Friday, May 25, 2012

catching up

Are  you tired of pictures yet?

My card reader for my small camera was lost in a box until yesterday. Here are some pictures of the girls from March and all of us after we arrived in Milwaukee after the 23+ hour trek north! I'm sure glad that's over and done with!








guest photographer


Abigail likes taking pictures!

Here are a couple of the better ones:)


trip to Iowa


A couple of weeks ago, we had a girls trip over to Iowa to see my grandparents, who I hadn't seen in over a year. My dad was in Australia on business and my husband had a very long "honey do" list, so the menfolk were very occupied in our absence.

It was lovely to see both of my grandparents and most of my aunts and uncles! Abigail enjoyed her first ice cream cone, which was fitting in Iowa, since I enjoyed many ice cream cones in my childhood and youth.

It is wonderful to be back in the Midwest and close enough to pop over and see family. I don't think you pop anywhere in Texas. The state is so big!

Hannah was quite taken with my Grandpa and my Uncle Doug. Meanwhile, Abigail was quite the busy three year old at my Grandpa's care center. There was a sweet lady there who Abigail kept bringing toys to. They played together almost the whole time we were there. There is quite a connection between the very young and old.

I am so blessed to have a wonderful family and celebrate life across four generations!



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

and my three year old too :)






all taken last week before her rash...

11 months old


Hannah is 11 months old today!

In the last couple of weeks, Hannah has learned to crawl forward, become proficient at pulling herself up on everything and everyone, and is working towards cruising proficiency (she's still rather tentative on her feet). She enjoyes pushing and walking behind her "Mr. Lion Friend" (a walker toy). She keeps very busy these days. She's still not eating a whole bunch of table food, mostly because I haven't given her a lot of opportunity to learn to enjoy table food. She turns her nose up at bananas and peas in all forms but enjoys most fruits, vegetables and cereals.

She continues to be a little girl of drama and personality. She is both quick to laugh and to cry (very loudly). Her papa calls her "Miss Serious" for good reason. She is Abigail's #1 fan, of course!

Unfortunately (for me), her sleeping patterns that had improved are no longer that great. She now has four teeth, which was a main contributor to the night time waking. When my life settles back into normalcy (aka -- our house is plague free), we'll start working on some night time training again.  Thankfully, it doesn't take her long to catch on. Hopefully, she'll be well on her way to consistent night time sleep by the time she turns one!
 


hair!

warm weather curls

 I love having girls! Growing up, though, I didn't spend hours braiding hair, mostly because I was an only girl. My braiding skills have some room for improvement:) But Abigail is a good sport and a rather patient three year old :)

stricken but not cast down

 My poor, sweet girl has a yucky case of "Hand, Foot and Mouth" Disease. I knew something was up when on Saturday morning I found her curled up in bed. Three hours later, I woke her up, took her temperature and then proceeded to cancel our Saturday evening plans. The rash started on Sunday and kept us up most of the night. She couldn't get comfortable enough to fall asleep and was in tears, crying, "My feet hurt! Mommy I need medicine!" It's a rather helpless and humbling feeling when kisses and hugs aren't able to quickly take the pain away. Monday was a miserable day, but I can now say that she is on the mend and in better spirits, though the rash still looks terrible.

In so many areas of my life, probably most, I tend towards self-sufficiency. For a twenty-four hour period, the Lord forced me to me knees, reminding me of my utter dependence upon Him and reminding me also of our great need of redemption. Sickness has a way of reminding us of The Fall and yearning for the day when all will be made new and right. Hope is a glorious thing. I am thankful for periods of forced dependency so that I will rely on the Lord in ALL moments.