Lana- 19 months

Lana is 19 months and she is a sweetie pie! Her siblings have all had 18 month posts, but mama was busy. 😊 Also, Lana was busy. Busy, busy, busy. If she's awake, she's on the go. Her current likes are coloring (often in books), cereal, pushing a chair around to get whatever she puts her mind to, kissing her babies, playing with her siblings, dancing when she hears music, and singing her own songs. 

As is pictured, Lana likes to "cheeeeeeese" whenever she thinks her picture is being taken. She also seems to be pretty social. She likes to wave and smile at people, give hugs, high fives, and fist bumps. She even goes to her class at church without lots of tears. She has really begun to communicate in the last several weeks. She has new words every day, but also uses her non-verbal skills to communicate. Her "mad face" is used whenever she is told "no" when she has set her mind to something. It's the cutest/naughtiest thing. 😁 She is starting to say her siblings names with some recognition, mama, dada, papa, bama (grandma), pleeeeease, i ont know (I don't know), shoes, snack, bowl, water, etc. She is good at following commands like "get your shoes", "throw it in the trash" and is super proud of herself when she does. 

Recently, Lana has been introduced to Elmo and loves him. She can say Elmo as clear as day and it's so cute. She also seems to enjoy living on the edge- like rolling off the couch, wrestling with her brothers, climbing things, running and spinning. We'll see what that means for her future. Ha! She keeps us on our toes! 

18 month stats

Height: 31.75" 50th percentile

Weight: 25.2# 65th percentile 

Eli, Micah and Haddie at 18 months

Lana is 1

Baby girl is 1! She is such a great baby and continues to sleep and eat like a champ. Lana cut her two bottom teeth right before her birthday. She crawls super fast, is cruising everything, and has started climbing too. So now, the whole family is on alert. The kids used to say "alert alert, spit up" and thankfully this has resolved. Now it more sounds like "alert alert, Lana is on the stairs!" :) 

Lana is so easy going. If I have my sling, or if she has a flat surface she can nap about anywhere. The photo below was at Eli's field day. She has started to sign a little, shake her head "no", and points at what she wants. 

Her brothers and sister continue to adore her. She loves all the attention and gives them sweet hugs. 

We are so thankful God gave us Lana Mae to be in our family. We pray we show her His way is the best way all the time. 

Stats: 
Height- 28.5" 50th percentile
Weight- 21lb 8.5oz 65th percentile

Eli and Eli, Micah and Micah, Haddie at 1 year

We gave her this baby doll for her birthday and she just held it the whole time until bed time. It was the sweetest. 

Micah is 5

I can't believe that Micah is 5! He's my baby boy and so that just can't be true. Micah just went to meet his Kindergarten teacher a couple days ago, and it feels like he shouldn't be old enough. After the ways that Eli grew up after going to Kindergarten, I can't wait to see how Micah grows and matures. For now, we're all looking forward to everyone being home for the summer. 

Micah's current loves are: Legos, Lana, playing pretend (almost) anything with Haddie, riding his bike, riding his scooter, playing baseball with Eli and Dad, being right (he uses the word "actually" frequently), and did I mention playing Legos (he spends hours playing them and some of the coolest creations). 

On Micah's birthday we were driving home from getting Chick-fil-a from Hutch. He was eating and we were listening to GT and the Halo Express. I saw in the rear view mirror that his eyes were closed. I looked back to check on him and asked if he was okay. I then realized he was praying. I apologized and told him to continue. He said "it's okay, I was just praying to ask Jesus into my heart". So we are rejoicing that the Lord saw fit to save him on his fifth birthday and are praying we (with the help of others) might be listening to how God might have us disciple him. He's excited and told me a few days later "I know God is always with me now that I asked Him to be". I think that's a great start, buddy. 

Micah is creative and enjoys making things. In addition to Legos, he likes painting, coloring, cutting, and playdough. He usually has us laughing about something, but he's also very sensitive. There's a very fine line between him wanting affirmation and attention and too much such that he shuts down. He is mostly reserved in public. 

Micah is so observant. He has all sorts of observations on "old people" that make me nervous when he starts telling people them. He says things like "I've been noticing..." and "I kinda feel bad for..." different people that have varying ailments (according to him). I hold my breath when he articulates the observations because they are extremely accurate, but not always things people want pointed out. 

He also talks about not eating too much sugar or working on his muscles. It's adorable. He'll say he doesn't want dessert or pop with a happy meal because he doesn't want them to "take away my muscles". He also says "I'm working on these, baby" pointing to his muscles. 

Stats:

Height- 41.5" 20th percentile

Weight- 38.6# 32nd percentile

Lana- 11 months

SO Big!

Lana Mae had a quick and busy month! Only one more until she's a big one year old! It always surprises me how quickly the months fly by and how long some days can feel in the first year of life on the outside. Lana has begun to crawl up the steps whenever she can. She loves music and bobs her head when she hears it. She also added the "so big" to her bag of tricks. She has begun to let go for a few seconds at a time when she stands. She's a pretty good eater and has taken to cow's milk easily, however really likes it when someone else will hold the cup for her to drink from. 

She had her first trip to Colorado at the beginning of March, and she was SUCH a trooper in the car and with not having a regular schedule. She does best sleeping in her bed, but will nap in the car or in the sling pretty well. She has stopped spitting up as much, which is a welcomed improvement in our house. We should probably get our living room carpet cleaned with as many times as she's spit up on it. Micah and Haddie say "alert alert spit up spit up" whenever they spot some. :)

She really loves her bunny lovie, veggie straws, mom, climbing on any sibling that's on the floor, slobbering (still NO teeth!), jabbering and telling us all about it, dancing, raspberries on her tummy, dad, unloading the recycling under the sink, unloading the basket of laundry, etc. We sure do LOVE our Lana Mae. We praise you, God, for this gift. 

Eli, Micah, and Haddie at 11 months. 

Sweet sisters having sweet conversation (followed by Haddie tackling her with a love hug).

Lana- 10 months

Our baby girl is 10 months! I can't believe how close she is to her first birthday. This last month, Lana has improved her mobility a lot. She can get anywhere she wishes and has started pulling up on furniture and even letting go for a tiny bit. Thankfully, she hasn't started going up the stairs...yet.

Lana eats about anything, but STILL doesn't have any teeth! She likes table food now and really loves when I give her a large piece of something- opposed to cutting it in tiny bites. She's starting to get the hang of a sippy cup. I was hoping she'd go straight to a straw cup, but I got tired of cleaning up the spills. :) 

 

Lana loves bath time and making BIG splashes with her legs, eating, dancing, blowing raspberries, riding in the car, and going with the flow. She also loves to clap for herself. Whenever we say "yay Lana" she smiles and claps happily. She has begun to wave hi and bye. She also says "hiiiiiiiiii da". I don't know if she knows what she's saying, but will usually do it on command. 

Eli, Micah, and Haddie at 10 months. 

Lana- 9 months

Lana Mae is 9 months old! I feel like she has done a lot of growing and changing and developing in the last month. She has started crawling and clapping. When she hears her name or "yay, Lana" she smiles so big and claps for herself. At the beginning of January, she had strep so I guess we can mark that down as her first sickness. She's had a cough for about a month that hasn't caused any other complications. We are thankful she has avoided any serious illness, but will be glad when she's clear of the junk. 

 We've been to several basketball games in January. She seems to like the gym- but I guess she doesn't have much choice right now. :) She still loves her siblings and has started crawling on them when they're on the floor. They all think this is great fun. 

This is a pretty common one now, trying to pull up on things. No success yet but it won't be long.

 Height 28" (55th percentile)
Weight 19lb 10oz (65th percentile)

Got her! :)

Nom nom nom

Lana continues to be a great sleeper- she's down to a cat nap in the morning and a long afternoon nap. Usually in bed by 7 or 8 and sleeps until 6 or 7. She also has started eating table food and loves it. It's gotten to the point now if the other kids have a snack she starts begging for some too.

Eli, Micah, and Haddie at 9 months

After church on Sunday

I wish this one wasn't blurry, but I love these baby girls. 

Eli is 7

Photos from the lovely Sara McMillian Photography

The boy who made me a mom is now 7. I can hardly wrap my mind around this fact. He is such a joy to have as a son. When I took treats in to his class at school I could tell that he was tearing up while they were singing to him. A bit later I asked if he was embarrassed because everyone was singing to him and he said "a little, but I'm also sad because you'll be going home soon". He's a home body at his core and he loves being at home with his family. I will take that as long as he lets me! A couple days later after the school event, it was his actual birthday. I had been sick the day before and he was asking me if I thought dad would take he and Micah bowling for his birthday. I said "but won't you miss me?" to which he replied "mom, I am away from you almost every day for 7 hours, I think I'll be okay". He doesn't struggle with truthfulness often, sometimes he needs a little guidance on when to administer truth and when to keep his mouth quiet. :) I guess we all need a little help with that.

During family photos, he couldn't contain himself with a climbing opportunity. 

Such a wonderful big brother.

Eli has become an avid reader this year. I always thought I would read series or books prior to my kids to make sure the content was ok for their maturity level. Quite frankly, I can't keep up! Although he would still choose screen time over reading, when he knows screen time isn't an option he is often curled up on the couch reading. He still likes to build LEGOs and this has become an activity he and Micah enjoy doing together. He also enjoys doing math facts in his head. It's a fun game we play while in the car. He really does blow me away with the way his brain is wired. As the weather has gotten colder and the evenings darker, we have been playing more games and his current favorite is Settlers of Catan but he usually has to do quite a bit of begging for mom to play (it requires 3 players and dad also loves the game). He still loves puzzles and mom has come around to putting them together with him. :) 

Another climb opportunity. :) 

Every time I see this one it makes me giggle. Can't you just hear the photographer saying "tilt your head, a little more, a little more". :) 

We love how Eli has been growing and listening to the Holy Spirit. He has started displaying a deeper heart understanding of who Jesus is in his life. We pray this continues to grow and transform him into the Eli that God is making him into. We love watching this transformation and pray we might get to see it continue to grow and deepen. We love our boy and the way God is growing him. 

Silly

Eli at birth, 1 & 1stats, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Stats
Height: 49.25" (50th percentile)
Weight: 51 lb (50th percentile)

Playing with Uncle Eric