10 months and counting...

Look what I found!

Our little Quasi-modo...

Eating Cousin Rose's biscuit... She better keep a better watch on her food!

Umm... help.... it's making noise.... (Visiting twin cousins Joy and Jane)

I'm gonna get you! (Hanging with Pop Billman)

Crawling lessons...

"Hulking up"

Visiting with Cousin Rose, Uncle Luke, and Grandma Sherrie...

It's so hard to believe how quickly time flies... Chris is (almost) 10 months old now, and is growing and changing faster than I can believe. Notable recent accomplishments...

• Can crawl "Quasi-modo style" ( keeps his right leg curled under him at all times, and kind of drags it along... not exactly the most efficient way to go, but it works for him)
• Ate his first cockroach... on his first day of crawling
• Survived his first night with Grandmom and Pop Billman while Mark and I escaped to Orlando... or should I say, they survived their first night with him! Everything went well, praise the Lord!
• We're working through a "nursing strike" - apparently he's decided he has better things to do.

Now that he's mobile, he only sits still long enough to find the next thing to get into! Toys are no longer any fun... so much for getting anything done around the house. Now whenever I put him down, he immediately starts moving to whatever forbidden object he can find... trashcans are a favorite. He keeps us busy, but we are having a blast with him. He loves attention at all times and from any willing person or animal... Tickling is a favorite activity, as are walks, outings to the store, naptimes, eating cheerios, reading stories, and getting into stuff. He also loves visitors, so come and see us any time!

9 months and growing...

I decided to try wearing my prunes...

Life is tough when you can only move backwards...

Playing with my friend Carter... Guess which one is teething! (boy is it tough trying to get two babies to sit still for the camera!)

Today our little guy is 9 months old. How time flies! Notable developments in the past month:


4 teeth!

Trying desperately to crawl - but can't seem to get over one of his legs. In the meantime he moves around using his arms - unfortunately, though, he can only go in circles and backwards!

Favorite delicacies: cheerios, toes, our belts (if left within reach) and remote controls...

Sounds: though he doesn't know what he is saying, when he is happy he says "dadadada"... and when he cries or wants something, "mamamama". Go figure.

He loves music - I can almost always get him to stop crying by singing to him. And he also seems to like it when I read to him.

So sentimental...

I heard someone say once that when you become a parent you learn what it feels like to have your heart walking around outside your body. That is so true! When Chris is sad, I am sad. When he laughs, my whole world brightens. And I have become way more sentimental since becoming a mom (and I didn't think that was possible!). I have always cried at sad movies. But now not only do I cry, but I feel as though I feel the pain that the people are experiencing. And it doesn't take as much to make me cry... not long ago I wept at an episode of CSI!

I feel like the luckiest girl alive - my life is a dream come true. I have a wonderful husband, a precious baby, and a close family. I get to stay home and play with my baby and take care of my house - it is truly the perfect life. I have everything I have always wanted. Why am I so blessed? I can't figure that one out. There are so many in the world who could only dream of what I have. Sometimes I feel guilty because I have been given so much! I just pray that I will be wise with what God has entrusted to me. And that my life will somehow be a blessing to others.

I am going to Jacksonville next week to take some pictures of my very pregnant sister! I have rented a really fun lens for my camera for the occasion... it is a lot of fun to play with it.

I love that my husband is so detail-oriented. I love brownies with ice-cream. I love that tomorrow is Friday and I get to do laundry!

The joys of parenting...

I never realized how difficult parenting would be. And he's only 8 months old! But I also never realized how much I would love it. There are certainly a lot of sacrifices to make - while all of our friends are planning ski trips and cruises, we are just excited to be able to find someone to watch him for an hour while we go on a motorcycle ride! But to say it is worth it is an understatement. The other day as I was thinking about this, I had just put him down for a nap. I was sitting in our office, and I could hear him jabbering away to himself. He was making the cutest noises! It was yet another reminder of how much I love this little guy. I love that he is getting his first tooth and it doesn't seem to bother him too much. I love that he sucks on my face when he is hungry! I love when he laughs at my singing. I love that he is always making noise - and it sounds like he is trying to sing to me. I love when I go to get him up in the morning and he is so excited to see me. I love how when I put him to bed at naptimes and at night he always goes right to sleep without any crying or fussing.