Thursday, July 26, 2012

4 Months Old!

So, once again I am delayed in getting this written, but hey that’s ok. We were in the process of moving to a new house right around Briella’s 4 month birthday and so most of my time has been spent packing and then unpacking. As well, I packed the little calendar I am using to write down her firsts, so hopefully I remember everything.

Life is flying by, my sweet baby girl! You are changing so much!

Life in General

You really, really like to suck your thumb and it is so stinkin’ cute! This means that you don’t want anything to do with binkys any more. Mostly, you suck your thumb when you are tired, which helps me know that it’s time for a nap or to go to bed. Although, you also love to suck on your hands and can almost get your whole fist in your mouth. Pretty amazing! This isn’t a sign of a tiredness, but just something you enjoy. All that sucking means lots of drooling, which means wet, drooly tops.

When we meet strangers and after they have commented on just how darn cute you are (which you are if I do say so myself), they ask how old you are. Almost every time I tell them how old you are, I get responses of “Wow, she’s so tiny!” I guess you are, but you don’t feel tiny to me as you are growing so fast.

This month, you have started to grab things intentionally and play with them. And , yep, 9 times out ten into your mouth they go. Watching you learn to focus and grab toys, clothing, etc has been so much fun for me to watch. I am utterly amazed at what a gift you are and get a thrill out of seeing you learn and develop.

Your smiles turned into real giggles this month. What a sweet and cute giggle it is! Your mouth smiles so big when you are giggling and your whole face lights up. Every day I enjoy figuring out what is going to make you giggle that day. Seems like its never the same. Although, the dropping sensation is usually a winner. Just holding you under your arms and “dropping” you a few inches gets big giggles most of the time.

We discovered that you are really in to TV. Whenever we have it on, you tune into it and it’s hard to draw your attention away. Not good! We decided that it’s best to turn it off for now since TV is a too passive of an activity and not interactive enough. I will admit that every now and again, I’ll turn on the Baby Channel for you to sit in your Bumbo and watch if I need to get something done. I try not to do that too often and most the time prefer to put you in your Bumbo or swing with some toys to play with.

You met your cousin (well, my cousin, Kristy had a baby. Not sure exactly what relation that makes you two,  so we’re just going to go with cousins), Ciara, for the first time. She was born just shy of 6 weeks after you. We had fun seeing the two of you together and the difference 6 weeks makes! Grandma bought you matching outfits and we took some pictures.

Overall, you are still an extremely happy baby who is content if fed and rested.

Firsts
  • Giggle at Grandma and Grandpa’s house while sitting in your swing just a couple of days after you turned 3 months. It was a couple of weeks before you giggled again, but when you did you really did!
  • Long road trip. Daddy had to go to Farmington, NM for work so we went with him and did wonderfully – sleeping a lot and staying content in your carseat.
  • Hotel stay – also in Farmington
  • Trip to a mall (and Ross). I know, the important things, right? Ha ha.
Pictures from Month 4
Jensen and Briella 

Ciara and Briella meeting for the first time. Love their expressions!

The new mommies with our babies.

Sweet babies.

Holding hands. :)

Such a big girl having fun in my bumbo!

Drool!

Sucking my thumb. :)

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Two Thoughts

Two thoughts from a couple of books, one that I've read and one that I'm currently reading, have stuck with me and keep whirling around in my head. I have not come to any conclusions, but they are good food for thought. Hoping that God can use them to lead me in my life in the area of giving and blessing others.
I don't have quotes, rather the ideas:
  1. What if the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" means to give 50% of our income away to the church, to the poor and needy, organizations that meet the physical and spiritual needs of others, etc? I'm not thinking that 50% is a magical number or exactly what loving your neighbor as yourself means, rather how much is God calling us to give? I don't want to be confined by the thinking that we give our 10% and so we're good to go. I want to be open and sensitive to God's leading when it comes to giving.
  2. Why am I blessing the already blessed? I'm surrounded for the most part by people who are already blessed and so it is easy to bless those people because they are near. Don't get me wrong. I don't think it's wrong to bless those people. It's a privilege. More that I need to step outside of that and let God's blessings flow through me to those who really need it. It could be in any form: my time, financially, help with difficult tasks, transportaion, a meal or groceries, etc. Who does God want to use me to bless?
I know these thoughts may not make any sense without the context of the books, but hopefully a little bit.

Here are the books for anyone interested, both by Jen Hatmaker: