9 Months Old

Emma Claire turned 9 months old last Monday, so I'm a little late, but better late than never!

She is just growing like a weed and as of last Monday she was

13 lbs!!

Here are a few things she is working on or can do:

• Almost sitting up by herself
• LOVES all of the foods she has tried: bananas, peaches, apples, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, squash and avocados.  We only have pears left and then going to try different cereals.  I'm going to have to start making more food!
• Rolling over and grabbing for toys
• Not quite crawling, but will do a crab walk on her back to get where she wants to go and is pretty fast too!
• Babbles constantly, just working on making specific sounds with her
• Will put herself to sleep in her bed, but has to have a blanket to rub against her face!
• LOVES all of the attention people show her and just smiles constantly
• Will pretty much let anyone hold her, but she likes to be held a certain way when she is sleepy
• Still taking 5 bottles a day with a total of 640 cc per 24 hours
• Size 2 diapers and 6 to 9 month clothes; Had to move to 9 month sleepers since she is so long!
• Head circumference: 16 1/4; Length: 27 inches (in the 5th to 10th percentile on her chronological age for both of these areas). This if the first time we have actually hit the line on the growth charts...almost there for weight!
• Using a bath seat in the bathtub instead of the infant bathtub
• Has quite the little attitude sometimes, OH.MY.SOUL!!!

That is all I can think of right now.  We just love seeing her grow and change each day.  She just loves everything and that makes me so happy.  She is such a well adjusted baby to everything and really seems to pick up on things.  She definitely knows when she is in a different place and I love watching her look around and process everything.  

On another note, had the best time last Tuesday meeting up with some dear buds of mine in Lebanon.  We had the best time!  But every time we are together, we have a BLAST!  I got a picture of Christin and Stacy, but I'm not thinking they want it on the blog, so here is a pic of me and Stacy at lunch!  Love you girls!

Prayer Needed

I have a friend who happens to be a co-worker of mine and her sister's family is in need of prayer.  I know when we were going through our situation and as we continue our journey, so many of y'all prayed for us and over us.  I'm asking our AMAZING prayer warriors to keep this special family in y'all's prayers as well.

His name is Devon Williams and they found a tumor in his brain.  He is going through chemotherapy right now to shrink the tumor and please pray the chemo will do the job.  Devon is self-employed so their income has decreased, but PRAISE GOD, they do live around family which is a HUGE blessing.  They do have a very high deductible insurance, so please pray for financial peace, strength and healing.  I know they will very much appreciate all of the prayers going up for them and their family during this time. 

Joy and Devon Williams

I know we all go through so much in life and GOD is always so good.  We never know why things happen, but we can take comfort in knowing our GOD is right beside us through everything.  We don't know what the outcome will be, but our faith helps us know no matter what happens it is GOD's plan and not ours.

Our prayers and thoughts are with you Joy and Vec.

Semi-Surprise Birthday Party

Since Matt and I both turned 30 this year, I wanted to have him a surprise birthday party.  I thought this will be a breeze since typically Matt has been off on Fridays and he typically goes to the farm.  Well that is not how this typical Friday went for me.  Matt was insistent that I take my vehicle in to get it aligned which I didn't want to do since I was having to run errands to get ready for his party that night.  I could not tell him, so I bit the bullet and I took my vehicle in (this now means I have to pick it up by 5 PM that night).  At lunch time, Mom and I ran errands to pick up everything for the party and then I called Heather to see if she could take me to pick up my vehicle since I didn't want to leave the house empty just in case Matt came home.  

Matt's dad and brother were keeping him busy, but since he was off that day, he wanted to be home and do things around the house.  Jake finally called me around 3:30 and said that Matt was heading home.  I thought GREAT, what to do now.  I just let him walk in the house and see all of the hard work we did and he figured it all out.  At least it was a surprise to who is guests were going to be and what his treats were as well.  

