Nine months .... whoa!

How is Kirby Rose already nine months? There is no way ... I blinked and all of a sudden here it is. This is a few days late, so let's pretend it is the 23rd. Nine and a half months ago (at 34 weeks) Kirby was already in position and I was between a 2 and a 3. I prayed and prayed I could make it to the start of school so I could meet all of my students. She stayed there for another week. I had contractions and then I thought for sure I was going to have her when my father-in-law flew over what I swore was the roughest railroad tracks in the whole wide world. I prayed some more as the first day of school came that I would make it through the day. I left 7th period early, but darn it I met all my kids. That night, 9 months ago, we were blessed and completely surprised with a darling little girl. How our lives have changed in so many wonderful ways! Here is what taking her chair pictures at 9 months looks like ... not quite as easy as before!Kirby surprises me with how she changes every single day. Just when I think she is focusing on one thing (crawling for example) boom, she is on to something else. Literally 2 days after she had "mastered" crawling, she was pulling up and standing while holding on to my legs. Usually every morning she is waiting patiently at her crib, standing and holding on for dear life like she needs to be let out of jail. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen. We hear more and more "words" daily. She for sure says "momma" in a long drawn out accent. Kind of says daddy. Sounds out "all done". Says, "hey", very clearly. And this morning I could have sworn she said, "hey boots" to the cat. She has the most energetic spirit I have ever seen. She takes wonderful naps and still sleeps well at night, but when she is awake she is all over the place. Even when I hold her dearly to rock, she is still moving her booty and hips with the rock. Love it! Here are a few snaps of her talking to Boots through the window ... her new favorite activity!

Busy and blessed

I do not even know where to begin with everything that has been going on the past few weeks. It seems like Thursday Elizabeth got married, Friday Megan got married and yesterday was Mother's Day. Well, at least yesterday was Mother's Day. I love that it is getting closer and closer to June 3rd, but I want to put Kirby's growing up on pause. It is going by way too fast. She is such a happy go lucky baby. Even yesterday when she only had 2 , 30 minute "car ride naps" she was still a happy girl. I am so thankful that she is well rested most of the time, so that when her Sundays get thrown for a loop she is still fine. Yesterday was baby dedication at church. The moment that Kirby was born I prayed and dedicated her to the Lord; this, though, is an outward expression of us as parents dedicating her to the Lord and the church, and for the church to also give us their word that they will help us grow her in His word. Kirby is very blessed to have such wonderful church moms and dads.
Kitty made this dress. It is A-DOR-A-BLE! You must see it in person. Kirby felt like a princess in it because when we set her down, she kept holding it up and down, up and down like she was so proud. Too cute.

There were 15 babies (1 set of twins) dedicated yesterday.

Saturday we had family out to celebrate Mother's Day. I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to have a home that can host everyone at our house. CR and I both LOVE to be the host, so Saturday we were loving it! Granny, Dat and Les made it from Kitty's side.

And my grandmother came down all the way from Montgomery. I was so excited! I have been trying to get her to come down for a long time, and now since we have a better house for guests, it worked out wonderfully!!! Kirby loved having Grammy, Paw, and Gigi over for a slumber party for 3 whole nights!

A friend of ours at church gave us 3 kittens. Only 1 has survived. 1 met Mr. Spare Tire and the other met Wylie Coyote. Boots is friendly and Kirby loves him. I won't let her touch him because we aren't sure just how friendly he is. They sure do talk to each other all the time, though.

CR and Kirby were worn out from being the hosts of the party, so they chilled on the hammock for a bit. We love our hammock! The South Texas wind is perfect for it, too.

For Mother's Day, Kirby got me a porch swing that hangs on our porch. We love being outside, so this was a wonderful addition to our porch. We built our house around our porch basically. That was our main non-negotiable ... we had to have a covered, wrap around porch. We scrapped some other things, but this was not going anywhere and we are so glad we did it that way.

This is my mother being mother. She is a goof ball and will do anything imaginable to make someone laugh. When I walked in from the laundry room Friday she was bending over and saying "hiyachanchongching" with the place mat on her head. When I told CR the story he said, "oh ya" like he was there and knew she was doing it. I said, "Oh you were in there?" "No, but that sounds like something she would do." Kirby and Kyleigh are so blessed to have a grammy like her.

Kirby loved playing with Paw. She thinks he is so funny and likes to grab at his face. She loves it when he gets her tummy.

Now that Kirby is big time crawling, her toddler tub does not contain her. So, we now take a bath in the big tub. She loves to go from one side of the tub to the other. She talks like crazy to her frog spout cover.

Kirby loves to take walks in the afternoon when I get home. It is usually really windy and the road is very bumpy, but she hangs on and we book it.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with this precious child. Thank you for giving me the chance to be a mommy. It is the best gift in life. "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." 1 Samuel 1:27