"Howdy, Ya'all!"

9 Months

19 lbs. 12 oz. ~ 40th percentile

29 1/4 inches ~ 80th percentile

Head circumference: 18 1/2 inches ~ 90th percentile

Wow.  Johnny has officially been out of my womb for as long as he was in it!  Crazy.  The time really is going by so fast.  Too fast.  He is so grown up already in so many ways.

Johnny is such a delight!  He wakes up every morning happy as can be.  He loves to crawl to where ever the action is, but also likes a few minutes by himself every once in a while, to explore something in detail.  In the past couple of weeks, Johnny has been so social, even doling out hugs to people in the ward.  He has also really started to express his need to be with his Daddy for a little while each day.  

This probably goes more to show how bad of a mother I am, but hey, I'm documenting history as it happens, right? :)  Johnny LOVES Dora.  I sure hope this isn't starting a trend for him falling for girls that are loud and obnoxious.  :)  He likes to crawl up to the TV when the girls are watching one of their shows and "talk" to the characters.  This involves a lot of slapping the TV and loud noises.  But it's still cute!  He also enjoys bouncing in his bouncer after bath time and watching a little "Baby Einstein".  Now that's some TV I don't feel entirely guilty that he watches.

Johnny is a very patient, yet determined, little guy.  He rarely gets really frustrated when he can't do something, and instead will keep trying different things until he figures it out.  I love to watch him get interested in something.  He gets a very serious look on his face, and starts working things out.  He's so smart!  He loves opening doors or working with anything else mechanical.  He is his Daddy's son!

Here's more about Johnny at 9 months:

*His growth has stabilized with his diaper size, shoe size, and clothing size remaining the same as at 8 months

 *Sleeps an average of 10 hours at night

*Takes two-ish naps a day

*Is completely mobile via crawling and walking along anything that will help him keep his balance

*Holds his own bottle and sippy cup

*Loves to dance to music by shaking his head back and forth and moving his shoulders

*LOVES the outdoors, and Jack

*Recognizes pictures of people in the family, and loves to look at them

*Still nursing, though not as much as he's eating solids

*Gives hugs, real on-purpose hugs

*Waves goodbye, especially when he's ready to go to bed

*Can't wait to talk to his sisters in the morning

*Loves playing with the toy kitchen with Claire and Sophie

*Is still extremely ticklish...sometimes you don't even have to touch him

We love you, Johnny!  It hurts my heart how fast you're growing, but I can't wait to get to know you more with each passing day.

Some Things Are Always The Same

Each baby is unique.  And as they grow, you see more of their differences.  Their individual personality comes out more and more as they develop.  It's one of the most exciting, and rewarding, parts of having a baby.  It makes all the spit-up, poop, and crying worth it.

But some things stay the same from baby to baby.  And one of them, I've decided, is the baby falling asleep in the bouncer.  It's a classic photo-op moment.

Claire

Sophie

Johnny

Mother's Day

I enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day this year.  The day started out perfectly with Claire waking up, coming into our room, and coming straight over to me and saying, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!"  It wasn't long until Sophie did the same thing.  I think this is the first year the girls have understood what they were saying when they said that!  I loved it.

Then Danny and the kids left me to sleep in for a few more minutes, and they went and wrapped a gift they had gotten for me.  When they were finished, they brought it back into our room, and we started unwrapping...

A waffle iron!  Thanks, kids! :)

I love kitchen appliances, so I was excited about the waffle iron.  But I was even more excited about it once Danny started making my Mother's Day breakfast!  He got right to work, with the two cutest sous chefs ever...

 Johnny supervised. :)

Behold, the inaugural waffle!  But this isn't your Mama's waffle.  This is the Double Chocolate Waffle!

Yum!  I couldn't have been happier with my Mother's Day breakfast!  It was seriously delicious.  Double Chocolate Waffles with Berry Sauce and Sweetened Whip Cream!  It hardly constitutes breakfast.  And Danny, as always, did a superb job cooking.

