Autumn Grace

Autumn Grace: a name to represent & remind us of a change of season & mindset in our lives that has been filled with needed grace upon grace from from God! ...  She has been such an unknown blessing to come sliding (literally, I'll explain later) into our lives, growing our love beyond understanding! She is our miracle baby and I can not express the level of joy she brings to our home, not just for me, but for the entire family, esp the two older babes! And calling her a 'happy baby' does not do justice for just how joyous she really is; smiles & giggles are unending with her daily. Autumn is our third baby which makes it seem like she's growing up even faster than imaginable and I don't want to look back and realize I didn't document her early life as I did the others. So, here's to continuing with the pictures, memories, & mommy rants on the blog! 

A Morning in Motherhood

** I know most of you moms can relate to this post, and looking back at it, all I can do is laugh! Here is just a snapshot of what motherhood looks like...

My morning...

Wake up & shower to emerge to a sleeping hubby & screaming baby! Dress as fast as possible feed the baby & rush to my OB/gyn appt. About 2 minutes away from the doctors office, I get a flat tire! I pull off & assess, nope, no driving on it! Call to see if they can postpone my appt as I wait for my hubby. Nope, can't delay the appt. they simply cancelled it & have to call me to reschedule bc my doctor is too busy! 

The hubby gets to my car & he stays to fix the tire while I take the kids... we head to the park, only to find out halfway there the kids don't have shoes on! So, we turn around & head home!

We get home & I think things will calm down. Nope, wrong again! I pull Autumn out of her car seat to get poop all over my hand bc she's leaked out of her diaper, all up her back & on her legs! I change her & get everything cleaned! Head upstairs to put her to sleep.

I turn the stairs & my son is on the pot, pooping! So, I make him wait while I nurse & put Autumn to sleep! Oh wait, her crib sheet is not changed & has the huge pee spot from her leaking out last night! I change the sheet while she's screaming, my son is yelling "I'm done, mommy! Wipe me!" ... 

I put Autumn in the crib, let her cry... go wipe Zeek! Get him clean... and then go back to rock Autumn to sleep! 

It's now 10:15 & I'm just now sitting down to drink my first sip of (cold) coffee & eat breakfast!

Eleven Months

Ivy at 11 months...

- has started pulling up on things, she gets to her knees but can't quite make it to her feet!

- says "mama" "dada" & "yaay" ... but understands & smiles when you say "Zeek" or "Nala".

- loves waving hi & bye and loves to clap when she hears any music.

- giggles the most when chasing (flying through the air) big bro around the couches.

- hates drinking from a sippy cup. She thinks they're just for chewing on!

- is still waiting on more teeth (still just has the two bottom front ones).

- is super excited to meet Gramps & Aunt SheShe next month at her 1st birthday!  

Ten Months

Ivy at ten months...

- is in the 1 percentile for weight, such a tiny girl!

- has started army crawling and sometimes 'real' crawling around the house. She has found the places she is not suppose to go & obviously goes to those places first (xbox, the kitchen, empties the tv stand, Nala's food dish, etc).

- officially sleeps through the night (6:30pm - 7:30am).

- is slowly growing out of her separation anxiety & can enjoy time with others!

- loves laughing at you if you tell her "no" or "go to sleep"! 

- has extremely ticklish feet & sides! 

- loves watching Zeek play outside through the window or being outside in the grass with him!

Nine Months

Ivy at nine months...

- is a petite little thing! We discovered she still fits into some of her 0-3 mn summer clothes!

- has had a streak of sleeping through the night (10 hrs) and we're hoping it stays that way! 

- has started enjoying more table food (puffs, crackers, yogurt melts, bread, or really anything you have).

- absolutely loves her brother & playing with him! He's one of the main things that brings a big smile to her face. They've even started having screaming contests! 

- still has no interest in crawling. She just rolls and scoots to where she wants to go! 

- and she's still a true momma's girl, with major separation anxiety! It's our biggest battle. 

