11 Months

Ridley is 11 months old.  In less than a month we will be throwing her 1st birthday party! I cannot believe how quickly this year has passed and it makes me want to cling onto all the small moments a little tighter.

Ridley still hasn't decided to walk yet.  She is so close but for right now, she is content cruising furniture/walls.  She'll let go, but as soon as she realizes she is standing on her own, she sits down.

Recently, she has been waking up in the middle of the night and has a really hard time going back to sleep.  We aren't really sure what the deal is, but she literally decides that it is party time and won't go to sleep.  We can rock her, give her tylenol, etc. and she is NOT going back down.  We can't really figure out what the issues is, possibly just trying to achieve the developmental milestone of walking or cutting new teeth. I've always heard that when they are trying to master a new milestone, it can mess up sleep patterns.  Hopefully, this leaves as quickly as it started :)

Those Big Blues say one thing...TROUBLE!

Despite her wild nights, she is still a sweet girl all other times.  I'm excited to see how her personality develops as she ages.  She is super mellow laid back right now with little bouts of attitude so we shall see how this transpires as she ages.

We are loving life right now and looking forward to all of our new firsts and relishing in the memories of all of our "lasts".  On that note, I've forgotten to mention that at 10 months Ridley completely weaned herself from nursing.  She started cutting two of her upper teeth and the pain was pretty rough on her and she had a hard time even taking a bottle.  She refused to even attempt to nurse during this time and with everything going on pumping just wasn't happening.  This was REALLY hard for momma, especially knowing that this was probably my last wee one; however, I also felt that it was better that she let go instead of me having to push her away.  We are now in full blown bottle and sippy cups and we are starting to give her little tastes of Horizon Organic Whole Milk.

Lot's of stuff going on as usual.  She got to get in the pool for one of our friend's pool parties and she LOVED the water and the splashes.  Which is no surprise, since bath time is a favorite.

That's all I have for now!  I"ll leave you with a sneak peak of her 1st Birthday outfit her Nana bought her..I can't WAIT to see her in it

10 Months (a Month ago)

Okay so I'm a month behind, but in my defense life has been crazy and I haven't really had a chance to blog. After the crazy travels of Christmas, all the kids got sick.  Maddox during the break, followed by Ridley the first week in January, and let's not forget Lukas the second week in January.  We are all on the mend and for that I'm thankful!

So, my baby girl was 10 months old right before Christmas and here are a list of things that she is up to:

LIKES:

Ridley LOVES bath time
Getting in the middle of whatever the twins are doing
Cruising furniture
Getting into Lady's water dish
Sitting in big brother and sister's chair

FOOD LIKES:

Chicken - Seriously the girl can't get enough of small pieces of grilled chicken
Yogurt
Spaghetti
Graham/Ritz Crackers
Goldfish
Anything in those squeeze pouches

Ridley really likes to do everything on her own and I think that's the reason she LOVES those squeeze pouches.  I made her lot's of homemade baby food and she won't eat it if I feed it to her...however, if I let her do it herself it makes a gigantic mess.  Solution:  I found reusable squeeze pouches.  I'm soooo excited about them coming in and I will blog about them as soon as I get them!

DISLIKES:

Being told "No" or being moved away from whatever the twins are doing

Here's what I think about this bow you put in my hair...

She is still our happy camper.  She has 4 teeth now.  Two bottom teeth, 1 front tooth and one directly next to the front tooth.  She weighs about 19 lbs 10oz and seems to have gotten longer in the past few weeks.

She has learned the sign for "more" and she uses that when she wants more food.

All in all everything is going great and she is growing up :(

Happy 3rd Bitrhday Lukas & Maddox

Oh wow.  It seems like yesterday, I was on bed rest anxiously awaiting the arrival of Lukas & Maddox.  It doesn't seem possible that they are 3 years old.

For their 3rd birthday, we had several of their friends over for a "Winter Candy Land".  We had cake pops and cupcakes, along with TONS of candy that all the guests could decorate their cupcakes with & stuff their goody bags full.  We also had a giant bounce house in the backyard...in December.  Yup, that's right, it was warm enough to have an outdoor bounce house for their birthday party.

This year the kids really understood that they were having a birthday party.  They kept listing off the names of all their friends that were coming..."Gunner is coming to my birthday party, Poppa D & Granny are coming to my birthday party" over and over they were so excited.

