10 months!!

WOWZERS, as Little Bear would say!!! I cannot believe our Baby Sister is already 10 months!! Seriously, where DID the time go? I honestly can't understand how it happened so fast! In the months past it was easy to get a monthly picture of BS. I just placed her on the couch and she looked at the camera with her sweet grin. This month was a different story! Look at her go!

This past month has been a doozy! Just over a month ago we were visiting Daddy Bear, and while it was nice to break up the monotony of being without him, getting to be with him for a weekend made it hard for Little Bear and me to get back into our Daddy-less routine after we got home. Baby Sister didn't let it slow HER down though! She, of course, had a great time with Daddy Bear but she had other important things to focus on. She was on the verge of crawling when we visited Daddy Bear and upon our return she sprouted her wings (or legs rather)! She's now scooting (as opposed to crawling), pulling up, and is at the beginning stages of cruising around furniture.

Here she is hanging out in the kitchen and playing with fridge magnets while I cook/clean.

This was her first time to see flowers up close. You can bet it only took her half a second and she had petals in hand!

Here she is with her baby friends on the street. These "little" girls are quickly catching up to BS. She's still growing but apparently they're growing faster! (These two are 6 and 5 months!!)

Here she is again with one of her good buddies. They even coincidentally have matching jackets. But look at BS smacking her friend in the face! If she's close enough to other babies to reach them her hands are almost always on them. She is just being curious but not always gentle as you can see!

To sum up Baby Sister's 10th month,

she STILL adores her big brother.

(And he adores her!)

She STILL smiles like there's no tomorrow!

She STILL loves life and laughter!

And she STILL lights up our days, even when the skies are gray (which is quite often out here)!

We're so in love with our sweet baby girl!!!!

Did I miscalculate??? Is she really 9 months old???

It just doesn't seem possible that Baby Sister can be 9 months old. It can't be!!! I know I say this every month but she is SUCH A DELIGHT! When she beams from ear to ear she makes everyone in the room melt into mushy-baby-lovingness!!! Especially her adoring family! See what I mean? Are you turning to mush yet?

Within days she will be crawling around the house and lookout world!

She is a mover! She is a shaker! She is a dancer, a kicker, a roller, a giggler! She loves to bathe, loves to splash, laughs with her brother, jabbers and sings! She delights in eating, playing, standing, playing, jumping, sitting, playing, laughing, and did I mention playing??

Here's our cutie valentine!

Her sleep habits are not the best at present. While she CAN sleep through the night, she hasn't done it for a couple of months. :( Mama Bear keeps assuring everyone that she is teething, but no teeth have appeared yet. She takes two regular naps a day and is on a pretty regular bedtime schedule which works great for a family who loves routine. She still eats milk from Mama Bear a few times a day and enjoys meals at the table at least 3 times a day. No one can make her laugh as hard as her big brother can. They adore each other! We are thankful everyday for our little Braun blessings!!!

Visiting Daddy Bear

What a relief it was to finally arrive in Daddy Bear's neck of the woods...Er, desert. We spent all week making lists, packing, preparing, and quarantining ourselves to keep from getting sick AGAIN which could potentially keep us from going to see Daddy Bear! Friday finally arrived and we were ecstatic!! We barely made it to the airport in time due to the extra rain and extra traffic but we got on, got seats, and buckled up for a straight flight to our Daddy Love!! With the exception of a little motion sickness for LB (nothing a complimentary "barf bag" couldn't take care of) we made it through the flight with little trouble. It was hours past bedtime by the time we spotted DB at baggage claim but both children were wide awake and LB was bubbling with excitement! It had only been a month and a half since DB had left but what a long 6 weeks it had been!

We played at the park.

Played in the room.

Visited a "circus" and rode the carousel.

We saw dolphins.

And white tigers.

Rode the monorail.

Danced.

And played some more.

(this is LB's photography--not bad for a 3 year old!)

I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful and complete it felt to be together again as a family! We left after a much too quick weekend with tearful faces and sad hearts. We aren't quite a third of the way done with this icky chapter of our lives but we are doing all we can to communicate often, love much, and pray more!

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:11-13

God brought us here and He will show us the way out!

Winter fun...and not so fun!

We have had some amazing weather since Daddy Bear left for his LONG months of school. First we had a GORGEOUS, sunny, you must be crazy to stay indoors day! Little Bear had a great time at the park, especially since many of his friends in the neighborhood were out too!

We enjoyed dinner and fellowship with some of our neighbors and Baby Sister got to play with her favorite neighbor babies.

Then we had a couple of snow days in a row where we got an inch or less but enough to enjoy.

Even enough to make a "snow dad" with!

What a pick-me-up for us! The rainy winter days can get a little dreary when you are feeling cheerful but especially when Daddy Bear had just left! We welcomed the change of pace and had a blast! Then it snowed some more! Beautiful right??

Then more snow. We were living in a winter wonderland! It was magnificent!!

All we could think about was snow--even when playing Legos!

And it was still pretty fun!

We would play in the snow and get chilled to the bone!

Then bundle up with our warm blankets in our warm houses!

That is until the ice came and brought along with it the END OF OUR FUN.

We were without electricity, snowed AND iced in, cold, spending all our free time holed up with neighbors, also without electricity, which was great and all but without Daddy Bear to help us we weren't finding much enjoyment in it all. After 2 1/2 days without electricity it finally came back on for good and we rejoiced! It could've been, and was, much worse for many others in our area but one day would've been long enough to stress Mama Bear a little. It's no cakewalk trying to keep a baby warm, a cooped up 3 year old sane, and a dog pottied in an ice storm with no electricity. All as a single parent. But we made it through and what didn't kill us...I suppose made us stronger. ;)

8 Months OLD!

It is absolutely unbelievable that we have an 8 month old!!!

And my oh my is she fun!! This is her excited,playful face. So animated!

As you'll see in the video, if it works, her laughter is infectious, she's reading books, and talking non-stop. The video is low quality and the orientation is weird--clearly done on the phone. They were taken with the idea of sending them to Daddy Bear so he doesn't miss out while he's away, not for sharing with the public, but they are too cute not to share! I, Mama Bear, am HEAD OVER HEELS for my little sweeties!

Oh my goodness, is she cute or what???

First Christmas Comparisons

I thought it would be fun to take a quick look back at Little Bear's first Christmas and compare it to Baby Sister's first Christmas pictures. They were only 2 weeks different in age in these pictures.

Babies' first Christmas (on the same futon :D)

Daddy Bear and Babies

Family photos (notice Daddy Bear has the same Christmas sweater 4 Christmases later? And Shaddie Bear didn't make it to the photo this year--it's hard enough getting the four of us to all look at the camera, let alone the dog too.) :D