Siblings

When we found out I was pregnant with Joshua I right aways began praying that Ellie and the new baby would be great friends. I know it's way too early to say what things will be like, but so far we've had six weeks of this prayer being answered, which totally blesses my heart. Ellie very obviously loves Joshua, and now he's begun following her with his gaze around the room... and seeing this and realizing how cool it is to see my two offspring 'love' each other reminds me all over again of how it must bless God's heart when his children love one another.
That challenges me.

Playing with Joshua's 'tute' (cute) hands.

Ellie leaning in for a kiss (she didn't actually bite his head off, contrary to appearances).

Ellie absolutely loves playing with Joshua on his play mat.

Joshua looking very amused as Ellie empties her crayon box onto his lap, one by one. (Pretty sharp lookin' sleeper, hey Aunt Nancy and Grandpa?)

More play time.

Can't get enough of those hands! No broken fingers....so far!

What a goof!

Elianna's most recent choice of costume was a real winner (note the Croc on one foot and the moccasin on the other. Classic.) She was actually sick with a cold this day which I think made her act a little crazier than usual.

Waking up is hard to do-ooo...

A moment

Rob caught us in the act of resting.

We all knew that Rob and Jacki were nerds...

Unfortunately, it's genetic!

Oh, and it's contagious, too. This is our neighbour, Hayden, after an hour at our place.

Idea #65 of What To Do in Minus 35 Degrees Weather in Manitoba:

Introduce your child to the photo booth.

Happy 1 Month Lil' Guy!

I am astonished that a whole month has passed since we met Joshua...it has felt much more like a couple days...and an awesome couple days at that. I am in love with my boy. I have yet to capture it on camera, but this week he began social smiling and melted my heart into an even bigger pile of mush than it was before. He also pretty much seems to have passed his gas phase of life and suddenly we have this calm, snuggable, SCHEDULED baby in our home. Scheduled! (this mama loooves her schedules. :) I have to take a moment to say PRAISE THE LORD... Having a crying, gassy baby is hard on a mom when she just wants to make everything better but can't (although I found an remarkable amount of grace in those wee hours of the night). We asked the Lord to make this phase of Joshua's life go quickly and I truly believe he answered our prayers. So glory to Him. I am so blessed by my wee boy. Happy 1 month, Lil' Guy!

"I'm tired, ma! Give me my soo soo!"

Children can be peculiar.

You parents out there may be nodding your heads in agreement. For instance. Ellie used to have an issue with anything 'hot'...which worked out well for us, because to date she has never suffered a burn or anything close to a burn. But it has now progressed to anything 'warm'...like when we take her much-loved blanky out of the dryer...she refuses to touch it, sometimes for the rest of the day, because in her opinion, it's warm. Or if it's been lying in the sun. Warm pants are the same. Or the warm water in the tub. Ellie hangs on to the side of the tub, tense, like someone on an airplane for the first time...because the water is warm. Eventually she forgets the warm water and has a blast, and we remedy the warm pants and blanky problem by putting them in the freezer for a few minutes...but really...WHY? And then there's my favorite niece, Regan (she's also my only niece)....who is not afraid of very many things...but IS afraid of fuzzes. Yup. Fuzzes. Children can be peculiar, friends.
p.s. Rob asked Ellie what she wanted for breakfast the other day and she requested 'cold corn'. Frozen corn. Now who wouldn't want that for breakfast?

Well, we enjoyed it while we could.

Yesterday and the day before we enjoyed some AWESOME January weather...I think it was -6 or something like that? Anyhow, Ellie discovered the joys of winter outdoor play for one of the first times.

Gathering 'tones' under our patio. Ellie prefers to wear her pumpkin hat when outdoors. :)

I took this picture before I realized what the child was doing...she found an old dirty popsicle stick and used it as a tongue depressor. hehe. You know...that whole doctor obsession.

Upset that there's dirt on her 'dubs' (gloves).

Giving pail and shovel a ride in her 'wagon'.

This smile was taken before I announced it was time to go inside. :)

Oh. Yeah. Today it's -45 with windchill and schools everywhere are cancelled. Gotta love Manitoba!

Our bipolar home

Bipolar:

adjective

Having or relating to two poles or extremities.

You know, I could fool you all into believing that everything around here is daisies and roses by posting photos like the one above.

Or even this one.

But that would only be half the story, you see. Take Friday, for instance. Ellie was running around having a jolly old time when suddenly she stopped mid-tracks, grabbed her diaper and began to wail! Repeat this four more times during the morning and we're pretty much convinced that there's a bladder infection happening...which there was. (Ellie had the sympathy of the whole walk-in clinic who could hear her SCREAMING as she tried to pee into a hat on the toilet). Here's a photo of Daddy convincing Ellie that 'red juice' is as yummy as apple juice (cranberry juice takes away the burning, apparently).

Add to that one very gas-trapped baby, and you have the other side of bipolar. Our house is not a very quiet place on days like Friday. Note my tired eyes. Note Joshua's unhappy face.

My favorite quote these days? "This too shall pass!" Amen to that.
p.s. I'm off dairy, citrus, spices and most other foods. This is not why my child is gassy. Just in case someone wanted to mention that.