FFF: A Gem of a Video of Karis

Just this past week, Karis learned how to blow her nose all by herself, holding the tissue and everything!  She is so proud of herself now every time she does it... and I must admit that she's pretty cute when she blows all by herself too!!  So, I shot a video of her in action... she also plays "Where's Karis?" in the video (all by herself) and waves good bye... and gives an up-close look at her newest teeth (she has 6 on top coming in right now, and those two front ones are winning the race)!  Lots of little goodies packed into this 2 minute gem, for sure.  :)

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Spring is in the Air

The past few days down in the SouthLand have been more than beautiful!  The warm, golden sun has dried up all of the mud from weeks of continual rain, and the Easter lilies are showing off their bright yellow blooms.  On campus, the grass is already lusciously green, and the forsythia is in full swing (wish I had a picture because it is such a lovely Spring plant)! 

We have also happily set aside our long sleeves and dug out our warm weather play clothes because... we've been playing in the warm weather - and even sweating!  Personally, I just love the beginning of warm, sunny days like this after so many weeks of dreary, rainy/snowy, winter.  Now, I certainly haven't begun planting our garden yet because we are supposed to have one or two more cold snaps before it stays warm for good, but that has absolutely not stopped us from enjoying the great outdoors! 

Sweet Karis was pretty happy to be soaking in some sun!

I think she's just too cute in that little flowery outfit with her side pony!!

And Enoch had some fun with his puppy outside too! 

Since there aren't as many rules for the puppy outside, she's much more free to play and romp and explore (which obviously equates to more fun for a certain little rambunctious boy!).

(like how Karis and I snuck our way into that picture?)

And lastly, my chickens are back in full egg-laying production!!! 

This is two days worth of eggs (one from each of my three chickens, from left to right: Blackie's small brown eggs, Gray Girl's large blue eggs, and Rosie's large brown eggs).  Aren't they beautiful in that thick, green clover?

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What have the "big" kids been up to during baby bootcamp?

Here's a picture filled post to show what exactly our big kids, Enoch (3) and Karis (1.5), have been up to while baby Alaythia has been getting used to life outside the womb. 

Karis has been teething, a lot!

Enoch got to splash around in some puddles on a warm, rainy day.

Then on a colder day, they bundled up and went outside to play in the snow. 

There has been lots of baby holding (and kissing, of course).

Poor Karis got sick and had to be snuggled

There has been plenty of opportunity for playing together, and we've even seen some growth in the kids' ability to play together sweetly and gently (thank you, Lord!!).

We rearranged the house, who knows how many times, trying to find the best layout for a family of 5.  This was one of our in-process arrangements.

Karis has mastered the art of taking toys out of boxes and throwing them.

Believe me, she's really mastered it!!

Enoch does a lot of reading while I rock the baby.

And, somehow we managed to get a puppy who is lots of fun to play with.. more about her in a separate post.

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FFF: Big Boxes for Big Kids

These two big boxes were delivered to our home this week due to us having a huge subscribe & save order for March.  Immediately, Enoch was taken with them, and Karis warmed up to them quickly when she saw how much her big brother was enjoying them.  :) 

Here's a video of one of the ways they enjoy playing together in the boxes. 

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One Month with Alaythia Ruth

Alaythia Ruth officially joined our family on Monday, January 26, 2015 at around 10:37 am after roughly 7 hours of intense back labor.  She weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz and was 21 inches long.  There were so many answered prayers regarding her birth (as the Lord has been so gracious to do with each of our children's births), and we are so thankful that she has been with us for over one month now!  Here is a post with a lot of pictures and some details about what our first month with this Sweet girl has been like.  (I'll post more details about the big kids soon also.)

