NINE months old

today, brennan hits NINE months old. 3/4 of a year. it feels like the 9 month mark is significant. she has now lived outside me just as long as she was growing inside of me. she is growing more, curious about more, doing more. these nine months have been the best of my life. having little b around is incredible.

and lastly, just a sweet little series from today. so brennan loves her daddy. they have a neat, special relationship, she lights up when she sees him, and i adore their bond. but she LOVES her momma.

earlier today when i was trying to take her pictures on the purple blanket to compare how much she's grown, all she wanted to do was sit in my lap. i kept trying to position her back on the blanket, but she kept trying to crawl to me:

one time too many, i pushed her away from me in the name of a good picture, resulting in this sad face:

and then, she got her reward.

brennan:

* is developing an adventurous bone that i don't quite know what to do with. it rivals the likes of cousin caroline and i'm interested to see it play out. she tries to climb on top of everything. she reaches for things out of her grasp, falls and tries again. she never sticks by me, instead preferring to crawl to and explore far away rooms. today i found her in lane's office on top of one big storage container trying to get on top of the second higher one in order to reach a book on the bookshelf.

* sings with me. i sing to her ALL THE TIME, and she has started meeting my songs with 'ahhhhhhhhh, eeeeeeee, aaaaaaaaa'. super cute.

* has developed a willfullness and is not afraid to express her feelings with me if i do sometime to/for her that she doesn't like

* seems to be SUPER close to walking. she'll take steps if we hold her hands as she goes

* LOVES sophie

* crawls to my legs and tugs if she wants to be picked up

* thinks that looking in the mirror at herself is the most fun activity of all

baby photo shoot

these pictures are actually a few months old, taken in early november when b was 7 months or so, but i just now got them from my friend janna and they are of course blog material.

i mean, c'mon. just LOOK at her.

this is amelia. she is TAN. and beautiful. but also tan.

sometimes my days are not nearly as productive as i planned them to be because i just STARE at her, then cuddle her, then squeeze her. and then i stare some more.

i just can't get enough of her.

i am expecting a call from gerber any day requesting her to be their new baby model. lane did make a comment about toddlers and tiaras when referencing these pics, but i'm pushing that from my mind. i just look at her FABULOUS headband and all is right with the world.

lately

i feel like in this last month we have seen so much change in brennan. she is interacting with us more; she's figuring out what makes us laugh and repeats those actions, she's discovered her tongue and plays with it and 'talks' constantly, she'll crawl up to my feet and pull my legs until i pick her up, she's discovering her favorite toys, she's cruising around our coffee table and i swear she'll start walking tomorrow, she's ticklish... this is just SUCH fun stage of raising a kiddo.

and finally, FINALLY, she is sleeping through the night. glory.

many times during the day b crawls herself over to the window to watch sophie play outside. baby tv.

rather than enjoying her jumper the way that most babies do, the normal way, brennan loves to crawl underneath it and play with the toys from below.

and drumroll please: we finally have our first tooth! it took two terrible nights of the poor thing in so much pain, but it finally broke through. i am so thankful that they don't remember this stage... so sad. one tooth down... 31 to go

do you see it poking through?

and these next pictures stem from an impromptu photo shoot this afternoon and i just couldn't narrow it down to 1.

she's gotta get used to having a camera stuck in her face.

keep in mind i started with about 50, so i'm proud of my limiting abilities.

b is now pulling herself up on everything. SO strong

this might seem like a silly picture to include, but it makes me laugh. i took the picture right as she was falling over and i captured her right as she was toppling over and letting out a high pitched laugh as she fell. look at that smile!

she gnaws on everything.

and just LOOK at how beautiful those baby blues are

more holiday fun

we were able to extend the holidays a bit and get together with the sandifer crew to celebrate a little christmas of our own. i love how close all the cousins are and how much they all love brennan!

this pic is actually one i just rediscovered on lane's phone from thanksgiving, but wanted to include it. sydney is so good with her littlest cousin. i think the two girls share a special bond; they need to stick together with all of those crazy boys running around!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My oh my was this a fun Christmas. Lots and lots of quality family time. Cousin time morning, noon, and night. Seeing the Lacina girls as they experienced Christmas night magic. The Best Christmas Eve Ever Part 2 including Christmas candlelight service and then fondue at the Farrells. Loved every single second of this Christmas.

Get ready for many, many, many pictures.

Christmas eve at the Farrells.

The matching 2 littlest ones refusing to stay still

Night out with the sisters! Boo for a bad camera image. Yay for fun time as the

Spectacular Six.

Not surprisingly, this was the best picture of the moment. I would like to point out that 3 of the 7 children are no longer wearing pants at this point

The two littlest were just peas in a pod. I do love these pictures of them and already am excited to show them when they are seniors in high school.

See? Just too cute.

She's already our little piano player

Dad opening up the present from all the grandkids