gettin' my craft on: memo boards

With inspiration from around the web at my fingertips, thanks to pinterest, I've been feeling crafty the last few weeks. Memo boards are my most recent craft of choice. They're cute, practical, simple, and inexpensive to make. What's not to love? Find an old picture frame, give it new life with some spray paint, and add one of the following:

• chicken wire and clothes pins
• leave the glass and back with cute paper or fabric
• chalkboard paint
• tin or magnetic paint
• cork
• mini clothes line

I painted this one purple and glued chicken wire to the back. Then, glued scrapbook paper pieces to clothes pins and sanded their edges.

I painted this one and added scrapbook paper and a dry erase marker. Lots more fun than a plain ol' dry erase board, and you can always change out the paper for a quick new look.

Now for my favorite, the chalkboard! I've been wanting to paint a chalkboard wall in the kitchen and/or playroom, but I decided a big framed chalkboard was a better option for now. Someday, when Carson is older, I want to create an interactive playroom wall with chalkboard, dry erase, magnet, and cork! Anyway, back to my chalkboard:) The thrift store near my house had lots and lots of various sized frames. I was excited to find a couple of really big ones.

Here it is before: a picture of a family eating dinner with Jesus behind them and gangster-looking men peeking through the windows. Alrighty.

First, I tossed the broken glass, cleaned it up, and spray painted the frame. Then, I sanded down the picture a bit, and spray painted it with a couple coats of chalkboard paint, waited 24 hours and primed it with chalk. TaDa!

I still haven't settled on a final home for it, and since it's framed and not permanent, I can try it in various spots before settling on a home!

I still haven't decided what to do with this beauty...we'll see where the crafty wind blows:)

What have you been crafting lately?

a whole year old!!!

august 2, 2011

26 pounds 7 ounces

30.5 inches

Precious Son of Mine,

I can hardly believe you are a whole year old!! I remember clearly the absolute joy and immediate love I felt for you when I held you for the very first time one year ago. What an amazing miracle and precious gift from God you were! Over the past year, as you have grown more and more each day, my love for you has also grown more and more. I am so very thankful that God has blessed me with you. Along with being Daddy’s wife, being your mama is my very favorite job! I love love love spending my days with you, watching you learn and grow and play. I am so very thankful that you are such a happy, healthy boy. You have no idea how much joy you bring to everyone who meets you!

This month you’ve continued to grow bigger and learn new things. You wear size four diapers during the day and size 5 at night. You wear 12-18 month clothes. People always comment on what a big boy you are and how healthy you look, and many people point out your adorable chunky legs! I love to squeeze them and kiss them!

Sometimes when we’re sitting in the floor playing, you crawl over and plant a big open-mouth slobbery kiss right on my mouth! It absolutely melts my heart, and I love that you are learning how to show love in new ways. You have lots of fun and like to clap, wave, point, and dance! Your knees start bending and your arms begin to wave as soon as a new song comes on. We love to watch you dance. You love photos, especially ones of you! When you see one, you excitedly point and grunt. You like to look at them up close and touch them.

You are an excellent sleeper! You take two naps each day usually for about 1.5-2 hours each time, and you sleep for 11-12 hours at night. We are proud of the good sleeper you’ve become. After a couple of books, a song, a prayer, and a few snuggles, we lay you down in your crib. The calm time together just before laying you down is so special to me. You quietly play with the stuffed animals in your bed before drifting off to sleep. You usually wake up cooing happily, ready to have some milk, and if we’re lucky, a few more snuggles, too!

Toward the end of July, Mama and Daddy were invited to attend a retreat for ministry couples. We were excited about the chance to be with mentors that we love and respect and to get to know other couples in full time ministry, but we were a little leery of being away from you, our precious baby boy, for four days and three nights. After thinking it through, we decided to go for it. The retreat was in Texas, so Pops and Granny were eager for the chance to have you stay with them while we were at the retreat!

