Growing, growing...

One day, people will stop assuming Ace looks just like Mace because he has a round face and blue eyes...and one day, I really am going to be more consistent with my blogging. But until then, I'll just catch you up and show you a bit of what Ace is up to these days. Disclaimer: He makes ALL of these messes on his own (except for my crafts that made it into a few of these...), I don't pull anything out for him. He is a maniac! These days, we do a lot of chasing after Ace...he is still not crawling, but he has a speedy army-crawl! Yesterday, it seemed like he did everything in one day. He sat up for the first time on his own, without the help of something like his crib, and he took several crawls (crawls: crawling as steps: walking),

and pulled up on several things...he had pulled up before yesterday, but yesterday was the first time he had just scooted over to something he wanted and tried to go for it. He is having a hard time getting up on his feet from his knees and it's so cute. He is moving way to fast through all of these things! I am just soaking up every minute I have with him and feel so fortunate to be here with him for these moments!! Oh, and he also struck a "downward facing dog" yoga pose. I was so proud. We are enjoying every minute with this little ball of energy. He has the funniest little personality and is becoming such a goof ball! He is always making the silliest faces and thinks he is just as funny as we do! He has this silly scrunchy-faced smile that he flashes at everyone...we call it his "fake" smile. This isn't a great example...I caught it at the tail-end of the smile.

Ace also says, "mama" and "dada" a lot...he said mama first, for sure...which, believe it or not, made us ALL really happy! ;)

Ace is eating less baby foods these days...just a phase, I think, but he is enjoying things like cheddar cheese chunks, boiled sweet potato chunks, corn kernels, whole wheat saltines, and he's mastered yogurt. It's kind of fun to have him eat things that are more like our food! He still gobbles up his oatmeal and brown rice cereal, though - crazy how much he loves that stuff! He also likes to occasionally have a little water or breast milk in a sippy cup and is held the cup on his own today. We feed him most of the time, but he does like to help out every once in a while, and most of the "real food" he eats, he picks up off his tray.

We're not exactly sure how big he is this month, but I weighed him and measured him today, and I got around 17 -18 lbs. and 27 inches...My measurements have been fairly accurate in the past, but we go back for his NINE month (can hardly believe it!!) checkup at the end of the month.

I don't have a single picture from Thanksgiving, but it was so much fun...we spent Ace's first Thanksgiving at my parents' house with most of my siblings and Karen, Dave, and Evan. It meant so much to have both of our families together!

We are very busy these days, and Mace's job keeps him away much of the time, but we take advantage of every minute we have with all three of us. We are loving being a family. I adore Ace, and the bond I see between my boys is just priceless. Mace loves having Ace fall asleep on him before naptime...and I can't be upset that Ace doesn't fall asleep in his crib these times...

Sleepy, snuggling with Daddy...

Literally the next minute...
Silly - haired boy eating Mommy's phone...

Always standing, and he always picks up that swing tray...silly boy.

Our life is pretty crazy and unpredictable these days...the lag in car sales makes it impossible to even come close to predicting how things are going to go from week to week for us, but we are reminded daily who we are supposed to rely on and we are trusting more and more in our Provider. Ace makes these tough times so much easier on us all...

we can't get enough of him. And we know that no matter where we go in life or what we are doing in our lives, God has given us an amazing family in the three of us, and will always provide for us. We love each other so much.
These eyes see what life is all about...
I am absolutely living my dream. Tomorrow, we are going to take family pictures for Christmas cards with our great friends, John, Kara, and June...I'll try to put some up...here's hoping the weather - and babies' temperaments are pleasant!!