June Craziness!

Hello friends.  I promise to get better about updating this blog, though June has been a very busy month, so apologies for my absence.  Over this month, we have done quite a bit of celebrating.  Kevin and I's birthday's are in May, but we had a couple of date nights planned to celebrate in June.  I am a pretty big Michael Jackson fan, so when I found out the Cirque de Soeliel show was coming to Nashville, we had to get tickets!  I definitely wasn't disappointed.  It was tough to get any good shots, but here is the best picture I could get.

Michael Jackson

Date Night

For Kevin's birthday celebration, I was able to get him tickets to see Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) perform The Wall: Live.  Being a Pink Floyd fan myself, I was excited to see this show, but I was blown away by the amazing production and music.  It sounded exactly like listening to the album!

Happy 30th Kevin!

Roger Waters

Performing The Wall

My sister in law, Dawn, celebrated her 30th birthday  in the middle of the month, so we got to celebrate with her at Arrington Vineyards.  I recommend checking out Arrington if you haven't already.  It is a great place to take a picnic or enjoy a wine tasting with friends.

Happy Birthday Dawn!

Father's day was another special moment this month.  It was a relaxing day spending some quality time as a family.  Kevin is not only the greatest husband, but the most amazing Father. I am so thankful that he is the one that God has blessed me with to raise Elliot.  E absolutely adores Kevin and whenever they are together, he is constantly laughing and smiling.  Not only does he look just like Kevin, which I love, but he has many of the same mannerisms and personality traits like Kevin as you can see here!

Daddy, Elliot & Ella

Watching the Braves on Father's Day

Of course I can't leave out Elliot!  He is growing and changing every day.  His personality is really starting to show this month and he is becoming more fun with each day.  Once he started crawling, he is off to the races.  There is no turning an eye with him now because he is into everything!  He crawls all around the house and whenever he gets to a piece of furniture, or our dog Ella, he is pulling up and standing.  He can now walk steps when you are holding his hands and I am sure it won't be long until he takes those first steps!

Standing up!

He is also now so interested in our dog Ella.  Whenever she is around he is squealing and trying to get her attention.  If he is in the floor with her, he is on the move to go grab her ears, face or paws.  Luckily, Ella is very gentle with her and I know they will be best buddies before long.

Loving Ella!

Here's a few more pictures from this month!

Reading with Mommy

Snuggling with Nonnie

Looking at his books 

June has been a busy month and I am hoping that July will settle down a bit, but we are just enjoying every minute as our new family!  See you soon! xoxo

Elliot: 7 Months

Hello All.  Sorry for a little absence over the last couple of weeks.  It has been very busy in the Dalton house.  On June 5th, Elliot turned 7 months old and I feel like he became a different baby in a matter of days.  Since becoming a Mom, I feel like time has been measured by the little milestones that he reaches from month to month.  His first real smile at 6 weeks, his first coo's at 10 weeks, learning to roll from his stomach to his back at 10 weeks, his first laughs at 3 months, learning to roll from his back to his stomach at 4 months, eating solids at 4 months, sitting up on his own at 6 months and now at 7 months I feel like he is actually becoming a little person.  This month has been one of his biggest milestones; the day after he turned 7 months old, he took his first crawl!  Everyone who is a Mom told me that there are few of those major milestones that make you feel like you are really accomplishing something as a parent and crawling is one of those.  Now I know what those people were saying.  When I witnessed him take his first little crawls across the room, my eyes started to well up with tears.  I felt so much joy and happiness.  Not only was it a major developmental accomplishment for Elliot, it made me feel so honored that God chose us to raise this extremely special little guy.  When he finally crawled over to the toy he was after and grabbed it with his hands, he just looked up at me with the biggest grin on his face like, "hey mom, did you just see that?" 

In addition to the big milestone of crawling, he said his first words.  Sadly, it was not MaMa, but Dada instead.  He was extremely proud of himself and now he says it pretty much nonstop.  At first we thought he might just be babbling, but one morning, Kevin went in to pick up up out of his crib and Elliot just looked up and smiled, then said "Dada!"  After that, we pretty much knew that he was saying it in reference to Kevin.  There is nothing more amazing for a wife and a mother than to see your husband and child have such and strong relationship.  It is something that I had dreamed about for many years and I feel truly blessed that I am now being able to live that dream.  I can't believe how quickly these first 7 months have flown by and though I try to stay present for each of these moments and not wish anything too quickly, I feel like he is already growing up so fast!

Here's some photos!

playing with cousin addie

fake coughing face

growling in the jumperoo

snuggling with peepaw

chewing on everything

crawling

standing with support

playtime with ella and daddy

I can't believe how quickly these first 7 months have passed and I can't wait to see what the next 7 will bring!

memorial day weekend fun

This past weekend was filled with fun activities in the Dalton household.  Now that Elliot is nearly 7 months old, gone are the days of planning our days in 2 to 3 hour increments.  We were able to enjoy the kick off to summer with lots of adventures and family time.  A couple of weeks ago we thought it would be fun to see if Elliot would enjoy the swings at a local park and boy were we right!  He absolutely loved feeling the wind on his face and would give us those big belly laughs when we pushed him higher.

 After we saw how much he enjoyed the baby swings at the park, we decided we needed to purchase one for the house, so Saturday afternoon was spent tracking one down.  Kevin got to enjoy some much needed time on the golf course on Saturday and though Elliot is too little to join him, he wanted to support daddy by wearing a matching outfit!

Relaxing and reading with Daddy makes for a relaxing weekend.

                                          

Sunday and Monday were filled with fun projects and activities.  We were able to enjoy grilling out with some friends that we hadn't seen in a while on Sunday, and Monday was installation of the porch swing and swimming fun in the front yard! 

Elliot checking out the tools that are needed to install the porch swing at Home Depot, then enjoying the fruits of his labor with an inagural first ride on the front porch.  

Ready for some pool time and setting up shop in the front yard in his baby pool.

 Hope you all had a great memorial weekend and spent it with your friends and family!

hello there.

Hello There.  I'm Rachel and this is A Bug's Life.  This is my first attempt at blogging.  I thought this would be a good way to keep a record of what's going on in my life and a way for those far away to keep in touch.  My life is pretty full.  I have a great husband, Kevin and a new son, Elliot or "E".  We live in Nashville and are enjoying our new roller coaster ride as parents.

                                  

My days are spent trying to navigate my relationship with God, Family and Work.  Being a new Mom is the greatest gift and challenge that I have ever experienced.  I find that I learn new things about myself everyday and have never felt so much joy as when E looks at me with that big open mouthed grin.  I hope with this blog I am able to share a little bit about our life with some of you.