Happy 9 Month Birthday!

Sweet Anna you are 9 months old today! I can't believe it!

You look so much bigger in the picture I took of you this morning, like I do every month. You are changing so much & I am loving every minute!

You are crawling like a maniac and climbing on everything. Your Daddy and I love how when you crawl to something, you get so very excited. You smile really big, tuck your head and take off so fast. You usually end up head-butting whatever is your object of affection at the moment.

It is adorable.....as are you!

I have really loved watching some of your other recent tricks as well. You have discovered how to roll your lips together (with a good amount of drool) to make funny noises. You have also started combining a grunt with a squeal. You then look at our reaction and then perform it over and again for more smiles and praise from Daddy and I.

I love you more than I can say and this last week has been really tough. You decided you weren't going to be a good sleeper for us anymore. Every time we put you down, you either immediately woke up crying or woke up an hour or so later and wouldn't be put back down. I had tried cry it out in the past with you, but you never would give up and I could never go longer than an hour and a half. After talking with your doctor, I realized that it just may take 2-3 hours. And boy did it!

It just devastated me to make you cry for so long. Every fifteen minutes when I would go in and you would cry so hard for me, it would absolutely break my heart to lay you back down without grabbing you into my arms....the arms you belong in. On Monday you cried from 11:30 until 2:00 am and I gave in. I rocked you and you instantly fell asleep in my arms. Tuesday I resolved to try again. During nap time you fell asleep nursing and then woke up. You cried almost 2 hours and then fell asleep on your own. That night you cried an hour. Today is Wednesday and you gave me the best 9 month b-day present. I put you down for your nap and you cried just one short minute. I am so happy baby girl. So proud you settled yourself and so happy for the both of us that you didn't have to cry for so long. I pray this continues.

Thankfully, during this hard time you have given me a sweet, sweet blessing. You have started babbling momoma. I know you are still young and it may not be directed at me entirely, but it sure seems like it is and it fills my heart with joy.

You are most certainly Momma's girl. While we both know you love your Daddy very much, it is a fact that you have got the Mom's. You hate it when I walk away and will most always be vocal that you would prefer me to be holding you over anyone else. Sometimes it makes it hard for me to get things done, but most of the time it just makes me feel like the luckiest, most blessed woman on Earth. And I am.

I love how much you love your brother too. Benjamin can make you smile and laugh better than anyone. When you start getting sad, he brings you toys and jabbers at you and you almost always reward his efforts with a smile. That makes he and I very happy! The look of delight you get in your eyes when you get a hold of his hair is priceless as well. It is so amazing to me how much the two of you obviously love each other and how much time you already spend together.

I am so blessed to be your Momma and Benjamin's. I love you both so very much and am so excited to see your personality continue to grow. Right now you seem to have a lot of your daddy in you and that just makes me love you all the more. I have a feeling you are going to grow into quite the amazing little girl and I am so happy I get to be right there for every moment.

I love you Cupcake!

~Momma

Christmas is Coming!!!!

We decided to put up our Christmas decorations this past weekend. I was super excited this year b/c I feel it is the first time Benjamin truly understands everything and can get excited by it all. And I was right! He loved it! He helped me put the ornaments on the tree and had so much fun and I loved having a helper!!!! He is becoming the sweetest little guy and just growing up so much! Look at this sweet face!


We then all watched the Grinch movie together, except I guess Anna more ate it than watched, but you get the idea! It was a sweet moment for Dave and I that we were all on the couch together as a family! Benjamin really liked the movie, I enjoy the message a lot more than another recent Christmas movie we watched (to be explained in a future post/rant).


I thought it was an appropriate time to take a picture of our stockings!! This is the first year we get to use all the stockings and actually spell out N-O-E-L!!!

Dave took a quick little video of Benjamin and I putting the ornaments on the tree. Please excuse all of our pj's, we were having a jammy Saturday. Also, the computer is open b/c I found a Christmas radio station that plays online (when we get festive, we do it right!!!). Now, look at my super sweet little helper........

Sometimes

With Expert Commentary

Sometimes We Are Happy
"I am such a happy kid!"
"Momma thinks my new chap stick trick is really funny! I'm pretty proud of myself!"

"I am so tickled that I pulled myself up to Benjamin's table!!! I had fun banging on the table and talking to my brother and then laughing with delight by it all!"

Unfortunately, Sometimes We Get Sad

"I don't like it when Momma puts me in timeout!"

"I really don't want my brother to hold me right now!"

Sometimes We Are Extra Pretty

"I like all my new bows!"
"Daddy says I look like a doll in this picture!"

"They're even pretty when I'm naked!"

"I got some pretty new headbands too!"

