The Loftis Family

Amelia’s been giggling for a week or so now, but tonight was incredible.  She let out her first belly laugh!

I was saying ‘ah-boo’ to her and she just got started laughing and kept on going.  Unfortunately she’s camera shy (must get over that) and stopped just as Daddy picked up the video camera.

I am SO thankful it happened tonight as we got home this afternoon from our trip to NY (more on that later).  It’s amazing how she saves the best stuff for when we’re both around…let’s hope that trend continues.

My daughter’s sweet laughter brought me to tears, I simply can’t imagine what it will be like when she calls me mommy.

I guess I should update on what Amelia’s doing these days.  It seems that she’s  learning something new every day.

Last Thursday (3/20) she honed in on her ability grasp objects and grabbed her crinkle frog and put him directly in her mouth.  Since then everything goes in the mouth for a taste test.

She’s really enjoying her bouncer and play mat these days.  She’s spazzes out when she’s playing with either, arms and legs flailing about.  She’s trying her hardest to attack the swinging monkey on her bouncer but he’s still too far out of her reach and alluding her death grip.

Speaking of things in Amelia’s hands, I chopped off my hair yesterday.  I wasn’t going for a super short cut, but the texturizing tool and the hairstylist did my hair in.  It’s shorter than it’s been in 10 years.  EEK!  It’s growing on me, but it barely touches my shoulders and that’s really short for me.

Amelia is smiling and cooing non stop and we love it!!! It’s as though she’s talking to us and to her toys, telling us stories.

She’s sleeping well, 12+ hours at night and only gets up once for about 20 minutes (she’s still a crappy napper though).  This excludes the last few days she’s been getting up twice, but it’s due to her big 3 month growth spurt…I am praying that she gets back on track and SOON!

The biggest milestone is that she now LAUGHS!!!  Yes, she laughed for the first time yesterday (3/24).  Thankfully she decided to do it just after Dustin got home from work.  In fact I think she did it because she was so excited to see her Daddy.  When Dustin comes home from work lately she spazzes out; kicking her legs and throwing her arms around.  She obviously adores her Daddy…or perhaps she’s sick of mommy and he’s her escape.

This is clearly the honeymoon phase of parenthood thus far; healthy happy baby & more sleep = happy family.

Last year on Easter morning we found out we were expecting.  We joked at the time that if we were having a girl we’d name her Esther Bonnie (get it…Easter Bunny).  I am certain Amelia appreciates that we were only joking.

We had a wonderful first Easter with our pretty little Esther Bonnie.  (pay no attention to the goofy looking mommy in these photos)

I had the pleasure of photographing my beautiful niece, Keira this afternoon. She’s such a doll and so much fun to hang out with. Here are a few photos from our time together, enjoy!

This is Amelia’s new favorite thing to do with her daddy.

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family that will indulge us not once, but twice for family photos. We had a ‘do-over’ on the Holley family photos from a few weeks ago.

It was simply a beautiful day yesterday which is a stark contrast to the conditions we had a few weeks ago. I will say that we could have done with a bit less sun…I know, I know I’m picky. It’s hard finding a location to photograph 10 people without them squinting or without huge shadows with that much sun. I am happier with these photos, but like all perfectionists I will keep learning, growing and striving to be better.

Here are a few of my favorites and the rest are located here. I apologize, there are quite a few photos and two copies of some of the images. I wanted to show my family some of the color options as the photos look quite different when processed differently.

Enjoy!

It’s official and it’s public, I am now a stay at home mommy!

I gave my notice last Thursday. I will miss seeing all of my friends at PDR, but there’s no greater reason to leave than to be home every day with my sweet Amelia.

I want to apologize to those that I ‘fibbed’ to about whether I was staying home or not. It was a hard decision that I spent the last year contemplating. I finally made the decision last Tuesday and I needed to tell my boss first before the word spread so I apologize for not telling you the truth when you asked during happy hour.

Here’s my greatest joy and the reason I’ll be wearing last season’s clothing for the next few seasons…ha!

Not really, but I bet seeing me in tights and a cape might be quite a sight to see…eek!

It’s amazing how the little things can make you feel so normal. I am finally learning to balance the house/errands with caring for Amelia and paying attention to the pup just long enough that she doesn’t chew another pair of my shoes (2 down, ??? more to go).

I need to brag for a moment about what I accomplished last Wednesday. I cleaned the hall bathroom and the kitchen, I dusted and vacuumed the house, mopped all of the floors, did 3 loads of laundry and even squeezed enough time in there to make a batch of Rice Crispy Treats as a belated birthday treat for Dustin.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my sweet baby girl for finally learning after 2 months, 2 weeks and 2 days to take a nap. Mommy feels human again, almost super-human.

We go the ‘Holley/Lane/Loftis Clan’ together and took some family photos.

We braved 40MPH wind, relentless rain, overcast skies, etc. to take them. We are hoping for a redo in the coming weeks.

To see them click here.