"Just Another Day in Paradise"

Have I mentioned before that I LOVE being Carly's mommy?  We have the best time together and I am absolutely delighting in watching her explore our home from a new point of view.  Her favorite place is the piano, and as you can guess Brian and I are thrilled with that! :)  I've been able to practice a little bit of parenting with her as there is a lamp plugged in right next to the piano that she likes to touch. I very gently explain to her that she cannot touch it.  I try to reserve the word "no" for very important situations, so I keep telling her that it's dangerous and when she takes her hand off of if I praise the heck out of her.  I also explain that if she touches it one more time that I am going to come over there and take her away from the piano.  She thinks its a game.... But anyway, look what she figured out she can do all by herself! Makes my heart SMILE!

She can also be found singing just about anytime music is played (car rides are super fun these days).  Not a week goes by at church that someone doesn't comment on her jubilant dancing during the worship.  She loves it so much that it has become my ritual to take her to the nursery after worship is over, and pick her up after communion, so she can worship with us at the end, too.  One of the many things I enjoy about our church...they are not judgmental at all and it makes no difference to anyone if I am coming and going as I please.

My favorite part of the day remains when my little girl wakes up and we get some snuggle time in bed.  Every now and then she will sleep for 10-11 hours, and of course then she is up for the day, but 6 days out of 7, she wakes up after sleeping 8.5-9 hours (about 5:30am) and she falls asleep while nursing, allowing for some snuggle time until she wakes up a couple of hours later.  Speaking of which, she adores nursing.  Sometimes, she hangs out for a half an hour, long after her food is gone, just because she enjoys the snuggle time.  Many nine month old babies show disinterest in it, but not this little dear.  I think it might be my favorite 4 times of the day.  Besides nursing, she also loves to eat...especially when she is in her highchair feeding herself! 

Last week I could barely keep up with her food needs, but this week she hasn't eaten near as much.  Last night, though, for the first time, she ate the same meal we had!  Chicken salsa and black bean tortillas with rice and cheese!  Yum yum!

Besides eating, Carly can frequently be found in her stroller while we go for a jog and then she loves to crawl around the driveway chasing the ants once we are done.  Her hand/eye coordination is very good these days...she's picked up/killed quite a few little ants!  She also likes to pull the weeds in the cracks of the driveway.  When she puts those in her mouth I gently swat her hand away and explain that it's "icky" but of course she also thinks that is a fun game.  Makes me giggle.

Notice her stocking cap (68 degrees)

 I'll also add a photo of what I get to see each time she wakes up from a nap.  The first time this happened it melted my heart:

There is so much I could write about, but I will save it for next week when I write her 9-month post.  She's quite the gal.  I really do love being with her and cherish nearly every moment.  The first few months of her life were really tough on me, and I continued to struggle with being content (as I have mentioned in previous posts) but that has gone away now.  It's interesting to me, because nothing has changed, yet I'm so much happier.  I suppose she you could say she is much easier, which certainly helps.  You could also argue that because I only close about twice a month vs. three times per week has helped my sanity...I was exhausted to the point of being irrational many weeks.  You could also say that I feel a lot better about how I look, fitting into nearly all of my pre-pregnancy clothes, which helps my self esteem.  But I think it boils down to maybe I actually had some postpartum stuff going on.  I was really unhappy for a while, and although I was enthralled with my beloved little girl, I never felt content.  After a very stressful trip to Iowa two months ago, I broke down and finally confessed to Brian my feelings of hopelessness and discontent...and from that MOMENT on I began feeling much happier.  Maybe I just needed my prayer warrior of a husband to be seeking God's comfort right a long with me.  And since that day, it's truly been paradise for me in this stage of life.  I really couldn't be loving it or her more!