Reunions and November Activities

I don't have much energy to write a lot today but I at least wanted to share some pictures from November--

First here are some photo's of the girls taken at the beginning of the month:

Side walk painting and outside time!

Sister love.

A good afternoon nap is so much better when shared . . . . :)

One night when my sister was here, I stayed up late talking to her. When I came upstairs to bed I was greeted with this. It was too cute a scene to not capture on "film". Even though she had a whole half a bed to sleep on, she had to be right close to her Daddy! (Hannah comes and gets in our bed around midnight or after every night. She usually snuggles right up to her daddy. If we are sleeping close to each other, she wedges herself in the middle. . . .)

Trying to capture Elanor's smile . . .

Pictures from my sister's visit the third week of November: (She came down for a reunion with our childhood friends from Kenya who are also sisters!)

Snack time on the couch!

Loving on Elanor:

A fall afternoon walk:

Laura and Julie-- our dear life-long friends. Julie was Rachel's best friend and Laura was mine growing up in Kenya. We had such a sweet reunion with them! I am so thankful to know both of them and have been blessed in uncountable ways over the years by the fact that God put them in my life.

Our children--there are eight of them now!

We got to enjoy a peaceful night out eating Indian food (a favorite from Kenya days) thanks to our husbands who watched all the kids (except Elanor of course.)

That's all for now! I have to sort through the literally hundreds of Thanksgiving pictures we all took and then I'll post a smilebox! :)

Happy Halloween!

Because of Hannah's great passion for airplanes I found her a pilot costume to wear this year. She really loved it and came up with the idea that she needed a headset all by herself! It was a lot of fun to celebrate this very American holiday with her this year. I didn't grow up with Halloween, so, though I'm not really sure what I think about it, it was fun to join in the festivities and make it a special fall celebration for Hannah.

Now that we have a child old enough to enjoy Halloween, we had festivities not just on one day but on three! We went to Ottercreek's trunk or treat where Hannah was completely overwhelmed by all the people and would have much preferred to just play on the playground. She did enjoy seeing her buddy Elijah and swing on the bench swings, but Shawn had to coax her along to go trick or treating and they only made it about 1/2 way before she quit! She was just a little too overwhelmed by all the costumes, kids and commotion!

On Friday, at Minds In Motion preschool where Hannah attends one day a week, she enjoyed her class party a lot more. She loved going trick-or-treating around the offices, especially since she got to get treats from Daddy! Her favorite part of the party was getting to decorate and eat a cookie, and having a picnic lunch.

Halloween day was my first day to be fully back on my feet and I was determined to have lots of fun with Hannah. I had missed getting to do things with her so we had a full, fun packed day! We made leaf and pumpkin shaped pancakes for Daddy in the morning. Then we went out to find a pumpkin to carve. This is a very bad idea-- never go shopping for a pumpkin on Halloween. :) We found one at Walmart with a big rotten spot so we moved on. Next we went to Kroger-- nothing there but little pie pumpkins. We tried Lowes---no luck, no pumpkins at Home Depot either. By this time Hannah and I were both almost in tears. I really wanted her to get to see Daddy carve a jack 'o lantern. She'd been talking about it all week! When we finally found pumpkins at Maxwell's produce on Nolensville she ran around hugging all the pumpkins and looking at them all with such excited glee! It was definitely worth the hour and 1/2 hunt! Though poor Elanor was very hungry by the time I got home seeing as I hadn't left a bottle thinking I would only be out 1/2 an hour!

After the great pumpkin hunt, Hannah enjoyed a little lunch and a nap. Then we set about making and decorating pumpkin and leaf shaped sugar cookies and carving the pumpkin. After we successfully accomplished those fun tasks, we set off to Grandy and Poppy's (Elijah's grandparents) house to celebrate Halloween with the Normans. We enjoyed a delicious meal, watched the Charlie Brown Halloween special, and went up and down their street trick-or-treating. This time Hannah had a great time and loved running up to each door to knock or push the door bell. She rode on Shawn's shoulders in-between houses and pretended he was the airplane she was flying! It was very cute and lots of fun. We so appreciated getting to be a part of the Norman family for an evening. It's always hard on holidays to have our families live so far away so it was very special to us to feel so welcomed into their family. Thank you Normans and Grandy and Poppy!

