Adah's soon-to-be past sleeping quarters!

Adah is quickly outgrowing her current sleeping arrangement. She is almost head to toe in this bassinet. She is in the 90th % for her height so I feel kind of jipped that she won't be able to stay in it longer. I guess we have to make the move eventually...I think she's ready!

'Music Cass'

Here we are at a couple different weeks of Kindermusik or 'music cass' as Kezzie calls it. We love it so much. Here is Kezzie and Adah in their sled we pulled around during one of the songs about going through the city. I think this was our last week 'we are going to the city'. Next time we will have a new theme. That bottom left picture is of the kids getting stamps. I have mentioned before what a neat thing this is for Kezzie. She shows them off the whole rest of the day!

The Great Outdoors!

We have been going outside a lot more lately with the warm weather. It is so fun to get the summer stuff back out of storage. 3/15 Kezzie got this trike for Christmas from my parents and she got to give it a try for the first time. She hasn't figured out the pedals but she is a quick learner. I think she will get it in no time. Adah was content watching the world around her! But of course every time the wind hit her face her relax was to abruptly inhale...so cute!

3/30 On this day we had the pleasure of Austin joining us on his roller blades. Keziah loves watching him skate around in front of us. She usually laughs the whole walk! Adah fell asleep in her stroller. I think I would too if I was being lulled by the vibrations! Doesn't Kezzie look like a champ? She is a true geek! Just kidding!

Adah is 4 months old!

Adah is getting so big! I took her to the doctor today for her check up and she weighed in at 13 lbs. 14 oz. (50%). She was 25.5" (90%). The nurse said I could start giving her some cereal but I think I will wait on that for now. Unfortunately we have to go back for the shots because they were out of them so I will save that for another day (UPDATE: we went back for shots on Wed. April 8, 2010-she did great!). I'm sure the outcome will be the same as usual-painful and teary. She never handles her shots well and neither did Kez. I did have the doctor look at her cheek though. I don't know if I have ever mentioned it on the blog before but she periodically has a bright red cheek on her left side. It comes and goes throughout the day and is sometimes lighter than other times. One thing for sure is it is really hot while the right cheek is completely normal in temp and color. The doc just thinks it's eczema and wants me to put lotion on it to see if it helps. This isn't very surprising since Kezzie has it too. He's pretty sure she will outgrow it eventually.
Adah is not rolling over yet and actually shows no interest. She is perfectly content laying on her back on the floor just watching the world around her. She LOVES watching Kezzie and Austin play basketball in our living room.
Adah is such a good sleeper still. She is getting on a schedule more and more everyday. I love consistency! And I think she thrives on it too. Her schedule goes a little something like this:
7/7:30am wake and nurse
8:30 bed
9:30 wake and nurse
11/11:30 bed
12:30 wake and nurse
1:30 bed
3:30 wake and nurse
5:00 bed
6/6:30 wake and nurse
8/8:30 nurse and bed
This schedule is not particularly accurate if we have any little thing going on during the day. It completely throws her off as she is getting older and noticing her surroundings more.
When Adah nurses she will start on one side and eat there for just a few minutes. She will then go to the other side and eat longer there. She usually takes about 10-15 minutes total!
Adah noticed her hands for the first time on 3/19/10. She has since been grabbing things and trying to bring them to her mouth. It so fun to see her try to aim her hands to grab something and then try to aim it into her mouth. So sweet!
I know I mentioned before that Adah's eyes were getting darker but actually there are many days when they still look really blue. I don't know what makes the difference but some days they definitely look almost brown. We shall see eventually what they are going to be forever!
Adah is so much fun. I can never get enough of her squeals and giggles. She is so ticklish and will even share her laughs if all you are doing is laughing. She is such a happy baby with such a sensitive personality. I can't wait to see how she changes over the next month!

Dying Easter Eggs!

Today we dyed Easter eggs. It was such a good time to watch the kids (including Austin) get into it. It is nerve-racking to watch Kez and Bennett plop the egg into the dye! All their hands were dyed too. Rylan just watched and smiled!

Great Kids!

Yep...they're all mine! I love how Kezzie is trying to mimic Austin! She looks up to him so much!

Ohh so 'Berry Cute'!

Sorry for all the pictures...I just can't resist posting them...she is too cute! I guess that's what every mother thinks of their own kids though! Sorry if you don't think so!

Keziah is 28 months!

