9 mos

Sorry I know you've been at the edge of your seat waiting...Ok- so there won't be any more monthly pictures and I'm sure you'll see why after this. I really wanted to do it until 1 year, but I think it's just not going to happen. Pictures today were torturous! Yes I know her bday was yesterday, but I worked 12 hours, so we did them today. Mira isn't feeling well- she has a REALLY stuffy nose- I got her some sudafed. She is also having really bad diarrhea- I started putting her in disposables (ick) with aquaphor all over her bottom because she's so red. She actually slept until 9 am this morning and then still took 2 naps!!
Mira has 8 teeth now- four on top and four on bottom. She's been such a good teether. She really doesn't get too fussy and she's not one of those kids that drools non stop or always has a runny nose. I hope they're all this easy!!
She's trying to take a step on her own but she's too scared! She'll walk holding on to just one of our hands now and she'll stand for 10-15 seconds on her own, but she just can't seem to get that foot picked up all the way. She does really well cruising and walking with her walker.As you can see we've just started and we're already having difficulties here. I kept trying to tape it out of her reach but she could still get at it.
No mom, no pictures on my back this month please.M is so precious. She's the sweetest baby. She can give kisses SO GOOD on command!! She doesn't know hug yet, but that's because we like kisses more. She does fives good too- we're working on high fives. She crawls up the stairs too, but not down- we have to keep them gated off or she makes a beeline for them. Here she's chasing her sign up the stairs and I'm trying to get a picture...I'll take that crinkly paper thank you. So then I had the brilliant idea of taping it to her walker- which worked...Briefly...she still found it- we're done.So that's my story- the end of the sweet monthly pictures...

I pinned!!!

So first- this is Mira's new fav thing- climbing around this little table. It's obnoxious because the table is so wobbly. We had to put the lamp downstairs after she knocked it off once and we can't even keep the remotes in it because she constantly pulls them out. Little stinker.
On a diaper note- which you have to admit there haven't been any for awhile. We got a huge package in the mail from a prefold coop. Prefold is what everyone thinks of when they think cloth diaper- a flat piece of material that's thicker in the middle and thinner on the edges. You fold it around baby to make it fit. Well, I had some prefolds already, but they are a huge size. When I originally wanted to try it out I wanted to buy big because I wanted to get my money's worth. Well, we've always used snappi's (those rubber things you've seen in previous posts) but in the coop I ordered pins and smaller sizes (some for the new baby and for M- they were outrageously cheap). Well I kept trying to pin the ones we had and it wasn't working - I have to fold too much of it down and it's too thick. I was starting to think I was pin retarded. Well then I washed up these smaller ones and look how good they fit!! I succeeded with pins! Doesn't she look incredibly happy to be wearing a prefold?? In the last picture you can just see the little white pin heads sticking up on her sides. They are trim trim trim! Yay hippie mama!

My heart

Just a little quote I found...
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone

Mr Spoon

Now some of my friends use spoons as negative punishment, and we might in the future do so as well, however this is not the case here. When we were in Texas M found this old play spoon of B's from when he was a kid and carried it around in her mouth constantly. Well I went to brus today to get baby jail- which I don't have a pic of yet...and found these toddler scoop spoons that are flexible rubber- not hard plastic. SHE LOVES IT! Good thing there are two in the package! It hasn't really left her mouth since I gave it to her. She walks with it, crawls with it, sits and looks at it and chews on it...whatever.Here you can see her briefly considering something else....

thwarting my child's language development

This is Mira- who will probably never talk- you know why?? Guess what she's doing? Watching BABY EINSTEIN! *gasp* Doesn't she look happy though?? She loves Old McDonald. I can't help it- I do what she likes. I figure an hour a day isn't going to kill her and she most likely will eventually talk...because of course other than tv- we don't talk to her at all. Today we are going to Babies rus to get the "superyard XT" baby playpen- it is torture to try and get a shower in, clean the house, water the flowers, etc all when she's sleeping because it's impossible to contain her when she's awake. I will take a picture of her in baby jail sometime for you to see. I think it will save my life. I can lock her in the bathroom with me during shower time, but she pulls open the drawers and smashes her fingers in them and then screams until I get out. Oh the drama. She also loves toilets- sick. What a crazy girl. I don't think she looks retarded do you??

Crawling

Here are a few pics of the morning. M crawling around in her diaper, and then after she got dressed. She NEVER sits still. There is the slight occasion where she's watching a Baby Einstein- which apparently thwarts development- but they are few and far between. She is a really fast crawler now too. She hardly ever army crawls anymore. She'll stand holding on with one hand and then throw both hands in the air and stand on her own for a few seconds. She thinks she's pretty cool. The video get's pretty blurry because she's coming so fast- but still so cute!!

woops

So I am unable to resist the sleeping baby picture- it got me this time!! hehe...I woke her up. Oh well, she was tired so she went right back to sleep. M is going to St. Joe today so she can see her great grandma- mom is going to work on that picture book that so far is only at 4 months.
How am I ever going to keep up with 2?! I already have over three hundred pics at walgreens I need to go pic up. I don't want to forget a single minute. The first book for M is only 0-4 mos- you should see the insanity- but when you have the cutest kid on earth- what do you do?

