God brings us friends

Sometimes God brings people into our lives when we least expect it and aren't even looking for it.  Yvonne is one of those people.  We met last September while her son, Evan, and Rylie were in the same gymnastics class at the Y.  I wasn't out looking for new friends, but it happened as if God threw us together.  Yvonne was fairly new to the United States and still in the process of plugging in here.  We became instant friends and have been hanging out nearly every-other week since.  Evan calls Jordan and Rylie "his girls" and has the best personality of any little kid.  So, a year later, I had the privilege to *try* and capture my beautiful friend and her family in photos.  I told her that she better have a back-up...that it's not too late to schedule a real photographer!  She was very gracious, as I had no idea what I was doing...we even joked that I should be watching the other photographers out at the nature center that evening and do what they were doing!

Here are just a few of Yvonne and her family.  I especially like the way her face lights up when playing with Evan:)

Boaz at 10 months

I know this is looking like a blog dedicated to Boaz, but it seems his monthly update is the only thing I'm *trying* to stay caught up with.  Last week, Bo turned 10 months!  

Bo, this is getting quite redundant, but I must keep saying what a great baby you are.  I have been the most spoiled mom:)

We've discovered this month that you are extremely social (wonder who you get that from?).  You and Jordan are a lot alike with this.

You are the most cuddly little guy.  You show affection even at this young age by cuddling and "kissing" whoever is holding you.  Kisses = chewing on another's chin/face.

You do not seem to be partial to mommy or daddy (or anyone else for that matter).

You do not like to be left alone in a room.  You're content, though, as long as someone is with you.  You squeal with delight at seeing other kids play, as if you can hardly contain yourself!

You love to laugh and are good at copying someone else when they laugh.  You are also learning to mimic sounds, one of which is da-da.  Daddy might just be your first word:)

You seem to get scared fairly easy, so that's a lot like Jordan, too.

The army crawl is your mode of transportation.  You know how to crawl, but just don't prefer it...again, just like Jordan:)

Right after you turned 9 months, you started moving from a laying down position to sitting.  You are also pulling yourself up.

At your doctor's visit a few weeks ago, you weighed 18 pounds (below avg.), were 28.25 inches (below avg.), and had a head circumference of 18.5 inches (86%--above avg.--like Jordan).

I'm beginning to see a pattern of you being a lot like Jordan as a baby:)

You are slowly starting to eat more regular food, but mostly it's been cheerios and peas.  You just don't like it that much.

You take two naps a day and sleep fairly well at night--usually in bed by 7:00 and up by 5:00 (Yeah, still way too early for me!)  I put you back to bed in the am, but you're usually awake by 7:00-7:30 anyway.

I love you so much and so do your sister's and daddy.  We are blessed to get to have another month with you sweet boy!

Boaz 9 months

I think I can remember you at 9 months! 

See how I got you to lay still for your 9 month pics?  

Bo, you are just the most perfect little baby!  As I was taking these pictures, I wondered why I didn't do all of your monthly pics with just a diaper on...then I quickly remembered how you used to have that nasty, itchy rash all over your chest, face, and arms, and there was no way I could take off your shirt.  You would have scratched yourself to death, not to mention it was not something I wanted in your pictures.  

So, now you can see that not having an ounce of dairy in your diet has improved your skin tremendously!  You still have eczema, but it can be controlled with some cream.

You will notice that you can feed yourself a bottle.  I love that you are becoming more independent!

You have also gotten very good at feeding yourself your puff cereal.  I've tried to get you to eat little bits of green beans or pears, but you do not like chunks of food.  I sure hope that you are not going to be a difficult eater like Jordan was!  She would gag on anything chunky till she was almost 2.  Not kidding.

You are learning to recognize your name.  

Did I mention before that you were not ever sleeping through the night?  Well, at nine months, you finally can make it from about 7:00 or 7:30 to around 5:00 or 6:00.  You may still wake up, but will go back to sleep without needing a bottle.  It might have something to do with getting more solid food in your tummy right before bed:)

So, your schedule right now is pretty predictable:  

--About 5 am, you get a bottle and then go back to bed.  