Eventually I am going to get to the point where I don't do this anymore. I don't know what point it is that it will stop, I just know one of these months it's got to! It's not like I post monthly about Austin at 11 years old! It's not that I mind doing it, it's just that it's usually days overdue by the time I get to it and I am racking my brain to remember anything and everything that I want to write for the past month. I'm too busy...or so I think!

Keziah is definitely getting older and wiser. She gets into more trouble then ever before because well, she is learning how! For example she has kind of started to get out of bed every once in a while to get a book or something to put in bed with her. This is as much as she does though so I haven't cracked down on it yet. There was one night that I kept hearing her run across her room and when I went to see what she was up to I found a huge stack of books in her bed with her. She hasn't ever done it again to that extent though. Another way she is getting into trouble is with her stool. The other day I was working in the kitchen and she asked if she could have a pear. I said yes and cleaned one for her. She always likes to stand on her stool and watch me in the kitchen so she stood at the counter and ate her pear. She happened to be in front of the fruit bowl eating her pear and when I left to go to the bathroom she must have decided she wanted a different pear. When I came back I noticed her reaching for another pear and then noticed that the bowl was looking pretty sparse so I asked her what happened to all the pears. After looking around I found them all in the sink each of them nearly half eaten. The photo doesn't do it justice. Needless to say, I had to cut them all up and put them in the fridge. We ate diced pears with every meal for a couple days! Silly girl!

One night as I was putting Kezzie to bed she asked for a hug and I said, "of course I will give you a hug!" so now every single night as she is climbing into bed she boldly states, 'of course you get a hug?' in a question sort of way!

While making decisions about things Kezzie always says, 'how 'bout this one?' Or if we are reading books and I tell her to get another she will say that! It's so cute!

Kezzie doesn't eat as much as she used to. I don't know if it's because she is just too busy to slow down and eat or what. If I sit and help her eat she will usually eat really well but I don't know if I should really have to help her at 2 years old. I hope it's just a phase and she starts doing better on her own soon!

Kezzie still loves her wiggles jammies...here is a photo of her with them on. I am just waiting for the day she outgrows them! She also loves the wiggles themselves. When doing different things throughout the day she will say for example, while eating an apple, 'Anthony likes apples'. Or when going to sleep she will say 'Jeff likes to sleep'. I can't think of the other things she has said but I would have to call her a super freak!

She equally loves her little taggie blankets. She has a pink one and a blue one that she calls her red one (the corduroy taggies that got chewed off by our dog were her favorite ones and they were red). They go everywhere with her and it is devastating if we can't find both of them for bedtime.

Kezzie has been mimicking me as a mommy. She has taken interest in her dolls more and even tries to nurse them with her belly button. It is pretty sweet!

Kezzie's sleeping has pretty much stayed the same. She does sleep in just a little later now then last month until about 7:30ish. This is nice but also hard because Adah is part way into her nursing session by then. I really liked when she was up before Adah and I could get her day going before anything else. I'm not about to wake her though.

Until next time...

Friends Visit!

We had my good friend Kristin from Cedar Rapids come visit this weekend. She brought her son Hunter to play with Kezzie. He is about 17 months old and adorable! I wouldn't exactly say he and Kez did much playing though. Kezzie was pretty concerned that Hunter was there to steal all her toys so she didn't relax very much of the time he was here. It's good for her to have to learn to share though. She needs to learn for when Adah starts stealing all her toys! Kezzie and Hunter did do pretty good sharing their snacks. He wanted what she had and she wanted what he had so they swapped! Hunter walked around with a headband in much of the day yesterday. He also enjoyed Kezzie's shopping cart and stroller. He was having a blast ramming things with the stroller. How else are you going to make a pink stroller boyish?! We hung out all day yesterday and went out to eat for supper. Then this morning she took off about the same time I was leaving for church. It was so nice to have her around. I don't get to see her near enough! Thanks for making the drive Kristin!

Bumbo!

What a doll. And that chin...I will never get over it! She is getting so strong in her back and neck. What a big girl!

Good Lookin'!

I think that I have the most beautiful kids on the planet...but what mother doesn't think that?!

Even though he clearly doesn't want to be photographed he is such a handsome boy. I can't believe he is quickly approaching twelve!She is so beautiful with her long eyelashes!I don't even think I was the one that took this but it is such a cute picture of her close up. I think Kezzie took it being that it is half cut off!

Heavenly!

I love this thing...it puts Adah right to sleep and keeps her asleep all night long. I think she is just the cutest in it too. It is quickly being outgrown though and I tried to go without the other night and she woke several times. Whatever am I going to do?! I think I will look into the next size and get that ordered pronto!

