Family Pictures

Last weekend we took family pictures. Here's one of the proofs that we didn't use for our Christmas cards. We'll post more pictures when we get them from our photographer. There are some precious ones of the kiddos!

Afternoon naps...

Don't you love waking up after a 2.5 hour afternoon nap of snuggling with your blanket.... the kind of nap where your hair goes crazy but you're happy??

This guy does.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our turkeys:

...to yours!

While I'm very thankful for all God has given us (the two kiddos above included!) I'm most thankful for Christ. I hope I would be praising His name and just as thankful today, with or without the people and stuff he's given me.

Jesse Tree Ornaments

Last year we found a Jesse Tree advent book to read as a family during the month of December, and we found it to be a great daily reminder of what Christmas is about and the prophecies Christ came to fulfill. This year we decided to make it more hands on for Emelyn as she learns Christ's lineage by making ornaments for each day. Emelyn is really excited and has already started to guess what each ornament represents. On December 1st, we'll begin hanging them!

Here are some pictures of our little art project:

A few of my favorite things...

• The fact that I have to firmly remind both of our kids (over hysterical laughing between them) that meal times are to eat and not to play.
• The way Isaiah gives big bear hugs while patting me on the back.
• ...and that he smiles and claps his hands while I change his diaper... most likely the closest I'll ever get to feeling appreciated for changing diapers!
• The way Emelyn can interpret Isaiah's every thought ("Oh mom, Isaiah said he wants me to give him a kiss... or wants to play... or wants to take a nap... or wants to go outside.... or wants a smore just like me...")
• The way Emelyn says things about numbers quite "matter-of-factly" that are no where close to accurate. On our way to her friend William's house, she announced "It's a long way to Williams house.... 64 seconds!"
• Snuggling with both kids... I love having two snugglers!

I'm not tired!

Emelyn doesn't always need to take a nap (and when she does she's up late,) but even if she doesn't nap, she has to play quietly in her room or else read for an hour each afternoon to "rest." It never fails that many days she insists that she isn't tired, but I walk into her room shortly after her "rest" time begins, and with the lights on, this is how I find her:

Comparisons..

Not that you can really compare a boy to a girl, but it was fun to look back at Emelyn at 9 months. Here's what I wrote July 15, 2009:

• 19 lbs, 6.4 oz. (60th percentile) (Isaiah's in the 80th percentile for boys his age)
• 26 3/4 inches (25th percentile) (Isaiah's in the 80th percentile for boys his age)
• Nurses 4 times/day - around 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7:30pm (4 bottles/day at the same times)
• Eats 3 full meals a day and can eat most of the same fruits/veggies we eat each day
• She ate meat for the first time yesterday - roasted chicken breast with sweet potatoes, green beans and milk (Isaiah's been eating meat for a few weeks... salmon tonight!)
• Her favorite meal for breakfast: oatmeal with chopped banana and fresh pureed blueberries with milk (all blended together) (Isaiah refuses to eat oatmeal with banana!)
• We tried yogurt to introduce milk products but it seemed to make her sick so we'll still wait a while to introduce dairy (She still can't handle cows milk)
• She loves her sippy cup! (Isaiah isn't a fan of the sippy cup.)
• She eats finger foods - cheerios, bites of Kashi cereal bars and graham crackers (Same foods for Isaiah)
• She takes 2 naps/day - mid morning after breakfast and early afternoon after lunch (Isaiah takes these same two naps, and sometimes an early evening nap too.)
• Goes to bed around 7:30-8:00 p.m. and wakes up around 7:00 am
• Crawls and pulls herself up to stand (NO where close to accomplishing this!)
• Starting to couch surf (Nope... none of that yet.)
• Loves to crawl all over mom and dad and then snuggles in for a hug (Big hugger and snuggler... minus the crawling)
• She has 4 teeth - maybe 5 - the 5th upper middle tooth seems to be in and out (is that even possible?) (Isaiah has 6 teeth but when he was exactly 9 months old only had 4)

Check Ups

Yesterday afternoon both kids had their well visit check ups - Isaiah's 9 month and Emelyn's 3 year. Both are growing and healthy.
For my own tracking, here are the stats:

• Isaiah 23 lbs, 2 oz. (80th percentile); 29.5 inches long (80th percentile); Head circ. 17.72 inches (40th percentile.)
• He also had two new teeth come in a few days ago, so he now has 4 on the bottom and the two top middle teeth.
• Our Dr recommended we work on his crawling and trying to put his knees under him. He either laughs hysterically when we do this to him or else starts crying. But continue we shall!
• Emelyn 31 lbs (50th percentile); 37 inches tall (50th percentile)
• Emelyn also had to get a booster for a shot she had last year and she was quite brave!

I came home from an errand Sunday afternoon and found these two asleep watching football:

(It has the same effect on me...)

And here's Isaiah's cheesy smile: 

Such a ham!

Another week...