It was nice to have Danny home on a Sunday morning, so we just enjoyed a leisurely few hours before it was time to get ready for church.  Claire was so excited to sing in Sacrament Meeting.  We had been singing "Mother, I Love You" every night before bed for the last few weeks so that she would be confident to sing both verses in front of the whole congregation.  And she was amazing!  It was such a special moment for me, and honestly, probably my favorite part of the day.  When she sang the line "Father in Heaven has sent me to you", I just lost it.  I can't believe I have a child that sings on Mother's Day.  And a stinkin' cute one at that.

Danny really outdid himself cooking this year.  For dinner we had Orange Thai Beef Skewers with Savory Coconut Rice and Watermelon.  It was outstanding!

And I was one happy Mama!

All in all, we knocked off another 2-3 recipes out of the Our Best Bites cookbook, and we're well on our way to completing the whole book.  Danny also completed with meal with a Frozen Berries with White Chocolate Cream dessert that was to die for.  And are you ready for this?  NOT OBB! ;)  Turns out there are other good recipes out there.  Go figure! :)

What a wonderful day!  I absolutely love being a Mom to these 3 rowdy kids.  I can't believe how much I've been blessed.

I've learned a lot about motherhood in the last year, and I'm learning more every day.  I'm so grateful for each of my children.  I'm grateful for Claire's friendship and the easy pace she takes in life.  I'm grateful for all of Sophie's energy and love for life, and for how easily she tells me she loves me.  And I'm so grateful for my Johnny, who can smile any fear or sadness right away.  They each teach me so much, and the Lord is using these sweet spirits to smooth out my rough edges.  I had no idea I was so rough. :)

I love you, Claire Bear!  I love you, Sosie-kins!  I love you, John-boy!

Does The Fun Ever End?

On our way home from the Mirage, after an incredible time at the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, we cruised through Caesar's Palace.  We were hoping to see the talking statue show, but it only plays on the hour and we weren't willing to wait.  We did pass right by Mesa Grill, which is Bobby Flay's restaurant, where Danny and I had high hopes of dining.  But it's not exactly kid friendly. :)  Another time, perhaps. 

We exited Caesar's Palace and found ourselves outside the Bellagio, so we found a place to watch the water show.  We only had to wait about 5 minutes.  The Bellagio water show never disappoints!

  

The kids were speechless...

I know the picture of Sophie is a little awkward, but she is sitting on top of my shoulders. :)

After the water show, Claire and Sophie wanted to show Daddy "Fairyland" (which, if you remember, is what the girls thought of the Conservatory gardens inside the Bellagio).  We headed inside, and enjoyed all the flowers and butterflies again.  I did notice something I hadn't earlier.  Next to the old-fashioned carousel were some old Schwinn bikes.  This one had a basket identical to the one that Rachel had on her bike!  Rachel and my Mom got to visit Vegas on their way to visit us just a couple of months before she died, and she really loved the Bellagio gardens and Chihuly ceiling.  I had to smile when I saw this bike on display.  Rachel would have loved it!

And with that, our adventures on the strip came to a close.  We scurried back to our hotel and put our exhausted kids to bed.  Danny still had another day of work the next day, so we weren't far behind.

Thursday was our final day at the hotel, and we were so tired from all our fun the days before, that we pretty much just laid around all day.  It was great!  At one point, all three kids were napping and I was left alone to enjoy some HGTV and ice cream.  It was bliss.  Once Danny came home, we went swimming, since it was the first and last time we would get the chance to swim with him.  The kids were excited to show Daddy the pool!

It's amazing to me how much Johnny looks like his Daddy sometimes.  I can barely handle having so much handsome in one house! :)

And these two girls had the time of their life over these four days.  

We all did, really.  Even though Danny had to work during the day, it was the first vacation-type experience we've had with just our little family.  And we're hooked!  We can't wait to do it again, and are tentatively planning a trip to San Diego next summer.  Danny and I are much more motivated to make that happen now.

We spent our last night enjoying the cable, and of course the monstrous bath tub.  All too soon, it was time to pack up and say good-bye to our time in Vegas.  It was hard to leave, but it is always good to get home again.  Even if you don't have a double-headed shower... :)

"Bye, Vegas!  Thanks for all the good times!"

Lions and Tigers and Dolphins...Oh My!

