10 Months

Oh Little Lily Bean you are now 10 months old. You have officially been here with us longer then you were in my belly. You are a full of life and always on the go little 10 month old. This month you have been a teething girl, but it has only effected you a little bit. You took getting 4 new teeth within 2 days like a super girl. All 4 of your top teeth are now in and your toothy grin couldn't be any cuter. On the bottom you still just have the 2 teeth you have had for a long time. But I am sure a few more will be popping up soon on the bottom too.

You started pulling up on everything that even possibly looks like it will be a good place to stand. And right after you started pulling up you quickly discovered cruising along the furniture. You frequently try to let go of whatever you are holding onto, but always end up falling down. Only to get right back up and try again. You are still just army crawling. Occasionally when you are too far to reach something to pull up on you will crawl on your hands & knees for few motions to get you closer to where you want to go.

You love to play with your toys and chase your brother around the house. You like to be wherever we are and will follow us from room to room trying to keep up.

You are one of our greatest joys and I can't believe you are so close to being a year old.

FIVE

Dear Five Year Old Jake,
I can't believe you are already 5!!! Where has the time gone? Five seems like such a big number. You are now officially a whole hand old...it takes all your fingers and your thumb to show how old you are. It seems at five all the baby is gone. You are officially a child...no more in the preschool age...you are a school age child now! And I just can't believe the little boy you are growing to be.

A lot has changed for you in the last year and you have handled it all so well.
This year you became a big brother. And the best big brother you are!! You are so sweet with Lily. And as she gets bigger you love to play with her. You are always concerned that she is ok. You hate for her to cry and always run to help her. You usually share so nicely with her. You love to baby wrestle with her and she loves it too. Although, you are wrestling with her you are still gentle. Lily couldn't have a better big brother then you.

You started school this year. For the 1st time you are away from me for 6 1/2 hours a day. At first we both had some adjusting to do. It was a long time for you to be gone. But you have started to love it and I can really see you growing, maturing, and learning so much. Every day when I pick you up, you ask "did you miss me mommy?" "Did Lily miss me?" Yes, Jake we miss you the whole time you are gone, but you are doing great in school. You have made several friends all on your own (the 1st time you have had friends that aren't mommy's friends kids). You share the best stories when you come home from school and tell us all about your day.

You are smart, funny, loving, caring, full of imagination, and full of life. You are my best and favorite boy in the whole world. We have started playing I love you more. And you always want us to stay in the same category. Sometimes we start out with I love you more than ice cream and then we go on naming all kinds of food, sometimes we name animals, things in the house, or the world.

I know some scary changes have happened for you this year and there are things you still don't understand. Don't worry some of it mommy doesn't understand either. But most important I want you to know that God loves you so much. He has an amazing plan for your life. He will you use all you are learning to help grow you into the man you will one day be. God's love never fails no matter what is happening here in your life. God always wants the best for you. I am sure he is even more proud of you then Daddy & I are. But I want you to know that Daddy & I are so proud of you and all you do.

You are into sports...especially baseball. You love to play and be outside. You are fascinated by bugs, frogs, birds, and chipmunks. Really anything you find outside you want to catch it or watch what it does. You love to play and use your imagination.

Watching you grow is one of my greatest joys. But I can't believe you are already FIVE!!!

I love you my sweet Jake...you are my best boy!!!
Mommy

9 Months Old

Well, I was supposed to get this up earlier...but finally a 9 month update on Miss Lily...

Lily is into everything these days. She still prefers to army crawl. She has started to get up on her hands & knees. But she just rocks back and forth and then usually does a little hop to get back to her army crawling. She is eating all most all table food these days. To say she loves to eat is an understatement...she definitely takes after her brother when it comes to eating. And as soon as she sees food she is opening her mouth asking for some. She has gotten pretty good at feeding herself too. She loves to play and loves it the most when her brother plays with her.

She had her 9 month check up and is doing great!! She weighs 17.5 pounds in the 23rd percentile and is 24.5 inches long in the 45th percentile. She is growing like a weed, but still our tiny little girl.

She is absolutely the happiest baby ever and little Miss Personality. She is so much fun and watching her grow is such a joy.

