Nine Month Little Lady

Happy Ninth Month to Miss Taylor Sue.  We have said lately that we think that this month you moved your way from the 'baby of the family' into a part of the family that always seemed was there.  You have your own little strong personality and will not accept the 'third child' label.  You definitely make your presence know and don't let us forget about you.  You are such a sweet little lady, easy to make laugh, and love life.  Your giggles are huge and from way down deep... and you laugh the hardest when you are entertained by your big brother and sis.  Don't get me wrong, you let people know when you don't like something and can very quickly turn it off and on!  You can be crying one second and laughing the next.  You have to be going through a growth spurt this month as you eat anything I put in front of you.  A few nights ago you ate at least a piece and a half of lasagna.  I thought 'this can't be good', but once you reached your limit, you stopped saying 'more' (or maybe I should say you stopped yelling from your high chair) and were very happy the rest of the night.  You finally sleep well at night... stuffy nose and all.  Your naps are hit or miss, but I don't blame you as your schedule gets 'adjusted' daily by others' activities.  You a our beautiful, fun, life-loving little lady.   We love you!

BBD

Matt is very good at putting us in front of his hunting, which makes his big week in November all the better.  Him and his great friend Matt Strayer were headed down to Matt's farm for the week.  Matt had to come back for a few days in the middle to celebrate T's birthday and then was going to head back that same night (they're crazy... leaving at 9 or 10 at night, driving three hours, and then up in a stand before dawn the next morning).  Anyways, it was a good thing he was home because I woke up the day before T's birthday with the flu.  He stayed an extra night for me and then was going to try and take off the next morning.  We went back and forth as to when he was going to go since I was having hard time kicking the flu.  I was feeling ok on Wednesday morning so he headed out.  Good thing because that same night he encountered this deer and took him home.  Him and Matt called him 'Lucky' before they shot him because they had had him at 20 yards twice already this season with some bad luck that prevented them from getting him earlier.  We're proud of our deer-huntin'-lovin man (and dad)!

Marriage with three small kids...

Our friend Elliot took our family pictures a few weeks ago.  This picture is one of my favorites for many reasons.  One being I like to kiss my good-looking husband.  The other is how perfect a glimpse it is of our stage of life.  How crazy it is to stay married 'well' with three littles demanding much time and attention.  Well, here's a great picture of our life right now... holding one kid while we reach over the other two in order to say a quick hello.  Love my husband and very thankful he is willing to drive the bus of our crazy, humble little life.

 

Fall Fun

Taylor... nine months and my little explorer.

Crazy T (almost three)

Miss Madison (4 1/2)

side note - my kids are obsessed with checking the mail.  Thank you to all who send us 'fun' mail.  I wish you were there to see the moment of crazy chaos when they realize that something is for them.

The flying T

Madison... quite a showing.

side view... 

My favorite... once again realizing that it is definitely the SMALL things in life that are so wonderful.  

Our new little neighbor friend Ava came over to join us.  We usually see her sis Alaina but it was just Ava today.  Love our new neighborhood full of precious littles!

Chief got his ball stuck in the tree... Madison to the rescue.

Bundle of fun.

8 Months!

Loves her tongue right now!

Crawling!

This is just a face that she has all the time.

Sweet Little Miss Tay is one day shy of being nine months... therefore I can still blog about her eighth month :).

Your world has changed now that you are on the move.  You figured out how to get those legs and
 arms moving and you are crawling!  You aren't super fast yet, but you can get anywhere you want.  This will make our split-level house a bit interesting.  This new accomplishment has made you quite happy and entertained.  You find the most incredibly small piece of anything on the floor and work very hard to pick it up and put it in your mouth.  I have no idea how many things you have ingested ... I don't want to know.  You love many things... eating (anything and everything), your brother and sister, hanging upside-down, being tickled, playing outside, your little push-car, and the list goes on.  You can pull yourself to a stand on something that is easy to grip, especially your crib.  You are very fun and oh so sweet.  You would be sweet all of the time if you would convince yourself that napping for more than a half hour is a great thing for all involved.  You are a good sleeper now at night, though, so I have no complaints.  One of my favorites is when I am holding you and you make eye contact with someone you don't know (and often some you do), you bury your face into my shoulder.  If you can't see them, then they probably can't see you.  You're the best and we are loving life moving into your ninth month.  We love you, we love you, we love you a hundred times over.  All of us... we love you!

Pumpkin Pickin'

We moved in July and our idea of a garden was quickly fading.  Matt was at Menards one day and decided to grab a couple of seeds and we threw them in.  Literally we planted them, walked away, watered a few times, and it grew.  Incredible... I was literally amazed at how God uses something so tiny, provides it's food, and you have huge plants!  My mom has always had awesome gardens but it was a bit different when it was in my own back yard.  I know the fact that the river floods our garden area every few years and that helps, but it was fun.

Anyways, we planted a couple of pumpkin seeds and pumpkins actually grew.  Three of them... how perfect.  We plan to plant a whole patch next year since they were so fun to watch grow.  Madison had her eye on the first pumpkin that was turning orange.  Every time we went out there she would look at me and mouth "That's mine, Mom".  Once the other two started turning, and one of the other pumpkins began to grow a bit larger than 'hers', she turned to me and said, "Mom, I've got an idea.  How about I have this pumpkin (the largest) and T can have that one."

We finally picked them today and brought them up to the house... we shall carve them next weekend.

About to pick our pumpkins

Taylor... 7 months down....

We love you little lady!

You are winding down on your seventh month, sweet little Taylor Sue, and you are turning into quite the fun little lady!  We were talking about what your personality is like right now and if I had to put it into a few phrases I would say that you are another little girl in our family who knows what you like.  You do not like to be left alone.  You can be playing happily, but if your entertainment leaves the room, you let us know about it.  When we re-enter, you greet us with a big, toothy smile.  You are very easy to make laugh and have an incredibly contagious belly laugh.  It's like a little roar of laughter, followed by the huge giggles.  The sound never gets old.  You completed the milestone this month of actually sleeping the entire night.  It has happened a few times since but you are still working your mama at night.  Someday soon you will be a good little sleeper.  You do a great job of snuggling in your bed and drifting off to sleep, but you still like to have a night party every now and then.  You love food and will eat anything I give you.  You even clap when you really like it.  You have a mouth full of teeth with four on the top and two on the bottom and have a sweet, sweet smile.  You still love your brother and sis and they can get you giggling with the best of us.  You are getting stronger and have pulled yourself up a few times this month.  You can just barely get up on all fours by yourself and have started to scoot backwards.  This is frustrating for you as the toy that you are working so hard to get in front of you just gets farther and farther away the harder you work.  You will figure it out soon, but for now you go from sitting, to your knees, and back again.  We pray for you often and love you to pieces sweet little lady!

Sweet Tay-Tay

Hehe