Month 7!

Pate, you are seven months old today! Here's what you have been up to: You are doing the army crawl/tuck and roll to get all over the floor in 3.2 seconds! If there is something you see that you want, you will get to it! (Especially if it's something you shouldn't get!) I've officially had to move out the glass side table. I never had to move it with Alabama, but you've tried to pull on the cord for the lamp that sits on the ever so precarious glass table twice now. (It's gone! ha) You can now get to a sitting position by yourself. You can also get back down to the floor very well ( usually...). Your newest trick is to pull up this week. I found you standing in your bed on Monday! You've also pulled up on Alabama's little chair to get whatever she left in it. You have been eating much better the last few days. You have eaten rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, sweet peas, carrotts, peaches, pears, applesauce, bananas, and just today...avocado! You are doing great! You still nurse every 3-4 hours but lately I have had to give you a bottle a couple of times, too. No teeth yet! You are still not a great sleeper and get up once a night to eat and then again at 6 or so but go back to sleep until around 9. It takes a little while for you to lay down and go to sleep, especially now that you are sitting/standing up. Two times, you have cried in the nursery at church but this Wednesday, you did great again and were back to your happy self. You love to play with things that make noise and put everything in reach in your mouth. You are learning how to wave! So cute! You have begun to show what you want and want it NOW! ha! If we take something from you, you will do a little "mini whining fit". I love every minute of being your Mama and am so so thankful for your sweet life!  We dedicated you to the Lord on Mother's Day this year! Yes, you wore a beautiful gown but I loved every minute of it! Your Mimi and I made it together and it turned out gorgeous(not perfect, but still gorgeous!). We pray that we will be steadfast to teach you the Word and that you will hide it's truth in your heart and will serve the Lord all the days of your life!  I love you so so much! (and so does your big sister!)

Quacks!

Alabama makes me laugh every single day and I am so thankful for her! Here are a few snipets sure to make you laugh, too!
We recently discovered Duck Dynasty on A&E and we all love it! It's hilarious! Sometimes, in her pretend sessions, she tells me, "This is Duck Dynasty." She will sit and watch episode after episode with Adam. Yesterday, we were having a family dinner and she randomly asked Mimi, "Do you know Si?" hahahaha!

Yesterday she asked me, "Hey, why you got that shirt on?" (it was new) I said, "I just do. What's wrong with it?" "I just don't like it" she says. Thanks Bama!

She still takes her job of correcting me and everyone else very seriously. ha!  She even corrects her friends when they say things incorrectly. Why you say..... ? I try not to laugh, but it is very funny! ha

Most days when she wakes up she asks me, "Do I have school today?" and "Do we have to go to any stores today?" When I say no, she smiles and cheers. Who is this child????

Last week we were outside and she points to the field and says "Mama, see all that stuff?" "What stuff?" "All that stuff! That means we live in the country!" Adam says they'd had a conversation about that the night before. ha!

21 questions with Alabama at 3

I meant to post this back in February, but here it is:
I got this idea from Pinterest to ask the same questions every year on the child's birthday to see how the answers change over the years. So here's our first year at 3!
1. What is your favorite color? Purple
2. What is your favorite toy? Babydolls
3. What is your favorite store? Wal-Mart
4. What is your favorite TV show? Barney
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Turkey and cheese
6. What is your favorite thing to wear?
7. What is your favorite game? Candy Land
8. What is your favorite snack? goldfish
9. What is your favorite animal? giraffe
10. What is your favorite song? Jesus loves Me
11. What is your favorite book? Goodnight Gorilla
12. Who is your best friend? Clara Walden
13. What is your favorite restaurant? Ryans
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play in the play house
15. What is your favorite drink? Lemonlade (lemonade)
16.What is your favorite candy? peppermint ("Alabama, I thought you didn't like peppermint?" "I do now because I'm 3!"
17. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? eggs
18. What do you not like to do? give hugs to everyone
19. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? animals
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a cheerleader!
21. What is your favorite movie? The ones when I was a baby!

6 Months!

Pate, you are 6 months old! Half of the first year of your life is already gone.....kind of bittersweet. I love that you are learning new things and interacting more and more with us, but I will miss holding my sweet baby when you are 3 and won't sit still for a second! You sit up all by yourself all the time. Falling over gracefully....still in progress. ha! You are beginning to try and crawl. You get up on all fours, but haven't taken a "crawl" yet. You can almost sit up by yourself from laying down. Working hard on that one. You are reaching for EVERYTHING now! Can't have anything close by or it will soon be in your mouth! You love your exersaucer still but have outgrown your swing (especially after you fell out of it!) and pretty much the Bumbo, too. Jumping is your specialty....in the jumper at church or just standing on our lap....you love it!  You are just as sweet as ever and everyone says what a happy baby you are everywhere we go! You wear size 6-9 month clothes and a size 3 diaper and size 2 shoe. You are STILL waking up once a night to eat. :(  You nurse every 3-4 hours and I have introduced several foods to you (rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, peas, even applesauce), but you aren't interested at.all. You wrinkle your nose up and spit it out right away. But we'll keep trying! You love Alabama so much and are so excited when we pick her up from preschool! She loves you, too, and she is such a big helper and a fun sister! You are so stinking cute that I can't stand it sometimes. People tell me at least once a week that you should be a baby model! The color of your hair is lightening but you still have a lot of it and it is starting to curl on the sides! :-) (If you were a girl, you could totally have pigtails now! ha!) I just love those chubby little legs! You make so many sounds and "talk" to us a lot. Some of the noises you make are so funny like when you growl! Hilarious! No teeth yet, but plenty of drool! Apparently, you love to blow spit bubbles and raspberries and do it all day long! You also find great joy in banging the table or whatever is close to you like a drum with your whole arm. Boys and noise! ha!I'll update stats on Monday after we go to the doctor! I love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be! At your appointment, you weighed 19 lbs 6 oz.