Enjoy the pictures!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Todays Mishaps and Messes, Joys and Blessings

Today it felt like I have three full time jobs what with nursing a newborn every hour to two hours, carrying her all cozy in my K'tan or pouch for at least half the day, and changing her diaper every time I turned around, as well as feeding, entertaining, disciplining, guiding, listening to, reading to, marveling at and worrying over the activities and welfare of my two year old, and to top it all off there was laundry to do, clean diapers to fold, clean dishes in the dishwasher to put away, dirty ones on the counter to fill it back up again, meals to cook, and crumbs all over the kitchen floor . . . . and only four hours of unbroken sleep to manage all this on. So, I've tried to face the day with a smile and a sense of humor and not worry too much if the housework piles up around me. My mantra right now is "focus on the kids not on what you think needs to get done."

As I look back on the day I feel pretty good about it--it was full of fun, some housekeeping successes, as well as frustration, messes, mishaps and blessings.

Successes-- I managed to finally finish folding the diapers I washed two days ago, I got the kids laundry washed and dried (but it's still in the dryer waiting to be put away), I swept up the crumbs during the 20 minutes Hannah decided was a sufficient nap for the day (a frustration). I only had to discipline Hannah probably 10 times for touching Elanor too aggressively or inappropriately instead of 20! :) I orchestrated easel painting and getting dinner on the table (thanks to a casserole my sister made and froze for me). I actually got a shower and Hannah got to bed on time (though she's been up four times since and is now just sleeping in our bed--I think she's getting sick.) :(

Joys and blessings-- I enjoyed a beautiful walk (actually an African safari) as Hannah rode her tricycle and Zawadi slept in the k'tan (we saw lions, elephants, giraffes and a pregnant zebra on our trip!) I got to rest on the bed with Elanor for 20 minutes as Hannah read her books to herself. Shawn gave me a head rub (oh bliss!). Plus I got a really good laugh when Hannah put two hot pads inside her shirt and said she was putting in her "nursing pads"!

Mishaps and messes-- Dirty diapers, sticky place mats, dripping paint brushes, spilled water, spit up shirts . . . . .We missed the garbage truck as it came a couple hours early. Hannah and I made pancakes this morning and didn't get them cleaned up until 4 hours later. I caught our lunch on fire under the broiler while trying to juggle two kids' needs, but successfully put it out without further disaster! Hannah's been learning fire safety at school and I thought she was about to drop down and crawl away when she saw the smoke! She was in awe and shock at actually seeing a fire! (So, I was just providing some real life experience, right?!)

So, my first week up and about all by myself with the girls after being on semi bed rest for six weeks and having SO much help is progressing along. Overall I just feel amazed and in awe of all the mothers around the world that continue to do this day after day after day (with more than two children!) . . . . and I feel honored and blessed that God had included me among them. Because really, what could be more important and more precious than this:

Trying to Leave the House with Two

So, the other day I had to go pick up Shawn from work. It was the first time I tried to leave the house with both kids by myself. It took me me atleast 35 minutes longer than I had planned for and that was already allowing for some leeway. As I was making sure the diaper bag was ready, and that Hannah had a snack I had to discipline Hannah three times about touching/disturbing Elanor while she was sleeping. Of course by the time that was all carried out, Elanor was wide awake and wanting to nurse. When I finished nursing Elanor, I announced that we were finally ready to go only to have Hannah anounce to me that she now had a poopy diaper! After taking care of her diaper change we loaded up in the car-- though Hannah resisted getting in her car seat (she really does not like her car seat) and started crying which startled Elanor and got her crying but at least once the car was moving they both stopped and we were finally on our way! About half way to work I realized I was still in my slippers! So, I've got a lot to learn about getting us all ready and out the door in a reasonable amount of time! :) Maybe this is an unrealistic expectation . . .

