Eleven Months Old

As I am typing this post, it is snowing hard outside and my ELEVEN month old baby has been asleep in her warm and cozy crib for two hours. Thats right, Caroline is eleven months old. 

Nothing much has changed from ten months to eleven months except that Caroline has become quite the babbler. She is always talking about something, if we could only figure out what she is talking about! Her sentences usually sound something like this.

"Oh guh oh guh oh guh oh guh oh guh, ba ba ba ba baaaaaa"

"A da da da da da da, guh guh ma ma oh oh!"

or my personal favorite,

"Uh uh ohhhhhhhh!" (with her sweet mouth shaped like the letter "O.")

One day last week I had put her in the pack n play with a toy while I took a shower. Up until this week she hasn't really associated "mama" with me or "dada" with Kyle unto last week. I was washing my hair and I heard her saying "maaaamaaaa" and crying with her arms stretched up and my heart just almost burst I was so happy. 

She still has only two teeth on the bottom. She still will eat almost anything. She has taken quite the liking to prunes with apples or cherries. She loves her push toys that she received for Christmas and pushes them very fast all over the house. She won't stay in the living room anymore and ventures to the kitchen (where she heads straight to the dog food bowl, no matter where we move it) or to our guest bathroom (where she wants to pull up to the toilet…I know, gross.) She hasn't taken a step yet but stands on her own for ten or more seconds. She absolutely refuses to hold her bottle or a sippy cup, although we are working on it. She sleeps all night most nights in bed with me and has became quite the early riser over the past week. Two mornings in a row we were up at 4:30-4:45 and mama had a few cups of coffee before work. 

We have established quite the nap routine that she thrives on. She takes great naps most days and always wants to be held after she wakes up for about fifteen minutes, to which I happily oblige. I am planning a small family first birthday party which has been really fun since I decided not to go all out! 

Over the past month I have read two books written from parents who have lost a child. I didn't do this on purpose at all, but happened upon the books and read them with great conviction. I can't help but think that the Lord placed those books in my path to not only make me even more thankful than I already am for Caroline and to get to be her mother, but to prepare me for any trials that might face Kyle and I in the future. The books have also helped me embrace the beautiful scriptural fact that she belongs to the Lord and that he is letting me raise her. 

(So as I always say-these pictures are getting harder and harder to take- these pictures are horrible iPhone quality at 7 am but these are better than none!) 

I think I am going to have to pinch myself in a few weeks when I wake up a realize that Caroline Reese Page is one years old. So until next month you will find me loving every minute with my sweet eleven month old baby and trying to take in every minute of her precious life! 

Resolutions

For most of my life I haven't really celebrated New Years that much. My parents never really did, so I guess that lack of celebration was impressed at an early age. As I grew older I also never made the usual "New Years Resolutions" for the fear of not carrying them out.

For 2016, I have decided to make a few resolutions that I know I can keep and that make me grow as a person.

// 1. Read my Bible every day. //

This shouldn't be hard because I do this daily anyways, but there is always a day or two that is jam packed and I don't get my reading in.

// 2. Intentionally pray for Kyle and Caroline every day. //

This is something I have been working on over the last couple of months, but I really need to stress the intentional part. It gets easy to pray the same prayer every day where it loses it's meaning after time. 

// 3. Read Caroline a book daily. //

We usually do this too, but I'm hoping to instill in her the love for books that her mama has! 

// 4. Teach a Bible study //

I carried this out in 2015 when we began a work Bible study, but I would like to continue and pick up where I have learned and become a better Bible teacher. 

// 5. Write at least two cards of encouragement every month. //

I have always loved to write cards (I have that urge to pick up a cute pack at TJ Maxx every time I go) and I want to channel that love into making someone feel good about their self! 

These are my 2016 resolutions that I hope make me a better Christian, mother, wife, and friend! 

XOXO- Laci

Christmas 2015

Christmas 2015 was very special for us in many ways. It was Caroline's first Christmas. We were both off and not on call Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which never happens. My  Papa Martin has recently been placed in the nursing home after hip surgery and isn't doing too well, so we got to be with him at family Christmas. It was very special.

On Christmas Eve, I took a few pictures of Caroline outside before we went to visit the Hoods and the Harbisons.

Caroline and her daddy…best friends forever.

Caroline and mommy. She obviously quit cooperating for pictures a long time ago.

We headed to the Harbisons where we visited Anna Beth and her family so Caroline could give Polly her Christmas present. Polly had already opened her push and ride elephant that Caroline was getting that night, so Caroline got to test out her future present and loved it! The girls had fun playing together for a little while!

Then we went to New Brashier's for a Christmas Eve service with Kyle's family. Since the pews were tiny and candles were involved for the Lord's supper, Caroline and I hung out in the back lobby mostly and let Daddy enjoy the service. We had Christmas at Kyle's sisters that night after the service.

Although Caroline is only ten months old, we were so excited to put her "Santa Clause" gifts under the tree that night after we put her down for bed. We even tiptoed in the living room with them as if she knew what we were doing. So in our sheer excitement, I took pictures of Kyle and myself with her presents. We didn't get her too much, but we were so excited for her to see her presents int he morning!

Then Christmas morning came! Caroline woke around 7:00 and I went to the living room to turn the tree lights on. 

I sat her down at the end of the hall facing the living room and she made a quick beeline to the Christmas tree and screamed at all of her new toys! She LOVED them! 

We got ready to go to my grandparents and my parent's house for Christmas dinner that morning. I snapped a few pictures of Caroline playing with her new Zany Zoo on the Christmas quilt that my grandma gave us. 

We had heard it was going to rain but we were not expecting the flood that came. After two hours of showering, getting dressed, packing a diaper bag for the day and night, we walked outside and our neighborhood was flooded. 

We decided to take Kyle's truck and not my car, so we loaded the carseat to his truck and switched our DVD player to his truck. We set out around 10:30 and by 11:00 we were stuck in Guntersville in a torrential downpour with high winds and the worst lightning. Kyle listened to the radio and determined that it was not safe for us to travel to DeKalb County with Caroline so we turned around and headed home. We stayed home the rest of Christmas Day and Caroline played with her new toys for hours. She still loves them. Kyle went in to work for a few hours to help rescue people who were stuck in their cars from the flooding. That is what Christmas is all about- showing love by helping others! 


The Sunday after Christmas we had our Martin Christmas on my mom's side. For five or so years now we have rented out the senior center at Fyffe since our family has became so large. Nana gave us the great idea of bringing Caroline's walker since the center is huge with lots of room and she had a blast. 

Papa and Granny and most of their grandchildren and great-grand children. We cherished Papa getting to be at this Christmas with us because he has been at the nursing home for 5 weeks now. We know that he is past ready to come home. (Side note- Caroline was ready to go home at this point as well.)

After Christmas lunch with the Martin's, we headed to my parents house to have the get-together we intended on having December 25th. Caroline got TONS of presents from Nana and Pops and thoroughly enjoyed all her new toys.

I chose to share this picture last because I am SO thankful to God for letting me borrow my sweet little girl on this Earth and for letting us share her first Christmas together. We are BEYOND grateful for the joy and peace we have experienced in 2015. May we trust God to guide us in whatever 2016 chooses to bring. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

XOXO- Laci