8 months!

Our little girl just turned 8 months! It has been like a whole pregnancy already! I didn't realize how much faster it would be with two kids. I feel like time is just flying by! Sometimes I am glad though because there are days I just can't wait to be over.

Taryn is starting to learn her fine motor skills. She is starting to get better at feeding herself. She hasn't learned to pick it off the tray yet, but I can give it to her and she will put it in her mouth. She has learned how to clap with her hands and feet. Kind of funny that it is her feet too. She loves to say 'dada' and 'baba'. She is still working on sitting up. She is still struggling with that for some reason. We practice everyday since 6 months and she still struggles. Oh well. She is finally standing up better. I don't have to support her 100%. I am hoping the same will happen with sitting up.

I am still happy that she is content with just laying on her back though. There are other kids her age that are already crawling. I am so happy she isn't. I know it will be fun when she does, but right now I am not ready. We still don't have teeth either, but I am sure that is close. I still love the gummy smiles anyways.

She still loves big brother and he still loves her. It is fun to watch them interact, even though she gets beat up from him. I sure hope they remain close.

Christmas

Christmas was a lot more fun this year. Cameron is now old enough to understand what is going on. He has been really excited and it has shown. This little boy has so much energy! I put together a list of 25 activities to do with him too to keep him busy. I think he enjoyed it since everyday he would ask me what our new activity was. I enjoyed our little time together too. We would do it while Taryn was asleep so it would give us our little one on one time.

Cameron asked for a truck and a movie this year. So nice when they are young. It is a very small list :) He ended up getting a police truck from Grandad (gave us a gift card and we bought it) and a Mickey Mouse movie from Santa. Taryn got a dog and an outfit. We do three presents each and a couple of things in the stockings (what I want, what I need, and what I will wear). Very simple Christmas, but that is okay. We don't want to go over board anyways.

This Christmas, we wanted to bring in the real reason as well and not just Santa. I kept telling Cameron it is Jesus' birthday. He eventually got it :) I found a cute scripture advent chain on Pinterest and I decided to do that with him everyday. That was his scripture for the day. It helped me remember the real reason too. I didn't realize how much I needed it to. I think it is a keeper and we will do it every year.

We had Shad and his family over for Christmas dinner. This was my first time making a ham. So much easier than turkey lol. After dinner, I had put together some games to keep the kids from going crazy. I found some fun minute to win it games. I wish I would have taken some pictures, but it was a lot of fun. At least we had some family to get together with.

Next year will be fun because Cameron will be 4 and Taryn will be 18 months! Cannot believe it!! I am looking forward to that and hoping to get shopping done way earlier :)

7 months

I am a little behind on posting this and I will have to write the next one before I know it. Where does time go? It is also hard when it is the holidays. So busy making goodies and getting presents ready. Sometimes I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I try to get things done when the kids are down for a nap, but I get so tired I take a nap too; 2 hours later it is time to get the kids up again. Oh well. Naps are my friend :)

Taryn is getting so big. She takes 2 naps a day (2-2/12 hours) and then 12 hours a night. It is AMAZING!! With these kids, I need all the sleep I can get.  She is great at eating. It is weird having a kid who basically grabs it out of your mouth. Cameron never did that at all. Taryn will stare at you as you eat too. Who needs a puppy?!? LOL I am trying to give her a taste of everything we do eat (being safe too of course) and hoping she won't be as picky as brother.

She is growing so fast! She has the cutest chubby cheeks ever! I love it so much! I love having a little girl. I am having lots of fun making girly things :)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was really quiet this year. We stayed home and I made a small turkey just for our little family. It is nice to have a quiet day, but holidays make it hard when you don't have family. It was a day I wish we had someone close by. Oh well. These are also the times when our small family can become closer too.

I did make the typical food that goes with Thanksgiving, but this year, we are working on our picky eater. I think that made it hard too. We wanted him to eat the food too and boy is he stubborn. It took him a long time to eat it, but he finally did. Taryn loved the little bit I was able to give her. It is such a big difference with them, but it is fun too. I think next year I will make my regular turkey that I make. I sort of missed it this year. Oh well. I will be ready for next year.