8. months.

EIGHT MONTHS OLD! It cannot be possible that this little cutie patootie was born 8 months ago...
As an 8 month old she is: sitting up really well. crawls easily. pulls up on EVERYTHING. reaches and grabs for EVERYTHING(especially remotes, cell phones, cords, outlets, and flip flops) smiles and flirts. squeezes my face. squeals. says DaDa (and babbles). cries when she wants something. sleeps from 6:30-7pm until @5-6:30am... has eaten carrots, green beans, pears, and her fave is ACORN SQUASH. She LOVES bath time and had fun swimming the other day. She is wearing 6-9month sized clothes and can ALLLLMOST clap. she loves slapping her crib, the floor, the couch...and we have been OBSESSED with the Olympics lately and thinking she could be a gymnast(but may be too big) or a swimmer(but may be too small) so maybe a diver or synchronized swimmer...or a volleyball champ...whatever she decides to be we know she will be a rock star:)

More soon!
Dannis

YOU DONT EVEN KNOW

{you don't even know}
the phrase above is somewhat of an ongoing inside joke between me and my michael. we started saying it when i was pregnant and EVERYBODY. EVERYBODY. would be like "you are about to have your WHOLE WORLD upside down...you are going to be soooooo different...you have know idea how much your life is about to change..." etc etc etc.. IT. DROVE. US. CRAZY!

*sidenote to self: NEVER SAY THAT TO PREGNANT COUPLE!!

Anyways...we would say {you don't even know} to each other because we felt like so many people were telling us that. And They Were Right. We didn't know...we had no idea... how could we...how could anybody? How could you know? How could I know that eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch like it was my job and never working out would make me gain 30 pounds that I STILL need to lose? How could I know that breastfeeding was not sunshine and rainbows, it was no milk, lactation consultations, crying, stress, bleeding, infections, then no dairy for a month and then throwing away 100+ ounces of frozen blood sweat and tears...How could I know that I would spend the worst two weeks of my life in the hospital and then the next 2 weeks in Hawaii on the best vacation ever... How could I know that I could be so proud of her growth and development and TERRIFIED to give her green beans and carrots? How could I know that sleep was so important and so hard? HOw could I know that when I did finally try to work out I'd pee myself all the time? How could I know that a nice long hot shower is the best place to cry?
How could I know that the Lord has a perfect plan and I should trust in Him and not worry myself into a nervous breakdown?

The only answer is I need to "be still and know" and that is my goal for my 31st year. 

That is my new mantra. Psalm 46:10

So, next year when I'm blogging about whatever stage I'm in I'll have to look back to this post and see if I accomplished my goal...I also want to mention some other things that I didn't know just for others that are parents, caretakers or future parents...just some stuff I've been meaning to share:

This is something I found when I was not sleeping and wondering why AR would scream(turns out it was her GI problems but still this is interesting)

http://www.purplecrying.info/index.php?

a good blog:

http://www.babyrabies.com/2012/07/a-letter-to-my-51-year-old-self/

another good article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kara-gebhart-uhl/phases-moments-parenting_b_1651288.html

and another:

http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2012/02/motherhood-depression-and-weaning.html

ok. that is all. for now.

