9 months!

My sweet boy turned 9 months on December 22nd and went for his 9 month well check today. Just as we knew, he is a BIG boy!

Here are your stats:

Weight: 24lbs (96th %)

Height: 30 in (94th %)

Head: 18.5 (92nd %)

Happy 9 months, Baker!

You, buddy, are the light of our family. Your sisters love you to pieces and I couldn't have asked for the Lord to bless us with a more darling boy. Your sweet, calm nature, your wild spirit and your laid back personality is such a joy to be around. 

You have turned in to a bit of a mama's boy but you sure do light up when you see your daddy!

You have grown up so much this past month. You do some various versions of traveling around (scooting, army crawling, crab walking, rolling) and are all over the place. You are pulling up on things and we are dropping your crib down tomorrow because you keep pulling up in your bed. While trying to take your 9 month pictures, you were trying to escape, haha!

You love to play! You especially love balls and anything that makes lots of noise!

We switched you completely to formula this month and you have 4 8oz bottles a day. You eat baby food twice a day and have begun to eat table food as well (which you love!). You have tried bananas, strawberries, eggs, cheese, chicken, turkey, broccoli, green beans, oranges, rice and potatoes. You have two teeth and 5 more that will be here any day. Your top 2 are pretty much through, the ones on either side are working their way down and one more on the bottom is popping through. Your eyes are still the brightest blue and your hair is still brown. You have your daddy's dark skin and we think you are so very handsome!!

You have turned into the most wonderful sleeper! You go to bed at 7 and don't get up until 7:30 - 8am. You take 2 naps a day, usually about 1.5 hours. You always wake up so happy!

You jabber quite a bit, and love to clap your hands and say "yay!" You love bath time and think it is hilarious to splash your sister! You are truly a delight, sweet fella and have completed our family. I am loving every single minute of watching you grow and am so proud to be your mommy. 

Happy 9 months, doll baby. We will love you forever.

a HUGE catch up post!

It's safe to say that I am ridiculously behind on blogging. And I mean really behind. Considering this is my family's scrapbook, I am kicking myself for not sitting my booty in front of the computer to get it done. While I enjoyed a long blogging break, I savor these precious memories. I did have a little help in being behind (besides the holidays, of course). A few weeks back, I went to load the pictures off my camera to our computer, somehow pulled the wrong cord, and BAM, wiped everything out. When I say everything, I mean all 26,000+ pictures that were currently on our computer. Cue tears and me completely freaking out. We have it backed up, and we couldn't find them on the back up drive either. Not my favorite day. Needless to say, they have been recovered but we (Sean) are still trying to get everything back in it's rightful place. Whew.

Anyways, it's been a fun holiday season. I am hoping to get all of the posts done, but just incase :)!

Baker's Baby Dedication - December 16, 2012

Baker turns 9 months - December 22, 2012

Christmas in Winston-Salem with the Mathes Crowd

Santa visit's Shu Shu & G Bake's house and the Annual Family Footie Pajamas

(I love that Baker is clobbering Jessica's face in the above picture, haha!)

My brother gets engaged! Yay for Chad & Jess!

Annual Christmas Eve Eve Party at the Baker House

Christmas Eve morning at my parent's house

Back in Columbia.. Santa stops here!

(Chloe's stash had a string to the outside... Santa somehow managed to fit a trampoline in his sleigh)

And finally, Christmas morning at the Branch house! Merry Christmas!

The aftermath!

Whew. I'm tired from all that. And if you made it this far... you probably are too! 

Hope your holidays were filled with JOY!

The gift.

It's a funny thing you know... We talk about it all year. We shop for months. We listen to the music. Make plans to see family. Decorate. Wrap. We anticipate the holiday season all year long.

Something about the feeling of Christmas makes us feel so alive. Closer to each other. Nicer to each other and more forgiving. We look for charities to put our energy into. We adopt families. We put an extra 20 in the plate at church. The spirit of Christmas seems to hang in the air. For us, from Thanksgiving on, we're alive with the buzz of Christmas. I love to decorate our house and one of my favorite parts of Christmas is sitting by the lit tree, watching a Christmas movie. Or watching the faces of my little's on Christmas morning. Watching their joy. All of it just seems so magical.

And then, we have days like today. A day in which, I put my babies down for naps and sprinted down the stairs. I moved as fast as my legs would move for 2 straight hours taking every single thing down. Glitter everywhere. Broken tree limbs on the floor. Stacks of Tupperware waiting to be taken to the attic. And just like that, it's over.

Yes, the spirit is still in us, but the buzz is gone. All the magic packed up in boxes until next year. My house is still a wreck, unorganized and nothing in its proper spot. I still have work to do. But at the end of my 2 hour spree, I sat on the sofa, looked up at our empty tree and thanked God. Thanked God that once a year we feel the buzz. We come alive with the spirit. We gush thankfulness to a Lord who sent his son to live among us. To feel our pains, to know our hurts, to take our shame and make it his own. We celebrate the gift of our Savior. Through kindness and giving gifts, through donning our home with lights and ribbon, to taking care of another family, or just spending time with the ones we love. His spirit is alive in us. It runs through our veins. We feel our hearts beat faster when singing "Joy to the World" or "Away in a Manger."

I am thankful that once a year we celebrate. We celebrate His birth. We celebrate family and love and kindness. We celebrate life. And I am thankful that we not only celebrate His birth, but also his goodness. That he lives in our hearts and urges us to keep the buzz alive not just at Christmas, but all year. To be kind. To love each other harder. To do good just because. We are given the gift of His love to give to others. And that is the greatest gift of all.