Giggles

Sometimes a wave of love so strong comes crashing over me that I fear my heart will burst. Since I cannot just inhale her sweetness (and believe me I have tried), I settle for blowing kisses on her perfectly soft and sweet little neck and come thisclose to dying from joy as she erupts in giggles upon giggles.




I pray that I will look back at this picture and be instantly transported to that moment. Another Tuesday afternoon at home together just doing what we do best, enjoying the little moments that add up to big ones we'll forever cherish.

9 months

Happy 9 months to our sweet baby girl!!

Favorite things about 9 months:
-she can stand up and sit back down without help
-she can cruise really quickly around furniture and will even take big steps from the coffee table to the couch
-she is better at playing by herself
-she is curious about everything, looking under furniture to see what's under there (usually a stray toy!), and really inspecting new things
-more good nights than bad nights when it comes to sleeping
-showing us her silly sense of humor
-feeding herself really well (even if she does just want CHEESE!!! and broccoli cheese nuggets)
-can drink from her cup with a straw by herself
-she likes to "shake, shake, shake" anything that makes noise
-she can share her toys with mommy and daddy and will even give you her paci if you ask for it
-she loves to sing along with music, especially at church and when we sing our naptime song

Hard things about 9 months:
-wanting to be independent but having a hard time showing us what she wants/needs
-throwing mini "fits" when she can't have something or we give her more of the wrong kind of food (this is where the signing will be super helpful, we're consistently signing to her but she is still learning how to sign back to us)
-waking up at random times in the night and it's hard to figure out what the problem is
-general sassiness/random attitude issues
-when around lots of people only wanting mom and letting everyone know it

But mostly, we LOVE 9 months! We're looking forward to lots more babbling, playing, and some possible first steps in the next month!



Uh, what?





Hey!



Having a 5 second fit?



Doing flips off the chair!

Christmas!

We had an excellent Christmas celebration this year! We knew it would be fun to have a baby around, but it was even better than expected. I would go so far as to even say it was magical.

Vi checked out the snow for the first time



We hosted the Steffey family for an overnight stay and had lots of fun playing Wii, doing makeovers, and opening tons (and tons and tons) of presents. These are just a small sample of our favorites.

Nate got a very fetching sweater/shirt combo.



I got a water bottle I've been secretly desiring for years!!!!!



Vi got personalized blocks, stacking cups, LOADS of super cute clothes, books, headbands and hair bows, and lots and lots more. Thanks Grammy and Grampy!


We ventured out into the snow for the Christmas Eve candelight service. We hung out in the back because Violet was singing SO loud! This girl loves to sing and show off her strong voice. When we got home she checked out the presents under the tree.




Our favorite Christmas present this year!


Ready to open her special present from mommy and daddy


Meeting her pal Violet. Her pal says her name, her favorite foods, and sings her lots of cute songs.


We spent most of Christmas day hopping around to see Nathan's family and it was a great day. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Tenholder we will be having lots of fun at The Little Gym and the Magic House for the next year - so exciting!! It was such a blessing to be able to spend time with so many people we love and to worship the King of Kings!

Baking

While I made and baked cinnamon rolls for friend and family ( Cinnamon Rolls 101 | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond), Vi took important calls from her paci.


Hello? Paci, are you there?

I can do it myself!

The days of pureed baby food are over at our house. While I try to figure out what to do with the leftover food I've made that's still in the freezer, Vi is enjoying cheese, pasta, chunks of fruits and veggies, bagels, broccoli cheese nuggets, and other big girl foods! As long as she can feed herself, she'll eat pretty much anything.

Fun with dad

Last week daddy took a day off of work so I could have a "mommy vacation day." Even though I couldn't really think of much I wanted to do away from my two favorite people, it was great to have a day with more flexibility than usual.

Since he was off for 4 days in a row and they spent lots of quality time together, Violet is really becoming a daddy's girl! She'll love to have him home for many more days over the holidays.

I think they look even more alike now!


Oh silly daddy!


Find the baby!

Fun with mom

A Day in the Life

In no particular order, here are some of the fun things we do during the day.


Eat yogurt for breakfast.


Go to the park if it's nice outside! We had to say bye bye to the park last week because I don't think we'll be going to the park again anytime soon!


Eat some mum-mums



Eat some puffs


Get bundled up to go somewhere


Do some laundry and hang up some diapers in the basement


Be cute


Practice drinking from a big girl cup

mom's favortites

There's nothing extra special about these pictures, but I can't help but smile when I see them!

New things!

Seeing the reflection of the Christmas tree lights in her little eyes helps us remember what Christmas is really about.




The tupperware cabinet is the bees knees!

8 months

8 months! 8 months old already!

Some of our favorite things about 8 months:
-PERSONALITY. She's sweet and sassy and knows who and what she likes. She'll smile at strangers when we're out and can give the sweetest shy smile followed by a dive onto mama's shoulder almost anywhere.
-Self-feeding. She loves to eat puffs, cheerios, and small chunks of food.
-We can see her little wheels turning when trying to do something. It's so fun to just be able to watch her figure things out.
-Taking big steps between toys. Walking is not too far off!
-Mimicking sounds. She'll squeal when I squeal, give sympathy cry sounds when other babies are crying, and even tries to say "hi" when we say it.
-Quick to learn. In a couple of minutes, she learned how to do her version of a high five. If you show her how to open and close something, she'll quickly follow suit and do it herself.
-Eager to please. She'll do just about anything to hear an enthusiastic "good job!"
-Sense of humor. Peekaboo is pretty hilarious and daddy's dancing makes her smile every time!









Shake, shake, shake!

Thanksgiving

We had a very fun Thanksgiving week. It was filled with lots of family, food, and fun. We spent Thanksgiving day with Grandma and Grandpa Tenholder. Violet was an excellent car traveler and even took a decent nap in the pack 'n' play! We played a fun game and just enjoyed being together on Thanksgiving.






Hanging out with Grandpa


The Steffey family came into town for the rest of the weekend and besides a little sickness (sorry, Grammy!) it was great to have them. We did a little photo shoot and this is one of my favorites!

Daddy!

Over the weekend Violet has really been babbling. On Saturday she starting saying "dadadadada daddy dadadada" and hasn't stopped since. She doesn't quite know what it means yet, but we're sure she'll figure it out soon! Nate is so excited and loves to hear her say dada daddy over and over again.

Eating

Vi really loves feeding herself like a big girl. She LOVES mum-mums, puffs, and is warming up to Cheerios.

Sometimes she uses the pincer grasp to show off her fine motor skills:




And sometimes she just shovels 'em in!

Sometimes

Sometimes we have a crabby afternoon. Sometimes mom will put you in the Moby wrap under a jacket and go for a walk on a blustery afternoon.


Sometimes you just put your feet up on the table and chill.

5K

Today I ran my first post-baby 5K. It was fun to be back at the Sweat 4 Pets run for the 4th year in a row. It was a big goal of mine to do this run with the jogging stroller, and I'm so glad it actually happened. It was a beautiful fall morning and Violet slept nearly the entire time. I got a pretty decent time and was happy to have some friends and my main squeeze waiting at the finish line for me.

Before the run


Just powering through the last little bit



Even a video!