8 months for Allie

She's gone and done it...

~Gotten a whole month older

~Popped her first two bottom pearly whites

~Rolled, flopped, scooted to finally crawling

~Ever so s-l-o-w-l-y weaning ( sad :( for mommy but coming at a good time)

~Learned to clap

~Has a fascination with ANY and ALL shoes

~Is the most flexible baby I've ever seen...her newest trick is going from a tummy position to sitting doing a chinese split. It's amazing to watch!

~Is a "by the clock" 10 hour sleeper (which makes wake-up times 5:30am/sometimes 6). I didn't realize how wonderful Reese's 12 hour nights were until 

Ju Ju Be joined us. Sleep is for the birds, right!?! ;)

~Completely, utterly, hopelessly stolen our hearts

Lots 'o Firsts

It's been quite eventful around our house lately. To start off, Reese got her first haircut! Gulp/yay!!! I was super nervous as to how this would go. Reese gets hysterical when it comes to new things...I mean, screaming, crying, won't let go of my neck kind of nuts. My mother-in-law Missy agreed to come help hold Allie for me while it all went down and she also snagged some dum-dums from the bank as an incentive for Reese to "hold still." She blew my socks off with how cooperative, pleasant and agreeable she was the entire time. She doesn't have the thickest head of hair so it must have taken all of 5 minutes. But wow!! I was so thankful for that answer to prayer and she even smiled through out it. I wish I had thought to get a picture right afterwards. I didn't. So here's a before and then after a few days later.

Next, to document here on the blog...Reese and Allie have moved onto bigger and better things bedtime wise! For the first time in Allie's 8 months of living, she finally gets to claim the crib as her own. This past weekend Matt and I decided that it was time for Reese to sleep in her toddler bed. She's been doing so great without the paci and we're ready to start potty training soon. We figured that before that could happen she needed to be out of the crib and really happy/comfortable in her new bed. 

As poor Aunt Mollie can attest...the first night was brutal for 30 minutes. Reese screamed/wailed...*ahem, yes just as I said above* and Allie having never been in her new bed, cried too. BUT we let them cry it out and eventually...or rather what felt like an eternity...they both fell asleep. And that was that. Since then, it's gone amazingly! Everyone is sleeping soundly and happily right where they should be. Reese is even doing super great with staying ON her bed and not getting off to play. Same for naps! So so thankful! :) Good job Reesie Roo! We're so proud of you!

The first night for these two little munchkins!

And if that wasn't enough, Allie decided to start crawling the day she turned 8 months! She's been a movin' and a shakin' with all her rolling for quite awhile but today she actually crawled to get to what she wanted. It's so fun that even though she's my second and I've already been through this whole process with Reese, it's still just as new and exciting this time around. Daddy came home and while Reese was snoozing away during her nap, we had a great time just the 3 of us putting enticing things out for Allie to crawl too. We love our little Ju Ju Be so much!

Showering Courtney

While Courtney was in town for Shepherd's Conference our family decided it would be a good time to shower her with love, blessings and gifts for baby Noah!

Caitie Wade graciously opened her home and Missy, Mollie and Monika put on an amazing afternoon tea complete with scones, sandwiches, fruit and cupcakes. 

Courtney's dear friend and mentor, Melissa Norton, gave such a thoughtful and loving devotional. As a mom with two, I really appreciated all her words of wisdom and I know Courtney did too. It was also an afternoon for Court to catch up with some of her old small group gals and friends from high school staff at Grace Church.

Here's some pictures of the afternoon.

Praying many many blessings on the last days of your pregnancy, Courtney! We love you so much and count ourselves privileged that we had the opportunity to love on you while you were home. We can't WAIT for little Noah Vincent to make his debut.

To Him be the Glory...not me!

Some days are weary, challenging, emotional, exhausting. I wish I could tell you that in those moments every time I cry out to the Lord for my strength, for His portion, for His enabling hand to hold me. 

Instead, I search within myself to find weakness, frailty and pride in thinking I somehow can do it on my own. Foolishness. I was told many times over that God uses marriage to sanctify His people. As true as that is in my life, I've found that parenthood is the ultimate sanctifying tool! My prayer is that I would quickly come to Him with my failings. That He would be on my heart and mind as I go about my day raising our girls. Our God is so kind to not give us more than we can bear!

I'm praying that His glory will be on display in my life this week.

Wednesday at Marmee's with "Corky"

This week is Shepherd's Conference at Grace Community Church...aka...Reunion Conference. Our dear friends and family come back to "home base" here in SoCal for them as pastors to refresh.regroup.rejuvenate.rekindle.be pampered.be loved on while some of their families enjoy catching up with each other. For us, that means our very own Courtney and Jeremiah (Aunt "Corky" and Uncle "Miah") are here!!

We enjoyed our weekly Marmee day with Courtney along side us.

Reese is fascinated with anything technological. It's an added bonus whenever the item is one of her Aunt's!

What's a hang out time without some cooking/baking/crafting!?!

Our beloved Marmee!

Auntie Mollie getting some snuggle time with the littlest.

Aunt Corky we are so glad you can be here with us this week! Thanks for making our Wednesdays at Marmee's extra special this time around.