A Day Late and a Dollar Short...

The story of my life! Hah!

Well, I guess I told a "story" in my last post when I said I would stay up to do Annistyn's 9-month post last night.

I had full intentions of doing that, however, when I arrived home after 10 o'clock and stayed up another hour helping Michael get ready for our Christmas party tonight (which went great, by the way!) I knew in 5 hours, I would be back up starting ANOTHER day. I finally convinced myself that doing Annistyn's blog post one day late would not make me a bad mommy!

So, YESTERDAY, December 10, 2009, marked the 9-month anniversary of the GREATEST gift we have ever received.

Just like a little present, she was wrapped in a blanket.


And of course she had a big bow!


And now we are the ones all wrapped up....



This month, Annistyn has...
...started eating more table food. Her favorite is English peas! (I know- YUCK!)
...started standing up alone for a pretty good while.
...started getting more comfortable with walking holding on to me with one hand.
...started "cruising" on furniture and her crib.
...started participating in "Patty Cake".
...began understanding a lot of words and reacting to things we say.
...started making "real" words. She can say Ma-ma, Da-de, Hey, Ba-be, Ki-tee, and she calls Finley "tee-gee". These are the words she says and applies, meaning she doesn't just babble to babbling. She sees pictures of babies or herself in the mirror and says "ba-be". She goes to Mom's house and "calls" Kitty. Mom always says, "Call Kitty... Here kitty kitty kitty." So Annistyn says it in a really high pitched voice. It's so cute!!!!
...Gotten down to 3 bottles a day.
...grown a lot more "wild" hair!
...gotten full control of her "pinching" skills. She can pinch anything. Puffs, specs on the floor, whatever it is- she can pick it up.
...decided she wants to "feed herself" all the time. She does a really good job!
...gotten really good at problem solving. She is constantly trying to figure out how to do new things. She was standing up the couch the other night and had a pappy in her mouth. There was another one on the couch. She stared at it forever and tried and tried to stretch and reach it- but couldn't. She finally took the pappy out of her mouth, grabbed the edge of it, and reached out and knocked the pappy on the couch with it. I think my jaw dropped open when I realized what she figured out. She was using one object to reach another. I've seen her do the same thing two or three times lately.

Annistyn in still in a size 3 diaper and pretty much in the same size clothes. 6-month size bishop dresses seem to fit her the best. Her play clothes are pretty much 6/9 months. I have found out that a lot of the Christmas outfits I bought several months ahead of time do not fit her. Several of them have swallowed her whole! She just has a tiny frame. She has gotten really long and thinned out some.

This month, she has met Santa for the first time and seen her first Christmas parade.

This month I have really began seeing her turning into a little girl instead of a baby. She is started to communicate with us in other ways than crying. She is VERY mobile and is eating with us at the table. And, boy, oh boy, does she have a personality!

It's amazing to me how you create a baby and she grows inside of you for 9 months. And now to look at how much she's grown in these past 9 months that she has been with us...

9 Months ago, we brought this precious little girl into the world, and now look at us- it's like she's been here forever. I can't imagine what I ever did before her.
I just can't believe how quickly these precious times are flying by.



All my family members keep asking me what I want for Christmas and I haven't been able to come up with much. To me, I have everything I need. What gift could be greater than the gift of being a Mommy to Annistyn? This year, Christmas came on March 10... and it comes again every morning when I hear "Ma-ma-ma-ma..." over the baby monitor.

Happy, 9-month-and-1-day birthday- to my little angel.