12 Months - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH!!!

Age: 12 Months

Weight: 26 lbs

Height: 35 in

Size Clothes: 18-24mo

New Trick(s): Blowing kisses, following directions, saying "Thank You!"

Hours Sleeping at Night: 12-13

Elijah is a year old!!! I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by! It seems like just yesterday we were bundling up this little 8lb 8oz baby and taking him back to our apartment to begin our lives as parents. Now he is our entire world and we couldn't imagine our lives without him!

For his first birthday, Elijah got to experience all kinds of firsts! He had his first cake (which he got to smear all over himself, as every baby should), his first party, and later on, his first trip to a dairy farm and his first kiss! 

He absolutely loved opening all of his gifts and smooshing cake everywhere, although he did share a little with Mommy and Daddy. We had lots of bubbles and balloons and he got to play to his hearts content!

We had his party a few days before his actual birthday because we were going to Pennsylvania for our friend Jake's wedding! We stayed with Jake's parents, Jean and Keith, who own a dairy farm and Elijah had SO MUCH FUN! We couldn't be more thankful for Jean and Keith and their wonderful family. Their house was absolutely beautiful and the view was amazing. They are definitely some of the most loving, humble, hard-working people I have ever met and I can't wait to see them again!

At the rehearsal dinner on this actual birthday - June 27th

Josh was the best man and the beautiful Mrs. Molly was the maid of honor

This was a shot from the mountains at Jake's family's camp.

Elijah absolutely loved the calves!

Keith and Elijah were best buds.

Daddy and his mini-me.

Elijah's first kiss with Leah!

Letting out the cows

Elijah's favorite cow. This one started sucking on his foot!

11 Months

Age: 11 Months

Weight: 26 lbs

Height: 34 in

Size Clothes: 18-24mo

New Trick(s): Saying all kinds of new words and making animal noises!

Hours Sleeping at Night: 12-13

Language has opened its doors to this child in the past month. Although his words are barely legible, and often only me or Josh can actually tell what he is saying, he is definitely picking up all kinds of new sounds and putting labels to objects! He will point out and say: light, flower, cat, doggie, Daddy, and leaf. He also says "uh oh" and "thank you" (although it sounds like 'tik oh'). His FAVORITE is to make animal noises! I can ask him what the cat, cow, donkey or doggie says and he will meow, moo, heehaw or woof at me. His favorite animal noise is definitely the monkey. He does it all of the time around the house without any persuasion. 

His personality has definitely started really blooming this past month and this kid is CrAzY!!! Seriously, I have never seen a child this silly in my entire life. He just screams and carries on all of the time at absolutely nothing. He talks to the cabinet doors because they won't open up to him like they once did (they have child-proof locks on them now). He  needs little-to-no entertainment from me because he is perfectly capable of entertaining himself. He's just a nut...pure and simple. 

He is also a climber which makes pictures nearly impossible. 

Seriously,  he's a nut.

He has definitely taken up a preference for daddy lately. He is a daddy's boy from his head to his pudgy little toes.

10 months - Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER! 

Age: 10 Months

Weight: 24 lbs

Height: 32 in

Size Clothes: 18-24mo

New Trick(s): Waving, high fives

Hours Sleeping at Night: 12-13

So, this post will be a little different from the rest because the Blanton-Ater bunch has had A LOT going on (but what else is new?). To start, my child is ten months old... What the heck?! My itsy-bitsy baby is no more! He definitely has a personality of his own and it is LOUD. Very loud. lol He just yells constantly. Not mad yelling or crying yelling, just I'm-happy-at-the-world yelling. When we go to the grocery store he yells at everyone there. When we're at church, he yells in between songs when everyone else is quiet. He just loves to make noise! He is also doing a great job at this walking business. As long as he has some balancing help, he's got it on the lock down. He has also learned to wave at people and give high fives! We are also proud to announce that we no longer need a paci! He actually broke himself from that about a month ago, but I forgot to mention it. He is doing much better at learning to occupy himself (the dogs help with that), so Mommy is very thankful! She can actually get some work done!

Speaking of work... Mommy and Daddy have been VERY busy lately! The farm life is extremely different from living in the heart of Louisville, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! It's hard work, but it is so worth it! I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am that God has given us this opportunity. Our son will be raised to know what it means to work for what you have. What you have is only worth the time you put into it, so I want Elijah to be appreciative and humbled by what he has been blessed with and not to take it for granted. 

This month Mommy, Nanna, and Aunt Christina threw a baby shower for Uncle Trent and Aunt Sharon! They will be welcoming little miss Emma Scarlett Blanton into their lives in July! Her due date is actually July 4th and mine was July 3rd last year, so Elijah will be getting his first baby girl cousin for his birthday! Since the shower was so close to Easter, we just decided to to an Easter themed shower! It was adorable! I had so much fun with all the pink-themed things! Living with two boys isn't exactly a good environment for pink things. lol

Sharon looked beautiful!

