I love holidays and celebrations, and this year especially, Father’s Day is no exception. Craig jumped into fatherhood with a smile on his face the second Leighton was born, and he’s just become more confident in his new role with each passing day. Sometimes LL likes to give him a hard time and won’t share her kisses, but she’s definitely becoming better buddies with her daddy. I so look forward to watching their bond strengthen in the coming years!

We kicked off the weekend with Leighton’s first boat ride. Despite the pouring rain that showed up right as we were about to load into the water (causing us to sit in the car entertaining Leighton for an hour), we had fun once we finally got to try out the new family boat. Lake Allatoona is so pretty and serene! Our ride didn’t last long thanks to the return of raindrops, but we enjoyed it while we could. It was fun to see Leighton experience another “first”!

Saturday was spent mostly at home, but we did celebrate Leighton’s neighbor best friend Emmy’s 1st birthday at their house down the street. They were born 3 months apart, so I envision these little girls playing together on our street and at the pool for years to come. We also tried out a new restaurant in the Vinings – Stockyard Burgers – and we look forward to going back. Mac n cheese as a burger topping? Yes, please.

The girls and I (yes, that includes Coco) woke Craig up with presents and cards on Sunday morning, which was so fun! Things like this are some of the little moments I’ve dreamed of. We also made him a daddy “bouquet” filled with scratch-off tickets and a gift card (he won $18 and a couple free tickets, by the way).

The rest of the day was spent eating around town with family! Yum! Brunch was at Del Frisco’s, and then we met my family and our SIL’s parents for dinner at my dad’s new favorite spot, Blue Ridge Grill. He and my mom go there weekly when he’s not traveling, and he has made bffs with the servers and staff there. They even made a special dish he requested in advance as one of the evening’s featured items – talk about service!

I can’t talk about our weekend without mentioning my incredible dad, too. He’s the hardest working, most passionate and dedicated person I know, and he has given us invaluable guidance and support over the years. He loves his family deeply, and it’s so neat to now see him with his granddaughter, our baby girl. She’s learned to wave recently, and at each meal we had with my parents over the weekend, she’d just look across the table at him and wave and smile. Heart melting stuff right there.

I’m so thankful for all the dads in my life — Craig, my own dad, my father-in-law, grandfathers, uncles, and many friends who are now parents. I hope they all had a wonderful day being celebrated!

Last weekend, we headed to the beautiful mountain town of Blowing Rock, NC for our friends’ wedding. I was nervous leading up to that trip because it was the first time I’ve left her overnight (and the first time Craig and I have both been gone together)… but who better to leave her with than my mom? She’s truly the best caregiver for our little LL, and to be honest, I was most worried about Leighton wearing her out!

We rented a historic house called the Springhaven Inn, which was in the absolute best location (right downtown), and we all joked that it was probably haunted. Margaret Mitchell (writer of the book Gone with the Wind) wrote in this house, and there was even a bedroom with a little plaque with her name on the door.

The weekend kicked off with a welcome party, complete with these adorable golf ball cookies (the groom played golf at Ole Miss). We had such a fun night eating, drinking, and visiting with the bride’s family, whom Craig has known since high school.

I didn’t take many photos during the day because we were too busy enjoying Blowing Rock. 🙂 We got to sleep in a little bit (but it didn’t help much since we were up so much later than we’re used to these days…), and then us girls had a delicious brunch in the sweetest little secret garden while the boys went golfing.

We had dinner at The New Public House, which is a boutique hotel and restaurant downtown, and we liked it so much, we went back for brunch the next day! If we hadn’t been in a hurry to get to the rehearsal dinner after party later that night, I think we would have stayed there and tried all seven desserts the server told us they had…

Jaime and Graham got married at a family friends’ home near downtown Blowing Rock, and the setting couldn’t have been more beautiful. They said their vows on the stone steps of the home, and then we danced and dined under the trees and stars. Also, I got Friday and Saturday night’s outfits through Rent the Runway, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled with my choices! It was so nice to be able to rent a dress for this black tie wedding and know that I wouldn’t then leave it sitting in my closet, never to be worn again. (Click the link above to get $30 off your first order!) Also, doesn’t Craig look dapper in his new tux and bowtie?

