10 Months Old

Our little Bekah Baby is 10 months old . . . gosh, just typing that really makes it sink in, I haven't been too sad up until this moment, but really, her babyhood is mostly behind us and her toddlerhood awaits! So many mixed emotions! Toddler or not, she will always be Bekah Baby to us, well, until she gets a sibling . . . : )

So, here she is with her friend, Bekah's Bunny. I realized that as cute as Bunny is, it was covering up her even cuter poodle vest, so I kindly took Bunny away . .

Look at the dissapointment in that sweet face!

"I'll fight for you friend!" she declares!

So then, Bunny had to do some dancing behind the scenes to get that girl happy again.

And it worked! Oh the joy!

I realized after all that, her collar had been turned up like a college frat boy or something! That will not do, so I had to take another pic of it properly turned down, to show off those cute little poodles.Bekah always seems to see a friend or two on her birthday and this time it was our friends Taylor and Zoe : ).

And the update on "Bumble" as Zack likes to call her:

First and formost, let's talk about her weight and her eating, pretty much the focus of this super fun month. I am happy to say that we went to the doctor today and Operation Bulk Up Bekah is COMPLETE!

Yipee! She gained a whole 2 lbs 1 oz this month folks! She is up to

17.1 lbs and is back on the line on the chart that she seemed to set out in the beginning, about the 15-25%!

I had a feeling that she would be where she needed to be because although she has still been a picky eater, she is a completely different eater than she was a month ago, thank goodness for finger foods and dairy! She now likes chicken, muffins, my minestrone stew, enchillades, fries, grilled cheese, spaghetti, cupcakes : ), and mixed veggies! Hip, hip, horray for you little one!

Speaking of food, she loves to share things now, like her toys, and even her food! We practice our please and thank you's here and she just thinks its the funniest thing to extend her hand of crumbled up cheerios up to me and attempt to feed me! So cute! It's so amazing to be able to communicate with her!

She is as fun as ever to dress up:

I call this her "Brinley Outfit" because it just seems like something her pal Brinley would wear, fun and and bright with a great big bow! We love the way Brinley coordinates her colors and we were insprired by her to do the same : ).

And wouldn't you know that the day that she wears her Brinley outfit, a complete random stranger asks me if she can take a picture of Bekah to send to her friend because "she was so cute??" I have never had anyone ask me that before, so I didn't know how to say no. Yes, it was a compliment and yes, the lady did look very nice and normal, but it is sort of weird. Funny thing is, I told Amy ( Brinley's mom) about it and guess what?? That has happened to Brinley before! Of course it has! It just goes to show that she most certainly was wearing a Brinley Outfit if that is what happens to Brinley herself!

Bekah was kind enough to bend over so I could get a better shot of her awesome bow!

She continues to show interest in music like her daddy. She loves her Wee Sing Bible Music and every time I turn it on, we say that she "stops, drops and dances!" It's funny, she will stop whatever she is doing,look at the CD player, look at me, and then twist!

And if you notice in this post, there are so many more pictures of her smiling, which really does symbolize how this month has been, she smiles so much more on her own now, and really has her own sense of humor. Like, whenver I say "Charlie, NO!" she always laughs! As if she is the little sister mocking her older brother for getting in trouble!

This month has been the month of new baby products too:

Like her scooter horse from her cousins Mackenzie and Teagan, thanks guys!

She has been biting her crib that I love so much, so I went out and got a crib guard, but when I realized how ugly it was and how I could save money and just wrap pink blankets around the edge, I promptly took it back!


And the biggie, a BIG GIRL CARSEAT! Yup! The infant carrier is a thing of the past! Even though she is not 20 lbs or 1 year old yet, the doctor said her legnth suggested that it was time. Although it does not recline as much as her other one, I think she appreciates the extra room!

And once she started crawling last month, we decided it might be a good idea to get a "baby corral" as Zack calls it, so that Bekah can stay happy and safe while I cook. Sitting in one spot like the good ol days was not going to happen anymore:

So here is her new tot spot! It works great, and I hardly use it but when I am cooking or when I have to run upstairs to get something. It's so cool, that even Charlie wants to get in there sometimes!

See, a happy, safe baby! ( And then a happy daddy who gets his meals on time!)

Playing with Bekah just gets funner and funner, here she is trying to find the ball under the cup with Grandmommy:

We would put it under the cup,move the cups around real fast and based on the sound and how the top has a little whole on top, she almost always chose the right one with the rattley ball under it!! It was the most exciting thing, to watch her "choose wisely" as they say in Indiana Jones : ).

Bathtime has a whole new meaning now that she discovered splashing and gets to be in the regular tub:

And now that our little girl can crawl, it really tells you what they like and what they don't like because, shoot, if they like it, they are going after it! I love the way her personality has opened up here! What does crawling say that she loves?
The coffee table and all the magazines, the remote controls, my shoes in my closet, her books on her bookshelf (every day she successfully pulls off EVERY book on her bottom two levels), Charlie's food bowls (yuck!), cords, picture frames and trashcans , just to name a few.

But out of all of those fabulous items to covet, nothing takes the cake like Charlie's Crate! Oh my golly, Bekah is like a moth to a flame with that thing!

If anything, it has helped with her standing skills!Almost there:

Look mom, I did it!

Just recently, she learned how to open up the door too! Charlie may have been jealous at first of this new family member, but the way things are looking, he might start appreciating her more these days! The first time it happened, CHarlie just looked up at me, like, "Are you cool with this mom?? Because if you are, I'm out of here!"