Before we left for our trip, we switched you to your big boy car seat, and you seem to enjoy it. We left on a Sunday, and before heading to Texas, we went to St. Louis to visit Bobel and Reenie. The grownups went to a U2 concert to celebrate Bobel’s birthday and you stayed with a babysitter. I was a little bit nervous about how you would do staying with someone you didn’t know for the first time, but you did great and had fun playing with Bonnie while we were at the concert. The next day, we had fun playing with Bobel and Reenie. On Tuesday, we headed from St. Louis, MO to Royston, TX. We drove through Oklahoma so that you could mark a couple more states off your list. You’ve now been to nine states: TN, TX, AR, MO, CA, NM, KY, IL, and OK! You did great on the long road trip. We thought it was neat that you got to see both sets of grandparents in one day, your city grandparents and your country grandparents! Aunt Misty took off work so she could stay there and spend time with you, too. Before we left for the retreat, our friends, Bob and Kay, came over and we decided to give you a haircut, but this time we didn’t just trim around the edges with scissors, instead, we used clippers and gave you a short/big boy haircut. I wasn’t sure we should do it, because your head full of hair had always been such a big part of your look, but I decided to go for it, and it looks adorable. It made you look quite different. You look older, but just as cute. I think it makes you look even more like Daddy! The next day, we headed east to the Texas Hill Country, and you stayed in West Texas. We had a wonderful time at the retreat, and you had lots of fun with Pops, Granny, and Aunt Misty. You even got to go to the Mahaffey family reunion and meet lots of cousins while you were with them. They sent us lots of pictures while we were apart, and that made it easier to be apart.

After the retreat, we met you in Weatherford and spent time with some good friends before heading home. We stayed the night with the Graves and with the Riches. You had fun playing with Lynlee and Kyndall and with Jaxon. We are thankful for those two families. They have been good friends of Mama and Daddy’s for several years, and we’re thankful you can be friends with their children, too!

Being away from you for the retreat meant it was time to wean you. So, in mid-July, we started gradually replacing your nursing times with milk in a cup, and after a couple of weeks, just in time for the retreat, you were drinking all of your milk from a cup like a big boy. We worked hard to make nursing work when you were a newborn and it was a special part of our first year together that I will always treasure in my memory, but I am so thankful that you transitioned to whole milk so well and are growing up just like God made you to do! You drink a cup of milk when you wake up in the morning and after both naps. You still enjoy meal time. You’re a great eater. You love bread, crackers, and fruit. Your favorite vegetables are carrots and sweet potatoes. Your favorite meat dish is cheeseburger pie. We’re working on teaching you not to throw your food and cup in the floor, and you’re getting better.

You are still a fast crawler, but you’re walking along side a wall or table every chance you get. You hold on using only one hand now and are getting to be quite quick and steady! You still love to push your diaper box or anything else you can find: a chair, a stool, a basket, anything you can scoot and push as fast as you can. You aren’t walking all of the time, but you did take your first steps this month. While you were staying with Pops, Granny, and Aunt Misty on Friday, July 22, you took four steps, and a little while later, you took seven! We called you a little stinker for taking your first steps without us, but we were so proud of you, and it wasn’t long until we were able to see you take a few wobbly steps here and there. We are so proud of you; walking all by yourself makes you look like such a big one-year-old boy!

We celebrated your first birthday with a party on Monday evening, the day before your actual birthday. We had a cake shaped like a one and a little cake for you to smash. We also had some of your favorite snacks: watermelon, blueberries, and goldfish. Bobel and Reenie got to come to the party, and several friends from church came too: Ronnie, Angela, CW, Laquita, Lloyd, Nita, Kaye, Lindsey, Margaret, Vickie, Rick, Ann, Jon, Michelle, Tabitha, Hannah, Emma and Bo. When we first gave you your cake, you carefully picked the m&ms and icing off the edge and ate it, but with a little prompting from Kaye, you started patting the cake and quickly tore right in, making a big mess! Everyone enjoyed watching you smash your cake! Then, you opened presents and got lots of fun new toys and books! It was a special time.

The next morning, on your birthday, we greeted you with balloons and sang “Happy Birthday”. We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Bobel and Reenie stayed for a few hours and gave you a couple more presents to open. You opened cards you’d gotten in the mail from family and friends. Daddy got to stay home, so the three of us enjoyed the rest of the day playing together.

