Future ballerina???

If her aunt Jenny has anything to say about it, I think we definitely have a future ballerina on our hands! Jenny and Derrick gave Conlee and Mia these adorable matching tutus and flowers for their hair. We haven't had a chance to get them together for a photo yet, but I had to go ahead and post these of Conlee in her outfit. She's really just tutu cute! Thank you, Aunt Jenny and Uncle Derrick! I'll post pictures of both the girls soon! 

Little Raspberry Riding Hood

Ahhhh...could she be any cuter?! Ellie MADE this adorable hooded cape for Conlee for Christmas! Talk about talented...Ellie can do anything. Please, oh please, will you teach all your tricks to Conlee one day?!! She will not be learning anything crafty from me! 

We stepped outside tonight to play in the backyard and it was just nippy enough for this precious cape. Conlee loved wearing it and didn't pull at the hood once. It fits her just perfectly. Thank you, EI! 

Sunday With Daddy

Last Sunday, the boys kept the girls so Ali and I could drive to Newport and have lunch with Jenny & Derrick. It was such a fun afternoon for Ali and me, and apparently for the girls too! Matt and Mia came over to watch football, and Brent snapped a few photos. There's definitely a bit of a difference when the daddy's stage the photo shoot...but these girls are pretty cute even sideways with feet in their face! 

A Little Laughter!

I meant to post this the other day...her laugh is adorable. She sure loves her daddy! 

Conlee's 8 Months Old Today!

We cannot believe that Conlee is 8 months old today...the time is FLYING! I decided what better way to celebrate her 8 month birthday than with a little photo shoot of Conlee in 2 of her new dresses. She's such a trooper during these shoots...she loves the camera!

The paparazzi snuck into the dressing room a little before we were ready to go!

If you look closely here, you can see my top two front teeth ready to break through any day now!

Conlee is absolutely obsessed with books. We probably have story time 3 -4 times each day. Every time we sit in the chair in her room, she leans over and practically falls out of my arms trying to reach for her books. Some favorites are The Tickle Monster, The Pout, Pout Fish, Cat in The Hat, The Sweet Dreams Book (a standard before all naps & bedtime), My Very Own Fairy Tale Book, Skippyjon Jones Books, and the list goes on and on and on and on! 

And here she is in birthday suit + a bow...look at those precious chunky thighs!!!

Conlee really is such a huge blessing and joy in our lives! We are so thankful that God chose us to be her parents, and that we get to watch her grow and change every day. It's really incredible to have a front row seat while she is developing into this little person before my eyes! Here are some of her 8 month stats:

She is such a happy baby! She wakes up a little after 6:15am and just sits and talks and plays in her crib until about 6:45 or 7...whenever I can drag myself to her! She's discovered the video monitor near her crib, and I swear I think she knows we can see her. She pulls up on the sides of the bed and puts her face right into the monitor and smiles this huge smile every morning...when she doesn't grab it and pull it into bed with her! She's a great eater, and is loving all the new big girl food she's been trying. Today we tried cheese toast and she was in heaven! She's a mover and a shaker! She can't crawl yet, but she scoots and rolls her way all around the living room. She loves all her toys and will play independently for ridiculously long periods. She actually pulled herself up from sitting to standing for the first time today during our photo shoot (see photo above!). Obviously I'm biased, but she really is just wonderful! She has the best little laugh, and it's so contagious. Her squeals and babbles are among my favorite sounds. It's hard to believe in just 4 short months she'll be 1! 

Conlee's 1st Real Meal!

Yesterday was a BIG day in the Hodges' house...Conlee had her first 'real' meal! Lately, she's been totally uninterested in her baby food. She wants to do everything herself, and unfortunately she hasn't quite mastered the use of a spoon. After a few days, I realized the child can not subsist on Puffs alone, so we headed to the grocery store during a break in the rain. 

Her first meal included bites of rotisserie chicken, cut up green beans and bites of pasta. She LOVED it! As you'll see in the pictures below, I went a little overboard with the quantity of food, but a girl needs options! Needless to say, feeding her took forever. I didn't realize how great it is that the Puffs eventually dissolve in her mouth. With the real food, she had to figure out that she needed to gum the food much more than the Puffs. But, she eventually got the hang of it, and I figure she'll only get better. This morning she had toast with butter, a scrambled egg yolk and fresh blueberries...the girl was in heaven! I think our baby food days might soon be a distant memory!

Water Baby!

Conlee has loved her bath since the very beginning, and I think it's still her favorite time of day. Partly because she loves the water, but mostly because her daddy bathes her every night, and they have so much fun together! All her bath animals have names and noises...they even have an acrobatic routine to get from the toy tray down the neck of the pink duck and into the tub with Conlee! I started to give her a bath the other night, and Brent ran in the room to make sure I was doing it right! ha! 

Anyway, last night I walked in and caught this adorable rear view, and naturally I just had to get a pic. She'll be 8 months old on Saturday and the time has FLOWN! Definitely the best 8 months of our lives! 

It's hard to even believe this is a picture of the same girl! Here is she is a few weeks old and in the tub...

After that last picture, I just got nostalgic...I can't believe how big she is and how fast she's growing up! Here's a pic from last week...

and a pic from her earlier days...look at long, dark hair! 

Rainbow!

The stormy weather isn't all bad...we walked outside during a break in the rain today and this was right outside our front door! We showed it to Conlee, and I explained that rainbows are God's promise that he will never again flood the earth. One of her favorite songs is Rise and Shine (and Give God the Glory, Glory)...I'm sure she put two and two together and is now an expert on all things Noah! :) 

 

Family Picnic!

We headed out to the cove today for a little family picnic. It was a beautiful day, and Conlee loves being outside!

Unfortunately, Brent is serious with these sunglasses! They were his 'costume' glasses until he lost his real ones...somehow these have become his everyday pair...

Perhaps Conlee was using her persuasion skills here to convince her daddy he needs new glasses...if only she would have thrown these off the cliff while she had the chance!

Cutest little bottom around!

I love this face! It was so windy, and she was loving it!

I had to post this because it appears her hair has finally decided on a color...and it's the same as mine! Yay!

Lunch at Daddy's Office

We went and met Brent for lunch today. Since his office is adjacent to The Sporting Club, we are able to go down to the pool and sit in a cabana. It's so fun, especially in this weather. I packed up our lunch and off we went! We went on a little tour of B's office too...everyone loved seeing Conlee! The last time she was in there, she was three months old and sound asleep in her stroller. This time she was smiling, laughing and waving. She loved all the boys, but she wasn't a big fan of the girls...I'm not sure where she gets that?!?! 

Conlee's New Cousin!

Introducing our newest cousin, Stephen "Bauer" Eoff! We haven't had a chance to meet Bauer yet, but we can hardly wait to get to Dallas and give him a big squeeze! Until then, I stole these pics from Whitney's blog...I mean, if Bauer is even half as cute as Marshall and Olivia, the kid is going to be a doll! 

Fun in the Sun

Just because the rest of the country is in the middle of a deep freeze, there's no reason Conlee and I can't go hang out barefoot at the park in the middle of January! We headed over to La Jolla Shores today to meet up with Courtney and Audrey. Conlee just loves the swings. I really think she could have stayed all day!

Today was also our first sunscreen application...this face is just priceless! She was so confused and didn't understand what in the world I was putting on her face!

 

Audrey always has the best toys! Today Courtney broke out the bubbles and they were super fun!

 

Are we going to start crawling soon? She's getting closer!!!