More pics!

I can't believe how fast they grow...Adah is smiling and giggling so much now. I don't want to miss a minute of it and yet somehow I'm sure I will forget one day. She is loving her bath more and more. I can rarely escape the bathroom without getting pretty wet from her splashes (she just lays there and kicks excitedly)! Since all I can do is laugh when she is splashing me Keziah thinks I am enjoying it and splashes me even more. She even wanted to get sister in on getting splashed the other night when she grabbed the bucket and filled it to the brim with water and proceeded to dump it directly on Adah's face. Other than flailing her arms because she couldn't take a breath for a few seconds, Adah didn't seem to mind. She didn't even make a whimper! Keziah on the other hand had to get out of the bath immediately-play time was over! And you would think saying 'sorry' was like murder! However, I have noticed a lot in the last couple of days that Kezzie is modeling after me more in the way she talks to Adah. She will click her tongue and razz with her lips to get Adah to smile. She will talk softly with her when she is crying to try to calm her. It's pretty sweet. She also frequently states, 'mom, where is your boppy piwow at?' meaning she wants to hold Adah and pretend to be feeding her. By the way, Keziah's sentences are coming out complete like this more and more. The words come out slow and her sentences aren't very smooth as she is trying to find the words to say and how to say them, but she is speaking so well! It makes it fun to have conversations with her. I am so incredibly blessed by my kids...

Kindermusik!

Last week we tried out a class in Cedar Falls (at Gallagher) called Kindermusik. You can check it out for free and then join if there is room in the class. It just so happened that somebody from the class I tried had to switch to a night class so there was room for us to join. The class meets on Wednesdays and our class is called 'Family Time'. Keziah has so much fun and I think it is great for her to be around other kids. Adah enjoys it too and will even more as she gets older. When we get there we take our shoes and coats off and sit in a circle on the floor. We sing a hello song that allows each child a chance in the spotlight. When it's their turn to have their name sung in the song then they get to choose an action for all the kids to follow along with (ie. jumping, spinning, clapping, bouncing, etc.) Kezzie isn't warmed up enough at this point yet to take advantage of it but did a little spinning this week. Adah usually just bounces on my lap! After this there are a variety of things we do. There are fun squishy colorful balls that the kids play with, there are hula hoops, and a lot of fun musical insturments the teacher incorporates throughout our time. We work on fine motor skills and things like that. It is teaching Kezzie how to listen to an instructor and follow directions. And it is teaching her that music is fun...something she already discovered since we listen and dance at home all the time. At the end of class the teacher turns on the bubble blower and passes out a music note stamp for their hand. Seriously, this is the highlight for Keziah. She LOVES her stamp she gets and talks about it the rest of the week (and forget washing her hands until bath night!) The two times I have been there we have been 'Going to the City' and Keziah talks aobut that a lot too throughout the week. This week Adah was awake the whole time so she got to participate with colorful scarves and the teacher showed me how to roll her on her belly on one of the therapy balls and she LOVED it! It's a little pricey but when you figure how many weeks it lasts and how much Kezzie is learning, it's really worth it.

I was introduced to it by another New Hampton stay at home mom. Thank-you Jill! I love it and I'm sure I will be sharing many more pictures and stories in the future.

Brian update...

Brian is still healing. He went to the doctor friday (3/5) because he was running a fever and still in a lot of pain (this is 4 weeks after surgery). The doctor took one look and could tell right away that he was having a reaction to the suchers they used to sew him up. They had to pull all of them out that they could see and then dug out all the scabs that were starting to heal. Not a fun process as they did not use any numbing agents. Hopefully now he can start to feel much better. The doctor did say that this would set him back another 4-6 weeks though...one of these days I will have him back, right?!

Please pray...