What a year! My heart is overflowing with lots and lots of love for you, Precious Boy!! We are so very thankful that you are part of our family. We pray for wisdom and discernment as we guide, love, and nurture you from a baby to a boy and eventually to a man. It is a big job and we are honored to take on the challenge!

My prayer for you is the same as it was a year ago: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God!

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Mama

O-N-E

hi, it's carson.

and i'm guest blogging for mama today!

she's doesn't blog very often,

cause i keep her pretty busy,

so i thought i would help her out.

they told me i turned one.

i didn't get it.

they said it means i've been around for a whole year.

hmm, that sounds like a really long time...

i'm still not exactly sure what it means,

but I do know that I liked it,

cause we had a party!

with lots of my favorite people

and balloons

and lot of pictures of me.

i like pictures of me.

there was something called cake.

and all of my favorite snacks: watermelon, blueberries, and goldfish.

happy

1st

birthday

carson

hmm, cake.

i've never had it, but it sure looks good.

and smells good.

i wonder what that waxy stick is?

oh no, she just lit in on fire.

what?!!

oh good, she blew it out.

that was weird.

hey, everyone is looking at me and smiling.

and singing.

i sure do like singing.

mmm, this is tasty...

i really like these little colorful circles.

i think they must be chocolate.

i think mama and daddy sneak this stuff without me sometimes.

because i've smelled it on their breathe.

well, they can forget about sneaking around anymore.

cause i'm not a baby anymore.

and i'm getting some too.

everyone is watching me

and they're actually letting me dig into this big cake thing.

all by myself.

nice.

pat, pat, pat the cake

this is awesome

thanks for the idea, Kaye:)

i like making a mess.

especially a yummy mess.

is that cake on the wall?

oops.

thanks for cleaning it up, reenie.

hey, i get some watermelon too?!

this is awesome.

hi, mama.

hi, daddy.

i can't believe you're giving me so many yummy snacks.

especially after supper.

this is awesome.

thanks.

i'm glad so many of my favorite people came over, too.

turning one is cool.

woohoo!

i thought making a mess was fun,

but, cleaning up may be even better!

mama, we should do this after every meal.

instead of you wiping my face and hands with a wet rag.

yuck. i really don't like when you do that.

this is sooo much better!

what?

the fun still isn't over?

everyone is still here!

wow, look at all of those boxes and bags.

i like boxes and bags.

ooo, they have pretty paper.

and i get to tear it up?!

awesome.

tearing paper is the best.

hey, check it out.

there are toys and books inside the boxes and bags.

nice!

really really nice!

thank you, everyone.

aww, i slept hard after all of that fun!

i slept without pants.

i don't like to wear pants if i don't have to.

what?

the fun's still not over?

they're singing "happy birthday"

cool

and putting balloons in my bed!

really cool!

now i get to check the mail.

i love to check the mail.

especially when there's something for me!

birthday cards!!

and more presents!!!

thanks for coming to my party, bobel and reenie!

and thanks for helping mama and daddy get everything ready.

thank you all for reading my very first blog post.

i'll try to calm down a bit so mama can blog more often, but i can't make any promises.

i may just have to come back and blog for her again sometime.

we'll see.

good bye, folks.

it's been fun.

eleven months

july 2, 2011

24 pounds 8 ounces

29.5 inches

Sweet Carson Clark,

June was a busy month for our family, and you continued to grow and learn during our adventures! You’re getting to be a big boy! You wear size four diapers and 12-18 month clothes.

One weekend, Reenie came and visited. She kept you while Mama and Daddy went to Nashville to go out to eat and to a concert. We had a good time, and you had lots of fun playing with Reenie.

One day you were standing up holding on the bathtub and you fell and busted your lip. There was so much blood; it scared us, but it didn’t keep you down for long. You still have a scar on your lip where that happened.

A few days later, we took a big trip! We rode on an airplane from Tennessee all the way to California. It was a 4.5 hour flight and I was nervous about how you would do sitting still in a small space for so long, but you did great! You ate snacks, read books, looked around, and even snuggled up on Daddy and took a nap. While we were in California, Daddy went to the Christian Scholars Conference and we spent time with family. Granny and Aunt Misty joined us from Texas, and we went to the mountains with Aunt Paula, and cousins: Staci, Wyatt, Racquel, Nicole, and Reid. It was beautiful there and we enjoyed relaxing and playing with cousins. You learned to climb stairs while we were there.