Dannis

Study of James

A few Tuesdays ago, I started going to a womens bible study at my church, ChristWay. They have a nursery so AR gets to play while I learn about Jesus with other moms. One of the four Tuesday's I missed because AR took a REALLY long nap but the other 3 have been so close to my heart that it has pinned me back with conviction. **If you have an iPhone, get the holy bible app by you version. It's awesome. You can read every different translation or even have it read to you and it's Free! (I don't know about other phones...) **
Anyways. Read James. It's a short book. Written by Jesus's brother. Filled. FILLED. with calls to action. Convictions. Applications. Read a chapter a week. Read a chapter a day. Read the whole book in 10 minutes. Just read it, REALLY read it.
Just this one book, week by week has really opened my eyes and made me bow down (on my knees) and realize the need for me to change, realize, be better, do better, talk less and listen more. I could go on and on but I'd rather let you have a minute to grab your bible and flip to the book OR just google it right now on your phone or computer and read it. Then read it again. Read the new living translation or the message translation. (not the king james unless that's your thang;)
Seriously. But if you don't want to go read it on your own i'll just quote the verses I read this morning that really struck me and made me write this whole post to begin with. These verses sum up what has been eating at me since many headlines have been making me mad lately. Before the tragedy at the movie theater happened which I can't even bear to watch.... "Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? (James 4:11, 12 NLT)"
Love each other. Don't judge. Don't compare. Don't be so critical... That's what I hear...
Have to get ready for church now. Wonder what I'll hear there. Happy Sunday people!!
~this post was made possible by My Michael who put AR down for a nap while I sat drinking coffee on the back porch:)
XO
Dannis








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what can i say...

Welp. What can I say...everything is pretty good. We have been really busy lately. Michael went to Honduras and made it home (he built houses in the same area I went 2 years ago to do women's and children's ministry) AdaReece is doing awesome! She is starting to crawl and really starting to communicate in yells and facial expressions. She should be getting teeth any time now...
There were a few times that I thought she was getting sick or something was making her fussy but I took her for her GI checkup last week (a week early because I thought something was going on) and he said she may have had a little cold and he wasn't telling me the symptoms weren't there but there was nothing 'wrong' with her. There have been lots of little things that have been bothering me lately but nothing to really get into. Just mommy hood stuff. I am very blessed and need to quit worrying about every little thing and enjoy this precious angel baby...
Here are some recent pics of her. She really is the best thing ever...

Cousins...My brothers' kids and AR

MawMaw and her 4 grandchildren:)

Izzy and AR in matching dresses

Sink shot... a family tradition

sink shot framer:)

PaPa!!!

Great Granny Holland

Four Generations...my hair looks really dark... must be the auto correct...

Me and Sarah and her 12 week old Joshua(6th baby, 4th boy)

Hanging with Jack P. Bell!!!

7 Month Shoot

stinker

More soon:)

Dannis

First sippy cup

The sippy cup has a nipple or can switch to sippy lid once she gets the hang of it!
All the water she can handle, or spill, whichever...I'll post some videos soon...

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Sweet Summertime

Well our summer is off to a great start! We have been to the beach and swimming with friends. AdaReece also had her 6 month check-up, on Friday she got FOUR shots, AND a finger prick to test her iron!! She was tough but it was pitiful. At her 9 month check up she will only get one shot, thank goodness. I asked about splitting them up if it would be too hard on her system and the pediatrician said no, whatever I was comfortable with...I went with just getting it all over with, rather than being exposed to the dr. office again in a month, and she has another GI appt next month...anyways...She was 16.1 pounds and 26 inches and her pediatrician said she could start trying baby foods. We are going to the Chattanooga Market tomorrow to pick out a few veggies to steam and puree! We also gave her a taste of water from a transitional sippy cup today. She is just getting so big, I have a feeling she will be saying her first real word soon, she is babbling all day long. I am enamored with her... She smiles and squeals and has quite a personality, she's getting chunkier, and her rosy cheeks are so squeezable....
A couple more pics from our trip to Gulf Shores: Trey is 3 months old and while he is a big boy(bigger than her) AR is twice his age, this is just the beginning of her showing the boys who is boss :)

Then here are some from her pool playdate:

Lily is only 2 but she takes after her mom and is the hostess with the mostsess!! Lily was so sweet to AdaReece and played with her and tried to entertain her the whole time. Such a sweetie!!!

Looking forward to a bright summer!!

Dannis

Living the high life.

If I had a penny for every person that stopped to comment on Little Miss Priss I'd be a gozillianaire. She has really stolen the hearts of men and women old and young. And she had me and her daddy whooped a lonnnnnnnng time ago. Here are se photos of the vacay so far. We have had the best time here in Gulf Shores.




































Sweet baby girl is living the life!

Dannis

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