*Eleven*

My little star,

Daddy & I can't believe how big you're getting...and how quickly the days are flying past us! In less than a month, you'll be 1 year old. How did this happen?! Our little baby.......is not so much a BABY anymore!!!

You're our little parrot these days, happily trying to mimic just about everything we do or say. You love to listen to Daddy make silly noises & then repeat them back to him! And today you said THANK YOU about 20 times!!! Your Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop & Nonna were beside themselves with laughter over that one;-)

You are a master crawler & love to pull up to a stand whenever you get the chance. Your musical orange guitar is your favorite toy...along with just about any PHONE you can manage to get your hands on;-) You still L-O-V-E cheese, along with Cheerios & watermelon & grapes. You smile and giggle endlessly & melt our hearts to putty every time.

Watching you grow has been nothing short of an honor. I can barely contain my excitement when I think of what the months to come will bring!

Thank you so much for being YOU:~)

Love you to the moon & back again.

*Your MaMa*

*Our Big Girl*

...xoxo...

*Birthday Wishes*

Stella had lots of loved ones to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this month:~) Meanwhile...we are in the midst of planning a big party for her...coming up in just about a month & a half!!!

*10 months*

I'm a few days late in posting this time around...but our little peanut is now TEN MONTHS OLD:) I can't BELIEVE that we'll be celebrating her BIRTHDAY in less than 2 months!!

Oh & one other thing...

I love the shore!

Tooth #1

No. Absolutely not. I refuse to show you my tooth.

Oh, all right. You got me.

Here it is!

Break out the Oral-B

Well, maybe we're not quite ready for an Oral-B yet...but Stella does have her 1st tooth coming in!

Finally:)

It was June 25th that we first noticed it barely poking through her gums...and now its ever-so-slowly coming more & more in!

Photos will be forthcoming......once I can get her to stay still with her mouth open for long enough, that is!

She is truly Little Miss Mobile these days;-)

Mama & Stella (@ 9 months)

...xoxo...

*Stella's Room*

My friend Angie has been asking me to post pictures of Stella's nursery FOREVER (as in, since before Stella was born) & I haven't gotten around to it until now.

Oddly enough...but like most things in my life...it's still not technically done.

I still have to decide what to do with the big wall behind her crib...(vinyl letters? photo collage?)...figure out where to hang the framed Picasso print that's been leaning against her dresser for the past month...and possibly buy an area rug of some sort.

But for now...

For you, Angie...and anyone else who happens to care...here are a few glimpses into Stella's room at this particular moment in time.

My mom gave me this silver ABC/123 plate. I love it. It was mine when I was a baby:)

I know that you are supposed to take their mobile down at something like 6-months but I love her stars & don't see myself parting with them anytime soon.

This was the very first thing we hung in her room.

Baby's 1st Pearl Jam poster:)

I bought it years ago. Well, traded someone 3 other PJ posters for it, actually.

I just loved it because I always dreamed of having a little girl of my own...and it was TOO perfect that its color scheme ended up matching Stella's room so well:~)


It was Rob's idea to put her Sweet Dreams plaque above the door.

I was iffy about it at first but now I like that its there every night as I shut the door after putting her to bed:)

The way that this mirror complements the design of her bedding makes me happy.

Her crib is really beautiful but we had to buy extra fabric & rig the crib bumpers so that we could use them on it because the wood is so thick that the tie-things wouldn't reach around it to be tied!

I thought I'd treat Stella to her first rocking horse ride & snap a quick photo to go along with the rest of the photos of her room...

She wasn't really too sure about it yet though;-)

We'll have to re-visit him another day!

Daddy's 1st Father's Day

Sunday was Daddy's 1st Father's Day & I was so excited to give him his presents!

I didn't even want to wait to change out of my pajamas...

THAT'S how excited I was!!

Mommy & I got him an HD radio/ipod dock & I also drew him a cool picture! He ended up taking both of them into work to display on his desk:)

I think Daddy really enjoyed his 1st Father's Day:)

*Big Girl*

We took Stella to see Dr. Trotsky for her 9 month well-visit yesterday & our lil' chunky monk weighed in at 16 pounds, 12 ounces & measured 28 inches long!

Doctor gave us the go-ahead to start her on new & exciting table foods like baby yogurt & small bits of cheese. We gave her a few shreds of cheddar to sample with her dinner tonight and she *loved* it! Looks like she's a cheese fan just like her ma & pa;-)

Going Mobile/9 Months

I remember a point in time where 9 months took forever to go by. When you're a kid itchin' for the summertime, the school year seems to never end. But now...somehow...9 months has come & gone and what was *just yesterday* my tiny little squirming baby is now my creepin'/crawlin'...very mobile...little girl:)

She is 9 months old today. I can hardly stand to say it out loud......it hardly seems possible!

She waves hello now...and feeds herself Cheerios. She is also getting (dangerously) close to actually crawling! She moves both forward and backwards now...but mostly by creeping on her belly. And these monthly "photo shoots"...are becoming more & more of a challenge because staying still (or even just SEATED) is not so much an option anymore;-)

(Baby's 1st) Memorial Day

We had a BBQ in our backyard to celebrate your 1st Memorial Day:)

Daddy blew bubbles for you for the 1st time.

You really liked watching them float all around!

And then, after everybody went home, you gnawed on a frozen bagel for awhile & got crumbs all over the couch;-)

8 1/2 months:)

You get more comments on your big blue eyes than anything else;-)

(In second place would be how smiley & happy you always are.)

Here you are with your "Anti-Pauff"...aka...your Auntie Dylan.
And look at you, you big girl...standing on your own 2 feet!

Here you are with Papa, practicing your newest skill: waving HELLO:)

Sometimes you wave inwards at yourself instead of out at the person who is saying HI to you. I know it won't last but Daddy & I think its just the cutest!

I think you own more hoodies than your Dad & I combined.
And that's sayin' something!

You sure do love your "Gi's"!

That's what you call Casey & Lucy...your (Dog) GI (es)!

Yes, that's right. Mama bought a basket & put you inside of it so that she could take your photo.
This type of behavior should come as no surprise to you by now.

Not that you minded! You smiled the whole time:)

Purple stripes + hot-pink/green soled shoes = RAD

Man, kid. You are just too cool for school;-)

I.Just.Love.This.Picture.

...our SMILING HAPPY LITTLE PERSON...

...sitting in the grass of our front lawn...

Mama's 1st Mother's Day

My 1st Mother's Day was SO special:)

Flea Market fun in the morning...
Dinner with the family...
Loads of cards & gifts, including a scratch-off lottery ticket that ended up being a $100 winner!! (Many thanks to Alisa for that one!)

Thank you so much to everyone for all of the Mom's Day love:)

Check out this cool plaque Dylan surprised me with (on behalf of Stella, of course!)

Stella bought me matching Mommy & Baby tambourines so that she & I can play music together...

...and Rob bought me my very first pair of real Oakleys!

Ooh, la la.

Check him out, by the way.

He was rockin out on Rachel's guitar for awhile.

There's no mistaking he's the Daddy of a baby girl now, is there?! :)

Speaking of Rachel...she & Stella had so much fun playing together!

How cute are they?! I mean, really:)

*Eight*

Today is Stella's *8-month birthday* & the personalized hat I bought her to wear on the day she was born FINALLY fits:~)

BTW: She started to wave hello on Saturday & it just might be the cutest thing ever.