Christmas Traditions

This year we're trying to implement some of our own family traditions. It's been fun thinking of things that Ryan and I did as kids and deciding what we want to continue doing and trying to start completely new traditions. One of the new traditions that we started is the making of applesauce/cinnamon ornaments. Chloe and I had a lot of fun making a huge mess as we rolled out the dough and cut out all sorts of shapes. After the ornaments dried out we put string on them and decorated them for our tree. It was a lot of fun and the entire apartment smelled like cinnamon. Yum!

A tradition that both of our families had was putting up a tree either the day after Thanksgiving or the weekend after Thanksgiving. So, we decided that we wanted to take our girls to a tree farm and cut down our own little tree. However, the place we went to did not end up being a place that we could cut our own tree. Next year we'll find the place that we were looking for! Anyway, we found a tree and had fun putting it up together.

Chloe decided that wearing the tree skirt and sockings was a lot more fun than actually decorating with them.

Olivia followed suit and decorated herself!

I'll keep you posted on our traditions for this year, but I have just a few more pictures to share with you. Grammy and Papa got a new puppy right before Thanksgiving and we watched him for a few days this past week. Chloe is absolutely in love with him and continually wanted to hold and hug him and was often heard saying, "Oh Max, I just love you sooooo much!" Some of you may be thinking, 'What a perfect Christmas gift for her!' I have 3 reasons why it's not a good idea!

1. We can't have a pet in our apartment.

2. I can not handle training a puppy while caring for a baby and a toddler!

3. It's not in the budget.

For now we will just enjoy Grammy and Papa's puppy!

Olivia is 9 months! And yes, we finally have a tooth! One came in around 8 1/2 months and we are still waiting for #2. It's close, but soooo stubborn. She is also recovering from a nasty sickness and we eagerly anticipate having her back to her normal happy self. The poor thing has just been feeling miserable. I'll give a longer update on her and her new accomplishments at another time because I hear her fussing in her crib. Naptime is over!

Successful Hunt

A big congratulations to Ryan! He got an 8 point buck this morning! We are very excited for him and will soon have a freezer full of meat. (I have to say that after 2 months of bow season and just 1 day of gun season I am also happy that he is done deer hunting for awhile. Don't get me wrong! I'm very excited for him and glad that he enjoys this sport so much and that our freezer will by full, but I'm also ready to see him a little more often.) Anyway, everyone wanted to get their pictures with the buck and the hunter so enjoy all the shots. Chloe and her cousin Lila were very intrigued. Here's a 'clip' of a conversation that Chloe had with Ryan in the car on the way home.

Chloe: "Daddy, I do really like your buck."

Ryan: "Thank you buckwheat"

Chloe: "How many daddy?"

Ryan: "How many antlers?"

Chloe: "Yeah, how many antlers?"

Ryan: "8"

Chloe: "Wow 8! I jus' can't believe it so many!"

DISCOVERIES

Although there has been a lull in blogging during the past few weeks our little girls have been making some new discoveries and we had a week long visit from Grammy Tripp! Let's start with Olivia and her discoveries.

Olivia turned 8 months old on the 7th and her little personality is so much fun. She started clapping on October 31st and it quickly became her favorite way of expressing herself. She claps and squeals to music, she claps when Ryan comes home, she claps when I enter a room, she claps whenever she sees Chloe, she claps for food, really she just loves to clap, clap and clap! She has also perfected mobility in her walker. For quite a while she would only walk backward and then get frustrated. But during the first week of November she discovered how to go forward and she can now follow us all over the house. Up and down the hallway and in and out of rooms! She really thinks she's big stuff. The poor thing has had an awful time teething and still has nothing to show for it. Her teeth shift and move for a week or two and then stop. This week we are finally able to see a tiny bit of tooth just under the top layer of skin, but they are so stubborn and will not pop through. It will be wonderful when they finally do come through. The last thing that is new with Livy is that she has added "da da" to her tiny vocabulary. She's just growing up so fast and discovering new things everyday. Enjoy the video of her clapping and the picture that I couldn't resist taking. She's so chunky right now, but as soon as she gets really mobile I know that the rolls will fade away. So, we had to document them!

(Well, I accidentally uploaded the wrong video. So, you get 2! The first is of Chloe feeding Olivia a bottle. During the most recent growth spurt we had to supplement her feedings with formula and Chloe loved having a chance to feed her sisiter.)

