Just a few months behind....

Since the last time I posted, Masie has turned a year old!

She weighs 20.5 pounds and is 29 inches long.  She has had two haircuts and now has 8 teeth!

She loves the remote and our phones and loves to "read" her books!

Mickey and Minnie are her favorite characters, and when she sees a dog she says "woof, woof" without being prompted.  Her current favorite word is "no", which at the most inappropriate times sounds so darn cute!  We are working on it, but we had to get it on video first.  LOL

She loves her Nana and Papa and her cousin Katie, or "Kay-Kay" for short.  We were able to get her picture made with them the last time they came to visit.

She goes by "Masie" but we whip out the "Masie Lauren" when needed.  Daddy sometimes calls her "Lauren", and Mommy's pet name for her is "May May".
Regardless of what we call her, she's our girl.  She is sweet and sour, rough and tumble, smart and sassy, and the bright spot in our day.
We are blessed.

Goodbye's are Sad...

How do you say goodbye to someone who gave you the greatest, most precious gift you've ever been given, aside from salvation? Masie's birth parents decided to part ways, and her birth mom has moved back to her home town. It isn't like we would talk every day, or even once a week. But she is a part of our everyday life when I look at my daughter. And she always will be. We've seen each other off and on since Masie was born. So, for the last time the other night, we went to the restaurant where it all began, with her as our server. It was so sweet...Masie just reached out and grabbed her hand, like, "Hey, I know you!" We ate our meal, had good conversations here and there in between her tables, shed a few tears, and said our goodbyes. We will still keep in touch through Facebook and text and such, but knowing she isn't just down the road makes me a bit emotional. We are so very thankful for her and pray God's richest blessings in her life.

10 Months!

Ten months ago today at this time, Daddy and I were hanging out in the hospital room with your birth parents. The doctor had just come in and told us not to get too excited because it was going to be a long night of labor, and you wouldn't be coming anytime soon. He didn't know you, did he? To be fair, we didn't know you either, but we do know now that you are overall a pretty relaxed little girl....but when you make your mind up on something, it is Katie bar the door! And so it was the day you were born. You came into the world at 9:50 pm. Now, you are on the verge of walking! You are almost there, although I'm not quite sure how I feel about this! LOL You are jibber-jabbering like crazy and mimicking sounds that you hear. You like to say the word "bow" and sound so stinking cute saying it! You are definitely a Texan. You have three teeth, two on bottom and one on top. Moon Pops from Kroger are your favorite snack. You like Cheerios, too, but you tend to stockpile them in your mouth, then get choked, so we limit your Cheerio intake. ;) You pucker your lips and make a kissing sound, you love to give Mommy kisses, and you click your tongue off the roof of your mouth. You recognize Mickey Mouse and LOVE the Hot Dog Song, although you love all kinds of music. Other children, whether in real life or on television, fascinate you, and you love to play with Mac (the dog) at cousin Shelia's house. Daddy and I love you so much. We recognize how blessed we are to have you in our lives. One look at your sweet face can turn around a not-so-fabulous day...because you are the sunshine of our lives. Love you, sweet girl!

Nine Months...!!!

Look out, world! This girl is on the move! She has the crawling thing down like a pro, and any day now, she is going to take off walking. She already walks hanging onto whatever it is she pulls up on, like the ottoman or couch, but she is getting better at balancing, so I know it won't be long! At her nine month appointment, she weighed 19 pounds (50th percentile), has grown three inches which put her in 43rd percentile, and her head had grown a little over 3/4 of an inch, which put her in the 47th percentile. She has been saying "da-da" for a few months, but now she correlates the person with the name. I have a digital frame on the stand on my side of the bed, and last night she was watching the pictures change. When one of her and Dan came up, she smiled really big and squealed with her sweet high pitched voice, "Da-Dee!" Yes, I can appreciate the sweetness of the moment, even if it was at 2:30 this morning. ;) She loves our phones and the remote. She wants them all the time and will search them out. She has started to develop a little attitude and has had to be on the receiving end of some small disciplinary action. This age has been a little more challenging, with her discovering her new state of mobility. Scares me to death! But I know she has to learn. Love this girl so much!

8 Months...I know, I'm behind...

She was sick and not in the mood for any kind of picture on her actual 8 month birthday, so this is a few days off. Masie weighs 18 1/2 pounds and is doing a funky kind of army crawl. She starts off in the traditional crawl position but then falls on the floor and army crawls to whatever she is after. She says "da-da", "pa-pa", "ba-ba", and she loves practicing her "s" sounds. She pulls up to standing on her own and loves to have a hand in everything! And she finally has a tooth! It's the cutest little tooth in the whole world! LOL She LOVES music, and when I sing to her sometimes she tries to "sing along" with me. It is the sweetest sound and brings absolute joy to hear. Her hair is thickening up, and with her tooth in, she is looking more and more like a little girl and less and less like a baby. It's bittersweet, for sure.

7 Months/Halloween

This little butterfly was 7 months old on Halloween! She went trick-or-treating for the first time to cousin Sheila's house and Aunt Diane's house. She didn't quite know what to think about it, but she liked digging in the candy bowl! :) She is getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, but no crawling yet. She continues to say "da-da-da-da", but no "ma-ma" yet. She has the sweetest little babbling voice that can be a little raspy at times. The child squeals....LOUDLY! We think it's funny now, but I know the day is coming when it happens at an inappropriate time. LOL Love my sweet girl! :)

Six Months...AKA 1/2 a YEAR!!!!

Say it isn't so!!!! HALF of a YEAR!!!! Oh.My.Goodness! I can't think about it. I literally think she gets bigger every.single.day. She went to her six month doctor appointment last week, and she has definitely grown! She now weighs over 16 pounds and is 25 inches long. We had already begun cereal, bananas, and some veggies, but the doctor said to continue adding more to her routine so that eventually, before her next appointment, she is eating more than she is drinking from a bottle. She is sitting up well on her own, rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy. She says da-da-da-da, which just makes Dan's day, as you can imagine! She likes to click her tongue and smack her lips, and she loves to babble, which is the sweetest sound in the world! Sometimes when she is soothing herself she will sing in the cutest little whispery voice. Still, I find myself just staring at her. Masie Lauren, you have me mesmerized...