When the conference was over, Daddy flew back home to Tennessee, but you and I went to Texas with Granny and Aunt Misty. You did great on the plane again. You slept in my lap most of the flight. Pops didn’t know we were coming; we surprised him on Father’s Day! We had lots of fun at Pops and Granny’s house. Aunt Misty took off work for a couple more days to spend time with us. It was a special time. While we were there, you befriended their dog, Dakota. You got really excited every time you saw her, and you loved for her to lick your hands and feet. One morning while we were at their house, you woke up and just weren’t yourself. You didn’t want to play or eat, two things you normally love. Instead, you just wanted me to hold you. While I was holding you, I noticed that you felt really hot, so I took your temperature and you had a fever of 105! Poor buddy, no wonder you weren’t acting like yourself. We called the doctor and she said to take you to the emergency room. They ran lots of tests and decided you had an ear infection and strep throat. They prescribed some medicine, and you began feeling better pretty quickly, but it took several days for your temperature to go back to normal. After a few days, Pops got sick too, so Granny took us home by herself. After being gone for 15 days, we were happy to be home and see Daddy. We got back at 11:00 pm, but you woke up and crawled as fast as you could around the house rediscovering all of your things.

One of our very favorite things you learned to do this month is clapping! You love to clap, and once you begin clapping, you look around the room waiting for everyone else to join you. You’ve also started waving and pointing. You wave at people in the grocery store and they talk to you. Everyone thinks you’re so cute! You point and grunt or squeal at food and at young children. Our sweet friend Kaye is still one of your best buddies. She is your honorary Hohenwald aunt and you always have lots of fun playing with her. Your joy is contagious, and your big smile lights up the room.

You are still a curious little guy, and you love to learn about the world around you. You love to open drawers and pull everything out. You are such a fast crawler and still always crawl with your right knee down and your left foot up. You like to get a book, block, or lid to put under each hand so you can slide instead of lifting your hands and crawl even faster. You love to pull up on anything you can get a hold of and walk beside it while holding on. This month you started letting go and standing up without holding on, and later on in the month, you started standing up all by yourself without holding on. You discovered a new favorite toy this month: a diaper box! It’s the perfect height for you to stand behind and push. You love to push the diaper box and walk. Sometimes you get going so fast you’re running. It is super cute!

You got two more teeth on top this month. That makes six teeth: four on top and two on the bottom! While your new teeth were coming in, you went through a biting stage. You left bruises on Mama and Granny and you made Pops bleed when you bit him during church one day. We’ve been talking to you about not biting and you’re doing much better now.

You nurse four times a day, once before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and again at bedtime. You’re enjoying lots of different foods, too. You’re such a big boy and don’t eat any pureed food anymore. You like to eat table food like Mama and Daddy. You tried pancakes, pizza, and ice cream for the first time this month. Your favorite foods are saltine crackers, goldfish, watermelon, blueberries. When we take them out, you squeal, shake, and point with excitement and anticipation! It is fun to see you so excited! When you’re ready for more food, you point and squeal or grunt to show us what you want. You still drink water from a sippy cup with a straw and throw it on the floor when you’re finished.

We planted a garden and you like to go outside to check it and water it. You still like to play outside, but it’s gotten so hot that we don’t go out as often as we used to. When we got home from our trip there were ripe squash, zucchini, and tomatoes ready to pick! We enjoyed having a garden. You really like eating the homegrown tomatoes.

You still like to play in the kitchen and listen to music while I’m cooking. I found some fun CDs from when I taught first grade that we’ve been enjoying. You like to smile and dance to songs like “Who Let the Dogs Out” and “Chicken Dance”. As soon as the music comes on, you start moving your arms and bending your knees. It is so cute to watch you dance! You play happily if I’m up and moving, but if I sit down to do something, you’re ready for me to pick you up and play with you! We love listening to all of the sweet sounds you make. You squeal, grunt, do the motor boat, and say “mama” and “ababab.”

