So much to be thankful for!

Celebrating with Essie through her first Thanksgiving has been so much fun. Its funny how I now look forward to every holiday and every celebration because I get to experience it with Essie for the first time! It seems so crazy that last year at Thanksgiving, we hoped and prayed we would be parents by now - and now our sweet little girl is almost 10 months old! We are so blessed!

I love these pictures! My parents gave her this little baby stroller to help her learn to walk. Tonight she stood up behind it and took about 5 steps without my help! She really might be walking by Christmas!!!!!! Check out the baby in the stroller....this was my cabbage patch kid that my parents found in their basement for Essie. I was so excited ~ and she loves it!

Essie was enjoying her dinner in the second picture. She has been eating a lot of turkey lately! I'm trying to get her to feed herself bite-sized pieces of the foods we eat. So far, she's doing pretty good. The other day she had her first chicken fingers and french fries! She will also eat peas, hard-boiled egg whites and jello. Of course, she will eat anything on mommy's plate.

Notice the high chair she is sitting in? This chair was purchased by my Great, Great Grandparents around 1885. My Great Grandma sat in it when she was little. After being passed through the family, my Grandpa ended up with it and restored it for Essie to use. It is so beautiful!!!!!

New Family Pictures!

We had Essie's 9 month and our family Christmas pictures taken this week. Sharon has them up on her website already!

To view the pictures, click HERE. The password is 'essie'.

As usual, we're going to have a tough time deciding what to buy!!! Hope you like them as much as we do!!!!

Nine Months!

Ok, so I'm a little overdue for the nine month post - or any post for that matter. It's been so hectic with the new restaurant - business is going great. But, that also means Nick is working a ton more hours than before! And, Essie is becoming more active - which means mommy rarely gets to use the computer without little fingers trying to help!

We had Essie's 9 month check up last week. She is doing so well. Eating as she should (of course!) and growing as she should. Some of the rolls are decreasing on her legs! I was so excited she is finally below the 90th percentile for her weight! She's down to 85th...LOL! Her top 2 teeth popped in a couple weeks ago, so we have 4 now! And, she is sleeping through the night consistently. I have to admit, I'm a little sad about that....she's so cuddly in the middle of the night. But, I am sleeping better since I don't have to listen for her to wake up for a bottle!

You know Essie has been crawling for quite a while now. And, she's been pulling herself up on everything for a little over a month. She is starting to walk along the furniture. I really hope we have a walker by Christmas!!!

Speaking of Christmas.....we have our family pictures scheduled for tomorrow morning! I should be able to send everyone to Sharon's website next week to preview them!!

Enough of my babbling, I'm sure you really just want to see some new pictures of our sweet little girl!!





This next picture is too cute! Yesterday was Essie's first bad hair day!!!

Heavy Heart

Today, my heart is heavy. Earlier this year, my friend Matt, whom I have known since junior high, and his wife Shannon received some heart wrenching news regarding their two children. Their daughter will be 5 soon, and their son will turn 3 right after Christmas. Both children were diagnosed with a terminal disease known as Sanfilippo Syndrome. You can read about their story and learn about the disease here: Matt & Shannon's blog. (Keep the tissues close!)

Some of their college friends set up a website to provide information about the disease and help raise funds for the family. They just moved back to the US after living in London the past year. Matt & Shannon will need to buy a house soon; a great deal of remodeling will likely be necessary as they make it appropriate for the kids and the needs they will have as the disease progresses. There will also be countless medical bills as they seek to provide the best care possible for their precious children. If you feel led to contribute, or would like to learn more please visit A Hundred for a Home.

At minimum, please pray for Matt, Shannon, Waverly and Oliver. I never understood the depth of love a parent feels for a child until Essie came into our lives. And, I can't even begin to understand the pain Matt & Shannon must be feeling in their situation.

I'm going to add a link to Matt & Shannon's blog in our 'great links.' I hope it serves as a reminder for you, and for me, to pray for them often.

Thank you!

PS...Parents, go hug your kids and tell them how much you love them!!

Romper Room!

Our doorbell rang this afternoon and I opened the door to find our friend June and her dog, Misty. Misty is one of Ginger's puppies - the two of them LOVE each other. When they get together, they run and play and kiss; poor Fox doesn't know what to do with himself. They look so much alike, we usually have to check their collars to see who is who!

Today was Essie's first time meeting Misty. She wasn't sure what to think of this other dog that looks just like her Ginny. I think she was even more confused by us letting all the dogs play in her room! (The dogs are not allowed upstairs) As you can tell, I had a little trouble getting everyone to sit still for the pictures, let alone looking at the camera!! :-)

Can you tell which dog is Ginger??