11 Months - The Month of Screams

Hey baby girl.  I'm just going to be honest here for a bit.  This past month was probably the roughest one yet for all of us.  The month started out great with Pa and MiMi here for a visit at the beginning of October.  You were great with them and loved them so much...and then came the screaming.  Not just any ol' screaming, like...go-to-the-bomb-shelter-because-there's-an-atom-bomb-headed-your-way kind of screaming.  We took you to the doc and you had an ear infection.  Put you on antibiotics, gave you some TLC and you got a little better.  Then you got a cold - and when you get colds, it's like every morsel of snot, drool and tears come out of your nose, mouth and eyes.  And then, you just got plain cranky.  You had been sick for a couple weeks and you had new teeth coming in...like, five of them coming at once.  And then you got the flu!  Eeek!  And that's when the atom-bomb screams really started.  There was a week where you screamed straight through it.  Mommy was going nuts and I wasn't really sure what to do...nothing mattered.  You wanted to be in my arms ALL THE TIME, but you still just screamed.  I felt so horrible for you AND I was going crazy all at the same time.  You still slept pretty good, thank goodness.

And then, one glorious Sunday morning...you woke up (not screaming) and you ate breakfast (didn't scream)...we played (no screaming)...and your Daddy and I just held our breath.  We went to church...you did awesome...ate lunch there (no screaming)...still holding our breath.  You made it through that day like the good-natured girlie that we know and love!  And your Mommy thought she had won the lottery!  =)  The rest of that week you did pretty darn good...and it's been that way since.  You definitely have a tendency toward screaming now when you don't get what you want or your ears hurt you...but you are 180 degrees different than those couple of weeks.  And we just hope it stays that way!

You are becoming such a little person.  You love to mimic sounds and words we use.  You can tell us how the monkey, puppy, cow, piggy, lion, elephant and fish go.  Yes, fish...you pucker up your lips all cute for that one.  You are into EVERYTHING.  You love exploring all over the house.  You have no real interest in standing or walking at this point because you have no need.  You get up on your knees and can hold yourself up in that way without holding on to anything....but you haven't pulled yourself to your feet yet.  And that's okay...I'll enjoy not having a walker for a little while longer!  The cabinets have been all child-safety locked and security gates are up everywhere.  I can't imagine what more we'll have to do when you are walking!

You love your Sissies.  You love waking up in the morning and finding where they are in the house.  The smile you make when you see them is awesome.  You love picking them up from school and having them sit in the back seat with you.  You love the attention they give you.  It's sweet.  In the past month or so we have gone to a ton of cross country meets for Kyndall and marching band competitions and football games for Megan.  We have been super busy with you...but you generally like traveling and going to new places.  You especially love the football games and seeing the Mountain Ridge mascot, Monte.  You think he is THE BEST.  

Especially now that you aren't forever-screaming anymore...you are such a treat for us.  You either love to play by yourself and can play for 30-40 minutes all alone...you love to stack stuff up on shelves, open and close doors and play with your fake phone (you'll hold it up to your hear or mouth and say, "Hewoooo").  Or other moods you have to be with us and be in your Mommy's arms.  Speaking of that, you have become a Mama's girl in the last several weeks - only I can feed you and hold you when you cry (at least if we want you to stop crying!).  And let's talk about this Mama thing for a second.  You stopped saying "Mama" for a long while!  At the beginning of 10 months, you stopped saying my name....in fact, when I would say, "Say Mama", you would say "Dada".  Not cool, baby girl!  That lasted a good three weeks....and you are just now saying Mama again!

And you are so pretty, baby.  I think I am probably just really biased on this one...but you are.  Strangers in public comment on how pretty you are all the time...especially your pretty blue eyes.  And your hair is growing in a lot now...and it's all wavy and curly in the back.  I love that!  You did not get that from your Mama!

You love interacting with people.  Peek-a-boo, wheels on the bus, itsy-bitsy spider, sweet baby (you love doing this with Daddy), blowing kisses (which is so stinkin' cute!), and we play like we are going to get you and you crawl away fast and just laugh your head off...you love all of those kind of things.  You have started watching shows on TV.  You LOVE VeggieTales and Backyardigans.  And Mommy relied on these HEAVILY when you were sick and cranky...and is very thankful for them and distracting you that week just a little bit.  You  should see your face light up when the songs start playing on these shows.  You are so crazy excited, your hands are flying everywhere.

With all the sicknesses of this past month, I haven't had you in your independent play time as much in your play pen...so we are currently re-learning that time in there.  This past week you have been in it every day and you are much better now...but you are still in the re-learning process there!

It was Halloween this past week too!  And you were a little chick-a-dee.  You were adorable...we went tick-or-treating with you around the neighborhood.  And then Daddy and Mommy had to eat your candy, darn it.  =)  Here are some pictures....

Here's a few more from when Pa and MiMi were here...

Next up?  Your 1st Birthday!!!!  I think it's going to be a very VeggieTale type of birthday for you!  Love you sweet baby girl!!!!

Told Your Grandpa, Grandmas, Aunts and Uncles!

Again, God is good, because how perfectly did He time EVERYTHING about you?! Way too perfectly! So perfectly that your grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins on my side were coming in for a vacation in a few days after we found out you were in my belly. We could tell them in person! They were going to be so excited and we knew it...and I can barely keep anything inside for too long (and God only gives us as much as we can handle, right?!)...so the three day wait must've been about as much as I could handle! Although, your Daddy tried to break me down and call them before they came (because he was too excited too!)...but somehow - not sure how - I said, let's just wait! And so glad that we did. We met them over at their vacation house when they arrived in Phoenix and brought a stack of pics with us from when we had hung out with the McCully's in the last month here in AZ and Vegas (which, by the way, will always be a lucky town for you!). We had put a picture in the stack that we made of a stork carrying a baby and the words, "Baby Marin, Coming Nov - Dec 2010". I gave the stack of pics to your grandma (she's going to want you to call her Mimi, by the way) with your grandpa (he'll be Pa to you). After a few pictures in, "your" picture came up...and I think you confused your grandma already! She thought it was an old baby announcement for Meghan (McCully) Benson's little girl Marin (yep, her first name is our last name!) and kind of passed the picture off to Pa...and then grabbed it back again and it all started setting in with the both of them. All of a sudden they got it and started hugging us and tearing up...then your Aunt Nikki and Uncle Ryan figured out what this was all about and hugged us and congratulated us too. Your cousin Kiara, was a little more of a hard sell (I think she liked having me to herself up until now)...but I will say, after being a little sad in that moment, she gave you a kiss every night during their vacation (she kissed my belly before we left Mimi and Pa's house). Vera, of course, hadn't a clue what was happening. =)

Then, your Daddy called your other grandma and your aunts and uncles on his side about the news (you have lots of aunts and uncles on his side - he has lots of brothers and sisters!  Can't wait for you to meet them!). They were all so excited. Your grandma was the hardest to get ahold of - she's quite a busy lady, even in her 70's - so we didn't get to tell her until the next morning. She was super happy about the news and is betting that you are a boy. Only you and God know that at this point...so we'd love it if she is right...but, to be honest, I'd still love it if she was wrong too. I just want you perfect and exactly the way God made you! Although, your Daddy does need another boy in this household with him...so I'd love for that boy to be you! =)