You had been sleeping through the night for about 11 hours each night for a couple of weeks before our trip, but you had trouble sleeping while we were gone. We think it must have been because you got sick, were teething and because you were in different places and out of your routine. When we got home, it didn’t take you long to get back into a normal sleeping pattern. We are so proud of you for learning to sleep all night! You usually go to bed about 9:00 pm and wake up around 8:00 am. You still take two naps each day, usually about an hour and half each. We read to you before naptime. You sit still and listen as we read. You love to sit in one of our laps, point to the pictures, and turn the pages.

We are so very thankful for you, Baby Boy! We take seriously our role as parents and pray for wisdom as we guide, teach, and protect you.

Lots of love,
Mama and Daddy

ten months

june 2, 2011

about 23.5 pounds

28.75 inches

Carson Robert,

You are growing up so fast! This month it seems like you’re already beginning to transition from baby to toddler. Maybe it’s because you’ve traded in footie pajamas for two piece jammies and are sleeping all night more often than not, or it could be the speed and ease with which you crawl and pull up. Maybe it’s all of the table food or the babbling that’s sounding more and more like talking. Whatever it is, you are more and more fun every day! We are trying hard to savor every moment and new stage, because you’re growing and changing so quickly! It’s been fun to see you become more independent this month. You’re still curious and work hard to learn about the world around you.

You are a fast crawler and always crawl with your right knee down and your left foot up! When Daddy gets home in the afternoons, you crawl as fast as you can to greet him! It is the highlight of his day! You still love pulling up every chance you get and are cruising more and more. You stay busy pretty much the whole time you’re awake!

You are such a happy boy! We are so thankful for your good health and sweet spirit. You bring so much joy to our lives and to the lives of others. When you smile, your whole face seems to smile. Many times, you smile so big that it makes your eyes close. You like to smile back at people when they smile at you or talk to you. You’ve started smiling when we’re walking in the door to church, because you’re so happy to be there! You smile and reach for Madelyn, your sweet cradle roll teacher. You’ve started laughing more and more this month, too! Sometimes you laugh when someone’s being silly, when we sing to you, when I dance for you or with you, when we tickle you, when we give you kisses and zurburts, and when we squeal back at you! You’re a great squealer! You like to look at yourself in the mirror. You touch the mirror, smile, and make sweet sounds.

Some of your favorite toys are books, keys, your purple rectangle, your plastic eggs, Sophie the Giraffe, your blue teething ring, and your airplane puzzle piece. You like to play outside. You crawl around in the grass, pull weeds, play with dirt, and try to chew on sticks! We’ve been enjoying the beautiful spring weather and taking morning walks around the neighborhood. You love to ride in your stroller, feel the breeze and sunshine, and listen to the animals and cars. You help check the mail every day. You always carry in a piece of mail and sometimes there’s a piece of junk mail or catalog that you get to crumple and tear up. You really like to play with paper. You like to play in the kitchen while I’m cooking. You love to play with open drawers and take out lids and towels. You still enjoy your magnets, and playing with the dishwasher is a treat for sure! You don’t like the sound that the blender makes, and sometimes it makes you cry. We know you’ll get used to it before too long! We like to listen to music while we’re in the kitchen. You really like TJ McClouds’ Playground and Andrew Peterson and Randall Goodgame’s Slugs and Bugs.

You like to go with me to Walmart. You look cute sitting up in the shopping cart and looking around. There’s so much to see! A couple of times, you’ve tried to stand up in there, which was scary! You smile at everyone and lots of people talk to you while we shop. You make grocery shopping lots of fun!