Oh and of course, she could chase Charlie around the island all day if he would let her, THAT is really her favorite thing to do!

And y'all, it was so exciting, at the very beginning of the month, she opened her first drawer! And it was the tupperware drawer at that! When we first moved in, I actually thought, "I'll put the tupperware here, so Bekah can reach it and play when she gets older as I am cooking!" It's like she knew! I was so excited, I had to take a pic!

Here she is, in the act ( I had already taken some out earlier, so I guess she wanted more!):

When she opened it, I think she was more surprised than I was! Teehee, I love the expressions she makes!

Don't worry, since then, we have baby proofed the house with all the appropriate cabinet locks and latches, minus the tupperware drawer of course!

And I realized, I never posted a pic of how Bekah saw her friends Kristin and Hayley earier this month! As you can see, Bekah is not interested in the camera, and it's really quite appropriate because it captures her new thing, which is, when we go to a restaraunt, if there is a baby in a 5 mile radius, she is all over it, making noises to them, cranning her neck to see them, trying to get their attention! Grown up talk is boring!

So that was our month, a fabulous month full of lots of big girl things and so many special moments that I am so grateful for having with my baby girl! I thank God every day that I get to spend my days with her, I am absolutely facinated by this little blessing of ours!

So. . .the countdown to her 1 year birthday has begun . . . . : )

Planes, Sleds and Mule- Mobiles!

The day after Christmas, Bekah, Zack and I jumped on a plane and flew to CO to meet up with my family in Breckenridge for our annual ski trip. This year, we decided to fly because the thought of taking 1 and half day car trip with a baby just didn't seem too appealing! I was very nervous about how she would do, specifically, how her ears would be because I always have trouble with my ears on planes and more importantly, she had just recovered from her first ear infection. I was also nervous about her disrupting the other passengers. Both prayers were answered, her ears were fine and she seemed quite happy on the plane, we never got any dirty looks! Although I did hear one lady tell her friend that she would "NOT be sitting in back of that family," as she looked over at us! My face certainly showed my surprise at such a statement that yes, I understood, but gosh, I didn't need to hear! Her friend saw my face and told the "rude lady" , "that wasn't very nice!" as she looked over at me and smiled sympathetically! : ) I thought that was very kind of her to stick up for us!

So, here we are going through security, even Bekah had to take off her non functional shoes! I couldn't believe it! They had to check her baby food too, and run this little wand over it. It's like they expect a sneaky and smart Baby Stewy ( from the family guy) to get on their plane!

( Baby Bjorn/Baby Jeep- Flying Baby Neccesary Item #1!- wonderful to have for all babies that can not walk yet, I would recommend it over the stroller)

Teehee, I love this picture, she sure looks excited to ride on her very first plane flight!

(It was so great because the flight was not full, so the stewardess saw us with Bekah and told us we could take up a whole row! Families with small children are one of the first groups to board too, gotta love Southwest! Oh and they didn't charge us extra for the carseat even though we went over on our luggage!)

Flying Baby Necessary Item #2- Books! Lots and lots of Books! I felt bad for the people in back of us, they heard Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?? enough to last a lifetime!

FBN Item #3- WINDOW seat! She loved looking out the window, pulling the shade up and down . .

FBN Item #4- Snacks! I stuffed that girl silly with cheerios, Baby Mum Mums, of course,baby food . . .

we basically just did an activity until she got restless and moved on to something else, it worked really well!

FBN Item #5- a tray table with one of those sticky mats so she can eat off of it. She LOVED pulling the tray table up and down as well, that was the real winner during the flight! I only feel bad for the person if front of us! Oh well, either they get a few bumps or two, or a crying baby, I would think , put like that, they wouldn't mind the "gentle nudges" Bekah may have given them!

Flying Baby Necessary Item #6- A great daddy! Zack and I sure tag teamed it the whole 2 hour flight, giving her snacks, reading her books, bouncing her, singing to her! Plus, I nursed her on the way up and down ( they say that you should give them a bottle or nurse to help with the change in air pressure for their ears) and it was really nice to have Zack there, it made me feel more comfortable nursing in public.

After a 2 hour flight and a 1 1/2 hour drive to the resort via car, we had made it! Zack and I were certainly exhaused with keeping Bekah happy during the flight, but it wasn't bad, it was hard, but not bad. We were so happy and grateful to be back in the mountains! The mountains certainly have a special place in both Zack and I's hearts, we love it up there!

Bekah and daddy attempting to make our first outing in the coldest weather

Bekah had ever experienced!

The first night we were there, we devised a make shift crib because my mom and dad had not arrived yet with the pack and play. Here she is in her little nook made out of couches and couch pillows!

She had those rosey cheeks the whole time we were up there. Daddy grew his mountain man beard, and she sported the cute little cheeks!

Once everyone had arrived, we set out for dinner at the Brewery, one of our favorite places to go in Breck, to celebrate a lot of blessings! Ryan and Allegra's engagement, Kath's grad school, Jeff's CPA and our 6th Wedding Anniversary!

And for the reason we came, skiing! I was so excited to get to ski this year, thanks to May May, I had a few hours in between nursing to hit the slopes! Not only did I love being back on the mountain doing one of Zack and I's favorite things, I felt like Bekah and May May really got to bond.

Jeff and Rani:

This was only Rani's 3rd year to ski and she was awesome! I was so impressed!

