11 Months

Yesterday was AR's 11 month birthday!  We all know that means the next monthly update will be the big one year!!  I feel like I just got accustomed to the fact that we actually have a baby... now a one year old?!  C.R.A.Z.Y - but so exciting!

This was by far the hardest monthly picture for me to get... this girl is quick when it comes to rolling over and getting away now.  I tried giving her various items hoping she'd lay there for a minute, but a couple seconds were all I could get.  Her next, and last, picture should be interesting as well.

This picture shows how long she is.

"Mama, I don't have time for this... there are shelves to clear off!"

She loves to play and chew on "real" spoons... whatever works, right?!

At  11 Months AR:

-has eight teeth!  4 on top and 4 on the bottom

-talks all the time and is quit loud... her favorite sound to make sounds like "a-sha"

-sleeps from 8-6:45/7ish

-was nursing 4 times, but we plan to switch the evening one to a sippy cup tonight as she has a hard time focusing on it now

-still loves to eat, especially loves strawberries and shredded cheese

-takes a morning nap and evening nap

-is very interested in other babies and children

-squeals all.the.time

-loves her walker and gets very excited when she's using it

-cruising like a pro... has moved from furniture to using walls now

-wearing all 12M clothes so it's a good thing it's been warm since most of her clothes are for summer

-knows what "dance" means and does it!

-can "find mama's nose" when asked

We're getting ready for Easter around here!

She's cute and I think she knows it!

"See ya later!"

Reading "Pat the Bunny".  She loves the hole that you are suppose to put your finger in.

Who would have thought we'd think that was a lot of hair?!  Well, we do!

We also want to wish a very special "Happy Birthday" to Donna today!

10 Months

Wow, 10 months, really?!  Two months away from turning 1!

Let me catch you up on AR!

Stats at 10 Months

Weight:  20lb 14oz (we had a sick doc appt on Tues and this was her weight in a dry diaper and onsie)

-crawling and cruising everywhere!

-wearing all 12M pj's and some everyday clothes

-has 5 teeth, 2 on top and 3 on bottom

-likes to clink her teeth together which gives me the chills

-is currently on meds for her 4th ear infection and we go to see the ENT next week

-loves her food, including shredded cheese, sweet potato fries, chopped up grapes and blueberries, and cheerios

-finally dropped the 3rd nap for good

-loves to clap... all the time and everywhere!

-starting to "point" at things, though she using her whole hand

-more willing to go to people other than me when they reach for now... that is, if she knows them!

 Just so you believe me when I tell you that these pictures are getting harder and harder to take, please view these:

Also at 10 months, AR:

Finally got the sippy cup down pat and loves drinking her water!

Is a silly girl!  This is her new travel pillow that we haven't had the chance to try out yet!

Is filling that head up with some hair!

Has figured out how to stand up in her sleep sack and sometimes gets it unbuttoned

Loves table food!

9 Months

AR had her big 9 month birthday yesterday!  It's so strange to think that this time last year I was starting to have baby showers and bringing all this new stuff into our house... stuff we can't ever remember not having and using!

When I took her 9 month pictures, she wasn't in the best of moods which is why there isn't one of her smiling and also the reason she's holding my phone.  :)

 Stats at 9 Months

Weight:  20lb 2oz (74%)

Height: 29.8 in (101%)

Head: 46.4cm (96%)

What she's up to these days:

-nurses 4 times and has 3 meals with each of those

-trying more and more table foods, loves crackers and bread (and maybe a Wendy's Frosty... just guessing that she would had she tasted one)

-has gone from pulling up onto knees, to crawling, to sitting up on her own, to pulling up onto her legs in a matter of about a week this month

-suffers from separation anxiety from her mother (we hope this ends soon)

-naps 2 to 3 times... we are in the process of dropping the evening nap but it depends on our day and how well the morning nap went or if she even got it

-vocab includes:  da, ma, na, ba (she typically picks one and repeats over and over), she also says "eh" and "duh" and will say it back and forth to you

-I do not believe that she quite has down "mama" and "dada" for us yet, but "mamama" is what she says when she is hungry or sleepy

-holds her hand straight out at others or herself, which I believe is her wave

-sleeps 11-12 hours at night

This is what the majority of her pictures looked like.

This past month has probably been the biggest developmental wise.  As you read above she's crawling and pulling up on everything that she can.  She especially loves our ottoman, I think the leather is easier for her to grasp.  She is also learning about the word "no" and it's consequences.  We have both made her cry already this week but we can tell that she's def. picking up on it.  Our biggest issue is that she wants to play with the gas logs.  Until she learns it's off limits, she can be upset every time we tell her no and move her.

We celebrated her birthday by getting her a new car seat!   Ours goes to 30 inches and we can see she's pretty much there!  We plan to install it this weekend and I really think that she'll like it so much more.  It's a bit bittersweet leaving the carrier car seat though!

"Daddy, you know I'm too big for this thing!"

Below are some pictures of our baby girl from the past couple weeks!!

Playing peek-a-boo!

Waking up from a nap.  I have to take a moment to tell you how much I LOVE this sleep sack that my friend Donna brought us all the way from France.  When we don't put her in it, it takes her a while to fall asleep and then she moves all night and wakes up early.  I think that she associates it with sleep and therefore just knows it's time to go to sleep and she does.  Donna, if we have a boy down the road, you will have to get us another one unless you really want him to sleep in this one!!

When she isn't in the sleep sack I find her like this in the morning!  (please note that she's in her pack'n'play b/c of my incisions and it makes it much easier for me to pick her up)

If there is something that she wants she can crawl and get it!

