8 Months

HAPPY 8 MONTH BIRTHDAY ALLI GIRL!!

What a beautiful little girl you are becoming. You are growing & learning so fast.

~You will pretty much eat any baby food we give you but you are not too crazy about eating puffs or mum-mums. You do however watch every bite mommy & daddy take & you like to reach for our food.

~You still aren't crawling yet but I think you will soon. You have never been crazy about being on your tummy (still aren't). When you are on your belly you like to reach out and pull yourself to the place you want to go.ha!

~You are a rolling machine!

~You just celebrated your first Christmas & loved it. You loved playing with all your cousins & new toys.

~You are still doing so well with brestfeeding. I am so happy too because I love the special time we get to spend together. It's so sweet when you are chowing down and just look up at me with those adorable little eyes like "thanks mom." :-)

~You love to clap & wave.

(clapping)

~You have also been reaching for people when you want them to hold you. So sweet! Especially when it's for mommy! ha!

I like to think she is praising God in this picture. :-)

We love you sweet girl!

Alli's first Christmas!

Here are some pics of Alli's first Christmas. She has such a good time! We were surprised at how interested she was in opening presents.

Christmas at PaPa's (Christmas Eve)

Taking a peek inside...

Christmas morning at the Walker's

Christmas at home (the day after Christmas)

Chuckles enjoying his Christmas present

Jeff enjoying his! :-)

Christmas with my family (the day after Christmas)

We had the best of intentions of throwing Jesus a birthday party for our Christmas celebration  but Alli ended up being sick for most of Christmas so we kinda had to do our family Christmas when we thought Alli was in a good mood. (most of the week she was cranky and running a fever. :-( Poor girl) So maybe next year....

The plates we found at Hobby Lobby :-)

One girl chose life...

How many of you have heard of Loving Choices Pregnancy Center? For those of you who have not it's a organization that provides help, hope, and support to women who are faced with an unplanned pregnancy. They encourage these young girls and women to choose life and not abort. They offer counseling, pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, adoption planning, and so much more. This year alone they have served over 700 women in the area! Because of this organization (and ultimately God) babies lives have been saved.

For the past 3 years I have had the opportunity to go to there annual banquet and learn about the difference Loving Choices is making in the community.

Statistics show that 95% of women who see there baby on an ultrasound choose not to abort.

95%!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? And with as little as $25 YOU can pay for one ultrasound! Many of us spend more than $25 a week on lunch. Can you imagine taking that money and saving a life? Who of you wouldn't trade this:

for this:

YOU CAN!!!

PLEASE, PLEASE go to there website: http://www.lovingchoices.org/ and check them out. If you can't give, please pray. What a wonderful way to give this holiday season! I will leave you with this thought:

One young girl was faced with an unplanned pragnancy.

That young girl chose life.

That young girl gave birth to the Savior of the world.

Christmas time is here...

I love this time of year...... jackets, mittens, stocking hats, hot chocolate, Christmas lights, BRANSON (YAY!).... it's great. I love it at least until the 2nd or 3rd day of cold then I'm ready for May to come so I can lay out in the nice hot sun. :-)

This post may be a bit different from my usual posts (which are usually only about Alli). This year I just want to encourage everyone (myself included) to remember Christmas is a day we celebrate as Jesus' birth.

Year after year it gets easier to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping, parties, lights, etc. I guess this year it is just extra heavy on my heart because this is our first year to celebrate with a child who God has entrusted us to raise and teach to follow Him.

So this year I am thinking of starting a new tradition in our household!!! I'm not sure what yet, but something that says "this is why we truly celebrate." Jeff may think I'm totally nuts but I'm thinking of throwing Jesus a "birthday party" with cake and streamers and even a thank you note as a gift, for the gift that He gave us (eternal life). I'm hoping starting this early will help Alli remember the true meaning of Christmas. Who knows, maybe this will be a tradition for many years to come.

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY JESUS!