.:Remi - Nine Months:.

Nine months? Are you kidding me? Remi is three months away from turning one! Where has time gone?!?

Our little Rem is just turning into little miss personality! She has been so cheesey and silly lately, and it's been so fun to see that side of her come out! She's always been a pretty happy baby, but the silliness is a new thing and I'm loving it!

We've been having a few little struggles with the little Rem lately. She started trying to wake up for the day around 6:00 a.m. Not okay. I've been wondering if my milk is starting to drop a bit, and she's just more hungry earlier in the day. Seems like it'd be an easy fix, but girlfriend STILL refuses to take a bottle! We're going to have to keep working on that one! Since being on vacation the past two weeks, she's also started having multiple nites where she wakes up to eat during the nite. Soooo not normal!

We do have Remi enjoying her baby food now, though! She still averages about half a jar at each feeding, or two halves if she's having a fruit and a veggie, but she eats it willingly and I think that she's starting to like it! She also really loves her puffs, yogurt melts, and mum mums. We've started giving her quite a bit of real food, though, now. It's so fun to get to that point! I've loved watching her try new foods.

Remi has five teeth now! She's got three along the bottom, and her two front teeth came in right before Christmas! We all thought it was kind of funny that she got her two front teeth for Christmas. :) As I've said before, Remi really doesn't do well with teething. Along with her two front teeth, she's got at least three more teeth along the top that are white and looking ready to pop through any day. Before those two front teeth came in, we had quite a rough week with a very needy, clingy baby who only wanted her mommy. If it's this bad with these teeth, I can only imagine how horrible her molars will be! But, she looks so cute with her two front teeth dropping down. It really changes the way she looks! Cute girl!

I really think Remi is going to crawl soon! She definitely wants to move, and she is trying really hard to figure out her body and how to use it to get where she wants. I can't believe she is going to be mobile soon! She and Reece are going to have a blast together!

The snuggling has stuck around! She loves to lay her head on my shoulder when I sing to her before bed. She also has started doing it when I'm holding her and she is feeling shy when someone talks to her. It is sweet and cute, and I don't ever want it to end!

Remi still uses her pointer finger as her primary 'feeler' when she is feeling and touching things. It is really dainty and cute when she does it.

Remi and Reece continue to just love each other and have so much fun playing together. I love to hear them laugh and think it's going to be so neat to watch their relationship grow as they get older and understand each other more.

At nine months Remi likes:

- smiling

- laughing

- squealing

- watching Reece/other kids

- baths and splashing

- baby food!

- 'real' food: cheese, bread, crackers

- snuggling

- toys: laptop, seahorse, balls, plastic animals

- having air blown in her face

- playing with paper

- getting kissed on her tummy and neck

- nursing

- sitting

- being silly

- feeling things

- being held

- being sung to

- attention

At nine months Remi doesn't like:

- teething!

- bottles

- binky

- being left alone for too long

She's just the sweetest baby girl, and I'd sure appreciate it if someone would make time slow down a little bit so we can enjoy our little baby awhile longer!

.:Thanksgiving 2010:.

We spent Thanksgiving this year with Josh's mom out in Grantsville. We headed out there early in the day with one excited toddler and one crabby, teething baby. Reece loves going out there because there are lots of toys and, more importantly, lots of undivided attention! Remi was working on a tooth that day, so she was not so happy for most of the time. Somehow, she ended up turning happy in the evening - thank goodness!

We had a grammar quiz, courtesy of Josh's brother, and I'm proud to say that I won! (Should I be proud since I missed EIGHT???) There was also some Thanksgiving trivia thrown in as well. The day was spent eating (I didn't have a single bite of turkey - we had ham, too, and we all know how I feel about ham!), playing games, and just enjoying each other's company.

This is the only picture I got while we were out there: Reece and cousin Millie at their new table. Perfect size for them!

And a few pictures of our turkeys before we headed out there!

We definitely have a lot to be grateful for this year, as in years past. I get frustrated sometimes with the day to day things, and I just have to stop myself and realize how fortunate we are to live in this country, have the gospel in our lives, and have our families and each other. There's even smaller things to be grateful for. Like sewing and Diet Coke. :)

.:Reecey Girl:.

