Faith pulled a chair over and scared me to death

It's not unusual for Faith to climb on a chair like this for a snack.

Today, however, she managed to pull that chair on top of her.

And immediately I noticed a large bruised knot on the side of her foot where the chair landed.

It's hard to tell from this picture but that bruise and knot really scared me.  I thought it was broken.

So I took her to the Urgent Care and had it xrayed.  Fortunately, it was just a bruise.  I did learn something helpful, though.  Apparently, children are smarter than adults and won't walk on a broken foot or leg.  That's a tidbit of information that make be useful in the future.  Hopefully, my kids won't scare me like this again.

Grace is walking in my shoes

Grace has a minor obsession with shoes.  My shoes in particular.

She really likes my red heels with the bow on top.

Apparently, they match her dress.

A little girl wearing her Momma's shoes is so iconic yet true.  Grace is following in my shoes.  I am one of her biggest role models right now.  It's such a big responsibility but also a great joy to watch as my little girl grows into a beautiful young lady.

Her head was stuck

As you know both of my girls now sleep in bunk beds.  Grace on top.  Faith on bottom.

Hoping to prevent them from falling out of bed, we put up side bed rails.  And I went a bit further by putting a bookcase right next to the bed leaving only a small area by the ladder left open for Faith to climb in and out.

I thought that I was making her bed safer for her.  At 3am this morning, I found out otherwise. I woke up to Faith screaming like she was hurt.  I rushed down the stairs with my hands sweating and my heart racing only to find her lying partly on the floor.  Faith had fallen out of her bed and landed halfway to the floor with her head facing up and solidly wedged between the bookcase and bed frame.

In fact, she was so stuck I couldn't get her out.  The more I tried the more Faith screamed.  Rather than panic, I took the logical approach.  I yelled for David.  Needless to say, he came running downstairs half asleep thinking we were about to make a trip to the emergency room.  As soon as he arrived, we pushed the bookcase away from Faith's head while David pulled her out.  After Faith was free, she clung to us until she fell back to sleep just moments later.  And somehow, through it all, Grace managed to sleep peacefully just like a little angel.  I, however, did not. 

Taking a nap all by herself

Faith really wore herself out today.

She fell asleep on the sofa while I fixed her a mid-morning snack.

There's nothing more precious than watching sweet innocence at rest.

Tenacious Faith

Faith, what do you have in your mouth?

Open up!

Dog food?!?!  Gross! 

I'm not sure why but for some reason Faith really likes playing with Chloe's dog food.  I think it's because she knows that is something she's not supposed to do.  She enjoys testing her boundaries.  Whenever Faith is playing with Chloe's food and sees me or David coming for her, she looks at us and quickly crams it all into her mouth and then plays  sweet and innocent.  She'll even go so far as to start banging magnets against the refrigerator hoping to convince us she really wasn't in Chloe's food and water.  All the while with a mouthful of dog food.  It's quite obvious that Faith is very headstrong.  Exceedingly stubborn.  Unyielding.  And she's only ONE year old.  At times like these I really start to dread her teenage years... 

Down low bed

We've been struggling with Faith at night.  For some reason she really fights going to bed.  We make sure she has a full tummy and then we rock her to sleep.  As soon as we stand up to put her in her crib, Faith wakes up and starts screaming.  So my brilliant husband came up with a new strategy.  He put her in the bottom bunk. 

 And it worked!  Wonders never cease!

Faith apparently just wanted to sleep in a big bed like her big sister.  So from here on out, I guess Faith gets to sleep in the bottom bunk below Grace.  It works for me although it makes my heart ache thinking about how fast my babies are growing up.  Sometimes I really wish time would slow down.  Just for a few years...

Faith's 1 year checkup

Today was Faith's 1 year checkup and she was not happy about it!

In fact, Faith cried even before she got any shots.   The nurse was really nice and tried to cajole Faith into a better mood, but Faith wouldn't give in.  She was unhappy and wanted everyone to know it!

 As soon as we got to our room, I put her on the floor and she stopped crying immediately.

There were books to explore, after all!  And then the doctor came in and gave her 4 more shots and her screaming started all over again.  At least until we got to the car.  Thankfully, we don't have another appointment for 3 more months.  Whew!  Hopefully, Faith will be in a better mood for that visit.

