Can it really almost be a year later?

Wow so much has happened since my last post. Gabby is 11 months and I'm three weeks away from planning her first birthday party. I can't decide if I want just family to come or invite a few of her little friends. We'll see.

Time has simply flown by. And I gotta say I am really enjoying this new season of life. Dave and I stepped down as youth pastors and although we miss our students like crazy, I'm excited for new things for them and new things for my family. God has really been stirring our hearts in a direction I'm not quite ready to share yet, but He is orchestrating the right people together and it's going to be awesome!

My baby girl is turning into a little girl and it is seriously breaking my heart. She is EVERYWHERE literally. Who needs a jungle gym when you have a couple sets of stairs. And as of today she is walking!! She's been taking little steps and will walk with me holding her hand, but today was the very first time she walked across the living room. She cracks me up when she sings her little song, Yeah, yeah, yeah....yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah. And Nana added a woohoo on the end and she just squeals to mimic. Gaga is a new word--not sure what it means, but it is VERY important to her. She is not a fan of sippy cups and prefers to drink out of glass cups. I think my favorite new "thing" is that instead of saying "num" when she is hungry she will click her tongue. I didn't think I would be so proud of her, but it is seriously so exciting to see all the new little things that she learns and comes up with. Life is so beautiful. I am so blessed with David and Gabby--I can't imagine life without them.

Miss independent. She is not a fan of me feeding or giving her drinks any more. She has to do it all on her own. 

Dave's random song of the day. Don't mind his made up lyrics "She don't like wearing socks, she hates them." I wish I had gotten the whole song on video, because it was pretty great. LOL

A Day at the Zoo

 So David had two days off in a row! We seriously did not know what to do with ourselves. So it was a perfect 70 degree day and we decided to take a little road trip to the Topeka zoo. Great idea! It's a really little zoo, but it is perfect if you want to see lots of animals and not walk very far to get to each of them :) We walked around once in about 15 minutes and looked at each other like that was it?!? So we took a second round and I am so glad that we did because we found the little petting zoo, black bears, fox, sea otters, eagles and all kinds of other little animals that we would have missed out on.

On our way!

 They had a tropical room which had all kinds of animals just roaming around the room. They had these massive redback turtles that Gabby thought were hilarious!

So fascinated by everything around her.

This was right after we saw the hippos. The room was echoing and she tried talking as loud as she could to get their attention :)

Here are some of the flamingos in the tropical room walking on the path with us. 

Ok this gorilla loved Gabby. I don't care what anyone says. He kept looking at her and came right up to the window and they just had a stare down. 

She looks so much like her Daddy...

These bears were awesome! But if I was holding Gabby and she wanted down and fell out of my arms she would be in there with them. I couldn't believe how easy it would be for someone to jump down in there...Seriously the fence came up to your waist and there they were... just 5 feet below.

This poor little sea otter was so bored. He has perfected his back flip though ;)

I can't wait to go back this summer with Tara and P!!! 

10 months going on 2 years...

So I have decided that I am a terrible blogger, and I am just going to have to accept the fact that I don't have the time to get on here every week and update our crazy life. So with that, my baby will be 10 months in 3 days!!!! I cannot believe how fast she is growing up. In the past month she has learned to wave at every person she lays eyes on and clap her hands when she thinks she is doing something awesome (which is usually 98%) of the time.
She has 4 teeth and her hair has gone from bleach blonde, to completely bald, to curly strawberry blonde hair. Where she gets it, I'm not sure. I know I have every color of the rainbow in my hair and David's nephew has red-red hair, so she really could get it from anywhere.
She has Bieber fever....literally. She dances every time "Baby" by Justin Bieber comes on (Thanks to her Aunt Bella's phone).
She thinks she is 2 now thanks to visiting her favorite cousin Preston. They were so adorable together, and I cannot wait till they come home this summer for a whole MONTH!! WOOHOO!!

Life has been crazy these past two years and I really believe God is getting ready to do some amazing things very soon. I feel the stirring in my heart for something new. I have to be honest, I have really struggled with being a mom and being a worshipper. It's really been a rocky road with trying to balance worshipping and playing and writing with feeding, changing diapers, nap times, playing, climbing up stairs, getting into everything. Pastor encouraged me the other day that "children will only enhance your ministry and your life"
For the first time I saw my daughter as that last Wednesday as I was preparing the worship set. I handed her a microphone to "play with" while I was just worshipping and she starts singing in the mic! I mean keep in mind she only sings one note that's not in the key I was playing, but I looked at her and saw not just a baby girl but a worshipper who has the joy of the Lord in her heart. She kept singing and as I looked at her she got the biggest grin and just laughed and continued singing. Her joy is seriously inspiring. I could be having the worst day and I hear her laugh and it completely changes everything. Her smile lights up a room.

Waving at the camera

Playing at Jumping Jacks

She had to do EVERYTHING he did "hence going on 2"

He likes her quite a bit now.

clapping for herself because she is standing all by herself!!! 

Playing with her shoe that she never wants to wear lol

Random: So I think that every city, town, county, should have a fake police man. It took us 6 times to drive past this dude to realize he was a mannequin lol.

Spring Photoshoot

I LOVE Spring! It is literally my favorite time of year. I love the newness of life it symbolizes-that everything was dead but comes alive again. I love when the trees bud and the birds chirp--Hold that--most birds minus the most annoying red cardinal that lives in our neighborhood that has convinced himself that he can fly through our windows? I'm not sure but he runs into our windows every morning, sometimes I think just to spite me.

