Varvel Family: Nora Rae-8 months

Nora turned 8 months old in December, and that seems crazy to me! It's this mixture of wanting her to stay a little baby, but loving how she's growing and learning new things.

She's getting to be a good little crawler!

My favorite thing is FaceTiming with her. She knows my voice, and usually smiles when she's sees me on the camera. Hopefully that means she'll let me love on her when we go see her in January. She also FaceTimes with Clover, Willow, and Reeses quite often.

FaceTime with my sweet Nora!

Willow loves a good chat with Nora. 😂

So cute! 😍

December was a big month for Nora. So many big milestones. She finally has enough hair for the cutest little ponytail on top of her head.

Although the ponytail is darling, also check out her stunning eyes. I wish I could give our side of the family credit for those baby blues, but those are all from her daddy.

OMG

Gah, I can't even handle her!

I especially love when I get cute church pictures of Nora. I got her this dress a long time ago (before she was even born I think), so it's fun when she finally fits in the clothes I had forgot all about.

So pretty!

She loves the Christmas tree. 😊

There is no better sound than a baby belly laughing!

Nora is tiny tiny tiny! Mason and Bailey were hoping that she would gain some weight once she started eating solids. I got a text from Bailey with these pictures that said, "She's feeling very confident in her body now that some fruits and veggies have been added to her diet." 😂

Cute bum, where ya from?

😂😂😂

Nora had a lot of sleep regression this month, which was so hard! The brunt of it hit right during Bailey and Mason's finals, so they were functioning on no sleep, and just trying to keep their heads above water.

The girls celebrated surviving a hard week by watching hallmark movies.

She learned how to clap on the day that Mark and I were running the Dizzy Horse Backyard Ultra. We got videos saying Nora was cheering for us. Cutest thing ever!

Yay!!!

CUTEST THING EVER!

Mason and Bailey have had fun introducing new foods to Nora. Here she is trying a lemon for the first time. This brought back a lot of memories of when we gave a lemon to Sawyer for the first time.

Yum, lemons!

I love the look of total confusion on her face. 😂

Nora has also started to pull herself up to a standing position.

standing in her crib!

Enjoy this series of pictures of when she pulled herself up from the rocking car seat. 😅

Nora got all dolled up to meet Santa!

Going to meet Santa!

She can also wave now, so Santa got some waves!

Those are some pretty big, unsure eyes! 😆

Yay for Santa!

Nora is still a big hockey fan! She loves the Steelheads!

The teeth! 😊

Go Steelheads!

More FaceTiming with her little donkey besties.

Bailey, Mason and Nora went to Utah to spend some Christmas time with Mason's dad and his siblings, the week before Christmas. Lance got Nora the funnest jumper. It's hilarious to watch her try to get her rhythm.

I think I would like one of these!

Getting better!

Nora is a crawling machine! I love this video of her crawling with her scrunched up nose.

She was so proud of herself!

More clapping! Oh my gosh, her sweet little face!

Did I already mention how cute her teeth are? Totally worth mentioning again!

Once Bailey and Mason were finished with finals, the Christmas celebrating began! They took Nora to look at lights.

Cute!

Christmas through a babies eyes is the best! It's just gonna get better and better the next few years too!

Bailey made Nora's first ornament, and it turned out so cute!

A little Christmas photo shoot!

Nora made paintings for all the grandparents for Christmas. It was the cutest process, and the turned out so cute. This is ours, and I can't wait to hang it up in the new house once it's finished.

Merry Christmas Grams and Pops!

Christmas was so fun for Bailey and Mason. I remember that kind of excitement when you have a baby to celebrate with. Nora was spoiled and had a great Christmas.

I was so happy to see that they carried on our tradition of reading a new Christmas book on Christmas Eve.

Matching jammies!

Santa got Nora the cutest walker. She loves the activities on it!

Grandma Triska got her a ball pit! Seriously so cute! this is what it looks like when Bailey plays with it.

This is what it looks like when Mason plays with it. 😂

Grams and Pops got Nora the cutest rocking cow! She loves riding it! So stinking CUTE!

Nora made her first snowman. They were on their way to being great friends, until she knocked it's head right off. 😂

Her first snowman.

Here's an example of how our FaceTime sessions go. It's usually me and Nora coughing, spitting, screeching, clicking our tongues, or laughing back and forth.

Nora learned 'So Big' this month! I love this one so much, because I totally remember when Mark and I taught Sawyer and Bailey to do 'So Big.' Ahhhh, I love it!

Now she's just showing off, and getting too big for her britches! Look at her just standing up whenever she wants to. 😭

Nora turned 8 months old at the end of December! So many mixed emotions about that, but one thing I do know, is that she's getting cuter and more fun by the minute!