January 2014

What a great month to start off the new year!  Here is what our little family was up to this January:

Brayden loves "waking Ster-wing up" in the morning and especially loves getting in her crib and playing with her.  He'll tell me "go do laundry mom" !!!

Brayden had his second dentist appointment this month.  I was a little nervous because he literally cried the whole time last time we went and was not very cooperative.  This time was completely different,  Brayden did wonderful and I was so very proud of my big guy!   The dentist was also very proud of Brayden for quitting his thumb sucking habit and can definitely already tell the difference in his teeth.  Both kids loved playing with all of the toys at the dentist and Brayden especially loved all of the "prizes" that he got when we were finished.

Our dentist appointment was followed with a happy meal and an ice-cream treat, such a fun morning with my special boy :)

These sunglasses were one of his prizes from the dentist!
 We have definitely been enjoying these unseasonably warm days this month and have spent as much time outside as possible!

Brian took Brayden to the monster truck rally this year for the first time.  The icing on the cake was that he got to go with his favorite friends Colten and Cooper!  What a fun day!  Sad I missed this one but it was "no girls allowed mom".....

Nothing better than these sweet snuggles

I was laughing while looking pictures of this month because anywhere you see Brayden, Sterling is not too far behind.  To say that she loves him is an understatement!  She simply adores him and it is so much fun to see them interact and play together!  Brayden is enjoying Sterling's company more and more each day.  He really likes playing with her in the playroom, the toy closet, and in daddy's closet.  Here are some pics of these two lovies hanging out together...

Such a great month, looking forward to a busy February :)

Sterling at 11 months

Well we are officially one month away from our baby turning one year old!

Here is what our girl is up to at 11 months:
*We reached a HUGE milestone this month!  Sweet girl is full on walking!  She spends most of her days walking around, picking up toys, and walking around some more.  She really likes to walk around with things in her hands.

*She loves to wave!  She waves all day long at anyone and everyone who will wave back which just makes her little face light up!
*We are slowly giving her more and more control of her own eating.  She is getting less formula in a bottle, some formula on her own from a sippy cup, and lots of little pieces of food for her to feed herself.  Girlfriend can eat too!  She is definitely enjoying eating all of these new foods on her own!

*Speaking of sippy cups!  Sterling now LOVES drinking out of a sippy and has gotten proficient at it as well.  Every time I give it to her she just lights up and it is always a lifesaver if she starts getting fussy!

We have to unbutton her pajamas so she doesn't slip all over in her footies!  Much better traction with bare feet :)

*Sterling had her second ear infection this month :( poor girl is such a happy and easily consolable baby and had a really tough time with this ear infection.  We just felt so bad for her and wished there was more we could do to make her feel better.
*We have had a bit of a hiccup mid-month with her sleep, starting when she had her ear infection Sterling started waking in the middle of the night again and I was having to go up and feed her at random times during the night.  She also had several days of bad naps which was no fun for anyone around here!  The past couple of weeks she has gotten back on a good schedule (thank goodness!) and is back to sleeping usually 7:30-7:30 with about a two hour nap in the afternoon

Baby girl usually wakes up all smiles :)

*Her afternoon nap has been kind of hit and miss lately, sometimes she will get a good 45 minute-hour nap and sometimes she will roll around and not sleep at all.  Either way she still makes it until her normal bedtime.
*Sterling has been saying "DaDa" for what feels like forever but this month she finally said "MaMa", music to my ears!  She still doesn't say it often and seems to say it more when she is crying but I'll take it when I can!
*Anytime Sterling hears music she starts bouncing up and down and smiles ear to ear
*Sterling loves her babies!  She will pick up dolls and stuffed animals and bring them to her face and give them a little snug.  She also has this very distinct high pitch sound that she makes when she sees or plays with her babies, so cute!
*Sweet girls disposition remains happy and very easy going.  She usually only cries when she is tired, hungry, or falls and hurts herself!
*Sterling is in to everything!!! She is constantly exploring and so curious

Counting down the days till this sweet girlfriends 1st birthday!!!

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 :)