Owen's 10th month.

Owen was 11 months old on Tuesday! I feel like he's grown up so much in the last month. Here's a recap of his 10th month of life...

• Busy is an understatement...you always prefer to be standing up, cruising along the furniture, & you've already taken a few solitary steps.
• You say "bye", "hey", "dog", "mama", "dada", "cookie", & "Jesus" (so sweet) & you say many other things that we just can't translate yet.
• You love to read. You turn the pages & will sometimes sit with a book open in your lap & "read" it to me.
• You imitate most everything we do...you brush your teeth with your little toothbrush when we do, you brush your hair, & you try to put your own shoes on.
• You've learned to stack the rings on your ring stacker, to put some of your toys in the basket when we clean up before bed, & you've learned to clap your hands (precious!) so you love to clap for yourself when you do something good!
• We had been giving you water in a sippy cup for a couple of months, but started giving you milk in your cup. You took right to it & have now transitioned off of the bottle to the sippy cup...what a big boy!
• You've tried a few more new foods-tuna, mini pizzas, spaghetti, & an Oreo.
• You wear 12 months clothes. 

You're just growing up so fast! It's so hard for me to believe that it's less than a month until your 1st birthday!

Christmas with the Tarrs

 Our Christmas countdown calendar, says it's almost Christmas!

Here are some pictures of Christmasy things around our house...

The Unimaginable

The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School has left me and many others dealing with so many questions, emotions, and fears. No doubt I would have been touched by it at any point in my life, but now being a mother I know that I have even more affected by the event.

I cannot even begin to imagine what these grieving families must be experiencing. I pray for them daily.

Although there is so much about the tragedy that we can't possible understand, I can be certain of what I do know-Those sweet children are resting in the arms of God...God is mourning with us...Our God is a great comforter...evil has been overcome by good, not in this world but in the world to come...our world needs Christ and his love more than ever.

Our Tree.

The 1st weekend in December we trekked out to Country Cove Christmas Tree Farm for the 1st Annual Tarr Family Christmas Tree cutting. 

It wasn't until we go there that we discovered that the only trees we could cut ourselves were white pines (Charlie Brown trees) or Leyland Cypresses. We wanted to cut our own tree enough that we opted to forgo bringing home the Fraiser Fir we had imagined & settled for the cypress. It has a beautiful shape & doesn't have needles to shed (a great plus!). 

We had a great time making family Christmas memories!

Pictures of our decorated tree to come.

Balance.

Life is all about balance.
We have to eat, but we can't eat too much...We have to work, but we also have to sleep...We have to laugh, but we also have to cry...We have to have fun, but we also have to be serious...We have to save money, but we also have to spend money...

If you asked me a year ago, I would have said that I felt like I had a good grasp on how to live a balanced life. Then, my life changed! Life is so different for me now than it was this time last year when we were making the final preparations for Owen's arrival.  Now, with my new priority, I feel like I am constantly attempting to find a sense of balance in every waking moment.

I am slowly learning that I can't do everything that I was doing a year ago. I can't keep our house as neat as it used to be...I can't cook 4 or 5 nights a week...I can't put as much time into wrapping Christmas gifts for friends & family...I can't be involved in every opportunity that comes my way.

Yet, my life has changed for the better! God is teaching me about what really matters in life...It's not a neat house, gourmet meals, or the best wrapped presents. Life is about love.

As the Christmas season fast approaches & my to-do list grows longer & longer, I am praying to keep love & family as my focus. Everything else can wait.

1st look at a Christmas tree.

Owen's checking out Grammy's Christmas tree...his 1st look at a Christmas tree.

Owen at 9 months.

Owen was 10 months old yesterday! Time continues to just fly by & I can't believe we're just 2 months away from his 1st birthday!

Here's a run-down of the 9th month of Owen's life...

