Love is Patient: August 2014

Oh my little love bug...how can you be nine months old already?!? You have turned into the most fun-loving, sweet, loving, hilarious, MOBILE, baby girl with a full-of-life personality. There is not a day, or even a moment, that goes by that your smile doesn't light up a room. You can make the hardest of days seem so light and easy and make me feel like I can conquer anything because of the beautiful light in your eyes. I am forever thankful that God chose me to be your mommy.

Ever since this little princess was born she has forever changed my world and the way that I look at things. You always hear other moms say about how becoming a mom just changes you and your viewpoints and how God just gives you all the tools that you need. But man, you can just never fully understand just exactly what that means until you become a mommy yourself. I would give my life for this precious angel without thinking twice. Her needs come before mine and I don't even give a second thought about what's best for me or what I want. Like...I will be about to wet my pants and I will drop everything I'm about to do and do whatever it is she needs me for. Even if it takes hours. And if you know me (the old me), then you know that that's huge! Because...let's be honest...I have been known to be pretty selfish. Not that I don't still have some work to do...but Seiden has made me so much more selfless and so much more appreciative of even the smallest of breaths. One of my favorite things to do is to go in her room during a nap, after she's fallen asleep at night, or in the early hours of the morning before the rest of the house is up and just listen to her sweet breaths and watch the rise and fall of her precious chest. Just breathing life in so cuddly and warm in her crib with no cares in the world. And when she wakes up with me standing over her and gives me the sweetest, sleepiest, most precious smile, she knows that she is loved and taken care of. Because our amazing Father has equipped me with exactly what I need so that I can care for and love her just the way she needs. I'm in awe everyday that our amazing God knows just exactly what kind of mommy Seiden needs me to be. He knows every fiber of her being and gave me the strength, knowledge, tools, and wisdom to be exactly what she needs me to be.

She has grown and changed so much, it's truly unbelievable. I took her in for her nine month check-up and our pediatrician was like...well...she is definitely not a tiny baby anymore...she has developed into her own self and has quite the personality! Such sweet words! But man...it just really hit me that she is growing up SO fast. I guess it was just because he hadn't seen her in a couple months and he noticed such a drastic difference in her from the last time he saw her. And those of us that see her everyday know that she is growing, changing, and developing, but it's just so much obvious to someone who hasn't seen her for a few months! As for her 9 month check-up...she didn't have to have any shots. So, this mommy was extremely happy! But, I actually wound up taking her in a week before her nine month check-up because she had a terrible cough and I knew it had started to settle in her chest. She was gobbling down her food, but was so completely disinterested in her bottles, it was panicking me. Like literally...I think I probably had a mild panic attack that week. She was seriously drinking between 5-10 ounces a day. I was a petrified mess. But, I tried to keep telling myself that she was eating her food, her snacks, she was happy, she was completely normal except that she wouldn't drink her bottles. Well...she was so stopped up from the cold that she had that it was hard for her to breathe while she was drinking. I had been giving her a couple of breathing treatments everyday. But, when we went in for her cold/nine month check-up, our doctor told me to give her four treatments a day and he also prescribed Amoxicillin just to nip a possible ear infection in the butt before it could develop from all the drainage. She had lost a little bit of weight because of her not eating, but he wasn't concerned. She weighed 14.13lbs (she had just been a little over 15lbs when we weighed her at home) and was 26.5 inches long. All was good except for he yucky cough and stopped up nose. And thankfully...it only lasted a week!

The one BIG thing the little princess has started doing during her ninth month...crawling! Yes...she's CRAWLING!!! My once sweet, tiny, sleepy, newborn is now MOBILE!!! How did this happen?!? I swear we just brought her home from the NICU yesterday. But let me just say...it is seriously the CUTEST crawl ever! It's not a normal crawl. Because...let's be real...Seiden way too special to be like everyone else! And...she's already pulling up on everything. Quite easily I might add! She totally marches to the beat of her own drum! Speaking of that...let's talk about little miss and her BIG personality. She is quite the little comedian. When she does something she thinks is hilarious, she will start laughing at herself. And, just to make sure everyone in the room is paying attention to her, she will spin around on her little bottom and look at everyone, then do whatever it is that she finds so funny again. It's absolutely hilarious and just so wonderful and precious to watch. She gets so excited when she does something new and waits patiently (not really!) for you to applaud her and cheer for her. Love it! Another thing that she does that's just totally adorable is make these little noises and blink simultaneously. It's like she's going..."ha..ha..ha" and blinking with every "ha." It's so cute...and so funny! Ok...only one more thing...I promise! She makes the BIGGEST "cheese" face that just brings us in to our knees in laughter. She makes this new face a lot. But, she really does it when you can just truly tell that she's so full of joy and excitement that she just doesn't know what to do with her little self! This girl knows exactly what to do to get her mommy and daddy even further wrapped around every fiber of her precious little self!

My precious, precious Seiden Grace...how is it even possible that I've fallen more and more in love with you? I didn't think that my heart could be so full and that I could love you even more than I did before. But somehow, little princess, you seem to capture a new piece of my heart each and everyday. My love for you is unconditional and I just fall more and more in love with you with every minute in everyday. I hope you know that your daddy and I would go to the ends of the earth and to the moon and back to do anything for you. I pray everyday that you will do big and wonderful things in this life that God has given you. But, I pray more that you will do great things for His Kingdom. I know that your Heavenly Father molded you, spoke life in you, and created you to be a Kingdom changer. You are a true miracle, a perfect angel sent straight into our arms from heaven. Oh little one...you are so loved. You make our lives complete and bring more joy to us than you could ever imagine possible. Thank you for being our daughter and making us a mommy and a daddy. Happy NINE Months Seiden Grace!!!!