Eight.

Yes! You are 8 months old! I was just talking to a friend of mine this week and I said, "What is your favorite age?" And she thought it about a minute and said, " Every age he turns becomes my 'new' favorite age!" You know what? I couldn't agree with her more!

I looooovvvveeee seeing her personality come out and develop! I love how she is a "Take Life by the horns" kind of girl! She wants to "live" life - I guess another word for this would be intensity! She doesn't wait for her brother to come play with her... she MAKES him come play with her!

She has A.L.W.A.Y.S been a really good baby and very happy... nothing has changed in that arena=)

She loves her mamma! a lot!=) I love how she looks at me and I love how she has to know where I am at all times. I also LOVE how she looks at her daddy... she even "talks" to him on the phone... it is sooooooooooooooooo precious!

She loves to be cuddled... she loves kisses on her neck... she loves to laugh... she loves to play... she loves to read.... toys are becoming more and more fun everyday!

Happy 8 months old, my baby girl!

Great Play!

Samantha had her birthday party at a place called Great Play! We had never been to one of these and they are super creative! Basically they mix a "kid gym class" with multi media fun. So, all the walls have projectors on them and there are cameras though out the room so that when the kids are "on camera" they can see themselves life size on the walls! They play games using the projectors and cameras... they even set up an "under the sea" theme with fish "swimming" on the walls then came the balloons and bubbles! I was so impressed with this place and Daniel had a great time!










I left Katelyn at home with daddy so she could nap... when I take Daniel somewhere alone he tends to be a little bit more clingy with me. Like I had to participate in most of the activities with him but if I would have had Katelyn, he would have totally been out there doing everything himself. Most moms of more than one kid tell me to try to spend as much one on one time with my kids as possible but Daniel actually prefers for Katelyn to be with us and actually acts a little insecure if she is not around. This just might be a phase he is going through but I find it very sweet.

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

An update on Katelyn: That night Brendon and I had a friend's birthday party to go to and Katelyn has recently decided that she will only sleep in her crib! Unfortunately, this means that she won't go to sleep at my parent's house or Leigh Anne and Aaron's house... so, Katelyn just hangs out with us when we go out now! We dropped Daniel off at my parents and Katelyn came and partied with the adults=)

Friends Christmas Party

Our group of friends that we met at Mercy Breastfeeding Support Group over 3.5 years ago we had our annual Kid's Christmas Party (we do a separate mom's party which was at my house the Friday night prior to this one)! It was very cute... we always draw names for a gift exchange and they did a very cute craft that Tammy organized. We all brought food and Leah had them dip marshmallows into chocolate then into sprinkles for a treat to bring home!

Parker's 3rd Birthday Party!

@ Chuck E. Cheese's! I had never been to this one before and I thought it was really nice! It was also very nice that the party was on a weeknight as it wasn't as crazy as it is on the weekends!

Daddy got to join us as well... below he is catching up with Bronson

I think Daddy had as much fun as Daniel riding on the jet ski! Daniel rode this over and over again as it reminded him of our jet ski adventure over 4th of July weekend! I can't believe he remembered it!

Below is the birthday boy with Daniel playing Air Hockey!

What was REALLY cute was there was a little girl at Chuck E. Cheese that wasn't even a part of the party but she took a real liking to Daniel and kept asking him to play games with her... like below they played air hockey several times! First of all, she was really cute=) Second, since when did he get so interactive?

Parker and his mommy!

Happy Birthday, Parker!

Pre-School Play

Daniel's preschool did some really cute things for Christmas... one was that they went to a nursing home and sang some Christmas songs then gave them all cookies and cards that they had colored for them. There were around 40 or 50 nursing home residents that were there and they just LOVED having these adorable 3 and 4 year old children around! I FORGOT my camera but my heart was so overwhelmed that my child can already give back to those around him! It was just so overwhelming for me to see him pouring his love out on these people who needed it and then to watch these elderly people just drink up the children's love and be so satisfied! I was so proud of him!

Then on Thursday they put on a Christmas Play for the parents and had a little party for us moms after with cookies, coffee, etc! It was soooo nice!

The kids were encouraged to take different roles each time they rehearsed the play so they could learn each role! This time around Daniel was an angel=) Five of the Six kids in Daniel's class are boys so someone had to be the angel=)

They decorated mini gingerbread houses and then they got to eat them!

That was our last day of pre-school until the New Year!