Hannah Snapshots

Here's some recent pictures of Hannah playing-- thought maybe I should branch out from the just posting about Elanor. :)

Hannah climbing our tree on our patio! She is very proud of this new accomplishment!

This is Hannah's baby in her "bassinet". Baby play is a very prominent theme of Hannah's make-believe right now.

Here Hannah is "nursing" her baby. (Notice she made sure she had the nursing pillow.) :)

As the weather is cooling I recently switched out Hannah's summer clothes for her fall/winter wardrobe. She amused herself and "helped" by trying on her new clothes and especially enjoyed wearing her winter coat, hat, etc. She traipsed around the house saying "Now I'm ready for winter! I'm ready for snow!" She was so cute! (If only it would snow here in Nashville.) :)

My beautiful Hannah.

P.S. I added a couple things to the kids' "corners."

Becoming a Family of Four

Below is a video of a sweet moment shared by this new family of four. We sing this song every night to Hannah and now holding and kissing on Elanor is added into the bedtime routine. This is one of the many moments that make me know that having two children is SO worth it. In spite of Hannah's increased defiance, emotional outbursts and aggression her phase of adjustment is only temporary whereas the blessings of having a sister and someone else to love in our family will last eternally. I love watching Hannah look at Elanor in this video and the way she gently touches her.

We are truly thankful for "all the blessings of the Light"-- our little "gift of light"*, and her amazing older sister being our two most cherished blessings.

*Elanor's name means "gift of light."

Some Firsts for Elanor

First time outdoors: Sept. 26

First time in a car seat: Sept. 27

First Bath: Oct. 1

Sho-Sho washing her hair . . .

All clean and cozy in her towel.

What a fuzzy head!

First time in the pouch with Mamma: Oct. 4

The beginnings of a friendship-- meeting Jackson Savage for the first time!

I created . . . .

a corner for Elanor!

And here's some pictures of some sweet family moments . . . .

Corban reading to Hannah:

Hannah reading to Elanor. She is such a proud, loving big sister!

Daddy and Mommy love . . .

Babu and Sho-Sho love . . .

Aunt Rachel and Corban love:

Precious baby Elanor!

Elanor is Here!

She was born in our kitchen, September 22 at 12:40pm after 9 hours of labor. She is 71bs. 11oz. and 20 inches long. We are all doing well and really enjoying getting to know our new little one.

One of Daddy and Hannah's first moments with Elanor . . . .

I love you little sister . . . .

Happy family!

Elanor Zawadi

Waiting for Elanor

So what do we do while we wait for baby sister to make her way into our world?

• I dust at 10:30pm at night to every one's great amusement.
• We make menu plans and Mom does a huge shopping and starts cooking up savory delights in crock pots, and pots and pans on the stove and putting vast amounts of food into freezer bags and then into my freezer . . . . I have the best mom ever.
• My sister drives 12 hours straight and arrives at 3am in the morning . . . . . she hurried here to wait . . . .:) I have the best sister ever.
• We resnap and fold diapers into the newborn size.
• I keep finding laundry to do. (Couch slip covers, boppy pillow covers, bouncy seat cover, new baby clothes, throw blankets . . . .)
• I ask Shawn to fix things around the house that all the sudden I can't stand being broken or squeaky or just "not right" anymore.
• We take some pictures--

• We hang out with good friends . . . .

• We spend lots of time playing, reading and loving on family . . .

• We eat yummy snacks.

• We catch a few brief moments outside between all the rain to blow bubbles and act silly!

• We also rest, take naps, pray together, share heart to heart and in general are just enjoying each other's company as we wait for the precious arrival of our "gift of light" Elanor Zawadi.

We'll keep you updated as the waiting game continues!