Pate, you are 5 months! You weigh about 18 pounds and are wearing mostly size 6-9 month and 6 month clothes. You wear a size 3 diaper and a size 2 shoe. You are just a happy, sweet baby! We love you so much and you bring so much joy to our life! You are just starting to sit up on your own now without falling over! Such a big boy!! You drool a lot and chew on everything, I keep checking for teeth but still none! You sleep on your stomach most of the time and sleep just about every time we get into the car. You are still waking up once at night. Your favorite toys are your Sophie giraffe, your mouse, and you love to play in the exersaucer and walk around with it. You love to turn the pages in the books we read and of course chew on them if you get a chance! ha! A funny thing you do is splash and splash when you get in the tub! It is hilarious! You love Alabama so much and she is great at making you laugh. You are very ticklish, especially under your neck! You talk all the time and it's so funny how much you even sound like your sister when she was a baby. You are reaching out and grabbing everything in your reach so we have to be careful at the table with you. You have eaten rice cereal a few times now and are still getting the hang of it.  I'm so blessed and honored to be your Mama!

Alabama is 3!

Alabama is 3 years old today! So I feel like that is totally not a baby anymore, but such a big girl. She was so excited to turn 3. She asked me Thursday..."Am I big, now?" ha! She's been telling people all day that she's 3. I'm a little sad that she's growing up but of course excited at the same time. I tell her all the time that I want her to stay little forever but she never agrees. :-)
Alabama,
You are the most precious little girl ever and I am so so happy and honored and thankful to be your Mama. I tell you all the time how much I love you and I could never tell you enough for you to know how much I do! You are soo sweet that I can't stand it sometimes. Like when you pray and say "Thank you Lord for Mama. Help her take care of me and Pate," and when you pray for everyone who is sick, and when you tell Daddy out of the blue, "I like your hair cut.", and when you want me to hold you and you tell me you love me, and when you hug your brother and say "I love you, Pate.", and when you are such a good helper all the time, and when you say in the sweetest, cutest voice, "you're welcome".
Sometimes, your're not so sweet of course, but the sweetness outshines the ugly even when you cry almost every night during your bath, or have all but stopped taking naps, or when you lay on the floor and cry when you don't get your way, or when you won't walk outside without me holding you because you're scared of the "yellow-eyed cat".
You are beautiful beyond words and I want so badly for you to be beautiful on the inside, too. I tell you all the time, it doesn't matter how pretty you are on the outside if you're not pretty on the inside, too.
You  love to play games and pretend all sorts of differnt things. You love to play school and "kids" with Mimi. You like to cook in your kitchen. You like to be a cheerleader. You like to play play-doh, color, and paint. You used to pretend all the time that you were someone else, but most days, you're Alabama now. You like to watch Barney, Tinkerbell, Strawberry shortcake, Minnie Mouse, Veggie Tales, Robin Hood, Sesame Street, and the Letter Factory.
You are so so shy when you first meet someone or are not around them very much. We work a lot on talking to everyone at church. They all think you are such a quiet girl, but I assure them that is not the case at home! ha! You don't really like big crowds either.
You are so smart! You know your ABC's but sometimes leave out J and N. You can count to 12. You know lots of songs that you have learned at Preschool. You can recognize about half of the letters now and know a lot of the sounds they make. It is so much fun to see you learn. You still have the best memory and do not forget anything!
You are the funniest kid! You have us laughing every single day. Sometimes you mean to but lots of times you don't. If I say something that's not right, you'll ask me," You was just kiddin' Mama?" ha!
There is no sarcasm with you. You take everything so seriously and are so precise. You will argure about anything that doesn't match up! ha! I wonder where you get that from???
You love to play with your cousins Morgan and Jenna! They are so nice to you and you love them so much!
You wear size 3T-4T clothes and a size 8 shoe. You weigh about 37 pounds.
I could write all night, but I'll stop here for now.
I couldn't imagine life without you and I pray for you to grow up to be an amazing woman who serves the Lord all the days of your life! I pray that you would be such a strong Christian that you would lead others in their walk and encourage them, that you would have a heart for service, and that you would be a prayer warrior. I love you my beautiful 3 year old!

Pate is 4 months old!

Pate, you are four months old! You are so so sweet and such a fun baby! You laugh at your sister and love it when I tickle you! I just love to hear that sweet laugh of yours! You are rolling over now from back to front! You are almost too big for your swing...have to make sure you are buckled in! ha! You still like your play mat some, but you get off of it all the time. You're all over the place! You like to stand up on my legs, you never want to lay down...only sit it up. We got out the exersaucer and you are getting the hang of it, too. You are the cutest little boy I've ever seen and I could just eat up those cute cheeks and those pouty lips! You wear a size 3 diaper now and still in 3-6 month clothes. You can wear some size 2 shoes now. You chew on your hands all. the. time. I keep checking for teeth, but you still don't have any. I think I'll start letting your sleep in your crib soon because I'm scared you are going to get yourself out of the "sleep and play" you've been sleeping in beside our bed. You are nursing every 3 hours during the day and are still waking up once to eat at night. You watch everything Alabama does and she loves you so much! She wakes up saying "Where's Pate?" She gives you hugs all the time and says "I love you, Pate." so. sweet! You have always been so content, but want to be held a little more lately. They always tell me in the nursery that you get the award for the best baby! ha! Two of your friends were born this month...Jackson and Benton! We went to meet them and I know you'll be BFF's! ha! I love you more every day and thank God you're mine! :-)