10 Months & 8 Years

Happy 10 month birthday Catherine Ellis! In two mere months you'll be a whole year old and it just doesn't seem possible! We've had so much fun these past 10 months. While I was pregnant David would always laugh and say "I wish you could birth them at 10 months, that just seems like such a fun age!" Little did we know then just how much fun it was. The days are too short - there is never enough time to soak her all in - she's SO much fun, SUCH a blessing, and just makes us want to have tons more!

February 9, 2010 - 10 months (it's early so I'm still waking up!)

Catherine Ellis also shares her 10 month birthday with Emma! Sweet Emma! If I think these past 10 months have flown by, the past 8 years surely have!! Emma was born as I returned back to Alabama from California and she was the best homecoming gift a Southern girl could have. She's been a constant companion and best buddy for 8 years and I can hardly believe that she's eight! Life really does fly by when you're having fun.

Emma and I have shared it all - living alone by ourselves in the woods of Nauvoo, meeting the love of my life, moving to the big city, gaining a baby brother (Cain), getting married, and now having my first child. She's been the best girlfriend a woman could want and we're so very blessed to have such a wonderful, fun-loving and well-tempered dog! Happy Birthday Miss Em!

8 years

So here's what our fabulous 10 month old is up to these days - 10 great things and one to grow on:

-she is somewhat mobile - slowly but surely. She is taking short 'crawls' and especially loves chasing after Cain.

-she has 6 teeth and a 7th one coming

-she has added dog (sounds like duh, duh) and duck (sounds like duc, duc) to her two other vocabulary words, Mama and Dada

-she's eating table food - so far we've tried, cauliflower, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, pears and avocado - did I mention she LOVES to eat?

-she's feeding herself with both hands, but we think she will be right handed

-she more and more social the older she gets - the bigger the crowd, the happier she is! She loves to wave hello and goodbye. Even when we wake her up from her naps when it's just us in her nursery, as soon as we pull her out of the crib, she waves to the right, and then turns and waves to the left. We have a beauty queen on our hands!

-she LOVES books and being read to - especially interactive or pop-up books. We read every night before bed and she helps Mommy or Daddy turn the pages.

-her bed is down on the medium level because she can now go from laying on her tummy to sitting upright...she is close to pulling up on things

-she loves music and if a dancing tune comes on, she bounces herself up and down and makes noises like 'ahhhhhhh' - it's hysterical to watch. When you say shake, shake, shake she takes her music toys and shakes to the music

-much to David's dismay after 10 months of using Aveeno (it has oatmeal in it and David read it makes your hair grow) she still has very little hair. However, what she does have of it is dark and it seems to have a fair amount of 'kink' to it. Only time will tell.

-She has the most fun-loving and sweet personality a child could have - we are truly blessed beyond our measure. We can't wait to see what the rest of her first year of life holds.

Happy Birthday precious child, we love you more than words can say!

“From the fullness of grace we have received one blessing after another” - John 1:16