9 months old

Well, actually she's almost 10 months old, but oh well! I can't believe Hope has only 2 months until she is 1!!!! It's going SOOO fast!!!! I guess I need to start planning a birthday party sometime soon. On one hand I am so sad that she's not really a baby anymore, but on the other hand I am happy that she is able to do more and more things for herself.

She is finally mobile, crawling around everywhere, wreaking havoc of course everywhere she goes. We have broken flower pots, handprints on the TV stand (and lots of mouth prints too), cat fur everywhere (she loves to pull out the poor cat's fur), and the list goes on. She's got lots of bumps and bruises to show for it too. She has been learning so much lately. She started playing pat-a-cake a few weeks back and has since been totally obsessed with it. She will wake up in the middle of the night just to clap. She has also been pulling up to her knees just in the past week-not standing yet, but I know that will come soon.

Hope has also learned SO many words just in the past month. It's crazy how much she understands! I have taught her where my nose, mouth and belly button are (she actually "found" my belly button on accident while she was nursing and has since been completely obsessed with it, so it was an easy word to teach her). She also knows kitty, mama, dada, ball, book (she LOVES books and even tries to steal ours when we're reading to "read" them herself), sippy, bear, duck, and light. She also knows "no", but pretends like she doesn't. ;) She plays pat-a-cake on command, but only in front of her mommy and daddy. If we try to get her to do it for anyone else, she looks at us like we are crazy.

Hope is going through a bit of stranger anxiety right now, which is weird because she has been in the nursery every Sunday and Wednesday since 8 weeks old. She especially does not like people with big hats and low, scratchy voices. She cries like she's being tortured. We also found out (by pure fluke) that she is absolutely terrified of toilet paper rolls!!! I sat her down in the bathroom one day while I was getting ready and gave her an empty toilet paper roll to play with (we actually do have real toys, I promise, but she shows no interest in them at the moment-she wants things that she's not allowed to play with, like electrical cords). Anyway, when I gave her the toilet paper roll, she jumped back like she'd been stung and started FREAKING OUT, crying uncontrollably!!! It is the craziest thing I have ever seen! It doesn't matter if it has toilet paper on it or not, if it's a toilet paper roll, she is NOT going near it!! Looks like our little Hope-Hope has acquired a bit of Mommy's anxiety. ;) Haha!!

Hope popped her second tooth last week, so we officially have two teeth now. Poor baby is in such pain, so we are giving her tylenol at least once day. She really needs something to quell the drooling too, but I don't think they make anything for that problem. ;) She also has an upper respiratory infection right now and is on antibiotics. Her nose is dripping and her cough sounds like a barking dog. Poor sweety. Hopefully she will be better soon. I guess that's all I have to report. I will post pictures soon. Hope everyone is doing well!!

Jesus is risen!

We had a great Easter and hope all our loved ones did as well! Stephen's parents came in to visit and we had lots of fun just getting to spend some time with family. Hope is cutting her first tooth (FINALLY!) so she has been a bit more cranky than usual, but nothing we can't handle. ;) Nothing new other than that. Here are our pics from this past weekend.

Hope's first snow!

Well, it started thunderstorming on Sunday night; we got thunderstorms throughout the night and then when we woke up on Monday morning it was COLD!! It started raining again late afternoon and then about 6:30 turned over to snow! I was actually getting kind of disappointed b/c usually by this time in the season it has snowed at least once here, but we hadn't seen any. So, needless to say on Monday when it started we bundled Hope up and went out in it. She was none too impressed, but at least we got some good pictures! When we woke up Tuesday it looked like a winter wonderland! They are predicting more snow for Thursday...woohoo!

And she's off!

Forgive the longness of this video...she gets a bit distracted sometimes... She's of course gotten much better at crawling since we took this video, but this is the only time so far we have been able to catch it on camera. We are having to keep a better eye on her now. Today she crawled into a stack of binders at church and cut her eyelid open. And, yes, it bled and is all swollen now. Ugh. Where did my little baby go??!!!

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So much to do, no time to do it...

Well, as you can tell by my lack of posting, I haven't had much time lately. We have been SOOO busy!! You'd think after Christmas things would slow down, but definitely not this year; not with Easter coming so quickly!!! Hope and I have just gotten over being sick. I had a sinus and ear infection and Hope had a sinus infection. I actually lost my voice, which was NO fun at all!! So, we've both been on antibiotics the past week trying to get well. We've also had lots of family in. A few weekends ago we enjoyed a visit with my sister and her husband. Then, the very next weekend Stephen's parents and Collin and Janelle came to visit and help celebrate Stephen's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY BUNNY!). Yup, that's right, Stephen is the big 2-7 now too. But remember, I am TWO weeks older than him, so he must respect his elders. ;) We did lots of stuff and had lots of fun with them and wish we could see them more. (Also wish I had taken pictures, but our camera is on the fritz. I'm lucky I got the ones that I posted!!) Anyway, with all this plus getting ready for Easter at the church, it's been a whirlwind lately.

Hope is doing really well other than being sick. She is sitting up without any support now. She is also rolling EVERYWHERE. She is not crawling yet, but is ALMOST there-anytime now. I'm going to try to get a video of her trying so everyone can see. At her last dr appt, she weighed 18.8, which is good. She is starting to eat chunks of food (stage 3's), but Mommy is still nervous to give her cheerios or any "grown-up" food. The very best thing happened this morning. She was singing in her crib just waiting for us to come get her and when Stephen peered over her crib to pick her up, we heard a very purposeful "DADA!!" It was SOO cute!!! Now, I have to admit, I am a teensy bit jealous and have been trying ever so patiently to get her to say "MAMA," but to no avail. Oh well, I'm sure it will come. I'm just happy she said her first words! She also knows "kitty," but of course can't say it yet.

Well that's about all that we have to report. We hope all our loved-ones are doing well. Check in when you can!

My Funny Valentine

She's obessesed with her hands...

Trying to crawl!!!

Trying to crawl 2!! (She's SOOO close!)

Hamming it up...

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful

Coming to get the camera...

Trying her darndest to get the remotes as usual...

Mommy, I know I'm cute, but come on...

The big 2-7!

Yes, I am 27 years old. I still feel like a kid though! I don't know how long it will take before I actually feel like an adult. It doesn't help that I actually still do LOOK like a kid. I know there are many old ladies who pity the poor "teenage" mother they see walking down the street with her baby. ;) Oh well, maybe my young looks will pay off at some point...

Anyway, I had a great week. As usual Stephen went all out for me. I know he feels sorry for me that I have no family to celebrate these kinds of occasions with, so he tends to try to compensate for that fact. On Tuesday night we had pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes (one of my favorite meals) and a 3 layer German Chocolate cake with cream cheese icing, which my sweet husband made FROM SCRATCH all by himself! I was very proud of him. Once the baby was in bed he sang happy birthday to me, I blew out my candles, and opened my presents. It was a great day. Then on Saturday night a friend took Hope so that Stephen and I could go out all by ourselves! We went to the Cheesecake Factory and then did a little shopping. It really was a great week. My sister and brother-in-law are coming in town this weekend for a little belated celebration and then Stephen's parents and Collin and Janelle are coming next weekend for Stephen's birthday. The celebrations just keep going and going! We're so excited! I guess that's about it for now. I will post pics soon. Love you all!