Walkin' the Walk (11 months)

Holy Junkoly at the pictures you are about to be bombarded with...I like to remember things on film :)

So, Char is 11 months now (one month away from one year and I am extremely depressed excited about it). I've already started her birthday party plans and am getting really pumped about putting them into action...my wallet, not so pumped.

So the big news this month is that..Char is walking!


This video was taken when she first took her beginning steps but NOW, oh boy, that little booger is everywhere. She still prefers to crawl mostly but actually CHOOSES to walk on her own during the day. Today, she waltzed right in to the kitchen where me and Big Mama where! It was weird to see this little 2 foot midget toddling towards us...very weird. The dress I want to make her for her first birthday is perfect for a little walker baby, it will NOT do for a crawler so, keep up the good work Charls!

She's also getting better at her sign language (although she chooses not to do it because of a poor attitude sometimes). Here she is doing "more" a little.


And, she is starting to learn things, like, REALLY learn things. I've tried to teach her colors and letters and animals, not really knowing if she understands me but, just the other day, she did this:



Anyway, I think we've decided that her first word (with complete understanding) is "Whoa". She loves to say, "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa". She always says it on command. And, she says it with different inflections in her voice. Such as, "Whoa, WHOA, Whoa"...which is her favorite. I still think that "Hey" (with her hand flailing in the air) and Papa (as she points to Papa's picture) should be considered but, her Daddy says the first word needs to be declared "Whoa!". (May I also note that she says Mama and Dada quite often, but not with assurance). Here she is reading her Bible in the morning. She is so sweet. This last month she has grown attached to cuddling, she never did this before. Now, she'll look at me with a sad face or tears in her eyes and I'll put her on my lap and she lays her sweet head on my chest. It only lasts for a minute but for that minute, I'm in heaven :)

She's also learning how to make MAJOR messes. She likes this activity, tipping over her toybox and emptying the contents, actually climbing inside and emptying the contents. We are learning about cleaning up too. So far I have found Prissy's toys and a rotten bottle in the bottom of that thing...at least she's trying. I've just realized that I've never written about our awesome neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Justice. They love little Charleigh and she is pretty fond of them too!She sure does love her Dada.

So, we caught the tail end of Camp Big Mama this month. Charleigh wasn't old enough to spend all the nights with Big Mama and Jackson but we did get to participate in the daily pool activities and such. (Did I tell you this chick loves the pool?)

So we left off last month on the verge of a trip to Atlanta. We drove up to see Aunt Polly. Jon, Angie, Jack and Big Mama made the trip too and we had a blast. We drove through the night as to accomodate Charleigh's sleeping time and arrived at 2am. We grabbed Char out of the car (which woke her up) and took her inside. Everyone was excited to see her (Polly hadn't seen her since she was 4 weeks old) and hoo-ed and haw-ed at her. Which in retrospect might not have been a good idea. To baby, that probably signals the "wake-up" trigger in her little head. And boy, did it?! She would NOT go back to sleep. Not a strange occurence for most babies her age but I'd like to introduce Baby-Sleeps-A-Lot. She NEVER has trouble sleeping and has slept through the night since we brought the darn thing home. So, due to the fact that we were all in close quarter's in Aunt Polly's condo...I decided Char and I needed a trip to the car. So, there we were...until 5am, chilaxin in the SUV. Finally, I had had enough of my reclined seat siesta and ventured back into the house. She slept pretty well...3 more hours. So, that morning we all got ready and headed out to an afternoon Braves game (Charleigh's first and last). I'm sure it didn't help that she was sleepless the night before. Add to that, loud outbursts of cheering (I just didn't even THINK of that scaring her), extreme heat, and no naps that day...it was just hard for her.

But, I did take the time to make her an awesome Braves dress! We used her forth of July bow and she was adorable. Even though she was crying and grumpy several people stopped to comment on how cute she looked :)

I don't want to make it all sound so bad. We had tickets to the VIP room, which is a glass room with AC that you can sit in, eat, and watch the game. We spent most our time up there. Plus there was the time when Uncle Jon let her play with his foam finger, she liked that. And Aunt Ang fed her ice chips for a while. And lastly, Big Mama, got her to go to sleep (she NEVER does this!) then handed her off to Daddy.
These are the only pictures I have because Big Mama's camera accidentally got erased! boo!

We had so much fun at Aunt Polly's...I learned that I (and Jon Tyner) cannot get up from a puzzle incomplete. And I learned that I am the ONLY OCD person who organizes her puzzle pieces (and forces everyone else to participate in the organizing activities). We also, walked down to the local pool and Charleigh and Jack had a GREAT time swimming. Charleigh LOVES the water. When Justin saw how happy she was (and how she giggled when she stuck her whole face in repeatedly) I almost had him convinced that we NEED a pool! Her diaper got so full (no she didn't have a swimsuit on this trip) that it started to sag and well...plumbers crack followed close behind.

We got home and got right back to work. I had my first summer meeting with my Chosen leaders and we got busy planning next year! It was awesome to sit down and see them all again and I'm so excited about the fun to come and the big things Jesus is going to do with these HS girls. (Girls we start September 13th!).

Also this month my bestie Audrey got married! She is the last (but not least) of our college friends to get hitched and BOY was she ready! It was so perfect. It all started Thursday night when we threw her a lingerie shower.

I was assigned to buy lingerie for the kitchen...so I made her this apron (embroided with "Mrs. Berry") and some oven mits...seems like good lingerie to me!

Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner: Then, Saturday morning came bright and early. We headed to the hair dresser's house to hang out with Audge and do hair and makeup. We had a bridesmaid's luncheon at Chikfila (Audge's fav). She just happened to be the 100th customer on her wedding day! I mean, she got the "Who let the cows out" music and ALL! Then, when I opened my sandwich, look what I saw:
So Romantic, I know.

It wasn't long until the wedding bells started ringing and we hit the aisle. Audrey and Jared were cool enough to get us a stretch Caddy limo to ride to the reception in.Although the limo driver DID NOT have great taste in music...

Good Luck Audge and Jared...we love you SO much!

But, Audrey and Jared weren't the only lovebirds at the wedding. Here is Charleigh and little Theo (him and his parents stayed with us for the weekend).

You know I can't wrap up any post without showing some noteworthy crafting right?

I made Char this little ruffled dress (that is adorable on her) on a whim one day and I liked it so much that I made one for her friend Emorie too (in different fabrics of course). Emorie also got some matching bloomers.
I'm making some hair bow, flowers, Tutus and Pettiskirts for Hartman photography. Here is one that I LOVE...I hated to give it away. But, I did manage to try it on Charleigh before it was wisked off. Isn't it so darn cute?!
I'm in the process of making them an ivory one too (Char is gonna wear it in some beach pictures this month!) Meanwhile, here are some tutus I've been crafting:
Florida State:

Here is a dog bed I made for some friends...Gator fans...

Some earrings I made for some Sorority folks:
(above: Gator colors)

Here is a gift someone ordered for a mom-to-be:
PillowcaseMatching Hospital GownMatching onesie for baby :)

And now for some Bama fan stuff:

Burp Cloth

Adorable Houndstooth dress

Matching bow

Here is a dress I made for baby Emorie's first birthday (I don't think any of the guests read my blog so hopefully, I am not spoiling the surprise)

Here's an appliquéd tie onesie I made for sweet baby Lucas:
(it has his little initials on it, so cute)

Other appliquéd onesies:

An LSU onesie

with ruffle butt

This pillowcase dress was for a customer's newborn (it's really tiny)

A matching travel mug and key fob:

On the list for next month....trip to Bama, lots of September birthday parties, and Charleigh turns ONE!