--8:00, get up and go with us to take Jordan to the bus.

--9:00, you eat baby food, and maybe 2 or 3 oz of milk.

--10:00, you take a short morning nap.  Usually around 30 min. to an hour.

--12:00, a six oz. bottle

--1:00, afternoon nap, usually about 2 hours.

--3:00 or 3:30, another 6 oz. bottle

--6:00 or 6:30, more baby food and 2 or 3 oz of milk

--7:00, bedtime!

Of course this schedule is not set in stone.  It can vary depending on the activities going on for the day.

You have added green beans to your diet.  You really don't like them, so I mix some applesauce in it for you.  Applesauce makes everything better!

You can't stand to have your nose wiped!  

You will not stay on your back (or keep your bottom down!) while getting your diaper changed.  It's the most difficult thing about you, which isn't really difficult at all if I can distract you with a toy:)  One time, you nearly threw yourself off the changing table as you rolled over.  

You're finally banned from the swing.  The past two times you've been in it, you leaned clear over and were just hanging there.  Don't worry, friends.  It is a travel swing that is low to the ground.  He caught himself with his hands:)

At 8.5 months, you started to scoot forward!  Now, you are even getting up on your knees and rocking back and forth.  You have not started to do the real "crawl" yet, but it will be soon.  You've also thought about pulling yourself up, but that's as far as it gets!  You are just not that motivated!

Oh, I just love those little feet all curled up!  

But even a bottle doesn't keep you occupied for very long!

Maybe a book will keep you from grabbing the sign?

Nope!

Boaz 8 months

It was pretty much impossible for me to get a picture of you at 8 months laying still next to your 8 month sign!  You couldn't help but pick it up and destroy it!  

I should have taken these pictures the day before, when he was wearing a broncos outfit.   Hope you like these pictures, Chad and Kaely (the outfit they picked out for him)!

Bo, at 8 months, you became pretty steady at sitting without the fear of falling over.  

You could scoot backwards and figure out a way to get around, but you still were not scooting forward yet.  Both the girls were doing this by 7 months.  I guess you are such a content little dude that you were just okay with where you were:)

I'm not kidding...you are the most content/happy baby there ever was.  You sure have spoiled your mamma!  You've made having three kids so much easier than I was anticipating.

You added pears and carrots to your diet at around 8 months.  We haven't gotten very adventurous yet! Oh, I forgot that you have also tried bananas, but it seems they may cause some diaper rash, so you don't eat those very often.

You LOVE the swing at the park!  Not surprised, since the baby swing is the single most valued baby item we have.  Seriously.  Could.Not.Live.Without.The.Swing.

I can't remember much more about you at 8 months, though it was just a month ago!

Watching movies with my cousin Duncan and big sister Rylie.

Daddy is a little silly:)

I can play outside, too!

I really like this swing...

...a lot!

Boaz at 7 months (a couple months ago!)

Boaz is 9 months old today!  So why does it say 7?  Because I haven't posted a monthly update since he was 6 months old!  I sure hope I can remember stuff about him when he was seven months...

I know that at seven months, you were starting to sit up, though not without the help of pillows piled around in case you fell over.  Sometimes you would fling yourself backwards and bang your head on the floor.  That was not very fun:(

You began soy formula when you were 6 months old, and at 7 months were completely weaned.  Within a week of you starting formula, your legs started getting chubby and you started gaining some weight.  Your mama just wasn't producing enough milk for you.

You are still allergic to dairy, which is why you are on soy formula.  I know it's not as healthy, but it's healthier than starving and healthier than having hives!

Over the course of 6 months, you steadily declined on the weight percentile measurements, but after getting formula, you slowly started to increase.  I think you were around average for height, below average for weight, and at 90 percentile for head circumference.  You've got a big head like Jordan:)

In addition to rice, oatmeal, and applesauce, you started eating squash and sweet potatoes.  Mommy made your food for you.

At about 7.5 months, you tried little baby puffs for the first time.  You didn't know what to do and I got a bazzillion some cute pictures of you "eating" them.  Mostly, you would grab up all you could in your little fists, but not understand how to get them into your mouth:)