Happy 5 Months, Lillian Faith.

Today we celebrate

5 months of pure joy.

5 months of love

5 months of beautiful smiles

5 months of tears

5 months of sleepless nights

5 months of worry

5 months of hope

5 months of prayers

5 months of God's faithfulness

5 months of miracles

5 months of life

5 months of YOU, Lillian Faith.

 

My Little Artist....

There she is....

And here is her artwork...

That is a sharpie!

She clearly needs to find a new hobby... :)






Movin' on up.

Lillian had a weight check yesterday, and while I normally dread weight checks, this one turned out to be quite different. Because for the first time, the doctor said, "I think she's just going to be petite."

Those words were music to my ears.

Usually I leave those appointments feeling beaten up and drained, wondering what I could be doing differently to help her start gaining more. And I've spent many sleepless nights worrying myself sick over her growth. Is she gaining enough? Is she getting enough to eat? Am I doing something wrong?

And To hear the doctor say she was thriving and there was no concern about her weight was such a relief. For once I felt a victory, rather than a failure.

She'll be 5 months old next week, and at 8lbs 7oz now she is growing beautifully.  

 

She's movin' on up. :)

Crazy Weather.

I was driving to Defiance yesterday when I got a call from Brian. There was a funnel cloud reported between Hicksville and Antwerp and the tornado sirens were going off. Well, I decided to just keep driving. And I found myself staring into this...

What's up with this crazy weather lately?!

The case of the missing...

Our house has a way of swallowing things into thin air, never to be seen again. Like last year when we lost the remote to our DVD player. It was about the same time we hosted our home group here at our house, and realizing we couldn't find the remote anywhere, we were unable to watch the DVD for our lesson. An embarrassing moment, to say the least. Not to mention the loss of this remote ended in a completely new DVD player/surround sound system. And a little over a year later, that remote has yet to be found.

At the time, Adelynn had an obsession with throwing stuff away. We were constantly digging through the trash, pulling lost items out, and sanitizing. So, of course, the only thing we could think of was the remote had been thrown away and taken out for trash pick-up before we could get to it. Although, blaming Adelynn such things isn't entirely fair, since I have also been know to accidentally throw things away. Take for example, just a few weeks ago, I threw away $20. Yep, $20. Two $10 bills stuffed inside of Easter eggs went into the trash. The trash went out on Tuesday morning, and on Wednesday morning Brian asked me what I did with the money. Oops.

Then there was also the time we had a baby doll completely disappear from our house. It was a doll I didn't particularly care for, because of it's really annoying laugh. To this day, Brian still swears I was the one who "accidentally" threw it away because I couldn't stand the noise it made. That exact doll has yet to be found, though it did come back to haunt us again when Adelynn's Great, Great Grandma sent us another baby that made the same identical noise. It figures, since it was the one lost thing I could have done without!

So last night, it came as no surprise to us when our TV remote came up missing. After all, as Dr Phil would say, this isn't our first rodeo (I've always wanted to say that!).  It was with us until around noon yesterday and I completely forgot I hadn't seen it until Brian came home from work asking where the remote went. He went scouring through Adelynn's toys, turning over couch cushions, using a flashlight to peek into cracks and corners. He likes his remote, ya know.

This morning, the remote was still nowhere to be seen. I asked Adelynn several times through breakfast where the remote was, having a small inkling she may just know where it was hiding. Sure enough, about mid-morning, she came running out of the corner of the room shouting "here it is, here it is! I found it!". And when I asked her to show me where it was, she pointed to the cushion of Lillian's swing. Apparently, she had tucked it underneath the swing cushion! No wonder Lillian didn't want to be in her swing last night....

I suppose it's time for us to start getting a better handle on things around here before I lose my mind. Or perhaps that's already be gone. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Today.

Today was a rough day for Lillian. She just wanted to be held and couldn't seemed to get settled. She would fall alseep in my arms and the minute I put her down she would wake up. I would pick her back up, rock her back to sleep, lay her down again, and her eyes would pop open. We did this several times, over and over, with the same result. And by the end of the day she was so exhausted (and so was I!). When Brian came home from work he suggested going for a ride with her. So after putting Adelynn down for the night, he gave me a little break, and loaded Lillian up for a car ride. It seemed to do the trick, that is, until he walked through the front door and she immediately woke up again! But thankfully, she went back to sleep shortly after, and is peacefully sleeping upstairs right now.

Despite her rocky day, for about 15 minutes this afternoon she seemed to be in a wonderful mood. I happened to catch it on video. And by the looks of it, you would never have guessed the majority of her day was filled with restlessness and tears.

 As I watched her today, I thanked God for a healthy, lively baby girl. It was just a few short months ago, I was praying to God just for her to survive in this world, for Him to make her strong. And I watched the hand of God work miracles as she sailed through her first months of life with minimal issues, much to the amazement of the doctors and nurses. Oh, what a blessing she has been to us, and we are so thankful to God for answered prayers.

