First Steps

Anabel's first steps, which I was so thankful to catch on camera. I was standing her up and trying to get her to try and twice before I got the camera she moved her foot a little so I grabbed the camera and then she amazed me! She did this on Wed the 8th. Sorry it is tilted.

What Owen does when mommy sleeps

(by Matt)

This morning I got Owen out of his crib and gave him some breakfast. Sera was still sleeping when I came in the room and told her that I was leaving for work and that Owen was eating. She does not remember any of it. (Anabel was up for 2 1/2 hours during the night- that is why she was so tired.) That was at about 7:40. At 8:10 she says that she awoke to find Owen holding the camera saying "I take a picture." In reality he had already taken the following video of her sleeping- without her even budging- and was going for more! He then goes out and climbs on the counter to eat the ginger bread house he and I made the night before. Next time I'm sure we will make sure that she is fully awake before I leave.

Making the house

It collapsed a bit

Sera took a picture of him eating when she got up

Sisterly love

Owen funnies

I have a document on my computer titled "Owen Sayings" in which I put all the funny and characteristic-like things that he does. These were the entries for today. I copied and pasted for you to enjoy too :).

Owen was standing on the chair and jumped off and said, “I jump!” I asked him to please not jump and he climbed back up and said, “I jump!” I said, “Please do not jump.” So he squatted down and kind of fell off the chair with a slight jumping action and said, “I fall-jump”. I said, “Owen did you disobey mama?” He said, “No- I fall. I fall-jump”.

We were on a walk outside and went to see the horses in the back pasture. They started to nip at each other a bit and make squealing sounds. He said, “It’s like a dinosaur.” I laughed and agreed.

Good Morning

I really love getting my kiddos up in the morning. They are always so happy, so snuggly, and I missed them! So I wanted to remember it when they get bigger. Here's a little snapshot of our morning :). p.s. Adelyn sleeps in our bedroom so that is why she is not in this video.

Stinky and the ladies

Fall Festivities

Our new tradition: pumpkin coloring! And the best part is- it is washable finger paint so it wipes right off for another round! (Washable markers and crayons work great too!) We carved the smaller pumpkin last night at our church's Reformation Party! So fun!

First Snow

Testimony Lecrae

Lecrae-Background Ft. C-Lite Video

Some more funnies

As I go through my pictures most of them consist of things that humored me. So, since everyone else is asleep and I was foolish enough to want to try the new Pepsi made with real sugar (if you know me you know that I never drink Pepsi) and can't sleep I will post some of my pics. ;)

Owen pushing Anabel on the new car that Cindy sent us (thank you Cindy!!). She had a ball.

I was exhausted. So I "rested" on the couch for a quick second while Owen played and the girls napped. This is what I found when I popped up realizing I had fallen asleep. I guess it could have been worse.

After cleaning up the chocolate chips Owen still had cooking on his mind.

So, these were on sale. A REALLY good sale. I won't mention that they are now Owen's favorite diapers.

Why are most of my funny Owen pics of a mess? Go figure. This took a good 30-45 minutes to get all the pieces organized. I also won't mention that he repeated this shortly thereafter and that I didn't find it as funny the second time.

I was not paid to write this

Somehow until the last month I was unaware of the wonderful world of etsy.com. How, I wonder? Well, I had to share what I think is the most amazing guy on there. mikebtoys. This guy sells amazing, meticulous, beautiful, I can't even come up with enough adjectives, wood toys for what I feel like is a crazy deal for what you get. I just ordered Owen a FIVE FOOT LONG TRAIN for $75 for Christmas. He even has a youtube where he talks about everything he makes and also shows how he makes them (in a different video).



I just can't get over it.

The Stats

We had the girls 9 month checkups this last Monday (could they really be that old, already??).

Here are the stats:

Adelyn:

• height: 28" (70%)
• weight: 17 lb 9 oz (25%)

Adelyn is my little goof. She is always looking for ways to play. While she is being held on my hip she will often lean forward and try to get my attention and once she makes eye contact she will start to shake her head from side to side, wait for me to imitate, then laugh hysterically. She loves to rough-house, loving it when I run down the stairs with her in tow or hold her and Owen and dance quite exuberantly. She is also my little sensitive. She gets scared easily of new people and new situations. She clings to me while at church and often works herself up into hysterics in the nursery. She also has a hard time tolerating Owen's accidental bumps and Anabel's scratches and pulls. She does not like to fall asleep on her own, but is getting better at it. She loves to cuddle and will just press her little face into my chest or face and just rest. She is still almost exclusively nursed. I can only manage to get maybe one spoonful at each mealtime into her mouth and a few cheerios.

