3rd Month

Dear Halen,

We started your third month of life on our month long road trip! We ended our trip in Glen Arbor, MI with Aunt Jenn and Uncle Joe. I captured this picture before we left of you and your YaYa. Such a precious moment.


And this is you with your Uncle Jeff, Yaya's brother. He loved holding you. 

We made the long trek back home and enjoyed relaxing at our house. We got back into our rhythm and started to hang out with friends.

We went to your two month pediatrician appointment and you are 100th percentile in height AND weight! You are 24 inches long and weigh 13 lbs 9.5oz! Holy cow girlie. We are so proud of and you so blessed you're a growing, healthy girl! You also received your first shot
 and you didn't even cry. I was so impressed.

This picture is of mommy at two months old and you at two months old! We look so much alike. I love it my daughter. :)

Your friend Brooklyn came over to visit, she has grown up so much since we've been away. You girls are so adorable together. 












We took you to swim at the Curby's house and you LOVED the pool! We are excited to take you swimming a bunch more this summer.

 Our family in the pool! We love summer time.

We spent many days in the Curby's pool  this summer!

One time when we went swimming at Julie's you went skinny dippin with daddy! Look at that cute butt! :)






We also went over to your DiDi and T's house to watch the World Cup- Germany won. Your friend Piper came over to visit, it was super fun watching you girls interact with each other. Will be so fun watching you grow up together.





 We went over to Papa's house while he was on vacation and took a picture in your pink chair! Look at that smile. :)

 I hosted a mamas brunch playdate and your friends Jaxon, Piper and new friend, Cade came over with their lovely mamas: Traci, Dana and Mimi. We had fun eating a luxurious brunch and then had fun playing with you cuties.

It is so fun to see you interacting with your buddies.

Uncle Matt came over one day with his puppy, Penny, and he held you.

We had the Bolton's over for dinner, you and Brooklyn are such sweethearts and will be such great friends.

 I took this one of you sleeping. My sleeping beauty.









 Another afternoon we had YaYa and Crash over to swim with us at the Curby's pool. You are becoming one lil fishy!!! 

One afternoon we were swimming at the Curby's and invited Traci and Jaxon over to swim, you both are such little fishies! You love the water.

 Look at you in your bumbo! You were so proud to sit all by yourself. :)



We started going to music classes at the Cedar Park Library, they sing all kinds of songs like "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and "Row Row Row Your Boat." They also read stories and have play time. You love observing all the kiddos there. We have gone with Traci and Jaxon as well as Rachel and Brooklyn.

YaYa had our family and Uncle Chase's family over for a cherry-themed dinner one night. It was nice to all get together. Crash says your name, "Baby Halen," and it is so sweet. We are excited to watch you two grow up together. Uncle Chase spent time holding and loving on you too. 

Daddy and I decided to enroll you in swimming classes at Emler, your first class was on Monday, July 28th....you did such a good job! The pool was salt water, so you kept licking your mouth. Your Enna and Gram came to watch too. You kicked, floated on your back and even did tummy time on a floaty in the pool. We are so proud of your swimming skills and are excited to see how you grow into a beautiful swimmer. 

I am wearing you here while cleaning the house. You loved being carried around like this, eventually you'd fall asleep on my chest. I loved it.

We transitioned you to your pack n play to sleep. Another big step for our baby girl!

 You came to work with me one day. Everyone loved meeting you! And you were so good. Mommy wishes I could take you to work everyday.

Here you are holding Gram's finger while hanging out at the Curby's. So sweet.

I caught a sweet picture of you sleeping with daddy!

You are 12 weeks in this picture!

Daddy & I took you downtown to go eat lunch one day at Frank's Hot Dogs. You were such a good girl and loved people watching. We love spending time with our girl.

Let's see...lately you love to smile and daddy and I. You always seem to be happy! You are definitely moving more than ever, when I put you down on your playmat you maneuver yourself in circles with your feet! You've also flipped your hips over and we can tell you are about to roll over any day now. We can also see that you're ready to start picking up stuff, like your toys. We love watching you grow. You are more and more fun each and every day.

We love you baby girl! Love, Mama and Daddy

Second Month: Adventures on the Road

Hello my darling girl! Your second month was full of adventure. Your bohemian Aunt Jess came to visit before she went on her worldly travels!

