updates!

First, it's Tuesday!

1. I am thankful for our awesome water filter! We had to go a day without it, which means we had sulfur water for a day.  Ugh.  Fortunately, we don't have the worst sulfur water I have ever tasted/used, but it sure made me grateful that we have a filter that will remove the sulfur from our water and make it delicious.  People who have been to our house would hopefully attest to this: we have awesome well water (with the filter).

2. good laughs.  I love laughing, and Jesse and I had a ton of laughs last night.  I'm thankful for good evenings that are full of fun and laughter.  You may have seen the picture I took of the cows crossing the road?  I found that hilarious and had a great laugh about that.  Followed by laughing so hard I almost cried when Jesse tried to imitate a goose..

3. my girls: specifically, that Lily loves Emma and that I haven't had to deal with too much jealousy from Lily having to share my time.

4. my extended family: I get to see (hopefully) a lot of them soon for Joel and Kimmy's wedding (which I am super excited for) and I am really thankful to have them.

5. rain and thunderstorms.  I know a lot of the country is experiencing a big lack of rain, but we have been blessed to still have some showers occasionally (so our garden keeps growing).  And I just love a good thunderstorm!

Onto other things.  

Lily and I made play dough last week!  It was fun for us to make together, even though I'm pretty sure I didn't cook it quite long enough- it stayed too sticky- but she had some fun with it, so that's all I care about!

kneading the food coloring in

This guy.  This just was precious to me, and I love that Zeke is so gentle with the girls.  He has pretty much left Emma alone- I think he just is resigned to the fact there are two kids now- and is really patient with Lily, who has gotten more playful/rough with him.  If he doesn't like what she's doing (aka trying to pull what's left of his tail), he will either just walk away and lay down, go outside or growl at her to let her know that's not ok.  He has never bitten or nipped at her, so I'm thankful that when Jesse and I decided on a whim we needed a dog, we picked a good breed that is great with kids.

he is happy to see Boppy pillows around the house again, apparently.

Nothing too exciting is going on, which is fine with me.  August is going to be a fairly busy month for me, so I have been enjoying the calm of quietly adjusting to having two kids.  People ask me how we have been doing adjusting to two, and honestly, I'm not sure I could have asked for a smoother transition.  While the first week was hard (REALLY hard), things have been relatively easy for me, even with the rough days where I have no patience.  Lily is a great big sister and Emma is so laid back and relaxed, it has made the transition easier, I think.  Of course, I was thinking/realizing the other day that yes, it may seem easy now, but not to get too comfortable.  Emma sleeps a good amount still during the day, but she won't always.  Lily won't always be content with my answer of "not right now, I have to feed Emma" and be ok with sitting to read with me while I do that.  While we are having the bad days right alongside the good days, I think we are having a majority of good/fun days.

Lily was pushing her baby doll in the swing

Lily was teaching Emma how to play Peek-a-Boo: cover her face with a blanket, rip it off and yell "PEEEEEEEEEK!!!"

Pillow Pet tummy time

They are awesome.  And one day, Emma will be able to defend herself better against Lily's enthusiasm.

thankful tuesday!

As always, so much to be thankful for!

1. Emma Joann is 1 month and a few odd days.  In some ways, it doesn't seem like she has only been externally part of our family for a month, but in other ways, it seems like I've been a mom of two for ever already.  On this note of a one month old baby, she is 10 lbs, 8 oz and 22 inches long, according to her checkup, putting her around the 75%.  I don't care about percentages, but I do care about knowing that I have a healthy baby.

2.  Lily has been a trooper!  While we are entering the "terrible twos" with her, I am trying to view them optimistically as my grandmother suggested: the "terrific twos."  It's all in the mindset, and I am trying to enjoy every day with Lily, even the ones where she throws tantrums and I just want to curl up and take a nap for the entire day.

3.  Speaking of my grandma, I am incredibly thankful that I am part of such an awesome family, and that I come from a long line of love and support.  I've had this on my mind recently, especially once I pulled out this beloved quilt for a few pictures with Emma and Lily.  I have a few incredibly special quilts that have been given to me as gifts or passed down, and they are just my favorites.  The one that is in the picture was made by either my great-grandmother or her sister, which would make them my daughter's great-great grandmother or great-great-great aunt (or something, I made that up).  Anyway, I love them and loved using it for a few pictures-- and the outside picture definitely had a nice, bright orange sheet underneath to protect it from the ground!!  

as soon as I got the sheet and quilt down, Lily sprawled out on top of it and declared "nap!"

Emma was uncooperative outside, so we moved inside for a few pictures with her

4.  I am super thankful that Jesse is liking his new job still!  And that he left his new travel coffee mug with the company logo on it at home so I can use it ;) now if only I could convince him that the jacket they gave him will fit me better than him...

5.  Health.  I think this one is just something I should be thankful for and aware of more than I am.  Hearing of family, friends, and friends of friends who are dealing with things I can't imagine reminds me to a) be praying for them and b) be thankful for the health I do have!

6.  Bonus!  I'm thankful for new life!  One of my favorite mom friends is having her second daughter tomorrow and I can't wait to hear about her and see pictures!  AND one of my favorite cousins is expecting TWINS!  So excited to love on my first cousins, once removed.  I know that title is right, here is my proof.

Happy Tuesday!

thankful Tuesday/short update

Another edition of what I'm thankful for this week.  

1- two happy and healthy little girls!

2- a hard working husband who still has a job, even if it's not with the same company.  and on this note, Jesse has reported that his first day went really well, and his second was good, too, just kind of slow.  I'm not sure if he meant the work was slow or the day was just going slowly because he wanted to be home..

