Fiona is crawling and pulling herself up everywhere these days. You wouldn't even know she had another ear infection! Poor girl can't get over this cold but nothing seems to slow her down.

We had a great weekend after I had a very difficult week at work. Fiona went to a Mom2Mom sale with the girls on Saturday and we bought lots of bunny themed books (for an Easter basket!) and of course clothes. This sale was crazy, people were packed in everywhere, everyone bumping into each other. Normally I don't like situations like that, but I did for discounted goods for ma girl! Pat's parents came for the afternoon and we went to a restaurant and Fiona just sat contently eating puffs the whole time and entertaining everybody with her wild arm gestures and baby bird babble.

Today we went to the state park again for a walk in the sunshine :)

I did another custom house portrait this week and I'm working on putting more drawings in my shop. I need some ideas for famous buildings to do!

And here is an adorable picture of our little sneaky helper. Look at those cheeks.

We've been trying more foods this month, solid bananas, solid sweet potatoes, pureed turkey and rice, pureed ham, and zucchini with broccoli. She really does not like the meats so far (doctor says it's the sodium), but girl cannot survive on puffs alone! She also likes to cross her feet when sitting on the floor, in her car seat, or in the high chair (a good time to trim those nails). I love those little piggies!

Spring Fever!

This 55 degree weather is giving us some serious spring fever. I am so excited for warm weather and sunshine and all the cute baby outfits! And now that Fiona will be spending more time upright and standing instead of rolling around on the floor, I feel like the outfits can get more fun! Patrick made the mistake of taking me to the Carter's at the outlet mall, and they have so many more cute things there than what I always see at Target. These are a few of my favorites from their website that I may snag up while they are on sale, but I love all the rompers and spring dresses ;)

romper // flamingo swimsuit // chambray dress

We went to our favorite Island Lake State Park last night for a long walk. I wanted to have Fiona facing outward in the big kid part of the stroller, but it was so windy we kept her covered up with the canopy. I need to make a summer bucket list of all the things we want to do. Fiona will be walking and running around I'm sure and I want to spend a lot of time outside encouraging her curiosity of nature. We just bought a bigger carseat (from Costco of course) and it's going to be bittersweet installing it!

Climbing and New Art in Fiona's Room

I've been wanting to add a drawing to Fiona's room that she can have for a long time, so I finally got around to putting together this little sketch with pen and marker. It fit perfectly in a frame I've had forever that never knew what to do with. Boom! I think I'll hang it above the twin bed.

We did a lot of shopping this weekend (why did we choose the coldest days of the year to go to the outlet mall? at night!?) and took our valentine out to dinner on Saturday. She sat in our laps and ate puffs. She can get them in her mouth herself now, but as Pat says, she is not super organized about her movements yet. It's funny when they fall in her sleeve and she looks around for them! I'm glad she likes those because lately she has not been wanting to finish her bottles and I'm worried about her calorie intake. I know she should be getting more nutrients from solid foods, but a lot of what we give her ends up with a diaper rash, so it has been discouraging trying to find the right thing. But, like everything else, trial and error is what we do!

Aaaaannnd we're going to need to put those baby gates up soon, but we have to decide what to do since the gates are all "pressure" fit, they push the banister out when they are in tight and we're afraid of causing a lot of damage in this old house. I'm sure Patrick will come up with something! She is obsessed with the stairs because obviously they are the perfect height for her little legs. She is now very good at pulling herself up on just about anything and has taken a few very wobbly (and very unorganized) steps to shuffle around the ottoman. We got her a push toy and I know she will be cruising in no time. Look out, CeCe!

Photos from the Week and Scrap Book Progression

Rounding out 8 months and ready for 9 months over here! Crawling all over the house and starting to pull herself up. We really need to get those safety gates up, she stood to the second step! Pat took her to the doctor for a check up and all looks good.

I still have a long way to go, but i had so much fun getting crafty with this scrap book. I wanted it to be a mixture between a photo album and a baby milestone book without being too scrap book-y. I bought some craft paper that was on clearance at Michael's (yay!). It Valentine's themed, which turned out to be perfect for all the love and x' sand o's in this book. I want to add more stories and funny moments as I remember them (so i don't forget them again) and I will be better at writing down dates as I go on now that I am more caught up.

Sick Baby

Hard week at the Gallagher household: first ear infection, blazing fevers and a small bout of pneumonia. The smell of that pink medicine reminded both Patrick and I of our childhoods. Thank goodness we are towards the end and sweet Fi is back to her normal self. She is starting to pull herself up! So exciting and immediately terrifying, like most of motherhood I'm finding to be true. I want to pad all the floors and walls, and finding more and more things that are not quite baby proof.

I ordered some more BabyLit books, which are my absolute favorite. They are just so charming! Some day she will have the whole set and and I know soon after that she will already be reading them to me instead of the other way around. Can all this growing up slow down a bit?

There are just so many things I feel are flying by and I'm trying to remember them all. I took this shot of my favorite six month onesies before packing them away. This blog does help me remember little things, but I've committed myself to starting an actual baby book complete with milestone dates, hospital bracelets and special cards. If I'm writing it here, then I have to hold myself to it! I haven't found any that I like, so I'm venturing to make my own.