February Recap

For the first time in nearly three years, I got to see the see the ocean.  It was only for less than half an hour, but I'll take it! There is just something about the ocean that soothes and excites me all at the same time.  I think it is in part because growing up we spent many family vacations visiting grandparents and seeing the ocean.  Awe.  We were near the ocean for Rachel's dad's funeral.  So, you may notice that Eliana wasn't with us.  She had an amazing day with my family.  We figured her seeing some of her favorite people mourning would rock her world a bit.  Natalie thankfully slept through the whole service and brought joy and comfort to those around us.

Any guesses what you are looking at to the right?  Well, I had cooked a turkey and then made broth from the bones.  I happened to notice that we had run out of freezer bags.  I was a little worried that the regular bags would open, so I put all 8 or so small bags in one large bag to freeze.  Can you tell what happened?  At least one bag did open and then all of them were frozen together.  They had been sitting on a bag of frozen veggies that had a bird chip clip keeping the bag closed.  As you may see, it was frozen stuck.  I hadn't planned on using all of the broth at once, but I ended up making some soup.

 Awe, cheesecake!  We had Jonathan and Julia over.  They brought yummy cheesecake for dessert!  Since they were mini cheesecakes, we got to sample all of the flavors!  Amazing!

 Eliana loves collecting things.  Lately, she has been collecting rocks!  It is starting to warm up a bit, so we are outside often again!  Praise the Lord for spring coming!!!

 Playtime with Kyle and Eliana is always an adventure!

 Dane and Natalie are distant cousins.  Just like Eliana and Dawson below. 

 If you look carefully, you'll see that Eliana is wearing a baby carrier.  It was so nice to have some company in the morning!!!

 Can you believe it?  They are both smiling at the same time!  That is a miracle!!!

Eliana continues to love changing her clothes multiple times a day.  Lately she likes to change into her Cinderella pajamas as soon as we get home from a walk or playing outside.  I don't mind so much since I know it will be different within a couple of hours.

 Sometimes I think God made dirt just to play in:)  Sofia and Eliana love dirt, throwing balls, and kicking balls.  I had so much fun with these two girls.  I had them run, run, running!

 All of that good running caused Eliana to fall asleep while we were praying before bedtime.  At least she made it through Bible story time!

It was challenging to get a one arm photo of us when we were a family of three, and it is simply humorous to try now.  I figure this one didn't turn out too bad.

Natalie is 4 Months Old!!!

For a few more days, Natalie will be 4 months old.  This month she swallowed a firecracker.  That is my best explanation for the sound she now makes when she is super tired or really fussy or just plain mad.  Thankfully, although we hear that noise a few times a day it isn't a-l-l day or even for super long periods of time.  She is awake for between 1.5 and 2.5 hours at a time.  She alternates between 6 and 7 feedings a day.  For the last few nights she has been fighting her last nap.

Natalie became the main focus of Eliana as she learned how to take photos.  The upper right photo is a self portrait of Eliana:)

 Natalie is still eating once in the middle of the night.  She has a new habit of also waking about an hour before I'm willing to feed her (somewhere around 1am) and then an hour before I'm willing to start our day (somewhere around 5am).  So she get the pacifier and thankfully goes back to sleep fairly quickly.  The only thing is that I am getting pretty tired from all of the extra waking up.  For many months she was eating around 3am and then at 7am.  That was nice.  I'm not sure what happened and why she started waking around 1am, but I remind myself that this is just a season.  One day she will sleep through the night.  Hopefully is will be a wee bit sooner than it took Eliana, but I'm still getting way more sleep than I did with Eliana.  SO, I count my blessings!

 We love making Natalie smile.  Now that I know these easy smiles are also a short season, I am treasuring them and basking in the gleeful, toothless smiles she gives me oh so easily.

Natalie loves to stand while holding onto our hands, to sit up with help, and chew on anything she can get her hands on.  If there is nothing to chew on, she finds a way to chew on most of her whole hand at one time.