Anabel:

• height: 27 1/2" (40%)
• weight: 16 lb 4 oz (7%)

Anabel is my little sweetheart. I often call her my little happy. I can trust when all else is falling apart that she will be content to wait until the storm blows over. She loves new people and new situations and whenever anyone wants to hold a baby they will always get Anabel. She melts everyones' heart, smiling and cooing and lightly touching their face. She has the brightest blue eyes that strangers often remark on to me personally or I hear them talking about them to their friends as they pass, "Did you see that little girl's big blue eyes?". She easily tolerates Owen's roughness and often laughs at things that I cringe about and wait for the wail. She falls asleep on her own without a bit of protestation for her two naps but has a harder time going down for the night. She does not like to rough-house a ton but would rather like sweet cuddling and games of patty-cake. She gives the biggest hugs, wrapping her arms around my neck and holding tight. She has always been a great solids eater and turns her nose to nothing. She is getting much better at nursing and now rarely refuses.

(SIDENOTE) I had not written this before, so I will update now :). At her six month appointment she was not even on the chart for weight and was nursing then having LOTS of solids and I was told that if after nursing and a little solids she is still hungry then she needs formula as that is more nutritionally dense with fats and proteins. My personal conviction (meaning that this was just that- a personal conviction- and not a judgement whatsoever towards other moms who always have different circumstances than mine) about formula was that I would only use it if 1) they would grow hungry without it (I didn't have enough milk) or 2) there was a serious emergency that would necessitate it. It was hard to start supplementing but I realized it was necessary. I discussed it with a lactation consultant and a nutritionist and they both agreed with the doctor, saying that the first six months of exclusive nursing was most important. I was thinking that I needed to change my life again back to the round the clock pumping and was told that at this point it was not necessary. I was relieved to be told that by two of the people who were most pro-nursing. Anabel would nurse, eat some solids, then want to drink 6 ounces or more of formula- and I didn't know if I could keep up with that. She now gets 1-2 bottles a day and nurses at least 3-4 times a day. She looks like a real healthy baby now, maybe still a little slender, but she had look malnourished before. The doctor was pleased that she returned to her line on the growth chart.

Patty Cake with Anabel

Sorry the video is a bit jolted. It is hard to play patty cake and film at the same time. I held the camera with my chin. :)

Blast From the Past (by Matt)

When I was at my parents house a few weeks ago, I found my old Nintendo game system. We brought it, along with all my games, back to Wyoming. Tonight we discovered that two of the games work. Sera and I spent a hour playing Super Mario Bros. 3 in my office. It was so much fun, but I do feel a bit ashamed that I still remember all the secrets.

How Counseling Should Go

Talks

#1. My conversation with Owen first thing when I went to get him up in the morning:

Owen: It's cold outside (there was a lot of fog)

Me: Yes, it is cold outside

Owen: Horse, cold, too

Me (swelling with pride): Yes, you are right, the horses are probably cold too.

- He is so thoughtful.

#2. After a good 15 minute tantrum session because he couldn't have his binky. We have the following conversation as tear streaks run down his cheeks.

Owen: I'm crying

Me: I'm sorry. Why are you crying?

Owen: No binky

Me (trying my very hardest not to burst into laughter): I'm sorry you are crying but mommy said no binky.

#3. In the midst of chaos.

Owen: I want to watch choo-choo

Me: I'm sorry, we are not going to watch trains now.

Owen: I want to watch choo-choo T-T's house

Me: *laughing*

- T-T comes up a lot when I say no to ice-cream and now to watching choo-choo's (Thomas). He will also say, "Bye-bye T-T's car ice cream".

#4. While feeding the girls solids Owen brings me "his" baby doll.

Owen: Eat food too.

Me (giving her a "bite" of food): Here, she got some food.

Owen (trying to lift up my shirt): No, eat food too.

-Yes, I nursed his baby doll

"Two Babies"

Our Silly Boy

In the midst of the inevitable chaos of having three small kiddos our home is filled with laughable moments. Owen amazes me with his creativity and humor. Here is some of the fun I happened to capture on "film".

Owen and the girls in line for solids. Owen likes to join when it is bananas but opts out when it is veggies :).

Owen feeding his "two babies"- as he calls them.

Owen loves to read books. He unloaded an entire shelf on Anabel and the couch then jumped up in the middle of it to read to himself.

Not really silly but cute. He still asks to ride horses on a daily basis.

This speaks for itself

The pages still look clean, don't they?

Yogurt popsicles strategy when I need fifteen min. He then rubbed the yogurt all over his arms and legs like lotion. My fifteen minutes cost me fifteen ;)

I love this one! I was trying to get a picture of them all with the blankets my grandmother gave them to send to her and the babies just weren't having it. Owen was very patient but the screaming was starting to get to him :).

Owen's first time on a horse

Owen Feeding Animals

Weekends = daddy time!

Adelyn and Owen enjoying a silly story...

then Anabel joined!

