Lately

We have a lot fun with this silly boy!

8 months

Our sweet boy turns 8 months old on Friday! I can hardly believe how quickly time is passing. 

Perry Dane-

This month you have grown faster than all the months combined! You proudly wear size 12-18 month clothes (!) and I think those cheeks and thighs get a little fluffier every day. :) You LOVE to eat, especially yummy things like sweet potatoes, squash, and mommy's favorite, bread (of any kind!). You're eating more and more big boy food and less and less of that pureed stuff. Probably because you want to put that one little tooth into action and chew things up!

This week you have mastered pulling yourself up on things. You can also use one arm as a kickstand so you can lean waaaaaaay over to grab a toy that's out of reach. However, you will.NOT.roll.over! Daddy and I know you're strong enough, we think you just hate being on your belly sooooo much that you refuse to roll over. I think you'll learn to crawl very soon though! 

You babble and squeal all the time. You love your Granna and Gran and are growing pretty fond of your Papa J and Pappy T. For some reason you've been a little timid of them from time to time... we think it's the facial hair. :) This month, you got to spend a weekend in a cabin in Gatlinburg and enjoyed your first trip around the neighborhood in nothing but a diaper. (Hey, it was a hot day, okay?!) 

Now that you can sit and stand, you want to sit up and splash in the bathtub or stand and hold the side of the tub. I wish I would have treasured that last time you laid down during your bath. I also wish I would have treasured your last night in your bassinet. You now sleep (on average) twelve hours at night in YOUR CRIB! Mommy and Daddy love the sleep we're getting and you are such a happy boy when you wake up well rested. You DO NOT sleep AT ALL when we travel, but we travel so much you're just going to have to get used it. I think my nosy boy is afraid of missing the fun when we're with family. :)

Your precious personality is really coming through. You love to flash your sweet smile at strangers and everyone comments on just how cute you are! You're going to be a heart breaker on of these days! You already know how to melt people with your smile.There are no words to describe just how much your daddy and I love you. You're the best little blessing we've ever received and we often find ourselves saying, "He's our baby." I think we're still in shock that we could create something as perfect as you!


Please feel free to sloooooow doooooown in the growing this month! It's going by too fast! 
We love you to the moon--and back!
Mommy and Daddy

Letting mommy pose me for pictures!

 Bathtime fun!

 precious boy!

 Daddy feeling my one, scraggly tooth. How long do those things take to pop all the way through?!

 I looove my daddy...

 and my mommy too!

photos galore

working on my father-in-law's computer today and came across some never-before-seen Dane pics. :)

In the hospital.

melts.my.heart.

2 weeks old. Celebrating daddy's birthday.

lunch with Dane's great-grandparents when he was 5weeks old.

bath time! 6months

learning a song or two from pappy. :)

keep holding on

The windows are open and a sweet spring breeze is making the curtains dance across the living room floor. The puppies have spread their furry bodies as flat as they can against the hardwood to enjoy the coolness and lunch is on the stove in the kitchen. Dane is sitting in his high chair making a mess of the snack I've given him while I finish chopping vegetables to put in the pasta salad. We are singing along to Matthew West Radio on Pandora and soaking up the warm temperatures because, knowing Kentucky weather, they will leave us before too long. 

Two years ago I was eagerly counting down the days to my birthday at the end of this month. Not because 24 is a big milestone, but because we had agreed it would be the day we officially started "trying". That word. I didn't realize then how "trying" it would be attempting to conceive our first baby. It tried our patience. Tried my emotions. Tried my body. That word really fits that season of one's life better than any other.

After eight months, a dozen of wasted pregnancy tests, and coming to the end of my rope, I began singing a song over and over again. It become my mantra of sorts. "Everything Falls" by Fee was a song God used to speak into my situation. After losing my parents' home to a fire, the words of that song were a perfect prayer I would pray for them over and and over again as they began rebuilding and when all of the loose ends seemed as though they might begin to unravel. "When my strength is gone, I find YOU mighty and strong. You keep holding, you keep holding on." I needed that reminder-- that He hadn't let go and left us to our own devices. He was holding us tighter in the midst of the chaos, uncertainty, and hormones. Oh, the hormones.

Today, as grilled cheese sandwiches sizzle on the stove, the birds tweet their happiness that spring has returned, and my sweet baby bangs measuring cups against his high chair, the words of that song drift from the stereo in the living room into the kitchen. They are comforting words to me again as we encounter more uncertainty. A reminder that He most definitely keeps holding on and that He makes sense of all the mess.

The many faces of snack time

pretty baby