These Days...

... this girl is walking everywhere with both arms adorably extended upward and a big smile on her proud face. I still get surprised when she walks around the corner. Where did my baby go? She gives kisses upon request, which is often. When I ask her if she wants to go brush her teeth, she drops whatever she's doing and toddles to the bathroom as fast as she can go, saying "Ahhhh" the whole way. Sister loves her dental hygiene. She is now fully weaned and made that process easy on me. She snuggles into my shoulder every night while I sing to her before bed. If I think it's getting too quiet and go looking for her, I almost always find her reading a book. She gets super excited when she sees a dog or a picture of one, and Ginger tolerates lots of snuggles and pat-pats. She loves to skype, pointing to the computer and signing more.

...this girl continues to amaze me with her curiosity and heart. She will stop in the middle of a Target trip to say, "Hey, Mommy. You know I love you?"  When we pray to Jesus, she wants to make sure we're talking to the real Jesus - "the one with long hair."  She prays for him to help her with the "shin" in her heart. She knows he lives in there... and in her tummy, apparently. When some of our family recently went through a difficult time, she prayed daily that God would "make them not sad and make them happy." She quickly understood the concept that Cara is more important than her toys (thank you, Rachel Jankovic), and has really made an effort to share her toys. When I was sick on the Fourth of July, she was so sweet to me - patting my back, asking me if I felt better, helping me out around the house as much as she could. In dance/gymnastics class she is doing so well at listening to her teacher, following instructions, and trying new (hard) things. She still looks for me through the glass to make sure I'm watching.

... our family is designing (and hopefully soon building) a chicken coop. If you had asked me six months ago if I would consider raising chickens, I would have laughed.  But I'm really excited about the learning opportunity for the girls (and Daniel and I!) and of course for the fresh eggs! Although our GF experiment is on hold until Daniel sees the doctor, we are trying to limit it to some degree, and consequently have tried a few new yummy recipes. We are getting excited for our upcoming trip to see family in a few weeks. For a month or so now, the girls have been going to bed at the same time, and while most nights are quiet and uneventful, Daniel and I smile at each other when there's a few rounds of giggles while they settle down. Above all, we are thankful. Although there are certainly challenges and disappointments in our lives, we are doing our best to live with grateful, content hearts. Thankful for all of the above and so much more. God is faithful and so so good.

ch-ch-ch-changes

 Things are changing fast these days.  Too fast for this mommy's liking.

This little one, for instance, is rapidly approaching one year, and it's showing.

As are those two little chompers.

Ahhh... I miss the gummy smile a little, but could those two little teefies get any cuter???

 

These sister's relationship is becoming more friend-like every day, as they learn what makes the other laugh, what games they can both play, and how to (somewhat) happily occupy the same space.

Elli loves to show off for Cara, and boy does Cara love to watch....

... but is increasingly discontent with just watching. This babe wants to play!

But one thing that hasn't and isn't and won't ever (by God's grace) change.

Sister love.

My heart might burst.

Pretty Sweet

Things are changing quickly around here.  Caroline is sitting up pretty well all by herself, and she is becoming my little scooter bug!  The best part about her new found mobility is that now she and Elli are truly beginning to play together.  Or at least side by side.

Of course, all of Elli's long forgotten baby toys are suddenly the coolest things ever, so we are having a lot of conversations about kindness and sharing around here.

Even with these new challenges, Elli continues to be the sweetest big sister, always watching out for her little sis and showing lots of affection.  I love these precious sisters!

Speaking of Getting Big...

 My first baby is nearing three years of age, can you believe it?  I can not.  She's still got baby soft skin and remnants of those pinch-me-please rolls, but the truth is, every day the little girl in her blossoms a bit more.
Her favorite words right now are, "I do it, Mommy!"  And the cool part is?  Most of the time she does.  She puts on her own shoes, buckles half of her car seat, and likes to choose her own clothes.

 She loves to twirl around in her frilliest dresses, although her favorite is the "purtle choo-choo dress" (purple tutu dress -- it took Daniel and I a while to figure that one out!).  She is constantly pretending things, like her "camera" below, and having imaginary conversations with any and all of her toys.  The current favorite is her robot that Daddy built out of duplos and her toy vacuum.  Yup.  She carries the vacuum around the house with her, talks to it, feeds it, disciplines it.  Never a dull moment around here.

Elli continues to embrace being a big sister!  She was thrilled that Caroline was going to be sleeping in the same room with her.  Every morning she greets her baby sister with, "Dood mornin' shweet durl!" and a hug and kiss. Daniel and I feel so blessed to have Elli as our daughter.  She keeps us hopping for sure, but she adds so much laughter and sweetness to our family.

Evening

Last night was just one of those nights.  One of those slow, sweet evenings... when the air cools down and the light gets soft, and we simply enjoyed being together.  Daniel had to work a little bit late, so we grabbed the sidewalk chalk and a quilt for the baby and waited for him.

We met a new neighbor, and Elli spent a good ten minutes shooting the breeze with another neighbor and his dog.  She invited him to come to her new house and see her. He laughed and loved every minute of it. We drew lots of pictures (see Jonah inside the whale?), played hopscotch (well, sort of), and Elli pretended to be several different animals.  She even stood on her tip-toes like a giraffe and tried to eat leaves off the tree.  The whole time was just lovely, but my personal favorite was seeing how much these two girlies love each other.  Caroline just adores her big sister, which you can see in how she looks at her.  And that superwoman move?  She starts doing that when Elli is moving in her direction.

I also traced around Elli with the chalk (several times).  She then traced around me, and I wish you could see it better, but my "body" takes up about a fourth of our driveway. She was so proud of herself!