In a few years, wonder what parent will be hitting the slopes as Bekah's teacher? Daddy with his snowboard or mommy with her skis??? I am thinking skiing should be the first thing Bekah learns. . .

The fam with our future ski bunny: She was so cute the way she clearly didn't know what to think of us with all our gear on! She would just stare at us trying to figure us out.

Keeping with tradition, after each day of skiing, Jeff would make Zack and him a "hot toddy" : ) as they say in the mountains : ) ( aka a jack and coke).

One afternoon, instead of skiing, Bekah and I went to town with mom, dad and Rani.

Getting dressed in CO has a whole new meaning,

with all those snuggly layers!

She really liked this dog house ice sculpture : ).
The ladies showing Bekah all the best shops in Breck:

Me and my mommy : )

So the title says "sleds" and I don't have an actual picture of us on the sled that grandpa bought Bekah, but this is right before we got on it. And don't worry, it wasn't Clark Grizwold style ( teehee, with the WD40 on the bottom!), the so called "sledding" definately took place on a slight incline in the condo parking lot!

Rani and Bekah:

My amazing family:

On the ski trip, each family hosts a dinner at their condo. Here we are hosting the Frolows.

Bekah, Kath, Rani, Ryan, Allegra . . .

Zack, Grandpa, Igor, Pam, May May and Jeff:

Isn't this a cute pic of Uncle Jeff and my little bookworm?

Daddy and Bekah:

I loved the Carter's super warm and snuggly sleepers with a hoodie. As you can see, she wore hers all the time:

Here is Bekah touching snow for the first time!

She really wasn't a fan . . .

Thanks Grandpa and May May for making our first of many ski trips with our little snow bunny possible! We had the best time!

The May family sure has been lucky the way that "additions," Zack and Rani LOVE the mountains as much as we do! We have been coming up to CO for over 20 years now! Let's just hope that our very newest member loves it as much as we do . . . . : )

Now, one more Flying Baby REMINDER, is, if you can, just go ahead and pay for the direct flight! Zack and I tried to get the cheaper flight and it flew us from CO 2 hours in the opposite direction to LAS VEGAS! Where we had a 1 1/2 hour layover to only fly 2 1/2 MORE hours to San Antonio! It . . . was . . . the . . . longest. . . . day. . . . ever! : ) When I saw Nora and Steve at the airport in SA I wanted to cry with relief!

( just had to take a picture with my baby infront of slot machines!)

And speaking of Nora and Steve, the very next day, we drove to the ranch to celebrate New Years with them!
Here is Bekah in her new girly lacey camo getup! There is even lace on the bootie!

And Bekah has been to the ranch before, but it wasn't until this trip, that she woke up and noticed all those funny dear head all over the walls! She was so intrigued and kept making faces and noises, motioning to touch them!

Here is Nora, trying to imitate Bekah's excitement:

Gotta love Grandmommy and her funny self!

Due to the fact that she now has her own camo AND she is such a big girl, we thought that her first mule ride was in order! Here she is sitting on daddy's lap, ready to scope out some ranch animals!

Like mommy, like child though, the soothing ride of the mule and the calming sound of the engine had this girl sleeping in minutes! That is how I always feel on the mule!Oh well, she has the rest of her life to see these animals!

Thanks Burkharts for giving us such a special way to start this new year!
We love both of our families dearly and we are so grateful that Zack got TWO WEEKS off for Christmas so we could spend it with our favorite peeps!

Forever Friends!

We had some more visitors this past weekend, Kara and Christy Overstreet! I had been looking forward to spending a WHOLE weekend with this best friend of mine that I met in pre school : )! Being roomies in college, I could never get enough of this dear friend of mine! And I think this weekend, Bekah got a glimpse of why I love this friend so, because she saw that same wonderfulness in Christy's daughter Kara!

Here is sweet Kara, giving Bekah a hug:

Bekah loved everything that Kara did and couldn't keep her eyes off of her!
Christy's oldest, Kate stayed home with Daddy, and though we were sad to have missed those two, it was special to get to spend so much time with Kara, who was born pretty much the minute I moved away from the metroplex! It was funny though, because all weekend long, Kara kept calling Zack, "Josh," which is so weird because Zack has been mistaken for being named "Josh" MANY times before! Hmm . . . maybe we should consider it for if we ever have a boy!


Kara taught Bekah about sharing, but of course, every time one girl picked something up, no matter how cool the first thing they had was, they usually went for what their friend had, like Dollie:


Here they are having one of their many meals together, Bekah loved talking and babbling to Kara during their mealtimes:

Zack even shared his "toys" with Kara:

While I tried to get dinner ready, Christy introduced Bekah to Dora, and I have to say, the girl was pretty darn interested! Maybe she too will know how to count in spanish like her friend Kate, thanks to Dora!

Okay, and so for one of my favorite parts of the weekend, bathtime! It was Bekah's first time to sit up in a big girl tub at our house, and with a friend at that! Usually we put her in her little baby tub, but Kara thought it was time to have some real fun, and look at them, they had a blast! I had to get it on video, but I thought bathtime pictures would be the most appropriate of the two for the blog, but oh, it was soooo cute y'all! Bekah discovered splashing a few weeks ago and just couldn't believe her luck that Kara knew how to splash too!

Zack has named this picture, "Bathtime Bliss!" It's one of my new favorite pics!

Look at that face, how cute is she????

