It was a froggy day!

Today we kicked off our play date group at south view with a leap year themed party.

I have been wanting to start a play date group like this since Keira was little, but never had been able to due to work conflicts. We have a great group of girls who are involved now and it makes for a fun time!! I am do thankful for good Christian friends who I can enjoy life and raising my kids with!

Today one of the activities that we did was to make froggy cupcakes. They turned out super well and the kids had a great time making them!!

What a Week!

Hi Friends!

Hope all is well with you- this week has just flown by for me! (I am saying that as I just caught up on about 500 emails (literally)...still sitting in my pj's at 5:00 pm. WOW.

Austin was sick for most of the week and has now passed that onto the girls, so it has been a busy week taking care of all of them.

I have two weeks of maternity leave left, so I am trying to enjoy that! It seems so weird to go back to life the way it was before Lainey- I have adjusted quite well to my new routine, and even have a schedule down...most weeks anyway! When I think about it, I get really anxious, so I am just praying that God would lead and guide me and give me peace. If a person could stay on maternity leave forever I would say SIGN ME UP! Unfortunately we leave in the real world, and that is not an option. ;)

I am however learning things in this stage of life! One of those being that my house is ok if it is messy. When I was in the office full time, my house was picked up all the time, because we weren't there much. Now that I am home alot more, I have learned that it cannot stay that way with two kids...particularly a toddler! I have learned, although it tests my patience, that it is ok to have toys all over the floor. However, every once in awhile my blood pressure rises and I just have to pick it up!! ;) I am working with Keira on picking things up, and taking one thing out at a time- however that doesn't go over to well with her usually. We have affectionately been calling her our "walking tornado", as it looks like a tornado has passed through wherever she has last been.

I have also tried to get on schedule by making a task list for each week. It helps me to feel like things are attainable, and not feel overwhelemed with having to do everything in one day. then- if I miss a day, I just make it up the next day! For example, this is my weekly task list:

Monday:
Change Beds and Pay Bills

Tuesday:
Playdate
Dust and Clean Bathrooms
Grocery list and menu

Wednesday:
Library
Grocery Shop
AWANA

Thursday:
MOPS
Vacuum/Sweep/Mop
Small Group Bible Study

Friday:
Laundry

Of course- I have more things I do, but this helps me get the household things that have to be done each week done on a schedule, and then I am not wondering "when did I change the bed last?!"

In Keira news:
She is SO GROWN UP! One day last week I was passed out in the morning in our room with Lainey, as we had been up most of the night. When I finally was able to wake up, I came out to the living room to find Keira sitting watching a show, with a banana muffin in one hand, and a sippy cup of juice in the other. She had seen that I was sleeping, and had gotten up, dressed herself, then climbed on the counter to get a muffin, then got out a cup with a lid, then gone to the fridge and filled it. I was quite impressed! I did giggle a little bit though as I found the bottle of juice sitting in the middle of the hallway with no lid on it. ;)

She is also quite the technie as of late. I have added a couple apps for kids onto my iphone, and the little stinker can open them all by herself! She can unlock my phone, then scan through the pages to the app she wants, and open it to play the game. It cracks me up! However, it has been helpful if I need something to occupy her with while shopping etc. :)

Today when I gave her a bath, she wanted to wear my robe, because it is long on her, and looks like a "Princess dress". See picture below. She also helped me give Lainey a bath. She talks so sweetly to her, and gently rubbed her head with a washcloth. I am so happy with how she does with Lainey. If Lainey is crying she will search the house for a paci, then give it to her and sing her the ABC's...that is Keira's form of a lullaby. ;)

Well that is all for today- I will try and post sometime this weekend with Lainey's 2 month update, once I get a picture of her. :)

The Latest Updates

Hi All!

I figured I would give a quick update on what is going on with our little family! ;)

Lainey:
She is now 6 weeks old (wow time flies!). She is starting to look less like Keira, and more like the Oswald side. She has fairer skin than Keira, and bigger eyes. She LOVES to cuddle, particularly with mommy, and she is wide awake alot more now. She will just lay with her big blue eyes and coo when she is happy. She has also started smiling this week quite a bit when you talk to her. So precious! She is a great nurser...no formula so far, wahoo!!! We are so thankful for her! I took her to the doctor today and she was weighing in at 8 lbs 13 oz, with clothes on, so I am guessing she is about 8 1/2 lbs. She weighed in at 8 lbs when she was a month old.

We just recently moved her to size 1 diapers, and she is outgrowing her newborn clothes. It is on my list to get out all her 0-3 month stuff this week. Poor little thing has had a double ear infection and thrush in the past two weeks. She is now on the mend, PTL! She slept for 6.5 hours last night, which was a first, wahoo!

Keira:
She is now "free years old" and enjoys playing with "Parisses" (Princesses) in her 3 foot tall Barbie house all day long. She is very independent, and can at times be a handful, but we love her vivacious little personality! She loves mommy being home with her, and I enjoy it too, although she is a walking tornado! ;) She just started Cubbies and is loving that and doing a great job learning a verse each week. It is amazing to see them learning about Jesus at such a young age...and it warms my heart! Last week in the car she said, "Mom do you know God? He loves us and died on the cross for everybody's sins!" I am so thankful she is learning these things so early in life!

She also had her first dentist appt. last week. She looked so little sitting on the table, but did a great job. She got a new princess toothbrush and balloon when she was done, and had no cavities. So we left without her hating the dentist- SUCCESS!!

She is really into crafts lately as well, and loves to paint, do stickers, etc. We have kept busy on my maternity leave doing playdates with friends, MOPS, cubbies, and dates to the library. We are considering letting her do dance- but telling her she has to be completely potty trained before she can do that. She is trained, but lazy at times. Just this last week she started sleeping through the night without an accident- but only if she has undies and not a diaper on....so sometimes if we have somewhere to be first thing in the AM I don't risk it. ;)

Austin:
He is very busy finishing up his degree at Grace. He has 10 weeks left, and we are both anxiously awaiting for him to be done! We went to a marriage conference this weekend that was great for both of us. It was a really good weekend of reconnecting, as life gets busy with two kids, work, and school! I am so thankful for him, and thankful that God chose to give him to me to share life with!! He is absolutely the best husband and father- I am so blessed!! For Valentines Day he said he wasn't getting me anything, but picked up the house and folded a ton of laundry while I napped with Lainey- I was PERFECTLY happy with that!! ;)

Me:
I am enjoying being home with the girls- it is never a boring moment! I have gotten back into couponing, and we are trying to live on a streamlined budget. We are starting a mommy and me playdate group with some girls from church, so I am excited about that. I have also enjoyed getting to be more involved with MOPS. It is a great outlet for us! I have 4 weeks of leave left and plan to enjoy every moment and avoid the fact that 4 weeks will go quickly!!!

We are also looking into housing options, and saving for a new house, with hopes of moving in about a year. We would like to have a house with more bedrooms so the girls can each have their own, plus have more room for entertaining, as we really feel that God has called us to be hospitable and host others. We can do that now, but it is getting to be difficult with all of us and our friends having more kiddos. ;)

Well that is the latest with us- Thanks for reading and praying for us as we go through life! :)