Just something

There is just something about a baby in a prefold that gets me- I know you all think I'm crazy. This is one of the previously dyed prefolds which turned out to be a disaster- but they're all fixed now and cleaner and softer than ever!! I still need some prefolds that are smaller and fit better- they should hopefully be here next week or so. I haven't gotten to use them for so long (because of the dye mess) I forgot how much I love them.She loves to stand and watch the tub fill- she gets so excited at the anticipation of her bath!
There are tons of pics of B making this face as a baby. Apparently that's where she gets it. She makes it when she's really happy or excited. It's hilarious. Here's an actual good pic.Mira is wearing me out day by day...every day she finds something new to do and I have to pay even closer attention! It doesn't help being 12 weeks pregnant...but what do you do? If we had waited another year, she'd be 2 when the baby is born and I'd just be adjusting to getting more time to myself. This way- I'll never have time to myself but I won't miss it because I've never had it! Somehow typing that out doesn't make it sound better! She's so fun but so tiring.

We didn't do much of anything today- just hung out at grandma's house washing those prefolds and then came home. M has been napping really long and going to bed earlier- she's got to be growing. Tomorrow I have to work 12 and B is going to St. Louis to visit friends. Mom is out of town until 8 pm too- M will be at Pepper's from 6:15 am to 8 pm- God bless Pepper for loving her so.

Loads to catch up on!!

Well- this is going to be a looooonnnnggg post. Sorry!! We've been to Dallas to see Grandma Lana and Grandpa David- so sorry about the delay!! We were so lucky as to be in North Texas for their FIRST 100 degree day of the year! Yay! Yeah right- but turns out it was just as bad here. We didn't do a whole lot there- just played around the house. We did go to the Japanese Garden (yes outside) for about 30 mins and the called it quits so as not to die from heat exhaustion, but Mira did like watching the fish.A girl after her mothers own true heart....diet coke....The next day we went to the Dallas Aquarium and M loved it!! She loved watching the fishes swim in the big tanks. It's a really neat place with a rainforest area, but she didn't get that because the animals are so small.
A few new things happened while we were gone- M started really crawling...like a big girl! For the last week and a half she's been toying with the idea, but this week she really took off. She'll start out crawling on all fours, but if she really wants something now, she has to army crawl because it's so much faster. She's still pretty uncoordinated at the real crawl!Mira also got ANOTHER tooth!!! That's SEVEN! Wow! I didn't even realize it was coming- I knew she'd been chewing a lot, but didn't realize one was coming in so fast. It's on the left side on the bottom. You can't really feel it because it's so close to the ones she already has, but you can see it when she opens her mouth wide.
Here Mira and Grandpa are playing- Mira kept crawling towards the couch and then Grandpa would pull her back- she started crawling and then stopping to look back and see if he was going to get her. It was pretty funny! We looked again at B's pics from his childhood- we have decided that M looks exactly like him from the nose down (with Smith ears) and me from the eyes up. B has a really tall forehead and blue eyes of course- and she's got my hair. So- she's exactly 1/2 of each of us- which is why no one really know who she looks like. She makes TONS of the same expressions he had as a baby!I'm going to stop now, even though there's more I could post- I figure this many pictures is enough for now! Sorry for the longevity! Oh- this week Mira has started something else new- TANTRUMS! hehe--- not really too bad, she's just starting to protest big time when you take something away or stop her from doing something she wants to do. I'm doing my best to ignore it- isn't that what you're supposed to do?

Changes

Well, for those of you who don't know (which I actually assume isn't very many of you) we are adding to our family- again. We think the due date for the little one is Feb 25-March 2- we should find out more at our ultrasound in October. Yes, we did plan this- around Memorial day we started talking about another baby- I suggested we wait a couple more months, but B said, "Let's just go for it and see what happens." 2 weeks later there was a baby! Mira will be 15 months old when the babe arrives- I know that seems so young, and I never thought my children would be this close! I think it'll be great! I have had just a couple of times where I've felt guilty- I love Mira so much and don't want to lose any time with her, but I know they'll be great friends and always have a playmate. I am hoping for a girl for this reason, but of course, B wants a boy- so whatever God gives us will be perfect for our family. We are excited to find out! We had our appt today with Dr Morris- I got to hear the little bean's heart beat- it was about 169- it should level out to where it is going to be by next time. It's amazing how calming hearing that little beat was. I know he's in there now and safe- I just pray it stays that way! Dr Morris assured me that this delivery will NOT be like the last and that she will take care of me. I think as a woman she understands that looking back on your first born's birth with horror is a terrible thing.

For this reason, the website will be changing...obviously the new baby might feel a little animosity at being just a part of Mira's site! I am hoping to change it to www.smithbabies.bl0gspot.com- it will change around October. Unfortunately I can't reserve the site name, but it's available now. I will email everyone with the new web address. If I don't have your email you can email me to get on the list- hillaryfsmith@gmail.com.

This pregnancy is amazingly better than the last. I am exhausted and hungry, but otherwise feel great! I've been able to walk with mom about 3 times a week- I am feeling good about that. I can't seem to control my eating, so if I can control my exercise maybe I can gain a little less! I am so busy with M that I really don't have a lot of time to obsess over things- this is good. It's going so quick this time!

Here are just some pics of Mira playing the last few days. The first is another babyhawk pic- I LOVE THIS THING! This is currently Mira's toy box....hey grandpa- where's the real one?!In the midst of the army crawl. Mira CAN crawl for real, she CHOOSES not to- she'll do about 6 crawls and then decide it's much too slow for her, get down on her belly and basically slide across the floor like lightning!She loves these door stops- today she thought it might taste good.This is a great shot of all six of her teeth! She has the funniest faces now. Bye bye!

Baby Hawk

Mira got a new carrier in the mail today- it's EXCELLENT! We only had time to try it on, but we're going to take it with us to Texas next week. It's a Babyhawk mai tai carrier- MUCH more comfortable than the baby bjorn. Here we are trying it on. Attempt to ignore the bathroom messiness.