And so, after bathtime, at the Overstreet house, they often run about and get their energy out before bedtime, so Kara showed Bekah a thing or two, by running up and down our hallway. Bekah had a blast! She had more fun crawling after her ! And just tonight, Bekah, Daddy and I played the "post-bathtime-hide-and-seek-crawling-up-and-down-the-hallway-game" tonight and I don't know who loved it more, mommy and daddy or the baby!

The next day, Zack put together one of Bekah's Christmas presents from Gramommy and Pops, her swing set! Thanks guys!

Apparently the swing set was "too much" for daddy to handle and he had to recruit help from mommy! I had to hold it up while he put in the bolts.

We just ordered the toddler swing, so the regular swing will work for now, but look at Bekah, she is loving it!

Kara approved too! And while we are looking at this cute mommy daughter pair, guess who else is in this picture that you can't see??????????????

Another little Baby Overstreet is on the way! Yup! Christy is pregnant with her 3rd! I just can't believe it and I couldn't be happier for this super mommy! I felt so special that she waited to tell me in person too, I was secretly hoping that she had some news like this to share with me this weekend! Congrats Christy, we can't wait to meet baby number 3 in August!The weekend ended all too quickly, come Monday morning, we had to get ready to take the girls to the airport. Kara got to meet Evie that morning because we got to babysit Evie that day:

Bekah couldn't believe it, first Kara, now her good friend Evie??? : ) She was one happy girl last weekend! Haha, even though she doesn't look it in this pic, trust me, she was! Evie decided to smile for the both of them : ).
Our play group friends even came over that same day too! With all the to do's of the day, I didn't take pics of them, but let's just say that Bekah slept very well that night, being socially tuckered out!
I really enjoy babysitting Evie, she is so sweet and smart and good and funny! Here we are starting our game of dress up, Evie wanted to put Bekah's headband on to start.

( Teehee, I bet you are wondering who took the picture, daddy had MLK day off!)
Like I said, Bekah slept well that night, and so did mommy! I After fun get togethers like this, I always notice a change in Bekah where she seems to be talking more, laughing more, understanding the things around her more, it's like weekends like this really "wake her up" and gently and enjoyably push her to the next level, you know? We had an awesome weekend with Christy and Kara and I loved how we topped of the fun with our Houston friends on Monday. I can't say it enough, we love all our sweet friends so much! Spending time with good friends like these sure is food for the soul and to be able to watch Bekah thrive on such love and fun is amazing : ).

Bekah's First Christmas

And so, Bekah's first Christmas had finally arrived. Looking back, I feel like this Christmas was the perfect display of God's love for all of us and the amazing family and friends that He has surrounded us with. A baby just brings out the best in everything and having Bekah this Christmas helped me to even more so, see the true meaning of this time of year, where I focused so much more on all the things that truely matter. After this Christmas Zack and I also happily agreed that because we love our families so much and love being around them, SA just might have to be the place for him to set up practice, how could we stay away from so much goodness??? : )

Being the "clothes horse" that she is, Bekah had to make sure she had her 3 favorite Christmas outfits ready to go:

Her Rudolph onesie that I loved making for her, thanks Amy for the tip!

I especially love the bow that she wore Bam Bam style, on the top of her head:

(teehee, I love her expression here, like "what you looking at willis???)

Her special Christmas Eve outfit that Pops got her from Germany:

And my personal favorite, her smocked Christmas dress that I am hoping we can let the hem down to wear again, next Christmas! She wore this on Christmas Day.

To kick off our holiday, we went to the ranch for a few days. Here Bekah recovered from her illness, what a great place to heal up!

Thanks Cloud Nine for making me feel better, I'm off to San Antonio!

( isn't her hair funny?? it doesn't stick up anymore, guess she left that in SA!)

First stop, Miss Paige's very own dance studio, Trilogy! Bekah and I are sooo proud of Miss Paige and what she has done with her new business! If we lived in SA we would be regulars at the Mommy and Me class! Since they didn't have classes the day we came, we got a private tour! And as you see, she had to wear her toulle and ballet slipper leggings!

Bekah loved it! She decided she needed to show off her crawling to Miss Paige, hopefully convincing her that her gracefull movements could one day lead to lovely dancing.

She was especially interested in the pretty baby in the mirror!

This may sound silly, but there is a place in her nursery, begging for a low mirror and a ballet bar! After seeing her that day, I am thinking that is in her future somewhere, I just think she would have so much fun looking in the mirror and pulling up on the bar! And it wouldbe perfect in her nursery, decoration wise!

Thanks Miss Paige, when we come back to SA, we will hope to be one of your star pupils!

This Chrismas was so fun for so many reasons, one, being we thought alot about traditions we wanted to start, such as reading the Christmas Story from the bible and reading the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.

Just as I was telling Zack how I forgot to pack our Night Before Christmas to start our tradition of reading it to Bekah on Christmas Eve, May May asked us if Bekah wanted to open up an early Christmas Eve gift, and what do you know, the Jan Brett version!

Since we didn't have room to pack too many of her toys, we often found her playing with her carseat, it was great! What a practical toy!

Christmas Eve was here and we took our family pic in front of my parents tree:

There is a pic of me and my mom in front of the tree, on my first Christmas that I have always looked forward to duplicating with my baby girl, so here we are:

Looking at these pics really make me want to cry, I love her so much! What a full circle!

We went to the Christmas Eve service at the church we were married at with both of our families. Here are the Burkharts:

Bekah was wonderfull the entire service as long as she had a warm lap and a good book to look at!

After church, Bekah was grateful to spend Christmas Eve with her great grandpa and my side of the family at my Aunt Robin's house. She really liked those glasses of his!