You got two teeth on top this month. Just like on the bottom, the right tooth appeared about a week before the left. Now you have four teeth and it’s made biting and chewing lots of fun! You started eating table food this month. We’ve done a combination of feeding you purees and letting you feed yourself finger foods. You really like feeding yourself and seem to favor your left hand when you eat. Mealtime has become messy with scraps of food on the floor afterwards. You’ve tried so many new foods this month! You love fruit. Blueberries are your absolute favorite! You squeal and shake with excitement when I get them out, and it’s adorable! You also really like watermelon raspberries, blackberries, and banana. You eat watermelon from a fork, but you take off and use your fingers for anything else we’ve given you on a fork. Sweet potatoes are your favorite vegetable. You will also eat green beans. You also really like bread and crackers. Goldfish crackers are right up there with blueberries. They’re one of my favorites, so I figure you’re excited that I finally share with you after all these months of watching me eat them. As soon as I walk to the pantry and shake the box, you squeal and shake with excitement! You also like ritz crackers and saltines. Sometimes, I dip saltines in pureed veggies for you. It’s messy, but lots more fun than being spoon fed! You like to eat bits of bread, bagel, bun, roll, and pasta. Your dairy favorites are yogurt and cheese, and your favorite meats are chicken and ground beef. Poppyseed chicken and baked ziti are two of your favorite dishes. You seem to think it’s fun to eat what Mama and Daddy eat. You’ve gotten really good at drinking water from your sippy cup. The one with the straw seems to work best. You take a big drink then throw your cup on the floor!

You wear size four diapers and 12 month clothes. You’ve been sleeping so well this month! About the middle of the month you started sleeping through the night more often than not! This has been a fun milestone for Mama! You usually go to bed between 9:00-10:00 at night, and in the mornings you usually wake up between 7:30-8:30. You take two naps a day, usually 1.25-1.5 hours each. We read to you before your naps. You sit in one of our laps, point to the pictures, and turn the pages. Sometimes you even kiss the people in the pictures. We love reading with you! You nurse four times a day, once before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and again at bedtime. We love to hear you. You babble (/b/, /g/, /m/), squeal, grunt, laugh, and make your motor boat sound.

One of our very favorite times of the day is bath time. Since the weather’s been warm and we’ve been spending more time outside, you take a bath almost every night. You use your ducky tub now, and you love to sit up and splash. Playing in the water is lots of fun! You like to stand up and hold on the rail on the side of the tub. Sometimes you crawl out of the duck so you can touch the shiny silver drain. After I bathe you, I pass you off to Daddy and he dries you off. You and Daddy love this special time together and I love to hear the sweet giggles coming from your room as he dries you off and plays with you.

It is a joy and honor to be your parents. You make life extra special, and we are so very thankful for you, Baby Boy!

We love you!!

Mama and Daddy

family mission statement

In our hurried culture, it's easy to go through the motions of life without ever thinking about how and why we choose to spend our time and resources. In an effort to live intentionally, Keith and I decided to develop a family mission statement. This exercise gave us an opportunity to talk about why we're here and how we should use our gifts to glorify God. We were able to develop a concise statement that we can look to for accountability as we make decisions and that will encourage us to see the big picture as we live day to day. The idea and inspiration to spend time developing our family mission statement came from one of my very favorite blogs, simple mom. I've never been great at time management, and on her blog, Tsh shares ideas on how to manage your time and home more efficiently, so that you have more time to enjoy what's most important. This post provides discussion questions and a framework for applying your answers to craft a comprehensive statement about who you want to be as a family. She encourages you to display it in your home as a reminder of your family's priorities. We hope our family mission statement will provide direction in our lives as Jesus-followers, in our ministries, our marriage, and our parenting.

nine months

may 2, 2010

21 pounds 5 ounces

28.75 inches

Sweet Carsy,

Nine months sounds so old! Time is flying and you’re growing up on us, Precious Boy! We are so very thankful to have you in our life! We love to play with you and watch you investigate your expanding world. We enjoy sitting with you and reading you books. You still love to touch and help turn the pages. We love watching you play with your blocks and puzzles. You have one stacking puzzle with different colored shapes, and every single time you play with it you take off the purple rectangle first. You love that purple rectangle and carry it with you all around the playroom. In fact, there used to be two purple rectangles, but you took one of them somewhere and hid it, because we can’t find it anywhere! You look like such a big boy sitting up and playing all by yourself. You aren’t at all wobbly anymore and quickly learned to sit up all by yourself from your belly. In addition to the toys in your bedroom and the playroom, you also have baskets of toys on the bottom shelves in the living room and kitchen. You like to sit and take each toy out of the baskets one at a time. Granny got you some letter magnets for the refrigerator and you love to sit and play with them while I’m cooking. We find those magnets all over the house, because you take them with you as you crawl from room to room. You also like to open the bottom drawer and take out the plastic lids while I’m cooking. The kitchen seems to be one of your favorite places.

