Nine Months

THIS MONTH IN REVIEW

2 sicknesses
2 teeth trying to erupt
1 black eye
1 great fall
1 very allergic reaction
2 bewildered parents

Prior to this month I had just been thinking, wow we are really doing a great job.  We have finally mastered a predictable schedule and life is good!  Then the events of this month began to unfold, needless to say that it was a humbling month with lots of ups and downs.

At NINE months you.......

Stand all by yourself!

Are a monkey and climb everything!  Mommy built a barrier with our moving boxes to try and contain you in the living room while I washed a dish and returned to this....

You had ripped off a piece of tape from a box which you were happily chewing while hanging out on TOP of a box.

your next favorite thing is crawling through and walking around the chairs on the table

You now eat everything in sight. Long gone are the days of my picky little eater, these days I can't find anything you won't eat.  Most foods you screech for more when you are finished!

Now you will only sleep on your tummy

Are far too frisky for the sling, except when you are sick.

can copy syllables back and lots of different sounds

You  are learning baby sign language.  You don't know any signs yet but when we practice you get really excited and flap your arms.

Press your forehead into Mommy and Daddy's face to show affection.

Have discovered your pointer finger and use it in all your explorations. Like the doggy's mouth, your books and countless other things!

You are such a cutie pie!  We love that you are learning and growing every day.  Here are some photos from the last month.

look you are in your car seat and smiling!

teething on EVERYTHING.  Even Daddy's shoe laces.

hi doggy!

bouncing around in your crib while mommy makes her bed.

eating avocado like it's going out of style!

You LOVE swimming!  when you see your suit you start to flap your arms and screech with excitement.

chilly summer morning walk.  You LOVE our walks!

First encounter with grass

Of course you tried eating it 

pig tails

Eight Months

Time to play catch up.  You may be thinking if you are a month late why even bother?  I have been stock piling these posts to put in Kylea's first year book and I don't want to forget all those little things that happen in a month.

Kylea Grace

at eight months you....

• are completely obsessed with your newest skill, standing.
• love to jump, and jump and jump. Mommy came in to check on you during your nap to see you standing at the edge of your crib with a giant smile bouncing away.
• Still hate solid food. You wrinkle up your nose and refuse to swallow it.
• Filled your daddy with pride when you said your second word, Dadda!
• Are able to go on short trips in your car seat without crying.....this is a HUGE accomplishment.
• Gave us a false alarm tooth.  It is barely visible but still not poking through the gums. 
• Your favorite chewy toy is mommy's chin, not Daddy's because his gets prickly!
• Made your mommy sad when you fell and got your first shiner.

Some News

I've been trying to not to say anything because I don't want to speak out of turn but..... I have some news!  For a few months now Kevin and I have been looking for a new place to live.  We needed at least one more bedroom and we wanted it to be in a nicer neighborhood.  Our current complex is really nice but the surrounding neighborhood is really scary.  Sounds easy, right?

Not right.  We searched high and low and couldn't find anything that we were happy with.  When we did they either didn't have availability or didn't accept pets.  On one of our final runs we were both so frustrated that we drove home in silence.  Who knew it would be this hard?

We have looked into purchasing a home before since the market is so depressed there are a lot of really good choices.  The result has always been the same, we just couldn't really afford a house payment yet. I couldn't even tell you how the idea first struck us or how the ball originally got rolling but we realized that while we couldn't afford a house payment we can afford a mortgage payment on a condo.  I'll be honest, with our first viewing of a condo I didn't like it.  I had always imagined our first purchase would be the little house with the white picket fence, and this idea didn't match that dream.  When we came home and discussed our options the reality was this, paying a mortgage is financially more intelligent than wasting money on rent, we could buy a condo and pay LESS monthly for something far nicer than we could rent.

Here's the news, we are in the process of our first real estate purchase!!! And here's the thing I couldn't be more excited.  We are one step close to our dream house.  Here's the best part, I can paint any wall any color I want, drill holes, hang pictures, change flooring, ANYTHING!!!!  And when we have outgrown this space we can rent it out as an investment property or try selling it (when the economy recovers that is)

We haven't closed yet so anything can happen still, but our offer has been accepted and the underwriter has been pouring over our loan application for a few days now.  We are so, so, so excited!

Here is a little video I took of the condo we made an offer on, enjoy the tour!

little fish

Yesterday we took the baby swimming for the very first time. 

We were expecting maybe a few tears as she adjusted to the watery environment but instead 

we found that after a minute of thoughtful curiosity

She LOVED it!!! she splashed and giggled and kicked and reclined in her little floatie.  Then we went home and had some dinner.

And she fell asleep and had one of her most restful nights ever.  Well little fish, it was such a success I think we'll be doing this every day for as long as we can!

Arch Nemesis

This is Kylea's car seat.

It's was carefully selected before the baby was born. It received excellent reviews, had the best safety rating and is compatible with the jogging stroller we wanted.  It's one downfall is the baby HATES it.  This rancorous relationship has existed from day one, she has ALWAYS screamed at the very top of her tiny lungs when she has to go in there. 

We see a very practical, safe car seat.  

But Kylea sees this.......

THE CAR SEAT MONSTER!!!!! She has officially declared him public enemy number one and her most dastardly arch nemesis.