And look at her cute cousins ( 2nd : ) ) Mackenzie and Teagan! They are having their Christmas Eve dinner the way kids should, shirtless so as not to get our pretty church outfits dirty!

Now, since Bekah's dress took about 10 minutes to put on ( apron, buttons, tights, vest . .), we decided to cross our fingers and hope for the best:
Gotta love that chair!

After church and dinner, we came back to May May and Grandpa's house to read the Christmas story from the bibleand then, the Night Before Christmas:

We even opened up another present, her winter coat! Now, this is not the most flattering picture of her, but I had to post it because this is how she feels about her coat, she HATES putting it on! Even now, after doing it for awhile it really irks her!

And then, Christmas morning had finally arrived . . .

Bekah woke up and wanted to put her Christmas hat on ASAP, to look like Grandpa:

Thanks for my very own stocking May May!

Crawling her way to the tree, hmm . . which one should we open first?

Can I open this one mom?

Santa was very concerned about her "dollie supply" and gave her a Christmas Dollie as back up

(d0n't worry, we now have a total of 4 Dollies in case we loose one, thanks to May May!)

And a pink fluffy bear suit to wear in Colorado!

The best of all, her very own red wagon!

Thanks Grandpa! There is even a sippy cup holder in it!

Even Charlie wanted to take a spin:
(not really, his tail was between his legs the whole time!)

For Christmas Lunch, the Frolows and Jeff and Rani drove in. Aunt Rani loves to help Bekah eat her meals, here she is eating her Christmas Day meal of, what I am sure is fruit of some sort:

Congrats to Ryan and Allegra, they got engaged over the winter break! So happy to have you in our family Allegra!

Pam, Kath and Igor: wouldn't be a Christmas without them!

Rani and the owner of Charlie's new favorite lap, Jeff

Aunt Rani was excited to have her name added to the May Family Christmas Tree. We are so lucky to have you in our family Rani! (We haven't added Bekah's name yet, next year!)

Then we headed to Gramommy's and Pops. First we opened stockings and surprise balls:

( surprise balls for those of you who don't know are one of my favorite things Zack's family does at Christmas, it is where "Nora the Elf" wraps up little stocking stuffers and trinkets in a tightly wound ball of a whole package of crepe paper, and then, as you unwind it, they all fall out slowly, so fun!)
Bekah kept busy playing with one of Zack's old toys while we unwound surprise balls:

Wearing our stocking goodies:

( which included comb tiarras, a sock thingy that you put on your arm giving you a tough guy tatoo look . . .

. . . . tiny bibles you can only ATTEMPT to read with a magnifying glass, finger puppets, shot glasses and lots of chocolate! )

Bekah made it through the stockings, but was out by the time we headed over to the tree, she found the perfect shoulder to sleep on:

The Burkhart Family at the table full of presents, as you can see, Zack was still feeling cool in his doo rag Santa gave him:

Even though this has not been "charlie's year", Santa still remembered him with some good reading and a nice decorative pillow:

Soon after all of our eating/christmas present opening, we had to get crackin on our packing : ) for our ski trip that we left for the very next day! More on Bekah's first plane flight and what she thought of the snow next post, I'll give you a breather after this already much too long post!

9 Months Old!

Well, our little girl is 9 months old, we can hardly believe that she is closer to a year old now, rather than half a year! We have had quite the busy/developing month, with Christmas and crawling, here is a little bit of what Bekah Bumblebee has been up to!As you can see, she continues to be moving and grooving all over the place. And she really is "grooving!" So many times when she is excited about something, she dances! Bounces rather, but that is dancing in her world! I love it! Crawling really is her new favorite thing, though I love that there are so many times throughout the day where she crawls right to me and wants me to pick her up! I love that she still wants to be held and is not always on the go.


She weighs 15.10 lbs (5-10%)
legnth 28 1/4 (75%)
As you can see, she has dropped in her weight, which I have always been worried about, especially when you are a nursing mother who doesn't know how much her baby is taking in each day. After a good pep talk from my mother in law and my husband, I am feeling better and more encouraged. Now that she is 9 months old, the doctor suggested I add dairy to her diet and alot more protein and carbs. Being the fruit girl that she is, I am crossing my fingers here and I already feel better because she certainly gobbled up her yogurt today. Basically she is on the opposite of a diet, butter, milk, cheese and fat, here we come! And as far as why this happened, first of all, she just started crawling and is burning alot more calories, and 2nd of all, she had her first illness this month, lending itself to a not so hungry and happy baby. We have to go back to the doctor next month to see if she has gained weight, and I really hope we can do it. In the meantime, I will be buying all those yummy dairy products that I usually buy nonfat, so let's just hope that mommy doesn't pack on the pounds with her!

She also knows so many words, I love that I can now talk with her and she knows what I am saying! She knows:
daddy, mommy, Charlie Boy ( I don't know why, but I have been calling him Charlie Boy lately, could it be the fireing of Coack Charlie Weis??), Book, Dollie
She is still sleeping from about 8:30 to 7 and on a good day, takes two naps, the after lunch nap being more often than not, the longer nap. But as all mother know, traveling/Holidays and illnesses, teeting can change that real fast. And those things sure have been a big part of our month! She nurses 4 times a day and we eat 3 solid meals.

