Aila Babe

Miss Aila. My beautiful niece.

She hasn't had as many photographs as her big brother and of course I feel terrible about that. I now understand why second and third children never have as many photos as the first. Its not an excuse but at least it makes sense to me now- when there is just one baby there, its so EASY to take pictures, but once there's two, even with numerous adults around its not as simple to concentrate on and get lost in the simplicity of the new baby. There's a toddler running around, wanting to play, wanting to kiss the small baby you're holding in your arms (and so you're protecting her while encouraging him)... in short, its chaos most of the time. Good chaos, but nonetheless it makes it difficult. And the days and weeks pass. Its awful, but I'm trying to be better about taking more pictures. To help document her story and how much I love her. My first Godchild.

Speaking of my Godchild, while up in Maine at the beginning of the month we took the opportunity to take some photos of miss Aila in her Baptismal gown (made by Cheri Dauphinee) since the actual day of her baptism was very gray and cloudy (and again, busy). Isn't she such an angel?

love this shot of her tiny fingers, complete with those precious baby dimples.

the trim on her dress which is from her Nanny's wedding gown.

her beautiful diamond cross (a gift from her dad)

some more fun shots from maine.

her tiny toes.

she's always crossing her little feet

so i was glad to capture this shot.

sitting on my belly while we chill out on the bed

waiting for mom to get ready

{don't ya love that belly?}

while we were in maine, miss aila rolled over for the first time.

it might have been a fluke as i guess it was more of a fall

{i didn't witness this- matt and marilyn had her downstairs}

but then the following week she did it for real!

such a big girl

At 3 months she could stand up on her own if you hold her hands.

And as of last week she could stand up holding onto the couch for at least a few seconds, all on her own! I can't believe she's already to these stages, and yet she still seems to tiny to me.


this shot is from 7/25, willy's birthday party.
a little younger. still gorgeous as ever.

the cutest thing is that willy sometimes calls her "aila babe" (probably because kris does the same). he loves his baby sister so much. asking for her first thing when he wakes up. and saying "hi pretty girl" and kissing her many times a day.

i believe these shots were from 7/18. during a visit to matt & krissy's, uncle danny was holding aila out on the deck and she was smiling up a storm when he made faces at her. it won't take until she's old enough to ride in a go-cart, i'm sure she'll have uncle danny wrapped around her little finger very very soon.

miss aila will be 4 months old tomorrow.

and i've enjoyed each of those months getting to know you immensely.

love you aila babe!