Eliana - 9 months!!!

Eliana you are 9 months old!!!

-You are wearing mostly 9-month clothes, but you can still also wear 6-12 months. Some of 

your 6-month onesies still fit as well. They’re actually a little snug, but they are some of my 

favorite onesies that you have, so I can’t admit that you may have outgrown them.

-You are still wearing a size 3 diaper.

- You weighed 19 lbs at your doctor’s appointment on 12/12/12. I really thought you were 

going to weigh more than that. My guess was between 19.5 – 20 lbs.

- You are 27.5 inches long.

-We’re still working on the sippy cup. We bought you a cup with a straw hoping that maybe 

you would like that better. Unfortunately, you treat it just like your sippy cups…you just 

gnaw on it.

- You’ve tried several new foods. I’m sure there are many more, but all I can remember 

right now are pumpkin and turkey. You had both of those for the first time on 

Thanksgiving.

- We’ve also given you a few baby snacks. You love getting to eat like a big girl, and you 

especially love it when you get to hold your food yourself.

-You love books! We had to get you some cloth books because you like to chew on your 

board books.

- You are pulling up! That’s all that you want to do now. You started doing that on 11/19/12.

- You still give kisses, and it is still my favorite thing, but they’re harder to get these days. 

You’re much too busy to just give out kisses all day.

-You are still sleeping through the night! There were a few nights that we actually had to 

Ferber you in the middle of the night, though. That wasn’t fun. Ferbering is hard enough at 

bedtime…it’s much harder at 3 AM. 5 minutes seems like eternity when you had just been 

in a very deep sleep.

- Theoretically, we’re going to work on naptime while Daddy is off for Christmas break. 

Yes…I am that much of a wimp, and I need his help.

- You are still an attention hog…maybe even more so.

- You have 2 teeth now!!! I felt a tooth with my finger on 11/9/12, and I could see it on 

11/10/12.  I don’t know the exact date, but I think that it was less than a week later when 

the other tooth popped through. (I don't have a good picture of the teeth, yet).

- You have discovered that the problem with having teeth is that you can now bite your own 

fingers. This has happened several times, and you are not very happy about it.

- We are still working on getting you to play by yourself without being held, but we’re 

getting there. Some days are better than others.

-You still love to be held, but you start to get antsy and have to move.

- You have started throwing temper tantrums. It makes me nervous because I’m afraid 

you’re going to be mean when you get bigger, and no one will want to be around you. Dr. 

Adams told us that it’s totally normal at this age, and that made me feel a little better. 

These typically occur when we change your diaper, when we take something away from you, 

when I try to let you play by yourself, or when you’re really tired. This has definitely been 

the most challenging month of parenting, yet.

- I think your tear duct is better! Yay! One day I noticed that I hadn’t wiped your eye in 

about a week, and it has been better ever since.

- You are still pulling my hair. However, now you also grab my eyelids, nose, eyebrows, and 

ears when you’re nursing.

-One day we were in the car and the sun was in your eyes. You tried to hold up a small toy 

to block the sun. That didn't work, so the next thing we knew you were holding up your 

blanket to hide your eyes from the sun. It was really cute and funny!

- I realized one day that you had never been around stairs, so on 12/4/12 I let you try to 

climb up the stairs that go to our basement. You climbed right up them without any 

problem.

- You say, “dada” all of the time! I cannot get you to say “mama.” Sometimes you’ll say it 

when you’re angry. If I ask you to say “mama,” you usually look at me, grin, and say, “dada.” 

It’s like you know you’re teasing me.

- You’ve been a little grumpy lately, and I’m not sure what that is about. I’m hoping it’s just 

teething.

-You were an "Ellie-phant" for our costume party.

-  I don’t remember when you started doing it (early November maybe), but your wave is 

quite possibly the sweetest thing ever.

Against the Tide - book review

Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden was the next book that I received for free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for writing a book review for them. I'm telling you, I love this program!

Lydia Pallas works as a translator for the U.S. Navy. Her translating skills put her in the path of Alexander Banebridge (Bane), a mysterious man in need of a translator to help him take down opium traders. Due to events in his past, Bane has declared that he will never be in a serious relationship. However, he and Lydia continue to become closer as they work together. Unfortunately, Bane's enemies seek to find anyone that is important to him.

This book is full of suspense, romance, faith, and mystery. Camden does a great job of making her readers feel like they know the characters personally. I found myself rooting for Lydia and Bane even when I didn't want to root for them. When they were scared, I was nervous. When they were happy, I found that I was as well.

This was one of those books that makes you sad when you are finished because you want to keep reading it. I hope to read other works by Elizabeth Camden soon.

Eliana - 8 months old!!!

Eliana you are 8 months old!!!

-Technically, you’ll be 9-months-old tomorrow. I’m behind because you keep me hopping. I won’t post 

your 9-month update until after your doctor’s appointment next week, so I can have your stats.

-You are wearing mostly 9-month clothes, but you can also wear 6-12 months. Some of your 6-month 

onesies still fit as well.

-You are still wearing a size 3 diaper.

- I’m not sure how much you weigh right now, but you weighed 18 lbs 11 oz with clothes on at your 

2^nd flu shot appointment on 10/18/12.

- I don’t know how long you are.

-You are still mainly just playing with your sippy cups, but we’re still trying.

- We have added potatoes and pears. You will really eat anything that we give you, and I hope you stay 

that way.

- You started crawling for real on 10/15/12, and you have been unstoppable ever since.

