9 Months

Sierra is 9 months old today! Time just keeps flying past us. Our precious little girl is growing up so fast.  She has her 9 month check-up next week, so I will try and post her latest stats at that time. Until then, it is worthy to note that Sierra is still growing and changing on a daily basis; however, in comparison to other children she is taking her own sweet time when it comes to "growing up". 

We knew parenting was going to be hard, but no one ever told us that we would feel competitive tones when it came to development. We are focusing on turning these feelings over to God; and

 always knowing that we love our child for who she is and the unique ways that God has created her in His image. Praise the Lord that she was created by Him and in Him - alone! I have dear Godly, "mommy" friends that remind me often that it is not a competition and that this fleshly world we live in can be disappointing at times; especially when people intend to say kind things, yet come off sounding like child development is an Olympic competition. It is my new found desire to not sound competitive when talking to other moms about the things that their children are or are not doing. I have asked Brian to hold me accountable to this, for I know I can fall into this sin just as easy as the next mother can. 

I wondered if I should write this post to say all the things that Sierra is not doing; Such as...she is not crawling yet and is definitely not walking, she is still eating pureed food - no table food, she does not drink formula - still breastfeeding, she hasn't gotten any more teeth, she hasn't learned to "sign" anything, and she definitely is not saying any words. 

Mercifully though, God has blessed us with the two most beautiful brown eyes you could ever see, the most precious smile to greet you after nap time, a child who loves to drink her water from her sippy cup, a strong little girl that would much rather stand up than sit down, a child who loves to sing along to any music she hears, a giggle that would melt your heart, a 9 month old that is nursing so well, it doesn't look like she is giving it up any time soon, a sweet chunky

 face that gives open mouth/wet kisses, a darling little hand that waves bye-bye, hello, night-night and every time a kitty walks in front of her path, and a sweet voice that babbles mamamamama and dadadadada, a sound that we adore even if it is spoken out of context. 

We praise God for his blessing in our lives this past 9 months and we are so thankful that He continues to make babies in His own uniqueness; and we pray that this world will someday abandon the "ideals" of development and allow each child to be seen as -"wonderful", just as our Father sees each of us. 

Here are some recent pictures and video of our "wonderful"...