First day of life... being burped by Daddy

Preparing for the car ride home from Memphis (where she was born)

newborn DIY photo shoot in our family room

smiles in the doctor's office
at her 1 week check up

Eating- Alaythia has been eating 7-9 times a day since birth.  At her 1 week check up, she weighed in right at her birth weight, and at a one month doctor visit she weighed just over 11 lbs, so she has quickly been putting on the pounds.  :)  Like Karis, she needs to burp often when she eats and will not latch back on until all of her burps have passed, which makes our nursing sessions last for 45 min or so even though she is only nursing for about 20 min of that time.  I am also block feeding her because yet again I have an oversupply of milk. And, though we have done a few bottles over the past month, I really need to be more diligent in giving her a bottle more often since I have such a bad track record with getting my babies to take bottles. 

Schedule- I've pretty much been trying to follow the pattern of eat, wake, sleep again this time, so though we don't have a schedule per say, that routine has led to some predictability.  Typically (for the past few weeks any way, baby Alaythia has been waking up between 7-8 am, eating once more before lunch, once in the afternoon and then cluster feeding all evening (as in 3, 5, 7, 9 o'clock) until she finally passes out (which means I'm usually not able to do anything in the evenings besides care for her).  Then she will usually wake up around 1 and 4 to eat some little snacks during the night.  Somewhere around her third week she had a tough time with falling asleep in the evenings and would stay up fussing from around 7 or 8 pm until 12 or 1 am.  In general we are past that now, though she does still have trouble falling asleep in the evenings once or twice a week these days (but it doesn't last nearly as long).

milk coma snuggles  (absolutely the best!)

Going out- Somehow we have been able to venture out quite a bit over the past month, though it now takes us twice as long to get out the door and more coordination than I care to muster on some days.  Alaythia does NOT like being buckled into her car seat but will quiet down when it is picked up or rocked a bit.  She sometimes falls asleep quickly in the car, and other times she fights sleep to the death while in the car (maybe because of gas issues?).  She really likes being put in the Foby (fake Moby) wrap though, so if she isn't sleeping when we get to our destination, into the Foby she goes.  :) Otherwise I put her carseat and Karis in the double stroller (or shopping cart) and let Enoch walk beside me.  We also do a lot of nursing in the car, since she is usually hungry again before we manage to get home.  

Other memories-

first tub bath (she was pretty serious but content)

• Alaythia makes really serious, somewhat grumpy faces when she is being burped (and also during her first tub bath).
• She has a good amount of dark brown hair on the back of her head, but up top it is short and thin. 
• Her eyes were so dark at birth that they honestly looked black to me, but now they have lightened up a bit and appear to be a beautiful shade of blue.
• Baby Alaythia has been doing a little tummy time almost everyday since her cord fell off, and now she is able to lift her head up an inch or two and hold it for roughly 30-60 seconds.
• Karis loves giving her kisses.. lots and lots of big, wet, happy kisses (she never gives just one!).
• Alaythia stopped being swaddled when she was 2-3 weeks old.  She does still sleep in the yellow rock n play sleeper though, which will probably be hard to break her of later because every time I lay her to sleep in her crib she has a mega spit up and wakes up crying.  :(
• During her first day of life she had a purplish, dusky face because her face was slightly bruised during birth. 

• I have been prone to dizziness and vertigo over the past 2-3 weeks for some unexplainable reason.  My OB checked my iron levels, which were fine, and suggested it may be related to breastfeeding.   He said that maybe oxytocin (the hormone released when breastfeeding) was causing the problems, and that it may resolve on its own.  It has gotten slightly better lately, but I think that is because I'm adjusting to the vertigo by making slower movements with my head/eyes.  (This has not been an issue for me when nursing my first two babies, so we are watching my symptoms closely to be sure we don't need to complete more testing.)

...and a few more photos...

all the girls

first spit bath (before her cord fell off)

smiles!

sisters   :)

being held by Mama

being held by her boys

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  (James 1:17)

 

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Karis Can Wave!

Karis learned how to wave just this week.  I first noticed it when we were at the vet office and she waved at the sweet vet tech who was playing with her.  :)  Here's a quick video of her waving and of Hugh lifting her high in the air (one of their favorite things to do together as of late).

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