Zeek Turned Three

My sweet boy turned three... and I think I'm in denial! Three. Three entire years with my boy. I just can't believe how fast time goes. He has grown into the most intelligent, bright, sweet, fun-loving, tender-hearted, independent, silly boy I have ever met! When his doctor told us he was ahead of the curve in smarts, it was no surprise to us. At times I even wonder where he learns the things he does because they're said or done so properly, and my husband & I are so far from that it just doesn't add up. Combine that intelligence with his tender-heart and you have a very thoughtful, sweet, sweet boy. He won't go an hour without hugging or kissing me & Ivy. He loves those around him so deeply that often it's more of a model & reminder of how I should be loving others... Don't get me wrong, these lovely attributes are the very thing that has gotten him in trouble at times too. Like smothering his sister too much & being bossy with her, trying to apologize & kiss his way out of time-out, or taking two 'very small bites' and claiming it was indeed TWO bites, telling us he can't eat his bread bc "it has gluten in it", or breaking his toy & taking it apart bc it's broken & 'needs new batteries'! Our crazy boy has given us so many laughs & smiles over the past year, I don't know what I'd do without him! I just love that he gets his crazy, silly, fun spirit from his daddy... His favorite things this past year have been rough-housing, wrestling with daddy, playing outside, running & dancing around the house, playing guns/battles, cars/airplanes, superhero's,  and of course, mowing & weed eating the lawn! He's such a boy! ... He continues to capture and melt my heart as the years go on! And being his momma is such a joy and blessing that I'll never be able to put into words, along with the love I have for him. It will never be explained yet it's constantly growing! 

- Zeek, I love you so so deeply and I'm so proud of who you're becoming! -

Eight Months

Ivy at eight months...

- has started trying finger foods, but is very picky! Her favorite is little chunks of bread... 

- she has to be eating whenever you are & wants to try whatever you have.

- rolls all over the room playing with every toy in sight & always goes after what she's not suppose to have (mainly Jonny's gaming headset)!

- is missy chatty these days! She says "baa -baa" "Ma-ma" "la-la", especially when Zeek is talking to her!

- is still not sleeping through the night, but has a bedtime of 7pm!
('cry it out' has not work for her)

- still has terrible separation anxiety - such a momma's girl!

- is my blue-eyed babe!

Seven Months

Ivy at seven months...

- loves to play and giggle at her big brother! They are the best of friends & it melts my heart.

- rolls and scouts all over the place, mainly to her favorite toys!

- got her first two teeth and is working on some more.

- is sitting up by herself!

- is a picky eater, but loves her sweet potatoes.

- still has major separation anxiety making her a huge momma's girl!

Merry Christmas

We wish you all a very Merry (late) Christmas! We enjoyed a nice (warm) family morning in eating cinnamon roll casserole and opening gifts. Zeek wanted to open every gift possible, starting with the biggest ones, of course. And Ivy slept in til 9:15 missing half of the gift opening time, but once she joined us she loved grabbing and eating the paper while Zeek opened the gifts for her! They had such great team work! Ivy woke with a surprise for all of us, a gift of her very own - her first two front teeth! We had a rough week with teething, so we were all so thankful when they finally popped through... It ended up becoming a very Star Wars themed Christmas, unintentionally, which then lead to great fathering/teaching moments for my hubby. J is such an amazing daddy & Zeek really looks up to him, so watching that relationship continually grow has become one of the most heart-warming things for me! Not only did J teach the kids about Star Wars, but he came up with several new family traditions this year. He read Jesus's birth in the Jesus Story book bible to the kids before bed on Christmas Eve, he talked Zeek through the gift of Jesus many times throughout the season so he could understand what the gifts really are about, and we started off gift opening Christmas morning with a prayer thanking Jesus for being our greatest gift, the gift of life! I pray that these ideas continue to be at the center of every Christmas for our family and that we don't lose sight of what it's really about as we train our children up in these ways! ... One of the most precious thing I'll remember about this season was continually hearing Zeek talk about how "Jesus was coming to our home on Christmas day so he can open his presents... bc it's His birthday!" It makes sense to me and I really do wish Jesus is coming back soon...