Because we did so much traveling, I have to give a shout out to Bekah's new high chair that I found on sale for only $16.99! We took this EVERYWHERE we went this month, even to Colorado, I demanded that we had to find a way to pack it on the plane! She is sooo happy in this chair and it is a great way to keep this little crawler safe and happy during meal time, especially if mommy and daddy want to eat! Now that we are back home, I just keep it in the back of my car so if we can use it at a friends's house. Thanks Mary Pat and Evie for this awesome tip!

Bekah learned this month that as much as she loves to wear dresses, they are not too conducive to crawling, so as someone said it ( I can't remember which one of my friends said it!) we always have to bunch up her dress in the back like the waitresses do at hooters with their shirts! Teehee!


She also learned to bang and play drums ( I discovered what great toys wooden spoons and tuperware were this month because I had to pack light!) She is getting so good at copying, as you can see here with her drumming. She can also clap, wave and immitate lots of sounds!

She loves her Baby Mum Mums that Christy introduced her to. Zack and I joke that they are like a bone for a dog, it keeps her happy and busy for atleast 10 minutes while we are at a restaraunt!

Also, if I catch her at a non nap time, she just LOVES the grocery store now that she can sit in the cart like a big girl! She just watches all the people, and many times, will watch a person walk by and almost tip over as she follows them with her eyes and head, it's really cute : ).
A grea deal of her month was spent in preperation for Christmas. Here she is helping me wrap. Wrapping presents with a crawler is an adventure!


And now for the sickness part of the month, dun, dun, dun! Bekah got her first cold this month ( and ear infection) and it was no fun! In an effort to show humor and lift my mood that first week where we were at the doctor's office more times than once, I dressed her in her "Dr. Bekah" scrubs to see the doctor!

Yes, a sick, crawling, no napping (because she didn't feel well) baby kept me pretty busy that week! I even had bad dreams where she was REALLY sick or hurting, it sort of consumed me for awhile. . . I was one worried mommy that week!

It all started when Bekah wanted to throw a Christmas Play Date for her friends where they could decorate cookies and exchange presents : ).
Here she is dressed for the party, sprinkles in hand!

We all had fun, as we always do with our sweet play group, decorating cookies and eating:

But before long, when Bekah started being super fussy and not wanting to eat, I took her temp, and sure enough, she had a fever. As sad as Bekah was to miss part of the play group, it was so nice to have these sweet mommies with me to help me take care of her and make me feel less worried.
We did our best to take care of our sweet little girl, thank goodness she has such a wonderful daddy that is so nice to sleep on, because naps were a hard thing to come by that week!

And so, as I said, a sick, no napping, crawling baby is quite the full time job. I now understand the true meaning of having a sick baby. Only thing was, I had to pack for our 2 week trip, get our Christmas cards ready and wrap presents! And in order to leave for a trip the next day, one MUST do the laundary! So, in efforts to contain my runny nose little crawler, who would not let me leave her side all week, I stuck her in a laundary basket while I did my chores! It worked too!

About 10 days latter, Bekah was feeling better and was ready to visit with a few friends in SA. She was so sad to have to cancel some of our Christmas get togethers, but she was able to see:
Stephanie, one of my best friends from preschool who lives in CA now!

It was so wonderful to spend time with this devoted friend of mine with a heart of gold. She was such a natural with Bekah too, Bekah just loved her! Stephanie is such an awesome Auntie, she will be one amazing mommy too!

Bekah finally got to meet sweet Madison, Sara's little girl who was born in October.
She is the cutest, prettiest little thing!Sara was my neighhor who lived across the street from me my whole childhood. We used to play house together and now, we really are doing what we always wanted, being mommies! Sara was a super nanny for so long, Madison is so blessed to have this expert mommy take care of her!

More about our Christmas in the next post, but before Bekah got sick, we did do quite a few Christmas things in Houston, like:

Going to see Lights in the Heights with our friends the Whitesides! All the houses put up beautiful lights, but they also had a parade, like Mardi Gras!

Here is Bekah and Evie in their matching Rudolph onesies that Mary Pat and I made!

We took a family Christmas picture in front of our house, something I have been always looking forward to doing one day!

Bekah got to play some more with her ADORABLE friend Trig! They stopped by for a visit and Bekah couldn't have been happier to see this funny guy! Trig had more fun laughing at Charlie and us parents had more fun laughing at him!

Before Mary Pat went back to work, Bekah insisted on seeing Evie alot, so Mary Pat had us over for yummy french toast breakfast, and the girls had to wear their jammies of course!

Zack and I even had a chance to follow tradition and go to the Nutcracker again this year! We have gone every year since we started dating and I am so grateful to Mary Pat and Ryan for allowing us to go this year by watching Bekah!

Bekah made time to go see Christmas lights with Aunt Sarah and Adam . . .

but as you can see, was not too interested in them!

In addition to those things, her hair is starting to lay flat : ), she got her 7th tooth ( on the ski trip of course!) and she hardly ever spits up anymore! It was a whirlwind of a month, with, as I said, Christmas, crawling, traveling and her first cold,

and we couldn't have done it without her very best friend,

Dollie!

She took her dollie to the Dr, on the plane trip, on all the car trips, when she naped in all the new places, when she saw all her loving relatives, Dollie was her right gal man this month!
(sadly for Charlie, I think Dollie is higher up than he is now! : ) )

Well, back to the kitchen to check on how "Opperation Chunk Up" is going! Bekah, I'm boiling eggs for you to eat the fatty yolk and baking sweet potatoes to load up with butter, all on doctor's orders!

