Day Eighty Six.

9 Months in....9 months out!!!!

1- Ella is standing on her own now....any day now those first steps will come!***I admittedly wrote this post a day early. That afternoon...she took her first steps! One day shy of nine months old!
2- She loves to laugh and finds her brothers to be the funniest people!
3- She enjoys wrestling with the boys.
4-She is tough physically but she can easily get her feelings hurt.
5-If she sees another child crying, the bottom lip will pop out and she will cry too.
6- she claps when we say "yaaaaaa"
7- She says "Mama and Dada" to us and calls us from her crib when she wakes up.
8- She is sleeping very well now, 12 hours at night and 3 hours every afternoon.
9- She eats everything! She prefers what we are eating to baby food.

She is absolutely the most precious little girl. She is so sweet but so very feisty as well. We love you so much Elizabeth!

Day Eighty Five.

Our spunky little three year old!Jacob is growing up quickly. Since he turned three he has become quite the conversationlist and he asks such insightful questions.
"When can we visit God at his house? Does he have a backyard"?
He loves Ben so much. He doesn't do anything without thinking of his big brother first. He loves dinosaurs, garbage trucks, toast, rice milk and anything Gramma bakes him. His favorite thing to do is go outside and he loves to go for walks with Grammie. Jake loves to be a helper with anything. Giving him a job to do is as popular as giving him a cookie. He likes to run errands with me and reassures me that "I will not run away from you Mommy!" with a smile...only to dart off in the opposite direction as soon as he says it. Strollers and "child leashes" are still apart of his life as a result. I hope that this phase is coming to an end, he is keeping me on my toes...literally.
Jake is doing well in his speech therapy and has learned the joy of speaking with consonants mixed in with all those vowel sounds. He asked for some "Ju" yesterday and then smiled shyly and said "oh...I mean....juiTH". He is so adorable. He has a little friend named Hannah who he just adores and continues to introduce his "Baby THITHTER; Baby Ewwa" to everyone he sees...including people we see daily and know he...and her...quite well. He is just so proud of her.
Jake is still wearing diapers but making small and steady gains in the toilet department...I think we will wait until short weather to really give it a good try. He sleeps with Mommy and Daddy every night now. He is the squirmiest little sleeper! We can carry him back to his room again and again but give him an hour and he is back again. He sleeps with a ceramic bunny, a stuffed lamb and bunny and a fleece blanket as his growing collection of security items and sometimes has to make a few trips back to his room but he never leaves anyone behind. I don't really mind him sleeping with us, he is warm. And adorable.

Day Eighty Four.

Dainty.

Ella always crosses her ankles when she is sitting. It is the sweetest thing. She is just so....girly.

Day Eighty Three

Welcome to the family Henry and Sebastian! Ben and Jake have wanted a pet for a long time. We found these African Dwarf frogs last week and thought they were the perfect pet. It is a special tank that only needs cleaning every 3 months, they frogs eat one tiny pellet every three day, live up to 5 years and they are actually kind of adorable. The boys used their saved money to buy them together and the "brothers" live happily so far on our living room desk where they gets lots of adoration. I tell the boys "Henry and Sebastian stories, about two little boys...coincidentally the same ages as them before bed so those names seemed fitting for our new little friends.

Day Eighty Two.

Morning cartoons!

Day Eighty One.

The boys have a little friend named Hannah who had a third birthday last week. We are always so grateful when people go out of their way to include the boys food allergies, though we never expect it at all.  Meaghan made a fruit cake and coconut ice cream in the ice cream maker so Ben and Jake (and Ella) could eat it all. I was so thrilled for them. Jake couldn't eat the "watermelon" cake fast enough!

Day Eighty.

The boys love the little hill by our house. Just big enough to go as fast as they are comfortable and small enough they can go up 100 times before tiring themselves out. I do hope this will be it until next year.