Happy girl!

She loves to flip through hard books and does so quite often.  This is also a good picture to let you see that we do have progress on the hair, slow but surely!

On her knees all the time!

 I'm sure I have forgotten something!  Her next update with weight and height will be her 1 year!  Can you believe it?!?! 

8 Months

Here is our 8 month update!!

Stats at 8 Months:.

-no doc. appt, so we will have to wait until her 9 month check up to see how much she is growing!

What she's up to these days:

-uses rolling as her main source of transportation, which doesn't always get her exactly where she wants but gets her far from where she was!

-still sleeping 12 hours, give or take

-still nursing 4 times a day, 3 with solids

-pulling up onto her knees and onto her feet if you give her your hands to hold on to

-loves to look at herself in the mirror

-has more fuzz coming in on that head of hers!

-sits up without falling except for very rare occasions

-goes from sitting to her belly with no problem, just can't get those legs to crawl (which I am okay with, please take your time!)

-still takes 3 naps, though she'll sometimes skip that morning one if we are out running errands or she's in the nursery at church

-won't keep a bow on her head anymore which means I'm often told how cute "he" is... I just smile and go on

We can't wait to tell you about our first Christmas with this little girl!!  She's the best present we could have asked for this year!!

7 Months and Much, Much More!

Let us catch up!!  We have all been out of town this past week and I'm just now getting around to getting my pictures uploaded and therefore it's time to update the blog!  Note, this is about 3 blogs in one so I apologize beforehand!

Last week, William and my dad went on a bird hunting trip to Kansas.  They left on Saturday and didn't return until Sunday morning.  Since William was gone we decided it would be a nice time to visit with some family.  On Saturday, we headed to Mimi's  house and stayed a night there.  They had to feed the college students at church so we helped with that and then headed to GA to visit with Mollie, Chad, Grayson, and Caroline.  We stayed there until Wednesday.  We had lots of fun with the cousins and the mama's were able to get some shopping and sewing done thanks to Mimi who kept all 3 a few different times! 

The three cousins having fun

AR's first "pick-up food" - puffs.  We were laughing at her b/c it looked a tooth.

While showing Mimi something on the computer I heard AR fussing a bit.  When we finally got in there we found this - Grayson trying to love on her b/c she was upset, though she probably wasn't feeling the love.

Uncle Chad was giving Grayson a horsey ride and he [Grayson] wanted "AbbRuf" to join!

Wednesday evening we headed to Lovey's with Aunt Katie for the rest of the weekend.  Katie had to leave the next day though because she got a job!  While we missed her greatly, we are so thankful that she has a new job and know that she will do great at it!  We had some more fun with Lovey and I was able to get even more sewing done! 

She was loving this mirror so much that I moved it to the living room later.  I see Katie's wedding dress back there!

Up close and personal with the mirror

Two of the shirts I've made for Abby Ruth.  The green one was one that Mollie and I both made for the girls' birthday this April!

I found these pants at a consignment sale and knew that I wanted to make a top to match them for Christmas.  Mollie and I made matching tops for the girls.

Close up of the top

I finally got around to making pants to match the giraffe shirt (for the 2nd time that is).  I have really learned a lot about sewing these past few weeks as I've attempted pants and ruffles.  I was really pleased with these and plan to make more.  Let's just hope that they fit at the same time as the shirt does :)

On Sunday we were so happy to see William!!  Glad they returned home safely!

On Sunday, AR was 7 months old, but of course I haven't gotten around to taken her picture until today.  So here is her monthly update just a few days late.

 Stats at 7 Months:

No doc. appt.

What she's up to these days:

-Sitting up on her own, only falling over once or twice during the day

-Nurses 4 times a day and eats solids 3 times

-Loving her toys

-Sleeps from about 8am-8pm, give or take

-Reaches out to be picked up now (and who can resist!)

-Rarely wears socks because they are meant to be pulled off, didn't you know?!

-Still just has two bottom teeth but they show more and more each day

Some other pics to help you catch a glimpse into our lives:

There are those two teeth!  She doesn't always show them and I was only able to catch a pic while she was upset.  I promise that I didn't upset her to take it though!

We recently returned this swing and I wanted to see what AR looked like in it as she hasn't used it in a couple months.  Her feet were hanging over, it had to be put on the highest speed (which use to send her flying), and she was trying to grab things outside of the swing the entire time.  We thoroughly enjoyed it when she did fit in it though!

Whenever we put this toy infront of her now, she just pulls it over and chews the handle!  Won't be long until she's using it as a walker though!

Somehow I totally missed this, but while sitting on the couch I looked at her and she was in her bumbo and chewing the wheels of this toy, then I looked back at her a few minutes later and this is how she was!!

Love my baby girl!

She loves pulling her toys out of a basket.  This picture is funny b/c that blue cup is actually in midair.

Incase you were wondering how the hair was coming... or not coming!  I've always found bald babies cute though!

Another thing we've been working on was an old window for the mantel.  The window actually came from the house my daddy grew up in.  William sanded it down and stained it for me.  He also had mirrors put in and I L.O.V.E it!!  I'm going to do some other things for my mantle too, but that will have to happen after Christmas!

Before we had this picture that William had bought soon after buying this house.  Some of you may recognize it if you go to the same obgyn as me... which made it all the more reason to get it replaced, haha!

And afterwards!  I also made this wreath thanks to Pinterest.  William inserted a hook on top of the window so that I can change out wreathes throughout the year!  Didn't he do a wonderful job?!