Chloe is just too funny. For those of you who know Ryan you will know where she got her sense of humor. Here's a small example of it: During serious disciplinary talk with her she abruptly looked up at me and said, "Hey! Nice glasses!" It was like she'd never seen them before! Anyway, she's a hoot. As is the case with most 2 and 3 year olds she is constantly testing her boundaries and discovering new areas to push her independence. However, she is also discovering so much and her imagination is so much fun! Her imaginary friend Larry is a constant in our home ans she has several other friends who come and go. (lyla, minta, pish, and others) Chloe often tries to shift the blame onto Larry and use him as a way to try and distract me from the topic at hand. But Larry can also be very helpful and the coolest thing that he can do is fly! Over the past month Chloe has also discovered how to put her clothes on and off and she is very proud of herself. This also means that at various times of the day she may run around the corner completely naked or with a very mismatched outfit or several layers of clothing. These next two pictures are favorites of mine. She had so much fun putting on every pair of panties in the laundry basket.

Both girls have also discovered that they enjoy hanging out in the laudry basket. Well, as long as Chloe can keep her hands to herself! Livy does not enjoy being mauled.

Unfortunately my girls were not very cooperative with pictures while my mom was here, but we had a wonderful time with her! Chloe and Grammy made a lot of fun crafts and Chloe especially loved coloring with markers and making paper bag puppets. Both girls loved all the bubbles. Thanks for a great visit mom!

Baby Chicks

Ryan's parents just bought 50 meat chickens. They came in the mail! How cool is that!? And, since they bought 50 of them they were given one rare chicken. Can you find it in this bunch? Anyway, the chickens will be tended to for 10 weeks and then it's off to a local amish famer who will prepare them for our freezers. No, we're not getting attached to them, but it's been fun to enjoy them as chicks although they are growing really fast.
Chloe is really growing in the area of animals. She is no longer afraid of everything! She went to a farm with Ryan's mom when they picked out the last batch of laying hens and she refused to even touch the chicks. Now, we had to tell her that she was not allowed to touch them because she kept kissing them too hard, hugging (squeezing!) them too much, and throwing them back into their bins. She did learn how to handle them more gently, but the chicks still run from her and cheep up a storm when she tries to grab one!

Olivia was a little scared at first...

but she warmed up to them quickly.

The chicks actually gravitated towards her because she didn't try to attack them! They actually started walking right up to her and she was able to reach out and touch them. Too cute!

Fall

Here's a bunch of random pictures of our family enjoying this autumn season. I LOVE this time of the year!

This pile of leaves is our favorite spot to play right now. Both girls just laugh up a storm! But you need to watch out or Chloe will completely cover you with leaves!

Throwing leaves on a brisk fall day.

Livy was not a happy camper all day. Usually being outside brings out her giggles and smiles. As you can see, this did not happen!

Ok , this is VERY random. However, Livy is now sitting up on her own and able to drink from this sippy cup on her own. What a big girl! Why the towel on her head? Well, Chloe was trying to play 'peak a boo' with her. I love this picture because it makes me laugh every time I look at it!

And one more day outside; a warmer day!

Oh, my silly girls!

Baby Dedication

On October 4th Olivia and her cousin Lila were dedicated in church. Ryan was able to share a little bit about Olivia's name and the verse that the Lord has laid on our hearts for her and I would like to share that with you as well as some pictures from the day. For anyone who is confused about a baby dedication there are two reasons that we had Olivia dedicated to the Lord in front of the church. One reason is to publicly declare that we have committed Olivia to the Lord and that we will train her and raise her up in the Lord. The second reason is for the church to commit to keeping us accountable in raising her up in the Lord and to spur Ryan and I on in that goal.

Olivia's name means 'peace' and the spiritual connotation of her name means 'walks with God'. Her middle name is Hope and it was chosen because of the hope that we live in as Christians. Our desire for her is that first of all she would come to know the Lord at a young age, and then walk in a close relationship with him all the days of her life. We pray that she would have an eternal perspective on life, keeping the cross at the forefront of everything. The verse that God laid on our hearts for her is Romans 15:13. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the Holy Spirit."

Jared, Carissa and Lila

Of course, my camera decided not to work for the first half of the dedication so I do not have any pictures of Olivia being dedicated. But, we were able to at least get a few attempts a family photos.

The girls with Papa and Grammy

Olivia modeling her outfit!

Olivia is 7 months old!