3- electricity.  pretty sure I don't need to expound any more on that. 

4- the ability to run again!  I went for a short run yesterday and was so excited about it.  my body, however, was less than amused. 

5- that we have more dog than deer ticks around here.  kind of gross/odd to be thankful for, but I know some areas are so much more prone to the diseases and such that a tick can carry, and for the number we have pulled off of Zeke and ourselves, I'm thankful that this isn't an area that is high risk for Lyme's disease.  although we do have to keep an eye out for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever..explain that to me, this is the foothills of the Appalachians.  the Rocky's are clear across the country.  

*** ** ***

I really have very little to update the world on: both the girls are doing great.  Emma had her two week check-up (on 6/29..) and the PA we saw declared her "perfect."  After dropping to (I think..) 8 lbs, 13 oz at the hospital, she weighed in at 9 lbs, 15 oz at her appointment, putting her in the 90th %.  Clearly, my naive hope of having a smaller second baby was absolutely ridiculous.  I'm going to have to go back and find all the paperwork the doctor sent home with Lily with heights/weights, because I am curious to compare the two this first year.  Actually, I probably threw all that away, ugh.  I will have to call the doctor.  Anyway, Emma is doing great, and the comment I've gotten the most- besides "LOOK AT ALL THAT HAIR!!!"- is that she doesn't "look" like a newborn.  I guess with her birth weight being a good 2 lbs over the average, I can see that.  

Lily is doing great, too.  Her favorite activities include running, Ring Around the Rosy- specifically the "all fall down" part- reading, eating, harassing Zeke and now, Emma.  I'm astounded by her vocabulary now, which has been growing in leaps and bounds.  I can't always understand what she is saying, but Jesse and I are pretty good at guessing Lily speak, which we should be, I guess.  Lily's current favorite phrase is "oooooh MAN!" which cracks me up every time, while she likes to shout "MESS!" if she's dropped something, or there is, in fact, a mess.  She continues to love on Emma every chance she gets, and is figuring out what the baby's name is.  I would say that up until the beginning of the week, Lily would happily call Emma by Emma, Elmo, Momma or Baby.  We have now succeeded in convincing her that her sister's name is Emma.  

I guess that's it from here for now, though!

we have power again!

Hello again!

Jess and Richard came to visit last Friday to see our house and our new kid, since they hadn't seen either.  They arrived only a few hours before we got pummeled by The Storm that swept the midwest.  I'm no weatherman, and actually haven't looked at the data on said Storm, but judging by my friends in IN, OH and WV, it started somewhere over in the IN direction and headed our way, wiping out power left and right.  Regardless, we, along with hundreds of thousands of other West Virginians lost power.  

I tend to be optimistic with power outages-- considering most of the time we have electricity again in an hour or two-- so I didn't see this as a big deal.  The storm wasn't that bad, even though a tree was down over most of the road right by our house, and both girls had been bathed that night, so I was set.  And the last two sentences prove how naive I can be.  

Jess and Richard were troopers not to cut their trip short, and toughed the no electricity bit out with us until they had to leave Monday.  Since Jesse was the only one who knew what to expect, Jess, Richard and I got a crash course in power outages, country style: no power = no water when you're on a well pump.  Fortunately, Jesse and I had been prepared for this and had 9 gallons of bottled water in our pantry to get us started-- which was perfect since everywhere in the area got hit by the unprepared who left nothing on store shelves.  Unfortunately, this water was NOT to go towards flushing the toilet or showering, which fell to our creek to provide toilet water and the Y to provide the showers.

A note on the water: we bought an incredible water filter system a few years ago [called Berkey], so we were able to feel comfortable drinking creek water ourselves.  Since this water was free and plenty, I did end up washing dishes with some of the filtered water.  A funny note about water: Jesse told us he overheard a guy mentioning how he had gone to the store to purchase water and how all the bottled water was sold out.  So he solved his problem by buying beer.  ...since that's the same.

It was definitely an adventure, and not one I care to repeat with a newborn.  I think Jesse secretly had fun living this way for a few days to see how prepared we were, even if he had to deal with a grumpy wife [disclaimer: I didn't think it was too unbearable..but I apparently have an incredibly short fuse when I am uncomfortable, so I was kind of snappy and evil].  Jess and Richard were gracious enough not to complain, and the girls probably didn't seem to care too much, though they both had some heat rash show up.  I was incredibly nervous about the girls in the heat, and after I got over the fact that I wouldn't be able to clean too much or wash dishes until we had power -- which took a few days to wrap my mind around-- I was able to calm down, sort of.  

I realized how truly blessed we are here, beyond our normal conveniences and comforts of electricity.  Jesse and I have incredible friends in the area and found ourselves being offered space in our friend's homes until our power was restored, or at least a place to hang out in air conditioning and with water.  Our Partin's had their power fairly quickly restored to them, so we packed everything in the refrigerator freezer into our small deep freeze and Jesse and Richard took it to their house to run so we did not lose everything (praise God).

Uncle Richard and Aunt Jessie brought Lily a wading pool

indoor picnic in the basement.  where it was cooler than a bazillion degrees like the upstairs.

I didn't have anywhere in the basement to put Emma during our picnic.  so I made a laundry basket work for our purposes.

goobers

Since Jesse had the Fourth off of work, and we still had no power, we spent some time down in our barn.  Jesse worked on converting the back half into the chicken coop, Lily and I watched while Emma slept in the stroller.  It was sweaty fun.

Lily handed nails to Daddy

That's about it!  I will try and update pictures tomorrow..