Selah Girl!

Dear Selah!

I can't believe you are almost 7 months old! That's crazy! Where does the time go? Well, you are certainly our child who is breaking all the records: you weighed the most at birth, you rolled over first, you're sitting up on your own the first, you were sleeping through the night the earliest (at least for a while :), you were exclusively breast fed the longest, and now you're eating the best! 

Trying to hold your own bottle!

Carrots! You're first food!

Fun girl!

You have tried carrots, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. You loved the first two - not so much with the last one. But you LOVE food. You eat it like a champ. With havana and jonah it was hard to get them to like and swallow any food- you on the other hand can't seem to get enough!  Way to go! It's like you had been waiting on us all the time. Hopefully all this food will get you growing. I tease that you are my "failure to thrive" child because you're so tiny! I'm not used to small babies - now that you're being fed food and formula - you are much happier, sleep better, and I wonder if you'll start to grow rapidly. I love that you're the third child and still so unique and paving your own way! What an amazing little girl! 

Jonah Man!

Dear Jonah,

You are a treat! Seriously, you are my little man and I am so thankful that I get to be your mommy! How lucky am I! You continue to be a chatter box and you clearly make your opinions known! You also make me laugh every day by the things you do and the things you say!

You're really into a few things these days:

1. You love building towers! You work really hard and get the tower really tall and then, you knock it down! I love to watch your face to see how proud you are of yourself once your tower is built!

2. You remain, as always, into sports - especially basketball. You will yell with excitement at the sight of a ball and it is hard to get you to focus on anything else. The other day we were shopping and you had a ball and kept trying to throw it out of the cart. I would block your throw and once you got past me and exclaimed, "BASKET!!!!" -- :)

3. You enjoy dancing with Havana and playing the guitar with Daddy.

4. You LOVE playing hide-n-seek with mommy.... and you're pretty good at finding me!

5. You are into buckles these days - you want to buckle your own car seat and high chair! I remember when H was in this same phase so it is fun to see you go through the same stages.

6. You enjoy puzzles! You sit for at least 30 minutes a day and do puzzles by yourself. Same for coloring. You're getting very good with both and I rarely have to help you when it comes to either. You're so smart!

7. Speaking of smart, you are on top of it, boy! When we quiz you - you often get about 97% of the questions right and I can see you studying and thinking things out. I bet you're going to be like your daddy - one smart handsome man! 

8. Anything your big sister can do - you're pretty sure you can do too! You've even started helping me out with the laundry (Havana's favorite chore) and with feeding Tucker! What would I do without all your help?!

9. The other day I was giving you a bath and I began thinking about your twin, Jonas. I was thinking what it would be like with another one running around and I wonder if you miss him at all. I miss him, but am so thankful that the Lord blessed us with YOU!!!

10. Your daddy and I often agree that we forget that you are only 1... often times we treat you like you're well over two! You are getting to that nice phase where I can let you walk around more - you stay close to me and usually obey when I ask you to come with me. The zoo and even the grocery are all new experiences for you now that you can walk around them yourself!

11. You're a great little and big brother and I couldn't be more proud!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Hahaha!!!!

This photo makes me laugh! A classic Havana look caught on film! :)

Forgetful Mommy

Dear Vana,

The other day you said something that was so precious… So cute… And made me laugh so hard. I thought to myself I would never forget that and I couldn't wait to write it down in this blog. Sadly, however, I did forget it and I can't remember what it was. So for forgetting that funny comment, I apologize, and I want to make sure that I do my best to write down the things you say as soon as you say them.

Just today, you were passing some gas and I asked you, "do you have some gases?" and your response… "I suuuurrree am!!!"

I was in Selah's room and you were in my room when I asked you what you were doing you said, "don't worry mom close your eyes I'm making you a surprise!" - as sweet as that was, I was a little worried. :)

You were looking through the toy box today and found an ice cream maker. you pulled it out and exclaimed, "oh, my ice cream maker! I almost forgot about you."

You are amazing and I love you!

Carrots!

Spent nap time making Selah's fort batch of baby food! Carrots! Can't believe she is old enough for solids!

Funnies!

My children make me laugh - here are some of my favorites from the past few weeks:

• Walking into church on a cold day Havana said to me, "Mommy, my tens are freezing" - she was referring to her fingers. 
• We were reading an adoption friendly book called "A Mother for Choco" where the bird, Choco, tries to find his mom based on physical appearances rather than actions (by the end he learns that Ms. Bear is his mom). Anyway, about 10 minutes after we read it Havana looked up and said "mommy, do I look just like you?" 
• When Havana was saying a prayer at the dinner table, she was going on and on and I looked at Jason and she called me out and said, "Close your eyes!" - to which she had to start all over once my eyes were closed. 
• As I was brushing Havana's teeth the other day (one of my least favorite times of the day) Havana stroked my hair and said, "Mommy, your hair is so pretty." My heart melted. 
• I woke Havana up from her nap and she sat straight up in bed and said, "may I please be excused? I'm all done. May I please be excused?" -- haha, don't know what she were dreaming about but I'm guessing we were at the dinner table. 
• H's response to my encouragement always is "too" - for example, Me: I love you. H: I love you too. Me: I love you so much. H:I love you so much too. Me: I'm so proud of you. H: I'm so proud of you too. Me: You're such a sweet girl. H: You're such a sweet girl too. -- precious! 
• She does often greet me from the nursery with the response, "Mommy, I'm so proud of you!" Because that is what I usually say to her when I pick her up. 
• I love how she is grasping truths from the nursery. One week I asked her what she learned about and she said God. Then she kept talking about a boat and fish. I later found out she was taught the lesson about Jesus telling the disciples to put down their nets and they caught a lot of fish. The next week she told me she learned about God and how he shared a snack. Her lesson that week was on feeding the 5,000! What a great feeling to know she is paying attention. She can also sing the songs like "Jump, Jump Jesus" and "Open and Shut" - songs we didn't teach her, but the nursery did! I love our church!
• We went to pick her up early one day from the nursery and we looked at her through the window and she was dressed up as a Shepherd putting on a play about the birth of Jesus. 

