I can hardly believe it, but our sweet Haven turned 11 months old last week...can she really be that close to turning a year?? At 11 months...
Haven still just has her 2 bottom teeth...though just in the last couple days (just over 11 months), one of the top teeth has cut so we should start seeing more of that one soon!
Haven is a crawling pro...she can get anywhere in no time! The funniest is when she's put something in her mouth or has something she shouldn't have and she hears me say her name in a more stern way...she will
take off...speed crawling away as fast as her little arms and legs will take her!
At 11 months, Haven is starting to take a couple steps on her own...and is
so proud of herself when she does it! I'm sure it won't be long before she's walking all over! (just in the last couple days, a week or so past 11 months, Haven has been taking more like 4 or 5 steps at a time!)
Haven is very independent. She wants to do things her way...and only her way. You can see this desire in her to be able to do everything that her big sister can do...and wants to accomplish it all by herself.
Haven is still not real interested in finger foods. As has been the way with all foods for her, it takes her quite a while to warm up to anything new. She loves stars and yogurt bites, but about the only "regular" food she'll eat so far is bread or toast...so she's still eating quite a bit of baby food at this point.
In the last month, she's started showing her frustration at things...when toys get taken away from her, when she can't do things she wants to do (like run and jump! :-) ), etc. and when frustrated will let out a scream and wave her hands in front of her.
As I always mention, but can't say enough, Haven is SO determined!! I have a feeling this child is going to accomplish more that I can dream of in life with how determined she is!
Haven is SO strong...when she wants to get somewhere, it's hard to keep her back (have I also mentioned she also is determined?! :-) ). She also has quite the arm...when she doesn't want to go down for her nap she will literally throw her
paci across the entire room...and then cries until Mommy plays fetch and gets it for her. :-)
Haven says Mama and Dada and has added "all done" to her vocabulary...it sounds like "aah duh" and is honestly one of the most precious things I've heard. :-)
Haven loves to make us laugh...and has figured out the things that we'll laugh at and has started doing them over and over. When she smiles, she gets such a twinkle in her eyes and then her face lights up! And she still does lots of happy screaming too!
Haven loves to do high fives, loves to clap (especially for herself...ha!) and has started giving us kisses...will post a video of this absolute cuteness soon!
Our precious Haven doll, we love you so much and are so thankful for you! Happy 11 months sweet girl!
Addysen absolutely loves picking flowers...so in honor of what would have been my Grandma's 90th birthday today, we picked 9 flowers from the bushes in front of our house and then we prayed together to thank Jesus for the time that we had with her here and how much she meant to us.
Thanks to the timer on the camera, we actually got a family pic! It's been a while!!
Our little one who wants to walk everywhere now!
And onto the path...
Addysen got SO excited every time a dog would pass...she was thrilled that this man said the dog was really friendly and she could pet him!
We brought a blanket and some lunch and ate along the path
Haven got food in her hair and we had to wash it out with some water...thus the wet hair in these pics, but just thought they were so cute. :-)
We will definitely be heading back to this beautiful path again soon!
...and I'm so thankful for God's perfect timing because in His timing, He gave us this precious little girl who I couldn't imagine life without!!
They have a really big back yard...perfect for a swing set and lots of room to run around and play!
Love my sweet niece!
Fun for the girls to get to swing together on the "big girl swings"
Cornel even hung a baby swing from a big tree in their yard for Haven to swing on before we came over.
Their next door neighbor has this big dog which was Addysen's favorite part of the back yard I think. :-) She got SO excited when she saw the dog and kept talking to him and trying to play with him even when everyone else was in other areas of the yard.
She kept trying to feed him leaves and sticks...surprisingly, he declined...ha!
Love how Cassandra sits in her little lounge chair with her legs crossed. She looks pretty relaxed to me! :-)
And then it happened...a bite on Papa's fishing pole!!
Addysen was pretty excited, but in typical Addysen form, she was just extremely interested in the fish and what Papa was doing with him.
She did touch the fish...but then backed right away...said he was a "yucky" fish. On the way home, she talked to Jeff on the phone and was telling him that Papa caught a fish but he had to put him back in the water because he was a "yucky, yucky" fish. Ha!
The next day at work, my Dad was telling patients that he caught his 238th fish this year (and I'm not exaggerating with that number!)...but that was the most special fish he'd caught all year because he caught it with his granddaughter...and because it was a yucky fish. :-)
Feeding the giraffes is always a hit...love how close you can get to them! 
Addysen kept saying how "yucky, yucky" this snake we saw was. I have to agree...he was pretty "yucky."
Looking at the frogs...
This gorilla was so funny...he sat in this position for so long just watching us and sucking on his finger.
Haven was pretty interested too...I think she wanted to go right through the glass!
Haven got to go on her first carousal ride at the zoo. I wasn't sure how she'd do, but as it turned out, I think she liked it even more than the "big" girls! We laughed about how I set her on the horse and she immediately held the bar with 2 hands and rode like she's been riding on a carousal her whole life! 