Sometimes We're Just Plain Silly

"Momma went out with her girlfriends and when she came back I saw this bag in her hand. I asked, 'what you have for me Momma?' She gave me the bag to look and see and I saw a chocolate doughnut! I then proceeded to eat the whole thing over the bag (so as not to spill the crumbs) in about a minute and a half, even though it was 9:30 at night and way past my bedtime! What I don't know is that the doughnut really wasn't for me (it was for Daddy) and Momma just couldn't resist making me happy!"

"Unfortunately, this is my new expression. That and grunting really loud and then smiling over my success! Momma says they both aren't very lady like. Oh, well!"

"I see you!"
"Please leave my hair (and me for that matter) alone and let me play in the bath!"

"Headbands are way more fun to eat than wear!"

"You can't hear it, but I'm making a really fun noise!"

And No Matter What, We Always Like To Have Fun

"Look at me, I can stand and pull up on everything!!!! The world is mine!"

"I love my new guitar and want to take it everywhere with me! I even asked to take it to church this morning. Momma said no, that I could play with it when we got back. My response.....'No? Okay Momma. Leave it here and play with it after church. Okay, Momma?'"

"He He! My big brother is taking a nap and doesn't know that I've got his beloved new guitar!!!!"

Our Strawberry Shortcake

On Friday, Dave and I were supposed to go on a date (we've only gone on one since Anna was born) and were pretty excited. Unfortunately, Anna got sick (and still is) so we didn't get to go. :( We rented a movie and made chocolate covered strawberries to have a little pseudo-date at home after the kids went to sleep. While we were making them a little date-crasher woke up. :) So we let her be our third wheel, like we usually do! :) Anyway, we discovered that Anna LOVES sucking on strawberries!!!


Then on Saturday, Dave and Benjamin got to go to their first basketball game together! They had a lot of fun and Anna and I got to have some quality girl time!!!

"Please Can I Go Outside Momma....

I don't care if it's raining!!!!"

Fall Down!

"Please!"

Bye bye swaddling blanket! We don't want you anymore!!! *Fingers crossed*

PS Dave made me change this picture to the one he liked best (of HIM). He's so vain! :)

While the Cats Away.....

The Mice Will Play and Other Recent Happenings

Benjamin LOVES, LOVES "Animal Movie" (known to most at Madagascar). It is so fun to see him watching it....he bursts out laughing and sings along to "Like to move it, move it!" So when I found out they were releasing a new one, I knew we had to take him. I suggested we get a babysitter for Anna and both go with him, but Dave said I should take him and he would get some quality time with Anna. So Benjamin and I went on a wonderful "date" on Sunday and saw it at the "big movie theater". Benjamin really enjoyed himself! The movie was really good and the popcorn and candy were yummy. All in all it was a wonderful "date"!!! :)

Anna has started climbing on everything (toys, couches, people, etc). I thought it was cute the other day when she climbed on Benjamin's tool bench and the two of them were playing together!

She was cute climbing on Benjamin too!

They love each other so much! It makes my heart just SWELL up when I see them loving on each other!

Apparently my stomach is a fun place to play. Benjamin climbed on top of me and sat (err jumped) on my belly and wanted me to take a bunch of pictures of him. Being the great Momma I am, I obliged! :)

Believe it or not, I took this picture of both of them on my stomach! Lately, when Anna cries Benjamin runs and gets her cup for her! My little paternal one!

If you're wondering how my mice were playing while I was away, here's my proof. I had a Mom's night out and I came home to this incriminating evidence......

Pictures of Benjamin picking his nose........

and video of a 2 year old wrestling a poor, defenseless baby! :) I guess the only thing that counts is that everyone was still in one piece when I got back!

Anna was sick over Halloween so I didn't give her a sucker like I did to Benjamin on his first Halloween. Now that she is all better, Benjamin was sweet enough to share one of his suckers and Anna got to have her first!!! :) She enjoyed it!

Silly Boy, Girly Girl

First off, these are just some cute pictures of my kiddos playing. Anna was sitting in the kitchen playing with a ball and Benjamin came right up on his own and put their legs together and was rolling the ball to her! It was really adorable!

The whole girly thing has been slow going with me having a daughter. I didn't really get into dresses and tights until recently. And I hadn't done any bows or headbands. Yesterday, Anna was awake while Benjamin napped (thankfully they usually sleep at the same time) so I got out some that had been given to us and played around with them. The bow wasn't very good at clinging to her thin hair, so I ordered one and a few headbands yesterday. But here's what Anna looks like when we're being girly!

On Friday Benjamin and I were sitting on the couch and he was making a silly face, so I got the camera and told him to make faces for me. He went to town and without further ado here are The Many Silly Faces of Benjamin.....

Friday evening we headed to Bloomington and got to eat dinner with Mike. We ate at a yummy vegetarian restaurant! :) Benjamin was sooooo happy to get to see his uncle Mike!