8 months

8-months-old and nearly crawling!!!

Dabney Hazel's latest trick has her scooting all over, up on her knees, and propelling herself forward.  Our smiley baby is mobile :)

8 months:

.  3 teeth (with 2 more about to cut through) .

.  smiles and giggles  .

.  coos  .

.  waving(?)  .

.  sits  .

.  up on her knees and scooting  .

.  nurses exclusively (6x per day)  .

.  sleeps 11 hours at night .

.  wears 9 mo. clothing .

.  chews on everything  .

.  snuggles  .

.  blond hair  .

.  likes to be worn in the front carrier (Ergobaby).

 .  loves to interact and "chat" .

. rolls and rolls and rolls .

.  curious  .

.  grabs, shakes, and chews  .

.  shares a room with big sister Maclaren  .

Our sweet happy girl bring so much joy to our family.  She is such a blessing. 

Dabney is sporting a beautiful hazelwood necklace from Hazelaid. 
She has had bad eczema since birth.  Despite deep moisture treatments, she always had large patches covering her torso and limbs.  The last resort will be to try an elimination diet (for Amy) to see what food is triggering the eczema flareups. 
First we wanted to try something a bit easier: the anti-oxidant healing properties of Hazelwood.  Hazelwood has been effective in relating acid-related problems of the body (eczema, acid reflux, rashes) when in contact with the skin.  Her necklace also has Baltic Amber beads which are known for their analgesic properties, working like an ibuprofen to naturally help ease the pain of teething, headaches, and joint pain. 

So far, so good.  In just three weeks, her skin has cleared remarkably!  She still has a eczema patches under her arms and behind her knees, but her torso is beautifully smooth. 

I am so thankful God has provided us with natural ways of healing ailments. 

Styling

Hiwot is such a good sport, sitting still for hours at a time while I fiddle and fuss over a new style.  Working with her hair, learning, testing, trying, and styling takes a lot of time.  It's an important part of caring for her hair (and her) and it's something I enjoy. Working afternoons together while watching girlie movies, and occasionally staying up way too late (!), has given us valuable bonding time. 

This style was a quickie - about 4-5 hours of work over two days.  Flat twists save a lot of time (significantly fewer twisties), but they also don't last as long.  I'm hoping this style will last 3-4 weeks before we'll need to re-do the top. 

Hiwot makes anything look good :)

She does like having the longer hair for ponytails! 

Bespeckled

Hendrick's been saying for a while that he needs glasses . . . he was right!

Our 10-year-old aged tremendously with the addition of some snazzy black and blue frames (like daddy's).  He looks so studious (and handsome!), and can see long distance more clearly :)

Speech

Kolpin: "I'm poor"
Therapist: "Kolpin, say: 'I'm four.'"
Kolpin: "Wow! You poor too!?!"

Kolpin, whose sweet talking typically starts each word with a "d" or "p", has begun weekly speech therapy.  He's quite the chatterbox but, with his swapping of consonants, is very hard to understand.

"You know you're really cute, but I don't know what you're saying!" (from Finding Nemo)

He is really cute!  I love the way Kolpin talks, I'll miss the way he talks, but it's time to get this straightened out.  He is super excited to go each week for some special one-on-one therapy time.  The initial focus is on "k" and "f" . . . being able to say your name and age is important :)

"Kolpin is four" sounds much better than "Dopin is poor"  :)

We are so thankful for the help he's getting!

 Maclaren, our quiet girl, has started weekly speech therapy too!

He is Risen!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead . . . "
1 Peter 1:3

 New Life

Hope

Celebration

Happy Easter!!!

Wanting Easter to make an impression on our children, we need to be intentional in its celebrations.  This year we've continued some favorite traditions and added a new one.  The goal: meaningful celebration, time for learning and reflection, and lots of fun!  It's been a special week, rooted in scripture and shared with friends.

