Lucy Dedication Pictures!

How precious is this child?  Oh, I love her!  Here she is wearing the same gown that I got baptized in.    Also worn by: both of my brothers, my niece Carter, and my other niece Phoebe!

Lucy is 7 months!

Happy 7 month old birthday Lucy Rouse!  I cannot believe you are already over half of a year old.  I truly cannot imagine life with out you!  You make life so FULL: full of laughter, full of joy, full of decisions to be made, full of all sorts of emotions!  I wouldn't trade these days with you for anything.

New this month:
-You are sitting up SO well!  It is so fun to leave you in a room sitting and then come back a few moments later and you are still sitting there content playing!
-You love anything and everything in your mouth.
-You still aren't so hot about eating solids.  You started so strong, but you have hit a point where we force feed you a spoon full of sweet potatoes (which you once LOVED) and you cry through it, but LOVE your bottle!
-Your mama is still making her #1 hobby pumping because of your love for bottles
-You still love being swaddled at night time and for your afternoon nap!
-You love bath time!  We are now using bath toys, which are your favorite toys!
-You met one of your moms best friends daughters!  Little baby Sydney Flynt!

-Your schedule is:
//wake up around 9am (praise for a good sleeper!)
//1st bottle
//play for an hour
//nap for an hour
//2nd bottle
//play for an hour
//nap for an hour
//3rd bottle
//play for 45 min
//sleep for 2 hours (this is sacred time y'all)
//solids and 4th bottle
//play for an hour or 2
//cat nap
//5th bottle
//play for 30 min
//night night Lucy!
-Our days are full of hanging out with high school girls, grabbing lunch with friends, running errands, playing, changing diapers, and did I mention pumping?
-We celebrated Christmas about 7 times with all of our families and friends!
-You had your first Christmas!!  Oh it was so fun!  We went to Christmas Eve service at our church here in Kinston.  It was a glow service, and all you wanted to do was eat the glow sticks!  We had fondue after church and watched Home Alone.  We woke up to find that Santa did come!! He brought you bows, shoes, toys, Mickey Mouse ears, clothes, and a piggy bank!
-You welcomed in 2016 while sleeping! Mom and Dad had supper with some friends and then watched the ball drop from the comfort of our recliners.
-You celebrated your cousin, Phoebe's, 3rd birthday in Statesville!

Here are a few pictures of your 7 month photo shoot:

Lucy, may you always love to laugh!  I love this picture that captures you mid giggle!

You are wearing a Mickey shirt because we are headed to Disney 1 day after these pictures were made!

I love your little curls!

And, oh my word you are such a little wiggle worm!

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy!

There are so many things I love about you, but more than anything I need to say thank you!  THANK YOU for making me a Mama, and not just any Mom, but YOUR Mom!  You teach me so much in the way that we love each other.  I love you for no reason at all, nothing that you have done for me, but just because you are mine!   And, that is just how Jesus loves you and me.  It isn't based on anything we have done or anything we can do... but, just because we are His!  I pray that through my love for you that you will come to know Jesus' love.  Lucy you are so dear to me.  You make me laugh and smile like no other person on this planet.  I can't wait to see whats in store for us next month!

I love you!

Love,

Your Mama

Little Lucy's 6 Month photo shoot!

Little Lucy Rouse posing in her Christmas Dress!  Consider this your Christmas Card teaser :)

(I love these hands and lashes) 

 (Always drooling)

(ROAR) 

(I can't even handle these cheeks!) 

 (Lucy and her Lucy doll)

Lucy is 6 months! (HALF A YEAR! WHAT?!)

I can't even handle my emotions of our baby turning into a little girl!  I can't believe she is 6 months old!  Again, I will say it... This is my favorite age!  I love this little girl oh so much!  She is SO fun!  She really is such a happy dream baby!  She loves to sleep, loves to eat, loves to smile, and loves her mama.  So, what's new this month?  A LOT!

New things about you Lucy:
-You have cut 2 teeth! Your two front bottom teeth.
-With these two front teeth you have eaten your monogram off of your pacifier.  So, I have loved the joke that you are so southern that you are pooping monograms!
-You have celebrated Thanksgiving and slept through most of lunch in your highchair.  But, you have met so many family members!
-You set on Santa's lap and were super smiley and happy!  You asked for new pacifiers, paci straps, and then surprises.
-You can feed yourself your bottle!  And you get very excited when see it!
-You love your toes!  Sometimes they are what cheer you up the best when you are upset.
-You can sit up, as of 4 days ago.  You still topple over sometimes, but you are getting better each day!
-You are on a great schedule of sleeping through the night (up to 12 hours some nights!) and you take a 2 hour nap each afternoon.  Lucy, I love playing with you all day, but I look forward to nap time I have to confess!
-Your Mama had her first weekend away from you.  You had a BIG weekend with your daddy including going deer hunting with him!
-You haven't started reaching for us yet, but when we are holding you, you reach for our faces!
-You are great at reaching for objects and moving them from hand to hand
-You had sweet potatoes for the first time.  You LOVE them!  It is so fun to see you grow up and eat real food!

You Love:
-Your toes
-Any motorboat noises
-Dad's chin on your chest
-Sitting in your bumbo seat
-Sophie the Giraffe
-Your Paci and Paci strap
-you love any face smiling at you!

You Hate:
-being hungry
-being sleepy
-being alone (you have a serious case of F.O.M.O. >>Fear of Missing Out)

You are a little wiggle worm!  You love being independent!  When you are walking one day, you are going to be a hand-full always wanting to be put down!  So, I will cherish these stationary days.

Here you are sitting up so pretty!

Reality: everything in mouth!

Dear Little Lucy,

You are so precious and created SO uniquely!  I love everything about you!  I love your smile when we make eye contact, it does something in my heart that words can't describe.  It is such an honor and gift to watch you grow from a baby to a little girl.  I love watching the world through your big brown eyes.  I look forward to each day with you Lucy.  I love you Little Lu!  Happy half a year of life, I can't imagine mine with out you!

I love you!

Your Mama

Lucy Rouse is 5 Months! (AKA my fav. age so far!)

Can you believe it!?  This sweet child of mine is FIVE MONTHS OLD! What!? Wow, what a gift and pleasure it is to watch this little girl grow!  This month has been my favorite for so many reasons.  She is really developing her personality, she is going to be one strong willed I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T girl.  She loves to stand and to sit, not many snuggles from this girl unless she is sleepy.  But, I LOVE IT!  She is very observant and loves people and loud places, it is where she thrives the most... or sleeps the most!  So, I think Clint and I have an extravert on our hands.

My favorite memories with Lucy this month:

• each night she and her daddy have their sweet bedtime routine that includes them praying for everyone they have encountered that day.
• cheering on the Wolfpack vs. Clemson!  She did such a great job!  Like I said, she loves people and loud places!
• she can put her feet in her mouth!
• The way her face lights up when she sees her Mama or Daddy! I mean, does it get any better?
• That she sleeps 12 hours on the REG.!
• Cheering on the Patriots at several Field Hockey, Volleyball, CrossCountry, Football games!
• SHE WENT TO HER FIRST YOUNG LIFE CAMP!  What a gift to put our sweet little girl's ears before the truth of Jesus at a YL camp at such an age!  Oh, I hope and pray this is the first of many memories for her at camp with her parents and her friends!
• Lucy found out she is getting a BOY cousin!  Congrats T and Rad!!!
• She dressed up for her first Halloween!  Dressed as a Lion like her daddy was when he was 1!

Here are a few pictures of her 5 month photo shoot!

 I mean, can you even handle this gummy smile!

 So, everyone always remarks of how much she looks like her daddy, which I LOVE btw!  But, I have to take ownership of these lashes... the ONE thing she got from her Mama! haha

Letter to Lucy:

Lucy,

Oh, sweet Lucy!  It bring tears to this Mama's eyes of how precious you are.  You are SO loved by your Mama, Daddy, family, and so many dear friends.  But, this love is NOTHING compared to how much your Heavenly Father loves you and is infatuated by you.  Sweet Jesus created you for a purpose, He created you for BIG things, and most importantly He created you to know Him.  Your Dad and I pray every night for you to come to know this FULL life that Jesus offers at a young age.  Lucy we pray that you will be a blessing to others as you learn to love and serve others.  You have already been such a blessing to us, it is unreal of how much you have already blessed our little family.  You make life so fun, like Christmas morning every morning, kind of fun!  I mean it Lu, you are such a JOY!  Thank you for loving us with your smiles and snuggles.  I pray that we can lead to a path to know Jesus and for you to completely and confident in YOU!  We love you!  Happy 5 month birthday little Tallulah Elizabeth Rouse!  The Lord nailed it when He created YOU!

