This past month has been our BUSIEST MONTH so far, since Evy entered the world! We took her on yet ANOTHER trip to Europe, and she did GREAT! We left for this trip just 4 days after getting her in her harness, and we had a lot of doubts about whether or not we would be going. Sleeping was an adjustment. Holding her without feeling like we were going to mess something up was an adjustment. Bath time and diapers were an adjustment. But you know what? We did it. We survived not one, but TWO WEEKS in Scotland with a 5.5 month old in a new hip harness! We’re pretty proud of ourselves!!!

As I think back on this past month, I think my reoccurring thought is just how badly I want to remember each phase. Tonight as I was prepping this blog post, I went back and looked at her 5 month post, and I just LOVED all of those pictures. I love that those memories are captured forever. It’s a lot of work gathering these images and making sure I get them culled and edited, but I know that I will cherish them for the rest of my life. These pictures are saving some of the sweetest moments of our life!!!

Ok, I’m moving on so that I don’t cry. I’m only on paragraph THREE and I’m already tearing up! So what do I want to remember most about this phase? Here are some memories and thoughts that are coming to mind:

• Evy is all about HUGS and SQUEEZING! …. And she’s strong! I literally have bruises on my arms from her “hugs”. haha We’re trying to figure out how to teach her to be “gentle”, but so far there is no stopping her aggressive form of showing affection!
• She’s sweating more! Great. Just when she’s not allowed to have baths in her harness… she needs them more! It’s mainly her head! So we’re doing lots of just “hair” baths!
• She’s developed a CACKLE that we’re obsessed with! If you tickle her under her harness on her shoulders or in her armpits and chunky thighs, she laughs uncontrollably and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard!
• Her hair is growing longer and fuller… but is starting to get in her eyes so we may have to do a little trim!
• Her smile is getting prettier and prettier… not sure how that is even possible, but it is!
• She’s sleeping like a champ considering her harness is so restrictive and she had to go from being a tummy sleeper to a back sleeper overnight. (Ps. I know, tummy sleeping is dangerous… but when she was sleeping on her stomach, she had a heart rate monitor on and she slept for almost 10 hours! It worked for us, and we were so sad to make her switch to her back!). She’s getting used to sleeping on her back, but we have to use just an arm swaddle to keep those crazy hands under control!
• Her cheeks are the chunkiest part of her body and her thighs are a close second!
• Her harness is dirty, but we try so hard to keep it clean! ugh!!!
• She loves to say “La La La La”!! We hope she’s a singer!
• She can do a toe touch and has become incredibly flexible!!!!
• We discovered that when she’s fussy… if we play “What a Beautiful Name” by Hillsong, she calms down. She LOVES it. And I kept wondering why she loved that particular song so much, and then I realized that I sang that song as a solo in church when I was pregnant with her. So I practiced that exact song over and over, and I guess she can vaguely remember that! It’s so sweet! If playing it on the phone doesn’t work, I can sing it to her and that works!
• I miss her toes…. and putting her in footie pajamas at night time. I miss the way it felt to pick her up without the harness across her back. In so many ways, the harness isn’t that bad…. but I can’t wait to get it off.
• We tried our best to make the lake fun for her. We had a few days there before heading to the Creative at Heart Conference in Raleigh, and it was hard to keep her cool because she couldn’t get in the kiddy pool with Micah! Frozen wash clothes for the win!
• It’s getting easier to put her hair in a whale-tail!
• She has started to become aware of EVERYTHING…. especially Bokeh boy! We just wish he was more aware of her. He still avoids her! ugh!
• This has been the month of SOLID FOOD! And by “solid food” I mean pureed organic baby food! She’s loving everything except avocados so far! We love giving her new things to try!!! She had about two weeks of not really getting it, but then one day it just CLICKED!
• She’s BIG. We go to the doctor for her checkup soon, but we’re estimating that she’s 20lbs at LEAST. That’s a BIG 6 month old!

She looks like she’s up to something here! And I look so tired!  These next two are so similar….. But I had to include this one because of her CHEEKS! Looks like she’s storing up some nuts for winter in there!  Oh my gosh…. if they got married… can you imagine?! hahah!! Anna gave her this baby trench coat before she was born!  These are some a little family shoot we did in Scotland and I’m obsessed!!!! I’ll be sharing more soon! Thank you Annamarie for these! Jilly shot some on film too!!!! They make me so happy!!!

A little stop in NYC!  Then we headed to the lake! She’s a mess! haha But we had to sprinkle cool water on her because she couldn’t get in the kiddy pool!  She still had a good attitude…. even though her cousin Micah was loving life in the kiddy pool! Those ROLLS!  They are so cute together!  She loves uncle Joe!  Oh my goodness!! Then she went to the Creative at Heart conference! What a champ! Now for some pictures from home…. Oh my goodness… I think she should be the face of hip dysplasia! haha This is as close as he would get!  She loves her mimi!  Her highchair is her new favorite place to be!  Bloopers!  Still spitting! It’s not as cute as it used to be! :) Thank you Maggie and Steve for her adorable outfit!!!!