• She refers to everyone as "my friend" -- she'll say, "my friend said that" or "where's my friend" - these can be true friends, Jonah, or simply a stranger at the mall. 
• The other day she asked me what I was doing. I responded with "feeding Selah" and her next question sent me into hysterics and she said, "Are you feeding her with your nipples or with a bottle?" HAHA.
• Havana has hit the knock-knock joke phase - everything is a knock knock joke and is SO FUNNY (to her). :)  
• Havana's speech is pretty good... she still struggle with the "th" sound -- she says "b" instead. Instead of "this way" it is "Bis way" "Bat way" -- and she points with four fingers instead of one,... we're going "Bis way... not bat way?" It is cute (in my opinion). 
• H & J have learned the phrase (from me) "no way" - so when I ask them a question their answer is "no way" -- it makes me smile because they use it appropriately and i usually say that. 
• H & J also love hide-n-Seek. They are always asking to play and it is one of the few games that is a "mommy" game and not a daddy game. It is funny, they will go count in the dining room and I'll go hide. They will both come looking for me and then when it is their turn to hide they will hide for a nano-second and then run out towards me, yelling my name, laughing hysterically. I could forever live in one of our games of hide-n-seek.
• It is fun to see the two of them actually playing together. A new phase! Although sometimes they will be making a lot of noise and i will remind Havana to use a self controlled voice and she'll respond, "but I'm playing with Jonah." -- I tell her that is good, but she still needs to have a self controlled voice. 

• Jonah man is a beast - he says everything and can do anything Havana can do. 
• I told Jonah the other day, "You're getting so big" - he looked at me and said, "I know." 
• He, on his own, started saying "go downstairs" - so when I get him up his first words are "go downstairs" - so sweet and that boy can say anything! 
• He wanted to move out of his high chair and so we moved into a small green booster seat. He now calls it his "green chair" and when he's hungry or he wants to color he'll say, "I sit in green chair." 
• He's obsessed with buckles and is constantly bucking his booster chair or Selah's car seat
• He can say Selah, havana, I love you, Daddy (he used to call Jason "mommy"), and he finally says "yes" instead of "no" when he wants something.
• The other day at the lunch table, out of the blue he said, "I love you, mommy." "I love you, Daddy" "I love you Tucker." -- so sweet. 
• As soon as he wakes up in the morning he calls out for Havana, "Havana, where are you?"
• Whenever he is playing with toys - he will run one over to Selah and say, "there you go, Selah" and then he'll say "you're welcome" (I assume he and Selah have their own language where she has told him thank you. :)
• He loves to give kisses, but you don't always know they are coming - he'll just run full speed until he smacks you in the face with his lips. Of course, he takes this approach with Selah which is a little dangerous. :)
• He is praying up a storm. He always has been a prayer, but he very clearly will say, "Dear God, thank you for today... " then he'll mumble and different words we've picked out are "buddy" "boots" "Bible" "mommy" "daddy" "selah" "havana" "tucker" "church" "toys" -- I love his heart for the Lord! Jonah even has a favorite "prayer spot" that is in the corner of our living room. He sits there every morning after quiet time and prays. Of course, Havana, now "has" to sit there when she prays, but it was originally Jonah's spot that he chose for himself. He will often go there during the day and just sit and pray. Amazing that little boy.
• For each meal we have both havana and jonah say a prayer out loud. Some are long/some are short. But Jonah sometimes gets impatient with havana's long prayers and so while she is in the middle of a prayers he will all of a sudden yell "Amen" as if declaring "this prayer has been long enough!" It makes me smile. 

•  The boy has a shoe obsession! He is always taking his on and off and he is constantly putting my shoes on his hands and walking around in Jason's shoes. Or trying to put our shoes on ourselves.
• Selah girl is turning a corner! I introduced formual and solids and it is amazing how much she is wanting to eat and how happier she is and how well she is sleeping! I fear the last two months of misery in this house was due to her starving. Poor girl. :( But it is so fun to see her smiley. 
• She's rolling and exploring and putting everything into her mouth. Tonight she grabbed a cookie out of my hand and put it in her mouth. 
• She's an incredible actress. Everyone in the nursery talks about what a happy baby she is and no one believes me when i say she cries a lot. She loves when strangers look at her. :) 
• She's babbling a lot. It sounds like she says "daddy" and "all done" - I don't think she is really saying them, but it's fun to pretend. 
• She giggles at her siblings and she is very ticklish. ;) 
• She's my "sugars" -- don't really know how that nickname came about, but it is her nick name. She's my sugars and I love her.

• I love all three of my babies!!!!

Six months!

Dear Selah,

Last week you turned 6 months old! Wow! The past few months you have been challenging with not sleeping well and being fussy throughout the day. I introduced formula and rice cereal into your diet and instantly you became a different girl! You slept 12-13 hours and you were content during the day! What a change! I think you have been hungry! So happy and refreshing to see this side of you! :)

At your 6 month appointment you weighed 15 pounds and were 27 inches long (by far my smallest child ). The doctor also said you had an ear infection! Our first child to ever have one! Your just setting all sorts of records! Ha.

This next week I plan on introducing foods! I love being your mommy!

Love,
Mommy