Love through HIM,

Your Mama

Lucy is 4 months!

Oh, I love this child!  Each day, week, and month gets sweeter and sweeter with Tallulah Elizabeth Rouse!  You are such a gift, the greatest gift I have ever received other than the grace Jesus daily gives me.  This month has been my FAVORITE!  

Oh the new things you have done: 

-You role over from your back to your belly like a pro!

-You laugh and smile and talk (especially after you eat)

-Speaking of eating, you are no longer having your late night meal.  So, you are just eating 5 time a day, about 25 ounces a day!  Which means now you are sleeping 10-11 hours at night!

-People in public now comment on how healthy and chunky you look!

-You LOVE your toes!  I love your double heal stretches that you do on the reg.

-You are a drooooollllling queen!  Those teeth will be here soon!

Things you love:

-Your Paci!

-Your Swaddle!

-Your swing!

-Your sling carrier!

-Having a bow in your dark curly hair!

-You love being held by your daddy!

-Any attention people give you

-You love your hands, hence why you still sleep in your swaddle at night because your hands keep you awake!

Things you hate:

-loosing your paci

-making wet diapers

-not being able to fall asleep, you fight it SO hard! 

-an hour after each bottle you have a mini melt down because you realize how tired you are!

-being stuck on your belly and not being able to role back over.

New places you have been this month:

-You have celebrated your moms birthday!

-You went to your first NCSU game.

-Freshmen Young Life trip at the Refuge

-Ocean Isle Beach

-Coffee Shop in Kinston (mama loves this place!)

-Mama and Daddy left you for the first extended amount of time (the longest 8 hours of my life!) to go to a wedding in Wilmington!

-You met daddy's best friend David Hook

 Here she is modeling one of her mama's outfits from when she was a little girl!

 Oh I wish these pictures had volume so you could here this laugh!  It is the sweetest noise to my ears

 Her big brother Reynolds still loves her and followers her around wherever she goes, truly precious!

 "Love God and follow Him.  Really, nothing else matters.  If you are ever unsure what to do, remember how Jesus loved people.  He was the best at it.  You can trust Him because anywhere he asks you to go, He has been there too.  This is not an easy path, Lovies.  Jesus went to hard places and did hard things; He loved folks everyone else hated or despised.  But if you trust us at all, believe me: this is the life you want, this Jesus life." -Jen Haymaker

 "So these are my dreams for you:

Be kind.

Be you.

Love Jesus."

-Jen Hatmaker

Lucy is 3 months!

Okay... I will join the train... TIME SLOW DOWN! Lucy is getting so big and grown. She has really developed from a new born infant to a little girl. It has been an eventful month! We have spent a week at the beach with Lucy and she has had her first cold. As we speak (or type) she is still getting over an Upper Respiratory Infection. Sweet little girl has the loudest cough, but it is still amazing how the Lord created Lucy to be able to sneeze and to cough when she is sick. So, pray with me  her lungs and chest stay healthy! Other new things this week:

-lucy can role over from her stomach to her back!

-she recognizes and smiles really big when she sees her mom or dad!

-she is sleeping about 7-8 hours a night!

-she is on her way out of wearing newborn clothes!

-Lucy is chatting more and more each day! And it's so cute to hear her hit new octives!

-we are leaving her for the first time this weekend for more than 2 hours! Pray for us!

-lucy is now wearing size 1 diapers!

-she is on a great little schedule (minus a few weeks of growth spurts, but for the most part...) she wakes up about 7am, has a bottle, plays for an hour, and then sleeps for an hour and a half. Then we just repeat this until 10:30pm every 3 hours and that is our day!

Here are a few pictures of our precious little girl! Bring on month 3! 

Oh sweet Lucy! Not so Little anymore! You are so loved! My prayer for you always is that you will be strong, courageous, and kind!! May the Lord continue to reveal himself to us through you and may he continue to bless you Tallulah Elizabeth Rouse!