Yesterday Emily had her ultrasound. The news was heartbreaking. It turns out that the baby isn't developing like it should. It is similar to Bennett but worse. The limbs are about 2-3weeks behind already and are starting to curve, there is fluid around the heart, and one of the ventricles in the brain is enlarged. Emily will have another ultrasound next month. Please pray for peace and comfort. Pray that God will overwhelm them with love and that they will just know that God is in control. Bennett is such a miracle and is it wrong for me to think they are deserving of another one? I will keep quiet about the sex of the baby until I am given the ok to announce that...it's definitely something to celebrate!
It wasn't just a couple hours later that my mom called me after talking to Emily. I thought she was just calling to talk to me about the news of the baby. It turned out she had news of her own. She was at Allen with my dad. He had been having heaviness in his chest all day and decided to stop at the doctors office on his way home from work to make an appointment instead of calling. They wouldn't let him leave and instead took him by ambulance to Allen. After spending the night and doing an Angiogram this morning, they decided to put in 3 stints. I asked my dad how blocked he was to which he responded, 'almost 100% in several places'. Praise God that he didn't have a massive heart attack. Just pray for continued healing and restored life. Pray that he will be able to be strong in changing his eating habits since this is going to be quite a lifestyle change for him. And pray that he will live many many more years!
And a word of PRAISE...
Bennett's surgery went very well. I had mentioned in a previous post that Bennett was having surgery this morning. He had a hernia in his testicle allowing the small bowel to go down into it. I guess this is pretty common and easily fixed. He had to be put under for it but was in and out in under 35 minutes. The day couldn't have gone smoother. He was able to rest in Emily's arms for what would normally be his morning rest time. They were able to get in the car and home by his usual lunch time and he was able to be in his own bed for his usual afternoon nap. He is doing great and as Adam says 'he is running on all eight cylinders!'. Praise God!

Bennett James!!!

I am so proud of Bennett I just had to post about this! He has been passed at physical therapy-completely. They said they don't need to see him anymore! What a miracle Bennett is. He constantly is a reminder to me that God loves and cares so much for each of us! I just watch him on Sundays when we are all together and I am AMAZED at him. He is walking and talking and even has that lovely two year old temper! Which by the way he is turning TWO next month! He is such a cutie. Not to mention his shirt. It says My Peeps on it and has three bunny peeps on it (for Easter). My sister works with a girl that makes these and sells them on etsy.com. Too cute!!

OUCH!

Today Keziah had her first real tumble and split her lip open. Sorry, I don't have a photo to show you. I will try to remember to do that before it heals too much! The way she did it is what kind of makes me laugh. I think I have posted before about how she is insisting on taking herself potty these days. Well, she gets her step stool right up close to the potty and then gets her pants/undies off. She then proceeds to put her hands down on the toilet and hoist her right leg around the back of the toilet (as opposed to turning her back to the toilet and just scooting onto it). I wasn't in there with her when this happened but I am assuming she lost her balance (which wouldn't be hard to do using this method) and went to brace herself on the nearest thing to her which would be our shower curtain. And you can imagine how well that worked out for her-it didn't obviously. She fell into the shower curtain catching her face on the edge of the tub. Luckily she didn't break any of her teeth off in the process but she did slit her lip in a couple different places. After clearing away all the blood, I could tell that stitches weren't necessary and Kezzie got to have a popsicle out of the deal! Don't worry though...it didn't get in the way of her sucking her paci at nap time! Oh the poor child. Honestly I am surprised she has made it this long as clumsy as she is!

My cuties!

Austin is growing up so fast. He is such a huge helper. Sometimes does a little too much teasing, but I guess I should expect some of that! Adah looks so cute in her little pink gDiaper! I love it when Kezzie asks to hold Adah. It's so sweet and rare. Some of my favorite photos are of Adah discovering herself and other objects in the mirror. The look on her face is so sweet. You can tell she is learning so much! The other day Kezzie had a great idea of how to handle this monstrous book of hers. I helped her put out the foot of the couch and she pulled up to it with her rocker like it was her desk. The only problem was that the rocker kept creeping back when she leaned forward to look at her book. To solve this she would get out of the rocker and push it as close as possible to the foot of the couch but then she couldn't get into the chair without pulling it back out. She then decided to climb up onto the couch and into the rocker. What a problem solver!

Brady and Henry Visit...

Mat and Steph were in town this last weekend so we got to hang out for a bit on Saturday. Henry is getting so big as you can see. He is just 5 weeks older than Adah! It won't be long and they will be playing together like Kezzie and Brady. Keziah and Brady had a really good time together (more then usual-less fighting). Riley and Kathy have several over sized bean bags and for a little fun we have started putting them in front of the couch for Kezzie and Brady to plop onto. Under strict supervision, they kindly take turns! I have video of it and will put it at the bottom of the page in the next couple of days. It gets pretty crazy around there but it is a lot of fun to have them visit! Austin was gone at a friends' house so he didn't get to add to the chaos :( Maybe next time! I don't know which baby is more thrilled to have their picture taken-Adah or Henry! I just couldn't get any smiles for the life of me (except for my happy Kezzie)!