Tummy Time!

Tummy Time! Nataleigh enjoys joining her sister! ;)

Gran Gran comes for a visit!

Gran Gran (Gi Gi) came to help me a few days while daddy was gone. We always love when she can come! We did home pedicures, went to the splash park, got Alescies (yummy Italian food), took walks, went to a family reunion. Mom is still trying to find a job but we are glad she has this precious time with out a job to be able to spend with us! :)

Sisterly love

Every day I am fascinated with how our girls interact with each other. What a special gift they have in each other! I'm so thankful for my girlies!

For Moms and Dads

This is from Beth Moore's book Things Pondered:
Maybe some piece of this writing will remind you of days with your children and touch your heart like it did mine.
I Like Children

I like the way they're always full of surprises...how they have a mind of their own from the very beginning and arrive just in time to be two weeks late. I like the way they look like little strangers the moment you feast your eyes on them...totally unrecognizable yet freshly detached from your own body. I like the way they come to your hospital room in a plain white blanket, wrapped so tightly and with such precision you wonder if they'll have to wear it to college. I like how they look in their baby bed the very first time you tuck them in it it--so small you decide they better sleep in your room. :)
I like the funny expressions they make while they're dozing and how they crack an awkward smile as if they've tagged an angel. I like the way they yawn with their whole bodies and how the stork bites on the backs of their necks are often as plain as day. I like the way they never go for the applesauce disguising the pureed liver. I like how they smell after their grannies bathe them and bring them to their mamas. I like the soft bristles of their brushes and how their hair looks when you first get it to part.
I like the way they love you more than anyone else on earth has ever loved you. I like how they quiet to your whisper after all your friends and relatives have desperately tried to calm them. I like the first time they reach their arms out to you. I like having the prerogative not to lay them down for a nap and rocking them instead for all three house if you have a mind to.
I like the way they learn to entertain all the patrons at the restaurant with a spoon on the metal tray of a high chair. I like how they first say Mama and Dad with twenty syllables each. I like the dimples their knees make when they first learn to stand. I like how they learn to walk because they want to get to you. And, boy, do I like footie pajamas...until the next morning when no telling what is in the footie. I like the way the know they're going to Mother's Day Out the instant they wake up. And they're not in the mood. And I love sleepy hair. You know...how it looks all fuzzy on one side when they first wake up.
I like the sudden discovery of sentences as their thoughts take the form of endless, delightful vocabulary. I like how you nearly die laughing once you realize what they're trying to say. I like the way neighbors don't realize they've just been insulted because they can't understand a word out of their mouths. I like the way "R's" don't appear in their alphabet until they are at least five years old. I like their simple rules of socialization...move or I push...gimme or I bite.
I like how little girls think pink chiffon dresses are divine and little boys wear their cowboy boots with shorts. I like the way little girls prefer umbrellas and little boys--puddles. I like how they look on the first day of kindergarten--from the front. Not from the back. I like taking pictures of them with their friends every year on the first day of school...that is, until you come across that very first on in the drawer. And you cry. 'Cause it went too fast. And you can't go back. I like the way they know it's time to go even when Mommy doesn't agree. Because that's the way it should be.
I like how your children like you even better when they're grown. And how, if you're really lucky, they might have children of their own. And you can try it once more.
And maybe do a little better. Because I like children.

Family times!

Now that Mia is more awake we are having more fun as a family of 4. Nataleigh likes to share her toys with her. She's not too sure about sharing her Barney chair but is getting better about it ;)
15 weeks 2 days:

Leah came to visit!

We had a wonderful visit with Leah! Last year she stayed with us for a month, this time it was only a few days so it was really hard to see her leave with such a short visit. Nataleigh LOVES her Leah and enjoyed her lip gloss, lotion and pestering her in the basement ;) Mia also enjoyed having Leah around and would just smile at her ;) Unfortunately we didn't take a picture with Nataleigh and Leah but I did remember to get one with her and Mia.
Leah blessed us so much by staying home with the girls so Chris and I could go out one night and Leah and I were able to get out as well one night for some girl time! We love our Leah! ;)

Mia rolled over!!

Mia (14 weeks) rolled over from tummy to back for the first time yesterday!! The sad thing is I missed it because I ran upstairs to get something while she was on her tummy and came back and she was on her back :( Poor second children :( Today she did it again and I missed it the first time so I put her back on her tummy and sure enough I finally got to see her!! YAY! She just didn't do it once or twice! 3 times!! YAY for new milestones! :)

Nataleigh is 27 months

Nataleigh started just this week praying at meal times and singing Jesus Loves Me with us before bed. After doing these 2 things with her since birth it's so rewarding to do them on her own.

Family Reunion

We enjoyed a family reunion on Chris's mom's side this past weekend in New Jersey. It was our first trip as a family of 4. The girls did great in the hotel and we all survived even though at times it was challenging. ;) We traveled with Chris's family and Nataleigh loved taking turns riding in the car with Grandpa, Nonna and Uncle Ray. Here is a video of Nataleigh getting her groove on at the reunion! :)

Mia is 3 months!

uncle Ray holding Mia at a family reunion

Our sweet Mia is 3 months old today!
She is such a calm, content baby and when she's not she lets you know very quickly what she needs/wants.
There were lots of new milestones at 2 months (I'm sure I'm forgetting some):
10 weeks:
Found her thumb
11 weeks:
Had her first trip to PaPaw and GiGi's, laughed for the first time (when I would stand her up and bounce her up and down), officially did away with her arms in the swaddle (her legs are still swaddled)
12 weeks:
She's cooing (I'm pretty sure she's been trying to say "mom"-it's "mum, mum, mum"), she does tummy time well and is working on rolling from tummy to back, slept through the night for the first time

Our trip to Indiana

We recently took a trip to visit my family. It was a wonderful time as we participated in a week of camp called Missions Week. Nataleigh had a great time at her class each morning, spending time with her cousins, having fun with GiGi and PaPaw and swimming. I led the music for the little kids every morning and had a blast! We've been able to go 3 years in a row now (ever since Nataleigh was a newborn). I was a little nervous driving the girls all by myself but we survived and it wasn't bad at all! Mia enjoyed a change of scenery, being loved on by our family and meeting new people :) She let anyone hold her and would just smile ;)






Nataleigh completely exhausted from the week: