Saturday, February 7, 2015

Growing Fast

I cannot believe that Grace is already 4 months old! She is starting to outgrow her colic, praise the Lord (thanks to oils and some adjustments by our favorite chiropractor). She still has a very sensitive stomach, but the screaming for hours on end has stopped for the most part. She still doesn't do much in the way of naps-if she sleeps for an hour at a time, I consider that a good nap! But she's generally happy during the day, so that's okay. She's a GREAT sleeper at night. She's been sleeping all night for quite a couple of months.


Isaac is still in love with baby Grace :) He doesn't hold her very often anymore because she doesn't just lay back in your arms. She wants to sit up and see what's going on!


 Isaac plays hard and crashes even harder!


 Jacob is such a goofball!!


 Anna loves to read to anyone who will listen...she usually has a pretty willing audience!


 Sweet cheeks :)

 This is what happens when you're the baby of the family! ;)


 Isaac loves to sit with Grace and talk to her or read to her. So precious.


 We've had a bit of cabin fever this winter. One day I made the kids go outside for their math and spelling lessons. Ha!! It was a bit chilly, but that cold air is good for their brains. It was challenging to write letters and numbers backward!! We're loving the big picture window for math these days.


 In the last month, Grace has really figured out how to make her hands work...most of the time. The boys, especially Isaac, will learn quickly that they can't use her highchair tray as a resting spot for their toys if they don't want them to end up in Grace's mouth! This picture was about a month ago and she was trying SO hard to make that hand reach out and grab the Transformer!


 I was working on some graphics the other day and Grace wanted to "help". ;) Such a big girl!


 Grocery shopping is quite the adventure anymore. I still try to arrange it so that I can either leave most of the kids home with Aaron or he can come with me and keep the kids entertained while I shop. Most of the time, it's me with the kids. This time, Anna & Jacob were pretending that Jacob was a dog named Pizza (thus the string Anna attached to his coat). I would tell Anna an item on the list, she would say, "Pizza, go fetch ____!" and let go of his "leash" and off he went down the isle to find it and bring it back. I'm sure people thought we were crazy, but it kept them happy and not fighting!!


 See...such a goofball!!


 This was after her 4 month checkup and shots. :( You can see how long she is! She wears 9 month clothes and some of them she's already outgrowing!


 Anna has decided to learn the ukulele instead of piano lessons. Grandpa brought her his very special ukulele that he got in Hawaii over 30 years ago. She's had fun working on learning the chords he showed her. We try to FaceTime or Skype and Grandpa will coach her on how to position her fingers, etc. She's enjoying it! Jacob is still taking piano lessons and he is doing a great job! He seems to be very musically inclined and is quickly learning and flying through his books. He loves to play and it's often during the day that you'll find him sitting at the piano, playing any number of songs! I love having my house filled with music. :)


 Grace loves sitting in her highchair and watching everything that's going on. If she's tired, but I'm in the middle of fixing a meal, Anna will push her around the kitchen in it and Grace will fall asleep. :)


 Some days, he needs a nap before he even has the chance to get dressed. Oy.


And if this kid (whose shirt is on backward!) doesn't stop pulling barely-loose teeth, he's not going to have any teeth to eat his food!

Time is flying by, yet some days seems to stand still. This year, I'm trying to focus on JOY-finding joy in the everyday things and the big things. Last year was a pretty tough year for me and I kind of lost my joy and was just simply trying to make it through the days. This year, I want to be purposeful in finding joy every day. Some days I really have to search for it, but it's always there!

The joy of the LORD is my strength.


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