9 Months & More

This sweet girl is 9 months old today! This was the best smile I could get out of her this morning. She was a little tired because she didn’t seem to want to fall asleep last night. 

Silas wanted to sneak in for a picture too, and he always manages to get better smiles from her.

During the past month, Saylor has continued to develop, and she always keeps us smiling around here! Once again, I have listed the new things for her during the past 30 days

-She has added broccoli & cauliflower to her diet, and she is now eating solids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

-She is getting fast with her army crawling, and she is beginning to pull up onto furniture.  This also means she is learning how to open many drawers and doors(and yes….we never child proofed them for Silas, and I suspect it won’t be happening for her either).

-She has now dropped her late afternoon cat nap, and she is taking two naps a day

-She likes to pretend various toys are phones and put them to her ear like she’s talking

-She has outgrown all of her 6 month clothing, and she is primarily wearing 12 month clothing now

- She has caught onto me with all the bows in her hair, and she is beginning to pull them out(even the small ones)

Saylor & Silas also got to meet Mammaw for lunch as she was traveling home from visiting extended family

She is already a full fledged Hoosier fan, and she is ready for March Madness! She’s pulling for a 6th banner to be hung in Assembly Hall this year:)

 

She continues to benefit from Mammaw’s sewing talent!

She is trying to start new fashion trends.

She remains as adorable as ever!  We love you Saylor, and we celebrate these 9 precious months of your life with you!

In other news, Silas has also had some fun over the past month as you can see in the pictures below.

He had a date with mama to the circus!(where we happened to run into good friends)

He had a few kisses stolen from him!

He had some bouncing fun with a good buddy!

He and daddy attended a friend’s birthday party at a local bowling alley!

He got to eat more snow which I am sure was mixed with some dirt; however, it didn’t phase him!

Finally, he had a couple of days with outdoor play which he loves! We are all ready for warm weather around here!  I think that wraps up the last month for us! We are certainly blessed, and we are looking forward to hosting some beautiful children(and their sponsor) from His Little Feet this month.  Based on last year’s experience, I know we are going to be blessed!

Valentine’s Day 2013

“Love is an image of God, and not a lifeless image, but the living essence of the divine nature which beams full of all goodness". Martin Luther

Eight Months

Saylor turned eight months old today.  How is that possible? She is growing and changing so quickly, but we are doing our best to soak it all in while we can.  Before I list out the new happenings in her life this month, I have to list the most important thing that occurred in the past month. On January 16, we hit the milestone where she has been with us longer than without us, with a forever family longer than without one, with a forever mommy and daddy longer than without one.  I could just cry thinking about it, and my heart still breaks for all the children who are waiting to hit this milestone someday.  On January 16, Troy and I were once again reminded of God’s faithfulness in completing his perfect plan in creating our family.

As in previous posts, below I have listed what is new for Saylor over the past month. 

-she is now consistently clapping her hands, and she especially enjoys imitating someone else clapping

-she has an emerging army crawl that she just began demonstrating this week…..I have a feeling she will be into everything once she masters it!

-she has added blueberries and zucchini squash to her diet, and she is improving with her pincer grasp with eating puffs and yogurt melts

-she went to the nursery at church for the 1st time this past Sunday and she did great

- she has also benefitted from Mammaw’s great sewing skills which scored her the purple outfit as well as the Valentine’s dress in the pictures below

 

The above picture was taken earlier today.  Happy eight months Saylor! We love you!

She’s 7 months!

Guess who is 7 months old today?

 

Below is a summary of what is she has been up to during the past month:

1. She is now consistently sleeping through the night(YAY!).  Most nights she sleeps from 7:00 to 6:30ish, and she is always babbling when she wakes up.

2. She has transitioned from 6 oz. bottles to 8 oz. bottles.

3. She has added mango, potatoes, carrots, and peaches to her diet. She also enjoys puffs and yogurt melts now.

4. She can sit independently with good balance now.  She can pivot 360 degrees in both directions on her belly, and she is beginning to do the ‘inchworm’ to get to toys while on her belly.

5. She is gradually improving her pincer grasp in order to bring her puffs to her mouth

6.  Finally, as hard as I have coached her to say ‘Ma-Ma’, she is now frequently saying ‘DA-DA’.  I won’t name any names, but someone in our household is filled with pride when she says this!

The last two pictures above were taken after church today.  Oh how we love this sweet girl! Happy 7 months Saylor!