Jaime has been going to Africa on mission trips the past few years and just brought Graham along with her this year. They had a table devoted to their travels and special friends in Africa, and they even brought back a little gift for all of their wedding guests!

Meet Mason, the bride and groom’s baby::

Speaking of babies… we can’t wait to meet Ellis in August!

Our haunted house group (plus one)::

The night ended with a Michael Jackson tribute, complete with our own sparkly silver gloves(!!), S’mores over a fire pit in the yard (with the biggest marshmallows I’ve ever seen), and BLT sandwiches wrapped up to-go. It was such a lovely night celebrating Jaime and Graham. Thanks for having us in Blowing Rock!

Height + Weight: 27.75” // 19 lbs 11.5 oz 

Milestones: Just a couple days after hitting 8 months, Leighton got her first tooth!! She’s been drooling and chewing on anything she could get her hands on for a long time now, so we weren’t sure when she’d actually get a tooth in. My mom spotted it while babysitting her one night, and by the next day, she had a 2nd one right next to it. Thankfully, she’s taken it really well so far. And her now tiny toothy grin is seriously to die for.

She hasn’t quite mastered her first word yet, but I have a feeling that when she does, it’s going to be “dada”! She’s started saying a string of “da-da-da-da-da” all day long, and it’s the cutest little sound I’ve ever heard.

I think her next big milestone is going to be walking any time now. She’s started doing laps around the coffee table and is taking her hands off to stand by herself for a few seconds before falling onto her bottom. Then she’ll crawl over to a piece of furniture to climb right back up to standing position and do it all over again.

Likes: One of her favorite activities is standing along the railing of her crib, holding on with both hands, and bouncing like crazy. I joke that she’s jumping on the bed, and I think she would do it for hours if she could keep from occasionally falling over. She absolutely loves standing up on her own and walking along the railing — and she likes it so much, she’s been waking up some in the middle of the night or really early in the morning to practice… so fun for all involved! Hopefully this is just another one of those phases that will quickly pass.

She’s more obsessed with Coco than ever! When my mom babysits, they like to sit on the floor by Coco’s bed so that Leighton can hand Coco toys to play with. She’ll laugh hysterically, which is more like a cackle with her raspy little voice,  and then try to take the toy away or eat it herself. Coco is so incredibly patient and gentle with her.

Dislikes: She still seriously dislikes being strapped into… pretty much anything. Her car seat and strollers are the most offensive, and I think it’s because of the shoulder straps. She also does not appreciate being laid down to have her diaper changed. Girl doesn’t like to be held down!

Fun stuff  & firsts: Leighton is learning how to wave! She holds her arm up in the air and sort of waves her little hand while smiling like crazy.

She regularly sleeps from about 7:15/7:30pm – 6:30/6:45am, which has been a game changer! She’s still a bit iffy on taking good naps, but she does at least go down twice a day. Morning naps are around 2 hours after she wakes up and are super short – more like a cat nap. Her afternoon naps can be anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours (if I’m very, very lucky). She’s just a busy girl with too many things to do… no time for napping! 

She’s wearing mostly 9-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers. She drinks out of her sippy cup like a champ. We’re now working on how to set it down nicely rather than throwing it across the room or simply letting it fall to the floor when she’s done with it. 😉 One thing at a time… 

Over Memorial Day weekend, the pool was finally warm enough for Leighton’s first trip! She hung out for about an hour and a half with some of our friends and their kids, and she was so calm, just taking it all in. She liked her baby float, and at one point, she was laid back “reading” her waterproof book. We took her back the next day, and I’m excited to spend many more summer days with her at our pool this year! 

Leighton is really into investigating everything she can get her hands into, and she’s learning more every day. She’s currently pretty fearless, which is both fun to watch and also a little terrifying. Her determination with everything she does is amazing, and I’m constantly blown away by the new things she’s learning and figuring out. I love waking up to her as my alarm clock every day (even if it’s sometimes obscenely early) and I love getting to rock her to sleep every night. This age/phase is definitely the most fun one yet. I just love my best little friend.