- You still give kisses, and it is still my favorite thing.

-You are still sleeping through the night! You had a cold, and that threw off your sleeping for a couple 

of nights, but thankfully it went back to normal. Also, you suddenly decided that you hated going to 

bed at night. Normally, you would fall asleep while you were eating, and Daddy would carry you to 

bed. Now you don’t fall asleep as much, and we have had to Ferber you. I think it has something to do 

with separation anxiety and object permanence kicking in. You know that we’re still around when we 

walk out of your room.

- I’m still a wimp about naptime. Let’s just leave it at that.

- You usually do fine in the car now. We drove to Pigeon Forge once and Knoxville once, and you did 

fine both times.

-We went to Wilderness at the Smokies with Mumsy, Popsy (I still don’t know how we decided to spell 

those), and the Uncles. You were only in the water a little bit (it was a little cool), but you really seemed 

to like it. Sleeping that night was interesting. We were all sleeping in the same hotel room. I fed you 

and put you to sleep while Popsy and the Uncles were out of the room. However, you didn’t stay 

asleep for very long. Uncle Tuck is super wiggly in his sleep, and he was sleeping on a blow-up 

mattress that made noise every time he moved. Popsy was snoring. Eventually, Mumsy made Uncle 

Tuck sleep with Popsy. Then, Uncle Tuck started making nose sounds. Your Daddy and I were trying 

so hard not to laugh out loud because it was hilarious.  You woke up for a second during all of that 

commotion, but you went right back to sleep. Unfortunately, you woke up again around 1:30, and we 

took you to the lobby of the hotel. You were wide-awake. We eventually decided that the only way 

you would be able to go back to sleep was for me to feed you and keep you in bed with us. We don’t 

like to let you sleep with us, but that was the only way for anyone to get sleep that night.

- We took you to the Alabama vs. Tennessee football game in Knoxville. We had no idea that you 

would have to have a ticket. Apparently, the NCAA requires everyone regardless of age to buy a ticket. 

Needless to say, Daddy and I were not happy about that. $80 for a 7-month-old’s ticket is a bit extreme! 

Anyway, Alabama won, but that’s okay, we still had fun. Oh, and our favorite player, Peyton Manning 

was there!

- You are still an attention hog.

- Still no teeth! They have to come soon!

- You love toys! I don’t think you have a favorite one yet, though.

- We are still working on getting you to play by yourself without being held.

-You still love to be held.

- You went with us to vote in the Presidential election.

- You’re still getting angry during diaper changes. Now that you can crawl it’s even worse. You don’t 

want to sit still for a second!

- Your right tear duct is still clogged.

- You love bath time! You get very upset when we take you out of the bath!

-Did I mention that you have some serious opinions now?

- You have started playing with your own hair. It is so cute! That doesn’t mean that you’ve stopped 

pulling on mine, unfortunately!

- You recognize your bowls. You get so excited when I get one out to feed you.

- You have just started putting your feet in your mouth. It really cracks me up.

- You can stand up if you are leaning against something.

- You really like the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The only way I can take a shower without you getting 

upset is to take one while Mickey is on TV.

- Your poor little chin has started getting so chapped because you are always drooling and licking it.

- It’s the beginning of ETSU’s basketball season. You are quite popular there. They even showed you 

on the news. Our family is also on one of the tickets.

- You were dressed as a hot dog for Halloween. We have another costume that we will use for our 

costume party. Daddy took a funny picture of the two of you where he was pretending to eat you. You 

won a funny photo contest, and they showed your picture on the news.

- You make all kinds of different mouth noises. It’s hilarious!

- I bought a pack of 6 paper towels, and you thought it was the best toy ever! You climbed on it, and 

leaned on it and pushed it all over the living room.

-Oh, and I may have stuck you in a pumpkin to take some pictures. Sorry about that!

The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis

I know, all of Eliana's grandparents are probably getting impatient with me. As soon as I get her pictures off of our camera, I will post her 8-month update. At this point, it may come right before her 9-month update. I'll probably wait to post her 9-month one until after her doctor's appointment, which is a week later.

Anyway, it's time for another book review. This time, Bethany House Publishing sent me a free copy of The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis in exchange for writing an honest review for them.

I have read many Christian novels, but this is actually the first book by Beverly Lewis that I have read. It's also the first Amish fiction book I have read. I can honestly say that it probably won't be the last of either.

The Bridesmaid is the second book in the Home to Hickory Hollow series. I was unaware that this was the second book in a series when I began reading it, but I do not feel that I had to read the first book in order to understand this one.

Joanna Kurtz is a twenty-seven-year-old, single Amish woman who is beginning to feel like her time for getting married has passed. This changes for her when she meets Eben Troyer. They quickly decide that they would like to begin a courtship, but difficulties arise in the fact that they live in different states. Distance, family, and the Amish lifestyle all play a part in adding trials to their relationship.

Overall, I found this book to be enjoyable to read. At first I was annoyed by the random Amish words that are scattered throughout the book, but eventually I just started overlooking them. There were a few sections of the book that seemed to drag out the plot a little, but many times I found myself wondering what would happen next in Joanna's life. Although the ending is slightly predictable, I still enjoyed reading it. I'm not one to dislike a book because of that.

I am intrigued by the other books in the series, and I will add them to my "read eventually" list. This book also sparked my interest of the Amish lifestyle. I'm not sure how accurate Beverly Lewis' portrayal of it is, but it is definitely something that I would like to learn more about.