When you were 5 weeks old we went to Lake LBJ to visit Kurt, Sharon, Kenzie and Jack Kolleth; along with PaPa, GiGi, Uncle Chase, Aunt Heather, you cousin, Crash and your YaYa. We had a blast. You visited Longhorn Caverns and spent some quality time with family. Everyone loved meeting you.

Kenzie wanted to hold you as much as possible.

 We went paddle-boarding and on jet-skis!

 You mostly napped on YaYa, Mama or Daddy on the boat dock.

 Then the day after our mini reunion in Marble Falls we left for our huge, month long road trip.  Our

first stop was in Mississippi, just to break up the trip. It was your first hotel stay. The day was really long and it took us awhile to find our rhythm with traveling with you. Mama had to lean over your car seat to breastfeed you! Haha.

The second day of driving was really long...it was a rainy day and we were in the car for a very long time. Around 10:30 that night we arrived to Aunt Dian's mountain house in Travelers Rest, SC...it was a beautiful home in a gorgeous part of our country. Tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We arrived pretty late but Aunt Dian and Chandler were so excited to meet you.











The next day we went to Greenville, SC...it was a super cute town. This was the first time you took a bottle! Daddy wore you in the Moby

wrap around town. We walked into several stores and ate lunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe, daddy and I ordered shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes...yum! And homemade biscuits with honey and blackberry jam. That night we had a delicious dinner altogether and enjoyed each others company. Aunt Dian loved holding you and making you smile. They were so impressed with how good you are!    







Next stop was in Lynchburg, VA for Mike and Erin's wedding weekend. We stayed with a really nice couple: Kristin and Tim John. Thursday night you and I went to Erin's bachelorette dinner while daddy went to Mike's bachelor camp-out. I loved cuddling with you that night.












Friday was the rehearsal dinner, you and mommy went on a walk while daddy was preoccupied with helping for the wedding. We went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. You were such a good baby all day. :)

Saturday was the wedding, daddy helped set up for the wedding and we got you ready, in your pink Janie and Jack dress with matching bow and socks then drove out to the farm it was held at. The wedding venue was beautiful, on a horse farm with rolling hills. The wedding ceremony was by the old fashioned style home under a huge tree, then the reception was in the fields. The guests had to walk through the horse stables to get to the reception, which was lovely. We, however, didn't make it through the wedding ceremony. You woke up right as people were walking down the aisle. I took you over to the side and tried to feed you a bottle. But you weren't interested. We were able to watch daddy walk down the aisle and see the bride, Erin. But you started to get fussy because you wanted to nurse. We walked around the house and found the owner, I asked if there was a room I could nurse in. She led me to a large room that had some baby stuff in it. I sat on a chair and nursed you. I heard the ceremony end and about five minutes later the bridesmaids and Erin started walking into the room. I was completely exposed and wasn't sure what to do. People kept walking in! Then when you were done feeding I realized you had a full, poopy diaper. I went to change you, using their changing table and found there were no wipes.... I started to panic. I asked someone to get your daddy and bring the diaper bag. Finally I finished changing you and we were all ready to join the reception. We saw daddy and he was so handsome! I got a beautiful picture of the two of you. The reception was nice and heartfelt. We danced a little bit on the dance floor.

Sunday was Father's Day, we went to brunch with daddy in Lynchburg and gave him the gifts we made for him. One was the black and white professional picture Deborah took of you both and the other was the to go coffee mug we made daddy with your footprints on it. Daddy loved them.

 We toured Liberty University's campus, where daddy went to college. Then took the John's out for pizza so we could show our thanks for having us all weekend. We also ate some yummy ice cream at a local food truck.










Monday morning we headed toward Williamsburg, VA to visit Chelsey Hofmeyer and the Mayers. It was quite hot when we arrived! You met your buddy lil DJ and the Hofmeyers and Mayers loved meeting you. They lived in an old plantation home from the 1800s, Ulysses S. Grant stayed in our room! We had a delicious dinner and I helped by baking a fresh blackberry pie.

 We started bringing you in the shower with us on our trip. This is a series of pictures I took right after you were all clean. Such a cutie pie!

 The next day we went to Williamsburg, VA and toured the colonial section. It was super hot but we tried to enjoy ourselves. We went out to dinner that night and spent some great quality time together.

