9 And 10 months

The past month was so crazy I completely forgot to post. We were just having too much fun as a family. You are now 10 months old and have grown and done so many things!! (you were 9 months on July 14th, and won't be 10 months until August 14th, but I'm posting this a little early) Stay tuned for her 10month picture with her bear, when she is "officially" 10 months old.

Our darling Alethea,
       If I thought you were crawling last month, man how you have surprised me. You are so quick! I am amazed at how fast you can crawl around on those little legs of yours. You love to sneak out of the living room and bolt right for Wallaces' food and water bowl. Not only do you love to go after his bowls and toys but you LOVE to chase him! Some days you and Wallace will spend what seems like hours chasing each other back and forth in the hallways and playing together. Wallace is very nice to you even though you are still learning to not pull his fur too hard. I am so thankful that we have you and Wallace and that you are able to have a play mate at home.

Her favorite spot in our hotel room while in Michigan. 

     There has been so many new things these past two months! You have now taken 2 trips to Michigan (over 8hours) and have done wonderful! We left in the middle of the night so you would sleep at least one way, and then on the way home we would usually do the trip in two days. You were great with the adjustments and all the new people, but did have some trouble sleeping. Most nights you ended up in bed with mommy and daddy, which was fine with me. :) I know there are only going to be so many times that you will be little and want to cuddle and sleep with us and I am glad to soak them up!

You would never know she had a fever in this picture...

     Some new things that you are now doing; climbing stair, eating solid food, giggling, and saying "da". You are talking so much more now! You say "mama", are working on "da da" and scream A LOT! Screaming is your main form of communication and we are trying to fix that. You have been great at learning signs and love your signing videos. You understand most of the signs you have been taught, and can sign 1 so far. (all done) We are hoping that as you continue to sign more the screaming will decrease. (not all the screaming is bad, most of it is for fun)

Crawling on the bed.. an everyday occurrence

     You have a new favorite toy! You use to love these wiffle balls that you loved! You would carry them around with you all over the house and even sleep with one, but not any more. You are now into books. You of course, have your favorite books but love them all. It is so great to see you sitting on the floor flipping through the same 2 books over and over again. Right now you love the 'pop up' book where the pages flip open. I hope that we will be able to get you some more like that since you love opening and closing the flaps so much! You also have your favorite book that you sleep with, and flip through as you are falling asleep. I love that you are into books and hopes this continues and is something that we can share together; a love of books!

after eating a cold ice cube

     I can't believe that you will soon by a year old. This past year has just flown by and you have grown so much! I can't wait to see how much you will grow in the next 2 months, but am also excited to just cherish the time we have together now. We love you so much Alethea! You are a light in this world and bring so much joy to not only us (your parents) but to everyone you interact with. It is wonderful to see how God is already using your life for His glory at your young age. God uses EVERYONE for His glory and you are proof of that. We love you so much sweetie!!

Here are the few Attempts of trying to get her to sit still for her 9 month picture.. thought everyone would enjoy the candid shots

Mama!!

Mama mama mama! I have been waiting my entire life to hear that word come from my child and the day has finally come. Alethea now says "mama"!!!!

She has said "mmmm" for a long time but didn't put the syllables together until last week. On July 4th she said "mama". We were in the car driving to Michigan and while Jacob was filling up the car I hear "mama" from our little girl. I thought I heard wrong at first and made Jacob come over to listen and confirm that she was saying. "mama". She hasn't stopped saying it yet. Not only is she saying "mama but she has started calling for me. (saying mama as she looks for me then crawls and lifts her arms up to be held). Hearing those words and knowing she is referring to me is one of the best feelings in the world!!

Now to work on dada.....

Crawling?

Friday June 1st. Alethea was 7 1/2 months old. The day it all began... (sorry this is late in posting)Check it out here...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8jOGvvyGDs&feature=youtu.be

Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to the best Dad!!

Jacob,
I always knew you would be the best dad ever! Ever since I saw how you much you love the family of 7, and loved taking care of their children. I always dreamed of what type of father you would be, and you have lived up to and exceeded those dreams. You love to be with Alethea and have done such a great job at being her daddy. I can't wait to see your relationship grow and for Alethea to become a true "daddy's girl". Enjoy these great Daddy-daughter moments!!

