9 months old

Georgia, you turned 9 months old while we were visiting the Ryan family in Oklahoma.

You weigh 18lbs and is 27 inches long. You clap, gives kisses and are even beginning to play "peek-a-boo!" You put your hands on the side of your head instead of over your eyes, though.

You love music and are even beginning to dance a little bit. Super cute! You are starting to get a little bit of stranger anxiety but suck your thumb to comfort yourself. You LOVE Miley and squeal and squeal whenever you see her. You are still sleeping pretty good, but a runny nose and a cough has you up earlier these days, around 6:30am. You are still enjoying baby food as well as any bread products: muffins, tortillas, rolls and waffles. You had so much fun hanging out with your cousins and being held ALL THE TIME over Thanksgiving. You are still super happy and really easy-going. You are such a joy and a blessing sweet Georgie!

Table Food

This morning I officially gave Georgia table food. She ate a muffin and banana. I think she much prefers it to baby food.

Nana and Pa

Nana and Pa came for a visit last weekend and we had so much fun! We mostly just hung out and Brent and Pa worked on the playhouse. As usual Ephrem had a blast jumping on the trampoline, playing cards and hide and seek with Pa and hanging out with Nana. Georgia enjoyed getting to know Nana and Pa again too. Brent and I even got to go on a date night (Carino's and Courageous). Unfortunately, when we got home Ephrem was burning up with fever. We spent Monday laying low with Nana and Georgia even learned how to "army crawl." Thanks again Nana and Pa for making the long drive to hang out with us!

Halloween Weekend

Well, we started off Halloween with free spooky pancakes at IHOP on Friday morning. Ephrem mostly ate my pumpkin pancakes instead of his silly pancake face. As usual Georgia had a blast being out among people. We then went to a mom's club Fall Festival and Trick or Treating at Brent's office (see previous post). We just hung out on Saturday and went to get doughnuts Sunday morning, picnic at the park Sunday afternoon and had our annual hot dog house/trick or treat night on Monday complete with blow up haunted house. Ephrem did not want to wear his Iron Man Costume he picked out at Wal Mart but opted for a Spiderman swim shirt (thank you Vivian) and jeans. He was pretty freaked out most of Halloween night but I did get him to go trick or treating at a few houses. Georgia had fun dressing up as a pumpkin and people watching.

Lessons from a frightened 4 year old.

Well, we knew that Ephrem was pretty scared of Halloween stuff, mostly masks or "mask-es" as he calls them. However, yesterday we got to see the fear go straight to terrified at the annual trick or treating event at Brent's work. We pulled in the parking garage and their were two ladies taking a smoke break with Scream masks hanging around their necks (not even on their faces) and the terror and tears began. Despite mine and Brent's best efforts to reassure Ephrem that we would never let anything bad happen to him, Daddy has a gun for crying out loud, He REFUSED to go around trick or treating and was literally shaking. As I watched poor Ephrem hide under Brent's desk, while Georgia went to get some candy, I began to think of my own fears and how often I don't trust that God is going to take care of me. God loves me, He wants what is best for me, He is in complete control over every detail of my life. While He doesn't carry a literal gun on his belt as Brent does, He has complete authority over everything on the earth, even the evil that wants to kill and destroy me. He reassures me of His protection over and over in His Word and I still often refuse to believe. I sit cowering under the desk, not trusting that He will protect me. And I miss out on the fun of trick or treating or the plan He has for my life. The joy that comes in being a part of glorifying His Name. This is not to say, that God is promising nothing bad will ever happen in my life, but that He is Good. He is in control and He will be there to walk me through it.








"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world" John 16:33





"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39





While Ephrem still struggles to believe we will protect him and that he is safe this Halloween weekend, my prayer is that I would begin to listen to the reassurances of my heavenly Father, when I am afraid. That I would listen and believe and not let the fears of my heart prevent me from missing out on the joy that He has for me right now.

Scary Kitchen

This is what my kitchen looked like the other morning as I was trying to pump, get dinner started in the crockpot, feed both kids and make Brent and I a smoothie before work. FRIGHTENING! It all got cleaned up, but for someone who likes things put away and fairly neat, this sight about drove me nuts. However, I'm learning to focus and appreciate the hecticness (I don't think that's a word but oh well) of our lives right now because someday these kiddos will be in high school... or worse college... or WORSE married... and our house will probably be perfectly clean and spotless and organized and quiet and LONELY. Love my two crazy loud babies!

