Eddy’s Five Favorites at Five Months:

1)  Smiling.  Still melts my heart every time.

2)  Eating his feet.

3) Flirting with any pretty girl over the age of 20…he likes the older women, what can I say?
No picture of this, but it is pretty stinking adorable. His flirting ranges from smiling and then hiding his face over and over, to flat out locking eyes and smiling and cooing for as long as his object of affection will allow him!

4) Hanging upside down and giggling.
No pictures of this either, but can you imagine the cuteness of that gummy grin amplified by big chuckles!? Simply joy!

5) His sister.

So much love in our lives!  Thank you Lord for our sweet family!

Month 1 and Month 19.

Month 2 and Month 20.

Month 3 and Month 21.

Month 4 and Month 22.

I love looking back at these pictures and watching their relationship progress. During month one, Chloe and Eddy are just both kind of like, “What? Who is this?” But as they grow, it becomes harder and harder to keep her on the other side of the chair for pictures, and his smile grows wider and wider with each hug and kiss.

We are blessed beyond measure and look forward to many more months to come!

She is almost two…our baby girl that just a few months ago mirrored her brother’s abilities. On some days, I find myself catching my breath in wonder at who she has become and is becoming. She has her mother’s strong will and persistence. She has her own opinion on most everything. She has her father’s goofy sense of humor and love of tools. She has a simple, pure love for her baby brother. She is a snuggler and relishes in “lubbing” her mommy, daddy, brother, and stuffed animals. She loves to “took” in the kitchen with mom and feeds anyone who is willing to open their mouth her fabulous pretend concoctions. She is brave when it comes to physical risks (much to the horror of my stomach), but cautious when it comes to new people. She sings continuously, both songs she has learned and songs she has created. She has created her own octave for screeching and squealing around the house. She craves kisses and hugs and loves to be pursued…don’t we all?

She challenges me. She challenges me to find patience on some occasions. On others, she challenges me to praise God enough for the personality He has etched onto her heart. She challenges me to pray and beg for wisdom, guidance, grace, and love. She challenges me to love my husband in a way that is real and models submission. She challenges me to watch my words and to make sure that they are strong and covered in grace.

And she watches. Her little eyes take in everything that goes on around our house every day. She puts “mousse” in her hair each morning like mommy and changes her babies’ diapers when they have gone “poo.” She has learned to “pants” me like Jeremy does on occasion and giggles each time she succeeds. She rocks her brother and her babies; she gently pats their back and says “shhhh.” She uses the screwdriver to tighten screws and wipes up spills with her boo.

She is God’s precious gift in our life. One that sings of joy and His deep love for us.

We love you Chloe.

Big belly chuckles at daddy’s dancing.
Eyes that are glued to sister as she goes around prancing.
Cuddles and snuggles, grunting to sleep.
A precious age that I desire to keep.
He gives me eyes that I simply adore…
Ones that shout, “It’s you I am looking for!”
He is a precious gift and as patient as can be.
Our beautiful baby boy, Eddy.

Eddy is two months old! Wow! Babies seem to age more quickly the second round…anyone else agree?! We don’t have his two month appointment until June 10th, so no weight and height update yet, but here are some of his favorite things:

Hanging out with his sister. This photo doesn’t really illustrate this, but seriously, he thinks she is great (most of the time). When I put him down beside her, she often grabs his hand and starts jabbering away. Eddy, always the silent type, simply smiles and smiles as she talks to him.

Eating his hands. Poor little guy has my genes when it comes to his mouth, therefore, it is incredibly small. Still, day after day, he attempts to shove his entire fist into his mouth. One day he will accept the truth that it is never going in.

Smiling. The boy loves smiling. And it is always this big, gummy smile. He has precious little dimples in his cheeks too and they make my heart melt. He radiates joy.

Other favorites of Edison’s include: eating, trying to grab the toys on his play gym, pooping, eating, cooing the most adorable sounds, eating, and sleeping. And did I mention eating?

We have other babies besides Eddy who are getting bigger too–our little baby robins! Here they are on Sunday of this week:

And here they are today (Saturday):

Talk about fast growth! As I have watched this little nest grow, a few things have struck me: first of all, I am soo thankful that Chloe and Eddy don’t grow as quickly as these little birds. They would be gone in like 2 weeks! Praise the Lord for years (instead of weeks) of joy raising children. Second, I am so thankful I am not a momma bird. Our mother is so diligent and absorbed by her birds and does a great job–as far as I can tell–of taking care of her young. Part of her nurturing includes sitting on top of the nest…on the babies now pointy little beaks and heads. Serious props to her.

We love our growing family and are so thankful for the Lord blessing us with our children each day!

Wow. Edison has been a living, breathing part of our family for one month now (and 5 days at this point). This fact causes conflicting feelings in me: in some ways, it feels like he has been here much longer and has always been a part of our family, and in other ways, his time here feels much shorter than this…that he was just born yesterday and placed in my arms.

I will say that even with two children demanding my attention, I have been able to savor Eddy’s time in our lives much more than I was able to with Chloe. Our first few months with Chloe were blessed but so rough with all of her sickness and our (mainly MY) insecurities about what to do and how to live life with her. We enjoy her so much now that it is hard to imagine ever feeling so completely stressed by her, but I know that at one point in our lives, we were. I know that God blessed us with her and the trials we endured so that we (mainly I) would learn to release our notion of control and surrender her to Him, and in turn, offer Eddy up just as freely. I distinctly remember Him telling me one day that I could choose to live each day stressed about whether there would be another day with her or choose to enjoy each day as a precious gift and not focus on tomorrow. This mindset has carried over into each day with her and now into our time with Edison.

Compared to Chloe, Edison is a much simpler baby. He only cries when he is hungry, angry at the gas bubbles in his belly, kicked in the head by Chloe, or tired. He is a champion nurser and loves to snuggle. His little face is covered in baby acne right now, but he is still as cute as a button! He has just started to smile a wide gummy smile that melts my heart, and he is trying so hard to coo. Occasionally, he gets one out, but most of the time his sweet sounds are just little grunts. He has gotten too long for his newborn clothes, and is moving up to 0-3 month old clothes–they are a little baggy on him, but with his hunger, it won’t be too long before he fills them out! Like Chloe, he is experiencing male pattern baldness and has lost all of the hair on the top of his head. He looks like a little monk!

This past month has been a blessing–we thank the Lord and you for all of the support and love!

Our two joys!

Chloe is 9 months old! Wow–every month seems to go by more and more quickly! (too quickly for mom for sure!) Our “little” baby is now two and a half feet tall and in the 98% for height! She weighs 18 pounds 6 ounces (38%); so she is long and thin! Shopping for her this fall will be a challenge because she is already almost out of 12-18 month clothes height wise, but is so stinking skinny that she can still wear 6-9 month clothes! High-water pants will be her trademark. =D

Chloe is into so much right now. She loves dancing and getting low (taught to her by her father, not her ghetto mother), and she loves to “walk” while holding our hands. She loves to look at the world upside down and will often thrust herself backward to do just that (we have had quite a few falls and bumps due to this obsession). Chloe is also into standing and banging things together–our coffee table has the bumps to prove it. She loves to clap and sing as well. She is such a joy!

Chloe is officially (we think) over her aversion to bald men and facial hair, and she is really learning to ham things up when in a crowd. She is at the age where she is always looking for a response to her actions and loves to make others smile. When people don’t respond how she believes they should, Chloe gets really sad…it is too cute. She just recently mastered the art of flirting, and loves to smile and lean for people (especially men). However, if her object of affection tries to touch her…let’s just say it is very similar to the Black-Eyed Peas song ‘Humps’, “You can look but you can’t touch. If you touch I’m gonna…start some DRAMA, you don’t want no drama. No no drama, no no no no drama.” At least she isn’t an easy catch. =D

Speaking of flirting, we went to Dallas for the 4th and had a wonderful time with many friends! Chloe met a candidate for her future husband, and fireworks ensued! (sadly, these were the only fireworks we experienced this year) She and Levi Wozny had a great time oohing and aahing over each other, and Chloe may or may not have tried to sneak in a kiss. (Levi may or may not have tried to kiss her too…or he may have just been trying to eat her bow.)

We love our baby girl!

Chloe turned 8 months on June 1st! She is growing and learning, and it is such fun to be part of her little life.

Here is the low down on lil’ C right now: She babbles all the time; her favorite phrases are “mamamama” and “dadadada.” I don’t really think she has any idea what she is saying yet, but it is always fun to hear “mamama” coming out of her mouth! She loves to make tooting noises, and when she does, everything within a ten inch radius is sprayed with spit! It is messy but fun to watch her giggle with sheer delight at herself afterwards! She is very adept at shaking her head “no.” Again, I am not sure if she has associated a meaning with this, but she often uses it very correctly.

Chloe is reaching for everything, and as I mentioned before, she believes everything that she has laid hands on belongs to her. She loves playing with pots and pans in the kitchen and thinks that throwing things on the floor is a-mazing! Chloe loves to give kisses (especially to her toy fish). She has 3 smiles now: her half-grin when she is unsure about what she thinks of someone or something, her full out smile (that shows off her two little teeth) that she gives when something really makes her happy, and a new smile that is just plain silly that she doles out when she is being impish. Her hair is beginning to get wavy in the back on one side! She has very strong opinions about everything she encounters. She does not like facial hair on men (she is her mama’s girl =). Chloe is a water baby, and she loves being outside. She loves dirt, grass, tree bark, and flowers; she grabs them by the handful and studies them intensely. She is also into peering right now. She loves to “peer” over, sideways, and around objects to get a closer look. It is pretty stinking cute…sometimes she does it just to be funny as well! And my favorite thing that she does right now is patting. I often pat her when I am holding her or putting her to sleep, and Chloe has decided that she should do the same for me whenever her little hands can reach. Such a silly little girl!

Peering through the rocking chair handle!

So much fun!

We still feel blessed each and every day by the gift God has given us in her!

Chloe is six months old! (well six at the time I wrote this, seven tomorrow!)! It is crazy how quickly it has gone by! In some ways, it seems like we have had her forever–like there was never a pre-Chloe era…but in other ways, it seems like we just got home from the hospital! I now understand why all parents say it goes by too fast!

Well, at seven months, our little miss thinks she is quite the stuff. Earlier this month at family pictures (samples to come soon!) she wanted nothing to do with a little boy who was trying to flirt with her. He was grabbing her feet and giggling, and she kept completely aloof (and made her daddy proud)! Her heart is only for her daddy right now, and boy does she love him! Chloe also loves sitting up like a big girl (although it takes quite a lot of concentration on her part still), and twirling her feet and wrists in circles–it’s like she just discovered them this past month and is so excited to use them all the time! She loves to blow raspberries and to have them blown back to her, and she makes the m, l, and b sounds! Her beginning babble is so fun, and I can’t wait until she is using words! She just learned to splash in the tub (video coming soon) and loves to make water go everywhere! She is also into smacking everything (a neat trick taught by her dad) and grabs absolutely anything that is within arm’s reach. Chloe still has no interest in crawling, but instead loves to sit and chill with mom and dad. She just wants to be in the middle of everything and loves to hang out. It is super fun! Chloe loves to cuddle with mom and dad, and enjoys reading her goodnight books every night before bed. She love love loves our dogs. She pets them, pulls their hair, rides them, and giggles at them while they play! She can seriously sit outside and just watch them for half an hour and be absolutely content! At 6 months, Chloe was in the 91th percentile for height (she is 27 and 1/4 inches tall) and the 36th percentile for weight (15 lbs 8 oz)!! She is getting so big!

We love our little C!

Go ahead, try it…she is too cute.

Resistance is futile. Especially when she smiles at you. And giggles. And caresses your face. You lose all willpower. We love our baby girl! Happy 5 month birthday lil’ C!