Diva

Purse. Check!

Hat. Check!

Sunglasses. Check!

Sidekick? Check!

9 Months

I cannot believe 9 months ago, we were bringing this little guy home from the hospital.

He's crawling like a maniac, has 6 teeth, and desperately wants to pull up on things. He still loves his mama, chases after his sister, and grins with his whole face when his daddy walks into the room.

Love you, Bubba!

Amateur Photographer

Please excuse the "just got home from the gym" look. Sariah had fun taking pictures of Mama!

Air Show With Daddy

Jared loves airplanes. So when the air show came to Tucson again this year, he was so excited to take Sariah! He paired up with Todd, Parker, and Aiden, and off they went!

Anyone who knows Sariah knows that she's an explorer, and an escape artist. Thus the need for a puppy backpack:





And, of course, the partners in crime:


While they were waiting in line, Sariah danced to the music. She's always dancing! She's got some serious moves and rhythm, too.



I think a new tradition has been started, a love for airplanes has been fostered, and a daddy/daughter relationship has been strengthened.

Conversing, So To Speak

Have you ever heard a 2 1/2 year old have a conversation with herself?

No?

It's really entertaining!



NOTE: She's talking about a basket, and Amber Franklin. And yes, she's naked.

I am CONVINCED

That the Lord has a sense of humor. He wouldn't have given us children if he didn't!

At the same time, He sends us tender mercies to help us see the humor in situations.

Case in point. In my kitchen, I keep a towel hanging off the handle on the stove, and on the fridge. I'll wipe my hands on either of those because I'm usually within a step of one of those at any point in my kitchen. I change them every day, and always put fresh ones up.

For some reason on Saturday, I kept forgetting about the towels I had hanging up and grabbed a new towel every time I got my hands wet. Before long, I had all 9 of my towels on the kitchen table, each only having been used ONCE. Not dirty, not wet - just a pile of them there. I was so annoyed!

I walked around the corner to check on James, and that's when I heard it.

This lovely, 1-L cup full of water just splashed ALL OVER THE FLOOR. I RAN in to make sure Sariah was alright, and she was standing in the corner covering her ears. She does that lately and I'm not quite sure why, but it's pretty cute. Anyhow, I couldn't get across my kitchen to the towel drawer! Water everywhere and very slippery floor makes a bad combination.

BUT WAIT! I had 9 towels right there on my table, WAITING FOR ME!


This was round 2 of the clean up. I had Sariah help me wipe it up, and we giggled about it the whole time (with making a point of asking mommy for help). Had I stressed about getting across the kitchen to get the towels, it may not have been so funny.

I don't know about you, but I'm sure us mothers have some divine help. Makes our job a little easier, wouldn't you say?

Fingerprints

This is why I have fingerprints ALL over our sliding back door.


And why I won't waste/spend time cleaning them until we are done having children, and they are all walking. But you know what? I'm fine with it. Because fingerprints mean I have little ones in the house, which I love. I'll sacrifice clean windows for fingerprints any day.


NOTE: James can move one eyebrow at a time. It's hilarious! He'll look at you with this face that says, "I'm not impressed." Then all of a sudden, he'll start wiggling his eyebrows as if he's seriously analyzing the situation. Serious little man we have!

Tenderness

Sariah has always had a very special relationship with each of her stuffed animals. At night, she methodically makes sure she has each one in bed with her. If she is missing one (out of the 11 she has), she knows it. She won't go to sleep until it's accounted for somewhere in her room.



As she has grown, she demonstrates such tenderness towards her animals. They are her babies, and she is their mommy. To her, they are real people.



She rocks them, sings to them, loves them, and sweetly tucks them in to bed. I'll often hear her say "Goodnight sheep. Love you." as she quietly backs out of her room and shuts the door. She is such a feisty little pistol, and throws tantrums like you've never seen. It's so nice to see her be so tender most of the time, especially towards her baby brother and her animals.



In this picture, her sheep was scared. Sariah wanted to put her in a safe, cozy place where she wouldn't be scared anymore. What better place than mom and dad's hamper?

Choices

Today, I cleaned the house instead of take a shower!

A brave, valiant choice.

It's 3:05 pm...still haven't showered.

BUT...

Sariah and Emerson have helped me clean the entire house. They had a BLAST wiping down anything they could with a wet paper towel.

You should see my hair. Frizzy, sticking straight up, kind of hilarious actually.

(Don't worry babe - I'll take a shower and be presentable by the time you get home. Maybe.)

Teething and Crawling

Two things that post serious hazards!

James now has 6 teeth! 4 on top (which he cut all at the same time...not fun.) and 2 on bottom. He's not even 9 months old. Who does he think he is, growing up so fast?




He also started crawling the day before he turned 8 months old. He's now fast, and super curious. He doesn't really like to be held anymore because he'd rather be exploring.

NOTE: Sorry the pictures are so blurry. He doesn't sit still for very long!




Here's also a video of him crawling. Taken last week. But even in the few short days since this video, he's now so much faster. It's amazing to me how their brains work and develop so quickly!



On to the next adventure - pulling up on objects. He's figuring it out. Won't be long, now!

Best Friends

These girls can't sit close enough, or love each other enough.

If Jared and I are lucky enough to have another child, and it's a boy, then Sariah won't have any sisters. Emerson is the last of her family, so she won't have any sisters, either. Maybe they'll grow up being each other's sisters.