another upcoming product review

So, you've heard me talk before about my love for CSN Stores. I've mentioned that they have a kazillion different things to shop for...from modern dining room furniture to baby & kids stuff to sweet cookware. They really do have SO much stuff, and at great prices!

I'll be doing another product review soon, so stay tuned! Now, I've got to decide what I'm gonna get from their 200+ stores...decisions, decisions....

Nat's Stats

Ok, so I had every intention of using my blog to document Natalie's milestones, but of course, the very fact that Natalie exists sort of interfered with that. :) I used to be such an organized person, and she has totally turned my world upside down! In a good way, of course. :) The quickest & easiest way for me to keep up with what she does has been by posting pics on Facebook, so if you're friends with me over there, then you know how obsessed I am with posting pics of her. Sure, most of them are just because I think she's so darn cute, but some of them are actually so I can go back & remember the important milestones during her first year. I haven't posted any updates on the blog since she was 7 months old. Yeah, bad mom here. Holla.

Having said all that...here's a little {or not so little...} recap of the past 2.5 months of her life...

Natalie is now 9 months old {ok, almost 10. I like to round down; 10 months sounds WAY too close to 1 year}.
She sat up by herself in her crib at 7 months.
At 7.5 months old, she got her first tooth, shortly followed by her second.
Her first Thanksgiving was spent in Albany, GA, with Mimi's family. We then came back home & spent the day after Thanksgiving at Granmama's house with her side of the family.
She started pulling up at 8 months old, which is also when she started crawling!
We taught her to "gimme five" at 8 months old. {I say that like she's a dog we're teaching tricks...}
Her first Christmas was a blast! We had our "local Wishum Christmas" on December 20th at Mimi & Paparoxy's house; then Christmas at home with mommy & daddy on December 23rd; went to Americus, GA, on Christmas Eve to see Gigi & the rest of the Wishums for Christmas Day; and finally took a trip to Athens, TN for Christmas with Baron's family during New Year's. It was a busy 2-week-long Christmas & it was lots of fun!
At her 9-month check-up, she weighed 20.6 lbs & was 27.75 in tall.
We have lots of playdates with our other baby friends from church. They will have so much fun growing up together!She is now eating just about any fruit or veggie available as baby food, and she loves her oatmeal at breakfast & rice at supper. She is not a fan of meat yet, and I have yet to get her to drink juice or drink anything from a sippy cup. She loves puffs and yogurt melts & started eating them by herself at around 8 months.She loves to "talk"! She says "mama" {although she definitely does not associate that word with me :)}, "bye bye" {she will even wave, if you catch her on a good day!}, and she tries to say "puppy" when Toby is around {it comes out as "puh puh"}.She loves music, and will "dance" whenever she hears a beat.
Other than a little cold {no fever} and the usual teething symptoms, Natalie hasn't gotten sick yet. {Knock on wood}

I think I just about covered everything. :) Here are a few pics to sum up the past couple of months...of course with Thanksgiving & Christmas, there were LOTS more pics so it's hard to narrow it down. :)


Side note: Ok. These pics are in backwards order. Blogger does that. {I hate blogger.} And I have spent WAY too much time on this post, and I really need to go fix dinner, so instead of putting these in the correct order...just use your imagination. :)

{at the mall with Harris & Alexa}

{I love my daddy!}

{not so sure about this Santa fella}

{Merry Christmas!}

{photo by Shannon Grissett}

{photo by Shannon Grissett}

{playing with cousin Ean at Thanksgiving}

{first tooth!}

scripture wallpapers

For me, the years 2006 - 2009 were what I refer to as my "wilderness experience". Baron & I were struggling with infertility, my friends were having babies & I wasn't, we experienced the awful pain of a miscarriage, and I was unhappy at my job. I needed constant encouragement from scripture, especially while I was at work since that was where I spent 40 hours each week. So, I plastered scriptures on notes all around my desk, and I made some desktop wallpapers for my computer at work. As simple as it may seem, these encouraging reminders from God really helped me stay positive. I was a very negative person, which I still struggle with, and God used these words to brighten my days. Anyway, long story short, I came across these wallpapers again today, so I thought I'd share them with you. If you'd like to use the image as a desktop wallpaper, or a screensaver, or to print or whatever, follow the directions below. Most of the images were taken by either me or family members, but a couple of them I can't remember the source. Therefore, please only use these for personal use, so I don't get sued or anything. :)

1. Click here to browse through the images.
2. Click on an image to enlarge it.
3. Right click on the enlarged image, and click "save as", or "copy", or whatever else you want to do with it.

I hope these can be an encouragement to you like they have been for me! I will continue to add more as I create them. You can click on the "scripture wallpapers" tab at the top any time to view all of them.

john 16:33

colossians 3:23

psalm 113:3

romans 12:2

romans 8:28

psalm 93:3,4

psalm 27:14

philippians 4:8

philippians 4:6,7

jeremiah 29:11

habakkuk 3:4

blessed be the name