We have tried EVERYTHING to get her accustomed to the car seat and convinced that she is not going to die whilst riding in it but nothing has worked.  We have developed a few techniques that make short rides possible (usually) but longer car rides are completely out of the question.  Unless we ever decide that we don't care about our sanity or our baby.

It may seem like I'm being dramatic, but I'm really not. For instance, I decided to venture out on a slightly more extensive adventure with Kylea by myself to test the waters. Since she is now older and handling many things with much more composure I was hoping that we had finally vanquished our most detested foe.  The ride began without a hiccup, but after a few wrong turns my short adventure became longer and my little baby's composure began to crumble. 

Kylea is smiley, bubbley and wonderful 95% of the time, sort of cranky 4% of the time and in wild meltdown mode about 1% of the time.  It doesn't happen often but her meltdowns are epic, to say the least. They usually involve changing colors, screaming so hard that no sound comes out, gasping, coughing, choking (yes baby heimlich maneuver has been necessary), and worst of all grabbing her face which leaves scratch marks all over her sweet little face.

This particular adventure included all the aforementioned drama.  All my attempts to calm her just sent her swirling even deeper into her vortex of hysteria.  After nearly wrecking at least 5 times (it's distracting having her cry like that) we finally reached our destination.  I sprinted like a cheetah to her door and unbuckled her and just like magic, she was fine.  So we proceeded on, me with edgy nerves and baby with tear stained face and hiccups.  We had a nice time at our destination.  Then the same drama ensued on the drive home.

Is it any wonder that I hardly get out of the house?  Seriously, the mere thought of taking her somewhere by myself gives me anxiety.  Come to think of it, I think the carseat monster is my arch nemesis too.

Well carseat, this means war.....

7 Months

Time flies when you're having fun and little Miss Kylea, you are becoming more and more fun every day!

At 7 months you:

-Say mama. Which I adore most of the time but hate other times.  Like when you cry for mama when it's time to go to sleep.  It's sad!

-Make a kissy sound and laugh and laugh when we make one back to you!

this is the dog's bone.....when she's already chewing on it you might as well snap a photo before saving her from doggy germs of death.

-Crawl EVERYWHERE and get into EVERYTHING.  You have decided that the dog's toys are your favorites even though your Daddy and I have invested in lots of age appropriate toys for you to play with.

-Love to drink water from you sippy cup but still hate most foods.

-Love playing with your big cousin Kaydence and....

-You are dying to be able to run and play with her. 

-You still love the dog and he loves you back. 

pick me up mama! I'm done with this crawling stuff!

- You have developed a definite attitude...you let us know when things aren't going your way!

doing pushups with daddy

-You kick your legs and gurgle with glee when Daddy comes home from work. You LOVE Daddy!

-But no one can deny that you are Mama's girl.

-You twirl your foot just like mommy and pull several "mommy faces."

                                        

the mommy and Kylea eyebrow look

                                              This is mommy's crinkle nose smile

This is Kylea's crinkle nose smile

You light up our lives.  Keep growing and exploring, we love you!

 

Two Things

Recently we celebrated the 4 year anniversary of our marriage.  Time has flown, but I'm just as sure today as I was on that sunny spring day in April that I picked the PERFECT man for me.  I don't often make public declarations of my love (because no one appreciates PDA) but I really do love this man with all my heart.  Just when I think I couldn't possibly love him any more than I already do something happens that makes it grow.  Usually it's the small things like watching him be the perfect daddy to our little girl, or seeing him study hard every night to make it through graduate school that get my heart all fluttery these days.

Kevin and I are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  As such, we wanted to be married in the temple where we could be sealed together for time and all eternity.  To be allowed to enter the temple you have to be worthy to enter.  This means that you follow the word of wisdom (we don't smoke, drink or do drugs), stay chaste (sex is for marriage only), and attend church meetings etc.  To be allowed to enter you interview with church leaders who issue a little pass called a temple recommend which allows you to enter the temple.  In one such meeting we were talking with one of our church leaders. He was a wizened kindly looking older gentlemen; you know the kind that have smile wrinkles around their eyes and mouth.  He asked us the necessary questions on worthiness but then took the opportunity to just chat with us.  He asked us how we met, what we were studying in school and why we loved each other.  Then he said something that I hope I never forget. He said, " If you take one thing from this conversation today I want you to remember to cherish each other.  Take one day a week where you tell each other two things that you love about one another.  And be creative, try to say something different every week.  Do it every week for the rest of your lives together. Start today!"

The next week as Kevin was driving me home from one of our dates I suggested that we take the advice and tell each other two things that we love about the other.  It was awkward.  We each  took forever to think of something to say and then struggled through saying them to each other.  Even though it was awkward I couldn't help but feel a subtle change, a warmth and appreciation for one another that wasn't there before.  Through the years we have taken time on our set day to think of our "two things" to tell each other.  

I am SO thankful that we followed the advice of that wise man.  Telling each other things we appreciate about one another is no longer difficult or awkward, it's second nature. I've found that knowing that I will be sharing two things with Kevin at the end of the week makes me more attentive during the week of the things he does that make me happy.  

I challenge you to try it! Tell the ones you love how you feel on a regular basis, you won't regret it!