happy birthday vegas landry.

today you are one.

that's 365 days old, which to me... is unbelievable.

how did i ever function before you? what were my goals? what were my dreams? oh yeah, they were YOU. you are my everything. you are the drive that pushes me to want to become a better person. on my worst days, that gummy smile makes everything disappear. you are so innocent and clueless to the real world and i want to keep you that way for as long as i can. all you care about is eating, sleeping and tapping things with your middle finger... which is a pretty awesome life if you ask me. you pass no judgment, i am your mom and that's all you care about. you don't care if i have an important job, drive an import or even pay the mortgage. all you ever want from me is attention, and i really do try my hardest to give you as much as i humanly can because i know you will not be this little forever. while my heart aches just typing those words i cannot wait to watch you develop into an amazing girl. hell, you already ARE amazing, in more ways than your little brain could ever imagine.

you changed my life one year ago today, and for that i am eternally grateful.

i love you [mama].

i know you will not remember your first year, but it is forever etched in my brain. thank you for being awesome!

eleven months old.

i want to cry while typing this. i'm sure that is why i have been putting this post off for nearly a month. my fresh out of the oven baby is 11 months old and some change. she is growing and changing every.single.day. it amazes me how she picks up on everything. she hit some pretty major milestones this past month.

- SHE STARTED CRAWLING - full force.
- 18lbs 10 oz. and 28 2/3rd inches tall [35th percentile overall].
- she went from two bottom teeth to to eight, literally overnight.

 - she eats real bite sized food now. this is so weird to me!
- she went to the beach for the first time!
- she still will not drink from a sippy cup. boo.

- she upgraded from her infant carrier to a big girl Britax [that post coming soon].
- we went to the fair for the first time. she was one inch too small to ride the carousel. broke my heart.
- has a slight infatuation with electrical outlets.
- got her first real "owie" by face planting on our coffee table. a big bruise right under her left eye. [ :( ]

- she had her first eye appointment.. i know right!? she is a smidge farsighted, had drops put her in eyes to dilate them [yeah, that was not fun] was soothed by a finger puppet and doesn't need to come back until she is three years old.
- we moved her crib to the lowest position. [tear]
-  she is turning into quite the impatient girl she must get that from me.

i am sure i am missing s o m e t h i n g, but i am still in awe and shock that she is nearly one year [THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE DAYS] old.

enjoy the cuteness that is a baby on a beach.

4 months old.

vegas landry -

i most certainly cannot believe that you are four months old [2.19.10]. you are turning out to be the most beautiful little girl, your dad and i still cannot believe you belong to us! you are such a gem, and we fall deeper in love with you every single second of the day. you have so many things going on at this time that i simply do not want to forget. so, here they are in no particular order.

- weight 12 pounds / 14 ounces. [30th percentile]
- height 23 1/2 inches. [25th percentile]
- head 16 1/4 inches. [50th percentile]

- you have discovered how very flexible you are. i mean, seriously you can bend completely in half.

- you tap everything with those dainty hands of yours. so much, that your father thought for a split second, it may be a mental thing. don't worry, the pediatrician set him straight. your dad is a piece of work, but you will find this out soon enough.

- you took your first spill this month. i hurt more than you did.

- you started on your first solid food - prunes - i know, so interesting, but you needed them. SO bad.

- you still hate tummy time, this has not changed, but that neck of yours is getting so strong.

- you can still wear quite a few of your newborn onesies, but the pants have to be 3 - 6, no high-waters for my girl.

- when you whine, it sounds like you are saying "ma maaaaaaaa ma maaaaa ma". melts my heart.

- you have officially moved up to the eight ounce bottles, the little shorty 4 ouncers are not cutting it these days.

- you look more like your dad everyday. he doesn't "see it", but you do. no worries though sweets, hes a fine looking human himself.

- i personally think you have a mullet. grow some hair [in the front] m'kay?

- you follow your father and i around the room, never letting us leave your line of sight. i'm not sure if that is good or bad, but it's cute nonetheless.

- oh and last but not least, you got your social security card. you're a legal tiny human!


happy four month birthday cuddle [that's your pen name from me, your welcome].
 xoxoxo <3,
mom.

a note to my munchkin.

dear vegas,

how can it be that you are 33 days old already?!? people comment on how much of a gorgeous baby you are, and i may be biased, but i believe every last one of them. you definitely have your momma's nose and mouth and on certain days your daddy's eyes. i just want to throw this out to the universe [and so you have documented proof] that just because we live in the south, and you are absolutely frickin' gorgeous, does not mean that your momma will subject you to the baby pageant circuit, no matter how many stacked haired, vera bradley wearing southern belles try to convince me otherwise.



like most every new mom says, i am slowly forgetting what my life without you was like. you melt my heart more and more everyday, and i cannot believe i have lived without you for over twenty four years. you are a bit challenging at times, i will admit, however; i don't know a baby that is not, and the mothers that say they have a perfect baby must be living in some fantasy world that i have yet to discover. you are such a snuggle bunny and your dad and i love that. just today you smiled a real smile twice at your daddy. not a gassy smile, a real one that had him on cloud nine.



here are some milestones/memories that i don't want to forget during your first month:
1. you hold your head up like a champ. you have done this since day one.

2. you make your legs lock up in a standing position when i try to stand you up. i have never seen a newborn do this. sloooooow down girl.

3. you actually "see" me and your dad and you turn your head [most times] when you hear our voices.

4. you [just today] smiled when your daddy was singing a crazy song to you.

5. you love to be swaddled, however we keep that for bedtime only.

6. you love to ride in the car. it puts you to sleep instantly.

7. you have gas 10x worse than your dad on some days. ::barfs::

8. mommy got you spoiled with warm bottles, and you don't prefer them any other way now.

9. you HATE, hate, HATE to be naked.

10. you are still nursing and on the bottle, and mommy loves that she gets that special time with you as well as you with your daddy.

11. you are just now fitting [securely] in most of your newborn clothes.

12. at your last pediatrician visit you weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces.



i swear if you get any cuter, i am bound to implode. i cannot tell a lie.

eviction notice to our daughter.

v -

this is your mom here. today is your estimated due date, and i'm pretty sure you are planning on being fashionably late [just like your mom] seeing as that it is sunday evening and there is still no sign of you. your dad cannot wait for you to get here for many reasons, but mostly so he can have a week off of work. ha. i'm sure he thinks that week is going to be like a vacation, but i am sure that we will have our hands full [and overflowing] for the first week and beyond.

you have been baking inside of me for 40 weeks and it would be nice of you to come out and let everyone ooooooooo and ahhhhhhh over you, including me. your mom and dad are more than tired of people asking if you are here yet. obviously you are not, because if you were, your dad would have texted or called every.single.contact in his blackberry address book. he has a mild addiction to his phone, which you will learn about later.

you have no idea now, but there are very few people who actually know what your name is going to be, and it is killing them. i am sure we will have many mixed reactions to your name, but just for the record, your father and i decided on your first name at least five years ago. however, not very many people actually thought that we would ever name you this name. you really won't have to worry about your name becoming common or overused, and that's why we love it so much. we only hope you love it as much as we do, but i know you will because it is FABULOUS!

if you would be so kind as to not make your mother wait another two weeks to meet you, i will have your dad buy you a pony. i promise.

love,
your officially overdue mom.