-Letters to Liv {4 months}-

My precious Liv,

You are 4 months old today. How is that even possible? 4 months already? I can't even handle it. You are acting like such a big girl now and do not want to be treated like a baby anymore. :( You don't like being cuddled to rock anymore, you would rather just lay down all alone and go to sleep. The only time I still feel like you are a little baby is when you eat. You still like for me to cuddle you during feedings. Thank goodness! You try to stand up in our laps all the time and want to be turned around to see everything. You are taking in everything you see now. You have noticed your hands and your tongue. You'll spit your pacifier out to suck on your hands or stick your tongue out and make a smacking sound.

You are trying to figure out how to reach and grab things. It's so cute watching you focus so hard on trying to get your little arms to reach out for our hands or toys. You've started wanting to hold our hands all the time. If you are fussy and restless all we have to do is hold out our hand for you to hold and you go right to sleep. When we lay you in our bed you snuggle up as close as you can get to me and as long as I'm right there you sleep so sound. You were sleeping through the night but thanks to holidays and your schedule being thrown off, you have been waking up to eat again at least once a night the past week.

You still nurse like a champ and you look like a little roly poly. Your cheeks are so chubby and so darn cute! You still don't like to burp but when you do you sound like Mama and Nanny. You burp SO loud! You have started losing a lot of your hair. Especially on the sides and in the back. You love to watch your Daddy dance all over the house and you even try to imitate some of his moves with your arms.

You are laughing out loud now and it melts us! Your little voice is the sweetest sound we've ever heard. You are producing all of the vowel sounds now and will occasionally throw in consonants /m, n, h, g/. You bat your eyes when anything gets close to you. We can probably thank Nova girl for that. She's been all in your face since we brought you home from the hospital. You love to play peek-a-boo and patty cake with Papa.

You stare the TV and our phones all the time but I still don't let you around them too much. Your rolling over on both side from your belly and your trying real hard to roll from your back but your not there yet. You still love to take baths and you pull your little legs up to your chest when we change your diaper. You are wearing size 2 diapers and are in 6-9 month clothes.

You had your first Christmas this past week and you absolutely loved it. You just stared at your presents like you knew what they were. We can't wait to watch you keep growing and become your own little person.

We love you so much,
Mama

-Happy Holidays 2015-

We just wrapped the holiday season and once again we have been SO blessed. Spending time with family and letting everyone get to spend time with Liv was better than getting presents. When your a kid and even a young adult, you don't really understand the true meaning of Christmas. As you get older you become more and more aware of the important things. I found myself this Christmas, not caring at all about gifts. I can honestly say that the way I felt this year was a first for me. My heart was so full. All I wanted to do was spend time with my baby girl and my family. We headed up to Branson on Monday and spent 3 days with my family. It was so refreshing and wonderful. We came back home Christmas Eve night to start our own tradition with Liv on Christmas morning at our house.

All I could think about this holiday season was how much my heart has grown in areas that I didn't even know existed. Having a child of my own has opened my eyes and my heart to the true meaning of a lot of things. Especially the true meaning of Christmas. All of my focus shifted away from me and onto Liv. I thought about our Lord and Savior and about the story of His birth. I prayed about Bradley and I being able to teach her the important things and to always love God and Jesus. We read many Christmas books to her throughout the weeks leading up to Christmas, but the Children's book I got her that has 25 Christmas stories from the Bible in it was our favorite. It read about Jesus' birth, the 3 Wisemen, and the Star of Bethlehem.

Watching family love on Liv and everyone showing happiness this season made me appreciate things so much more. She brings out the best in everyone and makes everything bad disappear. I thank God daily for giving us the most precious gift of His son and the blessing of our baby. I hope everyone had fun filled holidays.

Your first trip to Silver Dollar City. You loved watching the parade and all the bright Christmas lights.

-Letters to Liv {3 months}-

My sweet sweet girl,

It breaks my heart that you are growing so darn fast and are already 3 months old. I love being your Mama and you make me a better, happier person. I don't know how I did life before you. You have given me so much self-worth and have shown me a side of love that I have never known before. You are just the cutest and smartest little thing. You definitely know who me and your Daddy are. Every time we go anywhere you are constantly keeping a close eye on one of us the whole time. You are so alert now and are taking everything in. We can tell that your little brain is running 90 mph trying to figure out this big ole world. You kick your legs and flail your arms all the time, but especially when you are being talked to. You have recently started sleeping through the night (HALLELUJAH)! It scared me to death the first night you did it. I woke up in a panic, checking you to make sure you were breathing. You are still sleeping in your bassinet beside our bed. You love to talk! Seriously, once you get started there is literally no making you stop until you get tired. Which makes this SLP mama so happy. I love watching you develop. God is truly amazing and that only keeps getting confirmed the more you grow.

You recently started to dislike yawning and burping. It makes you so mad! When Nana has to burp you in the middle of your bottle when I'm at work, you would think you were being so mistreated the way you scream. Nova girl loves to lick your hands, toes, and head. You don't mind your hands and head as much, but you HATE when she licks your toes. Your feet are so ticklish like Daddy's. You are rolling more often from your belly and still don't necessarily like tummy time, but you do it. You smile all the time and it melts us! You are just so beautiful!

You celebrated your first Thanksgiving and got to meet one of your little friends, Bennett. We can't wait to go on vacation with him and little Kennedy this summer. We love you so much baby! Happy 3 Months!

Love,
Mama