8 Months(way late)

So here I am a week away from Lily being 9 months and just now sharing 8 months. So I am just going to post her 8 month picture. You can expect a full update at 9 months.

7 Months Old

Oh Little Lily,
You are 7 months old!! You are the most precious baby girl. You love life and are as happy as can be. You are into everything and make your way all through the house. I know the time for you to figure out the steps is right around the corner!
You light up as soon as you see Jake and it is the cutest thing ever. I can only pray that you two have the best relationship as you grow up. Jake has started baby wrestling with you and you crack up the whole time. You love being right with him anytime he is home. It has been an adjustment for all of us with Jake being in school all day long. I think you & I are starting to get into a new rhythm during our days while Jake is in school.
You started sleeping through the night this month and oh what a blessing that has been for me. You are in bed no later then 7:30 every night and then sleep until about 7:30 the next morning. And after we drop Jake off at school you usually take a 2-2 1/2 hour nap in the morning.
You are eating baby food and are starting to pick up small pieces of food to eat on your own. I believe I said this last month, but oh my goodness you LOVE food and get so excited when it is time to eat. However, with 7 months also came a new phase for us...you are no longer nursing(longer post to come later). It is a big adjustment and makes me very sad, but you have officially completely stopped nursing.

Oh my Lily girl...you are more then a joy and a blessing to our family. We are so thankful for you!!

Pre-K

This week Jake started pre-k...my little boy is now spending 6 1/2 hours away at school every day. He was unbelievable excited to start school. We were counting down the days, buying school supplies, meeting his teachers and he could not wait. I tried to hide my sadness behind his excitement. I wanted him to be excited. This was an important step for us. Him being away from me ALL day(or really me spending my days without him home). He could not wait. Of course the night before came with some 1st day jitters. He was concerned I wouldn't walk him in. His school offers a kiss and go line...you pull up and the teachers are standing there to get your child out of the car. He at first was excited for this, but the night before he had to make sure I would walk him in. And tell his teachers he didn't want to do the kiss and go line. The morning of school his excitement was back. We walked into his class found his cubby, put his stuff in and then found his seat.

However, as soon as I began to walk out of the room he started crying. The whole time I was thinking to myself...don't blink tears will flow. Him crying made it even harder for me. After one last kiss I was out the door and not a moment too soon I could no longer hold the tears. Thankfully I made it all the way back to the car before totally losing it. I ended up needing to bring him a pair of socks back to the school...so an hour later I was back up there and could see him happily eating snack with the rest of his class. Thankfully he looked to be enjoying his day. I counted down until I could go pick him up and hear all about his 1st day. He said he had a great day and liked his class. As the week has gone on we have had some "I don't want to go to school," nights and more crying mornings. But he has also met some new friends and finally by the end of the week isn't crying anymore at drop off(he still wants me to walk him in though).

Can it really be that he is old enough to be in school? I am sure as soon as I blink my boy will be heading off to college...but for now I will secretly count down to school breaks when he is home with us all day again. And also enjoy the precious and fleeting one on one time I have with Lily while Jake is away.

Happy Half Birthday...

Dear Precious Silly Lily,
You are 6 months old today...I can't believe you have been with us half a year. And in just that much more time you will be a year old.

To say you are a smiley girl would be an understatement. You are forever smiling and it lights up your whole face. Which of course melts my heart and makes my whole day every time you smile. You love when people talk to you and usually smile behind your paci at them.

You have started eating baby food this month. And you love it. Between each bite you get super excited and can't wait for it to get to your mouth. I haven't found anything that you don't really like. You act like you are ready to eat solid food too. Any time someone is eating you want some of it. And we usually don't hesitate to give you a tiny piece to try.

You have mastered the army crawl and are all over the house. Some times you roll from place to place, but when you see something you want(usually something you shouldn't have) you instantly get to army crawling.

You also started reaching for me...I couldn't love it more. When I walk by you instantly put your arms out to me.

Looking forward to watching you continue to grow and explore!!

 Jake getting ready to help Lily open her half birthday present

 What is inside?

 Look a new toy

And a pretty new dress