• You are busier than ever...you never scoot anymore, but you crawl on all 4s amazingly fast!
• You pull up on anything & everything constantly. You're starting to let go & stand alone for longer periods of time. Keeping you safe is a full-time job!
• You do not appreciate being confined to any space. You want to go wherever you want.
• You learned to open & close your fingers & say "buh-buh". It's precious!
• You love to play the piano & babble while you play.
• You can lift the flaps in "Where is Baby's Belly Button". You just love that book!
• Daddy taught you to call the dawgs on the kick-offs of UGA football games. You pump your arm up & down when he says "sic 'em, woo, woo, woo". It is priceless to watch the two of you doing it!
• You also say "mamamama" (especially when you are upset), "dada", "dug", & are trying to say something that starts with the sound "tuh". We just haven't translated that one yet!
• You have 7 teeth- 4 on top & 3 on bottom.
• You have tried some new snack foods-graham crackers & waffle wheels. You've gotten the hang of biting off small pieces.
• You are still a good eater, but favor certain foods. Your favorites are breads, cheeses, yogurt, green peas, & all fruits.
• You tried a few other new foods that you liked- cheese tortellini, peanut butter (yum!), black beans, and cheese toast.
• Firsts- You celebrated your 1st Halloween dressed as Charlie Brown. We took you to the Waffle House for breakfast one Saturday morning, which you loved, and you also visited the Nashville Zoo for the 1st time!
• At your 9 1/2 month check-up you weighed 21 lbs. & 14 oz. (80th%-not as much as we'd guessed) & you measured 30 inches long (90th %).
• You're wearing mostly 12 month clothes now.

Learning how to call the Dawgs!

Being silly with mommy one morning!

Mail for me??? YEAH!

Firsts.

It's been a busy week for Owen with lots of fun firsts...

Last Saturday morning we took Owen for his first Waffle House breakfast. He definitely enjoyed his bites of waffle, toast, eggs, & hash browns (only scattered this time!).

This morning we took Owen to the Nashville Zoo for the 1st time. We had a blast, and were definitely impressed with our local zoo. Owen has no fear-he could hardly wait to pet the Clydsdale horse's head! (P.S. Because I dropped our camera, with the lens out, last week all of these photos were taken with my iPhone camera :-(

In other firsts, after his 9 month check up last week, Dr. Rauth said we could give him his 1st taste of peanut butter. Chris could hardly wait & so on Wednesday he got his first tiny taste. We watched him closely  & had the Benadryl ready to go just in case, but all was well & he loved it! We've given him tiny little tastes again since then.

Loving all of these fun moments with our little man!

Smile.

 I live for this sweet, sweet smile!

1st Halloween.

Our little Owen celebrated his 1st Halloween dressed as Charlie Brown.

 His costume was a hit with everyone!

We went to the Woodmont Baptist Fall Festival last Sunday all dressed as Peanuts characters (Sally, Linus, & Charlie Brown).

Owen dressed up on Halloween to "help" hand out candy to our trick-or-treaters, although we only had 4.

Owen even got to sample his 1st bite of candy-a couple of nibbles of a 3 Musketeers bar. I think the boy is definitely going to love chocolate!

Owen's 8th month.

Owen is 9 months old today. It's hard to believe that I have a 9 month old!

Here's the run down of Owen's 8th month of life...

• You are a busy little man...
  -Knocking over blocks,
  -Throwing things from your highchair,
  -Scooting all over the place,
  -Pulling up,
  -Standing up in your crib,
  -Moving from lying to sitting...
• You can crawl on all fours with your belly off the ground now, but you move much faster by scooting on your belly so rarely crawl off the ground.
• You started pulling up & you haven't stopped since. You'll use anything you can to pull up (the sofa, people, doorframes, the wall, etc.). You're even getting brave & letting go for a couple of seconds!
• You love to close doors. Mommy is terrified that you're going to slam your fingers in the door, so I close them & you get quite unhappy.
• You love your dog Sadie...you shriek with delight when she's around, watch her every move, & are learning that she likes you to feed her from your highchair (oh dear!).
• You learned to click your tongue & you do it a lot!
• You are starting to imitate things that we do-waving, dancing, laughing...
• You are learning to wave hi & bye-bye.
• You say bye bye ("buh buh"), dog ("dug"), dada, & mama.
• You have 3 teeth on the bottom & now almost 2 on top!
• We gave you meat (ground turkey) for the 1st time just this week. You seemed to like it ok, but not as much as you like your veggies & fruits.
• You went to the mountains, strolled to the highest point in TN, & saw the Appalachian Trail for the first time.
• You are wearing 9 & 12 month clothes.
• We don't know exactly how much you weigh, but using unofficial measures, we think about 23 lbs. You are soooo tall, I bet off the charts now!

We love you so much & are looking forward to what the 9th month of life brings!

Little monkey!

Owen's new jacket

Owen's new school bus-Thanks Grampy!

Halloween attire!

Trip to the mountains of N.C.

All smiles!