Teething Biscuits

Well, my dear Katelyn has been having some major tummy issues! It all seemed to have started when we introduced her to solid foods... it hit me one day that she has not had a dirty diaper in a really long time! So, I called the pediatrician who told me to give her some more juice, water, etc. So... I tried BUT Katelyn refused to take a sippy cup or a bottle (I now own EVERY SINGLE sippy cup that is stocked at Target!) so I figured out I could give her liquids through a straw=) Have you timed how long it takes to give a baby 7- 8 oz of liquid through a straw?

So, it didn't work! She woke up one night burning up with a fever so I called the pediatrician's office again and Lisa recommended that I bring Katelyn in for a visit. Basically the doctor told me the same thing that she needs more liquid but he wanted me to go home and give her a suppository because it had been too long since she last went and we needed to get "things" moving along! Well... 24 hours later the suppository didn't work so guess what I was told I had to do? Give my angel an enema! This was a two person job... so, my mom came over and her and I both crying our eyes out that we had to do this to our sweet girl and watch her be sooo uncomfortable was more than we could handle!

However, it got worse when the enema appeared not to work and we were told that we would have to bring her to Children's Phoenix Hospital for X-Rays... I started to panic and at that moment Katelyn did FOUR HUGE, HUGE, HUGE dirty diapers! I felt so terrible that all that junk was in her!

So, I made a vow that I was not giving her anymore solids until we got this issue worked out... since it appeared that the solids were what originally started this! But, the only way we were getting this issue worked out was that she had to take a min. of 7 oz of water and/ or juice. I now use a 60ml syringe to get this liquid down her... it has been a long journey and we are not through. As a matter of fact, please pray for us because the first enema was 2.5 weeks ago and if she doesn't have a dirty diaper by tomorrow then she has to have another one tomorrow and Lisa will be consulting with our doctor on Monday for Katelyn's next steps! This is one very worried and very nervous mommy!

Since I cut out her solids, I have treated her with "teething" biscuits though! She cut two more teeth for a total of 6! And these things are the only things she will actually chew on and it brings her so much relief!

Daniel dressed himself up as a "motorcycle" dude... this "look" just totally cracked me up!

An update on Daniel... he. loves. clothes. He is very, very opinionated about his clothes! He definitely has in his mind what he wants to wear and what he won't wear! He will even tell me if something matches or if it doesn't! He was so into his clothes that we put locks on his closets because he would change clothes so many times in one day that my laundry was getting out of control! And, the very funny thing is that he notices everything that everyone else is wearing and will talk to me about them in the car... like whose dress he liked and who had a "cool" shirt on at the gym, etc! Or he will put something on and tell me who has a shirt like his, or socks like the ones he is wearing, etc!

Zoo Trip

So... this was a really cool story... when Daniel was a newborn, I attended the Chandler New Mom Support Group and I met this lady named Katie and we hung out a few times together but she had to go back to work and we just lost contact... then we ran into each other at Buy Buy Baby when we were both pregnant with our second babies and we promised to e-mail each other to hang out again... well, her e-mail address didn't work and it didn't work out! Then we ran into each other again and this time we exchanged information and took our "baby cubs" to the zoo... it was as if we never took a break from seeing each other... we seriously talked the entire 2 or 3 hours we were there...I am so glad we have re-connected!

As most of you know... the weather here in December is like A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.! Well, the lion was loving it too... every time I have been to the zoo, he is just lying there... this day he was up and making really weird sounds... I was actually freaked out and so were the boys!

So, we went to feed the ducks... I know! You could do this at any local park so what the heck were we doing this at the zoo with all the exotic animals you could imagine... LOL! But... the boys loved it!

What did these silly boys want to do? PLAY IN THE DIRT! With their shoes and socks off! Well, they were happy and we got to chat!

The other really cool thing is that these two boys have very similar personalities... very sweet, not aggressive and it was like they were meant to be friends! At this stage with Daniel, there are some days where he plays interactively with his friends and other days where they still just play along side each other but not together. These two played interactively the whole morning so that was really cool!

Our Tribe! We looked at each other and said, "Oh My Gosh! We have double strollers now!" LOL! Okay... so, the story gets weirder... we are walking along and Katie stops this other mom with a double stroller and says to her, "I know you!" This other mom looks at me and says, "Danielle?" We all screamed because she was another mom in our original hospital group that we lost contact with as well... how weird is that we all re-united at the zoo with double strollers? LOL!

Fun Day at the zoo!