Nine Months Old!

Anabelle's caption: "I can't believe I am NINE MONTHS OLD!!!"

We can't believe it either, baby. But you sure are pretty! And growing so quickly.
And mommy & daddy finally got smart. We put the sign in a plastic display holder so you can't crumble it up and eat it.

Miss Anabelle turned 9 months old last week. At her well baby visit (this week), she weight 24.6 lbs and was 30 inches long. We asked where that put her on the charts, and she is off of them. Dr. Miles said "above 95th percentile" and showed us the chart where her dot was nowhere near the shaded area.

She's a big girl! People tell us that all the time... "Wow, she's a healthy girl!" "She doesn't miss a meal, does she?" "Look at those cheeks!" "What are you feeding her, mom?" The list goes on. She started off big (almost 9.5lbs) and has maintained a healthy gain. Her pjs are now 18 months. But she is awesome. We wouldn't ask for anything different. She makes our faces and our hearts smile on a daily, usually hourly, basis. We love her laugh, her smile, her silly faces, her intelligence, her squeals, her chubby baby thighs, her kisses and on and on. Happy nine months, baby, to all of us!

Euchre Nights

Once a month for we get together with our friends, the Harberts, Lands and Jameses to play Euchre. We look forward to it each month even though we have only gotten to play Euchre about 1/4 of the time in the past year. It's mostly because we have added four babies to the crew since May. There are now six kids to look after, under the age of 2 1/2! It's a wonder we even have played one game of Euchre.

It's also funny to realize that throughout our foursome friendship, at least one of us has been pregnant or nursing the entire time. At one point, we all were!

While the girls and I got food set up and were standing around chatting, here's what the daddies were doing...

And this photo was so exciting to get! All six kids ready for bed, all sitting still, all happy, all looking at the camera. I don't know when it will happen again, but it is priceless!

Left to Right: Abby (4mos), Sarah (2yrs), Anabelle (9mos), Lily (2yrs), Violet (6wks), Connor (5mos)

...After reading Heather's blog, I realized ages would be nice to add...

Life with my Baby

Our nap times are so short, as you already now. And a fourth ear infection has increased Anabelle's need for me to be near her right now. My mom reminded Katie and me of this sweet poem. And now it's my life theme:

I hope my child looks back on today
and remembers a Mom who had time to play
There will be years for cleaning and cooking
But children grow up when we are not looking
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
Cuz babies grow fast, we learn to our sorrow
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep
I'm cuddling my baby, and babies don't keep

I'm off to cuddle, play and love on my girl.

If you give a baby a toy...

she'll play for 5 minutes.



If you give a baby and entire toy box, she'll play by herself forever.

Well, maybe not forever, but for a much longer time! Since she doesn't nap well, I've been trying to figure out ways for her to stay entertained for longer so I can get things done during the day. She's also going through a clingy phase, so I need to be in sight often. I could keep her occupied for a while with different toys or a video, but after 5-10 minutes she needed interaction.

After watching her continually crawl to our "toy box" (or wire cubby thing we're using temporarily) multiple times, I decided to bring the toy box to her. I set it on its side so she could get to every toy inside and VOILA, she was happy for an hour! I was in and out, hanging nearby, but she loved having access to so many fun things. And I was happy to have extra freedom.

These PJs Were Made for Walkin

and that's just what they'll do.

Not Just for Kids

We snuck in a few minutes of play time in the snow, too.

Baseball...

And snow angels...

Snowy Day

We were so thankful to be home together on Presidents' Day! Mike, being a kid at heart, could not resist staying out of the snow any longer. So, we made it a play day and introduced Anabelle to the fun that can be had in the snow.



Daddy sat her down in the snow first. She really wasn't sure what to think.
Checkin out the cold stuff while nobody was looking...

All in all, she had a good snow day. If we could just get a sled, we know we, I mean she, would have even more fun!

Jump and Giggle

This is a few weeks old, but I am so slow to download my videos. Just watch and enjoy. This girls brings us SO MUCH JOY!!!

Progression

Our house is [finally] coming along. As Mike likes to say, we're four weeks in and three and a half weeks behind. Snow and ice have been major contributors to the delay, but what's a few weeks in light of a lifetime of a solid foundation?

We drive by our lot almost on a daily basis, and for a while it was a bit depressing. But this week we have seen major progression. The basement floor has been poured, walls built and filled, and the first floor is completely framed out. Tomorrow, the second level floor should be built, and the basement stairs should be started soon. We are *SO* excited. Here's our sweet little home so far.
And in the meantime, while we wait for our home to be built, we are living awfully close to Papa & Mimi. It has been a blessing for all of us to be near eachother. Papa is continuing to teach Anabelle new tricks. One of his new favorites is blowing in her face. She giggles so sweetly when he does it.

NINE?

I just got an e-mail from Babycenter.com saying "Your baby is 9 months old." NINE? I have no words, just a few mommy tears...

Bubbly Girly

Splashing in the "new" jacuzzi tub has made Anabelle's bath times so much fun. She especially likes the massive amount of toys that fit in there and how many bubbles are produced when the jets are turned on. Its purpose has officially progressed from cleaning to entertainment. Fingers and toes get pruny. Hair gets bubbly. And toys get a workout!

She especially enjoys the big bath without the bath seat. But after five or ten minutes of bending over the side of the tub, we quickly feel the aches of being "old." And then we're thankful for the bath seat.

After-bath is just as fun. She loves reading her Nemo book, and we love lotioning her all up.

Date Night

Saturday night, we had a grown-ups' night out as we attended a Rotary dinner and auction to raise money for life saving surgeries for children internationally. Fabulous. Sweet Auntie Abby came to stay with Anabelle so Mike and I could enjoy a wonderful evening out, even getting to dress ourselves up.

We traveled in an entourage that included Papa and Mimi, who invited us to the auction.
Tio was in charge of the evening, so Tia went with us to the event.

The evening was amazing. Not only did we get to dress up and enjoy dinner and drinks with movers and shakers of the area, we also were able to support the efforts of Rotary. Two little girls, one from Afghanistan and one from Haiti, were there to thank the club for their surgeries, which afforded them their lives. It was moving, to say the least. We were thrilled to be part of such an honorable event.

My Valentines

I am so thankful for and so blessed by my Valentines!

Rubber Ducky, You're the One

A sneak peek at how much fun bath time is!

Laundry Help

Anabelle's nap times have gradually decreased from 45 minutes to 35 minutes to now 25 minutes per nap. It drives me crazy because I can't do anything productive, really, in 25 minutes! So, I put her to work helping me with laundry yesterday. She seemed to enjoy it!

As long as she's happy and sleeping 12 hours at night, I refuse to complain too often about her lack of napping.

Attn: OLD NAVY shoppers!

Thanks to Money Saving Mom, I found a great deal at Old Navy that's good through February 4th. Had to pass it on to you!

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