Our Carly Girl

At ten months Carly:

Loves food
Claps on command
Loves (!!!) her daddy
Laughs when we laugh
Cries when we yell at the cats
Pulls all the alphabet magnets off the fridge
Loves books (and pulling them off the shelf)
Crawls from one end of the house to the other

At eleven months Carly:

Enjoys playing with the cats
Loves cheese & has tried peanut butter (no allergy! Yay!)
Crawls over to me and pulls up on my jeans when she wants me to hold her
Has started to pull my shirt down and lay on her side when she wants to nurse
Walks along the furniture in every room
Stands unassisted for small periods of time

As my fourth, I am sorry to admit that my memory keeping for Carly has not been what it was with the twins and Wyatt.  But I am trying to keep track of her development here on the blog.  I also must admit that I am (still) having so much fun with a daughter.  She may not have as many pages filled out in her baby book, but I sure adore dressing her and imagining her playing dolls and barbies in the future. I was sorting through her blankets and couldn't bring myself to get rid of her receiving blankets because when I was little I loved using receiving blankets as blankets for my dolls.  Sigh. She is just all my dreams come true.

 I haven't been sleeping much lately as Carly has her second big cold and has been pretty miserable.  Even when she's healthy her main source of comfort is ME and nursing.  After nearly a year, it's getting old.  I'm ready for more sleep.

Because of this, I am contemplating being done nursing when she turns one next month. (Her birthday is on the 24th)  With Wyatt I nursed until he was almost 18 months. I quit slowly, dropping one feeding per week for four weeks. I am still in the thinking phase of this plan, so I'm not sure if I will end up stopping.  But it's nice to feel like I have a choice.  And it's nice to imagine sleeping more than two or three hours in a row. 

Thinking about quitting has me all nostalgic for nursing, and my sister sent me the link on how to make these beautiful Tree of Life photos.  You use an app called PicsArt.  It has a free Tree of Life add on and the tree of life, once you click "use", becomes a sticker you can put on (and adjust) on your pic. There are a few different tree/root options. Then you use the "Magic" option and use Midnight. Voila! Picture created.

 Tonight as sweet Jack lay on the couch sleeping off a terrible ear infection (and what I suspect is a ruptured ear drum), Carly was completely perplexed by his lack of involvement. She made her way over to him and began to poke him repeatedly in the face.  It was hilarious. Well... it was hilarious to us. Probably not to Jack.  She just couldn't figure out why he wouldn't wake up and play with her!

 I heard over the last two days of one friends' miscarriage and another friends' rainbow pregnancy following a miscarriage.  It has me remembering the dark times after my miscarriages.  Times where I was hopeless and heartbroken.  But more than that it has me feeling immense gratitude for this little girl.  For the rainbow she truly was after the storm.   

As I washed Carly in her bath tonight I listened to "I am Not Alone" by Kari Jobe. My friend Kristina introduced me to this song and I clung to it, tightly, during that long, dark winter after my miscarriages.  It's true. Every word of it. 

"In the midst of deep sorrow, I see your light is breaking through.

The dark of night will not overtake me. I am pressing into you.

Lord you fight my every battle. And I will not fear."

He never left my side, and he kept his promise.

Carly is proof of that.

{Me at 14 months}

I'm getting wistful as the year wraps up and we head towards her first birthday.  Her entire existence has felt like a miracle.  From the positive pregnancy test, to her first heartbeat, to the day she was born... She's been a gift. And I'm thinking maybe (maybe!) I'm finally going to get my own mini-me. 

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