9 Months...Sheesh...

I know it's the most cliche thing in the world to say, but time flies...seriously. How do I have a 9-month old child? I tell ya. But regardless of the time flying like it's nobody's business, I'm holding on for dear life and trying to enjoy every step of it. Siena makes that so easy...
She is such a treat and a joy to have around. I know we are completely spoiled by her behavior, her personality, her habits, and her overall happiness. She just seems to get life. And she does it well.
One of my favorite things to do with Siena these days is take her to the grocery store (or even better, Target - the best store ever). It is a complete pick-me-up. Now that she can ride in the cart freely, you'd think I was taking her to Disney World. She gets so excited and happy. She bounces up and down, waves to everyone we pass, and smiles and looks around at everything. And people eat that up. They wave and smile back at her, which makes her more happy, and little squeals and claps follow. It's so great.
Siena is also into everything and crawling around everywhere! She pulls up on her toys, furniture, us...whatever is in her way! She loves to venture into different rooms and see what she can find (before I get to her). :) She loves to shake things that make noise (mac and cheese box, Crystal Light cans, a whisk...) She loves to crawl into my closet and play with my shoes (foreshadowing?). She loves her Leap Frog table that plays all kinds of music and sounds. Anything she can get her hands on, she's after! She keeps our floors clean too. She picks up (and tries to eat) any piece of fuzz or food that fell on the floor. Keeps us honest! :)
We taught her to give kisses too. Watch out though - she leads with her little tongue. It's really adorable and I'll take a wet, soggy kiss from her any day of the week.
She also claps when she does something good...or whenever really. A lot of times she'll clap when there's music on. And when there's music, Siena's dancing! She moves to any sound, beat, or song. The arms go up and the tummy wiggles. She gets her dancing "skills" from her dad, I'm just sure of it. :)
She also loves to chat. She has a high-pitched squeak she is making right now where she opens her mouth up completely and sucks in air - strange, yes, but she does it all the time! She also is starting to make gurgle noises and combining sounds. Oh! And I forgot to post this on the Mother's Day blog...SHE SAID "MAMA"! The week of Mother's Day, she said it, loud and clear. I was actually going out with some girls and was talking on the phone with Matt. In the background, she said it...we both stopped our conversation...yep, she said it alright! It was great. For the most part, she only says it when she's sad or whiney, but I'll take it. She much prefers "Dada", but I don't mind!
One thing that everyone notices about Siena is her little tongue. It is always out! She wiggles it here and there and everywhere! It really is quite funny.
Something else that gets a number of comments is her eyes. I think she got "stuck" with my eyes. Those almond-shaped, small eyes...no denying it - we belong to each other. Something else has inherited from me - a little crinkle in her nose. When I smile or get to laughing, I guess there's a part of my nose by my eye that crinkles up...Siena has the same thing. Matt and a couple family members noticed that. I guess that's kind of cute, huh?! :)
Siena is eating lots of foods, and doing well with it! She is not a fan of peas or beans, but we choke 'em down every once in a while. She really likes squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and any and all fruits. She eats the little puffs now too, which she inhales. I'm looking forward to the day when she can eat some of the things off my plate and I don't have to puree absolutely everything she eats. Soon enough...
For the most part, she is happy, content, and just loves life. We love life with her in it. In a nutshell, that's life for a 9-month old. We're always excited to see what the next thing is that she learns to do. And yet, we cherish every moment we do have, knowing it will quickly change. Love it.
Matt is going to take some "official" 9-month photos when he has a free minute (is there such a thing?), but for now, these will have to do...

Little Miss Muffet, sat on her quilt, eating her fingers and toys...



We went shopping at Price Chopper the other day, and look what the store special was!


An old friend...her newborn binky from her favorite Opa.



Stevie Wonder, step aside!



"I got this one guys..."

Dear Siena,

I love you.
Today was a very special day for me...my very first Mother's Day. Last Mother's Day, I got to feel you squirming around in my tummy. But today, I got to hold you, kiss you, and look at your sweet face and see you smile.
Siena, I have prayed for you for a very long time. You are an answer to my prayers. Daddy's too. God blessed us by allowing us to be your parents. I promise to do my very best as your momma and love you unconditionally. I promise to hold you when you hurt, kiss you when you're sad, hug you when you're happy, and most of all, love you forever.
Today, you and Daddy made me feel very special. Thanks for helping Daddy make me breakfast! I love omelets. And wasn't it fun to sit in my new "throne"? The red lounge chair will be so fun to sit in this summer! Siena, I must say, you and Daddy did a fantastic job on my shadow box. I'll always be able to look at the little outfit you came home from the hospital in. I'll always be able to see your darling little footprint from when you were first born. Momma's bracelet reminds me of when I was in the hospital...so excited to meet you! You're right - the very first time I met you, I knew God's timing was perfect. That shadow box is something I'll treasure forever. Thanks for helping Daddy with that...I'm sure you gave him all the suggestions.
So, on this very perfect, very first Mother's Day, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for making me the luckiest girl in the world. I have a darling daughter that I adore and a husband that I love more completely than ever before. Siena, you're beautiful in every way possible. You are a child of God and a child of mine. I love you forever.
Love always,
Momma

The best little human to wake up to...!


My precious little angel.

Life at Home...

Now that Siena is mobile, I think the curiosity gets kicked up about 100 notches. I can't blame her - after laying around and not being able to move from where she was placed, I'd be all over the place too, looking at and doing what I wanted to do! :) It's really fun to watch her entertain herself and find new things to play with. Or even just moving from her different toys to try out something new. She's very daring - not afraid to pull herself up or move quickly. The independence is soaring! (I have a feeling we're just scratching the surface on the whole independence thing.) These pictures are a few things that keep us busy throughout the day...

Matt got to come home for lunch the other day. Siena was thrilled to be able to "hang out" with her daddy during the day!




I attempted to put a ponytail in Siena's hair. There are parts that are definitely long enough (and others that aren't)! I think we'll wait on that for a couple reasons: a). she's not a fan at all of getting that done to her hair, and b). it looks sort of ridiculous at this point.



In our hallway, Siena found a couple of very interesting new things.



The bathroom is the new hang out spot. I don't know if it's the slate tile floor, the reminder of the bath (which she loves), or the simple fact that it's different from the living room and she can show off her crawling moves to get there. Either way, there are lots of fun things to investigate! (The slight germ-o-phob inside me was screaming the entire time!)




Ever since Siena started crawling, she also started sitting on her knees. I think it's really cute. That, and it reminds me that I'm getting older, because if I did that as long as she did, both my legs would be sleeping and I wouldn't be able to get up without assistance. :)



It finally got nice outside again, and I decided to try out our other stroller on a walk around the neighborhood. I think it's fair to assume that not only does Siena find it quite comfortable, but she is also going to take after her momma and be able to sleep anywhere, anyway. Siena, it's a blessing - trust me! :)



At times, Siena is becoming a night owl. I think she just doesn't want to miss any of the action! The other night, it was probably an hour after her normal bedtime, and here she was, playing with the bee, content and happy as ever!

Darling.

A picture is worth a thousand words...
I love you, Siena Grace.

Creepy Crawler!

The gate is up, the electrical plugs are hidden, the "keepsakes" are off the floor...all because Siena is officially crawling!!! It's hard to believe she is old enough to do such a thing, but she's on the move!
Saturday, Siena and I went to Jefferson City to watch a bit of Matt's track meet. Okay, in all honesty, we went down there to pick Matt up from the track meet so we could spend some daylight time with him. He left at 7:00am that morning and wasn't going to be getting back till 10:00pm. I considered it worth it to drive down there, see a few of the boys run, and then drive back with Matt. That gave us the evening to spend time together...well worth it.
Anyways, Siena and I are were in the car quite a bit on Saturday. When we all got back home Saturday evening, we sprawled out on the floor and played with toys and stuffed animals. I stepped out of the room for a minute to get something, and when I came back into the family room, Siena got up on all fours, and CRAWLED over to me. I looked at Matt and said, "That's crawling! Siena just crawled!" Sure enough, away she went. No army crawl, no scooting, a full-out baby crawl. And it must have been a "decision" in her head because she didn't do any working up to it throughout the day. She went from the car seat to a crawl, just like that. Man! (Pesonally, I think she just wanted to wait for her momma and daddy to be home and in the same room at the same time so she could show off to BOTH of us...how sweet of her.) :)
So now, as parents quickly find out, she's getting around into anything she likes. We had to put a gate up to block our stairs. (I had a healthy warning from my friend Amanda, whose Brady crawled right to the stairs to "have a look" and about got more than he bargained for!) We have moved stuff out of her reach, and basically, always keep one eye on her. :) She really likes the freedom, though. I think she likes being able to crawl to get the toy she wants, or crawl to the person she wants to see, or crawl to find something new that we accidentally left on the floor. :) And it's fun for us to watch her too! She's a determined little thing!
I will attempt to show you crawling through pictures. It's not as good as the real thing, but I think you'll get the point. (Don't mind the almost naked baby...we all like our freedom sometimes, right?!) :)