Pink lemonade in mason jars - that's how we do it in KY!

My mom made this incredibly sweet Easter basket for Emma!

My first attempt at a diaper cake

I am going to steal Chelsea and make her my permanent babysitter. Elijah LOVES her!

Great-Grandma Brenda

Sharon and Trent

My beautiful parents, Eddie and Robin

Elijah had fun trying to feed Nanna a straw

Elijah's first Easter egg hunt!

Aunt Tina let Elijah hang out on the motorcycle with his cousin, Ace. 

This little boy LOVES beards!

We were able to spend Easter with my family in Richmond and we also got to go see Josh's family as well! Elijah looked precious in his little plaid Easter shirt and khakis! He also got his first hair cut right before the baby shower, but he has a double crown and a cow lick so it is going to be extremely difficult to fix this kid's hair.

The only one missing was my little brother, Cody.

My handsome men.

Papaw Eddie

Sharon, Trent, Papaw, Nanny, Me, and Josh

9 Months

Age: 9 Months

Weight: 21lbs

Height: 31in

Size Clothes: 12-18 months

New Trick(s): Saying "baby" at himself, pulling up on everything, and practicing walking!

Hours Sleeping at Night: 11-12

So, first of all, trying to get a picture of this goober sitting still is nearly impossible these days! Oh and, he hates changing clothes so we decided jammies would just have to suffice for his pictures. He's adorable either way. lol

SPRING IS HERE!!!!  We cannot even contain our excitement about it! Winter was so ridiculous this year and, now that we're finally in a place where we can really enjoy it, the onset of spring has just made us all so HAPPY!!

Much like his take-off into crawling, this boy is already trying to walk. He can pull up on everything and he does his best to move around. He has a little lion toy with wheels that he loves to push around and walk with. At first, he would push too hard and fall to his knees, but now he's got it down-pat! He can walk all the way across the living room with that thing!

He is also staring to put words together with their meaning now! He looks at himself in the mirror and says, "bebe" because we always say, "Look at the baby!" When he wants me to pick him up, he crawls over to my feet and cries "mom mom" until I give in. He also looks at the dogs and says "de de!" because we always say "dogie." And, of course, "da da" is his favorite word ever! When Joshua walks through the door, he just goes crazy!

Elijah started daycare this month! He was a little confused at first because he really hasn't had much interaction with other babies. When one of them would start crying, he would just bawl. lol Now he is more acclimated to it and enjoys playing with the other kids! Along with the social interaction daycare has brought, Elijah has also gained the sickness. He has gotten a cold from one of the kids there and he just can't seem to shake it. This is his first time really being sick, so it's all new for Mommy and Daddy too. But, despite the fact that he obviously doesn't feel good, he is still determined to move around and play as much as his little body will allow.

We also welcomed 7 baby chicks into the BlantonAter household! We have them in a brooder box in the house right now, but they are getting big so fast! It won't be long before they are ready to be outside in a coop!

8 Months

Age: 8 Months

Weight: 20lbs

Height: 30in

Size Clothes: 12-18 months

New Trick(s): CRAWLING!!! 

Hours Sleeping at Night: 11-12

Huston... We have lift off. This child went from not being able move forwards one day and getting incredibly frustrated because of it, to shooting across the room like it was no big deal in just one day. Literally, he couldn't crawl one day and he could the next. Bada-boom, bada-bing. Done. Our dogs were not prepared to have this little, immobile, squishy being all of the sudden coming after them full-force, and neither were Mom and Dad! We had to seriously baby-proof the house! 

Speaking of houses, WE MOVED! Our new place is on a big farm where we can look out our back door and see all kinds of wildlife, including turkeys, deer, groundhogs, red tail hawks, coyotes, and we've even seen a fox! We have to be really careful about Fender with the hawks and coyotes lurking about, but Lakota is in doggy heaven. lol 

Joshua has started a new job managing a 600 acre farm for King's Country Outfitters so he is incredibly busy and we don't get to see him very often. But, he is on a day-shift schedule now and we get to see him every night, at least for a few minutes before bed, so we are definitely thankful for that! Mommy is now basically a stay-at-home mom and I'm loving it! It does get a little lonely out here because I don't really know anyone just yet, but I'm sure we will acclimate to the area fairly quickly. 

This is right next to our house!

Every pretty day (which has been few and far between this ghastly winter) we spend outside exploring what nature has to offer. Elijah and Mommy have been on plenty of walks through the woods and, on really pretty days, Elijah even gets to sit in the grass and put things in his mouth that don't need to go there. lol Mommy and Daddy are both looking forward to spring and they have big plans for a garden and chickens and Daddy is even going to be putting green houses in our back yard! This new way of life is going to be an adventure for the whole family!