Jamie's Baby Story: April 2011

Nashville is beautiful this time of year with new leaves unfolding on nearly every tree and flowers in full bloom everywhere. Perfect time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors before the sweltering humidity rears its ugly head. What better way to kick off spring than a photo shoot of Shay at Centennial Park. Once again, our creative, talented and generous friend Erin got behind the viewfinder of her camera and shot a bunch of great photos of Shay, her gift for Shay's 1st birthday. Below are just a few of our favorite shots:

Flower child

Love this one!

Love that she's starting to look like a little girl in this one...

...and still looks like a baby in this one

On April 9th, Erin, our friend Liesl and I threw a bridal brunch shower for our friend Kristen who is getting married at the end of May. We enjoyed beautiful weather out on the patio at local Nashville eatery Mad Donna's where we noshed on tasty food, sipped sweet mimosas and watched Kristen open her pile of gifts. A perfect lazy Saturday morning.

The bride to be

Pretty flowers Erin brought

Something must've been funny

Also this past weekend, my Aunt Paige & Uncle Bob rolled into Nashville in their motor home so we got to spend time with them on Saturday and Sunday and they met their grand-niece for the first time. Shay, having gotten over her stranger anxiety a couple of months ago, welcomed them with all the vigor a 1 year old who has never before met her relatives can. Which basically meant that she did not cry and instead offered up some waves and blew kisses. She grabbed her Great Uncle Bob's cheek, fascinated for a brief moment in time with his facial hair, something she's never seen up close before (unless you count when her Daddy doesn't shave for a few days).

On Sunday, we drove to the campsite where Paige & Bob stayed in their motor home. It was fun to check out their mobile digs and Shay enjoyed the playground and an impromptu dip in the lake, her first time in non-bathtub water. She had a blast splashing around in the shallow water on the sandy beach and then trekked out into the lake itself seemingly oblivious to the coldness of the water. She even fell backward and went completely under but came up unfazed. As her mom, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that she's so fearless when it comes to water. Maybe there's something to the ol' astrological sign thing...she is a pisces! After our daughter was thoroughly soaked, we brought her back up to the motor home, got her changed into a clean, dry outfit and enjoyed a great dinner outdoors.