emmeline's nine months

It's hard to believe this girl has been with us for longer that I was pregnant with her! She's become big so quick! But just look at her—She's SO beautiful!!!

 

Emmeline is:

... still toothless. I don't even know how! All of my other girls had SO many teeth by nine months — I think Phoebe holds the record at 8 teeth at 9 months! She has shown all signs of teething for MONTHS, but nothing has popped through permanently yet. BUT, she has not let this stop her from eating the good food! She has figure out how to use her little gums to chomp things up and devour them. She loves vegetables and meat and salty crackers. And loves drinking water out of a sippy cup - not baby bottles for this big girl! She's so funny. 

... walking around furniture and pushing her wagon all around the house. She is fast— I'll set her down and she'll zip around the room and be standing up next to something before I can even blink! She thinks she's big. She has only dared climb up one or two stairs, but she generally has no problem getting where she wants to go. 

... a musical baby. (Shocking, right!?) She LOVES to sing and play the piano, and has started head-banging along to music as well as her own songs. She sings in Primary with all the kids every Sunday, and I've caught her singing herself to sleep several times. It's the best! Another little angel voice in my little women's choir!

... an independent player. Despite having so many sisters around so often, Emmie is consistently content to just do her own thing and play in her own little world. Her sisters will join her for a few minutes and then bounce back to their own things, and Emmie just adapts and goes with it. It is fun to see her figure out how things work and how to play with toys, and how to make a toy out of just about anything. I love seeing her creative mind already developing.

... such a beautiful, delightful girl! Her general calm demeanor is just what our family needs, and she is the light of every room she is in. Her little spirit is felt in a huge way, and people are just drawn in by her. She is such a special girl!

This gaggle of giggles fills our home with so much—we are so blessed that they are ours. 

FLASHBACK:

Afton's Nine Months

Golden's Nine Months

Phoebe's Nine Months

Matilda's Nine Months

emmeline's eight months

Eight months of Emmeline in our lives! She's such a dream! 

Emmeline is: 

... Finally sleeping again! She had a rough little while of thinking she needed to be up all night, but (knock on wood!) we've passed that phase and she has been consistently sleeping all night and well into the morning. Bless her little sleepy head! 

... full on crawling, hands and knees full speed! She skipped army crawling altogether, and went from rolling to crawling overnight, and it sheen almost a month of her having no problem getting where she wants to go! 

... a mighty woman! I have found her [more than] a few times underneath our arm chair with her legs up in the air pressing up on the bottom of the chair. Baby leg press! She thinks it's hilarious. But seriously, she lifts the front of the chair a few inches off the ground... It's impressive! She has also figured out how to use her mighty arms to pull up on anything she can, so she can stand up. She thinks she's big! She's walked around our coffee table and tried taking steps just holding on to our little wagon... But I'm willing her to slow down! She's too little! 

... a savory snacker. She LOVES salty and savory snacks and food. She occasionally will enjoy something sweet, but it's not often, and if given the choice, she'll pick salty crackers or cheese or vegetables over ice cream, fruit or cereal. She's funny! 

... still my momma's girl, but her snuggles and hugs are so delightful. She still wants mom all of the time. She'll occasionally tolerate a handful of others, but if I'm not around, her number one is Pieface! She's funny. It's nice to be loved!

Life with these girls is chaotically delightful. 

God is good. 

FLASHBACK:

Afton's Eight Months

Golden's Eight Months

Phoebe's Eight Months

Matilda's Eight Months

emmeline's seven months

 
Life just keeps on getting sweeter with this little gal! She's so precious and has brought us true joy daily for seven whole months!

Emmeline is: 

... clapping and learning and is so engaging lately! She claps for everything, and it's one of our favorite things. Everything is a wonder at this stage, and it's so fun! Her eyes get big with astonishment and each next things she encounters, and she'll applaud and squeal in delight. She is so fun to watch!

... almost crawling, but not quite yet. She is successfully rolling and spinning all around. She'll get up on her hands and knees for a minute, but gets stuck and then flops down on her belly and rolls where she wants to go. She will sit in the same spot on the floor for what seems like an hour, but then I'll look away for a minute and look back to find her all the way across the room.  

... not our best sleeper, currently, but is our most patient delightful baby in spite of the lack of sleep at night. She's trying to figure out how to sleep in her own room, but just doesn't love being alone, so we're navigating through her wanting to be held or nursed all night long (!) which is exhausting in many ways. But to make up for it, she is our most pleasant, tolerant baby! She has a cherry disposition and is a happy, content girl almost always (despite how tired we are!) and I'm super grateful for that. 

