Bryan's Birthday Bash

A whole weekend dedicated to Bryan turning 27. Three whole years from hitting 3o. When did we get to be this age?
I remember being in high school seeing all the cool older college kids, as well as those graduated from it, being in their mid to late 20's and thinking that they were so cool. And now here we are.
Wow.

So, Bryan's birthday.

Friday was the official day of birth celebrationing, so we got a babysitter (Grandma Forbes) and went out to see a very adult, grown-up movie (Up) and stayed out way late (7:40pm) then finally crashing at a very unreasonable time for people even our age (10:45pm). But we had a great time doing it.

And since we like to make birthday as much of an excitement as they should be, we continued to celebrate the next day and the day after that.

Come Saturday, Bryan partied it up with a bunch of guys on a roof... as they drank water and fixed the shingles. :) Afterwards, he mowed. Yes, I let him mow on his -day after his- birthday. He wouldn't allow our friends, who care how long or short the grass in our backyard is, see it in it's "scraggly" form. Around dinner time, our closest friends came over and we partied it up with croquet, burgers, and cake. It's strange being part of the "parents" crowd, but alas, here we are. So with crazed, sugared-up children and parents wanting to sit on them, we had ourselves a good ol' time.

On Sunday, after church, we headed our almost partied out selves to his parents for dinner, more cake, and more gifts. It was a calm party, and I think that's how we preferred it. Bryan was "partied" out.
But he had a great weekend. As did Amelia and I. However, we are still catching up on our sleep...

"What about Bob?"

My daughter's new favorite word, as well as to call me and other things at times, is "Bob." Or at least it sounds like Bob. She'll say, "mama bob." It's cute, strange, yet cute. I can't help but laugh. I'm trying to teach her that words have meanings so when she says "mama," I'll respond with a "yes, baby?" I'm hoping that she'll catch on.
She's been so adamant about walking lately, she has no regards to her daddy's and my backs. I walk around feeling the burn in my butt and thighs, a great, and free, work out for anyone who is trying to decide on their next workout routine. And she'll so laps! Hundreds of them before she tires. Then if we put her down on the ground she'll scream and cry. That's hard. It kind of breaks my heart.
And she's growing so fast! It's insane. She's already 9.25 months. Roughly. She's getting so big, and smart and such a lovely young person. She talks in rambling sentences, crawls around and play with her toys, is eating fruit! Our new favorite is mango. Mm, yes. I gave up long ago on baby food and just went straight to making my own. It's so much better. I know exactly what's in it and don't have to worry about preservatives. And it's not hard at all. I highly recommend it. (Thank you, Jolene!)
Her two top front teeth are starting to come in. I'm a little nervous for this since I'm still nursing her but she seems to know better than to bite. We should be ok. I hope.

I'm working my way through the Bible. I realized lately that I haven't read it much in a very long time and I haven't actually fully read through the entire Old Testament.
So I began about two weeks ago and have finished Genesis and am working my way through Exodus. Now that I'm a little older, it's interesting to actually be able to follow the lineage and to read their stories.
I love finding things that I don't quite understand and being able to hear the history and details of the stories so I can understand it better. I'm very excited for it. I've even put down Adam by Ted DekKer down half way through.

Since Amelia is starting to climb up on to things I've been working on decluttering my house. It hasn't been easy but it's growing increasingly easier as she starting to get into the things that I need to put away. Talk about encouragement!
So, our dining room table as well as my office desk is covered in putawayables. I'll get to it. Someday. I have to see if I have any boxes some where that I haven't thrown away.

I'm also in this wonderful Mom's study group. We get together every Thursday where we unload our hearts with whatever burdens we happen to be carrying as well as encourage and pray for each of the women in our group. Today was the first time that all of us have been able to get together in a long time and it was a great. I am so thankful for these ladies, the group we've created and the time we share each week. I look forward to each Thursday.

And not to forget my wonderful husband who is turning, an ever closer to 30, the grand ol' 27 tomorrow. Happy birthday, my love!

I apologize that each of my posts seem like a giant catch-up but I only get to get on a computer every so often. But I hope you all are well.

Until next time...

9 months and counting...

My baby girl is nine months and a day. I add the "and a day" since I didn't get on here to inform you of this yesterday. She is officially crawling on her knees, like a big girl. It's very rare for her to army crawl any more. Her feet are cute to watch. The toes on the right curl and she uses her left toes to help push herself.
She is using more "mama" and now "dada," and they almost seem to be coming out with purpose.
We are still working on solids. I gave up on baby food and am just smashing up table food. So far she will eat/play with bananas, carrots and green beans. She will still gag a bit at times but it's not coming back up and out!
She's also pulling herself up into a standing position. It's fun to watch her, however nerve wracking to watch in hesitation that she might fall. I know it's ok, it's just hurts me to see her cry.
She's learning more to play with her toys although she still enjoys the expensive things: our camera, Bryan's iPhone. The things that tend to fall on her or hurt: the fan and the door. And the things that just annoy me when I'm trying to use them: the remote or the phone. But I can't help but love her and I seem to get over it pretty quickly.
She is learning to use her painful cry to her advantage. Before, I knew when she was hurt hurt, because she would use her painful cry, and I knew when she was just fine because of a different cry. But now, now she uses her painful cry for a lot of things. And she's good at the alligator tears. Another thing for mama to learn.
She is definitely my water baby. Even when the water is too cold for me to get in, she will still play in the water. It's cute and sweet, but that means I have to really keep an eye on her around any kind of water.

Anything else....

She's growing like a weed! Can't help but love her more every day.

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!

This morning I woke up to find Amelia standing, yes standing, in her crib talking out to me in her good morning voice. Standing, folks! Yesterday she pulled herself into a standing position at the bottom of the stairwell. I just couldn't believe it. My daughter is getting so big so fast!
And today, she finally crawled on her knees! She has been doing an army crawl for a long while now. And she has gotten up on her knees only to come back down to her belly to crawl but today, today she crawled while being up on her knees. She still does an army crawl but she can crawl on her knees!
Ah, my baby girl. Who, I guess, isn't so much of a baby any more now is she?