Self Soother

I know I've been told to discourage it, but when it helps my baby sleep for so many hours at night, I can't help but love it. Emma sucks her thumb only when sleeping, and mostly at night. But we have had several 12 hour nights, and even a few 13 hour nights, thanks to her thumb. She wiggles out of the swaddle, her thumb goes to her mouth, and she's back to sleep. Woo hoo!

Cheep, Cheep! - Week Three

The hens are getting SO big! Here are updated photos of our beautiful girls at 2.5 weeks old (two of them are only 2 weeks old). Their wings are really coming in, and they are starting to look so awkward with their baby fuzz. Adorable!

Pearl, the Silver-Laced Wyandotte (we also have Rose, who looks the same). I love how you can already tell her sassyness by her expression. None of them were excited for the photo shoot.

Eloise, the Blue-Lace Red Wyandotte

Ella Buttercup - The Buff Orpington

Ginger, the Rhode Island Red

Gladys, the Black Australorpe

Bandit, the Speckled Sussex - What's up with her crooked toes?

Daisy, the Iowa Blue, and the boss of the flock

Squeaky Bouncer

On the four month well-check questionairre, it asked if Emma made high pitched squeals. I had never heard them, so I said no, not even remembering if Lilah ever did. Literally the next day, Emma began squeaking and squealing. It's pretty funny and she can get surprisingly high.



She has also perfected the kick timing in her bouncer. We have to strap her in now, because she slowly works her way out between kicking and arching her back. She's pretty happy though.

Big Girl

Emma made the big move last night! She spent the night in her own room. It was pretty tough on her momma, but I know it's time. She did great, as I expected. It was nice to have a bedtime routine in her own room too. I read her Goodnight Moon for the first time (one we read to Lilah every night for a year or more), nursed her, and put her to bed.

Now, she is napping in her own room for the first time too. She's been up there for an hour so far. As I'm watching her on the monitor, she's been pretty figity, wiggled her arms out of the swaddle, and is now sucking her thumb. I can't believe she's nearly five months!!!

More Chatter

Today after church, we were headed to lunch, and Lilah was shouting for a snack from the backseat. Jonas told her we were going to lunch, and she was going to eat teriyaki chicken and sticky rice. She was very excited and shouted, "Oh perfect! I eat sticky rice"!
I guess I say perfect a lot, because she has started to use it all the time. It makes me laugh everytime.

Lilah Chatter

Shortly after Lilah woke up from her nap she noticed Jonas was gone. She said, "where Daddy go?" I told her that he went to go pick up dinner, and he was coming right back. Her response, "Oh, perfect".

A Chick Chick here...

We took another trip north today to pick up two more chicks. We were supposed to get them last weekend, but this particular breed didn't fare well in their trip to the farm and garden store then so we didn't get any. So, we returned this weekend to get our other chicks. We were originally going to get two Speckled Sussex, but after looking at breeds online again, we chose one Speckled Sussex (SS) and one Buff Orpington. The Buff is the fluffiest little yellow chick. So adorable. The SS is pretty cute too, with an adorable Lone Ranger mask across her eyes. Her name is bandit.

I was nervous about introducing the two new ones to the gang that has spent the last week together. At the same time as the introduction, we also moved the chicks to the garage to a hand crafted box that suits them much better. It has way more space, and I am tired of having them in my bathroom. They are all getting along very well and love to snuggle together in the coldness of the garage. (They have a heat lamp that does maintain the appropriate temp for them.)

I'll try to take pictures of the new ones close up. This is a picture of the group all huddled together. They take turns on the outside. It's pretty funny watching an outer chick dive to the middle.

The two new girls are up front. Ella Buttercup (the Buff) is on the left and Bandit is on the right. Sorry for the red light, we weren't close enough to a window to work with sunlight. Second row from the front, Eloise is on the left (the Blue-laced Red) and Ginger (Rhode Is. Red) on the right.
Third row, Gladys (the Black Australorpe) on the left and the two black spotted ones on the right are Pearl and Rose (the Silver-laced). The one in the back is the littlest and most daring. She's Daisy, the Iowa Blue.

Cheep Cheep! - Week One

We have expanded our family this weekend! Ever since we were home a few months ago and became friends with my parent's chickens, I have wanted some of our own. February began chick season, so we went to the store yesterday and picked ours up. We researched breeds online the past few weeks and picked some out that would suit us best. We got larger chickens that are decent layers that are very docile, social, and tolerate colder weather. They are so cute!! Lilah LOVES them.

Lilah and the baby chicks

The Black Australorpe

The flock

The Iowa Blue

The Rhode Island Red

The Blue-Laced Red Wyandotte

The Silver-Laced Wyandotte (we have two of these)

New Pictures

I just have a few cute pictures. I think Emma's loosing some of her chub, which makes me a little sad, but you can see her neck a lot more now, which is scrawny and cute. I think she looks like a turtle in the first picture.



We went for a walk to the mailbox the other day and I remembered I had a snowsuit from when Lilah was a baby. It was only a little chilly but very windy so I bundled Emma up. She liked it.

I don't know if it's teeth just yet, but Emma can't keep her hands out of her mouth. Sometimes she dives after them with such a ferociousness. I think I might have caught her enthusiasm on camera.

Hands

Meanwhile, Emma has found some interest in her hands. Pretty cute video of the new discovery.

New Kisses

Lilah has found a renewed interest in the princess Disney movies lately. We have watched Cinderella several times in the last week. Several. The other day while I was putting Lilah's shoes on, she was being particularly sweet. I pursed my lips to give her a kiss, and she winked her eyes and kissed me back. Then she said, "show you this way, Momma, show you this way." She grabbed my face, turned her head to the side, locked her lips to mine, and held them there. What a special kiss!
Tonight after her bath, I was putting on her PJs and she leaned forward to kiss me. She did it a second time too, except held her lips to mine for ten seconds or more. I started laughing and asked her what she was doing. "Princess kiss, momma!" Maybe we've seen Cinderella too many times?

Names

I have been working with Lilah on learning her whole name. So far, everytime I ask her what it is, she replies, "whole name." She'll repeat her name if I say it first, and it's pretty cute. In the video, I promised her she could get out of her carseat if she said it (we were in the store parking lot).