Here's to a restful night. :)

Reminiscing.

I've never been good about keeping up with baby books for either of my girls. And though I did have one for Adelynn, I never really took the time to document things in it. I know that's terrible, but one thing I have been pretty good about it taking pictures. I truly believe in the saying "a picture is more than a thousand words." I love looking back through old pictures and reminiscing. Those memories, the feelings felt at that very moment the picture was taken, are what words written in a book could never describe.

I've also tried to get better at capturing videos. Watching a milestone in real time is even better. So today, I reminisced. And I watched one of my favorite videos of Adelynn. One that still makes me laugh and cry joyful tears. It was recorded on August 2, 2009, she was exactly 6 months old and just learning how to crawl. And the best part of this video is how hard she's trying, which is just so Adelynn. And the panting is what makes me laugh the hardest.



Love this, always. :)

Sunshine.

This afternoon was peaceful here at our house. While both girls were sleeping, I sat and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine spilling in through the window of our family room, gazing at the big tree in our back yard steadily swaying in the breeze. I've held out for a long time putting curtains up on that window because I love the natural light it brings into our home. 

There's just something so exhilerating about the sun. It brightens moods and lifts spirits. And though I love the distinct change of seasons Northwest Ohio brings, there are times I wish I lived in a place where the sun always shines, and there is never a drop of rain or cloud in the sky. If there ever were such a place...but then again, would the sun ever seem so sweeter than now?

These last few days I've been admiring my girls, not wanting to miss out on any minute of this stage in both their lives. There are these little moments when I wish I could just stop time and hold my girls there forever. 

But as with every stage of life, there comes both joys and challenges. And I'm doing my best not to wish away the joyful times along with the challenging times. Sometimes I find myself looking too forward to sleeping through the night again, or getting past the stage of toddler tantrums, or being able to travel without mutiple stops for feedings or diaper changes. And I'm reminded those challenges will not be forever. Which means my girls will not forever be this little, and that's a sad thought.

 So I'm learning to live in the moment, because I don't want to miss out on the now. And I know in every stage of life there will always be challenges, but the joy that comes with those challenges is far much greater. And just as the sun wouldn't be as sweet with out the rain, the joys wouldn't be as sweet without the challenges.

This video makes me smile: 

                                                    

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today." ~Dale Carnegie

Sisters.

We often get the question, "Does Lillian look like Adelynn when she was a baby?" And yes, Adelynn had the same head full of dark hair. It wasn't until she was about 5 months old that it started to get lighter. Although, many people have mentioned they think Adelynn resembles Brian more and Lillian resembles me. So I decided to pull out some pictures to compare.

And you can definitely tell they're sisters...

Adelynn...

And Lillian...

So for the fun of it, I decided to put one of Adelynn's old sleeper's on Lillian and take a simliar picture.

Adelynn...

And Lillian...

Yep, they're definitely sisters! I'm interested to see if Lillian will keep her dark hair and eyes or if they'll get lighter like Adelynn's.

She's 2.

She's sweet, caring, funny, kind, cute, witty, loveable and energetic.

She's also demanding, strong-willed, picky, and dramatic.

She's 2.

My 2 year old, who:
-Sweetly told me she loved me this morning
-Consoled her sister when she was crying
-And sympathetically asked me if I was ok when I hit my arm on the counter

My 2 year old, who also:
-Got her golf clubs taken away from her for taking a swing at Brian
-Whacked her unsuspecting sister in the head
-And hit me while shouting "No!"

Yes, the wonderful characteristics of a 2 year old. 

Oh, how we love her so.

Lillian is 4 months.

It's hard to believe you've been with us for 4 months already. I am completely amazed by you, my strong little girl. And though, at 7lbs 7oz, you are still pretty small, you have quite a big personality devoloping.

You didn't care for your bottles all that much, so we decided to do away with them completely and you've done great, growing perfectly without them.  You're also starting to sleep a little better at night since we've stopped waking you to eat, sometimes going 5 or 6 hours in between feedings.

You prefer your momma over anyone else, and I love that. You're pretty selective with your smiles, but when you do give them it completely melts my heart. You love your sister and think she's pretty fun stuff. You watch her intently and smile when she's not looking. You like your swing, and when you're not being held it's where you'd prefer to be. And unlike your sister, you hate being in your carseat.

Your reflux is starting to get a little better since we switched your medication, which makes you a much happier baby and makes mommy feel better, too. It broke my heart to see it bothering you so much.

I thank God for you everyday, and I am so thankful he chose me to be your mommy. What a blessing you are, so precious and perfect in every way. We love you, Lillian Faith. Happy 4 months!