For Siena, a cell phone is the perfect motivation to move!










And now, off to bigger and better things...

8 Months!!

Our little sweetheart is 8 months old already!! Where has the time gone? Siena is getting so big and she's got quite the personality to go along with it! Everyone always says that whatever stage you are in with your kids, that's the one you love. It's so true! Each time she grows into a new stage of life, it gets that much more fun.
Siena is doing all kinds of fun things these days. She is quite the chatterbox, for sure! She is not quiet about it either. She loves to say, "Da, da, da..." (that was inevitable - she loves her daddy!) and "Go, go, go..." and "Ba, ba, ba...". She has lots of other sounds too. She has her "chew-backa" sounds (a weird sort or gurgling in the back of her throat) and her "ah-ah-ah-ah" sound. She tries to whistle and sometimes, she just makes really loud noises, simply to hear herself, I think.
Siena is also waving. She gets her whole body into it when she waves! Her legs get to moving and her arms and shoulders bounce up and down. But she really is intentional about her waves. We were sitting outside on the front steps and she waved at cars as they passed by! She also loves to wave to people. Who doesn't love an innocent wave from a baby?!
She is also very mobile. She sits up with no problems at all. She now can "gracefully" transition from sitting up to laying on her tummy. Just recently, she has also learned to scoot around. She gets up on all 4 and does some major rocking! She's "getting her engines ready!" But, to move around, she does the "injured army crawl" - lots of upper body strength to carry her weight around! She's not officially crawling, but that doesn't seem far off in the distance. And she can definitely get where she wants to go - even if it's not quite as fast as she would like. :)
She's eating all sorts of foods too. She's a huge fan of pears. On the other hand, asparagus seriously cleans her system out (to put it politely) and I don't think I will be feeding those to her again in the very near future. She's a great eater and for the most part, eats whatever I put on the spoon. She's nibbling on some puff cereal bits, which she likes to play with just as much as eat. I will have to say, I look forward to the day when she can eat with us and eat the things we do. It will be way more fun for her too! But for now, I'll continue to cook up, steam, roast, and puree her food! :)
We have truly been blessed with a really content, happy baby. She is smiling all the time (and making us smile) and really goes with the flow pretty well. She loves to be outside. She has found a new love - sitting in the shopping cart without her car seat...total freedom! She loves to bounce and jump and hop around. She loves to stand up. She loves music - especially on Sunday mornings during worship. She loves to "clean up the carpet" by finding every little speck of dirt or lint and meticulously picking it up with her 2 fingers. She loves to try and scratch my freckles and moles off my skin. She loves to swing. She loves to play peek-a-boo. She loves to "read" her books that have different textures and colors. She loves her mommy and daddy - a bit of a stage that makes it difficult for us to leave her in the nursery or with a friend. :)
As a mom, I am so proud of her. I love spending time with Siena. I love watching her grow and learn and discover new things. She totally slows my pace of life down and forces me to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. God is constantly teaching me about patience, confidence, understanding, beauty, and what's really important in life. She is a blessing and I am so thankful she is a part of our family.



Swinging and playing outside! (So excited that it's spring now and weather is so nice!!)







A new toy that Siena is learning to love! :)