Red Heads

Brent and His Mini-Me-Ette.

Georgia is 8 months old!

Georgie,

You are now 8 months old. You celebrated this milestone by getting your first virus. YUCKO! You started acting super fussy on Tuesday morning at Ephrem's play group and then had a full blown 102 fever by 9pm. You slept in your pack in play and in mommy's arms most of the night and went to the doctor the next day. It was not fun and mommy cried as she had to hold you down for blood work and a urine sample. POOR BABY! You have quickly recovered and are mostly back to your happy self.

You have two teeth and are getting one more on the bottom and your first top tooth. So cute!

You are eating more baby food now and are even trying out the "puffs" that melt in your mouth. You have begun to wave Bye Bye. You sometimes say "Ba Ba"when you do it or "Da" or "Nye Nye." I don't know if the last one is "no" or "night night." You have also begun to shake your head and say "Nye Nye" when we put you on your changing table. You have also begun to say "Ma Ma" and you can pretty much get whatever you want when you utter those words. You are not crawling yet but you love to pull up when we hold your hands. You are becoming more playful every day and most of the time you think Ephrem and Miley are the greatest things ever. You are so precious to us Baby G! We love you!

We got a new camera.

We FINALLY ordered our new camera and have loved trying out the different features it offers. We pretty much just stick with the easy stuff, though. It is so fun to have a great camera that can take multiple shots really quickly. I love being able to capture these moments because they are going by too fast!

Joy

The Lord's Army

Georgia is 7months!

Georgia you are 7months old! When I took you for your flu shot (and ringworm on your leg) you weighed 17lbs. 5oz.
You have two teeth on the bottom and were such an easy teether so far. You love to say/yell "Da Da!"
You are starting to "wave" when I sing to you especially "Twinkle Twinkle" or p"Patty Cake."
You are rolling EVERYWHERE! You can get your legs into a crawling position when sleeping in your crib, but haven't quite figured it out on the floor while awake. Although, you did do two scoots the other day.
You are still getting used to baby food. Your favorites are bananas, pears, prunes and oatmeal.
You just got your first pair of shoes. They are pink mice maryjanes and you seem to like them pretty well.
You are still sleeping good but you definitely take longer to fall asleep at nap time. You talk and talk to yourself for about 30 minutes before passing out and your morning nap keeps getting shorter and shorter.
You are still so happy all of the time and super easy-going. You let everyone hold you and continue to have such a gracious spirit. We LOVE watching your personality blossom but hate that you are growing up so quickly! We love you baby sis!

Ephrem is 4!

Ephrem turned 4 years old this month. I can't believe it! The past two years have gone sooo fast! We celebrated at home with a bounce house and friends. Keeping up the tradition of two years ago the summer long drought was broken right at the same time the party started. Oh well! We partied in the rain!
Highllights of 4 so far:

1) He is totally aware of EVERYTHING!!! (my driving skills, which direction we're going,stoplights "green means go, mom...", slug bugs, adult conversaton.) This child does not miss a beat. I fear the days of Brent and I being able to spel things like N-A-P will be coming to a close shortly.

2) Riding a bike and riding a scooter. Ephrem loves to go for scooter rides in the morning with Baby G. He is super coordinated on his scooter.

3) Talking with his hands and imitating everything we say and do.

4) Taking on chores for a modest allowance: making bed every day, cleaning toilets and being on poop patrol in the backyard.

5) Interacting more with Georgia. He likes to "feed" here. Video of this coming soon. He is also very thoughtful with her. Bringing her toys, cups, sitting her up etc.

6) Going to Kingdom Kids preschool 2x a week. I often catch Ephrem singing all the cute school songs when he thinks I'm not listening. So cute!

7) Ephrem is in the 8th and 9th percentile for height and weight. But, he makes up for it bigtime in personality!

We love you Ephrem! You are a hilarious, loving, sweet, LOUD, precious little boy!

Picture of Jesus

About a month ago E drew this picture of Jesus. The drawing over his head is a boat. All the marks on his face are because He is on the cross. The Jesus Storybook Bible has a picture of Jesus on the cross with scratches and cuts on His body and I think that's what Ephrem was drawing. This drawing is significant to me as a believer, because I think it's important to be able to look back on your childhood and see how God has been pursuing you even when you were young;the awareness you had of Him as a child; the little places He popped up that you had completely forgotten about. It's comforting to know He's always been there. We pray fervently that both of our children will be found in Him.