We continued to play well after the sun went down.  When I could have taken them inside and started baths and picking up toys; I held on a little closer to my baby and played a little harder with my chalk-covered daughter.  We stayed outside until their daddy rolled in the driveway.  Caroline fell asleep on my chest, her sweet little nose nestled into my neck.  I soaked up every precious snuggle.

Look-Alikes

I just couldn't help doing a little side-by-side comparison of the girls.  They are exactly the same age here (almost to the day) and even wearing the same outfit.  Oh man, I love my littles!  So, what do you think?  Do they look alike?

Caroline's first swinging experience was cut a little bit short when Elli decided she needed a little push.  :)  But up until that point she seemed to enjoy it as much as a four month old really can.  We had a fabulous lunch date at the park with Daddy the day before he left for China.  He was gone for ten days, and we are SO happy to have him back!

2.5

When I think about how much Elli has changed in the past year, even in just the last six months, I am blown away!  I love discovering this little girl's personality.  She is spunky, funny, caring, passionate, busy, clever, relational, silly, thoughtful, and curious.  And so much more!  

I decided to let Elli tell you a little bit about herself at two and a half:

Favorite color - red

Favorite thing to do with Caroline - "Eeeeeeee" as she hugs herself  (squeezes, I think)

Favorite thing to do outside - play at the park

Favorite book - Bible  (great answer, babe!)

Favorite thing to do with Daddy - "RARR!!!"   (Daniel and Elli play a game where he is the bear and chases her while she giggles and screams)

Favorite food - "wawawa"  (watermelon)

Favorite thing to do with Mommy - run  (what she calls tag)

Favorite thing to do with Ginger - "niiiiigh" as she shows me a nice touch and an angelic face.  (This is probably a more accurate answer to what she knows she is supposed to do with Ginger.)

 We are crazy about you, sweet Elli-belle! 

Sharing

 I try to sneak in the phrase, "my girls" or "the girls" as much as possible.  I love being their "Mama," as Elli has started to call me and feel so blessed to have these two beautiful little girls in my life.   I can't wait to see their relationship grow and change over the years. 

 

 Daniel and I decided long ago that we wanted our daughters (if God chose to give us more than one) to share a middle name.  Faye is a family name - it's my middle name, as well as two of my great-grandmothers - but that's not why we chose it.  We long and pray for our daughters to have a rich, close, precious relationship, and we hope that sharing a middle name is only the beginning of all the toys, secrets, inside jokes, late night conversations, clothes, growing pains, joys and trials they will share over the years.

 And from what I can tell, they are well on their way.  Elli has a big love for her little sister, and Caroline already turns her head to follow her big sister.  Whenever she hears Caroline cry on the monitor, Elli comes to me, very concerned, saying,  "Yai-Yai cry, Mommy.  Elli help.  I help."  She kisses and hugs her every chance she gets and joins in on tummy time just to hold her hand.  Caroline can't respond much yet, but as she has begun to give us a few smiles, many of those are for her big sister.  So whether it is their middle name, or striped pajamas, or life experiences... may these two sisters, unique and different as they are, share a deep, deep love for each other and for their Lord.

Moments

Elli loves Caroline and loves being a big sister.  She is very affectionate (sometimes a little too affectionate) giving her lots of  "'nuggles" and spontaneous kisses.  When Caroline cries, Elli comes over and gently touches her head, saying, "Elli's here, Elli's here."  In public, Elli is already protective of her little sister, telling strangers who stop to comment, "No! My baby!" with every ounce of her two-year-old authority.

But one of my favorite ways she shows her love is when she wants to read to Caroline.  Elli reads books constantly, and almost always to someone.  Before Caroline was born, she read to her Pooh buddies or to Ginger, but now she prefers "Yai-Yai" for her audience.  These moments make me smile, and I hope they continue happening for years to come!

Story Time with Elli

Elli loves to read books, so it's no surprise she wants to pass on that passion to her little sister.  I hope this is the first of many hours spent exploring the world of books together!  And don't you love that Elli wanted to hold her hand while reading to her?  Such a sweet big sister!

In case you were wondering...

 Yes, Caroline did get a present for Elli, and it was a big hit.  She got her a stuffed animal okapi, which just happens to be Elli's favorite animal at the zoo. Caroline is just so thoughtful like that. 

I wish we had recorded Elli's reaction, because she was so thrilled!  

He was instantly given the position of Pooh Buddy #2 in Elli's heart and was even selected as Elli's companion when she rode on the choo-choo train with Grandpa and Mia the next morning.  Don't worry, Pooh Bear is still her best buddy, but Caroline did well!

Sisters

The Tuesday before Caroline's birth, Elli and I went shopping for a present for Baby from Elli.  We wandered around the store a little before stopping at an end cap of little loveys.  There were lambs and doggies and various other options, but wouldn't you know, the one that caught Elli's eye was Pooh Bear.  The minute he was in her arms, he was being introduced to her own Pooh Bear and welcomed into the Pooh Buddy family.  She helped me wrap him in a little box, and we set the box on the kitchen table, ready to take when Baby arrived.  

During my pregnancy, we of course talked with Elli about the baby in Mommy's tummy and all of the fun things she could do with the baby, but we were never sure how much Elli actually understood.  Daniel and I are both very close to our siblings, and we knew that Elli's life was about to change forever.  Their first introduction to each other was something I thought about often.  I dreamed of how perfect it could be, but prepared myself in case it was slightly less than perfect.

But this moment was far better than I could have hoped for, and I will treasure it always.