Park

One of our favorite family activities to do (when its not too hot) is to walk down to the local park. When we first moved to St. Louis, Jacob and I always talked about pushing our children on the swings at this park. We love that we are now able to live that dream!!  We try to take Alethea to the park once a week (again depending on the weather) and she LOVES IT! She loves to sing and go down the slides!  Here are some pictures from our various trips to the park.

And...

And....

the semester is almost over!! Only 2 days of classes left and 2 exams then I will have my hubby home for 3 weeks!!! Yay!! Can you say "time to tackle the to do list"! (oh and apply to some jobs)

Alethea is starting to crawl!! No she is not crawling on her knees but she is defiantly moving. She scoots all around and gets up on her hands and knees and starts rocking. My prediction is she will be crawling constantly by the end of the month. Not sure if I am ready for this yet... Its so nice to just set her down and know she can't move (far), but not anymore

The biggest news.... I have a job!! yay!! This is something that we have been praying for for months! God provided at just the right time (Jacob's job is done for the summer). I am so thrilled that God provided this job for me at just the right time. I will be watching 2 girls 3 or 4 days a week. I will be able to take my sweet Alethea with me, which is a HUGE blessing!! So starting on the 14th, I will be babysitting a 2 year old, 10month old and 7 month old! It will be crazy but so much fun!! I can't wait!!

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

Water Play

A few weeks ago I decided that Alethea was finally old enough to do some water play! While I worked at the daycare I got a lot of great activity ideas for infants and now that Alethea is old enough I'm thrilled to start doing some! One of the great ideas is water play! I just put some water into a bucket with a few of her bath toys and let her spalsh around. I am hoping to find some cheap (or free) color tablets to change the water color and some foam soap and other fun bath toys to make it more interesting. Here are some pictures of our fun time playing in the water!

(do you see the little black in the background? Wallace also had fun playing in the water. He kept putting his nose in it and was trying to get her toys... apparently you can do water play for dogs too!)

First Vacation

Alethea has one of her big "firsts" at the end of March: A Vacation!! Man, was I WORRIED! Jacob and I knew that we wanted to take Alethea to visit my side of the family and to meet her great-grandma, great-pap, and other great aunts and uncles. Since Jacob had a few days off from school and work we decided to make the 10 hour drive to Pennsylvania. As I was planning for this trip, I was really worried that Alethea would not do well in the car for that long in 1 day, (I mean she was only 5 months old, and I can hardly be in the car that long in 1 day) so we decided to only drive 5 hours each day. Which to some people sounds crazy, but it worked out great!

Car Ride!

One our way to Pennsylvania, we stopped in Kentucky to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins. (sorry no pics)It was so great to see them and also to give us all a break from the car. We had so much fun and stayed up way too late, but Alethea did wonderful! The next day we headed back in the car for the rest of our journey. Alethea could make it 4 hrs (stopping at 2hrs) without much whining, but that last house was pretty bad. (very thankful we decided to drive it in  days) We had so much fun visiting my family and Alethea did wonderful! She let everyone hold her and hardly cried at all. She also did great sleeping in a different place (the country), and in her playpen for the first time. I anticipated to not get any sleep but was surprised when Alethea slept great all night! I think it had to do with her being so exhausted! We had such a great time visintg family, taking a break from school and having some much needed relaxation. We also got some good tips and ideas for our next long trip this summer to Michigan.

On our way back we stopped in Ohio to visit our "grandparents" from college. Jacob and I call them our adoptive grandparents because we spent so much time with them while we were in college. They have taught us so much and it was wonderful for them to meet Alethea. (This was a special moment for us as we weren't sure if Alethea would ever be able to meet a couple who has had such a profound impact on our lives.)

And just in case your wondering; you can TOTALLY use cloth diapers while traveling. (they actually worked better then the disposables)

Enjoy the pictures!

