Sick days

Saylor has been sick this week...she's had a fever on and off and some sort of stomach bug that has not been fun. She hasn't thrown up but lets just say we've gone through probably double the amount of normal diapers. Poor thing. The worst part of all is that she has a TERRIBLE diaper rash which is really painful for her. Luckily, she appears to be on the mend now!

Here she is in her boots...that was on one of our nice fall days last week...of course today it felt near 100 again.




Also, please notice what she is holding in her right hand in this picture:


Some kids are attached to blankets. Some have a special doll or stuffed animal. But not Saylor. Our child is suddenly quite fond of the random plastic fisher price ball. Lately she has been clutching these for dear life and if she drops it squirms around looking for it until it is safely in her little hand again. She sometimes even holds onto it while she sleeps! What can i say????????????

Update

I feel like I'm due for an update on what's new with Saylor - she is changing so quickly these days! At 8 1/2 months she just seems more and more like a big girl and less like a baby. We are having so much fun with our little bug!

So, here's what she's been up to:

-Standing up everywhere! She's gotten faster and crawling but really doesn't do a ton of it. Her favorite thing to do is pull up/stand up. I think she would stand at the toy basket for hours if I let her!







- Still laid back and easy going. Don't get me wrong, she can have her fussy moments! She definitely knows what things she dislikes (her changing table, being left alone in a room, getting out of the bath tub, and getting into her PJ's at the end of the day). But she LOVES reading books, taking a bath, eating her cereal puffs, and playing with mommy and daddy. Oh yeah, and she randomly LOVES this handheld fan we have - her reaction to it every time cracks us up. She is also getting sillier and laughing at things more and more. The other night, Matt put her to sleep and when he left the room she was standing up in the crib on the bumper, holding onto the railing, laughing!

-Finally napping better! Thank heavens this has become more predictable and consistent. She takes two naps a day and they range between 1-2 hours. She is also eating 3 solid meals a day and still drinking 4 bottles per day (one right before each nap, first thing in the morning, and last thing at night).

-Eating lots of new foods - yogurt, toast, watermelon, etc. We've had fun watching her figure out how to feed herself those cereal puffs...she's now gotten really good at it!

- Still on the quiet side, but definitely doing more and more babbling and squealing.

- Finally got her first tooth - yay! :)


She LOVES pulling things off of the bookshelf


Here she is swinging with her buddy Harper


And here she is with baby Mae


She also started Mother Day Out one day per week - here she is with her sweet teachers.

We love you, Saylor!

Recipe

For any chefs out there who read this, I tried a new recipe today that I really liked. It was for creamy salsa dip:

2 cups plain, natural yogurt
1 cup salsa
3.5 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp sea salt

I actually cut everything in half because it seemed like a lot of dip. But it was really good and a nice alternative to hummus to eat with veggies, pita chips, etc.

Jumble of thoughts

I once heard this quote from Mahatma Gandhi:

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

I think about this quote a lot, and I seem to alternate between two feelings regarding it.

1. I totally agree with him - I myself so often do not like Christians, even though I am one. I find myself musing and obsessing over things I hear from them, attitudes of self-righteousness, arrogance, and intolerance. Then I just feel confused.

On the other hand:

2. I AM one of those Christians. Many times. I am sad to say and wish it were not true.

And then it brings me back to the point.
We are all in need of Christ.
Christians often act like we have something others don't have.
But the only thing we really have is a heightened knowledge of our own shortcomings and thus a quickness to turn to Christ in reliance on Him for hope and forgiveness.

I pray I will more readily see this clearly!

"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."
Colossians 3:11

Pictures pictures

About a month ago we had some professional pictures taken...we meant to do it at Saylor's 6 month marker but didn't end up getting it done until more like 7 months. We used marisa swarbrick and she did a great job! Saylor was in a pretty serious mood for most of the photo shoot, so we didn't get a ton of big smiles. But, they still turned out great - I really love how vibrant the colors and lighting are! Thanks, Marisa! Here are some of my favorites for your viewing pleasure (not that anyone cares nearly as much as me). :)