A daddy's girl in the making

Leighton adores her daddy.  As do I.  We have a lot to be thankful for in him.  Stuart works hard, enjoys life and is so positive.  He is a great example of a husband and father.  I know having him as a role model will make Leighton a better person.  He makes me a better person.  Leighton is already a daddy's girl and come to think of it, so am I. 

 I think our sweet girl looks a lot like her dad in this picture above.  What do you think?

 We love our kisses from daddy!

Stationery card

New Mr Mrs Wedding Announcement

Create fun Halloween photo cards with Shutterfly.

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Family Pictures

Leighton put on one of her new spring outfits which inspired us to go outside in the beautiful weather and take some family photos. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

As you all know, we love St. Patrick's Day as it is the day Stuart and I became engaged.  We felt very "lucky" for the second year in a row now that we have Leighton.  This year we celebrated with our lil leprechaun by attending the Raleigh St. Patrick's Day Parade.  As you can imagine, we saw some pretty interesting characters and sights.  Leighton loved being outside and watching the people go by.  She was NOT happy at the end when the firetruck drove by and blared it's sirens.  It hurt my ears so I know it had to startle her to death.  Poor girl, she quickly recovered with the comfort and kisses from her daddy.  Enjoy our family pics from the day and some of the unusual characters we caught on camera. 

 Outside Governor Bev Purdue's Mansion

She was outside playing with her grandkids and said hello to us!

Caught again in her favorite sleep position!

The 4 Month Check-Up

Leighton weighed in at a whopping 16 pounds!  The nurse asked us to guess and I said 16 pounds....I was right on the money.  Mommas do know best.  Our sweet girl is currently 25.4 inches long.  At our appointment, we got the okay to start cereal and we tried it last night.  SUCCESS!  She loved it but we couldn't push it in fast enough.  When Leighton started grunting and grabbing for the spoon we decided to bottle feed her to prevent further agitation.  After she finished the bottle we were able to feed her the rest of her first serving of cereal.  Our girl is growing up so fast!

 At first she wasn't sure

 Mommy feeds me

Daddy wants a turn too

 Wonder and delight

 Give me more!

Roadside Emergency

Ever had a blowout on the highway and had to immediately pull over?  This was the kind of blowout we had and knew of before Leighton was born.

Now our definition of a blowout has completely changed.  This new kind of blowout is as much of an emergency and also requires an immediate pull over while traveling.  Just as important as traveling with a spare tire, we quickly discovered the need for spare clothing as well. 

Today we had a blowout on the way home from Wilmington.  Luckily, mom has gotten pretty quick at back seat changes.  Fresh "tire" and new pants and we were back on the road in no time! 

How could we ever be upset with a blowout when this sweet face needs our immediate assistance.

Rocket Baby

Want to learn how to play Rocket Baby?  Follow these easy, step by step directions and you too can play Rocket Baby with your favorite infant.

Step One:  Prepare Baby for Take Off

Step Two: Count Up, Out loud say: 1, 2, 3!

Step Three: Blast Off!

Step Four: Reach Outer Space

Step Five: Back to Earth

Step Six: Not Mandatory except for in our household, Kiss from Daddy upon Landing

The Many Faces of Leighton

Leighton is one funny girl!  She has SO many facial expressions.  The neat thing is that she throws them at you at just the right moment.  Leighton's teacher at school says "she raises them eyebrows" and it cracks me up because she does do that all the time.  Her two main looks are a HUGE smile or a very serious but calm face. 

Friday night I ventured out with Leighton during her bedtime to buy diapers.  I know, I know.  Dumb idea.  Leighton was perfect but she looked so angry.  A pregnant lady and her husband quickly told me how beautiful she was but added how mad she looked.  Usually any negative comment would set me off but I turned and Leighton looked furious with me.  It was hilarious and all I could do was offer my newly acquired parental advice about not taking out your child when they should be resting peacefully in their crib.

Enjoy some of Leighton's latest faces below.

Sweet Dreams

Leighton has been sleeping in this position a lot lately.  She looks completely relaxed and at peace.  How nice it must be to not have a care in the world.

Tummy Time!

Roly Poly

Leighton rolls over as of February 24th.  It may be a one-way roll but we will take it!  The first five nights she would wake her self up in the middle of night with her new skill.  We ended up swaddling her once she woke up so we all could go back to sleep.  But we gave her a few more nights of putting her down unswaddled and she finally has it down pat.  She sleeps soundly through the night on her stomach and sometimes on her side.  Those first few nights mom and dad were worried and we continually checked the baby monitor for signs of life.  With any new first comes worry and wonder at how it will all turn out.  Leighton is changing so fast and just when we have it all figured out she throws something new at us to make us again feel like the novice parents we are.  Luckily, she hasn't stumped us yet she just keeps us on our toes. 

Now I lay me...

down to sleep.  This lovely girl loves to pray.  She prays at school and she prays every night before she goes to sleep. 

One morning we found her just like this...

how sweet!

It looked like she had wanted her hands out of her swaddle

just enough to clasp her hands in prayer.  

Send Leighton your prayer requests anytime. 

Chances are she has already prayed for you at least once.