7 months

AHHH!! 7 months! Wow wow wow. You try to prepare yourself with your second child cause you know it goes by fast but dang. I can't believe how fast time is flying. Gracelyn is 7 months old. In the last month she has been sitting up and playing by herself. And has started crawling! I thought she might reach milestones sooner than Isaac but she's reaching them really fast! She's very jerky with her movements but she makes sure to practice every day, haha!

                                       Isaac wanted me to take his picture too lol

 She's been trying a lot of new foods. We are doing more of a baby led weaning approach simply because its easy for us to eat while she plays with her food. She's not a big fan of purees anyway! I've also added dairy back into my diet and she has definitely been more gassy but she just farts and is happy. I just can't overdo it!

 Wearing her is the best way to get anything done! We tried a back carry for the first time and she loved it!

I love dressing her up for church! After we got to church we realized she'd had a huge blow out diaper in the car seat so I had to change her. Womp womp. Thank the Lord for Oxyclean!

7 months has gone by so fast and our little girl is so sweet. I'm looking forward to making more memories with her

12 months.

One year ago today I was in the hospital watching a marathon of Flip or Flop on HGTV waiting until it was time to start pushing. I remember joking around and feeling really good for the most part. I was excited. Finally after a few hours of pushing and one C-section later I heard my baby boy cry for the first time. And then I started crying and I remember the nurse asking me if they were happy tears. Of course they were.

Isaac, this first year of your life has been the happiest of mine. The moment I found out I was pregnant changed me forever. Being your mom is what I feel I was born to do. Your toothy grin will light up a room. I can't count how many times complete strangers have come up to compliment you to me. If its not you're reddish hair (still not sure where that came from) then its your laugh or just adorable expressions. My hope for you is that you will love people around you and treat them kindly. That God will use you for his Glory. This parenting thing isn't always easy but your Dad and I are doing our best. Here are some of the things you can do today.
- Say Mama
- Walk assisted with a walker or holding our hands
- Clap
- Eat whatever you want
- One of your favorite toys is to play with the real remote to the TV. Not the old one that I want you to play with.
- You love to play chase
- You have 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom. With 2 more coming in on the bottom.
- We are no longer breastfeeding and you seem fine with it
- We are about to be done with bottles very soon.
- You love to drink Mama's kale smoothie
- You love books much to my delight.
- You have started swimming lessons

These are just a few things. I will try to cherish every moment with you and take nothing for granted.

I love you with all of my heart.

10 months.

I almost forgot to post Isaac's 10 month update! With everything going on it almost slipped my mind.
His first birthday is right around the corner and at this point last year I was large and very uncomfortable. Blows my mind. He is growing so fast and I cant stand it! He loves to pull up on all furniture. I don't think he'll be walking anytime soon because he cant keep his balance so he falls down a lot! He loves to eat everything and is breastfeeding less and less. I'm not sure if its a good or bad thing to wean from breastfeeding during a move but it looks like that's what is happening. He crawls and gets into everything! This will be our last milestone in Houston! I guess I better start planning his first birthday party!

9 months.

9 months.

I don't want to believe it. 9 months has passed since I gave birth to the little boy that has stolen my heart. In some ways it still feels like yesterday. He is 23.9 lbs, 30.5 inches long and in the 95th and 99th percentile for weight and height. We had to upgrade his car seat from the infant seat to a convertible car seat. Babies R Us has a trade-in program right now where you trade in the old car seat for a new one and get 25% off. And I actually had a hard time trading in his infant seat. It forced me to realize he is quickly approaching toddlerhood. I develop sentimental attachments to things really easily. I mean, we brought him home in that seat. Justin could tell I was having a hard time as we were standing in line to check out and he quickly offered to forget about the savings and just keep the car seat. I thought about it for a minute but I had already decided that we would go ahead and trade it in. Sure, we could probably get another use out of it before the expiration date but I knew I would probably want a "fresh" one for the next baby anyway. So I let the cashier take our first car seat away. I don't know what they do with them but it was hard for me to walk away and leave it. I'm so ridiculous.

One of my coworkers just had her first baby last week. I tried to tell her how fast time flies. One minute you have a small snuggly bundle and the next a squirming toddler sized infant that is trying to get away from you and crawl towards an electrical outlet. I don't know why out of everything in the room he goes to the plug of shock and death first.

In the last month Isaac has learned to go from laying down to sitting up on his own, crawling and saying "mamamamama". So maybe he hasn't completely associated the word "Mama" with me but we are still counting it as his first word. He has 4 teeth, his lower and upper centrals. He is still breastfeeding but gets a couple bottles of formula throughout the day as needed. He eats most table food. Pretty much whatever we eat he eats too. The only foods I keep away from him are nuts, fish, and egg whites due to potential allergens if you introduce it before 1 yr of age. And I try not to give him too much processed foods like crackers and sugary things. We are working on learning how to use sippy cups but for the most part he isn't interested.

I want time to slow down as always but I try to just enjoy the moments I have with him. 

Growth Spurt.

In one week Isaac has learned how to sit up on his own, has started crawling, and is cutting 2 more teeth. Among the other chaos we've had going on you could definitely say it has been quite the week. On top of that Justin was sick, and I've caught whatever it was. Isaac hasn't been feeling well and I'm hoping its just teething and not the crud that's circulating around the house. I could really use a weekend to lay low and just catch up on some rest and relaxation. Isaac is supposed to take some pictures this weekend depending on if he feels ok.

Hopefully we all feel ok and get over this sickness soon!

8 months.

Time is flying by. I know I say this all the time but its true. I have an 8 month old. We are approaching the one year mark rapidly. His personality is developing more and more every day and boy is he funny. He loves to do this smile where he sort of snorts at the same time. I don't know how else to explain it other than CUTE! He isn't crawling yet ( and I'd like it if people would stop making me feel like he's behind!) but he can get up on all 4's and rock. He scoots backwards instead of forwards. What can I say? He does things a little different. He has 2 teeth. When that 2nd tooth was coming in he let everyone know that he didn't like it. Only 18 more baby teeth to go :-/

He's somewhere around 23.5 lbs. He can wear some 18 month clothing and his 12 month clothing is looking tight and short in the legs. He's gonna be tall!

Don't eat in front of him unless you give him something to eat too. He will get very upset! 

Yummmm broccoli!!

He is a routine baby. Break his routine and it aint pretty. The kid likes his own crib and doesn't travel well. He may have Justin's good looks but he's definitely got some of my personality. Sorry kid. 

He is still sleeping in his Zipadeezip and every once in awhile he will give me 7 hours a row. And it is gloriouussss. 

He is a joy. People ask me how I like staying home with him all day and what do I do, etc. I get to hang out with him and watch him grow. He makes me laugh and I love making him laugh. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything and that's truly a blessing. This time is so short and I want to absorb it all.