9 Months

Little Bud passed the 9 month mark about 2 weeks ago.  We went to the doctor for his 9 month check up on his actual 9 month birthday.  The doctor was pleased with his growth and developmental progress, and after meeting with a physical therapist last week, we feel like he's on the right track (a big thanks to Grams for the many therapy sessions she's had with him!).  

Lately he's been pulling himself up to a standing position, and he loves to bop up and down when he hears any kind of music!  He's also been using his hands to beat on any surface he can find, especially when his Daddy plays the guitar for him.  He just started clapping yesterday.  He's doing the "army crawl" faster than ever and seems to be slowly transitioning into regular crawling.  He navigates his walker with great ease.  Big Sister exclusively used her walker to cruise backwards, but Little Bud can maneuver that thing with amazing accuracy!  

His 7th tooth (bottom right) just made an appearance yesterday!  He has 4 teeth on the top, and 3 on the bottom.  

Here are the stats from his 9 month check up:

Weight: 14 pounds, 12 ounces (he gained 8 ounces in a month!)

Length: 27 1/4 inches (he grew 1/2 an inch)

Head Circumference: 44 1/2 cm

He is talking/babbling a bit more these days:

Dada

Mama (he definitely says Dada more!)

No No

Nana (there is no Nana in his life, but this is his favorite babbling sound!)

Night Night

Advent

After a failed attempt to celebrate Advent last year, we resolved to make it a high priority this year.  In November, I researched a bit, and we decided to make ornaments for a Jesse Tree and find an age appropriate devotional to do every night with Big Sister.  I downloaded "A Jesus Advent Celebration" by Ann Voskamp and Nancy Rodden, which included the ornament cutouts to correspond with each devotional.  Although we're using the ornaments in that devotional, we decided this year to read to Big Sister out of her "Jesus Storybook Bible".  There are 21 Old Testament stories, and the first 3 stories in the New Testament section cover the birth of Jesus, which works out to be one story every night of Advent.  After we read the story, she adds one ornament to our Jesse Tree (we collected and spray painted a few branches the last week in November).

My parents bought Big Sister and Little Bud the coolest Advent Calendar at a Christmas store in Copperhill, Georgia, and we put a little surprise in it each night.  The boxes in the calendar aren't in numerical order, so we've had a bit of a number lesson each night to make sure she opens the right door.  While I was researching Advent and Jesse Tree ornaments, I ran across an Advent Calendar that has magnets (stars, animals, shepherds, wise men, Mary, Joseph and of course Baby Jesus) in each door, and in the center of the calendar is a manger scene where you arrange the magnets as you discover them each night.

We are also lighting a candle each Sunday (the themes for the candles are Hope, Peace, Love and Joy) of Advent.  Last Sunday the Bible story corresponded with "Hope", and lighting the "Hope" candle was a great way to talk with Big Sister during dinner about the story we just finished reading.

Preparing everything this year was a lot of work (researching, downloading, printing, cutting, laminating, etc.), but I felt like it was an investment in the future.  Everything will be set to go in years to come.  For us, celebrating Advent and having a Jesse Tree are a great way to keep our focus on what the real reason for Christmas is.  I'm even thinking about making some "Happy Birthday Jesus" cupcakes for Christmas Eve (since I think they might get lost in the mix of Christmas day treats).

Thanks to Papa and Grams for our new Advent Calendar!

Advent reading

Jesse Tree and Manger Scene Advent Calendar

Showing off her beautiful pink hair clips from her Advent Calendar.

(So far every night, no matter what's inside when she opens the door, Big Sister says, "This is what I've ALWAYS wanted!"  Most of the time, she keeps telling us "Thank You!" over and over again, even into the next day.  Her thankful heart makes me a happy Mommy!)

When we pruned our rosemary bush, John made a little wreath.  It smells quite nice.  After John finished making it, Big Sister ran over to me and said, "Daddy is an artist!"  

Dancing in her Christmas Dress!

She had great fun with Grammie at a Christmas play last weekend!

