Homemade Baby Food

I'm feeling so proud of all the homemade baby food Brielle has been eating. And let me tell you, she's been eating a lot! This girl loves to eat! She growls until you get that spoon in her little mouth. So far, she's readily eaten everything we've given her. The only problem is, as you can tell by the prunes in the picture, she tends to get a little constipated :( I wanted to add a picture of my little eater, but I don't have a recent one. I guess I'll put that on the agenda for tomorrow.

The beach ... in March?

We just got back from a week at the Outer Banks with the Lehman crew... and what a crew it is! I have been blessed to not only have been born into a wonderful family, but to have married into one as well.

I'll have to admit when I first heard of the idea of heading to the beach with 8 kids in the middle of March I was skeptical. All I saw was a bad case of cabin fever from being stuck inside a beach house all week with nothing to do. However, I warmed to the idea and the weather warmed as well. We had the most beautiful week. The kids were on the beach (and in the water I might add) in their swim suits and loving it! What a blessing. Here are some pictures from the week.

As soon as we hit the sand at the dunes, Natalie was grabbing handfuls to put in her bucket. She was so cute. This was a huge step because last year she didn't want to touch the sand!

Natalie loves her cousins! Anytime we ask her if she remembers someone else she'll just say, "no, I like my cousins."

Brielle definitely missed her crib and any resemblance of a schedule, but she loved all the attention she got from everyone!

Little Miss Personality

I just love these pictures I took of Natalie yesterday. She is little miss personality these days. She keeps us on our toes with her ideas and questions. She is also showing us the beauty and challenge that is all the emotions of little girls. It is eye opening to me as I explain to her the control we have over our emotions. Definitely an area where I'm being challenged to act, not just speak! Here's my beauty...

Six Months

Well, my baby girl is six months old already. I love the stage we are heading into. There is something about the playfulness of the next few months that I absolutely love, but there is a part of me that already misses the teeny "tinyness" of those first few months.

Brielle is a delight. She is most often happy as long as she is caught up on her sleep. And this girl loves sleep. She has been going to bed at 6:30 for the past couple of months - I always thought that sounded ridiculous but when it works, it works! She still gets up once to eat and then sleeps until 7 or 7:30.

She's still a little thing. She weighed in at 13 pounds last week. The doctor is really pleased with her development though. The silly girl rolled over a few times around Christmas and now won't do it again. The doctor said it seems like she's just laid back because she has plenty of strength to do whatever she needs to do. I'll take it.

When I think of where we were last year at this time, I am amazed and overwhelmed by God's goodness. This girl has been an adventure, one I wouldn't trade for anything. She's truly our gift "of God".

Happy Valentines Day!

I've long been a fan of Valentines Day, and not just for the expectation of chocolate and flowers and romantic perfection. I don't really consider myself much of a "romantic." However, a day to give sweet cards and treats to those you love - how can you resist? This year, Natalie was all on board too, which has just increased my love for this day.

We started last week by making these Valentines for her cousins and church friends (not to fear, cousins, you will receive them soon). We started small, but she LOVED this first attempt of making her own Valentines. Let me just say she was queen of that glue stick.

The thing I love is that Natalie knew exactly what she wanted for Valentine's - a red heart balloon and green flowers. I'm really not sure why green, but her daddy did not disappoint. (We had a little trouble keeping the balloon still long enough to get it and the flowers in the same picture).

Brielle was not left out of the festivities either.

Here she is again with her Valentine shoes and my beautiful flowers in the background - I love my husband. He has a lot of girls to please these days and he's done quite well!

Happy Valentine's Day! If you need some treats, come here! We have plenty to share :)

Quick Update

It's been awhile. These girls are keeping me on my toes. Natalie had decided that she only needs to nap about half the time - silly girl. I tried to remind her that she's only two and a half, but she doesn't seem to think it matters. Really, she's been doing quite well on days that she doesn't nap, so I guess I will embrace it. The beauty of it is that it almost always means an earlier, easy bedtime. Brielle is a little cat napper right now, so the two of them combined means that I've been getting 10 - 15 minutes max of downtime in the afternoon. So here's a quick blog/picture update. Then I'm moving on to my new addiction "Downton Abbey". If you haven't watched this show, you must. Sunday nights at 9 on PBS. You can also catch the first season on Netflix :)

Natalie is such a little ham. She loves showing off for her daddy and I. I'm sad that not everyone gets to see this side of her because she tends to be shy when we are away.

Natalie is becoming such a great big sister. She loves to hold Brielle, pick out clothes for her, run to her when she cries, get her toys, and make her laugh and smile!

Brielle is five months old already! I can't believe it. She's enjoying her exersaucer more these days. She rolled over a few times around Christmas, but won't do it again. She is quick to smile. She adores her big sister. She is a beauty!

Gifts

Ok folks, here it is. My 2012 goal.... ok, one of them. The fun one that I'm hoping will challenge my perspective and help me move outside of my "this is all there is" box of despair. I love what I do, but let's be honest, it's not everday, every moment fulfilling. It's not designed to be. So, here's my project. Everyday, I'm already a week late I know, I plan to snap a photograph of a gift, something that brings me joy, deepens my perspective, lightens my load, whatever it may be - a word, an object, a person. I'll do my best to post these pictures at the end of every week. I'm not a photographer, do not pretend to be, not sure I even desire to be, so bear with me. The pictures aren't being taken as an art form but as a reminder, a perspective gainer. More to come....