 Brendan

Hagan and Brynn

 Heather

 Brian, Ethan and Brendan

 Jake

 Cohen and EC

 Cohen, EC and Hagan

Matt opening up his gifts

 

Custom Cookies (I didn't get a picture of the cupcakes)

All in all we had a wonderful time with friends and family.  Matt was happy and I know he really appreciated everything I did and put into his party.  Thanks for everyone who came out, we could have any better friends and we appreciate each one of them so much!

Friends from Spokane

We had some of our special friends from Spokane, WA come to see us and Emma Claire.  Judith and Michael are near and dear to our hearts and we were thrilled when they wanted to come see us and love on Emma Claire.  

All in all we had a blast.  Judith and I met mom at Cafe Rakka in Hendersonville which was wonderful.  The restaurant was actually featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives which I thought was pretty cool and the food was AWESOME!

On Saturday we headed out to Barnes and Noble to pick up the guys a birthday present since both Michael's and Matt's birthdays are in October.  We were able to spend some much needed quality time together and I really appreciated them making this journey across the country to see us.  It was a special trip for all of us.  

 Judith and Emma Claire

Michael, Judith and Emma Claire

 Me, Judith and Emma Claire

Matt, Judith and Michael

Bath Time, High Chair and Cuteness OH MY!

Well, after Emma Claire being home and now eating food, I thought it was time to break out and start to use our Death Trapp, err Tripp Trapp high chair.  I hadn't ordered the infant seat for it, so I finally broke down and ordered it off Diapers.com since they were running a couple of specials and I could get it the same color at my chair.  I got it, installed it and EC loves it and I love not having to put the bouncy seat or Bumbo on the table or counter to feed her.  I also enjoy being able to put her in it while we are eating dinner at the table. 

Emma Claire has always enjoyed bath time and now since she is getting bigger, she really has a ball.  I really need to get her out of the infant tub, but since she is not sitting up really, well this is so much easier, but look at all of the cuteness, her wild hair and those huge baby blue eyes!  Daddy better get the bat ready to beat off those boys! 

We had some special visitors last weekend and I'm working on a post...stay tuned!

Blog Love

Please go support my bud, Christin on the launch of a new blog.  A lot of you readers out there in blog land probably follow her blog about her family, www.babyboybryant.blogspot.com, but give her some love on her her adventures in the world of blogging.

http://itscooltobequirky.blogspot.com/

 Christin and me

Emma Claire's 8 Month Pics

Here is a sampling of the pictures Tarrah took for EC's 8 month pics.  I have uploaded all of them to Facebook, so you can check them out there as well if you are my friend.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.  Tarrah is an AWESOME photographer and she is highly recommended in my opinion.

Prayers Requested

My dear sweet friend A needs our prayers.  Please lift her and her family up in prayer.  Their little B is having some issues and they need to be shrouded in peace and comfort during this time.  Please pray for guidance for the doctors, nurses and RTs which are taking care of them and that God will place the appropriate staff in their path to make the right decisions.

Click on the button 'Praying for Bennett' to read about their specific situations and needs right now.  I know they would really appreciate it.

Please continue to keep the Orr Family in your prayers.  The babies seem to be doing much better, but N and M just need our prayers as they embark on this journey and adjusting to life with three babes. 

Love

Doesn't this face just melt your heart?  Just thought I would start everyone's October off right!

We had a pretty relaxing weekend.  Friday night I just finished pricing all of our items for the yard sale at my in-laws house and then on Saturday was the sale.  A huge thanks to Mema (matt's grandmother) for watching Emma Claire all day on Saturday so I could stay outside and help with the yard sale.

On Sunday, we had church and then a wonderful service that night.  I sometimes tend to get more out of Sunday night services and this one was no different.  Our pastor talked about God's unfailing love, how true and awesome is that!  I know we all could name a million times of when God showed us his unfailing love for us and last night Bro. Danny asked Matt and myself to share about ours and our situation with Emma Claire.  It was so just awesome to continue to see God's unfailing love in our lives and around us all of the time.  It is always there, but we need to take the time to see it and believe it.  He is able and will never leave us or forsake us.  No matter what season of live you might be in, remember God's unfailing love, because God is ABLE and will provide you everything you need.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us