With little Rem getting her own post each month, I figured it was time to do a little post on this spitfire. Our Reecey girl is just so full of life and personality!

Reece is really into dress up right now. She loves to put on her 'pretty dress' and then adorn herself with necklaces, glasses, bracelets, purses, headbands, and shoes galore! It is so cute to watch her doing it and then strut around the house in her duds.

Christmas has been fun with Reece this year. She is obsessed with Rudolph and Frosty. She points them out wherever she sees any reindeer or snowman! We bought a set of the old classics, and they have been well used this holiday season. She calls Frosty - Froty (no 's') and Rudolph - Rufolph. It is so cute. We also have a nativity out that is just a Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus all together in one piece. She likes to go over to it and say, "Baby Jesus" and then tell us to "Shhh" because He is sleeping. She also gives the nativity hugs. Sweet!

She is also very into singing and dancing. We sing songs all the time, and she is getting so good at saying the right words and the right time. She likes to 'raise the roof' and disco. I wish I could tap into some of her energy - she's always on the go!

Reece is also such a sweetheart. Whenever she gives us a hug, she always says, "Ohhh..." while giving the hug. And any hug must be completed with a kiss. She's so giving with her love. She is always coming up to Josh, Remi, or me and giving us hugs, kisses, and saying, "I love you Mama" (or whoever she's hugging!) It is totally unprompted, and it continues to melt my heart everytime. Someone told me it was the best when kids said it to you without you saying it first, and it really is. I never get tired of hearing it!

Reece likes to share with Remi most of the time, and often she will get out toys for Remi without us saying anything or asking her to.

Reece also likes to say "all done" after just about everything. "All done nap" after a nap. "All done song" after a song. "All done hunger" after a meal. Whenever she says it, it is always accompanied by a single clap on the last word. I love it! She also likes to say, "Whatcha doin'?" and "Whatcha got?" Some other cute things she says are, "That's nummy good!", "Remi (Memi)'s silly!", and all of us are "my daddy", "my mama", "my sister". She's possessive! :)

Don't let her sweet moments fool you, though. Reece has quite the little sassy face to her. She doesn't quite know how to talk back yet, but she has become quite adept at telling me 'no', 'don't', and 'stop it.' I wonder where she learned those from...oh yeah, probably from me! Oops, better be more careful with what I say to her. I am learning that when she is being sassy, it helps none to get frustrated or upset with her - that just makes it worse. I have to be patient and calm, and she responds much better to that. Easier said than done sometimes, though!

Luckily those sassy moments are not as often as the sweet moments, and we just can't get enough of this spunky little gal!

.:Remi - Eight Months:.

I went to type the title for this and put in seven months again! I guess I can't wrap my head around the fact that yet another month has passed and now our sweet little babe is eight months old.

Remi continues to be the best, easiest, sweetest baby ever! Unless she's teething, you really couldn't ask for a better temperment for a baby.

We made the move to have Remi and Reece in the same room, full time at nite. So far it's going pretty well. I think they are learning to block out each other's sounds, for the most part. Sometimes they like to try and wake up at 6:30, but usually they last until 7:00-7:30.

Ever since moving into her real crib, Remi has been starting to roll both ways - finally! I guess she just needed to be forced into it. I was starting to get a little worried, so I'm glad she does okay with that now. She still doesn't do it a ton when she is out with us playing, but I don't stress about it since I know she can do it.

Remi is starting to show some interest in getting mobile! I was kind of hoping she'd wait until after Christmas so that I didn't have to worry about her at my parent's house at Christmas. Lots of stairs there! We'll see if she makes much progress in the next few weeks.

Remi still isn't the biggest fan of baby food. We do it twice a day, and she still averages about 1/3-1/2 a jar per feeding. She likes bananas and prunes. I think she is just more into real food. She likes bread, avocado, and real bananas as well. I'm going to try to start introducing more of that into her diet.

The Remster has always liked to be held, but she's never been much of a snuggler. Until now. Just within the past week or so, she is all of the sudden laying her head on your shoulder when it is time to go down for a nap or bed, and when you get her up. It is so sweet and I don't ever want to put her down when she does it. I'm hoping this lasts for awhile! I love it!

