Name Change

As you will notice I have changed the name of our blog. I figured it was an appropriate change since I don't keep photo albums and I don't scrapbook. (Perhaps I will take it up once all of our kids are grown and can have the time to do it properly.) I figure until that time comes this will be our family photo album. Thanks to all of you who check in on us regularly. It means so much.

Hats

As most of you know, I love hats. Even though I don't put bows in Lorelai's hair just yet I can't seem to resist putting a hat on her whenever I get the chance.

Although her head is quite small she is outgrowing some of the hats she has been given. Decided that since the weather is warming up and we will be outside more she needed some larger hats since she still doen't have a ton of hair. Here are the fruits of my shopping expedition. The proper little lady...

...and the party animal.

This one is a matching purple toile hat and dress. She looks like she's posing but honestly I think she's just trying to rip the hat off. (Incidently, the pattern is similar to the curtains we were originally going to use in her room.)

Mama's getting smarter. This hat has a string. (Her dad loves these overalls, as do I. They are quite rugged, yet fashionable.)
This is one of my favorite pictures of her. It was taken at Jack's birthday party. The hat was subsequently taken off by our lovely model, but at least she was kind enough to let me snap this picture first. What a gal!

One Swingin' Lady

My friend, Megan, had a birthday party for her son, Jack, at a park in Aiken a few weekends ago. It was Lorelai's first time on the swings. As is evident by the following pictures, it only took a few minutes for her warm up to this beloved playground equipment. She adored them! (She must get it from her mom as the swings give her dad motion sickness.)

Waving goodbye as she embarks on her new adventure.


Holding on with two hands to start.
Within a few seconds she was showing her bravery with only a one-handed grasp. What a daredevil! Not quite a glowing smile but at least she's not crying.
"Why did we stop?"

The following day while we were at The Pavilion we gave the swings another shot. The excitement went from one extreme...

...to the other.

School Spirit

Dan always wanted to go to Penn State. Due to outrageous out-of-state tuition fees he was unable to do so. This shirt of Lorelai's is one of his favorites for obvious reasons. Thanks go out to Uncle Rob, Aunt Lisa, and Sierra for the treasured gift!


Go Nittany Lions!
Check out those chubby cheeks! Precious!
Eventually our model decided to exit the photo shoot.

Mission accomplished.

New Textures

Dan was in a tennis tournament at Greenville Country Club this weekend. Although Lorelai and I arrived too late to see him win, we stayed and watched others play until dinner was served. Since Lorelai was an August baby, the majority of her mobile months have been spent inside due to the weather. This was her first encounter with grass. She loved it, but mostly just wanted to eat it. Surprise, surprise!




The first touch.
Taking a trip off the beaten path, right into a rock wall.

Coming back with a prize, a handful of grass which she subsequently attempted to eat. **No photo of this activity as lots of pictures in this blog feature her eating inedible objects.**

Giving it a go with no socks. This lovely spectator spot was filled with lots of dead grass, not to mention ants and chiggers. We eventually had to change locales.

Having a much-needed rest after all the excitement.

Rare Parental Sightings

**Since the majority of this blog contains pictures of Lorelai, I thought I'd throw some in of Dan and me for good measure.**

After Dan won his first doubles match we hung around for the dinner at the country club. While we were watching one of his friends play we took turns taking pictures with Lorelai.


Here, Lorelai's hair is showing it has a mind of its own. The curl is really starting to show up. Daddy looks thrilled, as always, to be spending time with his best girl.

I had to get two pictures taken of Lorelai and me. Here I was photographed and, believe it or not, I have little to criticize where I am concerned (a rarity I can assure you). Lorelai on the other hand isn't smiling. Too bad it's not a "perfect" picture of the two of us.

Of course in this picture when I look especially depressed Lorelai looks like she just heard the funniest thing ever. Go figure! Maybe next time we can both be captured smiling at the same time.

Shoulda Been A Sports Photographer

As is evident by the previous posts, Dan was in a tennis tournament this weekend. Although the majority of the pictures I snapped were of Lorelai, Dan wanted to make sure I got some pictures of him, too. I think I did pretty well with the action shots.

You Make Me Feel Like Dancin'

Lorelai likes to "dance" when she stands up and people hold her hands. Here, Daddy captured her "shaking her groove thing." Just press play and enjoy!

Jailbird

Lorelai is starting to pull herself up to standing but has trouble in her crib because the bumpers collapse. In these first two pictures she was getting ready to take a nap and looked out at me as I was leaving the room. I couldn't resist the photo op.



Later that day she went to The Pavilion to ride the train with C.C., Granddaddy, and William. Before everyone else arrived Lorelai played on the swings (pictures to come in a few days) and showed off her new talent on the equipment.

Going in for the close-up.

Terrible Teething and Tasty Tags

Last weekend Lorelai was teething and she was most unhappy about it. Here are some photos of our fairly subdued little girl.


She was running a fever so here she is "chilling" with a cool cloth on her forehead.
Using Daddy's watch as a teether. Perhaps the cool metal is just what a painful mouth needed.

Relief at last! Unsure is she is resting or just caught in a blink as Daddy was the one snapping the picture. Either way she looks quite serene.

Anytime Lorelai is chewing on something she immediatly searches for a tag. In this case, her bib's tag was the target.

Check out those blue eyes. Notice that her left eyelid droops just a bit, just like Daddy's does.


Note: If you look closely you can see Daddy napping in the background.

Splish! Splash!

Megan, my friend who inspired me to start a blog in the first place, often has great bathtime pictures of her two little darlings, Jack and Anna. When in the tub, Lorelai is much more focused on chewing on her duck than smiling for a photo shoot, but I thought I'd give it a try. *Disclaimer: I know the Bebe Pod is not designed for use in the tub, but we were in an in between stage at this time.*

Spending some quality time with her abstractly colored bathtime friend-AKA "using the rubber duck as a teether."

Attempting to sit patiently while Mama takes the 1,oooth picture of the day and simultaneously interrupts her after dinner snack.
Finally giving into her public and gracing us with a small smile. Thanks, Lorelai!

Feelin' Froggy!

Back in February we had a bit of a warm spell. This onesie was given to me by my friend, Julie, in the hopes that she might wear it in the summer when she was born. Instead, Lorelai wasn't able to wear it until she was about 6 months old because she is quite petite. Good thing the weather unexpectedly cooperated.



She realized her picture was being taken and started grabbing for the camera, as usual.

Precious in pink and green.

Look at those arms go!

Who's That Girl?

I think this picture of Lorelai is absolutely beautiful. Oddly enough I don't think it looks much like her, though. Her hair looks lighter and her ever-present smile is not, well, present. I know the bib is out of season, but anyone that knows my love of Halloween won't think anything of it.

Feeding Time

Normally, Lorelai is a very neat eater. On this particular Saturday the weather was quite dark and dreary and all activities seemed to occur with less than wholehearted enthusiasm, including eating. The results are as follows:



Toward the end of the meal she started to open wide.
Lorelai having a great time while poor Frodo was stuck in his crate due to the rainy weather.

Nothing like a good book after a meal, both figuratively...

...and literally. This is pretty much where everything ends up once she gets her hands on it.