Isaiah at 40 weeks with a proud big sister:

I just realized it's been a week since I posted, so in an attempt to not let too much time pass, here's a quick summary of what we've been up to:

• Isaiah's working on two top teeth. We see the white but they haven't officially broken through yet... maybe tonight will be the big revealing!
• Emelyn chewed her first piece of gum today and was quite excited.
• Emelyn also started Mother's Day Out Monday morning and will be going every Monday morning from now on. She calls it "school" and gets quite excited to pack a lunch and go each week. She also keeps asking why she can't just ride the school bus to "school."
• Next week I will start watching a sweet baby boy on Tuesdays and Thursdays as his mom gets off maternity leave to go back to work. I'm looking forward to having this sweet little guy two days a week. Emelyn is beyond excited to have another baby to give a play-by-play for as well.
• Isaiah started using a walker this week and is quite talented. He has learned to push off with both feet on the tile to really sail and walks fast on the carpet. He also has conquered a three point turn to be able to get into sissy's room which irritates her to no end. I'm seeing a very mischievous boy emerge. He immediately goes straight to the things he knows he can't have. (ie, trash can, book shelves to chew on books, tries to get outlet covers off etc...)
• It seems to be baby season around here... two friends had babies this past week and more are due soon. So much fun to meet these new little miracles!
• And finally, we've been enjoying the few last windy days of fall by going outside in the afternoon. Both kids have watery eyes and runny noses to show for it. But before we know it, it will be too cold to venture outdoors so we hope to take advantage of every last 50-60 degree day we have.

Farmland Adventures

Riding ponies...

A beautiful hayride: 

Walking through the cornmaze: 

Isaiah and our neighbor, Logan: 

Climbing up the hay mountain: 

Playing in the corn box (we found some in Isaiah's mouth sometime later...)

Picking out a pumpkin:

I have a feeling our beautiful fall days are limited so we wanted to make sure we took advantage of the nice weather today (even though the sun made it hard to take good pictures!) We ended all of the fun with a bon fire, cooking hotdogs and smores. Emelyn keeps asking if we can go back again tomorrow after church. :)

Playing with dad

Both of our kids seem to think wrestling with daddy is better than any toy or game.

Pin!

Double attack! 

Isaiah sandwich... 

Taking a break with daddy's hat and wallet: 

Tickle attack! 

Squeezing daddy as hard as she can: 

A hug for mom too (please ignore that I'm still in my pjs and without makeup!)

9 Months

One of Isaiah's new favorite toys - a fly swatter (unused!)

Keeping an eye on sissy... 

His sweet little smile that he uses to get out of just about anything (and it usually works!) 

• Eating: Four 6 oz bottles per day along with whatever we're eating each day. He gives us the most pitiful look if he sees us eating something that he doesn't have yet (he looks like he's offended that we didn't offer him a bite!)
• Sleeping: Pretty much the same as previous months - still takes a morning and early afternoon nap. We're trying to get him to drop the 5pm-6pm nap so that he'll sleep better at night. He seems to wake up a lot just jabbering to himself or else wanting his pacifier back in during the night.
• Movement: Sits up without problems. Doesn't move when on the floor except rolling once or twice. He can stand when holding on to something. He also can move around in his walker. Loves. To. Jump.
• Size: 22 lbs, 9 oz. We don't go to the doctor until mid-November to get his official weight/height though.
• Clothes:18 month clothes. Size 4 diapers. Size 4/5 shoe.
• Teeth: 4 all on the bottom.
• Talking: Still no words despite my daily attempts to get him to repeat "Mama" or "Dada"- he just giggles at me when I say it to him.

Oh Isaiah! What a treat you are! I'm not sure how we ended up with two fun kids that keep us laughing all day long! You're still as easy as ever. One of my favorite things you do is shake your head no. Usually at food. You check out what I'm giving you and then open your mouth or else shake your head no with a big grin. (But I usually win if I hold the spoon with food long enough!) Monday night we made cheese pizza and you were eating sweet potatoes just fine until you saw the pizza. Then you deliberately picked up the potatoes and threw them on the floor as you shook your head no and started picking up and eating pizza. *Sigh*

And on a more serious note, I get choked up every now and then when our sweet boy gets excited to see us or cries when we leave... such a special reminder from God that we are a family. I remember moments before adopting Isaiah when I wondered if he would feel like our child as much as Emelyn did the first time we held her. God blessed us beyond our imaginations the first time we looked at and held our sweet boy. Now seeing and knowing that he loves us just as much as we did the first time we met him makes me want to cry all over again at how great our God is! One of the first songs we sang to him in the hospital was "How Great Thou Art" and today I still can't make it through the song without tears as I remember, once again, how great God is.

O Lord my God,
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all
The world Thy Hand hath made,
I see the stars,
I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow'r throughout
The universe displayed;

Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!

When through the woods
And forest glades I wander
I hear the birds
Sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down
From lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook
And feel the gentle breeze;

And when I think,
That God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die,
I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross,
My burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died
To take away my sin.

When Christ shall come,
With shouts of acclamation,
And take me home,
What joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow
In humble adoration
And there proclaim,
"My God, how great Thou art!"