Aunt Jamie

Last week we went to visit Aunt Jamie in her classroom!  Big Sister has wanted to go since the school year began, but we've had a difficult time coordinating our schedules, and Aunt Jamie has been a BIT busy adjusting to her first year of teaching AND finishing grad school.  When we pulled up to the school, Big Sister didn't see Jamie's car right away.  She then said, "Does Jamie ride the school bus?"  I got a good laugh out of that one!

Christmas Time Is Here!

The day after Thanksgiving we drove over to Old Baker Farm to pick out the perfect Christmas tree!  Big Sister even helped cut it down.  After we found our tree, we took a hay ride around the farm.  We decorated the tree the next day, and Big Sister really enjoyed looking at all of the ornaments as we put them on.  This year, she also has a little tree of her own in her room.

On the hunt for the perfect tree!

cutting down the tree!

This boy is pretty much always smiling!

Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving

We spent the weekend before Thanksgiving with my family at the cabin in Benton.  It's rare that all of the Rawls grandkids are together in one place, so we enjoyed some much needed family time!  We stayed up in Tennessee through some of Thanksgiving week (Dad and John worked and we played, rested and even did a little shopping!).  On Wednesday, we drove over to Blue Ridge, Georgia .  Blue Ridge is such a neat town; a lot of the shops sell local/regionally made products, which we really like.  On Thanksgiving morning, we drove back into town to have lunch with John's family.  We enjoyed catching up with everyone.   You'd think that we would see each other more often, since we live in the same town, but somehow life is so busy that we don't get together as often as we should.

Rawls Grandkids (of course Big Sister is the only one not looking at the camera!)

Little Bud LOVED mashed potatoes and sweet potato apple casserole!!

Shopping mall fun!

Blue Ridge, Georgia

They should totally make toddler bunk beds like this!

Playing at the park

On our last night, Big Sister lovingly shared her animals with us.  So sweet!

Children's Hands on Museum

Yesterday morning we made a last minute decision to ride along with John for his work day in Tuscaloosa. I've been wanting to take Big Sister to the Children's Hands on Museum that's just down the road from the office for a while, and yesterday seemed to be a good time to go. I went to CHOM several times as a kid, and over the years I've taken my younger siblings, little friends and my nephew, and I thought it was time for Big Sister to experience the fun! She had a great time, and I was pleased to see that while the museum has been updated a bit over the years, they still have the same exhibits I enjoyed as a kid. If you're ever in Tuscaloosa, check it out! It's a fun way to spend a day!

Nurse Big Sister filling up the baby bottles with juice

Driving the barge up the river to the "River House"

Teaching a "class" like her Aunt Jamie

working in the farmer's market

trying to catch flying ping pong balls

playing dress up in "Grandma's Attic"

Tea time!

Trying to gain access to the space ship

We landed safely on the moon!

Disney On Ice!

This morning John and I took Big Sister to Disney On Ice (Grammie watched Little Bud, so that she could enjoy a date with just Dad and Mom).  She had originally planned to dress as a princess, but changed her mind last minute, deciding to wear her Minnie Mouse dress and her new sparkly red shoes.  We ended up with great seats for the show.  TicketMaster makes choosing seats online almost impossible (you're basically stuck with whatever seats the computer wants you to have), so I called in to order our tickets.  We were able to get front row rink side seats for the same price as the mid level seats (which are still a little pricey, but having the better seats made the price a little easier to swallow!)

Big Sister seemed to enjoy the entire show, although the second half was definitely more exciting than the first.  There were a few characters she was unfamiliar with (we haven't let her watch all of the Disney movies yet, because some are a bit too scary, and she also seems to have a hard time realizing they're make believe - she cried for several hours after watching The Fox and The Hound!).  At intermission, we let her pick out a souvenir; her choice was Mickey Mouse binoculars (lucky for us it was the cheapest thing they had for sale!).  We were kind of surprised she didn't want a plush princess doll or even a Barbie type princess doll, but she had her heart set on the binoculars.  She actually used them to watch much of the second half of the show.  On the way home, she chose to eat at Chipotle for lunch; she loves a good black bean quesadilla!

Ready to GO!

rink side seats!

Mickey Binoculars