for Mother's Day.

So here we are! Another beautiful month with you, baby girl! We're making sure to soak up every minute because it goes fast. You teach us new things every day and there is nothing we love more than watching you grow, learn, and discover new things with each passing day. We are excited to continue watching you grow and living this beautiful life with you.

We love you so much, LeLe. You bring us more joy and love to our life than we ever thought was possible. We love you to the moon and back, baby girl!

Love,

Mama and Daddy

Letters to Leah: Four Months

4.20.13

Dear Leah,

I sit here and think how you can possibly be four months already? It's unbelievable how fast time flies when you're having fun! It has been a little over a year {4.17.12} since I saw that beautiful word "pregnant" read across that pregnancy test screen. I posted more about this in my last post: One Year. After eight months of trying for you, baby, there was simply no better sight. It was one of the happiest days of our life. You were so wanted.

Now here we are at four months! This month has been filled with so much fun and laughter. Your little personality continues to unfold right in front of our eyes. The most exciting thing this month would have to be hearing your little belly laugh, which I posted here. Daddy and I are convinced you have the cutest laugh ever! It gives us a glimpse of what your little voice will sound like and that makes me smile. Your Daddy continues to make you laugh the most. You will do little laughs for me, but something about that silly daddy of yours makes you bust into belly laughs. When he gets home from class you always flash him the biggest smile :) You also did one of your belly laughs for your Aunt Anne at brunch for grandpa's birthday. Daddy and I love to do silly things to try and hear that sweet laugh over and over again. There is simply no better sound :)

4 Month Stats:

Weight: 

4 Months: 17 pounds 1.5 ounces (97th percentile)

Two Months: 12 pounds 14.5 ounces 

One Month: 9 pounds 9 ounces

At Birth: 7 pounds 13 ounces

Height: 

4 Months: 25 inches (75th percentile)

Two Months: 24 inches 

One Month: 21.75 inches

At Birth: 20 inches

Head Circumference: 

Four Months: 16.65 inches (82nd percentile)

Two Months: 16.02 inches 

One Month:  14.76 inches

You had another big growth spurt these past two months! You are a big baby just like your mama was! Your pediatrician thinks that in the next couple of months you will just continue to grow in length and stay at about the same weight. She said it's great to see mama's milk is making for one healthy baby girl ;)

Daddy and I continue to love watching you go through so many changes each month! You continue to love tummy time! You are so content on your stomach. This month we introduced you to the Baby Einstein DVD's that you got for Easter and you love them! You will watch the entire DVD while doing tummy time. This gives mama some extra time in the mornings to get things done around the house! This month you also learned to roll from your stomach to your back, which I have yet to get on video, but am working on it ;)

This month we introduced you to your Bumbo chair and you love it! You will sit in it for 30 + minutes at a time a couple times a day. You are now starting to grab for things. We will place your Sophie giraffe on your Bumbo tray and you will work really hard picking it up. You concentrate so hard to keep your grip and move it to your mouth. It's so cute watching that little brain of yours work so hard. We love watching you get stronger and stronger each week that passes.

You are still a babbling and cooing machine. I feel like you want to be able to talk and communicate with us so badly. I just can't wait to hear that little voice of yours when you mutter that first word.

You still love bath time. We are getting so excited to see you in the pool and ocean this summer! You are still using your swing at times.  You are still in size 2 diapers and wearing clothes from 3 months - 6 months.

I am obsessed with your little leg rolls, chubby little cheeks, little nose, chunky little feet, perfect little toes, and the little dimples on your elbows and hands! You still have your beautiful blue eyes and your hair is still light brown. 

You continue to be a content baby. You are still a great eater and sleeper. We're still breastfeeding great and you are still sleeping about 14 hours a night. You still continue to nap here and there throughout the day but you are now spending longer times awake, which I love!

We are starting to get out and about more now that you are older. Mama's not as nervous about germs and the weather is finally warming up! We have lunch dates with your aunties (my girlfriends) weekly, which is so much fun! We also have lots of play dates!

This month's firsts: 

1. Belly Laughs

2. Rolling Over (stomach to back)

3. Out in the Snow
4. Easter
5. Church Service
6. First Trip to the Zoo (posted here)
6. Watching Baby Einstein



This month your Auntie Kara (one of mama's best friends) got engaged to Uncle Scott (one of daddy's best friends)! Mama got asked to be her Matron of Honor and we both got to go with her to pick out her wedding dress. You loved seeing your Auntie Kara try on all the dresses and you made sure to let her know the one you liked. You smiled the most in the dress she ended up choosing! It was such a special day :)

So here we are, baby! Another wonderful month with you! We're making sure to soak up every minute because it goes fast. We love you so much, Leah. You bring us so much joy! 

We love you to the moon and back, baby girl!

Love,

Mama and Daddy

First Official Mother's Day :)

5.12.13

My 1st official Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day :)

Last Mother's Day :)

This time last year we were celebrating the news of our pregnancy with our family and I was celebrating my "first" Mother's Day! I posted about that day here. It was such a special weekend that I will always hold close to my heart. Even though Leah wasn't here yet David made sure to make my "first" Mother's Day a special one. However, nothing compares to actually spending Mother's Day with my little bundle of joy by my side. Leah, I love you more than you will ever know and more than I will ever understand. Being your mama is the greatest joy of my life and I feel so blessed that God chose me to be your mama. I love you, baby girl! 

I Love You Through and Through

"i love you through and through... i love your top side. i love your bottom side. i love your inside and outside. i love your happy side, your sad side

your silly side, your mad side.

i love your fingers and toes, your ears and nose. i love your hair and eyes, your giggles and cries.

i love you running and walking
silent and talking

i love you through and through... yesterday, today and tomorrow too."