... talking non-stop! She says "mom" and "dad" and "hi" and "pie" and is working on a handful of other words! She'll try to copy what we say to her - and just the other day, Branson got her sounding like Donald Duck for like 10 minutes! It was hilarious! And she does a mean Chewbacca impression! Haha!She babbles and giggles and talks and talks and talks! We love it! 

These girls are so fun! 

(And crazy, and silly, and energetic and the friendliest girls in all the land!)

We love these girls! 

FLASHBACK:

Afton's Seven Months

Golden's Seven Months

Phoebe's Seven Months

Matilda's Seven Months

emmeline's six months

Half of a year has passed in two blinks of an eye, and here we are with the cutest six months old in all the land! 

Emmeline is: 

... singing and talking all the live long day! She is clearly and consistently saying, "mom" and "dad" and "hi"... And a whole lot of other babbles and sounds — it's my favorite. We were in Singing Time at church on Sunday, and she sang the loudest and longest of all the kids! It was so hilariously darling. A few of the teachers and I just kept laughing and smiling the whole time because she wouldn't stop! She wanted to sing with the big kids!

... rolling all over and starting to sit by herself. She loves holding on to her feet, and will flip right over and over again and end up at the other end of the room. It's fun to see her learn and develop new skills. 

... loving all sorts of food! She devours citrus — she'll suck on a lime, lemon, or orange for a long time, and never even puckers a single sour face! She loves potatoes and ice cream, obviously!, avocados, apples, pineapple, bananas and tomatoes, peanut butter... So many flavors! She wants to eat whenever any one around her is eating, and get so excited about every single bite!

... enthralled by her sisters. Phoebe makes her laugh every single time she holds her. Afton is so patient and can hold her when she's sad and just sings to her and loves on her. Goldie wants to show her off to everyone she meets, and Matilda blesses "cute little Emmeline" in each of her prayers. They love Emmie so much, and she loves them right back! She is still a momma's girl, and she does not like being away from me for ANY amount of time, but her snuggles and grins when I come back to her are like winning the lottery! 

... just so beautifully precious. She giggles and grins, sings and squawks, and lights up our whole world. She is finding her sense of humor and has started to repeat the things that we cheer and laugh at, like she's so proud of herself. It's the best! 

Cutest Sisters!

Flashback:

Afton's Six Months

Goldie's Six Months

Phoebe's Six Months

Matilda's Six Months

emmeline's five months

This year has been flying by and here we are, celebrating five months with this doll! 

Emmeline is:

... such a happy girl. She puts on a somber face for outsiders, but here at home, she's mostly smiles and giggles and squeals. It's delightful. She puts up with the busy chaos so well, and it's so kind of her. She is generally content, and it has made life with 5 kids doable. (Well, on most days, anyway... Ha ha)

... working on teeth. We've felt the tiniest edge of a tooth pop through but then recede again... So I'm not sure when it'll be official, but she's been SO drooly and chomping on anything and everything for a while now. 

... not a fan of a bottle. And she has started to turn her nose up at her binky — a lot like Phoebe at this age. She just is not interested in any substitutions for nursing. Luckily, she is a nursing champ and we've been so lucky to have that experience and time together. I know it's not easy for everyone and I don't take it for granted. 

... becoming a little copycat. She has started mimicing motions and sounds and it's so fun to see her mind work to figure out how to do life here on in this world. When she is feeling chatty, she will try to copy the sounds we make at her. She claps when we clap and say, "Yay Emmie!" and she tries to play with toys like she sees her sisters play. My favorite, though, is that she constantly grabs for my water bottle everytime I take a drink. She'll grab it and pull it to her mouth. She hasn't figured out how to sip out of it yet, but she's got the motions down. [Which boosts my confidence in my water intake — I must be drinking a lot of water if she's copying my moves! Ha!]

... still my little momma's girl. My babies have always been super snuggly and loving. But Emmeline has shown us a whole new level of attachment. [Between Emmie and our dog, Frankie, I hardly every have a moment alone. Two little babies who can't be without me! Haha] I adore her snuggles and despite this triple digit heat we're dying in, I'll choose to cuddle this girl any second of every day. She's the best! 

These girls are the cutest. They love Emmie so much and are such fun friends and helpers. We're so lucky!

Flashback:

Afton's Five Months

Goldie's Five Months

Phoebe's Five Months

Matilda's Five Months