1 year!!!

Kyle here, I can't believe it's been a whole year since our sweet baby was born. It seems like the first few months were such a blur. Looking back, I'm so thankful for the good and bad times, because for every one difficult moment, there were two extraordinary moments with my family. I'm so excited to see what the next year holds for us.

Mel here. Wow...there is something unique about celebrating your baby's first birthday. So many of the challenges of birth and the newborn stage are fresh in your mind, which I think makes the celebration even more rewarding. Look where we have come from! :) And now to enter the toddler stage--wahoo! We are so thankful for the last year that we have shared with our sweet little babe, and all of the ways that she has changed and blessed our lives. We are also so thankful for all of you that have invested in her life already, and supported us as her parents. God is so faithful!

Here are a few things are 1-year-old is doing....

~walking, climbing stairs, into everything!

~saying a few "words", and siging a few as well

~gives hugs (so sweet--I love this!)

~spends lots of time "reading" her books...she will go to her nursery, pull books off of the shelf, and bring them to whoever's around and sit down in their lap to hear her story :)

~Can find her nose, and show that she is "1"

~DONE with ZANTAC--wahoo!

~Loves to eat, especially by herself :)

It is so exciting to watch her learn and grow, and we're excited to explore many more new things with her in this next year.

11 months

Wow! Teigan has entered her last month as a baby....a lot of mixed emotions come with that realization. :) I have been working on her 1 year scrapbook and it is amazing to think of how much she has changed in just a few short months. We have been enjoying a lot of things this Fall, especially during the past few weeks of gorgeous weather! Here are a few updates for our almost 1 year old....
~taking steps/standing up on her own
~eating anything that she can put in her mouth
~playing with friends--she still enjoys being social, and gives HUGE smiles to people when they come through our front door...so sweet!
~signing please (with both hands if she wants food--ha!)
~her first tooth! YAY! (bottom, middle)
~first trip to the apple orchard; hayride, picking apples, picking pumpkins
~down to only 2 bottles each day (morning, and night)
~giggling/laughing, especially when she plays with Daddy....she loves being thrown up in the air by Daddy

"sooooooo big!" :)

Crafty...

Staying home with my little babe has been a blessing for so many reasons. But another benefit has been getting "reaquainted" with my crafty side. :) I've always loved making things, sewing, scrapbooking, etc.... so it has become a fun challenge to see how much money I can save by re-using things, or making something instead of buying it. I almost always find it more fun to give a gift that I have made too--an extra element of love. :) Here are a few of my favs so far:

table runner (T thought the buttons were great!)
baby hats...thinkin' I need to make T one too! :)

t-shirt scarf w/ rose (thanks Jill!)

love these for the little guys

...have to admit...I've kept a few of these for my little babe's hair

10 months

"Well, I suppose I can smile for one, but I will NOT look at the camera!"
" ...this is so lame mom..."

"...are we really still doing this picture thing?"

We are loving all of the new things T is learning and doing. She is so curious and intested in new things. She is definitely experimenting with standing independently and wanting to take steps, but she hasn't completely "gone for the gold" yet. :) She's eating a lot more finger foods (black beans, green beans, rice, cantalope, mango, cheerios) and loves making a mess at mealtime. We have also entered the stage of having her cry when we take something away that she wants, or hearing a whimper/whine if she wants something. We are bracing ourselves for the toddler stage, but are excited for all of the fun that comes with that stage as well.

9 months

Well, this post is a few days late because it took me a while to get a decent picture of her. Sitting still for pictures is apparently WAY over rated. ;) This is just such a fun age...she is learning so much and growing so fast. One day she can't do something, the next day she can. What a miracle! A few things she is doing right now:

~turning the TV on/off

~walking behind her walker

~going "new" places (stores, library, etc....)

~playing with friends--it is so interesting to watch her play when other kiddos are around. Her personality just continues to grow :)

~She has started waving "bye-bye" and signing for milk/water...however, these 2 gestures are VERY similar, so sometimes it's hard to know which one she's doing

~first ear infection (BOO)

We're excited to experience this next month with her, and to watch her take in the world around her.

8 months

Miss T is growing and changing more each day. Her personality keeps coming out more and more too...such a little ham. :) Here are a few things she has been doing this past month:

~crawling everywhere

~pulling herself up

~trying new foods

~ECFE class--she loves seeing new people and playing with the new toys

~new sounds and noises (many resemble spitting....oh dear!)

~She has been saying "da-da" for quite a while now, but has recently said it a few times actually TOO Kyle--yay!!!

~She is also starting to do the sign for milk when she wants her bottle

She's SO busy, and SO much fun! :)

Thanksgiving

So I'm sure you're thinking that motherhood has really gotten to my head--we just celebrated the 4th of July, not Thanksgiving! Well, it may have gotten to my head :) but "Thanksgiving" describes a common theme popping up in my life right now. I've been reading and studying the discipline of gratitude with my small group girls in the book One Thousand Gifts. At first it was really hard for me to get into the book because the author is so gifted at writing poetically, and I am...well....not gifted in that way. I found myself having to read, and re-read things and becoming more frustrated than grateful. But with the help and accountability of my lovely sg ladies I've gotten into further chapters and it is truly changing how I see the daily happenings of my life.

Then, while enjoying some time up in Breezy this past weekend, out of the blue, someone mentions this great new book they've been reading about how to be thankful for all of the "little things". How doing this has helped them not to worry so much, and to really see the blessings in every sitaution. "What book?", someone asks....."One Thousand Gifts. Ha! There it is again!

This morning, I was writing down a memory verse for the "Siesta Sisters Memory Verse Challenge" that I'm doing with my mom (Beth Moore, Living Proof Ministries blog). Honestly, I've gotten a little behind in memorizing some of the longer/newer verses I chose so I was looking for an "easy one" this morning. Pathetic, I know, but that's for another time. :) I decided to post a verse that has become somewhat of an anthem for my life the past 5-6 years, Philippians 4:6-7. I started writing the verse from memory (yes, I'm sure it's against the rules to post a memory verse that you have already memorized--don't tell Beth!) "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." As I finished writing I thought I'd better double check my verse, just to be sure I quoted it correctly. Low and behold, I discovered that I had missed 2 very important words right in the middle of the verse. "...by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God..." No way! I have known this verse for years! I even knew that those 2 words were in there, but for some reason this morning I just skipped right over them. And yet they are really the heart of the whole verse. Whatever I am going through in life....big, small, happy, sad, scary, new, alone, together, exciting,....when I bring my requests about a situation to my Heavenly Father, I need to do it with THANKSGIVING. That is when the peace will come. Wow. So I guess I've gotten a few reminders that I need to keep working on this gratitude thing! :) I'm excited to see how it will continue to change my outlook, and to truly know how much I DO have to be thankful for. How 'bout you.... ;)