This has been a crazy month for us - so much has happened! We sold our house at the end of February and have gone through all the other things that go with that this month (inspections, appraisal, etc) and have begun searching for our next home. We feel so blessed that we will be able to move out to camp when we close on our current house (April 27th) and live out there for the next few months to save money before closing on another house. This means a lesson in patience for this girl who is all but obsessed with the house-finding process. I have just had a peace about this whole process though that God would find someone to buy our house quickly (which ended up happening in a week) and that He would also provide the perfect house for our family at the right price. We are excited to take advantage of low interest rates and a buyer's market to find a home for our family in this next phase of life.

The boys and I have had some fun outings lately - we went to the Topeka Zoo with some of Mason's friends from preschool. It was such a fun day and the boys were especially good which was an added bonus. They also loved playing at the park across the street from the zoo - such a great place!

I was able to take Mason and Brody to see Disney on Ice this past weekend with our good friends Jen and Jackson - so it was a mom/son date with our boys.



Andy and I had a fun night last Thursday when we got to see The Hunger Games at midnight with our good friends, Brooke and Brad. Andy's parents kept the boys at their house overnight so we were able to enjoy dinner beforehand and then see the movie - so much fun!

At 9 months you are...

*sleeping from 7pm to around 7 or 7:30am pretty consistently
*still about the same as last month on the naps - usually just taking 2 naps a day (usually around an hour and a half each), but a couple times a week you will take a shorter 3rd nap around dinner time
*still doing great with baby food and puffs/cheerios. You also love rice rusk crackers, yogurt and oatmeal, but you are not too fond of any other table foods yet.
*army crawling machine - don't know why all 3 of my boys have used this as their preferred method of getting around. You love standing up next to things, but haven't quite gotten up on your own yet. You are still pretty wobbly so we have to brace you when you are standing
*you weighed 18 pounds, 11 ounces at your 9 month appointment yesterday which puts you in the 25 percentile. Your height was also in the 25th percentile while your head continues to be in the 95th
*a social butterfly - you LOVE being around people and whenever we go somewhere, you are always looking for someone who will smile at you. Once you find someone, you just keep looking at them/glancing their way until we leave. Most people comment on how smiley/happy you are
*clapping! first time was at Mason's soccer clinic last week on Feb 23rd
*still giving us kisses which your big brothers especially love
*in full separation anxiety mode - if I am around, you feel that I should be holding you. You cry whenever I leave you (even if I just leave the room) and get crazy excited when I enter a room
*survived a week of our house being on the market and me having to wake you up almost daily to leave for a showing - so glad that is over!

We love you Tan Tan!!

man, this last month went WAY fast!

At 8 months you are...

*still sleeping about the same as last month although you are going until 7am a lot more often than you had been - you still allow me the privilege to feed you around 5 or 6am every once in a while though :)
*typically just taking 2 naps a day now - every once in a while you will sneak in a 3rd around dinner time but for the most part you are doing 2 longer naps now
*doing great with your baby food although you HATE green beans and peas. You are self-feeding with puffs and caught on to that really quickly
*sitting up totally on your own and never falling over unless you do it on purpose to get a toy or to roll around. Just yesterday you were trying to pull up on the side of Mason's bed and got yourself up on your knees so I am sure within the next month you will be crawling and pulling up all over the place!
*the proud owner of 2 teeth! They both popped through this past weekend, one day apart
*you weighed just over 19 pounds last week with all your clothes on
*enjoying getting to sit in high chairs and grocery carts now - you are always quite the hit at the checkout line with your sweet smile!
*giving us kisses! If we say "can I have a kiss" and pucker up at you, you will open your mouth and plant one on us - you are quite proud of yourself for that one!
*starting to get a bit of separation anxiety - if I leave a room/your sight you get a bit upset

not the best pics but there was just so much to distract him at the park!

Yes, it has been over a month since their program but I wanted to write about it so I don't forget it in the future. Each year the preschool sends home a CD with the program on it so that we can listen to it in the car and help the kids learn it. My boys knew every word (even the teacher's lines) by the time the big night came. This is Mason's 3rd time to do it so he was the old pro but this was Brody's first. The school does the program during the Sunday night service at College Church so you have to sit through the whole service to get to the 10 minute program which they conveniently put at the end of the service. When the kids started filing out, I went down to the front to take pictures (along with all the other camera-toting moms) and saw Brody come out with his class and stand on the very front row. He was smiling and beaming from ear to ear. Poor Mason was in the back row and I could barely see him during the performance :( I happened to be right in front of Brody as the program started and he was into it - saying every word and doing all the actions. All the sudden during the 2nd song he started alternating between laughing and crying - it was just so bizarre. I kept giving him thumbs up and smiling and he would smile at me and then start crying. Finally he came running off the stage and ran to me. He just hid his face on my shoulder and as I was trying to ask him what was wrong he realized I was chewing gum and immediately stopped and said "Do you have gum?!?" I even offered to give him my gum if he would go back up on the stage but he was not going.

Probably one of the funniest things about the whole thing is that for the next couple weeks he would beg for me to play the CD in the car! Silly boy!

Here are my 2 handsome boys before the program...

and here is crazy Brody... couldn't get a pic of Mason as I couldn't see him way in the back!

I thought I'd start with one of my easy posts to get caught up! Here are the fabulous pics that my talented sister in law took of my sweet Tanner at the beginning of December...

I have been way behind on blogging and have a few topics I want to go back and blog about sometime soon. I am going to make a list so that I have it here and not forget!
1. Jesse Tree advent
2. Christmas and pregnancies galore (not me!)
3. My best friend Jen and her heartbreaking journey over the past few weeks
4. Tanner's 6 month pics
5. The boys' Christmas program at preschool

That should be enough to get me started

At 7 months you are...

*still sleeping about the same as last month - usually in bed around 7pm and up between 5 and 7am to eat - you go back to sleep if its before 7am.
*taking 3 naps a day, usually each one is around an hour, sometimes one is longer.
*finally eating baby food! You like all of the fruits I have given you and most of the veggies although you did not care for the green beans we tried last week. You are not a fan of rice cereal at all
*sitting up completely on your own for a good amount of time - you usually fall over after awhile, but you are getting so good at regaining your balance when you teeter around while sitting
*still loving your jumperoo - such a great toy!
*still no teeth
*you weighed just under 18 pounds at your 6 month appointment which was just under the 50th percentile
*loving to watch your brothers play and are very entertained by them - you love grabbing people's faces
*just the smiliest (is that a word?) baby I have ever met - you just light up when I come in to get you in the morning or after a nap or pretty much anytime I enter the room.
*survived 3 whole days without me when I went to North Carolina last weekend to see my friend Jen - you were a bit off the first couple days on your schedule and fussier than normal but you made it!