Palm Branches
"Easter Mountain" for a hands-on telling of the Easter story
Passover Seder
Egg Hunt - with 250 eggs :)
Cascarones
Resurrection Scavenger Hunt
Hard-boiled Egg tapping competition with "Christ is Risen" greetings

 Christ is Risen.  Christ is Risen indeed!

Mini-me

Our youngest reminds us so much of our oldest . . .

profile
eye shape
smile
hair

Hendrick is so proud to have a mini-me in Dabney :)

Sisters

Sweet sisters . . . and new roommates! 
Dabney moved bedrooms this week.  Now these two sisters share the nursery :)

Maclaren has become quite attached to her "baby."  She is an expert at giving hugs and kisses and frequently asks to hold her sissy.  It's super cute.  It's fun to see this sweet relationship developing. 

Spring

Spring has sprung . . . and so have the backyard critters!

Our resident Herpatologist is thrilled :)

Banks is Back

Banks is back!

We are all thrilled to have our puppy home after his 5 weeks away training.  We in the process of transitioning him back home, giving him a break from rigorous training and allowing him to "be a dog."   He's been great!  He's still only 4 months old, and so still acts like a puppy.  But we can see that he's going to be a great companion for our family.  He just needs to get used to our chaotic household . . . his chaotic household :)

Next week, the trainer returns to work with all of us at home.  Banks is such a smart dog, we're excited to work more with him! 

Soccer

The season was over too soon.  Burke was thrilled to play soccer this spring season - he eagerly counted down the days to each game, setting out his gear several days in advance - so 3 rainouts and only 5 games played this season was incredibly disappointing! 

Burke looked great out there and had so much fun playing with his team, and . . . he scored a goal in his final game!!!

We are so proud of our Burke!

Birthday

Camping with the boys, we celebrated his 8th birthday a day late:

"Lego Head" birthday cake . . . that fell apart - oops!

Fishing bobbers from his sisters (found at the lake and cleaned up)

Statically charged balloons stuck to the walls

Legos, pjs, books and baseball cards for our 8-year-old :)

Girl Time

While it is important for Mike to have special time with his boys, it's just as important for me to have time with my girls!

So, while Mike and the boys were camping, us ladies enjoyed a girly weekend at home!

Our normal is so busy, it's a luxury for me to slow down and really focus on the beautiful little girlies around me.  As their mother (and female role-model - yikes!), I need to connect with them, guide and teach them, encourage them as they grow.  I want them to be tough girls who embrace their God-given femininity :)

While frivolous fun with hair pretties and nail polish seem so insignificant in the grand picture and ultimate goal of guiding these little girls to grow into strong women of faith, it's an important part of the journey.  We need to to have fun together, connect, and build memories.  They need me to invest in them. 

At this age (with 2 and 6-year-olds), that special time together is painting finger nails, sprinkle apples, tea parties, dress-ups, Shirley Temple movies and milk shakes!   I let them take the lead, planning out the activities.   We had a marvelous weekend together of incredibly important, silly fun!  Pink nail polish is laying a foundation with my girls and showing them they're valued. 

I love my girlies :)

Goldie

Miss Maclaren, you are such a beauty! 

Boys at Natchez

*3 camping weekends in a row - 1 whole family, 2 with the boys!

(Written by Hendrick - 10 years old)

Where we went:

We went to Natchez Trace State Park for a weekend of camping with the boys.  Our friends came too. 

Why camping:

It was an adventure with all men and boys - and it would be weird if we did tea parties with the girls.... am i right!  It was fun being with my dad and sleeping outside.  There was a lot more things we can do with all boys, like going out into the woods without the girls following (they can slow us down), and we don't have to listen to them talking all night in the tent!

What we did:

We hiked around the lake to participate in Heritage Day at the park office.  They had spear throwing, cracklings, moonshine, sheep wool spinning, and candle making.  We also played in the woods near the camp site, rode scooters, and went to the playground.