Goodbye, 2012!!

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!  We are ringing in the new year in the comfort of our home, but it's no reason we can't look fantastic!

Happy Birthday, Jackie!

Year one, check!  We are so excited to be celebrating Jackie's first birthday today and thankful for all the friends and family who helped us make it through a very interesting and challenging time in our lives!  It's been humbling to receive so much love from other people.

Jackie's not really a baby anymore, but not quite a toddler...  She has become much more mobile these past two months, and although she doesn't exactly crawl in the traditional sense...she gets around quite quickly these days by scooting herself with her left leg and dragging the right behind her - it requires no tummy time action whatsoever. :)  Dora the Explorer loves to investigate cupboards in the kitchen, doorstops in every room, and the books at the bottom of the bookshelf.  She will occasionally pull herself up on something, but isn't too interested in walking lately.  We acquired a little play mat recently, as you can see from the picture above, and she has been busying herself attempting to climb the stairs - going down is a bit harder, but she can manage to bump her way down from time to time if we sit her up on the stairs.

Dora the Explorer checking out the kitchen

Tearing up tissue - is that a Daddy look or what??

A little climbing

Peeking into the backyard

A new shyness has been emerging - she will often bury her head in mom's neck if a stranger approaches.  Once she gets used to you, however, she can be very sweet and vocal!  She started saying words at 10 months, starting with "mama" (whiny voice), then "dada" (excited voice!), then "bye bye", then "na" (grandma came to visit!), and "ba" (ball), "ba" (book), and "uck" (truck).  It's exciting to hear the beginnings of what I'm sure will be a LOT of chattering.

Bath time!

What?

My favorite perch!

Peekaboo at the airport

Excited face!

Visiting with Grandma Hays

Can't not love this picture :)

Balloon fun

Some fun things about these two months include:

• Finally figured out she can move from room to room - separation anxiety immediately became SO much better!
• After a period of biting when she was giving us kisses, she's figured out what it means to kiss sweetly, and will usually give kisses out when prompted.
• Starting to like stuffed animals - her two teddy bears get LOTS of hugs and attention.
• Pointing at things to get our attention and looking where we're pointing.
• Increased interest in all of her toys - filling her dump truck with blocks and transporting them, looking through books on her own, trying to use her shape sorter (I still have line the piece up for her and she pushes it in).
• Starting to use objects correctly - like "combing" her hair with the comb.
• Playing sweetly with little friends - she enjoys church nursery so much more now and will play and give hugs to our neighbor friend.
• Enjoying music more than ever - whenever I put her CD on, she claps and waves her hands, bounces on her bottom, and smiles big.

Clapping

Peekaboo!

Love my Grandma!

After mauling her bear

My friend Aaron

We had fun celebrating Jackie's birthday today by going out to lunch with friends after church.  She shares her birthday with our friend Donald.

Birthday pic with mommy

Having fun as a family 

Yummy Mediterranean food for lunch

Donald blowing out the candles for the two of them

Birthday kids! (somebody smeared food everywhere and had to strip...thankfully it wasn't Donald!)

We are so grateful for all the support we've received from each one of you this year!  Thanks for being involved in our lives!  Enjoy these pictures from Jackie's cake smash. :)

Birthday girl!

Feeling shy

Ready to eat!

The prize!

This looks good!

My work here is done...

Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Please be in prayer for some dear friends of ours who have suffered a terrible loss.  One of the elders at our church in Virginia Beach, Frank Scurti, passed away this past Wednesday due to complications related to his treatment for cancer.  Although we knew he was sick and there were risks to his treatment, it was a somewhat quick and unexpected outcome.  He left his wife, Debbie, and his children, Nick and Grace, behind, as well as many loving friends and family members.  We remember him as a tender-hearted, kind and thoughtful man with a great sense of humor.

Even though our hearts are hurting for our friends, we're so thankful for Frank's faithful service to Christ and the knowledge that our reunion with him in heaven will be sweet.  As I was playing a song from church on the piano this afternoon, I read the words to one of the verses and imagined Frank saying them as he is standing before Jesus Christ right now:

Behold Him there, the Risen Lamb,

My perfect, spotless Righteousness,

The great unchangeable I AM,

The King of glory and of grace!

One with Himself I cannot die,

My soul is purchased by His blood!

My life is hid with Christ on high,

With Christ my Savior and my God.

A show of support for Frank from friends at church

Happy Halloween!

Jack-o-Baby very appropriately spent her first Halloween dressed up as a pumpkin.  We are thankful for this year because she will never again spend a Halloween gnawing on shiny candy wrappers while mommy and daddy score some free chocolate.  We also found out our neighborhood has more kids than we thought.  Enjoy these pics and happy Halloween!

Getting ready to go!

Her perch on top of  Daddy

Our neighbor Aaron was a golfer!

"Trade you all my wrappers for some chocolate, Jackie!"

Little punkin

Happy Halloween!

Soooooo Big!!! (8-10 Months)

Heading out to the garage: one bouncy seat, one Jumperoo, one baby gym, one baby swing, one Bumbo, and one bag of bottles....  Inside the house, not-so-baby Jack is enjoying her new toy drum, books, and Tonka truck while sipping from her Camelbak straw cup (don't judge - it's her beverage delivery vehicle of choice!).  While the separation anxiety and intermittent teething continue to plague us (two bottom teeth already poking through!), we have still been enjoying Jackie's development immensely over the past two months.

A girl and her truck

Socially, Jackie is as sweet and outgoing as ever.  She loves other kids and will now wave and clap her hands (well, her "clapping" consists of slapping her hands against her legs) trying to make new friends.  Sometimes she'll surprise me now by giving wet, French "kissies" on the mouth and hugs without prompting.  She even begrudgingly allows Daddy to steal a kiss or two.  All kinds of new social "tricks" are emerging - blowing raspberries, clicking her tongue, smacking her lips, and raising both hands above her head to show she's "soooooo big" are among them.  Something she's taken to doing lately is squinting her eyes at people and giving a big, cheesy smile in hopes of befriending them - works every time.

Pool time!

Just chilling in a friend's hammock

Cheesy smile!  Can you see my two teeth?

Post-bath snuggles

Tuckered out from a long morning

She continues to avoid crawling, but can usually get to something that she wants by ambling around in a sitting position using her arms to propel her - it's a delicate balance to avoid falling onto her stomach, from which will quickly roll onto her back...and then she's stuck.  Occasionally she will cruise a few inches, standing while holding onto a couch or chair.  She's gotten very good at grasping small objects, and now prefers to hold her own spoon to feed herself or eat finger foods.  She will grab pieces of lint from the carpet and delicately taste them with the tip of her tongue before dispensing of them - smart girl. :)

The other day I took Jackie out for lunch at Panera Bread.  I was a little worried she might get bored and start whining, refuse to eat, try to climb out of the high chair, or throw food across the room.  But she was quiet and sweet, ate most of her grilled cheese sandwich by herself while I ate my salad, and entertained herself by playing with string on the window shade.  I thought about how far we have come since arriving in San Antonio, and felt very grateful for my big grown up girl.  Happy ten months!

Out to lunch with Mommy! 

Happy 10 months!