On October 7th Olivia turned 7 months old. She is almost able to sit up by herself and loves the freedom of it. She would prefer to stand all day if she could. I think that she watches Chloe run around the house and becomes very discontent with what she is able to do! Grammy was able to find a great deal on a walker at the local thrift store and we are soooo grateful. Olivia loves being in it because she can stand to her little hearts' content. I also love the walker because it makes her happy! She is learning to push herself around the house backwards and Chloe then helps her go forward.

Livy is also attempting to communicate with us in new ways. She is making all sorts of new noises. She can click her tongue, say 'ba ba ba', pound on everything, make spit bubbles and noises to go along with them, squeal and scream like her sister, and 'sing'. My favorite is that she is saying, 'ma ma ma'. At first we just thought that she was experimenting with noises but she is actually saying it on purpose. I just think she hears Chloe yell my name all day and decided that she needed to join in. She frequently says 'ma, ma, ma' when she's really upset. I'll walk over and she'll increase in volume and lift up her arms to me. So, this is officially her first word. Still no teeth, but I'm sure they're right around the corner!

Find out what pleases the Lord

Ephesians 5:10 has been the theme verse for Chloe and I over the past two weeks. Being 2 is hard work for her and we have both been given many, many, many opportunities to find out what pleases the Lord. It's true that children are great sanctification tools!

We are not just looking for ways to please the Lord but also how to carry it out in our actions. The biggest change that I have seen in her over the past two weeks as we have worked hard to apply this verse to our daily lives is her attitude and love toward Olivia. She has always liked Olivia, but I would say that she is loving her now. Instead of yelling "NO baby! Stop!" and hitting Olivia when she cries she has started to try and comfort her by singing, patting her back or saying "shh shh shh baby livy it's ok". Ryan and I have worked hard to show her a better way to respond to Olivia it didn't just happen because we talked about the verse once. But as we have helped teach her how to tangibly apply this verse in an area of her life she is starting to understand.

This has been a big encouragement to me and a joy to my heart to watch their love for each other grow. It definitely pleases the Lord when we put others before ourselves. Does she understand that she's choosing to put Livy before herself? Not yet, but she will someday. Do we have lots of struggles each day? Yes! Does she always choose what's right? No. Do I always respond in a manner worthy of the Lord? No. But together we are learning how to choose, how to say we are sorry, how to forgive and how to change. Praise the Lord for his powerful Word, His grace in our lives, and the Holy Spirit living in me!!

Here is more of the past week in pictures:

We have several deer that visit this tree every day. The crop of nuts wasn't good this year and this is one of the few trees that actually has acorns. These deer will come and eat even if we are walking around on our front porch talking. We've been watching this doe and her fawn all summer and it's fun to have them right outside our door every night.

Thank you for the tea set Grammy!

Chloe was sick all last week and was often found crashed on the couch; a very rare thing! She's almost 100% now and we are all glad to have her back to her normal self.

Olivia is getting so big! She is trying so hard to sit up by herself and prefers this position to any other. However, she is still very wobbly and since she refuses to use her arms she can't push herself back up or catch herself. We're working on strengthening her arms with tummy time but it's a battle because she refuses to push up with her arms or lift up her neck for very long before she rolls. It's frustrating for all involved but the doctor says she needs to strengthen her arms so onward we go!

She continues chew on her feet. I thought this position was hilarous! She will aslo try to suck on her feet in between bites of food. That makes quite a mess! (Yes, she's eating solid food now and loving, and i mean LOVING, every bite!)

Rocking with daddy before bed. God sure has blessed us with such a wonderful man. All 3 of us are eagerly awaiting his arrival at the end of every work day!

Dancing with daddy. Dancing(if you can call our moves dancing!) is a favorite in our home and both girls absolutely have a blast. Livy smiles and laughs and flails her arms while Chloe busts out hilarious and surprising moves on a regular basis. These are moments that I cherish!

We did it. We moved the girls in to the same room. I was hesitant about it for awhile because it has taken Oliva so long to consistently sleep through the night and I didn't want to be up with both of them. Anyway, it is going well. I'm amazed that Chloe actually sleeps through a good bit of Livy's crying or at least puts up with it. This arrangement has also helped Chloe go to bed easier again. I think she really just didn't want to be in her own room and she loves it that Livy and her are together.

I had fun making 'tents' for thier beds.

And finally, another picture of them spending time together. Chloe loves 'holding' Olivia right now and Liv doesn't seem to mind it one bit. She can put forth less energy in trying to sit up straight and more into holding up her cheeks. ha ha!