Babbling and Some Pictures

Here are some pictures of when Grandma Lila came to visit and before our first Church service in Dove Springs.

Georgia is 6 months

Well, I can't believe Georgia is 6 months old. She now weighs 16lbs. 5 oz. Highlights from this month are:
-sitting up unassisted
-trying and mostly disliking baby food
-LOVING frozen yogurt from Jason's Deli and any samples we allow her at Costco
-Lauging for us when we do Pa's infamous "Rolly Polly shot a bear..."
-babbling "ba ba ba"

She is still a total redhead and smiles at strangers whenever we are out in public if she can catch their eye. She just went to her first other nursery experience at Westlake Presbyterian and had fun swinging and watching the other babies. Big brother Ephrem is enjoying "Baby G" more and more as she becomes more interactive with him. We love them both so much!

Georgia sitting up

5 months old!

Georgia is now 5 months old! She is changing daily. She loves to blow bubbles,play with her Sophie Giraffe, jump in her Jumperoo, watch her brother and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Her favorite book is Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? Whenever we read it before nap time she just smiles and turns the pages. She eats about 5 times a day (still breastmilk only), but she LOVES drinking water out of our cups. She still sucks her thumb when we put her down for naps or at night time and is sleeping about 12 hours at night with naps of about 1.5 hours b/w 9-10am and 1-2pm. Georgia is such a sweet, good baby and we are SO blessed by her.

Georgia Months 1-4

Here are some catch up pictures of Baby G!


One Month Old: You were a very laid back baby and spent most of the first month of your life sleeping on Mommy or Daddy's chest in the recliner. Daddy took 5 weeks off to be with you. At night you would sleep in our bed or in your bassinet. You would wake up a couple of times to eat but would go right back to sleep. You rarely cried and you loved your passy!


2 months old: You began smiling around 6 weeks. You began to go to sleep for the night around 7-8pm at about 8 weeks old but would still wake up to eat a couple of times in the night. We began swaddling you nice and tight and tried to put you on somewhat of an Eat, Play, Sleep Schedule. You also began waking from your naps at exactly 45 minutes on the dot. Sometimes I could rock you back to sleep and sometimes you would just decide to stay. We called it the "intrudor" and would constantly run in as soon as you woke up to try to soothe you. You still slept with mommy and daddy. At 10 weeks we took you on your first trip to Dallas.


3 months old: It was around this time you began having a love/hate relationship with your pacifier. We would often have to pop it back in 5 times at bedtime until you went to sleep. One night I was replacing it every hour all night long. I called the doctor for suggestions and they told us to go cold turkey without it. So, we took the passy away, stopped swaddling and moved you into your own room. You cried A LOT, I cried A LOT. It was not fun. I thought we'd never get through it. But you were still very happy when awake.


4 months old, the first time you started sleeping through the night! You began sleeping through the night the day after you turned 4 months old. One night you started crying around 4am and I went to use the restroom real quick. By the time I got to your room you had stopped crying. The next night you began fussing at 4am and I just went in and patted you and you fell right back to sleep. After that you slept through the night;about 12 hours. Unlike your big brother, you like to sleep late and when I go to wake you up in the morning you cover your eyes with one hand and suck your thumb with the other. It is SO cute! You also love to sleep on your back with your hands behind your head just like Daddy.

Georgia's Birth (don't worry, nothing graphic)

