She Keeps Me Laughing ...

Mikaela does a really good job playing in her room with her babies and toys while I run. However, she always has to go sifting through their drawers. When I finished running today, the picture on the left shows what she came out wearing. The hat is Elijah's :) The picture on the right is what she was wearing after I finished washing dishes tonight. Once again, she has Elijah's hat on. In addition, she has on his shorts (0-3 mos) that she wasn't able to get on by herself earlier--guess she finally figured it out :)

Potty Joy

Our little sweetie girl STILL refuses to say her name!! So I started trying to get her to say Mikaela Joy rather than just Mikaela--yeah, that worked out real well for me. She also cracks us up when she says Elijah's name, so I had to share that too :) You'll also get a tiny little display of selfishness--sorry--we're still in training :)

Baby Reunion 2007

This past Saturday, our midwife had her annual birth reunion of all the babies she delivered this past year (and some from years past). It was a lot of fun to get to see all the babies and get to hear some of the other ladies' birth stories. Mikaela took a little while to warm up, but once she did, she had a lot of fun running around, climbing trees (trying, at least), and sometimes playing with some of the other kids. Colette--wish ya'll could have been there :( Jackie did have your picture up that you took at the birth center with Kai :) Here are a few pictures of the event.

Decorating

Well, I wasn't going to do a Christmas tree this year, but Eric actually asked me about it, so I thought, "Why not?" It's been about 3 years since I've decorated for Christmas, and I thought Mikaela would really enjoy it--boy did she! She had a blast helping Daddy put the tree together and then helping Mommy put up the lights and putting on the ornaments. It was put together in stages and took about a week to get completed :) Oh well--it's done!

Elijah was just there for the ride--he was having a good time watching and playing :)






























Did you know that the tree skirt was meant to cover your babies with? :)

Supermodels, Watch Out...

The other day when we got back home, Mikaela disappeared for a few minutes. When she returned to the living room, this is what she was wearing! At first I couldn't tell what she'd gotten in to. Then I realized that it was one of Elijah's nightgowns. Notice how one of her legs is through an arm hole, and the other leg is through the neck hole. Oh--and the black, patent shoes give it a nice touch--we make our own fashion statements around here :)

Pinceth Shut

Mikaela HAS to wear her "pinceth shut" (princess shirt) as often as possible. She asks to wear a princess shirt almost every night and day. We wanted her to wear long sleeves so she would stay warm, but she threw a fit b/c it didn't have any princesses on it--so we improvised :)

We just can't keep our hands (or bodies) off of Elijah's toys! Think she exceeds the weight limit on this thing? :) She has the best time playing like a baby w/his stuff--telling me, "I did it," like it was some great accomplishment that she copied what he does!

Rolling Over

Here's my little sweetie cakes in action! I've tried to catch him earlier but just always got to the camera a little too late! It'll probably be another week...or two...or three before he remembers again that he can actually get off his tummy by himself, so I'm glad to have finally caught it :) He had rolled over 2-3 times in succession (after me putting him back on his tummy each time) right before this time, all very easily. But this was his last attempt--I tried to get him to do more, but he'd had enough and decided to just stay and push up on his tummy for a little while and then start crying b/c he could no longer get the momentum to roll over again :)

From Mohawk to Comb-Over

So my sweet boy went from having a mohawk to having a comb-over!! We are going to have the best time bringing out these pictures when he gets older :) Elijah turned 5 months yesterday! He is getting so big, and he adores his big sister. He thinks she is so funny (until she pulls his hair or something :) ) and is always laughing at the things she does or the noises she makes. Also, in our new van, they are able to sit next to each other, so Mikaela always pulls the canopy on his carseat forward so she can see his face. She then proceeds to play with him (or take away his toys) and make him laugh until he decides he's too tired to laugh anymore and falls asleep :) It sure beats having crying babies in the car! And it's so funny b/c she keeps doing whatever it is to make him laugh over, and over, and over, and over--well, you get the idea--but I have to admit that his precious chuckle makes us adults do the same thing sometimes :) Elijah also loves his johnny jump-up and his exersaucer (thanks Colette!), and he loves looking at himself in the mirror. Both of my babies LOVE making faces and laughing and scolding and getting angry, and... at themselves with their mirrors (especially the ones in the car). I hope this doesn't mean they're going to be vain--it sure is funny to watch them though :) Elijah has rolled over from his tummy to his back a few times in the past 2 months or so, but it's mainly by accident still--otherwise, why would he persist to stay on his tummy and cry if he knows he can just roll over and be on his back?? Sleep-wise, he has his good nights and his bad nights. Last night was a really bad night, but the 2 nights before, he didn't wake up until 5 or 6 when it was time to eat. And yes, he STILL SPITS UP ALL THE TIME!! The good thing is that, after 5 months, I think I'm finally getting used to it just being a part of our daily routine; and you'll almost always see him or me with a burp rag--yes, we both smell like spit up all the time :) Overall, he is the sweetest baby ever in the whole wide world!

...especially when he's asleep :)

My Little Apprentice

This sweet girl is my little "mommy" in the making :) She copies EVERYTHING that I do (and tries to copy lots that I say). It is so precious to see the motherly instincts the Lord has put in her, even at this young age. Now it's my job to cultivate those instincts, and that's where I'm going to need the constant guidance and wisdom of our wonderful Savior, and I'll treasure His grace for all those times that I just mess it all up. This is her dancing with her baby the way I dance around with her and Elijah. See her holding the baby's hand like I hold theirs? She has also become very attentive to her little brother. The other day we were driving away from the house, and I hear, "Lyshush (Elijah) fall, uhu, uhu, uhu." I looked back and saw that indeed, just securing the seat belt in the rental car I was in did a horrible job of keeping his carseat secure, and his entire carseat--base and all--was turned sideways! Well, I had to find a driveway to turn into. Mikaela thought maybe I hadn't heard her, so she tells me again that Elijah had fallen and is about to start crying! I finally stopped and fixed him (he was just as happy as could be, btw :) ), so this made her feel better :)
She's also right on top of letting me know when Elijah is crying (even if he's really just cooing) or has spit up. Many times she grabs a towel and tries to wipe the spit up off of him. She is also great at bringing me the phone or a towel to clean up Elijah with. One time she even got the towel all by herself and started wiping up his spit up off the floor for me!! And when he wants his pacifier (and even if he doesn't :) ), she is quick to get it for him and shove (no--she's really getting much better at it :) ) it into his mouth! When we were doing our Bible reading one day, she even said, "Shh," to Elijah b/c he was "talking." :)

Mikaela is also still obsessed with shoes! The first thing she does these days when she wakes up or when we get home from going somewhere is to run to the living room, take off her shoes and socks and then go to my room or to her shoe rack and grab a pair of different shoes to put on :) She changes shoes (and clothes) as many times as I will allow her :) She also loves to wear her jackets and put her hood on! She is most definitely her own little person. She's getting better and better at dressing herself. And when she does something by herself she gets the most excited little smile on her face, holds her hands up by her head and says, "I did it!" And she keeps saying it until I acknowledge her :) She keeps me laughing, and I have the hardest time hiding my smile (and sometimes laugh) when I need to be disciplining her!

Black Friday (and Saturday)

Well--I don't know that I've ever really gone shopping on Black Friday with the intent of buying anything. But yesterday was a different story! Digression: {I have to take a little bit of time to brag on my wonderful husband. He got up around 5:30 a.m. to take me and our two little ones to go shopping--mainly for Mommy! He didn't rush me or anything and let me take my sweet time while he dealt with pushing the stroller around! The kids did wonderful too--they were happy the whole time and didn't fuss or cry or anything!}

You see, I've been wanting an SLR camera REALLY bad for quite a while now, and yesterday, Ritz had the right camera, and lots of other little (actually they were pretty big) freebies and goodies for the right price!! One of the freebies was 18 free photography classes that I get to take, so I'm excited to get started learning about photography and what all I can do with my new toy!

Another sort of surprise is that we got our first minivan today!! We've been kind of looking, just playing around, not really thinking we would be getting anything for another year or so. But once again, we found someone willing to give it to us for the right price!! It's a 2007 Toyota Sienna, and I am really going to enjoy having it. I feel so spoiled right now and am so grateful to the Lord for always providing us with everything we could possibly need and then some! I am most thankful though for how He was willing to die for me and give me the best gift I will ever have--eternal salvation. I hope I can use these two temporal gifts to bring glory and honor to His name.

Thanksgiving 2007

Well, originally, we had planned on going to Dallas to visit the Dowdneys, but they had to rush to OK for emergency surgery for D's dad :( So, we ended up staying home, and Eric's parents came over. Eric's mom made ribs, and we had baked potatoes, salad and gooey butter cake--mmmm! Very non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but it was good :) After that, Eric and his dad worked on finishing redoing the back screen door, and MJ had a blast running around outside in the COLD weather! Overall, it was a nice and restful day, which was good since we actually got up early for Black Friday.

EM & Grandma A ready to bear the cold!






Daddy & Pop putting the screen on the door while MJ helps--or maybe I mean gets in the way--or maybe just being a kid and running around all over the place :)







Brrrr!!












They drilled...











And they sanded...


And they put the handle back on...


And, after 4-5 hours of hard work, voila, Eric re-attached the spring!!



See the tiny green bananas and bloom that's about to bud on our banana tree?!