11 months!

Has it really been almost a year since our lives were changed forever by this girl?

At 11 months, Amelia:

• is very close to walking. She has been standing unassisted and cruising for a couple of months, but recently she's finally started letting go and taking a few steps. Ms. Margaret says she waits until no one is looking and she'll walk across the room at daycare, ha. At home she has lots of furniture to hold onto so she hasn't really had to walk on her own. We've been practicing a lot lately, and I think it won't be long before she's running around.


• loves her table food! Once she realized what she had been missing all her life, she decided she was dunzo with baby food. She especially loves bread (who doesn't?), but she also likes fruit, chicken, pasta and veggies.


• loves to dance! It's like she's suddenly discovered music and she bobs her head and moves every time she hears any music. She especially loves Coldplay and Beyonce (again, who doesn't?) and she stops whatever she's doing to watch that commercial that Mary J. Blige sings on. Her first loves were Britney and Madonna, but maybe she's deciding R&B is more her style? Her daddy's pride and joy (besides her) is his extensive Itunes library, so we look forward to exposing her to lots of cool music as she gets older.


• despises getting her diaper changed and getting dressed. She hates having to be still and will scream bloody murder until we're done. See also: getting hair rinsed, nails clipped, hands washed, teeth brushed, getting buckled into the car seat, etc. I have no idea where this strong will comes from.


• has two teeth on the bottom and 3 on top that have come in in the last 2 weeks. Bless her heart.


• still thinks cell phones and remotes are better than any of her toys.


• claps her hands when we say "Yay!" and goes "Ahh" after taking a drink from her cup.


• has decided she doesn't like to keep bows in her hair:( Headbands are pretty much out of the question. Such a tragedy. However, I will not give up. I continue to put them back in as she pulls them out.


• holds a towel or her Lovie the Lamb over her face when I say "Where's Amelia?" Then she pulls it down for me to say "There she is!" We could do this for hours. We mix it up and play "Where's Mama?" too and she likes to pull down whatever is covering my face.

Here she is playing on the stairs a couple of weeks ago at my parents' house. She got up them pretty quick. Time for them to put up a gate!

Here shirt says Papa's Girl on it. Grammy and Papa got it for her on their trip to Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. She was giving herself a hand for climbing the stairs, ha.

Only one month left until the big celebration! We're planning a sweet party. Can't wait!

Tailgating

Amelia just loves football! Well, like her mama, she really just loves going to ballgames. We're not that crazy about the actual sport, but we do love all the things that go along with it- tailgating, hanging out with our friends, watching the band and cheerleaders, and cheering for the Wolfpack!

These are a few shots from last week's game. We were all dressed in black for the "Black out the Bears" night against Southwest.

Amelia wasn't a fan of the mascots! In fact, they made most of the kids there cry and hide, ha ha. Guess we won't be doing a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese for a while. Amelia with her friends, RoyAvery and Bryce . These are children of my former co-workers in the counseling center, Bev and Erin.


Amelia with her friend Mary Catherine. Mary is this year's Homecoming Queen!

Amelia with my former boss, Lea Ann and her daughter, Whitney. Amelia loves them!

We had a fun time at the game. Amelia was such a little ham, laughing and smiling at everyone and clapping along with the crowd. Clapping is one of her newest tricks. She only wished she could have stayed longer, but after the halftime show, it was time to go home and go to bed. She was so tired, she skipped her bath and just slept in her black t-shirt. After blacking out the Bears, the Wolfpack blacked out Amelia. No fighting her sleep this night!

Uncle Chris and Mimi update

Thanks so much for your prayers for Chris! He is doing much better than we anticipated! His pain is under control and he has been able to talk and drink some broth. He will have a long road to recover after surgery to repair his sinus cavity and nose, but thankfully his jaw is still intact and once the swelling subsides he should be able to see. It could have been much, much worse!

And I just realized I hadn't posted an update on Amelia after her bout with hand, foot and mouth. Thanks to all of you who emailed and texted to check on her. That little sister must have an awesome immune system because she dodged getting really sick. She never showed any signs of feeling bad, and never got any mouth blisters. We just played and hung out at home for a few days. It was actually nice, since I never take days off just to hang out at home. I definitely should do that more often.

Thanks again for your prayers for our loved ones. We definitely believe in The Great Physician and the power of prayer!

Pray for Uncle Chris!