You have become an expert crawler! You’ve increased your crawling speed this month and crawl from one room to another a lot more frequently. You are a busy boy with lots to see and do! Sometimes you still crawl with your belly on the floor, but recently you’ve begun crawling on all fours more and more. Sometimes you crawl with your right knee down and your left foot up; as if you wish you could start walking.

You started pulling yourself up to standing early this month and it quickly became your very favorite thing to do! You pull up on anything and everything including the open dishwasher door, open dryer door, shelves, dressers, the coffee table, chairs, stools, in your crib, the bathtub, the toilet, and even some flat surfaces like the oven door. The other day I left the toilet lid up and you pulled right up and stuck your hand in the water before I could get to you, oops! Since then, I’ve been more careful. You like to take magazines, phonebooks, and cookbooks off the shelves and crumple the pages. We attempt to redirect your focus to your toys, but you sure do love to pull them down. Usually we get to you before you start crumpling too much, but you have pulled the covers off a couple of them! You’ve tumbled to the floor a few times after pulling up, it startles you sometimes, but doesn’t bother you too much most of the time. One day, though, you fell forward on to the front of the rocking chair and got a knot with a bruise right between your eyes. As the month progressed, you gained more control and got better and better at going from standing to sitting. You like to cruise along the side of what you’re holding on to. You also learned to roll over from your back to your belly this month and you love it. It has made changing your diaper a bit challenging, because you flip over and try to escape!

Another milestone this month was teeth! After lots of hard teething work, two little bitty teeth finally broke the surface on the bottom middle, but you don’t show them off too much and would prefer we didn’t try to peek at them! You still eat three times a day. You love fruit and will eat quite a bit of it. You can easily eat two bananas at one meal! You tried blueberries for the first time this month, and they quickly became another favorite. You still don’t love veggies, so we usually mix some apples or bananas with them to make them more appetizing! You like to sit in your highchair and chew on cold celery or eat puffs while we’re eating. You’ve gotten better at using the pincer grip to pick up puffs, and sometimes you eat 30 or 40 during one meal. You started experimenting with a sippy cup this month. You are really good at getting the water out, but you usually get more on your bib than you swallow! All of this eating has really made you grow! You now wear size 4 diapers. Many of your 6-9 month clothes are getting too small, and you’re wearing more and more 9-12 month clothes. You’ve had even more full nights of sleep this month, but most nights you still wake up once during the night. You don’t have a regular bedtime, but you usually go to bed between 9:00-10:00. In the mornings you normally wake up around 8:00. We love to listen to you playing happily in your crib when you wake up in the mornings. When we greet you in the mornings or after a nap, you are often sitting up or standing up now. You take two naps a day, usually totaling 2.5 hours. We had to move the mattress down in your crib because you were pulling up to standing and we didn’t want you to climb out.

You nurse five times per day, and I am thankful for this sweet and still time with you. Sometimes, after you nurse, you give me sweet kisses and let me snuggle you close for a few seconds before you’re off to play and explore!

You are talking more and more this month, too! You are still saying “mama,” and I am confident you know what it means! You say it most often when you want me to hold you or feed you. Your talking transitioned from cooing to babbling this month. You say “aba aba aba.” You can wave and say “hi” and “bye bye,” though you don’t always do it at the appropriate time and certainly not on command! You’ve also had lots of fun learning to make new noises with your mouth, including one that sounds like a motor. We absolutely love to listen you to, Baby Boy!

You still love your church family and usually handle being passed around from one person to another really well. We’ve had a lot of fun company this month! You were able to spend time with both sets of grandparents this month. They all love you so much and really enjoyed playing with you and watching you learn! We’ve loved and treasured each stage of your sweet little life, and this one is no exception. You are at such a fun stage of development. We can already tell that you’re loving, sociable, determined, curious, and independent. It is exciting to see you grow into the person God created you to be!

We love you, love you, love you!

Mama and Daddy