{Another Month Older}

She is growing like a weed!
B turned 8 months old on January 24th.
She started crawling on February 3rd.  For weeks before that she would get up on all fours and rock back and forth, but she would face-plant any time she tried to make a forward movement.  Now there's no stopping her!  Nothing is safe.  She finds the most obscure little pieces of fuzz, string, and dog hair on the floor and gets to them so fast.  We've had to remind ourselves to make sure the baby gate is closed - something we haven't had to do in over a year.

As you can see from the above photos, learning to crawl is exhausting ;)

The third photo here pretty much sums up how we all felt trying to take this months pictures.  Now that B is mobile, she wants nothing do with sitting still for a picture.  As soon as I sat her down, she was getting herself in crawling position, ready to scoot away from the camera!  So much for my easy, cooperative baby!  Now I'll be chasing both of them around the house with my camera trying to get just one good shot!

Here's what B has been working on this month:

1.  She is CRAWLING!  She gets everywhere she wants to go and gets into everything she wants to touch.

2.  She says 'baba' and 'mama'.  We're working very hard on 'dada'.

3.  When she gets excited or very happy she claps!  It's one of the cutest things ever!!

4.  Her diet has really expanded over the past month or so.  She's eating puffs and yogurt, and her favorite dinner is spinach, peas, & pears. Yum!

5.  There is some serious separation anxiety/stranger danger happening with her lately.  Hopefully this is just a phase, because we can't even leave her in the church nursery lately without her crying so much that they call us down to pick her up!  

6.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING goes into her mouth.  Some babies start to outgrow this by now, but B will plop anything she finds into her mouth to see if it's worth playing with or not.  

{Just a Trim}

I finally decided it was time for the Divine Miss O to get a haircut.  I had been clinging to those long, wispy, blonde strands of hair for far too long.  I was mostly feeling nervous about how O would react to whole hair cutting experience.  In my head I could picture her freaking out and crying – being totally uncooperative and me having to restrain her while the stylist frantically and quickly cut off a few unwanted inches of hair. 

Of course, what actually happened was nothing like that – thank goodness!  I did a little research and found a great kid’s salon that had cute little pink Jeeps to sit in and a TV playing Dora the Explorer at each salon station.  It was so adorable and so perfect!  It didn’t take much coaxing to get Miss O to sit in the Jeep and she totally zoned out on Dora while the stylist was cutting away!

What I didn’t expect was how emotional I would get watching this first hair cut take place.  As soon as the stylist took that first little snip of my baby’s hair, I lost it!  My eyes welled up with tears and I couldn’t stop it, no matter how hard I tried.  I was completely taken aback by my reaction – I was excited and nervous for Miss O, but I never in a million years thought I would cry!  Another stylist there saw what was happening and asked “Is this her first haircut?”  When I told her yes, it was, she gently replied, “It’s okay.  This happens all the time.”  So, not only was I the crazy mother with the camera, taking numerous photos to document this momentous occasion, but I was also the ridiculous mother who cried at her daughter’s first hair cut. 

Miss O got a good five inches of hair cut off that day and I got a little plastic baggie with a lock of that precious blonde hair in it to take home with me.  

  

{A Milestone}

I turned 30 last week.  That's right, 30. 3-0.  In all honesty, I thought turning 30 would be a lot harder for me to deal with.  I thought I would be sad at the very mention of my birthday, or that I would cringe any time someone brought up the fact that I was no longer going to be a twenty-something.
For me, there has been something very empowering about turning 30.  I'm not sad, I'm not depressed, I'm not panicking about all the things that aren't like I thought they would be when I hit this age.  I've been reflective - thankful for all the people who have blessed my life thus far, and strangely thankful for the situations (good and bad) that have brought me to where I am today.

Theodore Roosevelt said "Comparison is the thief of joy."  Isn't that the truth?  I have spent most of my life comparing myself to my friends and other people my age.  When everyone started to graduate college I still had a year left - thanks to some not-so-great decisions.  When everyone started getting married I was still just dating Josh.  It seemed everyone was finding great jobs, buying houses, having babies.  I have always wanted to be 10 steps ahead of my current situation in life.  I've never really taken the time to just be happy and content with where I am.  I've never slowed down long enough to just enjoy my current circumstances and be thankful for everything God has given me.

When I said that turning 30 has been rather empowering, I meant it!  The past couple of years have brought some tough lessons, some wonderful surprises and some incredible blessings.  I think the most important thing I have learned is just to simply trust God.  I have learned to let go of the plans I have made for myself.  I have learned that what God has in store for me is exponentially greater than anything I could imagine.  Faith is tricky.  It isn't just knowing that God can handle what's happening in my life - of course He CAN!  It's believing that He WILL.  It has taken me 30 years to come to that realization, but I'm so glad I've arrived at this destination!

What's so scary about a little more wisdom and a little more life experience?  What's so terrible about a certain number - be it 30, 40 or even 60 (right, mom?!)?  It's all under control.  Everything is in good hands.

Below are some photos from a few of my childhood birthdays.

       With my dad the day I was born.  Apparently, back in the day, anytime anyone held a new baby in the hospital they had to suit up in a gown. 

A Polaroid shot through the nursery window.  1 day old.

        1st Birthday - I think this looks just like baby B!  2nd Birthday - My Nanny made the most awesome birthday cakes!!

       4th Birthday - Rainbow Brite!                             3rd Birthday - my love of monorgams was born ;)

       5 years old.                                                    3 years old.