Great Grandma Tippy-toes

Great Pap-Pap

Our Adoptive Grandparents

Baptism

This post has been a long time coming. On January 22nd Alethea was baptized at our church.  We were so thankful that both side of the family were able to come share in this special day. Alethea's one aunt, was unable to make it but stopped by the weekend before to see her. We had a great weekend together! Here are some pictures to enjoy!

Valentines

Happy Valentines Day!! Around here we don't celebrate Valentines day, we never have. But this year is different. This year we have something HUGE to celebrate. Today is February 14 2012.

4 months ago we finally got to meet our little bundle of joy. Oh how time flies! Happy 4 months to our wonderful daughter!! (4 month post to come next week after her drs. appointment)

3 months(ish)

I know I'm WAY late on this post, but hey I was too busy playing with Alethea to write this. :)
This post was meant to be written as your 3 month old post, but now it is being written as 3 1/2 months since you will be 4 months in 2 weeks.

My Dear Alethea,

You are becoming such a sweet little girl. I love waking up everyday and seeing something new that you are doing. You have the most beautiful smile, with cute little dimples! Although you do smile at other people, you mostly smile at your mommy. Not only are you smiling, but you have started to giggle and talk. Your "talking" is just little sounds but you love to talk. When I come to get you out of bed you just look at me smile big and start talking. No matter how rough the night was, waking up to your smile and the joy you radiate when you see me just makes everything better. I can't wait to see what you start doing next!

One of your new found loves is to sit on the changing table without any clothes or diaper on. Sometime Mommy and Daddy will bring your changing mat to the couch and let you lay on the couch with us naked. As soon as we start walking towards the changing mat you stop crying and start smiling. It is such a joy to see your big smile and giggles when you know you are going to be "free" of your diaper. Not only do you like to be naked on the changing table, but it is your FAVORITE time to talk to mommy, daddy or nana. You will talk non-stop with anyone who will listen. Maybe this mean you will be a talker? (and an easy child to potty train)

There are so many new things that you are doing now! (so to other I apologize for the long post).  You have started to cry when people other than your mommy are holding you. Sometimes, (even when daddy is holding you) you will cry when I leave the room. It is so sweet to see that you know who I am and miss me when I am gone.  Right now I LOVE this! I love that you only want your mommy and that I am an instant comfort to you, but I have a feeling this will become harder as you get older.

Here is a quick (hopefully) list of all the things you are now doing:

1.scooting around on the play mat (I will put you under one toy and come back a minute later and you are either turned around or off the play mat)

2. starting to try to roll over (Right now you can get your legs and butt turned over but not quite the top half of your body. You are also really starting to enjoy your tummy time and are doing a great job building up your arm and neck muscles)

3. grasping for objects (not only are you JUST grasping for objects, but now you will hold them and put them towards your mouth to chew on. Teething maybe?)


4.  a sweet personality (I love seeing your personality evolve! You are such a good baby, not fussy [except in the early evening hours], very smiling. giggling and bashful. You love to "flirt" with the older women at church by smiling then turning your head into my shoulder. You are a laid back girl and tend to go with the flow of things. Hopefully this will continue to be true.)

5. Along with that personality come whining. (your cries have started changing to "big girl cries" and you have began to whine more because you don't like a certain position or want your mommy)

You are such a big girl! At your 3 months doctor appointment you weighted 11lbs!!! We are so proud of you to be that big!! The doctor says you are growing great and have improved amazingly since your last visit.  (at your 2month appointment you were 8.8) Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!!

Alethea's First Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We had such a fun time celebrating Christmas as a family of three and starting our own traditions. These first 2 pictures were taken by my sister Kaleigh a few days before Christmas but I wanted to post them because I thought they were SOOOO cute!!

These next pictures are of our Christmas celebrations as a family of 3 and with extended family. It is so nice to  know there are so many people who love our little family.  

After Christmas Eve Service

Alethea's new toy from her mommy and daddy

She LOVES her new playmat

My Pretty Christmas Dress!

I love to stick my tongue out

My first Dolly! Thanks Aunt Pamela!

Christmas Day!

Thank you to everyone for making this a great Christmas!