Faith weighed 20 pounds 2 ounces and was 31 inches long.  That puts her in the 90th percentile for her height and 40th percentile for her weight.

Faith is becoming a shutterbug!

Apparently, Faith is going to follow in my shoes just like her big sister Grace.

 Today she surprised us all by picking up a camera.

 And saying, "Eeeeeee!"  That's Faith's version of "cheese!"

 She's barely 1 and already she's learning one of my favorite mantras.

Live, laugh, and photograph!

Faith! That can't be comfortable!

Faith woke up during the night and cried herself back to sleep in less than 5 minutes.

When I came in to get Grace ready for school this morning, this is how I found Faith sleeping.

Her bottom on the mattress with her feet propped up the bumper pad.  The rest of her body folded nearly in half!

And holding onto her toes while snoring ever so softly.  It's amazing the positions that my little ones can sleep in.  And it's memories and photographs like these that I will cherish always.

In my shoes...

We wore patriotic clothes to church today.

And Grace borrowed my high heels for a bit.

Grace loves to wear her Momma's shoes.  Which reminds me that she is following in my shoes.  She is learning everything about being a woman from me.  She watches my every move and listens to every little thing I say.  So I have to be the best example I can because she is following in my path.

Our growing tree

At my Nanna's house there is a small corner wall in her kitchen that she will never paint over.  That is because as her grandchildren grew up, she would mark on that wall how tall they were each time they came to visit.  I remember looking forward to each visit just so I could see how big I was getting. 

I want to do the same thing for my children and hopefully grandchildren, too.  But it is very unrealistic that David and I will ever live in one house for more than a handful of years at a time.  So I came up with Our Family Growing Tree.

I was able to buy this 8 foot piece of pine - already primed and painted white - for only $3.23 at Home Depot.  I bought a second, skinnier 8 foot piece of primed and painted pine for another $3.23 and had them cut it into various lengths between 1 and 2 feet long each.  Then I nailed them to the wall in the girls' bedroom to make a tree!  Grace helped me make tissue paper balls using paper napkins and then we hung those up to give our tree some leaves.

 Grace loves to see how tall she is getting.

 We're keeping up with Faith as she grows as well.

Momma and Daddy are on the tree, too.  Grace also had the great idea of painting these little wooden birds (found at Michals for only 99 cents each) and adding them to our tree.  The blue one is for Daddy and the pink one is for me.  Grace and Faith each have a pink bird, too.

Now we have a functional and decorative growth chart tree that we can cherish for years to come.  It was cheaper and more durable than any chart I've seen out in the vast internet, plus it's tall enough to record anyone's height - 6 foot 1 inch Daddys included!  And the best part of all; I will be able to take it with us the next time we move...

Watch as Faith takes some of her first steps!

Two new teeth

Faith has been teething lately.

Show me your teeth, Faith.

Hmmm.  Let's try a different approach.

Say "cheese!" Faith!  Smile for Momma!

Tickle, tickle, tickle that tummy!

There we go.  Now we can see Faith's two new teeth.

No more stitches for Grace!

Today Grace had her stitches removed.

 She was very calm about the entire procedure.

 We took one last photo of her hand with stitches.

 Can you believe Grace just smiled as she closely watched the nurse pull her sutures out?

 And here's a closeup of her hand without stitches.

"See?  My stitches are all gone!  My fum (thumb) is all better!"

And then Grace fell asleep in her carseat as we drove home.  What an exciting morning.

Faith's 9 month checkup

Today Faith had her 9 month checkup.

 She weighed 18 pounds and 12 ounces.  She's in the 45 percentile for her weight.

 And Faith is 29 1/2 inches long.  That puts her in the 95 percentile for her height.

 They said Faith is long and skinny.  But she still has all those baby rolls that I love so much!

And Faith was as happy as she could be since she didn't get any shots this week. 

Hurray for good checkups!

Up the stairs we go

 With Grace at the top of the stairs, what's a little girl like Faith to do?

 Climb up after Grace, of course!

Nothing deters Faith from following her big sister Grace around.  Even if it means climbing up 16 stairs in a dress.  Not to worry, I was right there behind her all the way.  But Faith really doesn't even need anyone behind her.  She has mastered the art of going up.  It's coming back down that worries me...