I love you little one and our precious days that I spend at home with you, sick or not, are the most wonderful Christmas gifts I could ask for!

Rebekah's Shower and Dallas Friends

A few weekends ago, Bekah and I made our first trip on our own! We went to Dallas to help throw a shower for my friend Rebekah and Bekah's future friend, Margaret Gray! I was pretty nervous about making the 3 1/2 hour drive without daddy, but I completely feel like my prayers for safety and smoothness were answered. I had a peace about traveling on my own, and I feel so encouraged that we did it, and if we needed to, we could do it again!

Now, one big reason the trip went so well, is, Bekah had her dollie!

Bekah is officially BFF's with her dollie and I just think it is the cutest thing! Every time she went to a new person during the trip, I handed her over while holding her dollie and she was fine! Anytime she started to whimper in the car, I would fumble around, try to find the dollie, and whala, she was happy again!
Here she is in her sleeper that just happens to match her dollie!

( i just noticed, after downloading all these pics, how often the dollie pops up in these pictures! keep an eye out for her dollie, it's everywhere!)

First stop was to my elementary school that I taught at for 4 years in Dallas, NWHE. I have some dear friends and students and families there that I couldn't WAIT for them to meet Bekah. It was one of those things I had always looked forward to doing, going back to whatever school I was teaching at, to have everyone meet my baby, as I saw so many teachers do during my teaching years. It was so special and I am kicing myself for not catching such a "mommy moment" on film, oh well! It's not like I won't be going back, Bekah had more fun and I loved seeing everyone, I'll get the pics next time!

After visiting at NWHE, we stopped by my friend Julie's house so that they could meet Bekah. Bekah and her son Caleb are "blogger buds" and Bekah couldn't wait to meet him! And just as she thought, he was just as cute and sweet in person!




Bekah enjoyed watching Caleb crawl and I loved catching up with Julie, we wish we could have stayed longer!
Caleb and Julie actually stopped by my place in Austin, the day I delivered Bekah, only none of us knew it! That night I went into labour! I love that these sweet friends were a part of such a priceless day!

( oh no, while formatting, I just accidentally deleted the cutest picture of Caleb and I am not on my own computer to get it from my file! I will have to post it later, sorry Caleb and Julie! So if the spacing is weird on this post, I am sorry, i don't want to mess with it anymore and delete another picture!)
Then, it was off to Bina and Nimesh's to spend the night! Bekah had heard so much about my fun, smart and pretty college roomie, she couldn't wait to meet her as well!

Just like everyone else, Bekah was captivated by her beauty and charm : ).

Bina knew about all things baby and was so wonderful with Bekah! Bina's sweet mother even had to come over and meet Bekah . . .

and look what she brought, some more international couture! : ) A scarf from India!

It is very becomming on her, don't you think? : ) Thanks Bina for all your hospitality!

After Bina's, I headed over to Vaughanie and Ava's to start up the shower decorating for the next day. Party/Shower Planners Amy and Brinley joined us as well. First things first, though, the girls had to play : ).

Bekah, Brinley and Ava- BFF's : )

(here, I believe that Amy is singing the sugar plum fairy number from the nutcracker and look at Bekah's face! Doesn't she know she is going to be a ballarina????)

It was on this day that Amy decided to coin a hilarious nickname for each girl based on their hair:

Brinley was titled "Bill Murray"

Ava got to atleast be a girl, "Kate Gosling" (since her hair sticks up in the back)

and Bekah is what I would say might be one of the ugliest MEN in Hollywood, "Christopher Walkin!"

"I've got a fever, and the prescription is more cowbell!" says Bekah!

Yup, Brinley's mommy is one funny gal, just like Brinley!

Bekah is being quite assertive in this picture, and look how chill Brinley is!

It's like she is still thinking about that Christopher Walkin comment!

Ava showed us her wave on this trip, it was so cool to see her do such an important milestone!

Bekah and I couldn't get enough of our beautiful best friends, Ava and Vaughanie!

I can't believe how blessed we have been to have seen our out of town friends so often since the girls were born, I hope it is a sign of how it will always be for us!

That night, we spent the night with them and got to have bath time together!

It was obviousley soo cute and lots of fun!

The girls in their warm and fuzzy sleepers

They introduced one another to their dollies:

"Bekah, meet____" ( Vaughanie, does she have a name?)

"Nice to meet you ____, this is Dollie"

After the girls went to bed, Vaughanie's super sweet hubby stayed back with our sleeping girls and we drove over to Amy's to start decorating for the shower!
We had alot of fun decorating Amy's pretty house and getting ready to surprise our dear friend Rebekah!

The next morning was the shower! Rebekah is due in January and will be naming her little girl Margaret Gray. Her shower had a little fluer de lis theme to it because Rebekah is from Louisiana and has some great pride in that home state of hers!


Diaper cake that Amy made with Vaughanie and I acting as "assistants"

The yummy food that Amy expertly whipped out so naturally:

The mantel with her initials, baby pics of Rebekah when she was little and then, an old dress of hers when she was little on the right . . .

and a new dress for Margaret Gray on the left! It is smocked and has her initials monogramed on it, two qualities in clothes that Rebekah loves! I ordered this dress from my friend's grandma, just let me know if you are interested in getting her to do some smocking for you, she is my favorite smocker!
You can't tell from the pic very well, but all the hostesses made/gave Rebekah a onesie,

that had corresponding bible verses that went with them. This is the one that I made:

Mary Pat mad this one with buttons, isn't it precious???