I was hoping the spring forward time change would be great since the sun comes up an hour later I thought maybe Gabs and I could sleep in an extra hour...nope. She decided to wake up an hour before she normally wakes up which means it's two hours before she would normally wake up without the time change?! We'll work on that one. I don't think it's right to be up before the sun.

Gabby and I had a little photo shoot on a beautiful 70 degree day!! (Yet it's snowing today?! Seriously.)

I don't know why, but I love watching her sit up from behind her. She's so cute!!

When she discovered there are leaves on the ground.

She thought it was funny that it would crackle in her hands :)

Of course everything in the mouth!

Right before bedtime with Daddy. Instead of "winding her down for the night" He gets her all rowelled up!!  

We are a week away from being 9 months!!!! I love this age! She is soo much fun discovering the world, recognizing people and knowing who they are (and sometimes don't know who they are) Crawling everywhere--she's drawn lines for herself. She won't crawl on the hardwood floors--I'm dreading the day that line will be crossed. She has decided she has to have a bite of whatever I am eating--makes me want to watch my diet. Her favorite movie is still Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, but she likes a new show!! Ni hao kai lan--it's about a little chinese girl. So cute! Until next time!! T-Minus 15 days till our girls trip to Seattle to see Tara and P!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANNOT WAIT to get out there! :)

Gabby Crawling!!!

I really need to work on this whole blogging thing. I can't believe it has already been almost a month since my last post!

Well Gabby is officially crawling! And I thought she was everywhere when she rolled across the room....To think she is just going to get faster and eventually find the stairs..Lord help me :)

Just to give you an idea she no longer lays still for diaper changes...

She would rather show off her new skills...

Especially when Daddy is changing us...He is a tad bit dramatic when it comes to changing poopy diapers LOL I have a video, but it's being dumb and won't upload. 

Needless to say my sweet little baby girl is turning into a little ham! Don't believe me? Check this face out!

Here is my little super star showing off her motor skills. 

I've been having to swat her little hand lately(breaks my heart, but she usually just laughs at me)....Her new favorite toy is air vents and electrical cords.
That is all for today. It's been a lazy stay at home Monday due to a double ear infection and wicked cough. Praying we get over this fast!

The Hope of Glory

As I was sitting here putting my daughter to sleep I was reading Colossians 1 and something really struck me that I think is worth sharing. Read the entire chapter it's so good. 

1:26-27

"the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

The mystery is simply Christ IN us. To many of us think that WE are sharing Christ with OUR lives when, it's simply Christ revealing Himself through us. It's time for us believers to allow Him to do that. He's coming back for a purified bride, and I'm sad to say that most of us are not ready for Him. 

If you do not believe in God or pronounce yourself a "Christian" I just want to say I am sorry if you have gotten a distorted and twisted view of Christians--people who say they are something, but act completely different. It's not about being a "good" person. It's simply admitting to God that we are wicked, sinful, and lost with out Him, and we need Him in us so that we can be seen as righteous before the Almighty God on judgement day. However, Jesus Christ is GOOD and if His spirit is truly in us we will talk like he talks, act like he acts, and live like he lives. 

To my fellow believers. Either be for Christ or don't be. Please don't ruin my witness and testimony with your wishy-washy life. God cannot stand a lukewarm believer--in fact He would actually rather you be against Him than sometimes for Him/somtimes against Him. God CANNOT be mocked. Just like a farmer reaps what he sows, you will reap what you sow with your life. 

Revelation 3:15-16 "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

Galations 6:7 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."

I just was so moved by this one thing that I have known and read so many times--but see that people are simply missing it--I had to share. 

On a lighter note, Gabby is growing soo fast!! She will be 8 months in 11 days...I cannot believe it. To catch you up she is saying Da da, MA MA YEAHHHH :), Na Na, Pa Pa, La La (I think this is Bella--we've been rehearsing names and this is what came out when we said her name) Tara is still Da da lol--so is Josh and P. 

She ate lasagna for the first time Wednesday night and acts like she is eating something sour like a lemon. Her face is seriously priceless.

She's still crawling backwards and rolling to places-but she is everywhere!! Her favorite movie is "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" I seriously watch this movie between 3-5 DAILY. I know every word and have seen every hidden humorous moment.

She is already in 12 mo. clothes. And those are actually 18 mo--crazy. I know.

7 months and counting

So I created this blog so I will remember all of the little things that Gabby does and when, and I haven't been doing a very good job.

Just to catch you up she has two teeth now on her bottom gums.

There they are!! LOL She is so cute I can't take it sometimes :) 

We're not crawling yet, but she can roll anywhere and everywhere she wants to. She gets up on her knees and will rock back and forth and then bites the dust, but hey--she'll get it.

She says 3 words now--Da da, Ba ba, and Pa Pa. I only have "Da Da" on video right now--enjoy :)

As you can see she tries very hard to sit straight up, and if she has a pillow to grab on to she will. 

She is obsessed with her Jumper. Thank goodness that creative people invented those for moms like me. I greatly appreciate it :) 

Now for the biggest news! As I was cleaning my kitchen and vacuuming my stairs I hear Gabby crying and just whining because she wants my attention and in the middle of her sweet little cry she says "Ma Ma" followed by more crying. So glad I'm the only one she says my name while crying Haha!! Well at least she said it :) 

I cannot believe my little lady is 7 months old already!! She is growing way too fast for me! I think it's time to start baby proofing the house!