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| I feel like she is just so joyful and ready to leap off the page here! All legs still, sweet girl. Laying on a Aden + Anais muslin swaddle blanket (similar here and here). |
With Fall in full swing, we had a busy agenda for several weeks as we approached our fifth wedding anniversary on October 13, 2017. One of the first weekends in about a month we headed to my hometown of Lexington to visit family. We needed to have Miss MCVA try on the family christening gown. We call it a christening gown as it comes from our French Creole & Acadian leg of the family so it was used for both christenings and baptisms in its lifetime.
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| My Grandmama and MCVA. Similar gown pattern here. |
My Grandmama had it ready for us to try on MCVA. It fit loosely which is wonderful as it has typically been sized to a 3-4 month old and she wouldn’t wear it in church until she was nine months old! It has a pretty simple slip and then a gown that is more like a jacket over it. I wonder if it had a hat that went with it 5+ generations ago?
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| We approximate the gown as being from 1900 when my great-great Grandmother Agnes Diard Styles was born, but possibly as early as pre-Civil War when my 3x great-grandmother Cecilia Victoria Diard was born in 1846. |
Anyway, as you can see, the lace is something else. The family story is that some group from Acadia such as women in a convent made the lace as Ursuline nuns, who brought it or sent it down to New Orleans where so much of my family was from (where there was/is an Ursuline presence as well). That is why it had maple leaves on it. They are known for their needlework and embroidery. It was a delight that my daughter fit in it!
Can you see the relief in my face?? Margaret didn’t seem to mind being in such a special dress at all!
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| MCVA’s cactus dress was by The Childrens Place. Here it is on ebaY. |
Margaret also got to meet one of her great Aunt and great Uncle who were visiting from Sarasota, so that was an added bonus to our visit to my hometown for the weekend. She really loved Auntie G’s jewelry (surprise, surprise).
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| Margaret similar Carter’s onesie here and here. They wash so beautifully and are perfect not only for sleep but also for cool mornings and evenings inside! Maurice the sock monkey is from a shop no longer in business in Lex and the closest I could find that was similar was only 20″ tall. Isn’t he handsome? Perfect little friend! |
My Mom purchased this MASSIVE monkey “Maurice” to share with Margaret on her visits to Bubba and Susu’s house. They got along fabulously from the first introductions!
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| The quilt here was handmade by one of my boarding school professors, so it’s one of a kind, sorry y’all! |
When we returned home we were able to also enjoy several local, but annually-held outings in the Charlottesville and Richmond areas. It’s one of our favorite features for living in a rural area between both metropolitan cities. We can enjoy all of them if they suit our schedule without it being a huge driving haul with the baby. One event is the Fall Fiber Festival, which is held on the property adjacent to Montpelier, the former residence of President James Madison and his wife Dolley Payne Madison (she and I are cousins!). It was later a private home owned by the DuPont family and then was turned over (appropriately) as a museum.
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| Margaret’s green bow here and pumpkin smocked bishop dress similar here. Lamb squeeze toy I cannot locate anything similar (so sorry as she loves it!!). |
The Festival shows sheep shearing demonstrations, people working with wool “fall fiber” on looms and selling their wares, and dog herding competitions. Margaret loved seeing the sheep and dogs!
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| Better shot of that sweet green hair bow. |
We had a great time celebrating our little cousin M’s birthday in early October as well! She had lots of friends over but little Margaret was the smallest of the bunch. She was shared with everyone who wanted to hold and touch the baby 😍
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| Bubble is by Rosalina Baby and sold here. It has elephants smocked on it (Roll Tide!). Bow by The Bow Fairy of RVA. |
We also were able to enjoy the Goochland Oktoberfest at the Benedictine Abbey just off the James River. It’s a beautiful spot with open spaces for people to have community events and it was a gorgeous day outside. M and I don’t drink beer and we still had a wonderful time! Little M charmed the pants off of everyone.
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| Similar plaid piece (on sale!). Bunny sold here. |
There was amazing music and good company. There were local merchants selling stuff and they weren’t annoying chain brands being generic, it was actual local vendors which was a delight. They were so friendly.
Introducing more frequent solids to her during this seventh month meant we finally had some of those gross and awe-inspiring poops people talk about. Everything about that got more interesting for us, including some messy experiences on these day trips. Thank goodness for wipes and alternative changes of clothing. A cute diaper cover had to be double bagged until we got home on the Dog Trials day as she really knocked our socks off with something gross that day! Amazing what can come out of a little person. Sorry for the 💩rant.
Milestones reached in the seventh month:
- Can self-feed some finger foods (soft carrots, “puffs”, cheese, peas are some favorites!)
- Sits unsupported
- Picks up tiny objects (the single dog hair, a small piece of lint, a single crumb, etc).
- Stands holding on to someone/something
- Scooting
- Still hates oatmeal and baby cereal by itself
- Finally said Dada! So Mama and Dada both feel special.
- Waves bye
- Lets objects go
So, really great moments happened for us in the seventh month! Next up, 8 month update.
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| Thanks for reading! (Similar swaddle blanket here) |