Sterling at 10 months

Sweet baby girl was 10 months on the fourth :)

Girlfriend was not the least bit cooperative for this photo shoot...

And this about sums up how she felt about posing for a picture!!!

Here is what our little sweetie is up to at ten months:

*Sterling has become very independent, she will crawl around and play on her own as long as she is not tired or hungry.  She just goes from toy to toy all around the house!

This "toy closet" (AKA throw all the toys in and close the door so no one sees!) is one of Sterling's new favorite spots!

And another recent favorite, one that Brayden loved as a baby too...the tupperware cabinet!  Endless fun, and messes for mommy to clean up!!!

*Sterling is loving eating her solids on her own.  She is so good at picking up little pieces of food and her favorites seem to be pears, apples, bananas, and of course still cheerios and crackers.  She also LOVES yogurt and just sits there with her mouth open waiting for me to feed her more.  She has gotten to where she really prefers to feed herself and would rather not be spoon fed as much anymore.  I have also cut down the amount of formula that Sterling gets each day because she is also a lot less interested in her bottles

*Sterling has started holding on to the side of her crib and jumping up and down when we come get her out of bed.  This is crazy for me because it seems like just a few months ago when Brayden was still in the crib he was doing this exact same thing!  It won't be long till we will have to take off the pretty crib bumpers either because sister is already hiking her knee up.  The thing is that she really seems to love the bumpers because when we put her in her crib to go to sleep she crawls all the way to the top and buries her head/face in the bumper, it is so cute!

*She has definitely found her voice and spends much of the day shrieking and happily screaming at an obscenely high pitch!  This usually makes Brayden think that he needs to let out his little girl screams as well so there is never a quiet or dull moment at our house!
*Girlfriend is TOUGH!  She falls, bumps her head, gets hit and trampled on by her brother and may cry for a second but is incredibly easy to sooth and sometimes acts like nothing happened at all.  She is definitely a second child and also a little sister to a rough little boy!
*Sterling HATES getting strapped into her carseat!  She pretty much cries every single time we put her in the car but once we get her strapped in and give her something to play with she usually stops.
*She is almost impossible to dress, change her diaper, and give her a bottle....all necessities!  Sweet girl is such a little busy body that she does not want to lay still for anything!  We have to have something for her to hold or look at while we are doing anything so we can get these things done!
*She is still sucking those two little fingers and every time she does she has her other hand over her eyes and nose, I have never seen another baby do this and it is pretty darn sweet!

*Sterling is taking more and more steps each day, she will take four steps at the most before she plops back down to her bottom.
*She just cut her third tooth, top right.  Her smile is going to be changing again soon!

Oh we love this sweet gorgeous girl so much!  She is just the best little doll baby and we are having so much fun with her!

Sweet strong headed girl usually wants nothing to do with a headband on her head!  Usually they come off within seconds of me putting them on her which is incredibly frustrating since she has such little hair to work with!!

Won't be long till this sweet girl is a year old :)

Merry Christmas 2013

We had such a blessed and busy Christmas this year.  It was Sterling's first Christmas which made it extra special.
Christmas Eve Brayden and I made sugar cookies for Santa.  It was so much fun that Brayden could actually help this year and he seemed to really enjoy it (especially eating the dough).  I am looking forward to many more years of this tradition :)

Christmas Eve we went to church and then went over to Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tom Rehkopf's house for dinner.  Brayden LOVED playing with sweet cousin Chloe and we all had such a nice time.

Decorating and of course eating cookies

Christmas sticker book

Got to see my dad for Christmas :)

When we got home, we set out cookies and milk for Santa

And carrots for the reindeer

This plate our friends the Jouffray's gave us is so cute!  It has a chalkboard center where you can leave a message for Santa and a place where he can write you back!

Christmas morning

Sweet Sterling's first Christmas

Our sweet Christmas angels

This scooter is something that Brayden talked about forever and was so excited to get for Christmas!  We were amazed that he was really good on it right away, a natural!  

Brayden loves his nerf gun!

After opening presents from Santa and playing for a bit we headed over to GaGa and PaPa's house for the rest of Christmas day

PaPa Santa's best helper!

Always a ham!

Poor kid just didn't get enough presents...

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!! 

Bathed and back into some Christmas pajamas before heading home after a long fun filled day!

The day after Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Torres, Aunt Laura, Uncle Brandon, and cousins Halley and Carson came for a Christmas visit.  We feel so lucky that they are all willing to pack up and head to our house and visit for a couple of days!  Brayden and Sterling loved seeing everyone but obviously had the best time playing with their sweet cousins!  

sword fight!

Brayden was seriously a smitten kitten with both Halley and Carson!

Sweet cousins!

Brayden really liked playing on Halley and Carson's blow up beds at bedtime

What a great influence these little readers are for our kids!

We didn't get many pictures of the night but we rang in the new year at the Oquin's ranch with great friends.  The kids always have a great time running around and playing out there and of course Brayden is always happy with Colten, Cooper, and Dylan to play with!  Brayden especially loved eating smores and watching fireworks.  "Do another one Mr. Tre!!!"  So happy to have such great friends to celebrate a wonderful 2013 and look forward to another great year!  

Happy New Year!  Looking forward to what 2014 has in store for us!