Vaughanie made this cute one:

(the bible verse that went with this one ( typed on that tag hanging from the arm) is "Taste and see that the Lord is good," : ) )

The beautiful "mother of two, to be" appreciating all of her monogrammed goodies!

Rebekah with all of her hostesses that love her so much! What a well loved mommy!

While Vaughanie and I were at the shower, Mikey once again watched the girls for us ( thanks Mikey!) but this time, we called in "back up" because the girls would actually be awake during the day time : ). We thought the best team for the job would be Ben and Tana! I wish I would have gotten a pic of this awesome couple, thank you so much for watching my baby girl!

I did get a picture of Bekah with Ava's doggie though, Macy. I am sure Macy helped take care of the girls, so we can say she is part of the "back up!" (Bekah really liked Macy and Macy was WONDERFUL around her, we are so impressed with her baby manners!)

Next stop, the Overstreets! Bekah always has to listen to her mommy gab on the phone with lifelong BFF of hers, she thought it was about time that we actually hung out at that beautiful house of theirs! She LOVED watching Christy's two PRECIOUS little girls, Kate and Kara, she could have stayed all week! ( As I joked with Kameron, Christy's hubby!)
Here we are exchanging Christmas gifts:

Bekah got a Little People Nativity Scene from her two friends, and she loves it!Chirsty has taught me so much about being a Christian wife, friend and now mother, to have recieved such a special gift from her meant alot. I know that these girls will be an important influence on Bekah as was her mother on me : ).

Kate and Kara got some matching flower hats that Bekah made:

Look at the girls, so interested in Christy reading, what a good mommy! It was really fun to live a day in the life of the Overstreets, that family balances everything so well, whether they are learning or playing, they are always having fun. I am always calling Christy for mommy advice, so while I was there, I tried to soak up as much of it while I could, she has done such a wonderful job with these sweet girls!

And then, on the trip, Rebekah and I realized that we wouldn't really get a chance to talk much at her shower and that I needed to stop by on my way out of town so we could see each other's children! Henry was soo sweet to Bekah, letting her play with his toys. And Rebekah and Tom made me the best lunch, tomatoe soup and grilled cheese!

Henry is either making me laugh or smile on his blog, so to see his cute personality in person was special treat! Teehee, look at that animation! And did you know only a few minutes after that, he counted to 5 for me???? He only a year and 8 months!!

Yup, smart, sweet, obviousley handsome, this boy is a catch! : ) And look at them, I think they've got some mutual attraction there!

Even though we could have easily spent so much more time up there, spending more time with the friends we saw and time with those didn't even see, Bekah and I needed to get home to our boys! I was litterally giddy as I drove up to our house, sooo ready to see my hubby again, as it had been from a Thursday to a Sunday! The longest we have been away from daddy! I was so proud of my little traveler and so grateful to have our family back together!

Here she is with her special traveling bag:

Daddy was happy to have us home, and even Charlie I think felt our absence!

I love all you Dallas friends, thanks for having us!

Crawling and Santa, what a week!

Okay, two things I have been thinking about alot lately, Santa and crawling, both happened this week! This has been one of my favorite weeks with my little girl, it's been so exciting! Not to mention that she is "talking" up a storm, but that will be another post!

Santa

Our neighborhood had an annual tree lighting ceremony on Monday and it turns out Santa was there too! It was perfect, we didn't have to pay a single thing and it was right down the street! I wasn't sure what to expect with Bekah since she hasn't been too predictable with meeting new people. The trick I learned in Dallas last weekend was, as long as she is holding her dollie, she may be just fine. So I grabbed her dollie, dressed her in her "Christmas best" and we went on down to our city hall.

Dollie in hand:

Waiting in line:

Once it was our turn, I gave Zack the camera and told him, "Take as many pictures as you can, just click away, fast!" He got this one, no tears yet . .
And this one, no tears here either! The dollie did the trick! Look at her staring up at him! Zack said it's like she is thinking," Wait, are you a doggie? You are furry like one . . ."

I couldn't believe how interested she was in this hairy fellow!

And you know what? Bekah during this whole time, held on tight to her dollie, but Santa held on tight to me! It was weird, I was going to let Bekah sit on his lap and pull away from the pic, but the minute I put her down, he grabbed my elbow, like "Mom you aren't going anywhere!" Maybe she was too young to be held by him? I don't know . . . So there we are, as my friend Mary Pat calls it, a "Mommy and Me Santa pic":

After she met Santa, a newspaper guy asked us for our names, wanting to put us in the city paper! Bekah's first time to be "in print"!

Crawling

And now for the best part of all, her crawling! She has been rocking on all 4's for a few weeks now, and definately did the backwards army crawl too, but I guess after seeing her two friends in Dallas crawling, Caleb and Ava, maybe she got some inspiration, thanks guys!

Here are some snapshots of the big event, look at that sheer determination!
(This was Monday, the day where you couldn't tell if she was crawling or scooting, SOOO close!)



We call it her Elmer Fudd face!
And for the videos:
The first one was taken on Tuesday, the first day she actually crawled, not scooted. I can't tell you how many videos I took that day, but this was the first time she actually crawled on camera, so I decided to post this one : ):

(Sorry about the highly probable annoying "mommy voice", you should just watch it on mute!)


And now, this one is from Friday, when she had a few days of perfecting her crawl under her belt! Plus, I dressed her more appropriately for successful crawling, pants! Those sleepers are tough to crawl in because she always got her legs caught up in the belly part of them.