Brin began crawling on Sunday, January 9th. She is now crawling ALL over the place. She has just figured out how to crawl on the wood floors…she is crawling to the dog toys before ANYTHING else! Maybe we should be shopping at PETSMART for her instead. 
On Thursday, January 6th, Brin took her 1st bath in the BIG tub. We have been using the sink for the last 7 months, and while it was still working great, I thought that maybe we should give the tub a try. She did great! When I first put her in the tub, she just kind of looked around and then looked at me and smiled. She has NEVER had problems with the tub and still doesn’t! I think we will be hitting the store soon to find some more tub toys.
I am in denial that 7 months have really past…well, in fact…it will be 8 months next week. I know that everyone told us when Brin was just home, “Prepare yourself, because this goes by SOOO fast!”. Well I heard what they were saying BUT I didn’t believe it…and NOW…OMG…it is going soo fast! At our last doctors visit Brins stats were:
15.5 pounds
26.5 inches long
She is eating most fruits (no berries yet) and all veggies (She HATES green beans…so much so, that she PUKES every time they touch her tongue) We started eating meat dinners this month. She is NOT a huge fan of them, but we are slowly getting used to the idea! 
This month she has:
Cut her 4 top teeth
started crawling
started laughing at herself
makes kissing sounds and lips
Still taking 2 naps a day, but would prefer 3
sleeps 12 hours at night
Says “dadada, gagaga, mamamam”
She is growing and changing faster than we can blink. We are very excited to see her grow and change as time goes on and see what she becomes! (but anyone who might have the pause button that we could borrow…just for a little while…would be GREATLY appreciated!)
Here are a few pics from her 7th month:
Brin was laughing every time I scared her with the lion. Her laugh is just too cute and it cracks us up that she LOVES to be scared! ENJOY!
On Wednesday, December 22 Nick, Brin, Lola and I left Illinois and drove just south of Louisville, KY. We stopped for the night, as Nick and I had worked that day. We got up and were on the road the next day by 9am. The baby and the dog were AWESOME travelers…they both slept most of the way…leaving great conversation for Nick and I. We arrived at Tim and Kelly’s house in Sanford, Fl about 11:30 pm. We stayed with Tim and Kelly as Chris and Nona and the kids were staying with my mom & Don.
The next day was Christmas Eve…we stayed at Tim and Kelly’s and relaxed and helped Kelly make Taco soup and Potato soup for dinner that evening.
Lots of family came over for dinner. We had a great time visiting and anticipating Santa’s arrival with the littles. After dinner, we headed to Uncle Bob and Aunt Tammy’s for their annual Christmas Eve Party.
It seems to becoming a tradition that when we all get together, someone has their camera and starts “shake face”. Here are some pictures of late into the night on Christmas Eve of “shake face”:
The kids “shake face” earlier in the evening:
As the party was coming to an end:
Cookies for Santa @ Uncle Tim and Aunt Kelly’s:
Christmas Morning:
Christmas Day at Grandma & Papa Eylander’s:
When we arrived to Grandma’s, we enjoyed the crazy tradition of bacon and homemade cinnamon caramel rolls. Every year, Grandpa, who doesn’t cook anyother day of the year, cooks 5 pounds of bacon and grandma makes YUMMY rolls. After munching on breakfast, we opened some presents and enjoyed our time together.
Here are some pictures of the rest of our stay in Florida. We had a great visit and look forward to seeing everyone soon!
Wearing Mason’s new hat
Our trip to Florida was a nice one. We are always glad that we take the dog and drive. I think, tho, that we will take a year off, and spend next Christmas at home. We always make wonderful memories while in Florida and this year is no different….wonderful memories have been made. We look forward to many more Christmas’ with family making wonderful memories!