December 2012 Recap

Once again, another month has gone by since my last post.  Silas is going to have so many memories of his first few years, and poor Saylor gets cut a little short! I guess that is what happens to the second child, and any children thereafter.  Since I am a middle child, I will be able to sympathize with her:)

December was busy in some ways, but much more relaxed than in previous years.  We had lots of time spent at home, and part of that was due to Silas and Saylor getting a stomach virus.  Regardless, I tried to savor getting to soak up lots of time at home with my kids because I knew my return to work was right around the corner.  Fortunately, I am grateful that I only work two days a week, and I love what I do which helps!  This post is filled with LOTS of pictures to give you a glimpse into the wonderful month in which we celebrated the birth of our Savior!

 

 

These Nutter Butter Snowmen were a hit with Silas’ Cubbie class at Awana which is held at our church. He was thrilled to take them because whoever brings snack gets to be the line leader!

We visited Chick-Fil-A early one Saturday morning to get a picture with Santa.  Silas was just as excited to get a picture with the cow.

Buddy the Elf made his appearance shortly after Thanksgiving.  On this particular day, Silas wanted to sticker himself up like Buddy!

As the pictures continue, you will notice this Texas shirt a lot.  We are not Texas fans, and this was just a hand me down. He is a big fan of hoodie shirts though, and he wanted to leave his hood up for the duration of the night that we decorated our Christmas tree.

Silas was eagerly anticipating daddy lifting him up to put the star on.  The opportunity finally came, and he was thrilled!

I just love this.  Finally, BOTH of our children are here for Christmas!

Silas is preparing to put his sprinkles on Christmas cookies. Saylor just got to watch this year!

Silas decorated about half of them before he lost interest which left Troy and I to finish.

We tried something new this year. I love Pinterest, and I saw this Gingerbread Nativity Set which I loved.  We are always looking for ways to incorporate the true meaning of Christmas into our December activities. We made our best attempt to replicate the Nativity Set, and I thought it turned out pretty cute!(even though everything would just be eaten if Silas had his preference)

One of my favorite things about Christmas is getting Christmas cards in the mail…especially the picture ones! I just love to see how families change and/or grow each year.  They are also a reminder that we are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends!

Since we would be out of town for Christmas, Santa made his appearance early at our house.  Here we have two eager kiddos waiting to open their gifts.

Silas wore these pajamas for his first Christmas so we just passed them down to Saylor for her first Christmas.

I am so grateful that God allowed her to be home this year.

Silas really got into all things Christmas this year.  I love how he can pretty much tell the Christmas story without any prompting now.  I just pray that he will really grasp the greatest gift that has ever been given!

Santa brought Silas a Leapfrog Globe, and we had to help him find Ethiopia so he could hear some Ethiopian music!

We spent the first half of Christmas week in Illinois.  The kids are ready for church in their Christmas outfits. Mammaw Hess made Saylor’s dress and Silas’ bowtie which we really appreciated.

Aunt Connie and Uncle Keith had lots of Christmas decorations so we decided to use them as ‘props’ for pictures. Unfortunately, it was challenging getting both kids to look at the camera at the same time!

I couldn’t leave out the sweet little bloomers Mammaw made!

Saylor got to meet her Great-Great Aunt Ann for the first time. She is 93, and I hope that I am as spry as she is when I get that age!

Grandpa and Grandma Lucht with their grandkids.  Can you guess which child was less than thrilled to be getting more pictures taken?

Saylor also met her cousin Kennedy for the first time.

Saylor with cousin Cooper

Silas was thrilled to get this four wheeler for Christmas even if Santa delivered it to Uncle Paul and Aunt Amy’s farm in Indiana. 

These sweet cousins were thrilled to have enough snow to build a snowman!

Daddy and Saylor with Christmas exhaustion setting in.

 

She had no shortage of love from her Uncle Adam who lives in Texas.

Silas was in heaven with all the fire truck / fireman related toys he got from extended family!

Mammaw with her youngest 5 grandkids.

More pictures mom?? REALLY????

Saylor also got to meet one of my best friends from high school over Christmas break.  She lives 6 hours from us so it was great to catch up!

 

This was the view from my mom’ s house when we left to return home.  It was so beautiful and serene, and it reminded me how much I loved growing up in the country! I think that pretty much wraps our 2012.  We had a wonderful year, and we eagerly anticipate what God has in store for our family in 2013!