I thought I'd write a little about Georgia's birth while it's still somewhat fresh in my memory. Not that I'm going to forget the most painful and one of the most wonderful moments in my life anyway :)
So, I was due on Feb. 18th and we went to the doctor on the 22nd to do an ultrasound to make sure the baby would be ok to "bake" a little longer. My doctor had told me we could wait until March 2nd to be induced. The ultrasound went great and as we were checking out the receptionist asked if we had an appt. scheduled. We said we didn't and she decided to squeeze us in to see the doctor. So, in comes Dr.L and she says, "Well, a bunch of people due after you have had their babies already and there's room on the schedule, so why don't we induce tomorrow?" Our jaws dropped, we thought we could wait until March 2nd...We nodded numbly and were told to be at the hospital THAT NIGHT to begin the induction. So we ran home, Brent frantically cleaned the house for some reason (even the refrigerator) and I went to get a mani/pedi of course.
Oh, I must back up and tell you that I had just gotten over the flu. It was the real deal folks, I was sick in bed and had to take tamiflu. Mind you I have NEVER had the flu before. Not fun when you're pregnant. Especially when you cough so hard that you pull a muscle in your back and can barely move. Before the birth I didn't think the pain could get much worse. Little did I know.
I digress. So, we leave Ephrem for the night with our dear neighbor Amanda,(as we were unprepared for this, our families couldn't come in until the next day) and head to the hospital for the real fun to begin. It's 6pm and we check in, get all hooked up to monitors etc. At around 9pm they give me some Cervidel to soften the cervix, to prepare for Petocin in the morning. (I am barely 1 cm dilated) At around 10pm they give me an Ambien and say I should be good to go for the night. I was told I should be able to sleep through what little contractions I might have. Perfect!

Around 12am I can't sleep and am beginning to have contractions. No biggie, they're small. 2am and I'm thinking, "I'm supposed to be able to sleep through these?!" Although noone seems too concerned, the nurse gives me some fluids to try to space out these "strong contractions brought on by the cervadil." They keep reassuring me this isn't real labor. 4am and my water breaks. Still the nurse seems to think I'm in the beginning stages of labor and says this can go on for a while. By about 5:30am my husband thinks I have the lowest pain tolerance ever because I'm gripping the side of the bed panting in pain and this isn't even full on labor right? The nurse decides to throw me a bone and give me some IV pain meds which I gladly accept b/c I'm still being told this is just the beginning of labor. WHAT?!! "Are you sure the pain meds are ok for the baby?" "Sure, as long as you don't have her in the next hour or so."
5:30-6:30am I enter a drug induced sleep where I alternate b/w dreams of Disney Land and waking up every 3 minutes gripping my husband in agony for a contraction. He said it was quite funny,not so much for me. The nurses are still saying I have tons of time before the baby is born and Brent asks if he can go home to take Ephrem to school. Grabbing his shirt as hard as I possibly can, I tell him he ain't goin nowhere!
Mind you, I have always planned on having an epdiural so I know NOTHING about breathing techniques or anything.
6:30am and the night nurse, who had blown me off all night and told me to breathe, is leaving. Enter Beverly, the day nurse, my angel dressed in scrubs. She takes one look at me, asks the night nurse if she's checked my progress in a while, which of course she hadn't, and checks me. Well, what do you know, 7 cm. I told you I was in pain here people! I'm asked if I would like an epidural, "Yes please!" "Ok, we'll call the doctor for you." Sweet! As I'm waiting for my epidural around 7:15am, a new intensity of pain and discomfort arises that I won't go into. Needless to say, my description of it causes sweet Bev's eyes to widen and she goes to check me. Uh oh, I'm fully dilated. The baby is coming! "Where's my epidural?" I ask. "I need my epidural!!" I have no idea what I'm doing. I took ZERO childbirthing classes. I'm told there's no time for one and by that point I don't really care, I just want this all to be over with. Boom! in comes my doctor, some more nurses and 2 pediatricians b/c they didn't have time to give me all of my IV penicillin for my group B strep. I push 3 times and out pops Baby G, still a little groggy from the pain meds I was promised would have no effect on her. Oops! She quickly woke up and was a perfect 7lbs. 4oz. bundle of joy.
So there you have it. They told me that my birth was more like that of a second baby which was funny b/c she was my second baby! :)
Here are a few pics. from that wonderful, unexpected day.

Let's Catch Up

Ok,
I've decided to jump back on the blogging train. A LOT has happened in the past few years and it's time to start documenting! So here's a few pics. and a little catch up.

We finished up the 2009-2010 school year. Here's Ephrem at his graduation.

We celebrated Ephrem's first "gotcha day" with a trip to Build A Bear.


Ephrem became officially potty trained!

Ephrem turned 3.

Ephrem's readoption became official!

Halloween 2010!

Christmas 2010

Ephrem decided he wasn't afraid of Santa this year.

Snow in Austin!(January or Feb. I can't remember)
And last but certainly not least, the birth of our daughter Georgia Lane!