Ellie 9 Months

A few days ago, Ellie baby turned 9 months.  My how she is growing!  Her stats at the pediatrician were:

Weight: 20 lb 11 oz (75-90%)

Height: 28.5 inches (75-90%)

Head Circumference: 17.5 inches

 Some crazy baby chatting and can-can-ing-it while in the pediatrician's waiting room

Showing off her two bottom teeth

She is still my happy camper, loves giggling at Jackson, crawling everywhere (she started this right after Labor Day), and causing me to re-baby-proof my house.

The foods she's tried this month are mango, watermelon, winter squash, cucumbers, and baby Puffs.  She can still be unsure of food textures, but surprisingly will eat whole Puffs without a problem.  Ellie still nurses every 3 hours during the day, goes to bed at 5:45 pm (because she is crying to go to bed then!), and wakes up anywhere between 4 and 5 am for a feed and then usually goes back to sleep until 6 am. or so.

 Playing with our cousin Stephen

Jackson showing me his freshly brushed teeth

 She's my messy eater, and proud of it

Playdate with the Menendez and Russell kids

Jackson still loves it when we read to him, and he self plays really well.  His vocabulary and words have dramatically expanded, and most recently he will say "I no ike (like) it," which I learned today is his way of mimicking Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham." He has an excellent memory and recalls anything and everything.  Jackson is still really sweet with Ellie, and if he makes her cry, he will tell me why she is crying, fessing up to pushing her or squeezing her cheeks :)  He also sings along with the Bible songs we listen to the in the car, and it just melts my heart.

Phrases as of late:
"I/my did it!"
"God did it!" (with anything he likes, in discussing who made the rain, in talking about ice cream...)
"I happy!"
"Mama happy!"
"I tired too"
Every color is "Blue"
What does the elephant say?  "BOOO!" (Auburn brainwashing and I love it)
 "Waaar, Eagle HEY"
"Go Au-buuurn"
"Scuse me!"
After sneezing, "Bess you; bess me"
"No maaaam did-turh (sister), no maaaam"
"My help" (meaning, I'll help you, all by myself too)

Activities as of late:
Very attention-detail oriented, builds choo-choo houses
Loves glue sticks, putting caps back on anything
OCD-tendencies...everything must be in its proper place
Very helpful and insistent on unloading the dishwasher, throwing away trash, blowing his own nose "my boow" (aka blow)

First Auburn Game

Two weeks ago, we took our kids to their very first Auburn game (if you don't count Jackson going to A-Day when he was 11 weeks old).  Auburn played very well against Arkansas State, and we were proud of the kids lasting through the first quarter (considering kick-off was at 6:30 pm, and both of our kids are normally in bed by then).

 Our attempt at a family pic. Keepin' it real.

We had a delightful time reliving memories while strolling around campus, meeting up with friends, tailgating with family. 

 We first met up with our dearest friends, the Gross family. I met Emily in college, and she has been my mentor, friend, confidant since our days at Auburn. I enjoyed following in her footsteps in various activities and organizations at Auburn, and I cherish her and her sweet, godly family.

 This was the first time our kiddos got to meet, and they hit it off! Jackson loved following the big girls around, and the girls were so precious with my kids.

 This is probably Ellie's first time to be set down in the grass (and what a perfect place to try it out! In front of Samford Hall!). Needless to say, she wasn't the biggest fan of the texture on her soft baby skin. Abby Jane was so sweet to love on Ellie and reassure her while we gathered all the kids for a group picture.  Abby Jane has the kindest, sweetest, smartest little heart, and she is one little lady who loves Jesus.  Em and Jake have done a phenomenal job raising their sweet brood of girls.

 We got to meet Baby Owen McCay, 7 weeks old in this picture!  Andy and Andrew were college roommates, and we've enjoyed keeping up with them over the years.

 Aunt Beth and Uncle Blake were our extra set of hands, eyes, and ears with our kids at Aunt Myra's tailgate.

 Stacy and her family happened to walk by our tailgate spot!  It was fun catching up with my sweet nursing school friend, and our boys were even born on the same day at the same hospital. Excuse my red face...it's evidence of the heat and humidity on this Alabama summer day.

 Fun seeing the Stewart girls

Poor Jackson didn't make it out of the stadium. The eagle flying, spotting Aubie, watching the band, and all the action on the field wore my little buddy out.

WAR EAGLE!!