Happy 10-Month Birthday!!

Today, we celebrate our sweet little girl's 10 month birthday.  Time absolutely flies by with the second, and boy, I am not ready to give up these little moments!  We love you and your perfect personality....even if you are becoming sassier by the minute.

Accomplishments for the month:

• Little girl has finally sprouted not one, but yes, two teeth.  Poor thing endured back-to-back teeth sprouts with an added ongoing ear infection.  We have had quite the painful month!  (Brother and momma also got strep throat...ick!)
• ADubXX has become mobile, my friends.  Yep, she's gotten on all fours and proceeded to crawl around everywhere.  What does everywhere include?  What might her favorite destination be?  You may have guessed it....the dog food and water bowls.  I have already cleaned up puddles off the floor and fished dog food out of her mouth.  Here's to hoping she'll have other destinations on her mind in the future.
• She absolutely loves to clap.  Round of applause....she's on it.  Now if it comes to a standing ovation, that's a different matter.  She's not quite pulling herself to standing yet.
• She eats everything that is put in front of her.  Her teachers at daycare are still perplexed on where she's putting it.  Judging by the number of Cheerio's I find during diaper changes, I am going to say she's putting some of it there.
• Yes, we are still in the helmet, but that's only because mom and dad decided to keep it on a bit longer to see just how much more improvement they can get.  Here's to nearing perfection!
• One of her favorite games to play is to throw a toy across the room and then chase it.  Then once obtaining it, throwing it again.  Repeat....over and over again.

Say CHEESE!:

A fairy and a dragon?  All in one picture and related?  What are the odds?

Yes, indeed, that is a real unicorn.

Mashed potatoes and dad?  Couldn't get much better than that.

Waterbug!

Crawling through tunnels with brother.

Brother wanted to ride the carousel on his bday.

Playing with some of the balls at brother's bday party.

Mom thought that it would be cool if we all had matching Spiderman shirts for brother's bday party.

Yep, that's my first tooth coming in.  Quite painful...especially when they want a photo of it.

At brother's soccer game....soon I'll make him come to my dance lessons and softball practices.

A little Oktoberfesting to bring in the fall season.

Mom thought I was a little overdressed in my dress and cardigan to attend brother's soccer game.  I say you can never be overdressed.

At brother's baseball game.  Are we seeing a trend?

First attempt at a sippy cup was a success.  Figured out the sucker thing, drank the water, threw on the ground.

A little cuddle time after school.

Our little Texan.

Goofing off in Costco.

When the entire family wears Houston sports team attire and mom sticks to the musical scene.

First swing....a huge success.  She reached new heights.

Just a little artsy fartsy photography.

My. Life.

Happy 9-Month Birthday!!

It took 9 months to conceive you, 9 months to grow and meet you, and now here you are 9 months old.  You are such a chill baby, making this second child thing all the more easy.  Happy 9 months, sweet pea!

Happenings for the month:

• ADubXX is a professional eater.  It's almost like she's been doing it her whole life.  She will pick up a piece of food transfer it to the other hand, then return it to the original hand, before landing it directly on target, her mouth.  Show off.
• She is still not crawling but does get up on all fours to rock and reach for a toy but then return to sitting.  We are okay with this, as we still don't have baby gates for the stairs yet.
• Yes, there are moments when she does not smile, but that actually doesn't happen very often.  She constantly seeks stranger's attention out in public only to give them the. cutest. smile. ever.
• ADubXX has started to say "da-da-da-da-da-da-da" and "ma-ma-ma" and "ya-ya-ya".  She is basically fluent in English already.  Starting on Spanish next week.
• She loves to play catch and throw with both her daddy, brother, and doggies, and oftentimes this game results in mega giggles.
• ADubXX loves to hold mommy or daddy's hands and walk, ahem, stumble around the room.  She may walk before she crawls....

We travel lightly these days.

Snack time after 5 miles of hiking up, up, and a little more up.

She laughed when her brother wiped out on the trail.

The views in Rocky Mountain National Park were breathtaking....so much so that ADubXX fell asleep.

I had my hiking buddy with me when things got a little rocky.

Where water chooses to travel toward the Atlantic or the Pacific.

Talk about having your head in the clouds.

Checking out the USS Texas before she leaves Houston for repairs.

The old hat trick.

Everyone knows about the Cheerio smile.  They make everyone happy!

Getting ready to catch a plane.

Soccer and baseball fields are where she spends most of her time lately.

Remembering 9/11 and already teaching the kiddos about it.  Red, white, and blue.

Waiting around for our head scan at the helmet appointment.

Sweet potato?

But seriously....she might be the coolest kid.  (Don't tell her brother I said that)

Must be hump day!

This is how she rolls.

Harvey just wants the ball, and ADubXX has no clue she has a toy suction cupped to her helmet.

Our attempt at a family photo....at least we matched?

Teaching these kiddos some manners at a fancy brunch spot.  We left a huge pile of food on the floor, compliments of ADubXX.

My little adventures.

Happy 8-Month Birthday!!

Our beautiful ADubXX is 8 months old today.  I have had a couple overwhelming moments lately where my perfectionist personality cannot handle being a parent.  Half the time I feel like I am robotically going through my day-to-day motions because there are so many things to do that I just hit auto-pilot (wash bottles, prep breakfasts, feed dogs, etc.).  However, little miss ADubXX (and her brother) break me out of this and remind me daily that this parenting thing is completely, totally, utterly worth every single stinkin' moment.  I wouldn't change it for the world.  Happy Birthday, sweet pea!

Accomplishments this month:

• This girl loves to dance, sing, and clap.  Her favorite class at school is music class where she shows all of her fellow classmates up with the the rattles.  She can play a mean rattle!
• ADubXX has started eating even more solid foods.  As a matter of fact, her brother has even been impressed for her ability to pick up a Cheerio, transfer it to her mouth, and successfully eat it.  Now that is talent.
• She sleeps through the night even more and more...as in, we might be into a serious pattern of allowing mom to sleep every night.  Although mom isn't quite sure what to do with so much sleep.
• Her favorite thing in the whole wide world is to stand.  She can be in the fussiest mood, and you just have to stand her up for a complete mood change.
• ADubXX has started to use her sign language.  "Finished" can be so dramatic that it can actually knock the spoon right out of your hand throwing food across the room.  (Thank goodness for pups).
• Unlike our first baby, ADubXX loves to sit in her high chair when eating out.  Her brother could only be in it for all of 2 seconds before he needed to be up and moving around.  Now I am not sure what to do with all of this time while eating.  As in, do we need to rush through our meal?  Can we just sit there after we are finished?  So different.

And now for the photographic (or not so photographic) moments:

Clearly it was Wednesday, and we have to wear pink on Wednesday's.

Ring around the rosie.

Playing with some buddies.  Don't ask why brother is just in his undies.

Hangin out at a brewery...

....and taking silly pics.  We try to match as often as possible.

Brother was so excited for this exact moment.  When baby sister got to sit in the second cart seat at Costco.

My kiddos.

So maybe not the best pic of ADubXX but I had to document the usage of our double stroller.

Do you think he could hold one more child?

Play time!

Riding her very first unicorn.

She loves her nightly baths.

They matched.

They matched again.  (Dinosaur...nom nom)

Enjoying a little girl time while brother and daddy were away.

Photo shoot in the dress that mommy wore 32 years ago.

Those. Blue. Eyes.

Honey, you have something on your face.  But you are oh so adorable.

Can we fit anymore into this chair?

Cheese.

My little adventures.