On Wednesday, the kids and I enjoyed another morning and afternoon at the hotel.  We watched cartoons, took naps, and went swimming again.  Good times!  But really what we were doing was passing the time until Daddy came home and we could embark on our next adventure.

As soon as Danny walked in, and I literally mean "as soon as", we were ready to head back out on the strip for another marathon walk to our next destination.  This time we were headed to the Mirage to check out The Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.  Once again, we left ourselves barely enough time to get there before they closed for the day.  But thanks to some serious power-walking, we made it with about 8 minutes to spare.  Phew!

Ok, let me just say that this outing alone did a great deal to redeem Vegas as a whole.  It. Was. Incredible!  We came to the dolphin pools first.  I've never seen a live dolphin before, and Danny had only had a glimpse of one in the wild before.  So it wasn't only the girls that were excited this time!

  Johnny, in his stroller as usual, slept through this part...

I think I can say, hands down, that dolphins are the coolest animals I've ever seen!  The habitat consists of four research pools that the dolphins just swim in.  There are no shows.  But you can literally sit at the pool's edge, and when the dolphins swim to that edge, you're only about 3 feet away from them.  It was amazing how social they were, and there is a very strong impulse to dive in and swim with them!  We restrained ourselves.  Barely.  But I think we have a new goal to get on a future list!

We seriously could have stayed with the dolphins for the rest of the time we were there, but we had less than an hour before they closed for the night.  We had heard that the Secret Garden was pretty cool, so we headed that way next.

It was so cool!  They had 5 or 6 white tigers, and these animals were simply breathtaking.  And again, we were only about 3 feet from the fencing, and these tigers were feeling social.  Beyond awesome.

We couldn't believe how big this guy was!  Tigers are always cool to see, but this particular white tiger was just gorgeous.   And, in my opinion, unusually playful...you know, for a tiger.

We also saw a black panther, at which Claire immediately exclaimed, "Bagheera!"  This guy did look a lot like the beloved Disney character.

And then more white tigers!  Apparently, these were of different species of tiger.  They looked a lot like the other ones to me!  You can see one playing in the waterfall behind the girls and me.

A white tiger, sleeping in a tree.  So cool!

And the white lion was just...I don't know!  Incredible!  I've never seen a white lion, and we were so close to him.  He kept pacing the fence, and he would roar at me any time I stuck my camera close to the fence.  Even though he was on the other side of that fence, his growl made me nervous!

 What a handsome fella!  We also saw a cheetah...but she was sleeping.

The girls were just loving all these big cats!  Claire is at the age where she can really appreciate what she's seeing.  I can't believe our baby is almost four!

We had about a half hour before the habitat and garden closed for the day, so we decided to go spend some more time with the dolphins.  And I wanted to make sure we had enough time to hit the gift shop for some sort of souvenir.  So off we went!

On a side note, I just love Danny!  I love watching him with our kids.  I love that he not only wanted to take us along with him for this business trip, but instead of relaxing after a long day at work, he took us out on adventures almost every night.  I could search the whole world over, twice, and never find a man like him.  He's awesome!

Ok, so back to the dolphins! :)

We came back during feeding time, which was totally fun to watch.  It also made the dolphins particularly giddy.  Can't say I blame them...I get giddy at dinnertime, too! :)

Johnny woke up just before we left the Secret Garden.  I was glad, because I thought he might get a kick out of the dolphins.  I was right!

There was one place left that we hadn't been too yet, and that was the underground observation area.  It was really neat to be able to watch the dolphins swim.  Like I said, Johnny got a kick out of his water mammal friends. :)

Between our experience at the aquarium the night before, and here at the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, I learned something about Claire.  She really loves to find the pictures of the animals we're seeing.  She carried around her information booklet while we were looking at the animals, and then snagged a picture of a dolphin at the gift shop for her souvenir.  Just like with the lionfish at the aquarium, she wanted the dolphin to see its picture.  She cracks me up!

And with that, it was time to head home.  We still had an adventure ahead of us just getting back to the hotel! Not to mention we still had another day of vacation before we had to go home.  But even with the promise of more fun on the horizon, it was still hard to leave this awesome place.

Sophie wanted to stay forever. :)