For GramE

 Rachel spotted this onesie.  She called GramE who said Natalie had to have it.

Natalie has been losing some of her hair.  Eliana had so little to start with that I didn't really notice when she lost hers.  Natalie's eyebrows are fairly light, so I'm curious what color her hair will be.  Eliana's were pretty light at this time too.

 You can't take pictures for long without Eliana wanting to be in them too!!!

I couldn't believe that I got them both looking and grinning at the same time!  Natalie looked at the camera for all of theses photos, it was Eliana who made all sorts of faces.  We love our girls!

The Girls in November

Natalie turned 5 weeks old yesterday!  Kyle and I can't believe that she is already over a month old.  She is regularly eating around 9 at night, some time between 2 and 3, and than again in the morning between 6 and 8.  It is glorious!  I am SOOOO thankful to God that she sleeps well.  It is such an answer to prayer.

We continue to adjust to being a family of four.  Eliana initially regressed in toilet training, but that has really improved over the last two weeks.  Eliana is so sweet to Natalie.  She loves to bring her a little bear and put it next to her when she is sleeping.  We're still trying to figure out how to get out the door in a timely manner.  Sometimes it takes us 5 minutes, but other times it takes us 15.  Eliana stopped taking naps for the most part about a week before Natalie came.  But she has napped 3 times in the last 4 days, so there is hope!  Even if she doesn't nap, she has a rest time in her room. 

Eliana, Natalie, and I are enjoying Bible Study Fellowship.  For the first few weeks, Eliana's only remark was that they played with blocks.  She loves playing on the playground.  They sing a lot in BSF, so we too are singing "Old MacDonald had a Farm" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".  I loved when she spontaneously started singing "Jesus Loves Me".  Last week Eliana had a cold so we couldn't go to BSF.  She must really be enjoying her time, because she talked about it for a good part of last Tuesday.  Natalie has done well with me.  I got to be in all of the discussion group and lecture time today!

Eliana is such a sponge.  I'm so glad that we don't cuss, because if we did she'd be picking it up.  She is very tender hearted.  She doesn't want to see anyone hurt.  Yesterday we saw a Winnie the Pooh clip where Pooh is being chased by bees.  Eliana started crying for poor Pooh.  We can't watch any of my favorite Pixar movies yet, because she can't handle characters yelling at each other or someone getting hurt.  It makes be think of the line, "Be careful little eyes what you see for the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what you see."

November Happenings

 We are often inside since Natalie sleeps so much of the day.  We try to be creative since we are home bound.  Rachel came over last weekend and painted Eliana's nails.  Eliana loved it!  Then Rachel was brave enough to let Eliana paint her nails!!!  Now that is some creativity.

 When Kyle comes home, I often try and get Eliana out of the house for a little bit of just her and me time.  Do you see those curls coming in?  My mom tells me that my hair was curlier to start, so we'll just wait and see how curly Eliana's gets.

 Sometimes when Kyle gets home I just go for a walk all by myself.  Awe, it is amazing what a little walk can do to help my sanity!

We found some sunflowers on our walk.  I don't mind at all how nice the weather continues to be.  We have September weather in November.  Then again, this September was like July weather.  So maybe the weather is just making up for the heat we had earlier.

Sisters

 Eliana has really enjoyed having baby sister come out to play!  They can sleep through each other crying.  That amazes me since I can't sleep if either of them is crying, and Kyle can sleep through both of them crying.

 Natalie likes to turn to see her big sister.  Eliana enjoys holding Natalie for brief moments.  She loves to bring her things like toys or blankets.  One day, she brought Natalie her favorite pajamas and laid them next to her.  I pray that they will have a great relationship as they continue to grow.

Did you notice the smile on both of their faces?  Natalie was three weeks old the day this photo was taken.

Trying to get great photos of both of the girls can be quite a challenge.  I loved Eliana's face in this photo enough to go ahead and post it even though it isn't Natalie's best.  I had this mini photo shoot yesterday.  Initially, I was just taking photos of Natalie on a cream colored blanket.  Eliana ran and got her blanket and joined Natalie up on our bed so that she could take some photos too!

Natalie is 4 Weeks Old!!

 

This photo is from Natalie at 2 weeks old.   She has more hair than Eliana did at over a year old.  I'm curious to see what will happen when it falls out.  Maybe she'll go bald for a while, or maybe it will turn out to be a light color of hair. 

 We are curious if she is going to keep these blue eyes.  Eliana's were brown to start, so we'll just wait and see what little sister's will do.

 Natalie has been smiling for us.  It is such a delight. 

Natalie is sleeping well.  Last night she went for six hours from the beginning of one feeding to the beginning of the next.  That was a first!  She has gone a few times for a five hour stretch.  Most of the time she goes three to four hours at night.  I'm not nearly as sleep deprived this time around.  I am SOOOOOO thankful that the Lord has answered my prayers about Natalie being a better sleeper than Eliana was.  Another answered prayer is that Natalie doesn't spit up nearly as often.  In the last few days she has been gaining strength in her neck so that she can hold it up and look around for a few moments at a time.  Her legs are getting stronger too as she tries to stand on me when I burp her.  I can't believe four weeks has already gone by.  We are adjusting well.  I hope to keep the blog some what up to date, but we'll just see how things go.  I hear that second babies don't get nearly the amount of photos taken.  Natalie has hundreds of photos, but we'll just see how many actually get to the blog.
Well, it sounds like Eliana (who is just having rest time now since she started opting out of naps the week before Natalie came) went in to quiet Natalie who has started to fuss.  I'm off to go check on my sweet girls.