Tooth number three finally broke through today! She's got three along the bottom. Once again, she had a terrible time of it. This girl does not do well with teething at all. But now that it is through, she is back to her wonderful, usual, happy self! I guess it will always be easy to tell when she is teething; she's really not fussy otherwise!

At eight months Remi likes:

- snuggling

- 'real' food: bananas, avocado, bread

- mum mums, puffs, yogurt melts

- smiling

- laughing

- watching/playing with Reece

- sitting

- nursing

- toys: seahorse, laptop, balls

- having air blown in her face

- baths

- splashing

- squealing

- talking/cooing

- kisses

- sleeping

- feeling things

At eight months Remi does not like:

- teething (neither do the rest of us!)

- being in her car seat too long (got rid of her infant one this past week!)

- bottles

- binky (except for chewing on)

- baby food

- being cold

- being left alone too long

Love this little lady!

.:All the Pretty Ladies...all two of them:.

Thanks to Your Vantage Photography, we were able to catch these beautiful shots of our pretty ladies.

You can't tell me they aren't two of the most beautiful little girls ever!

.:Halloween Festivities:.

As usual, October was a super busy month, filled with all sorts of fall/Halloween fun!

For costumes this year, I have to admit to being a tad lazy. I had bought Remi a pea pod costume on clearance last fall, before she was born, but she turned out to be too long for it. She still looks pretty cute, though!

So she ended up using Reece's bee costume from last year.

For Reece, we used a flapper dress up dress that she got for her birthday AND a pirate costume borrowed from cousin Millie. We just alternated what she wore each time, which was kind of fun! I'm hoping next year to be a bit more organized and do something fun with the two of them together!

We started off the fun with our ward trunk or treat the week before Halloween weekend. It was cold and rainy, and we got there a little late, so we didn't end up being there for too long. Reece was not loving being the cold at all. But she made out pretty well, and certainly enjoyed the after part where she got to dig into her goodies!

That following Monday we had our second annual Monster Bash - playgroup with all of our neighborhood and ward friends. The kids enjoyed lots of yummy food, and we did a couple of Halloween crafts.

Reece was especially happy with her ghost balloon,

and Remi was a champ and just hung out the whole time while I was running around. Here she is with Emerson...

And Dylan.

I couldn't get Reece to sit still for a picture with Remi - this is the best one I could get!

It was pretty chaotic with all of these kids, but it was a super fun time!

Next up was Halloween storytime at the library. Reece liked singing the fun Halloween song/fingerplay, and then of course, trick or treating around the library. Forgot my camera for that one!

Saturday was Boo at the Zoo. Josh got off early from work so he could come with us. There were lots of great vendors there, giving away fun free kids' meals, samples, and of course - candy! Reece is a big animal lover, and a big candy lover, so the two things combined was pretty great!

Checking out the turkeys...

the monkeys...

and more monkeys.

Rem hanging in the stroller.

We saw this sweet Hot Rod costume at the zoo and had to take a picture!

Mommy and Reece (there's a cute picture of Josh and Rem, but as you all know, I'm not allowed to post pictures of him on here. Lamespice.)

Later that afternoon our HOA had a Halloween party for all of the residents. They had a lot available for the kids - crafts, games, and a spook alley. Reece was a little scared of the dry ice and fog machine. She was wearing her flapper costume that day and won the prize for Best Costume! (Cheeseball!)

They also did a donut game, where they had to eat a donut off the string. Reece started off doing it the right way, but quickly tired of it. Hands are faster....duh!

We ended that evening with the standard Halloween meal of chili, scones, and honey butter. We originally were going to take Reece out trick or treating to a few houses, but it was so cold, and she doesn't really know any better, so we just stayed in and passed out candy to the few trick or treaters we got.

Halloween morning we had pumpkin pancakes with chocolate chip faces. They were delicious! (If you want my Mom's recipe for pumpkin pancakes, let me know - they are sooooo good!)

It was a busy, fun month! It's hard to believe that now we're already into the second week of November!