Cliff's brother Chris was hit in the face by an iron gate while working on his farm tonight and has some pretty serious injuries. He will have to undergo surgery to repair broken bones, most seriously around and behind his eyes. We are waiting to hear when he will be transported to Little Rock for treatment. Please keep Chris and his wife, Kathryn in your prayers.

We love you and we're praying for you, Uncle Chris!

Beach Baby

Y'all, I can't even tell you how fabulous our beach trip was! The only thing I adore more than going to Gulf Shores is going to Gulf Shores during Labor Day weekend with my baby girl! This was our second time to go on Labor Day and we hope to make it an annual tradition. The weather is so fabulous and the crowds aren't quite as bad as earlier in the summer. Plus it's a great time for Coach Furr in between summer camps and the season opener. I have been so looking forward to bringing Amelia to the beach and hoping to goodness that she didn't hate it. Luckily for us, she loved it as much as we did!

We brought along two of Mimi's favorite aunts, Katie and Mare, as well as future Uncle Justin (aka lots of help entertaining the princess!) We had such an awesome time just hanging out on the beach and relaxing. Get ready for the most ridiculous display of a mama who thinks her kid is the cutest ever. As much as I blog to share our life with friends and family, it's also my way of recording our memories, so that's my disclaimer for the gazillion photos coming up.

Here's the very first shot I took. Amelia was so happy to finally be out of the car, and she loved looking around at everything from the balcony of our condo.

We wasted no time getting straight to the beach. Here she is checking out the sand for the first time.I just love this one! I'll probably make some others B&W for printing later, but doesn't this one just call for it?Love that wide-eyed expression here. It's SO MUCH FUN to experience new things through her eyes. Which is why I am sure we will be taking her to Disneyworld in a few years even though I hate crowds, long lines, and overpriced food and drinks. There's nothing like seeing that face light up at the sight of the ocean, or in a few years, Mickey Mouse.

You already saw the videos, but here's a couple of stills of me and Mare showing her the water for the first time.


Here we are getting ready to go take some family photos on the beach.

Playing in my make-up bag is her favorite, and I thought it was so cute that she had a mascara in each hand. That's my girl!

Having fun with Daddy on the balcony. These are definitely going in some sort of collage.

(Thanks to Aunt Katie for capturing this sweet moment.)

This dress had been begging me to take some pictures of Amelia wearing it on the beach since I bought it in the spring. The moment finally came, but guess who got grumpy when she got a little sand in her face.

Even though Amelia and someone else in the photos were grumpy and over it before we really began, Katie did a great job getting some cute ones. I was totally bummed because I had such grand plans for a beach photo shoot. It even included a wardrobe change for the entire family, but who was I kidding?

I love her face in this one, I just need to photoshop that hair falling in my face.

Trying to persuade her to be a sweet girl and sit still for just a few more.But that stinker screamed bloody murder when I sat her down and then immediately started smiling when I picked her up.

And now for a series of photos featuring one of the world's cutest swimsuits.

I had my eye on this suit at Gymboree earlier in the summer but then forgot to order it online in time for our trip. Luckily Katie found the Wal-Mart copy cat at Dirt Cheap for $1.50. The only thing I love more than an adorable swimsuit is an adorable swimsuit on sale for $1.50!

A friend gave me the great idea to get a little pool to keep her cool under an umbrella. She filled this one up! Ha. Checking out the hermit crab Uncle Jus found in the ocean.

Rinsing off in the kiddie pool with Aunt Mare.

As long as she has her Lovie, she can nap anywhere!

Unfortunately, she took Lovie for a swim in her baby pool with her and she had to settle for a hooded towel as a bedtime snuggle companion while Lovie got a bath in the washer.

The next morning, our friends Courtney and Brantlee swung by for a quick visit. They happened to be in town the same time as us. Amelia's going in for some sugar here. Or else she wants that puff Brantlee's eating.

Amelia was not very crazy about her Mama holding another baby, ha.

It was rainy for most of the morning this day, so we hung out on the balcony for a while, and Aunt Katie took a ton of pictures. Here are just a few of my faves.

Later we played in the indoor pool for a while before it was dry enough to go back out to the beach.

Whew, that totally exhausted me. If you hung in there with me, thanks! I would apologize for the photo overload, but I know I'm just going to do it again after her birthday party. Two words: Lollipop Party. Can't wait! (Have I mentioned that having a baby girl is my dream come true?)