Hope

4 years ago this past week we miscarried our first pregnancy. My mother-in-law sent a beautiful azalea to us that we would plant to remember this moment in life that changed us for the better. When we moved from IL to OH our azalea bush stayed where we had planted it. While looking for a house to buy in OH we were blessed with 3 azalea bushes that were already planted in our front yard. Each year they blossom pretty much to the day we lost our little life growing in me.
This year we got a picture of Mia next to our beautiful bushes.

And 4 years later God has blessed us with two healthy beautiful girls!

11 months!

My heart is joyful! I can't believe I have two healthy daughters and the responsibility I've been given to be their Mama! I knew having two close together was going to be a challenge for me (and Chris) but the joy, oh the joy! There are so many days I just want to sit down and write out everything about mothering these 2 precious children but I just haven't made the time.
These 11 months, well, have had many ups and downs. I'm thankful for God's grace that sustains us. Without it I'm a mess!
Mia is:
-Walking along furniture
-Walking behind things while she pushes them
-Says "Hi" while waving
-When you ask her what a dog says or she sees a dog she says "woof, woof" ;)
-Tries to put legos together
-Associates where certain toys go and tries to put the ball in the popper, legos in the storage container, etc.
-Lays down when you ask her to.
-Still nursing 4x day
-Eating a lot more table food now (pretty much all done with purees)
-2 naps of 1.5-2 hrs each and STTN 11.5-12 hrs.
-Loves the outdoors, especially rides in the wagon.

Mia has always been the type of child to let you know what she wants. She's a tough one sometimes because she can be extremely stubborn. When she's doing something she knows she's not supposed to be doing and we tell her "that's a no" she will look at us and smile and sometimes proceed to do it anyway with the cutest smile. She is extremely cuddly, sweet and will go to almost anyone. She loves to be around people.
I'm enjoying watching the girls interact with each other. The other night they were chasing each other around the house by crawling (Mia's got this supercharged fast crawling thing going on) and they were laughing so hard! It's in these moments I pause and just listen to the gift of life God has blessed our family with.
So in these precious moments or the not so precious moments I hope I can remember the big picture-This Is Not Our Home but the responsibilities we have while we wait for our HOME are SO VERY IMPORTANT!!!
Mia Elizabeth Rose you are 11 months old! It's hard to believe in one month we will be celebrating your first Birthday!
Just before she turned 11 months at lunch after church with Chris's parents:


The girls looking out the window...

We tried our best to get the girls on camera as they were chasing each other and giggling...

New Milestones!

Our girls are growing up way too fast!! Some new milestones this week:
Nataleigh: FULLY potty trained-she had still been wearing a diaper to bed and as of this week no more diaper to bed! For about 2 months now she had been dry when she woke up and I was hopeful she was getting close! YAY!
Mia: When we tell her to lay down (For a diaper change, etc) she will lay down! It's so cute ;) She's also starting to walk around things and is pushing toys and the kitchen stool while she walks!
All this growing up makes mommy weepy but it's so much fun at the same time! ;)