Then we headed toward Philadelphia to visit the Russos and Kayla. We arrived in the late afternoon and you met your lil buddy Max. That evening we had burgers and enjoyed each other on their back porch. Then we walked to a local brewery, both dads wore you babies. It was adorable.










Then the next day we went into Philly and toured the city. We met Kayla at the market and had lunch.

Kayla was so excited to meet you! Then we walked around the city, went to McGillians, the oldest pub in Philly, saw the Rockey statue, tons of historic buildings and statutes. It was a really fun day. I nursed you while walking around the city in the rain at one point and everyone was amazed at how calm you were. Then the sun came out and made the day extra special. We ate dinner across from the oldest penitentiary in America. It was an awesome dinner. At one point I was holding you on my lap and looked down and saw a pile of wet poop on the ground, then realized you had pooped all over yourself and me (HA!) it came out of your diaper, over your shorts, onto my lap and onto the floor! It definitely made for a laughing moment. :)

The next morning we left for New Hampshire, we arrived in the evening at Lefty and Mike's house. They took us out to dinner and daddy and I had lobster rolls...yum!













The next day was our family reunion for our Northeast family. Your great-grandmother, Oma

(Virginia) Chudy was born in New Hampshire, so all of her extended family lives there. Your YaYa is pretty close to all of them and we try to get together as often as we can. Aunt Sandy, Shaula and Dana, Joann and Zach, JoJo and Rob, Spencer and his girlfriend, Costas and Judy and Cheryl all came. We grilled burgers and kielbasa sausage, had spanikopita, local beer and lots of other yummy food! We played cornhole and had a great time getting together with everyone. Everyone brought you a sweet gift and loving getting to know you. Oma was looking down from Heaven with delight...she must've been so happy that we are staying close with her family.

The next day we headed out toward Michigan. On our way we stopped at Niagra Falls! It was spectacular... daddy held you under his raincoat so you wouldn't get drenched. It was truly magical and such a cool moment for our new little family to experience. That night we stayed in Erie, PA.










The following morning we drove to Charlevoix, MI; we got in town around 6 p.m. and went to our
favorite local place, The Village Pub for fish and chips and local beers. Then we settled into the Mushroom House, which Uncle Bill generously let us use for the week.

The next day we went to Kiteley's to pick fresh strawberries, herbs and vegetables. Then we went to the grocery store to load up on goods. Our last stop was John Cross Fish Market for fresh whitefish and walleye fish, smoked trout and salmon, smoked fish pate and fish sausage. We went home and got all ready for the week. It went down to 58 degrees at one point...burrr! Daddy built an awesome fire and we hunkered down to relax.

I love cuddling with you in the mornings! One day we explored Petoskey, it was pretty chilly but it was a really cute town. Mommy and daddy did some wine tasting and we stopped for some pizza for lunch. When we got home it was definitely nap time. That evening we built another fire because it was so chilly. We made some pretty awesome dinners at the Mushroom House...grilled steaks, pan seared fish, fresh greens, rhubarb and strawberry crisp...yum.








 We went to Mackinac Island one day, which was so fun! We ended up walking the entire island...8 miles around! Mommy convinced daddy to walk because I thought it was only 4 miles around...oops! But we did have a great time. We found a great place by the water to have a few beers and rest our feet. We took pictures by the horses and enjoyed the streets of Mackinac.We saw some pretty incredible sunsets too!








We wanted to take you to one of our favorite beaches but it was so chilly we didn't get in. But you sure did look cute in your swim suit on the beach!














  Toward the end of the week temperatures went up to 88 degrees, so one day after we walked around Charlevoix and went to the art festival, we found a new spot on Ferry Beach and finally swam in the invigorating waters of Lake Michigan.We even dipped your feet in the water too!

After a great, relaxing week with our new family it was time to make our way toward Glen Arbor where Aunt Jenn and Uncle Joe live. Your YaYa flew into town to be with us too. We stopped at a few wineries on the way and then arrived at their house. We also opened the adorable crap outfit your NeNe sent for the 4th of July! So sweet of her!!

 The following day we went to explore more wineries on the Leelanau Peninsula, we had so much fun! This day was your daddy and my
3rd anniversary! After exploring yummy wineries all day, we let Aunt Jenn, Uncle Joe and YaYa babysit you so daddy and I could have a romantic evening together. We went to dinner at The Cove in Leland and had a great table which viewed Lake Michigan. We had whitefish and steak, escargot and a bottle of wine to celebrate. I gave daddy a picture of mommy from my maternity photo shoot with you in my belly...he loved it. I also gave daddy a photobook of our engagement pictures. He loved that too. After dinner, we went to get ice cream and walk along the beach. We had the best view, it took our breath away but we missed you so much! We drove home after this to be with you. YaYa and Aunt Jenn said you were an angel baby and were a joy to babysit. :)

Then in the middle of the week we explored some beaches, went on a few hikes, your mama willed herself into the frigid waters and we cuddled by the fire.
















 One morning it was really cold and rainy so we relaxed around the house (you and daddy got some cozy cuddles in) and I helped Aunt Jenn bake some cookies. That afternoon we went to explore Glen Arbor, it was so cute. Your sweet YaYa bought you, daddy and I shirts from Glen Arbor. We also went to see the most incredible sunset ever by the best view in America. We ate Uncle Joe's famous homemade pasta that night...yum!

 On July 3rd you turned TWO months old! I just couldn't believe it. Our baby girl is growing up too fast. But every week brings a new stage of your sweet life and we love every bit of it. Your daddy and I are so honored to be your parents. We feel so lucky to be able to watch you grow up.

Here are pictures from when you were a newborn, one month and two months old. What a difference! Such a beautiful, sweet, funny baby girl we have.

We went to a great beach one day and we put you in this perfect tent so you didn't get too much sun or sand. You loved it!

July 4th is your kitty, Marlee's birthday. This year she turned 10! Marlee has been such a wonderful companion to me the past 10 years, so sweet and loving. Daddy has known her for almost six years. We are excited for you to grow up with her and hope Marlee will be here for many more years. 









Jordan, Becky, Maile and Gavin were drove from Ohio for the Fourth of July weekend, they got in really late the night before the 4th of July. Then we found out that Uncle Jeff, Josh, Cole, Jacob & Callie Jo were also going to come in town too! We were all so excited! The next morning when we woke up everyone had made it into town! They set up tents in the backyard :) That day on the Fourth of July we went to the dune hike, took some family pictures and then we packed up a ton of food and drinks and went to a beach to hunker down for a fabulous family night on the beach.

 You wore your adorable crab dress from your NeNe! YaYa made some delicious sangria and a cherry-blueberry pie. I made a blueberry pie and we made cupcakes. We love to celebrate the holidays!

We played, swam, laughed and prepped the traditional beach dinner of brauts and bagels to cook on the fire. We had sangria and watched a gorgeous sunset, cooked s'mores over the fire, watched fireworks in the distance and even saw a bald eagle. It was a picture perfect Fourth of July. Family had a great time catching up and taking pictures.











 Aunt Jen, YaYa and Uncle Jeff loved being together.

We took a girls picture with Becky and Maille!

It was fun to capture our three generations of women on the shores of Lake Michigan.










On our last day with everyone we went to Bar Lake and had fun with all the cousins. That evening we had a Greek dinner with salad, spanikopita, gyros and baklava...it was fabulous and all homemade!











We went to a cool spot to watch the sunset with sprawling dunes and Lake Michigan and the Manitou Islands off in the distance. Then that night I stayed up late to catch up with family by the fire, Jordan set off some fireworks for the kiddos.

We got up really early the next day and headed home. We were sad to leave everyone but excited to be home.




We stayed in Arkansas and you had started to get
used to bottles, I had started to incorporate them in the car while driving. And I also introduced your wub a nub pacifier. Well I think you started getting a little too used to them because that evening you refused to nurse. It made me so sad. That was a really rough night, your behavior was uncharacteristic so it was throwing me off. I finally got you to sleep and started researching how I could help. The next day we got home and within 24 hours we were back to our routine. Praise the Lord! I love nursing you, it's such a special time together and I don't want to give it up. My goal is to nurse you until you are about one year old.

Our vacation was awesome, you met so many family members and close friends. We made some unforgettable memories and you grew up so much. You started the trip at 5 weeks and came home at 9 weeks! You went from such a little baby girl, to holding your head up, smiling, learning your voice, taking a bottle, taking a pacifier and you visited 21 states! We are so proud of you Halen Rae Carol.

Love,
Mama