The Pool

Boy, does he love water!

Strangely the water started to take a brownish tint. The obvious didn't dawn on us until we took off his diaper- and boy did we have a mess on our hands! Mommy and Owen got emergency showers (I was splashing in the water, too) and a pool-full of otherwise good and fresh water was dumped off the balcony. Thank you, Owen, for making the fun that much more interesting :).

Book time

Quick Update

In the last month since I posted (oops) :) there has been quite a bit of excitement in the Mumma household!

Matt and I had our three year anniversary on May 26th. We reminisced about our short yet adventurous marriage over dinner at the new italian restaurant in town, Giovanni's. Our church spoiled us and we had three, yes three, people come over to watch our kiddos for us!

Anniv. pic at about 1:30 a.m. (after watching Avatar) :)

Owen turned two on June 6th! We had Grandma and Grandpa Mumma come up to celebrate with us and had a little family gathering on Saturday when they arrived and then brought cake to church for his actual birthday. Owen is very into cars as of late so Matt labored hard to make him his cars birthday cake! It was my plan, as his mother, to create his cake for him. However, Matt being the new self-proclaimed baker of the house, kindly put me in my place. He informed me that I could "help" if I wanted but he was in charge of the cake :). I submitted and let him take lead. :)

The girls turned six months on the 23rd! How thankful we are for them and this fun stage!

Link

I realize that it has been quite awhile since I posted- and I plan to update more shortly :). However, I have to quickly share a link that I'm super excited about. I finally finished the Mother's Day sermon from church and I wish I could expound on it here- like I wish I could expound on every one of Eric's sermons because I feel like life is being poured into me through the exposition of scripture- but to get to the point- he shared a link to Carolyn Mahaney's blog (her husband is an amazing pastor and writer- C.J. Mahaney). Here's the link :)

www.girltalkhome.com

Up, up, up, up, UP, up, up!

Like Christ

A Mother’s Christlike Sacrifice

By Mark Chanski, Womanly Dominion

There she sits exhausted on the edge of her bed, her face in her hands,

wondering, “Where’s the glory in this?”

She needs something...empowering to keep her going.

She needs to gain and maintain the deep conviction of the glory, honor,

and nobility of selfless service. This she finds at the foot of the cross, looking

up to One who earned for Himself “the name which is above every

name” (Philippians 2:9), by “emptying Himself, taking the form of a bond servant”

(2:7), humbling “Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even

death on a cross” (2:8). There she beholds her Savior who mopped up the

damning vomit of her own sin with the precious sponge of His perfect life

and atoning death. The love of Christ constrains and compels her.

I got this from the Seminary Wives website which I have a link to on the left.

Girls' Night

Nothing too special- just hanging out with sister.

Sayings

-"Owen, what does 'A" say?"

-"Ahhh."

- "What does 'S' say?"

- "Ssssss."

-"What does 'B' say?"

-"Zzzzzzz."

It's a confusing thing.

Water play

We decided to put this video up too.

I realize that I don't write much on here anymore, mainly because I feel like I don't have the time to do much more than upload a picture or video and then be able to walk away and let it upload. I have a lot floating around in my mind that I would love to share- about life in general, about my struggles, things I'm learning, and the goodness of God in our lives. However, it always seems in the moment that sitting and writing wouldn't be the faithful thing to do when there are a lot of "essentials" still left. I wish that I would write more, so that I could look back also.

Anyway, here is a video of Owen playing in the sink while I was nursing Anabel. I didn't get up right away because Anabel still has a hard time sometimes. I feel a bit discouraged as Owen's climbing has increased substantially and I can't keep tabs on him always and his boredom, being a two year old boy, and lack of self-control leads him into destructiveness. He can get over the gate blocking the kitchen which has opened a whole new world of trouble. The fact that the initial fun is usually worth the consequence to him makes it hard- although we try to be as consistent as possible. Anyway, here is a cute video of him getting into the sink. He didn't get in trouble because at this point it was childish rather than disobedient. So I took a video.

Enjoy :)

life in video

Adelyn and daddy

sisters playing

Owen and daddy's nightly rough-housing

Anabel and daddy

Life in pics

Adelyn hanging out with daddy

All smiles

Anabel and Owen having snuggle time

Playing with play-doh

The end of this batches' life

Sisters

Different girls, different binkies

What Owen does with his free time while mama nurses

Anabel's first solids (sorry its tilted)

She ate it like a champ. Sometimes she seems really hungry after nursing and since she is four months now I thought she might need that little boost. I only give it to her when she seems hungry- so there is no set pattern yet. Adelyn seems fine on milk alone. Interesting note: although Adelyn is much bigger than Anabel she eats less- I think it is because Anabel is always wiggling that she is leaner and hungrier.

warmer days mean POPSICLES!!