Before all the guests arrived, the bounce house was set up in our backyard.  Lukas was running an errand with Cody and had gotten a sucker...when he walked out back and saw the bounce house, he simply handed me the sucker and took off straight towards the bouncy house.

When everyone gathered around and sang happy birthday they were all smiles.  They were also super excited to blow out their candles.  In fact, I had to relight them twice because Lukas kept blowing out Maddox's.  The look of wonder on their faces as people sang & they blew out their candles was priceless.

As a super shocking surprise that melts my heart and brought me to tears (which is not an easy feat for me), some of our best friends from Fort Worth, Martin, Katie & Finley showed up unexpected for the party.  The look on my face as they walked through the door was probably hilarious, because I did a double take and all I could do was hug and say "I can't believe you are here"...it perfected an already great day.

The party couldn't have turned out more wonderful and we feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful support system with our family & friends (new & old).

Thank you everyone who came!!

Resolutions for 2013

Here is a repeat post from a few years ago and I feel that I'm at this point in my life again :)

Resolutions...

I've never been a big resolution person. I feel that I should strive all through the year to accomplish my goals and goals change as new circumstances enter and exit your life. I feel that a resolution, especially in the New Year, is usually a set up for failure. It is something very broad or so specific that it can be unattainable.

This year I have decided to work on a "resolution" for myself. I'm not going to say that I want to be in better shape/lose all the baby weight I gained, be the perfect wife, mother, friend, or become a better Christian. Those are all things that I want and I will work towards everyday, but this year I want to do something different. This year I want to be happy where I am RIGHT NOW, not where I want to be when ..."insert desire here".

I'm going to strive to be happy in my own skin exactly where I am. I want to live in this moment. I want to enjoy everything that I consider an "imperfection" in my life, because that is, after all, what makes it my life. I am going to accept compliments, want less, give more, smile because I can, and love with everything I've got.

That's my "resolution"...that's my goal and that's my plan for my 2013!

"And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there." -1 Corinthians 7:17

9 Months

How is my BABY closer to a year old than she is to being born?  It's all going way too quickly for this mom.  Ridley is such a happy camper she makes you want to have like 20 babies..whoa wait, maybe more like 5.  We say that she is the perfect note to end on because we couldn't get this lucky again.  It also helps that we have twin almost 3 years olds that keep us on our toes.

Ridley weighs around 17 lbs 9oz.  She is pretty petite and will probably be built like Maddox!

Here are some Milestones Ridley has accomplished:

• Crawling EVERYWHERE
• Pulling up & Cruising around the furniture
• Using the pincher grip to eat food
• Stands alone, unassisted for short amounts of time
• Has 2 bottom teeth (still)
• Clapping "Patty Cake"

Here are some of the things Ridley's loves:

• Getting into things like paper or leaves that she finds on the floor
• Pulling Lukas's hair and playing with him
• Watching brother and sister play
• Standing up in the bath tub and falling on her hiney & clapping at her big splashes
• Banging toys together
• Eating finger foods
• Her favorites are
• Pumpkin Pie
• Graham Crackers
• Corn
• Chicken

Here are a few things Ridley dislikes:

• Getting her face washed
• Getting things taken away that she has put in her mouth
• Putting on Clothes after a bath

She is really just coming along and growing up super quickly.  I can't believe all the things she can do.  Lukas has really become attached to her and he lets her pull and roll all over him AND give him slobber kisses!  He is a great older brother.  Maddox is really good with her too, but she gets REALLY upset if Ridley pulls her hair!

Everyday is great around here and we totally enjoy having our 3 kids running around!

8 Months

I'm a month behind and it's because life is crazy around here :)  We are constantly busy doing something.

Ridley is 8 Months (actually 9 months, but we're pretending I'm on my A game)

Ridley still has only 2 bottom teeth, but she utilizes them to her full advantage and chews on biter biscuits/mum mums/puffs/cheerios..you name it.  She weighs around 17lbs 4oz, which is pretty darn close to what Maddox weighed around the same time.

She has started crawling and is pretty darn good at it.  She gets so excited now that she can get from Point A to B, you can literally see the determination on her face as she makes her way to whatever she desires.  She does get a little frustrated if she doesn't feel like she is getting there fast enough!

She is growing like a weed and is still happy as ever.