9 Months!

Yay! Lucy Mills is 9 months old!

...and her new trick this week is clapping her hands.

Along with eating her lovey.

At nine months old Lucy Mills is crawling, clapping her hands, saying "Da-da," getting used to having 2 bottom teeth, eating crackers and fruit, mimicking faces I make, pulling up in her crib, drinking out of a sippy cup, waving her hands, and loving all her stuffed animals.

On the move.

And it was just a matter of time before this happened.

With all of Daddy's guitar time, Lucy Mills is ready to start practicing!

Maggie is still getting used to sudden sneak ups!

We are pulling up all by ourselves. We can sit on our knees or pull all the way up to our feet. Good thing Daddy lowered the crib last week!

Still the same sweet girl.

That likes to make pouty faces :)

Anniversary

Travis and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary May 24th. And what an amazing adventure married life has been! I have to say that I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to this man. I feel like I could live the rest of my days by his side and it wouldn't be enough time. I remember when Travis and I were dating and beginning to get serious, I came to the realization that God must love me more than I imagined to bring this man into my life. Now don't get me wrong, we are not perfect, our marriage isn't perfect and I am still learning about this whole wife gig. But, I love my husband more than ever and I pray that the Lord will continue to bless our marriage and our family.

At our rehearsal dinner 2 years ago, Travis surprised me with a performance that had been months in the making. He had been meeting with his talented musician friend Jeremiah Jones, and the two put together a rendition of Michael Bubles' song Everything. I have to admit when I saw him take the mic with guitar in hand in front of a roomful of our closest friends, nerves overtook my body. But as he put his heart, voice, and talent into this love song to me, I was in awe that I had finally found my best friend. Here are the words to the song...

You're a falling star, you're the get away car.
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.
And you're the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy but it's kinda cute.
Ah, when you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don't pretend that you don't know it's true.
'cause you can see it when I look at you.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, you make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,
You're every minute of my everyday.

And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,
And you know that's what our love can do.

So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, you make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.
You're every song, and I sing along.
'Cause you're my everything.
Yeah, yeah

So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Lucy Mills Has Something to Say...

...her little brother or sister is on the way!!!

We are thrilled to announce that the Lord has blessed us with another child. Baby Mason #2 is due to arrive January 6th. Our children will be 16 months apart (gulp!) and I imagine life will be crazy in our house for a while. But what a gift we have been given! I can't wait to see Lucy Mills take on the role of being a big sister to this little one. It is so fun to see our family growing.

Have You Missed Us???

Updates to come...

Mother's Day

How blessed am I to be this sweet angel's mama?

What a special day May 9, 2010 was for me! Travis and Lucy Mills made me feel so loved, appreciated, and adored on my first Mother's Day. I actually counted last year as my first Mother's Day because I was pregnant with Lucy Mills and knew that she was very much alive. But this was my first Mother's Day having her here to hold in my arms.

what a babydoll

With the gorgeous pink roses from my loves

My other fun surprise that morning was waking up to Travis bringing me coffee and breakfast in bed! I have never had such a treat! But when Lucy Mills woke up, the concept of food, drinks, and a mobile baby in the bed wasn't doable so we moved to the kitchen table.

I vote for Daddy to cook a pancake breakfast every weekend!

My Mother's Day feast

What a way to start the day!

On a side note, these two monkeys have been playing together a lot! Since Lucy Mills is army crawling and scooting around everywhere, she has now invaded on Maggie's space. Here she is moving in on Maggie's toy...

Secretly I think Maggie loves it!

I came across some insightful words on Sallie Clarkson's blog. She wrote The Mission of Motherhood and several other books I have enjoyed reading. This is a snippet of what she published on her blog this Mother's Day. It was a good reminder that in the seemingly menial tasks of changing diapers, wiping noses, folding laundry and rushing to the grocery store for the 4th time in a week; there is a bigger picture going on here that will one day pay off in eternity. Enjoy...

It is indeed the personal touch of a mother’s heart that creates grand civility, deep affection, care and commitment to the foundations of a family. When the invisible strings of a mother’s heart are tied to the heart of her children through loving sacrifice and nurture, the stability and foundations of a nation become secure and stable. A mother, living well in her God-ordained role, is of great beauty and inestimable value to the future history of any generation. Her impact is irreplaceable and necessary to the spiritual formation of children who will be the future adults of the next generation. Fun, comfort, humor, graciousness, spiritual passion, compassion for the lost, hospitality, chores, meals, training, life-giving words, hours and hours of listening and playing and praying and reading—all are parts of the mosaic which go into the process of soul development.

Moms, God is calling us to a work that is quite important--He will give us the strength and supply us with wisdom one day at a time. He will listen to our prayers. But most of all, we have to be willing to bend over backwards to meet needs and to encourage and to figure out a new game plan, because we are His guard in a fallen, tempting world; we are His hands and words of comfort and wisdom; and we are His voice to tell our children that we love them and believe in them, even in the midst of their immaturity. May He give grace to each of you today! Happy Mother's Day!

Eight Months!

The thought just came to me that at eight months old Lucy Mills is closer to being a toddler than a baby!

Remember when she used to just lay beside the piece of paper with her age on it?

So much personality this one!

I'll be bigger than you soon bud!

Cheese!

such a sweet girl

do you think I look like my daddy?

While we have been giving Lucy Mills baby food since she was six months old, actually using the high chair is new

...and change is scary for us

I love playing with Mommy's pots and pans...just try to take them away from me!

I dare ya!

boing!!!

Daddy is so much fun!

I'm teething on EVERYTHING these days!

Reality setting in that Lucy Mills is here to stay.

Friends, Hairbows, and Laundry

Yes, I realize that my child is now over 8 months old and I have not yet done the monthly picture, nor have I posted video of her saying my favorite word Ma-ma. I have not even mentioned that she is sheer moments away from crawling as she has the rocking on her knees thing down.

What I will say is that I love being this happy little girl's mama. I was packing up some of the clothes that Lucy Mills has worn in the months since she was born in August, and as I held some of them up I could not believe how much she has grown. Dresses that I bought months and months ago thinking it will be forever before she can wear this, have now been worn, washed, and are now finding there way into the storage boxes.

Even though we have struggled these past two weeks with teething pains, fevers, sleep interruptions, cold and allergies, I know that I have all I ever wanted when this sweet child sees me walk in the room and she calls me by name.

Last week we enjoyed some time with one of my dear friends Cara. Lucy Mills is getting spoiled with the thoughtful goodies that Cara always brings her! I can't wait for Lucy Mills to have hair long enough for me to put the USC Gamecocks bow in it - thanks Cara!

Mom, do you see any hair on this head yet???

Cara: you will have it soon Lucy Mills!

In other news Lucy Mills was a big help with the laundry this week...

wow Mom, where do we even start with that big pile?

guess I will just work on folding these socks...

Lucy Mills is doing great at sitting up. I remember thinking I will have more freedom when she can sit up on her own. Well now that she sits up she reaches for any object near by and immediately puts it in her mouth. I am now realizing that with sitting up, the next milestone is crawling. I can pretty much kiss any bits of freedom away!

Thank you for keeping up with our precious one. I will hopefully get some more pictures up this week!